INSERT INTO `wp_comments` VALUES (1551,6296,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','166.147.117.81','2012-05-01 17:29:02','2012-05-02 00:29:02','Woo hoo! Theological argument! I\'ll throw my .02 in. And in this economy, two pennies aren\'t worth much except to rub together, and I can\'t promise my. Immense will be worth much more. \r\n\r\nDavid, I\'m pretty sure I get what you\'re trying to say. I also understand the reaction you have gotten from other posters. But I\'ll just comment on your argument and my experiences as a Southern Baptist. \r\n\r\nI know a very influential Baptist seminary leader who said he got saved when he was very young. He said he heard a sermon on the lake of fire and went forward to get saved because he couldn\'t swim. That always took me aback. \r\n\r\nI\'m also very disturbed by dispensational theology which greatly promotes the idea you are talking about. The idea that Satan is bigger than life, ala Frank Peretti novels, and our only hope is a bloody battle one day at Armageddon. \r\n\r\nI always like to go back to the book of Job where we see Satan talking to God about Job. He claims that the only reason Job serves him is because he\'s blessed him so greatly. Satan has to ask to do any harm to Job\'s stuff. And he has to ask nicely. \r\n\r\nEither God is in sovereign control or he isn\'t. There\'s no reason to elevate a created being to scary Halloween status when God has him under his thumb. When Paul talked of the messenger sent by Satan, he didn\'t show fear of Satan, he just prayed to God to remove it/him. Paul knew the score. He didn\'t worry about Satan, he went straight to the one in control. \r\n\r\nSo there it is. Two cents. Maybe four. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and being open.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B176 Safari/7534.48.3','',0,12),(1552,6296,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','166.147.117.81','2012-05-01 17:30:48','2012-05-02 00:30:48','Stupid autocorrect.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B176 Safari/7534.48.3','',1551,12),(1553,6384,'Karin','karin@anduril.ca','http://thinkingtoodeeply.blogspot.com','96.52.166.83','2012-05-01 19:52:19','2012-05-02 02:52:19','\"We feel attraction in all friendships – it’s simply the desire to be with that other person.\" Thank you for this post! Much appreciated!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:2.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0.1','',0,0),(1554,6384,'Lynne','taithome@bigpond.net.au','','144.132.173.63','2012-05-01 20:16:45','2012-05-02 03:16:45','Thanks. This is much appreciated from another who couldn\'t make it -- Australia is just a bit far!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.162 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1555,2624,'Ant','ant00lill@internode.on.net','','118.209.247.221','2012-05-02 03:34:37','2012-05-02 10:34:37','Bronwen, I loved reading your story, and loved to hear of you having an open mind not hanging on so tightly to your beliefs that you couldn\'t see the divine outside of your belief system. My own journey has reflected this and each religion has a similar core and they simply look at the whole thing of love - love for oneself and love for the people around us. I have been impressed by people from different religions exemplifying the virtues of compassion such as was taught by Jesus in ways that would put a lot of Christians to shame. The more we unite and let go of what we hold onto so dearly the more likely it is that we will come into a better understanding of the core of many faiths - compassion for ourselves and then others.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.163 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1556,6339,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','69.171.160.102','2012-05-02 07:16:14','2012-05-02 14:16:14','My understanding on this topic may not be substantially different than yours, Christine, but I need to phrase it as I have come to understand it.\r\n\r\nDifferent writers phrase it differently but I have found saying the Personal Self (PS, which is usually called the \"false self\" or First Half of life persona) and the Infinite Self (IS, \"true self\" or Second Half of life discovery of essence) make for the defining difference between religion and spirituality; it is the discernment between soul and spirit, the finite and the eternal. Both appear crucial in the process of liberation that is the end of truth. Put another way, we first need to conformto -give our effort and be invested in--the patterns of this world and then to release from those patterns.\r\nWe may call it a continuum yet it is by no means a natural one; the fully developed ego does not necessarily continue its maturity to \"become as a little child.\" What works in the First Half of life is counter-productive to the Second Half of life. What works in the Second Half of life looks dangerous, heretical, or insane to those in the First half of life.\r\nTo the PS, what is believed is of the utmost importance; to the IS, it is how one believes that takes primacy.\r\nPerhaps I should not have started this now. I need to run and I feel I have only laid the groundwork to confusion. If this makes any sense to you or if you can find something upon which a discussion can arise, please let me know. God bless.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1557,6296,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','69.171.160.102','2012-05-02 07:32:03','2012-05-02 14:32:03','The article, to my understanding, is not about whether Satan exists or not (despite the author\'s suggestion of the non-existence) but the role Satan plays in faith. On this count, I feel what he says is spot on.\r\nLucifer makes light out of what is dark and makes dark what is light. Love alone, not theology or Reason, distinguishes the differences, discerns soul from spirit. Listening to David unarmed, with nonjudgmental awareness, will help clear up the debate.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1558,6339,'Christine Organ','sasschristine@yahoo.com','http://www.randomreflectionz.com','98.228.225.9','2012-05-02 09:18:30','2012-05-02 16:18:30','Thank you for reading and commenting, Tom.  You offer a fascinating perspective.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1556,178),(1559,6439,'Jim Henderson','jim@jimhendersonpresents.com','','76.104.197.49','2012-05-03 07:12:48','2012-05-03 14:12:48','Alise\r\n\r\nThank you for focusing so much of your time at the conference on documenting the event for others. This is powerfully written.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.55.3 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.5 Safari/534.55.3','',0,0),(1560,6390,'Marisa Aud','marisaaud@gmail.com','','66.216.213.156','2012-05-03 10:16:59','2012-05-03 17:16:59','Beautiful Jordan,  I appreciate your honest and cautionary words.  \r\nThank you!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',0,0),(1561,6390,'Marilyn Gardner','communicatingblog@gmail.com','http://communicatingacrossboundariesblog.com','170.63.96.108','2012-05-03 11:00:52','2012-05-03 18:00:52','Great article - I love the way you have painted a picture of \"shades of truth\". I\'ve thought about this a lot and like that word picture. I\'ve heard a great deal about the book as well and also made the decision not to read it. I think one of the areas that I am increasingly troubled about is our idolizing of sex. It seemingly carries far more weight in relationships than was ever intended yet to verbalize this one can be labeled as puritanical. Much more for a longer conversation but thank you for this.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1562,6390,'Crystal-Gayle Mandoli','shawnandcrys@gmail.com','','209.19.97.211','2012-05-03 11:59:52','2012-05-03 18:59:52','Great Article Jordan!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.7; rv:11.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/11.0','',0,0),(1563,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','66.252.153.2','2012-05-03 12:02:07','2012-05-03 19:02:07','Thanks, Marissa!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.52.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.2 Safari/534.52.7','',1560,177),(1564,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','66.252.153.2','2012-05-03 12:07:25','2012-05-03 19:07:25','Marilyn, thanks for your comment. I feel sex is a very important part of a relationship but when we start bringing other people into it (through pornography of graphic books) we are making it into something God did not intend. It should be an expression and celebration of your desire and love for EACH OTHER not other people.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.52.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.2 Safari/534.52.7','',1561,177),(1565,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','66.252.153.2','2012-05-03 12:07:48','2012-05-03 19:07:48','Thanks, Crystal!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.52.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.2 Safari/534.52.7','',1562,177),(1566,6439,'Katherine','katherine.m.becker@gmail.com','','75.149.67.177','2012-05-03 12:18:22','2012-05-03 19:18:22','\"The lost apologetic is to love one another\". \r\n\r\nWhat a beautifully succinct and profound statement! And how true it is. I keep thinking about how the church can follow the apologetics of love in all aspects of its life and what that would look like--and surely the flourishing of friendship of all kinds would be a part.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; InfoPath.3)','',0,0),(1567,6296,'CassandraToday','ms_jenny_girl@yahoo.com','http://cassandratoday.wordpress.com','76.97.4.2','2012-05-03 18:56:31','2012-05-04 01:56:31','Satan is a dandy metaphor, but I agree that the problem comes in when you try to make him a real being, and the polar opposite being to God at that.\r\n\r\nLight exists, but not darkness. Darkness is just the absence of light.\r\nSound exists, but not silence. Silence is just the absence of sound.\r\nHeat exists, but not cold, and so forth.\r\n\r\nThe fact that we can conceive of the utter absence of grace, forgiveness, and love does not mean that there is a real being characterized by those absences, any more than darkness, silence, or cold are real beings. Our conception of those absences does, though, explain our creation of a metaphor. And as is so often the case, we choose an anthropomorphic being as the image, the symbol, in the metaphor.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1568,6296,'CassandraToday','ms_jenny_girl@yahoo.com','http://cassandratoday.wordpress.com','76.97.4.2','2012-05-03 18:57:48','2012-05-04 01:57:48','Oh, poo. I forgot to click \"notify me of follow-ups\" on the previous comment. I\'ll click it on this one so I can continue to follow the conversation. :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1569,6335,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','67.130.219.110','2012-05-05 17:53:18','2012-05-06 00:53:18','onderful article, thank you. I remember reading this story back in the late \'80s about the Chinese farmer and his good news/bad news. Although I may have already been heading that way, I felt it was the tipping point for changing my worldview (though the word \"worldview\" was slowly becoming inoperable); \"The Turn,\" as Jesus would put it, and kensho (I am fairly certain) for the Buddhist. My whole attitude and outlook upon life had significantly shifted.\r\nWhat seems a characteristic (or gateway trait) of equanimity is the ability to hold ambiguity without the rush or even concern to find a side or solid ground. When this started happening to me, where I had once been so sure about everything, it felt all wrong and I thought I was losing it. Yet at the same time there was this quiet assurance things were exactly as they should be. I did not try to fix it.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1570,6435,'Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.75.46.46','2012-05-07 08:52:21','2012-05-07 15:52:21','Thank you for an informative article.  I did not know how Cinco de Mayo came to be.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1571,6352,'Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.75.46.46','2012-05-07 08:54:06','2012-05-07 15:54:06','Thank you for your timely article.  I, too, voted for Bush and later regretted it.  I used to call myself a Christian Conservative, but have dropped the “conservative” and nowadays even struggle with the word “Christian” because of the connotation the so-called Christian Right has given us.  In my opinion, the Christian Right of today are more like Ayn Rand than Christ.\n\nI was a born and raised Baptist and grew up believing that to be a Christian meant to be humble, and not to be too attached to material things, as we would be rewarded in Eternity.  Jesus led us by humble example and he told us to turn the other cheek, that if someone asked for your coat to also give them your cloak, and he said to lay down your worldly riches and follow him.  Today, the so-called Prosperity Doctrine that began infiltrating our mainstream Christian churches around 30 years ago, coupled with a renewed popularity of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” that began around the same time has brought on a new version of Christian Conservatives, which usually translates to “I’ve got mine, so to heck with you” and now not only is a selfish attitude okay, but justified and to some even considered godly.  One of my sweet Christian relatives lists as one of her favorite sites on Face book “Babies, Bibles and Guns” a simplified example of the current thought process of the Republican way of looking at life.  In my opinion, Christianity was hijacked by the Republican party, and what they espouse is the exact opposite of the Christ I was raised to believe in.  Fox News took the agenda even further with their biased reporting and brought about the Tea Party Movement, which I believe is the result of extreme brainwashing.  When I realized just how far this has gone was when I watched a Tea Party gathering and saw people with their canes, walker and wheelchairs calling to do away with all social programs, including the ones they are on.  These people will defend corporate tax loopholes while saying the so-called “freeloaders” is what have put us into debt.  Even if you tell them that the corporations that moved their factories overseas so that they could exploit foreigners with slave labor and very little pay, they will say that it was the greed of the American worker that drove them away.  They worship the rich and will never hold them accountable.  Now that the corporations are starting to see their profit margins slipping a little due to shipping costs and are talking about bringing some of the factories back home to a land of desperate unemployed people, they still don’t want to pay Americans a living wage and now want to abolish unions and minimum wage.  And guess what?  The brainwashed conservatives think this is just fine.\n\nMy change of heart led me to vote for President Obama in the last election, and I will vote for him again come November 2012.  In my opinion, the way President Obama is able to let all the hate and disrespect roll off his shoulders while trying to do good for people who will vote against their own best interest due to Faux News brainwashing and a hatred for the man, while at the same time trying to work with a congress that votes against everything he’s for whether they agree with it or not, is more of an example of Christ than any president I can recall in my own life history.  If President Obama loses the election, God help us all, as we will truly be a land of serfs to the One Percent.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1572,6335,'Kiva','kiva@themindfulword.org','','59.145.190.58','2012-05-07 09:07:00','2012-05-07 16:07:00','Glad you enjoyed it, thanks!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:11.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/11.0 AlexaToolbar/alxf-2.15','',0,0),(1573,6480,'Sheila Brennan','sbrennan1984@comcast.net','','24.12.230.5','2012-05-08 17:29:20','2012-05-09 00:29:20','Thank you, Alise - so inspiring to re-live these blessed moments through your posts!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1574,6480,'Dan Brennan','dbrennanj@gmail.com','http://danbrennan.typepad.com','24.12.230.5','2012-05-08 17:51:17','2012-05-09 00:51:17','Alise, wow, what a great summary of the entire Gathering!  Great job of putting it into words. So grateful for your sacrifice as Jim said, so that others could benefit.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.162 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1575,6480,'Karin','karin@anduril.ca','http://thinkingtoodeeply.blogspot.com','96.52.166.83','2012-05-08 19:37:46','2012-05-09 02:37:46','Thank you for letting us share in this groundbreaking event! There is a lot of work still to be done as evidenced by conversation today that was all about never being alone in a room, never driving alone, going out alone with a woman 20 yrs. older or younger, etc. etc.  I just hurt for those who deny themselves intimate friendships with brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers in Christ.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:2.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0.1','',0,0),(1576,6480,'Pam Hogeweide','pamhogeweide@gmail.com','http://www.pamhogeweide.com','71.236.152.241','2012-05-08 21:18:27','2012-05-09 04:18:27','thanks for an excellent description of the gathering. reading your posts was so great for me since i had wanted to attend but could not. i know kathy e. and jim h. and know the message they bear...and i\'ve come to know dan from the web (and i quote him in my book!!!) love these voices and that they converged together for this weekend. \r\n\r\nand i love your voice too alise. Thanks again for a wonderful report!!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1577,6352,'HometownProphet','jeff@hometownprophetbook.com','http://www.hometownprophetbook.com/','69.138.63.63','2012-05-09 07:22:41','2012-05-09 14:22:41','Thanks Beverly. Sorry I missed \"approving\" your comment for a couple of days.   You say a lot - all of which I agree with.  I have written an article on how the atheistic ideology of Ayn Rand infiltrated the church and am writing one now on the brainwashing of conservatives (through Fox, radio, etc.).  (If not at Provoketive, they\'re at www.hometownprophetbook.com)  Thanks so much for sharing your story and thoughts.   Jeff',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1571,160),(1578,6470,'Marla Abe','marbieabe@gmail.com','','67.234.101.77','2012-05-09 10:04:15','2012-05-09 17:04:15','At least in Ohio, a business who hires a person with a record, gets a tax break. They also offered free job training for people who left prison or jail, or were sentenced for non-violent crimes, training on possible jobs and how to handle interviews and paperwork.\r\nI heard a true story of one young man. His mom had worked for some years, very successfully at a nursing home. When her son got out of jail, he lived with her.  The nursing home fired her since she was harboring a criminal.  Those are common stories for many people. \r\nSadly, the regular white American church goer often doesn\'t know of these issues, or ignored them.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:11.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/11.0','',0,0),(1579,6476,'Christie','sasschristine@yahoo.com','http://www.randomreflectionz.com','98.228.225.9','2012-05-10 10:58:46','2012-05-10 17:58:46','Great post.  It really got me thinking.  I will put this book on my to-read list.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1580,6476,'Melody H Hanson (@melodyhhanson)','melhhanson@yahoo.com','http://logicandimagination.com','66.168.16.24','2012-05-10 13:42:30','2012-05-10 20:42:30','To be honest I wasn\'t looking for change or prepared for the message of this book.  My husband read it aloud to me driving back from the Calvin Festival of Faith &amp; Writing and as the miles passed I was stunned into complete silence (and horror).  Frankly, I cannot eat factory farmed meat because the book expressed well the process which is so abhorrent and I cannot support it any longer, but we\'ve enjoyed one or two meals since with beef farmed locally here in Black Earth, Wisconsin.  I haven\'t yet been out to the farm to check out their practices but I intend to soon.  We are enjoying our (mostly) meat free life now for the last month!  \r\n\r\nI hope you do read it Christie.  I dare you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1581,6068,'Frederick Glaysher','fglaysher@comcast.net','','76.112.30.51','2012-05-12 05:46:35','2012-05-12 12:46:35','\'One misconception about the Baha’i faith is that it’s a cult. Cults are usually small groups that are governed by a radical leader who tries to isolate the group from society and tries to keep them from listening to anyone else....\'\r\n\r\nFor a different view, I invite you and your readers to consider the comments and experience of \r\nProfessor Juan Cole, University of Michigan, from his Autobiography\r\nhttp://www.juancole.com/toward-an-authorized-biography\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Baha’is said they believed in the unity of the world religions, the elimination of racism, the equality of women and men, and world peace... \r\n\r\n It gradually became apparent that most Baha’is do not actually believe in the equality of women and men, excluding women from their elective highest body, the Universal House of Justice, and giving speeches about how women have a different function in society than men and how men are the heads of the household. Then it gradually became apparent that whatever they privately believed about racism, they were unwilling to take a stand, as quietists, against Apartheid– and, indeed, were entirely willing to cooperate with the South African government if their religious institutions thereby gained freedom of action. Then it became clear that they are no more religious pluralists than Roman Catholics or Muslims, admitting partial truth in other traditions, but insisting that only in their own tradition is the fullness of the contemporary truth manifest. Then it became clear that the Baha’i authorities were not exactly pacifists. The top leadership has a secret cult-like belief in a Baha’i theocracy that will rule the world, rather on the same model as the theory of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that Muslim clergy should replace civil governments globally. Some Baha’i communities were frankly reactionary, as with the Chilean community, which kept trying for photo ops with Gen. Augusto Pinochet. The community, for understandable reasons, opposed the Iranian revolution of 1978-79 in Iran, but many went further and privately warmly supported the shah for the most part. Cole gradually lost his enthusiasm for the community and the administration. When he married outside it in 1982, he stopped going to services because his non-Baha’i wife was excluded. He was also increasingly disturbed by the censorship practices imposed on Baha’i writers by the religion’s administration, and refused to submit to them....\r\n\r\n(When email lists came along in the 1990s and he was active in Baha’i discussions of the religion’s history and policies, in which he retained an academic interest, and some hopes of reform, and he came to be hated by the fundamentalist leadership. In 1996 they had a high official call him at home and threaten him with being declared a “covenant-breaker,” i.e. a heretic, because of his critical email postings. Baha’is shun “covenant-breakers” and shun people who are in contact with them. Cole was astonished at the narrow-minded and coercive tactics of the administration, and declined to remain in the community. He angrily resigned. He is now not interested in organized religion as a personal matter. Cole was all along an American liberal, and had thought the Baha’is were on his side, which he discovered to be an error, at least with regard to the secretive and duplicitous leadership....\"\r\n\r\nMany people have had similiar experiences with the Baha\'i organization located in Haifa, Israel, and Wilmette, Illinois. Some of their stories may be found at The Baha\'i Faith &amp; Religious Freedom of Conscience\r\nhttp://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1582,6464,'Ron Baker','rondog23@yahoo.com','','68.228.62.80','2012-05-12 07:11:33','2012-05-12 14:11:33','Are we supposed to feel sorry for Junior Seau now.  He is no doubt a Hall of Fame football player with a lot of money .  There are a lot of people that don\'t have what Seau had and are a lot worse off then him.  So I don\'t feel bad one bit about saying he  took the easy way out!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1583,6475,'Sarah Moon','moonsn11@gmail.com','http://sarahoverthemoon.com','76.2.70.163','2012-05-12 08:46:35','2012-05-12 15:46:35','This is so wonderful. Thank you for this. As a person questioning my sexuality (engaged to and totally in love with a men--but find women attractive as well) as well, it\'s a wonderful reminder. \r\n\r\nI loved how you used that quote from the exorcist as well. I think it can apply to so many things. \r\n\r\nAlso, I\'m a recovering cutter myself who\'s been eyeing the razor blade lately too (albeit for different reasons). Hang in there!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_3) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1584,6475,'Travis Mamone','travismamone83@gmail.com','http://www.travismamone.net','64.26.72.143','2012-05-12 09:57:43','2012-05-12 16:57:43','Thanks, Sarah! Now the thing about bisexuality that most people don\'t get is that you don\'t have to dump your current partner in order to be out and proud. Rev. Janet Edwards is bisexual and she\'s still with her husband. It\'s more about being honest with yourself rather than who you\'ve been with.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1583,46),(1585,6475,'Dave Gladson','dbgladson@yahoo.com','','108.210.229.50','2012-05-12 10:04:54','2012-05-12 17:04:54','Thanks so much Travis for sharing this, for your courage to be a person of integrity, to be vulnerable.  I pray that God will give me the courage to stand with you, to come out of my family\'s chains of fundamentalism, and be a person of integrity, too.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534.55.3 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.5 Safari/534.55.3','',0,0),(1586,6475,'Travis Mamone','travismamone83@gmail.com','http://www.travismamone.net','64.26.72.143','2012-05-12 11:57:29','2012-05-12 18:57:29','Trust me, Dave, it ain\'t easy! In fact, sometimes I wonder if I should just not say anything. The problem is, I feel even worse if I don\'t say anything!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1585,46),(1587,6068,'Deanna Ogle','outofcomatose@gmail.com','http://soullikeaspider.com','68.42.103.46','2012-05-12 21:38:58','2012-05-13 04:38:58','Fredrick,\r\n\r\nFascinating. I had not heard any of that. I\'ll definitely have to read the links you provided--I\'d be interested to hear what those stories are.\r\n\r\nThanks for stopping by and reading. The more input, the clearer the picture.\r\n\r\nDeanna',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',1581,38),(1588,6475,'Pastor Nar','pastornar@gmail.com','http://Travis','65.25.95.234','2012-05-12 23:28:47','2012-05-13 06:28:47',':)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1589,5800,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.75.45.98','2012-05-13 00:44:52','2012-05-13 07:44:52','I just couldn\'t let this comment go by, although it\'s probably old by now.  You say you wouldn\'t want to pay for someone else\'s birth control, that they should be responsible, right?  I bet you would hate even more paying for someone\'s abortion, and I\'d further the bet by saying that you\'d resent paying for social programs for someone else\'s child.  Am I pretty close to your feelings?  Well, here are mine--we don\'t live in a perfect world and not everyone is as close to being the wonderful responsible person you are, and some try but slip up.  In my mind, people have always had sex whether it was under perfect conditions or not and society has had many ways of dealing with it throughout the ages.  We no longer force teenaged couples into shotgun weddings that never seemed to last anyway.  We no longer send girls off to visit some faraway aunt and actually give their child up for adoption, or should they decide to keep it be foreced to wear that scarlet letter and their child as well.  We do have social programs, and if we have the heart of Christ, we can see that no child asks to be born or gets to choose the circumstances that they are born to.  If you really are against abortion and also resent programs to help single moms and poor children along, it would seem to me that you\'d be all for free birth control and what as many poor women to have access to it as possible.  Unless you think that they should pay for their irresponsible actions with a child. . .that you will ultimately pay for.  . .if she doesn\'t get an abortion.  So weigh in the values and as far as I can see birth control for poor women. . .for all woman who want it. . .is a very good thing that everyone with a heart, and a brain, and maybe even a little shot of courage, should stand up and shout for!!!  Thanks for listening to yet a different POV.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',1490,0),(1590,6475,'Steve K.','knightopia@gmail.com','http://www.knightopia.com/blog','71.68.16.89','2012-05-13 08:19:56','2012-05-13 15:19:56','Much love and respect, Travis!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.55.3 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.5 Safari/534.55.3','',0,0),(1591,6610,'Ed','ed@inpulsearts.com','http://www.inpulsearts.com/Word','68.96.97.76','2012-05-13 12:19:37','2012-05-13 19:19:37','\"...if our life can be so altered by an irrational fear, why does it seem to be so unaltered at times by the most rational fear of all? By the awe-inspiring fear that should be felt at even the mention of one Name?\"\r\n\r\nI think that perhaps we have been conditioned in so many ways to accept that \"God is love all of the time.\" For the most part that\'s true. So many of us don\'t have that close walk with God, we rarely pick up the Bible anymore, or worse yet, we don\'t have the Word written in us. So we don\'t have that fear of God, along with a clear understanding, of who He is.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; Trident/5.0; BOIE9;ENUS)','',0,0),(1592,6626,'David Garrett','sgarret131@comcast.net','','68.38.174.190','2012-05-15 14:17:51','2012-05-15 21:17:51','Sorry your church is made \"with its hierarchical structure, contrived relationships, systems, programs and the like, I like ours, It\'s made with Jesus. Or should I say Jesus made it.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1593,6390,'Marni Arnold','marni@relevantbrokenness.com','http://RelevantBrokenness.com','98.24.7.24','2012-05-16 13:13:49','2012-05-16 20:13:49','Great article filled with truth! Thank you for these words! I just recently learned about this book, and it is sweeping our city (Charlotte) like a wildfire. It seems everywhere I am turning, I keep hearing from women, \"You have to read this book!\" Really, do I? Really, do you know what I \"need\" to read? Do you really know I can handle these kinds of books/stories? Do you really know me? The answers to all these questions is profoundly one simple one...no.\r\n\r\nWe must be very careful with what books we recommend to people. I read Twilight, Harry Potter and a vast array of other fantastical story books...and I can handle those stories. They don\'t affect me the way perhaps they may affect someone else. However, this kind of book from the description alone turned me off like a light switch. Why? Because my mind can easily become ensnared in such a story line in a manner that isn\'t good. So I must be very careful to not only choose my books carefully when it comes to fiction, but also to recommend such books to anyone unless I truly know they can handle them (which happens rarely). So I usually stick with recommending books that truly can help people. Books that provide God-focused insight that lead us to further study of His word on our own. Books that uplift and point toward Christ. What I read on the side of these books, for my own fantastical imaginary getaway, I table for myself and keep from the ears of others.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',0,82),(1594,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','66.252.153.2','2012-05-16 13:21:01','2012-05-16 20:21:01','Marni, thanks for your comment. I agree that we have to be careful about what types of books we recommend!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.21.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.5 Safari/533.21.1','',1593,177),(1610,6166,'Bob Cornwall','drbobcornwall@msn.com','http://bobcornwall.com','24.192.56.134','2012-05-24 07:28:52','2012-05-24 14:28:52','Thanks Deanna,\r\n\r\nSaeed has become a great friend to me, so I appreciate your introduction of him to a wider audience.  I enjoyed hearing Tuba\'s story as well.\r\n\r\nThanks!!\r\n\r\nBob',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1596,6646,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-05-18 12:07:57','2012-05-18 19:07:57','This is awesome.  I want to read it.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,1),(1597,6646,'The Merry Monk','erik@keylife.org','http://TheMerryMonk.com','97.79.96.205','2012-05-18 13:25:36','2012-05-18 20:25:36','Like',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.46 Safari/536.5','',1596,181),(1598,6683,'Sarah B','wtwsarahb@yahoo.com','','78.147.99.195','2012-05-19 09:26:57','2012-05-19 16:26:57','What a sad state of affairs. In the UK there are members of the Parliamentary Christian Group belonging to almost every party - from the Left to the Right via the middle (which you don\'t seem to have?). Here faith and politics have never been closely tied, possibly because for a long time anyone not belonging to the Established Church was excluded from the political process. Only with the Acts of Emancipation (1859, 1879) were non-Conformists, Dissenters and those of other faiths included. Socialism (in the moderate form of the Labour Party) was founded on Christian roots and the Christian Socialist Movement still has influence within that political party. \r\nMy plea to those more on the Left would be; do not abandon the church - work from within to challenge and bring change to congregations so that gospel values - loving and providing for the poor, the weak, the abandoned, the marginalised and unloved - shape your programs and preaching, rather than politics.\r\nMy plea to those on the Right would be; take seriously the teaching of Jesus about caring for the widow and orphan, take seriously the teaching of James that faith without works (of mercy, grace and giving) is dead.\r\nMy plea to you all; talk to each other instead of shouting at each other. Learn to value the things that unite you - belief in the trinitarian God who made, loves and saves the world, including the neighbours you disagree with - more than you value the things that  separate you. Finally, pray together that you can so manifest the grace, mercy and love of God that you dazzle your neighbours with the picture of God you show them by the very lives you live.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1599,6683,'Travis Mamone','travismamone83@gmail.com','http://www.travismamone.net','69.2.182.113','2012-05-19 15:14:25','2012-05-19 22:14:25','We\'re Americans, we don\'t believe in \"moderation\" and \"middle ground.\" Extremism all the way, baby!\r\n\r\n(I\'m being sarcastic, by the way.)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1598,0),(1600,6683,'Christie','sasschristine@yahoo.com','http://www.randomreflectionz.com','98.228.225.9','2012-05-20 05:43:25','2012-05-20 12:43:25','Love your sentiment.  I think we need to strip religion and spirituality down to the bare bones and find some common ground, even beyond Christianity, so that the stereotypes on both sides can be lessened and we can get back to using religion and spirituality as a means of becoming our best selves, and not breaking others down.  Thank you for visiting and commenting.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1598,0),(1601,6683,'Christie','sasschristine@yahoo.com','http://www.randomreflectionz.com','98.228.225.9','2012-05-20 05:44:35','2012-05-20 12:44:35','Thanks for visiting and commenting, Travis.  Love your sarcasm.  Humor makes everything better.  :-)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1599,0),(1602,6683,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','76.26.97.144','2012-05-20 20:35:42','2012-05-21 03:35:42','The use of these labels of Left/Right or Liberal/Conservative (Progressive/Regressive?) concerning Truth seems so childish and weird, and only useful in divisiveness.  Sorry, but it just makes me feel like I am in Wonderland. It takes us away from the essentials to deal with egos. One faith, one baptism: the best ecumenical movement is to end such labels and association (and, of course, do away with luther-, calvin-, and wesley-anything in our beliefs). \r\nThere is one truth: one is either advancing that or not. Truth is neither liberal nor conservative. In fact, in spirit and truth such things are enemies of the soul.\r\nThe problem is impossible to solve for the attempts are trying to unite two different paradigms--and they are not compatible. The common ground is never going to be found in what we believe but in how we believe. How we believe is where spirit resides.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1603,6659,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.198.97.93','2012-05-20 23:54:45','2012-05-21 06:54:45','I knew as soon as he released his affirmation to the public that it would be taken negatively on all sides.  I do not think he did this to gain votes.  In fact, I wish he had waited until after the election to state how he feels about this because it was such a risky thing to do.  However, I do not believe that he said what he did for any other reason than it is what he beleives in his heart.  He has said for some time now that he is evolving on this issue, and I understand that because I have also gone through many stages in my own evolvement and reached the same conclusion, which is that people should be free to love who they love, no matter how others feel about it, and that since they are already forming commited relationships that include rasing families, they should be afforded the same rights and privileges as any other family unit.  I think the sincerity of his statement is enhanced because anyone of a modicum of intelligence can see that to make such a statement only months before the election was a big risk, but he was true to his heart and soul and willing to share it because it was what he felt was right.  God bless President Obama, the most honest president I have seen in my lifetime.  And haters be damned if you don\'t get this or if you just can\'t resist one more chance to belittle this kind and loving man!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1604,6166,'Anonymous','spamthis23@rocketmail.com','http://nice','166.87.176.44','2012-05-21 11:05:14','2012-05-21 18:05:14','pretty cool article. tuba sounds like a great person!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.168 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1605,6646,'The Merry Monk','erik@keylife.org','http://TheMerryMonk.com','97.79.96.205','2012-05-22 09:38:05','2012-05-22 16:38:05','Hey, check it out!  I\'m giving away a signed copy of <i>Three Free Sins</i>.  You could win!  Find out how... http://goo.gl/bBSsI',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.46 Safari/536.5','',0,181),(1606,6166,'Erum','erumrizvi@rocketmail.com','http://Nice','166.87.176.44','2012-05-22 13:30:35','2012-05-22 20:30:35','Tuba is very inspiring.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1607,6166,'Mujtaba','rocketscience23@rocketmail.com','','166.87.176.44','2012-05-22 13:31:06','2012-05-22 20:31:06','I agree',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1604,0),(1608,6110,'Bob Cornwall','drbobcornwall@msn.com','http://bobcornwall.com','24.192.56.134','2012-05-22 13:53:14','2012-05-22 20:53:14','Thanks Deanna for sharing my story of faith with your readers!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.46 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1609,6464,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.18.89','2012-05-22 21:22:28','2012-05-23 04:22:28','Friend, I think you missed the entire point of my post. My idea was that using the term \"using the easy way out\" is an insensitive term. Regardless of whether the person has money or fame, they don\'t deserve judgment from others who don\'t understand what they are truly going through.\r\n\r\nThat includes you. Whether Seau was a high paid athlete or not, he may have been dealing with depression and anxiety. It\'s not our place to throw phrases at him like \"he took the easy way out.\" We are all, as humans, to say, \"what a horrible loss of life.\"\r\n\r\nI would hope that if you lost someone close to you to suicide that no one would use that term to describe them as taking the easy way out. Depression is an awful thing. It encompasses body and soul. None of us, whether we are sports fans or onlookers know what he was going through. Money has nothing to do with it. I hope you can look on as a human and pray for his family. Pray for his soul. He was, like the rest of us, a troubled human being.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1582,12),(1611,6745,'Ed','ed@inpulsearts.com','http://www.inpulsearts.com/Word','68.96.97.76','2012-05-24 10:07:30','2012-05-24 17:07:30','I absolutely agree and love what you said here. Yeah, it\'s definitely time to come out of that system. Thanks Terry!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; Trident/5.0; BOIE9;ENUS)','',0,0),(1612,6745,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','76.26.97.144','2012-05-24 10:09:34','2012-05-24 17:09:34','Excellent post, thank you. Great line and vital: \"We have to lose our love affair with addresses and fall in love with zip codes again.\"\r\nWhat I see as the perfect model for the Church  today is the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous, for iit is based in a Spirit of Action rather than a System of Belief. The freedom we get in Christ is  the loss of worldliiness, which includes these provencial loyalties to a particular church we attend or a certain denomination or sect. Doubtful we will see many willing to abandon these things, yet this is what Jesus took issue with the Jews. \r\nThrough a study of the early Church, I was amazed at how much alike AA is to the Christians of that era and how apparently lacking the present day Church is in that spirit.  \r\n-strong emphasis on fellowship and helping each other both with problems and to grow\r\n-confession and testimony at each gathering\r\n-the essential and daily spirit of action\r\n-God as the one authority, not a council or pope or organization\r\n-small local groups that function in their community\r\n\r\nThe basic message of the Twelve Steps is to place everything in the care of God and the primary path for this is to pplace godly principles before our own or others personalities, which does away with squabbles over Conservative or Liberal, this translation over that translation..',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1613,6745,'tsmith0095','Tsmith0095@gmail.com','http://tsmith0095.wordpress.com','72.152.36.81','2012-05-24 10:17:14','2012-05-24 17:17:14','Thanks Ed.   Be sure to connect with me on twitter and facebook.  I talk about this topic a lot.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1611,183),(1614,6745,'tsmith0095','Tsmith0095@gmail.com','http://tsmith0095.wordpress.com','72.152.36.81','2012-05-24 10:19:54','2012-05-24 17:19:54','Hm. I should probably learn more about these \"12 Steps\".  I would love to see the Church return to an Acts Church where folks had \"everything in common\".  Let us go out and be the ones to start this change.  Let\'s save our cities through community and relationship.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1612,183),(1615,6745,'Janie','ragersedge@gmail.com','','67.236.171.86','2012-05-24 18:43:32','2012-05-25 01:43:32','I\'m truly humbled. Living in a small community, we \'think\' that the problem of homelessness doesn\'t exist here. It does. I need to do more I need to allow Him to work through me.  Thank you for striving and being the man that God has called you to be. You and Bec are near and dear to our hearts. I can\'t believe that 3 days, a year ago....made such an impact on our lives. You continue to do so, through Christ.  Now if you don\'t mind, I have a zip code to think about. &lt;3 Much Love to you, my brother.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1616,6745,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.37.180','2012-05-24 18:57:26','2012-05-25 01:57:26','\"It’s time for us, as the Church to get off our high horse and help the man in the ditch who is dying as the religious walk on by him.  It’s time that we lose our religious piety and pick up the Cross of Jesus (His life and His death) and we start feeding the poor, clothing the naked and freeing the prisoners.\"\r\n\r\nExactly. This is the humble realization I came to after my fall from ministry. Often, churches are quick to dismiss those within their congregation who fall or stumble. I\'ve heard pastors call them \"blessed subtractions\". But when a man or woman goes overboard on our ship, it is our duty to go after them. \r\n\r\nYou\'re right, we are a community, not a building. Great post.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',0,12),(1617,6745,'tsmith0095','Tsmith0095@gmail.com','http://tsmith0095.wordpress.com','174.253.115.239','2012-05-24 19:30:24','2012-05-25 02:30:24','Humbled by your words, Janie. Love you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1615,183),(1618,6745,'tsmith0095','Tsmith0095@gmail.com','http://tsmith0095.wordpress.com','174.253.115.239','2012-05-24 19:35:03','2012-05-25 02:35:03','Thanks for your words, Ray. Not only when one goes overboard but when we happen upon the drifter who was never in our boat.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1616,183),(1619,6226,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','76.26.97.144','2012-05-25 15:38:20','2012-05-25 22:38:20','Thank you, Deanna, for such an informative series. It is clear throughout this tour of diverse religious beliefs that truth can be found in all of them and everywhere.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1620,6166,'Ali','sd_al1@hotmail.com','','58.168.200.126','2012-05-26 00:33:24','2012-05-26 07:33:24','Very well written article! \r\nExcellent work Deanna, we need more journalists like you',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.46 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1621,6226,'Deanna Ogle','outofcomatose@gmail.com','http://soullikeaspider.com','68.42.103.46','2012-05-26 10:31:28','2012-05-26 17:31:28','Tom, thank you very much. I\'m so glad you have found value in this series of articles. I had a wonderful time talking to each of these people, and I am glad I could communicate that to you.\r\n\r\nThanks for reading! It means more than you know.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',1619,38),(1622,6166,'Deanna Ogle','outofcomatose@gmail.com','http://soullikeaspider.com','68.42.103.46','2012-05-26 10:53:58','2012-05-26 17:53:58','Tuba is awesome. She and I connected pretty quickly at class. I loved hanging out with her!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',1604,38),(1623,6166,'Deanna Ogle','outofcomatose@gmail.com','http://soullikeaspider.com','68.42.103.46','2012-05-26 10:54:19','2012-05-26 17:54:19','Isn\'t she? She is very brave. Thanks for reading!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',1606,38),(1624,6166,'Deanna Ogle','outofcomatose@gmail.com','http://soullikeaspider.com','68.42.103.46','2012-05-26 10:55:05','2012-05-26 17:55:05','Bob,\r\n\r\nThank you again for introducing me. Saeed is a great guy, and I appreciate his candidness in talking about his faith and others. Very inspiring.\r\n\r\nThanks for reading!\r\n\r\nDeanna',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',1610,38),(1625,6166,'Deanna Ogle','outofcomatose@gmail.com','http://soullikeaspider.com','68.42.103.46','2012-05-26 10:55:34','2012-05-26 17:55:34','Oh, thank you, Ali! You are very kind.\r\n\r\nThanks for taking time to stop by and read!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',1620,38),(1626,6110,'Deanna Ogle','outofcomatose@gmail.com','http://soullikeaspider.com','68.42.103.46','2012-05-26 10:56:18','2012-05-26 17:56:18','Bob, you are very welcome. Thanks for sharing it with me!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',1608,38),(1627,6258,'Amit Kumar','amitkumar.mumbai@gmail.com','http://www.ubercoolvideos.com','120.61.25.198','2012-05-26 12:46:37','2012-05-26 19:46:37','Nice interview. Got to learn stuff about Hinduism that I wasn\'t aware of - It\'s a vast faith after all :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1628,6390,'Janettie','janetteroutley@gmail.com','','99.235.199.45','2012-05-26 17:32:28','2012-05-27 00:32:28','Jordan,\r\n\r\nI love this!  You hit the nail on the head--I\'ve been prepping for a sermon regarding \'The Single Life\', and am touching on the same thing--Christian romance books set our women up for disappointment if they think what they are reading is reality.  Unfortunately, I know some well meaning Christian readers  who have a hard time believing it is fiction and --have experienced some great disappointment and letdown that has led to bitterness. I think back to the Christy Miller series from when we were young, and the idea of finding love on the tea cups at Disney--I was just on the teacups...with a boy who loved Jesus very much...and we didn\'t fall in love.  haha  \r\n\r\nWe all do want a story worth telling though, don\'t we?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1629,6352,'Regina Farmer','datasmart1234@gmail.com','','75.105.64.53','2012-05-26 18:42:13','2012-05-27 01:42:13','Wow! I finally found an article I can relate to. Awesome writing and comments. Makes me proud to be a Christian. I\'m so sad that the word Christian is becoming muddled with words of hate when it comes to politics. We all know that Jesus embraced the poor and the outcasts. I totally feel that Obama represents that well.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:10.0.2) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/10.0.2','',0,0),(1630,6166,'Tuba','tubs_200@hotmail.com','','67.167.186.247','2012-05-26 23:21:41','2012-05-27 06:21:41','Awww Deanna this is so lovely. I told everyone to read it.. so the \"tuba sounds like a great person\" comment was my little brother trying to be nice :p I\'m really not that awesome. But thank you for this! All your articles in this series are so well-written. My bio classmate is gonna be a super-famous journalist! &lt;3',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1631,6783,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.94.55.222','2012-05-27 10:54:46','2012-05-27 17:54:46','I\'ve been trying to tell people for years that the one percent wants to make us all serfs.  The corporations didn\'t move their jobs overseas because they couldn\'t afford the taxation; they did it purely because of greed.\r\n\r\nWhat I see happening is a major plan by the corporate owned GOP to bankrupt our federal government so it can end all social programs including Medicare, Social Security and Unemployment.  They keep talking about democrats and how they want to “spend spend spend,” yet is the republicans that got us into a ten year war and gave tax breaks to the rich.  Then they came up with the “debt ceiling” and introduced a balanced budget program amendment that would cause all social programs to be eliminated because we can’t afford them.  Now that the corporations want to come back because they’ve found that even though they pay slave wages overseas, they are still showing a smaller profit margin due to shipping costs, and at the same time, the GOP is also trying to abolish unions.  They are making us destitute and their goal is to be able to pay Americans the same slave wages they paid overseas.  And if you don’t believe that, there are already those who want to eliminate minimum wage.  The GOP wants to make us a land of serfs.  Oh, and they are against birth control too, all the more slaves to fight their wars and work in their factories, as all those kiddies will need to eat and with no social programs, people will think slave wages are just hunky dory.  Like you, I am very concerned with what’s happening in our country and where it’s all leading us, but I don’t think Obama’s the one to fear, he’s just one guy.  It’s the corporate power that’s up to no good.  We are heading back to the dark ages if we fall under another Republican Administration and American freedom and rights as we have always believed in and fought for will most likely be lost forever.\r\n\r\nThe GOP tell us there’s no money and the rich aren’t the blame for our predicament, yet when I see Donald Trump standing with his arm around Mitt Romney’s shoulder and hear an announcement that an anonymous donor just pledged $9 million to Romney’s campaign, that tells me that the corporations are betting on their race horse, their very own puppet to do their bidding.  I have union retirement, and they are threatening to take that away from me, my house will be paid off in four months, and I‘m sure they want that too.  I am a woman (they are trying to make women non persons and even want to decriminalize rape) and since I am past my child bearing years and cannot produce offspring to fight their wars or work for pennies in their corporations, they’ll probably send me to the salt mines. So I’ll come right out and say it, at this time of my life, I am a LIBERAL.  Should times redefine the word and what it stand for, that may change, but I truly think that anyone with an ounce of self-preservation would be foolish to vote the republican ticket.  Everyone else gets to say what they want to say, so I just said my piece.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1632,6713,'Deanna Ogle','outofcomatose@gmail.com','http://soullikeaspider.com','68.42.103.46','2012-05-27 11:33:35','2012-05-27 18:33:35','I was not a part of the Denim Skirt Cult, but I was pretty close. There were all sorts of rules about what we could and couldn\'t wear, and even for Senior Banquet (the prom without dancing because dancing is of the devil) we couldn\'t wear strapless dresses because \"the boys will wonder where your bra is\". I kid you not, that was the ACTUAL reason given to me.\r\n\r\nAnd then, once I got out of that environment, it took me several years to get comfortable with myself again. I worried if something felt too low, or too sexy, or too comfortable on my skin. Eventually I realized that if I felt nice in something I could wear it, or if it was balls hot outside and the most comfortable/coolest tank I have doesn\'t line up with my bra straps, the men aren\'t going to flip into rape mode because of me.\r\n\r\nI think we turn men into animals sometimes. They are in charge of themselves. They are responsible for themselves, just like us. We have to stop shaming women\'s bodies. It\'s just not healthy.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',0,38),(1633,6713,'Jackie Taylor','mountain_girl_89@yahoo.com','','207.213.182.215','2012-05-27 13:21:50','2012-05-27 20:21:50','I was sort of in the \"denim skirt cult\", but it wasn\'t because I was really made to do it, I sort of did it on my own. I was told that I had to be modest and I believe I took it a little far. I did wear pants and Jeans, but I also wore ankle long skirts. I stayed away from tank tops (don\'t ask how I survived summer) and didn\'t start wearing them until I was around 17. \r\n\r\nIt wasn\'t until I started dating my husband and started to hang out with his family, that I started to realize it wasn\'t bad to wear something like a tank top. Jason\'s, my husband, mom helped me out with getting clothes that were modest, but were a little bit more revealing than I used to wear. The biggest shock, my mother-in-law is a pastor\'s wife.\r\n\r\nLike Deanna, it is taking me a while to get used to being able to wear what I want and not what I think people think I should wear. I\'m still not comfortable with shorts or slightly- above- the- knee skirts, they have to cover my knees when I sit for me to be comfortable. I have come a long way from the, what my in-laws call, \"Grandma clothes\". I feel happy now.\r\n\r\nalso, what Deanna said, I believe that we do turn men into animals, but they are (or should be) in control of themselves. If they start to get out of control, the woman should be the only one to blame. It should go both ways.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1634,6258,'Bob Cornwall','drbobcornwall@msn.com','http://bobcornwall.com','24.192.56.134','2012-05-27 13:36:23','2012-05-27 20:36:23','Deanna -- thanks for your interview with my friend Padma!!  It was great to see her story told.\r\n\r\nBob',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1635,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','99.240.118.230','2012-05-27 16:19:40','2012-05-27 23:19:40','Thanks, Janette! Good luck with the sermon. And yes, we do all want a story worth telling - let\'s keep our focus on telling the greatest love story of all and let God worry about ours.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.52.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.2 Safari/534.52.7','',1628,177),(1636,6713,'Lyra','bronwynsings@yahoo.com','','204.76.175.25','2012-05-28 07:33:11','2012-05-28 14:33:11','Unfortunately, this is part of rape culture. I too grew up required to dress very modestly and for the reasons given in the article and comments. If I had been raped back then, I would have sincerely believed it was my fault. I bought fully into the idea that what I wore was responsible for what the boys thought and how they reacted. \r\n\r\nIt never occurred to me back then that boys (and men) were responsible for themselves just as much as I was responsible for myself. (Indeed, I was responsible for myself AND them.)\r\n\r\nAlso note that it\'s very hard to learn to respect men when you believe their behavior, thinking, decision-making, etc., are dependent on you and that you have control over those things.\r\n\r\nIt took me years to get over the whole mindset. Years of feeling naked in knee-length shorts, of feeling terror when I saw a women dressed in sexy (or just well-fitting) clothes because I was certain a rape was imminent, of feeling responsible for whatever the guys around me said or did to me. You can imagine how healthy those early relationships were.\r\n\r\nThe author\'s perspective is much more healthy. Dress normally, or very modestly, or whatever you feel comfortable in. And don\'t teach little girls that they\'re responsible for the boys. We already have enough of that in our culture -- it\'s why females have been blamed for rape throughout history and it\'s why blaming the victim has only recently (historically speaking) been challenged.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1637,6713,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','76.26.97.144','2012-05-28 10:33:35','2012-05-28 17:33:35','Very needed piece and a great read. As a person who grew up in a home with spousal abuse, I did not care much for the thoughts and ways of men or how society both generally and specifically suppressed women. I was raised Catholic and read a lot of pieces by so-called \"saints\" that were nothing short misogyny, using Eve\'s role in the Garden (temptress) as an indictment and excuse to suppress; an ancient resentment and blaming that is still strong in the church today. Had to do a lot of work over the years on this issue of men and their oppressive nature. \r\nI suppose I must ask what you perceive is modesty? I am very curious.\r\nGod bless.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1638,6783,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-05-28 10:39:27','2012-05-28 17:39:27','Buddy, while I don\'t think there is a group of people controlling all the moves of the rich, I do think the inertia of self interest plays a huge part in the same thing happening over and over again.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,1),(1639,6713,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','76.26.97.144','2012-05-28 12:23:28','2012-05-28 19:23:28','There is a poem by Thomas Merton I would like to share with you; it reveals The Turn in his life. I offer it because it helped me go beyond the conventional wisdom and values of the world to a place of a bigger peace, where I happened upon forgiveness and compassion for all those men still in bondage to their primitive views. There was less and less room for virtues, which appeared, surprisingly, to make more and more room for God. It may have a place here.\r\n\r\n \"When in the soul of the serene disciple\r\nWith no more fathers to imitate\r\nPoverty is a success,\r\nIt is a small thing to say the roof is gone;\r\nHe has not even a house.