posted April 12, 2013 12:44 PM            

Loving thy neighbor and enacting the words of Christ rather than enforcing them...
...well, I'll just say that I had very little respect for Christians until I met some very much like him.

posted April 12, 2013 12:55 PM            

One of my neighbors is into gardening, they are a couple (mixed with 2 children) and they fight periodically split up/get back together etc.

I live in a semi rural area with an old farmhouse in a small forest and happened to notice that there was a slew of old Ball and Atlas canning jars just laying out in the woods on the forest floor.

What typically happens is kids will run across glass in the woods and just smash them for "fun"

Told my neighbor about them and she was like "cool, let's go now and get them"

So we go into the woods to get the things and her beau is at their home on the porch literally SCREAMING her name b/c he thought we were uhm..well you know.

Reality is, we were fighting thorns to bring the jars out, on the way back she wound up dropping the cooler that had the jars in them smashing most of them.

So no or few jars and a neighbor who is fairly sure I'm trying to sleep with his lady.

My reality is I was just trying to be helpful, but the way the world is..

posted April 12, 2013 01:31 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by katatonic:
So, padre, are you saying ("god's will is always done") that the hideous evil and destruction wrought on fellow humans, animals and the earth itself are God's will being done?

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Well, yep, for me the issue is Christ showed us ( meaning mankind) the way to NOT do those things, however, mankind continues to do them.

"if" mankind's nature fully embraced what Christ taught, wars, famines, epidemics would wither on the vine.

B/c we do not embrace what was taught then the system God created functions much as it has since the Most High himself said:

"So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. So the LORD said, "I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created--and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground--for I regret that I have made them.""

Gn 6:6-7 btw

When I read that, then read "what is god", it strikes me that a "what" cannot regret.
BTW if you ever wanted to prod a Biblicist, the phrase "..all your righteous works are as unclean rags"

Really means dirty tampons as in "..all your righteous works are as (clean as) used tampons"

posted April 12, 2013 02:17 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by katatonic:
So, padre, are you saying ("god's will is always done") that the hideous evil and destruction wrought on fellow humans, animals and the earth itself are God's will being done?

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I don't agree with this, Miss Kindness

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted April 12, 2013 02:20 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Padre35:
Here is how the world has fallen though Mockingbird:

One of my neighbors is into gardening, they are a couple (mixed with 2 children) and they fight periodically split up/get back together etc.

I live in a semi rural area with an old farmhouse in a small forest and happened to notice that there was a slew of old Ball and Atlas canning jars just laying out in the woods on the forest floor.

What typically happens is kids will run across glass in the woods and just smash them for "fun"

Told my neighbor about them and she was like "cool, let's go now and get them"

So we go into the woods to get the things and her beau is at their home on the porch literally SCREAMING her name b/c he thought we were uhm..well you know.

Reality is, we were fighting thorns to bring the jars out, on the way back she wound up dropping the cooler that had the jars in them smashing most of them.

So no or few jars and a neighbor who is fairly sure I'm trying to sleep with his lady.

My reality is I was just trying to be helpful, but the way the world is..

It reminds me very much of the words from Isaiah about "..those who don't do evil are seen as prey.."

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I say this out of love not judgement. You take passages out of the Bible at will to make all sorts of points that are crazy, not to be mean and I mean that

The Bible NEVER contradicts itself. It is Divine. It's unerring nature is one of God's hand prints on it.

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted April 12, 2013 02:34 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Ami Anne:
I say this out of love not judgement. You take passages out of the Bible at will to make all sorts of points that are crazy, not to be mean and I mean that

The Bible NEVER contradicts itself. It is Divine. It's unerring nature is one of God's hand prints on it.

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If you are allowed to bring your interpretation of the bible here is no reason for him not to bring his own

And there are no "crazy points" only "points"

posted April 12, 2013 02:39 PM            

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted April 12, 2013 02:42 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Ami Anne:
I say this out of love not judgement. You take passages out of the Bible at will to make all sorts of points that are crazy, not to be mean and I mean that

The Bible NEVER contradicts itself. It is Divine. It's unerring nature is one of God's hand prints on it.

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It's called applying the Word dear one, once one has actually heard and studied one does this.

When one does not, it becomes the simplistic "the world shall end now" b/c that is what the unlearned are told to believe..and they believe it.

posted April 12, 2013 02:48 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by doommlord:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ami Anne:
[b] I say this out of love not judgement. You take passages out of the Bible at will to make all sorts of points that are crazy, not to be mean and I mean that

The Bible NEVER contradicts itself. It is Divine. It's unerring nature is one of God's hand prints on it.

