God, Free Will, And A Strawberry Ice Cream Cone

[Lon]

What is Lon's major message to people on the Internet?

Wow, HAD to trim this down. I do construction (self-contracting), and I had a job to spread 16 yards of gravel, only it delivered 26 yards of gravel.
At the end of the day, I was exhausted and there wasn't room on the property. I kind of feel like that here, there is a ton in the answer but I think 2 or 3 as you ask is a good start.

What are your major themes?

1) Love God/Love man (the two great commandments on which all else hangs).
2) Want to be like Jesus? Spend time with Jesus. Do daily devotions in scripture, prayer, and silence ("stand silent and know that I Am God").
3) Examine all paradigms in light of scripture and change/allow yourself to be changed more readily.

What is your main message to other people?

"God has the answers and remedy for all the ills of life, through Jesus Christ His Son."

If you were asked to tell JAGG 3 things you think are crucial to the correct
understanding of Christianity what would they be?
{1} ___________
{2} __________
{3} __________

The same for Christians and those seeking, as given above.

What is Lon's major message to people on the Internet?

How about one major issue for the moment:
I'd like to see TOL people grasp that God is the answer to man's ills, politics are movements rather than answers to those ills because only Christians are capable of acting on the part of others, with their best interests held.

I'd like to see TOL people grasp that us/them is often just 'us' and we need to grasp not just 'us' but that 'them' in some sense is 'us' too. Currently, I've been keenly aware of commercials and television shows (I don't watch a lot) has a lot more color than my own. It is 'odd' and I've wondered that it isn't fully representative of a majority. I asked: "don't they want me to buy their phone too?" It isn't that, it is about remedying a slight, and going a bit overboard to do so. That's a good thing. Whatever we do in love, is a good thing. Us/them always tears us apart. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed that we'd be one as He and the Father are One. It is part of the second command to love on another. I've a long way to go and I'm working on it and invite others to do so too. Also, that we be encouraged: It isn't 'try' but Christ working in us as His workmanship. It is a trust issue by faith.

 

[JAGG]

Uhhg, TOL lost my reply. I'll have to rewrite it, a little time please.

Sorry you lost your work. I have had that happen to me a few
times and it was a lengthy composition too.

And thank for re-writing what you wrote.

JAG

``

 

[JAGG]

Wow, HAD to trim this down.

I understand.
I write a lot of stuff.
It just flows naturally.
I probably need to condense my stuff.
Maybe one day , , ,

I do construction (self-contracting), and I had a job to spread
16 yards of gravel, only it delivered 26 yards of gravel.
At the end of the day, I was exhausted and there wasn't room
on the property. I kind of feel like that here, there is a ton in
the answer but I think 2 or 3 as you ask is a good start.

Lon,

I have had a lot of experience spreading gravel. We call it
"Crush And Run" where I live.

There was a time long ago when I had the great enjoyment of
driving a full size Dump Truck and we delivered "Crush And Run"
and Sand to construction job sites.

I got so good at dumping "Crush And Run" that the Motor Graders
did not even have to do any spread work at all.

I mean I learned how to "hook my chains" in such a way that I could
"lay down" a spread of "Crush And Run" that was one smooth thin
layer of rocks.

By the way, I was "in good" with the owner of the Construction
Company and he gave me a brand new Ford Dump truck to drive
that had an automatic transmission, AC, Radio, special air seats
to absorb the road bumps. A Candy Apple Red Dump truck.

I loved it. I used to joke with the owner and tell him that "I should
be the one one paying you, for the opportunity to be a part of the
excitement of working on these really big construction sites."

We had some 20 Dump Trucks delivering "Crush And Run" and Sand
to construction job sites and all the Buzz and Pure Energy was really
electrifying to me -- because I had always previously only done office
work.

We would have some 20 Dump Trucks, 1 Motor Grader, and 2 Bulldozers
all going at the same time. I would be playing some cool music on the
radio as I pulled onto the construction job sites -- it was a very enjoyable
period in my life.

My children had finished their education and had left home and it was just
me and the wife and by God's Grace we had all our cars and our home
paid for, so I decided to go and get myself a Commercial Drivers License
and get a job driving a Dump Truck -- so I did that. I mean it was really
a super great exciting adventure for me. I even learned how to operate a
Back Hoe and could load my own truck with sand at our Sand Pits.

