Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Jack’s Winning Words 9/25/18
“A question that sometimes drive me crazy…Am I, or the others, crazy?”  (Albert Einstein)  As a child, Einstein was thought to have a mental disorder…not talking until 3 or 4…not reading until about 9.  He was dyslexic!  The world confused him, just as he confused others. At times I feel like Einstein…the world confuses me, especially when I hear the opinions of certain people.  Are they crazy, or am I?  The truth is: we can be confused and still be normal.  Are you normal, too?   ;-)  Jack

FROM VWMS:  Sometimes===JACK:

Almond Joy - Mounds Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut 1977 - YouTube


FROM FACEBOOK LIZ: not sure sometimes!===JACK:  I'd say that you are "out of the ordinary":...in a good way.

FROM WALMART REV:  I'm going to leave you guessing?! 0;-)===JACK:  I'm guessing that God knows...and that's all that counts.===LIZ:  thanks. i would say the same about you... i enjoy our friendship very much!

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I wonder what "normal" is?===JACK:  Normal depends on who is doing the measuring and for what purpose.  In my opinion, you're normal--sometimes, and atypical--at your best

FROM SF:  Yup!!!! There are so many crazies in my extended family, that sometimes I feel like I am the crazy! No kidding! LOL! It’s a new norm! Yikes!===JACK:  I once saw a movie, "The Snake Pit", in which a sane person was put in an institution for the insane.  Scary!  Our world may not be like that, but sometimes it gets close.===SF:  Just watch the news!!!!===JACK:  I've been asked, "Have you ever seen anything like this?"  NO!  The internet, with instant comment (true or false or inane), instant "gotcha research, pictures without context.  Bizarre!

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  I looked up the definition of abnormal.  Maybe I fit in that box - depending on who you aSK.===JACK:  There's a saying that you may have heard--Illegitimi non carborundum!  Don't worry about those weird ones who don't understand what normal is.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  To be normal today is not confusing! We're traveling in Maine and meeting all kinds of people! To each his own, and I don’t tell adults what to do or say!===JACK:  In the teaching and preaching professions, we're expected to give some guidance on how to think and how  to arrive at independent conclusions.  BTW, I'm energized by meeting "all kinds of people" and am not intimidated if they have views differing from mine.===SHIRL:  Me, too!

FROM CS:  Very good and very timely!===JACK:  I try to read the times and  public mood and write Winning Words accordingly.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Personally, I think we need Jesus back.  Everything we’ve always been taught is not ok.  Guilty until proven innocent...no one tells the truth...who do we believe?!?  It’s a very unsettled world but we are here just a short time.  Thankfully!!!===JACK:  We  need Jesus back?  We need to understand that Jesus is already here!   (Matthew 25:31-40)  When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and sits on his throne in heaven. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then He will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, "I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (NIV) ===JUDY:  ===JUDY:    We need to remember God's written words were not suggestions to be changed as needed.  Right is right and wrong is wrong.  The Bible is Very clear.  We have forgotten the Do onto Others, innocent until proven guilty and until we follow and get back into the Word. ===JACK:  I agree that some teachings are Black and White!  Is there any Gray?

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I BELIEVE IT WAS WM. PENN WHO SAID "RIGHT IS RIGHT, NO
MATTER HOW MANY ARE AGAINST IT, AND WRONG IS WRONG, NO MATTER HOW MANY ARE FOR IT!"  I THINK WE ARE BORN WITH THAT SENSE OF RIGHT  AND WRONG; BUT AS THE SITUATIONAL ETHICS COME INTO PLAY, WE MAY ENCOUNTER SOME GRAY...! :-(===JACK:  Born with a sense of right and wrong?  I'll have to think about that.   Early on I was taught that we are conceived and born in sin" (Ps 51:5)and took that literally.  Later on I came to accept that verse by changing the next to last word from "in" to "into."  We are conceived and born into a sinful world and are influenced by the world around us.  By accident, I was born into a Christian family where I was taught right from wrong.  And, by chance, some children did not have my good fortune, and that circumstance influenced them to make other choices.  The Good News is that we have an understanding God who is a God of love...and I'll leave the judgment of other up to his omniscience.  He also understands the situation in "situation ethics."  

No comments: