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h-e-l-l-b-r-o-k-e · 4 years

Text

Touch [B.H. x you]

Request:

Inspiration: Hands Across The Sea by Modern English

Words: 1828 Warnings: none.

Written Date: 3/16-31/2020 Posted Date: 4/4/2020

[MASTERLIST]

Scratched up skateboard wheels rolling across the pavement fluttered through the three-inch crack of the front door as Billy sat at the kitchen table. He’ll be met with a stern lecture from a mustached lip if a fly managed to wander into the home like a tourist upon their first breath of the A.C. at a hotel lobby, but Billy had much more important business to intend to. Report cards were just around the corner and with his sweet talking skills, Billy’d convinced the math teacher into giving him a passing grade if he turned in 200 solved problems by the end of the week.

He had seven days. Seven whole days to answer some textbook questions that they’ve gone over in class. It should have been easy, except it wasn’t. Billy was failing the class for a reason. Day five only had two hours left of sunshine, yet Billy’s currently stuck on problem forty-six. With each tick of the clock mounted behind him, his frustration grew.

One of his temples rested in the cup of his left palm as he beat the eraser head on the other before tossing the pencil at the book pages. Words were merging into numbers and numbers were blurring into letters.

Fuck it, he thought, I’ll just ask for a tutor. Yet he knew if he kept this mindset he’d fail, receive a smack across the back of his head, and still wouldn’t seek out a tutor.

He could hear the skateboard’s wheels beat relentlessly against the cracked concrete while Max explained the footwork behind the technique to you, who was sitting on the grass with your white cane last he check. Jealousy picked at the nerves in his forehead as frustration clenched his eyebrows together.

His mind began running off of the book pages and onto the blue sports car in his driveway. Would he have enough for the wash and the wax. Would there be enough leftover for a tip? Billy was an asshole to a lot of things, but he knew what it was liked to be stiffed.

Page 267 was beginning to give him more trouble than it was worth, and those pointers the geek with the lisp in his class gave weren’t helping at all. The rim of one of Susan’s good glasses touched the plush of his bottom lip, the cool water streaming down the well of his parched throat―

A gasp bordering along a yelp burst through the door, clawing its way into his ear. He nearly choked on his drink; some loose water dribbled down his chin.

Pushing out of his chair and the table he was leaning on, not caring if the polished hardwood caught a couple scratches, he was out the front door in five seconds.

Under the shade of his palm, which he planted against his eyebrows to fend off the sun’s brightness, he scanned the situation for clues.

His step-sister’s skateboard lied planted on the other side of the street. Upside down. Wheels spinning lazily under the shade.

The little redheaded runt’s wide eyes met his. Laced with alarm. Her bottom lip wobbled in search for words. Her hands held out below her…toward you, who was slowly lifting yourself by the skin of your elbows.

Raw. Blood beginning to clot around the loose gravel that clung to the wounds.

Billy marched through the grass, nearly tripping over your forgotten cane. “Max, what’d you do?!”

Max took a deep breath, crouching down to you. Her small fingers brushed your palm before helping you to your feet. “I’m sorry.”

As soon as you were back on the safety pads of your feet, Max turned to face her fuming step-brother.”I didn’t mean―”

His hand landed on her slender shoulder, shaking her like an earthquake rattles a brick foundation. “No, of course you didn’t mean to, you little twerp.”

A couple specks of spit landed across her freckled cheeks and nose, prompting her to screw up her face in mild disgust. “She wanted―”

“How many times do I have to tell you? You need to be careful with her, she’s―”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here, Billy.” You dusted off the debris from your stinging cuts. “I’m blind, not fragile. How many times do I have to tell you?”

You would have walked off in the direction of his house if only you knew wherever the hell it was. Trying to land that kickflip Max had spent the last half hour explaining to you really messed with your sense of direction, but you weren’t about to tell them that. Your mother didn’t call you a stubborn mule for nothing plus you were getting really sick of Billy thinking you were weak, so you turned around and started stalking off without the aid device your parents payed for.

“Y/n, where are you going?” Billy called after you. “You can’t just leave.”

“Watch me!” You called over your shoulder, continuing your trek into the unknown.

Billy watched you walking down the street, and for once he appreciated living down such a long road miles away from the populated center of town. If it wasn’t one of his neighbors pulling into their cracked driveways after a long 9-to-5 shift or pulling away for a hearty meal at Benny’s Diner, cars rarely ever raced down this street.

Turning to Max, his grip loosened on her shoulder. “Grab your board and get inside.”

Max didn’t argue. Out of the two of them, Max had a more leveled head. She knew she could just check out the damage on your elbows and apologize again once Billy convinced you to come back into their comfy abode. Yanking away from her older step-brother, she ran for her precious skateboard.

“Babe, come on,” Billy tried to reason with you as his long legs neared you. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. You just―”

His warm hand gently latched onto your arm, turning you to face him. “I just what, Billy? You know people here either pity me or they stand feet apart from me like I’m made of glass,”the pressure in the center of your forehead begins to make itself known in the form of a headache, “I just thought things…here…were different.”

“They are, babe.” His chin bounced with quick little nods to reassure you. Sometimes he forgot that you couldn’t see these small actions. “Okay? They are. Max was teaching you one of her stupid tricks, and I just freaked, okay?”

Memories flicker through your mind, sounds and touch alike. When one of the mean girls at school had purposely stuck her foot out in front of you for taking “her man” away, you had bashed your head against a locker and were knocked out cold. You had woken up moments later in Billy’s arms as he carried you to the nurse’s office. You hadn’t bent over and died when the concussion symptoms came at you in full force; you had just taken the standard amount of sick days at home. Not any less and, definitely, not any more.

Other memories came at you, but none were as extreme as the concussion. Yet, with each scrape or nick that life threw at you, Billy reacted like blood was seeping through your clothing at an alarming rate or your lungs were restricting from lack of oxygen. Whatever it was, Billy acted like it was the end of the world for you.

“I didn’t cry when I fell off a tree branch and broke my arm in fourth grade, “ you began the recited verse you’ve told almost every member of your family, “so, I’m not gonna cry because of some stupid scuff marks on my elbows. I’m fine.”

“But, when I was sitting at the kitchen table, loss in thought, I heard it.” His thumbs were stroking the bones of your cheeks. “I heard you fall, Y/n. How was I supposed to know it wasn’t anything worse? When my dad first introduced me to Susan, Max walked around in crutches after a bad skateboard landing snapped her shin bone.”

You sighed, allowing his outlook on the situation widen the scope of your mind. Maybe you were being a little too harsh on him. After all, you couldn’t pour salt to the sizzle off the worry that ate you up inside whenever Billy decided to hang out with one of his pals. It would steal the sleep from you knowing he’d be driving around drunk. Him cradling you to the nurse’s office and you phoning him to make sure he made it to his bedroom safe were two sides of the same coin.

“I��m surprised Susan still lets her ride around on that thing.” His fingers carded through your hair. “I was just scared the same thing might of happened to you, or worse.”

“I understand, Billy.” You spoke so softly, Billy wasn’t entirely sure if it was just one of your breaths. A shuddering gasp forced its way out of your throat as you fought off the burning sensation of tears from the corner of your eyes. “I just get so frustrated sometimes.”

Your face met the soft cotton of his shirt as he brought you into the protection of his arms. “I know, baby,” He kissed the crown of your head. “I’m sorry I overreact sometimes.”

You sniffled a couple times before pulling away from him, “It’s okay.”

His lips brushed against the center of your forehead first then dipped his head to land another on your plump lips, but your fingers caught him. “You still have to apologize to Max first before you can kiss me.”

He took a deep breath. “Deal.”

