User:Storm Rider
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[edit] Greetings!
I have been using Wikipedia since October 2004. Prior to that time I edited as an ANON, but then desired to become a serious participant and became a registered editor. My interests reside in the area of history. I tip my hat to all of you for the collegial nature in which most editing takes place, particularly in the area of religion.
I am fascinated by history; in particular religious history. I am amazed at how great our collective ancestors were; their willingness to surmount obstacles, and their intelligence. To be able to read history either from their own hand or the hand of others is a blessing that should be enjoyed by far more people today.
I have read many of the world's holy books and have found inspiration in each of them. I am convinced that there is only one source of truth and it is not surprising that there are similarities found among all religions. Religious diversity is not a sign of the absence of God, but rather a sign of the willingness of God to provide the degree of truth to which we individually can absorb.
When we strive to look at secular history we strive to reveal fact. Reconstructionists would have us view history through the lens of today. I believe this is in fact an erroneous position for "historians". We may comment on the actions of our forefathers, but we should not judge them based upon society's present norms. It is difficult to walk in their moccasins while wearing combat boots.
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[edit] Thoughts
Righteousness is not about rules. It is not about wearing a hair shirt, or praying long and hard. It is not about knowing or quoting the Bible. It is about how we treat each other. Michael Barnes
“He deigns to consecrate the mouths and tongues of men to his service, making his own voice to be heard in them. Whenever God is pleased to bless their labor, he makes their doctrine efficacious by the power of his Spirit; and the voice, which is in itself mortal, is made an instrument to communicate eternal life” John Calvin
"All theologians bring certain doctrinal presuppositions and biases to Scripture as they seek to construct from Scripture their theologies. The true Wesleyan admits this and does not make correct doctrine a condition for salvation. We understand that if our sins are forgiven at the time of our death, we will be taken to heaven, even if our theology is off base a thousand miles. We are Christians if God, for Christ's sake, forgives our sins. He is able to do this only because of the death and resurrection of the virgin-born God-man, Jesus Christ. But we do not need to believe in any given theory of the Incarnation or the Atonement in order to be forgiven through Christ." - J. Kenneth Grider
"It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were common in the Church for more than two or three centuries. We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian; . . . From this time they almost totally ceased, very few instances of the kind being found. The cause of this was not, as has been supposed, because there was no more occasion for them, because all the world was become Christians. This is a miserable mistake; not a twentieth part of it was then nominally Christian. The real cause of it was that the love of many, almost all Christians, so called, was waxed cold. The Christians had no more of the spirit of Christ than the other heathens. . . . This was the real reason the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again, and only had a dead form left." - John Wesley's Works, Vol. VII, 89; 26-27.
"The saints and the blessed did not doggedly seek their own happiness, but simply wanted to give themselves, because the light of Christ had shone upon them. They show us the way to attain happiness, they show us how to be truly human. Through all the ups and downs of history, they were the true reformers who constantly rescued it from plunging into the valley of darkness; it was they who constantly shed upon it the light that was needed to make sense - even in the midst of suffering - of God's words spoken at the end of the work of creation: "It is very good." ... Only from the saints, only from God does true revolution come, the definitive way to change the world. ... It is not ideologies that save the world, but only a return to the living God, our Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true. True revolution consists in simply turning to God who is the measure of what is right and who at the same time is everlasting love. And what could ever save us apart from love?" - Pope Benedict XVI
“I believe in Christ as I believe in the noon-day sun; not because I see it, but by it I can see everything else.” - C. S. Lewis
“When we face seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the fulfillment of righteous responsibilities, we should remember that when we are involved in the work of the Lord, the obstacles before us are never as great as the power behind us. We should reach out and climb. Handholds will only be found by hands that are outstretched. Footholds are only for feet that are on the move.” - Dallin H. Oaks
“When from Thy stern tutoring, I would quickly flee, turn me from my Tarshish to where is best for me. Help me in my Nineveh to serve with love and truth; not on a hillside posted, mid shade of gourd or booth. When my modest suffering seems so vexing, wrong, and sore, may I recall what freely flowed from each and every pore. Dear Lord of the Abba Cry, Help me in my duress to endure it well enough and to say, . . . “Nevertheless.” - Neal A. Maxwell
“The Lord does allow darkness and struggle and pain. He often uses it to call us to Him. Using my own children as examples, I've come to know that the one who is playing happily is so preoccupied with pleasant experiences that he sometimes may not respond when I call and may even run farther away. But the child who has been hurt, or is in pain, seeks me out, comes to me readily, knocks at my door (if you will), and is anxious for me to help and be healed.” - Jeffrey R. Holland
"the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself." - St. Irenaeus in Against Heresies, bk. 5, Preface
"There are two modes of acquiring knowledge, namely by reasoning and experience. Reasoning draws a conclusion and makes us grant the conclusion, but does not make the conclusion certain, nor does it remove doubt so that the mind may rest on the intuition or truth, unless the mind discovers it by the path or experience." - Roger Bacon
A Personal Creed -
- I would be a friend to the friendless and find joy in ministering to the needs of the poor.
- I would visit the sick and afflicted and inspire in them a desire for faith to be healed.
- I would teach the truth to the understanding and blessing of mankind.
- I would seek out the erring one and try to win him back to a righteous and happy life.
- I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals, but rather love them into doing the thing that is right.
- I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems that their earth life may be happy.
- I would avoid the publicity of high position and discourage the flattery of thoughtless friends.
- I would not knowingly wound the feelings of any, not even one who may have wronged me, but would seek to do good and make him my friend.
- I would overcome the tendency to selfishness and jealousy and rejoice in the success of all the children of our Heavenly Father.
- I would not be an enemy to any living soul.
- Knowing that the Redeemer of mankind has offered to the world the only plan that will fully develop us and make us really happy here and hereafter, I feel it not only a duty but a blessed privilege to disseminate this truth.
[edit] Barnstar
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Civility Barnstar | I award this Barnstar to Storm Rider for remaining civil despite blatant provocation on the Christianity talk page. Sophia 19:01, 6 June 2006 (UTC) |
