February 476: What I've Thought - Legendary Norse Goddess Frig

By Polycarp 55
Associated Mideivel Times:
ASGARD/ Honored that the English used my name to name Friday.

"Frau Holle" they borrowed a lot of my legend. My favorite line from that story by the Grimm Brothers is, "Since you have let the reel fall in, you must fetch it out again."

Women are stronger than men, just look at birth, no man in his right mind would want to go through it

Baldr, I truly did not think that the mistletoe would be a threat to him, a strong lesson that I should account for all things, old or young, gigantic or small...

Vandals refused to take care of their fingernails. I hate men with dirt under their fingernails,

Odin such a control freak, he was so mad at me for frolicking with my servants, heck they are my servents, serving me

Interlude: Repentence!

"With what troops of diseases are we beset on every side." Matthew Henry on Leviticus 13

As a kid I was convinced that if I dug long enough I could get to Shanghai China.
I would get there and then pop up on a busy street in an audible orient.

As I scratched at the ground bugs would run away. The bug universe is similar to the sins that abound in my heart. The more I repent, the more I find things that lay hidden in my human knowledge learned over time. Knowledge created ate at my heart; eventually killing my child like wonder, rotting my mind as if it was a worm inside an apple. Sin would lead me to a life like a rotten core to be thrown into the garbage can.

Repentance kills this process of degradation, and all I am left with is a harmony with Christ Jesus.

Gregory the Great Buys a Stairway to Heaven

Gregory the Great believed that our sins committed after baptism needed to be purged through Penance (sincere heartfelt repentance, confession and works of merit).

"Be hold the severe judge Jesus is about to come; the terror of that might council of angels and archangles is at hand. In that assembly our case will be tried and yet we are not seeking patrons who will then come to our defense. Our holy martyers are aready to be your advocates; they desire to be asked, indeed if may say so, they entreat that they may be entreated. Seek them as helpers of your prayer; turn to them that they may protect you in your guilt." Gregory the Great quoted in (Shelley 188)

540 to 12 March 604 : Gregory the Great Leads through the Shadow of Death

Gregory the great came to power in 590, during a windstorm that seemed to blow out the fragile Christian Light. The Lombards, lead by their King Albion, had slayed bishops, robbed monasteries, and burned up cultivated fields. The plague had laid waste to the people of Europe (a third of Europe died).
Gregory felt the pain that Christianity was going through, "A kind of fire seems to provide my whole body: to live is pain; and I look forward to death as the only remedy."Gregory helped his Parish Lambs battle through the assaulting devils; diabolic devices would not undo the Church; the lambs would not faint into the terrible chaos.

3 September Aint No Roman Holiday: 590 AD

Roman Providences appeared destroyed by fire, everything looked like the dark side of a lunar landscape. The dead piled up like giant baskets of unwashed laundry.

Our first glance would be wrong: seeds laid waiting for a renewing rain that would fill up a growing earth. Pope Gregory the Great was called to the Papacy.

Rummage Sale

Rummage sale is a term created by Bishop Dwyer.

The Message: Psalm 24:7-11

⁷ Wake up, you sleepyhead city!
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
King-Glory is ready to enter.

⁸ Who is this King-Glory?
God, armed
and battle-ready.

⁹ Wake up, you sleepyhead city!
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
King-Glory is ready to enter.

¹⁰ Who is this King-Glory?
God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
he is King-Glory.

560 AD-829 AD : Bloody Battle for the minds of a People:

War is red. White fields laid ashen ready for seeds to sprout. Burned up trees stand in testimony for the people whose blood was spilled. Bodies decomposed into the field making it fertile. Low hanging gray-clouds were ready to burst open with rain; to wash the pagan sins away. England was being shaped through bloodshed and renewal, into a "New England closer than ever before to national unity, and with a native genius of her own. Henceforward an immortal spirit stood forth for all to see."

Winston Churchill,A History of the English Speaking People Volume One, the Birth of Britain.

