Apologies! Also, Pentacost!

[Karen]

Well, ladies and gents,

 

I have to apologize for being away for so long. I've been very busy with work over the summer, and I find it very ironic that I have less free time with work than I did while I was in school. I've also been hoping (to no avail, I guess), that people would start posting in the RRF (religious resource forum) by themselves without prompting from me. I have no problem starting topics, but I really want to get everyone who's interested's input so it can become a lively forum..for ALL.

 

Anyway! Today in the Christian world it is (was, I guess) the celebration of Pentecost, the day that Peter converted 3000 people to Christianity and everyone had a tongue of fire come over their head and they were speaking in each other's languages. This is absolutely INCREDIBLE, because there were so many different dialects in that time, dialects of the same language, different languages, etc etc. So this was an absolute miracle!

 

Today in church we talked about things happening in "ordinary time" (our time) and in "Chronos" time (I think that means God's time? I'm not entirely sure of the word." But yeah, "ordinary time" and "god time". In ordinary time, we still have to have a summit on racism and accepting others, and how to conquer animosity. In God time, everyone can understand each other so we are all equal under God.

 

As christians, muslims, jews, whatever, we are called to love one another as ourselves, yes? Even if you don't have a religion or believe kinda, or doubt, or can't find the balance between faith and skepticism, we are called to love one another. That's the great thing about God-time - we are all equal and ANYTHING is possible with God.

 

Ladies and gentleman: what can you accomplish with God on your side? What would you like to see changed in the world?

[Arie]

Karen, what a beutiful post! I do apologize as well for being so busy! I have wanted to respond to this post for a while!! I am sorry that it won't be the best response, but I put aside time to write something!

 

I really enjoyed what you wrote about G-D time ect, I also fully agree with it!!! I believe that our world is greatly flawed and therefore there are many things we must face that don't exist outside of the physical world. However, with G-D on our side I think we can each do amazing things! With belief and a relationship with G-D that is how we are each able to conquer the hardships we face. Belief on it's own has helped me cope with so much! What would I like to see changed? Negativity. So many people think such negative thoughts. People are in a rush to always assume that something is negative or going to have a negative outcome. If we out negativity into the world we will also get back negativity. But, if we try and put positivity into everything we see or touch, then amazing things will find their way back to use. If everyone was just a little nicer and a little more understanding of each other, then great things could happen!

[The Midnight Q]

The first Pentecost (is there a difference between Pentecost and Pentacost?) was the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles after the period of Easter, yeah? Totally did now know about Peter and the 3000. I guess it is the first actual evangelism of the Christian faith. It does mark the end of the Easter season taking us back into Ordinary Time in the Christian calendar.

[Karen]

Karen, what a beutiful post! I do apologize as well for being so busy! I have wanted to respond to this post for a while!! I am sorry that it won't be the best response, but I put aside time to write something!

 

I really enjoyed what you wrote about G-D time ect, I also fully agree with it!!! I believe that our world is greatly flawed and therefore there are many things we must face that don't exist outside of the physical world. However, with G-D on our side I think we can each do amazing things! With belief and a relationship with G-D that is how we are each able to conquer the hardships we face. Belief on it's own has helped me cope with so much! What would I like to see changed? Negativity. So many people think such negative thoughts. People are in a rush to always assume that something is negative or going to have a negative outcome. If we out negativity into the world we will also get back negativity. But, if we try and put positivity into everything we see or touch, then amazing things will find their way back to use. If everyone was just a little nicer and a little more understanding of each other, then great things could happen!

 

Why, thank you Arie! I do try to get people to think. The sermon was absolutely beautiful, and I hoped I could convey it. I recently joined a new church, a new denomination that is not catholicism, and I really, really enjoy it. I can relate to the sermons so much more, and I hope I can bring that here. I feel awful that this forum isn't as active as I had once hoped, but I really can't stress enough that other people need to add stuff here as well. But anyway, I really want to convey here what I get out of the sermon.

 

I do believe that God can do amazing things. One of my favorite sayings is, "don't tell your God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big your God is." I believe that pretty much sums it up for me! I really can't describe how much this past semester and this new church has helped me connect with God and I really am trying to bring God's word out. That's not to say I'm going around converting people, but I really do believe that God is good.

