Matthew 12:43-50 is the #Gospel reading for 27 October. At this place in my life there are multiple verses that stand out. One message (v . 49) is hopeful, about finding family among the #JesusMovement The other, about cast out demons returning to the person they have been cast out of &, finding it empty, inviting other demons to move in too, is not. Perhaps because I’m depressed, I’m choosing to reflect on those verses (44-45).

What strikes me about these verses is not the warning that evil can return compounded, but that what allows evil to move back in is the simple fact that the space is empty. We’ve tidied up, but we have not filled the space with good like Love, Faith, Generosity, Understanding, or Joy. Progress feels a lot like that. We’ve made changes to policy & procedure, maybe even culture & tradition, but the changes are largely empty, symbolic. We have not filled our hearts & minds with good things, yet, anyway.

What good will you fill today with?

Today’s (24 October) #Gospel reading is Matthew 12:22-32 which teaches that a house divided cannot stand. It’s tempting to apply this lesson to all manner of circumstances affecting the world today. It is important to recognize that fighting amongst ourselves is not what #God wants for us. We choose to do it anyway, which is sad.

What really speaks to me in these verses however is “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” To me, coming off of last week’s #BuildingBridgesWeekend at the #TriFaithInitiative this verse is a reminder that you don’t have to be part of the #JesusMovement in order to follow God. Further, it calls all the followers of God to work towards finding ways to come together & live together, each honoring God in our own ways yet also in shared ways, in loving ways.

How do you come together with those who follow God in different ways?

On October 20, the #Episcopal Church remembers the first Gentile who became a #Christian Cornelius, the Centurion. Today’s #Gospel reading can be Matthew 11:16-24 (lectionary) or Luke 13:22-29 (feast day). Both these lessons indicate that not everyone who thinks they are folllowing Christ will actually enter the heavenly kingdom. Matthew calls for repentance. Luke calls us to live according to our faith. Both are necessary and accessible to all who put their faith in the #JesusMovement

What is significant to me in both these passages is that our #faith requires action & effort. We are called to repent & to do better. How many people heed these calls & live their faith? Probably far fewer than think they do. I’m probably one of them even though I strive to live in the Way of Love. I know my efforts are hit or miss, that I am imperfect, & that there is so very much that needs to be done. Fortunately, these verses also remind me that I don’t have to do it all or do it alone.

October 18 is the #EpiscopalChurch celebrates the #FeastDay of #StLuke the Evangelist, companion of St. Paul, & a physician of the Church. Today’s #Gospel reading is Luke 4:14-21

Having completed a #SoulShop workshop yesterday about #SuicidePrevention for church leaders, the verses that stand out to me today are 18-19 about bringing good news to the poor, freeing captives, freeing the oppressed, helping the blind to see, & proclaiming the year of God’s favor (these verses also apply to the #NoKings events today). What #Jesus is saying, & doing, in these verses is giving people #Hope That is a very important thing. Hope keeps us alive. Hope keeps us going, working towards & praying for a tomorrow when God’s promises for our lives & the world are manifest on earth as in heaven. We, as members of the #JesusMovement are called to have Hope & to share it with all others, freely, without judgement or expectation, as our Redeemer did & does.

How will you share Hope with someone else today?

I’m #Reading God’s Ghostwriters by #CandidaMoss https://bookshop.org/a/13969/9780316564670 (affiliate link) for my diocese’ #EfM #BookClub & found this #Patheos article by #HenryKarlson to be very timely to that: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/07/multiple-interpretations-the-key-to-richer-text-engagement/

Moss’ book has me reading #Scripture with new eyes & understanding while Karlson’s essay reinforces how important it is to read with an open heart & open mind. Both serve as vivid reminders that the issues I have with Scripture stem, at least in part, to the perceptions I bring to the reading. Perhaps one of the unspoken (unrecognized?) reasons I am feeling a need to take a deeper dive into my #Faith is to better understand myself as well as my religious beliefs. It’s not deconstruction as much as it is a fuller immersion into my faith & an active, conscious releasing of those aspects of religion & religious teaching that no longer serve me. I’m not abandoning the #JesusMovement as much as trying to live into it.

Whether you’re called to stand with the oppressed, comfort the afflicted, or simply be a prayerful presence in the struggle, this handbook bridges the gap between faith and action.
“Strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” - Book of Common Prayer
#ProtestChaplains #EpiscopalChurch #SocialJustice #FaithInAction #KingdomOfGod #NonviolentResistance #BelovedCommunity #JesusMovement
https://www.episcopalchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/protesting_faithfully_-_handbook.pdf
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The Veg Passages from Early Christianity, the Jesus Movement, John the Baptist Sect (Nasoraeans), Mandaeans and Other Gnostics

My Veg Passages blog is intended to serve as a major resource on the web for many seeking greater access to these rare, difficult-to-find veg and vegan passages from early Christianity and related spiritual movements of antiquity (Essenes, John the Baptist Nasoraeans, Mandaeans, Ebionites, Gospel of the Hebrews, Gnostics, Apocryphal texts, church fathers, etc.., along with references from various scholars exploring the evidence for a vegetarian Jesus at the beginning of Christianity! My veg article was recently updated and greatly expanded. Pack a lunch as you'll be there awhile. Lots of plant-based passages from the early years of the Jesus movement await you! There are also a lot of references to John the Baptist.

