I wanted to go to bed and was closing out when I saw this article. It is about the trips and gifts that were given to Calpers staff. Amazing. Calpers trips.
Without giving out who I am, I do work for the government. On occasion people will buy each other lunch, it is no big deal. You have a meeting over lunch in a friendly atmosphere. Lets face it, even if you work for the government you still make friends with people you work with. When I do, I will pay every other time. I don't bill the government, it is a matter of a respect. It is well below the $50 amount. I just don't want to haggle over the cost of every lunch. Heck, I even bought lunch a couple of times for a billionaire, he hated that, lol. He knows I don't get an expense account for such things and it is nothing to him. Makes me feel good and as if, I don't know how to say this. It is very freeing to buy lunch for a billionaire knowing that you don't want anything from him. It is worth more than $50. Because of the divorce, it is still in my freezer, I know it hasn't gone bad, I would not turn over bad meat to a charity.
Oh yeah, I usually just send things back, could not do it with the meat, had to freeze it. The only other gift I ever received was a jacket. I looked it up online, it was worth $45, not $50. How sad is my life, I had to look up the cost of fricken jacket. I was forced to leave my beloved Los Angeles and go to the east coast, it was cold and they gave me a jacket, they had hundreds of them. It was a throw away advertisement, I appreciated it as I had not brought a jacket. The company had offered my government to pay for my trip, the government insisted that they pay for it. I cannot say I really cared, I don't like traveling.
I hate business travel. I mean, I really hate it. I have cussed people out, refused to submit expense statements and generally been a complete jerk when I have to travel. I think it is my way of begging to not travel unless absolutely necessary. I don't like being away from loved ones. I have had as many as two people be forced to travel with me and all they did was make sure I didn't go crazy, it rarely worked. ROFL.
Anyways, at Christmas people exchange gifts. Working for the government, I can't take, I can only give. One guy I know, who has never had a contract with us and who has never bid one, he sent me some meat. I had made him dinner a few times while we talked about what he wanted to do with the government; he liked my meals and sent me some meat. It was a very nice gesture, I had spent a whole weekend with him, unpaid, to here what he had. Actually, I think his idea is very good; because of that I have to turn the meat over to a Charity. I will do that this week unless I have to talk to my ex.
It is okay, in my opinion, to buy lunch or let someone buy you lunch. You are not to give millions dollars and ruin your organization because someone bought you a hamburger or gave you a book they read. Heck, I gave the Christmas guy a book, it was just a friggin book. When you start taking things that matter there is a problem. I don't care if someone buys the coffee; but, if you have someone pay your mortgage there is a problem. Where is the line, when it could effect your decision making. When the cookie may impact your decision making. You cannot have that no matter how inconsequential the giver makes it sound.
Read the Calpers article, read what the staff member accepted. Investigate where the seminars for pension board members are held, Hawaii comes up a lot. I want to say that I really like Hawaii and love the Polynesians. If I thought I could go to Hawaii, all expenses paid, once a year, it might impact my decision making. I love Filipino sausage. I would probably not attend the seminar.
I had my impacted molars removed, they broke my jaw and it hurt really bad. They gave me percedan, I really liked it. It is my favorite drug of all time. It felt like an orgasm (see the tie in to the last post, yes). I had to stop taking it and throw it out, I could have been addicted to it easily. I through it out because I knew it was my drug of choice. Instead I dealt with the pain of the broken jaw, that was not addictive.
Sometimes, if we grow, we have to take the pain over the easy way out. We have to accept that avoiding pain is not the goal of life, that having joy is not the goal of life. The goal of life is to learn to do the right thing for the right reason, if you do that then over time things get better. If you chase the cookies, life will get worse. You will get the cookies; but, you will never fully appreciate them, you will miss out on joy.
The easy way out, the quick fix to comfort is always wrong. It leads to bad decision making. Relying on someone else for your happiness and giving up your sense of right and wrong is corruption. Be well.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The News is Boring so Lets Talk About Orgasms
I see nothing in the news worthy of discussion. Even the dumbest can analyze the stupidity that is being put forth. A former U.S. Official saying that Israel must bomb Iran before Saturday, I read it, do you really think an ex-official would say such a thing without permission? Can you imagine the repercussions, and no comment from the President. Come on.
