Nightingale

regardless, he's not wasting money, because I'm buying.

LOL. you try that and about the only response you'll get is the finger. That's kind of similar to the woman who "wanted to tell me about Jesus" while I was waiting for the restroom. Gotta work on timing and phrasing there. When someone is walking into a "den of sin" as you put it, they probably aren't going to be extraordinarily receptive to whatever you have to say. Perhaps, instead of saying "you're on the pathway to sin" you could try "are you ok? is there something I can help with?" Take a look at the world from the other perspective for a moment. You're having a rotten day. Everything's going wrong. All you want is to go into a bar and drink yourself into oblivion, and be left alone to wallow in your misery. Someone walks up to you and says "Hi. Did you know you're on the pathway to sin?" do you: A. arrange a meeting between his nose and your fist B. ignore him C. tell him to leave you the f-alone D. invite him to sit down and have a pleasant little chat.

be truthful... but do it in a polite manner. Rudeness gets people pissed at you, and when they're pissed, they don't listen, which defeats your purpose.

in your bus situation, yes, of course yell. The person will probably listen to you. in the second situation, yelling isn't going to do any good. The person has no compelling reason that they can see to listen to you. Perhaps a conversation after a rapport has been established, but in this situation, shouting isn't going to work, no matter how loud you yell.

Excellent article. That's exactly what I was trying to say. I copied the text below from a handout given by a priest at LMU regarding reading the Bible: (edit: Written by Fr. Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.) When we read the Bible, we need to keep in mind that we're reading a translation. No original manuscript of any biblical book has survived. All of the texts written by the biblical authors themselves have been lost or destroyed over the centuries. All we have are copies of copies of copies, most of them copied hundreds of years after the original texts were written. The manuscripts we have contain numerous textual variations. There are literally thousands of differences in the surviving biblical manuscripts, many of them minor (spelling variations, synonyms, different word orders), but some of them major (whole sections missing or added). The meanings of some biblical texts are unknown or uncertain. Some Hebrew or Greek words occur only once in the Bible, but nowhere else in ancient literature, so their exact meanings are unknown; and some biblical phrases are ambiguous, with more than one possible meaning. Ancient languages are very different from modern languages. Not only do Ancient Hebrew and Greek use completely different alphabets and vocabularies, but their grammatical rules and structures (word order, prepositions, conjugations of verbs, etc.) are very different from modern English. Every "translation" is already inevitably an "interpretation". Anyone who knows more than one modern language realizes that "translations" often have meanings that are slightly different from the original, and that different people inevitably translate the same texts in slightly different ways. All living languages continually change and develop over time! Not only is "Modern English" very different from 16th century English, but the language used in Great Britain, America, Australia, and other countries are slightly different from each other (in spelling, grammar, idioms, word meanings, etc.). Edited to add the reference... I found the entire article on Fr. Just's website. http://clawww.lmu.edu/faculty/fjust/Bible/English_Translations.htm

I don't fear my karate instructor. I definitely respect him for the damage he could inflict if he wanted, but I am confident enough in him that I know he wouldn't ever hurt me unless I gave him a damn good reason. So long as I don't supply that reason, I have no reason to fear him. Fear and respect are two very different things. Sometimes they should go hand in hand, but not always. For example, when I'm doing a kata (martial arts form where you're fighting an imaginary attacker) with my knives or kamas (miniature scythes for lack of a better description), the second I begin to fear my weapon is the second I injure myself. Fear makes you act irrationally. While I definitely respect my weapons, this respect has come with a thorough understanding of the mechanics of the weapon. When I begin to fear the weapon, I do things such as trying to move my body away from the blade, which usually results in stabbing myself with the blade in my other hand. Respect means giving someone or something their due. It means admitting that the person/place/thing has power, acknowledging that, and working with it. Fear is, for the most part, something irrational caused by ignorance. For example: My mom used to be terrified of guns. Even an unloaded weapon scared the heck out of her. My dad is a gun owner. He sat her down, went over how the weapon worked, what made it work, and why. Now, my mom views his handgun with a healthy dose of respect. She doesn't touch it when my dad's not around. She doesn't point it at other people. And, she is no longer shaking in irrational fear of it. Fear: A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear. A feeling of disquiet or apprehension: a fear of looking foolish. A reason for dread or apprehension Respect: To feel or show deferential regard for; esteem. To avoid violation of or interference with: respect the speed limit.

I have a very close friend who just returned from Iraq. He's got several new scars, but other than that is in one piece and well, thank God. He's expressed an interest in a skydive. He earned his jump wings in Army Airborne school, but has never experienced freefall, since all his jumps were static line. He's asked me if he should do a tandem, or go straight to an AFF 1 jump. My gut says tandem, because as a passenger, you can just enjoy freefall, but I think he might be bored with the canopy ride, since he already knows how to do that part. AFF 1 would be cool because he can control his own canopy, but there's so much to do on the skydive I don't know if he'd really have time to just enjoy the feeling of freefall. Opinions???

