Revalations 17-19

One of the angels with one of the bowls o doom came to John and told him that he shall show him what happens to the idol worshipers of the world. John sees a woman on a beast, the woman is drunk with the blood of the martyrs. The angel gives an explanation of the beast on which she is perched. And he describes her downfall at the hands of God as well as the downfall of her followers.
A great heavenly party takes place. Lots of rejoicing, exulting, and then...a wedding! But first Truth on a white horse.

Revelations 13-16

I once had a friend who always gave his phone number this was "388-sign of beast, 5" cracked me up, it did.

So whats with this 666 thing? I had no idea it was actually in the Bible, I just thought it was a morphing of different crap. Whilst the beast is in control, only people with the "mark" are able to buy and sell, etc...
I had NO idea exactly how Biblical the Harry Potter series really is. After reading this whole book and having read that entire series (some more than once) I can't believe some Christians are against these books. Furthur proving my point that you can't critize without proper knowledge.

The death eaters taking over, in the end, they all of the mark on their arm....Harry Potter is called "The Boy who Lived" and the only reason he lived is because his mom sacrificed herself for him. As sacrificial love is the strongest thing, tis what gave him his powers. The whole question of the series is "how is it that little simingly ordinary, Harry can continue to win over Voldemort (the greastest dark wizard who ever lived), and what is this great prophesy?" We find out that the prophesy says that both simply cannot live, one must go, as long as one lives the other can't. Just like Jamie always says, God cannot live with sin, just can't.....doesn't even factor in, because it just can't be. Harry and Voldemort cannot both live, simply can't. Wow, I may have to go back and re read them a gain, whilst I read the Bible a gain and find more connections.  I've read many interview where the author of these books says, after the fact, that yes indeed she is a  Christian. She didn't want to make a big deal of it however because she was afraid the readers would see what was coming in the books. I must admit I, at the time would not have. But now, having read the Bible I would. I'm sure there are countless websites that have already done this (made the connection betwixt the 2) but I, obvioulsy, am a "see for myself kinda gal".

the Lamb has an army standing guard on Mt. Zion, of 144,000 men whom are blameless in everything, no sex, no lies (no videotapes?).....Angels are flying around shouting orders and telling people that those who worship the staues of the beast are in big trouble. Then Jesus comes down on a cloud and He and His angels begin to harvest the earth. They harvest the bad people and throw them into a giant winepress and begin to squish them like grapes and blood pours out like wine. The blood is as deep as a horses back. (fantastic visual)

Then, we meet the 7 angels with the bowl o' plagues that must be emptied....sores, bloody seas, bloody rivers and streams, super hot sun, darkness thus causing gnawing of tongues, dried up Euphrates (which is probably more of a good thing, being that it was nothing but a bloody mess), lastly the voice of God announcing the end.

But not really because then there was a giant earthquake, the likes of which has yet to be seen on this here planet.

Revelations 9-12

As the 7 angels are blowing their trumpets horrible things they are a happenin.

The 5th angel blew his horn and a dark hole to no where opens and smoke like that of a furnace (the smoke monster from Lost???!) comes out and covers the sun. Then thr locust come, but thet are commanded not to kill the plants, and they are given the same stinging powers of the scorpian.

Not each the plants, you say..?

Whatever shall they do then?

They shall sting the people whom do not have the mark of God, until they beg and seek death and yet death is no where to be found ahhhahh hhaaa aahhhhh!

Maddness I tell you, this is maddness.

These are no ordinary locusts, ohhhhh no. These crazy things have on little tiny clothes, and long woman hair and human faces?! I know that this shall be a horrible day for some people but I just wonder, before it gets to the point that you are begging for death,  if they are going to be cracking up, just a bit.

The 6th angel blew his horn allerting 4 angels on earth who were instructed to wipe out 1/3 of mankind.

....and then we get the 7th angel...wait no we don't. Before the seventh angel is ready to blow his horn, John is called to eat the scroll. Its taste great going down, but doesn't sit too well. For when the 7th trumpet sounds God shall secret design will be complete.

