Seriously Steve 3: Relaxing His Grip as He Prepares to Turn 70?

[theologygeek]

6 hours ago, fundiefan said:

Seriously, Steve is still obsessing about people he has no control over who live their lives in such a way that isn't Steve approved. He thinks everyone who enjoys entertainment will cry when standing before Jesus because they wasted all their time playing instead of worshipping. 

 

He has no room to talk.  In many pictures, they have their cellphones with them at the table.  In the Aug 2 picture, the phone is right next to him while he's eating.  Cellphones can take up just as much time as other forms of entertainment do.  He's a hypocrite.  At least my kids put their phones on the counter when they are eating with me, because they know I don't like it.  

[PennySycamore]

@MamaJunebug,  I just finished listening to a youtube chat about the mess that a couple of the "real" housewives are in.  I knew that Erika from Beverly Hills was in a lot of hot water but they also were talking about Jen Shah who was on RH of Salt Lake City.  I never watched SLC and did not know who that was but could figure out during the chat.  Still don't know what she is charged with, though.  Erika announced that she was filing for divorce from Tom the day after the election in November,  she'd moved out, said she didn't have any money although she did not appear destitute to me.  Small house to be sure, but it had a pool,  Wolf range, and a Sub-Zero fridge.  Also she bought/leased a Range Rover.  It shortly came out that it appeared to be a sham divorce to hide assets (don't know about that one) but the Girardis did take @20M from a suit against Lion Air and/or Boeing when an 737 Max crashed off the coast of Indonesia killing all 189 people aboard.  That money was supposed to go to the widows and orphans of those aboard  the plane and they never saw a dime.  Btw, Erika has never mentioned any of the victims if her husband's wrongdoing.  Last week, she was telling a story about Tom having a car wreck a couple of years back and the story became more elaborate while she was telling it.  In other house wife news,  Ramona made an ass of herself at the Black Shabbat that Eboni, the first Black HW, had planned.  Leah is converting to Judaism and was saying the Sabbath prayer over the candles.  The Shabbat dinner was supposed to highlight that both Blacks and Jews have been oppressed, but Ramona was the essence of white fragility and has been all season.  Yes, this should really go into the Real Housewives thread.  

[MamaJunebug]

@PennySycamore, no problem IMHO with it bring here!  I glimpsed something about Dorinda emceeing / hosting something if other today and realized my RH days were well & truly over ….….. but wait: Ramona (the vile) effing up the Sabbath? And with a Black RH involved? Oh my! I’ll at least have to see how Andy Cohen handles that on WWHL  

The Girardis sound like a true pic upon humanity. 
 

Thank you (I guess!  ) for the update! 

[smittykins]

13 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

And now I go read about real housewives or something, to get the remaining [b]Stevil[/b] out of mind. 

“Stevil”—LOVE this! 

[MamaJunebug]

2 hours ago, smittykins said:

“Stevil”—LOVE this! 

Right??? I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it  a decade earlier ! 
*pulls a shoulder muscle patting myself on back*

[Bluebirdbluebell]

This new Seriously, Dad is from August 18, 2021 and it's about Afghanistan. Since parts of it include violence, I'm putting some of it in spoilers. It's called The Solution. 

Spoiler

I recently heard from others about the terror beginning overseas. What a heartbreak. Through the ages, the ground has been soaked with the blood of violence, and often the innocents pay greatly. Soldiers understand they fight and might pay with their blood and limbs. But oh how our hearts ache for those helpless who are caught in the middle. 

It's start off with sympathy for those caught in the conflict amidst a description of havoc. 

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Our children need to hear truthful answers from God’s Word regarding these horrors. God is not the author of evil, Satan is. We hate sin, and our hope is in the Righteous and Holy Judge of all the earth. Jesus Christ is the only solution for sin. 

WTF? I agree God does not create evil and maybe he doesn't even create pain and suffering. But Jesus is not a solution to war. If that was true, the various branches of Christianity wouldn't kill and fight each other or anyone else. (See WW1, WW2, witch burnings, the Inquisition, etc.)

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I recently said to a dear Brother how anxious I am for the Lord’s return. He said, “But when He comes, it ends the possibility for salvation of those not saved yet.” May we be faithful in proclaiming Christ. 

God will decide who he can grant salvation to. You're not God. If God wants, he can change the rules.

Again Christians sometimes fight wars with each other. France and Germany had many conflicts, as did France and England, etc. Coverting everyone won't necessarily stop violence. 

What you're really saying is "the world would be perfect if everyone shared my religious beliefs."

