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[[Image:BKFCR.jpg|right|400px|thumb|The picture on the cover of [[FCR|The Free Church Report]] is the Lady ''Godgifu'' which means a “gift of God”. [[FCR|The Free Church Report]] explains how [[Pure Religion]] created the [[social bonds]] of a free society. It also addresses the importance of a true separation of [[Church and State]]. ]]
 
[[Image:Lady_Godiva.jpg|right|250px|thumb|If [[Lady Godiva]] did not strip naked, what did she really take off and did she put on the [[wedding garment]]s of Christ? Are your [[wedding garment]]s woven with [[righteousness]] and the [[love]] of [[Christ]] which is the [[sacrifice]] of [[fervent charity]] or are they woven with the works of [[iniquity]] and the [[wages of unrighteousness]] and the [[covetous practices]]<Ref name="jesuscovet">{{jesuscovet}}</Ref> of the [[world]]? Also see [[Matthew 22]]. <Br>[[Lady Godiva]] stripped her wealth<Ref>A necklace went to Evesham, and jewelry by the famous goldsmith Mannig and bequeathed a necklace valued at 100 marks of silver.(Dodwell, C. R.; Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective, 1982, Manchester UP, ISBN 0-7190-0926-X (US edn. Cornell, 1985), pp. 25 & 66). Then there was a life-size gold and silver depiction of the crucifixion that both she and her husband had donated. St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London received a gold-fringed chasuble. </Ref> not her body to provide for the needy of society through [[fervent charity]].<Br>There has been a war for centuries for the soul of mankind. Around 1000 AD KINGS AND RULERS began to rise to power and at the same time a church also gained a position and power with these rulers in the [[world]] crowning men to [[exercise authority]]<Ref name="exauth">{{exauth}}</Ref> one over the other. That Church, as it crowned those kings to [[exercise authority]] one over the other and even oppose the [[perfect law of liberty]].<Br>The idea of men who ruled in governments also becoming the [[benefactors]] of society started with the Church appointed by [[Constantine]] in opposition to [[The Way]] of [[Christ]]. The [[early Church]] provided all social [[welfare]] through a [[daily ministration]] of [[charity]] alone which was called "[[Pure Religion]]" which is the antithesis of the [[covetous practices]] of "[[legal charity]]" imposed by rulers and opposed by [[Lady Godiva]]. ]]
 
 


== The Lady Godiva ==
== The Lady Godiva ==
   
   
The picture on the cover of [[FCR|The Free Church Report]] is a sketch by George Edmund Blair Leighton. It is a picture of the famous [[Lady Godiva]] who reportedly rode through town naked to spare the poor a tax.
The picture on the cover of [[FCR|The Free Church Report]] is a sketch by George Edmund Blair Leighton. It is a picture of the famous [[Lady Godiva]] who reportedly rode through town naked to spare the poor a tax.
 
=== The myth, legend and truth ===
 
It has been suggested by some historians that the reference to Lady Godiva being “naked” had nothing to do with being without clothes. As a widow under Saxon law her wealth was her own. Normans had brought a more chauvinistic approach to a widow's right to disperse and manage her first husband's or even her own wealth and property. The challenge was more likely that Lady Godiva would have to give up some of that wealth before her husband would give up his Norman right to tax the people as subjects.  


The Countess Godgifu, or Lady Godiva as we know of her today, was historically famous for a number of reasons. She is mentioned in the Stow charter, Spalding charter and the Domesday Book survey of 1085, ordered by William the Conqueror.<Ref>a.k.a. William of Normandy and William the Bastard. He was the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificent who claimed to be the Duke of Normandy and Herleva the daughter of a tanner. </Ref>
Legend has it that one man named Tom was overcome by the temptation and bored a peephole in his shutters that he might gaze upon the naked Godiva. For his disregard he was forever struck blind. Her husband supposedly kept his word and abolished the onerous tax.


She was one of the few Anglo-Saxons to retain land after the Norman conquest, and the only woman mentioned as a landholder. She was known as a kind and beautiful woman. As a widow, and wealthy in her own right, she became the wife of a second husband, Leofric III who was Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry.
Reading actual accounts of their character at the time it seems more likely that her husband was merely convicted by her charitable heart and his own and there was no real challenge between them. Her heroism, personal piety, humility, and charity obliged the people’s love and respect, strengthening the whole community by her faithful example. The people who loved Christ had managed all social welfare for centuries with little more than free will offerings. That practice bound communities together and made them strong, secure, and self-reliant. The Babylonian idea of taxing one class of society for the benefit of another had not yet become a part of ''modern'' Christian doctrine.


[[Image:Lady_Godiva.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Lady Godiva who stripped her wealth not her body to provide for the needy of society.<Br>There has been a war for centuries for the soul of mankind. Around a 1000 AD KINGS AND RULERS began to rise to power and at the same time a church also gained a position and power with these rulers in the [[world]]. That Church, as it crowned those kings to [[exercise authority]] one over the other and even oppose the [[perfect law of liberty]].
All those who wrote Chroniclers of those centuries that mention Godiva show her as a respectable, devout, and religious woman of some beauty and never allude to a nude ride in public. All the records of her and her husband say the opposite and suggest the story of these two saints was the result of a controversy and contention for power and riches occurring after the conquest and invasion of 1066.
The idea of men who ruled in governments also becoming the [[benefactors]] of society started with the Church appointed by [[Constantine]] in opposition to [[The Way]] of [[Christ]]. The [[early Church]] provided all social [[welfare]] through a [[daily ministration]] of [[charity]] alone which was called "[[Pure Religion]]" which is the antithesis of the [[covetous practices]] of "[[legal charity]]" imposed by rulers and opposed by [[Lady Godiva]]. ]]


Leofric, Godiva’s Norman husband, was a man of authority and power. He “was regarded by contemporaries as an upright man…[and] maintained himself in power for more than twenty years without violence and aggression.”<Ref>Sir Frank Stenton, Anglo Saxon England published by Oxford 1971. </Ref> “He was very wise in all matters, both religious and secular, that benefited all this nation.”<Ref>The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, translation edited by Dorothy Whitelock, David C. Douglas and Susie I Tucker, Eyre and Spottiswode 1965, revised. </Ref>  
This story of a naked rider on horseback, clothed only in her long blond hair, was published by Roger of Wendover (died 6 May 1236) more than a century after her death. It was simply a myth.<Ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/1507606.stm Lady Godiva: The naked truth]". 24 August 2001. Retrieved August 2022.</Ref>  


Leofric had been pressed by the king to burden the people with [[taxation]] to improve the lot of the whole [[community]]. His wife, the “pious Countess Godiva”<Ref>Quoted from the chronicle about Prior Æfic of Evesham who knew Lady Godiva. </Ref> continually appealed to her husband to grant a relief and free the people from these rigorous and regulatory burdens.
Did the saintly Lady Godiva actually ride through the streets naked?


