I Am The True Vine

A Homily Prepared For Sunday April 28, 2024

The Collect

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel

John 15:1–8

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Commentary on Today’s Gospel Selection;

“It must occur to all who read these discourses preserved by John how simple the text looks, and yet how transcendent is the thought when it is even dimly understood. John is sailing sky-high: are we? It is the strongest food in the Bible.” (Trench)

When in a hurry, at lunch time when we grab a “fast food” product and gobble it down, quickly cramming each bite into our mouths so that we can temporarily satiate our hunger and get back to work, school or whatever our passion happens to be that day. In doing this, we never take the time to thoroughly chew or masticate the food much less actually savor the complex tastes and flavors or even the bouquet of the item.

Far too often we give the Holy Word of God the same treatment, as we hurry through our reading so as to move on to other pursuits, or we hurry to find proof texts to justify our theological positions without thoroughly reading the chapter, or multiple chapters to avail ourselves of the contextual meaning.

It might be said that Mark presents his Gospel in such a factual manner that it can be

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani? Did Jesus Really Mean to Say God had Forsaken Him?

As some of you already know, I publish a daily Bible study as well as a weekly homily or sermon on various platforms as well as my other blogs, St Michael’s Chapel and The Way of the Lord

I published the Homily For Sunday January 7 late in the evening of the sixth and before I could get to bed, I received an email from the system that a comment had been made on one of the various platforms I post on.

The Homily, as suggested by the lectionary from the Book of common prayer, was on the Baptism of Jesus as reported in the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, verses 4-11, which ends with; “…he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:10b & 11)

Like many other ministers I chose to expound on the phase “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Because—with the exception of John—the Gospel writers chose to expound on this same point (seeLuke 3:22 & Matthew 3:17). It is one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith, the announcement by God that Jesus was, in fact, his (God’s) beloved son.

I also expounded on the point of Christian dogma that as pointed out by John, Jesus

Dr. Ben Carson lists 7 ways communism has won in America | Christian Post

Political Cartoon by AF Branco 8-18-2023 Townhall.com

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Dr. Ben Carson lists 7 ways communism has won in America, by Nicole Alcindor, Christian Post 9-17-2023

The Christian Post reported Sunday 17 September that the retired neurosurgeon, academic, author and politician, Dr. Ben Carson, who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021, delivered a speech about the importance of education at the Pray Vote Stand Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., on September 15, 2023.

Nicole Alcindor writes:

WASHINGTON բ Dr. Ben Carson warned that many of the decades-long goals of communism have come to fruition in the United States as he urged the American people
to have courage and fight back against efforts to subvert the nation’s Judeo-Christian heritage.
Carson, a former neurosurgeon and presidential candidate who served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Trump administration, addressed the crowd at the Family Research Council’s Pray Vote Stand Summit Friday. He told the audience that troubling events in American society “have been going on for quite a
while.”
During his speech, Carson read aloud a portion of the Congressional Record from Jan. 10, 1963, which included a list of “Current Communist Goals” as laid out in an excerpt of a book titled The Naked Communist. He drew particular attention to the goal to “capture one or both of the political parties [in] the United States,” lamenting that it “seems like
they’ve done a good job there.” Carson’s analysis reflects the belief that communism has taken root in the Democratic Party.

In case you are not familiar with the entry to the Congressional Record Dr Carson was speaking of, we have a transcript taken from a PDF of the original

Keep A Close Watch

It has been said that; “Even the Protestant Churches Keep A Close Watch On Rome.”

Perhaps Saint John elucidated a very good reason for us to carefully watch what other “branches” of the body of Christ are doing:

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned [John 15:5 & 6 NIV]

In all candor, what the Roman church does right, those of us outside of Roman Catholicism can emulate. What it does wrong, we must try and not make the same mistakes.

This same concept of watching the other “branches of the vine” also applies to both mainstream and outlier denominations of Protestantism. Case in point,

Wikipedia: The Globalist Mouthpiece

If you depend on the Internet and sources other than the incredibly biased and hypocritical Legacy News Media, you have noted, by now, that a story that breaks on day one, is only picking up speed by the third or fourth day of its existence. One apparent reason for this is that few of the conservative alt media outlets have the financial resources to properly vet a story before republishing it; we wait and see if the credibility of the piece proves out before taking a chance on it.

Of course, a story that breaks early on in a three day holiday weekend, usually doesn’t gain traction until early on the first morning that everyone is back to work.

A story that we picked up on Saturday September 2^nd, has now began to circulate more widely, hope fully due to the latter reason previously stated and not the former.

Dr. Joseph Mercola [1] published an article on his website Saturday, a story we found again this morning on The Gateway Pundit [2] who apparently picked up still yet another

1600 Hundred Actual Scientists Say Climate Change is a Hoax while Bill Gates Wants to Cut Down Trees that Convert CO2 Into Oxygen In Order To Reduce CO2

Just a couple of days ago, I wrote about the crazy climate activists blocking the road to Burning Man, [see Play Stupid Games and Win Stupid Prizes: The Schadenfreude Edition https://coffeewiththebishop.wordpress.com/2023/08/28/play-stupid-games-and-win-stupid-prizes-the-schadenfreude-edition/ } and how those nuts that everyone is more than tired of hearing about got quickly taken down by Police, because they failed to take the time to ascertain just what jurisdiction they were picketing on. Turns out they were on the Paiute Reservation, and the Rangers did not see any humor in their roadblock.

