Since it's just after 2 p.m. and I'm in Concord, NH, I probably don't need to tell you that there's a blizzard outside, but due to the fact that some of you are from other parts of the world, I'm saying it anyway. I didn't go to church this morning because I didn't want to walk 4 blocks in the bitter cold. I'll just have to add this one to the TBW list when I get around to it later.

A lot has been going on since my previous post, not the least of which is that my mother fell again that same day. I don't think I mentioned it at that time because my father hadn't called me until later. She was in the hospital for several days before being transferred to a Nursing Home/Rehab center about 15 miles east of Concord. She has a broken wrist and bruised kidney, which they are watching for leakage. To my knowledge, it hasn't been an issue, otherwise I feel like she would still be in the hospital; but regardless, prayers are appreciated. Personally, I hope her stay in the Nursing Home becomes permanent, as we've been looking into a better housing situation for my parents for over a year now. I just don't know what may be needed for insurance at that point, or if what she has now is enough. As far as I know, the application for my father to go to the Veteran's Home has been in for a while now, but the waiting list may be prohibitively long. We'll just have to figure things out as we go. Oh, and on the 8th, I got word from my aunt that she was at the walk-in clinic with my father. He had pneumonia. Thankfully, he seems to be over it, as I was on the phone with him last night for over 10 minutes. The result was that I sent him some food from my stock via taxi service so I didn't have to be out in the cold as much. (Especially considering the fact that it was around 5:30 and already dark out, with temps below 0)

Meanwhile, I spent a week in Brattleboro with Mike. Even though part of the time involved prepping his apartment for inspection, it was still a much-needed break from everything here at home. It was nice to have time alone with Mike as well. I had gotten a ride over with his daughter and her boyfriend, and she had originally been planning to stay over as well, but Mike was able to convince her that it just wasn't a good time. Between the fact of the inspection coming up and the fact that Mike and I hadn't been together in over 2 months, ya think!!?? (I was at church during this exchange; but grateful to find her gone when I got back) And it's not that I don't get along with her; it's just hard not seeing her do more to get her son back for so long. (There may be more to this than I'm aware of, but I just feel like there's other things she could be working on at the same time)

Nothing new with Andrea and Matt except that she had a FB post this past week saying that he has officially gone from being strictly immobile without assistance to being a "fall risk". This is HUGE!! He actually fell and had a slight cut on his head, which, in his still risky condition, required a brief hospital visit. I've had so much going on myself that I haven't messaged her about being available; but sometimes she reaches out anyway to check. I'm thinking to message her in a day or two, just to see where things are at. Continued prayers for his full recovery.

I just double checked my recent calls and found that I haven't talked to Jeremy in over a month, at least by phone. He's messaged me several times, but nothing I've bothered responding to. He continues to struggle with Western Women even though his relationship with his Philippine girlfriend, Sharon, is strong. I'm trying to keep my life as peaceful as possible, so I don't always respond to his negativity. I know that he just needs to blow off steam and have a "sounding board" sometimes. That's what I'm here for. Prayers appreciated for both his struggle and for the money to get Sharon's fiancée visa in motion.

Have you ever believed the wrong thing about someone?? I just watched the movie "Mean Girls" again Friday night, mostly because I didn't feel like spending half my evening searching for something better. This movie, for those who may not have seen it yet -- although it's been out for like, 15 years or so -- is about HS girls. Without giving too much away, (because I hate spoilers too) the main character, played by Lindsay Lohan, discovers a scrap book of mean comments about other classmates. In the process, she ends up adding her own, but about a teacher. This leads to the rumor being spread and something totally false being believed about this person.