[[Lady Godiva]] did not just talk about the needs of the people, she acted upon those needs and literally ''put her money where her mouth'' and heart was. Here actions were rooted in the [[Gospel of the Kingdom]].
Was this a colorful legend or is the truth hidden behind the esoteric fable of an idle monk?
 
Was there a conflict raging in England with new [[Factions at the altar|factions at the altar]]?
 
=== The Countess Godgifu ===
 
The Countess Godgifu,<Ref>May have been daughter of Turold, Sheriff of Lincoln and a sister to His son Turold of Lincoln also called Thorold of Bucknall which was an English derivation of the Scandinavian name Thorvaldr. With more certainty she was the grandmother of three of the leading English characters of the Norman Conquest; Harold Godwinson also called Harold II and his queen, Ealdgyth (also Aldgyth or Edith in modern English) was a daughter of Ælfgar(Earl of Mercia}, and Edwin and Morcar.</Ref> or Lady Godiva (''a gift from God'') as we know of her today, was historically famous for a number of reasons. She is mentioned in the Stow charter, Spalding charter and the Domesday Book survey of 1085, ordered by William the Conqueror.<Ref>a.k.a. William of Normandy and William the Bastard. He was the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificent who claimed to be the Duke of Normandy and Herleva the daughter of a tanner. </Ref>  William did not just bring his army but the bishops of a Church that condoned his invasion.
 
Both Godiva and her husband had been among the most generous, "giving or given freely and unstintingly," among wealthy Anglo-Saxon donors during the decades before the Norman Conquest. Many early Norman ''bishops'' greedy for gain and filthy Lucre carried that wealth off to Normandy often melting them down for bullion and coin not for the poor but for their own enrichment.
 
=== The Sister Wulfgifu ===
 
Wulfgifu or better known as Wulviva was the sister of Lady Godiva and together they donated the manor of Woolhope in Herefordshire, along with four other properties, to the ''cathedral''<Ref>at that time a modest daily ministrative building used for the care to the poor</Ref> at Hereford before the Norman Conquest. The ministry and canons would be destroyed by invaders in 1056<Ref> Harold II from Whales, Irish, and Ælfgar who believed himself cheated.</Ref> the year before Leofric's death. The Overseer Athelstan died in that year and Edward the Confessor chose Leofgar to replace him. He would die raiding the Welsh to get back what was lost. The next major change was the Rule of Chrodegang which replaced monks with clerics who would be allowed the owning of private property. A grandiose cathedral was eventually built in 1079 by the Norman bishops who filled the void and seized the properties.
 
Godiva was one of the few Anglo-Saxons to retain land<Ref>Originally owned land exceeding sixty hides (6,000 acres) in Ansty, Atherstone, Coventry, Gloucestershire, Hartshill, Kingsbury, Leicestershire, Meriden, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire, including at least 3 hides (360 acres) in Lower Penn. Her largest holding was in Newark, Nottinghamshire.</Ref> after the Norman conquest, and the only woman mentioned as a landholder. She was known as a kind and beautiful woman.<Ref> She was described as “the most beauteous of all women of her time” by The Chronicle of Croyland Abbey by Ingulphus.</Ref> As a widow, and wealthy in her own right, it is believed she became the wife of a second husband, Leofric III who was Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry.<Ref>His family’s lands were in the eastern part of Mercia. They were religious benefactors at Peterborough Abbey.</Ref>
 
=== Leofric, Earl of Mercia ===
 
[[Image:Leofric.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Leofric III who was the husband of the famous [[Lady Godiva]] and who eventually matched his wife's [[fervent charity|generosity]] with his own avoiding the burdening the people with [[taxation]] imposed by the king who chose to [[exercise authority]] in order to provide [[welfare]] for the [[care]] of the [[Pure Religion|needy of society]].  Since the days of [[Constantine]] and [[Ambrose]] there had been an institution of men posing as a church but often depended upon the power of government to fund a form of [[Legal charity]]. Such [[covetous practices]] has always [[Sodom|weakened]] and [[Perfect savages|degenerated]] the [[Masses]] and consolidated their own power over the people. In the tradition of the true [[early Church]] the [[daily ministration]] of [[charity]] and [[welfare]] must be by institutions of [[Pure Religion|Pure Charity]].]]
 
Leofric<Ref>. He was born on 14th May 968. By 1026 he has</Ref>, Godiva’s Norman husband, was a man of authority and power.<Ref>Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry, and one of the most powerful men in the country with the title “Dux”, a leader of an army.</Ref> He “was regarded by contemporaries as an upright man…[and] maintained himself in power for more than twenty years without violence and aggression.”<Ref>Sir Frank Stenton, Anglo Saxon England published by Oxford 1971.  </Ref> “He was very wise in all matters, both religious and secular, that benefited all this nation.”<Ref>The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, translation edited by Dorothy Whitelock, David C. Douglas and Susie I Tucker, Eyre and Spottiswode 1965, revised.  </Ref> He was not only a man of property<Ref>His estates were in Staffordshire, including: Alrewas, Barton, Braunston, Bromley, Cannock, Chartley, Drayton, Elford, Rolleston, Rugeley, Tutbury and Uttoxeter. He also owned land in Warwickshire at Ansley, Ansty, Atherstone, Coventry, Foleshill, Hartshill, Kingsbury and Meriden.</Ref> but also a man of vision<Ref> Old English Vision of Earl Leofric, [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-968X.1908.tb00515.x UISIO LEOPRICI]. First published: May 1908</Ref> grnerosity<Ref> Leofric founded and endowed a Benedictine monastery at Coventry built on the site of a convent destroyed by the Danes in 1016</Ref>and ensight.
 
Their marriage was fruitful.<Ref>They had nine children; one son was Ælfgar.</Ref> Both Lady Godiva and Leofric have been recorded as mutual benefactors to churches and their endowment of Coventry Abbey, among many others.<Ref> Worcester and Stow St Mary, Lincolnshire, Leominster, Chester, Much Wenlock, and Evesham.</Ref> The lands of some of these Abbeys had been held by them both individually<Ref>""He and his wife, the noble Countess Godgifu, a worshipper of God and devout lover of St Mary ever-virgin, built the monastery there from the foundations out of their own patrimony, and endowed it adequately with lands and made it so rich in various ornaments that in no monastery in England might be found the abundance of gold, silver, gems and precious stones that was at that time in its possession. "He and his wife, the noble Countess Godgifu, a worshipper of God and devout lover of St Mary ever-virgin, built the monastery there from the foundations out of their own patrimony, and endowed it adequately with lands and made it so rich in various ornaments that in no monastery in England might be found the abundance of gold, silver, gems and precious stones that was at that time in its possession." According to author of the Chronicon ex chronicis, John of Worcester ed. and trans. R.R. Darlington, P. McGurk and J. Bray (Clarendon Press: Oxford 1995), pp. 582–3., </Ref>. They also endowed the minster church of Stow St Mary, just to the north of Lincoln, and an Old English memorandum included both Leofric and Godiva in a request to Wulfwig, Bishop of Dorchester-on-Thames ‘to endow the monastery and assign lands to it.<Ref>Stow St Mary founded in the seventh century.</Ref> The endowment included provision included that the needy would be cared for under the supervision of the overseer. The people were at that time, between 1053 and 1055, still organized in the [[Tens]] and Leofric was an ealdorman.
 
