Light and fluffy, they are feeding
What the people think they’re needing.
Feel good messages are their shelter,
But now they are helter-skelter.

Life with frolic is a plenty,
But the truth, now who’s got any?
Lies galore and misplaced feelings,
Have them on the line they’re reeling.

Keep it light, now pitter-patter,
So they know not what’s the matter.
Make excuses, feed their habits,
So their noses in their tablets.

Tell a joke, and tell a story,
Make it light or make it gory.
Entertain them, keep distracted,
So to sin they are attracted.

Keep them laughing, roll in aisles,
Keep them grinning, see those smiles.
Don’t get serious, no not ever,
Keep it light and keep it clever.

Hide the truth so they not knowing
That their lives they’re surely blowing –
Walk in sin, no life in Jesus,
If obey not God who feeds us.

An Original Work / August 27, 2022

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV).

The love that we are to have for Jesus Christ, for God, is agape love, which prefers what God prefers. And God prefers all that is holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to his commands. And for the believer in Jesus Christ this means preferring to live through Christ, embracing God’s will, choosing his choices, and obeying them through his power. It means we are actively doing what the Lord prefers rather than us doing what our flesh prefers. So love for God/Christ = obedience to God.

And this is not optional. We can’t just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and then go on living in sin and for self and presume that God is going to let us into his heaven. For this love is not the mushy gushy kind that is based in our emotions and in how we feel at any given moment. Will we feel love for God? We should, yes! But a feeling of love is not what this is all about. This is love in action shown by our obedience to our Lord and to his commands, whether or not we feel like obeying at any particular time.

Many people today, though, are not teaching this. Many are teaching the opposite of this. They are teaching that no works are required of us at all, and that we don’t have to obey God, and that we don’t have to repent of our sins, for those are works. And even if some do teach that we should obey the Lord and his commandments, many do not teach obedience as critical to our salvation and eternal life with God, which is what Jesus was definitely teaching here, and which the NT apostles taught, too.

And then notice the progression of the conversation here. If we love Jesus, we will keep (obey) his commandments (New Covenant). Whoever keeps (obeys) his commandments, he it is who loves Jesus/God. And he who loves Jesus will be loved by God the Father, and they will come to him and make their home with him. But whoever does not agape love Jesus does not keep (obey) his words, (and so he will not be loved by God the Father, and they will not come to him and make their home with him – understood).

[John 8:31-32; John 10:27-30; John 14:15-24; John 15:10; Luke 9:23-26]

And Paul and the other apostles taught the same thing. John taught that if we say that we are in fellowship with God, but while we still walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness), we are liars. And if we claim that we know God but while we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we are liars. For whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. But whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as God is righteous. So, whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.

[1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6,15,24-25; 1 John 3:4-10,24; 1 John 4:19-20]

And Paul taught that if sin is what we obey, it leads to death, but if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God. For if we are slaves of sin, the end of those things is death. And the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk (in conduct, in practice) not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For if we live according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, its end is death, not life eternal with God.

[Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:2; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 1:21-23]

And, as a side note to all of this, lately I have been hearing of very large crowds of people “worshiping Jesus Christ.” But worship of Jesus Christ, which is biblical and true worship of God, begins with us dying with Christ to sin and being raised to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. True worship of God is in the surrender of our lives to him to do his will, the forsaking of our sins, and walks of obedience to his commands in daily living, in practice.

True worship of God, which is acceptable to him, is in the giving of our lives to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, no longer conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but transformed of God in the renewing of our minds so that, by how we live, we prove what is the good and acceptable will of God for our lives. It is in us daily denying self and dying to sin, by the Spirit, and walking in the ways of the Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living. Music can be a part of worship, but alone it is not worship.

[Romans 12:1-2; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-26]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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AlexB23 said:

Do you have any updates on your farm, @HARK! ? When will the harvesting period begin, as autumn is quickly approaching?

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I've done some preliminary harvest of my sorghum crop. I pressed the stalks with my sorghum press: Sorghum Press Build

I boiled down the extract until it reached a temperature of 227 degrees F. Making syrup shares similarities to making candy. I even got a little sorghum caramel on the edges of the pot.

