What are my beliefs about Jesus Christ?

What are my beliefs about Jesus Christ?

This is a blog about what I believe and Jesus is very central to my beliefs, so I made this post about that!

Jesus Christ is both my spiritual master and my God

Basically, he is my Lord

I believe Jesus Christ is the human dimension of The Godhead

That he is the human side of God - God's humanity

I believe he is the human face of The Godhead, how The Godhead relates to us, and how we can imagine what God is like: he is how God presents himself to humanity

Or is at least one of the ways God presents himself to humanity!

What is God like? - look at Jesus and see!

I believe The Godhead primarily relates to humans through its Jesus persona, and that Jesus has an independent mind and his own enduring personality although he is a part of a wider "divine" consciousness, the consciousness of the entire Universe of which everything that exists is a part

Jesus is a Super-Intelligence in that he is massively wise and knowledgeable and can give every single human who ever lived his full and undivided attention at the exact same time - I believe he is wired into the workings of The Universe in general and into The Matrix (our dimension of reality, not the films!) in which we humans on Earth currently live - but still manages to be human in nature, as well as God

The point is, he is the face of God. God has a human face and that human face is Jesus. He is God but looks like a human, and behaves like a human. Although he is a Super-Intelligence, more intelligent and capable than any regular human.

I believe that the Jesus Christ we know from the gospels is how The Godhead wants we humans to know him and that the gospels tell us all we need to know about humankind’s relationship with God to be able cultivate a relationship with God – that is their purpose, but other texts and other traditions can also be good for that………

When it comes to what happens to people after we die I believe that Salvation is by God’s grace alone, through Salvation by Audit

Click here to go to my article about Salvation by Audit, where I explain what I mean by that! (opens in a new window)

I believe in Salvation by Audit, as opposed to Salvation by belief, or Salvation by works – although I believe that one’s beliefs and one’s works are factors in any person’s Salvation 

However, I believe it is entirely possible for good things to happen to an Atheist after death and that an Atheist may receive a very favourable audit, if they lived a good life and were a nice person and helped make the world a better place.

Indeed I think many Atheists are better people and a better influence on the world than a great many Theists.....

I believe that when it comes to each person's audit, believing in God is not what matters, it's living up to God's values and expectations and standards for us that are important, and that these are different considerations from what beliefs any person may have about God

I firmly believe that believing in Jesus and then following what he teaches is good for you when it comes to your Salvation

And I believe that people following the spirit of Jesus's teaching will always make life down here on Earth much, much better, I believe he is altogether a good influence on humankind

Yet many clearly wicked and undesirable people are very vocal about following Jesus, but I don't believe such people truly do follow Jesus although I think Jesus will go easy on them. But I don't see him as being one who is out to punish or condemn. And of course, nobody knows exactly what he thinks about certain people and how he'll deal with them but I think we can identify what type of person he'll be less likely to be sympathetic towards.....

Jesus's life and teachings equips us to become better people and he helps us make our world a better place - but other paths and traditions can also do this. But I personally have gone the Jesus way.

I believe that Christian scripture is enough to help any person to do this, that is how I personally try and live up to God's standards - I have gone down the Christian path and I am happy with all that, I feel comfortable and at home in the Christian paradigm

I believe that if you act and think and feel like a good person then that makes you a good person and that you can be a good person without having anything to do with Jesus

I believe that Jesus shows us the way to be good, however I believe it is possible to be good without him, either naturally on your own or by some other path

There are so many texts and thinkers and teachers who can help us be good! Indeed, most humans are equipped to be able to help other humans to be good!

I believe that right now Jesus Christ is a real being, a part of a wider Godhead and that he has a role to play in how people’s salvations are calculated at the end of their lives, so he is in many ways a judge, although I prefer to think of him as an auditor!