===Norman conflict ===
 
Leofric had been supposedly pressed by the king to burden the people with [[taxation]] to improve the lot of the whole [[community]] by funding the Church. His wife, the “pious Countess Godiva”<Ref>Quoted from the chronicle about Prior Æfic of Evesham who knew Lady Godiva. </Ref> was supposedly continually appealing to her husband to grant a relief and free the people from these rigorous and regulatory burdens. But taxes imposed to provide [[Legal charity]] was introduced more than a century later by the Normand rulers who [[exercise authority]] and were crowned by bishops.
 
The Normans built larger stone churches, and constructed basilicas in major towns, like London, Durham and York, which could hold hundreds of people worshipping at one time. One key feature of these large Norman basilicas was the rounded arch, and Norman churches would have been painted inside with religious art.<Ref> [https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zgvjnbk/revision/2 The Church in Norman England].</Ref>
 
"The various Norman conquerors all sought to legitimize their domination in this region by gaining the support of the Church."<Ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zgvjnbk/revision/2 Sacred Conquest and Ecclesiastical Politics: The Normans and the Church in the Eleventh Century] </Ref> While Ecclesiastical sanctions were a common feature of the Norman conquests these kings, claiming a "divine right", looked to the Church established by [[Constantine]] to crown its position of derived authority. But they also [[exercise authority|exercised authority]] over the church factions and the people and their faith.
 
The Church established by Christ was to return every man to his family and to his possessions. they were to set the [[captive]] free, not bring them back into [[bondage]].
 
<blockquote>
'''"This [[Bible]] is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People."''' is attributed to the '''General Prologue to the [[John Wycliffe]] Bible translation of 1384''', as quoted in Lincoln at Gettysburg: An Address (1906) by Clark Ezra Carr, p. 75. [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Wycliffe]
</blockquote>
 
 
All over the world there was a rise of kings and a steady repression of liberty during this period. “Before the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the people were the fountainhead of justice. The Angloe-Saxon courts were composed of large numbers of freemen and the law which they administered, was that which had been handed down by oral tradition from generation to generation. In competition with these popular, nonprofessional courts the Norman king, who insisted that he was the fountainhead of justice, set up his own tribunals… The angloe-Saxon tribunals had been open to all; every freeman could appeal to them for justice.”<Ref>Clark’s Summary of American law. Common Law Chat 1 pp.530.</Ref>
 
=== The heart of God ===
 
[[Lady Godiva|Godiva]], meaning ''God's gift'', did not just talk about the needs of the people, she acted upon those needs and literally ''put her money where her mouth'' and heart was. Here actions were rooted in the [[Gospel of the Kingdom]].


She was also famous for her building projects and is still considered the patron saint of engineers. What she often built were Churches, Monasteries, and Abbeys.<Ref>The monasteries at Stow, Lincolnshire, Coventry, Spalding, Leominster, Wenlock in Shropshire, Worcester, Evesham ... </Ref>  
She was also famous for her building projects and is still considered the patron saint of engineers. What she often built were Churches, Monasteries, and Abbeys.<Ref>The monasteries at Stow, Lincolnshire, Coventry, Spalding, Leominster, Wenlock in Shropshire, Worcester, Evesham ... </Ref>  
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The [[Daily ministration|daily ministration]] of widows, orphans, and other needy of society was conducted through a system of [[freewill offerings]] and the service of that Church. This was all in remembrance through charity and love through the '[[Religion|Religion of Christ]]'' and His [[Kingdom of God]] to help us fulfill our ''religious duty to God and our fellowman''.
The [[Daily ministration|daily ministration]] of widows, orphans, and other needy of society was conducted through a system of [[freewill offerings]] and the service of that Church. This was all in remembrance through charity and love through the '[[Religion|Religion of Christ]]'' and His [[Kingdom of God]] to help us fulfill our ''religious duty to God and our fellowman''.


[[Image:BKFCR.jpg|right|400px|thumb|The picture on the cover of [[FCR|The Free Church Report]] is the Lady ''Godgifu'' which means a “gift of God”. [[FCR|The Free Church Report]] explains how [[Pure Religion]] created the [[social bonds]] of a free society. It also addresses the importance of a true separation of [[Church and State]]. ]]


== A New Age of Old Ideas==
== A New Age of Old Ideas==


There was a new age of change around 1000 years after the fall of [[Jerusalem]]. The State and a Church formed an alliance as kings began to rise up in power and authority all across Europe. That church which had bided its time since the days of [[Constantine]] now crowned these kings and rode upon the back of their power to position of wealth and influence over the [[minds]] and [[conscience]] of the [[masses]].
There was a new age of change around 1000 years after the fall of [[Jerusalem]]. The State and a Church formed an alliance as kings began to rise up in power and authority all across Europe. That church which had bided its time since the days of [[Constantine]] now crowned these kings and rode upon the back of their power to position of wealth and influence over the [[soul|minds]] and [[conscience]] of the [[masses]].


New taxes, new courts, and new ideas concerning the [[gospel of the kingdom]]. Rulers became the ''fountainhead of justice'', replacing the more popular people’s courts.  
New taxes, new courts, and new ideas concerning the [[gospel of the kingdom]]. Rulers became the ''fountainhead of justice'', replacing the more popular people’s courts subverting the nullification powers of the [[jury]].  


Contributions were [[force]]d from the people by these new authoritarian [[benefactors]] who considered themselves rulers over men and the makers of law. These new rulers were ''consummated'' by a church that believed that these rulers were to have a ''divine right'' over what had once been the right of [[choice]] of the people endowed by God.
=== Force is not freedom ===


This ''new idea'' was not a ''new deal'' any more than the [[New Deal]] was a new idea. [[Cain]] and [[Nimrod]] had the same idea millennium earlier. The precept that leaders should also be [[Benefactors|benefactors]] and should ''exercise authority'' over the people through the ''[[imperium]]'' of a centralized [[State]] was both honored and condemned throughout history.  
Contributions were [[force]]d from the people by these new authoritarian [[benefactors]]. Not only politicians but the people considered themselves rulers over men, over their neighbor. These new rulers were ''consummated'' by a church that believed that these rulers were to have a ''divine right'' over what had once been the right of [[choice]] of the people endowed by God.


