Repost: By the Way, To Begin The Discussion On Yeshua...

As I've made clear before, I believe Yeshua to be Mashiach. I do not find (for a lack of a better term) a One-in-Three, "Three In One", Pluralunity, or Trinity G-d to be in conflict with the Shema-- after all, both "Eloheinu" (from "Elohim") and "Echad" indicate plurality and unity-- e.g., "And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'" In that context, I believe "us" to be G-d the Father, G-d the Son, and G-d the Holy Spirit. As for as P'rushi tradition, I see nothing wrong with it so long as it does not conflict with Tanakh. In the CJB Translation of the New Testament, from Romans 14: "5 One person considers some days more holy than others, while someone else regards them as being all alike. What is important is for each to be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes a day as special does so to honor the Lord. Also he who eats anything, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; likewise the abstainer abstains to honor the Lord, and he too gives thanks to God."

First Part Of My Rough Draft Of My Final Latin American History Paper

Santo Domingo de Guzmán as Ciudad Trujillo and Its Legacy Thereas

To state the least, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina inevitably and indelibly changed Santo Domingo de Guzmán and the rest of the Dominican Republic. From the Trujillista coup in 1931 to Trujillo’s justifiable murder on May 30, 1961; the Dominican Republic and Santo Domingo—then known as Ciudad Trujillo—received wounds from which will they will never heal, and the scars of those wounds which will never fade—at least not in this lifetime. At least according to Mario Vargas Llosa (among others[1]), “Generalissimo” Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was a brutal, narcissistic, pedophiliac, and Self-Hating-Black[2] man who was perhaps-severely OCD or vain in regards to appearance, not good at being a dad, unfortunately skilled in abusing his training that was acquired with the U.S. Marines, and fiercely patriarchal.

Beginning by examining Trujillo’s ethnic self hatred and racism, one may well quote Vargas Llosa’s obviously-well-researched La Fiesta del Chivo (The Feast of the Goat)[3]. According to Vargas Llosa’s historical fiction novel, Trujillo unequivocally had exchanges such as this:

Hieratic and theatrical, the Generalissimo raised his hands and showed them to his guests:

“For the sake of this country, I have stained these with blood… [t]o keep the blacks from colonizing us again. There were tens of thousands of them, and they were everywhere. If I hadn’t, the Dominican Republic would not exist today. The entire island would be Haiti, as it was in 1840. The handful of white survivors would be serving the blacks. That was my most difficult decision in thirty years of government, Simon.”[4]

            His Black mother, Julia Molina de Trujillo, did not know that her son despised his maternal heritage to that extent, if she knew at all. She also probably had no idea that her son became just like his dad, and his sons became like their dad in turn:

Did she recognize him? Doña Altagracia Julia Molina was ninety-six years old and her mind must be like soapy water in which dissolved…She had always been a very good woman, this illegitimate daughter of Haitian immigrants to San Cristóbal, whose features he and his siblings had inherited, something that never failed to mortify him despite his great love for her. Sometimes, however,…he would think, mockingly: [Dominicans are] licking the ground for a descendant of slaves.” How was the Sublime Matriarch to blame for the black blood that ran in her veins? Doña Julia had lived only for her husband, Don José Trujillo Valdez, an easygoing drinker and womanizer…Congenitally frugal, Doña Julia would have continued to live in the modest little house…where the Generalissimo had been born and spent his childhood, or in one of the huts where her Haitian ancestors had died of hunger.[5]

            As stated, Rafael Trujillo became like Don José instead of Doña Julia, and his sons in turn became like him. As Don José was not a good dad, he was not a good dad; and his sons reflected that:

[“]The great mistake of my life has been…my children. Have you ever seen disasters like them? Their only horizon is booze, pesos, and fucking. Is there one of them capable of continuing my work? Isn’t it a shame that…Ramfis and Radhamés are playing in Paris instead of standing at my side?”[6]

            Trujillo imposed suffering on himself and his family within Ciudad Trujillo and San Cristóbal due to his racist self hatred and addictions to alcohol and sex. Trujillo imposed suffering on the rest of the Dominican Republic by starting with his heinous rapes of girls, including Urania Cabral. Urania Cabral partially describes her forced encounter with Trujillo as follows:

