A few years ago I wrote an article entitled, The Spirit of the Tithe: It Was Never About Money. Today we’ll further discuss the real meaning behind the Old Testament Tithe. I would recommend you read the article above first if you still believe that tithing had anything to do with money. In that article I give good reasons as to why it could not. I have learned a few things since that last article years ago, so naturally I couldn’t give all the answers to tithing back then. But the original article still contains some good information and serves the purpose of freeing those who might feel guilty for not giving ten percent of their income to a pastor at a church. This article, however, will get to the real meaning of the tithe, from an esoteric viewpoint, which is the most important one. 🙂 [Read more…] about The Real Meaning of the Tithe
Jesus and the Meaning of the Carpenter
The Jesus of the New Testament has come down through the ages as a carpenter. The Gospel of Mark, chapter six verse three, clearly identifies him as such:
“Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?
It is interesting that the Son of God would be a carpenter. [Read more…] about Jesus and the Meaning of the Carpenter
SOS Update
I have finally relocated. I’m in my new home with my own office space and I’m excited to get down to some new writing. It may be a little bit before I really get settled in, so I may not start writing seriously again for another few weeks or maybe even a month. I want to settle in first. I have also been working on a book, so I will be in between the two. That means I may go periods where I write articles frequently for SOS, or I might go periods where I’m mostly working on the book.
Jesus said to Watch for the Thief
Matthew 24:42-44 is an interesting scripture. In it Jesus tells us to watch for the Son of Man. He follows that command by telling us that if the good man of his own house had watched, he would have been ready for the thief who comes to break up the house. Therefore, watch, for none know the hour that the Son of Man comes.
What does this mean?
Traditionally, this scripture has been interpreted to mean that we must be vigilant for the second coming of a literal Jesus, but is this what Jesus’ saying really meant? [Read more…] about Jesus said to Watch for the Thief
The Bible Code Controversy
Many readers of SOS may remember a book called The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin. It was first published in 1997 and remained on the New York Times best seller list for months. I was recently sent a copy of this book by a friend, and we had a brief discussion on its relevance to Biblical interpretation. [Read more…] about The Bible Code Controversy
Constantine, Eusebius, and the Formulation of the New Testament Canon
Recently I had a conversation with a friend about the history of New Testament. Everyone here on SOS knows and understands the symbolic importance of it, but there are many differences of opinion on whether it is literal history or not. It’s always been important to me to allow readers to have open discussions and even disagreements on the blog to expand our understanding. [Read more…] about Constantine, Eusebius, and the Formulation of the New Testament Canon
Jacob, Leah, Higher Consciousness, DMT, and the Pineal Gland
A few years back I wrote a post about Jacob meeting God at Peniel. Jacob called the place of meeting Peniel because the Hebrew term means “face of God.” In that post we also discussed that Peniel, although a different spelling, can be associated with the pineal gland in the center of the brain. Jacob met God face to face at Peniel because the text is alluding to the mystical experience of activating the pineal gland through kundalini. The pineal gland is sensitive to this subtle yet powerful energy that science cannot yet measure. [Read more…] about Jacob, Leah, Higher Consciousness, DMT, and the Pineal Gland
A Gauge to Determine Your Level of Conscious Development
Have you ever wondered what your current level of conscious development is? What if you had some information to help you gauge it?
The book, The Science of Spirituality (Lee Bladon), has such a section. Much of Bladon’s information is based on the study of religious texts and its esoteric interpretation, as well as the integration of science, philosophy, and psychology. His chapter on the levels of consciousness made perfect since when it comes to explaining human behavior, as well as my own! [Read more…] about A Gauge to Determine Your Level of Conscious Development
More SOS updates 2015
I just wanted to let everyone on SOS know that the comment section is finally working again! I spent some time over the Holidays working out all the bugs of the site. The original culprit was my Thesis theme itself which was incompatible with the new WordPress 4.1 version. Thankfully, Thesis provided a patch that fixed this issue which I somehow missed a while back. Everything should be running smoothly again. I had also used a plugin called Commentluv which caused some coding issues a few years ago. It broke part of the site (which readers didn’t notice), but that has been fixed as well. Suffice to say, the site is bug free and should load faster for everyone. [Read more…] about More SOS updates 2015
Ten Similarities between God and Consciousness
What if we could strip away the dogma and literal interpretation of the Bible to reveal an underlying, profound mystery about the concept of God and consciousness? How many would be so daring to believe they could be one in the same?
I have found that what we consider as the attributes of God are also the attributes of our own individual and collective consciousness, and the Bible shouts it!
If you’ve been raised in traditional Judeo-Christian teachings, it can seem a bit terrifying at first, but once digested, it brings great awe, humility, and inspiration for the human condition, and finally, great contentment that your life has more meaning than you could have ever imagined. [Read more…] about Ten Similarities between God and Consciousness
Why Did Jesus Get Angry or Preach Division?
We’re all familiar with the docile Jesus who teaches us to turn the other cheek when someone persecute us. In Luke 6:29, Jesus tells his disciples:
“And unto him that slaps you on the cheek offer also your other cheek; and him that takes away your cloak forbid not to take your coat also.”
In that scripture, Jesus is teaching his disciples a higher way of acting and thinking in the face of violence and evil: we’re not to stoop to that level, but we are to conduct ourselves in a manner that incites love in the face of hatred. Jesus’ entire ministry offers such solutions to help change the world we live in. In a way, this is the epitome of being “Christ-like.” But there are a few scriptures that show Jesus doing an about-face and acting contrary to being…well, “Christ-like.” [Read more…] about Why Did Jesus Get Angry or Preach Division?
What do The New and Old Testaments Really Mean?
There are many misunderstandings about what the Old and New Testaments of the Bible truly represent, even among esoteric thought. This post will address these important compilations from a greater perspective, and what both mean in the Christian Bible.
Once we place these two compilations in context, you’re going to see that everything centers on the symbolic concept of “blood.” The Old Testament focuses on the shedding of blood with animals and the New Testament centers around the shedding of the “blood of Christ.” However, the meanings may not have anything to do with what you have been previously taught. [Read more…] about What do The New and Old Testaments Really Mean?
Spirit of the Scripture Updates
As some of you may have noticed, SOS has experienced some technical difficulties as of late. I recently updated to the newest WordPress Version (4.0.1). At the same time, I updated five plugins. My site then crashed. Early this week, only the homepage and blog front page were visible. All individual posts and a few other main blog pages displayed an HTTP error. Robert, a regular commentator, alerted me to the problems the next day. I was aware of a few of the problems moments after I updated, but didn’t realize the extent of the damage until I begin digging into my files. [Read more…] about Spirit of the Scripture Updates