That's so cute, Abbye didn't want to go outside. Didn't she see it wasn't raining? Maybe she was being on the safe side.

I'd hate to see the havoc when it's Abbye's bath time.

Didn't she see it wasn't raining? Maybe she was being on the safe side.

That's the only side she's ever on. Well, in her defense, her eyesight isn't great, so who knows what she thought she saw out there. She just knew that the last time she was out, it was pure hell.

I'd hate to see the havoc when it's Abbye's bath time.

Well, while she's not fond of baths, she's resigned to them. Being dipped in water is apparently not as life-threatening as having the water come down from above. I'm pretty sure that we could never put her in a shower!

%%% EXPERIMENTAL %%%ATTENTION: MISD, CITY COUNCIL, CITY MAYOR, COMMERCE SEC. DON EVANS, in charged of Patent Office which crucifies inventors through exhorbitant unnecessary thousands of dollars in fees and Copyright office which rejects protection to USEFUL inventions, on grounds that their art springs from utility ----while granting copyrights to millions of USELESS writings, USELESS pictures, USELESS books ---CONTRARY TO THE CONSTITUTION'S MANDATE TO ENCOURAGE "NOT THE USELESS, BUT THE USEFUL ARTS" ARTICLE 1 SEC 8 CLAUSE 8.

Eric, MR. Freen, et al

Since you are talking about inventions and Midland's recent rain, "THAT BRIDGE ON today's mywesttexas.com LOOKS LIKE A NICE LOOKING BRIDGE WHICH CAN BE USED AS PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS!!!!

http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13371679%BRD=2288&PAG=461

It certainly is WORKABLE. HAS BEEN IN USED FOR FOR MANY YEARS AND ALLOWED STUDENTS TO CROSS THE SWOLLEN SCHAURBAUER DRAW TO GO TO SCHOOL WHICH IS JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DRAW AND SCHAUERBAUER AVE.

IT DOES NOT LOOK EXPENSIVE. NOR DOES IT COST HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS UNLIKE THAT CONCRETE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE IN FRONT OF THE MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

Considering that pedestrians crossing streets is a costly problem that necessitates EXPENSIVE CROSSING GUARD PEOPLE, POLICEMEN, a problem which was aired on the MRT just a few weeks ago. Considering VEHICLE TO PEDESTRIAN COLLISIONS as did occur to a Midland High student while crossing Wall St to go from residence to school. Considering the blockage of Illinois as Midland High students and MIDLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES CROSS ILLINOIS ST to go to the parking lot. Considering that the CITY WANTS MIDLAND HIGH STUDENTS TO FREQUENT DOWNTOWN TALL CITY TO STIMULATE BUSINESS AND MAKE IT LOOK FULL SO THAT PEOPLE ANT TOURISTS WILL BE ATTRACTED TO THE AREA, WITHOUT BLOCKING TRAFFIC AT "A" STREET -------

CONSIDERING THAT WE HAVE LOTS OF PIPES IN THIS OIL CITY, JUST LYING AROUND, PLUS ALL THE WELDERS THAT ABOUND IN OUR AREA,

THESE DEMANDS MADE BY THE PUBLIC HAVE REMAINED UNFULFILLED FOR SO MANY YEARS NOW. AND ANY SOLUTION THAT SOLVES THIS PROBLEM WILL RISE TO THE STATUS OF A PATENTABLE INVENTION.

AS AN ANSWER TO THIS LONG UNSOLVED PROBLEM, THE EURASIAN WISHES TO EXPERIMENTALLY SUGGEST THIS: INSTEAD OF THOSE EXPENSIVE BRIDGES, JUST USE BRIDGES SUCH AS THIS KIND OF BRIDGE IN TODAY'S MRT-NEWSWEST 9 MYWESTTEXAS.COM WEBSITE (just make the posts of the bridge bigger in cross section so they won't buckle and TALLER so vehicles, trucks can pass under the bridge). ( STEWART DOREEN'S 11/16 ARTICLE ENTITLED "RECORD RAINFALL SATURATES MIDLAND.")

