Oct 19

  • cjjones
    cjjones added a text contribution Grace from the beginning
    I'm a big fan of Grace... I would not be Saved were it not for the Grace, offered by God, through Christ's sacrifice for us all.. In a world of Death and Killing and an Eye for an Eye mentality here is the first documented Sin (1st wrong doing called Sin) in the Bible and God doesn't strike him down... He doesn't take Cain's life because Cain slew Abel... No - He sends him away - there is punishment, but there is also Grace. God offers Grace to Cain by sparing his life… Read more »
  • cjjones
    cjjones added a text contribution More than one Wife...
    Mattmgcill posted a question reguarding Genesis 16:2 and how an argument could be made that Abram taking Sarai's maid in order to conceive a child is against God's will... I too have struggled with Genesis 16 for a variety of reasons as well, but to at least give my view to Matt... In Genesis 16:3 it states that Hagar was given to Abram (by Sarai) as his wife... This would suggest that the sex was between man and wife... The problem that I have always had for this is that while it w… Read more »
  • cjjones
    cjjones added a text contribution So where did that Free Will thing come from?
    I already talked about how this passage stood out for me - correcting the Sunday School stories I remembered as a child... It also stood out to me in two very distinct ways, however; and I felt a need to mention it... I cannot tell you the number of times that I've heard the discussion of Free Will come back to being blamed on Adam & Eve eating of this fruit... Maybe its because I just have had this preset notion all of my life that eating of the fruit is what gave us the ability of f… Read more »
  • cjjones
    cjjones added a text contribution Plenty of blame to pass around
    I remember being taught this story, every year, for the vast majority of my youth. Every time it was taught you could queue the jokes that you knew were bound to come about how the poor guy got blown out of paradise by a girl - and that Satan is such a snake... In reading this passage with a critical eye for a recent bible study - it blew me away to see this passage in an entirely new light... The serpent was simply a crafty (and talking) beast - never does it call him Satan or anything else r… Read more »
  • cjjones
    cjjones added a text contribution Equality in Partnership
    I was looking at my wife beautifully asleep while I was reading this passage for a recent bible study we did at our church. The passage struck me so strongly as a reminder that we are one. So often this passage is taught as an example of how man is above woman - but I think its so much more... God created us to be partners to each other and equal in our roles. My wife completes me and makes me a person that is better because of the partnership. To consider her anything but my equal would be… Read more »