\r\n\r\n\"Stars, as well as friends,\r\nAre angry with the noble ruin.\r\nSaints depart in several directions\r\n\r\n\"Be still:\r\nThere is no longer any need of comment.\r\nIt was a lucky wind\r\nThat blew away his halo with his cares,\r\nA lucky sea that drowned his reputation.\r\n\r\n\"Here you will find\r\nNeither a proverb nor a memorandum.\r\nThere are no ways,\r\nNo methods to admire\r\nWhere poverty is no achievement.\r\nHis God lives in his emptiness like an affliction.\r\n\r\n\"What choice remains?\r\nWell, to be ordinary is not a choice:\r\nIt is the usual freedom\r\nof men without visions.\r\n\r\nIt is the barren land of no ideals or authoritative voices but just the wind of the spirit desert, that blows where it will.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1640,6713,'Kaitlin Moroney','sfcc.kaitlin.allen@gmail.com','http://kaitlinallen24.blogspot.com','97.119.247.131','2012-05-28 21:46:01','2012-05-29 04:46:01','While you may not have been as strict as I was in your expression, I would say the mindset was just as extreme and unhealthy. \r\n\r\nI definitely agree that men are turned into animals, which quite honestly, is just as unhealthy for them as it is for us. \r\n\r\nThanks for reading and commenting, Deanna! =)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1632,78),(1641,6713,'Kaitlin Moroney','sfcc.kaitlin.allen@gmail.com','http://kaitlinallen24.blogspot.com','97.119.247.131','2012-05-28 21:49:22','2012-05-29 04:49:22','It should be noted that I did it on my own as well. It was my own choice to start dressing the way I did and my parents didn\'t make me do it at all. It was definitely a result of the environment I was in and the \'peer pressure\' from my friends around me and not because of anything my parents forced on me. \r\n\r\nI think it is very important to wear what is comfortable for you and be happy in your own skin. I am glad you have been able to find that balance for yourself! \r\n\r\nThanks for reading and giving your input, Jackie!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1633,78),(1642,6713,'Kaitlin Moroney','sfcc.kaitlin.allen@gmail.com','http://kaitlinallen24.blogspot.com','97.119.247.131','2012-05-28 21:53:50','2012-05-29 04:53:50','I agree wholeheartedly. It is definitely part of the rape culture that our society is only beginning to dig its way out of. I would have liked to get into that a bit more in my post but it seemed slightly deviant from the main point I was trying to make. I firmly believe that saying \"If you wear that [insert arbitrary piece of clothing], you will make men sin!\" is right on its way to saying \"Well she only got groped/molested/raped because she was dressed like a slut!\" because it stems from the same viewpoint that women are responsible for the actions of men. \r\n\r\nExcellent points, Lyra! Thank you for reading and commenting.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1636,78),(1643,6713,'Kaitlin Moroney','sfcc.kaitlin.allen@gmail.com','http://kaitlinallen24.blogspot.com','97.119.247.131','2012-05-28 22:10:55','2012-05-29 05:10:55','Thank you, Tom, I appreciate your comments. My heart goes out to you for the experiences you have been through. \r\n\r\nYou bring up an excellent thought that has previously crossed my mind but hasn\'t recently. That of the role of Eve in the introduction of Sin into the world. I have actually heard people use that as an argument for why women are to be held *more* responsible than the men for abuse/rape/etc. \"Well it\'s obvious women are just temptresses and only bring the innocent men down with them...just look at Eve!\"  Thank you for your thoughts. \r\n\r\nIn answer to your question, I believe a persons \'level\' of modesty-- be it denim skirts or shorts, long sleeves or tank tops --is between them, God, (and if they have one) their significant other. There is no clear cut scripture that says \"thou shalt not wear bikinis\" for us to go by, so I think this is one of those areas that people need to decide for themselves on. If a woman feels comfortable, happy and confident in the way she dresses, there is absolutely no room for me to make a judgement call on whether or not that is \"modest\". For me, I am FAR more liberal than I used to be. Just today I wore shorts and a halter top! ;)\r\n\r\nAnd I should just note that I have nothing against teaching modesty. However it needs to be done in a healthy way that doesn\'t shame women\'s bodies and put unnecessary blame on them. Perhaps that will be my next post! \r\n\r\nThank you again for your comment, Tom.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1637,78),(1644,6713,'Kaitlin Moroney','sfcc.kaitlin.allen@gmail.com','http://kaitlinallen24.blogspot.com','97.119.247.131','2012-05-28 22:18:39','2012-05-29 05:18:39','Beautiful and provocative! Thank you for sharing that. It rings so true with me. Both in this and throughout the rest of my life. The more I drift away from dogma and doctrine, the more room I have for God\'s love in my life-- and the more love I have, the more love I can share.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1639,78),(1645,6756,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.75.46.215','2012-05-30 10:35:17','2012-05-30 17:35:17','My husband and I were just talking about this last night.  Actually we were talking about some of our conservative friends that think we are fighting a spiritual battle with politics, and of course the \"Right\" believes they are right.  And I mentioned that is why there MUST be separation between church and state, that even among all the different varieties of Christianity, the many churches and the doctrines they focus on, we that call ourselves Christians disagree on so many issues.\r\n\r\nIf I am unsure of how to approach issues that affect the outcome of others, I fall back on the commandments Jesus left us with and I think is this a loving way to treat people?  Would Jesus be more impressed that I am following biblical principles (think Pharisee laws) or am I treating them kindly?\r\n\r\nSo many Christians I know seem to have contradictive ideas such as they will move mountains to prevent abortion, yet they resent being taxed to help the poor.  It seems like we care more about fetuses than we do children that are already born, like we need to \"get them born\" but we would deny them a free school lunch.\r\n\r\nA lot of people are angry with our president because he introduced free birth control to \"Obamacare.\"  I\'ve heard a lot of comments that this is taking away religious freedom for others.  But is it?  Just because \"the pill\" is included in insurance coverage doesn\'t mean anyone has to use it.  And I\'ve heard the argument about Catholic employers being forced to go against their beliefs just because someone \"might\" use pills included in an insurance program.  First, why does the employer even need to know what parts of the universal program and employee uses?  And if the employee is a married women and not pregnant most of the time, she most likely already is using some form of birth control.  Secondly, studies indicate that 98% of Catholic women are already using birth control, and this is to the employer\'s advantage anyway, as it interrupts the flow of work when women take maternity leave, so they certainly wouldn\'t be too happy if a woman did it often. \r\n\r\nWhen it comes to free birth control pills, I\'ve heard many Christian conservatives argue that they don\'t want to pay for someone else\'s contraception.  Yet they don\'t want people to have abortions and they resent their taxes going into social programs that help the poor.  So wouldn\'t the pill help prevent both, abortions and more poor people?  Doesn\'t it seem hard hearted and almost like you want poor women to be punished for having sex?  Is that how Jesus viewed the adulteress?\r\n\r\nPeople are also angry with President Obama for affirmation of the right for gay couples to marry, and he has stated that his views have evolved on this issue.  Well, guess what?  I believe that because mine have also evolved.  I voted for Prop 8 here in California and asked my niece if she did and she stated she did not.  I said, but we are Christian and it\'s against our religion.  She replied, \"Yes, it\'s against our religion, and we would never do that, but we can\'t tell them that they can\'t marry.\"  At the time I disagreed with her, but now I believe just as the president does, and that is that gay people are a part of our society and they have  families and have for a long time.  Don\'t the children of gay couples have the right to be treated just like other children?  Should we shun children of such families?  Should gay parents be treated with dignity and respect when they come to watch their children play games?  Are we being loving when we deny them the same rights that we want for ourselves.  Does gay marriage really hurt traditional marriage?  Does it really?  Because I think we straight people have already disrespected marriage to the nth degree ourselves.  Most churches have divorced and remarried couples in attendance already, and that certainly is not the fault of gay people who marry or wish to have the right to do so.\r\n\r\nI believe that true Chritianity is a heart attitude.  We can spew verses and rules at people.  We can tut-tut people and make them feel disapproved of.  We can vote on issues that deny rights to others that would make them feel like equal citizens in our society.  We can be Pharisees. . .or we can obey the last commandments Christ left us with and \"Love one another as I have loved you\"  and \"Love your neighbors as you love yourself.\"  I think if our focus is on that, so many of our other problems will begin to fall away.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1646,6727,'Buzz','bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com','http://readingforthejourney.wordpress.com/','219.89.12.98','2012-05-30 12:15:15','2012-05-30 19:15:15','I\'m always having to pull myself up short and tell myself that we only need have His eyes to see such folk. Sadly, I need more practice as I often fall into rationalising why I didn\'t step up and help after the fact.  Thanks for the nudge.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/534.56.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) NetNewsWire/3.3','',0,0),(1647,6756,'Amy Mitchell','royalfamily12@gmail.com','http://www.unchainedfaith.wordpress.com','74.69.23.179','2012-05-30 13:27:04','2012-05-30 20:27:04','Yes, it\'s sad that so many Christians like to quote Bible verses and list all the things we\'re not supposed to do, while failing to uphold even the most basic, foundational commands to love God and love each other.  The most common excuses I\'ve heard are that we\'re supposed to be \"in the world, but not of it\" and that people will \"persecute\" us for \"doing the right thing.\"  I\'ve been told outright that if people like what I say, then I\'m doing it wrong and it\'s a sign I\'m not right with God.  I guess I wonder what happened to \"they will know you are Christians by your love.\"  It seems to have been forgotten in favor of fighting these battles.  The constant bickering reminds me of my kids.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1645,43),(1648,6727,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','166.147.119.1','2012-05-30 15:25:13','2012-05-30 22:25:13','Buzz,\r\n\r\nYou\'re right. I guess the thing that put me over the top is when I realized I wasn\'t any better than anyone else. None of us consciously think that, but I try to think, \"what if that were me? Because someday it might be.\"\r\n\r\nThanks for the comment.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1646,12),(1649,6727,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','76.26.97.144','2012-05-30 20:20:49','2012-05-31 03:20:49','Thank you for this great read, Ray. It was only after I lost my standing in the community and destroyed my reputation that I began to see what it truly meant to serve others. So much of it before was \"acting\" like a \"good\" Christian and for image, although I did not think so at the time. I took the gifts of the spirit to be behavior modification rules. When I was an outcast, I noticed the good feeling produced the giving rather than the giving making me feel good. It was an overflowing, just spillage of God\'s abundance, and thus no boast. There was no sacrifice to it, no sense of loss, pain, or inconvenience. I had been gracefully emptied of worth and esteem, which allowed God to act unimpeded.\r\nThe point you brought out about the man being unabled to even say aloud the word Samaritan is something I like to bring out as well. But imagine if this story had not made the Gospels and the sunday sermon was on the other question he asked: what do we need for eternal life? If the preacher merely invented a similar story with the moral and instruction of just love your neighbor, you know there would be an outcry in most churches today for several reasons (especially if one substituted a Muslim).',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1650,6727,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','64.134.221.211','2012-05-31 08:20:45','2012-05-31 15:20:45','Love this Ray.  We\'re all Samaritans.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,1),(1651,6801,'Mike','marshmk@gmail.com','http://interruptingthesilence.com','69.152.254.191','2012-05-31 14:14:09','2012-05-31 21:14:09','Greg, I really appreciate the distinction between knowing and learning. I hear a similar distinction in St. Antony\'s words, \"I no longer fear God, I now love him.\" (Or something like that.) Knowing is often a means of protection whereas learning means I must be vulnerable, open, receptive. I would rather know than learn. It is easier and safer. I suspect learning is closely related to repentance. I also find it interesting that the mystics speak of the path of unknowing. \r\n\r\nPeace,\r\nMike+',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',0,0),(1652,6801,'StrategicMonk','StrategicMonk@gmail.com','http://StrategicMonk.com','99.99.57.99','2012-05-31 14:54:08','2012-05-31 21:54:08','Thank you, Mike. I like your idea about the connection between learning and repentance.\n\nI have fallen in love with learning. We want to know things so we can take comfort and security from certainty, to gain a sense of control. As Benedict says, \"Always, we begin again.\" I have come to see learning, beginning, and \"unknowing\" as much more authentic ways of appreciating the truth of life. When we acknowledge that we are not in control, we can be more open to the reality of the world.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',1651,182),(1653,6727,'Karin','karin@anduril.ca','http://thinkingtoodeeply.blogspot.com','96.52.166.83','2012-05-31 16:42:10','2012-05-31 23:42:10','Recently had a post of this parable as well.  Great insights! God is always at work and it\'s wonderful when we can be part of His work!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:2.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0.1','',0,0),(1654,6727,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.36.26','2012-05-31 19:33:01','2012-06-01 02:33:01','Great thoughts Tom, and thank you for sharing. My hermeneutics professor shared several things about this story. He said, \"Imagine if Jesus had told this story in Nazi Germany and the Samaritan had been a Jew. Or imagine if it had taken place during the Civil Rights movement in the South and the Samaritan had been a black man and Christ\'s audience had been white church leaders.\"\r\n\r\nThe parable strikes home for all of us, especially for those who have been humbled. Thank you for your transparency, brother.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1649,12),(1655,6727,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.36.26','2012-05-31 19:35:34','2012-06-01 02:35:34','Thanks, Jonathan. We are. Unfortunately, there are times we act like the two men who passed by on the other side of the road, but we know better. When we learn to accept our station as servants, that we are less than everyone else, that\'s when we readily take on the role of the quiet Samaritan who looked for no reward or thanks. He just acted out of nature.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1650,12),(1656,6727,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.36.26','2012-05-31 19:38:40','2012-06-01 02:38:40','Karin,\r\n\r\nI read your inspired post. In fact, I was hesitant to write because you had done such an amazing job. But isn\'t Scripture amazing? We all benefit in so many ways from it. Thank you for reading my post. I appreciate it very much.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1653,12),(1657,6727,'Ed','ed@inpulsearts.com','http://www.inpulsearts.com/Word','68.96.97.76','2012-05-31 20:34:14','2012-06-01 03:34:14','Awwwww. I must have helped out their neighbors, because it\'s the same exact experience I had a couple of weeks ago! God is good!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1658,6727,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','76.26.97.144','2012-05-31 21:13:41','2012-06-01 04:13:41','Thank you, Ray. My favorite parable, as well it should be, is the Prodigal Son and next the Good Samaritan, although as you pointed out, Jesus never said \"good\"--and that got me thinking more on this story. \r\nAs I alluded to in my other comments, what would be scandalous had this story not been in the Gospels but invented one Sunday by a preacher is the \"hippie\" answer to the question, \"How do we gain eternal life?\": the simple love of neighbor. I have witnessed many times the attempted uncomplicated message of love bring instant resistance from learned Christians who have diligently studied scripture. And try making the priest a Baptist and the Levitt a Catholic (and switch up for the audience). A lot of fun can be had. \r\nThe question I need to ask myself is this: who is my half-bred Samaritan?\r\nGod bless, Ray, and many thanks.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1654,0),(1659,6824,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','76.26.97.144','2012-06-01 10:09:44','2012-06-01 17:09:44','Absolutely beautiful, RHONDADELA. This has to one of the finest descriptions of the spiritual path, and I have read many. The way I try to phrase what you so elegantly wrote has people ask if I know how to talk \"human\": you brilliantly bring heaven and earth together. \r\nI am to live by a lamp unto my feet; just enough light for the moment I am in, there trusting solely in the care of God, blind both to who I am and what I may be. My prayer to be a means without ends, or to have each instant my end in Christ.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1660,6824,'rhondadela','rhondadela@gmail.com','','98.195.118.35','2012-06-01 11:46:20','2012-06-01 18:46:20','Thank-you Tom...what a compliment.  You stated so perfctly what my prayer is. Sometimes  walking this out is easier than other times.  I am finding that much of what the \"faith journey\" is about has just as much to do with learning to have faith as it does about the direction in which we are headed.  I feel so often like I am only scratching the surface of who Chrsit is and how to truly glory Him in this life.  I think that when we get to heaven, all that we so brillantly saught to bring to Him will comparable to a child\'s finger painted pictures... it is our heart behind the creation that He so loves about us.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1659,184),(1661,6812,'Gene Anderson','pastorgene3@gmail.com','http://geneanderson.blogspot.com/','70.187.95.102','2012-06-01 13:04:01','2012-06-01 20:04:01','Excellent review! Here\'s another take on the film... http://geneanderson.blogspot.com/2012/05/theologicalthursday-made-as-makers.html\r\n\r\nProvokative. I keep the badge on my blog because this e-mag is such a worthwhile read!\r\n\r\nThank you, be blessed!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1662,6812,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-06-01 13:54:20','2012-06-01 20:54:20','Thank you Gene.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1661,1),(1663,6683,'Stephanie','ebenezer817@yahoo.com','','50.131.109.189','2012-06-01 21:47:22','2012-06-02 04:47:22','The language, Religious Right and Irreligious Left, is a bit divisive. At least I find it so. I would ask what sort of \"engagement\" do churchgoing Americans engage in with their community? I find these churchgoing Americans to be the least tolerant of difference in their communities, more judgmental. Stereotyping? Maybe. Are you implying, as I read it, that its up to the Liberals to find religion to deflect the polarization? I couldn\'t disagree more. The religion of the Liberals is to disengage religion from politics. Finding grace and the betterment of their communities is their religion. The extremism of the \"Religious Right\" has reached the tipping point. I\'ll leave it at that. I value our friendship. I hope we have many further conversations on this topic.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',0,0),(1664,6683,'Christie','sasschristine@yahoo.com','http://www.randomreflectionz.com','98.228.225.9','2012-06-02 05:49:15','2012-06-02 12:49:15','Stephanie,\r\n\r\nThanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.  Productive dialogue is helpful.  First, I couldn\'t agree more that religion should be left out of government (you can read a post I wrote on the topic a few months ago here...http://randomreflectionz.com/2012/02/29/ethics-and-respect-thrive-with-an-absolute-separation-of-church-and-state/).  The \"engagement\" to which I am referring is more of community involvement and social activism.  For instance, the Unitarian Universalist church promotes a \"Standing on the Side of Love\" campaign that promotes tolerance.  Many liberal churches I have been involved with have campaigned for marriage equality by making calls to legislators, etc.  An example of community involvement would be reaching out to displaced LGBT youth in the community.  Perhaps, I did not do a very good job of explaining my position in this article.  I understand the use of the words \"Religious Right\" and \"Irreligious Left\" is a bit of an overgeneralization, but it is definitely not intended to be divisive.  It is intended to point out the inherent flaws in these overgeneralizations.  In America, there seems to be an assumption that if one is religious or a church-goer, that he or she holds conservative political ideals (e.g. against gay marriage, pro-life, less entitlement programs) and that just isn\'t always the case.  This mentality is keeping many liberals from religion and, as a result, the stereotypes only get stronger.  By showing people that religion and liberalism are not dichotomous (outside of government and politics, of course), liberals may be motivated to re-engage in religion.  \"Liberal\" is not just a political term, but a social term as well.  Again, religion should be kept out of politics and government, but there are several other avenues to promote liberal objectives.  Some churches (when used correctly) are a good tool for facilitating social activism and community involvement (such as soup kitchens, cleaning up neighborhoods, advocating for marriage equality and reproductive rights, etc.).  By reengaging liberals in religion, we can not only help to dispel with these stereotypes, but we can harness their efforts to promote liberal social change through societal - not political - avenues.  I couldn\'t agree more that the Religious Right has reached a tipping point, which is what makes this all the more of a timely issue.  As to your questions...there are many churchgoing Americans who are incredibly tolerant and nonjudgmental.  All of the UU churches I have attended have been filled with very tolerant and giving people, in all respects.  By reengaging liberals we can dispel with this stereotype.  Does this make any sense? I\'m still not sure if I am getting my point across, but I hope that this helps a little.  I appreciate your thoughts.  Like I said, productive dialogue is key.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1663,0),(1665,6789,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','http://lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','69.171.160.130','2012-06-04 05:52:04','2012-06-04 12:52:04','\"Blessed are they that mourn.\" This was a highly curious mark of a saint to me. I could understand the other characteristics noted in the Sermon on the Mount but this one seemed out of place. Until I destroyed my life and reputation with alcohol. The necessary suffering that comes with allowing God to work on our character defects and shortcomings, seeing the depths of our weakness and harm, frees us from those wounds that acted as sin-causing agents. Sorrow is a process of transcendance, of releasing ourselves from our worldliness to see into and accept the eternal. \r\nThe process starts ignobly, it appears, with the regrets of all we lost and progresses to that profound sorrow of lost relationship with God, present in all our relationships with others.\r\nFor me, there is no method for managing my grief; it comes down to trusting in the care of God and allowing this natural cleansing to take place.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1666,6470,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','http://lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','69.171.160.130','2012-06-04 07:00:46','2012-06-04 14:00:46','One could argue the pillars of society have it worse: there is no need for a savior or to change. Yet it is highly doubtful missions will spring up for this mostly doomed class...or if they did, anyone would take advantage of them.\r\n\r\nI am an ex-con. I spent only three years in prison thanks to a suspended sentence and the benefit of good behavior. I was released to a residential treatment center for six months, then to a halfway house in a depressed and small community in the south of the state, where I knew no one. And that last part was a good thing, for everyone who knew me, knew me as a liar, cheat, and thief.\r\nOn the morning of my arrival, the director picked me up, brought me back to the house, then suggested I get settled in while she did a little shopping. During my time in prison I had renewed my faith in Christ and found a still voice in me. In that moment \"the voice\" said, \"Go with her,\" so I did.\r\nA little background: At this stage I am in my sixties, with no ID (a long story), no work history for over ten years, no marketable skills, and, last but not least, a convicted felon. This earned me high marks on the recividism chart.\r\nThree blocks from the house, not in town an hour, I see a man struggling to get some equipment in a truck and ask the director to stop. \"The voice\" again. She knows the man; he is the station manager for a Christian TV station. I have been working there for almost four years now and my liife is gaining some semblance of decency and light.\r\nOnly the extraordinary, as you noted, provided me a chance. Yet it was not the government or even a church program; just the mercy of God and my receptivity, by grace, to open to His direction. \r\nWhat I have found in the church is people acting like Christians: this is what Jesus took issue with the Jews. They had not opened to a genuine love of neighbor but to the law of loving their neighbor in organized programs. It appears many Christian take the gifts of the spirit as behavior modification rules. This is external and without depth. There seems to be no notice or observation to actually dying to self, of letting go of attachments. Beliefs overpower surrender.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1667,6789,'tsmith0095','Tsmith0095@gmail.com','http://tsmith0095.wordpress.com','72.152.45.19','2012-06-04 08:04:20','2012-06-04 15:04:20','Amen, Tom.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1665,183),(1668,6812,'Jennifer','jnester@umich.edu','','141.214.17.5','2012-06-04 09:16:34','2012-06-04 16:16:34','WoW! You are eloquent with your words, as always.  Maybe you should think about this reviewing this on a more regular basis?  You have such deep insight and such a wonderful way of writing that makes it easy for anyone to follow along and get interested.  Thank you for sharing, as always.  So proud of my sis!  I will definitely add this to my list of \'to do\', and attempt to make it sooner, rather, than later.  I also like your bio.  = )',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1669,6824,'Anh Nguyen','anh-thu@sbcglobal.net','','64.124.150.42','2012-06-05 04:40:04','2012-06-05 11:40:04','Dear Rhonda, the message is so rich, so deep, so personal.  I keep wondering \"Is this from the Rhonda I know?\"  God has surely made the water in the vessel Rhonda into wine!  May God continue blessing you, and performing miracles through you.  Your sister in Christ.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; MS-RTC LM 8; InfoPath.3)','',0,0),(1670,6783,'Rich Goulette','richard.goulette@gmail.com','','69.28.149.29','2012-06-05 09:25:34','2012-06-05 16:25:34','Good stuff as usual, Jonathan.  I met an economist (Stanford educated, teaches at UC Davis) who is a conservative, and he absolutely agrees with Nick Hanauer.  Anything else is unsustainable.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1671,6824,'rhondadela','rhondadela@gmail.com','','98.195.118.35','2012-06-05 09:25:44','2012-06-05 16:25:44','Thank-you Anh! What a blessing to hear such meaningful words..and thank-you for reading my post! May the LORD continue to bless you as well!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1669,184),(1672,6891,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.242','2012-06-05 09:28:23','2012-06-05 16:28:23','What are some of the gifts of the \"awful mercy\" of God? Loss, disillusionment, failure and big mistakes. It may appear heartless to the many people I have harmed throughout my life but I would not dare to change a single thing. Saving someone from their pain might just be condemning them to never change in a way best for their soul. My understanding of what is of maximum usefulness for another\'s soul ultimate well-being, as well as that of my own, is hubris. There is necessary suffering, without which I may not come to know the greatest freedom and deepest joy possible in Christ. God wastes nothing for our redemption.\r\nThe regrets that would prompt such an adventure are, to me, nothing more than self-centeredness and selfishness. Love accepts life on life\'s terms, and that means mistakes big and small. It is both in humbly admitting my wrongs and giving another the opportunity to forgive that we grow together, expand the soul.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; GTB7.3; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; BRI/2)','',0,0),(1673,6789,'rhondadela','rhondadela@gmail.com','','98.195.118.35','2012-06-05 09:33:55','2012-06-05 16:33:55','What a wonderful post! Thank-you for sharing so honestly.  As a mom raising a teenage son who has expressed having a hard time crying, this was so refreshing and I intend on sharing this with him.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,184),(1674,6789,'tsmith0095','Tsmith0095@gmail.com','http://tsmith0095.wordpress.com','72.152.110.162','2012-06-05 10:33:31','2012-06-05 17:33:31','I hope and pray the story I share can be one that brings healing.\\',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1673,183),(1675,6891,'ChristianNoob','franko@juno.com','http://christiannoob.wordpress.com/','198.83.125.200','2012-06-05 11:07:18','2012-06-05 18:07:18','Tom, <strong>I like your comment.</strong> I had never thought of it that way. Maybe I was too caught in the <em>science fiction</em> side of being given a second chance.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1672,134),(1676,6891,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.242','2012-06-05 12:09:42','2012-06-05 19:09:42','Thank you, Christian. It was a number of years ago, early in my sobriety, that I had the thought, \'If God did allow some of us to go back and alter the past, those that did so most frequently would be those most lost to addictions.\' The more opportunities to undo what we object to, the bigger the mess we would make. \r\n\"My thinking is not your thinking, your ways are not my ways.\" This fits me to a tee.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; GTB7.3; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; BRI/2)','',1675,0),(1677,2405,'Mikki','gservice.mekala@gmail.com','','72.83.137.160','2012-06-05 17:07:13','2012-06-06 00:07:13','When I was twelve, hear me twelve years old, I was camping, and something happened and I got BEAR SPRAY on my face, eyes, hair, shoulders, neck... It was the worst pain I had ever felt (obviously) but the reason I am mentioning this is that while pepper spray is rated at about 2 million Scoville units, Bear spray is rated at 3.3 million. I was blinded and felt like I was on fire... from now on I don\'t care WHO attacks me I will NEVER buy any kind of defensive spray.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1678,6909,'Bob Cornwall','drbobcornwall@msn.com','http://bobcornwall.com','24.192.56.134','2012-06-07 08:21:31','2012-06-07 15:21:31','Thanks Deanna for the wonderful review!!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/19.0.1084.52 Safari/536.5','',0,0),(1679,6901,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-06-08 09:36:34','2012-06-08 16:36:34','Thank you so much for this insightful look into Bass\' work and our possible future; your presentation helped me to get something of a grasp about the changes I have been noticing as well.\r\nWhat immediately strikes me about the character of this \"new awakening\" is its near perfect reflection of Alcoholics Anonymous. Several known authors today, most notably Richard Rohr, see this international and highly popular movement started in the late 30s as epitomizing what the Emergent Church is looking for and what the Early Church looked like: \r\n\r\nSmall, locally-based groups, where community is central and vital, expressing a \"positive experiential spirituality\" about a God of their own understanding, tolerant of whatever that higher power may be. In almost all meetings, people openly confess and testify, honestly revealing themselves to their peers, both for their own sake and that of those present. And in many meetings you will hear many members describe themselves as \"recovering Catholics,\" eschewing and shedding the \"deadening institutional belief-oriented religion.\"\r\n \r\nIs it possible that God had this in mind all along, that this is the return of Christ.  What and who better fits 1Cor1:27 than alcoholics and addicts: \"God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.   God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things...to nullify the things that are...\"',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1680,6937,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-06-11 11:40:01','2012-06-11 18:40:01','From my experience, this is not a \"versus\" but the spectrum of a process. Being \"religious\" is needed for a while before our faith deepens, passing through that dark night of the soul. Being religious is wholly good, righteous, and just...until it is not enough. Then, its practice is detrimental to the soul, what God would have us be is greatly diminished or blocked. \r\n \r\nOur full restoration into the image and likeness of God, BEING the light of the world, depends upon releasing ourselves totally into the hands of spirit, which the ego-based religious cannot do; it even seems like evil to them. The religious need their control, safety, and certainty but there are to be no supports for faith.\r\n\r\nWe are to live by a lamp unto our feet; not enough light to illuminate the past or future (not even a step) but only sufficient, by grace, to brighten the moment we are in, making us a simple means without ends.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1681,6933,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.242','2012-06-12 10:41:54','2012-06-12 17:41:54','Thank you, Marni, this was wonderful. It is funny to be now in a place where I have lost my quick and easy scorn for \"Conservative Christians.\" It was so pleasing to have this enemy, feeling ever so holier than they (or thou or anyone else). Funny, if not so tragic.\r\n\r\nTruth is, as you observed with Buddhism, to be found everywhere...if we allow our eyes to be open to the discernment of spirit. Discernment (not judgment)--able to separate soul from spirit, the finite from the eternal--is the vision of Christ.  Then and now, it is my experience and conviction that God wastes absolutely nothing for our peaceful R&amp;R: reconciliation and redemption. \r\n\r\nIt was my study of Buddhism, initiated by what I believed was my disgust with the American Church, that helped bring me to an intimate relationship with Christ, as well as a whole new attitude and outlook upon his message. Their Bodhisattva is very much like our being hidden in Christ. Their Middle Way is very much like our \"living on earth as if already in heaven,\"  These two elements are, to me, the essential message of Christ.\r\n\r\nDuring this period of studying Buddhism (and dabbling in a few other paths), I still pridefully clung to the notion that my particular sect was the most enlightened in matters political or otherwise and could properly claim the title as \"the one, true faith.\" \r\n\r\nFive years ago I went to bed with that firm belief and woke up the next morning already on my knees praying and weeping over my loathsome hubris. Not only did I no longer see my sect as THE SECT, I saw all such divisions in the Church as missing The Mark and patently absurd in the context of Scripture. The easy labels of Liberal and Conservative suffered the same fate. The use of any other name but Christ for doctrine and dogma (Lutheran, Calvinist, and Wesleyan, et al)  suffered the same fate. Yet in that moment, by the grace of God and nothing else, I had only compassion for this sad Wonderlandesque state of the Church. Indivisible is invisible, the kingdom of God within: that love binds us together and we need, as you desperately urge, to live and move and have our being in that kingdom alone. This is what separates us out to be of maximum service to the Lost and needy, in the world and not against the world (or each other).\r\n\r\nThis was a simple awakening and not the last word. And I would love to state that from that moment I immediately and completely embraced this abrupt change of seeing and that wondrous compassion but that is not the case. It has been a slow, yet I feel steady, renewing of my mind on this subject.\r\n\r\nThanks again for the article and allowing me the space to share my view, which is not meant to be the last word on this subject but only how I feel God is working on me.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1682,6958,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.242','2012-06-14 08:40:28','2012-06-14 15:40:28','Yes, God does have a penis--and my God\'s penis is far larger and more virile than your God\'s penis, so there!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1683,6958,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-06-14 09:04:48','2012-06-14 16:04:48','It must be twenty-five years ago, I had a person tell me that the character of my relationships with others reflected the character of my relationship with God, and probably defined His nature for me as well. This was not something I wanted to hear. Up until that point, it had been me and God against the world: we weren\'t winning, we weren\'t happy, but we had each other. LOL.\r\nIf my faith in God does not include love in all my affairs, then my God is neither omnipresent nor consistent (or I am having too many affairs). Until my God \"matures\" in my \"becoming,\" I need to refrain from idle boasts about Him. Better that I show my God, at my present level, than brag.  The humanity of Jesus seems the hardest for Christians to grasp (and he DID have a penis).\r\nFor me, the entire Gospel is summed up in these words: Turn, and BECOME as a little child, a perpetual beginner and open vessel.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1684,6958,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.82.200.44','2012-06-15 10:42:51','2012-06-15 17:42:51','Thank you for a timely article.  I, too, have struggled with and explored this issue.  As an old feminist who turned against the religion I was raised with because God as I understood God to be in my early 20s seemed to me like a \"male chauvinist pig\" who hated women, thought they were good for one purpose only, and that is to bear male children.  God seemed to punish Eve a lot more harshly than he did Adam, and even though they both took wrong advice to be disobedient, Eve from the Serpant and Adam through Eve, somehow it was always womankind held out to be the one who must be controlled lest she lead man astray.\r\n\r\nIn my early 30s I found I did need God in my life, and even though I had looked into eastern religions and admired many aspects of them and about Native American beliefs as well, I turned back to the God/Jesus/Holy Spirit version of spirituality I had grown up with.  It was Jesus I liked the most about Christianity, and right at first little else.  But I read the Bible for the first time in my life, and I read leaning on my own understanding (a no-no, I suppose), not the interpretation of a pastor or teacher.  What I found was that often verses that were hurled at me to shame or control me were taken out of context and had nothing at all to do with the way they were used.  I also found that Jesus never said any of the things that seemed so harsh, strict and unfair, that he was all fairness and love, and that he urged us to be likewise.\r\n\r\nIn reading Genesis, I came to the conclusion that God didn\'t necessarily have a penis, and if he did, then he would also have to have a vagina, as scripture clearly says \"male and female he created them in his image.\"  God has also used self-descriptive comparisons such as \"like a mother hen, I will gather my chicks under my wings.\" \r\n\r\nThen there was Jesus\' attitude towards women; he treated females with equality every time one was in his presence.  He said Mary had chosen wisely to sit and listen to him speak instead of laboring in the kitchen like Martha so busy with \"women\'s work\" at a time when learning was a male privilege only. He often chided his disciples for not doing as well as women.  When a woman with an \"issue of blood\" touched his hem, he told this \"unclean woman\" whom no one was to touch that her \"faith had saved her\" and she was cured.  He stopped the stoning of the adulteress, and he treated the Samaritan woman with a \"shady past\" to go and spread the word, after asking her, this most despised, creature to pour him water.  When asked about a woman who had continued to marry brothers as each one died and the next brother in line married her until she had been married seven times who would be her husband in heaven, Jesus said there is no marriage in heaven, no male or female.\r\n\r\nSo my conclusion based on these passages and others as well, is that God/Goddess is a spirit.  The Bible was written in a time and culture where male dominance and the subjection of the female was the norm and to give the Almighty the reverence and respect they should, of course they would chose the male nouns; the female would have been out of the question.  People often say God doesn\'t change, that God is the same yesterday and today, and that may be true, but our culture has certainly changed over the centuries and so have our attitudes.  When Paul began his arduous task of getting the First Church formally established, polygamy was the norm, and even though he suggested that a man in a leadership position should have only one wife, he didn\'t say that men with several should divorce all but one.  He also told men to treat their wives and their slaves kindly.  This is because the culture saw those situations as the norm, and if he had said divorce all your wives and let your slaves go, these people would most likely have been without support and have nowhere to turn.   Paul also said it was better to live like he did, totally devoted to spiritual issues, but it was better to marry than to burn, which suggests to me that marriage wasn\'t ideal but better than those burning hormones distracting you to the point of non-control.  So when people say our values do not change, they are actually very incorrect.  Our values and perceptions have changed a great deal since the preachings of the First Church, and I imagine they will continue to change as our understanding and scientific knowledge change.  Jesus left us with three basic commands-- To love God with all our hearts, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and to love one another as he loved us.  If we are doing that, really doing it, instead of saying things like \"love the sinner, hate the sin\" but truly loving, I believe that these burning questions would no longer be so important and we would come to that loving and harmonious understanding of the humane people Jesus urged us to be.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1685,6958,'Caedmon Michael','facedown@mac.com','http://caedmonmichael.net','24.20.74.125','2012-06-15 12:40:27','2012-06-15 19:40:27','Thank you for such a thought out comment. You have neatly written my next article for me. ;)\r\n\r\nI don\'t want to say too much, because I\'m still doing the study and writing for said next article, but part of what I will look at is the way we have created God in our image rather than accept we were created in hers. This has led to a distorted view of God and a distorted view of humanity.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',1684,41),(1686,6967,'tom lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','http://lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','75.161.123.198','2012-06-16 11:23:28','2012-06-16 18:23:28','Thank you. It seems more of the Church needs to practice your example, as concerns \"spewing their hateful words,\"  or what my group calls \"attraction rather than promotion.\" Saint Francis said it best (I may be paraphrasing a bit), \"Preach the gospel always, and where necessary, use words.\" \r\nCan I \"preach\" the gospel? It is something that gets a yes and no answer. If the product doesn\'t work, my poor attitude and outlook, why buy it?.Yet being honest about the why of my poor attitude and outlook is usually a draw and not a mark against my faith. With friends of the faith or otherwise, I feel it is a mistake to take the \"fruit of the spirit\" as behavorial modification techniques: act like a Christian. They come as needed when the time is right. To me, this \"acting like a Christian\" is a disservice to all involved and inhibits the movement of spirit. The Pharisees acted like holy men.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1687,6976,'Caedmon Michael','facedown@mac.com','http://caedmonmichael.net','24.20.74.125','2012-06-19 10:18:10','2012-06-19 17:18:10','I\'m not against high-production-value worship services. I\'m just against making them the center of Christian life. I like good music and, while I don\'t need lights and smoke, I appreciate worship leaders who are skilled, well rehearsed, and using their talents to the utmost. The problem comes when we put all our resources (money, time, and people) into on-campus worship services and don\'t effectively take the gospel off campus into the world around us.\r\n\r\nI don\'t have a problem with doctrine, either. We need doctrine! Only, we need right doctrine, which is the doctrine of love (grace) you are getting at instead of the false doctrine of control that shows up in too many western churches. Good doctrine, like the gospel from which it comes, will set us free to love one another (Galatians 5). Let\'s keep talking as a church about what this right doctrine is and learn how to operate out of grace and love as you discern.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',0,41),(1688,6976,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-06-19 11:09:44','2012-06-19 18:09:44','The problem as I see it is that we are dealing with distinct paradigms. In the sanctification process, there appears to be a definite threshold point, a line we cross where our whole attitude and outlook changes: we get what I see as a deeper vision of truth, the growing ability to clearly discern soul from spirit, finite from eternal. Those who have yet to reach or cross that threshold, cannot possibly comprehend what lies on the other side.The changes in attitude and outlook of those who have crossed the line looks like apostasy or madness from the pre-threshold point of view, such as the attitude about mysticism from the conservative stance. \r\nEgoic needs (Certainty, Control, Safety) still hold way in First-Halfers; letting go of those needs seems the same as leaving the faith, for they have become so intertwined as to be indsitinguishable.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1689,6976,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.242','2012-06-19 11:38:01','2012-06-19 18:38:01','It came to me one morning, in the middle of my daily To Do List, that \'integrity has no intent.\' I did not comprehend this message immediately. For me, intention made me who I was and what I believed in. My motivations deeply mattered. Then over the months I began to observe, just glimpse, what those words meant. The Father does the works...if I completely open to His care. My only action is surrender out of love; it is not to do or achieve anything else. The one virtue is \"kidding\" myself, allowing for the grace \"to become as a little child.\" A child\'s innocence is unintended. If I need to think about being patient or honest or caring and then act accordingly, believing this is how a Christian should act, I miss the mark. Such \"acting\" has to die to \"becoming\" as Christ, and for that, again, surrender is the only path. I am to live by inspiration, not motivation. I am to become simply a means without ends.\r\nThis way is still new to me and still occasional, but it is an entirely new outlook that I feel can only be gotten by grace. No merit.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1690,6056,'V Cooper','vika.99@gmail.com','','99.100.214.59','2012-06-24 15:33:45','2012-06-24 22:33:45','LOL... that\'s all I can say',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1691,6464,'V Cooper','vika.99@gmail.com','','99.100.214.59','2012-06-24 15:35:03','2012-06-24 22:35:03','Hear, Hear!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1692,6727,'V Cooper','vika.99@gmail.com','','99.100.214.59','2012-06-24 15:37:01','2012-06-24 22:37:01','Tears... &lt;3',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1693,6727,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.242','2012-06-25 11:43:15','2012-06-25 18:43:15','Is it actual love or \"ought to\"?\r\n“It ain’t nothing if it ain’t free, babe.”  (Janis)   \r\n“The left hand doesn\'t know what the right hand is doing.” (Christ)\r\n“Perfect kindness acts without thinking of kindness.”  (Tao) \r\n“The results are nil until we let go absolutely.” (AA) \r\n\r\nIn the verse, \"Love your neighbor as yourself,\" the emphasis is on \"as yourself\": your neighbor is yourself. Can I boast of charity for getting breakfast as I like it in a restaurant? Feeding the hungry is no different. Their need is the growl of my stomach. To give them food is my sustenance. \r\nThat is the place I yearn to be. I have had moments, I feel, of being truly and cleanly other-centered; my actions were natural and it appeared without thought for my interests or self . My left hand really did not know what the right was doing. A fruit of grace. \r\nThis helped me to see that the only thing I can sacrifice for God and others is merely that which stands in the way or diminishes what is for my greatest freedom and deepest joy in Christ. In effect, there is no sacrifice.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1694,6958,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','68.188.52.109','2012-06-25 14:24:06','2012-06-25 21:24:06','If you really are a learner, I might suggest that you\'ve picked a poor place to learn. Throwing a question like this out onto the vastness of the Internet is a bad place to find advice on the living God. In fact, I might argue that asking man for his opinion of God is a great way to start a new religion. Religion of old and modern is littered with gods who have appendages, gods who are made by men who desire sex sacrifices, and gods who have idols that bear sexual symbols. These aren\'t new.\r\n\r\nI\'d even argue that if you\'re really serious about the living God, (if you are talking about the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the God spoken of in the New Testament by Jesus Christ), then you might start there. Please don\'t hear me as being sarcastic or mean, but there are a lot of places to start learning instead of throwing such an important question out to other people to answer - especially if you\'re about to base your belief system upon it.\r\n\r\nFriend, you have some religious education listed on your biography, so I assume you have some knowledge of where to start. Jesus Christ, who made claims of divinity gave some good starting places in the Gospel of John. Without quoting any of the Bible except the book of John, just take John 4:24 where Jesus says, \"God is spirit.\" \r\n\r\nSurely most of the questions have been asked and the answers to even the most ridiculous questions are out there, right? Asking questions without purpose isn\'t going to move us toward belief if the answers are already out there.\r\n\r\nPaul addressed a lot of people with questions on Mars Hill in Acts 17 when he accused them of having many gods - then said basically, \"let me tell you about this unknown God you seem to be seeking.\" \r\n\r\nI\'m encouraging you to find a starting place. Is your point about feminism? That men have tried to make God into a man so they can oppress women? Then that\'s a different issue than God having appendages or not. The answers aren\'t to be found by asking humanity - that\'s how we form our unorthodox ideas and wrong beliefs. \r\n\r\nI suppose the bottom line is this (and forgive me if I\'ve misread your post) - has God revealed himself? And if he has, what does he have to say about himself?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:13.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/13.0','',0,12),(1695,6958,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','209.49.70.10','2012-06-25 15:02:09','2012-06-25 22:02:09','Ray, some conversations are asked because we need to ask them, not because we need the answer.  Provoketive is a space to explore those questions.  Please consider that.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1694,1),(1696,6958,'Caedmon Michael','facedown@mac.com','http://caedmonmichael.net','24.20.74.125','2012-06-25 15:48:54','2012-06-25 22:48:54','I appreciate your concern, Ray. To be clear, I am not asking others to answer this for me. Rather, I am asking these questions, studying them by looking at what Scripture, Reason, Tradition and Experience have to say, and then inviting others into the learning process. This last piece is important both because what I learn might be helpful to others and because comments from others (like yours) will keep me from diverting too far from Tradition too quickly.\r\n\r\nI am asking questions about God because that is what I am interested in at the moment. I want to know why we assume the gender roles we place on God (male or neuter) and why we don\'t assume others. I hope this becomes clearer as I continue to write.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',1694,41),(1697,6958,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.99.40','2012-06-25 17:52:44','2012-06-26 00:52:44','Can we study these questions by looking at what Scripture, Reason, Tradition, and Experience have to say? How does our perception change, deepen, to discover the new and unknown? Doesn\'t it come down to having \"the eyes to see\"? Where do we get that vision?\r\nOur very best motivations for the pursuit of truth are nothing compared to inspiration. In fact, all motivations are suspect and none pure. Contemplative prayer, the surrender of reliance on all supports to faith and judgment, seems the only way to realize (\"discover and bring into being\")',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1696,0),(1698,6958,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.99.40','2012-06-25 18:11:37','2012-06-26 01:11:37','Sorry. As I was saying, \'...the only way to realize...\' the depths of soul and spirit.  It is like a Zen Koan: made to overwhelm the ordinary workings, beliefs, and values of the \"false self\" (ego). \r\nLook at the thousands of sects in Christianity; they, too, tried to study these things with the safety net of their Tradition and Hermenautics, Reason seemingly rightfully in charge. \r\nThe Bible is a children\'s book, the vision we need to have to get the plot, the message, to see with the necessary heart of discovery, one must have the vision of a Little Child.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1697,0),(1699,6958,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.99.40','2012-06-25 21:49:01','2012-06-26 04:49:01','The sub-conscious in us all is the puppet-master: what we most often think of as choice, is an echoed command from below...righteously and unflinchingly followed.  Any motivation is an impurity. All motivations are so diluted and delusional that our grandest intention is no more than lurking vanity.\r\n\r\nYet this cycle can be broken--and that is the deeper purpose of the Twelve Step Path. To realize this purpose usually means slow torture, the steady and nearly unrelenting \"necessary suffering\" that comes with self-realization. There appears to be no \"easier and softer way.\" A good 6th and 7th Step translates, usually, into the very worst time of our lives. \r\n\r\nEverything about life is left up in the air and the only thing that we know for sure is how badly we acted. All certainty about the sacred and profane is gone. All comforting support to faith and being is stripped away. The next moment becomes so entirely unknown and strange that we do not have the mind or will to venture a guess. The ground beneath our feet has given way to an unfathomable abyss. We hover, aloft in ambiguity and ambivalence, still only from unknowing. And \"unknowing\" is the home of the soul.\r\n\r\nMany are discouraged from remaining in this place, the well-intentioned throwing ropes, deploying boats, coming in helicopters to take us from this obvious \"bad place\" to the safe shore of Reason, Tradition, and Principles. Evil seems to be underfoot and gaining yards, so why not desperate measures. A soul appears ready to be lost.  And it is, but not in the way assumed.\r\n\r\nUnless intimately experienced, we tend to think it is “alcoholism raising its ugly head”; “the ego looking to take back control”; “faith assaulted”; “the failure to properly work this \'simple program.\'\" All lies...if we have truly reached the threshold point of fundamental transformation. That point is free-fall.\r\n\r\n\"Good is enemy of the best.\" \r\n\r\nWe all tirelessly and always work for good, as one\'s perceptions dictates. It is in breaking this cycle of our estimation of doing “the next good or right thing” that salvation finally comes. \r\n\r\nNothing that is truly new can be understood by a consciousness that looks to compare, measure, and weigh it by past experience, study, or text books. Give a TV to a caveman and it is firewood or a cutting tool, once broken. The incomprehension of this movement of the soul is similar.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1700,6727,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.99.40','2012-06-25 22:31:14','2012-06-26 05:31:14','The sub-conscious in us all is the puppet-master: what we most often think of as choice, is an echoed command from below...righteously and unflinchingly followed.  Any motivation is an impurity. All motivations are so diluted and delusional that our grandest intention is no more than lurking vanity, a \"stumbling block\" that appears as a paving stone to a firm path.\r\nYet this cycle can be broken--and that is the deeper purpose of the Twelve Step Path. To realize this purpose usually means slow torture, the steady and nearly unrelenting \"necessary suffering\" that comes with self-realization. There appears to be no \"easier and softer way.\" A good 6th and 7th Step translates, usually, into the very worst time of our lives. \r\nEverything about life is left up in the air and the only thing that we know for sure is how badly we acted. All certainty about the sacred and profane is gone. All comforting support to faith and being is stripped away. The next moment becomes so entirely unknown and strange that we do not have the mind or will to venture a guess. The ground beneath our feet has given way to an unfathomable abyss. We hover, aloft in ambiguity and ambivalence, still only from unknowing. \r\nMany are discouraged from remaining in this place, the well-intentioned throwing ropes, deploying boats, coming in helicopters to take us from this obvious \"bad place\" to the safe shore of Reason, Tradition, and Principles. Evil seems to be underfoot and gaining yards, so why not desperate measures. A soul appears ready to be lost.  And it is, but not in the way assumed.