Anyway, we again read about how the Climate Change Emergency is nothing but a big hoax.

In an article published at The Epoch Times, Naveen Athrappully reports:

International scientists have jointly signed a declaration dismissing the existence of a climate crisis and insisting that carbon dioxide is beneficial to Earth, contrary to the popular alarmist narrative.[1]

While people that have had to set for hours in traffic due to one of these road blocks are

Resistance is Futile? #DoNotComply Trends—Americans Will Not Stand For Mask Mandates

Inspired by the Star Wars franchise, Tom Stiglich demonstrates the frustration of the country for the rumors of another mask mandate.
Political Cartoon by Tom Stiglich 8-23-2023Townhall.com

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Watch This Presentation on YouTube

Resistance is Futile #donotcomply Trends, is also available on Rumble

This past week, the phrase “Do Not Comply” began to trend on social media after a warning by Alex Jones on his INFOWARS platform. [1]

Jones sounded the alarm on his Friday broadcast after TSA and Border Patrol whistleblowers contacted him saying the Biden administration is slowly rolling out new mask guidance, social distancing rules and lockdown measures starting with federal workers.

Jones’ warnings were soon thereafter corroborated by scores of subsequent media reports claiming “Covid is making a comeback,” with reporters recommending audiences begin dusting off their old Covid-era face masks and should consider taking another round of Covid booster.

Meanwhile, countless X users took to the platform to declare they will not comply with any future lockdown measures, vaccine, or mask mandates, especially considering the harm inflicted worldwide by similar prior orders.

#DONOTCOMPLY
– Lionsgate studios in Hollywood requires daily swab testing again
– Fertilizer plant in Texas burned
– 14 cities announce ZERO meat, zero dairy, zero vehicles by 2030
– Each citizen only allowed to buy three clothing items per year

XXX=comhttps://t.co/pvA2Id6qmH pic.twitter.com/u1SVjh2TIB

— SammysAmiga (@AmigaSammys) August 23, 2023

User @AmigaSammys noted that Lionsgate Studio in Hollywood was already requiring

Play Stupid Games and Win Stupid Prizes: The Schadenfreude Edition

One must have a certain degree of humility and wisdom when enjoying the morning cup of schadenfreude; else wise one might not enjoy the feeling of having witnessed liberals get theirs when things are reversed and we are on the receiving end of things.

For those not familiar with the word, Schadenfreude is a German word describing the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another.

An example of this sensation might be when you read a story or watch a video showing Police, or frustrated citizens dragging climate activists, kicking and screaming, from one of their infuriating road blocks. In this light Schadenfreude abounded this past weekend in

COVID-2024??? You Gotta Be Kidding ME!

There is nothing in the dark that isn’t there when the lights are on. It may be said with a degree of assurance that not everything that meets the eye is as it appears. Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone

If you remember the original series, The Twilight Zone, as you read this editorial allow your mind to play the theme song from the quirky TV series as you visualize the iconic image of it’s host and creator, Rod Sterling.

First a report from early in the Covid plandemic:

Around a quarter of adults (23%) say it is most likely that the current strain of coronavirus was developed intentionally in a lab; another 6% say it was most likely made accidentally in a lab. A quarter say they aren’t sure where the virus originated. Pew Reasearch Center April 2020 [1]

A little over a year later:

Is The Enemy of My Enemy Really My Friend?

Churchill Roosevelt and Stalin WWII era

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is an ancient proverb which suggests that two parties can or should work together against a common enemy. The exact meaning of the modern phrase was first expressed in the Latin phrase “Amicus meus, inimicus inimici mei” (“my friend, the enemy of my enemy”).

The idea that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” functioned in various guises as foreign policy by the Allies during World War II. In Europe, tension was common between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. Despite their inherent differences, they recognized a need to work together to meet the threat of Nazi aggression under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Both U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill were wary of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin. However, both developed policies with an understanding that Soviet cooperation was necessary for the Allied war effort to succeed.

In the World War II era, those with vastly different ideologies came together in the spirit of cooperation to defeat the oppression of Nazi Fascism.

Now some eighty odd years later, we are witnessing the growth of an unusual coalition, Muslims and Christians.

For a thousand years, Christians and Muslims have fought for the very right of existence, one vying to wipe out the other’s religious belief system.

With the specter of war, famine, and poverty throughout Africa and the Middle East, massive waves of immigrants have found their way to Western nations seeking asylum, seeking a place to live in peace and practice their religion. However, just like Hitler and his henchmen, modern day fascists of the Liberal Progressive Cult, have successfully used the age old animosity between Christians and Muslims as a means to divide and control these two groups.