the Last Church of God the Last Church of God

Deliver Us from Ourselves

Mapping Molestation

Mapping Molestation

The true story of the most notorious pedophile priest in the modern history of the catholic church is also the story of humans who prefer to have no responsibility for their relationships with God (or lack thereof).

How can one think critically and simultaneously believe that God would speak through men who sit on golden thrones while others starve? How can one know God and make war? How can one expect anything but perversion (of every sort) from those who claim God speaks to and through them — and no one else?

The catholic church said it in Latin — extra ecclesiam, nulla sallus (outside the church, there is no salvation) — but almost all churches teach the same lie. The truth is exactly the opposite:  extra ecclesiam, sallus est instituo (outside the church, salvation is found).

Churches and organized religion give God a bad name, two black eyes, and a sucking chest wound. Humans don’t need intermediaries or representation. God speaks to anyone who wishes to have a conversation…Rv

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Deliver Us from Evil:  Pedophile Priests

Sally Kern’s Homophobia Explained

It’s very difficult to avoid seeing just how Christ-Free most self-professed Christians have become. To believe that God would smile upon Sally Kern’s sentiments and actions is to make God cry.

“Last year, Oklahoma state legislator Sally Kern (R) drew well-deserved criticism for an outlandish rant against the gay community, in which she compared homosexuality to toe cancer and said “it’s the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam.”

“Studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades. So it’s the death knell of this country,” said Kern. Listen here. Then see if you can watch this without thinking unchristian thoughts:

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So I asks myself, “self? Is poor, misguided, uncharitable, Christ-Free Christian and self-unaware republican Sally Kern a lesbian? Is her husband gay? Or is it one of her kids.” And then I tells myself, “self. Ask and it shall be answered (in God’s time)…”

Hold and below, the Lord led me to Queerly.com, where my eyes beheld the following:  Kern and her Baptist preacher hubbie had a homo! And they disowned him!

I will pray for Sally Kern’s son, and for all the Sally Kerns and sons and daughters. Trust me when I tell you that, were homosexuality a choice, there would be three straight women over the age of thirty, planet-wide…Rv

Interpretation Is Everything

Mayan Calendar

Mayan Calendar

Human nature being what it is, “2012” is big business. Not quite the moneymaker we have in Jesus, but there’s no future in it. This ship will have sailed come 1st January 2013. Only to make room for the next sailing into port, I fear. Jesus has a much longer shelf-life.

Here’s a perspective on the Mayan Calendar from — a Mayan! A Mayan who isn’t asking for your money! A Mayan who speaks the language and who knows how to read the Mayan calendar! Rv

Mayan Calendar Prophecy:
The World Will Not End

“They say that the world will end in December 2012. The Mayan elders are angry with this. The world will not end. It will be transformed.” Carlos Barrios

Carlos Barrios was born into a Spanish family on El Altiplano, the highlands of Guatemala.

His home was in Huehuetenango, also the dwelling place of the Maya Mam tribe. With other Maya and other indigenous tradition keepers, the Mam carry part of the old ways on Turtle Island (North America). They are keepers of time, authorities on remarkable calendars that are ancient, elegant and relevant.

Mr. Barrios is a historian, an anthropologist and investigator. After studying with traditional elders for 25 years since the age of 19, he has also became a Mayan Ajq’ij, a ceremonial priest and spiritual guide, Eagle Clan. Years ago, along with his brother, Gerardo, Carlos initiated an investigation into the different Mayan calendars. He studied with many teachers. He says his brother Gerardo interviewed nearly 600 traditional Mayan elders to widen their scope of knowledge.

“Anthropologists visit the temple sites,” Mr. Barrios says, “and read the steles and inscriptions and make up stories about the Maya, but they do not read the signs correctly. It’s just their imagination…

Other people write about prophecy in the name of the Maya. They say that the world will end in December 2012. The Mayan elders are angry with this. The world will not end. It will be transformed. The indigenous have the calendars, and know how to accurately interpret it, not others.”

