"One of the most venerable Christian writings outside the New Testament canon (dated circa 130 to 150), is The Epistle to Diognetus. The entire text merits reading. It’s a defense of the Christian faith vis-à-vis the context of its Greco-Roman provenance, but its perspective of who or what Christians are supposed to be in this world is just as relevant today as it was when it was written. We would do well to read and re-read, in particular, its fifth and sixth chapters. Here is a sampling from those chapters:
For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe… They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven…
To sum up all in one word — what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world… God has assigned them this illustrious position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake.
To say that confessing Christians have fallen short of this ideal is to state the obvious. I’m thinking of Christians of all stripes in Western society today, but hypocrites and self-deluded souls have professed to follow Christ while simultaneously dishonoring him in every age – in other words, there have always been, as Jesus forewarned, wheat and tares growing side by side. "
This is not for Jared.
He's gonzo- I give him Mars.
But,
For my Ortho-brothers... What do you think of St. Basil the Great? Is he worth a damn?
for sheep led astray; for those who are, unsure what to think about Jared,
Vasilios the Great continues:
"A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love."
I offer this to you, OrthoBros, the ones in the throes, the "I dont knows".
I offer it just once though...
Out of love for my Patron Basil the Great, who bids me remember:
"Nothing is so characteristically Christian as being a peacemaker."
I couldn't make it past your 7minute mark. Because I, I got F***ing pissed!
Are you kidding me?!
I too am running an organization; I too have heard about the "Ortho_guys," but honestly I'm not on Fb, I dont have time for this... It sounded rather sketchy.
But WHAT?!
my own bro's, my own bros and sis's in the Body and Blood, who come to the cup,
WHAT?
this is what you guys are listening too?
This is what you "like" alongside "liking" my writing?
OMF,
you guys, no. No no no.
So I couldn't make it past the 7minute mark.
Because like our Tamada here, I suspect like him, this question of "European" it enters right into my home.
For all the rest of y'all, you can afford to shoot your mouth off about the "darkness" outside your "light church". But I cant do that because, that sh** enters my own home, Yo.
you done bring the fight into my own home, what, who, Jared?
is that the guy?
You must be rolling in the dough, OrthoBro, if you've got 40,000.
You cant really care about a little gad fly like me can you?
you cant really care about a weak little thorn in your flesh,
a weaker brother like me?
but you have scandalized me.
And so this is what I WONT do:
I wont cancel you! No Bro, IT IS ON:
Now I'm gonna search you out, BRO, and we're gonna have it out:
Mark MY Words:
MARS is coming your way,
I'm gunnin your way, BRO:
You brought this on yourself.
Because I cant even hear you past 7 minutes... if you're saying things like "Let's make this year A Euro-Bro year..."
First rule of Fight Club is nothing good happens on Twitter. I enjoyed the crap out of this. Thanks for an entertaining half hour. 🤙🏻🤘🏻🎶
I'm so sorry...
last one I PROMISE (ranters gatta rant):
Ethiopia (that is, the black country, the african ethiopia... like black as the Eunuch in new testament- that black):
Ethiopia is... the FIRST Christian empire? an African Christian Faith, older than European X's???!!
WTF?
Unknown Empire
The True Story of Mysterious Ethiopia and the Future Ark of Civilization
by Dean W. Arnold
(Okay let's forgive Dean for not being a scholar- who is these days?- but the content of his book is worth a damn)
http://dean-w-arnold.com/unknown-empire
Okay I listened more.
And since No one else is toasting...
may I raise my glass once more?
This time Vasilios speaks,
So we dont let Mars take all the glory:
"One of the most venerable Christian writings outside the New Testament canon (dated circa 130 to 150), is The Epistle to Diognetus. The entire text merits reading. It’s a defense of the Christian faith vis-à-vis the context of its Greco-Roman provenance, but its perspective of who or what Christians are supposed to be in this world is just as relevant today as it was when it was written. We would do well to read and re-read, in particular, its fifth and sixth chapters. Here is a sampling from those chapters:
For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe… They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven…
To sum up all in one word — what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world… God has assigned them this illustrious position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake.
To say that confessing Christians have fallen short of this ideal is to state the obvious. I’m thinking of Christians of all stripes in Western society today, but hypocrites and self-deluded souls have professed to follow Christ while simultaneously dishonoring him in every age – in other words, there have always been, as Jesus forewarned, wheat and tares growing side by side. "
This is not for Jared.
He's gonzo- I give him Mars.
But,
For my Ortho-brothers... What do you think of St. Basil the Great? Is he worth a damn?
for sheep led astray; for those who are, unsure what to think about Jared,
Vasilios the Great continues:
"A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love."
I offer this to you, OrthoBros, the ones in the throes, the "I dont knows".
I offer it just once though...
Out of love for my Patron Basil the Great, who bids me remember:
"Nothing is so characteristically Christian as being a peacemaker."
-- St Basil the Great, Letter 114
Mars is back.
Oops!
I wont even bother quoting St. Moses the Great (Jared your ears are already stuffed up with flesh! I know you bro, from the inside out).
Those who know the great Ethiopian though, Moses the Black,
...Let us meditate on his own bloody end...
Why
did Moses
die?
That is what Mars has in store for you Jared-
For Jared,
rich boy,
You are in my crosshairs now!
"He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword."
Okay my brother,
Gagimarjos!
I couldn't make it past your 7minute mark. Because I, I got F***ing pissed!
Are you kidding me?!
I too am running an organization; I too have heard about the "Ortho_guys," but honestly I'm not on Fb, I dont have time for this... It sounded rather sketchy.
But WHAT?!
my own bro's, my own bros and sis's in the Body and Blood, who come to the cup,
WHAT?
this is what you guys are listening too?
This is what you "like" alongside "liking" my writing?
OMF,
you guys, no. No no no.
So I couldn't make it past the 7minute mark.
Because like our Tamada here, I suspect like him, this question of "European" it enters right into my home.
For all the rest of y'all, you can afford to shoot your mouth off about the "darkness" outside your "light church". But I cant do that because, that sh** enters my own home, Yo.
you done bring the fight into my own home, what, who, Jared?
is that the guy?
You must be rolling in the dough, OrthoBro, if you've got 40,000.
You cant really care about a little gad fly like me can you?
you cant really care about a weak little thorn in your flesh,
a weaker brother like me?
but you have scandalized me.
And so this is what I WONT do:
I wont cancel you! No Bro, IT IS ON:
Now I'm gonna search you out, BRO, and we're gonna have it out:
Mark MY Words:
MARS is coming your way,
I'm gunnin your way, BRO:
You brought this on yourself.
Because I cant even hear you past 7 minutes... if you're saying things like "Let's make this year A Euro-Bro year..."
My red heart is pounding Bro,
This Toast is to you...
I'm gunnin now.
I'm runnin now.
You better man up, cuz, it's comin' now.
To Jared, and all you BRO's:
Come get me first! Cuz, I'm after you now--
-MARZ.