Update Season VI - "A New Day Dawning"

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

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https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=172092.0

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I'm not saying He endorses my decision.  Quite the contrary, I've signed on to His decision.  If it were my decision, I would be staying home and trying to work.  Since God is in charge, not me, I have to do what He tells me.  It makes even more sense to follow His direction since He bought me with a price, the price of His only Son's blood.  There is no greater love than laying down one's life for his friends and even enemies.  Since He bought me with His blood, I have no choice but to obey Him.

This makes no sense to non-Christians, I get that, and it is foolishness to non-Christians, but it doesn't make it any less true.

I will admit I'm not the best at following God's commands and listening to His teaching or even recognizing His calls.  However, I do know without a shadow of a doubt that this calling to move to Kenya is from Him, not from myself.

Or to some Christians.  Ever heard of free will?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I will be going down there to just minister to the children and the orphans and love on them.

Can you elaborate on the above without being too graphic?

Please tell me you've heard of the term "love on somebody."  It doesn't mean anything graphic, it means tending to their needs physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.

Pro tip - avoid using it while in Kenya.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Would you two stop the complete quotebacks?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

No mention of free will in the Bible, Bushie?  Not even a hint of it?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

No mention of free will in the Bible, Bushie?  Not even a hint of it?

I posted this on facebook just a little white ago in response to a post by our own Governor Scott.  My response is the first paragraph.

This write up is very true. I would add that our pain and suffering is caused by the fall of humanity. Because Adam and Eve ate the apple and sinned against God, they caused all of mankind to sin and have a sinful nature. God does not force Himself on anybody, so men are free to have their own thoughts and choose what they want to do. God did not create robots. When left to their own devices, men and women wreck everything they come in contact with. Only with God's help and God's guidance do things work the way they are designed to. God did not set off the bombs in Boston, but He allows men to choose their own thoughts and the perpetrators obviously did not choose the ways of God and set off two bombs on the streets of Boston.

...In theological terms, ...we're talking about... “theodicy” — the issue of why an all good, all powerful, and all loving God would allow such terrible things to happen to His children? Paul was getting at this issue in this part of his letter to those believers in Rome.

“Christian” or not, we still ache from the wounds that have been inflicted upon us in life. We still mourn and grieve the loss of loved ones. And we’re still mortal beings that will continue to know suffering until the day we die. It’s been said that in the early Christian churches, that there was much “weeping and wailing, moaning and groaning” — even during worship. In fact, loud and publicly expressed moans and groans were often a regular part of their worship services, and it’s still common in some sectors of Black and Pentecostal churches here in the U.S.! “I’m gonna moan when the Spirit says moan!…”

In this passage [Romans 8], Paul describes the Holy Spirit as a Being Who advocates for us in a heavenly Court — a Spirit Who translates our groans, or maybe as a Spirit Who echoes them, just as we’ve uttered them. It could be that moans and groans are “the Cosmic and Universal language of prayer and suffering."

Friends, because of Jesus, we know that God came to humanity to be with us in a unique way. While Jesus was alive on the earth, He was living a human life – with all of the joys and pains that go with it! This means our God was celebrating and suffering as a living human being!

Jesus Himself said to His disciples, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever… The Spirit of Truth ... The Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My name will teach you; My peace I give to you… Do not be troubled, don’t let your hearts be afraid” (from John 14:1-27). And here, Paul is attempting to explain this to the people of Rome. He’s saying that our pains and sufferings, even the ones we can’t talk about, that our pains don’t fall upon deaf ears to God! Instead, because of the life of Jesus, and because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we know that God is with us. We know that God is suffering with us each time that one of us is hurting. God’s Creation had to be blessed with freedom. Freedom for us to live lives with all the richness that life has to offer — including the freedom to suffer.

We know that God is not the cause of our pains or sufferings. Instead, God is our partner Who feels what we feel and offers us compassion and strength. And it is here that we can find our hope. It is here that we can find the strength to go on — in faith!
Church, we are assured that what we know now is incomplete. We’ve only begun to experience but a foretaste of the great heavenly banquet and blessed inheritance that we’ll all enjoy in the future. But even here and now, we can know that God is with us — sharing the broken bread that makes us whole. Amen.

- Roger Wolsey, "Kissing Fish: christianity for people who don't like christianity"

So the answer to my question is, yes?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Well, I'm home. It's a good thing I stayed over at Grandma's last night as my parents' property flooded last night and now there is all sorts of debris in the yard. The trailer was untouched, thankfully. I am resting up and will get a shower here before too long. I'll probably watch Baseball at Noon before heading back over to Grandma's for dinner again. Tonight, we'll have 11 people at the dinner table. We're going to have a really late dinner, about 18:15, and I'll probably escape shortly afterwards. I'm really starting to get worn out...

