Update Season VI - "A New Day Dawning"

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

No mention of free will in the Bible, Bushie?  Not even a hint of it?

[Joe Biden 2020]

No mention of free will in the Bible, Bushie?  Not even a hint of it?

I posted this on facebook just a little white ago in response to a post by our own Governor Scott.  My response is the first paragraph.

This write up is very true. I would add that our pain and suffering is caused by the fall of humanity. Because Adam and Eve ate the apple and sinned against God, they caused all of mankind to sin and have a sinful nature. God does not force Himself on anybody, so men are free to have their own thoughts and choose what they want to do. God did not create robots. When left to their own devices, men and women wreck everything they come in contact with. Only with God's help and God's guidance do things work the way they are designed to. God did not set off the bombs in Boston, but He allows men to choose their own thoughts and the perpetrators obviously did not choose the ways of God and set off two bombs on the streets of Boston.

...In theological terms, ...we're talking about... “theodicy” — the issue of why an all good, all powerful, and all loving God would allow such terrible things to happen to His children? Paul was getting at this issue in this part of his letter to those believers in Rome.

“Christian” or not, we still ache from the wounds that have been inflicted upon us in life. We still mourn and grieve the loss of loved ones. And we’re still mortal beings that will continue to know suffering until the day we die. It’s been said that in the early Christian churches, that there was much “weeping and wailing, moaning and groaning” — even during worship. In fact, loud and publicly expressed moans and groans were often a regular part of their worship services, and it’s still common in some sectors of Black and Pentecostal churches here in the U.S.! “I’m gonna moan when the Spirit says moan!…”

In this passage [Romans 8], Paul describes the Holy Spirit as a Being Who advocates for us in a heavenly Court — a Spirit Who translates our groans, or maybe as a Spirit Who echoes them, just as we’ve uttered them. It could be that moans and groans are “the Cosmic and Universal language of prayer and suffering."

Friends, because of Jesus, we know that God came to humanity to be with us in a unique way. While Jesus was alive on the earth, He was living a human life – with all of the joys and pains that go with it! This means our God was celebrating and suffering as a living human being!

Jesus Himself said to His disciples, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever… The Spirit of Truth ... The Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My name will teach you; My peace I give to you… Do not be troubled, don’t let your hearts be afraid” (from John 14:1-27). And here, Paul is attempting to explain this to the people of Rome. He’s saying that our pains and sufferings, even the ones we can’t talk about, that our pains don’t fall upon deaf ears to God! Instead, because of the life of Jesus, and because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we know that God is with us. We know that God is suffering with us each time that one of us is hurting. God’s Creation had to be blessed with freedom. Freedom for us to live lives with all the richness that life has to offer — including the freedom to suffer.

We know that God is not the cause of our pains or sufferings. Instead, God is our partner Who feels what we feel and offers us compassion and strength. And it is here that we can find our hope. It is here that we can find the strength to go on — in faith!
Church, we are assured that what we know now is incomplete. We’ve only begun to experience but a foretaste of the great heavenly banquet and blessed inheritance that we’ll all enjoy in the future. But even here and now, we can know that God is with us — sharing the broken bread that makes us whole. Amen.

- Roger Wolsey, "Kissing Fish: christianity for people who don't like christianity"

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

No mention of free will in the Bible, Bushie?  Not even a hint of it?

I posted this on facebook just a little white ago in response to a post by our own Governor Scott.  My response is the first paragraph.

This write up is very true. I would add that our pain and suffering is caused by the fall of humanity. Because Adam and Eve ate the apple and sinned against God, they caused all of mankind to sin and have a sinful nature. God does not force Himself on anybody, so men are free to have their own thoughts and choose what they want to do. God did not create robots. When left to their own devices, men and women wreck everything they come in contact with. Only with God's help and God's guidance do things work the way they are designed to. God did not set off the bombs in Boston, but He allows men to choose their own thoughts and the perpetrators obviously did not choose the ways of God and set off two bombs on the streets of Boston.

