Grip Docility said:

Easy Bible study thanks to the Internet. (Stay away from Bible Commentaries and I also recommend initially staying away from People that want to "teach you" How to understand the bible... from their perspective.)

I remember a story about David and Goliath, but where do I find it?

I type David and Goliath into the website search bar
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There it is! And, its Bible Gateway! Click
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Oh boy, which Translation do I use?
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The one that you understand!!! And, All of them.

OH NO, I'm stuck on a verse!!!! Enter Book name, Chapter and verse at circle to the left. Click the Magnifying glass to bring up the verse by itself.
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Once this window comes up, click on this circle to see the verse in a BUNCH of TRANSLATIONS to help you find one that helps you understand that difficult verse.
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And, here are a bunch of Different ways to look at this one verse!
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This is a Bible Study Tool. The Holy Spirit inside of you will help you study! These study tools will make finding passages more rapid!

If you find this helpful, I can show you how to "Cross Reference" in the same similar rapid way. Scripture is Scriptures own Commentary. Being taught "HOW to study scripture" is far different than being taught "What Scripture Means". I encourage you to maintain your stance and seek out how to study scripture with STUDY TOOLS, Not commentary or through the eyes of someone else.

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Great guidance, Grip. Bible Gateway is an awesome resource. Especially for me as I'm terrible at memorizing addresses! When I'm looking for a Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to mind, I just speak a snippet into my phone, confirm, and plug it into Bible Gateway for the reasons you list. Sure beats the days of toting around an 8-pound Concordance, doesn't it?

I also always include a link to it on the bottom of my posts on other social media, like Facebook, so that the reader can do as the Bereans do and research for themselves if they don't have a Bible. Perhaps that exposure will give them a hunger to know more from Scripture, eh?

God bless, Dave!

HTacianas said:

That is the reason for the Nicene Creed. Each line of the Creed refutes a particular heresy. It begins, "We believe in one God...". That is to counter the ancient gnostic belief in two gods, one who created invisible things such as the spirit, the other a lesser god who created all things material. The Creed continues, "the Father Almighty, Creator of all things visible and invisible...". It then continues, "And in one Lord Jesus Christ...true God of true God...".

Any other profession of faith is not Christian, it is some other thing. Another heresy of some of the ancient Gnostics was that they claimed Jesus for themselves, but taught that he was only a "spirit being" with no physical body. That led to this:

1Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world

So to believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior isn't going to help much if you believe in the wrong Jesus. In the end, that is the reason for the Trinitarian form of baptism. A baptism not using the Trinitarian formula isn't valid. If a person is only baptized "in Jesus name" they don't really know which Jesus they are being baptized for.

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Well written and well said.

Dan Perez said:

And Christ does punish believers , and 1 Cor 5:1-5 tells it all for the world to see >

And verse 2 , many are n PUFFED up with pride and will not judge .

In verse 3 then I Paul will judge ,

To deliver up such a one to Satan for the death of the FLESH in order that the spirit may be saved in the DAY of the Lord Jesus !!

So how is the spirit SAVED ??

And what is the DAY of the LORD JESUS ??

dan p

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I see it as more consequences of their own actions.

God says do not do XYZ because it will harm you. Person does XYZ, and they get harmed.

It's like telling a child not to touch a hot stove, for reference.

Elevation Worship - When Wind Meets Fire [Chris Brown and Tiffany Hudson]

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God promised Abraham that his seed would be multiplied greatly. To illustrate this God likened Abraham's seed to the stars of heaven, the dust of the earth, and the sand of the seashore - each multitudinous. But Bible Students have long seen that these terms convey a deeper meaning than just of a vast number. The stars picture the heavenly seed of Abraham, the church of the firstborn, and the sand the earthly seed of Abraham, which will ultimately include all of restored mankind. A thought which has appealed to some is that the dust of the earth refers to natural Israel -earthly, but to some extent distinct from the sand class of all mankind.