“Let’s go up, beautiful,” he said, his voice somewhat more thickened. “We’ll be more comfortable…I don’t enjoy being brutal to girls. I like them to enjoy it, too…”

“He was seventy and I was fourteen,” Urania specifies for the fifth or tenth time. “We were a mismatched couple…The grandfather and the granddaughter on their way to the bridal chamber.”[7]

            But since the time of Urania’s recounting was in1999-2000—2000 being when Vargas published La Fiesta del Chivo—; Urania must have been younger than 14—since she claims to be 49[8]—and was perhaps, at most, 11 years old. Urania was not the only victim of Trujillo’s pedophilia. Among other victims was 17-year-old Yolanda Esterel.[9] Yolanda must have been treated the same way as Urania was treated by the vain, appearance-obsessed, and perhaps-severely-OCD Trujillo[10]:

He looked at her with surprise and hatred, as if she were a malevolent apparition. Red, fiery, fixed, his eyes froze her. She couldn’t move. Trujillo’s eyes ran over her,…darted to the bloodstained spread, and glared at her again. Choking with revulsion, he ordered:

“Go on, get washed, see what you’ve done to the bed? Get out of here!”

…

“Get out, get out,” he said in a strangled voice. “Tell Benita to bring fresh sheets and a spread and clean up this mess.”

Trujillo had a U.S. Marine as an accomplice in all his brutal, narcissistic, pedophiliac, self-hating, vain, and fiercely-patriarchal work and bad parenting—and one would think that the 2012 Cartagena, Colombia scandal with the U.S. Secret Service was just as bad until he or she met this accomplice of Trujillo.[11] That accomplice was Simon Gittleman.  

---

[1] Though Czarnecki relies mostly on Vargas Llosa’s well-prepared work

[2] Mother Julia Molina de Trujillo had Haitian blood.

[3] Vargas Llosa, Mario. The Feast of the Goat. Translated by Edit Grossman. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2001.

[4] Vargas Llosa 164.

[5] Ibid. 284

[6] Ibid  120

[7] Ibid. 394

[8] Ibid. 398

[9] Ibid 281-282

[10] Although to be fair to OCD sufferers (Czarnecki herself included), Czarnecki does not really want to credit Trujillo with having OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) in any way, shape, or form

[11] Unless the Colombian prostitutes were underage and forced into prostitution, in which case Cartagena-Gate would be just as bad as Trujillo’s dirty work. After all, both scandals involved betrayal and treason against the United States by government and military personnel. 

Composed From Tweets and Facebook Statuses: Yad L'Achim, And Other Self-Hating Jews And Anti Semites....

I'll never get why some Messianic Jews dread groups like Yad L'Achim-- what can man do to us that G-d hasn't planned since before time? Meanwhile, I actively call for parties like Likud & Yisra'el Beiteinu to stop supporting & enabling groups like Yad L'Achim. I even once called & confronted Yad L'Achim in New York. They're just abusive control freaks. Don't let 'em get to you (Here, I'm talking to people like my friend who got mad at me for saying that she is Messianic. She doesn't want Yad L'Achim to know & attack her.).

I should clarify that I am talking about fellow Messianic Jews across the board, me sadly included, when I say that I'll never get why some Messianic Jews dread groups like Yad L'Achim. I get afraid. (I-- even I-- get dreadful of everything of rejection to persecution.). I was abused and persecuted by my Self-Hating-, Non-Messianic-Jewish dad. I've been there, done that, and come to realize that I'm going to get persecuted almost daily if not daily. But I'm not afraid of my faith or what people will do to me because of it-- not if I don't want to be, for "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I'm even making aliyah if G-d wills, and I'm going to have a Hell of a time as a Patrilineal, Messianic Jew with a disability. 

I know that Yad L'Achim is dangerous, but Yeshua stated clearly, "But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake." (Luke 21:12) I've received threats from people in the same vein, including Anti Semites. By the way, remember that Antimissionaries (Countermissionaries) and Anti Semites are ultimately in the same vein.

