• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

I feel so angry often about most of the Insecurity preaching that I have received all my life.

To me it seems that many evangelical preachers that I have listening to (with extended loyalty to His ministry) do not have the confidence in Christ's once and for all atonement for our sins to preach it. They communicate that His work of justification may be negated or overturned by our lack of sanctification. I have often heard from then of Jesus's warnings in parable form about the bridesmaids' unfilled oil lamps or the workers of good deeds being told that "He never knew them". I take those warnings to refer to those who Jesus genuinely never knew, not those who had a saving faith but somehow missed the mark and took the Lord's rejection.
Much preaching seems to me to be compromised, intended to keep the people from antinomianism or worse keeping them through guilt committed to the pastor's ministry. It's playing the authority card rather than releasing the people with the Good News. When was the last time I was reminded of the wonderful saving plan of God, through His glorious son, to deepen my love for Him and walk with Him.
I am in a Methodist church now (we are in a rural setting) and even Wesley with his arminianism would be perplexed by the social gospel/legalism/ we are all on the same road theology we are getting now. But that's a slightly different problem, but again the atonement and the wonder of Christ is put so far on the backburner I am surprised it hasn't fallen off.

Do you think at some time these threads will be examined by the State for intolerant opinions?

After the recent "right-wing" riots in the UK, there has been amazingly quick justice dispensed and a team was put together to find social media posts that "encourage violence and riot"
It seems to me that there may now be an easy slope to judging certain Christian posts as hostile and hateful to other religions or ideologies, solely by affirming what Jesus said. For example, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life". No-one comes to the Father except through me.
Should this be a constraint on what we express about our beliefs. Is this a sign of the nearness of Christ's return?

MorningStar Ministries accused of cover-up in lawsuit detailing rampant abuse of boys by ex-volunteer

Erickson Douglas Lee (inset), 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina, is accused of sexually abusing multiple minors connected to a youth group connected to MorningStar Ministries in South Carolina.
Erickson Douglas Lee (inset), 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina, is accused of sexually abusing multiple minors connected to a youth group connected to MorningStar Ministries in South Carolina. | York County Sheriff's Office; Screenshot/Google Earth

A lawsuit filed against MorningStar Ministries earlier this month accuses founder Rick Joyner, along with several top officials of the organization and multiple other staff members, of gross negligence for allegedly engaging in the cover-up of multiple incidences of sexual abuse in the ministry.

A copy of the 40-page lawsuit, shared by The Roys Report, names as defendants: Joyner, MorningtStar Fellowship Church, Joyner's second in command David Yarns; the former volunteer, Erickson Douglas Lee; the volunteer's father and MorningStar Fellowship Church's head of security, Douglas Lee; Erickson Douglas Lee's assistant, Chase Portello; along with unidentified defendants James Smith 1-10 (any other agents and/or employees of the ministry associated with the complaint).

"The negligent, grossly negligent, reckless, willful, or wanton acts, omissions, and liability of Defendants includes that of their agents, principals, employees, and/or servants, both directly and vicariously, pursuant to principals of non-delegable duty, corporate liability, apparent authority, agency, ostensible agency, and/or respondent superior," the lawsuit filed on behalf of one of the minor victims, John Doe #1 and his parents listed as James Roe #1 and Jane Roe #1 charges.

Continued below.
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Israeli child accidentally breaks rare 3,500-year-old Bronze Age jug during Haifa museum visit

During recent a visit to the Hecht Museum in the city of Haifa, a 5-year-old Israeli child accidentally broke a rare 3,500-year-old ancient jug, Israeli media reported.

“This is an ancient jug from the Middle Bronze Age. It is indeed rare, but we chose to present it without display cases. This choice stems from the method of the museum and its founder, Dr. Reuven Hecht,” the museum director, Dr. Inbal Rivlin, told Ynet News.

She continued, “He said that the museum is not a mausoleum, it is not a coffin, but a living and dynamic place. The museum is open, for free, to families with children.”

The rare jug dates to the Middle Bronze Age, or the period between 2000 – 1500 B.C., which means it predates the reign of King David and his son Solomon. It was typical for the region and used to store liquids like olive oil.