...In theological terms, ...we're talking about... “theodicy” — the issue of why an all good, all powerful, and all loving God would allow such terrible things to happen to His children? Paul was getting at this issue in this part of his letter to those believers in Rome.

“Christian” or not, we still ache from the wounds that have been inflicted upon us in life. We still mourn and grieve the loss of loved ones. And we’re still mortal beings that will continue to know suffering until the day we die. It’s been said that in the early Christian churches, that there was much “weeping and wailing, moaning and groaning” — even during worship. In fact, loud and publicly expressed moans and groans were often a regular part of their worship services, and it’s still common in some sectors of Black and Pentecostal churches here in the U.S.! “I’m gonna moan when the Spirit says moan!…”

In this passage [Romans 8], Paul describes the Holy Spirit as a Being Who advocates for us in a heavenly Court — a Spirit Who translates our groans, or maybe as a Spirit Who echoes them, just as we’ve uttered them. It could be that moans and groans are “the Cosmic and Universal language of prayer and suffering."

Friends, because of Jesus, we know that God came to humanity to be with us in a unique way. While Jesus was alive on the earth, He was living a human life – with all of the joys and pains that go with it! This means our God was celebrating and suffering as a living human being!

Jesus Himself said to His disciples, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever… The Spirit of Truth ... The Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My name will teach you; My peace I give to you… Do not be troubled, don’t let your hearts be afraid” (from John 14:1-27). And here, Paul is attempting to explain this to the people of Rome. He’s saying that our pains and sufferings, even the ones we can’t talk about, that our pains don’t fall upon deaf ears to God! Instead, because of the life of Jesus, and because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we know that God is with us. We know that God is suffering with us each time that one of us is hurting. God’s Creation had to be blessed with freedom. Freedom for us to live lives with all the richness that life has to offer — including the freedom to suffer.

We know that God is not the cause of our pains or sufferings. Instead, God is our partner Who feels what we feel and offers us compassion and strength. And it is here that we can find our hope. It is here that we can find the strength to go on — in faith!
Church, we are assured that what we know now is incomplete. We’ve only begun to experience but a foretaste of the great heavenly banquet and blessed inheritance that we’ll all enjoy in the future. But even here and now, we can know that God is with us — sharing the broken bread that makes us whole. Amen.

- Roger Wolsey, "Kissing Fish: christianity for people who don't like christianity"

So the answer to my question is, yes?

[Joe Biden 2020]

Yes

[memphis]

Will Bushie kill a child like Abraham was ready to do if he hears God's directive?

[Joe Biden 2020]

One thing to note in that account in Genesis 22.  God never intended on Isaac dying.  He was just wanted Abraham to sacrifice his only son that he waited 100 years for in his heart and make sure Abraham loved God more than Isaac.  He calls the same of us today. Jesus says "He who loves mother or father more than Me is not worthy of Me" and "He who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."  We cannot truly and properly love our family members unless we love God first and foremost.  God is to have our primary love and then and only then will we properly love our parents and our children as they deserve to be loved.

[memphis]

You didn't answer the question.

[WalterMitty]

So we know the reason behind the bombing in boston?  Because eve ate an apple!

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

It's still beyond me that Bushie is comparing himself to the people in the Bible to explain his deficiencies. If I was living the life he was and walked up to my priest and told him my failures were okay because Abraham/Moses were failures, he would think I was actually crazy.

I suppose he falls into the type of Christian that does not value education or bettering oneself, as it is taking your eye off God. He continues to ignore the verses I mentioned earlier and only picks the ones that justifies his behavior and his fantasy of moving to Africa to work in the architecture field. Of course, I know by now nothing I say will mean anything, as all of these scenarios playing out are exactly as I expected. And so it goes...

[Joe Biden 2020]

You didn't answer the question.

