I know this is old news (May 24), but I am behind on my news and I am simply posting this for documentation purposes.
Ireland had a popular vote to determine whether the country would allow same-sex marriage. A full 62% of the country voted to approve the measure. They are the 20th country to create same-sex marriage, but the first country to do so by popular vote rather than the courts or the legislature.
Thinking to Believe 
June 14, 2015 at 11:41 pm
Congratulations Ireland. Secular Humanity Has Supplanted Religion, is the real headline here. Who would thunk a religiously insane bombing country like Ireland would be coming to its senses so soon after 35 years of religious hostility, bombs and blood but a quiet voice ends the IRA’s war July 28 2005. .
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June 15, 2015 at 6:25 am
Take Away,
Ireland’s feuds have nothing to do with true Christianity. Read a book or two about the Irish Potato famine, and you will get a good understanding of the actual causes. Keep one thing in mind. True Christianity does not advocate war. Period. Jesus told us to lay down the sword and follow him in self sacrifice.
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June 15, 2015 at 11:13 am
Randy:
True Christianity has a parallel in the True Scotsman Fallacy and has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus who practiced no religion and certainly not Christianity. Christianity was established by the ex-, and then pro-Jewry establishment who hijacked the Followers of Jesus for their own expansionist agenda.
However I did take your suggestion to brush up on the Potato Famine history in regards to religion. It is worth noting that the Potato Famine occurred in 1845 and lasted 6 years. The actual cause of the Famine was the Potato Blight but it was the “religous” discriminatory laws against the Catholics that kept the Protestants and Catholics at loggerheads since 1534 when separation of England from any ties to the Catholic Pope with Henry the VIII were severed and Henry became the Head of the Church of England.
IMPORTANT DATES TO NOTE:
The “Act of Union” in 1800 added the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act abolished the 500-year-old independent Irish Parliament in Dublin and placed the country under the jurisdiction of Britain’s Imperial Parliament at Westminster, England. Although Ireland was to be represented there by 100 members, Catholics were excluded.
Anti-Catholic prohibitions dated back to 1695. The resulting Penal Laws stripped Irish Catholics of their rights including; the ability to serve as an officer in the British Army or Navy, hold any government office, vote, buy land, practice law, attend school, serve an apprenticeship, possess weapons, and practice their religion. The Catholic Church was outlawed. The Gaelic language was banned. Export trade was forbidden as Irish commerce and industry were deliberately destroyed.
With 80 percent of Ireland being Catholic, the Penal Laws were intended to degrade the Irish so severely that they would never again be in a position to seriously threaten Protestant rule. In 1600, Protestants had owned just 10 percent of Ireland’s land. By 1778, Protestants owned 95 percent of the land.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Irish Catholics had been prohibited by the penal laws from purchasing or leasing land, from voting, from holding political office, from living in or within 5 miles (8 km) of a corporate town, from obtaining education, from entering a profession, and from doing many other things necessary for a person to succeed and prosper in society. The laws had largely been reformed by 1793, and in 1829, Irish Catholics could again sit in parliament following the Act of Emancipation.
Because of this disproportionate distribution of land, when the Potato Blight appeared in 1845 the Catholics in Ireland who owned a mere 10% of the land were hardest hit. The French sociologist, Gustave de Beaumont, visited Ireland in 1835 and wrote: “I have seen the Indian in his forests, and the Negro in his chains, and thought, as I contemplated their pitiable condition, that I saw the very extreme of human wretchedness; but I did not then know the condition of unfortunate Ireland…In all countries, more or less, paupers may be discovered; but an entire nation of paupers is what was never seen until it was shown in Ireland.” Gustav wrote this observation a full 10 years before the Potato Famine.
Political separation of Northern Ireland from the rest of Ireland did not come until the early 20th century, when Protestants and Catholics divided into two warring camps over the issue of Irish home rule. Most Irish Catholics desired complete independence from Britain, but Irish Protestants feared living in a country ruled by a Catholic majority.
This religious instability and discrimination remained until the formal end of large scale hostilities in 2005, five hundred years.
And you say the feud was because of the Potato Famine? HUH?
If you lay down your sword, your enemies will take your life and evil abounds. Turning the other cheek is a general principle about how people should treat each other but, if you perish by so doing keep two things in mind: there is no glory for the dead in dying for a cause, glory goes to s/he who lives for a cause.
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June 15, 2015 at 3:21 pm
TA,
I’d never encountered the term “True Scotsman Fallacy” before so I checked it out and found this:
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June 17, 2015 at 5:44 am
Hi Take Away,
Good summary of the Potato Famine. I am away of those details. My ancestors on one grandfather’s side were Irish who came to the United States because of that tragedy and I have read two books on the subject.
I suppose I threw you a curve. Yes, of course, the Irish feuds are considered to be religious wars between the Protestants and Catholics. My point was that I strongly disagree the conflict had (has) anything to do with true Christianity. The Irish fighting and our own political conflicts have to do with human sins such as greed and lust for power. They are not caused by anything Jesus said.
My opinion: The Protestants in Ireland (English leaders) did not come close to following Jesus. The Catholics who terrorized 20 years ago did not come close to following Jesus. Neither side in our political feuds in the U.S. come remotely close to following Jesus. Jesus told us to care for the poor and feed the hungry.
When you say that Jesus wasn’t a Christian, you are making a statement I have before heard. I really don’t see how I can say much about that comment. To be a Christian means, simply, to follow Jesus. Yes, of course, Jesus wasn’t a follower of Himself. And He was a Jew. However, if you are trying to establish that what He taught is not properly preserved by the 4 Gospels, then I very strongly disagree. I am aware of all those arguments, and I have studied the question quite thoroughly and, quite simply, I disagree. The Gospels were properly preserved and we do have the true words of Jesus .contained in those 4 books. I realize you have experts on your side, and there are plenty on my side.
You are right when you say that to lay down the sword will probably make one a loser in this world. And that is often the worldly result of truly following Jesus. Jesus told us that His kingdom is not of this world.
Randy
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June 17, 2015 at 11:25 am
Hi Randy:
Thanks for your commentary.
No, I am not “trying to establish that what He(Jesus) taught is not properly preserved by the 4 Gospels” however it is clear to me that in the four gospels and in the New Testament follwing from Acts to Revelation, the writers did not understand what Jesus taught. The writers were still stuck and today still are stuck in the same rut of the supernatural world of myths, magic and miracles as they had been indoctrinated by the religionists of their day, the same ones Jesus in his famous “woe to you” indictment commentary spoke out against those scoundrel leaders (Matt) 23…………And the same falsehoods the Scribes and Pharisees taught are what Christian Preachers and Teachers continue to teach their parishioners, falsehoods.
Do you drive a car? I know of few places where more Christians tell more lies about their Messiah/God than behind the steering wheel.
In my revelation, Jesus did not follow the Jewish religion or religious rituals although some traditions he did practice, as pointed out when he told the woman that Samarians were dogs as Jewish mindset taught (Matt 15:27) But Jesus awent to the Synagogue to communicate to the people(as was the custom for congregants to read Old Testament passages and speak on them, attended the religious Feasts and Festivals and entertained at the Community Centres which in those days like rural villages today, all have their Church Community Centres as the heart of the village for special outside events, such as Bat/Bar Mitzvahs that were an outgrowth of the synagogue-ization of Judaism, which required communities to develop around a synagogue as the source of Judaism in a given community.
