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Post by Happy Feet on Dec 22, 2011 18:02:06 GMT -5
Not at all! Just a sort of "lemme know how you do that" envy. Keeps me thinking that there's all kinds of goals to still achieve. Actually it quite simple...try this site! runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/site worth saving.... <img src="http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/agree.gif"> didn't work, lets try again ....... it worked
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Post by Done4now on Dec 22, 2011 18:04:02 GMT -5
don't mind me--just bookmarking
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Post by quizzer on Dec 23, 2011 10:25:31 GMT -5
Yes! New toy for Christmas!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2011 17:10:04 GMT -5
Since I am not a man, or even a lustful woman, maybe my understanding of the definition of 'lust' is skewed. I read this in an online dictionary: NOUN:
1. Intense or unrestrained sexual craving. 2. Intense eagerness or enthusiasm: a lust for life. intr.verb lust·ed, lust·ing, lusts
To have an intense or obsessive desire, especially one that is sexual.It seems to me that simply gazing at an attractive (or not attractive) woman would not be called 'lust'. The mind has to go a bit farther than that to qualify. Anyone agree? There is nothing wrong with gazing upon someone or something. People have eyes and they look. To stare at someone could be considered rude, I suppose. But it IS a natural tendency for people to look or even stare at other people. People watching is interesting. Being watched; looked at; can be even MORE interesting. I usually do not STARE at people in an obvious way. I try to be discreet. For one thing, it can make the person you are staring at feel objectified or uncomfortable; like they are some sort of freak or something. People do not always figure out that if they are being stared at it could be just an appreciation and take it as a compliment. Lust takes it much further than just looking at someone and I think if people were honest with themselves they would admit that they have lustful thoughts that they take for granted as not being sinful in the eyes of God. But lustful thoughts cannot really be proven human to human. We cannot just go around saying to our brethren, "You are lusting after so and so. I saw the way you were looking at her. You've just committed adultery!" Most folks would simply deny the accusation, and so it goes. But why did Jesus bring it up in Matthew 6? Perhaps because it is just one example of an "inner" sin that can be committed that we sort of pardon one another on, and yet over on the other hand we focus on OTHER types of sins that are no worse than wrongful lust or what's worse, we label something as "sin" that is not really/truly a SIN and we put that burden on our brethren. We may treat them as if they are sinning about a certain matter and come across as being CONDEMNING, when in fact they are NOT sinning indeed and it is wrong to treat them as though we are judging them in a condemning fashion. fwiw-bop thx for pointing some things out here - .. too often good people; good Christian folks cross over from discernment to condemnation .. but how easily we seem to FORGET one of the basic, fundamental messages of Jesus Christ's: "......I came NOT to condemn the world, but to SAVE sinners........." , also in Luke6vs37: Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2011 13:33:39 GMT -5
thx for pointing some things out here - .. too often good people; good Christian folks cross over from discernment to condemnation .. but how easily we seem to FORGET one of the basic, fundamental messages of Jesus Christ's: "......I came NOT to condemn the world, but to SAVE sinners........." , also in Luke6vs37: Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.Excuse me, ps-chic, but I'm a little confused. What kind of forgiveness are Christians supposed to be practicing? Random, exclusive, selective, indiscriminate, or total? Reason I ask is this: it seems as though, if we are to go by various examples set before us, that some things; some sins are "forgivable" while others are not. In other words, it seems that some things are let go or people get "off" or get a light sentence, while other things are prosecuted to the max with severe "sentencing" imposed. Have you ever noticed that? Do you think some sins require more severe prosecution and heavier sentences or is all sin to be treated equal?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2011 13:52:31 GMT -5
thx for pointing some things out here - .. too often good people; good Christian folks cross over from discernment to condemnation .. but how easily we seem to FORGET one of the basic, fundamental messages of Jesus Christ's: "......I came NOT to condemn the world, but to SAVE sinners........." , also in Luke6vs37: Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.Excuse me, ps-chic, but I'm a little confused. What kind of forgiveness are Christians supposed to be practicing? Random, exclusive, selective, indiscriminate, or total? Reason I ask is this: it seems as though, if we are to go by various examples set before us, that some things; some sins are "forgivable" while others are not. In other words, it seems that some things are let go or people get "off" or get a light sentence, while other things are prosecuted to the max with severe "sentencing" imposed. Have you ever noticed that? Do you think some sins require more severe prosecution and heavier sentences or is all sin to be treated equal? . .. yes, you are a little confused, but that's okay, i forgive you...... umm, one area of confusion is to confuse the forgiveness of sin with consequences. it is POSSIBLE to forgive someone, yet still hold them accountable for paying the consequences of their sin .. forgiving someone does not necessarily mean that person is completely "let off" - nor SHOULD it mean you have to give them an easy out --- in fact the act of holding someone accountable for their sins and mistakes is for their BENEFIT, not to just punish them. if a person is never held accountable for their mistakes, wrong-doing, sin, or iniquity, how will they ever learn to not repeat such behavior? we can look at the criminal justice system here for an alegory: no, that system is not perfect and has flaws but some of the basic PRINCIPLES are good, and much is founded on the Ten Commandments and Mosaic Laws which were designed to bring about the greatest amount