The Mayan Calendars comprehension of time, seasons, and cycles has proven itself to be vast and sophisticated. The Maya understand 17 different calendars, some of them charting time accurately over a span of more than ten million years. The calendar that has steadily drawn global attention since 1987 is called the Tzolk’in or Cholq’ij.

Devised ages ago and based on the cycle of the Pleiades, it is still held as sacred. With the indigenous calendars, native people have kept track of important turning points in history. For example, the day keepers who study the calendars identified an important day in the year One Reed, Ce Acatal, as it was called by the Mexicans. That was the day when an important ancestor was prophesied to return, “coming like a butterfly.”

In the western calendar, the One Reed date correlates to Easter Sunday, April 21, 1519 the day that Hernando Cortez and his fleet of 11 Spanish galleons arrived from the East at what is today called Vera Cruz, Mexico.

When the Spanish ships came toward shore, native people were waiting and watching to see how it would go. The billowing sails of the ships did indeed remind the scouts of butterflies skimming the ocean surface.

In this manner was a new era initiated, an era they had anticipated through their calendars. The Maya termed the new era the Nine Bolomtikus, or nine Hells of 52 years each. As the nine cycles unfolded, land and freedom were taken from the native people. Disease and disrespect dominated. What began with the arrival of Cortez, lasted until August 16, 1987 – a date many people recall as Harmonic Convergence. Millions of people took advantage of that date to make ceremony in sacred sites, praying for a smooth transition to a new era, the World of the Fifth Sun.

From that 1987 date until now, Mr. Barrios says, we have been in a time when the right arm of the materialistic world is disappearing, slowly but inexorably. We are at the cusp of the era when peace begins, and people live in harmony with Mother Earth. We are no longer in the World of the Fourth Sun, but we are not yet in the
World of the Fifth Sun.

This is the time in-between, the time of transition. As we pass through transition there is a colossal, global convergence of environmental destruction, social chaos, war, and ongoing Earth changes. All this, Mr. Barrios says, was foreseen via the simple, spiral mathematics of the Mayan calendars.

“It will change,” Mr. Barrios observes. “Everything will change.” He said Mayan Daykeepers view the Dec. 21, 2012 date as a rebirth, the start of the World of the Fifth Sun. It will be the start of a new era resulting from and signified by the solar meridian crossing the galactic equator, and the earth aligning itself with the center of the galaxy.

At sunrise on December 21, 2012 for the first time in 26,000 years the Sun rises to conjunct the intersection of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic. This cosmic cross is considered to be an embodiment of the Sacred Tree, The Tree of Life, a tree remembered in all the world’s spiritual traditions. Some observers say this alignment with the heart of the galaxy in 2012 will open a channel for cosmic energy to flow through the earth, cleansing it and all that dwells upon it, raising all to a higher level of vibration.

This process has already begun, Mr. Barrios suggested. “Change is accelerating now, and it will continue to accelerate.”

If the people of the earth can get to this 2012 date in good shape, without having destroyed too much of the Earth, Mr. Barrios said, we will rise to a new, higher level. But to get there we must transform enormously powerful forces that seek to block the way.

A Picture of the Road Ahead

From his understanding of the Mayan tradition and the calendars, Mr. Barrios offered a picture of where we are at and what may lie on the road ahead: The date specified in the calendar Winter Solstice in the year 2012 does not mark the end of the world. Many outside people writing about the Mayan calendar sensationalize this date, but they do not know. The ones who know are the indigenous elders who are entrusted with keeping the tradition.

“Humanity will continue,” he contends, “but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have the opportunity to be more human.”

We are living in the most important era of the Mayan calendars and prophecies. All the prophecies of the world, all the traditions, are converging now. There is no time for games. The spiritual ideal of this era is action. Many powerful souls have reincarnated in this era, with a lot of power. This is true on both sides, the light and the dark. High magic is at work on both sides.

