Ahead of the decision, the Teamsters shared internal data showing that a majority of members supported Trump over Harris. According to an electronic member poll that was initiated after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, about 60% of members believed the union should endorse Trump while 34% supported Harris. About 6% said they supported another candidate.


Teamsters won’t endorse in presidential race after releasing internal polling showing most members support Trump


Strange times...

My dad had his prostate removed yesterday. They want him to stay a few extra days. They think he has pneumonia.

Please pray for his health, his recovery and that he may live a long life in Jesus name

I believe in the basic things, Trinity, Jesus is God in the Flesh, he died for our sins, was buried and resurrected from the dead. The Bible is the word of God.
but beyond that point I am not sure on any doctrine.

I like to look at the oldest denominations first and see what they teach. Even if I later on have my beliefs lined up with a different denomination, I figured I learned something.

It doesn't make much a difference what denomination we are baptized in right?

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday amplified claims by several news outlets that a woman has died as the result of pro-life laws. But doctors say that the Georgia woman, Amber Thurman, died because of the abortion pill and medical malpractice.

ProPublica’s disputed report claimed that Georgia’s restrictions on abortion delayed access to medical care, causing the death of a woman named Amber Nicole Thurman. Thurman died at age 28 in 2022 after being hospitalized due to an infection after she took abortion pills, according to the report.

Thurman received the abortion pills out of state in North Carolina because she was more than six weeks pregnant, the report says. Georgia law limits abortion after six weeks, but Thurman was about nine weeks pregnant when she procured the chemical abortion, according to the Washington Examiner.

Continued below.

I am taking wagers here. This OP is NOT about whether Jesus asserts that it is possible for you to forgive other people when they sin against you. I'm assuming you don't think so. This post focuses on wagering on what you believe.

Matthew 6:

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Click to expand...

Let proposition P1 = Jesus asserts that it is possible for you to forgive other people when they sin against you.

P2 = not P1.

Between 0 and 10, how much weight do you put on each of the above propositions? The stronger your belief in a proposition, the higher the weight. Your weighting scheme will determine the betting odds.

Hello everyone,

I have been having severe anxiety over wether or not I need to fast. Recently I felt like I love food too much. Specifically in regards to going out to eat or ordering out. I sometimes have felt like food is something I really desire and something that I also look forward to, to bring me satisfaction which I know is a sin and is wrong. I repented of my idolatry and I am trying to re-frame my mind around food being what it is, just food. However, I am not sure if God is calling me to fast or not. I feel like I am not fully repenting if I am not fasting. I was thinking about fasting from restaurants but I have two events coming up that require going to one and I am not sure if I should not go to them or not since all this worry started after I had made these plans. I just need advice on what to do. I never struggled with gluttony or overeating, I know my limits. The idol is more an idol of the heart, thinking that food will bring me satisfaction when it wont. I also have never fasted before so I have no idea where to start.

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A must watch video for everyone. Being discussed is the UN Summit of the Future, Pact for the Future and the WHO



A reminder below on some of the WHO issues that have been before us this year:

“It’s been only two days since somebody allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump again and you’re here at the podium at the White House briefing room calling him a threat,” Doocy said. “How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and the vice president and you pick a different word to describe Trump other than ‘threat’?”

Obviously they have no concern for Trump's safety.

Please advise. This is new to me. The worst I ever used in my BC days was weed - and having difficulty understanding the utter hold this poison has over them.

Asking also for anyone who reads this to please pray for Mary and Margie, for deliverance from this, salvation, and assurance of salvation, please. And the Holy Spirit's wisdom (and patience!) for me.

Thanks and God bless!

Earth is set to gain another moon by the end of the month — a small asteroid that will be snared by our planet's gravity until the end of the year, scientists say.

The mini-moon, an asteroid called 2024 PT5, was spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on Aug. 7. The space rock will make one complete orbit of our planet between Sept. 29 and Nov. 25 before escaping Earth's gravity.

Earth's new 'mini-moon' will orbit our planet for the next 2 months

After months of politics and electioneering, I'd like to escape Earth's gravity also.

As you all may or may not know the earliest ballots have already begun going out with more early voting to happen well early. At this point, given that if some time between now and the time of the election Trump is killed ( not that I want that nor would I even if I were not a Trump supporter, but I would assune that if that were to happen it would be treated as if Trump was president? That is to say that Vance would take the top of the ticket by default and if Trump "won" it would just go to Vance just like it would if something happened to Trump at 12:01PM on January 20th 2025.?

California has passed dome AI deep fake laws, banning the use of AI for
creating some products.

Most of what is bannded, so far, is the abuse of actor's voices and images,
and the generation of fake sexual images, and the use of AI for some
criminal activities.

Still being considered, is a bill that would require AI products to be certified
as safe from being used as tools for other criminal activities.


It's about time. The big software companies have long had their way, being
free to create software products that may as well be tailor made for the use of large,
criminal entities.

Software products that are so potentially dangerous, as AI is, should be regulated
in the same way that conventional weapons manufacture is.

(NOTE: I am using the term "NutBar" to informally refer to a person who may
be unstable in a number of different ways, without trying to imply other terms
that may violate this sites sensibilities as to unacceptable language....)

This response by a political candidate, underlines the moral fog under
which American politicians are operating.

And, that this moral fog should not be artificially perceived as applying
only to politics.

Christians should be considering the larger moral topics, that include...

1 Is it morally acceptable for a candidate who has used the white supremecist
language of Hitler, to object to being labelled as having used the same Aryan
supremecist language that Hitler used, between the World Wars?
Is it right for Christians to call a spade, a "spade"?

