For those who were following or part of the previous thread "(split) Christians Talking Shop", the following will make sense. I did some research, and heard some wise words from our Illustrious Leader (not God - Leo), in which he suggests, from experience, that Religion is not a good topic to "discuss". I think probably politics fall into the same category. FUN to debate, until basic principles are at odds. He also expressed undying support of FekketCantenel's ability to discern the fine line between staying on topic, and spam, or even disrespectful antagonism. So, I'm throwing my faith on the side of "the benefit of the doubt", as he seems a wise man, and both he and she are much more experienced in the relatively new to me world of blogging and forums.
That said, I'm starting a new topic which will welcome metaphysical, spiritual and dynamic experiences and expressions of Christianity. I believe that The Book is more than up to the challenge of multiple interpretations. That those of us who seek meaningful translation because we have diverged from our original churches, or faith, will find comfort in its universal and infinite wisdom. And if you think it's all a pile of crap, you are welcome to respectfully tell us why! As they say, shit rises to the top! And I don't mean that in the derogatory way that we're all familiar with! Hmmmm, what other meaning could there be?
I'd like to start off with the idea of daily or weekly scripture meditations. In another thread, several of you expressed a wish for regular bible reading, devotionals and prayer. How would you feel about taking turns picking scriptures to discuss? Or if someone is reading an awesome book, with an inspirational passage, poem, etc: could we include it for interpretation?
I'd like to start by going to Psalm 139, FekketCantenel's reference to part of my "mantra". Verse 12 says 'Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one'. This is from the New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition. We can elaborate beyond, or before this verse, whatever inspires you in this Psalm. I also particularly like verse 17: 'How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them! 18:Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.'
Makes me think of the passage Matt 9:30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
[Edit] I posted this earlier today under July challenges, obviously the wrong heading (sorry)..back in Religion, Spirituality and Philosophy where we should be!
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... Religion is not a good topic to "discuss". I think probably politics fall into the same category. FUN to debate, until basic principles are at odds.-"jocelain"
To clarify, these are things not discussed in mixed company. In other words, unless you know that someone is interested and willing to do it properly, you don't bring it up. However, they're far from taboo.
He also expressed undying support of FekketCantenel's ability to discern the fine line between staying on topic, and spam, or even disrespectful antagonism.-"jocelain"
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. He's sweet.
Well, you've got an interesting idea going here. A suggestion: Link passages to their entries on BibleGateway. Hence, you refer to Psalm 139.
Daily sounds much too often to really get anything going, whereas weekly sounds a teensy bit too long. We can play it by ear and maybe lengthen or shorten it from there.
Now, one thing: Remember that this is the Zen Habits forums. The discussions should have at least a tentative relevancy to Our Leader's goals for us, such as establishing good habits and leading better lives. That's courteous to him, after all.
Another suggestion: Don't invite people who are just going to talk trash in general. If they want to talk it about the specific verse we're discussing, that's staying on-topic. Otherwise, whether offensive or just opinionated, it needs to go somewhere else.
Another other suggestion: The title scheme of the threads could be something like 'Bible Study Digest #x: Book 1:23'. You should also include a mission statement in each one that clearly notifies people of the goal (i.e. 'to figure out how this passage relates to our goals this month' or something) so that people don't get off-track.
Oh and, 'Bible only'? Uh, duh? What other Christian holy book would we be using, Stephen King's The Dark Tower series? (I can see it now: 'Bible Study Digest #14: The Wastelands ("I do not kill with my gun...")')
And anybody who thinks we're Jesusing up the forum, come on, you've had your Zen and your Buddhism and your roller blades and your Seventeen and your Jackie Chan and your Scientology and your wait GAH I'm doing it again. Okay anyway. Hitting 'Submit' now.
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Okay! Please show me how to create a "Quote" box as you just did. I tried to highlight, then hit quote, and it isn't that simple, right? Also, how to link passages to BibleGateway?
I like your idea of numbering the "studies"; great for reference later! Other Christian books? Og Mandino, C.S. Lewis, Nicky Gumbel (Alpha series), geez, I have DOZENS of amazing books with brilliant passages. Stories about Mother Theresa, Charles Colson. I'll prepare a list when I'm not supposed to be in bed!
Mission statement also a good idea: Be respectful, watch the sarcasm (easily misinterpreted with a large group - I learned this teaching adults). Listen. Wait a day or two if you're getting steamed. Proof read what you write to see if it could be read differently and misconstrued? Keep to the point, be succinct and concise. Change paragraphs when your idea graduates. Ask questions!
With my bible study group we read a passage together 3 times. In between we look a) for a word or phrase that resonates with us; second time b) a concept we can relate to some aspect of our personal life, and finally c) what we think Jesus/God is asking us to do in our lives right now. This fits beautifully with Leo's concept of self-improvement.
I suspect people who aren't interested in looking for meaning in whatever we choose to study, will be bored silly in no time. My experience is that this sort of thing usually works itself out. If you don't respond to bullying, it never hits the target.
And I agree about timing. Play it by ear. We can agree when we're done. If some of us aren't, maybe we break off and continue on another thread!
Hey, it's Sunday already! Can't wait for church! Have a feeling it's the evening service for me ... 12:33 am here now!
I like your idea of numbering the "studies"; great for reference later! Other Christian books? Og Mandino, C.S. Lewis, Nicky Gumbel (Alpha series), geez, I have DOZENS of amazing books with brilliant passages. Stories about Mother Theresa, Charles Colson. I'll prepare a list when I'm not supposed to be in bed!