\r\nUnless intimately experienced, we tend to think it is “alcoholism raising its ugly head”; “the ego looking to take back control”; “faith assaulted”; “the failure to properly work this \'simple program.\'\" All lies...if we have truly reached the threshold point of fundamental transformation. That point is free-fall.\r\n\"Good is enemy of the best.\" \r\nWe all tirelessly and always work for good, as one\'s perceptions dictates. It is in breaking this cycle of our estimation of doing “the next good or right thing” that salvation finally comes. \r\nNothing that is truly new can be understood by a consciousness that looks to compare, measure, and weigh it by past experience and text books. Give a TV to a caveman and it is firewood or a cutting tool, once broken. The incomprehension of this movement of the soul is similar.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1701,6958,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.75.41.176','2012-06-26 03:11:49','2012-06-26 10:11:49','Jerry Lynch, I don\'t get what your comment about perceptions and the Twelve Step Program have to do with the subject at hand, that being the sexuality of God, and is God/Goddess just a spirit or does he/she have an actually physical body and only one sex.  Could you tie the question in with your comments to make a little more sense in the context of the original question.  \r\n\r\nThank you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1702,7055,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','209.49.70.10','2012-06-27 10:53:09','2012-06-27 10:53:09','Kevin, is there a second post?  If so, lets put it in so we can schedule the posts back to back.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','editorial-comment',0,0),(1703,6958,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.120.207','2012-06-27 17:44:10','2012-06-28 00:44:10','My response had to do with all questioning of and questions about truth. Getting the eyes to see is of primary focus. Until then, all spiritual answers are gossip and rumors; meaning of the mind, a product of the critical intellect, and not a state of being. \r\nI shared about AA because that is where I began to understand the process of transformation. Earlier I said that \'paradox is the native tongue of mystics.\' Paradoxes such as \"the last shall be first\" and \"to live you must die\" cannot be directly approached by Reason. \r\nOur emphasis and direction needs to be our vision, how we see. All our \"adult\" machinations of analysis and study serve either our vanity or our biases. Immaculate perception is that of the Little Child. Jesus told us this. The Bible is a Children\'s book, and unless we turn, and BECOME as a little child, we remain blind.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1701,0),(1704,6958,'Caedmon Michael','facedown@mac.com','http://caedmonmichael.net','24.20.74.125','2012-06-27 17:47:24','2012-06-28 00:47:24','In other words, you\'re complexly saying you don\'t see value in the question? That\'s fair; just say so, if that\'s the case. The validity of the question is certainly worthy of discussion.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',1703,41),(1705,6958,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.120.207','2012-06-27 21:16:18','2012-06-28 04:16:18','Caedmon, sorry, are you talking to me? I see a validity in almost any question (with the few notable exceptions of who buys my clothes and what happened in \'69.). The nature of this question is, to me, lovably rakish, a noble irreverence that reminds me of how Jesus caught people unawares and thus open to a deeper understanding. \r\nSorry for my verbosity and abstruseness; and I always think that I am clarifying. My point is really simple: how do we approach such questions? Blunt force, trying to crack it open with the hammer of our critical intellect? Do we try to work within the known of our tradition and accepted dogma? Or is there another, and surer, path to discovery?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1704,0),(1706,6958,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.120.207','2012-06-27 21:33:21','2012-06-28 04:33:21','It all comes down to how we see and interpret. We all have filters. a generous dose of worldliness that can blind or impinge clarity of the spiritual. So many of us decide on truth long before we have any clue what it looks like or how to recognize it. Or we go on a search without the equipment for discovery, thinking we are naturally equipped to realize something totally alien to our experience and education. Funny, but really tragic.\r\nFor me, the questions cannot be approached directly; the answers are not in what I find but.what finds me: divine providence after my complete abandonment out of desperation, frustration, loss, failure, or disillusionment. These \"awful mercies\" of God help restore my vision, because I am left with no choice but trust in him, or where I needed to be all along.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1707,6958,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.120.207','2012-06-27 21:44:35','2012-06-28 04:44:35','The gracious demands of fellowship and advancemnet of the kingdom welcomes a rebuke. I am not looking to be right about the gospel; I am looking to be true to the gospel, and for that I need all the help I can get. We can end up being \"too gentle\" or \"too kind.\" Disagreement is not necessarily attack. Civility is good, yet sometimes we are just too fevered to pay it much mind, looking solely to make our point. Kind or cold we are still each charged with being open and looking for the spirit of what another is saying. To that end, usually asking questions instead of making accusations works better. This is not directed to anyone here; I state this because I am, as mentioned, wanting to be true to the gospel. Correct me even if clumsily or cruelly; we\'ll sort it out later.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1701,0),(1708,1000,'Jason','revjohnson@shaw.ca','','68.146.82.241','2012-06-28 08:54:37','2012-06-28 15:54:37','It seems extremely petty to me, along with being unbiblical and--from a Christian perspective--unethical.  What does Mars Hill Seattle hope to accomplish?  Are they gonna stand around high-fiving each other?  Is Mark gonna get a big pat on the back and a \"job well done\" by his staff?  They can\'t trademark the name Mars Hill because it\'s in the Bible.  Anyone can use the term if they want to.  It\'s as silly as (reportedly) Paris Hilton wanting to copyright the term, \"That\'s hot.\"  If Mark truly wants his church to be effective in society \"that\'s not\" the way to go about it.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1709,6296,'lanasuzz','lanashaw@gmail.com','','67.197.109.7','2012-06-28 09:35:56','2012-06-28 16:35:56','I appreciate this site and the conversations that come up here.  However, as I read this article and the comments this is honestly what is going on in my head:  \r\n\r\nThey can theorize about this all day long, but what do I do with the fact that I have actually experienced Satan and demons firsthand, AND I\'ve experienced the way they react to the Name of Jesus... ?  \r\n\r\nYou can\'t tell me Satan isn\'t real.  I guess you can call me crazy, but I\'ll err on the side of being called a lunatic (Jesus and John the B were) or perhaps a fool (I believes He\'s called \"fools\" to confound the \"wise\" and really intelligent, critical human thinkers).  I have to speak up here and say to those reading, believe me, Satan is real, and he is NOT God, he has NO POWER except the power we give him (that is where he and God are different), and one of his strategies is to get us to believe he does not exist.  \r\n\r\nThere is power in the Name of Jesus.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.43 Safari/536.11','',0,0),(1710,6296,'lanasuzz','lanashaw@gmail.com','','67.197.109.7','2012-06-28 10:01:14','2012-06-28 17:01:14','And why do we have to classify everything and fit it into our boxes or else it\'s invalid?  Why do we have to classify Satan?  He is a being, as we are, he is spirit, not bound by flesh although able to take on the form of flesh, he was created by God just as we and he has power (if we give it to him) just as we have power if people give it to us.  God is STILL over him as we see in Job where Satan asks God permission for things.  That one instance you refer to where one account says David\'s account of the people was the Lord\'s hand and one was the enemy shows this perfectly.  Satan goes always before God\'s throne after having roamed the earth looking for a \"case\" he can present before a God he knows is just.  Satan rightly saw the pride in David\'s heart and made a case to incite him to number the Israelites.  (This is why Satan is called the accuser because he constantly is bringing accusations before the Lord against us -- praise God for Jesus, as now we can satisfy God\'s justice with the atonement and silence our accuser; sadly too many don\'t understand this principle and so we see many Christians viewing Satan as one whom has more power than he does, and they live in defeat).    \r\n\r\nSo some may rightly say God in his authority and perfect sovereignty brought David to make the census (it wasn\'t God who caused the sin in David\'s heart, but rather God who saw the sin of pride in his heart and allowed the fruit of that sin to come forth to show David what was in his own heart) and some may rightly say that Satan was the one who brought it on (as it was he who tempted the pride in David to bring it to manifest fruit).  \r\n\r\nThanks for reading and for exchanging ideas with love and respect!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.43 Safari/536.11','',0,0),(1711,7055,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.242','2012-06-28 11:22:53','2012-06-28 18:22:53','I agree. In \'66, I was in my second year at the University of Maryland on a track and field scholarship--and a draft exemption. If you know about that era  U of M was home to SDS, students for a democratic society. The Jocks, of which I was supposed to count myself a member in great standing, hated these dirty, long-haired not sure if it was hippies or beatniks then. Anti-American not to slaughter villagers in foreign lands and just plain cowardice. \r\nBut I did not need to listen to SDS, although I did, to find my position on war. To me, my faith in Christ made it abundantly clear: war is worldliness and as such enmity against God, never mind the great harm it does to the \"least of these\"; it actually creates them.\r\nWhat SDS did help me decide was to do something about what I believed, but a vain political and divisive protest was not it. I would volunteer for the draft, going infantry all the way, and show them that a Christian does not return evil for evil. \r\nThe lady at the Selective Service Board tried to vigorously dissuade me from changing my status; this was remarkable and may give an indication where my plan was actually headed. \r\nThe story is too long but I never got to make my point, yet not for lack of much concerted effort on my part. I have had forty-six years of pondering and praying over this issue and see no room for a Christian to be an armed combatant for any government. This seems so blatantly plain to me today, it seems quite odd that it somehow remains a question for any of the faithful and sane.\r\nI have been to services where they say The Pledge of Allegiance at the start and refuse to join in. I also feel flags of any nation do not belong in churches. Yes, we are to submit to the governing authorities but we are not, in my eyes, to be patriots: \"have a love of country and zeal for its interest.\" \r\nThanks for sharing.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1712,7055,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','99.65.144.41','2012-06-29 09:03:28','2012-06-29 16:03:28','I appreciate your article and have often pondered this myself.  For some reason war and Christianity all seemed to be wrapped together in the American flag, don\'t they?\r\n\r\nA popular picture statement going around on Facebook shows a Bible and a gun and says something to the effect of these are two things that are not taught in school but should be.  A couple of my relatives \"like\" a Facebook page called something like \"Bibles, Babies and Guns.\"  How did such incongruious items ever become all mixed together like that.  And why are so called \"pro-life\" people the same ones who also seem pro-war?\r\n\r\nI\'ve had many an argument with so-called Conservative Christians, and they all seem to resent social programs that help the poor.  So I\'ve asked them even if they don\'t care about \"the least of them\" don\'t they care about themselves?  Don\'t they think that in making already poor people even more desperate by cutting programs that are getting them by, if this will create crime as they start to come after what you have?  The answer is usually if that happens they will stand behind their guns.  In other words, they would rather shoot someone than help them.\r\n\r\nSo, your article is very timely and perhaps as Christians, maybe we should be asking each other \"Who would Jesus kill?\"',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1713,7055,'Kevin Gonzaga','kglethean@gmail.com','http://speakfaithfully.wordpress.com','99.41.59.61','2012-06-30 08:40:12','2012-06-30 15:40:12','Gerard,\r\n\r\nThanks for your comments.  \r\n\r\nI think a huge challenge around this issue is that it used to be \"blatantly plain\" to me (and it still is to many others) that Christians serving in wars is okay because that has been the status quo for so long. The long history of Christians participating in wars sadly often overshadows our call to non-violence and the ways of peace. Taking the time to point that out can be very difficult and can cost you.\r\n\r\n-Kevin',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.47 Safari/536.11','',1711,124),(1714,7055,'Kevin Gonzaga','kglethean@gmail.com','http://speakfaithfully.wordpress.com','99.41.59.61','2012-06-30 08:43:56','2012-06-30 15:43:56','BaB,\r\n\r\nThanks for taking the time to read the article and comment!\r\n\r\nThis is obviously a generalization but I fear Christianity in America is thoroughly compromised by capitalism, nationalism, and politics (among other things).  Christian leaders (pastors and politicians) use fears to stay in power instead of teaching about the God of Israel and pointing people to Jesus. This has many of the followers of Jesus doing the exact opposite of what Jesus taught, even as they claim that their behavior is the one true path of \"real\" Christians.\r\n\r\n-Kevin\r\n\r\nP.S. We (Christians) would kill Jesus.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.47 Safari/536.11','',1712,124),(1715,7055,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.118.63','2012-06-30 13:26:00','2012-06-30 20:26:00','Kevin, yes, it is costly, in a way. The accusations and bitterness that come from other Christians with taking this stand is formidable. And sometimes it is enriching.\r\nI work at a small Christian TV station with two highly Conservative Christians who are also retired military. We have had many, er, spirited discussions over a number of issues, including this one. We all somehow manage to keep civility and kindness at the fore, no matter how strongly we disagree. And that has helped us all grow.\r\n\r\nThe \"What about Hitler?\" argument was interesting. Then there was, of course, the supposed scriptural support for war by citing OT battles. The answer to both of these is so simple it defies acceptance. If not for Christians engaged in politics instead of advancing the kingdom, there would have been no rise to power for Hitler or WWII. What if you declared a war and nobody showed up? \r\nThe kingdom of God in the OT was a physical one and the temple of God was a structure. Retributive (eye for an eye), not Restorative (7 x 70), justice was in play that demanded physical punishment.  A tutelary period. God tried to discourage the top down government of kings but allowed the Jews the consequences of their desires.\r\nThe NT is different: Our kingdom is not of this world. We do not fight with the weapons of this world. We do not return evil for evil. One rule, as found in Romans 13 (of all places): love your neighbor.\r\nWhen did this shift take place? As you know, after the resurrection. Of course Jesus could send out his apostles with a  sword, yet might that have been to demonstrate that they need not rely upon it, a useless weight to carry? And might not his instruction to carry a sword suit their progress in truth? Another necessary lesson?\r\nJesus did not look to dissuade the Centurion from his duties as a soldier. Is it necessary to say that Jesus could read his heart, this one who showed the greatest faith? With such a demonstration of faith, his heart belonged to God; he would act accordingly in the future and such actions might \'turn\" others away from violence. All maybes yet why are these things used so assiduously as solid ground for being armed combatants in war?\r\nNothing of the New Covenant supports war or political partisanship or patriotism for a worldly power. While it does, in fact, speak plainly against such activities in any number of verses about \"worldliness.\"\r\nI just needed to say all that for me.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1716,1887,'Sujith','suji251@hotmail.com','','117.229.110.50','2012-06-30 19:24:15','2012-07-01 02:24:15','Sex is for marriage only.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:13.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/13.0.1','',297,0),(1717,7077,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.118.63','2012-06-30 19:34:43','2012-07-01 02:34:43','A voice crying in the wilderness.... \r\nThe health care system in America is a mess. The reason health insurance came into being by employers was not seeing a need and looking to fill it, a perceived moral duty, but just as a lure during WWII to entice a highly limited work force. Our present Insurance Industry is purely about the bottom line and will trade lives for profit, and does so daily. \r\nAny decent person who would take a fair and impartial at what goes on in this country regarding the state of health care would be horrified at it and enraged at those who oppose ACA. The lies told about before and now by the Right about this Act has left an indelible stain of disgrace. The affluent unwilling even to throw crumbs from their table, giving a few hundred thousand children a stone when they needed an aspirin.\r\nThe ugliness being shown in the last few days after the Court ruling by the Right and Conservative Christians, the venemous statements and specious distortions, clearly demonstrartes where the divisiveness in this country stems. Calling a Supreme Court Justice a \"coward,\" a \"traitor,\" and \"sick\" for ruling on a point of law as his vast expertise dictated is scurrilous. The result of pouting over not hurting President Obama, who they had vowed from his inaugaration to make a one term preseident. Why? \r\nThe Church has marshalled the vast majority of its resources to fight against abortion and homosexuality, with a touch of hate at Islam. That literally hundreds of thousands of children suffer and die needlessly in this country from lack of proper care, fully conscious in their drawn-out illness and agony,  is a fact overlooked by most Christians because of their partisan politics.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1718,7077,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.118.63','2012-06-30 19:56:17','2012-07-01 02:56:17','Also, let us not forget it was Right Wing policy that created this economic mess and near-ruin of America with the de-regulation of Wall Street and the Banking Industry and their then unchecked greed as policy. \r\nThe Right tried to blame an intiative to make buying a house by slightly reducing the prerequisites. Seeing the enormous profit in bundling mortgages, the banks on their own recklessly and drastically reduced those prerequisites and ship it off. \r\nBy these careless acts of pandering to the rich, a million or more hard-working people were made destitute and in need of assistance: doesn\'t the country owe them that much?\r\nThe Right is steadily destroying America as we knew it for nothing more than profit, a new social darwinism that treats an unfair advantage of money and privilage in the same way gangs fed on the defenseless, proud of their unfair tactics.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1719,7077,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','99.65.144.41','2012-07-01 09:33:53','2012-07-01 16:33:53','Thank you for a wonderfully well written article.  Yes, we can\'t say we are followers of Jesus as long as we take on the attitude of \"I\'ve got mine; to heck with you!\"  Yet I see this attitude over and over with my Christian conservative friends and relatives.\r\n\r\nI once had an argument with such a man (actually had this argument with several, but am thinking of one particular circumstance).  He was, like every conservative I\'ve ever talked to, totally against paying more taxes and felt that the rich pay enough.  I pointed out to him that Jesus told us to pay our taxes.  He agreed that this is true, that Jesus said to render unto Caesar what is Caesars. . .BUT, said he, Jesus didn\'t say that any of those taxes were to be designated toward helping the poor and furthermore, he felt that private charities and churches could do enough and that those programs just weren\'t necessary.\r\n\r\nFirst I pointed out to him that people who have lost their jobs due to outsourcing and downsizing who are beginning to see their unemployment running out, desperate people with families that have been responsible tax payers themselves and are in this situation through no fault of their own, are going to need a bit more than some gently used clothes, a bag of beans, maybe some potatoes and a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese and that passing around that special offering plate in church is not going to get them very far, maybe a couple of days at the most.  Then I told him that I agreed with him that Jesus didn\'t get to tell Caesar what to do with the tax money he collected, but I do think that since the \"least of them\" were such a high priority to Jesus, I couldn\'t help but think he would approve of that idea.\r\n\r\nI even gave him this scenario--Suppose Caesar HAD sought Jesus\' advice on what to do with the tax money.  Suppose he showed Jesus around his castle and said look at this place, gold and oppulence everywhere, all my wives are dressed in the finest silk and covered with jewels, even my servants wear the finest polished cotton, my chariot is pulled by the finest horses ever bred.  Where do you think this latest tax collection can best be applied.  Jesus takes Caesar on a walk around his kingdom starting with the Marketplace where the beggars and the blind sit in misery hoping for a moment\'s kindness, mercy and generosity from some passer-by.  Then go into some of the poorest homes with hungry families and often filled with the sick and the dying.  And finally a walk passed the leper camps.  Jesus, standing with his arm around Caesar\'s shoulder, asks him if he sees anywhere that latest tax collection could be put to good use.  Of course, the final say so still belongs to Caesar, and from what I\'ve been seeing lately from the so-called Christian Right, he may well have gone back to his castle and sent his buyers in pursuit of more fine baubles to enhance his self-image of the very rich and powerful man he wants others to see.\r\n\r\nAfter having this conversation, the next day I had a similar conversation with another self-described Christian conservative, and the first thing out of his mouth was, \"I\'m not giving into any charities.  Those lazy freeloaders can just go to work like I have to.\"\r\n\r\nSo much for Christian charity.  So much for showing the heart and mercy of Christ.  So much for Christ and his principals.  Score 10 for Ayn Rand, the other rightwing idol!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1720,1887,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-07-02 16:13:21','2012-07-02 23:13:21','Sujith, can you elaborate more on your thoughts.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',1716,1),(1721,7055,'Kevin Gonzaga','kglethean@gmail.com','http://speakfaithfully.wordpress.com','99.41.59.61','2012-07-02 20:35:29','2012-07-02 20:35:29','Jonathan, I posted the 2nd page/post for review.  Sorry for the confusion.  I was checking the wrong email.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.47 Safari/536.11','editorial-comment',0,0),(1722,7077,'Jeff Fulmer','jeff@hometownprophetbook.com','http://www.hometownprophetbook.com/','69.138.63.63','2012-07-03 06:11:49','2012-07-03 13:11:49','Thanks Jerry and Buddy/Bev for your comments.   I\'ve had many such discussions that devolved into arguments about healthcare over the last few days.  I, too, have been taken back by the venomous attacks of those that oppose healthcare.   It\'s bewildering and absurd to hear Christians try to twist and turn scriptures to fit into a very selfish political ideology.   \r\n\r\nBev, I liked your attempt by imagining Jesus and Caesar walking and talking about the best ways to spend the tax revenues.   Unfortunately, what you often find at the root of their argument is a disdain for the poor.   In their defense, maybe they\'ve worked hard and are slipping behind - and they are looking for a scape goat.... That welfare millionaire who\'s milking the system.  Of course, that\'s a myth... but it gives them someone to blame for their own problems.  Not that that\'s an excuse.    \r\n\r\nI\'m not sure what to do, except try to engage with these people.  Open up the scriptures and perhaps invite them to get to know some of the everyday victims of the current system.    And pray!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:13.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/13.0.1','',1719,0),(1723,7095,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-07-03 09:27:06','2012-07-03 16:27:06','Brilliant, thank you so much. I have been anti-war as a Christian for so long that I stopped looking at why; it\'s been at least fifty years now. Also, I never felt it necessary to develop in-depth arguments for my stance because the truth of the matter looked so abundantly obvious, so extraordinarily simple and straightforward that if anyone did not see this truth, nothing could convince him or her. After reading your piece, I see how blind I was and wrong not to make a more concerted effort to bring understanding. Spiritual pride, although that may have come later after years of being battered for my belief in non-violence. I give up and settled on being \"superior\": funny and very sad.  So thank very much for helping me to see as well this sin in myself.  If it doesn\'t make me a better spokesperson, it has already made me a little wiser.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1724,7085,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.242','2012-07-05 11:06:50','2012-07-05 18:06:50','If that 5% is indeed true, Ray, the Church is in serious trouble. Conversion is supposed to produce a metanoia, change of mind (heart). \r\n\r\nWe see what a profound realization of our mortality can produce by looking at the effects of Near Death Experiences (NDEs).\r\nFor the majority, their \"whole attitude and outlook upon life\" is fundamentally altered to a new and joyous direction in an extremely brief period of time--without effort or intent, without the help of any belief system or ideal, without the instruction from any preacher, guru, or holy book, without any apparent penance or process.  All they had to do to \"achieve\" this wondrous and Dynamic Conversion was to have the good grace to...die.  \r\n\r\nThe Recovery process is, as well, a form of metanoia.  \r\n\r\nI think it safe to say that we can safely throw out that textbook, at least I pray we can.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0','',0,0),(1725,7085,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','166.147.120.149','2012-07-05 12:59:42','2012-07-05 19:59:42','Gerard, thanks for the comment. Thanks for clarifying. I was probably not very clear. I was speaking more to worldview thought change and not conversion. It does take a work of God to change the heart. When we change our views on a topic, I think a change similar to conversion takes place as well. There have been a lot of books and studies done on the topic. Interesting how our firmly held beliefs are so strong and need a sort of conversion to be changed.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1724,12),(1726,7085,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.105.31','2012-07-05 19:41:12','2012-07-06 02:41:12','Ray, my apologies; my response was rather flippant. About an hour after I posted, I realized I had not given your excellent blog the attention it deserved. And then I got busy and forgot.\r\nFor almost thirty years of being in a Recovery Program, witnessing change in worldviews has become matter of fact; opening to change is a basic principle and daily occurrence. Yet your question went deeper than these observations. Once that change has occurred, how open are those people to change again or question how they got where they did?\r\n\r\nThis topic is not new to me. I have a masters in clinical psychology and more to the point I have been a lifelong student of spiritual paths and philosophies. Obviously, people do not believe in anything they do not take as truth: why abandon these, often hard-won, lessons?  Experience, the intimacy of revealed \"truth,\" takes precedent. The past becomes the textbook. Yet we all have filters, ways of seeing and interpreting events according to old messages. Self-prophecizing. All of us tend to see things as we are rather than as they are (paraphrasing Nin and Buddha and Jesus). \r\nThe NEED for certainty is a pathology. Faith demands no proof or supports. Two basic characteristics of true faith are an openness to discovery and the ability to hold ambiguity. The ego likes black and white and surety; it\'s survival rests on these things. Image is the life-blood and breath',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1727,7085,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.105.31','2012-07-05 20:06:20','2012-07-06 03:06:20','Image is the life-blood and breath of being, and at direct and ever-lasting enmity against true faith (flesh against spirit). \r\n\r\nIf I have your intent right, the question is this: How can we be confidant in our understanding of the word as well as being open to changes in that view? Of course, I could say it is not about being right about scripture but about being true to scripture: big difference. How are we true to scripture? The right hermeneutics? Following the thoughts of Luther, Calvin, Wesley, or the Pope? \r\n\r\nThe basic error is being set in what we believe instead of how we believe. \"Turn, and become as little children.\" \"...BECOME as little children\": this is central to faith. It is a state of being, not a statement of belief, upon which we rest: complete surrender to the Holy Spirit as our teacher in all things. Where is the one place we can find the Holy Spirit? In the moment, for he is a lamp unto our feet: the perfect amount of illumination to light what is before us, past and future in the dark.\r\n\r\nChange cannot be approached from the mind, only from the heart.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1728,7085,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.3.146','2012-07-05 20:18:43','2012-07-06 03:18:43','You sir, should have penned this post and not me. \r\n\r\nYes, you have gotten at the heart of my poorly written, sarcastic post. I comment and write here and at times, I come across as a jerk. Know why? Because I can be. Because at the end of the day, all I have to offer God is my jerkiness. \r\n\r\nAnyway, back to your points, you are correct. How can we be sure of ourselves? That is one of the questions that has driven me since 1997. I believe that God has given us a way to know Him. I think there are times we get too comfortable and arrogant in our assumptions as well. I\'m thankful for Provoketive for different viewpoints. It\'s helped challenge me. \r\n\r\nWhat I have to realize is that I am not the center of this universe. There have been days I was convinced I was. There are still days I still think I am. All of mankind, since our inception, is self-deceived. That is why we look to God for answers and not to ourselves. But we continually do so. Like you said, we have a need for certainty. Too often though, we find that certainty within us or within our self-realized ideas of who we have made God to be. \r\n\r\nIt blows my mind every time I start thinking about this topic. When I start thinking about how wrong I am. About where my ideas come from. Then I become humbled and thank God for His Son. When it\'s all said and done, many days all I have is the resurrected Christ. And He is all I need. \r\n\r\nWow. That was a blog post, I think.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1726,12),(1729,7085,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.105.31','2012-07-05 20:33:45','2012-07-06 03:33:45','I officially died twice: once when I, was seven, drowning in the surf of Rockaway, and the second time when I was eighteen, pronounced dead by EMTs from heat exhaustion. Neither experience translates well into words. When I discovered the Mystics at twenty (and I see Buddhism as a starved version of that path), it resonated far better than my Cradle Catholicism. But I was not convinced. Taught by the Jesuits, I questioned everything. I decided on the path of bubbly oblivion and became a drunk. \r\n\r\nLike the saint, the addict becomes more and more faithful to the object of their devotion, the revered choice of drink or drug (or wealth or power or fame or other worldly pursuits).  \r\nLike the saint, the addict becomes less and less interested and attached to other things in their world.  He or she will lose their car, house, teeth, family, and reputation yet never despair of or turn away from this “Beloved.”  \r\nLike the saint, when--if--the addict finally reaches a bottom, he or she is almost zenfully clean of worldly trappings, all \"fetters.\"  The addict has found renunciation through over-indulgence, non-attachment through over-dependence: a reverse (even perverse) yet nonetheless saintlike discovery about true freedom.\r\nYet in one aspect, the saint and the addict are the same: both are self-destructive (only the addict has a more literal interpretation of this vital spiritual practice).\r\n\r\n\"A living sacrifice\": this is our moment to moment path. To live, we must die. This is where we need to place our greatest emphasis. This is our basic sacrement and ritual. This is to eat and drink of Christ. It is not about what we know but where we are: self-centered or God-centered.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1730,7085,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.105.31','2012-07-05 21:14:05','2012-07-06 04:14:05','Oops. Ray, I did not get a notice to your response until after my further rants. Once again my apologies; did not mean to talk over you like that. And you will never know how much I appreciate your follow-up comments. If I may be so bold (obnoxious) to comment further.\r\n\r\nFrom the time I was seven, right after I drowned, I loved only Jesus, literally. My religion became everything to me. But I had been twisted by worldiness in the form of a dysfunctional family system: shame was my primary emotion. \r\n\r\nThat aside for now. At fourteen, I went into the local everything-a-kid-would-want stores in Da Bronx to get the three Cs of life: a coke, candy bar, and a comicbook. I happened to notice a headline in one of the tabloids: \"God told me to eat my baby.\" For some reason, this shook me to my core; a HS moment. Up until that moment, I thoroughly believed everything the Roman Catholic Church put forth was \"the one, true faith.\" I left that store unsure, and have been in that place for fifty years.\r\n\r\nHow can I possibly be certain? Against what or with what can I finally decide? How do I know I am not deluded? How do I prove I am right? And all my readings since then helped to convince me it was impossible. Then what am I left with to live my life?\r\n\r\nMy conclusions: I cannot know or hold truth; I can only be Its expression. Love is the platform of all things Christian. If I come, through grace, to actually love my neighbor, what is for my ultimate well-being is made manifest. There is endless joy in this place, everytime. It is trust, a full emotional commitment, and not knowledge, a cautious commitment, that turns the tide. Fall into the abyss.\r\n\r\nKnowing something about you from your confession, I feel for your ache to know. I finally had to come to that place of letting go figuring it out for the (brutal) place of trust. Everything in me fought agains it.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1731,7085,'Steve Martin','steve.martin37@aol.com','http://theoldadam.com/','98.164.243.94','2012-07-05 22:32:21','2012-07-06 05:32:21','I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been wrong about  something in the Chritian faith.\r\n\r\nThanks be to God that He loves heretics, too!   :D',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; Trident/5.0; BOIE9;ENUS)','',0,0),(1732,7085,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.105.31','2012-07-06 01:07:09','2012-07-06 08:07:09','I do not translate well into Christianity. Jonathan thought my urgings to be as a \"little child\" was literally about young children. I guess I shuold urge you to think outside the box or simply open to the spirit of what I, or anyone, is saying.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1733,7133,'Austin','aleikenberry@yahoo.com','','12.189.199.68','2012-07-06 08:24:31','2012-07-06 15:24:31','While I have expressed my own frustrations at the cross of Evangelicalism, patriotism, and capitalism, Bill Maher goes a little far at a couple of points. First, there is a command to love your enemy, and pray for those who persecute you - the logic he presents assumes that you can\'t love someone even while recognizing the need for them to die. Can Jesus love Satan in the moment he condemns him to the lake of fire (as recorded in Revelation)? Can Jesus love the son of perdition while proclaiming that he has been handed over for torment? Justice and love are not incompatible.\r\n\r\nWhen he brings up the assassination of Bin Laden - he did deserve death, but so do we all. We are all sinners, and the wages of sin is death. Justice may even have required that he be killed by Americans (he claimed the mass murder of American citizens as one of his greatest accomplishments). It may have been appropriate for him to be assassinated; whether or not I like it, that\'s the whole story of Scripture. What does not sit with scripture is the celebration of his death. The glory in his destruction should be abhorrent as should be the political use of it.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; InfoPath.3; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E; MS-RTC LM 8)','',0,0),(1734,7133,'Camille Sobalvarro','csobalvarro@gmail.com','http://blog.realfaitharts.com','71.6.117.18','2012-07-06 08:57:19','2012-07-06 15:57:19','He\'s an entertainer, he does go a bit far on some thing and doesn\'t necessarily present a totally accurate and complete view of Christian theology. Then again, I don\'t hold him accountable to doing that -- he\'s not a Christian!  The fact is, this makes me wince for two very different reasons. Number one, it disparages the Church, and I love the Church... as does Jesus, btw.  You can\'t do that without it hurting.  However, I also wince because WE who are a part of the Church have allowed this to become a real facet of how we\'re known in the world. It\'s not the only one, many are good, but there are many, MANY times when visible representatives of the Church have spoken things that don\'t accurately represent the character of Christ in us and we let it stand without public outcry.  We are known as judgmental of the world, which we should not be.  However, if the world saw us as judgmental of OURSELVES, truly correcting in love and for the sake of Christ\'s reputation, I believe we\'d see VERY different perceptions of the Church.  It\'s time we started being serious about holding each other to account, for the sake of each other AND for the sake of the reputation of Christ and His church whom He loves.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.47 Safari/536.11','',0,0),(1735,6390,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.3.146','2012-07-06 13:50:29','2012-07-06 20:50:29','Jordan, I enjoyed your viewpoint on this. Believe it or not, I\'m working on a book review of this tome for Provoketive. I\'m doing it for a lot of reasons. I think books are more than books - they carry a message. And like you said, people need to be careful about what they read. I published a blog post today on my blog about what I\'ll be writing next week and I quoted your article there - http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/exciting-upcoming-posts-on-fallenpastor-com/\r\n\r\nAnyway, thank you for sharing your heart here because I plan on quoting your article in my book review. God bless.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:13.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/13.0.1','',0,12),(1736,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','99.240.118.230','2012-07-06 16:40:20','2012-07-06 23:40:20','Ray, looking forward to reading your point of view! Jordan',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1735,177),(1737,7133,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.31.211','2012-07-06 17:09:19','2012-07-07 00:09:19','Maher is a voice outside of Christianity looking in, but that doesnt make his points less valid. It took me a while to break out of the war-like attitude I had and understand it wasn\'t biblical. Maher is right about torture as well. Why do Christians tolerate it?\r\n\r\nHe does go a long way with his points, using very broad strokes to talk about a lot of problems. Those broad strokes paint the picture of a lot of people who don\'t feel the same way. That\'s one of the reasons it\'s important for each Christian to make his or her voice heard. \r\n\r\nI\'m anti-war, anti-torture and anti-big government. I don\'t want to see anyone harmed. I don\'t say that because I want anyone outside of Christianity to approve of me. I want to fall in line with what Christ taught. We are called to bring light and peace. \r\n\r\nThose who throw jabs have their own reasons, but it doesn\'t mean they don\'t see some morsel of truth. It can open dialogue to help us point the light not to how Christians are practicing Christianity, but to the Christ who came to save us.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',0,12),(1738,7133,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.201.90.108','2012-07-07 09:14:26','2012-07-07 16:14:26','Mainstream Christianity took a wrong turn 30 years ago when the \"Prosperity Doctrine\" began making its way into the churches.  Then the resurgeance of Ayn Rand\'s \"Atlas Shrugged\" somehow became part of the mantra and not only did selfishness become acceptable, but somehow for many \"The Christian Way.\"\r\n\r\nAlso it seems to me that it is those who want \"small government\" that also want to impose the most rules on society.  We say we support our troops, yet we do so little for our returning veterans.  We are supposed to heal the sick and help the poor if we are trying to emulate Christ, yet the right wants to cut cut cut programs that do this.  We say we are against abortion, yet we resent things like free school lunches which may be the only decent meal some poor children get that day.  We defend the corporations that took jobs out of the country to get out of paying a living wage to their fellow Americans and we say it was the greed of the worker, not the greedy corporation that caused this.  We revere the rich and don\'t want them to pay their fair share of taxes, crying that the rich pay enough already.  Yes, they pay a lot, but not the same percentage the working class pays. \r\n\r\nI still consider myself a Christian, yet I think most people who call themselves have their values all twisted and that what they believe is nearly the opposite of what Christ taught us.  We ARE',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1739,7133,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.201.90.108','2012-07-07 09:16:03','2012-07-07 16:16:03','Sorry--I got cut off before I was through with my comment.  We ARE judgmental and try to impose our values on everyone, and that is not Christian nor is it the American way.  Now I\'m through.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1740,7114,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.125.95','2012-07-07 16:24:38','2012-07-07 23:24:38','Brother Ray, you are a blessing. Fearlessly baring you soul\'s journey like this is a gift of hope. Admitting \"that you knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in uncensored prayer\" but pride or whatever (you did not mention) kept you blind to this truth is refreshing. To admit that with all your seminary training and years in ministry that this \"mere congregant\" knew more about a right relationship with God renews my faith in the power to heal. Perhaps you needed to fall to get this openness to truth, although I would say that it was \"falling upward.\" What an enormous blessing! And you seem to be releasing from the importance of your \"fall\"; this is also a great step forward. It really is a trivial matter. And there will come a day when all your troubles are nothing more than an elucidating footnote to playing a part in bringing the work of Joy Wilson to others.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1741,7114,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.31.211','2012-07-07 21:14:49','2012-07-08 04:14:49','Thank you friend for your observation. You are an amazing friend and supporter. Joy\'s book opened my heart to things I hadn\'t known before. In a lot of ways, I would never known God\'s grace without my fall. Thank God that He sees with in us even after we fail Him. He loves us and brings us beyond our failures. That\'s one of the themes of Joy\'s book. That God sees more in us than we will ever see.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1740,12),(1742,7114,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.125.95','2012-07-07 22:42:15','2012-07-08 05:42:15','Thank God sees what we could be...and does not ever give up on that vision. I feel that His mercy serves one purpose: my unending joy and freedom. Having \"tripped\" myself, it appeared to me His response was always to run and pick me up, uncaring if I deserved it or thanked Him. I cannot possibly tell you how wondrous is your soul\'s journey to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1743,7095,'Kevin Gonzaga','kglethean@gmail.com','http://speakfaithfully.wordpress.com','99.190.166.47','2012-07-09 14:03:44','2012-07-09 21:03:44','Gerard,\r\n\r\nThanks for your encouragement and you make a good point.  There is always the need to be patient and understanding with those who fail to see what we see, and I at least appreciate it when people treat me the same way.  Giving up on having conversations with others about this issue is not a good way forward, though those conversations may be difficult and frustrating.\r\n\r\n-Kevin',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.47 Safari/536.11','',1723,124),(1744,7133,'Liz','lizdyer55@gmail.com','http://gracerules.wordpress.com/','63.240.122.129','2012-07-11 11:54:37','2012-07-11 18:54:37','I think the criticism is that Christians were \"rejoicing\" about the death of Bin Laden and that they defend torturing one\'s enemy.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.47 Safari/536.11','',1733,0),(1745,5754,'Jacob','rainbow.explore@gmail.com','','220.244.50.253','2012-07-11 15:16:11','2012-07-11 22:16:11','The idea that God suffers with us and not just for us is transformational. Could it be that Immanuel - \"God with us\" also means a \"God who suffers with us\" ? \r\n\r\nWhich human heart would not want to love a God who suffers with their pain? And that is what the cross essentially symbolizes (not discounting all the other theology aside)?  Did not Jesus say, \"When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself ?\"  Could the message of God who suffers with us (though no explicitly spelt out but has to be inferred) be that magnetic force that will draw humans to their Creator?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.47 Safari/536.11','',0,0),(1746,6998,'Pam Walsh','coachpam@aol.com','','24.229.141.133','2012-07-12 05:18:37','2012-07-12 12:18:37','Wonderful article, Greg. Wonderful. May I please reprint on FB the prayer in the lower right corner, attributing it to you with your web address? It is wondrous.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0; FunWebProducts)','',0,0),(1747,6998,'StrategicMonk','StrategicMonk@gmail.com','http://StrategicMonk.com','99.99.57.99','2012-07-12 07:53:14','2012-07-12 14:53:14','Thank you, Pam. That is a prayer from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer that I referred to in a post on my own website:\n\nKeep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love\'s sake. Amen.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.57 Safari/536.11','',1746,182),(1748,7147,'Roy Yanke','roy.yanke@gmail.com','','69.14.253.233','2012-07-13 10:34:04','2012-07-13 17:34:04','It would seem that a lot of Christian people are reading this and hiding it from their significant others\r\n\r\nIf this is true (and it sounds like it is), this alone should give us pause. Our freedom should never be used to cover sin and the very fact that we may be \"hiding\" what we are taking into our lives takes us all the way back to the garden...',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.57 Safari/536.11','',0,0),(1749,7179,'bwallace88','bwallace88@gmail.com','','75.64.128.218','2012-07-13 11:52:34','2012-07-13 11:52:34','Hey Frank, I just wanted to check with you and make sure this post was finished before I moved ahead. It had kind of come to a screeching halt and so I was just wondering if there was more to it, or if you were finished. Thank you! :)',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:13.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/13.0.1','editorial-comment',0,0),(1750,7179,'Frank Olvera','franko@juno.com','http://christiannoob.wordpress.com/','24.90.66.57','2012-07-13 12:52:20','2012-07-13 12:52:20','It was done, but I decided to add a little bit more.\nI am submitting again for publishing.\nBy the way, the picture is of my sister okayed by her.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/534.46.0 (KHTML, like Gecko) CriOS/19.0.1084.60 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','editorial-comment',0,0),(1751,7147,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.31.211','2012-07-13 14:07:13','2012-07-13 21:07:13','You\'re right about that, Roy. Freedom is not license to hide anything from those we love. That is the part that really concerns me.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:13.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/13.0.1','',1748,12),(1752,7133,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.123.121','2012-07-15 20:31:30','2012-07-16 03:31:30','Dismissing a few millennia of abysmal behvaior, it is hard to rush to the defense of the Church just with today\'s headline. Or yesterday\'s. And probably tomorrow\'s. \r\n\r\nHow is it persecution?  Maher cannot harm truth. Persecution is the action of Riight Wing evangelicals tarnishing and distorting, with their enmeshment in partisan politics, the message of Christ. \r\n\r\nJustice for Americans to kill bin Laden without a tiral? Jesus gave us restorative justice; an eye for eye is dead. Yes, as sinners we deserve death but Christ gave us a new order of Justice: endless mercy and forgiveness. \r\n\r\nThe whole story of Scripture is not murder and assassinations by agents of government.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1753,6783,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.123.121','2012-07-15 20:36:29','2012-07-16 03:36:29','So, if it is plain that the rich do not create jobs and the tax cuts for them did not trickle down and the Republicans are pushing for more of the same, who do we vote for? And why is the Right pushing for more of the same?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1755,2207,'Christine Sine','seasickdoctor@gmail.com','http://godspace.wordpress.com/','67.168.134.141','2012-07-23 13:07:10','2012-07-23 20:07:10','I am so glad to read your article -sorry I did not notice it sooner. I first heard Ched Myers present this view a couple of years ago. It gave me whip lash but made me realize how easily we can misconstrue what Jesus says if we don\'t listen to the stories told in the way that Jesus would have told them. You may like to see Ched\'s article too http://godspace.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/the-parable-of-the-talents-a-view-from-the-other-side/',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.57 Safari/536.11','',0,0),(1756,7267,'Charles Kinnaird','clkinnai@samford.edu','http://notdarkyet-commentary.blogspot.com/','66.32.70.236','2012-07-24 10:47:16','2012-07-24 17:47:16','We read in shock and horror how our ancient ancestors would sacrifice young innocent children in religious ritual. We must recall that same shock and horror and ask ourselves, why is the game of football and the institution of the church so important that we allow (or cover up) the sacrifice of innocent children just to preserve the institution we love, whether that institution be football or the the church. The parallels between Joe Paterno and the Vatican are quite telling (football in America is probably the most sacred of our institutions). \r\n\r\nThe only good news is that today we are more aware, and some people are demanding that authorities be held accountable for the harm done to children for the sake of the beloved game or church.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.57 Safari/536.11','',0,0),(1757,7239,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.31.15','2012-07-26 22:27:42','2012-07-27 05:27:42','Jonathan, I think this is awesome, Submitted my article and I hope it helps. This is a well needed synchroblog (I think I spelled that wrong) that all of our authors need to be part of. I\'d love to hear everyone, from all backgrounds, subsets, genders, denominations, interests, political views, scriptural views, and everything else chime in. I\'m excited, my friend. \r\n\r\nWhen Christ walked along the riverside to call his disciples, he didn\'t call perfect men. He called rough and tumble characters. That\'s what we have here at Provoketive. People who care enough to share their hearts. I\'m anxious to hear from everyone and learn from their journeys.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:13.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/13.0.1','',0,12),(1758,6296,'Luke Wilson','lukasaurelius@gmail.com','http://webbossuk.com/','89.242.54.164','2012-07-28 12:09:06','2012-07-28 19:09:06','I think the language of satan is that of a god-like status in the minds of Christians because that is the type of imagery used in the New Testament concerning the devil.\r\n\r\nThis language is used in Paul\'s writings, here:\r\n\r\n2 Corinthians 4:4\r\n\"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.\"\r\n\r\nEphesians 2:1-2\r\n\"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.\"\r\n\r\nAnd also in John\'s epistle:\r\n\r\n1 John 5:19\r\n\"We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.\"\r\n\r\nWhich is also affirmed by Jesus when he says: \r\n\"Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.\" in John 12:31\r\n\r\nNot only here, but as well in a more subtle way in the temptations of Jesus in the desert the devil is shown to have some kind of authority over the earth in a way akin to a \"god\":\r\n\r\nMatt 4:8\r\n\"Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’\"\r\n\r\nSo, in conclusion, the belief in a personal entity of the devil has been very present from the beginnings of Christianity, and with the way the devil is described and spoken of in these verses, it\'s no wonder that a deity-like impression has been given about satan. \r\nBut, while I can see you point and I can see where this \"double-deity\" idea has probably come from, I think it\'s largely down to a misunderstanding about the way God operates and that the angels (for the devil is usually thought of as a \'fallen angel\') has some kind of power which we can see through the Bible - although not as powerful as God\'s, but definitely moreso than us mere mortals have. So while satan may be called a \"god\" as he would probably appear to mortal men, his power is also limited and weak/smaller than God\'s power, yet God has chosen a time to overpower and remove the devil\'s \'rule\' that he appears to have or be allowed to have on earth.\r\nMaybe the Gospel writers and early apostles chose a poor selection of words to describe the power the devil has over people/earth which has led to a \'deification\' in the minds of believers, when it was never intended that way?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.57 Safari/536.11','',1529,0),(1759,7316,'Christie','sasschristine@yahoo.com','http://www.randomreflectionz.com','98.228.225.9','2012-07-31 14:10:55','2012-07-31 21:10:55','Great post. Sometimes we all need to be reminded of the importance of listening. Thank you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1760,7316,'StrategicMonk','StrategicMonk@gmail.com','http://StrategicMonk.com','99.99.57.99','2012-07-31 14:34:35','2012-07-31 21:34:35','Thank you, Christie.\n\nListening gives me the space I need to be mindful and to share my deepest self with the people around me.\n\nThank you for listening.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.57 Safari/536.11','',1759,182),(1761,2436,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.97.189','2012-07-31 18:38:57','2012-08-01 01:38:57','Morgan, that is an incredibly beautiful story. What remarkable insights! Thank you for being so candid and truthful. I think, deep in our hearts, as we mature in Christ, we know what \"mutual submission\" and \"leaders are servants first\" means. Still, we rarely see it in action. \"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.\" Your first paragraph about empowering every member of the body speaks to that better than anything I\'ve ever read. At the same time, even women who have a strong sense of their own \"identity in Christ\", whose spouses and brothers in Christ recognize their gifts, can feel like they must hold back so as not to offend those who hold the patriarchal view on the role of women in the church. I wish I could clone you and give every sister a Morgan for a best friend. :-)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',568,189),(1762,7393,'Jeremy Myers','jmyers@tillhecomes.org','http://www.tillhecomes.org','149.101.37.2','2012-08-01 20:00:30','2012-08-02 03:00:30','Looking forward to reading them all.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1763,7316,'Duane Grove','duane@connect2action.com','','71.229.176.168','2012-08-02 08:57:26','2012-08-02 15:57:26','I share a similar journey to yours.  I sometimes regret it took my nearly 50 years to not only intellectually understand this, but more important, to embrace it as a spiritual truth.  Thanks for sharing.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8) AppleWebKit/536.25 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Safari/536.25','',0,0),(1764,7316,'StrategicMonk','StrategicMonk@gmail.com','http://StrategicMonk.com','99.99.57.99','2012-08-02 09:21:44','2012-08-02 16:21:44','Thank you, Duane.\n\nIt is important for me to remember that every journey takes time. It is a pilgrimage, not a race. Just think of all the experiences you gained, all the lessons you learned, along the way. Your understanding and wisdom are deeper because they had time to develop.\n\nThank you for sharing, too.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.57 Safari/537.1','',1763,182),(1765,7257,'Leah Chang','sundayriversong@gmail.com','http://www.desertspiritsfire.com','76.212.159.223','2012-08-02 14:02:11','2012-08-02 21:02:11','this is beautiful, thank you! And your conclusion rings so very true: \"What else did I expect from the merciful Christ?\"',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,136),(1766,7257,'Steve Martin','steve.martin37@aol.com','http://theoldadam.com/','98.164.243.94','2012-08-02 16:04:51','2012-08-02 23:04:51','I think that He searches us out. \r\n\r\nHe leaves the 99 and goes after the one lost lamb.\r\n\r\nAnd even when we keep swimming away from Him. He will not be deterred. He loves us, after all.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/534.56.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.6 Safari/534.56.5','',0,0),(1767,7257,'Leah Randall','ekklesiamooresville@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.97.189','2012-08-02 18:47:20','2012-08-03 01:47:20','Having become an object of  His inexhaustible mercy and forgiveness myself, what can I say but Amen and Amen. Thank you for a candid and authentic word from His heart, through yours, to the Body of Christ.