Posts by JustAThought

73

Matthew 25

by Farkel in

jw
friends

when did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe you?

he was talking about food, clothing, shelter and supplication to the least of the brothers.

he could not be talking about anything else and here is why: could any human offer jesus spiritual food?

JustAThought

If Jesus had the ability to feed thousands why didn't he pass that gift on to his disciples?

He did. There's a lot more of us than there was of Him. I agree that Matthew 25 and Luke 10 are not saying that it part of the Christian's responsibility to SOLVE the world's problems (i.e. disease, hunger, homelessness, etc.). However, I do believe that JESUS is saying that we should, each one, do what we can do. That we should not turn a deaf ear to the cries of the needy. Further support for this is found in the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:25-33). I know that this is not the underlying meaning JESUS is imparting with this story, but, certainly, we can see the danger in NOT doing what we CAN for those who are in need.

JustAThought

73

Matthew 25

by Farkel in

jw
friends

when did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe you?

he was talking about food, clothing, shelter and supplication to the least of the brothers.

he could not be talking about anything else and here is why: could any human offer jesus spiritual food?

JustAThought

You Know,

What, per the Bible passages in question (Matthew 25 and Luke 10), is the DIFFERENCE in how JESUS instructs us to CARE for our BROTHER and/or our NEIGHBOR?

JustAQuestion,

73

Matthew 25

by Farkel in

jw
friends

when did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe you?

he was talking about food, clothing, shelter and supplication to the least of the brothers.

he could not be talking about anything else and here is why: could any human offer jesus spiritual food?

JustAThought

You Know,

Well, if its not clear from Matthew 25, then what of JESUS's parable of the Good Samaritan, found in Luke 10:30-37? Certainly, the Samaritan was not the brother of the beaten Jew, yet he one who met his physical needs. JESUS says to His followers, "Go ye, and do likewise."

JustAThought

90

For those of us who still believe in God...

by MrMoe in

jw
friends

i would like to know why you still beleive in god and what, based upon the bible, leads you to believe in god.. i likethe scripture that states the earth was a circle and hung upon nothing.

i also find that there is evidence the flood existed.

anybody know the stats of the "supposed" ark on mr. ararat?.

JustAThought

What is the correct environment for the destructive types that he created?

If you were the creator of such ones, how would you answer this question?

Why did god not only create constructive types of people?

As you considered, or consider, or will consider having children, can you be sure to create only constructive ones? Why would you assume that God has such power? If you knew that there was a risk of having destructive offspring, as well as constructive offspring, would you forego having any children at all?

In an atheistic world view, there are no need for such questions.

Is a world devoid of questions the goal?

JustAThought

90

For those of us who still believe in God...

by MrMoe in

jw
friends

i would like to know why you still beleive in god and what, based upon the bible, leads you to believe in god.. i likethe scripture that states the earth was a circle and hung upon nothing.

i also find that there is evidence the flood existed.

anybody know the stats of the "supposed" ark on mr. ararat?.

JustAThought

Well, in a practical sense, that (physical life) is all we really get any control of, now isn't it?

Well, having only lived a physical life (at least concretely) thus far, I really don't know about anything which could be beyond it.

But, ... I believe that there are 'indications' that there may be more to life than that which we physically experience or perceive.

Also, I believe that there are indications that the world in which we live has been designed. As a software designer, I perceive that designed software tends to function (perform a task) better than random bits and bytes dancing across a computer's circuitry. And despite whatever flaws I might perceive, certainly there is no doubt that our world functions, our brains think, our cells reproduce themselves (albiet imperfectly, ... but what is designed to last forever?). Life is based upon an supremely intricate interplay that, at least, suggests design. And, again, in most cases, and in most cases, it works swimmingly. And, after all, what car manufacturer doesn't produce a lemon every one-in-a-while.

From what I've been told, scientifically, life is known to exist only on this one planet, in this one galaxy, out of countless galaxies in our universe of space/time. And when you factor in the possibility of multiples of universes, each with different dimensional qualities than our own, the possibility that this planet contains the only 'life' existing seems to me to be far-fetched. To presume that no other intelligence exists which is cognizant of our little eden, or has interacted with it, at some point, boggles my imagination. Indeed, it is not difficult for me to imagine some other sentient life setting up, designing, and bringing into being life, as we know it. I believe that any creative type, with the power, would eventually get around to it. And, counter to the Deist view, I don’t believe that most artists, designers, composers, writers, … creators simply walk away from their creations without attempting to perfect them.

Obviously, this is ‘out there’, but, … it is what is intuitive for me, given what I see. Obviously, I cannot KNOW any of this, …, but I can intuit it. And, after all, doesn’t creativity require intuitiveness, i.e. taking what you can see and imagining possible what you can’t see. Isn’t that the way we achieved flight, space-travel, even this interconnected web of circuitry on which we now correspond?

