On the Conflict in the Middle East

Here's what I have so far for my middle Eastern global awareness project in Painting class. It's due Jan. 26th at 3 pm. I needed to touch it up a bit, improve the quality When the snapshot was taken. 

I used a black and white pattern and added Stars of David and a red crisscross weaving.
The red can represent blood, the stars of David and the Pattern in the back are inter-locked by the red, symbolizing the pain and bloodshed on both/all sides of all the conflict out that way now, and how everybody there is likely feeling many of the same things. Everybody's afraid of somebody, worried about violence and their family and what will happen if this or that group comes to power or comes to their area. Some feel a war against the other people is necessary, some people know that violence just makes everything worse. Feeing the same things usually binds people together, though in this case that doesn't usually seem to be working.... 
All humans are really related to each other if you go back far enough, so in a way we are all "brothers". Abraham is the common ancestor of all these people, so that is another way that this is a war between relatives.
The red could also represent the blood of Christ with the power to redeem everyone and all things, to make all things new and make all people, even the most contentious, part of one big family. Jesus was Jewish. That's what the Abrahamic Covenant and the Blessing and the Law and the Prophets was all about. Through that nation, all nations would be blessed, and we have been, through Christ Jesus.

I guess its a pretty controversial picture, once I explain it...

I pray for God's comfort and for the ministry of his angels for everyone affected, directly or indirectly,by this conflict. I pray for salvation and restoration at every level. I pray for an end to all war-mongering, fear-mongering, and hate-mongering by those who profess Christ as their God and Savior. I stand with Pope Francis and others around the world in prayer for peace.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

On the Nature of Temptation

Not every thought or temptation we ever have necessarily gets encoded to long-term memory.
In order to report occasional same sex temptation or attraction, the mind/brain would have retain it. You have to give at least some amount of attention to something in order to remember it.

Depending on the wording of the question, anywhere from 10% to 45% of adult men report having fantasies involving same-sex activity. Those are just people have sat and entertained the thoughts for however long, possibly on more than one occasion. These things never originate with the person anyway, it all comes from satan, and not just same sex stuff but other things. We decide if we are going to hold the thought or not, and whatever else we might do with it.


Advertisers sometimes try to get people to associate products with unrelated things that they want or need. Sex being used to advertise credit cards, shoes, or etc is an example of that, as is Summer's Eve's unfortunate attempt to use women's career advancement goals to sell feminine deodorant. Likewise, the enemy tries to sell unnatural or even self-defeating things to people.

Like the advertisers attempts at sales, the enemy's ploys may or may not work, and may or may not even be remembered. He has probably tried stuff on me that I don't remember. I lived on the street a couple of times in my life, but do not recall ever being actually tempted by drugs. Ever. I'm sure he must tried it though. If you have any doubts about the rates of same-sex fantasizing, the links to sources are below. Keep in mind, even on anonymous studies, self report studies tend to be skewed by people giving answers closer to what their society would want to hear (See the section on "measurement bias" in section 2 of this UIC article).

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsm.12734/full
http://www.businessinsider.com/which-sexual-fantasies-are-normal-2014-10

There is a very strong taboo about same-sex activity and temptation among American males in particular. If there is self-report bias here, it is more likely to be making the rates look smaller, not larger. Not recalling ever being tempted by SSAs, or anything else on the list of perverse thoughts and actions in this study, does not mean it has never been tried on you, or that it never will be. It does however, mean you are probably less likely to commit that particular sin, even in your thoughts. Many, many people who do not identify as LGBT and never acted out, and may never act these things out, with others have committed this type of sexual sin in their thoughts through lust.
Sexual fantasy is, in fact, a lustful sort of meditation that many people who are physically very chaste may battle with on the inside, and which the Holy Spirit can and will deliver people from.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Answers to Yesterday's Challenge

The song "Gloria" is about war. Its all about the glamorizing of large-scale armed conflict. It's supposed to be celebrating the numerous wars their ancestors fought in. Kind of like if Catholics wrote a bunch of tunes celebrating the crusades.... Probably nobody really needs that kind of thing.
Some of the imagery in the official videos degrades women, as do some of the lyrics sometimes.

Google translate's rendering of the lyrics is below. Remember, other languages are often structured very differently than ours. Google translate doesn't always do a good job with that; it often just does the individual words. You might have to look at it like "unscramble the words and find out what these people are talking about." But you can get an idea.


The songs of women and young men
in the clear shield is eternal
Report on the lips of our compatriots
scars he has been battling

Stand-do honor
name and sing
when a man bears kruunuaan
kingdom shoulders

Whispers dozens dying
he will hear from corpses
Provides a blessing earth
for weighing takes the gods

Kai guessed that hour, but
for the rest of the country will go the
So, once the, I guess the last
will he stand up in the saddle

Gods know it
I have lived according to the rules of honor
Any decision to change I
any street can not herald the right

Damn the day of its
when I fall down arrows to the enemy
I have shown you the way
it keep going when I no longer able to do

Wash the blood from his face
body carry your home
deeds tell
and the name of the stone cut down


Jeesus on Herra is a worship song, I would say.
Google translate's rendering of the lyrics is below.




