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Some interesting links:

The Five Gospels Parallels

http://www.utoronto.ca/religion/synopsis/

This HTML presentation of the Five Gospels is designed to be a teaching tool for introductory level classes in New Testament and Christian Origins. For this reason, and because of the particular constraints of HTML, it does not offer the same level of detail as a printed synopsis (i.e. Throckmorton 1979, 1992; Aland 1985). Its advantage is that it allows more "play" than a printed synopsis and that it presents the materials in the same order as the canonical Gospels. Moreover, it offers texts that are not commonly included in the synopses designed for classroom use: Thomas and Paul. Others may follow.

It will parallel the 4 canonicals; the 4 canonicals & Thomas (aka the 5 gospels); The 5 gospels & Paul; the 3 synoptics; the Q twosome; the synoptics & Thomas.


Early Christian Writings

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/

This site has almost all of Early Christianity – New Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics and Fathers.

Its companion site : Early Jewish Writings

http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/

Has what the title says it does and includes the Tanakh, Talmud, Josephus, Pseudepigrapha and others.

That is a good one to remember. We have to believe that people are brought into our lives for a reason, another testament to faith.


Thanks for those links Michelle. Have not had a chance to look at them yet, but I will.

The only way to stay in faith is to read or listen to God's word. This is a good thread.

Thanks Sheri, I am so enjoying it already and learning SO much. I have to admit I have never enjoyed reading the Bible as much as I am now. It is a new and very much welcome addition to my life!

Weezie - thanks for the URL fix, I'm technologically impaired and couldn't figure out how to make it shorter.

I spend a lot of time chaperoning my daughter's marching band and I also have to spend a lot of time praying that God will help me to love these children with His love because mine is insufficient. He always comes through, but just like the treasure in jars of clay, it leaks out and I have to return every time and ask again. That and stay consistent in the Word.

firstly - i wanted to say thank you very much for letting me know that the tragedy of being torn out of gaza did not go unnnoticed by the "outside world". the people are still unhoused, abandoned by the gov't here - many promises were broken and people have no houses, no schooling for their kids, no employment etc.. and no one is questioning the power of the One above, just of those down here. we must all look into ourselves and try to understand how something like this can happen. what did do to have it happen and how can we improve ourselves, and the communities around us. if we each took one step ahead in the right direction , the person next to us would help us the next step and so on and so on . just imagine......
secondly - i am keeping close eye on this thread, but i have not contributed so much (yet). i think its a great idea and i am enjoying seeing the similarities and differences between our religions.
about the topic of pride (i think thats the topic now)i do not remember where i learned this, but i remember learning that pride is a sin because you think that you deserve something - recognition, respect money etc - when you should not be thinking in those terms at all. instead you should be thinking of how you can serve G-d and how you can better yourself and bring yourself closer to G-d. you do not need the money, recognition, fame etc... to do this you must serve G-d, for you are dust, a worm small and insignificant AND at the same time you must remember that "the whole world was created for you" because you have a distinct purpose in this world, otherwise you would not be here at all. each and every one of us is integral to the way the world is. this is not an egocentrical view it is true and it is a burden rather than a freedom to expect everything to work our way and come easily to us (ie pride). we must work and fulfill our purpose whatever it may be, for that is why we are here and it can only be done by you. if you do not fulfill our duty then you have lost the "whole world that was created for you"
i hope that at lest part of that was intelligible.

Sure was Hinda. And a very good reminder to us all!

Hinda, I am enjoying your input on this thread...please continue to contribute!
Today (actually everyday) But especially today the lesson of faith has hit so strongly in my heart. Our "pride" that henders our faith comes from a "human" instinct that we feel WE have to fix, correct or take care of everything.The feeling that WE have to be in control. Although God does not expect us to sit idle and wait for things, solutions & answers to fall in our laps...he is ultimately the one in control and has his timeing planned for all things to work together so that ultimatly he is the one to receive the honor and glory for it all..not us! I have watched and waited (not patiently...but waited) for him to work out situations that honestly I have had no control over at all. Every answer that we have received has been so cleary his voice...and the moving of his very hand. I am amazed at how we can try so hard to accomplish something and when all resources have been exhausted and we get to the point that we FINALLY put it all in his hands...he is so faithful to meet our very needs. No logical explanation can be given for the things that he sets to come to pass....I am so very thankful that he loves his children in spite of ourselves! My heart is so full today.