Mission statement also a good idea: Be respectful, watch the sarcasm (easily misinterpreted with a large group - I learned this teaching adults). Listen. Wait a day or two if you're getting steamed. Proof read what you write to see if it could be read differently and misconstrued? Keep to the point, be succinct and concise. Change paragraphs when your idea graduates. Ask questions!
With my bible study group we read a passage together 3 times. In between we look a) for a word or phrase that resonates with us; second time b) a concept we can relate to some aspect of our personal life, and finally c) what we think Jesus/God is asking us to do in our lives right now. This fits beautifully with Leo's concept of self-improvement.
I suspect people who aren't interested in looking for meaning in whatever we choose to study, will be bored silly in no time. My experience is that this sort of thing usually works itself out. If you don't respond to bullying, it never hits the target.
And I agree about timing. Play it by ear. We can agree when we're done. If some of us aren't, maybe we break off and continue on another thread!
Hey, it's Sunday already! Can't wait for church! Have a feeling it's the evening service for me ... 12:33 am here now!
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If you ever want to look at the source code of my posts, click the 'Quote' button in the upper left corner of them. You can see how I use quote and url there.
Those other books do sound good, but I'm thinking it would be best if you corroborated them with Bible verses. I mean, it's probably my Southern Baptist Bible-loving brain talking, but it seems weird to be calling it a Christian study and then studying something else without at least including the Bible. Heck, if I ever write my big book on Scientology, I'll find a way to include Bible references while keeping it secular (since I want tons of people to read it and learn from it).
Ha. I had somebody just the other day lecture me for being sarcastic in front of her nine-year-old. Nevermind that the little brat is already the most sarcastic thing on the block (I blame movies). But yeah, on the internet, no one can hear you sneer.
Wut?
If somebody does post irrelevant or bullying stuff, am I allowed to just delete it? Because that would keep us from getting distracted. Then again, with that sort of thing you have to develop a very strict rule for deletion, such as 'doesn't contribute to the topic' or 'violates the mission statement'.
People wouldn't have to start a new thread in order to continue; I'd imagine some of these discussions would keep going for months and be twenty pages long. That's a nice thing about the internet; it'll just stay up there.
Whoo, Sunday morning. Need to finish my cereal and get dressed. Bye-o.
Those other books do sound good, but I'm thinking it would be best if you corroborated them with Bible verses. I mean, it's probably my Southern Baptist Bible-loving brain talking, but it seems weird to be calling it a Christian study and then studying something else without at least including the Bible. Heck, if I ever write my big book on Scientology, I'll find a way to include Bible references while keeping it secular (since I want tons of people to read it and learn from it).
Ha. I had somebody just the other day lecture me for being sarcastic in front of her nine-year-old. Nevermind that the little brat is already the most sarcastic thing on the block (I blame movies). But yeah, on the internet, no one can hear you sneer.
Change paragraphs when your idea graduates.-"jocelain"
Wut?
If somebody does post irrelevant or bullying stuff, am I allowed to just delete it? Because that would keep us from getting distracted. Then again, with that sort of thing you have to develop a very strict rule for deletion, such as 'doesn't contribute to the topic' or 'violates the mission statement'.
People wouldn't have to start a new thread in order to continue; I'd imagine some of these discussions would keep going for months and be twenty pages long. That's a nice thing about the internet; it'll just stay up there.
Whoo, Sunday morning. Need to finish my cereal and get dressed. Bye-o.
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I lifted the point about changing paragraphs from one of your previous posts, like how was church today? I loved the way you did it, and it's one of those things that helps keep me on track, organizing my thoughts. I hate emails that go on and on with all the news jammed into one long paragraph. No breath.
Let's see who else we get on board for this discussion, and how they feel about other sources. You're right in that it might end up diverging in to a book club if we use other material. Which could also be fun!
Yup, I think you totally have the right to delete someone out of bounds. That's your job!
Meanwhile, any thoughts and feedback on my first post?
Let's see who else we get on board for this discussion, and how they feel about other sources. You're right in that it might end up diverging in to a book club if we use other material. Which could also be fun!
Yup, I think you totally have the right to delete someone out of bounds. That's your job!
Meanwhile, any thoughts and feedback on my first post?
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Ohhhh, splitting your posts into paragraphs. Yes, a must-have.
What first post?
What first post?
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I'd like to start by going to Psalm 139, FekketCantenel's reference to part of my "mantra". Verse 12 says 'Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one'. This is from the New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition. We can elaborate beyond, or before this verse, whatever inspires you in this Psalm. I also particularly like verse 17: 'How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them! 18:Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.'
Makes me think of the passage Matt 9:30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Inspiration from Worship service tonight: God chooses us to serve him BECAUSE we are not perfect. We are "His lights to shine on the world".
All for now, tired and going home to bed.
Blessings, Jocelain
Makes me think of the passage Matt 9:30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Inspiration from Worship service tonight: God chooses us to serve him BECAUSE we are not perfect. We are "His lights to shine on the world".
All for now, tired and going home to bed.
Blessings, Jocelain
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permalink
As I pointed out earlier, you need to link to the passage on Bible Gateway.
I'm still wondering how this chapter is relevant to self-improvement. It's a very God-centric chapter. You've probably got a really fascinating answer, though.
I'm still wondering how this chapter is relevant to self-improvement. It's a very God-centric chapter. You've probably got a really fascinating answer, though.
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