2 Is it right for a political candidate to object to SOME statement by an opponent
(in order to try to make some political hay), while ignoring their own similar
statements (that could be politically damaging). Is not this a form of hypocrisy?

3 Is it right for a candidate to vociferously try to defend their freedom to say
ANYTHING in public, supposedly under the blanket coverage of "freedom of
speech", while attacking their opponents (supposed) similar freedom of speech
(because it supposedly may trigger some nutbars in America to try to engage in
criminal activity)?

This action actually asserts that a candidate may arbitrarily hold someone
personally responsible for SOME statements that they have said, while they
hold THEMSELVES not personally responsible for similar statements that they
have said in public.

The issue is whether or not an individual in America, personally has the right to adjudicate
whether or not some statement made by someone else, violates the basic legal principle
that we are ALL responsible for what we say. Anyone who claims this personal right, is
putting themselves above the fair rule of law in America (which DOES have the legal right
to adjudicate specific responsibilities, for what each of us says).

4 ***** Perhaps the most CONTENTIOUS issue that this article suggests (for
Christians to consider), is whether an individual is morally-ethically responsible for
the actions of some NutBar, if that individual speaks honestly and truthfully about
some topic or situation, and some NutBar sees or hears that language, and "goes
ballistic" and tries to carry out some illegal operation.

5 Do American Christians have a moral-ethical OUGHT, to speak clearly about
moral-ethical issues, after being careful to verify that what we say matches the
facts? Do American Christians have some moral-ethical OUGHT to suppress
honest ME evaluations, because some Americans may not like a historical
Christian worldview, and find it offensive.

Do American Christians have a moral-ethical OUGHT to speak against ridiculous
conspiracy theories, that have NOT been demonstrated with solid evidence?
---------- ----------

The promotion of a ridiculous conspiracy theory (about Immigrants eating pets in
Springfield), has resulted in multiple bomb threats to schools in Springfield.
Obviously, there are NutBars out there who believe this conspiracy theory, cannot
or do not want to try to verify it, and somehow identify with making bomb threats
as some sort of "striking a blow for truth". How can Christians support this use
of conspiracy theories?

There are Christians who still support the conspiracy theory that Trump won the
2020 presidential election, despite careful investigation that could not turn up
ANY substantial fraud. Trump and his friends, have to date filed about 60 lawsuits
charging fraud in the 2020 election. BUT none of these lawsuits could present
any relevant or accurate evidence, of fraud. How could Christians still support this
conspiracy theory? There are NutBars who (obviously) are willing to gather at the
Capital Building, and riot, and kill, and destroy property in order to show their
support for this conspiracy theory. Is it wrong for Christians to appose this
conspiracy theory lie, even though there are people who would carry out
criminal acts to show their support for this conspiracy theory?
---------- ----------

Instead of getting caught up in some assertion by some political figure or
another, Christians ought to be dealing with the basic underlying issues of
morality-ethics.

To be silent on these important underlying ME issues, is to tacitly
agree that they do not exist. And THAT, is unaceptable for Christians.

For only the second time in its 179 year old history has the publication backed a presidential candidate.
Hopefully posting this in the science forum will lead to a more respectful dialogue......

Lies, deceptions, all around.
Character actors on the ground,
Spinning, spin webs of deceit.
So that others they defeat.

Tricks and trappings are their game.
They treat all of us the same.
Getting us to fight each other,
Christian brother against brother.

Left and right, and black and white,
They want all of us to fight.
Chaos, chaos is their game.
They turn the world to insane.

Fakery, fakery – all’s about,
Getting us to our God doubt.
Wanting us to believe them,
Following in their diadem.

So, they throw us a curve ball,
Echoes, echoes, through the hall.
Hoping we will take the bait,
And that others we will hate.

Then a prince in shining armor
Suddenly appears on the scene.
He’s got just the fix we need,
So that we can live serene.

“Peace and safety,” promises him,
If we will bow to his diadem.
“No more worries,” so he says,
“Trust me, and I’ll be your head.”

But he’s a liar straight from hell
Who wants to put us in a spell.
Incantation, that’s his game
So the strong will now be lame.

So be wise. Don’t be a fool.
Put on your armor as a tool.
Fight the good fight of the faith.
And don’t e’er take of their bait.

Trust in God, your ONLY LORD,
Use that mighty, mighty sword.
Speak the truth and fight the lies.
You will then save many lives.

An Original Work / June 5, 2020

[The Spirit flooded me with this 09/15/24]

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. - Psalm 91:1

We may have heard this often, and some even "claim" Psalm 91 for protection, but have you wondered what exactly is "the secret place of the Most High?" Is it just something you read, and think, "that's nice, we'll that's very comforting," But you really don't go beyond that?

So we're gonna go deep, like in Ezekiel 47. The prophet has a vision of a river coming out from under the threshold of the house if God (47:1), and a man takes him out 1000 cubits - that's about 1,500 feet, or little over a quarter mile, and here the waters up to Ezekiels ankles, and the man takes him another 1,000 cubits and the waters to his knees, then another 1,000 and it's to his loins, or his waist. Yet another 1,000 "and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over." (47:5)
Well, we are going to get out in the depths like that.

The Hebrew word Sether is translated "secret place" and means, covering, shelter, covert, hiding place, secret place, protection.

So, what exactly is this secret place? Some may answer, The Bible, the Word of God, prayer, your prayer closet, church, Bible study. Other answers may be, righteousness, repentance, holiness, denial of self, walking in the Spirit, doing God's will. And hopefully you would say, Jesus is our secret place. All these answers are good, and right, and each is the natural duty of the true believers in Christ: we are called to do all these things.
As far as Jesus Christ being our secret place, what exactly does this entail?

