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POSTS
(monthly updates)
December, 2007
Christmas: Merry
Christmas to one and all! I had computer
problems the last couple of weeks, but the remaining files for The Separatist Papers have
now been posted, copies of the House of Bethany are
in the mail, and I am taking a break.
God bless you all.
November, 2007
Thanksgiving: It is the American Thanksgiving
today. I’m sure our foreign
correspondents have long forgiven the “Amero-centric” emphasis of
this website. They are used to it.
Americans think they are the center of everything and that it is their responsibility
to save the world. They should be
excused from conceit, however. From the
very start, this hemisphere was called “the
To a great extent,
our failure has been the resurgence of old world values in our
institutions. This will be especially
borne out in future postings to. I hope you all have been following these
newly released archives. Although at
times exhibiting a stodgy conservativism – a result of my early education
– there is a certain eeriness to their prescience of our times. Before the year is out, they will be all
posted and a final commentary will be provided.
In the
Catechumens: The
Catechumen Program is growing in its academic thoroughness. New questionnaires are being prepared, and I
think you all will feel greatly rewarded.
Friends
of the Grail Abbeys: I plan to finish the book index to House of Bethany this
weekend and print it right away.
We’ll see. I’m full
of promises, aren’t I? But when
you consider that I am the researcher, writer, editor, publisher, printer, and
mailer of my books, things can get kind of slow. Add to that my responsibilities as a husband,
father, proprietor and homesteader – it can be quite challenging
sometimes. Click to see the book cover.
Don’t forget the new Pesher “The Science of Eternal
Life.” Check back here on a weekly basis. New material is planned. Some experiments with webcasting
is also planned before the year is out.
God bless you.
James
Update November 1st: A new Pesher
has been posted to the website on “The Science of Eternal
Life.” Check-out new additions
of The Separatist Review. More coming soon!
October, 2007
Update
October 14th:
Greetings dear ones! The beautiful
colors of fall are here again, and again we are in our own harvest season. I have worked three weeks straight and it
looks like another week or two before I’m done. In addition, we have building projects which
either need completion or at least cover before winter strikes. The rains have come a month early and in the
mountains, winter.
I have neglected scheduled projects and book
orders, but I am hopeful the end of the month will see much new published
material available to you, either on this website, or in book form. Some of you have waited for several months. Thank you for your patience.
For catechumens, even though
you may not have received formal notification in the mail, you can begin
preparing for questionnaires. Follow these links to prepare for your first
lesson:
http://grailchurch.org/history.htm
http://grailchurch.org/cambrian.htm
http://grailchurch.org/celtic.htm
http://grailchurch.org/churchof.htm
http://grailchurch.org/friends.htm
http://grailchurch.org/explanation_of_our_name.htm
http://grailchurch.org/doctrine.htm
http://grailchurch.org/whatwedo.htm
I continue to post old material. In recent weeks old issues of The Separatist Review have been added to
the website. Go to The Separatist Papers
and scroll down to the appropriate section.
“The Return of the Pilgrims” is particularly appropriate for
this time of year as we near the Thanksgiving season.
I plan a new update and Pesher for the end of
the month.
With blessings for the season,
James
September, 2007
Update
September 8th:
Greetings to you all! As the summer
begins to wind down, I want to remind you that I have been posting as PDF files
back issues of The Separatist Papers described
below in the July update. You will find
something new there almost every week.
When they are all posted, I will offer some commentary on the various
topics addressed in those essays. (By the way, I have re-posted Issue #2 as a
text file that is 1/10th the size of its first posting as an image
file.)
Grail Radio Network: I have been
having some trouble uploading my mp3 files to my computer. So, no new Church History lectures are
currently available. But I will continue
to try every weekend. Check the radio
page for new links every week. I
won’t post an update every time a new file has been added to the
website. It is my intention to post all
of my Church History lectures for the future use of Grail Church
Catechumens. When we have learned to
consistently record and upload mp3 files, weekly podcasts
will be provided to our Catechumens and Friends.