Continued below.

Over 16,000 Christians killed in 4 years as violence in Nigeria continues unabated: observatory

More than 16,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria in four years between 2019 and 2023 as more followers of Christ were victims of violence than adherents of other religions, according to data collected by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa.

ORFA released a four-year data project Thursday documenting 55,910 fatalities from 9,970 attacks, including both civilians and combatants, across Nigeria. Of those killed, 30,880 were civilians. Christian victims totaled 16,769, significantly outnumbering the 6,235 Muslim fatalities — the ratio of Christian to Muslim deaths being 6.5:1. Radicalized Muslim Fulani herdsmen were responsible for 55% of the Christian deaths.

"For over a decade atrocities against civilians in Nigeria have been downplayed or minimized. This has proved a major obstacle for those seeking to understand the violence," the researchers wrote in the 136-page report shared with The Christian Post.

Continued below.
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Need guidance, wondering if I'm even saved or just a false convert lying to the Lord

Hi, I'm new to this place and I came looking for some guidance, and a place to vent out my grief , I am not affiliated with any denomination, I'm just a guy from new york who wants to know Jesus but I feel cold.. Please someone help me. I have been neck deep in a bad addiction of lust and sexual immorality of all types. And one night when I've seen multiple videos about Jesus coming soon, I've had enough and wanting to be free from this bondage and cried out to Jesus to save me, to help me and to guide me through a different direction, to be my Lord and Savior. This was in October of 2023. It's September of 2024 and it feels like I got nowhere at all. I'm still stuck doing the same stupid things over and over and over again. Repeatedly I've asked the Lord to renew my mind and heart, to cleanse my heart of this filth as well as other sins of pride and arrogance, of ego and laziness and slothfulness. But I feel falling to the same vices and temptations as if I didn't learn anything. My heart feels cold and I dont feel the Holy Spirit due to being such neck deep in porn addiction even when I constantly try to repent away but I keep falling. I keep failing and I keep grieving the Holy Spirit. Has the Lord left me to a reprobate mind. Am I hopeless....i hate myself and my sin. ..Jesus have mercy..i. feel like a false convert. A liar that sheds crocodile tears every week wondering when this will end and if the Lord even hears me anymore, I know I wouldn't with how many times I've said I wanted to stop this and will focus more on Him only to get lazy again, and again, and keep falling again, and again, and again..

I dont want to be seperated from Jesus but I am having such a hard time dropping and letting go of this porn addiction. As well as the guilt from my past when I did so many attrocious, disgusting things that'd get me locked up for that no one will forgive (mans perspective anyway), . I am so lost and I want to change...am I just a doomed liar..I really am scared and about to cry once again today from just the mere thoughts of hearing Depart from me, I never knew you, you worker of iniquity", that I was never His, that I was never in his flock and only meant to be burned because I couldn't surrender my whole heart to Him. I don't understand why I can't just obey, why I can't just follow Him and focus on Him. What does it really mean to have faith and believe in Him, to Trust him with my everything. Do I have to die to show it in the great tribulation, I don't know anything..I just wanna be with Jesus and I really am in such depression and grief over my own failures and iniquity that I wonder if I was ever truly saved to begin with, that I was just never His. Or maybe I was left to a reprobate mind that's stuck on sin and death. I don't know..I want to know..I want to be free in Christ and to follow Him and be with Him forever, to be born again and into God's family forever. I don't wanna lose salvation, if that's even possible, I want Him. Please, what do I do..

Wife getting massages

My wife has been going for massages for many years. I always assumed it was a spa setting with multiple people in the room. Turns out she is alone with a man for 50 minutes, door closed and shades drawn, covered by a sheet except for the body part being massaged, wearing only her bikini briefs, massage oil, everything except her bikini area and breasts are fair game for his hands directly on her skin. He is a licensed "massage therapist" and I have been assured it is completely non-sexual, just for relaxation and, as needed, working out a stiff back or sore neck, that sort of thing. This has me upset. I feel like I should have been told years ago exactly what the circumstances were. Does this make anyone else uncomfortable? Am I just too insecure? I don't believe it will lead to any actual impropriety or infidelity, but I don't like the idea of another man running his hands all over her feet, legs, thighs, shoulders etc. in private using massage oils. Thoughts?

