DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... What are you reading?

I'll be the first to say it; The Bible. However, I found a new bible I like a lot better. It's called The Paraphrased Apostles. I was raised in that King James thing and it was so stuffy; it really cramped my style. This bible gives a modern slant on God's old fashioned perspectives. There is nothing that makes me feel uncomfortable or question my motives. I'm finally living according to the word. Go in peace to love and serve The Lord; in your best interest.

I read my Bible daily. I have a few different versions. My favorite is the NIV. It's as faithful to the earliest source materials as possible, yet written in ordinary, modern English.

I also have the NKJ (New King James) version that is a modern interpretation of the King James Bible. I enjoy it as well. This is the version my "Bible in a year" is written in.

I also have the "Expanded" Bible, which is a good reference Bible, but given the way it expands upon so many words, I find it difficult to use as a daily reader.

I am currently reading a book for my upcoming class on "Class Leadership" in the United Methodist Church. It's actually pretty interesting.

I have also been reading a book called "It's not what you think", that has a premise that we miss so many things about Christ's message. It's a better read than I initially thought it would be.

I am also reading a book on learning to read music for the piano. That's from the library. I have a bad habit of taking out a book, and then not touching it again until I have about 2 days left on it. I may buy the paperback. I see it available for about $3.

Greg Iles 'Cemetery Road'.

"The Call Of The Wild" and "The Ten Thousand" by Harold Coyle.

The Bible

This website.

Maxim.

As for actual books, I've read the New Testament three times and am on my third reading of the Old Testament.

The last book I read before that was 'The CIA as Organized Crime' by Douglas Valentine. Good read.

For news, I read Drudge Report & Daily Mail UK every day.

NFL Draft scouting reports, pro day results, etc.

We don't have a 1st round pick, but I'll still scour for sleepers. I might be a (draft) junkie.

...the first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

I just started reading James Clavell's "King Rat".

The Bible

I'm working my way through that. It's taking awhile.

'The Stone Raft' -Jose Saramago

next will be:
'Doing Justice' -Preet Bharara

Just finished 41... story of George bush... started reading the richest man in Babylon...

"In Watermelon Sugar" by Richard Brautigan

(for about the 50th time)

Zen in the Art of Archery and Aikido: The Dynamic Sphere. Just finished The Art of War (again) and Starship Troopers (again). And my King James Bible.

I haven't started it yet - just got in the mail today - but I'll be reading a book titled "I Heard You Paint Houses". It supposedly dishes on the murder of Jimmy Hoffa, based on interviews with a Mafia hit man named Frank Sheeran. "Painting houses" was a mob euphemism for killing people, based on what happened to the walls when someone got whacked. The book is being made into a movie with the same name by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert Deniro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel, which sounds pretty good to me.

Correction: the movie will be titled "The Irishman".

Just finished "" One Second After " .Written by a guy named Forstchen. I think he might be a Prepper. Its about what happens to the United States after someone sets off a EMP bomb over America. All the cars quit, people start tp starve and die after we runout of drugs like insulin. Gangs steal anything they can use. Scary because it could happen.

Greg Iles is an exceptional writer. I didn't realize he had a new book out. I will be reading that after I finish my current book.

Nobody is going to call me out on this? The Paraphrased Apostles... really? Anyone who jumped right in to let everyone know they read The Bible? Maybe it's because we're all so busy thinking about what we're going to say, we don't realize when someone is so full of bullspit.

I just made up a Bible based on salvation through personal comfort. I've seen 2 Timothy quoted in a sig on this site. Paul's first letter begins as a warning against misguided teachings. 1Timothy 1:4- Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. So edify me; I want to become the man my family deserves.

I'll admit, I was in a foul mood when I started this thread, but I was hoping that someone would bring something to the table. Help me understand that the path to salvation is not determined by the path of least resistance. This always echoes in my mind, Romans 5:3-5-glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Sorry if you came to this thread to discuss the latest Danielle Steele novel.

A truly engrossing read with a great storyline and character development. I trust that you will thoroughly enjoy it...

Since there are millions of books, maybe you should have expected people wouldn't stick to only one?

What do you have against Daniel Steele?

I am embarrassed to say that I just scanned your original post, and didn't read it thoroughly before I responded.

