Seven Days Without Prayer

Prayer is for continuing to delude yourself. Makes you strong in believing in an imaginary sky daddy. "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief". If you have to keep deluding yourself doesn't that tell you this is simple bullshit?

Have you guilted yourself today because you have disbelief? Jesus is annoyed at you for not believing in him and frankly he is tired of you. I think that qualifies him as a petty god.

Mark 9:14-31

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

“What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.

A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

“O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

A Church Sign I Can Finally Get Behind

This is a first for me. For years I have ridden around on my motorcycle in the country aimlessly enjoying the scenery. Then I see small churches with stupid signs and invariably it pisses me off until today. Here is a sign I can get behind. Anytime you can put a brain in the mix with church I am all for it. Hmmmm...thought about it and I will pass.

Jesus Is Whacked For You

When I was a Christian I used to read this kind of bullshit and feel ashamed. Jesus had to suffer so much so I could be with god. How he loved even me such a pitiful sinner. Each time I felt I had sinned I would think of Jesus on the cross and how I had wounded him afresh.

Boy, was I crazy. Such an insane God, that he had to slaughter his own children so strangers could be with him. And he didn't put a bullet to the back of his head like a mob hit, clean and out. He made Jesus die in agony. Blood somehow makes me right with god.

Of a murdered loved one, many times you hear the parents or partner saying they don't feel compelled to kill the murderer because it won't bring back their dead loved one. Even some humans have a better sense of morality than this primitive desert religion's god.

I feel nauseated when I read signs like this now. It is dumbfounding how Christianity ever got a foot hold.

God's Favorite Word

Exactly How Big Is Jesus?

A Church Without Closets

This is a church sign on one of my recent Sunday rides.

A Church Without Closets

It strikes me very odd because they are they ones who build the closets. Atheist only until modern times weren't even allowed to voice what they believe. They would be persecuted to death and where the Righteous have they power, such as Ghana today, they will do it. The Bible tells them to stone all kinds of people who are different.

Things you can be put to death for (stoning unless noted otherwise)

1. if you are a medium (Lev 20:27)
2. if you blaspheme Jehovah's name (Lev 24:16)
3. if you worship a different god (Deu 13:6-10)
4. if you rebel against your parents (Deu 21:18-21)
5. if you are a drunk (Deu 21:18-21)
6. if you are a woman who is not a virgin when she marries (Deu 22:20,21)
7. if you are gay (Lev 20:13)
8. if you work on the Sabbath (Num 15:32-26)
9. if you are a witch (Lev 20:27)
10. if your father is a priest and you become a prostitute (burned to death) (Lev 21:9)
11. if you are a woman and you didn't scream loud enough when you raped (Deu 22:23-24)

By Jesus' time if you even think something wrong you will burn in hell for ever. Well, you were born in sin so it doesn't matter what you do, say or think you are going to hell. But the punisher is also the deliverer.

So there are tons of reason for people to hide. And don't think that facade of a smile on the church goers is there naturally. They have to paste it on to avoid being hassled or worse. Praise Jesus. If I don't believe in Him I am going to Hell so I better pretend I love the Big Guy who put me in this mess only to save me and I have to ignore the former and give him credit for the latter.

I like to think about what sign I could post right next to the one presented. Here is mine:

Free closet - inquire within.

Free Trip To Heaven. Details Inside.

Today's Church sign I have seen before and as I rode past I mulled over its' meaning.

Free trip to heaven

Details inside

Well, it is more gentile than most, but is it true it is free? As the saying goes there is no free lunch. What do I get if I go inside? I get a lecture about how evil I have been (bye-bye to any self-worth and self esteem). I was condemned by God and/or Jesus and/or the Holy Spirit to eternal damnation because this Creator made a flawed universe. And the good news is that he knows everything. He knew he was setting Adam & Eve up to fail. He knew he would make them just stupid enough to believe the words of a talking snake who had taken that form but really was Lucifer, Satan, a fallen angel, who apparently had lived with God for countless ages. This Lucifer was very smart. God had created him that way. Oddly, Genesis leads you to believe that the heavens and the earth were created only in one week. But somehow Lucifer existed well before all that. But consistency is not the Bible strong suit. So you are told how awful you are and how God set you up. However, there is good news. He made himself a sacrifice so he could appease himself so he would not put you in an eternal lake of fire. He has quite the ego. He is all about putting out rules for you which he continually breaks himself, but that is OK. You are so batter and bruise after all these free details you lay down in front of him your life, your will, your money, your non-believing friends, your spouse, your children, your free thought, your doubt, well everything that you are, your soul. So when did it become free? What did you gain again? An imaginary trip to an imaginary place that you will only see after you die. I think I will just go to a movie theater and pay the $12 bucks to enjoy an an imaginary place I can see.

What I would post next to this church sign for truth in advertising.

Anything that sounds to good to be true usually isn't

or

Bow down and worship me. Details inside.

Church Signs #1

When I ride my motorcycle around on Sundays I am in the BuyBull Belt and many of the small churches have a sign out that they change periodically to challenge believers and non-believers alike and they try to be clever. I have given thought about posting on them because the greater majority get a reaction out of me, which is their intended affect. This Sunday's Church Sign.

Selective Obedience is Convenience

How interesting. You know one church's obedience to its' faith is disobedience to another's. In fact my first church had definitive ideas on the state of the dead before the resurrection. Once I bailed on that church and was entirely guilt ridden (they had done an excellent job) I joined another church or was sucked into it to try to keep my marriage together. Once they found I believed the dead are dead and not frying in hell I was called up on the carpet. I really tried once again to be obedient even embarassingly with tears but I just couldn't hold that together. I had this thing about not lying, which I still do. My morals have only improved now that I am an atheist. Anyway eventually they ex-communicated me because I was not obedient. They could not "stand with me as a brother". That reference is in Paul's letters regarding incest. I don't see how they could apply it to me but they did. Judgement is harsh and strong with fundamental Christians because they picked it all up from their imaginary Daddy. Anyway fast forward a decade or so and I look back gratefully on that event. If I had of somehow been able to destroy every part of my self-worth and been a robot I would be miserably happy. A smile on the outside and wanting to kill myself on the inside. Today my outside and inside match and that is such a wonderful way to live.

So, this is what went through my mind as I reacted to the church sign. Now if I could put a sign right next to it expressing my atheist point of view it would be this:

Blind Obedience is how to grow a dunce