 

You are very right about negativity, Arie. People are always in a rush to criticise things and people never look for the good. I think if people woke up in the morning and took a couple minutes to appreciate their blessings and the glorious day, the world would be a better place. I love your positivity comment! It is so true. I think more people need to be optimistic; I know that that is one of my main strengths.

 

 

The first Pentecost (is there a difference between Pentecost and Pentacost?) was the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles after the period of Easter, yeah? Totally did now know about Peter and the 3000. I guess it is the first actual evangelism of the Christian faith. It does mark the end of the Easter season taking us back into Ordinary Time in the Christian calendar.

 

I have no idea about the different spellings, tbh. And yes, your definition is right And this is exactly what we talked about in church last sunday; the going into "Ordinary" time really isn't that ordinary when we are in God time, yes?

 

[Arie]

Why, thank you Arie! I do try to get people to think. The sermon was absolutely beautiful, and I hoped I could convey it. I recently joined a new church, a new denomination that is not catholicism, and I really, really enjoy it. I can relate to the sermons so much more, and I hope I can bring that here. I feel awful that this forum isn't as active as I had once hoped, but I really can't stress enough that other people need to add stuff here as well. But anyway, I really want to convey here what I get out of the sermon.

 

I do believe that God can do amazing things. One of my favorite sayings is, "don't tell your God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big your God is." I believe that pretty much sums it up for me! I really can't describe how much this past semester and this new church has helped me connect with God and I really am trying to bring God's word out. That's not to say I'm going around converting people, but I really do believe that God is good.

 

You are very right about negativity, Arie. People are always in a rush to criticise things and people never look for the good. I think if people woke up in the morning and took a couple minutes to appreciate their blessings and the glorious day, the world would be a better place. I love your positivity comment! It is so true. I think more people need to be optimistic; I know that that is one of my

 

Another amazing post!

First off, I want to say that I think you could be such an inspiration to people. There are so many who can't identify with their current place of worship ect. For you to have gone out of your comfort zone in order to find a connection, wow. I give you a round of applause! That's AMAZING!!! And the best part, look what you found! I can't tell by your post how inspired and how strong your belief has become! I am so proud of you Hun! Amazing amazing job!

Secondly, that sermon sounds like it was truly wonderful! I hope that you will share more of the sermons with me! Especially since they seem to have affect you so much!

I love that saying! Where did you hear it? Can I use it?! I love it!!! Amazing! I think that as people we struggle with remembering that G-D is all powerful, and while humans do have a certain amount of power we are still flawed. How often do we or at least me lol find myself blaming G-D when something isn't go right? All the time! But, then I have to remind myself that G-D isn't causing my issue, I am or someone else is, but G-D is the only one who can help me out of it (other then myself of course). I don't believe in an evil G-D. I just can't! I have spent so many classes ect. studying is exact subject. ( I went to a Jewish school my whole life and spent last year in a seminary for Jewish girls). I just won't believe in an evil G-D. So I make sure to "tell my problems who my G-D is" and that he is carrying me every step of the way!

 

It interesting that you made that point about waking up in the mourning. Earlier this year I went through some sort of an emotional breakdown. Everynoght I use to Skype with one of my best friends. She used to be an extremely negative and all around pessimistic girl. But, the one thing she used to make me do every night is tell her 5 good things that happened that day. Even though at the time 5 was a huge struggle, she began to increase the number by 1 every night. This went on for weeks, and I can't tell you how much it helped me. Because no matter how depressed I got, somewhere deep in the back of my head I had a clear list of all the wonderful things that had happened each day and eventually week and month. People need to start focusing on all the wonderful things that happen to us everyday! My whole outlook on life changed because of my friend. I hardly find what to complain about these days. Instead I find myself searching for the little diamonds all around me. And, I always find them because they are always there! It saddens me that people complain so much about their lives! We are so lucky! We have food, a home, and people who love us. Shouldn't that be enough? Many people in this world barley even have that.

 

Wow, well I apologize for my rambling! I haven't gotten to write in a while and it's showing by this post! Oops. I need to get back to my daily journal entries badly! (clearly hahaha)

[Lady Deadpool]

The first Pentecost (is there a difference between Pentecost and Pentacost?)

Nope, the greek word is Πεντηκοστή(Pentikosti)and in terms of Linguistics the the greek i equals to both e and a in latin characters and uhm translation and all. So it's exactly the same term.

