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Posted
1 hour ago, Vegas64 said:

Nice.

"An evil and adulterous generation" we, too, are. Turtles all the way down.

Honestly it’s a nice summation of the problem with American evangelical Christianity. They don’t just want to ride their camel through the eye of the needle, they also want a police escort and a marching band. 

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Posted
6 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Honestly it’s a nice summation of the problem with American evangelical Christianity. They don’t just want to ride their camel through the eye of the needle, they also want a police escort and a marching band. 

100% agree. American Christianity is a lazy, fat cat from lapping at the easy dish of cream.

Christianity has always thrived when it was practiced in the margins in, dare I say, persecution. 

Americans (and yours truly) would be wise to heed Isaiah 1:22, "Your silver has become dross..."

Posted
3 minutes ago, Vegas64 said:

100% agree. American Christianity is a lazy, fat cat from lapping at the easy dish of cream.

Christianity has always thrived when it was practiced in the margins in, dare I say, persecution. 

Americans (and yours truly) would be wise to heed Isaiah 1:22, "Your silver has become dross..."

Are you saying American Evangelicals don't believe they're being persecuted, sir?

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Posted
9 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Are you saying American Evangelicals don't believe they're being persecuted, sir?

Deep in their hearts, most of them know better, but their entire worldview is built on victimhood.  They need to at least feel persecuted, or the magic doesn't work, and more importantly, the money doesn't flow.

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Posted
On 7/8/2025 at 5:34 PM, MissingInAction said:

I can see the sun and stars. Mythical gods not so much.

Theres a great series on Netflix,  Our Universe,narrated by Morgan Freeman which does an incredible job illustrating our connection to a higher power. That power being the sun and the stars.

I find it fascinating that nearly all of the hydrogen in the universe was created soon after the Big Bang. So when people say "We are stardust" they should say "We are Big Bang matter and stardust." 

That would have been harder to Jodi Mitchell to rhyme though.

Posted
1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

 

Was it set for GMT?  Or at the international dateline?  I never follow these things.

lol I think it actually was expanded to September 23rd or 24th due to the fact nobody knows if Jesus uses GMT, UMT, Epoch or Daylight Saving Time.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, F250 said:

lol I think it actually was expanded to September 23rd or 24th due to the fact nobody knows if Jesus uses GMT, UMT, Epoch or Daylight Saving Time.

Do we even know if He uses the Julian calendar?  Maybe He has His eyes on Chinese new year.  Or that tricky Mayan calendar.

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Posted
Serious answer: The rapture isn't biblical. 
Blame the Left Behind Series in the 90's

Well, the idea was born with one wackadoo preacher in the 1830s, then got traction with one wackadoo annotated bible in the early 1900s. And yeah, it’s not in the Bible. It’s dumb as shit.
But that’s the brand for American Christianity these days. Dumb when it’s not being cruel, and cruel when it’s not being dumb, but often…both at the same time.
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Posted
49 minutes ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Will heaven have wifi, and if so do I need a VPN to continue posting on this site?

Even better.

c9bc7881-df94-43e8-9d27-88ade32fcba6_tex

 

 

Posted
38 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


Well, the idea was born with one wackadoo preacher in the 1830s, then got traction with one wackadoo annotated bible in the early 1900s. And yeah, it’s not in the Bible. It’s dumb as shit.
But that’s the brand for American Christianity these days. Dumb when it’s not being cruel, and cruel when it’s not being dumb, but often…both at the same time.

There were a lot of wackadoo's in the history of Christianity. Once Luther let loose the idea of individual interpretation, the Christian religion was destined to become fractured and to become an umbrella of different opposing religions, all within the guise of "Christianity."  Western Christianity is a DIY project. 

Posted
9 minutes ago, F250 said:

There were a lot of wackadoo's in the history of Christianity. Once Luther let loose the idea of individual interpretation, the Christian religion was destined to become fractured and to become an umbrella of different opposing religions, all within the guise of "Christianity."  Western Christianity is a DIY project. 

