Author: B. K. Neifert

Mark 13:51Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 52Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

Does a Wife Make You Righteous?

[T]he problem is there's so few Godly women left, as they envy men and want to supplant them in their relationships. It's not your fault, bros, that you don't have a wife. It's society's and culture's fault for making them unworthy. Your righteousness isn't measured by your wife, but by your devotion to God. A wife isn't our goal in life... yes Hephzibah is given to us, but that's not here. Desire heaven like you would a girlfriend, and it may just be God adds you one.

Accusing men, and making them think it's their fault is an issue in itself. It's not their fault. There's plenty of truly devoted saints who have no wife. It's just the way of the world, women are taught to be obstinate, selfish and disobedient. So, my brothers, don't feel your worth is found in her, but find it in Him. You can be single all your life, and a true man of God. The reward isn't a wife, but Hephzibah, the Eternal Kingdom, Beulah Land. That is our reward. And only that.

Because the truth be told, there's many economic factors that are going to prevent you from having a wife, in the upcoming days. It's just the truth, people are becoming poor because corrupt leaders are in power, putting out messages like this [that a man isn't righteous enough to have a wife, while] not addressing the true roots of the problem. In fact, they're making it worse by perpetuating it.

I don't say I'm righteous enough to receive a Godly wife, but the truth is, [pastors] should be ashamed of [themselves] for blaming men for a problem that is systemic and now rooted in the culture, all the way back to the fall of man.

I felt absolutely no peace from this [message I watched, blaming me for not having a wife]. Which means, its not from a right motive or good heart [that this message was made, but rather from an accusing spirit]. When I read the Ladder of Divine Ascent I feel at peace, knowing what is my fault. But [pastors are] teaching people to find lovers, when that's not the Gospel at all. The Gospel isn't "Make your bed here, and find your wife, and get rich." That's man's gospel, and the gospel is "Do your best, and live for Christ." There is no addendum to it, saying, "Well, if you do these things you'll get a wife, too." Satan will try to supplant everyone and anything, and the sin of the world is just that, the World's Sin. You're to be wise as a serpent, and innocent as a dove, and not wrap up your righteousness in a wife. As that's idolatry. Your wife doesn't make you righteous. In fact, many of the worst sinners accrue wives{} and children. That's not the measure at all.

Elegy to Pope Francis

It is not good, to so wonder
Whether a man had risen high
Or descended down to the pits.
Yet, let us look at this Pope now
And see the fruits of his, and know
Only God can judge a sinner.
First, he made Solo Christo doubtdt
And had taken Mayan idols
Into his city, which the priests
Had thrown into the Rhine to die.
He made divisions in the church
And had great abomination
Seated behind him on his throne.
Yet, he was kind to all he met
Despite slapping a woman once
For touching his then holy sleeve.
And he stayed back the Sodomite
From being included in church
And kept the patriarchy sound.
He was not so proud, but humble
And loved mankind so very much.
He startled a child once by 
Whispering into coiled ears
And said something which made his eyes
Lit, what I do not know, either 
Good or evil, it is not ours 
To ever know. He wished to blend
The church with other pantheons
And marched with sinners on the way.
But, he had a kind persona 
And loved by much of the world.
Yet if he repented, even
He could then find the narrow gate,
Even if in the throws of death.
For, he had mercy on the poor
And perhaps it is to hide him
From the day of wrath: consider.

A Midrash of Mine

LORD of the Sabbath, King of Kings, I, yes I, I speak to Thee in the valley of suffering and doubt. It is not You, Oh LORD, Who I doubt, but myself; yet Thy manifold blessings toward me are endless, yet my heart does not perceive them. Why, LORD, doth the sinner prosper? Why does the unrighteous man bear many children? Why do the wicked go in companies, and destroy the fruits of the righteous, and say, “God does not see!” They force Your people to curse with their cruel sciences, and they teach wicked laws, and repentance is far from them. Their lips are nowhere near You, and their hearts are hidden in deep and wicked counsels against the LORD.