of Justice POSSIBLE. not all crimes are created equal, nor are they prosecuted equally, nor do they carry the same sentences .. there are serious crimes and there are petty crimes each crime (if we liken crime to sin) is tried separately-they are not all lumped together .. and even though there are hang-ups in the system and we do see injustice and unfairness, we can really be thankful that each crime is tried uniquely/separately with great care and due process. in the this same vein of thought, it is my belief that God is not in any way non-chalant or careless about how He looks upon sin and how He helps us deal with our Sin. Proof is in the fact that He has always designed and method and way of dealing with sin .. but sending His own Son to the earth to suffer torment, be fully tempted and understand the human plight and then die for our sin is the ultimate way in which He provided a way to atone for sin . when I am having difficulty forgiving someone for something and i just cannot seem to "let go" it is good for me to think about the fact that Christ died for ALL. and yes, he died for the sins of my fellow mankind, not just for my sin and the sin I need to deal with, but for everyone's sin - that all may have a chance at forgiveness . . personally, i think where we humans get into much trouble is when we ourselves play judge and jury with others - and we don't get it quite right: by either condemning them and sentencing them as a "lost cause" or looking the other way, when we should be stepping up to the plate and making the effort to hold them accountable . true, depending upon the person and the connection we have with them, we may find ourselves playing favorites quite easily-and having more tolerance for certain people and certain sins than we do for other people and other sins ..to humans, sinning can be quite political, if you will, but God is not a politician, so we can count on Him to "try" sins fairly in all cases, yet, we may find ourselves frustrated at times because we do not or cannot fully appreciate the Lord's Justice and/or time of justice.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2011 14:33:33 GMT -5
Excuse me, ps-chic, but I'm a little confused. What kind of forgiveness are Christians supposed to be practicing? Random, exclusive, selective, indiscriminate, or total? Reason I ask is this: it seems as though, if we are to go by various examples set before us, that some things; some sins are "forgivable" while others are not. In other words, it seems that some things are let go or people get "off" or get a light sentence, while other things are prosecuted to the max with severe "sentencing" imposed. Have you ever noticed that? Do you think some sins require more severe prosecution and heavier sentences or is all sin to be treated equal? . .. yes, you are a little confused, but that's okay, i forgive you...... umm, one area of confusion is to confuse the forgiveness of sin with consequences. it is POSSIBLE to forgive someone, yet still hold them accountable for paying the consequences of their sin .. forgiving someone does not necessarily mean that person is completely "let off" - nor SHOULD it mean you have to give them an easy out --- in fact the act of holding someone accountable for their sins and mistakes is for their BENEFIT, not to just punish them. if a person is never held accountable for their mistakes, wrong-doing, sin, or iniquity, how will they ever learn to not repeat such behavior? we can look at the criminal justice system here for an alegory: no, that system is not perfect and has flaws but some of the basic PRINCIPLES are good, and much is founded on the Ten Commandments and Mosaic Laws which were designed to bring about the greatest amount of Justice POSSIBLE. not all crimes are created equal, nor are they prosecuted equally, nor do they carry the same sentences .. there are serious crimes and there are petty crimes each crime (if we liken crime to sin) is tried separately-they are not all lumped together .. and even though there are hang-ups in the system and we do see injustice and unfairness, we can really be thankful that each crime is tried uniquely/separately with great care and due process. in the this same vein of thought, it is my belief that God is not in any way non-chalant or careless about how He looks upon sin and how He helps us deal with our Sin. Proof is in the fact that He has always designed and method and way of dealing with sin .. but sending His own Son to the earth to suffer torment, be fully tempted and understand the human plight and then die for our sin is the ultimate way in which He provided a way to atone for sin . when I am having difficulty forgiving someone for something and i just cannot seem to "let go" it is good for me to think about the fact that Christ died for ALL. and yes, he died for the sins of my fellow mankind, not just for my sin and the sin I need to deal with, but for everyone's sin - that all may have a chance at forgiveness . . personally, i think where we humans get into much trouble is when we ourselves play judge and jury with others - and we don't get it quite right: by either condemning them and sentencing them as a "lost cause" or looking the other way, when we should be stepping up to the plate and making the effort to hold them accountable . true, depending upon the person and the connection we have with them, we may find ourselves playing favorites quite easily-and having more tolerance for certain people and certain sins than we do for other people and other sins ..to humans, sinning can be quite political, if you will, but God is not a politician, so we can count on Him to "try" sins fairly in all cases, yet, we may find ourselves frustrated at times because we do not or cannot fully appreciate the Lord's Justice and/or time of justice. Yes, I am aware of the teaching that Christ died for all and I know people are not supposed to discriminate. But, the reality is, that, we do. We all do. Anyone with any ounce of FEELING and/or emotion in them practices favoritism and some sort of discrimination; although they may not feel that is always a 'bad' thing or that it is considered a big "no-no". It's just a fact of life and it part of being human. Our hearts are tugged. We FEEL the plea of others and we can be very tender-hearted and forgiving; especially in cases in which people are truly contrite and/or remorseful: in some cases we simply cannot RESIST. And isn't that a little bit what Christ was like? He understands because He understood. He has FEELING for the human plight with the weaknesses that are in that. Isn't it God Who cannot resist a humble and a contrite heart? But consider that even parents who try very hard to treat each child exactly the same finds out it's not all that easy. Some kids are easier to tolerate than others. Some kids, we know we can perhaps have a little more "give" with and other kids we feel as though we always have to clamp down hard on them. I continue to be a bit confused. Does God really want us to all be totally non-judgmental and treat everyone EXACTLY the same?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2011 14:51:44 GMT -5