JustAThought

90

For those of us who still believe in God...

by MrMoe in

jw
friends

i would like to know why you still beleive in god and what, based upon the bible, leads you to believe in god.. i likethe scripture that states the earth was a circle and hung upon nothing.

i also find that there is evidence the flood existed.

anybody know the stats of the "supposed" ark on mr. ararat?.

JustAThought

Dan,

I’m not talking about anything so black and white as you describe. If you will, I am talking about what could be thought of as the general trend (or willfulness) of a soul’s existence. If a soul’s general trend (or willfulness) is toward creativity/ support, then that soul will fit nicely into an environment where creativity/support is valued, and destructiveness is obviously out of step. Conversely, a soul whose tendency (or willfulness) is toward destruction is not going to be welcome in such a setting. Individual destructive acts aren’t the issue. A willfulness toward destruction is.

This can be illustrated by the following …

Imagine if all the world was an infinite seashore, and all of sentient creation was happily and gainfully involved in building sand-castles, and taking frequent breaks from their endeavors to fellowship with the other builders, admire their own and others’ handiwork, or, perhaps, dream of future sand-castles to be built. If one (or any minority) of that sentient creation chose to begin to destroy the sand-castles of others, rather than build their own, and they were unbending in this choosing, their presence ultimately would not be welcome in the community of builders. Now, if one (or more) of this company could be convinced of how their activity of tearing down others’ sand-castles was deleterious, in that it caused others loss and grief, and, ultimately, one (or more) chose to forego their prior destructive activity, they would again be welcome in the community. Similarly, if one (or more) decided building sand-castles was not for them, and pursued other activities (volleyball, for instance), yet avoided purposeful activity hurtful to the other builders and their creations, there would likely not be problem. It is only in the case of those who continue, in spite of the pleas of the builders around them, to purposefully destroy the beach’s sand-castles, that eviction from the community is mandated.

Again, it is not so much the destructive activity, but the unbending choosing to destroy, which would make such a soul a danger to the well-being of his/her community. This consistent with what Jesus consistently tried to communicate to the rule bean-counters of His time, the Pharisees. It's not the rules (the Law), per se, that ultimately matters. Rather, it is the environment which the rules are designed to foster (i.e. the 'spirit' of the Law).

JustAThought

90

For those of us who still believe in God...

by MrMoe in

jw
friends

i would like to know why you still beleive in god and what, based upon the bible, leads you to believe in god.. i likethe scripture that states the earth was a circle and hung upon nothing.

i also find that there is evidence the flood existed.

anybody know the stats of the "supposed" ark on mr. ararat?.

JustAThought

Many humans do not get a choice. They may be killed while still innocent children, or they may be raised in such a perverse environment that they cannot be a creative person.
No choice whatsoever.

This would be the case only if you believe that physical life is all the life there is, in which case, nothing in my prior statement has any basis for consideration.

If, however, you believe that there may be more to life than that which we live out in this physical sphere, then there would exist many alternative approaches to developing, and, ultimately eliciting a choice for GOOD (creation/support of creation) or EVIL (destruction of creation) from every created soul.

Abaddon,

I believe that God does give us unconditional love, but that love is like the love that we would give to a child of ours who is undeniably destructive in my and their home environment. To, ultimately, decide that, though I love my child (because he/she is my child), I must insist that he/she leave the home environment, because to allow him/her to stay would mean destruction to the home environment, and so, to those (my other children) dwelling in the home environment is not an act inconsistent with unconditional love.

I was raised in a family where, at some point, adult siblings were asked to leave the home environment because their presence and activity in the home environment was destructive and deleterious to the others in that environment. I recall, that at the time, my parent's message to their child was that the child seemed to be expressing that they desired a different living environment than that which my parents were offering. My parents went on to say that they were not willing to change the home environment to meet their child's wishes, so it was best if the child left and settled him/herself in an environment of his/her choosing. They further said to their child that, as far as they were concerned, the environment they supported would always be the home environment for their children, but that their children could only share that environment with them to the extent that they were non-destructive of that environment.

I believe that God says to us ... My children, I extend to you the opportunity to live with Me in the environment with I have created (in part, for you) and support. Indeed, it is my earnest desire that you share this environment with Me. But, if you wish to live in a different type of environment than that which I offer, to the extent that you would act to destroy this environment which I have created and support, then I must insist that you follow your will and find another environment more to your liking. I support this, your home environment, such that it maximally benefits all those, myself and my other children, who live within it, and I cannot allow you to destroy it. This would not be fair to myself, and to those others living here peaceably. So go, follow your will, and find, or mold, an environment which works for you. And always know that I love you, and will not hesitate to welcome you back, if and when the time comes that you would choose to live here with Me non-destructively.

JustAThought

90

For those of us who still believe in God...

by MrMoe in

jw
friends

i would like to know why you still beleive in god and what, based upon the bible, leads you to believe in god.. i likethe scripture that states the earth was a circle and hung upon nothing.

i also find that there is evidence the flood existed.

anybody know the stats of the "supposed" ark on mr. ararat?.

JustAThought

I believe in God.