AND then we get the 7th angel: A pregnant woman, clothed in the sun with the moon under her feet and a crown of stars (I smell my next painting, the painting is already complete in my head actually, just have to get it out of there and onto a canvas). A red dragon (hence the movie title and creepy character) battling angels, basically all hell literally breaks loose....

Revelation 4-8

John gets a glimpse into the interworkings of heaven. 24 throwns, freaky all seeing creatures, a lion, an ox, a man face and an eagle. A scroll needs to be open by a worthy being, and no one seems fit to open it, which causes John to cry. BUTT then it is made known that the Lion, who is the source of David, as being of the tribe of Judah is worthy. A Lamb appears and I'm assuming that the lamb is Jesus. The Lamb breaks the seal, being the only one worthy (Jesus). As each of the seven seals were broken, a terrible world event was shown to happen. War, domination, famine, plague, earthquakes....
Four angels appear however and make sure that none of these things harm the children of God, the Lamb appears to lead these people to safety.
Then the last seal is opened and there is silence (the calm before the storm). Then the seven angels who were standing before God rain fire and brimstone, blood and stars upon the earth. The seas are thus polluted and living creatures perish.
Wormwood is the last name of the terrible father of Matilda, so that makes since.

Revelation 1-3

Oh my goooooodness we are getting so close to the end and I'm starting to freak out and avoid the readings out of a desperate need to keep from reaching the end.

The thing is that I feel so close to this blog, almost like its one of my kids. I've seen this little white box almost ever single day for 301 days. I've blogged from 3 of the Florida Keys, Austin and Houston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, in the car, in my bed, sitting quietly in my living room at 5:30 in the morning, outside, state parks, my camper...the list goes on and on....

I shall also miss the "ib" text I sent to announce that the deed had bean done, and I will miss anticipating the reciprocal text I get. I will miss the excitement of a new book, especially one I know nothing of. I will miss meeting all of these new people and realizing that through them I learn who I am.

This has been an amazing journey that I got to take with an amazing person who stuck by me and encouraged me through the really difficult times. The times when I was just about ready to throw in the towel and call it quits, he told me to just be patient. And I did. Even when I doubted myself, he never did. I now thank God every single day for bringing such a person into my life. I'm still not sure why I was chosen to receive such a gift but....so be it.


And now Revelations: John was the lucky guy who got to receive this news. Jesus visits him with a bunch of lamps. Seven lamps and seven stars and seven churches. (7's prime you know). I am the Alpha and the Omega the Beginning and the End, such amazingly powerful words, right?! I am everything, all encompassing...

"And I will give him the Morning Star"

"He who is able to hear" These I guess are the true believers, these are the people who will be able to hear what He says when He makes his grand reentance into the physical world?

2:19 I know your record and what you are doing, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your recent work are more numerous and greater than your first ones. I adore the idea of "patient endurance" thats what it took for me to get to where I am today, its what Jamie encouraged.

1 John 4-5, 2 John, 3 John

I think that last part of John was about love, but I'm not sure. Not a lot of new stuff in here, love everybody blah, blah, blah.....

1 John 1-3

This was a pretty interesting read. I've always bean a fan of the "light vs dark" analogy and the first chapter spends a lot of time describing just that.
Then John moves from that to love. What is good to love and what is not so good to love. Saying in 3:18, do not only love in theory and speech, but in deed and truth.
And somewhere along the way there is talk of allowing the "divine sperm" to live in you always....and that's all I have to say about that.

Jude 2Peter

Hey Jude, don't make it bad.....take a sad song and make it better....remember to let her into your heart and then you can start to make it better......better.......better .....BETTTER ahhhhhhhhhhh. ( I'm not bragging here....ok maybe I am butt, I actually saw Paul McCartney sing that song live in Memphis. That's right, folks you read that correctly...this 37year old has seen 1/4 of the Beatles).

