November 16, 2024

Witnessing To the Light of Christ in a Dark World (Proper 33b)

As we approach the end of the Church’s teaching Year B we are being sent out to witness to our own experience of being healed, made holy by God and sharing in the love, joy and peace of His Kingdom in our Christian fellowship. People all around us are starving for meaning and fellowship in their lives. Young Muslims of both sexes are so bored and desperate they travel to the horrific violence and danger of the ideal of establishing a new Islamic State. The end of Christendom has left many people without hope or meaning. They have never seen or experienced the spiritual light of hope for healing, forgiveness and an eternal life of love, joy and peace that Jesus taught and modelled on Earth. They have been deceived by false teachers (Mark 13.5, 22) because nobody forcefully proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ to them.
 

1. Christians are being “made holy” (Hebrews 10.14)

October 26, 2024

Jesus Opens Our Spiritual Eyes (Proper 30 Year B)

 

The Readings teach us that experiences of Jesus /Holy Spirit open our spiritual eyes so we can see things our minds cannot grasp. Bartimaeus, Paul and Job all heard the voice of God and were able to understand things they could not figure out in their heads. This is why there is a disconnect between those who have experienced Jesus / Holy Spirit and those who have not.

 

1.   Jobs tormenters show us how foolish we are

October 12, 2024

This Life Is a Training Game (Proper 28)


(Proper 28 2024 Fr. John)

 

We are nearing the end of the season of Pentecost which is about the work of the Holy Spirit guiding us in our lives. Jesus is dealing with the question of “what must I do to inherit eternal life”. Jesus tells him to obey the commandments. He has – but one thing he lacks. He has not really died to his old way of life by giving up his great wealth. He is not “all in”. Not totally dependent on God. The readings help us understand spiritual testing and divine judgement.

 

1.     This Life is a Training Game

September 14, 2024

Holy Spirit Gives Us an Instructed Tongue (Proper 24)

In the Season of Pentecost, we are learning about the work of the Holy Spirit as the continuing presence of Jesus in the world. Last Sunday the Readings were about having our spiritual eyes and ears opened. This Sunday we are learning about the danger of an uninstructed tongue and the power of spoken words.

1 1. Holy Spirit enables Peter to understand who Jesus is. 

August 23, 2024

Recovering Truth, Freedom, and Democracy: Challenging Woke Totalitarianism


Recovering Truth, Freedom, and Democracy: 

Challenging Woke Totalitarianism

(Print in Revision, available November 23)

It’s time for the silent majority to stand up and challenge the misguided dictates, social chaos, and totalitarian rule of New Left Marxist and extreme environmentalist, feminist, LGBTQ, diversity, equity and inclusion activists wherever they can.  This inspiring, researched guide exposes their false truths and empowers us to challenge and replace the leaders of churches, universities, schools, professional associations and governments who have failed us. The goal is to recover the Judeo-Christian spiritual truths, values and trust that all thriving democracies depend on; male and female identity; freedom of speech; and the democratic rule of the majority.

 


“…a comprehensive and thought-provoking appraisal of what ails our times.  It is well worth reading.”   Dr. Patrick Brennan


"Recovering Truth, Freedom, and Democracy: Challenging Woke Totalitarianism by John Gishler is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand or confront the prevailing worldviews of our time. A powerful wake-up call to Woke Culture, Gishler guides us back to truth, offering a hopeful vision that reawakens our understanding of what it truly means to love others as we love ourselves." Jonatan Chapman


Contents

Introduction: Woke is the Opposite of Truth, Freedom, and Democracy
1. Human Reason as False Truth
2. Liberalism as False Christianity
3. Climate Emergency as False Science
4. Feminism as False Female
5. Homosexuality as False Male
6. Diversity, Inclusion and Equity as False Justice
7. Death as a False Ending
8. Recovering Objective Truth
9. Recovering Freedom
10. Recovering Democratic Compromise
Endnotes



 

 Available

  1. Print 222 pages ISBN 9781775212737. $19.99 USD from Amazon and bookstores worldwide on Ingram Content network 
  2. Gishler Group $19.99 CDN in Canada - jgishler@gmail.com.) 
  3. Better Books and Bibles, Calgary and participating Canadian bookstores
  4. Kindle eBook ISBN 97817712744.  $5.99 USD


Sample:

Introduction: Wokeism is the Opposite of Truth, Freedom, and Democracy

                    

This inspiring plan explains truth as the existential crisis of our time. It gives the hope of ending woke social chaos, recovering freedom of speech and the objective truth of Christianity, sexual identity, climate change, diversity politics and finding a democratic compromise with minorities.

The cover picture of the January 6 riot in the US says it all. As Nietzsche warned and history has shown; when we lose our respect for divine truth; social order; breaks down and there will be mass violence followed by totalitarian rule. The good news is that the silent majority is tired of woke totalitarianism. The silent majority in the U.S. has revolted against Democratic Party wokeism and re-elected Donald Trump. New Christian churches are springing up that are teaching the objective spiritual truths of the Bible and thriving. A huge majority of voters in Ireland defeated their governing parties proposed woke agenda. Electric vehicles are piling up unsold in storage. Since 2023, 81 anti-D.E.I. bills that target programs at U.S. colleges have been introduced in 28 states. and in Congress. [i]

But this is just the beginning of the revolt of the silent majority against woke totalitarianism. Recovering truth, freedom, and democracy will depend on the silent majority understanding how we got into this mess and having the hope of this practical way forward to get out of the mess. 

