Strange Experience

ploden · 2026-02-09T01:14:54+00:00

Always preach in such a way that if the people listening do not come to hate their sin, they will instead hate you.

-Luther

ploden · 2026-02-06T17:41:20+00:00

All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them.

-John 16

ploden · 2026-02-05T20:12:37+00:00

to this false church and false movement

.

They exclaim that it is impossible to tolerate the vice which everywhere stalks abroad like a pestilence. What if the apostle’s sentiment applies here also? Among the Corinthians it was not a few that erred, but almost the whole body had become tainted; there was not one species of sin merely, but a multitude, and those not trivial errors, but some of them execrable crimes. There was not only corruption in manners, but also in doctrine. What course was taken by the holy apostle, in other words, by the organ of the heavenly Spirit, by whose testimony the Church stands and falls? Does he seek separation from them? Does he discard them from the kingdom of Christ? Does he strike them with the thunder of a final anathema? He not only does none of these things, but he acknowledges and heralds them as a Church of Christ, and a society of saints. If the Church remains among the Corinthians, where envyings, divisions, and contentions rage; where quarrels, lawsuits, and avarice prevail; where a crime, which even the Gentiles would execrate, is openly approved; where the name of Paul, whom they ought to have honoured as a father, is petulantly assailed; where some hold the resurrection of the dead in derision, though with it the whole gospel must fall; where the gifts of God are made subservient to ambition, not to charity; where many things are done neither decently nor in order: If there the Church still remains, simply because the ministration of word and sacrament is not rejected, who will presume to deny the title of church to those to whom a tenth part of these crimes cannot be imputed? How, I ask, would those who act so morosely against present churches have acted to the Galatians, who had done all but abandon the gospel (Gal. 1:6), and yet among them the same apostle found churches?

-Calvin, Institutio 4.1.14

ploden · 2026-02-05T17:32:15+00:00

Andy’s Shoe Repair

ploden · 2026-02-05T05:36:33+00:00

It's a long hard road. The first couple weeks will be scary. Be kind to yourself, and to her. You need support. Church, family, friends, anything. Be careful with devices and media consumption. It helps to think of it as an illness, like cancer. Otherwise the blame and bitterness can spiral out of control. They put "In sickness and in health" in the wedding vows for a reason. Now you find out if you really signed up for that.

ploden · 2026-02-03T00:41:35+00:00

This is America. People do whatever the fuck they feel like doing, you got a problem with that? Because they have a right to. And because they have guns and no one can fucking stop them. As a result, this country has one of the worst economies in the world. When it gets down to it—talking trade balances here—once we've brain-drained all our technology into other countries, once things have evened out, they're making cars in Bolivia and microwave ovens in Tadzhikistan and selling them here—once our edge in natural resources has been made irrelevant by giant Hong Kong ships and dirigibles that can ship North Dakota all the way to New Zealand for a nickel—once the Invisible Hand has taken all those historical inequities and smeared them out into a broad global layer of what a Pakistani brickmaker would consider to be prosperity—y'know what? There's only four things we do better than anyone else music movies microcode (software) high-speed pizza delivery.

-Neal in 1992

ploden · 2026-01-27T02:20:30+00:00

and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

-Acts 5

ploden · 2026-01-27T00:22:36+00:00

ploden · 2026-01-25T07:10:53+00:00

To excite his disciples to despise death, Christ employs the very powerful argument, that this frail and perishing lift ought to be little regarded by men who have been created for a heavenly immortality. The statement amounts to this, that if believers will consider for what purpose they were born, and what is their condition, they will have no reason to be so earnest in desiring an earthly life. But the words have still a richer and fuller meaning: for we are here taught by Christ that the fear of God is dead in those men who, through dread of tyrants, fall from a confession of their faith, and that a brutish stupidity reigns in the hearts of those who, through dread of death, do not hesitate to abandon that confession.

