AUS RELIGION CHRISTIAN 23 THE CAB RIDE
From: "Rowland Croucher" (rcroucher@no-spam)
Subject: The Cab Ride
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 09:29:00 +1000


Something for all with mothers - or who had mothers - to think about...

--
Shalom!

Rowland Croucher
http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm/index.htm (Now 10,100 + articles!)

~~

The Cab Ride
Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living.

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.

Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away.

But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

So I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute", answered a frail,
elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said.

I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

"It's nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated".

"Oh, you're such a good boy", she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"

"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry.

I'm on my way to a hospice".

I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening.

"I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long."

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

"What route would you like me to take?" I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city.

She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."

We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.

"Nothing," I said.

"You have to make a living," she answered.

"There are other passengers," I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.

She held onto me tightly.

"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."

I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light.

Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought.
For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.

What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once,
then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware--beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID,

~ BUT ~

THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.


From: "Dolf Boek" (dolf_boek@no-spam)
Subject: Re: The Cab Ride
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 00:20:37 GMT

Wow Rowland a story from 20 years ago, which like your claim to Christianity, is time past and requires like SPAM, no current investment on your part.

Whenever I jump into a taxi I always consider how it is that within God's Cosmos, our two lives have crossed paths and why so seldom I meet the same driver twice. I always consider the driver's name. On this occasion, he was Macedonian with a Greek name 'EVANGELISTO'. So I asked him why there was so much conflict there. He said it was because it was a beautiful place, and that for thousands of years people had been fighting for it--indeed it had been going on for so long, that many had known conflict as their only life--but had no real understanding of the joy of peace.

I too am well acquainted with religious based persecution and much of it has occurred on the Internet--For which I will on Friday have a new name and will be attending synagogue this Sabbath for the first time as its blessing.
So I was on my to Melbourne's premier Jewish store to buy a 'Kippah' as headwear that is required for one to attend Synagogue.

Unlike most people, I use my real name on the Internet. Let me tell you what a change of name means to me. I was out late last Friday (20 June, 2003) night, which is something I rarely do. By strange happenstance I met a guy with whom I did some volunteer research work with back in 1996/1997. It was for the preparation of policy documents for the Victoria Police dealing with thorny issues of public place sexual behaviour and community violence/harassment & police relations which they failed to enact as policies.

I'll digress for the moment. True to expectations and the locations I had identified as targets within my research, two men in a relationship of their own out for a leisure stroll in the park were bashed, one to death on our ANZAC day. By some guys returning from a football match. The cause for this was a false claim of rape made by a woman. Can you imagine what it feels like to pursue a man who is running in fear for his life, only to be over taken and having your life extinguished.

The second incident was a bashing with a sharp instrument of several men by the feral offspring of a Muslim cleric. I have a letter from Diane Sisley as Chief Executive Officer of the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, by which she gives priority emphasis to the religious rights of others above the human, religious and Constitutionl Rights of gay or bisexual men.

Now back to my Friday night. The reason why I hadn't seen John (not his real name) in a long time, is that he had moved 135+ miles from Melbourne to the country town where I grew up. He had just earlier that evening spoken to one of my older siblings, being one of several siblings with whom he now socialises. One brother, who especially telephoned me on the day before my mother's funeral (its her name Boek, which I have dutifully born as a son and a mark of respect for her) to threaten me with violence if I should go to the funeral with a male friend.

That was back in around 1984 and I did go to the funeral with a male friend and wearing my police uniform I asked the Church Pastor of the Presbyterian Church if I could do the reading of my mother's favourite psalm. The spirit of the lord came upon me and I read with such resplendent voice, causing several ladies to later comment that they had never heard the psalm read with such feeling. I said:

"The Lord is my shepherd:
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness For his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For you are with me;
Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD (YAHWEH) for ever." [Psalm 22:1-6]

John expressed the view that my brother's were eager to catch up with me.
Indeed in 8 years since having a cancer for which there was only 10% chance of survival and 6 months to live, they have never made contact. So I told John to tell them that I would prefer to go to the grave first and then I would see them--because I have no desire to ever stand in the same [room] as them and they may bear that upon their conscience for the rest of their lives.

The Degel Machaneh Ephraim suggests that "God is identical with his Name.
He is not like a human being, who can be disassociated from his name."
According to Jewish tradition, the Hebrew name of a thing is its spiritual essence. In spiritual things, sharing any quality implies equivalency."
[Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, © 1982 The Light Beyond -- Adventures in Hassidic Thought, p 30]

According to Rabbi Paysach Krohn's perspective on "Names and their Significance", within Judaism, a name is not merely a conglomeration of letters put together as a convenient way to refer to someone. Ideally, it is a definition of the individual - a description of his personality and an interpretation of his traits. It may even be a portent of the person's future, or perhaps a prayer that the person bearing this particular name shall live up to the potential expressed in the name.

The Torah (Genesis 5:29) relates that Noah was given his name with the prayer, "This one will bring us rest (noah) from our work and the toil of our hands." The intent was that Noah would lighten the burden of his family's toil by introducing agricultural tools (Radak).

Arizal writes that the nature and behavior of a person, whether good or bad,
can be found by analyzing his name. Even the numerical value of the name's letters is an indication of the individual's character and personality.
[Courtesy: http://www.torah.org/features/spirfocus/names.html ]

- dolf http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/kabbalah/patent.html
"Rowland Croucher" <rcroucher@no-spam> wrote in message news:3efa3038$0$30822$afc38c87@no-spam Something for all with mothers - or who had mothers - to think about...

--
Shalom!

Rowland Croucher
http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm/index.htm (Now 10,100 + articles!)

~~

The Cab Ride
Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living.

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.

Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away.

But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

So I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute", answered a frail,
elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said.

I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

"It's nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated".

"Oh, you're such a good boy", she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"

"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry.