Your fingers fumbled for his before before successfully latching on. You sighed as your palms melded together like ironworks as Billy led the way to his house.

As you both grew closer a loose thought struck you. “Wait. Don’t you still have homework to do?”

A/N: I hope I did alright in characterizing a blind reader.

#Billy Hargrove #stranger things #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove x reader #billy x reader #billy hargrove x you #stranger things imagines #stranger things imagine #billy hargrove x y/n #st #stranger things fanfiction #st imagine #dacre montgomery imagine #dacre montgomery #reader insert #fanfiction #blind!reader

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gentlethorns · 4 years

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1-31

JKJFLKJGDKLS did you mean. 1 through 31?? like. all of them?? LMFAOOOOOO okay but i’m sticking them under a readmore bc that is gonna be SO long

1. what is a genre you love reading but will probably never write? mysteries/crime. i love the technique and expertise it takes to expertly lay out and set up a plot twist, but i don’t think i could ever do it aptly myself.

2. which writer has had the greatest stylistic influence on your writing? probably stephen king, if we’re talking fiction, but even then i don’t think he’s influenced me a ton - my writing voice is pretty distinctive (or so i’ve been told). as far as poetry, i think reading @candiedspit‘s work has really caused me to stretch my expectations of where words can go and what they can do.

3. has a specific song/lyric ever inspired a work of art for you? absolutely! i’m super inspired by music, bc music is really important to me as a means of emotional expression. back in sophomore year of high school i was working on a story where all the chapters were inspired by songs from folie a deux by fall out boy. it didn’t pan out and i never finished it, but i still think the concept was neat.

4. a writer whose personal lifestyle really speaks to you? lmfao not to talk about him again, but stephen king’s lifestyle really appeals to me. his writing is widely known and renowned, but he just chills at home and watches the red sox games and takes pictures of his corgi and keeps turning out stories. that literally sounds like paradise to me.

5. do you write both prose and poetry? which do you prefer? i do write both! and i can’t say i honestly prefer one over the other - my interest bounces between them and waxes and wanes, but i don’t consistently indulge one more than the other, i don’t think. last year i went through a huge fiction phase in october and cranked out eight or nine different short stories/flash pieces, and then in november/december i went through a poetry phase and wrote multiple poems a day for a long stretch of time. it just depends on my mood and my mindset and what i need from writing (a kind of escape vs. emotional expression/release).

6. do you read both prose and poetry? which do you prefer? i do read both, and again, i don’t think i have a preference. i definitely read fiction more, i think, but like writing, it kind of depends what i need at the time.

7. which language do you write in? which do you want to write in someday? i write in english, since it’s the only language i know. i’d like to learn spanish at some point, but i don’t know if i could ever write in spanish - i’m so firmly married to english grammar and structure that i don’t know if i could ever exercise the same control and mastery over spanish that i could english.

8. share a quote or verse that has been on your mind lately. “you said i killed you - haunt me, then!” from wuthering heights.

9. a writer/poet whose life you find interesting. *sigh*. stephen king. i’ve read his memoir/writing workshop book (”on writing”) and his success story always fascinates me. i just can’t imagine living in a shitty one-bedroom apartment with your wife and two kids and working days at an industrial laundromat and spending nights writing on a shitty wobbly desk in the laundry room, and you get your first manuscript accepted for publication, and eventually the paperback rights go up and you think you might get $60,000 if you’re really lucky, and then one day while your wife and kids are visiting the in-laws you get a call from your agent telling you that the paperback rights for your book sold for $400,000 and 200K of it is yours. that’s just literally. unfathomable to me lmfao.

10. what do you feel about the idea of someone unearthing your unseen or discarded drafts someday, long after your death? what about your personal journal? it’s really hard for me to imagine that happening, i think bc i tend to see myself as really like. insignificant or unimportant in the grand scheme of things, so i can’t imagine any part of me lasting beyond my life. also, it’s very hard for me to imagine someone i don’t know personally reading my work, probably because my work (especially a personal journal) is a window into me, and i have a hard time even letting people i trust see into that window sometimes, much less a stranger.

11. do you prefer to write in silence or listen to something? what do you listen to? i definitely prefer music in the background, although i can work in silence. i tend to gravitate to music that goes with the scene i’m writing, if i’m writing fiction (often i work music into my fiction, so if there’s a song playing in the scene, i’ll listen to that song), and if i’m writing poetry i tend to just listen to laid-back music (unless i’m writing from a place of grief or sadness, in which case i listen to sad music lmfao). i do also love writing when it’s storming outside and just listening to the rain and the thunder as i write.

12. has an image ever impacted your artistic lens/inspired your work? absolutely! less often than music, but visuals can inspire me on occasion. i once wrote a poem based on this image. i just couldn’t get it out of my head, so i decided to figure out what it was saying to me.

13. how would you describe the experience of writing itself? as in putting the words to paper, not planning or moodboards etc. do you agree with the common idea that the satisfaction lies in reading your work after you are done with it, rather than the process of writing itself? i think the process can be arduous sometimes, and other times it can be incredible. sometimes i write very slowly and haltingly, sometimes i write at a normal pace and it feels like the work it is (bc i am trying to write professionally), but sometimes the magic tap in the mind turns on and it starts flowing. that being said, i don’t necessarily agree that the satisfaction lies only in reading your work rather than also in the process. there’s a certain fulfillment in watching everything come together and knowing it’s going to be good.

14. how often do you write? it varies. i would like to write more often than i do, now that i have a full-time school schedule and work part time friday-sunday, but i think i still get a decent amount of writing done, when i can actually sit down and motivate myself to get the words out.

15. how disciplined are you about your writing? not very, in the creative sense - as discussed above, i don’t write as often as i should/would like to, and don’t hold myself to much of a schedule. however, as far as the business side of it (submitting to magazines/contests), i’m pretty disciplined, and i’m usually pretty good about keeping all my “good” pieces in circulation at a couple of places at a time.

16. what was your last long-lasting spurt of motivation? maybe last night? i worked on a couple of pieces and then submitted a few groups of poems to some magazines. i also did some decent work on thursday while i was in my campus starbucks waiting for my zoom class to start.

17. have you ever been professionally published? are you trying to be? i have been professionally published! i got my first acceptance back in 2018, and now i’ve had poetry published multiple times and fiction published twice. i’m still trying to publish more of my work, but i think i’ve had a decent start.

18. do you read literary magazines? not regularly, although i entered a fiction contest for into the void last year, and since it came with a year-long subscription, i’ve been browsing the fiction there periodically. into the void tends to publish good short/flash fiction, so anytime i feel like reading some new stories, i head there.

19. a lesser known writer you adore? idk if she’s necessarily “lesser-known,” but i loved ally carter’s gallagher girl series when i was younger. the first four books were immaculate (although i do remember that the last two books seemed almost unnecessary, and the ultimate end of the series was anticlimactic).

20. do you write short stories? do you read them? i write and read them! up until october of last year i could never figure out how to write a short story and effectively resolve a conflict in 5000 words or less, but then suddenly (like. literally overnight), a switch flipped in my head and i could do it. as far as reading them, i don’t read a ton anymore bc of my busy schedule ( :( ), so sometimes if i’m in the mood to read i’ll opt for a short story online or a book of short stories instead of a full-length novel.

21. do you prefer to involve yourself with literary history and movements or are you more focused on the writing itself? any favourite literary movements? i’m typically more focused on the writing itself, although i do love to learn about the horror boom from the 50s-80s (if that counts as a literary movement lmfao). i also do particularly love work from the era of deconstructionism, which i think took place in like. the 40s-60s, if i’m not mistaken. i enjoy that era bc of its symbolism and abstract nature - a lot of the work leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions.