We agree with these identifications. And when we look to the narratives of Genesis dealing with the patriarchs, we find a consistency in the use of these terms.

Stars

Genesis 15. Abraham is asking for some assurance of God's promise of a child. At this time Abraham had no child at all, and it appeared that his inheritance would fall to "one born in my house" of servants - perhaps Eliezer, his steward, or a child of his. (Genesis 15:2, 3, cf. 14:14.) But the Lord assured him, "This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir." (vs. 4) The promised child, of course, was to be Isaac, who Paul tells us pictured the spiritual seed of Abraham. (Galatians 4:28) God responded by telling Abraham to "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." (vs. 5) So the promise of Isaac was specially tied to the stars, just as we would expect if the stars picture the spiritual seed of Abraham, as Isaac did.

And when God repeated the covenant to Isaac, after Abraham's death, it was the symbol of stars that God used to describe Isaac's seed. "I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries (as Genesis 15:18-21); and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 26:4)

Dust

The symbol "dust of the earth" for Abraham's seed was mentioned on the occasion of Lot and Abraham separating, dividing the land because of their number. After Lot had chosen the well watered plains of Jordan, God said to Abraham: "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee." (Genesis 13:14-17)

The land which was being promised was the land given later to the Israelites, and to which they are now regathered. The land promised was most pertinent to Abraham's natural seed, Israel. This aspect of Abraham's seed was likened to the dust of the earth. And when God repeated the covenant to Jacob, who in contrast to Isaac stands for the natural seed of Abraham, Israel after the flesh, it was the symbol "dust of the earth" that He used. And again, the land itself was an important part of the promise. "... the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: (as Genesis 13:14) and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 28:13, 14)

Sand

This term appears first in connection with Abraham's offering of Isaac. That event pictured the death of Jesus as the Ransom for mankind, which assures the blessing of all those who will constitute the heavenly seed of Abraham, and those who will constitute the earthly seed in its widest scope. So it is consistent that on this occasion God likened Abraham's seed to "the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore ..." (Genesis 22:17)

In Revelation 20:8 the expression "sand of the sea" is applied to restored mankind. Satan will "... go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea."

Tuur said:

Biden has had several vaccinations for COVID and has contracted it twice before. According to the following article, he doesn't have a fever and his blood oxygen level is 97. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4778593-biden-covid-third-case/ The video of him boarding the plane doesn't seem to show him suffering adverse effects. If you find the video, note that he doesn't seem to have much if any runny nose. Without any insult, he walks like some old men I've known, though he's only in his early 80s. Interesting for someone who is diagnosed with COVID, he didn't wear a mask.

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Yeah, he should wear a mask if diagnosed with Corona.

Filed under the more awful acts from the idf...

Sic dogs on a downs syndrome man and then let him die.

Gaza man with Down's syndrome attacked by IDF dog and left to die, mother says

Sorry I misunderstood this as an attack on abstract art. My bad

What verses do you have for this?:.........Judas killed himself in the very field he was interested in buying before the betrayal.

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I'm not a country music fan, but this was really interesting about how John Rich used this interview to lay out a lot of biblical theology and eschatology, to Tucker Carlson, who is Christian, but is kind of like your average layman who is not very biblically literate and doesn't get into Eschatology very much himself, and just.. there was a lot of lightbulbs going off in Tucker's head.

tonychanyt said:

Some misunderstand the Kingdom of God as a geopolitical kingdom instead of a spiritual one at the time.

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True. But I think it's an open question as to whether the religious authorities, in particular, made an error in judgment. I think it's possible they knew good and well who he was and had no interest in being humble, or turning the other cheek, or giving Caesar his due, or denying themselves, or loving others as they love themselves, etc.

ThatRobGuy said:

It should be pointed out, there's two different ways to be considered a "centrist" within the construct of a two party system where both parties have been partially captured by their more "zealous" ideological wings.

