Why do Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians use different Bibles?

It's an important question, especially since there are non-denominational and fundamentalist Christian churches that claim to base their faith only on the Bible (and some only on King James Version) and not on historical church teachings or traditions (although they all have their own traditions which govern polity, sacraments, music, Sunday School, etc.)  Technically, there was no Bible for the first almost 400 years of Christianity, but there was written sacred scripture of the Jews, and that was primarily in three languages, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. So Jesus read and preached and taught from a "Bible" we Protestants don't use--the Septuagint, or Greek Old Testament. That scripture includes the following:

• Tobit (or Tobias) emphasizes the importance of the sanctity of marriage, parental respect, angelic intercession, as well as prayer, fasting, and alms giving for the expiation of sins, as noted in the Archangel Raphael's speech in Tobias 12:9.

• Sirach offers both moral instruction and a history of the patriarchs and leaders of Israel.

• First and Second Maccabees are historical works which describe the end of persecution by the Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes through Mattathias and his sons the Maccabees. And so began the independent Hasmonean Dynasty of Israel from 165 to 63 BC. The Rededication of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus (1 Maccabees 4:36-59, 2 Maccabees 10:1-8) is commemorated yearly during the Feast of Hannukah. First Maccabees was first written in Hebrew, but only the Greek version has been preserved. In addition to its historical value, Second Maccabees affirms the theology of martyrdom and resurrection of the just (7:1-42), intercessory prayer of the living for the dead (12:44-45), as well as intercessory prayer of the saints for those still on earth (15:12-16).

• Judith describes the deliverance of the Jews from the hands of Holofernes, general to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

• The Book of Wisdom is witness to the trend in late post-exilic Jewish thought that looked forward to life after death: immortality is a reward of the just (3:1-4, 19). The book also notes that all living creatures reflect the perfection of the Creator (Wisdom 13:5).

• The Book of Baruch, the scribe to Jeremiah, describes the prayers of the Babylonian Exiles and includes the Letter of Jeremiah.

  Martin Luther in his 1534 translation differed from St. Augustine and considered the Apocryphal books "good for reading" but not part of inspired Scripture. The King James Bible of 1611 included the Apocrypha but in a separate section. While there are no direct quotations in the New Testament from the Apocrypha, there are also no direct quotations from Judges, Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Ezra, Nehemiah, Obadiah, Nahum, or Zephaniah. http://biblescripture.net/Canon.html
  

PDHC gets ready for St. Valentine's Day

At Pregnancy Decision Health Center (PDHC) we help mothers in crisis pregnancies, and also help them with maternity and baby clothes. We're all ready for little sweethearts this February.

 The women take parenting classes and receive "Earn while you learn" points which are used to purchase these items. However, there are also many free items, like the books under the table, and the play clothes in the bins on the right. Maternity fashions are up to date. All services are free and non-judgmental. Disposable diapers are always in demand. Hundreds of churches in central Ohio support this program, either as part of their annual budget or special fund raising like filling baby bottles with coins and collecting them. Some women's groups knit booties; others make quilts and receiving blankets for newborns.

A pastor, a priest and a rabbi . . .

Some issues just go together

Some values and political ideas just seem to go together like mac and cheese or ham and eggs. For instance, those who believe in ending the life of babies in the womb for any reason and the lives of elderly in end stage disease or the disabled who can't protest also believe in things that don't seem related at all, but they are so predictable, there must be a connection.

1) protesting the death penalty for vicious criminals,
2) open borders and sanctuary cities,
3) increasing regulatory burdens on small businesses,
4) increasing taxes on the successful to spread the wealth to the less successful,
5) creating education systems that cater to the lowest common denominator and give more power to the federal government,
6) taking private property for either government use or promised good for society to be given to crony capitalists,
7) violating religious rights guaranteed in the first amendment,
8) recreating the military through social engineering,
9) letting gender confused boys share bathrooms and showers with girls while screaming "rape culture",
10) destroying centuries-old historical standards for marriage
11) legalizing marijuana
12) putting people in boxes and calling it diversity and multiculturalism with severe punishment for violation
13) destroying a private health insurance system and making it illegal and punishable by jail and fine to not have government insurance
14) requiring an ID for just about everything except voting
15) creating huge "non-profit" foundations by politicians and former government career officers which rake in millions while decrying wealth that is profit from an actual business which creates jobs
16) choosing winners and losers in business by government, especially new technology to support climate myths
17) requiring workers to belong to unions in order to work
18) pushing progressive income tax rather than a fair or flat tax
19) advocating free college for all, even though the education bubble has been created by the government, a bigger bubble than the 2007-08 housing bubble
20) Downsizing to a smaller, weaker military.

