Change has been on my mind

I am thinking out loud. Ever since I moved here I have been pondering what direction I would like my life to go. I’m not sure what the answer is.

What I like: Adirondacks, a shelter from the elements, a place to exist, garden, food storage, more money coming in

What I don’t like: small LDS branch, health care, living inside, apartment dramas, not traveling

Sometimes my life seems too monotone. The bulk of my time is spent in my bedroom….either sitting in my favorite chair or in bed. That gets too comfortable, too boring. I have spent the last year building up material security. I do not have to worry about where my next meal is coming from. I have clothes for the seasons. I have a fixed address so I can access health care and benefits. OK…so why am I so restless? Why am I getting that itch to do something different?

Part of my problem is that I like challenges. I like having something new to learn or to overcome. Once I get good at a skill, it’s not much fun any more. Whenever I felt like I knew how to do most of a job or a craft or whatever, I was ready to do something else. Homesteading and farming had the ability to engage me for years as there were sooooo many things to learn and do.

I’m REALLY tired of being sick. If there were one thing I would like to walk away from and never look back, it would be physical sickness.

I feel like I need to be more involved with people and places. My biggest gateway to the world is my computer. This laptop is getting old. The keyboard markings are starting to rub off. What will happen to me when the laptop dies? I will be alone in my room.

Somehow I need to throw off the old me and find a new skin….like a hermit crab.

The biggest hole in my life is living apart from my daughter. I miss her. She left three messages on the answering machine this week and I have not called back. I desperately want to talk to her…but not on the phone. I hate telephones.

Sigh….I am a spoiled brat….I don’t know what I want, I just know I need some change….

 

 

[Via http://wendyusuallywanders.wordpress.com]

Division in the Church

Why is the professing Body of Christ seemingly so divided, and who or what is causing it?

After all, we all claim to be following the Holy Spirit. That should give all sides something very serious to think about. We can’t all believe different things and still all be right.

According to the Scriptures, here are 3 things that cause division in the professing Church:

1) False teachers allowed to remain in the professing Church

Any time a teacher leaves the Truth, he is sowing division.

Romans 16:17-18 “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.” It is very important to keep in the “teaching we have learned.” That is, the doctrine of Christ and His apostles found in the Bible (not the doctrine taught in a church building or seminary. This is an important distinction.) Those who leave the teaching of Christ and His apostles and teach some other wind of doctrine, or doctrine of demons, are serving themselves and dividing the Body of Christ. 2 Peter 2:1-3 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” The “way of Truth” will fall into disrepute because of these false teachers whom “many will follow.” The phrase “denying the sovereign Lord who bought them” suggests that these teachers were walking in Truth at one time, but have left the right way and are now taking others with them. Those who follow these blind guides have stopped following Jesus, the only Way of salvation. Because they are deceived, they will claim they are still following God, to the shock and dismay of those who have remained faithful to Jesus. Now two opposing groups will claim to be serving Jesus and following the same Spirit. Thus division is created in the professing Body of Christ by false teachers and those who follow them. Jude 18-19 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 2) Siding with the Truth (or not)

Jesus, who is the Truth, said He came to bring division that would even tear families apart.

Luke 12:51-53 “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Those who side with satan, “the god of this world,” will naturally despise those who side with Christ—the One who testifies that the world’s deeds are evil (John 7:7). A natural division occurs between light and darkness, Christ and Belial, righteousness and wickedness, and the temple of God and idols. (2 Cor. 6:14-16) John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Jesus is called the “Word made Flesh.” The Word of God is even said to divide. Heb.4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Those who subject themselves to the Word of God will become divided from those who do not. (John 7:43, John 9:16, John 10:19)

In the world (and professing church) as it presently stands, there are wheat and tares growing up together. (Matt. 13:24-30) The wheat CAN BE distinguished from the tares by the servants of God. But they are allowed to co-exist until the time of harvest, when the “reapers” will permanently separate them. The Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim. 2:19).

3) Testing

Believers are tested by heresies, to see if they will remain in the doctrine of Christ or not. This testing causes division between those who are approved by God, and those who are not.

I Cor. 11:18-19 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. It is also important to realize that we are to study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that need not to be ashamed because we rightly divide the Word of Truth! (2 Tim. 2:15) It is very important to abide in correct doctrine—so important that even salvation is at stake! I John 2:24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.
2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Paul cursed those who taught any gospel other than what had already been taught. (Gal.1:6-9) Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. (2 John 9-10) We will be tested by heresies, just as Eve was tempted in the garden of Eden. Eve fell because she believed the words of a deceiver (she believed false doctrine) that questioned WHAT GOD HAD ALREADY SAID. Satan promised Eve an experience that she couldn’t pass up. The Holy Spirit will NEVER contradict the Bible, which He authored. The Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation, and thoroughly equip us to live holy lives abounding in good works (2 Tim.3:15-17).

So what about unity?

Didn’t Jesus pray that His disciples would be one? (John 17:17) Yes, and His true disciples ARE ONE. They abide in His teaching, and His Word abides in them. They together abide in Christ, and they stand together against the false teachings that are threatening the flock. (Titus 1:9, Romans 16:17, Jude 3, 2 Cor. 6:17)

The disciples of Christ are denying themselves and carrying crosses, dying to this life and loving not this world nor the things in this world. Because their focus is on Jesus Christ alone, and they are not carried away by every wind of doctrine, they are united—even though they may not even know each other. They are satisfied with their daily bread, trusting that man shall indeed live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. They are not divided because of skin color or nationality. They are not divided due to wealth/poverty, or station in life. They are people of peace and they love one another. They do not take advantage of one another, or lord it over one another. They do not lie to one another, and they do not elevate themselves over one another—rather the greatest among them is the servant of all.

These love God with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength; and they love their neighbors as themselves. They help the weak and gullible by rescuing them from the mouths of wolves. They often do this by exposing false teaching and false teachers, which unfortunately earns them a reputation for being “divisive.” God bless you.

