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SarahsKnight

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I can't stand the taste of alcohol. There's also an alcoholic streak in my family so I don't think it's wise to attempt to acquire a taste for such drinks.

Strangely, ever since I started working at Dr. Pepper a year ago I have developed an affinity for alcohol. I wonder if there's a connection? =P

(Don't worry, folks. I have made sure to keep it lightweight when it comes to drinking. ^-^ A knight must behave well within his known limits on this kind of thing, otherwise he may dishonor himself and anyone unfortunate enough to be within the vicinity with his words or actions. The only time I ever went off the deep end was once way back at the start of college, and I knew immediately that I never wanted to act or feel that foolishly ever again, and I haven't. I really don't see how anyone can think it is worth it to get completely hammered anyway, what with the pain of nausea and throwing up, and the headaches the morning after, that often result.)
 
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ReesePiece23

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Strangely, ever since I started working at Dr. Pepper a year ago I have developed an affinity for alcohol. I wonder if there's a connection? =P

(Don't worry, folks. I have made sure to keep it lightweight when it comes to drinking. ^-^ A knight must behave well within his known limits on this kind of thing, otherwise he may dishonor himself and anyone unfortunate enough to be within the vicinity with his words or actions. The only time I ever went off the deep end was once way back at the start of college, and I knew immediately that I never wanted to act or feel that foolishly ever again, and I haven't. I really don't see how anyone can think it is worth it to get completely hammered anyway, what with the pain of nausea and throwing up, and the headaches the morning after, that often result.)

Just as well. Americans can't handle their drink anyway.
 
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MrMoe

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Just as well. Americans can't handle their drink anyway.

I can, lol.

1pF6j1r.jpg
 
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Orange Crow

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I hate winter.

I love winter, last summer the heat was terrible in the city here, plus all the mosquitos and other things were too irritating :D
I do like Spring though, not too hot but just right. The rain is just not always nice :p
 
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SnowyMacie

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I don't watch these guys for the politics. I watch for news relating to Bible Prophecy, the Middle East being the biggest one. It's stupid that they spend a large chuck of their time discussing American politics as if the USA is God's chosen nation.

Makes me wonder why Republicans are the only people who care about Jesus's return. It seems to me that they are more loyal to Ronald Reagan and the US constitution than they are to Jesus and the Bible.