This researched guide explains:

·      How dangerous and destructive wokeism is,

·      What objective truth is -- what has been seen to be true in all places and times and cannot be disproven – the opposite of false woke replacement truths

·      How we lost objective truth, including the 7 objective spiritual truths of the Bible all thriving democracies depend on,

·      How to recover objective truth and freedom, and

·       How to recover a democratic compromise between the needs and rule of the majority, and the needs of the minorities.

 

The Oxford English Dictionary defines woke as 

 

“Progressive or left-wing attitudes or practices, esp. those opposing social injustice or discrimination, that are viewed as doctrinaire, self-righteous, pernicious, or insincere. Hence: such attitudes or practices are seen as constituting a collective social movement or agenda.” (Downloaded Sept. 16, 2024)

 

 Woke began as a call to African Americans in the United States to become more alert to “racial prejudice and discrimination”.[ii] An early example in the United States was the paramilitary youth organization the Wide Awakes. They which formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1860 to support Abraham Lincoln the Republican candidate in the 1860 presidential election. Local chapters of the group spread rapidly across northern cities and "triggered massive popular enthusiasm" around the election. The political militancy of the group alarmed many southerners, who saw in the Wide Awakes confirmation of their fears of northern, Republican political aggression. The support among the Wide Awakes for abolition, as well as the participation of a number of black men in a Wide Awakes parade in Massachusetts, likely contributed to such anxiety.”[iii] [iv]

 “Beginning in the 2010s, woke came to be used as slang for a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racial injusticesexism, and denial of  LGBTQ rights. Woke has also been used as shorthand for some ideas of the American Left  involving identity politics and social justice, such as white privilege and reparations for slavery in the United States”.[v] [vi] [vii] [viii]

Wokeism is a mental stronghold. This is explained in psychology as a self-deception. The human brain automatically filters out information that it considers irrelevant to protect the mind from being overwhelmed with input from all the senses. It also filters out information that is stressful, so a person both knows and does not know, because the information does not come into the conscious mind. This is why you cannot argue with an alcoholic or terrorist. I explain mental strongholds from a spiritual perspective in Going Spiritual: Discovering, Developing and a Spiritual Life. They are caused by natural psychological self-deception and Satanic deception working together to build a mental stronghold, like alcoholism, that is difficult to overcome.

Wokeism is a failure to take responsibility for a failed lifestyle or culture and adapt to the truths and values of Judeo-Christian culture. Life is competitive. The most fit succeed. Those who fear God are obligated to self-sacrificial love of neighbour and care for those who are less fit. Giving away 10% of your income is a test of love. The truth of history is that cultures with Judeo-Christian faith, truth and values have been the most successful. Wokeism attracts those who are trying to get ahead, without adopting the spiritual truths and values needed to thrive. 

Wokeism is a child of Postmodern philosophy that is defined as 

 

“of, relating to, or being a theory that involves a radical reappraisal of modern assumptions about culture, identity, history, or language”[ix]

 

Postmodernism rejects concepts of rationality, objectivity and universal truth. Instead, it emphasizes the diversity of human experience and multiplicity of perspectives.”[x] Richard Wolin summarizes the conclusion of French philosopher Jean- Francois Lyotard’s pioneering work on postmodernism as “(there is no universal “truth” or “reason)””[xi]

Postmodernism is an irrational, atheist way of thinking that is based on minority opinion without any over-arching sense of order. In simple language it seems to be the chaos of liberalism gone mad in its rejection of historical experience, reason and divine authority and order. 

This has birthed the (to many) complete nonsense of “intersectionality”, a new word invented by critical race theory lecturer Kimberie Crenshaw. Intersectionality is th

“…study of how overlapping or intersecting social identities, particularly minority identities, relate to systems and structures of oppression, domination, or discrimination.”[xii] [xiii]

 

August 10, 2024

I Am the Bread of Life (Proper 19 year B)

 There are four weeks of readings all based on this important issue of who Jesus is. John is an eyewitness. His account is different – meant to be read with spiritually opened eyes. We are in Pentecost where the readings for each week teach us about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the life of the church.

 

1. The Church has lost its supernatural truths

In writing Recovering Truth, Freedom, and Democracy: Challenging Woke Totalitarianism, I had a word of knowledge. 

·      Writing about the Judeo-Christian foundation of truth all thriving democracies are based on and explaining how these have been lost as they contradicted the false truth of various woke activists.

·      Realized in my research I had identified 7 spiritual truths that have been almost lost as the Church expanded, grew, became intellectualized and politicized and was led by men who had not had the same experiences of Holy Spirit as the first Apostles.

June 15, 2024

Anyone Who Lives in Christ Is a New Creation (Proper 11B)

     Paul is explaining how things work in the unseen world (2 Cor. 5 6-17) The unseen or spiritual dimension is the theme of all the teachings in Pentecost. The Samuel Reading reminds us we are judged not by appearance but what is in our heart. Jesus’s parables of the seed growing unseen reminds us we are part of God’s order and process of creation, which is unseen, out of our control and is a lost spiritual truth in our time.