4ruddy it is so true!! we must put in our utmost and work hard to amke things happen. it is an important concept in Judaism called effort or trying. (i actually had to look that up in the dictionary - i think i am forgetting some of my english ) without putting any effort into making things happen (whatever they may be) we cannot expect anything to happen. G-d will not help you if you do not work for it. and of course, we may want somethin that is not good for us (even if we think it is a good thing at the time), in thatcase, of course, we will be helped - juse not inthe mamnner that we were expecting. like one Rabbi told me - our prayers are always answered, but he answer isn't always "yes".
a few years ago, right after i got married i realized that i was going to have problems getting pregnant. we wnated to hae kids right away (and we still look forward to a houseful) and so we went to dr.s and tried to set things straight. but hings didnt work out so easily and after three years i got pregnant onlyto lose the baby a the end of the sixth month. and all the time we were praying for kids and for the strength to get through this. after the miscarriage, we were so sad. but together we walked out into the world a stronger couple ready to face whatever cam our way. and you know what three onths later i ws pregnant. a year after i had our beautiful girl , i ws pregannt again (boy that was a comlete surprise!) and now we have two amazing angels living wiht us. what i am trying to say (albeit probably too lengthily) is that we must do our part and G-d will Help us a long, but we mustn't doubt that the help will come - we cannot fathom His reasoning and intricate lacework of the world.
looking back at it now, we neede those first four years before our daughter was born to become stronger and grow in our faith. all we have to do is look at our children and know that miracles happen and that G-d is listening to our every cry. He is our Father, our King.

i ralize now, that most of what i am writing is probably not why the thread was started. trss started this out as a bible study group, and i would love actualy study parts of the bible with you instead of just my babbling. i also realize that my hours are different thatn most of yours so i kind of catch this thread at stange times for most everyone else. anyway, is there a specific topic and we discuss or a part of the bible to read and then discuss or just talk about general topics and "go with the flow"
sorry if i am confusong everyone......

This is exactly why this thread was started Hinda..we ALL learn from each other. And what you have said goes along completely with the topic of faith! Even though you did not have your children at the time you thought was right...you & your husband allowed your faith in God to grow and he blessed that.Your Rabi was right, our prayers are not always answered in the way or at the time we would like, but we have faith to know that they are heard and answered....even if we don't understand. I do not understand so much of what God allows to happen in my life...but I am trusting that I can always hear his voice and be obedient and will be prepared for what he has for me to do...

Hinda,

I think that the lack of structure and one topic leading to another is a good way for this to go. Each week we change topics and talk about them. We will get our Bible teaching when we quote the Bible for our references and we will learn how each of us is seeing each topinc come true in our lives. Faith is such a huge thing and can be explained so many ways. Seeing it in each of our lives gives someone hope and someone else understanding.

For me, reading your last post about having to wait so long for children reaffirms the fact that I am so blessed by God to be able to have all of mine. It also humbles me to know that not all people have such an easy time of having children but still have the faith to continue trying, knowing that the Lord will bless them when the time is right. It also reminds me to tell my children how lucky and how blessed we are to have them in our lives.

I have been reading the threads on faith. I wanted to let you know that this topic is helpful to me. I don't know that I will be much of a contributor but I will be reading.

I am the mother of 6 children, 3 of whom have died. I believed, I just didn't think God believed in me. If that makes any sense whatsoever. Then I was told a little parabel by a person in AA about faith. It goes like this....

Say you go to the circus....and the high wire act comes up in one of the rings. At the end of the high wire is a performer with a wheelbarrow. There is no net under the high wire. Now you know this performer is a professional and probably has practiced pushing the wheelbarrow across the high wire many times. You are sure the performer will cross the high wire with the wheelbarrow and not fall. That is faith. Trust is when you crawl into the wheelbarrow without being asked.

So I had to learn to trust that God has good things in store for me. I had to learn to trust that God didn't make bad things happen. I have to have faith and trust together in order to have true faith. I know that isn't biblically based but it helped me.