To be honest, the answer is no, because God would never tell me to intentionally kill someone and violate his commands.  The only reason He told Abraham to kill Isaac is for testing.  God had no intention of killing Isaac.  That is the only time in the entire Bible that He tested in that manner.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Bushie's stubbornness is rearing its ugly head once again in this plot line. The thing is, we can argue this both ways and none of us will really know who is right. I just feel him using God as a full on shield and comparing himself to Moses/Abraham/David to justify his failures in life and his lack of urgency to improve his standing is simply laughable, incredibly arrogant and borderline sacrilegious.

Neither Moses nor Abraham are better than me.  They were sinners who were used by God.  They still had to answer for their sins, but were still used by God.  I'm not trying to justify my failures at all.  I'm just not going to say another human is any better or worse than me.  Why? The Bible says that all humans are equal and that the saints of the Bible, while we can learn a lot from them, are no better than anybody today.

Inherently no human is better than another, sure, and yes, God does use failures. I have a close friend that, years ago, got involved with hard drugs and alcohol and was really in a bad place. He had an experience and found God, and works today to further his message. He's extremely passionate about God. And he goes and does, regardless of the comforts, to further God's message.

My biggest beef with you and why I don't buy a lot of what you say is because of how you justify it. You are OK with God as long as you don't have to give up any comforts of your home. You don't want to risk driving in bad situations, going to Kenya before they build comfortable apartments, etc. The truth is, you don't have a job now, you will likely not be able to use your CAD degree in Kenya, so just go now. If you really had the same compassion and experience as my close friend and many others, you would already be in Kenya spreading the gospel. There is literally nothing holding you back but this silly idea that "now isn't the time" and I have never heard anyone say that before that truly was touched by God. I will maintain it is just another vacation for you like Utah. By your logic, God has dragged you around for years and years now with conflicting messages.

[memphis]

You didn't answer the question.

To be honest, the answer is no, because God would never tell me to intentionally kill someone and violate his commands.  The only reason He told Abraham to kill Isaac is for testing.  God had no intention of killing Isaac.  That is the only time in the entire Bible that He tested in that manner.

Seems to me there was an awful lot of smiting in the name of God in the Bible. As well as specific instructions as to the who when and how. I'm beginning to doubt you read the Bible as often as you say you do.

[Mr. Morden]

There is literally nothing holding you back but this silly idea that "now isn't the time" and I have never heard anyone say that before that truly was touched by God. I will maintain it is just another vacation for you like Utah. By your logic, God has dragged you around for years and years now with conflicting messages.

Indeed, that's the logic of it.  Bushie remains 100% certain of what God wants him to do in the future.  Then when the future comes, and Bushie does it, and it doesn't work out, then whoops, he must have misinterpreted God.

[memphis]

There is literally nothing holding you back but this silly idea that "now isn't the time" and I have never heard anyone say that before that truly was touched by God. I will maintain it is just another vacation for you like Utah. By your logic, God has dragged you around for years and years now with conflicting messages.

Indeed, that's the logic of it.  Bushie remains 100% certain of what God wants him to do in the future.  Then when the future comes, and Bushie does it, and it doesn't work out, then whoops, he must have misinterpreted God.

Not Bushie's fault. God tricks people.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

You didn't answer the question.

To be honest, the answer is no, because God would never tell me to intentionally kill someone and violate his commands.

The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

[Joe Biden 2020]

You didn't answer the question.

To be honest, the answer is no, because God would never tell me to intentionally kill someone and violate his commands.  The only reason He told Abraham to kill Isaac is for testing.  God had no intention of killing Isaac.  That is the only time in the entire Bible that He tested in that manner.

Seems to me there was an awful lot of smiting in the name of God in the Bible. As well as specific instructions as to the who when and how. I'm beginning to doubt you read the Bible as often as you say you do.

Could you provide some examples, please?  Thank you.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

You didn't answer the question.