In my experiences on Quora, I encounter, and often engage in discussion with people who either believe wrongly about God or have worship practices that are not consistent with Biblical truths. These may include anyone from Atheists to JWs and SDA, to Catholics. To be clear, I'm not denying that the last 2 may be Saved, I just try to show them better, Biblical ways in which to live out their faith. Today's message, as indicated by the title, summarizes the extent of rules for Christianity in all it's forms. This is where Catholics and Legalistic Protestant Churches get things wrong. It's not about rules; but relationship. Read on for more revelation on this truth... (Well that was interesting, we just had a fire alarm in the building, but by the time I got dressed, it was over. I'll probably find out later what it was about.)*

Let's turn now to Mark 12 for today's Scripture --

Mark 12:28-34

New International Version

The Greatest Commandment

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[a] 30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^{[b] 31} The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

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As Pastor Matt opened his message of October 12th, he spoke of how the Gospels present the truth of how the Old Order was passing away by fervent acts of God.* In the process, as we see in our Scripture above, the teachers of the Law were trying to figure out how this was all going to work. After all, kingdoms require law and order. What was the governance?? Jesus' answer here is simple. Love God. Love others. Full stop.

This brings us to the "takeaway thought" for this afternoon.

"The Kingdom of God is governed by the Law of Love."

While some react to this truth with a sense of freedom, others remain skeptical, and the rest simply scoff and reject it. The question here is this -- Will we trust God or human intuition?? The fact is that human intuition is what causes some churches to operate under coercion, control, and manipulation. This is not God's Will. (See passages such as Matt. 11:27-30)

We find Jesus quoting from the Old Testament in verses 29-30. Some of you may recognize these as the Shema, found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This was originally part of God's words to Moses in the desert. Love God with all you are and all you have. (In the cultural context of so many Pagan deities and Polytheism, it was important that the Jews understand that only One was the True God.)* The other point of context here for the Jews was that family anchored their vision for daily life. This is why the OT emphasizes sharing the love of God to their children.

As humans, some people get confused about what love really is.* Jesus' words in John 14:15 clarify this for us, "If you love Me, obey My commands.". In our relationships with each other, the other person may simply be wanting someone to manipulate and control.* God's love doesn't work that way. His is an invitation to a better life. This, by default, cannot involve any type of manipulation or coercion. True love doesn't include things that are intended to deceive or make anyone feel uncomfortable. True love is about feeling safe, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.*

Also, our love for God impacts our love for others. As we spend time with Him and increase our faith, we find it easier to love those around us better. This goes along with the oft-repeated pattern in CenterPoint messages. As we receive abundantly from God, we share generously with others. In this case, as we receive love from God, we give that love to others. We see in this that, while the man only asked Jesus for one commandment, He gave 2. If you really look at it, you will find that these sum up the 10 Commandments. This is just one way in which we can clearly tell that all other Laws of Moses were becoming obsolete. All we are truly left with are these. At the same time, we also see Jesus quoting from Leviticus 19:18 which talks about how we shouldn't carry a grudge, but love others as ourselves. While this was mainly speaking to Jews about other Jews in the original context, Jesus is expanding it to everyone.

Another place we can find this idea expressed by Jesus is in Matthew 5:43-45a.

Here, He opens with the phrase, "You have heard it said... ". He continues with, "But I tell you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you...". The fact that Jesus repeats these phrases in multiple situations is further proof that a major change was in effect, specifically in how the Jews, among others, should think about and worship God. Jesus goes on to say that doing these things would count people as Children of God as they reflected His love in their lives. Pastor Matt brought out the point that this leaves no room for hate or violence.* Only the love of God is shown here.

At this time, Pastor Matt shared a letter that a young woman had written to her difficult mother. In it, she offered forgiveness that was freely given. This was a humble invitation for reconciliation. This mirrors God's love for us as difficult people. The truth is that God's love completely wrecks our human intuition. His love gives us a solid foundation as opposed to flexible rules. (Legalism is strict, but because it is based on human ideas of Godly conduct, the rules may change on a whim. That's no way to run a church, wouldn't you agree??)

Getting back to our passage above, we see in verses 32-34 where Jesus tells the man, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God". This signifies a shift from Temple Traditions to God's New Covenant. With this comes the dichotomy of judgement vs compassion. We are left to conclude that fear and love cannot coexist, therefore, God's judgement must be just. This leads to the question of our motives for following Him. Are we truly seeking God as He is, or are we chasing human images of God as people who only seek power and control have presented Him??

