It's interesting that you say "Quasi" Vicar. I don't think a lot of Born Again/Evangelical pastors have to go to seminary in order to get a minister position at a church. Don't know if that's the "gospel truth," just what I've heard.
A little OT, but the strange offshoots of Christianity bring me back to an exchange that happened between Mulder and Scully, who during this one X Files episode, were investigating a cult church that practiced snake handling.
Mulder: So Scully, how familiar are you with snake handling within the church?
Scully: I'm not really familiar with it. We never learned snake handling in catechism class.
Mulder: That's strange. I knew some Catholic school girls who were quite good at snake handling.
Suzie was a Catholic girl. Her entire education was in Catholic schools and she remained on paper a Catholic until the lady killer face corrupted her
She now is a practising Anglican.
I know from a local lad who is in the pay roll of the local evagelical church that leadership courses are not intenationally recognised or recognised by thr dept of education.
I am with you. Give me Bach's church music and traditional hymns over Christian popular music any day.
Matt
Last edited by Cpt Matt Sparrow on Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:58 am, edited 2 times in total.
Having a break from online activity for a while to concentrate on music. Please email if you need to get in touch. Matt
"how is it that Atheists are likely to be right? /you see them as being the most correct in their assumption, and it is just that because neither side has conclusive proof. For every Atheist that says God does not exist there is a Christian that says he does and truly believes it. So how can an Atheist be the more correct? Based upon what standard?"
Based upon the standard of reality and facts.God is a FIGMENT of ones imagination or wish/hope.God does not exist in fact just in assumption or hope at best.
I dont think atheists have many theories about religion other than being skeptical of philosophy that is based on superstitions and fairy tale beleifs that are factually bogus.
Christians have no proof of much of the stuff they talk about.In fact proof and reality shows that they are dead wrong.Jesus isnt coming back and christians been wrong about jesus coming back to earth for 2000yrs.This is one of their key beleifs.
In this aspect atheists are more right in their "assumptions'.
You know, a lot of people said that the world was flat.Scientists proposed that it was round and based this on facts.
Should we give the flat earth theorists equal time or merit for their beleifs?Are they less correct in their beleifs than scientists?No,they are 100% incorrect.
Sometimes we should take spirituality in 'spirit'.Sadly,we have religious leaders trying to legislate their religious beleifs.That is my whole issue with religion and converts etc...
Have any of the Christians here followed the station of the cross?
Cologne she'll wear silver and americard, She'll drive a beetle car and beat you down at cool Canasta. And when the clothes are strewn don't be afraid of the room touch the fullness of her breast feel the love of her caress she will be your living end.
Trigger wrote:Have any of the Christians here followed the station of the cross?
Oh yes. It is amazing to me how much he suffered at the hands of those that persecuted him, and ultimately executed him. It is a nice ceremony we have at my local parish.
Work Sucks!! Thats why I am on here reading posts!!
Trigger wrote:Have any of the Christians here followed the station of the cross?
Oh yes. It is amazing to me how much he suffered at the hands of those that persecuted him, and ultimately executed him. It is a nice ceremony we have at my local parish.
I asked because even though I m an atheist I have followed the stations of the cross in Jerusalem, I found it moving although for me Jesus was a man. I often recall that day with great fondness. As Christians is following the actual route a dreeam of yours?
Cologne she'll wear silver and americard, She'll drive a beetle car and beat you down at cool Canasta. And when the clothes are strewn don't be afraid of the room touch the fullness of her breast feel the love of her caress she will be your living end.
Trigger wrote:Have any of the Christians here followed the station of the cross?
Oh yes. It is amazing to me how much he suffered at the hands of those that persecuted him, and ultimately executed him. It is a nice ceremony we have at my local parish.
I asked because even though I m an atheist I have followed the stations of the cross in Jerusalem, I found it moving although for me Jesus was a man. I often recall that day with great fondness. As Christians is following the actual route a dreeam of yours?
As a former Catholic that is something I have done. It is done in the Church of England services too, but mainly in the high Church's that are closer to the Roman Catholic beliefs.