Things will change, but it is up to the people how difficult or easy it is for the change to come about. The economy now is a fiction. The first five-year stretch of transition from August 1987 to August 1992 was the beginning of the destruction of the material world. We have progressed ten years deeper into the transition phase by now, and many of the so-called sources of financial stability are in fact hollow.

The banks are weak. This is a delicate moment for them. They could crash globally if we don’t pay attention. If the banks crash … then we will be forced to rely on the land and our skills. The monetary systems will be in chaos, and we must then rely on our direct relationship with the Earth for our food and shelter. The North and
South Poles are both breaking up. The level of the water in the oceans is going to rise. But at the same time land in the ocean, especially near Cuba, is also going to rise.

A Call for Fusion

As he met with audiences in Santa Fe, Mr. Barrios told a story about the most recent Mayan New Year ceremonies in Guatemala. He said that one respected Mam elder, who lives all year in a solitary mountain cave, journeyed to Chichicastenango to speak with the people at the ceremony.

The elder delivered a simple, direct message. He called for human beings to come together in support of life and light. Right now each person and group is going his or her own way. The elder of the mountains said there is hope if the people of the light can come together and unite in some way.

Reflecting on this, Mr. Barrios explained: “We live in a world of polarity: day and night, man and woman, positive and negative. Light and darkness need each other. They are a balance.

Just now the dark side is very strong, and very clear about what they want. They have their vision and their priorities clearly held, and also their hierarchy.

They are working in many ways so that we will be unable to connect with the spiral Fifth World in 2012.

“On the light side everyone thinks they are the most important, that their own understandings, or their group’s understandings, are the key. There’s a diversity of cultures and opinions, so there is competition, diffusion, and no single focus.”

As Mr. Barrios sees it, the dark side works to block fusion through denial and materialism. It also works to destroy those who are working with the light to get the Earth to a higher level. They like the energy of the old, declining Fourth World, the materialism. They do not want it to change. They do not want fusion. They want to stay at this level, and are afraid of the next level.

The dark power of the declining Fourth World cannot be destroyed or overpowered. It’s too strong and clear for that, and that is the wrong strategy. The dark can only be transformed when confronted with implicitly and open-heartedness. This is what leads to fusion, a key concept for the World of the Fifth Sun.

Mr. Barrios said the emerging era of the Fifth Sun will call attention to a much-overlooked element. Whereas the four traditional elements of earth, air, fire and water have dominated various epochs in the past, there will be a fifth element to reckon with in the time of the Fifth Sun: ether. The dictionary defines ether as the rarefied element of the Heavens. Ether is a medium. It permeates all space and transmits waves of energy in a wide range of frequencies, from cell phones to human auras. What is “ethereal” is related to the regions beyond earth: the heavens.

Either the element of the Fifth Sun is celestial and lacking in material substance, but is no less real than wood, stone or flesh. “Within the context of ether there can be a fusion of the polarities,” Mr. Barrios said. “No more darkness or light in the people, but an uplifted fusion.

But right now the realm of darkness is not interested in this. They are organized to block it. They seek to unbalance the Earth and its environment so we will be unready for the alignment in 2012. We need to work together for peace, and balance with the other side. We need to take care of the Earth that feeds and shelters us.

We need to put our entire mind and heart into pursuing unity and fusion now, to confront the other side and preserve life.”

To be Ready for this Moment in History Mr. Barrios told his audiences in Santa Fe that we are at a critical moment of world history. “We are disturbed,” he said. “We can’t play anymore. Our planet can be renewed or ravaged. Now is the time to awaken and take action.”

“Everyone is needed. You are not here for no reason. Everyone who is here now has an important purpose. This is a hard, but a special time. We have the opportunity for growth, but we must be ready for this moment in history.”

Mr. Barrios offered a number of suggestions to help people walk in balance through the years ahead. “The prophesied changes are going to happen,” he said “but our attitude and actions determine how harsh or mild they are.”

We need to act, to make changes, and to elect people to represent us who understand and who will take political action to respect the earth.

