FRONTAL BRAIN

Bernell E. Baldwin, Ph. D.

Patricia. Before: a responsible surgical nurse of character and culture who sympathized well with her patients. After: no more responsible nursing. Now she can’t sympathize with her patients and she has lost her ambition. She says, “I don’t care if I make a mistake, it will turn out all right in the end.”

Pauline. Before: “What is the thing to do if you lose a watch you have borrowed from a friend?” Ans: “Tell her I expect I would have to pay for the loss of it.” After: same question. Ans: “Borrow another watch”!

Phineas. Before: well respected foreman with a good job and a father with a happy home. After: He lost his job, lost his love for his wife and family and deserted them for a life of wandering in the West, and South America. His physician, Dr. Harlowe, observed that he became irreverent, irresponsible and irascible. He lost his will power; his values seemed to have crashed. Former friends said that he was “no longer Phineas.”

What happened to these three people? What made the dramatic shift in their personalities and seemed to cut the taproot of their characters? The front of their brains was destroyed. PATRICIA and PAULINE had their brain surgery (frontal lobotomies)* on purpose. PHINEAS’ surgery was faster and much cheaper. He was tamping down blasting powder with a steel bar when the dynamite exploded and shot the tamping bar, like a long bullet, up under his left eye, right through the front of his brain and out the top of his head! You can see Phineas’ famous skull and his crowbar in the medical museum at Harvard Medical School.

What Is So Special About The Front-Brain?

Traditionally, brain scientists have looked at the frontal lobes of the brain structurally. These two lobes extend, one on each side, from the forehead back to the ears and from the eyes up to the top of the head. They contain more than 40% of all the precious cortex (outer layer of the brain) of the whole human brain; the frontal lobe is by far the largest lobe of all lobes of the brain. From a physiological point of view, however, the frontal lobe is connected directly by living wires or nerve fibers to all other major parts of the human brain. This broader physiological system we will call the FRONT-BRAIN.

The Front-Brain is the last to be developed. The cortex of the frontal lobes of children is not completed until they are 10 years old, but the “insulating” of the “wires” on the inside is not complete until a person is about 30 years old. Then it takes a lifetime to finish the synapses (connections) that work together to make each one of us a unique person, - like no one else in the universe!

Of all the parts of the brain, the Front-Brain is the most sensitive, being very vulnerable to poisons, oxygen deficiency, strokes and just plain old neglect. This portion of the brain has thousands of the biggest nerve cells of the whole brain - some are almost a yard long! It also has millions of some of the very tiniest cells of the whole brain; these tell the big cells what to do and what not to do.

The electronic connections of the Front-Brain system are made not just in series, flashing from point one to point two and then to three, but in parallel like the best of computers. This provides for simultaneous processing of myriads of messages. Not only is it supreme in the breadth of its connections, but also in the type, arrangement and power of those connections to other parts of the brain. This structure of unique anatomical character permits the healthy Front-Brain to become not just a cog, a gear or even the steering wheel, but the driver, the front seat driver of the whole brain and subsequently of the whole life.

How Does The Front-Brain Work?

Let’s say you are driving the family on a two lane road over the mountains to a fine lake. Your eyes report to your Front-Brain, “There is a big truck just ahead!” Memory storage banks in the back of your brain remind you about passing trucks in the past. Your ears report, “That big truck is laboring hard.” The bottom of the brain almost yells “Pass ‘em!” The eyes report, “Crest of steep hill just ahead.” The bottom rejoins, “See…plenty of room.” The Front-Brain affirms, “We’ll drive defensively.” The back of the brain argues, “You are only going 50.” The bottom yells (electronically of course), “Mash it!” The Front-Brain orders, “Quiet - we shall wait, then pass.” The eyes shout, “There comes a new Lazer going 80!” The ears report, “WOOoosh…! The eyes signal, “Now we are over the hill - all clear.” The Front-Brain orders, “Pass in confidence!” The ears report, “Oh, Daddy we could have smashed. We could be dead.” Mother’s voice says, “I like your driving.”

The Front-Brain says, “I love you too much to take chances like that.” The bottom brain whispers electronically, “Wrong again. I should mind my own business.” The Front-Brain says, “We should be at the lake soon.” Everybody is peaceful and happy to be alive.

Top Management

A leading brain scientist of Russia, Dr. Luria, in his book, The Working Brain, called the frontal lobes “superstructures above all other parts of the cerebral cortex so that they perform a more universal function of general regulation of behavior.” He also pointed out the frontal lobes are important for self-control - loss of large portions of the frontal lobes is associated with violent emotional outbursts and changes of character. Incidentally, Russia outlawed frontal lobe surgery years ago.

Personality

An entire book has been written on Personality and the Frontal Lobes by Dr. Asenath Petrie. Using a battery of special tests, she conducted a five-year study on patients who had been lobotomized. Upon receiving a letter, one of her patients said, “I don’t like writing letters anymore; I like receiving them and not answering them.” Another patient volunteered, “It (the lobotomy) changed me. I don’t want to work so hard at home.”

She found that afterwards the patients were less tactful, they were more abrupt in their manners, they were less critical of self, less concerned with their achievements, less concerned about everything: their reactions to stress were lessened, their interests, happiness (such as it was) and their thoughts were mainly focused on themselves in the here-and-now. Accuracy in mental and even manual tasks was decreased. Mental endurance went down. During a goal-directed task they were highly distractible. When given common proverbs to interpret they missed the point on many. The capacity to see beyond the concrete, the close, the here-and-now, the obvious, to go beyond to grasp the rich symbolic meaning of a proverb, they had lost. Conventional IQ’s also were cut down, especially in people having superior intelligence. There were less feelings of guilt on the one hand and more satisfaction with self and self-performance on the other.

Dr. Petrie also documented a marked increase in preference for sex humor after the then popular brain surgery. She then concluded, “…the individual shows a dramatic ability…his standards have dropped.”

The sister of a famous brain surgeon, an excellent cook, was given a lobotomy in Canada. After her lobotomy she remembered how to cook alright, but had lost the capacity to plan and prepare a meal alone.

After frontal lobe surgery another lady finally tried to write to her husband who was serving in the Canadian troops. “How are you? How are you? How are you?...” An entire page was filled with the same words, “How are you?” This problem, called “perseveration,” is a real and important feature of frontal lobe impairment.

Appetite Control

When 128 patients with brain tumors of the Ochsner clinic were studied, researchers discovered that 70% of those having tumors of the frontal lobes clearly showed psychiatric symptoms. One 48-year-old business man neglected his work, doing practically nothing all day but reading the newspaper, chatting with his wife and eating, he would even take food right off the plates of his family by force. Although irritable and sensitive about these developments, he gained about 100 pounds in one year! His untrue stories also caused problems. Special E-rays found in his right frontal lobe a tumor which was later confirmed at surgery.

Intelligence

Though ordinary IQ scores are not cut down as much by similar defects in the frontal area as they are by lesions in the back of the brain, the capacity for wisdom, the ability to use knowledge in appropriate planning and to make higher level generalizations does involve the Front-Brain.

Higher Vision

Mature, effective people have hindsight to profit from life-experience and history of the past, insight to see deeply in the present and foresight to see the outcomes in the future of current trends. Without the frontal lobes all this is almost irrelevant.

Dr. Rylander, as professor of Forensic Psychiatry of the Royal Caroline Institute at Stockholm, Sweden, went the second mile in testing lobotomy patients. He wasn’t satisfied with routine psychologic testing that tended to magnify things small and belittle things great. He personally worked with these people and even arranged to have some of them live with him or interact with him personally over an extended period of time after their lobotomies. The wife of one his patients, a school teacher, said, “I have lost my husband. I’m alone. I must take over all responsibility now.” The mother of another patient declared, “She is my daughter, but yet a different person. She is with me in the body but her soul is in some way lost. Those deep feelings, the tenderness, are gone. She is hard somehow.” One wife spoke frankly of her husband’s behavior after lobotomy: “His soul appears to be destroyed.” After surgery, his patients could feel neither real happiness nor deep sorrow. Dr. Rylander concluded, “Something has died within them.”

Ways To Harm, Handicap or Destroy The Front-Brain

The Classical Deep Lobotomy

This operation, originating in Portugal by Dr. Moniz, permanently tranquilizes the brain and destroys the spiritual and highest mental functions. The white matter, or the living “wires” connecting the front of the brain with the middle of the brain, are cut or destroyed. By 1950, about 20,000 men, women, prisoners and even children had been lobotomized. Psychosurgery became a fad. Incidentally, Moniz himself was shot in the spine by one of his own lobotomized patients. Surgeons are still cutting and shocking, burning and radiating the front of the brain by destroying part of the best of it. We are of course not referring to the rational use of surgery for brain tumors, accidents and a host of other legitimate and scientifically acceptable operations on this most complicated of all body systems.