Major publishers sue Florida over ‘unconstitutional’ school book ban

Six major book publishers have teamed up to sue the US state of Florida over an “unconstitutional” law that has seen hundreds of titles purged from school libraries following rightwing challenges.

Since it went into effect last July, countless titles have been removed from elementary, middle and high school libraries, including American classics such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

Contemporary novels by bestselling authors such as Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume and Stephen King have also been removed

The suit contends the book removal provisions violate previous supreme court decisions relating to reviewing works for their literary, artistic, political and scientific value as a whole while considering any potential obscenity; and seeks to restore the discretion “of trained educators to evaluate books holistically to avoid harm to students who will otherwise lose access to a wide range of viewpoints”.

DeSantis has attempted to portray the issue as “a hoax”, arguing that because the state has empowered parents to make objections, and is not directly making the challenges itself, it is not responsible for books subsequently removed from shelves.

See also this (I believe ongoing) case:

Penguin Random House sues Pensacola-area Florida school district over book bans

Prayers for Turkey: 0.5% of the Turkish population is Christian

Prayers for Turkey, a country that only has 0.5% Christianity of the 84 million people in Turkey according to the religious demographic. Prayers for the conversion of the Turks to Christ.

Data:

The Purpose of the Earth

Scientists and Creationists alike, believe our planet earth will be destroyed.
Today, the sun is an essential source of gravity and energy. But one day, it will cause Earth's demise. As the solar system's central star ages, its life cycle will eventually consume our blue marble.

So how long does Earth have until the planet is swallowed by the sun? Expected time of death: several billion years from now. But life on Earth will end much, much sooner than that.

Earth will become unlivable for most organisms in about 1.3 billion years due to the sun's natural evolution, experts told Live Science. And humans could potentially drive ourselves (and countless other species) to extinction within the next few centuries, if the current pace of human-made climate change isn't mitigated, or as a consequence of nuclear war.
Today, the sun is an essential source of gravity and energy. But one day, it will cause Earth's demise. As the solar system's central star ages, its life cycle will eventually consume our blue marble.

Source: How long will Earth exist?
Creationists use 2 Peter 3:5-7 as the basis for their belief that our planet earth will be destroyed.

What does the Bible say about planet earth, and it's purpose?
God created the earth for mankind to live on. To be man's dwelling place - their home.
Isaiah 45:18
For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens - He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Psalm 115:16
The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.

Has God changed his mind about his purpose, for the earth?
God answers:
I, the LORD, do not change. Malachi 3:6
The righteous will inherit the earth and dwell in it forever. Psalm 37:29

Has God decided that planet earth is too bad to live on, and so decides to totally destroy it?
God answers:
A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever. Ecclesiastes 1:4
He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever. Psalm 78:69
He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever. Psalm 104:5

Thus, the earth remains forever, and righteous mankind will inhabit it, forever.
God's purpose for the earth will be a reality.

What will conditions be like on the earth, when the righteous inherit it?

Seventh-day Adventist Church is Christian - not a cult

The internet has some web sites discussing this topic so - I would like to explain why independent reviewers such as Walter Martin in his book "Kingdom of the Cults" argued as a non-SDA scholar - that the Adventist church is NOT a cult.

1. He admits in his book that doctrinal differences do exist between Christian denominations of every kind - but those doctrinal differences do not suffice to call them a cult.

2. Most often when attacks are made against Adventists they settle for finding that one denomination differs with another on some point instead of making a case that the difference amounts to forfeiting the Christian faith entirely.

3. Martin condemns the idea of taking some obscure unpublished statement, or a one-off statement from this or that person, or x-church-member as the main foundation of substance for the claim that a given group is not Christian, or does indeed hold to some odd belief, or is a cult. Since it is true that dissenters.. and one-off accusers are common in all denominations.