Ireland was important in the awakening to the Gospel in England. The 12 Apostles of Ireland were part of the 1st movement of the good news of Christ. The 12 Apostles of Ireland were:

St. Finian
St. Ciaran of Saighir
St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise
St. Brendan of Birr
St Brendan of Clonfert
St. Columba of Terryglass
St. Columba of Iona
St. Mobhi of Glasnevin
St. Radhain of Lorrha
St. Senan
St. Ninnidh
St. Lasserian
St. Canice
Finnen of Magh Bile

We will be looking at one of these Apostles, St. Columba of Iona.

481-511 Clovis and the Germans Convert

Clovis was frustrated by the news of a Holy Lord who held eternal victory. He had put his fortunes on the backs of German Gods, but now he heard of a new Gospel... but this made him tear his hair out: "Bolderdash, how can the One God create heaven and earth from nothing? Questions I have many, but faith I have one. *Jesus Christ, Clothida says thou art the Son of the Living God, and thou canst give victory to those who hope in thee. Give me victory and I will be baptized. I have tried my Gods and they have deserted me. I call on thee. Only save me. And thy saints will become our new Gods."

Interlude: Dogs eat the Scraps

The wall, the shroud between Gentiles and Jews came down when Christ died for humanities' sins. He first came to the Jews the lost sheep of Israel. He was a leader for the prodigal sons who had grown away from their father. Jesus could not be contained only to the Jews, the Gentiles would be healed as well.

Matthew 15:26-27 (The Message)

26He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs."

27She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table."

The trend of exclusive rights to Christ continued when the Christians became the majority tribe. But, this trend had allready been broken from the birth of our Saviour when Magis showed up to celebrate.

Sheenm Fulton J. Life of Christ New York: Doubleday 1970.

Thor's Day 475

Thor's hammer was laid down in the fall of '75.

The night was growing cold and his arms were tired of beating the same rhythm over and over again. He knew it was time he should be headed out.

He laid his hammer down, flipped off the houses lights, and opened the car garage.

His Ford Station Wagon sat ready, filled up with gas, and ready to hit the road for at least a 1,000 miles. He wanted to be anywhere but here.

He loved his Ford Station Wagon because it had fake wood trim. The wood trim reminded him of the mighty oak of Valhalla. He turned on the radio to Laramie Wyoming's Folk Alley, a fitting song played as he backed out of the driveway:

I love you baby, but I`m gonna have to say goodbye.
Woman, I got to move, I really got to fly. Same thing every morning,
Tell me what`s it all about. I get those same old blues every night."
I miss you already, baby, more than words can say.
Seems like I`ve been gone twenty-four hours, more like a million days.
I love you baby, you know I woudn`t tell you no lies.
If you don`t believe I love you, look at the tears standing in my eyes. (Eric Clapton)

As Thor departed the earth was scorched and the mountains cracked and the house was laid barren.

If you don`t believe I love you, look at the tears standing in my eyes.

475 Wednesday-Odin's Day

Odin sat by the crossroads, a nap sack was strung on his shoulder, he was singing:"And now he's blown it; upside down; And hell's the only sound, We did an awful job, And now we're just a little too late." His eyes were full of desire, and his mind was ill at ease.

He dragged a stick in the dirt.

He was growing cold; to keep warm he remembered a fire in the hearth. He remembered smoke filling the hall with pleasant aromas of cooked meat: bear, rabbit, fox, and deer.

He remembered the relationship he use to have with the various Celtic tribes: a time his poetry was searched before big events,
"what does Odin say might happen today. I was the gate to victory and plenty in the hunt. What happened to the magic I use to bestow...are the conotations just dust blowin' in the wind? I wish it did not hurt so much to lose sight of my people!"

387-471 St. Patrick

Did Ireland have snakes before St. Patrick rid the island of them? Nope, but here is the story!

Young Christian Patrick became imprisoned and tethered to a number of swine. Patrick prayed he would find freedom. He escaped onto a ship carrying a cargo of hound dogs headed to France. Then he joined a monastery on an Island of the Mediterranean Sea; then becaming a missionary to those who had earlier imprisoned him.