22. are you working on anything right now? not particularly? i have a few works in progress that i tinker with now and then, but i’m not seriously working on anything in particular.

23. how did you get started with writing? i honestly don’t even remember. i remember the first time i realized that i really liked writing and had fun doing it (in fourth grade, for a school competition), but i know that even before then i was writing stories and poems.

24. do you have any “writer friends”? most of my mutuals are writer friends! but i don’t have any irl. i almost made one in my math class last semester, but we lost contact when our university shut down in march.

25. what is your earliest work you can remember? the earliest work i can remember is when i was really young (maybe like. five or six?). it was about our dog being pregnant (which she was at the time) and able to talk (which she was not).

26. have you found your writer’s voice yet? does your work have a distinct tone? absolutely. i’m very confident in my style and the distinctiveness of my voice - it’s been there pretty much since i first started writing. i’ve improved since then, honed my voice and made it more sophisticated and effective, but at the core, it’s still me, like it always has been.

27. do your works share themes/are commonly about certain topics? or are your subjects all over the place? in poetry, i think i tend to write about grief or loss of some sort or another often, bc it’s something i tend to feel often - either that or a false bravado (but ig that’s more of a tonal device). as far as fiction, i like to write about religion gone wrong (false religion, religion as a front for personal gain and corruption, religion gone too deep into obsession and mania, etc.), and i like smart underdog-type characters that fight and have a lot of grit to them.

28. what does writing mean to you? to me, writing is catharsis, a bloodletting. this particularly applies to poetry, but it also applies to fiction. poetry shows you the things you’re regurgitating up-front, but fiction does it slyly, in a mirror or through a distorting lens. regardless, both stand to offer release and healing.

29. in an alternate universe, imagine you had not found writing. what do you think would be your fixation otherwise? honestly, i’m not sure. probably acting or theater. something creative, for sure.

30. do you feel defined by your work? maybe a little, but not to a large or limiting extent. like, in a new class, my interesting fact about myself will probably always be “i’m a writer and i’ve been published a few times,” but i think that i’m a well-rounded person and that once people get to know me, my writing is just a part of me, not my whole identity.

31. have you ever written/considered writing under a pen name? if you would be okay saying, why? no, i don’t think i have. while a pen name can be a good tool, depending on your goals and what you’re writing, i have a Thing about getting credit where i’m due credit lmfao. i don’t think i’ll ever use a pen name bc if i know something i do is good, i want my name on it.

#asks #anon #thirty-one asks for writers #JAKFJDLJDALKJ this was so long thank you for asking

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workingontruth · 4 years

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Our 2 Kings 7 Kind of Life

Don’t you love it when God shows up?

Have you ever missed it when God showed up?

What about now?

Today, opinions are a dime a dozen. Talk to a dozen people, and you’ll get a dozen different angles on any of a dozen subjects. But in spite of our differences of opinion on any of a wide range of topics, I think we all agree on one thing these days; had I interrupted your Christmas celebration this past December (whether or not I were wearing camel’s hair and in need of a good flossing to extract locust legs from between my teeth), telling you the following list of things would all come true in less than 90 days, you would have labeled me a complete crazy man and would’ve told me to go back beneath the rock from which I had come.

“In less than 90 days,…”

1. You, over there in the Free Enterprise motor coach pullover (that would’ve been me) … you will be returning to the University of Indianapolis with the Men’s Lacrosse team from South Carolina before playing the final game of your trip–but oddly enough, both teams will be fully healthy, the weather will be ideal, and the trip will have been coasting along without a hitch. Oh, and the university’s administration will also require the other eight remaining U Indy teams, participating in their various collegiate sporting events from Florida to California and everywhere in between, to immediately return to campus as well. And, once you return, your entire fleet of buses will be emptied of fuel, removed from insurance plans, and put out of service–though all machines are mechanically sound and all drivers are healthy and available to drive.

2. And you, in the red Community Hospital valet shirt (that would’ve be my wife) … you will be in your new role in the front office of the Center for Genetic Health. But having been asked not to congregate with your co-workers in the perfectly suited and newly designed office space the hospital had just finished, you and all of your co-workers will be working from home to reschedule all patient appointments sixty days or more into the future–unless they are willing to conduct their appointment over the phone or via video-chat.

3. The NBA post-season will never happen, and the balance of the season itself will be stopped cold in its tracks at half-time of a game in the Mountain Time Zone on Wednesday, March 11th.

4. All NCAA spring athletic events will be cancelled for the remainder of the school year and March Madness won’t happen.

5. There will be no date set to begin the MLB season.

6. Grocery stores will have been unable to keep chicken, ground beef, bread and toilet paper on their shelves.

7. Gasoline will, in some places, be under a dollar a gallon, but few will be filling up.

8. The nation’s restaurants will be closed for all dine-in experiences while the fortunate will try to stay in business by doing carry-out or drive-through business only.

9. All shopping malls, strip malls, barber shops and hair and nail salons will be closed.

10. The Federal Government will be sending $1,200 tax-free cash gifts to the vast majority of American citizens.

11. The world will have a drastic shortage of personal protective equipment.

12. The Down Jones Industrial Average will suffer 3 of its worst days since the “Black Monday” market crash in 1987 in the span of less than a week, losing roughly one-third of its value in a matter of about eight days.

13. State governors will be requesting their citizens “shelter in place” by remaining home but for essential trips for food or health-related emergencies, while in some states it will be a finable offense to travel anywhere but to secure such.

14. The President and VP of the United States will be holding daily, 2-hour press briefings for weeks on end.

15. Frequent air travel will be little but a memory, international travel banned, airfares costing less than a good meal out (which will no longer be happening).

16. The President will sign a presidential memorandum that will require the likes of General Motors to begin manufacturing respiratory ventilators.

17. Dozens of privately held companies like Michael Lindell’s “My Pillow,” will be transformed into N-95 facemask factories.

18. Samaritan’s Purse will have set up and be running a fully-functioning hospital in the middle of New York City’s Central Park.

19. The United States Naval Hospital Ship “Comfort” will have been deployed to New York to help in the cause.

20. Most people will be wearing PPE masks everywhere they go.

21. All public concerts world-wide will be on hold.

22. Churches will be asked not to meet, and nearly all will comply without resistance.

23. Employees representing nearly every U.S. industry will be furloughed, let go or kept on payrolls with forgivable loans from the Fed.

24. People will be asked to stand in lines outside Lowe’s stores at six-foot intervals to ensure active shopper customer quotas are kept while both one-way entries and exits are monitored.

25. Many stores will be required to close down public access to much of their merchandise not deemed “essential,” to help support the cause.

26. Pork, chicken and other meat packing plants in the U.S. will be closing down.

27. U.S. unemployment will be at the highest rate since the Great Depression as new weekly filing claims will be counted not in the hundreds of thousands, but in the millions.

28. The nation’s, and most of the world’s movie theaters, will be closed.

29. People without facemasks will be shunned and avoided by “mask-wearers.”

30. Neighbors will be sitting in their driveways and on FRONT porches again.

31. College students will be home with their families, taking part in online classwork since all university campuses will be closed prior to semesters’ end.

32. In lieu of our celebrating athletes and Hollywood types, doctors, nurses and healthcare workers will be the new heroes.

33. People in some industries will be earning more to stay at home than while working full time.

34. The Fed will be paying the unemployed an additional $600/week over and above the state provisions.

35. All elective surgeries will be halted while hospital ORs remain unused.

36. Online church “attendance” will skyrocket, leading to thousands and thousands of new believers.

37. American celebrity musicians will be holding online “Global Citizen” concerts to raise millions of dollars to give to the World Health Organization which is being held liable for its part in enabling the death of hundreds of thousands in nearly 200 countries world-wide.