[[Polybius|Historians]], [[philosopher]]s and [[prophets]] have [[warnings|warned]] us that the ''[[legal charity]]'' of the [[welfare state]] has always been the ''broad way'' or  ''highway to hell'' and tyranny. These rulers all over the [[world]] at the time of [[Lady Godiva]] they began to even [[force]]d contributions of the people as a tax, to be collected and then given to that church that was repeatedly saying "[[lord lord|Lord, Lord]]" but who did not do what He said.
<blockquote>
'''"Freedom is the [[Exousia|Right to Choose]], the Right to create for oneself the alternatives of Choice. Without the possibility of Choice, and the exercise of Choice, a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing.”'''<Ref name="archy">[[Archibald MacLeish]]</Ref>
</blockquote>


We are led to believe that Godiva’s husband grew weary of her entreaties for kind benevolence and caustically proclaimed that he would grant her request on one condition. His modest and saintly wife must ride naked through the streets of Coventry. The people of Coventry agreed to turn away from looking at her nakedness as she rode by out of respect for her years of generosity and charity.
=== Ideas, idols, and deals ===


[[Image:Leofric.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Leofric III who was the husband of the famous [[Lady Godiva]] and who eventually matched his  wife's [[fervent charity|generosity]] with his own avoiding the burdening the people with [[taxation]] imposed by the king who chose to [[exercise authority]] in order to provide [[welfare]] for the [[care]] of the [[Pure Religion|needy of society]]. Since the days of [[Constantine]] and [[Ambrose]] there had been an institution of men posing as a church but often depended upon the power of government to fund a form of [[Legal charity]]. Such [[covetous practices]] has always [[Sodom|weakened]] and [[Perfect savages|degenerated]] the [[Masses]] and consolidated their own power over the people. In the tradition of the true [[early Church]] the [[daily ministration]] of [[charity]] and [[welfare]] must be by institutions of [[Pure Religion|Pure Charity]].]]
This ''new idea'' was not a ''new deal'' any more than the [[New Deal]] was a new idea. [[Cain]] and [[Nimrod]] had the same idea millennium earlier. The precept that leaders should also be [[Benefactors|benefactors]] and should ''exercise authority'' over the people through the ''[[imperium]]'' of a centralized [[State]] was both honored and condemned throughout history.  


Legend has it that one man named Tom was overcome by the temptation and bored a peephole in his shutters that he might gaze upon the naked Godiva. For his disregard he was forever struck blind. Her husband kept his word and abolished the onerous tax.
[[Polybius|Historians]], [[philosopher]]s and [[prophets]] have [[warnings|warned]] us that the ''[[legal charity]]'' of the [[welfare state]] has always been the ''broad way'' or ''highway to hell'' and tyranny. These rulers all over the [[world]] at the time of [[Lady Godiva]] they began to even [[force]]d contributions of the people as a tax, to be collected and then given to that church that was repeatedly saying "[[lord lord|Lord, Lord]]" but who did not do what He said.


This story of a naked rider on horseback, clothed only in her long blond hair, was published more than a century after her death. Did the saintly Lady Godiva actually ride through the streets naked? Was this a colorful legend or is the truth hidden behind the esoteric fable of an idle monk?
We could be led to believe that Godiva’s husband grew weary of her entreaties for ''kind benevolence'' and caustically proclaimed that he would grant her request on one condition. His modest and saintly wife must ride naked through the streets of Coventry. This was totally out of character and opposes all the detailed record.


The [[Church]] was appointed by Christ. Those who followed His way had been around serving the people for a thousand years. But it was not alone. From the beginning there had been some who did not understand the ways of John and Christ and yet claimed to be [[His Church]]. This false church often supported men who sought to rule over their brothers and altered the message of Christ's gospel.  
Ignorance is key to anyone believing this fraud. When ignorance is chosen as the people turn away from the truth of their own ''nakedness'' when it comes to the [[righteousness]] of God, destruction is not far off.


It has been suggested by some historians that the reference to Lady Godiva being “naked” had nothing to do with being without clothes. As a widow under Saxon law her wealth was her own. Norman’s had brought a more chauvinistic approach to a widows right to disperse and manage her first husbands or even her own wealth and property. The challenge was more likely that Lady Godiva would have to give up some of that wealth before her husband would give up his Norman right to tax the people as subjects.
=== The remedy and the way ===


Reading actual accounts of their character at the time it seems more likely that her husband was merely convicted by her charitable heart and there was no real challenge between them. Her heroism, personal piety, humility, and charity obliged the people’s love and respect, strengthening the whole community by her faithful example. The people who loved Christ had managed all social welfare for centuries with little more than free will offerings. That practice bound communities together and made them strong, secure, and self reliant. The Babylonian idea of taxing one class of society for the benefit of another had not yet become a part of ''modern'' Christian doctrine.
The [[Church]] was appointed by Christ. Those who followed His way had been around serving the people for a thousand years. But it was not alone. From the beginning there had been some who did not understand the ways of John and Christ and yet claimed to be [[His Church]]. This false church often supported men who sought to rule over their brothers and altered the message of Christ's gospel.  


The story and principles of this giving widow symbolizes the nature of the true Church established by the Messiah. She became poor for the sake of others. <Ref>[[2 Corinthians 8]]:9 “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” </Ref> The servant Church, like the [[Levites]] of old, was a gift from God commissioned by Him to feed His sheep and keep the people from the bondage and entanglements of the world. The early Church had cared for the daily ministration of the widows, orphans and needy with free will offerings only love can provide. They had brought supplies and food in time of famine, sending Baranabas, who was the former Levite Joses,<Ref>Acts 4:36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,)a Levite, [and] of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” </Ref> to complete that mission.<Ref>[[Acts 11]]:29 “Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.” </Ref>  
The story and principles of this giving widow symbolizes the nature of the true Church established by the Messiah. She became poor for the sake of others. <Ref>[[2 Corinthians 8]]:9 “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” </Ref> The servant Church, like the [[Levites]] of old, was a gift from God commissioned by Him to feed His sheep and keep the people from the bondage and entanglements of the world. The early Church had cared for the daily ministration of the widows, orphans and needy with free will offerings only love can provide. They had brought supplies and food in time of famine, sending Barnabas, who was the former Levite Joses,<Ref>Acts 4:36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, [and] of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” </Ref> to complete that mission.<Ref>[[Acts 11]]:29 “Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.” </Ref>  


Unlike the authoritarian [[Benefactors|benefactors]] of the Gentile nations, the Church, as the government of God, was to provide their service only by the charity and free will offerings of the people. Love, humility and forgiveness are required to make such systems, operating under the perfect law of liberty, a true blessing for both rich and poor alike.
Unlike the authoritarian [[Benefactors|benefactors]] of the Gentile nations, the Church, as the government of God, was to provide their service only by the charity and free will offerings of the people. Love, humility and forgiveness are required to make such systems, operating under the perfect law of liberty, a true blessing for both rich and poor alike.


