A Weight We Don't Have To Bear

[Motar]

Meet Shrek the sheep; he became famous a little while back for hiding out in caves by himself for six years. Because of his isolation, his fleece was never shorn. It grew and grew; by the time he was finally shaved, the amount of fleece that fell away from his body weighed sixty pounds. Most sheep have a fleece weighing under ten pounds; sometimes it's more, but never by much.

For six years, Shrek carried six times the regular weight of his fleece... all because he was away from his shepherd. This is reminiscent of John 10 when Jesus compares Himself to a shepherd, and His followers are His sheep. If you think about it, Shrek the sheep is much like a person who knows Jesus Christ but has wandered. If we avoid Christ’s constant refining of our character, we’re going to accumulate extra weight in this world—a weight we don’t have to bear.

Christ can easily lift the burdens we bear, if only we stop hiding. He can shave off our "fleece," that is, our self-imposed burdens brought about by wandering from our Good Shepherd.

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
http://www.godvine.com/read/shrek-279.html

If only we stop hiding.

 

[taxslave]

SO you want to shear the sheeple like the sheep.

 

[Motar]

SO you want to shear the sheeple like the sheep.

You might be surprised to learn that "sheeple" is a political term, TS. George Orwell's political satire "Animal Farm" is regarded by some as the origin of this portmanteau.

 

[taxslave]

Politics- Religion pretty much the same thing. Both pray on the weak.

 

[DaSleeper]

Politics- Religion pretty much the same thing. Both pray on the weak.

I like your play on words prey/pray;-)

 

[Nuggler]

I like your play on words prey/pray;-)

Probably an accident.........................;-)

 

[MHz]

Any plans for furry rhinos?

 

[Motar]

Politics- Religion pretty much the same thing. Both pray on the weak.

Exploitation occurs in apolitical and secular relationships, TS. Individual spiritual/moral corruption is the cause.

 

[Motar]

SO you want to shear the sheeple like the sheep.

Not really, TS. This is a metaphor for human spiritual baggage. The oversized fleece is an external representation of internal spiritual burdens in an isolated individual. The shearing that is needed is akin to a spiritual circumcision. (Romans 2:28-29)

 

[hermanntrude]

any wild animal wouldn't have this problem. we bred sheep in order to make money. Likewise the same can be said of religion.

 

[taxslave]

Not really, TS. This is a metaphor for human spiritual baggage. The oversized fleece is an external representation of internal spiritual burdens in an isolated individual. The shearing that is needed is akin to a spiritual circumcision. (Romans 2:28-29)

Like making everyone the same. That is why they are called sheeple.

 

[Motar]

Like making everyone the same. That is why they are called sheeple.

Do you know anyone who is "the same" as me, TS?

 

[Cliffy]

Do you know anyone who is "the same" as me, TS?

You spout the same nonsense as all the other born-againers. You still take the bible as literal. I don't really see that much difference.

 

[taxslave]

Do you know anyone who is "the same" as me, TS?

Bunch of other religious freaks.

 

[Motar]

Politics- Religion pretty much the same thing. Both pray on the weak.

politics (n.)
1520s, "science of government," from politic (adj.), modeled on Aristotle's ta politika "affairs of state," the name of his book on governing and governments, which was in English mid-15c. as "Polettiques." Also see -ics.
Online Etymology Dictionary

religion (n.)
c.1200, "state of life bound by monastic vows," also "conduct indicating a belief in a divine power," from Anglo-French religiun (11c.), Old French religion "piety, devotion; religious community," and directly from Latin religionem (nominative religio) "respect for what is sacred, reverence for the gods; conscientiousness, sense of right, moral obligation; fear of the gods; divine service, religious observance; a religion, a faith, a mode of worship, cult; sanctity, holiness," in Late Latin "monastic life" (5c.).
Online Etymology Dictionary

Both are nouns, TS, but that is where the resemblance ends. When word origins are considered, politics and religion are two decidedly different things.

You spout the same nonsense as all the other born-againers. You still take the bible as literal. I don't really see that much difference.

Perhaps you missed the term "metaphor" in my post (#9) above, Cliffy.

"One of the most important aspects of the human side of the Bible is that, in order to communicate his Word to all human conditions, God chose to use almost every kind of available communication: narrative history, genealogies, chronicles, laws, poetry, proverbs, prophetic oracles, riddles, drama, biographical sketches, parable, letters, sermons, and apocalypses. To interpret properly the "then and there" of the biblical texts, you must not only know some general rules that apply to all words of the Bible, but you also need to learn the special rules that apply to each of these literary forms (genres)."
Fee, Gordon D. and Douglas, Stuart. (2003). How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The language of the Bible is at times symbolic and on other occasions literal. Both concrete and abstract thinking are needed to appreciate its style, content and Author.

 

[Motar]

Bunch of other religious freaks.

My biological birth record indicates a single, not a multiple genesis, TS. I have no biologically identical siblings. So, too, my spiritual birth. Because spiritual nativity occurs in individuals, not groups, I likewise have no spiritual twin.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

My biological birth record

dafuq?

 

[Motar]

My biological birth ...

Jesus answered, 'Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." (John 3:5-6 NIV)

"Born of water" is biological birth, TB.

 

[Cliffy]

The language of the Bible is at times symbolic and on other occasions literal. Both concrete and abstract thinking are needed to appreciate its style, content and Author.

There are many "holy" books written, why is yours any more divinely inspired than any other? Just because you say so? Many peoples had very strong spiritual beliefs but had no written language. Do we write them off because of that? Just because the authors of the book say it was divinely inspired is not proof that it was. All beliefs in the bible and the god of the bible are based entirely on blind faith.

I am not arguing the existence of a creator. I am arguing that those who say, unequivocally, that the bible is the word of god do not have a leg to stand on but their blind faith. What if the Creator gave its word to all people, in all historical time frames, in all geographical locations, in a language that they could understand, with characters and events that they could relate to? If this creator god is a loving and caring one, then it would make more sense this way than give it too only one people, in one geographical location in one historical time frame. Otherwise, this creator god would just be some psychotic fruit loop who created a species so flawed they could not possibly live up to its expectations and then punishes them for being flawed. Does not make sense at all.

 

[Motar]

There are many "holy" books written, why is yours any more divinely inspired than any other? Just because you say so? Many peoples had very strong spiritual beliefs but had no written language. Do we write them off because of that? Just because the authors of the book say it was divinely inspired is not proof that it was. All beliefs in the bible and the god of the bible are based entirely on blind faith.

I am not arguing the existence of a creator. I am arguing that those who say, unequivocally, that the bible is the word of god do not have a leg to stand on but their blind faith. What if the Creator gave its word to all people, in all historical time frames, in all geographical locations, in a language that they could understand, with characters and events that they could relate to? If this creator god is a loving and caring one, then it would make more sense this way than give it too only one people, in one geographical location in one historical time frame. Otherwise, this creator god would just be some psychotic fruit loop who created a species so flawed they could not possibly live up to its expectations and then punishes them for being flawed.

Does not make sense at all.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,'
declares the Lord.
'As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV)