jack-the-ghost-rider vs sage-the-posionous frog p2

[zengrifter]

....leaving me lost in a forest of words to where i can't see the forest for the words.

Reading the Bible again, eh Enki Frog? zg

 

[sagefr0g]

Here are my best guesses.

Last first--I don't believe God shrouds any knowledge from Himself. To what end? Being all-knowing, it would be a contradiction anyway. Remember, He lives outside of time; to Him there is no future, so what's there to hide.

makes sense to me. and i don't think you'd argue that He couldn't do it if he wanted to. sort of like how the blood of Jesus 'cleans' away our transgressions or at least the price was payed above and beyond what was owed. we in a sense get a freebee but in truth we end up deep in debt, at the very least charged with the responsibility to become engaged with that kingdom at hand. i guess if you want to ponder the idea relative to the idea of the holy trinity that Jesus's sacrafice shrouds our transgressions from his Father in a sense. think it's been described in that light. but i'm not very well versed in all that.

I believe your attitudes/thoughts affect not only your luck, but all the things that touch upon your life. However, it is next to impossible to say what causes what. In general, I believe that good things happen to good people/countries.

kind of what i was getting at. sort of like imagine if it were possible to play blackjack with the utmost virtue. like maybe James Bond would. how could you lose? but on the other hand suppose you play with out virtue. how could you win? answer would be either God decides or maybe not maybe just the luck of the draw but would we not want to none the less strive for that virtuous play win or lose? at least if we lose we wouldn't wonder if it was because of our lack of virtue. like i think you once described (my words) in a post how maybe you believed you knew if you made a play one way it was a winning hand but maybe you didn't do the play that way and lost the hand.
point being (and not directed at you) but a respect maybe for some system ie. card counting, basic strategy, ect. above maybe our own sense of conviction of what is the wise action.
don't mean to make it sound like a big deal. just i wonder about stuff like that. i wonder about it not just for some example of some hand of blackjack but in light of the whole idea of casting all of ones faith in say the mathematics of what we all discuss in the AP community to the point of disregarding ones own ability to play some part in managing or influencing the prospects of the gamble involved. i especially find this approach questionable when one considers human error combined with all the various uncertainties and stumbling blocks one encounters along the path of an AP endeavor. i mean for example say your intent is to card count some game in some casino. you have a sim of the game that you derive your game plan from. how closely can you really follow that game plan in light of all the realities of the casino environement? thats just what maybe some one hour session or so and then your again going at either the same casino or another with other environmental attributes (maybe differant rules, table mins, penetration, number of players, ect.) for another hour or so session.
in short it's a long way of going to get to the fruits of that game plan held forth by that simulation. a lot of obstacles, probable needed compromises.
and how do you know really over all those sessions what the heck you really did? how many hands did you play? did you follow the game plan exactly? just how many compromises did you make? the question easily becomes am i really doing anything even close to the game plan thats supposed to direct my play in accordance with the simulation. i just wonder how many of us on this forum could really say yes i'm right on the mark for my game plan and yes my play is in accordance with the required maths to reach that one or two percent advantage. straight is the way and narrow is the gate as they say lol.

But there is this mystery surrounding suffering. Jesus was a good person, yet he suffered excruciating pain leading up to an unjust death at the hands of his enemies. Believers know the reason for this in His particular case, but when it comes to our own lives, it is often a complete mystery. Countries of poor and marginalized people are hit by earthquakes, tornadoes, famine, disease, and floods. It is hard to believe these people deserved such terrible suffering. Likewise, sometimes selfish, conniving human beings seem blessed with the best of luck.

exactly right. thing is though maybe a good idea to shoot for what we believe is doing the right thing even if we might get slam dunked by the luck of the draw or what ever it is. at least we've lived according to the courage of our convictions.

Therefore, I submit that you cannot know the effect of your thoughts, attitudes, demeanor on the things around you, because you cannot know how the mind of God works. I think a person's best bet is to live a good life, and expect good things to follow, even though at times bad things will come and their reason will often be unfathomable.

lol yep i guess i just agreed with you above.

If you're looking for some scientific rule or law that can be applied by those who know them to walk on water, multiply loaves, heal people, or win at Blackjack, I don't believe there is any. I don't subscribe to a natural explanation for every miracle of Jesus. I believe these were supernatural events.

where i was once interested in scientific rules and laws is how i saw it then and now that those are the miracles of God. aren't we learning how to 'walk' on water, fly, feed the world, heal people and i sure hope win at blackjack?
just maybe our understanding of those rules and laws might not be so perfect yet. so yes it seems supernatural and miraclulous because it really is, just not unfathomable and not beyond our grasp. kind of like where we might be with our children hoping that one day they become independent competant adults so to isn't the idea that God might have for people to be every bit as miraculous as He is?

My mental approach to Blackjack is to use my mind to the best of my ability to win, and that means to employ BS and card counting. I am more and more reconciled to playing because I love the game, than for any hopes of getting rich. If that comes, fine. Likewise, I am risk adverse, and believe that those who take big risks in hopes of making a big killing, for example by playing with an inadequate bankroll, are begging for a comeuppance. Likewise, anyone playing games where the house has a decided edge, are asking for trouble. Chalk it up to entertainment expense of you do play these games, because I doubt you will overcome the odds and win lots of money, because I doubt that the Almighty rewards stupidity.

so you do believe there is a scientific way to play blackjack. lol. yes i'm being a jerk. sorry fr0gs are like that yeah they are
but i'm with ya. i mean yeah apply what you know to the best of your ability if your gonna go messing with these casino's.
in my case i know i'm gambling and trying to apply some AP principles. maybe i'll get lucky and actually do something right lol. but at any rate i watch my bottom line and wont cross what i know are my responsibilities to myself and those i care about. just pretty much going by Kasi's philosophy of no big deal, nothing life changing. hoping for some luck which i've had a lot of in life and tryin to have some fun along the way.

 

[sagefr0g]

Reading the Bible again, eh Enki Frog? zg

once was enough. but i might read it again sometime.
i read the ZenZone to.