Fortunately, wiser and far more cautious brain surgeons are cutting far less often and far less tissue these days. Why then the emphasis on lobotomy in this article? The answer is simple: the facts given here dramatize the functions of the Front-Brain.

We hope the current very conservative trend in psychosurgery continues until the crude cutting and burning for mind cures ceases all together. But meanwhile psychosurgery is still being used in the United States, England, Germany, Japan and elsewhere for such things as depression, overeating and crimes of various kinds including sex offenses, violent behaviors, assaultiveness, drug addiction and others. Two hundred and seventy five articles were published on psychosurgery in less than two and a half years. And the activity in this area continues.

Sports

We live in a very mobile and violent world with the result that Front-Brain injuries are far too frequent. But boxing is different. The brain is assaulted on purpose and regularly, for “fun!” Tiny hemorrhages are frequently produced by common boxing; this kills many brain cells which can never be replaced during this life. Knocking people senseless as a goal in sports is not only senseless in itself, but highly destructive to the most significant part of the body. No wonder more and more physicians and those in the know are blowing a whistle on this pseudosport.

Chemical Lobotomy

There are several far more sophisticated ways of destroying the Front-Brain than by knives. Chemicals can do it too. Beverage alcohol gives a fast lobotomy. It’s cheap, it’s common, it’s popular and it’s temporary, - almost. The “quick-fix tranquilization” from a few drinks is just what millions like. After the hangover they imagine that they are “OK”. But alcohol cuts down protein formation in the brain and produces chemical damage to its membranes and synapses. More than this, the frontal lobe nerve cells are so tiny that they can’t resist alcohol’s chemical thrust. Results? Dead nerve cells abound in the Front-Brain after heavy drinking. This changes the personality and the character very gradually until we (the family, the community, the company) have a problem on our hands. Many men and increasingly more women have impending frontal lobe deficiency! This problem usually is handled only superficially, and soon more alcohol is taken. Much drinking behavior is episodic, that is, it occurs in bouts. All too often the resultant behavioral and neural disease proceeds until the person, and often the family and the career, are threatened, handicapped, and then destroyed. The alcohol-lobotomy is permanent! Presidents, kings, TV personalities, mothers, it makes no difference. Alcohol is a frontal lobe poison and should be outlawed. If America does not awaken to the potential danger and act fast we are doomed to become a nation drunk—etched into the pages of history.

Drug Lobotomies

It used to take big bottles to “drown a person’s sorrow.” Now we have little bottles full of tranquilizers. Some leading physicians are warning us that tranquilizers, the most common prescription drugs in America, are far over-prescribed. Millions are taking tranquilizers and other brain drugs too much, too often and for the wrong reasons. We are building a drug culture not just in the ghetto but in the most affluent suburbs. Our whole society is becoming chemicalized. The “quick-fix” is becoming an accepted pattern of living. We condemn, arrest and even imprison the lower classes for their drugs but consider our “respectable” drugs OK. This hypocrisy is unwise. It widens the generation gap. It alienates the rich from the poor. It demoralizes the medical profession and erodes the structure of society.

Americans are quick to produce something that people will pay for. When reserpine came along from India, we swallowed it then imitated it in our giant drug factories. Later we learned that reserpine is bad news indeed for the brain. Yes, it tranquilizes. Yes, it gives temporary relief. But too often, after many of these brain drugs are stopped, the destruction of parts of the brain becomes manifest. The poor, tranquilized person falls into Parkinsonism, shaking and halting through the rest of his life, unless these symptoms are covered up by another camouflaging drug or two. These additional drugs, incidentally, have their own sneaky side effects also, like dulling the brain.

Marijuana, LSD And Beyond

It is not widely known, but heavy, steady users of marijuana and other street drugs get more and more water in the ventricles (symmetrical cavities inside the brain). What happens? The marijuana user’s brain cells die one by one, as in alcoholism, until in order to keep the skull full, water is used to fill up these ventricular spaces. Normally the ventricles are trim, symmetrical and balanced, permitting circulation of fluid for exchange of nutrients with chemicals produced by the brain. After heavy use of the big weed, marijuana, the ventricles become larger and larger. This fact opens interesting prospects. The time may come when the brain will be X-rayed, or possibly even scanned by computer-controlled machines, before the best jobs are filled.

Lobotomy By Strangulation

We have discussed creeping lobotomy by older and newer chemicals. Now we touch on how to be lobotomized in private, gradually, by strangulation. No, not by ropes in the garage, not by a nylon stocking or even by big hands. It can be done easily by silverware! Here is how. Eat like the Jones’. Then in the black of night the arteries to your frontal lobes can gradually plug up with cholesterol, fat and clots. You can hasten this quiet, prevalent process markedly by building up your blood pressure. After some years of this conventional living, your personality, your wits, your keenest intellect will silently steal away.

Strokes And The Front-Bran

One of the most common brain sites attacked by strokes is the frontal lobe. Visit a rest home and look around briefly. The deplorable state of once-productive people is evident. The fashionable living which contributed to their strokes does not end so fashionably.

Lobotomy By Neglect

This is touchy. Formerly the brain has been considered to be a “black box,”* static and stable. It is not. The brain is made up of living cells. They breathe what gasses they can get from the blood. They eat what food they can get from the blood. They exist, work and wither or thrive depending on how we take care of ourselves. We now know that any nerve cell that is not used withers. Then it dies - dead. Just as dead as if a bullet or a bottle did it. The LAW OF ATROPHY OF DISUSE is tremendously significant. It says that if we neglect the frontal lobe, never really giving it adequate, worthy input, never activating it in problem-solving “through-put” or never challenging it in whole-hearted output, we are asking for creeping atrophy of disuse which can result in lobotomy by neglect.

Nutrition And The Front-Brain

Starving the brain is uncommon, even difficult. But it can be done. Severe protracted deficiency of food in a pregnant woman can produce permanent brain deficits in the baby she is carrying. We must take a broader view of nutrition. What goes into the mouth is important but it is not the whole story. The ultimate diet is the nutrition available to the cells. The micro-diet bathing the frontal lobe nerve cells is crucial. Vitamin, mineral, protein or glucose deficiency can all compromise the quality of human behavior.

The “cellular diet” can also be markedly altered by the hormones as well as by the health or disease states of other organs of the body. Even such a common thing as constipation can release amino acid break-down products into the blood and dull the brightness of the brain.

Tobacco-smoking mothers can starve the nerve cells of their babies to such an extent as to produce permanent deficits not only in brain size but in brain performance. This is probably through a combination of the toxic effects of smoking, from such well-known poisons as carbon monoxide and nicotine. The carcinogens of tobacco DNA may also tie up the DNA of the babies’ brains and thus interfere with brain growth. The stunting of tobacco on growing organisms is well known.

Implications

The brain is the government, or capital, of the body. We, the “body politic”, can put in dynamic dictators, dignified and often stuffy kings, impatient revolutionaries, ivory tower theorists, or even pleasure-loving populists. We can shoot the Lincolns and put in the Hitlers. We can stride into truth, beauty, and freedom or slide all greased with apathy into deception and Orwellian slavery. Each choice is a step, each minute an input. It rests with every one of us, through the activity of the Front-Brain, to determine who and what will control us, - truth or error, good or evil.

Unfortunately, many universities starve the frontal lobe and their typical academic offerings are grossly imbalanced. Great principles are ignored or buried under reams of trivia crammed down mental stomachs year after year. Result? The Decline and Fall of the Great American Front-Brain.

Far too many churches are merely comfortable couches for the soul. Why? Because truth is so smoothly sweetened with devitaminized, demineralized platitudes, so adulterated, so spiked with tradition and human guess work that it tranquilizes the Front-Brain and placates the back-brain. The bottom-brain tends to run the show in the megapolis, in government and in society. What then, are the mega-trends for the “Big Network?” Society is deteriorating rapidly into a Babylon of confusion.

How To Help Build The Front-Brain

Fortunately there are a number of things we can do to promote the health and most effective function of our Front-Brain. We need to see its importance as the very heart of our personality, temperament and character. We need to understand that the brain is plastic (can be molded) and we can help or hurt it by many “little things” we do.

Protect It From Injury

Use seat belts or harnesses to protect your skull from cracking against the dashboard like the shell of a huge egg. Many head injuries can be prevented. Safety is not weakness; it is good sense. When working, driving and enjoying recreational activities, remember that egg on your shoulders!

Give It Good Blood

To make good blood we need good food. Whole grains provide complex carbohydrates for steady blood sugar, and vitamin E and the B vitamins for making brain hormones in the frontal lobe. Fruits and vegetables also provide those vitamins and minerals so essential for good brain function. Variety is important. Eating too much and at irregular times, especially late at night, is hard on the stomach and digestive system. This tends to produce indigestion and fermentation, which results in absorption of undesirable breakdown chemicals into the blood and their transport to the brain. These products often interfere with the brain function.

