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Whirled Views 4.23
Good morning!
Today’s quote is from an American pastor and theologian: “Here, then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.”
Topic: Watercooler Chatter, WorldMagBlog
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back to top101 Comments to “Whirled Views 4.23”
Mumsee can see!
For those of you who don’t go back to yesterday’s post when you arrive in the mornings.
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did a certain beauty queen get stripped of her title?
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OK World…I hate pop ups…
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#3 Kim, I’m with you. I’m already a subscriber, don’t beat me up again, and don’t make it slow-loading.
#1 Chas, isn’t it great!!??!!
And no guess for the quote. Sounds very Chesterton-y, but wrong nationality.
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I am glad Mumsee can see.
I may be able to continue to see as well. I spent most of Tuesday in the city getting my eyes tested. The question under consideration was whether it will be safe for me to have cataract surgery.
The looked into my eyes with very bright lights. The said they needed to inject orange dye into my blood stream so they could examine damaged blood vessals in my eyes. They said, “Please sign this consent form. This dye is harmless, most of the time. It may make your skin turn orange or yellow for a day, but that will be harmless. Once in a while, it makes someone itch terribly. We will immediately give you an anti-itch drug. Once in a while it kills someone, but that is very rare.”
I signed. After more examinatons and much blinking when they didn’t want me to blink, the opthamalogist said, “Cataract surgery is not much more dangerous for you than for the average person, which means there is a 4% chance of complications. It is your decision.”
I haven’t decided yet.
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I am reading a book about microlending and other alternatives to conventional capitalism that are probably not “socialism.”
Here is an article about it coming to New York City.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30358842
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Here, I’ll make it easy for you:
BY MUMSEE 04.22.09 AT 9:50 PM
I can see! I can see! Thank God, I can see! Through the offices of a skilled doctor, friends to drive and kid sit, brother to chauffeur kids, and praying brothers and sisters, He has restored my vision and I thank Him and you all. The doctor did find, through magnification and bright light, an embedded barbed bit of weed in my upper eyelid, center. The kind that grows legally. And removed it. Lots of scratches from the opening and closing of the eye but nothing to scar and detract from vision. My eighty year old friend and camping buddy made the hour drive to my house to pick me up, the hour drive to the clinic and the hour drive back and then the hour drive home again. Thank God for the family.
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I am so quick at deleting pop-ups that I don’t even realize what they’re about. Except there was one on Drudge about a diet or something that showed a girl before and after in a bikini. That caught my eye.
Yes, Steve, it was good news.
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Evangelical Christians are obsessed about sex.
Here is an article to put your knickers in a bunch.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30353377/page/2/
Postscript: Wednesday is not a good day for my limited posting as I participate in a church’s “wood ministry.”
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That’s a tough quote, LYNN. There’s a half dozen men who come to mind.
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John Piper is my guess.
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I don’t know about the truth of that quote. It seems to me that we are largely lazy about those things that we don’t have a passion about. I can find energy to read, unless I am very sick, for example. Energy to do distasteful things is much harder to come by.
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GRRR – I was saving the pop up for my rant on sat. I subscribe already!!
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I hate the pop up ad for Worldmag subscriptions too.
Anyone following this venomous blogger, Perez Hilton, who asked the gay marriage question to the Miss California entrant in the pageant? Many have remarked that male homosexuals harbor a deep-seated hatred of women. It’s sooo evident iwth Perez Hilton.
What’s the latest on the Craigslist killer?? Med student slash predator? Were the gals on Craiglist just prostitutes? The young man’s girlfriend adamantly maintains his innocence.
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Random #4 – 4% chance of complications doesn’t sound bad, but it really depends on what the complications are. 4% chance of orange skin for a day? Sure. 4% chance of completely losing vision in both eyes? I’d have to think about that one a long time.
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#5. LOL. Not at your eye troubles. But your comments about the consent form.
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Perez Hilton is being a total jerk. How did a blogger get to be a judge in the Miss USA pageant anyway? No offense to all you bloggers out there.
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RN,
Why are you picking on the evies again today?
American society is obsessed with sex, why parse out a fraction?
