Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
A lesson in blogometry
Here are some useful definitions for the Chaunson family.
Blog- a web log. a website where one or more authors can post essays on different subjects.
Post- a single entry in a blog. Posts are usually restricted to one subject or the contents of one day.
Comments- this is a section found under each post where others can comment on the post. Comments are used to keep discussions coherent and to keep multiple people from posting multiple posts on the same topic over and over.
I know you don't get to create a clever title for your response but if you use the comments it will clean up the webspace and make it much easier to tell when you've been responded to.
The caveat here is that you have to actually check the comments section when you go to the blog.
So what do you say friends? Let's clean up this place!
Remember. . .
If you've just read a post,
and you need to lament;
don't boast a repost,
just leave a comment
Blog- a web log. a website where one or more authors can post essays on different subjects.
Post- a single entry in a blog. Posts are usually restricted to one subject or the contents of one day.
Comments- this is a section found under each post where others can comment on the post. Comments are used to keep discussions coherent and to keep multiple people from posting multiple posts on the same topic over and over.
I know you don't get to create a clever title for your response but if you use the comments it will clean up the webspace and make it much easier to tell when you've been responded to.
The caveat here is that you have to actually check the comments section when you go to the blog.
So what do you say friends? Let's clean up this place!
Remember. . .
If you've just read a post,
and you need to lament;
don't boast a repost,
just leave a comment
Love, Glove, Dove
AK47 Pleabs,
I don’t argue with you about “The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.” In fact, I concur wholeheartedly my Heeby Pleeby friend.
When you started talking about Eros, however, that’s where I began disagreeing. Do you know where the concept of Eros stemmed from? It was a Greek mythological god. The god of love. Plato worked on its definition for sometime, and many philosophers used it later on. . .much like the definition you took from FREUD’S definition of sexual love.
What I’m saying is that these are still human-composed concepts, and if we believe in the same God, and God is Love, then those human-composed concepts are merely shots in the dark as to what human love is.
The Bible says God is Love, so if you claim to know Love, you claim to know God. You don’t know God. You have a glimpse as to what He is, but you don’t fully understand. Thee same goes for love, or unconditional love I should say.
So I guess, yes, we both agree that there is a duality in love, at least from our perspective. . . There is suffering and sadness. But we often see, in hindsight bias, that these are required for love to exist, whether we agree with it or not.
But my issue with Boyd is that he renounces any pain and suffering in this world as being Love or God-related. He says God plays no hand in those instances. And if you want to know why I have such a huge problem with this, read my entry right below this one “Who knows? (Nobody! Nobody!)”
As far as loving your neighbor as you love God, I think we need to constantly be reevaluating ourselves and where we stand. The big question is “How? How do I love?” It’s easy to say “just love.” But people who aren’t even Christians exhibit what seems to be love, so how do as Christians better represent it?
It’s easy to care for your wife, your girlfriend, your family and friends dude. But think about people you can’t stand. Think about people you despise. You are instructed to love them. How on earth do you even do that? I think we caught a piece of a snapshot of what love is in the crucifixion. It sent a message. . . deny yourself for God and for others. Sacrifice yourself. Give up your time, your money, your energy, all of you. And not just for the people close to you. Now how often do we do that? And how often do we even RECOGNIZE it? And yet, we have the audacity and the arrogance to go around preaching about love.
The truth is, like Lewis said below, people would rather not hear about it; they’d rather see it in action. It bothers me beyond all belief when Christians think that non-Christians will someday find a faith if they just hear more Bible verses about love thrown at them. Or if they hear that Jesus loves them. If they don’t believe in Jesus, then this has no relevance.
If you are instructed to be a part of the living body of Christ, your time would be better spent not talking about the love of Christ, aside from the fact that you don’t even know what that means, but rather living it out the best way you know how. This goes for me too.
Grandpa C
I don’t argue with you about “The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.” In fact, I concur wholeheartedly my Heeby Pleeby friend.
When you started talking about Eros, however, that’s where I began disagreeing. Do you know where the concept of Eros stemmed from? It was a Greek mythological god. The god of love. Plato worked on its definition for sometime, and many philosophers used it later on. . .much like the definition you took from FREUD’S definition of sexual love.
What I’m saying is that these are still human-composed concepts, and if we believe in the same God, and God is Love, then those human-composed concepts are merely shots in the dark as to what human love is.