General good health of the whole body helps make good blood. Clean fresh air and deep breathing help deliver oxygen to the brain while stale air tends to make stale thinking.

Give It Pure Blood

Almost everyone knows about adequacy, but purity of nutrition is also vital. Eating from second-hand sources, from way down the food chain, puts more by-products into the blood. These wastes from animal fats and animal proteins can burden the brain neurochemically, especially when combined with skimping on the water-drinking and exercise needed to dilute, wash out or burn up excesses or impurities.

Support It With Good Circulation

Blood goes where the action is; where there is no real need the circulation tends to be sluggish or depressed. All faculties and functions of the body need a regular workout. Brisk walks, especially in the morning, are a splendid way to prevent headaches, so often caused by unrelieved brain work under stress while breathing mediocre air. Who can think effectively with a headache? We recommend “exercise breaks” instead of the usual caffeine break. Your nerves will gain poise and power instead of irritability and tremors.

Atherosclerosis and hypertension, which interfere with circulation, must be prevented or controlled.

Give It Rest

Your brain contains myriads of tiny batteries; these need “charging” up. Nerve cells communicate with each other chemically and electronically. When a brain cell is too tired it can’t produce brain hormones to get anything done electronically. When this happens, the personal computers of your Front-Brain have “Brown-out.” What can you do? Fatigue is okay but impairment is destructive. We need moderation in work and regular deep, peaceful sleep. Granted, the back and bottom of the brain can bark orders and make noise - even make waves - in the office, but it takes the Front-Brain to come up with WISDOM. It needs quality sleep. Fortified by early morning inspiration time, it will be poised for a successful day. Occasional long weekends and a genuine vacation yearly help tremendously to pull and keep your master “control-center” out of a rut.

Feed It Right

If we want to build the best into our Front-Brain it is necessary to give it the best “food” for input. This has never been easier than now. Centuries of information, skill, science and art have provided “nutrition” that has been tested, pruned and proven. It is available for the eating. This special “brain food” must have power to build up the highest functions of the brain without sabotaging the back or the bottom, without ruinous hidden poisons or chemicals. It must have all the best vitamins and minerals, or the “backbone” of the brain will go weak, crooked or even broken. Even trace minerals can be important. This valuable food can’t be greasy with too much popular fat and all sugared up like junk food. This nourishment for the Front-Brain must be eaten often, chewed seriously and swallowed with relish. What is this marvelous bread for the brain? It is the pure, unadulterated, beautiful, powerful spectrum of TRUTH, - scientific, historical and spiritual.

Use It

Even astronauts that sit too long in a weightless condition have an insidious problem - their bones atrophy, the minerals leach right out. Without any mechanical stress all our bones would get progressively weaker until finally even walking would be impossible.

THINK! It may look trite on older desks but there is a lot to it. More and more we need real men and women who THINK. This is the job of the Front Brain. If we don’t use it, we will lose it, for it thrives on real challenge, on problem-solving where the stakes are high and the outcomes are important to individuals, families, communities, societies and to our destiny. Build a climate where real problem solving is more fun, more fulfilling and even exciting than boyish sports. Genuine success is a science.

The WILL is located in the Front-Brain. Use it. One of the best ways is real old-fashioned WORK. We saw, chop, carry and haul our wood, making the most out of this productive, money-saving activity. Then we sit around our Franklin stove enjoying the warmth. It even seems to help our conversation. What are we saying? Serious, motivated work builds WILL POWER. Every rail Abraham Lincoln split tended to build will power and character. Young America urgently needs plenty of physical work for quality of character.

Service is vital to the Front-Brain. For its maximum usefulness and growth, altruistic motivation is essential. It is not just an ego machine. Unselfishness, thinking, planning and working for the good of others are part of its role. We all need more faith and courage, more hope and enthusiasm, friendliness and love. These motives and principles of life’s endeavors can create enduring circuits that tie the whole brain together electronically into a computer net that is fantastic. Our future need not be nuclear oblivion. We can grow in truth, in service, in life. Excellence, even greatness, is attainable, enjoyable, and fulfilling.

Enjoy It!

When the entire person is on a complete program for growth, service and success, fine things result. When we are absorbed in helping others or in promoting the best for the family, the team, the corporation or even the nation, happiness often steals up on us unexpectedly. The Great Designer seems to arrange our sowing to lead to the joys of reaping according to dependable laws. Start now by investing in the finest computer corporation around, - your very own Front-Brain.

References:

1. Blakemore, C., Mechanics of the Mind, Cambridge University Press, London, p 1-8, 1977.
2. Brickner, R.M., The Intellectual Functions of the frontal Lobes, Mac Millan Co., New York, pp 47-48, 1963.
3. Fulton, J.F., ed, The Frontal Lobes, Hafner Publishing Company, Inc. New York, 1948.
4. Konorski, J., Teuber, H.L. and Zernicki, B., The Frontal Granular Cortex and Behavior, Polish Scientific Publishers, Warszwa, 1972.
5. Lhermitte, F., ‘Utilization Behaviour’ and it’s Relation to Lesions of the Frontal Lobes, Brain, 106:237-255, 1983.
6. Luria, A.R., The Working Brain, Basic Books, Inc., New York, 1973.
7. Mark, V.H. and. Ervin, F.R., Violence and the Brain, Harper & Row, New York, pp. 142,143, 1970.
8. Massey, E.W. and Coffey, C.E., Frontal Lobe Personality Syndromes. Postgrad. Med, 73:99-106, 1983.
9. Meyer, A., The Frontal Lobe Syndrome, the Aphasias and Related Conditions, Brain, 97:565-600, 1974.
10. Nauta, W.J.H., Some Efferent Connections of the Prefrontal Cortex in the Monkey. Ch. 19 in The Frontal Granular Cortex and Behavior, Warren and Akert, eds., McGraw Hill Book Co., New York, pp.397-409, 1964.
11. Petrie, A., Personality and the Frontal Lobes, The Blakiston Co., New York, 1952.
12. Rylander, G., Personality Analysis Before and After Frontal Lobotomy. The Frontal Lobes, Hafner Publishing Co., New York, 1966.
13. Soniat, T.L.L., Psychiatric Symptoms Associated with Intracranial Neoplams. Amer. J. Psychiat, 108:19-22, 1951.
14. Talbert, O.R. and Youmans, J.R., Neurological Surgery, vol. 1, 2nd ed., W.B. Saunders Co. Phil., p.13,14, 1982.
15. Weinberger, D.R., Luchins, D.J., Morihisa, J., et al., Asymmetrical Volumnes of the Right and Left Frontal and Occipital Regions of the Human Brain. Ann. Neurol, 11:97-100, 1982.
16. Werner, G., Higher Functions of the Nervous System in Medical Phyisology, V.B. Mountcastle, ed., C.V. Mosby Co., St. Louis, pp. 637, 638, 1980.

Lesoni ya 13: Utume

Matendo 1 & 18, 1 Wakorintho 1

Somo hili limetafsiriwa kutoka katika Copr. 2009, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Majibu yaliyopendekezwa yanapatikana kwenye parandesi (kwenye mabano). Somo limekaa kimtazamo kwamba mwalimu anatumia ubao au sememu nyingine yoyote ambayo inaweza kuonekana na wanafunzi. Somo hili pia linaweza kupatikana kutoka kwa lugha ya Kiingereza pamoja na lugha nyingine kama vile Kifaransa, Kijerumani, Kihispania, Kizulu, nk

Utangulizi: Unamfahamu mtu "mwenye moto" kwa ajili ya Yesu? Je, uliwahi kuwa hivyo wakati fulani katika maisha yako? Swali linalofuata: unamfahamu mtu aliye na moto kwa ajili ya Yesu maisha yake yote? Nimeona watu wengi ambao "wanatiwa moto" mwanzoni, lakini sikumbuki yeyote anayedumisha kiwango chao cha awali. Kwa nini hivyo? Je, hiyo ni sehemu ya kawaida ya utume wetu wa Kikristo? Je, hiyo ni sambamba na mapenzi ya Mungu? Tunapoitwa na Yesu katika utume, anatutarajia tufanye nini? Hebu tujivinjari tena kwenye Biblia na tuone kile tunachoweza kujifunza.