I agree with some of what this article says, but only because many women are enslaved to a patriarchal over-sexed culture that puts value on youth and virginity. The problem is not abstinence education, evies or righties, but MEN. Some men. Not Chas-like gentlemen whose “ethics” see women also as persons.
The author says “Our daughters deserve a model of morality that’s based on ethics, not on their bodies.” I agree with her assessment that virginity is not all of a woman’s character, but I disagree that anyone can seperate their body from their ethics. That is a skewed way of Western thinking. Even men cannot do this.
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There’s an interesting link to A Dick Morris article about Obama’s march ot socialism on Drudge. I wish I knew how to link.
Sawgunner, I hadn’t thought of that. A homosexual man wouldn’t be impressed by a beautiful woman. Maybe he deliberately put her on the spot there.
As for the Craiglist killer, remember our discussion about guys (not gays) a couple of days ago. To some, not many, but a significant few, the conquest and bragging is more important than the girl. It appears, if this is true, that he kept souveniers. Of course, his girl trusts hism. They always do.
When I was young, I often wished I could attract girls like that. Now, I realize that I’ve been blessed by not having that characteristic. A guy in our barricks at Westover AFB was always getting calls from girls. He smiled and said, “It’s tough beign big and good looking.” None of us sympathized.
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RN,
I did crack up on the consent form thing too. I recently was prescribed a drug that came with six pages of instructions and warnings. By then end I was thinking, “Why do I want to take this again?”
My favorite came under the “When to call the doctor” section. “If your vomit (vomit seems to be assumed) looks like coffee grounds, call your physician immediately.” No! Really!! Sounds like something from a bad B movie.
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Sawgunner,
Perez Hilton made his name by rant. Without rant there is no Perez. He is such a hypocrite. The contestant answered honestly, mildly, and he said she was polarizing. Then he said the most polarizing things imaginable.
Tolerence is as tolerence does.
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As for cataract surgery, I think they only do one eye at a time.
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Chas, didn’t you used to know how to link at one time?
I’m going to be out of commission for work today, woke up seriously congested with a searing sore throat. I was having violent sneezing attacks yesterday, so I’m guessing I’ve got some kind of cold going on.
So glad Mumsee’s OK — RN, sounds like a pretty low risk but when it’s our eyesight, it does (and should) give us pause. I hate eye exams with all those bright lights.
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Cameron and someone else taught me to compose on the word processor and then cut & paste. But I don’t think I’ve ever linked. If so, I’ve forgott4en. (I do that more and more.
)
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The Craig’s List suspect’s girlfriend is defending him by denying he robbed those women and that he certainly didn’t kill that one. But how does she explain that he sought contact with women on the internet, women who advertised “services” like a “full body massage”?
Let’s say for arguments sake that he didn’t rob or kill anyone. What was he doing? Maybe his fiancee doesn’t want to admit his unfaithfulness much less what else he might have done.
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I didn’t mind the popup the first time. I even would have checked out the offer if I hadn’t already done so yesterday when I noticed a non-popup version of the offer on the right side of this page. I’m considering taking it – except that I don’t know if I count as a new customer when I used to subscribe until a few years ago when I let my subscription lapse.
I do mind the popup when it keeps coming up. It’s not like I even left the site, just went back and forth between different threads. They should have a flag to see if you’ve already had the popup so they don’t keep showing it again and again to the same person.
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Christian parents: You’ve just found out that your 17-year-old daughter has a non-Christian boyfriend. How would you handle (or how have you handled) the situation?
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Tychicus, she may break up with him as I would predict. Years later perhaps he’ll be saved. And then go on to do something really amazing like be a missionary or youth pastor.
Seen it happen!
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Since someone guessed John Piper already, I’ll guess the quote as something John MacArthor would say.
Glad mumsee can see. One preacher I know said he would rather go blind than deaf, as he would miss the beautiful sound of Christians singing praises to God, and little children laughing.
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In a world of many tragedies let us now add this one:
http://ebird.osd.mil/ebfiles/e20090423672282.html
San Antonio Express-News
April 23, 2009
Soldier Found Dead Failed Last Chance To Become Medic
By Sig Christenson, Express-News
Do I fault my army colleagues? I think it’s a safe assumption to make that someone who is 41 yrs old and coming into the military most likely has already had some rough times, big setbacks etc.
