GEMs: STOP FOCUSING on UNREALITY! CHOOSE Good!  REJOICE in God’s tender mercies!

GEMs: STOP FOCUSING on UNREALITY! CHOOSE Good! REJOICE in God's tender mercies!
insights from Cobbey Crisler, Ken Cooper & others from the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on

“Are Sin, Disease and Death Real?”
for Sunday, April 11, 2021

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

GEM TIPS: TALK OF “TENDER MERCIES” & QUIT FOCUSING ON UNREALITY: Cherish “… his tender mercies … over all his works.” (Ps. 145:9, Responsive Reading) Enjoy a serenade of “Tender Mercies” by two Christian Science Practitioners! See and hear Craig Ghislin, CS, and David Price, CS, two of CedarS Met contributors, singing a guitar duet of “Tender Mercies” on the back porch of our new Care House where they were serving.
[Click on either: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PToeaQ_CWLE&feature=youtu.be
or on the sixth of 71 short videos on CedarS website at: https://www.cedarscamps.org/videos/]

By accentuating the harmony, positivity and blessings that flow from receiving God’s “tender mercies,” we can and should eliminate the curses of strife and negativity that daily news and ads play up, especially in weeks before an election.

(Ps. 145:10) “All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee”—as two of them do in the “Tender Mercies” duet from CedarS new Care House.

Cobbey Crisler points out in the next verses that we should encourage one another to share examples of God’s power, to stop focusing thought on strife and to quit talking about illnesses (and viruses)!
Cobbey Crisler on Ps. 145:11 (verse right after Responsive Reading, Ps. 145:9,10)
“Psalm 145, Verse 11. A receptive, spiritually-educated, human race going to God with total commitment for the answer to all ills will no longer talk about illnesses. "They shall speak of the glory of God's kingdom, and talk of thy power."’
“Leaves of the Tree: Prescriptions from Psalms,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**

RESPONSIVE READING GEM #2: GIVE LOVING ATTENTION TO GOD’S ASSURED BENEFITS OF FORGIVENESS, HEALING, IMMORTALITY! Cobbey Crisler on Ps. 103:1, 3, Responsive Reading):
“Psalm 103, Verse 2, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:” We're all covered by insurance policies, perhaps life and health insurance. The Canadian spelling is probably better, "assurance" as far as biblical therapy is concerned.

If you've ever wanted to know what benefits we have, Psalm 103 lists them: Verse 2, "Forget not all his benefits." We have "Forgive us iniquities," that's sin removed from man. "Disease," all of them, Verse 3. Removed from man's experience and nature.” Verse 4, “Redeemeth thy life from destruction,” death no longer the arbiter of man’s potential and capability. Those are the benefits. They’re not only individual; they’re collective because verse 6 says, “The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.”
“Leaves of the Tree: Prescriptions from the Psalms”, by B. Cobbey Crisler**

RESPONSIVE READING GEM #3: IN BITE SIZE PIECES, SWALLOW-UP DEATH IN VICTORY AND REJOICE IN SALVATION! Cobbey Crisler on Isaiah 25:8, 9 (Responsive Reading)

In Isaiah 25:8 & 9: Just to see how the peak of prophetic insight, namely Isaiah’s great thought, dwells upon this concept of healing. Does that sound familiar to you at all? It talks about God doing what? “Swallowing up death in victory.” That’s where Paul gets that concept. He mentions it [in 1 Corinthians 15:54]. It’s from Isaiah. “Swallowing up death in victory; the Lord GOD wiping away tears from off all faces;” and the beautiful statement that “the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth.” That goes way beyond just physical healing. It’s totally whole, nothing left fragmented. Certainly, the radical statement of “swallowing up death in victory,” swallowing is not always at once, is it? It’s bite-sized pieces, victory, after victory, after victory, swallowing up the effects of death.”