Again in this book, we see talk of the Lost. Verse 10 is my favorite in this one. At the start of this wild wacky ride, I was asked many times by people close to me "why", because they knew I wasn't a Christian at the time. I always said to them....."how can I judge this faith without knowing it?" Just as 10 says...I did this time and time again.

I rarely now allow anyone to judge something they don't know.....be it the Bible, a movie, a book.... With me you don't get an opinion unless you at least attempt an understanding of it.

There will be scoffers, this I know. I was a HUGE scoffer. This is a letter warning of the temptations that lie around, be on your guard at all times. Nothing should necesssarily be up for interpretation, tis what it is. Lascivious doings, indeed.

2 Timothy

This book was chock full o' goodness and seems to be the evangelicals how-to book.

2:23 I used to be terrible at this, but as I've gotten older I've gotten better. I try now to recognize when someone is simply trying to pick a fight with me by saying empty and ignorant things. When this happens I shut them down as soon as I can or I simply walk away. Dealing with middle school children and their parents all day and a high school student at home, if I argued every time the opportunity presented itself, I'd be quite grumpy indeed.

2:25-26 is exactly what I was trying to say this weekend when you (Jamie, that is) were having that discussion online. I couldn't' really get my words to say what I was thinking, alas here it it.

I'm probably forgetting tons, but I've more reading to do this morning.... gotta get to it

Hebrews 11-13

Chapter 11 talks mostly about faith with great examples from the Old Testament. We review everyone from Abel to Rahab the prostitute. Why is faith so difficult? I tend to think its because its one of the only things in life you can't fake. You can fake happiness and sadness, even kindness and love can be faked. Faith and trust....those must be real or they negate themselves.

The talk of punishment from the Lord as in punishment from an earthly father made me think of the Opus Dei practice of mortification as a example of something taken out of context and too far. Although I'm not sure this is exactly related to punishment so much as practicing suffering as a way to give homage to Jesus. Its just what I thought of.

"Do not forget or neglect or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers [in the brotherhood- being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for thorough it some have entertained angels without knowing it." 13:2

I love that idea, it brings to me mind Clarence visiting George Bailey. Although I think perhaps it should include those outside the brotherhood as well (under certain circumstances that is).

Be happy with where you are in life, its exactly where you need to be. (again)

Hebrews 7-10

Jesus is good. He's the BEST, Jerry....THE BEST.

Hebrews 1-6

This was an odd read to me. Not the content, just the way it was presented. Its funny that even Biblical writers are subject to personal tastes. (As in I don't like this guys writing style.)
From what I can gather he is trying to make the point well known that Jesus is above the angels, Moses, Abe....he's right under the big guy.
And then the writer sounds a tad condescending at the start of chapter 6.He comes around however, saying that you must continue to grow spiritually. Don't get to a point and say "whew, I'm done." Doesn't work that way, always strive for more.

1 Peter

Peter seems to be saying in this letter that Christians all over should be setting good examples for the Faith. He says even if you have enemies and people are talking bad about Christians, make the way you live your life such a great example that they are basically shut down. Even if they don't believe in the same things, make is so they they can no fault in they way you, as Christians, choose to live.

I actually know a few of these Christians and I always, always refer to them when making an argument for the Faith. One of these people is my friends son, Jacob. I always say "a Christian, like Jacobs a Christian....." He should be a poster boy for the religion, if someone studied this kid, and understood Christianity through his eyes, there is no way you could argue against it. The really odd thing too is that he came to it all on his own. His parents do not attend church and I know for a fact his mother is not a Christian, not sure about his father.

Another one that always comes to mind is my daughters religion teacher at school. She has the sweetest, kindest disposition and I don't think this woman has ever done a bad thing in her life. She works tirelessly to raise money to build water wells in African villages. She gives all of her time with a peaceful smile on her face...

With people like these representing the faith, you may still disagree with it, but you can hardly argue that it isn't a good thing. I think that's the point Peter was making.