Remember we were talking about Lewis' Mere Christianity? I found this online. It is the entire of Mere Christianity free to read http://lib.ru/LEWISCL/mere_engl.txt
HATFIELD, England – In the search for Earth-like planets, astronomers zeroed in Tuesday on two places that look awfully familiar to home. One is close to the right size. The other is in the right place. European researchers said they not only found the smallest exoplanet ever, called Gliese 581 e, but realized that a neighboring planet discovered earlier, Gliese 581 d, was in the prime habitable zone for potential life.
"The Holy Grail of current exoplanet research is the detection of a rocky, Earth-like planet in the 'habitable zone,'" said Michel Mayor, an astrophysicist at Geneva University in Switzerland.
An American expert called the discovery of the tiny planet "extraordinary."
Gliese 581 e is only 1.9 times the size of Earth — while previous planets found outside our solar system are closer to the size of massive Jupiter, which NASA says could swallow more than 1,000 Earths.
Gliese 581 e sits close to the nearest star, making it too hot to support life. Still, Mayor said its discovery in a solar system 20 1/2 light years away from Earth is a "good example that we are progressing in the detection of Earth-like planets."
Scientists also discovered that the orbit of planet Gliese 581 d, which was found in 2007, was located within the "habitable zone" — a region around a sun-like star that would allow water to be liquid on the planet's surface, Mayor said.
He spoke at a news conference Tuesday at the University of Hertfordshire during the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science.
Gliese 581 d is probably too large to be made only of rocky material, fellow astronomer and team member Stephane Udry said, adding it was possible the planet had a "large and deep" ocean.
"It is the first serious 'water-world' candidate," Udry said.
Mayor's main planet-hunting competitor, Geoff Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley, praised the find of Gliese 581 e as "the most exciting discovery" so far of exoplanets — planets outside our solar system.
"This discovery is absolutely extraordinary," Marcy told The Associated Press by e-mail, calling the discoveries a significant step in the search for Earth-like planets.
While Gliese 581 e is too hot for life "it shows that nature makes such small planets, probably in large numbers," Marcy commented. "Surely the galaxy contains tens of billions of planets like the small, Earth-mass one announced here."
Nearly 350 planets have been found outside our solar system, but so far nearly every one of them was found to be extremely unlikely to harbor life.
Most were too close or too far from their sun, making them too hot or too cold for life. Others were too big and likely to be uninhabitable gas giants like Jupiter. Those that are too small are highly difficult to detect in the first place.
Both Gliese 581 d and Gliese 581 e are located in constellation Libra and orbit around Gliese 581.
Like other planets circling that star — scientists have discovered four so far — Gliese 581 e was found using the European Southern Observatory's telescope in La Silla, Chile.
The telescope has a special instrument which splits light to find wobbles in different wavelengths. Those wobbles can reveal the existence of other worlds.
"It is great work and shows the potential of this detection method," said Lisa Kaltenegger, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
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pretty cool stuff if you ask me. I grew up reading Ray Bradbury, etc. would be interesting to find another planet like our own.
This gives me goose bumps. Thanks for sharing this, I know we are not alone.
edit, Randy Magic-Gary
I owe you an apology or to put it another way I cleaned my glasses and watched the Zeitgeist again and found it very informative.
Cheers
Matt
Having a break from online activity for a while to concentrate on music. Please email if you need to get in touch. Matt
I posted this blog on facebook about the similarities I noticed between Robin Hood and Jesus. Any thoughts UR?
I have an enjoyable week watching the Zeitgeist and finishing reading The Jesus papers and also Jesus: God, Man or myth by Herbert Cutner.
I have been not only fascinated by the many Jesus like messiahs that predated Jesus but also the way the story of good and evil seem to be regurgitated through the ages long after Jesus too.
As I write Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves is on and again the similarities are striking to past Messiahs. In our contemporary culture we will see the similarities with Jesus.
Robin...
comes from royal lineage.
has a group of followers/disciples.
has a woman in his life with a name that is a variant of Mary/Marian.
Is against an evil ruler.
has a second 'in command' called John.
helps defend the poor and meak
fights Little John to prove who he is. The baptism by John the Baptist is a different baptism. according to the Robin myth as Robin is flugn into the water.
This was just done for fun but I think shows something in the human collective consciousness...
any thoughts
Matt
Having a break from online activity for a while to concentrate on music. Please email if you need to get in touch. Matt
Anyway, I thought it was amusing. 
