Twinky

This is a jolly sight more interesting than AoS. I like the third horse (I think it is - dancing sideways) and the two garlanded police horses midway through (looks like at Glastonbury Festival!).

It's actually not a bad article - but it's ruined by the pseudo-intellectualism of stuffing in assorted Greek words, which in context add absolutely nothing to the article. If they were removed, the article wouldn't be any the worse off. And they can't resist sticking their own special interpretation on the Greek words they pull up: see - "The first word that stands out to us is “run,” which is translated from the Greek word trechō. This word literally means to run, but metaphorically it indicates exerting oneself, to strive hard, or to spend one’s strength in performing or attaining something." Yes, that's as may be, but the whole thing is: "We know something a bit better than [someone else]." Paul said, he was all things to all men. He could talk in athletic terms to those with an athletic bent, or where it suited the context and climate of the times. In other places, he talked of putting on armour - to talk, perhaps, to a different group of people. Agricultural and husbandry references abound throughout the Bible, and doubtless Paul used many to expound to those who most understood agriculture. And so we too must explain, or use as a springboard, the imagery and terms that would most reach those with whom we want to share the Good News. Maybe we would talk in terms of athletics, or military, or gardening - or in terms of writing the best computer program (knowing what you/your customer wants, and how to achieve that efficiently), or how to make a perfect cake (follow the rules for success) or playing a musical instrument (needs diligence and practice, you may even need to learn a new language). To over-focus on one metaphor is to minimise the topic and to cut down on outreach. And please don't remind me any more of AoS. Ugh!

We sang this in church last Sunday. Some of the words really hit the spot for me. These in particular: And we magnify his strictness /With a zeal he will not own. (Words shown on the video, and reprinted following the link.) How easily we magnify fault - our own, and others - and condemn ourselves, and others, for that slight or imagined fault; and how often we forget God's graciousness and compassion - for ourselves and others - and so we don't show that love and compassion to others. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, Like the wideness of the sea; There’s a kindness in his justice, Which is more than liberty. There is no place where earth’s sorrows Are more felt than up in heaven; There is no place where earth’s failings Have such kindly judgment given. For the love of God is broader Than the measure of man’s mind; And the heart of the eternal Is most wonderfully kind. But we make his love too narrow By false limits of our own; And we magnify his strictness With a zeal he will not own. There is plentiful redemption In the blood that has been shed; There is joy for all the members In the sorrows of the head. There is grace enough for thousands Of new worlds as great as this; There is room for fresh creations In that upper home of bliss. If our love were but more simple, We should take him at his word; And our lives would be all goodness In the joy of Christ our Lord.

We sang this in church last Sunday. Some of the words really hit the spot for me. These in particular: And we magnify his strictness /With a zeal he will not own. (Words shown on the video, and reprinted following the link.) How easily we magnify fault - our own, and others - and condemn ourselves, and others, for that slight or imagined fault; and how often we forget God's graciousness and compassion - for ourselves and others - and so we don't show that love and compassion to others. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, Like the wideness of the sea; There’s a kindness in his justice, Which is more than liberty. There is no place where earth’s sorrows Are more felt than up in heaven; There is no place where earth’s failings Have such kindly judgment given. For the love of God is broader Than the measure of man’s mind; And the heart of the eternal Is most wonderfully kind. But we make his love too narrow By false limits of our own; And we magnify his strictness With a zeal he will not own. There is plentiful redemption In the blood that has been shed; There is joy for all the members In the sorrows of the head. There is grace enough for thousands Of new worlds as great as this; There is room for fresh creations In that upper home of bliss. If our love were but more simple, We should take him at his word; And our lives would be all goodness In the joy of Christ our Lord.

Interesting, T-Bone. Not seen that Lexicon before. I found this bit especially interesting: by the trickery κυβείᾳ (kubeia) 2940: dice playing from kubos (a cube, die) by craftiness πανουργίᾳ (panourgia) 3834: cleverness, craftiness from panourgos in deceitful πλάνης (planēs) 4106: a wandering fem. of planos scheming; μεθοδείαν (methodeian) 3180: craft, deceit from methodeuó (to employ craft) Equates dice playing with trickery! Which it often is, especially in the hand of a skilled conman. Planos - associated with the word Planet - the planets were once known as "wandering stars" because their erratic orbits (compared with the rest of the stars) made them inexplicable to ancient astronomers "Methodeian" translated as "deceit" also elsewhere as "wiles," both times with negative overlay.