Spoiler

“Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths” (Isaiah 59:7).

That verse from Isaiah was so violent I put it in the spoiler. I thought reading the bible was supposed to fill you with good happy thoughts of Jesus as opposed to watching the news. This verse is not an example of that.

Steve, none of this is useful right now, unless you want to go to Afghanistan and convert people there personally. If not, STFU.

[fundiefan]

So, someone told him about what is going on. He doesn't know because he's too holy to read the news or watch it.

Here's a hint Stevie boy. I you're hearing things fifth hand from "someone", you're hearing their version of it. And, if their version of it is all your holy ass knows because you're too good to read or watch anything yourself, you have NO business commenting on it or judging it. None. Absolutely zero.

How the hell do your children (of which all yours are grown Stevie & should be able to read/watch and make determinations themselves) "truthful answers" if they are shielded from the news and only hear biased stories of what's going on from "someone"?

The Afghanistan shit show is enough of a mess already and feelings surrounding it are very real. No self imposed isolationist has any business commenting on what is "needed". And Steve isn't even good about the "someone told me" thing. 

There are fundies the nation over who are "praying for Afghanistan". They never did before. They don't care about Afghanistan or Afghans. They care about being against Biden & Dems and will suddenly support anything they appear to be "against". All those Afghans who, for years, wanted to come here but their dear orange leader shut down immigration from Muslim countires-and the praying fundies supported that? The anti-immigration, anti-Muslim sentiment they took full part in? Now, they're praying for the country & it's people? 

Yeah, I'm really freaking pissed at these f*ckers and they need to all take a step back. Afghans don't need them or their god. Sit down and shut up. How horrible of a person do you have to be to use this situation to further your means? Make no mistake, I am regularly disgusted by fundies and it's not often I think they can make it even worse. I underestimate the power of selfish ignorance. 

 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

This week's Seriously Dad is a continuation of last week's post concerning Afghanistan. It's called "Prayer for Current Events" and it's from August 25, 2021. More gory parts will be in the spoliers.

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Let’s continue on last week’s theme of responding to the wickedness in current events. We want to pray for those who are suffering, and we want to teach our children to pray too. 

Not a bad start. This is where being a Catholic or Episcopal, etc. comes in handy. You just declare an intention and say an already established prayer. No need to make it more complicated.

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Scripture is our guide and example in this.

This sounds like Steve is telling you that scripture will teach how to pray for people. That's not what the rest of the paragraph is about.

Spoiler

Notice when the man horrifically cut his concubine into twelve pieces (Judges 20:6), Scripture did not provide pictures or gory descriptions. That is why if you have a TV, this is a great time to put it out for the trash. Photos and details imprint on the brain, striking fear in hearts that just a statement of fact about a situation requiring for prayer shouldn’t (IE. Christians are being severely persecuted and desperately need our prayers). We don’t need details to pray effectively. 

The book of Judges sounds like the next project for the Game of Thrones producers, but the bible is wholesome clean fun.

I will say that I know other people besides Steve who like to get their news not from television, because they don't want to see gory pictures. I have friends who prefer internet, newspaper, and radio over television to avoid the imagery.  And a book my doctor recommended on sleep said to limit violently graphic imagery before bed.

That doesn't mean all television is bad, Steve.

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When we hear something, we personalize what we hear. Next time someone tells you of a dentist appointment with painful work that was done on their teeth, notice how you run your tongue over your teeth. The more details, the more we picture that happening to us. 

I agree you don't need every detail to realize someone is suffering and feel sympathy. And the kids don't necessarily need to know how bad things are, especially young children.

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 How easy for a child who hasn’t grown in real love for Christ, or maybe not even saved to think, “I’m never going to be a Christian if that is what might happen to me.” 

WTF How did we get from the last quote to here? Bad things happen to lots of people, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Atheist, etc. Is it just me or is Steve implying he only has sympathy for the Christians? If that's true, Steve you're lousy human, and a lousy Christian. Jesus told us to love our neighbors, not just our Christian neighbors.

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God didn’t lead Israel to Canaan through the land of the Philistines because they weren’t mature enough to handle what they would face even though it was much shorter (Exodus 13:17). We need to be careful what goes into our children’s minds. 

That first sentence is incoherent. And it's hard to connect sentence 1 to sentence 2. It makes a little more sense after reading the bible passage. This is Exodus 13:17-18

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17 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.

Steve ends his passage with a call to prayer.

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Brothers, our suffering brothers and sisters need our prayers. Pray appropriately and with your family. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). 