I get that, Pit. I expected most folks to just list what they are reading currently. Perhaps, provide a little more info on something they were recommending. However, any thread on reading will be visited by several folks who feel compelled to share their love of The Bible. I wanted to address those individuals and I did it here because I love and respect my fellow dawgs. I wanted to be put in check by someone who didn't have an ulterior motive of lining their collection plate.

I didn't try to pass off an imaginary book on a niche topic. I tried to pass off a fake bible. Is that where we're at? We've twisted The Word to such an extent to accommodate our desires or put man-made barriers between others ability to know God that truth is lost.

I have no idea what you're talking about,and I am happy to report that ignorance truly is bliss.

I'm sorry Ytown. My intent wasn't to embarrass you. I've just been frustrated and lacking answers. I should have just made a distinct thread, but didn't want to sift through pages of posts trying to point out the foolishness of the cross. I thought my initial post would raise red flags with people who came here to post that they read the Bible. I hoped that would lead to responses where I would learn something.

You asked what people were reading... you DID learn something new.
You didn't learn anything about what you were hoping to read because you didn't ask about that stuff.

You did, apparently, make up a book title and erroneously expect people to catch that as if having read a bible bestows immediate knowledge of every title ever published, but that is NOT the same thing as asking for answers to the deeper questions you aren't even sure of what they are.

I'm still reading 'King Rat' and I highly recommend it. I will be checking out more of James Clavell's books after this, I really enjoy his writing style.

Thanks Purp. You're right, it's definitely not the same thing. You mention the knowledge of every title ever published. If it's the word of God, shouldn't the knowledge contained in every title ever published be the same? If the word is pure, obviously failure in the interpretation lies in us. Driven by what? It makes me wonder at what point is what I am reading nothing more than an interpretation. I love God, but I don't like people trying to insert themselves as a barrier.

For example, I never baptized my children. I feel like I am damning myself and my kids if I fail to do so. However, I have no idea how to go about doing it. The church I grew up in baptized you as a baby. My wife told me that isn't o.k. because Mark 16:16 states that you can't just be baptized you have to have belief, which a baby can't have.

So I got a specific denominations study Bible, a King James Version, and a New International version and started looking through them and comparing. They all said the same thing with a little different wording. In the study Bible, I found an insert page about christmation, which represents the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the dsciples of Christ after his ascension allowing them to speak the word of God to everyone in their own language. Jon 3:5 states that you have to be born of water and the spirit. So now I had a set of three criteria water, spirit, and belief. However there is a caveat. Apparently to be born of the spirit, I need an oil that is blessed by a bishop of the church that publishes the study Bible.

Where does the truth lie? All three Bibles state the same thing in slightly different wording. The difference lies in the study Bibles insistence that they are the ones with the key. So what, if my children are baptized out of their specific man-made interpretation it's just a nice gesture, but they'll be damned anyway? Don't try to baffle me with bullspit.

All three Bibles remain consistent in the message, but one fails in it's attempt to control. I need to help nurture a relationship between my children and Christ, so they can be baptized in belief and the spirit. I really don't know where to begin and how to relate things to them using my limited understanding. That brings me to the topic of how to find a church that isn't full of it, which has had it's own set of challenges and isn't for today.

There are high quality study Bibles, that offer background on the Apostles, their culture(s), and the norms of particular areas of the world at the time. The NIV makes a fine study Bible, as does the Life Application Study Bible. Like I said earlier, the Amplified Bible is a useful tool, as it breaks out important words and terms into all possible meanings from the original language. It's hard to read through as a daily reader though.

I have my "Bible in a year" that is in the New King James version" I find it to be a faithful version, though I generally am not a fan of translations of translations. I have a Max Lacado Study Bible, but I really haven't dug into it too much yet. It's also the NKJV. I have an old Living Bible, that my granddad got me as a Christmas present back when I was 12 or 13. It has sentimental value, but I am not really fond of the translation. I also have a King James version, but I am not fond of reading what is, essentially, a dead language with often confusing terms and structure. I have a few more, but I don't feel up to digging them out of the shelf right now.

As far as the question about baptism, my pastor answered this one like this: The thief who was hanging on the cross beside Jesus said: "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" And Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:42-43) This thief was not baptized by water, but by the spirit.