Meditation and spiritual practice are good, but also action. It’s very important to be clear about who you are, and also about your relation to the Earth.

Develop yourself according to your own tradition and the call of your heart. But remember to respect differences, and strive for unity. Eat wisely. A lot of food is corrupt in either subtle or gross ways. Pay attention to what you are taking into your body. Learn to preserve food, and to conserve energy. Learn some good breathing techniques, so you have mastery of your breath.

Be clear. Follow a tradition with great roots. It is not important what tradition, your heart will tell you, but it must have great roots. We live in a world of energy. An important task at this time is to learn to sense or see the energy of everyone and everything: people, plants, animals. This becomes increasingly important as we draw close to the World of the Fifth Sun, for it is associated with the element ether – the realm where energy lives and weaves.

Go to the sacred places of the earth to pray for peace, and have respect for the Earth which gives us our food, clothing, and shelter. We need to reactivate the energy of these sacred places. That is our work.

* According to Mr. Barrios’ reading of the Mayan calendar, if war happens in November 2002 or after, then it’s bad, but not catastrophic.

But if it happens between April and November 2003, it will be catastrophic. Really bad. It could eventually result in the death of two-thirds of humanity. “So stay active,” he said. “If we are active, we can transform the planet. The elders watch to see what happens.”

Many Mayan elders and knowledge keepers may be eliminated in the next few years. For the first half of the current Katun (20-year period) the dark side has a lot of power. But that will pass 3 to 4 years from now.

The tide can turn. Amazing things are going to happen. One simple but effective prayer technique is to light a white or baby-blue colored candle. Think a moment in peace. Speak your intention to the flame and send the light of it on to the leaders who have the power to make war or peace.

We Have Work to Do

According to Mr. Barrios this is a crucially important moment for humanity, and for earth. Each person is important.

If you have incarnated into this era, you have spiritual work to do balancing the planet. He said the elders have opened the doors so that other races can come to the Mayan world to receive the tradition. The Maya have long appreciated and respected that there are other colors, other races, and other spiritual systems. “They know,” he said, “that the destiny of the Mayan world is related to the destiny of the whole world.”

“The greatest wisdom is in simplicity,” Mr. Barrios advised before leaving Santa Fe. “Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It’s not complex or elaborate. The real knowledge is free.

It’s encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you. Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find your heart, and you will find your way.”

Think Globally, Eat Locally, Live Well!

We were vegetarians for decades before going vegan a few months ago. After watching Morgan Spurlock’s wonderfully disgusting film, SuperSize Me (click to watch the movie in its entirety, for free, now. Bring your own barf bag)! Here is another must-see film (Foods That Kill by Dr. Michael Klaper) which reminds us that the suffering of others — any “others” — is a detriment to us all, as well as an insult to God’s green earth.

We must eat with our heads and hearts, as well as with our mouths and digestive systems. Too many seem to believe that (and behave as though) God gave us this earth to destroy! Should you give a precious gift to another, would you be happy to see it abused, and to hear the “gifted” tell everyone who will listen that it doesn’t matter if the gift is destroyed, because it will be immediately replaced (by you)?

We must take and show greater care, in every aspect of our lives. We must stop killing each other, for there is no “other.” We are killing ourselves. Let us make peace on the planet and at the table…Rv

Do Unto Others

Journeying god, pitch your tent with mine
so that I may not become deterred
by hardship, strangeness, doubt.
Show me the movement I must make
toward a wealth not dependent upon possessions,
toward a wisdom not based upon books,
toward a strength not bolstered by might,
toward a god not confined to heaven.
Help me to find myself as I walk in other’s shoes.

Traditional prayer song from Ghana
translator unknown

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People want to be religious, says scholar Karen Armstrong; we should act to help make religion a force for harmony. She asks the TED community to help her build a Charter for Compassion — to help restore the Golden Rule.

