{"id":1641,"date":"2013-03-31T00:22:28","date_gmt":"2013-03-31T04:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1641"},"modified":"2013-03-31T00:47:24","modified_gmt":"2013-03-31T04:47:24","slug":"blessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1641","title":{"rendered":"blessing"},"content":{"rendered":"

(…previously posted although edited… but still worth considering…)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Studied religion?\u00a0 Ah, yes… I\u2019ve heard it can be controversial.\u00a0 Then again, controversy should never impede the way to truth.\u00a0 Our goal should be to handle truth well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Intramuralist has long studied other faiths…\u00a0 Hinduism, Islam, Scientology, etc. \u00a0You’ve seen the posts over recent months. \u00a0Truth told, I find religion fascinating.\u00a0 (Just ask my friends, the Jehovah Witnesses, who have visited me 3 times in the past 6 months… egad.)<\/em>\u00a0 Through study, no less, the more I learn.\u00a0 The more I learn, the humbler I become.\u00a0 I am humbled because it begins to make sense…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Truthfully, it would be easier to treat this topic more as a cafeteria plan.\u00a0 You choose what you like.\u00a0 I\u2019ll choose what I like (usually the cinnamon rolls).<\/em>\u00a0 And then we\u2019ll just eat, drink, and be merry together.\u00a0 But while considering all faiths as equally true may be easier and more convenient, it may not be factually correct.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the day billions around the globe honor Jesus, the Intramuralist believes it\u2019s important to be factually correct.\u00a0 Let\u2019s offer 2 facts:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Jesus is the only leader of a faith whose body was never found decaying in a tomb.<\/li>\n
  2. In most all prominent religions, the life and teaching of Jesus is acknowledged.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Again, it would be easier for us to eat, drink, and be merry.\u00a0 But it would be wiser to embrace what is true.\u00a0 If it is<\/em><\/strong> true, and we are not embracing it, is that a problem?\u00a0 I wrestle with the following words…<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 …The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is!\u00a0 By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being.\u00a0 So nobody has a good excuse.\u00a0 What happened was this:\u00a0 People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives.\u00a0 They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life.\u00a0 They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.<\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.”\u00a0 It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out.\u00a0 And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them \u2014 the God we bless, the God who blesses us.<\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Let me add a fact #3:<\/p>\n

    3.\u00a0Christians have not always handled the truth well.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Although tempted to respond to those around us, we should never allow the behavior of man to blind us from truth.\u00a0 Otherwise, we, too, may be trivialized into confusion.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Happy Easter, friends.\u00a0 Feel free to dialogue and\/or express opinion.\u00a0 We walk this life together…\u00a0 even enjoying the eating and drinking. \u00a0Let me also be very clear: \u00a0nothing else other than Jesus makes any sense. \u00a0Granted, there’s a lot to figure out there. \u00a0People get confused. \u00a0They omit grace. \u00a0They omit truth. \u00a0They even\u00a0\u2014 we<\/em> even\u00a0\u2014\u00a0then sometimes, actually omit Jesus. \u00a0He, however, is the one thing that remains, that makes life make sense.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Wishing for blessing for us all… with generous grace… and full truth, too…<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Respectfully,<\/p>\n

    AR<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    (…previously posted although edited… but still worth considering…)   Studied religion?\u00a0 Ah, yes… I\u2019ve heard it can be controversial.\u00a0 Then again, controversy should never impede the way to truth.\u00a0 Our goal should be to handle truth well.   The Intramuralist has long studied other faiths…\u00a0 Hinduism, Islam, Scientology, etc. \u00a0You’ve seen the posts over recent … <\/p>\n

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