a wonderful illustration of the hazards of using the Bible as a “magical answer generator”, and also of reading verses out of context. I might be paraphrasing it slightly, but here’s the gist of it…
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There was a man who was feeling depressed and confused, and he thought he’d look for answers in the Bible. So he opened it up at random, closed his eyes and dropped his finger on the page. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he had selected Matthew 27:5, and he read:
And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
“Oh dear”, he thought, “that doesn’t sound very encouraging! Let me try it again.”
So he repeated the exercise and this time his finger fell on Luke 10:37, which said:
Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
“This really isn’t working very well,” he thought. “But let me give it one more try.”
Again he opened the book and selected a verse at random. Again he looked at where his finger lay, this time on John 13:27, and he read:
Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
i do not plan on doing this daily but i thought this would be nice to post since it was on my mind today… this is what i woke up thinking about and developed it while showering and wrote it down before i left for a clinical day. This was wrote at 5 am this morning, barely edited – so i hope it makes as much sense as it did typing it.
**I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. ecc 9:11**
i woke up with this scripture on my mind today, i am not sure why. There are other quotes that come with this one - one is actually my favorite it is simply "don't take life too seriously no one gets out alive anyway". I have also read this scripture wrong a few times it thought it said "the race isn't too swift" and i interpreted it as humans are dumb, which may be true but its not in this scripture. Today's thought i guess is this is why patience & persistence is so valuable in a persons life ("patience you possess your soul").
The other thing i would like to allude to is a marathon on a track (goes around a football field , its 400 meters) and if you think of you raising against some one and start out at the same place (for theory finish line) the outer lanes do travel slower to do the distance different. each lane goes through the exact same areas and goes through curves and each have their own difficulty in different places.
Persistence & patience , because the race isn't to the swift!
seen this on the net & wanted to share it. i do not know the exact belief of the original author
a collection of the best:
1. “nice bible.”
2. “is this pew taken?”
3. “i just don’t feel called to celibacy.”
4. “for you i would slay two Goliaths”
5. “i would go through more than Job for you”
6. “you are perfect, except with all the sin.”
7. “when Moses struck the rock, water flowed from it like a river. I promise I will never strike you.”
8. “you are so unblemished that i would sacrifice you.”
9. “what, this here? oh.. thats my study bible – it’s a little bigger but i can handle the extra spiritual and physical weight.”
10. “shall we tithe?”
11. “at points in my life i have been referred to as Samson”
12. “the word says ‘Give drink to those who are thirsty, and feed the hungry’; how about dinner?”
13. “i didnt believe in predestination until tonight.”
14. “im not like those other Christ Church guys.”
15. “i believe one of my ribs belongs to you.”
16. “i know Lachlan Payne.”
17. (if no.16 gains no response) “Lachlan Payne knows me”
18. “i went on a beach mission but all I ended up doing was mission you.”
19. “i can be your Boaz.”
20. “my spiritual gift is my good looks… it lifts peoples spirits”
21. “i sacrifice my sunday mornings to look after the creche group. its tough… but i love children.”
22. “is this the transfiguration.. because you are glowing”
23. “i have a job.”
24. “mark driscoll takes up 35% of my ipod memory.”
25. “hey..for you I’d work seven years… and then seven more for your sister.”
(I don’t exactly know how this would benefit the user, but worth a try)
26. “im kind of a big deal at Koorong”
27. “hey good-looking, Ecclesiastes 4:11…”
28. “absolutely. i often throw clothes into the samaritan bin.”
29. “bible-gateway happens to be my homepage.”
30. “im a man who discovered the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn. That’s what kind of man I am.”
31. “marry me.”
32. “can I buy you a non-alcoholic beverage?”
33. “i have many sponsor children. one in each developing nation.”
34. ” im one of the fortunate ones..greek and hebrew comes pretty easily to me.”
35. “my favourite species of vegetation is the church plant.”
36. “did i just have mud rubbed in my eyes?”
37. “what’s an xbox?”
38. “now i know why Solomon had 700 wives… Because he never met you.”
