God's "word" is only in the 1st 5 books of the bible. Half of that to be
exact. God gave Moses a copy of these books, Moses broke them, and the
angels dictated the 2nd copy to Moses. Thus, there are often 2 versions
of the same story throughout the first 5 books.

After that, its no longer "God's Word". Its a collection of material
beleived to be divinely inspired, and divinely important. So, when Paul
writes how he thinks women should dress in church, HE is talking, its
not "Gods" word. When John is writing his vision of the Beast, its HIS
word, not God's word. This is very very important. We should not base
our worship on what Paul thinks love is like. We should not bet our
souls on what Matthew, Mark, John and Luke thought they remembered...

Taken in that context, it doesnt really "matter" what books of the bible
have been editted, which ones were dropped from cannon, and which ones
were 'added'. So long as they hold scriptual value, and insight, then
they are valuable. I personally would vote for the re-inclusion of "The
Book of Enoch", "The Book of Thomas", and a couple others.

I also dont think that there was a 'secret agenda' or 'DaVinci-Code
like-conspiracy'. The written record is clear enough - there were
political turf-battles over which books were considered 'cannon'. Sure,
Constantine lined up his allies along the lines of which would best suit
his political aims, and so, those Bishops are the ones who championed
which "5" of the gospels were considered "cannon".

Ok everyone, I invited y'all to come see our "Pink Floyd: The Wall" show
on Friday night. I just finished my first ever stage appearance. What a
rush! I sang only one line, and didnt really "sing" it at that.

Here are some great pics taken by our "fans" (we were completely sold
out - but, thats only 100 ppl).

Here's Me (Grey shirt, fore ground):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ariscott/433824127/in/set-72157600026280484/

Fantastic pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilystandsup
Another great set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ariscott/sets/72157600026280484/

I did the stage layout, the banners, the video work (including that
giant hammer logo).

I cant sing, and after working with people who CAN sing, I got a new
appreciation. Its HARD. Its really hard to stay on "pitch", and stay on
"rythm". I had no idea.

It became really clear after a rehearsal last week. As I was packing up
my projector and laptop, one of the singers gave the high-five, made
small talk, and I said something like "you guys are really amazing,
singing is alot harder than I thought". He looked at me, laughed and
said, "no, the sh1t your doing is HARD - I'm amazed at the video, how
did you do that?"

-Mike

Title got clipped - should read "Spring is here - hysterical photo to
remind you of Winter, Valentines Day, and Romance"

Picture is work safe, and will get a good laugh.

http://media.urbandictionary.com/image/large/pwned-20833.jpg

It comes down to this. A woman wants to know that your behavior of
manners and respect is out of self-restraint, not as part of your
package plan of seduction.

By that I mean, you are expected to show self-confidence, direction,
focus, and use polite gentlemannly manners in that presentation.

But, if your relying on polite manners when you're lacking confidence,
it comes across as you're just trying to be polite enough to get laid.

Its the self-confidence part thats the hardest. When you aint got it,
fake it until it comes along. Just dont fake sincerity.

Mormons - your point was right on, its gotta be one of the best
documented religons. Interesting.

I think we're in the midst of a newer religon dawning. The religon of
the Secularists. You know, the type that preach and evangalize the
"Truth of Science" [evolution as un-questionable fact], the
selfrighteous Moral-Relativism ["its ok for someone to behave the way
they do, and you cant question it"], and wrapped up with a casting out
of any other religon ["Seperation of Church & State says you cant wish
me a Merry Christmas" sort of craziness].

What I find scary about this mind-set is that it has all the Dogma and
Fervor as any other faith, has all the charisma of being able to make
any person of any-faith appear to be ignorant to the point of
self-arrogance. And its so appealing to anyone who really hasnt
questioned their own beleifs. Its a religon of specifically non-beleif
but delivered with the best Dogma/Fervor that can be mustered. This ISNT
Atheism or Agnostic - they're perfectly acceptable. This is
'self-glorification' out of ignorance.

WE have the Power and Responsibility to forgive sins. We always had that
power, and requirement. So, Jesus didnt die for "our sins" - because we
could rid ourselves of "sin" at anytime - simply by fogiving the sins
that others did to us.

And, if we DONT forgive a sin, when the person is sincerly seeking it,
we're doing a horrible misdeed. Its our responsibility to forgive a sin
when they're sincere. That makes healing, and thats what its all about.

@Bear,

Having just listened to the album, your comments made me think of
"Waiting for the Worms" from Pink Floyd's "The Wall"

'Would you like to see Britannia
Rule again my friend?
All you have to do is follow the worms '

Anything but the dreaded "Yellow Wallpaper" !!!

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Charlotte_Perkins_Gilman/The_Yellow_Wallpaper/The_Yellow_Wallpaper_p1.html

I see it this way: You gave that cat many years of wonderful care and
companionship. Without you, that cat my have become a strayy, may have
become a road-side statistic, and just as likely could have become a
little girls best friend.

So, given that the cat had a wonderful life in your companionship, and
you obviously got just as much out of it, then go ahead, get another
kitty. You'll make another little kitty happy, you'll have a different,
but, new, companion, and you'll always have sweet memories of your
kitty.

Inifite is the degree of creativity between boundaries.