I. Washirika katika Utume

A. Soma Matendo 1:1-3. Yesu alifanya nini baada ya ufufuo wake? (Alikaa na wanafunzi wake kwa siku 40 akiwathibitishia kwamba kwa hakika alikuwa hai na kuwafundisha kuhusu Ufalme wa Mungu

B. Soma Matendo 1:4-6. Ni nani ambaye angefanya kazi na wanafunzi katika siku zijazo? (Roho Mtakatifu.)

1. Unafikiria nini kuhusu swali la wanafunzi katika Matendo 1:6?

a. Unafikiri liliulizwa lini? (Kumbuka ya kwamba hivi punde tu tumesoma katika Matendo 1:3 kwamba katika siku 40 Yesu aliongea nao kuhusu Ufalme wake. Natumaini hili swali lilikuwa mwanzoni mwa zile siku 40 na siyo mwishoni.)

C. Soma Matendo 1:7-8. Kwa kuzingatia msingi huu, wanafunzi watapaswa kushuhudia kitu gani? (Kwamba Yesu amefufuka na kwamba ana ufalme ujao.)

1. Je, huo ndio utume wetu leo? Maneno haya waliambiwa wanafunzi wakati huo, kama unadhani bado yanatumika, elezea kwa nini.

2. Je, walikuwa na uwezo wa kufanya kazi peke yao ? (Hapana. Walipewa maelekezo kamilifu kusubiri hadi pale watakapobatizwa kwa Roho Mtakatifu.)

a. Je, hilo pia ni hitaji leo? Je, lazima tusubiri hadi Roho Mtakatifu aje kufanya kazi pamoja nasi katika utume wetu?

(1) Je, ni nini kuhusu watu wanaosema kuwa wakati wa Roho Mtakatifu ukingali sasa katika nguvu umepita? Wana aina gani ya utume?

D. Soma Matendo 1:12-14. Walifanya nini kujiandaa na utume wao? (Walisali pamoja. Nadhani jukumu linabakia kuwa hilo hilo . Nadhani njia ya kutekeleza jukumu inabakia kuwa ile ile. Hatuwezi kujihusisha kikamilifu katika utume bila ya Roho Mtakatifu. Kama hatuna uhakika kuwa Roho Mtakatifu ni sehemu ya utume wetu, tunahitaji kusali kwa ari na hamasa ili tuweze kuzatitiwa na Roho Mtakatifu kwa ajili ya utume.)

II. Utume na utafutaji kipato

A. Je, "moto" unapoa pale tunapobaini kuwa tunatakiwa kutoka na kuweza kustahimili maisha

1. Au, kustahimili maisha ni sehemu ya njia ambayo kwayo tunafanya utume wetu

B. Soma Matendo 18:1-4. Je, Paulo alijihusisha na kuhubiri wakati wote? (Siyo katika mafungu haya. Yanatupatia picha kuwa walikuwa wakishona hema katika siku za wiki na kuhubiri siku ya Sabato.)

C. Soma Matendo 18:5. Je, sasa Paulo ametingwa/amesongwa kwa namna gani? Sasa amejihusisha na kuhubiri wakati wote.

D. Je, Paulo alikuwa na moto mdogo alipokuwa akihubiri wakati wa wikendi kuliko pale alipokuwa akihubiri wakati wote? (Natia shaka. Kufikia lengo la mahitaji yake ya kila siku ilikuwa ni sehemu ya kazi zake za jumla.)

E. Soma 2 Wathesalonike 3:6-10. Je, kazi isiyohusiana na masuala ya dini ni jukumu la kidini? (Paulo anasema kwamba kwa kuwa alijishughulisha/alijihusisha na utume alikuwa na haki ya "msaada" kutoka kwa Wakristo wenzake. Wakati huo huo anasema kuwa jumuiya ya Kikristo ina jukumu la kidini la kufanya. Kwa hiyo, wasingeweza wote kujihusisha katika utume.)

1. Hebu tuangalie kivitendo kuhusu suala hili. Unawafahamu watu katika kazi ambao kamwe hawawezi kwenda katika kanisa lolote

2. Je, una majirani wowote au mtu yeyote unayemfahamu lakini asiye rafiki wako wa karibu ambao kamwe hawawezi kwenda kanisani? ( Kama jibu ni "ndiyo," basi utume wako ni kuwafikia watu hawa kwa maisha ya mfano na yenye kuongozwa na Roho. Angalia Yohana 14:26)

F. Soma Tito 2:7-8. Ni kipengele gani katika maisha yako ambacho ni utume? (Kila tukifanyacho kinatoa ushawishi/athari kwa wema au kwa uovu. Utume wetu ni kuangalia asili ya ushawishi wetu, na kupitia uwezo/nguvu ya Roho Mtakatifu kutafuta kuufanya ushawishi wetu kuwa chanya katika kila Nyanja.)

 

III. Ujumbe Katika Utume

A. Soma 1 Wakorintho 1:18. Biblia inasema kuwa ujumbe wetu ni upi? (Msalaba.)

1. Tatizo la ujumbe wetu ni nini? (Neno linalichukulia kuwa ni upuuuzi.)

2. Tuliamua awali kuwa wanafunzi (na sisi pia) walipaswa kushuhudia ufufuo wa Yesu na ufalme wake ujao. Je, hilo ni sawia na ujumbe wetu kuwa msalaba? (Ndiyo. Msalaba na ufufuo wa Yesu unaonyesha fursa yetu kwa ajili ya msamaha wa dhambi na uzima wa milele.)

B. Soma 1 Wakorontho 1:19-21. Je, kuna habari njema katika kuhubiri "upuuzi"? (Huhitaji kuwa mwenye kipaji kushirikiana na wengine habari hii.)

C. Soma 1 Wakorintho 1:22-25. Je, tunahitaji miujiza au mantiki ili kusaidia kupeleka ujumbe? ( Kama unavyofahamu, napenda kutumia mantiki-kwa sababu nafikiri inasaidia kuendeleza injili. Lakini si mantiki wala miujiza iliyo muhimu katika ujumbe wetu: Yesu alisulubiwa.)

1. Kwa nini ujumbe wetu ni kwamba Yesu alisulubiwa? Kwa nini siyo matendo mazuri? Kwa nini siyo Sabato? Kwa nini siyo tabia nzuri za kula chakula? Kwa nini siyo mazoezi, siyo uvutaji sigara, au ufungaji wa mkanda wa usalama kwenye chombo cha usafiri? (Yesu kusulubiwa ni utimilivu wa huduma za patakatifu. Yeye ni Mwana-kondoo wa Mungu azichuaye dhambi zetu. Yohana 1:29. Hakuna kitu kingine chochote kituondoleacho dhambi zetu. Kafara ya Yesu ndiyo msingi wa ujumbe wetu. Kuna mawazo mengine mazuri, yenye kuleta mantiki na ya muhimu, lakini kiini cha ujumbe wetu ni msalaba.)

D. Soma 1 Wakorintho 1:26-27. Kwa nini Mungu anachagua wachezaji "dhaifu"? Anataka dunia ionekane mbaya? Kwa nini hilo ndilo lengo? (Ujumbe wetu ni Kristo, siyo sisi. Unaweza kuona wazo? Msalaba, siyo matendo yetu, ndio kitovu/kiini chetu. Kwa nini? Kwa sababu msalaba unaelekeza kile Mungu alichofanya, siyo kile tulichofanya. Wale walio na uwezo/nguvu, akili, msukumo/ushawishi, mwonekano mzuri hawana faida katika utume. Kwa hakika, wanaweza kuwa na hasara kwa sababu lengo linatakiwa liwe juu ya Mungu, siyo kwetu sisi wenyewe.)

1. Soma 1 Wakorintho 1:28-31. Je, hiyo inamaanisha kuwa watu werevu na wenye ushawishi hawastahili kufanya utume? (Angalia aliyeandika maneno haya-Paulo, mtu aliyefundishwa kwa hali ya juu, mtu mwerevu sana . Nadhani dhana ya Paulo ni kwamba kila mmoja anastahili kufanya utume ili mradi tu wanampa Mungu utukufu na kumfanya kuwa kitovu cha utume. Mungu hahitaji utukufu wa mwanadamu ili kazi yake iweze kufanyika. Anahitaji tu washirika wenye kupenda, wale wanaotambua uwezo na utukufu kumwendea/kumrudia Mungu.)

E. Katika siku ambazo nilikuwa na ushawishi mkubwa juu ya aliyehubiri katika mimbari ya kanisa langu, ningesema kuwa huduma ya kuabudu "siyo saa ya wasiokuwa na ujuzi," ikimaanisha kwamba watu ambao hawajajiandaa, wenye ukosefui wa mahitaji wa vitu vya kuhubiria na kwa hakika watu ambao hawana uzoefu wasiruhusiwe kuhubiri. Muda wa washiriki kanisani siku ya Sabato ulikuwa mdogo na wa thamani na sikutaka upotezwe na mahubiri ya ajabu ajabu. Soma 1 Wakorintho 2:1-5. Je, sikuwa sahihi? (Sistahili kujibu, lakini angalia aina ya hubiri ambalo lingekuja kutoka kwenye "kielelezo cha uwezo wa Roho." Roho Mtakatifu si yule asiyekuwa na maarifa, na kama Roho yu ndani yako, basi hata wewe hutokuwa usiye na maarifa pia.)