I'm on my way to a hospice".

I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening.

"I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long."

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

"What route would you like me to take?" I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city.

She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."

We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.

"Nothing," I said.

"You have to make a living," she answered.

"There are other passengers," I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.

She held onto me tightly.

"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."

I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light.

Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought.
For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.

What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once,
then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware--beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID,

~ BUT ~

THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

DOLF NOTE:
"Rowland Croucher" <rcroucher@no-spam> is incapable of proving to us that his claim to Jesus is something more than a fraudulent mirage and the basis for Institutionalised vilification as unconstitutional religious and human rights violation.

Without acknowledging their dependency on Judaism as Christianity, Sunday sacred Christianity has with the reprise of Y2K, no basis in truth. And as hymeneal occultism is simply: marriage and given in marriage {ie. Mary worship} which is expressly condemned within Scripture as a violation of the Everlasting Covenant God made with Israel--The Egyptian basis to much of what today passes itself off as Christianity, is by contrast a cruel,
judgmental and dispassionate deification of death!

With the experience of religious vilification going on in Australian at present where Institutional clergy have indulged themselves on the misfortunes of others which the clergy themselves have in many instances promulgated, I think it wise for him to cease telling stories of contrived religiousity and address the more important life issues.


From: "Dolf Boek" (dolf_boek@no-spam)
Subject: Re: The Cab Ride
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 01:36:48 GMT

Part two--some of the conversation:

"What is your football team he asked?"

"I don't follow football," I said. "My mother forbade it (because of the ugly natures of the people who played it) and I respected my mother too much."

"Do you have change for fifty?" I asked.

"I'll have to stop somewhere along the way, unless you pay with cab-charge."
he said.

"I'd prefer to give you the 10% rather than to them. Perhaps the fare will be sufficient that you'll have the change."

"Have you ever been to the Crown casino?" he asked.

"No I said. I haven't so much as set foot in the place--And I probably wont ever have the need."

"You are a good man he said. So many people who go there are loosers."

"Yes I know, how has it affected business?"

"Oh he said, look at all the empty cabs. No-one has any money and the small businesses are struggling. And some of the cab driver's become angry."

We both knew where it had all gone. And when we arrived, he had plenty of change. I thought to myself, cab driving is itself becoming a game of chance and risk taking.

And on the return journey, I got a cab which had just pulled up at a petrol station and I sat waiting for the driver to fill-up. As he got into the cab and saw I already had the fare in my hand, he said, "It's the middle of the day. We don't expect people to show that they have the money. But let me tell you, so many young people these days run off without paying the fare--I only ask at night."

"Don't worry about the music that's on, its fine," I said as he began apologised and turned it down.

"I had a young chap come into the cab before you and demanded that I put the radio station onto Nova, he put it up so loud. He needs music where-ever he goes he explained."

"That's a bit cheeky I said and it sounds as though he is socially dysfunctional with developing psychiatric problems."

- dolf
"Dolf Boek" <dolf_boek@no-spam> wrote in message news:p%qKa.102$Py2.2156@no-spam Wow Rowland a story from 20 years ago, which like your claim to Christianity, is time past and requires like SPAM, no current investment on your part.

Whenever I jump into a taxi I always consider how it is that within God's Cosmos, our two lives have crossed paths and why so seldom I meet the same driver twice. I always consider the driver's name. On this occasion, he was Macedonian with a Greek name 'EVANGELISTO'. So I asked him why there was so much conflict there. He said it was because it was a beautiful place, and that for thousands of years people had been fighting for it--indeed it had been going on for so long, that many had known conflict as their only life--but had no real understanding of the joy of peace.

I too am well acquainted with religious based persecution and much of it has occurred on the Internet--For which I will on Friday have a new name and will be attending synagogue this Sabbath for the first time as its blessing.
So I was on my to Melbourne's premier Jewish store to buy a 'Kippah' as headwear that is required for one to attend Synagogue.

Unlike most people, I use my real name on the Internet. Let me tell you what a change of name means to me. I was out late last Friday (20 June, 2003) night, which is something I rarely do. By strange happenstance I met a guy with whom I did some volunteer research work with back in 1996/1997. It was for the preparation of policy documents for the Victoria Police dealing with thorny issues of public place sexual behaviour and community violence/harassment & police relations which they failed to enact as policies.

I'll digress for the moment. True to expectations and the locations I had identified as targets within my research, two men in a relationship of their own out for a leisure stroll in the park were bashed, one to death on our ANZAC day. By some guys returning from a football match. The cause for this was a false claim of rape made by a woman. Can you imagine what it feels like to pursue a man who is running in fear for his life, only to be over taken and having your life extinguished.

The second incident was a bashing with a sharp instrument of several men by the feral offspring of a Muslim cleric. I have a letter from Diane Sisley as Chief Executive Officer of the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, by which she gives priority emphasis to the religious rights of others above the human, religious and Constitutionl Rights of gay or bisexual men.

Now back to my Friday night. The reason why I hadn't seen John (not his real name) in a long time, is that he had moved 135+ miles from Melbourne to the country town where I grew up. He had just earlier that evening spoken to one of my older siblings, being one of several siblings with whom he now socialises. One brother, who especially telephoned me on the day before my mother's funeral (its her name Boek, which I have dutifully born as a son and a mark of respect for her) to threaten me with violence if I should go to the funeral with a male friend.

That was back in around 1984 and I did go to the funeral with a male friend and wearing my police uniform I asked the Church Pastor of the Presbyterian Church if I could do the reading of my mother's favourite psalm. The spirit of the lord came upon me and I read with such resplendent voice, causing several ladies to later comment that they had never heard the psalm read with such feeling. I said:

"The Lord is my shepherd:
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness For his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For you are with me;
Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD (YAHWEH) for ever." [Psalm 22:1-6]

John expressed the view that my brother's were eager to catch up with me.
Indeed in 8 years since having a cancer for which there was only 10% chance of survival and 6 months to live, they have never made contact. So I told John to tell them that I would prefer to go to the grave first and then I would see them--because I have no desire to ever stand in the same [room] as them and they may bear that upon their conscience for the rest of their lives.