You're not going to help them clean up the debris?  Yes, I can see why you're tired based upon the last week of hard work.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Well, I'm home. It's a good thing I stayed over at Grandma's last night as my parents' property flooded last night and now there is all sorts of debris in the yard. The trailer was untouched, thankfully. I am resting up and will get a shower here before too long. I'll probably watch Baseball at Noon before heading back over to Grandma's for dinner again. Tonight, we'll have 11 people at the dinner table. We're going to have a really late dinner, about 18:15, and I'll probably escape shortly afterwards. I'm really starting to get worn out...

You're not going to help them clean up the debris?  Yes, I can see why you're tired based upon the last week of hard work.

We're not going to clean it up today, but I will help when we do.  The storm just occurred overnight and Dad's at work right now, and Mom and I still have family obligations tonight and tomorrow.  Saturday, I have a birthday party and then Mom, Dad, and I are going out for Mexican food.  Sunday, I have church in the morning and the evening, and then one more night of a family dinner on Monday.  We won't have a chance to clean it up for a little while.  I'm not going to get out there by myself, because I don't know where Dad wants to put everything.  I'm guessing the burn pile, but besides, the ground is too wet and muddy, still.

That's truly a disgusting and stunning response.  Time for a long hiatus.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I'm alright now, I was just worried about my grandmother this afternoon and that showed in my posting and the PM.  I'll be honest about this afternoon.  After church, I met Mom for lunch at Grandma's with my Aunt and by the time we got home,

You preach about family family family, yet you guys are driving your Granny to the brink of being physically ill with exhaustion due to the constant visiting by everyone, so you still don't cut the lady a break, even today?  How in the hell could everyone invade Granny's home for a month and not realize the poor lady can't handle it?  F[inks]ing ridiculous.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I've made out my list of what I want to work on this next year.  I didn't list everything, but I listed the major, glaring items right now such as weight, lying, porn, getting out of debt, etc.  It's kind of like New Year's Resolutions except starting on my birthday instead of January 1.

Being in such close quarters with your parents, porn is still an issue?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Braum's, which is a hamburger/ice cream fast food chain.

Dude, eat breakfast (protein), every day.  K?   Thx.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

You need a better travel agent.  The story you tell is so effing outrageous I actually believe you.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

at 9 am it is 38 degrees with drizzle in okc.  you can forget about bushie walking today!

There will be no walking today, not because of the weather, but because it appears I'm going to have to stay close to the bathroom.  My stomach is not real happy this morning.  I'll get back out there tomorrow.

Mitty nails it, again.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I don't think Bushie eating bacon and eggs for lunch after whining about a bad tum tum was smart.  Unless the tum tum was an excuse not to walk.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

i predict no walking for bushie today.  it is cold and someone has a birthday somewhere in oklahoma to celebrate.

Correct.  It's Granny's birthday (happy b-day, Granny) and he can't insult her by taking time to walk.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Maybe it's me and I'm too lazy to look, but didn't Bushie say he was favoring the new gay marriage laws and he couldn't tell his parents, who would kill him?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Case in point:  My cousin, the mother of the three nephews and sister-in-law to my Pastor, has turned lesbian.  This saddens my Pastor and his wife, like you wouldn't believe.  They cry every night together crying out to God to bring her out of this destructive lifestyle and back to Himself.  I'm a little more accepting of it, but still not supportive of it.  I still pray that God would bring her out of it.

Then your Pastor and his wife are both losers if they cry every night because your cousin is lesbian. There are millions of people in this world who are more deserving of those tears. I don’t have a god, but if I did I would pray for your cousin too; so that she get’s out of the ‘destructive lifestyle’ that is her family.

They are crying every night because they care more about her soul than they do about any temporary pleasure this lifestyle causes.  They love her so much that they want to get her out of the lifestyle and make sure she has her eternal future secured.  If we didn't love her, we would just let her continue on like she is.  They don't compromise the Bible even an inch even when it comes to their own flesh and blood.  They know the Bible has the Words of Life.  They are approaching her very gently and are letting God sort this all out right now.  We want to help her, but we don't want to push her away, either.

As for my thoughts, i know she is a Christian because she gave her heart to Jesus Christ a few years ago, but has since gone back.  She knows the truth, and she knows her sister, brother-in-law, mother, and me are there for her anytime she needs to talk.  I, personally, treat her lesbian lifestyle as sin, but no more sinful than anything I've done previously on this thread.  I will never endorse her lesbian lifestyle, and I, too, pray for her every night, but I will always love her for who she is and what she means to me.  If she asks me, I will tell her exactly how I feel and exactly what the Bible says, but I will not say anything unless she asks me.

How can anybody read this and tell me religion doesn't make people crazy?

Well it doesn't make this Christian crazy like Bushie.  Think of Bushie as the Christian version of an Islamic extremist.....it will put it in a clearer light for you.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Please shut up, Inks.  You're really a fycking pain in the ass now and you are just being belligerent for the hell of it......please stop.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Yay, Cracker Barrel...

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/companies/2004-05-07-cracker-barrel_x.htm

In OK this article would receive a great big yawn.