Then we have the nonsense of the thousand fires in Russia being the result of global warming. Firstly, I live in the desert and have for decades, Russia is cooler than the desert I live in and so is Death Valley, guess what no spontaneous combustion. A thousand fires means that they were set, they don't start by themselves and it is not claimed that they were all started by dry lightening. They have tried to scare people by saying that it is approaching Chernobyl, the nuclear plant, that plant is encased in concrete because of the explosion, that fire will not hurt it, think about it, the radiation can't even escape. Concrete does not burn. Let me simplify, what are kilns made out of, so why are worrying about it approaching Chernobyl?
What then shall we discuss. I know, lets talk about sex. I will keep it clean. Orgasms, those are nice things. What is an orgasm? I mean I know what it feels like and understand what the bodily functions are; but, what is it really? We don't think about it. I don't mean physically, I mean as an experience.
Physically you can tell me all you want about nerves and vibrations and hormones; but, that is not the experience. Think about it, what you feel is not physical alone. And even the physical part, what do you really feel? One of the most basic human realities and we can say what causes it; but, can hardly describe it. Some have referred to it as "the little death".
I can tell you what it feels like to have a massage, I can tell you what it is like to burn your fingers. I am not sure anyone has ever accurately explained orgasm. I read an article that said that the parts of your brain that experience fear and pain shut off. It also said that women seem during that moment to cease all emotion and go into a trance like state.
So, what does the little death and loss of all fear and anxiety sound like to you? To me it sounds like the ultimate pleasure. I used to suffer cluster headaches, they are really bad headaches that can last for days and are generally regarded the worse type possible. When the headaches would end I would feel an odd type of euphoria. I drew a conclusion from this, the greatest pleasure I have known was the absence of pain. The absence of pain is a freedom you can only understand if you have known chronic pain.
If my understanding is correct then one must understand pain to understand pleasure. Pleasure is not appreciated by those who have not know the lack of it. We take it for granted and expect it and do not enjoy it as much unless we have known the lack of it. Pain and pleasure are merely intense nerve reactions, strong nerve reactions. They do not exist in reality, yet, they are a part of our reality. They are seen as pain or pleasure based on our interpretation of them. The mental interpretation is what I am asking about, how is it interpreted.
It seems, based on brain scans, that in fact it is a little like death, that is why there is a lack of all fear. The closest I have felt to orgasmic in a non-physical sense was when I was in love. When you first meet someone and fall in love, you lose all fear. The feeling you have when you are with the other person is almost orgasmic and lasts longer.
I remember a girl, my first real love. I remember that I felt light hearted whenever I saw her. I would go into a phase where I couldn't think straight. I don't do that too often, my brain is usually up to something. Around this girl my speech slurred because I got so stupid. Da Brain wud naught wirk write. Haven't you ever felt that way when you were in love? I knew this girl for six years and that feeling never went away and we never had sex.
I remember the second to last time I ever saw her, she held my hands and looked me in the eyes. She wanted me to do something I did not wish to do, she wanted me to take a phone call. I couldn't say no, when she held my hands my brain stopped, I looked at her and she just guided me to the phone, she could have walked me off a cliff and I would not have known nor cared. I took the call, I had to leave.
A lot of people are too obsessed with orgasm. If you are with someone just for orgasms, you miss out on the real fun, love. You can have orgasms without love; but, they cannot be anything more than physical. You can love and have orgasms they will be more than physical. It can be the icing on the cake.
I wish you all to find the love that makes you stupid. The love that makes your heart sing and your brain shut off. Before you find them, I hope you find the one that doesn't and have your heart broken. Everybody's heart should be broken once. It should be broken so that you will appreciate the one that makes it sing.
When we talked about the nerves I meant to bring up masochists. It is completely different from sadism, it is the love of pain. It is the search for extreme nerve excitement. I couldn't find the quote; but someone said that it didn't matter if the experience was good or bad only that it be intense. I don't like, so I don't understand that exactly; but, I kind of get it. A little slap and tickle can be fun, excite the nerves in anticipation of better things. I don't get the extremes.
Emotionally I have usually been pretty stable, not a wide range of emotions and not very strong. Some might say that I was a little cold. That changed over the years, they got wider and stronger. I guess that means that if I meet the love of my life I will get ever dumber when they are around. Oh crud.
When the young lady held my hands, I couldn't think. What happens when I fall in love again? How dumb can I get? I can tell you this much, I would like to be that dumb again just to be around someone. The feeling of not having any fear and only being focused on the other person is heavenly. The little death every time you see them. A lifetime of joy. Lets talk about love, we already talked about orgasm.
