King is sailing, they say » Spontaneous Stuff http://heissailing.edublogs.org someday, there may be a theme to all this Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:47:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 Two years.. http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2009/10/12/two-years/ http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2009/10/12/two-years/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:45:54 +0000 heissailing http://heissailing.edublogs.org/?p=83 A long time to be away. 

A lot has changed with me in the last two years since I last put something on this humble blogsite.  When I started this site, I was seriously questioning my Christian Faith, and I used this forum to communicate with fellow doubters and believers.  In this, it was highly effective. 

After my faith took a nosedive, I abandoned this site to write for de-conversion.com.

I have not been a regular contributor there for over a year.  My lack of Faith is pretty secure.  The pain is mostly gone.  So I stopped writing about it. 

I would like to try and find a use for this site.  Since edublogs is designed for educators and students, I would like this site to fulfill that purpose to a greater degree – I have a few ideas in mind.  I will work on it slowly, and only for myself.

]]> http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2009/10/12/two-years/feed/ 0 HeIsMoving http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/05/14/heismoving/ http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/05/14/heismoving/#comments Tue, 15 May 2007 01:55:21 +0000 heissailing http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/05/14/heismoving/ Thanks for the memories!I am moving my Theistic articles to the AgnosticAtheism blogsite.  Aa invited me over as a contributor, and I have accepted.  Thanks alot, Aa!!  So while I will be posting over there far less frequently than I did here, you can follow my shenanigans there from now on.  Just click here and join the discussion!!

Thank you everyone for honoring me by reading my articles and providing challenging and thoughtful discourse.  I have learned a tremendous amount from your contributions.  But I have decided to do this just as a matter of time management.  I enjoy discussing Christianity, the Bible, God and Jesus, etc.. but it is easier to be a small part of an active community than to keep this site going by myself.

 What will happen to this website?  I don’t know – but it might become a repository for my favorite math functions.  Stay tooooned.

]]> http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/05/14/heismoving/feed/ 0 To sum up http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/03/03/to-sum-up/ http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/03/03/to-sum-up/#comments Sun, 04 Mar 2007 05:42:39 +0000 heissailing http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/03/03/to-sum-up/ Theresa at Frasch Ideas wrote the following comment, and it perfectly sums up my feelings after reading the Martin Luther King biography that I reviewed yesterday.  This question formed in my head as I read the book, and it started my slide into questioning and doubting Christianity -

Why is it that Christianity is the only religion that claims a creator God (via the Holy Spirit) takes up “residence” in the life of the believer but it doesn’t produce people who act any better than anyone else, especially it’s pastors?

There are many people with loving and serving lifestyles, who pay no mind to God.  And there are many pastors and priests who are total skunks.  And of course, all moral flavors in between.  Where is the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit?  How does it manifest itself – by the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’?  A fellow Christian friend recently told me that God exhibits his miracles today by peoples’ changed lives.  Huh?  I see no miracle there.  Love, Joy, Peace, Long-Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith and Meekness all come exclusively from the power of the God of the Universe and are imparted only to his believers?  Come again?  That just defies common sense.  People of most every non-Christian religion exhibit those behaviors, but the Spirt Filled members of my church, including myself, were nothing extraordinary, in fact we were quite apathetic.  There was no dunimus, no power to set us apart from the heathen.  

So I will ask what Theresa asked – ‘Anybody out there have any answers’?

View the original article here.

]]> http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/03/03/to-sum-up/feed/ 14 Contacting and Commenting http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/03/03/contacting-and-commenting/ http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/03/03/contacting-and-commenting/#comments Sat, 03 Mar 2007 15:45:03 +0000 heissailing http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/03/03/contacting-and-commenting/ A few readers have mentioned that they sometimes have trouble commenting on this site.  I am not at all internet savvy, so I played around a little this morning to see if I could figure out the problem.  It looks like sometimes when you type your comment and press ‘SAY IT’,  you will get an error, be asked for an email, and your comment will not go through.  Try deleting your cookies if that happens and try again.  That should solve the problem.  And save your comment on Notepad or something before sending, just in case something crashes.  If this continues to be a problem, let me know.  I might just move to a blog format other than edublogs if it is – what is everyone on, Blogster or Blogerama or Blogeriffic or something like that?

A few readers have asked what my name is.  Please, just call me HeIsSailing.  I must insist on anonymity, at least for the time being.  I am writing about matters that are very sensitive to some of my family and friends.  Especially my old church family.  I still have not decided how or when or even if to ‘Come Out’.

To contact me via email, try he_is_sailing@hotmail.com

Thanks again for everyone reading and commenting.  You have given me lots of new ideas to explore and much to think about.  I have found that I am definitely not alone in questioning who God really is, at least the God whom we have been raised to believe in.

]]> http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/03/03/contacting-and-commenting/feed/ 1 Perhaps I was a bit presumptuous last night. http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/07/perhaps-i-was-a-bit-presumptuous-last-night/ http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/07/perhaps-i-was-a-bit-presumptuous-last-night/#comments Thu, 08 Feb 2007 02:35:31 +0000 heissailing http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/07/perhaps-i-was-a-bit-presumptuous-last-night/ In yesterday’s post, I wrote that I was not doing much research or reading on the internet.  I need to revise that.  I am reading some articles and doing some research online, but I am trying very hard to consider my sources and watch out for hidden agendas.  Being the techno-neophyte that I am, I am still a little wary of the online world.  Chalk that up to ignorance, or maybe to the fact that I am slowly turning into that grumpy old man you had living next door when you were a kid.  The other factor is that I just prefer not to spend much of my offtime on the computer.  I have too many other activities to juggle.