Peter continues to talk of being good, honest people so that no one has an ill word to say about the followers of Christ. I think this is a great letter and one I wish more people would read and take to heart.

Titus

Not a whole lot new in this letter to Titus, who was an uncircumcised believer. The one new thing I did find interesting was 3:9-11 in which Paul tells Titus to try a couple of times to argue with a person about the Law. If a person is a heretical sectarian and cause of divisions admonish him once, twice but after that cut him loose.

I know this goes seemingly against much of what is taught about love the sinner hate the sin, but at some point I think common sense has to play a role in how decisions are made. Don't we all know when arguing with some people when its time to "agree to disagree" and walk away. I think this is what he means here.

1 Tim

Paul is writings this letter to his partner in anti-crime, Timothy. It's basically just housekeeping kinds of things.

Men who preach the Word should be above the rest of us in their behavior and will power. They should be married to one woman with a tight reign on their children and household. This goes against two things we know to be true......Catholic priests can't marry(Episcopal priests can, thank you a gain Henry VIII) and the children of preachers are always the biggest hellions you know.

He also talks about woman not being able to lead the church and I shall leave that one alone. Heads of churches shan't drink or want for money. Lower downers in the church leadership can drink a little however.

Take care of the old widow. The young widow shall remarry.

More about greed and money being the root of all evil. This really is true, isn't it. If you think about all the crimes committed don't most of them boil down to some type of greed?

Philippians

I wish Paul would write me a letter. I here, shall digress......butttt I think that technology ending letter writing is a travesty to history. So much historical knowledge has been gained from letters left behind, from Paul to the Founding Fathers. Not just political or historical knowledge is being lost but just think of the telling nature of love letters. The letters written betwixt woman and men in the Civil War, or WWII, the letters written by Abigail and John Adams are a huge source of historical knowledge. I just hate that my daughters shant have a shoe box filled with notes and letters to remind them of what is was like to be the younger version of themselves. As my daughter is currently going through the all to common teenage drama, I pulled my shoe box down. I showed her many times and the many boys who said "I love you" in those notes. I didn't want to belittle the loss she was feeling, but I was able to show her that I understood it. I think it gave me a little street cred and it helped.
Yay letters...

..... and now we join our previously scheduled program already in progress.....

4:8"For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things" this may be my favorite verse. I am smitten with these words, truly.

I like when Paul tells these people to do what they are to do, without grumbling or faultfinding. Although this can sometimes be difficult, I think it is important. If you are going to do something to try to make yourself a better person, do so gladly.

Ephesians

Paul is a letter writing maniac, but I suppose tis nothing else to do.

super duper love 1:17-20

Also love the ideas presented in 2:10. Ive always believed that we were on a path and what we needed at each point in our lives would be there, even before I thought I believed in any higher power. This just shows how off my thinking was. Every time I was faced with a difficult situation or anytime a new person was brought into my life, I always looked for the meaning behind it. If I didn't believe in a higher power where did I think this meaning was coming from? Who did I thing brought these people into my life or presented me with the lesson behind the difficulty? I'm a nut job.
I hate to do it, because it has been so long butt I've a pop culture reference.....


The rest of this letter is very similar to the others. All of it very very good and is basically a summary and retelling of the ten commandments.

Colossians and Philemon

Another letter that is needed to address the issues of this new religion. I have to take a moment and do what I am constantly telling my students when we are discussing communication in ancient times. Imagine how long it took for all of this info to get where it needed to be, its almost impossible to imagine it. (so, so hard for kids to do this).

There is still some confusion as to what to eat, what not to eat, when to drink, when not to drink.....and just like in the other letter, we see that we are to use common sense. As long as its coming from the right place, so be it.

Chapter 3 is chock full o goodness.

Not much in Philemon. Tis another letter from Paul as he is still in prison.

