After seeing my mum starve herself to death after she got terminal Cancer, diagnoses make her death agonizing to watch. I can understand the reasons be hide it is love, because you don't want someone you love being in such pain, but only God can decide who lives and who dies.

We can see social justice at work in the Tower of Babel. Here, the leaders transformed stones (everybody unequal) into bricks (everybody equal.) Their path put civilization on a dangerous path where everyone could get wiped out in a war. Hence, God was forced to step in to save everyone. This is based on the oral Torah as told by Rabbi Daniel Lapin.

Bricks or Stones? - YouTube

Take a look at how God feels about brick or hewn stone (cut stone or brick):

Exodus 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

Isaiah 65:3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;

Altars of brick are a no-no because the brick has symbolic value. People are stones, not bricks.

Social justice seeks to transform people from stones into bricks.

SilentCompany said:

God through and in Jesus is dynamic enough to transform the hearts into submitting and doing what is pleasing and compatible to his will through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a dynamic companion and helps to work the miracle of changing the hearts. soon or later a believer becomes transformed. its a promise. IT WORKS. and the arguments become less an less ..the heart of man transitions into wanting to please the Father, nothing we can do can overpower the power of God..this is what it means..Gods will is to save you..your GOING to be saved! He wills it! and so much of man is about doubting he can do it..and that, somehow, binds us, in our doubts. and for good reason..
We can not overcome the feverish drive of our compelling will to want ..want, want..Only God has the formula to change our heart. Its our believing and surrendering to him to DO it..letting HIM..trusting him..praying in a posture of surrender..turning off the mind and letting in some HOPE ..in that time when temptation grabs hold..the praying posture of the heart. light the candle in your heart..and get real close to it..enough to feel its flame, let that flame be all you focus on..let it be a representation that you are trying to get close to him..its just about all we can do..is hold on..look to him..draw close to him..and like a candle, you can feel its flame ..even if its small..take comfort in the idea its alive...and you can still see and feel it.

Yea man can screw around and mess things up..but God shows us in our ongoing relationship with him that he is in charge of whats right for what HE wants for us.. His grace is known as to how long its going to take for us to figure that out., one on one. I know others can and do sin..they are doing it to themselves and God is right in there face about it.
No one can escape. Sometime they look like they are getting away from God, Its sad to see ..
I know God is going to bring all to his glory in the end..and what better end is that to know yea?

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SC, thanks for reading and for taking the time to respond and to share your thoughts on this subject.

We learn in verses 7-9 that Jesus Christ is the door of the sheep and he is the way by which we must enter into salvation from sin and eternal life with God. No other way is the right way. And who are the sheep? They are all who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives who listen to what he teaches and who obey his teachings (see John 10:27). We are those who have entered into the fold of the sheep (the church, the body of Christ) by way of the cross of Christ in death to sin and walks of obedience to God.

But there are others who have entered into the gatherings of the sheep by another way other than through Jesus Christ and his gospel message. For there are many false shepherds of the people out there who are “thieves and robbers” who are leading people to believe in a false gospel message which is infected with half-truths (lies) and distortions of truth created in the minds of humans who reject Jesus’ gospel message because they don’t want to have to die to their sins and to submit to God in obedience to his commands.

So “the gospel” message these “thieves and robbers” are bringing to the people are filled with bugs, i.e. with errors, many of which are willfully being planted within the gospel message to purposefully lead people away from Christ to a false gospel message of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And many of them have deliberately skirted (bypassed) the parts of the gospel that teach death to sin and obedience to God, and they have diluted the gospel to a mere verbal profession of faith in Jesus, no change of heart.

Now, Jesus Christ is the shepherd of the sheep (verses 11-18), as well as he is the door into the fold of the sheep (the church, the body of Christ). And it is God the Father, I believe, who is the doorkeeper. For he is the one who sent Jesus Christ (God the Son) to the earth to be born as a baby and to one day die on a cross in order to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-gifted faith in him, and empowered by God, we can now die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands.

And all those who become Jesus’ sheep by dying with him to sin and being raised with him to walk with him in obedience to his commands, by faith in him, they listen to Jesus’ words. They heed his words, and they follow him in surrender to his will in walks of obedience to his commands. And they follow Jesus because they know his voice. But they do not follow the strangers who are lying to the people, because they do not recognize their voices. For God has given them the discernment of the Spirit to know truth from lies.

For if we are truly following our Lord in obedience to his commands, and sin is no longer our practice, but righteousness is our practice, by the grace of God, and because we are now listening to the Lord, and we are heeding his words, then as we grow in our walks of faith in obedience to the Lord we should be able to recognize more and more the lies of the enemy which are opposed to the truth of the gospel which Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught (in the correct biblical context, and not out of context).

