Monday, March 24, 2008

Let There Be Light!

I love what goes on here every day, because there is a lot of light in this place! Some of your posts make me laugh...some of them make me cry...some of them just bless me...but they all make me think! When I first started this blog, it was important to me that it be a completely separate entity from the CITN site, but in the last few weeks, the line dividing the two sites has become increasingly blurred. And I'm OK with that, so beginning today, or sometime this week, there will be a link leading here where the One On One has been for over a year. The CITN blog will remain active for discussion about the services, messages to the monthly E.A.C.H. award winners, and for feedback and dialogue about special events like School of the Bible. Of course, AYITN and the Scripture of the Day will continue to be posted daily, and I hope that you will all continue to support that blog, because it serves an important and unique function.

I'll probably be back to add some more to this later today, but I want to talk about the value of an exchange of ideas in this format. You know, I ususally end my One On One with the words HONOR THE PAST...LIVE IN THE PRESENT...CREATE THE FUTURE, and I really like this quote a lot because it expresses those concepts in a practical sense... "Why is it that, as we grow older, we are so relunctant to change? It is not so much that new ideas are painful, for they are not. It is that old ideas are seldom entirely false, but have truth, great truth in them. The justification for conservatism is the desire to preserve the truths and standards of the past. Its dangers, of which we are seldom aware, is that in preserving those values, we may miss the infinitely greater riches that lie in the future." - Dr. Dale E. Turner


When we all share our ideas here in a positive way, the light just gets brighter and brighter.

Even God says, "Come, let us reason TOGETHER...".

On many occasions Jesus would say

"You have heard it said ____________________ (fill in the blank),

but I say unto you ______________________" (fill in the blank).



I so very much appreciate that the participants in this cyber-community honor the "but I say unto you" part!


In the meantime...I command a blessing on your insights expressed here today...

I bless your ideas...

I bless your dreams and visions...

I bless your revelation...

I bless your creative communication...

And I declare that the very windows of heaven are opened up for you (and in you) today...that His Kingdom comes, and His will is done in cyberspace, as it is there...

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

31 comments:

Donald said...

I wholeheartedly receive that blessing Bishop and thank you.
The opportunity to express a different opinion or idea about a biblical issue is almost foreign to me.
Until I became exposed to CITN that was forbidden. From birth up to that point it was all laid out for me. There was no open discussion time where I attended church. Well actually there was because we could discuss what other churches taught and explain how they were wrong.
Aside from Her Majesty, my mother was probably the best woman to ever walk this earth, but I can remember her saying many times that we have to have a "teachable spirit". It occurred to me that that didn't mean that we need to be open to outside ideas or anything that would be in contrast to the denominational teaching. It simply meant that we were to be willing and able to accept without question that what we were being told in church was the truth without a doubt. "You know son, we just shouldn't question God, because he is in control" was also another of her famous sayings.
Whew! Sorry someone hand me a tissue please, I'm getting a little misty talking about my mother because I actually do miss her tremendously. The cool thing is that I know that she now knows what the real deal is.
But I guess before any of us gets too cocky about having all the answers (and I don't think any of us believe that we do) I bet that everyone that has gotten to heaven slaps themselves on the forehead (as in I coulda' had a V8) and says "Duh!"

Unknown said...

Donald: I've had the same thoughts about my mom, now she knows--will be adding the pic of "duh!". (smile)

Is that kids and cars? Size of the pic is a bit challenging for me.

Bishop: thanks from me too! Fresh manna, AYITN, honoring what God is doing at CITN. Awesome, just AWESOME!

Anonymous said...

"Let There Be Light!"

* You have heard it said that CITN is a cult.

But, I say to you, agree with your adversaries quickly, if cult is synonymous with a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.

Say, the love of God, for instance.

* You've heard it said that CITN is part of a "New Age" movement.

But, I say to you, "What's that got to do with the Ancient of Days?"

