Yehuda Hakohen: Because the earth itself was spiritually sensitive and reacted to the moral level of man, a successful farmer at that time needed to not only understand the fundamental principles of agriculture, but he also had to be a high quality human being. Had mankind been on a higher moral level, this could've been an incredible source of blessing. The earth reacting positively to human righteousness obviously carries with it an increased level of opportunity.
THIRD MILLENNIUM MINISTRIES: The Bible indicates that we will know each other when we get to heaven. Beyond this, the Bible seems to indicate that people who have died have some awareness of the things that are happening on earth right now. And of course, because the departed saints can talk to God, they can not only find out things about us, but they can pray for us. I think the people we know in heaven must be praying for us. And if they are, then the more people we know in heaven, the more prayers are being offered for us. Right now, we think about them and they think about us. And one day in the future, we will be reunited in heaven. When that happens, yes, we'll recognize them and they'll recognize us.
Luke 23:42-43
The Caribbean
Maritime Southeast Asia
Paradise Kingdom
ARIEL NESHAMA LEE: Serach was the daughter of Asher and the grand-daughter of the patriarch, Jacob; and she was blessed with the gift of music. She was a musician, a harpist, with a gentle voice and a powerful spirit. And when he was troubled, Jacob would call for her, and she would play her harp and sing for him, and he would be comforted. Her songs were like a healing balm.
Serach was rewarded for her piety with a very long lifespan and she is one of the few to enter Gan Eden while yet alive.
LUIS ANTONIO GOKIM TAGLE: In my wild imagination, it would not be a bad idea to have an ‘extension’ of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
WIKIPEDIA: Since the early part of the 20th century, many Haredi and other Orthodox Jews have made black fedoras normal to their daily wear.
DANIEL MARSH: Define Paradise.
jpost.com/Breaking-News/Van-Gogh-painting-stolen-from-Dutch-museum-closed-due-to-coronavirus-622942
Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí: Tu nombre es mi curación, oh mi Dios, y el recuerdo de Ti es mi remedio. La proximidad a Ti es mi esperanza y el amor a Ti es mi compañero. Tu misericordia hacia mí es mi curación y mi socorro, tanto en este mundo como en el venidero. Tú verdaderamente eres el Todo Generoso, el Omnisciente, el Sapientísimo.
English Translation: Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succour in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The word paradise is probably of Persian origin and signified originally a royal park or pleasure ground.
Clara (Cologira Bonfanti) Cannucciari's Grandson Christopher Cannucciari: Are you close with God?
Clara Cannucciari: I Hope so.
Christopher Cannucciari: Talk to me about, om, about the Afterlife.
Clara Cannucciari: What about It?
Christopher Cannucciari: What do you think It is?
Clara Cannucciari: I don't know. I Hope It's Good. I Hope It's Better than here.
BIBLE STUDY: According to the Talmud, the phoenix (Hol) was the only animal who refused to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because of its obedience, God not only allowed it to stay in the Garden of Eden but also gave it immortality.
Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnitsa: The man who has embraced the Kingdom of God radiates holy thoughts that come from God.This world is to be won over by preserving Heaven in our own souls, for if we lose the Kingdom of God within ourselves, we will not help others or be saved. He who carries the Kingdom of God within himself passes it on to others invisibly. You do not have to talk about it at all.
DOREEN ELLEN BELL~DOTAN: We have to think about our Consciousness as our own Vineyard; as our own Garden.
1988MERCEDES1: i love this song..my Grandmother wanted this song played at her funeral..i do too..
DERWIN L GRAY: God wants a multiethnic bride.
AURLYN WYGLE: Jesus affirms the diverse nature of His bride, full of members from every tribe, tongue and nation (Rev. 5:9; 7:9), a fulfillment of His promise to Abraham.
We see in Scripture that Christ’s kingdom is colorful and that diversity is intentional and celebrated (Gen 12:1-3; 1 Cor. 12:12; Rev. 7:9).
God’s greatest glory seems to come not from a homogeneous singularity, but from a united diversity, so that’s what we ought to seek to become. Along the way, we will begin to look more like Christ, and we might even glean a greater glimpse of the beauty of our King.
Yes, we were told it would be like this: the fall. The fall from perfection to imperfection. But we weren’t equipped for it.
