Posted on 11/18/2017 3:59:32 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
Dear FReepdom,
Well, I'm on the virtual road again, lookin' for a job suitable for a high tech redneck as I camp out in a cheap motel and drive a rented U-Haul pickup truck in Gainesville, Florida.
I've already put in for a couple of jobs that are telecommute. But I practically got shanghaied into submitting an application to a company called ASML in Wilton, Connecticut.
On paper, at least, I might be able to aggressively jump into this job, which pays $70/hr as contract.
Which money is sorely needed if I actually went there. Multi thousand dollar apartments. That's serious green.
But I did an overview of the situation that I'd face. I've been on a serious Christian spiritual thrust, and I mean like I'm channeling Jesus so strong sometimes that it's like I identify right down to the guts with His manly redneck side. And I have written more than one gospel song in first person prophetic mode (laden with His promises, addressed right to the listener).
And that's a problem now, I foresee. Because I can already envision what will happen when I go into one of those etiolated New England churches, or what's left of them. This ain't yesteryear's Puritans, who would understand. When those Puritans died, nothing replaced them. Only the shell of their legacy, which is painfully worldly now. I saw it happen in redneck Gainesville, how much more in New England? They serve out little spoonfuls of tincture of Jesus when I wanna haul out a bucket of stronger stuff and say HERE! And I'd get rebuffed at least, if not kicked out.
And wealth is leaving Connecticut (for what that's worth, but it probably augurs worse taxes or else a bad bust).
And then there's the Sandy Hook shooting. That was well chewed over on FR, but what strikes me is the way they reacted to it. There was such a hush-hush about the local details that some have proposed that the event was fabricated. I don't believe that myself. My hunch is that Sandy Hook was so ashamed -- not grieved, as in the church shooting in Texas, but ashamed -- that they sanitized it. Which is why not even obituaries, something that a more Christian, country-minded folk would not have omitted. And shame is the obverse of pride. I wouldn't get along with those folks as the robust "humble redneck" at all! It would be stilted to an unreal degree.
That said, if I absolutely HAD to go to Connecticut, what on earth could a Redneck do in that Yankee land? Beside pine away wishing he was down south again?
I am not worrying about you your profile is awesome, GOD you sir...
Most places are not 100% for either side. CT as a whole was 40.9% for Trump, Wilton CT was 36.4% for Trump. However, voting percentage doesn’t always equal the percent willing to speak publicly politically.
I was born and raised in Fairfield County, but moved to redneck country over 40 years ago. Although we love where we are and I could never move back to the northeast, my wife and I always enjoyed our trips back “home”. It’s too bad that so many of your voters are morons and keep electing fellow morons to run the state.
They had the luxury of being able to be secular liberal as long as they were lousy with dollars. But that couldn’t last forever. Worse, the GOP was corrupt. Illinois is not the only state to boast a past GOP governor now in jail for good reason.
Thanks... I might be thinking PCA Presbyterians now. I went to one today where I am in Florida... Not bad! I guess I got into a place where the Baptists are a bit clownish. Being #1 in an area can lead to arrogance.
Of course I am a bit of a Calvinut, so the Reformed flavor is good. But the devil and God are of course in the details.
Grew up in Connecticut, a relatively conservative state at the time, and entered into military service in 1983. There is NO state in New England I’d be comfortable living in except New Hampshire...and, surprisingly, Vermont. While Vermont is very liberal, its very libertarian (2A friendly). Connecticut is a NO GO. Ah F it...stay away from New England. They’ll rape your income.
Well I’m a rebel.
And I probably judge pretty kindly compared to freepers as a whole. Pharisees shouldn’t be told their poop don’t stink.
I’m not ashamed to be a redneck.
I hope I got the choice. If it’s Connecticut or die, though, I’m not about to choose “die.”
It was meant to be a positive message, answering a question you put forth publicly. O course when one has a certain mindset, they will never ever see the intent of a message.
But for sure, I am damn proud to be called a Pharisees by a redneck or rebel or whatever you label yourself.
enough!
I went non-Denominational 15 years ago. Found a church that sticks with the Bible and ALWAYS talks about Jesus.
guess what, did you think Jesus came to rah-rah the polite society?
God bless everybody wherever God wants them... these are all temporary training camps ultimately, and maybe the denominational/independent phenomenon is in part allowed in order that nobody might call any earthly Christian organization home.
I certainly don’t intend to be a denomination snob.
But don’t feel too bad about it. There isn’t any other choice but to be rude to the devil. The devil isn’t the Emily Post you want to be going to.
And still I’m getting the oddest notion now.
Could there be certain angels that are assigned to watch over various denominational groups, in the mercy of God. I’ve wondered if, due to circumstance, it’s been a lot of “Presbyterian angels” that have watched over my life, though doubtless some are multiple-duty and will also go to Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, etc. And then there would be “Methodist angels” etc.