The Bible says God is Love, so if you claim to know Love, you claim to know God. You don’t know God. You have a glimpse as to what He is, but you don’t fully understand. Thee same goes for love, or unconditional love I should say.
So I guess, yes, we both agree that there is a duality in love, at least from our perspective. . . There is suffering and sadness. But we often see, in hindsight bias, that these are required for love to exist, whether we agree with it or not.
But my issue with Boyd is that he renounces any pain and suffering in this world as being Love or God-related. He says God plays no hand in those instances. And if you want to know why I have such a huge problem with this, read my entry right below this one “Who knows? (Nobody! Nobody!)”
As far as loving your neighbor as you love God, I think we need to constantly be reevaluating ourselves and where we stand. The big question is “How? How do I love?” It’s easy to say “just love.” But people who aren’t even Christians exhibit what seems to be love, so how do as Christians better represent it?
It’s easy to care for your wife, your girlfriend, your family and friends dude. But think about people you can’t stand. Think about people you despise. You are instructed to love them. How on earth do you even do that? I think we caught a piece of a snapshot of what love is in the crucifixion. It sent a message. . . deny yourself for God and for others. Sacrifice yourself. Give up your time, your money, your energy, all of you. And not just for the people close to you. Now how often do we do that? And how often do we even RECOGNIZE it? And yet, we have the audacity and the arrogance to go around preaching about love.
The truth is, like Lewis said below, people would rather not hear about it; they’d rather see it in action. It bothers me beyond all belief when Christians think that non-Christians will someday find a faith if they just hear more Bible verses about love thrown at them. Or if they hear that Jesus loves them. If they don’t believe in Jesus, then this has no relevance.
If you are instructed to be a part of the living body of Christ, your time would be better spent not talking about the love of Christ, aside from the fact that you don’t even know what that means, but rather living it out the best way you know how. This goes for me too.
Grandpa C
Who knows? (Nobody! Nobody!)
Sniffles,
When I say Buddhism is a “feel good” faith, I say it in terms of “what can I do to achieve inner peace.” In truth, there are a lot of everyday methodologies one can use to achieve inner peace – yoga, meditation, what have you. But if you don’t believe my Buddhism comment, look it up and read about it. Sure, it’s a religion that practices moderation, but the ultimate goal, at least from what I understand, is achieving nirvana. This is sort of like a heavenly state in which conflict no longer exists and one finds peacefulness.
Secondly, I don’t know why the hell it is so difficult letting the concept of God be God.
If we ignore the concept of Christianity momentarily, just think for a moment what it means for “a god” to exist. I guess I could ask you something like this: When asked what “a god” is, how would you define it? Would you bind this god to certain limitations? If so, I have a few words for you:
That isn’t a god. . .or maybe it could be by your definition. But that really seems more like a superhuman. It can do some things beyond human standards, but is limited in other areas.
If I believe in this god, I essentially am taking stake in something you just made up. That’s like you taking some crayons and a piece of construction paper and drawing “a god,” and me subsequently devoting my whole life to it.
Now that we’ve gotten past the general concept of “a god,” let’s consider God, as written in the Bible (the same God Boyd and I supposedly believe in, along with all other Christians).
Revelation 11:17 - Exclaiming, To You we give thanks, Lord God Omnipotent, [the One] Who is and [ever] was, for assuming the high sovereignty and the great power that are Yours and for beginning to reign.
Omnipotence – look it up.
Sniffles,
If God is omnipotent, he has infinite power. Infinite. Meaning unending. He always was, is and will be. He defies “time.” And why shouldn’t he? He created it.
If God created time Sniffles, and he subsequently became a victim of it, of his own created concept, he exists in the time frame as do we. He cannot know what will be, what will happen. He is no longer all-knowing. He merely moves through a timeline with us, completely oblivious to anything in the future. And if He cannot foresee the future, how could He have prophesied like He did?
That is what I mean by drawing lines. If Christianity is supposedly the only way and this is the one true God, He should reign above all. . .and according to Revelation, He does. What does this mean? HE HOLDS EVERYTHING. Take that kid’s song. . . “He’s got the whole world in his hands” and alter the words a bit: “He’s got the whole universe and all of its concepts in his hands.”
