WifeGeeding showed me a Facebook advertisement in her timeline about a local boot camp. Front and center in the picture was a church friend who died of a heart attack about three years ago. She joined the boot camp in an effort to get healthier and made a lot of progress, but the autopsy revealed she had an enlarged heart which. Her family and the church then stressed that anyone starting a workout program who hasn’t worked out in a while should first consult a doctor, something many folks simply overlook.
Last night’s ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ was the one in which Sam had a bed wetting problem.
I don’t care what anyone says about it, but I really enjoyed seeing Romo be a part of the Mavericks yesterday and love how the sports community can have a little fun with it all. I also love how Rick Carlisle has softened over the years. He’s attended a fans funeral, plays table tennis with one of the TICKET guys, and goes along with this harmless end of season bit.
I thought I said something out of place and facturally wrong yesterday in front of a lot of folks and frustrated myself, but then I saw Sean Spicer had bit more of a rougher day than I did and now I don’t feel so bad.
@darrenrovell – The Mariners sold 310 orders (4 oz cup for $4) of toasted grasshoppers at yesterday’s home opener
I wonder what month are chicken egg sales are the highest? I looked for about two minutes and couldn’t find anything. Would it be around Easter because of Easter eggs or would it be during a month in which a lot of baking is done?
I’m setting myself up to get slaughtered and display biblical and theological ignorance, but this is an attempt to be sincere and open about something I’m confused about. For some people, this is a none issue, but it lingered with me for a while and I’m sure I’m not going to be able to adequately express myself, but here it goes:
I dropped the kids off at school and Passover was mentioned on the radio. As you will recall from the Exodus story, the Israelites, slaves of Egypt, were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a slaughtered lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord knew to pass over the first-born males in these homes. If there was no blood on the door, the oldest male child would die. That night the oldest male child of each Egyptian family died, Even the king’s oldest son died.
The moment I heard Passover on the radio, I was at a stoplight behind a minivan with a bumper sticker which stated “God Is Pro-Life” with an image of a baby next to the slogan.
I know the Bible is used to further political arguments of all political parties, but for the first time, I felt I could no longer totally agree with that slogan. Please know this isn’t a way to justify abortion, it’s an attempt to understand how God views life. I’ve been taught that God does not change, there is no Old Testament God and a separate New Testament God, there is no Old Covenant versus New Covenant God, there is no God of Moses versus God of Jesus.
But as I thought about that bumper sticker and the story of how God killed innocent babies and children whose only fault was being born of Egyptian parents, I was saddened. Those children had nothing to do with the slavery and atrocities committed by the Egyptian rulers. There are arguments that Christians are obliged to praise and worship God, regardless of whether or not we understand his actions, and that, as God he is free to act in any way he chooses. But I’m hard-headed, I guess, and that just doesn’t settle with me. Either do the arguments that the firstborn bore the sins of their parents, God is a jealous but loving god, Pharoh was warned with the previous nine plagues, it was the only way for the Israelites to become free, it was a just punishment or a way to be in awe of the power of God, or it’s some act of grace showcased upon his people. It’s hard for me to understand how a loving God kills innocent children and it can be justified, even in his context.
I know it was just a bumper sticker pushing a political agenda, but God isn’t as pro-life as many would like to believe. Remember what happened after the walls of Jericho fell?
They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
As I stated, some will argue there is an Old Testament God and a New Testament God, but I was taught there is only one God and he does not change. I understand how the work of Christ and the gift of the Spirit greatly changed how we relate to God. But he’s the one and the same God who gave us a clearer and deeper revelation of God, not a different one. The God Jesus spoke with and spoke for, is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It’s all a terribly complicated manner, and I think it shouldn’t be.
I know I’m not the first to think of this, nor will I be the last, and it’s been answered a variety of ways. Hopefully, it means something to seek to understand than accept things with blind faith. And with all that, I open myself to slaughter and judgment.
Although few universities still offer COBOL courses, the language remains crucial to businesses and institutions around the world. And here lies the problem: if something goes wrong, few people know how to fix it.The industry’s aggressive push into digital banking makes it even more important to solve the COBOL dilemma. Mobile apps and other new tools are written in modern languages that need to work seamlessly with old underlying systems.
