DAVID’S STAR 2024

“Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the
poor will also cry out and not be answered.”
~ King David

Proclaim on the fortresses in Ashdod
(Philistia) and on the citadels in the land
of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves
on the mountains of Samaria, and see
the great confusion within her and the
oppressions and abuse of authority in
her midst. For they do not know how to do
right,” says the Lord, “these who store up
violence and devastation [like treasures]
in their strongholds.”
~ The Prophet Amos (Amplified)

Artwork:
~ David B. Redpath © 2024

“A Gentle Tap On The Shoulder” *

* Courtesy of Multiple Michael 🎨

——JAPANO——

79 thoughts on “DAVID’S STAR 2024”

    1. Once upon a time I would enjoy
      catching.up on World 🌎 events, Timothy. Especially US politics that from the safety
      of distance 🌏⬅️ can seem quite hilarious.
      But with the recent outpouring of tribal
      hate the nightly news 📺 has become a
      horror show of late 😱 that we seem to be
      powerless to do.anything about.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I don’t have a TV, so I only get snippets of world events from other people and articles from various magazines like The Economist. Too much hate in the world for sure.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I have not had a TV 97% of my life, and never read but 3 books.
        My experience has been, I didn’t have a TV but I sit in a church listening to some guy talk a bunch of things that he was not backing up by his actions.
        Results, I just should of enjoyed the TV, because the Bullshlt they taught me was just as blinding. And as much of a lie as the rest of the fake stuff that is available to watch.

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      3. Christians debating
        theological correctness
        with a much higher body count
        than political correctness
        Christians dressed
        in their Sunday best
        Christians insisting
        that Sunday is wrong
        and that Saturday is best
        Christians arguing
        about who to allow in
        and who can be blessed
        Christians desperately conservative
        and fundamentally merciless
        when it comes to forgiveness
        yet liberal when it comes
        to a very generous
        self serving of grace
        Christians minding
        other people’s business
        instead of helping
        clean up a helpless mess
        Christians behaving badly
        in a manner diabolical
        leaving the unbeliever
        hopelessly cynical
        Who needs a wolf dressed
        in sheep’s clothing
        when the flock itself
        is armed and dangerous?
        All I can say is look to Christ
        Not some medicine show pretenders
        performing like in a circus
        Snake oil salesmen and hypocrites
        promising paradise … at a price 💰

        Jesus came to set the captives free.
        Even the ostentatiously religious
        bloated with that yeast of the Pharisee
        and held hostage in the bondage
        of erroneous self righteousness.
        But I guess all humanity is prone
        to hypocrisy. Especially me 🤔🕶️

        Liked by 1 person

      5. I try my best to listen
        for the Holy Spirit, since
        Jesus made it possible
        for me to invite for a visit
        Prayer is the golden ticket 🙏
        God the Father just loves it
        ( as prayer is meant to be
        a two way street 🔃 )
        Especially when we repent
        and ask for forgiveness

        Like

      6. David,
        This repent topic you speak of. I am interested in knowing more about this. How does a person repent? What does a person repent from?
        I say this from those who stand up and teach “how to be saved”.
        When I look at repentance in the old documents called – the bible.
        I do not see in the documents what I am hearing taught by these spiritual guides.
        So I analyzed all of the teaching and I find that none are teaching the same thing.
        But what they do teach is this: Come bow at my alter and see things as I say they are. And rent of what I call sin. All a million different ways to repent.
        How does one repent, and what does he repent from?
        What does the scrolls say? How does a person repent? What are they repenting from?
        What is your viewpoint?

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      7. Perhaps we should let Jesus do the
        talking. I’m a poet, not a theologian.

        And Jesus replied to them,
        “It is not those who are healthy who
        need a physician, but [only] those
        who are sick. I did not come to call the
        [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see
        no need to repent], but sinners to
        repentance [to change their old way of
        thinking, to turn from sin and to seek
        God and His righteousness].”

