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insights from Cobbey Crisler, Ken Cooper & others from the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on

“Probation after Death”
for Sunday, April 25, 2021

updated version shared today by Warren Huff
CedarS Executive Director Emeritus warren@cedarscamps.org


SHARE YOUR CHRISTIANITY in WAYS that ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE! (a Paul GEM)
Cobbey Crisler on the context of Paul’s words to Athenians in Acts 17
(cit. B2, & cit. S2, 208:5 & 596:7):

“Well, now Paul is heading for the cultural capital of civilization, Athens. And you can’t even go to modern day Athens without appreciating somewhat of what Paul saw, looking around at the remnants of that great city and “the columned buildings that were dedicated to so many gods. It must have moved Paul.” …

“And so, he opens his mouth and begins right away to talk in Athens. Now this is a tough area in which to introduce Christianity, except at least they were willing to listen because everybody talked about anything. I mean there were a lot of weirdo sects and ideas that they welcomed without question in Athens because everybody liked to dispute these ideas anyway.

“He’s in the market, the agora, as well as in the synagogue. He runs into Epicureans; he runs into Stoics.” Now Tarsus where Paul came from happens to be a Stoic stronghold. So, he must have been certainly aware of that philosophy…

“They bring him to Areopagus, the hill of Mars or Aries, and they asked him to explain what he has to say.” …

Acts 17:22  Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

Paul, standing there, shows how a lecture can be tailor-made to any environment. And, it’s better than uniformity if you want to get the ear of the locals. And in this way, you will find at no point does Paul mention the Old Testament. Why? (Pause) What would that mean to the Athenians? (See below, Acts 17:23, paraphrased)

Instead, he kind of says, “On my way to the forum…you know. In other words, here I was, and I saw something you had back here. And, it says TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” (See Acts 17:23 …

“Would everybody be listening? It relates. He’s picked up something locally. And, would you also be listening if he said “That monument you put ‘TO THE UNKNOWN GOD’, I want to tell you a little something about him. He’s unknown to you, but here’s some information that might be helpful… “And then, in Acts 17, verse 24, he describes “that God who made all, and therefore, couldn’t dwell in temples made with hands.” …

We’re reminded of whom? Yes, but since Jesus, we heard that from Stephen, remember? As Saul, himself, he had heard that.

“He dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” (repeated paraphrased)

What do you think that comment does when you’re looking at the Parthenon and buildings like it? “God doesn’t dwell in all of this. He made everything. How can you contain Him?” … Very interesting point.

Have we even arrived at that point today in our thinking? … I doubt the Athenians had either.

“The search where God is…” will end up with the conclusion in the last line of Acts 17, verse 27, “that He’s not very far from every one of us.” And then Paul very cleverly introduces lines from local poets: “In him we live, and move, and have our being” and “for we are also his offspring” – parts of poems we have identified, and they even know the authors. (See below, partial)

Acts 17:28 (cit. B2) For in him we live, and move, and have our being**; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

“After the Master, What? The Book of Acts,by B. Cobbey Crisler**

**Mary Baker Eddy on Paul’s words in Athens (cit. B2, Acts 17:28):
“St. Paul said to the Athenians, “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” This statement is in substance identical with my own: “There is no life, truth, substance, nor intelligence in matter.” It is quite clear that this great verity has not yet been fully demonstrated, but it is nevertheless true. If Christian Science reiterates Paul’s teaching, we, as Christian Scientists, should give to the world convincing proof of the validity of this scientific statement of being. Having perceived, in advance of others, this scientific fact, we owe to ourselves and to the world a struggle for its demonstration.”
“Retrospection and Introspection,”
by Mary Baker Eddy, page 93: 17


TO PLEASE GOD, GIVE YOUR ATTENTION TO WHAT IS SPIRITUAL, NOT to death in the FLESH!

Cobbey Crisler & Mary Baker Eddy on Romans 8:5-8 (cit. B6)

[Cobbey:] “Remember the consistency of the Scripture. This is what turns us into students. The consistency of the Scripture would force us to study in depth how we please God. Here is ‘My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ How do we please God? Do you remember any particular Scriptural statements on that?… One of the things that Paul says about it in Romans 8:8 is, ‘They that are in the flesh (they that are earthly minded, who obey the lower nature) cannot please God.’ “
What Mark Recorded,”
by B. Cobbey Crisler**

[Warren again: The preceding verses, Romans 8:5-7, with other translations shed more light on the challenge of earthly-minded body worship that seems prevalent today in obsession with fitness, diet, revealing “selfies”… (Verse 5) “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh: but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” (“People who are controlled by the physical, think of what is physical: and people who are controlled by the spiritual, think of—give their attention to—what is spiritual.” Goodspeed (Verse 6) “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (“But to set the mind on the flesh brings death, whereas to set the mind on the Spirit brings life and peace.” The New Testament: A New Translation (Olaf M. Norlie)

These passages and several from Mary Baker Eddy have helped heal body-worship and lots of resulting ills and issues: “Paul said, ‘Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.’ Sooner or later we shall learn that the fetters of man's finite capacity are forged by the illusion that he lives in body instead of in Soul, in matter instead of in Spirit.” S&H 223:2

There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual.” (S&H 468:9)

These ideas from Miscellaneous Writings describe the form, color, light, beauty of our world being loved promises and representatives “of the beauty, grandeur, and glory of the immortal Mind.” (87) “My sense of the beauty of the universe is, that beauty typifies holiness, and is something to be desired. Earth is more spiritually beautiful to my gaze now than when it was more earthly to the eyes of Eve. The pleasant sensations of human belief, of form and color, must be spiritualized, until we gain the glorified sense of substance as in the new heaven and earth, the harmony of body and Mind…

“Even the human conception of beauty, grandeur, and utility is something that defies a sneer. It is more than imagination. It is next to divine beauty and the grandeur of Spirit. It lives with our earth-life, and is the subjective state of high thoughts. The atmosphere of mortal mind constitutes our mortal environment. What mortals hear, see, feel, taste, smell, constitutes their present earth and heaven: but we must grow out of even this pleasing thralldom, and find wings to reach the glory of supersensible Life; then we shall soar above, as the bird in the clear ether of the blue temporal sky.