* You have heard it scoffed, "Can anything good come out of Rockdale county?"

But, I (prayerfully) submit the Chamber of Commerce motto: "Bringing the world to your business."

You've heard it said, "Ain't that a shame - blacks & whites over there whoopin' it up and praisin' together like they're all on the same page. Check out the women. Why... the Good Lord never intended for gals to teach guys - says so, right there in 2 Timothy!

But, I say that Jesus' visage was so marred and His form BEYOND human, that His divinity ran all over the page and that Spirit has no gender.

Remember, Mary noted to her Son, "Look. They have no wine." (He became that)

* You've heard it said that CITN'ers are Buddhists.

But, I say to you, agree with your adversaries quickly, if the context is, "the teachings of an Awakened One". God never naps.

* You have heard it said that you own an airplane and that there's a landing strip behind your house.

But, I submit that an airplane's too conventional when Light is faster.

I submit that we carry this treasure in clay pots.

Donald said...

Kids and cars? What chu talkin' 'bout Willis?

Lise said...

"You are the light of the world. You are the light of the world. And if that light's under a bushel, brrrrr, it's lost... something kind of crucial! You've got to stay bright to be the light of the world!"
Thought you might like that, Bish!

Anonymous said...

Bish,first allow me to say how thoroughly resurrection Sunday blessed me at CITN and although I experienced many sunrise services as a baptist, you are correct they were just early morning services because we didn't see a sunrise. It was cool and chilly (smile) but what a blessing and although you were on the stage there was so much joy and goodwill on the ground with our sister church Springfield Baptist. Pastor Lee did an awesome job in a very few minutes which for a baptist preacher, was pretty phenomenal to get right to the meat or the point. It was definitely truth that the resurrection for us rolls the stones away and we at CITN are still talking about it at the end of our 10 am service and beyond, what a word. We all have stones that the Holy Spirit needs to roll away and is because of the resurrection. Because He lives, we have hope for today and tomorrow.

he worship team did a great job to be singing in the chill of the morning we experienced on yesterday. They are very anointed and of course Bish, you were as cool and professional and diplomatic and gracious and spiritual as ever! It was interesting to go back home and get redressed, have breakfast and race back to church for 10 am and that was part two of such a glorious morning!


It was such a joy and the nation of worship was a rare form but they keep getting "gooder and gooder" and Chandra, what a gift to the body!

I was able to have the honor or a guess and was just so proud of CITN! Although I didn't have a big dinner, I was blessed with loved ones and great food and God is so good! I had a couple things (what other would see as negative) but all I can say is "Blessed be the name of the Lord". Thank you Bishop for being a vessel to turn the lights on to the minds of thousands by walking in the light, staying in the light and being light to a dark place. What David said at intercession last week was paramount, we have to love ourselves before we can love others, sometimes I feel that I have loved others beyond myself and have gotten hurt but that might be a kingdom key, love yourselves. Thank you Bish for always....getting the point....having the get it factor. There is light to our minds, our hearts and our souls.

I also want to say that I receive the rest of CITN as a body and a contributor to the Blog in the Now and I am excited about the other part of our body which will bring more light and understanding and will cause this blog to morph into more powerful, enlightened, couragious, creative, intelligient voice than ever before!

Also, a comment about intercessory pray, you may notice that almost every Sunday morning, there is a comment that the Holy Spirit allows you to make pertaining to a revelation or comment or enlightment that was birthed out of intercessory pray! I believe the Lord impressed in my spirit, that the intercessory prayer is going to be paramount to the Sunday services and are a direct mirror to what happens. He said this maybe a month ago, and I see this coming to pass every week. Let me say that the intercessors rock (in the spirit) and although this is a invisible of thankless ministry, it is very very important. I want to encourage those who are reading this blog to come out and participate at 9 am on Friday, as the Lord will's. There is great reward for the watchmen or the watchers as the scriptures speaks of our importance. Bish, thank you for your obedience and allowing an official time for this ministry!

