"God's invisibility is the truest test of faith - To know who sees Him, God makes Himself unseen."
Billy Graham.
There's a lot in that statement, isn't there....... a lot.
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:11
Have a good Sunday, everyone...and please keep Priscilla and her husband in your prayers (see below) Thanks so much. Your prayers mean a lot to her.
40 comments:
Happy Sunday!
To believe in that which you cannot directly see at the current moment. A blessing AND a curse. Because aren't we also constantly being admonished for NOT believing in the LIMITED information others place before our own eyes at the current moment (ala newspapers, scientific study du jour)?
It IS a paradox!
Have a Blessed Sunday.
Speedy, no paradox when it's about God.
a pornographer's dream, perhaps? ;)
whatever, nicrap
I think Nicrap is saying essentially that we see through the glass darkly. Our hope of the unseen is what's inviting....Ala heaven. The veil will finally ne removed when we see Him.
Its what remains hidden or veiled (Ala the pornographers dream) that entices us so.
I got it, Elbro; I wanted to concentrate on the reassuring truth in Graham's statement, not liken it to newspapers or porn like Speedy "and" nicrap have.
"God's invisibility is the truest test of faith - To know who sees Him, God makes Himself unseen."
Invisibility.
He may be unseen, but He's not unfelt.
He showed up at church this morning.
Thanks for posting.
Ed, He couldn't have been at your church, He was at MINE this morning..what a coincidence :-)
http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-celebrate-mlks-birthday-worship-180159086.html
By the way, folks..the Obama's did go to church this morning (as you all know, nobody here cares what they do to celebrate the Christian faith they espouse if they just hadn't said upon the inauguration that they'd be finding a church and haven't)...
They went for the celebration of Martin LUther King's birthday... to Washington's historic ZION CHURCH.
Speedy, no paradox when it's about God.
Indeed, for G_d Knows NO limits. You've solved the riddle... but then it never was a riddle for those of Faith.
Speedy, no, it wasn't...but that Graham statement is really very insightful and inspiring.! x
I didn't think FJs post was about pornography but about faith. The evidence of things unseen.
I think it takes a lot of faith to believe that's the whole point of the post...
"It's what we don't see that's inviting" fits the kind of changes the French made in their TV porn when I lived there; There was all kinds of news about it and the pornographers were furious that they had to be less graphic.. the government issued an edict about having less 'close ups' on their TV porn and more seductive stuff...less REAL upfront total nudity (I mean REAL upfront) .....in action shots, etc...you know. I heard that, later, the ratings were up for porn once it became seductive and not so 'in your face', so to speak! :-)
To go from the lyrics and the girl sitting in leather at FJ's place to the mystery of GOd's a stretch...a clear one once you're into a conversation like this, but.....without it, it's a real stretch!
I didn't think FJs post was about pornography but about faith.
Although my own post had a similar secular strain, I'm not sure I would have gone quite as far as nicrap did (as I try not to mix references to the sacred and profane in the same post). But you're right, I think that nicrap was talking more about faith with a small "f" (much as I was). And for that, I thank him, for there are similarities between faith and Faith.
...and so there's a lesson in that as well. In future, I'll avoid making secular commentary on your Sunday posts.
Speedy, you don't have to avoid making any kind of commentary on my Sunday posts.......
it's a good conversation.
THank nicrap for me :-)
I will, although I suspect he'll read this when he wakes up tomorrow before he reads my comment on his own blog.
blessings to u and yes..prayers always hlep Z~!:) Hugsssssssssss:)
you must think I'm plumbeus, Speedy.
you must think I'm plumbeus, Speedy.
I think nothing of the sort.
Permit an old codger the opportunity to try and exhibit a little charm, especially given his most recent run-in with "in-artfullness". Charity has not been my strong suit of late.
The disciples had been with Jesus all day and had seen Him heal many people, raise Peters's mother in law from the dead and many other miracles, surely they would have strong faith. After all this they got aboard a boat to go to the otherside, a place where the disciples really didn't want to go. It put them perhaps out of their comfort zone. Soon after launching out a storm arose and the disciples were so afraid that the woke Jesus up questioning Him if He was going to just sleep and let them drown. Jesus spoke these words:
Matthew 8:26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Where was their faith? Afterall they had seen great things?