Would any of these things been plausible just a few months ago?

Obviously, this is only a partial list, and one to which most of us could quickly add another dozen. And NOTE they’re not all bad! Isn’t it just like God to orchestrate blessing in the face of difficulty?

But in my mind, these “90-days-ago incomprehensible occurrences” are not unlike the similarly baffling predictions that Elisha, in 2 Kings Chapter 7, was revealing to the king and his officer.

Here’s the short version:

Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah [probably about 7 lbs] of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”

The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?”

“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”

The officer was utterly confounded. “Really? How could this be?” And to be sure, there is no way, given their circumstance at the time, they could have concocted such an unlikely series of events.

(Read verses 3-13 to learn how this mystifying prophecy actually took place.)

But then, the verdict is recorded in the later verses...

“So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight. So the messengers returned and reported to the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said.”

Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. It happened as the man of God had said to the king: “About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” ...but your officer will not eat any of it.

What’s my point?

God often does things in ways no man would ever script. What we deem impossible is a drop in the bucket of God’s immeasurable and endless power and insight. After all, He knows the future!

But here’s what WE do.

If told of how the above-mentioned improbables would come true by late-March, we would have responded, “Oh I see. What a tragic series of events. But I understand now how that will happen. It all makes sense.”

And because it “makes sense” in hindsight, we disregard the overriding variable of the supernatural God into the equation and chalk up the now-plausible circumstance as nothing more than the “natural” occurrence of things.

No matter how crazy things get, when viewing world events on merely the natural plane, most won’t need a God to “see it.” It will all make logical, cause-and-effect sense.

In the same way, I believe much of what will lead up to Revelation 12 and is told us in Daniel 11:31 and following, will likewise “make good sense” to the mind of mankind at the time. Going so far as to think of the Anti-Christ to come, we have to assume he will not come into power forcefully, but peaceably, with the full support of a global community…one that is now forming rapidly. Yes, it will all “make perfect sense,” for the answers and charismatic leadership of the one we know is to come will help to solve what will have become the world’s most pressing and previously unsolvable complexities. And the world community will give him his prominent role.

Still, for those in Christ, let me be clear that these can be days of amazing intrigue and anticipation, not fear and worry.

But, you see, my point is that this is how God usually chooses to bring about his plans, through a course of events that will be laced in the common sense of man … so much so that even the elect would be deceived were it possible (Matthew 24:24).

BUT, He gives light to the eyes of his children. Our great and unshakeable God has let us in on his plans. We are his friends if we do what He commands (John 15:14). And as friends of the Son of God, the Son has made known us to his agenda (John 15:15).

Now, my intention is not to insinuate we are absolutely on the cusp of the rapture of the Church, or teetering at the edge of the Tribulation–though I’m also not saying that we couldn’t be, for the Father alone only knows the day of Jesus’ return for his children (Matthew 24:30-42).

What I am saying is that if we can learn anything from history, and from an acquaintance with the scriptures, we can assume that the initial events predicted in the Bible will likely “make sense” in the moment to the mind of unregenerate man.

So, one last question.

Given our current sermon series at my home church, Northview Church, I am wondering if you are listening, watching and fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit living inside you? It’s something about which I wrote in great length as well in SET FREE.

Do you know the mind of Christ? Do you have the mind of Christ?

If not, it’s time to change that. If not, you may be missing that God himself is showing up right now on planet Earth.

Place your trust in Jesus Christ. He is ready to open your eyes.

Maybe it’s time you learn more about the God who is doing something incredible right now in the midst of this unprecedented time. Maybe it’s time you gain in you the Resource that dispells anxiety and replaces it with a calm assurance the world will never understand.

You can learn more about having a relationship with Jesus here. Or, reach out to a pastor at Northview Church by texting “NEXT” to 85379 and selecting Option 2.

God is showing up right now. Don’t miss him in the details.

Keep watching.

0 notes

stacks-reviews · 7 years

Text

Must Reads Part 16

This week we have a child of superheroes interning for a supervillain, studying monsters, possible apocalypses, and more.

--A is for Asteroids, Z is for Zombies: A Bedtime Book about the Coming Apocalypse by Paul Lewis and Kenneth Kit Lamug “A darkly comic fable that offers visions of the apocalypse for every letter of the alphabet. Starting with a father whose son has been asking questions about global dangers, A is for Asteroids, Z is for Zombies takes us inside our worst fears, laughing at some and taking others seriously. With macabre verse and fantastically gory illustrations, it provides gallows humor for our doom-haunted times.”

A children’s book that isn’t for children. Came across this title the other day at work and I love it. The art style reminds me of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barret and illustrated by Ron Barrett. Along with asteroids and zombies there are apocalypses by extinction, robots, and others that I cannot recall at this moment, sadly. A few pages are dedicated to zombies but every other letter gets four lines per page. My favorite letter was T but I’ll save the reason why and save that surprise for you.

--Annihilation (Southern Reach series #1) by Jeff VanderMeer “Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer. This is the twelve expedition. Their group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another, and above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself. They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers - they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding - but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them, and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another, that change everything.”

I came across this title when I saw the trailer for its movie when I saw Bladerunner 2049 (which was really good). Its movie looks like it will be really good. It has a similar vibe to Arrival (though this has a different director). And should be worth seeing for the imagery alone. It left me intrigued enough that I needed to look up the book later that night. It sounds like a great sci-fi mystery and I can’t wait to check it out sometime. As for the film, at the moment it should be in theaters in February or March of 2018.

--Hiddensee: A Tales of the Once and Future Nutcracker by Gregory Maguire (10/31/17) “Hiddensee: An island of white sandy beaches, salt marshes, steep cliffs, and pine forests north of Berlin in the Baltic Sea, an island that is an enchanting, bohemian retreat and home to a large artists’ colony - a wellspring of inspiration for the Romantic imagination....Hiddensee imagines the backstory of the Nutcracker, revealing how this entrancing creature came to be carved and how he guided an ailing girl named Klara through a dreamy paradise on a Christmas Eve. At the heart of Hoffman’s mysterious tale hovers Godfather Drosselmeir - the ominous, canny, one-eyed toy maker made immortal by Petipa and Tschikovsky’s fairy tale ballet - who presents the once and future Nutcracker to Klara, his goddaughter. But Hiddensee is not just a retelling of a classic story. Maguire discovers in the flowering of German Romanticism ties to Hellenic mystery-cults - a fascination with death and the afterlife - and ponders a profound question: How can a person is abused by life, shortchanged and challenged, nevertheless access secrets that benefit the disadvantaged and powerless? Ultimately, Hiddensee offers a message of hope. If the compromised Godfather Drosselmeier an bring an enchanted Nutcracker to a young girl in distress on a dark winter evening, perhaps everyone, however lonely or marginalized, has something precious to share.”

I got an arc of this at work a few weeks ago and I really just grabbed it because Drosselmeier is in it. When I hear Drosselmeier I start to think about Princess Tutu so I got really excited and claimed it. Though this Drosselmeier is very different from Princess Tutu’s Drosselmeier. All I know about it for sure is that it’s about Drosselmeier’s childhood and how he came to carve the Nutcracker. And that I really liked this quote that was on the back of the book from one of the chapters:

“No one knows his own story, and that’s the way of it, unless you make it up yourself.”

--The Monstrumologist (The Monstrumologist #1) by Rick Yancey “These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me...and the one who cursed me. So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthorpe, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. In his time with the doctor, Will has met many a mysterious late-night visitor, and seen things he never imagined were real. But when a grave robber comes calling in the middle of the night with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet. A gothic tour de force that explores the darkest heart of man and monster and asks the question: When does man become the very things he hunts?”