By the Way, To Begin The Discussion On Yeshua...

As I've made clear before, I believe Yeshua to be Mashiach. I do not find (for a lack of a better term) a One-in-Three, "Three In One", Pluralunity, or Trinity G-d to be in conflict with the Shema-- after all, both "Eloheinu" (from "Elohim") and "Echad" indicate plurality and unity-- e.g., "And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'" In that context, I believe "us" to be G-d the Father, G-d the Son, and G-d the Holy Spirit. As for as P'rushi tradition, I see nothing wrong with it so long as it does not conflict with Tanakh. In the CJB Translation of the New Testament, from Romans 14: "5 One person considers some days more holy than others, while someone else regards them as being all alike. What is important is for each to be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes a day as special does so to honor the Lord. Also he who eats anything, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; likewise the abstainer abstains to honor the Lord, and he too gives thanks to God."

Composed From Yesterday's Tweets: Religion and Politics

Let's go over Right and Left one more time: Rightists want freedom, Leftists want restriction, and G-d states to be neither Right nor Left. ""Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left." As if G-d didn't know about politics: search "right left" on Bible Gateway. Nonetheless, Yeshua does say, "I could wish you were cold or hot." (Rev 3:15b). So, we do need to lean Right or Left. So given Deuteronomy 5:32 and Revelation 3:15-16, we need to not be Far Right or Left but certainly need to have convictions.

Happy Israeli Independence Day

Today is Iyar 5, 5772. HaChodesh L'Iyar was sighted on April 22 at 7:24, according to Nehemiah Gordon. So, the P'rushim were, once again, a little off in celebrating Yom Ha'Atzma'ut-- they celebrated Yom Ha'Atzma'ut early. But to be fair, they at least celebrated the Day of Independence for Israel. 

Is Matrilineal Jewishness Valid? The Answer Is...

Yes, but not because of the P'rushim is Matrilineal Jewishness valid. I should've at least saved my posts from one group that I was in with Asher Romero ben Israel and Adam Klein (who is not Nehemia Gordon's friend, as he stated, and clearly not my friend-- on his own volition), because I'm so damned lazy and don't really want to rewrite what I already wrote (Maybe I'm more depressed lately as well, thus more lazy. Anyway...).

First, let's begin with B'resheet 17:19-21:

¹⁹ Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.²¹ But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”

We see that Yitzhak had to have Sarah-- not anyone else-- as his mother and Avraham-- not anyone else-- as his dad (which is why, incidentally, I believe that some Kara'im argue that both parents must be Jewish in order for the child to be Jewish). We also see that Yitzhak was the first Yehudi:

²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. ²³ But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, ²⁴ which things are symbolic. For these are the^[d] two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— ²⁵ for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— ²⁶ but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. ²⁷ For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children

Than she who has a husband.”^[e].

Yitzhak was "born of the promise". We see that in this way, Yitzhak was the first Jew and that Patrilineal Jewishness is as valid as Matrilineal Jewishness. But let's get back to Matrilineal Jewishness. We've seen so far that the contribution of the mother cannot be left out (thus part of why I stated that  I believe that some Kara'im argue that both parents must be Jewish in order for the child to be Jewish). The contribution certainly was not left out in the cases of the young Dani of Mitzrayimi parentage, Hiram the king of Phoenicia and Huram his dad(? See Wikipedia for the dispute on this.), and Timothy HaYavani:

• ^"10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. ¹¹ And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹² Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the Lord might be shown to them. ¹³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴ “Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him." The P'rushim use this, but only to attempt to invalidate Patrilineal Jewishness; thus, they don't use this for the right reasons. 
• "So he said, “What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” And he called them the land of Cabul,^[a] as they are to this day." Here, Hiram calls Shlomo "brother" because " ³ Now King Solomon sent and brought Huram^[a] from Tyre. ¹⁴ He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a bronze worker; he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill in working with all kinds of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and did all his work. " Hiram also blessed G-d. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal house for himself!"
• Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, theson of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. ² He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took himand circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. ⁴ And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

One more quick example; which is not Scriptural, nonetheless valid: Geraldo Rivera's daughter Sol. Are we to say that she is not Jewish because her dad's paternal granddad was a Spaniard and his paternal grandmother a Taino Native American? Is Sol then only a Spaniard of Taino and Jewish descent? To rule out Lillian Friedman Rivera's contribution and Erica Levy Rivera's contribution (which, by the way, makes Sol a Matrilineal Levit) would be entirely unfair and unpractical, especially since Sol is 3/4 Jewish. 