39. “i used to believe in natural theology, but since i met you i’ve converted to divine revelation”
40. “i look after widows”
41. “is that a thinline, duo-tone, compact, ESV Travel Bible in your pocket”
42. “why dont i have a bible dictionary? well, i dont really need it.”
43. “bathsheba had nothing on you”
44. ”you put the ‘cute’ back in persecution…”
45. “your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead”
46. “so, can i clothe you in righteousness?”
47. “how many times do I have to walk around you to make you fall for me?”
48. “how would you like to join my Purpose Driven Life?”
49. “if you say no, i will rip out my hair and my beard”
50. “if you say no, im going to tear my clothes, get in my sackcloth and rub dust into my head..”
51. “if you say no, i’m going on a pilgrimage.”
52. “unfortunately i cant perform miracles and ive only got enough bread and fish for 2 people.”
53. “so, my parents are home, you wanna come over?”
54. “let me remove my sandals before I come any closer..”
55. “lets say, hypothetically, you were married. I would send your husband to the front line against the Amorites”
56. “its obvious to me that you sprouted from the good kinda soil…”
57. “feel free to meet me at the threshing floor.”
58. “you can lie at my feet..”
59. “i know its absurd, but every time i walk towards you, it feels like im being lead to bethlehem.”
60. “if i had to choose between a romantic date with you or a night with the fellas… i would sit at home and read my bible.”
61. “i really like your spirituality, it goes well with that shirt.”
62. “welcome to the christian family… the only family where brothers and sisters can marry each other”
63. “i did a love tester on your name and mine.. it came back ‘predestined’”
64. “you’re totally depraved but i’d still like to go out with you…”
65. “you can come crash at mine tonight. i have a separate room prepared.”
66. “i’m a proverbs 32 kind of guy and you’re a proverbs 31 kinda woman…”
67. “im interested in full time ministry, and not only that… i also play the guitar.”
68. “mmm… you really have to watch out for that man of lawlessness.. but dont worry, im not him, so you’re safe with me.”
69. “if we were around with noah… then you, me… pair.”
70. “i arrange the substantial christian section of my bookshelf into alphabetical order. coffee?”
This being may, i should have updated this at least a dozen times by now. Sorry for those that check the blog, i may not know you read it but thanks :)
Now to the theory (2 fold):
(1) I have spend a few hours watching End-Time stuff today, and was just on the thought it. We are very close to a world government i believe and much of the world systems will come through environmentalism. God (once again, my opinion) is upset with politics, and pride within the church.
In my years of the church one thing always comes up which is disheartening, the failure of the church to forgive those coming into the church for the first time and those coming back. I know many people that it seems have “prayed through” almost weekly, and i will admit i joke about it but they will answer for their actions if they are not serious and i will answer if i am a stumbling block and do not have compassion, mercy, grace and long suffering toward them. People need to identify with some one, i heard once its 8 significant relationships within the church, with out identification and friends within the church you will most surely go back to where you was before the acceptance of Christ.
(2) The modern church i feel has lost what the original church had, and that is great burden for prayer, although today’s church is seeing a revival of outreach (thank you God for great evangelist showing people how to reach out!). There is one single theory i believe that should wake up people spiritually and truly give them something to reach for. This is simply that the spiritual always and will forever control the physical world. When we see our self as a soul inside of a body helping other soul’s in a body we will realize more the urgency to help that soul. Two things i find are true of people 1) they all have an ax to grind 2) they all have something wrong personally they are trying to fix. I know there are people that seem to have it all together. They are viewed as forever calm, cool and collective but inside and when no one is looking they are complete mess … everyone needs prayer but those who need is the most is the one’s who do not have Christ because a physical or a financial blessing will not effect your salvation but healing the soul will.
i start 8 hour days for 5 weeks at college the 24th, i will try to do a few more before then and try to update every so often during that time.
:)
once again, sorry for the HUGE gap it was not intended and i plan on keeping this up to date somewhat. i do have a few in draft mode i have not posted yet and will post them later for sure