There is no map for navigating the various imperfections and dangers we will face as we enter these new worlds.
ELAD NEHORAI: In Heaven, there’s nowhere to go.
In yeshiva, there is nowhere to go, no world to affect. The experience is perfect because it isn’t tested. Because we are in a cocoon. We are in heaven.
And it made sense. We were just there to learn how to be the kind of Jews we were hoping to become. How to truly live out God’s will for us without baggage.
And so having an ideal experience in yeshiva can help propel us because it is as if we could remember being souls in Heaven. But it does not teach us how to navigate this flawed world.
And while we were taught that we would be disappointed, it seems to me that most teachers are afraid to tell us in what ways we would be let down. The specifics. The realities. Not just the vague preparation for disillusionment.
Secretos kero descubrirSecretos de mi almaKe no saben mis ermanosNi primos ni paryentesSal a la puerta te hablareSal a la ventana te hablarete descubrireSecretos de mi almaLos syelos kiero por papelLa mar kiero por tintaLos arboles por pendulaPara escribir mis dertesArboliko de jazminEn mi uerta plantadoTe kreci, te enfloreciOtro te esta gozandoAy! Te engrandeci, te enfloreciOtro te esta gozando!
Secrets I want to discoverSecrets of my soulThat my brothers do not knowNor my cousins nor parentsGo to the door and I will tell youGo to the window and I will tell youYou will discoverThe secrets of my soulI want the sky for paperAnd the sea for inkI want the trees for a penTo write my painLittle jasmine treeIn my garden I planted youYou grew up, you blossomedNow somebody else enjoys youAy! You grew, you blossomedNow somebody else enjoys you
VIRGINIA MILLANO EVANGELISTA FABRO~RIVERA: YOU SHOULD SHARE WHAT YOU'RE STUDYING.
בָּרוּךְ הַשֵׁם
You permitted father to be struck with two strokes, yet Sixto Enriquez Rivera lives,,,
You removed Mother's right Cancerous breast and now you afflict her right Lung with Cancer, yet Virginia Millano Evangelista Fabro~Rivera lives,,,
You permitted a thorn of Satan to be sent many times since I was twelve, yet how much more do I need to be humbled?
I did not want to leave Mother's womb (Hers was a prolonged pregnancy).
We live near Refuah Health Center in New Square, one of our Caregivers is a Filipino named Rafael Isidro Ramos, yet complete Healing evades us.
Please, bless [Y]our Survivors,,,
Thank You,
Clifford Fabro Rivera
Hebrew name blessed by Michael Rothbaum: Eliyahu
Yaron Deutscher, Head of the Digital Department at the National Library: Our ability, in today’s digital world, to bring pieces of history to life, to tell the story of the country through the lens of a camera, is a great privilege. The Photographs Collection at the National Library tells the story of Israel at every stage and connects us to the people who were there. I hope that this project will enable us to identify the people and learn about the story behind these special and unique photographs.
KAREN L. BERMAN: preserving the memory of the Holocaust and its victims is of the utmost importance.
On a practical level, understanding the past means using the tools of the present to engage the younger generation in Holocaust education.
Blue Portrait (Nokia N82) by Torbjørn Rødland
HAROLD M. SCHULWEIS: Not history but human beings record events. Unreported, the most important episodes in life are as if they never happened. Unrecorded, the good are robbed of their just immortality. The past has to be properly remembered so that the future may be property changed. I believe there are sparks buried in unrecorded history that must be freed from the caverns of amnesia. Moral archaeology, digging out the nuggets of supreme value from the past, helps shape a more balanced and wiser theology for the future. I hope - don't we all? - to leave a shadow on this earth to offer testimony that I have lived.
MARGOT MITCHELL~NOCKOWITZ: My art was composed of things like old family photos, text edits from private but truthful conversations about Jewishness, and even 1960s Kodak slides of my grandparents and my mother when she was a child.
The work leaned towards sentimentality, nostalgia, and inquisition, things that may have helped me discover my adoration for Jewish culture, but didn’t help me understand what it meant to really know what it means to be Jewish today.
Our social practices as Jewish people should not only be based in reminiscence and an emphasis on the hardships of the past, but also to advocate for ourselves with knowledge communicated amongst each other about the tribulations happening to us now.
