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OldSkool, Great subject. You got my mind going and my heart racing. FYI-I heard they switched from Medical Mutual to Anthem last year. When I was on Staff I never knew about any government programs. We paid a lot out of pocket to have my child due to it being a high risk pregnancy and delivery. I knew I'd never be able to have any more children making squat $. A local person told me about WIC which was a blessing. My child was unable to be breastfed and the cost of formula is insane. So thankfully, WIC was helpful for that, otherwise we would've had no money whatsoever. Another topic for discussion sometime is how bottle feeding was seemed as a bad thing. I was so scared to bottle feed my child during lunch in the dining room. I was the only one doing it. Either I was going to feed my child or allow him to starve. I began a trend because the next year I saw others bottle feeding their children if/when they didn't breastfeed. Where's the abundance? A thriving baby or starving baby. When I began on Staff we were still on the "need basis" pay. I was single, not a big deal. Yet, I went in to talk with the Personnel Director about getting a raise. Ha ha. I was so naive. I needed to make more money so I could buy a car and still have a little money for other categories. Of course, I was denied. As I said, I was so naive. Then within my first year, the pay scale changed. We got a salary and paid rent, etc. I was able to save money for that car. I sold my first car to go on Staff. I sold and tossed a lot of stuff to go on Staff. How is that abundant? I was living off their stuff. I think everyone's definition of abundant(ce) can be different. And what I think is abundance in one category could be different for another person. When my family can't pay for basic expenses but are expected to tithe 10% then I don't see any abundance. I also can't give with cheerfulness when this is the case. I've been there. I was a very unblessed person. My life is prosperous and very abundant now that I'm out. I've taken God out of the box. As far as other government agencies like Medicaid, they have a profit when not abused. Our family was on Medicaid for a short time when our income was low, we cut our expenses to the lowest possible, we needed to make sure our child could get medical care at a lower cost to us. We took the child to get medical care whether or not we had insurance but Medicaid was helpful for that short time. Then after patiently waiting and finally taking God more out of that box, we got majorly blessed with a wonderful income with wonderful benefits. We are savers now with the extra financial abundance God has blessed us with. We also give and help out others who have a need, cheerfully and by our own choice, not out of obligation. Balanced

I've heard that before - just not from a TWIer - to which I replied, "Really?! And just who do you think pays for that. God? No, it's the people who do earn above the poverty level, and perhaps someday your children unless they continue the cycle, or maybe even China who has been quickly buying up all of our debt, you moron." And yes it is twisted.

I think it's determined by the plus or minuses that are at the bottom of each post. If you spend a lot of time in the basement ( Politics and Tacks) your reputation would probably be very good or pi$$ poor. basically it's a popularity contest.

Sooo.... Say a group of local believers decides to pool their resources and build a fellowship hall. Everything is hunkey-dorey. Then two of the group's members disagree with each other over some point of doctrine. Perhaps one says there was an Aramaic substrate, and another contends that the original autographs were in Greek. Neither one can understand why the other is being so pig-headed and obtuse. Their disagreement flares throughout the group, and soon there are two camps who cannot stand the sight of each other, much less sharing the same fellowship hall. They decide to split. Which group gets to keep the hall? After all, it was a substantial investment. They go down to the courthouse and ask a judge to decide. The judge thinks the New Testament was originally composed in King James English. The judge is going to flip a coin to make the decision, but the leader of the Greek autograph faction convinces the judge his group will be able to campaign more effectively for the judge during the upcoming election than the Aramaic faction will. So the judge decides that the Greek autograph faction gets to keep the building. All of the other leaders of groups that own fellowship halls in the town start teaching the Greek autograph position, because they don't want to lose their buildings. That's why Theodosius declared the Nicean position to be orthodox, and anybody who held differently to be a deranged, insane heretic. That's why "Their meeting places shall not receive the name of churches" (be eligible to receive a subsidy, or in our culture, they would lose their tax-exempt status). Before the late fourth century, it was simply assumed that if a person became a Christian, that is, if a person received baptism, then that person was saved and his immortal soul would automatically go to heaven when he died. When Theodosius said Christians who disagreed with him would "be smitten... with Divine Vengence", he was declaring that Christians would be sent to Hell eternally on his say so. The Roman legal system had no provisions for dealing with differences of opinion (the original meaning of the word "heresy"), so the magistrates had to resort to laws regarding maleficium (cursing through sorcerous means) to enforce orthodoxy. Theological disagreements turned into literal "witch-hunts". Love, Steve

Why is it that - of all the endless "holy" writings of the ancient world - the BIBLE should be accepted in toto while all the others can (and of rights I guess SHOULD be)totally disregarded? Krishna is said to have defeated an evil enemy by striking him with a feather, Yogis are said to be able to levitate at will by focusing their minds, the Daruma - in a show of dedication and humility - clipped off his eyelids so he wouldn't go to sleep while praying - and eventually his legs simply melted away from lack of use, Mithra is said to have been born out of a rock and slayed a bull single-handedly. And the list goes on. A myriad of miraculous things performed by gods and god/men. But of course, good Christians aren't swayed by such tripe. They only believe the "REAL" miracles. Feh...

If you define a miracle as a verified breaking of the laws of physics I've only ever seen one. Here it is: How easy it would be to prove to the world that speaking in tongues is a genuine miracle - if it was. Just identify one of the "tongues of men" being spoken sufficiently well... and then verify that the manifester has had no earthly acquaintance with said language. Non? Until then, Geo. Aar's theory regarding speaking in tongues seems to obey Occam's Razor. Speech can be disassociated from thought content as any child shows in "jibberish." I still hold that speaking in tongues can unmiraculously be a legitimate religious practice.

So, if biblical times were full of demigods, half-human/half-divine who were of miraculous births who walked on water and raised the dead who rose from the dead and ascended to Mt. Olympus... could it be? That these aspects of the four gospels are less than historical? If we admit that the four gospels contain significant, legendary, non-historical portions are we "of all men most miserable"? I trow not... we become of all people most intellectually honest. And many true riches of Christianity are allowed to come into focus. Good religion doesn't insist that less-than-rational, non-historical stuff be taken literally. The world sees such a false witness as signs of soft-headedness. and who can blame them? Can't one's witness be to the coherent, rational message of the gospels? While still loving the legendary portions and interpreting them as the spirit that authored them probably did (religiously and non-historically)? The gospels that I read (legendary miracles included) preach: self-sacrificial love, anti-materialism, tolerance, compassion, inclusiveness, speaking-truth-to-power, and many, many,many other ... great messages for the living of these days, for the living of these days.