The maintenance where kay works told her to return this to the store because some screws and parts were missing (he also chipped a corner on one piece) Here, a four year old makes an instructional video for maintenance people everywhere.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
carpententry102
The maintenance where kay works told her to return this to the store because some screws and parts were missing (he also chipped a corner on one piece) Here, a four year old makes an instructional video for maintenance people everywhere.
Think it's only you?
Converts decline.
The number of people baptized in Southern Baptist churches in the United States fell for the third straight year in 2007 to the denomination's lowest level since 1987, and membership dipped as well.
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention blamed the decline in part on a perception that its followers are "mean-spirited, hurtful and angry."
The dropping number of followers in the United States' largest Protestant denomination reflects a trend in other mainline Protestant churches, while non-denominational churches are gaining and the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing.
But for a denomination that places winning converts at the heart of its mission, the continued slide is troubling and disappointing, said the Rev. Frank Page, the convention's president.
Part of the blame can be placed on a notion that Baptists have been known too much in recent years for "what we're against" than "what we're for," Page said.
"Our culture is increasingly antagonistic and sometimes adverse to a conversation about a faith in Christ," he said. "Sometimes that's our fault because we have not always presented a winsome Christian life that would engender trust and a desire on the part of many people to engage in a conversation on the Gospel.
David Key, director of Baptist studies at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, attributes the declining numbers to Baptist parents having fewer children than in years past. He also believes Baptist leaders haven't been aggressive enough in attracting nonwhite members.
"It's not just about parents not having enough children, we also haven't adjusted our youth programs to target multicultural youth," he said. "It's still a very white Southern experience as opposed to incorporating African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/25/america/NA-GEN-US-Baptists-Decline.php
“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person
—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
Ephesians 5:5 (NIV)
The ideal of a believers’ church consistently appears in Baptist confessions of faith. Baptist theologians, pastors and other leaders through the centuries have held up no other model than that of a born-again church fellowship. That’s the ideal. But is this the reality?
Is There Evidence of a Decline in Regenerate Church Membership?
The distinguished Baptist historian William R. Estep stated, “Baptists in the United States are perilously close to losing their insistence upon a regenerate church membership.”
Other observers of Baptist life agree with Estep and cite as evidence for this conclusion such factors as the huge number of non-resident Baptist church members and the characteristics of many resident members with their lack of involvement in church life, a low level of financial support, little commitment to evangelism, missions and ministry, and a life style obviously contrary to the teachings of Jesus.
Of course, some of these factors may be the result of conditions other than an unregenerate condition, such as being “backslidden” or perhaps immature as a Christian (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Ephesians 4:11-16). And certainly, numerous church members are wonderfully dedicated followers of Christ. Yet it would seem that these factors would not exist in such abundance if members of churches were truly born again. Achieving a truly born-again church is a formidable challenge. Nevertheless, some things can be done, making prayer a primary ingredient in all that is done.
A church should emphasize the importance of a born-again church membership, stressing that a salvation experience ought always to precede church membership. Each person should assume responsibility for evaluating his or her spiritual condition, answering questions such as, “Have I truly experienced salvation by faith in Christ?” and “Am I growing as a Christian?” Persons should be urged to seek spiritual council if the answers are “no.”http://www.baptistdistinctives.org/textonly10.html
A counterpoint:
The cover of the November issue of US News & World Report announces an article about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons. One of the article’s main points is the remarkable growth of the Utah-based religion, and the interesting observation that the emergence of Mormonism represents the first world-wide invention of a new religion since the prophet Mohamed gave the world Islam. Among the article’s more remarkable statements is a prediction about the growth in Church membership. It says: "If current trends hold, experts say Latter-day Saints could number 265 million worldwide by 2080, second only to Roman Catholics among Christian bodies. Mormonism, says Rodney Stark, professor of sociology and religion at the University of Washington, "stands on the threshold of becoming the first major faith to appear on Earth since the prophet Mohammed rode out of the desert."
