3CD

https://www.discogs.com/release/2269579-Genesis-Trespass-Nursery-Cryme-Foxtrot
I was really eying this a few months ago.  It's out of print, and insanely expensive, most of the time.  Maybe if the powers that be would offer it for a reasonable price, like $30?.....  The original issues of the set are the ones I'd want.  The discs included are unremastered.  The remastered set has modified packaging that just looks lame.

  I don't always mind un-re-mastered albums, but this is one case where the remaster was much welcome.  The first second or two of "Watcher Of The Skies" (Foxtrot) is like a pause, which if you've never ever heard the album before, or just aren't into it, then it probably doesn't matter.  But, for reasons I make absolutely no claim of understanding, it just helps the flow of the song.
However, 99.999% of the time I just am not interested in listening to Foxtrot.  It starts out really good.  The opener is classic Genesis.  However, there are two songs that are pure filler.  And then there's another song, track #4, that I really like, but by the time it's over, there's track #5, which is pure filler, and then this gargantuan song carries the second half of the album.  It's a cool song, but what the heck??  It's way too slow at parts, and then it picks up a little bit, but not enough.  Maybe I'm just bored with it.  "Watcher Of The Skies" and "Get 'Em Out By Friday" are solid gold.  "Get 'Em Out By Friday" is in a lot of ways like a condensed version of "Supper's Ready".  Lyrically, it's a lot easier to figure out what he's singing about, which helps a little.  And then Trespass is pretty cool, but it seems kinda like they accomplish most of what they did on Trespass more succinctly on Nursery Cryme.  But I guess sometimes the unsuccintness has its appeal...  I don't dislike Foxtrot, but I don't think I have any reason to have it in my collection.  It would be kinda cool to have it alongside Trespass and Nursery Cryme, tho.  Definitely not paying $30 plus international shipping.

The unsearchable...

 I know "wishing you luck" might not be the truth of it... not sure what else to call it...wishing "God's favor...."? I don't think God just randomly favors people and I don't think every time something good happens is the result of a concentrated effort of God to bless that person that experiences it. A lot of the time it just works out that way. If it's a beautiful "day", odds are there's at least a hundred people that are going to notice it. Not so much today because so many people are stuck indoors looking at TV and computer screens.. but, for most of the time people have existed...

I can almost hear some hardcore Calvinist getting all queasy thinking I'm advocating for self righteousness.  The specifics of why any particular person receives God's salvation are way too complex and often depend on factors within each of us that we ourselves don't have the ability to spiritually discern.  The Bible sums all of that up in very simple terms simply saying "God elected everyone to salvation before time began".  One irrefutable interpretation that teaching is that self righteousness is not on the table.  If you're "good enough" to get into Heaven, you'll find out by whether God decides to impute the perfection of His son, who atoned for your iniquities and trespasses, and you can only know if He's done that if you're denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Him.  If you're practicing sin -- doing a half-assed job at self denial like I am -- then you (as I) need to shape up or find out for certain when death happens.   

the trinity and so forth.

 Was thinking about the wide difference between what reformed Christianity teaches about The Trinity and what people like Philips Craig & Dean, who each pastor a flock of Christians, believe about it.

I don't think Pc&d are correct, but I don't know specifically with any absolute certainty that they are wrong.  I don't think it's wise of them to be expounding on what The Bible already says point blank about "The Trinity".  And I likewise used to get annoyed sometimes when I'd hear reformed Christian leaders talking about it.  The opening pages of Scripture do say: "Let us make man in our image.". Thst would seem very clearly to me to be a reference to the simultaneous existence of God The Father, Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit.  I simply am not aware of any other explanation and it absolutely seems like a logical thing to think.  However, Job's friends, and Job himself, were not aware of any logical explanation why Job was experiencing the seemingly supernatural assault on him and everything around him.  The only logical explanation they could conjure up was absolutely **not true**.  They were slandering Job and saying things about God that were not 100% accurate, and God told them to seek atonement from Job because Job, although he came awfully close to doing one of those, did not do either of them.