The only part about the job I did not like was at the Rock Quarry the
operator of the Loader would often over-load the Dump Trucks and
when we got to the scales to weigh, I would have to return to the
Rock Pile and dump out a yard or two of the "Crush And Run" and
then I would have to clean off the excess rocks on my tailgate. In
my state if the DMV catches you "over-loaded" with weight -- they
can put heavy $ fines on you. Dump Truck tear up the highway's
surfaces, as you know. The DMV people carry scales in their
patrol cars and they pull you over and weigh you right then and
there along side the highway.

Lon, there is no reply expected to any of that up there. I just thought you
might find it interesting since you are in Construction Work. However,
any more thoughts that you have on YOUR Construction work I would find
very interesting to read.

1) Love God/Love man (the two great commandments on which all else hangs).
2) Want to be like Jesus? Spend time with Jesus. Do daily devotions in scripture,
prayer, and silence ("stand silent and know that I Am God").
3) Examine all paradigms in light of scripture and change/allow yourself to be
changed more readily.


"God has the answers and remedy for all the ills of life, through Jesus Christ His Son."


The same for Christians and those seeking, as given above.



How about one major issue for the moment:
I'd like to see TOL people grasp that God is the answer to man's ills, politics are
movements rather than answers to those ills because only Christians are capable
of acting on the part of others, with their best interests held.

I'd like to see TOL people grasp that us/them is often just 'us' and we need to grasp
not just 'us' but that 'them' in some sense is 'us' too. Currently, I've been keenly aware
of commercials and television shows (I don't watch a lot) has a lot more color than my
own. It is 'odd' and I've wondered that it isn't fully representative of a majority. I asked:
"don't they want me to buy their phone too?" It isn't that, it is about remedying a slight,
and going a bit overboard to do so. That's a good thing. Whatever we do in love, is a
good thing. Us/them always tears us apart. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed that we'd be
one as He and the Father are One. It is part of the second command to love on another.
I've a long way to go and I'm working on it and invite others to do so too. Also, that we
be encouraged: It isn't 'try' but Christ working in us as His workmanship. It is a trust
issue by faith.

Lon, I read every word of all that you wrote up there and I really appreciate
you telling me that. It was like reading a short devotional that was a real
blessing to read. In my view, you have "got it nailed down" true and solid.

I will make a few remarks that were inspired by me reading what you wrote.

All human problems, at root, are spiritual problems, and there are no political
solutions to spiritual problems. There are only spiritual solutions to spiritual
problems. If you "fix" the problem with politics, you only "fix" it in one spot,
the SAME ROOT problem will "pop-up" again in another place, this time in
a different form, but still the same "root problem."

Here is the one and only true solution to permanently fix the "root problem"
of all human problems:
{1} Step one ~ you must ne "born again" John 3:3 {this makes {2} and {3} possible}
{2} Step two ~ you must accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior John 3:16 {this makes {3} possible}
{3} Step three ~ you must allow the Holy Spirit to create the "fruits of the Spirit"
in your life Galatians 5:22 - 23
~ love
~ joy
~ peace
~ patience
~ kindness
~ goodness
~ faithfulness
~ gentleness
~ self-control

In {3} I use the word "allow" by which I mean we have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit
in His work to make us into the image of the Lord Jesus.

_________________


Regarding Christian Unity.
Yeah I long for the day when Christendom speaks the same doctrinal language.
Alas that is many mega-millenniums yet in the future, meanwhile we have some
64 "flavors" of Baptist alone --- I think that's counting the abandoned store-front
start-ups.
And have you ever read Calvinists vs. Armenian Threads {its a house of horrors}
And Catholic vs. Protestant Threads {its another house of horrors}
I mean the "Cannibals" show up and very hungry too , ,
And they play the B-Card and the G-Card constantly as they "eat each other
alive" in the Name Of Defending The Truth.
And then there is Politics Threads that end up "bloody" as the Conservatives vs.
Liberals "tear into one another" inside Thread World on the Internet At large.
But Christendom will one day in the far future -- be Unified doctrinally.

____________________

Regarding the Great Love Principle as being the core of the Christian Faith, yeah I am
with you on that 100%.
{1} Love God with all your mind, heart, and soul , , ,
and
{2} Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
These are the two great goals of the Christian life.

___________


Lon,
Thank you again for your comments and for taking the time to respond to
my posts. I really appreciate you doing that.

Feel free to reply ONLY to what interest you personally.

Keep in touch , , ,


JAG