“To take all earth's beauty into one gulp of vacuity and label beauty nothing, is ignorantly to caricature God's creation, which is unjust to human sense and to the divine realism. In our immature sense of spiritual things, let us say of the beauties of the sensuous universe: ‘I love your promise; and shall know, some time, the spiritual reality and substance of form, light,
and color, of what I now through you discern dimly; and knowing this, I shall be satisfied. Matter is a frail conception of mortal mind; and mortal mind is a poorer representative of the beauty, grandeur, and glory of the immortal Mind.’" (Miscellaneous Writings. 86:14- 87:14)
]


“CHERISH NOTHING WHICH HINDERS (Y)our HIGHEST SELFHOOD”
and the Ten Specifications of “Spirit, the great architect”
(cit. S8, SH 68:2)

[W:] When I was studying for my architectural licensing exam many years ago, the following citation from Mary Baker Eddy was in the Christian Science Bible Lesson and stood out to me.

“Sometime we shall learn how Spirit, the great architect, has created men and women in Science. We ought to weary of the fleeting and false and cherish nothing which hinders our highest selfhood.” (cit. S8, 68:4)

I reasoned that architects communicate their design intentions not only with drawings (and sometimes models), but also with written documents, called specifications. The ten categories of architectural “specs” spell out quality standards for each stage of every project and for every building component in order to guarantee the highest quality and longevity of their creations. I asked God, “what are Your “specs” for ‘our highest selfhood’ as your creation?” Right away the answer came—the Ten Commandments, of course.
I’ve had fun with them ever since, discovering the valuable connections between the ten categories of specifications (specs) that architects write to guarantee the quality and longevity of their work and the Ten Commandments provided by God to guarantee that we live up to “our highest selfhood.”
This gave me a whole new take on the Commandments. No longer were they seen as ten, dictatorial restrictions to LIMIT us, but as ten ways established by God to protect, heal and BLESS us. I hope you enjoy finding and applying the fun links between these Ten Specs, the Ten Commandments and healings in your own life and in others lives.

The ten God's-eye views of the spiritual you — in the Download pdf to the right & top —were written by “*the finger of God” to bring health to your body by looking AWAY from the body to God, instead of looking AT the body or TO it, as if it were in control. (*Deut. 9:10, Luke 11:20) In these powerful, Top-10 views of the real you, you can see how the Ten Commandments work as your Divine Identity Protection Plan—set-up and upheld by "Spirit, the great architect." (S&H 68)

(For all Ten “Specs” see Downloadable PDF in upper right online.)


DAILY COMMIT TO GLADLY OBEY EACH COMMANDMENT TO FEEL WHOLENESS WITHIN & express “the whole of man in His image & likeness.” SH 340:9; Deut. 7:9; Ex. 20:1; Mark 12:29

Jesus says the greatest of the two great Commandments is to “love God with all your heart… soul & … mind” (Matt. 22:37). [This week’s Bible Lesson has Jesus affirming the answer of “a certain lawyer” (Luke 10:25-28, cit. B7) of the two greatest commandments of the law.]
The first great commandment of loving God with all your heart is lived by whole-heartedly putting into practice the 1st 4 Commandments, summed up below:

#1. Celebrate examples of God’s unfailing, freeing love if ever tempted to be worried!** Click on each # below for elements of a Barry Huff podcast series on The 10 Commandments at ChristianScience.com. It starts with https://www.christianscience.com/youth/resources-lists/sunday-school-teachers-teaching-resources/the-first-commandment-animated-tr
#2. Quit thinking most about material things and bodies that will never be “up to the job” of being God.
#3. Don’t say O.M.G. (“Oh, My God!”) unless you are praying God’s name and expecting a quick answer!
#4. Remember—give loving attention to—God’s Genesis 1 Sabbath & work out from perfection, not up to it!

Jesus says the second great Commandments is to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). It’s lived by whole-heartedly putting into practice the rest of the Commandments, summed up below:
#5. Respect and obey all RIGHT authority figures and boundaries in your life.

#6. Refuse (re-fuse) to get angry, make fun of or put anyone down! (unchecked superiority leads to killing Matt.5:21+)

#7. Seek deep satisfaction in all God’s given and keep your promises (unchecked lust leads to adultery Matt.5:27+)

#8. Stop trying to GET happiness & instead try to GIVE it! (fulfill your “reason for existing… to impart…” My. 165)

#9. Stop saying what’s not REALLY true of others or of you (bear true witness— “tell …the whole truth… so help me God!”)

#10. Feel & say of others’ good “Thank You God! That’s Mine Too! (TYG! TMT! Is more powerful than TNT!)

**I’ve found it helpful to know that Jews combine our 1st and 2nd Commandments as their 2nd Commandment. They regard the preceding verse not only as the 1st Commandment, but also as a divine reminder of how God saved them – delivering them out of slavery in Egypt: “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2 & Deuteronomy 5:6).

