Frineds, Family and Love!
 

This is the catch phrase I am speaking into existence and really I have no Idea how to achieve it. When I was a kid I used to get scared at night and then I would just think to myself "Ice Cream, Cake and Pie." When I was 15, I got a job at a cookie store baking and selling "Ice cream Cake and Pie". So I am trying to speak into existence a new life for myself. "Friends, Family and Love." And God is Love. I'm tired of trying to be something I'm Not. AKA. Digital Artist Extraordinaire. If the Foundation has a crack in it the whole building is a failure. So I'm starting over "again" this time the crack is in the liberty bell. And We all know It cracked the first time it rang so bear with cause I got some ladies on this boat that might what to make a statement.

You're kind of hard to follow.

I think you're saying you want Friends and Family and Love. Reasonable, certainly. "Speaking it into existence"? Perhaps to begin with, but you will soon find that much more is needed that just speaking.

I don't agree with your assessment that a crack in the foundation means the whole building is a failure. If this is your mindset for friends and family and love, you're in for a *lot* of disappointment. Unless the crowd you hang out with is a damn sight more perfect than the mine.

+1

I'm just saying that a building or any philosophical way of understanding that has a poorly laid foundation will eventually be a loss. I assume. Yes of coarse no one is perfect but Gods Voice, if you can hear it, will tell you how perfect his will really is. If God is perfect and He is and we were made in his likeness then we should strive to be perfect as he is perfect.

god is a bullet in your crazy gun

a true frined told me that

lumberjim always tells it straight.

His words are like a zen koan.

I'm in trouble. I'm so far from prefect I can't even spell it.

Oh no, he's got an arm off!

........so lets eat bunny and the cookie!!

.......some one made devil too. I suppose he should have been modeled in God's likeness too, until God is a racist that is:gray:

I think that the most amazing thing about God is that he takes whats NOT perfect and perfects it, if you are a true believer one of the first things you should notice, About the God of Creation, is that where you fall short he picks up. Only "SIN" can stop God from reaching you and once your saved your forgiven of sin and God becomes the JOY of your life.

Respectfully, I disagree. Leaving aside the question about God and his voice for a moment, I believe striving to be perfect is a bad idea. Here's why.

You practically make my point when you say we're not perfect, I certainly agree with that. But what's worse is that no amount of striving will ever result in perfection. And when you strive and still don't reach your goal of perfection, what is that called? It's called Failure. Why, or even how, could I sustain a lifetime of effort that *will* *not* *succeed*? I can't. Striving is hard, look it up. The fuel for that effort can not be continuous failure. I won't make it. Not only will I not become perfect, I'm likely to stop striving. Not good.

I think a far better goal is improvement. It is in the same direction as perfection, and is achievable. Repeatedly achievable. I can strive, and succeed every day. Certainly this goal can be trivialized into meaningless. The success of this endeavor is generally proportional to the effort invested into it. If I work hard at self improvement, I'll probably get good results. If I work hard at being perfect, I won't be perfect, *and* I'm a "failure".

Furthermore, looking for this same paradigm in those around me, my friends and family, presents the same peril. I'm guaranteed to be disappointed if I'm expecting perfection in others. How unfair. And I myself don't want to be held to that standard or be a source of continual disappointment to my loved ones.

Kaizen, not perfection.

Invalid. That's not a foxhole, that's a drawing of a foxhole.

But it is still kind of funny. :)

Please explain how you distinguish the difference between "falling short" and having God pick me up and "SIN" that stops God (!) from reaching me.

Perhaps in another post you can help me understand being saved and the resulting consequences and obligations for me regarding sin. But first things first please.

It's called Grace. Life^2-Death=EternalLifeXB

I'll open the question to all the dwellars, since I find your answer unhelpful. I'm pretty sure I know what Grace is; undeserved mercy. What I still don't get is how it is that God's mercy (grace) is sometimes bestowed (God picks me up) and sometimes withheld (God is stopped) (which I find...incomprehensible still). In the one case you say it is undeserved (grace is mercy that is undeserved) because I've fallen short and in the other case it is *also* undeserved because I've sinned.

I think we can both agree that I live in a continuous state of undeservedness. I am continuously falling short, indeed, continuously sinning. Any mercy I get will be the very definition of gracce--undeserved. But I am still mystified why I sometimes receive it and sometimes not, since I'm always undeserving.

Frankly, this doesn't feel good. It feels arbitrary. Less charitably, it feels tautological--this is not a compliment. I sin, I fall short, I am undeserving, all the time. Sometimes I get mercy sometimes not. And your explanation is that when I get mercy it is because I only fell short. And when I don't get mercy it is because I sinned. But there's no explanation of the differences! Where is the cause and where is the effect? For that matter, where is the personal responsibility?

God sees us as his children. You are viewing God not as a Father Figure but as an over seer. He is that as well, however, he will let his children make mistakes so that we can learn. God wants us to grow into his kingdom. Kinda like money, it's so much better to have money if you feel like you've earned it rather than cheated your way to the top.

If he made us in his image, and he is perfect, then how is that there is imperfection in us for him to perfect. How is it that we, who are created in his image are 'NOT perfect'?

From a strictly apologetical standpoint--what I actually believe isn't really relevant to your question--you are misunderstanding the definition of grace. Grace is not God giving you nice things or making your troubles go away. Grace is that you get to go to heaven after you die, even though you were undeserving before you died. Mercy, grace, all of it refers to being saved after your death; i.e., not having to go to hell. The bad things that may or may not happen to you before you die is a whole different issue.

I thought suffering and pain was supposed to be the path to salvation.

Did you miss the part about "growing" into his kingdom? We are, those who believe, children of God. Your not 100% perfect until you grow up and go to heaven. Your existence as a christian is for the purposes of living and learning.

I recommend the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, which you can find at any library. Although a bit dated, and bearing a cheesy title, it's a wonderful book with sensible and practical advise on dealing with people.

Of course, Carnegie bases most of his ideas on the expectation of a biblical belief so that may not be the point you are trying to get across to this guy.

Nope, never heard that one. They make it pretty clear that Jesus is the one and only path to salvation, no matter who you are or what you've done (good or bad.)

He asked for help in making friends. Carnegie espouses the golden rule, which is about as biblical as I get.

This thread has certain feel about it...where's the wine and crackers?

WTF are you people on about?

Incomprehensible twaddle.

Sum up, people, sum up!

I don't have all day to read these Unibomber-like manifestos!

Be brief! SUM UP!

What are they saying in that monte python picture??

I think it's: Pies Iesu Domine, Dona Eis Requiem
................O sweet Lord Jesus, grant them rest;

wiki'd