Acts 27-28

More of Paul's travels and even a little snake handling.
I am beginning to wonder, am I reading the Bible or Homer? This is very "Odyssey-esque"

Acts 24-26

Who would have ever though Felix to be a Biblical name?!

Ok wait.....Felix and his wife Drusilla?! Is this a joke? Is there a hidden camera in my living room? Has someone doctored me Bible? Felix and Drusilla sittin in a tree?! really? Huh. Crazy man, cray.....zee.

Paul is defending himself a gain. He has spent some 2 years in prison and by the end of the reading Felix has retired and Festus (?Festivus for the restofus?) has replaced him. Paul recounts once more his past and how Jesus came to him one day on the road and yadd yadda yadda he was no longer Saul but was now Paul...

Festus calls him..mad! "mad I tell you, you great learning is driving you insane" but in the end everyone agrees he most defiantly shouldn't be put to death or even imprisoned.

Acts 22-23

Paul recounts his history to the angry mob and he almost win them over, too....until he says that he was told to go into the Gentile nations. Well THAT did it and he was right back where he started. They take him to the barracks and bind him a gain, until they find out that he is indeed a Roman citizen by birth. Now they've done it, as you cant condemn a Roman citizen without a trail.

sooooo they unbind him and bring him before a council of priests and such. Paul stands before them and pleads his case an in doing so he causes a tiff betwixt the two factions....the Sadducees (who believe in no resurrection, nor spirit, nor angel) and the Pharisees this leads to Paul once more being taken to the barracks. He has a little chat with the Lord all the while a plot was being formed against him by the Jews.

The plot is found out however and avoided. Paul is then sent away to Antipatris.

Acts 20:4-21:40

Paul is heading home to Jerusalem. He makes a few stops along the way, resurrects a life....yadda yadda yadda. As Paul is visiting with his friends they all seem to be saying the same thing, "do not go to Jerusalem they shall be none to glad to see you". One friend even has a daughter who had the gift of prophecy. She tells him that he will be bound and delivered in to the hands of the Gentiles if he is to return.

Paul goes anyway as he is confident in God's will and protection. And just as expected he is dragged out of the city....bound, and beaten. Guards come and get him with plans to take him to barracks in order that they can figure out what the ruckus is all about.

Paul asked if he may address the people and was granted permission......

Rom. 14-16

I constantly have to remind myself of the unique situation these people are in. A brand new religion only comes around....once in a bazillion yrs? They are understandable confused at times and some people still want to hold onto some of the old ways. There may be some who don't find it appropriate to eat meat or drink wine during certain times. I believe what Paul is telling them is that if it is coming from a place of good conscientiousness then so be it.

I think of it like the Pentecostal woman not wearing pants....if you firmly believe that that's necessary....then more power to you, I shan't judge you. But don't judge me, because I don't. That's, I feel, what Paul's saying here, if it comes from the right place inside of you, then its fine.(in matters of eating meat, not eating meat etc..... as long as you aren't not eating meat because Baal says meat on Thursdays is berry berry bad. I don't wanna be misunderstood as saying do whatever feels right to you in all things. Here I am speaking as trivial stuff like your everyday pants wearing and meat eating sorts of things.) And let me add that this is just like me not eating meat and people always wanting to talk about it and justify their reasons FOR eating meat. I always wanna scream at them I DON'T CARE WHY YOU COULD NEVER NOT EAT MEAT! AND YOU SHOULDN'T CARE WHY I CAN! Its a personal decision, I don't judge you, you shouldn't judge me....right?!

We are to listen to Him, not each other.

Paul also says don't allow people to make you stumble, keep your personal convictions strong. This is exactly what I was struggling to understand last night as I was watching The Tutors and Sir Thomas Moore was getting his head lobbed off. Sir Thomas Moore refused to swear an oath to his dear dear friend Henry VIII saying that he was the supreme head of the church.....you know the story..... He was actually pretty much the downfall of Henry, they were so close and Henry really respected and loved Sir Thomas. Anyway his wife and daughter came and begged him to just say it. If he didn't then when he was killed they would be destitute as all of his belongings would be seized by the crown. He refused and I just wonder if was thinking of these words.