With All Due Respect To Dr. Michelle Scott of University of Maryland, Baltimore County...

Firstly, your faith and "objectivity as a historian" cannot be separated. For, "As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man." (Proverbs 27:19) Furthermore, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things." (Matthew 12:35) You can't separate a worldview for any other kind of view, and vice versa. Secondly, there is a class of undeserving poor men. "A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl, And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again." (Proverbs 19:24) Also:

⁶ But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he^[a] received from us. ⁷ For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; ⁸ nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, ⁹ not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.

¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. ¹¹ For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. ¹² Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

¹³ But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. ¹⁴ And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.¹⁵ Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

(From 2 Thessalonians 3)

There are welfare queens, people who want to blame the White man and conservatives (including you, since you talk about a "conservative backlash"), and others who refuse to face that deliberate ineptness, sloth, and similar factors are what influence and cause poverty and even the supposed War on Poverty (which has been a miserable failure) to happen in the first place-- in other words, as I admittedly tweeted during class today, "Reaganomics may've worked if the "undeserving poor" & the Church did their jobs." 

Also in other words, we wouldn't even need a "War" on Poverty, which has actually been a death march to poverty-- and we thought that slavery and the Holocaust were over. Oh no: many Blacks and many of us Jews-- that is, those of us in the ghettos such as Crown Heights and Northwest Baltimore-- have enslaved and entrapped ourselves under the burdens of unneeded government entitlements such food stamps, welfare checks, Social Security and unemployment benefits, and other "safety" nets. 

Thus, in conclusion, you are serving only to perpetuate a self-imposed Holocaust (among Jews) and self-imposed slavery (among Blacks and others)  by being among those who blame trickle-down economics and Republicans instead of those who refuse to work for and feed themselves, and instead of the Church-- who has grown deliberately weary in doing good; and which supposedly, since you implied that you had a faith, includes yourself. 

Does Jews For Jesus, And Do Similar Groups, Actually Proselytize? The Answer Is That...

They sometimes but rarely do. Let's first look at what proselytize means:

Definition of PROSELYTIZE

intransitive verb

1

: to induce someone to convert to one's faith

2

: to recruit someone to join one's party, institution, or cause

transitive verb

: to recruit or convert especially to a new faith, institution, or cause

— pros·e·ly·ti·za·tion  noun

— pros·e·ly·tiz·er  noun

Jews for Jesus does not intend to "induce someone to convert to one's faith" or "recruit someone to join one's party, institution, or cause"-- that is not up to them. "⁵ Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. ⁷ So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase." So goes the same for any other Messianic Jew and G-d, although Jews for Jesus does indeed intend to-- as they state-- make the Messiahship of Yeshua (Jesus) unavoidable.


When they proselytize is when they go into places where they're unequivocally unwelcome, unless they are called to go there by G-d-- but whether they are called is disputable as well. For, "when you go into a household, greet it. ¹³ If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.¹⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"


Most haredim in haredi shtetlach are preconceivedly exclusive, private, and unwelcoming of Messianic Jews-- so why Jews for Jesus does enter neighborhoods like Crown Heights and Northwest Baltimore, unless invited, is one aspect of Jews for Jesus that I question.


In conclusion, Jews for Jesus (and similar groups) proselytize only when they go into places where they are clearly unwelcome and not called to go. Otherwise, they do not do or intend recruiting or inducing regarding Messianic Judaism. 

An Internship Seeker Has A Few Questions For Any Intern Recruiters...

