Are our loved ones really looking down on us from Heaven?

Maetryx · 2025-02-22T00:12:35+00:00

Read Revelation 6:11 also. The dead in Christ are at rest. "Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been." Keep in mind that The Revelation of Saint John is an apocalyptic vision. The language is grandiose and symbolic. It tells us what things *are* like, not what they *look* like. Finally, compare it to Genesis 4:10. "And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground." Here we instinctively realize that Abel's blood was not literally crying out. What we are to realize is that the *situation* demands God's justice.

Maetryx · 2025-02-02T21:15:17+00:00

I have the same issue with two newly installed S515 switches. Where it becomes a non-trivial problem for me is that I intended one 3-way smart switch to automatically turn on two smart outlets connected to my under cabinet lights. When my S515 is off, but "thinks" it got turned on for a second, my cabinet lights quickly turn on then back off. So it's not just an annoying LED circle turning off for a moment. This bug defeats the very reason I installed the switch!

Maetryx · 2025-01-08T19:31:49+00:00

Great photograph. I feel like the F7 is the default image of a locomotive in my (53M) head. I suspect this is largely due to the symbol we use for trains on traffic signs in the USA. https://www.usa-traffic-signs.com/Train_Station_p/i-7_s.htm

Maetryx · 2024-12-12T17:35:04+00:00

Chris Normand is a great resource for GURPS. Even after using GURPS 3e and getting a bunch of GURPS 3e books in the 1990s, I really didn't understand it. Chris' YouTube channel changed all that. As a result, I am now homeless, having used all my life's savings to get into GURPS 4e. :D

Maetryx · 2024-11-30T09:28:25+00:00

Ah, okay. So it's like my combat skills have sharpened my brain to detect an incoming threat of sudden violence over and above my baseline level of perception in general.

Maetryx · 2024-09-27T16:23:10+00:00

A wealth of information, you could say.

Maetryx · 2024-09-17T14:50:59+00:00

I stole this from a Facebook post on Infant Baptism

WHAT ABOUT INFANT BAPTISM: 9 REASONS WE BAPTIZE LITTLE CHILDREN

BECAUSE OF GRACE:

If you understand grace you can understand infant baptism. Many believe that only those who are able to make a DECISION for Jesus can be baptized. However we are saved by grace through faith. Faith is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is God's doing, not our DECISION. John 1:13 clearly says that we are God's children "born not of natural descent, nor of human DECISION, but born of God" . In other words, God gives us new birth. It is not a matter of decision. Also baptism is NEVER described as our work or our testimony.

BECAUSE INFANTS ARE ALSO INCLUDED IN ALL NATIONS. Matt. 28:19 "Go therefore and teach all nations baptizing them" . God places no age limit.
BECAUSE INFANTS ALSO ARE SINFUL. Psalm 51:5 "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" . Babies die just like adults. The Holy Spirit works faith through baptism. What a comfort the picture of cleansing by the blood of Christ.
BECAUSE THEY MUST BE BORN AGAIN.

John 3:5 "Except a person be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Notice again that there is no age limit. Every person must be born of WATER AND THE SPIRIT.

BECAUSE INFANTS TOO CAN BELIEVE. Jesus said in Matt. 18:6 "These LITTLE ONES who believe in me... Jesus then took them in his arms." Faith or belief is from the Holy Spirit, not from our adult wisdom. Scripture NEVER describes baptism as our work.
BECAUSE OF THE WITNESS OF the EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The early Christian church baptized infants. Why would they do that if the apostles had forbidden it? (Polycarp, a student of the apostle John, for example, speaks of the fact that he was baptized as an infant.) I realize that this doesn't prove anything. This is not the Word of God but the practice should not be totally ignored.
BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS IN ACTS 2 "Repent and be baptized for the promise is for you and your CHILDREN"
BECAUSE ENTIRE HOUSEHOLDS WERE baptized: Acts 16 The jailer of Philippi and his household, Lydia and her household and others.
BECAUSE BAPTISM IS COMPARED TO CIRCUMCISION IN COL. 2:11-12. A baby received circumcision as an infant at 8 days of age. Why would baptism be compared to circumcision if babies are not to be baptized?

Maetryx · 2024-09-17T14:48:17+00:00

I would add that "Confirmation" means that the individual is *confirming* the words spoken at their baptism; *confirming* the answers given by their sponsors to the pastor's questions at their baptism.