Which is why I think Reggie White had a good idea and was on a good path before he died to try and learn the original languages and read the original translations for himself. I mean, it's a crazy idea, but kinda cool if you are a multimillionaire and retired with nothing else better to do.

At the very least the Greeks have an upperhand in they can read Greek transcripts and not the butchered NLT or NLV's of contemporary english.

Posted

Original text/language is really cool, and I have realized, super important.
When my wife preaches, she takes the time to do real exegesis of the scripture that’s the basis for that week’s sermon. And she does a good bit of it in the Greek, and will end up talking to me about what particular word was used, its unique meaning, and how that has a subtle effect on the interpretation of the text. It kinda blows me away.
Or, she could be totally bullshiting me, because I can’t read koine Greek for shit.

Posted
2 minutes ago, Vegas64 said:

Which is why I think Reggie White had a good idea and was on a good path before he died to try and learn the original languages and read the original translations for himself. I mean, it's a crazy idea, but kinda cool if you are a multimillionaire and retired with nothing else better to do.

At the very least the Greeks have an upperhand in they can read Greek transcripts and not the butchered NLT or NLV's of contemporary english.

Well, that and Greek pagan philosophy heavily infiltrated the Roman Catholic Church via Augustine and Aquinas so much that it shaped Protestant theology to the point that it was mere reactionism. 

Protestantism is just a reaction to earlier Protestantism (Great Schism). Look to the East for true Christianity. The rest of us our just cos playing.

Posted
7 hours ago, F250 said:

Well, that and Greek pagan philosophy heavily infiltrated the Roman Catholic Church via Augustine and Aquinas so much that it shaped Protestant theology to the point that it was mere reactionism. 

Protestantism is just a reaction to earlier Protestantism (Great Schism). Look to the East for true Christianity. The rest of us our just cos playing.

Which is why I think when you read Acts and the Paulines, the early church is an interesting model compared to the "church" we see today.

But what really is church anyways? I've always learned that the church isn't a building or a choir or a band or people who only think about God one day a week, but it's you and I. It's this thread and the conversations about faith-- the encouragement and worship that those who have given on here-- because where two or more are gathered...

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Posted
8 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Original text/language is really cool, and I have realized, super important.
When my wife preaches, she takes the time to do real exegesis of the scripture that’s the basis for that week’s sermon. And she does a good bit of it in the Greek, and will end up talking to me about what particular word was used, its unique meaning, and how that has a subtle effect on the interpretation of the text. It kinda blows me away.
Or, she could be totally bullshiting me, because I can’t read koine Greek for shit.

After Charlie Kirk died I went and searched out some videos to learn about him more as I'd only known really the name and the caricactures of his gum line and head from here.

I saw this video which I saw was interesting-- mostly the Greek interpretation. I'm not posting this to say he's right (he could be BS'ing for al lI know because I don't know Greek) but it invites debate. The whole video is worth a watch but the timestamp for the Greek is at the 2:19 mark: 

 

Posted
1 hour ago, Vegas64 said:

After Charlie Kirk died I went and searched out some videos to learn about him more as I'd only known really the name and the caricactures of his gum line and head from here.

I saw this video which I saw was interesting-- mostly the Greek interpretation. I'm not posting this to say he's right (he could be BS'ing for al lI know because I don't know Greek) but it invites debate. The whole video is worth a watch but the timestamp for the Greek is at the 2:19 mark: 

 

That....is some bullshit.  Ekklessia does NOT mean "government structure."  Ekklessia is a broad term, meaning gathering of people (generally for a communal/civic purpose).  That was the call -- to create an assembly of people to live and spread the Word.  Hell, that's one of the things I really liked about our church the first time I heard it: "the Church has left the building."  THAT is pretty fucking accurate.  

For him to torture the use of the term, and say that what was called for was "build my government structure" is prooftexting bullshit, AND at odds with both the broad meaning of the word and the overall context.  Did Jesus call for his followers to build a secular government?  Is THAT the message of the gospels?  Fuck no.