378-476 Eating with Heathens

Bishop Miser in an excerpt to a letter to his Church:

These Franks have horrendous manners! They eat with their left hands. They mix milk and meat, as they salivate like dogs. They drink and drink and then dance, dance, dance, on tabletops. They see our LORD as a "Glorified War Lord." A LORD who makes slaves to him, or else die at his righteous broad-sword.

Response: Dear Bishop Miser,
Go with God Speed, and love on these heathen men. Jesus fulfills the clean laws.
In cooperation,

Bishop Mustardseed

717-741 East v. West: Icons

The Master told me, "Go, post a lookout.
Have him report whatever he spots.
When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation,
lines of donkeys and columns of camels,
Tell him to keep his ear to the ground,
note every whisper, every rumor."
Just then, the lookout shouted,
"I'm at my post, Master,
Sticking to my post day after day
and all through the night!
I watched them come,
the horses and wagons in battle formation.
I heard them call out the war news in headlines:
'Babylon fallen! Fallen!
And all its precious god-idols
smashed to pieces on the ground.'"

(The Message Isaiah 21:9)

The Iconoclasts headed by Emperor Leo III (717-741) hard lined against Icons(Icons are artistic representation of Christ). Christ could only be represented in the Cross, and the Lord's Supper. He whitewashed common elements from representing Christianity. He did not agree with Plato's Allegory of the Cave: "a copy is a reminder of the original."

Genesis 1:26-28 Matthew Henry

"Let us make men." Man when he was made was to glory the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Into that great name were are baptized, for to that great name we ow our being. It is the soul of man that especially bears God's image... His understanding (before the fall) saw Divine things clearly and truly; there was no errors or mistakes in his knowledge; his will consented at once, and in all things, to the will of God. His affections were all regular, and he had no bad appetite or passions. His thoughts were easily brought and fixed to the best subjects. Thus holy, thus happy, were our first parents in having the image of God upon them. But how is this image of God upon man defaced! May the LORD renew it upon our souls by grace! (Henry 2)

Questions for Discussion: (Answer all or the ones that strike you most).

1. Can Art represent the Gospel? (Why or why not?)

2. What type of Art represents the Gospel best?

3. Should movies be used to tell of the Gospel?

4. If we want to reach unbelievers should we show movies with moral points and not say the name Christ?

June 2, 455: Standing Amidst the Ruins-Pontifex Maximus

Look, here comes a man in a chariot
with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
'Babylon has fallen, has fallen!
All the images of its gods
lie shattered on the ground!' "

Isaiah 21:9

God offered a clearance sale of Rome's Idols and Precious Objects to the Vandals. Past relics stood between holy Ground. Spared Roman Churches were now at the center of Roman Life. Thankfulness arose in the hearts of the Christian Citizens. They thanked the Vandals and their lucky-stars; but they failed to thank God's rescuing hand.

Synthetic Churches = Synthetic Fruit

Churches today produce materialistic, synthetic seeds that cannot produce fruit. God in Glory delivers a perfect Gospel. LORD Jesus provides the great example of never wavering. We need to follow this example in our fallen world,and how little followed. LORD break my heart so that I am filled up by and with your almighty graciousness.

Part One:


Part Two:

330 AD: Matthew 16:13-19

Constantinople became the New Imperial Roman Center. Rome was now the boonies, a backwater hole, once grand but now laid waste by the Barbarians. This new emphasis on Canstinonople upset many Romans. The Roman Christians believed that in Peter the keys to the kingdom had been handed over. Peter's ministry and martyrdom was in Rome.

*(See Below Matthew 16:13-19)


Matthew 16:13-19 (The Message)
16Simon Peter said, "You're the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

17-18Jesus came back, "God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.

19"And that's not all. You will have complete and free access to God's kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven."

(See Augustins view of Matthew 16:13-19)

Fifth Citation (Augustine on the Psalms, Volume VII, Psalm LXI ) "For Christ Himself is the tower, Himself for us hath been made a tower from the face of the enemy, who is also the Rock whereon hath been builded the Church."

325-390 Gregory Nazianzen

Thy grace, O Father, give
I humbly thee implore;
And let thy mercy bless
Thy servant more and more.