The Degel Machaneh Ephraim suggests that "God is identical with his Name.
He is not like a human being, who can be disassociated from his name."
According to Jewish tradition, the Hebrew name of a thing is its spiritual essence. In spiritual things, sharing any quality implies equivalency."
[Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, © 1982 The Light Beyond -- Adventures in Hassidic Thought, p 30]

According to Rabbi Paysach Krohn's perspective on "Names and their Significance", within Judaism, a name is not merely a conglomeration of letters put together as a convenient way to refer to someone. Ideally, it is a definition of the individual - a description of his personality and an interpretation of his traits. It may even be a portent of the person's future, or perhaps a prayer that the person bearing this particular name shall live up to the potential expressed in the name.

The Torah (Genesis 5:29) relates that Noah was given his name with the prayer, "This one will bring us rest (noah) from our work and the toil of our hands." The intent was that Noah would lighten the burden of his family's toil by introducing agricultural tools (Radak).

Arizal writes that the nature and behavior of a person, whether good or bad,
can be found by analyzing his name. Even the numerical value of the name's letters is an indication of the individual's character and personality.
[Courtesy: http://www.torah.org/features/spirfocus/names.html ]

- dolf http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/kabbalah/patent.html
"Rowland Croucher" <rcroucher@no-spam> wrote in message news:3efa3038$0$30822$afc38c87@no-spam Something for all with mothers - or who had mothers - to think about...

--
Shalom!

Rowland Croucher
http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm/index.htm (Now 10,100 + articles!)

~~

The Cab Ride
Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living.

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.

Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away.

But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

So I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute", answered a frail,
elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said.

I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

"It's nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated".

"Oh, you're such a good boy", she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"

"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry.

I'm on my way to a hospice".

I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening.

"I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long."

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

"What route would you like me to take?" I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city.

She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."

We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.

"Nothing," I said.

"You have to make a living," she answered.

"There are other passengers," I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.

She held onto me tightly.

"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."

I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light.

Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought.
For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.

What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once,
then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware--beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID,

~ BUT ~

THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

DOLF NOTE:
"Rowland Croucher" <rcroucher@no-spam> is incapable of proving to us that his claim to Jesus is something more than a fraudulent mirage and the basis for Institutionalised vilification as unconstitutional religious and human rights violation.

Without acknowledging their dependency on Judaism as Christianity, Sunday sacred Christianity has with the reprise of Y2K, no basis in truth. And as hymeneal occultism is simply: marriage and given in marriage {ie. Mary worship} which is expressly condemned within Scripture as a violation of the Everlasting Covenant God made with Israel--The Egyptian basis to much of what today passes itself off as Christianity, is by contrast a cruel,
judgmental and dispassionate deification of death!

With the experience of religious vilification going on in Australian at present where Institutional clergy have indulged themselves on the misfortunes of others which the clergy themselves have in many instances promulgated, I think it wise for him to cease telling stories of contrived religiousity and address the more important life issues.


From: "Bradley" (bradley@no-spam)
Subject: Re: The Cab Ride
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 00:38:19 GMT

Dolf,

Rowland does not hide the fact that he gathers many, many stories and articles from the Internet (which generally end up on his web site) and he sometimes decides to share some here. He of course also has written many articles himself too.

I'm sure everyone has already told you, it is not spam.

You comments (and ravings) achieve absolutely nothing in this NG. Your attitude as reflected in every one of your posts suggests you are not loving and not willing to listen. I suggest it is in fact YOU that should consider your behaviour here.

Rowland has proven to many here the type of person he is. He is respected by many in the Christian community. But hey, I don't need to defend him!...
simpy because we all know there is no basis for the words you spit.