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1768,7257,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.35.56','2012-08-02 22:47:49','2012-08-03 05:47:49','Thank you, Leah. I\'ve learned a lot in the past three years. One of the most important things is that Christ never gives up on us. We are his children and when we go astray, he comes looking for us. He is the best friend we could have ever asked for.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1765,12),(1769,7257,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.35.56','2012-08-02 22:49:43','2012-08-03 05:49:43','Steve, I agree with you wholeheartedly. When I was writing my book, \"Fallen Pastor,\" Jonathan Brink brought to my attention the parable of the lost sheep.\r\n\r\nThe idea was that the shepherd knew the 99 were just fine like they were. Christ put his passion into finding the one who went astray. He loves us that much. He never gives up on us. He will seek us after we fall.\r\n\r\nThank you for your comments.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1766,12),(1770,7257,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.35.56','2012-08-02 22:51:38','2012-08-03 05:51:38','Thank you, Leah, for your gracious response. Anyone who has understood the grace and mercy of Christ has nothing to do but rejoice in it, right? I fell so far, even though I was a pastor, that I thought I was hopeless. Isn\'t that strange?\r\n\r\nBut there was the patient Christ, waiting to lift me up. Just like always. \r\n\r\nThank you for sharing and commenting.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1767,12),(1771,6933,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.97.189','2012-08-03 04:55:27','2012-08-03 11:55:27','Amen, Marni! I live in NC, too and I\'ve NEVER seen anything like what\'s been going on. In Christ there is no left or right. Thank you! You captured how I feel about the whole thing!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,189),(1772,7257,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.97.189','2012-08-03 05:40:08','2012-08-03 12:40:08','Oops, I apologize, Ray...I signed my comment with the link to one of my other blogs, so my Gravatar is missing. Now I have a face. :-)  Looking forward to more of your posts.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1770,189),(1773,7393,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.97.189','2012-08-03 05:44:39','2012-08-03 12:44:39','So am I, Jeremy! Glad to be keeping company with you here, my friend.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1762,189),(1774,7316,'randall','randallcoach@gmail.com','','98.154.8.230','2012-08-03 08:31:20','2012-08-03 15:31:20','The journey from Lawyer to spiritual direction is a good one. As was your journey from talker to listener.  Thanks for sharing.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_0) AppleWebKit/536.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/20.0.1132.57 Safari/536.11','',0,0),(1775,7289,'Travis Klassen','travklassen@me.com','http://www.churchburned.com','96.53.86.134','2012-08-03 08:36:57','2012-08-03 15:36:57','Jeremy, this is absolutely gorgeous. Youve painted a beautiful picture of the indelible effect of Jesus. Thanks for writing this. \r\n\r\nTravis',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1776,7289,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.100.107','2012-08-03 08:54:18','2012-08-03 15:54:18','I agree wholeheartedly. Jesus called us blind, not evil, that we know not what we do. This applies both to the beauty and ugliness of our doings. The lasting quality of joy in Christ, independent of circumstances and conditions, is the difference in being. The essential character of all creation is to thrive. Without being hidden in Christ, this core element of life is twisted into ambition, greed, dominance, and a hundred other forms of self-inflicted misery. Christ is \"the way, the truth, and the life\" to how we can thrive, come to realize (\"become aware of and bring into being\")our true potential, identity and purpose. The glory of God is a human being fully alive.\r\nGod is love, and as we are made in the image and likeness of God, love is the I Am both of God and man. Christ is the incarnation of love, its source and nature, and the only way to the father is through the son, which is love. Love is the only true vision of reality, the only way out of our blindness. \r\nSuch love as described and lived by Jesus can exist in Buddhists, Muslims, or anyone else not a professed Christian. It is not necessary to convert to Christianity to be saved but to revert to the essence of our I Am, which is love. This is why it can be said that without love we have nothing and we are nothing.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1777,7289,'Jeremy Myers','jmyers@tillhecomes.org','http://www.tillhecomes.org/','64.134.128.9','2012-08-03 10:02:51','2012-08-03 17:02:51','Thanks for reading!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1775,0),(1778,7289,'Jeremy Myers','jmyers@tillhecomes.org','http://www.tillhecomes.org/','64.134.128.9','2012-08-03 10:06:17','2012-08-03 17:06:17','Jerry, \r\n\r\nI think you and I could have some good conversations about this. \r\n\r\nWhile I do believe that love is of God and that love is the essence to following Jesus, I do not believe that simply because people love others they have eternal life. \r\n\r\nI make distinctions between following Jesus and receiving eternal life.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1776,0),(1779,7316,'StrategicMonk','StrategicMonk@gmail.com','http://StrategicMonk.com','99.99.57.99','2012-08-03 11:01:54','2012-08-03 18:01:54','Thank you, Randall.\n\nYes, these journeys have been good for me. Asking good questions is very different from cross-examining people!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.57 Safari/537.1','',1774,182),(1780,7289,'Liss Askew','lissaskew@babblebum.com','','184.79.244.86','2012-08-03 13:33:24','2012-08-03 20:33:24','I wasnt sure where you were going with this, but I think I\'m ok with it.  I dont know if I would use the word \"following\" Christ because I feel that the word \"following\" makes me think it is something \"active\" on our part.  God, through the Holy Spirit, maybe \"pulling\" us toward Him, but due to our sin nature we dont actively choose to follow Jesus.  And then we do have to actively acknowledge who Christ is (God) and make him Lord of our life, and follow Him accordingly.  Pertaining to a previous post, Salvation is much more than just love.  Salvation is through Christ alone.  The Biblical Christ of the Bible is the only I AM..I will write more on this later on my blog, For the Love of Babble located at Babblebum.com.  I am just starting, but drop by there some time.   THanks Jeremy for the perspective...Liss Askew',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.54.16 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.4 Safari/534.54.16','',0,0),(1781,7289,'Leah Chang','sundayriversong@gmail.com','http://www.desertspiritsfire.com','76.212.159.223','2012-08-04 06:55:21','2012-08-04 13:55:21','this is so thoughtful and beautiful! thanks!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,136),(1782,7289,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.100.107','2012-08-04 11:35:59','2012-08-04 18:35:59','I did note indirectly that the love I spoke of was the one described and lived by Christ, Eternal Love. What most describe as love is deep affection or a form of possession.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1778,0),(1783,7294,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.100.107','2012-08-04 12:07:10','2012-08-04 19:07:10','A living example of the early church is the program of AA, although it does not function in the name of Christ. Its emphasis on a spirit of action over a system of belief, confession and testimony at gatherings, and strong fellowship mirror the descriptions I have read of that time before Constantine. It could be a model for a church.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1784,7294,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-04 20:02:08','2012-08-05 03:02:08','Excellent, Carol! You put this topic in the context of where we ALL are in our followership of Christ RIGHT NOW (even though we are all at our personally different \"places\" in our personally different journeys) by framing it within the issues and events of today.  Reading, I feel my heart swelling with confirmation...\"This one...yes, she \'gets it\'!\"  Our heavenly Father is pleased with you...I know He is. Can\'t wait to hear more from you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,189),(1785,7289,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-04 20:14:26','2012-08-05 03:14:26','I agree, with those who have called this \"beautiful\", Jeremy.  You\'re right. All Creation is being swept into Christ, that He may be \"all in all\". It\'s not all that important to me whether I can wrap my mind around HOW He will sort it all out, but I know He WILL. That\'s all I need to know. He will sort it all out--beautifully--and all I need to do is simply follow Him. I can enjoy what you\'ve illuminated here--His \"sorting-out\" of all things--because He lives in me, and if I can but follow Him, perhaps others will SEE Him living in me. Your post didn\'t disappoint me...I didn\'t expect it to. In fact, I feel quite humbled to even be writing about this in your company. Blessings, J! This was \"right on\"!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,189),(1786,7289,'Brother Timothy','sawnhaf@att.net','','99.21.62.57','2012-08-05 05:34:32','2012-08-05 12:34:32','We are given evidence of Jesus\' effect on creation at the cross, with the raising of the dead recognizable (restored, evidentley, not zombies!), and great upheavals of the earth, and disruptions of the sky; we know that Jesus\' death affected all creation. The idea that everyone is affected by that death and resurrection is also correct, but not in the way this author seems to portray. Indeed we are all being swept toward eternity in the wake of Jesus, but up ahead, the rivers splits - one channel leads to safe harbour, one to a cataract, with eternal death wating at the end. That is a more true model than this authors. His is a beautiful sentiment and picture, but unscriptural; but some are being swept to eteranal life, and some to eternal death, and we get to choose which channel we swim to...I would like to see his scriptural support for his statements.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1787,7294,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.210.163.52','2012-08-05 08:18:47','2012-08-05 15:18:47','This is a very timely article.  I am so appalled at what passes for Christianity today.  The republican party, i.e., the powerful and the super-wealthy, have high jacked the Christian religion. This started around 30 years ago when the \"prosperity doctrine\" began infiltrating our mainstream Christian churches.  At the same time Ayn Rand\'s novel \"Atlas Shrugged\" had a resurgence in popularity, and selfishness became not only acceptable, but actually considered Christian doctrine to many. So many of the so-called Christian Right not only resent the poor and don\'t want to pay their taxes, and especially resent their taxes going to social programs for the needy, but they feel justified and somewhat righteous about it.  Christ told his followers to render unto Caesar what is Caesar\'s, meaning we are to pay taxes, and he was all about helping the poor and the needy, so how is that attitude at all Christ like?\r\n\r\nThere are other attitudes among today\'s Christians that totally puzzle me.  A couple of my relatives \"like\" a Facebook page called something like \"Bibles, Babies, and Guns.\"  I don\'t quite get the correlation between those subjects, except for the fact that their morality doctrine fits that title.  Modern Christians, at least many of them, claim to be pro-life; they hate abortion and will do anything to safe a fetus.  Yet if a child does manage to be born into poverty, they don\'t want to pay into programs that help that child, even when it comes to free school lunches, which may be the only nutrition that he/she will get all day.  When it comes to guns, every time there\'s an election, they start worrying that gun control is going to cause their guns to be taken away from them.  And this has never been the case.  Rules and regulations regarding guns yes, but no nazis are coming to cease our hunting rifles or home protection.  And I just don\'t think the average American family really needs assault weapons.  But that\'s a part of the philosophy.\r\n\r\nThen there is war.  Today\'s Christian Right loves to support our troops, but they don\'t seem to care much about our veterans because so many of them are among the poor and needy.  The \"right\" has always hated draft dodgers, yet now Ted Nugent is okay, all American.  Why?  Because he hates President Obama.  When did that hate become okay?  \r\n\r\nThere\'s a lot of arguing going around about Chick Fil A and the owner\'s \"traditional marriage values\" and a lot of people came out to support those values in kind of a protest day.  What do we really consider traditional marriage anyway?  So many people, even within the church, are on their second or third marriages, and we seem to be okay with that.  So why are we so upset that people of the same sex want to marry?  I\'ve heard the argument that they can\'t procreate so it\'s unnatural, but do all couples marry just to procreate?  What about older couples whose childbearing days are over?  What about people who are sterile and marry anyway, even though they know they are?  What about people who just don\'t want to have children?  During the feminist days of my youth, I once heard it said that the \"Mother of the Year\" award ought to go to a sterilized woman with adopted children.  We never hear about overpopulation anymore, yet we are living with a lot of problems caused by it.  At times I wonder if more people are gay as natures way of cutting back on procreation, and we do seem to have more fertility problems than ever before which also goes along with my thought process on this.  But I digress--in my opinion, if Chick Fil A really wanted to show a Christian act, wouldn\'t it really make a statement if all the proceeds from their protest/support day went to helping the needy?\r\n\r\nThere\'s so many contradictions with Christian attitudes today and I\'ve only touched on a few; yet Christ\'s ways were so simple.  He cared so much about the \"least of them\" and said blessed are the peace makers.  He left us with three basic commandments, and if we worked on keeping those, we would come a lot closer to following him.  The commandments are \"Love your Lord, your God with all your heart\", \"Love your neighbor as you love yourself\", and \"Love one another as I have loved you.\"  Shouldn\'t we start with those before we try to force our beliefs on others?  How are we emulating Christ\'s humility with such arrogance?  It is, or at least should be, all about a heart attitude.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1788,7325,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.100.107','2012-08-05 08:46:44','2012-08-05 15:46:44','A very needed piece in my eyes. Thank you. \r\nI am not quite sure how to put this and maybe you can help. Correcting a child through religion, such as, \"God is hurt when you do this or that\"  or referenced wrong via Commandments. Even placing the WWJD protocol on a child does not seem right. Let the parental role be a direct relationship with the child, not a surrogate one where the Bible is the rule giver and judge. Show the child that moraity is based on caring, not a code or ideal to follow. I feel that if the child has that primary ground of knowing a loving parent, as you pointed out, placing their trust in a loving God will be more inviting.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1789,7289,'Jeremy Myers','jmyers@tillhecomes.org','http://www.tillhecomes.org/','64.134.128.9','2012-08-05 10:02:19','2012-08-05 17:02:19','Liss, \r\n\r\nYes. I wanted a different word than \"following\" also, especially since \"following\" in Scripture often refers in the technical sense to active discipleship. What I am describing is something closer to passively being pulled along by Jesus. \r\n\r\nI ended up using \"following\" because I could\'t think of a different term. Any suggestions?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1780,0),(1790,7289,'Jeremy Myers','jmyers@tillhecomes.org','http://www.tillhecomes.org/','64.134.128.9','2012-08-05 10:03:19','2012-08-05 17:03:19','Leah and Leah, \r\n\r\nI appreciate your encouragement. The more we understand about Jesus, the more amazing He becomes, right?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1791,7294,'Carol Kuniholm','ckuniholm@verizon.net','http://wordshalfheard.blogspot.com/','71.162.141.152','2012-08-06 05:40:06','2012-08-06 12:40:06','AA starts in that same place of humility, which allows for a more genuine fellowship. While it doesn\'t function in the name of Christ, the wisdom offered is rooted in \"The Good Book\" . I\'m intrigued by the idea of AA as a model for a church. Thanks for the comment.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1783,145),(1792,7294,'Carol Kuniholm','ckuniholm@verizon.net','http://wordshalfheard.blogspot.com/','71.162.141.152','2012-08-06 05:41:55','2012-08-06 12:41:55','Thank you for the encouragement!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1784,145),(1793,7294,'Carol Kuniholm','ckuniholm@verizon.net','http://wordshalfheard.blogspot.com/','71.162.141.152','2012-08-06 05:54:51','2012-08-06 12:54:51','Thanks for your thoughts. I agree - there are a great many puzzling contradictions among those who want to speak for Christ on issues of the day. That contradiction is rooted in our desire to fit Jesus into our own assumptions, rather than sift those assumptions through the commands you mention: love for God, love for neighbor. This post is part of my own attempt to do some of that sifting. The topics you mention are all part of an ongoing series on my own blog.  What role do guns have in loving our neighbor? Do we believe Jesus when he says \"blessed are the peacemakers\"? If we\'re pro-life, do we get to choose which lives are worth our concern, and which are expendable? You raise some great questions that we need to be thinking,, praying, and talking about in the months between now and the November elections.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1787,145),(1803,7337,'John S Wilson III','JSWilson3@aol.com','http://johnswilson3.wordpress.com/','151.213.178.192','2012-08-06 20:34:56','2012-08-07 03:34:56','great article Leah! Yep, following Him together, thinking I am in agreement sis, :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1804,7337,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-06 21:12:51','2012-08-07 04:12:51',':D  You know, that doesn\'t surprise me in the least John...you being in agreement. He brings unity where He brings His own \"together\". We follow better that way than we could ever do alone. May every disciple we influence surpass us in discipleship and disciple-making!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1803,189),(1795,7325,'Amy Mitchell','royalfamily12@gmail.com','http://www.unchainedfaith.wordpress.com','74.69.23.179','2012-08-06 06:00:49','2012-08-06 13:00:49','I hadn\'t thought about that aspect, the potentially manipulating \"God doesn\'t like when you...\" kind of threat.  We try to frame discussions of our kids\' behavior in terms of caring for others (thinking about how it would make them feel) and caring for themselves (keeping themselves safe).  I honestly can\'t imagine telling them it makes God \"sad\" when they run in the street, so why would I say that for any other inappropriate behavior?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1788,43),(1796,7316,'Alexis S.','a.sotojr@yahoo.com','','66.192.9.99','2012-08-06 09:40:54','2012-08-06 16:40:54','So glad to have read this Greg! Something I am always asking God is to teach me how to LISTEN. Good to hear from you, I\'ve missed you! Thanks for all your help in Ascending Lights as well.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1797,7316,'StrategicMonk','StrategicMonk@gmail.com','http://StrategicMonk.com','99.99.57.99','2012-08-06 09:59:36','2012-08-06 16:59:36','Thank you, Alexis!\n\nIt is always a pleasure to listen to you, Alexis, whether you are talking or singing.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.57 Safari/537.1','',1796,182),(1798,6713,'Heather G','heathercreature@gmail.com','','173.49.237.131','2012-08-06 12:23:08','2012-08-06 19:23:08','I was part of a \"denim skirt cult\" when I was in my formative teenage years.  Even when I was older and no longer part of that group, I developed a reputation for being a really bad dresser.   At first I was insulted that christians on campus constantly told me I needed to dress more attractively, thinking they were too hung up on worldly concerns. I no longer wanted to stick to any religious rules about clothing, but I had internalized the \"look\" that said, \"don\'t look at my body.\"  All my clothes were too baggy and very unattractive, and I didn\'t know what I was doing wrong.  I blame the teachings I got when I was developing my sense of self.  I think this had to do with why I was unable to attract a spouse in my 20\'s and by the time I started figuring out that I was dressing terribly in my 30\'s, bad habits were really ingrained and it still is a fight to figure out how to dress attractively and decently.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1799,7337,'Terry Chambers','terry47@bellsouth.net','','74.183.219.251','2012-08-06 12:26:39','2012-08-06 19:26:39','I spent many years learning a lot about Jesus, the Bible, and the \"church\".  5-7 years ago, I got hungry to see in my lifetime, the events seen in scripture, especially the New Testament.  I have since learned that very few people seem to actually be following Jesus, so it gets difficult to find examples to spur you on.  I find people like to discuss theology, churchology, demonology, and angelology; but jesus seems and sounds shallow as I talk with them.  I Lo-o-o-o-o-og to know Jesus and for Him to know me.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1800,7337,'CatherineS','cseebald@gmail.com','','74.77.10.113','2012-08-06 12:29:00','2012-08-06 19:29:00','\"Men and women down through centuries found, in the Gospels and other writings of the New Testament, not something to believe in and follow, but rather Someone to believe in and follow.\"\r\n\r\nAmen!  Leah, I\'m always blessed by your sharing and the wisdom our Lord has given you.  In fact, those of us who follow Jesus are already experiencing eternal life, because we have His life in us now and it will never end.  Of course, one day the mundane, fleshly life will fall away, and then it\'ll be much more glorious when we stand in His presence -- His light.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; GTB7.3; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; Media Center PC 4.0; InfoPath.2; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET4.0C; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)','',0,0),(1801,7337,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-06 12:44:53','2012-08-06 19:44:53','Amen, Terry. He truly is the desire of every longing heart, but people sometimes look for their heart\'s desire in the wrong places. It is a blessing to be on this journey with you, following Jesus. Thanks for stopping by!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1799,189),(1802,7337,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-06 12:48:43','2012-08-06 19:48:43','So...is this what \"blessed to be a blessing\" means, my dear sister and friend? To be affirmed that our sharing blesses another? Rest assured you have blessed me indeed this day. Having a living Person to believe in and follow means we need not debate the things of theology, churchology, demonology, etc. our brother Terry referenced in his comment. Until we stand fully in His light, let us show forth Christ by exalting Him as THE PERSON we follow...together!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1800,189),(1805,7337,'Jeanne S.','inthesonlite@embarqmail.com','','76.3.210.205','2012-08-07 04:08:53','2012-08-07 11:08:53','Thankful to God that I can follow Him together with you dear Sista\'.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1806,7337,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.100.107','2012-08-07 05:31:41','2012-08-07 12:31:41','Thank you, Leah. The thing I overlooked for awhile was the all-human side of Jesus, which sort of took the form of me and Christ against the world. The message, not the people, was the only important thing. Funny to recall such a time. \r\n\r\nHe wept, he was tempted, he got angry, he was scared. His friends were very dear to him in an earthy way. The Father did the works. Very, very human...and this is divine. The divine became the maturation of the human heart and in Jesus this was fully developed. He had the real capacity to love friend and foe alike. This is to be as perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. To follow is not to tag along but to go where Jesus went in his heart. To be as Christ was in the world is have this love.\r\n\r\nFor me, the Bible is just a guide, a set of directions, on how to realize this love. The real authority is in the direct relationship, through grace and the Holy Spirit, with Christ. This is where the power is, for the word is Christ. Doctrine is the form, not the substance, of the word. \r\n\r\nLove is the substance of the word and for that we must be hidden in Christ, completely abandoned to divine providence as the only support to our faith. It is my experience that far, far too many Christians find such radical abandon a danger to faith. \r\n\r\nIn that abandon we become just a means without ends. The moment alone is lit by the lamp unto our feet, past and future lost in darkness, relying solely on the illumination of Spirit for direction. This total trust demands relinguishing any sense of control or safety, any need for certainty or comfort. Expectations are zero.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1807,7337,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-07 06:02:49','2012-08-07 13:02:49','Yo\' \"twisted sista\"?  Oh, that\'s right! One more thing I learned about following Jesus! He straightens us OUT! All things new! Love you Jeeanneee!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1805,189),(1808,7337,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-07 06:08:24','2012-08-07 13:08:24','Thank you for that lovely comment, Jerry...for bringing your piece of the puzzle, which is a Piece of the living Person we follow together. Indeed, the written word points to the Living Word and it is He we follow. Amazing how when my expectation became nothing more than that the Lord would do all things (which is itself a huge expectation) I began to see more clearly the thing he is doing. Other than that, my expectations truly are zero. Total trust, the necessary ingredient. Everything else must be stripped away until we are left with a consuming passion to \"follow\"...simply follow. Glad you are on this journey \"together\" with us. Thanks for stopping by!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1806,189),(1809,7337,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.100.107','2012-08-07 06:59:08','2012-08-07 13:59:08','Thank you for thanking me, Leah. This path is quite a wondrous adventure, isn\'t it. Glad we share this beautiful road trip. (Er, no need for you to thank me for me thanking you for thanking me, unless you have nothing better to do. Lol (Translated: Lots of love).',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1808,0),(1810,3023,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-07 07:07:44','2012-08-07 14:07:44','Austin...you are among \"the few, the proud\"...the people who ask the RIGHT questions! Why do we put marriage in the civil sphere at all? (It originated from the ungodly marriage of Church and State and amounts to nothing more than a form of  control over the way individuals \"pursue happiness\").  We don\'t want the State meddling in our religious affairs...until it suits our desire to control others to have it that way.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',756,189),(1811,3023,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-07 07:09:15','2012-08-07 14:09:15','By the way...Great job, Alise!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1810,189),(1812,7376,'Ed','ed@inpulsearts.com','http://www.inpulsearts.com/Word','68.96.97.76','2012-08-07 08:08:47','2012-08-07 15:08:47','Hope your following Jesus also includes repentance. It seems like today that\'s always either put on the backburner, forgotten easily, or just ignored completely.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1813,7376,'Travis Klassen','travklassen@me.com','http://churchburned.com','96.53.86.134','2012-08-07 08:22:26','2012-08-07 15:22:26','Liz,\r\n\r\nThanks for writing this. Speaking of the pieces of Christianity that are \"either put on the backburner, forgotten easily, or just ignored completely,\" I\'d say Jesus would be at the top of that list. \r\n\r\nFollowing Him with you,\r\n\r\nTravis',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8) AppleWebKit/536.25 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Safari/536.25','',0,0),(1814,7376,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-07 08:29:05','2012-08-07 15:29:05','\"...more about community than about me getting into heaven – more about people than about institutions or buildings\"...Sounds like you have the things He has put in front of you on the right burners. :-) We follow together, sister. Thanks for the authenticity and sincerity shared from a beautiful heart for Jesus.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1812,189),(1815,7376,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-07 08:31:16','2012-08-07 15:31:16','Sorry, Liz...about my comment posting as a reply to Ed. I should be under Travis\' comment. Don\'t know what happened there. BTW...if you\'re following Jesus, repentance seems to be a \"given\".',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,189),(1816,7376,'Liz Dyer','lizdyer55@gmail.com','http://gracerules.wordpress.com/','63.240.122.129','2012-08-07 08:44:21','2012-08-07 15:44:21','Ed - I do include repentance although I seldom think of it in that term these days.  I most often think of it as a transformation of the mind as I believe that repentance is all about changing the way we think and involves a radical shift in the way we think.  \r\n\r\nRepentance has played a major part in me \"starting over\" and has required me to embrace humility at a level that I had never experienced before.  \r\n\r\nIt is an ongoing battle with my \"self\" but I try to remain humble enough to continually practice the repentance that is required to follow Jesus as I believe that following Jesus constantly involves transforming (changing) the way I think.  \r\n\r\nSo to answer your question directly:\r\n yes! repentance is included in my journey of following Jesus.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1812,132),(1817,7376,'Liz Dyer','lizdyer55@gmail.com','http://gracerules.wordpress.com/','63.240.122.129','2012-08-07 08:45:27','2012-08-07 15:45:27','Leah - thanks for your kind words of encouragement!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1815,132),(1818,7376,'Liz Dyer','lizdyer55@gmail.com','http://gracerules.wordpress.com/','63.240.122.129','2012-08-07 08:47:56','2012-08-07 15:47:56','Travis - I was guilty of putting Jesus on the backburner for years - it was what was modeled for me and I followed.  I think if we ever manage to keep Jesus at the top of our list the other stuff pretty much falls into place.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1813,132),(1819,7337,'Liz Dyer','lizdyer55@gmail.com','http://gracerules.wordpress.com/','63.240.122.129','2012-08-07 09:01:38','2012-08-07 16:01:38','I\'m just now getting around to reading the posts for the synchroblog.  Like you my perspective of what it means to follow Jesus has changed over the years and like you I assume it will continue to evolve.  I particularly liked the way you emphasized that as good and right and helpful as Christian practices can be they themselves or the practice of them is not \"following Jesus\"',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',0,132),(1820,7289,'Liz Dyer','lizdyer55@gmail.com','http://gracerules.wordpress.com/','63.240.122.129','2012-08-07 09:07:21','2012-08-07 16:07:21','Jeremy - This IS beautiful.  I have never thought about Jesus and his impact in just this way and yet I have often thought that there is something universal about the work and activity of Christ.  Is there someone (author?, theologian?, speaker?) that led you to this idea?  I would love to delve into this concept deeper.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',0,132),(1821,7337,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-07 09:23:19','2012-08-07 16:23:19','Thanks for stopping by and for commenting to let me know it \"resonates\" with you, Liz. Looking forward to \"following together\" with you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1819,189),(1822,7294,'Liz Dyer','lizdyer55@gmail.com','http://gracerules.wordpress.com/','63.240.122.129','2012-08-07 09:24:26','2012-08-07 16:24:26','Carol - Thank you for writing this.  Following Jesus is difficult and very costly and yet it remains so compelling and attractive to me that I continue to attempt to live into the way of Jesus.\r\n\r\nYou said:  \"I start here: I am a fallen, broken person, jealously loyal to my own ideas, selfishly committed to my own ways of seeing, in need of a hand of grace to help me stand free of the misguided assumptions that hold me hostage, that whisper I’m somehow of more value than those others not like me.\"\r\n\r\nI think that is a great place to start each day and so I am going to print that out and put it where I can see it and read it each morning.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',0,132),(1823,7376,'Nate','sir_n8t@hotmai.com','','70.28.66.56','2012-08-07 09:25:19','2012-08-07 16:25:19','Repentance, by definition means to change. A change that breaks down our religious traditions in order to see clearly what Christ is doing. Is a change for the better. \nKeep reading the Bible tho, as it holds a good image of who God and Christ are. Our brothers and sisters need to be challenged to love more deeply and sincerely.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.7; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1812,0),(1824,7376,'Kevin Copeland','revkevtex@aol.com','','166.147.123.150','2012-08-07 11:37:38','2012-08-07 18:37:38','I was a Christian for a great many years before I became a Disciple of Christ.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',0,0),(1825,7376,'Christian','christianwalker1970@gmail.com','','98.83.208.158','2012-08-07 14:10:52','2012-08-07 21:10:52','I was with you up until you said you seldom read your Bible....smh',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1826,7376,'Liz Dyer','lizdyer55@gmail.com','http://gracerules.wordpress.com/','63.240.122.129','2012-08-07 15:17:54','2012-08-07 22:17:54','If I never read another word of scripture again (which won\'t be the case) I will still have probably read and studied more than most people would in two lifetimes.  I was an avid student and teacher of scripture for many years and even have a lot of scripture memorized (even the whole book of Philippians).  I think scripture is valuable and still read it at times but not on a regular schedule.  There came a point where I had made an idol out of scripture and was turning it into something that it wasn\'t meant to be.  In addition I think most people read scripture without taking original language and historical context into consideration and end up doing a lot of damage to themselves and others by not understanding the message.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1825,132),(1827,7376,'Nick','nicholasjohnbarta@gmail.com','','120.147.6.204','2012-08-07 15:41:29','2012-08-07 22:41:29','I loved reading your post.  I too have been on a similar journey of having my religious Christianity dismantled as well.  It is painful, disillusioning and very lonely watching your institutionalised faith wash away.  But then a new faith starts to grow.  This faith seeks Jesus the man, Jesus the divine.  It understands his co-equality and co-eternal nature, being one with the Father.  This faith takes us from the church\'s four walls and into the world.  Many churched folk dont understand how we could leave the church, but following Jesus is counter-cultural (including counter-church-cultural), raw and wild.  We can not tame Jesus, but we can learn to love others like He does.  Great post!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',0,0),(1828,7376,'Gregory','stillwaterscoaching@gmail.com','','96.240.234.192','2012-08-07 17:04:13','2012-08-08 00:04:13','Liz, all I can say is; Thank you for speaking what has been on my and I believe many hearts today...You\'re not alone! Be blessed and keep following...I will!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:10.0.2) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/10.0.2','',0,0),(1829,7376,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-07 17:16:20','2012-08-08 00:16:20','I understand what you mean, Liz. My husband and I taught a very thorough bible study course in prisons and churches for almost a decade. The course covers 75% of the Old Testament and 90% of the New Testament in 9 months. (The missing % of the text we\'ve studied over and over in our lifetimes as well). From childhood we were trained up in the Scriptures. I prefer the word \"accurate\" over \"inerrant\" or \"infallible\", but totally affirm the Scriptures to be the word of God (written). I do still read and study my Bible, but mostly in the form of “referencing it”, preparing to instruct someone where to find the source of a “lesson” the Lord leads us to teach, or searching out nuggets of treasure. A legalistic Bible-reading plan? Uh…no! If you are like us, you have the word memorized in large portions, but more importantly, you have the meaning committed to memory and written upon your heart. The written word is a revelation of the Living Word, not a “handy” little instruction book on how to be saved and please God. It’s the written story of God’s purpose in Creation and eternity—but only part of the story. We are living the rest of the story as we follow Jesus',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1826,189),(1830,1887,'Rain','sweet_rain2012@yahoo.com','','184.90.158.172','2012-08-07 20:44:22','2012-08-08 03:44:22','I stumbled across this article after someone on my FB feed linked to another one from this website.  I can\'t express everything I want to say right now, but so much of what has been said here are things that I have struggled with as well.  I\'m 39 years old, female, divorced, and truthfully I HATE navigating the dating/relationship landscape that is a part of our culture.  It seems as if no one appreciates a woman who values herself and her body and doesn\'t want to share with just anyone.  ** sigh **  I didnt think I would find myself here at this age, struggling with sexual desires that are for the most part unfulfilled, while also wanting to please God in my lifestyle choices above all else.  I\'m glad to know I\'m not the only one struggling internally with these things.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; .NET4.0E; Tablet PC 2.0; .NET4.0C)','',0,0),(1831,7289,'Jeremy Myers','jmyers@tillhecomes.org','http://www.tillhecomes.org/','96.41.168.247','2012-08-07 21:51:29','2012-08-08 04:51:29','I doubt that I have any original thoughts, and have been influenced by someone on this, but for the life of me, I cannot recall reading this idea anywhere else... Thanks for the encouragement!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1820,0),(1832,7257,'Jeremy Myers','jmyers@tillhecomes.org','http://www.tillhecomes.org/','96.41.168.247','2012-08-07 21:54:42','2012-08-08 04:54:42','I love the story of Peter. His betrayal of Jesus shows such hope for all of us, and not only that, the limitless love and forgiveness of Jesus. \r\n\r\nI believe that Jesus would have even forgiven Judas\' betrayal...',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1833,7389,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.96.200','2012-08-08 11:20:57','2012-08-08 18:20:57','I love it, Ellen! Followers need a reminder that to be salt, it calls for us to live out our holiness in Christ as a people set apart, but interacting with and loving people who are still \"worldly\", while we let them see our love for one another. We need to lay down a lot more of our own flesh and find the unity of that love among one another before Christ in us (the hope of glory) will impact the culture in a substantial way.  In his 2006 book Revolution, George Barna revealed statistics show the \"local church\" has little to NO influence on culture. If eating or not eating a chicken sandwich is how Christians think they can will a difference for the Kingdom, then this is probably the last gasp of the institutions of Western Christendom. The true Bride will rise and shine in the midst of the mayhem and take the stance of the follower...the unity of those have taken up the cross with a willingness to \"die\". Brava! Thanks for this piece of encouragement to the \"followers\".',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,189),(1834,7294,'Leah Chang','sundayriversong@gmail.com','http://www.desertspiritsfire.com','76.212.159.223','2012-08-08 17:25:53','2012-08-09 00:25:53','nice weaving together of some pivotal texts and concepts; thanks, and peace!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,136),(1835,7337,'Leah Chang','sundayriversong@gmail.com','http://www.desertspiritsfire.com','76.212.159.223','2012-08-08 17:29:26','2012-08-09 00:29:26','\"Follow Me,\" but you gotta repudiate all those others. And I love your scriptures from John 1 and Colossians 1; thanks!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,136),(1836,7376,'Leah Chang','sundayriversong@gmail.com','http://www.desertspiritsfire.com','76.212.159.223','2012-08-08 17:32:37','2012-08-09 00:32:37','starting over, and \"on any given day I would be hard pressed to even tell you where I am going\" I love this! with Jesus the future is open and the possibilities are endless...',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,136),(1837,7337,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.79.199','2012-08-08 20:50:52','2012-08-09 03:50:52','8-)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1835,189),(1868,7305,'Glenn Hager','glennhager1@gmail.com','http://glennhager.com','76.245.207.7','2012-08-12 12:26:30','2012-08-12 19:26:30','I agree!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',1866,144),(1839,7489,'saritabakerbrown','sarita.reikilove@gmail.com','','198.228.216.143','2012-08-09 08:00:20','2012-08-09 08:00:20','ok, lets do it. Like the photo.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows Phone OS 7.5; Trident/5.0; IEMobile/9.0; SAMSUNG; SGH-i677)','editorial-comment',0,0),(1840,7489,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-08-09 08:12:46','2012-08-09 08:12:46','This will publish August 13th.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','editorial-comment',0,0),(1841,7367,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.79.199','2012-08-09 08:30:04','2012-08-09 15:30:04','The breaking of bread together is a covenant activity, a sharing of more than what we have for food. It becomes a sharing of who we are and \"Whose we are\". He has set a table of blessing before us and invited all to \"come\". Dare we, then, turn anyone away? As the bread and fishes were multiplied in His presence, we are sent forth into the world to multiply...to be broken, shared, poured out in His name. I love the challenge you have raised, and the joyous celebration of Christ you hold before us, Leah. By His grace, His followers will always have more than enough for everyone who wishes to partake.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,189),(1842,7389,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.198.96.71','2012-08-09 13:17:21','2012-08-09 20:17:21','I agree one hundred percent.  What represents Christianity today is a far cry from the Jesus I learned about as a child, the one who said to turn the other cheek, to render unto Caesar what is Caesar\'s (pay your taxes), that if someone wants your coat to give them your coat as well, and that what you do unto \"the least of them\" you also do unto me.  He said to love your Lord your God with all your heart, to love your neighbor as you love yourself, and to love one another as I have loved you.  I remember as a child not wanting to turn the other cheek or give up my possessions to another, and I don\'t think many of us do.  However, 30 years ago the \"Prosperity Doctrine\" began to infiltrate our mainstream Christian churches, while at the same time, Ayn Rand\'s \"Atlas Shrugged\" made a comeback, and somehow with the later propaganda and influence of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, and Hannity, being selfish is not only acceptable, but considered Christian and right.\r\n\r\nThere is so much more I have to say about this and have in previous comments, but for now, I just want to say that Christianity to me is all about a heart attitude, and I don\'t see how wanting to save every fetus, while at the same time wanting to cut programs that help poor children who have managed to be born shows much Christian love or charity.  I also don\'t get why right-wing Christians are so pro war, when Christ said \"blessed are the peacemakers\" or why they support our troops but leave our veterans lacking and often homeless.  I could go on and on about this and I have in the past, but I would leave it with the thought that maybe some things that represent Christianity today have nothing at all to do with following Christ and that maybe we need to examine our hearts.  Are we really being Christ like, or are we justifying our own selfishness and prejudices???',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1843,7389,'Leah Chang','sundayriversong@gmail.com','http://www.desertspiritsfire.com','76.212.159.223','2012-08-09 15:49:59','2012-08-09 22:49:59','\"...there is only One Table!\" Amen!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,136),(1844,7376,'Gabe','deliverance77@hotmail.com','','72.174.40.183','2012-08-09 15:55:36','2012-08-09 22:55:36','Does repentance include believing the Gospel?  For we who profess to believe in a resurrected Lord are to proclaim Him with not only our deeds but with what we preach.  Do you preach a resurrected, sinner saving, grace giving, all loving, but justice enduring Christ?  For with justice comes love but with justice comes wrath for those who do not obey the Gospel (2 Thess. 1:8, 1 Pet. 4:17).  \"Many will say to Me on that day . . . (Mt. 7:22).',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',1816,0),(1845,7376,'Gabe','deliverance77@hotmail.com','http://HewhobelievesintheSonofGodisbornofHimandhewholovestheFatherlovesthechildbornofHim.BythisweknowthatwelovethechildrenofGod,whenweloveGodandobserveHiscommandments,andHiscommandmentsarenotburdensom','72.174.40.183','2012-08-09 16:03:41','2012-08-09 23:03:41','He who believes in the Son of God is born of Him and he who loves the Father loves the child born of Him.  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.  1 Jn 5:1-3.  Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of some.  Heb. 10:25',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1846,7416,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-08-09 23:22:39','2012-08-09 23:22:39','Did you want to add this the list?',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','editorial-comment',0,0),(1847,7416,'Jennifer Luitwieler','jennifer@jenniferluitwieler.com','http://jenniferluitwieler.com','69.149.247.203','2012-08-10 06:29:32','2012-08-10 06:29:32','Well, that\'s what I thought I was doing....unless its crappy. If you don\'t use it, it\'s fine.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','editorial-comment',0,0),(1848,7235,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-08-10 07:36:08','2012-08-10 07:36:08','Are you still interested in posting this?  It\'s a good post.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','editorial-comment',0,0),(1849,7235,'HometownProphet','jeff@hometownprophetbook.com','http://www.hometownprophetbook.com/','69.138.63.63','2012-08-10 07:42:10','2012-08-10 07:42:10','Yes.   Feel free to post.  Thanks.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','editorial-comment',0,0),(1850,7305,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.79.199','2012-08-10 08:25:15','2012-08-10 15:25:15','\"...raw and real\"...That sounds like something a something twelve assorted \"ordinary\" types (including a zealot and a tax collector--natural enemies!) would relate to, Glenn. He\'ll never leave your sight...just don\'t close your eyes or get distracted by the side shows along the way. Boldly follow...and be blessed as He shows you stranger places still. :) Thanks for giving us something rich to consider today.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,189),(1851,7305,'Leah Randall','l3ahmr1@windstream.net','http://www.protestantheretic.wordpress.com','98.17.79.199','2012-08-10 08:32:27','2012-08-10 15:32:27','...wishing I could edit that \"a something\"....8-)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1850,189),(1852,7305,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.100.107','2012-08-10 13:30:14','2012-08-10 20:30:14','Once again, Leah, an inspired and iinsrtuctive read, well-delivered. \r\n\r\nJust a few reflections meant for crtique:\r\nJesus said, \"...and greater works than these shall you do.\" Here is my question: WWJDIHWY? If we are expected to do \"greater things,\" we could ask \"What would Jesus do if he were you?\" Isn\'t it acient wisdom that the sigh of a great teacher is for the student to surpass him or her. It appears quite evident that Jesus is expecting quite extraordinary things from  us.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1853,7305,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.100.107','2012-08-10 13:55:12','2012-08-10 20:55:12','For some reason, the above comments self-posted. To continue...\r\nAnd shouldn\'t the popular WWJD be more suitably phrased WDJD, What Did Jesus Do?\r\nIt is not following Jesus to feed the hungry, comfort the sick, or clothe the poor; these are incidental. For me, Jesus did one and only one thing his entire life: placed his entire being in his Father\'s hands. It is from this core that all else was manifest. \r\n\r\nThis is the one and only action, if we are a follower of Christ. This is to pick up our cross, for in this total surrender we forsake all worldliness. Self-control is the will to allow Spirit to take over, to place ourselves under God\'s direction, strength, wisdom, love, and control. In doing this \"living sacrifice\" continually, the false self we have created is gradually replaced with the image and likeness of God, or who we were meant to be before the foundations of the world were laid.\r\n\r\nTo be the light of the world is perfect humility, the pure integrity of being who we were meant to be. And humiliity is the only virtue, for it is then the father does the works.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1854,7305,'Glenn Hager','glennhager1@gmail.com','http://glennhager.com','76.245.207.7','2012-08-10 16:26:18','2012-08-10 23:26:18','Leah - Thank you for the blessing!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',1850,144),(1855,7305,'Leah Chang','sundayriversong@gmail.com','http://www.desertspiritsfire.com','76.212.159.223','2012-08-11 09:07:10','2012-08-11 16:07:10','stay, watch, observe... and sometimes find yourself in strange places--this is so beautifully basic, it\'s almost surprising!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,136),(1856,7429,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-08-11 11:37:07','2012-08-11 11:37:07','I think you know his but you need to submit for review when you are finished editing.  That lets me know you want to publish it.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','editorial-comment',0,0),(1857,7164,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-08-11 11:38:35','2012-08-11 11:38:35','I saw that you have three series of posts.  Did you want to publish these?  If so, you need to submit them for review, which lets me know they are finished.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','editorial-comment',0,0),(1858,7305,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.51.90','2012-08-11 14:32:48','2012-08-11 21:32:48','\"God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.   God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things...to nullify the things that are... \"\r\n\r\nTo follow Christ is radically different than conventional wisdom and contrary to worldly values. When it appears I am fitting in snugly, looking the pillar of my community and not in some way foolish, I best re-examine my motives. As a recovering alcoholic, I think God had me and my ilk in mind to shame the wise and strong.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1859,7305,'Glenn Hager','glennhager1@gmail.com','http://glennhager.com','76.245.207.7','2012-08-11 20:26:53','2012-08-12 03:26:53','Leah -  Jesus is very surprising!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',1855,144),(1860,7448,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.51.90','2012-08-11 20:27:57','2012-08-12 03:27:57','What do I mean by “foolishness”?\r\n\"Take no thought for your life, what you may eat and drink...\r\nbe a living sacrifice...\r\nturn the other cheek...\r\ngo the extra mile...\r\nlove your enemy.\"\r\n.\r\nWhat I mean by “foolishness” is a life radically different than conventional wisdom and contrary to worldly values, and that is to live on earth as if we are already in heaven.  \r\nIt is being separated out from our self-interest and desires in order to be in loving service only to the will of God in caring for other souls.  It is no longer thinking of ourselves, others, and situations from a worldly point of view.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1861,7305,'Glenn Hager','glennhager1@gmail.com','http://glennhager.com','76.245.207.7','2012-08-11 20:28:53','2012-08-12 03:28:53','Jerry - That\'s a great insight and it caused me to feel better about myself, too.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',1858,144),(1862,7448,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.51.90','2012-08-11 20:31:04','2012-08-12 03:31:04','\"Know only Christ among you.\"\r\n\r\nThere is no virtue in what we do,\r\nonly in what we are:\r\nChrist-centered.\r\n\r\nWe do not live by standards\r\nbut through the standard-bearer:\r\nChrist.\r\n\r\nWe do not have a code of ethics,\r\nwe have no values or scruples\r\n--only Christ...in whom \r\nwe live and move and have our being.\r\n\r\nFaith in Christ \r\n(not in creeds or statements of belief)\r\nexpressed through love\r\nis all that counts.\r\n\r\nIt is not up to us even to direct our steps;\r\nit is by a lamp unto our feet we live\r\n--the illumination of the Holy Spirit--\r\nthat sheds just enough light\r\nfor this very moment we are in\r\nto be a means without ends.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1863,7448,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.51.90','2012-08-11 20:49:54','2012-08-12 03:49:54','Christ did not die on the cross; his life was given as sacrifice many years before. \r\n\r\nWhat must die is self: all our attachments to image, control, safety, comfort, certainty, knowing, supports for faith, worldly treasure, or in other words all possessions, which is whatever we look to claim as \"mine\" or \"I.\" To \"pick up the cross\" is to turn from such attachments. To \"sell all your possessions\" is to genuinely free in your heart of any attachment.\r\n\r\nAllowing this self to die, the one we have created, shaped out of earthly gold to honor in neglect of what God created us to be, his spitting image and likeness, is in the end a mercy killing, an act of euthanasia, a good death...although it will not usually feel that way. Through its death, the new indwelling spirit gains room to mature and grow.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1864,7305,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.51.90','2012-08-11 20:57:59','2012-08-12 03:57:59','Thank you, Glenn, it oddly makes me feel better about myself as well. God has a knack for making the topsy-turvy into good. Paradox appears to be the native tongue of truth.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1861,0),(1865,7305,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.51.90','2012-08-11 21:17:30','2012-08-12 04:17:30','The thoroughly unsettling and profoundly dangerous nature of radical grace is impossible to argue, is well beyond reason or logic to convince, yet is basic, the start, to \"follow Christ.\" Square One. All supports to faith--doctrine, tradition, the Bible itself, and so forth--is preparation for the launching pad of Square One. \r\n\r\nFollowing does not mean tag along--or acting and imitating, modeling his life of giving with the haunting, WWJD. This is not even close. We are called TO BE as Christ was in the world, not copy his works. He had none. The Father did them all. Jesus did one thing and one thing only: he fully surrendered to the will and direction of his Father. Diligently studying the Scriptures with the finest methods and grandest intents does not solve or resolve in itself the question of BECOMING; that is only for the heart through a surrender to grace. Square One.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1866,7305,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.51.90','2012-08-11 21:21:22','2012-08-12 04:21:22','Why strive for perfection, when to be still is to know God. All self-improvement is a distraction. To become the image and likeness of God is a matter of reduction, not accumulation.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1867,7429,'HometownProphet','jeff@hometownprophetbook.com','http://www.hometownprophetbook.com/','69.138.63.63','2012-08-12 08:45:13','2012-08-12 08:45:13','I don\'t remember doing this before, but I don\'t remember a lot of things.   I changed the status to \"pending review.\"  Hope that was the right thing to do.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','editorial-comment',0,0),(1892,7566,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-08-17 11:34:24','2012-08-17 18:34:24','I am curious as to the substance of your metamorphosis, for it appears that what moved you to isolation in the wilds and was the source for your book is unchanged, and as you have returned to isolation, it seems appropriate to ask what is the nature of the transformation?  \r\n\r\nThe pull of my soul has always been strongest toward isolation, or the term today of solitude or stretched to contemplative. In fact, usually much effort is needed to engage in simple conversations with friends. More later, gotta run.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1871,7316,'Lynn Fishman','lynnfishman@ymail.com','','173.176.41.243','2012-08-13 14:23:54','2012-08-13 21:23:54','Thank you for this important reminder Greg. It is true that we often talk too much and listen too little. I think you can call listening a form of compassionate communication. We relax, stay present and really focus on what the other person is saying. Body gestures  and  facial expressions are also important clues as to whether we are paying attention or not. It has always been my personal philosophy that everyone has something to offer, if you take the time to listen and  show appreciation that the other person is sharing their time with you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1872,7316,'StrategicMonk','StrategicMonk@gmail.com','http://StrategicMonk.com','99.99.57.99','2012-08-13 14:56:17','2012-08-13 21:56:17','Thank you, Lynn.\n\nI agree that everyone has something to offer, and like your idea of \"compassionate communication.\" It is a privilege to listen to people tell me their stories, and an honor to have people listen to me tell mine.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.77 Safari/537.1','',1871,182),(1873,7489,'Ray C','Ssaturnine@gmail.com','','174.252.97.235','2012-08-14 02:42:20','2012-08-14 09:42:20','You had me following you, agreeing with you until it was stated that you would want to trade off one authoritarian religion for another. How is there a difference between Christians and Moslems? They both abhor the infidel, the homosexual, those unlike them. What is it that you are trying to do? I left Christianity when I realized that when you read the theology of the Westboro Baptist Church and realize they have a highly, nay, ugly but cogent interpretation of the Bible and that\'s why they do what they do; it\'s not out of pure spite but is based on Scripture, then it solidified my forever separation from the religion of Christianity. John Shore may be able to twist the scriptures around to make it sound like Beatles song: all you need us love, but that simply is not exactly what overall gist if the Bible teaches. Don\'t forget Revelation! Jesus is coming back full of anger and bloodlust.