Posted in discernment, Uncategorized

Did Jesus come to judge the world or save the world? Context, context, context

A favorite tactic for those who take verses out of context, is to read only part of the verse. Or, as in today’s case, to take a complete verse as the statement or their defense, but forego the next verse, which is obviously attached to the former. Here is the example.

As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. (John 12:47)

It’s popular for many people to rely on that verse as their defense in saying not to point our error or to name false teachers. “Stop judging!” people say. “The Bible says not to judge, even Jesus didn’t come to judge!”

However, the verse 47 continues the thought into verse 48.

There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

So people WILL be judged. Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible says of John 12:47-48,

and receiveth not my words; the doctrines of the Gospel, but disbelieves them, and denies them to be true, looking upon them as the doctrines of a mere man, and an impostor:

hath one that judgeth him; let not such an one think that he shall escape righteous judgment; though Christ does not judge him now, there is one that judges him, yea, even now; and declares, that he that believeth not shall be damned, and that he is condemned already

the word that I have spoken unto you the same shall judge him in the last day; according to the different dispensations wicked men are under in this world, will be the rule of their judgment hereafter: such who are only under the law of nature, will be judged according to that, that will accuse them, convict them, and condemn them: such who have been under the law of Moses, or the written law, will be arraigned, proved, and pronounced guilty, and punished by, and according to that law; and such who have been under the Gospel dispensation, and have been favoured with the revelation of the Gospel, but have condemned and denied it, that will judge them at the last day. The judge will act by its present declaration, and according to that proceed, as it stands in Mark 16:16. It will rise up in judgment against such persons, and be an aggravation of their condemnation.

Part of what we mean when we say don’t take verses out of context is first, read the whole verse, not just part of it. Second, read the verses around the verse you want to quote. As a matter of fact, it’s good to read the entire passage, page, or even chapter. You will get a better idea of the flow and the points raised and settled. If realtors’ mantra expression is: “There are three things that matter in property: location, location, location,” then the Bible student’s mantra should be “There are three things that matter in Bible study- context, context, context.”

context

 

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Sexual sin: it wants you

Sexual sin is a biggie crouching at the door, waiting to capture you. Do you believe you’re immune to it? Do you believe it won’t happen to you? Do you think it’s not possible because you’re so strong, or so wise, or so Godly?

Samson was the strongest man in the Bible, and he fell to sexual sin.

David was the Godliest man in the Bible, and he fell to sexual sin.

Solomon was the wisest man in the Bible, and he fell to sexual sin.

The Bible’s warnings about sexual sin are clear. What are the protections we should take?

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (Ephesians 4:22-24).

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. (Luke 9:23-24).

It’s very clear. Sexual sin wants you. You don’t want it.

Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

Fellowship without fear

It’s Fall here in Georgia. In honor of the (finally!) cooler temperatures, I scheduled a visit to the sunflower/pumpkin patch with my friend. It’s not too far from us, only about 40 minute drive. It’s free to get in, and the only thing you pay for are any pumpkins or sunflower cuttings you might want. It should be a fun morning. I’m envisioning us to grab a coffee, enjoy a nice drive out there, stroll in the crisp air, take LOTS of photos, and have a relaxing drive back.

The previous social engagement I scheduled was with this same friend … last December. Does it seem strange to you that I have social outings only twice per year, or ten months apart? Not to me. It’s normal, and the pace is perfect.

I’m autistic and most weekends and evenings I spend recovering from the day and the week alone at home. In the silence. The bewildering aspects of sociability, the noise of being among people, the nasty surprises like a bell going off or a car alarm blaring, wear on me like I’m cheese on a cheese grater. By the end of the day every last nerve is whittled down, my body is actually throbbing in pain, and I’m near tears.

Not that I don’t enjoy people, I do. Most times I enjoy a witty remark, a pleasant exchange, or just seeing what people wear or what they brought for lunch. I like the people I work with and I love the children. It’s just that by the end of the day it’s sensory overload. I need time to recuperate.

It’s also that I don’t really want to have lengths of time with people. Though it’s true that sometimes I really don’t, other times I think it might be nice to do so. Whether that flickering desire stems from a genuine level of empathy or friendliness, or I’m just succumbing to a social pressure to do something most people enjoy, I don’t know. Being a typical Aspergers person I don’t care. The thought is fleeting and then I’m on to more serious pursuits.

