Footprints?

And Al Gore? Now where have I heard that before? Ha!

Comments

[Buzzy]

We need to be nice to Agore, he may be the best hope for a Republican win in 2008.

[old trooper]

ALGORE!

Nope. No Way!

He has the same problem as Hillary.
There is no inheritance to the Presidency.
Drunk Kennedy knows that.

What do I know?

M IPOD plays Dusty Springfield vocals while I pick a target.

Afghanistan is better than Ft. Benning!

Vote for Fred or else!

[lookin4info]

LMAO!!!!

[Fred Beloit]

Say OT, what do you mean by "Afghanistan is better than Ft. Benning!"? Nothing's better than Ft. Benning, except maybe Ft. Riley.

[BobInStamford]

Old trooper= old fool. Thank you for your service, 'hero'!

PS

Looks like the brown people are having a surge of their own.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070603/ts_nm/iraq_dc

[Fred Beloit]

The return of S--thead in Stamford, the new Henny Youngman, except that having fun because US soldiers had a tough time and included some being killed isn't funny, you filthy pig. Going now for the title of the new Jane Fonda eh? Congratulations, but you have crossed the line, c--ks----r

[BobInStamford]

CONGRATULATIONS to you, Fred. You patriots are turning the corner. I salute you for your service. The SURGE is WORKING!!

Bring em on!!

[Purple Avenger]

Over 3,100 dead tangos in Iraq since January Bob.

[templar knight]

Thank you, HairyBob, we salute your brave service to the queers of the World. And your surge isn't working out so good for you. Hahaha! Surge on, brave queer!

[Phoenix]

Fred,

Never lived at Ft. Benning, but lived at Ft. Riley, Ft. Leavenworth, and Ft. Polk. Ft. Riley and Ft. Polk were hotter than fire but still better than Afghanistan. Tornados were fun, too.

Bob was in Key West with his squeeze gettin' it on after a few pretty drinks with little umbrellas in them. I bet when he sat down on the beach his balls bulged out of his Speedo and he left them out. WHEW! surge surge surge...... Yum!

[Leatherneck]

Bob, you wanker! Your such a F##king wanker. You read like everyone is in the KKK over here. I served with folks who were from Mexican families, and at one time from Africa.

The brown people? Are you really that stupid Bob? Or just full of hate for these United States?

I guess you would be speaking German there in Iceland Bob if it was not for the United States. Maybe that is why you hate us.

[BobInStamford]

Sorry patriots, the SURGE is NOT working.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/world/middleeast/04surge.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

Better luck next war.

[templar knight]

Leatherneck, BobinStamford is Hairy Bob, a queer who says he is drawn to other hairy guys. Monkies and apes probably have to watch their backsides when Bob vistis the Zoo. Hahahaha! What say you, HairyBob? The surge is working.

[Purple Avenger]

Leave it to Bob the moron to cite an article that essentially says it IS WORKING where it has been applied as evidence its not working. Bravo Bob.

[seekeronos]

Selected verses from Proverbs 26... it might apply to someone such as "Bob" :

:1 As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.

:3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back.

:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

:11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

:12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Proverbs 14:1 - "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good."

Bob, you are in a scary place!

Open up your eyes - will you indeed spend eternity in the Lake of Fire because of your foolish rejection of God and His Annointed Christ? Turn to the Lord Jesus and be saved, call upon His name today. (Romans 10:13).

[nowingker]

Seek,

I will hate myself for asking this, but if a person lives a moral life, the good they do outweighs any 'sins' they have committed, but they don't believe Jesus Christ is the son of the creator of the universe, why should they be damned to hell? Wouldn't a just god care more about the life a person leads than their belief system?

Why can't it be that 'my father's house has many rooms/mansions' be an alusion to there being many paths to god? You don't know the full teachings of Jesus Christ any more than I do, all we have are tatered remnants that were taken up and turned into 'christianity' by a bunch of semetic males steeped in the judaic tradition.

How do you know the gnostics weren't correct that Jesus Christ came to teach humanity the path of SELF ENLIGHTENMENT, not slavish devotion to church teachings?

[macacawins]

According to that article the surge is working? Fewer than 1/3 of Bagdhad's neighborhoods are secure after 4 1/2 years and that is a success?

And what is with the Jesus freak posting 'scripture'??

My parents and grandparents were republicans. The good ole country club type that was tightfisted. When did the party get taken over by stupid rednecks and bible-thumpers??? Quite a bunch...

[seekeronos]

I generally do not post big piles of scripture, that was specifically targeted to "BobinStamford", or any of the 400 other sockpuppets he uses here.

Of course, if the verses apply to any gentle reader here, I humbly pray that they take them to heart.

For Nowingker:

Jesus made it _very_ clear that He is the only path to salvation. He did not come to twist people's ears with fancy knowledge of hidden knowledge, or secret orders or clubs that you had to join in order to be saved.