[Via http://israeliteindeed.wordpress.com]

Ah...How Sweet It Is

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! Hope you’re prepared for a wonderful holiday tomorrow. I am…ready to enjoy some turkey, stuffing, mac and cheese…and other yummy stuff with my family. Going to be a small group tomorrow. Just six of us. Usually there’s more like 10-20 depending on which uncles, aunts and cousins show but kind of all scattered around this year. Of course sometimes smaller is better. And I’m sure we’ll enjoy the eats and the company.

So, today I was feeling a bit better (thank you God) and decided to try and run today. I was still pretty congested so wasn’t sure how it would go but was determined to at least TRY. I’ve been itching for a run since…Saturday.

Funny…it wasn’t so long ago that I looked for excuses to NOT go run. Being unable to breathe through my nose would have more than qualified…but not now. Now I try to find reasons to go run and get frustrated when I miss a run – even if I have a good excuse. Guess that’s a good thing.

Started out with my usual 5-minute warm-up. No problems. Started running…but started off easy. After 5 minutes I was feeling pretty good. Started thinking about the race tomorrow, the half-marathon in two weeks…visualizing the start and crossing the finish line.  Realized I was running faster…still feeling good.  As I approached the half-way mark I was starting to feel it…and could tell I hadn’t ran in a week. 

I took my two-minute walk break at half-way (it was needed and appreciated) and then hit it again. When I reached the last 5-minutes I was struggling a little bit but pushed through and finished strong.  With warm-up and cool-down…4 miles in 50 minutes.  That was SWEET!  It was a really GREAT run.  I’m looking forward to the race in the morning… I’m looking forward to 12 miles on Saturday…although my internal chatterbox is rattling off about how hard it’s going to be…how my last long run (of any significant distance) was a few weeks ago, I’m not ready, I can’t do it…blah, blah, blah.  But you know what…that’s just talk and talk is cheap.

I’m learning that my little internal chatterbox (I need to come up with a name for it) is repeating what others have said in my past.  And they lied…and I used to believe the lies but now I know the truth.  I know that I CAN do it…I AM good enough…I will NOT fail.  Nope…don’t believe the chatterbox anymore.  Just lies…and there is a high price to pay for believing those lies.  I know…I’ve been paying it for a long time…but not anymore.  So, you stupid, lying chatterbox…you can just SHUT THE HELL UP!!  I’ll rock it tomorrow…I’ll knock it out of the park on Saturday…and I’m going to OWN that 13.1 miles in Kiawah in 2 weeks…you watch me…and before all is said and done I will replace you with the TRUTH…

And I’m really looking forward to that day. I suspect it is just around the corner. I am already beginning to feel the shift back to who I really am…and I am becoming who I am meant to be… Glad you’re coming along for the ride…it’s going to be a good one. Until next time, I hope you are well and that your internal chatterbox is telling you the truth…YOU CAN DO IT!!

[Via http://wildfire16to80.wordpress.com]

all is not as it should be

 I sometimes get the sneaky suspicion that all is not as it should be in my life.  I think a lot of this comes from an unsettling disappointment I have about myself.  Some of this disappointment is neurotic.  Like when I want to impress someone with my intelligence and my words come out all jumbled up or I stutter. 

 

Some of my disappointment is silly.  I would love to always look like I just finished up with a GQ photo shoot, looking very charming and debonair. 

 

Then there’s the deeper disappointment that I have a real tuff time with.  When I look at my two sons as they play outside on their bikes and I think of the kind of father I want to be for them.  I want to make lasting impression on them, so that when they look back on their childhood and they can remember a childhood that came straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.  I want to make believe with them, making all their dreams come to life.  I want to catch lighting bugs with them in the hot summer nights.  I want to take long bike rides with them. 

 

I look at them through the den window as I am on the computer doing schoolwork as they are riding their bikes  and I’m reminded of how the day really went.  I remember them fighting over who gets to be first on a Wii game and me telling them to be quite so that I can work, to busy to show them how to resolve a conflict. I remembered how stern I got with my youngest son, Nole, when he didn’t do exactly as I told him getting mad and making threats – just because I’m his father and I can.  I remember the fear and hurt I saw in his eyes as lashed out at him.  I remember instead of catching lighting bugs I hurried them inside to take a bath, so that I could have a moment to myself.  I’m so disappointed in myself at times. 

 

I’m also disappointed in myself not just as a father, but also as a husband, son, and friend at times.  I know that my life was created for so much more than just being overwhelmed with work and school.  I have a purpose in life; I have an opportunity to do something great with my life as we all do. 

 

I am disappointed that I don’t love God more and willfully sin so much against him.  I can get insanely jealous if someone I know succeeds more than I.  I am disappointed at how petty and shallow I can be at times.  I can lead people to believe that I have it all together and yet I feel like at times my world is falling apart. 

 

These are just some of my disappointments.  I have darker ones that I am too ashamed to admit, as I’m sure we all do.  So why do so many others and I feel this way?  Some may say it is a lack of self-esteem, this may be true in part – but as I get a little older and hopefully a little wiser, I believe it is a deeper problem.  One that lurks deep within our soul, that we don’t like to admit, which is a failure to be the person God first called me to be.

 

I feel if I had always pursued God as my two boys pursue life, I would not feel such disappointment as I do.  Although as an adult I have forgotten what it was like to dream big dreams as a child.  I have forgotten what it is like to give God my all, as my boys do when they play.  If I were to do that then I would be in a much better place as a father, husband, son, and friend.  I would be more of the man that God first called me to be.  So for all my disappointments I am glad my God is a God of second and third chances, so it is my prayer today that I would seize all the little opportunities He has given me to be the person He intended me to be.

[Via http://steveliscum.wordpress.com]

P195: God answers an atheist

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God said that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Genesis 1-2

LearnTheBible.ca

God bless,

[Via http://learnthebibleca.wordpress.com]

Happy Holidays

It has been awhile since I have been able to make a post, but it is really nice to have a few extra minutes out of my day to sit down and getaway into SL.  The cold weather always brings my favorite time of the year the holidays.  Yes I am one of those people who shops early for gifts, plays holiday music all day, fill my home with holiday scents and decorates in time for Thanksgiving.  So why not in SL?  Well my bf and I are not that quite organized in SL but slowly we are sorting out the sim in time for a warm and cozy holiday dinner with close friends to sip eggnog and hot apple cider in front of our warm fireplace.

