-ISMs...-ICs...and -ANITY

Greetings Peace Lovers...have you given peace a chance? I like the sign I saw on a church sign once...NO JESUS--NO PEACE....KNOW JESUS--KNOW PEACE. Hmmmmmmmmmm.....sign of the times?

QUESTION: What does Tommy Smothers, Petula Clark, Allen Gingsberg, Timothy Leary, Murray the K, members of the Canadian Radha Krishna Temple all have in common?

ANSWER: The Plastic Ono Band

In 1969...in Montreal, Quebec Canada....in room 1742...at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel (aka the "Queen E") these people listed...plus more and the media...gathered together with John Lennon and Yoko Ono for a campaign blitz for PEACE. The were holding a BED IN....where new media came and they focused on their message of PEACE. It was in that room...that the first single... John Lennon's first...non-Beatle single (although he gave Paul writing credits for writing the song)...was recorded on a simple 8-track recording machine. The song was GIVE PEACE A CHANCE...and was the first PLASTIC ONO BAND recording. After the Beatles broke up (after singing All You Need Is Love)...one of John's first live appearances was at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival with a new configuration of the Plastic One Band including Klaus Voorman and Eric Clapton.

SIDE NOTE: John's version of Blue Suede Shoes was what inspired me to sing the song in the dynamic rock band I was in called THE BLIND DISTORTION in 1970 at the Central High School Senior Talent Show.

Anywho...the song GIVE PEACE A CHANCE mentions a lot of -ISMs.

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout: Bag-ISM, shag-ISM, drag-ISM, mad-ISM, rag-ISM, tag-ISM...this-ISM, that-ISM...ISM, ISM ISM...
All we are saying...IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE...all we are saying...IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

That song is what triggered this Rambling. I began to think about all of the
-ISMs...and -ICs in the world that shapes peoples beliefs and perceptions of the world that we live. Some are good, some are bad, some are ugly. From Communism, Capitalism, Marxism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Humanism, Liberalism, Modernism, Post-Modernism, satanism, atheism, Judaism, Formalism, Materialism, Rationalism, Hedonism, Existentialism, Spiritism, Denominationalism, Nazism, this-ISM, that-ISM...ISM, ISM, ISM. All of these -ISMs....represents thoughts, philosophies...usually of a central figure who becomes the leader of these various movements...who people believe and trust either out of desperation, fear, idealism, etc. -ICs...includes...Islam-IC.

Some of the -ISMs...have some truth in them...and not all people who adhere to these -ISMs are bad people. They are sincere in their belief...but their sincerity may be skewed or tarnished. Some are sincere in their belief...but the are sincerely wrong.

Back in 1970...after searching for truth in various -ISMs...I found TRUTH in an -ANITY....Christi-ANITY. I began following a man by the name of Jesus Christ.
Jesus...whose mother was Mary (chosen by God to be the vessel for the Messiah as a virgin)...with his earthly father Joseph (who had nothing to do with the conception process)...grew up for 30 years...and then for 3 years...demonstrated the will and kingdom of God on earth as it was in heaven.

Christi-ANITY were a group of people who were followers of CHRIST. Christianity in the Greek is Christianos=followers of Christ.

"And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for an entire year they met with the church, and taught considerable numbers; and the DISCIPLES (followers) WERE FIRST CALLED CHRISTIANS (Christianos...followers of Christ)...in Antioch" (Acts 11:25,26)

Jesus' last name is not CHRIST. Christ is the epithet of Jesus. Jesus is the ANOINTED ONE...so when we say we are CHRISTIANS... which forms this thing called Christi-ANITY...we say we are following the ANOINTED ONE....who is ANOINTED. What does it mean to be ANOINTED. The word ANOINTING...has the roots in the word chrio...which means to contact, smear on, rub into, pour on OIL...in consecration for specific purposes of service for the Father.

Jesus is the CHRIST...the ANOINTED ONE...ANOINTED for the purposes of the Father. When Jesus initiated His ministry...he went into the synagogue...and read from ISAIAH 61...which is found in Luke 4:18-20.

"The Spirit of the Lord is UPON ME...because He ANOINTED ME...to: (1) preach the gospel to the poor (2) proclaim release to the captives (3) recovery of sight to the blind (4) set free those who are downtrodden (5) proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. Again... He was referring back to Isaiah 61:1-2. This ANOINTING was the same ANOINTING found in Isaiah 10:27...in reference to the oppression and bondage of the Assyrians.

"So it will be in that day...that his BURDEN will be removed from your shoulders...and his YOKE from your neck...and the yoke will BE REMOVED...because of FATNESS/ANOINTING." (Isaiah 10:27) This is where we get the phrase...THE ANOINTING SHALL BREAK THE YOKE.

When Jesus referred to the ANOINTING....people knew that he was not talking about slopping on some oil on Him...but something from God that would be YOKE REMOVING/DESTROYING....BURDEN LIFTING....OPPRESSION REMOVING...POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST.

"The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching PEACE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST (yoke removing/destroying...burden lifting...oppression removing power of the Holy Ghost)...(He is Lord of all)---you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting in Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazereth, how God ANOINTED Him with the HOLY SPIRIT...and...POWER...and how He went about DOING GOOD...and HEALING ALL WHO WERE OPPRESSED BY THE devil...for GOD WAS WITH HIM." (Acts 10:36-38)


This is who we follow...as followers of CHRIST. This is what we associate with the name CHRISTIAN. This is the -ANITY...that we follow versus an -ISM or an -IC. CHRISTIANITY...is following the ONE who was ANOINTED with the YOKE REMOVING/DESTROYING....BURDEN LIFTING...OPPRESSION REMOVING..
POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST/SPIRIT...and POWER (dunamis/dynamic ability).

Not only did JESUS (God is Salvation)...the CHRIST (Anointed One)...Immanuel (God with us)... demonstrate the WILL OF GOD...on earth as it is in heaven...He then...ALLOWED Himself...to be nailed to a cross...in YOUR PLACE...for YOUR SINS...to be the PROPITIATION (substitute and satisfaction) by a vicarious and bloody sacrifice...resulting in his DEATH.

He was then BURIED...and after 3 DAYS....was RAISED FROM THE DEAD (resurrection). This constitutes the GOOD NEWS...THE GOSPEL....OF Christ-IANITY.

There ain't no (not good English but good thinking) -ISM...or -IC...that could do that for you. History has proved this...that HIS-STORY....is what can bring TRUE PEACE TO YOU.

All we are saying is....IS GIVE CHRIST A CHANCE.

Love and non -ISM/-IC Kisses
Rodney "Christian" Boyd