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Did you know..
The Phoenix is a real bird that lives for 500 years at a time!

According to one of the early church fathers:

Clement of Rome, First Epistle
The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
25:1-28:1 (Apocryphal New Testament)

"Let us consider the wonderful sign that happeneth in the region of the east, even about Arabia.

There is a bird which is called the phoenix. This, being the only one of its kind, liveth for five hundred years. And when the time of its death draweth near, it maketh for itself a nest of frankincense and myrrh and the other perfumes, into which, when its time is fulfilled, it entereth, and then dieth.

But as its flesh rotteth, a certain worm is produced, which being nourished by the moisture of the dead animal, putteth forth feathers. Then, when it hath become strong, it taketh the nest wherein are the bones of its ancestor, and bearing them, it flieth from the region of Arabia to that of Egypt, to the city which is called Heliopolis;

there, in day-time, in the sight of all, it flieth up, and placeth them upon the altar of the sun, and having done so, returneth back.

The priests, therefore, look into the registers of the times, and find that it has come at the completion of the five-hundredth year.

Shall we then think it great and wonderful, if the Maker of all things shall make a resurrection of those who, in the confidence of a good faith, have piously seized him, when even by means of a bird he showeth the greatness of his promises?

For he saith in a certain place, And thou shalt raise me up, and I will give thanks unto thee; and again: I slumbered and slept; I arose up because thou art with me.

And again Job saith, Thou shalt raise up this my flesh, which hath suffered all these things.

In this hope, therefore, let our souls be bound unto him who is faithful in his promises and just in his judgments.

He who hath commanded men not to lie, much more shall he not lie; for nothing is impossible with God, except to lie.

Let our faith, therefore, in him be kindled afresh within us, and let us consider that all things are near unto him.

By the word of his majesty did he constitute all things, and by a word he is able to destroy them.

Who shall say unto him, What hast thou done? or who shall resist the might of his strength? He will do all things when he willeth and as he willeth, and none of the things decreed by him shall pass away.

All things are before him, and nothing hath escaped his counsel:

seeing that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth the work of his hands: day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night proclaimeth knowledge; and there is no speech nor language where their voices are not heard.

Since, therefore, all things are seen and heard of him, let us fear him and abandon the filthy desires for evil deeds, that we may be sheltered by his mercy from the judgments to come."

*Clement is an early church father who was appointed bishop of the church of Messiah in Rome by Peter. Contrary to Catholic claims, Clement was not a pope! For the first 280 years of Christian history, Christianity was banned by the Roman Empire, and Christians were persecuted terribly. This changed after the “conversion” of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Constantine provided religious toleration with the Edict of Milan in AD 313, effectively lifting the ban on Christianity. Later, in AD 325, Constantine called the Council of Nicea in an attempt to unify Christianity. Constantine envisioned Christianity as a religion that could unite the Roman Empire, which at that time was beginning to fragment and divide. While this may have seemed to be a positive development for the Christian church, the results were anything but positive. Just as Constantine refused to fully embrace the Christian faith, but continued many of his pagan beliefs and practices, so the Christian church that Constantine promoted was a mixture of true Christianity and Roman paganism. Origen of Alexandria (AD 185—284) and Eusebius of Caesarea (AD 260—340) maintain that Clement of Rome was the same Clement mentioned by the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:3. Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 130—200) informs us that "this man [Clement of Rome], had seen the blessed apostles, and had been conversant with them, and might be said to have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears], and their traditions before his eyes".

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Did you know..
There's an amazing story about 7 young men falling asleep in a cave, and emerging 200 years later alive and still youthful looking!

According to Grolier Encyclopedia:

The legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus (Turkey), thought to be of Syrian origin, tells of seven young Christians who sought refuge in a cave in Ephesus in western Anatolia to escape the persecutions of the Roman emperor Decius (r. 249-51). The emperor had the cave's entrance boarded up, and the martyrs fell into a deep sleep that lasted for about 200 years. When they awoke, they wandered into the city and, still youthful, were brought before Emperor Theodosius II, who regarded them as proof of the doctrine of bodily resurrection. They were venerated as saints. Feast Day: July 27 (Western); Aug. 2 or 4 and Oct. 22 or 23 (Eastern).