The [[Levites]] were also naked of any exercising authority. They could not go up by steps lest they reveal that nakedness. The people were told to make [[Breeches|underwear]], a covering, for them.<Ref>[[Exodus 28]]:42 “And thou shalt make them linen [[Breeches|breeches]] to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:” </Ref> Giving them a covering and being naked has nothing to do with the clothes they wear. It is about coverture and the power or authority to act and lead by serving. The [[Levites]] had no inheritance, no personal estate, nor any exercising authority. They were a government.  
=== The naked Levite ===
 
The [[Levites]] were also [[naked]] of any [[exercise authority|exercising authority]]. They could not ''go up by steps'' lest they reveal that nakedness. The people were told to make [[Breeches|underwear]], a covering, for them.<Ref>[[Exodus 28]]:42 “And thou shalt make them linen [[Breeches|breeches]] to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:” </Ref> Giving them a covering and being naked has nothing to do with the clothes they wear. It is about coverture and the power or authority to act and lead by serving. The [[Levites]] had no inheritance, no personal estate, nor any exercising authority. They were a government.  


Their success depended upon the good will of the people who freely gave them their covering by tithing to them according to their service.
Their success depended upon the good will of the people who freely gave them their covering by tithing to them according to their service.
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[[Charity]] is marked by Paul as the greatest of gifts and that personal sacrifice not only saves those who fall on hard times but also frees and matures the grantors of charity in the practice of the virtues, sacrifices and ways of Christ. Those called out ministers of Christ’s were appointed a kingdom at hand. They were restricted by several of Christ’s proclaimed conditions.
[[Charity]] is marked by Paul as the greatest of gifts and that personal sacrifice not only saves those who fall on hard times but also frees and matures the grantors of charity in the practice of the virtues, sacrifices and ways of Christ. Those called out ministers of Christ’s were appointed a kingdom at hand. They were restricted by several of Christ’s proclaimed conditions.


They were not to exercise authority in the management and service to the people seeking the kingdom but they were to be benefactors of the people.<Ref>Luke 22:25 “And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.” </Ref> They were to willing become new members of His Family, a brotherhood belonging to God.<Ref>Luke 14:26 “If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” </Ref> They were to give up their personal estate and like the Levites before them they became the Poor Preachers of His Kingdom. Christ was specific in His requirements for the ministry of His Holy Church.<Ref>Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” </Ref> Modern ministers often object to the mention of Christ’s clear doctrine.<Ref>The word ''hath'' in Luke 14:33 is also translated: ''hast'' in Matthew 19:21, “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come [and] follow me.”  
They were not to exercise authority in the management and service to the people seeking the kingdom but they were to be benefactors of the people.<Ref>Luke 22:25 “And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.” </Ref> They were too willing to become new members of His Family, a brotherhood belonging to God.<Ref>Luke 14:26 “If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” </Ref> They were to give up their personal estate and like the [[Levites]] before them they became the Poor Preachers of His Kingdom. Christ was specific in His requirements for the ministry of His Holy Church.<Ref>Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” </Ref> Modern ministers often object to the mention of Christ’s clear doctrine.<Ref>The word ''hath'' in Luke 14:33 is also translated: ''hast'' in Matthew 19:21, “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come [and] follow me.”  
: ''substance'' in Luke 8:3, “And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.”
: ''substance'' in Luke 8:3, “And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.”
: ''Have'' in Luke 12:33, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.”
: ''Have'' in Luke 12:33, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.”
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: Seeking to understand the [[Christian conflict]] with the [[Imperial Cult of Rome]] and what the [[Ministers]] of Christ had in common with the ancient faith of the [[Levites]] may bring us face to face with our own [[Faith]].
: Seeking to understand the [[Christian conflict]] with the [[Imperial Cult of Rome]] and what the [[Ministers]] of Christ had in common with the ancient faith of the [[Levites]] may bring us face to face with our own [[Faith]].


: Studying the purpose of those ancient [[Priests]]and what or who the [[Stones]] of their [[Altars]] were and how they served society is essential for understanding the difference between the [[Modern Christians|modern Church]], the early [[Church]] and the [[Church in the Wilderness]]. Honestly searching an answer to some of the age old questions of society and our relationship to it will give us an answer to the question of [[Why Minister]]?
: Studying the purpose of those ancient [[Priests]]and what or who the [[Stones]] of their [[Altars]] were and how they served society is essential for understanding the difference between the [[Modern Christians|modern Church]], the early [[Church]] and the [[Church in the Wilderness]]. Honestly searching an answer to some of the age-old questions of society and our relationship to it will give us an answer to the question of [[Why Minister]]?


[[File:question.jpg|300px|right]]
[[File:question.jpg|300px|right]]
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<references />  
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== Footnotes ==
[[Category:Articles]]
 
[[Category:People]]


<references />
[[Category:Topics]]


{{Template:Gregory-info‎}}
[[Category:Words]]

Latest revision as of 22:04, 18 January 2024

If Lady Godiva did not strip naked, what did she really take off and did she put on the wedding garments of Christ? Are your wedding garments woven with righteousness and the love of Christ which is the sacrifice of fervent charity or are they woven with the works of iniquity and the wages of unrighteousness and the covetous practices[1] of the world? Also see Matthew 22.
Lady Godiva stripped her wealth[2] not her body to provide for the needy of society through fervent charity.
There has been a war for centuries for the soul of mankind. Around 1000 AD KINGS AND RULERS began to rise to power and at the same time a church also gained a position and power with these rulers in the world crowning men to exercise authority[3] one over the other. That Church, as it crowned those kings to exercise authority one over the other and even oppose the perfect law of liberty.
The idea of men who ruled in governments also becoming the benefactors of society started with the Church appointed by Constantine in opposition to The Way of Christ. The early Church provided all social welfare through a daily ministration of charity alone which was called "Pure Religion" which is the antithesis of the covetous practices of "legal charity" imposed by rulers and opposed by Lady Godiva.


The Lady Godiva

The picture on the cover of The Free Church Report is a sketch by George Edmund Blair Leighton. It is a picture of the famous Lady Godiva who reportedly rode through town naked to spare the poor a tax.