I believe that the Bible alludes to Him, as in ... men recorded their impressions of their interactions with, understanding of, as well as their current cultural history of God.

I believe that there is no problem with attributing (in the main) the writings found in the Bible to the inspiration of God. I believe God inspired men to write, but that he did not dictate to them (in the main) what they wrote. You'll note that when God considered it necessary to convey a word for word communication (i.e. with the Law given to the Hebrews or the Ten Commandments), He wrote the message personally or dictated the message to the writer.

The Bible seems to suggest to me that ... we are part of a creative event which has a progressive purpose. It seems reasonable that the Creator is a being who exists outside of the boundaries our universe of space and time, and, thus, is not subject to the limiltations of space and time, as we are. I believe that the Creator exerts a creative/maintainive effect in His environment and that we were created to hopefully join with Him in this effort. I do not believe that the Creator is all-powerful in the way that we usually comprehend. I believe that His work is work for Him, and that He battles against opposing, destructive agents and agencies, some 'natural' (entropy, for example) and some not.

I believe, as has been postulated earlier in this thread, that we are an adolescent species and that we are now undergoing a process of development and maturation. I believe that the goal of our maturation is to become viable partners with the Creator in His creative/maintainive work. Thus,we grow in perfection (actually completion) as we becaome more and more capable of joining hands with God in this work. I believe that this maturation process necessarily consists of all of the various experiences of our lives, ... good and evil, joy and suffering, ease and difficulty, success and failure, love, grief, peace, loss, growth, and pain. I believe that we can think of this life as a 'boot camp'.

I believe that all created souls who wish to join with God ultimately will, but that, we have the choice to be forces of life, creation, and maintenance allied with Him, or forces of death and destruction arrayed against Him. I believe that God gave us this choice, most simply, because He has it Himself.

I believe that God has many ways of manifesting Himself to us (ways in which we can hear) and that we each ought to seek our own relationship and communication with Him, and not envy such among our human brothers and sisters.

I believe that God is who He says He is. It is interesting to me that His first identification of Himself to the Old Testament Hebrews was that of ... "I AM", or 'I exist'. It's sort of like the plot to 'Horton hears a Who?', except in reverse. I believe that He cares for His creation, as we would care for ours, and that He has our and His best interests at hearts.

JustAThought

60

White House Lunatic Imperils Us All.

by Englishman in

jw
friends

not just content with attempting to scuttle the kyoto accord by claiming it was anti-american, bush has now pulled the usa out of an international agreement on tightening up controls on chemical warfare, citing almost exactly the same concerns.

can't you blokes across the atlantic impeach this lunatic?.

..... fanaticism masquerading beneath a cloak of reasoned logic.

JustAThought

What this election really showed was that our voting methods (more or less across the country) are currently not accurate enough to determine a majority of the vote in elections which are very close.

Al Gore definitely won the majority of the national popular vote by a slim margin. But, as I stated in a previous thread, United States presidential elections are not determined directly from the popular vote. They are determined through the representative electoral process set up by the founding fathers (and yet to be discarded by the american people).

This result of this, in the recent election, was that one state, Florida, ending up in the position of casting the deciding electoral votes for the election. Florida's electoral votes would go to whichever candidate garnered the majority of the popular vote in Florida. However, the popular race in Florida turned out to be so close that it was ultimately impossible to determine a winner (by vote) there. The margin of error (due to the inaccuracy in the vote) in Florida was consistently greater than any difference in the votes for Gore and Bush found thoughout all the analyses of the voting conducted after the voting in Florida was completed.

Given this situation, it soon became evident to both parties (if not the american public) that the winner of the Florida popular vote, and thus, the U.S. electoral vote, and thus, the presidency, would be determined by how the vote was counted.. At this point, whatever their public declarations, each party's sole objective was to establish a method of counting the vote which would result in their candidate being elected.

The point here is that, due to the fact that our voting methods are not designed to be able to determine a majority of the vote when a vote is as close as it was in Florida, any criteria for performing a more accurate count would have to be determined after the election. This is, essentially, what the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on. It ruled that you could not change the counting criteria used in an election after the election. Bush won because he was ahead (by an incredibly miniscule margin) after the vote tallying was completed according the vote counting criteria established before the election, and because the United States Supreme Court refused to allow that criteria to be changed, even refined, if you will, after the election.

JustAThought

53

What is "Right?"

by Farkel in

jw
friends

i responded to your comments on another post, but i feel this issue is just too important and deserves its own thread.. -----------------------------------------------------.

: even the most righteous believer of god would tend to quote abraham: is the judge of all the earth not going to do what is right?

(gen 18:25).

JustAThought

Given that the point of this story is mankind's unrighteousness (my take), it is interesting to note that, ... of the righteous people rescued from the conflagration, ...

... one had offered his virgin daughters to a sex-crazed mob

... another apparently felt pangs of regret over leaving a city where a sex-crazed mob had just threatened the sanctity of her home and loved ones

... two others made their father drunk, slept with him, and ultimately bore his children

It makes you wonder what the rest of the city was like.

JustAThought