This year I am starting a new holiday tradition with my friends in SL.  Yeah we can do the traditional holiday dinners in SL and gift exchange, but why not get creative with ideas to spend quality time with those that make your SL one of a kind. This year I have decided to invite my friends over a few days throughout the month to have an all out blast to decorate gift boxes, snowmen, ornaments, gingerbread men/women etc. It does take time to setup create and/or buy the items you need, so make sure to plan it out well.  (*Just a side note make sure to check the permission of items when purchasing to make sure they allow you to share them. )  Once you have all your supplies, arrange them in order and set them to buy at 0L.  It is a really good idea to set out an example you have created so your friends can have ideas while assembling together their very own project.  Make sure you have a variety of items, for example, for a snowman create a cone nose, twisty nose, twig from a branch nose and so on then everyone can choose from several different pieces to make their very own creative one of a kind snowman.  Why not set your sim/parcel radio to holiday music when everyone is there to share the holiday spirit. Even if it is a bit artsy/crafty/Martha Stewarty you get an opportunity to spend time with your very special friends.

If you have further ideas you want to share, leave me a comment I would love to read what is on your mind!

Today I chose to wear something too keep me warm in these freezing cold temperatures.  There is nothing more classic and warm than a heavy wool coat, tights and boots.

Style Notes

Coat – KUROTSUBAKI Red Poncho

Tights – Twosome Cozy Gray Tights

Skirt – LeLutka Paine Mini in Chocolate (group gift)

Boots – Kookie Pomski Boots in Light Kelp

Hair – Truth Micah in Dune

Impeccable Forecast by the Great Spiritual Guru

Param Pujya Sant Shri Asaramji Bapu: “I said many years back, that I want to see India as a superpower. It’s 2007 now, in 2010 there would be such rays from the sun that would damage your TV mobile. Then India would become a superpower in 2011. TV and mobile have also lowered human values, these all would be damaged. There would be such rays from the sun that would vanish all the satellite systems. Radio, communication systems, mobile all will come to a stand still. Humans will go back into the age of Satyug. Nature will create the environment of superpower. Scientists are saying this, that in 2010 there is possibility of such sun rays. I said it is good. Background for us is being created. Whatever kids (scientists) discover is ok. If he (Bapuji) wills then God also adapts accordingly. It is said that if he (Bapuji) wills then dead also becomes alive. So if a will comes to make India a superpower then God and Nature also adapts accordingly. If you don’t want it for yourself then it’s done. Anyone can take the fame. You take the fame. Anyone who brings something for me, I give him back. Samiti can take the fame. It organizes and do everything. I don’t do anything. Don’t do anything right now. No prayer, meditation nothing. Keep sitting like this. Rest….. One bapu has shaken whole India and whole world. Where is such kind of Bapu in any other country? Do you get bapu like this in any other country? Was there Lila shah Bapu in other countries? Was there Nanak bapu? Was there Kabir bapu? In this country only they are. Who can take to God.”

Aura of Pujya Gurudev

Scientific Findings related to above Forecast:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,478024,00.html

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/21dec_cycle24.htm

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm

Gurudev satsang, Subtitles: I was a deity once. I was a sage once…many purans still contain my stories. This is 70th time I have come to earth.

Even if God or saint bless you to get beneficial things still that thing won’t stay forever. Only their knowledge will stay forever. That the beneficial and adverse both are dreams. Through which they are seen (felt) is our eternal immortal soul. This is the highest knowledge.

Don’t be slave of your wish. In whichever thing you feel attachment is there distribute or donate that thing.

If you have fear of death go to graveyard and see to those who are dying and tell your self that this is death.

Whatever road blocks you face in coming towards God either remove them or ignore them. Don’t consider roadblocks as roadblocks.

In every situation equanimity yoga should be done.

http://www.ashram.org/

View More Videos at
http://vimeo.com/user647845/videos
http://www.hariomgroup.org

The Truth Will Set You Free

Milan Kundera, Ignorance

“I imagine the feelings of two people meeting again after many years. In the past they spent some time together, and therefore they think they are linked by the same experience, the same recollections. The same recollections? That’s where the misunderstanding starts: they don’t have the same recollections; each of them retains two or three small scenes from the past, but each has his own; their recollections are not similar; they don’t intersect; and even in terms of quantity they are not comparable: one person remembers the other more than he is remembered; first because memory capacity varies among individuals, but also (this is more painful to admit) because they don’t hold the same importance for each other.

Great "Law of Attraction" Quote

Last night I wrote a post that briefly touched on the Law of Attraction. Today as I was sifting through some old emails, I came across this quote. This basically sums up the Law of Attraction. An important thing to note is how there is no mention of being willing to give without the expectation of receiving. This I found is an integral part of seeing results of the law actualized.

“If we are basically positive in attitude, expecting and envisioning pleasure, satisfaction and happiness, we will attract and create people, situations, and events which conform to our positive expectations.” -Shakti Gawain

-Scott

speaking of

ok ok; i’m just clearing the air out there for my readers <3

i’m not pursuing this blog by any means to get into the stuff that [ lukegk or duckie or phil etc ] get into ; this stuff revolves around me, my thoughts, my opinions, my fears, my options, MY LIFE – and those i just mentioned had great content which influence me and the music i hear, and the things i see, i just recently discovered the award tour by phil, a friend showed me his shit, i’m not sure how i didnt come across it earlier since i read luke’s shit everyday, but whatever, the content is fresh – you can’t deny it, duckie has got her thing going, she’s good with the interviews and photography – - i don’t have a fab camera or the balls to ask people questions which i personally don’t have a need for, i LOVE music, however blogging is not something which i hope to become my career, these fellow bloggers i’m referring to have nuts and balls and are great to the society of both music and art – especially on the internet. much respect to them. and well recently – through both luke and phils sites – i came across TONE, he’s the one that captures the moment [s]. his shit is ridiculous, guy’s got good looks on snapping life into a ‘thing’ something we can  look at and be like  - – oh damn.

so spread your wings – i’m doing my thing by leaving the works to those doing it, by telling you to support them – how about you clear your head, think of what it is you want to be doing, and DO IT

buy that fucking camera, learn how to play the piano, grab your nuts and get on stage, learn to cook, write a poem, get on swim team

i’m pursuing a career in working with kids – kids are who i want to work with, i’m going to make it happen

what’s happening for you?!