Love makes you retarded and nothing, no pain, no fear exist, only that other person. You feel so good that all you want to do is make the other person happy, you are happy just because they exist. I remember the day I met the girl I spoke of. I saw her and got stupid, I was in shock. I couldn't understand why looking at her made all the pain of the world go away, no fear, just her.
I should point out that when I saw her I wasn't excited. I need to explain that, it was not a nervousness love, it was a confused thing. I saw her and had to look at her because when I did, my heart felt lighter. I have not know much joy and have always felt that it was fight or die. Not when I looked at her. It was as if seeing her made everything better, I was not at war with the world, I was in paradise. Blew my little brain didn't understand it at the time.
When someone physically turns you on you get excited. You know, your heart rate increases, your little naught parts wake up, you start thinking real fast. When you meet the love of your life, you calm, your naughty parts are not awake, you start thinking real slow. You go into a trance where they are all you can see and all that matters. I hope you felt that way at least once in your life.
There is a movie coming out called "Flipped" enjoy the trailer. When I looked at my girl, it hurt when I couldn't see her. Seeing her was the relief. Seeing her was the absence of pain. That is how you know it is perfect. Everything else feels less, there is no need to be on the top of your game because there is nothing to fear so your brain can rest.
You can give up hate and still get angry. Hate is the opposite of love, it is constant fear. Anger is more like orgasm, momentary, an outburst. We can choose which we live in, fear or love. We can have orgasms if we fear, we can still get angry if we love; but, we won't act the same way.
Too much hate, it pushes out the love. I prefer love over orgasms. You can still have orgasms and be in love. You can have orgasms and not be in love; but the time in between is torture and orgasms are fun but quick.
I had dinner with a great friend tonight, a young man I used to work with. We had, I hope, a nice talk. Something had agitated him and I hope I was able to provide some perspective. It sucks to get old, you end up with perspective. I hope enjoys this post, maybe it was meant for him, hard to say sometimes.
It is time for me to go to bed. My dog has taken to eating my shoes now, he doesn't like it when I leave and I have put my socks away. Now I have to put away my shoes. My dog hates it when I leave and is happy just to sit under my chair while I write or read. I guess dogs love us, why is beyond me. Wait, maybe they love us because they no reason to fear. Be well.
Then we have the nonsense of the thousand fires in Russia being the result of global warming. Firstly, I live in the desert and have for decades, Russia is cooler than the desert I live in and so is Death Valley, guess what no spontaneous combustion. A thousand fires means that they were set, they don't start by themselves and it is not claimed that they were all started by dry lightening. They have tried to scare people by saying that it is approaching Chernobyl, the nuclear plant, that plant is encased in concrete because of the explosion, that fire will not hurt it, think about it, the radiation can't even escape. Concrete does not burn. Let me simplify, what are kilns made out of, so why are worrying about it approaching Chernobyl?
What then shall we discuss. I know, lets talk about sex. I will keep it clean. Orgasms, those are nice things. What is an orgasm? I mean I know what it feels like and understand what the bodily functions are; but, what is it really? We don't think about it. I don't mean physically, I mean as an experience.
Physically you can tell me all you want about nerves and vibrations and hormones; but, that is not the experience. Think about it, what you feel is not physical alone. And even the physical part, what do you really feel? One of the most basic human realities and we can say what causes it; but, can hardly describe it. Some have referred to it as "the little death".
I can tell you what it feels like to have a massage, I can tell you what it is like to burn your fingers. I am not sure anyone has ever accurately explained orgasm. I read an article that said that the parts of your brain that experience fear and pain shut off. It also said that women seem during that moment to cease all emotion and go into a trance like state.
So, what does the little death and loss of all fear and anxiety sound like to you? To me it sounds like the ultimate pleasure. I used to suffer cluster headaches, they are really bad headaches that can last for days and are generally regarded the worse type possible. When the headaches would end I would feel an odd type of euphoria. I drew a conclusion from this, the greatest pleasure I have known was the absence of pain. The absence of pain is a freedom you can only understand if you have known chronic pain.
If my understanding is correct then one must understand pain to understand pleasure. Pleasure is not appreciated by those who have not know the lack of it. We take it for granted and expect it and do not enjoy it as much unless we have known the lack of it. Pain and pleasure are merely intense nerve reactions, strong nerve reactions. They do not exist in reality, yet, they are a part of our reality. They are seen as pain or pleasure based on our interpretation of them. The mental interpretation is what I am asking about, how is it interpreted.