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All tremble at punishment. Life is dear to all. Put yourself in the place of others; kill none nor have another killed.  Dhammapada 10.130

Above all, do no harm…

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The Memorial Day 2009 weekend is upon us. And Americans will be remembering all the wrong things. Over 1,147,000 American sons and daughters have fought and died in military actions that can be considered both immoral and unlawful. They were deceived into military service, where politicians used their feelings of patriotism and trust as weapons against them, and their bodies as cannon fodder.

I do not hold the dead entirely at fault. Did they not come from our own homes and schools, where this false sense of patriotism was taught from the cradle onward? We the living are the ones most guilty. We did not teach our children how to discern truth from lies. We failed to teach them to question ALL authority. We neglected to infuse them with a love for the rule of law.

Therefore, here in the Memorial Day weekend of 2009, may we at long last accept the tragic truth that more than a million of our children gave their lives as sacrificial lambs on the blood-soaked altar of the God of the State? May we finally accept that additional hundreds of thousands were maimed and disabled on the same altar? Truly, they did not die to protect the American homeland. They did not die to protect our freedoms. They did not die defending “the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic”…words found in their Oath of Service.

They died in vain. They died for nothing. That is what we should mourn this weekend.

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This memorial day, recruit peacemakers. Support the troops who go awol. Let us love our neighbors and accept (if we cannot embrace) our differences. We must stop killing each other, ourselves, and the earth. There is nothing noble about war nor warriors and the old men who use them as pawns. Self-aggrandizing battle myths are but pretty lies used to soothe our souls and excuse our barbarity. Reverential monuments to bloodshed are the most craven of images. This memorial day, remember that we are all One. There is no Other. Peace…Rv

Open Blog, Insert Foot…

It is said that one should never discuss religion or politics “in polite company,” but, to me, that’s always seemed a rather convenient way to maintain [if not promote] the status quo. Following this particular rule of etiquette does naught but protect one from exposure to new ideas and perspectives. It allows one to believe that everything worth knowing is already known. It damns us to infernal, mind-numbingly eternal conversations about minutiae. And it ensures our never-ending division, both spiritually and politically…which benefits none but those who would be our masters.

America’s most belligerent, vocal [and thoroughly Christ-Free] “Christians” abhor any and all reminder of Jesus’ words…an aberration which long ago proved just the incentive I needed to become a Reverend. Our average [equally belligerent] “citizen” — “left” and “right,” “liberal” or “conservative” — is similarly averse to information regarding candidates’ and government’s records, if soundbytes [and other catapulted propaganda] are the stuff of dreams…a disconnect which made me a fan of anarchy. The complete absence of any form of political authority does not have to mean “chaos and disorder,” whereas complete control by any form of political authority always means “Trouble.”

Recently, I had an “impolite discussion” [in a friendly manner] with a self-described “highly-educated professional” who, when presented with an array of unequivocal facts, suddenly exploded. “I don’t need facts. That’s my opinion, and that makes it valid!” Variations on this theme are now a daily occurrence, whether discussing religion, politics, medicine, science, history…virtually any subject which might benefit from participants’ knowledge of facts. Life would be better if we simply and always [and ever so politely] agreed to disagree? Even about such as, oh…whether that spot on the map is Australia or Kuwait?[!]

Why do so many of us expect [if not insist] that our uninformed opinions be treated as sacrosanct? Why is it considered “impolite” to encourage Thought, to introduce facts, or to acknowledge the elephant in our living room? “Willful ignorance” is the most valuable commodity — to politicians and the clergy…to kings and generals…to Madison Avenue and Big Pharma…et cetera, ad nauseam. Why does it seem human nature to defend most passionately one’s right to be misled and enslaved? Why are the most profoundly ignorant also the most eager to act as The Deciders for us all? If ever there were a proper time and place for a “rude” Awakening, this moment and planet Earth would be It…Rv [for whom the oft-abused truncation of a veritable Truth — “if you believe that when ignorance is bliss ’tis folly to be wise, you are indeed a fool” — is an unpetable peeve.]

“When people who are honestly mistaken learn the truth, they will either cease being mistaken, or cease being honest.” — Anon