stupidity and apathy.

When I first got married seven years ago I worked full time as a secretary to a medical office. I worked 40 hours a week for modest but sustainable pay, and was making my push to get into nursing school. Now you have to realized I worked in a pool of workers who replaced others when they were sick or on vacation. I had no real home or real position in the work place.

My company started cracking down on inappropriate ill call, and the economy got tight (post 9/11). People stopped taking vacation! All of a sudden there was less hours, and only those more senior in this union based job got hours (even some that really didn't deserve to be employed). The squeeze started two spots behind me. I saw the writing on the wall and started to fight for everyone in my work group with our local union steward. What I encountered from the most senior members in this job class was a, "Too bad for you, doesn't concern me" attitude. This was my first real look at how apathetic our society had become. I couldn't believe these people couldn't see the writing on the wall. It was the poor girl at the bottom of the seniority pool today, but tomorrow it's me and then THEM....

Months passed.... I was getting any hours, and bills were tight. Finally my company cracked down more and even the most senior members in my work pool (were were called, "floaters" which always made me feel like they thought I belonged in the toilet) were losing significant hours. Then and only then did they begin to care and push for change. However, by that time the company calmly let the union know they had established precedent and were legally justified in their actions. The union being the weak and anemic sack of crap that it is went along for the most part. Many months continued to pass, and class action grievances were finally passed now that everyone was on board. In the end we all lost all of our vacation, some lost their job because they couldn't hold out any longer, and most of us (myself included) got shipped off to other jobs. Most if this, if not all of it could have been avoided if others would have stood up for their fellow man knowing they were next. They could have justified it being self serving!!!!! What I learned about people from this event is astonishing!!!. Most people will not try to do anything about even the most unjustifiable acts unless it concerns them right then and now. People don't look ahead.... They don't realize it's you today and me tomorrow. This is truly why this great nation we ha and our freedoms will soon be gone. Most people won't realize or do anything at all. The ones that do will most likely join the party way too late in the game.

Stupidity and apathy are a bad combo.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit

In my profession I constantly find others reading the bible and on occasion praying. I'm always delighted to see others looking for a spiritual connection to our father. I look for opportunities to talk with others about Gods word, and the other day was no exception.

What I found was a gentleman discussing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. He had his own belief on what this subjects interpretation means, as many do. He even asked me to look it up and research it myself because he felt my understanding was off. Always looking to make sure I have my own head on straight I went for it. Plus, to be honest I don't argue with others. Most people I've ever met are stuck in their ways of thinking, and some have accused me of heinous things in the past. However, I do listen, check my own understanding, and am very willing to change my thinking if I find I'm off the word. So I looked.

Mark 3:22-30

-And the scribes that came down from Jerusalem said, "He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils." And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shallblaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme agasint the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:" Because they said he hath an unclean "spirit."-

For me the real question comes in "why?" They blasphemed against the Holy Spirit by accusations against our Lord that he was casting out devils by the power of Satan. But why? If they didn't believe in God they would have been happy for the healings and went about their business. If they were truly working for the one true God they would have rejoiced that God worked through this man even if they didn't believe he was the Son of God. So the real question is WHY. Why were they so quick to dismiss it?

John 8:42-44

Jesus said unto them, "If God were your father ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand My speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. YE ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (emphasis mine)

John 8:48-49

Then answered the Jews, and said unto Him, "Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?" Jesus answered, "I have not a devil; but I honor my father, and ye do dishonour me.


So from this will can conclude that the Jews in John A) sold out to the devil, and B) accused jesus of being possessed with a devil, which is exactly what was happening in Mark. So blasphemy against the Holy Spirit may very well have been accusing Jesus of casting out devils by the power of Satan. However, what came before that? What causes a man to accuse our saviour of being possessed? It would make sense that such a man had already given his life to Satan. I don't know if the Jewish leaders of that time knew they had sold out to the Devil. Many people in the old testament sold out to devils in Ashtaroth, Molech and other pagan gods. I'm not saying that people can't have a change of heart and turn from Budda to Christ. I am saying that many of the hard core leaders in any movement have already sold out to their God. The followers of such leaders do many times find Christ. However, the guys in the seats of power (the gurus if you will) have sold out to their god. Unfortunately, they just don't realize yet that they've sold out to the wrong one.

In the end I hope this was beneficial to you. Please do the research yourself. I have found many many interpretations of this passage, but mostly find that people theorize that because it's never mentioned again it must mean: X,Y,and Z. I know what I believe to be the truth through prayer and study. But who's to say I'm right? Please do your own reseach on this subject.

Below is a opinion slightly different from my own that I got off the web (with the site listed). My objective here isn't to get you to believe me but to do your own research and believe the truth.







http://www.gotquestions.org/blasphemy-Holy-Spirit.html

The following was taken from the above site.

Question: "What is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?"Answer: The concept of “blasphemy against the Spirit” is mentioned in Mark 3:22-30 and Matthew 12:22-32. The term blasphemy may be generally defined as “defiant irreverence.” The term can be applied to such sins as cursing God or willfully degrading things relating to God. It is also attributing some evil to God, or denying Him some good that we should attribute to Him. This case of blasphemy, however, is a specific one, called “the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” in Matthew 12:31. In Matthew 12:31-32, the Pharisees, having witnessed irrefutable proof that Jesus was working miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit, claimed instead that the Lord was possessed by the demon “Beelzebub” (Matthew 12:24). Now notice that in Mark 3:30 Jesus is very specific about what they did to commit “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.”

This blasphemy has to do with someone accusing Jesus Christ of being demon-possessed instead of Spirit-filled. As a result, this particular incidence of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be duplicated today. Jesus Christ is not on earth—He is seated at the right hand of God. No one can witness Jesus Christ performing a miracle and then attribute that power to Satan instead of the Spirit. The closest example today would be attributing the miracle of a redeemed person’s changed life to Satan’s power rather than to the effects of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The blasphemy of the Spirit today, which is the same as the unpardonable sin, is the state of continued unbelief. There is no pardon for a person who dies in unbelief. Continual rejection of the Holy Spirit’s promptings to trust in Jesus Christ is the unpardonable blasphemy against Him. Remember what is stated in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Further on in the same chapter is the verse “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). The only condition wherein someone would have no forgiveness is if he is not among the “whoever believes in Him,” for it is he who “rejects the Son.

”Recommended Resource: Hard Sayings of the Bible by Kaiser, Davids, Bruce, & Brauch.