Quote of the Day -- On Money

Just ran across this today.

Psalm 49

1 Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world,
2 both low and high, rich and poor alike:
3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.
4 I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle:
5 Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me—
6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?
7 No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them—
8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—
9 so that they should live on forever and not see decay.
10 For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others.
11 Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.
12 People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
14 They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.
15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.
16 Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases;
17 for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them.
18 Though while they live they count themselves blessed— and people praise you when you prosper—
19 they will join those who have gone before them, who will never again see the light of life.
20 People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.

Two Things On Billy Graham Passing

First this.

Billy Graham was one of America's 

richest pastors

Then this.

"I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

--Jesus Christ himself, reputedly, Matthew, 19-24

That Bible We Base So Much On?

We ought to know the source(s).

Enjoy your Sunday, y'all.

Quote of the Day -- Sunday Edition

And yes, folks, I Googled it. He really did say this.

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Bible Facts on a Sunday

I always refer back to what Jesus said about "homosexuals" and those same-sex attracted.

That is, nothing.

Christianity and Capitalism

People, in this nation, who consider themselves to be both Capitalists and Christians are only Capitalists.

Mark 10:21-22   Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Luke 12:16-21   Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

And my personal favorite:

Matthew 19:24    Jesus said "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Think happy thoughts.

And enjoy your Sunday.

Link:  9 Jesus Quotes About The Poor

On That King James Version of the Bible

Food for thought on a Sunday morning.

Enjoy your Sunday, y'all.

Jesus Was Neither Alone Nor Was He the First

Just so you know some human history, Jesus wasn't the only--or even the first--god said to have risen from the dead. Actually, far from it.

Jesus: Just One More Dying 

and Rising Savior

History records many dying-and-rising saviors. Examples from the Ancient Near East that preceded the Jesus story include Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, Adonis, Attis, and Baal.

Dying-and-rising god

A dying-and-rising, death-rebirth, or resurrection deity is a religious motif in which a god dies and is resurrected. "Death or departure of the gods" is motif A192 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, while "resurrection of gods" is motif A193.

Examples of gods who die and later return to life are most often cited from the religions of the Ancient Near East, and traditions influenced by them including Biblical and Greco-Roman mythology and by extension Christianity. The concept of a dying-and-rising god was first proposed in comparative mythology by James Frazer's seminal The Golden Bough. Frazer associated the motif with fertility rites surrounding the yearly cycle of vegetation. Frazer cited the examples of Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis and Attis, Dionysus and Jesus Christ.

Frazer's interpretation of the category has been critically discussed in 20th-century scholarship, to the conclusion that many examples from the world's mythologies included under "dying and rising" should only be considered "dying" but not "rising", and that the genuine dying-and-rising god is a characteristic feature of Ancient Near Eastern mythologies and the derived mystery cults of Late Antiquity.

And what is religion, anyway, if not a huge denial of death? An attempt to explain "what comes after." It only stands to reason that we want our god or God or gods dying and coming back, just to prove what we want and that it can be done, that this life isn't all there is. There's no better example or reason for this than that we want to deny death and dying.
Just saying.

That said, if you're into it, if you celebrate Easter, have at it. Enjoy.

Happy Easter.

Whatever gets you through.

Links:

The pagan roots of Easter

The Ancient Pagan Origins of Easter

Goddess Easter: Celebration of the Spring Equinox

Ēostre 

Easter 

Really, Think About Those Ten Commandments

Think the Bible Is Against Same Sex Attraction?

Sure, some do think the Christian Bible is against same sex couples, against homosexuals and homosexuality.

It's because of this one little line--one--from Leviticus 18:22:

"You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination."
Know what else Leviticus says?  Too many don't.

And this is just part of what the book from the "Good Book" says. There's more, besides.

Do you know what Jesus said about gays?

Nada.

Nothing.

Not one thing.

Entertainment Overnight -- Sunday Edition

Robin Williams, killing it.

To Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and All In the Republican Party and Right Wing

Getting Back to "Biblical Principles"

With thanks to Dr. Bob Minor for the link. (click on picture for easier viewing).

Thought for the Day -- Sunday Edition

Ow.

Two of the best scenes from TV, possibly ever

First from now gone "West Wing":



And then, more recently, from HBO's "Newsroom":

Why America isn't the greatest country in the world anymore from nrcbtnue on Vimeo.

Both written, rather no surprise, by Aaron Sorkin.

Quote of the day -- Sunday Edition

Like

Noah, the ark, the Bible, Christianity and God

The United States of Money, uh, America

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not money, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not money, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not money, it profiteth me nothing. Money suffereth long, and is kind; money envieth not; money vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. . . . And now abideth faith, hope, money, these three; but the greatest of these is money. 

I Corinthians xiii (adapted) ” 

― George Orwell, Keep the Aspidistra Flying

Randy Newman - It's Money That Matters (1988) from MTVClassic1 on Vimeo.

The Founding Fathers on religion and our government?

Here you go. Here's one of our Founding Fathers and how serious he took the separation of church and state:



Faith based initiatives?  Funded by government?

I don't think so.

Sunday thought