ps. I've made my comment. I am certainly not interested in entering into a "discussion" with you or reading any reply :P
-- Bradley
"Dolf Boek" <dolf_boek@no-spam> wrote in message news:n6zKa.613$Py2.6347@no-spam > Is Rowland Croucher a liar, a sacred prostitute who SPAMS contrived and > emotionally manipulative stories as his own claim to Christian belief in > message news:3efa3038$0$30822$afc38c87@no-spam >
> Google.com provides some variations on the "Twenty years ago, I drove a > cab for a living" which appears to relate to a cowboy's life.
>
> Google.com provides some variations on the "Twenty years ago, I drove a > cab for a living" which apepars to relate to a cowboy's life.
>
> "Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. It was a cowboy's life, a > life for someone who wanted no boss. What I didn't realize was that it was > also a ministry. Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a > moving confessional. Passengers climbed in, sat behind me in total > anonymity, and told me about their lives. I encountered people whose lives > amazed me, ennobled me, made me laugh and weep. But none touched me more > than a woman I picked up late one August night." [
> http://puebloadvocacy.com/jane/taxi.htm ]
>
>
> "Dolf Boek" <dolf_boek@no-spam> wrote in message > news:Q6sKa.167$Py2.2887@no-spam > Part two--some of the conversation:
>
> "What is your football team he asked?"
>
> "I don't follow football," I said. "My mother forbade it (because of the > ugly natures of the people who played it) and I respected my mother too > much."
>
> "Do you have change for fifty?" I asked.
>
> "I'll have to stop somewhere along the way, unless you pay with cab-charge."
> he said.
>
> "I'd prefer to give you the 10% rather than to them. Perhaps the fare will > be sufficient that you'll have the change."
>
> "Have you ever been to the Crown casino?" he asked.
>
> "No I said. I haven't so much as set foot in the place--And I probably wont > ever have the need."
>
> "You are a good man he said. So many people who go there are loosers."
>
> "Yes I know, how has it affected business?"
>
> "Oh he said, look at all the empty cabs. No-one has any money and the small > businesses are struggling. And some of the cab driver's become angry."
>
> We both knew where it had all gone. And when we arrived, he had plenty of > change. I thought to myself, cab driving is itself becoming a game of > chance and risk taking.
>
> And on the return journey, I got a cab which had just pulled up at a petrol > station and I sat waiting for the driver to fill-up. As he got into the cab > and saw I already had the fare in my hand, he said, "It's the middle of the > day. We don't expect people to show that they have the money. But let me > tell you, so many young people these days run off without paying the fare--I > only ask at night."
>
> "Don't worry about the music that's on, its fine," I said as he began > apologised and turned it down.
>
> "I had a young chap come into the cab before you and demanded that I put the > radio station onto Nova, he put it up so loud. He needs music where-ever he > goes he explained."
>
> "That's a bit cheeky I said and it sounds as though he is socially > dysfunctional with developing psychiatric problems."
>
> - dolf >
> "Dolf Boek" <dolf_boek@no-spam> wrote in message > news:p%qKa.102$Py2.2156@no-spam > Wow Rowland a story from 20 years ago, which like your claim to > Christianity, is time past and requires like SPAM, no current investment on > your part.
>
> Whenever I jump into a taxi I always consider how it is that within God's > Cosmos, our two lives have crossed paths and why so seldom I meet the same > driver twice. I always consider the driver's name. On this occasion, he > was Macedonian with a Greek name 'EVANGELISTO'. So I asked him why there > was so much conflict there. He said it was because it was a beautiful > place, and that for thousands of years people had been fighting for > it--indeed it had been going on for so long, that many had known conflict as > their only life--but had no real understanding of the joy of peace.
>
> I too am well acquainted with religious based persecution and much of it has > occurred on the Internet--For which I will on Friday have a new name and > will be attending synagogue this Sabbath for the first time as its blessing.
> So I was on my to Melbourne's premier Jewish store to buy a 'Kippah' as > headwear that is required for one to attend Synagogue.
>
> Unlike most people, I use my real name on the Internet. Let me tell you what > a change of name means to me. I was out late last Friday > (20 June, 2003) night, which is something I rarely do. By strange > happenstance I met a guy with whom I did some volunteer research work with > back in 1996/1997. It was for the preparation of policy documents for the > Victoria Police dealing with thorny issues of public place sexual behaviour > and community violence/harassment & police relations which they failed to > enact as policies.
>
> I'll digress for the moment. True to expectations and the locations I had > identified as targets within my research, two men in a relationship of their > own out for a leisure stroll in the park were bashed, one to death on our > ANZAC day. By some guys returning from a football match. The cause for > this was a false claim of rape made by a woman. Can you imagine what it > feels like to pursue a man who is running in fear for his life, only to be > over taken and having your life extinguished.
>
> The second incident was a bashing with a sharp instrument of several men by > the feral offspring of a Muslim cleric. I have a letter from Diane Sisley > as Chief Executive Officer of the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights > Commission, by which she gives priority emphasis to the religious rights of > others above the human, religious and Constitutionl Rights of gay or > bisexual men.
>
> Now back to my Friday night. The reason why I hadn't seen John (not his > real name) in a long time, is that he had moved 135+ miles from Melbourne to > the country town where I grew up. He had just earlier that evening spoken > to one of my older siblings, being one of several siblings with whom he now > socialises. One brother, who especially telephoned me on the day before my > mother's funeral (its her name Boek, which I have dutifully born as a son > and a mark of respect for her) to threaten me with violence if I should go > to the funeral with a male friend.
>
> That was back in around 1984 and I did go to the funeral with a male friend > and wearing my police uniform I asked the Church Pastor of the Presbyterian > Church if I could do the reading of my mother's favourite psalm. The spirit > of the lord came upon me and I read with such resplendent voice, causing > several ladies to later comment that they had never heard the psalm read > with such feeling. I said:
>
> "The Lord is my shepherd:
> I shall not want.
> He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
> He leads me beside the still waters.
> He restores my soul;
> He leads me in the paths of righteousness > For his name's sake.
>
> Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
> I will fear no evil;
> For you are with me;
> Your rod and your staff,
> they comfort me.
>
> You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
> You anoint my head with oil;
> My cup runs over.
> Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
> And I will dwell in the house of the LORD (YAHWEH) for ever." [Psalm 22:1-6]
>
> John expressed the view that my brother's were eager to catch up with me.
> Indeed in 8 years since having a cancer for which there was only 10%
chance > of survival and 6 months to live, they have never made contact. So I told > John to tell them that I would prefer to go to the grave first and then I > would see them--because I have no desire to ever stand in the same [room]
as > them and they may bear that upon their conscience for the rest of their > lives.
>
> The Degel Machaneh Ephraim suggests that "God is identical with his Name.
> He is not like a human being, who can be disassociated from his name."
> According to Jewish tradition, the Hebrew name of a thing is its spiritual > essence. In spiritual things, sharing any quality implies equivalency."
> [Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, © 1982 The Light Beyond -- Adventures in Hassidic > Thought, p 30]
>
> According to Rabbi Paysach Krohn's perspective on "Names and their > Significance", within Judaism, a name is not merely a conglomeration of > letters put together as a convenient way to refer to someone. Ideally, it is > a definition of the individual - a description of his personality and an > interpretation of his traits. It may even be a portent of the person's > future, or perhaps a prayer that the person bearing this particular name > shall live up to the potential expressed in the name.
>
> The Torah (Genesis 5:29) relates that Noah was given his name with the > prayer, "This one will bring us rest (noah) from our work and the toil of > our hands." The intent was that Noah would lighten the burden of his > family's toil by introducing agricultural tools (Radak).
>
> Arizal writes that the nature and behavior of a person, whether good or bad,
> can be found by analyzing his name. Even the numerical value of the name's > letters is an indication of the individual's character and personality.
> [Courtesy: http://www.torah.org/features/spirfocus/names.html ]
>
> - dolf > http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/kabbalah/patent.html >
>
> "Rowland Croucher" <rcroucher@no-spam> wrote in > message news:3efa3038$0$30822$afc38c87@no-spam > Something for all with mothers - or who had mothers - to think about...
>
> -- >
> Shalom!
>
> Rowland Croucher >
> http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm/index.htm > (Now 10,100 + articles!)
>
> ~~
>
> The Cab Ride >
> Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living.
>
> When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light > in a ground floor window.
>
> Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice,
wait > a minute, then drive away.
>
> But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their > only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I > always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my > assistance, I reasoned to myself.
>
> So I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute", answered a frail,
> elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
>
> After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before > me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on > it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.
>
> By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one > had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with > sheets.
>
> There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the > counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and > glassware.
>
> "Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said.
>
> I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took > my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my > kindness.
>
> "It's nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I > would want my mother treated".
>
> "Oh, you're such a good boy", she said.
>
> When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive > through downtown?"
>
> "It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.
>
> "Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry.
>
> I'm on my way to a hospice".
>
> I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening.
>
> "I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't > have very long."
>
> I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
>
> "What route would you like me to take?" I asked.
>
> For the next two hours, we drove through the city.
>
> She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator > operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had > lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture > warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a > girl.
>
> Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner > and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
>
> As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm > tired. Let's go now."
>
> We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
>
> It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that > passed under a portico.
>
> Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were > solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been > expecting her.
>
> I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was > already seated in a wheelchair.
>
> "How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.
>
> "Nothing," I said.
>
> "You have to make a living," she answered.
>
> "There are other passengers," I responded.
>
> Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.
>
> She held onto me tightly.
>
> "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."
>
> I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light.
>
> Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn't > pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought.
> For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.
>
> What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to > end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once,
> then driven away?
>
> On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in > my life.
>
> We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.
But > great moments often catch us unaware--beautifully wrapped in what others may > consider a small one.
>
> PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID,
>
> ~ BUT ~
>
> THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.
>
> DOLF NOTE:
> "Rowland Croucher" <rcroucher@no-spam> is incapable of > proving to us that his claim to Jesus is something more than a fraudulent > mirage and the basis for Institutionalised vilification as unconstitutional > religious and human rights violation.
>
> Without acknowledging their dependency on Judaism as Christianity, Sunday > sacred Christianity has with the reprise of Y2K, no basis in truth. And as > hymeneal occultism is simply: marriage and given in marriage {ie. Mary > worship} which is expressly condemned within Scripture as a violation of the > Everlasting Covenant God made with Israel--The Egyptian basis to much of > what today passes itself off as Christianity, is by contrast a cruel,
> judgmental and dispassionate deification of death!
>
> With the experience of religious vilification going on in Australian at > present where Institutional clergy have indulged themselves on the > misfortunes of others which the clergy themselves have in many instances > promulgated, I think it wise for him to cease telling stories of contrived > religiousity and address the more important life issues.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