4. Martin argues that one must take the published denominational doctrinal statements - endorsed as such - for the group's agreed upon statement. He also accepts a formal request and response to specific questions - sent to the denomination itself - as a reasonable claim for what the denomination actually teaches/believes.

This is helpful since it avoids the empty round-and-round that can be had from straw-man arguments.

================================

Adventists do teach that;

1. IN the OT "The Angel of the Lord" is very often (in fact always) a Christophany -- it is YHWH - God Himself. Adventists make this same claim about Michael the Archangel - that it is He who is also God the Son, who is called THE Angel of the Lord.

So then one may differ with Adventists and make their own claim that Michael is not "The Angel of the Lord" etc - but that would be "another Michael" and not the one that Adventist speak of since Adventist most certainly to not argue that God the son is a created being , it not YHWH etc.

We also note that in Gen 18 - God the Son and two angels appear to Abraham as "three men walking". But that does not make them humans.

2. Adventists teach the pre-advent Investigative judgment found in Dan 7 where -- the entire time that judgment goes on in God's throne room courtoom in heaven -- saints are being persecuted. They teach that as Dan 7 says - the judgment does not start until after the fall of the fourth beast - pagan Roman empire.

So then one may view the details on Dan 7 differently but that is merely a difference between groups.

3. Adventists teach the 1 Cor 12 and Eph 4 idea of spiritual gifts continuing - until the point that Eph 4 identifies.

4. Adventists teach that prophets speak with prophetic authority and that includes people like Agabus in the book of Acts who writes no scripture at all - but still gets messages for the church - given to him by God.

5. Adventists teach that the Ten Commandments were never down-sized to nine and that the Sabbath commandment has never been deleted or edited by God to point to something other than the 7th day of creation week being remembered. We also teach the Is 66:23 doctrine that for all eternity after the cross in the New Heaven and New Earth - that "from Sabbath to Sabbath shall all mankind come before Me to worship". (Since the Sabbath was MADE for mankind Mark 2:27 when it was made, Gen 2:3-4)


============= That is a small sample - I will add more for those who think it should be included

My point is that "difference are fine" and they do exist - but all the examples above are things that Dr Walter Martin knew already about the Adventist church and still he affirmed that they do not constitute an example of a cult.

=======================

This thread is not intended to address the impossibly large scope of "all things that I agree or differ with regarding the teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination".


IT is also not about "so-and-so person in the 1800's believed this in an unpublished letter".

I am just trying to keep this to the subject of difference that do not constitute a cult - vs ones that do.
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Unconstitutional: Religious broadcasters, churches file lawsuit against Johnson Amendment

A new lawsuit accuses the Internal Revenue Service of selectively enforcing a law intended to prevent tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations, including churches, from weighing in on politics as it seeks a ruling declaring the law unconstitutional.

National Religious Broadcasters and Intercessors for America, along with the Texas-based Sand Springs Church and First Baptist Church Waskom, filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Tyler Division on Wednesday.

The lawsuit, which names the IRS and its Director Danny Werfel as defendants, begins by explaining that “The Internal Revenue Code [‘IRC’] prohibits only one class of nonprofit organizations from communicating their views about political candidates—those organized under § 501(c)(3) of the IRC.”

Continued below.
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anti-Catholic or not?

I don't really want this post to be an anti-Catholic screed, but I was raised a Lutheran and have recently been approached with anti-Catholic sentiments. On another forum, I received the following, and I replied. So if it is on the "harsh" side, I wish only to represent history as I read it, and present my feelings as I've felt it...
Just wanted to share with you that Luther's primary goal was to expose Catholicism's false teachings. He was the former of Protestantism, which is the way for true teachings of Scripture. Catholicism has numerous anti-Christian teachings that needed to be brought out. There are so many false teachings in this religion that renders it non-Christian.

Teachings like "Immaculate Conception," which (if you look in the dictionary) teaches Mary was sinless, which is probably their most decadent doctrine. It has always been masquerading as a Christian religion and has many teachings that are not Christian; many do not read and study the Scriptures thereby not seeing the truth of this denomination.
I would only differ slightly. Luther's original purpose was not anti-Catholic. But it ended up being there specifically because Catholics vehementy opposed what for Luther was explicit biblical doctrine.