I receive your daily blessing Bish and "rightbacatcha" Peace...Yvonne

peacemaker said...

This past Wednesday, a history making supernova (an exploding star)was caught by NASA's Swift satellite. The explosion, so intense, could be seen with the naked eye if you knew which direction to look. Astronomically speaking, one this powerful is not that unusual. What made history was it's distance. 7.5 BILLION light years away! Half the distance of the measurable Universe.
OK...try and get your head around this: light=186,000 miles/sec., light year= distance light travels in 1 year @ that speed(approx.5.9 trillion miles)x 7.5 billion years. Got a headache yet?
Look at it this way: the light from this massive explosion travelled 3 billion light years thru the Universe before the Earth was ever formed and did not reach our sight until we were 4.5 billion years old. Our bodies may not be able to travel back in time yet, but our senses obviously can. What a head trip!

As interesting(at least to me)as it is scientifically, I see can spiritual truth here as well.
Before we were ever formed, the light was coming. Coming perhaps in waves bursting forth from the infinite Mind of God. Thought after thought, truth after truth, an infinite beam of light, detected in our spirit, developed in our mind, becoming a Now word to us.
Unfortunately though, some people ignorant to the nature of light, have tried to capture some and block out the rest resulting in doctrines, demoninations, prejudices and wars. Light's energy comes from continual feeding from the Source. If blocked, darkness is inevitable.

But there is no blockage here. All you Sages and Seers intuit the Light thats emanates from the Universal Mind into cyber-space. You see it, recieve it, share it, and allow it to continue its expansion.
I'm proud to be part of such an intelligent community of thinkers.
"Let there Be Light"

Thanks again Bishop for building this many facetted site.

PM

DoubleBack Alley said...

Sahib,

Not sure what happened, but I inadvertently posted on the Easter Sunday blog. Mine was supposed to be on the Light topic for today. Apparently, PM and I are on the same light wave. Too cool. I think my numbers are wrong, but the idea is the same. Light headed is the way to go.

Machion said...

I choose life today and that choice allows me to let there be light. To receive light is like being released from prison for me. In prison, I can only see as far as the walls in my cell. When I am released from prison, I can see as far as my eyesight can reach. The blessing is that if I want to see more, then all I have to do is start walking toward the light to see what "my" eyesight couldn't reach. And, no, I have no idea what I am about to see. I just know that the light will let me see enough to know where I am going. One step at a time.

Anonymous said...

Peacemaker - keep going. Describe the super nova, please.

Re: Our bodies may not be able to travel back in time yet, but our senses obviously can. What a head trip!

There was an interesting program about scientific studies that stimulated different areas of man's brain, triggering past sights, sounds, smells & experiences of the participant.

Couldn't researchers hit the fast forward button (whatever corresponding lobe) to see what's recorded in the brain for the future?

Ditto for being proud to be part of a community of intelligent thinkers!

Ditto for this site!

DoubleBack Alley said...

Sahib,

I guess the essence of this blog is that we all have an angle based on our biases. The amazing thing is that we rally around an idea that no one can really quantify. Folks don't come here because they love everyone else. They come here because they love empirical truth, as well as the hypotheses of what if. Then what are those truths or hypotheses? They are different, but part of me is in each of them. Neil Degrasse states that we are in the universe and the universe is in us. Any mineral, particle, sub-atomic particle, neutrino, and especially light that is in the universe is in us.

How can we be on the outer suburbs of the big city and know what the mayor is thinking? We have a direct line. Even better, we are the direct line. Doesn't it feel like we should not repeat what God says; instead we should BE what God says.

There are so many allusions to light in the writings about Jesus that there can be no coincidence. Wonderful exegesis on the star burst phenomenon PM. Looking for a Jesus Christ Super Star burst of truth.