We can daily live out the healing power of the 10 Commandments as we live-up to the truism that “to whom much is given, much is expected.” With all my heart I praise and thank God daily as I mentally review the many prayer-based healings God has given me. With ALL glory to God, these demonstrations of divine power have come to me in the form of:

  • my yielding to divine Mind’s harmony 12 yrs. ago for a rapid dissolving of a cancerous growth;
  • an instantaneous healing of a broken arm (later x-ray verified before playing D-1 football);
  • a $100k gift offered a few minutes after I knew the need & was truly grateful in advance it was met;
  • God filling Mediterranean Ski Lake w/60 million gallons of holy water 6 days before CedarS 50th opening;
  • a divine drenching of a wildfire (Hope for all wildfires since “Impossibilities never occur.” SH 245:27)

“What cannot God do?” [These testimonies & others to be shared ASAP with the Christian Science periodicals.]


LIKE JESUS, STICK WITH THE ONLY REAL POWER, THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT!

When Jesus had finished 40 days in the wilderness of “sheltering in place”, he “returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee” (Luke 4:14, cit. B7) Matthew adds (in chapter 4 verses 11, 23) that the result of Jesus overcoming his period of temptations in the wilderness was that “…angels came and ministered unto him… 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues … and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”
[Cobbey Crisler adds in “The Book of Matthew…”:] “Here are human problems that had defied solution, and Jesus solved them all based on his concept of theology, namely the kingdom. Remember a kingdom is not chaos. It’s an ordered government of heaven and harmony at hand.”

Let us, like Jesus, as we come out of our wilderness, waiting experiences, stick with the only real power, the power of the Spirit! And, whenever right activity seems to be on “pause — wait on God…” (Science & Health, 323:10).

Cobbey Crisler on Luke 4:14, 40 (cit. B7)
[Cobbey:] “Luke indicates that he understands that this [Jesus’ period of temptations in the wilderness has been a power test for Jesus. In Verse 14 he uses that word, "Jesus returned" not in any form of power that Satan had tried to impose upon him [“to take personal power, political power, and priestly power”]. But rather, "in the power of the Spirit into Galilee"— [“in the law that relates man directly to God, the source of the only power there is.]

“In Luke 4, Verse 40 as healing increases, we find that many healings occur, especially around the Sea of Galilee. Is it any more difficult for Jesus to heal collectively than it is individually? It doesn’t seem to take much more time, does it?

“Who does Jesus say is responsible for the healing? If God is responsible for the healing, does He love all His creation as instantly as he loves each individual part of His creation? Can that love reach collectively? Is it present collectively? If that's the basis for Jesus healing, then we see that healing a multitude was just as normal and natural as breathing, and as healing an individual.

“What is the atmosphere there? If the Holy Ghost is there, then we all can breathe that same air simultaneously.

“The healings were apparently permanent. There was no standing in line. Jesus didn't say, "All right, all the ears, eye, nose, and throat people over here." He didn't deal with them as a specialist would deal with them. He dealt with them as a general practitioner, as if he could be consulted and he could join with others in prayer and to be at-one with God, whether it was one individual or hundreds or thousands. Remember, he fed thousands from that same point of view.”
“Book of Luke: Luke the Researcher,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**


WHEN YOUR “BACK’S AGAINST the WALL,” PRAY THE W.A.L.L. TREATMENT!
—or C.A.L.L. treatment to know “who you gonna call?” (Science & Health, 495:20, cit. S16)

On page 495, lines 14-24 Mary Baker Eddy gives you (and the whole world) four powerful (and memoizable) sentences to guide your thoughts to healing when you are tempted to believe in the reality of some illusion or ghost of fear or doubt that seems to be in your face.

W.A.L.L. Treatment (SH 495:14-24, with cit. S16 being lines 20-24, the last sentence)
These four sentences begin with the letters W, A, L, L—hence the W.A.L.L. treatment. This was a memory devise that came to me and has made it easier for me to remember the whole paragraph and use it often as a cornerstone for healings.

  • When the illusion…
  • Allow nothing but his likeness to abide in your thought.
  • Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and…
  • Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding…” (cit. S16)

Or it could be called the C.A.L.L. Treatment (SH 495:14) A different acronym/memory device can be made by using the first letters of the directive verbs in each of these same four sentences. They are Cling, Allow, Let and Let again—hence the C.A.L.L. treatment. This alternate memory devise came to me when tempted to be afraid of some illusion or lingering “ghostly” belief from the past, present or future (like Scrooge was in “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens). Mary Baker Eddy unknowingly answered in-advance and brilliantly the question “Who you Gonna Call?” (from the 1984 movie “Ghostbusters” soundtrack song by Ray Parker Jr.). Mary Baker Eddy treated all such “ghosts” as illusions in her ultimate, metaphysical “Ghostbuster” treatment that has served as a cornerstone for thousands of healings. –“When the illusion… tempts you,

  • Cling Steadfastly to God and His idea.
  • Allow nothing but his likeness to abide in your thought.
  • Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your Clear Sense and calm trust…
  • Let Christian Science instead of Corporeal Sense, support your understanding of being and…” (cit. S16)

(Reread carefully and consider memorizing the FULL, 10-line Christian Science treatment in Science and Health, page 495:14-24. Note the four pairs of consecutive words (which I capitalized, highlighted and bolded above) all begin with C and S!

Such CALL-ing on God gives us something certain to “cling steadfastly to,” and overturns what appears to be a worldwide fixation on fear. The C.A.L.L. treatment is a sure defense. It protects us as we follow the Wayshower, to find comfort and healing for our whole global family. “Jesus marked out the way. Citizens of the world, accept the 'glorious liberty of the children of God,' and be free! This is your divine right.” (SH 227:23-26)


ACCEPT THE RISEN JESUS’ COMMISSION TO YOU AND ME TO BRING ABOUT RESULTS!
Cobbey Crisler on Mark 14-16 (background prelude & postlude for citations B11, B12. B13):

[Cobbey:] Chapter 14. We’re aware of Jesus’ final, so-called “passion week."

