Resources for Worship, the weekend of 2/7/26 - 2/8/26

https://conta.cc/4cm3YP8

Can't join us for in-person worship? Join us online at https://www.youtube.com/mvlutheran or https://vimeo.com/event/5199346

#worship #service #gospel #goodnews #john

🇺🇦 Auf #radioeins läuft...

Peter, Björn & John feat. Victoria:
🎵 Young Folks

#NowPlaying #Peter #Björn #John #Victoria

Irenaeus

Irenaeus of Lyons (circa 130-202 AD) is 1 of the most important theologians of the 2nd century. He’s often called the “Father of Catholic Theology.” He served as a crucial bridge between the era of the Apostles & the developed institutional Church of the later Roman Empire.

He was born in Smyrna (modern-day Turkey). He was a student of Polycarp, who was himself a disciple of John the Apostle. This connection to an actual eyewitness of Jesus gave Irenaeus a unique statue. In an era where secret teachings were being whispered in various sects, Irenaeus could claim a direct, public, & verifiable line of “transmission” back to the source.

Around 177 AD, he traveled to Lugdunum (Lyons, in modern-day France) to serve as a priest. Eventually, he became the bishop after his predecessor, Pothinus, was martyred.

Irenaeus’ legacy is defined by his battle against Gnosticism. Gnosticism is a diverse movement that threatened to dismantle early Christianity. Generally, Gnostics believed:

• The material world was evil, created by a lesser, bumbling deity (Demiurge).
• Salvation came through secret, esoteric knowledge (gnosis).
• Jesus didn’t have a physical body (Docetism), as matter was inherently corrupt.

Irenaeus saw this as a total rejection of the Hebrew scriptures & the reality of the Incarnation. To counter this, he wrote his 5-volume masterpiece, “Against Heresies” (Adversus Haereses). Irenaeus’ theology’s centerpiece is the concept of Recapitulation. He argued that Jesus “summed up” all of humanity in Himself.

Just as the 1st Adam failed at the Tree of Knowledge, Jesus (the “new Adam”) succeeded on the tree of the Cross. Irenaeus taught that Jesus went through every stage of mortal human life (infancy, youth, & adulthood) to “sanctify” & “undo” the corruption introduced at each stage of the Fall.

Before Irenaeus’ time, there wasn’t the New Testament as we know it today. Different groups/sects used different, & various, gospels. This is where we get the infamous banned books of the Bible. Irenaeus was the 1st major figure to argue for the Four-Fold Gospel.

He insisted that there could be no more, & no fewer, than 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John), using a poetic justification: just as there are 4 zones of the world (or 4 corners) & 4 principal winds, the Church had to have 4 “pillars” of the Gospel. By doing this, he helped stabilize the core of the Christian Bible.

To fight the Gnostic claim of secret traditions, Irenaeus proposed 2 tests of “Truth”:

• The Rule of Faith:
  • A summary of essential beliefs (a forerunner of the Apostles’ Creed) that all true churches held in common.
• Apostolic Succession:
  • Irenaeus argued that if Jesus had secret knowledge, he would’ve given it to the bishops he appointed.

Irenaeus’ most profound contribution to theology is the concept of Recapitulation (anakephalaiosis). Using the math of his day, he sought to “sum up” the entire human experience through Christ.

To counter his Gnostic opponents, Irenaeus significantly develops Paul’s presentation of Christ as the Last Adam. Irenaeus’ presentation of Christ as the New Adam is based on Paul’s Christ-Adam parallel in Romans 5:12-21.

But also dervies significantly from the Johannine presentation of Adam-Christ typology. Irenaeus uses this parallel to demonstrate that Christ truly took human flesh. Irenaeus considered it important to emphasize this point because he understands the failure to recognize Christ’s full humanity links the various strains of Gnosticism together, as seen in his statement that “according to the opinion of no one of the heretics was the Word of God made flesh.”

Irenaeus believes that unless the Word became flesh, humans weren’t fully redeemed. He explains that by becoming man, Christ restored humanity to bring in the image & likeness of God, which they’d lost in the Fall of Man.