Yee haw! If we knew what was going on in heaven, we’d wonder why we ever were aloof about “gathering together in His name.” Under even the least earthly banner whose believers would still accept us, no matter what that might be. We’re supposed to be companies of fighters and here we go around trying to be armies of one, if not carrying on a lot of “friendly fire.”
And then we go around wondering why Christendom seems to go almost nowhere.
Thanks - I was born into the Catholic Church and never heard enough of the message to be saved - was 50 when I sat in the first non-denominational church and clearly heard the message (had been praying for years that God help me understand what the deal was). Thousands of Christian religions/sects and they all seem to have their own pet interpretations/doctrines/tenets that seem to often get in the way of the message. I would assume a good pastor//priest might make all the difference no matter what the religion but don’t see how one can go wrong with the Bible as the main “handbook”.
Tho Holy Spirit is needed too, to get past potential human problems with the scriptures. I ought to know. I bumped my head very early on into one vexing problem that I couldn’t understand, till my head (figuratively) was bloody. It turned out that I’d been thinking on the wrong plane.
The scriptures presuppose a heavenly point of view, even though talking about affairs in both heaven and on earth. Learning what that point of view is (or if it is beyond our imagination, at least learning what it implies), is part of growing in Christ.
Even with that, there’s still camps of interpretation, such as the classic Arminian/Calvinist divide. I’ve ended up evolving to what some call mild Calvinist. But that’s a happenstance of history. When the Lord wove creation together, He didn’t come to any of us to direct Him how to do it, and so it easily embraces things that look like oxymorons from our natural worldly point of view. How can He infallibly destine and still extend to us a valid choice? To behold this is simply to fall down in awe. It makes any philosophical thinking cap simply go TILT. Embracing the paradox is the only way to progress, and so I go, confident in a good destiny, heartily beseeching people to believe!
And if the legacy Catholic and Orthodox doctrinal systems had a fault, it was to overthink in such a manner as to be giving God short credit on several planes.
Protestant was often thought of as protesting “against” the Catholic church, but I believe it’s more usefully thought of as attempting to protest “for” Christ. With the consequent chips falling where they may. It’s better to protest imperfectly for Christ than not at all. If I am “Protestant” I hope that’s the kind of protest I am protesting. And should the Catholic segment of Christendom get on board with that, it would be no objection to me but a great joy. It’s what Martin Luther stated that he hoped. He didn’t realize the daunting nature of fighting an entrenched institution in an environment where fragility already existed. The earthly church organization wasn’t tough enough to re-mold under the tension and pressure; instead it split up.
I have tried to embrace the useful aspects of many views of Christendom and so have tested and gained ideas from everything from Catholic to Seventh Day Adventist. Ideas that may be paradoxes but never stark contradictions. C. S. Lewis would have smiled.
My wife had been saved early on (her mother was a true gem) and she kept looking for churches as she served s my witness. We had been going to an Episcopal church (I called it "Catholic Lite") until they elevated the homosexual Gene whatshisface to Bishop and started grooming a female pastor in the local church. She told me she didn't think that was the church to be in but had heard good things about the non-denom church we ended up in.
God works in mysterious ways but the important thing is that He WORKS and it was there that I began to understand how Glorious He is.. He said "I Am" and now I have no doubt He Is....
Appreciate all you have contributed to His Glory over the years and will keep you in my prayers.
On another note, I have been watching my wife suffer for 3 years now as she watches our son (the only child she bore and from a previous marriage, but what is her is also me) dwindle away from cancer. He was originally given 6-18 months depending on treatment and early treatments seemed to be working but he is now probably within a couple weeks of being with God and she is tortured watching him suffer and that tortures me as I feel helpless to help her. Please offer some prayers for my wife, Ruby, and our son, Dan.
God Bless.
Good works is a good thing but I believe those who think they will get you into Heaven is denial of everything Jesus did for us - as those who tried to keep following the old way were told, "Ye have fallen from Grace"....
God Bless again.
And that grace was the grace that superabounded when sin abounded. There isn’t any viable excuse that “oh, we’re out of water” when we realize that it has come time to bathe.
Oh, some PEOPLE can be very dry about grace. But that’s their problem with God. It doesn’t have to be my problem, or your problem.
I believe Calvin nailed some important points, even at the cost of emphasizing Romans (a book largely about God’s rights) over other biblical books that fill in details which are important in living the life bestowed by Christ.
And there are matters of relative emphasis. God is love; God has glory. The one is even more fundamental than the other. It is love which moves God to bestow glory, in a merciful manner, upon a race that in a mysterious manner (hinted at by the Garden story) chose to be very inglorious before they were incarnated themselves.
I try to handle it as carefully as I can. But dog my cat, I have a big heart, to the point of being very awkward with it. I think of trying to park a monster truck downtown.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.