And the next verse is a perfect encouragement for all who feel their patience being tested by waiting: Isaiah 25:9 reads: “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
“Heal the Sick: A Scriptural Record,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**

"TURN THE TABLES" ON ALL FABLES! BE UNWAVERING & NEVER FOOLED BY A FABLE FALSELY CLAIMING ANY “PERFECT GIFT FROM ABOVE” (cit. B3) CAN EVER BE MADE TO DISAPPEAR!

Discover in your “wilderness” experience a “vestibule” entryway where all that disappears is a material sense (like bulky outer garments) of “loneliness, doubt, darkness” while “spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence.” (Science & Health, 597:16) In the sacred refuge and solitude of this wilderness, we find the constancy of perfect health, the confidence of spiritual light-heartedness and sufficiency…all of which can never be diminished or made to disappear!

[Cobbey Crisler on James 1:17 (cit. B3) and beyond thematically:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”—as in an eclipse”[W:] or as in illusionist David Copperfield’s trick to click here to see the whole audience slowly revolved to make the Statue of Liberty seem to disappear. ("The audience wasn't in on it. This was a real illusion. The audience was placed on a rotating platform and he slowly rotated it so no one would noticed. When the curtains dropped the audience was actually facing the other way. The whole set was designed so you wouldn't know you were moving. The spotlights used to "pass through the empty space" was actually there to blind the audience should they turn around to where the actual statue was.")]

[Cobbey again] “As promised in scriptures:
“God is not a man, that he should lie…hath he not said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23: 19}
And, “For I am the Lord; I change not.” (Malachi 3:6)

James 1:18 continues: “Of his own will begat he us with the word—logos—of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures”—a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself.”
[per Warren’s notes on Cobbey Crisler’s talk on “The Book of Job”]

… "We already know that James read Job because we read the verse (James 5:11) that mentions Job in it…
James 1:6 tells us how we should pray—[W’s 10/7/19 notes: pray like Job did who never wavered in proclaiming his spiritual innocence. Job so refined his powerful prayers of protest to God that he received his healing and “the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10)].

[Cobbey:] “You'll find when prayer is not prayer… "Let him ask in faith nothing wavering." Wavering suggests this to-and-fro state of mind…
James 1:8 "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."…
James 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above" all stems from the commitment to oneness."
“The Book of Job: A Mental Court Case” by B. Cobbey Crisler**

[W.] "Keep your eyes on the prize” of Liberty—
As James 3:17 declares wise prayer from above is committed to oneness and is guaranteed of success. Mary Baker Eddy says of the unsuccessful prayers for President McKinley when he assassinated: “Had prayer so fervently offered possessed no opposing element… the result would have been scientific and the patient would have recovered.” (Miscellany, 293:21)

[W.] For wise and successful, answered prayers keep your “eyes on the prize”—on the perfect law of liberty (like on the Statue of Liberty when David Copperfield seemed to make it vanish by turning the tables under his entire audience). When our perfect –free, large, full— liberty seems to have vanished by material illusions and false beliefs, we can instantly “turn back the tables on all fables” and look continually to the perfect, stable and unvarying LAW of liberty…
James 1:25 “whoso looketh unto the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

[W:] So, let’s all be doers—applying these precious promises and principles to enlarge our “treasures of Truth and Love” (SH 265) and to share the divine blessings of putting into practice the perfect law of liberty – our permanent gift of Love from above.

CHOOSE WHOLENESS over “HALF-NESS”! FIND SATISFACTION, NOT in a PHYSICAL, MALE-FEMALE UNION, BUT ONLY in OUR ORIGINAL, SPIRITUAL INDIVISIBILITY from God!
Cobbey Crisler insights on Genesis 1:27, 31 (cit. B4):

[Cobbey:] “Verse 26. Here in a book noted for its monotheism we find plural words relative to God. (“Let US make man in OUR likeness…”) Father-Mother (F-M) must be together indivisibly or we have more than one God. If there’s indivisibility in the original there must be indivisibility in the product.

