Author: RJ Walters

I am an Independent thinking, highly functional person who is deaf and has some unique views and challenges in life. Like all of us, I am a person who is composed of all my life experiences and that is what I write about here.
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The Kingdom of God…..

RJ Walters

Of course all Christians recognize the phrase the kingdom of God from the Lord’s prayer. But the interpretation of that phrase seems to vary considerably depending on what version of Christianity you follow. Here is what Martin Luther said about it in his small catechism: Your Kingdom Come on earth as it is in heaven: What does this mean?  The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also. How does God’s kingdom come? God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, … Continue reading The Kingdom of God…..

Philosophical Thoughts2 Comments

That Bearded Guy Up There…..

RJ Walters

I am starting a new category here for some Sunday posts. As some of you know I have been blogging about living by the red letters, meaning the words of Jesus found in the Bible, for several years now. Since that blog, even though it has been running longer, does not get the readership of this one I thought I would bring a few of my favorite posts here for your thoughts. ***** Posted September 20, 1012 ********** Many of us Christians never seem to give up our childhood views of just who God is. We think of him as … Continue reading That Bearded Guy Up There…..

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Early Church Leaders – Ignatius …..

RJ Walters

My study of the early church leaders is to show that there was much diversity in the early church that was later driven out. Many, if not most of the “church fathers” believed things that are now considered heretical. Ignatius was certainly no exception. Ignatius and Irenaeus had definite ideas of how the young Christian congregations should be governed. Both authoritarians, they were hardly advocates of participatory democracy. Still, they respected the remarkable diversity of the churches and did not try to enforce any standardization. — The Future of Faith (Cox, Harvey) As indicated by the above quote for The Future … Continue reading Early Church Leaders – Ignatius …..

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The jobs are there, the education is not…

RJ Walters

Source: The jobs are there, the education is not – USATODAY.com. This disparity has come to be known as the “skills gap” — the divide between the jobs American businesses need to fill and the jobs Americans are qualified to do. Research shows that approximately 90% of the jobs in the fastest-growing occupations in our economy require some level of postsecondary education and training. And 80 million to 90 million adults today — about half of our current workforce — do not have the skills needed to acquire or advance in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage. Where once we had … Continue reading The jobs are there, the education is not…

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Shouldn’t you read Paul in light of Jesus, instead of reading Jesus in light of Paul?”

RJ Walters

I started out my Spiritual journey as a Catholic because that is what my parents were. I came to find out that they were only tepid Catholic as they really didn’t go to church themselves very often but more often just dropped us off and then went home.  Upon entering high school I went about twenty years moving between an inactive Christian and an agnostic verging on atheist. Then as a result of getting married I joined a Protestant congregation.  When I was going to a Catholic grade school I remember hearing a lot of things about Jesus and not … Continue reading Shouldn’t you read Paul in light of Jesus, instead of reading Jesus in light of Paul?”

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The Good Old Days……

RJ Walters

I am a senior citizen so I guess it expected of me to occasionally talk about the good old days. Generally I believe that most things in life continue to get better as time goes by so the “good old days” are not really that good after all at least to me. But there are some things that take a hit as a result of change. I don’t think there is anyone that doesn’t admit how much the internet has changed their lives and most of it for the better. We can now get almost any info we desire in … Continue reading The Good Old Days……

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The Chameleon….

RJ Walters

Source: Romney on ’47 percent’: I was ‘completely wrong’ – politics – Decision 2012 | NBC News. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has described his disparaging remarks about the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay federal income taxes as “not elegantly stated.” Now he’s calling them “just completely wrong.” I am going to dive into the realm of politics once again. Call me a fool if you want; I am definitely not an angel.  By his latest flip Mr. Romney proves once again that he will say anything and do anything to become the most powerful person in the world. … Continue reading The Chameleon….

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Own Worst Enemies…

RJ Walters

I am going to use a quote from one of my favorite authors and that is Philip Gulley from his book The Evolution of Faith: How God is Creating a Better Christianity: Some Christians have thus concluded that we are our own worst enemies, that our best option for a viable future lies in our determination to embrace a rigid faith in order to stave off the adulterating influences of other cultures and religions. But I would contend that this has been tried repeatedly throughout our long history and always ends the same—in suspicion, intolerance, exclusion, division, and, finally, war. … Continue reading Own Worst Enemies…

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Saint to Heretic to Saint Again…..