Our online community is secure and exemplifies an aesthetic idealism that avoids Risk, but leaves room for novice scholarship.
ELLIE KAHN: If someone lives in the same home as the person being interviewed, use a voice recorder or video camera.
JOHN PRUGELMAN: It was very important to the survivors to know that they were going to be remembered, that their pictures would be preserved, and that their legacy would go on even after they were gone.
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RACHEL LACOUR NIESEN: In fact, combining photos and video enables us to bring family history to life!
J. WARNER WALLACE: Jewish believers have always guarded Scripture with extreme care and precision. From the post-exile time of Ezra (and even before), there were priests (Deut. 31:24-26) and scribes (called Sopherim) who were given the responsibility of copying and meticulously caring for the sacred text. These groups were established so Jewish believers could hand down the text accurately. To this very day, the tradition of copying and caring for the Scriptures is venerated within the orthodox Jewish religious tradition.
My Homework was copied by Jewish classmates. Jeffrey Birenbach was caught by our Spanish teacher. I still feel like I'm doing everybody's Homework.
CAMERON FREEMAN: The development of first century Christian ideology was under the direction of a few literate men, such as Paul, who helped to maintain the identity of these small Christian assemblies through letter writing. Paul's written letters established a missiological template upon which these small Pauline assemblies could build a gospel tradition of devote faith combined with attractive moral practices. Paul established a fertile foundation for his small group of educated devotees to nuture and inspire expansion of the gospel.
SUSAN ROSENBLATT: To collect photographs is to collect the world.
CHAIM SAIMAN: Sit with these words for a moment. First, focus on the noun “academy.” In this talmudic passage, heaven is not a place of angels, halos, lyres, pearly gates, or fluffy clouds, or of chariots, smoke, lightning, or thunder. The essence of heaven is an academy—a yeshiva—a place of Torah study.
שמואל בן נחמן: He who teaches Torah to his neighbour's son will be privileged to sit in the Heavenly Academy
HE SHALL COME WITH CLOUDS
EARTH SHALL WEEP AT HIS COMING
CLOUD OF WITNESSES
MICHAEL L. BROWN: As a Jewish follower of Jesus, I appeal to every Christian, every Gentile follower of Jesus, every Jewish follower of Jesus, don't stop reaching out to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel with the Good News of the Messiah; don't withhold from my People the Water of Life, the Message of Life, the Saviour, the Messiah, the King of Israel. Sad to say, the Vatican got this wrong.
Rediscovering The Jewish Roots of Our Christian Faith: What did Yeshua mean when He talks about “binding and loosing”?
Yeshua states that the decision reached by the proper authorities will be recognized in heaven.
When this judging is done correctly, as outlined by the Holy Scriptures, then God will recognize in Heaven the decisions made on earth.
vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/sp_ss_scv/insigne/sp_ss_scv_stemma-bandiera-sigillo_en.htmlLAURIE ANNE CREUS
EWTN
M. Eugene Boring (Disciples of Christ): The "kingdom of heaven" is represented by authoritative teaching, the promulgation of authoritative Halakha that lets heaven's power rule in earthly things...The language of binding and loosing is rabbinic terminology for authoritative teaching, for having the authority to interpret the Torah and apply it to particular cases, declaring what is permitted and what is not permitted.
Francis Wright Beare (Presbyterian/Reformed): "Bind" and "loose" are technical terms of the rabbinic vocabulary, denoting the authoritative declaration that an action or course of conduct is permitted or forbidden by the Law of Moses.
Kaufmann Kohler: The power of binding and loosing was always claimed by the Pharisees.
Ib.Avodah Zarah 7a: If one sage declared something as bound, he should not ask another sage who might declare it loosed. If two sages are both present and one rules something unclean and the other rules it clean, if one binds and the other looses, then if one of them is superior to the other in learning and number of disciples, follow his ruling, otherwise, follow the stricter view.
Joachim Jeremias in an extended passage from Kittel's Greek standard TDNT: In Rabb. lit. binding and loosing are almost always used in respect of halakhic decisions...The scribe binds (declares to be forbidden) and looses (declares to be permitted)...
The Interpreter's Bible: In rabbinical language to bind and to loose is to declare certain actions forbidden or permitted...