Conservative vs. liberal ideas

Pro-choice vs. pro-life

Abortion and climate change

Martin Luther King, Jr. isn't inclusive enough in Oregon

 Some students at the University of Oregon have a problem. They think the "I have a dream" speech isn't inclusive enough. Classic socialist/progressive mush brains. They skipped the history of the Soviet Union in the 1930s and China in the 1950s when they ate their own. They browse Wikipedia and think they know everything.

 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/02/the-college-where-martin-luther-king-is-problematic.html
 

"Let’s review King’s quote, while we’re at it: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

It’s true, the quote makes no reference to other kinds of diversity, like gender or sexual orientation or disability status. But then again, King wasn’t so much celebrating diversity as he was championing tolerance and equal treatment for all people, regardless of categorization. King’s point was that everyone deserves the same rights as everyone else—implicitly, that includes people of varying genders, orientations, etc.

No wonder college students are uncomfortable with the quote: They worship categorization."

Today's young socialists have not studied history

Some of Bernie's followers (all very young adults) were interviewed with one question, "What is socialism." No one knew. Here is Benjamin Tucker's definition. He was a 19th c. anarchist (what he called the liberty form of socialism, and which sounds a lot like libertarian today) and wanted to distinguish between anarchism and state socialism. One of the best and clearest I've read.

"First, then, State Socialism, which may be described as the doctrine that all the affairs of men should be managed by the government, regardless of individual choice. Marx, its founder, concluded that the only way to abolish the class monopolies was to centralize and consolidate all industrial and commercial interests, all productive and distributive agencies, in one vast monopoly in the hands of the State. The government must become banker, manufacturer, farmer, carrier, and merchant, and in these capacities must suffer no competition. Land, tools, and all instruments of production must be wrested from individual hands, and made the property of the collectivity. 

To the individual can belong only the products to be consumed, not the means of producing them. A man may own his clothes and his food, but not the sewing-machine which makes his shirts or the spade which digs his potatoes. Product and capital are essentially different things; the former belongs to individuals, the latter to society. Society must seize the capital which belongs to it, by the ballot if it can, by revolution if it must. Once in possession of it, it must administer it on the majority principle, though its organ, the State, utilize it in production and distribution, fix all prices by the amount of labor involved, and employ the whole people in its workshops, farms, stores, etc. The nation must be transformed into a vast bureaucracy, and every individual into a State official.

Everything must be done on the cost principle, the people having no motive to make a profit out of themselves. Individuals not being allowed to own capital, no one can employ another, or even himself. Every man will be a wage-receiver, and the State the only wage-payer. He who will not work for the State must starve, or, more likely, go to prison. All freedom of trade must disappear. Competition must be utterly wiped out. All industrial and commercial activity must be centered in one vast, enormous, all-inclusive monopoly. The remedy for monopolies is monopoly."

For those who don't like Ted Cruz

I liked all the Republican candidates except Trump (don't consider him a Republican, but an opportunist), and although Ted Cruz wasn't my first choice, I agree with this Marty Evans' Facebook post. Ted seems to be disliked by all the right people, right in the sense of wrong most of the time.

"A lot is being made of the possibility that Cruz is unlikable so I have taken inventory of who it is that clearly dislike Ted and I think I'm okay with that.

1. Mitch McConnell...
2. John McCain
3. Special Interest groups
4. Corporate lobbyists
5. Go along to get along Senators and Congressman
6. Fox News
7. Country Club Republicans
8. Employees of the Federal Bureaucracy
9. Atheists
10. Takers not makers
11. Proponents of a "living" Constitution
12. Democrats
13. Progressives
14. Socialists
15. Communists
16. Poorly educated children just reaching voting age who get news and follow current events by watching Comedy Central
17. The New York Times
18. Hillary Clinton
19. The Bilderbergs
20. His obnoxious liberal college room mate."

Health Benefits of Reading

United States Deaths

Senator Tim Scott endorses Marco Rubio

To steal a comment from another Facebooker, "The nation's first black Senator from a "Deep South" state endorses the Hispanic son of immigrants for the Presidential nomination from the "party of old white men." That's pretty cool."

Some Trump voters are acting like an abused wife

It baffles me when I hear "evangelical vote" and Trump in the same sentence. He's not a Republican, not a conservative; he's a con-man, and we've had almost 8 years of that. He's not pro-life and he's a statist. His off the cuff remarks show he has little respect for our system of government. Obama doesn't like us at all; why chose more of the same? What are we voters? An abused wife?