Just as Adam was the original head of humanity through whom all sinned, Christ is the new head of humanity who fulfills Adam’s role in the Economy of Salvation. The Economy of Salvation (a.k.a. Divine Economy) is that part of divine revelation in the Roman Catholic tradition that deals with God’s creation & management of the world, particularly his plan of salvation accomplished through the Church. Irenaeus calls this process of restoring humanity: Recapitulation.

Irenaeus emphasizes the importance of Christ’s reversal of Adam’s actions. Through His obedience, Christ undoes Adam’s disobedience. Irenaeus presents the Passion as the climax of Christ’s obedience, emphasizing how this obedience on the tree of the Cross undoes the disobedience that occurred through a tree.

Irenaeus’ interpretation of Paul’s discussion of Christ as the New Adam is significant because it helped develop the recapitulation theory of atonement.

Irenaeus took part in the Quartodeciman Controversy. When Victor I of Rome tried to force a universal practice of fasting until Easter to supersede the Jewish practice & prevent Christians from partaking of the Passover, Polycrates who led the Churches of Anatolia continued to hold old traditions of the paschal feast. For this reason Victor I wanted to excommunicate Polycrates & his supporters. But this was a step too far for Irenaeus & other bishops.

Tradition holds that he was martyred around 202 AD during the persecution of Emperor Septimius Severus. Thought historical records of his death are sparse compared to his writings.

In 2022, Pope Francis officially declared him a “Doctor of Unity” (Doctor Unitatis), acknowledging his role in bridging the Eastern & Western theological traditions.

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The week started on a high note for Texas Democrats.

#Taylor #Rehmet’s state Senate win over Republican Leigh Wambsganss with some 57 percent of the vote resonated from Fort Worth to Washington.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said Tuesday that the election showed Republicans
“need to up our game.”

In Texas, Democrats took it as an especially encouraging harbinger for their U.S. Senate race,
which could factor into the party’s long-shot push to win back the upper chamber of Congress this fall.

They already saw an opening because the GOP incumbent, Sen. #John #Cornyn,
has struggled in his primary contest against a scandal-plagued challenger, state Attorney General #Ken #Paxton, who could make the November election more competitive should he be the nominee.

"California Dreamin'" is a song written by #John and #MichellePhillips. The best-known version is by #theMamasAndThePapas, who released it as a single in December 1965. "#CaliforniaDreamin" became a well-known example of the "#CaliforniaSound", and the #1960sCounterculture era. It was #certifiedThreetimesPlatinum by the #RecordingIndustryAssociationOfAmerica in June 2023 and was inducted into the #GrammyHallOfFame in 2001. In 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUDlxAtC6mc

Looking back at Catacomb 3D, the game that led to Wolfenstein 3D https://arstechni.ca/bnW3 #wolfenstein3d #idSoftware #PCgaming #Carmack #History #Gaming #romero #Doom #john

Marcion of Sinope

Marcion of Sinope was born in Sinope (a port city in Pontus, modern-day Turkey). He passed away in circa 160 CE. He was a theologian in early Christianity.

Marcion preached that God had sent Jesus, who was distinct from the “vengeful” God (Demiurge) who had created the world. He considered himself a follower for Paul the Apostle. Marcion believed that Paul was the only true apostle of Jesus. His doctrine is/was called Marcionism. Marcion published the earliest record of a canon of New Testament books.

Early Church writers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, & Tertullian denounced Marcion as a heretic or antichrist. Marcion was excommunicated by the Church of Rome around 144. He published his own canon of Christian sacred scriptures, which contained 10 Pauline epistles (including the Epistle to the Laodiceans, while excluding the Pastoral epistles) & the Gospel of Marcion which historically is claimed to be an edited version of the Gospel of Luke.

This made Marcionism a catalyst in the process of the development of the New Testament canon by forcing the proto-orthodox Church to respond to his canon.

In the late 130s or early 140 CE, Marcion arrived in Rome, joined the Roman church, & donated 200,000 sesterces. This is equal to millions in today’s money. Sesterces are/was an ancient Roman coin, made from silver or brass. He was influential for several years until his “radical” teachings became harder to ignore.

In 144 CE, the Roman elders did something almost unheard of. They gave Marcion his money back! Then Marcion was promptly excommunicated.

