jodetoad

Two separate problems here, both challenging. e lansing might have married them, had not the church division problem existed. The brother really forced the issue. My church has division, not related to a particular sin instance, but to personalities who refuse to give a pastor the authority he needs to function. Without that authority, he is an employee, subject to the whims of anyone and everyone. It is a major problem. As it stands, nobody has the authority to remove the problem people, so we barely function, and newcomers are repelled by our absurd politics. So I can see why e lansing had to do what he did.

I left home at 16. Didn't get my college degree until I was in my 50's. Not everybody gets their dreams. Not that I'm complaining, because what God had for me was better. My husband works at a camp for juvenile delinquents about your age - many don't have parents at all (have been in foster care or group homes for years), or would be better off if they didn't have parents, because the parents are criminals, drunken addicts, child abusers, in prison, etc. You gotta take the bad with the good, young 'un. You have more positive stuff in your life than you realize. As you get older, you'll see that even when you try as hard as you can, it is impossible to be fair to everybody, almost always. So we learn to accept people and situations as they are.

I too have had sleep trouble most of my life. Tried numerous things, usually the cure was worse than the problem. The single thing that helps most for me is exercise. The days I walk up the hill behind my house, I get tired at the right time, sleep well, and wake up early feeling pretty good. Started walking to control my weight, which it helped a lot with. When I slack off for long, the old troubles are back. Now in a slack period, today for instance there's smoke from a wildfire filling the valley. But it's always easy to find a reason not to walk. Praying.

I have been involved in dealing with government a lot lately, in a totally unrelated issue. The experience would probably be very similar. Bureaucrats who memorize giant rule books, and are more concerned with rules than reality. Complex and mind-boggling games a citizen has to play to even get a chance to talk to somebody. Technicalities of a city, overlaid by county rules, overlaid by state rules, with an icing of federal rules on top. Dealing with it means getting caught up like a rat in a maze. Go here, fill out this form, come to this hearing, you have 45 days to comment in writing. You don't understand the procedure? You poor dumb slob. We really don't want government more involved in families. Yeah, it's the best government in the history of mankind. But it's still the pits.

I hear different figures; 48%, 51% of people don't pay taxes, and most receive $ from the federal govt. They vote. Which of them will vote themselves a pay cut? Very depressing. We don't need just a deal on a debt ceiling, we need a whole new attitude. I'd accept a cut in Social Security, getting very near that age. Would even accept means testing, though it is unfair. But would enough people accept it? We are getting near the point in redistribution to chill motivation to achieve.

There might be some medical condition involved. A child in my family has some condition that made him mature extremely fast, he was over 6 feet and had whiskers in 5th grade, and very fat also.

I waitressed in my youth; I understand it. Just a couple months ago we went out to eat and screaming kids, whose older siblings were running around throwing things, made for an extremely unpleasant meal. It was not the restaurant's fault, but we haven't gone back. If I knew they had a policy like McDain's, I'd go back because the food is great. Remember being a young kid, and starting to act out, and having Dad take you outside for a 'discussion'? For me, if a second discussion was called for, it meant a spanking. When parents do this, it only takes a couple times, after that a look is enough.

You are quite right, our relative freedom is something to be grateful for. I do pray for you. Candice had a good point - both my husband and myself came from alcoholic families, and the only time they went to church was after some big blowup over drinking. We both got a twisted attitude toward religion, resentful at what we saw as hypocrisy. In the US, Christianity is publicly insulted and besmirched as a refuge for rednecks and incompetents. So we have our own challenges here. But certainly very few of us are constrained by family over marriage.

My husband was telling me about something he found online that interested him, called Urantia. The way he described it, it sounds like a combination of a cult, new age stuff, science fiction, and Christianity. My husband is not really a Christian, he "likes Christ's message", but that's it. It would be a mistake for me to try to urge him toward faith. I talk to him sometimes about my own faith, but that's it. When he was a kid, his family only went to church when there was a major uproar over his father's drinking, he has bad associations with religion, and resists it. He's a good man. You get the picture. He may have told me about Urantia to see if he would get a rise out of me. So all I said was that it sounds kind of off the wall. I looked Urantia up, it looks kind of silly. Supposedly it is revelations from space aliens. (!) If I understand it, believers feel they are the next step beyond Christianity, in a higher level of spirituality. Looks like something that would appeal to an egotist. *Edit link Removed* is their website, there are lots of sites. Site says it is not a religion... Do you know anything about it? Reviewed the site, not a good one to link to from worthy, thanks! -Isaiah

I have no kids. I watch my brother and others I know worry about their adult children, but nobody seems to know the right answer. Very difficult situation. Praying.