And we should be those who are rejecting the lies of the enemy and their messengers, who are discerning truth from lies and those who speak truth vs those who speak lies. For the Holy Spirit is living within us speaking truth to our hearts and minds, and he is revealing to us the lies vs the truth so that we will now follow the truth and reject the lies. And if we are Jesus’ true sheep, we will not resist the Holy Spirit’s voice and end up following the lies, but we will desire to live for our Lord in doing what pleases him.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

When I Am Afraid

Based off Psalms 56-57
An Original Work / October 17, 2016
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

When I am afraid, Lord, I will trust in You.
Your Word, Lord, I praise. I yield my life to You.
Enemies pursue me, slandering Your Name.
Lord, have mercy. I trust in You. Hear my cry today.

Lord, I love Your Word. It comforts me today,
As I look to you, and bow my head and pray.
You are Christ, my Lord. You saved me from my sin,
That I may walk, Lord before You, purified within.

Steadfast is my heart, O God, I sing of You.
I will praise You, Lord. To You, I will be true.
Oh, how great Your love. Your faithfulness endue.
Be exalted, God of heaven. Glory be to You.

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The Shepherd of The Sheep
An Original Work / December 6, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Ezra 7 8 Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king

Nehemiah 2 2 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king.

The month of Nisan corresponds to March/April. Which is when passover was which is when Jesus was crucified so the Nehemiah 2 decree is the only possible decree it can be, and not the Ezra 7 one.

⭐ 1. BEFORE the Babylonian exile (Torah era)​

The Bible never uses the word Nisan.
Instead, it only calls the first month:

“Abib” (אָבִיב)​

Meaning: “green ears (of barley)” — a description of the harvest stage, not a calendar name.
Verses using Abib:

• Exodus 13:4 — “On this day in the month of Abib you are going out.”
• Exodus 23:15 — “...in the month of Abib.”
• Exodus 34:18 — “You shall keep the Feast… in the month of Abib.”
• Deuteronomy 16:1 — “Observe the month of Abib…”

So originally:

⭐ The first month = Abib (harvest month)​

❌ NOT “Nisan”​

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⭐ 2. AFTER the Babylonian exile (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther)​

Only in the post-exilic period does the name Nisan appear.


This is because the Jews adopted Babylonian month names during the exile (6th century BC).

First appearance:​

Nehemiah 2:1

“In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes…”

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Also appears in:


Esther 3:7

“In the first month, which is the month of Nisan…”

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Thus:

⭐ “Nisan” = a Babylonian loanword​

⭐ Adopted by Jews after exile​

⭐ Used in Second Temple Hebrew, not Torah-era Hebrew​

---

⭐ 3. What time of year is Nisan?​

Nisan corresponds to March–April.


This is because:

• Nisan 14–15 = Passover
• Passover is tied to the spring barley harvest, meaning the spring equinox season

Modern correlation:

Spiritual Jew said:

I know you are talking to me, but you're not quoting me to make that clear. Why is that?

It seems that you just believe what you want to believe regardless of what the evidence shows. The evidence indicates that the church in Ephesus was established around 51 AD, not shortly after people from Ephesus returned home from Pentecost. Scholars estimate that when Paul visited Ephesus, as recorded in Acts 19, it was around 50 AD. They had no established church before that.


From what I read about how things were in the 1st century in the Roman province of Asia, the persecution that occurred there was specifically linked to the issues described in Revelation (emperor worship, economic pressure, martyrdom) and that is largely attributed to the period around Domitian's rule.


Read all of 2 Corinthians 12 and you could see he spoke a lot about himself not wanting to boast. Why would he talk about himself like that if he was not talking about himself in verses 2 to 4? He didn't want to explicitly say that he was talking about himself because he didn't want to come across as boasting. He indicated in verse 5 that if he was talking about someone else, he would boast about that person. But, the fact that he talked about his own desire not to boast was him clearly implying that he was talking about himself without wanting to say it explicitly.


You're ignoring everything else that is said in the passage where he clearly is referring to himself. Why would he talk about himself not wanting to boast so much in the passage if he wasn't talking about himself? What he was saying in verse 5 is that if it was someone else he would boast about that person, but he would not boast about himself. That's why he did not want to reveal that he was talking about himself in verses 2 to 4. He didn't want to come across as boasting. But, he strongly hinted that he was talking about himself throughout the passage, as I showed. You didn't address anything I said about the context of the passage in 2 Corinthians 12.

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Provide whatever proof you have that the church of Ephesus could not of got started shortly after Pentecost.

5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.
I think he is being honest in that above verse but you think he is lying pretending it was someone else he knew that had that heavenly experience when really it was him. I don't have to invoke lying authors to support my belief. Yes I believe Paul is referring to the author of Revelation.

