Jack’s Winning Words 8/7/14
“It’s not all bad if you get mad at God.  It at least shows that you really believe in Him.”  (Wally Armbruster)  In the ICU a father had to restrain his young son from moving while a life-saving i-v solution was being administered.  The boy begged his father to stop the procedure and to release his hold.  The father knew that it was best not to let go.  The boy looked at him and said, “You’re the meanest dad in the whole world.”  Have you ever been angry with God because he hasn’t done as you wanted?    ;-)  Jack

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  I LOVE THIS... it does prove one believes!  shared this w/my fb friends, many of whom are atheists or agnostic... a few evangelicals thrown in there, too.====JACK:  I guess there are times when many of us are agnositics.  In the old TV cartoon series, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Bullwinkle would sometimes pose as Mr. Know-It-All, an authority on everything.  The episode would usually end in disaster...as it happens with all who think they know it all.====LIZ:  cracked fairy tales (on rocky & bullwinkle show) was the best cartoon on tv.

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  many a time...but i keep on hangin on!  the alternative is too lonely and a bit egocentric.====JACK:  I like the man in the Bible who says to Jesus, "I believe; help my unbelief."

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  The thing that has made me most angry at God (so far) is that He let the Holocaust happen. And I guess that anger is also attached to my fear that I will follow false leaders, false theology. For a couple of weeks I believe the daily lectionary that the ELCA offices send out have been coming from a "newer (and to my hearing conversational translation) and, as I'm reading, I'm thinking "Is this translation actually as accurate as the older one?" Sometimes it's hard to keep uppermost in my mind that God is taking care of us and protecting us from evil and harm. ====JACK:  Translations are meant to try to interpret the Scriptures, using language forms that relate to a particular day and age.  The King James translation of 1610, related to that day.  We need to continue to retranslate in order to better understand.  BTW, a Jewish friend and I were discussing the Holocaust in which relatives of his perished.  We pursued the thought...Without the Holocaust, perhaps Israel would not have been formed as a homeland for Jews.====SHARON:  Enjoyed your comment, Pastor Freed. Maybe the Holocaust has led to the Jewish people being able to have their own homeland now. To me that seems sort of necessary because of the persecutions they face and it really is too bad having your own homeland comes from that reason. I believe Jews, Christians and Moslems are reading the same Inspired Word but, for some reason, come away with different interpretations and that is always hard for me. For some reason, I haven't (so far) gotten angry with God for that but do from time-to-time when confronted with the fact of the differences, get angry at us people and particularly that we can translate so limitedly. The Hamas people translating and acting on their interpretations is very painful right now and I actually don't know what is keeping them from recognizing the State of Israel, except it might be their reading of the Word the way they do. Do you think when we get the next Bible translation in the next 100 years, it will reflect more accurately what Jews, Moslems and Christians are going through right now? Just wondering.

FROM TARMART REV:  Overly angry with God or any man of contrariety? Few times, if any at all . . . very frustrated, you bet!!====JACK:  It's hard to say that you get "mad" at God, isn't it?  But sometimes "frustration" might be too soft a word.