But then…I read things like this in the Bible:

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, (Acts 2:46)

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. (John 2:1-2)

And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. (Mark 2:15).

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. So they hosted a dinner for Jesus there. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him. (John 12:1-2)

And all who believed were together and had all things in common. (Acts 2:44)

The Bible shows us that there were gatherings in the Lord’s name and friendships and dinners and parties and weddings and banquets. The Bible is strong on gathering together, fellowship with like-minded believers, koinonia, service, hospitality and building each other up. So avoiding any and all gatherings is not an option. Church going and small talk afterward, being a member of a small group study, and joining the occasional all-church gathering is important. I do so because it’s commanded and I seek to honor the Lord. I just wish it wasn’t so painful.

Well, someday it won’t be!

In heaven the fellowship will be without limits, without fears, without any negatives at all. I can’t imagine how it will be to be freed from the distress of social interaction. Talking will be full of meaning because it will center on Jesus without reservation and without error. The sweetness of being together will be fully realized as we visibly see our selves as His body and visibly see Him as the Head.

I suppose I will still have the same autistic brain since He made me this way in the first place. I am guessing that even in heaven there will be those people there who are more gregarious and those who are more shy. We will retain our personality after all, but without the underlying cause being fear, or distress, or anxiety. I’m looking forward to visiting with martyrs, Apostles, heroes, and all the rest of the laypeople who comprise His redeemed church in a sweet fellowship devoid of anything negative and wholly saturated with glory, goodness, and joy.

Posted in prophecy, Uncategorized

The apostasy and hatred of the Pharisees made them plot to kill Lazarus

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (John 12:9-11)

This man [Nicodemus] came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2)

Imagine a religion so apostate that the leaders and adherents of it plot to kill the person upon whom had been given the greatest supernatural blessing and sign directly from God- resurrection. And it’s not that the Pharisees didn’t know that Jesus was from God, Nicodemus tells us they did.

The evil of the religion as it had become when Jesus arrived is something we often forget to look upon in horror and disgust. Jesus certainly did. Wolves bring leaven.

Yet to tolerate spiritual leaven is to invite apostasy. Christians seem more interested in following the super gentle, easy-to-follow, blonde haired, blue eyed, Caucasian surfer Jesus instead of the one that beckons us to pick up our crosses, follow him, and seek the lost (Matt. 10:38) (CARM)

The Pharisees had piled hundreds of laws onto the Jews over time, a total of 614 had been invented by them by the time Jesus came. The People were staggering under the weight of Law and worse, the Pharisees displayed no grace to help alleviate their burden. Only hypocrisy. Therefore, Jesus was incensed at what was done in His name.

After Lazarus’ resurrection, the people continued to bear witness of Jesus’ sign.

The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” (John 12:17-19)

The leaven the false ones bring always includes self-satisfaction. The Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes were in it for themselves, not the glory of God. It’s the same today.

To tolerate this spiritual leaven means to invite apostasy.  Like leaven, error gradually creeps into the church and spreads to all parts, causing the whole to elevate itself with pride and do what is right in one’s own eyes instead of that which is right in God’s.  2 Thess. 2:3 speaks about the great apostasy that is coming.  However, it cannot occur without a host of lesser apostasies within the Church that will ultimately deceive Christians and prepare the ground for the arrival of Antichrist. (CARM)

Apostasy is evil and its deepening never stops. It only progresses. It winds up to a point where the leaders of it want to kill the very man, Lazarus, who could bear witness to the power and grace of a holy God just by the fact that he could draw breath. The apostate wants no such Good News however. He seeks to stop it and silence it in any way possible. Death, that’s what apostasy brings. Praise God that He sent His Son to witness to the grace and mercy of His Holy Name. Rather than seeking to kill, we seek to love, build up, and we remain in His hand until the day He returns or brings us home.

Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

The beauty of creation at the microscopic level

I love photos and videos that show the microscopic. It’s all God’s creation and to be able to see the smaller things unusually not observed by the unaided eye just gives me a thrill to peek into His smaller creations that are just as magnificent as the Alps or the change of seasons or the constellations. Here is a short clip of things crystallizing. It’s fascinating. Continue reading “The beauty of creation at the microscopic level”

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Have you ever been snubbed?

a snub is defined as-

an act of showing disdain or a lack of cordiality by rebuffing or ignoring someone or something.

