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I cannot possibly agree more with a post than I do here. Absolutely spot-on.
I saw an Acura NSX parked outside of a church this week. It made me sick.
Yeah. That car says a lot about what matters you concern yourself with.
She seems to be doing pretty well. It's amazing that she believes in something so "ridiculous" yet continues to function and do well in society, isn't it? I'll take her well-meaning belief in something beyond our sensory perception over your broad-scope cynicism any time.
I cannot possibly agree more with a post than I do here. Absolutely spot-on.
I saw an Acura NSX parked outside of a church this week. It made me sick.
Yeah. That car says a lot about what matters you concern yourself with.
angel_luv from what I can gather on the internet (which isn't much) seems like a person with childlike faith (the kind one is supposed to have), who is content with what she has, and makes effort to be kind and generous to others.
The bolded part makes her especially rare.
Dude, you're just saying that cause she's hot.
Thanks very much Cry Havoc and Extra Stout.
You are both very kind.
My wife is waaaaaaaaay hotter. To me anyway.Dude, you're just saying that cause she's hot.
Pics or get lost.
Not a chance.Pics or get lost.
ES pretty much covered it, but you can also take it straight from the J-man's mouth:
Matthew 6:5
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Religion constantly gets in the way of everything it seems.
Forum talk, politics, gas prices, self confidence, peer acceptance, etc.
Seems more a barrier than a bridge to the un-indoctrinated. But whatever gets you in the "IN" crowd is okay in my book.
Another thing I have noticed in little old Michigan, it would seem the most ignorant and petulent people I have met in my life are always quasi-religious. "Quasi" because theyre too dumb to read the Bible and actually understand it, but "religious" in that they invoke the Lord's name in the most mundane facets of life. Whether its "Swear to God?" or in the face of adversity, "The Lord has a plan..." or other such drivel to explain away life's misfortunes.
As an example:
You can pray all day, every day for one thing thats tangible. Like...sheesh, I dont know...a better job (to use Angel_Luvs situation).
If you do nothing to further that goal, then your prayer means nothing and (so to speak) falls on deaf ears. A religious person would probably write that off as "hasnt happened yet".
But, in the case of Angel, who Im sure pursued her goals and hit the net with resumes' (sp?), beat the street knocking on doors and turning in applications, called friends or what have you in the industry asking about and all other due diligence in seeking better employment gets her better opportunity, God helped because you prayed?
Im sure its easy for those in your boat to understand the connection, but for those of us at sea, not so much. Sounds like hard work and diligence paid off, not divine intervention. But whatever...
does anybody pray for ford or gm?
No, they pray for their jobs. Judging by their local parking lots, God must have been on the phone...
Im not knocking her beliefs, just being a little bit of a smartass, I don't judge the believers just the ones who judge the non-believers. Her beliefs do not hurt me in any way and I would agree there are a lot of positives about religion. Imagine a world where there was no religion and no fear of consequences or a fear of god, this world would be in total Anarchy, not that its not too far from that now.
Prayer is about more than asking God for things.
Apparently this is working, because gas prices are steadly going down where I'm at. It was at 4.59 like a month ago now it's around 4.20. It would be perfect around 3 dollars to 3.30.
I was in Vegas last weekend it was $3.99 now its close to $3.90
And Angel dont take my comment the wrong way, i do think its kinda cute with your and your faith. You go girl.
It's ok for starters, but as you mature asking for things becomes less important.
I believe they were well intentioned, that is, they were frustrated and genuinely concerned by the hardship higher gas prices have put on many people and families. At worst, they were harmless.
As far as being called ridiculous, Christ was called worse for his public prayers, imagine someone taking a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish and publicly asking God to satisfy the hunger of 5,000 people with it. Riciculous looking for sure. I personally wouldn't have joined the prayer at the pump, but I certainly wouldn't offer them one bit of criticism either.
Are you absolutely sure God believed those people were ridiculous and foolish?