The myth, legend and truth

It has been suggested by some historians that the reference to Lady Godiva being “naked” had nothing to do with being without clothes. As a widow under Saxon law her wealth was her own. Normans had brought a more chauvinistic approach to a widow's right to disperse and manage her first husband's or even her own wealth and property. The challenge was more likely that Lady Godiva would have to give up some of that wealth before her husband would give up his Norman right to tax the people as subjects.

Legend has it that one man named Tom was overcome by the temptation and bored a peephole in his shutters that he might gaze upon the naked Godiva. For his disregard he was forever struck blind. Her husband supposedly kept his word and abolished the onerous tax.

Reading actual accounts of their character at the time it seems more likely that her husband was merely convicted by her charitable heart and his own and there was no real challenge between them. Her heroism, personal piety, humility, and charity obliged the people’s love and respect, strengthening the whole community by her faithful example. The people who loved Christ had managed all social welfare for centuries with little more than free will offerings. That practice bound communities together and made them strong, secure, and self-reliant. The Babylonian idea of taxing one class of society for the benefit of another had not yet become a part of modern Christian doctrine.

All those who wrote Chroniclers of those centuries that mention Godiva show her as a respectable, devout, and religious woman of some beauty and never allude to a nude ride in public. All the records of her and her husband say the opposite and suggest the story of these two saints was the result of a controversy and contention for power and riches occurring after the conquest and invasion of 1066.

This story of a naked rider on horseback, clothed only in her long blond hair, was published by Roger of Wendover (died 6 May 1236) more than a century after her death. It was simply a myth.[4]

Did the saintly Lady Godiva actually ride through the streets naked?

Was this a colorful legend or is the truth hidden behind the esoteric fable of an idle monk?

Was there a conflict raging in England with new factions at the altar?

The Countess Godgifu

The Countess Godgifu,[5] or Lady Godiva (a gift from God) as we know of her today, was historically famous for a number of reasons. She is mentioned in the Stow charter, Spalding charter and the Domesday Book survey of 1085, ordered by William the Conqueror.[6] William did not just bring his army but the bishops of a Church that condoned his invasion.

Both Godiva and her husband had been among the most generous, "giving or given freely and unstintingly," among wealthy Anglo-Saxon donors during the decades before the Norman Conquest. Many early Norman bishops greedy for gain and filthy Lucre carried that wealth off to Normandy often melting them down for bullion and coin not for the poor but for their own enrichment.

The Sister Wulfgifu

Wulfgifu or better known as Wulviva was the sister of Lady Godiva and together they donated the manor of Woolhope in Herefordshire, along with four other properties, to the cathedral[7] at Hereford before the Norman Conquest. The ministry and canons would be destroyed by invaders in 1056[8] the year before Leofric's death. The Overseer Athelstan died in that year and Edward the Confessor chose Leofgar to replace him. He would die raiding the Welsh to get back what was lost. The next major change was the Rule of Chrodegang which replaced monks with clerics who would be allowed the owning of private property. A grandiose cathedral was eventually built in 1079 by the Norman bishops who filled the void and seized the properties.

Godiva was one of the few Anglo-Saxons to retain land[9] after the Norman conquest, and the only woman mentioned as a landholder. She was known as a kind and beautiful woman.[10] As a widow, and wealthy in her own right, it is believed she became the wife of a second husband, Leofric III who was Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry.[11]

Leofric, Earl of Mercia

Leofric III who was the husband of the famous Lady Godiva and who eventually matched his wife's generosity with his own avoiding the burdening the people with taxation imposed by the king who chose to exercise authority in order to provide welfare for the care of the needy of society. Since the days of Constantine and Ambrose there had been an institution of men posing as a church but often depended upon the power of government to fund a form of Legal charity. Such covetous practices has always weakened and degenerated the Masses and consolidated their own power over the people. In the tradition of the true early Church the daily ministration of charity and welfare must be by institutions of Pure Charity.

Leofric[12], Godiva’s Norman husband, was a man of authority and power.[13] He “was regarded by contemporaries as an upright man…[and] maintained himself in power for more than twenty years without violence and aggression.”[14] “He was very wise in all matters, both religious and secular, that benefited all this nation.”[15] He was not only a man of property[16] but also a man of vision[17] grnerosity[18]and ensight.

Their marriage was fruitful.[19] Both Lady Godiva and Leofric have been recorded as mutual benefactors to churches and their endowment of Coventry Abbey, among many others.[20] The lands of some of these Abbeys had been held by them both individually[21]. They also endowed the minster church of Stow St Mary, just to the north of Lincoln, and an Old English memorandum included both Leofric and Godiva in a request to Wulfwig, Bishop of Dorchester-on-Thames ‘to endow the monastery and assign lands to it.[22] The endowment included provision included that the needy would be cared for under the supervision of the overseer. The people were at that time, between 1053 and 1055, still organized in the Tens and Leofric was an ealdorman.

Norman conflict

Leofric had been supposedly pressed by the king to burden the people with taxation to improve the lot of the whole community by funding the Church. His wife, the “pious Countess Godiva”[23] was supposedly continually appealing to her husband to grant a relief and free the people from these rigorous and regulatory burdens. But taxes imposed to provide Legal charity was introduced more than a century later by the Normand rulers who exercise authority and were crowned by bishops.

The Normans built larger stone churches, and constructed basilicas in major towns, like London, Durham and York, which could hold hundreds of people worshipping at one time. One key feature of these large Norman basilicas was the rounded arch, and Norman churches would have been painted inside with religious art.[24]

"The various Norman conquerors all sought to legitimize their domination in this region by gaining the support of the Church."[25] While Ecclesiastical sanctions were a common feature of the Norman conquests these kings, claiming a "divine right", looked to the Church established by Constantine to crown its position of derived authority. But they also exercised authority over the church factions and the people and their faith.

The Church established by Christ was to return every man to his family and to his possessions. they were to set the captive free, not bring them back into bondage.

"This Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People." is attributed to the General Prologue to the John Wycliffe Bible translation of 1384, as quoted in Lincoln at Gettysburg: An Address (1906) by Clark Ezra Carr, p. 75. [1]


All over the world there was a rise of kings and a steady repression of liberty during this period. “Before the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the people were the fountainhead of justice. The Angloe-Saxon courts were composed of large numbers of freemen and the law which they administered, was that which had been handed down by oral tradition from generation to generation. In competition with these popular, nonprofessional courts the Norman king, who insisted that he was the fountainhead of justice, set up his own tribunals… The angloe-Saxon tribunals had been open to all; every freeman could appeal to them for justice.”[26]

The heart of God

Godiva, meaning God's gift, did not just talk about the needs of the people, she acted upon those needs and literally put her money where her mouth and heart was. Here actions were rooted in the Gospel of the Kingdom.