Mark treats it in some detail and reminds us in Verse 21 that, "The Son of man goeth, as it is written of him.” We see the Son-of-man always associated with Jesus' human activities. Son-of-God is a higher status. The Son of man does go "as it is written of him." He goes where Scripture places him, even if it's on the cross. "The time is fulfilled" (Mark 1:15). There's one of the foundational points.

Chapter 15, Verse 1. The trial begins before Pilate. Beginning Verse 22. We have the crucifixion after the trial before Pilate.

In Chapter 16, Verse 1, it's almost as if the world were being prepared for the gracious receptivity of womanhood which it has so long ignored. We encounter "Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome," who is probably the wife of Zebedee, and therefore the mother of John (the beloved disciple), and James. What are they doing at a tomb where the stone would be beyond their capability of rolling away? Womanhood came with an expectation of possibility, despite the obstacles.

Verse 3. They asked, "Who shall roll us away the stone?"

But Verse 4 shows us, "the stone is already rolled away."

Verse 5. Entering within, and only the women bear witness to the fact, there is an angel, "a young man.”

In some cases, two are reported inside the tomb. Matthew 28:2 records one "angel."

Luke 24:4 records "two men." John 20:12 records “two angels.”

We know from the John 20:3-10 account that Peter and John raced to the tomb, looked, searched every inch of it, went all through it, saw all the linen clothes folded neatly, & then went back home to their supper.
[W: Here’s a link to a YouTube video reenactment of this Gospel version of that race to the empty tomb.]
The women however, with greater humility and expectation saw that it is possible for one state of mind to look in the very place already searched by another state of mind, and find something there that the other had failed to bear witness to.

We discover that women had the spiritual right to be witnesses in an age when it was said that women were not legal personalities, and could not even bear witness in court.

…Verse 17. The gospel of Mark ends with deeds, not words. "These signs shall follow them that believe.” There's one of our foundational points again (Mark 1:15). Those who believe will have signs that follow. Otherwise we’re not believers.

“We can say all we want, "We're believers m Jesus Christ," but we're not unless signs are following. That is Jesus' own definition of a believer.

All of these signs are fulfilled in the Book of Acts except the sign regarding poison. This was accomplished in an early Christian tradition by Barsebus. He was forced to drink poison and recovered without any problem. So, we have "the new tongues."

Verse 18. The ''taking up of serpents, the drinking any deadly thing,” even a poisonous chemical! Look at that in the environment today. "And be healed." It’s a sign that follows those that believe.

Why are we leaving our environment untouched by the Holy Spirit?

Why aren't we seeing the Spirit there, and therefore, liberty.

Verse 19. The ascension then is very briefly mentioned.

Verse 20. We find the apostolic works follow the apostolic words. They are inseparable. "They went forth, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.”

“Amen,” meaning this is the truth. And if it is the truth, we know it makes us free. That gospel can be freed from the page on which it is written and enter our own embodied lives, and be seen worldwide in results.

Satan, as Jesus was alleged to have said, “His term has expired.” Let's live like his term has expired and take joy in that exultant victory.

Yes, from that very shout on the cross. Some people think Jesus is shouting in pain. But one commentator says the Greek word is a shout of victory.
That’s the gospel, the good news of victory.”
“What Mark Recorded,”
by B. Cobbey Crisler**


TURN GRIT into “*PEARLS*!” & TRASH into BEAUTIFUL “TREASURES OF TRUTH AND LOVE!”
Part of CedarS 2020 Theme in cit. S20, Science & Health, p. 265:3-15 by Mary Baker Eddy

"Man understands spiritual existence in proportion as his treasures of Truth and Love are enlarged. Mortals must gravitate Godward, their affections and aims grow spiritual, they must near the broader interpretations of being, and gain some proper sense of the infinite, in order that sin and mortality may be put off. This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggest man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace."

We invite you to join us in "gravitat[ing] Godward." A CedarS-like camp setting, whether actual or on a virtual Hymn Sing, is the perfect place to discover and enlarge your treasures of Truth. Every "met" (inspirational sharing before activities), every breakfast Christian Science practitioner talk, every Bible Lesson study, every Hymn Sing, every Sunday School class, and testimony meeting offers campers nuggets of Truth to make their own. And each activity offers opportunities to apply these Truths and prove their value – to really turn them into treasures for life!

BONUS “POSTLUDE” after cit. S20:
The list in this ongoing passage is such a beautiful promise of the blessings realized through spiritual growth:
– Enlarged individuality
– A wider sphere of thought and action
– A more expansive love
– A higher and more permanent peace

We see this list as so contemporary, as so on-target, and as so timeless. This is as exactly what today's youth needs – and exactly what today's world needs.

*Pearls* are wonderful examples of the “treasures of Truth” and how they grow. A pearl grows in an oyster only because an irritant has entered its shell and the oyster responds by secreting on it layer after layer of an irritantsoother (the way that spiritual sense and love heal whatever irritates us and others). Let’s take that as a challenge to be like the oyster and turn everything that looks negative and ugly into a string of beautiful pearls by applying layer upon layer of love and spiritual sense to grow our treasures of Truth and Love!

