Karen

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.

Let’s get started:

How can a man atone for the sins of mankind?

The following article was taken from Chapter 1, footnote 16 of the book “One God & One Lord”

FAQ: If Jesus is a man then how can a man atone for the sins of mankind?

Thank you for asking this question.

It is common for Trinitarians to argue that Christ must be God because “a man could not atone for the sins of mankind.” Theologians through the ages have varied greatly in their opinions of exactly how Christ could accomplish redemption for fallen man, and these theological musings can be found in any good theological dictionary under the heading of “Atonement.”

However, a standard argument goes something like this: “Mankind has sinned against an infinite God, and therefore the sin is infinitely great. It takes an infinite being to atone for infinite sin, and the only infinite being is God. Therefore, since Christ atoned for sin, Christ must be God.” This argument, which seems reasonable to some people, is man-made, and nothing like it can be found in Scripture. What can be found in Scripture is simple and straightforward: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19).

There is not a single verse anywhere in Scripture that hints in any way that “God” was a sacrifice for sin. “The Church Fathers” tried to explain in great detail how Christ could atone for the sins of mankind, and offered many different theories as to how atonement could be accomplished. Origen, Augustine, and others believed that Christ was a payment made by God to Satan. Others taught that Christ was not a substitute for man, but rather a representative of man, and somehow the effect of his sufferings and resurrection extend to all mankind.

In the Middle Ages, Anselm taught that mankind’s sin offended God, and that Christ’s redemption was an act of “satisfaction,” to appease God. Abelard explained Christ’s atonement in terms of love and the response of love elicited from the sinner due to Christ’s example. The list of man’s theories about exactly how our atonement was accomplished is long, and entire books have been written on the subject.

The reason for the varying theories is that the New Testament does not set forth a “theory of atonement,” it just states the facts of the case, i.e., that Christ’s death paid for sin. Scripture makes many and varied references to the atoning work of Christ. Christ is called a “sacrifice” (Eph. 5:2; Heb. 9:26), a “sin offering” (Isa. 53:10; 2 Cor. 5:21 [NIV alternate reading]), a “ransom” (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6; Heb. 9:15) and an “atoning sacrifice” (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).

We do not see the need or reason to build a “theory of atonement” when none is offered in the Word of God. The words of the Word are sufficient. As far as the subject of this article is concerned, the most important conclusion that can be drawn from what is revealed in the Word of God is that it is unbiblical to assert that Christ had to be God to pay for the sins of mankind when the Bible explicitly says that payment for sin came “by man.” See also Chapters 16 and 17 of our book One God & One Lord. [For further study, please read Christianity 101: Two Adams.]

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about God’s wonderful message, please visit the Truth or Tradition website. You can also keep track of the ministry through their Facebook page.

Thank you for visiting and God bless.

Saturday Photo Hunt

Saturday Photo Hunt – Hat

January 17, 2009 Karen

This week’s theme: Hat

You can find more Photo Hunters here.

Life

Thank You For Putting Me in this Awkward Position

January 16, 2009January 16, 2009 Karen

It happened.

I read about it on other blogs. I formed my own opinions and “what if” scenarios in my mind wondering how I would handle the same situation if it ever happened to me. I judged those bloggers based on their decisions and how they handled it.

And now it has happened to me. Karma has come to bite me on my dimpled butt.

I signed onto my Facebook account yesterday to see what my family had been up to.

And I was surprised to see I had a friend request.

From an old boyfriend.

*sigh*

My very first reaction was “oh cool! Look who it is! Wow, he’s changed!” Because we all have this image stuck in our brains of people from our past being the same young person from our past.

It’s a bit shocking when we see that that person from our past? Is no longer young. Or the same.

At all.

Then the very next reaction was dread. We didn’t exactly end things on a positive note. In fact, our relationship had deteriorated to the point where I couldn’t stand this guy’s guts.

