Vanessa Pinto, writing for the Huffington Post:
We live in a city where we are encouraged to try everything out, but God or religion is definitely not one of them.
Tag Archives: faith
Prove What Can’t Be by Not Seeing It
When G. K. Chesterton was arguing against a rationalist who denied miracles on the ground that experience is against it, he cited this:
There was a great Irish Rationalist of this school who, when he was told that a witness had seen him commit a murder, said he could bring a hundred witnesses who had not seen him commit it. (Gilbert Keith Chesterton, 176)
Friday Factoid: Islamic Law
According to Islamic law, the sharia, it is forbidden for a Muslim to change religions. In Saudi Arabia, Iran, the Maldive Islands, Afghanistan and Yemen, people can be subject to the death penalty if it is discovered that they have changed religions.
You just won the stem-cell war. Don’t lose your soul.
On Monday, President Obama lifted the ban on federal funding of stem-cell research using destroyed human embryos. If you support this research, congratulations: You won. Now for your next challenge: Don’t lose your soul.
Expelled the Movie opens this Friday
Ben Stein seeks to determine whether Intelligent Design is legitimate or just a pseudo-science in Expelled, the Movie.
My own Operation Rice Bowl
The World Bank defines poverty as living on less than $2 a day and extreme poverty as living on less than $1 a day.
During Lent, I’ve decided Continue reading
Ode to my sweet love
You have been a true friend,
You kept me company at night.
I’m sorry for my inattention,
Oh, how I have neglected you.
You allowed me
To express myself in ways I never imagined.
You opened the door
To a web of a world I had never known.
You changed me
Into a person I never knew I could be.
But when you turned away from me,
You left a hole in my heart.
What was I to do?
Dialogue was broken.
I could not post,
And no one could comment.
To revive the relationship,
The well of my wallet was emptied.
The cost, higher than normal.
But now, your name is restored.
Your domain, secured.
You are once again mine,
And mine alone.
I cherish our bond,
And promise my faithfulness–
From now, until
I come up with a better domain name.
Fixed comments
I really like it when people leave comments on my site. I like the dialogue and just knowing that someone’s taking in all the junk I put out here. Since I loaded up the Star Wars theme, I didn’t receive a single comment, not even from my one faithful reader. As it turns out, the comments weren’t working. I was the only one who could post comments if I was logged in. Anyhoo, they’re fixed now, so comment away and make my day.
A Faith-Based Perspective on Suicide
Religion of nones
San Francisco Chronicle (USA), Dec. 4, 2003
http://www.sfgate.com
By Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer
Growing numbers shed organized church for loose spiritual sensibility
Kellee Hom was raised in the Roman Catholic Church but never imagined she’d become a religious none.
No, not “nun.” That’s “none,” as in “none of the above.”
Hom is among a growing number of Americans who simply answer “none” or “no religion” when pollsters ask them their religious affiliation. Some “nones” identify themselves as atheists or agnostics, but the vast majority believe in God, pray and often describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.”
“My sense of God transcends all the different religions,” said Hom, a clinical supervisor at Asian American Recovery Services in San Francisco, which helps people with substance-abuse problems. “It’s an energy.”
Nones are one of the fastest growing religious categories in the United States.
Continue reading
10 hour days…add in the
10 hour days…add in the commute time: 12 hour days, not to mention several more hours a week to plan for this VBS monster.
Just as I was posting this rant, I received some encouragement:
ronabow: oh Lord, i pray for my sista beej…that You would grant her rest. Lord, please help her plan for the vbs bible studies…may You guide her and lead her. i pray that she will be effective in her teaching and open to how Your Spirit leads. may beej remember it’s not about being perfect, cuz You work thru our imperfections…and many times You use what we offer in obedience. thank You, Lord, for being so faithful…and so beautiful and so wonderful. i also pray that beej will be able to rest in Your arms each day. may she be still and know that You are God. You are so worthy of our all. thank You, Lord. :) in Jesus’ precious name, amen.
BEEJius: thank you, rona
ronabow: welcome beejie
ronabow: love ya
Besides prayer, I think I also need a massage.
Something about the ocean
I don’t feel like writing about anything, but this song by Ten Shekel Shirt came to mind as I watched a most beautiful sunset this evening over the Pacific.
Something about the ocean
makes me rise up and praise.
Something about the heavens
makes me stand in awe again.
Something about the sunrise
reminds me of Your faithfulness.
Poem
Taken from a creative soul who put this on the internet:
You illness of the past century
Coming and destroying family
You are strong battling
From the inside
Slyly you are coming
Without asking you are entering
In between a loving family
You are not asking, you are taking
But there is something you will never take
It is something so special, so unique
Even with your power you will never touch
And that, is the soul of people
But most of all, the love they have for each other
Will never be destroyed
Now when your work is done
You go, but what we will remember is not you
But the person and what he shared with us
Now who is the winner you or us?
I will say us because we remember the best
What a soul can bring to us
With the help of GOD
You are only one of our other obstacles
For our way to Heaven
You gave us more that you brought us.
You gave us strength and faith, love and friends
You gave us hope and patience, unity and family.
To all who are suffering from cancer. My prayers are with you, especially you, Gong-gong.
“The Promise” by Plus One
Plus One
I know that lately
Things have been so hard
And looking out
Through your broken heart
All you can see is dark
And lonely days ahead
But remember Jesus said
[c h o r u s]
He knows every star in the sky
Every single tear that you cry
His love is here faithful and alive
I know that this world can be cold
In His arms you’re never alone
That’s His promise to you and I
When hope has disappeared
And your heart aches
You might not recognize
The touch of grace
But on the other side
Of every dying dream
His love is waiting patiently
With every angel there’s a love
That never leaves your side
His love is deeper than the ocean
Or a mountain high
You’ve got to know
There’s hope in your heart
And if you listen with your heart
I know you’ll hear Him say
You are My child and I am with you
Each and every day
He is the one who knows your soul
That’s the promise for you and I
I changed back to the
I changed back to the old comments system. Enetation was just way too slow. I think the page seems to load a little faster now.
Things have not been going well lately. Maybe I’m just in a “funk” because things just suddenly seem to come up, all with the goal of giving me grief. There’s so much going on, I don’t even know where to begin. I’m just tired. And school hasn’t even started yet. Maybe I’ll just get my refund and not go this semester. Man, if I can just go somewhere where I don’t have to deal. But I guess God doesn’t call us to do that. Maybe this is why I need more patience and self-control and faithfulness…and…oh man. I guess I just have to realize that it’s these “funks” in my life that God uses to show me that I am not self-sufficient. I need more. And yes…I do. Maybe I just need to pray more. I’ve been slacking off in that area lately. Does your spiritual life often reflect the way things are going in your life? Or vice versa? Seems like they go hand in hand.
I gotta get off this depressing subject. I found this rubber ball game to be quite the stress reliever.
Side note: I never knew I can spend so much time at Target. I went there yesterday with some friends and we just looked up and down every aisle! I usually go, get what I need, and then leave. But wow, if you’re ever bored. You and your friends can spend half a day there just hanging out and shopping!
I don’t think I learn
I don’t think I learn or grow as much as when I’m serving in ministry. Weird. Faith is supposed to produce works, which, in turn, increases faith. Only those who have served and survived truly understand what that means. I am starting to understand.