Luther felt he found the key to avoiding Christian Nominalism, aka a "dead faith." To know Christ personally by faith was central to the Christian faith, and took place simply by submission to the fact Christ can do what we ourselves cannot do. We accept his Justification by his Atonement, and not by anything we can do without him.

Catholics doubled down on their opposition to Luther's complaints, in particular his concern about "Indulgences." Even worse, they were duplicitous and tried to maneuver Luther into coming into a trap where he would be burned at the stake.

Luther realized how corrupt Catholic leadership had become in his time, and perhaps wrote off all Catholics for all time at that point? He identified them as "the Antichrist."

Those who departed from this Nominal Faith, replete with "substitutes for Christ," could find regeneration in his doctrine of "Faith Only." In other words, Salvation by "Christ Only," and not by the Works and Traditions of Catholic exclusivity.

My own view of Catholicism is that it is not "the Antichrist," though some elements of it are, to me, Antichristian. As you suggest, Mary's Immaculate Conception is non-Christian and can lead some to a virtual antiChristian proposition that any non-Catholic view is corrupt and lost. That is "Antichristian."

There are a number of wrongs in the Catholic Church, the absolute authority of the Pope when he speaks "from his throne," the exclusivity of the Catholic Church, the perpetual virginity of Mary, Mary being the "Queen of Heaven," prayers to the saints, and the veneration of religious tradition as a substitute for genuine Faith, etc.

However, many churches have problems with their congregations and with their own exclusive traditions. Where do we draw the line? A "High Church" is a State Church and naturally includes believers and unbelievers in its Congregation!

I would say that Protestants did the right thing in drawing a line between them and the Catholic Church. One must reform traditions that create non-biblical guidelines to living in Faith.

I won't call all Catholics non-Christian. But I would warn them of the sectarian spirit within Catholicism, because clearly, Paul condemned that!
Randy

How to endure suff3ring well?

I find alot of people talk about God coming through for them, blessing them all which he can do but I feel enduring and preserving isn't talked about nearly enough.

How do you endure, not get mad or blame God when you don't get what you want or even need? How do you keep a good heart posture in the face of suffering whether it be death, scorn, poverty, abuse...

Can we talk about it?

New Trump ad uses edited quote to attack nonexistent Harris immigration proposal

The ad features a narrator saying this: “Attention seniors: Kamala Harris has promised amnesty for the 10 million illegals she allowed in as border czar, making them eligible for Social Security. Studies warn this will lead to cuts in your Social Security benefits.” A quote shown on the screen, which the ad attributes to the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization that favors reduced immigration, says this: “Harris’ amnesty imposes large cost on Social Security.”

Two problems:

#1: The CIS report doesn't contain that quote
#2: Harris has not proposed any such amnesty