From: "Qolon" (telos@no-spam)
Subject: Re: The Cab Ride
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 02:37:06 GMT

The SPAMMED post uses the pronoun 'I' as an attempt to profess a religious life indicative of the 'I AM' as YAHWEH.

It characterises palliative carers as vultures--which perhaps a better characterisation of yours and Rowland Croucher's lack of spiritual life: "Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem {vision of peace} will not be handed over into the hand of the king of Assyria {who is happy; or walks; or looks}. Behold, you have heard that the kings of Assyria have done to all the provinces, destroying them utterly.
And do you think to be delivered? HAVE THE GODS OF THE PEOPLES, WHICH MY FATHERS DESTROYED, DELIVERED THEM, GOZAN {fleece; pasture; who nourisheth the body}, HARAN {mountainous country}, REZEPH { pavement; burning coal},
AND THE SONS OF EDEN {pleasure; delight} WHO WERE IN TELASSAR {taking away;
heaping up}? WHERE IS THE KING OF HAMATH {anger; heat; a wall}, THE KING OF ARPHAD {the light of redemption}, THE KING OF THE CITY OF SEPHARVAIM {the two books; the two scribes}, DID THEY NOT CAST THEM OUT AND EXILE THEM?"
[Aramaic Targum of Isaiah 37:10-13]

As you are both exiled?

"So the LORD God said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." [Genesis 3:14-15]

Like you, "Rowland Croucher" <rcroucher@no-spam>
appears incapable of proving to us that his claim to Jesus is something more than a fraudulent mirage and the basis for Institutionalised vilification as unconstitutional religious and human rights violation.

Without acknowledging their dependency on Judaism as Christianity, Sunday sacred Christianity has with the reprise of Y2K, no basis in truth. And as hymeneal occultism is simply: marriage and given in marriage {ie. Mary worship} which is expressly condemned within Scripture as a violation of the Everlasting Covenant God made with Israel--The Egyptian basis to much of what today passes itself off as Christianity, is by contrast a cruel,
judgmental and dispassionate deification of death!

Note the Jewish historical reference to the Christian New Covenant: "'Look,
traitors,
and see, and be shocked--amazed--for the Lord is doing something in your time that you would not believe it if told.' [Habakkuk 1:5; Acts 13:38-42]

This passage refers to the traitors with the Man of the Lie {Philo of Alexandria's (20 BCE-50 AD) metaphysical view of the Decalogue as rather resembling the 'Heads of Laws' made use of the Pythagorean Chaldean Occulted use of Number and the Tetragrammation of YHWH as [72J] + 3(3²+1) /2 =
[72J2W1D] being 457BCE}, because they have not obeyed the words of the Teacher of Righteousness {ie. The Hebrew/Christian Apostle Paul [Acts 28:17-31]} from the mouth of God. It also refers to the traitors to the New Covenant, because they did not believe in God's covenant and desecrated His holy name; and finally, it also refers to the traitors in the Last Days.