The reason given for her children being removed from her custody seems a bit flimsy.
Its obvious this was her last final attempt to make something of herself.
Maybe the army will place higher scrutiny on the older recruits and seek better to understand why it is they’re coming in.
You must be pretty hard up to enter so late in life with a near certain possibility of going downrange once you complete your training.
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Tychicus @#27: Is the daughter a believer? Then remind her that it is not good to be unequally yoked. Is she still an unbeliever? Then remind her of her need for Christ before she ever considers marriage. And make sure you pray for her and the boy.
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Glad to read about Mumsee! I was worried!
Sawgunner, it seems the young doctor has problems. Evidence (panties) from the ladies were in his home as trophies. He murdered one. The women offered “erotic services” online. One was robbed, she says, because she was willing to go along and do what he wanted. Evidently, one woman fought back. His fiancee lives here in NJ and has been standing by him, though I don’t see how you can stand by someone when the evidence has been found in his home. Sorry this happened to her, but boy, is she lucky to get away from him or what?!
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27,28. I wouldn’t encourage her to go into missionary dating. BTW, that is not dating a missionary.
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Tychicus, I would handle it very carefully. Be very careful what you say. Many times, just being negative, drives a young woman into continuing a relationship she may have given up long ago.
What is the young man like? Get to know him. Make sure your relationship with your daughter is as good as you can make it. Speak the truth in love, not disparaging the young man, but making sure she is aware of the possible problems.
If you forbid the relationship, she may find a way to have it anyway and in a couple of years she will be free to do what she wants, provided she can find support for herself.
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Yes, prayer is the most important thing to do. Prayer for wisdom for all of you and hearts willing to obey.
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#27 Tychicus: most folks I know fret less about saved/unsaved and far more about the age gap between darling daughter and suitor. A man I know was shocked to see his daughter dating a decent Christian gentleman who was 12 years her senior.
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Random – I take issue with this particular part of the article – “But packed-away virginities aside, the interesting — and dangerous — idea at play here is that of ‘morality.’ When young women are taught about morality, there’s not often talk of compassion, kindness, courage, or integrity.”
Judging from how we raised our own daughters & from how we’ve seen other Christians raise theirs (& remember, we moms talk about these things), I disagree strongly with the author’s contention that virginity is taught at the expense of those other virtues.
What I see among secular girls (& guys as well) is the thought that if you’re going with someone or sometimes even just after a casual date, sex is the thing to do. I also see a lack of integrity.
(I’m not saying that all secular people sleep around & lack integrity, but those things are more prevalent than I remember in my younger years.)
I agree with Adios at #18.
Excuse me for being nosy, but what was the concern about maybe not being able to have the cataracts surgery?
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Surest way to prompt a gal to drop a guy she’s dating is to have mom and dad rave about how much THEY like him.
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Tychicus – We are in that situation. Emily, a believer, started dating Ryan, an unbeliever, secretly when she was 17, knowing we’d disapprove, but not giving us a chance to get to know him or what was going on. We learned she was sexually active with him through accidentally finding her blog. (She had left it minimized on the computer, & my husband wondered what it was.) That was an incredibly painful day.
A few months after turning 18, she & he found an apartment together, & have now been living together for about a year & a half. They are planning on getting married someday.
Emily still insists that she’s believes in Jesus & the Bible. At first, after she moved out, she still came to church with us on Sundays. That ended after a while.
We have made it clear, in as gentle a way as possible, that we disapprove of her current living arrangement. Of course, she already knows this, so there’s not much to say. (And we don’t want to try to take the place of the Holy Spirit, or get in His way.) We have also done our best to be loving & accepting to Ryan, & of course, to Emily.
We pray for both of them, & many in our church are doing the same. Over the last couple months or so, we have seen a softening in Emily (unrelated to this situation), & we know by faith that God is working in her.
I know that there have been times when we have failed in the area of “tough love”, where we have helped them out rather than let them face certain circumstances.
It is not at all easy to see all this happen, to see our beloved daughter, who knows better deep inside her heart, possibly being led away from the Lord.
But something else to remember – Emily, & your daughter, are more than the person they’re dating or the sin they may be committing. In other areas of her life, Emily has grown & blossomed. There is much in her to be proud of, & we let her know this.