To be honest, the answer is no, because God would never tell me to intentionally kill someone and violate his commands.  The only reason He told Abraham to kill Isaac is for testing.  God had no intention of killing Isaac.  That is the only time in the entire Bible that He tested in that manner.

Seems to me there was an awful lot of smiting in the name of God in the Bible. As well as specific instructions as to the who when and how. I'm beginning to doubt you read the Bible as often as you say you do.

Could you provide some examples, please?  Thank you.

The Book of Joshua.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Why exactly is the church planting going on in Kenya after all? If it's 80% Christian, that's actually  higher than the US (around 75% Christian) and from what I remember Bushie is going to nowhere near the coastal Muslim areas. I doubt there's any shortage of churches in Kenya.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Could you provide some examples, please?  Thank you.

1 Samuel 15:3 - "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."

Pretty famous passage, too.  And, because Saul did not kill every Amalek, he lost his throne.  Jeez, Bushie, I figured you'd remember this.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Inks, really, it's not working and never will.

I understand it's hard to just ignore such a massive pile of bulls**t Bushie is producing daily, but you can't reason with him. He doesn't care, he won't learn, he won't change.

Jeff made his choice. He decided to be an attention-whoring, manipulative egoist masquerading as the one God speaks to. He had tons of opportunities to come clean and stop being a lying and scamming jerk. He refused every single of them.

You're doing precisely what he wants: feeding his ego. He's taking an advantage of you just like he did with his parents and everybody else. He's not a lost soul you can help, he's a troll.

How many times did you say not to feed trolls yourself?

[Joe Biden 2020]

Good Morning, Kal!  Like I said in the other thread, I may be a total mess, but I know God can still use me.  He loves to use big messes.  There are many things I need to clean up and I'm just beginning to clean up now, but I've got a long way to go.  God can clean screw ups like me real good.  What I don't understand, but am so grateful, is that despite my complete and utter screw ups, since I am covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, God looks through the lens of His Son's blood and sees me spotless, white as snow.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Good Morning, Kal!  Like I said in the other thread, I may be a total mess, but I know God can still use me.  He loves to use big messes.  There are many things I need to clean up and I'm just beginning to clean up now, but I've got a long way to go.  God can clean screw ups like me real good.  What I don't understand, but am so grateful, is that despite my complete and utter screw ups, since I am covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, God looks through the lens of His Son's blood and sees me spotless, white as snow.

God just told me your place is in the mental institution. He also reminded me to take the trash out.

Have a nice day.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Good Morning, Kal!  Like I said in the other thread, I may be a total mess, but I know God can still use me.  He loves to use big messes.  There are many things I need to clean up and I'm just beginning to clean up now, but I've got a long way to go.  God can clean screw ups like me real good.  What I don't understand, but am so grateful, is that despite my complete and utter screw ups, since I am covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, God looks through the lens of His Son's blood and sees me spotless, white as snow.

God just told me your place is in the mental institution. He also reminded me to take the trash out.

Have a nice day.

I will, Kal, thank you for the well wishes.

You do the same.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Good Morning, Kal!  Like I said in the other thread, I may be a total mess, but I know God can still use me.  He loves to use big messes.  There are many things I need to clean up and I'm just beginning to clean up now, but I've got a long way to go.  God can clean screw ups like me real good.  What I don't understand, but am so grateful, is that despite my complete and utter screw ups, since I am covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, God looks through the lens of His Son's blood and sees me spotless, white as snow.

God just told me your place is in the mental institution. He also reminded me to take the trash out.

Have a nice day.

I will, Kal, thank you for the well wishes.

You do the same.

God told me he's crying at your pitiful attempts to make a joke.

He's angry.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Well, folks, family time is here again.  I am about to head to my Grandmother's and will probably be there all the way until late this evening.  I'll be watching severe weather coverage all day long on my tablet and on our local NBC affiliate.  I'll be posting on the forum periodically throughout the day and on facebook.  I will see you all later.