The more I consider how awesome it is to have this tool available as a communication device, the more awed I become about what is next. The whole world is interconnected now. Iranian, Iraqi, and other mid-eastern students are beginning to demonstrate because of the mindless violence perpetrated in the name of religion. They see it because they are connected to unfettered truth as well. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the truth really did set us free?

Here's to all of us freedom fighters.

Ain't God Good?

peacemaker said...

DBA...Just read your comment on the Easter page. Awesome as always. Did you notice our posting times. Probably writing at the same time, about the same thing...VERY COOL!! A little confirming wink from the Universe, I suppose.

There's so much to say about this post.
Consider this: Copernicus studied the stars with the naked eye virtually turning the religious and scientific world on it's ear, Galileo, using the first telescope, confirmed his predecessor's theory risking his own freedom. Centuries later, Edwin Hubble, using a the most powerful telescope of his day, discovered galaxies beyond our own and the expansion of the Universe. Bearing much criticism at first, his discoveries once again elevated astronomy and the world at large to a whole new level. And in our time, the Hubble telescope. Seeing farther into the Universe than anyone imagined possible and after some repairs, sent back some of the most spectacular images of distant galaxies formed within 300,000 years of the Big Bang...over 13 billion years ago!(Phenomenal discovery only if you believed it really happened)

It seems to me as the technology of vision increased, so did our revelation of the Universe and it's genesis.
As visionaries, the advancement of our in-sight allows more light to enter enabling us to see deeper and deeper into the realm of God's universal Mind. Revelation becomes clearer, easier to obtain and definitely more controversial, but the satisfaction of the discovery is well worth the risk of ridicule...don't you think?

Peace Always,
PM

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

DBA, I'm really glad you get that, and I believe that the others who connect here get it, too ("You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one"...). BTW, Debye and I watched something on TCM last night, and I was just explaining to her who Ben M. is.

I know there are probably some who read but never write here that think that we make too big a deal over everything that everyone else says, but it really is amazing how so many of you say things that I was just thinking...for example, I don't even know you, but sometimes it's uncanny how much you seem to be in my head. There really is something supernatural about this kind of connection. Some people who are close to me have said, "I love you Bishop, but I just don't have time to participate in your blog", and when they say that I think about why the Scriptures say "Let he who has ears...hear". There's no point in trying make someone hear you if they don't have ears. Of course I only want people to be here because they want to be, I just don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to be! No one here is busier than me, and yet I have a need to connect in some way that doesn't involve speaking over a microphone or sitting behind a desk in a counselng appointment.

Thanks, for all the great words here, everyone. LP, I love
Light of the World", especially the Hammond organ...

Machion, I enjoyed watching you enjoy the service yesterday...

Donald, I think Avatar was referring to the picture of you and your son(?) in front of a car because you said you loved seeing your kids cars in your driveway. And and Opie would be envious...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

that's AndY and Opie

Friend4Life said...

Hi Every-1!! I know its been awhile since I last blogged. Today's blog had me thinking today.

Guess what I thought of today? The keyboard LOL ---(how we keep our fingers on A,s,d,f and j,k,l,;) And if we lose our place; feel for the f or j.

A-Almighty
S-Savior
D-Deliver
F-Friend

J-Jesus
K-King of Kings
L-Lord of Lords
;-Name above all NAMES!!

Just another outlook on the keyboard. What ya think? LOL

Peace
L.W.

Donald said...

Oh OK. Yep that is my son. I hated to have to see him go back to Starkville yesterday, but I don't think my sofa could take much more of his abuse during that State and Memphis game. Let's just say he hated to see his team lose.

DoubleBack Alley said...

Sahib,

You once said that I had good manners in reference to something posted. I have never forgotten that and I think that was a foundational cornerstone in my gleaning of who you are in the world of truth and light. Communication is more than words stroked from a keyboard, or even idioms expressed from the other side of the reality membrane. It really is finding the common thread that identifies us as a people, culture, or nation. Are we the Nation of Now?

