He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.
‹Benjamin Franklin›
Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
26Feb
2012
Sun
21:34
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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First Sunday in Lent

Mark 1:9-15

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Lead us not into temptation,” we pray, and God tempts no one. Yet every one of us has been tempted, even the God-man, Jesus Christ. When we pray the petition, we’re not praying that temptations be done away with, but that they would not lead us astray, into “false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice.” Many a theologian has also suggested that temptations are beneficial, that God allows them for our benefit; after all, “[A]ll things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

22Feb
2012
Wed
21:06
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Ash Wednesday

various texts

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“All mankind fell at Adam’s fall, / One common sin infects us all; / From sire to son the bane descends, / And over all the curse impends,” Lazarus Spengler wrote in the 16th century. Our hymnal states that he had Romans 3:12, though Romans 5:12 seems more appropriate, I would suggest that He also had Genesis 3:17-19, especially for that first verse. There, God says to Adam:

Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it”: Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.
21Feb
2012
Tue
16:23
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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Your Government at FAIL

wasting tax dollars, if there are any

So, I check the church mailbox today, and in it is this:

wrong address

Now, I've seen mail delivered to the wrong PO Box or wrong mailbox that was supposed to be delivered to the same town, but I've never seen mail sent to a completely wrong address. And this one didn't merely make a wrong stop along the way, it was sent in the wrong direction. At least, I don't think Denver is "on the way" from Missouri to Pennsylvania.

Needless to say, I handed it to the postal clerk.

16Feb
2012
Thu
14:03
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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Stop Using the R-word

If we go forward with the economic plan to cut off Iran from exporting its oil globally, the effect of the spiking gas prices will set America into a deep recession, a financial analyst says. Now, I am of the mindset that something needs to be done there in Iran, but I'm not sure what direction is the best; it'll probably come down to the lesser of two evils, like presidential elections. All of that aside, my question is, at what level do we drop below "deep recession" to depression? Or are we simply afraid to use the D-word?