Currently Aja By Steely Dan see related

The Strength of Christianity

Previously I wrote of the weaknesses of Christianity, some of which are that those who don't know Jesus have only those who go by His Name to know Him by, and most of these don't know Him in order to present who He is with any accuracy.  Another apparent weakness is that there are mysteries involved - some things which are beyond our ability to comprehend and, therefore, to explain.  But that goes with a God who is far enough above us and our understanding to be worth giving oneself to.

That being said, the strength of Christianity is that, when one develops a relationship with Messiah (the Christ or annointed one) all the power of God's love and might are there to support and build that one up however and wherever it is needed.  One no longer guesses at His existence.  One knows Him as well as he or she knows anyone or anything.  This Christian experiences love in its purest form and is purified by it.  He sees the Truth and is cleansed by it.  He experiences the power of God and is humbled and comforted by it.  He knows a sure security that is unavailable elsewhere.

All these things, the purification, the cleansing and the attainment of security, are processes which increase in time with new experiences as the Christian avails himself to Messiah.  No man will be completely perfected this side of the Judgments. 

Another strength of relational Christianity is that God does most of the work in and on us.  It is somewhat like the the surgeon and the nurse who hands the scalpel and knife.  Sure, some of the things He asks of us are difficult and painful, but they bring about such health that it becomes easier and easier to bear them as we see the track record of good He accomplishes through our obediences.

Currently Point of Know Return By Kansas Nobody's Home see related

The Strength of Atheism

Previously I wrote of the weaknesses of Atheism, that true Atheism allows for no inherant meaning.  Therefore, all meaining is contrived by the individual, making each individual a god unto oneself.  Many problems ensue from this, however, I write now to show the main draws of Atheism as they have been reported to me by Atheists.

The main strength of Atheism is that one is completely free from the judgment of one's god since one is one's own god.  Whatever the Atheist wishes to do is good and acceptible.  Therefore, with faith organization has resulted from chaos and intellegence from nothingness, the Atheist can do as he pleases guilt-free. 

Currently Recalling the Hope of Glory By Allen Ross see related

The Weakness of Atheisim

There are three world views people can take - that there is no creator, that there is at least one creator, or that they haven't discerned which of the two is true.

Atheism holds that there is no creator, that we came into being with no purpose, we just happened.  If this is the case then we have no purpose, no direction, no reason for being outside of ourselves and our own desire to continue to exist.  We have no leader or guide buy our own hearts.  We have no definer, even no reference by which to define ourselves except that which already exists.  But even that we must define individually. 

In essence, we are each our own gods.  We each one determine what is good and evil for us for the moment.  We plant our morality deeply in the shifting sands of our hearts and our understanding which are constantly changing, blown this way and that by our experiences and information that makes sense to us at the moment.  We have no basis to define anything except our desire to have a basis.  We choose those ideals which make us feel most secure and expect others to adhere to them such that we become angry when they don't.  Yet they are not our god.  They are their own gods with their own houses founded on the shifting sands of their own experiences and understandings.

Atheists have no bedrock on which to focus their moralities.  If they had a bedrock they would all be moving toward that unshifting position.  But there is no basis for bedrock, just the idea of bedrock which only some adhere to.  Others prefer to be free of bedrock and the ideas of good and evil.  The most we could say as atheists is that it is the truth of these others that truth doesn't exist.

We try to comfort ourselves that though no one else agree with me, and though I am prone to vascillate in foundational beliefs that are mere guesses, that I am safe and secure in my current beliefs.  This negates any meaningful definition of truth.  For truth to be meaningful it must not change, because the definition of falsehood is the absence of truth or verity.

On the matter of humans as gods, anyone who has truly examined their own heart has become aware of its deceitful destructiveness.  We may long to do good all the time, but we find that in certain circumstances we are quick to destroy that which we love.  Who hasn't hurt a spouse or significant other or child in a moment of distraction or perceived attack?  But this only scratches the surface of the flawed condition of our hearts. 

We are selfish at the core.  We do everything for self.  Even our altruism is done in order to bring about good feelings about oneself.  On our own we are incapable of a selfless act.  In short, we humans make horrible gods.

We are like kites.  With a heavy weight at the ground it can fly about with purpose as long as the wind lasts.  But without the weight it flies off to no particular place and has no control over where it ends up, smudged and tattered along the way.

Currently The Sum of All Fears By Tom Clancy see related

"Among you stands one whose sandals I am not fit to untie"

I just found a little fact about this statement that I had been unaware of and thought I'd share with yall.  The above words were spoken by John the Baptist, cousin of Jesus, to the Temple officials who were sent by the Sanhedrin to find out who John was presenting himself as.  They did so because he was attracting many people and having them repent of their sins as though the priestly leadership was not doing their jobs completely.  They were indignant and feared losing their power if John assumed too much for himself.

So they sent an entourage of priests and scriptural lawyers (scribes) to ask JtB who he was presenting himself as.  He denied being Messiah, the One who was to come to straighten out everything Adam and Eve messed up.  He denied being Elijah, who is prophesied to return before Messiah when He returns as the Conquering King.  He also denied being the Prophet spoken of by Moses, a direct representative of God.  This relieved them all, since these were the identities that would threaten their power.  But they were still curious, so they asked him again, "Who do you say that you are?  What do you say about yourself?"

He answered with scripture, "I am a voice crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the paths for the Lord!'"  But he further answered, telling them that "...among you stands One, the thong of whose sandle I am not fit to untie."

Now that has a lowly enough feeling for us 21st century Westerners.  But in Israel at that time the removal of the sandals and the washing of feet was beneath all but the slaves.  An Jew would never be caught doing such a dishonorable task, but John says that with respect to "the one who stands among you" that it would be too great an honor for him to remove His sandals and wash His feet.

I'm sure this perplexed and maybe brought the tension level back up for the priests and scribes and those who sent them since no stronger statement about the greatness of a person could be made.

Currently So By Peter Gabriel Mercy Street see related

On the 5% Solution

Actually, I have little to say about the 5% Solution other than April loved Sherlock Holmes, so I hope she will have a chance to meet A C Doyle if she hasn't already.

I'm finishing up my last Friday at AWI and my second to last in Tally.  I'm not being given any work I assume because there's not that much going around and they want Nilesh trained and as busy as possible.  Hence, the time to write this and maximize my time with my fb military pursuits.

I feel like I'm molting a little too soon.  I'm dying to get the hell out of here because I know I have to, not because I want to leave the people.  I don't.  I'll miss you all horribly!  But we are not about pleasing ourselves according to our understanding beyond trusting the One Who made us to do so.  We were made for Him and He will do more for us than we can do for ourselves when we trust and obey Him.  Far more.  Besides, I have electronic ways to keep tabs on you all.  I just wish it could all be over and I would be in Jax sorting through the packed boxes at the storage unit, playing with my nephews, working out with my brother, and hanging out with my parents and old high school buddies (I'm one of the few who left, and fewer who returned).  Hopefully, in two weeks I will be settled into my new situation.

There is much to look forward to in J'ville - time with the youngest and middle nephew, jamming and maybe playing publicly with my eldest nephew, getting into shape again, catching up with old friends, spending time with the parents.  So there is once again a split or a tearing from one very good to another good, but very different.  Everything will change - all my associations and my whole lifestyle.  Though some change is good it is still stressful in direct correlation to the intensity of the change.  It is this stress that I look forward to seeing wane so that I can somehow have my peace return.