Monday, May 26, 2008

But Distance Takes Away The Horror!


"It is astonishing how distance blunts the keen edge of anything that is disagreeable. War is at all times a most fearful scourge. The thought of slain bodies and of murdered men must always harrow up the soul; but because we hear of these things in the distance, there are few Englishmen who can truly enter into their horrors. If we should hear the booming of cannon on the deep which girdles this island; if we should see at our doors the marks of carnage and bloodshed; then should we more thoroughly appreciate what war means. But distance takes away the horror, and we therefore speak of war with too much levity, and even read of it with an interest not sufficiently linked with pain."
From the sermon "A Present Religion" by the English Baptist minister Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892) on May 30, 1858, Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Do we find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground?

Find The Cost Of Freedom by Stephen Stills (CSN&Y)
Daylight again, following me to bed
I think about a hundred years ago, how my fathers bled
I think I see a valley, covered with bones in blue
All the brave soldiers that cannot get older been askin' after you
Hear the past a callin', from Ar-megeddon's side
When everyone's talkin' and noone is listenin', how can we decide?

(Do we) find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you, lay your body down
Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you, lay your body down
(Find the cost of freedom buried in the ground)


Note: Due to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Air Force has released 288 photographs showing soldiers' remains arriving home. These are the images that the Pentagon prevented the public from seeing. View them at www.thememoryhole.org/war/coffin_photos/dover/

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Saturday, May 24, 2008

WAR - What Is It Good For?

Every trip to Santa Monica Beach while growing up in Southern California included a view of the Los Angeles National Cemetery. This was one of the most influential images of my youth that helped shape my opinion about war. Check out this link to a YouTube video set to Edwin Starr's song WAR.

WAR by EDWIN STARR

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y'all

War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

Ohhh, war, I despise
Because it means destruction
Of innocent lives

War means tears
To thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go to fight
And lose their lives

I said, war, huh
Good God, y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, it ain't nothing
But a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Ooooh, war
It's an enemy to all mankind
The point of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest
Within the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die
Aaaaah, war-huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it, say it, say it
War, huh
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y'all
War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker
War, it's got one friend
That's the undertaker
Ooooh, war, has shattered
Many a young mans dreams
Made him disabled, bitter and mean
Life is much to short and precious
To spend fighting wars these days
War can't give life
It can only take it away

Ooooh, war, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Peace, love and understanding
Tell me, is there no place for them today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord knows there's got to be a better way

Ooooooh, war, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
You tell me
Say it, say it, say it, say it

War, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Stand up and shout it
Nothing


Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Hippie Christian?

Here is another page from my old website...




Hippie Christian???

I can not speak on behalf of all Hippies nor can I pretend to be the spokesman for every Christian. I can only offer my own opinion as an individual who grew up in the 60s and experienced both worlds firsthand. In 1969 I had a personal encounter with the true and living God and Father of all creation through His son Jesus Christ. I then joined what has been called the most powerful move of God in modern times which swept through the youth and Hippie subculture of America and became known as the Jesus Movement.

Just one man's opinion...

If we strip away all of the politics and materialism that has crept into the modern church and go back to First Century Christianity we will find an interesting parallel between true Christianity and Hippiedom sans the drugs and free love. Rather than reducing Jesus to a long hair Hippie cliche complete with beard and sandals I would prefer to focus on Jesus' message and its relationship to Hippie culture. It is important to note that the banner of peace, love and cosmic connection under which most Hippies gather is at the very heart of Jesus' teachings.

We can find the core of Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel chapters 5 through 7. If only these three chapters of Jesus' words survived the past two millennium we would have all the truth necessary to live in peace and harmony with both our Creator and our fellow pilgrims here on planet Earth. The Sermon on the Mount is what could be called the Hippie Christian Manifesto. It contains such treasures as The Beatitudes, The Lord's Prayer, The Golden Rule, and Turning the Other Cheek.

But beyond those treasures, beyond the call to avoid hypocrisy, beyond the mandate to shun materialism, beyond the proclamation that peacemakers are God's children, greater than all these we find in the Sermon on the Mount a theme that offers a connection to the Creator of the universe. Jesus does something totally revolutionary and unheard of before His time, He presents God as our Father.

Jesus is the consummation of our Hippie quest for not only peace and love but also Jesus provides the cosmic connection that binds all of us together as Children of The Light.

Going to church does not make you a Christian nor does wearing tie-dye make you a Hippie any more than sitting in a garage changes people into automobiles. Christianity and Hippiedom are both heart things and together they become a lifestyle more true to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount than what modern Christianity offers today.

Being a Hippie Christian is possible, and it is most likely less of a contradiction than being an American Christian. If we all were to follow the truth contained in the Sermon on the Mount there would be less of a distinction between Hippie and Christian.

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Love!

Here is another page from my old website...



LOVE!

WHOEVER IS WISE,
LET HIM HEED THESE THINGS
AND CONSIDER
THE GREAT LOVE
OF THE LORD.
(Psalms 107:43)


UNFAILING LOVE

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
(Psalms 100:5)

How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
(Psalms 36:7)

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1Corinthians 13:13)

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:35&39)

GREAT LOVE

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
(1John 3:1)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
-JESUS (John 3:16)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:8)

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
(1John 3:16)

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love... Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
-JESUS (John 15:9&13)

"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
-JESUS (John 14:23)

BROTHERLY LOVE

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
(1John 4:7&8)

If anyone says, "I love God", yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
(1John 4:20&21)

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
(Matthew 22:36-40)

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
-JESUS (John 13:34&35)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:22&23)

MAY THE LORD DIRECT YOUR HEARTS INTO GOD'S LOVE AND CHRIST'S PERSEVERANCE.
(2 Thessalonians 3:5)


Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)