A young priest explains Canon

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Transcript:
If you’ve ever opened a Protestant Bible, you’ve likely noticed a major difference
from our own Catholic Bible: their Old Testament has fewer books than ours.
Well, that, and their Bible actually looks like it’s been used before instead of sitting
on a shelf for years… but that’s a different topic.
Whereas the Catholic Bible contains 73 books, the Protestant version only contains 66.
Making things even more confusing, Orthodox Bibles contain 76, 78, or even 79 books, depending
on the Tradition.
Where does this discrepancy come from, and who’s ultimately right?
This is Catholicism in Focus.
While it may seem entirely foreign to us today, there was actually a time in the Church before
the Bible existed.
For centuries, in fact, the Church was guided by the Hebrew Scriptures and a random bunch
of recently written texts that varied from place to place.
God most certainly inspired many texts throughout our history, but we weren’t exactly given
a table of contents to know which ones they were.
Which is why, for more than three centuries, there was no “official canon” of scripture
but rather, every local area had its own versions of the Bible.
Some included books that would later be removed—things like 1 Clement and the Didache—while others
originally excluded certain books we consider canonical today—such as James or Revelation.
As the Church began to develop in many different directions over this time, heretical ideas
like Arianism and Docetism forced the Church to work together beyond the local level, convening
councils and promulgating doctrine.
There was a growing desire, particularly in the West, to formalize and legally assert
the teachings of the Church.
To do so, the Church set three criteria for accepting works into the New Testament.
To be considered inspired and worthy of entry into the canon, a text must, one, be associated
with an Apostle, two, be widely circulated and prominent in liturgies, and three, contain
theology consistent with our understanding of God.
Many lists can be found dating back to as early as Marcion in the year 140, but the
earliest extent list of books as they appear in the Catholic Bible today can be found in
a letter from St. Athanasius in 367.
This list was later included at the Councils of Carthage in 397 and 419, and reasserted
1000 years later at the Council of Florence in the 15th century.
At least in the Western Church, that is more than 1600 years of consistent teaching on
the canon of scripture.
So how is there still so much discrepancy in the Christian world today?
The issue can be understood on two fronts for two very different reasons.
We’ll start with Orthodox Churches.
One thing that is often forgotten about the relationship between the Eastern and Western
Churches is that the East simply doesn’t share the same level of legalism that the
West does.
Whereas Catholics want to define and categorize everything, setting rules for everything under
the sun, the Orthodox Churches have always placed a greater emphasis on mystery.
And so, while the Council of Carthage listed the 73 books of the Bible in 397 and the Eastern
Church had no objection to this, it also didn’t treat this teaching as definitely closing
the canon either.
Particularly in Antioch, local customs continued, and texts like 3rd and 4th Maccabees, the
Prayer of Manassah, and Psalm 151— things that were not listed at Carthage—continued
to be a part of their liturgies.
For them, there is no need to make definitive distinctions between inspired and uninspired
books, as if it were a black and white issue.
Instead, they recognize a gradation of inspiration over a wide range of texts.
It’s why even today, believe it or not, there are many individual Eastern Churches
in communion with one another that have slightly variant versions of both Testaments.
It doesn’t make sense to our Western, legalistic mindset, but it is a Tradition that is as
old, if not older than our own.
This is quite different, however, from the issue with the Protestant canon of Scripture.
Rather than add to the canon of the Council of Carthage with a more ancient Tradition,
the Protestant Bible has removed from it.
To understand this, we must look to the formation of Old Testament.
For those in the ancient Greek-speaking world, Christian or Jew, the only version of the
Old Testament available was the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament compiled
during the Greek occupation of the Jews in the centuries before the birth of Christ.
It was the version of Scripture that Jesus himself would have known, and is cited by
rabbis for centuries.
But just as there is an affinity for the Latin language in the Catholic Church, so too, is
there an affinity for the Hebrew language for some Jews.
The original scriptures were written in Hebrew, not Greek, and so in the early middle ages,
there was a growing desire among Jews to recapture what was seen as the more authentic version
of the text.
Between the 6th and 10th centuries, Jewish scribes called Masoretes began compiling,
translating, and preserving their scriptures in Hebrew.
Because the books of Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Sirach, Wisdom, First and Second Maccabees
were written during the Hellenistic period, a time when Jews spoke and wrote only in Greek,
these books were never recorded in Hebrew, and thus, seen as inauthentic, and thus, removed.
When Luther came along and began studying Scripture, seeking to reform the Church to
its earliest roots, he naturally looked to the Jews of his day, believing that they had
the oldest, most authentic version of Scripture.
This was unfortunately not correct, as the Masoretic Text is actually about 1000 years
younger than the Septuagint, and so he falsely concluded that the Catholic Church must have
added inauthentic books to justify our doctrines.
And so, following medieval Jews rather than the ancient Church, when Luther and the other
Protestants issued a translation of the Bible, they removed seven books that had guided Christians
since the beginning, leaving their total at just 66.
A decision, unlike the Orthodox Churches, that signifies a distinct break from Tradition.
It’s an example of how, even though Catholics and Orthodox Christians can disagree on some
things, we’ve never really too far apart.
While we would argue that the canon was set in 397 and we have remained faithful to that
tradition for more than 1600 years, we can also recognize some truth in the plurality
of ancient canons: technically speaking, the canon was never actually promulgated at an
Ecumenical Council until Trent, and so the East has always had its own distinct and completely
valid method from ours.
The idea of REMOVING texts from the canon, however, of taking it upon oneself to revise
the local councils of one’s own Church, going against a tradition that had existed
since before the time of Christ… that’s a bit more problematic, and ultimately the
attitude that doomed the Reformation.
Who are we, especially when dealing with Scripture, to believe that we know more than our spiritual
mothers and fathers that came before us and compiled this incredible book?
God may not have given us an official list, but when Christians do the same thing for more than
1000 years… it’s probably good not to mess with it.
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Denying Jesus