We started out as friends. I’ve mentioned before that I didn’t have a lot of girlfriends when I was in high school because I simply couldn’t stand most of the girls in my class. I’m a very impatient and grounded person. I didn’t do the head games. I didn’t do the girly stuff. I was simply … me. A few girls accepted that, most did not.

But whatever. I honestly didn’t care. I had plenty of boy friends to keep me company. And boy friends as in guy friends, nothing romantic. I guess you could say I was tomboyish in nature. I just got along better with guys than I did with girls. I knew how to joke around with them. I didn’t take their crap, in fact, I dished out more than my fair share of crap back to them. In return, they had a sort of grudging respect for me, I guess.

In short, we got along. They tolerated me. I tolerated them. It worked. *shrug*

We met on the streets. This was back in the days when “cruising” was a hot past time for teenagers and was allowed. Now, cops will bust you for cruising up and down a strip. But back then, it was tolerated. And I remember spending quite a few nights driving up and down Kearney street in my smokin’ little silver ’72 Monte Carlo and showing off my dorkiness to hot guys. A group of us would congregate on a parking lot and exchange BS for a bit before we got back into our cars and cruised around some more.

What can I say, there wasn’t a lot to do back in those days. And gas was cheap. And we were bored. And it kept us out of trouble (most of the time *ahem*).

So, I’m out cruising. And I see a group of people in a parking lot. When I recognize a few of them, I pull over. And that’s when I met him.

He didn’t go to my school. He went to a rival school and I think that is what initially caught my attention. He was off limits. He was dangerous. He was a new face.

We started talking. And I enjoyed his brusque, rude, and obstinate attitude. He was quickly elevated to “challenge” and that, my friends, is something I rarely turned down. A challenge to match wits and exchange barbs, with a guy.

I became interested.

We started hanging out. And I got to know him better. And the more I got to know him, the more impatient I became with him. He was a Downer Dan. He never had anything good to say about anybody or anything. He was always grumpy. He had a permanent scowl. He never saw the positive side of things and in short, was one of the biggest pessimists I’ve ever encountered in my life.

I became quite cynical around him. And I slowly started turning into this … person I didn’t like around him. I treated him like crap, and yet, he continued to hang around me. I took him for granted, but he continued to bend over backwards for me.

I felt powerful. And when it became obvious that this guy was starting to have feelings for me, I felt claustrophobic. And I started to feel guilty for treating him like crap. So, my attitude toward him started to subtly change and he took that as encouragement.

He suggested we become a couple.

I refused.

But he was persistent. And I was lonely. I was a senior in high school and every other girl in my class had a boyfriend. And I wanted to experience the hand holding, the soft kisses, and the inside jokes. I wanted to wear someone’s jacket. I wanted to wear someone’s class ring.

So, I grudgingly agreed.

Our friendship turned sour from that point on. My heart simply wasn’t in it. I simply did not feel that way about him. And I started to feel guilty. I didn’t want to hurt this guy’s feelings. He had helped me out of quite a few, er, situations and I owed him.

I stuck it out for about a month until I simply couldn’t lie to myself, or to him, any longer.

The relationship became stressed because I was picking fights and being a pain in the arse hoping that the guy would simply dump me and I would be out of the relationship. But instead, it was like the guy thrived on my unhappiness and it was at that point that I knew, not only was our “relationship” over, but our friendship was over, too. I couldn’t be around a guy like that. He wasn’t healthy for me.

So, I broke it off with him, cold turkey. I don’t remember exactly how I did that, but I do remember being really mean to him.

I feel so bad about that now. But I was a kid. And I was feeling trapped. And I think I panicked.

Life went on and I lost track of him. And then I forgot all about him. It wasn’t until years later that he somehow found an old email address of mine, one that I hang on to for some strange reason even though no one contacts me through it anymore and the only mail I get through that account is spam mail.

But he found me. And he emailed me. And his name caught my attention one day as I was going through my spam folder. Actually, he hadn’t emailed me directly, but I was on his friends/family list. I reluctantly opened the email and saw a link to his My Space page. I clicked over and read up on his life. Military – married – no kids.