One can either be a centrist in the sense that they're moderate and nuanced on most issues

Or they can be a "net-centrist" by way of being pretty far left on some issues, and pretty far right on the others which averages out to a "moderate" score on the ideology score card.

For instance, someone like a Larry Hogan or Charlie Baker is very different than an RFK Jr. (despite all of them probably averaging out to a roughly similar "net ideology score" in terms of left/right issues)

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Yeah. I see your point that there are different flavors of centrists.

The average of -0.3 and +0.3 is 0 (nuanced), just as the average of -100 and +100 is 0 (net-centrist). For myself, I might be more nuanced on most things.

Lord have mercy!

Neogaia777 said:

Talk more with you later.

God Bless.

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Definitely. Talk later in the other threads. God bless as well.

Herod beheaded John in Mt 14:10 without a Roman trial.

They tried to stone Jesus in Jn 8:59 outside of the Roman law.

They successfully stoned Stephen to death in Ac 7:58 outside of the Roman law.

Some Jews in Damascus conspired to kill Paul in Ac 9:23. Some years later, the chief priests and the elders conspired with 40 assassins to kill Paul in Ac 23:15.

These were some examples of executions outside of the Roman legal system.

Jn 18:

28 They led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters.f It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”

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The Sanhedrin delivered Jesus to Pilate instead of executing him themselves.

30 They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.”

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Sure, but then why did the Sanhedrin go through the trouble with Pilate? Why not just assassinate Jesus secretly?

Pilate was their hired gun. They wanted to use Roman law to kill Jesus. The fact that it was not lawful for them to put Jesus to death was not their worry. Their real worry was the repercussions from the populace if they had assassinated Jesus. There were Jews at large who were sympathetic to Jesus, particularly during the Passover Festival. On Palm Sunday, Lk 19:

35 They brought [the colt] to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

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The smart thing for the Sanhedrin to do was to 'hire' Pilate to kill Jesus for them.

Did the Sanhedrin really worry about the fact that it was illegal, according to Roman law, for them to execute Jesus?

No, not really.

Why didn't the Sanhedrin hire assassins to kill Jesus?

Jesus was a high-profile and popular figure. They worried about the repercussions. They thought they could get the people to blame Pilate and Rome, but Pilate washed his hands (Mt 27:24).

d taylor said:

-​

Chris

These have an ease to them that are nice. I like the focus being on the placement of color shapes without the concentration on modeling of the forms.

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Thanks! Hope to paint outdoors soon so trying to warm up.

WarriorAngel said:

A lot of the priests who open for him have probably kept him going.

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Fr. Jason Charron prayed on stage just before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. And incredibly, he told people in the crowd to pray for the former president, saying "there are people who want to shoot him, there are people who want to kill him." Moments later a bullet grazed the former president's right ear. EWTN's Colm Flynn interviewed Fr. Jason Charron.

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The Jews try to stone Jesus, John 8:

59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

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John 10:

31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him

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If they had succeeded, the Roman authority would have investigated. The perpetrators would have been in trouble.

The Sanhedrin avoided possible investigation from the Roman authority by getting Pilate to sentence Jesus to death, John 18:

31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.”

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Was the stoning of Stephen legal according to Roman law?

No.

The Historical Figure of Jesus by E. Sanders:

With one exception, only the prefect had the right to sentence anyone to death. Rome allowed the priests to post warning notices in the Temple, in both Greek and Latin, warning Gentiles to enter no further than a given point. Anyone who transgressed, even a Roman citizen, was subject to immediate execution, without the need to send the culprit to the prefect. Apart from this, the prefect's right to execute was not only exclusive but also absolute; he could execute even a Roman citizen, and he did not have to formulate a charge that would stand up in a court in Rome. In these outposts of empire, the prefect had to be able to do whatever he thought was necessary for the good of Rome, and this included the power to discipline the army.

