i now find it idiotic that i could ever beleive the bible to be the inspired word of god.....,throughout the bible "god"has only dealt with a few of his favoured spokespersons to deliver his messages to a minority populace.individuals at first,..... then, patriarchs,nomads,a small nation,ignoring all other nations that had sprung up.......,abandoning his chosen nation,sending his "son"to a small nation, only giving them his pearls of wisdom,much of what was not even recorded for prosperity and remember he never wrote a word,it was left up to other imperfect humans to record what he was supposed to have said,just a smidgen......,again ignoring the bulk of humankind keeping them in ignorance of his plan for universal salvation,leaving it all up to imperfect humans to spread this message of salvation, whom he has already condemned for their sinfullness and disobedience.i just find it so unbeleivable.
in the 6000 years of recorded history only a fraction of the earths population,maybe less than a third have ever heard of the god of the bible, or his so called plan to redeem humankind ,thats millions and millions of people.
( india,arabic,afghanistan,pakistan etc.etc.).
So it isn't that God is choosing people at random... He chooses people who can and will hear him
Wouldn't it be more impressive if he would communicate to those who are not already worshipping him? Why preach to the converted - this seems like a waste of time if there's a real message to be delivered. If everyone 'heard' a simultaneous and specific message, everyone would be talking about it, know it for what it is and there would be no doubt and no need for faith.
i now find it idiotic that i could ever beleive the bible to be the inspired word of god.....,throughout the bible "god"has only dealt with a few of his favoured spokespersons to deliver his messages to a minority populace.individuals at first,..... then, patriarchs,nomads,a small nation,ignoring all other nations that had sprung up.......,abandoning his chosen nation,sending his "son"to a small nation, only giving them his pearls of wisdom,much of what was not even recorded for prosperity and remember he never wrote a word,it was left up to other imperfect humans to record what he was supposed to have said,just a smidgen......,again ignoring the bulk of humankind keeping them in ignorance of his plan for universal salvation,leaving it all up to imperfect humans to spread this message of salvation, whom he has already condemned for their sinfullness and disobedience.i just find it so unbeleivable.
in the 6000 years of recorded history only a fraction of the earths population,maybe less than a third have ever heard of the god of the bible, or his so called plan to redeem humankind ,thats millions and millions of people.
( india,arabic,afghanistan,pakistan etc.etc.).
If God truly communicated to anyone, faith would not be necessary at all - faith is what makes people hear what they want to hear. If their faith is tied up with a religion, then they 'hear' the doctrine of that religion. If their faith is not tied up with a religion, then they 'hear' what works best for them - for most (thankfully) what works is treating people with kindness and not being judgmental etc etc. Unfortunately, some 'hear' some pretty nasty things and act on them.
a couple of years ago, a psychologist i know made the off-handed comment that there is conclusive evidence that "atheists are not as happy as the ordinary, average person?
we tossed that subject around for a few minutes and then moved on to something else.
at the time, i didn't think too much about it.
00Dad, to be an Atheist is to have NO belief in a deity of any kind. Lack of belief does not create belief. I'm not sure why this is so hard to understand. If I told you I believe in the existence of unicorns and you tell me that there's no evidence for the existence of unicorns and based on that you don't believe they exist, does that mean you have a belief system about unicorns? No, you just have no evidence for them so you don't structure a belief system around them whatsoever. If evidence came to light to prove the existence of unicorns, you'd say 'oh look at that' and accept that they exist without requiring it to be a belief.
california most hated state, according to recent poll .. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/23/california-most-hated-state_n_1297843.html?ref=mostpopular.
bangalore.
.
ooh what are feople and why is their poop so funny looking?
california most hated state, according to recent poll .. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/23/california-most-hated-state_n_1297843.html?ref=mostpopular.
bangalore.
.
It's about an hour and a half from my couch to Banff
california most hated state, according to recent poll .. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/23/california-most-hated-state_n_1297843.html?ref=mostpopular.
bangalore.
.
Hey B! 
I've got to get back to San Fran and visit you...
california most hated state, according to recent poll .. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/23/california-most-hated-state_n_1297843.html?ref=mostpopular.
bangalore.
.
Do any of you who live in California and hate it ever get out of your neighborhoods and be a tourist in your own state? You've got Big Sur, the Redwoods, Yosemite, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, The Lost Coast - good gawd it's amazing!!
The J-Lo areola peeking out of her dress should cause some discussion tomorrow. 
i hope that i am not being too presumptuous using your name in that heading.
but something you said on the elder and holy spirit link made me want to have a separate topic.
you said and funny how it only asserts itself when previous understandings (also directed by holy spirit, incidentally) cause issues with reconciling the core beliefs.
Thanks, Bubblegum!
The 'devil made me do it' line is courtesy of therevealer and I agree - it's a good one and totally applies. *giggle*
sd-7 texted me today.
his wife is in labor, has had some complications and is having an emergency c-section.
he asked me to spread the word to the folks on jwn.
Congrats SD-7! 
*passes over a cigar*
