Page Title

Text Box: of sin and a sense of shame, are doomed to failure. And those who object to re-introducing God into society, and re-establishing a sense of sin, and a sense of shame, are doomed - period. When a religion and its good people allows or gives in to popular demand and does not fight - yes actually fight - against immorality of any and every kind, evil gains a beachhead, a foothold, an acceptance in society. Many of those who would otherwise be good people become tainted by various forms of immorality and stifle or ignore their shame. All because a few idiots wish to act like a bunch of dogs, not a pack of dogs but a bunch of dogs with no discipline, no Alpha male as leader, breeding without restraint and digging in the garbage for their sustenance. Following God’s untainted instructions, and being ashamed of failure so to do, is the only means by which temporal society can be made “liveable”, though its main benefit is eternal salvation. Each of us also has a personal interest in attaining a culture of true morality far beyond creating a society in which we may live with relative safety. As the world in which we live becomes ever increasingly sinful and without shame, we who attempt to live by the Word of God face increasingly stronger temptations to sin. The temptations to sin not only increase in strength, but in number and in variety. This increases the difficulties we must overcome in pursuing our own eternal salvation. Therefore, it behoves us to know and to fight against these evils, not just for the well being of others, not just that we may live in relative peace, but that we each will both decrease the obstacles to our own eternal salvation and increase our opportunities, ability, and the likelihood we will attain eternal salvation. 1 Peter 2:11-19; John 16:16-22

Text Box: +

Text Box: a thief, but is believed to have been a brigand, one who attacked travelers and those who happened to be in places and situations in which Dismas found opportunity to rob them. He may also have been a Zealot rebel against Roman rule, or used the disguise of being such, similar to the ruse Jesse James used of robbing Yankee banks. By the way, most if not all of the banks Jesse James robbed were owned by Southerners. And he often killed people just to kill them. One instance was that of a school boy who was walking and reading a book as the James gang was riding out of a town with all the town’s money. The boy was shot dead by the James gang. This is the kind of person Saint Dismas was. But unlike the Bad Thief, whose name was Gestas (notice there is no Saint in front of his name), Saint Dismas acknowledged his evil thoughts and deeds. Saint Dismas chided Gestas and all those who were ridiculing Jesus, acknowledged his own sinfulness, defended the innocence of Jesus, and in that acknowledgment and defense of Truth was given the grace of repentance which he accepted when he requested Christ, God, remember him in His kingdom. Jesus personally and individually accepted the conversion and repentance of Saint Dismas and personally declared the Sainthood of Dismas to be that very day when Dismas would die. And note well, the conversion of Saint Dismas occurred at the confection of the Eucharist - only in the bloody Sacrifice and not the nice, clean sacrifice in which we participate. There was no miracle. There was the coming into completion of that which was necessary for the enabling of the salvation of each member of the human race. That was done by God. The work begun by God was, for Saint Dismas, completed by Saint Dismas.

Text Box: who had food were shamed into sharing what they had with those who had not. Three very quickly stated facts destroy this lie. First, the people had been following Jesus for several days and any food they may have carried with them had for the most part already been eaten. Second, everyone was filled after eating. Third, the fragments which were gathered up were of barley loaves, and it is more than extremely unlikely that everyone was carrying barley loaves so that there would be a large surplus to gather after all had eaten. The food must have been miraculously provided by Jesus Christ, God. It is very important to comprehend that when God works a miracle it is complete, total, and over fulfilling. It is of equal importance to recognize, comprehend, and understand that salvation is not a miracle. Repeat: Salvation is not a miracle. Salvation is a work of both God and of the individual. Let us explore two instances of conversion and of salvation to better comprehend this. That of the first Jewish Saint and that of the first known Gentile convert and Saint. Saint Dismas is known as the Good Thief. He was crucified with Christ. He was crucified because he was not only

Text Box: The work begun by God was, for Saint Dismas, completed by Saint Dismas.

Go to page