F. Rafiki, je, utauchukulia utume: katika ushirika na Roho Mtakatifu utashirikiana habari njema kuhusu Mwana-kondoo wa Mungu na ufalme wake ujao?

 

IV. Wiki ijayo: Tunaanza mfululizo mpya kuhusu waraka wa Yohana. Nausibiria kwa hamu!

THE SABBATH: QUOTES FROM E.G WHITE

Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy
By Mrs. E. G. White, March 31, 1909

Letters have come to me from several persons with the request that I should write in regard to the manner in which we should observe the Sabbath. We have the Bible plain and clear upon this subject. We should not leave the work of the six working days to be done on the Sabbath. Through Moses the Lord said to the children of Israel, "Tomorrow is the rest day of the holy Sabbath of the Lord; bake that which you will bake today, and seethe that which ye will seethe, and that which is left lay up to keep until the morning." "The manna was like coriander seed, and the color like bdellium. And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it in the mills or beat with a mortar and baked it in pans and made cakes of it." Thus there was something to be done in the preparing even of the heaven-sent bread for the children of Israel. This was a test for them. God desired to see whether or not they would keep the Sabbath holy. The Lord told the children of Israel that this work must be done on the preparation day--Friday. On that day they were to bake that which they would bake and seethe that which they would seethe. {LUH, March 31, 1909 par. 1}

The word of God comes down through the ages to this time. This direction from the lips of Jehovah is for our spiritual interest, or it would not have been spoken. God would have the Sabbath kept as a day of rest and spiritual devotion. Any careless inattention in reference to this is displeasing to Him. {LUH, March 31, 1909 par. 2}

The Bible is a perfect guide; and if its pages are carefully studied with hearts willing to understand, no one need err upon this question. Here is presented with great clearness the duties and obligations of man to his God and to his fellow-man. The word of God obeyed will not degrade him. It will elevate the mind and soften the heart, and give peace and gladness to the soul. The Word obeyed never leads to the forgetfulness of God, but to remembrance of Him. In its pages are distinctly marked out the relations we sustain to each other and to God. {LUH, March 31, 1909 par. 3}

Immorality and ignorance prevail in the world, but it is because the carnal heart chooses darkness rather than light. The light shines from the written word, in bright clear rays, and if ignorance now exists, it is because men do not for themselves become diligent students of the pages of knowledge that they may become intelligent. The intelligent mind is one of Heaven's most precious gifts. It is beyond estimate, and God demands the full improvement of this talent. {LUH, March 31, 1909 par. 4}

The Bible is a guide in the management of children, and if parents desire, they may find a course marked out for the education and training of their children, that they may make no blunders. If the rules laid down for parental authority were employed, the workers would not be called upon so often to settle church trials, and be made to weep and mourn over the perversity of those members of the church who seem uncontrollable, because, when they were children, they followed their own way, and have brought into their religious experience their unbending will. But when this Guide is followed, parents, instead of giving ultimate indulgence to their children, will use more of the chastening rod; instead of being blind to their faults, and perverted tempers, and alive only to their virtues, they will have a clear discernment, and will look upon these things in the light of the Bible. They will know that they must command their children in the right way. If parents, instead of abusing their children and provoking them to wrath by their uncontrollable tempers, would see in the word of God that they must learn as children in the school of Christ, the lessons of self-control, of meekness and lowliness of heart, there would not be so great inconsistencies revealed in the government of children in professedly Christian families. Threatenings, scoldings, and blows are dealt under the control of blind passion. And then, when they are not out of patience or in a passion, they go to the other extreme, caressing, kissing, and indulging them in everything they had forbidden. Many parents who are called the best of men and women are thus educating their children to become transgressors of the law of God, to be inmates of the prisons and alms-houses. They bring them up with passions unrestrained, tempers ungoverned, and with but little pains-taking effort on their part to educate them in moral principles. Could such parents look into the future, and see the path into which they are placing the feet of their children, they would come to their senses before it is too late, before the evil that has been left uncorrected has become moulded and fashioned into their character; but they allowed them to be controlled by the enemy of man. Satan is their chosen leader. It is while men sleep that the enemy sows tares in the heart. The Lord bade Moses enjoin upon the Israelites that they would teach their children the commandments of God, when they should rise up and when they should sit down, when they go out and when they come in, and when they should walk with them by the way. The many now who are bemoaning the waywardness of their children have only themselves to blame. But let these look to their Bibles, and see what God enjoins upon them as parents and guardians. Let them take up their long-neglected duty. They need to humble themselves and to repent before God for their neglect to follow His directions in the training of their children. They need to change their own course of action and follow the Bible strictly and carefully as their guide and counsellor.

It is a great work to educate, discipline, and train minds for the service of God here, and to dwell in the courts above forever. In the world to come your children will be just what you have made them in this world. "Remember" is placed at the very first of the fourth commandment. Parents, remember the Sabbath day yourselves to keep if holy; and if you do this, you are giving the proper instruction to your children. They will reverence God's holy day. {LUH, April 7, 1909 par. 1}

Let it be your study to select and make your homes as far from Sodom and Gomorrah as you can. Keep out of the large cities. If possible, make your home in the quiet retirement of the country, even if you never can become wealthy by doing so. Come where there is the best influence. Give your children employment. Let them learn some trade. Teach them to be useful on some piece of ground. If you do not keep them busy, the devil will. Children have active minds, and they need to be employed in lifting the burdens of practical life. They should never be left to pick up their employment. Parents should control this matter themselves. {LUH, April 7, 1909 par. 2}

Ministers' children are in many cases the most neglected children in the world, for the reason that their father can be with them but little, and they are left to choose their own amusement and employment. But the first work of the father should be to situate his children so that they will have work to do, and receive an education in physical work as well as in hard study of books. It may be a gratification to have your children with you; but if you are so situated that you cannot give them employment, place them where they can work and employ their God-given powers in useful labor. They will come to you in the end far stronger in moral powers and in a knowledge that will be of advantage to them and you. {LUH, April 7, 1909 par. 3}

Children are a heritage from the Lord, and the Lord requires of parents that they should give special instruction to their children. Like Abraham, they are to command their children and their household after them. If they neglect this part of the work, they are disqualifying themselves to care for the flock of God. {LUH, April 7, 1909 par. 4}

Parents, do not select a business that will constantly stand in the way to obstruct the exercise of your Christian duties, and where you must imperil your Christian principles. Be firm, be faithful where you are. You are on the battle field. Bring moral courage and firm principle to your aid. Wherever Providence has placed you, take up your God-appointed work. Serve Him most faithfully, but enter into no business relations with men; do not become partners with those who do not revere the Sabbath, and who laugh at your attempt to keep it. They are constantly working out Satan's devices that you should bring worldly business into the Sabbath. They make it their boast that they are just as good as you are. Keep holy the Sabbath day at whatever sacrifice to yourself. Never allow the holy day of the Lord to be disregarded by yourself or by your children. {LUH, April 7, 1909 par. 5}

And wherever you make your home, there erect your altar. Seek the blessing of God upon your home and your children, morning and evening. {LUH, April 7, 1909 par. 6}

The Lord declares, "Them that honor Me I will honor." The reason that there are so many unhappy, self-willed, ungrateful children, is that they are not educated to revere God, to love Him, to pray to Him, to keep His commandments holy. With the one hand of persevering faith lay hold of your children; with the other hand lifted to heaven, grasp the merciful hand of Jesus Christ. Christian education is needed in your home. All through the week, keep the Lord's holy Sabbath in view; for that day is to be devoted to the service of God. It is the day when the hands are to rest from worldly employment, and when the soul needs to receive special attention. {LUH, April 7, 1909 par. 7}

From the very cradle the children are to be educated and right impressions to be given to the mind. They are to be instructed in regard to the knowledge of God and His holy commandments. Neither infants, nor children, nor youth, should hear an impatient word from father, mother, or any member of the household; for they receive impressions very early in life, and what parents make of them today they will be tomorrow, and the next day and the next. The first lessons impressed upon the child are never forgotten. {LUH, April 7, 1909 par. 8} (To be continued.)

