Misc things that sprout in my mind
Here we are sitting in our hotel room on Sunday morning waiting for the museum to open at noon. So, I thought I would pull a few more pictures out of the album to show here. We are headed for … Continue reading Cleveland Gallery..
Since we have been walking so much the last few days we decided to take it a little easier today. We drove the mile to the center of the city instead of walking. Our fatigue and the fact that it is still in the 30s and 40s here enticed us to take the easy way. When we got close to the Tower City Center we found a convenient parking garage. I have been reading about a 4th Street complex of restaurants and sites so we decided to head there. It was not as we expected. There were a number of … Continue reading On The Road Cleveland – Day 5 Downtown
This is a continuation of the previous post about being afraid of God. It is a precursor to undertanding the underlying message of the book we are reviewing: Of course, her final question reveals the deeper issue hidden in any discussion of ultimate human destiny. Who is God? Is God a gracious, loving father waiting long through the night, with the light lit and the door open, confident his most defiant child will one day come home? Or is God a harsh judge eager to pass sentence, eager to punish and destroy all who do not satisfy him? I hope … Continue reading Being Afraid of God…. (Part 2)
We are now situated in our home for the next three days. It is in a DoubleTree Hampton on the 15th floor overlooking Lake Erie. It will be nice not having to pack for the next few days. Nice views from the 15th floor. We spent the day at the Cleveland Zoo and Rainforest. It was an interesting time. Of course photos are attached here. The Rainforest was pretty nice; lots of beautiful flowers and such. The Zoo was pretty good but not up to par with our hometown one in Indianapolis. We will be spending much of the day … Continue reading On The Road Cleveland – Day 3 Zoo
We are now situated in our home for the next three days. It is in a DoubleTree Hampton on the 15th floor overlooking Lake Erie. It will be nice not having to pack for the next few days. Nice views … Continue reading Cleveland Zoo
“How can you believe that God’s grace isn’t sufficient, that many of God’s children will languish in hell forever, that they’ll never be restored to their Father, that evil will claim victory in so many lives? How can you believe that?” Gulley, Philip; Mulholland, James (2009-03-17). If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person (Plus) (pp. 89-90). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. Some think the idea of universal salvation is a new thing but in reality it goes back to the founding fathers of the church. Origen and Gregory of Nyssa believed in the salvation of all people. But of … Continue reading God’s Wrath vs. God’s Grace…….
“Most big corporations trade well above book value,” Warren said, referring to the measure of a company’s assets minus liabilities. “But many of the Wall Street banks right now are trading below book value. And I can only think of two reasons why that would be so. One would be because nobody believes that the banks’ books are honest, or the second would be that no one believes that the banks are really manageable.” Warren’s comment on bank accounting came after she repeatedly — and apparently rhetorically — asked a panel of top regulators to cite the last time they … Continue reading Hoorah for Elizabeth Warren….
For what good is grace—this unconditional love of God—if it is not extended to those who deserve it the least but need it the most? God is love. Holiness and justice are not competing commitments. God has not chosen to turn his back on us or to punish us as our sins deserve. God has chosen to redeem us. Nothing requires God to condemn us, so God has not. Rather, in his sovereign freedom, he waits patiently for the day of our redemption. Gulley, Philip; Mulholland, James (2009-03-17). If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person (Plus) (pp. … Continue reading To Those Who Need It The Most…..
Source: Are you getting overcharged by your hospital? Time to become a Smart patient | VentureBeat. If you’re a patient represented by Medicare or Medicaid, you’re well served because these programs have significant market muscle: They negotiate prices below what it costs to treat patients. …..With few exceptions, private insurers tend to be relatively weak when bargaining with hospitals, so that hospitals can extract from them prices substantially in excess of the full cost of treating privately insured patients, with profit margins sometimes in excess of 20 percent. Finally, uninsured patients — also called “self-pay” patients — have effectively no market power at … Continue reading Overcharged By Your Hospital?
In the decades since a jury convicted him of murder, nearly every piece of evidence in this case has fallen away. A key witness told The New York Times that a detective instructed him to select Mr. Ranta in the lineup. A convicted rapist told the district attorney that he falsely implicated Mr. Ranta in hopes of cutting a deal for himself. A woman has signed an affidavit saying she too lied about Mr. Ranta’s involvement. Detective Scarcella and his partner, Stephen Chmil, according to investigators and legal documents, broke rule after rule. They kept few written records, coached a … Continue reading Wrongly Convicted….
We can’t have it both ways. We can’t honor the words of the men and women of the Bible while ignoring their example. They trusted their experiences with God more than the words of those who preceded them. They believed in a God of fresh words. How can we canonize their words but ignore their radical obedience to the voice of a living God? We have become people who read well but listen poorly. Yet, if we were to read Scripture carefully, we would discover an interesting truth. Of the nearly four hundred and fifty times when Scripture speaks of … Continue reading Having It Both Ways…
This is an ongoing post about the book “If Grace Is True” by Philip Gulley and James Mulholland. Here are the words for today. Many people are suspicious of experiences with God. The believers in Jerusalem were suspicious of Peter’s experience. You may be suspicious of mine. Some argue that such experiences aren’t trustworthy, that infallible Scripture is the only safe guide in our search for truth. They forget the Bible contains the accounts of hundreds of experiences with God. Again and again, God came to individuals and spoke to them…. The Bible was never intended to end the conversation, … Continue reading Suspicious of Experiences With God…..