This is a truly remarkable prediction. To put it in perspective, it says that worldwide Church membership, at about 11 million members today (2000), will grow to almost the population of the United States within a lifetime.
http://tinyurl.com/3qrvwp
test line breaks
The number of people baptized in Southern Baptist churches in the United States fell for the third straight year in 2007 to the denomination's lowest level since 1987, and membership dipped as well.
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention blamed the decline in part on a perception that its followers are "mean-spirited, hurtful and angry."
The dropping number of followers in the United States' largest Protestant denomination reflects a trend in other mainline Protestant churches, while non-denominational churches are gaining and the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing.
But for a denomination that places winning converts at the heart of its mission, the continued slide is troubling and disappointing, said the Rev. Frank Page, the convention's president.
Part of the blame can be placed on a notion that Baptists have been known too much in recent years for "what we're against" than "what we're for," Page said.
"Our culture is increasingly antagonistic and sometimes adverse to a conversation about a faith in Christ," he said. "Sometimes that's our fault because we have not always presented a winsome Christian life that would engender trust and a desire on the part of many people to engage in a conversation on the Gospel.
David Key, director of Baptist studies at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, attributes the declining numbers to Baptist parents having fewer children than in years past. He also believes Baptist leaders haven't been aggressive enough in attracting nonwhite members.
"It's not just about parents not having enough children, we also haven't adjusted our youth programs to target multicultural youth," he said. "It's still a very white Southern experience as opposed to incorporating African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/25/america/NA-GEN-US-Baptists-Decline.php
“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person
—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
Ephesians 5:5 (NIV)
The ideal of a believers’ church consistently appears in Baptist confessions of faith. Baptist theologians, pastors and other leaders through the centuries have held up no other model than that of a born-again church fellowship. That’s the ideal. But is this the reality?
Is There Evidence of a Decline in Regenerate Church Membership?
The distinguished Baptist historian William R. Estep stated, “Baptists in the United States are perilously close to losing their insistence upon a regenerate church membership.”
Other observers of Baptist life agree with Estep and cite as evidence for this conclusion such factors as the huge number of non-resident Baptist church members and the characteristics of many resident members with their lack of involvement in church life, a low level of financial support, little commitment to evangelism, missions and ministry, and a life style obviously contrary to the teachings of Jesus.
Of course, some of these factors may be the result of conditions other than an unregenerate condition, such as being “backslidden” or perhaps immature as a Christian (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Ephesians 4:11-16). And certainly, numerous church members are wonderfully dedicated followers of Christ. Yet it would seem that these factors would not exist in such abundance if members of churches were truly born again. Achieving a truly born-again church is a formidable challenge. Nevertheless, some things can be done, making prayer a primary ingredient in all that is done.
A church should emphasize the importance of a born-again church membership, stressing that a salvation experience ought always to precede church membership. Each person should assume responsibility for evaluating his or her spiritual condition, answering questions such as, “Have I truly experienced salvation by faith in Christ?” and “Am I growing as a Christian?” Persons should be urged to seek spiritual council if the answers are “no.”http://www.baptistdistinctives.org/textonly10.html
A counterpoint:
The cover of the November issue of US News & World Report announces an article about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons. One of the article’s main points is the remarkable growth of the Utah-based religion, and the interesting observation that the emergence of Mormonism represents the first world-wide invention of a new religion since the prophet Mohamed gave the world Islam. Among the article’s more remarkable statements is a prediction about the growth in Church membership. It says: "If current trends hold, experts say Latter-day Saints could number 265 million worldwide by 2080, second only to Roman Catholics among Christian bodies. Mormonism, says Rodney Stark, professor of sociology and religion at the University of Washington, "stands on the threshold of becoming the first major faith to appear on Earth since the prophet Mohammed rode out of the desert."
This is a truly remarkable prediction. To put it in perspective, it says that worldwide Church membership, at about 11 million members today (2000), will grow to almost the population of the United States within a lifetime.
http://tinyurl.com/3qrvwp
test line breaks
Think it's only you?
Converts decline.
