The Devil's Dictionary Definition Of The American Woman

"The American variety (felis pugnans) is omnivorous and can be taught not to talk."

Maybe They Should Just Call It Hymen-eutics

One Karen Yates, here, wants church to be more, well . . . horizontal:

Think of what a typical church gathering looks like. During the teaching portion, we sit in our chairs, take notes, follow along in the outline, and listen to our pastor deliver his well-prepared lecture on John's letter to the church in Laodicea, or whatever the passage or topic may be. We hear the message, we write our notes, but are we learning? ... Although the message from the pulpit can seem like the "main act," going to church is about relating to one another in Christian community. ... Would we allow that the church is not the church because of our pastor's sermons, but because of the interaction of the congregation, the formation of community around the Word of God?

Somehow I don't think she's ever formed a small, relational Christian community with her husband around this part of the Word of God:

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

-- 1 Cor. 14:33ff.

Paul's Gentile Mission: The Original Schwein Hunde?

"Look out for the dogs, look out for the evil-workers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh."

-- Philippians 3:2f.

"Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you."

-- Matthew 7:6

How Can One Enter Into Life Missing Body Parts?

Isn't heaven supposed to be a place where creation is restored to perfection? How then does one enter into life, into the very kingdom of God, unwhole? Perhaps more to the point, how can one enter being anything but unwhole?

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. ... And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. ... And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

-- Mark 9:43,45,47

The conception of Jesus in Mark is irreconcilable with the later conception of a heavenly kingdom where the former things have passed away, entered into at death after a long life of blessedness in Christ, to dwell with him there in the Father's house with many rooms, where there are enough even for Gentiles.

One must face the fact that the historical Jesus believed in both an imminently coming judgment and suddenly in-breaking kingdom of God where the many doers of iniquity are swept away and the few who shed their former existence are saved. The certain nearness of it for Jesus urgently demands extreme forms of repentance, of turning, in order to escape and experience salvation. One must leave all and follow him, turning completely around, renouncing job, home, possessions, mother, father, brother, sister, wife, children, customary obligations including burials and farewells, even hand, foot and eye and flee to the hills if necessary, anything that holds one back, in order to escape the wrath that is coming. He who would save his life will lose it, but he who loses it will save it.

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

-- Matthew 13:41ff.

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

-- Matthew 7:13f.

Jesus Believed Hell's Worm Does Not End, Its Fire Does Not Go Out

In Mark 9 there's a fire asbestos

Not fleeting, as if just to test us:

Where the worm is eternal

And the flame, unquenchable.

Repeated three times! Imbecillus!

Ms. Richards, IRS Group 7821, Asked Iowa Pro-lifers About Their Prayers

Read all about it for yourself, here:

"Please explain in detail the activities at these prayer meetings."

Looks also like the IRS sees itself as a chief protector of the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. 

Dear IRS: This Is How I Pray, Holding Fast To The .44th

"Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us."

-- Psalm 44:4f.

Paul's Idea Of Sonship Is Not Absolute And Developed Over Time

In Galatians it's a fact meant to distinguish starkly God's elect under the promise:

But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.

-- Galatians 4:4ff.

But by the time of the composition of Romans the fact of it is no longer susceptible of any unqualified absolute "spiritual" interpretation which flies in the face of reality. Instead sonship finally depends upon the resurrection of the body and apart from that still remains tenuous because of human weakness. Adoption as sons in the final analysis remains contingent upon the advent of the general resurrection from the dead at the last judgment:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

-- Romans 8:22f.

A Rob Bell Sympathizer Admits "Spiritual" Experience Can Be Manufactured

"[S]o many Christian teachers oversell, and therefore inevitably underdeliver—or better, put God in the position where he will underdeliver. I suspect that in many cases, they are merely using hyperbole to drive home a point, but I'm convinced that readers and listeners take such exaggerations literally because they desperately want them to be true. ...

"I myself have experienced a healing of severe pain in my leg. I have also almost been "slain in the Spirit" (but got hold of myself just in time!). And as the Spirit leads, I speak in tongues. I have also had ecstatic experiences when the love of God penetrated my whole being.

"And in a life of 60 years, I can count these experiences on one hand. Because I've had such experiences, I understand perfectly the desire to have them all the time, and to imagine that maybe there is a technique, a method, a way to pray, a way to be open and alert—something!—that will allow me to experience this daily. Believe me, I tried that for a while and discovered that, yes, I could manufacture something very similar to a genuine spiritual experience. But it soon became clear that the search for daily wonder was creating a religion of Mark Galli."