First, let's see some other passages that talk about a secret place, same Hebrew word used: Sether.
Psalm 18:11, The LORD "made darkness His secret place." This isn't talking about evil darkness, but an obscuring, a hiding, or covering. In large part this is because no man can look directly upon God and live - Exodus 33:20. That's what the LORD told Moses on Mount Sinai. We're going to come back to Exodus 33 later.

Psalm 81:7 says, "I answered thee in the secret place of thunder." Now what's fascinating about this "secret place of thunder" is, it's referring back to Moses again, and Israel in the wilderness, roughly 450 years before David wrote this Psalm, but we can jump all the way ahead to the Revelation of Jesus Christ written approximately 1,100 years later, and we see that 7 thunders uttered their voices, and John was told not to write what they uttered, but to seal them. (Rev. 10:3-4) Seems like there's still a secret place of thunder, or actually, secret thunders. They were classified when they were written and as far as I know have not been declassified.

There is also John 12:28-29, when Jesus prayed "Father, glorify thy name, then there came a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spoke to him."

Let's go back a moment to darkness being God's secret place, For Isaiah 45:3 says, "I will give thee the treasures of darkness," and 45:7 says, "I form the light and create the darkness..."

A point of interest here: I was listening to a Charles Lawson sermon, and he mentioned how astronomers and physicists say that 90% of the universe is dark matter. We cannot see it, nor measure it directly, but it's there because it exerts an effect on known matter. I'm really surprised Pastor Lawson didn't bring up Isaiah 45 regarding the treasures of darkness.

They say dark matter doesn't interact with light. Yes it does. Maybe not physical light as we know it, but Pastor Lawson did quote 1 Timothy 6:16, saying that Jesus Christ "only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, NOR CAN SEE, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen." So the Bible tells us there's a secret place where the light of God dwells that you cannot see. And the Bible tells us there is a secret place of darkness...

Look at 2 Corinthians 4:6,
" For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Now back to Exodus 33. God told Moses no man can look upon the face of God and live. But Jesus is the image of God (2 Cor 4:4), for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily, (Col 2:9).
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1 & 14) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. (1 John 5:7)

The only way we can see God in these mortal bodies is in the face of Jesus Christ. Before we get more into that, I have to address 1 John 5:7, which I try to do every time the Spirit leads me to use it. If your Bible doesn't have 1 John 5:7 as I just quoted it, that Bible is a corrupted and incomplete version. Truth is, the Greek isn't even grammatically correct if you remove the verse.

A corrupt version will read, verse 7 "For there are three that testify:" Then verse 8, "The Spirit, the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement." That's the NIV, and a footnote says the portion of verse 7 they cut out was not found in any Greek manuscript before the 14th century. That's a strait lie!
Cyprian, an early Church father, quotes 1 John 5:7 in 250 AD, saying, "It is written, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, And these three are one." The only place in the entire Bible that is WRITTEN is 1 John 5:7! It's also found in the Latin and Greek Vulgate, 90 - 150 AD, and the Syriac Peshitta, 150 AD, and in many other references 200 and more years before the Alexandrian and Vaticanus manuscripts that omit a lot of words and verses.

And, we are still in Exodus 33! So, in verse 22 Yahweh, the LORD, says to Moses, "And it shall come to pass, that I will put thee in a clift of a rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by."
Our Scripture is Psalm 91:1 but look at 91:4 for a minute:
"He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust..."
Do you know a birds wings are their hands, and their primary feathers are attached directly to the "hand" part of the wing, and can even be moved around similar to fingers?
In Exodus, God covers Moses with His hand, in Psalm 91 He uses the symbolic language of feathers and wings that cover the one who dwells in the secret place of the Most High.

Now, by the way, a "clift" is not a cliff, but rather, it's a crack, a fissure in the rock. Hebrew, Neqara. It's a place you can be hidden in. I used to love hiking in the mountains of New England, big granite mountains, with lots of clifts. I often felt like I was blessed with a slight taste of what Moses and Elijah experienced.

Now Moses had said to God just prior to all this, "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." (Exodus 33:18) Do we desire to see God's glory? Do we even know what God's glory really is? We are not talking about getting emotional during a worship service, or even being caught up in the abundance of the Spirit poured out. That's fine, but there's far more...

Let's look at the transfiguration for a moment, and we're still in Exodus 33. Just gonna keep coming back to it. Luke's gospel gives a little more detail on the transfiguration. As Jesus prayed "the fashion of his countenance altered, and his raiment was white and glistering." (Luke 9:27) That means glittering, bright flashing: that's what glistering means.
Now Peter and those with him "SAW HIS GLORY " (9:32), and then "While he (that is Peter) thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him." (9:34-35)
This is why I believe Peter could write,
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord,
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertaining unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to GLORY and virtue." (2 Peter 1:2-3)

On the mount of transfiguration, there's that cloud, that darkness, again, and it overshadowed them to the point they entered it, and it enveloped them. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty! Amen! HalleluYah!

So back again in Exodus 33, Moses is being hid in the clift of a rock, and that right there is a type of being hidden in Christ, who is the Rock. "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3)
Oh, we're just starting to see where the secret place of the Most High is, and what it is. Were just scratching the surface, and I cannot get to the full depths of it, because that must be EXPERIENCED, and applied, and sought after, pressed into, and can only be encountered by a personal application.