The number of people baptized in Southern Baptist churches in the United States fell for the third straight year in 2007 to the denomination's lowest level since 1987, and membership dipped as well.
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention blamed the decline in part on a perception that its followers are "mean-spirited, hurtful and angry."
The dropping number of followers in the United States' largest Protestant denomination reflects a trend in other mainline Protestant churches, while non-denominational churches are gaining and the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing.
But for a denomination that places winning converts at the heart of its mission, the continued slide is troubling and disappointing, said the Rev. Frank Page, the convention's president.
Part of the blame can be placed on a notion that Baptists have been known too much in recent years for "what we're against" than "what we're for," Page said.
"Our culture is increasingly antagonistic and sometimes adverse to a conversation about a faith in Christ," he said. "Sometimes that's our fault because we have not always presented a winsome Christian life that would engender trust and a desire on the part of many people to engage in a conversation on the Gospel.
David Key, director of Baptist studies at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, attributes the declining numbers to Baptist parents having fewer children than in years past. He also believes Baptist leaders haven't been aggressive enough in attracting nonwhite members.
"It's not just about parents not having enough children, we also haven't adjusted our youth programs to target multicultural youth," he said. "It's still a very white Southern experience as opposed to incorporating African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/25/america/NA-GEN-US-Baptists-Decline.php
“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person
—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
Ephesians 5:5 (NIV)
The ideal of a believers’ church consistently appears in Baptist confessions of faith. Baptist theologians, pastors and other leaders through the centuries have held up no other model than that of a born-again church fellowship. That’s the ideal. But is this the reality?
Is There Evidence of a Decline in Regenerate Church Membership?
The distinguished Baptist historian William R. Estep stated, “Baptists in the United States are perilously close to losing their insistence upon a regenerate church membership.”
Other observers of Baptist life agree with Estep and cite as evidence for this conclusion such factors as the huge number of non-resident Baptist church members and the characteristics of many resident members with their lack of involvement in church life, a low level of financial support, little commitment to evangelism, missions and ministry, and a life style obviously contrary to the teachings of Jesus.
Of course, some of these factors may be the result of conditions other than an unregenerate condition, such as being “backslidden” or perhaps immature as a Christian (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Ephesians 4:11-16). And certainly, numerous church members are wonderfully dedicated followers of Christ. Yet it would seem that these factors would not exist in such abundance if members of churches were truly born again. Achieving a truly born-again church is a formidable challenge. Nevertheless, some things can be done, making prayer a primary ingredient in all that is done.
A church should emphasize the importance of a born-again church membership, stressing that a salvation experience ought always to precede church membership. Each person should assume responsibility for evaluating his or her spiritual condition, answering questions such as, “Have I truly experienced salvation by faith in Christ?” and “Am I growing as a Christian?” Persons should be urged to seek spiritual council if the answers are “no.”http://www.baptistdistinctives.org/textonly10.html
A counterpoint:
The cover of the November issue of US News & World Report announces an article about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons. One of the article’s main points is the remarkable growth of the Utah-based religion, and the interesting observation that the emergence of Mormonism represents the first world-wide invention of a new religion since the prophet Mohamed gave the world Islam. Among the article’s more remarkable statements is a prediction about the growth in Church membership. It says: "If current trends hold, experts say Latter-day Saints could number 265 million worldwide by 2080, second only to Roman Catholics among Christian bodies. Mormonism, says Rodney Stark, professor of sociology and religion at the University of Washington, "stands on the threshold of becoming the first major faith to appear on Earth since the prophet Mohammed rode out of the desert."
This is a truly remarkable prediction. To put it in perspective, it says that worldwide Church membership, at about 11 million members today (2000), will grow to almost the population of the United States within a lifetime.
http://tinyurl.com/3qrvwp
The number of people baptized in Southern Baptist churches in the United States fell for the third straight year in 2007 to the denomination's lowest level since 1987, and membership dipped as well.
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention blamed the decline in part on a perception that its followers are "mean-spirited, hurtful and angry."