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X; en_US) AppleWebKit (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile [FBAN/FBForIPhone;FBAV/4.1.1;FBBV/4110.0;FBDV/iPhone3,3;FBMD/iPhone;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/5.1.1;FBSS/2; FBCR/Verizon;FBID/phone;FBLC/en_US;FBSF/2.0]','',0,0),(1874,7489,'Jill','jhi29@hotmail.com','','98.100.235.49','2012-08-14 06:56:18','2012-08-14 13:56:18','Sarita, I appreciate this very much. Just know that I relate to this, and to you. Walking the path of Christ, and of Siddhartha. Yes I too believe we are always asked by our spirit to walk the road less traveled and often reviled...why? Because no one really wants to walk this lonely, isolating path. But it is the path to our Highest Self which can be fear-inspiring. And fear stagnated becomes intolerance. \r\nSometimes we are called on to walk a solitary journey, but we soon come to find hundreds, millions of other people called to do the same. And that journey always leads us exactly where we can best serve the Highest Good. Peace to you, Jill',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1875,2624,'Jill','jhi29@hotmail.com','','98.100.235.49','2012-08-14 07:05:17','2012-08-14 14:05:17','Yes, and I have come to believe that I would not be able to be a healed, whole, \'good\' person and citizen of this planet if I didn\'t have Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and  Shamanism informing my life. I\'m sure there\'s more but I haven\'t had time for all of it yet! :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',624,0),(1876,7416,'Pam Hogeweide','pamhogeweide@gmail.com','http://www.pamhogeweide.com','204.130.228.100','2012-08-14 08:56:39','2012-08-14 15:56:39','Great post Jennifer. LOVE U2...in fact, I just went to my first U2charist.  Have you heard about these?  I thought it would be ridiculously cheesy, and it was a wee little bit--just a little bit---but it was so good for my soul.  The music, the lyrics,  the mixture of prayer and response.  So good.\r\n\r\nI am trying to imagine you in all black and looking all emo.  Hard to imagine!!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.162 Safari/535.19','',0,0),(1877,7489,'clucky one','cluckforme@gmail.com','','174.1.167.227','2012-08-14 12:13:18','2012-08-14 19:13:18','\'and what exactly is he asking me to leave?\'\r\n\r\ni think he\'s asking you to leave yourself (your ego) and the idea that you are separate--which it sounds as though you have already done:  \'we are all part of each other and there is no separation.\'  \r\n\r\nif you feel that you need to \'leave\' even MORE of some residual part of yourself by becoming something that never even resembled you, maybe it would be worth trying to understand why that feeling is so strongly held in you?  \r\n\r\nas you say, there is no romanticism in the leaving.  we don\'t leave to become \'better,\' we leave to become more ourselves (my opinion, anyway).  we leave because we are somehow convinced that there is something more satisfying out there than what we\'ve found so far.  and we\'re \'right\'.  \r\n\r\ni think it\'s when i realize that i am not my own, but that i am deeply embedded in and linked to the \'whole\', that i find my true place.  it\'s when i leave the idea that i am \'right\' and accept the belief that i don\'t actually know for sure, but i\'m still going with it, that i am on the path for home.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',0,0),(1878,7416,'Nancy Franson','nancy.franson@yahoo.com','http://outofmyallegedmind.com/','68.118.194.75','2012-08-14 13:12:30','2012-08-14 20:12:30','Why, oh why, is there no retro photo included with this post? Cause that would have been so cool.\r\n\r\nHaving grown up in a church which routinely held bonfires on which we backslidden youth could cast Satan\'s music into the fiery flames, your story just makes me so happy. And God bless the juice ladies.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1879,7416,'Kells','nursekells@verizon.net','','173.75.42.47','2012-08-14 14:20:05','2012-08-14 21:20:05','Oh Jen...we had such good times at Club &lt;3  You really captured the essence of &quot;our&quot; lives that we did indeed police vigilantly LOL  We really were trying to find our own way, claiming to not follow others yet, yup, we did, sort of.  But we ended up following the Right One &lt;3',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.77 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1880,7416,'Kells','nursekells@verizon.net','','173.75.42.47','2012-08-14 15:11:39','2012-08-14 22:11:39','I have many photos of Jen from that era but alas, I am forbidden from posting them on the interwebs!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.77 Safari/537.1','',1878,0),(1881,7489,'Brian','Tequestabrian@gmail.com','','98.254.176.241','2012-08-14 18:12:24','2012-08-15 01:12:24','Sarita,\r\n\r\nI know your decision was not an easy one. It is important to follow Love where Love leads you. Recently, I found out that a friend of mine I knew in college (we also both entered different Seminaries to study for the catholic priesthood) left the catholic church and became a Suni Muslim. When he told me why, I felt sad but I understood. He left because he no longer found any sense of belonging in the church. Love has grown cold; the fire has dimmed.\r\n\r\nSome years back God struck my faith at its feet of clay. I lost everything I ever believed and for a month endured the agony of not knowing if there was a God or even who s/he was. When the Lord came back to me he spoke his name in my soul and gave me the gift of a real faith; a relationship with him.\r\n\r\nWe must walk where Love leads us and surrender to his ways... I wish you well on your jourey',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X; en_US) AppleWebKit (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile [FBAN/FBForIPhone;FBAV/4.1.1;FBBV/4110.0;FBDV/iPad2,1;FBMD/iPad;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/5.1.1;FBSS/1; FBCR/;FBID/tablet;FBLC/en_US;FBSF/1.0]','',0,0),(1882,7489,'saritabakerbrown','sarita.reikilove@gmail.com','','198.228.216.160','2012-08-14 18:54:33','2012-08-15 01:54:33','Jerry. To take any scriptural text literally outside of textual critcism is to open the door to fundamentalism. My post has more to do with the wave  of christian cultural apathy toward the blatant bigotry demonstrated daily. For example, my family and I attended a inter-faith memorial service for our slain Sikh kindred in my hometown. About 100 attended, half of whom were Sikhs. Had seven people been slaughtered at a Baptist Church nearby, the entire football stadium would have been filled with shouts of conspiracy and perhaps the burning down of a mosque for afters.\nYes, that crowd might have been fundamentalists. But my question is, where were the liberal christians at the Sikh memorial? There should have been hundreds if us. \nBut se don\'t care enough or identify enough with our Muslim/Sikh/ Hindu/ Sufi kin to show up, grieved and apalled.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows Phone OS 7.5; Trident/5.0; IEMobile/9.0; SAMSUNG; SGH-i677)','',1873,193),(1883,7416,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.60.232','2012-08-15 06:14:07','2012-08-15 13:14:07','The Adagio In G Minor does the same for me: no words, a deeper magnitude of meaning, drawing soul to the language of spirit. It is a cradle to grave poignancy of sound, all ups and down, wins and loses harmonically redemptive, a  contemplative prayer of simple being. Joy and sorrow seem so intimately intertwined, almost one, that the strings of the violin are the instrument of life. This is Jesus in Gethsemane, what played in his heart. \r\n\r\nLove your writing style and what you to share. This line is my favorite: \"I wanted a faith that let me engage in culture to find the redemptive.\" Volumes! The Jesuits gave me a great education, exposed to everything, some of which many Christians would happily burn. But truth was in there, if one had the eyes to see. What I see in your piece is the dual nature of radical grace: the great danger to and great freedom of a total reliance on the Holy Spirit.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1884,7467,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.60.232','2012-08-15 06:37:43','2012-08-15 13:37:43','Great piece. The question of real freedom is huge and its pitfalls numerous. We are told that “the truth will set us free”: but from what and for what and how is this done?\r\n\r\nPerhaps if any future ecumenical efforts concentrated solely on clearly defining the exact nature of freedom, Christendom would finally be of One Faith. For me, understanding the exact nature of our freedom in Christ reveals precisely how to follow Christ. The path would be straight and the narrow gate flung open wide. \r\n\r\nA well-known Christian defined freedom this way: “It is not the right to do what we want but the ability to do what we ought.”  Sounds good, yet it overlooks a fundamental truth of the New Covenant: we have been given a new nature that desires God.  Our wants will be His oughts, only if we fully depend upon the spirit within.  If we do not depend on this spirit within, which desires after God, we will be dependent on the carnal use of our effort and obey out of duty, not joy.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1885,7467,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.60.232','2012-08-15 07:09:51','2012-08-15 14:09:51','The use of rules to keep us from worldliness is carnal, for like the law it is consciousness of sin. Restraints entice rebellion, a perpetual temptation. Any \"ought\" is  in service to soul, not spirit. Freedom is in \"want to\" and not \"ought to. Hidden in Christ, what is commanded is the desire of our new spirit. It comes from within, by grace, not from without, by effort to obey standards. \"Turning the other cheek\" comes from the muscle of joy, a delight in mercy. \r\n\r\nThe principles given to us by Christ are meant to be revelatory, not regulatory, their purpose to expose and help us realize both the emptiness of worldly treasures and the faults within us that make for attachments to them. It is light to reveal the dark reaches within us and offer these up for healing. \"Dying to self.\"  This is a continual practice, putting these principles before personalities (both our own and that of others). To me, this is part of picking up our cross. Yet all that we truly sacrifice is that which is keeping us from our greatest freedom and deepest joy.\r\n\r\nNonattachment to image, to prosperity, to success, to failure, to certainty, to comfort, to safety, to control, to knowing, to reward, to punishment, to acceptance, to belonging, to all that is not Eternal. To live on earth as if if already in heaven is the freedom we find in Christ.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1886,7489,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.60.232','2012-08-15 07:35:00','2012-08-15 14:35:00','God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.   God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things...to nullify the things that are...\"\r\n\r\nI so relate to your feelings on this matter. To say Christian in this country is steadily becoming a synonym for hate and intolerance and Right Wing politics. It infers being a combatant against Science and reasonable thought. The automatic sneer that came from non-Christians was for these characteristics, not a \"reckless\" love. I searched for something new to call myself and meanwhile offered quick explanations that I was not one of \"those Christians.\" My efforts were not effective. \r\n\r\nThen in the middle of your article something startling happened: I asked myself did Jesus suffer ridicule, torture and death for the right judgment of others? What others may think of Christians, and today rightly so, is not changed by abandoning Christ. That what many may think of me just by the label Christian',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1887,7489,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.60.232','2012-08-15 07:47:27','2012-08-15 14:47:27','Sorry, I accidentally posted. To  continue...\r\nThat what many may think of me just by the label of Christian is inconsequential. Why should I care about my image? To identify with Muslims may be to identify with \"the least of these,\" yet it also means to indict those Christians who are living as Christ lived. Is it right to abandon or condemn them? Suddenly, by the vocal wrong-headedness of some Christians, suffering with the \"least of these\" is to identify as Christian. Unless I continue to stand for the love of Christ, what good is standing for anything else upon which I confer righteousness? I do not choose sides in this struggle, for I see that as worldliness: I stay centered in Christ.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1888,7489,'saritabakerbrown','sarita.reikilove@gmail.com','','198.228.216.145','2012-08-15 08:49:19','2012-08-15 15:49:19','Thank you, Brian. I am sure that your friend appreciates the fact that you accepted his decision, now perhaps you could share faith stories with him to understand what fire he experienced as you did in your own epiphany! Blessings to you brother.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.60 Safari/537.1','',1881,193),(1889,7499,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-08-15 10:03:46','2012-08-15 17:03:46','A most wonderful piece of writing, thank you.\r\nI have read a number of Rohr\'s book each morning as a contemplative practice with a close friend. Being a Recovered Alcoholic, I especially liked Breathing Underwater. What AA demonstrates is a Spirit of Action as a way of life rather than a System of Belief. The belief will only be realized (\"made aware of manifest\") through experience in the world, as you pointed out. I act my way into right thinking, not think my way to right action. This demands risk. God is spelled D-A-R-E.\r\n\r\nI feel the same way as concerns worshiping Jesus: when Peter was motivated by this, Jesus said, \"Get behind me, Satan.\" We are TO BE as Christ was in the world, not adore as Christ was in the world. There is no WWJD? to ask. WDJD is the question, What did Jesus do? Jesus did one and only one thing: totally surrendered to the direction and strength of his father. He did act on his beliefs, values, and standards; he allowed by the power of spirit God to act through him with love. He never had to ask himself, What would Jehovah do? And if Jesus said we would do \"greater works,\" did he ever ask what he would do if he were you? \r\n\r\nTwo signs about the Church at the End Times: a) the love for many will grow cold; b) there will be much complaint. Yet this seems to be presently standardized practice, as if the very role of the Church. Richard Rohr also talks a great deal about Restorative Justice over Retributive Justice, or over what is the norm of the world and some Christians. \r\n\r\nMany Christians look to improve themselves, make themselves a better person, in order to have a better relationship with Christ, yet the self must die daily. For me, it is more about reduction of this self we have created in order to allow the new spirit in us room to grow. There is nothing to improve about self and God cares nothing for this self we have created, for therein is the source of all our earthly woes. There is one thing and one thing only we can or need to improve: our conscious contact with God. \r\n\r\nWhoa, sorry, I am getting way too preachy. I much prefer your framework, Kathy; you talk human and that is what people need most: a human Christ.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1890,7499,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-08-15 10:39:56','2012-08-15 17:39:56','Correction: where I say \"He did act on his beliefs...\" I meant to write \"He did NOT act on his beliefs...\" Knowing God through love is not a belief in God. Love is our deepest knowledge of truth.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1889,0),(1891,7467,'Ashley Bowie','albowie83@gmail.com','','64.134.157.49','2012-08-15 13:03:52','2012-08-15 20:03:52','Jerry, I think you aptly demonstrate the nature of living within the tension. We don\'t have a choice in one thing. We are still human, our nature is still flawed. while many of us choose to live according to the spirit, there is still a battle with the flesh. And this is how it is to remain until Christ\'s return. acting out of fearful obedience, or joyful submission is a war within the self that we will continue to wage until we are made perfect. that is until the effects of the curse are not just paid for in christ, but also obliterated when God makes all things new. Until then, we submit, we obey, we behave, decide, fail and succeed all under the grace of an ever loving and glorious God.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:13.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/13.0.1','',1885,0),(1893,7566,'Shane Crash','shanenomads@yahoo.com','http://www.shanecrash.com','99.195.203.156','2012-08-17 11:47:27','2012-08-17 18:47:27','Gerard,\r\nWhile I do still require the quiet contemplative periods that I can only find in the wild, my life and worldview have changed dramatically. The biggest difference being my ability to live without considering suicide. Initially, I struggled to sustain the will to continue living, fortunately I\'ve learned to be content and productive as time has passed. So many positive things have come from my transformation, a more positive worldview, contentment, peace of mind, etc. I was quite despondent when I first relocated to the cabin in Paris.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.79 Safari/537.1','',0,186),(1894,1258,'Charlotte Hinderliter Ferris','Yoel212@aol.com','','76.126.56.66','2012-08-18 08:22:12','2012-08-18 15:22:12','I\'m a year behind in this conversation started in 2011, but I found many of the  posts so  compelling I couldn\'t resist joining even with the risk of being too late to be relevant.  \r\n\r\nIt\'s curious to me, Melody, you support the feminine voice yet exhort Marlene not to use her \"angry voice\" because when you use yours it usually isn\'t heard. You support this strategy evoking the example of Jesus who rarely got angry. This baffles me. While I agree angry voices seem to shut down many conversations, especially when used by women within a patriarchal system, I might imagine Jesus communicating on this topic with an intensity offensive to polite society. I\'m wondering how often we, including myself, collude with the oppressors of the feminine voice by using voices devoid of anger? We prefer women in the Christian culture to remain silent, even when we use our words. Dressing our anger with politically correct restraint may give us an audience, but is there a time when we need to use our angry voices because it is the right thing to do? Just because we have earned an audience by our discipline to soften our anger in our speech, have we lost our voice for the sake of being heard?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',133,0),(1895,7489,'Ant','ant00lill@internode.on.net','','118.209.53.176','2012-08-19 14:34:16','2012-08-19 21:34:16','Hi Sarita and what a lovely name. \r\n\r\nI too left the church - I was going mad with what I was growing into and what the church believed.  It was a duality that I could not cope with. It was clear that it was going to be my problem not the church\'s. \r\n\r\nReading your story I was heartened by your bravery and your conviction. I guess my only concern is that for a person in your postion, it may be possible to develop a noble martyr complex. Even so much of what you said resonates with me. I no longer am an adherent of any one belief or God - The lamps are different but the light is the same-Rumi. I see that there is danger in all religions to become fundamentalistic and yet all religions can provide some truths to follow.  I am learning that truth is not absolute and I am discovering my truth in everything.  The search for truth is often a search for certainty where there is none . An illusion. But I am still a spiritual person and I will grow and walk my journey, wherever that takes me.  Thank you for sharing yours - you have inspired me and shown me a another path I had not considered and for that I am grateful.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1896,7489,'Ant','ant00lill@internode.on.net','','118.209.53.176','2012-08-20 16:25:47','2012-08-20 23:25:47','Oh and I believe that what most of us are here for is to connect deeply with one another via the golden rule, kindness, compassion, love.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.75 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1897,6390,'Raelene','raeleneroth@yahoo.com','','67.182.170.186','2012-08-20 17:07:09','2012-08-21 00:07:09','Although I might see it from a different perspective, I enjoyed reading your post.  \r\n\r\nNearly every woman I know has read, or is currently reading this book (and that\'s not an exaggeration).  Personally, I don\'t see anything wrong with someone reading this type of book, and I actually think it can be a healthy read for some people.  The real question for me was why are so many women drawn to it?  Is it because they are missing something?  Maybe because they don\'t feel comfortable being open about it because any time they\'ve been honest about sex, they paid the consequences from the other person\'s reaction?  Maybe because it feels naughty?  Or is it simply that it\'s fun to read something we would never do ourselves?...\r\n\r\nSo I asked many women who\'ve read the book, \"what draws you in to the book?\" and it opened up some awesome, honest, vulnerable dialogue.  Had I told them the reasons they probably shouldn\'t read the book, I would have missed out on vulnerable dialogue these women were willing to have when in a safe environment for such a discussion.  \r\n\r\nPersonally, I think more relationships need to explore sexual experiences and for one of the women I know, this book probably saved her relationship because it sparked something in her that her partner simply didn\'t naturally spark in her.  I don\'t think it\'s a sin.  They have an amazing relationship and they are faithful, in love, and together for a lot longer than most couples I know.  However, many people have psychological, physical, emotional, and neurological mysteries that I believe are human conditions that we can\'t always explain.  So, what might be wrong for one person could be the right prescription for someone else.\r\n\r\nAnd then another question comes to my mind: why do women put so much pressure on a man to fulfill her every sexual need?  In the case of my friend, this book sparked something in her that her man couldn\'t provide, and in return it caused her to consider being more sexually adventurous with him, and he was so stunned (in a good way) that he naturally felt more confident being naked with her, and the end result is that they can\'t stop having sex, now.  Based on this case study, I can\'t judge the book, negatively.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.79 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1898,6390,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','209.49.70.10','2012-08-20 17:31:29','2012-08-21 00:31:29','You should write a post and share your experience and perspective on this.  Sounds like you have a ton to offer.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1897,1),(1899,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','99.240.118.230','2012-08-20 19:47:23','2012-08-21 02:47:23','Raelene, thanks for your reply. I love how you open dialogue with women who read this book by asking them what drew them to the book in the first place. I think that\'s great. \r\n\r\nWhat troubles me about the hoopla surrounding this book is that many women are turning to this book as an answer to their sexual frustration. I can see how it would do that—short term. The book would create desire in people that they can then act out with the person they are in relationship with. But what about long-term? What will they have to turn to next once the passion fades again? \r\n\r\nI believe that God created sex to be full of passion and my question is why are we turning to erotic novels to fix what God created? Why not turn to God? I believe that He alone is the ultimate healer of our emotional, mental, physical, spiritual and sexual defects and, if we let Him, He can provide wholeness in our sexual lives. Some people may think that is a whacked out concept...God having interest in our sex lives...I can see the headlines now :) But for those of us who want to love the Lord with all our minds, souls, hearts and strength then I think this is a legitimate question. \r\n\r\nThanks again for your comment and point of view. I agree with Jonathan (above). You should write a post and share your experience and perspective. Would love to read it!\r\n\r\nJordan',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.52.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.2 Safari/534.52.7','',1897,177),(1900,7555,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','99.240.118.230','2012-08-20 20:01:10','2012-08-21 03:01:10','Thank you for this beautiful post.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.52.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.2 Safari/534.52.7','',0,177),(1901,7555,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.103.99','2012-08-20 20:19:56','2012-08-21 03:19:56','Delusional! Your hyperbolic assessment of Islam is sad,  a romantic attempt to make it acceptable. It will not work. The majority of Christians seem ready for another Crusade.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1902,7555,'Marilyn Gardner','marilyngardner5@gmail.com','http://communicatingacrossboundariesblog.com','146.243.4.157','2012-08-21 05:33:58','2012-08-21 12:33:58','Thank you so much for these words Jordan.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.79 Safari/537.1','',1900,96),(1903,7555,'Marilyn Gardner','marilyngardner5@gmail.com','http://communicatingacrossboundariesblog.com','146.243.4.157','2012-08-21 05:40:45','2012-08-21 12:40:45','Hi Jerry - thanks for the comment. It\'s precisely because there is often a \"crusade\" like mentality that we wrote the article. As someone raised in Pakistan I have no illusions. I could have chosen to write about my father being beaten up by Muslims when I was 6 years old, or  my mom and I being surrounded by a crowd of men three feet thick in a village in Pakistan. I (we) chose to not write those stories this time, but write  what we learned from the majority of our friends as we watched them work out a different faith.  It\'s not a matter of making it acceptable - whether we like it or not Islam is a major world religion, and there are things that are inexcusable in the Muslim world, things that horrify Muslims themselves. This article was from a perspective not often heard in the western church - a perspective that attempts to build bridges. Jesus was not afraid to engage or dialogue and this was an attempt to engage.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.79 Safari/537.1','',1901,96),(1904,6390,'Raelene','raeleneroth@yahoo.com','','67.182.170.186','2012-08-21 07:34:16','2012-08-21 14:34:16','Maybe I\'ll write a post, then. : )  In the meantime...\r\n\r\n\"Why not turn to God?\"  I hear ya.  That is the ideal objective...and one that I treasure; but, there is a large population of women who don\'t wake up thinking, \"my husband hasn\'t touched me for years and when he does, it does nothing for me.  Let me pray.\" Ideally, God is exactly where the answers are, but sometimes it takes something else--in our own language--that leads us there.  \r\n\r\nMaybe this book is written in a language and context that is a familiar language for some women.  Whereas, maybe the Bible, prayer, etc. is a \"foreign\" language to them.  If a women is drawn to an erotic novel, the very mention of God (had I brought it up) would most likely steer them away, or cause them to feel shameful.  What if God positioned this book in the right spot for some women to pick up and read because he knew it would lead them to comfortably talk to me about it and then it opens up the environment for comfortable dialogue?  In those kind of moments, I would never mention God because it would most likely close the conversation.  But weeks after I had these conversations with these women, they asked me some questions, one being, \"Why are you so comfortable talking about sex?\"  And it gave me the opportunity to say, \"because God gave us this gift and it\'s a freedom I cherish, and one that I have no shame.\"  They were more open to talking about God in this moment than any other moment.  My point being, sometimes what might appear to be so wrong, might be the very thing that opens up needed conversations.  Sometimes it leads to God.  Sometimes it doesn\'t. \r\n\r\nEven though it could potentially just be a short-term solution to sexual frustrations, I think it goes deeper than that.  There are more discussions among women talking about sex and their frustrations since this book that I think it\'s awesome.  It\'s healthy and therapeutic for them to get it off their chest. I choose not to stop that conversation, even if the initial objective was to find an out through erotic reading.  I think I tend to take this approach to most things in my life (just letting people be exactly who they are and comfortably expose their brokenness) because as people feel safe in that, they reveal exactly what they need.  Then, when I want to share  my relationship with God, and way of life, I can plug that in when I recognize it wouldn\'t be a foreign language for them.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.79 Safari/537.1','',1899,0),(1905,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','66.252.153.2','2012-08-21 08:00:25','2012-08-21 15:00:25','Hi Raelene, I hear you. All your points are valid when talking to women who do not know God and know what His plan is for a healthy sexual relationship. This book does create a lot of great dialogue as you have experienced first hand. \r\n\r\nWhen I wrote my article it was for the church—for the people who are reading this book who know God\'s truths. God wants us to cast all our cares upon Him. God wants our lives to be above reproach and not cause others to stumble. It causes questions in my heart when I hear of Christians reading this book. I know for myself that I shouldn\'t read this book because it wouldn\'t help my marriage at all, it would harm it and I know a lot of women who find this true for them as well. \r\n\r\nI  believe you don\'t have to read the book to have the dialogue with people. I have the conversations myself. And when the appropriate moments comes up in conversation I tell them I won\'t read the book and why. I too try to foster an atmosphere of love, acceptance and non-judgement when talking to people but I don\'t have to read erotic novels or watch porn in order to make other people feel they can talk to me. \r\n\r\nI hear your heart. The typical, modern church has not exactly fostered an atmosphere where people can be broken and vulnerable without receiving condemnation and I challenge the church in that area as well. God accepts people just as they are and we need to do the same. But we who profess that Jesus Christ is Lord also need to be aware that at some point God will want us to point the same broken people to Him, to tell them of His love and His desires to heal them and of His amazing Grace. Our lives should glorify Him, our conversations should glorify Him, what we read and watch should glorify Him. \r\n\r\nLoving the dialogue, Raelene! Thank you.\r\n\r\nJordan',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.21.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.5 Safari/533.21.1','',1904,177),(1906,6390,'Raelene','raeleneroth@yahoo.com','','67.182.170.186','2012-08-21 12:21:56','2012-08-21 19:21:56','I love the dialogue, too.  Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.  I completely understand your points.  And you\'re absolutely correct that believers in Christ don\'t need to practice the things of unbelievers to create a comfortable environment. \r\n\r\nI think, for me, the challenge is, when attempting to lead unbelievers to God, how do we determine what is \"glorifying\" Him, in order to lead an unbeliever in the \"right\" direction.  Although scripture can clarify it to a degree, I say degree because it\'s still interpretation/translation/perspective/specific time in history, etc....and how that translates in today\'s world is not simple.  \r\n\r\nI get so stumped by the awesome questions and rebuttal from non-believers that I end up saying, \"I don\'t know the truth.  You don\'t know the truth.  Nobody truly knows the truth.  We can only have faith that what we\'re reading and researching was interpreted accurately and when in prayer with God, he will place the truth on your heart, mind, and soul.  Regardless of how strange it might be to believe certain stories in the Bible, I know for a fact, what I\'ve experienced in my own life, God was there.  You will know it.  And if I\'m wrong, I lost nothing.  If I choose a different belief system, I lose eternal life and much more.\"\r\n\r\n(I\'ve read many books that would be on the \"bad\" list of many other Christians.  And honestly, I wouldn\'t change that and I\'m thankful I don\'t feel shame about it.  If it\'s impacted my life negatively, I haven\'t noticed.  I read my Bible just as much.  A part of me seems to enjoy the well-rounded perspective because I feel I can naturally engage a variety people with differing perspectives.  I suppose I look at it as research.)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.83 Safari/537.1','',1905,0),(1907,7555,'Raelene','raeleneroth@yahoo.com','','67.182.170.186','2012-08-21 13:09:15','2012-08-21 20:09:15','Thanks for sharing your experiences.  I only have an imagination when it comes to understanding other cultures (as a day-to-day lifestyle) because I have not experienced it first-hand like you have.  \r\n\r\nA friend and I had a conversation about this very topic.  He plays basketball, globally, and spent a lot of time in other countries.  He previously despised Muslims.  He was partnered up with a roommate during sports travel and they became very close friends.  My friend shared how he has never been treated with so much love, respect, honor, and with an incredibly authentic approach that he knew he would be friends for life with this other man.  His new friend showed him around everywhere, made sure he had everything he needed in an unfamiliar country, introduced him friends, and frequently spoke about love and loyalty being the core of his life.  My friend said he has never met anyone so generous.  After some time, they were given a day off from basketball, so they roamed the area and finally got a chance to have dinner in a restaurant, and the man he met immediately kneeled down in prayer, in public, in front of everyone, without hesitation.  My friend asked him, \"Are you Muslim?\"  And he said, \"yes.\"\r\n\r\nTo this day, they are close friends and they discuss religion and belief systems.  Neither one is trying to conform the other.  They are simply trying to create that bridge you mentioned.  My friend told me, \"I don\'t know even one Christian who would kneel down in prayer, in front of everyone, in a public place, without hesitation for the love of God, so I respect his dedication to his beliefs, even if they are different than mine.\"',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.83 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1908,6390,'Jamie Warren','himewarren@gmail.com','','69.12.225.47','2012-08-21 21:39:22','2012-08-22 04:39:22','If one is confident in their beliefs, they should be able to read, view, talk about, and expose themselves to anything and the \"truth\" or \"light\" will prevail. I see Christian editing, and akwardness in unsavory situations as dark spots where the weakness of faith is exposed. If ones faith is strong, and you are right...then the light should follow.\n\nIn my view...full freedom is knowing EVERYTHING and deciding FOR something. When we make things Taboo we empower that thing. I have never come across a untravelled, unexperienced person who was more influencial than someone who has lived a life, and spoke from real experince given similar intelect and ability to be introspective. \n\nIf something is a conversation starter...I say read it and have the conversation. A REAL discussion  includes insights most people who regularly impose righteous filtering on themselves just can\'t muster.\n\n.....in my experience.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729)','',0,0),(1909,7555,'Marilyn Gardner','marilyngardner5@gmail.com','http://communicatingacrossboundariesblog.com','146.243.4.157','2012-08-22 08:07:33','2012-08-22 15:07:33','Thanks so much for sharing this story Raelene. It\'s a perfect picture of relationships changing us - holding fast to our beliefs, yet ever-willing to respect,love and learn.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.79 Safari/537.1','',1907,96),(1910,7575,'Austin','aleikenberry@yahoo.com','','12.189.199.68','2012-08-22 08:29:06','2012-08-22 15:29:06','I agree, when that level of dualism is proposed that we have a problem. We shouldn\'t view one as intrinsically evil to be escaped, and the other as intrinsically good to be escaped to. We should rather have the perspective of living from the one  perspective into the other. Just as God reached from heaven into creation and from the holy into the profane in the incarnation, we should seek to be Christ-like in the same way. We should seek to be the holy and the eternal impacting the material and the profane toward that goal. There is a dichotomy because there is a holy and a profane and God demands holiness. There is an eternal and a temporal and we are told to store up treasures in heaven where moths and rust do not destory. The problem is when we seek to escape the one rather than impact it for God.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; InfoPath.3; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E; MS-RTC LM 8)','',0,0),(1911,7575,'jasonwiedel','jason@thecentersurry.com','http://www.jasonwiedel.com','12.107.47.167','2012-08-22 09:11:20','2012-08-22 16:11:20','Thanks for your comments Austin. I believe we can go farther than living from one reality into the next. I believe that we should be living in both at the same time, actually  that we are making the two become one.\r\n\r\nWhen Jesus said that \"the Kingdom of God is at hand\" He was not speaking of a distant reality, but of a way of existence that was coming into the midst of His hearers right NOW. Impacting the people of the world so that they can one day go to heaven is still accepting a level of dualism that I do not believe Scripture promotes. We are to be people who are bringing the Kingdom of God to earth, starting the work of new creation, which Jesus will complete when He returns and brings heaven to earth.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.79 Safari/537.1','',0,195),(1912,7575,'Austin','aleikenberry@yahoo.com','','12.189.199.68','2012-08-22 10:06:46','2012-08-22 17:06:46','Jason,\r\n\r\nI agree with you to a certain extent, but my concern is the denial of a starting point. We must be renewed (from the Spirit) before we can renew. We must become citizens of Heaven before we can impact the world. I\'m not saying that we live from Earth into heaven, but rather than when we have once become new creations ourselves, we should share that newness, that greatness, that opportunity, and that responsibility with the Earth. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, but the New Earth is not yet manifest. While we are commanded to care for creation and love one another, we cannot do what only God can do. We cannot restore the Earth ourselves, but we are called to participate in the ministry of Christ\'s restoration. To do so, we must be in Christ. We can\'t renew the Earth by ourselves, we need Christ. We can\'t even renew ourselves, we need Christ to do that.\r\n\r\nAll that is to say that if a beautiful work of art distracts from the truth of the gospel, we should not appreciate it as much as a child\'s drawing that draws people to the truth of Christ. The beautiful art isn\'t bad, it\'s just worse than the less accomplished less beautiful piece of art. The purpose and the effect of the object effects its value, and therefore my appreciation thereof.\r\n\r\nYes, we need to live in both worlds, just like Christ did; but for anyone to live in both, they must first live in heaven.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; InfoPath.3; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E; MS-RTC LM 8)','',1911,0),(1913,7575,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.59.39','2012-08-22 13:19:32','2012-08-22 20:19:32','The syncretism that occurred with the Chruch and Ancient Greek thought appears so embedded as to be part of the bread of faith, this I grant you. And the dangers of this gnostic yeast that you pointed out are, in my expereince, true. The other observation that has held true over my sixty-five years of life is that those holdings gnostic beliefs appear to be both angry and fearful, which manifests in a staunch authoritarianism and rigidity. In a word, condemning. Many Fundamentalist, I believe, are baking and eating this bread.\r\n\r\nWhat troubles me, and I may simply have misread this, is your liberal approach to the world. Granted, in Genesis after making Creation God said \"This is good\" and made us stewards of this garden. Also Romans1:19-20 makes it abudantly \"plain\" that creation reveals the existence, power, and nature of God. \r\n\r\nYet numerous verses severely caution us against and condemns \"worldliness\": it is enmity towards God This distinction seems blurred in your piece. To be IN the world but not OF the world. I know that space constraints and your primary focus inhibited a deeper view of this aspect, yet I feel it needed mention. Having proachedd this topic with other Christians, most are quick to accuse of being gnostic. The confusion over this point is pronounced. Making rules to guard against this encroachment by some sects and congregations leads more to a perpetual consciousness of worldliness than relief from it.\r\n\r\nThere is not two opposing realities but there is reality and delusion as well as reality and illsuion, making it appear as equal and opposing forces. What did Jesus say about us? \"They know not what they do.\" This is our worldly state of being, a blindness to the reality of Christ and spirit. It is not a basic malevolent nature in Man. We are just deceived. \"Getting the eyes to see...\" is the vital. Few have this vision. It is not \"secret knowledge\" but clarity of perception. The world completely changes and yet nothing has changed. \r\n\r\nWe are \"separated out.\" How? We live on earth as if already in heaven, through grace and the power of the Holy Spirit; the kingdom of God is within. Such a life is radically different than conventional wisdom and contrary to worldly values, so by demonstration we are to be a clear choice between godliness and worldliness. We are to divide soul from spirit, able to discern the eternal from the temporal. Why lay up treasures on the earth?\r\n\r\nAll create a false self and this self must die daily, not be embraced. Hidden in Christ, principles come before personalities. We are to be \"a living sacrifice,\" pick up our cross daily. Sanctification is the steady reduction of acquired worldliness and the devastating effects that has had on our soul. We are being whittled down to our original self, the spitting image and likeness of God, that was there before the foundations of the world were laid. This confabulated personality is to be overcome, but that is left to God\'s handwe simply surrender all of ourselves to him, good and bad alike, to use as it pleases him. We are to be a means without ends. At least, that is how I see it.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1914,7555,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.59.39','2012-08-22 13:48:19','2012-08-22 20:48:19','An overdue amends. My nephew who was spending a few days with me, an Iraqi vet, told me that he had posted here before he left this morning, in a shameful rush. Perhaps it was more over using my name in a post than what he said in that post. I don\'t know. He said he was \"a bit tipsy,\" as if that excused it.  \r\n\r\nFor me, I am quite upset with how many Christians talk about Islam, even if all the things they say about it are true. Two prophecies in Revelation: 1) the love of many will grow cold; 2) complaint by the Church will increase. I am not an End-of-Days- Soon guy but this could make a fellow a little gittery.\r\n \r\nI have no friends or acquaintances that are Muslim. I have not been in any of the conflicts over there.I have read some of the popularized horror stories, such as \"honor killigs,\" letting young girls burn to death, and the recent arrest for blasephemy of an 11 year old Christian girl, supposedly with Down Syndrome. There was also a lecture I heard, by a highly touted scholar, about the \"true Islam\" that was very unflattering and scary. Yet none of that should make any differences in what I think, say, or do. \r\n\r\nIf they are indeed my enemies, Jesus made my course clear: love them. If they mean me harm, Jesus made my course clear: do not return evil for evil. If they actually harm me, Jesus made my course clear, turn the cheek, walk an extra mile. Those three things are all I need to know concerning Islam.\r\n\r\nThank you for your article, a most refreshing change.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1903,0),(1915,7575,'jasonwiedel','jason@thecentersurry.com','http://www.jasonwiedel.com','12.107.47.167','2012-08-22 13:50:41','2012-08-22 20:50:41','Jerry, I think I agree with what you say. I\'d like to clarify the topic of \"worldliness.\" The church has varied broadly in what it deems worldly. Some segments of the church have impressed on their followers that any enjoyment creation is a distraction from the heavenly mind that a Christian should have. Other segments of the church live lives which indistinguishable from those who are not followers of Christ. I believe both approaches are wrong.\r\n\r\nSin has to do with action, not physical creation. I believe that God has intended every part of physical creation to be enjoyed by humanity. We do indeed distort this enjoyment with our selfishness, greed, and violence. The worldliness identified in Scripture is following the ways of society that have systematized this selfishness, greed, and violence. Rejecting worldliness is not a rejection of any of the good things that God created. This is, in a sense, a rejection of God.\r\n\r\nReligion has also often taught us that God only works in the area of our human weakness, and any natural strength should be pushed away. The work of Christ in  us restores us to the person that God created us to be. It does not strip away all that we are and recreate us from scratch. Therefore, we must embrace the things in us that are good and true, while rejecting the sin that would distort what God has made good.\r\n\r\nI\'m sure that we could roll around these ideas all day long, but I don\'t want to take up too much of the readers time.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.83 Safari/537.1','',1913,195),(1916,7555,'Marilyn Gardner','marilyngardner5@gmail.com','http://communicatingacrossboundariesblog.com','146.243.4.157','2012-08-23 10:15:43','2012-08-23 17:15:43','Thanks so much for this gracious comment. And I\'m glad you shared the bit about your nephew...the reality is I have never seen horrors like he has. I appreciate how you laid out media horror stories and yet end with what I believe to be true as well. It doesn\'t matter. We\'re called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute. Thanks for that reminder. And also for the kind words.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.83 Safari/537.1','',1914,96),(1917,6390,'Raelene','raeleneroth@yahoo.com','','64.102.249.9','2012-08-24 08:35:51','2012-08-24 15:35:51','I agree with every word you wrote, Jamie.  That\'s exactly why I stated in previous comments that I see it as a form of research because I, too, believe we empower the things we make Taboo.  It reminds me of parenting my own child.  Anytime I tell her something is not \"right\" or not to do something, she becomes more curious, ask more questions, and will even do the very thing I said not to do, simply because I gave that particular thing/situation/etc. power.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.83 Safari/537.1','',1908,0),(1918,7609,'Sarah B','wtwsarahb@yahoo.com','','78.147.169.70','2012-08-24 08:51:42','2012-08-24 15:51:42','They are taking his refusal to do further inestigation as a complicit admission. However, it ignores all the drug tests he passed over years of competing (that is, every one he was ever required to take).\r\nIt ignores the fact that he has said he played \'within the rules as they were at the time\' which leaves open the possibility that he did use things that were undetectable until they became detectable, though he has never admitted that.\r\nIt ignores the possibility that everyone else was doing the same, which is why the Cycling bodies didn\'t want to touch it with a barge pole - do they now have to retest everyone\'s decade old blood tests to see if they can find traces they couldn\'t at the time? Do they even have those blood samples in storage?\r\nIt expects him to try (without recourse to blood test results) to refute oral accusations from competitors and less successful team mates. \r\nIt\'s tall poppy syndrome - no one thinks anyone could do what he did without cheating - but no one expected him to become competitive again after beating the cancer. If he did one \'impossible\' thing, he could have done another.\r\nI think it is a shame that USADA have over played this - they have diminished no one but themselves.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1943,7639,'Frank Olvera','franko@juno.com','http://christiannoob.wordpress.com/','198.83.125.200','2012-09-10 05:39:05','2012-09-10 12:39:05','Jeff, my vote would be for the Romney/Ryan ticket.\r\n\r\nSince you mentioned Ms Ayn Rand, I\'m sending this link to some of my friends -- huge Ayn Rand fans. I\'m fairly sure they\'ll like your post. :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.89 Safari/537.1','',0,134),(1920,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','99.240.118.230','2012-08-24 18:40:53','2012-08-25 01:40:53','More dialogue! Great! Although, Raelene, you\'ve made a very generalized sweeping statement. What about if you ask your child not to touch a hot stove, or run out into the street. There are many times in parenting when it is appropriate to tell your child not to do something and explain why. I believe God operates the same way. The Bible clearly states many things that we should NOT do because it leads to death (as well as a lot of things we should). I don\'t think this gives power to the thing that can harm them, rather shows the child the rightness behind the request when they understand why. \r\n\r\nAnd Jamie, based on what you stated I could then assume that you would think it would be okay to look at something like child pornography (not that you would!) since you state you can expose yourself to <strong>anything</strong> and \'truth\' will prevail. Again, it\'s a generalized sweeping statement that I will have to disagree with. \r\n\r\nI could also argue that by reading/viewing/writing \'anything\' that\'s when those things have power. By reading erotica novels you showing publishers there is a demand which will then increase the amount of that type of content, same with viewing pornography (of any kind)—is that your intent? I think by choosing NOT to read/write/view certain things that\'s when you are taking the power away from that thing. I have had no issues engaging people in dialogue about something that they have read that I have not. I can ask them about the book, why they read it, what is it about, what I can see could be appealing and why I would choose not read it without having read it or making them feel judged that they have. \r\n\r\nThere are some people that feel they can read \"Fifty Shades of Grey\" with a clear conscience before God. That is fine. I am not one of those people, and I know of many others. Some people aren\'t sure if they can or can\'t and I hope my article and these comments (thanks guys!) will help them make their decision with confidence whatever way they choose.\r\n\r\nI do believe I hear both of your hearts. The Christian market does tend to censor things to the extreme where it ceases to feel \"real\". Showing real and raw situations and then showing how God can show up takes a lot of talent that few seem to have. One book that does this extremely well is \"Redeeming Love\" by Francine Rivers. The author manages to tell the story with scenes that have child molestation, rape and prostitution without giving you the nitty gritty but still letting you know it happened and hitting you in the gut with it.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.52.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.2 Safari/534.52.7','',1917,177),(1921,7566,'geard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.49.172','2012-08-24 19:01:16','2012-08-25 02:01:16','Thank you for your honest and straight-forward reply. I was suicidal for a time, which was probably just a natural progression of my excessive pondering and heavy into the Existentialists with an Irish Catholic foundation. Confusing. \r\n\r\nEcclesiates was my favorite book...after Catcher In The Rye. \r\n\r\nI could never allow myself to honor the strong pull to solitude; it remained a somewhat cowardly isolation, a retreat from life and not where life gained insight and meaning. It was seen as a deficiency, a failing. What did not help was that my family of origin and my whole extended family were extroverts and very good at it. I was literally painfully shy.\r\n\r\nYour piece helped move me a bit further along to accepting my propensity for solitude; it has been a long struggle.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1893,0),(1922,7609,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.140.168','2012-08-24 21:01:38','2012-08-25 04:01:38','Sarah, you\'re a genius at this stuff. I don\'t have the first clue about the controversy other than what I hear on sports radio. I know it has been going on a long time. The guys on sports radio have made it sound like there are a lot of people who have it in for him. I\'ve never understood why the testing process takes forever. Thanks for filling in a lot of blanks for me.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1918,12),(1923,6390,'Jamie Warren','himewarren@gmail.com','','69.12.225.47','2012-08-25 13:58:15','2012-08-25 20:58:15','Jordan,\r\n\r\nI guess I could have been more clear in my statement. I assumed a understanding that it is never OK to explote others, especially children. Your choice in examples is a strawman aurguement that is beyond the realm I was suggesting. To view naked pictures of a child is a horrific abuse of the bounderies every person should have the choice to require, with full mental facalties having been developed. \r\n\r\nBut I can use this example in a more to my point scenerio...\r\n\r\nSay a child was sexually abused by a secondary family memeber, and you brought her or him to a psychiacrist',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E)','',0,0),(1924,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','99.240.118.230','2012-08-25 14:14:14','2012-08-25 21:14:14','Hi Jaime, I\'m not sure if you had more to say. I think your full thought wasn\'t published. I know you made the assumption that people would know it is not okay to exploit others. However, I have learned the hard way that I am responsible for the words I leave out on the internet and I try not to leave room for people to make permissible for themselves things I understand God\'s word would not make permissible. I mentioned I learned this the hard right, right? :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.52.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.2 Safari/534.52.7','',1923,177),(1925,6390,'Jamie Warren','himewarren@gmail.com','','69.12.225.47','2012-08-25 14:41:05','2012-08-25 21:41:05','I guess I could have been more clear in my statement. I assumed a understanding that it is never OK to explote others, especially children. Your choice in examples is a strawman aurguement that is beyond the realm I was suggesting. To view naked pictures of a child is a horrific abuse of the bounderies every person should have the choice to require, with full mental facalties having been developed. \r\n\r\nBut I can use this example in a more to my point scenerio…\r\n\r\nSay a child was sexually abused by a secondary family memeber, and you brought her or him to a psychiatrist to deal with that trauma. Would you want that Dr. to have read full depositions of what happened? Would you want them to have full knowledge of what happens to these kids so they can speak to the hurt and suffering that has taken place? Can you imagine a councilor having a ears in the finger moment or lacking the true understanding od what REALLY is happening to these poor kids?\r\n\r\nCatch all phrases like \"Cast all your cares on Jesus\" and \"Turn to God\" always used to seem trite and way to ambiguous to me. \r\n\r\nKinda like a picture I saw of a man and woman handing a bible to a earthquake victim in Haiti with the caption... \"Thanks, these look delicious!\"\r\n\r\nI realize that  this is now a reverse strawman argument suggesting the only times to subject yourselves to unsavory subjects is during reasearch to help others. I am not even suggesting that. I am aurguing that full knowlege, and discloser are the most powerful, longlasting manors to base long lasting stable decisions. If you read a book like 50 Shades and it brings up something surprising for you....that\'s great! Unpack that and deal with it.....make some choices and be proactive about it. I would be greatful to have made some movement on a once dormant issue.\r\n\r\nI realize scripure is pretty clear on this. But it is also pretty clear that I should stone my daughter if I find she has lost her virginity before she marries, and slavery is just fine so....',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E)','',0,0),(1926,6390,'Jamie Warren','himewarren@gmail.com','','69.12.225.47','2012-08-25 14:42:37','2012-08-25 21:42:37','Sorry....computer glitch.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E)','',0,0),(1927,6390,'Jamie Warren','himewarren@gmail.com','','69.12.225.47','2012-08-25 14:50:30','2012-08-25 21:50:30','Yep, I accept responcibility for not being clear enough. \r\n\r\n...and man, I am way too used to the edit function on Facebook. II need to fix all those typo\'s! :)',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E)','',0,0),(1928,6390,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','99.240.118.230','2012-08-25 17:01:19','2012-08-26 00:01:19','Jamie, thanks for the dialogue. I think we did a good job arguing both our points so I will leave it at that. I appreciate your insight and hope that others find it helpful as well. Always enjoy a good discussion.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.52.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.2 Safari/534.52.7','',1927,177),(1929,7575,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.120.212','2012-08-26 09:46:33','2012-08-26 16:46:33','Jason, you write, \"The work of Christ in us restores us to the person that God created us to be.\" I wrote, \'Sanctification is the steady reduction of acquired worldliness and the devastating effects that has had on our soul. We are being whittled down to our original self, the spitting image and likeness of God, that was there before the foundations of the world were laid.\' We appear in complete agreement, albeit you are thankfully less verbose.\r\n\r\nIt was not my point simply \"to roll around these ideas\"; I felt a word or two about \"worldliness\" was crucial to the discussion. Clarifying the differences between a scriptural worldliness and gnosticism did not seem to me to be wasting the reader\'s time. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. Those who pay enough attention to hear the warning about the infiltration of gnosticism, usually in attacks on Roman Catholic and certain Baptist beliefs (as well as the Amish and Mennonites), dismiss the topic of worldliness as “yeast.” The fact that the Church “has varied broadly” regarding this issue is why I broached the topic. I see worldliness in the very making of rules by churches to guard against it. \r\n\r\nWorldliness, to me, is being attached to the things of the world, not the things in and of themselves, and to find my value in their possession. Image is one of those things, and the most dangerous. We are to become as little children, and what does a child possess? Nothing, all is given to him or her. Everything is a gift, for which gratitude, and not a sense of ownership or merit, is the response. We then delight in the love of the giver, not in the thing itself. The love of God is preeminent, from which all life comes. I am not to praise worldly philosophies, values, or systems but recognize where truth may surface within them, the ways of love and mercy, compassion and grace. I can then freely love the artist of inspiration, creativity, and beauty, which is the mind of God surfacing in art and music and even technology. What is uplifting, what rejoices in a loving Father\'s bounty, is to be enjoyed. Sex, a rock concert, or a needed nap can bring glory to God, as does a human being fully developed. It all comes down to how we see, and on this, from what you wrote, I feel we agree.