If we are to make government and taxes small, we must not just pour and pour torrents of tax money into these problems. WE NEED ALTERNATIVE, CHEAPER SOLUTIONS!!! AND AS IN THE PAST, UNUSUAL, CHEAP SOLUTIONS ALWAYS CAME FROM INVENTIONS!!! YOU HAVE TO ENCOURAGE INVENTIONS!!! YOU MUST NOT FEEL ENVY BUT BE WILLING TO JUSTLY COMPENSATE AS IS THE INSTRUCTION OF THE US CONSTITUTION ITSELF. IT IS UNAMERICAN, IN FACT EVIL, TO DUMP INVENTIONS SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU ENVY WHAT GOD, THE CREATOR REVEALS IN THE MINDS OF OTHERS. WHAT SORT OF EVIL IS THIS THAT PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DO WHEREIN THEY WOULD RATHER TAXES BE WASTED ON VERY EXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVES, JUST BECAUSE THEY HATE IT WHEN PROBLEM SOLVERS DO GOOD, LIKE FINDING CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES. AS JESUS SAID, SOMETHING LIKE THIS: DO NOT BE SURPRISED IF THEY WILL HATE YOU WHEN YOU DO GOOD. FOR THEY HATED ME TOO!!!!"

So, did you get an "I gave blood" sticker? If no one else told you thanks for giving blood, I will. *g*

And about the whole Tulip thing. . . *drumming fingers together* We have our ways. You, too, will be assimilated. It is preordained. *Mwa ha ha ha ha*

TG, they don't give stickers at the center; I think you have to show up at a blood drive to get one. I did, however, get a Diet Dr. Pepper...a separate but equal answer. And, btw, you're quite welcome!

It is preordained.

;-)

the TV is dead??? did you say the TV is dead??? Oh the horror!!!!!!!!!!!

Fortunately, we have four backups. But it was scary for a while; I thought my wife and I were gonna be reduced to having a conversation!

Wow! Your post generated a lot of discussion on a variety of topics!

Here's another two cents. Preface: I am a member of a Calvinist church. (That's where God found me, not where I thought I'd find God.) Eventually, I took a seminary course on Calvin. He's a tough read. Having done so doesn't make me an expert, or a better child of God, though.

Actually he wrote in Latin, and he translated his own work (The Institutes) into his native French. Others translated him into English, so I presume the TULIP thing is a mnemonic device some English-speaker came up with.

I remind myself that an acronym suitable for a student's aid to pass a test is not theology, although this acronym is almost sacred to some. I, too, have difficulty intellectually accepting the entirety of Calvin's theology, although I do grow at times.

For me, (not speaking for my denomination) another acronym would smell as sweet. Let's try "SAVED."

Sinful:
We are all fallen, initially choosing to be apart from God’s will, being inherently ignorant of it. (Corresponds to T)

Atonement:
Christ died so that God may choose to forgive and forget our sins. (Corresponds to L)

Victorious: Through Christ we win the battle against the world, sin, and evil, and are more than conquerors. (Corresponds to P)

Election:
God calls us to himself. (Corresponds to U)

Divinity:
God restores his image in those he chooses, making us his holy children. (Corresponds to I)

Now before anybody gets jumpy, either the pro- or anti-Calvinists (plenty of target there for both), let me not forget 1 Corinthians 13:12. "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

That is, I don't know everything; neither does the dear reader. In fact, I am painfully aware the time I take to fidget about words and their meaning is time I am not glorifying God.

I'd like to continue a healthy discussion, and hear other's views. And, if you please, let's agree to abstain from "an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth..." 1 Timothy 6:4-5

God trumps Calvin, Augustine, Armin, and Aquinas. All glory to God. (He's my dad.)

Eric, I recently finished Mouw's book and shared some thoughts at Mysterium Tremendum.
I doubt you'll find the book particularly helpful from a practical standpoint, but he does discuss limited atonement somewhat. The book is more conversational, borderline pastoral, than it is theological or educational. I'd recommend Sproul's "Chosen by God" or Ed Palmer's "TULIP" before Mouw's book for someone looking into learning more about the five points.

So this is the "L" in "TULIPgirl".

-----------------------------------------------------------

On the one hand, they say, CHRIST CAME TO SAVE EVERYBODY.

On the othere hand, they say, "JUDAS ISCARIOT IS LOST." Christ himself says something like this in the gospels while addressing the Father: I HAVE KEPT THEM ALL EXCEPT ONE, THE ONE NAME JUDAS ISCARIOT.