Here it is, in as plain English as the Bible can offer:

"Jesus saith unto him (Thomas), I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -- John 14:6

And it is also written:

------------------------------------------------------------

"Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

"This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:10-12)
------------------------------------------------------------

You see, Nowinger, we are ALL guilty of some kind of sin. "For ALL have sinned, and for short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

I'll ask you, Nowinger: Have you ever sinned? Which of the Ten Commandments, or the Six Noachide Laws, have you not broken?

Have you ever told a lie - even a "cute little fib" to get out of trouble? That is bearing false witness.

Have you ever used the words "G*d*****" or spoken the Saviour's name when something upsetting happended to you? That is taking the Lord's name in vain.

Do you spend lots of time working so you can buy the latest clothing, or gadgets, or upgrades for your car? That is the root of idolatry (holding status and things in importance over God)

Have you ever helped yourself to some extra office supplies? That is stealing.

Have you ever cussed out a driver who cut you off on the road, or punched somebody in anger? That is murder.

Have you ever looked at another woman/man and desired in your heart to take her/him to bed? That is adultery.

If you have missed the mark on any of these, (not too mention several dozen other generic things that we humans fall over ourselves on everyday), then you, my dear Nowinger... are a sinner. (Welcome to the club!).

That means, according to God's perfect law, there is NOBODY who is righteous, no one who has good works of thier own account by which they can get into God's Holy Heaven.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

That means you, me, the Pope, Mother Teresa, Gene Autry, and anyone else who has walked this earth from Adam to Zechariah and in between... is guilty of some sin that condemns us all to burn in eternity.

Without Christ, the only thing that awaits us on this earth is death - "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 3:23a) and judgment "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" (Hebrews 9:27), for which for many who reject the Saviour shall hear Him utter these last, dreadful, damning words at the end of age:

"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"

Since you asked Nowinger, I must also exhort you to accept Jesus's forgiveness for sin.

It is NOT by man's feeble knowledge that we can be saved.

It is NOT by filling our lives with expensive, tasteful junk that cannot follow us into the resurrection.

It is NOT about, as you say "slavish devotion to the church"; Jesus spoke particularly against the entrenched "religious machine" of His time when on Earth. It is about HIM.

And wanna know the best thing of all?

He wants to know YOU, as a believer and a co-heir in Him, redeemed by His blood.

[rolltide]

God cannot be in the presence of sin and all humans are sinners. So all the good works we do will never make us sinless enough to be in God's presence. Jesus Christ paid for all mankind's sins on the cross. He was the sacrificial lamb, spotless, sinless. Up until that point sacrifices had to be made to cleanse oneself to atone for sin.

John 3:16-21
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.

Because of what Jesus did on the cross we want to do good things to show others our love, not to get into Heaven.

[nowingker]

You didn't answer my question. "Sin" is a relative term. A serial rapist murderer is on a different level than someone who has sex outside of marriage or lies or steals office supplies.

Taken in total, the teachings, parables and statements attributed to Jesus Christ are about tolerance,love and peace. The fact that the religious right is always clamouring for blood and punishment would be an affront to him. Sure, you can find isolated statements that support your view, but OVERALL, IN TOTAL, the Jesus Christ that emerges is not the pesky, picky, petulant god of the old testement, but a new kind of prophet who preaches understanding, turn the other cheek, remember? Do you really think Jesus Christ would condone what is said on this blog every freaking week about bombing entire cities in retaliation for America not getting its way? Or that he would condone torture in any form at any time for any reason?

The Jesus Christ who saved the wretched, who exorted his followers to give up all worldly possessions and not to mistake the image for the reality of piosness would NOT, in my opinion condemn anyone who lived a good life to the fires of hell for not believing in him.

Plus, you only count the statements from the 'gospels' that are included in The Bible, you ignore the rest of the early Christian texts that do point to a different interpretation.

[templar knight]

Eph. 2:8 says:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."

Does that answer your question, winkie? Good works in and of themselves cannot get you to heaven. Or that is how this verse is interpreted by most Christians. I realize that James says that "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." But James was testing the faith of the believer.

[nowingker]

I read that a different way, I read it to mean that 'works' alone won't get you into heaven because those 'good works' could be all about image, an evil person could do many 'good works' but the evil in his/her character will not be hidden from god, hence the part also about no boasting, the outer affects of being pious and good are not enough. I don't take that to mean that a good person, who IS good, lives a good life and does good works from purity of heart for the right reasons, not for show or praise won't get into heaven because he/she hasn't taken Jesus as his/her personal savior. It seems to me antithetical to the message of Jesus Christ to believe all you have to do is profess your faith in him and bingo, all sins absolved and you go straight to heaven while the Dali Lama is going, according to you guys, straight to hell.