It seems, based on brain scans, that in fact it is a little like death, that is why there is a lack of all fear. The closest I have felt to orgasmic in a non-physical sense was when I was in love. When you first meet someone and fall in love, you lose all fear. The feeling you have when you are with the other person is almost orgasmic and lasts longer.
I remember a girl, my first real love. I remember that I felt light hearted whenever I saw her. I would go into a phase where I couldn't think straight. I don't do that too often, my brain is usually up to something. Around this girl my speech slurred because I got so stupid. Da Brain wud naught wirk write. Haven't you ever felt that way when you were in love? I knew this girl for six years and that feeling never went away and we never had sex.
I remember the second to last time I ever saw her, she held my hands and looked me in the eyes. She wanted me to do something I did not wish to do, she wanted me to take a phone call. I couldn't say no, when she held my hands my brain stopped, I looked at her and she just guided me to the phone, she could have walked me off a cliff and I would not have known nor cared. I took the call, I had to leave.
A lot of people are too obsessed with orgasm. If you are with someone just for orgasms, you miss out on the real fun, love. You can have orgasms without love; but, they cannot be anything more than physical. You can love and have orgasms they will be more than physical. It can be the icing on the cake.
I wish you all to find the love that makes you stupid. The love that makes your heart sing and your brain shut off. Before you find them, I hope you find the one that doesn't and have your heart broken. Everybody's heart should be broken once. It should be broken so that you will appreciate the one that makes it sing.
When we talked about the nerves I meant to bring up masochists. It is completely different from sadism, it is the love of pain. It is the search for extreme nerve excitement. I couldn't find the quote; but someone said that it didn't matter if the experience was good or bad only that it be intense. I don't like, so I don't understand that exactly; but, I kind of get it. A little slap and tickle can be fun, excite the nerves in anticipation of better things. I don't get the extremes.
Emotionally I have usually been pretty stable, not a wide range of emotions and not very strong. Some might say that I was a little cold. That changed over the years, they got wider and stronger. I guess that means that if I meet the love of my life I will get ever dumber when they are around. Oh crud.
When the young lady held my hands, I couldn't think. What happens when I fall in love again? How dumb can I get? I can tell you this much, I would like to be that dumb again just to be around someone. The feeling of not having any fear and only being focused on the other person is heavenly. The little death every time you see them. A lifetime of joy. Lets talk about love, we already talked about orgasm.
Love makes you retarded and nothing, no pain, no fear exist, only that other person. You feel so good that all you want to do is make the other person happy, you are happy just because they exist. I remember the day I met the girl I spoke of. I saw her and got stupid, I was in shock. I couldn't understand why looking at her made all the pain of the world go away, no fear, just her.
I should point out that when I saw her I wasn't excited. I need to explain that, it was not a nervousness love, it was a confused thing. I saw her and had to look at her because when I did, my heart felt lighter. I have not know much joy and have always felt that it was fight or die. Not when I looked at her. It was as if seeing her made everything better, I was not at war with the world, I was in paradise. Blew my little brain didn't understand it at the time.
When someone physically turns you on you get excited. You know, your heart rate increases, your little naught parts wake up, you start thinking real fast. When you meet the love of your life, you calm, your naughty parts are not awake, you start thinking real slow. You go into a trance where they are all you can see and all that matters. I hope you felt that way at least once in your life.
There is a movie coming out called "Flipped" enjoy the trailer. When I looked at my girl, it hurt when I couldn't see her. Seeing her was the relief. Seeing her was the absence of pain. That is how you know it is perfect. Everything else feels less, there is no need to be on the top of your game because there is nothing to fear so your brain can rest.
You can give up hate and still get angry. Hate is the opposite of love, it is constant fear. Anger is more like orgasm, momentary, an outburst. We can choose which we live in, fear or love. We can have orgasms if we fear, we can still get angry if we love; but, we won't act the same way.
Too much hate, it pushes out the love. I prefer love over orgasms. You can still have orgasms and be in love. You can have orgasms and not be in love; but the time in between is torture and orgasms are fun but quick.
I had dinner with a great friend tonight, a young man I used to work with. We had, I hope, a nice talk. Something had agitated him and I hope I was able to provide some perspective. It sucks to get old, you end up with perspective. I hope enjoys this post, maybe it was meant for him, hard to say sometimes.
