tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.comments2023-09-17T07:22:06.611-07:00From SoC to Points NorthTH in SoChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00483293929968668475noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-47775159980169230212017-08-03T11:03:26.064-07:002017-08-03T11:03:26.064-07:00It's a very tough thing to do, and I wouldn...It's a very tough thing to do, and I wouldn't want to straddle those lines without the Holy Spirit. I think it's also a matter of looking into one's heart and asking God for guidance. The more in Christ, the easier I believe these things get, or at least the less difficult.Alex Hortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09568667407917769956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-25161180481660792502012-01-06T14:46:44.307-08:002012-01-06T14:46:44.307-08:00Hi!
I just wandered over here from Club Orlov.
T...Hi!<br /><br />I just wandered over here from Club Orlov.<br /><br />Thanks for your posts. I've read just a few, but am happy to "listen in" on your thoughts.Rayenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-32471811551985672252011-09-02T17:08:27.393-07:002011-09-02T17:08:27.393-07:00I, too have thought about "being a good recei...I, too have thought about "being a good receiver" of the blessings that God has given us. He does say that He has plans to prosper us and do us no harm. When I think of the aspect of giving my child a gift or many gifts, I would love for them to appreciate it, yes. But to say, no thanks Dad, I won't need it or want it. With my human mind I'm thinking it would hurt. I know that I know my source of life and the blessings in it come from the one true God. And as long as I keep my relationship with Him in a higher priority than with the "stuff" he let's me steward.... that's the key. I like what I read in another book that the year of Jubilee was a way to get the playing field on a level ground again, so that the rich don't get TOO rich and the poor don't get TOO poor. In an effort to keep from focusing on your "haves" or your "have nots". If you think of the "nomads" and put them in the story of the talents... are they the ones that are gonna just bury the talents cuz they're not going to use these gifts God has given them to profit His Kingdom? I definitely believe there needs to be BALANCE. When you're walking the narrow path with a Higher walk as well. Picturing a tight rope walker here.... Balance is the one thing we need. I'd like to know that when I need some help (which I often do) I lean on God and God alone. Not to brag on me in the least, but to brag on God!mrupholsterymannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-66433419160773222032010-08-22T17:26:29.043-07:002010-08-22T17:26:29.043-07:00Thankyou for this study on the Rechabites. I agree...Thankyou for this study on the Rechabites. I agree with your assessment of American culture, even though I am Australian. Unfortunately, American culture rules the world, even in our small part of it. We get all your tv programmes, franchises and other cultural icons. Even though our politicians have smugly suggested we have done better economically than the rest of the world, our current hung parliament would suggest that Australian citizens might disagree with their grandiose self-assessment.<br /><br />I too find this intense attitude that we need to live like monks, or the Amish to be dangerous. I don't think that is advisable or reasonable, and I don't think it is necessary to retain our godly character. Not to mention, I tried living that way for some years. The elder who advocated this lifestyle the most often used his banned TV to watch sports. He always justified it by saying that it was all he watched TV for. Right. Legalism creates liars out of all of us.<br /><br />All I know is, we are the salt of the earth. Salt is funny stuff, it is strongly flavoured, astringent, cleansing and preservative. So, we are to be in the world but not out of it, as Paul said, he doesn't tell us to remove ourselves from the world, because that would mean dying. Even he got that we have to live with our culture.<br /><br />Its a difficult road we are called to walk, but I certainly find it easier knowing there are other thinking Christians out there like yourself.