You, me, each individual, must enter in through the door; Jesus is the door, and entering in you shall be saved, and go in and out and find pasture (John 10:9) That pasture is part of the secret place of the Most High; "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures..." (Psalm 23:2) Lying down infers a dwelling: He that dwelleth in the secret place....

The Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that when Israel was in the wilderness with Moses, they "did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ."
Also, as Jesus Himself said, "Upon this Rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt 16:18)

We see here the Rock as both provision and protection. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. (Matt 5:6) "And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." (Rev 22:17) That provision comes from the Rock, who is Christ. He told the woman at the well, "the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14)
Indeed, this also has a type back in the wilderness, Numbers 21:16-17 - "the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it..."

Indeed, as Jesus said, "He that believeth in me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38)
Now we looked at Ezekiel 47 at the beginning of this message, and if we read verse 9 it tells us that everything that the waters of that river touch will live, and will be healed.
We see this in Revelation 22:1,
" And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb. "

So we see the Rock as provision, and that provision comes from Christ, by whom "all things were made by him" (John 1:3), Who is " upholding all things by the word of his power," (Heb 1:3) who is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." (Eph 3:20) "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world t through lust." (2 Peyer 1:4)

The Rock also is our protection, as Moses experienced, and when he was in the clift of the Rock, is when he had the closest encounter with the fulness of the LORD, the full being of God, and Moses could only see God's back parts, but God's face could not be seen (Exodus 33:23)
In fact, due to this encounter, Moses own face shone, and he had to put a vail on his face when he was around people. (Exodus 34:29-35)

Psalm 18:2 is a wonderful verse of God's protection,
"The LORD is my Rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."
All of that describes the secret place: A fortress, a high tower... Yea, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty! Amen!

Dwelleth and abide: this is not describing a one time prayer, a quick devotion, or any other slight recognition of the things of God. Dwelling and abiding are constant, and consistent, regular, time consuming; you devote much time in your faith, redeeming the time, for the days are evil. (Eph 5:16) Dwelling is a time consuming and persevering affair.

"To him that overcomes will I give..."says Jesus to the 7 churches in Revelation.
"I give the right to the tree of life, he shall not be hurt of the second death, I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and a white stone, a new name, I will give him the morning star, I will confess his name before the Father, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and I will grant to sit with me in my throne! HalleluYah!
He that endureth till the end shall be saved, He says in Matthew 24.

Oh, this involves an approach to God in both fear and boldness. Jesus tells us to fear God, Paul writes we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12) But he also tells us, "Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:16) And yet another place he states, "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thess 5:17) James says, "Draw nigh unto God, and he will draw nigh unto you. Cleanse your hands ye sinners, and purify your hearts ye double minded " (Jas 4:8)

While driving, the Holy Spirit drew me to consider Esther, who approached the king with both fear and boldness. In that culture you didn't just pop in to the kings court to see him, even if you were queen. That could get you killed. Esther said that after her and her maidens fasted (there's a period of time there in preparation, of fasting and humbling ones self), "so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to law, and if I perish, I perish." (Esther 4:16)

So there had to be some fear there, but also boldness to go before the king she knew could have her killed if he was in a mood to do so. That's part of the pressing in, of entering through the door, of abiding in Christ, of abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, of being, dwelling in the secret place.

I'm reminded of Ananias & Sapphira who lied to the Holy Ghost and died on the spot as soon as they were exposed, in Acts 5, or, of those in 1 Corinthians 11 who took of the Lord's table unworthy, and many were sick, and some slept, which means they died. These were not dwelling, nor abiding

The point? The secret place of the Most High is also the hill of the LORD, and His holy place. Psalm 24:3-5, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart: who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."

You see, we must be walking in the Spirit, and putting away sin. We cannot stand in the secret place full of sin, and practicing sin, because that tends to put you on precarious ground, ripe for chastisement, and you find yourself out from under God's protective hand, and rather, His hand now holds the rod of correction.

Read all of Psalm 15. I'll just read the first 2 verses here,
"LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? (See, this speaks again of the secret place... abiding and dwelling)
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart..."

Same principle as Psalm 24, and also Psalm 1,
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel if the ungodly, nor standeth in the wat of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful,
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." (Psa 1:1-3)

There's the living water again, the provision from Christ, the Rock. He who abides in Christ, the Rock of our salvation, and sinneth not, knows God (1 John 2:1 & 3:6 & 9), He dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High and shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

That's Psalm 91:1, and a little bit of verse 4. Read all of it. I've only covered what the Spirit exploded on me yesterday as a mighty flood, and I hope and pray we have drawn some treasures from it.
Above all, let us dwell in the secret place of the Most High, continually.
And if you're not dwelling and abiding, seek, and enter into that place. Lay aside any sin, any hindrances, so that you are covered by God's mighty hand, in Jesus name.
Amen.

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln carries the Eucharist through Nebraska. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, recently urged Catholics to think about how they could “walk with,” pray for, and share the Catholic faith with one person over the next year as part of the ongoing National Eucharistic Revival.

In a Sept. 13 column, Conley encouraged Catholics to learn about the resources provided by the U.S. bishops as part of the program “Walk with One,” which offers practical steps to help people share the Catholic faith with one person in their life at a time.

The “Walk with One” program is part of the current phase of the multiyear National Eucharistic Revival, the Year of Mission. The Eucharistic Revival, which began in 2021, aims to deepen and spread devotion to the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ.

Continued below.

I think god did somewhat touch upon my situation. I’m still delaying doing the right thing because I’m still fearful of confrontation but I’ve realized the possibility that god may not exactly be against me.