 

random ass post – i know, i’m just throwing it out there, and i hope that these kids are okay with me mentioning them – goodjob babies; annakay

Visions and Prophets...

If a human individual, a Minister, Pastor, Shaman and this list can stretch into oblivion, claims to be a Prophet, a Visionary or that he/she are on a Vision Quest, what are the Church (people) expected to gain or lose?

The experience of Faith or Vision Quest is either true or untrue and often is false. Most times these claims create sizable financial gain for the “Blessed one.” And! Let the Babylon times begin?

Beyond the tithes and the collection plates, when the money starts rolling in, the cost of such fame or infamy is most simple. The Church becomes less of a church. The pulpit becomes a stage, a theater or a bully after-thought to when it was that “Little Brown Church in the Dale.”

“Oh, come to the Church in the Wildwood.” “Oh, come to the church in the dale.” “No spot is so dear to my childhood, as the Little Brown Church in the Dale.”

May Respect and Understanding and Peace and Love be with us all…Amen.

 

a silent wish

here is a silent wish that i made for a family member, a friend, a neighbour…

May you enter into a state of higher awareness. May you transcend your problems and see them as opportunity. May you be graced with courage, strength, and compassion. May you dismiss self-pity and frustration.

there’s no doubt that one of the toughest situations in life is to see one’s family, friend or neighbour in pain or in suffering. we often try to say or do the right things to try and help. unfortunately, this isn’t often asked by them and can therefore be unwanted. in these circumstances, one can only silently wish for their well-being and surrender the rest to a higher power.

Shoveling the truckload of dung

Lots to say, not a lotta time to say it. I’m in a phase of things piling up, where I need to keep shoveling through without thinking too much, keep breathing, doing what I can, and pretty soon I’ll have cleared through the pile of crap. I once had a yoga teacher who read from a book written by a Zen Buddhist monk entitled, “Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?” I immediately bought the book. It was filled with those impossibly Zen stories of staying calm through extremely frustrating situations, finding the good in the apparently bad, treating your supposed enemies as friends, etc. The kinds of stories that you know will take a lifetime to really understand, if you so choose. But the one that resonated with me was about doing the work of shoveling your own truckload of dung, which was dumped on your doorstep by Life, the Universe, God, whatever you want to call your own Mystery. We can either complain about the smell, the foulness, the fact that we wish the pile weren’t sitting right there blocking the door to our own home, or we can spend our lives trying to figure out WHO ordered it in the first place! Because it certainly wasn’t ME! I didn’t ask for this heap of putrid-smelling hot and steamy pile of waste. But I DO want to get inside my own home. I like it there. I feel peaceful and free there. I am joy when I am there. So let me in!

But the only way in is to roll up your sleeves and start shoveling. One stroke at a time, you just chip away at it. You don’t complain, you don’t worry, you don’t spend time just admiring the sheer magnitude of crap sitting there. You just take your shovel and work. Pretty soon, you’ll look up and one day the door to your home will be right there, and you can just walk right through, take off your crap-smelling clothes, and enjoy a nice, long, hot shower. Maybe a cool drink. And then a seat on your own back porch, where the sun shines just so.

The point of this was reflected in Jerry Seinfeld’s Three Rules for Life, which I think he gave in an interview with Oprah several years ago. Here they are:

1. Work hard. (No matter what it is, bust your ass.)
2. Pay attention. (Listen, listen, listen. You can learn from anyone and anything.)
3. Fall in love. (I don’t care what you fall in love with, just love something with all your heart.)

I’ve discovered that pretty much, these are the lessons repeated in all spiritual teachings.

I wrote a few lines of poetry last night after my two full days and one night of “The Art of Improvisation”. An aside: Isn’t all of life an improvisation? We aren’t all stand-up comics, but what if we carried ourselves through our daily lives with the skills and mindset of stand-up comedians or artists? What if we valued ourselves to the extent that we believed we are all artists, and our greatest piece of art is made by the sum of how we show up in each moment of our lives?

Anyways, here’s the poem I wrote last night:

Music is a spiritual practice.

Sound is a spiritual practice.

Pay attention to the sounds you make, and you pay attention to your spirit.

So much of improvisation is LISTENING. Listen like mad. Always listening. This is simple to say, but much harder to put in practice. Often when we think we are listening to the environment (reality in this moment), we are actually hearing the mental chatter in our own heads: “I can’t do this! I look like an idiot! I’ve never done this before! People will think I’m a freak for doing this! I don’t sound good! I don’t know how to do this! I’m not good at this!”

When true artists talk about “inner listening” or “listening to your inner voice”, they don’t mean this mental chatter. That’s an important distinction that I think is often not mentioned. We are told to get silent and wait for the sounds to come. But how many of us really know what silence is? I can say I’ve experience a few very brief moments of complete silence – not just the absence of talking or noise, but a sense of completeness and peace – during meditation and when I have been in nature, studying the sky or the water or the light.

But getting to silence on a daily basis is WORK. Learning to listen for inner silence, then waiting for the truth of the heart to emerge, is a deep practice. Basic listening is work. So often we are not even aware of what we are listening to. We go through life with an agenda, and filter out the things that don’t match it. Then we struggle. We wonder why things turned out the way they did. What we must have done to deserve those things. Or who else we might have to blame for the truckload of dung sitting on our doorstep, when all we want to do is get home.

Home is freedom. Some of us never find it. But it’s always right here inside of us, no matter what the circumstances of our lives. When we practice loving every single – EVERY single – circumstance of our life as something that has brought us clearer vision and attention, and therefore closer to seeing the home within our hearts, we are truly free in each moment. Free to act according to the source of pure joy and creativity that we are born with.

I tried it today and I noticed how hard it is for people to really listen. How much time and quiet and space it takes to really relax and listen. But the desire is there. We all want to hear the music. We want to feel the music in our hearts. We want to drown out all the noise that is drowning us.

