Kevin Dean Arrested After 7 Years On The Run

After 7 years on the run, Kevin Dean has been arrested.  He was accused in 2012 of child molestation and 12 other accounts and then failed to appear at the court hearing.

COG Pharisees Still Straining At Gnats

It has always been amazing to watch various people from the church who have gone even further off the deep end of legalism to the point they embrace all kinds of silliness instead of following the one who cast off the bondage of all those rules and regulations while setting people free.  In the COG it is always more important to have rules and regulations running every aspect of a persons life than it is to revel in freedom and uncertainty by not having to worry about constantly screwing up.

This is the latest by the Chief Pharisee James Malm.  While he sits in his kitchen cranking out legalistic mumbo jumbo to keep his few followers enslaved,  he relies upon people traipsing all over Israel looking for a perfectly ripe piece of barley. They look in fields, on hillsides, in barnyards and along roadsides as they look for a few growths of wild barley. Meanwhile, Jesus stays abandoned outside the garden gate where Pharisee Malm refuses to let him in.

5 Mar:   2019 New Year Report- With two or three days left until the new moon, Brian Convery reports that he has found sufficient Aviv barley in the Gaza area.  

Since God commanded that every able person appear before him at Jerusalem for the Passover, the barley would necessarily need to be ready for cutting at Jerusalem and I cannot agree with Brian.  

I would add that in the time of Christ in the flesh, there was no way that the sheaf could be cut at sun set in Gaza and then be transported to Jerusalem and prepared in time for the Temple Wave Offering just after the morning sacrifice that same day.

I understand that Brian will be looking elsewhere tomorrow and I will wait for final reports, however all available information is that the barley is not ready in any place outside of the Gaza envelope, not even in Beer Sheva (See this FB Biderman video).

Larry Hardison writes; “We are following 5 search groups of which 4 have reported their findings. Only the Karaite Jews (Devorah Gordon’s group) have not reported as yet.  So far the results have been generally negative, with barley in the flowering stage (Northern Israel), still in “the boot,” just out of “the boot” and in the “milk” stage all which means the barley grain is not mature enough at this time to be considered Aviv.” 

Final reports on March 7

Then he has this mess:

Later the command came  regarding the Wave Offering once they began to cultivate the promised land came into play, and gave us a firm starting point from that time on. 

Originally there were 12 thirty day months in a solar year, this changed later and they had to begin to intercalate to keep the months in line with the solar year. Early civilizations around the world used calendars with months of 30 days and years of 360 days. These calendars functioned well until sometime in the 8th century BC when suddenly it became necessary to change them. Then most civilizations around the world began to modify their calendars to allow for 5 extra days for the year and 6 fewer days for a lunar year of 12 full months; a modern lunar year is 354 days (12 months x 29.5 days).

The number of days in a year change was marked by the second King of Rome, Numa Pompilius, and by his Jewish contemporary, King Hezekiah. Later other civilizations adopted the new 365 day year as well. These events are often linked with the shadow on the sundial going back 10 degrees in the days of Hezekiah around 700-750 BC. 

Contrast the above nonsense to this:

Matthew 11:28-30 English Standard Version (ESV)

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

That damn Jesus just has to go and ruin everything these fraudulent COG leaders set out to enforce!

This is what Jesus had to say about the unclean pigs like Malm and the others who enslave members:

Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law of Moses

(Mark 12.38-40; Luke 11.37-52; 20.45-47)

1Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

2The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are experts in the Law of Moses. 3So obey everything they teach you, but don't do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something else.

4They pile heavy burdens on people's shoulders and won't lift a finger to help. 5 Everything they do is just to show off in front of others. They even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and they wear big tassels+ for everyone to see. 6They love the best seats at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues. 7And when they are in the market, they like to have people greet them as their teachers.

8But none of you should be called a teacher. You have only one teacher, and all of you are like brothers and sisters. 9Don't call anyone on earth your father. All of you have the same Father in heaven. 10None of you should be called the leader. The Messiah is your only leader. 11 Whoever is the greatest should be the servant of the others. 12 If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.

13-14You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You're nothing but show-offs. You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You won't go in yourselves, and you keep others from going in.+

15You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You're nothing but show-offs. You travel over land and sea to win one follower. And when you have done so, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are.