Verse 27. To have Male-Female (M-F) in the product means that it’s in the original.
On IMAGE, Clemet of Alexandria wrote: “In our view, image of God is not an object of sense, but a mental object, perceived not by the senses, but by the mind.” But in Genesis 2:7 the mental model is dropped and in the material account of creation God forms man out of dust—the very OPPOSITE view.
This mimics the opposite view of male and female that is widely promoted in which sex promises us all satisfaction in a physical union —but does it deliver? The very definition of sex is division, not indivisibility. “The sensualist’s affections… and pleasures” would put one through lots of fitful, mental contortions that Mary Baker Eddy describes as “imaginary, whimsical, and unreal” (Science & Health, p. 241: 8).
(Transcribed from notes taken during Cobbey Crisler talks by Warren Huff in the margins of his Bible)

REVERSE the DUST-RECORD CURSE of MOB THINKING, of ADULTEROUS ACTING & of LUSTFUL LOOKING. (Matt 5:28) Cobbey Crisler on how Jesus saved the adulterous woman, John 8:3-11 (cit. B7):

[Cobbey:] “John 8:3 Suddenly here is “a woman taken in adultery.” One should at least ask the question, where is the husband who would usually make the charge, and where is the fellow she was with? How come only the woman is here?

The event takes place in the area of the temple. If the stones suddenly start flying, both Jesus and the woman were there. Who did they really care about eliminating?

John 8:5 They face him with a rabbinical question. “Moses said that this “lady” should be stoned. What do you say?…

John 8:6, While they’re all saying this, Jesus has disappeared from view, which would actually happen to those in the rear rows if they’ve encircled. You have to look around. Where did he go? He just disappeared. He’s writing on the ground. A record about as evanescent as the material in which he’s writing. Is that the permanent record of womanhood? It’s a dust record. A dust record that can be dominated by the first foot that walks over and decides to change it or trample it.

John 8:7, “They keep asking him,” because he’s doing nothing but writing on the ground. This is a brilliant way to control a mob. It was a method that was successful. He has kept the mob from being an unthinking gang. He’s kept them all as individuals because they’re thinking, “What’s he doing? What’s he doing?”

“So, they continue asking.” He says “He that is ‘anamartetos’, that is, above error, who never erred or who cannot error or sin among you, let him first throw a stone.” He hasn’t objected to Moses’ sentence. He hasn’t set himself apart. He simply returned the sentence to everyone’s individual conscience and let it be established in the mental courtrooms of those present. You can’t have a mob scene when conscience is at work individually. That’s what destroys a mob.

John 8:8, “Again he stoops down and writes on the ground”— giving them a chance for it to work. It’s an impersonal treatment of the situation for all concerned. No condemnation. No anything.

John 8:9, What happened? “They filtered out and they began at the eldest.” This is a significant start. The custom in the Sanhedrin… was that after a decision of any major import was made, the youngest left first. The honor was for the eldest to be the last one you saw.

Not in this case. The eldest were the first you saw leaving. This is not surprising when you think since they had been around longer, they likely had accumulated more sin. So, the eldest left first. “The woman is left standing in the midst.”

John 8:10 What is Jesus going to do? Is he for permissiveness? He said, “Woman” again, “womanhood”, “Where are your accusers? No man hath condemned you?”

John 8:11, “I’m not in that business either. But,” and you can imagine the authority that went behind this, “go, and sin no more.” Terminate that link to the flesh.”
“Book of John: A Walk with the Beloved Disciple” by B. Cobbey Crisler**

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KEN’S GEMS THIS WEEK: HEAR on YouTube a KEN COOPER MONOLOGUE read by his wife, Sue. Her voice shines new light on "Go and Sin No More" and poem “Comfort is Thine”— both related to this week’s Bible Lesson.

[Ken wrote:] “The omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience of God preclude anything unlike what God is. If not of God, it is not, and therefore cannot be real. The fountain of God’s goodness can only produce goodness, overflowing, never-ending, all-embracing, the omni-action of I AM THAT I AM, of which man is integral and held fast. We are indeed, right now, the complete proof of God’s goodness. This is what we are, what we do. We can do nothing else.