To access it, GO TO:
https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/evidence-that-jesus-and-the-original-aramaic-christians-were-vegetarians-b8784ac42506

or @:
https://SantMatRadhasoami.blogspot.com/2019/04/evidence-that-jesus-and-original.html

https://tinyurl.com/VegPassagesBlog

“All living creatures seek a life of peace,
So pass your days on this Earth humanely.
Even the heart that beats in an animal’s breast
Knows sympathy, brims with love.
So look on all living creatures with loving compassion —
bring to humanity’s night the light of dawn.”
(Sant Darshan Singh poem)

#vegan #veganism #veg #vegetarian #vegetarianism #plantbased #plantbaseddiet #christianity #jesusmovement #earlychristianity #ebionites #nazoraeans #nasoraeans #mandaeans #johnthebaptist #govegan #GospelOftheHebrews #GospeloftheNasoraeans #GospelOfTheEbionites #Essenes

My Veg Passages blog is intended to serve as a major resource on the web for many seeking greater access to these rare, difficult-to-find veg and vegan passages from early Christianity and related spiritual movements of antiquity.

To access it, GO TO:
https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/evidence-that-jesus-and-the-original-aramaic-christians-were-vegetarians-b8784ac42506

or @:
https://SantMatRadhasoami.blogspot.com/2019/04/evidence-that-jesus-and-original.html

#vegan #veganism #veg #vegetarian #vegetarianism #plantbased #plantbaseddiet #christianity #jesusmovement #earlychristianity #mandaeans #johnthebaptist #govegan

#bookReview; a new category of #blogs from #MoonLitPress! We review and recommend "To Travel Well, Travel Light" by Mary Coday Edwards. Edwards is at once a deep thinker and deeply spiritual. This extraordinary memoir recounts Edwards’ global quest for religious belonging.

https://blog.moonlitpress.org/To-Travel-Well-Travel-Light

#wordsByTerryl #bookwyrm #religion #sbnr
#writing
#SpiritualNotReligious
#CriticalRealism
#SurvivingChristianity
#JungianSpirituality
#JesusMovement

Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss Reformer, writes on the loss of a fund for the poor. Refusal of help is cruel, but taking from the poor that which is given them is a sacrilege against God. Thus, “most truly sharp tempests of infelicities are poured forth both upon commonwealths and kingdoms.”

How can you open up your affection to your brothers and sisters in want?

#christian #jesusmovement #migrantchildren #devotion #helpinghand

Let's Talk About #Sects
Oct 2023
#Xenos / #Dwell

Xenos was originally set up as a leaderless group that rejected the structures and trappings of mainstream #churches. Springing forth from the #JesusMovement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, it focused on meeting in people’s homes and embracing members from the youth #countercultures. So why does the #church’s own website admit to a history that involves #cult-like behavior?

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYWNhc3QuY29tL2xldHMtdGFsay1hYm91dC1zZWN0cw/episode/NjUyNzliOTdlNjFmMWUwMDEzZTY0Yzc1

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYWNhc3QuY29tL2xldHMtdGFsay1hYm91dC1zZWN0cw/episode/NjUyNzlkM2RkNWNjMDQwMDEyNzBiYWVh

#christian #cults

This Sunday culminates the liturgical year and represents the culmination of the creation under Christ, Sovereign Monarch of All Things. #christtheking
#EpiscopalChurch #JesusMovement

Odes of Solomon, Lost Psalms of Early Christianity Discovered - PODCAST @
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-awakening-radio/id1477577384

https://open.spotify.com/show/5kqOaSDrj630h5ou65JSjE

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzIwNzIzNi9yc3M

https://santmatradhasoami.blogspot.com/2022/09/odes-of-solomon-lost-psalms-of-early.html

#SpiritualAwakeningRadio #SantMatSatsangPodcasts #Satsang #Hymns #Psalms #OdesofSolomon #NewTestament #BookoftheOdes #ODES #NewTestamentPsalms #ExtraCanonicalScriptures #LostBooksoftheBible #Bible #Apocrypha #Pseudepigrapha #EarlyChristianity #JesusMovement #EarlyChurch #Christianity #Gnosticism #SpiritualPodcasts

For those interested in the spirituality of John the Baptist, see this podcast, which features readings from a Gospel of Thomas-like collection of his sayings: The Hidden Sayings of John the Baptist: A Voice Crying Out in the Wilderness: https://youtu.be/JSzAz3Yh1qI

#Ahimsa #JohnTheBaptist #Mandaean #Mandaeans #Nazorean #Nasoraeans #EarlyChristianity #JesusMovement #Gnostic #Gnostics #Gnosticism #Gnosis #SpiritualQuotes #Spirituality #Mysticism #Mystics #GreatLife #Podcasts #SpiritualAwakeningRadio

The John the Baptist Vegetarian Podcast: https://youtu.be/rBM34Cm4laE
The mention of John the Baptist eating "locusts" in the New Testament originally referred to locust beans, also known as carob beans....not bugs.

#Vegan #Veganism #Vegetarian #Vegetarianism #JohnTheBaptist #EarlyChristianity #JesusMovement #ChristianVegan #ChristianVegetarian #Podcasts #SpiritualAwakeningRadio

PODCAST: The Original Jesus Movement (Ebionites) Recognized Those in India Who Worship the One God, are Vegetarians, and Follow the Same Peaceful Ethical Precepts @ Youtube: https://youtu.be/L3aNyo_XUdM

Subscribe & Listen to PODCASTS:  http://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com/announce.html

#VegetarianGospels #India #nazorean #essenes #plantbaseddiet #clementinehomilies #hinduism #santmat #sant_mat #vegan #vegetarian #onelove #hinduism #jesusmovement #spiritualawakeningradio
#Vegetarian  #VeganPodcasts #God  #Religion