JESUS SAID THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE, THAT IS AN ENDLESS SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

 

One of Jesus' miracles, walking on the sea

While preaching the word of God, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him that “If you remain faithful to my word, you will truly be my disciples; you will know the truth and the truth will make you free”

 

Jesus was talking about spiritual freedom, but till today, many still don’t understand.

 

Jesus knew that if we proclaim the truth, the world will hate us. He confirms it by saying that “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

 

In fact, many continue to suffer, be oppressed, and even killed for the truth; therefore, he was talking about spiritual freedom. Real freedom doesn't exist, and it will never be so far as the world has monsters living amongst us as human beings.

 

Just as many are confused today about this statement Jesus made thousands of years ago, the same Jews misunderstood and answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say you will become free?”

 

Jesus replied, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever sins is a slave to sin. Now the slave does not stay in the house forever, but the son always stays there; so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. What a great man, full of unparalleled wisdom!

 

The biblical stories, whether tampered with or fabricated fantasy stories, as atheists want us to believe or accept, remain the best book to read. The bible has transformed many lost souls and brought the prodigal sons and daughters back home to their distraught parents.

 

The bible has given hope, comfort, and salvation to many who previously contemplated committing suicide because of hardships, crimes, cruelties, oppression, suffering, and diseases that have plagued mankind from generation to generation.

 

Out of love, God offers his only Son as a sacrifice, for our salvation. Jesus performed many miracles. He raises the dead; spreads the Gospel to every corner of the world with his disciples. He walks on the waters, defends the oppressed and the persecuted. That wasn’t the end; he feeds five thousand people with five loaves and two fish and casts out demons.

 

Today, we are witnessing a different world. Churches, government officials, politicians, etc, put their hands on the bible to swear oaths, later they mock the bible and do things contrary to what is written in the holy book.

 

Nobody apart from Jesus raised the dead, yet today, there are people in our midst who decide who must live and die. A man kills his wife for life insurance; a woman kills her husband to inherit the property both have worked hard for. 

Armed robbers kill a couple, steal money, and snatch away a car. These are the disturbing news we receive daily from many parts of the world.

 

Despite Jesus assuring us that the truth shall set us free, it’s sad to narrate the tragedies, suffering, killings, oppression, domination, and the psychological torture, many have experienced because of the simple truth.

 

From the past generation to the current, if you don’t join the empire of deceitful enemies to sing their choruses of lies, hypocrisy, deceptions, and clandestine crimes, you are considered a threat and dangerous to society.

 

Since it takes courage to speak the truth, many are scared, and therefore, don’t want to be hurt, injured, lose their friends, or killed; thus, many have become chronic liars till the time they will depart from this earth.

 

As a believer of the scriptures myself, there are great words, Psalms, etc, that give us the nourishment, courage, hope, joy, and happiness to endure such oppressions that many can’t handle.

 

Whether the great stories in the bible are true or not, our faith in them has worked for us for decades; therefore, we are neither going to deny the Highest nor the Holy Bible.

 

This is one of the reasons, despite the harsh experiences Africans have passed through, the suicide rate on that continent is lower than that of Europe and America.

 

We are all facing the toughest time in this coronavirus pandemic. As a matter of fact, it’s not the wearing of the mouth mask that can save you. 

It is not the observation of the social distancing rules that can save you, and surely, it’s not the recommended vaccination that can save your life, because we have obeyed all these health rules, yet the infections keep rising daily across the world.

 

Continue to obey those recommended health rules, but look unto God for your survival because there are more lies and deceptions associated with the coronavirus than the truth.

 

We were told it kills old people, but today we know that the disease kills the poor, rich, old, young, including children.

 

Let God be your shield if all medical recommendations and rules have failed, because the assurance God gives us is “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Highest will rest in the shadow of the Almighty, I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Interview- Face To Face With King Leopold II, The Idi Amin Of Belgium

 

Journalist and author, Joel Savage, interviews the caucasian Idi Amin of Belgium, King Leopold II.