I believe that in his judgment he is both generous and fair, and that he wants good things to happen to good people and governs accordingly. I think that if you try your best to be a nice person and if you have a good heart and treat others with love and respect and have a pleasant disposition and are a good influence on the world then you have nothing to fear about his audit of you

If you think like a good person and behave like a good person then that makes you a good person and that is what matters, that is what the Audit examines

The aim is to be a good human, not a perfect human

There is no reason to be scared, it's an assessment, not a challenge or an ordeal and if you mess it up you may very well get another chance. And if you do something bad but regret it and repent and try to make things better then that will count in your favour. Do not be afraid!

And here is the link to my article about Salvation by Audit again

This is how knowledge filters down

This is how the world works

This is how knowledge filters down:

I will explain this in greater detail at some later point

Madaba is like....

What is Madaba?

Madaba is like God, but is not God (he is Upstairs to us but is below The Godhead)

Madaba is like The Demiurge but is not The Demiurge

Madaba is like The Matrix but is not The Matrix

Madaba is like an Extra-Terrestrial but is not an Extra-Terrestrial

Madaba is like The Superbrain of The Illuminati but is not The Superbrain of The Illuminati

(Edit: The Illuminati does  not actually exist!)

Madaba is like a Time Lord but is not a Time Lord

He is like all those things but is not (exactly) any of those things!

Also: Madaba is like a being but he is not a being. He is more of a system, a feature of how The Universe chooses to exist

Christian Politics: A Biblical Perspective

My Christianity is political and my politics are Christian

Basically: I believe that Jesus Christ is left-wing

At least by our contemporary standards

Sure, you may disagree with me but allow me to have my say!

I believe that the words of Jesus are recorded in Holy Scripture, which I believe is inspired by The Godhead

And I believe that Jesus Christ is an element of The Godhead - that Jesus Christ is "God"

I can show that he is left-wing by referring to Holy Scripture, in God's own words.

First of all:

“Love your neighbour as yourself” - Mark 12:31

Here to “love” means to treat others with compassion, respect, and concern – as though their wellbeing is important, worthy, and valuable to you

It doesn't mean kissing and/or holding hands!

And “neighbour” means your fellow humans, those who live in the same community as you. Be it your street, your town, your country, or the universal human family

Humans come in Communities. Humans are made out of Communities and Communities are made out of Humans. That is I believe a fundamental truth about human nature that we should keep in mind when doing politics.

Jesus clearly calls on us to be involved concerned members of our community and to love our fellow humans, he says it plainly

Question: Are you concerned about your own wellbeing? – if so, then Jesus commands you to be just as concerned about the wellbeing of others!

This is backed up by:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” - John 13: 34

And clearly, Jesus loved his disciples, and loves us!

To show how concerned The Lord is for we humans Jesus carried out various acts of public healing, to demonstrate both his compassion and his powers, so as to amplify the impact of his ministry, to make it resound down the ages:

He heals blind people (John 9:1–12)

He heals lepers (Luke 17:11–19)

He heals paralysed people (Mark 2:1–12)

Jesus is also a pacifist. He said:

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” - Matthew 5:9

If Jesus is on the side of the peacemakers, then that means he is against the warmongers, this is clear proof that Jesus values peace over conflict

Simple logic, really

Clearly God loves peace and hates war - Those who want to be Godly should I think have that in mind, before dropping bombs, launching missiles, or firing shells....

Jesus is also on the side of those who lack power and those who are poor:

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” - Matthew5:5

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” - Luke 6:20

And here's the thing: If Jesus is on the side of the poor and the powerless then that means he is against the rich and the powerful

That is simple logic

Scripture shows us that Jesus (who is God) is clearly not on the side of the warmongering establishment. He is clearly against those who have power, who are rich, and who wage war. This is clearly spelt out in the bible, yet a great many people carry on as though it isn’t in there, when it clearly is...

Further evidence that Jesus is on the side of the ordinary people rather than the rich and powerful, the billionaires:

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” - Luke 16:13

Currently, the majority of world leaders clearly do love money and clearly do serve it, everything they do is about increasing their own personal wealth. Although yes, this goes for some more than for others.