They are the cruel Israelites who will not believe when they hear everything that is to come upon the latter generation that will be spoken by the Priest in whose heart God has put the ability to explain all the words of His servants the prophets, through whom God has foretold everything that is to come upon His people and His land." [1QpHab Col. 1.16-Col. 2.10]

With the experience of religious vilification going on in Australian at present (of which you are a participant) where Institutional clergy have indulged themselves on the misfortunes of others which the clergy themselves have in many instances promulgated, I think it wise for him to cease telling stories of contrived religiousity and address the more important life issues.

As you and I share no-common ground regarding your claim to a religious life, I anticipate that this will probably be one of the last messages I will receive publicly from you, desire to receive or have necessity to receive.

- Qolon http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/kabbalah/patent.html
"Bradley" <bradley@no-spam> wrote in message news:%lMKa.167$eR2.2152@no-spam Dolf,

Rowland does not hide the fact that he gathers many, many stories and articles from the Internet (which generally end up on his web site) and he sometimes decides to share some here. He of course also has written many articles himself too.

I'm sure everyone has already told you, it is not spam.

You comments (and ravings) achieve absolutely nothing in this NG. Your attitude as reflected in every one of your posts suggests you are not loving and not willing to listen. I suggest it is in fact YOU that should consider your behaviour here.

Rowland has proven to many here the type of person he is. He is respected by many in the Christian community. But hey, I don't need to defend him!...
simpy because we all know there is no basis for the words you spit.

ps. I've made my comment. I am certainly not interested in entering into a "discussion" with you or reading any reply :P
-- Bradley

From: "Bradley" (bradley@no-spam)
Subject: Re: The Cab Ride
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 00:00:28 GMT

Before you judge others look at yourself.

There is no love in you (in as much as you appear on here anyway).
-- Bradley
"Qolon" <telos@no-spam> wrote in message news:8bLLa.103$VH3.2474@no-spam > Bradley,
>
> You are no Christian, but a liar and one who steals from God's Everlasting > Covenant with Israel and therefore a bearer of false testimony--but no > Christian. Religious persecution is a curious thing. Although I counted it > a joy last Sabbath to quietly sit in a Synagogue and participate in a > prayer, the sharing of some wine and bread for her Majesty the Queen of > England, the Governor General of Australia, our country's leaders and for > peace in Israel.
>
> That is something not even many Anglicans who similarly falsely claim to be > Christians can do within Australia. Is it not so written, by the 7th-day > Sabbath keeping Hebrew Scholar, Greek Philiosopher and Christian Apostle > Paul {small, little}: "For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an > apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may > provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if > their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their > acceptance be but life from the dead?
>
> For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is > holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off,
and > you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them > became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast > against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support > the root, but the root supports you.
>
> You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in."
> Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith.
> Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches,
> He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of > God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue > in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
>
> And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in,
for > God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive > tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a > cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches,
> be grafted into their own olive tree?
>
> For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery,
> lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has > happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so > all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
>
> "The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
> And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
> For this is My covenant with them,
> When I take away their sins."
>
> Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the > election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the > calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God,
yet > have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have > now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain > mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have > mercy on all." [© 1982 Thomas Nelson, New King James Bible, Romans 11:13-32]
>
> - dolf > http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/kabbalah/patent.html >
>
> "Bradley" <bradley@no-spam> wrote in message > news:aCJLa.28$VH3.1529@no-spam > > "yours and Rowland Croucher's lack of spiritual life" ?
>
> You do not know me, and you certainly do not really know Rowland. I do not > envy the judgement that will come upon someone that which they so liberally > apply to others.
>
> Unfortunately it appears you are incapable of discussion. Discussion stops > as soon as you judge, condemn, belittle, acuse.. etc. I'm glad Christ showed > us a different way.
>
> When you reflect Christ-like behaviour, when you have gotten to know me and > love me regardless of my faults, when you talk to me with kindness,
> friendliness and rationality, then you can "sharpen" me with God's Word if I > have stumbled. Not before.
> -- > Bradley
<snip previous postings>


From: "Qolon" (telos@no-spam)
Subject: Re: The Cab Ride
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 00:48:59 GMT

Bradley,

Here are your own words made as recently as 2 July, 2003--Eat them slowly and becareful that you don't choke.

The only conclusion that one can draw from your compulsive, psychopathic and sychophantic behaviour--is that you are a liar and as such cannot be a Christian but in name only: "They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hear thems. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error!" [1 John 4:5-6]

- Qolon http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/kabbalah/patent.html
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bradley" (bradley@no-spam)
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: Selling Bibles :-)

<snipped for context>

I refuse to talk to people who just conduct personal attacks, call people names and are simply here to prove to everyone how superior they (think they) are.

Sadly, you are now going on my "killfile",

*flush*

Bradley
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bradley" (bradley@no-spam)
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 10:00 AM
Subject: Re: The Cab Ride

"Bradley" <bradley@no-spam> wrote in message news:wQnOa.62$pQ6.4189@no-spam Before you judge others look at yourself.

There is no love in you (in as much as you appear on here anyway).
-- Bradley
"Qolon" <telos@no-spam> wrote in message news:8bLLa.103$VH3.2474@no-spam You are no Christian, but a liar and one who steals from God's Everlasting Covenant with Israel and therefore a bearer of false testimony--but no Christian. Religious persecution is a curious thing. Although I counted it a joy last Sabbath to quietly sit in a Synagogue and participate in a prayer, the sharing of some wine and bread for her Majesty the Queen of England, the Governor General of Australia, our country's leaders and for peace in Israel.