And Jesus warned that blaspheming The Holy Spirit is an unpardonable sin.  People I've read and heard from tend to zero in on the lack of reliance upon The Holy Spirit as what Jesus was referring to, and to an extent that's not inconsistent with the rest of scripture, but we are simply never going to be free from sin while living on this earth.  We will always be veering toward idolatry, and having to snap out of it and repent.  Sin's ownership of us is gone.  That doesn't mean we "have a choice".  We always have a choice of weather to do right or wrong.  You cannot be a child of God if you're owned by sin.  So if you know God, and have made a decision to yield to Him, more and more, as time goes on ("progressive sanctification", I've heard it called), then you are no longer owned by sin.  "You have been transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved son".  Another reference to the co-existence of The Trinity, or at least two thirds of Him/it.  At least I think.  Like I said, I don't think PC&D are correct.  But even if they are correct, that means reformed Christians are NOT correct, and vice versa, and I don't think either of us want to be saying or doing ANYTHING that displeases God, especially something so easily avoided.  Humility of this sort is a bit of a challenge, but it doesnt' seem like a mountain that just can't be moved.  Maybe I'm wrong.  I'm probably more humble than a lot of people, even though people swear up and down I'm profoundly arrogant.  Maybe I'm wrong about my take on that.  I don't usually receive correction until I understand it, and I don't LOVE correction, as The Bible advises to.  If I were eager to be told I'm wrong, I'd probably understand the correction I receive without sparring with people because of the lack of clarity I have initially.  Likewise, if people would think about what's coming out of their mouth and how it's going to be understood, instead of just saying what in hindsight often might as well be a bunch of random words that kinda sorta maybe get the point across in a rather vague manner...but anyway...  If I'm really that insanely arrogant, then that's even more evidence of how astoundingly *easy* it is to just stop talking out of our asses like we understand what the counters of everything The Bible says.  There's even a passage that says seemingly out of the blue, "A dispute arose between a Jew about purification", and my pastor, not because he's a slave to sin and thus his eyes have not been opened, but simply, does not know why that is in the text.  Yet he felt the need to expound on that text even, if nothing else than to say "we don't know...".  So, ya, people of all faiths, in many cases, would benefit from being a little more comfortalbe with simply saying "We don't know", or "We're not entirely sure" or something other than half of what I hear from people a lot of the time.
I should confess here that I also have been guilty of trying to understand the trinity and thinking I have it all figured out, when in reality, I am not entirely sure how much accuracy there is in "the doctrine of the trinity" that people seem fully convinced is confirmed in God's word.  I mean, anything can be confirmed in God's word if you look hard enough and think about it at a certain angle.  Just about every "doctrine" has a passage or two that you look at and are like "Ok, THAT seems to contradict it".  And a good chunk of the time it is simply a result of a misreading (which is at least some of the time at least partially the result of crappy translation choices, which are in almost every English translation available) of the text, but sometimes these inconsistencies are just swept under the rug.  Which is fine, when one truth is highlighted time and time again and again and again, and you only see one or two verses that don't seem to match up.  We are often dealing with texts that are over 3 thousand years old after all.  But anyway....
I don't know how much this is edifying to anyone.  I'm probably going on a rampage in some people's minds.  I haven't posted anything in a good while. :/       Well, here's one way to close out February

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."

Hapzrd

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aversion_to_happiness

I don't know what exactly the cause of this is in my life.  I don't have a conscience understanding that happiness is wrong, although I do think everything that I tend to enjoy is sinful to some degree.  Lately I haven't been listening to music as much as I'd like because I've been so dang sleepy.  I don't feel discomfort in the midst of happiness, but I do have a bad habit of not pursuing happiness like I probably should.