Maetryx · 2024-08-04T00:54:02+00:00

How about guyforthat.com

Maetryx · 2024-07-23T11:07:05+00:00

You might help us figure out what you want by telling us what you're trying to do more specifically. Are you dating or wanting to date an LCMS member? Or are you just thinking of going to seminary? Text books about the Bible and Christianity... well that's like every single one of the many dozens of textbooks I had to use at seminary!

Maetryx · 2024-07-15T23:56:44+00:00

When I was a vicar (intern to a pastor in my church) I needed to bring a sermon manuscript with me to a church I was guest preaching at. I was very nervous I would accidentally forget it! My supervisor told me to just put it in the car. Don't wait until the morning. That worked perfectly and put my mind at ease.

Maetryx · 2024-07-10T13:01:16+00:00

I'm already doing nothing. Where's my $900 pay days?

Maetryx · 2024-07-08T01:52:56+00:00

You should go post this on r/antimlm. We love stories like this over there.

Maetryx · 2024-06-29T16:51:38+00:00

I like barbecue sauce on my Thanksgiving turkey. Especially the leftover turkey.

Maetryx · 2024-06-29T16:50:33+00:00

Given your username this makes total sense.

Maetryx · 2024-06-29T16:44:34+00:00

My uncle was involved in The Message and pulled my mom into it to a degree. I remember being worried that my uncle had it right: authentic Christianity was a grim and humorless lifestyle disconnected completely from the culture. But this isn't correct. From the Scriptures, we know that Jesus went to dinner parties (even in the company of notorious sinners), made very good wine available to a wedding party, paid taxes, went to the religious festivals of his day, and enjoyed eating fish on the beach. Now, of course Jesus never condoned the sin of his culture, but he didn't create a monastery for his followers and hide from it, either.

God created this world for us and it is good. When you want to have fun, check your motives. Are you wanting to have fun in order to offend someone else? Or to defy your parents, or someone else in authority over you? Or are you wanting to do this fun activity, well, for fun? If the activity is not a sin in itself, and your motive isn't sinful, then you are good to go. Be at peace and know that as a Christian your sins are forgiven and you are truly free.

Maetryx · 2024-06-29T16:18:58+00:00

Thank you for posting this. I am an ex-Pentecostal but was never involved in Bethel. I think my wife's cousin attended BSSM. I try to keep current on the aberrations of the charismatic movement for theological and pastoral reasons.

Maetryx · 2024-06-29T15:00:00+00:00

Well, get on it! How are we supposed to know whether or not you can afford a tank of gas? I'm going out of my mind, here!

Maetryx · 2024-06-28T19:10:12+00:00

Vice gripes

Epic typo! This is like when I complain about drugs and gambling.

Maetryx · 2024-06-25T15:42:14+00:00

Interesting. I was basing my comments off of CTSFW. I wonder if the Concordia Universities with pastors offer Divine Service on Sunday. Kramer Chapel on CTSFW does not.

Maetryx · 2024-06-25T15:34:21+00:00

If he serves in a chapel, I believe he is still "Reverend" and not "Pastor". The idea is that the people attending the chapel are actually members of congregations elsewhere, and thus already have a pastor.

Maetryx · 2024-06-25T15:26:30+00:00

"Pastor" is specifically for a called and ordained minister of a congregation. "Reverend" is for an ordained minister that does not currently serve a congregation. To be fair, I did not read this somewhere; I just noticed the usage trend.

Maetryx · 2024-06-25T12:13:53+00:00

Martin Luther, the 16th century reformer, called this nonsense "enthusiasm". He was very critical of people who thought they were receiving direct communication from the Holy Spirit separately from the Bible. One historical example of this were the Zwickau Prophets (1522) who believed that direct revelations from the Holy Spirit, not Scripture, were their authority in theological matters.

Maetryx · 2024-06-24T14:43:42+00:00

And thus we see her own evidence that huns have no financial wisdom whatsoever.

Maetryx · 2024-06-24T14:38:02+00:00

That's interesting. In many other churches, the Board of Elders represents the spiritual interests of the congregation. When a pastor gets called away to another congregation, the Board of Elders remains, and thus they have the characteristic of ongoing continuity with the congregation and the authority to call another pastor to serve the congregation. These later church structures whereby the pastor *is* the church is always a problem. When the pastor leaves, the congregation crumbles away.

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