        ~ Jesus (Luke 5:31-32 Amplified)

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      8. Can you point me to an example out of this amplified translation you read?
        I would love to know the examples in what is called the “Bible”. Is there a written example in these collected documents?

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      9. David,
        Thank you so much for allowing me to ask you questions. That I am work out my own salvation.
        I can see in these scriptures that one should repent. Just as you explained, but I have found no religious groups teach or practice the example that was given to repent.
        I also see some of the groups give a formula of how to be saved. A process they call getting the HolyGhost. These groups go on to give a formula of how to receive this. These ideas are real common around the book of Acts. Repent, baptized, and receive the holyghost.
        These same groups, will show you how to move your mouth fast enough to find an unknown language. They call this receiving the holyghost. They will bring them to the alter and stand around them showing them how. In most cases, this will be children who does not have enough wisdom for themselves.
        I will leave this holy-ghost thing up to everyone else interpretation for now.
        For me, I am hung up on the first part of those formulas – Repentance,
        So I ask myself these questions I asked you. = How do we repent? What do we repent from?
        This leads me back to searching the documents, Where does it teach us about repentance. What example does it give?
        If I may ask; Can you go to the documents and show me how to repent? I can not find any religious groups out there teaching how to repent. The same process used in the old scrolls. The same process Jesus followed.
        What is the example is given with Jesus process?
        If you can shed light on this please do so. I will not be offended.
        Thank you for your honesty.
        Juan

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      10. Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord
        your God with all your heart and
        with all your soul and with all your
        mind’. This is the first and greatest
        commandment. And the second is
        like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
        All the Law and the Prophets hang on
        these two commandments.”

        ~ Book of Matthew

        “The goal of this command is love,
        which comes from a pure heart and
        a good conscience and a sincere faith.
        Some have departed from these and
        have turned to meaningless talk. They
        want to be teachers of the law, but they
        do not know what they are talking about
        or what they so confidently affirm.”

        ~ Paul, the Apostle

        Juan, I am an artist, not an apologist
        for the doctrines and dogmas of men.

        “… I have found only this [as a reason]:
        God made man upright and uncorrupted,
        but they [both men and women] have
        sought out many devices [for evil].”

        ~ King Solomon

        Man created in the image of the Creator
        with the gift of heavenly consciousness.
        Then, with the experience of good and
        evil, came a conscience. Mankind, now
        conflicted with consequential guilt,
        finds a measure of relief by religiously
        adhering to a set of rules and regulations.
        Yet this adherence itself creates a false
        sense of self-righteous pride, whilst
        simultaneously falling far short of true
        “holiness”. Jesus said clearly that
        he came to set the captives free (that’s
        you and me) from the chains of guilt that
        separate us from a God who truly loves us.
        It’s our own heavy conscience that keeps
        us from flying with the angels to heavenly
        heights within sight of God’s power and
        glory. Jesus broke those chains with His
        sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. A blood
        sacrifice that suffices finally and eternally
        any criminal charges of unrighteousness
        that can ever be held against us. Freedom
        in Christ, now under the Law of Love only,
        is the true Liberation Theology.
        A good first step is recognising that there
        is a problem, generically referred to as “sin”.
        The thing that causes you to hide, like under
        a fig leaf, from a Creator who loves you.