The dropping number of followers in the United States' largest Protestant denomination reflects a trend in other mainline Protestant churches, while non-denominational churches are gaining and the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing.
But for a denomination that places winning converts at the heart of its mission, the continued slide is troubling and disappointing, said the Rev. Frank Page, the convention's president.
Part of the blame can be placed on a notion that Baptists have been known too much in recent years for "what we're against" than "what we're for," Page said.
"Our culture is increasingly antagonistic and sometimes adverse to a conversation about a faith in Christ," he said. "Sometimes that's our fault because we have not always presented a winsome Christian life that would engender trust and a desire on the part of many people to engage in a conversation on the Gospel.
David Key, director of Baptist studies at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, attributes the declining numbers to Baptist parents having fewer children than in years past. He also believes Baptist leaders haven't been aggressive enough in attracting nonwhite members.
"It's not just about parents not having enough children, we also haven't adjusted our youth programs to target multicultural youth," he said. "It's still a very white Southern experience as opposed to incorporating African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/25/america/NA-GEN-US-Baptists-Decline.php
“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person
—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
Ephesians 5:5 (NIV)
The ideal of a believers’ church consistently appears in Baptist confessions of faith. Baptist theologians, pastors and other leaders through the centuries have held up no other model than that of a born-again church fellowship. That’s the ideal. But is this the reality?
Is There Evidence of a Decline in Regenerate Church Membership?
The distinguished Baptist historian William R. Estep stated, “Baptists in the United States are perilously close to losing their insistence upon a regenerate church membership.”
Other observers of Baptist life agree with Estep and cite as evidence for this conclusion such factors as the huge number of non-resident Baptist church members and the characteristics of many resident members with their lack of involvement in church life, a low level of financial support, little commitment to evangelism, missions and ministry, and a life style obviously contrary to the teachings of Jesus.
Of course, some of these factors may be the result of conditions other than an unregenerate condition, such as being “backslidden” or perhaps immature as a Christian (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Ephesians 4:11-16). And certainly, numerous church members are wonderfully dedicated followers of Christ. Yet it would seem that these factors would not exist in such abundance if members of churches were truly born again. Achieving a truly born-again church is a formidable challenge. Nevertheless, some things can be done, making prayer a primary ingredient in all that is done.
A church should emphasize the importance of a born-again church membership, stressing that a salvation experience ought always to precede church membership. Each person should assume responsibility for evaluating his or her spiritual condition, answering questions such as, “Have I truly experienced salvation by faith in Christ?” and “Am I growing as a Christian?” Persons should be urged to seek spiritual council if the answers are “no.”http://www.baptistdistinctives.org/textonly10.html
A counterpoint:
The cover of the November issue of US News & World Report announces an article about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons. One of the article’s main points is the remarkable growth of the Utah-based religion, and the interesting observation that the emergence of Mormonism represents the first world-wide invention of a new religion since the prophet Mohamed gave the world Islam. Among the article’s more remarkable statements is a prediction about the growth in Church membership. It says: "If current trends hold, experts say Latter-day Saints could number 265 million worldwide by 2080, second only to Roman Catholics among Christian bodies. Mormonism, says Rodney Stark, professor of sociology and religion at the University of Washington, "stands on the threshold of becoming the first major faith to appear on Earth since the prophet Mohammed rode out of the desert."
This is a truly remarkable prediction. To put it in perspective, it says that worldwide Church membership, at about 11 million members today (2000), will grow to almost the population of the United States within a lifetime.
http://tinyurl.com/3qrvwp
Friday, April 25, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Darrells Jobsite #2
in the link to the other thread you should see a pickup truck parked under this tree
The Mississippi river indicator stood at 56.9 feet & falling today as I came through and was predicted to crest and finally began to fall. He is foreman here but works as hard as anyone, I should show him how to be lazy. They also have another facility that is operating at another port on the other (high) side of the river. Darrell says that they are deliberately posting the lower levels to keep people from worrying as he watched it rise another 4 inches today. hmm...