Good sermonette, but I've never said anything in this forum that should have given you cause to believe that I want to deflect that criticism, and I wouldn't think of defending the Osteen's and other's that promote a materialistic doctrine. On the contrary, Christ and Scripture condemn striving for, or ac ulating material wealth.For too long the evangelical church in the United States has d itself out to the world. For all of the rancor towards the liberal apostate church for its apostasy, the "conservative" evangelical church has done the same things. Where the liberals go off the rails on biblical interpretation relating to sexuality (among other things), the evangelicals go off the rails on biblical interpretation relating to materialism.
And don't you dare start deflecting that criticism. You know damn well it's true. The prosperity gospel is just the most flagrant form of the heresy.
It may be easier for you to write them off as being ridiculous if the e in gas prices didn't put a big dent in your lifestyle, or make the basic necessities in life more unaffordable than they already were. Those who were pushed further into indebtedness because were probably praying with them.So the farce here is the spectacle of Christians, long encouraged to live out their lives of mindless consumerism by churches that not only fail to admonish them from it, but even cater to it, whose understanding of God now is of a sugar daddy who will make the price of gas go down. This is the harvested fruit here at the last days of American evangelicalism, of churches with their coffee shops, and their plush theater seats, and their 148 programs, and their "bookstores" consisting of Christian "gifts," luxury Bibles, Danielle Steel-derived fiction, and "Christian living" books predicated on baptizing the consumer's self-obsession, of churches that think secular marketing instead of the gospel is the way to evangelize, and who fashion pastors as CEO's instead of shepherds.
They weren't seeking material wealth, just praying for a break for those who were struggling more financially.
They were harmless and well intentioned, no harm done.
I wouldn't know, but otoh, you don't know what those people are driving or what their living conditions are.I wonder what that mother in Kenya running an orphanage and school, praying for a few extra dollars so she can adopt another AIDS orphan off the streets of Nairobi, would think of a spectacle of middle-class Americans praying at the pump beside their big SUV's, on the way to their 2500 square-foot air-conditioned homes in the suburbs.
Maybe you'd like to share with us the amenities and luxuries you've ac ulated, then speculate as to what the mother in Kenya thinks of you.
Self examinition would serve us all better than examining "the other guy".
It was not, I don't mind, and i think you do care.So, yes, FARCE, and if you don't like it, I don't care.
<would it be out of order for the student to tell the teacher to "lighten up"?>
Praying for a break in high gas prices, because you're concerned for your neighbor's financial crunch, is a far cry from turning His synagogues into a strip mall.Jesus turned over the tables in the temple court for a reason.
Jochejam wins, not that discussing issues like this requires a scoreboard, this isn't the Victoria Texas Longhorn Circle Jerk Forum, nevertheless...
I agree 100 percent with Extra Stouts criticisms of the Prosperity-Seeker Sensitive-Starbucks Spiritualism gospel espoused by the Osteens and Creflow Dollar. But I think his ire is misdirected.
i personally think there are other things more worthy to pray about, but i don't know the true intent of these people, and i wont judge.
That was creepy for a second, but I work at an insurance company 2 miles from my house and drive an f-150, so obviously, this isn't about me...
Sorry. I have a bit too much on my plate to concern myself with companies full of arrogant executives who do nothing to improve quality, nothing to change fundamental flaws in their design, and nothing to respond to a growing discontent among the public for 20+ years. I'm not going to pray for someone who thinks they're invincible and uses that principle to get rich and widen the difference between their pay and the pay of the average worker.
I will pray for the workers who have to bear the brunt of that incredible avarice and arrogance, though. I grew up in a Ford family and to be honest it's really sad that it took THIS long for a company to take one single step to make things better.
I dig Angel's apparent full on faith, not for any religious reasons but for the sheer optimism in her tone (as much as tone can be judged from a monitor). I don't think the reason why someone is optimistic is important (be it religion or a healthy and content world view), but it is extremely important to have the optimistic world view. If she is truly successful and content in her life it is because she chooses to be and accepts that in herself. That's really cool to see, you don't see too many people walking around who are nearing or even moving towards a self actualized state.
As for the oil situation, it is what it is. You take the changing environment and life factors and find a way to work your life in that frame. Paying $4 a gallon for gas still beats the quality of life lived by 99% of the people who inhabited this planet before us.
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