A woman, who had a "issue of the blood" had "HEARD" about Jesus healing people. She understood that without His healing she would undoubtedly die in a short time.
She placed a lot of stock in just what she had heard of Jesus, enough to say:
Matthew 9:21-23(NKJV)
21 For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” 22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.
Now who had the greater faith? The ones who had seen much on a daily basis or the woman who had only heard but not seen?
Our Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.(Romans 10:17) So perhaps we need to do more listening and less looking.
Poor nicrap! He cannot say what he means and cannot mean what he says. ;)
Since the salt has already been added to this soup, perhaps you'd care to elaborate?
...but it's the primal soup, i have been told, with season to taste. Whose taste? i have not been told. ;)
Perhaps reading the label on the container could help. :)
The label says only one thing: "fragile". Since it can't be talking of the soup thus, it has got to be the container. lol!
Basta! Before i get into trouble with Mrs. Z. :)
nicrap, I think you're in enough of some kind of trouble all by your lonesome.
you and SPeedy might be smart, but never think I don't see what's going on now.
...i think i have again made an ass of myself, but i would like to think a happy ass, an "unwitting" ass.
Adventavit Asinus
Pulcher et fortissimus
(The ass came along, beautiful and strong.)
:)
...not to forget the first line of the mass: Orientis partibus (adventavit asinus)...
{From the eastern land (the ass came along)...}
...i do come from eastern lands, Ma'am. And, even though it's one and the same to me, it's just that i hate to drag Speedy down with me ... been thought same as me. :)
What do you think is going on now?
That I am in a blog war with beamish and beaker kin is no secret. That I should try and make amends for bringing part of that here should come as no surprise.
But to accuse me of somehow trying to deceive you, when you could easily check your site meter is a little disappointing, to say the least.
Have a great day Ms. Z!
Who is "FRAGILE"?
Speedy, you say nicrap's from India...I have no India at any of the times he's posted on my sitemeter
Please stop it....the FJ I knew would have made amends and that's why I was so hurt by the exchanges...this isn't doing it.
I'm very sorry about that.
I'll never forget you for your camellia post for me.. and other things, of course, but that really counted and I"m tired of being taken for a fool now. a fragile fool
Well, I'm sorry that you continue to believe that I am not being honest with you. I have never lied to you. I have no reason to lie to you now. After all, what possible reason could I have for doing so? I can't think of one.
I don't know what half truths beamish may have told you to place me under your suspicion, I can only state that I'm sorry to see that they've found fertile ground. that is my one true regret. That my methods, no matter how transparent I tried to make them, would lead people whom I thought knew me better, to believe that I was trying to deceive them.
You're not.the first person to believe nicrap and me to be the same person. I doubt you'll be the last. But I will not end my association with him, as he and I have much in common. I'm sorry that these differences were not discernible to you.
And since the bond of trust that once united us appears to have dissolved, I'll depart. But know one thing, I have never once, even now, EVER believed you to be a fool. And I would never try and intentionally deceive you.
FJ, if you're not nicrap, then I stand corrected. This comment means a lot to me and the last thing I'd want you to do is depart, particularly because you've been an integral part of this blog since its inception..
I did feel very disillusioned and even hurt throughout all the Beamish/FJ hassles here, I have to admit, but I've got a way of solving that now and I trust you to never 'go there' again.
Please stay.
by the wjavascript:void(0)ay, remember SOCRATES from FPM? His obit's at AOW's on her latest post's comments, I think.
And that comment means a lot to me as well. if I don't have your confidence, now, perhaps the future can remedy that as more facts present themselves. until then, consider me a loyal reader, but infrequent commenter.
Well, maybe I'll still see Speedy around :-) I hope so.
I seem to be undergoing an identity crisis:
poochtay hain wo kay ghalib kon hay
koi batlaye kay hum batlain kya
(they ask, "who is ghalib?"/will somebody else tell since I can't.)
I wish I could do a better job of translating.
This one is even more pertinent, though I think the point would again be lost in translating:
har ek baat pe kahate ho tum ki tuu kyaa hai
tumhii.n kaho ke ye a.ndaaz-e-guftaguu kyaa hai
(On every turn you ask me, "who are you?"/tell me what manner of speaking is this?) ;)
Post a Comment