It is a struggle not to see the crud. For me, anyway. Lots of people think I'm shy, I prefer the term 'reserved'. But the real reason is the crud, and my experience with the crud. It helps to try to imagine a person's face when he was very young, how he or she might have looked with a shiny innocent face that his mother adored. Funny that came up immediately. My husband works in a camp for criminal boys. He is a thoughtful and kind person, and I know the damage he sees every day in these young people disturbs him. And Neb, you are right, it is much harder to look at one's self that way. Ed points out that God sees us this way, which is kind of mind-boggling. Worth pondering.

God could be doing a zillion things we have no idea of. Like creating other universes, or whatever. But I think He creates continually here. No Biblical support, but as a musician, I feel that God was working through Bach and Chopin, and through inspired people writing music now. As a lapidarist, I think God created the beauty in rocks. Sure, He put the systems in place that continually create rocks, but they don't have to be beautiful to serve their rocky purpose. I think He twiddles with them to make them gorgeous. And bird songs don't have to be beautiful. You could think of a thousand things like that. The way God works in our lives is tremendously creative, though not in a material way.

Jeff, I will pray for you. Your and Mizzdy's posts make me think of my Mom. She is elderly, nearly blind, and has other issues. She struggles with feeling worthless because she can do little and is dependent. I think that bothers her worse than her physical problems. She makes an effort to accept her situation, and she says trying to help others makes her feel she is still worthwhile. She can't go out, but writes and calls people, she says even if she can't see, she can listen. Lots of people need someone to listen. Seemingly endless pain has got to be a huge challenge. I get migraines, but I know they will end.

Yesterday our new pastor preached on "Taming the Tongue", from James 3. As our last pastor left due to malicious gossip, it was totally appropriate, although I don't know whether the new man is aware of the circumstances. Controlling one's tongue is challenging and difficult, and I felt the congregation was uneasy. But if he knows the situation, I'm glad he is preaching to the real issues in the congregation. If so, he is in for a hard time. We had one preacher who was into the emotional feel-good stuff, a guest who was into 'get Jesus and get rich', and our denomination is going politically correct liberal. It is really amazing that we all read the same Bible.

It's odd how sometimes we Christians expect not to have mental and emotional issues, yet we fully expect other health problems, family problems, accidents, financial disaster, etc. I have felt guilty that my faith must be weak if I'm depressed. But it's not true. The brain is NOT the spirit, it is an organ and can function incorrectly. A doctor explained to me that low serotonin (the usual cause of depression) can become a self-perpetuating condition, for chemical reasons. So medical treatment is required, thank God that today doctors can help with many conditions that just a few years ago could not really be treated. I take St. Johns Wort, an over-the-counter herb, and it seems to help me get depressed less often and less deeply. Praying.

Sorry you are going through this. The ones we love most can hurt us the most. I looked up "argue", and except for a bunch of stuff in Job, only found this: Mark 8:11: The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. Mark 8:12: And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. Looked up "fight", and there was lots about wars and battles. But also this: James 3:18: And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace. James 4:1: Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? James 4:2: You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; James 4:3: you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions. James 4:4: Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world's friend makes himself God's enemy. ---------- Both have something to say, don't know if they will help...

In a podcast of Grace Upon Grace, the pastor talked about a Psalm, I don't recall which one, in which David praised God for saving his (Davids) tears. It was the custom at that time for people who lost a loved one to save their tears in a small vial and bury them with the deceased - archeologists have recovered such vials. David was saying that God knew and cared for each tear he shed. God knows and cares about your tears. God didn't make us to be unemotional machines. The idea that faith should eliminate grief just doesn't make sense. Maybe it's part of the pruning, I don't know. I'm very sorry you are going through this. Praying.