Who, LORD, shall hold them accountable? Is Your Law of no effect? Does the righteous man go to hell, and the sinner get saved? Does he who gives his substance to the poor, is he now cursed, and the stingy man blessed? Is the witch and warlock who curses and makes enchantments over Your elect, and Your divine inheritance, are they now right before Your eyes, and Your people cast off like a dead branch, for wanting to serve You, and honor Your Law? Is the righteous in perpetual doubt, because of You, that You bless the wicked, and give the saints ashes and humble them, and turn all their wisdom to ashes, and Adam himself says, “My wife is no longer worthy” for as Clement says, “Envy, all are envious of the positions of divine authority.” So he says to me, “Be small, and little among the church.” LORD, I am small, and I am stricken and seen as lame by all around me, and a man not to be trusted. Yet, what I speak is for You, and You have given me into the hands of mine enemies, and have given them freedom to destroy me to the very core of my being. For what cause? Because I tried to honor You with every substance I had, and my full time, and the witch had enchanted me in the diner saying, “Do not accomplish thy work, do not seek God, but lay your burden to the plough, and maim yourself, so you can become Antichrist like us.” LORD, they sought my life, and sought to lay the burden to my soul, but I was steadfast, and am patiently awaiting my answer. Hephzibah shall be given to Your servants, and Beulah to Your chosen, and one requisite there is for salvation, and only one, and that is to call upon the name of Jesus, whom Barnabas confirms. Ignatius says, “Yes, where is it written?” For the volume of the Book is a witness of You, and I shall honor You with my whole heart, and my whole soul, and my whole strength, and do the things which are pleasing in Your sight, by seeking You day and night, and saying to the world, “Thou art a fecal draped garment in woman’s blood, and the seed of an ass.” Therefore, I shall not seek it at all, but shall live at peace in my heart with all men. Mine enemy and my friend, and speak blessing over the congregation forever, for I shall say to the witch, “You cursed me, but I do not curse you.” I shall say to the sick, “Thou art sick, but I fear not thine disease, for the LORD is with me.” I shall say to the poor, “Heap up warmth, and I will give you what little substance I have.” I shall say to the false seer who warned me of naught but her own foolish burden, “Why do you curse me and my work, and make me an offender? When I seek God plainly? Need not an ox eat while it is threshing the field? Should I ask you to confirm the message twice, which you would not do? And therefore, have lost much time and energy not knowing what way to prosper? Even you, I do not hold you accountable, for we are all taught to lie, and all men are liars. Even I, even I. I am not burdened.” I shall say to the King, “Stand your arms down, stand your arms down, but fight the good fight, fight the good fight… we need not to enflame kings any longer, but rather need mercy on the battlefront, and to yield fruit for our allies.”

7 Stages of Literature

Stage 1. I like it when the teacher reads to us in class.
Stage 2. These books give me a distraction from doing work, and is like watching a movie. It's fun.
Stage 3. Oh, they can be serious, and talk about adult things, and make you feel?
Stage 4. Wow, there's a lot of ideas.
Stage 5. Well, actually, there's not that many ideas, they just recur over and over again through different cultures and times.
Stage 6. The books seem to be changing with me.
Stage 7. Wow, real people are far more interesting than these things. They're like books, too.

Response to Questions on Orwell’s Review of That Hideous Strength

1. The book was not one of C. S. Lewis' better books, so I actually agree with Orwell. If you're going to be explicitly Christian, be Christian. But, he sort of got into the Space Occult. Like, it was too ambiguous... I think that's what Orwell was trying to say, is he didn't come off as Christian--which is ]h]is prevailing ethos--and it disappointed it, when it ended without a discussion, as I was expecting Merlin and the Head to dialogue, rather than just end in a Deux Ex Machina.

2. I think working from the framework, if your story incorporates miracles, you have to be cognizant of the ethos you're working through. Which, Orwell probably wanted a Christian moral, and when he didn't get it, the book was confused, and it began to be kind of schizophrenic. I'd say that was my problem with the book, was it didn't work from a Christian framework, but rather was a sort of unbelievable space occult thing, which Narnia is leaps and bounds better, and so are Lewis' essay works. The Space Trilogy was always low on the totem pole for me, on Lewis' corpus, and I never really did like it. But, miracles don't depreciate the stories value, but I think the invention of a Mythology and mixing the Occult with Science, that's kind of disturbing--and may be the actual strength of the novel, I haven't figured that out. But, I found it kind of eerie, and I didn't get the respite of a Christian message. Which I think might be Orwell's problem with it, all around, is it didn't stick to Lewis' ethos, but rather diverted off of it, into occult magic and stuff like that.

3. I'd say the answer is not different. It's just you got to choose your ethos. And Lewis' ethos is Christianity. And this was a particularly early work, but he was also writing Mere Christianity at this time, he should have known better. I felt kind of alienated from it, as I couldn't implant Christianity into it, but rather it devolved into its own mythology. Which is something people do today--so it's probably more readily accepted today, with the culture's general malaise toward Christianity, you have mythologies like DBZ and Japanese Anime making Gods and stuff, where DBZ kind of lost my interest when it transitioned from an Atheistic world to a Theistic world, and I think the problem here is the same. Putting Gods and Goddesses in your work kind of warps it. Which, you can say Aslan is sort of like that, but he's more of a symbol rather than a literal. Where I think the problem with The Space Trilogy was it was literal... and that's not God's name, so it sort of offended Orwell, who's, although unwillingly, in that Christian society that wants real Christianity, or none at all. Like is said to Laodicea. 

https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2020/09/10/george-orwells-review-of-c-s-lewis-that-hideous-strength-throwback-thursday/

The Schizophrenic Poet

The schizophrenic has a sound
Mind for creating poetry.
For it soothes his soul to place the 
Song upon the sheet, and see it
There, where it can't hurt anyone.
And there, several years later it
Emerges, and is seen to be 
False, only creative forays.
For the mind tortured by worlds
Needs to speak its peace; who knows if
It is true? It likely is to 
Some degree. It is the mind's thoughts
And then creatively expressed
And then exorcised, and read
By others, through his adventure.