they /

 It irks me immensely how flippant people are about a fundamental reality that NOT EVERYONE AGREES.  People feel the need to slander other people "because it's true", like "they support the murder of children", or "they're trying to take away women's rights".  Both of those are true and neither of those need to be worded that way.  If you really feel strongly against abortion on moral grounds, how about making your talking points with some sense of compassion.  RvW was backed by the understanding that a fetus is not a baby.  Science, it seems to me, has quashed that notion, but if we're going to categorically consider any form of destruction of human life "murder", what do you call shooting someone who tries to break into your home?  If you're going to use The Bible to support your views on this, I'm pretty sure there's a provision against that.  "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth...."  People use that verse to support capital punishment, but that's not quite what that verse is about.  It's saying you don't take an eye just because someone spat on you.  Likewise, you don't knock someone in the face just because they invaded your personal space.

And yes, RvW did establish that women have the "right to choose".  And some pro-life advocates are quite possibly wanting general freedoms to be limited for women.  But that is not the overall aim for "taking away women's rights".  That might very well be a natural consequence of reversing RvW, since women who get pregnant will more likely than not keep the baby and have to make concessions for him/her.  But that was not the main goal of reversing RvW.

I could go on, but I doubt it's going to make any difference.  This vitriolic opinionatedness doesn't seem to have any sign of ending.

G&L

 https://www.crossway.org/articles/a-tender-friend-is-knocking-at-the-door-and-we-only-have-one-job/?utm_source=Crossway+Marketing&utm_campaign=1dc277088f-20251205+Gen-ATenderFriendIsKnockingattheDoor&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-1dc277088f-528178872&mc_cid=1dc277088f&mc_eid=80232d4943

Was thinking I could find some information here.  Like, what am I lacking to feel closer to God and a not-quite-so-burdensome way of attaining it.  This article is of no help.  It says my "one job" is to "let" Him be my friend.  Wtfh does that mean???

Gty makes a valid point.  The Bible makes it very clear that the job of a Christian is to repent and believe.  I have so much shit covering my heart from 35+/- years of intense lust that I have no business seeking an easier/easy way out of it.

Prayer like Ezra's

 In my BSF meeting last night we went over Ezra chapters 9 and 10.  The prayer of Ezra in chapter 10 I felt was rather relatable.

I decided to adapt it for the time we live in.

O, my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for my iniquities have risen higher than my head, and my guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From days of old to this day man has been in great guilt. And for such trespasses as mine, men have been given into the hands of kings, to the slaughter, to captivity, to chaos, and unto utter shame.

But Your favor has been shown by the ransom paid by Jesus The Christ, to leave mankind a remnant and to give peace, a secure hold within Your holiness, that You may brighten eyes and grant reviving from slavery.

May I thirst for repentance, and find refuge in Your salvation.

Bulletproof heart

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22574570-unoffendable

This is such BS.  I know I've never felt angry with perfect wisdom and measure, and **harboring** anger is never righteous, but I'm pretty sure obtaining a bulletproof heart is just not going to happen.  It's a fruitless pursuit.  The Bible never says never be angry.  It does say "No murdering", but the original old testament readers of that text would not have equated being angry with murder.  The sentencing God issues for murder in the ot -- the death penalty -- does not carry over to people who call their fellow kinsman "fool".  The point Jesus was making in Matthew ch5 about murder/anger was not that they are the same thing.  The point He was making is that WE CANNOT SAVE OURSELVES.  Obviously, **actual** bloodshed is far worse than calling a fellow churchgoer a heathen. After the "beatitudes", Jesus is telling people about the kind of righteousness they should be thirsty and hungry for.  Jesus will give you peace that overcomes anger in accordance with your hunger for it, but getting angry for a moment or two is not something we need to eradicate.  

"Get angry

but do not sin."

If you can't keep from falsely accusing your adversary or saying stupid shit, or flying off the handle, then obviously you really should just not get angry if there's anything you can do to help it.  But I know there's times I've gotten angry and I dealt with it appropriately.  Maybe not with utter perfection.  Maybe if I ever get a grip on my idolatry, gluttony and laziness etc, I might care more about at least coming closer to perfection in the ways I deal with my anger but I am not going to be unoffendable.  I'm not specifically interested in trying to be offended, but I don't know how a person living on this planet is even legally allowed to pursue being unofendedable and actually succeeding.  If David had committed to that, then Nathan's analogy about David's own sin would have been useless.  And if you look at the text, Nathan wasn't just some neutral party in the whole thing either. 