And if you’re going to try to argue that, because Jesus was human, he walked the earth and was subject to time just like the rest of us, I will agree with you. . .PHYSICALLY. But if Jesus is God, He abided by the same concepts as God (read above). He still had infinite knowledge and power. What was the Greek word that explained this concept? Ah yes. . . Kenosis.
In short, Sniffles, I have a difficult time when people start throwing God-Limitations at me, because it contradicts the concept of "god" itself! If these people understand God so well, meaning they can define what He would and wouldn’t do, they are really stating that they are gods over God. If God has limitations made up by some arrogant philosopher, then I’d much rather not adhere to that heresy.
Consider it this way: A limited mind can only produce a limited answer.
The rest follows suit.
Grandpa C
When I say Buddhism is a “feel good” faith, I say it in terms of “what can I do to achieve inner peace.” In truth, there are a lot of everyday methodologies one can use to achieve inner peace – yoga, meditation, what have you. But if you don’t believe my Buddhism comment, look it up and read about it. Sure, it’s a religion that practices moderation, but the ultimate goal, at least from what I understand, is achieving nirvana. This is sort of like a heavenly state in which conflict no longer exists and one finds peacefulness.
Secondly, I don’t know why the hell it is so difficult letting the concept of God be God.
If we ignore the concept of Christianity momentarily, just think for a moment what it means for “a god” to exist. I guess I could ask you something like this: When asked what “a god” is, how would you define it? Would you bind this god to certain limitations? If so, I have a few words for you:
That isn’t a god. . .or maybe it could be by your definition. But that really seems more like a superhuman. It can do some things beyond human standards, but is limited in other areas.
If I believe in this god, I essentially am taking stake in something you just made up. That’s like you taking some crayons and a piece of construction paper and drawing “a god,” and me subsequently devoting my whole life to it.
Now that we’ve gotten past the general concept of “a god,” let’s consider God, as written in the Bible (the same God Boyd and I supposedly believe in, along with all other Christians).
Revelation 11:17 - Exclaiming, To You we give thanks, Lord God Omnipotent, [the One] Who is and [ever] was, for assuming the high sovereignty and the great power that are Yours and for beginning to reign.
Omnipotence – look it up.
Sniffles,
If God is omnipotent, he has infinite power. Infinite. Meaning unending. He always was, is and will be. He defies “time.” And why shouldn’t he? He created it.
If God created time Sniffles, and he subsequently became a victim of it, of his own created concept, he exists in the time frame as do we. He cannot know what will be, what will happen. He is no longer all-knowing. He merely moves through a timeline with us, completely oblivious to anything in the future. And if He cannot foresee the future, how could He have prophesied like He did?
That is what I mean by drawing lines. If Christianity is supposedly the only way and this is the one true God, He should reign above all. . .and according to Revelation, He does. What does this mean? HE HOLDS EVERYTHING. Take that kid’s song. . . “He’s got the whole world in his hands” and alter the words a bit: “He’s got the whole universe and all of its concepts in his hands.”
And if you’re going to try to argue that, because Jesus was human, he walked the earth and was subject to time just like the rest of us, I will agree with you. . .PHYSICALLY. But if Jesus is God, He abided by the same concepts as God (read above). He still had infinite knowledge and power. What was the Greek word that explained this concept? Ah yes. . . Kenosis.
In short, Sniffles, I have a difficult time when people start throwing God-Limitations at me, because it contradicts the concept of "god" itself! If these people understand God so well, meaning they can define what He would and wouldn’t do, they are really stating that they are gods over God. If God has limitations made up by some arrogant philosopher, then I’d much rather not adhere to that heresy.
Consider it this way: A limited mind can only produce a limited answer.
The rest follows suit.
Grandpa C
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The greatest love story ever told..
= the passion. dehydration. 40 lashes. crown of thorns. mocking. carrying the cross. 9 inch nails. crucifixion.
that sounds like a lot of suffering to me.
Josh, the problem is that you take a very 'post modern' view on love. Maybe you should listen to Boyd's series on what 'love' is. Love really has 3 separate branches. One of them is Eros, which is what we think of a lot today - the emotion, cupids arrow, hearts, touch, sex, overall - erotic. But there is A LOT more to love. Love really has to do with death to self, and put others over you.