I feel he does want me to repent and not just for my own good but for the good of those who I’ve offended. The only issue now is if I idle and continue to delay, my chance to reconcile with god may be less, if that makes sense.



What I’ve done and the damage I’ve caused is deserving of a lot of punishment and Im still unsure how god will heal the damage and pain I’ve caused but I know he will somehow do it.



I just feel in my heart that I’ve committed a sin that leads to death and I might die or God may yet surprise me in his mercy and keep me alive.



But I think that if that’s really my case then it’s likely I will still go to heaven because after I confess I’ll have already ‘repented’.



Like I said in a recent post, I regret the way I’ve lived and I want to live because there’s so much I want to do with my life but I know I’ve utterly destroyed my life with sin.



In truth, another selfish reason - In why in my heart I don’t want to confess is because I obviously don’t want to die and I want to live a good life. I’m scared of what I will lose. in real time I’ve seen my blessings turn to curses and my life come to a small destruction.



I suppose it could partly be my flesh but I don’t want to complain or be ungrateful of gods mercy in letting me into heaven at least . I’m still scared and I know I don’t want to die. it’s not something I’d like to admit but I won’t lie about it either.







I want to overcome my fears and truly repent though. I’ve already prayed for a heart of obedience, so I can face those who I’ve offended and confess, but I’m still fearful. I know now at least I don’t have to confess to everyone I’ve wronged, I just know there are specific people I absolutely need to confess to.



I just dont know how to fully trust god in this and I can’t tell if god even answers my prayers. I can’t realistically imagine myself confessing anytime soon because of this fear and stubbornness.

In Christ's prophecy/parable the Pharisees would not believe the risen Lazarus (John 12:9-11) and therefore, contrary to their belief Abraham would prevent them from descending into Hades, a child of Abraham is depicted as paying the penalty for his sin. The conversation he has with Abraham lasts only a minute. Nothing is said to be eternal. We know all in Hades come out on Judgment Day. So how is it believers cite this as proof for eternal torment? Rather, it fits the 1st century apostolic concept of hades as a place where souls can repent and live according to God (1 Pet. 4:6):

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15 NKJ)


24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
25 "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.
26 "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,
27 "and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
28 "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
29 "and come forth-- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (Jn. 5:24-29 NKJ)


22 “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 “And being in torments (931 βάσανος basanos) in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented (3600 ὀδυνάω odunao) in this flame (5395 φλόξ phlox).’
25 “But Abraham said, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted (3870 παρακαλέω parakaleo) and you are tormented (3600 ὀδυνάω odunao). (Lk. 16:22-25 NKJ)

The Rich Man does not act like someone who is irreedemably wicked and is suffering Eternal Torment. So how can Bible Believers cite this as proof of eternal torment?

1)His demeanor is not that of a wicked eternally condemned man, he does not blaspheme either Abraham, Lazarus or God even when he doesn’t get what he asked for.
2)Abraham calls him “son…child” displaying affection which implies the rich man is not irredeemably wicked.
3)Both Abraham and many redeemed with him WANT to cross over into Hades to lessen the torment of the rich man. That would be rebellion against God’s Judgment and therefore implies the rich man ultimately would be saved.
4)The symbolic language implies a “torment” with a goal beyond retributive justice:

If the “torment” (3600 ὀδυνάω odunao) is the classic idea of hell-fire, the Rich Man would ask for a lot more than a little water to cool his tongue. Odunao here refers to mental anguish (Luke 2:48; 16:25; Acts 20:38). Its antithesis is parakaleo ‘to be consoled for sorrow’ like Lazarus (Lk. 16:25).

Christ chose the word “torment” (931 βάσανος basanos) to describe the Torment in Hades:

Meaning: 1) a touchstone, which is a black siliceous stone used to test the purity of gold or silver by the colour of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal 2) the rack or instrument of torture by which one is forced to divulge the truth.-Strong’s Concordance



This “torment” is the kind that brings truth to the surface, resulting in “anguish” and “sorrow” (3600 ὀδυνάω odunao cp. Acts 20:38) for sin. The imagery of purging from sin is common in the Old Testament (Zech. 13:9; Ps. 51:7; 66:10; Isa. 1:25; 4:4; 6:7; 48:10; Ezek. 24:13; Dan. 11:35):

2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderer’s soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness. (Mal. 3:2-3 NKJ)

In Luke 16:24 the “flame” (5395 φλόξ phlox) causes the “agony” or “anguish” (3600 ὀδυνάω odunao). The Rich Man is being purged (Mal. 3:3; Job 23:10; Zech. 13:9 cp. 1 Pet. 1:7) by the “flame of God’s inspection”: “His eyes like a flame” (Rev. 1:14; 2:18; 19:12). The “flame” is the “visible aspect of a fire that springs upward and is usually orange”(Logos Bible Sense Lexicon). God is revealed in the “flame” (Ex. 3:2; Judges 13:20; Isa. 66:15 LXX; Acts 7:30; 2 Thess. 1:8).

From all this one could reasonably infer the “torments of Hades” are designed to bring the true person to the surface, liberate their free will from all bondage to sin and delusion. After suffering for their sins “judged according to men in the flesh”, if they choose to believe the gospel preached to them in Hades they will “live according to God in the Spirit” apart from any torment, eagerly waiting for the Second Coming of Christ when they will rise with the dead in Christ.