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      11. First I must say it is a most honor unto me for the time you took to write back.
        A great artist you are.
        I see you have the ability to take what you see in your spirit and write it in a way others can see. This I would like to learn from you. Artistic talent. Thank you.
        I see you gave me a clear answer. Honesty wreaks from the motive of every word spoken. Your artist abilities show again in this letter to me. Explaining your viewpoint like an artist splashes his painting on a wall. It all fell into the correct place.
        You have explained to me your viewpoint on the topic of Sin. Although, I take no positive or negative stand on the how you arrive to your points. Allow me to bring the idea to a summery.
        Synopsis…
        Sin is witnessed in the present actions of mankind. In which gives the need for repentance. Jesus Christ paid a price with his life on earth for this repentance. The price he paid broke people from the bondage of sin and death.
        Christianity as a whole umbrellas many different methodologies of how to accomplish the cleansing of sin. All in which contain Jesus Christ paying the price for.
        David,
        When I was freed from the worlds teachings or their idea of religion. I was able to see Jesus Christ differently. Here is what I see.
        World history documents Jesus being poor, he had no place to lay his head. Outcast, he was homeless and dirty. He didn’t have proper care to eat, like washing his hands. They called him a gluten and a drunk because he hang with the poor who was in need. Jesus was the poor and he hang with the poor and needy.
        When the time came for Jesus to start his ministry. Jesus gathered disciples together, he begin to preach against sin.
        What was sin? What did Jesus preach against?
        Jesus’ accomplishments on earth was: He broke everyone from the bondage of the Law (taxes) and the world Religion (Levite’s). He preached that taxes was a sin and those who collected such were as well. Those who oppressed the poor where sinners.. He was against religion and abolished it. Jesus becoming the high priest, a mediator between God and man.
        The blindness of this sin and death was overcome by Loving your Neighbor.
        These powers in which run our world are politics and religion.
        These controlling powers oppress the poor by controlling their viewpoints on God, for their own greedy gain. These two groups politics and religion killed Jesus for setting the captive free from them.
        ————————————————–.
        This Jesus when he came, he preached repentance. But repentance from what.
        Jesus was not the author of repentance, his forerunner John the Baptist was.
        This John the baptist, he was a rebel against religion.
        John was slotted to be a high priest, both parents were Levits. John understood religion was oppressing the poor by greed. John was so convinced they were wrong, he refused to live in the temples of gold as they did. Neither would he wear their clothing but rather preach against it.
        So, John lived in the woods and did not wear their clothing or eat their foods.
        He would call out to them, “repent from your evil ways”.
        So the question for me is.
        What where they doing to be sin? (Drinking and smoking is todays sin types.)
        So John the Baptist stood and preached. Repent.
        This is the same repentance Jesus himself excepted and was baptized unto.
        The example I found where the crowed asked John the Baptist, “what must we do?” – A physical action. How do we repent they asked.
        John tells them this:
        Luke 3:10–13 (ESV)
        10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”
        The example John set for repentance was to give to the poor.
        John said, if you have two coats. Give one away. If you have much food see someones need and show your love by feeding someone.
        Jesus ministry clearly backed this poor/rich concept of where sin exist. Greed being the culprit for sin. The love of money being evil.
        ————————–
        My viewpoint,
        Religion, as wolves in sheep clothing, with its money and power has brought people right back into the bondage, Jesus clearly had abolished the world out of.
        Religion – The False Prophet. The only real prophet was Jesus, there are no others. The rest are only men trying to get us to see it their way for their own prophet.

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  4. We live in a seriously screwed up world. One would think the powers that be would learn from history, but they never have and probably never will.
    I enjoyed the videos, am a big Bob Dylan fan. Have you ever heard the song “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire? It’s an old one but still relevant today.

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    Reply

    1. Thanks for the reminder, Kate 🙏
      That song became a rally cry against
      the Vietnam War (another unwinnable
      tragic stalemate) and the nuclear threat
      of the Cold War. The Ukraine will not stop
      defending itself against Russia because
      they remember their history, and the
      millions of Ukrainians starved to death
      by Joseph Stalin (The Holodomor).
      It does seem that Vladimir Putin has
      forgotten history’s lesson regarding the
      fate of tyrants.
      As for the Middle East … for the fighting
      to cease both sides must actually want
      peace 🕊️

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      Reply

      1. David, I fear the US will be dragged into war soon, not just supplying weapons and aid, but feet-on-the-ground soldiers as well. And as for depleting our own stockpiles of weapons, l won’t even go there. 😔

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  5. As always, very thought-provoking art and poetry. Thank you for filling my days of 2023 with your presence. Looking forward to your art and words in 2024. Happy New Year, David.