[templar knight]

Ah, winkie, and thus James enters the picture. Faith without works is dead, or a better interpretation, if you are truly saved you will do good works. If you do not perform good works, then you obviously are not saved.

As for the Dali Lama, and children who die as infants, or perhaps other examples that you failed to mention, I happen to believe that these people and all others who have never had the chance to know Jesus will receive that chance. People who have the knowledge of Jesus, yet rejected Him and His teachings, will die the eternal death. Obviously, I'm no religious schlolar, perhaps seek can answer some of these questions.

[Phoenix]

Elaine Pagels is a Biblical scholar and author of several books about religion - mainly Christianity. "Beyond Belief" is the story of Thomas. She has access to a treasure of scrolls and she's spent her career studying these things. Thomas, according to her, was Jesus' favorite because Thomas doubted much and Jesus spent much time with him assuring him that he carried the spirit of Christ and God inside him....that that was all that was necessary. (The term 'Doubting Thomas' comes from this.) This assurance from Jesus calmed Thomas. Three hundred years later when the church was looking for gospels to match up with their needs, Thomas didn't make the cut. Man made the religion and it's morphed into Catholicism and approximately 200 different sects of Protestantism. And, of course, the Orthodox Church. And the Mormon church.

I'd love to see Jesus come back and see what man has done in his name. So much for what he told Thomas. If we just believe in our hearts and do unto others, it doesn't count? We have to have religion and a good dose of fear?

It doesn't matter anyway whether you believe and do wicked things all your life as a pastor or priest will come to your death bed and ask if you accept the Lord Jesus Christ, and all you have to do is say yes and you've got a ticket to heaven. There are 2.1 billion Christians. That leaves approximately 4.2 billion human beings made in the image of God going to hell. That doesn't make sense.

Religion is what gives me a problem to this never-ending story. I sure like doing good things for people, and if that's God's spirit working inside me, that's fine with me. Keep up the good work... I won't let You down.

[seekeronos]

"You didn't answer my question. "Sin" is a relative term. A serial rapist murderer is on a different level than someone who has sex outside of marriage or lies or steals office supplies."

In one matter, I am afraid tat you are absolutely incorrect. Sin is sin. Period. It doesn't matter if all you did was look upon a woman (or a man, as the case may be) with lust in your heart, and it is as much of a sin as adultery or rape. Don't believe me, believe in what Jesus, the Creator, said:

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28)

God does not judge sin by degree.

So, you asked:

"why should they be damned to hell? Wouldn't a just god care more about the life a person leads than their belief system?"

God does care... which is why He promised Eve that the Redeemer-King (Jesus) would be born of her seed, wherewith the Adversary (Satan) be crushed in the end, even as the Adversary wounded the Redeemer-King.

This same Redeemer King, King Jesus, wants people to come to Him and be saved by believing (literally, trusting) Him and submitting to His rightful lordship over them.

Humanity was cursed with death and has been guilty of sin from the moment Adam and Eve decided to listen to the beguiling words of a serpent (the Devil) over the words of the Living God, whom they had fellowship with. Through the gaining knowledge of good and evil (attained as a result of eating said fruit), they thought they could attain to the same level as their Creator.

------------------------------------------------------------

This, Nowinger, is all about the original lie of devil he's been pushing since that fateful day: that by some secret act (as if anything we could do would be hidden from God!) we could gain a path to "self enlightenment" apart from the true wisdom which comes from the fear (reverence) of God.

------------------------------------------------------------

Ever since, we have been trying pave our own path to heaven and godhood on our own, be it with good works or outward religion, or the vain sophistry of idle "thinkers"... This is the central heresy at the core of many "religions" of today, including those that masquerade as a form of Christianity.

This is also the heresy behind those "other" Alexandrian scripts (bogus bibles) and non-canonical "gnostic" writings by folks like Origen and Eusebius, or those "gospels of Thomas" or Apocrypha/Deuterocanonicals, or any other stuff that is not a part of the biblical canon.

An in-depth discussion of the reasons that the early church fathers rejected these other writings is beyond the scope of what I want to address to you now, but suffice it to say that godly men of the first, second and third centuries were led by God's Holy Spirit to include the 66 books that make up the canon of the Bible.

As for God rejecting people only on the basis of knowing Christ... Jesus emphatically stated that He is the only way by which men can be saved.

Old Testament saints looked forward to Himdefeating death at the Cross, and were rewarded when He preached to them in Paradise (not heaven, but more like a holding area in the vicinity of Hell; in the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man, it is referred to as "Abraham's Bosom"). By faith, they looked to Him and will rejoice anew when they are resurrected at the end of the age when He comes in judgment of the earth.

New Testament saints look back to His work on the cross, trusting in the promise of redemption from every sinful deed through His blood.