God never wrote 2+2=5. While this may be visible to the senses, it is a lie, and it makes the senses a lie, the father of itself. God is Truth, there is only Truth. A lie has no Principle, no real existence. It is a false label. We know that 2+2=4, and the lie is dismissed instantly. When we know that all is good there is nothing that can lie. We are held fast and at one with God’s infinite goodness. When we know a lie , our rejection of it is instantaneous.

Sin, disease, and death are unknown to Love, Truth and Life. When we pray, align our thoughts with God, we hold fast our relationship with God, good, and experience all that God is. We are what God thinks. There is nothing else. The kingdom of heaven fulfils John’s Revelation and is now. That is where and how we live.

Jesus knew his divine sonship was also our divine sonship. In the beautiful story of the healing of the adulterous woman, he knew her true nature was unchanging. We do not know what he wrote when he stooped down. It may be that like the Day of Pentecost, where everyone heard the disciples speak in their own language, that every accuser read what was relevant to them. It may just have been “God is Love”. The key part is that the accusations all fell away, became nothing, and in the instruction "Go and Sin No More" we hear in this powerful monologue, read by Sue, the woman realising what true love is, complete redemption and glory. She felt the love of the Christ, and the command became self-fulfilling. She was reborn, her life changed. The lie of sensuality, materiality, was replaced by the truth of her spiritual being. This is what Jesus saw, and shared with her, and us.

This understanding of love is our immediate and present source of comfort whenever we are challenged, for Love comforteth like a mother. Infinite Love careth one to one for everyone of its ideas. In the poem Comfort is Thine the activity of Life, Truth and Love embraces everyone of us with the tenderness of the Word constantly whispering “Thou art Mine”. This statement of fact utterly eradicates any threat, concern, doubt. It is the fulfilment of the first commandment “Thou shalt have no other gods beside me” because there are no other gods. This is the power with which we live, the light by which we shine, the dominion which we reflect and prove. Are Life, Truth and Love real? YES!

PDF version of the monologue and poem in color and B&W can be found on the top right of CedarS metaphysical article for this week. All Ken's poems are available on kencooperpoetry.com

“The treatment in Psalms 4, verse 6 is the “light of God’s countenance.” Despite the fact that in verse 6 the question is raised, the prognosis, we might say, which is very ill-boding, says, “Who will show us [any] good?” What’s the use? (Intimated.) Why is God’s countenance a medicine? “The light of God’s countenance.” We find this all the time that we are to seek God’s face, face-to-face. You know what Paul says face-to-face is? To know as you are known. It’s a mental face-to face then, isn’t it? Face to face with God is to know as God knows. To be God-like.”
“Leaves of the Tree: Prescriptions from Psalms”, by B. Cobbey Crisler**

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CHERISH UNIVERSAL HUMANITY—DO GOOD FOR ALL MANKIND WITH A “WALK TO EMMAUS” SPIRIT AND KNOWLEDGE! Cobbey Crisler on Acts 10:34-40 (cit. B13) (+ relevant verses)

“Acts 10, verse 34, begins a lecture or sermon to the first group of Gentiles. And the opening statement that Peter makes is one that could be well considered by every denomination of Christianity today… Here Peter expressed his new view of God, that God is no respecter of persons, that God speaks to receptivity.

Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

This new view of God, of course, leads to this next question: Should man as well be no respecter of persons? This is a tradition-shattering concept.