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    1. A totally incognito thank you,
      Anonymous Someone ✌️😎
      This was a futile attempt at a
      wordless for an art for art’s sake
      post, but those Old Testament prophets
      always have a point to make 👉 👤
      May your New Year be blessed with
      success and good cheer 🙏

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      Reply

  9. It appears to me, nobody follows what Jesus really did.
    Jesus abolished known religion, and they killed him from it.
    Jesus called those who was over the law – sinners. It was a sin to take from the poor.
    Nothing has changed.
    Jesus death to break the poor from bondage has not changed. Christians has morphed religion back into the same bondage he brought everyone out of . Teaching their followers if they are not rich then God does not bless them. This is a wolf in sheep clothing. This is a hypocrite, saying one thing and doing something else.
    If I offended by my viewpoint, please forgive me up front.

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  10. Amos always sounds good, amped up or not. I do recommend a Boss Katana 100 Mk2 if there’s a guitar involved. It’s wonderful for the price, but the old school crowd still prefer their tubes.
    A lot of the Hebrew Bible goes so well with music. I have not heard the verses in their original languages, but King James seems to have captured some of their fire in its translation.
    Yeesh, I forgot! 😬 I don’t think that I can rewrite this comment in verse 🥴

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    1. I find it interesting that much of the
      Old Testament is written in Hebrew
      poetry, sadly lost to us gentiles in the
      process of translation … Selah!
      The ‘Amplified’ Bible helps to get a
      fuller understanding of the original
      text, but as to the poetics, you’d need
      to study Hebrew linguistics full time.
      Thanks for trying, Tanmay … but your
      comments, without rhyme, are just fine
      as too much rhyming is a crime 😎

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      Reply

      1. Being amped up does not always lead to a fuller understanding
        I’ve found that no matter how soft, He’ll still find a discerning ear (but loud does make it easier to hear)
        And how can rhyming ever be a crime?
        Are they going to put me in poetry prison until the end of Time?
        Anyway, I’m well past my prime…
        And it’s nice to hear this loud today

        ‘There is a time for boosting sound signals’ – Ecclesiastes 2024

        1 Kings 19:11-13
        New International Version
        11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

        Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

        Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

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      2. Even a poor shepherd boy, like David,
        knows that Jehovah loves a fat sound,
        with or without amplification 🎸🎶
        The way to gain divine favour …
        cook that fat on the alter with
        a spoonful of lovin’ flavour
        and become that baffled king 👑
        of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’

        “And the priest shall burn them upon
        the altar: it is the food of the offering
        made by fire for a sweet savour: all
        the fat is the Lord’s.” ~ Leviticus 3;26

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      3. ‘Minor fall, major lift’
        That’s an AmF
        Close enough to an AmP

        As for the offering
        …
        Amply fried?

        😂

        Happy new year, David
        May your voice resound throughout the world
        And wake everyone up

        Liked by 1 person

      4. All the best for a rapturous 2024, Tanmay.
        I’ll be doing my best to avoid the deeply
        fried, the shallow skin deeps, and those
        ferocious Velociraptors, as I find them
        totally cretaceous 🦖 always making a
        a prehistoric mess at parties 🦕🎉

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  20. Your commentary on this post’s topics is very wise. I have BA and MA in religious studies. Your Biblical understanding is very wise and impressive. I have studied too. In 2016 I copied and hand wrote the entire New Testament. I have subscribed to your posts

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    Reply

    1. Greatly appreciated, Carl 🙏
      If theology has taught me anything
      it’s that Love, above all else, is the
      greatest thing. It raises our sights to
      a big picture insight. A higher reality
      viewpoint as to this existence. Even to
      make sense of the world around us.

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      Reply

  21. To your star so bright as we flood our light. Thanks for sharing yours David. You left me a looong comments somewhere I can’t find.. darn it. Thanks for whatever you said lol and happy new year.💕❤️🎉🙏🥳

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