Deepak Chopra states that peace cannot manifest until the greatest and weakest agree that the common good rests in it. It must be a tenet of faith. I, frankly, don't see it in the world as it is today. We are fighting for peace as vociferously as the jihadists. I am wont to believe that I am right. They happen to believe I am wrong.

Somewhere in the middle is I am. The things we discuss here cut to the quick of our emotions. We say things here we would not dare not tell scatter-brained Uncle Billy. But at the deepest nadir of our grief over the lack of vision in the world, we find ourselves at the bar with hands clenched, grinding a gut-wrenching plea to the ether world with a care worn, sweat sated, brow, "God...God...dear Father in heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if You're up there and You can hear me, show me the way, I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way, God...” I want to know what to do. I really do.

I don’t think I can overstate the drops of wisdom that will fill the world someday from this palace and other pools of thought. It starts here and in other palaces like it. Incognito kings. Sublime Sahibs. Waiting for the opportunity and continually watering our thoughts. Ultimately, the underground filters out and as the resistance spreads, we soon find there are more who think like us than we ever would have imagined. I really do get overwhelmed with all the crap that people do to one another and really feel like that more violence against the criminal is the answer. So hard to break the cycle.

The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial drips a small drop of water into a basin, representative of the speech he made in South Africa: "It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest wall of oppression and resistance." He later said, "Some men see things as they are and ask 'Why?' I dream things that never were and ask, 'Why not?'". Great things manifest when we combine why not and now.

We are the Nation of Now and I Am a Charter member. All thanks be to the Founding Father. Love you, Sahib.

Ain’t God Good?

Ebony said...

1) I receive those blessings in abundance

2) I love being a part of the blog, I only wish I could access it from work, because I feel like there's this great dialog between everyone and I'm not a part of it as much as I'd like (Like a guest to a Super Bowl party that shows up at the start of the third quarter), and by the time I get here, all the cool stuff has already been said

3) For the lurkers, you'll never know unless you see for yourself. We don't bite, and have more in common with each other than you'd like to think. Try us, you might like us.

Unknown said...

Bishop was correct, Donald. Since it seems to me like you've "just said" your post, it also seems my response will be in context. Sort of weird flipping back and forth from the "blog now" to the "not blog now". I'll work on being less cryptic.

I feel ya Ebony, today especially!

Thank you very much, PM/DBA. Your simultanous posts [very cool] are helping me get a grasp on "before the foundation of the world." I've sensed there was a "wall" there in me. Now? Wide open space! [cool analogy Machion--I do believe I was released from a prison today!]

Friend4life! I was praying for you today. I was going to ask where are you?, and tell you that God had you on my heart this morning--and HERE you are. (smile) "Friend" "Jesus". From now on, I won't feel those little bumps on the keyboard without thinking of that and you with a smile. Yours is one more example having eyes to see God is everywhere!

DBA: your post makes me think of an email I saved a part of.

The early part of the story began with a discussion about evil "proving" that a loving God does not exist. The answerer was explaining absolute cold [they quoted whatever the absolute temp is--PM can probably help with that] and absolute darkness; and that cold and darkness are just words that we use to describe the absence of heat and the absence of light. Followed by,

"Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

Friend4Life said...

Thanks, Avatar for your comment.(had me in tears) Thank you for praying 4 me. Been going through some stuff lately. Today I read the blog and was stuck on the keyboard. Thinking...while fingers are on the F & J. So, yes I saw new light 4 my fingers.

Unknown said...

F4L: whatever it is, God's not letting go of it. Same thing this morning. Just keep hearing your name, over and over. I'm sensing I need to be committed to covering you with groanings that cannot be uttered. Will do.

peacemaker said...

Avatar...
I really don't wear glasses with tape or have a pocket protector, but I do know that 0*on the Kelvin scale is absolute cold and I may be wrong, but I think it's around -450F. That‘s as cold as it gets. Quantum Physicists call it zero point energy because at that point molecules no longer move.