While the words may be preserved many of theancient traditions were also retained and therefore led to misinterpretation of what Jesus actually meant by what he taught and I and many posters here are at loggerheads over the interpretation of the words Jesus spoke and the message he tried to convey.
Personally my revelation says Jesus was a Jew by birth and an atheist by choice because he did not follow any organized religion neither did he accept the supernatural concept of the God Myth residing outside the human experience but residing within the human experience as he referred many times to the “Father living within you”.
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June 17, 2015 at 11:53 am
FA:
As in True Christianity – True Christian:
Instead of acknowledging that some members of a group have undesirable characteristics, the fallacy tries to redefine the group to exclude them.
The fallacy does not occur in defining a group or label narrowly to begin with, but in narrowing it by excluding evidence that contradicts an initially broad definition.
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June 17, 2015 at 6:36 pm
Take Away,
If you have concluded that Jesus was an atheist, then you have discarded large sections of the New Testament. As I said, I have concluded that Scripture is properly preserved and that we indeed do have an accurate account of what Jesus said. It is very clear in the New Testament that Jesus was not an atheist.
I was not narrowing the group. What I said was that many in the group do not always do a good job following Jesus. I said that Ireland’s feuds had (have) nothing to do with true Christianity. I was not saying that those who feuding are not true Christians. To be a Christian means to follow Jesus. Some Christians do not do a very good job at that. All Christians sometimes, even often, do not do a very good job at that.
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June 17, 2015 at 9:04 pm
TA,
Seeing as you qualify your comments with the stipulations: “in my revelation” and “Personally my revelation says” it’s also evident you’re lacking any genuine anchor with which to ground your assertions in truth or independent corroboration to substantiate your claims [2 Peter 1:20, 21]. The Bible both Old and New Testaments constitute the entire Word of God through which He reveals Himself. It’s through our understanding of Scripture that we are taught of God, His Messiah and His Holy Spirit [Acts 20:27; 2 Peter 1:16-19].
Yahshua Messiah is the perfect Servant of Yahweh [Isaiah 52:13-15, 53:1-12]. When He became flesh and entered His creation to save the world from sin; He lived His life and preached in full knowledge of and complete obedience to the Law of God as written by the prophet Moses in Torah [Amos 3:7; Matthew 5:17; John 5:46-47]. He demonstrates to us how we are to live if we are to enter into the kingdom of heaven. For us it starts with Yahshua’s command to repent of our sins [Matthew 4:17, 5:19].
“Hear, O Israel! YHWH is our God, YHWH is one [joined together, unified perfectly]! You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) This is what Yahshua preached and preaches still [Luke 10:25-28].
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall reverence only Yahweh your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.” [Malachi 3:16-18; Zephaniah 3:9] (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, 13) Faithful saints do not congregate to study the Bible “by custom” but in obedience, service, worship, glory and praise to God Most High.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived [by wolves in sheep’s clothing, false christs, false prophets, false teachers, false heralds, false religious systems]; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate by perversion, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ [by His atoning sacrifice] and in the Spirit of our [Father] God [by the Holy Spirit’s regeneration]. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
Now God [our Father] has not only raised the Lord [Messiah Yahshua], but will also [resurrect] raise us up through His power [Holy Spirit]. (1 Corinthians 6:14)
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Messiah? Shall I then take away the members of Messiah and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” [Genesis 2:24; Mark 10:8; Revelation 17] (1 Corinthians 6:15-16)
But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him [John 4:21-26]. (1 Corinthians 6:17)
Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the one who practices immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price [Messiah’s suffering and death at Golgotha]: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, at the end of these days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the ages. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”? [Psalm 2:7] And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”? And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.” And of the angels He says, “WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.” But of the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.” And, “YOU, LORD. IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT, AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP; LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED. BUT YOU ARE THE SAME, AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END.” But to which of the angels has He ever said, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”? (Hebrews 1:1-13)
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June 18, 2015 at 9:59 am
FA
Exactly the kinds of things the Scribes and Pharisees said about Jesus 2000 years ago. The religious types also purported to be the only ones upholding and able to understand the Old Testament “the entire Word of God through which He reveals Himself.”
” it’s also evident you’re lacking any genuine anchor with which to ground your assertions in truth or independent corroboration to substantiate your claims”
Independent corroboration are words diametrically opposed to what Jesus said you ought to do; here read it again for the first time about your independent corrorboration according to Jesus:
and you actually quoted part of Jesus’ comment but not all of it: you left out this important part of way you should live:
You quoted John 5: 46-47 and deliberately left out 41-44: ”I’m not interested in crowd approval. Because I know you and your crowds. I know that love, especially the Father’s love, is not on your working agenda. I came with the authority of my Father, and you either dismiss me or avoid me. If another came, acting self-important, you would welcome him with open arms. How do you expect to get anywhere with the Father when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring the Father?
And again in Luke 6:26: ”There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests. Your task is to be true, not popular. This is what you call independent corroboration n’est ce pas?
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” And the Scribes, the Pharisees, most current religious leaders and you Frank, try to fulfill the Law or the Prophets but failed miserably because you lack understanding about Jesus, about his Kingdom and the Father he constantly proclaimed. Think of the Father within you as the “Immune System”; it has nothing to do with you, you were born with it.
You pore over the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life. But there’s no eternal life to be found in the bible, for these scriptures you read, testify to me and you will not come to me so that you may have the eternal life that only I can give you, instead you have a dead bible, and a dead religion and it won’t be long before you’ll have a dead Christ on your hands because if you don’t come to the one of whom it testifies you’ll crucify him again and again.
“I do not receive honor from men. 42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. 44 How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?
You left all this out and quoted two lines. 46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Your p[roblem is that you quote everybody in the bible to support you but hardly any quotes from Jesus and even when you rarely Jesus you don’t understand or context of his life and why he had to flee and hide and deceive his enemies who were looking for him and offering rewards and issuing decrees that everyone knowing anything about his whereabouts were duty bound to turn him into the authorities. For speaking against the religious establishment. The religious authorities, like Police, issuing arrest warrants for the shooter in Charleston, South Carolina last night in the “house of worship”, was the way they treated Jesus for 3 years after he “came out of the closet”.
So FA, you’re not telling me anything I haven’t already read about in the Gospels about how your ancestors treated Jesus in his day.
A blasphemer, a glutton, a drunk, a devil,
The way you quote scriptures you may as well go around to the churches and quote today’s preachers because all they do is quotes Paul and other writers but only, make a passing remark about the one they claim to follow; most I have ever heard rarely quote Jesus the one they follow but they quote the preachers who came before and who came after but Jesus is like some figurehead used to rubber stamp religious leaders and preachers; the ones Jesus described as Look how many scoundrel preachers your ancestors approved (because they used the words you wanted to hear that supports the ancient beliefs you are erroneously lulled to believe about the supernatural, superstitions and prophets{psychics] )
I know you don’t understand and I can’t make you understand if it isn’t “within you”. Unless you come to the son you cannot see yet no one can come to the son unless the spirit of the Father draw him.
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June 18, 2015 at 10:33 am
Randy:
IF,
“It is very clear in the New Testament that Jesus was not an atheist.” Can you please quote me those scriptures? I mean the scriptures of Jesus in Mk, Mt, Lk and Jn; don’t tell me please what Paul thought or any of the preachers in the early church or preachers in the ancient church. Even the followers in the Gos[els did not understand what Jesus was all about because they were still wallowing in the ancient religions based on myth, magic and miracles as prior to that were the religions of mythology which did not go away with Abrahams invention of the one lump God into which all the myths were incorporated to become ostensibly the one and only true God from whence we have a plethora of Gods with different meanings for a plethora of beliefs and systems and tons of people from exorcism, to hen pecking at wailing walls, finger beading all day long on a never ending circle of beads, chanting and ritualisms incomprehensible to other God followers, suicide pacts to others and war mongers to yet other groups all in the name of the One Lump God.