She was also famous for her building projects and is still considered the patron saint of engineers. What she often built were Churches, Monasteries, and Abbeys.[27]

These buildings and institutions were not just centers of religious rituals and spiritual preaching. The Church was still the center of all social welfare instilling the Social virtues of Christ by doing the will of God as Doers of that word.

Its charitable administration to those in need, its educational centers and libraries, along with its willingness to voluntarily maintain the records of society without politically controlled registration, had help maintain a free society for a thousand years.

The daily ministration of widows, orphans, and other needy of society was conducted through a system of freewill offerings and the service of that Church. This was all in remembrance through charity and love through the 'Religion of Christ and His Kingdom of God to help us fulfill our religious duty to God and our fellowman.

The picture on the cover of The Free Church Report is the Lady Godgifu which means a “gift of God”. The Free Church Report explains how Pure Religion created the social bonds of a free society. It also addresses the importance of a true separation of Church and State.

A New Age of Old Ideas

There was a new age of change around 1000 years after the fall of Jerusalem. The State and a Church formed an alliance as kings began to rise up in power and authority all across Europe. That church which had bided its time since the days of Constantine now crowned these kings and rode upon the back of their power to position of wealth and influence over the minds and conscience of the masses.

New taxes, new courts, and new ideas concerning the gospel of the kingdom. Rulers became the fountainhead of justice, replacing the more popular people’s courts subverting the nullification powers of the jury.

Force is not freedom

Contributions were forced from the people by these new authoritarian benefactors. Not only politicians but the people considered themselves rulers over men, over their neighbor. These new rulers were consummated by a church that believed that these rulers were to have a divine right over what had once been the right of choice of the people endowed by God.

"Freedom is the Right to Choose, the Right to create for oneself the alternatives of Choice. Without the possibility of Choice, and the exercise of Choice, a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing.”[28]

Ideas, idols, and deals

This new idea was not a new deal any more than the New Deal was a new idea. Cain and Nimrod had the same idea millennium earlier. The precept that leaders should also be benefactors and should exercise authority over the people through the imperium of a centralized State was both honored and condemned throughout history.

Historians, philosophers and prophets have warned us that the legal charity of the welfare state has always been the broad way or highway to hell and tyranny. These rulers all over the world at the time of Lady Godiva they began to even forced contributions of the people as a tax, to be collected and then given to that church that was repeatedly saying "Lord, Lord" but who did not do what He said.

We could be led to believe that Godiva’s husband grew weary of her entreaties for kind benevolence and caustically proclaimed that he would grant her request on one condition. His modest and saintly wife must ride naked through the streets of Coventry. This was totally out of character and opposes all the detailed record.

Ignorance is key to anyone believing this fraud. When ignorance is chosen as the people turn away from the truth of their own nakedness when it comes to the righteousness of God, destruction is not far off.

The remedy and the way

The Church was appointed by Christ. Those who followed His way had been around serving the people for a thousand years. But it was not alone. From the beginning there had been some who did not understand the ways of John and Christ and yet claimed to be His Church. This false church often supported men who sought to rule over their brothers and altered the message of Christ's gospel.

The story and principles of this giving widow symbolizes the nature of the true Church established by the Messiah. She became poor for the sake of others. [29] The servant Church, like the Levites of old, was a gift from God commissioned by Him to feed His sheep and keep the people from the bondage and entanglements of the world. The early Church had cared for the daily ministration of the widows, orphans and needy with free will offerings only love can provide. They had brought supplies and food in time of famine, sending Barnabas, who was the former Levite Joses,[30] to complete that mission.[31]

Unlike the authoritarian benefactors of the Gentile nations, the Church, as the government of God, was to provide their service only by the charity and free will offerings of the people. Love, humility and forgiveness are required to make such systems, operating under the perfect law of liberty, a true blessing for both rich and poor alike.

The naked Levite

The Levites were also naked of any exercising authority. They could not go up by steps lest they reveal that nakedness. The people were told to make underwear, a covering, for them.[32] Giving them a covering and being naked has nothing to do with the clothes they wear. It is about coverture and the power or authority to act and lead by serving. The Levites had no inheritance, no personal estate, nor any exercising authority. They were a government.

Their success depended upon the good will of the people who freely gave them their covering by tithing to them according to their service.

Charity is marked by Paul as the greatest of gifts and that personal sacrifice not only saves those who fall on hard times but also frees and matures the grantors of charity in the practice of the virtues, sacrifices and ways of Christ. Those called out ministers of Christ’s were appointed a kingdom at hand. They were restricted by several of Christ’s proclaimed conditions.

They were not to exercise authority in the management and service to the people seeking the kingdom but they were to be benefactors of the people.[33] They were too willing to become new members of His Family, a brotherhood belonging to God.[34] They were to give up their personal estate and like the Levites before them they became the Poor Preachers of His Kingdom. Christ was specific in His requirements for the ministry of His Holy Church.[35] Modern ministers often object to the mention of Christ’s clear doctrine.[36]

The faithful Ministers of His Church, like the Levites before them, are the ordained ministers of His form of government owning all things in common, with no personal estate. They are without authority, naked before the people. They are His ordained bondservants [37] as the public servants of His Kingdom under the perfect law of liberty.

“For whether [is] greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? [is] not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.” Luke 22:27

As each man is an altar of “adamic clay”, so are the ministers of His Holy Church the living stones of God’s holy altar. He has a practical purpose. We are to preach the kingdom in service with charity, hope and faith so that all men might be free souls under God.

“But blessed [are] your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” Matthew 13:16

The Free Church Report offered as revealing guide for those seeking the ways of His Kingdom, the purpose of His altars, the status of His Ministers, and the ways of His Holy Church in the world, but not of it. Understanding and applying these precepts upon precepts has liberated people and formed free nations generation upon generation, age upon age, by Abraham, Moses and Christ. His righteousness shall set the captive free and return every man to his family and to his possessions.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
Seeking to understand the Christian conflict with the Imperial Cult of Rome and what the Ministers of Christ had in common with the ancient faith of the Levites may bring us face to face with our own Faith.
Studying the purpose of those ancient Priestsand what or who the Stones of their Altars were and how they served society is essential for understanding the difference between the modern Church, the early Church and the Church in the Wilderness. Honestly searching an answer to some of the age-old questions of society and our relationship to it will give us an answer to the question of Why Minister?

Can you handle the answer to

Some Questions

More Questions

To find the answers, we must seek and strive to do what Jesus said the way He said to do it... Including attending to the Weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith which include caring for the needs of our neighbors and the widows and orphans of our society through Pure Religion in matters of health, education, and welfare. We are NOT to provide for the needy of society through the Covetous Practices and the men who call themselves benefactors but who exercise authority one over the other like the socialists do.