Jesus offers an invitation to a better way of life with the promise of Eternal Security to follow. Humanity offers control. In following Jesus, we find that our curiosity is greater than the judgement God places on those who choose to reject Him.* His love offers compassion; which, as Pastor Matt phrased it, equates to "love in movement". Jesus also brings joy and belonging. This provides a sharp contrast to the isolation and rejection of humanity. Instead, following Jesus is a catalyst for transforming our hearts and giving us greater purpose.

In closing, Pastor Matt called our attention to Romans 5:6-8. These verses are about how Paul was encouraging Roman Believers that God demonstrated His love in having Christ die for us and how our love for others stems from this.

Grab a small snack and commune with the Lord as you meditate on these truths.

-- God Bless!!

Footnotes:

1. The fire alarm was caused by the same person whose irresponsibility has brought the Fire Dept to our building the past 2x, that I'm aware of. I sent a text to the Office suggesting this person be evicted for endangerment.

2. While I was typing the bit about how the Old Order was passing away, it led me to remember that one of my favorite neighbors from the building passed away this past Friday. I think I mentioned Loretta a while back, as she had been moved to the County Nursing Home. Prayers for family and friends are appreciated.

3. Some of you may ask here, "Does the Shema debunk the Trinity??". The answer is no. See my article on the Trinity for more. You can find it on the Reflections Page. Also, as always, parenthetical commentary is all mine)

4. I know I've mentioned both of these things before, but for those who may not have seen them, they bear repeating here... When I was with my ex-boyfriend Jeremy (from my earlier comments), he didn't always say "I love you" in reply to me. Sometimes he would say, "I'm not sure I know what that means." (He had grow up severely abused) The best way I found to explain it was this - "Love is about taking random turns at putting the other person first at all possible moments." In other words, unless there is a more urgent situation, such as sickness or work, each of you seeks the happiness of the other person above their own. As Pastor Matt says, "Love reaches out in the best interests of others." The 2nd story is of how Mike has come to appreciate my unconditional love for him. He was more emotionally abused than physically, but was always made to feel like he had to earn the love of others. This included close family members. After Church one day, we went forward to speak to Pastor Matt and Mike was literally in tears sharing this with him. I am the first person in his life to give him unconditional love.

5. Two people from my own life who have done little other than manipulate and control are my mother and my ex-boyfriend Rob. Both are Narcissistic, although I'm actually wondering if my mother is actually turning a corner lately. While my parents were staying with me back in November, I confronted her one day. It started with telling her to hang up the phone on a caller who clearly wasn't listening to her rejection of what they were offering. It expanded into the problems caused by her Narcissism. She apologized on the spot; but I was careful to respond to her that future behavior would prove that out. My daughter Carissa mentioned a while ago that she seemed to be "softening" in line with the knowledge that she's getting older and maybe doesn't want to spend the rest of her life with people being mad at her. Time will tell...

6. The bits about True Love are mine.

7. The fact that hatred and violence have no place in the love of God is something that more Christians should keep in mind. While I may make comments frequently about Catholics and other groups who don't entirely believe as I do, or whose worship doesn't entirely reflect Biblical principles, I don't hate them. I simply try to share the truth in love. Conversely, the people who gather outside the Equality Clinic on most any given Friday morning to protest are openly showing hatred and judgement on those people who use it. This only fuels the fire of those unbelievers who view Christians as judgmental hypocrites. While I respect them for standing up for what they believe, and support their right to do so, I cannot agree with them for making Christians look bad to the world. (Nor do I agree with their political position. Jesus tells us to "Do unto others...", right?? So who are we to push our opinions on others when we don't want all of theirs pushed on us?? Amen??) (While I try to avoid politics on here, it is sometimes necessary. For a case in point, see my article on why Charlie Kirk was wrong. The main title is "Christianity vs Christ-like behavior")

8. To be brief here, God is like a loving parent who simply respects their children's decisions. That being said, I have recently come to realize that the idea of eternal suffering is not Biblical. Gehenna speaks of total destruction, not prolonged anguish. I'll have to write an article on this at some point.

Music -- Never any rights, I promise!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SImV9V94A3g