I want to check this one out cause it has potential and because of the change in the monster expert story. Most of the ones I’ve read the main character already knows a lot about the monsters they work with or fight against. I like the thought of the character not knowing much about them and learning about them as they go. Now the Dr. might know a lot but I don’t think Will does. And I’m excited to see how that plays out. Though I could be wrong. That’s just the vibe I got from the description and the sample on Goodreads.

--Not Your Sidekick (Sidekick Squad #1) by C.B. Lee “Welcome to Andover...where superheroes are common, but internships are complicated. Just ask high school nobody, Jessica Tran. Despite her heroic lineage, Jess is resigned to a life without superpowers and is merely looking to beef up her college applications when she stumbles upon the perfect (paid!) internship - only it turns out to be for the town’s most heinous supervillain. On the upside, she gets to work with her longtime secret crush, Abby, who Jess thinks may have a secret of her own. Then there’s the budding attraction to her fellow intern, the mysterious “M,” who never seems to be in the same place as Abby. But what starts as a fun way to spite her superhero parents takes a sudden and dangerous turn when she uncovers a plot larger than heroes and villains altogether.”

This makes me think of Sky High. At least until the main character got his superpowers. I haven’t seen that movie in a long time. And it makes me think of Nimona by Noelle Stevenson, though I haven’t read it yet. I do finally own it now. Just haven’t had time to read it, just time to flip through it a little. I’ve always been in the thought that the line between good and evil is a bit of a gray area so I’m expecting to see Jess start to think that maybe the supervillain isn’t so bad. Or maybe that the picture that is made of them isn’t what they are really like. As it is, I bet what she uncovers is that some secret; yet very public, group is controlling everything behind the scenes. And is using the superheroes and the villains to achieve their own end game.

It sounds pretty good. It takes place years after the third world war and most of the planet has been uninhabitable due to the nuclear bombs used during that war. But as a side effect people started to gain powers. Not everyone has them but enough do that it is common knowledge. There’s even a place they send people to train to become superheroes.

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thejustinmarshall · 5 years

Text

One-Star Amazon.com Reviews Of Moby Dick, As Free Verse Poetry

Lots of people love Moby Dick, which has long been considered a classic of American literature and one of the best adventure books of all time. But lots of people do not love Moby Dick, too. They hate it. Hating Moby Dick, with the advent of online reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, has become its own art form. Reading the reviews is fun, but it’s even more fun if you insert some spaces and format the reviews into free verse, which I have done below for your enjoyment. (All spelling and punctuation is quoted verbatim from the original reviews).

Truth.

Jaws

is better

—Nicessist, July 31, 2015

Do not like how it is written in old English

Do not like how it is written in old English.

Was not aware of that.

Also, the print is extremely small.

Tried to read it,

but

put it down.

—Eileen, August 29, 2016

Weak Plot Line

This book moves very slowly.

She spent too much time

having the characters moon over each other.

It took a very long time

for each step of the plot to happen.

I finally skipped to the last chapter from about 50%.

I don’t think I missed anything.

—bjski, April 26, 2019

Slow and Boring Story

I could not wait to finish

this book.

The characters

were not likeable

and

I found them annoying.

This should have been a short story.

—linda, April 2, 2019

One Star

Small letters,

smelly pages.

—Florelis, January 3, 2018

Moby-dick not favorite book

I didn’t like it

because

it was

too long

of a book.

I rate it 1 star

because a lot of parts in the book I didn’t understand.

—Tess, August 12, 2019

Bad fish porn

Not into fish

porn

—bru, April 14, 2019

One Star

Author droned

and on

and on.

Couldn’t get past

the second chapter

—Laurie G. Williams, September 24, 2015

One Star

Horrible book,

never means what he says.

drives

INSANE.

—Amazon Customer, December 7, 2017

One Star

—S. Nyer, September 5, 2016

One Star

Horrible read.

Ramble, ramble and ramble.

I struggled

to finish

this book.

—Mark, May 25, 2016

One Star

Poor acting by lead character,

the book was fairly good,

the movie

not so.

—janice kadushin, March 5, 2016

One Star

very slow until

contact

with

moby dick

—john gerardi, February 20, 2015

I SURE HOPE YOU ENJOY LEARNING ABOUT WHALES

I SURE HOPE YOU ENJOY LEARNING ABOUT WHALES!!!!

Listen

I read this book hoping to get a pretty good story

hoping to see some of the solidarity in man

by reading about his voyages in water

hoping to relate to some of the struggles from being solely focused on obtaining a certain goal etc.

But honestly

good Lord!

I swear 85% of this book is various lessons

on whaling

the origin of whales,

whale distinction,

whale body parts,

whale sperm,

different color whales.

Oh my goodness

the book starts off quick with the appearance of Queepeg

you think ok we might have something here

but NO!

this book drags on

and on

and on.

Gets off topic ALL of the time.

The majority of this book is about how Ismael feels

and about whale parts.

And when Moby Dick does show up AT THE END OF THE BOOK

Captain Ahab vs. Moby Dick was as big a mitch-match

since the Super Bowl between Denver and Seattle.

It was anti-climatic

some people might get this book

but please don’t put me down as one.

SAVE YOURSELF THE TIME AND ENERGY

READ THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

A MUCH BETTER BOOK

—Oliver, September 27, 2014

One Star

tedious

—Anne Wyatt, January 18, 2016

One Star

Outstanding!

—Rogelio Lozano, September 7, 2017

Obvious he was paid by the word

I tried.

I really tried.

Multiple times.

But the page

after page

describing all the different types of whales in the most minute of detail, and the sentences that stretch so long that by the end of them I’d realize I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what point he was trying to make.

I finally decided

life is to short to torture myself with a book

I’m just not enjoying,

and I moved on.

Maybe I’ll try again in another 10 years.

—Smurf, August 24, 2018

One Star

The book

was fine

but

I hated the story

—Kasey Patton, April 15, 2015

Meh.

Taxing

as well as underwhelming.

So many unnecessary side notes,

few of which really contribute to the plot itself,

but I’m no scholar

see for yourself.

—Kindle Customer, July 19, 2019

One Star

boreing

—paul weaver, February 28, 2015

I Could Be Wrong

But reading it

feels like being trapped

in a whale’s belly

with Chuck Klosterman.

—lori c. baughman, October 9, 2018

boring

i had to read this book for school

it boring

dont read

why is this so famous.

cant even understand writing.

words too big i hate it not even interesting.

they just sit on a boat then get killed by a whale

stupid captian

knew they were gonna die

—Denali, August 1, 2013

Moby Dick AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

It just went on and on and ON!

About rubbish!

SOme old guy

with one leg

hunts down a white whale

and in the end he kills the thing,

but at the expense of his life

and lives of his whole crew,

except one guy….

It may be liked by older people,

but it really isn’t for young people.

—atg, August 20, 2011

Tedious

Do we really need

a 10 page analysis

of the color white,

or any of the other tedious digressions contained in this book?

I say

no.

I loved the poetic language Melville uses,

and there is no doubt

he was a great writer.

He did not,

however

have a great editor.

Getting through this book was like running a marathon,

where you are forced to stop every mile

and listen to a lecture on running,

running shoes,

knee pain,

gatorade,

or any other subject remotely related.

Finishing the marathon gives you bragging rights,

but not much more.

—vikingslayer, November 25, 2010

Overhyped

Moby Dick is

an overhyped,

monotonous,

pretentious,

pseudo-intellectual

piece of crap,

in other words

an English lit major’s wet dream.

It’s the absolute meaningless ramblings

of a half wit,

not some great intellectual masterpiece.