I do believe in baptism, but the person who comes to Christ minutes or hours before death is not condemned because he was never baptized by water. Faith in Christ, and repentance of sin are the key.

As far as a perfect church, there are none. All churches have issues with the teachings of Christ. I belong to the Methodist church, and they accept divorce for any reason, and remarriage. This is contrary to what Christ taught. Yes, such is a sin that can be forgiven, but it is a sin. Same thing with sex outside of marriage. It is accepted by almost every denomination, in one way, or another. It's no wonder that so many self professed Christian feel that premarital sex is perfectly fine. (I heard the figure of something like 65% on the radio yesterday) We don't teach purity till marriage, and in fact, we seem t be embarrassed to do so in today's world. Why do we have so much divorce in today's world? Because that bonding that takes place in marital sex has instead become a commonplace activity, and amusement, and not a sacred joining together of husband and wife. However, most churches don't teach this today.

Anyway, it's late, and I have rambled on too much. Perfect churches don't exist any more than perfect people do. All we can do is look for the most faithful ... and try to remain faithful to the Bible.

I was looking through an old box and re-discovered one of my all time favorites which I'm about to read again; 'The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread' by Don Robertson. It's a fictional story about a 9 y/o boy who in October of 1944 decided to skip school and take his red wagon to his friend's house on E 63rd north of St. Clair...then the East Ohio Gas Fire changes his plans.

Which God?

And, books are not written by God.
They are written by Man.

The system is inherently and undeniably flawed.

The one and true God.

The Bible is written by God, through man. God inspires, but allowed each writer to add his own personality to what is written.

If you don't believe, that's your right. The thing that drive me crazy is when I see those who call themselves Christian trying to pick and choose what they want to believe out of the Bible. "Oh, I believe that Jesus probably taught this, but not that" ....... and so forth. Either the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, or it isn't. If it is, believe it. If not, then don't. However, I can't understand how some look at it as if part's true and part isn't. If it's not all true, then why is any of it? If it's not true, then why try to follow any of it?

I believe that God wrote the Bible through the hand of men.

Huh?

If that's true, hows come theres 100 different versions of the bible? Asking for a friend.

so in the bible when it says women should be subjugated, gays stoned, etc.

I am sure you have never done this:



Your book is about death, despair, and bigotry. Its not the fun version a guy name Jack wrote to sell and make money on.

Unfortunately, many people do not understand the Bible, and thus make comments like yours.

Old Testament Laws were meant to be difficult to obey. This was meant to keep the ancient Israelites focused on the Lord at all times. The 10 Commandments, especially as interpreted by Jesus, were impossible for anyone to keep. There is a reason for this.

The Israelites were to be a holy people. They are God's people. As such, God expected them to do more than any other nation on earth, not following any of the customs of those peoples around them. Were the rules strict? Of course. Rules for any Holy Priesthood are stricter than those for the general public.

When Jesus's time came, and He gave Himself as a perfect and atoning sacrifice for our sins, the old ceremonial laws were abolished. Jesus fulfilled the Law, by living a perfect, sin-free life, and then offering that life as a sacrifice for our sins. The old, ceremonial laws, like clothing, and food, were specifically eliminated in the New testament.

It is amazing that you see the Bible as being "about death, despair, and bigotry." On the contrary, it is about living right with God, and your neighbors. It is about the greatest hope of all; eternal life with Holy God. Bigotry? No. It has the 10 Commandments, and yes, we are to obey them. However, forgiveness is available for all who repent of their sins (turn away from them) and accept Christ as Lord and Savior.

I don't have time for more right now. (aren't you lucky) However, if you have questions, I will try my best to answer them later.

Presently reading The Baseball Rookie Encyclopedia which highlights all the rooks from the beginning of organized baseball 1869 on. Gives rookie records,rookie players comparisons in certain catagories of records,one year flashes,those that went to be HOFers,good contributors,ect. Recommended reading for baseball enthusiast. Brought book from Chuck Heaton collection. Also reading Playboy. Ytown and Pastor Marc would recommend to you I,Judas. Very interesting book supposedly based on manuscript written by Judas. If you can not find contact me and I'll let you borrow .

"Shortest Way Home" by Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg

he says that Jesus is humble because he washed feet since "feet are growse"

i've read Ron Chernow too. i know more things about Alexander Hamilton than i probably should!