Such large laughs, such small repetition

 I really appreciate a good laugh.  There's a lot of movies I could have over flooding living quarters with just out of gratitude for the laughs they provide.

Death At A Funeral 2005. If you haven't seen this, maybe give it a try.  It doesn't seem like it was very well received by audiences.  I thought it was a blast.  Ymmv

Spy 2016 I had fairly high hopes for GHOSTBUSTERS after seeing this feature from Paul Feig.  Unfortunately the GB remake recalled an earlier movie from Feig-- The Heat.  This movie was comedy dynamite tho.  

Vacation 2016 - Very raunchy, so my peeps from church might want to steer clear of it...  Funny is funny tho (imo).

Liar Liar 1997 it seems like just about everyone by now has seen this movie.  I've just about over-watched it despite it having been years since I last saw it.

Dirty Work 1997 I almost forgot about this one.  This is just all out gonzo funny.  

Drawing a blank.  There's probably at least a few more I could include here.  Groundhog Day is more of a philosophical feel-good movie than a riotous comedy.  What About Bob was similar even tho it was a little more eerie. 

I might update this in a few hours....or something... Might..

AS-IS

I keep seeing people use this phrase to describe their merchandise on sites like eBay.  And I keep having to wonder WHAT the heck is the point in saying that?  How ELSE would you sell an item??  As it ISN'T?  ???

Mind your scrimulous cotton candy!

 https://genius.com/Nirvana-beeswax-lyrics#about

This song always cracks me up.  I can't make out half of what he sang, but the phrase "cotton candy" is intelligible enough...   It always sounds to my ears like he was referencing some kind of deranged anthromorphed cotton candy.  The actual lyrics are not much less disturbing...

budgeting awaah!

 Really unfortunate that so many people who are actually dealing with the pressures of the labor market can barely if at all afford to live.

That being said, I have had some difficulty getting my financials straightened out.
I have a ton of debt I'm really hoping I can get straightened out in December.  And then, aside from the mountain of credit card debt I absent mindedly accumulated ---     ://        -----      I'll be on my way to a fresh start -- hopefully -- in January.  It's nice to have something tangible to look forward to as well.

Martin Scorsese's BRINGING OUT THE DEAD (1999) is being re-released on Blu ray this coming January.  It came out in a limited edition pack about a year ago, and boy was it limited.  It's like $100 to buy it used.  Thing is, I bought it, and the cover art just looks stupid.  I have it on DVD and the cover art is pitch perfect.  This time Paramount is using the original cover-art instead of this pink purply design they used with the first blu ray issuance.  So it'll be cool to have that.  It's one of my favorite movies, probably because it resonates with how I'd feel just working at Kroger or whatever....  Feeling like the life is being sucked out of me, just constantly approaching a black hole.  I don't know what the deal with that is.  I guess I'm just spoiled.  That small amount of time of being a 4y/o was too sweet to give up.  I guess.  I don't know how to explain it.

Anyway...
The Blu ray (it's actually a 4K disc, but whatever) is $33 with shipping.  And then I like to pay for Pandora because I can get access to full length albums that I don't actually have on CD yet/anymore....   And their custom radio feature is unparallelled.  Always good to show support for a job well done.  And it's only $11/mo.  1 CD costs more than that (!)  And I'd like to continue my HBO Max subscription.  It's a good time to be a subscriber.  They've got several things they've released recently and then there's more otw.
Beyond that, I'll have $30 that I don't have anything I specially NEED to do anything with, although I suppose I could start chipping away at the couple thousand dollars of debt I've amassed from my gelatinous mass of credit card usage.... :/  I think it'd be better spent giving to God's work.  Probably just give to Samaritan's Purse, because they do the work of The Salvation Army and Bible translators simultaneously in a variety of ways.