Willoughby C. Allen: To "bind" and to "loose" in Jewish legal terminology are equivalent to "forbid" and "allow," to "declare forbidden" and to "declare allowed"...
The Lutheran/Catholic ecumenical study Peter in the New Testament: The power of the key of the Davidic kingdom is the power to open and to shut, i.e., the prime minister's power to allow or refuse entrance to the palace, which involves access to the king. If this were the background of Matthew's "keys of the kingdom," then Peter might be being portrayed as a type of prime minister in the kingdom that Jesus has come to proclaim, and the power of binding and loosing would be a specification of the broader power of allowing or refusing entrance into the kingdom....The prime minister, more literally "major-domo," was the man called in Hebrew "the one who is over the house," a term borrowed from the Egyptian designation of the chief palace functionary.
Evangelical scholar F.F. Bruce: And what about the "keys of the kingdom"? The keys of a royal or noble establishment were entrusted to the chief steward or majordomo; he carried them on his shoulder in earlier times, and there they served as a badge of the authority entrusted to him. So in the new community which Jesus was about to build, Peter would be, so to speak, chief steward.
Eduard Schweizer (Presbyterian/Reformed): In Jewish interpretation, the key of David refers to the teachers of the Law (exiled in Babylon); according to Matthew 23:13, the "keys of the Kingdom of heaven" are in the hands of the teachers of the Law.
PETER BROWN: As Augustine made clear to his clergy in the Erfurt sermons and in his preaching as a whole, alms should be directed instead at three pious causes—care of the poor, support for the clergy, and the building and maintenance of churches.
He insisted that almsgiving was an obligatory pious practice because it had an expiatory function. Alms atoned for sins. Like Jesus’s great image of the transfer of treasure from earth to heaven, the idea of the redemption of sins through the giving of alms was calculated to startle the average person.One should note how, in the Latin of the Lord’s Prayer, “sins” were usually termed debita—“debts.” They were debts that could be canceled.
There was room in such a view for relatively humble donors. Everyone was a sinner, and, so, everyone could give.
PAT PERRIELLO: One advantage of being Catholic is that we believe in tradition, and we believe in a church with the authority to interpret Scripture and tradition. The power to bind and loose is part of that tradition. Yet we are missing half of it if we are only going to bind. If we are just going to stand at the front door and guard it, we have forgotten an important part of our mission. The apostles started adapting Jesus' message even in New Testament times. We must remain faithful to church teaching and Scripture, but we also need to listen and learn about the world and how we can best bring the Christian message into the culture in which we live.
MIKE STUCHBERY: The culture of memory is one of those tools that help bind the nation together, to give people a "shared" past.
Rudy Baergen: Interestingly, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for overzealously binding and thus barring entry into the kingdom (Matt. 23:13)!
PAT PERRIELLO: One advantage of being Catholic is that we believe in tradition, and we believe in a church with the authority to interpret Scripture and tradition. The power to bind and loose is part of that tradition. Yet we are missing half of it if we are only going to bind. If we are just going to stand at the front door and guard it, we have forgotten an important part of our mission.
AVI WEISS: Torah says that Jewish law continues to evolve over time. After an extensive, in-depth analysis of the legal issue at hand, new applications may be possible.
CENTER FOR INTERACTIVE TORAH EDUCATION: It would seem that forbidding something which G-D permits to you is a problem because you are changing something which you are allowed to have (Numbers 6:11).
Brendan Fong, Emily Mata, and Olivia Stowell, on behalf of those who strive to make our campus a place where all are welcome into the Kingdom of God: In our view, removing the image of a White-appearing Jesus from the spiritual heart of the college is a manifestation of the Westmont College's commitment to witnessing to the entirety of kingdom of God, and would therefore be an “act of restorative justice.”
The following statement appeared as a full page advertisement in The New York Times, Sunday, September 10, 2000, page 23, New England edition: Although justice and peace are finally God's, our joint efforts, together with those of other faith communities, will help bring the kingdom of God for which we hope and long.
Adapted from John MacArthur, The Glory of Heaven (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1996), 138-41.
Q: Will we recognize and be reunited with our loved ones in Heaven?