Enlarging your treasures of Truth and Love will soon make you “debt-free” by cancelling the debt — Think of “cancel culture,” but from a God’s eye view! St. Paul simply describes this higher view of ultimate “debt-forgiveness program” of Love that freed him—as it will free you. It is to: “Owe no man anything, but to love one another” (Romans 13:8). Saul voiced this as one who “owed” Christ and all Christians BIG-time by being known as their most enthusiastic enemy and persecutor. Saul made up for it as Paul by becoming Christianity’s most advent advocate and most eloquent missionary after he was converted by a “virtual” meeting with Jesus. (So, don’t underestimate the power of a virtual camp session, hymn sing or church service whenever the Christ is welcomed in!)

[W:] “If you visit Saul’s road to Damascus in CedarS Bible Lands Park, you will be reminded to be like Ananias of the Damascus Christians. Like Ananias, you will be asked to stop “owing” any former enemy or persecutors and to stop “bearing false witness against” any and all Saul-like characters in your life—and instead see them as if they’ve been on their “road to Damascus” and changed for good by the Christ. In the words of a young Sunday School student “Forgive us our “trash-passes” as we forgive those who “trash-pass” to us.”

“Had Ananias held Saul in a position that he’d outgrown after his “virtual encounter” with the Christ – if he had NOT obeyed God’s command to forgive Saul’s trash-passing and to restore his sight, the born-again Paul would not have become the most productive, passer of the treasure of Christianity that the world has known. “Those unpretentious, yet colossal characters, Paul and Jesus” (Misc. 360:6-8) both did all they could to pass along the rich treasures of their resilient spiritual sense of oneness with God. May we each do the same with all the treasures of Truth that spiritual sense constantly gives us!”


FEEL the “WOW” of SEEING “THE GREAT ARCHITECT’S” PLANS FULFILLED “to a T!*”
Take YOUR OWN “Walk thru the Bible” as divinely-designed to fully invigorate willing listeners.
Cobbey Crisler on how Luke 24:14+ (cit. B15) & Old Testament prophesies perfectly fit Jesus:
Download a chart (from above, right) to discover Messianic prophesies that fit Jesus “to a T!*”
*“Fits to a T!” derives either from “fits to a T-square” or “fits to a tittle”
(Matt. 5:17, 18 KJV)

[Cobbey:] “I hope you have your Bibles with you in your laps, opened first to Luke 24…
[Warren: Download first (from a CedarS inspirational webpage to right & above) a chart of Messianic Old Testament prophesies that fit Jesus “to a T!*”]Because, I (Cobbey) want you to be sure I’m not making it up as I go along. Everyone should come to his or her own conclusions … We’re dealing with discovery, which is the only real method of education. And religion, for so many years, forgot there was such a thing as discovery and dealt in dogma.

“The little word that I work the hardest to hear is …“Wow!” … What does “Wow!” signify? Something’s happening that’s already within, that awakened… It’s discovery, isn’t it? Dogma never gives you discovery; therefore, dogma never gives you “Wow!” It gives you “bow-wow.” Dogma is “bow-wow.”

“Alright, now, Luke 24 gives us the only significant account of the walk to Emmaus … “So, we can be very grateful to Luke. …The theory which I will present to you is that the spark that eventually caught flame in Christianity spreading throughout the known globe, started on that walk to Emmaus. Now, let’s see if we can prove that.

[W:] LINKS BELOW are to SHORTEN FOR YOU this ALREADY-LONG, GEM-OFFERING:

[W: Click 1 of 3 Find how to Wow & Woo Wanderers on your "Walk to Emmaus" YouTube Luke 24 cit. B15]

And/OR

[W: Click 2 of 3 on how Jesus fit the prophesy of being like Moses Deut. 18:15.]

And/OR

[W: Click 3 of 3 for the WOW of Jesus cross-referencing on the cross Psalm 22, 30, 69.]

And/OR

[W: Contact Cobbey’s widow, Janet Crisler, at janetcrisler7@gmail.com for how to get your own editions of Cobbey’s talks & transcript-books, including a full “The Walk to Emmaus.”]


KEN’S POETIC GEMs this week’s CedarS Met: HEAR on YouTube a KEN COOPER POEM, “Follow me” and two monologues, “In Him we live and move and have our being” and “The Magdalene’s Resurrection”. All three are inspired by application of ideas and citations in this week’s Bible Lesson.

[Ken wrote:] “The purpose of man is to express God, for without expression God would not exist. Anything less than full expression would be a failure of God, an impossibility for Infinite omnipresent good. When we look to God, we are looking at the source of our being, perfect, harmonious. Our expectation should be 100%, because there is nothing else, the infinite can have nothing more.

“Paul declared: “In Him we live and move and have our being”. What greater Oneness can we have or experience? There is nowhere else we can be or go. This declaration sets out the absolute Truth. What God is, we are, and this understanding has its fruition in Life-practice. Carrying on from last week’s lesson, it is the recognition of Atonement, -indeed the doctrine of atonement could well be seen as the scientific statement of being exemplified. (SH 468). We are spiritual, deathless.

“So why then is there probation after “death”? God has not put us on trial. There are no guards on duty at the kingdom of heaven. Love can only be Love. Unconditional. The belief in individual man struggling to find God, with varying degrees of success, is the Adam-dream of mortal mind. The more we focus on God the less this Adam dream interferes with the constant reality of divine consciousness, in which there is no death. Our trials are stepping stones to reach our true heritage, the open gates of the kingdom of heaven here and now, just one step (thought) away. [The prodigal son never left the love of his father, was always in His kingdom]

“The monologue of Mary Magdalene in “The Magdalene’s Resurrection” is very challenging. The first part takes us on a trial of faith, shows her graphic witness of the crucifixion. It is the acknowledgement that we all have our trials, and they can seem impossible to overcome. But no matter how severe the test, the expectation must be held firm, because the Truth of Life in God never changes, is now. Listen through to the end, and experience the joy of understanding, the exhilaration of realizing what it means to see and share the living Christ!