Then search the Scriptures, parents. Be not only hearers, but doers of the Word. Meet God's standard in the education of your children. Let them see that you are preparing for the Sabbath on the working days of the week. All preparation should be made, every stitch taken, on the six working days; all cooking for the Sabbath should be done on the preparation day. It is possible to do this, and if you make it a rule, you can do it. The commandment is, "Bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe, for tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath." That day is not to be given to the cooking of food, or pleasure seeking, or worldly employment. Explain your work and its purpose to your children, and let them help themselves and their parents in their preparation to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment. Lead your children to consider the Sabbath a delight, the day of days, the holy of the Lord, honorable. Do not allow yourself to spend the precious hours of the Sabbath in your bed. The heads of the house should be astir early. {LUH, April 14, 1909 par. 1}

On Friday, the clothing of the children looked after during the week, should all be laid out by their own hands under the direction of the mother, so that they can dress quickly, without any confusion or rushing about, and hasty speeches. Dress; then come to the table without levity. Boisterous noise and contention should not be allowed any day of the week; but on the Sabbath all should be quietness. No loud-toned commands should be heard at any time; but on the Sabbath they are entirely out of place. This is God's holy day; the day that He has set apart to commemorate His creative works; a day which He has sanctified and hallowed. {LUH, April 14, 1909 par. 2}

In many families boots and shoes are blacked and brushed, and stitches taken, all because these little odds and ends were not done on Friday. They did not "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." It is dishonoring God to make the Sabbath a feast day, a day of baking and boiling, of blacking boots and performing work that should be done the six working days. Do not dishonor God by bringing down its sacredness to the level of the common working days. {LUH, April 14, 1909 par. 3}

In the morning the family should gather about the table quietly, and it would be well that if on the Sabbath there should ever be a simple, palatable meal, yet something that would be considered a treat, something that they do not have every day in the week. Then, before or after the meal, should come the family worship. This should be a service in which all the children should take part. All should have their Bibles, each reading a verse or two. Then a simple hymn should be sung, followed not by a long and wearisome prayer, but by a simple petition, telling the Lord in the simplest manner their needs, and expressing their gratitude for God's mercies and blessings. This invites Jesus as a welcome guest into your house and heart. In the family, long prayers of remote things are not in place, and make the hour of prayer weariness, when it should be considered a privilege and a blessing. Make the season one of interest and joy; never let the children consider it a burden. {LUH, April 14, 1909 par. 4}

On the Sabbath, parents should give all the time they can to their children, thus making it a delight. I have seen many families where father, mother, and the older members of the household, take themselves away from the younger children, and leave them to amuse themselves as best they can. After a while, the children become weary and go out of doors, and engage in play or some kind of mischief. Thus the Sabbath has no sacred significance to them. In pleasant weather the parents can take their children out for a walk in the fields and forest, and talk to them of the lofty trees, the shrubs and flowers, and teach them that God is the Maker of all these things. Then teach them the reasons for the Sabbath, that it is to commemorate God's created works. After working six days, He rested the seventh, and blessed and hallowed the day of His rest. Thus the most profitable instruction can be given. {LUH, April 14, 1909 par. 5}

The sweet story of Bethlehem can be repeated. Present before them Christ as the babe in Bethlehem, a child obedient to His father and mother, a youth industrious, helping to support the family. Thus you can teach your children that Christ was a child like themselves, and that He knows the trials and perplexities, the temptations, the weariness, the joys, and the happiness of youth. Read the interesting stories in the Bible history. Thus the day to them will be the best of the seven. But if the parents loiter in bed on the Sabbath and rise late, all is confusion and bustle to prepare for breakfast and Sabbath-school, the day becomes weariness, the Sabbath desecrated, no holy feelings are inspired to come into the home. The Sabbath-school becomes a dread. I counsel you, my Sabbath-keeping brethren and sisters, to "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." You must change greatly. Many of your habits and practices on the Sabbath are displeasing to God. If you would train your children to observe the Sabbath according to the commandment, you must do it by precept and example. The deep engraving of truth in the heart is never wholly effaced. The impressions made on the heart in early life are seen in after years. They may be buried, but they will seldom be obliterated. Teach your children that the commandments of God must become the rule of their lives. Circumstances may occur to separate the children from their parents and from their home, but the lessons of instruction given in childhood and youth will be a blessing to them throughout their lifetime. {LUH, April 14, 1909 par. 6}

*************
Chap. Seventy-Nine - Sabbath--
The Day of Delight Prevalent Disregard for the Sabbath.--I have been shown that very many of the parents who profess to believe the solemn message for this time have not trained their children for God. They have not restrained themselves and have been irritated with anyone who attempted to restrain them. They have not by living faith daily bound their children upon the altar of the Lord. Many of these youth have been allowed to transgress the Fourth Commandment, by seeking their own pleasure upon God's holy day. They have felt no compunctions of conscience in going about the streets on the Sabbath for their own amusement. Many go where they please, and do what they please; and their parents are so fearful of displeasing them that, imitating the management of Eli, they lay no commands upon them. {CG 527.1}

Make the Sabbath a Delight.--All who love God should do what they can to make the Sabbath a delight, holy and honorable. They cannot do this by seeking their own pleasure in sinful, forbidden amusements. Yet they can do much to exalt the Sabbath in their families and make it the most interesting day of the week. We should devote time to interesting our children. A change will have a happy influence upon them. We can walk out with them in the open air; we can sit with them in the groves and in the bright sunshine, and give their restless minds something to feed upon by conversing with them upon the works of God, and can inspire them with love and reverence by calling their attention to the beautiful objects in nature. {CG 536.1} The Sabbath should be made so interesting to our families that its weekly return will be hailed with joy. In no better way can parents exalt and honor the Sabbath than by devising means to impart proper instruction to their families and interesting them in spiritual things, giving them correct views of the character of God and what He requires of us in order to perfect Christian characters and attain to eternal life. Parents, make the Sabbath a delight, that your children may look forward to it and have a welcome in their hearts for it. {CG 536.2}

Make Friday the Preparation Day.--On Friday let the preparation for the Sabbath be completed. See that all the clothing is in readiness, and that all the cooking is done. Let the boots be blacked, and the baths be taken. It is possible to do this. If you make it a rule, you can do it. The Sabbath is not to be given to the repairing of garments, to the cooking of food, to pleasure seeking, or to any other worldly employment. Before the setting of the sun, let all secular work be laid aside, and all secular papers be put out of sight. Parents, explain your work and its purpose to your children, and let them share in your preparation to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment. {CG 528.2} In many families [on Sabbath] boots and shoes are blacked and brushed, and stitches are taken, all because these little odds and ends were not done on Friday. They did not "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." . . . {CG 528.3} On Friday the clothing of the children is to be looked after. During the week they should be all laid out by their own hands under the direction of the mother, so that they can dress quietly, without any confusion or rushing about and hasty speeches. {CG 528.4}

JUMUIYA

(1 Petro 2, 1 Timotheo 5)

Maisha ya Mkristo: Somo la 12

Somo hili limetafsiriwa kutoka katika Copr. 2009, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Majibu yaliyopendekezwa yanapatikana kwenye parandesi (kwenye mabano). Somo limekaa kimtazamo kwamba mwalimu anatumia ubao au sememu nyingine yoyote ambayo inaweza kuonekana na wanafunzi. Somo hili pia linaweza kupatikana kutoka http://www.GoBible.org kwa lugha ya Kiingereza pamoja na lugha nyingine kama vile Kifaransa, Kijerumani, Kihispania, Kizulu, nk

Utangulizi: Mjomba wangu alikuwa mtu wa kimungu. Akiwa amezaliwa muda mfupi tu baada ya kuanza kwa karne, alitumia muda wa maisha yake yote kama mchungaji na mtawala katika Kanisa la Jeshi la Wokovu. Siku moja nilimuuliza kuwa ni mabadiliko gani aliyoyaona katika jumuiya ya Kikristo katika miaka kadhaa iliyopita. Aliniambia kwamba televisheni ilichukua nafasi ya kanisa kama kituo cha Jumuiya. Kabla ya kuingia kwa televisheni, makanisa (na ninadhani sehemu za kuuzia vinywaji na vileo) yalikuwa ndio mtazamo wa mjamiiko (mwingiliano) wa kijamii. Sasa, alisema, watu wanakaa nyumbani na kufurahia jumuiya kupitia kwenye televisheni. Kama angekuwa bado yu hai leo, nadhani angeita mtandao (intaneti) na simu za mikononi kuwa jumuiya ya kizazi kijacho. Je, Mungu ana mpango gani kwa ajili ya jumuiya? Ni nini lililo lengo lake kwa wale wamfuatao? Je, teknolojia ni msaada au ni kikwazo? Je, kanisa litajirejea upya? Hebu tuingie katika somo letu na kubaini kile ambacho Biblia inasema kuhusu Jumuiya!

I. Taifa Takatifu.

A. Soma 1 Petro 2:4-5. "Jiwe Lililo Hai" ni nani? (Petro anamwongelea Yesu.)

1. Je, Petro anaongelea Jumuiya ya namna fulani? (Ndiyo.)

a. Matofali ya ujenzi wa jumuiya ni yapi? (Sisi ndiyo hayo matofali! Sisi ni "mawe yanayoishi.")

b. Lengo la Jumuiya yetu ni nini? (Sisi tu makuhani. Makuhani walimwakilisha Mungu kwa watu.)