Keep the lines of love & communication open. And pray, pray, pray!
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Random – I only have vision in one eye. When I started having cataract problems in that eye, my ophthalmologist didn’t want to do the procedure because of recurring bouts of iritis in that eye. He was so concerned that it would make the iritis worse that we didn’t replace my lens for almost 5 years. Now my vision is great and I haven’t been housebound by a bout of iritis for the past 3 years.
Let me add that my doctor is wonderful and I would recommend him any time. He was just concerned that I might lose my sight entirely.
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Can you believe that President Obama did NOT consult with Republicans before releasing highly classified CIA memos regarding our interrorgation techniques in wartime? Fair-minded critics of Pres. Bush for allegedly not consulting enough with Democrats must be outraged.
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When our son was in the the Tychichus situation, we started praying for him and for the young girl–whom I had first met while she was out camping with a previous boyfriend for the weekend. What’s with that? She was only 16 at the time.
He was in an accountability group who razed him constantly–”what are you doing with a non-believing girl?” He held his own, continued attending the group and continued seeing the girl.
We were upset, but when I started to pray about my own attitude, I realized that I needed to love the girl–that this may be the one opportunity she had to see Christianity in action. So, I began to pray for her. I also prayed what I call “offensive prayer”–emphasis on the first syllable. If he could not control his own emotions, God could work in her heart. So, I prayed she would either become a Christian or go away.
Eventually, she went away. And I felt so sad–wait, I actually liked her by that point.
That was ten years ago.
Recently, I looked through the “friends” on my son’s facebook page–and there she was. Ooh, was that a good idea? He’s married now. I clicked on her page, and it was accessible to me–and I learned she’s at Discipleship Training School with YWAM.
My eyes tear up even as I type this. God is good. His timing is perfect. He uses all of us to accomplish his desires. We just need to be obedient.
Pray, and do what God tells you–even if it doesn’t make sense.
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Doing some spring cyber-cleaning this morning, I found this……..
This is too true to be very funny!
The next time you hear a politician use the
word “billion” in a casual manner, think about
whether you want the “politicians” spending
YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,
but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into some perspective in
one of its releases.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were
living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and
20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let’s take a look at New Orleans It’s amazing what you can learn with some simple division . .
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?
A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of
New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you
each get $516,528.
B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.
C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family
gets $2,066,012.
Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! … Are all your calculators broken??
Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.
Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.
If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax hi m until he’s good and sore.
Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
“Taxes drove me to my doom!”
And when he’s gone,
We won’t relax,
We’ll still be after the inheritance TAX!!
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
F ood License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What happened? Can you spell ‘politicians!’
And I still have to “press
1″ for English.
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If another terror act had occurred in the USA (like, Los Angeles) on President Bush’s watch, then he would have been severely condemned by his critics for NOT using adequate interrogation techniques to stop further terrorism and save innocent lives.
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Chas, the way to do a link is just to copy and paste the URL. No fancy brackets or anything needed. Here’s the “meet the regulars” page starting at the letter C:
http://online.worldmag.com/regulars/#letterc
That was entered as straight text. The WordPress software running WOrldMagBlog understands the link for what it is and makes it clickable.
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Joel Mark,
Fairness and politics in the same paragraph! I’m still laughing
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Michelle #42: every sinner has a future every saint has a past.
Joel #41: I’m waiting for someone to tell me something we now know due to harsh interrogation which we would not have otherwise known had we not used those controversial techniques.
And waiting and waiting.
Once enemy combatants are infiltrated into our country like it as not we wind up having to treat them as criminal suspects even though we all recognize now that Mohammed Atta et al were simply fighters in civy clothing.
I’d say this whole dilemma could be avoided if we were just far more selective about allowing muslim men entry into the USA.
All our immigration weaknesses pre 9/11.. are they still unchanged?
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Steve, I tried that, and my “edit” doesn’t give me any options but “select all” and “find…”.
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From a So Cali to any So Caros, praying quite sympathetically for your fire drama. Praying for the safety and efficiency of the fire crews.
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Chas, try hightlghting the URL with your mouse, and then typing Control-C (for Copy).