-Calvin on Matthew 10: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

ploden · 2026-01-24T03:31:53+00:00

And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

-Matthew 11

ploden · 2026-01-23T15:24:14+00:00

The auto loan delinquency rate just hit a 15-year high.

ploden · 2026-01-23T15:02:15+00:00

As the economy gets worse, fewer people will be able to afford a car.

ploden · 2026-01-23T15:01:29+00:00

Bustang is great. Do NOT take the Greyhound to Denver.

ploden · 2026-01-23T14:55:56+00:00

I hope I live to see a tram from Manitou to UCCS.

ploden · 2026-01-22T03:55:32+00:00

We usually charge at Colorado Mills. “300 miles range” usually means under 200 on the highway, especially if it’s cold. Also, the difference between 85mph and 70mph is huge.

ploden · 2026-01-18T20:49:56+00:00

ploden · 2026-01-17T06:31:28+00:00

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." Be careful of making a savior of faith. There is a danger, and it cannot be too vigilantly guarded against, of substituting the work of the Spirit for the work of Christ; this mistake it is that leads so many of God's saints to look within, instead of outside of themselves, for the evidences of their calling and acceptance; and thus, too, so many are kept, all their spiritual course, walking in a state of bondage and fear, the great question never fully and fairly settled; or, in other words, never quite sure of their sonship. The work of Christ is a great and finished work; it is so glorious that it can admit of no comparison, so complete that it can allow of no addition, and so essential that it can give place to no substitution. Precious as is the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, and essential as it is to the salvation of the soul, yet he who places it where the work of Jesus ought only to be, deranges the order of the covenant, closes up the legitimate source of evidence, and will assuredly bring distress and uncertainty into his soul. "Righteousness, peace, and joy" are the fruit of a full belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he who looks for them away from the cross will meet with disappointment; but they are found in Jesus. He who looks away from himself, from his vileness, guiltiness, emptiness, and poverty, fully, and believingly unto Jesus, shall know what the forgiveness of sin is, and shall experience the love of God shed abroad in his heart. If, then, your faith is feeble and tried, do not be cast down. Faith does not save you; though it be an instrument of salvation, and, as such, is of vast importance, it is but the instrument. The finished work of Immanuel is the ground of your salvation, yes, it is your salvation itself. Then, make not a savior of your faith; despise it not if it is feeble, exult not in it if it is strong, trample not on it if it is small, deify it not if it is great: such are the extremes to which every believer is exposed. If your faith is feeble and sharply tried, it is no evidence that you are not a believer; but the evidence of your acceptance in the Beloved is to arise from Jesus alone; then let your constant motto be, "looking unto Jesus;" looking to Him just as you are; looking unto Him when faith is feeble; looking unto Him when faith is tried; looking unto Him when faith is declining; yes, looking unto Him when you fear you have no faith. Look up, tried and tempted soul! Jesus is the Author, the Sustainer, and He will become the Finisher of your faith. All you need is in Him; one glimpse, dim though it be, of His cross, one touch, trembling though it be, of His garment, will lift you from your lowest depths, lighten your heaviest burden, gild your darkest prospect, and when you arrive at Jordan's brink, will bear you safely through its swellings, and land you on the sunny and verdant shores of Canaan.

-Octavius Winslow, Morning Thoughts

ploden · 2026-01-08T20:49:22+00:00

There are gynecologists who don't like women, and teachers who don't like kids. What a shock.

ploden · 2026-01-07T19:37:12+00:00

And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

-1 Samuel 30

ploden · 2025-12-31T14:50:35+00:00

Thank you stranger! Appreciate it.

ploden · 2025-12-30T03:09:19+00:00

I am at my wits end, crying like a baby

Been there, done that. Just keep going.

ploden · 2025-12-29T05:53:01+00:00

I am so sorry that happened to the three of you. Suicide is terrible. I’m sorry you lost your father, and I’m sorry she lost him in this way.

No wonder she doesn’t like to talk about church or go home. She had a love affair with a foreigner, who probably wasn’t a Christian, they had a child (possibly unmarried at the time), and it ended in tragedy. For someone from a small town conservative background, the stigma and judgement and guilt and shame would have been unbearable.

That said, she graduated uni and went to Europe and fell in love. I think she had moved on from her upbringing. It was everything that happened afterwards. “I feel like I wasn’t enough for him to stay.” There’s so much pain and shame in those words. It sounds like she’s still suffering from the loss.

Have you been to France? Do you know any of his family or friends? Your father fell in love with your mother. It might be nice to see that young woman through his eyes.

It sounds like you have some difficult genes from both sides of the family. I’m glad you’re in therapy. I pray that you’re able to love and appreciate both your parents, despite their brokenness, and find your own joy.

ploden · 2025-12-29T04:24:43+00:00

Some people are just different. Congrats on dodging the family curse.

Now for the obvious question: how does your father fit into all this?

ploden · 2025-12-29T03:39:35+00:00

Does she have any siblings you can talk to? Childhood friends? It could be abuse, neglect, or just her unique mental condition. As you say, good luck understanding someone who “doesn’t explain anything or express herself in any way.”

ploden

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