16You are in for trouble! You are supposed to lead others, but you are blind. You teach that it doesn't matter if a person swears by the temple. But you say it does matter if someone swears by the gold in the temple. 17You blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

18You also teach that it doesn't matter if a person swears by the altar. But you say it does matter if someone swears by the gift on the altar. 19Are you blind? Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Anyone who swears by the altar also swears by everything on it. 21And anyone who swears by the temple also swears by God, who lives there. 22 To swear by heaven is the same as swearing by God's throne and by the one who sits on that throne.

23 You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your garden, such as mint, dill, and cumin. Yet you neglect the more important matters of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the important things you should have done, though you should not have left the others undone either. 24You blind leaders! You strain out a small fly but swallow a camel.

25You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You wash the outside of your cups and dishes, while inside there is nothing but greed and selfishness. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of a cup, and then the outside will also be clean.

27 You Pharisees and teachers are in for trouble! You're nothing but show-offs. You're like tombs that have been whitewashed.+ On the outside they are beautiful, but inside they are full of bones and filth. 28That's what you are like. Outside you look good, but inside you are evil and only pretend to be good.

29You Pharisees and teachers are nothing but show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You build monuments for the prophets and decorate the tombs of good people. 30And you claim you would not have taken part with your ancestors in killing the prophets. 31But you prove you really are the relatives of the ones who killed the prophets. 32So keep on doing everything they did. 33 You are nothing but snakes and the children of snakes! How can you escape going to hell?

34I will send to you prophets and wise people and experts in the Law of Moses. You will kill them or nail them to a cross or beat them in your synagogues or chase them from town to town. 35 That's why you will be held guilty for the murder of every good person, beginning with the good man Abel. This also includes Barachiah's son Zechariah,+ the man you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36I can promise that you people living today will be punished for all these things!

Jesus Loves Jerusalem

(Luke 13.34,35)

37Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed the prophets and have stoned the messengers who were sent to you. I have often wanted to gather your people, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you wouldn't let me. 38 And now your temple will be deserted. 39 You won't see me again until you say,

“Blessed is the one who comes

in the name of the Lord.”

The Clergy Project: A Compassionate Helper for Church of God Lurkers in Ministry Who have Lost Faith in Faith

"I believe that the dark night of the soul is a common spiritual experience. I believe, too, that the answer is continued seeking and perseverance. It helps to know that others have endured a loss of faith."

Julia Cameron 

Welcome to The Clergy Project

http://clergyproject.org/

Are you a religious professional who no longer
believes in the supernatural? 

Have you remained in vocational ministry,
secretly hiding away your non-belief?

Are you struggling over where to go from here
with your life and career?

• Maybe you’ve been out for some time, out of the ministry and maybe even publicly out as a non-believer… 
• Maybe you’ve found that the challenges continue to come with your new life and you’re in need of some good community with people who understand the issues you face…
• Maybe you’d simply love to connect with other religious professionals who have likewise left belief behind…

“Faith is believing what you know ain't so.” 

Mark Twain

If this is you, we invite you to join The Clergy Project!

The Clergy Project was launched in March 2011 to create a safe and secure Online Community of Forums composed entirely of religious leaders who no longer hold to supernatural beliefs. Many of our project participants have deep privacy concerns, and for that reason, we place your security among our top tier of priorities. Identify yourself with a pseudonym and an avatar image if you prefer. And our private-access website is held secure with air-tight features to make sure your anonymity is in the best of hands. 

In our Online Community of Forums, participants come from a wide range of religious and cultural backgrounds, including Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Scientology, and more than thirty different segments of Christianity. Our participants reside in all fifty states in the USA and over forty different countries around the globe and come from varied perspectives of culture and lifestyle. Approximately one-fourth of Clergy Project participants are currently employed in their religious vocation with approximately three-fourths having transitioned out. 

In The Clergy Project’s Online Community, forum discussion includes everything from practical concerns like finding a new career path and discerning when and how to come out as a non-believer to one’s spouse to more philosophical conversations centered on ethics and humanism. Services are also available to participants regarding career development and the opportunity for free counseling sessions offered through The Secular Therapist Project.

