The Expanded New Testament

Have you ever used the Amplified Bible? (Joyce Meyers uses it.) It's been around for a long time.
A new 'amplified' New Testament has just come out, published by Thomas Nelson. It's downloadable free. It is called The Expanded Bible New Testament.
You can download it here.

The mark of the chicken

The other day at the Chick-fil-A... I ordered my meal. The young women looked at me and said, "That will be $6.66." I reached in my pocket to get my money. "Is that okay?" she said. "Sure," I said. "Well, I thought I'd ask--because some people freak out when the total is '666'--they either want to add something to their order or delete something--so the number isn't '666.'"

It didn't bother me. A chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and a sweetened tea that comes to $6.66 is not a spiritual experience for me. Even though '666' is the 'mark of the Beast' in Revelation 13, I'm not concerned that the Antichrist might be a chicken. I've already figured out that the American Automobile Association is the Antichrist. Well, if A=6, then 666=AAA. Of course the KKK could also fit if 6=K. That would make more sense since the KKK is more evil than the AAA. In fact, I've never had any trouble with the services of AAA. But then the Better Business Bureau (BBB) could be the culprit. Oh, wait! The World Wide Web! That's it! The evil WWW is trying to take over our lives. 6=W!

Now I feel better. The chicken is not the Beast. It's the internet.

Anyway, it was good lunch.

The real sin

An article in USA Today reminded me that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
That story has nothing to do with homosexuality. If you read it closely you will see that it is about a bunch of heterosexual men who want to gang rape a couple of angels. Nowhere in Scripture is S & G denounced in connection with homosexuality.
In fact, the only clear description of the sin of S & G is in Ezekiel 16 where the prophet says "the sin of Sodom was that she was arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; the citizens did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me [God]." (The 'detestable things' in Ezekiel are usually about idolatry, and indeed Ezek. 16 is about just that--idolatry.) But the prophet is clear that Sodom's sin was arrogance and an unconcern for the poor.
I think our current debate about health care in the U.S. could well compare us to Sodom if we do not extend health care to all people. That would be the sin of Sodom right here--unconcern for the poor and needy. Like the city of Sodom we are "overfed" -- we have the money; but we let insurance companies run the show.
Jesus, who talked about the "least of these" is watching us to see if we are indeed a "Christian" country.

I do not marry anyone.

Martin Marty's article on clergy and marriage is totally correct.

Read it here.

Hate crimes legislation

The 'Hate Crimes' legislation is being lied about by right wing church groups.

You can read the truth about this legislation at this site.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness."

Restaurant

i was eating the other day at bob evans restaurant -- having a belgium waffle (because i like foreign food) and cripse, burnt bacon (how did they know that's the way i like it?), and coffee...

sitting across from me were some old people--a man and wife i assume..they had been there when i was seated, but when my food came they hadn't been served yet... you could see their frustration... they were talking to each other in a low whisper when the wife grabbed one of those comment cards and began writing... you can imagine what she was saying: something like, 'you won't see us back her again -- the workers here are so slow...we've waiting and waiting for our meal, and this young guy across the aisle already has his, even though we were here first...you people need to get on the ball or you'll be losing lots of customers....furthermore, we're going to tell all our friends about this dumpy place'

well, their food finally came; looked like beef n noodles...they dug in and stopped talking...the waitress didn't chit chat any, just delivered and ran...

then there was this little kid two booths away--crying up a storm...first the mother took him and walked him all over the restaurant and brought him back...he was quiet for about 10 seconds, then started in again...this time the father took him and walked him all over the restaurent...by that time I was through eating and left...

noise and time....two enemies of happiness

maybe i should eat at home.

Thursday

Haiku:


Today is Thursday

Thor's Day gives us claps of thunder!

Thank you very much.

Things happen.

Pat and I took a picnic supper to Lincoln Park last night.
We could hear music from The Fraze.
Thousands of people walking dogs.
They stop to talk to one another (the people)...the dogs sniff each other.
A few people fishing in the lake.
One boy practicing doing impossible things on his bike.
After a delicious supper (prepared by my lovely wife),
we read.
I'm reading a book about the power of personal stories.
Do you realize that your life is a story?
It has a plot...a beginning, a middle, and an end.
We put so much emphasis on the power of our beginnings.
We even blame the beginnings for our failures or weaknesses.
Why don't we give more power to our endings?
Here's the good news: We can rewrite the script.
We can give beginnings new meanings.
And we can write our future.
Of course we can't control everything that will happen.
But we are able to write the 'character' we will be--
how we respond to events and people.
The pen is in our hands.
We are not controlled by Fate.
As an actor in our own drama, we do not have to read what
other people have written for us.
We can ignore their lines.
Instead, we can make up our own lines
and our own destiny.
Not to leave God out.
God is off stage...and on stage...directing...prompting...
cluing in...encouraging...even disguised as another actor.
You never know.
We have more power than we think.
I've been frustrated by a prescription lately.
I called it in to my doctor's office last Friday,
and they were supposed to call it into Walmart.
I waited until Tuesday to pick it up.
But it wasn't there.
I gave them another day--went yesterday,
but it still wasn't there.
So, this morning after going to Kettering Hospital for
Helen Beam's knee replacement surgery (oh--shhhh! don't
tell anyone--she didn't want to be on the prayer list),
I went to my doctor's office to see if they had received my
phone call about the prescription.
They had.
They called Walmart.
Walmart had it ready.
Somebody wasn't doing their job very well.
I wasted a lot of time hunting down that prescription.
Things shouldn't be the way they are.
But they are.
I got an abdominal pain a couple of days ago.
I thought: I've got cancer....I'm going to die.
The pain went away after two days.
Why is it that my imagination is so good at conjuring up
negativity?
Why can't I imagine good things just as easily?
I have a talent for predicting bad things (that never happen).
It all goes back to my beginnings....

haiku

Another Tuesday

Two's Day on the Ark again

Life stinks but Boat floats

michael jackson

I don't know Michael Jackson. I only know his persona. From the outside he seemed like a tragic person. The conjectures about his trying to make up for a lost childhood seem to make sense. Celebrities have a hard life. They live in a self-made cage. They are trapped. Michael certainly had great talent. But his life appeared to be missing something important. I will not judge. God gives talents. God requires accounting.

Rabbi David Wolpe points out that the first verse of the Book of Kings reads: "Now King David was old." (1 Kings 1.1)
One chapter later, his condition has declined: "Now the days of David drew near that he should die." (1 Kings 2.1)
Approaching death, he is no longer King David, just David.
No one faces death as a king, a doctor, or a preacher.
Death strips away pretense.
There is no hiding behind titles and status.
Death levels the playing field.

I feel for Michael's children who will continue to be caught up in the chaos and instability of a dysfunctional family. Maybe celebrity is nothing to celebrate.

The first Christian theologian wrote: "We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." (First Timothy 6.7)