General Chat

Good morning from a very quiet Cyprus.

Today is a bank holiday - it is Pentecost and Kataklysmos

Kataklysmos is Noah's flood.

I must have slept through the early bells :-D :-D :-D :-D ;-)

Good afternoon fellow thread members.
The Christian Dogma of the Trinity is something I have difficulty in understanding.
If Jesus came to do the will of the one that sent him then he is not the equal of the one that sent him. And if Jesus died by crucifixion as reported in four gospels, who resurrected Jesus ?
I may have misphrased my misunderstanding :-S

Good morning :-)

That's quite a combination in one day Pat, Pentecost and Noah's Flood! Never heard of that before. One lives and learns :-D

Oh David! The mystery of the Holy Trinity is something which causes great discussion and, even then, it can leave you scratching your head a bit. There will be many explanations on google but, as a simple thought, the Holy Trinity is often likened to a four leaf clover (three distinct leaves-one plant), as water (liquid, steam and ice) or like an apple (skin, flesh and seeds). I like the apple analogy - the flesh representing Jesus ("eat of my flesh"), the seeds (to plant and grow like the Spirit) and the skin (God) which holds it all together. Not three separate things, but just one apple.

Cor (forgive the pun) that's a bit deep for 7.00am. :-D


Dear Lord Jesus, as I open my eyes in the morning I praise You for bringing me safely through the night and giving me this fresh, new day ahead of me, in which to draw closer to You.

Thank You for the refreshment of sleep and the joy and opportunities that a new day brings. I pray that You will lead and guide me through today and give me wisdom in all that I say and do. Amen

Cx :-)

Cynthia, good morning, I have googled the issue more than on, and it doesn't make sense. The water being ice, water or steam, also two atoms of hydrogen to one atom of oxygen ? Mother, Father, child ? Sun, moon, stars ? Life and death ? Man made Dogma. Even his followers at the last supper were horrified. Drink blood, eat flesh ? isn't that cannibalism ? God forgive my lack of understanding.

The flood means more to people of the Med. as there was a huge flood about 5600 BCE (or for those who like old money 5600 BC :-D) thought to be the basis of the Noah's ark story. They celebrate pentecost and kataklysmos together each year.
:-D

The "Christian" and the Judaic calendars are very different

I had never heard that about Noah and the Flood, Pat - you learn something new every day :-) Do you know if Kataklysmos is celebrated by most of the religions of the countries around the Med. or is it mostly the Orthodox faith?

David, there are lots of people, me included, who struggle a bit with the concept of the Trinity. I think part of the problem is our limited human imagination. We tend to imagine God as a person which, of course, He isn't and I think that muddies the waters a bit. I find it difficult but in the past I have found the clover leaf analogy easiest for me to relate to. I can physically see three equal elements merging into one whole.

My goodness, you have made me think - and that doesn't happen very often these days :-D

I have also learnt a lot through this thread.
Confused at times, most certainly.

One good thing it makes me think and the
easiest explanation I can relate to helps.

Only Cyprus Vera

https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Feast+of+Kataklysmos

Like our festivals a bit of the old religion or beliefs used for Christian celebrations

Thanks for the link Pat. Very interesting.

Thank you for reminding me Pat.
I used to live in eastern Cyprus and remember the local people celebrating.

Hollywood is still making money from Bible epics.

Two or three years ago Russel Crowe starred in Noah.

Good morning :-)

Lovely to see the chat going on on here...…..and I think Vera has hit the nail on the head - we tend to think of God as a limited human being such as ourselves - but he is infinite - which is another ball game altogether! :-D


David, instead of 'Father, Mother, Child', consider 'Husband, father, grandfather' - the same person but with different aspects :-D


Yes Hollywood still make biblical epics and take a lot of artistic license to boot too! lol

My husband is a man of faith and very knowledgeable on the subject too (unlike me), and he gets really annoyed at some of the inaccuracies portrayed in televised 'biblical' productions.

We press on.....

Prayer To Keep Me From Being Too Busy

Dear Lord, at the start of this day, help me to keep the eyes of my heart on You and may I not ignore what is really important for what I think is urgent.

Help me not to be too busy to forget to look at all the beauty that surrounds me in the world that You have created. Help me not to be so much in a hurry that I miss listening to Your still small voice.

Keep me I pray from ‘busy-ness’ and may I draw ever closer to You in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen


Love to all. Cx :-)

In these modern times so many religions exist, most of them in conflict thereby ignoring love thy neighbour and thou shalt not kill, very sad.
Within "Christianity" so many denominations exist, most saying they are right and in
a form of conflict with the others :-S
If you trace "Christianity" back through the centuries it has been responsible for a lot of bloodletting and "legalised" murder. Trace the religion all the way back to Constantine
and you have as close as you will get to the original. Is what the Churches are teaching today the same as what they taught back then ? If not why not ?

The heavens are continually revealing their wonders, but so is the earth. Out of the

same soil one seed grows a cabbage another seed grows a turnip, yet another grows

a tomato, fascinating. Some know how it works, I'm always very impressed. Different

colours, flavours shapes and sizes, out of the same earth.

Good morning :-)

So many deep points greet me this morning. The Christianity/religion causing warfare issue is another old discussion topic. Yes, there has been too much bloodshed in the name of religion, mostly caused by those who have either twisted the teachings or have misunderstood what the faith is about.

One of the oft quoted sayings is 'an eye for an eye' etc. however, Christians should have left that behind and moved on to the teachings of Jesus - 'love your neighbour as yourself'. Too often, the vengeful events of the Old Testaments are used as examples of behaviour but, whilst there is much to learn from the OT, our example of how to live our lives is found in the New Testament.


Gulp of coffee


Yes it is a beautiful and amazing world, not formed as a 'fluke' or by chance, but a world created for us to enjoy and care for, and we should ever be thankful for the wonders we see around us.

More coffee


For today:

Lord, we thank you for our families
For the talents and good things that you have given each of us
Please guide us, protect us and equip us
This day and every day
As we grow together in Your love

Amen.


Cx :-)

"What did St Peter preach at Pentecost?"

To get to the other side?

:-D :-D :-D :-D Cynthia thank you for your
continuing support on this thread and for
your sense of humour.

What better way to see the day through with a
laugh and a prayer x

Oh good heaven's, I see I didn't get here yesterday! This is what happens when it takes me ages to get on site...….I give up for a while and then I forget. Apologies.

Good morning :-)

Hello Mark, the opening post of this thread was set by a former member who has long since left the site - we have been running the thread for almost 6 years now.

This has made me think. To those of you who support this thread, should we keep it as it is, or begin a new one with, maybe, a different title but keeping to the Christian faith? I am open to suggestions, thoughts and ideas :-D

For today :


Saturday is like a blank page, fresh and new, a pause away from routines and responsibilities. Thank you for rest, for recreation, family and friends.
Lord, thank you for Saturdays. Amen.

Cx :-)

Cynthia I thought you may have had problems
getting on to the site.
Several of us had some difficulties or another.

I think maybe a new thread would be good.
Either way I will still look in everyday x