The Neverending Story (The Christian Chronicles)

AP ^ | 3/24/01

[IMRight]

And David cleans his LiveWire orange soda from his monitor.

I take it "LiveWire" is some kind of "jolt" high-caffeine beverage? Is that how you post so late at night?

[IMRight]

Yall can't keep him locked up in the church either. We are supposed to share Him:')

Y'all can have visitation rights on alternate thursdays and a month during the summer.

[CindyDawg]

The bell it rings for me says it is not a direct quote from Jesus. Are you claiming "proof" for something which hasn't happened? Revelation is just that, not a Scriptural quote of Jesus.

This confuses me Reg. Are you doubting John because Jesus told him this in 1:8. (It's even in red lol)

[Dr. Eckleburg]

LOL.

"So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof." - Proverbs 1:19.

One can only hope you are "...a man of understanding (who) will attain unto wise counsels." - Proverbs 1:5. 8~)

[malakhi]

Hey, has anybody keyed Steven in on this yet? He's never been a big fan of tradition. -)

As an unorthodox Jew, I don't take Jewish tradition to be binding. Think of it as equivalent to theological speculation.

[CindyDawg]

Who is dealing tonight? what's the ante? I'm about broke. Okie needed a new halter.

[malakhi]

Heheheh... five card draw, no wilds. Since you just sprung for a new halter, we'll keep it nickel and dime. ;o)

[CindyDawg]

I have 5 aces! Wow. Can any of yall beat that? :')

There is an old CW song about a soldier who didn't have a bible and used a deck of cards to tell the "story". Any of yall remember it or who sang it?

[malakhi]

Have you guys seen the new TV ad for Miller beer? Here's a link (you have to enter a date of birth -- fictional or otherwise -- to access the site):

http://www.millerbrewing.com/brandsBreweries/advertising.asp?com=millerLite&action=presidentOfBeers60

Pretty clever!

[Invincibly Ignorant]

Hey, has anybody keyed Steven in on this yet? He's never been a big fan of tradition. -)

You rang? :-)

How do you key somebody? I've only been pinged. Sure I'm a fan of tradition. When its not fabrication.

[restornu]

TIME FOR A GET AWAY................

Island Living...

On a chain of beautiful islands in the middle of nowhere, the following
people are stranded:

Two Italian men and one Italian woman

Two French men and one French woman

Two German men and one German woman

Two Greek men and one Greek woman

Two English men and one English woman

Two Bulgarian men and one Bulgarian woman

Two Japanese men and one Japanese woman

Two Chinese men and one Chinese woman

Two Irish men and one Irish woman

Two American men and one American woman

One month later, on these absolutely stunning deserted islands in the
middle of nowhere, the following things have occurred:

One Italian man killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman.

The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a
menage a trois.

The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of alternating visits
with the German woman.

The two Greek men are sleeping with each other and the Greek woman is
cleaning and cooking for them.

The two English men are waiting for someone to introduce them to the
English woman.

The two Bulgarian men took one look at the Bulgarian woman and started
swimming to another island.

The two Japanese have faxed Tokyo and are awaiting instructions.

The two Chinese have opened a convenience store, restaurant, laundry,
and have gotten the woman pregnant in order to supply employees for
their store.

The two Irish men divided the island into north and south and set up a
distillery. They do not remember if sex is in the picture because it
gets somewhat foggy after a few liters of coconut whiskey. However, they
are satisfied because the English aren't having any fun.

The two American men are contemplating suicide, because the American
woman will not shut up and complains relentlessly about her body, the
true nature of feminism, what the sun is doing to her skin, how she can
do anything they can do, the necessity of fulfillment, the equal
division of household chores, how sand and palm trees make her look fat,
how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her nicer than
they do, how her relationship with her mother is the root of all her
problems and why didn't they bring a damn cell phone so she could call
911 and get them all rescued off this Godforsaken deserted island in the
middle of freaking nowhere so she can get her nails done and go
shopping.

[CindyDawg]

HMM. Just a minute. Ok, my toenails look good but it's time for fingernail filling :')

[CindyDawg]

Eddie looking for this song for me but yall just have to hear Toby Keiths "Talaban"

[restornu]

Hey what's the Bulgarians?

what a reputation!

[AlguyA]

"How do you key somebody? I've only been pinged. Sure I'm a fan of tradition. When its not fabrication."

