Above is a pic of my youngest daughter and me.
My Husband, My brother in Christ
Phriday Philippians: Real Knowledge
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.--Php. 1:9-11
What is real knowledge??? Let me begin with what it is NOT.
I Google searched "real knowledge" to see what the internet would provide.
In the images section it pointed me to a man doing tai chi, a real estate service advertisement, a picture of Mick Jagger and an image of crystals for an ad by Sonya Green on "reinventing myself: self healing with creative visualization" ...among other rather discouraging images.
In the video section of Google with "real knowledge" typed into the search engine, the top video was of a rock band titled "Unity and Knowledge" produced by Lazy Heroine Productions.
Under News, the top article was called "Trivial Pursuit Hinders Real Knowledge"... though I like that title because it really does apply to my post, this top Google news article info begins with DID YOU know that Descartes had a fetish for cross-eyed women?
"Real Knowledge" under the web section points to Confuscious quotes, and among other things, an Amazon list of books for "ascending humans" (of which one book is titled, "Contacting Your Spirit Guide")
In a science and philosophy meta, a person wrote, Real knowledge doesn't exist. It isn't here or there. It doesn't have a form. as another asks, Is it possible to gain knowledge of the REAL world via lucid dreaming?
I had to stop this web search... it was beyond disheartening. But what was I expecting? I saw a world without Christ... and for the most part, that is the world we live in. Even among professing Christians. This is not about Gnosticism. Gnostics believed that human beings, though locked in this material body, have a spark of the higher spiritual reality within. This spark, if fanned into a flame, can liberate us and help us evolve back into spiritual perfection. This happens through a process of self-discovery, in which you discover your divine identity, you separate from the world by ‘stripping off ’ the consciousness of the physical body, and you finally experience the kingdom of light, peace, and life.
HERE is a link to an article called "Christianity is my Spiritual Home"... it is an interview with the latest feminist Gnostic, Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda. When asked about Ted Turner, When did he say that Christianity was a "religion for losers" (for which he later apologized)? Jane Fonda responded, Before I met him. And you know it's funny because he ends all his speeches with "God Bless". He studied; you know, he was an altar boy. He was considering becoming a missionary. He's read the Bible cover-to-cover twice. He's been saved seven times, including twice by Billy Graham.
When asked about her prayer life she stated, When I need an answer, or I need someone to be helped, it's always the same: my hands in prayer position and my thumbs pressed against my third eye, my forehead...
More on this topic next week.
...proud, vain-glorious boasting in God, and in the outward profession of his name, is the root and sum of all hypocrisy. Spiritual pride is the most dangerous of all kinds of pride. A great evil of the sins professors is, the dishonour done to God and religion, by their not living according to their profession. Many despise their more ignorant neighbours who rest in a dead form of godliness; yet themselves trust in a form of knowledge, equally void of life and power, while some glory in the gospel, whose unholy lives dishonour God, and cause his name to be blasphemed. --Matthew Henry
BY THE WAY... It is Friday and Challies asked for prayer especially on Fridays because this is the day he has chosen to commit primarily to the book he is writing on discernment. So, pray for him. Also, I will be writing a bit on discernment in a couple of weeks because I am in that portion of Phillipians that says real knowledge and all discernment. (yikes)