Dropping it into the post could be through Edit | Paste, or Control-V (which doesn’t stand for anything, although the V looks like a wedge forcing its way in).
Finally, for completeness, Control-X does a Cut of the highlighted material, which you can paste anywhere you want.
These control key combinations are Windows standards, not browser-dependent. Other operating systems use them, also.
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There is an easy way to copy paste:
Run your mouse over the material you wish to copy, holding down the left part of your mouse as you copy – it will turn blue – you can lift your finger, it will continue to stay blue as long as you don’t it another part of the page with your mouse.
Then push down ctrl key on the far left lower part of your keyboard
Holding the ctrl key down, now hold down the c on your type — you have just copied your material.
To past:
Take your mouse and position it where you want the material is to begin — now press down your ctrl key hold it down and press the v key — your copy will print instantly.
Let me know if this doesn’t work for you.
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Victoria #51 – great minds . . .
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Steveaubrey
I found this on the internet – it might be easier then my LOOONG explanation;
To Copy: Highlight an area, then hold ‘Ctrl’ + ‘C’ (For Mac users ‘Apple’ + ‘C’).
To Paste: Click your mouse where you want the text pasted, and then press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘V’ (For Mac users ‘Apple’ + ‘S’.
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Thank y’all so much for your input. Karen O, it’s striking how similar your situation is to ours – only ours is at a much earlier stage. We’re trusting the Lord for the right outcome.
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I hereby announce that I’ll be taking a short hiatus from these parts, because I need time and thought to work through a few things.
I am not leaving. I will be back. And it will probably not be very long, 2-4 weeks or so.
Those who pray, please pray for strength and wisdom for me and for God’s softening of heart and opening of eyes of someone close to me (He’ll know who.)
See you all soon.
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Let me try this.
http://thehill.com/dick-morris/obamas-leap-to-socialism-2009-04-21.html
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IT WORKED! thanks Steve.
I’m still not sure what I did. I may have to practice on you some, so beware!
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Steve, I’m sorry to see you go. I’ll pray that it works out for you.
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I just right-click (after highlighting what I want), & click on “copy”. Then I click on where I want it, right-click again, then click on “paste”.
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Chas, congrats! Fire away with the URLs.
SteveG, you’ll be in our prayers.
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Michelle – I cried when I read your comment. How wonderful – Praise God!
At first, I was praying for God to get Emily out of this situation, to break them up somehow. It broke my heart to pray this, because I knew a break-up would cause heartbreak for my precious daughter. Now I pray more for Ryan’s salvation, feeling that they will be eventually getting married. (I also pray that since God knows whether or not Ryan will be saved, if he will not be, to turn their hearts away from each other – like you wrote about in your memoir.)
And yes, from the beginning I recognized that we may be the only “Jesus” Ryan ever sees, & that God cares as much about Ryan’s soul as He does about Emily’s soul.
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Steve G – May God bless you & answer your prayers for this person. I often pray for God to open someone’s eyes & soften their heart.
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You will be missed SteveG and I will pray for you. Remember us in your prayers!
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I’m finding that after being on a page for a little while – & I do mean a little while – the page goes white & I have to “refresh” to get the page back. Is it just my loopy laptop, or are others having this happen too?
It happened while I was typing this, too.
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Beautiful day here in central VA. My daughter and I were finally able to plant the beans.
Those of you following my foot drama…the cast came off one week ago, and right away it hurt just as badly as before. I’ve stayed off of it as much as possible this last week, just to see if getting used to no cast was what was hurting it. No help at all.
You all thought I was hard on the doc a few weeks ago…if you were in my shoes, I think you’d re-think. After the nurse sawed the cast off, Dr. D stuck his head through the door (didn’t even come in) and said, “see you in a month.” When I asked to talk to him before I left, the nurse said I couldn’t b/c he was already with another patient. When I called to try to TALK to the man, the receptionist said I’d have to make an appointment for any discussions. Baseline lowest charge for just walking through his doors, excluding whatever happens after, is $120. He doesn’t do ANY sort of payment plan–pay up front for everything. Our tax refund is gone, my husband gets a 5% paycut starting in July, and my foot is killing me. But, God is good…8*)
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Praying for you SteveG.
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I subscribe too … no popup needed.
