We are stewards of this world,servants not owners. We are here to manage not control.
Monthly Archives: July 2015
Cee’ws B& W Photo Challenge: Statues
I’m feeling all quotish today so I have decided to add quotations with my photos in Cee’s B& W Challenge this week which is all about the STATUES and sculptures and carvings.
Since I am focusing on the statues please click that word above to go and see how others focused their attentions on this very broad category. Especially take a peak at Cee’s bear as that is one of my favs so far in this challenge.
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual housea to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.” I Pet. 2:4-6
The more the marbles wastes, the more the statue grows.
The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal and hasten the resurrection of the dead.
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“There is no God!”
Never doubt!
I hear the cry of the saints as they pray and in the background I hear the roar of those who do not believe. They scream in my face, “There is no God you fool!”
Sitting on my back deck this morning looking out over my one acre back yard I hear the whistle of a bird happily communicating with his friends. The soft tingle of wind chimes mingles with a variety of bird calls. The tree leaves rustle in a breeze that brushes my cheeks. The grass is wet with the morning dew. A tear-shaped drop of water hangs precariously off the pink pettle of a rose as the sky clears from an evening of rain. The serenity is calming, soothing, tranquil.
The whirl of tiny hummingbird wings catches my attention as it shoots past me heading for the hummingbird feeder hanging close by. It sits so delicately on the…
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Free Will Is Not the Same As Freedom
In its recent decision to nationally legalize gay marriage the Supreme Court has said, “The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty. “Syllabus OBERGEFELL ET AL v HODGES, DIRECTOR, OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ET AL pp.4,5
What I see here is another example of our culture’s penchant for redefining terms. We have done it with words like love. It used to be said, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails- I Cor, 13, 4-8
But today, love is most often confused with lust… OR… in cases where we “love” somebody we wouldn’t think of sleeping with it gets easily mixed up with “co-dependence”.
When I was a kid growing up if I was tolerant of somebody that meant I put up with them even if they were idiots towards me. Today tolerance means I don’t just put up with people. It means I have to agree with what people do even if I think it is idiotic because “everyone’s truth is true for them.” Has anyone ever actually sat down and tried to figure out what the heck that actually means? It’s about as nonsensical as the poem Jabberwocky (which I have memorized so you would think I should get that statement but I just don’t).
Now, what we have done is redefined the word liberty. Liberty use to be defined as “freedom” – which is: the quality or state of being free: as
a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another
c : the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous – Merriam Webster’s Dictionary
That definition becomes more clear as you put all the pieces together. True freedom liberates you from things that bring you into bondage, addiction, destruction or onerous positions. It does not liberate you into bondage, addiction, destruction or onerous positions.
Freedom is not the right to choose whatever the heck you want. Choosing to do whatever you want is called free will and free will does not always lead us to freedom. In fact in our fallen state (which I realize whole bunches of people no longer even believe in but that is a whole other post on truth) most often our free will leads us directly away from freedom and into slavery which is first a spiritual condition and then ends as a physical condition.
Freedom requires an embracing of the truth:
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” John 14:7
“Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32″
Paul the apostle wrote to the Galatians, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1
This statement would seem to indicate that there is a freedom which can actually lead us away from freedom and into slavery.
It needs to be understood that true freedom is not about doing what we want but about having the ability to do what we ought.
I do recognize that in a country that no longer believes in Christ it is perfectly natural to lose a biblical understanding of words like liberty. What else could the Supreme Court do but redefine it? Without the Truth (Christ) true liberty is impossible; So changing the definition to something attainable like letting people choose what they want is a lot less painful than admitting that because they have no faith in the Truth, actual liberty is impossible to achieve.
Still and all, whatever the Supreme Court may decide Free Will is not the same as Freedom. Sadly many people feeling comforted by their decision will only learn that truth too late.
Lillie-Put 