Catechumens: We are now
taking enrollment for the fall Correspondence Program for the Institute for
Family Abbeys which is the same as the Catechumen Program. Both printed matter and material on the
website will be utilized in the instruction.
In the past, we have relied upon simple questionnaires for our Catechumens. Now, however, the program is more involved
and thorough. Too many of you read only
what is of personal interest to you. You
need to realize that all of the material forms a seamless fabric. It is all connected in important ways. The tedious material must be studied along
with the fun stuff. That explains the
revisions in the Program.
Some
of you who were once enrolled in the Catechumen Program may want to enroll
again. Send us a new Application with updated information.
Friends
of the Grail Abbeys: The House of Bethany will be printed
soon. Our book covers came in last
week. For those of you who want a copy
of this book, you must follow the protocol outlined in the April update found
below.
Of
General Interest: My summer has been busy with new business
ventures, construction projects, and general maintenance needs on our
property. In spite of that, I think
there has been a goodly addition of new material to this website. Some of you have told me that you have
re-read things. That’s good. Sometimes, you see new and important
connections on the second and third readings.
It will also prepare you better for the various oral and written
examinations which will be forthcoming.
The war and the economy are foremost on
peoples’ minds. I don’t mean to neglect them; I just don’t
want to sound partisan. To disagree with
current public policy can be misinterpreted to mean agreement with the
opposition. And that is not necessarily
true. What is more important to me is
whether you personally have the means and the wisdom to avoid the consequences
of public malpolicy. You must stop
thinking about comfort and having nice things.
You must think about savings, investments, and preparation for future
scarcity. The time will come when people
will be interested in family abbeys, communes, group marriages, and other
social structures – just for economic survival. The old institutions will fail us –
they are failing us. You
can’t build a civilization on food stamps, soup kitchens, corporate
takeovers, and the draft.
Civilizations begin with productive families that can take care of
themselves on their own land, unmolested by tyrants, robbers, or invaders. As forthcoming issues of The Separatist Papers will illustrate, our own civilization began
with the spiritual independence of the self-governing Christian man. No abbey will endure without a spiritual
vision. I hope you have one of your own.
In Jesus,
James
July, 2007
Update
July 19th: If things seem quiet here, it isn’t
behind the scenes. We’ve been
busy. You should be, too. “Consider the ant,” says the
ancient Proverb. “He has no king, yet he storeth
for the winter.” Are you? The kind of winter I am talking about is a
time of famine. In case you
haven’t noticed, nothing of consequence is made anymore in the
This summer, I am
offering writings from long ago entitled The Separatist Papers. They will be published, with commentary, to
this website over the coming weeks.
Also, new audio
files of past lectures will be made available at the Grail Radio Network page. The newest one is on Church history. It is the second of a series that was
presented over ten years ago. The other parts
will be posted when they have been reformatted to work on the Internet.
Catechumens: I
haven’t forgotten you. One of the
important features of the Grail quest is the ennobling virtue of patience and
steadfastness. Remember the Grail
stories? Remember the many
disappointments experienced by the Grail heroes? Our spiritual journeys are often the
same. Don’t give up.
Friends
of the Grail Abbeys: The
House of Bethany will soon be ready for printing. I am working on an Index (ugh!) I am trying to have something in your hands
by September.
Blessings to all!
James
May, 2007
Update
May 6th: Tis the season for
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day according to the merchants for whom
the holidays were created. I don’t
quarrel with the tradition; I enjoy the gifts my children bring to me on my
day. But the original Father’s Day
was May 1st, May Day, and that is probably when it should be
celebrated. Unfortunately, our
puritanical heritage dislikes the pagan flavor of the holiday – not
having really ever understood its origins in biblical phallic religion –
that it opts for an artificial day completely disassociated from the act which
creates fatherhood.
When was the original Mother’s
Day? Why, Christmas, of course. If you have studied the background of Christmas,
you will know that it had associations with goddess Madonnas
long before the Christian story. Again,
the pagan associations with Christmas were why the Puritans banned Christmas
and punished its celebration as a misdemeanor.
Later, Americans would realize that there were more important things to
do and decided to lift the ban.
