lazarus

Many writers make the mistake of making their readers appear like Lazarus, without any iota of care, throwing down books to readers to crunch as if they are dogs.

Another version of the __rosperity Gospel_ or __ame It and Claim It_ teaching has to do with finding a verse in the Bible and then __laiming_ that verse. Proponents of this thinking believe that God must fulfill his promise to us in whatever verse we are __laiming_ because what God says in his Word, the Bible, is true, and we can trust it to be true. So someone might pray: God, your Word says in Isaiah that by your stripes we are healed and I know you are not a liar and that your Word is true and I claim that Scripture in Jesus__ name and therefore I will be healed of this stomachache! We need to have faith in what the Bible says, but we have to be careful that we aren__ trying to force God to do what we want. That is arrogance rather than humility.God loves us, but we cannot demand things of him as though our faith is in charge rather than God. If someone believes it is our faith that heals us and forgets that it is God who does it, we should ask that person how much faith Lazarus had. Remember, he was decomposing in a tomb when Jesus raised him from death. His faith obviously didn__ matter. It was all God. It is God and God__ grace that heals, not our prayers and not our __aith._ Though we are exhorted by God to pray to him, we cannot compel him to do what we wish.

Jesus Hollywood believed in a lot of things. He believed that stars were ghosts of family long since past and that he was more likely to die from an asteroid falling from the sky than another human being getting the better of him. He believed that children could see things when adults had already stopped believing.Jesus Hollywood believed that you wrote your own story. He believed that anything could happen if you really set your mind to it. He believed that, in the end, everything would be ok; if it wasn't ok, it wasn't the end.Jesus Hollywood believed that it wasn't really Jesus that raised Lazarus from the dead, but the other way around.And Jesus Hollywood sure as fuck believed in love.

We have our mission and we are going to complete it. So grab your straws and suck it the fuck up.

Once upon a time there was a man with no heart. Drifting through black-and-white life, caring naught for those hurt, and never, ever allowing another near enough to hurt him. Until, on the least likely day, the most unlikely place, the man with no heart met the most surprising person. He was fearless. He was strength and power. He wore his heart boldly on his sleeve. The man with no heart began, shockingly, to feel a movement in his breast. A stretching, a slow, steady beat...

For those he has ignored, he allows them this. He allows them God, their only ally. Places to worship, but no one to teach.

While gently pushing her towards the dressing room, Lazarus ventured, "Can I ask you something kind of personal?"Pulling her shirt over her head behind the curtain, and holding her hand out for the corset, she replied, "Anything for you, Laz.""How are you still friends with him?""Can you hook this thing?" Holding the corset on her stomach, Lazarus peeked through the curtain, fingers deftly snapping the twenty hook-and-eye latches. "He saved my life. There are a million reasons to hate him, but there are a million and one reasons to forgive him for his faults."Twisting to look in the mirror, adjusting her breasts in the tight silk, she continued, "He'll say the worst thing at the worst possible time, except every once in awhile, he says the one most perfect thing that just makes you want to cry from happiness. He knows the exact way you need to be touched at any moment, in any mood, like he's fucking telepathic. He'll make you want to scream when he ignores you, but then you find out he knows your favorite color, your favorite meal, what movie makes you cry and he can list every little thing in the entire world that you hate. And mostly? Well," Turning to face Lazarus and strike a pose, "I just can't fucking stop.