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I’m not complaining about the pop up. Somebody has to pay the bills.
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Karen O – It may be your browser. I use Mozilla Firefox without problems like that.
But, Lynn, please make that pop up go away. For someone like me that comes and goes several times during the day, it’s annoying.
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Karen O’s method works too. I need to remember that.
Momoffour. I’m sorry it didn’t work. But thanks for keeping us updated. My wife recently asked about “the woman with the foot problem”. I’ll continue to pray for you.
There’s not another doctor in your town, I presume.
I know you don’t like Northern Virginia, but they do have doctors. They also have them in Charlottesville.
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SteveG….I do realize we may not agree on a whole lot. I do appreciate that we do on some issues, but permit me to say that you are one of my favorite posters on WMB. I enjoy your intelligent input, even though there are times you drive me crazy. Do what you need to do, and may you return enlightened, encouraged and envigorated. May God make the time you are gone seem like an eye blink, and may you return ready to make me laugh again.
Bless you, Steve!
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In terms of my eyes, the problem is that I have struggled with high blood pressure for many years, and it has damaged blood vessals to my eyes. The opthamalogist was concerned that surgery might backfire. The 4% risk in general is that cataract surgery might have complications leading to more surgery, or sight getting worse, or loss I aof sight in one eye. As he said, there is no danger to health of not correcting cataracts if one can function with them (which I can at the moment do, though my vision is “clearly” getting worse. It’s not like heart surgery or cancer surgery (something one should not regard as “elective.”
I got cute and said, “If you were in my position, would you get the surgery?”
He said, “I won’t answer that question.”
I asked, “Would you be the one to operate?”
He said, “If you want. I have performed this operation over a thousand times. I regard myself as competent, though I would not offer myself as the finest eye surgeon in this area.”
“Who is?” I asked.
“He is not available for you. Some of my patients have a serious need for this operation and are terrified of it. Some of my patients only have a slight problem and want it done tomorrow. So I never tell my patients what they should do in this regard.”
The person who manages the wood ministry of the church where I volunteer (though don’t belong or attend service” said, “I had cataract surgery for one eye. The improvement in my sight was remarkable!”
That sounded great. Unfortunately, he continued (I am not making this up) “For one day. Then my macular degeneration got worse the next day and my sight is much worse. I am afraid to have it done on the other eye for fear the same thing might happen.”
So the whole issue is still up in the air.
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#18 Adios
I generally appreciate your comments and I thought you comment on the virginity article was sensible.
As I said many times, I think humans are severely over-sexed (speaking as a person who likes sex well enough), whether it is the result of God (the Divine Being with a naughty and sadistic sense of humor or it is, as I believe, an evolutionary adaptation that helped us survive when we were fleeing leopards and other proto-humans) but has mostly outlived its usefulness.
In any case we vacillate between obsessing against sex or obsessing for sex, with unhappy results in either case. Your mileage…(claps hand over mouth in case Ree is watching me).
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By the way, Adios, there is a character who uses the silly screen name “Yeah” and who follows me around watching for me to mention him so he can say I am “following him around.”
He claims to be a Christian, but I think he is a religious fanatic. Anyway, perhaps you can speak to him about his obsessions.
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Friends, from my latest blogpost which discusses legal scholar and career federal clerk Seth Barett Tillman and his paper responding to University of Chicago Law Prof. Geoff Stone’s paper on the “Christian Nation” controversy. These are two big hitters in the world of scholarship who have touched upon my favorite issue (and Tillman was kind enough to send me his paper).
I wrote:
Folks like David Barton will give lectures to megachurches (for instance Robert Jeffress’ of Texas and MANY others) arguing America was founded to be a “Christian Nation” and almost all of the Founders were “serious Christians.” The next day pastors like Jeffress will give sermons on how “Mormons aren’t Christians.” Well sorry, if Mormons aren’t Christians then neither are most of the “key Founding Fathers,” the men whose faces grace US Currency and played leading roles during the American Founding. I agree it’s currently impossible to determine what a majority of the 200 or so Founding Fathers were. We only know what the key Founders believed by meticulously examining their public and private writings. And even there GW, JM and others were good at covering their tracts, while TJ, JA and BF were not. On the surface TJ was, like GW a vestryman in the Anglican Church. If TJ didn’t play such a big role, folks like Barton would look at his church membership and their respective creed and conclude TJ was an “orthodox Trinitarian Christian,” when, as we know, TJ hated the Trinity.
http://tinyurl.com/dbdzwc
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SteveG,
I’ve prayed for you and I’ll try to remember to continue to pray periodically. I know what it’s like to wait for God to work in the life of someone you care for. I pray that you’ll be sensitive to His leading in the situation as well.