According to Wikipedia:

The story appears in the Qur'an (Surah Al-Kahf, verse 9–26) and thus is important to Islam. The Quranic story does not state the exact number of sleepers, but gives the number of years that they slept as 300 solar years (equivalent to 309 lunar years). The Islamic version includes mention of a dog who accompanied the youths into the cave and appears to keep watch. In Islam, these youths are referred to as "The People of the Cave".

Wikipedia makes mention of another Christian interpretation:

"The story says that during the persecutions by the Roman emperor Decius, around 250 AD, seven young men were accused of following Christianity. They were given some time to recant their faith, but chose instead to give their worldly goods to the poor and retire to a mountain cave to pray, where they fell asleep. The emperor, seeing that their attitude towards paganism had not improved, ordered the mouth of the cave to be sealed."

We noted points of interest:

The story is well documented and even has a public holiday attached to it. If you study what happened to them, you will notice a few distinguishing points:

1. They were baptised Christians filled with the Holy Spirit, running from persecution.

2. They gave their worldly wealth to the poor.

3. While asleep in the cave, they never had s*xual relations. They did not commit s*xual immorality or adultery.

4. They had no food or water all those years, therefore they were fasting.

*
So the conditions for ascension (as one of the two ways taught by Jesus) were met. And the 7 young men entered the bodily resurrection becoming immortal. The other way is to fall asleep (to die with the Holy Spirit) and be raised at the end.

John 11:25-26 (Canonical New Testament)
Jesus: "I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live. Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."

The Book of Enoch 100:5 (Apocryphal Old Testament)
"And over all the righteous and holy He will appoint guardians from amongst the holy angels to guard them as the apple of an eye, Until He makes an end of all wickedness and all sin, And though the righteous sleep a long sleep, they have nought to fear."

Perhaps God allowed things to happen this way to leave clues for later generations about how to enter eternal life through Jesus.

The City of God 1 - St Augustine of Hippo (Early Church Fathers)
"In that city all the citizens shall be immortal, men now for the first time enjoying what the holy angels have never lost. And this shall be accomplished by God, the most almighty Founder of the city."

1 Corinthians 15:51-55 (Canonical New Testament)
"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The Epistula Apostolorum 27 (Apocryphal New Testament)
Jesus: "But if someone believes in me and does not do my commandments [teachings?], although he has acknowledged my name he receives no benefit from it and has run a futile course. For such will be in error and in ruin, since they have disregarded my commandments [teachings?]."

James 1:22 (Canonical New Testament)
"But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves."

John 3:16 (Canonical New Testament)
Jesus: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him, should not perish [die], but have everlasting life."

John 3:36 (Canonical New Testament)
"And anyone who believes in God's Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn't obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God's angry judgment."

John 8:51 (Canonical New Testament)
Jesus: "I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death"

1 Corinthians 4:20 (Canonical New Testament)
"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power."

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Did you know..
There's an amazing method for dealing with wrongdoing in a certain part of Africa!

In this African tribe, when someone does something wrong, they take the person to the center of the village where the tribe surrounds him and for 2 days say all the good he has done. The tribe believes each person is good but sometimes people make mistakes, which are really a cry for help. They unite to reconnect him with his good nature.

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Hi, my name is Craig..

Please join us as we Celebrate this little thing called life.. while Searching for that big thing called Eternal Life!

Pic of baby and me at The Lion Park in Johannesburg, South Africa..

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"A well-travelled person with wide experience knows many things and talks sense. You can't know much if you haven't experienced much, but travel can make you more clever. In my own travels I have seen many things and learned more than I can put into words."
The Book of Sirach 34:9-11 (Deuterocanonical Old Testament)

Welcome to MiPlanat ⭕

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