I was part of three improvisation groups this weekend, and they taught me about taking risks. Being well-trained is something that happens to manifest itself for me on the violin. But I am actually quite loose still – thankfully – in other areas, such as my voice. I have longed to use my voice for such a long time. I have no preconceptions about what I can and cannot do with my singing voice. I just do it. I put myself out there using my speaking voice five years ago to create a school. Now I want to go in a new direction, and I am finding my voice stuck, not able to work for me in the same way it did to set a stake in the ground. My voice is not as useful as a shovel to dig something up and replant it in a sunnier place. But I set some new stakes in the ground this weekend:

• I publicly did a jazz improv over cello accompaniment with our instructor, David Darling. I laughed so hard! And for the first time I knew I wasn’t laughing AT myself. I was laughing with joy that I had actually dared to do something BADLY! I hesitate to use the word “bad” because that’s not how I felt. For ME, who doesn’t listen to jazz and had never played a note of it on my violin or even sung it in my head, IT WAS GREAT! It didn’t sound like Aletha, the awesome woman who sang right before me in her night club sultry voice. But I had to let that go as my aspiration for this moment. My aspiration for this moment was to not be afraid. To try something totally different and know that there was no failure possible. Just picking up my violin and making any sound in that setting was a huge leap forward for me. And I loved it! One shovel of dung thrown over my shoulder. Now on to the next…
• I saw a group of ladies playing random notes at the piano and a vocalist walked up to join them. I could have sat in my chair and just waited for class to begin, but instead I walked over with my violin and started to play along. I didn’t think I had anything meaningful musically to add, or rather I didn’t think I knew what to add, but I just played anyway. Kept playing. And they kept listening and playing. And we all kept doing that together. That is improvisation. Everyone doing their thing together.
• Finally, we were the very last group of the weekend to perform our 4-person “voice and body” improvisation. The rule was to work with people you had never worked with before. Very true in this case. Roman is a one-man show performer and all-around self-taught musician who lives life in his world of music. He doesn’t say much usually but when he does, he speaks in long strings of ideas and words that reflect his stream of consciousness and fluidity of thoughts. Let’s just say he won’t be in charge of writing any corporate memos any time soon. Thank god for people like Roman, because his musical vocabulary and artistry are AMAZING. He is just that kind of “genius”. I worked hard to empty my mind of all the imaginations of what might happen in our group. We were all tired, and I kept thinking I hope we do something lively and upbeat because I am going to fall asleep otherwise. I was looking forward to singing though. So my first contribution to the group – after a bunch of the others started with primal rumblings and breath sounds – was a sung melody. I did it three times, hoping for call and response. Finally getting one, I then froze and caught myself so surprised and happy at the response that my next call was lame. So I abandoned that and turned my attention to listening and feeling what was going on with the others. Roman was doing some kind of primal fit of screaming on my left. I turned and started to imitate, releasing some of that earlier frustration through my body. Then he kept going and I realized he sounded like he was suffering. I started breathing and sending him the calming, soothing, “maternal” sounds that flowed through me as a human being in the presence of another human being in that state. I kept going. The other women eventually joined me. Roman – or his improvisational character – calmed down, eventually cooing with us like a little baby. The rest of it I don’t remember as well, because it was like magic after that. We were four beings in each other’s presence. The rest created itself. We were in harmony.

The room erupted in applause after we finished, and one of our classmates commented on how she had never seen this “primal thing going on” with me before, but that she loved it. Shortly after her comment, my violin case fell out of its chair. Literally. Nothing was damaged, don’t worry. But we like to think of that moment as something of a message from the spirits about my finding my voice. My violin is a little surprised – or maybe feeling left out – by my foray into such primal things as the voice. Poor violin will just have to get used to it.

Let's Start From the Very Beginning: Jesus.

I admit, in the past two years, I have often felt a little guilty for not really thinking about Jesus that much. I don’t mean that I stopped thinking of him or that I ceased to think he was important. I had other pressing theological questions, but I viewed (and still do) those questions as ultimately returning to Christ. Still, I would sometimes think to myself: “I wonder if I ought to pay attention to what I believe about this Jesus.”

The answer to that thought was and is a resounding, yes.

In between my first and second years of university, I experienced what one would consider to be the proverbial “crisis of faith.” Though intermixed with some other issues, this crisis was more of a disillusionment of the concept of church that I had for most of my life up until the first year at university. I had more problems with the church than with God or with Jesus. Thus, it wasn’t a full-fledged loss of faith in which one becomes agnostic or an atheist. Nonetheless, the spiritual turmoil continued (and continues) into my second year. Towards the end of 2008, my disillusionment with the church had grown so strongly that I began to question, ever so delicately, some of the basic Christian beliefs, but again, it was not a full-fledged loss of faith.

My spiritual turmoil was soon somewhat eradicated by my introduction to catholic (small-c) Christianity through Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox theology. I’m confident that at that point in my life, it was the very reading of such sources that saved my faith. Had I not dashed my Baptist and Evangelical polemics against Catholics and Orthodox (and Anglicans) against the rocks of thoughtful reflection and reading, I doubt I’d still be a Christian, or, I’d likely be some drifter trying to brew my own Christianity. Arriving and inhabiting the Great Tradition of the Christian faith provided me with somewhat of a basis on which to understand Christ, his Body (the Church), and the message and ministry of the Gospel to the world.

As I began this semester at school, I felt confident that at some point this year, I would finally make a choice and become a part of a community of faith through Baptism (ironic, yes? Being Baptist and not being baptized?). However, while I still hope for that opportunity (it might be a stretch to make it to Easter), my studies have pulled me in a new direction. Well, not entirely new but rather, a realization that yes, I must understand Jesus (I’m just waiting for nice little cliche reminders to start popping up on the comments; It’s not like I don’t know that.). This is more serious, I think, than simply asking questions for the sake of deepening one’s “personal relationship with Jesus.” It’s not like I’m going out on a date with him or something and wanting to know him more deeply (while that is certainly the important aim of any Christian).