Concerning those who have never heard the gospel of Christ (babies, mentally disabled people, young children under the age of innocence, and people so far in a remote corner of the world that they have to have the sunlight piped in, etc.) shall also have a chance to hear the gospel. I cannot be sure of the exact mechanics of how God will accomplish that, but God states that He is not willing that anyone perish for lack of not hearing the gospel:

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

I think that this may be addressed some time in between in the first resurrection (immediately preceding the "rapture" event) and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom, but I say that as a matter of my opinion; I think that during the Millennial Kingdom, those folks will be able to live for a time in a restored world and have ample chance to see Jesus and accept Him as their rightful King. Again, I am not being dogmatic on that.

As for the Dalia Lama... I thik a man of his education and exposure to spiritual things may well have ample opportunity to hear about Christ. Again, I shall not be his judge - that is God's realm.

Another thing that caught my eye is this:

"the Jesus Christ that emerges is not the pesky, picky, petulant god of the old testement".

Again, I must disagree, if only to point out that Jesus and the Father are one being, where Father and Son (and Holy Spirit) are the three Persons of the same God. In this regard, He is the same as that God of the Old Testament. What you see as God being "pesky, picky and petulant" is limited somewhat by your misunderstanding of who God is; He is a perfect and Holy Being, flawless in every way. He is also Sovereign over His creation. In the progressive revelation of Himself to Mankind, He was in ancient times revealed as the "national god" of Israel. Perhaps what you see as God possessing human qualities is your attempt to bring God down off of His throne, and paint Him as a sinful "deity" not much different than a mere human. This is not so: God does experience emotion, but in a way that is without sin; He is moved to action on behalf of humans, and sometimes in judgment of them when they refuse to turn away from grievous sin.

In Christ, He reveals Himself further as a God who is not only interested in the salvation of a particular group of Semites living in the Levant, but in fact, a God with a plan to redeem ALL of Adam's sons and daughters to Himself, by the offering up of Jesus as the Lamb of God.

[BobInStamford]

My, my. What a collection of scripture-quoting surge supporters. Such pious heroes. Complete the mission, oh annointed ones!!! May the Lord/Force be with you.

Amen.

[nowingker]

Seek, I do feel sorry for you. That you believe the crazy stuff you posted AND that you believe this makes you a rightieous person is sad.

No degree of sin, the man who covets a woman in his heart is the same as the man who rapes one? That is totally ridiculous and is NOT what was meant by the passage you quoted, to say we are all sinners is not the same as saying all sin is the same.

It is you who have misunderstood god, not me. It is you who have put the works of men in place of those from god, not me.

You worship a book written by men, compiled by men and edited by men because they told you it was the word of god. The actual words and workings of god that are all around us, in every culture, you are blind to. You are going to get a big surprise my friend when and if you reach the afterlife.

[seekeronos]

Nowinger, don't feel sorry for me. I neither worship a book, nor the writers of man's books.

But I do worship the Author and Perfecter of Faith, who is God, and who divinely inspired God-loving men to write down what God told them to.

God is always correct, and His word always takes precedence over anything you or I have to say on the matter:

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28)

That quote is pretty unequivocal, and I saw the need to refute your assertion that "sin is relative".
That assertion opens the doors to all sorts of evil, it is the leaven of "moral relativism".

So, having no other place to appeal to than the Word of God (the revealed will of God, His plan for the salvation of Mankind, written down by holy men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God)... you then attack it.

Sad, but predictable: but remember, attacking the Scriptures does not disprove them, unless you are willing to call God a liar.

However, you do follow a "god" of your own choosing, the "god" of this earth. He is one and the same with that ancient serpent that twisted Adam and Eve's minds, and continues to do so with all of Adam's unredeemed sons until present. Though you are blinded by Satan's deceptions, even as I was some time ago, Jesus has reached out to you, and will continue to do so, until the appointed hour of your death and judgment.

It is not I who will be surprised in the day of the resurrection; I know that I have my salvation in Christ, guaranteeded. That salvation was sealed at the cross. And that despite myself and the limitations of my sinful flesh, that Christ is performing a work in me to bring me closer to His godly standard.

Paul the Apostle said it best: "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." (2 Timothy 1:12)

As for you, Nowinger, unless you repent, "thou shalt likewise perish":

One day, Nowinger, you WILL bow the knee and confess to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is Lord. You can take that to the bank - you will either do so willingly as a newborn babe in Christ to the rejoicings of angels and the regenerate believers, or you will do so in abject awe and horror, as you recognize how wrong you were, and in dread fear of the eternal death sentence of Hell awaiting you. (Matthew 25:41)

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)

What shall you say to the Lord Jesus when you stand before Him?

More importantly, what shall He say to you? - And remember, there are only two possible answers.