Robert Claypool

Is it Satan doing the destroying or sin? Also, what makes "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds" the proper translation instead of say, "Look to joyful things, my brothers, when in trials.

There is a sensation accompaning proper praise. Not feeling this sensation is generally what people mean when they say they "aren't getting anything out of it". When this happens they should quit doing whatever it is that isn't truly praise, but instead people say that it isn't the activity that is the problem but the acknowledgment of the lack of sensation. If that sensation is not present in the Sunday program, you should not go, and you should leave immediately if you are there.

All the answers to "How did God see Gideon" seems to think that the exchange between God and Gideon indicates capabilities God saw in Gideon as opposed to capabilities that God intended to use Gideon as a conduit for. To understand our relationship to God, it is important to determine which one is the case.

How is Gideon's self-esteem a "question" that God is answering?

One could argue that God's perception was a superset of Gideon's. Also is "Mighty Warrior" here a title or a description? Is it meant to repurpose Gideon? Also, "weak" is a relative term. Gideon made no statement as to his worth. "What Gideon was capable of?" Do we have capabilities or do they belong to God and we merely conduits for them? To put it another way, did God see him as a mighty warrior, or did God merely decide to use him as a conduit for God's "Mighty Warrior" capabilities?

Was Gideon assigning blame. He didn't seem to be saying God was at any fault for abandoning them, just that to his eyes, God abandoned them. If anything Gideon is suggesting that God is stupid for coming back to them. There is just as much to suggest that Gideon thinks "Whoops, we blew it. God's gone now, but as long as there is life to live, we must live it" though there's no indication that the concept of blame even occurs to him. If Gideon is blaming God, then why is he seeking favor with him as opposed to demanding reparations?

What does "redeeming the time at hand" mean? What does "preferring one another" mean? For what and over what? Also, are we to be then to be consumed by God, or are we talking about a process in which nothing is consumed or something altogether different? How does consumption play a role in things anyways? To continue the son, servant, slave, chain, what about puppets?

I see people saying "servant". What is the difference between a son, a servant and a slave? What servants best exemplify what you mean when you say servant? What servants do the worst? Someone said we should bring God the glory? Where does this glory come from that we should bring to him? How do we collect it? I wonder, shouldn't our role be to show the glory that God already possesses to those who who need to see his glory instead of the other way around? Are we to go to God on behalf of others, or to others on behalf of God?