Only You Lord, only You Lord, I love only you, my Lord.

You get the power, now confess that Jesus is Lord.
She is!

Hello there!
Why do not I do as You Want, if I love you so much?
Hello there!
Why I'm not going as You Want, if Sua praise and worship?

There is a really good video of Johanna's testimony on youtube as well.



So, how did you do?

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

A Charismatic Discernment Test

A DISCERNMENT TEST!!
You don't have to take it if you don't want to, just if you're interested.
I have met, and read books by, people who say they can always tell the spirit of a song, outside of the beat and the instrumentation and what have you, even regardless of lyrics. they know if its Christian or not, and if its in the "right/wrong spirit."
This is mainly for people who would agree that they have a very reliable compass in this area. Without looking up anything, and without looking at the pictures, is this song a Christian song? It is not in English, so the lyrics will not tell you much. You don't have to post the answer here, lest it be wrong and someone be embarrassed... I won't rib anybody either way, I just want to know if anyone can really tell.
I will post another one in the comments, in the same language and similar genre, and you figure out (if you want to) which of the two is a Christian song, without looking at it or looking anything up.
I 'll give the answers in a few days.
If you can't stand rock it might not work at all because both of them will just drive you crazy...
This is just a discernment test for those who feel they can reliably sense such things, or who wonder if they can. Also no offense is intended.
 If you already know either of these bands, the test will not work.

If anyone out there knows somebody that claims they can do this kind of thing and is always wrong, perhaps bothering on you constantly about what you listen to, you might give them this test,

Now,remember not to look anything up.
First song:

Second song:

Happy vibe-checking...
Godspeed.

~Mother Star

NEVER! GIVE! UP! - When God Answers Prayer

I am back in school, this time for Graphic Art. I asked God to make it clear I am on the right path this time.

The grant money for my books has not come in the mail, and this is the second week of classes. I was thinking I might be getting my signal that this was not it. That was scary because otherwise I had no clue what "it" was! I found I had just enough to get what I needed for class tomorrow so that I would not get in trouble with my teacher. I still needed one more book, the one for Z-Brush, a 3D graphic art program.

A WORD ON Z-BRUSH: My teacher says that the way trends and demand in graphic art go, new things take off on the East and West Coast and then move inland until it is just expected and required everywhere. 3D, especially Z-Brush, is as important as Photoshop on both of the coasts already.

I am right smack in the center of the country, so for me to know Z-Brush is going to put me ahead. I am very thankful to be learning it my first semester here. Even the community college in Champaign, one of the best in the nation for graphic art, only emphasizes photoshop and the 2D industry standards like that. That gives me a lot more hope for employment when I finish here! 

Well, as far as an answered prayer, a dear friend came over and asked me how much I needed for my last book. I told him and he said he felt like God wanted him to help me get it now. He said not to stress about paying him back,do it when I am comfortable enough to do so. He was asking me questions and making sure I was on the right track before he helped me carry on with it. I said, "I asked God to stop me if this was not what I should be doing. So if you feel anything weird, do not help me. This could be my sign to stop." He said, "I had a green light all the way here. I was called to do this. Is this really all you need?"

Yep. Now there is absolutely nothing left that can stop me. The last day to drop without owing fees is this Friday. My friend coming to help me put an end to the very last possible obstacle. My sign for what I should be doing is set in stone now. 

I am thankful that I am studying this right before Z-Brush starts to become the standard and the bigger art school is still focusing on 2D only. I will be more desirable to hire if I can focus on Z-Brush for my portfolio, evidently. Good to know I am at the right place and on the right track.

Hopefully I can be sharing some screenshots of my 3D work pretty soon.

I also hope some of this info has helped someone else figure out what they need to do in the world of Graphic Art.

Godspeed.

~ Mother Star

A Prayer for Widespread Redemption

Father,in Jesus' name, please give us strength. Your strength, not our strength. Not the "strength" of our anger or fear, not the strength of our reasoning or marketing-type strategies, not the strength of the world with its numbers and political agendas or machinations. But your strength God, to handle all of this. Lord,your wisdom is greater and stronger than anything we can find on earth or in ourselves.
Lord, I pray for the children being raised in same-sex romance households and I thank you for working in these situations to bring deliverance to parents and children alike. I thank you that at least in the midst of the darkness there, somebody is feeding and clothing these kids and taking them to school and hopefully at least caring about them. I thank you that the kids the Dean at my school and his "husband" are raising did not have to be separated after their parents' deaths.
No one can come to you unless they are drawn. We ask you to draw the people oh lord, that we cannot do anything for with our arguments or our best explanations. Lord, your ways are indeed higher than our ways and your thoughts than our thoughts. You do not forbid sin because you want to be mean and you have good reasons for everything. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts and convinces, not us. Forgive us when we have tried in our own strength to accomplish what only you can do.