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Oh, nevermind me. I’ll clap my own hand over my mouth.
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Re: the original post, Bible study is hard work, and laziness keeps us from doing it well.
That could be said by any pastor who takes his role seriously.
All jokes aside, few people really understand the work that effective pastors do. Bible study is one of many parts. The Bible must impact his mind and heart long before it exits his mouth to influence the lives of the people all around him.
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Chas,
Now that you know how to post a link, if you’re interested, I’ll tell you how to post a cool link like this. My favorite blog.
(I wasn’t sure what to link to for my example, but since this was already open in another window, I just linked to that blog.)
So, are you interested?
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SteveG – Waiting on God and listening for His voice is rarely easy. But it is always very rewarding.
I too appreciate you.
God Bless you with Himself!
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REE, I don’t know what I would do with it. I’m not interested in having a blog. I come here often because, at my age, I require lots of rest stops. So, I cut grass, trim bushes, etc., then come in, get some tea, and visit this site, play free cell or read. Then, hit it again. I don’t visit other blogs regularly. I sometimes go to Garney Bridge (TJ), and I just visited Pauline’s. My granddaughter has a blog that I visit about once a week to see if there are any new pictures.
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Steveg
I’m praying for you, and whatever you are dealing with. As you said GOD knows.
Take care –
God bless you
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Ree,
I should visit Wilson’s blog more often. He’s the one who wrote a book with Hitchens? I can give him some pointers on where Hitchens get the American Founders’ religions wrong; Hitchens has termed among others Franklin and Jefferson atheists which is as bad as anything David Barton has written.
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SteveG, will be thinking and praying for your situation. If you need us, drop in.
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That’s right, Adios. Random is right in 74. My noticing his constant references to me has nothing to do with my casual perusal of this website. Who does that?? No, I’m only here to see if I’ve gotten any more pub from that guy. Which I did!!
You’re mileage ma– No, that one’s taken. Let’s go with:
In Your Grocer’s Freezer
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Kayvee – I am on Mozilla Firefox.
The problem has gone away.
As I mentioned, my laptop is loopy. It does weird things from time to time, just to annoy me.
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Chas,
I didn’t mean for you to start a blog? I was just using that as an example. I was talking about making a clickable link that doesn’t show the url, but says what you want it to say instead. Like this.
Jon,
Yes, you should visit Pastor Wilson’s blog. That book was actually a debate sponsored by Christianity Today. He also wrote a response to Hitchens’ book before that debate which was also published. And he wrote responses to Sam Harris’s book and to Richard Dawkins’s as well. Those were all published as installments on the blog before they were published as books, but once they were published, he took them down off the blog.
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Ah, Karen O, it does it just to annoy you. Now I understand, that’s true of most electronic equipment, it’s designed that way at the factory. I know because I worked in that industry most of my adult life.
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SteveG, don’t be gone too long.
I’ve also enjoyed your posts, they are thoughtful and respectful even when I disagree with you.
I’ve spent the day on the couch, sleeping & watching old movies, still nursing a rare cold (I’m hardly ever out sick).
But I got to pondering, where’s Bo the First Dog? What have they done with him? I have not seen hide nor hair of him since his big unveiling a couple weeks ago. What’s up with that? Just one of those things you think about when you’re home sick, I suppose.
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So, after a long day, I am here to check in. Looks like you guys have been talking about something to be at 89, I look forward to learning what it was.
In God’s timing, the eye was fixed yesterday, and today I woke up to find two of our large dogs where they should not have been. Due to a break down in chores, the chickens did not all get put away so went to hang out in the goat pasture. That proved too tempting for the night watchmen dogs and they entered the land of browsers/grazers. They caught and killed and ate the three chickens. And while they were there one went ahead and took a couple of bites out of the lamb. I suspect the goat let them know the kids were not on the menu. Anyway, the trip to the vet was pretty straightforward and we are optimistic on the lamb’s survival if he makes it through this night. He is up and eating and appears over the stress that so often kills sheep.