It is time for me to go to bed. My dog has taken to eating my shoes now, he doesn't like it when I leave and I have put my socks away. Now I have to put away my shoes. My dog hates it when I leave and is happy just to sit under my chair while I write or read. I guess dogs love us, why is beyond me. Wait, maybe they love us because they no reason to fear. Be well.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Tell me when
I like a clean slate, I like forgiveness, I like grace. Grace is unmerited forgiveness. All three take us from sin to forgiveness, none is counted as righteousness. Righteousness is attributed to faith, that is the giving of a clean slate, forgiveness and grace rather than obtaining.
All three require that the heart forgive; but, the mind remember what happened. That is why confession and repentance matter. Think of it backwards, to be forgiven you must admit and repent what you have done. The same is true of those who wish to be forgiven. It is not a paradox, it is simply the difference between receiving and giving, the rules are the same.
Forgiveness is hard, easier to give than accept. I am for true forgiveness, not the baloney of forgetting something. To truly forgive, you must remember. To truly be forgiven, they must remember. That is the tough part of forgiveness, living with the wrongs. We have all done and received them.
I was forgiven by a young man 37 years ago for intentionally slamming a door on his hand and making him lose all of his fingernails. It was incredibly painful, I am sure. I would not want it to happen to me, though I have had worse. It is not about the pain, it is about the wickedness in all of us, including me.
I absolutely refuse to forget the wrongs I have done. I refuse to until I have apologized in person. The person whose hand I damaged, I forgave in person, in front of his mother and him and witnesses. He accepted my apology. I did not accept his acceptance because it was too soon. I could not comprehend him understanding, at 13, that I really meant what I said. His mother knew because I showed up.
Are you willing to face your truth and what you have done. We all suck sometimes. There is a television show that I used to watch about a guy named Earl. He went about trying to make all his mistakes right, what about when you cannot make them right and can only admit, repent and accept? Fixing things is too easy, it is a shortcut.
Now, lets talk about debt. We all, every nation, owes more than it can ever pay. Who does it owe it too? Our children. What if we stopped the madness and eliminated the national debts of all countries, what does it really mean. It means we start from where we are and take care of our own children. It would also mean that we stopped taking out debt, that would cause major deflation.
There is more national debts than can ever be paid. Take the national debt of ever country and divide it by the life expectancy of each of those countries. It is illusionary debt, we cannot pay it. Not one country can pay it in the life expectancy of it's population. It just isn't going to happen.
Lets have a garage sale and eliminate all debt. He must be insane you are saying. NO, I am the only sane one left. Debt is insanity. Whenever I lend money, I never expect to see it again. I do not need that burden. Debt is a promise to have something now in exchange for giving back later; but, we can never promise to give back later, we can die at any time.
The truest form of capitalism does not believe in debt. It is a mutual exchange, not of promises, an exchange. At what point will you fail your promises, we all have one. If the exchange is on the spot, will you steal it back? Just some random thoughts. Be well.
All three require that the heart forgive; but, the mind remember what happened. That is why confession and repentance matter. Think of it backwards, to be forgiven you must admit and repent what you have done. The same is true of those who wish to be forgiven. It is not a paradox, it is simply the difference between receiving and giving, the rules are the same.
Forgiveness is hard, easier to give than accept. I am for true forgiveness, not the baloney of forgetting something. To truly forgive, you must remember. To truly be forgiven, they must remember. That is the tough part of forgiveness, living with the wrongs. We have all done and received them.
I was forgiven by a young man 37 years ago for intentionally slamming a door on his hand and making him lose all of his fingernails. It was incredibly painful, I am sure. I would not want it to happen to me, though I have had worse. It is not about the pain, it is about the wickedness in all of us, including me.
I absolutely refuse to forget the wrongs I have done. I refuse to until I have apologized in person. The person whose hand I damaged, I forgave in person, in front of his mother and him and witnesses. He accepted my apology. I did not accept his acceptance because it was too soon. I could not comprehend him understanding, at 13, that I really meant what I said. His mother knew because I showed up.
Are you willing to face your truth and what you have done. We all suck sometimes. There is a television show that I used to watch about a guy named Earl. He went about trying to make all his mistakes right, what about when you cannot make them right and can only admit, repent and accept? Fixing things is too easy, it is a shortcut.