However I must say that a-theist is perhaps not the best way to describe Jesus; as it isn’t even the best description for me. What I mean by atheist is the belief in a personal, external, entity called God; in this respect Jesus was an atheist and I am an atheist HOWEVER. I do accept the Father as God that dwells in the Kingdom and that Kingdom is “within you”, Lk 17:20-21, the Father who Jesus spoke constantly about; that is, spoke constantly about the belief in a personal, INTERNAL, God.
I liken that internal entity to the physical, observable, visible Nervous System, Blood System, Organ Structures, Immune System, only in the Spiritual Sense, that depends on nothing you do because you’re born with them, part of the package, the invisible you on the inside like the Thought System, Emotional System, Will System; the System where spirits and attitudes are conceptualized, loveness, kindness, gentleness, passion and compassion, goodness, helpness, a 911 mentality, joy, peace, longsuffering(patience), faithfulness, discernment, discretion, self control.
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June 18, 2015 at 12:11 pm
The Son of Man returns with a Divine Title, “Word of God”. A sharp sword comes from His mouth, so that He might strike the nations with it. He will shepherd them with an iron scepter.
And the (metaphorical) sword that proceedeth out of his mouth is the Word of God
He has a Name inscribed known only to himself.
But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
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June 18, 2015 at 6:25 pm
TA,
You cast many aspersions using a colossal net. But in the end they shall all come to dust. For there is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:18)
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” (Revelation 21:3-7)
May your name be written in the Lamb’s book of life.
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June 19, 2015 at 6:25 am
TA,
“Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh and whose trust is Yahweh. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, Yahweh, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:7-10)
The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. (Psalm 119:160)
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June 19, 2015 at 6:51 am
FA
Is there anybody in California, any Christian, not anxious after 4 years of drought because of what some ancient guy said about trust in Yahweh?
“The God you believe in is essentially an invisible person, a creator deity, who created the universe to have a relationship with one species of primate.
He’s got galaxy upon galaxy to attend to but he’s especially concerned with what we do, and he’s especially concerned with what we do when naked. And he almost certainly disapproves of homosexuality and he’s created this cosmos as a vast laboratory in which to test our powers of credulity. And the test is this: Can you believe in this God on faith as described by ancient men who wanted to control the world in their image, by their belief system? And if you can, you will win an eternity of happiness after you die.
Just think about the Muslims at this moment who are blowing themselves up convinced they are agents of God’s will. There’s absolutely nothing you can say against their behavior in moral terms apart from your own faith based claim that they’re praying to the wrong God. If they had the right God, what they are doing would be good, on Divine Command Theory. Now I’m obviously not saying that all religious people are psychopaths and psychotics but this to me is the true horror of religion. It allows perfectly decent and sane people to believe by the billions what only lunatics could believe on their own.
Why is there nothing in your quotes about electricity, there’s nothing about DNA, there’s nothing about infectious disease, about the principles of infectious disease, about cancer, Parkinson, Alzheimer, cardiovascular disease, Down syndrome, mental illness, disabilities, Epilepsy…oh yeah, it’s all about sin and demonic possession and faith in caricature concepts from ironage barbarism and superstition and sacrificing your first born to control weather.
Every one of our specific sciences has superceded and surpassed the wisdom of scripture, from cosmology, to psychology to economics. We know more about ourselves than anyone writing the bible or the koran did and that is a distinctly inconvenient fact for anyone wanting to believe that this book was dictated by the creator of the universe. Think BIG.” samharris
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June 19, 2015 at 7:18 am
FA:
Where was your Omniscient Yahweh on 17 June 2015 at 9:00pm when a gunman was preparing to execute Christians in a Charleston South Carolina Church bible study?
Was Yahweh busy preparing the lady Florist in Shelby, North Carolina to be the vessel who would recognize the shooter and follow him for 35 minutes until the police intercepted and arrested him for the murders?
The florist thinks she was used by God for that end and says all glory to Yahweh for using her in that way. What’s that all about?
If you can’t debit god for intervening to prevent the murders why credit him for the apprehension of the murderer? Does it make sense to anybody besides your group?
What do you think?
Was the florist just deluded?
Were the nine Christians deluded?
Or were they simply deceived or
Maybe just a few prayers short of a full Faith Portfolio?
I’m sure you won’t have to look far in the Book to find something somebody chiselled two, three or ten thousand years ago about the matter.
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June 19, 2015 at 7:31 am
TA,
Your difficulty lies in your perspective concerning Scripture. You view God’s Word from an anthropocentric, not theocentric focus. The Bible teaches us of God as unique sovereign Protagonist of this universe that He created and established. You should try and turn yourself around and look outward and upward instead of always looking “within” yourself. Try thinking for yourself instead of being led by the nose by the likes of samharris who obviously can’t even get basic facts straight.
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June 19, 2015 at 8:08 am
FA:
I would say I am Christocentric as it relates to Anthroprocentrism because Jesus was human; you go with Theocentrism because you view Jesus as a Supernaturalistic entity. You wrap your worldview in religious philosophy based on the paranormal abnormality that nobody can fathom, understand or identify with so you are forced to dance around issues with incredible rhetoric about myth, magic and miracle. I am like Jesus more pratical and common sensical which is so evident throughout his life even as he argued with the religious mindset that you operate in. Don’t you remember what the religious philosophers chastized Jesus and his disciples about: picking corn on the Sabbath against religious tradition? But Jesus in his practical way simply explained that they were hungry just like David and his men when they ate the shewbread when they were hungry that was forbidden for anyone to eat except the priests and his common sense answer was that man is master of the Sabbath because he made the sabbath special based on their supernatural philosophy that God rested on the seventh day after creation.
You still live in the supernatural world while Jesus lived in the real natural world and taught a philosophy that was practical for living in the here and now and not in the there and after. There’s a mighty gulf between the two and theosupernaturalists cannot cross over into the realnaturalist world of Jesus; you are doomed in the Pharisaical world of the external creator invented by men.
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June 20, 2015 at 1:03 am
TA,
Practically speaking:
We know that we are of God [Romans 8:2, 14, 16-17; Ephesians 4:30], and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one [Luke 4:5-8]. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding [Romans 8:27] so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Yahshua Messiah. This is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:19, 20)
Stop bearing false witness [Exodus 20:16]. Stop your idolatry [Exodus 20:2-6]. Stop practicing lawlessness [1 John 3:4, 8]. Your false christ is no more than a product of your twisted unstable interpretation of Scripture [Matthew 7:21-23].
“Wash yourself, make yourself clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil [Ephesians 4:27], learn to do good [Ephesians 6:11]; seek justice,” (Isaiah 1:16, 17)
You are not big enough to accuse the whole age effectively, but let us say you are in dissent. You are in no position to issue commands, but you can speak words of hope. Shall this be the substance of your message? Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God [Romans 8:29-30]. – Thomas Merton
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June 20, 2015 at 9:27 am
Practically speaking:
Mat 7:23, And do you know what I (Jesus) am going to say?
‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’ – The Takeaway
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June 20, 2015 at 10:33 am
To Whom It May Concern:
Saturday’s Sermon: Serving Simple Saints Seeking Safe Secure Shelter So Sanity Sayings Supplants Supernaturalism.
I’ve learned ….
That you should never say no to a gift from a child.
The Truth Fairy Proverbs:
When you are wrong be quick to confess the apology;
When you are right be quick to forgive the confesser.
No sin, confessed in repentance, is greater than the compassion that absolves it in forgiving the confesser.
Where does darkness flee when the light is turned on? Can darkness ever win, ever return, while the light is shining? No, I’m a frayed knot.
The Son outwardly and the Father inwardly are one; IT’S LIKE WE CAN’T GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT EACH OTHER.
If you can’t understand this “God within” concept, you will always be at a disadvantage in knowing the real Jesus.
Do not look for external truth;
the truth lives within you,
Those who know truth, speak truth.
Those who don’t, quote scriptures.
Without uunderstanding the wisdom
of scriptures to back it up.
All who follow wisdom prove the wisdom right,
Revealing messages of the truth: the Sanctity of Life.
Dear Jesus:
Now I think I know what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they’re not listening still.
Perhaps they never will…
And the world rises up yet again to fight the evil of hatred. Hatred is a double edged sword; it hurts the hated and it hurts the hater. Love is a double blessing; it edifies the loved and multiplies the lover. This Proverb bonding the spirit of United Humanity; can not be received by the frailties of human egos divided. Humanity Unites Humans (HUH)
If you can’t wait to believe it when you see it; take the religious route; then, you can see it when you believe it.
Religionists teach all the wrong things; then, cringe and squirm like salted slugs when confronted by truth.
Hear the Parable of the Rooster:
Scoundrel Religious Soothsayers dread the advance of knowledge as vampires do the approach of daylight, scowling at the rooster heralding the fatal end of the darkness of the deceptions on which they feed.
I believe America was founded on Freedom From Religion as much as Freedom of Religion.
———————–30———————End Truth Fairey Proverbs – ltg
“Listen to this warning carefully. “There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God’s Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you’re sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.”(and receives forgiveness on your behalf) Matt: 12:31-32
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June 20, 2015 at 11:14 am
Great is Yahweh and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. (Psalm 147:5)
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June 20, 2015 at 12:50 pm
FA:
You failed to answer my previous post and resort to your regurgitating meaningless scriptures to address everything. WHY? HERE IT IS AGAIN AND I’LL WAIT FOR YOUR ANSWER; OTHERWISE, DON’T BOTHER QUOTING RIDICULOUS CHISELED SCRIPTURES TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO. PLease give us a break!
Where was your Omniscient Yahweh on 17 June 2015 at 9:00pm when a gunman was preparing to execute Christians in a Charleston South Carolina Church bible study?
Was Yahweh busy preparing the lady Florist in Shelby, North Carolina to be the vessel who would recognize the shooter and follow him for 35 minutes until the police intercepted and arrested him for the murders?
The florist thinks she was used by God for that end and says all glory to Yahweh for using her in that way. What’s that all about?
If you can’t debit god for intervening to prevent the murders why credit him for the apprehension of the murderer? Does it make sense to anybody besides your group?
What do you think?
Was the florist just deluded?
Were the nine Christians deluded?
Or were they simply deceived or
Maybe just a few prayers short of a full Faith Portfolio?
I’m sure you won’t have to look far in the Book to find something somebody chiselled two, three or ten thousand years ago about the matter.
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June 20, 2015 at 3:37 pm
TA,
You’ve received my response but you may be too blind to see. It comes from –
He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
(1 Timothy 6:15-16)
View this video from 3:13:48 to its conclusion.
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June 20, 2015 at 4:50 pm
TA,
A torrid lesson in Biblical hermeneutics; watch & learn.
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June 20, 2015 at 4:53 pm
FA:
Pay attention to the words you just used: “whom no man has seen or can see”…so how can anybody speak so knowlingly about something they cannot know? They cannot know but do assert nonetheless.
Pride has more influence in the egocentric mind for most men than the ability of its counter balance, Humility, to discipline. The Drug of Absolute Certainty makes religious pride go on and on and on admitting no bounds in their assertion of knowing the unknowable. This is not unique to Christians, all religions are like that; look how Islam conquers the people in Iraq and Syria and Afghanistan and Pakistan and impose their ideas of religion, no woman can be seen in public without a burka, men must have a beard; in other words, one man, a dictator god, calls the shots for everybody and there is no room for deviation from the Source as they enforce the tyranny of religon of Absolute Certainty by the sword or flog .
How are the assertions you espouse different from Islamic assertion, in the enforcement only? So you are exactly the same. All religions are the same except Buddhism, the only religion I know that doesn’t have a god to kill for or a god to die for. That’s encouraging. Even Christianity could not solidify their religious foundation without the sacrifice of somebody’s life being taken and oh, death is worthy of glory says the simpleton.
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June 20, 2015 at 5:45 pm
TA,
You obviously haven’t read the Book. Like I said, try and pull yourself away from the mirror so you can watch and learn something.
A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is arrogant and careless. (Proverbs 14:16)
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June 21, 2015 at 7:54 am
FA:
It’s been three days since I asked you! And as many times you were asked to explain it. Do you remain silent waiting for the question to dissolve and be forgotten over time?
Are you frantically searching the Book to justify Yahweh’s non intervention at the Charleston Church as your Christian colleague justified Yahweh’s glory for intervention by using her as a vessel to follow the Killer and report it to 911 for his capture? Or is it really Yahweh who caused the evil?
Here’s a scripture that might explain that Yahweh has all the debits as well as all the credits?
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” Isaiah 45:7
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June 21, 2015 at 4:18 pm
Take Away
You asked Frank:
“Where was your Omniscient Yahweh on 17 June 2015 at 9:00pm when a gunman was preparing to execute Christians in a Charleston South Carolina Church bible study?”
That is an excellent question that points right to the heart of who God is and what is His purpose. It is a question that has been asked for many millennia. Christian philosophers, and their detractors, call it the “The problem of evil.”
Is it logically possible for there to be an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient and all good God that would allow evil to exist? It is a question that, for the most part, nearly all Christians ignore. Very few Christians even realize it is an extremely important question.
If you want an excellent and educated response, I suggest you study Alvin Plantinga who is a Professor of Philosophy Emeritus Notre Dame. I say “study” and not just read, because the subject is very difficult. I can see you are smart enough to follow him but it will take a great deal of effort – especially if you are not yourself trained in philosophy.
There are great Philosophers who do not accept the factuality of Plantiga’s answer, but even his most ardent detractors usually admit that he has provided an answer that is logically possible and consistent.
Randy
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June 21, 2015 at 9:28 pm
TA,
How many ways do you need to hear it from me. I’ve responded to you twice already and still you fail to grasp it. The Scripture you cite describes the condition but it doesn’t speak to the reason for that condition. For sure Yahweh created all things.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:15-17)
He is preeminent over all creation thus SOVEREIGN of the universe. He rules the universe in every aspect as Pantocrator. “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man [Daniel 7:13, 14, 27].” And Yahshua came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth [Matthew 9:2-7].” (Matthew 28:18)
The entire matter rests in Perfect Sovereignty of the Divine Will ensuring ultimate establishment of God’s Kingdom [Deuteronomy 32:3-4, 39; Matthew 6:9-10]. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.(1 Corinthians 4:20) And Who shares wisdom and understanding to serve counsel but the Spirit of God [1 Corinthians 2:10-11; Proverbs 8]. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) And He will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the reverence of Yahweh is His treasure. (Isaiah 33:6) This explains why the arrogant & disobedient never find peace because they are unwilling to submit in love and respect to His will. Unless there is first repentance of sin through recognition of His supreme authority and our willful carnal incapacity to meet His righteous standard [Romans 3:20, 7:14-25] the Father will not draw us to Messiah that by faith/trust in His Son we may be washed clean by His blood and born again in His Spirit to receive God’s gift of everlasting life [Hebrews 4:1-2]. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience [Hebrews 4:6; Numbers 13:25-33, 14:26-45; Deuteronomy 32:18-20]. (Hebrews 4:9-11) Rest in Peace. Amen.