 

I believe everyone knows or has heard of King Leopold II. He was one of the greediest and bloodthirstiest kings in Belgium, who killed and maimed over ten million Africans, including women and children, during the colonial era in Congo. 


Despite that, there isn’t any statue of Adolf Hitler for killing six million Jews, Belgium built the statue and named streets after this lunatic. 

So I took a trip to the Neo-Gothic Church of Our Lady in Laeken, Brussels, where all the monarchs, including Leopold II, are buried, for this exclusive interview.

 

Joel: King Leopold, how do you feel about this interview?

 

Leopold: I need peace in my grave. How can you interview a dead man?

 

Joel: If the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons) could baptize the dead, then I could interview a dead man.

 

Related post: A Letter Of Admonition To Sophie Wilmes, the Belgian Prime Minister

Leopold: Please allow me to sleep peacefully in my grave. Why are you disturbing me?

 

Joel: You know what you did. You rendered thousands of villagers homeless by putting fire into their huts, amputated the hands and limbs of children, mutilated the genitals of fathers, and killed wives of husbands, for the greed of rubber and the desire to be the world’s richest king, yet your country praised and applauded your crimes and named streets after you. 

That’s not the end; you have a statue in addition. Are you happy in your grave for such horrendous crimes you committed?

 

Leopold: Even if I am not happy at all in my grave, I wasn’t the one responsible for my statue, because I didn’t ask anyone to build my statue, and I named streets after me.

 

Joel: Who are you trying to shift the blame to? For remembrance and honor, wreaths are laid at cemeteries for people, including soldiers who sacrificed their lives for your country, but the innocent blood of Africans you shed and the children you murdered are being mocked by your statue. Black Lives Matter. Do you think Belgium can mock the dead and be a happy country?

 

Leopold: I want to repeat it once again if you didn’t hear me. I didn’t tell my country to build a statue and name streets after me. They did it out of ignorance and foolish pride. They should be intelligent enough to know that I don’t deserve such a statue.

 

Joel: Many believe you are not human, because during that time span, greed and power propelled you to commit the most serious crimes, and you deserve to go down the gallows, but nobody gave a damn for what you were doing because everybody else did almost the same. The African soil was cut into pieces and confiscated by the foreigners, and the people were divided. 

The way of thinking at that time was that Black people could be used for everything as a resource and as disposable, and Africa is ours. So who is the ignorant one, or the one who lacks wisdom, when you wore a sheep’s clothing, deceiving the world as a good king, yet were on a killing spree?

 

Leopold: Don’t let me start scratching my head when there isn’t any itching. I have had enough in my grave, tell my people to break down my statue and denounce the name of the streets named after me, because I can feel that my country is doomed because of this evil thing they did.

 

Joel: Your country is stubborn like a he-goat. They are confused because it’s one of the most divided and difficult countries to rule in the world. Their confusion is so deep that they can’t even differentiate good from evil. They have thousands of journalists, but none have written about this because they are not Africans. They don’t care.

Leopold: You have said the right thing, but be careful, or else you will be an enemy. I know my people; they are pretenders and bad, just like me.

 

Joel: I want to be an enemy of Leopold because that makes me an important person. When you are not important, no one hates you in society.

 

Joel: I have two questions from my mentor, Professor Johan Dongen, for you. The first question is: You killed over ten million Africans, including children. Do you think there will be enough Africans left to kill by your grandchildren?

Related post: King Leopold II, The Caucasian Idi Amin of Belgium

Leopold: Don’t bring my family into this. I did all those evil things alone.

 

Joel: I need to bring your family into this, because wickedness and evil acts can be inherited by family, including grandchildren.

 

Joel: Professor Dongen’s second question is: You always carry a sword on your statues and portraits. He may like to see it. Will you give it to him if it’s in your grave?

