Vincent Paul DiMino

Paul gave his reputation,as surety,for resolution of differences,on the parts of both men,to the other.I believe this was much more dear to Paul,than mere money.He bound himself,and his credibility,to his faith in Our Lord's power to bring peace, through faith, to those who call upon his name.Jesus said he would not be ashamed before The Father of those who were not ashamed of Him before men.When faced with anything as difficult as the decision to give a Christian reference for another,it is best to pray,and wait upon Our Lord for direction.

Paul's words and actions are inspired by the Holy Spirit.The full meaning and purpose,including the meanings yet to be given to future readers, are quite beyond my understanding in their fullness,but,I believe the healing,and lessons for "master" and "slave",involve forgiveness,understanding,and cooperation,that could only become possible through their union in faith.Paul makes the distinction between what he "commands",as Paul,the mortal man,and apostle of Jesus Christ,and requests he makes to individuals as members of the body of Christ as he is inspired to do so in Love.Respect for personhood and character-building are involved,as well as a demonstration and witnessing of the power of the Spirit within both (to them,and us).

Paul tells Philemon that Onesimus,once useless to him (Philemon)is now useful to both.The implication is,that as brothers in Christ,all three share a common calling and "use".As a fellow "prisoner in Christ" Onesimus has true freedom from sin and oppression that can not be lost to circumstances of this world.

Interesting,...Paul does not say " ARCHIPPUS : see to it that you finish your work !",but rather asks the recipients of his letter,the entire church,the "Tell Archippus...".I get the impression that Archippus may have needed encouragement,or even to feel that his work was important to the people in the church.I have a friend,who has good ideas,is more than willing to serve,and is so anxious to become involved and offer his abilities and efforts that he often drives other church members away from himself with his zeal.He asks me to give him introductions and references to those within the body of Christ who are charged with responsibility for tasks and services where he feels he can do the most good.Capable people,with established methods and systems of accomplishing their objectives often resist the inclusion of a free thinking zealot so they can continue with "business as usual".Paul may be doing the same thing here:asking the church to receive these people,and their enthusiasm,as they would himself.

"Wisdom","full of grace","seasoned with salt"...How would we get these ?...Ask ! There have been times,where I've hesitated to reveal what I've believed to be relevant truths from scripture, that could be useful, to a situation, for fear, that those who appear to be in opposition, to the Word of God, might be given further opportunity, to sin,reject God's message,or even,pave to road to destruction, for the uncommitted followers within hearing,but, "all will hear"...They may react negatively,only to be lead, on a path of revelation, that ultimately turns them,and those who are in observance."The Word of God does not return void"...I can only pray, that He gives me the words, He chooses, to be spoken, or the silence, to allow the person, He chooses, to speak, as His will dictates.

Paul asks us to pray for the mission team,success of the mission,an open door for the message to be received,and clarity of the message to be received in the hearts and minds of those to whom it is given.Revelation 3:8 gives me goosebumps ! Can mere words,spoken by a flawed mortal, change subatomic structure, or the relationships of macro-cosmic forces ?...Did God speak creation into existence ? Where is this "open door" ? In our hearts ? The hearts and minds of the people we're trying to reach ? The nature of reality itself ?... "With God all things are possible !" It could be,that when we pray this prayer,we are asking God to give this person to Jesus, or, we may be asking for a sign, that He has. Anything that wonderful, must come from God.

Good Sabbath morning,y'all ! Paul reminds us that prayer is reaching for something that is beyond ourselves,or,beyond,even,our imagination.The importance of prayer is so great,that it requires our compete attention,devotion,concentration,and effort.The rewards inspire thanksgiving.Fully installed into our lives,this would open our hearts to transformation into members of the body of Christ.Within the framework of God's plan, and the timing of His infinite wisdom, this will enable us to to be part of the solution to all problems.

Obedience to, or honoring of, one's parents is obedience to God.We are bound to our biological (and spiritual,as well) families, in ways beyond our understanding.The "principalities" we struggle with existed before our time on this earth,as did the issues they present to us in that struggle.We fight battles with the "sins of our fathers".We must not lead our children to believe that our enemies will prevail.We must teach them faith,by example:1st: faith in our Savior,and then, faith in themselves,as those who are blessed, and to whom victory will be granted.

The virtues presented to us in Christ show God's law internalized.They reveal God,as "hidden in Christ".The virtues are our blueprint for works in the Name of Our Lord and act as a guide for His church.We are advised that by these virtues we will know those who have His spirit.A tree is judged by it's fruit. Non-Christians may become Christians,and in the process,even before they admit belief,they may admire and seek these virtues within themselves because they can see the results they achieve as "good".Our homes,our lives,our friends,our efforts in this world, can all be influenced by the Spirit that lives in us.

With the same tongue, we praise God,we curse man (mostly ourselves).It's the easy way out: misdirection.Can we really protect a person who is seeking to destroy their own being, with a lie (?): "I don't have any money." (when they want to gamble,drink,or ?),I can't give you a ride (to the place where they buy their dope,or meet with their fellow gang members,or,whatever it is that we believe would hurt the person more than us lying to them);BUT,a lie is a sin.Can we fight sin with sin ?...or worse,conceal sin with sin,prevent a person from the sin of judging another, by lying, concealing the Truth,to keep them from judging.Even when our "purpose" seems good to us,it's a lie.When found out,it nullifies any good we have spoken.Only constant vigilance,prayer,and even intercession by our friends,and determination to face evil head on, can save us from our tongues.I have not mastered this,yet,but with the Lord's help,it can be done.