And Acts 10, verse 35, Peter summarizes it by saying “in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” …

Then he begins to explain to Cornelius and the friends and acquaintances of Cornelius, the history of early Christianity. “The beginning of Christianity is traced from Galilee after John’s baptism, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth.” … Of course, that word “anointed” immediately identifies Jesus as the Messiah. This is a point that Peter is obviously going to get across to this Gentile audience that would need some instruction in this. (See below)

Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

And you find in Acts 10, verse 43, he does that by stating that “all the prophets had given witness to the Messiah, namely Jesus.”…

As soon as Peter gets into this “Walked to Emmaus” approach, in other words the comprehension of Jesus’ role in the earlier scripture, we find in Acts 10, verse 44 that “the Holy Ghost falls on all the listeners.” …

It wasn’t Peter’s idea that this should happen; it’s at the Holy Ghost’s initiative. This is disturbing to some of those that came with Peter: Jewish Christians.
And we will find it becomes even more disturbing to other elements in the church later on, for this is a departure. The question underlying this event is “Should the church be parochial or universal?” Is it simply a sect of Judaism or an outcome of Judaism, or is it the fulfillment of God’s will as expressed in prophecy with its ultimate mission to embrace universal humanity?”
“After the Master What? – The Book of Acts” by B. Cobbey Crisler

CHERISH FEELING MOVED WITH COMPASSION TO BE A PROBLEM-SOLVER!
Cobbey Crisler on Matthew 9:36-38 (cit. B14) and Jesus prayer that problem-solvers be sent.

In Verse 36 [Jesus] looking around after disposing of the Pharisaical thought, sees multitudes needing help, and was moved with compassion. There they were as sheep. They were shepherdless.”

(Verse 37). “He turned to his disciples then, and his disciples in future generations, and made the remark, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.” Does that imply he expected his disciples to be out there solving human problems, healing?

(Verse 38). He even asks them to “Pray the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.”
“Book of Matthew, Auditing the Master, A Tax-Collector’s Report”, by B. Cobbey Crisler**

ACCEPT CHRIST’S ACHIEVABLE MANDATE TO “HEAL ALL MANNER OF SICKNESS…”
Cobbey Crisler on Matthew 10:1 (cit. B15) plus verse 8, 16

{Cobbey:] “We now come to Chapter 10. We've had so much evidence that Jesus was an effective healer, but we haven't yet had evidence that there could be healing via the instruction-route: that one could be taught to heal sent out like apprentices in some human trade or profession, and come back practicing the rules learned with results, namely, healed cases.

We find right after the prayer (Matthew 9:38) that God "would send forth more laborers into his harvest," and what do we find? A mandate to heal.

(Verse 1). "He called his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, to heal" What? Only certain diseases? "All manner of disease and all manner of sickness."…

The assignments given to the disciples would not be assignments they were incapable of doing, or Jesus would have been unwise.

(Verse 8). He said, "Heal the sick." What do you expect them to do? He said, "Cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils." Notice the sequence. The things he did. Even putting casting-out-devils at a higher level of what was required of prayer than raising the dead. Then stating, "Freely ye have received, freely give."

Did the disciples do that? Even after Jesus was no longer with them personally? They certainly did.

… (Verse 16). Remember, we are privy here to his personal instructions to his disciples in the first assignment to go out and heal the sick. These warnings would be just as timely and relevant to those who wish to follow his instructions in our century.

"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be wise as serpents." The wisdom of the serpent is to hide itself. "Harmless as doves."
“Book of Matthew, Auditing the Master, A Tax-Collector’s Report”, by B. Cobbey Crisler**

FIND JOY IN BEING A WELCOME LIGHT TO RECEPTIVE SEEKERS!
Cobbey Crisler on Acts 13:46, 47, 52 (the context for cit. B19/Acts 13:43, 49)

[Prequel context] “Acts 13:46. Now because the Jews were rejecting Paul and Barnabas, look what the last five words in Acts 13, verse 46, says. “We turn to the Gentiles.”…
…But, you will notice he would back this up with scriptural authority in Acts 13, verse 47, he says “the Lord commanded us, saying…” ; and that quote, you might write it in the margin of your Bible, is from Isaiah 49, verse 6.

Isa 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

… And then when that happens, salvation will begin to reach the ends of the earth. And look at what has happened in history as Christianity moved out of Judaic definition of it and moved around the world… Message speaks to those who are receptive. Receptivity is really ordination in a way, because receptivity is the prepared ground into which the seed can fall. And, eventually, all must become receptive.