A: Yes! In the Old Testament, when a person died, the biblical writers said he was "gathered to his people" (cf. Gen. 25:8; 35:29; 49:29; Num. 20:24; Judg. 2:10). In 2 Samuel 12, when David's infant child died, David confidently said, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me" (v. 23). David evidently expected to see the child again--not just a nameless, faceless soul without an identity, but that very child.
The New Testament indicates even more clearly that our identities will remain unchanged. While sharing the Passover meal with His disciples, Christ said, "Take this [cup] and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Luke 22:17-18). Christ was promising that He and His disciples would drink the fruit of the vine together again--in heaven. Elsewhere Jesus makes a similar, but even more definite, promise: "Many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 8:11).
Furthermore, Moses and Elijah appeared with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. Even though it had been centuries since Moses died and Elijah was taken to heaven, they still maintained a clear identity (Matt. 17:3)--Peter, James, and John evidently recognized them (v. 4), which implies that we will somehow be able to recognize people we've never even seen before.
All the redeemed will maintain their identity forever, but in a perfected form. We will be able to have fellowship with Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Samuel, Moses, Joshua, Esther, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, David, Peter, Barnabas, Paul, or any of the saints we choose. For that to be possible, we must all retain our individual identities, not turn into some sort of generic beings.
Describing the Lord's appearing and the resurrection of the saints who have died, Paul writes, "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17).
Paul's purpose in writing was to comfort some of the Thessalonians who evidently thought their dying loved ones would miss the return of Christ. He says in verse 18, "Comfort one another with these words." The comfort comes from the prospect of reunion. Little comfort this would be if in the reunion we could not even recognize one another. But Paul's promise that we will all be "together" forever implies that we shall renew fellowship with all whom we have known.
We will be reunited not only with our own families and loved ones, but also with the people of God from all ages. In heaven we will all be one loving family. The immense size of the family will not matter in the infinite perfection of heaven. There will be ample opportunity for close relationships with everyone, and our eternity will be spent in just that kind of rich, unending fellowship.
If you're worried about feeling out of place in heaven, don't. Heaven will seem more like home than the dearest spot on earth to you. It is uniquely designed by a tender, loving Savior to be the place where we will live together for all eternity and enjoy Him forever--in the fullness of our glorified humanity.
MARG: The kingdom of Heaven doesn’t just refer to a future reality.
I love the fact that I am already a citizen and agent of the kingdom of Heaven, and that I have a thrilling future to look forward to.
HAROLD M. SCHULWEIS: Consider the legend of a good man who after his death enters heaven and is disappointed that there are no "saints" there. He is informed that he is mistaken. The "saints" are not in heaven, heaven is in the saints.
In a complementary story, a Chasidic rabbi is asked, "Where is God?" He answers, "Whenever you let Him in."
RITA ANTOINETTE RIZZO: The time we have now will determine our eternity,,,
JOSEPH TELUSHKIN: In heaven, one story teaches, Moses sits and teaches Torah all day long. For the righteous people (the tzaddikim), this is heaven; for the evil people, it is hell.
NOSON WEISZ: The Jewish Kingdom is a reflection of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven carries in it a great power. This power is to redeem and regenerate and ensure that no part of what is noble and precious about humanity is ever lost.
Thus an act of heaven was required when Lot, Haran's son, left Abraham and became lost in Sodom. The powers of holiness and greatness that were buried in him seemed forever lost to the service of God. But because God is the absolute King and controls history even as man is free to do what he wants, He has the capacity to ensure the recovery of this lost greatness. This is the true significance of the Kingdom of Heaven.To ensure that nothing good is ever lost and is ultimately recovered requires eternal vigilance. The conversion of Ruth made possible the recovery of the lost power of Haran required to bring about the birth of the Jewish kingdom, reflective of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. She carried the binah necessary to translate it into every day life.
LOUIS JACOBS: [Jubilee is] a special year during which there was to be no agricultural work; all landed property was to revert to its original owner; and slaves were to be set free. The name Jubilee is from the Hebrew word yovel, “ram’s horn,” the year being so called because a ram’s horn was sounded when it was proclaimed (Leviticus 25:9).
BIBLE STUDY: A powerful cherub with a flaming sword was placed in front of the tree of life in order to prevent anyone from eating its fruit (verse 24).