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1915,0),(1930,6390,'Jamie Warren','himewarren@gmail.com','','67.91.221.89','2012-08-27 10:50:34','2012-08-27 17:50:34','Yes, thanks for the discussion Jordan!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.79 Safari/537.1','',1928,0),(1931,2436,'Lindsey','lindsey.houghton12@houghton.edu','','208.101.128.25','2012-08-27 11:17:32','2012-08-27 18:17:32','I think Christy\'s point is that when you met women who were goal-oriented, driven, and extremely ambitious in the business world, your assumption about them was that they were \"trying to be men.\" This assumption is one that is based on patriarchal ideas about gender - that men are ambitious and highly driven while women are caring and have low goal-motivation. However, many, many individuals do not fall into these definitions of gender. Christy and the previous poster were annoyed by your assumption that simply by having these characteristics, the women you encountered were \"trying to be men,\" when in fact, they were most likely simply acting in accordance with their own high-focus, high-motivation personalities. That you would say that such women were \"trying to be men\" reveals that you do, though perhaps unconsciously, subscribe to at least some of the patriarchal gender norms that many women have fought very hard to overcome. This is not to condemn you - we all must realize our own assumptions about the world before we can seek to truly change anything. God bless you in all your future attempts to lift up and recognize the women (and men) who are doing God\'s work in the world.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',563,0),(1932,5177,'Michael Snow','snowfarm@gmail.com','http://mikesnow.org','64.179.149.244','2012-08-29 22:43:18','2012-08-30 05:43:18','I don\'t think he is \'denying the reality of war\' but, rather is emphasizing the reality of Christ\'s victory and what that means for the Christian.\r\n\r\nIf you would be interested in reviewing this, I would be glad to send the word doc:\r\nhttp://www.amazon.com/Christian-Pacifism-Fruit-Narrow-ebook/dp/B005RIKH62/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1',0,'1','Opera/9.80 (Windows NT 5.1; U; en) Presto/2.10.289 Version/12.01','',0,0),(1934,2624,'Colin C.','Colin.chee@gmail.com','','218.186.15.10','2012-08-31 20:27:17','2012-09-01 03:27:17','Dear Ryan,\r\n\r\nI come from a family that bridges both religions, being Christian on my mother\'s side and Buddhist on my father\'s. I count clergy of both Christian and Buddhist faiths among my near relatives, and have studied the scriptures of both.\r\n\r\nWith every respect, I do not think it philosophically correct to put Jesus\'s love side by side with Karma in a comparison of the two religions. It would be correct to put Jesus\'s love side by side with Buddhist compassion for all things; and it would be correct to put the Christian religion\'s belief in a punitive Hell/Limbo side by side with Karma. Karma in Buddhism is seen not as a prescriptive teaching from the Buddha but as a natural law of this universe. It is not an equalizing force that corrects or balances, but is best thought of as simply a law of causality: if I eat a rotten apple, I will get sick; if I do not walk into the river, I will not get my shoes wet. Christianity in Karmic terms would be: if I sin, I will be punished in Hell; if I sin but repent in the name of Jesus, I can find redemption.\r\n\r\nBuddha did not teach people to obey Karma. That is tautological since Karma operates anyway, being conceived as an ineluctable natural law. Buddhism is about breaking the Karmic cycle: the endless causal loop of action-consequence-action, first by realizing that one is responsible for one\'s actions and hence one\'s consequences, and then through a path of compassion (which can only be interpreted as love) replace a vicious cycle with a virtuous one. This is not very different from one coming to terms with and acknowledging one\'s sinfulness and taking the necessary steps to return to God.\r\n\r\nThe two religions are of course different in many aspects, both in detail and broad alignment, and there is much which is unique about each. But we should not see the drawing of similarities or discovery of common ground to be a threat, nor should we see differences between the two to be reason for exclusion or rejection.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1377,0),(1936,7608,'Daisy Rain Martin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://Lovethis...','24.117.96.172','2012-09-02 13:20:26','2012-09-02 20:20:26','Dear Brooke,\r\n\r\n\"Christ didn\'t tell the wounded to, \'Get over it!\'\" In fact, how many times does He tell us, \"I have heard your cry...\"\r\n\r\nI somehow navigated my way out of an uber-conservative, fundamentalist, authoritarian home where abuse was the norm. I have also experienced my share of church and church-organization abuse. Wrote a whole book about it! :) Since this subject is very near and dear to my heart, I decided to grow up and be an English teacher and help kids find their voices. And since my book came out, I am finding many opportunities to help grown adults do the same. It is amazing to me to see people begin to speak and untether themselves from their painful pasts and to try to help the church remain open and embracing of those who are \"victims\" of any kind.\r\n\r\nNo easy task!\r\n\r\nI facilitated a discussion last Sunday night at a church (not my own--I was a guest speaker) and shared some excerpts of my story. While they were very sweet and welcoming, I think I blew their hair back a little by asking them, basically, not to shut their ears and eyes to the pain that too many carry. I said, \"You know, if the church would have spent half its time providing a true sanctuary for me as they did arming us against other religions/denominations or warning us against secular music, I might\'ve been all right.\" But we were continually admonished to be obedient to the authority God has placed over us--and that was/is the culture all too often.\r\n\r\nAnyway, great article. Thanks for posting. I\'ll check out your site. Mine is www.daisyrainmartin.com. \r\n\r\nStay cool,\r\nDaisy',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',0,0),(2010,7962,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','207.170.247.18','2012-11-20 13:22:44','2012-11-20 21:22:44','Hey Amy,\r\n\r\nI\'m always interested in a good read full of humor and grace, and a compatriot in egalitarian theology sounds a-okay to me! Thank you for this review. I\'ll probably get two copies of this book--one for me and one for my editor, Donna K. Wallace. We talk all the time about this. Have you ever read Sue Monk Kidd\'s \"Dance of the Dissident Daughter\"? The front half is fantastic. She talks about women in the church tapping out their full potential for the kingdom of God by rearranging cookies on a plate, God love her heart. \r\n\r\nMy book is not about egalitarian theology per se, but I do have a chapter where I touch on the role of women in the church called, \"Pastor Honey, I Would Have Poisoned Your Banana Bread a Long Time Ago and Other Confessions from the First Church of the Bermuda Triangle\". My book is called, \"Juxtaposed: Finding Sanctuary on the Outside\". (I\'m a big one for titles...) It\'s a comedic, spiritual memoir, which chronicles this girl\'s journey in a crazy, Vegas-show-business family while  trying to navigate my way out of an ultra-conservative, religified, abusive home. I hope I\'m not being presumptuous, but I would love to send it to you as a gift. You can let me know through my website: www.daisyrainmartin.com. I\'m not offended either way! I just loved your post and thought I\'d make a connection. I hope to submit my first article to Provoketive very soon!\r\n\r\nHave a wonderful holiday!\r\nDaisy Rain Martin',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',0,198),(2009,7982,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','207.170.247.18','2012-11-20 12:14:22','2012-11-20 20:14:22','Thank you, Jeff. I am one of those who is tempted to check out of all things political, and I certainly don\'t believe in a \"godly\" party. When people mix their religion and politics, it scares the bejeezus out of me. I can\'t take the Facebook posts with the superimposed eagles, American flag, the Bible, and the Smith and Wesson claiming that Jesus died on the cross and bled red, white, and blue. Horrifies me. \r\n\r\nI\'ll sign up for you newsletter and check out your website. Mine is www.daisyrainmartin.com. We speak the same language, brother.\r\n\r\nStay cool,\r\nDaisy Rain Martin',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',0,198),(2006,1760,'LERATO D','ler.dire@gmail.com','http://southafrica','41.243.223.74','2012-11-15 06:51:48','2012-11-15 14:51:48','you are an inspiration and a testimony of Jesus unfailing love.\r\n\r\nthank you \r\n\r\nGOD BLESS',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.64 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2007,1760,'Joy Wilson','joyleewilson@gmail.com','http://joyleewilson.org','65.13.98.197','2012-11-15 09:56:48','2012-11-15 17:56:48','God bless you, too.  I appreciate it!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',2006,35),(2008,1760,'Sarah SSM','sarahrandall@hotmail.com','','186.190.1.160','2012-11-15 20:03:29','2012-11-16 04:03:29','Thanks to a friend, I now have it and have read it.  And will go back to it.  Thank you. Keep writing.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; HPNTDF; .NET4.0C; BRI/1; BRI/2)','',809,0),(1940,7416,'Tammy Perlmutter','raggletaggletammy@gmail.com','http://tammygrrrl.com','70.88.77.138','2012-09-07 14:44:39','2012-09-07 21:44:39','Hi Jen! Kristin Tennant told me about you so I had to check you out, seeing as we may be having dinner together in a few weeks! (At Story.)  Love this post!! You named all my favorite bands, and I was one of those dark clad kids too!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1941,2624,'MidgeV','midge@midgevice.com','http://JesusasBuddah','75.203.198.204','2012-09-08 12:28:02','2012-09-08 19:28:02','Yes, there is only one God and He isn\'t Buddah. Sometimes to be all inclusive is to be ridiculous.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148','',0,0),(1942,6296,'Josh','jshmueller@gmail.com','http://openmindedconversations.wordpress.com/','198.166.20.187','2012-09-08 14:08:23','2012-09-08 21:08:23','Hasn\'t pretty much the same argument been made against the understanding of God as an all powerful supernatural being and relegated to the realm of human projection - with the same moral argument that it only creates a moral scapegoat for all kind of inhumane actions throughout history? I sense that the New Atheism sees itself as a powerful moral force for good exactly on the basis of this kind of reasoning.  If the human misuse of mythological concepts and language determines what can or cannot be objectively real apart from the inner world our brains create, then why stop at Satan as a mere human invention?\r\n\r\nIf however the attempt to name a very powerful reality within the realm of our everyday experience at least served a legitimate purpose during the times of the New Testament church (for example in not seeing other human beings - \"flesh and blood\" - as the enemy) why can\'t it still serve the same kind of purpose for people today who feel no real benefit from an attempt of demythologizing for moral reasons at all? \r\n\r\nIt seems to me that a big part of the Christian assurance all the way from the gathering of believers in Ephesus and Colossae in the first century to plagued consciences during the Reformation had as its bedrock the belief that Christ had utterly defeated all powers of evil and with it their inner voices of condemnation.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1) ; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729)','',0,0),(1944,2624,'Jill','jhi29@hotmail.com','','98.100.235.49','2012-09-10 07:12:04','2012-09-10 14:12:04','I find it really unfortunate to find when an individual\'s (or a group of individuals) firmly held belief must become by default everyone else\'s belief. \r\n\r\nInclusion is not, has never been, and will never be ridiculous. Just ask Jesus about his inclusion of women, Samaritans, lepers, etc. etc. \r\n\r\nThankfully God is bigger than all the limitations and labels we humans choose to place.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.89 Safari/537.1','',1941,0),(1947,2207,'Dr. John D Rich, Jr.','jrich@desu.edu','','216.228.137.6','2012-09-11 08:42:46','2012-09-11 15:42:46','Great article. Here\'s one I wrote about the parable with a similar take:\r\nhttp://www.iquestionthat.com/2012/09/11/the-parable-of-the-talents-revisited/',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1971,7771,'Steve Martin','steve.martin37@aol.com','http://theoldadam.com/','98.164.243.94','2012-09-28 15:25:58','2012-09-28 22:25:58','Read John Lott\'s, \"More Guns, Less Crime\".\r\n\r\nLots of our notions and mainstream media\'s mis-reporting about gun crime is set straight.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/536.25 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Safari/536.25','',0,0),(1972,7771,'Tommy','tom@emory.edu','','74.244.22.68','2012-09-28 21:21:29','2012-09-29 04:21:29','Sort of confused as to what you are really saying, but I guess we are all safe now that you got rid of your gun.',0,'1','Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; GTB7.4; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729)','',0,0),(1973,107,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.198.100.62','2012-09-29 15:01:01','2012-09-29 22:01:01','How does one submit an article?  I\'d like to try.  I\'m able to get in to read what other\'s write, but I don\'t seem to be a member.  Could someone please e-mail me at the address above with advice.\r\n\r\nThank you,\r\n\r\nBuddy aka Beverly',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1974,5739,'Sara','flemingsa2.3@gmail.com','','211.181.125.13','2012-09-29 21:40:46','2012-09-30 04:40:46','While I definitely don\'t agree with FGM being performed, you probably should look more into the topic than you have.  The Qur\'an never directly states female genital mutilation as being part of purity.  The video you\'ve included in your article even says that religion isn\'t the reason.  FGM was condemned by leading Islamic scholars acting under the Grand Mufti of Egypt in 2006 as being against Islamic values, and many of the countries in which it is practiced are trying to illegalize it.  More women surveyed by Orji and Babalola thought having FGM was important because it prevented the death of newborn males than women who did it for religious reasoning.  Yet you focus your article mostly against Islam rather than the cultural ignorance.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1229.79 Safari/537.4','',0,0),(1952,7725,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.229','2012-09-18 11:52:53','2012-09-18 18:52:53','No relation, I think.\r\n\r\nI am 65. When I grew up, being religious did not mean being on the lunatic or stupid fringe; it was normal and accepted, even highly values by most. That, as you have pointed out, has changed. The reasons are multiple and complex for this state of affairs but it is, as I see it, on the rise. I am beginning to hear a lot of Christians prefacing admitting to their faith, explanations that are really apologies. Many look for other labels than Christian, such as \"Christ-follower\" or \"Christ Disciple\" or anything but plain old Christian. The slings and arrows we now face are not aimed at an our irrepressible (foolish) love  and sacrifices but for holding ridiculous ideas about science',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1953,7725,'geard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','67.41.14.39','2012-09-18 13:32:01','2012-09-18 20:32:01','Sorry, post in error.\r\n\r\nBe that as it may, I have a different view on this discipline thingy, and these facts are pertinent to that vision: I was a long distance runner and played football (American version) and loved every part and aprticle of it. Perhaps I was a strange kid. I remember after one track meet where I won four gold medals, the kids at school heaped lavish praise and I kept silently waiting for just one of them to say the praise was God\'s for how he made me. Still waiting.\r\n\r\nIn these things, sacrifice was celebration; burden, loss, and suffering were not involved. There was no prize down the road or price to pay. There was no way to train for the moment was in, no thought of what could be: Oddly graced, I suppose, it was really all joy as is. \r\n\r\n\"And who would run London’s rain-slick pavements as the cold bites and the traffic fumes choke if there was never an expectation that there would one day be a marathon to run and a medal to claim?\" This really gets to the crux and I feel is the fork (therein the rub) where our paths divide. I did not such a motivation. It used to truly puzzle me the fuss about competition and winning, although to watch me at either sport you would have thought me the most fanatical of competitors. It was just this love that was in me, put there, I felt, by Christ; I could never see how I could have produced it. A gift, end of story, and Christ was always with me in it.\r\n\r\nI see a spiritual discipline in much the same way. The toil is not what makes it a dsicipline or adds to my maturity; the toil shows me where I am off the mark and lacking in maturity; there is no merit to it. This is no cause for depression or guilt or re-doubling one\'s efforts. It is time to be still and allow the source of that resistance which produces toil to surface, to place ourselves as securely as we can in God\'s care. It is a time to trust more, not try harder. What fruit of the spirit we may appear to gain, is simply the removal by grace of what diminished or blocked the working of the spirit. Unlike the body that builds strength, the soul grows by reduction, losing all of what we have made of ourselves for what God would have us be.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1954,7725,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','67.41.14.39','2012-09-19 21:05:44','2012-09-20 04:05:44','If there is actually such a thing such as fellowship, a word or two about your opinion is in order.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1955,7725,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','67.41.14.39','2012-09-19 21:08:13','2012-09-20 04:08:13','Complaint is not the best way to renewal.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1956,7725,'Chloe Lynch','theartofsteering@gmail.com','http://theartofsteering.wordpress.com','94.193.36.193','2012-09-20 00:16:17','2012-09-20 07:16:17','Hi Gerard/Jerry, I see you are the same person by your e-mail address for these comments so will reply after the last of your four comments.  :-)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1953,119),(1957,7725,'Chloe Lynch','theartofsteering@gmail.com','http://theartofsteering.wordpress.com','94.193.36.193','2012-09-20 00:35:05','2012-09-20 07:35:05','Hi Gerard/Jerry, I have been trying to understand your four comments (the first of which I think you posted in error?) but I think you may have misunderstood the tenor of this piece.  It is in no way a complaint but an honest recognition that the Facebook generation is completely other that any which we have ever known.  I don\'t know whether this is a U.S. experience yet or whether the U.K. has transitioned more rapidly into this context; perhaps you are able to advise there?\r\n\r\nIn any event, I am glad that your experience of following Jesus has been all joy and that you have found the \'toil\' of spiritual disciplines to be helpful in showing you where you are \'off the mark\', to use your phrases.  I wholeheartedly agree that this is their purpose and that, used rightly, their pain is tiny compared with the joy we gain through learning to abide more fully in the Father\'s love.  However - and it is this which is the crux of my argument - it takes maturity to think this way as well as an ability to choose what is hard for the sake of the joy set before us, yet this is something which is increasingly not hard-wired into the Facebook generation, who often see no reason to pay the price of discipline now for the sake the joy of a life more rooted in Christ later.  I think this tendency is partly attributable to postmodern culture, as well as this generation\'s experience of liminality in their context: in essence, everything seems temporary to them and the present is often the only reality they can conceive because the future seems so unsure.\r\n\r\nHopefully, this explains where I am coming from.  I love this generation; they are my primary ministry context and I have been making disciples amongst them, as well as leading a church full of them, for about six years now.  They are the future of the church and, though they bring challenges like any other (half-)generation such as mine or yours, I trust that God will work sovereignly through his Spirit to give them (and us, I pray) a new vision of his glory in Christ.  <em>And that, friend, will be enough for them and for me!</em>',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',1955,119),(1958,7512,'Kristen','kristenrosser@hotmail.com','http://krwordgazer.blogspot.com','75.145.77.153','2012-09-20 10:13:35','2012-09-20 17:13:35','This sounds a lot like my Christianity.  A lot.\r\n\r\nHowever, I can\'t go out with you because I\'m married.  But you look fabulous too! :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.89 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1959,7763,'Jordan Hageman','jordanhageman@gmail.com','http://jordanhageman.blogspot.ca','66.252.153.2','2012-09-20 11:21:19','2012-09-20 18:21:19','Great post, Ray!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.21.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.5 Safari/533.21.1','',0,177),(1960,5296,'Peter Walker','peter@emergingchristian.com','http://www.emergingchristian.com','98.246.222.77','2012-09-20 11:58:20','2012-09-20 18:58:20','Awesome man.  Metallica meant a lot to me during my adolescence - I love your comment on being afraid to feel sorrow.  We are a pain-averse society, and too often the church demonizes those who are brave enough to face the darkness.\r\n\r\nHa!  I used to sneak Def Leopard, and then feel guilty about it...',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.55.3 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.5 Safari/534.55.3','',0,0),(1961,7763,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.4.207','2012-09-20 20:09:57','2012-09-21 03:09:57','Thanks Jordan! You\'re my hero!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1959,12),(1962,7763,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','67.41.14.39','2012-09-21 00:13:56','2012-09-21 07:13:56','My \"taste of sin\" was purposally seasoned. I did not have an excuse why I harmed, or even robbed, another: i had concrete reasons. Adrenaline is the taste of sin for me.\r\n\r\nMy experience is that labeling anything as sin is a pathetic expediency. Why so few Christians become as Christ is the direct result of this moralistic purge. Morality has next to nothing to do with being a Christian.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1963,7763,'Roy Yanke','roy.yanke@gmail.com','','69.14.253.233','2012-09-21 05:46:29','2012-09-21 12:46:29','Jerry\r\nCan you clarify? I am not sure I follow your thinking. \r\nRay\r\nThe bitterness of the fruit is the shame it creates...which keeps us in the cycle of trying to make ourselves feel better, which leads us back to sin again...and around we go.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/21.0.1180.89 Safari/537.1','',0,0),(1964,7763,'Steve Martin','steve.martin37@aol.com','http://theoldadam.com/','98.164.243.94','2012-09-21 16:06:19','2012-09-21 23:06:19','\"Screaming towards sin\"?\r\n\r\nI\'m stuck in it. It is my CONDITION, and I cannot break free of my own accord. Indeed, I don\'t want to break free from it.\r\n\r\nThe reason that we don\'t stop sinning is simple, and shocking...we don\'t want to!\r\n\r\nBut our Lord knows this about us., Look at St. Paul. Read Romans 7. But the Lord used him mightily as He will use us when we proclaim His gospel for the ungodly...those who are bound in their sin.\r\n\r\nThanks.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/536.25 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Safari/536.25','',0,0),(1965,7763,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.4.207','2012-09-21 23:50:09','2012-09-22 06:50:09','Roy, you\'re right. It\'s a vicious cycle. Sin is a pleasurable experience. Once we are involved we are moved further and further away from our Creator. \r\n\r\nJerry, I too would like further clarification. I\'m a little confused.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B208 Safari/7534.48.3','',1963,12),(1966,7763,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.4.207','2012-09-21 23:56:10','2012-09-22 06:56:10','Steve,\r\nYou\'re right. We do not want to. But thanks be to God that He has given us His Spirit to wage war against sin. Will we still fall? Yes. But we know that Chriat was tempted in every way that we are. It is not an impossible battle. \r\n\r\nSin is so desirable. God tells us, \"don\'t do this.\" What is our natural reaction? To do it. It\'s like telling our kids, \"Don\'t stay out too late. Don\'t go see that rated R movie.\" So what is their natural reaction? To go and do it. That is why we are to cultivate the fruit of the spirit. Easy? Nope. But is it what God wants for us to be for our best and His best? Yeah. Tough.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B208 Safari/7534.48.3','',1964,12),(1967,7725,'jerry lynch','lynch.geard@yahoo.com','','67.41.14.39','2012-09-22 15:04:52','2012-09-22 22:04:52','(Jerry is a nickname for Gerard, a name I hated as a child so much I could not stand to spell Jerry with a \"G.\" Jerry is sufficient.)\r\nThank you chloe, for your thoughtful reply. My first post is not an error; I accidentally posted before finishing my comments was the problem. What I said there goes to my observations in America and fit with yours.\r\n\r\nInstant messaging, fast food, and high-speed internet: I want what I want and I want it NOW! Spell-check and calculators. Disposable lighters, phones, and cameras. Degrees in your PJs. Heck, work in PJs. There seems to be many things that have added to what you see as a deterioation of the \"persevere mode\" in consciousness. And I whole-heartedly agree.  \r\n\r\nWhat I found that varied from my view was not meant to come off so pompous and hyperbolic. My apologies. I will try to coax it down off its high horse..\r\n\r\nMy twenty-five years of alcohol abuse appears to be a perverse and unintentional spiritual discipline (pun intended). The self must die daily--and it did, although from a misplaced devotion. If a spiritual discipline is meant to reduce our worldliness or whatever may block a full surrender and dependence upon God, to be truly hidden in Christ, then alcoholism acted like the path of the saint. I was utterly defeated and thanks to saving grace, my brokenness became clear.\r\n\r\nYes, I know, I appeared to give this undending joyful union with God as my perpetual state. The exception to my normal shame-based and troubled self as a young man was sports. And I truly loved it all, for I felt this was what God gave me to be close to him. Jesus ran by my side, gamboled with me in football, and sweated through the practices.  Looking back, I see it was definitely more inspired than motivated. That is the difference in the approach to spiritual discipline that I was trying to make, ever so annoyingly.\r\n\r\n\"But you go because you have seen the glory of the prize.\" That would be motivation and it had nothing to do with why I ran or why I follow Christ today. (Again, probably because I was a strange kid.) The \"present was the only reality I could conceive of\" or desire and that had nothing to do with an unsure future or lack of imagination.  Keeping both eyes on this moment is my best vision of tomorrow. Why strive for perfection or anything when to be still is to know God. Ah, but how do we get mature enough to \"be still,\" even knowing Jesus said \"the work is to enter the rest\" and present day society says, \"Manana.\" \r\n\r\nTo me, a spiritual discipline is all about reduction of my resistance to godliness and my dependency on self. No practice adds a jot of godliness to me, yet it can reduce what diminishes or blocks a complete abandoment to divine providence. The appeal is to have warriors for a new paradigm, to boldly go where few have gone before. (Or in our vernacular, be Christlike.) Ask, want the greatest thrill and challenge you will ever face, the ultimate test of who you are? It is far more death-defying in a way than any X-Factor experience. Why? Because it welcomes death, it does not defy it.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1968,7725,'jerry lynch','lynch.geard@yahoo.com','','67.41.14.39','2012-09-22 16:04:51','2012-09-22 23:04:51','Chloe, I was raised heavy-duty Irish Catholic: I think you know what that means. Couple that with this:\r\nI had a NDE when I was seven. Though my eyes were open under water and seeing the sun, what I was seeing inside was Jesus running through an open field to me, calling my name with great welcome, as if I had been lost a long time and he was overjoyed to see me. Difficult to describe but the sun was felt like his radiating love, a way ofembracing each other. Then Mrs. McDermott got between me and the sun and with her flabby arms was reaching to pick me. I tried to tell her I was fine, really peachy-keen right where I was, but she kept coming. The next thing I remember is looking up into the face of Andrew McDermott, a fireman down to visit his mom. A true blessing, or was it? My mother was so angry with me for wandering off  and relieved I hadn\'t die, embarrassed vying with grateful I guess, that she alternately pulled me down the beach and stopped to hug me, red faced one minute and crying the next. I never got the opportunity to tell her what I saw but when I stated looking up at the sun, I got a smack. \"Don\'t lie to me, young man, you were found floating face down.\" Well, words to that effect; a little juicier. She was German.\r\n\r\nI got pretty strange, as I already noted, after that, and still hear the stories from my cousins. For instance, during the rest of the summer I practically spent all my time visiting the elderly on their porches. I only recall brief snatches of this activity but my family has a much more vivid (and amused) memory. My ambition was now to be a saint by martyrdom, defending the chalice from invading pagans (protestants were included in that) from the public schools. The fantasy had me materializing after death at recess before the whole school, all of them entralled to see such a holy person so young. By twelve, other fantasies started to enter but the saint idea lingered. Even in the throes of my alcoholism I felt God had separated me out. \r\n\r\nI went through a few years after sobriety of being a Recovered Catholic. I hated the Church. If you have heard what it was like in the Fifties and Sixties, then you may understand. I am not sure if my NDE made me such a distracted day-dreamer but it my day-dreamer did make me a target, and an easy one. But I never abandoned my love of Christ, just the vehicle I had known. TVangelist got most of my wrath. Along with my growing study and practice of Zen Buddhism, I started an intense study of the Bible in order to beat them on their home field. Hard to say which got me back in the fold. Not the mainstream fold but mysticism, which seemed much like buddhism in a way and had the added appeal of being hated by most Christian sects.\r\n\r\nAll this by way of explaining why I do not translate well when talking to most Christians. My ineptitude at grounding',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1969,7725,'jerry lynch','lynch.geard@yahoo.com','','67.41.14.39','2012-09-22 16:07:47','2012-09-22 23:07:47','...it more in scripture and doctrine, and using identifying Christian terms to clarify or define my points, is a failing I once need to apologize for.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1968,0),(2003,7982,'HometownProphet','jeff@hometownprophetbook.com','http://www.hometownprophetbook.com/','69.138.63.63','2012-11-05 11:09:57','2012-11-05 19:09:57','You\'re welcome... It takes time, but don\'t give up.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0','',2002,160),(2004,3951,'DJH','dshammons@texasdata.net','','38.97.14.45','2012-11-05 18:55:29','2012-11-06 02:55:29','Just finished this book. I\'ve been a music/worship director for about 10 years.\r\n\"The Resignation of Eve acknowledges with compassion the tensions women face but the premise is unfair. We are dared to bolt from our churches and force the church’s hand, in order for them to somehow see how important we are. But you must appreciate the tragic fact that this will be held against us. The very nature of our character will be called into question, women who have faithfully worked, loved, served the Church for generations.\" YES, YES, YES. \r\nI have, at times, even worked in a church with a female pastor and was disconcerted, disheartened and disillusioned to discover that even then, I was not allowed to truly lead. I was hired to be the Music Director for the worship band, but was instructed to stay quietly in the background while a male band leader took center stage. I could and did all the service planning, song selection, etc. However, the pastor felt uncomfortable with \"too much female presence\" in front of the congregation, and, as she was the senior, actually only, pastor on staff, that was enough feminine presence. I was eventually nudged out so that the worship staff is now only men, but I was \"welcome to stay on and sing (backup) as I felt led\". It felt like a slap in the face. From another woman, no less. Stay or leave? Still haven\'t figured that one out.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:11.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/11.0','',0,0),(1975,7725,'Chloe Lynch','theartofsteering@gmail.com','http://theartofsteering.wordpress.com','94.193.36.193','2012-09-30 09:55:41','2012-09-30 16:55:41','Jerry, thank you so much for such open and vulnerable sharing.  I have just had a week of craziness(!) hence the non-reply until now but I do appreciate your response to my thoughts, thank you!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1229.79 Safari/537.4','',1969,119),(1976,5739,'Frank Olvera','franko@juno.com','http://christiannoob.wordpress.com/','24.90.66.57','2012-09-30 12:51:48','2012-09-30 19:51:48','Sara, I\'ve got <em>nothing against Islam</em>.\r\nI\'m <em>against the mutilation<em />, but I do admit my ignorance.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:10.0.7) Gecko/20120829 Firefox/10.0.7','',1974,134),(1977,5739,'Sara','flemingsa2.3@gmail.com','','211.181.125.13','2012-10-01 02:19:30','2012-10-01 09:19:30','I understand that you\'re not against Islam, as you state that near the end of your article.  I\'m just pointing out that your most emphasized reasoning for why the procedure is practiced is religion when, in reality, it\'s one of the notable reasons least used.  Perhaps you should have done more research on the topic before posting it online for the world to see.  There are many excellent peer-reviewed articles available on Google Scholar that could help you become more knowledgeable about a topic before largely blaming a religion for a practice it condemns.  In your comment above mine in response to Buddy aka Beverly, you say that they\'re trying to make it obligatory in Egypt.  You\'re talking about a small group of people, while the government itself is in the process of trying to illegalize it.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1229.79 Safari/537.4','',1976,0),(1978,5739,'Frank Olvera','franko@juno.com','http://christiannoob.wordpress.com/','198.83.125.200','2012-10-01 06:59:42','2012-10-01 13:59:42','In <a href=\"http://scholar.google.com/\" title=\"Google Scholar\" rel=\"nofollow\">Google Scholar</a>, I found the following.\r\n\r\n<blockquote>An estimated 80 million girls and women living today have undergone female genital mutilation,2 which is practised primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab world, Malaysia, and Indonesia and among migrant populations in Western countries. In Britain alone an estimated 10 000 girls are currently at risk (E Dorkenoo and S Elworthy, first study conference of genital mutilation of girls in Europe, July 1993). Justification for the practice varies from region to region: religious, cultural, medical, and moral arguments have all been used.\r\n<a href=\"http://www.bmj.com/highwire/filestream/353202/field_highwire_article_pdf/0/460\" title=\"Female genital mutilation\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.bmj.com/highwire/filestream/353202/field_highwire_article_pdf/0/460</a> (08/21/1983)</blockquote>\r\n\r\n<blockquote><strong>Author</strong> Kelly, Elizabeth a; Hillard, Paula J Adams b\r\n<strong>Institution</strong> (a) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA\r\n(b) Cincinnati Children\'s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA\r\n<strong>Title</strong> Female genital mutilation.[Miscellaneous]\r\n<strong>Source</strong> Current Opinion in Obstetrics &amp; Gynecology. 17(5):490-494, October 2005.\r\n<strong>Abstract</strong> Purpose of review: The purpose of this review is to aid the healthcare practitioner in caring for children, girls, and women who have undergone female genital mutilation or who are at risk for female genital mutilation.\r\n\r\nRecent findings: The bulk of the literature published in the area of female genital mutilation over the past year addresses the laws, social needs, immigration status and assimilation of African women who immigrate into western countries. Clinicians continue to publish case reports of complications and the surgical management of type III female genital mutilation during labor. Additionally, as people continue to try to eliminate female genital mutilation through human rights campaigns and the legal system, they have also become increasingly aware that understanding the motives behind this traditional practice may be an avenue towards change.\r\n\r\nSummary: The fundamental understanding of female genital mutilation will allow the clinician to address the emotional and physical needs of the children, girls, and women who have undergone this traditional practice or who are at risk for undergoing this practice. This understanding will allow the practitioner to individualize the history and physical examination, and to provide appropriate management with recognition and treatment of complications. Increased knowledge of the laws against female genital mutilation will allow the healthcare provider to educate and advise at-risk girls and women as well as their parents.\r\n<a href=\"http://journals.lww.com/co-obgyn/Abstract/2005/10000/Female_genital_mutilation.9.aspx\" title=\"Female genital mutilation : Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://journals.lww.com/co-obgyn/Abstract/2005/10000/Female_genital_mutilation.9.aspx</a></blockquote>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>Female circumcision has no place in Islam; as it is restricted to some Muslim countries (Egypt, Indonesia, Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritruria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria and Togo), many religious leaders consider it a social custom rather than a religious practice.\r\n\r\nReligious circumcision: a Muslim view\r\nS.A.H. RIZVI, S.A.A NAQVI, M. HUSSAIN and A.S. HASAN\r\nSindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Dow Medical College and Civil Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan\r\n<a href=\"http://www.werzit.com/intel/religion/islam/articles/archives/Religious%20circumcision%20a%20Muslim%20view.pdf\" title=\"Religious circumcision: a Muslim view\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://werzit.com/intel/religion/islam/articles/archives/Religious%20circumcision%20a%20Muslim%20view.pdf</a></blockquote>',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1229.79 Safari/537.4','',1977,134),(2002,7982,'Buddy aka Beverly','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.210.165.92','2012-11-03 09:37:53','2012-11-03 16:37:53','Thank you for saying this for me.  It is exactly what I\'ve tried to get across to other Christians but never do.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1980,7713,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2012-10-10 19:45:47','2012-10-10 19:45:47','Christine, did you really want to delete this post?  I like it if you want to submit it.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:15.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/15.0.1','editorial-comment',0,0),(1981,7713,'Christine Organ','sasschristine@yahoo.com','http://www.randomreflectionz.com','98.228.225.9','2012-10-10 19:58:14','2012-10-10 19:58:14','Yes, I actually posted a similar version on my own website last month and it was picked up by the Huffington Post. Thank you for checking in though. I plan to submit some new content to your site soon. Please let me know if there are any particular areas of interest.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1229.92 Safari/537.4','editorial-comment',0,0),(1982,7842,'Glenn Hager','glennhager1@gmail.com','http://glennhager.com','76.245.207.7','2012-10-10 20:32:29','2012-10-10 20:32:29','Jonathan - I took out the second image and changed a couple of words to make it current. - Glenn',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1229.92 Safari/537.4','editorial-comment',0,0),(1983,7842,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','209.49.70.10','2012-10-11 10:32:56','2012-10-11 10:32:56','Okay.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_2) AppleWebKit/536.26.14 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.1 Safari/536.26.14','editorial-comment',1982,0),(1984,7512,'Frank Olvera','franko@juno.com','http://christiannoob.wordpress.com/','198.83.125.200','2012-10-12 05:39:17','2012-10-12 12:39:17','I\'ve been writing for this site for a while and I\'ve never noticed that there\'s no <strong>LIKE</strong> button. Well I <strong>LIKE</strong> your post.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1229.94 Safari/537.4','',0,134),(1985,7842,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.127.125','2012-10-13 00:21:17','2012-10-13 07:21:17','Author, your filters were exposed in the selection of those \"drawn to conflict.:.\"  And all of us have these things to excite and inhibit.\r\n\r\nThe thing about being an unreasonable person, no cause or excuse is lost; there is, no matter how formidable, a way in logic to exonerate that is supported by what we commonly refer to as decency. It is better labeled naivete.\r\n\r\nAll so-called \"conflict\" is within ourselves; there is no outside source. Nothing happens to me or for me; it all happens within me.\r\n\r\nAll your reasons for why we seem to love conflict never mentions the essential: fear. It is the threat to control. It is te threat to certainity. It is the threat of waking up that is most threatening.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1986,7842,'Beverly Donner','Buddynet02@att.net','','108.75.40.171','2012-10-13 08:41:30','2012-10-13 15:41:30','I woke up this morning thinking about the hate for our president and wondering why this is voiced by the so-called \"Christian Right\" and how to my way of thinking, everything I know of Christ would lean more to the left.\r\n\r\nMuch of the hate I see is aimed at our President, whom we should, as Americans respect, even if we didn’t vote for him or don’t  agree with his policies.  When he was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize, we as Americans should have been so proud and yet folks were angered and said he didn\'t deserve it.  When Osoma Bin Laden was killed, what should have been considered an American victory became outrage and my Facebook newsfeed was filled with angry conservatives claiming that that Obama deserved no credit for this, that it was the Navy Seals who got him.  From President Obama\'s Inauguration Celebration forward, his Republican majority congress vowed to make him a one term president and have voted against every thing he has proposed, even things they were for during the Republican Administration.  They put their goal of making one man fail above what is good for our nation and have caused their fellow countrymen to suffer for their own party goals.  I\'d say that is a whole heap of hate, and this is just the surface.  I\'ve seen pictures of black male mannequins made to resemble our president being both hung in effigy which looks so reminiscent to the KKK lynching’s of the past, and one being beheaded at a Tea Party gathering.  I\'ve seen the \"Don\'t Re-Nig\" bumper stickers.  There\'s the whole \"birther\" thing, and the rumor that our president is actually a Muslim, even though during his campaign there were complaints about his church leader, Reverend Wright.  It is hateful and shameful the way some people love to hate a good man, and I can\'t help but think that there is some racism there.  In my opinion, the Tea Party is based purely on hate and has set our country back at least 50 years, yet these same people claim to be all for Christian values.  Maybe some people need to ask themselves “Who Would Jesus Hate?”',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',0,200),(2001,7771,'HometownProphet','jeff@hometownprophetbook.com','http://www.hometownprophetbook.com/','69.138.63.63','2012-11-01 07:05:59','2012-11-01 14:05:59','\"We know more guns actually make society more dangerous.  <a href=\"http://arstechnica.com/science/2007/01/6601/\" rel=\"nofollow\">A study by Harvard researchers</a> found that the states with the top 25% of household firearm ownership had a homicide rate that was 60% higher than the rest of the nation.   Compared with the states in the bottom 25% of gun ownership, the top 25% had 114% greater firearm related homicides.   <a href=\"http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/01/the-geography-of-gun-deaths/69354/\" rel=\"nofollow\">A map of gun-related deaths in the US clearly shows that firearm deaths are significantly higher in states with fewer gun control restrictions.\"(http://www.hometownprophetbook.com/into-the-cross-hairs/)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0','',0,160),(1988,7842,'Glenn Hager','glennhager1@gmail.com','http://glennhager.com','76.245.207.7','2012-10-13 19:44:41','2012-10-14 02:44:41','Jerry - I\'m not sure that I understand your second paragraph, but the rest makes perfect sense to me. Anger is internal in its source. The external is merely the trigger. I think I agree with fear being the source. Perhaps, it disguises itself as other things, like a sense of superiority.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1229.94 Safari/537.4','',1985,144),(1989,7842,'Glenn Hager','glennhager1@gmail.com','http://glennhager.com','76.245.207.7','2012-10-15 10:09:55','2012-10-15 17:09:55','Beverly,\r\n\r\nThank you for your very thoughtful comment. I apologize for taking a while to reply. It was a busy weekend around here. I also apologize that my response is longer than your original comment.\r\n\r\nI am struck by how divided the people of our nations are. When I hear their response to the debates, it sounds like they were watching different things. That’s because their personality, their friends, and their brand of faith has formed a very specific filter through which they view the world. Of course, we would be better off to throw out the filters; except for “the Jesus one” that considers his example.\r\n\r\nHe didn\'t seem to care about government and the one he lived with was exponentially worse than ours, being a nasty blend of a cruel occupying militaristic empire and a corrupt theocracy. Jesus did encourage people of his day to pay their taxes with his “give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” comment, but I can’t imagine him aligning with any political movement.\r\n\r\nI understand why you believe he would lean to the left, since the left claims to be more compassion toward the poor and more accepting of people of various ethnicities. I have found that reasonable people agree upon the problems facing our nation, but they disagree upon the best way to address them and the role of government in that process. That’s a worthy discussion since so many government programs have evoked the law of unintended consequences and are no longer sustainable in these hard economic times.\r\n\r\nConcerning President Obama, some people thought the Nobel Peace Prize was undeserved for no other reason than the fact that he had been president for less than a year and had no major accomplishments to show for it other than toning down the nationalistic rhetoric. \r\n\r\nProbably any president would have taken out Bin Laden given the opportunity he had. Unfortunately, President Obama and the Democratic Party kept “spiking the football,” something he earlier said was inappropriate.\r\n\r\nThese days Democrats and Republicans vehemently oppose anything coming from the other side. It’s a kind of semi-civilized tribalism that does a great disservice to the people of our nation.\r\n\r\nThere are no excuses for racism. Period! However, people who have sincerely challenged President Obama’s policies have been branded as “racists” and that is just as wrong. Both devalue individuals.\r\n\r\nPresident Obama’s associates should be called into question as should those of any candidate.\r\n\r\nPersonally, I believe there was more hatred directed toward the last President Bush than there has been toward President Obama. This is largely because the media was complicit in the critical attitude toward Bush.\r\n\r\nPerhaps my biggest concern of the liberal perspective is that it preaches tolerance, but there seems to be very little tolerance and a lot of misrepresentation of people who disagree with them.\r\n\r\nBoth the Occupy Movement and the Tea Party are responses by people who are frustrated with the way things are. They each have the right to organize and be heard as long as they are not infringing upon the rights of others by destroying property or something like that.\r\n\r\nBeverly, I love your compassion, but I would encourage you to examine your filter through which you see things. I suggest that people get their news from various sources and avoid becoming die hard adherents of either party. That way you have the flexibility to accept or reject whatever parts that don’t line up with what we know about Jesus and then you can merge the best parts of various perspectives.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1229.94 Safari/537.4','',1986,144),(1990,7799,'Sarah B','wtwsarahb@yahoo.com','','92.26.167.146','2012-10-15 13:32:45','2012-10-15 20:32:45','Hey Amy!\r\nI pastor a tiny church in the UK, so I\'m not trying to recruit you and the family! I would say you have three questions to ask; is the preaching biblical (even if sometimes not quite what you\'re used to)? Are the people friendly and welcoming without being overwhelming? Are there opportunities for the whole family to both give and receive in ministry?\r\n\r\nDon\'t be afraid to step over denominational boundaries or to a church where your ethnicity might be the minority, ask the Spirit to help you find a place where services and serving will satisfy your hearts as well as your minds and for the wisdom to recognise it when you find it.\r\n\r\nI\'d say good luck, but that could be open to misinterpretation, so what I will say is \'may God guide and bless you all as you set sail with him at the helm\'.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1991,7842,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.229','2012-10-15 13:37:54','2012-10-15 20:37:54','\"Probably any president would have taken out Bin Laden given the opportunity he had. \"\r\nFrom previous statements made criticizing the president prior to killing bin Laden, Romney said he would not enter Pakistan without their approval. Also, the risk was very high and took a great deal of courage. To suggest any president would have done so is, I feel, a stretch. If this went wrong, like Carter, he was done.\r\n \r\n\"Unfortunately, President Obama and the Democratic Party kept “spiking the football,” something he earlier said was inappropriate.\" \r\n\r\n\"These days Democrats and Republicans vehemently oppose anything coming from the other side.\" \r\n\r\n\"However, people who have sincerely challenged President Obama’s policies have been branded as “racists” and that is just as wrong.\" \r\n\r\n\"I believe there was more hatred directed toward the last President Bush than there has been toward President Obama. This is largely because the media was complicit in the critical attitude toward Bush.\" \r\n\r\n\"Perhaps my biggest concern of the liberal perspective is that it preaches tolerance, but there seems to be very little tolerance and a lot of misrepresentation of people who disagree with them.\" \r\n\r\n\"Both the Occupy Movement and the Tea Party are responses by people who are frustrated with the way things are. They each have the right to organize and be heard as long as they are not infringing upon the rights of others by destroying property or something like that.\"\r\n\r\n\"...and avoid becoming die hard adherents of either party.\" If you carefully and open-mindedly re-read your statements above, I feel you may need to question yourself on this advice.\r\n\r\nI had written a reply of some lengths to each sentence I cited in your reply to Beverly. I decided to just leave an abbreviated answer to the first statement. The Right wing filtering needed to produce the other cites is self-evident. \r\n\r\nIn a hopefully better-thought out commentary on your thread than my first, most of the conflict, to me, arises from the subconscious, the Shadow Self, land of \"unaccepted things.\" \r\n\r\nLacking a sense of genuineness--in effect being perpetually underwhelmed--I needed conflict to feel alive, the contrasts giving me a sense of identity. At least this is my experience in recovering through the Twelve Steps.From that place, perception is cause. The dark aspects of myself are projected, old wounds seek succor or revenge, past failures look to succeed, mistakes want a fall guy. \r\n\r\nAA has a spiritual axiom, which in my life I have seen to be absolutely true time and time again: Whenever I am disturbed, the problem is in me. Nothing happens to me or for me; it all happens within me. Reality is of the heart, the life I get and share is there.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',1989,0),(1992,7799,'Amy Mitchell','royalfamily12@gmail.com','http://www.unchainedfaith.wordpress.com','74.69.23.179','2012-10-15 18:45:38','2012-10-16 01:45:38','Thanks for your kind words!  We made a list of churches we wanted to visit.  The first Sunday we set aside, our son asked for a particular church, so that\'s where we went.  We haven\'t visited any others yet.  We want to give it some time, see what happens.  So far, we do like this church, even though it\'s very different from any other that we\'ve attended.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0','',1990,43),(1993,7682,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-10-17 12:12:33','2012-10-17 19:12:33','Excellent...and so depressing. I live in a highly conservative town in southern NM. My attempts to bring some Christ into the discussion about Sharia\'h and Muslims is often met with either disdain or venomous anger. It hurts to see fellow Christians behaving this way. We have a local Christian newspaper that sees no distinction between terrorists and Islam. But this paper also does not see any distinction between Obama and the Anti-Christ. Prayer closets should be open 24/7.\r\n\r\nThanks again for article.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(1994,7682,'HometownProphet','jeff@hometownprophetbook.com','http://www.hometownprophetbook.com/','69.138.63.63','2012-10-17 15:15:02','2012-10-17 22:15:02','Thanks for the comment Gerard.   It sounds like I actually live in a less repressive area than you, although I can certainly relate. While I hate to hear anyone engage in hate speech, it\'s even more frustrating to hear Christians talk in extremely negative (judgmental) terms.   So much of it is based in fear and ignorance.  And yet, that still doesn\'t excuse the behavior.   While we can try to gently challenge others, I wonder if the best work gets done in the prayer closet.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0','',1993,160),(1995,7854,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.58.154','2012-10-19 06:10:14','2012-10-19 13:10:14','I was raised with 12 years of Catholic education by Dominicans and Jesuits. A critical intellect, with a few exceptions, was highly encouraged. It has always been part of my faith to question, which eventually led me away from Catholicism. \r\n\r\nI agree that we each relate to God uniquely. If every individual were fully tested on their beliefs, no two would be in agreement. Yet I do not feel this is something we must seek to actively create; it is a simple product of our essence. The boldness would come in standing in that integrity of spirit or \"to sin boldly\" as Luther said. A radical dependence on grace, however, is the order of the day. But because this also seems to produce some truly looney ideas and practices, most Christians caution for a safety net or ground. This is, of course, almost surely self-defeating in realizing a profound relationship with Christ. It really does take a \"leap of faith\" which is not unlike that scene in one of the Indiana Jones movies: to literally step off a cliff and trust you walk onto God\'s hand.\r\n\r\nI definitely agree about the Spirit of God ruining our life. Going along with the first paragraph, all supports to faith and being are gradually removed. We are not done mourning one thing when another is taken away, sometimes ripped from our grasp. The only way to maintain some sanity is to go where we being drawn: into the stillness of ambiguity. We come to see that paradox is the native tongue of truth. And we gradually become a means with ends, the only light a \"lamp unto our feet\" with just enough illumination for the moment, past and future remaining in blessed darkness. Turth is no longer anything that we hold and act upon but God\'s expression through us. As C.S. Lewis said, \"The more God takes us over, the more our true selves we become.\" \r\n\r\nA human being fully developed, our final maturation, is to openly partake of the divine, to be \"the light of the world. This is perfect humility, for humility is not the recognition of our smallness in a lowly comparison to God but the realization of our oneness in loving companionship with God. We live in the complete freedom of Christ, our heart a raw spirit of action and not a considered system of belief.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1996,7854,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.58.154','2012-10-19 06:16:16','2012-10-19 13:16:16','Correction: in the third paragraph, that should read \"And gradually we become a means withOUT ends...\"',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1995,0),(1997,7682,'gerard lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.58.154','2012-10-20 00:13:34','2012-10-20 07:13:34','Mr. Prophet, if best is the criterion, prayer embarrasses the reach, for it has little to do with the fulfillment of a desired outcome and all to do with what is for the ultimate wellbeing of our soul: reltaionship with our father.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',1994,0),(1998,7854,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.58.154','2012-10-20 22:16:33','2012-10-21 05:16:33','No response. Sorry, did I somehow offend? I can be pretty crude. I really would appreciate your most critical comments.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(1999,7655,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.58.154','2012-10-20 23:20:44','2012-10-21 06:20:44','Yikes, very powerful and sort of embarrassing. Thank you. What a great way to phrase it: \"middleman.\"',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2000,7854,'Terry','Tsmith0095@gmail.com','','174.228.135.193','2012-10-21 10:02:19','2012-10-21 17:02:19','Jerry, I\'ve been on mobile all weekend and working. As soon as I can sit down at a computer, I will respond. I took no offense.',0,'1','wp-iphone/3.1.4 (iPhone OS 6.0, iPhone) Mobile','',0,0),(2011,7962,'Amy Mitchell','royalfamily12@gmail.com','http://www.unchainedfaith.wordpress.com','74.69.23.179','2012-11-20 18:02:01','2012-11-21 02:02:01','Daisy, I look forward to hearing more from you!  I really like the title of that chapter.  Sometimes, churches can be an awful lot like the Bermuda Triangle!  I will be sure to check out your web site.  I don\'t find anything you\'ve said to be presumptuous.  