Greetings in that Divine and Most Precious Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Haha.. looks like folks trying to spread the Jewish Jesus cult to Orthodox. Hilarious!
stay blessed,
habte selassie
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Was not Jesus of Nazareth a Jew? Were not all of his 12 Apostles and 72 Disciples also Jews. Did they not practice the religion of Judaism their entire lives? Did they not speak in Aramaic, a derivative of Hebrew, and did they not study the Torah in the original Hebrew language? Sorry if I forgot to include the Greek Alphabet for decoration as well, but there's always next time.
Oh, by the way, I found this just for you in about 60 seconds flat- okay maybe 2 minutes tops! Here it is, my Christian brother:
+ The Orthodox have kept other things from Judaism. Take the chanting of the psalms and prayers for the Hours as well as at the Divine Liturgy, for instance. When clergy or laity chant, they use a tonal system of 8 different melodies. Judaism, too, has a tonal system for chanting prayers and psalms.
+ Another example is the practice of a clerical priesthood. Priests in Orthodoxy wear vestments similar to what Jewish priests would have worn. In fact, there are prayers a priest says (usually from the Psalms) when he is vesting. Each piece of vestment has some symbolic representation. The notion of referring to the worship area as the temple continues in Orthodoxy as well. In Judaism, the temple was the place where the priests would make sacrifices to God on behalf of their people and the synogogues were mainly for catechesis.
+ Both Judaism and Orthodoxy bless their people. In Judaism, the priests in the temple would bless the penitents with the birkat kohanim. As shown in the picture, it is extremely similar to how Orthodox priests bless their flock at the divine services. Instead of making the sign of the letter "shin" with their hands as Jewish priests did (and as rabbis do), Orthodox priests and bishops bless by forming their hand to show the letters ICXC (the first and last letters of the Greek words Jesus and Christ), and making the sign of the cross.
+ In addition, the Orthodox maintain such Jewish practices as "churching the woman." This takes place when the woman, after giving childbirth, comes back to the church after forty days of being with the baby and recuperating. The priest blesses the woman and child and says special prayers over them. Usually, the baby is baptized on the eighth day after it has been born, much like the ritual of bris or circumcision was and is for the Jews.
+ In short, Orthodoxy traces itself to the Apostles and still maintains many, but not all of the practices of Judaism. Orthodoxy grew and developed its manner of worshiping God in its services organically....Some aspects of Orthodox worship appear to be in complete solidarity with Judaism, while others may be a little different....There are many other examples, enough to fill a number of pages. These were only but a few. Whether it is Providence or folly that Orthodoxy has kept aspects of Judaism, you be the judge.
- Orthodoxy's Jewish Roots, Religion & Spirituality, by Andrew Salvia, Examiner.com,
DIRECT LINK:
http://www.examiner.com/article/orthodoxy-s-jewish-roots
What a 'Crooked Cross' Sarah Palin Bears, by Tim HeffernanWell, Sarah Palin has serious chutzpah: Her operation is now scolding Americans for suggesting that the use of gunsight-like "surveyors marks" on her infamous map of "targeted" Democrats, which included Gabrielle Giffords, could be interpreted as encouraging gun violence...It suggests that shame is in order. It would be moral, honest, Christian, even presidential of Palin to admit she made an error in judgment. But she is none of these things, and shameless to boot. It's not a crosshairs, America, it's a left-handed swastika. What gave you the wrong idea?- What a Crooked Cross Sarah Palin Bears, by Tim Heffernan, Esquire.com
Additional 'Crooked Cross' References include:
+ A 1988 Rock song called 'Behind the Crooked Cross', by Slayer, a Heavy Metal band
+ A Paperback Novel called 'Under The Crooked Cross', by Gerhard Hennes (Author), January 2, 2008, Amazon.com
+ Another Fiction Novel called 'The Crooked Cross'. by Michael Dean, published by Quaestor2000, May 2009
+ An Online Article from 2010 called 'The Crooked Cross and the Cross: Nazism and Christianity', by Hrafnkell Haraldsson, NEWS JUNKIE POST, NewsJunkiePost.com
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Biblical References to the 'Crooked Cross'__________________________________________
+ BEWARE OF THE CROOKED! +Woe to them that have lost patience and that have forsaken the right ways and have gone aside into Crooked ways. (Sirach 2:16)
The way of a guilty man is Crooked, but as for the pure, his conduct is upright. (Proverbs 21:8)
He who has a Crooked mind finds no good, and he who is perverted in his language falls into evil. (Proverbs 17:19-21)
Better is the poor man walking in his simplicity, than the rich in Crooked ways. (Proverbs 28:6)
As for such as turn aside unto their Crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them away with the workers of iniquity, but peace shall be upon Israel. (Psalm 125:4-5)
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+ FOR WHO CAN MAKE STRAIGHT THE CROOKED? +That which is Crooked cannot be made Straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. (Ecclesiastes 1:15)
Consider the work of God; for who can make Straight that which He has made Crooked? (Ecclesiastes 7:13)
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+ THE LORD GOD WILL SAVE US! +I will make Crooked things Straight. (Isaiah 42:16)
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the Crooked shall become Straight and the rough ways plain. (Isaiah 40:3)
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare you the way of the LORD, make His paths Straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the Crooked shall be made Straight.' (Luke 3:4-6)
Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, 'Ananias.' And he said, 'Here I am, LORD.' And the LORD said to him, 'Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.' (Acts 9:10-12)
Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, fixed his gaze on him and said, 'You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make Crooked the Straight ways of the LORD? Now behold, the hand of the LORD is upon you and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.' And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. (Acts 13:9-11)
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And now a final word from my 'secret' Talmudic sponsors:
Thunder was created only to Straighten out the Crookedness of the heart, as it says: 'God has so made it so that men should fear before Him.'
- Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 59aGod bless and Shalom, my Christian brother. God bless us, everyone (Tiny Tim in 'A Christmas Carol', by Charles Dickens).