Revelation 21:2-4
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.​

John is seeing all kinds of supernatural spiritual things in Revelation. There is no conflict with believing Paul is talking about the author of Revelation.
2 Corinthians 11 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
So Paul boasts about his weaknesses being a "fool", and his thorn in the flesh whatever it was. Having a heavenly experience is not a weakness. Paul is talking about the author of Revelation, and not himself in 2 Cor 12.

jacorian said:

What do people make of the soul of Mr. Putin who I'd currently say is the most evil person on the planet given he is holding some many cards. Here we are on this planet & we the people as imperfect as we are can never seem to get rid of these tyrants. The ebb & flow of death in all these wars on the globe not to mention the passing away of regular human beings, just disappearing from our lives forever.

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Putin is in good standing with his church, Patriarch Cyril, former member of that Satanic organisation the KGB says Putin is a fine man doing God's work. Blah if a few hundred thousand civilians get killed. What do people make of the soul of the Russian Orthodox Church might be another question? They should be speaking out for truth and righteousness.

I wonder what the Russian Orthodox Church would say to the family of this poor lady, murdered in England in a Russian terror attack:

God Bless

Again, very emotions based, needs to be genuine interest in saving faith, not supernatural miracles.

We must be careful of this, as there are always, in tragic situations, a wave of emotion based false conversions.

If genuine, God caused the revival.

Federal immigration officials say a Southern California sheriff's office is unlikely to help deport an illegal immigrant from Mexico who faces felony hit-and-run charges in the death of an 11-year-old boy because California is a "sanctuary state."

Hector Balderas-Aheelor, 44, was arrested Nov. 29 in San Diego County after allegedly striking the victim, Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz, in front of his home in Escondido, about 30 miles northeast of San Diego, on the evening of Nov. 26, according to Escondido Police Department Lt. Craig Miller.

The boy — who witnesses say went into the street to retrieve a soccer ball — was transported to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on Thanksgiving Day, according to police.

Officers recovered the suspect's vehicle and booked him into the Vista Detention Facility on charges of felony hit-and-run resulting in death. Balderas-Aheelor, whose name appears variably as Balderas Amador or Aheelor in records, remains in custody awaiting arraignment.

Continued below.

World War III will break out in 2026 and last for six years before concluding. The old world order will then come to an end. The Luciferian dark forces currently manipulating Western Nations from behind the scenes will retreat, the rule of God will be restored, and the world will be re-Christianized.

America's mandate has ended. The liberal international order, sustained by Pax Americana, will cease to exist after the war. The United Nations, secular nation-states, and liberal democracy will all be consigned to the dustbin of history.

A portion of the old state powers will be destroyed by nuclear bombs, born from the very darkness they themselves nurtured.

As a crucial part of the divine plan for humanity's redemption, he will personally choose a devout Christian monarch in the East. Holding his hand, God will raise up a universal empire aligned with Christian ideals and righteousness. Using this empire as a sword, He will judge this fallen world, and the monarchy-aristocracy system will be restored.

The future of the world is a New World Order led by the emerging Christian Universal Empire.

2037 (tentative) marks the beginning of the New World Order.
A new era of mythology has arrived.
The Eastern Crusaders will wage war against all anti-Christ forces.

The future of the world is a New World Order led by the emerging Christian Universal Empire.

「“Who has stirred up one from the east,calling him in righteousness to his service?He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust with his sword,to windblown chaff with his bow.」(Isaiah 41:2 )

jas3 said:

That's not the comparison I was making. Calling someone "your honor" is weird in everyday life, but is perfectly acceptable and even expected in court. Calling your friend "sir" would be weirdly formal, but it's appropriate when addressing a superior or a stranger. We use different levels of formality, different kinds of language, based on our circumstances.

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But both "Your honour" and "sir" are used in contemporary English. That is nothing to do with using language from over 400 years ago in prayer.

Bob Crowley said:

I've said this before and it is private revelation, but I used to be Presbyterian.

Sometime after I'd become Catholic, my Presbyterian pastor (who had died several years before) turned up one night in a vision and said "The Catholic Church is CLOSEST to the truth", with a distinct emphasis on the word "closest". He didn't say it had all the truth or was necessarily correct in everything, but was CLOSEST to the truth.

We had discussed Catholicism and Protestant divisions while he was still alive, and he was getting cynical about all the Protestant divisions, saying at one time "When it comes to theology, Protestants couldn't agree how far to spit!"

But that was my experience.

You need to work through your decision for yourself and RCIA is the way to start. It's the only way actually as it is a necesary step in the journey.

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Perhaps he’s still in purgatory.

Praying now for him!

God bless!