I might get slaughtered for this too, but it's my opinion that the Bible is not the literal word of God, but was written by man. I think part of the reason Jesus came to us was to preach love and to rebuke the Old Testament image of God, that he's not vengeful and loves everybody, not just his followers. I appreciate your willingness to share your feelings about it and totally understand how you feel.
My kids asked about Passover the other day while in the car, so I put on Creeping Death and told them to listen to the lyrics.
I appreciate your posting these things, Keith. It's similar to the discussion about the slaughter of the innocent babies by Herod when he attempted to end any messiahs.
Innocent lives were taken. Through no fault of their own. Why? These are things that I have huge problems reconciling in my mind. (And the things that living in clean, comfortable, Christian friendly America we never bother ourselves with.) I know people that ascribe car trouble to God when they see a wreck down the road and believe He caused the car not to start to save them from an accident. Or people that had a bill paid by the kindness of a stranger and they ascribe it as an answer to Prayer. And I'm like… what about all these innocent lives taken every day? Did someone not pray enough? Because I think that's a bit of a bigger issue than car trouble or getting a utility bill paid for.
Yep, your stepping out on a ledge there, opening up a whole can of worms…so many possibilities and variables in your question. Are we talking about abortion (hence the bumper sticker) or God giving Pharaoh 9 previous chances to release his people? You, I guess are talking about all of it together? In my humble opinion I would leave it at everything happens for a reason that only God understands and it is not up to us to question it but I would add that (in my opinion) God is not Pro-Choice either.
I reached my limit of people crapping all over Tony Romo and everything he does this morning. From The Ticket in particular. I had to remind a friend of the parade of spare QBs that filled the gap between Aikman and Romo: Chutch, Quincy, Stoerner, Bledsoe, Testaverde (years past his prime), Ryan Leaf. There's plenty I'm missing in there, but those 6 are spare enough. Can't we be a little appreciative and just let the guy have his time in the spotlight? Was the Mavs thing slightly awkward? Sure. It came from the mind of Mark Cuban. It couldn't help but be a little awkward. But it didn't hurt a damn thing.
This is simple. If god did kill those children, he is undeserving of my worship, and I am more moral than god is. If he didn't, then why should I believe anything else in the bible?
I get pretty fed up with your lack of proofreading, and especially your lack of concern about it, and I even intended to finally say something about it today after reading your first point, but after reading the rest of your post I was blown away by the irony (Passover, bumper sticker) and the deep thought you put into this. Quite profound.
Very insightful on Passover. The Bible is full of issues that many Christians either don't realize or choose to ignore. It's a whole lot simpler and more logically consistent to view the Bible as a collection of human literature, not divine. It was written by people who were trying to make sense of the world around them. As another commenter said, if the Bible is true, then God is a monster who isn't worthy of worship.
What I learned in Catholic school was #1 the bible was written over hundreds of years by many different writers with many different agendas, for many different audiences and #2 it has been translated hundreds of times and there can be words that were mistranslated #3 it needs to be read in the context of #1 and in the context of the historical church and the times it was included (in the bible).
We are taught to think critically about WHO, WHEN, and WHY and not just the words. In (catholic) high school they taught us the story of Gilgamesh, and our minds were BLOWN. Wide. Open.
Also, similar to Passover, take the story of the Ordeal of the Bitter Water, in Numbers. Instead of saying " God's ok with abortion" or " God's ok with poisoning your baby if it's a bastard" or "punishing women in public" you can look into the historical context of a world where women had NO power. Perhaps the Jews concocted this "trial" to give the women a safe way out from their jealous husbands. It's better explained here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nolongerquivering/20…
[Judaism emerged from the Middle East, where jealousy is rampant and women are often considered the chattel of their husbands. A jealous husband can easily persuade himself to harm the wife whom he suspects of adultery. I therefore believe this trial of the bitter waters provided a marvelous psychological ploy to protect the woman from a husband’s wrath.]
We are taught not to take the bible so literally. It's still infalible and stuff, but we read it with a more open mind.
http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/creating-god-in…
You are asked to believe that God knows all that ever was and ever will be so he knows how we turned out before we ever existed. What is the point?
