i have some old notes from a 1981 circuit assembly.
brother frank bartell was the district overseer.
i am pretty sure its 1981 or 1982.. anyway, in his last talk he said that there was a terrible situation in cleveland ohio the previous year (1980).
From the thread I would hazard a quick guess at 60% chance that it was physical fornication, and 40% chance that it was spiritual fornication (as suggested by BabaYaga).
From the GB perspective one is guilty of spiritual fornication (apostasy) if one allows the Holy Spirit to interpret scripture instead of the WBT$ and its god namely the "god of religion".
next time they come knocking on your door, show them this book with the latest research.. .
faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen.
yet as new york times bestselling author steven pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence.
Great post! Now I'm curious as to the "changing circumstances" referred to!
this was the observation made by professor kieran flanagan who edited the compendium: "a sociology of spirituality".. .
at least the good news is that science is making a start in coming to grips with human spirituality.. one assumes our biggest advances will come from sbnr (spiritual but not religious) scientists since they are less constrained by religious baggage, dogma, sectarianism, divided loyalties, conflict-of-interest and other impediments..
This was the observation made by Professor Kieran Flanagan who edited the compendium: "A Sociology of Spirituality".
At least the good news is that science is making a start in coming to grips with human spirituality.
One assumes our biggest advances will come from SBNR (Spiritual But Not Religious) scientists since they are less constrained by religious baggage, dogma, sectarianism, divided loyalties, conflict-of-interest and other impediments.
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@AGuest. Thank you for the insightful comment. I agree - indeed!
Society has come a very long way since religion was dealt a partial "death stroke" in 1517. As a much more progressive society we now have many freedoms that simply did not exist back then.
I am truly excited about the staggering possibilities when as a society we finally are able to tell the baby (faith & spirituality) from the bathwater (religion) and consign the latter to history.
i saw one of the very best documentaries on luther on pbs last night.
alas, it was a repeat.
they only ran the first part with no notation when the second part would air.
I know little about Lutheranism but wonder if Luther himself had little to do with its formation aside from his ideas and writings which were used by others?
received the email below today.. http://www.cifs.org.au/conference.php#dl.
http://www.cifs.org.au/brochurecifs2012conference.pdf.
Good morning Australia.
is this an unscriptural and sectarian (divisive) notion?.
the word christian/s appears only 3 times in scripture.. footnotes (for these 3 scriptures) in the aramaic english bible (by andrew gabriel roth) say that this label came from outside and was not used between believers or by the apostles in reference to themselves.. one imagines paul saying there is neither jew, nor christian, nor muslim, nor hindu....
Is this an unscriptural and sectarian (divisive) notion?
The word Christian/s appears only 3 times in scripture.
Footnotes (for these 3 scriptures) in the Aramaic English Bible (by Andrew Gabriel Roth) say that this label came from outside and was not used between believers or by the apostles in reference to themselves.
One imagines Paul saying there is neither Jew, nor Christian, nor Muslim, nor Hindu...
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“The idea of being spiritual – not religious – is increasingly popular among the scientific community as well as in American culture at large. Many scientists who are politically liberal don’t want to associate with religion because of its conservative valence today. Historically, there are no boundary disputes between spirituality and science, unlike religion and science" (Prof David Yamane).
to the household of god, israel, and those who go with... may you all have peace!.
this will be the second "reward" that i have the privilege of sharing with you today.
if you recall, i have shared with you that virtually every time i've gone through a fairly grueling "battle" for our lord... i receive a "reward".
Hey FlyingHighNow! For what it's worth, I believe God speaks to all of us all the time. It's a matter of tuning in - something religion/ists deliberately set out to prevent since they will instantly be unnecessary and illegitimate, and of course lose all their precious power, authority, glory and followers. And admittedly when it comes to the snare and racket of religion, men have much to answer for, in keeping ordinary folk from God and abusing them spiritually.
to the household of god, israel, and those who go with... may you all have peace!.
this will be the second "reward" that i have the privilege of sharing with you today.
if you recall, i have shared with you that virtually every time i've gone through a fairly grueling "battle" for our lord... i receive a "reward".
Hey cofty! Most Christians are RBNS (Religious But Not Spiritual). Most practice "Christless Christianity" of which the WBT$ is an exceptionally grotesque caricature. From God's point of view, their overall situation is far worse than non-religious persons such secularists, atheists and agnostics. We can only wonder and imagine what society would look like if we all were SBNR (Spiritual But Not Religious) with high SQ's - something that has not yet been tried. At any rate many individuals (albeit a very small percentage of society) have experienced reduced dysfunction, addiction, ignorance and prejudice after a SPIRITUAL awakening and after tossing out RELIGION. A more liberal, inclusive, balanced, rational, open-minded, informed, cohesive and moderate mindset ensues. At least that has been my personal experience, and the journey continues.