-- Mark Galli, here

Yeah, well, what if the "genuine" experiences were in fact manufactured, too? It's the rare, unwilling conversions which interest me, the road-to-Damascus sort which are devoid of "the religion of feeling". Rob Bell's religion of feeling, on the other hand, appeals to an American culture which has finally surrendered to the sentimental in the post-war period because of the triumph of liberalism. And in an important sense Romanticized Christianity from the Great Awakening onward paved the way for that victory, just as it paved the way for socialism and communism in early 20th century Europe. To be converted today is to reject all these forms of Christianity.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?"

-- Jeremiah 17:9

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever."

-- Psalm 73:26

A Little Greek Lesson For Rob Bell From Mark 9:44-48

3 dits, 4 dits, 2 dits, dah!

Bell's hell's not eternal, despite ou tel-eu-ta.

dit dah, dit dit dit, dit dit dit!

Broad is the way that leadeth to the pit.

For Destruction Ice Would Suffice, As It Has In The Past

The maximum extent of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, or Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), occurred approximately 18,000 years ago (Figure 2). During peak glacial conditions, the ice sheet was about 2 km thick over Eastern Ontario and as much as 3 km thick to the north over what is now Hudson Bay. At this time, in the east, ice extended almost as far south as present-day New York City, and throughout northern Pennsylvania (Gilbert 1994). The eastern part of the ice margin was constrained by the Appalachian plateau (extending across several of the present-day eastern States), whereas its southward extent in the west was greater: the ice sheet had by about 20 ka BP reached south-central Illinois (Hansel and Johnson 1992).

For more, see here.

There Goes The Apple Crop Again: None Escape His Wrath

Obama Purges Christians From Military, Sexual Assaults Skyrocket

From the story in Crisis Magazine, A Voice For The Faithful Catholic Laity, here:

This week Congress mulled over the Pentagon’s admission that sexual assault cases have spiked 35 percent in the last two years. ... 

In 2010, Admiral Michael Mullen informed a Christian chaplain who opposed the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that “if you cannot get in line, resign your commission.” That same year Lieutenant General Thomas Bostick told “bigoted” soldiers to “get with the program” or “get out.”  In 2011, the Army, until a backlash prevented the change, planned on tweaking its visiting guidelines at Walter Reed Medical Center to read: “No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading materials and/or facts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.” In 2012, officials at the Air Force erased the Latin word for God, Dei, from the logo of the Rapid Capabilities Office. The logo had said in Latin “Doing God’s Work with Other People’s Money.” It was changed to: “Doing Miracles with Other People’s Money.” ...

Meanwhile, Congress is baffled at how the culture of the military could permit so much sexual mischief. An exasperated Senator Angus King of Maine said, “Within the Air Force, it has to become unacceptable culturally.” It is a little late for politicians to be lamenting the loss of traditional mores.  The two trends within the military on display in the press recently—rising cases of sexual misconduct , declining Christian presence—are exactly what they should expect.

The Great Equalizer To The Wise

 

You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

-- Leviticus 19:32

And They Say Religious People Trust In Mere Myths

The top ten most-trusted (!) people in America specialize in pure fiction, story-telling, fantasy, mere representation, poetry, acting, unreality, emotionalism, entertainment and gaming, and the technology to deliver it all. In a word, liars.

1. Tom Hanks

2. Sandra Bullock

3. Denzel Washington

4. Meryl Streep

5. Maya Angelou

6. Steven Spielberg

7. Bill Gates

8. Alex Trebek

9. Melinda Gates

10. Julia Roberts.

Story here.

The Kingdom Is Coming So Quickly There Isn't Even 24 Hours To Bury The Dead

 

 And a certain scribe came, and said unto Him, "Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." And Jesus saith unto him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." And another of his disciples said unto Him, "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father." But Jesus said unto him, "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead."

-- Matthew 8:19ff.

As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

-- Luke 9:57ff.

What Do Ancient Jewish And Our Sluts Have In Common?

"She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey's and emissions like those of a horse."

-- Ezekiel 23:20

The World Upside Down In Two Pictures

Out but in

Just plain out

Will Love Come To An End, Or Not?

"Love never comes to an end."

-- 1 Cor. 13:8

"The love of many will grow cold."

-- Matthew 24:12

"And you will be hated by all for my name's sake."

-- Matthew 10:22

"And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake."

-- Matthew 24:9

"And you will be hated by all for my name's sake."

-- Mark 13:13

"You will be hated by all for my name's sake."

-- Luke 21:17

"And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

-- Luke 18:7f.

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."

-- Psalm 136:1

"The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

-- Psalm 34:18

Matthew's Jesus Came To End The World, Not Save It

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. ... And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. ... And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come."

-- Matthew 10:5ff, 14f., 22f.