Again you pray for everyone Steve, but I don't mind people praying for those who are suffering. 

Steve, this was a lousy post. It was more incoherent than usual and the paragraphs are randomly organized with multiple ideas that don't connect. Do Jesse or Nathan or Mary or Teri or Sarah read this? Based on this post, you need a Beta Reader for these posts. 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Bluebirdbluebell

[fundiefan]

I didn't even read the whole thing but he says since the bible doesn't have pictures, you should throw your tv away. 

OK, Steve. I'll see you that and raise you this: The bible doesn't have the Internet or email or blogs; thus, throw yours away and go live in a fucking hole. 

Also, I'm about to smack the next fundie who says "Christians" are being persecuted in Afghanistan. 

This isn't about your damn religion. It's about Afghanistan and everyone is being persecuted except those who hold entirely to Taliban beliefs; hell, even many of them are being persecuted because they don't believe it enough or it changes the next day. 

Christians will kill themselves to claim persecution. They need it to be the case sooooooo badly they make it up with every breath. 

Edited August 25, 2021 by fundiefan

[Bluebirdbluebell]

This week's Seriously Dad is called "Never Underestimate" and it's dated September 1, 2019.

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Moses threw his staff down before Pharaoh, and it became a serpent (Exodus 7:10). If I was watching, I would have been impressed. Pharaoh wasn’t. He called in his magicians, and “they also did in like manner with their enchantments” (Exodus 7:11b). God could have prevented their magicians from doing the same, but He didn’t. 

I've never seen a letter in a biblical citation, whereas Steve quotes Exodus 7:11b I consulted Bible Gateway and they use that b as a footnote. It only appears in the new King James version and not the other versions including the [original] King James version. I thought Steve preferred the [original] King James version. Maybe it's just a typo and I'm reading too much into it.

Also yes, several atheists on-line have pointed out that at many points in the bible God could do more to make things easier for people.

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Could it be that in addition to using it to harden Pharaoh’s heart, God wanted Moses to expect in the future the dark side to attempt to hinder God’s work in lives? We aren’t to fear it, but we should anticipate it and be in prayer about. 

This seems like a leap to me. The story above is the less the dark side hindering God's work and more just a basic transformation that was easy to replicate.

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Are you expecting your children to automatically receive Christ and live for Him just because they are living in your home? Being active in church is not enough either. 

This is just fearmongering. Despite your best efforts to take them to church and teach to pray, etc., it won't be enough to keep your kids from not being religious.

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Is Jesus the love of your life, your purpose in life, and your joy in life? Do you love His Word, and are you in it every day, personally and leading your family in Bible time because of that love? Your children must see His power/life at work in you. 

Well to be fair if the kids know you only take them to church to make grandpa happy, it may cloud their vision.

But of course the real point is that you need to read the bible every day, eat, sleep and breathe Christianity 24/7. I feel like if you can't take a 15-minute break from being religious without losing your faith; the faith can't be very strong.

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Live for Him my brothers with all your heart.  Be purposeful in discipling your children, Satan wants them.

Steve brought the melodrama for this one. I believe that evil exists, but I don't particularly believe in Satan. 

As for being purposeful in discipling your children, I could see that being interpreted to pick your battles, but what Steve probably means is make sure they're thinking about God all of the time.

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“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).  

Is he calling his readers little children? I guess that's what the bible, but I would have picked a different verse especially since this is Steve's manly dad column. 

[fundiefan]

As usual his "point" is buried in his own ego & bible verses. 

Is the point that god could do more, but doesn't? Is it that your kids need to see god not do something in order to believe the right way? 

I suspect being purposeful in disciplining means beating your truth into them, as corporal punishment is the fundie way. 

Steve thinks he is his god's right hand and left foot so when he writes these rambling things, it's never about making sense. It's about showing everyone that Steve is god's bestest man here on earth. I cannot imagine what it is like to live with such arrogance. 

[Coconut Flan]

6 hours ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

I've never seen a letter in a biblical citation, whereas Steve quotes Exodus 7:11b

When I've seen letters used with Bible verses it means he's only quoting part of the verse.  The b means the second part or half of the verse.  That's what Steve did.  He only quoted the second part of the verse and paraphrased the first part.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Coconut Flan

[CyborgKin]

So what I'm getting from that is Steve thinks Pharaoh is a Sith lord.

[Topaz]

6 hours ago, CyborgKin said:

So what I'm getting from that is Steve thinks Pharaoh is a Sith lord.