Source: Obama’s $2 billion plan to wean US off foreign oil (+video) – CSMonitor.com. If the Obama administration has its way, $2 billion in new revenue from offshore oil drilling will fund research into how to wean American drivers off imported oil… “The reason so many different people – from the private sector, the public sector, our military – support this idea is because it’s not just about saving money, it’s also about saving the environment. But it’s also about our national security,” Obama said. “This is not a Democratic idea or a Republican idea; this is just a smart … Continue reading Putting a Man On The Moon And….
I didn’t consider this for many years. I actually thought my experiences rare. I was one of the chosen. I was special. Now I know the truth. God whispers his love in every ear. He isn’t interested in declaring his love to a select few. He doesn’t limit his presence to Vatican City, to the halls of seminaries, to the offices of preachers, or to church altars. God doesn’t restrict his communication to the Bible. He doesn’t confine his presence to any single denomination or religion. God speaks to all people, even when they’re not inclined to listen. Fortunately, God … Continue reading If grace is true, it is true for everyone. – Part 4 If Grace Is True….
I was certain if I could preach the perfect sermon the altar would fill with people overcome by God’s grace. Now I realize there are many hindrances to experiencing the fullness of God’s grace—confusion, fear, prejudice, ignorance, and pride, to name a few. The removal of these obstacles ought to be the primary purpose of the Church. Unfortunately, the Church has often erected more barriers than we’ve removed. Too many have entered our doors, only to experience condemnation rather than welcome. We’ve acted less like Jesus and more like his opponents. Gulley, Philip; Mulholland, James (2009-03-17). If Grace Is True: … Continue reading The Fullness of God’s Grace….. (Part 3 – If Grace Is True)
Source: Rate of Gun Ownership Is Down, Survey Shows – NYTimes.com. The household gun ownership rate has fallen from an average of 50 percent in the 1970s to 49 percent in the 1980s, 43 percent in the 1990s and 35 percent in the 2000s, according to the survey data, analyzed by The New York Times. In 2012, the share of American households with guns was 34 percent, according to survey results released on Thursday. Researchers said the difference compared with 2010, when the rate was 32 percent, was not statistically significant. The findings contrast with the impression left by a … Continue reading Rate of Gun Ownership Is Down…
Gulley, Philip; Mulholland, James — If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person We are not to worship the Bible; we are to worship the One the Bible reveals. Too often, we clutch desperately to our Bibles, memorizing only those verses that support our views and panicking when anyone suggests God might speak a fresh word. We belong to a long tradition of people who’ve found it safer to trust the Scripture we can control than the God we cannot. Jesus never promised a written document to his followers. He promised something far more wonderful. He said, “The … Continue reading The Sola’s…How Did We Get Here?
Anyone who has watched movies, and that surely is almost all of us, know that when certain scenes come up there is always very dramatic music in the background. One of the strange things about me being deaf for more than 25 years now it that my brain just doesn’t remember what music sounds like. Even though I don’t remember the sounds the fact that it was dramatic music still remains. When the soldiers landed on Normandy the dramatic music boomed. Whenever there was a seemingly life changing event on the silver screen there was always dramatic music in … Continue reading Life’s Dramas…….
Many in the Christian faith believe that if they study their bible enough they will come away with Jesus’ secret message. They think that hidden in those bible verses is a secret message that he intends for only his “true” believers. Like the Da Vinci code it is hidden away so that only a few will receive it. I’m not a fan of conspiracy theories so I tend to disregard those who have such beliefs. To me Jesus made it ultimately clear what his message is: The Greatest Commandment Mark 12:28-32 One of the teachers of the law came and … Continue reading Jesus’ Not So Secret Message….
I HAVE come to a resolution myself, as I hope every good citizen will, never again to purchase any article of foreign manufacture which can be had of American make, be the difference of price what it may. — Jefferson, Thomas Who would have thought that the “Buy American” theme started so many years ago with Thomas Jefferson. If only we had learned this lesson from him. Continue reading Buy American
Source: Rubio: Reported Obama Immigration Plan ‘Dead On Arrival’ | Rubio | Fox Nation. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Saturday panned a reported immigration reform proposal from President Obama, saying it would be “dead on arrival” in Congress. If actually proposed, the President’s bill would be dead on arrival in Congress, leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come,” said Rubio in a statement I really had hope that the “new” Republicans in the Senate and House would at least be willing to do a minimal amount of compromise in working with their Democratic … Continue reading I Had Hopes But…..
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 