Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

2016, october, of, the, tuesday, my, to, visitors, november, wednesday, 26, saturday, 22, friday, 21, thursday, 20, 18, monday, 17, χαιρετε, ειμαι, ευβλογια, blogs, αγία, γραφή, cost, discipleship, archive, remember, who, your, teachers, were, tim, 14, αγια, γραφη, μυριοβιβλος, ελληνικα, hebrew, orthodox, christianity, look, here, churches, mission, islám, بعثة, إلى, الإسلام, christian, art, since, 25, 2010, disclaimer, romanos, frank, gorny, feb, 1951, 27, מִזְמוֹר, קיט, human, lives, matter, nothing, would, be, impossible, why, lord, came, foolish, language, god, fire, come, out, always, free, choice, because, they, do, presidentially, rambling, cold, war, games, rescued, by, wedding, guests, even, sabbath, astonished, at, his, teaching, peace, christ, never, refuse, listen, when, he, speaks,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (749), and (396), that (211), for (128), not (125), but (98), are (96), you (87), with (84), what (81), have (81), god (77), his (77), was (73), who (72), this (70), they (65), all (63), from (57), when (56), your (53), one (50), our (49), has (47), which (45), him (44), their (43), christ (40), will (40), only (39), can (39), there (38), them (38), even (38), just (37), were (33), may (32), out (32), those (31), world (31), other (30), hebrews (30), been (30), had (30), #church (29), people (29), like (29), good (27), then (27), its (26), life (26), would (26), still (26), because (25), about (25), see (24), now (24), always (23), some (23), human (22), way (21), peace (21), where (20), day (20), lord (19), right (19), word (19), october (19), keep (19), great (19), any (18), bible (18), christian (18), man (18), let (18), more (18), yes (18), how (18), long (17), come (17), faith (17), why (17), say (17), cannot (17), comments (17), never (17), does (17), think (17), without (16), orthodox (16), free (16), make (16), jesus (16), same (16), than (16), society (16), least (16), very (16), did (16), psalm (15), november (15), true (15), every (15), give (15), through (15), made (15), ourselves (15), into (15), laws (15), truth (14), here (14), himself (14), these (14), own (14), fire (14), first (14), should (14), well (14), believe (14), know (14), much (14), russia (14), america (14), everyone (13), take (13), kingdom (13), many (13), also (13), read (13), law (13), 2016 (12), july (12), august (12), january (12), happiness (12), find (12), something (12), power (12), wrong (12), modern (12), came (12), house (12), real (12), written (11), new (11), help (11), march (11), april (11), june (11), september (11), away (11), each (11), another (11), standard (11), history (11), could (11), almost (11), over (11), candidates (11), fuel (11), art (10), look (10), hebrew (10), light (10), december (10), february (10), want (10), must (10), lives (10), though (10), get (10), yet (10), open (10), end (10), mean (10), words (10), most (10), nature (10), friend (10), themselves (10), two (10), west (10), matter (10), war (10), political (10), little (10), others (9), hope (9), love (9), things (9), again (9), time (9), being (9), whom (9), didn (9), going (9), moral (9), itself (9), live (9), says (9), father (9), really (9), cold (9), communism (9), states (9), down (9), don (9), choice (9), old (8), works (8), call (8), family (8), men (8), nothing (8), early (8), living (8), after (8), under (8), too (8), use (8), whole (8), such (8), running (8), back (8), personal (8), authority (8), doesn (8), while (8), soviet (8), democratic (8), burning (8), 119 (8), given (7), become (7), home (7), everything (7), makes (7), follow (7), known (7), religion (7), part (7), death (7), need (7), place (7), spirit (7), age (7), perhaps (7), her (7), both (7), maybe (7), reading (7), before (7), year (7), better (7), book (7), union (7), spectre (7), run (7), bring (7), except (6), since (6), morning (6), john (6), jerusalem (6), said (6), mine (6), mind (6), leaders (6), name (6), marriage (6), hold (6), sure (6), voice (6), against (6), sin (6), point (6), side (6), conscience (6), soul (6), thing (6), prayer (6), best (6), united (6), whether (6), dead (6), around (6), along (6), rather (6), state (6), social (6), unless (6), morality (6), rock (6), matthew (6), few (6), years (6), wanted (6), start (6), married (6), wonder (6), dionysius (6), hear (6), knows (6), speak (6), act (6), president (6), already (6), presidential (6), election (6), wisdom (6), verse (6), gorny (5), holy (5), heaven (5), american (5), news (5), city (5), form (5), remain (5), young (5), greek (5), christians (5), friends (5), english (5), fathers (5), remember (5), half (5), anyone (5), care (5), taken (5), tell (5), eternal (5), put (5), son (5), perfect (5), started (5), existence (5), bad (5), knew (5), last (5), meant (5), fact (5), pre (5), person (5), individual (5), humanity (5), story (5), self (5), fall (5), whose (5), probably (5), politics (5), different (5), together (5), beyond (5), she (5), sabbath (5), seem (5), beginning (5), paper (5), calls (5), found (5), tells (5), making (5), myself (5), four (5), communist (5), allies (5), stop (5), vote (5), sometimes (5), candidate (5), statements (5), office (5), presidents (5), wood (5), 26th (5), blog (4), romanos (4), used (4), complete (4), portland (4), glory (4), mother (4), elder (4), persons (4), frank (4), cost (4), discipleship (4), feel (4), sand (4), reach (4), gives (4), turn (4), doing (4), outside (4), blood (4), share (4), judgment (4), grace (4), brings (4), ever (4), off (4), especially (4), heart (4), promise (4), enter (4), throne (4), shall (4), mercy (4), thoughts (4), none (4), teaching (4), above (4), alone (4), easy (4), nor (4), talk (4), actually (4), righteousness (4), finished (4), fallen (4), polite (4), once (4), means (4), less (4), marijuana (4), government (4), either (4), having (4), among (4), health (4), liberty (4), western (4), sleep (4), thought (4), became (4), individuals (4), pursuit (4), built (4), else (4), truly (4), money (4), told (4), relationship (4), might (4), left (4), party (4), set (4), emotional (4), takes (4), wedding (4), wife (4), europe (4), far (4), lost (4), anything (4), origen (4), ideas (4), later (4), feet (4), called (4), force (4), days (4), behind (4), between (4), enough (4), reason (4), face (4), pages (4), try (4), aren (4), trump (4), kind (4), worst (4), move (4), actions (4), shouldn (4), exist (4), decisions (4), save (4), teachings (4), reigns (4), psalms (4), views (3), author (3), posts (3), source (3), links (3), scriptures (3), tissot (3), kahlil (3), gibran (3), churches (3), islam (3), orthodoxy (3), mission (3), indonesia (3), reform (3), innocent (3), poetry (3), earth (3), com (3), testimony (3), christianity (3), salvation (3), blogs (3), lose (3), community (3), account (3), yourselves (3), sacrifice (3), praise (3), today (3), forever (3), prison (3), body (3), continue (3), welcome (3), angels (3), supreme (3), spirits (3), saints (3), listen (3), heard (3), single (3), begin (3), ones (3), sons (3), suffering (3), sinners (3), race (3), present (3), stay (3), near (3), bodies (3), alive (3), created (3), problems (3), risk (3), believes (3), enemies (3), seeking (3), understanding (3), crucified (3), disciples (3), dark (3), large (3), defend (3), shared (3), believed (3), divine (3), object (3), happy (3), nonsense (3), dear (3), sexual (3), sex (3), aware (3), creation (3), saying (3), centuries (3), longer (3), rest (3), goes (3), oppose (3), stand (3), fell (3), winds (3), cast (3), close (3), local (3), lifestyle (3), quite (3), past (3), line (3), woman (3), couple (3), terms (3), example (3), commandments (3), ours (3), lawyer (3), eventually (3), stayed (3), began (3), possibly (3), bottom (3), teach (3), return (3), times (3), eusebius (3), cry (3), miracle (3), piety (3), resurrection (3), persecution (3), looking (3), commanded (3), ask (3), lot (3), era (3), guests (3), isn (3), caught (3), happened (3), night (3), went (3), personally (3), presence (3), waiting (3), possible (3), work (3), won (3), russian (3), former (3), empire (3), countries (3), land (3), enemy (3), british (3), destruction (3), meanwhile (3), national (3), unable (3), opposed (3), nation (3), instead (3), russias (3), ukraine (3), hard (3), expect (3), false (3), win (3), generation (3), freedom (3), powerless (3), republican (3), statement (3), sorry (3), promises (3), full (3), pray (3), high (3), warmed (3), earlier (3), portraits (3), seems (3), copy (3), leave (3), door (3), writing (3), king (3), original (3), difference (3), choose (3), couldn (3), decision (3), strong (3), harder (3), metaphor (3), needs (3), jews (3), trinitarian (3), kings (3), impossible (3), begins (3), tav (3), testament (3), 105 (3), portion (3), torah (3), owner (3), apparatus (3), expressed (2), 2006 (2), sale (2), provided (2), visitors (2), 2010 (2), ikons (2), paintings (2), san (2), biblical (2), miracles (2), windows (2), assisi (2), edward (2), native (2), answering (2), muslim (2), journey (2), arabic (2), alexandria (2), nicholas (2), george (2), aghía (2), metropolitan (2), anthony (2), bloom (2), empty (2), appearance (2), cat (2), thee (2), temptation (2), fool (2), project (2), desert (2), anonymous (2), xtian (2), women (2), aleksandr (2), archive (2), entrance (2), gateway (2), porphyrios (2), archimandrite (2), vasileios (2), respect (2), sight (2), sun (2), pious (2), sick (2), unjust (2), faithful (2), beings (2), 2015 (2), feb (2), 1951 (2), 1966 (2), joy (2), hidden (2), view (2), profile (2), wants (2), cross (2), luke (2), brothers (2), texts (2), obey (2), resources (2), offer (2), yesterday (2), led (2), strange (2), preach (2), marriages (2), finds (2), millions (2), citizen (2), judge (2), refuse (2), speaks (2), total (2), storm (2), speaking (2), careful (2), root (2), trouble (2), loves (2), stood (2), courage (2), leads (2), minds (2), pure (2), opened (2), opening (2), slip (2), divided (2), emotions (2), eyes (2), comes (2), define (2), definitely (2), usually (2), distress (2), cares (2), unhappy (2), anger (2), giving (2), redeemed (2), gave (2), hands (2), writer (2), within (2), tuesday (2), crime (2), sodomy (2), politically (2), correct (2), behavior (2), illegal (2), legal (2), somebody (2), reverse (2), admittedly (2), existing (2), issuing (2), pardons (2), oregon (2), fit (2), suddenly (2), appeared (2), deep (2), breaking (2), generally (2), minded (2), behalf (2), responsibility (2), republics (2), origin (2), framed (2), fewer (2), public (2), regulate (2), idea (2), talking (2), wasn (2), uncreated (2), accord (2), starts (2), heal (2), backward (2), esv (2), scribes (2), astonished (2), hears (2), wise (2), rain (2), floods (2), blew (2), beat (2), foolish (2), mighty (2), workers (2), thinking (2), episcopalian (2), somewhat (2), middle (2), physical (2), class (2), surface (2), viewpoint (2), joined (2), offend (2), disappointing (2), turned (2), rescued (2), harsh (2), mutual (2), rescue (2), bother (2), business (2), flawed (2), neither (2), spoke (2), possibility (2), accidentally (2), sheep (2), paradise (2), promptly (2), abandoned (2), tend (2), someone (2), loyalty (2), course (2), girlfriend (2), got (2), dementia (2), properly (2), following (2), rebellion (2), lords (2), blessed (2), unto (2), struck (2), modernity (2), somewhere (2), places (2), medieval (2), east (2), during (2), machinery (2), question (2), room (2), asked (2), took (2), topic (2), events (2), boys (2), saint (2), belief (2), spite (2), approach (2), deserves (2), falls (2), interesting (2), elsewhere (2), direct (2), access (2), attention (2), sign (2), continues (2), finish (2), brethren (2), entertain (2), learned (2), post (2), bareback (2), companions (2), soldiers (2), purpose (2), timothy (2), absent (2), arrived (2), servants (2), captured (2), wonderful (2), shown (2), attend (2), lying (2), pulled (2), floor (2), followed (2), escape (2), thursday (2), godless (2), blow (2), poland (2), leaving (2), non (2), khanate (2), red (2), shape (2), rehabilitated (2), facing (2), finally (2), canada (2), european (2), dignity (2), culture (2), positive (2), felt (2), entire (2), communists (2), plural (2), crimea (2), spiritual (2), imagine (2), size (2), safety (2), justice (2), trying (2), shift (2), blame (2), doors (2), exactly (2), ago (2), change (2), seen (2), voters (2), pamphlet (2), seriously (2), regardless (2), vice (2), shows (2), green (2), claims (2), flag (2), pole (2), forgotten (2), country (2), appeal (2), starting (2), continued (2), contest (2), voting (2), main (2), measures (2), odd (2), offices (2), blue (2), willing (2), parties (2), opposite (2), level (2), gradually (2), represent (2), putting (2), boy (2), next (2), believers (2), taking (2), ship (2), illinois (2), destination (2), goodness (2), latter (2), group (2), fear (2), obvious (2), hasn (2), glorious (2), sent (2), mankind (2), doubt (2), gospel (2), dream (2), separate (2), keys (2), hell (2), religious (2), hades (2), trust (2), afraid (2), poor (2), certainly (2), failure (2), calling (2), message (2), comfort (2), consistently (2), step (2), die (2), path (2), rehabilitation (2), reaching (2), playing (2), blessing (2), ways (2), delight (2), understand (2), emotion (2), feeling (2), blown (2), consume (2), wind (2), burns (2), kindling (2), grate (2), burn (2), minutes (2), bit (2), wear (2), confess (2), provide (2), sound (2), language (2), foolishness (2), greeks (2), unity (2), unite (2), receive (2), flock (2), twelve (2), trinity (2), leaven (2), eternity (2), mock (2), handed (2), entrusted (2), discernment (2), sunday (2), court (2), robe (2), judges (2), abortion (2), child (2), according (2), yahweh (2), songs (2), included (2), disciple (2), tehillim (2), page (2), lamp (2), stanzas (2), prayed (2), nûn (2), mém (2), air (2), 176 (2), returned (2), dad (2), memory (2), permanent (2), able (2), solely, portions, copyright, permission, publication, intended, imply, agreement, sites, documents, thereby, testaments, disclaimer, 正教圣像, passion, taller, iconografía, nicolás, soli, deo, gloria, studio, slavujac, artist, richard, serrin, paula, novak, narnian, prosopon, school, iconology, makoto, fujimura, online, jyoti, ashram, jugoslav, ocokoljic, joey, velasco, inside, italian, iconos, elena, storni, galleria, 日本語, freeman, gallery, knippers, dare, midst, certainty, drawings, carol, douglas, betsy, porter, ikonography, archangel, icons, qur, submission, apostates, jihadist, arab, notes, pakistan, mohabat, العربي, لبطريركية, الروم, الأرثوذكس, المقدسية, bahasa, issue, islám, بعثة, إلى, الإسلام, takla, egypt, rogue, river, eugene, dionysios, kansas, barbara, sarasota, singaraja, bali, theophany, nagoya, annunciation, triás, epiphanía, jakarta, remains, external, deceit, repulses, lapse, submitting, unknown, alakhbar, yusuf, stevens, wildolive, vine, fig, timotheos, postman, offering, mad, monarchist, maccabean, longest, groom, pilgrim, manliness, tasty, infidelities, salt, repentance, ascent, reformed, bridge, nigeria, missionary, fraternity, laity, arts, journal, orthochristian, ora, labora, hypothetical, mormonthink, monomakhos, monachos, net, mme, scherzo, mfm, medjugorje, mask, mars, hill, fiction, marks, authentic, leaves, forest, krishan, singh, heartbeat, hashem, beautiful, guanxi, master, gladsome, lights, dress, code, canonically, irregular, transfigured, arsenios, aristides, ancient, origins, alexander, press, alana, roberts, avramba, youtube, ορθόδοξος, συναξαριστής, romanity, romanides, éllopos, ελληνικα, theopedia, myriobiblos, jewish, mysticism, theotokos, writings, classics, advent, μυριοβιβλος, unbound, septuagint, japanese, study, mechon, mamre, logotechnical, analysis, biblos, biblia, católica, αγια, γραφη, walt, whitman, thomas, kempis, sergei, fudel, rabindranath, tagore, maria, skobtsova, gavrilía, papayánni, matta, meskeen, louis, évely, alaska, kafsokalyvítis, paisios, eznepidis, epiphanios, theodoropoulos, dietrich, bonhoeffer, lewis, blaise, pascal, bishop, nikolaj, velimirović, alfred, edersheim, aiden, wilson, tozer, teachers, tim, klímakos, alike, changes, weather, diffusion, impious, healthy, unfaithful, belongs, 100, 2007, 159, 2008, 244, 2009, 436, 828, 2011, 633, 2012, 111, 537, 2013, 455, 2014, 435, 437, αγία, γραφή, joyful, soar, everybody, ikonostasis, καινή, διαθήκη, psalter, yndonesia, anarchist, gift, tears, clefts, eyewitnesses, ευβλογια, foam, meaningless, martyr, 1956, jim, elliot, gain, follower, renounce, ρωμανός, romanós, χαιρετε, ειμαι, subscribe, atom, older, wicked, unbelieving, souls, grief, losers, sharing, sacrifices, please, suffered, gate, sanctify, camp, degradation, unending, verbal, acknowledge, astray, sorts, doctrines, reflect, outcome, imitate, greed, content, whatever, honored, kept, undefiled, fornicators, adulterers, badly, treated, strangers, entertained, knowing, possession, unshakable, therefore, worship, acceptable, reverence, awe, consuming, mount, zion, heavenly, gathered, festival, born, placed, mediator, covenant, purification, pleads, insistently, abel, 25a, senses, blazing, gloom, turning, darkness, trumpeting, thunder, beg, immorality, degrade, esau, sold, birthright, meal, deprived, bitterness, grow, poison, wanting, holiness, corrects, treat, lightly, discouraged, reprimands, trains, punishes, acknowledges, training, treating, opposition, fight, fighting, perfection, witnesses, cloud, throw, hinders, clings, easily, steadily, guarantee, blessings, prove, realities, unseen, ancestors, commended, meetings, encourage, drawing, concerned, stir, response, sincere, filled, sprinkled, trace, washed, water, firm, profess, sanctuary, curtain, 19b, confident, approaching, professed, 14b, active, cuts, double, edged, sword, finely, joints, marrow, secret, hide, uncovered, coheirs, grasp, confidence, encouraging, hardened, lure, apostles, monday, granted, quiet, usual, sense, necessarily, anywhere, faced, solution, easier, bestowed, emergency, delivered, retrospect, thank, deliverance, faithfulness, presently, danger, beset, persecutions, slander, accusations, sad, anxious, disturbed, reproachful, uncomplaining, unmoved, revenge, hopeful, forgiving, loving, despair, abandonment, passeth, confession, passionlessness, understood, accepted, uttered, breath, commend, definition, convincing, hymn, henry, bickersteth, whispers, decided, grant, pardon, record, convicted, article, favor, mustn, tired, cliché, ridden, term, describing, children, rate, homosexuality, aside, punishable, standing, related, apologies, gay, asking, gays, forgiveness, intimate, note