Does that make Moses a Jedi?

[JordynDarby5]

1 hour ago, Topaz said:

Does that make Moses a Jedi?

Maybe it does.

[Alisamer]

On 8/25/2021 at 5:18 AM, Bluebirdbluebell said:

God didn’t lead Israel to Canaan through the land of the Philistines because they weren’t mature enough to handle what they would face even though it was much shorter (Exodus 13:17). We need to be careful what goes into our children’s minds. 

That's not what I got from that verse at all! It says basically "God took them the long way round to avoid going through a war." It wasn't "oh they're not mature enough" it sounds like it was "war is scary and they might decide to go back to the relative safety of Egypt if we go walking through one."

It sounds more like "don't knowingly put your kids in dangerous situations" than like "be careful what goes into your children's minds."

And like Steve is one to talk about putting things in your children's minds. He's the one passing on the thought that women's breasts are so sinful that the mere glimpse of a centimeter of breast skin might cause a man to sin and lose his salvation.

Nope, Steve. You're just a perv.

[kpmom]

18 hours ago, Topaz said:

Does that make Moses a Jedi?

So, Moses' staff was actually a lightsaber?

[Bluebirdbluebell]

The new Seriously, Dad? is here. It is dated September 8, 2021 and titled Not A Job.

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We live in Leavenworth, and it is known to be both a military and prison town. Fort Leavenworth’s primary function is training select officers through the Command General Staff College. Teri’s father was a career military officer, and we have known many fine examples of those committed to serving our country through their service. One thing is clear, the military differs greatly from a normal job. Those serving can be sent to their loss of life or limbs at the command of their boss. That is simply a part of their “job.” 

I agree serving in the military is a very serious job and has many components unlike other jobs. However firefighter, police officer, and many other jobs can be dangerous.

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“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Tim 2:3-4). 

Being a good Christian could entail serving others, but I see that more as volunteering at the soup kitchen than going to war. 

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Stories can be shared of great hardship in the line of duty. (I have read war defined as “cruelty.”) Many don’t come home from an assignment resulting in his wife raising the children without a father. Or life is greatly altered by having a legless dad. 

Yes war is cruel and war is hell. It certainly alters the course for children to lose a parent or have a parent return disabled.

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The Holy Spirit prompted Paul to liken those who profess to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ to soldiers of Jesus Christ. Brothers, as we read Scripture, do we read the commands, as commands to be obeyed, no matter what the cost? We are not asked if we like the command but simply told to do it. 

Most of the bible, particularly the teachings of Jesus, has seemed less direct to me. Anyway my approach to scripture is less literal and more figuring out how to apply it to my life. 

Honestly if I was a father, I'd have the same approach to Steve's emails. Most of them are less literal in instruction (other turn off television and read the bible) and more figurative in terms of following Christ. 

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(To be continued.)

My least favorite words when it comes to Steve.

Steve, I think you should think back to when your children were young or look at grandkids and come up with advice specifically tailored towards Dads. Most of your column is not specifically for Dads, but for anyone. Try to talk more and reflect more about ideas about fatherhood. If I was subscribed and reading it for paternal wisdom, I would unsubscribe as you are repetitive and don't talk much being a father. 

[anjulibai]

Sorry Steve, even in the military, you are not supposed to obey all commands. 

[Black Aliss]

On 8/25/2021 at 8:10 AM, fundiefan said:

I didn't even read the whole thing but he says since the bible doesn't have pictures, you should throw your tv away. 

I had to look for my bible and check but, yeah, I remembered correctly that it did have pictures. All white people, of course.

On 9/3/2021 at 4:59 AM, kpmom said:

So, Moses' staff was actually a lightsaber?

That explains so much!

[Bluebirdbluebell]

Well this doesn't seem like a 'continuation" of last week. Hallelujah! This week's Seriously, Dad? is called "It's a Joy"and it's dated September 15, 2021. (As an aside, I can't believe September is half over. )

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I greatly appreciated how Teri never complained about changing baby’s diapers. It sure wasn’t my favorite task! Over the years, that sweet wife of mine easily changed a minimum of 5,000 diapers per child. Considering eight children, she likely changed well over 40,000 diapers! The same cheerful attitude was exhibited while fixing over 50,000 meals (47 years of marriage) for our family. 

That's nice of Steve to praise Teri. I have no idea if his numbers are accurate, especially on the diapers. On the meals, he's probably right. If she cooked every meal, it would 51, 465 (47 years x 365 days x 3meals a day.) The Maxwell men do cook on special occasions and maybe Gigi cooked meals too when she was younger plus Sarah and the girls cooked some meals.