Now, lets talk about debt. We all, every nation, owes more than it can ever pay. Who does it owe it too? Our children. What if we stopped the madness and eliminated the national debts of all countries, what does it really mean. It means we start from where we are and take care of our own children. It would also mean that we stopped taking out debt, that would cause major deflation.
There is more national debts than can ever be paid. Take the national debt of ever country and divide it by the life expectancy of each of those countries. It is illusionary debt, we cannot pay it. Not one country can pay it in the life expectancy of it's population. It just isn't going to happen.
Lets have a garage sale and eliminate all debt. He must be insane you are saying. NO, I am the only sane one left. Debt is insanity. Whenever I lend money, I never expect to see it again. I do not need that burden. Debt is a promise to have something now in exchange for giving back later; but, we can never promise to give back later, we can die at any time.
The truest form of capitalism does not believe in debt. It is a mutual exchange, not of promises, an exchange. At what point will you fail your promises, we all have one. If the exchange is on the spot, will you steal it back? Just some random thoughts. Be well.
For My Ex-Assistant
Some scientists, unlike that mean old Stephen Hawkings, like aliens and think we will meet them soon. Sorry guys, an inside joke.
City of Oxnard
On Friday, the City of Oxnard City Hall was shut down by the FBI and the Ventura County District Attorney. People had their cell phones taken, their computer passwords and some were questions. Boxes were taken from their offices, including their Public Works Department. People agree that this is not about their high salaries.
What are they looking for, hmmm. Misappropriation of funds, maybe. Why did they take the cell phones? This is going to be a fun ride. One poster mentioned how Oxnard had one theater downtown that wasn't making money so they sank CRA funds into building a multiplex. I wonder who built it.
What are they looking for, hmmm. Misappropriation of funds, maybe. Why did they take the cell phones? This is going to be a fun ride. One poster mentioned how Oxnard had one theater downtown that wasn't making money so they sank CRA funds into building a multiplex. I wonder who built it.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Eat, Pray, Love
I am sure everyone has heard of the new movie, "Eat, Pray, Love". It looks so nice from the trailers; but, really it is a story of extreme selfishness. It should be called, "Cheat, whine, self-indulge". Here is the real story.
The women married a man, she decided to cheat on him. She got divorced and the man she cheated on her husband with dumped her. She then went on a trip around the world to "find herself". She takes up eastern religion, because obviously that is deeper because it is all about you.
Now, thousands of people are following in her steps, just like good little sheeple. I need to explain something, this is what my ex wanted to do, she wanted to climb all the highest mountains, literally. A life of excitement, except most never get that and neither did my ex. I understand the fantasy of being fee and able to do anything you want, most cannot afford it.
The author was able to do it because she got an advance on a book. I have a long time pet peeve, it is with people who need to screw everything around them in order to "find themselves". For some reason "finding yourself" always seems to require that you become completely selfish and break all of your commitments.
I read an article today, it was about another women who left her husband of 25 years because she wanted a life of excitement. Her husband died six months later; but, she says it was best for both of them. The woman has no soul. He died, how was that better for both of them.
A Rabbi was talking about marriage. He asked if marriage was more about spirit, love or law. A valid question. For too many it appears to be about self. It is supposed to be a union, working together, not about what you get, about what you both can do.
Honor, truth, commitment. Those are morals that are about society. We don't see it promoted too much anymore. Children are raised to have high self esteem, even if undeserved and to consider how things apply to them rather than society. They are taught to make decisions based on relativism rather than right. Things can only get worse.
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about churches and how they are losing members. The author asks what needs to be done to strengthen the church. The answer is simple, what got it started. The church began with a few hundred people changing the lives to lives of service and telling people what changed them. It focused on salvation rather than sin. It did not concern itself with how many members it gained.
It says in the last days the word will be preached throughout the world and that the church will die off and be persecuted. That is what says in the bible. One must ask why the church would lose relevance and be persecuted. Now here is the tricky question, how did they know at the time that Revelations was written that the word would be preached throughout the whole world.
Let me explain. The man that wrote the book of Revelations said that the word would be carried to every part of the world. That assumes that the church would reach worldwide, ie become pretty big. It did. He then says that as that happens, the church will become weak and be persecuted. An odd thing to expect if you think the church would grow so much. ROFL. I do love a puzzle.
The role of the church is to merely make sure that the word has been spread throughout the world. It has other value; but, that is it's role. Once the role is completed, it ceases to be strong. The church is an instrument that needs to remember why it exists. Heck, it's last official duty is to provide martyrs to be killed, that is what the bible says.