I've always believed darkness is just the absence of light. In our physical world, there is no absolute darkness because darkness isn't a thing unto itself and can't be quantified. When a light is turned on, darkness is no more. Darkness can't extinguish light, but light can cause darkness to immediately disappear.
Because humans think in dualities, I agree that he has invented words that describe opposites. The general opinion would be that evil describes the absence of God, as darkness, the absence of light, but I personally am not of that opinion simply because I don't think there is any place God isn't. No heart His love doesn’t dwell. David said,” If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.” His love is omnipresent.
I am not naive to the existence of evil, Lord knows I've encountered my share, but whether we believe God created it or not doesn’t change the fact that it probably originates right between our ears. People commit acts of evil in the name of religion, supremacy, or simply because mysteriously it’s in them to do so, but God cannot be absent, even in those cases. He can’t be absent from Himself. If God seems absent, it’s only because we think He is.
Call me a Pollyanna, but I do think man is inherently good. Some may disagree with that, but I won’t argue either way. Argument doesn’t serve the good of anyone.

I feel confident you probably know all this. I’m not trying to come across as a teacher. Your posts are always thought provoking and usually funny and they make for great discussion. Thanks for indulging me!

Peace
PM

Iris said...

Hi Everyone...

I have missed blogging the last couple of days, I have been so busy... sick kids... dad in the hospital... Dr's appointments... work... other appointments... All is Good... and God is here... Spirits high... No worries... just busy...

But I am here... and miss you all... I haven't left this family... I will try to blog soon... but until then...

Thanks for the words of encouragement... I look forward everyday reading the aspects of God that all bring to the table here...

Bishop, both services Sunday were great... I love how God seems to show up every service in a tangible way...

I will be back soon... I am here... and I'm reading each blog...hoping to participate soon...

Love you all
Iris

Unknown said...

PM:I'm on
My 2inch screen right now,so this will b short,but I agree on goodness of man. Have been eaten alive 4 it in other circles.

Unknown said...

Iris: you've been missed.

PM: a light went on for me [no pun intended] when I first heard "darkness doesn't come flooding into a lit room, but light floods into a dark room." At the time, it was a huge "AHA...RIGHT!" especially as it confirmed God's light overcomes, etc. A candle, a floodlight, a room full of nothing but light=degrees.

In the same way, the snippet of email I quoted above did the same thing. Somehow it helps me to think of degrees of God in me and others. Keeps me from going back to thinking anyone can be -450, with absolutely nothing moving to create SOME heat. Also helps redefine those lukewarm years into some New Testament present spin and get me excited about an on fire future. Has an absolute heat been measured?

btw--I see no tape or pocket protectors--just multi-faceted wisdom [and I'm pretty sure I know who you are too(smile)]

Unknown said...

F4L: whatever this is, God is pressing on me and not letting up. I hope that encourages you.

Friend4Life said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I'm not getting any specifics (and not asking either).

I say you have the mind of Christ. I speak peace and wisdom and strength to you. I speak Godly Order to this situation and any situations that may be tied to it.

I ask our Father to surround you with His, HIS, love, so that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is Him and know what the next perfect step is. I join my faith to yours to draw anything that you need to you quickly. I say that your eyes that see are able to see in ways that you have not seen before. I speak healing to every fiber of your being. We are one and the health that is ours is manifested in you, body and soul. I say that your spirit is released from anything that is holding you and that you walk in more freedom than anyone on earth has known.

Committed to seeing this through!

Karl said...

Yeah!!! I finally entered in, now can I go to bed? - 3am.

Bishop, this is an awesome place for interaction. May God continue to bless you with insight, creative ideas and revelation.

Unknown said...

F4L: you okay?

Iris said...

Thanks Bishop...

I am in a better place than earlier this week... It's been a weird week... But God is good... and His mercies endure forever...

BTW.... Happy Birthday...Can't wait to be ITB on Sunday to celebrate with you...

Iris