More than that. It is asking the question of his very claim to divinity, his very claim to authority, the Church’s claim of his divinity, the Church’s claim of his uniqueness, the Church’s claim of his authority, and the Church’s, Bible’s, and historian’s very claim of his existence.

For if Christianity is true, then Christ has to be true.

First order of business…create new category for “Jesus” in blog.

Second order of business…N.T. Wright, a cup of tea, and a red pen for marking.

 

Can we buy forgiveness of sins?

We have a new question from Puzant:

The apocryphal books contain non-biblical teachings like atonement of sins by good works (almsgiving=showing mercy).
We read in Sirach 3:30 “As water quenches a blazing fire, so [showing mercy] almsgiving atones for sin.” [emph.mine]

Some people say there is the same context in the Old testament.

Daniel 4:27 “Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off [heb."perak"=redeem] thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy [almsgiving]to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.” [emph.mine]

Proverbs 16:6 “By mercy [almsgiving] and truth iniquity is purged…”[emph.mine]

How can Daniel teach the king to redeem/atone his iniquities by almsgiving ?

First, we cannot put a comparison between the Word of God and the words of humans. The Apocrypha is the writings of humans who were not led by the Spirit to write what they wrote, therefore it is not part of the Canon of the Scripture. For more details about the Apocrypha and about the Canon of Scripture, you can consult the following articles:

. What is the Apocrypha? And why do some groups or “churches” add it to their copies of the Bible?

. The Canon of Scripture

As these human writings were not inspired by the Holy Spirit, so they contain the opinions of their human fallible authors. Their words and expressions do not reflect the infallibility and inerrancy of the Holy Spirit, as we will see in this article. While the Scripture is the Word of God, and each word used in it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. As we will see, the Holy Spirit uses exact words that He has explained in other passages of the Bible, never contradicting Himself, while the words of those human writings express the fallible mind and the wrong wishes of their human authors and thus they contradict the Bible.

Now, those human writings would naturally express the fallen mind of their human authors. The fallen human prefers to be justified before God by his weak and imperfect righteousness (i.e. self-righteousness), and he refuses the Righteousness of God:

“For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own [righteousness], have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3)

But here is what the Bible says about that human righteousness:

“And we are all become as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have carried us away” (Isaiah 64:6)

Why does God say this about our righteousness? Why is it as filthy rags? Don’t we ever do anything good? Yes, we may do many good things, but if our good works spring from a filthy disobedient nature, then they do not glorify God and thus they are not really good. You would not accept a nice looking apple if it is presented to you with filthy hands, so how do you expect God to accept your good works when you are still a sinner by nature and all your works are defiled by that filthy nature? Our righteousness is always lacking perfection, and God does not accept anything less than perfect purity and holiness. He does not lower His standard of holiness. So His Law clearly says:

“‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 18:5)

There is no way to be righteous before God unless we keep ALL the statutes and judgments of God perfectly and continuously (without any interruption) and without falling in any sin! This is a clear teaching of the Scripture. To give more strength to this truth, God declares a curse on whoever does not continuously and perfectly keep all His commandments:

“Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them! And all the people shall say, Amen.” (Deuteronomy 27:26)

The judgment is clear: Anyone who does not keep all the commandments of God perfectly and continuously is under this curse of the Law… Read more about this in our article How to be justified before God? which you should understand very well if you want to avoid the deceptions of human philosophy.

Now, the fallen humanity tries to find ways of escape from this curse, so humans who refuse to humble themselves before God try to lower this standard in order to make it look possible to be attained by our human righteousness. It is with this purpose of lowering this standard that the writers of the Apocrypha suggest that we may atone for our sins with almsgiving! This is one proof that those writings were written by non-inspired authors. Thus, instead of keeping ALL the commandments of God perfectly and continuously, they suggest we can just give money to the poor, and thus all our sins will be forgiven… But this is a deception, as the Word of God clearly says that only the perfect and continuous keeping of God’s commandments can make us live by the Law. Actually, we may give all what we have to the poor and yet not have love, and thus be nothing! “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3) (Read So what is love?)

You notice what the point is: The Law declares God’s truth (or justice) without any mercy (lovingkindness) for the sinner. So if God were only Just, we would all go to Hell, and that would be perfectly just and fair, as we did not keep all His commandments perfectly and continuously. This Justice (truth) of God does not allow any exception to the principle of keeping the whole Law in order to be righteous before God. According to this truth, God is not obliged to do any atonement for our sins, and He has the authority to throw us all in Hell, and that would be just.

But the good news here is that God is not only Just, but He is equally Merciful and loving. It was when His Mercy (lovingkindness) and truth met together that it was possible to find a way to save us: ATONEMENT. As God saw us all condemned under the curse that His truth declared on us all, His Mercy (lovingkindness) found the way to meet that high standard and at the same time to save us, and that way was Atonement by a SUBSTITUTE, i.e. by a perfect Man who could keep all the commandments of the Law (truth) and then by substitution make His Righteousness counted for those who trust Him (Mercy or lovingkindness). This is what the Psalmist describes in the following line:

“Loving-kindness and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10)

And the author of the Proverb explains this same truth by saying:

“By loving-kindness and truth iniquity is atoned for; and by the fear of Jehovah [men] depart from evil.” (Proverbs 16:6)

Proverbs 16:6 is one of the passages that Puzant quoted. Do you see anything about almsgiving in this verse? Not at all! As you can see, this verse is explained in Psalm 85:10 (as Scripture explains Scripture), and it means that the only way to atone for our sins is when lovingkindness (mercy — Hebrew: chesed) and truth meet together! As fallen humans, we could not meet the perfect standard of God about lovingkindness and truth, so we could not atone for our sins:

“No man can by any means redeem his brother Or give to God a ransom for him” (Psalm 49:7)

It’s only when God keeps both His lovingkindness and truth that our iniquity is atoned for, or else God would not be just AND the justifier of the sinner who has faith in Christ:

“for [the] shewing forth of his righteousness in the present time, so that he should be just, and justify him that is of [the] faith of Jesus.” (Romans 3:26)

If God declared the sinner as righteous without bringing His curse upon him, He would be lying! Because the sinner has not met God’s standard of holiness, as we have seen above, and he deserves to be accursed and NOT called righteous. But as the lovingkindness of God met His truth, so God found the way to justify the sinner without being unjust Himself: He sent His Son (God incarnate) who lived a perfect human life and kept ALL the commandments of God perfectly and continuously (thus the truth was respected), and then He took the place of the sinner (substitution) and atoned for his sins (thus lovingkindness and truth met together on the cross). It is in this way that lovingkindness and truth atoned for our iniquity.