<br /><br />MegAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-37967172416275599392010-06-08T21:12:20.881-07:002010-06-08T21:12:20.881-07:00Thanks for your comment. I was thinking about wha...Thanks for your comment. I was thinking about what you said today as I was at work, and wondering why some ex-members of high-demand churches continue the same patterns of dysfunctional behavior once they leave their groups. Maybe some day when I have a little time, I'll write some thoughts on this subject.TH in SoChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00483293929968668475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-65312820863687799782010-06-07T18:09:38.123-07:002010-06-07T18:09:38.123-07:00Thankyou so much for this. It confirms everything...Thankyou so much for this. It confirms everything we have experienced. We tried to run a board for survivors of our group, it was attacked by all manner of people.<br /><br />We had ex-leaders who were now running their own churches who were convinced the 'good old days' weren't as bad as everyone said. These people insisted on lecturing everyone else on 'how to heal' yet had not had the spine to admit publicly that they had propped up the abusive system themselves whilst in the group.<br /><br />We had one ex-member from 30 years ago who on other boards had ranted about how much she hated christians, then came onto our board and pretended to sympathise with all the poor victims. In reality she was simply a serial forum bully who thought she could come onto our forum, gather a clique around her via private messaging and then attack us for being 'control freaks' because we tried to kurb her behaviour.<br /><br />It was certainly a lesson in the behaviour of ex-cult victims. We were amazed at how easily ex-members flocked around the ex-leaders and the same cult dynamics re-emerged. It was heartbreaking to see, and impossible to stop. In the end, due to the insane behaviour of the forum bully and our own inexperience and emotional exhaustion, we had to close the board.<br /><br />Many asked us what they were going to do now, but we had had enough. So they started their own forum, using the same software. We noticed nobody EVER mentioned the old forum, or our names. We were quietly shunned in the same way we had been by cult members in the street. If somebody happened to fleetingly mention the blog we write, others would change the subject, or ignore the post all together. It was incredible!!!<br /><br />The biggest eye-opener was the behaviour of one lady who had actually been the victim of some terrible abuse. Unfortunately, she was also the chief mourner, and as such, untouchable. She was actually an ex-leader herself, but we found that if she didn't like you, you had better watch your back because she was better than anyone at manipulating the situation to make you the bad guy while she retained her saint status with everyone else.<br /><br />We tried to help others, and tried to keep the forum safe, but we failed. We simply weren't expecting the apalling behaviour of people who were supposed to be trying to share their experiences and support each other. Instead there was just as much abuse on the board as there was in the cult.<br /><br />Stormchild gave us some very good advice at the time. 'Don't ever assume that a bunch of members on a forum will behave like adults on their own.' You have to be able to deal with the bullies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-71075856661312007242010-03-31T22:14:58.209-07:002010-03-31T22:14:58.209-07:00ROFL at the "lint" collection.
For lent...ROFL at the "lint" collection.<br /><br />For lent, I gave up striving.Recovering Alumnihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08118927101030203407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-12558639447997230512009-11-24T10:48:47.865-08:002009-11-24T10:48:47.865-08:00To all Exclusives who used to be Clusives: I promi...To all Exclusives who used to be Clusives: I promise not to breathe a word or look your way if you decide to quietly Google "The Unoriginal John Darby," "Edward Irving is Unnerving," "Pretrib Rapture Diehards," "Pretrib Hypocrisy," or "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty." Promise! Sincerely, Karl Meyer-HausAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-27916599673302612522009-11-07T20:14:18.857-08:002009-11-07T20:14:18.857-08:00Hey, thanks for your comment on my blog. You know ...Hey, thanks for your comment on my blog. You know exactly were my wife and I are coming from.GWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16169267251097244133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-83663913275742884982009-09-17T08:41:44.025-07:002009-09-17T08:41:44.025-07:00I missed this post and only read it just now. Sinc...I missed this post and only read it just now. Since I see a later post dated in September, I assume your surgery went well! No glasses now?! Woohoo! <br /><br />I see your political "vision" is improving, too!Meg_in_OChttp://geftakysassembly.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-45566601798172600882009-09-07T13:44:26.190-07:002009-09-07T13:44:26.190-07:00Right on target, TH.