I want to encourage you by saying that I think it\'s brave and bold (in a good way) to make those connections and requests!  We\'re told so often that \"good\" Christian women don\'t promote themselves.  Well, you know what?  It\'s not sinful to say, \"I did something I\'d like to share with the world.\"  Good for you! :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0','',2010,43),(2012,8085,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','207.170.247.18','2012-11-28 11:47:30','2012-11-28 19:47:30','Love this. A beautiful reminder that simplicity is compelling and necessary sometimes for our own sanity. Long live the Snoopy Dance.\r\n\r\nDaisy Rain Martin',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:15.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/15.0.1','',0,198),(2013,8090,'Sarah B','wtwsarahb@yahoo.com','','2.96.226.95','2012-11-29 08:44:27','2012-11-29 16:44:27','It is a legal requirement for churches in the UK to have written policies on how they will deal with allegations of abuse, to have designated people to whom children can speak \'in confidence\' and an alternate reporting route if one of the advocates is the person against whom an allegation is made. It is a recognised fact that paedophiles will go to any place where there is the potential to gain access to children, this includes church. Press on, sister, with your valuable work and may God continue to bless and heal you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2014,8090,'Michelle R','rowleyfamily97@gmail.com','','207.170.247.18','2012-11-29 09:22:17','2012-11-29 17:22:17','Thank you Daisy Martin for bringing this subject into the light instead of hiding away in the darkness. I know how painful it must be for you to speak of this after all those years of abuse.  I admire your passion and zeal for protecting children.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0','',0,0),(2016,8090,'Montana Yankee','montanayank@gmail.com','','184.166.128.29','2012-11-29 10:05:18','2012-11-29 18:05:18','Well said and an important message for everyone. So much long term damage can be done by trusted family and adults. May the right people hear your message.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.91 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2017,8090,'Donna','donna@donnaKwallace.com','','174.45.108.142','2012-11-29 10:06:13','2012-11-29 18:06:13','Daisy, thank you for calling us to justice. The Judge of the whole earth rises to show us compassion. May we all join you in taking up a sword and showing our gratitude and imitating God\'s justice: feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the poor, breaking chains, and giving voice to the voiceless.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_5) AppleWebKit/536.26.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.2 Safari/536.26.17','',0,0),(2018,8090,'Terri','terri.yaki@rocketmail.com','','204.76.175.25','2012-11-29 12:15:48','2012-11-29 20:15:48','Thank you, thank you, thank you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0','',0,0),(2019,8090,'holly in vegas','holkygurl73@ymail.com','','68.224.18.179','2012-11-29 16:10:26','2012-11-30 00:10:26','so incredibly powerful your voice is!!! every word true! i am forwarding this to our church\'s youth pastor and following up with some questions of my own. thank you for being a catalyst of change and healing in the church.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/10A525 [FBAN/FBIOS;FBAV/5.2.2;FBBV/82131;FBDV/iPhone5,2;FBMD/iPhone;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/6.0.1;FBSS/2; FBCR/Verizon;FBID/phone;FBLC/en_US]','',0,0),(2020,8090,'Teresa','tmhorvet@gmail.com','','98.119.199.143','2012-11-29 16:46:07','2012-11-30 00:46:07','\" Let Christ do His work in the darkest hearts of those so enmeshed in deceit and manipulation and horror around which the rest of us can’t even wrap our heads. The Church should certainly make sure they have all the cigarettes and socks they’ll ever need or want for the duration of their time in prison.\"\r\n\r\nAMEN TO THAT!  Forgiveness does NOT mean that they can break the law and get away with it.  \r\n\r\nI will be passing on this article and, if he wants to read it, your book to my pastor.  I would love to have you speak to our congregation...and we have the best safeguards in place for our kids, but these charlatans manage to get past those anyway.  If I had my way, they would all be sent to the desert where it is a 2-week walk in any direction and just do bread and water drops by helicopter once a month.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.91 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2079,7512,'Raelene','raeleneroth@yahoo.com','','67.182.170.186','2012-12-30 21:29:32','2012-12-31 05:29:32','Sounds a lot like my belief system.  It\'s refreshing to read such an open/honest post.  It seems so many people hold back from admitting their customized belief systems--probably in fear they might be tormented in a pit of fire for eternity.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/24.0.1312.45 Safari/537.17','',0,0),(2021,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-11-29 19:20:54','2012-11-30 03:20:54','Thank you so much for writing, Sarah B! It sounds like the UK has figured some things out! The rest of us should follow suit!\r\n\r\nBig love to you!\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2013,198),(2022,8090,'Reverend Jim Halbert','jim@crossroadsnampa.com','','71.33.30.178','2012-11-29 19:21:50','2012-11-30 03:21:50','Well Daisy, you\'ve done it again...used those words to shock and awake the body.  I\'m posting this to my FB page as a great reminder to us all that Jesus had millstones and deep lakes in mind for those who took advantage of the powerless.  It frankly makes me shudder and examine myself to make sure I haven\'t looked the other way with \"good church folk\" in the past.  Lord help us and thanks Daisy.\r\nJim',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_5) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.91 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2023,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-11-29 19:22:51','2012-11-30 03:22:51','Miss Michelle, it\'s actually liberating to speak of this after all I\'ve been through. Very validating, in fact. And I\'ve spoken at churches that are very receptive to this message. I think people want to do everything they can--they\'re just not sure WHAT to do in situations like this. It\'s definitely something we have to talk about and continue to talk about.\r\n\r\nBig love,\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2014,198),(2024,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-11-29 19:24:53','2012-11-30 03:24:53','Thank you, sir. I get emails and messages through my website all the time from people who are trying to find all the pieces of themselves and put them all back together from the long term damage you\'re talking about. We need to be as proactive as we can in protecting our children. You cannot sweep this subject under the rug.\r\n\r\nLove,\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2016,198),(2025,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-11-29 19:26:52','2012-11-30 03:26:52','Miss Donna, I\'m all about feeding the hungry, welcoming strangers, clothing the poor, breaking the chains, and helping give a voice to those who have none. And i know you are too. Thank you for walking with me on this journey.\r\n\r\nLove you big!\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2017,198),(2026,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-11-29 19:28:18','2012-11-30 03:28:18','Terri, you\'re welcome, you\'re welcome, you\'re welcome! It sounds as if you have been preaching the same thing... So, thank you, thank you, thank YOU! :)\r\n\r\nLove,\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2018,198),(2027,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-11-29 19:29:42','2012-11-30 03:29:42','Miss Holly, thank you for the forward and for being willing to carry this conversation on to your place of worship! It\'s important! Thank YOU for being a catalyst of change and healing! Let me know what I can do for you!\r\n\r\nLove you!\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2019,198),(2028,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-11-29 19:33:42','2012-11-30 03:33:42','Miss Teresa, I would be thrilled to speak to your congregation any time! Just let me know what I can do for you. Certainly the sociopathic mind of pedophiles is something that few of us will ever understand. Thank you for your love for kids and your commitment for keeping the safe!\r\n\r\nBig love,\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2020,198),(2029,8090,'Cat Martinez','cat_m@cox.net','','12.2.223.79','2012-11-30 06:17:38','2012-11-30 14:17:38','So glad your voice is there offering hope. You already know that you are one of my heros. Lots of Love, Cat',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.91 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2030,8090,'Jan Alexander','jan.alexander@comcast.net','','98.255.86.11','2012-11-30 06:33:28','2012-11-30 14:33:28','Daisy, your words shock and shatter the beliefs and denials of so many.  They awaken the spirit to spring forward to DO something rather than merely talk about abuse. Your words sweep the rotten particles of life from under the rug and make them visible so more people are willing to creep out from behind the closed doors and from hiding under blankets holding secrets within themselves to finally see the light and know that there is help and retribution for the perpetrators that have violated the inner core of their lives.  I pray that this begins a revolution against molestation and abuse of any kind and no matter where it occurs.  And I pray that those in leadership capacities will actively LISTEN to those who have the courage to speak out and help lead them to find their inner self-worth.  Thanks for all you do!  You are amazing!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.91 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2031,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','207.170.247.18','2012-11-30 08:48:57','2012-11-30 16:48:57','Jim, I shudder with you. I think the scariest verse in the Bible is that the laborers are few. What disheartens me the most when I see potential laborers chasing every wind that blows instead of resisting this kind of evil--majoring on the minors, if you will. I want to stand up and challenge people, \"I hope you are as fierce in taking a stand against pedophiles as you are against ________, ________ or ________,\" Fill in those blanks any which way you want. There is so much ridiculous rhetoric surrounding all that supposedly threatens to break down the American family. Psh... here\'s a BIG ONE! If people are really, truly dedicated to keeping families strong like they claim they are, then they would be extremely vocal and active in eradicating child abuse, drug abuse, and poverty as well as being strong advocates for education. Period. \r\n\r\nAnd that\'s all I have to say about that. :)\r\n\r\nSee you Sunday, Pastor.\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:15.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/15.0.1','',2022,198),(2032,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','207.170.247.18','2012-11-30 08:53:00','2012-11-30 16:53:00','I\'m the HOPE girl! :) And so are you, Catherine Hope! I love you.\r\n\r\n:)\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:15.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/15.0.1','',2029,198),(2033,8090,'Sarah L','iluvsummer92@gmail.com','','207.170.247.18','2012-11-30 14:13:57','2012-11-30 22:13:57','Thank you Daisy, for being faithful to share your message, for your passion, and for your love for children.  Your words have power, and you are making a difference for many people. God bless you!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:15.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/15.0.1','',0,0),(2034,8090,'Jeanette','Kidnetter@gmail.com','','24.6.24.143','2012-11-30 18:36:19','2012-12-01 02:36:19','Daisy you so eloquently and passionately call the church to awake from its slumber. Far too often we keep our heads in the sand about the serious issues while lifting up such trivial and petty matters. Time and time again I have listened to stories of the lives of children and youth who have been imprinted with memories that time doesn\'t erase. I am thankful as a Minister that there are advocates such as you who are called to break down our resistance to admitting that this too happens in our buildings and families and children\'s lives. Fight on!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 6_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/10A523 [FBAN/FBIOS;FBAV/5.2.2;FBBV/82131;FBDV/iPad3,1;FBMD/iPad;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/6.0.1;FBSS/2; FBCR/;FBID/tablet;FBLC/en_US]','',0,0),(2035,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-01 07:54:50','2012-12-01 15:54:50','Well, Jan, it\'s official. You will have to start writing for Provoketive too. Thank you so much for your work as a CASA and all you\'ve done in education to bring children to love and safety.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2030,198),(2036,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-01 07:55:54','2012-12-01 15:55:54','Miss Sarah, you are sweet. Thank you. I know you are loving kids and providing safety too. It takes all of us. Keep it up and keep in touch!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2033,198),(2037,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-01 08:07:25','2012-12-01 16:07:25','Miss Jeannette, you are a treasure. It is, indeed, heartbreaking to watch people get their panties in a wad over issues and politics and social this-and-that while seemingly oblivious to the #1 threat to families in our culture. (Well, that and drugs. The two coincide often.) I think it\'s just easier to chase down issues that folks can mentally manage... I don\'t know. All I know is, I\'m not waiting around anymore.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2034,198),(2038,8090,'Alice gold','Alice.w.gold@gmail.com','','71.219.44.12','2012-12-01 09:33:31','2012-12-01 17:33:31','Always driving it home Miss Daisy. You are one of God\'s wonders! Love who you are and what you do.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/10A523 [FBAN/FBIOS;FBAV/5.2.2;FBBV/82131;FBDV/iPhone3,3;FBMD/iPhone;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/6.0.1;FBSS/2; FBCR/Sprint;FBID/phone;FBLC/en_US]','',0,0),(2039,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-01 10:15:58','2012-12-01 18:15:58','I love you too, Miss Alice! Thanks for walking this journey with me, sister!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',0,198),(2040,8090,'asocialspirituality','pblankenship@ses.gtu.edu','http://asocialspirituality.wordpress.com','108.254.145.158','2012-12-01 10:46:42','2012-12-01 18:46:42','Incredibly powerful and well written work, Daisy.  It\'s a blessing to be in solidarity with you.  Thank you for your work!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/536.25 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Safari/536.25','',0,201),(2041,8090,'Daisyrainmartin','lquerry@verizon.net','','174.254.233.157','2012-12-01 11:49:09','2012-12-01 19:49:09','Daisy, thank you for your God given boldness to step up and speak out. Thank you for your mission to save, release, rescue and bring children and youth out of abusive molesting situations. Thank you for pulling BACK the rugs in churches to expose the DIRT and crap that\'s been swept under them over the years. We have to do more than just \"pray a hedge of protection\" over the children and young people in our classrooms on Subdays and any other time ot our church outtings. We MUST be the people they can come to, the people that watch out not only for their souls but their lives and their safety....their bodies.\r\nGod help me to take out my sword in a stronger way than ever before. God help me protect our kids. And Daisy God bless you as you step out as you\'re doing and spread the words and knowledge you\'re spreading.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.5; en-us; DROID X2 Build/4.5.1A-DTN-200-18) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1','',0,0),(2042,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-01 15:22:06','2012-12-01 23:22:06','I\'m glad we met, e-friend! Our work will inevitably overlap. Hurry up and graduate. :) I\'m not getting any younger! \r\n\r\nTalk soon,\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2040,198),(2043,8090,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-01 15:29:49','2012-12-01 23:29:49','I just want to be swept up in the momentum of what God is doing. This is a huge undertaking, but I\'m getting a sense that many people are ready to take up this cause. Often, people don\'t know what to do. They need answers. I want to work to provide the direction they need. You are a vessel of hope, a vessel of healing. \r\n\r\nLove you,\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2041,198),(2044,8085,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.56.5','2012-12-02 09:29:40','2012-12-02 17:29:40','I called my younger sister Lucy many times when growing up, and the name did suit her on occasion (I being CB on those occasions). One of my favorites was a Sunday cartoon. In the next to last panel, Linus says, \"You know, CB, that life has its ups and downs,\" and CB says in the last, \"Gosh, I hope so.\" I have had cause to repeat that last line to myself many times. It helped pull me out just enough from feeling overwhelmed or set upon. A little laugh at my \"drama\" and then I can ackowledge, \"This, too, shall pass.\" In the end for CB, things don\'t end glorious but with two-feet-on-the-ground peace and acceptance; it is not resignation but hope that keeps him going: \"Maybe I\'ll get to kick that football this time.\"  Good eye, Ray.\r\n\r\nOn a different note, sorry, but \"reality TV\" is not my cup of tea. There is not a single one of them that I have briefly watched that has not left me just a tad sad.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2045,8115,'Richard Jones','Richard.lee.jones@gmail.com','','68.228.222.20','2012-12-03 10:09:40','2012-12-03 18:09:40','I read this article with great interest. I am a church leader and I recognize the need to do more for children. But the article was incomplete. The writer basically said: \"The church needs to do more to deal with child abuse.\" My response was: \"I\'m all ears. Tell me. Give me some ideas. Where do I start?\" Nope. Nothing like that in the article. Next time, wait until you have more than a rant if you truly want to call people to action. At least suggest an action.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 6_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/10A523 [FBAN/FBIOS;FBAV/5.2.2;FBBV/82131;FBDV/iPad3,1;FBMD/iPad;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/6.0.1;FBSS/2; FBCR/;FBID/tablet;FBLC/en_US]','',0,0),(2046,8115,'asocialspirituality','pblankenship@ses.gtu.edu','http://asocialspirituality.wordpress.com','108.254.145.158','2012-12-03 10:16:54','2012-12-03 18:16:54','Thanks for your reply, Richard.  I appreciate your argument.  Before one can respond, one must be educated.  Part of the action/response is education itself.    Education is also a form of action.  Another element, implicit in my argument, is that we need to act by acting together--I suggest creating a national campaign in which all churches participate.  Also see the line at the end of my piece: \"to be continued\".  In my next piece on this issue, I am going to do precisely what you requested--provide one specific example of how the church can response to the problem of child abuse.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/536.25 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Safari/536.25','',2045,201),(2047,535,'Mo','mobabyhomeslice@gmail.com','','67.175.71.206','2012-12-06 09:04:16','2012-12-06 17:04:16','While I see your points about helping the widowed, the orphans, and those who cannot take care of themselves, the Bible also tells us that if we do not work, we do not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10) This instruction was given to people who were spending more time running their mouths off and fiddling around instead of working hard to earn a living. \r\n\r\nSadly, in this country, I\'ve seen far too many poor and low income kids walking around with expensive gadgets they can\'t really afford, or spending money of things they really don\'t need, and then they turn around and complain that they don\'t have enough money. We need to seriously reevaluate what a true necessity is, and then find ways to provide those things to people who actually need help, rather than wasting time and resources \"helping\" people in ways that aren\'t actually very helpful. Perhaps what they really need is someone who can help them set up a budget, or someone who can give them a bit of low-cost or no-cost childcare. \"Helping\" doesn\'t always mean throwing money at the problem, like that\'s going to make it go away. \r\n\r\nJesus himself said \"The poor will always be with us.\" Poor people end up where they are for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, it\'s sheer bad luck, like a middle-aged man who gets laid off and can\'t find a new job, or a woman whose husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her with his debts and less income. But other times, it\'s actually due to laziness, bad attitude, or a feeling of entitlement. We absolutely should be helping meet the needs of others, but always with wisdom and discernment.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_5) AppleWebKit/536.26.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.2 Safari/536.26.17','',0,0),(2048,535,'Amy Mitchell','royalfamily12@gmail.com','http://www.unchainedfaith.wordpress.com','74.69.23.179','2012-12-06 10:00:14','2012-12-06 18:00:14','You just proved my point, as well as the point that the commenter above you made.  I\'m sure you honestly believe you\'ve seen \"too many\" low-income people with gadgets.  Good thing you know them all personally and can ask them how they were acquired and what they plan to do with them, as well as where their money came from.  After all, if they\'re poor, they are obviously receiving benefits and not working, right?  And if they\'re poor, they obviously also don\'t deserve gadgets, no matter how they got them, right?  It\'s refreshing to see that there are still people in this world who know best how to gauge whether or not someone \"deserves\" help.  Good thing we have you to point out who should be helped and who shouldn\'t.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:17.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/17.0','',2047,43),(2053,8163,'rumitoid','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.59.54','2012-12-17 15:39:09','2012-12-17 23:39:09','I have little doubt that if you were to post this blog at worthychristianforums,com, the first few replies would be asking you if you want to take away their second amendment rights. Or if you support abortion and gay marriage. It is commonly accepted there that liberals are \"haters of America\" and minions of Satan.\" Anything, it seems, that is not squeaky-cliean conservative both politically and religiously is usually stacked like a wonded beast for the hyeinas. Never mind how they talk about the president. I am ill with this ongoing political infection in the Church. Thank you for a very rare treat of love and sanity.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2050,8016,'Daisy Rain Martin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://Lovethis...','24.117.96.172','2012-12-10 18:26:23','2012-12-11 02:26:23','Thank you, Paul. I love this article, and I\'m going to share it with about a thousand of my closest friends. This is a conversation that needs to happen.\r\n\r\nBig love to you, brother!\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',0,0),(2051,8016,'PreetamDas Kirtana','pk.jaihanuman@gmail.com','','75.211.64.250','2012-12-12 15:29:24','2012-12-12 23:29:24','Thank you for a great article about an important issue. It is indeed child abuse and spiritual abuse. Hmm, there was a Catholic or former Catholic minister, what was his name? Ah, Father Leo Booth, that\'s it, who did some wonderful work and wrote a fantastic book about this some years ago, the 90\'s. Do check him and the book out. That was about the first time I had heard someone else take very seriously the kind of abuse you descibe that i also grew up in and continue (in my forties now) to recover from. It IS heartbreaking:  to instill SUCH fear! Remember \"A Distant Thunder\" and that triology of terror movies that they showed in my childhood church? I do. Still can\'t forget it. True enough, we would have NEVER been allowed to watch such harrowing images on television (when it was finally allowed in the house) when i was ten or eleven, but horror in church, it seemed, was fine. It is severely heartbreaking to at best have a facsimile of a relationship with God and at worst to completely shut out (who wouldn\'t?!) this God, this God that is meant to be and wants to be our greatest comfort. I am grateful for you post. . . and grateful for the relentless love of God that has pursued me and continued to minister to me through the likes of Brian Zahnd, Jimmy Spencer Jr., Shane Claiborne, Andrew Marin, Rob Bell, and many others now. Blessing to you, as together we continue to turn toward the One and share in the wonder of our growing in Love. - PreetamDas',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',0,0),(2052,8016,'Daisy Rain Martin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','207.170.247.18','2012-12-13 14:35:02','2012-12-13 22:35:02','I saw that movie series in church as well. Thank God, no permanent damage here. Unfortunately, not everyone can say that. \r\n\r\nI\'ve read Bell (who hasn\'t?) and I will check out the other names you mentioned. Thank you for your post!\r\n\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:15.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/15.0.1','',2051,0),(2054,8163,'Wendy Heidbrink','wendyheidbrink@yahoo.com','','65.101.79.39','2012-12-17 18:57:04','2012-12-18 02:57:04','Right on, Daisy!  I get so sick of the crap that gets posted on fb and you have hit the nail on the head, so to speak!  Thank you for your eloquence but especially for your frankness in addressing an annoying trend!  I am proud to be a liberal Mormon Christian who believes in tolerance not hate!  You rock, girl!\r\nWendy Heidbrink',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0; BOIE9;ENUSMSE)','',0,0),(2055,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-17 18:58:10','2012-12-18 02:58:10','You are most welcome. Thank you for your post. And I try to love liberally...\r\n\r\n:)\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2053,198),(2056,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-17 19:04:55','2012-12-18 03:04:55','Ah, my Wendy! I appreciate you. I know you love liberally too. \r\n\r\n&lt;3\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2054,198),(2057,8163,'Lisa Osler','leleann54@hotmail.com','','168.103.132.118','2012-12-17 19:16:21','2012-12-18 03:16:21','Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.97 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2058,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-17 19:31:40','2012-12-18 03:31:40','You\'re welcome, welcome, welcome.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2057,198),(2059,8163,'Shannon','schastaine@gmail.com','','67.61.50.64','2012-12-17 21:47:08','2012-12-18 05:47:08','So very well said.  Daisy, you call \'em like you see \'em and I appreciate that!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.7; rv:17.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/17.0','',0,0),(2060,8163,'Dance','Drizzo@cox.net','','68.108.6.69','2012-12-18 06:11:35','2012-12-18 14:11:35','This is the very reason I reached out and called you. Your words always calm me and give me hope. As you are well awhere of, I am not religious I am spirt-ious. My own word to subscribe my beliefs when I am questioned about God. I have never felt there were rules to praying. As for our President, ( who I love) I love that he is a man who shows kindness. His words came across as a parent not a political official . Thank you for your words you gave to me to give personal peace.  Please keep spreading the wisdom of Dausy Rain! \r\nThank you, your friend.\r\nDance',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10A523 Safari/8536.25','',0,0),(2061,8163,'Tim Stafford','tmstafford@ruinstitute.com','','66.193.166.49','2012-12-18 06:18:23','2012-12-18 14:18:23','The problem of sin and its inextricable nature of violence in man has been a part of mankind\'s history since the fall of man and will continue to be a part of man\'s history. Many atrocities have been waged in the name of God and many atrocities have been waged in the name of atheism. The reality of violence as a part of the nature of mankind is a tribute to the fallen nature of man and as many good things as we attempt to accomplish, the reality is that we can not change mans nature. It is an utter tragedy that the most innocent suffer the most egregious acts and it is certainly not what God ever intended, yet He continues to allow us to be what we are - free to choose and free to fail when we choose the wrong things. However the message of Christmas is a message of hope that although our nature in unchangeable and although are choices are at some level atrocious, the power of grace is able to redeem us in spite of ourselves. My prayers are with all of those families who are suffering the most painful of losses and my prayer for them is that they will see themselves through a journey that proves that God will work out all of these things for the good of those who love HIm and are called according to His purpose.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.97 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2062,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-18 07:12:40','2012-12-18 15:12:40','I love what my cousin Sarah posted on my Facebook thread and wanted to share:\r\n\r\nDaisy, I think that the majority of our citizens are simply focused on the dear lives lost in this tragedy and the families that they have left behind. Most people are crying with and praying for the residents of Newtown. I agree that too many people are tempted to use tragedies like this to post “sound bites” in defense of their personal opinions. However, I think that this is probably normal. When we see something that scares us as much as the events of this past Friday, we are reminded that this world is not safe. We are reminded that we are fragile and that at any moment we could lose those who are closest to us. I think that in that moment of fear, Satan speaks to us loud and clear. He reminds us of all the other things we fear the most. If we fear guns, he reminds us of that. If we fear the power that others have over us, he reminds us of that. If we fear a world where human life is not valued, he reminds us of that. Then in our fear and hurt we speak words of fear and hurt. As Tim Stafford was fond of saying, “Hurt people, hurt people.” We will hear many hurtful words in the weeks to come, because we are all hurting. Let us remember that we need to be praying for those close to this tragedy, and those who are speaking too loudly, because they are speaking from their hurt and fear. Let us pray for open ears and clear eyes and imaginative solutions. Let us pray for our leaders that they are able to put aside their own hurt and fear, and look critically at the whole picture. \r\n\r\nDaisy, thank you for your willingness to remind us to think before we speak! Love you!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',0,198),(2063,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-18 07:13:19','2012-12-18 15:13:19','I love your post and have read it about three times. This is true wisdom. Where I am clearly reacting to what I believe to be shortsighted insensitivity at best and flat out stupid, arrogant and hurtful at worst--you are ever proactive and gracious, digesting every word and \"seeing beyond\" so much more quickly than I, offering mercy where I am still trying to sift through my frustration. I stand by the fact that I wish people would think before they speak and before they click. I still have a sense that this type of fodder needs to be shut down. I also believe that people freak out over posts like these because when the church is challenged or criticized from the outside, those inside call it \"persecution\"; when the church is challenged or criticized by someone on the inside, those who speak out against her are often admonished for stirring up dissension or being divisive. Then what? The church can\'t be questioned? Ah... yucky. So, my darling, I want to know what you think about this because you are phenomenally insightful, you always show so much compassion, and I respect your wisdom so much. How is this done? How do we call out the bull caca on something like this that comes from the church? What is this supposed to look like, and how do we play it out in real life? Because when the church becomes repellant (for lack of a better word) to those who are on the outside, and she\'s clueless as to why and is quick to point her finger at those on the \"outside\"--this is a problem. When she is called to heal but causes harm instead, what say we? And how shall we say it?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2062,198),(2064,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-18 07:14:16','2012-12-18 15:14:16','My friend Leslie also weighed in with wisdom:\r\n\r\nThis is a very interesting read, Daisy. I can\'t comment right now as I have to digest it. I\'ve had the most intriguing conversations with a conservative Muslim and \'Modern\' Muslim here and their views on America, our Western Ways.....it\'s amazing how we are perceived over here. It goes much deeper than I can type on this comment. But, they have some very good points and opinions of how we live and also profess to be \"Christians\". They think anyone white is a Christian. So, now I read your words and I need to think about it.....thanks for giving me something to ponder upon....love your heart.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',0,198),(2065,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-18 07:15:24','2012-12-18 15:15:24','Thank you for your pause. I don\'t think there is enough of that. I would love to have the conversation about how Christians and Americans are perceived around the world. Being able to perceive how you are perceived by others is an incredibly critical life skill. And the church seems largely to lack it. I think that comes from centuries of believing that we have tapped into the Source of all Truth and therefore embody all Truth so it follows that everything out of our mouths must be Truth. We operate in a subculture where authority is not questioned and questions are not encouraged. I have been accused of being bitter and harboring unforgiveness in my heart merely for questioning those in power. I am guilty of many things, but those are not two. And this is turning into a great conversation. I love you. What can you offer me in the way of wisdom? I\'m frustrated that there are those in the church who are so oblivious. They exist in a paradigm that is so arrogant and out of touch with the world around them that they have rendered themselves ineffective. No... not ineffective. Effectively repugnant. I know those are strong words but, believe me, the feelings some have in regard to the church are precisely that. How has the church responded to the angst against her? She\'s become somewhat of a victim. She vacillates between lamenting and rejoicing that she\'s \"persecuted\". She complains, but she also \"counts it all joy\", claiming that darkness cannot have any fellowship with light and that is the reason for the scourge from without. I think she\'s just annoying sometimes. And other times I think she\'s dancing naked on the kitchen table with a lamp shade on her head. But as Sarah will remind me, she is still the Bride. And I am her.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2064,198),(2066,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-18 07:17:30','2012-12-18 15:17:30','I call \'em like I see \'em. I do. Sometimes it\'s a good thing. I try to hone my powers for good and not evil, but I truly don\'t even know how to effectively deal with situations like these and people who mean well, but they just don\'t look beyond or have an understanding of where their words will land.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2059,198),(2067,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-18 07:25:16','2012-12-18 15:25:16','Dancer, the sound of your voice on the phone had a soothing effect on me as well. You are a light in my life, and I don\'t get to hold you and love on you nearly enough. I know you are so drawn to kindness--you are one of the kindest people I know. You exude love and compassion, and your heart is breaking at this unfathomable sadness. I have no answers. I know nothing, and I\'m not ashamed to admit that. What can we know of these things? This I know: Christ is kind. And you can trust Him implicitly. He\'s got you. And so do I. With tears in my eyes this morning, I tell you, you are my heart, and I am blessed to walk with you on your journey.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2060,198),(2068,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-18 07:27:47','2012-12-18 15:27:47','...and someday wipe every tear from our eyes. Love you, brother.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2061,198),(2069,8163,'Montana Yankee','montanayank@gmail.com','http://Yousaidit!','184.166.128.29','2012-12-18 07:46:48','2012-12-18 15:46:48','\". . .if others aren’t losing, than I’m not winning.” That,sadly, has become the mantra of so many in the country today. And even worse, it\'s become a justification for nasty vitriol, divisiveness and even violence. \r\nAs always, a well-stated, well-thought-out piece of writing, Ms. Martin.\r\nAnd as for God, I for one,do not believe there is a being who is pulling all the strings and makes bad things happen for inexplicable reasons. Things happen. If my father is in a car accident, I don\'t blame him or God for willfully making it happen. What I believe is God and my father are there to comfort me when the bad things do happen. To give me strength to carry on and to help me look for ways to make things better for myself and others.\r\nKeep up the good work. I am so glad that you are a teacher with the clear-headedness, wisdom and compassion to guide at least some of our children wisely and with humor.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.97 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2070,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-18 08:32:43','2012-12-18 16:32:43','My favorite yankee,\r\n\r\nHonestly, this piece wasn\'t well-thought-out at all--I cranked this out yesterday morning in about 30 minutes before getting in the shower for work because I\'d been grappling with it since about four in the morning. It wasn\'t edited. It was a first draft. I didn\'t even go back and look at it. I posted it to the Provoketive site here as a draft only and wrote to my editor, Jonathan Brink (who I will be writing back today and telling him, \"DUDE! I CAN\'T BELIEVE YOU POSTED THAT WITHOUT FIXING \'EN MASSE\'!\" Haha...) to see if he could tone it down. It had no title, no picture... He wrote me back a few hours later and said, \"I like it. It\'s up now as a feature article.\" So, mistakes and all, it\'s in the books now. He was good enough to name it and find a picture. For that I\'m thankful.\r\n\r\nI am also grateful for the dialogue it\'s created. Some very helpful insight here in this thread, including your own. I appreciate you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2069,198),(2071,8138,'rumitoid','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','24.40.92.247','2012-12-18 11:27:52','2012-12-18 19:27:52','As I read the lines,\r\n\"Kill those f**g Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives\r\nKill those f***g Yankees who ordered them to torture\r\nKill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers\r\nKill them all slowly and painfully\"\r\nmy feet were doing a little two-step as I sat and I could imagine myself and my partner doosey-dooing across the floor at the local Country Western emporium and then I read the line, \"Come on Psy. We can’t dance to that,\" and you can just imagine how embarrassed I felt.  Never would made it on American Bandstand, I guess.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1','',0,0),(2072,8163,'Amy Mitchell','royalfamily12@gmail.com','http://www.unchainedfaith.wordpress.com','74.69.23.179','2012-12-18 19:19:35','2012-12-19 03:19:35','Yes, yes, yes.  I commented on this on Facebook yesterday as well.  What a couple of friends said was that the problem isn\'t that prayer is \"banned\" but that teachers can\'t or won\'t teach morality.  Yet one of my adolescent friends said (and my 9-year-old, who goes to school in the same town, confirmed) that students are taught the Golden Rule from day one.  My son said that the school motto at his building is for students to be \"respectful, caring, life-long learners.\"  What these other parents wanted, as it turned out, was for teachers to tell students that they shouldn\'t watch inappropriate movies/television and shouldn\'t play inappropriate games.  They want teachers to raise the students, not teach them.\r\n\r\nThese friends also tried to say that this country used to be \"God-centered.\" When were we ever that?  When we butchered the natives, hung people for witchcraft, enslaved Africans, marginalized immigrants, and put Japanese Americans in internment camps?  Those things all happened during supposedly \"godly\" times in this country, but I fail to see godliness in those actions.\r\n\r\nMy husband is also a teacher, and I can confirm that he does, indeed, pray during the school day.  He has also *gasp* talked to students about God when they have asked him direct questions.  He has yet to be fired for either of those things.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:17.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/17.0','',0,43),(2073,8163,'daisyrainmartin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://www.daisyrainmartin.com','24.117.96.172','2012-12-19 05:43:41','2012-12-19 13:43:41','I feel like we\'re \"raging against the machine,\". And when I say \"rage\" I don\'t mean that we\'re hostile or hateful. I simply mean that we are standing in opposition to a huge paradigm that mixes their politics with our religion and says, \"\'Murrrica is a CHRISTIAN country!\" which I don\'t believe for one bit. Or \"\'Murrrica is the greatest nation on EARTH!\" Who says? \"Murrricuns\"? We stand in opposition to the fraction of the church (because certainly not all Christians embrace this mindset) that seems to believe that Jesus hung on the cross and bled red, white, and blue and have no use for a more global world view. God is a global thinker, I believe. I don\'t want to be lumped in with those who are unable to distinguish between their religious and political beliefs. But, as I\'ve asked earlier in this thread, how do those of us who reject that brand christianity walk in unity with those who do? I\'m not prepared to say that this person or that person is not a Christian... but when I don\'t embrace what I believe to be errant, how do I still embrace the person? Especially when that person seems perfectly comfortable rejecting me as well as anyone else who doesn\'t jibe with the way they walk out their beliefs?\r\n\r\nIn the context of education, we do help raise some kids whose parents are remiss in raising their own. It\'s not an easy industry to be in, and I often feel as if I have a target on my back--not from intruders, per se, but by a fraction of society who thinks I am to blame for all the social ills of this country.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',2072,198),(2074,8151,'Sarah B','wtwsarahb@yahoo.com','','78.147.159.70','2012-12-19 08:46:39','2012-12-19 16:46:39','Thanks Amy!\r\nI am a UK based Baptist minister, who often struggles with the too common Protestant devaluing of the flesh, even as we celebrate God Incarnate. It has pleased my heart immensely to hear someone else articulate what I often feel - that God has made the world good and we ignore the blessings we receive daily through our senses. \r\nWhat a telling and timely reminder.\r\nJoy, peace and sensory delight to you this Christmas,\r\nSarah',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2075,8151,'Amy Mitchell','royalfamily12@gmail.com','http://www.unchainedfaith.wordpress.com','74.69.23.179','2012-12-19 09:33:43','2012-12-19 17:33:43','Thank you for your kind words!  I hadn\'t realized until talking with our pastor that I had been missing out on some incredible blessings.  I think we sometimes fear that giving in to our senses might make us gluttonous or unappreciative.  But if we focus on why we love what enters our senses, we can keep our focus on God.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:17.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/17.0','',2074,43),(2076,6296,'Randal Copeland','Forex_Capital@rocketmail.com','','209.169.38.98','2012-12-22 02:17:01','2012-12-22 10:17:01','The puritan center of Christianity is covered in Egyptian symbolism. Now... why do you presume that is?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:17.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/17.0','',0,0),(2077,6296,'CassandraToday','ms_jenny_girl@yahoo.com','','76.97.4.171','2012-12-22 10:02:55','2012-12-22 18:02:55','Randal, it\'s because Joseph and Mary and Jesus had to hide out in Egypt when Jesus was a baby. It says so in the Bible, so it must be factual history.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0','',2076,0),(2078,3001,'Fallen missionary','todd.hwhrv@gmail.com','','76.30.38.230','2012-12-24 09:12:51','2012-12-24 17:12:51','Ray,\r\nI believe there is real restoration for the humble, broken man.  Yet, God\'s time table is not ours.  In the past I wanted to rush the process.  Once we let it go completely (ministry) then God began to heal us.  I am grateful for His grace.  I can identify that as I share my story other men are more open to share their sin and struggle.  \r\n\r\nIn so many ways I am more fit for ministry than I ever have been in my life.  We did so many things for the Lord overseas.  Yet my personal life was a disaster.  I pray He gives me, like Jonah, a second chance.\r\nWayward missionary',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/534.57.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.7 Safari/534.57.2','',0,0),(2085,8189,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2013-01-18 09:50:09','2013-01-18 17:50:09','I get that Adam.  I think their character speaks louder off the field than on.  But Tebow has shown exceptional character both on and off the field.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_2) AppleWebKit/536.26.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.2 Safari/536.26.17','',2084,1),(2081,8115,'suzannah | the smitten word','suzannah.paul@gmail.com','http://www.somuchshoutingsomuchlaughter.com/','74.98.55.38','2013-01-02 06:23:28','2013-01-02 14:23:28','one of the biggest things the church can do is to believe people who say they are being abused--even/especially if they are being abused by a respected church member or staffer.\r\n\r\nso many victims/survivors are disbelieved or even blamed in cases of rape and sexual abuse. and we often privileged abusers with out narratives of grace without creating safe spaces, accountability, or room to heal.\r\n\r\nas for tangible help, locally churches participate in a \"suitcases/backpacks for foster kids\" project. so many kids get taken from abusive and neglectful situations with nothing but the clothes on their back--and sometimes less. this project provides practical basics and toys for kids showing someone is looking out for them. congregants can train as court appointed special advocates, too, to help kids or find out from child and family services what kind of needs they can fill.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.97 Safari/537.11','',0,0),(2082,8115,'suzannah | the smitten word','suzannah.paul@gmail.com','http://www.somuchshoutingsomuchlaughter.com/','74.98.55.38','2013-01-02 06:24:45','2013-01-02 14:24:45','with *our* narratives of grace',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/23.0.1271.97 Safari/537.11','',2081,0),(2083,8115,'asocialspirituality','pblankenship@ses.gtu.edu','http://asocialspirituality.wordpress.com','76.90.21.242','2013-01-03 13:26:26','2013-01-03 21:26:26','I could not agree more, Suzannah.  Issues of belief and power are absolutely central to what the Church needs to do in order to respond to child abuse.  Thank you so much for sharing your insight on this very important topic.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_4) AppleWebKit/536.25 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Safari/536.25','',2081,201),(2084,8189,'theoldadam','sma9231961@aol.com','http://theoldadam.com/','72.211.205.249','2013-01-08 13:41:15','2013-01-08 21:41:15','I love that Tebow kid.\r\n\r\nI don\'t like it when athletes point to the sky or pray when they\'ve done something good on the field. I think it makes caricatures out of us and does not help our cause.\r\n\r\nI\'m more the kind that likes to get to know someone, find out their troubles in life, speak a bit about my own to them, and then let that person know what Christ Jesus has done for us...for them.\r\n\r\nI hope Tebow has a great career...somewhere.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_5) AppleWebKit/536.26.14 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.1 Safari/536.26.14','',0,0),(2100,8444,'Steve Allison','stevdor75@charter.net','http://outofthedepths.blogspot.com/','71.80.39.74','2013-03-04 03:41:28','2013-03-04 11:41:28','Greetings from another small town Arkansas boy  (Pocahontas, Rector, and Searcy) now living in Tennessee.  I\'m with you on this.  Sometimes I feel like I\'m living in the Twilight Zone because so many people around me believe what seems to me to be zany, far out, and impossible.  Some of it is fear whipped up by certain media as you said.  And some of the time, they want to believe it, to help prove something their  ego has invested in, I guess.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:19.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/19.0','',0,0),(2087,8243,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','108.201.189.228','2013-01-18 10:01:17','2013-01-18 10:01:17','Did you want to submit this post for publication?  Just submit it for review if so.',0,'editorial-comment','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_2) AppleWebKit/536.26.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.2 Safari/536.26.17','editorial-comment',0,0),(2088,8205,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.101.175','2013-01-20 09:34:07','2013-01-20 17:34:07','All good points, thank you. I got it this way from a friend: \"Nothing is more important than the person you are presently with.\" In whatever capacity we may find ourselves, this is true not only for what we might be able to do for them but also what they might be able to do for us. I was advised to earnestly search for the spirit of what is being said, and that is usually about their state of being and not necessarily about the statement of beliefs. Treat the physical first, then the heart, then the mind. We have no way of knowing exactly what is being asked of us or stated to us without an open ear and mind. Imago dei...\"Christ in all his many  disguises\": this is who I am with, no matter what I may think or believe.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2089,8205,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.101.175','2013-01-20 09:35:43','2013-01-20 17:35:43','Oops, I forgot to confess that my advice is not always there for me when engaged in things I am passionate about. But I am getting better at promptly apologizing.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2090,8205,'Alexander Marshall','alexanderpmarshall@gmail.com','http://apmarshall.wordpress.com','75.69.15.80','2013-01-20 12:09:20','2013-01-20 20:09:20','Thanks, Jerry!\r\n\r\nI think you are definitely right to point to the image of God and of Christ in everyone as a reason why we have to take seriously the immediate needs of the person in front of us, even when those needs conflict with making progress toward our own goals for the church or the individual.  Its hard to balance those two priorities, especially when we are engaged in things we are passionate about.  All we can do is keep trying to learn and to listen.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_2) AppleWebKit/536.26.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.2 Safari/536.26.17','',2089,202),(2099,8461,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.2.67','2013-03-03 20:44:48','2013-03-04 04:44:48','Jeremy,\r\n\r\nI really, really loved this. You did a phenomenal job as always. No one is ever beyond the grasp of God. \r\n\r\nIt should remind us next time we see Westboro Baptist members picketing that we are not called to exchange hatred with them. But we should be reminded that any of them may find the compassion of Christ as well. May it be so. \r\n\r\nThank you again for this article. \r\n\r\nRay',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1_2 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B146 Safari/8536.25','',0,12),(2092,2508,'brambonius','bramc777@hotmail.com','http://bramboniusinenglish.wordpress.com','94.109.71.112','2013-01-23 13:56:10','2013-01-23 21:56:10','I know I\'m late, but I wanted to remark that \'it is not good for man to be alone\' is not gendered in non-english languages, and the words \'man\' being used for \'human\' in english does lead to confusion here . In my dutch bible it would say \'it is not good for the human to be alone\'. Only after the woman arrives the gendered word man is used in the story..',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:18.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/18.0','',634,0),(2093,2508,'Renee Ronika','reneeronika@hotmail.com','http://www.quietanthem.com/','68.98.89.105','2013-01-23 20:38:47','2013-01-24 04:38:47','This is very helpful knowledge, Brambonius. Thank you. Perhaps if the English-language Bible had been better translated, we could have avoided centuries of misunderstanding and misogyny?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/24.0.1312.52 Safari/537.17','',2092,102),(2094,2508,'brambonius','bramc777@hotmail.com','http://bramboniusinenglish.wordpress.com','94.109.71.112','2013-01-24 00:02:11','2013-01-24 08:02:11','There are much more things that can be misunderstood and used for misogyny, , but this particular line of reasoning can only work to those who use the English language. The word used is \'Adam\', which means \'humanity\' or \'human\', and is later used as the name for the man (with \'Eve\' meaning life), but the word is not gendered at all. \r\nSee my blog post here: http://bramboniusinenglish.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/masculine-christianity-is-a-privilege-of-the-english-speaking/',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:18.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/18.0','',2093,0),(2095,8115,'Toby','tobyandkellyarriu@aol.com','','173.16.52.12','2013-01-31 08:31:31','2013-01-31 16:31:31','http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybiFEVTzGBU',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/24.0.1312.56 Safari/537.17','',0,0),(2096,8247,'rumitoid','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.50.144','2013-02-04 07:55:57','2013-02-04 15:55:57','\"...letting replaces getting...\" This says so much. \r\n\r\nIt came to me awhile back that truth was not anything I came to know, hold, and live by. It was not something that I could write down or speak. Pride as much as shame, hope as much as despair, success as much as failure, gain as much as loss, faith as much as doubt were all part of truth. I came to see that paradox was the native tongue of truth, senseless, absurd or insane without experience. \r\n\r\nMy \"spiritual path\" was alcoholism. Like the saint, the addict becomes more and more faithful to the object of their devotion, the revered choice of drink or drug (or wealth or power or fame or other worldly pursuits). \r\nLike the saint, the addict becomes less and less interested and attached to other things in their world. He or she will lose their car, house, teeth, family, and reputation yet never despair of or turn away from this “Beloved.” \r\nLike the saint, when--if--the addict finally reaches a bottom, he or she is almost zenfully clean of worldly trappings. The addict has found renunciation through over-indulgence, non-attachment through over-dependence: a reverse Zen yet nonetheless saintlike discovery about true freedom.\r\nYet in one aspect, the saint and the addict are the same: both are self-destructive (only the addict has a more literal interpretation of this vital spiritual practice).\r\n\r\n Ego appears to have a built-in obsolescence that worldly values look instead to repair. In essence, we are designed to fail in all of our earthly affairs. This is our Awful Mercy. It is the opportunity for our greatest freedom and deepest joy. But what has been made of us by the world says No. Surrender is not an option.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2097,8245,'rumitoid','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','71.36.50.144','2013-02-04 08:24:49','2013-02-04 16:24:49','Funny. Editing is by far my biggest problem in my process. Everytime I sit down in an attempt to make it clearer and more precise, to chip away the excess, I end up with pages and pages more, with maybe three renditions of six or seven paragraphs that I equally like, besides notes jotted everywhere and new files started on subjects oblique to my main points. A hoarder. \r\n\r\nMy first experience with an editor was in \'91, a magazine in New England called \"Patterns.\" It was just a collection of what I felt were incredibly insightful pity sayings that would change any soul that read them and eventually the world. They were accepted with enthusiasm and published without any discussion. As I wrote it, this incredibly insightful pitthy saying should have read, \'Surrender, not self-improvement.\" What was published was the opposite of my intent: \"Surrender not self-improvement.\" \r\n\r\nRecently, I sent an unorganized collection of writing (the other part of editing I don\'t get, which probably disqualifies me as claiming \"Writer\") by invitation to a respected voice in the spiritual community that had his own publishing company. It seemed more than abundantly plain to me that when I wrote about \"the Little Child,\" which I was certain he would recognize from the verse in the Bible, \"Turn, and become as little children,\" it would be understood in its metaphorical meaning. It was not. \"I\'m done with this guy,\" was my righteously indignant thought. I never followed up. Er, maybe I was too hasty.\r\n\r\nI have been working on a book for twenty-nine years. That should tell you a lot about my editing prowess.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2101,8444,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','166.205.55.31','2013-03-04 09:51:08','2013-03-04 17:51:08','Hey Steve,\n\nThanks for the comment. That\'s a great point about ego. I suppose there comes a point too where someone just invests so much that they can\'t give it up or it is hard to alter their world view. For that matter, I guess that\'s true of most of us. \n\nGood to hear from a fellow Arkansan.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1_2 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B146 Safari/8536.25','',2100,12),(2109,8472,'Adam Rauscher','Youthministry@crescentonline.org','','24.0.50.242','2013-03-26 08:43:16','2013-03-26 15:43:16','The opening description of the blatant apathy youth ministry faces was great to read. It made me feel less alone. \r\n\r\nOn the question of relevance, many religious people with a conservative bent confuse the medium with the message. Christian theology has been successful for nearly 2000 years; it doesn\'t need to be updated. However, there is a long history of updating the delivery method. Jesus did not speak in English, yet we do not require Christians to learn Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic. We have no record of His singing hymns and the organ had not been invented yet, but these are considered part of the \"traditional\" worship service. Most of the hymns we sing were written more than 1000 years after His ministry. \r\n\r\nGiven this, why do we balk at using email, twitter, or YouTube? If there are objections to the content, that is a valid concern. Some media will affect the content detrimentally. Composing a theologically sound tweet is very difficult. However, if we resist newfangled styles and art forms, we risk losing the next Sistine Chapel or Bach mass or Guttenberg Bible. Just being able to search the BIble electronically is a huge improvement and one students get behind.