23 It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ hasn't entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
25 nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own,
26 or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation. (Heb. 9:23-28 RPTE)

Who are the wicked? They are all who despise the commandments of God. And what does that look like? They do not obey the Lord’s commands but they chart their own course, instead, and they walk in the ways of the flesh and in their sinful practices. Sin is their practice and not righteousness, godliness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness, and obedience to our Lord. And some or many of them are also those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, even some pastors. But their actions do not match their professions of faith.

And that is exactly what this passage is talking about. It is talking about those who recite the statutes of God (the Scriptures) and who take his covenant upon their lips (make professions of faith in Jesus Christ). But they hate discipline. And so they cast the words of the Lord behind them, and they ignore them when what they want to do opposes the commands of God. And so they do not live honest, godly, and morally pure lives, to the glory of God, but they take pride and glory in their own flesh.

And then they come up with all sorts of excuses and rationalizations for why they still keep returning to their vomit, i.e. for why they keep repeating the same deliberate and defiant and habitual sins in the face of God and against God and against their spouses and their children, and against others who also profess faith in Jesus Christ. They claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and heaven as their eternal destiny, but they hate the discipline of the Lord, and they will not bow to the Lord and give up their sinful practices.

And as far as the idea of keeping company with adulterers, several things come to mind here. The first one is that so many professing Christians today are addicted to pornography and to sexual sin of various kinds. And if not pornography, per se, then to sexually charged and sexually explicit material of various kinds, such as movies, music, video games, sex texting, and the like. And the other thing that comes to mind are these self-help groups where men (mostly) are in fellowship with other men addicted to porn.


Gossip has always been a problem, and it still is. But I find that putting other people down and talking badly about others without their knowledge so that they cannot defend their own honor seems to be rampant. And so people form their opinions of other people based upon what they are hearing others say about them, and this can do so much harm to the ones being talked about. It can do great damage to their reputations, as people judge them. Mocking other people who are different from us seems to be for sport, too.

Do we need to call out false teachers? Yes! Do we need to exercise church discipline against those within the gatherings of the church who are sinning against others without true repentance, who are sinning deliberately and habitually? Yes! Do we need to call out rampant and deliberate and habitual sin in the lives of those professing faith in Jesus Christ? Yes! For their own rescue! But we should not be gossiping about one another behind each other’s backs, especially if we are spreading lies and are slandering others.


So, what is God saying here? And please know that this is not Old Covenant teaching only. This is what the New Testament Scriptures teach, too. There is a solemn warning here against deliberately and habitually forgetting the Lord and his commandments, especially so that one can commit deliberate and habitual sins against God. And the warning is that if one continues on that course and does not repent of his evil ways, he will not be rewarded with heaven, but he will die in his sins and face the judgment of God.

But on the plus side of this, God lets us know that those of us who order our ways rightly and who demonstrate by our actions true thanksgiving to our Lord for what he sacrificed for us on that cross, we will receive salvation from sin. And in the New Testament Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our sinful lifestyles, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience, in practice, then we have the hope of eternal life with God.

And Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father. Many will stand before the Lord on the day of judgment, calling him “Lord” and claiming all the things they did in his name, and he is going to say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they refused to submit to the Lord and to obey his commandments, but they went their own way, instead. (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 2:21-23)

So, please know what the Scriptures teach. Read them in context. Compare the Old Covenant teachings with the New Covenant teachings, for much of what was taught to the people under the Old Covenant is repeated for us in the New Testament under the New Covenant. For God has not changed, and his moral laws have not changed. Obedience to God, submission to his will, and the forsaking of our sins is still demanded by God as part of genuine faith and for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Trust and Obey

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887
Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

When we walk with the Lord
in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise,
not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear,
not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove
the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

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Hi,

Open discussion about this bible verse, I will google more, but share your opinion here.

Why is the word of God compared to a two edged sword ?
What is soul exactly ?
What is spirit exactly ?
Why is joint and marrow mentioned ?

Regarding soul, when we read the stories of the rich men and larzarus that died and Near death experience, the soul is something that keeps existing for eternity after we die, some say the soul is our conscience that keep existing after death.
If we die and become souls, where is our spirit ?

Hebrew 4:12

12For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

12For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Trump did a kind of 'town hall' in Flint, Michigan. People have claimed that Harris often rambles when she is responding to a question. So in the attempt to promote a fair and equitable debate as to the ability of both candidates in this respect, this is the transcript of one answer. The question asked was:

'What will you do to eliminate those threats, sir (to Flint car manufacturing)?'

Now the answer is a little on the long side. I can't apologise for that because it's Trump that takes literally 10 minutes to give a quick heads up what he's going to do for Flint. You'll note that he starts talking about nuclear war, which I guess might be a threat to Flint. Then how three dictators are people he really gets on with. Then on to global warming - which of course is not a problem as far as he's concerned, then covid (which didn't come from France, apparently), then...well, trying to precis the whole thing is beyond me. So just read it and comment on the whole or part as you see fit.

And feel free to post any other transcript you feel will educate us on the two candidates abilities.

The video is here: - YouTube

"Okay so I'll get into another little bit of a long answer because when you say major threat to me we have one really major threat that's called nuclear weapons. We call, we have other countries that are hostile to us, they don't have to be hostile to us I always say if you have a smart president you'll never have a problem with China, Russia any of them okay.

I got along great with Putin, I got along great with President XI I got along great with Kim Jong-un of North Korea, everybody said oh you can't get along with him. He liked me, I got along great with him and he has a lot of nuclear force but you essentially have five countries and you're going to have more whether you like it or not you're going to have more, it's the single biggest threat to the world not only Michigan - to the world and uh you're not going to care so much about making cars if that stuff starts happening and we have people that are not good at negotiation the war, should have never happened uh President Biden...