I can't understand what you are asking. I tried to look up sanctified transgression, and couldn't find anything. If your conscience is bothering you, it sounds like your helpful lie might have more serious consequences than telling someone they look great when they don't. So you may have some cleaning up to do. I'll pray for you.

I could leave home & possessions. Family includes elderly relatives who are dependent on me. Rarely, almost never, has God spoken to me in such a clear way that I was sure it was God. 2 times, to be specific. More often, I get some thought I think ~might~ be from God, but if it's telling me something I like to hear, I have to wonder if I'm fooling myself. I get nudges. If I felt nudged to leave behind my elderly relatives, I'd feel suspicious it was just my own desire to get out from under the responsibility and trouble of dealing with them. Hope that makes sense. No, I'm not always very nice. You must have more definite communication with God than I do. Maybe some day... If I was sure who was asking, then I would do it.

I got 813ms ping 1.60 mbps down .06 mbps up On satellite.

As an AA myself. I worked with alcoholics and addicts for many years. You did exactly right. They must be confronted with the truth as you see it. The truth for addicts and alcoholics is tough, a life of horrors and despair, then we die young. We keep trying to tell ourselves things will get better, if we do a, b or c, it was somebody else's fault, on and on, anything but change our own behavior. I pray she turns around.

fulfilled |foŏlˈfild| adjective satisfied or happy because of fully developing one's abilities or character. fulfill |foŏlˈfil| ( Brit. fulfil) verb 1 bring to completion or reality; achieve or realize (something desired, promised, or predicted) : he wouldn't be able to fulfill his ambition to visit Naples.

I don't understand this. I can't figure out what these scriptures are saying. Matthew 9:16-17, Mark 2:21-22, Luke 5:36-39. In Matthew, Jesus is responding to disciples of John asking about fasting. In Mark, same. In Luke, He is talking to Pharisees, but about the same issue. All have the bridegroom being taken away. Then comes the part about new patches on old garments, and new wine in old wineskins. One pastor said in a sermon that as faith makes us new, we have to change our lives to reflect it, our external lives being the old garments or wineskins. But Luke 5:39 says "And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, The old is good." So that doesn't seem to add up. Matthew, Mark, and Luke go off in different directions after that. Matthew to some healings, Mark to gleaning the grain, Luke to a disciple not being above the teacher, and motes and beams. Can anybody clear this up for me?

Denominations caught up in politics, caught by the world. If they get any more open-minded, their brains will fall out. Maybe it's too late! If it wasn't for politics, a pastor could read something from the Koran, and discuss it as part of a sermon, his take and a Christian perspective on it. I don't see why we can't discuss anything in church, including what other people believe. We will beat to death what other Christians believe. We have sermons on death, sex, gambling, what kind of movies or media to watch, ... But since it's all political now, there are consequences if a pastor says something from the Koran is bad or good. All this takes freedom out of churches. There was a time that a pastor could have a terrific blood and thunder sermon on something like that. I read the Koran, and found much of it obnoxious. That doesn't mean all Muslims are obnoxious, it's the faith they grew up with. It would be interesting to hear Christians discuss it. But I don't want it in my church either, if it's political and not honest discussion.

Kind of reminds me of the Tea Party, of the way people felt their political parties had left them behind, and they had to get out and do ~something~. At first people felt isolated and worried nobody else felt like they did, politically. Seems like denominations are going off in weird directions, too. Mine is leaving me... Where I live, church is where I go to find people who even believe in God at all. In society it seems almost like faith has become a dirty word, not mentioned in public. It is rejected and despised, not in a way that gives it importance, but like something insignificant and useless, old-fashioned. I think this is the successful result of years of effort by people against faith and religion. Pastors tell us to evangelize, but the response I usually get is a sneer and a suspicious look. So I relate to what Neb's friend said, but wonder how to go about it. Revivals and tent meetings are not a 'fresh revelation' that unbelievers will unknowingly wander into. As individuals, the faith in our hearts is vital and alive, but 'church' is a group. Sometimes I wonder if the organization needed to function doesn't limit it in the long run. Looked up 'church': 1) the building, 2) a denomination, 3) institutionalized religion as a whole, 4) the body of all Christians. I think it would be easier to invite an acquaintance to a home group or small group than to 'church'. Remember the old word "happening"? Neb's friend is looking for a happening, maybe we all are. Not sure you find them by searching.