Dave... said:

Hey T

I found that metro parks can do in a pinch. I used to have about a twenty minute to a half and hour hike every day in the metro parks before work. I really enjoyed that and looked forward to it. Sometimes these hidden Gems in the cities can be just as rewarding with less expense and travel time. It's a good place to think. There, and I do also do some of my best thinking while shooting hoops alone. BTW, I always wondered if Bigfoot lived in the big city sewer systems of NY. It sounds funny, but they could have access from where the sewers open up outside the city. I've heard stories...

Dave

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I do laps around the two metro parks near me on rollerblades. Doesn't feel the same as the one on the mountains.

The cost is not what's stopping me but time. There are mountain forests within 40 miles of my place and I reach them by bicycle but the round trip takes 5 to 6 hours without stopping and I can't be away from home more than 2 hrs. I used to do this every weekend when my sister lived with us as she can watch over my mom.

I don't bring money on these long trips by bicycle. If anything went wrong that my tools can't fix, I can't just call Uber and I have no one I can call to pick me up. I don't even bring food or snacks, just one half liter bottle of homemade electrolyte drink for the 60 to 80 mile trip.

It was nice while it lasted but I get the same fulfillment with rollerblading now. I figure, it's just a different "forest". In fact rollerblading has become my primary mode of transport around the city. It used to be bicycle. I don't do it because its easy but because it's hard!

Reluctant Theologian said:

Removing/deporting a legal immigrant is not denaturalisation - that's only removal of citizenship. Removing/deporting legal immigrants because of fraud or crime committed while being a legal resident is also standard procedure in other countries (a.o. Australia).

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I'm talking about denaturalization here. I'm not concerned about just revoking green cards in this thread.

Reluctant Theologian said:

In several countries where dual citizenship is allowed there are also laws that remove the acquired, second citizenship of the new host country in case of serious crimes like terrorism etc. (e..g in Europe in some countries). The person is then simply deported back to the country of this remaining citizenship.

Both categories make sense to me. Why allow residents if they prove to be a serious burden (or worse) to the guest country?

E.g. in Australia being seriously overweight or having some other serious medical condition can be valid reasons why visas are denied. Migrant quotas are limited so a country can be picky in who's allowed in.

When I'm organising a party it's wise not to invite those who thrash my place - or at least remove them when they do.

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Once they're citizens, they can trash the place and be arrested just like any other citizen.

Jimster55 said:

Hello there! Im new here myself so I am trying g to get used to being back on forums. I used to be part of a forum a long time ago, like 10-15 years ago. LOL its definitely been a while! But I came here to look for Christian fellowship and in hopes of making a new friend.

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Hello, friend.
I hope to locate that same type of fellowship you described.

Best of luck to you!

wing2000 said:

Provides a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally provided they meet certain conditions.

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Trump created a path. If you self-deport you have the right to apply for citizenship to the United States, and our government will give you $1000:

GoldenBoy89 said:

It's nice to know Americans can still agree on some things but just too bad this administration isn't really interested in what the American people think or feel about anything they're doing.

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I don't think that's true at all. Americans vary all the time regarding what administrations are doing. They never show interest in what everyone thinks or feels. Biden sure didn't. So don't try and say its just Trump.

And we can agree on some things despite our differences. And this is certainly one of them. No ground war on Venezuala. I honestly don't think there will be one.

BNR32FAN said:

I don’t expect them to go down but if they don’t go up I would say that’s an improvement.

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I agree that most would welcome prices neither increasing or decreasing. That would be an inflation rate of 0%.

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Tonight's Final Jeopardy! brought me here.

Michie said:

White House displays yard signs of the 100 'worst illegal immigrant criminals' arrested in Trump's first 100 days​

The White House lawn is lined with posters of 100 of the "worst illegal immigrant criminals" arrested in the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's second term.

"Good Morning from The White House!" White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X on Monday morning, sharing video of the posters, which say "arrested" at the top and appear to have a mugshot or other photo of the person followed by the label "illegal alien."

The bottom of the poster lists a crime the person is accused of committing, including rape, murder, sexual assault of a child, lewd acts in front of a child, and distribution of fentanyl and illegal guns.

Continued below.

White House displays lawn signs highlighting illegal immigrant crime

The White House displayed yard signs showing the 100 "worst illegal immigrant criminals" arrested during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's term.

www.foxnews.com

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And yet, Trump pardons the man convicted of trafficking over 400 tons of cocaine and still had 40 years to serve. How many Americans did that cocaine kill?

Bradskii said:

Some people don't realise that there's often two reasons for asking a question of someone. The first is to see if they can answer. The second is to show that they can't.

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Most good people don't do that. The worst part is us having to live alongside those who do.

...Sometimes I think I prefer animals for company, as it's not part of their being to manipulate others or exploit people for their own amusement.