1 Corinthians 13 has a lot to say about it. or try colossions 3.
The fact is - the God you, Josh, believe in demands you not to understand him, not to understand his creation and omnipotence, but to 'do'
love God and love your neighbors above yourself. All God asks us to do (meaning he empowers us to do it) is wrapped up in this one verse in Matthew. It's simple and it's beautiful.
And that DOES NOT mean put on your birkenstocks, your favorite Grateful Dead tie-dye, hand out flowers, eat some Ben and Jerry's, rock out to Phish, and only eat granola.
sometimes it does mean suffering - as the greatest example of love this world will ever know was, in fact, SUFFERING.
love you Grandpa,
I can't wait to see you tonight, take a flight, i just might, a shining light, brilo-bright, fly a kite, nasty bite, pillow fight, out of sight, lots of height, yes I might, chaunson fight, chicka chight..
Friday, April 11, 2008
Who knows? (I do! I do!)
Grampa C,
It seems to me that both you and Boyd are just creating whatever kind of God you need to enable yourself to believe in God. For you to believe in God, you need him to be omnipotent. Why? What if God is inside and subject to time, but he still reigns over heaven and judges our souls and created us and insprired the bible and fathered Jesus Christ? What if (somehow) you came to know all this but that God can't see our choices before we think them? Would you seriously choose to not believe in this God?
I guess by this point in the narrative you'd at least have to believe he exists.
How do you KNOW that God IS omnipotent? regardless of which scenario is more likely neither possibility is extinguished. so why decide now without the proof?
Ultimately I think it's good to pick sides and beliefs if only for a little while to see if you really believe them. But if your always open to change and reinterpretation do you really ever believe anything? Does it matter? If your goal is to land in heaven then yeah it matters. what if you had no goals? I don't think that's possible. Maybe if you could really eliminate all goals from your mind, you'd just leave your body and move on.
Buddhism isn't about "feeling good" and solving personal problems.
The best thing you can do to save our environment is die.
Sniffles
It seems to me that both you and Boyd are just creating whatever kind of God you need to enable yourself to believe in God. For you to believe in God, you need him to be omnipotent. Why? What if God is inside and subject to time, but he still reigns over heaven and judges our souls and created us and insprired the bible and fathered Jesus Christ? What if (somehow) you came to know all this but that God can't see our choices before we think them? Would you seriously choose to not believe in this God?
I guess by this point in the narrative you'd at least have to believe he exists.
How do you KNOW that God IS omnipotent? regardless of which scenario is more likely neither possibility is extinguished. so why decide now without the proof?
Ultimately I think it's good to pick sides and beliefs if only for a little while to see if you really believe them. But if your always open to change and reinterpretation do you really ever believe anything? Does it matter? If your goal is to land in heaven then yeah it matters. what if you had no goals? I don't think that's possible. Maybe if you could really eliminate all goals from your mind, you'd just leave your body and move on.
Buddhism isn't about "feeling good" and solving personal problems.
The best thing you can do to save our environment is die.
Sniffles
RE: joy-fantasy land excerpt
"don't judge. . .just love" is a good system. What this friend of yours is arguing against is the "don't judge. . .just tell everyone to love" system.
Loving people is not simply telling them about love. Loving people takes actions and sacrifices. Yes suffering people want reasons and explanations but NOT FROM YOU! Sometimes loving people is shutting up, keeping your advice to yourself and just being nice. Help them out with the mundane challenges so they can spend time finding explanations and enjoying your love quietly.
Here's two easy steps to live a good life.
1. don't judge. . .just love
2. take a vow of silence
The most persuasive thing any Christian can do to convert others is to inspire them by being loving all the time. People know where you stand you don't need to tell them all the time.
I say don't get down on the love only all the time people cause they are pretty great people.
Sniffles
Loving people is not simply telling them about love. Loving people takes actions and sacrifices. Yes suffering people want reasons and explanations but NOT FROM YOU! Sometimes loving people is shutting up, keeping your advice to yourself and just being nice. Help them out with the mundane challenges so they can spend time finding explanations and enjoying your love quietly.
Here's two easy steps to live a good life.
1. don't judge. . .just love
2. take a vow of silence
The most persuasive thing any Christian can do to convert others is to inspire them by being loving all the time. People know where you stand you don't need to tell them all the time.
I say don't get down on the love only all the time people cause they are pretty great people.
Sniffles
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