Ya got a mere 60 seconds … to wonder about greater things? Even though it contains the word “God”? God? “AAARRGGGGG!!!” Don’t be one of those.
And to those who don’t freak out at the word “God” … can you spare us from the “Swedenborg was a heretic!” junk? Thank Yeeew.
Enjoy. Dammit!!
One day, not so long ago, Ted Cruz knelt in prayer for two hours at a Baptist church in Texas. The entire family wept. Then, Ted’s wife, Heidi, said she had received a message from above. The Lord instructed her to tell her beloved Ted to run for the White House.
Ted then looked up and said: ‘Lord, here am I, use me. I surrender to you, whatever you want.’” And, now to this day (depending on the audience) Ted will say to his audience “It is God’s will for me to run for the White House.“
Question #1 for Believers: Do you believe Heidi actually got “a message from above”?
Note! Not could it be possible. Of course, as a Believer you must say she “could” have received such a message. And, don’t give me any bologna about that message being “between her and God“. Bullshit! Not when it affects the entire nation! Stop being a weenie! Do you believe God actually talked to her — “Yes” or “No“?
Question #2 for Believers: If it’s God’s will for Teddie to run, how can he not win?? If he doesn’t win, what does that say about God’s will?
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Question for Non-Believers …. AND if you’re a Cruz supporter (like, SSS): How in the fuck can you support a guy whose wife hears God’s voice and then acts on it???
Don’t you know these people believe in a literal nuclear Armageddon? What if Heidi gets a message from God that Teddie should nuke “Gog and Magog” …. Russia? Do you people really want a fuckin’ religious nut-job in charge of 10,000+ nukes??
Don’t you know what “perfect faith” yields? Here’s a hint …
In order to answer today’s questions you must read the article. It also would help to watch the brief video.
FOR BELIEVERS IN DA LAWD;
Question #1: —– If even monkeys have a concept of God, doesn’t that PROVE that God is just in your brain??
Question #2: —– If you say “No!” … is there anything at all that would cause you to pause about your faith?
FOR PEOPLE GOING TO HELL;
Question #3: —– If even monkeys believe in God …. SHOULDN’T YOU???
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MYSTERIOUS CHIMPANZEE BEHAVIOUR COULD BE ‘SACRED RITUALS’ AND SHOW THAT CHIMPS BELIEVE IN GOD
The ritual has similarities with the building of shrines or cairns, a human ritual that has been happening for thousands of years and across civilisations
By Andrew Griffin, March 4, 2016
New footage shows chimpanzees engaging in bizarre behaviour — which might be a form of sacred ritual that could show the beginnings of a kind of religious belief.
Chimpanzees in West Africa have been spotted banging and throwing rocks against trees and throwing them into gaps inside, leading to piles of rocks. Those rocks do not appear to be for any functional purpose — and might be an example of an early version of ritual behaviour.
The discovery might help researchers learn more about the basis of human religion and rituals, and how such activities formed in our own history.
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This independent short-film is very well done in every aspect; from production, to costuming, to acting, to the script, and the surprise ending. Or, was the ending not a surprise? Also, there is a message (or, messages) behind the story. I don’t want to influence your opinion, so I’ll reveal what I got out of it in a moment. So, first, watch the short movie.
Anyway, no matter what you get out of it, I hope you enjoyed the film at least half as much as I did. Here’s my take ….
The most obvious message (imho) is the political one. The Narrator plays the role of Big Brother; knowing everything there is to know about us, and pitting all classes of people (men, woman, rich, poor, old, young, etc.) against each other, to the point of death. Sounds just like the America that is to come.
The other thing is not so much a “message”, but more of a thought experiment.
“Let me first of all say, to God be the glory”
—– Ted Cruz, yesterday
“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote … he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”
—– Samuel Adams, a long time ago
“So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, UNLESS IT HAD BEEN GIVEN YOU FROM ABOVE ..”
—— Jesus H. Christ, an even longer time ago
QUESTIONS:
1. If God’s will is always done, doesn’t that mean that God actually chooses our POTUS?
2. It seems that GOD alone is responsible for the final outcome. God put Obama in power. It was His will. God will put the next jackass in power. His will can not be thwarted. So, why do you Christians even bother voting at all?
3. If God really does put into power the POTUS He wants, shouldn’t you want to change religions?
“God is light.” —- says the Bible.
What if God really IS light … in some sort of way humans simply can’t understand?
Yeah … I know … “whatever”. Anyway, I just love these spectacular images, and the message.
Switching from the spectacular universe to the glorious earth. Lovely song and beautiful pictures from Yusuf Islam ….. formerly known as Cat Stevens.