I fully believe that people are put in our path who are there to help us to think and to grow stronger in our faith. What you got from that person at AA was something you needed to have your faith grow.

Hope to see you posting here more, everyone has something to contribute!

Oh I agree about God putting people in my path. Part of the "still small voice" I failed to heed over the years.

I will probably be asking questions.....

how strnage but as the expresion goes "their is no such thing as a coincidence" ( a refernce to G-d's intricate yet non-understandable masterplan) a few days ago i started writing an essay about faith (one one of my many projects that i am doing this year for college)and when i was looking through some books on the topic i came across two words in hebrew thati had used interchangably for faith. BUT when i looked at the definitions closely i realized thati was mistaken for using them interchangably. translated one was faith and the other was trust. here are the definitions
faith "the term faith denotes absolute belief in divine providence,in G-d's unfailing goodness, in his aid and deliverance in times of distress....Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook (1864 - 1935) declares that faith is the song of life"
trust - there is no definition per se about truts but says "He who trusts in G-d fears no man (Bahya ibn Pakuda) and brings in Jeremiah 17:7-8, and Habbakuk3:17-19

faith is more general and trustis more personal, just like in the circus parable you gave fernie, i liked it a lot!

And that is what it all comes down to in the end. Absolute belief.

Fernie...I have a little heart shaped plaque on my kitchen wall..I got one for myself and one for my sister a few weeks after my son's death...becuase I very vividly remember saying over & over.."I can't do this"....it wasn't until about 3 months after his accident that I was reminded of a few of things...
1.) I had placed my children in God's hands when they were very young.

2.) His timing is VERY different than my own.

2.) Our goal is eternal life...why, for my selfish reason's would I want to DENY my son to be in the arms of our maker....

So, the little plaque on the wall says this:

Faith makes things possible....
not easy!

I very much like your plaque.

I have a plaque that is about trust. It is Psalm 91:1,2.

I didn't realize that trust was such a big issue of faith for me until I was given the circus story. It made me realize that while I always believed and had a faith of sorts, I hadn't had trust. It makes a difference.

Thanks so much for this topic, it has been so helpful.

It is very interesting that we all look at things so differently. When it comes to the Lord, I can interchange faith and trust and it all comes out the same in the end.

When it comes to people, I think very differently. I have both faith and trust in relatively few people I know, but many fall into one category or the other.

but that is where you refer back to the one
post I made about how GOD wants us to be
obient to him and to be humble..

GOD VALUES those people and because you value
GOD, you need to go the extra mile and value
the people GOD VALUES!!

I know it's hard sometimes..
Ther'es that one wife of my husbands', friend..
*Did I word it right this time*
when I have got to constantly repeat that to myself...

I am highlighting the bible verses mentioned in my study bible.

Weezie....just because I love people, does that mean I have to trust and have faith in them? That would be most difficult. I try very hard not to judge but having faith in people???

Like Fernie I agree, I MUST love them, but that is not always faith and trust.

Must we have faith and trust in everyone we meet?

Brings about another question. Just how many people would you entrust your children's care to? Who has your faith that they will care for your children as you do? Who would you trust to make critical decision's for you if you were not able to?

We are but human and it is with God's grace that we are allowed to make mistakes and fall so short of His glory. Yet He allows for those mistakes, something we as people have a very hard time doing. Only He is able to not only forget but to also forgive. And while that completely boggles my mind, I KNOW that it is true. Just as I know I have to work very hard every day of my life to aspire to His greatness.

I just found this thread, very cool idea.

Unconditional love yes I can get that. Agape, I always think of the precious babies I have treated realizing that some of them grow up to do evil things.

Think how sad some of the mothers are when their precious child grows up to become a criminal.

Unconditional faith and trust in GOD yes. A person? I think that these are too and 2 different things.

I think you can value a person as a fellow human being, but I would not trust that he had the same morals as me, murders, rapists, etc.

To me the saddest pictures were the ones showing the people that knew the soldiers that were evacuating them. The soldiers and the people hanging on to each other sobbing, very heart wrenching.

LOL! Triss we posted at the same time!!