I might get slaughtered for this too, but it's my opinion that the Bible is not the literal word of God, but was written by man. I think part of the reason Jesus came to us was to preach love and to rebuke the Old Testament image of God, that he's not vengeful and loves everybody, not just his followers. I appreciate your willingness to share your feelings about it and totally understand how you feel.
My kids asked about Passover the other day while in the car, so I put on Creeping Death and told them to listen to the lyrics.
So let it be written
So let it be done.
I appreciate your posting these things, Keith. It's similar to the discussion about the slaughter of the innocent babies by Herod when he attempted to end any messiahs.
Innocent lives were taken. Through no fault of their own. Why? These are things that I have huge problems reconciling in my mind. (And the things that living in clean, comfortable, Christian friendly America we never bother ourselves with.) I know people that ascribe car trouble to God when they see a wreck down the road and believe He caused the car not to start to save them from an accident. Or people that had a bill paid by the kindness of a stranger and they ascribe it as an answer to Prayer. And I'm like… what about all these innocent lives taken every day? Did someone not pray enough? Because I think that's a bit of a bigger issue than car trouble or getting a utility bill paid for.
Again… it's my biggest struggle.
I remember watching Dave's Mom on the old show. Good stuff.
Today definitely rates 4 bags and a small sack. You have rustled some jimmies.
Yep, your stepping out on a ledge there, opening up a whole can of worms…so many possibilities and variables in your question. Are we talking about abortion (hence the bumper sticker) or God giving Pharaoh 9 previous chances to release his people? You, I guess are talking about all of it together? In my humble opinion I would leave it at everything happens for a reason that only God understands and it is not up to us to question it but I would add that (in my opinion) God is not Pro-Choice either.
I reached my limit of people crapping all over Tony Romo and everything he does this morning. From The Ticket in particular. I had to remind a friend of the parade of spare QBs that filled the gap between Aikman and Romo: Chutch, Quincy, Stoerner, Bledsoe, Testaverde (years past his prime), Ryan Leaf. There's plenty I'm missing in there, but those 6 are spare enough. Can't we be a little appreciative and just let the guy have his time in the spotlight? Was the Mavs thing slightly awkward? Sure. It came from the mind of Mark Cuban. It couldn't help but be a little awkward. But it didn't hurt a damn thing.
This is simple. If god did kill those children, he is undeserving of my worship, and I am more moral than god is. If he didn't, then why should I believe anything else in the bible?
Hint: It's all made up
I get pretty fed up with your lack of proofreading, and especially your lack of concern about it, and I even intended to finally say something about it today after reading your first point, but after reading the rest of your post I was blown away by the irony (Passover, bumper sticker) and the deep thought you put into this. Quite profound.
Very insightful on Passover. The Bible is full of issues that many Christians either don't realize or choose to ignore. It's a whole lot simpler and more logically consistent to view the Bible as a collection of human literature, not divine. It was written by people who were trying to make sense of the world around them. As another commenter said, if the Bible is true, then God is a monster who isn't worthy of worship.
I just heard about the hiccup situation. You can get rid of those with some good weed.
Re: Passover
What I learned in Catholic school was #1 the bible was written over hundreds of years by many different writers with many different agendas, for many different audiences and #2 it has been translated hundreds of times and there can be words that were mistranslated #3 it needs to be read in the context of #1 and in the context of the historical church and the times it was included (in the bible).
We are taught to think critically about WHO, WHEN, and WHY and not just the words. In (catholic) high school they taught us the story of Gilgamesh, and our minds were BLOWN. Wide. Open.
Also, similar to Passover, take the story of the Ordeal of the Bitter Water, in Numbers. Instead of saying " God's ok with abortion" or " God's ok with poisoning your baby if it's a bastard" or "punishing women in public" you can look into the historical context of a world where women had NO power. Perhaps the Jews concocted this "trial" to give the women a safe way out from their jealous husbands. It's better explained here:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nolongerquivering/20…
[Judaism emerged from the Middle East, where jealousy is rampant and women are often considered the chattel of their husbands. A jealous husband can easily persuade himself to harm the wife whom he suspects of adultery. I therefore believe this trial of the bitter waters provided a marvelous psychological ploy to protect the woman from a husband’s wrath.]
We are taught not to take the bible so literally. It's still infalible and stuff, but we read it with a more open mind.