Maybe Melville was the Justin Bieber

and “Twin Peaks” of his day,

talentless and meaningless

but few will admit

they were fooled.

—Tom Adams, December 6, 2011

Not enough dicks

There were

no dicks

in this book.

—Ben Reser, March 21, 2015

More stuff like this is in my new book Bears Don’t Care About Your Problems: More Funny Shit in the Woods from Semi-Rad.com, out now.

SHOP

The post One-Star Amazon.com Reviews Of Moby Dick, As Free Verse Poetry appeared first on semi-rad.com.

from Explore https://semi-rad.com/2019/09/one-star-amazon-com-reviews-of-moby-dick-as-free-verse-poetry/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

olivereliott · 5 years

Text

One-Star Amazon.com Reviews Of Moby Dick, As Free Verse Poetry

Truth.

Jaws

is better

—Nicessist, July 31, 2015

Do not like how it is written in old English

Do not like how it is written in old English.

Was not aware of that.

Also, the print is extremely small.

Tried to read it,

but

put it down.

—Eileen, August 29, 2016

Weak Plot Line

This book moves very slowly.

She spent too much time

having the characters moon over each other.

It took a very long time

for each step of the plot to happen.

I finally skipped to the last chapter from about 50%.

I don’t think I missed anything.

—bjski, April 26, 2019

Slow and Boring Story

I could not wait to finish

this book.

The characters

were not likeable

and

I found them annoying.

This should have been a short story.

—linda, April 2, 2019

One Star

Small letters,

smelly pages.

—Florelis, January 3, 2018

Moby-dick not favorite book

I didn’t like it

because

it was

too long

of a book.

I rate it 1 star

because a lot of parts in the book I didn’t understand.

—Tess, August 12, 2019

Bad fish porn

Not into fish

porn

—bru, April 14, 2019

One Star

Author droned

and on

and on.

Couldn’t get past

the second chapter

—Laurie G. Williams, September 24, 2015

One Star

Horrible book,

never means what he says.

drives

INSANE.

—Amazon Customer, December 7, 2017

One Star

—S. Nyer, September 5, 2016

One Star

Horrible read.

Ramble, ramble and ramble.

I struggled

to finish

this book.

—Mark, May 25, 2016

One Star

Poor acting by lead character,

the book was fairly good,

the movie

not so.

—janice kadushin, March 5, 2016

One Star

very slow until

contact

with

moby dick

—john gerardi, February 20, 2015

I SURE HOPE YOU ENJOY LEARNING ABOUT WHALES

I SURE HOPE YOU ENJOY LEARNING ABOUT WHALES!!!!

Listen

I read this book hoping to get a pretty good story

hoping to see some of the solidarity in man

by reading about his voyages in water

hoping to relate to some of the struggles from being solely focused on obtaining a certain goal etc.

But honestly

good Lord!

I swear 85% of this book is various lessons

on whaling

the origin of whales,

whale distinction,

whale body parts,

whale sperm,

different color whales.

Oh my goodness

the book starts off quick with the appearance of Queepeg

you think ok we might have something here

but NO!

this book drags on

and on

and on.

Gets off topic ALL of the time.

The majority of this book is about how Ismael feels

and about whale parts.

And when Moby Dick does show up AT THE END OF THE BOOK

Captain Ahab vs. Moby Dick was as big a mitch-match

since the Super Bowl between Denver and Seattle.

It was anti-climatic

some people might get this book

but please don’t put me down as one.

SAVE YOURSELF THE TIME AND ENERGY

READ THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

A MUCH BETTER BOOK

—Oliver, September 27, 2014

One Star

tedious

—Anne Wyatt, January 18, 2016

One Star

Outstanding!

—Rogelio Lozano, September 7, 2017

Obvious he was paid by the word

I tried.

I really tried.

Multiple times.

But the page

after page

I finally decided

life is to short to torture myself with a book

I’m just not enjoying,

and I moved on.

Maybe I’ll try again in another 10 years.

—Smurf, August 24, 2018

One Star

The book

was fine

but

I hated the story

—Kasey Patton, April 15, 2015

Meh.

Taxing

as well as underwhelming.

So many unnecessary side notes,

few of which really contribute to the plot itself,

but I’m no scholar

see for yourself.

—Kindle Customer, July 19, 2019

One Star

boreing

—paul weaver, February 28, 2015

I Could Be Wrong

But reading it

feels like being trapped

in a whale’s belly

with Chuck Klosterman.

—lori c. baughman, October 9, 2018

boring

i had to read this book for school

it boring

dont read

why is this so famous.

cant even understand writing.

words too big i hate it not even interesting.

they just sit on a boat then get killed by a whale

stupid captian

knew they were gonna die

—Denali, August 1, 2013

Moby Dick AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

It just went on and on and ON!

About rubbish!

SOme old guy

with one leg

hunts down a white whale

and in the end he kills the thing,

but at the expense of his life

and lives of his whole crew,

except one guy….

It may be liked by older people,

but it really isn’t for young people.

—atg, August 20, 2011

Tedious

Do we really need

a 10 page analysis

of the color white,

or any of the other tedious digressions contained in this book?

I say

no.

I loved the poetic language Melville uses,

and there is no doubt

he was a great writer.

He did not,

however

have a great editor.

Getting through this book was like running a marathon,

where you are forced to stop every mile

and listen to a lecture on running,

running shoes,

knee pain,

gatorade,

or any other subject remotely related.

Finishing the marathon gives you bragging rights,

but not much more.

—vikingslayer, November 25, 2010

Overhyped

Moby Dick is

an overhyped,

monotonous,

pretentious,

pseudo-intellectual

piece of crap,

in other words

an English lit major’s wet dream.

It’s the absolute meaningless ramblings

of a half wit,

not some great intellectual masterpiece.

Maybe Melville was the Justin Bieber

and “Twin Peaks” of his day,

talentless and meaningless

but few will admit

they were fooled.

—Tom Adams, December 6, 2011

Not enough dicks

There were

no dicks

in this book.

—Ben Reser, March 21, 2015

More stuff like this is in my new book Bears Don’t Care About Your Problems: More Funny Shit in the Woods from Semi-Rad.com, out now.

SHOP

The post One-Star Amazon.com Reviews Of Moby Dick, As Free Verse Poetry appeared first on semi-rad.com.

0 notes

agameforgoodchristians · 5 years

Text

A rainbow promising that God can genocide you through other means (Genesis 9:13)

"God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time!"

- The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin

In another Card Talk about Noah’s story, we ask the questions What do we do with a silent God who kills His creation? and What do we do when a supposedly righteous man remains silent?

We also discuss the Documentary Hypothesis, and how Genesis 6-9 is a narrative composed/redacted from a least two distinct sources. However, whether we separate the narrative into its source material, or read it as one (sort of) unified whole, there is one fact that should remain salient:

This story is not about Noah or humanity. It is a story about God.

God is the main actor. Noah, his wife and kids, the marching Ark animals, and all the bloated, floating bodies that do not make it on the Ark, are all crappy extras struggling for a little more screen time. And oxygen.

To see this clearly we need to delete our fond (or not so fond) Sunday School memories, Bible videos, picture books, flannel graph, Grandparent-versions of the story. When we do, we see that Noah is not the hero of the story. He’s certainly not the protagonist: the character whose actions and struggle we are concerned with. When we read the text, when we simply count the verbs associated with Noah, we see he doesn’t do much.

A List of what Noah Does in the Story

Before the flood

Noah had sex at least three times, since he has three sons (6:10).

Noah blindly, mindlessly, did exactly what God told him to do (6:22; 7:5-9, 13-16). Think that’s harsh? Read it. There is no initiative on Noah’s part. The text explicitly holds that God said something and Noah did that exact thing. It shows Noah's faithfulness, but it does not an interesting narrative make.