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If you are allowed to bring your interpretation of the bible here is no reason for him not to bring his own

And there are no "crazy points" only "points"

And the bible is full of contradictions, they even teach that in school and here is nothing wrong with it.[/B][/QUOTE]

Indeed, and for a couple of reasons:

-there is no power to be gained by teaching how to love one's neighbor, much better to inflame passions, this is how you gain followers and sell books

-oddly, there are contexts to the scriptures, when Jerusalem was surrounded and ready to fall the message was to the inhabitants of that time

-people rarely grasp the different levels of the scriptures, it is to nuanced for them

-people rarely listen to that inner voice

Charity and kindness in today's world is seen as weakness or manipulation or ulterior motives being the driving force behind such good impulses.

posted April 12, 2013 04:00 PM            

In my opinion, you don't have the basics but want to do all the nuances. That is why your conclusions are very faulty but I will let it go unless you want me to show you what I mean.

The Bible has to be rightly divided to be understood as it is meant to be. You can't throw out basic ways of interpretation. If you do, it would be like throwing out the meaning of the Sun in Astrology and making it Venus because you thought you saw a nuance. I will explain to you what I mean, if you want.If not, that is cool

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted April 12, 2013 04:04 PM            

If one really knows the Scriptures, one feels the difference if one merely goes with what they are told..they well...have you.

Heaven forbid anyone bothers with actually applying what is taught, far better to believe the world shall end making even the basics like the Samaritan relevant

What I do find hi-llarious is whenever the Word is actually applied, and even quoted, your defense mechanism is to not consider the application, but to merely disparage the very Word you claim guides you.

posted April 12, 2013 04:08 PM            

In the same way, one cannot do nuanced Bible understanding without rightly dividing the Bible which means Dispensations( each time period has it's own characteristics) and groups( Jews and Gentiles)

Anyway, unless you ask me, I am going to let it go Padre.

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted April 12, 2013 04:32 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Padre35:

I think that is wise AA, if one cannot study for oneself and draw one's own conclusions and must be fed from outside sources then this is futile.

We shall never agree, which is fine with me as proverbs says : "..as iron sharpens iron so does one friend sharpen the countenance of the other.."

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Ok Friend!

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted April 13, 2013 12:01 AM            

quote:

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-people rarely grasp the different levels of the scriptures, it is too nuanced for them

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I agree with this. For example, people don't realize that the bible is full of symbolism, and that God is not necessarily a "who" any more than a "what". We speak in part. We speak as men.

posted April 13, 2013 12:32 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Heart--Shaped Cross:
Apart from a few things, Padre, we are not really in disagreement. But I guess it is that 10% that really gets us, eh?

I agree with this. For example, people don't realize that the bible is full of symbolism, and that God is not necessarily a "who" any more than a "what". We speak [b]in part. We speak as men.

Nor do many realize that we are involved in the life of God, and not separate. We are counseled to play our part, even if our part is a receptive one, having more to do with Being than Doing. To simply say, "God has it all in hand," is not what grace is all about. We need to learn it at the very deepest levels, and that means learning and practicing deep meditation, or what has been called "contemplative prayer" in the Christian tradition. Contemplative prayer is what fueled the ministry of Jesus and the Early Christians, and it is what sustained the Church for 15 centuries, before we lost our way and started focusing on intellectual prayer and the performance of more external works -- both of which were only ever meant to lead us toward the real spiritual life, only found in the deepest silent communion.[/B]

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That I shall never agree with, God is a "whom" not a "what", Jesus walked amongst us as whom, not a "what".

posted April 13, 2013 02:31 PM            

Is California a "who"?

Or should we now refer to it as "a california",
despite the fact that it is a proper name,
and there is only one California?

posted April 13, 2013 02:41 PM            

Have I referred to Jesus as a "what"? I do my best to refer to him as a "who", as he is the personal aspect of God. Nevertheless, I see him as a symbol, as I believe he desired so to be seen. He was and remains a symbol for God; the concrete manifestation in space/time for God, "who" utterly transcends human classifications. Can God respond to us, as a personal presence? Absolutely. Through the filter of our history and our minds, he takes a shape which we can begin to approach.

posted April 13, 2013 03:01 PM            

why was her Gospel
left out?

posted April 13, 2013 03:02 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Heart--Shaped Cross:
Padre,

Have I referred to Jesus as a "what"? I do my best to refer to him as a "who", as he is the personal aspect of God. Nevertheless, I see him as a symbol, as I believe he desired so to be seen. He was and remains a symbol for God; the concrete manifestation in space/time for God, "who" utterly transcends human classifications. Can God respond to us, as a personal presence? Absolutely. Through the filter of our history and our minds, he takes a shape which we can begin to approach.

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Emmanual..God With Us.

Only those moved by the Spirit can say, without blinking, "Jesus is God"

posted April 13, 2013 08:59 PM            

quote:

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I was an English major, so no I'm not corrected. But I really don't care either way. Carry on.

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posted April 13, 2013 09:06 PM            

quote:

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Only those moved by the Spirit can say, without blinking, "Jesus is God"

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