Before Jesus came on the scene, religious activity always followed the temple model. In a nut shell, the temple model is having one or more holy places, 
where the holy writs are kept, and holy men stay. These holy men interpret the holy writs and deliver to the faithful decrees about how they will live and behave and what sacrifices their god demands. If these holy men feel a follower is not living up to their decrees, that follower can be punished or killed in accordance to their writ. Continue reading “Toppling the Temple Model”
Author: Doug
Ask What You Will
The Christmas season is upon us and many will be making out wish lists. As children we addressed these lists to Santa Claus, as adults some address them to God and ask Him to fulfill their wishes. They hold up Bible passages such as John 14:13-14 as evidence for their expectation:
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask[a] anything in My name, I will do it. (NKJV)
That’s pretty clear, isn’t it: ask me anything and I will do it? So then if I ask Jesus for a red Maserati with chrome wheels, he should give it to me right? No.
This is not to say that if I truly desired this I would not end up with a red Maserati with chrome wheels, for we do tend to get whatever it is we fix our heart on. I may have to work three jobs for 5 years to get the money, but if that is what I hold most dear I’ll do it – and in so doing, turn my back on Jesus to pursue worldly gain.
As is so often the case, pulling a single passage out of the Bible and using it to make a point proves to invalidate that passage. Let’s look at what is really being said here. Continue reading “Ask What You Will”
Reasons to Skip Thanksgiving
I heard an interesting program on the radio yesterday. It started by citing a poll which asked people, “If you were offered a thousand dollars to forgo the traditional Thanksgiving celebration, would you do it?” The majority of those asked stated they would pass on the money because their traditional celebration with family is too important to them.
That’s a good answer: family should be more important than money. But in many cases Thanksgiving seems to have gone the way of most “traditional” holidays: especially this year.
With social and political issues causing deep rifts in families and social groups, can your gathering be kept civil and respectful of one another? Can you be thankful for their presence in your life and at your table?
Every year I hear more people moaning about the amount of work and expense they had to put into preparing The Feast and cleaning up after. If these are things you dread as it approaches and complain about afterward, can you be truly thankful for any of it?
Has this holiday lost its meaning? Do you spend more than 23 seconds just before you eat being thankful for anything, or is it all about a long weekend, gluttony, football, and a big party?
If you are celebrating Thanksgiving, make it about being thankful. If you cannot be thankful for what you have, where you are in life, and for your family and friends; you might as well skip the whole thing, or tell the gang, “We’re going out for dinner – and it’s Dutch treat.”
Smoke Makes for a Rude Awakening
4:30 AM: we are awakened by the shrill, asynchronous, electronic screams of our smoke alarms calling for us to “Get out! Get out! Get out!”
I hop out of bed, wind my way through the herd of large dogs dashing about in confusion over the painful assault on their ears. I check the house. It’s a small house: it does not take long to find that there is no fire, no smoldering appliance, indeed, no visible smoke. I grab a magazine off the kitchen island and wave it at the alarm nearest the kitchen. It’s all I can think of to do at the moment: fanning the hallway alarm silences them when I’ve been making toast. I’m not good at toast.
Amazingly (or perhaps coincidentally) that works: the alarms fall silent.
Blondie and Tinker stride to the door, “We’re outta here, that’s just RUDE.” I don’t blame them and wonder what set the alarms off. Continue reading “Smoke Makes for a Rude Awakening”
Jesus, Judaism, and Belief
Jesus was a Jew. He was born into the nation of Israel to Jewish parents. He was raised in the belief and traditions of Judaism. When Jesus taught about God and His Kingdom to come, he addressed, almost exclusively, the nation of Israel. Jesus brought His message of salvation to the chosen people of God first.
The Jews were looking for a Messiah that would free them from Roman bondage and make their nation great among the nations of the earth again – as it was in the days of David.
When John the Baptist began his ministry, he announced the arrival of their king. When Jesus began working miracles and teaching the people amazing things, they knew He was someone special, and they followed him around in droves. Continue reading “Jesus, Judaism, and Belief”
Smoke on the Mountain
The sunlight slanting in through the window is casting the red beams of a gorgeous sunset on the floor — except it’s 1:00 in the afternoon.
The sun is a deep orange ball high in the sky that appears only slightly brighter than a full moon. The online weather station says our skies are clear and sunny, no cloud cover. What we see up there is all smoke. Continue reading “Smoke on the Mountain”
Brain Spill: Bernie’s Encounter
In my interview with Sonia Rumzi I mentioned that I produce snippets of dialogue or stories as a mind stretching exercise, I call this a brain spill, and that I keep these snippets as seed-stock for future story ideas. Some have asked for a peek into my Pandora’s Box of story snippets. The following is one such. It is quite raw, I’ve fixed up the typos but have not done any editing or polishing. It is just a fragment, the sort of stuff that spills out of my brain box when I open the lid.
* * *
He stood, transfixed, heart pounding, staring up at where the man-creature disappeared as four of the men in dark suits split up and ran to surround the building. Two others approached him.
A Most Beloved (And Misunderstood) Bible Passage
The one Bible passage that is most remembered and quoted by Christians and non-Christians alike is John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
A powerful statement of hope that seems to allow anyone to claim eternal life if they acknowledge a rational acceptance that Jesus was the son of God. But if we pick at that passage just a little, we get it to bleed truth not seen with a casual reading of modern words. Continue reading “A Most Beloved (And Misunderstood) Bible Passage”
Movie Review: Alien Fury, Countdown To Invasion
I find it interesting how many of the conspiracy channels are running video “expose’s” insisting top government officials have leaked classified information to them that aliens will invade Earth in late 2016 or early 2017. I guess they’re hoping their followers didn’t see Anonymous and WikiLeaks pieces on the Beneson Strategy Group advice to the Clinton Foundation on the (potential) plan to use Project FireSign (a.k.a. Blue Beam) to institute martial law because of an apparent alien incursion.
Speaking of lies, deception, and twisting everything: I watched a movie the other day called Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion.
This is the story of a government agency (S.T.R.A.W.) that discovers spacecraft massing on the Moon and tries to warn the military about an impending invasion. Of course the military thinks they’re wacky – until a spy satellite sent to take their own photos is shot down, after they glimpse alien ships, then they prepare to nuke the alien base … and things start to get really weird. Continue reading “Movie Review: Alien Fury, Countdown To Invasion”
Sci-Fi Sample: Tale of the Draggon
The following is chapter one from a book I wrote in 1984. It is part of a trilogy. The publishing houses refused it back then. After wall-papering my office with rejection slips (it was a small office) I packed it up, tucked it away and forgot about it. A recent decluttering brought it to light again and I’m thinking of producing it as an eBook. I have always considered fiction to be my weak suit. Please read this sample chapter and give me your opinion as to whether or not this book has potential to sell. This is a Sci-Fi book, if you hate Sci-Fi, you are excused, thank you for coming, I hope to see you next time. To the rest of you, if you saw this as a sample of the book, would you find it compelling enough to buy the book?
Thank you for your input, feel free to be honest, that is what I am asking for.
Revised per suggestions: 4/15 Continue reading “Sci-Fi Sample: Tale of the Draggon”