Rescued Pieces

 

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he 

prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 

and not only for that nation but also for the scattered 

children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 

John 11:51-52

She stands at the doorway of forever, looking from the future to now. In her time the church stands as one, healed and whole. In our time it is in pieces, longing for what will restore it. That is Jesus the Messiah, the Savior who joins all the scattered children of God to make them one.

This beautiful church, The Stavropoleos Monastery in Bucharest, Romania, dates to 1724. Time and earthquakes have damaged it over the years, but it was always restored. These days it holds parts of murals saved from churches demolished during that country's communist regime. These pieces were rescued and kept safe. Now they are on display for us to see.

The church has been pastored since 1991 by father Iustin Marchis, the first hieromonk, a monk who is also a priest, of the church in the last century. The choir of the church is known for a rare type of neo-Byzantine singing, featuring a single voice accompanied by an extended note called an ison. 

Come and sit here with me. 

Not now. I'm not there yet. Maybe one day.

She looks from now to the future when the church is restored and the children of God are one. Maybe she will sit here in this courtyard. She will remember all the ways it has changed, earthquakes and time or revelations of God. She will be grateful. It seems the whole Earth is shaking. 

Do you feel it too?

The Destruction of Monuments

Lee and Stuart are two of my old neighbors from college. They used to just stand there. Now one, or maybe both, have been covered in paint and pulled down.

I was never a fan of Confederate history. To me it seemed creepy, even in the peaceful 90's, to have these guys line the most beautiful avenue in town. How I felt watching their destruction, however, is something I find difficult to put into words. 

I am not worried about Lee, take him out if you will, I am worried about us. Why? I wasn't interested in American Civil War history. I was more interested in the history of the Russian Revolution. Something bad is happening here. We are losing eachother.

Behind the Stuart monument you can see the red doors of a Lutheran church. I remember standing there one quiet, do-nothing day and my heart was suddenly filled with deep joy. Someone long ago had built that church and hung those doors in honor of the God of my heart. Someone loved Him like I do. That moment is as impressed in my memory as the bright, bold red color you see here. That's the answer to our current problems, the God of our hearts. He's still there. Call on His name. If you don't understand how that will make a difference, try it and see.

Yuri Bezmenov said all this decades ago, but no one was paying attention. Faith is what will save us. 

Yuri Bezmenov on How to Prevent Ideological Subversion

"...that takes one step, one very important thing to do. You don't have to expel all the KGB agents from Washington DC. The most difficult and at the same time the simplest answer to the subversion is to start it here and even before, by bringing back the society to religion, something that you cannot touch and eat and put on yourself. But something that rules society and makes it move and preserve it. A Soviet scientist, Shafarevich, who has nothing to do with religion, he is a computer scientist, did a very intensive research the on the history of Socialist countries. He calls Socialist or Communist any country with the centralized economy and the pyramidal style of power structure and he discovered, actually he didn't discover, he just brought to attention of his readers.

That civilizations like Mohenjo-daro in the River Indus area, like Egypt, like Maya, Incas, like Babylonian culture, collapsed and disappeared from the surface of Earth the moment they lost religion. As simple as that. They disintegrated. Nobody remembers about them anymore. Well, just a few. 

So, the ideas are moving society and keeping mankind as society of human beings, intelligent, moral agents of God. The facts, the truth, the exact knowledge may not. All the sophisticated technology and computers will not prevent society from disintegrating and eventually dying out. Have you ever met a person who would sacrifice his life, freedom for the truth like that? (writes 2x2=4 on board) This is truth. I never met the person who said, "This is truth and I am ready to... shoot me!" to defend the truth. Right?

But millions sacrifice their life, freedom, comfort, everything for things like God, like Jesus Christ. It's an honor!

Some martyrs in the Soviet concentration camp died and they died in peace unlike those who shouted, "Long live Stalin!" knowing perfectly well that he may not live long. 

Something which is not material moves society and helps it to survive, and the other way around, the moment we turn into 2 by 2 is 4 and make it the guiding principle of our life, our existence, we die. Even though this is true (points to 2x2=4) and this we cannot prove (points to God and J.C.) We can only feel and have faith in it.

So the answer to ideological subversion, strangely enough, is very simple. You don't have to shoot people. You don't have to aim missiles and Pershings and cruise missiles at Andropov's headquarters. You simply have to have faith and prevent subversion. In other words, not to be a victim of subversion.

Don't try to be a person who in Judo is trying to smash your enemy and being caught by your hand. Don't strike like that. Strike with power of your spirit and moral superiority. If you don't have that power, it's high time to develop it, and that's the only answer."

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Quote

"More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: 

Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened."

"Since then I have spent well-nigh fifty years working on the history of our Revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous Revolution that swallowed up some sixty million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: 

Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened."

Is Communism Biblical?

Communism: a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state. (dictionary.com)

"And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Acts 2:44-45

I was watching a video on the Internet. I had heard it before, that Communism comes from the bible. It wasn't a surprise to hear it again, but it kind of tugged at my heart. Actually, it made me flinch. Under Communism in the old USSR, priests were murdered. Religion was crushed or nearly so. Does that come from the bible? 

But doesn't the above verse sound like it? I mean, sharing is good, right?

In Acts 2, the early church shared out of the goodness of their hearts. That was something God put there. God, who is eliminated in a Communist system. If we try to do this without God, it turns very sour, very quickly. It's like anything without God. Even religion without Him turns into legalism. Have you ever experienced legalism? For the love of God...

So is it biblical?

It is by force, by law, not from the heart. It makes a big difference. The bible is about the heart, willingly serving God. Not by force. You can't force someone to believe. Force robs us. We are meant to freely choose, to do this with our hearts. 

So I have to disagree with the Internet today. You know, sometimes it is wrong.