For comparison, there are earlier pictures here:
http://darrellcirilo.multiply.com/photos/album/8/Darrell_Work#3.JPG
and here:
http://tejasmidget.multiply.com/photos/album/13/Work#3.jpg
The Boss & Family
Mr Ron and Hayden
I have discovered something new today that I have always suspected. The boss is not from another planet! Here is proof that they are indeed human (just kidding boss), as they enjoy a brief visit with their first grandchild at the Eola. This is the first time I've seen this Grandbaby up close and had the luck to have my camera with me today.
Congrats to them and I know they will enjoy this little guy, he is going to keep them busy for a while. Such is the magic of life and grandbabies
Saturday, April 05, 2008
What is God?
I deliberately titled this 'what is God', rather than 'who is God', because I believe that it is important in a discussion about God, to understand what your concept of God is. To know who God is, one has to have an understanding of what God is, and what God means to you as an individual. Feel free to debunk any of my theories, or help me to understand why I may have arrived at some very wrong hypothosis, which are not conclusions, but rather a search for a better statement of what I take for granted.
Perhaps it is a given, and we do not need to know these things to partake of his goodness, I believe this too. We overcomplicate by analysis what was really meant to be simple, that is, believing by faith. We learn disbelief and distrust later in life.
Merriam-Webster:
Ever wondered what is God? Ever wondered how God can be everywhere, see all, and hear all, all at once? If this sounds like a simple question, it probably is.Too simple to understand most of the time, that is why there is so much debate and different ideology, so many religions and doctrines. So many Gods.
In the beginning, before there was, there was God. Where? Everywhere, anywhere, there was no place that God was(is) not.
Genesis 1:2 said that God's spirit moved upon the face of the waters. Is this the image that we have in our minds from the paintings and artists renderings? No, it isn't.
We are limited in our imaginations to what we can see and touch, that is why dreams can be so vivid sometimes. We are witnessing in our sleep what our minds have seen throughout the day(s), and we put images that we can understand in the place of things that we can't. God encompasses everything, and therefore is so great that he cannot be seen, but this does not mean that he cannot be touched.
Is God in nature, is God in the trees that we see swaying in the breeze? Is he the wind? No, he is not the wind, God created these. Is he in these? Of course.
God created all things, the creatures that we will never see because they lie so deep in the oceans, and on this note, possibly the creatures we may never see beyond our horizons. Is God in his creations? Of course, God is everywhere.Why did God choose to become flesh? Why was he born as a baby and called Jesus? Why does this cause confusion between the oneness and trinity doctrines?
God became flesh because he was not embodied in a vessel, he had no fleshly body that he could just appear here and be seen by men, this body(vessel) had to be produced, or born, because God was too great to be contained. Remember, he is everywhere. Of course, men like to quote the bible as saying that god created man in his own likeness, therefore man was fashioned after what God looks like. Not true. Think of it like this, an image of something can be a painting, or a portrait, or a dream, as I explored above.
Genesis 1:27 tells us; So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. This doesn't tell us that he looked in the mirror, liked what he saw, and duplicated himself and his feminine look-a-like. On the contrary, it tells us that he created us from his image (visualization/imagination) ¿soul, spirit, ghost?. Colossians 3:10 says; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. This sounds like it is talking about his spirit, (this is the Holy Ghost part) or to the word, as I'll go into below.
The word image 'belem' is a difficult one for scholars to translate, going back to it's earliest roots describe it as to cut off, or as a cutting. Others say it is closely aligned with another Hebrew root word, 'ßlm' which translated means 'to be dark'. The suggestion here is that rather than "image" being attached to an animate object that we can understand, such as a shadow, silhouette or shadowy-outline, that it simply means 'to be dark'.
Clearly the most satisfactory translation of ßelem, to provide a parallelism with ÿlôm, is 'dream-images'. It is probable that ßelem has the same meaning also in Ps. 39.7. http://www.shef.ac.uk/bibs/DJACcurrres/Postmodern2/Selem.html Most, if not all, of the research for this article was done as an afterthought, or during compilation of this entry, so I will leave the suppositions up to you.