Now, why do some people see almsgiving in Proverbs 16:6? That’s because they don’t allow the Scripture to interpret itself, and they want to speculate about what the Hebrew “chesed” (mercy) should mean in this verse… Instead of accepting the explanation of the Bible that we saw above, they reduce the meaning of “chesed” to one particular result of mercy, i.e. almsgiving. The Bible doesn’t say “almsgiving” in Proverbs 16:6. It says “lovingkindness”, in the same way it is said in Psalm 85:10. And as the authors of the Apocrypha misinterpreted such passages of Scripture, so they reduced the whole truth to a particular commandment (i.e. almsgiving), thus lowering the standard of God and teaching the false doctrine of buying the forgiveness of our sins with money!

Against those false human teachings the Word of God clearly says:

“knowing that ye have been redeemed, not by corruptible [things, as] silver or gold, from your vain conversation handed down from [your] fathers,  but by precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, [the blood] of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

***

Now we pass to Daniel’s passage:

“Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.” (Daniel 4:27)

The verb translated as “break off” in this verse is the Hebrew verb “perak” (from Chaldee) which literally means “to discontinue” or “to break off”. For those who know Arabic, does not this “perak” sound like the Arabic “faraq” (to get separated from)?… Indeed, the literal Arabic translation of this passage (the Van Dyke translation) renders this verb as “fareq” (get separated from). As you know, both Arabic and Hebrew (and Chaldee or Aramaic also) are Semitic languages, so many words are similar in these languages. In other words, Daniel told the king to get separated from his iniquities (i.e. repentance), and to give the non-optional fruit of righteousness as a result of this breaking-off. This is the simple meaning of what is said in this verse. There is nothing in this verse about atoning for our sins by almsgiving.

But we cannot assure that the king really understood what Daniel actually told him. In fact, this verse (i.e. Daniel 4:27) is not the direct teaching of Daniel. What we read here is the account of that pagan king about what Daniel told him. Actually, this account of the king really shows us that he didn’t understand the advice of Daniel in a deep way. One of the proofs for what I am saying is found at the beginning of this pagan king’s account:

“But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and before him I told the dream” (Daniel 4:8)

This pagan king is amazed by what the God of Daniel could do, but he still didn’t give up his false gods! For him, the God of Daniel is one of those gods — actually the most high among them — but He’s not his ONLY Lord and Savior. In fact, even while writing this letter, he considers one of those false gods as his god (“my god”). This pagan king still couldn’t understand what’s the difference between the Holy Spirit and the spirits of his “holy gods”, the false gods… Even while writing this account, the king still doesn’t understand with which Spirit Daniel prophesied… So just as we can’t conclude from verse 4 that the Bible teaches polytheism, as this is the account of a pagan king, in the same way we can’t build any doctrine on verse 27 where this pagan king once again tells us what he understood of Daniel’s advice for him to repent. It seems that, just like the authors of the Apocrypha, he reduced the fruit of repentance only to one commandment which is almsgiving to the poor… But it is also clear that Daniel didn’t limit his advice to almsgiving, but he told the king about real righteousness (i.e. God’s righteousness), as the king says in verse 27: “Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.” (Daniel 4:27) You see how the king is interpreting what Daniel said: first he says Daniel told him to break off his sins by righteousness, then he interprets that as meaning that he should break off his iniquities (his sins) by showing mercy to the poor… So it seems that he equated righteousness to showing mercy to the poor…

But one would ask: As Daniel is writing this account about this king’s letter, then why did he not make a comment about his error here? The answer is that Daniel usually doesn’t make a comment in such cases, and leaves us to find the right interpretation in the other passages of the Bible. This is what Daniel does in other passages of his Book. For instance, about this same pagan king Daniel says without adding any comment about the king’s error:

“Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.” (Daniel 2:46)

This doesn’t mean that Daniel agreed with this false worship. The truth is that Daniel wants us to judge on what happened in this verse in the light of the teaching of the Scripture that says:

“Thou shalt do homage to [the] Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve.” (Matthew 4:10)

In the same way, in the Book of Job many wrong things were said by humans, and the author wrote them exactly as they were said, without any comment about the human errors. But at the end God made His comment:

“Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2)

In this comment, God was not saying that His Word is “words without knowledge”!! He’s commenting about the human errors in speech in the whole of Job’s Book.

This same thing God does in the Book of Judges! When Jephthah sacrificed his daughter (cf. Judges 11:30-31, Judges 11:34-35, and Judges 11:39), God didn’t make a comment immediately! He only gave us the account about what happened through the man of God who was led by the Spirit to write those things. If you read that passage without understanding it in the light of other passages of Scripture, you may conclude that it is acceptable to sacrifice humans! But God made a little — but very important — comment at the end:

“In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)

This was an important comment! So Jephthah did what was right in his own eyes, but not what was right in God’s eyes!

So this is the same thing that happened in Daniel 4:27: Daniel gave the account of this pagan king as it is and without any comment, but later in a prayer he gave us his comment about this righteousness that the king couldn’t really understand:

“Incline thine ear, O my God, and hear; open thine eyes and behold our desolations, and the city that is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee because of our righteousnesses, but because of thy manifold mercies.” (Daniel 9:18)

Then he adds a direct teaching from God:

“Seventy weeks are apportioned out upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to close the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make expiation for iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal the vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies.” (Daniel 9:24)

So the direct teaching of the Bible is that almsgiving (and any other human merit or righteousness) cannot in any way atone for our sins. It’s only by the blood of Jesus Christ (as described in Daniel 9:24-26) that we have the expiation for iniquity.

And yet those human writings, called Apocrypha, teach that we can atone for our sins by almsgiving! The authors of the Apocrypha give us a direct teaching (and not an account about a pagan king’s understanding…) They say that almsgiving can atone for sins, while the Bible says it can’t! Only perfect lovingkindness and truth can atone our iniquity, as Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification.