(1) Fungu linasema kuwa tunatoa "dhabihu za roho." Inamaanisha nini kuwa tu aina fulani ya kuhani tukitoa aina fulani ya dhabihu? (Nafikiri inamaanisha kuwa tunakubali dhabihu ya Yesu kwa niaba yetu kwa ajili ya dhambi zetu, na tunawaambia wengine kuhusu hilo.)

B. Soma 1 Petro 2:6. Ni uhusiano upi uliopo kati ya Jiwe Lililo Hai na "mawe yaliyo hai?" (Yesu, Jiwe Lililo Hai, ni jiwe la pembeni la jengo linalofanywa na sisi mawe yaliyo hai. Yesu ndiye anayetupanga. Anayaongoza maisha yetu. Kama tunaamini njia yake, kamwe hatutaaibishwa).

1. Soma Yohana 14:6. Ni wajibu gani mwingine alionao Yesu katika Jumuiya? (Yesu siyo tu "Jiwe la Pembeni" la jumuiya yetu, yeye pia ni "Mlango" wa kuelekea kwenye jumuiya. Jumuiya yetu imejengwa katika Yesu.)

C. Je, teknolojia inasababisha matatizo mengine ya dhahiri katika jumuiya hii? (Haipaswi kufanya hivyo. Teknolojia husaidia mawasiliano. Kwa hiyo, kama sisi "mawe yaliyo hai" tunajengwa pamoja kumtegemea Yesu, mawasiliano bora yanapaswa kusaidia kuwa na mjengo bora.)

1. Je, Teknolojia yaweza kuwa tatizo? (Ndiyo. Kama ilitusababisha kujenga kwenye kitu kingine tofauti na Jiwe Lililo Hai. Inatupatia kiwango cha usiri ndani ya jumuiya ambayo inatupatia ukomo wa uwajibikaji.)

2. Watu wengi wanaopitiapitia mtandao (intaneti) wana sehemu ya "historia". Jiulize kama ungependa jamii yako ipelekewe mabadiliko ya papo kwa papo yatokanayo na historia ya upitiajipitiaji wako wa intaneti?

D. Soma 1 Petro 2:7-8. Je, Jiwe Linaloishi laweza kuwa tatizo? (Siyo ya msaada kwa wale wanaotaka kutomtii Yesu. Inasababisha kwa wao kujikwaa na kuanguka.)

1. Kwa nini? Warumi 9:33 inajaili kuhusu suala hili. Wale ambao wanashikilia haki kupitia matendo hawawezi kukubali kwa imani kunakotolewa na Yesu. Sisi ni jumuiya iliyojengwa juu ya imani.)

E. Soma 1 Petro 2:9. Ni nini azma ya jumuiya yetu iliyojengwa juu ya Yesu?

1. Kwa nini tunaitwa kuwa "wazao wateule"? Je, haya siyo maelezo juu ya watu wa Uyahudi? (Ilikuwa wamwakilishe Mungu duniani. Lakini, walishindwa kufikia lengo la Mungu kwao. Leo,kanisa humwakilisha Mungu kwa dunia.)

2. Tunamsifu nani? (Yesu-ambaye alituita kutoka gizani kwenda mwangani. Azma ya jumuiya yetu kueneza mwanga juu ya zawadi ya Mungu ya rehema duniani.)

F. Soma 1 Petro 2:11. Ni mtazamo wa aina gani unaopaswa kuwepo katika wanajumuiya wa Yesu? (Tunapaswa kujizuia na tamaa za dhambi. Tunapaswa kujichukulia kama "wapitaji na wageni katika dunia hii.")

1. Kwa nini? (Matamanio ya dhambi huleta vita dhidi ya roho zetu.)

2. Tafakari kuhusu historia ya upitiajipitiaji wako wa intaneti. Fikiria kuhusu usengenyaji wako uliopita. Wawezaje kudhibiti matamanio yako?

G. Ni kipengele muhimu kiasi gani kwa jumuiya kuwa na maisha sahihi? Sote tunafahamu juu ya wakristo ambao "walianguka kutoka kwenye mkokoteni" pale inapokuja kwenye kuishi maisha yaliyo sahihi/makamilifu. Halikuwakinga. (Jumuiya ya Kikristo kwa hakika siyo dhamana, bali inasaidia kuishi maisha makamilifu/yaliyo sahihi.)

1. Ninafikiria kuhusu ushawishi wa jumuiya pale nilipokuwa mtoto. Sehemu ya kuuzia magazeti ya Johnson ndipo baba yangu, mtu mashuhuri katika jumuiya, alipokuwa akisimama na kununua gazeti kila siku usiku. Palikuwa pia ni mahala pekee katika jumuiya ile nilipopafahamu ambapo palikuwa panauza picha za wanawake waliokuwa uchi. Uwezekano wa baba yangu kununua mojawapo wa magazeti yale mbele ya "jumuiya" yake ilikuwa ni sawa na baba yangu kuvua nguo zake katika duka/kituo kile!

H. Soma Petro 2:12. Jumuiya inapaswa siyo tu kuwasaidia wanajumuiya, bali pia kuwa shahidi kwa wapagani. Je, wapagani watakubaliana kuwa na muktadha wa kuvutia wa jumuiya ya Kikristo? (Hapana. Wanatutuhumu kwa kutenda mabaya.)

II. Kuitegemeza Jumuiya

A. Soma Yakobo 1:27. Yakobo ni mwandishi anayesisitiza kazi za Mkristo. (Mara nyingine huwa ninafikiri kuwa Yakobo na Paulo wangepaswa kushirikiana kwenye kitabu cha Biblia.)

B. Soma 1 Timotheo 5:3-4. Ni Jumuiya ya aina gani tuliyonayo ndani ya jumuiya kubwa ya Kikristo? (Jamaa [familia]-hata familia kubwa inayohusisha wanandugu.)

1. Soma 1 Timotheo 5:7-8. Kwa nini mtu awe mbaya zaidi ya yule asiyeamini kama hakuisaidia familia yake? ( Kama huwapendi na kuwasaidia wale ambao wana hitaji kubwa la mguso wako, wawezaje kuwapenda na kuwasaidia wale usiowafahamu? Zingatia 1 Yohana 4:20-2.)

C. Soma 1 Timotheo 5:9-10. Wasomi wanatofautiana kwa kile inachomaanishwa kwa "orodha ya wajane." Wengine wanadhani kuwa hawa ni waajiriwa wa kanisa. Katika kukusaidia kuamua, soma Matendo ya Mitume 6:1 na 1 Timotheo 5:16. Unafikiria nini?

1. Baada ya waaminio walioelezewa katika Matendo ya Mitume 6 kuwa wamejipanga sawa sawa, unafikiri kuwa walijuaje wapi pa kugawa chakula? (Walikuwa na orodha! Nadhani "orodha ya wajane" katika 1 Timotheo 5:9 ni wale wajane wanaosaidiwa na kanisa. Mashaka yoyote katika mawazo yangu yanafutwa pale ninaposoma 1 Timotheo 5:16.)

D. Angalia tena 1 Timotheo 5:9-10. Hili linatufundisha nini kuhusu umuhimu wa jumuiya katika kuamua nani wa kumsaidia?

1. Kazi ya mjane "anayestahili" inatufundisha nini kuhusu jumuiya? (Ni msaada kutoka pande zote mbili katika kundi kwa kiasi fulani.)

a. Je, hii ni kazi tu ya mjane? (Hii ni kazi yetu sote. Hii ni sehemu ya kuwa jumuiya.)

E. Soma 1 Timotheo 5:11-14. Je, twapaswa kumsaidia kila mtu anayeomba msaada-kila mtu anayetaka kuorodheshwa kwenye orodha ya wanaohitaji msaada? (Paulo anatufundisha kwamba tusiwatie watu moyo kutokuwa na chochote cha kufanya na hivyo kujiingiza kwenye matatizo.)

1. Je, hii ni sheria ambayo tunapaswa kuitumia kwa wale wote wanaoomba msaada wetu?

a. Soma Luka 6:30-31. Unayaelewaje mafungu haya?