Well…. Jesus is against all that, he is not with such people. Sure, he loves them. But in Earthly politics he is not on their side.

The way I see it, no politician who is a millionaire, who has lots of properties and capital can be a servant of God. If they don’t believe that, then fine. If they want to love money then that’s fine, too. But at the end of the day, such people cannot really be men of God and it would be dishonest of them to pose as men of God. And we would be foolish to take them as being men of God.

Sure, there is nothing wrong with being comfortable financially. Having financial security, a nice house, a nice car, foreign holidays. A big TV. But being obsessed about it and hoarding stupid amounts that you could never spend is I think both unhealthy and against the teachings of God – and as concerned citizens, those of us who value the teachings of Jesus Christ should take all that into consideration when deciding who to support politically

Here's the thing: I think that all people should contribute to the good of the community, through either taxation and/or charity - based on their ability to pay. The rich should pay a larger portion than the less rich, and the destitute should not be taxed at all

And I think that those who want to serve God should be more concerned about the plight of the world's poor, and seek to make our planet more developed. A better place to live for everyone. I think it would be better to spend our money on improving the standard of living on our planet for all people, rather than blowing things up and shooting people. I believe that is the Christian way: to prioritise international development (and domestic social policies) over bombs and bullets.

Hospitals and schools, not aircraft carriers and tanks! - That is I believe the Christian way. Although of course, we still need militaries to defend ourselves with. But the aim should be peace, not war. There is a difference between being able to defend yourself and going out and waging wars.

Basically: In my opinion, Christians should be out to make the world work better for all the poor people, at the expense of the super-ultra-mega rich. In my mind, this would involve some measure of redistribution. 

And I also think that God would like to see the link between wealth and power to be finally broken. Once that happens, humankind will flourish.

However, we shouldn’t be horrible to the rich and powerful, we shouldn’t guillotine them, or anything like that, because Jesus says:

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” - Matthew 5:44

And of course, God loves the rich as much as he does everyone else

But they should be much less powerful and they should pay their fair share towards the welfare of the community - and no, I do not mean confiscate all their money and just hand it out, that would be stupid. Wealth is not the problem, poverty and inequality are. Don't let them confuse you!

I think the best course of action is to just not vote for the candidates backed by various sectional interests who only value money and not goodness or loving their neighbours and to vote for those who favour peace and who would rule in the interests of the ordinary people, not the elites

But I'm not going to say what policies I personally would favour based on all this, because it is not my job to do that. All I'm doing is showing you the scripture, the rest you must do for yourselves

And finally, I believe that God approves of multi-culturalism and does not want us to hate immigrants. Which I think is a very relevant thing politically, in both the USA and the UK:

^“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself” - Leviticus 19:33-34

This doesn’t mean God favours open and unlimited immigration, but it does mean that he doesn’t want people to be hate-filled about people of different origins, from other lands and other cultures. By “resides among you in your land” I think this scripture mean s “being lawfully present in your nation”.

The word “resides” is doing a lot of lifting here. But the point is, hating immigrants (indeed any hatred) is not at all the Christian way, and it would be better for people to channel their energies into other things. There are more important issues, and the issue of immigrants is I think very much used to distract people from what I think is the right way to go about things.

Anyway, to conclude. In my opinion (and of course, I am not claiming to be infallible or to speak for God, I am only quoting scripture):

1. God wants us to live together in a community, looking after each other and valuing others as much as we value ourselves. The word here is "love".
2. God wants world peace and wants us to find peaceful solutions to our various conflicts.
3. God is on the side of the powerless and the poor, and therefore against the powerful and the rich. I don't think that it is a huge leap to go from this to believing that poverty should be abolished and the rich should not be unduly powerful.
4. Be mindful that if a person is very focused on money and acquiring wealth then they will be less focused on God and doing what's right. But don't do anything awful to them.

Do with this as you will

It is not my job to tell you what policies or parties such an approach would favour. Although I think that all of the above has a biblical, scriptural basis. If I didn't think this I would never have wrote this.