I was happy for him. I hoped he was happy. But I didn’t contact him. I had no desire to open that can of worms again. And really, why should I? I had a husband, a family, a life. There was really no REASON to begin a friendship up again. Where would it lead? I wasn’t interested.

I think a part of me knew, a deep, dark, little secret part of me knew, that it wasn’t quite over for him. I sort of suspected that if I contacted him, he might want to try and worm his way back into my life causing strife, stress and certainly sorrow. It’s hard to explain, but I think he might still have feelings for me. It’s just a weird feeling I have and I hope I’m wrong – but it’s there, none the less.

And if you will recall, I don’t DO drama. I simply refuse to put myself in a situation where there might be drama. I like my life. I love my family. We’re happy. We’re content. I have no desire to expose my family to a part of my past.

So, I ignored him.

And now, he’s found me on Facebook. I’m sure that the unease I’m feeling with this guy is all me. He’s probably just some nice guy looking to add more friends to his Facebook account and when he combed his past, there I was. I’m sure he’s happy and has moved on with his life. I’m sure I’m just being paranoid and egotistical in thinking he even still thinks of me like that.

But when I read portions of his My Space page and detected just a bit of “attitude” toward his life and some of the things he said … I don’t know, I’m a pretty good judge of character and it just didn’t sound like something someone would say about their life if they were happy. Again, it’s hard to explain, it’s just a feeling.

But all of that really doesn’t matter. The bottom line is, the contact with this guy wouldn’t be appropriate given my current status: happily married. I mean, let’s put the shoe on the other foot for a minute. How would I feel if my husband’s ex-wife sent a friend request to him?

And he accepted?

I’d go ballistic, that’s what would happen. I’d always wonder if they were exchanging secret messages or he was flirting with her (or vice versa). Their history is just that, history. There is no room for her in his life. None. A friendship is out of the question, given their history.

And that’s when it dawned on me – I can’t accept this guy’s friend request for the same reasons.

It would be opening up a can of worms and in the end, would it be worth the strife it would cause in my life? Absolutely not.

So dude, I’m sorry. I truly am. But I have a life, a good life. And you have a life. And it’s just not feasible, practical, or WISE, to intersect those lives.

I have no choice but to ignore you.

________________________

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General

Special Scarves for Special People

January 16, 2009January 14, 2009 Karen

See these beautiful scarves?

scarves1, originally uploaded by PaceGuy.

These scarves are just another reason why I adore my mother. She has a kind and generous heart and loves to donate her time and energies to good causes.

My mom made these scarves and donated them to the Special Olympics. Wouldn’t it be cool to see one of these special people wearing one of my mom’s special scarves?

Thanks for your generosity, mom. I’m sure they will love them.

Photos

I Inherited My Photography Interest

January 16, 2009January 14, 2009 Karen

I love this picture. Not just because it’s my dad and he’s holding a camera, but because it just looks so sharp for a picture taken back then. And the colors. And the funky people in the background and their appearance.

Apparently, they had mu-mu dresses back then, too. 😀

But seriously, I wonder where I get my interest in photography?

hhmm…

Life-condensed

At the Moment …

January 15, 2009 Karen

I really enjoy reading blog entries that simply list everyday, mundane tasks. There is something comforting in knowing that not everyone is writing a thought-provoking, deeply insightful blog post.

Because writing those kinds of posts leave me brain dead.

For days.

So, I’d like to write more spur-of-the-moment posts about what I’m doing, right now. And what my plans are for the rest of the day.

Because this is a journal after all – so, it’s time to journal.

It’s cold here. Though we’re not nearly as cold as our neighbors up north. Our current temperature is nine degrees, though it “feels” like -6 degrees. Temperatures are supposed to plummet to zero tonight and then back up to 28 degrees tomorrow. Heat wave!

I’m not complaining though, having bitter cold temperatures is MUCH BETTER than having bitter cold temperatures and being buried under five inches of ice and without power (like when that happened this time two years ago).

