Jason Yzaguirre

You are welcome.

You told me you shifted gears, so clearly you want us on different pages? lol But yes, believe it or not I know where you are getting at.

Oh I know where you getting to but don't worry, I wasn't going to spoil it.

Thank you, I never knew this. Always figured people were timid to just simply spell God. I personally always capitalize the G out respect but will never, unless at the beginning of a sentence capitalize the a in atheist or s in satan. One of my little nit pick things I guess.

People value different things, doesn't have to be money and power. Also, there is nothing wrong with having a little pride in what you do as long as you don't take it too far but I do get what you were getting at. The rich person wouldn't come with Jesus for the same reason the man couldn't abandon his family, even to bury his father because they weren't ready to let go. Most people are terrified of death for various reasons. True, it's fear of the unknown but it's actually the letting go of earthly attachments and the fear of being forgotten. If Jesus Christ himself appeared before you and ask you to come with him right at the moment regardless of what was going on, be it your wedding, the birth of your child, getting a big promotion, 110 year old Uncle Leo wants to talk to you before he goes with Jesus himself, etc. Would you go with him? Poverty can be blamed for a lot of things, politicians, political parties, but there are more than a few variables on why homelessness and poverty are getting out of hand. Higher populations, more people than jobs, many people just don't want to work and think they can make a living panhandling, there are also economic conditions to consider, The cost of living keeps on going up as the pay rate doesn't and in most cases can't keep up with it so it boils down to the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The middle class is almost none existent.

You are welcome. I believe God has lessons for each of us to learn regardless if you accept him or not because even if you deny him, he is still there. Of course God changes his mind, Genesis comes to mind on that because he could have wiped us off existence then but his mercy and patience got the better of him. Thank him for that I didn't mean to make it sound like our situations in our lives have to be absolute and unchanging. I meant that he has us experience tests like that to help us grow. If we start off poor, do we have to accept it and stay that way because we think it's Gods will? Of course not, that is where we either begin or fall to if you lost your job and everything then ended up on the streets. It's how we overcome those obstacles and remember the lessons we learned from it as well as remembering it once it is overcome. Some people are stuck poor no matter what they do and perhaps that was Gods plan for them all along for whatever his reason was. Some people live and and die wealthy without ever experiencing discomfort, poverty, or any hardship their wholes lives and may or may not have had an ounce of faith. I have never been rich but I can put a roof over my head, feed myself, and have a working vehicle. Which is great to me. But I have also been homeless twice, have experienced loss in ways that have altered my life, and have made a lot of dumb mistakes. I am far from perfect. But since I have let God into my life, I try one day at a time to grow as a person and accept what he has to put me through. I used to take employment and dependency on another person for granted but when I lost a job many years ago, I was arrogant and thought I could easily find another. Well, we were going through a recession at the time and I could not find a job no matter how many applications, job interviews, phone calls, and resumes I sent out. I was unemployed for two years and at the same time had to take care of loved ones that needed medical care at home. Very tough times but eventually they passed, and over a decade later, I cherish whatever job I have. I no longer put too much stock into possessions because I had to leave all of that behind. I also am going to finally attend college because after nearly 20 years, I think it's time to do so in order to improve my current situation. I feel this is God leading me this direction as I never really had any desire to pursue this. I think God wanted to me to experience all of this until he felt I was ready for his next phase for me. Right now he wants me to accept him full time and wants me to start digging deep into scripture. I used to try for the longest time but I could not get past the first chapter of Genesis. But he sent me different messages and then literally a sign in the mail that it was time to open his book.