If I can figure out how, I will post links to sites that I find interesting.  Stay tuned. 

]]> http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/07/perhaps-i-was-a-bit-presumptuous-last-night/feed/ 0 About heissailing – a short introduction http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/06/about-heissailing-a-short-introduction/ http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/06/about-heissailing-a-short-introduction/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2007 04:13:05 +0000 heissailing http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/06/about-heissailing-a-short-introduction/ heissailing is a website which asks the questions that I bet most Fundamentalist Christians have in the backs of their minds, but are generally afraid to ask.  This is a very young site right now, and who knows what I will type about or what this will turn into, but I am hoping there are others out there who are of like mind as myself.  I am also hoping to hear from you if you are.  The thirst for knowledge and the feeling that there is more to our faith than is dispensed by our churches and creeds is obvious by the runaway success of books like The Da Vinci Code.  Yet, when it comes to asking real questions and confronting legitimate doubts about God, Jesus and our Bible, those same folks tend to shy away.  Does questioning and doubt equate to sin and faithlessness in the eyes of God?  Are we taught to be afraid of God if we dare to questions his claims?

I will write a longer story of my Christian journey later.  I am not a trained writer, but I can communicate (albiet crudely), I am educated, and I am insufferably curious.  Suffice it to say that I am questioning my Christian faith in ways that I never have before.  I am approaching these questions and doubts  as honestly as I can, with the view that if the Bible is truly the inerrant Word of God, it can stand up to a little scrutiny.  I am trying to approach it without the preconceived notions that we have been fed over the years, and as the sole source of our knowledge of salvation.  Examples of preconceived notions are those traditions that have been passed down by our church that are non-scriptual and should not necessarily be taken at face value.  There are many examples of this, one example being the authorship of the four Gospels.  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are anonymous gospels, their authorship arriving from early church tradition.  Why is that assumption important?  If we don’t know for sure who wrote the Gospels, then we cannot say for sure whether they are in fact eyewitness accounts of the life and deeds of Jesus.  But the traditional authorship of the Gospels is an assumption, so that leaves the believer in biblical inerrancy in a bit of a pickle.

I do have legitimate questions and doubts, but I am not writing to bash Christianity.  I am skeptical for sure, but I have many dear friends in the church.  I am also not writing to convert anybody to follow my path.  This is my journey.

I am reading tons of books of all shapes and sizes, regarding the Christian faith, Bible commentaries, church history, etc.  Some are very conservative in their approach, and others are liberal and humanistic.  I am reading nothing that proselytizes any philosophical argument.  I am avoiding most websites, since I know any schlep can put any schlock on Al Gore’s grand Internet (look at yours truly).  But above all, I am reading the Bible, reading commentaries, and letting the Good Book speak for itself.

I encourage, and I am hoping for comments to anything that I write here.  Please comment here, or email me privately.  You can be Fundamentalist, Athiest, or Satanist for all I care, although I would appreciate toning down any preaching, but healthy debate is always cool.  I am interested in your ideas, your insights and your feedback.  I am not interested in following other religions.  I am praying (and I know many others are praying) for God to draw me closer to him, but if that leads me away from The Inerrant Word of God, then I will accept it, and take that as an answer to my prayers. 

]]> http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/06/about-heissailing-a-short-introduction/feed/ 0 With my apologies to Jon and Vangelis… http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/02/with-my-apologies-to-jon-and-vangelis/ http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/02/with-my-apologies-to-jon-and-vangelis/#comments Sat, 03 Feb 2007 04:52:36 +0000 heissailing http://heissailing.edublogs.org/2007/02/02/with-my-apologies-to-jon-and-vangelis/ … I have decided to change the title of this blogsite in honor of my favorite song from the duo Jon and Vangelis.  In the early ’80s, they created three LPs, the last of which was named Private Collection.  I bought the LP ages ago, and it was also the first CD that I ever purchased.  The cut from that album, ‘He is Sailing’ describes the hope of a coming Messiah, set in the midst of the fucund tropics.  It is not the political Messiah of the Jews who will restore the Temple in Jerusalem, nor the Christian Messiah who will reward the righteous and judge the wicked.  It is an all-saving Messiah which exits, as far as I know, only in the creative mind of singer Jon Anderson.  Listening to the song carries me to a joyful escape from the trevails of our modern and often confusing world.  Ahhh, if only such fantasy could occassionally become reality…

Out of the mist into tropical splendour
With garlands of flowers
In Majestical fusion we see tonight

On to this sacred reunion of pleasure
They row as a rhythm, ten thousands of millions
They touch the Light

King is sailing they say
King is sailing we hear
King is sailing they say
King is sailing this day of days of days
Cocasaya Tay Toca

Drums beating faster thru’ harder excitement
The wings bring the Angels
They singing of Truth that this day has come

Older than oldest religions have promised
A promise is kept on this Golden Reflection
His Kingdom Come

King is coming they sing
King is coming they know
King is coming we sing
King is coming we know Kotao Kotao Kotao

All the souls he to touch
All the souls he to touch
All the souls he to touch
All the millions of souls he to touch, he to touch
Cocasaya Kotao Kotao

Heaven set sail in His ship full of light
He trancends all our love
To caress all our fears
In a moment Divine

Weakest and Strongest will dance in delight
All illuminous our Saviour they bringing him forth
All will sing to the Night

Our true Kingdom come
Our true Kingdom come
Our true Kingdom come
Our true Kingdom come
Higher, Than Higher, Than Higher, Than Higher, Than Higher

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