This year the syrup is delicious! I bought Red Top this spring. Last year I bought Milo. The Milo has bigger seeds; but the syrup had a bitter aftertaste.

I've been gathering firewood for the winter; and as much as I hate to do it; I've been cutting down mesquite trees around my tank (pond) so that I can dig it out wider and deeper. (Mesquite beans are sweet, high in protein, and can be ground into flour.) It sometimes goes almost dry, in dry summers; so I want to ensure that it won't go dry before I start my fish farm. I'll start digging it out soon after I completely harvest the sorghum; and I'll spread the soil out over that field. Once I get the footprint of the tank finalized; I'll build a greenhouse nearby, and use solar power to run the pumps for hydroponics. Always something going on.

Diamond72 said:

Where does He say that? He talks about a garbage dump where they burn the garbage. We read about that even during the Kingdom age in the book of Isaiah.

geenna: Gehenna, a valley W. and South of Jer., also a symbolic name for the final place of punishment of the ungodly
Original Word: γέεννα, ης, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: geenna
Phonetic Spelling: (gheh'-en-nah)
Definition: Gehenna, a valley west and South of Jerusalem, also a symbolic name for the final place of punishment of the ungodly

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the garbage dump was a place of eternal fire. Always fire there.

He told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. That was hell there. And where the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die. Don’t you believe Him? Yes the definition is right.

Oompa Loompa said:

Yes. It takes courage to step in the world of politics, or being a judge, knowing that you could be assassinated. I hope that answers your question. Otherwise, should we stop honoring the death of MKL Jr because he was not in combat when he was shot?

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Seems to me we honor Martin Luther King Jr's life, and what he did during it, more than we do his death.

-- A2SG, probably why we focus more on things like the "I have a dream" speech than that single day in April.....

Your story really moved me. I am sorry you was put in this bondage by your own family member. It is very sad. You do though deserve to break free from this bondage Galatians 5:1 and I hope that you can as God is there to release people from bondages as well. We all have our own unique situations though, but I hope life is treating you well today. I have read of people who recovered from Bulimia in their 50's after decades, I wish you well.

The 9/11 devotional is out. It discusses the hard work of the EMTs, first responders and volunteers who saved lives, even if it meant risking their own lives.

Roughly 340+ firefighters lost their lives on 9/11 in an attempt to save as many lives possible (EMS news source):

9/11 Devotional:

Our Lady of China, pray for us.

WarriorAngel said:

The scarier the darkness is, the more you seek the Lord.
Till your absolute faith and love are alllllllllllllll about Him.

Hand it to the Lord, and let Him mold you into His servant.

It's just darkness unless you want only His will.

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Well said.

Vambram said:

I ask my fellow Americans and all of the Christians to never forget what happened on 9/11/2001 and also never forget that "United We Stand, but Divided we shall surely fall."
Let us all remain united together on the ideals that should never divide us.

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Amen

I knew a JW who said they didn’t even believe in God.

Also, we tend to have more Bible readings in mass compared to Protestant services.

phillev said:

Please can you give me some advice.

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Are you going to church?

Along with the continued care of a psychiatrist (not just a psychologist), some churches are better at dealing with mental illnesses than others.

Check out these UK churches,

• Vineyard,
• Assembly of God,
• Foursquare Church

(Links above are locators.)

tonychanyt said:

Divine jealousy was seen as a positive attribute, reflecting God's deep love and commitment for his people against idolatry and unfaithfulness.

Paul wrote about jealousy in a different sense. NLT, 1Co 13:


Human love was sometimes erroneously jealous. It could be a form of envy.

English Standard Version:


God is jealous in a righteous way. Human jealousy is often negative and results from a man's boastfulness and impatience.

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We are created by Him to honour and glorify Him - so naturally we 'belong' to Him; us being unfaithful or disobedient then triggers a jealous reaction from God - similar to what @Ivan Hlavanda described.

NKJV Micah 6:

8b To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

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ESV:

to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

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HCSB:

to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

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The Hebrew word is חֵסֵד H2617 hesed. It is used 248 times being applied to men and God. In Micah 6, it is applied to man. Brown-Driver-Briggs offers this range of meanings:

1. kindness of men towards men, in doing favours and benefits
2. kindness (especially as extended to the lowly, needy and miserable), mercy
3. (rarely) affection if Israel to ׳י love to God, piety
4. lovely appearance

According to BDB, both "kindness" and "mercy" were valid meanings. However, "faithfulness" is not mentioned. The emphasis here is not on the faithfulness of man.