, vein, production, consumption, products, until, recently, reversed, contoured, parameter, benefit, establishment, ready, generations, ubiquitous, apologized, prosecuting, apparently, enthused, civic, acting, enact, preservation, adjectives, cataloged, applies, monarchies, invested, noticed, welfare, priority, balance, mention, equality, genuinely, establish, harmony, facilitate, functioning, needed, matures, equates, regulation, educate, ultimate, jurisprudence, therein, established, chafes, notion, legislate, matters, laughed, naively, supported, realm, prerogatives, enjoyed, intellectual, stimulation, concrete, definite, depend, invisible, universally, recognized, moment, threshold, immortalized, adam, eve, temporal, progress, area, endeavor, bereft, recognize, unaffected, currents, imaginary, ideologies, subverted, tyrannical, voices, desires, happily, mechanisms, biological, preference, perishing, becoming, brand, populist, accuse, backwardness, road, sayings, crowds, founded, prophesy, demons, declare, depart, lawlessness, dictatorial, autocratic, arbitrary, plain, obsessed, impoverished, member, libertine, philosophical, attitude, toward, restricted, offenses, youth, friendship, stages, fawning, convert, zeal, prior, sensibilities, gotten, amateur, ethics, theology, aesthetics, science, hours, anglican, common, points, interest, temperamentally, sympathy, hundred, assembly, whore, mongering, beneath, sensitive, impossibility, confessed, commune, tail, second, abusive, circle, lapsed, catholic, episcopal, intellectuals, satisfy, motive, husband, intention, socialites, wing, hoppers, alcoholism, drug, abuse, incinerated, immediately, divorce, weren, personalities, termed, personality, disorders, mental, dispositions, involved, experience, niceness, roadblocks, unmarried, childless, issues, sinfulness, simply, ten, adaptations, missed, admit, sermon, sticks, instance, directed, diagnosed, disease, incapacitate, inconvenience, fate, apartment, transferred, nursing, amounted, hospice, demonstrates, touching, died, sometime, heading, towards, slid, alzheimer, knowingly, unknowingly, creating, preordained, fulfilling, letting, masters, mark, spoken, prophecy, fulfilled, merciful, natural, adherence, whatsoever, whenever, stint, wrought, constantine, freshness, leaps, occurred, 1300, dante, francis, depends, thinks, ended, begun, northern, sung, dynasty, 1000, criteria, printing, unafraid, willingness, priorities, substituted, religiosity, questions, hence, stagnation, overcome, testimonies, leisure, text, reads, fluently, frankly, recounts, picture, accurate, stories, avid, myra, reassembling, revivifying, hacked, pieces, concealed, barrels, pickles, wine, escaped, canonized, eccentricities, expression, funnier, speculations, spheres, speculated, bordering, pagan, philosophy, speculation, sufferings, decian, earned, indignity, suspect, heresy, carping, critics, guess, classed, martin, luther, axe, cries, exciting, chapter, entitled, letter, quoted, interject, observations, casually, remarkable, resort, chain, command, develops, unimaginable, ages, notice, miraculous, aspect, reveals, strikes, honest, exaggeration, tale, spinning, conclusion, ring, candid, artlessness, third, century, examine, books, moments, scattered, yanked, resignation, flung, ass, kairós, chrónos, sunset, taposiris, guard, learnt, release, fled, distracted, met, villagers, feast, parts, celebration, hurry, hesitation, whereupon, informed, reclined, table, signal, sprang, fast, legs, carry, burst, terrifying, shouts, guarding, instantly, heels, lay, bare, mattresses, bandits, plunder, steal, bed, linen, shirt, clothes, held, bolt, realised, begging, beseeching, forestall, captors, cut, head, shouted, adventures, grasped, dragged

Text of the page (random words):
we have here to have the character of the trinity is to be eternal this is eternal life that they know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou hast sent john 17 3 archimandrite vasileios at 9 41 pm 0 comments the foolish language of god the language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation but those of us who are on the way see it as god s power to save as scripture says i shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned where are the philosophers now where are the scribes where are any of our thinkers today do you see now how god has shown up the foolishness of human wisdom if it was god s wisdom that human wisdom should not know god it was because god wanted to save those who have faith through the foolishness of the message that we preach and so while the jews demand miracles and the greeks look for wisdom here are we preaching a