2. Je, tuamueje kuhusu ni nani wa kumsaidia?

F. Mara mbili sasa, katika wiki tatu zilizopita, nilikuwa katika duka moja katika sehemu fulani maarufu nje ya mji na nilikutana na watu wazima (wasiokuwa walemavu) wakaniomba kuwa niwapatie fedha. Ningeweza kuwapatia fedha pasipo kuathiri bajeti yangu. Unafikiri kuwa ningefanya nini? (Rejea wiki iliyopita tulisoma (Mathayo 25:34-36) kwamba wenye haki waliwapatia msaada/mahitaji ya kimwili (nguo, chakula) na si fedha kwa walio wahitaji? Wiki hii tunaona Paulo anasema kuwasaidia wale wanaostahili na usitie moyo wasio na kazi/walegevu. Suala la kawaida linaonekana kutuhitaji sisi kuwa na ujuzi kuhusu mahitaji ya mtu kuomba/kuwa na uhitaji wa msaada. Ni rahisi tu kutoa fedha, lakini suluhisho lililo bora/kamilifu ni kuwa na taarifa sahihi kumhusu mtu husika.)

1. Baada ya kufikia hili suluhisho lenye kuleta mantiki, soma maneno ya Yesu katika Luka 6:35-36. Yesu anasema kuwa wema kwa wengine-hata wasioshukuru na waovu! Je, hii inamaanisha kuwa tunapaswa kuwasaidia ombaomba wavivu? (Inavyoonekana, ni kwa kiwango fulani.)

G. Kama ufumbuzi wa kiambato kwa jumuiya ni kuwasaidia wale walio wahitaji, na kujua wale wanaopaswa kusaidiwa, je, televisheni na teknolojia nyingine zina athari gani katika kazi hii? (Bila kukutana na washiriki wengine katika jumuiya ya makanisa yetu nje ya ibada rasmi, hatutakuwa na wazo kuhusu mahitaji yao au namba gani bora ya kusaidia. Inaonekana kuwa teknolojia ni kikwazo katika hilo .)

1. Ungependekeza kuwa ni namna gani ya "kutatua" hili? (Suluhisho bora ni kuwa na jumuiya ya kanisa kukutana pamoja katika vikundi vidogo vodogo kwa ajili ya kujifunza Biblia pamoja na masuala mengine. Hilo linatusaidia kufahamiana.)

a. Je, kuna tafsiri nyingine ya kiteknolojia ya hili? (Facebook? Je, ni nini kuhusu usomaji wa Biblia kwa kutumia Skype?)

H. Rafiki, je, upo katika "jumuiya" na Wakristo wengine? Kama sivyo, kwa nini usiungane na kundi la waaminio leo? Hayo ndiyo mapenzi ya Mungu kwa ajili ya maisha yako.

III. Wiki ijayo: Mission.

Somo limrletwa kwetu na masatu Mgune

JERUSALEM & SIGNS OF TIME!

My brethrens the bible is full of examples of people not taking heed of all the signs that God manifested to them for their own deliverance.

The Bible from the time of Eden to John the Baptist pointed the coming of messiah "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." and yet they did not receive him;

The people of Messiah's time saw all the wonders and signs and they did not accept him and all they had to say were "Master, we would see a sign from thee"and those who happened to witness would even boldly oppose Him by saying "This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils" (Matt 12:24)

Amidst all these testimonies we have many a times thought that if we were to witness these things we would have behaved better than them; that we would have taken heed to the counsels given by God from time to time; but it is my belief that if Jesus was to live today he would echo the same words he said, recorded in Matt 11:21,22"Woe unto thee, [youths]! woe unto thee, [Adventists] for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you." (words in box brackets emphasis added)

This story became vividly to me when I was reading the warnings Jesus gave to the Jerusalemites "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation (I liiike the Swahili translation of it - chukizo la uharibifu), spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)"
Mat 24:15

"But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, let (him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains: . . . " Mar 13:14

When one goes through history one might learn with astonishment of how God warned his people so that man "should not perish," yet many were lost amidst those signs, nevertheless as it usually happens those who take heed to God's voice He is faithful!

Ellen G. White is telling us that "All the predictions given by Christ concerning the destruction of Jerusalem were fulfilled to the letter. The Jews experienced the truth of his words of warning, "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." [MATT. 7:2.]

"Signs and wonders appeared, foreboding disaster and doom. In the midst of the night an unnatural light shone over the temple and the altar. Upon the clouds at sunset were pictured chariots and men of war gathering for battle. The priests ministering by night in the sanctuary were terrified by mysterious sounds; the earth trembled, and a multitude of voices were heard crying, "Let us depart hence." The great eastern gate, which was so heavy that it could hardly be shut by a score of men, and which was secured by immense bars of iron fastened deep in the pavement of solid stone, opened at midnight, without visible agency.

"For seven years a man continued to go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, declaring the woes that were to come upon the city. By day and by night he chanted the wild dirge, "A voice from the east; a voice from the west; a voice from the four winds; a voice against Jerusalem and the temple; a voice against the bridegroom and the bride; and a voice against all the people." This strange being was imprisoned and scourged; but no complaint escaped his lips. To insult and abuse he answered only, "Woe to Jerusalem! woe, woe to the inhabitants thereof!" His warning cry ceased not until he was slain in the siege he had foretold.

"Not one Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. Christ had given his disciples warning, and all who believed his words watched for the promised sign. "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies," said Jesus, "then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out." [LUKE 21:20, 21.] After the Romans . . . . . . . unexpectedly abandoned the siege when everything seemed favorable for an immediate attack . . . . . . .
But God's merciful providence was directing events for the good of his own people. The promised sign had been given to the waiting Christians, and now an opportunity was afforded for all who would to obey the Saviour's warning. Events were so overruled that neither Jews nor Romans should hinder the flight of the Christians . . . . . At the time of the siege, the Jews were assembled at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and thus the Christians throughout the land were able to make their escape unmolested. Without delay they fled to a place of safety,--the city of Pella, in the land of Perea, beyond Jordan."

-EGW,Great Controversy, "Destruction of Jerusalem" pg 31,32

The Bible leaves us with a lot of warnings for us today on what will take place during the last days and if we let it to speak by itself it has the following to forearm us as we all know 'forewarning is forearming'

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
(2Ti 3:2-7,13)

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2Ti 4:3,4)

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; (1Ti 1:1,2)

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.(2Pet 3:3, 4)

How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. (Jud 1:18,19)

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. . . .

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist,that denieth the Father and the Son.

Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. (1Jh 2:18,22,23)

Brethrens let us tarry for God's salvation and hear his voice, for our signs are many more than never before. The Bible warns us and other inspired writers such as E.G. white does the same "For God so loved the world," that He communicated to us signs of our times "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

By Lord's grace I do hope we shall have a precious time next time to discuss these signs of the end of time

HE IS COMING.

Be blessed!

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IF U LIKE TO READ MORE . . .

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For those of u who like reading the full account of the signs sister White is mentioning above on the destruction of Jerusalem, you can have the full account of the narration below as written by the historian Josephus:

Thus . . . . people . . . did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them.

1. Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year.
   
2. Thus also before the Jews' rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus [Nisan,] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it.
   
3. At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple.
   
4. Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night. Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again. This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared that the signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them.
   
5. Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.
   
6. Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence."
   
7. But, what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian and a husbandman, who, four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple, began on a sudden to cry aloud, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!" This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city. However, certain of the most eminent among the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man, and gave him a great number of severe stripes; yet did not he either say any thing for himself, or any thing peculiar to those that chastised him, but still went on with the same words which he cried before. Hereupon our rulers, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator, where he was whipped till his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!" And when Albinus (for he was then our procurator) asked him, Who he was? and whence he came? and why he uttered such words? he made no manner of reply to what he said, but still did not leave off his melancholy ditty, till Albinus took him to be a madman, and dismissed him. Now, during all the time that passed before the war began, this man did not go near any of the citizens, nor was seen by them while he said so; but he every day uttered these lamentable words, as if it were his premeditated vow, "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!" Nor did he give ill words to any of those that beat him every day, nor good words to those that gave him food; but this was his reply to all men, and indeed no other than a melancholy presage of what was to come. This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased; for as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, "Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!" And just as he added at the last, "Woe, woe to myself also!" there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.
   

More signs are,

1. for the Jews, by demolishing the tower of Antonia, had made their temple four-square, while at the same time they had it written in their sacred oracles, "That then should their city be taken, as well as their holy house, when once their temple should become four-square."
   
2. But now, what did the most elevate them in undertaking this war, was an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, how," about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth." The Jews took this prediction to belong to themselves in particular, and many of the wise men were thereby deceived in their determination. Now this oracle certainly denoted the government of Vespasian, who was appointed emperor in Judea.
   

Now if any one consider these things, he will find that God takes care of mankind, and by all ways possible foreshows to our race what is for their preservation; but that men perish by those miseries which they madly and voluntarily bring upon themselves; . . . However, it is not possible for men to avoid fate, although they see it beforehand. But these men interpreted some of these signals according to their own pleasure, and some of them they utterly despised, until their madness was demonstrated, both by the taking of their city and their own destruction.

- "Jewish Wars," book. 6 chapter 6, section 1. [Emphasis added]

PHILADELPHIA.