In this case, these are the ones who were at that point. And it’s pretty clear that you did not have universal receptivity then, any more than you do now.

[So, while the rejecting] Jews stirred up everybody, in Acts 13, verse 50, “the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost; they come to Iconium” (in verse 52) still known as Iconia in modern Turkey.”
“AFTER THE MASTER, WHAT?” by B. Cobbey Crisler**

ACCEPT HEALING AS PROPHESY FULFILLED: LOVE YOUR LYSTRA OF A LAME MAN LEAPING!
Cobbey Crisler on cit. B20/Acts 14:2-27, Paul sees the prophesy of a lame leaping fulfilled

[Cobbey:] “Acts, Chapter 14 begins with [the prequel of] “the unbelieving Jews” in Acts 14, verse 2, “stirring up the Gentiles.” … And we find now that this is close on the heels of all the success the church makes – a step forward and then a counter step trying to resist and destroy what has been achieved. … So, the “stirring up occurs.” Acts 14, verse 4, shows you a “division in the city, an actual assault is made” in Acts 14, verse 5, “to stone them.”

“And they leave the city going to Lystra and Derbe, and to the surrounding region to preach the gospel.” (Acts 14:6, 7) …

“In the midst of all this persecution and conflict, “there is a man at Lystra, a cripple, and born that way. He never had walked.” (Acts 14:8, NOT in cit. B20)

Acts 14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,

“Now you remember what we said when Jesus looked at someone? “And Peter beheld someone.” … Here it says, “Paul, steadfastly beholding him.” The author means much more that staring at him, doesn’t he? “Steadfastly beholding him, perceiving” – you see it’s an inner sight – “perceiving he had faith to be healed.” (Acts 14:9, NOT in cit. B20)

“Now, if he hadn’t [perceived that he had faith], the implication is what? They were many that needed healing there, but receptivity – the patient has to be part of it apparently. Just as Jesus did not physically lift people to their feet so much as he said, “Pick up your bed and walk…stretch forth your hand” and so forth here.

“Paul, perceiving that he had faith to be healed “Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. (Acts 14:10, NOT in cit. B20)

“You notice that the first thing this man does also is what? He leaps before he walks. He never had walked, and “the first thing he did was leap.” …
And Isaiah, if you will recall the prophecy, it indicated “the lame man shall leap as an hart.” (Isa 35:6) … It is a fulfillment of prophecy. Therefore, it’s God’s idea, you see, not man’s healing.”

[“Chapter 14 ends with the exciting sequel of Paul being worshipped and then being stoned and raised by prayer and returning to where he was stoned….] … That shows you the extremes of human nature. You’re a god one moment, and they stone you the next. And that’s exactly what happened to Jesus if you recall the triumphant entry into Jerusalem – and one week later. So, avoid triumphal entries if you can at all help it.

“So, “Paul is stoned.” (Acts 14:19) … Now, remember later in a list of the things that he gives that he’s been through; he says he was stoned once, and this is the only record that we have of it. “They drag him out insensible, looking as if he is dead.” (Acts 14:19, in cit. B20)

“The disciples, instead of running, stand around about him.” (Acts 14:20 in cit. B20) “Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.”

“Now, I don’t know whether anybody in this room would have had the courage Paul did. Even if we rose up from the dead, would you have run back into the city? Didn’t you get the idea that you weren’t wanted?

“He comes back into the city. He would not be thrown out. He then leaves with Barnabas the next day,” normally, “to Derbe to preach there.” (Acts 14:20 in cit. B20)

Acts 14:21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch (in cit. B20)

“And Acts 14, verse 22, the last three lines, he indicates that “we must through great tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

… “But he’s establishing churches as he goes. And think of the influence of his example in stamping the example to follow Christ in that early church. So, as he creates churches as he goes along, he comes back through. He retraces his steps and returns to Antioch in Syria, not the Antioch of Pisidia. He’s back home again

Acts 14:26 And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.