I want to be nice, he was so nice to me yesterday, but you know in one way I sort of wish the call wasn't made because I do feel he's so so nice I'm so sorry about what happened and all that but I have to lay it out. We have very important and the same with Kamla today she could not have been nicer but the fact is the fact is we have to have people that are respected by the opponent by The Other Side, by other countries that have this even Pakistan has nuclear we have we have countries, India has a lot of nuclear force, we have countries that have tremendous nuclear power.

And when I hear these people talking about global warming that's the global warming you have to worry about not that the ocean's going to rise in 400 years an eighth of an inch and you'll have more seafront property right, if that happen I said is that good or bad I said isn't that good thing if I have a little property on the ocean I have a little bit more property I have a little bit more ocean but the fact is that um it's it's a tremendous problem and we are closer to World War III today than we've ever been and the difference is and I say this a lot, this isn't army tanks going back and forth and shooting at each other this is obliteration, the power of these weapons and I'm the one that revived it and I hated to do it but you know we had stuff that was 48 years old they didn't even know if it worked we have incredible stuff so does Russia China has much less but they're going to catch up over four or five years it's the single biggest threat by far to civilization and nobody talks about it.

They talk about global warming, used to be, remember, used to be global warming you know they changed the name. You know why? Because the planet's getting cooler now so now what they call it is climate change. That covers everything see, climate change if it gets...it's hot, cooled you know...these people I...I don't know if they're for real but if they're not they're covered by the words climate change. If it gets cooler that's good, if it gets hotter that's good, global warming wasn't working so well but the single biggest threat.

Okay now let's assume we have a really smart president and that's not going to be a threat because we have a lot of power. Doing business with China is a good thing but you have to have a fair deal doing business with Russia, they have so much in terms of minerals and things, the size of their land mass is like four times bigger than the United States, the minerals and things they have we can do great business and you keep everybody happy you can solve that problem. But let's talk about the local problem.The local problem is that you have countries stealing your business.

Mexico is a very big one Mexico this year we have a deficit with Mexico of $250 billion think of this with Mexico. Little Mexico you think of it as a little innocent place we're losing our ass to Mexico. China you don't even have to talk about, we have over a trillion dollars this year. I was charging them numbers that were unbelievable and now he's just totally given up the ghost and we're going to lose a trillion dollars in deficits to China. A trillion. That's not sustainable, we're going to turn it all around and we're going to do it through taxation and tariffs it will be done in 24 hours and it'll change the whole planet.

Just so you know Sarah, China became powerful because they charged... they don't call them tariffs, they call it a tax they call it, they don't call it tariffs. The word tariff is a beautiful word to me but to a lot of people that don't understand it's not a beautiful word because you have a lot of people that are paid for destroying the United States. They want millions of dollars in fees and consultation but we will in literally in a period of 24 hours we can change the whole trading of the whole world. They've taken advantage of our country for years. I stopped it. I stopped so much of it.

And then we had a focus on Covid which a lot of people said was put in there for a reason. You know it came out of the Wuhan lab which I said right from the beginning all of you know it didn't come out of a cave. They said a cave. It didn't come from France. They blame France. They blame, they blame...I call it the China virus cuz I like to be accurate you know. They call it, they call it the Spanish Flu. They call it all different names when something comes from a country except for China. We have to call it covid. What the hell does Covid mean? The China virus and a lot of people think they did that because they were not happy with me as president. I actually had a great relationship with President Xi and in his own way he probably liked me the most but maybe and maybe not. I saw that Putin the other day endorsed Kamala and you have to understand these are major chess players so when he endorses Kamala he may say well I did that because I love you and it's better to be doing it, so who knows but he...which is a little unusual I was watching you, I said that's interesting I think that's a good thing isn't it? It really is.

But look we have to turn it around, if we can we're going to have a reciprocal trade tax we're going to have a...so if China charges 152% which they do in a car if we sell a car made here into China which you don't do because the taxes too high they say to all your companies and to others and to Elon Musk who gave us...he is a great guy, he gave me the strongest endorsement and he's a really wonderful guy, but they say to him we don't want your car unless you build your plant in China and there's nothing wrong with saying that. That's smart. People say that we haven't said it for many years. I said it, we have a lot of plants going up with Apple and other things. I said you, you got to build plants. You don't build PL here we're going to put the tariffs on your products coming in from China so we can do it quickly. But we're going to have what's called the reciprocal trade act.

Now I dealt with a senator, a very good Senator actually, but he knows nothing about trade. I said here's what I want to do Senator. I want to take the reciprocal trade, if they charge us 100% we charge them 100%. He said you mean they charge us, we charge them? You got me how simple could it be. It was sort of cool cuz he doesn't care - he's a senator. Doesn't care about trade. But you know, so we're going to call it the Trump reciprocal trade act or I'll leave the name Trump off as long as we do it so when India, which is a very big abuser - he happens to be coming to meet me next week and he's fantastic, I mean fantastic man, these...a lot of these leaders are fantastic. You have to understand one thing, they're dealing, they're 100%. These people are the sharpest people, they're not a little bit backward, they’re not...they are at the top, you know the expression they're at the top of their game and they use it against us. But India's very tough, Brazil's very tough there are certain countries - I can tell you, everyone I can give you from top to bottom. China is the toughest of all but we were taking care of China with the tariffs so we're going to do a reciprocal trade. If anybody charges us 10 cents if they charge us $2. If they charge us 100%, we charge them the same thing and you know what's going to happen. Everything's going to disappear and we're going to end up having free trading again and if it doesn't disappear we're going to take in a lot of money okay? But you know the biggest beneficiary I believe is going to be your state and I won't say that to other states, I promise about your state. You are going to have plants built at a level that you haven't seen in 50 years. Great question.'

