Oh, here's a good blog...

This is a good blog to fill the humour void left by Purgatorio going on hiatus. (And to complement each other if Purgatorio returns.)

Tominthebox News

Using satire to make his point, this blog will make you think and laugh.
He's on target. Check it out.

I've also added a link on the sidebar.

Raised from the Dead

Have you ever heard the question asked about the people raised from the dead in the Bible? You know, the one that goes along these lines, "What was their reaction to being brought back to this world from the presence of God?"

Usually the person asking this is pointing out how that person could be a little ticked off they were no longer with the Lord.

I was thinking about that the other day, and while I can't be dogmatic about this I did realize that every one of the people raised from the dead in the Bible was raised for SOMEBODY else's benefit, not their own. The question is perhaps a bit self-centred, although probably not intentionally. The reason they were raised for somebody else's benefit. That puts it in a whole new light for me. Those raised were in some way serving God by returning.

Of course I can say dogmatically that at least one person raised from the dead in the Bible was raised for the benfit of others. That person was Jesus. He was raised for the benefit of His people.

Hmm, New Blogger

Well, after posting that last article Blogger must have timed out on me, and now I'm on new Blogger. Let's see how it goes.

It will probably take a while for me to check out the tags, template stuff, and everything else.

But so far, so good.

"God hates me because of something I didn't do"???--Huh?

A little while back I encountered the quote above on a blog.

The quote is not my belief, nor was it the blogger's. It was his representation of Calvinism, which he called, "Diabolism." The rest of the post was just as bad. It was one of worst and most willful misrepresentations of Calvinism I have ever seen.

I call it a "willful misrepresentation" because he admitted others have brought forth the same objections I did in the comments section. He has been told that is not what Calvinism teaches or is about, yet he doesn't care. The comments went back and forth for a bit, but as he has comment moderation enabled he didn't post my last one.

So how could somebody define Calvinism as the quote above? Simply misrepresent Total Depravity--which is the teaching that we can not and will not choose God on our own. He expanded that to teach that Calvinism teaches there is no good in Matter--meaning it was Manicheanism. Manicheanism is an ancient heresy that taught a separation of matter and spirit. Matter is evil and spirit good, so it is a form of dualism. This is perhaps an oversimplification, but that was the approach he took.

Anyway, while I posted comments on what Calvinists did and didn't believe, he mostly ignored the main points and made light of the minor ones. My last comment explained why I was no longer going to comment, and I rebuked him for the misrepresentation. I understood he had no desire to become a Calvinist, and he could have posted something explaining why he disagreed with what Calvinism really teaches. I'm sure he does disagree with that as well. That comment never appeared on his blog.

Why do people feel they need to misrepresent something they disagree with? I try to be fair to views I disagree with. I shake my head at some of the shameful material put out by professing Christians against various cults and other religions. They don't stick to the straight forward facts, but engage in fanciful interpretations and manufactered theories to shoot down the other group's unbiblical beliefs & practices. They could stick to the truth and still make their case, but they go overboard and wreck it. It happens on our side, it happens on others. This other blogger, (who I won't identify--at least for now, the more unknown he is the better.), did point out a way he felt misrepresnted by my comments--so I took that into consideration, asked him questions, and proceeded from there. Most of my questions were not really answered, but for the ones he did answer I thanked him.

So what is this allabout?
It's two things, actually.
1-Letting you know about an odd misrepresentation of Calvinism; and
2-A roundabout way to say please don't misrepresent those you disagree with, and if I do that to you, please let me know.

So where was I?

Was I back in the hospital?
Thankfully, no, I did not need to return.
I haven't posted here, but have still commented on a few other blogs.

I'm still in recovery, and some of the activities involved in that have taken up a lot of time. I've also started a gradual return to work, for which I am very grateful. My time aside from work and recovery has involved getting back into the swing of things at church, resting, and spending time with my family.

When I've had time to post, I've either been too tired to actually post anything, or I wound up doing other things that took less brain power.

I'm not making any promises on how much I'll post, but I've now done two posts to basically say--I'm back.

I'm back, they're not

Actually I used that as a title just over a year ago.
It was referring to an absence of myself from blogging, and also an end to 2 favorite blogs of mine--which in my latest absence from blogging have called it quits again--since they left their blogs up--I'm leaving the links to them at this time. If you haven't checked them out before--please do so...

Here's the post from over a year ago, so you can see what I'm talking about...

I've never kept a regular blog schedule, and I respect those who do.
I also respect the decison of those who put much time in their blogs to step back, take a break or even stop.
That doesn't mean I won't miss the blogs though--or the writers.

I've seen this all over the blogoshere, but wanted to say a more formal farewell here.

The Calvinist Gadfly is calling it quits, and according to the first post it will be left up until Jan 16.
So if you've never checked it out before--do it now.
Alan Kurschner wrote a thought provoking, entertaining, and insightful blog.
It will be missed. But he has been called to other work. He has indicated he may blog from time to time here.
Thanks for what you've given us Alan.

Then Purgatorio contained an announcement from its creator, Marc Heinrich. He had already announced he would slowing down, but now has posted he's stopping, although he's leaving the blog up. He may be back later, he may not.
Marc provided laughs, poignant commentary, and provoked thought.
And the comments on his announcement thread show he will be missed as well.
Marc is also listed as a contributor to Doxoblogy, another fine blog out there.

Well Alan and Marc--thanks. And may God bless your endeavours as He leads you elsewhere.

Again--I thank them for what they've done.
Marc is not a contributor for Doxoblogy anymore, but it's still a good blog.
Both Purgatorio & Calvinist Gadfly returned after theis, but have shut down again--at least Mark's last post is called "Hiatus", so there is hope.

Me, I'm back.