RJ Walters

With this post I will begin looking at some of the early church leaders.  We will start with Origen. Here a quote from another Diana Butler Bass book. This one is entitled A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story While Tertullian emphasized the negative aspects of the military to Christian discipleship, Origen pointed out the positive vision of a life of Christian peacemaking. He criticized the army as a society of “professional violence,” pointing out that Jesus forbids any kind of violence or vengeance against another. “We will not raise arms against any other nation, we … Continue reading Saint to Heretic to Saint Again…..

XX - Everything Else7 Comments

The Education Gap….

RJ Walters

I just finished reading the September/October issue of Sojourners Magazine and in it was an article about education. One of the most remembered quotes from that article is “The achievement gap due to income inequality is nearly twice as large as the racial achievement gap”.  It went on to say that most of the underperforming schools are found in low-income neighborhoods. Education is still pretty much a State controlled environment but I know this is true for Indiana where I have lived most of my life.

Schools in Indiana are pretty much funded from local property taxes.  So the higher the income area the more the school system gets to educate the kids. I grew up and am still living in a small town rural area of the State. When I was in high school the only guidance counselor we had as a local farmer who also taught FFA classes. I doubt he ever had any kind of training to help kids determine what was the best career field to enter.  We didn’t have any advanced math classes beyond trigonometry so when I went to college at Purdue I had to play catch-up with remedial classes in that area as well as a few others. Continue reading “The Education Gap….”

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The “A” Word….

RJ Walters

I want to warn you up front that this will be one of those serious posts by me. I try to keep this blog light-hearted at least on some level but the topic I am going to discuss has no possibility of that. In the 1950s the “a” word was the atomic bomb. As a school kid during that time I was taught to get under my desk if the teacher told us an atomic bomb had been dropped. I never understood how my desk was going to protect me but that is another story. In the 1970s and beyond … Continue reading The “A” Word….

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Beliefs vs. Practices….

RJ Walters

With this post I am going to introduce you to a book that has had a pretty profound affect on my faith. It is by Robin Meyers entitled Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus. Here are a couple of quotes from the book that will provide fodder for this post: Strangely, we have come to a moment in human history when the message of the Sermon on the Mount could indeed save us, but it can no longer be heard above the din of dueling doctrines. Consider this: there is not a single word … Continue reading Beliefs vs. Practices….

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Why???….

RJ Walters

I have always been a person who is constantly saying “Why?” Here are some whys that have been spewing off the top of my head lately.  :) They are too small for an entire post so I am just going to throw it out here and in no particular order: Why do fifteen percent of the population think they are in the top 1%  ?— So there are fifty times more people worried that their taxes will go up if President Obama is re-elected.  We all want to believe that we are somehow special but 1/6 of the population just … Continue reading Why???….

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Fear of Death….

RJ Walters

Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die to get there. I first heard the above quote many years ago but have never tried to learn its source. I looked it up and here is what I found:    According to research by quote maven and Oxford English Dictionary contributor Barry Popik, the earliest verifiable use of this insightful saying seems to be as a song title and lyric by Delaney. The date of the song’s composition is uncertain, but it was mentioned as one of Delaney’s popular sings in an article about him in The Afro American newspaper on October 16, 1948. Delaney … Continue reading Fear of Death….

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Why Aren’t They Thanking Him???

RJ Walters

I can’t understand why Ohio is supposedly one of the swing States in this election.  They have gone from 48th in Job creations in 2008 to 4th in 2012.  That is the most dramatic change of any State in the Union.  Of course this is the result of President Obama giving loans to the auto industry which is a large employer in Ohio. I could really say the same thing about my home State of Indiana. It has gained much from those same loans but of course it is usually a solidly “red” State so sadly to say it is not on the fence.

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About The Epistles….

RJ Walters

I am well aware that there are Christians who believe that all of the bible is the words of Jesus and must be taken literally and totally without the possibility of error in every regard.  On my very first post on this blog almost four years ago I was confronted by this belief by a person rather high up in the Lutheran denominations. I have always been a person who asks questions about everything. Always asking questions has gotten me in trouble throughout my life but never more so than in the secular realm.  When I study the bible I … Continue reading About The Epistles….

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About That Debt….

RJ Walters

I know there is a lot of fury going on now about how President Obama has increased the national debt. So, when I came across this graph it got my attention. I have had several ranters here lately who proclaim that “that idiot Obama is bankrupting the country”. They go on and on about the increased deficit and how it is their sole reason to drive that “idiot” out of office. I am going to try and give you some insight into this situation but as President Clinton said recently you are going to have to pay attention…

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