“The key message is that we have to be actively, constantly, reaching out to God, and this is always rewarded. We cannot be a “still” reflection of God who is omni-active Life. For Peter to walk on the water, he had to get out of the boat. To be a fisher of men, he had to cast his net on the right side. On the shore of Galilee, he reverted, perhaps with a sad soul, to his old way of fishing. It led to nothing. He had to “begin aright” showing obedience to the Christ, forsaking his material outlook. Hauling in the full net was their reward of obedience. When he realized it was Jesus who had spoken to them, he again got out of the boat, perhaps for the last time? – and he swam to Jesus with renewed vigor and zest, to find his and their morning meal already prepared. The first step leads to the second, and has the expectation of fulfilling its journey and purpose.

“The poem “Follow me” rejoices in the affluence of those that follow Christ, and cast their nets with the power and expectation of Love. Casting this net of Love is fulfilling our role as man, demonstrating love, letting Love be love. Our expectation must be to draw in a net full of whatever God has provided for each moment. We progress most rapidly when we know the destination is at hand. When our motive is love, it is God directing our way, God that casts the net, and God that has provided the ways and means of fulfilment.

“Peter provides such an example. He walked on the water, he sank, he beheld the transfiguration, yet denied Jesus, he went back to his old ways, but his deep motivation won through. When he dived out of the boat that full commitment sourced his joyous renewal. He had mentally died, but was brought back to spiritual life. He was tested, but came through. And what a rock he proved to be. As the lesson concludes: “Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way.” (SH 326:20-21, cit. S30)”

PDF versions of the monologue and poems in color and B&W can be found on the top right of CedarS metaphysical article for this week. See also Ken's poems on Ken Cooper poetry.com


At YOUR MORNING MEAL, LET CHRIST LIFT YOUR LOVE TO ESTEEM & DESIRE GOOD for every RECEPTIVE HEART — to “CAST YOUR NET ON THE RIGHT SIDE” in carrying on Christ’s work – &
to DISCOVER within the AGAPE, ABUNDANCE & DESIRE to FEED EVERY RECEPTIVE LAMB!
Find meaning in YOUR “Morning Meal” today in Cobbey Crisler’s GEM
on cit. B18, John 21:1-14(+)

{Warren continues:] Picture the infinitude of God’s supply on YouTube and what it means to YOU!
If you’re looking these days for screen-time that is uplifting, you’re likely to enjoy visualizing the seemingly miraculous catching in an unbroken net of 153 fish that was brought about by obeying Jesus’ command to “Cast your net on the right side” (from John 21:2+, citation B18 this week). It will be far more meaningful to you if you first read Cobbey Crisler’s insights below on fishing and on the meaning of agape, one of the two Greek words for love that Jesus uses in asking if Peter loves him. (See Bonus beyond the part of this story in citation B18 in this week’s Bible Lesson.)

You will then understand more as you see a YouTube video re-visualizing and reenacting this Bible event on the *Sea of Galilee* made by The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints. It is freely shared by them at https://youtu.be/6zhAT-jaljY .

After seeing it, and maybe sharing it with your Sunday School class on Zoom as I intend to this Sunday with a 7th grade class, ask yourself and anyone who sees it with you, what does it means to me? How can I apply this to help me bring about “a new heaven and a new earth”? Mary Baker Eddy invite us all to join the Revelator: “Have you ever pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom?” [Science and Health p. 91:1 (a better way to remember 911, yes?)]

[*W:] “This YouTube video refreshed my memory of this spot on the *Sea of Galilee* from a January 2020 Principia Lifelong Learning Trip to the Holy Lands, led by our son, Principia College Bible professor, Dr. Barry Huff, along with a Palestinian Christian guide, Suphien Abu Hanna. Suphien offered onsite this new-to-me insight: Jesus could well have been giving guidance to the boatload of future fishers of men, by gesturing to the hill country on the right side of the boat which was filled with Gentiles and the marginalized who had shown themselves to be very receptive to the Christ and to budding Christianity. This idea inspired me then and resonates even more now after coupling it with Jesus three times imploring Peter to “Feed my lambs/sheep!” (or feed those who receptively follow and hunger after righteousness, as recent Bible Lesson have featured.)

[Cobbey Crisler’s insights to read before seeing the YouTube video:] “John 21, the last chapter of John, is considered by some scholars to be a later addition, but still, very possibly, by the same author.

“John 21:1. We're told that Jesus appears at the Sea of Tiberias, which is Galilee.

“John 21:2, "Already assembled there were seven disciples, all had left the profession of fishing, we thought: Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, the sons of Zebedee, unnamed here, James and John, and two other of his disciples."

“John 21:3. They apparently had nothing to do. Discipleship returns to the fishing boat. "Peter," with his fingers almost audibly drumming against the side of his boat, "says I have an idea. I’m going fishing." Nobody else had any better suggestion. "So, they all go fishing. They spent that entire night fruitlessly. The very fishes avoided them.” Isn't it interesting that the Anchor Bible makes this comment on the disciples' profession, "It is notable that never in the gospels do the disciples catch a fish without Jesus’ help."

“But notice the contrast between Verse 3 and Verse 4.
John 21:3, "That night they caught nothing."

“John 21:4, "But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore."

“What patience Jesus had with discipleship! Waiting for them to realize the importance of carrying on his work. But, once again, without that realization, "they did not even recognize Jesus humanly".

