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CKnapp3

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Posts posted by CKnapp3

  1. Hi Raf!

    Well, first off, I'm back after a rather long absence.

    Thank you for your candor and honesty about confessing to becoming an atheist.

    While I do believe in the existance of the higher power, commonly called "God", I do not believe God is a person that either needs or demands worship, as if he were an egomaniac (I do understand the personification of God however).

    I would fall to about #3 on your scale between 1 and 7 (Basically a deist). However, while I do believe in an afterlife, I don't know exactly what it's going to be like. As many of you know, I have embraced Christian Universalism for over 10 years now (That is the belief that everyone will be reconciled to God someday). Currently, I'm considering, that even if there is a higher dimension in the afterlife, there will be no post-mortem judgment of any kind (If I may quote scripture here, it says that "He who is dead is free from sin" [Romans 6:7].) That being said, why would there be a need for such a judgment if we have in fact been freed from sin? The only other possibility is that we return to earth with a new and different identity (known as "reincarnation"). I was asked by my pastor last year what I expect when I die. I repsonded that I don't know, since I do believe that my human mind will cease upon my death. My human mind cannot fathom what a spiritual mind is like.

    Raf, I know that when you were a Christian, we had our differences on what a Christian is. Of course we have dialogued quite often at Facebook and have had some of the best conversations ever.

    Oh yes, and when I do see you in Heaven there WON'T be any 'splaining to do! Not from you, not from me, nor anyone else! :)

    • Upvote 1
  2. If you look at newer English translations. . . .that word evil in Is 45:7 is translated disaster or woe. . . it is an assumption to declare it means God brings into existence moral evil. . . .

    Actually Geisha, the etymology of the word "evil" is an rather interesting one, and originally was not synonymous with "malice" like it is today. The word "evil" comes from the German word "übel", which meant merely "uppity" or "conceited". In other words, an "evil person" in its original meaning meant someone who is "stuck up".

    It's amazing how words can change their meanings over a long period of time. Case in point are words like "gay" and "queer". Originally, neither of those words had the homosexual connotations that they have today. "Gay" originally mean "happy" or "cheerful", while "queer" meant "peculiar" or "odd" or even "eccentric".

    BTW, if God didn't create moral evil, then in all reality, moral evil doesn't even exist, because nothing exists unless God created it, and we all know only God alone can create. ;)

    Chuck

  3. God first

    hi cman

    the life of the flesh is in the blood but the life of spirit is in the image and we got the image by Christ up his fleshly life which is in his blood

    Adam's fall was the rebellion God's will against his inner self

    yes the choice is really your's

    love Roy

    Roy,

    I think Adam's "fall" was something God had planned. I believe we are flawed by design. Could God create us without flaws? Absolutely, of course. However, if we were created without flaws, then we would not need God, and God therefore would have no opportunity to bless anyone. God wants to bless people, so naturally God would need those people to have flaws, that they would in turn need God. Furthermore, we ourselves would be bored sick if we were created flawless. Is there anything really exciting in a perfect world? Without a chaotic one to contrast it, we wouldn't really appreciate it. I guess we really don't appreciate anything until we lose it, and realize how miserable we are without it.

    I don't buy into this "Plan B" theory. God did not have a "Plan B", or any other backup plan. He always has, and always will work on Plan A. :)

    Chuck

  4. Another way to look at it is that God created angels with freewill. . . . to be obedient or disobedient. . . . as well as man. . . . and the choice is really ours. . . . .that God allowed the condition for sin is a reasonable assumption. . . . because with freewill we have the choice to accept or reject Him. . .

    James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “[/url]I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

    What is evil? Can you bottle it. . . .eat it or mow it like grass. . . . throw it like a rock? Isn't evil just the absence of good? Like darkness is the absence of light or cold the absence of heat? It isn't something God had to create. . . . it is simply a rejection of good. . . . the result of a freewill choice. God allows evil to exist but, it does not follow that He created it. . . .

    If God didn't allow for both than our service to Him would not be freewill but obligatory. . . .

    Well, it is also written however that God did in fact create evil and darkness:

    Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

    As far as one having free-will, you might want to read Romans, Chapter 9. It points out that God is the absolute sovereign, so our so called "free-will" is really a fallacy. Besides, even if we did have free-will, it wouldn't be powerful enough to undermine God and HIS will. ;) We may think we have some sort of free-will, but we are really doing God's will the whole time. We are definitely a slave to somebody. I'll take a cue from the Apostle Paul and say that I'm a slave to The Lord Jesus Christ.

    Geisha, I take the viewpoint that our service to God is in fact obligatory (like I said, we are a slave to somebody), not so much that, but moreso it's not even our own work, but God who works through us to do HIS will. That is why Jesus could proclaim "I always do my Father's will".

    Chuck

  5. God first

    hi Chuck

    yes just like Adam was who murderer the human race until Christ gave it life again under faith

    love Roy

    Roy,

    For those who believe both the Lucifer story as well as the Adam and Eve one as factual, a question is begged: Who committed the "original sin"? Tradition says it's Adam and Eve, but Lucifer, according to the same tradition, sinned before Adam and Eve. Furthermore, who tempted Lucifer? Before his so called "fall" as an angel, there was no such a thing as sin. And sin and evil cannot exist unless God had created it in the first place. Just a little food for thought. Could it be that Adam's fall was the rebellion of Lucifer? :)

    Chuck

  6. God first

    hi Chuck

    does God love Satan yes God has no choice in loving Satan but what is Satan

    but flesh that we are but we shall come of it when we die and then we will be born or die the second death

    our body was the Bearer of Light of light but it die until Christ quicken it if we believe in love

    not our fleshly body but the light that made us alive by Christ if we believe

    born is conceive

    and we are Satan when we walk by our five senses but we do not have walk by our five senses

    we can walk by the spirit of God which the spirit of Christ

    G1080. gennao, ghen-nah'-o; from a var. of G1085; to procreate (prop. of the father, but by extens. of the mother); fig. to regenerate:--bear, beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make, spring.