You couldn't be more acc...Right on target, TH.<br /><br />You couldn't be more accurate if you used a laser guidance system.<br /><br />I'm a lefty... pretty obviously. Pretty much lifelong. AND a Christian, likewise. One who believes in the Resurrection and everything that goes with it. Including, especially, all that stuff in the book of James, and the older books of Isaiah and Amos before it. In fact, I got my leftyness from my Christianness, truth be told. <br /><br />I've also concluded that the refusal to believe in the reality of evil is precisely the thing that cripples most - shall we say, Progressive - initiatives. <br /><br />It's also one of the key distinguishing features of most Progressive [& New Age] thinking. The dogma, as you note, that everyone without exception genuinely means well, deep down, and if you just love them unconditionally enough for long enough, they'll suddenly, magically realize what they're doing "wrong" and how to do it "right"... <br /><br />This is, of course, complete hogwash. And it's extremely dangerous hogwash as well.<br /><br />It's the refusal to believe that anyone could actually EVer do Bad Things on PURpose -- <br /><br />-- that gives the people doing those bad things [on purpose? definitely!] precisely the cover they need to keep right on doing them. <br /><br />I can't think of a single instance, personally or historically, of any crooked or abusive politician, lobbyist, religious leader, business magnate, financier, or regulator - or any child abuser or spousal abuser, for that matter - who abruptly stopped being crooked or abusive one day, because his or her enabler(s) had finally enabled him or her "enough". <br /><br />It does not happen. Ever. Period.<br /><br />That bit from Lewis' preface to The Screwtape Letters comes to mind yet again: <br /><br />"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about devils. <b><i>One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.</i></b> They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."<br /><br />Or, he might have added, a Mather or a McCarthy [as in witch-hunts Old and New].<br /><br />And can you believe it: he captured the current dilemmas of both Left and Right, right there.<br /><br />.Stormchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039949137714076734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-55643893702708004272009-08-28T08:20:31.625-07:002009-08-28T08:20:31.625-07:00Thanks! Everything went well. The surgeon told m...Thanks! Everything went well. The surgeon told me that he has done procedures for the Portland Trailblazers. I asked him how good they were at free throws...TH in SoChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00483293929968668475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-37409806861002982062009-08-27T20:46:31.281-07:002009-08-27T20:46:31.281-07:00Hoping [praying] all went well, and you are OK.
S...Hoping [praying] all went well, and you are OK.<br /><br />StormStormchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039949137714076734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-28533218465375259942009-08-24T21:31:23.002-07:002009-08-24T21:31:23.002-07:00Thanks!Thanks!TH in SoChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00483293929968668475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-18257398665006744182009-08-24T18:45:06.194-07:002009-08-24T18:45:06.194-07:00Will keep you in prayer, TH. May the procedure go ...Will keep you in prayer, TH. May the procedure go smoothly and well, with minimal discomfort and no complications, may you heal quickly, and may you get the greatest possible benefit.<br /><br />In Jesus' Name, amen.<br /><br />StormStormchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039949137714076734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-16006391374041496942009-08-11T18:23:23.756-07:002009-08-11T18:23:23.756-07:00Uh oh, my 'hobby' is showing...
Saul was ...Uh oh, my 'hobby' is showing...<br /><br />Saul was almost certainly bipolar, if you study his history closely. And God help the nation whose leader[s] are both omnipotent and insane.<br /><br />David must have realized - everyone around Saul must have realized - that there was something seriously, seriously wrong, something that could not be fixed or even, at its worst, contained. <br /><br />To be able to maintain that perspective while the person you used to love dearly is now trying to hunt you down and kill you, in the throes of complete insanity, is simply incredible. David had great strength and wisdom - but this response is more than either of those. It's the response of a true man of God.<br /><br />Dropping the other shoe, now. Saul was, at least periodically, insane. I'm not sure our contemporary churchmen have that excuse; personality disorders are very different things from florid mania. <br /><br />It's easier, I think, to forgive the person who lashes out destructively because of an obvious disease; not so easy and perhaps not always so constructive to forgive the person who acts destructively because they can, they want to, and they're sure they'll get away with it. Which seems to fit most of the abusive church leaders of our times. <br /><br />In either case, I think one forgives best from a safe distance, with all wounds cleanly bandaged and beginning to heal.Stormchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039949137714076734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-33488404342170649882009-08-03T22:49:55.338-07:002009-08-03T22:49:55.338-07:00I've thought the same thing about how David wa...I've thought the same thing about how David was able to feel grief for Saul. I wonder if he wrestled with anger on another day though. I think all of us have suffered through all the stages of grief concerning what happened to us. <br /><br />Also, I agree that the old order of abusers aren't going to come to repentance any time soon. It's been a relief to leave them to their own devices. There are plenty of people standing in line to pray for them and that could be why we never felt the need after leaving. I think I did once or twice in a release sort of way.<br /><br />REally great post SoC!NoJokehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13689804617836257708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-75143646829092650492009-06-28T16:55:51.144-07:002009-06-28T16:55:51.144-07:00Thank you for this.