frrrr

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=6c980af49addddf3431148719fa2dc7bf889e4572d807098d1aa085d3200eb0aJmltdHM9MTc2MzA3ODQwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=17576d6e-2b11-6c93-278a-7bcf2a3c6de4&psq=what+does+it+mean+for+a+tongue+to+bid+someone+thence+depart%3f&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9ncmFjZWZvcnRoZW1hc3Nlcy5vcmcvMjAxNi8wOS8xMy9uby10b25ndWUtY2FuLWJpZC1tZS10aGVuY2UtZGVwYXJ0Lw

"Why is this important as we go through Mark’s gospel? I think this hymn especially, gives us a perspective on who Jesus is and why Mark has as an overriding theme, Jesus, The Son Of God."

How about just read Mark?  If you want a perspective of Jesus, wouldn't Jesus' words be sufficient?

I found this while looking up what "No tongue can bid me thence depart" means.  What the hell does "bid thence depart" mean?  There's nothing glorious about speaking gobbleygook. Doesn't mean squat that it USED TO NOT be gobblegook.  NO TONGUE SPEAKS LIKE THAT.  The past is dead.  Not even its' memories remain.  Nobody from 1863 is alive today.  That has been the case for over half a century.  Unless we're all going to be speaking gibberish in Heaven, speaking Secret Handshake English is in no way glorious, and, in fact, it is the exact opposite.  Someone who's never been to church walks in the door, he has to practically learn a new language, HOW is that necessary or beneficial???

This is actually a rather small issue for the church at large to address.  There's bigger ones.  But I don't think anything but The Holy Spirit Himself can change the bigger issues.  And I don't think I have enough of The Spirit indwelling in me to really say anything of note on the bigger issues.

  I don't have a problem with the hymns.  They are good reminders of the truths of Scripture.  

But this asinine attitude like we're desecrating a grave or something by tweaking the words so that a modern ear can actually understand it without taking up a second job as a linguistic archeologist is an impediment.  Of all the times people had to type out the words on a piece of paper, for people that understand this Dead speak and ALSO, just so happen, to know the way that people speak today, to at least propose some changes, by now we'd have something that was once just as glorious as "No tongue can bid me thence depart", and it probably wouldn't have taken that long to develop. We'd have had it a long time ago, probably by the time I was born if people had started undertaking it by the 1940s or somewhere around there.  Instead, it's now cemented by a somewhat popular worship band, in the year 1997 no less, when that phrase had already been antiquated for at least a third of a century.

interesting imo -----

 haven't posted on here in awhile.  I don't really know why.  I thought about posting on here a few times but then by the time it occurs to me, whatever prompted the notion fizzles out...

Anyway...  stumbled on this....I honestly don't recall the movie sounding this bad.  What's even more laughable is the "Hasbro Cinematic Universe"  For crying out loud....

15 Box Office Flops Everyone Saw Coming

'Battleship' (2012)

Who hasn’t played the game Battleship and thought, “What if this were a two-hour movie instead?” Universal Pictures heard those cries and gifted audiences everywhere with the sci-fi action extravaganza Battleship. In the film, war games for a naval fleet take on deadly stakes when an alien invasion interrupts the planned exhibition. After several ships are contained within an energy field, the trapped soldiers will need to fight for their lives.

A movie based on a board game was met with more than a few chuckles, even with the cult-classic Clue as proof it can be done. However, a bloated budget that came in somewhere at an estimated $220 million made turning a profit a near-impossible feat for Universal, especially with a $65 million take-home domestically. Battleship’s failure turned out more disastrous than even its critics were expecting, sinking Universal’s planned Hasbro Cinematic Universe. So, depending on your tastes, this story possibly has a happy ending. —Brad LaCour

The best of Phil Collins

 

1. In The Air Tonight
2. You Know What I Mean
3. I Missed Again
4. If Leaving Me Is Easy
5. Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away
6. Why Can't It Wait 'Til Morning
7. Against All Odds
8. Easy Lover
9. I Like The Way
10. One More Night
11. All Of My Life
12. Heat On The Street
13. I Wish It Would Rain Down
14. Another Day In Paradise
15. Everyday
16. Testify

This actually is one disc's worth of music.

