oenophile

Happy Birthday Abi...Is Sushi gonna bake you cake?

Ok, the Illini are no. 1 for now. George, I hope you will understand that I was in a state of euphoria when the Heels beat Duke with an amazing come from behind run. Hopefully, the two teams will get to play each other in Indy. That should be a game that will live in basketball lore.

I guess my the larger point I was making has been lost in the translation. Perhaps it is my fault for not making it clear from the beginning. Johniam, I totally agree with everything you say who Jesus was and is. However, the discussion that I was attempting to foment among those of us who say we are His followers and that he is in us...looking through his eyes, how should we respond to the questions raised. I hope this brings clarity to our discussion here.

UNC 75 Dook 73 HEELS NOW #1

True, Johniam. But we are left here to carry on his work. So the questions raised are valid ones to ask. What would be his response to these and the suffering with which we are surrounded...would he simply shrug his shoulders and say "Oh, well." Or Might not he not remind us of the following: "Is this not the fast that the I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor who are cast out into thy house? When thou seest the naked that thou cover him: and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" Isaiah 58:6-7

Paw, feel free to move this to Doctrinal if deemed appropriate. W.W.J.D. I'm sure everyone has seen those wristbands that are supposed to remind one to ask "What Would Jesus Do?" when confronted with the same situation that the person encounters. I realize that Greasespot is not a "Christian" site. There are people here who embrace other traditions (such as I previously have), some consider themselves spiritual but not necessarily Christian and still others advocate no belief in the supernatural. So to ask the question, "What would Jesus Do?" could easily cause some of my dear friends to chaff because they cannot accept the question as a point of departure when engaging a real world ethical conundrum. To these friends I ask that they indulge my asking this question because the answers may prove universal and enlightening regardless of one's beliefs. So, What would Jesus Do? Would he engage in our trinitarian / unitarian debates? Or would he point us toward experiencing God's Love as the only way of understanding his nature and that of his Father? ................................................ Would he settle the question which religion is right? Or would he break down the walls and strip us of the labels that separate us causing us to look smugly down our noses at each other? ................................................ Would he look at a young woman out of wedlock with her young children and see her as a pathetic fallen woman? Or would he see her true beauty and worth still fresh and pure? ................................................ Would he lead a anti-abortion rally outside a woman's clinic? Or would he feel the angst of women wrestling with the decision? ................................................ More questions later...

Please accept my apologies. My remarks regarding the Christian Reformed Church were a broad swipe.

thats cool music...Jean, Jean. Happy Birthday J.

def, I moved up to GR to be near my 16 y/o son last spring. I have been out of der weg for almost ten years now. I thought Dallas was religious but GR makes Dallas look like Bourbon Street. There is a predominance of as I am sure you remember of people of Dutch descent who belong to the Christian Reformed Church. Their church building look cold and forboding...which no doubt reflects their theology. Let's not forget that it was this Church that supported apartheid in South Africa.

If you want to take a good look at Calvin's legacy come up here to Grand Rapids Michigan. The town is so uptight that you can hear it squeak.

The forehead is the give away????

The word adulterate which is the root for the word adultery means as Tom suggested above to introduce something foreign into something that previously was free from such contamination or dilution. Example: A bartender adulterates wine by diluting it with water in order to increase the volume so he can sell more thus depriving his customer of the enjoyment of the purity of the undiluted wine. The effect of this "adultery" is to contaminate the relationship between the bartender and his patron by betraying the trust the patron has placed in the bartender. If we now take this understanding of the word adultery and apply it to what happens when an extra-marital affair contaminates the purity of the relationship that began when the two pledged a vow of loyalty and then consummated it by having sexual intercourse(which is the most intimate of human experiences). It is an act of betrayal which has the same effect on the relationship as it does on the wine. Like the diluted wine the intimacy and trust between the two partners cannot be made pure again. It is the ultimate breech of loyalty. Does this shed any light on the subject or am I just stating the obvious?

Aaron, although small, has a huge heart. He is blessed to have a mom that sets such loving example.

Galen, I think you and i are on the same page here. God has a lot of room to work around us and through us without trampling on our free will. I am also glad you brought up the incident with the sailor wanting prayer to meet the special lady. It goes to show that God is not bound by our rigid ideas of His nature.

Shell and Abi are better parents than I. Looking back I remember there were times that I let Ryan out of my sight for a few minutes while I attended to something necessary. It did not enter my mind that someone was capable to think of doing what I thought was the unthinkable or that someone was capable looking at him with different eyes than mine which were filled with such love and compassion whenever I looked at him. Thankfully Someone with much bigger eyes than mine was covering for me during those times of lapsed judgment.

Ex70shouston, I find myself agreeing with the thrust of your post in that God is not bound by our understanding how he oughtto act to bring about His will in our lives. However, the idea that God usespeople to bring about His will is repugnant to His nature. He has endowed each human with that sacred space within which is the freedom to choose.

If the Illini were in the ACC, they would do well to win half of their conference games! The only teams from the Big Ten that could possibly reach the sweet 16 are Illinois and perhaps Michigan State. Almost any team from the ACC with the exception of the bottom 3 or four teams could be there. Could you imagine the Illini going undefeated having to play Duke at Cameron or Carolina in the Dean Dome. I think they would even have their hands full playing the lowly Wolfpack at the RBC Center. On the other hand, Duke, Carolina, Wake and Maryland are very capable of taking down the Illini on their wood. If you don't follow the ACC, you don't know how competitive the league can be. Why is that the conference consistently yields 4 or 5 teams in the sweet 16 each year? Often 2 of the Final Four teams are ACC teams.

When opening Outlook the other day, I must have inadvertently selected Outlook for my email default. When I went in and changed it back to Earthlink Total Access, I was presented with the option of selecting an Outlook profile-which I did. The next time I opened Outlook, I was presented with a set up wizard. After I clicked through everything and got into Outlook, I found that all my data had disappeared. My contacts information is the most important information that I lost. Is there a way for me to retrieve this data?

Happy Birthday to a very dear friend. R

i always wondered what happened to ginger. I almost forgot pat fetner...but now it comes back...wow. I was at ecu in the early to mid seventies too.

"And to the married I command, yetnot I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from herhusband: But if she she depart, let her remain unmarried,or be reconciled to her husband and let not the husband put away hiswife." Perhaps there are divorced people such as myself who struggle with the application of this passage. The question that arises is when physical and/or emotional abuse, infidelity or abandonment are present is a Christian precluded from re-marrying. Another question that I think should be considered is Paul addressing a specific situation in the Corinthian church (which had a reputation for sexual promiscuity) or does it apply universally to all Christians.

Sherries tend to be quite high in alcohol as wines go, usually around 15.5%. Two-thirds of a gallon of it would pretty much pickle a guy. But hey look on the bright side. Think of all that money they saved by having him pre-embalmed.

Happy Birthday, Shell and don't worry about being 60 because it doesn't look so old from where I sit. r

Exie, The bastards may escape man's judgment but God's judgment is another story. Seems like I remember something about it being better to have a millstone tied around your neck and cast in the sea than to offend one of these little ones.

I carry on a roundtable discussion with myself.