If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:13-14)
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June 21, 2015 at 9:35 pm
FA
We call that down on the farm, Caca Del Toro.
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June 21, 2015 at 9:37 pm
FA:
You just can’t answer the questin. Face it, admit it. You cannot justify.
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June 21, 2015 at 9:54 pm
TA,
I see you spend all your time down there, wallowing in the mire.
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June 22, 2015 at 8:57 am
FA:
Unfortunately all you can do is regurgitate scritpures but do not know scriptures well enough to explain them in your own words. You remind me of the Proverb 26:11 “As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly.”
The reference to vomit indicates excessive indulgence and so also symbolises revulsion.
The incorrigible nature of fools is further emphasised in Proverbs 27:22, “Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding them like grain with a pestle, you will not remove their folly from them.”
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June 22, 2015 at 9:06 am
FA
Take a lesson from Randy in Post 29. Read how he answered the same question “in his own words”
Like I’ve said before FA:
“Those who know truth, speak truth.
Those who don’t, quote scriptures” ltg.
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June 22, 2015 at 10:07 pm
TA,
As I’ve told you previously, you can proffer your own personal diatribes, distortions, rationalizations, mysteries and scandals til you’re blue in the face. Which anyone familiar with this blog knows unfortunately, you have a distinct penchant for doing. But the fact of the matter remains seeing God is the Subject thus you want meaningful consideration. Therefore, you must take Scripture into account – all of it – not simply what fosters and entertains your own twisted favors or perverse predilections. And you certainly can’t jettison entire sections & books of the Bible with unmitigated disdain then fabricate an individualized set of “facts”, speculations, & opinions or revise history producing a lame, conceited, vain attempt to cover your infantile malevolent derision and ill-conceived deceptions. How can you expect to be taken seriously? Do you really think you’re deserving of any respect as a worthy intellect? If I saw you present any competent credible material; i.e., textual, audio, video to corroborate what you “so elegantly espouse” then maybe we’d have a basis for discussion, even argument. Instead you grudgingly whine, bitch, moan & grumble about how everybody else’s god-lump wants to bind & control your fixations in the bedroom but your McGiver-hero American Idol Jeezuz liberates you by force of the “Father within”. What kind of foul, putrid, vomit-ridden, debauched concoction is that? Doesn’t the stench of that regurgitated rot shred your nostrils? Evidently, not. Well, you just stay on your hands & knees and keep licking that mess up, fella. Afterall, isn’t one man’s meat another man’s poison? But if you expect to call me out then you need to bring something intelligible for evaluation to the table; not your blithering, nebulous, psychotropically induced, deranged myths, legends and fairy stories.
As to relevant referrals, watch & learn from Mr. Prasch’s discourse on Biblical exegesis in post # 25 instead of posing like some half-wit reject from the UFT. (No offense meant to the dedicated members of the UFT.) Then maybe you’ll be able to begin genuine study of Scripture and be taught of God. Otherwise, TA, you’re just one more gob o’ spit/tub o’ guts pokin’ at the keypad. In that case like the old song says, “Let’s call the whole thing off.”
By the way, I prefer Mr. John Carson Lennox whose Irish roots make him a superb storyteller. What would he think about Ireland approving same-sex marriage? Randy’s suggestion, Alvin Plantinga, although of high caliber proves a bit too esoteric for me.
– Frank Adamick
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June 23, 2015 at 8:37 am
FA:
Gee was it something I said? Is this the first or the second time you posted without the Jack Van Imp litany of select words from different books trying to make complete sentences from different sections as though from Genesis, Daniel and Deut to Isaiah, John and Revelation and stringing them together like Tarzan so the thousands of years seem like they are all connected. My guess is that you make one sentence, then scissor one or two words, find those two or three words in Deuteronomy, then go to the next two or three words, scissor them and put in a scripture verse reference and so on until in one sentence you have a complete sentnce from one end of the ancient canyon to the last end of the iron age of barbarism. It’s a ridiculous exercise in a futile attempt to show a consistency that isn’t the re but you make it appear so using language in a totally awkward way.
I may throw out sections of scripture because they have nothing to do with the supernatural but I don’t reject scripture that shows accounts of man’s non ducation in times when killing your first born children was an accepted religious practice for the credit of the Rain God demanding a display of worship.
Moses performed a magic trick with his sceptre that turned into a snake to show Pharoah that Moses’ God was superior to the other court magicians’ gods and called by Moses and now you Christians as a “miracle”. OMG. That doesn’t make you smart; that just exposes your ignorance but that’s how you use scriptures to perpetuate lies about impossible events but that’s that’s not how Jesus used scriptures and that’s not how I use scriptures.
Well did Jesus speak of you when he referenced Isaiah in Matt15:8-9: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their academia fancy.
Later his disciples came and told him, “Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?”
Jesus shrugged it off. “Every tree that wasn’t planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.”
Peter said, “I don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”
Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.
That’s called religion FA and you’re full of it. Sometimes we have to answer the fool showing him his folly lest he be wise in his own conceit.
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June 23, 2015 at 11:48 am
“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7)
“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;” (John 16:8)
“concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;” (John 16:9)
“and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;” (John 16:10)
“and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” (John 16:11)
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” (John 16:12)
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (John 16:13)
“He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (John 16:14)
“All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (John 16:15)
We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:6)
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June 24, 2015 at 7:12 am
“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” (John 7:18)
“Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet not one of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” (John 7:19)
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)
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June 24, 2015 at 8:40 am
Pope says family separation can be ‘morally necessary’. Suggesting that divorce will be soon allowed for Catholic families.
Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis said Wednesday that it may be “morally necessary” for some families to split up, marking a change of tone in the Catholic Church’s attitude to troubled marriages.
“There are cases in which separation is inevitable,” he said during his weekly general audience, with a message hoping to encourage greater compassion in the Church ahead of a highly anticipated global meeting on family life in October.
“Sometimes, it can even be morally necessary, when it’s about shielding the weaker spouse or young children from the more serious wounds caused by intimidation and violence, humiliation and exploitation,” he said.
Francis said there were many families in “irregular situations” and the question should be how to best help them, and “how to accompany them so that the child does not become daddy or mummy’s hostage”.
The issue is likely to be addressed during the upcoming synod — a gathering of bishops — on the family, which Francis hopes will help reconcile Catholic thinking with the realities of believers’ lives in the early 21st century.
A first synod on the issues last year saw riled conservative bishops mobilise to block the approval of language heralding an unprecedented opening to the gay community and greater flexibility on the treatment of divorced Catholics.
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June 24, 2015 at 7:53 pm
And he spoke to me saying:
“Count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses; indeed, I myself, have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. Good is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—SHINE! By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father living in heaven, living in his kingdom, the kingdom that is within you.”
