Jiron

A Splendid Torch I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, For the harder I work, the more I live, Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. - George Bernard Shaw

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son: Colossians 1:13 Translated This word caught my attention as I study Colossians. This book is RICH! I will want to break down even more of it, I am sure... yet going verse by verse (reading different translations) studying the context of when it was written, to whom it was written and why it was written. Yet through my fine tooth comb, I come across this word, TRANSLATED. translate - restate (words) from one language into another language; translate - understand: make sense of a language; translate - change from one form or medium into another; translate - bring to a certain spiritual state; translate - change the position of (figures or bodies) in space without rotation; In Greek, translated methistēmi means: 1) to transpose, transfer, remove from one place to another a) of change of situation or place b) to remove from the office of a steward c) to depart from life, to die I ha...

Concerted efforts at influence and control lie at the core of cultic groups, programs, and relationships. Many members, former members, and supporters of cults are not fully aware of the extent to which members may have been manipulated, exploited, even abused. The following list of social-structural, social-psychological, and interpersonal behavioral patterns commonly found in cultic environments may be helpful in assessing a particular group or relationship. Compare these patterns to the situation you were in (or in which you, a family member, or friend is currently involved). This list may help you determine if there is cause for concern. Bear in mind that this list is not meant to be a “cult scale” or a definitive checklist to determine if a specific group is a cult. This is not so much a diagnostic instrument as it is an analytical tool. * The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system,...

Our attitude concerning the demonic is critical to how we approach the issues of life. The Word says to "guard our hearts", but from what exactly? And how? The answer is from lies, by seeking and focusing on the truth. A heart on fire or burning like hot coals, is a heart that is FULL of truth, KNOWING, the love of God and our Position as Sons and Daughters of the Most High God. It is a heart completely absent of fear. "Greater is He who lives within me, then he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4

In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not performed by hand, when you threw off your sinful nature in true Christian circumcision; (Weymouth) When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision--the cutting away of your sinful nature. (NLT) In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah. (Intl. Standard Version) In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ by stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its passions and lusts). (Amplified) In him too you have the true circumcision—the circumcision which is not made with hands but wrought by the Spirit—the circumcision which divests not of a part only but of the whole carnal body—the circumcision wh...