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They risked reprisals from the Roman authority and Stephen's sympathizers by executing Stephen. Neither happened. Stephen was a newcomer and a relative unknown. They stoned Stephen to death, but there was no mention of any follow-up investigation by the Romans.

tonychanyt said:

It addressed unbelievers, scientists or not. Feel free to follow up. I'll further clarify.

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Yes, it does. We agree on that. I have no desire to follow up. Thanks.

To address the idea that speaking in tongues is akin to being in a trance without any control (possible connotation behind "supernatural ecstasy") , it's important to provide a biblical perspective that emphasizes the order and control associated with this spiritual gift.

1 Corinthians 14:32 states, "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets."

This verse indicates that individuals who speak in tongues have control over their actions and are not in an uncontrollable trance-like state. The gift of tongues, like other spiritual gifts, operates within the framework of self-control and order.

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 provides guidelines for the orderly use of tongues in the church: "

If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God." These instructions show that speaking in tongues should be conducted in an orderly manner, with awareness and control, ensuring that it edifies the congregation.

Acts 2:4, "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

This passage highlights that while the Holy Spirit empowers the speech, it does not imply a loss of control or consciousness. The disciples were fully aware and articulate in their speech, even if the language was unfamiliar to them.

Speaking in tongues is a controlled, conscious act enabled by the Holy Spirit. It is not an uncontrollable trance but a spiritual practice meant for prayer, worship, and the edification of the church, conducted with self-awareness and discipline according to biblical guidelines.

An environmental toxicologist in California is cleaning up areas contaminated with heavy metals or other pollutants using fungi and native plants in a win-win for nature.

Where once toxic soils in industrial lots sat bare or weed-ridden, there are now flowering meadows of plants and mushrooms, frequented by birds and pollinators: and it’s thanks to Danielle Stevenson.

Founder of DIY Fungi, the 37-year-old ecologist from UC Riverside recently spoke with Yale Press about her ongoing work restoring ‘brownfields,’ a term that describes a contaminated environment, abandoned by industrial, extraction, or transportation operations.

A brownfield could be an old railway yard or the grounds of an abandoned oil refinery, but the uniting factor is the presence of a toxic containment, whether that’s a petrochemical, heavy metal, or something else.

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A new drug tested in mice septupled the number of beta cells in the pancreas, reversing the symptoms of diabetes until the disease was gone.

This has never been achieved before in drug development, and the scientists behind the breakthrough are calling it a “functional diabetes cure.”

It took just three months for the mice cells to start excreting insulin again, which was achieved via a combination of two drugs: the first called harmine which is naturally found in plants which works to inhibit the enzyme DYRK1A, and the second which acts as a GLP1 receptor agonist, also found in the diabetes drug Ozempic.

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photo released by Shaurya Jain (right)

Every Virginian over 30 you could hope to meet will know someone who has collided with a deer in their car: the state is in the top ten nationwide for deer-related crashes.

These two high school seniors have just received a large grant to pursue their research into a device that detects cars and deer via artificially intelligent cameras, and helps both avoid collisions.

Shaurya Jain and Anmol Karan from Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax County received $15,000 after presenting their prototype.

The money came from the Animal Welfare Institute as a part of the Christine Stevens Wildlife Award, and it left the two young men feeling “honored.”

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The gold nugget obtained from computer motherboards in three parts. The largest of these parts is around five millimetres wide. (Photograph ETH Zurich Alan Kovacevic)

Scientists have developed a way to dramatically reduce the cost of recycling certain electronic waste by using whey protein.

Their method allows for the easy recovery of gold from circuit boards at a cost of energy and materials amounting to 50 times less than the price of the gold they recover—these are the numbers that big business likes to see.

Indeed, the potential for scalability depends on this sort of cost savings, something traditional e-waste recycling methods just can’t achieve.

Professor Raffaele Mezzenga from ETH Zurich has found that whey protein, a byproduct of dairy manufacturing, can be used to make sponges that attract trace amounts of ionized gold.

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