This is what reality does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. Be the sun. Be the rain.”
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June 25, 2015 at 3:18 am
Know God and make Him Known. Seek His Kingdom first above all else. Do the will of God, know it as supreme. And realize He knows all about you and everything you’ll ever need. Always in your dealings be genuine and succinct.
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June 25, 2015 at 1:31 pm
Seek ye the Kingdom BUT
Very few Christians know where to look for the Kingdom. They’re looking for signs and wonders, psychics and thunder.
“Now when Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Lk 17:2-21
” Jesus, grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come, answered, “The kingdom of God doesn’t come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, ‘Look here!’ or, ‘There it is!’ And why? Because God’s kingdom is already among you.” (In each and every one of you)
According to an old Hindu legend…
..there was once a time when all human beings were gods, but they so abused their divinity that Brahma, the chief god, decided to take it away from them and hide it where it could never be found.
Where to hide their divinity was the question. So Brahma called a council of the gods to help him decide. “Let’s bury it deep in the earth,” said the gods. But Brahma answered, “No, that will not do because humans will dig into the earth and find it.” Then the gods said, “Let’s sink it in the deepest ocean.” But Brahma said, “No, not there, for they will learn to dive into the ocean and will find it.” Then the gods said, “Let’s take it to the top of the highest mountain and hide it there.” But once again Brahma replied, “No, that will not do either, because they will eventually climb every mountain and once again take up their divinity.” Then the gods gave up and said, “We do not know where to hide it, because it seems that there is no place on earth or in the sea that human beings will not eventually reach.”
Brahma thought for a long time and then said, “Here is what we will do. We will hide their divinity deep in the center of their own being, for humans will never think to look for it there.”
All the gods agreed that this was the perfect hiding place, and the deed was done. And since that time humans have been going up and down the earth, digging, diving, climbing, and exploring–searching for something already within themselves.
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June 25, 2015 at 7:04 pm
When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: (Luke 8:4)
“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up.” (Luke 8:5)
“Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.” (Luke 8:6)
“Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.” (Luke 8:7)
“Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 8:8)
His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. (Luke 8:9)
And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.” (Luke 8:10)
“Now the parable is this; the seed is the word of God.” (Luke 8:11)
“Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:12)
“Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.” (Luke 8:13)
“The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.” (Luke 8:14)
“But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” (Luke 8:15)
“Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.” (Luke 8:16)
“For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” (Luke 8:17)
“So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.” (Luke 8:18)
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June 27, 2015 at 8:09 am
Yahshua speaks concerning the kingdom of heaven:
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June 27, 2015 at 10:54 am
“Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions,” Kennedy said in his ruling.
“They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
With that statement several profound dispensations had spontaneous generation:
1. Gay Marriage is legal and cannot be banned in any of the States in the
USA and is protected by the Constitution of the United States.
2. A profound rebuke to all religions and those members who harbor ill
feelings and hatred toward Gays according to their Holy Books.
3. A profound release from the Law of Moses as chiseled in Leviticus 20:13
that vowed death for homosexual activity.
4. And a severe challenge, not to the authenticity of scriptures that rail against fellow humans in the LBGT Community, but that call into question the very veracity of these scriptures:
Deuteronomy 23:18, Romans 1:27, 1 Timothy 1:10,
5. And the White House LIGHTS UP to celebrate with Gay “Flying colors”:
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June 27, 2015 at 12:29 pm
“Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?” ‘ (Ezekiel 33:10)
Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign YHWH, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11)
“Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’ (Ezekiel 33:12)
If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. (Ezekiel 33:13)
And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right – (Ezekiel 33:14)
if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil – that person will surely live; they will not die. (Ezekiel 33:15)
None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live. (Ezekiel 33:16)
“Yet your people say, ‘The way of Yahweh is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. (Ezekiel 33:17)
If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it. (Ezekiel 33:18)
And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so. (Ezekiel 33:19)
Yet you Israelites say, ‘The way of Yahweh is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.” (Ezekiel 33:20)
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June 27, 2015 at 3:28 pm
Jesus speaking: Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.'”
Who was there on the seventh day? The Jewish Council?
Who made the rule about the Sabbath? The Jewish Council.
Who complained when Jesus broke the Sabbath, God? The Jewish Council! Everyday is as revered as every day.
It was the rule of the ritual, the religious traditions of men being taught as doctrinal truth as though they were the commandments of God. They were not.
Religious lip service is as useless in its obvious pretext as the utter is a failure to nourish the calf strapped on the underbelly of Papa del toro; an utter failure.
“You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Why? Because murder begins in the same place, in the same way hateful anger begins, as they say, ‘in the heart of a man’. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. The Jewish Council. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. Protection of a woman can spark the rage of a man as in jealousy. The simple moral fact is that WORDS kill. In the beginning was the WORD, the WORD was with God and the WORD WAS God! Be alert to a man’s WORD. Be alert to your own WORD.
Regarding the Bible:
All Commandments derived from:—————The Jewish Council
Courts Administered by: ————————–The Jewish Council.
Hellfire: Capital Punishment Adjudged by——The Jewish Council
Judgment: Capital Penalty pronounced by—-The Jewish Council.
Religious rules of man taught as doctrines of God.
Read it for yourself in Exodus 18:13-27
13-14 The next day Moses took his place to judge the people. People were standing before him all day long, from morning to night. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What’s going on here? Why are you doing all this, and all by yourself, letting everybody line up before you from morning to night?”
15-16 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me with questions about God. When something comes up, they come to me. I judge between a man and his neighbor and teach them God’s laws and instructions.”
17-23 Moses’ father-in-law said, “This is no way to go about it. You’ll burn out, and the people right along with you. This is way too much for you—you can’t do this alone. Now listen to me. Let me tell you how to do this so that God will be in this with you. Be there for the people before God, but let the matters of concern be presented to God. Your job is to teach them the rules and instructions, to show them how to live, what to do. And then you need to keep a sharp eye out for competent men—men who fear God, men of integrity, men who are incorruptible—and appoint them as leaders over groups organized by the thousand, by the hundred, by fifty, and by ten. They’ll be responsible for the everyday work of judging among the people. They’ll bring the hard cases to you, but in the routine cases they’ll be the judges. They will share your load and that will make it easier for you. If you handle the work this way, you’ll have the strength to carry out whatever God commands you, and the people in their settings will flourish also.”
24-27 Moses listened to the counsel of his father-in-law and did everything he said. Moses picked competent men from all Israel and set them as leaders over the people who were organized by the thousand, by the hundred, by fifty, and by ten. They took over the everyday work of judging among the people. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but in the routine cases they were the judges. Then Moses said good-bye to his father-in-law who went home to his own country.
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June 28, 2015 at 7:49 am
“For I, Yahweh, do not change; …” (Malachi 3:6)
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June 28, 2015 at 10:46 am
You think yourself wise because you accept the approval of others BUT;
It was the rule of the ritual, the religious traditions of men, being taught as doctrinal truth as though they were the commandments of God. They were not!
Regardless of what “119 Ministries” propose they are wrong as Jesus himself says they are wrong:
JESUS, CORNFIELDS AND THE SABBATH:
23-24 One Sabbath day he was walking through a field of ripe grain. As his disciples made a path, they pulled off heads of grain [(corn) because they were hungry)].
The Pharisees (AKA 119 Ministries) said to Jesus: “Look, your disciples are breaking Sabbath rules!” (No work, even to harvest food; no making money, even to feed the hungry, to buy food.)