I feel pretty pumped about this.  I used to have the darndest time imagining what a best of Phil Collins would look like.

I didn't put much from NO JACKET REQUIRED or BOTH SIDES because those albums are solid gold on their own.  There's not really anything you can easily excise from those albums.  I mean, sure, not every song is equally shiny, but I just think those two albums are pretty weighty overall compared to most of his albums.  FACE VALUE doesn't have any downright bad songs, but there's points in the album that are indeed weaker than others.  Rhino/WEA (or whatever...) surely isn't going to be pressing this on CD, so I figure I can pretend the majority of people agree with me.  It seems like the people that don't probably just don't like BOTH SIDES, but nonetheless would still agree that NO JACKET REQUIRED is staying in their record collection (or whatever it's called nowadays.......)

BTW, 40th anniversary edtion of NO JACKET REQUIRED is coming to blu ray.  Super exciting, but for some weird reason track 11 "We Said Hello Goodbye" is not included.  I'm tempted to just ignore it.

looking back at 1999's THREE TO TANGO

starring Mattew Perry and Neve Campbell, with Oliver Platt and Dylan McDermott

"A rich businessman's assumption that his new colleague is gay leads him to ask the man to keep an eye on his mistress. However, the man is not gay--and he begins to fall for the woman himself."

This movie was funny, because it captures an interesting crosspoint in the culture, where people weren't anti-gay but they were a little hesitant toward the whole thing.  You can see it in the various interactions between the characters in the film.  Of course, as it is today, there are people who get fired up when they hear about people being homosexual for religious reasons, many not seeming to grasp the idea that serving God with one's whole being is just not the order of the day for most people in contemporary USA.  I don't know if it ever was, but I can definitely see a closer resemblance to that when I hear about people back in the 1700s etc.  But anyway...  This movie is more about "the world", the people that make up society as a whole.  Maybe homosexuality should offend me.  I know I have my own sinful patterns to deal with, and I haven't done a great job at dealing with them, so I don't feel like I have any business being offended by other people's sinful patterns.
So, for other people that aren't offended by it, or aren't trying to repent from homosexuality themselves, it's a funny movie.  Society has moved beyond the point where it was when the film was made and released, and I don't think it's for the better, although I was trying to tell people for years that banning same sex marriage was not going to work.  The acceptance of gay people was going to increase and continue increasing and it has.  If someone wanted to implement a permanent ban on gay marriage, as people were proposing back in 2003 or thereabouts, they should have done it in the '80's back when public support was marginal.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/506636/sex-marriage-support-holds-high.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_of_same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States#National_polls

To the atheist

 

What Genesis chapter 3 describes in what is commonly referred to as “the fall of man” is, in a nutshell, a description of a history making chasm between The Father of all mankind, and mankind.

Religion, in general, began with mankind.  Adam & Eve undoubtedly told people about God and Cain even had a face to face conversation with Him.

As Romans chapter 1 puts it,

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

So, religion, in general is indeed manmade.  I've heard people point out that other religions bear a striking resemblance to Judaism & Christianity.  What would you expect?  A lie always has elements of truth in it.  

I'm not posting this to win an argument.  I'm ultimately hoping this helps at least one person who might have some degree of humility, at least consider a life with God, not indifferent about Him or opposed to Him.  

I confess I am not as jealous as I would like to be regarding fellowship with Him.  I don't wish the distance I feel from Him upon anyone else and I certainly don't want to see anyone go to Hell, although the unfortunate reality is that for various reasons, the foremost being disbelief, but also a lack of care in following The Great Commission, many will be lost and I alone have little I can do to stop it.  One of the beautiful things about God's word is He knows all things and is by no means asleep at the wheel laying all of the responsibility on His sheep.

