The road to charismania is paved with good intentions.

I take up the keyboard yet again.

I have missed you.

The subject matter may be...rarified...but it has been hamster-wheeling in my noddle, and I must get it out. The stupid wheel squeaks.

One of the most disingenuous arguments out there is this: "all Pentecostal / Charismatic / Spirit-filled churches are un-Biblical, because they misuse "speaking in tongues". "They all stand up and babble in gibberish at the same time, and no-one interprets!".
Apparently, so did the Corinthian believers.

And it's always "tongues". There are eight other tools in the charismata toolbox, but NO...we gotta pick on tongues. Granted it being the most, ngaaah, vocal of the gifts of the Spirit, it is the most readily abused, for "who can tame the tongue?", whether you are speaking English, or La-ma-salala.

Have you ever given a grandchild or nephew a set of magic tricks for beginners, and he then endlessly treats you to the same disappearing nickel or magic numbers trick? Yeah, that was the Corinthian church. They had a new toy, the likes of which they had never experienced, so they wanted to experience it againandagainandagain! And they jumped ahead in line. Didn't wait their turn.

In short, immaturity was rife.

This does not render the GIFT inferior, or bad, nor does it provide a doctrinal reason for saying "Well, THAT went away after the apostles died. HURRAY! Now we have a BOOK!". (Since I brought up the Book, I will add that there is ZERO Biblical evidence for spiritual gifts being the conduit through which the Bible came to be written, beyond out-of-context application of two individual verses from two different New Testament epistles, by two different authors, Paul and James.)

One issue is cognitive dissonance, on all sides of glossolalia. Paul APPARENTLY has two things in mind when he speaks of tongues. One (in 1 Corinthians 12) is the contextually inspired utterance in tongues, which should be coupled with the gift of interpretation from another speaker, which renders them analogous to the gift of prophecy, apparently, and unexplainedly (though Acts 2 may well give a clew). This exists for the edification and understanding of the congregation. The other is from 1 Corinthians 14, where Paul teaches that, failing the presence of the interpreter, one should pray in tongues to oneself (quietly) and to God. The first is a Happening in the church's worship, the second is apparently a readily available and usable mode of praying (I will pray in the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding -my native language- also. This appears to be a volitional thing for the believer.)

Excitability being what it is, people got it all backward, and then, as now, believers took to babbling uninterpreted, because GIFT! Paul does NOT CONDEMN THE GIFT, as many modern pulpiteers are wont to do. Paul CORRECTED the Corinthian misuses. Between chapters 12 and 14, The Holy Spirit sandwiches what became chapter 13, the "Love Chapter". The logical flow is this:
Ch. 12: These are the gifts of the Spirit. You are doing them wrong.
Ch. 13: This is agape, how to love one another.
Ch. 14: This is how to do the gifts in love.

Assuming that modern "Spirit-filled" practise is analogous to that in the New Testament church, human nature works its way, and the same errors and behavior repeat themselves. Could there be a reason for Paul's correction of the Corinthians to be included in the extant canon?

Mmmmmyeeahh, COULD be!

An Agglomeration of Angst

One man's licorice
is another man's cilantro.

----------------------

When a leg vein fails, and the shower looks like a scene
from the Grand Guignol.


THIS IS GRAPHIC AND IS ABOUT BLOOD. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE THE QUEASY TYPE! I MUST WRITE THIS.
====================
Varicose vein did not like wash cloth scrubbing. Next thing I knew, the tub looked like a murder scene. Could not see where the blood was coming from, then I saw a fine spray from my lower shin. It was fascinating, until I thought "that's my blood, and it's going down the drain". I lost a measurable amount of it (I estimate between 1/2 cup to 1 cup), so I knotted my washcloth around my leg, dried off, and woke Lanie up to help me. She bandaged my leg, and I stayed still for an hour with leg elevated. Then I got a cane, got to my bed, and proceeded to sleep the rest of the day.

Have stayed still most of the evening. There is NO evidence of continued leaking, so maybe I have dodged a bullet. Gonna take it easy as best I can. If there is a recurrence, I'll go get the sucker cauterised or something. But it was briefly entertaining.
LOOK! A new thing!!

It was, as I said, fascinating, almost hypnotic. I lost enough for me to be a bit dizzy later. Have eaten well and hydrated, and feel right as rain, now.

I wish we had had the presence of mind to photograph the shower, but it may have disturbed some.

I guess the Brillo pads will have to go....
------------------------

"I have never had a fire ant bite"

I can no longer say this.

------------------------

I can "temporarily" suspend service on a Verizon line for $10 per month.
I can pay them NOT to have a line.

-----------------------

If the Prexy had come up with a cool name like
"CONELRAD",
everyone
would be fine.

(Comment on the whining about the cell phone "Presidential alert")

Good GRIEF, people.
It was an emergency alert system test, like the old EBS tests for the cell age.

----------------------



------------------------

The word is "ogle", not "oogle".
Neither is it PRONOUNCED "oogle".
------------------------

The Bible is not a grimoire, filled with potent spells that if you say them JUST right, or enough times, they will bend the Almighty to your will.

Instead, it instructs you to bow your knee, your desires and plans, to His Will.
Just a thought....

-----------------------

Amazed at how much data people happily proffer with these
"Find out how Santa will kill you" type quizzes.

----------------------

Here is the con shirt design Lanie and I did! The copper details are metallic copper ink. You can catch some of the shimmer in the upper left gears.



-----------------------

So much current comics art comes from folks whose mommies clearly said "You're such a GOOD artist!"

-----------------------

Kind of amazed at how not terrible the '77 movie "Shock Waves" was.


-----------------------

Have a lovely week!