Did you ever go into a store or pass someone walking or anywhere, and you know they saw you but they refuse to acknowledge you? That’s a snub.

I’m on the spectrum and I accidentally snub people all the time. Sorry. I tend to focus more on inanimate objects than I do on people and I literally don’t see you. Children are an exception. I always see them.

A hilarious quote I read from Kin Hubbard says that “some people are so sensitive they feel snubbed if an epidemic overlooks them.”

Remember the angst in High School when we walked down the hall and saw the boy (or the girl) and desperately hoped for eye contact, acknowledgement, or best of all, personal affirmation. Would he stop, look, chat? Oh, no, he didn’t look! She didn’t see! They rejected me!

It felt horrible and as adults if we care to admit it, it still does. Snubbing and his big brother Rejection are wounds that hurt. We’ve been snubbed when a friend is angry with us, We’ve been rejected by a spouse through adultery. We have been passed over for promotion. We crave affirmation and recognition, but when we’re being ignored through a snub or rejected through anger or hate, it hurts and the hurt takes a long time to heal.

Now bundle all the times you’ve been snubbed, overlooked, and rejected, and magnify that a billion times. Imagine how you might feel at the universe’s worst snub, its highest rejection.

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32).

In the first case, the person being rejected thought he was a Christian. He labored, he preached, he rebuked demons. And he was rejected. In a stunning turn of events, the person will receive an eternal rejection to his face, and be banished from glory and the presence of Jesus forever.

In order to ensure that you, dear reader, are not one of those rejected and snubbed, having no place card at the Banquet, test yourself to see if you are in the faith. Is It Real: 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation can be read here.

In the second case, the person was an outright Christ rejecter. Whether they were a ‘spiritual person’ of another religion, or an atheist, agnostic, or other flavor of rejecter, in turn they will be rejected on the Day. Forever.

This is a hurt and a wound from which one does not ever recover. Make sure you are not rejected on the Day, and repent of your sins. Today is the day of your salvation. Don’t wait, don’t procrastinate. If you’re feeling feel drawn, investigate and examine yourself to see if you pass the test.

 

wise-man

Posted in discernment, Uncategorized

Jude’s dreamers and Beth Moore’s necromancy

Consider this statement from Jude 1:8. Jude is talking about ungodly people, false teachers who are already marked out for condemnation, grace-perverters.

Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.

Look at the part of the verse which casts a negative light on their reliance on dreams, where I’d underlined. What kind of dreams are meant here? MacArthur Commentary,

The wicked behavior of such men derives from their dreaming a term that Jude uses to identify these apostates as phony visionaries. The New Testament normally uses the noun onar to refer to dreams (Matthew 1:20, 2:12, 13, 19, 22, 27:19), but here Jude chose a form of the verb enupniazo, which is used only one other place int he New Testament, Acts 2:17. In that passage, Peter (preaching on the Day of Pentecost) declared, “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28-32) and its affirmation in Peter’s sermon show that the dreams in question may refer to revelatory dreams (rather than normal dreams). During the Tribulation, prophecies, revelations and visions that have now ceased will return, along with divine revelation. God will speak to people through dreams, just as he did earlier in biblical history )e.g., Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, and others).

False teachers often claim dreams as authoritative divine source for their “new truths” which are really just lies and distortions. Such claims allow apostates to substitute their own counterfeit authority for God’s true scriptural authority

At this point in writing the essay I decided to Google some quotes where a famous false teacher had mentioned dreams and end it there. I started with Beth Moore because she’s been around longest and had a higher likelihood of a quote somewhere regarding being a ‘dreamer’ as Jude puts it. I was absolutely shocked as this result came up on Youtube. It is a clip from the LifeToday program on television with James Robison from 6 years ago. At least, Moore mentions that she was 53 years old in the clip and she is 59 years old as of this writing. The 10-minute clip shows Moore describing a dream that she had had, and then its meaning and interpretation. But it’s worse than just a revelatory dream. Much worse.

In the clip, Moore fervently affirms that she just loves Jesus so much and the dream ‘he’ gave her just makes her love ‘him’ all the more. Moore’s friend is Mary Beth Chapman, wife of Grammy and Dove Award winning recording artist, Steven Curtis Chapman. About a year and a half prior to Moore’s dream, her friend Mary Beth had tragically lost her adopted Chinese daughter Maria to a car accident. Mary Beth had been in deep grief.

