Sermons

"You ready?", my uncle's call thirty minutes before church to see if I would take his place in the pulpit. I was rarely ready, I'm not a studious person but I know how to study, particularly the Bible, so I always said yes. Studying is simple if you have a questioning mind and I'm always wondering, it's why I used the King James version in my Bible studies, it raises so many questions. Now there are ways to search the Bible on the internet, I used BibleGateway.com for my little sermon. For a decent sermon I would also have used a Strong's Concordance. Not only is it an index of every word in the Bible like BibleGateway.com but Greek and Hebrew meanings of words can easily be found and researched to their roots. Example, the word fearful from my sermon comes from the Greek root word dread and is used only three times in the Bible, Matthew 8:26, Mark 4:40 and Revelation 21:8. Interestingly enough, the first two times it’s used it is in conjunction with those who were fearful as a lack of faith so it seems to be speaking of a very specific kind of fear..


Future posts will divulge further secrets of writing decent 45-60 minute sermons in less than an hour, which in some circles can earn a decent amount of coin

No more Sorrow

Ever hope for a day free of pain? Long for peace? According to the Bible that day is coming. It says that someday, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain".

First, how does God plan on accomplishing this? The Bible says, "the former things are passed away" and " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." It seems the only way God can manage to bring peace to Earth is destroy it and start all over. I suppose I can accept the fact that the world is so screwed up that even God can't fix it... although it negates his all-powerfulness it can be argued that God can't accomplish it any other way without messing with free will, a constraint he put on himself.

The new heaven and new earth is not for everyone, though, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." Sounds kind of vague but, basically, he's only going to wipe the tears of the overcomers. Who are these overcomers and what happens to those who aren't?

Ever fearful? You're not an overcomer. Struggle with unbelief? Not an overcomer. Tell lies? No overcoming there. And your fate? "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" "and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever"

Let's say you're an overcomer and you get into the new earth and you have a family member that didn't quite cut it, they were the kind of person that jumped at their own shadow. How would you feel knowing a loved one is suffereing forever? Would you enjoy your new place? Would your tears be wiped away? Would there be no more sorrow?

Check today's link for the bible passages from which most of the quotes were taken.

Warning

"Now don't worry, I ain't much on preachin these days, kinda gave it up"

I know I said that but I guess I lied a little because I got this sermon workin in me that just may have to esacpe. I'll Give you the working title, "No more Sorrow" and the bible passage under scrutiny is Isaiah 11. I only included the section about the gentiles since I'm one.

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.

9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

The second passage is found in Revelation 21:

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

That's it for now, still working out the message. Sorry to inflict this upon you but I am a prophet and sometimes duty calls.

Rolling Writer

When I turned forty, burnt out on programming, half out of my mind, I turned to creative writing. I had always been writing, a different language, a different mindset, a different type of creativity, but it wasn't the writing I wanted to do, I wanted to write a book. For a time I tried to do both but it was too much for my bipolar mind to handle, I had to choose one, I chose my book. Recently I returned to programming as I got interested in writing a game and I've discovered a pattern that allows me to do both. When I'm depressed I work on my book, when I'm hypomanic, on the up side, I work on the game. When I'm feeling normal, a rarity, it's a toss-up. When I'm bored or listless I'm usually in the beginning stages of a new phase and when I get manic it all spins out of control. "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways", when your life is built on instability balance has to be found wherever you can, whenever you can, or it all falls apart. I found my balance in writing and knowing what to write when.

Out of My Gourd

Got the whole day off and I don't know what to do with myself, I'm bored to numbness. I should write, work on my game, clean the kitchen... something, but I can't pull myself out of the listlessness that's claimed me. I'll probably end up laying around feeling like this, when the day is over I'll be miserable for not having accomplished anything.

In Mourning

I finally got my fix, a friend took pity on my plight and brought me a mouse. I’m pointing and clicking again. I mourn the one that died, it was a very nice mouse, docile, responsive, very well-behaved. The rule in the house now is no drinks by the computer unless in approved containers, I don’t think I could handle another loss.

Hopeless Addict

I’m addicted to my computer. I spilled coffee on my mouse and now it’s dead, or at least in a coma until it completely dries out from the alcohol bath I gave it. I immediately started getting agitated, withdrawal symptoms started making me edgy until I figured out a few keyboard shortcuts. I got my text editor open and did quite a bit of writing, the game had been such a huge distraction. As soon as I started doing something on the computer again I began feeling better. One good thing came out of the withdrawal, I cleaned the kitchen.

Sucker?

I let myself be talked out of leaving Fast-n-Eat. Once again promises were made and once again I caved. After my list of wrongs what could convince me to stay? It wasn't the promises, I don't put too much stock in them, and it certainly wasn't money, none was offered. I'm not a people person, I prefer solitude most of the time, but it was people that made me stay. I like the people I work with and I'm willing to put up with a lot of miscellaneous crap to avoid losing that. To be honest, I wouldn't miss any of them if I left but the thought of having to be around a bunch of whole new people is horrifying.

Escape

I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me.
Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988), Beyond this Horizon

Finally, I've made my escape from that twisted place I call Fast-n-Eat. Yesterday I told my boss I was leaving at the end of the month and I almost laughed when she asked why. Why? I wanted to ask her if she was deliberately being obtuse or naturally so. While I've been working on the game I debated how to explain and decided maybe a list would be best.

Why Fast-n-Eat is not the place for me. (Not necessarily in order of importance)

• Rude, stupid customers.


• Lazy, rude managers.


• Inane meetings.


• Broken promises.


• Measly pay.


• Measlier raises.


• Inspection Hysteria. We're constantly inspected by somebody for something.


• Big brotherism. They're putting in cameras that can be watched by bosses from home.


• Other stuff.

I don't have another job lined up, I don't know where I'm going, it doesn't matter anymore, my toleration has limits. 3.5 years of fly-thru fastfood is long enough.

Just Say No

Once again the darkness has descended on the house.

Have you ever had one of those people in your life that looked at life from the "half empty" point of view? The darkness in my life looks at things from a slightly different viewpoint, the glass is almost empty for her and, more, what's left in the glass is evil. The reason it's evil for her is because she doesn't know what's in the glass and anything unknown must be wrong. There are two insidious reasons why she thinks that way.

Someone told her to think like that. She's one of those people that believes everything her people tell her, the kind of people that send those "if you don't pass this on" emails. I said her people because there is a clear division between the "informed" and the "uninformed".

She believes she has the final answer for everything. There is only one answer to anything in her life, when the equation comes up with a different kind of answer there must be something wrong with it and therefore it must be evil.

It's her prerogative to think that way, whatever floats your boat, but I tend to be a half full kind of guy. I grew up in a world of negativity and I had to teach myself to look for positives to keep from being beaten down by the darkness. I talked to a friend yesterday and he said to him it's a half a glass of water... not full... not empty. I like that, seeing things as they are. I think there is no judgment in reality, it is, like it or not. Personally, I'm not a big fan of reality so I stick to my illusion of the half-full glass. I know that's no better than her, it's just another kind of reckoning but it helps me get through what would otherwise be a pretty crappy life. She is my darkness because she threatens my fragile hold on unreality but I'm her darkness for the same reason. Still, she keeps coming back and I continually ask myself why. A siren call perhaps? The lure of the positive? Deep down I think she craves my point of view even though she'll never let go of hers.

They say you're either part of the problem or part of the solution. I know I'm part of the problem, escapism is not an answer but I also think I'm part of the answer. I believe reality runs on balance and as long as there are people like her there must be people like me to keep it from falling apart.