Way too many Christians fall into this. Before I became one myself, I remember some that before they became all churchy as I used to say, they weren't exactly the model of perfect teen. I do remind these people of this when they get critical of others. I will never forget my roots, I wasn't a bad person nor did I ever break the law or anything that extreme but I was not on the path. I refuse to judge anyone because that is up to God. What is just amazing about Jesus is that he focused his attention not just on sinners in general but the "scum of the earth" as the holy men of his day would say. He wants so badly to save the ones cast aside and as Christians, I think many of us forget this. I can't judge peoples imperfections because our lord would never had done such a thing. The best thing to do is to pray and be an open ear if they want to talk. I remember listening to a pastor tell a story of how he went off on a homeless person offering to wash their windows for a dollar and was bragging about it. I asked if he seemed shady or perhaps his intentions weren't good and he said that he didn't but that person needs to quit begging and go find a job. That floored me that a pastor would have that attitude because my response was that the man obviously has a story and he was willing to work for that dollar and perhaps he needed to hear the gospel and some kind of help. At the time I was not a Christian but was agnostic so this didn't help my attitude towards Christianity at the time. It goes to show that even people that have been preaching for a long time forget their way too.

Before I turned to Christ, I realized that wishful thinking was all I used to do. Wishful thinking to me is wishing for something to happen but without really praying for it or asking God for it. It's more of a "desired outcome" rather than something felt from the heart. Turning to Scripture, I realized I had been doing it wrong and asking God the wrong things and in the wrong way. I used to want a better job, more money, lottery (definitely wishful thinking lol), and so on. Now I don't ask or pray for those things. I know pray for God to show me the direction he wants to go. I also pray for him to bring good things for everyone, to watch over those I cherish. If a prayer or a respectful request is not answered or given, then that tells me that God has other plans and that is okay. If God wants me rich, he will make it so, if he wants me poor, it will be so, if he wants me to deal with success, it will happen, and if he wants me to experience loss, then it will happen. God gives us lessons to grow for a purpose.

It's sad that adoption has to be that expensive and difficult. I knew it was like this but I had never actually known it was that expensive. I can understand having to go through some hurdles because there have been stories in the past of people just adopting children for nefarious means but still shouldn't be that hard. It is worrisome that abortion is not hard to have performed but adoption has so much red tape and expenses. I of course do not know the answer to question you had asked, for I do not know but just felt to comment because I was unaware of the difficulty of adopting. I have a 10 year old but my wife and I have seriously considered going this route since we cannot have any more.

Not sure what you mean by the first question. Do you mean what would God to do the willful participant or how people will treat the accused? God will judge how he sees fit, so that is out of our mortal hands, but scripture is quite clear on the adultery. People that are in the environment of the accused will have their own reactions. I have known many who had committed adultery that of course led to divorce. Usually, friends and family will stick to the person they are friends with or are related to and will not communicate much with the ex spouse. Everyone else is usually neutral and just doesn't bring it up. As for the Church, that just depends on the church. I have heard some exes will still attend but just not communicate or often one will just find another. That's my two copper Lincolns on this....

I would use caution because people like him (he isn't the nice man he pretends to be, even if he has been dressing up like Mr. Rogers lately) usually don't do philanthropy without some kind of benefit to himself. I have always seen him as a wolf in sheeps clothing. Steve Jobs wasn't known to be a nice man nor particularly charitable but he didn't make any pretensions about it either so I can at least respect him for that.

Living in east central Indiana for the past decade, I have gotten used to the seasons changing by the day. lol For example, last week it was around 80, this morning we have freeze warnings. That's pretty normal for here it seems. My poor dog hates the cold, in fact her and my wife act as if they will freeze to death if the temperature is below 80. lol

That sentence reminds me of someone I knew from my past and couldn't help but chuckle.

Yeah it's also popular on conspiracy sites (or it was when I frequented them years back) toward people who didn't accept alternative views with the rest of the cool kids. It's all perspective. Every one thinks they are enlightened on their side of the line in the sand, forgetting that they are standing on the same beach.

I just don't partake into their habits and establish neutral ground. If they are true friends/family they have in my experience respect that. I have family and friends that are into things that I don't agree with morally and they know it so they just don't do it around me. I'm not perfect, never will be, and I don't judge people however if I know people who's habits are really not acceptable, then they will not be in my life unless I have to work with them or put up with at gatherings.