New audio files are now available on the
website. One is a home study on the Holy
Grail given a few years ago. Another is
the conclusion to my study on Postmillennialism. Go to Grail Radio Network for the
necessary links.
My next scheduled update is for American
Independence Day, but if anything new is posted, I will update this page to let
you know.
April, 2007
Update
Palm Sunday: We are approaching the season of Passover and
Resurrection Sunday. The annual debate
between apologists and skeptics is renewed over whether Jesus ever lived, let
alone was ever resurrected.
“Extraordinary claims require
extraordinary proof” according to scientific dogma. Fair enough.
I don’t expect anyone to believe in a risen Christ unless they
have experienced the living Christ. This
is a personal thing. The notion of
theocracies requiring faith in the Resurrection as a prerequisite to admittance
into civil society is patently unjust.
Jesus never appeared to the civil authorities to validate His
resurrection as a matter of public record.
He appeared to His disciples.
Even if there were 500 hundred of them at one time and place, it still
was a private appearance. He did not
appear to those who executed Him.
What does this mean? It means salvation is a personal matter, as
is the matter of eternal life. Following
the crowd isn’t good enough. These
things are a part of our own spiritual journey which no one else can take for
us. That is the meaning of the
“Grail quest.”
Although this website focuses on temporal
matters of faith and its application in society, it does not mean what we teach
has no implication for matters pertaining to eternal life. To make that clear, a future Pesher is
planned on the subject of “The Science of Eternal Life.” Check back here in coming months for
notification of its publication.
GRN: After several attempts, I was finally successful in
uploading another audio file. This one
is on Postmillennialism. It will be the first of three installments, which I
intend to publish every two weeks. This
recording was made about ten years ago at a home Bible study. Go to the
Internet Radio Page to find the link.
Peshers: Don’t forget the Pesher posted in February,
entitled Hispania. At first, the true story of Christopher
Columbus and the
Books: I am now
taking orders for the study on Footwashing and the Johannine Community. Click here to learn more.
God bless you this Easter season.
James
February, 2007
Update
for February 25th: I
wish I could comment on all of the various news items which come across my desk. The latest is a forthcoming documentary by
the Discovery Channel on a burial cave in
A new Pesher has been posted to the website,
entitled Hispania. I hope you find it interesting and
informative.
Next month, I will release a separate study
on Footwashing & the Johannine Community.
Only a limited number of people will be able to fulfill the strict terms
for obtaining it. Sorry, it contains too
much sensitive information to let it out into general circulation.
Update
for February 1st: A new audio file has been posted to the Grail Radio Network. The topic is on the “Five Sacraments of
the
This lesson was given several years ago on a
Sunday morning to some friends in southern
Peshers: Check back to
this update page weekly during the month of February. A new and important Pesher will be released
on the
Catechumens: A few more of
you have “graduated” from learners to “friends of the
Grail.” Congratulations! You will begin receiving special updates
soon. The rest of you need to take
another lap around
Some of you have been waiting for the
opportunity to become Catechumens. We
have delayed Applications until the ability to post audio files was
achieved. It appears that we have
successfully jumped that hurdle. You
will be contacted soon, probably around St. David’s Day (March 1st)
with acceptance letters.
Who
we are and what we need to do?: We represent a tiny fraction of the
Desposynic community, which according to my calculations, is upwards of
2,000,000: a community which stretches around the globe. Perhaps a tenth of that number have taken the
time to understand who they are and what it means. There are many conflicting voices trying to
influence them.
Unfortunately, we lack funding and the
profile to offer much help. Our voice is
being drowned out by the mystics and magicians who appeal to the popular
culture. The major publishing houses are
controlled by people who want to remove the supernatural element out of
Christianity. They want Jesus portrayed
as merely a clever philanthropist and the Desposyni as some kind of magically
endowed shamans. If you don’t want
our civilization to be sent on another 1000-year detour, you need to help us.
