Atheists and Others

According to a study there are 6 persons adhering to a religious belief in the world for just 1 secular, athiest, non-religious, or agnostic.  This counts all the world’s major and minor religions.

6 to 1.  Those are pretty long odds in a world of about 7,000,000,000 people.  Now lets account for discrepencies.  There are different shades of religious belief from fundamentalist to the “Only on Church Holiday” crowd.  On the other hand the need to break down the other group should be apparent.  There are shades of those blokes too.  Agnostics are hedging their bets.  Secular and non-religious just don’t give a damn to care one way or the other.  The Atheists are the Fundamentalists of that lot.

thanks for letting me share.

g

He is not here.

He has risen, just as he said.

Happy Easter

I’m Just Saying

Just Saying What? The Bible Is Unique

1. Written over a 1,500 year span.

2. Written over 40 generations.

3. Written by over 40 authors from every walk of life including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars, etc.:

• Moses, a political leader, trained in the universities of Egypt
• Peter, a fisherman
• Amos, a herdsman
• Joshua, a military general
• Nehemiah, a cupbearer
• Daniel, a prime minister
• Luke, a doctor
• Solomon, a king,
• Matthew, a tax collector
• Paul, a rabbi

4. Written in different places:

• Moses in the wilderness
• Jeremiah in a dungeon
• Daniel on a hillside and in a palace
• Paul inside prison walls
• Luke while traveling
• John on the isle of Patmos
• Others in the rigors of a military campaign

5. Written at different times:

• David in times of war
• Solomon in times of peace

6. Written during different moods:

• Some writing from the heights of joy and others writing from the depths of sorrow and despair

7. Written on three continents:

• Asia
• Africa
• Europe

8. Written in three languages:

• Hebrew: Was the language of the Old Testament: In 2 Kings 18:26-28 called ‘the language of Judah.”  In Isaiah 19:18 called the language of Canaan.’
• Aramaic: Was the ‘common language’ of the Near East until the time of Alexander the Great (6th century B.C. – 4th century B.C.)
• Greek: New Testament language. Was the international language at the time of Christ.

9. Its subject matter includes hundreds of controversial subjects.  A controversial subject is one which would create opposing opinions when mentioned or discussed.  Biblical authors spoke on hundreds of controversial subjects with harmony and continuity from Genesis to Revelation.  There is one unfolding story: ‘God’s redemption of man.’ – Josh McDowell

United Methodist Church

The United Methodist Church

I was less than 5 years old when I began going to church.  The church I attended was a Methodist one.  There was no “United” Methodist Church back then (shortly after Martin Luther posted his love note to the Catholics).  I don’t recall when they became united.  They didn’t bother to ask for my opinion or even inform me of the change.  I didn’t get my feelings hurt.  This happens a lot.  For example, did you know that there is no “Bombay”, India any more?  That’s right.  They changed it to “Mumbai.”  I didn’t even get a memo.

But that’s not why you called.

I went to the Methodist church because it was within walking distance and my mother felt like I needed church.  She was right.  She has never been wrong.  Bank on it.  When I was 11 I was baptized by the Methodists.  I didn’t continue going very much longer.  I became interested in cigarettes and marijuana and started down THAT wrong road.  But I still was spiritual in my way.  It was during the seventies and there was a thing called the “Jesus Movement” that had a lot to do with evangelism and charismatic churches.  I went to a pentecostal church for a while.  When I entered my twenties I began to realize that I needed a religious foundation again and tried the Baptists and even thought about Catholicism for a short while, going so far as to attend catechism classes.  But there were certain things I just couldn’t wrap my head around with the Caths.

So I went back to the Methodists.  It felt and feels like home.  I find the most spiritual peace in a Methodist congregation.  I reccomend them.

By the way,  just did a spell check–it recognizes “Bombay” but NOT “Mumbai.”  Huh?  Am I right or am I right?

The United Methodist Church is linked in this post and in my blogroll.

Here’s a little something from them:

Why does the church exist? “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:19-20).

Based on this “Great Commission,” our United Methodist Church has stated its purpose: “The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Local churches provide the most significant arena through which disciple-making occurs”

So the mission of our congregation is to make disciples. This is a four-fold task….We could abbreviate our mission as one of welcoming-worshiping-nurturing-sending.