“If you want to know how the church responded to the results of this first mission; they hold a special corporate meeting and “rehearsed” in Acts 14, verse 27, “all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.” Look at that news, “the door of faith has been opened to the Gentiles.” (in cit. B20) …

“That says something about the corporate body, especially if the New Testament remark “that the church is the body of Christ is correct. You can’t divide that body. If you try, you’re trying to break the body of Christ in that sense. This was tried on the cross.

“And collectively man is at one under one God if the Biblical theme is accurate. And that must include the Gentiles; it must even include those we may count among our enemies. And Paul’s approach here is a pioneering one.”
“AFTER THE MASTER, WHAT?” by B. Cobbey Crisler**

STRIVE TO FEEL GOD’S FACE ALWAYS SHINING ON YOU (& THE SYMPTOMS)! AND, ALWAYS PAY YOUR BILL BY GIVING GOD THANKS AND PRAISE! Cobbey Crisler on Ps. 107:1 (cit. B22) -22

[Cobbey:] “I'm going to give you an assignment in Psalm 107 because it's a very rewarding one to work with. In the first 22 verses, for example, when you are studying this independently at home, work out the steps that are being given us, the symptoms, the appointment with the Great Physician, the treatment, the complete remedy, and then paying your bill. That happens to be a refrain, "Pay your bill. Pay your bill." In this particular Psalm, in Verse 8, [and Verses 15, 21, 31] "Oh that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!" Follow that all the way through and you'll find three different sets of prescriptions and treatments that can be quite relevant to our own experience.”

[Cobbey’s transcribed-from-audio response to an audience question:]
“The appointment with the Great Physician and then, of course, when you're in front of the Physician, that's face-to-face, seeing God's face, get the treatment, let His face shine upon thee, then the remedy, go out and have the prescription filled. The remedy solves the whole problem; then pay your bill. Follow that through and see what comes.”

“Leaves of the Tree: Prescriptions from Psalms,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**

LET YOUR TRUE IDENTITY SPARKLE IN SONG! SING YOUR PRAYERS WITH LIGHT-HEARTED, HEALING JOY! Cobbey Crisler insights on Psalm 30:2-5 (citation B23)

[Cobbey:] “Psalm 30:2 Again, the appointment with the physician, the Great Physician, in the Bible is very often this, “O Lord my God, I cried unto thee.” It does not take our being attuned to God to make the appointment. Just as the prodigal son suddenly decided that his really right place was not in that pig pen when he came to himself [Luke 15: 16-18]. There’s a whole new view of one’s identity. He decided that his father’s house held much more. Then you notice the father did not go to the man with the swine to save the son. The son had to do something. Then, the father ran to meet him as he was coming [Luke 15:20].

With your back to the Father, you’re not even heading in that direction. With your face toward the Father you’re looking at the Father’s face, which is part of the cure biblically, [that] is to see the divine nature. Then of course, you want to be nearer the source of your nature. Step by step the light grows brighter around your feet. We know where we’re heading. We may not have arrived yet, but it’s getting brighter, and lighter, and our problems are dropping away, our burdens, and the divine nature is becoming applicable nearer and nearer. “O Lord my God, I cried unto thee; you have healed me.”
“One of our modern hymns [#425] has been made out of verse 5, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy [cometh] in the morning.” That word “joy” in the Hebrew is “singing.” Take weeping as the symptom and notice singing is the remedy. Sing, do we do much singing? It doesn’t have to be even with an audible or perceptible sound. It’s in our hearts, the song…. All the things that Jesus mentioned. They have to make room for the joy. It’s fullness of joy. It’s God’s dosage. Everything else has to be eliminated, removed, uncontained. That’s quite a prescription for depression, adversity. It seems difficult to SING in a trial, in a crisis. The Bible is just saying, try it, you might like it.** [Laughter] Because it might solve [any and all issues].
“Leaves of the Tree: Prescriptions from Psalms,” 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, “the ‘still, 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.