 

Leopold: That sword is cursed because of the evil things I did with it. If I give it to anyone, it will bring more disaster upon Belgium.

 

Leopold: Before I leave, please ask God to forgive me and let the same God touch the heart of my people so that I don’t deserve those statues and streets named after me. If they are wise enough, then they should break down the statues or keep them because the chicken always comes back home to roost.

 

Joel: Are you sure you know God, King Leopold, and you did this? Anyway, thank you for granting me this interview.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION IN ETHIOPIA

Men's activities during the Christmas celebration in Ethiopia

The 

Christmas celebration is based on the country, culture, and tradition. Ethiopia is one of the few countries where Christmas is celebrated in accordance with the traditions of the first Christians. Orthodox Christians celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Christ.

Every year, thousands of tourists come to see how Orthodox residents conduct holiday ceremonies in churches carved out of volcanic rock and in modern temples. 

Many Ethiopians are Christians, and in the Ethiopian calendar, the most important dates are, of course, the New Year, celebrated on September 11, Christmas on January 7, baptism on January 19, while the Feast of the Cross or Meskel takes place on September 27.

During the New Year holidays, Christmas is usually celebrated in northern Ethiopia, in Lalibela, a small town with a population of 30,000 people, where pilgrims and tourists from all over the world flocked.

A very beautiful service in the church begins on the evening of January 6 and ends at dawn on January 7. If one considers himself a believer, one can join the local people, who dress in white clothes, walk around the church three times, with candles in their hands, and then go to the priests for Holy Communion and blessing.

For Christmas, a traditional game resembling field hockey is held in Aksum, while a special coffee ceremony is held. Songs throughout the whole day, and residents dance on the streets from dawn to dusk. 

The people of Ethiopia have a special reverence for the temple. People begin to be baptized a few hundred meters before the temple, some crawling on their knees. “Ganna,” Ethiopian Christmas, begins with the fact that everyone who comes into the church is given candles.

With a lit candle, a person bypasses the church three times and only then stands for the liturgy. On the eve of the holiday, it begins in the evening and often lasts all night. Women and men in the temple pray separately. The women are usually on the right side and the men on the left.

Female activities during the Christmas celebration in Ethiopia

In the morning, all the believers form a bright and elegant procession that goes to a nearby hill. The Divine Liturgy is served there, and then everyone eats one piece of the doro-wot from the hands of another believer.

Ethiopians bake injera, a huge cake made from yeast dough. It serves both as a plate and a napkin to take a piece of chicken. Also, in many homes during Christmas, chicken in peanuts is served as a snack or hot dish. But Dors-Uot, a piece of stewed chicken with spices, is served at a brotherly meal.

Christmas celebration in Ethiopia, indeed, puts one into the early Christian antiquity, revealing the Jewish tradition connection, which is very strong in Ethiopia.

INCEST, IS IT NO LONGER AN ISSUE OF TABOO?

A brother marries his sister.


Superstition, beliefs, and performing rituals are associated with many tribes and ethnic groups in different parts of the world. For example, Saturday is the Sabbath for the Jews. 


It is a day for religious services and abstinence from work. Clans, tribes, and people who carry out traditional values believe in punishment when the law is broken.

One belief that from ages people have considered taboo is incest. Sexual intercourse between very closely related people. But as the generation advances, some of these taboos are no longer taken into consideration. How serious is the act of incest, by the way?

Incest is a common issue these days, even though it is illegal or prohibited. Just imagine a father having sex with his own daughter. A mother making love with his son. 

What about a brother making love with his own sister and vice versa? These acts people consider abominable, used to be a hidden matter, but are now mostly a public issue.

"I don't see anything wrong with this. People look at us like we are from a different planet. I love my sister, and we have a baby now". Here are the words of a young teenager who is defending his actions. The question is, does incest pose any health hazard? 

The Holy Bible speaks against incest in many ways. Also, most social scientists believe that children from incestuous affairs have higher risks for hereditary disorders.