It is odd that after shutting down the decades old victim-blaming pattern against women - it should resurface when it comes to multiple assassination attempts against the Presidential candidate of the Republican party.

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It is odd how the left-wing-media magnifies that victim-blaming pattern

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Zechariah wrote to the Jews in the second year of Darius the Great (520 AD). At this time, 18 years had already passed since Cyrus authorized the return of the Jews to the Promised Land to resettle the cities and rebuild Jerusalem. Many of the Diaspora did not return being that they had comfortable lives in the lands of their exile. Zechariah wanted to encourage them to leave those lands behind and go to the place God designated for them. He indicated that there would be a time when those shepherds that ruled over them would begin oppressing the Jews and God would not prevent them (chapter 11). This fits the context of Jews of modern and postmodern history, would you not agree?

While there is more that can be said about Zechariah’s messages to the exiles, I wanted to focus on the prophecies of the latter passages to see what it says about Jews today.

Chapter 8: Zion will again dwell in Jerusalem (vs 3). Judah and Israel will become a blessing among the nations (vs 13). People will come back and settle in the cities (vs 20).

Chapter 9: Neighboring nations (Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, Sidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Earon will be dispossessed (vs 1-7). God will no longer let an oppressor pass over them and will increase their dominion (vs 8-10). Exiles will return and Israel will become unstoppable in military combat, especially against the Philistines (vs 11-15). God will personally save Israel and restore them (vs 16-17).

Chapter 10: God will punish the nations that oppressed the exiles and bless Judah & Israel. Assyria will be brought low and Egypt will lose its influence. Israel will conquer and settle in the lands of Lebanon and Gilead (Southern Lebanon and Golan Heights). Israel will be blessed and unstoppable, encouraging exiles to return from the lands they were raised in.

Chapter 11: The exiles that refuse to return at this point will be oppressed by the “shepherds” that watch over them. This will drive them to return to Jerusalem or perish. An interesting thing about this chapter is it is the last time the words Israel or Ephraim are used in Zechariah’s prophecies. This indicates the northern territories come under the occupation of a worthless leader in Lebanon that cares nothing for the people he governs but will devour them for his own benefit.

Chapter 12: God gathers all the surrounding peoples that hate the Jews to besiege Jerusalem. There God will destroy them after causing a spiritual revival in Jerusalem. The outcome of this revival is forgiveness and repentance.

Chapter 13: This, I believe, is when the temple, the fountain in verse 1, will be rebuilt and opened. The false prophets that worked for the “shepherds” will be purged from the land as a result of the spiritual revival in the land. In keeping with Ezekiel 34 (a prophecy about Israel’s shepherd and sheep), the shepherds of Israel and the sheep will be exposed to tribulation. Two-thirds will be cut off and perish in the land and a third will be refined.

Chapter 14: This prophecy looks forward to the day that Jesus, the good shepherd that is the fulfillment of the Branch prophecy, will return and deliver His afflicted flock, destroying with a plague all those that tried to destroy them.

If you haven’t noticed yet, all these prophecies, up to chapter 12 have been fulfilled. God bought Zion back to Israel in 1948 and restored all of Jerusalem to her in 1967 (chapter 8), taking possession of West Bank (E)/Golan Heights (N), Gaza Strip (W), and
Sinai Peninsula (chapters 9-10). Exiles have since come from all over the world to settle in the land of Israel. This was delayed after the Oslo Accords returned the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank back to Palestine. When Hamas was elected in 2005, the territory was blockaded by Israel in effort to starve the terrorist regime of resources. They decided instead to starve their own people and use the resources to build underground tunnels to conduct military operations against Israel. This came to a head on October 7, 2023 when Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered innocent civilians at a music festival. This spurred the desolation now occurring in Gaza and the war brewing with Hezbollah. Israel‘s determination to destroy Hamas has brought all the surrounding nations harboring Islamic jihadists armed by Iran and their allies against Israel at Jerusalem for the sake of the Al Aqsa Mosque and Muslim control of the Temple Mount. Hezbollah‘s pride is being brought low as we speak, as they reel from the sabotaged pager attack today.

If my interpretation is correct, I anticipate that Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah will soon be eliminated by Israel. This will cause war with Hezbollah that will bring about the destruction of Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon. I anticipate after this that all the regimes that call for the annihilation of Israel will invade Israel and surround Jerusalem. We could reasonably see this within the year.

Pope Francis addresses young adults gathered in Tirana, Albania, for the Mediterranean Encounters 2024 conference on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. | Credit: The Archdiocese of Tiranë–Durrës

Pope Francis praised cultural and religious diversity as “a gift from God” in a video message to an interreligious youth conference on Tuesday.

“Contemplate the diversity of your traditions as a wealth, a wealth willed by God,” the pope told young adults gathered in Tirana, Albania, for the Mediterranean Encounters 2024.

“Unity is not uniformity,” he added, “and the diversity of our cultural and religious identities is a gift from God.”

Francis’ comment about diverse religious identities being a gift willed by God followed shortly after the pontiff made headlines over the weekend for telling young people in Singapore on Sept. 13 that “all religions are path[ways] to reach God.”

The pope’s video message Sept. 17 was sent to 50 young adults from 25 Mediterranean and Black Sea countries participating in Mediterranean Encounters 2024 (Med24) in Tirana, Albania, Sept. 15–21.

Continued below.