The immediate context here is justice to fellow men. Micah is calling the people to love and to show mercy and kindness. Take another step back; the context is appeasing God:

6 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?

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Jesus confirmed the comparison of mercy and sacrifice in Matthew 9:

13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'

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I'd say that "mercy" is the best translation for Micah 6:8. It is better than sacrifice.

Chesterton said:

I almost feel like a prophet. I'd recommend you read my early posts here, but you probably won't, so let me try this:

If I can't literally say "I died laughing", can I literally type those words on a keyboard so that they appear on your screen as I literally did in my preceding post?

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Honestly, I'm literally not interested...

petergreenwell said:

Hey there is a compression in the bible called The Rainbow. It's what the Gnostics discovered. Jesus said, "I will reveal things in my parables that have been hidden since the foundations of the world. There were 10 virgins, some were wise and had their own oil....
oil=wisdom
wine=makes you feel good

it's also called true Hebrew--that's what the Gnostics called it. So you can speak 2 languages at the same time. What am I saying here?
Never mix Oil and Wine?

For those who have ears

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petergreenwell said:

Yup, here's another one: Revelation 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
By the way, the translation for my phrase above is: Never mix what wisdom with what makes you feel good

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sorry, but I don’t follow what this stuff has to do with this thread. could you clarify?

Here is the video I said I would post.

I believe it can benefit all Christians. I am watching it now.

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So, this is about Israel and Zionism (1890). 12 tribes and Israel are the stars and the women. When she comes out of the wilderness it's 1890. Subtract the 1260 and do the year day principle.
The Jews were sacrificing on the temple mount right up until the Muslim period. It's an exact match.
Merry Christmas

petergreenwell said:

STAFF EDIT

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The fall of mankind, as related in Genesis, relates to eating a fruit of a tree. It is my understanding that various people, through the years, have instead tried to make this to be about sex. But I see no support of that.

KT

Visibly affected and on the verge of tears, Leyden Rovelo spoke about the suffering of tens of thousands of recently arrived immigrant children in the United States during her talk Sept. 9 at the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress in Quito, Ecuador.

Rovelo referenced official reports that indicate that federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have failed to account for between 30,000 and 85,000 of these minors.

“They don’t know where our children are,” she said.

The Catholic Church and the migration drama​

Continued below.

I decided instead I will live only for Jesus to not seem to seem not serious though they ought to take seriously that I will not pursue riches or to work if help is not from christian otherwise to leave business aside if I have to get help from non christian that I will work only for a christian if I need money and only marry a wife if accepting that for christ also supports that not to worry for tommorow. Though a christian may have sinned getting money from help from non christian bible says can accept them and it needed not to happen that I can still get help from christian who did not or get enough money raising it from a job that involves labour where skills are learned in public knowledge even if shared from a non christian but the point is I don't seek favours from them anymore for if they didn't share it a christian would that some knowledge has been discovered by the ancients before christianity and they recorded it but if they didn’t christian would.

Jeremiah 17:5-8
5 Thus says the LORD:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the LORD.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
And whose hope is the LORD.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

I think of this as an allegory of God's word. Water being God's Word, and the Wine being the prophecy being fulfilled. ie., 2/3's of the water had turned bitter---wormwood, so no one could drink it. Never look the wine in the glass until it arights itself in the cup, and so on.
It's just another way of looking at it. For those who have ears

Yeshua HaDerekh said:

From the Talmud? Yeshua ben Panthera. It was a Yeshua whose mother was also Miriam but she was unfaithful, hence the name...Ben Stada lived about 70-100 years (in about 100 CE) after Yeshua of Nazarath. Yeshua ben Pandira lived in 80 BCE.

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Thanks!!

The alliance was designed to counter the dollar and level the playing field. They aren't a threat but part of the problem.

In 2001, Goldman Sachs’ Global Investment Research Division publishes the report, “Build Better Global Economic BRICs,” coining the acronym for the four countries that would reshape the world economy– Brazil, Russia, India and China.

~bella