"I will make America great again," is even more vague than "Hope and change," plus one man can't do that.  Only we, the American people in a capitalist system, can do it.  He's a statist of Hitler proportions. And Htiler was elected by the Germans with much the same message.

Holy Spirit Conferences are big business I've learned

Our Lutheran church had a Holy Spirit Conference, "Power for Mission," this past week-end.  It began Friday evening with worship and prayer with speakers Craig Heselton, Executive Pastor of Vineyard Columbus and Rev. Dr. Gemechis Buba, Mission Director of the North American Lutheran Church.  Then on Saturday we had worship, prayer or sermons 3 times during the day and 2 workshops, choosing from three topics, Tongues, Signs and Wonders, and Revelation. Rev. Dr. Morris Vaagenes active in many Lutheran organizations and former pastor and missionary spoke Saturday morning.

In the 1970s and 1980s there seemed to me to be a lot of excitement about the Holy Spirit. I remember going to one for the Church of the Brethren in the 1970s, although I was no longer a member, having joined Upper Arlington Lutheran Church in 1976.  We were encouraged to be open, pray, wave our hands during worship, talk more, engage more, expect healing, sing praise songs, etc. Our pastoral search committee (UALC was ALC which became ELCA in 1988) got so carried away in the Spirit after Luther Strommen retired that they wanted to issue a call to a charismatic Episcopal priest, and when word of that got out, a group filled with the Spirit figured out how to pack the search committee so instead we got a charismatic Missouri Synod Lutheran! We had been having healing events, and special evening worship times with praise music and time for prayer, and that eventually evolved into regular Sunday worship times, and the traditional, liturgical services began to falter. We were apparently even led by the Spirit to build a large facility across the river with room for a school and nursing home, but later the Spirit changed his mind, and we sold part of the land after the mortgage became a struggle.  But I hadn't heard much lately, although I know you can't say Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is active in all our service ministries and present in all our services whether traditional or happy-clappy.

So I decided I'd just check Google before going much further, and using the terms, "Holy Spirit events conferences" I turned up about 13 million matches--Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Independent, non-denominational, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, private 501-c-3 non-profits, events for women, events for men, events by husband and wife teams, by priests, by anyone who feels called, events at conference centers, at churches, and at colleges. One day, two day, three day, four day, maybe more. No more should anyone claim the Holy Spirit is the forgotten member of the Trinity.  He's alive and well and attending conferences, sometimes leaving God the Son and God the Father at home.

I heard some of the same non-biblical messages I'd heard 30-40 years ago.  For instance, in one small workshop the speaker had us all hold hands and pray for the person on our right, then on our left.  I knew both the people I was praying for.  But the man next to my husband was someone neither of us knew.  After the meeting he said to my husband, "While I was praying for you God gave me a vision of a strong wind blowing a boat that was well anchored."  So I thought, "How nice, that really describes Bob--an anchor in a storm."  But he didn't stop there.  "And I think God is telling you that you should pull up your anchor and let God move you where he wills."  Keep in mind, this man was violating some basic principles--don't interpret your own vision, and for sure don't go off half cocked if you know nothing about the person.  For all he knew, Bob could have been contemplating divorce, or changing jobs, or suicide.  How much of a push would an unstable person need if after prayer with a stranger, the guy offers that?

At another workshop a woman in our row spoke up and said she'd been feeling the energy--that she often encounters people and can feel their energy by taking their hands. It was her gift.  Another speaker spoke highly of Agnes Sanford's books, which I considered the absolutely worst "christian" theology every printed and foisted off on non-thinking Christians.  For her, the blood of Jesus is something that soaked into the ground when he died and is surging through the planet (no resurrection in her fanciful visions) where we might encounter it. No, you're saved by the blood by visualizing it. When I was the church librarian 30 years ago, I quietly withdrew her books from the library.  Yes, librarians get to do that, especially when led by the Spirit. A book can be deacquisitioned for age, condition, space needs or snake oil.

How to Relieve Plantar Fasciitis, Shin Splints, Achilles Pain and Compartment Syndrome

I haven't tried this since I don't have the rolled foam, but thought I'd save it because it does address some of my leg issues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVP-WRMuLY

Zika and microcephaly

I was listening to a radio news report on Zika on the car radio Friday morning, the mosquito borne pandemic, and almost hit the curb. (It was still dark.) The announcer urged caution for "women carrying children." Truth. It wasn't a clump of cells, a fetus, or even a baby. Children. How did that ever slip past the censor?

 http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/

 "It is not known how common microcephaly has become in Brazil’s outbreak. About three million babies are born in Brazil each year. Normally, about 150 cases of microcephaly are reported, and Brazil says it is investigating nearly 4,000 cases."