An interesting turn at the vet’s when son fainted. I am thinking he may not be planning to be a surgeon when he grows up. But then his brother, getting his wings next week, gets airsick so who knows.
Thanks for praying for me and thinking of me, it is an encouragement.
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Wow, Mumsee, never a dull moment at your place.
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Re: #41
Interesting that the conservative Christian outrage is over the release of the memos by President Obama. As for the torture, maiming, and killing behind them – the conservative Christians have not a tear to shed or a pang of guilt. If those things were “good, right and moral” as they claim, why were they so desperate to cover them up and keep them from being exposed?
When are conservative Christians going to learn that evil and wrongdoing always end up getting exposed?
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“They caught and killed and ate the three chickens. And while they were there one went ahead and took a couple of bites out of the lamb.”
Well Mumsee, about the only way to cure the dogs of that, is to take one of the chickens and tie it around his neck until it rots off. If that doesn’t cure him, then you’ll have to put him down.
That treatment sure cured my old mutt. No one wanted to be around that stinky dog for two solid weeks. He was the happiest dog I’ve ever seen once it came off though. Never would set foot in the barn or chicken coop after that either. Never ever had a problem after.
Glad your eye is better and you’re back to the land of the seeing.
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One of my colleagues fainted at the vet’s once, He was (rightfully) alarmed when he came to on the floor, the veterinarian hovering over him holding a syringe.
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Make it Man,
We searched for a corpse to do just that, but there was nothing left but feathers. They are locked up (the dogs, not the feathers). I am charging my electric collars. I need a Taser. I hate to shoot him as that leaves everything fair game for the coyotes and we have the same problem. At least with him I can confine him or tie him out. He actually provides more value than the chickens or lamb.
Donna J,
The vet says it happens with some frequency. She seemed to know just what to do. I thought he just decided to lie down, my kids do that sort of thing. Now I know, they also faint.
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Also, Jon,
Check out this video to see Hitchens “thrown into a den of lambs.”
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Thanks Ree. Tho’ I already watched the debate a few weeks ago.
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Hat tip to Justin Taylor on this one. It hits the nail on the head for today’s “Whirled Views.”
“Spurgeon’s sermon on 2 Timothy 4:13 where Paul asks Timothy to bring him his books/parchments. But most had never heard of this sermon. Here’s a section from it:
We do not know what the books were about, and we can only form some guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the cloak, and Timothy was to be careful to bring them. Even an apostle must read. . . . A man who comes up into the pulpit, professes to take his text on the spot, and talks any quantity of nonsense, is the idol of many. If he will speak without premeditation, or pretend to do so, and never produce what they call a dish of dead men’s brains—oh! that is the preacher. How rebuked are they by the apostle!
He is inspired, and yet he wants books!
He has been preaching at least for thirty years, and yet he wants books!
He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books!
He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books!
He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful for a men to utter, yet he wants books!
He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books!
The apostle says to Timothy and so he says to every preacher, “Give thyself unto reading.” The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains, proves that he has no brains of his own.
Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers, and expositions of the Bible. We are quite persuaded that the very best way for you to be spending your leisure, is to be either reading or praying. You may get much instruction from books which afterwards you may use as a true weapon in your Lord and Master’s service. Paul cries, “Bring the books”—join in the cry.”
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Jon,
What did you think of the fact that Hitchens said that it was “babyish” to believe something just because you like it, then went on to prove by his arguments and his failure to address the arguments of others that he believes that the triune God does not exist for no other reason but that he likes to believe that? I found that quite revealing.
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Metanoia,
That’s a really good point Spurgeon makes. I never thought about that from that passage. Thanks (and thanks to Justin Taylor, I suppose and to Spurgeon, too, I guess) for that.
Who is Justin Taylor, anyway? I see hat tips to him on just about every blog I read? I guess I should do a search and find out and bookmark his site.
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Well, I looked him up, but I’m not sure I found the right Justin Taylor. So, who is he?
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