    Lucifer was just a king

    Lucifer was Satan and so was Adam and so was Peter and am I and you

    our flesh is Satan

    love Roy

    Roy,

    I can't really argue on that one. If we are our own worst enemy, then I would agree that Satan is really our own selfish natured little selves. Like you said, our flesh. I no longer beleive that "Lucifer" is now Satan, as if Satan was once a good angel gone bad. Jesus himself said of Satan that he was a liar and a murderer from the very beginning, so he was NEVER good at any time, not even under an alter ego.

    Chuck

  7. Actually, Satan is a creation of God with a purpose. In the Book of Job, Satan's job was to test Job for the purity of his faith. God designed Satan to be evil. Tradition does teach that Satan is the former archangel Lucifer. However, that begs the following question: How can the Prince of Darkness be the Bearer of Light? That would be clearly a contradiction of terms.

    In modern society, our government has a satanic nature. I'm talking about the legal, and particularly the criminal justice system. The apostle Paul told the Corinthians to "Turn that evil doer over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh....THAT HIS SPIRIT MAY BE SAVED!" That's a strange reason to consign someone to Satan if you buy into the traditional story. Furthermore, if Satan is truly God's archenemy as tradition teaches, why would God take that which is precious and sacred to him, and turn him over to his archenemy? That sounds like betrayal if you ask me, and God doesn't betray anyone!

    Does God love Satan? I would have to say "yes". However when God is finished with Satan, he will be destroyed. Whether the destroyed Satan will be recreated into a good being remains to be seen. What's a vessel of honor today could be a vessel of dishonor tomorrow, and what's a vessel of dishonor today can be transformed into a vessel of honor. God is powerful enough to do this.

    Chuck

  8. My father, Charles L. Knapp, Jr. passed away peacefully on January 19, 2009 of this year, after a brief illness. He was preceeded in death by my mother, who passed away in 1982, my younger brother, who passed away in 2004, and my step-mother, who passed away in 2005. One interesting thing is that my father was born on a Federal Holiday (July 4, Independece Day), and also died on a Federal Holiday (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday was observed on January 19th this year, just the day before Obama was to assume office of The Presidency). My father was 86 years old. I do believe he is now at peace.

    • Upvote 1
  9. Evidently, someone has gotten into my Facebook account and telling people I'm in England, got mugged and need $500 to get back home.

    Most of my Facebook buds are GSers.

    DO NOT GIVE them anything. I'm NOT in England and don't need $500....I want $500 (who doesn't?), but that's a different story.

    IGNORE any thing you might get from these people knowing that I'm safely tucked away in the Ozarks of Arkansas and not in need of any cash.

    Ron,

    That impostor tried to contact me Friday night with the same line. I'm happy to hear that you're really OK and safe. I was a bit skeptical anyway and I don't usually loan money out, especially with me be unemployed at the moment. Check your PMs

    Chuck

  10. This tribute, which is long overdue, is to Paul Winchell, a man with a great talent for ventriloquism, and an excellent children's entertainer. His famous dummies were of course Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff.

    This man made the pains of my childhood bearable, in which, if it weren't for him, I think my childhood would have been a disaster. I've always wondered why I loved this man as a child. He seemed to know how to address the issues that a child goes through, a puts a little sunshine in it, through the magic of his dummies. He had written a book shortly before his passing, that spoke of his own struggles in his childhood, and I felt I could relate to it.

    He was equally talented as a voice-over for cartoons, the most famous would be Tigger from Disney's Winnie The Pooh.

    I only wished today's children could be blessed by the talents of this great entertainer.

    Thanks Paul for putting a little sunshine in my life.

    And as Tigger would say: TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)

  11. As I recall I was working for a well known real estate company in Redmond, Wash.

    I was an admin there in 2006 and my Managing Broker was being interviewed by phone by the Real Estate Association in Wash state and Barb Lally was the one doing the interviewing. She identified herself and I said " hey I am a blast from your past!"

    I identified myself and she vaguely remembered me but did not want to or even in the future have any more conversation with me...she was very uneasy to think she had been identified from an EX-wayfer.

    I tend to think she sounds paranoid myself. I agree with everyone else. Her and Tom should be big enough to apologize for any harm they may have caused. Why heck, when Barb was known as Barb Gray, she worked under J.L., who himself was big enough to apologize and ask for forgiveness. She should have taken a cue from him. Who knows? I might even be big enough to forgive her myself since I was twice under her leadership.

    Chuck

  12. I don't think I could have gotten kicked off the field if I put glue on my WOW coordinator's shoe soles and stuck them to the floor! :biglaugh:

    As for the two drink limit, I think I may have broken that a few times, but those dumb corps bunnies didn't get any revvy about it! :biglaugh::biglaugh:

  13. Well, I for one, am very upset!! There were nothing but prudes in my area!

    Sheesh.......

    Belle, :cryhug_1_:

    I can relate. It seems to me that everyone I was in contact with were pretty prudish also.

    However it would be 6 months after I took PFAL before I finally gave up pot all together.

    Chuck

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