God, Aliens, and Other Stuff

According to the dictionary, a sophistry is a kind of reasoning that is misleading or unsound, but it sounds clever and plausible. Paul talks about such reasoning in Colossians 2:23,  "Such regulations (Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!) indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."  Note, "appearance of wisdom" and "false humility" do not a perfect Christian make. Paul was addressing the problem of Christian leaders, one of which was James the brother of Jesus, who wanted to "Judaize" the emerging Christian church. Circumcize your male children, avoid pork, keep the Sabbath, do not marry, do not drink wine, wear this, don't wear that...The Jews had hundreds of laws beside the Law of Moses to keep. The veil in such religions between earthly ritual and objects and the unseen interdimensional

I am the way… 1) Genesis 11, 12: Following God’s path for ourselves will sometimes require leaving long established relationships, customs, and/or beliefs behind. The Hebrew man named Abram didn’t leave Ur of the Chaldees (today’s Iraq) alone with just a suitcase and a passport. His father Terah led him and his nephew Lot to Haran, a place perhaps named after Abram’s brother Haran that died in Ur. They dwelt in Haran (today’s northern Syria, along the Tigris River) for some time, but God had called Abram to something totally new. Not everyone needs to leave behind as much as Abram, Sarai, and Lot in order to obey God, but for many, it’s necessary. God calls all of us to a separation from our old lives and old connections, but for some that separation is more drastic and painful than for others. Abram came away with an abundance of worldly goods. Tents, food, water, servants, animals, etc. would make for a major caravan. What he left was his entire family, all of their gods, his