Is the holy bible the complete and total philosophy of God and his entire word and are we to take these written passages as an absolute interpretation of God's will? Are you kidding? Haven't we established that God is omnipresent and can't be contained/confined to a space, much less one as limited as a book? This is the passage I've heard most often quoted; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." John 1:1-5
John 1:14 Goes on to tell us "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
The bible is a guide, much as our present day laws are guides. This is what the bible tells us about itself:
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
There are scientists, intellectuals, and other people (atheists, agnostics, philosophers) that consider themselves too learned to believe in such ignorance/myth as a God, or deity, but according to Psalms 53:1 ; The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.Even if I had some doubt or did not believe in God at all, based on this one verse alone, I would not utter these words. Why make an unprovable statement that may make me look like a fool?
As I've stated many times before, I believe in God, I believe in rainbows (God's promises), I believe there is an afterlife, and I believe that if God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that he is going to be much more lenient in judgement than we give him credit for. Does this mean everybody gets to go to heaven? Will people be going to hell? Unfortunately, there are some people that have been so corrupt, and committed such egregious acts, the bible states that hell has enlarged itself, in anticipation of the crowd. Isaiah 5:14; Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. Isaiah 5:15; And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
Ok, so modern translators think that Hebrew words like 'sheol', simply meant the grave to the original inspired writers of the Scriptures. "Therefore SHEOL has enlarged itself" Either way, Job said he cried out from the belly of "sheol" (do we think he was alive in there?), this would be a miserable way to spend eternity, confined to a grave, all the while being aware of where we are, and in pain:
Peter in Acts 2:24; speaking on the day of pentecost said:
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 2:26; Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 2:27; Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
When I happen to catch the news, and some of the horror stories that they sling out at us about the ongoing cruelty that humans commit, I am also glad there is judgement reserved for the worst of us, and we will reap what we sow.
I will stop with this passage from Proverbs 30:1-5; ... Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Friday, April 04, 2008
What is God?
I deliberately titled this 'what is God', rather than 'who is God', because I believe that it is important in a discussion about God, to understand what your concept of God is. To know who God is, one has to have an understanding of what God is, and what God means to you as an individual. Feel free to debunk any of my theories, or help me to understand why I may have arrived at some very wrong hypothosis, which are not conclusions, but rather a search for a better statement of what I take for granted.
Perhaps it is a given, and we do not need to know these things to partake of his goodness, I believe this too. We overcomplicate by analysis what was really meant to be simple, that is, believing by faith. We learn disbelief and distrust later in life.
Merriam-Webster:
Ever wondered what is God? Ever wondered how God can be everywhere, see all, and hear all, all at once? If this sounds like a simple question, it probably is.Too simple to understand most of the time, that is why there is so much debate and different ideology, so many religions and doctrines. So many Gods.
In the beginning, before there was, there was God. Where? Everywhere, anywhere, there was no place that God was(is) not.
Genesis 1:2 said that God's spirit moved upon the face of the waters. Is this the image that we have in our minds from the paintings and artists renderings? No, it isn't.
We are limited in our imaginations to what we can see and touch, that is why dreams can be so vivid sometimes. We are witnessing in our sleep what our minds have seen throughout the day(s), and we put images that we can understand in the place of things that we can't. God encompasses everything, and therefore is so great that he cannot be seen, but this does not mean that he cannot be touched.
Is God in nature, is God in the trees that we see swaying in the breeze? Is he the wind? No, he is not the wind, God created these. Is he in these? Of course.
God created all things, the creatures that we will never see because they lie so deep in the oceans, and on this note, possibly the creatures we may never see beyond our horizons. Is God in his creations? Of course, God is everywhere.Why did God choose to become flesh? Why was he born as a baby and called Jesus? Why does this cause confusion between the oneness and trinity doctrines?
God became flesh because he was not embodied in a vessel, he had no fleshly body that he could just appear here and be seen by men, this body(vessel) had to be produced, or born, because God was too great to be contained. Remember, he is everywhere. Of course, men like to quote the bible as saying that god created man in his own likeness, therefore man was fashioned after what God looks like. Not true. Think of it like this, an image of something can be a painting, or a portrait, or a dream, as I explored above.