I am a Christian. I am not afraid of the church disappearing, I am afraid of it forgetting to do it's job. I laugh at Christians who are outraged by gay marriage. That is not supposed to be our focus. Do your job, spread the word and do not worry that there is sin in the world, it isn't going anywhere. The bible does not say that the church will conquer Satan, it says it will be the home to martyrs. I assume the church will get real small because there are a limited number of those to be martyred, that means there will be a great falling away. Looks like that is almost done.
If you know anything about Christianity in Europe, you know it already died out there. The number of people who participate in churches in Europe is nill. The English government subsidizes the churches in England. The fact that they accept money form the government is disgusting. The greatest dis-service Ex-President Bush ever did to Christianity was to attempt to give money to churches to provide social services. They took it and compromised their mission. Shame on them. They focused on works rather than faith. Well I didn't know I was going her tonight; but, I shall continue.
I like the church I attend when I can. I asked the head of the church if he preferred Pastor or what, he said "Dale". LOL. I have never once seen them pass around the plate or even say where you were to put your contribution. Not one time. It is a bible church, they read passages and give context and ask questions. That is what the church is supposed to do and he does it wonderfully.
I have seen what passes for Christianity on television, it is pandering to the lowest urges. I have no use for Benny Hinn or the Trinity Broadcasting Network. I have no use for mega-churches. There are pastors out there still trying to preach the word, they will always be there. Too few are talking about what is front of their eyes, too many are talking about what is not important.
The church is not holding any evil back, that should be apparent. It does not need to join in as some do in an attempt to remain. Churches are taking on active gays and lesbians who are unwed as pastors. I missed that in the bible, divorced people aren't allowed to be pastors. By the way, I have no problem with pastors marrying, it is not prohibited.
As the President said, we have freedom to worship, that does not mean we have freedom of religion or to live by our beliefs. The bible said we would have one currency, it said that 2000 years ago, it is now coming. Why aren't the preachers talking about that? For those who read this blog to hear about things other than religion, you might find it less interesting in the future, I plan on discussing religion more.
This blog began by talking about our existence, my first post was on the fact that all we can know for sure is that we exist. I assisted Descartes, by saying that we experience feelings therefore we are. The blog began as a discussion about spirituality, about our nature and our purpose. That has always been the purpose, the most fundamental aspect of my writing is about meaning, our meaning. We all can find the truth inside ourselves, it can be a tough journey, it means delving into your deepest beliefs, they are shown by your choices. Be well.
The women married a man, she decided to cheat on him. She got divorced and the man she cheated on her husband with dumped her. She then went on a trip around the world to "find herself". She takes up eastern religion, because obviously that is deeper because it is all about you.
Now, thousands of people are following in her steps, just like good little sheeple. I need to explain something, this is what my ex wanted to do, she wanted to climb all the highest mountains, literally. A life of excitement, except most never get that and neither did my ex. I understand the fantasy of being fee and able to do anything you want, most cannot afford it.
The author was able to do it because she got an advance on a book. I have a long time pet peeve, it is with people who need to screw everything around them in order to "find themselves". For some reason "finding yourself" always seems to require that you become completely selfish and break all of your commitments.
I read an article today, it was about another women who left her husband of 25 years because she wanted a life of excitement. Her husband died six months later; but, she says it was best for both of them. The woman has no soul. He died, how was that better for both of them.
A Rabbi was talking about marriage. He asked if marriage was more about spirit, love or law. A valid question. For too many it appears to be about self. It is supposed to be a union, working together, not about what you get, about what you both can do.
Honor, truth, commitment. Those are morals that are about society. We don't see it promoted too much anymore. Children are raised to have high self esteem, even if undeserved and to consider how things apply to them rather than society. They are taught to make decisions based on relativism rather than right. Things can only get worse.
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about churches and how they are losing members. The author asks what needs to be done to strengthen the church. The answer is simple, what got it started. The church began with a few hundred people changing the lives to lives of service and telling people what changed them. It focused on salvation rather than sin. It did not concern itself with how many members it gained.
It says in the last days the word will be preached throughout the world and that the church will die off and be persecuted. That is what says in the bible. One must ask why the church would lose relevance and be persecuted. Now here is the tricky question, how did they know at the time that Revelations was written that the word would be preached throughout the whole world.