 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/health/what-is-zika-virus.html?

Poverty 70 years ago compared to today

I've never seen a really good definition of structural or institutional poverty--probably because those are terms the left uses to criticize and demonize the right, so they lie about causes and solutions and ask for more money to throw at the problem.  It's a great term for creating a straw man and then accuse someone else of knocking it down.  The idea is that something within society is working against people to keep them from decent jobs and housing.

When I was a child, I actually knew poor children who were from poor families. In those days there were no wealth transfer programs, no school lunch, no welfare checks. We went to school together, and occasionally we played together. I don't remember any attending church (there were 3 churches, plus rural churches, so it's possible they did and I didn't know it).  From my limited childhood understanding of economics, poor children had poor parents. In most cases I had never met their fathers, but had seen a mother--in those days (1940s/1950s) poor children had married parents, which is not usually the case today. The poor children I knew often didn't have underwear or socks, and their clothes were soiled and sometimes they smelled like urine. They did poorly in school.  I knew children who were in foster care because their parents were too poor to take of them; I knew children who moved about every three to six months because their fathers were tenant farmers, and not very good ones because they drank.  I knew children whose parents couldn't take care of them so they lived with their grandparents. I knew a few children that only had a mother, and she was often a waitress or just  appeared occasionally.  I noticed even in those days (I was maybe 8 years old by then), they had a vocabulary that included bad grammar, dirty jokes and words we weren't allowed to say. I knew one boy who had lost an arm in a farm accident, and another who was accidentally killed when he found his father's shotgun under a bed.

Of course, poverty is relative.  Even my friends who weren't poor might have a dinner of soda crackers crumbled into a bowl of milk once or twice a week, had tongue sandwiches from butchering (gag), wore hand-me-down clothes from their cousins, and for Halloween a paper sack with a face drawn on it would be a suitable costume. Even families who weren't poor may have not had a home with an indoor toilet. For their once a week bath, the heated water came from the stove and was carried to the bathtub and three children might share the water.  But being clean meant you weren't poor! The holes in our clothes were neatly patched and when they were outgrown they were given away, and if worn out, they were cut into strips and Mom crocheted a rug.  Most of us who weren't poor had mothers who canned produce from gardens they had planted, weeded and harvested with the children's help, and we all wore dresses or trousers our mothers had sewn.  But my goodness, we certainly didn't think we were poor, even if we only had one pair of shoes which had to last until our toes were squashed.

Now when I see poverty in Columbus, I still don't see institutional poverty.  I see poor children with poor parents. The share of U.S. children living in poverty has actually increased by 2 percentage points since 2008. But unlike the 1940s these parents have lots of help from the state and federal governments--SNAP, Section 8 housing, WIC, school lunch and after school and summer time snacks, Medicaid, and all sorts of material aid from churches and non-profits, from food pantries to furniture to clothing to an automobile.  Many of these poor families are headed by women. The majority are white. If they are lucky, they have an older "wise" woman in their life to help them negotiate the system.  I met one the other day which was three generations and they were living in an unheated garage and were about to be evicted. But just like the children in the families I knew 70 years ago, the children are poor because  the adults had made really bad decisions--about relationships, alcohol/drugs, education, and jobs.  But especially relationships. The women become entangled with men who don't work or are petty criminals, then they are abused, and left with the children as he moves on to another woman or goes to prison. And the next guy she finds is more of the same.  They are much better dressed than those I grew up with, but I can't forget the desperate look in the adults' eyes--the children don't seem to know they are poor.

The wealthy non-profits with well paid CEOs, the government bureaucrats and the academics in ivory towers seem to think that some are poor because others are rich. They want billions, no trillions, to close some sort of gap.  It's like they've never looked at or talked to a poor family.

“Young people can virtually assure that they and their families will avoid poverty if they follow three elementary rules for success – complete at least a high school education, work full time, and wait until age 21 and get married before having a baby.  Based on an analysis of Census data, people who followed all three of these rules had only a 2 percent chance of being in poverty and a 72 percent chance of joining the middle class (defined as above $55,000 in 2010.”

Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution, testifying before Congress on June 5, 2012

Trump vs. Trump

• On Ted Cruz: In January 2016, Trump said, "I don't think Ted Cruz has a great chance, to be honest with you. … He's a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him." In December 2015, "I really do. I like Ted Cruz a lot."
• On Iowans: In January 2016, Trump said, "I love Iowa. We've done really well here." In November 2015, "How stupid are the people of Iowa?"
• On Hillary Clinton: In July 2015, Trump said, "Hillary Clinton was the worst secretary of state in the history of the United States." In March 2012, "Hillary Clinton, I think, is a terrific woman. I mean, I'm a little biased, because I've known her for years. … I think she really works hard, and I think she does a good job. And I like her."
• On Megyn Kelly: In December 2011, asked by Fox News host Megyn Kelly if he'd be a better moderator than her, Trump responded, "No, I could never beat you. That wouldn't even be close. There would be no contest. You have done a great job, by the way. I mean it." In January 2016, Trump said, "I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly. I don't think she's really good at what she does. I think she's highly overrated." 

Stephen Colbert

I've yet to meet a conservative who supports Trump.  Don't know who these uninformed people are, but they must be voting for the first time and are really excited about a know-nothing campaigner.

Southern Strawberry Punch Bowl Cake (trifle)

 
 Southern Strawberry Punch Bowl Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 (6 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 lg. can crushed pineapple, drained
2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen strawberries
2 bananas
1 (16 oz.) carton Cool Whip

Bake cake in two round cake pans and set aside to cool. Make pudding and set in refrigerator to get cold. Cut one layer of cake in small chunks; put in punch bowl. Spread half of pudding on top; then add half of pineapple and one package strawberries. Slice one banana on top; half of Cool Whip, spreading to cover completely. Repeat with the other layer the same - ending with Cool Whip. Let set in refrigerator overnight.

I would probably purchase an Angel Food cake, and skip the baking part.  I seem to remember either my mom or sister making this refreshing dessert. Using sugar free pudding mix and Free Cool Whip, you could probably call this "low-calorie."  I've got a pretty punch bowl I never use. . . now all I need is the ambition and an event.

The 40,000 mile mountain range you've probably never heard of

 
This story appeared in the New York Times recently (it won't let me view it because of my browser, but there are other sources, since it's been known for some time.  I checked another source. Gilman, Larry; Lerner, K. Lee. "Mid-Ocean Ridges." Water:Science and Issues. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 30 Jan. 2016 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.  Truly fascinating.  You could get lost just imagining it.

 Do you suppose all this might possibly affect the climate with earthquakes and upheavals, gases and mineral deposits with the ocean bottom moving as much as 6" a year? Is it Bush's fault, or the GOP? Obscure information, yes, as NYT reports, but known for some time.

 http://legacy.mos.org/oceans/planet/change.html

 http://octopus.gma.org/surfing/weather/hotstuff.html

The well dressed man at the coffee shop

After almost a life time of going to a coffee shop for my first coffee of the day, I gave it up to save money for our trip to Spain last September, that and the fact I needed to switch to de-caf and it just didn't seem worth the price.  I did successfully add $600 to my trip piggy bank.  But these last two Fridays I've gone to Panera's after 6:30 Mass at St. Andrew's with my notebook and current reading in hand.  I'm a people watcher--I like to see a man (or woman) take pride in his appearance--it just feels like they are going to accomplish something that  day.  I'm good at spotting the "interview costume," because the person just doesn't look comfortable. Twenty years ago I could tell the workers from the retirees, professionals from housewives, but not any more.  It's equal opportunity sloppy, casual Friday even on Wednesday.

So when I saw him--my eyes followed--not in a lustful way, although he was very nice looking and well proportioned in a 20-something sort of way, but in wonder and awe like visiting a new city.  He was wearing clean, pressed khakis, a tucked in shirt with a collar, and well fitting loafers.  He had a touch of facial hair, neatly trimmed, and a good hair cut.  No visible tattoos, no studs, no earrings.  In short, he looked like he cared about himself and his job.  Praise God.  He was washing the windows.

When I gathered up my things to leave, he was working outside in a coat--also neat and clean.  I stopped and inquired if he were a Panera's employee or a private contractor, and I think he responded,  Ohio Window Cleaning Co.  I complimented him on his work, and he gave me a smile that could light a cloudy day and said, "Thank you."

 This company, which has obviously invested time and energy in training its employees, could give workshops on the side.

Terri Schiavo: what is disgusting

Just saw the teaser headline that the husband of Terri Schiavo is disgusted by a Jeb Bush ad that featured her. There is nothing more disgusting than the "husband's" behavior in forcing her to die of hunger and thirst when her own family was willing to take care of her. He went to court, won millions which were supposed to be for her lifetime care, then took a new "wife," and abandoned Terri to a painful death. There's probably a better word than disgusting for him, but I don't own that sort of vocabulary.

 
She wasn't connected to life support--was breathing on her own.  Could recognize voices and respond.  She needed food and water, as we all do to live, but because she couldn't swallow, she was disconnected from life.  Her parents begged to let her be their responsibility.