What's your yield, from, say, 1lb of butter? I've seen some commercially, listed thus: Ingredients Milk Fat (99.8%) Ethyl Butyrate 0.01% Ethyl Butyrate appears to be a flavour enhancer but although it appears in some fruits naturally, it also isn't a healthy product. Maybe it occurs naturally in ghee? Any comments, anyone?

I'd like to see this movie, though not sure it's the kind of thing the Odious (Odeon) will be showing. I don't see it at the independents, either.

Be interested in your view, and your take-away from the book.

Really? Kids can't read joined-up handwriting?????? So strange! Kids in the UK are taught a handwriting style that has serifs, so that they quite easily and naturally start making joined-up words. I know a few people who can only write in block capitals. They seem unable to write in lower-case letters at all. But that surely is much harder work? I prefer to write script, joined up writing, and if circs permit, it's quite neat. A little less neat now than it used to be, but I just got some glasses so I can see better. I write less and use my laptop more. I just had a long holiday, journalled every day, and yes, it's all cursive. 80 pages of it, well, perhaps 70, a few blanks at the back, to write my later thoughts and reflections. And yes, my shopping lists are cursive and on the back of random old envelopes, too.

Welcome, JoyfulSoul. Glad you found a good way out and you sound quite happy in your life. Anyone is welcome to share things TWI and your later input is very welcome. 1993 might have been my last RoA. (I'm unclear on dates).

And that's just the spam you know about. Your internet provider may well be filtering out other spam messages. Fed up with the vast number of emails get about my "expired anti-virus protection" purporting to be from various businesses that I've never had contact with. And I get a lot from random addresses purporting to be from [a woman's name] -- I've never heard of this woman, who claims to be sending me some photos that she forgot to send before. I always report these as Phishing. Does it make any difference? Seems doubtful. These days most websites ask viewers to "accept" cookies. I always click the Decline button and hope that this means that my e-addy does not get sent off in a batch to a zillion "advertisers" as "legitimate interest." I recently had a hard disk crash. It seems something really did get through my anti-virus and completely wiped my hard disk. And I hadn't backed up regularly enough and had to spend a lot of time reconstructing worksheets, etc - as well as which, there is information that I really did want, that is now lost forever. Bummer. Cost me no small amount to get my computer back up and running again.

It's interesting to read the comments below the video. Maybe someone should post a link to GSC, maybe to one of the critical thinking type threads.

An the WoWs weren't in it because they had no dosh to spend, and anyway they were on a 2 drink limit.

T-Bone, you could have a fantastic job putting together humorous greetings cards for Hallmark.

@T-Bone View from the other side of the fence: that pastor went home and said to his wife: "I met a very disturbed young man today, possibly possessed of many devil spirits. Please pray with me for him. Something is not right." And as you see, his prayers, though not effective immediately, have come to pass and been answered.

From an outsider's PoV, I find American Evangelism frankly embarrassing. Or worse. Evangelical? They are NOT promoting any Christian message, not one that Christ, or God, would recognise. Evangelising for the Devil, maybe. Their actions belie their words. They may be "sincere," but their basis is a "challenging counterfeit," if anything. Many are deceived. I wonder if they read their bibles for themselves, or only read selected passages, and those through SBU tinted glasses. Haven't had time to listen to the second video yet. One for the To Do list.

Don't think that the Bible references physical strength much at all except in specific cases, much as it doesn't give physical descriptions of people. God wants us to be strong in heart. In love for him, and for his people - for all people. [Thou shalt love the lord thy God; and thy neighbour as thyself.] Inner strength and resilience will outlast physical strength, where the mind is weak. Anyone who's escaped TWI and is making a healthy, independent, life for themselves is resilient!