Do you find my response to be double-minded ? When men go to court,in pursuit of their version of justice,for themselves,don't we select our representation on the basis of how well we believe it will USE the specifics of man's laws to our personal advantage ? If we could employ such representation before God,would we request the same service ? Who would You choose to present your case before the Almighty ? (The "most subtle of creatures",who could possibly try to bend the Law to your best advantage,or his own ?)...I think we're on the same point here,but we're having trouble speaking the same language (even in English).Jesus did not "do away with the Law".He paid the penalty,as "the wages of sin are death",giving us the option to repent and live,or remain in our sin and die.Paul (in Romans) speaks of the rule of sin as doing that which he hates.Sin isn't what we want,it's what IT wants,and is capable of proposing the illusion, that it, is what we want,just as we're capable of believing in that illusion,but,"The light shined in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.".

Legalism and asceticism are themselves of the sinful nature."How can Satan cast himself out ?".The choice,is to either accept God's help in the person of Jesus Christ,or fall, and have no help whatsoever.

Please excuse my ignorance of Dutch history,but for the benefit of those who may have not followed the "Mokerhei" reference,I'll recite what little, I think I might know, on the subject: Limburg (think of the cheese)established back around the time of Job,part of a rebellion against Roman rule at about the same time as the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans,the Blijde Inkomste voluntarily limits the authority of Royalty (somewhere in the 15th century,but similar to England's Magna Carta,which established some measure of "rule of law" as opposed to "divine right" absolute monarchy,like Spain had at the time),the Spanish beseige Haarlem (I think Harlem,in NYC, is a namesake),William or Orange tries to relieve the pressure on Limberg and is defeated,so the people open the dykes,laying waste to their own land to drive the invader (Spanish) away...how I see this as part of the lesson: like the "spiritual circumcision" Paul speaks of,we sometimes must give up even that which feeds and sustains us, to be purified from that which seeks to contaminate the Truth,and reestablish some "rule of falsehood"...did I miss your point ?

"Soft squishy law...": "legalism":akin to "fuzzy logic" and other present day, functional specifications, for something like artificial jurisprudence- that some poor future bozo may be able to purchase from a drive-thru-justice provider (if they can pay for it); a man-made adaptation of the Truth.God's law,in fact,The Word Of God Himself,was nailed to the cross,suffered the same death all flesh must (I'm not discussing Enoch or Elijah here,because I just don't know enough to make an all-inclusive statement,about this,yet)...and, yet, lives,in the person of Jesus Christ,in the hearts of all who love Him.All of us have fallen short of the glory of God,and yet,by His Grace,do not hide ourselves from the light of His Truth,but rather seek it...this is the power of evil,broken!It hides,we don't ! It is exposed,in it's nakedness,without the armor of it's lies,stripped of the power of it's illusion,without the power to invoke our guilt and cause us to turn from the face of our Lord and our God,who suffered the death of our sins to free us.Evil is mortally wounded,angry,aroused,dangerous,vengeful,in pain and despair,eager to devour whatever hope it may..."soft and squishy"...that's when we feel sorry for it...poor,injured evil...how sad for it...no way!!!Glory to God !

Jesus explained,that while no man had seen the Father, those chosen to be His, are allowed to see the Father in Him.He further explained that the pure of heart will see God.He told us,and Paul in particular,that his Grace is sufficient.When we approach Our Savior with pure hearts,the fullness of God is revealed to us,sufficiently to triumph over that which seeks to oppose His will in us.In this way,we may know the fullness of God,through Christ and by His Grace,take our parts within the structure of the Holy Temple of His Glory,being made holy to serve His purpose.Are we changed by this experience so that we may glow like Moses,after speaking face to face with God ?

Belief system: sounds man made,implies a structure that can be defined,and therefore predicted through application of human logic to a set of parameters that define it...philosophy (from the lesson: derived from love and wisdom,as possibly wisdom given in love,or maybe even a love of wisdom) could be something as good as one's collection of experience and memories gathered during a lifetime walk with God,or as empty and false as one's collection of suppositions based on anything that one chooses to hold dear.Deceptive and misleading,as a deliberate false prophet's calculated enslavement of the heart;worship of the "elemental spirits" can be seen in today's overconfidence in man's collective technological mastery and understanding of the of the order to which God gave some measure of structure to His universe throughout this age: "I can fix this","I can understand this",I can,...because,I,or We...or...yea,..I've been there,pray I never venture there again,and pray that when I begin to give credence to some man made tradition,no matter how much I love the people that it honors,that somebody,some person in the service of our God,stop me,in Jesus name,and that by his Grace I be brought back into the light. Thanks,y'all,...great comments ! Vince

Paul's labors are at one with Christ's own.He fights against spiritual death.He kindles the fire which Our Lord will set to blaze upon his glorious return."Prefect" means as God has intended us to be,and that includes our effort,prayers,and his infilling of the Holy Spirit and the blessings conferred upon us through the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.It's no accident that Paul mentions his efforts on the part of the church in Laodicia,which has become a byword for lukewarm or useless faith.This is what he's struggling against:legalism,ritualism,veneration of man-made practices,honoring of ourselves,self-delusion and spiritual laziness or avoidance of our responsibility to the Truth.

The best is yet to be told.Even now,more of God's glory is being revealed through the grace of Jesus Christ Our Lord.There are yet people in the world who have never head the Gospel of Truth or even the name of Jesus.People,are persecuted,tortured,jailed,and killed for proclaiming the Truth,and the life of Christ,within them triumphs and dispels the evil that lives,even within the lives of their persecutors,some of which are forever changed by that contact.The Glory of God is revealed in the hearts of men through the person of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.The pure of heart will see God and even more of his infinite and unimaginable glory.