crucified christ to the jews an obstacle they cannot get over to the pagans madness but to those who have been called whether they are jews or greeks a christ who is the power and the wisdom of god 1 corinthians 1 18 24 jerusalem bible at 9 27 pm 0 comments fire one of the first lessons we learn as young adults if not earlier and sometimes at great pain is not to make a decision when we are angry the decision can be to speak or not to speak to act or not to act or even more subtly to think that is to believe or not to think with some reflection and further maturity we come to realize that it isn t just anger that is taboo territory for decision making but almost any strong emotional state delight or its opposite repugnance love or hate high spirits or low perhaps one can even include faith or doubt although faith is more much more than an emotional state though its evil twin certainly is it s easy to see how and why we shouldn t act when in strong emotional states a little harder to see how and why we shouldn t speak and even harder to understand the limitations we should impose on our own thoughts when we are ruled by a strong emotion aren t some emotions good well yes perhaps some are and there s relatively few occasions when we are totally emotion free maybe none the decisions we make when we are feeling good not just feeling well would seem to be risk free but uh uh sorry they are not my point is not to flaunt the obvious or to save myself from its implications but to say it s our nature human beings are not god god or gods and goddesses depending on your choice of religion we are not minerals though some of us seem to be vegetables that is only a metaphor we use to chasten ourselves we are not spirits either despite what the poets and theologians tell but that is almost what we are and possibly what we will become if we make it what we are is in a word unstable we flicker we are blown to and fro we blaze up we die down we can merge and lose our identity as we move on to consume other fuels eventually we go out either snuffed or retreating to our coals glow dimly and then go black what does this sound like you ve already pictured it in your minds if you ve read this far it is we are fire now think of a campfire at night it glows it doesn t keep a shape every little shift of the wind contorts it it burns because it has fuel there s wood under it other fires burning in other places still consume fuel couldn t exist without it coal oil gas it doesn t matter what fire burns and unless it has fuel there is no fire this is just another metaphor but it does shed some light on our human nature what i also want to say is don t take your human nature your life really too terribly seriously even most of your decisions just as fire needs that fuel to keep burning to keep existing we cannot live at least not for long unless we have fuel it may seem harsh or judgmental to hint that some fuel is better than others to keep the fire alive and burning but it is still true start a handful of steel wool on fire watch it sparkle as it is consumed and then see the fire go out all in a matter of seconds tear up a phone book and use its pages as kindling under the grate in your family fireplace light it and hope that it will burn long enough to catch the real fuel alder maple or oak logs on fire no one believes filling his grate with just paper will keep him warm it s no accident in my choice of metaphor that wood is the fuel and paper the kindling to get your fire going you may start with paper but paper christianity doesn t have much holding power i mean it can t hold its own keep burning it goes out after a few minutes if we think a little bit harder we can also see what the wood might be some of us wear tiny copies of that wood and say we stake our lives on it but few of us bear it yet that wood is the only fuel that will keep us burning and burning is our nature there is no higher way above nor safer way below it seems odd to me that we should be made this way but we are as i complete the last months of my sixty fifth year of life with wretched trepidation i confess my humanity my fallenness my instability my inability to exist on my own my need for fuel to keep me going another year i confess that all my thoughts words and actions are flawed and the decisions i have made and continue to make are somehow outside my control that i am just a fire blown about by the wind but i know that the fuel i need to keep burning because burning is my nature has been provided i cannot provide it only one can provide it and he has so that others can be warmed by the heat as i burn and maybe see by the light at 9 18 pm 0 comments come