I was asked an interesting question: “Do you believe in God?” I think most people believe in some form of a higher being and the exact form will differ around the world. Whatever the religion, there is a common theme – do unto others as you would have them do to you. Even back in Ancient Egypt, they believed everyone would be accountable for their actions upon death. It is never what someone’s words may proclaim, the proof is only in their actions.
My response to this question was rather blunt: I do not believe that those in power could possibly believe in any form of God, for if they did, they would not try to play God by manipulating society and lying to us about every possible aspect of the economy and life. Socialism/Marxism outright violates the Ten Commandments for you are not supposed to covet thy neighbor’s goods. Yet government ignores that command, declaring that freedom is bad and that they have the right to take from others who have more than they do. Yet they will prosecute someone who robs another on the street for taking goods or cash from them simply because they have it. Police kill citizens without being charged; it is alright if the government orders you to do so. Those in power ALWAYS exempt themselves form religion and law, yet pretend they are just and righteous.
Guest Post by
Don’t mess with Texas. Particularly not with Texas cops, who according to Hunt County sheriff Randy Meeks, get their authority from God.
Yes, Mr. Meeks was outraged at critics who pointed to a videotaped beating of a pregnant woman by one of his deputies. Like Goldman Sachs, his work is God’s work, or so he claims. So shut up and take it you stupid plebs.
From Raw Story:
A Texas sheriff said police critics should shut up because he believes law enforcement officers are granted their authority by God.
Randy Meeks, the Hunt County sheriff, published a print-only guest editorial in the local Herald-Banner, citing Bible verses to argue that police officers are tasked with enforcing law and order for a godly nation, reported blogger Brett Sanders.
The blogger posts screen shots from the guest editorial, which was published just days after a grand jury cleared one of Meeks’ deputies in the videotaped beating of a pregnant Air Force veteran during the investigation of a domestic dispute.
“Due to recent events, I can no longer be silent concerning what our country allows,” Meeks wrote. “It is amazing to me that the criminals who break into our homes and steal from us, those who sell drugs to our children, those who abuse innocent and defenseless children, those who rape our wives and daughters, those who commit cold-blooded murders are all innocent until proven guilty.”
Continue reading “Police State Desperation – Texas Sheriff Proclaims “Authority Comes from God””
Guest Post by Jesse
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles.”
Nor will love be seen coming from the hearts of those who are fallen into wickedness: they are the fruit of hate, deceit, greed, fear, pride, possession, and aggression. And they will not only forsake love by washing their hands of it, they will eventually come to condemn it, unless they relent from their folly, and thereby condemn themselves.
For all the people of God, love is the touchstone of our faith, the way to know if what we believe is with Him, or with something else; if we are walking with Him, or with something else; if the one who speaks is speaking for Him, or for something else; if we are keeping Him in our hearts, or something else; if we love Him, or ourselves, or something else.
Love does not speak with hate or fear or derision, but with a fullness of existence. And that love is ridiculed and trampled, and can only be counterfeited but never achieved, by that which is opposed to His creation.
When you are in doubt or confusion about what is true and what is false, look for the light of love. This is the hallmark of the spirit. And if it is not there, if it is wrapped in the hardness of pride disguised even as an elaborate ritual observance and pharisaical pride, then you will know what it truly is. It is a sin against the spirit.
Love is not easy; it is not a natural state. It seems weak and foolish, and even despicable to the fallen and the world.
It is a disposition of the mind and the heart, and an act of acceptance of grace not by but through the will. It is a shield against temptation. It is a habit of acting and looking at things, that can become easier and more comfortable as we carry that yoke or restraint on our weaker nature and our harsher emotions. Over time that yoke becomes lighter, and a light to steady us in life’s darker moments.
But it is rarely easy or natural, which makes it the stuff of the brave, of the spiritually and emotionally hardy, of God’s knights. The way of the world, of anger and oppression, is the easy path not of the truly human, but of darker things.
So we must remember we are sinners, but reaching out to the eternal, and thereby attempting great things, if but clumsily and with a number falls like the apostle himself.
This is how the people of God may guide themselves and their own actions along the way. If there is no love evident in the words and the heart, then the words and the actions are not of God, but of something else.
Love is not what we do, but how we do what we do. Love is found in the most ordinary things, not in grand gestures and elaborate mannerisms, but in the small daily acts of kindness and fellowship, done lovingly and with care, for His sake. It is how we carry our cross, not in front of a cheering crowd, but in the quiet moments, and the little things, while walking with Him.