Please, at least consider a life with Jesus the Christ.

Communion

 

I'd been skipping communion for I don't know how long.  Pastor usually just says to let the elements pass by if you're refusing to repent.  Thing is, I don't know if I'm refusing to repent.  I am lacking in willingness.  If I were 100% absolutely willing to repent I'd do whatever it takes to get it done.  I'd haunt my room, alternating between wailing in frustration and praying, like a total schizo.  I'd endure going without tv or internet.  I'd turn my face against every female that comes in my line of sight.  I'm still not sure if taking it today was appropriate but it's done.  This time, my pastor said something to the effect of 'Examine yourself, and look 10 x more at Jesus '.  I decided to take a leap of faith.  Ill informed faith, perhaps.  I just can't conceive of being joyful denying myself and preparing myself for burial.  Maybe someday I'll get this figured out.

Confusion

 My pastor pointed out that The Bible is not structured anything like a systematic theology textbook.  His explanation for that is that is that God was (is) intending to capture the readers heart.  I think he's probably right about that, but also The Bible covers a wide spectrum of truth.  There's very few succinct summarizations of any theology.  Really, that's because truth is too complex to succinctly cover.  That's why you often have two statements in scripture that seem to contradict themselves.  On one hand you have Jesus verdict about anger in His sermon on the Mount.  Then you have Jesus' hand picked servant instructing people "Get angry but do not sin".  Then you have words in Proverbs that talk about reputation and honor while other verses talk about the need to love instruction.  You shouldn't love instruction to the degree that you forsake honor but you also should not value honor so much that you refuse others' instruction.  Ultimately, goodness and truth *should* reign supreme but we humans tend to have difficulty with those things.

This topic came to mind because I keep hearing Jesus' freeing of the captives described as 'We're saved from the power of sin'.  Then people talk about needing to "kill" sin because it's "so powerful".  If we're free from the power of sin, then the power that sin has is irrelevant.  The thing is, The Bible doesn't say we're free from the power of sin.  THAT is a summation that probably comes from theology textbook.  We are no longer SLAVES to sin.  That is different than saying that we're free from the power of sin.  Also, it'd seem like, to me anyway, that one's lack of slavery to sin can at times take awhile to become evident.  Our position in Christ is absolute and sure.  However, things on this side of heaven can be a good bit murky quite often.

Contentment musings

 @ https://www.facebook.com/share/1Yab413KYs/?mibextid=xfxF2i

Contentment is an interesting concept. It'd seem like it requires having everything you want. Or somehow amputation from desire. In some cases we are called to do that, to "abstain from fleshly lusts"*, but who can fault someone for wanting a pain free life? Or wanting everything to work as advertised? There is, I think, a degree of discontent in everyone's life and there should be. But it should be submitted to God. Discontent should not be so pervasive that it causes one to point the finger at God. There's very well might be times when you're in so much pain that you end up wailing, rather loudly at that, but it should not cause you to rage against God. Doubt, perhaps. I think God understands that we have reasoning skills and that we rely on them for most things and are not 100% able to accept things that exceed our abilities to comprehend. That's largely why THE GOOD NEWS is called such. It's not new information. It's not even a new reality. It's just that God explains Himself more clearly in The Gospel. It's also the good news that, because of Jesus' sacrifice, people who submit to God, even if it's not a full blown submission, are able receive His spirit implanted in them, securing them a place in Heaven, where there is no pain or awkwardness, frustration etc.... Buy even when we don't understand and are prone to doubt, we should be willing to listen as well as speak. And if God is silent, we need to hold onto the hope of Heaven. Hope softens hearts, and makes people able to endure whatever He may bring.  

In short, I do believe Christian contentment is relative.

 *an observation my pastor made several months ago [which I think he may have forgotten about...] that completely escaped my notice is the emphasis on the -lusts- as opposed to the 'giving into' them.