Marcion was undeterred by his excommunication. He just switched tactics. He used his shipping routes (he was a mariner & ship-master by trade) to start Marcionite churches all along the Mediterranean. By the end of the 2nd century, the Church Father Tertullian complained that Marcion’s “heretical swarms” were everywhere.

After Marcion’s death, his churches retained their following & survived Christian controversy & imperial disapproval for several centuries.

To Marcion, the God of the Old Testament isn’t the same as the New Testament. He proposed a dualism:

• The Creator (The Demiurge):
  • The God of the Hebrew Bible. He’s just. But harsh, legalistic, & focused on “an eye for an eye.” He created this flawed, material world & is the God of the Jews.
• The Heavenly Father:
  • A previously “Unknown God” of pure mercy & love. This God had no prior connection to humanity until He sent Jesus to save us from the Creator.

The Docetic Connection: Because Marcion believed the Creator made the physical world (flesh), he believed flash was inherently “dirty.” So, the “Good God” would never take on REAL flesh. In Marcion’s view, Jesus came down directly from Heaven to earth as a fully formed grown-up adult man. Jesus skipped birth (no Nativity), childhood (no 12 year old Jesus in the Temple), & biology entirely.

Marcion studied the Hebrew Bible (with some other writings circulating in the nascent Church), which led him to conclude that the teachings of Jesus weren’t compatible with the actions of Yahweh (the God of the Hebrew Bible).

Marcion developed a ditheistic system of belief around 144. The idea of 2 gods – a higher transcendent 1 & a lower world-creator & ruler – allowed Marcion to reconcile his perceived contradictions between Christian Covenant theology & the gospel proclaimed by the New Testament.

So Marcion created/came up with the first-ever “closed” list of Christian books, (which he edited to remove any “pro-Jewish” or “pro-material” sentiment:

• The Gospel of Marcion:
  • A stripped-down version of Luke. He cut the birth narrative, the genealogy, & any mentions to Jesus fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.
• The Apostolikon:
  • 10 letters of Paul (Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, & Philemon).
• The Antitheses:
  • His own theological treatise explaining why the 2 gods were different.

The Church realized that if they didn’t act, Marcion would codify & define Christianity. This led to 3 major developments:

• The Four Gospel Canon:
  • To counter Marcion’s “One Gospel,” the Church emphasized 4 (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) to show a diversity of eyewitnesses.
• The Inclusion of the Old Testament:
  • The Church insisted that the God of Abraham is the Father of Jesus.
• The Apostles’ Creed:
  • Lines like “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven & Earth” were specifically added to refute Marcion’s claim that the Creator was a lesser, separate deity.

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#144 #144CE #1stCorinthians #2ndCentury #2ndCorinthians #Abraham #ApostlesCreed #ChristianCovenant #Christianity #ChurchFather #Demiurge #Docetic #Early140CE #EpistleToTheLaodiceans #FourGospelCanon #Galatians #GospelOfLuke #GospelOfMarcion #HebrewBible #Irenaeus #Jesus #John #JustinMartyr #Late130s #Luke #MarcionOfSinope #Marcionism #Mark #Matthew #Mediterranean #Nativity #NewTestament #PastoralEpistles #PaulTheApostle #PaulineEpistles #Philemon #Philippians #Pontus #ProtoOrthodoxChurch #Romans #Rome #Sesterces #Temple #TheAntitheses #TheApostolikon #TheGospelOfMarcion #Turkey

Misconduct complaint dismissed against judge in El Salvador prison deportation case

WASHINGTON (AP) — A…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #CentralAmerica #Courts #DCWire #DistrictofColumbia #DonaldTrump #ElSalvador #Generalnews #george-w-bush #Immigration #JamesE.Boasberg #JeffreyS.Sutton #john-roberts #LatinAmerica #Michigan #Ohio #Prisons #SendtoAppleNews #SriSrinivasan #U.S.DepartmentofJustice #U.S.news #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesgovernment #Us #USA #Washingtonnews
https://www.newsbeep.com/381982/