During the flood

Noah opened a window on the Ark and performed the famous bird tests (8:6-14).

Noah exits the Ark after God tells him to (8:18-19).

After the flood

Noah makes an altar for sacrifices (8:20).

Noah plants a vineyard, makes wine, gets drunk, passes out, is (most likely) sexually assaulted by his son, and curses his descendants when he wakes up (9:18-27).

Notice: The text contains no narrative details about building the Ark; No explanation to his sons about their mission; No arguments with his wife about what this all means for their lives; No scenes about the growing, harvesting, or purchasing food for the journey; No moments of mockery from his neighbors; No preaching to them about the impending doom; No comical gathering of the animals; No record of his inner turmoil, doubt, prayer, strength, or even stalwart faith. None of the things included in Sunday School, sermons, and movies. Noah is an empty suit, a caricature of faith. We get more pathos from Abraham before he sacrifices his son (but just barely).

Noah is not the hero of this story.

He is not the protagonist.

God is.

God as Protagonist: A List of what God Does in the Story

God is the primary actor whose struggle is the focus of this drama. The most obvious example of this: God is the only one with any lines: God's the only one who speaks in the narrative. (Never noticed that, did you?) Beyond this, compare God’s verbs (actions) in the story to Noah's:

God looks at the world, says He is sick of our shit, and determines that in 120 years, He will hit reset with the Flood (6:1-13) [See the "Excurus on Methuselah" at the end].

God considers Noah as worthy of saving (6:8-9).

God commands the building of the ark and makes covenant with Noah (6:12-21).

God sends the animals and gets Noah's family on the Ark (7:1-9).

God sends the Flood waters (6:13, 17; 7:4-12,17-20, 23).

God shuts the door of the Ark (7:16) (Yeah, Noah can't even be trusted to handle that).

God commits genocide (7:21-23) (Think that's harsh? Read the language of the verse).

God remembers Noah and animals on the Ark (8:1a) [Bible nerd note: This whole story is a chiasm, and verse 8 is the X. There are numerous ways this narrative can be chiastically rendered, but they all meet at this verse).

God's holy spirit/breath (ruah) blows across the water, causing it to recede (8:1b).

God tells everyone to get off the Ark (8:15-17).

God uses two completely different symbols to promise that the flood won’t happen again (because there are two different sources braided together).

In 8:21-22 (J-Source), God presents the consistency of the seasons as the promise-sign

In 9:1-17 (P-source), God presents the famous rainbow as the promise-sign. God has hung up His bow (as in 'bow and arrow'), and will not again pierce the ra'quia, the boundary established in Genesis 1:6-7 to keep out the primordial waters of chaos (Again, see the "Excursus on Methuselah" at the end for more on the rainbow).

God did All of this.

God is the main actor in the story. It is God's inner life we are asked to examine, not Noah's.

What’s more, the story ends with a not too subtle threat in the form of a promise. Baldwin understood this. So did the writer of Second Peter

This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles. First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the Day of Judgment and destruction of the godless. ~ 2 Peter 3:1-7

God’s promise is not that He won’t DESTROY the world again, only that it won’t be with water.

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.

- Robert Frost

Why the Flood: Returning to The Beginning

Many scholars have noted that the flood narrative is an inverted version of the creation narrative of Genesis chapter 1, another story where God is the protagonist. We will leave it to others to belabor the numerous ways the flood narrative is a negation of the creation narrative (beyond the obvious God made everything / God destroys everything) and focus on the why of it all.

Once creation was completed, "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day" (Genesis 1:31). Previous to this, "the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters...And then God said, Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters...And then God said, Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so" (Gen 1:1-2; 6; 9).

This bracketing of the primordial waters of chaos is exactly what God was referring to when He begins to rip Job a new one:

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

...who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?" (Job 38:4; 8-11)

In the flood narrative, the world returns to a vast, formless, lifeless void: the dome above and below were pierced, and the waters of deep were allowed to return. And all that remained was the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters and the floating menagerie of creatures He deemed worthy to save.

But why? As we Bible nerding-out with the Hebrew, we discovered that the progression of the verbs of destruction are informative: the words God uses for why the Flood waters are coming.

[For normal people]

Genesis 6:11-13

Now the earth was fucking itself over in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was fucked; for all flesh was consistently fucking itself over upon the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence and they are causing me to fuck up their shit along with the earth.

Genesis 6:17

For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to completely and utterly fuck up their shit from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.

[For those who can parse Hebrew verbs]

Genesis 6:11-13

Now the earth was “going-to-ruin” [Niphal imperfect] in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth “had-gone-to-ruin” [Niphal perfect]; for all flesh was “actively-going-to-ruin” [Hiphil perfect] upon the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence and “they-are-causing-me-to-ruin” them [Hiphil participle] along with the earth.

Genesis 6:17

For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to “actively-ABSOLUTELY-ruin” [Piel imperative,] from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.

(Note: Why the "bad language"? See our theology of swearing.)

While the flood narrative is a radical destabilization of the world, the text says that we deserved it. This is one example of a biblical principle some (esp. climate science deniers) forget: human actions can bring about chaos, can erode God’s order. Our actions have consequences, for us and our environments.

From Genesis on, the Bible shows God saying, “oh, you know best? You want something other than the ordered world I've given you? Fine. Then you also get to deal with the rampant chaos that is writhing and waiting underneath: the things that go bump in the deep, that I Am keeping at bay. Enjoy!”

Perhaps this is something we should remember. What we do matters.

Perhaps we should also remember that Noah survives the flood, but drowns in alcohol and the improper affection of his kids.

Perhaps grace has limits.

Perhaps God will spare us the first time, but the next time...

But what do we know: we made this game and you probably think we're going to Hell.

And you're just happy that we got a rainbow out of all this (so keep reading)

Excursus on Methuselah

Genesis 5:5-28a states:

When Methuselah had lived one hundred eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech. Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years; and he died. When Lamech had lived one hundred eighty-two years, he became the father of a son; he named him Noah…

Genesis 7:6 reads:

Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth

So what?

It's Biblical math fun time!

The Flood began when Noah was 600 years old.

Methuselah dies at the age of 969.

969 - 600 = 369 (Methuselah’s age when Noah was born)

369 - 182 = 187 (Methuselah’s age when Lamech was born)

So all the Biblical math adds up.

Again, so what?

Methuselah died when the flood began. A detail not missed by Darren Aronofsky when filming Noah.

[Remember how/when Sir Anthony Hopkins died in the movie? No? Go (re)watch it.]

Adding to the Biblical cohesion is the meaning of the name “Methuselah.” While there is scholarly debate (isn't there always?) about an exact translation, each permutation is deeply, thematically connected to Noah's narrative:

"The man of the infernal river" - Do we really have to explain this one?

"His death shall bring judgment" - Again, you've got this one.

"When he dies it shall be sent" - We won't insult your intelligence.

"The man of the weapon (dart/javelin/spear/arrow)" - A man who lived long enough to see "the weapon," the instrument used by YHWH to pierce the dome surrounding the Earth, and let flow the primordial waters.

The first three are obvious, but the last warrants a reminder of the promise of the rainbow. Or more accurately, it should remind us of what the rainbow actually is: a bow. As in bow and arrow/spear/javelin/dart.

The promise is predicated on God saying He is hanging His BOW in the sky.

We just blew your mind. You're welcome.