(If you had known what was meant by the words ” I want mercy (common sense) not rituals and traditional rules, you would not be so quick to condemn the innocent.)
25-28 Jesus said, “Really? Haven’t you ever read what David did when he was hungry, along with those who were with him? How he entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, with the Chief Priest Abiathar right there watching—holy bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat—and handed it out to his companions?” Then Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to serve us; we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath. He’s in charge!” MAN IS MASTER OF THE SABBATH:.
This may come as a shock, FA, but you are duped by your seeking the approval of others instead of using the common sense Father that is “within you”, that you were born with. The “119 Ministries” supplant the words of Jesus to uphold their own doctrinal idea that the rules of men are the laws of God; exactly as the Pharisees did. The “119 Ministries” take the same position as the Pharisees in condemning Jesus and his disciples. They are indeed the false prophets today and you follow the fraud of modern-day religious folly. Totally against the words of Jesus.
How blind can you be, FA, as you seek the approval of others and not only seek but regurgitate the falsehoods telling you to ignore the words of Jesus and the simplicity that was in his meaning and understanding by taking the same stance against Jesus as the Pharisees did regarding the Sabbath? HUH?
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June 28, 2015 at 3:19 pm
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
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June 29, 2015 at 7:16 am
Of course Religious Man will reveal exactly what the Will of God is. It’s always been that way; that is, Man being omnisicent God!
Religious Man told the ancients, Religious Man told Jesus, Religious Man tell people today and Religious Man will tell people of the future too; it’s the nature of the Religious Man as Psychic to pretend to know all things.
How egotesticle is that?
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June 29, 2015 at 9:25 am
“Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. In a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My sabbaths.” (Ezekiel 44:23-24)
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But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; (Romans 9:6)
nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.” (Romans 9:7)
That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. (Romans 9:8)
For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” (Romans 9:9)
And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; (Romans 9:10)
for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, (Romans 9:11)
it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” (Romans 9:12)
Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.” (Romans 9:13)
What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! (Romans 9:14)
For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” (Romans 9:15)
So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. (Romans 9:16)
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” (Romans 9:17)
So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. (Romans 9:18)
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” (Romans 9:19)
On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? (Romans 9:20)
Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? (Romans 9:21)
What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? (Romans 9:22)
And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, (Romans 9:23)
even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. (Romans 9:24)
As He says also in Hosea, “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.'” (ROMANS 9:25)
“AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.” (Romans 9:26)
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED; (ROMANS 9:27)
FOR YAHWEH WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.” (Romans 9:28)
And just as Isaiah foretold, “UNLESS YAHWEH OF SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A POSTERITY, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE LIKE GOMORRAH.” (Romans 9:29)
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; (Romans 9:30)
but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. (Romans 9:31)
Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, (Romans 9:32)
just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” (Romans 9:33)
“… upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:18)
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June 29, 2015 at 10:10 am
Just in case you have any doubts about Atheists’ morality without the laws made by religious man…..
“when Atheists (Gentiles and non believers); in other words, “outsiders” who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our being. There is something deep within them that echoes yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to yes and no will become public knowledge on the day of final decision about every man and woman. The Message that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences. Rom 2:14-16
circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from (the Father within)…..”Rom 2:29
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June 29, 2015 at 2:27 pm
“The truth will set you free”, why? because the simplicity about truth is that truth is knowledge and that knowledge is the thing that will set you free, belief cannot set you free, belief never can set you free because belief is not knowledge and no matter how obstinately you try to justify belief, belief at best, may or may not be true, because in belief, there is no certainty. Knowledge is Absolute Certainty and Absolute Knowledge is certain, absolutely.
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June 29, 2015 at 4:18 pm
The question is, what is absolute truth?
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June 30, 2015 at 5:15 am
Take Away,
You stated “belief cannot set you free” and “knowledge is the thing that will set you free” because “Knowledge is Absolute Certainty and Absolute Knowledge is certain, absolutely.”
I agree with your basic point, however, I am very strongly convinced that humans can “absolutely know” absolutely nothing. We depend upon our senses and we believe our senses. We believe that the person standing in front of us is actually standing in front of us.
Think about it this way. Can a person who has been blind from birth ever understand the color red? The answer is he cannot. He will have a lot of ideas about what red means, but he will never understand what any person with sight understands. This is because humans understand only that which we experience. We experience with our senses. A person blind from birth has never experienced the color red. And, again, we simply believe our senses, we have no way to absolutely know our senses are accurate.
And, incidentally, none of the above is original with me. I learned it in college while studying Immanuel Kant.
Such is the plight of all humans. It is what Jesus was referring to, I believe, when He told us to believe in Him. Christians believe in Jesus, because we have learned to trust Him, and because there really is overwhelming evidence that He is the Truth.
Randy
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June 30, 2015 at 8:42 am
Absolute Truth = GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS
Yahweh was pleased for His righteousness’ sake to make the law great and glorious. (Isaiah 42:21)
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June 30, 2015 at 9:12 am
Randy:
“I agree with your basic point……”. What is my basic point? Why and how do you agree with my basic point in light of your next comment: “I am very strongly convinced that humans can “absolutely know” absolutely nothing.” Do you think these two comments in the same sentence support each other? I don’t believe so. Matter of fact I “know” they don’t make sense because they claim opposite positions.
Colors that blind cannot experience hence “Know”, has nothing to do with my comment that knowledge, not belief, can set you free. Though a blind person from birth cannot perceive colors by the knowledge by vision, can the same person “believe” in vivid colors; a blind person would not even understand “vivid” let alone “color red”.
Of course we rely on our senses, not the least of which is common sense but if you know absolutely nothing how can you tell me anything without knowledge? Are you claiming that out of non-knowledge? Belief, You can speak with authority?
How can you learn philosophy from Kant’s point of view without the ability to understand and perceive? Almost everything you have said in your comment contradicts your comment.
Because a blind person cannot know colors does that mean he can know colors because he simply believes colors? Can he even believe in colors?
I talk to my wife all the time because I believe she is in the room with me; fact is, when she doesn’t answer and I look for her, I discovered she left the room and is in the kitchen or the bathroom. I talked to her in belief and stopped talking when I had the knowledge that she was nowhere to be seen.
I walked up and down the produce aisles looking for the asparagus, believing that they would be obvious as soon as I saw them but it turns out after three trips and I saw no asparagus I went to the produce manager and said: “What? No asparagus?”
He replied, “Yes there are in section 6 by the iceberg lettuce.”
“Well great” I said. And with this knowledge I walked to section 6 of the aisle like belief never even happened, and Bingo! There lay the asparagus. I picked up a plump bunch and marvelled how knowledge sets you free simply in grocery shopping while belief just led me up and down up and down up and down.
I believe in Jesus but I’m not a Christian. But when I read the words of Jesus I must actually sort out the diamonds from the dung because some things written are simply too ridiculous to believe that anything other than dogma is at play in embellished fiction by some of the words and events attributed to Jesus. This is where common sense comes in and most Christians just don’t have it because they are too brainwashed by Pharisaical hocus pocus tradition.
Why Jesus?
“You’re right Nicodemus. I’m quite exceptional. Matter of fact I am the exception. And you’re absolutely right Nicodemus, there’s only one possible explanation for my life, the things I do and what I say and the quality of life I live, God. Don’t misunderstand me Nicodemus; not because I am God though God I am. But because Nicodemus, though God, I’m man. Man as I as God created him to be. The kind of man Nicodemus who’ll let God be God and that’s why since the first time Adam fell into sin when God looks at me he sees on earth Nicodemus, a real man. Because in the totality of my being, my body, my soul, my spirit, my mind, my emotion and my will, I place myself unreservedly at his disposal so that he in me can be the author of everything I do and everything I say and everything I am.