out it amazes me that people exist who know the difference between right and wrong and yet consistently choose to do what is wrong they may have started out like the rest of us burdened with the built in law of failure also known as original sin making the occasional wrong choice sometimes accidentally sometimes on purpose but gradually they felt themselves drawn to the dark side christ calls this process of step by step accommodation to wrong choices thoughts and actions building your house on sand and he prophesies that such a house can only expect to be swept away in one final great storm still it is a mystery to me that anyone would choose this way for themselves and not feel bad about it not feel guilty where is their conscience now here s another strange thing we all think we re good what you gasp what are you saying we are good at least most of the time at least when people are watching at least at least at least we try i listen to myself helplessly seeing all my pennants of righteousness droop and hang limp as the winds of self justification die down even christ answering his flatterers as a man admits why do you call me good no one is good but god shattering once and for all the very possibility that we could ever be what god alone is that is on our own yes christ was and is good we insist but he is god he couldn t help himself not realizing that we have just theologized right he couldn t help himself but he can help us yes those people who consistently choose to do what is wrong as well as us who pitter patter along the path of self destruction but are too cowardly to join those others who don t fear to be flaming offenders this is the rehabilitation that reaches out to us from a real god and this is the precise proof that all that the bible tells us about ourselves is true rather than reaching out to the real god our half way which is actually a half millionth of his reaching half way to us we try every other regimen of rehabilitation we can find or invent from psychotherapy to self realisation from alcoholics anonymous to you name it not that any or all of our efforts are camouflages rather than cures but that without him they are poor paltry pathetic playing at problems instead of facing them and no wonder without christ s help we cannot even lift a finger to help ourselves there can be no ifs ands or buts in the matter we just have to do it what is it that we have to do no matter how deep the pit is into which we have fallen we must believe that christ is there that he has entered our personal hades and cleared it like a threshing floor of its dead yes of our dead all those things in us about us with us that have made our lives so intolerably heavy that we ve sunken even through solid rock yes he is even with us there he says if only you will hear my voice for i am with you if only you would hear my voice for i have begotten you i have redeemed you i have prepared a place for you i am calling you as i called my beloved friend lazarus if only you would hear my voice and follow me for mine are the ways of escape from destruction and death blessed are those who run when he calls but it is always our choice where to run he is mercy to those who run to him and judgment to those who run away if we have fallen then even that will be counted a blessing for it is he who lifts us up who raises us up with him if only we will hear his voice and follow him who says come out at 9 16 pm 0 comments always free choice for all that people will do to manipulate and twist the biblical texts to fit their own ideas the comfort is that the bible is was and always will be exactly what it is mean what it says and keep being a home for the homeless a comfort for the comfortless and food for the hungry why because it is the door behind which jesus christ himself stands waiting for us to either open and welcome him or open and crucify him which will it be he will not force us to open the door he will not force us to welcome him and he does not defend himself to us any more than he defended himself to those who crucified him the first time it is always free choice the bible tells us more about ourselves than it tells us about god but at least it tells us as much as we need to know about him so we can decide what we will do it s always a matter of choice our choice at 9 09 pm 0 comments because they do this post was original published on august 21 2015 over one year ago where do we find ourselves now pre election america brings out the best and the worst about us and shows it to the world pre presidential election america that is no one really cares much about the other elections but the year leading up to the next