“John 21:5. Jesus asked them an important question. You’ve spent the entire night out there. "Children, do you have any results? Do you have any meat? No is their answer. "

“Now it is obvious when one is fishing using a net that there's very little difference between the right side and the left side. The factor then brought out in John 21:6 must be the obedience to Jesus' word, the concept that he has exhibited throughout in his approach to economics and supply. "Cast the net, "he says, "on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find." They are obedient. They do exactly what Jesus requests of them. Now, instantly, they find their net is filled with fishes. They could have saved themselves that entire night.

“Then John 21:7 refers once again to "the disciple whom Jesus loved. He recognizes Jesus. It is the Lord, he says." He must have recognized that sign of dominion over all, that mastery that he introduced even into the profession of fishing but was attempting to elevate them from profession to practice of Christianity. What had happened to his invitation to them, and expectation of them, to become fishers of men?

“Edgar Lee Masters (1869-1950), U.S. poet and novelist, says this about the impetuous Peter, "O, Peter, gnarled branch of the vine." Peter throws his fisher's coat around him and plunges into the sea. We must remember that the Sea of Galilee has a shoreline that drops off quickly. So, he probably had to swim part of the way. Traditionally, sailors and fishermen aren’t the best swimmers. But, ignoring that, just as Peter had burst into the tomb to be there first, he casts himself into the sea

“John 21:8, "While the other disciples bring the ship ashore. It says they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits, that’s about a hundred yards, dragging the net with fishes."

“John 21:9. Here's all that time they could have spared by giving priority to the lessons Jesus had already taught them. Jesus hadn't toiled all night. He didn't even have to use the fish that they brought in. "For when they arrived there was a charcoal fire there." In fact, the Greek word is anthrakian which is the root of our word anthracite. "And fish, already there, laid thereon, and bread " Toast and fish all ready.

“John 21:10. But Jesus wanted them to participate in this, "and said, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. ''

“John 21:11, "So, Simon Peter, who was already on shore, goes to the net personally, and pulls it to shore." Who but a fisherman would remember this detail? "There were one hundred fifty-three fishes in that net. " Someone counted. It might be just the sign of the authenticity of authorship here by an eye witness. "And still, the net was not broken." Remember, back in Luke 5:6, at another incident, the net broke.
John 21:12, ''Jesus' invitation is to Come and dine. Now they know who he is."

John. 21:13. "Jesus," in his characteristic gesture, "took bread, and gave them, and fish likewise.” This was indeed a breakfast, but how different from that last supper! This breakfast was celebrating his victory over death. Not looking forward to tragedy, death, and lack of comprehension by the disciples, the dawn was in the disciples thought as well as over the Sea of Galilee on that special morning.”
“Book of John, A Walk with the Beloved Disciple,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**


[W:] BONUS for YOU of the transformative test of “AGAPE” in “the REST of the story” John 21:15+
Pass the test of Christ’s love to esteem all souls today & to desire, & actively work, for greater good for all!

[Cobbey, on the morning meal’s meaning for Peter being questioned three times by Jesus:]
“…we do know that three times Peter denied Jesus. Perhaps here he has an opportunity to redeem himself in three tests…

“Now we engage in a dialogue between Jesus and Peter. The dialogue as printed in the King James Version, seems rather dull and repetitive indeed. In the original Greek however, there is a depth of meaning.

“John 21:15, "Jesus says to Peter, do you love me more than these?" It's obvious that Peter is being tested. We may ask, tested for what? That becomes clearer later in the story.

“Another word which we find repeated in the Greek New Testament, is philia, a word that conveys brotherly love. It still has a sense of class consciousness about it. It has the compassion and the sympathy, such as organizations like the Peace Corps show. But there is sometimes a condescending quality in the thinking of those who are expressing love at the philia level. Almost like patting the head of the one you are helping. As if implicitly we were saying, you're down there and l’m up here, and I'm going to try to help you.

“The Greeks had a higher sense of love than that. And of course, taken out of classical Greek, it has a renewed and fuller meaning in concept in the New Testament. That word is agape. Agape, according to one commentator and lexicographer, conveys the following, "To desire good for the one you esteem. The concept of divine love."

“If I should to choose to love you at the level of agape, look what is required of me. First, I must esteem you. That's not patting you on the head. That's eye-to-eye respect and esteem. Can one really have love anywhere without that quality of respect? I must esteem you. But that, too, could be a passive sense of love, without that other part of the definition which this one commentator had provided. To desire good for one you esteem. I must be actively employed in desiring for you good or I am not operating at the level of agape.

What word do you think Jesus uses when he says to Peter, "Do you love me?" ''Agapao?" he says. But Peter responds in the original text, "Yes, Lord you know that I love thee." But he uses the word "phileo." Maybe that explains Jesus' repetition.

“John 21:17. The third time Jesus asks the question, he does not any more say agapao [the Greek for divine love that desires good for one you esteem]. Coming to where Peter is, and attempting to build there, he uses the verb phileo [Greek for brotherly love], "Peter was grieved because he had said unto him the third time, Do you love me?" If we use the JB Phillip's translation, Jesus has simply said, "Alright Peter will you be my friend?" Peter says,Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. And Jesus said unto him, Feed my sheep."