1. I am a Political Science Major at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and I am thinking of either going to law school or going into journalism upon graduation. Are you recruiting interns majoring in Political Science, Pre Law, or Journalism, or similar subjects at this time?
2. In your field, what is a typical day and work setting like? What does a typical schedule look like?
3. What do you like about your own job in your chosen field? Is there anything that you wish that you could change about your job?
4. Is there any reason why people leave your field? Is there any turnover?
5. What does the typical career path look like? What are the levels in your career field?
6. Are there any promotion opportunities in your field?
7. What kind of travel, if any travel, is involved?
8. What influenced or made you choose your own career path?
9. What kind of background and skills should I have in your field?
10. I have Diplegic Spastia Cerebral Palsy, Obsessive Compulsive and Anxiety Disorder with Depression (for which I take medication), and mild ADD and possible mild Aspberger's (for which I do not take medication). I am currently on SSI. Are there opportunities and accommodations for someone such as me in your field?
11. What else would you like to know about me?
12. What else should I know about you and your field?

Please e-mail me or look about my about.me webpage to find out more about me. Thank you.

Nicole Czarnecki

 

Some Facts That You Should Know (Watch Me)....

1. I'm not going to "get fat", as my mom's afraid that I might. I'm even going to lose weight this week.
2. I'm going to "make it"-- by "make it", I mean "be rich and famous"-- and I could(n't) care less about the rich part.
3. I'm going to impact lives somehow (and I'm not just saying that. People have told me that.).
4. I'm a Jew, and I don't hide that I'm a Jew. I'm a Messianic Jew as well. 
5. I can take your threats and epithets. Call me a "k***"; tell me that I'm a not a real Jew; tell me that I wasn't gassed, etc.. I'm so used to Anti Semitism and Anti Missionarism that I'm not even phased by your threats. I know who I am. I've done my homework, my research, and my Scripture reading. To find out that I'm Jewish, I looked at Ancestry.com, JewishGen, and other websites and other things-- and I enlisted the help of my Levi cousin Kevin Fosko-- shoutout to the Levshiks, even though they're his relatives. 'Am Yisra'el Chai!
6. I'm related to some famous and aspiring-to-be-famous people (and some infamous people), but I don't  plan to use their names any time soon-- in other words, I'm going to make my own name in my own right.
7. When I say and do what I say and do, I can usually back up what I say and do.

What else did you need to know about me?

I've Been Busy Lately, But...

One would think that more people would be looking at my blog (part of which you're reading at present), YouTube channel, @Nickidewbear Twitter account, and Facebook page. Alas, I've gained only a few more followers on Twitter, a few more subscribers on YouTube, and one more "Like" on Facebook. What do I have to do to get more Klout and Kred (puns intended)? I'm not trying to make this all about.me (again, pun intended), but I would like to get LinkedIn.

If nothing else, I'm hopefully skilled at making puns. 

For Half Of These Celebrities, Their Religion Is Not Real To Them...

For the "Christian" celebrities in particular, some of them are only externally-culturally Christians. For example, Carrie Prejean, Carrie Underwood, Toby Keith's family, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert-- they all claim Jesus; but:

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

I already covered Toby Keith and his family. As for Carrie Prejean (and I thought, though I could be wrong about, that NotYourTypicalNegro on YouTube was the one who made this point about her), she stated that she believed that homosexuality is wrong only because of her upbringing and not because she really believes that "[n]either fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,^[a] nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." For Carrie Prejean ("No offense; that's just how I was raised."), the message of the Cross is offensive:

Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,^[a]

“The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone,”^[b]
And a rock of offense.”^[c]

⁸ and

“A stone of stumbling

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

And of course the message of the Cross will be offensive; "[f]or the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." By the way, homosexuality as a thorn in the flesh is (as a like to say) a-whole-nother discussion; but you can't get away with being a Christian and not expect to cause offense-- which I myself have to relearn daily.

As for Carrie Underwood, I don't see a woman who is serious about "Jesus, Take the Wheel"-- especially when she sings songs such as "Before He Cheats". The same goes for Miranda Lambert (e.g., "Kerosene), Blake Shelton's mistress and now wife.

In conclusion, these celebrities tend to have their religion as only their external, not their internal, culture because "that's just how [they] were raised", not how they ever really believed for themselves. The same may go for the parents who raised them (For more on this, ask me about it in the comments section.).

