So then, becoming like Jesus and doing greater things? I've heard some say they are here to occupy. Does not sound like a very great trophy to lay down, as the hymn implies.
Think of all the money one could earn if they kept it and put the income to work meeting charitable needs indefinitely. All this knit picking. Only God knows the heart. This is the trouble with writing for the doctrinaire crowd. Too much judgement involved.
Makes me wonder sometimes. I mean I think of Sarah Young, sick so continually, always present with troubles, ranked as the most financially successful religious writer that ever was. What happened? Dies of leukemia.
Then there is St Paul himself. How successful can anyone be? He even handled a poisonous snake. There are some, small, but fair amount Christians, quite down on him on religious grounds.
I think it was because he said he explained Jesus to people and if they did not take it to heart, he condemned them to hell. Then the church takes up burning people at the stake. For that they did not like him despite all he did otherwise?
I've heard about atheists being healed at healing services. We are supposed to take up our cross and follow Jesus. We can't forgive anyone of their sins. I mean if He did it for us, what are we doing?
And now I come to my view, wobbly as it is, that we are perhaps are not healed because we do not have enough faith. Jesus said if we have enough faith, we could do anything, even greater things than He.
I'll stick with my personal not enough faith position. And also, Job, who said tho He slay me yet will I believe.
The Way It Was
When My Marbles Were in a Row
Once, when I got over the heady thrill of being a university (educated) atheist, I slowly found my foundations were crumbling, and pretty shaky all told at that.
In point of fact (with continuing apologies to Jennifer Jones in Beat the Devil) my entanglement in the fallacy of misplaced authority proved rather embarrassing as I grew older. But as a child it seemed natural for me to think God would be swinging easy with adult church leaders, for the sake of the children.
So, when I found out that God forgave David, since David was "honest" with God, I saw a leeway for me since no one could be more honest than myself. What a mixture I was in!
I mean really, how could God kill all those people in the flood and then turn around and tell me I couldn't kill even one person yet? It is some strong stuff when one finds they are their own God.
Anyone not believing in God, has to be his own God.
Anyone who takes offense, is offensive in the act of taking it.
Which man is worse off? The one who tells a lie or the one who believes it?
The more anyone learns, learns that the answer contains more questions they did not know, that they did not know. Therefore, their learning teaches them that they are even more ignorant than previously.
Once one learns how to teach, they are in danger of losing how to learn.
No one will ever have enough knowledge to know whether there is a God or not.
Purpose of this blog is to
define God the way God defines Himself, which is, as God is Existence in Exodus 3:14 "I am that I am." This is the name God placed into the heart of Moses by sudden revelation, similar to an epiphany. Also, He wanted to be known by this name forever "into all generations." The title photo is of an oil painting by the artist Herbert Randle. All opinions appearing in this blog belong exclusively to the posting party and credited to that party for the moment, for that expressed time only.
If ever thing ends here, then this world's existence went to a lot of complicated meaninglessness for nothing.
What visions do the young see, and what dreams do the old predict? For what reasoning can I sense in the sudden revelations that entered the thoughts of the ancients? It looks to me, so far, we get what we believe. But who or what could conceive the patterns in the night sky that attract the wonderment of my eye in the night?
I am extremely thankful for it all, and I do not know what it is all for?
Heaven Without Love?
Pastor centered on, a perhaps ten-year-old boy who wanted to know whether his dog would be with him in heaven. No, the pastor said, his dog would not be in heaven because the dog did not have a soul. I walked out the center aisle. I just could not stand it.
Twain had some choice remarks on this, pointing out that many dogs were more deserving than humans to be in heaven. Dogs are very loving and are quick forgiving. But for this poor pastor, lions and lambs are likely in heaven with or without their souls, but not a dog?
I think the young chap will not likely be very desirous of being in an antiseptic heaven as the pastor himself foresees. I often wondered in my formative years about churches operating on the gas of such doctrinaire drivel,
Unfortunately, I fell when a child to the wayside, calling God to account for these people. I was a victim of the logical fallacy misplaced authority. I am sure any dog will be in heaven as long as someone wants them there.
Too Human for God?
I cannot fathom now in whatever context I meant by that slip shod remark yesterday. Now think I was off base there, so I am willing to step back after from some sleep and reattack a more steadfast meaning.
Rather than repair it I'll go even further out and suggest if we are supposed to be like Christ I need to yet venture even further out. Jesus said we would do greater things than He. That suggests to me that we will have to demonstrate much more Faith than anyone seems to have done so far.
Reason For Our Existence
Reason for our existence is because God spoke us into existence and, we were. That is my thinking, or I should rather say, observing.
I have no more enlightenment, at least in this moment than that. Only what the ancients wrote which was placed in their memories, as if from epiphanies. Sudden revelations are like that and further, they are extremely convincing and instantaneous.
We must remember however, that God is not speaking from the past but rather from the constant present which is to say, eternity. It is hard for us to even conceive of anything outside of time. It is as if everyone each falls into their own memories, and some never get out.