presidential election is full of entertainment for the masses aggravation for the intelligent and hope for the believers the believers yes that s people like myself who still believe in the promise of america in spite of it all call us naïve but we are the eternal émigrés people constantly on the move west always west always seeking the paradise in the west we can t help ourselves for me it runs in the family my paternal grandfather casimir left his native poland it was from the prussian province of posen and traveled west across brandenburg stopping awhile in hanover and then taking ship at the free city of hamburg for the land of the farthest west america that was in 1902 when he was 22 years old oddly that was my age when i left my birth place in illinois and immigrated to canada destination edmonton in the west i didn t stay there long where i first landed neither did grandpa he went from florida to illinois before he settled down me i didn t stop till i reached oregon people are all creatures of belief even when they are deniers they may deny that they believe in god or in the goodness of humanity or in politics history or art but their actions always give them away the worst of us believe in the worst things and even when we say there s no such thing as a real right or wrong we still find ourselves condemning or at least distancing ourselves from people whom we think believe and do bad things the goodness and badness are both relative hitler and the nazis believed in their cause racial purity and thought themselves good the horror of their actions didn t bother them the american political spectrum ranges from persons who look like they are capable of hitleresque or at least napoleonic excesses all the way to persons who speak and act almost as if politics didn t or shouldn t exist at all it is the latter group that i tend to identify with face it government at least all good government boils down to people living together in peace and safety with as little interference by the collective authority as possible the primitive communists had this right in the end government itself should disappear why shouldn t it civilized behavior overtakes the world fear is eliminated unfortunately it s obvious we re not there yet nowhere in the world not even in switzerland not bringing religion into the mix because it s proven to be incapable of helping us in the long run it s still true that christ is not finished with humanity hasn t given up on us no not yet not from his glorious throne in the heavens where we have banished him yes christ isn t finished with us he still has a lot to say he s sent someone into the world that will finish the work he became a man to do the gospels stripped of religion are still the most persuasive and effective cure for mankind ever written just read them but don t stop there don t stop to smell the roses or the incense in the pursuit of the kingdom of god and his righteousness give in to what you say you want life liberty the pursuit of happiness especially the last because it is without a doubt identical to the gospel pursuit of the kingdom don t just say you want it and then go back to sleep and dream while others do everything in their power to keep it from you our political system may separate church and state but on an entirely different level the two cannot be separate if we are who we say we are if we live the gospel not just talk about it christ is still the most relevant and the most powerful person in human history especially when we don t just stand around worshiping him and pleading lord have mercy especially when we don t leave his words at the altar and pulpit but take them with us they are the keys that open every door and open doors that no one can shut christ himself calls them the keys of the kingdom gives them personally and permanently to us again not for religion but for transformation for salvation of the whole human race starting with us right now where we live his words make every citizen king not only america but the entire world is to become what the idea of america is only the shadow of this is not a theocratic police state leave it to fundamentalist religion to scare us into fearing a sadistic god of hell fire and damnation but the god man jesus christ has hulled the kernel of freedom from its religious shell by his mighty words just as he has liberated the dead from hell by his glorious resurrection yet it is still up to us to hear his words and do them for then the kingdom of god cannot but follow just as the dead in hades must trust him to lead them out or else forever remain bound yes trust obey this year it seems we are very close to having hit bot...