Therefore, I can understand why some people like CALVIN might say, "DID CHRIST COME TO SAVE JUDAS ISCARIOT??????"

Others will say, "BUT JUDAS ISCARIOT WAS FREE TO ACCEPT HIS SALVATION BY CHRIST, BUT HE DID NOT TAKE IT AND CHOSE NOT TO BE SAVED, BUT COMMITED SUICIDE INSTEAD, A SIN OF DESPAIR, A SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT." And Jesus said that ALL SINS AGAINST THE SON OF MAN CAN BE FORGIVEN. BUT SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL NOT BE FORGIVEN WHETHER IN THIS WORLD OR IN THE NEXT."

As a Roman Catholic, I was taught that so long as we still are alive, whatever it is we despaired, that is not really DESPAIR because being alive, WE CAN STILL ASK GOD FOR FORGIVENESS. AND IF WE ASK GOD FOR FORGIVENESS, WE HAVE NOT YET REALLY DESPAIRED!!!

---------------------------------------------------------

NOW I HAVE AN OPINION WHICH IS NOT YET ROMAN CATHOLIC TEACHING. BUT I DID TALK at great length OVER THE RADIO TO ONE OF THE LECTURERS SPEAKING ON EWTN RADIO AND DISAGREED WITH HIM THAT THERE IS NO MORE HOPE FOR PEOPLE IN THE NEXT WORLD WHO DIED IN MORTAL SIN. About 2 months later, I heard another lecturer, this time on EWTN TV, and what he was saying was (that he now thinks) that ALL HUMAN BEINGS WHO DIED CAN STILL BE SAVED BECAUSE THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS AND CHRIST DIED FOR ALL HUMAN BEINGS. HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO HIM, THE DEVILS CANNOT BE SAVED BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS.

As a Roman Catholic, I know I must follow the pope because according to the book of Peter, IT IS DANGEROUS FOR PEOPLE TO BE INTERPRETING SCRIPTURES THEMSELVES. IT CAN LEAD TO THE DAMNATION OR DESTRUCTION OF YOUR SOUL!!! YOU CAN END UP LIKE THE BLIND MEN BEING LED BY THE BLIND AND ALL OF YOU FALLING INTO THE PIT!!!

To PETER, THE FIRST POPE, AND HIS SUCCESSORS, THE SUCCEEDING POPES IS GIVEN THE KEYS TO HEAVEN. "WHOSE SINS THE POPE ( AND THOSE AUTHORIZED BY HIM) FORGIVE, THOSE SINS ARE FORGIVEN. THOSE SINS THAT THE POPE ( AND THOSE AUTHORIZED BY HIM) DO NOT FORGIVE, "THOSE SINS ARE RETAINED."

When I talked to that lecturer on EWTN RADIO, what I was doing was TALKING TO CATHOLIC CHURCH AUTHORITIES, TALKING TO THE POPE, TRYING TO CONVINCE HIM TO NO LONGER RETAIN SINS THAT HE AND HIS PREDECESSOR POPES USED TO RETAIN. If I succeed in convincing him no longer to retain these sins, THEN GOD WILL HONOR HIS DECISION because it was CHRIST HIMSELF WHO SAID TO HIS APOSTLES, "RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHOSE SINS YOU FORGIVE, THEY ARE FORGIVEN THEM. WHOSE SINS YOU RETAIN, THEY ARE RETAINED."

Based on what that 2nd lecturer was saying on EWTN TV, I know that EWTN AUTHORITIES MUST HAVE BEEN STUDYING AND DISCUSSING THE ARGUMENTS I PRESENTED TO THAT FIRST LECTURER ON EWTN RADIO. If I speak like this, it is so you will not mistake my words as OFFICIAL CATHOLIC TEACHING because you see, I am not a priest nor even a seminarian but just a mere sinful layman.

But unlike others who rebel against the Roman Catholic Pontiff and resort to SCHISMS and ESTABLISH NEW RELIGIONS, SOMETHING WHICH EVEN THE WRITER OF HALF OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, ST PAUL, NEVER DID --- my way is to follow what St. Paul did, PUT MYSELF UNDER THE APOSTLES, EXAMINE AND DISCERN ALL SPIRITS, AND EVEN IF AN ANGEL OF LIGHT SHOULD APPEAR, IF ITS MESSAGE IS CONTRARY TO WHAT IS TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURES AND THE POPE IN UNION WITH THE BISHOPS, THEN DO NOT LISTEN TO SUCH ANGEL OF LIGHT.