Genesis 1:27 tells us; So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. This doesn't tell us that he looked in the mirror, liked what he saw, and duplicated himself and his feminine look-a-like. On the contrary, it tells us that he created us from his image (visualization/imagination) ¿soul, spirit, ghost?. Colossians 3:10 says; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. This sounds like it is talking about his spirit, (this is the Holy Ghost part) or to the word, as I'll go into below.
The word image 'belem' is a difficult one for scholars to translate, going back to it's earliest roots describe it as to cut off, or as a cutting. Others say it is closely aligned with another Hebrew root word, 'ßlm' which translated means 'to be dark'. The suggestion here is that rather than "image" being attached to an animate object that we can understand, such as a shadow, silhouette or shadowy-outline, that it simply means 'to be dark'.
Clearly the most satisfactory translation of ßelem, to provide a parallelism with ÿlôm, is 'dream-images'. It is probable that ßelem has the same meaning also in Ps. 39.7. http://www.shef.ac.uk/bibs/DJACcurrres/Postmodern2/Selem.html Most, if not all, of the research for this article was done as an afterthought, or during compilation of this entry, so I will leave the suppositions up to you.
Is the holy bible the complete and total philosophy of God and his entire word and are we to take these written passages as an absolute interpretation of God's will? Are you kidding? Haven't we established that God is omnipresent and can't be contained/confined to a space, much less one as limited as a book? This is the passage I've heard most often quoted; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." John 1:1-5
John 1:14 Goes on to tell us "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
The bible is a guide, much as our present day laws are guides. This is what the bible tells us about itself:
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
There are scientists, intellectuals, and other people (atheists, agnostics, philosophers) that consider themselves too learned to believe in such ignorance/myth as a God, or deity, but according to Psalms 53:1 ; The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.Even if I had some doubt or did not believe in God at all, based on this one verse alone, I would not utter these words. Why make an unprovable statement that may make me look like a fool?
As I've stated many times before, I believe in God, I believe in rainbows (God's promises), I believe there is an afterlife, and I believe that if God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that he is going to be much more lenient in judgement than we give him credit for. Does this mean everybody gets to go to heaven? Will people be going to hell? Unfortunately, there are some people that have been so corrupt, and committed such egregious acts, the bible states that hell has enlarged itself, in anticipation of the crowd. Isaiah 5:14; Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. Isaiah 5:15; And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
Ok, so modern translators think that Hebrew words like 'sheol', simply meant the grave to the original inspired writers of the Scriptures. "Therefore SHEOL has enlarged itself" Either way, Job said he cried out from the belly of "sheol" (do we think he was alive in there?), this would be a miserable way to spend eternity, confined to a grave, all the while being aware of where we are, and in pain:
Peter in Acts 2:24; speaking on the day of pentecost said:
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 2:26; Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 2:27; Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Perhaps it is a given, and we do not need to know these things to partake of his goodness, I believe this too. We overcomplicate by analysis what was really meant to be simple, that is, believing by faith. We learn disbelief and distrust later in life.
Merriam-Webster:
Ever wondered what is God? Ever wondered how God can be everywhere, see all, and hear all, all at once? If this sounds like a simple question, it probably is.Too simple to understand most of the time, that is why there is so much debate and different ideology, so many religions and doctrines. So many Gods.
In the beginning, before there was, there was God. Where? Everywhere, anywhere, there was no place that God was(is) not.
Genesis 1:2 said that God's spirit moved upon the face of the waters. Is this the image that we have in our minds from the paintings and artists renderings? No, it isn't.
We are limited in our imaginations to what we can see and touch, that is why dreams can be so vivid sometimes. We are witnessing in our sleep what our minds have seen throughout the day(s), and we put images that we can understand in the place of things that we can't. God encompasses everything, and therefore is so great that he cannot be seen, but this does not mean that he cannot be touched.