Christianity + Democracy = my politics

Politically, I am now a Christian Democrat

That is how I identify

My world-view is Christian

And I think society should be run democratically, that the political system should be a democracy

Christianity + Democracy = my politics

More about this to come........

First party political post: Reform UK and our NHS

This is the first party political post on Madaba.info

I don't normally tend to get involved in party politics but I want to vent so here we go!

In short, I believe that Christianity demands universal health care, free at the point of use.

I think that Reform UK are against this, and to me that makes them anti-Christian. 

Read the gospels and you will see that Jesus Christ clearly has an interest in healing the ill, and did so out of compassion and concern, not for money

He healed all, asking for nothing in return

Christianity is all about being concerned for the welfare of your fellow humans and about building up a caring community

That is what Mark 12:31 is all about: "love your neighbour as yourself"

In 2012 the current leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage said:

“I think we are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of healthcare”

Which would mean abolishing the NHS as we know it

Let’s have a bit of a closer look

Who are this “we”?

It does not mean “we” the British people, that’s for sure

Abolishing the NHS would be objectively bad for us and make our lives worse

It means Nigel Farage’s chums in the Financial Class, of which he is clearly a part

The Financial Class would profit greatly from privatising the NHS, as they do in the USA where people pay through the nose for health coverage which very frequently never pays out and does not care about pre-existing conditions

Of course those people would like us to privatise our NHS, they would profit greatly from that by “providing” us with health insurance!

Also, what does he mean by “have to”?

If the meaning of life is to line the pockets of the Financial Class at the expense of the ordinary people then yes, we do have to do that – but thankfully it isn’t!

A vote for Reform UK would be a vote for national self-harm

Nigel Farage will try and distract the electorate with riots, minorities, "wokeism", boat people, indolent verminous dole scum and the like – but at the end of the day, our health and our health service would not be safe in his hands

In my mind, Nigel Farage not being fully committed to the principles of the NHS means he is unfit to be our Prime Minister. I believe that his views about the NHS are counter to both the views and interests of the British people

References:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/12/film-nigel-farage-insurance-based-nhs-private-companies

A Review of The Beatles third studio album, "A Hard Day's Night" (1964)

Today I have listened to The Beatles third studio album, A Hard Day’s Night, from 1964

I enjoyed this album as much as I did With The Beatles, and more than I enjoyed Please Please Me – so I’m going to give it two and a half stars out of five. It is slightly more interesting and less samey than With The Beatles, but not significantly better

I was already familiar with two songs from this album, Can’t Buy My Love and A Hard Day’s Night – and these are easily the two stand-out tracks on this album

If I Fell and And I Love Her both landed for me, I think these are good songs

I also liked Tell Me Why – I think this one is all very jangly and twee but good, jangly and twee done well, perfecting that particular sound which is present in this album and the other two that came before it

Any Time At All was good too – captivating and lush, it has a good intro and chorus, it’s very generic, but a good example of its kind, this one is also jangly and twee done well

Tracks that did not work for me:

I’ll Cry Instead

Things We Said Today – I found this one dull and tedious

When I Get Home – a bit shit really and uninspired, not very interesting

You Can’t Do That – childish, I didn’t like it

I’ll Be Back – cutesy and annoying, generic but not done well

I think this album has its ups and also its downs, but I don’t rate it massively high although I do recognise that culturally it is very significant, an important and historically significant album. So it qualifies as “great” whilst being mediocre in terms of overall quality. The good bits cancel out the bad bits but the bad bits also cancel out the good bits. So I think it’s not so bad but also not really very thrilling

But were I listening to this in the 1960s, with the same culture in me as people had in the 60s then I would be raving about this album, I would be very enthusiastic about it and probably be a Beatles fan! – but I am not of the 1960s and those days are long gone, so right now for me this album is nothing special and not particularly good, in my opinion!

But I still rate it as a creative success, it is by no means a failure. It is just not in any way outstanding in terms of how good it is.....

So yeah, two and a half stars out of five, I think that's reasonable and fair