How many ideas can you express with 26 letters? Infinite.

How many songs can you write with 7 notes? Infinite.

How many cheezy movies can you make about a broken-heart? Infinite.

I grew up in a Catholic household. Did the Communion thing, Pennance,
Confirmation and all that fun stuff. We were taught that it was best to
let the priest put the bread into our mouths directly because our hands
were dirty, and this was the "body" of the Big Man.

Somewhere in my 30s I learned about the Jewish Sader dinner, and
realized the obvious: Communion is Passover. Duh. And Passover is to be
celebrated by the people personally - you dont need a priest to run the
show. So I tried doing communion once or twice on "my own" with my kids.
Felt perfectly right! The kids speak parts of the communion...

I then mentioned the idea to my brother. Oh he was horrified! You'd
think I just told him the Pope wasnt Catholic or something. <grin>

What do you think?

How Much is Missing - Easy Answer: Not Much.

The old testament has a peculiar structure to it. The entire scripture
is only considered "legit" if EVERY SINGLE character, including spaces,
line breaks, and page breaks, are exactly accurate. In other words,
character-by-character the OT is consistently the same for thousands of
years.

Yes, there are some important changes in the historical acceptance of
what constitutes the Old Testament. In general Constantine, in 330ad,
made many decisions of what we now recognize as the "bible". Some
interesting books were left out - like "the book of Enoch", which is
quoted by Jesus and Paul frequently.

In general, you can be sure that the Old Testament is historically
accurate, to the character-by-character degree for thousands of years,
with a few specific, documented exceptions.

Not so easy with the New Testament. Oh what a "mess". By the year 330ad
there were a handful of regionalized "gospels". In that year Constantine
said that was too many, and that the Bishops of the new Roman Church had
to whittle it down to 4. Why four? There are 4 corners of the earth, and
4 winds. So shall it be four. [yes, that is the real reason given!]

When you look at the "extra cannoical" gospels, you see why many of them
are cast out. They're crazy. You also see that some are cast out because
they're scandalous (Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Niccodemous, Letter of
Pilate). Some are so abstract that they're nearly impossible to grasp
(the typical Gnostic texts). However, the historical accuracy of the
TEXT is pretty consistent.

There is very little change in the last 2000 years to the 4 gospels.
There are a handful of verses that are up for debate (search the web for
"Secret Mark"), but, on the whole 98% of the character text is
historically accurate. HOWEVER, when the gospel is translated from
Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English there are 'problems'. These boil
down to the particular schooling of the translator, the style of the
translator (are they seeking 100% accuracy, or trying to acheive
readability? etc).

Take a look round the web, you can easily see the historical gospels -
and you will recognize some of the greek words. Yes, you will be able to
recognize 2000yr old greek writing. You'll go far with learning a couple
trans-literals for greek-to-english. But, you'll be amazed because
you'll probably be able to know roughly where in the gospels the small
snippet of greek comes from. In other words, with a little effort, you
personally can verify the historical accuracy of the gospel-text.

OOOOH I love a quiz!

Jesus didnt die for "anyone". He recognized himself as the fullfilment
of the Messiah prophecy, which itself foretold his death.

The Messiah was the sign that the law of Moses had run its course, and
that all beleiving Jews, upon recognizing the Messiah, were free from
the Law (given as a fixed-term punishment for worshipping the golden
calf).

The last words Jesus said were "...it is done". What did he mean by "IT"
? I say the Law. The Law was Done. Jews were free of the Law. The
Gentiles always had the grace to be free of the law, but now that the
law was done, the wisdom of the law (restrained from the Gentiles) was
to be spread to all peoples.


Since the scope of Jesus' mission was pretty focused and specific, I
sidestep your question on DNA and so on.

There's no reason that an inter-faith marrige cant work. Unless, you
expect her to "see it your way", or, she expects YOU to "see it her
way".

I think its easier for a western/eastern mix of religons in a marrige
than a denominationX/denominationY marrige.

Its important to keep things under control, them little pubes could poke
an eye out.

I expected to hear all kinds of "meat-like substitutes" and "un-named
intestinal components", but, just corn, chemicals and some chicken.
Sigh. There's no mystery left in the world...

Zero:

Oh every time I goto Montreal I always check out the Notre Dame de Sacre
Coeur. Still find it dazzling. I even take a stroll through the bioDome.
I'll check out the other suggestions too.

Is the indoor ice rink still in the Bell buidling?

How about things to see/do outside Montreal city?

Just to be different, here's my opinion:

So lets say you are correct, and that eventually he leaves you. When
will that be? A year? Two? Three? ...Thirty? You will feel SO miserable,
and made worse by the fact that you "knew it would come someday".

What will you have done with your life between now and then? Would you
have been happy? Would your life be fullfilled during that time?

If you turn him away now, you will have garunteed heart-ache for
yourself, and for him. You will have absolutely foreclosed on any
happiness, and be miserable. In other words, if you turn him away now,
you are being cruel to you AND him.

Let fate be the cruel one.

Red,

I'm skeptical. The statistics say that its entirely possible, and there
are enough 'interesting' accounts of UFOs, but, still no undeniable "oh
sh1t there really are extraterrestials" evidence.

It would be cool if that were to happen in my lifetime!