And then in saying his goodbyes he seems to come down on the "pro-kiss hello" side of the argument.

Rom. 11-13

When a part of an olive tree isn't producing it may need to be cut away for the good of the rest of the tree. On the other hand, sometimes a wild olive is struggling to produce but if it had a little help and support it could become as mighty and strong as the rest of the tree. The thing is, it can be grafted, in the place of the unproducing branches, onto the the much larger and more fruitful olive tree. In doing that, the wild olive gets all the nurturing and support of the entire tree, as well as the vast and crazy important root system.

I feel like maybe I'm the wild olive in this situation?

I love all of Chapter 12, and in 13 which says, just try really really hard to love one another and the rest just falls into place. Hate and anger rob so many people of so much time. I feel so sorry when I see a person so full of hate and anger. I just wish they could understand what they are losing in spending all that negative emotion on other people. I want so badly for them to be visited by 3 ghosts like Mr. Scrooge....

Rom. 8-10

I think I am a Stumbling Stone....

Chapter 8 is a long discussion about faith and sin and who we are as Children of God, and what that means exactly. As Jamie is fond of saying "If God if for us, who can be against us?"

We see more proof that being baptised with water isn't the end all of eternal salvation. You have to say AND believe that Jesus is lord and he was raised from the dead, and rely on and trust in His love. I believe maybe the public baptism thing comes from the "confess publicly and speak freely and openly of your faith", part.

Rom. 4-7

Father Abraham had many sons.....Many sons had Father Abraham......I am one of them and so are you.......So let's all praise the Lord. Right arm, left arm, right foot, left foot,Chin up, turn around, sit down!

I've always thought that a rather odd song. Its like "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and "The Hokey Pokey" got married and had a baby. And well that's just silly because Jesus Loves the Little Children, wouldn't give the HP a second glance, she way too flaky and hippie dippie for him.

So lets get into this here reading.....it gets totally deep at times and delves into the very kind of thinking that Jamie and I love. Paul goes into a very interesting "which came first the chicken or the egg" kinda argument. The Law or Faith? If we are to just be judged by our adherence to the Law then we've no need for faith, thus no need for God...... Then on zee flip side, if we've no Law then there would be no transgression of the Law and therefore no need for God? That last part is unclear in the text but that's what I take it to mean. Faith then being the most important.

"moreover let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and understanding endurance."

"and endurance develops maturity of character, And character produces joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation."

From one man we were brought into sin and from one man we were delivered from it.

Then lots of talk about the Law and sin and being slaves to sin....... did we know sin before the Law was given? I sorta kinda wish I could go back to that time and just see what it felt like to not understand right from wrong......THAT would be an interesting thing to experience wouldn't it.

Acts 20:1-3 and Romans 1-3

chapter 1:22 brought to mind what happens to be my all time favorite quote..."rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength"- Eric Hoffer. There have been so many times I have wanted to just calmly say this to a sales clerk, or a person behind me in line or a parent....and I do tell it to my kids all the time. Its just so true isn't it?!

The Romans get all sorts of freaky deaky and Paul tells them (and us) all about it. Its like little by little the trust in God begins to fall away. Like how if I make one excuse not to workout one day then then next day its even easier to make an excuse and the next until then I decide that I'll just start over on Monday..... there can be no excuse good enough.

Its because I whole heatedly believe what is said in chapter 2, that awful people don't really bother me. I know that they will get whats coming to them, so I just smile and walk away....

The rest of chapter 2 is pretty amazing. It says so much about what kept me from Christianity to begin with. Because I saw so many people who preached and preached the Bible but didn't practice it. Actually now that Ive read most of it, that number may have increased. But it also speaks of the people who do good even thought they may be spiritually uncircumcised. That, I felt was me. Yes, I did wrong at times, but I always felt that I was a good person and it bothered me that because I didn't ascribe to this label of "Christian" that I was somehow discredited for my good heart and works. I'm not talking about heaven or hell, I'm just talking about being a good person vs being a bad person.