Okay, I'm late to the party, but just wanted to say that the Poker face video was hilarious. ( I wasn't going to watch any of them until I read later comments.) I did wonder if the three kids matching the actions were going to do a real spoof, especially when the male started waving an arm around towards the end - was he going to turn it into a slow "strip," Chippendale-style? (Hey, just renew your mind, anything, even stripping, done in the love of God... etc etc). From "The Full Monty" (available on YouTube if you haven't seen this hilarious comedy about living in poverty):

Oh wow. Look at that. Average house price slightly less than twice the average income. Dnno how that average income was estimated, but nowadays you might more be looking at not x2 but x20.

That was one of LCM's fave phrases at one time. Made me wince then, and makes me wince now. Can't imagine how he thought it would fit with: Amplified Bible Now we who are strong [in our convictions and faith] ought to [patiently] put up with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not just please ourselves and Christian Standard Bible Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. New American Standard Bible Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not just please ourselves. 2Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. 3For even Christ did not please Himself... (or choose your own version of Rom 15:1) Hey, did Christ get it wrong? By bearing the weaknesses of human beings? Was Christ's strength brought down by human weakness? Are we not supposed to: Amplified Bible Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]. And going forward: Haven't we overcome the weakness of our human abilities (not necessarily our human physical strength): New International Version You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Mea culpa. Apologies to Sky and OldSkool, but yes, I meant WELL DONE, OLDSKOOL.

Absolutely, Sky, "forgetting" is a big part of why some fall into addiction - drugs, alcohol, whatever dulls the pain of what it is they want to forget. Often it's abusive childhoods, whether physical (beaten by dad, say) or mental (constantly put down by mum, say). Your sister abused you by plying you with alcohol at 10yo. Awful. Funny for her, potentially fatal for you at that young age. Great that you've come through it to be the fine man you are now. You have a lot that you can use to help others. It takes much guts for anyone to admit dependency and then to face up to whatever got an individual to be dependant in the first place. And then to come through that is serious success.

Absolutely, Sky, and that's where churches can play a big role. Bigger churches = bigger role. My little church has got a growing Youth group of once-disaffected kids, who started coming around when we opened and being generally unruly. These kids (boys) were in the 9-12 age group usually. Parents having a lie-in on Sunday morning, kids up and about, and nothing for them to do except roam around in groups doing whatever youths find to do - making mischief usually. Not bad kids, just bored and pushing boundaries. Youth minister took them out the back and played football with them. Showed them he cared. Gradually got to teach them that just as football has rules, so does life. Play by the rules and all goes much better. Today, those kids are responsible young men who anyone would be pleased to be around. That early intervention has doubtless saved the boys from trouble with police, and an uncertain future. If that's what a little church can do - how much more can a big church do? If it cares, and isn't so big that the vulnerable can get lost?

Drugs are a problem everywhere. And yes, I know that a few mansions won't solve the problem point I'm making is that the megachurch pastors shouldn't be haing huge mansions all to themselves. That's just extreme greed. Question to solve is: why do people want to start taking drugs in the first place? Whether that drug be something illicit, or something legal but to excess, or alcohol, or whatever. There's a root cause, which is often abuse, poor family background, lack of self-esteem, and suchlike. Generally, not exclusively, rooted in unsatisfactory personal relationships. And that may be something to do with the pursuit of money above the pursuit of good family interactions. In this, churches of all kinds can help. Use their platform to teach about proper family values; respect for individuals within a family, how to be supportive to one another in a family or a community; looking out for each other in a genuine way; and suchlike. No doubt megachurches do run some kinds of family values courses (free? or at a cost?), but the fact remains that there is a great imbalance between what happens at the top (the famous pastor and his family, and their mansions, jets and cars) and what happens at the bottom. I wonder if a genuinely homeless person would be welcome in such a megachurch worship space.

Did VPW think he understood the Bible better than the writers? Probably VPW thought he understood the Bible better than God, who made the means for the papyrus or paper, the ink and the quill or whatever, with which the Bible was written. But whatever VPW thought is irrelevant to understanding the Bible, so just forget about him.