Bret~ Not that I am any "answer-man", but I can explain some of your doubts as they are both common and reasonable to hold, as that other "wizard said, "Times being as they were". (I adjust that to "as they are"!)
The words in our Scriptures have traveled a lot in their time, over hostile territory and fair, and we must be very careful how we accept the meanings. The first thing I noticed as a youth was the great difficulties which arose over people not having in their heads the same meanings for the same words. That's a very poor situation in a world chock full of people intent on twisting meanings completely, even to entire phrases and even speeches! English is indeed a composite language as are most, but 600 years ago or so as it began, it was a composite of composites. The troublesome word you bring up -- as well as the topic of "man's word" -- actually is not nearly as stringent in meaning as you and unhappily and popularly, have come to believe. The term "agree" passed on to from Christ actually means more of some reconciliation than an acquiescence. It would be a foregone give-away were it to mean a mandate to meet the other fellow’s demands. The idea there, is that if you find you are dealing with a “ruthless jew type” found in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice”, it must first be realized you shouldn’t have in the first place! That requires a substantial overview of the situation at which your fault began at the beginning and now because of that you might have to make undesirable compromises about conditions which came along naturally. “Agree” here is not an absolute, but one of those choices of evils and you are part to blame for the evils now to be faced to meet in agreement! Doesn’t mean “give in” but means try to think of the smallest conciliations you can get away with and still not be heavily wrecked! There is a lot of this sort of encouragement to reason, in Scripture and many lessons are on precluding having to face such crises! There IS a tie in here to the situation we find ourselves in, with pirates believing THEY SHOULD HAVE COME TO OVERLOARD AND RULE US AS SUBJECTS/SLAVES! Remember Christ told us to be a slave to no Man! Remember Bret, the problems we face today primarily arose out of two integrally tied institutions which became infiltrated until infested by Men who perverted the meanings of well established words and phrases. The tool of infiltration was the most classic – deception. Today, a Man doesn’t have to be a mastermind to fool the people but once it was quite different so our dilemma didn’t come upon us in short order! One of the keys of several of those prominent, was the freemasonry which has wormed its way into both the Law of Christian Doctrine and its effects upon the American Common Law, which as well, is based upon the Law of God! Destruction of the Church and America’s public institutions has become by our time, pretty much of a done deal as they were, and have been, converted by slow acting poison. We have been blinded from that realization through the greed of American individuals; blinded by the light of relief from individual responsibility. Herd instinct ruins understanding through well recognized word usage, because Men in herds must follow their leader and the leader can thus easily lead astray by blind faith and obedience. Scripture relies on self-discipline and precedent in/of learning and private interaction. Change the meanings of words and/or replace them with new and different and you change both mindset and cognition! Contemplate how you and I here and now communicate our ideas. You must cultivate word power, not abandon it or abuse it! Word usage is among the first things we must reach agreement on if we are to agree on anything else. The wise shall always strive to agree as disagreement most often kills productivity ~Hal~ --- On Sat, 2/6/10, Mark Garrett <[email protected]> wrote: From: Mark Garrett <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Fw: [MYRLANDsMETHODs] It has begun...Refuse new coins! To: "hal" <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010, 4:36 PM Sorry, I guess I no longer need a fictional phrase to remind me of my connection with God. I am not of the written word as words are the weapons of law, whereas God's kingdom needs not man's word to rule or govern. I am a helpless romantic now and respectfully agreeing with your adversary is very difficult in man's words combined with their use in the enforcement of contract through statutory obligations. I have yet to find one man that can provide the factual and truthful obligation I have to settle any of the United State citizen's debts or obligations listed on the Birth Certificate issued the year I first took breath. It is just words on paper and I am not "it". M-