That is something not even many Anglicans who similarly falsely claim to be Christians can do within Australia. Is it not so written, by the 7th-day Sabbath keeping Hebrew Scholar, Greek Philiosopher and Christian Apostle Paul {small, little}: "For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in."
Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith.
Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches,
He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches,
be grafted into their own olive tree?

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

"The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins."

Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all." [© 1982 Thomas Nelson, New King James Bible, Romans 11:13-32]

- dolf http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/kabbalah/patent.html
"Bradley" <bradley@no-spam> wrote in message news:aCJLa.28$VH3.1529@no-spam > "yours and Rowland Croucher's lack of spiritual life" ?

You do not know me, and you certainly do not really know Rowland. I do not envy the judgement that will come upon someone that which they so liberally apply to others.

Unfortunately it appears you are incapable of discussion. Discussion stops as soon as you judge, condemn, belittle, acuse.. etc. I'm glad Christ showed us a different way.

When you reflect Christ-like behaviour, when you have gotten to know me and love me regardless of my faults, when you talk to me with kindness,
friendliness and rationality, then you can "sharpen" me with God's Word if I have stumbled. Not before.
-- Bradley
QOLON NOTE:
There is no sin of brotherly love as homosexuality given within the Bible--Indeed the Seventh-day (Saturday) observant, Hebrew Torah Scholar,
Greek Philosopher and Christian Apostle Paul as custodian of YAHWEH's Everlasting Convenant says otherwise:

"But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you for you youselves are taught of God to love one another." [1 Thessalonians 4:9]

"Let brotherly love continue." [Hebrews 13;1]

If you had bothered to read the previous newsgroups posts you would recognise that consistent with the representations made within the Dead Sea Scrolls , that the Epistle to the Romans, with its homogeneic anathema as image of 'athiestic vermin' (ie. Godless parasitic Eunuch priests)

ATHEISM:
1) the doctrine that there is no God.
2) disbelief in the existence of a God (or gods).
3) godlessness [Gk atheos without a god]

VERMIN:
1) noxious, troublesome, or objectionable animals collectively, esp.
troublesome or disgusting insects or other minute animals, more particularly creeping ones parasitic on living animals or plants.
2) a single animal of this kind 3) obnoxious persons collectively 4) a single person of this kind [ME vermyne, from OF vermin, from verm worm,
from L vermis] [Courtesy Macquarie Dictionary]"

ANATHEMA {ie. subject to:
1) a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.
2) and imprecation of divine punishment.
3) a curse, an execration,
4) a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction.
5) a person or thin detested or loathed. [LL from Gk: something devoted to evil]

} made in response to Philo of Alexandria's (20BCE - 50CE) embassy to the Roman Emperor Caligulla and his Pythagorean/Chaldean {demons; robbers}
misuse of the sacred name of YAHWEH = 72J + 2W1D as the magic square known for millenia {ie. 3(3²+1)/2 = 2W1D as 457BCE and associated to the Angel Name of God as the Divine Name in Extension -- a metaschema obtained anagrammatically [Exodus 14:19-21; Luke 12:8-12 cf: Kaplan 1979:184]}

The point to this is that without this date which gives the starting point for the Messianic Prophecy who was born from the seed/loins of King David {well beloved;dear}, that Sunday Sacred Christianity as Hymeneal Occultism which is much of today's Christianity, who despite marriage {"Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, and those who are mistreated {ie.
ARSENOKOITE}, since you yourselves are in the body also. Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers {

ie. Hymeneal Occultism as astrological occultism {MALAKOS} practice perpetuated by the Eunuch Egyptian Priests and the origins of the Roman Catholic Church:

Pythagoras (circa 580/570-c.500 BCE) being contemporaneous to the Hebrews Babylonian captivity, was an imitator of the Orphean Constitutions,
worshipping the gods after the manner of Orpheus, placed in brazen images,
not representing the forms of men, but of the gods themselves, who comprehending and foreseeing all things, resemble in nature and form the whole. He declared their purifications and rites, which are called 'Teletai'
{cf: "For God-theos hath not called-kaleo us unto uncleanness-akatharsia"
[1Thessalonians 4:3-9] Where katharmoi (purification rites) of the Lower Mysteries and teletai (perfection of labours) pertaining to the Greater Mysteries of Bacchus, whereby the thiaseuesthai (Initiate) is brought into the religious fraternity or organisation (thiasos)}, having the most exact knowledge of them. Moreover they affirm, he made a composition of the divine Philosophy and service, part whereof he had learned from the Orpheans, part from the Egyptian Priests; some from the Chaldeans and Magi; some from the Eleusinian Rites, and those of Imber, and Samo-Thracia, and Delos, and Celtae, and Iberians. Amongst the Latines also is read the Sacred Discourse of Pythagoras, not to all, but to such as are admitted to the doctrine of excellent things, and are not addicted to ought that is dishonest. [Thomas Stanley, Pythagoras, His Life and Teachings - Being a Photographic Facsimile of the 9th Section of the 1687 Edition of The History of Philosophy, p 545-546]

The introduction of the Kabbalah into the Latin tongue and founder of this Christian school of Kabbalah, according to Reuchlin'a comments in 'De arte cabalistica', was the renowned Florentine prodigy Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-94 CE), who vainly believed on the basis of axiology, that he could prove the dogmas of the Trinity and the Incarnation on the basis of Kabbalistic axioms. [Encyclopedia Judaica, © 1971 Keter Publishing House,
Ltd, Jerusalem, Israel]

http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/particular.html#TELETAI } God will judge." [Hebrews 13:3-4]} can make no claim to either Jesus Christ and are Everlasting Covenant Defilers viz the Y2K / JUBILEE2000 MYTHS.