I don't know about fear... but I'd definitely view an entity that powerful with a very healthy dose of respect.

I don't think its nearly that expensive here. http://www.animated-teeth.com/wisdom_teeth/t5_extractions_costs.htm this quotes $155-$270 per tooth, if not encased in bone. another site: How much does wisdom teeth extraction cost? Simple extraction of a wisdom tooth can cost as little as $99 per tooth. The cost of wisdom teeth that are impacted can cost between $230 and $340 and even more. Because costs vary in different areas of the country, contact your dentist or oral surgeon for their charges.

oh my... these people are NUTS! on the front page of that site: Read Pastor Alamo's Most Recent Message, entitled: IF ROME'S ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT, WHICH INCLUDES THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, CAN MURDER YOU BEFORE YOU REACH AGE 65 BY LACING YOUR TOBACCO, FOOD, AND WATER WITH CYANIDE GAS AND RADIOACTIVE NUCLEAR WASTE, THEY WILL SAVE TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS PER YEAR. THIS ONCE CONFIDENTIAL REPORT WILL SHOW YOU THEY ARE DOING IT!

I meant that threatening someone with death as a means of conversion is illegal. And yes, that is the exact reason I support separation of church and state. When religion gets a hold of government, it tends to run amok.

it said to "make disciples." It didn't say how. When I was in college, I was at Venice Beach waiting in line for the restroom inside a Borders' bookstore. The lady in line in front of me looked over at me, minding my own business, and said "I want to tell you about Jesus." I looked at her like she was a freak and went to find another restroom. Sometimes, people are open to talking about faith. And sometimes, it is just the wrong moment, wrong person, or wrong way to spread the message. Most people react like I do when approached by a stranger. You look at that person thinking "who are you, what planet did you come from, and why are you bothering me? Go Away." The best way to bring people to your religion is to truly LIVE IT. I really wish the people preaching and handing out tracts on the street would quit worrying so much about what others believe and concentrate on their own faith journey for a while. Its truly surprising how many of them have never actually read the Bible. When I went through a time of questioning, the people I turned to were the ones I already had some kind of relationship with, not some random stranger who approached me on the street. Personally, I think the only thing handing out tracts accomplishes is the unnecessary killing of trees. Those things seem to go straight from the hands of the giver to the hands of the recipient and into the trash can. Sure, put the fliers for your church around town or in local businesses (if they allow it). Let those who are ready read them. Don't pressure those who aren't ready, because you will only drive them further away, which isn't what you want to accomplish. If someone's only impression of Christians are "those weirdos on the Promenade who keep giving me fliers and yelling Bible verses at me", they're not going to see Christianity in a very positive light. HOWEVER, if that person has friends who are Christian and feels that they can talk to those friends with no pressure and no risk of being judged, an open discussion of faith is more likely to take place. It could even start with something as simple as "dude, why aren't you ever at the DZ on Sunday morning?"

now, however, since threatening someone with death isn't legal, that would not be a practical method. Also, you'd have to question rather those conversions were true conversions, or if people were going through the motions out of fear for their lives. You can never get someohe to truly accept something through coersion and threats. they have to WANT to accept it.

I completely agree. Anyone who pushes any religion on another person usually ends up pushing that person away instead of drawing them in. The best way to preach a religion to non-believers is to simply live it and answer their questions when they ask. And when they're ready, they will ask.

schedules aren't set in stone, ya know... that's only my schedule when I've got nothing better to do.

Don't put metallic material in the dryer unless you KNOW its dryer safe. some stuff can melt, or crack, or just look icky.

My uncle had it. had treatment. it went away. he's fine now. take a deep breath and take one day at a time.

ROFL... I NEED TO GET OUT MORE??? I'm never home! I haven't seen my room-mate in a week! Check out my schedule: Monday and tuesday: awake at 4:30, leave for work at 5:15, work from 7-4, get home at 5:30, dance class from 6-9, home, shower, sleep by 11. Wednesday: awake at 4:30, work, go straight from work to grad school from 7-10 pm, home by 11:30 pm, sleep. Thursday and friday: awake at 4:30, leave for work at 5:15, work from 7-4, get home at 5:30, dance class from 6-9, work with personal trainer at gym from 9:30-10:30 on thursdays, then home and sleep. Weekend: JUMP. lol... get a life, huh? I think I'd like a little less of one.

1. I've never been drunk. 2. cigaretts are gross! 3. tried it out of curiosity. wasn't my thing. 4. HELL NO 5. nope. that's scary shit 6. that's also scary shit 7. someone slipped LSD in my drink. It was an interesting trip, but he and I were no longer friends after that, and it isn't something I'd do again.

yardhippie has a NICE avatar

Yoshi has a cute puppy dog!

Hoot prefers to be mysterious (as he has no info in his profile )

#2 just cause white gets dirty so easily.

the Irish people are some of the friendliest I've ever met, and you can't beat the scenery there.

I know Storm has a really cool avatar!