I mean, nevermind that the "Christian Nation" these folks talk about always, 100% of the time, seems to skip over the most unambiguous and obvious teachings of, you know....Christ.  You know, really hard to understand stuff, like in Matthew 25:

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’"

Our Christian Nationalists work tirelessly for a government that is in complete opposition to that call.  They are Nationalists.  But the "Christian" part is a cover they use to give their shitty cruelty the "legitimacy" and immunity from criticism of "sincerely held religious belief."  Christianity - that is, the system of beliefs offered by Christ - has few greater enemies than American Christians.

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Posted
20 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:

I think about that verse 40 a lot.

We all do.  Or we all should, at least.

I am pretty damned sure that on my deathbed, I'll be asking myself "did I do enough?", and I'm also pretty damned sure my answer will be "not nearly enough."  I'm a failed Christian.  And even though I know that we all are - the best people I know are - intellectually, that doesn't matter.

It's actually a long conversation I had with my son when he was home this summer, because he holds himself to a higher standard and beats himself up more than I do.  And I ended up having to be the voice of reason on the subject (which was a good exercise for me).  Had to tell him to give himself some grace, and to realize that his small acts of kindness (which aren't small at all) MATTER.  You don't have to "save the whole world."  You can't.  And you have to give yourself some grace, and breathing room for your own happiness and well-being.  And I try to remember what I told him, and take it to heart myself.

But I'm a tough grader.  And by my grading, I suck, and fall way short of what I do for "the least of these."

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Posted
On 9/16/2025 at 1:57 PM, Ten Bears said:

I find it fascinating that nearly all of the hydrogen in the universe was created soon after the Big Bang. So when people say "We are stardust" they should say "We are Big Bang matter and stardust." 

That would have been harder to Jodi Mitchell to rhyme though.

That song is such a banger. Ironically, Joni Mitchell was not at Woodstock, because her manager thought it would be better for her career to go on Dick Cavett that day. 

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Posted
Original text/language is really cool, and I have realized, super important.
When my wife preaches, she takes the time to do real exegesis of the scripture that’s the basis for that week’s sermon. And she does a good bit of it in the Greek, and will end up talking to me about what particular word was used, its unique meaning, and how that has a subtle effect on the interpretation of the text. It kinda blows me away.
Or, she could be totally bullshiting me, because I can’t read koine Greek for shit.

But didn't the dude speak Aramaic, so the translation is probably wrong from the get go. Not to mention everyone forgot to write down what he said for decades. You know who was writing everything down then? The Chinese. Jesus should have been a China man. Good luck with that southern baptists.
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Posted
1 minute ago, DaysOff said:


But didn't the dude speak Aramaic, so the translation is probably wrong from the get go. Not to mention everyone forgot to write down what he said for decades. You know who was writing everything down then? The Chinese. Jesus should have been a China man. Good luck with that southern baptists.

Also accurate.

Although I dunno about how well it woulda worked out if Jesus was a China man.  I mean, he'd have done all that profound stuff at the Last Supper, and then had to do it all over again a coupla hours later cuz he was hungry again.

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Posted
1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

Also accurate.

Although I dunno about how well it woulda worked out if Jesus was a China man.  I mean, he'd have done all that profound stuff at the Last Supper, and then had to do it all over again a coupla hours later cuz he was hungry again.

Bitch of a fortune cookie, too. 

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Posted
10 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Or, she could be totally bullshiting me, because I can’t read koine Greek for shit.

I don't really know Greek, but I do know a bunch of intricate cusswords you can use back at her.

Posted
1 minute ago, RDCanecutter said:

I don't really know Greek, but I do know a bunch of intricate cusswords you can use back at her.

Wouldn't do me much good.  She's got a pretty good repertoire herself.  I mean, she's actually a member of a group called "Ministers who say 'fuck.'"  

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