You see Nicodemus, it’s the divine logic.
To be con’t. If you let him……………
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June 30, 2015 at 9:27 am
Unfortunately FA, you lack interpretive skills; you’re just reading a book and watching Pharisaical monotone videos and anyone following you would be just another drone.
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July 1, 2015 at 11:22 am
TA,
You shouldn’t be presumptuous.
“Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)
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July 1, 2015 at 2:06 pm
TA,
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Messiah depart from iniquity.” But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:15-16, 19-21)
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Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions.” (Luke 16:1)
“And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ (Luke 16:2)
“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. (Luke 16:3)
‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ (Luke 16:4)
“And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ (Luke 16:5)
“And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ (Luke 16:6)
“Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ (Luke 16:7)
“And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. (Luke 16:8)
“And I say unto you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9)
“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. (Luke 16:10)
“Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? (Luke 16:11)
“And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? (Luke 16:12)
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Luke 16:13)
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. (Luke 16:14)
And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. (Luke 16:16)
“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail. (Luke 16:17)
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July 1, 2015 at 4:05 pm
There’s nothing presumtuous; it’s the way you are; you’re behavior gives you away showing you have no interpretive skills; it’s the way you are; it’s the way you communicate , repetitive scriptural annoyances shows you do not understand what you are communicating, without any interpretive skills, rpeating scriptures verbatim shows your lack. Nobody here on this post knows anything about what you think, because you let scripture do your thinking for you.
You may be surprised about the secret atheists, people who live in the American Bible Belt who would literally lose their livelihood if the ignoramuses around them knew that they didn’t believe in the tribal god of the ancient Judean desert.
In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if there were as many secret atheists in the bible belt as there are secret homosexuals in Saudi Arabia. Well it’s just that with all the available women in that country safely under lock and key where they belong, all those poor studs can turn to is porn or each other. Let’s be realistic.
But both of these unfortunate groups, the secret atheists and the secret homosexuals, are victims of other people’s rigid interpretation of scripture because scripture gives us license, if we are that way inclined, to show the very worse of ourselves and to behave in ways we might otherwise be ashamed of if we had any decency about us.
There’s nothing you can’t read into it or take from it. So whatever nasty little attitude that you harbour toward your fellow man, will find justification in scripture because, like the sands of the desert, fixed and immutable, yet, ever shifting, the words of god are infinitely versatile. Open that book and watch them dance across the page like ninjas, each one a soldier for you and your petty prejudices.
But don’t make the mistake of thinking you can blame scripture for your noxious opinions. You can seek refuge in it as many hypocrits do but you can’t hide behind it. Because scripture depends on interpretation, because it is so ambiguous, the way you choose to interpret it, reveals who you are in your heart, so in that sense it’s not a shield at all. It’s a spotlight that shows up an evil heart like an x-ray.
As with those hard line Saudi clerics for example, who take sadistic pleasure interpreting the Koran as cruelly as possible, they merely reveal themselves for the blood thirsty monsters that they are and advertise to the world the darkness in their petty little souls and their pitiful inadequacy as men.
Right now the Anglican Church is tearing itself apart because some people again have taken refuge in scripture as an excuse for prejudice against women and homosexuals. In any other walk of life in the civilized world this would be prosecuted as a crime. Because scripture legitimizes it, implying that it’s the result of profound reflection when in fact it’s just a grubby front for chauvinism and ignorance.
Which brings me back to the bible belt. Widely recognized of course as an area of outstanding natural stupidity, and with very good reason, especially when you consider the millions of dollars that have been spent in building creation museums. Just think of the psychotherapy that money could have paid for.
Creation musems are the latest symptom of the insanity to hit the United States and they are of course inspired 100 percent by scripture. At the moment they seem to be popping up like mushrooms in a spontaneous eruption of life, ironically enough, all over the land of the free and beyond, now.
These are places of education where Christian children can go to learn the truth, that their parents are morons and quite possibly insane. They learn that Adam and Eve, not only existed,
in all their Disney-like, fig-leaf, apple chomping way but they rode around the place on dinosaurs.
The dinosaurs of course died out eventually although one dinosaur is still with us unfortunately. And that is creationism’s very own, Ignoramus Rex. A small brain creature with a hard outer shell, impervious to reason, feeds exclusively on scripture and its copious droppings have not only been used to build these museums but can serve as a useful metaphor for everything in them.
If you’ve got a head full of scripture then what you’ve got is a head full of ideas that have stopped growing; that’ll be a head full of dead ideas then. And you have no right to have those ideas respected or taken seriously. You’re simply not entitled to it and you’ve certainly got no business using them to tell other people how they should live their lives because you don’t know anything.
If patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, scripture is the first refuge of the Ignoramus. You can study it for years without learning anything but you will end up with a lot to say for yourself. And it will all amount to the same thing: Talk to the scripture ’cause the brain ain’t listening.
Peace, especially to all the secret atheists and homosexuals, better days are coming. pcondell
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July 1, 2015 at 7:00 pm
TA,
I say you’re presumptuous because you presume to know what you will never know. You may think you’re clairvoyant but in reality you’re completely in the dark as to what any given individual’s motivations are other than your own. (Don’t you know you can’t judge a book by its cover?) While even those may be an exception in your case. If you want to speculate/fantasize then speak solely in your behalf rather than infer from your own perverse dogma of jaundiced biases to assail others. You’ve demonstrated time and time again that your select “opinions” and “interpretations” regarding Scripture are based on zero rooted in fact be it Biblical, archaeological or otherwise; merely jejune conceited concoctions from a vapid over-wrought imagination. I’ve afforded you every opportunity to put up and you keep coming up empty-handed. It’s plain to see from your responses that you carry a gargantuan chip on your shoulder and you sling mud. I know I’ve hit a nerve but as I told you, clean yourself up and you might start getting somewhere positive. You blabber on narcissistically about expressiveness but the absolute crud you generate reeks of frustration, infantile mockery and outright lies. Hey, the novelty wore off long ago, champ. Get the point? For sure there’s no audience for any of that corruption. Grow up if you’re able then learn to take constructive criticism.
And just so you do know there are no hard feelings here’s another video:
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July 1, 2015 at 9:35 pm
TA,
As atheist Richard Dawkins demonstrates; pretension gets you nowhere:
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July 1, 2015 at 11:36 pm
FA:
THis is the Divine Takeaway:
There is absloutely no way anybody can reasonably argue God into existence apart from my explanation of the Father as the only God Jesus acknowledged to be existing: the Spiritus Sanctus Immune System that declares to humans “all there is of Good is available to the man who is available to all there is of good”…….if you let him.
And “I Am” unanimous with Jesus in that !
Yet the religious will be going up and down the earth, digging, diving, climbing, praying, chanting and preaching the contrary of Jesus, exploring–searching for something already within themselves and never find the solace they seek through supernatural superstition.
Ain’t gonna happen.
May the demon of hocus pocus mindsets take leave of true seekers, knockers and askers and prove all things.
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July 2, 2015 at 7:02 pm
Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments. (Psalm 119:66)
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July 3, 2015 at 12:50 pm
There will be no understanding of motivation absent revelation:
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