Moore opened by explaining that in all her 53 years she did not dream that vividly and she never had a dream from God. Though she’d repeatedly prayed and asked for Him to send her a dream,  she explained that God ‘said’ to her that “some people are just safer with the Word on the page.” (1:31 in the clip. By the way, this is an admission that Moore seeks extrabiblical revelation, and that she knows exactly that dreams are extrabiblical revelation).

Her dream involved seeing Mary Beth at a sound stage about to speak to an audience, with her dead daughter holding her hand, in a body and dressed in a white shirt with chunky bangs. At the time, Mary Beth Chapman hadn’t written her book and was not touring sound stages speaking to audiences. Not yet.

The glaring problem with Moore’s description of the dead child is that the redeemed of heaven do not have bodies yet.

Moore explained that every night she prays He would send her a dream or a manifestation, she seeks it earnestly. Luke 11:29 and Luke 11:16 state that an evil generation seeks a sign. So her first mistake was to test the Lord by continually asking for a dream or a manifestation. (her words).

Her second mistake was not recognizing instantly that the dream she’d had was not from the Lord. Why? God abhors communing with the dead. It is a practice that He strenuously forbade the Israelites to engage in (Deuteronomy 18:10-12), calling it an abomination. The New Testament is also firm against sorcery, divination, and necromancy. (Galatians 5:19-21, Revelation 21:8).

Necromancy is defined as the conjuring of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events. In the Bible, necromancy is also called “divination,” “sorcery” and “spiritism” and is forbidden many times in Scripture (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10; Galatians 5:19-20; Acts 19:19) as an abomination to God. It is something that the Lord speaks very strongly against and is to be avoided as much as any evil. (source

There is no reason to believe that a deceased person has any ability to leave heaven or hell in order to visit his living family members. Any such claim is a demonic deception (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). God declared such practices to be abhorrent to Him, and those who did practice such things in Israel were to be put to death (Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Satan would like nothing more than for people to dabble in the occult world of spiritism and necromancy. (source)

Moore’s third mistake was interpreting the dream herself. Genesis 40:8 plainly says that interpretations belong to God. Moore went on in the clip to interpret the dream herself. She said that the dream meant that Mary Beth was being called by God to speak in front of audiences. She further interpreted that God sent the dream to Moore and not to Chapman because it was too soon after the accident for Chapman as a mother to be able to handle seeing her daughter.

 Chapman said in an interview that she had desired a dream, too. She and her husband desired to see their dead daughter.

After the accident, we avoided the house for several days. We were begging God to show us himself in this, because this was clearly the darkest place he had taken us, and we were drowning. We were like, God, please, let us see. Let us see Maria. Let us have a dream. Let us see something so we know that you’re here. (Mary Beth Chapman)

The scriptures say,

For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. 6Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun. (Ecc 9:5-6)

The dead no longer have a share in what is done under the sun. As for the desire to see a dead person,

Scripture never indulges that desire. In the Old Testament era, every attempt to communicate with the dead was deemed a sin on par with sacrificing infants to false gods (Deuteronomy 18:10–12). The Hebrew Scriptures say comparatively little about the disposition of souls after death, and the people of God were strictly forbidden to inquire further on their own. Necromancy was a major feature of Egyptian religion. It also dominated every religion known among the Canaanites. But under Moses’ law it was a sin punishable by death (Leviticus 20:27). Dead Men Tell No Tales

Moore’s dream is the exact definition of necromancy. In OT times, doing what Moore did, summoning a dream or a manifestation of a dead person and basing personal interpretations of future events on that dream was punishable by death.

Jude disparaged ‘dreamers’ and their reliance on their ‘dreams’ because dreaming is a dangerous activity. Sin never sits still. It deepens. It begins with one little sin not repented of, and another and another. It continues with straying from church, the Bible, prayer. It deepens with increased satanic activity surrounding you, traversing the abominable territory into personal revelations. Once a false teacher is comfortable with constant alleged personal revelations, then come the dreams, and then the necromancy, and finally, death, either sooner or later.

In Saul’s case, in the one and only case of communing with the dead, the Lord allowed a summoning of Samuel the Prophet through the Witch of Endor to demonstrate to Saul how far gone he was into the deep things of satan.You also notice that the witch already had a “familiar spirit.” (KJV). Samuel’s appearance was only to confirm Saul’s imminent doom.