Let me explain. The man that wrote the book of Revelations said that the word would be carried to every part of the world. That assumes that the church would reach worldwide, ie become pretty big. It did. He then says that as that happens, the church will become weak and be persecuted. An odd thing to expect if you think the church would grow so much. ROFL. I do love a puzzle.
The role of the church is to merely make sure that the word has been spread throughout the world. It has other value; but, that is it's role. Once the role is completed, it ceases to be strong. The church is an instrument that needs to remember why it exists. Heck, it's last official duty is to provide martyrs to be killed, that is what the bible says.
I am a Christian. I am not afraid of the church disappearing, I am afraid of it forgetting to do it's job. I laugh at Christians who are outraged by gay marriage. That is not supposed to be our focus. Do your job, spread the word and do not worry that there is sin in the world, it isn't going anywhere. The bible does not say that the church will conquer Satan, it says it will be the home to martyrs. I assume the church will get real small because there are a limited number of those to be martyred, that means there will be a great falling away. Looks like that is almost done.
If you know anything about Christianity in Europe, you know it already died out there. The number of people who participate in churches in Europe is nill. The English government subsidizes the churches in England. The fact that they accept money form the government is disgusting. The greatest dis-service Ex-President Bush ever did to Christianity was to attempt to give money to churches to provide social services. They took it and compromised their mission. Shame on them. They focused on works rather than faith. Well I didn't know I was going her tonight; but, I shall continue.
I like the church I attend when I can. I asked the head of the church if he preferred Pastor or what, he said "Dale". LOL. I have never once seen them pass around the plate or even say where you were to put your contribution. Not one time. It is a bible church, they read passages and give context and ask questions. That is what the church is supposed to do and he does it wonderfully.
I have seen what passes for Christianity on television, it is pandering to the lowest urges. I have no use for Benny Hinn or the Trinity Broadcasting Network. I have no use for mega-churches. There are pastors out there still trying to preach the word, they will always be there. Too few are talking about what is front of their eyes, too many are talking about what is not important.
The church is not holding any evil back, that should be apparent. It does not need to join in as some do in an attempt to remain. Churches are taking on active gays and lesbians who are unwed as pastors. I missed that in the bible, divorced people aren't allowed to be pastors. By the way, I have no problem with pastors marrying, it is not prohibited.
As the President said, we have freedom to worship, that does not mean we have freedom of religion or to live by our beliefs. The bible said we would have one currency, it said that 2000 years ago, it is now coming. Why aren't the preachers talking about that? For those who read this blog to hear about things other than religion, you might find it less interesting in the future, I plan on discussing religion more.
This blog began by talking about our existence, my first post was on the fact that all we can know for sure is that we exist. I assisted Descartes, by saying that we experience feelings therefore we are. The blog began as a discussion about spirituality, about our nature and our purpose. That has always been the purpose, the most fundamental aspect of my writing is about meaning, our meaning. We all can find the truth inside ourselves, it can be a tough journey, it means delving into your deepest beliefs, they are shown by your choices. Be well.
Pakistan
As I have said before, I do not watch television. I have been reading about what is going on in Pakistan. 20 million people left homeless, 20 million. The number is staggering, it makes Katrina look like a pool party by comparison. If we consider how bad Katrina was and how even our country has not been able to completely bring back New Orleans, how long will it take to even remotely fix Pakistan?
Now, it is being reported that there is a cholera outbreak. We cannot begin to estimate how many people are going to die from this horrible event. The largest natural disaster is reported to be the Haiti earthquake with 250,000 people dying. This could dwarf Haiti. Let us pray for the people there.
I know there are many who are so anti-Muslim that they will be glad about this, some are posting on the news sites. I wish to remind people that most Pakistanis are just like anyone else, just trying to get by and have a comfortable life, watch their kids grow up, get married and have children. Perhaps we can mend some fences by making helping them a higher priority.
Now, it is being reported that there is a cholera outbreak. We cannot begin to estimate how many people are going to die from this horrible event. The largest natural disaster is reported to be the Haiti earthquake with 250,000 people dying. This could dwarf Haiti. Let us pray for the people there.
I know there are many who are so anti-Muslim that they will be glad about this, some are posting on the news sites. I wish to remind people that most Pakistanis are just like anyone else, just trying to get by and have a comfortable life, watch their kids grow up, get married and have children. Perhaps we can mend some fences by making helping them a higher priority.
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