Merry Christmas, my Daughter. Now about God ..

It is Christmas time, and you are working very hard, as you always do. You have a vision of what you want your life to be and you aren't afraid of work. It would be wrong headed of me to say you work too hard, and are missing out on things. You know your sacrifices. You know you are a good person and you don't see the need for God.

But that is true of all of mankind's history. The need for God in good times, when life is abundant, is not apparent. The need for God when things fall apart is bitter. But God is there all the time.

The Bible recounts how God gradually revealed himself to Mankind. Not in terms that physicists, chemists or astronomers can prove or disprove, but according to scripture he "fattened" the universe in creation. That is confusing to scientists who cannot find any such thing beside a big bang, and they are confident God did not do that. But science is not what God uses to introduce himself to man. He uses about forty faithful people over nearly a thousand years.

Archaeologists find evidence that corresponds with salient bits. Not evidence of space ships, but people and places where they were said to be when they were said to be. Peoples that don't eat pigs and peoples that do. At first the history was spoken by mouth, but later written down. Some times, the writing is absurd to the scientific mind. The story of Jonah and the whale is absurd, but archaeology places the civilisations and their influences occurring at that time. It was prophetic, as after it was written, it came true. A semi converted people overthrew the Jewish kingdom and took them into slavery. God had revealed himself to his people, and punished them as he had promised.

God moves powerfully in your life. You are doing a lot of work and don't need to acknowledge him, because although times are very tough for you, it is going the right way. But even if everything happens the way you want. And you have a beautiful family and loving husband, then there will be much you can lose. And when that happens, it won't be your fault. And you will want God in your life.

I'm not trying to change you. I'm not asking you to stop persevering. I want you to know who God is, my daughter, because he is very important to you. And I want you two to get to know each other because, in life, you can be very good friends.

Seriously? Left wing outrage

DBowles post

The Republican plan to establish and fund what would essentially be Christian madrassas throughout Texas. Sickening.

A chance to end the public school era

Texas’ proposed school reform would, at least on a limited scale for now, allow taxpayers to opt out of paying taxes to public schools in order to direct their contributions to EAO’s. Those entitie...

BLOG.CHRON.COM

Thomas Alexander Reminds me somewhat of what some of Virginia's school districts did in response to integration in the fifties and sixties.

Olivia Hall Fowler I went to private Christian schools between fifth grade until my junior year, so I know what a bad idea this is

Rudy Ch Garcia Only in Tex., back to the 19th Century.

David Bowles The New Confederacy.

Olivia Hall Fowler They tried a similar thing with school vouchers in Louisiana, and immediately dropped it when they realized they couldn't exclude Muslim schools. (I suspect that is the reason for the private funding entities they are trying to establish, but I could be wrong.)

Steve Bergstrom All towards establishing a theocracy.

David Daniel Ball Sounds a tad hyperbolic. Madras schools are the type which underlie almost all Catholic Schools today. They were begun in Madras in the late 1700's when a British orphanage was understaffed and a headmaster took to using students to teach other students. I know that is not what you mean, but the jihadist breeding grounds that don't operate as Islamic schools either but as a parody of schools teaching Islam. I'm sure that isn't what these parents want. I am confident they would like to pay for their children to not be raised in a hostile left wing environment. They would probably prefer their schools celebrated diversity even if some of those were conservative and/or Christian.

David Daniel Ball https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitorial_System

Monitorial System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Monitorial System was an education...
EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Olivia Hall Fowler I spent most of my schooling years in private Christian schools, and I don't think it's hyperbolic at all. I mean, I'm sure I learned the same math, but the science was significantly different. I took five science courses in my two years in public high school in an attempt to make up for the deficiency. And that is beside all the books we were *told about* in Christian school, but not allowed to read. History was also... selective.

Olivia Hall Fowler In Louisiana, there were even catholic schools that used Of People and Pandas as a textbook. Not the good catholic schools (thank you Jesuits for intellectual rigor), but the very fact that catholic education was being infiltrated by anti intellectualism is enough to give one pause.

David Bowles David, state-sponsored fundamentalist religious schools. The bureaucratic undermining of secular education. Texas is turning into the Christian version of a middle-eastern theocracy, step by infuriating step.

Julian Dwyer Fascism is alive and well.

