It is what it is.

Sometimes we lash out at people because we know they won't lash back.

It is those moments we regret the most and the longest. So do those we lashed out against.

(I have a few instances in mind; they happened long ago and I was the lashee.)

[2013-02-22]

c0

There are a lot a hard passages in the Bible, but this is one of the hardest for an evangelical fundamentalist:

“All who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29).

I was taught from my youth up that only faith in Jesus matters (sola fide).

We actually asked our Sunday School teachers and school teachers at Bethel Baptist Church and Bethel Christian School in Erie, PA, trying to catch them in an extreme inconsistency, "Could Hitler go to heaven?" Without exception, the answer was "Yes, if he was born again" (if he believed in Jesus as his personal savior).

But there are many verses, like John 5:29, where what you do effects your eternal state. In fact, Jesus appears to say some will even think they believe, but still won't know him (Matthew 7:23).

As an acquaintance of mine was fond of saying (though I don't say it myself, but it sometimes fits), "It is what it is."

[2013-03-13]

c0