“That instruction to Peter, "to feed the lambs," _and then not the first time "to feed my sheep," but rather, "tend, or guard my little sheep," according to the Vatican manuscript, and finally, "Feed my sheep." This is an assignment for which Peter obviously qualifies and which he just as obviously fulfilled in the Book of Acts. (See raising pf Lydia from death in Acts 9:32-35 & his angel vision to reach out to receptive Gentiles in Acts 10:1-35)

“But he evidently failed to pass the test Jesus was giving to him to some degree. He had not risen to the highest love that was a prerequisite, something Jesus had in mind… ·

“In John 21:19, Jesus turns to Peter and says, "Follow me." He had given Peter a mission. He had told him in indicating to him, "Feed my sheep," that Peter should be an "Abel" in his approach to Jesus' religion, not a “Cain” [Gen. 4]. But notice the tendency of human nature when one is aware that he has fared badly on a test. In a classroom, when the papers are handed back and we see we have a big red "F" on top of ours, out first tendency is what? Generally, to turn the paper over so no one can see it. But after the initial flush of embarrassment has passed, the next tendency is to be curious about what our neighbor received, and a furtive glance to left or right might just reveal it.

“In John 21:20, Peter, if he 'indeed flunked the test here, “turned about, and he seeth the disciple Jesus loved following. " The author wants us to be quite clear that this is the very disciple who leaned on his breast at supper, and had said to him, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Although avoiding naming this disciple, we find him described with certain precision so that the reader was not to be at a loss for identity.

[W:] “LEARN WITH PETER that: “TO LOVE IS TO STOP COMPARING” (Merrit Malloy) and that
EACH INDIVIDUAL MUST FILL HIS OWN NICHE IN TIME & ETERNITY.” Mary Baker Eddy, Ret. 70:18
Couldn’t this mean for you a liberating end of all jealousy and of any sense of sibling rivalry?!”

[Cobbey:] “John 21:21, "Peter, turning to this other disciple, the beloved disciple, with whom we have been visiting throughout this gospel, Peter says to Jesus, Lord, and something. He had not really comprehended what Jesus was after or where Jesus was trying to elevate him. Perhaps John would win a position or an honor that Peter himself failed to qualify for?

“John 21:22, Jesus had a response to Peter, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.” That seems to deliver a clear message that there would be a gap of time, and Jesus and John would have some relation even beyond the ascension of Jesus. Perhaps Peter had been tested for this very same role, but it would be John who qualified?

“Where would that be? Where do we find Jesus and John together? In the New Testament after the gospels, in none other book than the Book of Revelation, except for a brief inclusion of John with the other disciples in Acts 1:13.

“Let's turn to the Book of Revelation to see if this is the unfinished business Jesus was referring to when he said in John 21:22,"If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" … He "tarried" almost sixty years, if not more, beyond the time of Jesus' ascension, and received the Revelation on the island of Patmos…

“The entire Bible meets the student in the Book of Revelation. Is that book what Jesus was referring to at the end of the Gospel of John when he said, "If I will that he, the beloved disciple, tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me." (John 21:22). Peter, you have your mission. You are assigned to feed my lambs, to tend and guard my young sheep, to feed my mature sheep. But John has a very essential, important, individual mission as well. As usual there is a misunderstanding on that point.

“John 21:23 states a rumor went among the brethren that this disciple wouldn't die. Notice the care with which either the author himself, or a later editor, states that Jesus didn't say, "He shall not die" but, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

“Among the early traditions about John, recorded in early primitive Christian literature, is his punishment under Roman authority by being boiled in oil. The account reads that he did not die. He survived being boiled in oil. Although this is not attested to in Scripture, there is much early evidence pointing to that as part of John's biography. That recorder, that scribe, under orders, went through and survived in following the command of his Master, to be a fisher of men…”
“Book of John, A Walk with the Beloved Disciple,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**


**Try a virtual CedarS Sunday Hymn Sing! (by Zoom every Sunday at 7pm Central Time.) Invite family, church and other friends and even neighbors to join in this healing CedarS tradition along with a happy, worldwide “chorus” every week. You can sing along (muted) with CedarS unmuted, host musicians seven hymns that all are invited to request. Click here for a link and fuller details.

(A precious prelude precedes each sing at 6:45pm Central Daylight-savings Time (CDT.) We encourage singing along in Zoom’s gallery view to share the joy of seeing dear ones in virtual family-church reunions that bless all generations.

To protect privacy and copyrights, these “brief, but spectacular” sessions are NOT recorded. So, calibrate your time-zone clocks, mark your calendars, and remind friends, so that no one misses any of these inspiring, weekly reminders of our precious, spiritual oneness with each other and with our ever-loving, Father-Mother God who owns and embraces us all!

Lovingly singing prayers and praise to God for about 30 minutes each Sunday is such a warm, “Welcome Home” tradition to bless the start of each week with joyous, peaceful GRACE. (Our 2021 theme.) We have loved singing-in this grace with longtime as well as first-time friends—not only from ALL 50 of the United States, but also from 21 other countries! So far, our “Hymn Sing family” has clicked or dialed-in from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, England, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, as well as from each of the United States! In the universal language of divine Love, “thestill, small voice’ of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's remotest bound.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 559:8–10)


Here are some areas where financial support is needed and would double the blessings in very meaningful ways to thousands of dear ones served by CedarS:

  • ENDOWMENT GIFTS to help cover CedarS camperships and operations are being MATCHED up to $200,000/year ($1-MILLION total)!
  • And, UNRESTRICTED & OTHER MAINTENANCE AND HERD SUPPORT GIFTS WILL BE MATCHED UP TO $100,000! We send our special thanks in advance for clicking here to electronically share your tax-deductible support. It’s especially needed during this reduced-income period to help "keep our oil lamps burning."
  • Here's our camp office address to MAIL your gift to:
    The CedarS Camps Office, 410 Sovereign Court #8, Ballwin, MO 63011
  • or call CedarS team at 636-394-6162 (Gay, Kim or Jennifer) to share a credit card gift.
  • CedarS is a not-for-profit, 501-C-3 organization with a Federal ID # 44-0663883.
American Camp Association

MAIN OFFICE
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(636) 394-6162

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