The single biggest stumbling ...Thank you for this.<br /><br />The single biggest stumbling block I have in my faith - that I can see, anyway [others doubtless see things I cannot] - is the seemingly constant, unremitting abuse, even slaughter, of innocents, here in this world that could be so beautiful.<br /><br />Human and nonhuman innocents alike.<br /><br />Only recently have I begun to understand. This is a war zone, in every sense of the word, and I am seeing and feeling and grieving the casualties of that war. Whether they are little bunnies squashed at the edge of the Interstate or little children maimed by land mines brought to their village fields from the Home of the Brave. <br /><br />It is a war, it is a war on all fronts, there is no neutral land.<br /><br />And I have become so very weary. <br /><br />Strangely, God threw me a lifeline too, very recently. It wasn't Luke, but Revelation - that bit about the multitudes robed in white, at the foot of His throne, all crying out to him, "How long, O Lord, how long?" <br /><br />Because I can well imagine, God willing, myself standing among them, and being plenty loud about it. <br /><br />Unlike earthly potentates, you'll notice that He didn't ship them all off to some chain-link encircled Free Speech Zone twenty blocks away from his motorcade. <br /><br />He's got them right with him. Right in front of where He sits. Not making any attempt to avoid or deny or minimize or discredit or drown out what they are saying. <br /><br />Which means it's OK for me to be weary and tell HIm so, and it's OK for you to be angry and tell Him so. I think if we weren't having these reactions, He'd be concerned that we didn't 'get it'.<br /><br />But how long, O Lord, how long?Stormchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039949137714076734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-65810625567778860852009-05-11T18:33:00.000-07:002009-05-11T18:33:00.000-07:00Ah well, if I recall correctly Jesus did a bit of ...Ah well, if I recall correctly Jesus did a bit of hollering too. And then there was that bit about the moneylenders, and the Temple courtyard? Cringeworthy, even for the Son of Man, I suspect, afterwards. <br /><br />Yet He was like us in all things excepting sin. <br /><br />Thus, there are times when even the direct and forceful expression of anger is appropriate.<br /><br />That being said, yeah, this might not have been one of those times. But I'm really pleased about a couple of things in this account. <br /><br />One is that she wasn't afraid of you. Please think about that. You're black, and male, and an Army veteran. And educated, and an engineer, absolutely. But a lot of folks - regardless of their own cutaneous melanin content - would just take the first two and run with them. Or from them. <br /><br />She not only didn't do that; if she ran at all, she ran to meet you, at least halfway.<br /><br />So I think even though you were angry, you must have been expressing it in a way that kept it - professional, somehow. Kept it from seeming personal, or out of control. Not all the credit for her response belongs to her, in other words.<br /><br />In re the whole 'rad rage' [as in: Fahrrad :-) ] issue: druther be angry than scared. It's risky on two wheels. You know this. It's also very hard to completely override the fight-or-flight response. If you have to pick one of them, fight is the one that doesn't incapacitate you.<br /><br />But Ecclesiastes has the definitive last word on this: 7:7: Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad. <br /><br />It's not just the threat from people who don't know how to share the road. It's all the things that you see and understand, because you've been thinking and researching and are concerned, and all of these things are what put you on the bike in the first place. And there you are, sitting at a stoplight with all the people in Hummers who just haven't gotten there yet, riding up on your rear fender. And time's running out, and you know that too.<br /><br />Which brings me back to Jesus. He did tend to get ticked a bit now and then, and y'know? It was for much the same reason. He just couldn't believe people didn't get it, or didn't care. Could not believe it. And time was running out... <br /><br />A very long and winding way of saying: take heart. You know what is going on, and what to do, and you're doing it. But I will certainly pray for you, because it ain't easy!Stormchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039949137714076734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-30607646705133661802009-04-07T17:44:00.000-07:002009-04-07T17:44:00.000-07:00This is a very interesting post to read from someo...This is a very interesting post to read from someone who lives in Australia. We don't have a religious right as such, not one with as much power as yours anyway.