In this time where so many in our culture insist on finding out the hard way the "why" behind your statutes, we thank you that even in the midst of this ignorance you will show yourself true and good. I pray lord that this avalanche of same-sex marriages will only serve to help social scientists and others gather the data they are missing that explains why you have set the rules that you have. I pray you will use even the things people think they want to show them that it is really what they don't want.
I pray God that what the enemy has used for harm, you will work for good. and turn his evil upon his own head, for the redemption of so many souls and lives. Ditto with the many other things he is doing on such large scales that are so wrong, here and abroad. Amen.
Lord, I pray for strength and wisdom for Pope Francis and other Church leaders to hold fast to what is right. I pray for repentance of those who have been deceived. I pray God for the light of truth.to enter in and heal.
I come against the distraction Lord, that turns so many good hearted people away from doing the things you have called them to do and they spend time and talents supporting a sinful lifestyle for a few people that should be spent making a real difference for many, or even for all people. I come against the spirit of pride, and the "I'm progressive, and ahead of all these other Christians. I have more revelation than the apostles, who wrote the sacred texts and said wrong, condemning things out of their ancient ignorance..." or "Humanity and time are all moving in one direction step by spend I am at the cutting edge. It is my job to straighten out the old misconception,s and the old-fashioned, narrow-minded people, and show the world the real Jesus who no one in the church has ever shown before...." and other such deceptions. I ask you Lord to use us who you have delivered from all these kinds of lies, and our little testimonies, to plant little seeds that will change the western world, not by our strength or wisdom or ability, but by your working what we never could do, for your own glory. I pray that you will help us to stay humble and keep a right spirit and attitude about how we go about doing things in this world for you. In Jesus'name, Amen.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Adventures in RCIA - The Church Calender - Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day

This isthe last season here is to talk about on the Catholic Church calender Advent is the time leading up to Christmas, much like Lent is the time leading up to Easter. Pentecostal and at least some Baptist churches do not do anything like this. Nondenominational churches usually don't either. 

Advent would probably have been the best season to big in with, and it is what we began with in RCIA.

Advent is a very reflective time. There is no"Gloria" in the Mass, but there is still "Alleluia" in the advent Mass.

Advent begins 4 Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve right before the Vigil of Nativity. The advent special music is mostly the "O antiphons"such as "O Come All Ye Faithful." 

The music is toned down and supposed to be more reflective and subdued. It's like the calm before the storm, but in a good way. At Christmas, we pullout all the stops musically and decoration-wise.

At Midnight Mass, every Catholic parish on earth begins Mass at Midnight of December 25th and it lasts for at least an hour. As the earth turns, the praises go up and the celebration begins all around the world, "Happy Birthday Jesus, thank you for what you did." In our city, we have a really big music and art university. I think they had students from there doing the music. They had opera singers and a symphony and they did all the Christmas songs from our book. At the conclusion of Mass, they did the Halleluia chorus mixed in with, I think, Joy to the World. It was arranged beautifully, it flowed seamlessly from Joy to World, to Halleluia and back. It was awesome. We have an old church building designed with acoustics for a choir like that. It is the first time I have experienced anything like that live. It was so beautiful!

So that is why the toned down music and mood during Advent. It is to seriously ponder and take in everything that was going on with Mary's pregnancy and all the amazing things God was doing, and why. It also adds even more emphasis to the big bang of a celebration at Christmas.

There is something called an "Advent  Wreath" that holds four candles. Three of the candles are violet and one is rose-colored. You are supposed to light one each Sunday of Advent. An RCIA participant from the Methodist church says they have five candles and each one means something - love, hope, and etc. One of the teachers said "We don't have that much fun in the Catholic church. We just light the candles." I though that was funny.
The colors for Advent are, of course, violet and rose like the candles. Rose is just for the third Sunday, though. The priests wear violet vestments, except on the third Sunday. On the third Sunday, also called Gaudete Sunday, Catholic priests wear rose vestments.

More on Advent:

In addition to featuring advent wreaths, the environment is supposed to be one of elegant simplicity. There may be moderate use of flowers in keeping with the season and climate.

Really important Catholic feasts during Advent include:

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - December 8th, refers to the idea that Mary was sinless, not to the virgin birth.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas - December 12th. This commemorates the Event that led to the conversion of indigenous communities in Mexico and Latin America. Reading this story has almost made me reconsider my position on the Marian dogmas I disagree with - almost. It has certainly given me a new respect for it.

In our parish and others in the Springfield, IL Diocese, we also have the Solemnity of the Dedication of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on December 2nd.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star