. .. yes, you are a little confused, but that's okay, i forgive you...... umm, one area of confusion is to confuse the forgiveness of sin with consequences. it is POSSIBLE to forgive someone, yet still hold them accountable for paying the consequences of their sin .. forgiving someone does not necessarily mean that person is completely "let off" - nor SHOULD it mean you have to give them an easy out --- in fact the act of holding someone accountable for their sins and mistakes is for their BENEFIT, not to just punish them. if a person is never held accountable for their mistakes, wrong-doing, sin, or iniquity, how will they ever learn to not repeat such behavior? we can look at the criminal justice system here for an alegory: no, that system is not perfect and has flaws but some of the basic PRINCIPLES are good, and much is founded on the Ten Commandments and Mosaic Laws which were designed to bring about the greatest amount of Justice POSSIBLE. not all crimes are created equal, nor are they prosecuted equally, nor do they carry the same sentences .. there are serious crimes and there are petty crimes each crime (if we liken crime to sin) is tried separately-they are not all lumped together .. and even though there are hang-ups in the system and we do see injustice and unfairness, we can really be thankful that each crime is tried uniquely/separately with great care and due process. in the this same vein of thought, it is my belief that God is not in any way non-chalant or careless about how He looks upon sin and how He helps us deal with our Sin. Proof is in the fact that He has always designed and method and way of dealing with sin .. but sending His own Son to the earth to suffer torment, be fully tempted and understand the human plight and then die for our sin is the ultimate way in which He provided a way to atone for sin . when I am having difficulty forgiving someone for something and i just cannot seem to "let go" it is good for me to think about the fact that Christ died for ALL. and yes, he died for the sins of my fellow mankind, not just for my sin and the sin I need to deal with, but for everyone's sin - that all may have a chance at forgiveness . . personally, i think where we humans get into much trouble is when we ourselves play judge and jury with others - and we don't get it quite right: by either condemning them and sentencing them as a "lost cause" or looking the other way, when we should be stepping up to the plate and making the effort to hold them accountable . true, depending upon the person and the connection we have with them, we may find ourselves playing favorites quite easily-and having more tolerance for certain people and certain sins than we do for other people and other sins ..to humans, sinning can be quite political, if you will, but God is not a politician, so we can count on Him to "try" sins fairly in all cases, yet, we may find ourselves frustrated at times because we do not or cannot fully appreciate the Lord's Justice and/or time of justice. Yes, I am aware of the teaching that Christ died for all and I know people are not supposed to discriminate. But, the reality is, that, we do. We all do. Anyone with any ounce of FEELING and/or emotion in them practices favoritism and some sort of discrimination; although they may not feel that is always a 'bad' thing or that it is considered a big "no-no". It's just a fact of life and it part of being human. Our hearts are tugged. We FEEL the plea of others and we can be very tender-hearted and forgiving; especially in cases in which people are truly contrite and/or remorseful: in some cases we simply cannot RESIST. And isn't that a little bit what Christ was like? He understands because He understood. He has FEELING for the human plight with the weaknesses that are in that. Isn't it God Who cannot resist a humble and a contrite heart? But consider that even parents who try very hard to treat each child exactly the same finds out it's not all that easy. Some kids are easier to tolerate than others. Some kids, we know we can perhaps have a little more "give" with and other kids we feel as though we always have to clamp down hard on them. I continue to be a bit confused. Does God really want us to all be totally non-judgmental and treat everyone EXACTLY the same? . i don't think anyone is advocating you give leave of all feeling and have lack of feeling or "no heart". that's not it. but we are encouraged to be fair and just as much as possible. but, because we ARE human and because the systems within which we work are flawed, we are not always going to be 100% fair and just; people are going to bend the rules, or change the rules to suit them if and when they have that kind of POWER. .. and people are going to fall into favoritism -it started way back when with "teacher's pet", but remember that the teacher's pet was not very respected or well thought of by many-so then, no one with half a brain wanted to get the label "teacher's pet" because that really and truly was not 'cool'. then, remember when you lost a contest or something that you won fair and square but the kid who's mother worked in the school office won simply because of mom's connections life is not fair, but everything comes around eventually and the people know what's really true and right ; we may think that people have the wool pulled over their eyes and that they cannot see justice (or lack thereof) , but in some cases people are not as fooled as we think they are[- and then, in OTHER cases, people really ARE fooled. some people do not have much power at all over others; rather they are under others of authority who have connections, clout, money, power, privilege, etc. it takes a very just and humble person to NOT use all their "advantages" simply for self interest and self gain ..
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