Never Forget That....

'Am Yisra'el Chai.

Is "How Do You Like Me Now?!" Actually A Mean Song?

An excerpt from the lyrics:

When I took off to Tennessee

I heard that you made fun of me

Never imagined I'd make it this far
Then you married into money[,] girl

Ain't it a cruel and funny world?

He took your dreams and [he] tore them apart.
He never comes home

And you're always alone

And your kids hear you cryin' down the hall
Alarm clock starts ringin'

Who could that be singin'

It's me[,] baby, with your wake up call!
How do you like me now?

How do you like me now,

Now that I'm on my way?

Do you still think I'm crazy

Standin' here today?

I couldn't make you love me

But I always dreamed about living in your radio

How do you like me now?

Another excerpt:

[Yeah,] I was always the crazy one
I broke into the stadium 
And I wrote your number on the 50 yard line
You were always the perfect one
And the valedictorian[,] so
Under your number[,] I wrote "call for a good time"

[And] I only wanted to [get] your attention
But you overlooked me somehow

So we can see that:

1. He started the trouble with criminal trespass, vandalism, and publication of another party's personal information with a malicious intent to do so, and he has the hutzpah to complain about her overlooking him.
2. He's not very forgiving.
3. He's vengeful and vindictive.

Not that I'm perfect, and not that Toby Keith's a Christian (or at least acting like a Christian at the present time, anyway); nonetheless, this song of Toby Keith's penmanship goes against everything Biblical. For example:

• Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 
• Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
• Psalm 83:16 Fill their faces with shame,That they may seek Your name, O Lord.

By the way, the context of Psalm 83 is that David desires to Israel should be avenged against Anti Semites. Toby Keith acts toward his former crush as if she put him through what Anti Semites have put Israel through over countless years-- and yet David is more forgiving. As a last resort, David wants for legitimate enemies of Israel (who never even did any bad to many of the Anti Semites in the first place), that they "be confounded and dismayed forever;Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth." 

Toby Keith acts as if his former crush was a Nazi who put countless Jews and gentiles, including Corrie ten Boom, through an inexplicable amount of pain. Yet, many of us have been perhaps beyond forgiving and even forgetful in some ways (for example, in buying Mercedes Benzes and hosting ".de" domain websites), and Corrie ten Boom forgave her former Nazi captor. By the way, the L-rd has the right to hate and laugh at the wicked; we do not, since we are human and imperfect; and even the L-rd does not desire that anyone should perish (See Ezekiel 33:11 and 2 Peter 3:8-9.), though He predestines (See Romans 9:10-24.). 

Here's the video for itself, though, so that you can judge for yourself:

Is The Kabul That Hiram Hated In Israel?

Or is it Kabul, Afghanistan? "And he said , What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he calledthem the land of Cabul unto this day."

First, let's look at "Cabul" in Strong's Concordance:

The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon

Strong's Number:   03521    Original Word Word Origin lwbk from the same as (03525) in the sense of limitation Transliterated Word TDNT Entry Kabuwl None Phonetic Spelling Parts of Speech kaw-bool'     Proper Name Location  Definition Cabul = "binding" a city on the border of Asher and located approx 10 miles (16 km) east of Akko; modern 'Kabul' a district in Galilee given by Solomon to Hiram and contemptuously called 'Cabul' by Hiram  King James Word Usage - Total: 2 Cabul 2

Then let's look at how far Ha'Eretz Yisra'el is supposed to expand. For example:

• Exodus 23:31 KJVAnd I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
  And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.
  Deuteronomy 1:7 KJVTurn you, and take your journey , and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
  Deuteronomy 11:24 KJVEvery place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
  Joshua 1:4 KJVFrom the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

A map shows:

View Larger Map


A to J: Kabul, Afghanistan; Euphrates, Iraq; Euphrates, Syria; Kabul, Israel; Akko, Israel; Nile, Egypt; Edom (Petra), Jordan; Edom (Petra); Jordan; Atzmon, Israel; Mediterranean Sea.


In conclusion, the Kabul that Hiram hated is in Israel... and I was wrong about the Kabul that Hiram hated being in Afghanistan.