A lot of this "prophesy" is really political masking as theological. It does not exist, except maybe on the furthest fringes, in every other part of the world outside of the U.S. and maybe Canada. You are correct that many of them are more loyal to the United States than the Kingdom of God, which I think it part of why they believe that the USA is God's chosen nation or special in some way in the eyes of God. They're trying to justify their idolization of their country. That's not the only problem...
1. It's uncritically Pro-American - Most prophesies seem to conveniently agree and side with American politics and foreign policy: Russia and the Middle East are somehow involved on the wrong side, and the "heroes" come from America and Western Europe.
2. It looks at the Bible as a puzzle to be put together piece by piece about the future - This is not the point of scripture, nor how Biblical prophesy works. Biblical prophesy, regardless of how symbolic it is, is always very specific.
3. It claims to be literal, but is only selectively so and grossly misunderstands about every passage it uses - It doesn't actually interpret Revelation literally as I've never heard anyone actually claim the Beast is going to be a literal monster with multiple heads. It's not really literally. Furthermore, on the Beast, we know exactly who John was talking about. It's absolutely important to know who John was writing to, he was writing to Christians facing severe persecution. When John writes 666 (or 616, in some manuscripts we have), is using a numerical code that only those who understand it would get to bypass Roman authority (in fact, this why Revelation is written in the highly symbolic style of Apocalyptic Literature), he referring to Nero. If you take Nero's name, and assign numerical value associated with it as Roman letters were also used as numbers, it would equal 666 or 616 depending on which name of Nero one used. Here's the other big one: The word that's translated to "meet him in the air" is the same word to used to describe what happens when the Roman Emperor or some other high ranking leader would come visit. The townspeople would actually go out and greet him as he came into town, so think Jesus riding into town on a donkey. The most accurate translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 would be "meet him in the air and then escort him back to Earth.", and actually this lies much closer in thought to what is said in 2 Thessalonians 1:10 "on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed." It does things with Revelation and Daniel that Daniel and John, in their wildest dreams, couldn't have even imagined.
4. It uses aspects of the 2nd Coming not found in the Bible and makes connections not found in scripture- There is no Biblical support for two second comings, one for believers, and one for the actual end of all things. The only way it is possible to interpret the Bible that way is if you are looking at it through a Dispensationalist perspective. There is also no biblical support for the connection between the Beast in Revelation, the Man of Lawlessness, and the Antichrists of 1 John outside of dispensationalism. The theology is interpreting the text instead of the text interpreting itself.
5. It assumes that we are on the brink of the "End Times" and that's all that matters. Christians since Paul's day have thought Jesus was coming back in their generation, ours is no different than theirs. The key difference is that they didn't believe that is all that mattered. Paul likely agreed the 2nd Coming was close, he certainly didn't think it still wouldn't have happened 2,000 years later, but if you look at what he writes, it's not that big of an issue for him. When he does, he doesn't use it as fear-mongering, or to focus all of our energy preparing for it and trying to figure out exactly what will happen. That's not the point of the 2nd Coming. Furthermore, that's not even what Revelation is about. The point of Revelation is not to explain what is happening, or that some will be left behind to suffer. The point of Revelation is that God is ultimately in control no matter how bad it gets or what it looks like. If you actually read Revelation, the believers aren't somewhere else, they are right in the middle of it.
6. It reduces the gospel to fear-mongering, the End Times, and Escapism. Thus, it becomes anti-gospel. - It makes the gospel about nothing more than being faithful unto death or the 2nd Coming, which is somehow more likely to happen in your lifetime than your own death. The reason that is it anti-gospel is that it has absolutely nothing to say about life in-between the two comings of Christ. The gospel is entirely about the life in-between that. Jesus actually spends very little time about the End Times, His return, or life in Heaven. In fact, he literally prays in John for his followers to not be taken out of the world in John 17:15. The gospel is just as much about life here as it is the afterlife. Yes, Jesus died for our sins, but he did so much more than that. What Escapism theology does is reduce the life of Christ to essentially nothing more than his death and resurrection (even then almost like a secondary point sometimes), and even in some cases saying that Jesus' teachings do not apply even apply to us until we are in Heaven, but that Paul is what matters. If you actually read Paul, all is he doing is making real applications to Jesus' teachings. He would also probably disagree about the whole "it's about getting to Heaven" as his letters are full of talking about restoration and resurrection, and not about simply getting into Heaven. By the way, the end of Revelation shows Heaven and Earth becoming one, not the Earth being destroyed.
 
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PunkyChick

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I've managed to get the first six chapters of my book sorted so far. 7 on gets tricky since half the remaining chapters haven't been written yet at all. So far it's all been rewrite and editing. Hoping to get a second wind today to get chapter 7 written.
 