This essay has a two-fold purpose. One, to show you again, how deeply Moore is apostate, and to warn you to avoid her. Secondly it is to remind you (and me) that sin never sits still, it is always on the move, prowling. (1 Peter 5:8). As sin moves, it deepens. It gets worse over time if unrepented of, never better.

There are only two ways to go in our walk on earth. One will be on the narrow road or on the broad road. One leads to destruction and eternal death, one leads to eternal life. Walk, or as Paul sometimes said, run, indicates movement. Sin never stays still. You either move toward the “deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10) or you move toward the deep things of satan (Revelation 2:24). When one begins to seek voices and personal direct revelation from God and accept them, one is already far down the path of the deeper things of satan. When one dreams and believes the dreams are from God, it’s a dangerous thing. You then begin relying on the dreams and not “the Word on the page” (as Moore admitted above). Jude says of those who rely on dreams “defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.” When dreams turn to summoning the dead, and interpreting their activity into future earthly events, you’re already an abomination to God because you are a necromancer. Necromancers do not go to heaven.

Don’t dabble in dreams, nor should we ask for them. Don’t accept personal revelations, but repent of them. That Beth Moore did not recognize her necromancy dream as an abomination but attributed what was in fact the deep things of satan to God, just shows her blindness and abominable status before our holy Lord. Jude was serious, saying

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:3-4)

———————————————

End Note:

I’m posting these screen shots of the video with closed captioning in case the video is deleted (which Moore’s criticized videos often are.) I also saved the transcript of the video and I’ll post that if the video is deleted later.

Here, Moore admits she constantly asks God to show her a manifestation or give her a dream.

Here, Moore claims to see Mary Beth Chapman’s dead child Maria in body and describes her face, hair and clothes.

Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

The discovery of 2000 year old Leviticus fragment

What were the original languages the Bible was written in? How did we get the Bible? Is the Bible corrupted by men when they were translated?

Good questions!

The Bible was written in two main languages, Hebrew in the Old Testament, and Greek for the New Testament. Two other languages appear briefly. One of them is Aramaic. A few chapters in Ezra and Daniel were originally in Aramaic and one verse in Jeremiah, also.

There are a few words in another, fourth language that appears extremely briefly for a few words in Job, and that’s Ugaritic. The Ugaritic does’t impact the original Bible’s reading and interpreting so much as it does in helping to understand the Hebrew overall.

Two thousand tablets written in Ugaritic were discovered in 1929. The Kingdom of Ugarit was located in Syria, and was a thriving kingdom of the late Bronze Age (1570 – 1200 BC.) It co-existed with the Hebrew tribes and,

The Ugaritic texts offer innumerable literary and religious parallels to biblical literature. The parallels are so rich and in some cases so specific that it is evident that the Ugaritic texts do not merely provide parallels, but belong to a shared or overlapping cultural matrix with the Hebrew Bible. (Source)

The Ugaritic language was almost letter for letter identical to Hebrew, and where the Hebrew word was unknown or difficult to interpret in context, the Ugaritic texts helped as a kind of Rosetta Stone in interpreting the Hebrew biblical word properly.

Continue reading “The discovery of 2000 year old Leviticus fragment”

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The Necessary Angst

The natural man knows there is a God. We know this because he suppresses this truth in unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18). There is no such thing as an innocent pagan. Deep down they know there is a God, and if they know there is a God they know they do wrong (sin) and someone has to call them to account for it. (Romans 1:19-22).

I remember before coming to the Lord at age 43, I’d pursued all sorts of lines of questioning. The basic unanswered question that drove me was this:it seemed ridiculous to assume that man’s life ended at death. For man to have ‘evolved’ over millions of years only to life a short life of 40 or 50 or 70 years and then die for good seemed a waste. And if man’s life did not end at death but continued in some sort of afterlife, how was it decided who got in? It seemed equally ridiculous that everyone got in. That would simply replicate life on earth, and so, what would make it heaven? I mean, would Hitler get in? It was logical to think there was some sort of standard. But what? And there my queries ended, because I could not understand the Jesus-blood-resurrection part of it. That seemed ILlogical, so I abandoned the issue. But the issue remained in my heart and mind, like a burr under a horse’s saddle. I had angst about it. Continue reading “The Necessary Angst”