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3','',0,0),(2103,8461,'Daisy Rain Martin','daisydaisychick@yahoo.com','http://Lovethis...','184.76.1.79','2013-03-12 12:05:21','2013-03-12 19:05:21','I loved this too... Very brave pilgrims, indeed. \r\n\r\nDaisy Rain',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_5_8) AppleWebKit/534.50.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.6 Safari/533.22.3','',0,0),(2104,8243,'Kristen Rosser','kristenrosser@hotmail.com','http:///krwordgazer.blogspot.com','75.145.77.153','2013-03-20 10:08:23','2013-03-20 17:08:23','Thank you for this.  I\'ve been suspecting this to be the case, which is why I have not boycotted chocolate companies despite the voices that insist I\'m a bad person for not doing so.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/25.0.1364.172 Safari/537.22','',0,0),(2105,8245,'kiva','kiva@themindfulword.org','http://www.themindfulword.org','27.34.75.214','2013-03-20 20:36:44','2013-03-21 03:36:44','Wow, 29 years huh? That\'s quite an epic piece of work! Yup, editing can be quite baffling. I find what helps me is to just know that I\'m not perfect, will never attain perfection and to just let go and do with what is. In the end if I get something that\'s good enough and gets the point across I\'m fine with that.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/25.0.1364.172 Safari/537.22 AlexaToolbar/alxg-3.1','',2097,176),(2106,8247,'kiva','kiva@themindfulword.org','http://www.themindfulword.org','27.34.75.214','2013-03-20 20:54:20','2013-03-21 03:54:20','Thanks for the insightful comment. That\'s a really good point about addicts and saints. Both are paths of destruction. A good, Shiva kind of destruction!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/25.0.1364.172 Safari/537.22 AlexaToolbar/alxg-3.1','',2096,176),(2108,8472,'Sarah B','wtwsarahb@yahoo.com','','2.99.122.220','2013-03-25 09:43:16','2013-03-25 16:43:16','Good meaty stuf here! On the relevance issue; the US context is different to the UK context, however, it is a truth universally acknowledged that kids can spot fakes a mile off. So, if you like classical music and read detective fiction, don\'t pretend to be a fan of Green Day and the Twilight series, but make sure you keep enough tabs on contemporary culture that you at least know what they\'re talking about. OR go completely the other way, deny all knowledge but ask what it is that attracts them to that music/book/tv show/ computer game and build links for parallel things in your life.\r\nEven in a UK setting, I found Mark Yaconelli\'s book \'Contemplative Youth Ministry\' really challenged me about how I did my work. Contemplation really does not seem very cool or relevant, but every group I tried it with found ways to engage with silent reflection. It may also, if those running the adult programme get them to engage with it, help with the transition into regularly worshipping with the rest of the congregation...\r\nMight come back to add more on other subjects when I\'m not up to my eyeballs researching for an essay on the imprecatory prayers of Jeremiah!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2110,8472,'Alexander Marshall','alexanderpmarshall@gmail.com','http://apmarshall.wordpress.com','128.36.99.193','2013-03-26 09:30:29','2013-03-26 16:30:29','Thanks for your comment, Sarah!  Appreciate you taking time out of paper writing to read this and respond!  I\'m wading into researching Paul\'s theology of the Lord\'s Supper for a paper myself, understand the academic time crunch well (and its Holy Week on top of it all!).\n\nYou are definitely right to point out that our answers to the \"relevance\" question will be, in some sense, dependent on our context.  Which is part of what relevance is about!  I like the idea of turning the issue around, asking youth to explain what they find meaningful about the things that interest them.\n\nYour second thought is also really interesting.  I think challenging youth to engage with a practice that is \"out of the ordinary\" for them can be really helpful to their spiritual development.  Thanks for a great example of that!  And good luck on the Jeremiah paper!  Look forward to hearing more of your thoughts when you get the chance/need another study break!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_2) AppleWebKit/536.26.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.2 Safari/536.26.17','',2108,202),(2111,8472,'Alexander Marshall','alexanderpmarshall@gmail.com','http://apmarshall.wordpress.com','128.36.99.193','2013-03-26 09:34:50','2013-03-26 16:34:50','Thanks for commenting, Adam!  I\'m glad the article spoke to you.  Youth ministry can be lonely work, but you aren\'t alone.\n\nI think you are spot on about the inevitability of the \"medium\" being updated with time.  Great point made there!  Of course we have to be mindful of the way changing the medium can and does change the message, but we also have to communicate the message in a way that is accessible to our society in the present world.  Its an interesting balance that has to be struck.  Thanks for your thoughts, look forward to hearing more!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_2) AppleWebKit/536.26.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.2 Safari/536.26.17','',2109,202),(2112,8472,'Polly Pierce','pollyp2167@gmail.com','','209.243.1.239','2013-03-28 08:17:45','2013-03-28 15:17:45','Alexander, \r\n\r\nAs I was reading your post, all I could think was, \"it would be so much fun to sit down with this guy over a cup of coffee and dialog about youth ministry!\"\r\n\r\nA little bit about myself, and my views: I am new to youth ministry, 18 months to be exact.  Not only am I new at this, but I am also doing children\'s ministry as well in our church.  I love each of these ministries, and so honored to have the opportunity to do both (I think that is a completely different conversation to be had!). In the past 18 months, I have decided to simply lead with Christ!  \r\n\r\nI could write a paper probably on each of your proposed questions...so many thoughts, but just a few I will mention. \r\n1) relevance vs. non-relevant: depending on your kids, I think it is completely fine to do both. Kids need to have nonsensical fun, as well as guidance and shepherding. Whats wrong with doing both? Technology can be used - especially if people have done the work already for you, i.e. you tube videos, created lesson plans, games, etc. But this doesn\'t exempt you from still preparing and making it fit your kids. Its when these technologies take over in your ministry, that it becomes a problem. \r\n2) Where do we put the kids? IN THE SERVICE!!! Yes, lets all face it, every Sunday\'s service isn\'t a home run - the adults are even board some time, but that doesn\'t stop us from sending them to their own room?  If you are worried about kids becoming disengaged during the service, then look to how to engage them - show a video, have them help with projections, include them - they have two hand, two feet and a brain - they can help too!\r\n3) Who\'s going to lead it? How did you know exactly what I am going through? I am an organized being, who knows how she likes things done, and so usually does it on her own.  But I have found, this doesn\'t work! I have a youth committee that is awesome. I am working to be transparent with them, letting them know all that is going on.  I have also been challenged by my senior pastor to change my language with them to get them to do more things. I will get back to you on this one. \r\n4) Evangelize vs safe place/ friends? I like to look at this in a different light - try looking at it as creating disciples or shepherding youth. There is definitely a time for lounging and chilling, but there is also time for instruction. Jesus didn\'t just sip wine with his disciples all of the time.  In a previous job, the catch phrase was, \"teachable moments\".  We are called to live in community. \r\n5) Theology vs. Ethics? How about Jesus? I grew up Baptist, and now work at a Lutheran church - two sides of the spectrum theologically. It has been a challenge, but I believe during this time, God has stretched me in my own faith.  I think there is a time and place for theology, but to intensively focus on it, I would disagree with....I have read a couple blogs about this question as well. There many organizations out there teaching kids good ethics and morals, which is all good. But if we don\'t teach Jesus, then our kids aren\'t going to know Jesus. \r\n6) Certainty vs doubt? I come back to shepherding and walking with our youth. Educate them, but also challenge them. \r\n7) How do we do that at our church?  I think it is the hardest question to answer.  What works at one church, maynot work at another. SO FRUSTRATING!!! All I can say to this is, Go with God, let him lead the way. Take small steps, lay out a plan of attack, don\'t be afraid to fail, its not about the program you are doing, but building relationships with the people involved. Pray!\r\n\r\nSorry I was so long winded!!  Peace to you!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:19.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/19.0','',0,0),(2114,8565,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.102.141','2013-03-29 22:37:56','2013-03-30 05:37:56','Sick drama, as if drama on its own wasn\'t sick enough.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2115,8565,'Rao Jahanzaib Saeed','raojahanzaibsaeed@gmail.com','','182.173.72.254','2013-03-29 23:44:08','2013-03-30 06:44:08','Jerry Lynch. Every one has their own opinion :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/25.0.1364.172 Safari/537.22','',0,206),(2116,8472,'Alexander Marshall','alexanderpmarshall@gmail.com','http://apmarshall.wordpress.com','75.69.15.80','2013-03-31 09:49:32','2013-03-31 16:49:32','Thanks so much for your comment, Polly!  Would love to talk more about youth ministry, if you are ever in Connecticut let me know!\n\nI think you are exactly right in your call for a balance to be struck on most of these questions.  I think you are also exactly right to say that churches should be looking for ways to engage with youth in their worship service and thereby invite them to take part in worship with the community rather than separating them out from it.\n\nI also think you are onto something about the necessity and challenge of working with a team.  If you come up with any great insights on how to deal with that, please let the rest of us know!\n\nFinally, your last point is great!  \"Take small steps, lay out a plan of attack, don’t be afraid to fail, its not about the program you are doing, but building relationships with the people involved. Pray!\"  Amazing advice!  Thanks for that.\n\nPeace to you and Happy Easter!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_2) AppleWebKit/536.26.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.2 Safari/536.26.17','',2112,202),(2117,8565,'logeetha','logeetha08@hotmail.com','','219.92.22.66','2013-04-04 01:48:03','2013-04-04 08:48:03','(Y) and Jerry Lynch every one has their own opinion indeed.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:19.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/19.0','',0,0),(2118,4431,'Andrew Kukla','awkukla@gmail.com','','24.117.84.231','2013-04-09 22:14:13','2013-04-10 05:14:13','Wow - never replied to your question. (Don\'t even bother with how I\'m just now realizing this.)  My apologies.  Better late than never?\r\n\r\nI would respond in 2 ways.  First is to argue that apocalyptic eschatology is less about telling the future as literal history-to-be than it is painting a divine world view aimed at inspiring current change of heart in line with God\'s desires for God\'s people.  (Because we imagine such-and-such to be the case you should act now in such a way that your life is in line with this end result.)\r\n\r\nSecondly, its probably very important to note that neither the sheep nor the goats are aware of their wrong/right living.  The text itself resists judgement from any but the Human One, even self-judgment.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.31 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/26.0.1410.43 Safari/537.31','',1182,0),(2220,8607,'Tim McCollum','tim@timmccollum.com','http://www.timmccollum.com','107.5.180.211','2013-06-13 18:08:41','2013-06-14 01:08:41','Thanks for your comment, Kristen.  I hope you check in often. You can also follow me @ timmccollum.com.  Grace and Peace be with you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_4) AppleWebKit/536.30.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.5 Safari/536.30.1','',2219,204),(2120,3001,'Andrew','myfastballrises@gmail.com','','161.149.63.162','2013-04-11 18:21:28','2013-04-12 01:21:28','Ray, I admire your courage in confessing your shortcomings.  And I am certain that many \"fallen\" former pastors need to hear your empathy and sympathy as they recover from their sin.  \r\n\r\nI\'ve read your blog and the comments.  But I disagree with the premise that a pastor who has committed adultery can be restored to ministry.  Ministry is not a right; it\'s a privilege that can be lost.  \r\n\r\nThere is no place in Scripture that says the call the church leadership is irrevocable.  In fact, it can be lost.  If it could not be lost, then Paul would not have set forth the qualifications for overseers and deacons (1 Tim 3).  Judas Iscariot was once called by Jesus to be one of The Twelve.  Judas forfeited that privilege.  Paul was keenly aware that preachers could be disqualified from that calling (1 Cor 9:27).  And Jesus had a dire warning for those causing another person to sin (Lk 17:1-3).  These are but a few of the pieces of Scripture\'s standards for those aspiring to church leadership.  \r\n\r\nAnd to the verses you cited (John 8:1-11), they relate to forgiveness of sin, not to restoration of ministry after self-disqualification.  I know that God has forgiven you.  And more power to you and thank God for your wife\'s love and grace and forgiveness.  I hope that all \"fallen\" pastors experience the support that you have.  \r\n\r\nBut forgiveness and restoration to church leadership are not one and the same.  Your salvation is intact, but not your calling to lead the church again.  I have a seminary degree (and a law degree) and so I can say this: it doesn\'t take a rocket scientist to lead the church.  Pastors do not need to be brilliant.  But they need to be faithful and obedient.  A pastor loses his qualifications to lead the church by adultery.  We respect our pastors not because they are geniuses, but because they obey God.  They are to be imitators of Christ.  \r\n\r\nThere was a reason why Billy Graham categorically refused to be with any woman that was not his wife.  The Reverend Graham\'s practices became policy in what is still known as the \"Billy Graham\" Rule.  It may be challenging at times to adhere to it, but certainly not impossible.  \r\n\r\nAnd for the pastors who have been \"restored\" to ministry by their congregations and who believe that they are now even MORE qualified to minister after they committed adultery, it is written that the heart is \"deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?\" (Jer 17:9).  Our subjective rationalizations about our sin do not supersede God\'s objective hatred for sin.  \r\n\r\nI know that you have thought about and struggled with this issue more than I have.  And I thank you for keeping an open mind and permitting me to post this comment and for being willing to engage in dialogue about this matter.  I am not writing this intending to change your perspective about \"post-fall\" ministry.  \r\n\r\nBut I do not understand how \"post-fall\" ministry can be rationalized when Scripture and common sense indicate otherwise.  To rationalize a \"fallen\" minister\'s restoration back to the pulpit is contrary to the Word of God and denigrates the call to ministry and diminishes the obedience of the many pastors who minister faithfully to their flock and families.  \r\n\r\nRay, may God bless you and your family.  May your life and marriage prosper.  If we never meet in person this side of eternity, we will in the next.  Thank you for hearing me out.  \r\n\r\nAndrew',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:19.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/19.0','',0,0),(2121,3001,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.185.28','2013-04-11 18:50:28','2013-04-12 01:50:28','Andrew,\n\nThank you for stopping by. I always appreciate a reasoned response. You raise good points. Take care and God bless. \n\nRay',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B329 Safari/8536.25','',2120,12),(2198,8917,'intelligent review','moggys-galore@hotmail.co.uk','','149.241.21.163','2013-05-16 01:40:19','2013-05-16 08:40:19','intelligent review',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0','',0,0),(2199,8602,'william hamel','pereznata2@gmail.com','http://nwc.edu/web/guest/mtb-william-hamel','190.147.6.87','2013-05-16 14:09:00','2013-05-16 21:09:00','The church needs the faith of the people to continue guiding and supporting new people who want to belong to the church and find the faith they need to achieve their life projects.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/537.31 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/26.0.1410.64 Safari/537.31','',0,0),(2123,3001,'Andrew','myfastballrises@gmail.com','','99.95.100.243','2013-04-11 20:18:54','2013-04-12 03:18:54','Ray, \r\n\r\nI do believe that God is using you to minister to other similarly situated former pastors.  AND ... I also believe that with your experiences and heart for the \"fallen,\" you can pray much more effectively for us who are in ministry and need to continually safeguard our marriages.  \r\n\r\nAll red-blooded male pastors are vulnerable to temptation.  Plainly, if it happened to you, then it can happen to me.  But it won\'t happen to me if I listen and learn from you.  Even if you never preach from a pulpit again, I would come to hear a seminar you give to pastors about the pitfalls of ministry.  \r\n\r\nSo hang in there.  And please continually for the rest of us to be faithful.  We need it.  We\'re not any different than you are.  May God show you your new calling.  \r\n\r\nAndrew K. Wong\r\nmyfastballrises@gmail.com',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.4; en-us; ADR6300 Build/GRJ22) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1','',2121,0),(2124,3001,'David','survivorsguidetolife@gmail.com','','98.199.195.20','2013-04-12 07:34:31','2013-04-12 14:34:31','Ray,\r\n\r\nAlthough eloquently said, I disagree with Andrew and I believe his law degree has colored his ministry... guilty or innocent. The guilty pay; the innocent move on with their lives. Of course, that is not at all what the gospel is about. \r\n\r\nYes, there are verses of Scripture that urge the church to choose pastors strong in faith and character... of course! It would be foolish to put a new believer or someone of questionable character in a position of overseeing the church. But that isn\'t what we are talking about. Your blog is not about \"tips for a pulpit search committee\" but about the ministry of a man who has made a tragic mistake. \r\n\r\nNowhere in Scripture does it say a sinful mistake disqualifies a pastor. That is the conclusion of sinful man. Paul\'s comment about beating his body so that he wouldn\'t be disqualified for the prize isn\'t some legalistic mandate that a sin disqualifies a pastor or anyone else from serving his calling. And that is what it is, a calling from Almighty God. It is neither a \"right\" NOR a \"privilege.\"\r\n\r\nThe Bible is filled with flawed characters God used. Did they pay a price for their failures? Sure. Were they disqualified from service? No.\r\n\r\nThe truth is, a sin does not disqualify a man from ministry in the eyes of God. Only other men do that. (And why stop with adultery? How about a little coveting, or anger, been quarrelsome with the deacons lately?, lover of money, or gluttony...should a man be disqualified from ministry because he leads the flock to get another piece of pie at the picnic? We wouldn\'t have any pastors left! )  \r\n\r\nI do believe, however, it is difficult, if not impossible, for a man who committed adultery to return to the pulpit. There is no scriptural basis for that, but definitely a practical one, or one of \"common sense.\" The trust bond is broken and cannot be completely restored, making pastoral ministry virtually impossible. Plus, there are enough people out there like minded with Andrew that building a viable ministry would be difficult, indeed. I think the few that attempt it would have to focus their ministry on struggling, un-churched people who are not terribly concerned about what does or doesn\'t \"disqualify\" someone .... what a concept!\r\n\r\nBlessings. Keep the faith.\r\n\r\nDavid',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.8; rv:20.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/20.0','',0,0),(2125,3001,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.9.177','2013-04-12 11:12:49','2013-04-12 18:12:49','David,\n\nYou have seen the crux of the issue I think. I agree with you friend. But don\'t be too hard on our friend Andrew. He has a lot of energy and love for God. Reminds me of me back in the day. \n\nGreat insights by everyone. Everyone is welcome to their opinion.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B329 Safari/8536.25','',2124,12),(2126,3001,'David','Survivorsguidetolife@gmail.com','','98.199.195.20','2013-04-12 11:18:51','2013-04-12 18:18:51','My opinion is all I\'m offering my friend. As to being hard on Andrew, was I any harder on him than he was on you? Telling a man his calling and career is forever over is pretty hard if you ask me.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 6_1_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B329 Safari/8536.25','',2125,0),(2127,3001,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.9.177','2013-04-12 11:33:10','2013-04-12 18:33:10','David,\r\n\r\nI was going for a little tongue in cheek. Yeah, he wrapped his truth in a brick and tossed it. But like I said, his biblical viewpoint matches mine pre-fall. I still believe my viewpoint now is biblical, just that I step back a little to see the trees.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B329 Safari/8536.25','',2126,12),(2189,8860,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','75.161.122.86','2013-05-10 07:15:18','2013-05-10 14:15:18','I would suggest fellowship meetings of a nature similar to AA meetings. Almost any typical AA meeting naturally includes confession and testimony. It is not a bake sale or potluck or Bible study. Mostly it is about brokenness and the solution. I feel that small, tightlyknit congregations are vital to re-invigorate the church, as practiced in AA. Service to others is heavily emphasized, the primary purpose. We are to be of maximum service to others through a direct and loving relationship with God. \r\n\r\nBeing \"saved\" and knowing Scripture and being seen as a true Christian often act to inhibit honest relationships. Love is the whole purpose of truth. For that love to come forth requires entering into actual relationships with people. For the meetings to work, they must be a \"come as you are\" gathering. For the meetings to work, there are no experts or quick scripture-fixing. For the meetings to work, they must be heart to heart communication, not doctrine and teaching. Christ gave us a spirit of action, not a system of belief.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2168,8834,'Mary DeMuth (@MaryDeMuth)','mary@marydemuth.com','http://www.marydemuth.com','99.16.150.114','2013-04-29 15:05:23','2013-04-29 22:05:23','Thank you for reviewing the cookbook!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.7; rv:20.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/20.0','',0,0),(2200,8905,'zaheer khokhar','zaheerkhokhar@hotmail.com','','182.178.130.208','2013-05-17 02:53:28','2013-05-17 09:53:28','beauitfully summariezed \r\nrao jounier .',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/24.0.1312.57 Safari/537.17','',0,0),(2211,3001,'Brenton','brentlou@gmail.com','','41.3.90.89','2013-06-10 17:38:26','2013-06-11 00:38:26','I interesting forum. I got saved aged 8, preached my first sermon in Sunday school aged 13, baptised at 19, youth leader with a powerful revival aged 20 to 24, then entered full time business till age 30, then started preaching Sundays and continued for 5 years. No moral sin, single, no drugs, alcohol, a virgin and unmarried and sold out to God all this time. THEN - Spiritual abuse and manipulation by pastor, cult - like control over my life, unbelievable dual pressure from work and church. I resigned all church leadership, ceased public ministry and for 4 years, and sought out the very worst forms of sin I could find- sex with prostitutes, opiate addiction, strip clubs. I never thought it could happen to me. You don\'t know how fragile you are until you get hit hard, and repeatedly. I have since rededicated my life to Jesus, He didn\'t hurt me, a deceived man did. But He never gave up on me and His calling on my life. He stayed faithful and I believe I will again return to public ministry, if only to share His incredible, faithful, unconditional love. Who are we to judge another man\'s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And in the end, he shall stand. Blessings, Brent.',0,'1','Opera/9.80 (Android 4.0.3; Linux; Opera Tablet/ADR-1301080958) Presto/2.11.355 Version/12.10','',0,0),(2207,8993,'Ed','ed@inpulsearts.com','http://www.inpulsearts.com/Word','70.180.185.188','2013-06-05 16:07:19','2013-06-05 23:07:19','Let me say that I am not opposed to gay people at all. I am a Christian and have faults of my own, and I am not into any kind of \"activist\" movement. As long as the gay lifestyle doesn\'t come into a clash with my own lifestyle, then I am fine with it. But here\'s the problem I face: unless the meaning of homosexuality today is way different from the biblical meaning of homosexuality, then we Christians today are supposed to be totally against it, and while we don\'t always have to be vocal about it, we can\'t tiptoe around the subject either. There are both psychological problems as well as moral problems with homosexuality. Not always, but sometimes. The recent explosion of homosexuality activities, as well as news of actors/actresses/sports figures coming out is an indication of how serious the problem is: gay people generally want to attract attention to themselves. . I often wonder \"why?\" For the most part, nobody cares that a basketball star is gay, no one cares if a movie/tv star is gay. Being gay...being Christian...when it comes down to it, it doesn\'t do anything outwardly. It\'s all an internal thing. When you cry out out that you live a different lifestyle all it does is bring you the 15 minutes of fame, after that, it fizzles. Without sounding condemning; claiming to be a \"Gay Christian\" is a shot at hypocriticism. Just as being a Liberal Christian is another shot at hypocriticism. Listen, when did Paul ever say \"I have the right to do anything, because everything is beneficial. \"I have the right to do anything\"--but not everything is constructive.\"? \r\nI agree...gay Christians are not perfect, and they do exemplify the \"Not perfect\" without actually doing so, which is a slap in the face for so many straight Christians. But they are just like so many other Christians in that they DO tend to push their worldly identity in front of their heavenly identity.\r\nI just strongly believe it\'s time for Christians...ALL Christians, to do away with titles. If you ARE in Christ, then you have the mind of Christ, and you ACT like Christ. I WILL ALWAYS refer to a Brother or Sister in Christ as being Christian. Nothing more matters to me.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2173,8090,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.6.40','2013-05-02 10:44:01','2013-05-02 17:44:01','Great stuff! Why am I only now reading this? I think a strong stand is very appropriate, especially since most denominations have taken such a weak approach to the issue. \r\n\r\nWhen it gets down to it, protecting our children is not just a spiritual issue, its a legal issue as well. The church has been weak on this and some denominations are just now seeing this.\r\n\r\nYou are welcome to guest blog at my site anytime, Daisy!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:20.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/20.0','',0,12),(2212,3001,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.16.55','2013-06-10 19:09:06','2013-06-11 02:09:06','Brent,\n\nThank you for sharing. Times can be difficult and I am sorry you suffered. May God bless you and may you trust in Him.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B329 Safari/8536.25','',2211,12),(2213,5296,'Autumn','cathvyse@aol.com','http://weavingsoflife.wordpress.com/','212.219.149.3','2013-06-11 06:23:08','2013-06-11 13:23:08','I really relate to your post. There is so much good stuff that flows through Metallica\'s lyrics which, as a Christian, I relate to. I love Unforgiven 1, 2 &amp; 3 which, if you really listen, charts a journey of healing and redemption, from \"Never Free, Never Me, So I dub thee UNFORGIVEN\"  to \"How can I be lost? In remembrance I relive. And how can I blame you. When it\'s me I can\'t forgive? \"\r\nThanks for your insightful post :)\r\nAutumn x',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.31 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/26.0.1410.64 Safari/537.31','',0,0),(2208,8993,'Tim McCollum','tim@timmccollum.com','http://www.timmccollum.com','107.5.180.211','2013-06-06 13:23:17','2013-06-06 20:23:17','First, let me thank you for reading my article and for taking the time to share your thoughts and beliefs about this issue. As I wrote in my article, this issue requires humility and a great capacity to love in all of us. And it’s with this in mind that I’d like to respond to your comments.\n\nI believe there are millions of people who might feel the same way you do if they were not gay.\n\nQuestion is, what exactly is a “gay” lifestyle? What exactly is “straight” lifestyle? I agree with your notion that it would be nice if Christians would just be “Christians.” But there are at least two problems with this notion: First, it denigrates the genuine reality of concrete human existence. We are more than just amorphous persons—we are white, black, gay, straight, Greek, Roman, male, female, American, Russian, smart, stupid—and these roles can be rightly used with the word “Christian.” Second, the reason Gay Christian is being used as a term in the first place is because of discrimination and exclusion by most Christians. The label is necessary as long as Christians continue to express hostility towards the gay community. Gay people are not narcissists, and they are not looking for attention—they are seeking social justice, equality under the law, social rights and benefits. The recent “explosion” of gay “activities” is due to greater social acceptance—not a sign of a problem. Homosexuality is not a fad, a disease, or a trend—it\'s a deep-seated aspect of millions of human beings with dignity who are seeking to be given the same rights and social benefits as others. Over 78 large, blind, reputable studies conducted by unbiased psychological and social science experts have shown that there are no inherent psychological problems or deficiencies with gay people as gay per se. You can easily Google \"gay mental health\" and see for your self.  Additionally, many of the problems some gay people encounter can be traced to social discrimination. Homosexuality is a naturally occurring variation, not an illness or misadaptation.\n\nFinally, I would ask, what interpretive principles do you use for your understanding of Scripture? Since the word “homosexuality” was not invented until at least 100 years ago, and it was not printed in the Bible until the 1946 RSV, and there is no Greek or Hebrew equivalent for this word, it’s reasonable to understand that Paul was probably not referring specifically to homosexuality as we culturally understand the word today. The theologian Cornelius Plantinga defines sin as the “culpable disruption of shalom.” This fits hermeneutically more precisely with Paul’s meaning (in the phrase you used) than incorrectly using it to elevate homosexuality as a “sin” above other sins. The Bible really does not fully address the topic of homosexuality. Jesus never talked about it. The prophets never talked about it. In Sodom homosexual activity is mentioned within the context of rape (raping angels nonetheless), and in Romans 1:24-27 we find it mentioned within the context of idolatry (Baal worship) involving lust and dishonorable passions. 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 talk about homosexual activity in the context of prostitution and possibly pederasty. Nowhere does the Bible talk about a loving and committed homosexual relationship. The only thing the authors of the Bible knew about homosexuality was that which they saw expressed in the pagan worship of Baal, the temple prostitution, et cetera. If we follow the flawed logic and eisegesis of the literalist’s interpretation of these passages, we could also conclude that David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba is an indictment of heterosexual sex and marriage.\n\nAs to my liberal hypocrisy, I just sound like a liberal Christian because I believe hurricanes are caused by high barometric pressure and not gay marriage.  True hypocrisy, however, lies with those who after encountering Jesus, still feel He is not Christian enough for them.\n\nThanks again for reading my article and I hope you check in often. You can also follow me on my blog, \"the art of pew sitting\" (timmccollum.com).  Grace and Peace be with you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_3) AppleWebKit/536.29.13 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.4 Safari/536.29.13','',2207,204),(2147,8783,'Ian Morgan Cron','iancron@gmail.com','http://IanMorganCron','69.180.239.236','2013-04-18 18:36:05','2013-04-19 01:36:05','Hi Jake, \r\n\r\nI just wanted to thank you for taking the time to read and write a review my book. I\'m grateful.\r\n\r\nCheers,\r\n\r\nIan',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_3) AppleWebKit/536.29.13 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.4 Safari/536.29.13','',0,0),(2148,8783,'Jake Kampe','wjkampe@comcast.net','http://www.nakedtheologytalk.blogspot.com','98.196.167.195','2013-04-18 19:30:54','2013-04-19 02:30:54','You\'re very welcome, Ian. Thank you for hooking me up with Katie for a copy. I enjoyed reading it again. Let me know when the next trip is to Assisi!  I\'m there!  Peace &amp; Blessings!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:20.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/20.0','',2147,67),(2209,8993,'jerry lynch','lynch.gerard@yahoo.com','','97.119.163.136','2013-06-10 08:21:40','2013-06-10 15:21:40','Wnnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful. I cannot thank you enough for both the blog and your comments. This is the first time in this ongoing discussion where I experienced being grounded, not up in the air (euphemism for truly confused) on this issue. I have taken the liberty of copying your words and would like your permission to send them to friends as well as quote you, with a proper cite, in other forums on this topic. What a relief.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)','',0,0),(2210,8993,'Tim McCollum','tim@timmccollum.com','http://www.timmccollum.com','107.5.180.211','2013-06-10 10:13:54','2013-06-10 17:13:54','Thanks for your comments, Jerry.  You may have my permission.  I hope, however, this is not a substitute for your own, personal wrestling and study about his issue.  May grace and piece be with you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_4) AppleWebKit/536.30.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.5 Safari/536.30.1','',0,204),(2176,8860,'Cindy Holman','cindysmusicstudio@comcast.net','http://cindyholman.com','76.121.202.91','2013-05-08 17:36:12','2013-05-09 00:36:12','Ray - it\'s a great idea.  Let\'s do it!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.8; rv:20.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/20.0','',0,0),(2156,8725,'Lori C','revloricotten@yahoo.com','','76.6.197.9','2013-04-24 13:20:05','2013-04-24 20:20:05','I love this poem! I\'m the coward.  I\'m the seeker, wanderer kneeling at the foot of the Throne, asking Jesus to help me to stand up for what I believe in... asking Jesus to help me to stand alone... except, perhaps, for Him.\r\n\r\nThank you, Joy!  Awesome!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 6_1_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/10B329 [FBAN/FBIOS;FBAV/5.6;FBBV/144493;FBDV/iPad2,1;FBMD/iPad;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/6.1.3;FBSS/1; FBCR/;FBID/tablet;FBLC/en_US;FBOP/0]','',0,0),(2157,8725,'Joy Wilson','joyleewilson@gmail.com','http://joyleewilson.org','65.13.98.197','2013-04-24 15:02:21','2013-04-24 22:02:21','Lori, I think Paul, Peter, and Martin Luther King were no different than us in their internal battles, yet lived out their faith publically.  I\'m reminded that God looks at the heart, but calls for action.  God help us all!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)','',2156,35),(2222,3372,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.22.18','2013-07-18 22:10:38','2013-07-19 05:10:38','Good thoughts going on here. Of course, Jesus said in Matthew 20: \"But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”\r\n\r\nYou\'re right on a very important level. We often forget the compassionate way in which Christ operated. Too often, our focus is on his death (which it should be) and we forget how he treated people. I don\'t think many people even examine it in too much detail.\r\n\r\nPersonally, as a former Southern Baptist minister, I know that many churches spent a lot of time on Christ\'s death. Yes, it is quite important as it shows his sacrifice, our redemption, his love, etc.\r\n\r\nBut have we been screaming his death out so loud that we have muted the need for things in Christian culture like forgiveness, humility, compassion, empathy, community, and authentic love? I think we have lost the meaning of community somewhere. And I think your post here is a good way for us to examine ways Christ deal with a lot of people and the love in which he did it.\r\n\r\nMay we follow his example so that we and our communities of faith might be a place of ministry, love and refuge for all.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:22.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/22.0','',0,12),(2159,8599,'Courtney','courtneywitmer@gmail.com','','99.242.187.251','2013-04-24 18:24:49','2013-04-25 01:24:49','I very much enjoyed this post. This is an issue that has always left me with a deep-seated discomfort - not homosexuality itself, but rather the way that the church responds to those who pursue same-sex relationships. I want to be careful, given that Scripture does speak against same-sex relationships; however, the thought that someone would think that I hate them or hope that they would \"burn in hell\" based on their sexual orientation is deeply disturbing to me. It is very refreshing to be reminded that Jesus SIMPLY commanded us to love each other, and not to police others\' actions; furthermore, that the church is not to dictate the laws of secular society.  Good point that you made about divorce being legal as well; perhaps we don\'t push back against it simply because it has become so common-place, and we are more used to it?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:20.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/20.0','',0,0),(2223,7575,'Dominic','doms_bakk@hotmail.com','','211.28.212.62','2013-07-23 18:38:18','2013-07-24 01:38:18','Platonism is dualistic and Christianity isn\'t?\r\nSatan keeping the souls of the condemned in Hell?\r\nFaith in Christ is necessary for salvation while disbelief is condemned?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; rv:22.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/22.0','',0,0),(2219,8607,'Kristen Rosser','kristenrosser@hotmail.com','http:///krwordgazer.blogspot.com','75.145.77.153','2013-06-13 14:39:08','2013-06-13 21:39:08','I love that observation: Jesus always calls women upward and men downward.  The passage about marriage in Ephesians 5 does the same:  men are called to imitate Christ in the way He gave Himself and lay down His life, and men are also to draw women up as Christ draws the church up to be glorious.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/27.0.1453.110 Safari/537.36','',0,0),(2221,3372,'Donna Mills','venus99@juno.com','','216.165.237.10','2013-07-05 13:09:53','2013-07-05 20:09:53','I think anything that questions the \'official\' version of the life and purpose of the \'our Lord Jesus\' merits attention and careful consideration. The Church state is a hypocrisy and subject to much discrepancy at best. And, as much as I would like to practice and believe in the \'Holy Scriptures\', I find it more plausible believing in the Sumerian texts information, a much earlier version that predates the original Hebrew Bible canon; and on that note, I certainly find it beneath anyone with as much as even an average functioning brain to accept the KJV of Christianity that so many of us were indoctrinated to accept growing up in Western society. Well, that is my thoughts about it. \r\nThank you,\r\nDM\r\nLos Angeles, Ca',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_5) AppleWebKit/536.30.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.5 Safari/536.30.1','',0,0),(2195,2508,'Terry Appleberry','lynnrnj@bellsouth.net','','184.41.74.191','2013-05-14 05:51:11','2013-05-14 12:51:11','I was reading another article when I saw this one. Not a coincidence at all. I gad a drwam last night. Prayed about it and received confirmation through your article. Thank you.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.5; en-us; SCH-I800 Build/GINGERBREAD) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1','',0,0),(2191,8905,'Khadija','khadijahafeez.dj@gmail.com','','116.71.177.170','2013-05-10 09:28:51','2013-05-10 16:28:51','Beautifully summarized :)',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/537.31 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/26.0.1410.64 Safari/537.31','',0,0),(2248,5296,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','12.49.81.241','2013-10-07 16:42:11','2013-10-07 23:42:11','Marie, you are welcome to your opinion.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_8_5) AppleWebKit/536.30.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.5 Safari/536.30.1','',2247,1),(2257,8783,'Jake Kampe','wjkampe@comcast.net','http://www.nakedtheologytalk.blogspot.com','98.196.167.195','2013-12-18 16:14:04','2013-12-19 00:14:04','Thanks Bob. I don\'t run Provoketive, but use Disques on my personal blog.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:25.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/25.0','',2256,67),(2250,7608,'Melody Young','songofpraisemd2@yahoo.co.uk','','70.189.136.218','2013-10-20 15:11:40','2013-10-20 22:11:40','I just came across this article, and much of what you say resonates with me.  I have in fact written, then deleted, blog-posts exposing \"spiritual abuse\" that I have encountered.  I left a church in the UK because of what I would call \"heavy shepherding\" and I have dealt with what I term \"bullying\" from a family member in the name of God.  I have not been able to keep those blog-posts I wrote up because I have either been intimidated out of it, OR more recently, because in the process of dealing with the abuses of (perceived) authority, I have come to understand my own responsibility in the problem, and that those who hurt me are human beings and need a chance to grow without things out on the internet that could condemn them.  I was \"lucky\" because what I have experienced was mild compared to the sexual abuse and spiritual abuses many others have suffered and been victimized by in circles to which I have also belonged.  \r\n\r\nThat is not to minimize the very real harm to my spiritual life that I am still dealing with.\r\n\r\nMy issue currently is not whether or not abusers will ever repent, but more, how do we as the Body protect ourselves from abuse, and how do we advocate for personal responsibility rather than abdicate authority over ourselves to those who \"know\" the Scriptures better than we do?  I believe strongly that we must educate ourselves and check out what the Word of God actually says regardless of who teaches it to us.\r\n\r\nMy journey has been different to others.  There are a lot of hurting people out there who will hear what I am saying as blame, because we always blame the victim in our society.  I\'m just trying to work things out in my life vis a vis forgiveness and truth.  There are many triggers for all of us.  \r\n\r\nWhat I find hardest to deal with though is those who entirely deny any existence of spiritual abuse, or who demand a show of full forgiveness or forgetfulness/silence when there hasn\'t even been full repentance.  \r\n\r\nExcuse my ramblings, but your article triggered much in me that I have been unable to articulate for a variety of reasons.  I hope we can all learn and grow in grace and truth as the Body of Christ.  Perhaps that is the most encouraging thing that can come out of this for me:  I am learning to speak my mind.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 10.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/6.0)','',0,0),(2246,2282,'Penelope','surfergirl54@icould.com','','70.211.13.245','2013-09-27 08:11:16','2013-09-27 15:11:16','Actually, at the risk of sounding \"judgmental\" you are both wrong.  We ARE called to judge--in fact, scripture is clear in 1 Peter 4:17 \" For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?\"  Furthermore, Jesus did NOT tell us to simply forgive, nor did He call us into a \"cheap grace\".  Jesus told us to rebuke first and IF the person repents, then forgiveness is extended.  Luke 17:3 \"Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, \'I repent,\' forgive him.\"  There is no evidence that Joe Paterno ever repented, but instead, he covered up his sin and the sin of those under his leadership.   So did Sandusky.  This is not to be minimized nor forgiven in the absence of repentance.  Furthermore, the grace extended to us as reconciled believers does not mean that our own sin \"doesn\'t count\".  Paul says very clearly \"not counting people\'s trespasses against THEM\" (2Cor 5:19), but rather, counted against Christ!  This means our sin DOES count--just not against us, but against Jesus.  There is a huge difference.  Christ paid it,  Christ was defiled for us, so our sin counts against HIM, rather than against US.  THAT is reconciliation, done by God toward us thru Christ, and it occurs when we repent, not before.  Jesus death for us cost Him everything.  We need to recognize that so as to not cheapen what was done on our behalf.  There is a cost to sin.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_5) AppleWebKit/536.30.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.5 Safari/536.30.1','',0,0),(2247,5296,'Marie Chen','viola1098@yahoo.com','','67.43.107.147','2013-09-30 20:29:44','2013-10-01 03:29:44','Sorry -but I just don\'t get listening to Metallica. Lawful?? maybe /Expedient ??- I doubt it very much. Popular songs  take the Glory from God and focus it elsewhere.  It\'s all earth bound &amp; man centered.\r\nI doubt that they\'re taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.\r\nNot to mention it just sounds plain awful!!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 10.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/6.0)','',0,0),(2251,8860,'Derek','derekchristopher@yahoo.com','http://Derek','66.214.89.6','2013-10-30 10:10:34','2013-10-30 17:10:34','Did you sell this idea to NatGeo? They\'re doing this exact idea, even with the name \"Church Rescue,\" and it premiers Nov. 11th, 2013.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/30.0.1599.69 Safari/537.36','',0,0),(2252,8860,'Derek','derekchristopher@yahoo.com','http://Derek','66.214.89.6','2013-10-30 10:11:09','2013-10-30 17:11:09','\"Premieres\" I meant to say.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/30.0.1599.69 Safari/537.36','',0,0),(2253,8860,'Ray Carroll','rayrayc17@live.com','http://www.fallenpastor.com','98.93.9.48','2013-10-30 10:46:09','2013-10-30 17:46:09','Well, what do you know. No, unfortunately I did not sell this idea to them.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_0_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11B511 Safari/9537.53','',2251,12),(2256,8783,'Bob Holmes','bobholmes1@gmail.com','http://contemplativemonk.com/','70.188.230.165','2013-12-18 10:20:19','2013-12-18 18:20:19','Great article Jake! May I humbly suggest Disqus as a cmmenting platform. This style of commenting took me 20 min and several trys to comment. Check it out at my wee blog.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/31.0.1650.63 Safari/537.36','',2148,0),(2259,973,'Marcella','Companioning4u@yahoo.com','https://www.facebook.com/pages/Companioning-Personalized-Spiritual-Care/250175608474358','70.210.132.255','2014-02-11 23:31:51','2014-02-12 07:31:51','Very helpful, Bob. This will be useful with my spiritual companioning (\"spiritual direction\" without dogma) clients. Grabbing the URL to share. Thank you for sharing your thoughts here!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; en-US; rv:1.9.2.18) Gecko/20110614 Firefox/3.6.18','',0,0),(2373,1013,'Keith','retiredsp@comcast.net','','50.163.100.57','2014-07-04 23:47:06','2014-07-05 06:47:06','what, is \"ironic\" about it? I must remind you all, if you are in fact true believers and not simply, religious followers, that some mighty smart folk whose faith was much more devote than most \"Christians\" today, felt darn sure God BLESSED us with these United States and freedom and continued to bless us as a republic, until \"free thinkers\" such as I am reading from here, felt it \"American\" to remove many of the things that drew together and strong enough association to fight for and secure independence.......you people are sincerely missing the mark, as is this woman.....air force huh......',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:30.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/30.0','',113,0),(2287,6020,'TuppJenn','tupperjenn@gmail.com','','173.74.12.226','2014-05-11 08:14:51','2014-05-11 15:14:51','I really like your thoughts on Mary.  I totally agree, she was a fighter.  On another note, where did you find that picture?  I think it\'s an icon, but from where?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:29.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/29.0','',0,0),(2292,7962,'The Reformed Thinker','thereformedthinker@hotmail.com','','68.190.60.115','2014-05-13 15:10:54','2014-05-13 22:10:54','To the contrary, given RHE\'s track record, I cannot go along with this recommendation. I have not read the book, nor do I plan to. Having said that, there was a very thorough review done of this book over at Amazon.com by Sarah Flashing. (Aside from that, I was hoping to see one from Tim Challies since he has an incredibly voracious appetite for reading, but I did not see one. Given what he\'s posted in the past on , I don\'t think he would have recommended it either.)\r\n\r\nThen there is this review over at CBMW, which exposes RHE\'s complete lack of understanding Scriptural hermeneutics when she penned this book: http://cbmw.org/book-reviews/a-year-of-biblical-womanhood-by-rachel-held-evans/\r\n\r\nTRT',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; WOW64; rv:29.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/29.0','',0,0),(2372,1013,'Keith','retiredsp@comcast.net','','50.163.100.57','2014-07-04 23:41:13','2014-07-05 06:41:13','perhaps, if you were educated enough and felt so inclined, would have explained to those to citizens, that but for the \"brash\" Americans, they\'d still be getting hauled off to Nazi work camps...they are welcome. And you should be too!',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:30.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/30.0','',76,0),(4825,7575,'Mary','marycasey1100@gmail.com','','162.230.66.78','2015-02-03 18:47:23','2015-02-04 02:47:23','Jason,  Dualism refers to \"judgment\".  Judgment refers to \"right\" and \"wrong\".  Right and wrong refers to the \"Law\".  The tree of knowledge of good and evil was the tree of judgment; of right and wrong; of the Law.  Once Eve/Adam ate of the tree; we were under judgment....we were under the LAW.  The Law can only be defined in terms of \"right\" and \"wrong\"; in terms of DUALISM.  We are under the Law; we are under Judgment; we are under DUALISM. For every thought there is an opposing thought. That is DUALISM.  You do \"escape\" dualism, the LAW, judgment, right and wrong through faith (faith is the absence of judgment, of thought because for every thought there is an opposing thought.  In faith there is no judgment, thus no right or wrong, no LAW, no DUALISM.  In Faith, there is only light, no darkness, no DUALISM.  \r\n\r\nRemember that Eve JUDGED the fruit as GOOD and then HER eyes were opened (refer to quantum physics/the observer).  We are under Dualism....or what God calls, \"the Law\".  And \"escape\" is granted through FAITH (non judgment).\r\n\r\nYou wrote, \"Sin has to do with action, not physical creation. I believe that God has intended every part of physical creation to be enjoyed by humanity.\"  \r\n\r\nAre you referring to \"humanity\" enjoying the ground God cursed for Adam\'s sake?  That physical creation (man) does not enter this world already a sinner but must sin by \"action\"?  Maybe the beauty of the Grand Canyon created by the corrosion (corruption) of God\'s handiwork; a beautiful rainbow created because of the destruction of the earth. The heaven and earth God will destroy for a new heaven and earth.  (What\'s amazing is that God\'s creation is still so beautiful even in its corruption (corrosion) of this world.) \r\n\r\nGenesis 6:5 - And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.\r\nIsaiah 7:16 - For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good,\r\nIsaiah 7:15 - Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.\r\nEcclesiastes 7:20 - For [there is] not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.\r\nPsalms 14:1-3 -  [there is] none that doeth good. \r\n1 John 1:5 - This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.\r\nJohn 1:29 - The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.\r\n1 John 3:5 - And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.\r\n1 John 2:2 - And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world\r\nIsaiah 64:6 - But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.\r\nGenesis 2:17 - But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.\r\nEcclesiastes 12:7 - Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.\r\n1 Peter 3:18 - For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:\r\nPsalm 51:5 - .Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.\r\nGenesis 6:5 - Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.\r\nGenesis 8:21 -  and the LORD said to Himself, \"I will never again curse the ground on account of man\r\nLuke 18:19 - And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none [is] good, save one, [that is], God.\r\nJob 14:4 -  Who can bring a clean [thing] out of an unclean? not one.\r\n1 John 1:10 - If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.\r\nRomans 3:10 - As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:\r\nIsaiah 53:6 - All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.\r\n1 John 1:8 - If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.\r\n1 Timothy 2:5 - For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;',0,'0','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/40.0.2214.94 Safari/537.36','',0,0),(2911,3704,'jezuzrains','aztetics2@gmail.com','','172.56.34.58','2014-10-07 20:36:31','2014-10-08 03:36:31','Years ago I wrote to short storys . \r\nFirst, Is your church like a washing machine ?\r\nIs it agitateing ? Or just stuck in the spin cycle ?\r\nHave you died to \"Gain\" Christ. \r\nWill there be a new \" Era \" for the church ? Ect etc....\r\n\r\n2nd.   Is your church like Hybridized corn.\r\nBigger yeilds, less disease. But not as nutitional. \r\n\r\nPersonaly im completly burned out on church people and authority that abuse there power by neglecting there true calling to be humble servants.  Love the poor and less fortunate.',0,'0','Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 4.2.2; ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce Build/JDQ39) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/37.0.2062.117 Mobile Safari/537.36','',0,0),(5073,2436,'LIndsey','bouncysparklyjoy@gmail.com','','174.61.175.222','2015-06-22 17:10:36','2015-06-23 00:10:36','Jonathan, I\'m sorry to hear you feel so misunderstood- I know how frustrating that can be, on a smaller scale. I want to tell you that I was rubbed- mildly- the wrong way by some of the same phrases others have mentioned. I was not convinced that there was any problem in your thinking or intent by what you originally wrote... but I was by your response to criticism. Based on your comment above, I\'m again inclined to think I misunderstood, but I think it\'s important for you to understand that you are contributing to that misunderstanding. Many of your responses above have appeared to me to be rather defensive, a la \"That\'s not what I said/meant.\" It would help me immensely, if you would explain what you were getting at in these statements that others have taken issue with. We all get misunderstood at times- all the more so over text, and further when addressing issues that are provokative and emotional. Would you kindly take another stab at explaining your meaning?',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/43.0.2357.124 Safari/537.36','',1146,0),(4245,5321,'Bill Macauley','macspaz@aol.com','','174.135.96.10','2014-12-14 23:28:30','2014-12-15 07:28:30','Although pastors are still under God\'s grace, they are held to a higher standard.\r\n\r\n1 Timothy 3 New International Version (NIV)\r\n\r\nQualifications for Overseers and Deacons\r\n3 Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full[a] respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.\r\n\r\n8 In the same way, deacons[b] are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.\r\n\r\n11 In the same way, the women[c] are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.\r\n\r\n12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. 13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.',0,'0','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/39.0.2171.95 Safari/537.36','',0,0),(4808,6014,'chasity wilson','princess1027.CW@yahoo.com','','64.60.67.114','2015-02-02 13:17:21','2015-02-02 21:17:21','thx so much ik how it feels to be through adoption centers and been in foster home in 2015 im 11 years old and i never seen my real mom',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS armv7l 6310.68.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/39.0.2171.96 Safari/537.36','',0,0),(2379,5054,'Bobby Sutton','hcm35071@yahoo.com','','172.11.42.120','2014-07-11 10:42:43','2014-07-11 17:42:43','Thanks for the article Ray. I always thought freedom of speech meant freedom of speech. It seems like to many in our \"tolerant\" society only certain kinds of speech is free. I agree \"Be bold, Be loud and Be courageous. God Bless',0,'0','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; yie9; rv:11.0) like Gecko','',0,0),(3941,8259,'Wendy','wendy@wendyrwolf.com','http://HealGrowShine.com/','162.17.180.194','2014-11-25 09:01:04','2014-11-25 17:01:04','I love this Tim, thanks.\r\nParticularly the last 2 paragraphs',0,'0','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.9; rv:33.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/33.0','',0,0),(5074,2436,'Jonathan Brink','jb@thriven.org','http://jonathanbrink.com','69.181.144.177','2015-06-22 17:36:51','2015-06-23 00:36:51','Lindsey,\n\nI\'ve actually put to this to rest.  My original intent was to respond with a different post, but I have never found the right words to address both what was on my heart, and the push back I received from the post.   This piece begins with the basic assumption that men are already in power in the church. The primary pushback was against that. It assumes men are in control. That\'s just a fact. It doesn\'t make it right.  And that was the risk of stating that fact.  It appeared that I was validating it, when I wasn\'t.  \n\nAnd Provoketive as a medium is now retired. I\'m okay with it.  I\'ve been misunderstood many times before, and it won\'t be the last.',0,'1','Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.10; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/38.0','',5073,1),(5094,7575,'Joe','joemerrell@cox.net','','70.160.213.173','2015-08-23 06:34:10','2015-08-23 13:34:10','Jason, thanks for posting this article.  I am currently struggling with this very issue (dualism).  The real world is not perfect, and I don\'t know how to deal with pain and suffering (especially poverty).',0,'0','Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:40.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/40.0','',0,0);