<BR/><BR/>What we do have are wannabes who copy everything which comes out of the US which even looks remotely successful and popular, churches like Hillsong in Sydney (an Assemblies of God church) tend to be like this. It is run by one man Brian Houston, who likes to think he is Australia's answer to ....pick any successful religious right preacher) Right wing politicians gravitate to churches like this because thousands of people can't be wrong and it always looks good to be televised speaking to thousands of smiling faces, who likewise think that if they can attract a frontbench politician they must be some kinda wonderful.<BR/><BR/>The divide between left and right politically in Australia is becoming very blurred and many just see Australian politicians as sucking up to whichever world leader happens to be in the neighbourhood. As to the religious right, seems to be the same agenda.<BR/><BR/>Many of the old religious right (Dave Wilkerson et al) are now preaching that we have to raid the tinned food aisle and hunker down for an old fashioned fire and brimstone type judgement of God in the times ahead.<BR/><BR/>Certain types of Christians in Australia also endorse that type of approach as much as always. Frankly, I am a tad over that type of thing.Megnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-54524580964396178032009-04-06T20:01:00.000-07:002009-04-06T20:01:00.000-07:00Funny, isn't it, that so few ostensible Christians...Funny, isn't it, that so few ostensible Christians [of any political persuasion] appear to have -ever- read the Book of Acts?<BR/><BR/>Especially Acts 2:44-47.<BR/><BR/>Bravo, TH. Bravo!Stormchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039949137714076734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-10343089715706388082009-02-24T20:52:00.000-08:002009-02-24T20:52:00.000-08:00I think this is what gets people in the door of th...I think this is what gets people in the door of these big churches and that is hype. This is why my husband and I homechurch. We wanted our children to hear the truth directly from the word of God. In actuality, isn't that what it is all about? I mean you can worship in you bathroom, or your bedroom. God just wants to connect with us and he wants us to get as many people to heaven as possible. I think right now, I am so close to my Lord than I ever was in a church setting. I am in the word everyday and I fellowship with my friends and blog buddies. I sing always on my own and I pray just as much or more than I did in church. Your right, churches are all about new and better. What about the bible, where does it fit in to the sceme of the churches? As long as you are reading and letting God lead you, you are a follower of God.Tanya Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03969420381172014328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-9772912153569846022009-02-22T19:36:00.000-08:002009-02-22T19:36:00.000-08:00thanks for the link, but just thought you should k...thanks for the link, but just thought you should know that Spinifex Diaries died a natural death.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I still really enjoy reading your blogs now and then, intelligent, sensitive and insightful. A very encouraging read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-55310041005527947352009-02-07T21:55:00.000-08:002009-02-07T21:55:00.000-08:00Thanks for your comment. I think that just having...Thanks for your comment. I think that just having the desire to be a witness in your community is an important start. I will pray that the Lord opens your eyes to opportunities. Also, I greatly enjoyed your post, "Pilgrim, Make Progress."TH in SoChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00483293929968668475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53248396022057583.post-1986601879802476182009-02-05T12:38:00.000-08:002009-02-05T12:38:00.000-08:00Insightful post TH! I've been thinking alot about...Insightful post TH! I've been thinking alot about this issue lately - of being accessible to my neighbors and somehow lending a helping hand to my community. Not so much to preach the gospel I so believe in but to actually do some good where they may need it most. <BR/><BR/>These last years have been getting well enough to be able to do more than look out the window, fixing to do something. Now I'm feeling a bit of guilt, needing to actually contribute but not sure where. Just praying about where the Lord wants me to put my energy.NoJokehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13689804617836257708noreply@blogger.com