[Karen]

Another amazing post!

First off, I want to say that I think you could be such an inspiration to people. There are so many who can't identify with their current place of worship ect. For you to have gone out of your comfort zone in order to find a connection, wow. I give you a round of applause! That's AMAZING!!! And the best part, look what you found! I can't tell by your post how inspired and how strong your belief has become! I am so proud of you Hun! Amazing amazing job!

Secondly, that sermon sounds like it was truly wonderful! I hope that you will share more of the sermons with me! Especially since they seem to have affect you so much!

I love that saying! Where did you hear it? Can I use it?! I love it!!! Amazing! I think that as people we struggle with remembering that G-D is all powerful, and while humans do have a certain amount of power we are still flawed. How often do we or at least me lol find myself blaming G-D when something isn't go right? All the time! But, then I have to remind myself that G-D isn't causing my issue, I am or someone else is, but G-D is the only one who can help me out of it (other then myself of course). I don't believe in an evil G-D. I just can't! I have spent so many classes ect. studying is exact subject. ( I went to a Jewish school my whole life and spent last year in a seminary for Jewish girls). I just won't believe in an evil G-D. So I make sure to "tell my problems who my G-D is" and that he is carrying me every step of the way!

 

It interesting that you made that point about waking up in the mourning. Earlier this year I went through some sort of an emotional breakdown. Everynoght I use to Skype with one of my best friends. She used to be an extremely negative and all around pessimistic girl. But, the one thing she used to make me do every night is tell her 5 good things that happened that day. Even though at the time 5 was a huge struggle, she began to increase the number by 1 every night. This went on for weeks, and I can't tell you how much it helped me. Because no matter how depressed I got, somewhere deep in the back of my head I had a clear list of all the wonderful things that had happened each day and eventually week and month. People need to start focusing on all the wonderful things that happen to us everyday! My whole outlook on life changed because of my friend. I hardly find what to complain about these days. Instead I find myself searching for the little diamonds all around me. And, I always find them because they are always there! It saddens me that people complain so much about their lives! We are so lucky! We have food, a home, and people who love us. Shouldn't that be enough? Many people in this world barley even have that.

 

Wow, well I apologize for my rambling! I haven't gotten to write in a while and it's showing by this post! Oops. I need to get back to my daily journal entries badly! (clearly hahaha)

 

Oh my goodness Arie, thank you so much! I try to inspire people as much as I can, and be a role model for people in my own way, just by living a healthy life and fulfilling my relationship with God and others.

 

I never used to know what to pray for and now I can pray pretty easily and with more passion than before. I never want to become one of those people that are like THE END IS NEAR AND YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HELL!!! and I don't think I ever WILL be like that - that's just not who I am. I just want people to know how happy I am that I found a religion that works for me. I'm still trying to find a balance between faith and an open mind, because for me, I feel like if I say YES, GOD EXISTS and stick to it, I'm closing off a portion of my mind - and I don't want to do that. I want to keep my mind as open as possible to new ideas and concepts.

 

As for the saying, one of the kids I met in christian fellowship has it as a quote on his facebook and YES you can definitely use it. I love it!! And I'm curious, what's the concept behind a Jewish convent? Like in a catholic convent the nuns are married to God, and I was just wondering if it was the same thing? I'd love to hear

 

And I love that you create a list. I don't do it as often as I like, but one of my biggest pet peeves is ungratefulness. My mom can be really ungrateful sometimes, and I really hate it. I *always* try to make sure I count my blessings. And arie, I am so happy that you are in a better place now

 

Also, is the Jewish concept of God different in the fact that it doesn't perceive God in a negative way? Because in many religions God is seen as good and bad, I mean, people fear God. In my new church we say something like (I'm still learning it): may you love God so much that you ...something something xD and may you fear God just enough that you fear nothing else at all. something like that haha.

 

Nope, the greek word is Πεντηκοστή(Pentikosti)and in terms of Linguistics the the greek i equals to both e and a in latin characters and uhm translation and all. So it's exactly the same term.

 

thank you Dina!

[The Midnight Q]

Nope, the Greek word is Πεντηκοστή(Pentikosti)and in terms of Linguistics the the Greek i equals to both e and a in Latin characters and uhm translation and all. So it's exactly the same term.