Grace be with you!
Disciple of Jesus Christ

___

Posted in Questions | Truth | Religious Movements | Roman Catholicism and similar heresies

I Need Help

by sylvia

Yeah, I probably need all sorts of help, but specifically I need help with a physical problem.

For the last 5-10 years or so, I have been suffering from lower back pain.  Like severe lower back pain.  Typically, it used to happen when I stood for long periods of time (like doing dishes or cooking) but now it is happening more frequently.

I talked to my doctor about it, and they did an x-ray and they couldn’t determine if lack of space between two vertebrae was always that way or a new development.  Yeah, thanks for nothing.

And I’m sure my size G boobies aren’t helping things, and that a lot of my gorgeous, free flowing fat is in my stomach.

Regardless of all that, can someone tell me what is a good exercise for such pain?  Please don’t tell me swimming or pool exercise, because I am too lazy to get my bathing suit on and actually go to pool at the YMCA.

Yoga?  Pilates?

I need to do something, because at this point, I feel like I can’t do anything.

Thanks, y’all.

stylish but comfortable

Heya,

here we go again with another outfit I really enjoy wearing. I was thinking about an outfit i can wear visiting a fashion show. Not a lot of ARC, to support the models on the runway, but still looking stylish. I put this outfit together, because its really stylish, but comfortable, has a low ARC and charms my shape. But have a look yourself:

The highwaisted and fantastic crafted pants I found at LeeZu, I love the details, as the flare leg attachments and the wonderful texture. The two colored pants sets perfect details on every feminine avatar. Mingling around at LeeZu i found this wonderful boat neckline pullover in charcoal. The arms of the pullover softly flow down over the hands and add an autumn touch despite the very open neckline. To prevent my body from the cold winds blowing in autumn I decided to wear a really loveble hairstyle from Maittreya that covers the head with a voluminous scarf, which flows around the shoulders and neck. The shoes, (which are my absolute favourites atm), bicolored also with a cool vintage touch made that outfit complete. For the cool look I added my favorite sunglasses and I was ready to go.

I hope you enjoy this outfit and maybe get inspired to have a look at the shops which inspired me.

Take Care

Svenja

Pants and Pullover: LeeZu

Hair and scarf: Maitreya

Glasses: FNKY

Shoes: Deviant Designs

Babes in the woods

Here it is Halloween and I have not posted one costume. This is not actually a costume, either, but a lovely Victorian Lace nightgown that could be worn year round. However, something about it reminds me of the most frightening of Mother Goose rhymes, Babes in the Woods:

My dear do you know,
How a long time ago,
Two poor little children,
Whose names I don’t know,
Were stolen away
On a fine summers day,
And left in a wood,
As I’ve heard people say,

Poor babes in the wood! poor babes in the wood!
Oh! don’t you remember the babes in the wood?

And when it was night,
So sad was their plight,
The sun it went down,
And the moon gave no light!
They sobbed and they sighed,
And they bitterly cried,
And the poor little things,
They lay down and died.

Poor babes in the wood! poor babes in the wood!
Oh! don’t you remember the babes in the wood?

And when they were dead,
The robins so red
Brought strawberry leaves,
And over them spread;
And all the day long,
The branches among,
They mournfully whistled,
And this was their song;

Poor babes in the wood! poor babes in the wood!
Oh! don’t you remember the babes in the wood?

The nightgown from Studio Sidhe is such an iconic gown that would be appropriate for so many interpretations. I could imagine it as Mina’s gown in Bram Stoker’s Dracula or the nightie that Anne of Green Gables wore when reenacting the Lady of Shallot on the pond. I can see Jo March and her sisters wearing it, too. But, it’s Halloween and this gown reminds me of the heartbreaking illustration of Babes in the Woods from my childhood Illustrated Mother Goose and the little white  nightie worn by the little girl.

Perhaps growing up in the middle of a forest full of wildlife – including bears and timberwolves gave that poem immediacy. I remember the feel of my heart pounding while walking home from the school bus, taking a deerpath shortcut through the woods and hearing the gruff snort of a bear and pausing, holding my breath while trying to decide if the sound came from ahead or behind, left or right – and veering to another path to avoid a close encounter that my parents always said would scare the bear as much as me. I never quite believed them and so Babes in the Woods captured some of my biggest fears in one small phrase, “Poor babes in the woods. Don’t you remember the babes in the woods.”

Of course, walking a few miles through the woods twice a day, I was bound to bump into bears a couple of times. My parents were right, they took of running as fast as they could. However, just because they were right never managed to convince me that every bear would be scared. For my Babes in the Woods encounter in Bentham Forest – I went barefoot as the children in my Mother Goose were barefoot. The bare feet are from SLink. They come in flat, med and high-arched versions. These are the medium version which I think give that feeling of tension and being poised to flee.

One of the great joys of this Victorian Lace nightgown is the attention to detail in the handdrawn textures. Faery Sola is an amazing clothing designer. She doesn’t make many clothes, but they are exquisitely made and absolutely unique. Even the cuffs are worked over with loving attention to detail. The movement of the prims are natural and with two dress prims that seem to move in counterpoint the coverage is nearly perfect with few movements exposing the underlying glitch pants.  The hair is from Truth – a style called Harlow. It also echoes the hair in the Mother Goose though that hair had a wide satin ribbon.

The skin is one of the new makeups for blowpop’s Elizabeth. Choosing this was partly a nod to Anne of Green Gables – as a I remember the Mother Goose girl having a cherubic face. However, really I choose it because the skin is just so right in so many ways.

***STYLE NOTES******
Promotional Copies are denoted by a Bold R

• Poses: Behavior Body
• Skin: Blowpop Elizabeth anaconda 2 R
• Eyes: PXL Creations Glow Yellow Green R
• Lashes: Lelutka Diva Prim Lashes
• Hair: Truth Harlow
• Nightgown: Studio Sidhe Victorian Lace Nightgown R
• Feet: SLink Jolie Pied Barefoot
• Jewelry Aluinn Cascade Dual Pearl Necklace