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SarahsKnight

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A lot of this "prophesy" is really political masking as theological. It does not exist, except maybe on the furthest fringes, in every other part of the world outside of the U.S. and maybe Canada. You are correct that many of them are more loyal to the United States than the Kingdom of God, which I think it part of why they believe that the USA is God's chosen nation or special in some way in the eyes of God. They're trying to justify their idolization of their country. That's not the only problem...
1. It's uncritically Pro-American - Most prophesies seem to conveniently agree and side with American politics and foreign policy: Russia and the Middle East are somehow involved on the wrong side, and the "heroes" come from America and Western Europe.
2. It looks at the Bible as a puzzle to be put together piece by piece about the future - This is not the point of scripture, nor how Biblical prophesy works. Biblical prophesy, regardless of how symbolic it is, is always very specific.
3. It claims to be literal, but is only selectively so and grossly misunderstands about every passage it uses - It doesn't actually interpret Revelation literally as I've never heard anyone actually claim the Beast is going to be a literal monster with multiple heads. It's not really literally. Furthermore, on the Beast, we know exactly who John was talking about. It's absolutely important to know who John was writing to, he was writing to Christians facing severe persecution. When John writes 666 (or 616, in some manuscripts we have), is using a numerical code that only those who understand it would get to bypass Roman authority (in fact, this why Revelation is written in the highly symbolic style of Apocalyptic Literature), he referring to Nero. If you take Nero's name, and assign numerical value associated with it as Roman letters were also used as numbers, it would equal 666 or 616 depending on which name of Nero one used. Here's the other big one: The word that's translated to "meet him in the air" is the same word to used to describe what happens when the Roman Emperor or some other high ranking leader would come visit. The townspeople would actually go out and greet him as he came into town, so think Jesus riding into town on a donkey. The most accurate translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 would be "meet him in the air and then escort him back to Earth.", and actually this lies much closer in thought to what is said in 2 Thessalonians 1:10 "on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed." It does things with Revelation and Daniel that Daniel and John, in their wildest dreams, couldn't have even imagined.
4. It uses aspects of the 2nd Coming not found in the Bible and makes connections not found in scripture- There is no Biblical support for two second comings, one for believers, and one for the actual end of all things. The only way it is possible to interpret the Bible that way is if you are looking at it through a Dispensationalist perspective. There is also no biblical support for the connection between the Beast in Revelation, the Man of Lawlessness, and the Antichrists of 1 John outside of dispensationalism. The theology is interpreting the text instead of the text interpreting itself.
5. It assumes that we are on the brink of the "End Times" and that's all that matters. Christians since Paul's day have thought Jesus was coming back in their generation, ours is no different than theirs. The key difference is that they didn't believe that is all that mattered. Paul likely agreed the 2nd Coming was close, he certainly didn't think it still wouldn't have happened 2,000 years later, but if you look at what he writes, it's not that big of an issue for him. When he does, he doesn't use it as fear-mongering, or to focus all of our energy preparing for it and trying to figure out exactly what will happen. That's not the point of the 2nd Coming. Furthermore, that's not even what Revelation is about. The point of Revelation is not to explain what is happening, or that some will be left behind to suffer. The point of Revelation is that God is ultimately in control no matter how bad it gets or what it looks like. If you actually read Revelation, the believers aren't somewhere else, they are right in the middle of it.
6. It reduces the gospel to fear-mongering, the End Times, and Escapism. Thus, it becomes anti-gospel. - It makes the gospel about nothing more than being faithful unto death or the 2nd Coming, which is somehow more likely to happen in your lifetime than your own death. The reason that is it anti-gospel is that it has absolutely nothing to say about life in-between the two comings of Christ. The gospel is entirely about the life in-between that. Jesus actually spends very little time about the End Times, His return, or life in Heaven. In fact, he literally prays in John for his followers to not be taken out of the world in John 17:15. The gospel is just as much about life here as it is the afterlife. Yes, Jesus died for our sins, but he did so much more than that. What Escapism theology does is reduce the life of Christ to essentially nothing more than his death and resurrection (even then almost like a secondary point sometimes), and even in some cases saying that Jesus' teachings do not apply even apply to us until we are in Heaven, but that Paul is what matters. If you actually read Paul, all is he doing is making real applications to Jesus' teachings. He would also probably disagree about the whole "it's about getting to Heaven" as his letters are full of talking about restoration and resurrection, and not about simply getting into Heaven. By the way, the end of Revelation shows Heaven and Earth becoming one, not the Earth being destroyed.

I don't know if I agree with Matt in every little point he made in his post, @Wayholka, but I think he has the gist of it right. :)
 
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SnowyMacie

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Halfway to 1000 posts.

I don't really care... but 1000 is a milestone for people.

I didn't see 1,000 as a milestone, but I did with 10,000. Actually, I originally decided my 10,000th post would be my last, and did leave for about three weeks.
 
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SnowyMacie

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So how did some members here get a post count in the millions? Forums games?

Forum games most likely, but I'm still not sure that's enough. It took me over three and a half years of active posting to reach 10,000 posts (May 2011 to January 2015), that was even leaving during for about nine months for the Exodus.
 
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Left

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I used to have over 50,000 posts. I'm not sure what happened to the ones I lost. Maybe they closed a forum or two?

Just kind of sounds like the server lost some or something. Forum servers can do that.
 
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RayofSun

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I've fallen down a YouTube rabbit hole and have watched 4 videos on tiny houses. I have never wanted one and I don't know that I ever would. But I'm so intrigued and enamoured by how efficient they are. I want to design one! It's organizational heaven :papapa:
 
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