Well, I was only kidding. However, since you decided to take a shot,,,is the Jewish tradition that there is a potential messiah in every generation a "fabrication?" And, if not, can you cite the Scripture which supports it?

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Yep, it's a hard pill to swallow to say every man deserves hell, and some men, through God's gift of faith alone, and not for anything they are or do, will get the stairway to heaven.

But the opposite point of view is absurd. It has God being subservient to man; God waiting blindly on man; and God not really knowing what man will do next.

You can try to say God knows a person's choices beforehand, and so He knows ahead of time who "deserves" salvation, but that's simply playing word games with God's omniscience. Like tempting the Mods. 8~)

If He's God, He knows everything.

If He's God, He created everything.

If He's God, He can do anything.

And since He's God, if he chooses to permit a man to jump off the railroad platform, and allows the train to continue down the tracks until it hits the man and and splatters his vital bodily fluids all over the mud, even though that man jumped in front of the train on his own, God still did nothing to prevent it.

He could have; but He didn't. So in the great scheme of things, that man met his sad fate among the weeds and cinders. What will be (through the grace and mercy of God alone), will be.

This is not fatalistic, but realistic within the knowledge God has given us about Himself, about the God of Genesis, Exodus, Job, Mark, Romans.

Its like Harley said. Reading the Bible, viewing life, considering alternatives, all from the starting point of God's complete sovereignty, changes everything...for the better.

I offered this to another friend. Live like a Calvinist for one day. (Please, spare us the jokes.) Every step you take, believe that God is lighting your path. Every act you undertake, believe God is guiding your hands. Every struggle you endure, trust that God has given it to you for your growth and His pleasure. And do all this believing every breath you take for 24 hours has been ordained by God to accomplish exactly His will.

Fifty-seven Calvinists on Free Republic will wager that you will feel happier. You will accomplish more. You will be more loving to your family and more gracious to strangers. You will sleep better at night, knowing that God, out of His infinite love for you, has given you a gift more precious than gold.

And here's the best part. This spectacular gift, this wondrous peace, is available to all. Everyone. All over the world. For all time.

And you will know them by their walk.

You can't really blame non-reformed too much. Centuries of denying God's sovereignty in order to maintain human control over other men produces lots of mischief, not the least of which is that man can actually presume to stand up and say to God, "Oh, yeah? Make me."

He always does.

[CindyDawg]

Now, I've come to the conclusion that the NES is little more than the world's longest private game of poker between y'all (trying to see which side will lose and convert first). But you need to come to the conclusion that if you all really want a private poker game, you need to get yourselves a private room. One that's safe from the mods, anyway.

You want us to leave? Come on, admit it, yall would be bored to tears here all by yourselves :')

Dawg

[Frumanchu]

John 17:

Do you mean the whole chapter? I don't see how this is supporting your assertion, particularly in light of John 17:5. Can you explain a little further than just a chapter reference?

[Gamecock]

The force is strong with you, yes it is.

[Quester]

And since He's God, if he chooses to permit a man to jump off the railroad platform, and allows the train to continue down the tracks until it hits the man and and splatters his vital bodily fluids all over the mud, even though that man jumped in front of the train on his own, God still did nothing to prevent it.

I don't think that anyone argues that God doesn't permit evil ... some of us just don't believe that He's really compelling the guy to jump in front of the train.

Live like a Calvinist for one day. (Please, spare us the jokes.) Every step you take, believe that God is lighting your path. Every act you undertake, believe God is guiding your hands. Every struggle you endure, trust that God has given it to you for your growth and His pleasure. And do all this believing every breath you take for 24 hours has been ordained by God to accomplish exactly His will.

I would wager that many of the evangelical christians on FR live almost exactly this way.

The only difference is that that when we give our fellow driver the finger for cutting us off ... we don't believe that it is God's will.

We believe that, rather, it is a failure on our part to conform to God's will.

Now, God's will will still, ultimately, be done ... He just needs to work on us some more.

Fifty-seven Calvinists on Free Republic will wager that you will feel happier. You will accomplish more. You will be more loving to your family and more gracious to strangers.

Well, if you ask me, the FR Calvinists need to work a bit on the graciousness part. I wouldn't think that taunting those who don't believe as you do is particularly gracious.