Is God in nature, is God in the trees that we see swaying in the breeze? Is he the wind? No, he is not the wind, God created these. Is he in these? Of course.
God created all things, the creatures that we will never see because they lie so deep in the oceans, and on this note, possibly the creatures we may never see beyond our horizons. Is God in his creations? Of course, God is everywhere.Why did God choose to become flesh? Why was he born as a baby and called Jesus? Why does this cause confusion between the oneness and trinity doctrines?
God became flesh because he was not embodied in a vessel, he had no fleshly body that he could just appear here and be seen by men, this body(vessel) had to be produced, or born, because God was too great to be contained. Remember, he is everywhere. Of course, men like to quote the bible as saying that god created man in his own likeness, therefore man was fashioned after what God looks like. Not true. Think of it like this, an image of something can be a painting, or a portrait, or a dream, as I explored above.
Genesis 1:27 tells us; So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. This doesn't tell us that he looked in the mirror, liked what he saw, and duplicated himself and his feminine look-a-like. On the contrary, it tells us that he created us from his image (visualization/imagination) ¿soul, spirit, ghost?. Colossians 3:10 says; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. This sounds like it is talking about his spirit, (this is the Holy Ghost part) or to the word, as I'll go into below.
The word image 'belem' is a difficult one for scholars to translate, going back to it's earliest roots describe it as to cut off, or as a cutting. Others say it is closely aligned with another Hebrew root word, 'ßlm' which translated means 'to be dark'. The suggestion here is that rather than "image" being attached to an animate object that we can understand, such as a shadow, silhouette or shadowy-outline, that it simply means 'to be dark'.
Clearly the most satisfactory translation of ßelem, to provide a parallelism with ÿlôm, is 'dream-images'. It is probable that ßelem has the same meaning also in Ps. 39.7. http://www.shef.ac.uk/bibs/DJACcurrres/Postmodern2/Selem.html Most, if not all, of the research for this article was done as an afterthought, or during compilation of this entry, so I will leave the suppositions up to you.
Is the holy bible the complete and total philosophy of God and his entire word and are we to take these written passages as an absolute interpretation of God's will? Are you kidding? Haven't we established that God is omnipresent and can't be contained/confined to a space, much less one as limited as a book? This is the passage I've heard most often quoted; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." John 1:1-5
John 1:14 Goes on to tell us "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
The bible is a guide, much as our present day laws are guides. This is what the bible tells us about itself:
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
There are scientists, intellectuals, and other people (atheists, agnostics, philosophers) that consider themselves too learned to believe in such ignorance/myth as a God, or deity, but according to Psalms 53:1 ; The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.Even if I had some doubt or did not believe in God at all, based on this one verse alone, I would not utter these words. Why make an unprovable statement that may make me look like a fool?
As I've stated many times before, I believe in God, I believe in rainbows (God's promises), I believe there is an afterlife, and I believe that if God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that he is going to be much more lenient in judgement than we give him credit for. Does this mean everybody gets to go to heaven? Will people be going to hell? Unfortunately, there are some people that have been so corrupt, and committed such egregious acts, the bible states that hell has enlarged itself, in anticipation of the crowd. Isaiah 5:14; Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. Isaiah 5:15; And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
Ok, so modern translators think that Hebrew words like 'sheol', simply meant the grave to the original inspired writers of the Scriptures. "Therefore SHEOL has enlarged itself" Either way, Job said he cried out from the belly of "sheol" (do we think he was alive in there?), this would be a miserable way to spend eternity, confined to a grave, all the while being aware of where we are, and in pain:
Peter in Acts 2:24; speaking on the day of pentecost said:
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 2:26; Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 2:27; Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
When I happen to catch the news, and some of the horror stories that they sling out at us about the ongoing cruelty that humans commit, I am also glad there is judgement reserved for the worst of us, and we will reap what we sow.
I will stop with this passage from Proverbs 30:1-5; ... Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
florist2_
Move over Lotus & LeeAnn, there is a new game in town.
Here she demonstrates her passion for flowers and creating things,
a vision her paw-paw shares.
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