And this is a view of Eunuch's made within the Dead Sea Scrolls. A brief and reconstructed documentary fragment from the Dead Sea Scrolls, provides one of the few biblical commentaries on the fundamental composition of what it means to be a eunuch. It gives rise to the notion, that Christianity's use of the biblical eunuch as a morality model representative for homosexuality is built upon faulty conceptions. The life of the biblical eunuch appears not to be defined as an issue of distortion of gender and sexuality identity, but rather a dichotomy of completeness verses incompleteness and commitment verses lack of commitment. The biblical eunuch, which is said to be based on distortions of gender and sexuality identity, does not appear to exist.

"Concerning the Ammonite, the Moabite, the bastard, the one whose testicles are crushed, or whose penis is cut off who enter the congregation ...and take wives, that they might become one flesh and entering the sanctuary...
unclean. We have also determined that there is not...one must not have intercourse with them ...one must not unite with them so as to make them one bone...one must not bring them into the sanctuary. And you know that some of the people and...are uniting. For all the sons of Israel are responsible to guard themselves against any defiling union and to show reverence for the sanctuary." [Sectarian Manifesto 39-49] [See also Deuteronomy 23:1-4,
Mishnah Yebamoth 8:2-3]

Israel as a society, not only derived its sense of social order from the natural principles of male dominated patriarchy, but measured its abundance in fulfilment to the Lord's covenant in procreational terms-"You shall be blessed above all the nations; and there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your cattle." [Targum Neofiti 1: Deuteronomy 7:14]
Of primary concern to the nation's loss of a sense of self, is not simply a sense of barrenness, but barrenness within an existing and retained gender and sexuality identity which failed to fulfill societal expectations.
Therefore, beyond the issue of sterility, being a eunuch did not necessarily imply a loss of either an heterosexual or male sexual identity or capability. They not only participated in sexual union, but as the translators suggest, they took wives in the traditional sense of 'one flesh'
unions.

The concern here is clearly defined in terms of bodily incompleteness, as a unchangeable state of being. One which remains, despite any attempt by the individual to circumvent it through participating in or emulating nuptial or procreational union.

The proposition that being a eunuch is considered an excruciating incomplete state of being, as a representation of cultural or religious uncleanness,
rather than representative of inherent sinfulness, is also alluded to by the prohibitions given to the Aaronic Priesthood. Becoming a priest was a matter of birthright in which a priest could participate in eating "the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy." Disqualification by virtue of having blindness, blemishes or being a eunuch amongst other superficialities, did not impinge the priest's right to partake of the bread of his God. Rather, it prevented the priest from officiating in his destined capacity of going "near the veil (where Christ has entered for us.[Hebrews 9:11-15]) or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profane my sanctuaries." [Leviticus 21:20-23] The prohibition here is clearly based a common set of attributions associated as states of deformity or as a status of incompleteness.

Clearly then, the biblical eunuch does not appear to be one of either loss of gender or distorted gender based sexual roles due to a dysfunctional use of male genitalia-as Christians might today assert of homosexuals.

http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/destitute.html#BEGIN
I believe the whole impetus of the New Covenant is to provide substantiation and differentiation of that fact [Acts 28:17-31]: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.

And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate." [Daniel 9:25-27]

NOTE THE JEWISH HISTORICAL DEAD SEA SCROLL REFERENCE TO THE CHRISTIAN NEW COVENANT {which you also insubstantially claim as your Christianity}:
"'Look, traitors, and see, and be shocked--amazed--for the Lord is doing something in your time that you would not believe it if told.' [Habakkuk 1:5; Acts 13:38-42]

This passage refers to the traitors with the Man of the Lie {ie. Philo of Alexandria's (20 BCE-50 AD) metaphysical view of the Decalogue as rather resembling the 'Heads of Laws' made use of the Pythagorean Chaldean {As demons, or as robbers:

"Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery,
dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written." [Romans 2:17-24]

} Occulted use of Number and the Tetragrammation of YHWH as [72J] +
3(3²+1)/2 = [72J2W1D] being 457BCE as the year of return from Babylonian exile [Ezra 9:9]}, because they have not obeyed the words of the Teacher of Righteousness {ie. The Hebrew/Christian Apostle Paul [Acts 28:17-31]} from the mouth of God. It also refers to the traitors to the New Covenant,
because they did not believe in God's covenant and desecrated His holy name;
and finally, it also refers to the traitors in the Last Days.

They are the cruel Israelites who will not believe when they hear everything that is to come upon the latter generation that will be spoken by the Priest in whose heart God has put the ability to explain all the words of His servants the prophets, through whom God has foretold everything that is to come upon His people and His land." [1QpHab Col. 1.16-Col. 2.10]

Although the Apostle Paul showed grace towards other Roman Emperors {"Greet every Saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, but especially whose who are of Caesar's household.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Chirst be with you all." [Philippians 4:21-23]}

The Roman Emperor Caligulla was known even by Philo of Alexandria, not only for his excessive immorality [Here is a picture I took when I visited POMPEI which was destroyed by the Plinian eruption of 79 AD, that illustrates this point http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/images/priapism.jpg ], but like those in Athens, did not know God {YAHWEH}. I say this, because I had opportunity to once stand in the same place Athens as Apostle Paul: "Then Paul {Small, little} stood in the midst of the Areopagus {the hill of Mars}
and said, 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:
God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life,
breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being,
as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'
Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." [Acts 17:22-31]

Just as this document causes your hackles to rise, the Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Romans may have been sufficient impetus, along with the recall of the monies loaned to Philo of Alexandria's nephews who were Governors and Government officials at the time {and who used it to cover the gates to Jerusalem's Sanctuary to YAHWEH with silver and Gold}, to have called in the loan and caused the destruction and annihiation of Jerusalem and its people.

- Qolon http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/telos/kabbalah/patent.html