We do not need to hate and reject the world, and despise and subdue His creation. They are a gift from God, to which we bring our own good use and order in His name. And if we are wise, with our reverent wonder. We can work with His gifts lovingly, and not abuse them from excess and greed.
It is not the world that is a source of evil, but the willfulness of our hearts, made hard with pride. Only love is creative and productive. Only love is accepting and uplifting, able to bring all things forward to His plan and make them new. Love consecrates, while sin desecrates and destroys in its lust for possession and the will to power.
Obviously this law of love is applicable to all people, but is addressed particularly here to those who hearts have been already touched, in a time of spiritual wickedness, and dark powers in high places.
God is the essence of all existence, which is His love. The pity for those who would otherwise be faithful, then, is not to love.
“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the fullness comes, the partial will come to an end.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”
Hat tip Boston Bob
ORIGINALLY POSTED IN AUGUST 2011
My oldest son has now made it through his first week in college at Penn State Altoona. It was such a busy week, I was unable to give a brief synopsis of the eventful trip. On that Wednesday night we packed all of his earthly belongings into his CRV and my Insight. His hockey stuff, amplifier and electric guitar took up 70% of the space in his car. His check-in time at his apartment complex in Altoona was 11:00 to 12:00. The plan was to leave in a caravan at 7:00 am for the 3 1/2 hour drive.
I slept like crap and got up at 5:00 am on Thursday and began the orderly shower progression . I put on a pot of coffee and walked outside to get the newspaper. As I reached down to pick up the paper, a flash of lightening departed from the heavens.
I should have known right then it was going to be a long day. The weather forecast was for scattered thundershowers. That usually means a late afternoon 20 minute storm. But Nooooo!!!! Not today. The rain started to fall and thunder and lightening increased. The path to Altoona is pretty straightforward – 180 miles west on the PA Turnpike and 40 more miles on Route 220/99. We got under way at 7:00, but driving through a heavy thunderstorm on the Turnpike with 18 wheelers sharing the road with you is stressful and much slower.
After about an hour on the road we blasted through the storm and into sunshine. We started to make good progress until the Administrator’s bladder filled up and we needed to stop at a rest stop. We made one more stop on the way to get some more gas and arrived in 4 hours and 15 minutes.
Continue reading “JUNIOR ADMINISTRATOR, ALTOONA, BIG K & THE WRATH OF GOD”
The event below, one of the very best known Jesus stories, appears in all three Synoptic Gospels. I would guess that 98% of Christianity interprets the story thusly; Christians, as well as all people, should pay their taxes to the government. I believe this is an incorrect application of the story. I believe the opposite is true; that Jesus in a round-about way instructed his followers to NOT pay taxes to Rome.
Let’s look at the full text from Matthew 22: 15-22 (New King James Version)
“Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher [Rabbi], we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.”
THE PLAYERS
The Pharisees: The Pharisees wanted to do more than just “entangle” Jesus. They wanted to see him killed for his response. But, they were cowards and didn’t go. Perhaps they were afraid of yet again being called hypocritical vipers and filthy rotten corpses. So, they sent “their disciples” and the Herodians. The Pharisees despised Rome, but would cooperate with them whenever it suited their devious purposes.
The Herodians: The Herodians held political power and they supported the Herods, and therefore, indirectly, Rome. To the Pharisees, this compromised the idea of Jewish independence. So, the two groups hated each other. The Gospels state that even Jesus avoided when possible the territory of Herod’s rule. But, the two groups were united in their hatred of Jesus. The Romans wouldn’t believe the Pharisee accusation of Jesus, because the Romans knew the Pharisees hated them. They needed pro-Roman witnesses to testify that Jesus was an insurrectionist. The Herodians were more than happy to go along.
What a silly question. Of course God decided the Super Bowl. What else does he have to do on a Sunday night? It’s the day of rest after creating this fucked up world of delusional tools. God is also clearly racist. He made the black quarterback throw the interception that allowed whitey Brady to win his 4th Super Bowl. God had to have made the Seattle genius coach call that play. No one in their right mind would have done it on their own.
Does divine intervention play a role in the outcome of sporting events? After losing the Super Bowl 28-24 to the New England Patriots, some fans of the Seattle Seahawks may think so. According to a survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, one in four Americans thinks God has a role in determining the winner of a sports event.
10 percent of respondents said they completely agree that God has a hand in sporting outcomes while 16 percent mostly agree. Still, the vast majority of the 1,012 Americans polled, 72 percent, disagreed that games like the Super Bowl were decided by some higher power. When it comes to deflated footballs, however, they might have a different opinion.
You will find more statistics at Statista
