Things I Think…
1. When will Christians learn that Christian celebrities have one goal…which is to make bank off other Christians. The latest grifter is Tim Tebow who gave up trying to convince pro football teams that he was a quarterback and turned to another line of work profiting from people who trust famous people who talk about Jesus…
2. Speaking of Christian scams…are people who believe this skubalon trusting or just stupid?
3. Supposedly, there is new evidence that scientists have found Noah’s Ark. I doubt it…but many are already convinced…
4. Finding the ark would be interesting…finding any evidence that the Exodus happened would be more so…most evangelicals are unaware of how little actual evidence there is for Old Testament stories…these stories don’t have to be historically true to be full of truth…
5. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade abortion rates have gone up significantly…meaning that we have yet to establish in the populace at large why this is a bad thing…once an issue acquires the legitimacy of legality, you can’t get the horse back in the barn…the same could be said about LGBTQ+ issues…
6. In Joshua 4 the Lord commands the Israelites to make a pile of memorial stones to mark the parting of the Jordan River. He tells them to do it as a remembrance that they can pass on to the later generations…because this sort of miracle wasn’t going to happen often…we should learn both lessons…make notes of God’s interventions and don’t chase after them or believe those who say they happen all the time…
7.I judge other peoples spirituality by how they feel about animals…
8. I’m in a months long spiritual formation class and I’m flunking after the first two weeks. I had no idea how many distractions are built into my life…just for the purpose of distracting me from things I don’t want to consider…
9. I’ve also discovered that I’ve spent most of my life building fortresses around the things that hurt…to keep God out. I hear Him asking to come in, but I find a distraction to drown him out…
10. I believe God often speaks through my cats and they are saying I should take a nap…so I will…it’s good to be obedient…
Isn’t it “skubalon”?
Ted,
I stand corrected.
I should have just said “crap” and left it at that…
I thought maybe skabulon was skubalon that was so egregious as to be physically harmful, thus likely leaving behind a scab.
1 – “The Banality of Evil” term applies. When the satan shows up it’s not as a criminal mastermind but as a Multi-level Marketing salesman. I almost typed Amway but realized not everyone would get it.
2 – Believe nothing you read on The Elijah List. (What an insult to the actual Elijah)
8-9 – I’m not sure we get entirely past this raw humanity stuff short of glorified bodies and a new heaven and earth. I hope the soul sleep/intermediate state resets my soul.
7, 10 – I have been pet free for over 2 years and my wife doesn’t want a new one. The result is I’m embarrassingly friendly with every dog and cat I meet, and dream of huskies almost every night.
Ted,
I just need to cuss in English and leave well enough alone… 🙂
Terry,
I remember Amway…signed up for it as a very young man…learned my lesson.
The raw stuff is with us while we’re here and we should deal with it…it’s part of being conformed to the image of Christ.
It’s not much fun though…
I can’t imagine living without a cat…and I mean that literally…
“I’ve also discovered that I’ve spent most of my life building fortresses around the things that hurt…to keep God out. I hear Him asking to come in, but I find a distraction to drown him out…”
That makes two of us
Robert F,
I’m going to have to let down at some point…but I’m fighting it…
5 can be read as a reminder that federalism still holds in our republic and that certain culture war Christian conservatives who fixated on repealing the SCOTUS ruling weren’t thinking about that. Even some progressives as the socialist magazine Current Affairs pointed out that when Roe was overturned the ruling was badly reasoned and that because federalism is still real, pro-abortion groups could/should work 24/7 to ensure abortion never stopped being accessible.
For 2 … wow … I didn’t realize The Elijah List was still around. A pity. Someone in my family was really into it. 🙁
@ Nr. 2,
They’re just plain stoopid.
#9 I went through a long process of tearing down my fortresses, but they always seem to reinvent themselves-which means I have to do it again. So, I get to use a wheelchair for a few months and find out how needy I really am! Actually, it’s helping me to realize that I don’t need to be super-woman all the time (as if I ever were). But it’s humbling, sometimes makes me cranky, and I am so glad that God doesn’t take any of it personally. He is a very patient teacher.
And cats-I never listen enough to Felix, so he parks himself in my wheelchair until (desperately needing to sit down), I do admit it is treat o’clock!
Michael & Terry,
Have you been ‘blessed’ by this scenario? Soon after a new couple joins the church, you are invited to their home for ‘fellowship’. What transpires instead …is a carefully rehearsed Amway presentation, offering God’s people a ‘wonderful income opportunity’!
Dave,
Amway, Meleluca, some supplement that starts with a p that I can’t remember…all sorts of schemes to “bless” me…
I have never appreciated when I meet some believers, and they sometimes start to tell you what to invest in, what to eat, who to vote for, what music to listen to, what to read, etc. A gal I was dating many years ago…I went to an Amway meeting (mistake) with her family. At one point the presenter made some very questionable claim, and I said under my breath “be careful..” and my gal looked at me like I had just lost my salvation. At one other point, her mom put her hand up in the air like she was praising God. At an Amway meeting?!?!?
Thanks for letting me vent.