I guess people who hate Jews don't read chapter 3 of this book?

2 Cor. 10-13

Lots of false prophet talk and then Paul indulges in a little foolishness! That Paul is a NUT! A nut I tell you. At one point he is even in a hand basket, and I wonder if he was thinking "where am I going and why am I in this hand basket?!" I bet he was.

Next bullet point on Paul's agenda is prayer. He talks of times he was in a pickle and prayed....and prayed.....and prayed until God answered him. Sometimes it may not be the answer we want at that time (reference: Garth Brooks song, Unanswered Prayers (see I can do it with country song too, my pop culture/biblical connections are FAR reaching and vast)) but it may be what we need and just don't know it yet.

And finally, Paul warns them that they cannot continue to do what they know is wrong and then continue to ask forgiveness over and over a gain. They seem to be doing good whilst Paul is there watching but as soon as he leaves they appear to go back to doing whatever they feel like.

AHH what a connection I feel with Paul. My students do this every single day. As long as I am staring at them, they do right. The minute I literally turn my head all hell breaks loose. Its crazy. I tell them at least once a day "Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking"......the rest of that quote being- "There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught." --J.C. Watts

2 Cor. 5-9

I say we all move to Corinth....

There was more talk about our earthy house vs our spiritual house. I thought a lot about what Jamie said yesterday about gaining knowledge as we get older and how that goes against all that happens to our bodies, or our earthly homes......and its just so true. It made me also think of this African proverb "every time an old man dies its as if a library has burnt down." I read that so long ago and it has always stuck with me.

It also talked about not hanging with the non believers. I understand what this is saying, but I think maybe it can be taken too far also. What woulda happened had Jamie not stuck it out with me for over a year. Like I told him the other day, had we not been such close friends and had I not trusted and respected him him so much (both of which were cultivated through friendship, which takes time) I never would have listened and agreed to do this. I realize that its not the same for everyone, but I think in befriending non believers and building that relationship of trust and respect, you have a better shot at having them listen and accept what you have to say.
Again, that's just my situation and maybe it worked because Jamie's so strong in his beliefs. I can understand where this warning is coming from I just can also see where it could be used for bad.

2 Cor. 1-4

Funny that there was talk of "yes" and "no"..... Sometimes we plan on doing something, we say yes to it.....but this is a plan made here according to the flesh, what if God steps in and changes what you are meant to do.....then are you a liar?
Nope, you are just listening to the higher power within yourself.

".....since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal, but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting."

These two things are absolutely the exact two things I needed hear today. And what's strange is that I had a harder time reading this morning than I probably ever had. I get up every morning at 5:30 to read and blog. This morning I got up but didn't start to even read until 6 because I was doing something else, then when I did start I stopped twice and put it down. I told myself I would just do it later. I have never not read and blogged if I had gotten up on time (not over slept). It was just a strange morning.....

Finally though I decided it was silly to be up and not get it done...and ta dah it had these two things in it that had been weighing on me.....how about that?!

Cor. 15-16

Paul reminds the people about who he used to be and how far he has come. He also goes through the Resurrection of Christ. Apparently there are some who don't believe in the resurrection of the dead. Paul tells them that if they don't believe that to be possible then they don't believe that Jesus was ever resurrected therefore, their faith is a delusion.
This is the kind of circular logic that Jamie and I often find ourselves discussing. If you believe this to be true then you can't believe that to be true......that sort of thing.

I LOVE 15:38-44. Here he explains that just as we have an earthy body we also have a spiritual body. No one who has ever had a great idea or created a piece of art, or laughed at something funny, cried while listening to a song or loved anything at all......can argue that this is untrue. Having a physical body doesn't begin to explain how or why these things happen. This is something else that we were just talking about a few days ago.