I have the thermostat set to 68 degrees. This is our normal setting, actually. It is programmed to drop to 65 degrees after 10:00 in the evening so if I stay up and read (like I did last night), I have to snuggle under a blanket to keep warm.

My body is currently swallowed by sweats and I have space heaters going in two rooms – the room my PC is in (i.e. my office, but it’s actually the family room) and my husband’s office because that’s where the kids games are and where they will be spending the majority of their time after school today.

I would like to build a fire, but I feel guilty. It seems so selfish to build, and enjoy, a fire when my guys aren’t here to enjoy it with me. Here I am, cozy at home while they are working hard at work and school. So, I will wait to build a fire tomorrow when the kids are home (they’re out due to some sort of professional development day).

I just fixed myself some pancakes. I exist on dry pancakes throughout most of the week – that usually ends up being both my breakfast and lunch. Though I did dip them in syrup today and now I have a stomach ache – or it might be because I drank orange juice. I don’t know, I’ve pretty much given up trying to figure out what does, or does not, give me digestive problems.

I just downloaded a Flash ticker program and I’m experimenting with that. If I’m successful, you’ll likely see an example of it on the photo contest post. Which, by the way, I only have seven people entered at this point. Do you not WANT to win a $25 gift certificate to a store of your choice?

I will be making my way to Wal-Mart soon. We’re out of bread. Well actually, we’re not out, but we discovered this morning that the 1/4 loaf we had was moldy so no grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids’ lunches today. I also need to pick up a 2 GB SD card and a 2 GB Compact Flash card so I can put our pictures on them and use them in our new digital photo frame. We figured out last night that 4 GB was just too big and the frame froze up on us. We looked up the website and read the FAQ – apparently, this has happened with a lot of folks.

I’m a bit worried about the kids. They don’t wear coats to school because 1. they lose them, 2. they don’t want to keep track of them and 3. they are inside most of the day and think it’s pointless to take them. So, I will worry about them standing outside in negative degree wind chill and waiting for me. I hope traffic is relatively light so I can get to them in a timely manner.

That’s it. That’s my day. How is your day going? Are you staying warm?

karen1

Project 365

Project 365: January 15th

January 15, 2009January 14, 2009 Karen

And here we go, another week of random photos. If you want to keep track of my photos, you can subscribe to the Project 365 RSS feed.

1. My guys around the dinner table. We eat dinner together every night. It’s very rare that we load up the TV trays and eat in front of the TV. We’re eating on paper plates because our good plates are in the dish washer and I’m too lazy to wash them for this meal. We had fried chicken, peas and mashed potatoes that night. The fried chicken was REALLY fried because pink chicken scares the crap out of me so I overcook it every time.

2. This is the project MK was building. It’s a Bioncle and it’s a cross between a space ship and a weapon. Don’t look at me like that, it’s a guy thing. *shrug* He collects them and this project took him all day to build. He was quite proud of himself for sticking with it and not giving up.

3. My walking shoes. If you look closely, you can see the tread is gone; it’s about time for another pair of shoes. The tread is virtually non-existent on the left shoe and just worn down on the right shoe. Apparently, I walk heavier on my left foot. That’s weird.

4. This photo album is so old that the pages are starting to crumble. I’m working on scanning all of these photos and putting them on an SD card so my parents will have a more permanent record of them. They can also look at them in their new digital picture frame. Look closely – that baby? Is me. *smile*

5. My husband, doing our taxes. See his concentration face? Isn’t it cute?

6. GD at his computer. His facial expression kills me. It’s a cross between irritation and amusement. I think he reserves this face just for me. And only me. *sigh*

7. Me. I’m on my way to run some errands. The weather was sunny and upper 20’s that day so I was freezing. It was also windy, hence the “why bother to fix my hair” hairdo. I went to the bank, Wal-Mart (to buy more Aleve and a posterboard for GD), Blockbuster and Harter House to buy some stew meat.

My life is so exciting, yes?