The Way of Christ was like neither the way of the world of Rome nor the governments of the gentiles who depend on those fathers of the earth through force, fear and fealty who deliver the people back in bondage again like they were in Egypt. Christ's ministers and true Christians do not depend upon systems of social welfare that force the contributions of the people like the corban of the Pharisees which made the word of God to none effect. Many people have been deceived to go the way of Balaam and the Nicolaitan and out of The Way of Christ and have become workers of iniquity.

The Christian conflict with Rome in the first century Church appointed by Christ was because they would not apply to the fathers of the earth for their free bread but instead relied upon a voluntary network providing a daily ministration to the needy of society through Faith, Hope, and Charity by way of freewill offerings of the people, for the people, and by the people through the perfect law of liberty in Free Assemblies according to the ancient pattern of Tuns or Tens as He commanded.

The modern Christians are in need of repentance.

"Follow me!" —Jesus the Christ.

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ Jesus against covetousness
    Mark 7:9 "And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." See Corban.
    Mark 7:20 "And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."
    Luke 12:15 "And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
    Luke 16:14 "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."
    Luke 21:34 "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth."
    Matthew 19:17 "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
    John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
    John 14:21 "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."
    John 15:10 "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love."
  2. ↑ A necklace went to Evesham, and jewelry by the famous goldsmith Mannig and bequeathed a necklace valued at 100 marks of silver.(Dodwell, C. R.; Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective, 1982, Manchester UP, ISBN 0-7190-0926-X (US edn. Cornell, 1985), pp. 25 & 66). Then there was a life-size gold and silver depiction of the crucifixion that both she and her husband had donated. St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London received a gold-fringed chasuble.
  3. ↑ Not exercise authority
    Matthew 20:25 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you:..."
    Mark 10:42 "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you:..."
    Luke 22:25 "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye [shall] not [be] so:..."
  4. ↑ "Lady Godiva: The naked truth". 24 August 2001. Retrieved August 2022.
  5. ↑ May have been daughter of Turold, Sheriff of Lincoln and a sister to His son Turold of Lincoln also called Thorold of Bucknall which was an English derivation of the Scandinavian name Thorvaldr. With more certainty she was the grandmother of three of the leading English characters of the Norman Conquest; Harold Godwinson also called Harold II and his queen, Ealdgyth (also Aldgyth or Edith in modern English) was a daughter of Ælfgar(Earl of Mercia}, and Edwin and Morcar.
  6. ↑ a.k.a. William of Normandy and William the Bastard. He was the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificent who claimed to be the Duke of Normandy and Herleva the daughter of a tanner.
  7. ↑ at that time a modest daily ministrative building used for the care to the poor
  8. ↑ Harold II from Whales, Irish, and Ælfgar who believed himself cheated.
  9. ↑ Originally owned land exceeding sixty hides (6,000 acres) in Ansty, Atherstone, Coventry, Gloucestershire, Hartshill, Kingsbury, Leicestershire, Meriden, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire, including at least 3 hides (360 acres) in Lower Penn. Her largest holding was in Newark, Nottinghamshire.
  10. ↑ She was described as “the most beauteous of all women of her time” by The Chronicle of Croyland Abbey by Ingulphus.
  11. ↑ His family’s lands were in the eastern part of Mercia. They were religious benefactors at Peterborough Abbey.
  12. ↑ . He was born on 14th May 968. By 1026 he has
  13. ↑ Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry, and one of the most powerful men in the country with the title “Dux”, a leader of an army.
  14. ↑ Sir Frank Stenton, Anglo Saxon England published by Oxford 1971.
  15. ↑ The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, translation edited by Dorothy Whitelock, David C. Douglas and Susie I Tucker, Eyre and Spottiswode 1965, revised.
  16. ↑ His estates were in Staffordshire, including: Alrewas, Barton, Braunston, Bromley, Cannock, Chartley, Drayton, Elford, Rolleston, Rugeley, Tutbury and Uttoxeter. He also owned land in Warwickshire at Ansley, Ansty, Atherstone, Coventry, Foleshill, Hartshill, Kingsbury and Meriden.
  17. ↑ Old English Vision of Earl Leofric, UISIO LEOPRICI. First published: May 1908
  18. ↑ Leofric founded and endowed a Benedictine monastery at Coventry built on the site of a convent destroyed by the Danes in 1016
  19. ↑ They had nine children; one son was Ælfgar.
  20. ↑ Worcester and Stow St Mary, Lincolnshire, Leominster, Chester, Much Wenlock, and Evesham.
  21. ↑ ""He and his wife, the noble Countess Godgifu, a worshipper of God and devout lover of St Mary ever-virgin, built the monastery there from the foundations out of their own patrimony, and endowed it adequately with lands and made it so rich in various ornaments that in no monastery in England might be found the abundance of gold, silver, gems and precious stones that was at that time in its possession. "He and his wife, the noble Countess Godgifu, a worshipper of God and devout lover of St Mary ever-virgin, built the monastery there from the foundations out of their own patrimony, and endowed it adequately with lands and made it so rich in various ornaments that in no monastery in England might be found the abundance of gold, silver, gems and precious stones that was at that time in its possession." According to author of the Chronicon ex chronicis, John of Worcester ed. and trans. R.R. Darlington, P. McGurk and J. Bray (Clarendon Press: Oxford 1995), pp. 582–3.,
  22. ↑ Stow St Mary founded in the seventh century.
  23. ↑ Quoted from the chronicle about Prior Æfic of Evesham who knew Lady Godiva.
  24. ↑ The Church in Norman England.
  25. ↑ Sacred Conquest and Ecclesiastical Politics: The Normans and the Church in the Eleventh Century
  26. ↑ Clark’s Summary of American law. Common Law Chat 1 pp.530.
  27. ↑ The monasteries at Stow, Lincolnshire, Coventry, Spalding, Leominster, Wenlock in Shropshire, Worcester, Evesham ...
  28. ↑ Archibald MacLeish
  29. ↑ 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”
  30. ↑ Acts 4:36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, [and] of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”
  31. ↑ Acts 11:29 “Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.”
  32. ↑ Exodus 28:42 “And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:”
  33. ↑ Luke 22:25 “And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.”
  34. ↑ Luke 14:26 “If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
  35. ↑ Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
  36. ↑ The word hath in Luke 14:33 is also translated: hast in Matthew 19:21, “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come [and] follow me.”
    substance in Luke 8:3, “And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.”
    Have in Luke 12:33, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.”
    goods in Luke 19:8, “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore [him] fourfold.” And, 1 Corinthians 13:3
    And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
    possessed in Acts 4:32, “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any [of them] that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.”
  37. ↑ Numbers 8:14 “Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.”
  38. ↑ Matthew 20:25-26 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
    Mark 10:42-43 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
    Luke 22:25-26 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.


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