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From my understanding not even the Lutheran protestant church in Finland requires churches to marry same-sex couples. In Sweden the Lutheran church does, but not because they are required by law (it's no longer a state church, it was decided in Kyrkomötet.). No churches are by law forced to marry same-sex couples, neither Orthodox or Catholic churches does it and I can only recall one imam that does it. I think the Norwegian church also does marry same-sex, however I'm not certain if they are required by law (I don't believe so, because they are not longer a state church either iirc).Does Finnish laws require that they "fall in-line" with certain precepts in order to maintain certain tax benefits or receive certain grants?
That's an honest question, I'm not familiar with those kinds of legal frameworks for Finland.
I know for Denmark, they passed a law in 2012 that said that a State church (any that carry the label of Church of Denmark) isn't allowed to opt out of performing Same Sex marriages, and if a particular clergymen refuses, the local bishop has to appoint a replacement.
But wasn't sure if all of the nordic countries were the same in that regard.
God's character traits are eternal, so any instructions that God has ever given for how to know Him by being in His likeness by through embodying His character traits are eternally and cumulatively valid regardless of which covenant someone is under. For example, God's righteousness is eternal (Psalms 119:142), therefore all of God's righteous laws are also eternal (Psalms 119:160). It was in accordance with God's righteousness to be a doer of charity before He made any covenants with man, so that is an eternally valid way to know God regardless of which covenant someone is under. Sin was in the world before the law was given (Romans 5:13), so there were no actions that became righteous or unrighteous when the law was given, but rather it revealed what has always been and will always be the way to do that. The New Covenant is made with the same God with the same eternal character traits and therefore the same eternal and cumulatively valid instructions for how to embody His character traits (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26-27).The old covenant ended at the cross, where the new covenant began through the blood of Jesus. “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22:20. The new covenant was made with the descendants of Jacob. But later, into THAT covenant, we who have turned from paganism also became included. This is the covenant mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31-33.
“At night it appears every twenty (days) like a man,
and at daytime like the sky because there is nothing else in it except its light.”
“every twenty (days) like a man”
The Age of Accountability belief says God won't hold your sin against you until you're old enough to understand the difference between right and wrong. Until the AoA you get a free pass to heaven.We are born into a sinful world .... we will indeed sin. But it is God who will judge and will hole each of us according to our accountability. there is an age of accountability. The Bible does not mention an explicit age of accountability, but it does speak of personal responsibility and accountability based on one’s ability to understand and respond to God’s message. The age of accountability may vary with individuals, but it is related to their spiritual and mental development and their response to the gospel message.
Regarding how we will be judged, the Bible teaches that God will judge everyone according to their deeds. Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be judged according to their faith in Him, while those who have rejected Him will be judged according to their works. The Bible also teaches that God is just and merciful, and that He will judge everyone fairly. Bible verses that speak about accountability and judgment:
- Innocence Before Knowledge:
Deuteronomy 1:39 states that the children of Israel were spared from captivity because they "did not yet know good from bad". This implies a state of innocence before moral discernment.
- Conscious Choice:
Isaiah 7:16 suggests a child will know "enough to reject the wrong and choose the right" before a land is laid waste. This highlights the importance of conscious choice in the concept of accountability.
- Grace for Children:
Jesus' statement in Matthew 19:14, "Let the little children come to me... for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these," demonstrates a special compassion for children and a belief they are under God's grace until they become accountable.
- Individual Accountability:
Romans 14:12 reminds us that "every one of us shall give account of himself to God".
- Divine Discretion:
While the Bible teaches children are not held accountable in the same way as adults, God is the only one who truly knows the exact moment a child crosses the threshold into conscious sin and rejection of Him.
Most certainly Mary being an adult was at the age of accountability.
Wow. That’s sickening. I read up on it. To make things worse, some of these cases (I don’t know about in Scotland) are done without anesthesia or numbing agents and with broken glass, sharp rocks, fingernails and more. The same “instruments” are re-used on numbers of girls without sterilization. Absolutely barbaric.According to the newspaper article yes, 1200 reported cases in Glasgow.
Cold dense air above the ice would cause light to refract more than usual, so you will likely be able to see further in Winter than during Summer.Lake Baikal is flat & frozen flat many months of the years (80kmX600km)
If you sat on the edge of the lake with a 100km range powerful tripod telescope approx 1 meter above the ice, how far away on the flat ice would I have to be before you could no longer see me ?
It sure would be great to see Barron give himself to Jesus. Maybe his conversion would help other family members follow suit.Pastor Stuart Knechtle recently claimed that President Donald Trump's 19-year-old son, Barron, is interested in claims of supernatural dreams about Jesus Christ in the Muslim world and is "very close" to becoming a Christian.