 

Well modern Western Christianity (maybe Orthodox as well but I'm not sure) was derived from the Greek. Makes perfect sense now.

[Arie]

Oh my goodness Arie, thank you so much! I try to inspire people as much as I can, and be a role model for people in my own way, just by living a healthy life and fulfilling my relationship with God and others.

Just telling it like it is!! I think a lot of people could learn something from you! I think you are a wonderful role model and you should be so proud of yourself!!! Huge pat on the back!

 

I never used to know what to pray for and now I can pray pretty easily and with more passion than before. I never want to become one of those people that are like THE END IS NEAR AND YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HELL!!! and I don't think I ever WILL be like that - that's just not who I am. I just want people to know how happy I am that I found a religion that works for me. I'm still trying to find a balance between faith and an open mind, because for me, I feel like if I say YES, GOD EXISTS and stick to it, I'm closing off a portion of my mind - and I don't want to do that. I want to keep my mind as open as possible to new ideas and concepts.

That's amazing!!! I think regular prayers is such a hard task to take on! I am so happy that you have found a connection to praying and that it has become part of your routine! It's so important! I have a lot of the same issues as you have. I have grown up in a religious atmosphere and it's so hard to stay open minded! It's something I have struggled with and will always struggle with. It's a huge task to maintain a balance and a constant task! But I am so proud of everything you have done and are doing. The way you are writing and everything, I can tell how different things are for you! It's amazing!

 

As for the saying, one of the kids I met in christian fellowship has it as a quote on his facebook and YES you can definitely use it. I love it!! And I'm curious, what's the concept behind a Jewish convent? Like in a catholic convent the nuns are married to God, and I was just wondering if it was the same thing? I'd love to hear

I love that saying and I am totally going to use it!!! Thanks for sharing it with me!

We don't have convents lol. So that's an easy question to answer. We don't have a concept of nuns or anything like that. We have rabbis and other religious leaders but they are mostly looked at as teachers ect. We don't have anyone that is extreme as nuns or anything like that. I have to say, nuns have always fascinated me. I have been trying for years to get in touch with a nun. I would just like to sit and talk with one for a while. I just find the whole concept so interesting and wow what dedication. The only reason I havnt spoken to one yet is I am a little nervous that she may try to convert me ect. I am not interested nor do I want to deal with that. I just want to talk with one about her experience and beliefs. I just think it would be so interesting!!

 

 

And I love that you create a list. I don't do it as often as I like, but one of my biggest pet peeves is ungratefulness. My mom can be really ungrateful sometimes, and I really hate it. I *always* try to make sure I count my blessings. And arie, I am so happy that you are in a better place now

Thank you, it was all thanks to my friend. More surprising is how a silly list could drastically change my whole way of viewing things. I could be in the worst possible situation ever and then suddenly perk up and say,"well at least the walls are a pretty color" or something else silly. The tiniest things make me happy. I love it! I think it's a much better way to live! Yeah I agree, people who are so ungrateful really bug me. There is so much that we have that we take for granted! People complain and complain and they have nothing to complain about. I think that people just enjoy complaining and enjoy their nasty comments. Idk, that's just not the kind of person I want to be. My best friend who I made the list every night with used to be like that. Now she has done a total 180 it's amazing. If she could do it, anyone could do it!

 

 

Also, is the Jewish concept of God different in the fact that it doesn't perceive God in a negative way? Because in many religions God is seen as good and bad, I mean, people fear God. In my new church we say something like (I'm still learning it): may you love God so much that you ...something something xD and may you fear God just enough that you fear nothing else at all. something like that haha.

I think here it's important to separate two of your points. Fearing G-D does not necessarily need to be a negative thing. This is sort of a hard question to answer because there are so many different opinions. The ultra orthodox do tend to look at G-D in a more negative way because they believe in doing a lot of things out of fear. Meaning they teach kids to do certain things because otherwise G-D will ve angry ect. They believe in all that fire and brimstone craziness. However, I am modern orthodox and we do not believe in a G-D like that. We believe in a just and kind G-D, but that doesn't mean that we also don't fear G-D. We do, but more out of respect. I sort of think about it like this, how could you not fear G-D? Think about all his power and how amazing/great he is. For me it's impossible not to fear that sort of being. But, I don't believe in a negative or angry G-D. But just like any religion, we all have different opinions lol.