https://www.project-anime.com/1331553/ TOOBOE アルバム「EVER GREEN」全曲試聴版 #2026Winter #2026WinterAnime #2026年冬開始の新作アニメ #Anime #cdj #Chainsawman #Gunpowder #John #PEOPLE1 #syudou #TOOBOE #yama #アニメ. #キタニタツヤ #ギタメタ #きれぇごと #チェンソーマン #ひかなつ #ボカロ #光が死んだ夏 #初恋 #勇者のクズ #博愛 #往生際の意味を知れ #心臓 #愛人転生 #擬態するメタ #新作アニメ #春嵐 #錠剤 TOOBOE アルバム「EVER GREEN」全曲試聴版 2026.2.11(水) 発売 TOOBOE アルバム「EVER GREEN」 ▼予約・購入はこちら https://TOOBOE.lnk.to/EVERGREE

Resources for Worship, the weekend of 1/31/26 - 2/1/26

https://conta.cc/3LKKoS9

Can't join us for in-person worship? Join us online at https://www.youtube.com/mvlutheran or https://vimeo.com/event/5199346

#worship #service #gospel #goodnews #john

Charlotte area could get 6 inches of snow; state of emergency declared – WSOC TV

CHARLOTTE — This weekend’s winter weather storm is expected to bring 3-6 inches of snow to the Charlotte…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #blue_ridge #boone #carolinas #Charlotte #Elizabeth #john #Local #UnitedStates #Us #USA #video
https://www.newsbeep.com/378384/

美眾議員質疑輝達「技術支援」DeepSeek模型，憂AI成果流向中國軍方

中央通訊社 2026-01-30 10:28:00 CST

#John #Thune (Senate Majority Leader): The #architect of the "Hostage Package." He is the one refusing to allow a vote on Defense or Healthcare until the "Masked Agent" funding is approved.

The Democratic "Dogs" (The Capitulators) We know about the house; they are in the list. We're doing the Senate. -- #John #Fetterman (PA): In the Senate, Fetterman’s public insistence that he "won't shut down the government over a budget line" has provided a landing pad for other wavering moderates.

#MissKitty #VerseADay #John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. - We are witness to the. We scream. We cry. We demand. We fight. We will succeed. They did that. They laid down their lives for us. No greater And they did it in plain sight no mask.

Let's keep it real. The way to have peace is to practice peace. The verse today is appropriate. More than, as we have lost brothers and sisters to the violence rampaging. They stood in for me. For you. They took that shot and they called that bluff. Don't let me catch you fittin' in. #John 15:13 otw

https://www.project-anime.com/1328116/ #TOOBOE #GUNPOWDERダンス#GUNPOWDER #ガンパウダンス #john #MV #勇者のクズ #music #musicvideo #新曲 #ダンス #ダンス動画 #2026Winter #2026WinterAnime #2026年冬開始の新作アニメ #Anime #アニメ. #勇者のクズ #新作アニメ #TOOBOE #GUNPOWDERダンス#GUNPOWDER #ガンパウダンス #john #MV #勇者のクズ #music #musicvideo #新曲 #ダンス #ダンス動画

RETRO MOVIE REVIEW: SECONDS, 1966
SECONDS, 1966. Based on the novel by David Ely. Directed by John Frankenheimer (THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, 1962, RONIN, 1998).

It's a Hollywood film that feels very independent. Famed Chinese cinematographer James Wong Howe, whose filmmaking expertise...
https://comiccrusaders.com/tv-movies/retro-movie-review-seconds-1966/
#drama #horror #Indie #John Frankenheimer #Lance Lucero #retro movie review #Ripe With Decay #Rock Hudsen #Sci fi #SECONDS #SECONDS MOVIE

RETRO MOVIE REVIEW: DANGER DIABOLIK, 1968
DANGER DIABOLIK, 1968. A Dino de Laurentiis production. Directed by Mario Bava. Starring the amazing John Phillip Law. A totally unique film adaptation of the Italian sisters...
https://comiccrusaders.com/tv-movies/retro-movie-review-danger-diabolik-1968/
#Angela and Luciana Giussani #article #columns #comic book movies #danger diabolik #Danger Diabolik film 1968 #diabolik #Ennio Morriconi #John Phillip Law #Lance Lucero #Marisa Mell #retro movie review