We reach out to people and welcome them into the church

We relate people to God and help them deepen their relationship with God

We nurture people in Christian living

We support people in their ministry

Methodists in Mission

The United Methodist faith is deeply rooted in the Scripture and in the basic beliefs of all Christians. Out of that theology and the faith have grown some specific actions that mark United Methodists as Christians engaged in ministry to the world. The early members of the groups that eventually became The United Methodist Church

• took strong stands on issues such as slavery, smuggling, and humane treatment of prisoners;
• established institutions for higher learning;
• started hospitals and shelters for children and the elderly;
• founded Goodwill Industries in 1902;
• became actively involved in efforts for world peace;
• adopted a Social Creed and Social Principles to guide them as they relate to God’s world and God’s people;
• participated with other religious groups in ecumenical efforts to be in mission.

Disciples of Christ

New link here and in blogroll:  Disciples of Christ.

According to the Disciples’ website.

The church is identified with the Protestant “mainstream” and is widely involved in social and other concerns. Disciples have supported vigorously world and national programs of education, agricultural assistance, racial reconciliation, care of the developmentally disabled and aid to victims of war and calamity.

The denomination now counts about 700,000 members in the United States and Canada in about 3,700 congregations. Numerically, the strength of the Disciples of Christ runs in a broad arc that sweeps from Ohio and Kentucky through the Midwest and down into Oklahoma and Texas.

And They Thank You For Your Support.

And Yet It Moves!

Galileo Galilei allegedly muttered these words when he was forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun.  In order to avoid excommunication and probable execution as a result of Heresy, Galileo was forced to recant his theory in a Church trial in 1633.  Even after recanting, he was still under house arrest and of course his future writing came under intense scrutiny of the Church.  Six years after the trial he went blind.  Three years after that, he died.

Did he die a broken man?  You bet.  Was he later vindicated?  You bet, and of course.

At the end of his trial did he mutter, “And yet it moves!”  Are you kidding me?  They would have burnt him on the spot.  There is no proof he ever said it.  His first biographer makes no mention of it.

But it sounds good doesn’t it?  It’s something that you would have wished for him to say.  This broken man would therefore be able to grasp at least a shred of his formal dignity by this parting thumb of the nose.  But sorry folks, he didn’t say it.  It’s just another of the lies told you by your high school history teacher.

Hope I didn’t burst any bubbles.  I take that back.  I hope I did.  *shrug*

c.e.s.

No Qualifiers

God is Jesus.

Jesus is God.

The Holy Spirit is both of them.

Unequivocally.

I also believe in the Devil.

HA!  There!  I said it!

c.e.s.

Prophecy

Guessing, having a vivid imagination, and hallucinations are not the same thing as prophecy.  There is such a thing but these things are not it.  Being right on a few predictions does not mean correctness on all subsequent predictions.

Even a blind pig finds the occasional acorn.

There is such a thing as prophecy, but discernment is required of the observer.

Merry Christmas

Here I am, December 24th 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, sitting in front of my computer at home and alone–working on my blog.  I’m also listening to my itunes and playing the occasional game of computer chess (currently challenging level 5 of 10).

 

I am sitting here alone but not sad.  There have been Christmases when I have been sad and alone.  There have been Christmases when I have been drunk, sad and alone.  I haven’t had many Christmases since I was a child that I was not alone–and sad most of those.  And drunk quite a few.  I used to kill the loneliness and sadness with booze.  I don’t do that anymore.  Notice that I distinguish between aloneness and loneliness.  They do not equate.  Because, for example, at this moment I am alone but not sad.

Oddly, I do feel occasional pangs of loneliness, but they do not lead–necessarily–to sadness or depression.

O.K.  I seem to be rambling a bit here.  Let me try to clarify.

I am unmarried and poor.  I have no romantic relationship at this point in time.  I have no family within 200 miles of me, and that is my aging and ailing mother and my daughter.  I have no means of transportation and not enough money to visit.  This accounts for the being alone part.

The lack of family (nearby) or romantic interest accounts to a degree on the loneliness part.

The fact that I no longer drink to kill feelings of emptiness and loneliness accounts for the lack of sadness and/or depression.  But not by itself.  If there was nothing else to replace the negative feelings I would be left void and once again prone to being sad and depressed.

The fact is that my life has undergone many profound changes in the past two years and that was kicked off by putting down the bottle.  I rediscovered my faith in God.  Through prayer and meditation I discovered that I was not completely alone even with no one around me.  I began to rely on God’s love and wisdom to restart my life.  I began to stop trying to fix everything on my own.  I began to allow Him to show me where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to be doing.

I am now living a life of service to children and the poor.  My wages are poverty wages but I feel immensely enriched by the Grace and Blessings with which God continues to shower me.

I cannot begin to describe the depths to which I had sunk in so short a space anymore than I can begin to describe the heights to which my spirit has climbed and is continuing to ascend.

The point?

The point is that this is a Merry Christmas.

And I pray the same for you and yours.

c.e.s