Knechtle, who has 2.4 million followerson TikTok and serves as assistant pastor at Grace Community Church in New Canaan, Connecticut, shared Thursday on "The George Janko Show" that he recently witnessed to Barron on the phone at 12:30 a.m. about Christianity.
“I thought I was hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink when it came to all the evidence for God and Christianity," Knechtle said.
"I thought I was really on, I was pumped," he said. "And at the very end, I came up pretty much totally open-handed with nothing. But I brought up dreams and revelations."
Knechtle claimed Barron was fascinated when he brought up reports that have circulated in recent years of many Muslims experiencing striking encounters with Jesus Christ in their dreams. Mission Frontiers magazine reported that a quarter of Muslim conversions to Christianity are because of such experiences.
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Barron Trump interested in supernatural dreams, 'very close' to becoming Christian: pastor
Pastor Stuart Knechtle recently claimed that President Donald Trump s 19-year-old son, Barron, is interested in claims of supernatural dreams about Jesus Christ in the Muslim world and is very closewww.christianpost.com
The New Testament Begins in Acts Not Matthew
When you read the Gospels in the Bible, such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, do they sometimes seem to contradict other parts of the New Testament Scripture? For example, in Matthew 6:15, Jesus said, “If you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Yet, in Colossians 2:13, the Apostle Paul wrote, “…God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.” How can there be two different perspectives written in the same New Testament?
Many Christians experience confusion because they think all of Jesus’ teachings are part of the New Testament, also known as the “New Covenant.” However most of them are not. The New Testament, which is God’s New Covenant with mankind, actually starts in the book of Acts, not Matthew. How do we know this fact is true?
When reading the New Testament, ask yourself this question, “Had Jesus died yet when this was written?” If not, then those writings are part of the Old Covenant in most cases. If the writings are after Jesus died, then it’s part of the New Covenant.
That's funny. She and Trump are two of a kind.Rosie O’Donnell’s hatred of President Donald Trump led her therapist to recently plead with her to go two days without posting anything about the president on social media; O’Donnell, according to a Washington Post profile on Saturday, only lasted “a few hours” before she was compelled to post about Trump again.
The comic’s “fixation” on the president, as WaPo put it, has also become a concern for her longtime friends. One of those friends, Jeanne Kopetic, insisted O’Donnell has “got to disconnect” from following the news, because she is so consumed by what Trump does.
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Rosie O’Donnell’s Trump ‘Fixation’ Made Her Therapist Challenge Her to Go Two Days Without Posting About Him — She Made It a Few Hours
Rosie O'Donnell's hatred of President Trump led her therapist to recently pleading with her to go two days without posting about the president on social mediawww.mediaite.com
Jeremiah 32:6-15 The Lord tells Jeremiah to buy a field and hide the deed of purchase in a sealed jar, to be preserved for a long time to come.We Christian peoples are those who already occupy the Holy Lands
You're reading Isaiah 56 as if it's giving a future Christian obligation to keep the Sabbath, but that’s not really what the text is doing.Maybe you are right. I myself am not sold on a position. So when I read something in Bible passages bringing it up, why should I not bring it here? If you are sure of your position, why don't you explain it? What do you think of this?
Isaiah 56:
1-2
Thus says Yahweh:Keep justice, and do righteousness,
For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.
6-8
Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to Yahweh, to serve Him,
And to love the name of Yahweh, to be His servants
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.
The Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him.
There was application for foreigners in the times of the old covenant, that is fair to say. But the context of these passages is prophetic, when salvation is to come and righteousness will be revealed, even when they will come to God's holy mountain, where the vision of the everlasting times in the end applies, with no more suffering and no more death. For this gentiles, those not born of the people of Israel, are with their faith in Yahweh God through Christ grafted in with Israel, those of which who remain in the end will all be saved, in the latter times, when there is God's house of prayer for all nations.
Yes, somewhere along the line I was influenced to get a Bachelor’s too! It seemed like what I was supposed to do. I really didn’t know what I was doing. My mom actually influenced me to go back to tech school and get the degree I got, which made my whole career work out. I think Bachelor’s degrees must have seemed like the ultimate goal back then. Yet mine did nothing for me, it was a more generic degree. I wish I would have picked something more specific, like accounting or something. Or stuck with my original choice of music.I have a Bachelor's degree too. I had thought about going to a technical college when I was in the college age, but I was discouraged by family members, claiming that it was not legit and wouldn't get me a job. Sometimes I wonder if they were wrong. Because how do other people get computer jobs? (I wanted to repair computers.)
I wonder if having a technical degree would've helped me. Because my Bachelor's degree sure didn't. Not to get off topic and rant, but I do blame my mom quite a bit on this issue.
Perhaps you don't know what "entropy" means. What do you think it means?The sun increases the rate of entropy.
Plants, weather systems, river valleys, animal populations. Would you like to learn about specific examples?Nothing becomes more
complex or increases in information due to the sun.