Also, EVEN IF THE POPE WAS MISTAKEN AS WAS THE CASE IN GALILEO, IT IS EXCUSABLE TO GOD, BECAUSE I AM JUST FOLLOWING CHRIST WHO MADE ME A SHEEP AND PETER AND HIS AUTHORIZED SUCCESSORS, MY SHEPHERD. BUT IN SPIRITUAL MATTERS, JESUS' WORDS HOLD TRUE, - THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST THIS CHURCH OF WHICH PETER AND HIS AUTHORIZED SUCCESSORS ARE THE HEAD.

BUT THIS IS THE ARGUMENT I GAVE TO THAT FIRST LECTURER AT EWTN RADIO:

Christ says in the Gospels: (If you fulfill certain requirements, like faith, obedience to the commandments) YOU CAN ASK ANYTHING IN MY NAME (ANYTHING CONSISTENT WITH THE FATHER'S WILL), AND IT WILL BE GRANTED.

IF YOU HAVE FAITH THE SIZE OF A MUSTARD SEED, YOU CAN TELL (ORDER) THIS MOUNTAIN TO MOVE AND IT WILL MOVE!!!

ASK!!!! ASK!!! ASK!!! KEEP ON ASKING !!!! (Remember the parable in the gospel of the man who kept on knocking at the door very late in the evening when the owner was preparing to sleep???)

St. THOMAS AQUINAS said that LIKE A BOOMERANG, WE ALL CAME FROM GOD!!! WE ALL MUST RETURN BACK TO GOD!!!!!

The BOOK OF JONAH TELLS US OF A NINIVEH WHICH WAS SENTENCED TO DESTRUCTION!!! JONAH IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD WAS ANNOUNCING, CRYING OUT, PROPHECYING, FORTY DAYS AND NINIVEH WILL BE DESTROYED. ( No IFs, NO CONDITIONS!!! IT WAS JUST DECLARATIVE!!! NINIVEH WILL BE DESTROYED!!!! You can do nothing about it. YOU NINIVITES WILL BE DESTROYED!!!)
......... (This reminds me of hell, where everyone says, if you die in mortal sin, you will be destroyed!!!!)

BUT THE NINIVITES AND THEIR KING DID NOT CURSE GOD!!!! THEY DID NOT DESPAIR!!! THEY COVERED THEMSELVES WITH ASHES!!!! THEY USED SACKCLOTH FOR THEIR CLOTHING INSTEAD!!!! AND THOUGH IT WAS PROPHECIED BY JONAH THAT NINIVEH WILL BE DESTROYED, "GOD DID NOT DESTROY NINIVEH!!!!!"

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul says "........prophecies shall pass away ......... in the end what remains is LOVE!!!"

SO, GOD FORBID, IF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN HELL, DESTINED TO BE DESTROYED AS WAS THE CASE OF THESE NINIVITES AND THEIR KING, "DO WHAT THE NINIVITES AND THEIR KING DID!!!! DO NOT DESPAIR!!!! ASK GOD FOR PARDON!!! TELL THE DEMONS AND YOUR FELLOW CONDEMMED NOT TO DESPAIR BUT ALLY YOURSELF AND YOURSELVES WITH THE LORD!!!! GO SIN NO MORE!!! FOR WHO KNOWS, GOD IN HIS INFINITE MERCY MIGHT STILL FORGIVE YOU AND NOT DESTROY YOU. And so, St. Thomas' prayer will come true!!!! We all came from God. And I hope all creation can go back to the ONE AND ONLY God who created them. EVEN THE DEMONS SHOULD GO BACK TO GOD WHO CREATED THEM!!!! KEEP ON ASKING. KEEP ON KNOCKING. KEEP ON OBEYING THE COMMANDMENTS!!! WE GOT A BIG REQUEST TO ASK OF GOD!!! OF COURSE, AS JESUS SAID TO THE FATHER, NOT MY WILL, NOT OUR WILL, BUT THINE, OH FATHER!!! THINE BE DONE!!!!!

Um . . . oh-kay.