With blessings,
James
Send a donation:
January, 2007
Update
for January 24th: I have written a short Pesher on Esoteric Knowledge to use
as an introduction to this website for new comers. I have also posted our first
MP3 file containing excerpts from my lectures on The Family Abbey
offered at last year’s Labor Day Gathering. This is our first audio file and it is
unedited (approximately 30 minutes). We
don’t have the software to edit audio files. Please overlook the lack of
technical professionalism. Click here to
listen:
http://grailchurch.org/Family
Abbey Part I.MP3
Go to http://grailchurch.org/radio.htm if
you want to listen to Part II and Part III.
Happy
New Year! 2006 was a year of much literary
productivity. A new book was published
online called The Westward March of
Christianity & the Destiny of Nations.
It is a book having to do with Bible prophecy and the role of the
Desposyni. My paperback edition
(abridged) of Hierogamy & the Married
Messiah with Index was produced and is now available for $29.00.
A lot of material was produced off-line for
our Catechumens, as well. We do not
publish all the Peshers on the
web. However, if you look in the Archives and go
to the link for “Pesher Archives,” (or go to this link http://www.grailchurch.org/exile.htm)
you will find one published for last October called “The Desposyni in Exile” which
is very important.
In the future, Peshers will require a subscription. Introductory portions will be available free
on the web. If you want to read the
entire Pesher, however, you will have
to follow directions and pay a fee through our secured server. The amount will vary according to the length
and content of the material. Also, after
this month, a paid subscription of $10.00 will be required to access the Pesher
Archives. So download what you can now.
GRN: The
“Grail Radio Network” is still a dream. We now have the technology to do Internet
radio; I just don’t have the time.
When our business ventures are productive enough to pay my living
expenses, then I will have the time. But
that might be still years away. In the
mean time, a goal for 2007 will be to archive some audio lessons on this
website. Check the posts for updates.
Family
Abbeys: Grail theology finds its
perfect fulfillment in the idea of family abbeys. Last year’s conference was audio
taped. That will probably be our first
audio production available on-line. If
you want to learn more, follow this link to http://www.grailchurch.org/abbey.htm
Plans
for Next Month: A new Pesher
called “Hispania” is scheduled to be released in February. It will be about the
All of this is in anticipation of a sequel to
my textbook edition on Hierogamy &
the Married Messiah. It will be
published when I feel there is an audience ready to receive it. Considering the anemic interest in our
publishing effort as a whole – and readers like many of you who are still
hiding your light under a bushel basket – it might be years. Let’s hope not.
Commentary
on World Events: Since our Posts of 2006, we have had
serious political changes in the United States, a former Head of State (Saddam
Hussein) who has been executed, and a former President who has died. More importantly, for the first time in the
history of the
Update for
An important shift in economic power has quietly occurred during the last couple of weeks. For the first time in American history, our national institutions have not been able to control the value of the currency.
This situation was inevitable and some have wondered why it has taken so long. During our first century as a nation, Congress, according to the Constitution, regulated the value of the dollar. We relied upon a gold standard. However, during the 20th Century, its regulation was taken over by the Federal Reserve Banks. They created a credit bubble which basically monetized all the assets of the American people. That is why everybody and everything must have a number. Next year, even our pets must have a number. Your property is a part of our nation's assets. It has been hocked to pay for the nation's debts.
Traditionally,
the Federal Reserve has controlled the dollar's value by raising and
lowering interest rates. In recent days, it has been unable to do so.
The dollar has now been cast adrift on the ocean of world markets. So
many countries have so many dollars (
We won't
see a catastrophe over night. These nations do not want to rock the
boat.
Is there hope? Not for the country, but maybe for you. Invest in yourself. Learn skills. Become strong and healthy. Build personal assets. Be innovative. Start new businesses. Get rich. Start an abbey and create a zone of freedom for yourself. In all colonies there is still an aristocracy. Make sure it's you. You will know how to rebuild the country. The idiots that run our country today don't. Think ahead for the sake of your children and stay away from revolutionaries. Revolutionaries want something for nothing. They will ruin you and the country even further. Forget patriotism. Patriotism is for suckers. The best thing you can do for your fellow countrymen is to not follow their stupidity.
With blessings for the week,
James
- James W. Stivers, Church
Overseer