Through it all The Clergy Project exists to offer you support, community, and hope. Hope for a better day, for a next chapter far surpassing anything the previous could have offered. So welcome. Welcome to The Clergy Project. 

Joining TCP’s Private Online Community

Becoming a TCP Participant 

The Clergy Project’s mission is to maintain a safe and secure online gathering place for religious professionals (either currently and formerly employed) who no longer believe in the supernatural. We call this safe space our Online Community of Forums. Those who have gained access to this Online Community are referred to as Project Participants. 

If you would like to join The Project and think you might qualify, we invite you to read further and begin the application and screening process. It’s great to have you here!  

The Screening Process

The goal of screening potential Project Participants is to protect the anonymity of current participants while also providing an opportunity for others to be welcomed into our Community of Forums. Our screening process involves several stages, including disclosure of information regarding your history and a phone interview. We are committed to protecting your privacy. Our screeners will not disclose any information that you share. 

Qualifications for Participation 

1) Religious Professionals

Community Forum Participants are current or former religious professionals of any religious tradition, including all levels and varieties of vocational pastors, priests, monks, rabbis, imams, theologians, nuns, missionaries, etcetera. Lay leaders are not considered to be in a professional leadership capacity and therefore do not qualify for The Clergy Project.

We do realize that for some groups, however, even the most high-ranking positions of religious service are more informal compared to those of other traditions, and in such cases we look to the particular practices and structures of each for the definition of corresponding leadership roles. 

2) Rejection of Belief in the Supernatural

Community Forum Participants are those who have actively rejected belief in a supernatural worldview and have accepted a naturalistic one in its place. We define a supernatural worldview as one accepting an order of existence that is beyond the visible observable universe, appearing to transcend the laws of nature or what can be explained by nature, accepted scientific understanding, or the application of the scientific method.

This is usually attributed to an invisible agent, especially of or relating to a god, demigod, spirit, ghosts, or devils. But it can refer to anything that is above or beyond what is part of the natural world and attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding.

A naturalistic worldview is explained well by Robert T. Carroll in the Skeptics Dictionary as “…one that has no supernatural or mystical element to it. The universe is all we can ever hope to know and there is no compelling reason to posit a supernatural world beyond and in addition to the natural world. The infusion of supernatural elements into human societies is itself a natural phenomenon that has a naturalistic origin and history. There may be elements or forces in nature that are not understood, but there is nothing that requires magical thinking or superstitious positing of transcendent beings to account for them.” [http://www.skepdic.com/naturalism.html]

Rejection of the supernatural has several implications. We do not believe in gods, angels, demons, ghosts, a sentient universe, psychic power, divination, mystical forces, or practices that emanate from belief in mystical forces such as chi, astrology, or feng shui, or using prayer, crystals, or magnets as a method of disease prevention. This is not intended to be comprehensive list. A TCP Community Forum Participant necessarily holds a naturalistic worldview as explained above.

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All information shared with The Clergy Project is confidential. Privacy is a crucial component of participation in the Online Community of Forums. Even within the Community itself, all information such as one’s real name, photographic image, or geographical location are only made available to other Participants according to each individual’s preference as reflected in their own personal profile composition. As such, pseudonyms and avatars are encouraged and often used. As a Project Participant, you are in full control of how you present yourself to the remainder of the Online Community.

Application

If you are a current or former religious professionals who no longer believes in the supernatural and is interested in joining this Online Community of Forums otherwise known as The Clergy Project, please submit an application form.  http://clergyproject.org/208-2/

Not a Current or Former  Religious Professional?  Or Not Fully Rejecting Belief in the Supernatural?

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"Probably no one of us has the True Religion. But all of us together - if we are allowed to be free - are discovering ways of conversing about the great mysteries. The pretense to know all the answers to the deepest mysteries is, of course, the grossest fraud. And any people who declare a Jihad, a holy war on unbelievers - those who do not share their believers' pretended omniscience - are enemies of thinking men and woman and of civilization. I see religion as only a way of asking unanswerable questions, of sharing the joy of a community of quest, and solacing one another in our ignorance."

                                                                 Daniel J. Boorstin