I'd say more about how Steve pitches in around the house, but hopefully he helped out or their arrangement suited them.

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What about us? Do we cheerfully fulfill our God-given responsibilities? Do we see them as acts of obedience to Almighty God? We are to cheerfully obey whether we are providing for the family, doing house and car upkeep, discipling the children, or leading the family spiritually. 

By us, he means husbands and fathers. I agree a household should have some balance between the people doing chores.

That being said I think doing certain chores like cooking, diapering, and car upkeep are not God-given, but the results of social  gender constructs and personal preference. Also it's a choice to have a family.

I have mixed feelings about this, because on the one hand, I hate listening to fundies complain about the responsibilities they take on like parenthood. On the other hand, if something isn't working or making you unhappy, it's a sign to change things.

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“And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king” (1 Samuel 15:22-23). 

I'm not sure what this verse has to do with anything. I guess it's saying that God doesn't just want you to show up on Sunday at church; he wants obedience all the time.

So I guess it is a continuation of last week both boiling down to obeying God which probably means going along with Steve's version of God. Steve, if you're going to write blog posts that are continuations of each other try to synch them up together more. Start with recapping last week and then build on that.

Also is it just me or Steve trying to get people to have more kids? Maybe he's disappointed by many small families in his church or maybe it's one of his sons...

[ClareDeLune]

Lol of course he is praising Teri for her service now she's the only one left to look after him.

[Black Aliss]

On 9/15/2021 at 3:56 AM, ClareDeLune said:

Lol of course he is praising Teri for her service now she's the only one left to look after him.

I believe that's called "enlightened self-interest".

[Bluebirdbluebell]

This week's Seriously Dad? is titled Tools of the Trade, and it's from September 22, 2021.

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In the Air Force, it was repeatedly drilled into us: “The right tool for the right job.” That phrase stuck in my mind. Through the years I’ve been amazed to see guys (okay, especially boys) use screwdrivers (or a hammer) for just about every job when another tool would have been more appropriate. The right tool would have done a better job without collateral damage. 

Oh no, you mean having a penis doesn't guarantee you which tool is best for which job? How sad!

Casual sexism aside, I agree with this. I haven't forgotten that time on Counting On which Jinger was making string art for Jeremy and couldn't find a hammer and started using a wrench as a hammer. It worked, I guess.

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I greatly appreciate the focus on Scripture at our new church (Due to Covid our other services were shut down).The pastor teaches a class on hermeneutics (the science and art of interpreting Scripture.)

New church? I thought they had been going to evening services for a while, but it maybe it's new in the sense they changed churches recently or they went to the nursing home for so long it still seems news.

Hermeneutics doesn't have to apply to the bible. Here's a link for those wishing to know more.

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The book we are using is Basic Bible Interpretation by Roy Zuck. As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are dependent on a correct understanding of the Bible in order to correctly apply it to our lives. If you have never read anything like this before, I highly recommend it. 

He doesn't really say what makes this particular bible interpretation book standout.  Roy Zuck was a professor of theology, which he actually had a doctrate in.  I read reviews on Amazon. Someone said he is big on the rapture and second coming. Others said the book had a lot of knowledge and helped them understand the bible better.

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Additional tools that will help in your Bible study: 

• Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong
• An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine,
• Nave’s Topical Bible, Orville Nave or The New Topical Textbook, R. A. Torrey,
• Matthew Henry’s unabridged commentary or a commentary by a conservative author,
• Olive Tree Bible software, which offers the above tools less expensively and all in one application. 

Invest in good tools!

James Strong's book helps you understand the bible and goes into what the ori.ginal words were in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, etc. Most negative reviews focused on print size.

Vine could also cover the Old Testament. Steve seems to Old testment better. 

Nave organizes his reference by topic instead of words. (Like here are some verses on sin, even if it doesn't say sin.)

Torrey is from the 19th-early 20th century. His work might be public domain.

Matthew Henry lived from the 17th-to early 18th century. His works are public domain and avaible online.

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“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Okay this advice is not necessarily for dads, and Steve admitted to a little sexism in the beginning. Other than that, it's not a bad column. I can see people valuing this advice, who are interested in scripture.

 

[ClareDeLune]

Ha I thought he was throwing shade at the new pastor's book recommendation.  It's a good book if you're new to this kind of thing but HERE ARE A LIST OF BETTER TOOLS FOR THE MORE ADVANCED, LIKE ME.