#Noah #Rainbows #Ark #Flood #d #God is in control #Chaos #Divine regret #Genocide #Genesis 9:13 #Punishment

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newliliana · 5 years

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Zipporah MushalaMarch 12, 2016 · Edited · WHY DEMONS WANT YOU IN HELL Before the Lord Jesus Christ showed Rachael and I hell,he said "Human minds are too small to imagine what hell is like." He said human minds have no capacity to imagine how horrible hell is. Whatever descriptions you hear of hell,you still don't really know what hell is like. You hear of worms which don't die, flames of fire,demons tormenting and mocking people,people being poured acid on etc but what you have is just an idea,because there is no possible way to describe it to a human being unless you see it for yourself. When I saw hell,it was then that I understood what the Lord meant.When you are in hell,life on earth seems just like a story which happened a very long time ago,something in the past,you are now facing the real life.It is as if even the place itself hates you.Apart from being in physical pain,you are also in mental torment.That is a place where no one will have to insult you but you will insult yourself day and night for going there. How can one describe the indescribable? When one is about to die and they know they are going to hell,the feeling of being about to die and knowing you are going to hell is similar to this.Imagine being starved for 10 days,then whipped with sharp metal,then being thrown into a drum of boiling oil and then that drum explodes together with you. Imagine the Hopelessness you would feel.You would feel totally lost.There are even no words to describe the feeling.I am talking about the feeling of hopelessness here and not the pain.You only start feeling the torments when you land in hell. This feeling is just the moment your soul is about to leave your body and you know you are doomed.What I have described is only similar to how you'd feel.It can't even be compared to how you feel on the entrance to hell,not to talk about inside hell itself. Normally,when human beings are in pain,they will want other human being to be in pain also.But the people in hell don't even want another single soul to experience they are feeling.They all cry out as if in a single voice "Noooooooo!" when another person lands there.The pain is without imagination.You can't even wish for an animal or someone who hates you the most to go there. Isaiah 5:14 says,"Hell has expanded herself and has opened her mouth wide beyond measure, their glory and their multitudes with all their pomp together with the one who is Jubilant will go down into it " Hell is never full,it keeps expanding itself. I am not exaggerating at all.If I lie to you then I do not love you.This is not even close to it at all.I am trying my best to describe the undescribable.That is why the says bible says What shall it profit a man if he gains the WHOLE WORLD but loses his own Soul?" Your soul is very important. Even in Luke 8:31,the demons which had possessed the man repeatedly begged Jesus not to cast them into hell but into the pigs.The punishment for the demons has not come yet but they also like taking breaks from hell yet they are not even being tortured but they are the torturers.Then what kind of place is that? Hell was not made for humans but they want you to go there. That is the place demons want you a human being to be. Demons don't want people to know this secret,that is why they keep making people busy with wordly things.In this way they can't seek God so that he can reveal mysteries to them. WHY DO DEMONS SUCCEED IN TAKING MULTITUDES TO HELL? Hebrews 9:27 says, "For it is appointed unto everyman to die once,but after this,judgment." Jesus revealed to us that demons have come to live among us.This is in a post entitled "The mystery of demons in human flesh"on my Timeline.It has bible verses to showed that this is true. Have you ever thought about why the devil would have to send some of his demons to come in human flesh and pretend to be humans? Because hell is no joke.They want to deceive as many people with them into hell.Otherwise,they would just remain in the Spirit form and not come and live among us.It seems like a task to spend time even going to School just like us,going for work and living a normal life but they know what they will achieve at the end of the day,they'll take you to hell through their influences and spells. The Lord Jesus Christ revealed that demons are living among us in form of 'normal' human beings.They are there in the whole world and in each religion to block people from knowing the Truth.They are in every neighbourhood,every School in short,just like normal human beings. They even pretend to be your friend but they have a hidden motive.They know each other but sometimes can even pretend to be enemies just in order to look like human beings. There is no difference to the human eye between a demon incarnate and a human being because they all behave the same,they even pretend to die but all they do is come out their bodies and join the other demons in the Spirit realm. They also pretend to be going through troubles and being persecuted for the Lord. So you totally can't know them using your flesh. They are in different kinds and some behave in a worldly way and some in a 'holy' way depending on who their target is.But they always do something that will influence real human beings to sin. You can't judge anyone as a demon incarnate until the Lord says so.Just because someone behaves in a bad way doesn't mean they are automatically demon incarnates.Sometimes,they can even pretend to be more on fire for God than Real people.They will also pretend as if they are recieving prophesies so that normal people will not know they are demons.They always plan things with the other demon incarnates.They behave 100% lie normal human beings.The Holy Spirit has to reveal to you a demon incarnate.They also pretend to have received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and pretend to speak in tongues if they are 'holy' demons sent against those who pray. Demon incarnates also love to marry real human beings and the children they will have will be demons from the spirit realm in human form of course. That is why someone can even say,this person even has relatives so he can't be a demon.They have it all planned out.In Emmanuel SamaonJude's testimony,he saw the devil instructing demons to come and marry human beings.He told them, "Some of you should pose as if you are the Mother and Father to that 'person' for the marriage ceremony.Go and marry them." That is why we need to be very prayerful before marrying anyone.And they are in every age group from the young to the old. Jesus revealed that demons and the devil also write movie scripts and have their agents act them.The things that will be in those movies will be contrary to what pleases the Lord.They also have real humans who are agents for them.The number of agents is countless as the Lord revealed.Many people have been initiated in either witchcraft or Satanism and working rampantly for the devil. That is why the Lord also forbade secular Tv,the devil has polluted each and every single thing on secular Tv including cartoons no matter how innocent it may look.Once you disobey the Lord and watch,their spells start working on you.You can't pray for those movies because they are secular movies.God can't bless what he has cursed. Now just imagine,for them to spend time acting movies,singing songs and releasing them into the real world then how horrible is hell?That is where they want you and your family to go. That is why you should never follow a human being at all!They may not be human. People say, "You are saying that I shouldn't wear a short skirt but Evangelist Mary said its ok,God also speaks to her" Is a human being your standard? Then you are doomed and they will achieve their mission against you.That same person may even be a demon. Demons know the word of God from Genesis to Revelations.They know the true word of God and what he requires.But they twist it to get you to hell.They even know that he wants inner and outward holiness and no artificial beauty. Yet they deceive people by twisting verses and normal people also get deceived and start preaching the same.That is why if the bible is not your standard,you are doomed. They also pretend to have heaven and hell encounters.People will say, "look,the doctor even signed that she was dead" What you do not know is that it was a demon.All it did was to come out of its body and pretend to have had a revelation.If you check that Revelation,it will oppose God's word. It will come like an Angel of light with some of its revelations seeming correct but it will have some lies mixed and will use twist scriptures claiming to expain those 'revelations'.Then the other demons in human flesh will pretend to be 'normal' people who have changed because of that testimony and will even cry in public. Those demons who are pretending to to be Evangelists or Pastors will even encourage people to read it and that will lead normal people to be deceived. The revelation of this demon is meant to make people sway from the Truth.The verses it will quote will oppose other bible verses.A real Revelation from God can't oppose other bible verses and cause you to sin.God's word is always orderly.That is why we need the Holy Spirit to discern between revelations and not just to rush to them. These demons with 'revelations' will want to associate themselves with true Men of God so that people can also think they are also True.Once they deceive you,they'll keep bringing other 'revelations' which are not inline with the bible.Do not live in deception. Don't be so surprised bretheren.The bible says we War with Princincipalities and rulers of darkness.Ephesians 6:12. Don't think the spirit realm is calm,there is a war for your soul.And whether heaven wins or hell wins depends on the choice you make.Never follow a person. Let the bible be your only standard and ask God for his holy Spirit to live within you and show you the right way.If you are discerning through the Holy Spirit,you'll never go wrong. PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD.Ephesians 6:13.

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