Todd Vick Keep in mind, this is a certain "type" of Christian. Not all Christians fall into this radical camp. I for one do not, and I'm vehemently opposed to these two bills and this whole concept and the nut heads behind it all.

David Bowles Yes, definitely. These are typically fundamentalist far-right prosperity-gospel evangelicals.

Julian Dwyer They also seem to have very deep pockets and even deeper influence, which is why we should be VERY concerned.

Todd Vick The problem stems from the radical ideals of Arthur Laffer. That man has been an economic wrecking ball over the last 25 years. Anything he thinks up usually ends in complete ruin.

David Bowles Sure, but it's compounded by a greedy offshoot of Christianity that equates wealth with piety.

Frank Severino Define entropy: voting for the right not to have to choose anything in life.

Frank Severino Science has already proven: take any random group of 100 persons, and the biggest asshole will become the leader.

Todd Vick That certainly says a lot about the other 99 people, huh?

Orphan Bible Quote 2 corinthians 4:16

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." -2 corinthians 4:16

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A problem with academia is the promise of the sure result, is not matched with the truth, that every result must be continuously defended. And ancient Greece was the home of academia. Paul went to Corinth and shared his life as a Christian. And Paul returned. Frustrated. Hurt. Explaining again and again what he had meant as Corinthians split hairs.

But the result is a pure distillation of Paul’s message. 

Here, Paul is defending his apostleship. He has love for the people of Corinth, but has had to give them a severe lecture in a letter that may no longer exist. Some questioned Paul's apostle status. But Paul's defence is also applicable to all believers. 

Read David Daniel Ball's answer to What is the background to, and meaning of 2 corinthians 4:16? on Quora

orphan Bible Quotes John 3:16

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“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Orphan Bible Quotes Romans 8:35,37

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“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” - Romans 8:35,37

In early Rome, attempts were made to stop Christian worship and restore traditional Roman pantheist worship. And in stoic Roman style, Christian worshippers showed their faith. Hundreds of years after Paul wrote this letter, a young Christian woman, a teenager, was sentenced to death for her faith. She faced a gladiator. Her father was in the stadium. The gladiator subdued her, but hesitated at the killing blow. She placed the sword tip at her throat and instructed the gladiator to thrust. She died Roman and Christian. Although we die, Christ holds us. Although we fail, Christ holds us. As we live, Christ holds us. 

Many Christians are persecuted for their faith today. Many will go their whole lives and not face worse than a reversal of fortune at work. How one dies may make a statement. How one lives makes all the difference. Live as though Christ holds you. It is ok to be outspoken for Christ. It is ok to pray silently. It is ok to let others know you are Christian. It is ok to serve. It is ok to be humiliated for Christ. It is ok to be wrong, and admit it and repent. There is only one way to lose. Reject Christ, continually and finally. 

orphan Bible Quotes 1 John 3:11

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“For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.” - 1 John 3:11

The message of love was not readily conveyed by the commandments God had given. But as Jesus said, that was their intent. People have hard hearts. They tend to selfishness. Which is understandable, as life is sweet, and so one craves more. But 100 large milkshakes should not be consumed in an hour, but easily in a year, God shows how life can be sweeter. 

Service to others is a godly heart. It is humbling, making it easier to continue. Service points the heart in the right direction to walk with God. Selfishness points away from the Lord. Even isolation, which is sometimes what we wish to commune with God, is a selfish retreat if there are others in need. 

But the love is like that of family. And family sleep, rest, play and work. It isn’t selfish to tend to your own needs. But we live for family. 

orphan Bible Quotes 1 John 4:10

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“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” - 1 John 4:10

God loves you. But God will not endure your rebellion to him. God has created a path so that He can love you and not see your rebellion. It is a remarkable thing, to be loved by God. To be loved by God is to have a home in paradise forever. And it is given freely to all, and those who accept the gift can have it. 

Just like prayer is not answered if one does not pray, the gift of love must be reciprocated. If you are angry at God, and blame Him for your choices, then you aren’t listening to Him. Anger divides and hurts love, leading to a broken heart. 

God made a path for you. You were lost to Him, but He found a way to retrieve you. It is your choice. But why choose to reject the gifts? Why break the heart of one who loves you?