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Showing posts from November, 2011

Our Dreams Interpret Us

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Credit: Free images from acobox.com I don't know how popular books are that teach dream interpretation. There's certainly plenty of advice on the Web and many people are curious as to the meaning of their dreams. It's said that old men will dream dreams and young men see visions but I suspect this means old men will be naturally wise (just as dreaming is naturally induced) rather than having flashes of inspiration. When Pharaoh dreamed of cows and ears of corn they were believed to be inspired of God and neither Pharaoh nor his wise men could fathom them out. Joseph confessed that he had no such skill but it was God who gave him the explanation. He wouldn't have been able to reproduce this so called gift under controlled scientific conditions because it wasn't under his control. The Bible knows nothing of a gift of interpreting dreams. Repeatedly it is a young man who is employed to do the interpreting suggesting it is more akin to a vision than an interpretation.

Is God Nice?

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Credit: Free photos from acobox.com I've been thinking quite a bit lately about why God doesn't answer prayer and, if he does, what sort of prayer does he answer. Is your prayer answered because you prayed it or because you just happened to be on God's wavelength? John the Evangelist said that God answers your prayers if you pray them according to God's will. Well what use is that? If he decided he wanted to do it why did he require your prayers? I've watched a couple of Derren Brown programmes that apparently blow the lid off faith healers, spiritualists, mediums and snake oil salesmen in general. He is pretty convincing though you have to take into account that his skill is in deception so he could be deceiving us. But that's why he's so on the money because it takes a charlatan to catch a charlatan. The problem with faith healing is that it requires an unquestioning belief that you will receive what you are asking for. If you're not healed or you'