Tag Archives: Life

Sodom and Gomorrah

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The “sins of” Sodom and Gomorrah were stated as adultery, pridefulness, and uncharitableness.

The most (mis)quoted verse in the Bible referring to Sodom is Genesis 19:5 … “and they call unto Lot and say to him, ‘Where [are] the men who have come in unto thee to-night? bring them out unto us, and we know them.’” Many claim this is stating homosexual activities are intended.
The Hebrew word for “know” appears over 900 times in the Hebrew Bible, only 1% (13–14 times) of those references are clearly used as a euphemism for realizing sexual intimacy.

Leviticus has chapters with very detailed lists of what is considered sexual immorality.

Most arguments focus on one, Leviticus 18:22. A short line in a very long list of descriptions of “adultery“. This particular item was “And with a male thou dost not lie as one lieth with a woman“.

Let us not forget what the basic parameter is for “adultery” … Sexual intercourse between a married person and someone who is not their spouse.

The Leviticus lists are about adultery .. ALL FORMS of adultery.

Historically, the term “Sodomite” was used to reference a person who was focused on any and all forms of sexual intercourse, natural or unnatural. (Beastiality, sexual intercourse with animals, is included in this description.)

For those who like to use the ONE item, of the LONG list of items, to argue something that is NOT what this passage is about … stop taking things out of context.

Reading the Bible is not about finding scriptures to use to get your way.

Reading the ENTIRE Story … Reading the ENTIRE Passage … Reading the ENTIRE Focus … This is what we are supposed to do. We are to read what God wants us to learn. NOT just read for personal gain.

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Thought of the day – Greif Scrambles The Brain

Healthy Life, Life Notes, Struggles, Thought, , , ,

Fact: Greif scrabbles the brain.

Unless you have gone through it (and I do not wish it on anyone), you have no clue what a person faces. No, I am not talking about sitting in the dark and crying like most of you arrogantly preach about. Grief changes a person mentally, emotionally, and physically. The brain is scrambled. Circuits are fried. New pathways will have to be made over time. The person you were is not who you become. As I have said before, Grief has no time limit. Those who say otherwise are arrogant know-it-alls.

To all of you dealing with your own form of grief … like picking up broken glass, you may get cuts and scrapes, and it will not be pleasant … but you can put those pieces together into a new masterpiece. God does see the final work, after all, HE created you. He knows what pieces go where and when to put them there.

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Looks like somebody prayed

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The year was 1989. I had signed up for the Army. I was going to be in training for a year. I was going to be doing a very high security thing. I graduated from high school at the end of May. Three weeks later, I was a passenger in a car crash that …

Mid-way through high school, I felt the calling into the ministry. I was going to go to college and then on to seminary. Well, financially, things did not look good. The weight of the financial aspects was heavy and outweighed what my heart felt. My best friend, out of the blue, joined the army in the fall of 1988. With the weight of financials on my mind, it did not take much for him to “talk me into joining”.

I was all set. I was go ship out 4 weeks after graduation. After basic training, I would be in specialized training for almost a year. It would be an extreme and intense training. Once ready, I would be in a very high-level security position.

It was Monday morning, one of my buddies called me telling me that we were going to Dairy Queen. (Neither one of us had vehicle at the time.) Turns out he had called someone to drive us. The person he called, was not liked much in the community. It was a bit awkward. But, we went.

It has been raining and thus, the roads were very wet. The temperature was great, so we had the windows down. … Bug flew into driver’s face/eye. He could not see briefly. We were going around a curve. The Chevy Chevet ended up wedged in trees in the ditch. (Short back up … I was in backseat, passenger side, my buddy was in front seat and kept reclining the seat back on me … messed up goofball … I had JUST unbuckled my seatbelt to slide to the other side when the accident happened. Where I had been sitting was where the car wedged into the trees. There was about 2 inches of space. Where I had slide to, there was about 2 feet of space.)

I will fast forward … there are things I may fill in later .. but for this post, are not vital.

That evening, doctors did not know if I would survive the night. Out in the waiting room, there were people praying for me. I was told that the room was packed. They were praying for me.

I will shorten this part for now … in the midst of all this … I knew, somehow, I knew people were praying for me. I could hear them. I could feel them.

I was released from the hospital after just two weeks. In the course of those two weeks, doctors said, if I walked again, I would not walk well … doctors also said, it would be weeks before I would be released. Yes, I was released after just two weeks. It was a rough few weeks after, but … I walked. A couple decades later, I walk. And as most who know me, know .. I walk fast. I just do, not sure why.

I come to this song. Somebody Prayed. I focus on this line … Looks like somebody prayed.

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My Words For Today

Charecteristics, Life Notes, My Life, Thought, ,

While I lived in Jackson, TN, tornados cut throw the region many times over the years. I personally witnessed horrific scenes of destruction. My college Alma Matta (just 2 miles from my home) was almost whipped out in one of those times.

I have had friends lose all they had when wildfires swept through their town in a matter of minutes, in Texas.

I have seen the devastation of flooding and had friends lose what they had to the floods, in Tennessee.

I know of people who have lost their homes because of earthquakes, in Missouri

I know of people who have lost their homes because of Hurricanes, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

I have a friend who, now retired, spent many years leading brave individuals into the whirlwind of wildfires all over the west side of our country. He was most often on my mind when he was working. I worried for him and all the countless men and women in the middle of those fires.

There are still thousands of people without homes because of this year’s hurricane season. There have been wildfires in various places this past year across our country.

Now, the “high profile” focus is on the lower California area wildfires. Thousands more are now without homes.

We take too much for granted. We are not promised tomorrow. We are to live for today. We are to savor the blessings we have RIGHT NOW. Far too many focus on “wanting more”, while thousands … millions have nothing.

Focus should be on helping, supporting, aiding those who have nothing.

A specific call out here … for those of you who claim to be “Christian” … this …

In John 13:12-17, Jesus had just washed the feet of His disciples. He asked them if they understood what he had just done. (v15-16) He said, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message.”
Then, (v34-35) “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

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