Matthew 10:32-33
“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

What does it mean to deny Jesus? Is it simply not accepting Him as your Savior? Could it be something more like the example of Peter's experience in which he denied that he knew Jesus three times (see Matthew 26:34-35; 75)? I believe either of these would certainly qualify as a denial of Jesus. But what about our actions. Can we, by our very actions, be denying Jesus? Let's take a look at what Paul has to say:
Titus 1:16
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

The above is Paul speaking with regard to a "rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception" and who are "teaching things they ought not to teach." He says to "rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to . . . the merely human commands of those who reject the truth." This is a group of people apparently in the church otherwise there wouldn't be much point in rebuking them so they'd be "sound in the faith." These people "claim to know God," but their actions reveal a different story. Paul says, "by their actions they deny him." Just because a person claims to know God doesn't mean that person in fact has a relationship with Him. God has revealed that our love for Him is to be manifested in our obedience to Him. Jesus says, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. . . Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching." That's pretty simple, isn't it?

Likewise, the apostle John writes, "We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did." Do you know Jesus? Are you living as Jesus did?

Jude writes about people secretly slipping in among true believers. About these pretenders he says, "They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." In this case Jude concludes that a denying of Jesus Christ is tied to those who make God's grace into a license for immorality. This is ǝpısdn uʍop World thinking on display. Paul addresses this pretender's mindset asking, "Shall we continue to sin, that grace may abound? He immediately answers his own question saying, "God forbid!"

In 2 Timothy 3, Paul describes what people will be like in the last days. He says they will be "lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." These same people, he says, will also have a "form of godliness" (2 Timothy 3:5) while at the same time they are "denying its power." The pretenders can be identified in how they reject the power of God to overcome what the flesh desires (Romans 8:5).

What do you suppose would be the opposite to denying Jesus? Jesus provides the answer: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." To deny self is a denial of our flesh and what our flesh desires. To deny self would mean obedience to Jesus. Taking up our cross means we crucify "the flesh with its passions and desires." (Galatians 5:24) If you are living according to the Spirit you will not be in a state of denying the Spirit's power to "put to death the misdeeds of the body" so that "you will live."

ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR
I pray this helps.

But for the grace of God go I,cyspark

Kamala Harris hires radical pastor for "national faith engagement director" because of white supremacists.

This person was hired because the government has decided Christianity is swamped with white supremacists.



If you only need one piece of evidence the current administration is heavily wasting tax payer money and hemorrhaging money for absolutely useless and worthless government spending look no further than the fact they have an actual government position called "national faith engagement director".

This person is undoubtedly being paid well to do what exactly? Why does the government need to worry about who is a Christian and who isn't? What possible purpose could that serve our nation?

This is just yet another total waste of money and an grossly over extension of government into business that is none of theirs.

My Girlfriend&Me, British&American Education Background

My Girlfriend&Me, British&American Education Background

We are both Chinese and have Middle Eastern blood lineage. She has no religion but would like to take part in the activities of Christianity、Judaism and Islam with me. We are in the edge of engagement. I need to visit her parents. The biggest problem is not that she is 13 years younger than me. I am not very healthy, I have psychasthenia and bipolar disorder.

If we marry it will be a great blessings to many. And also here. Wish She will find the truth of Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMashiahch), and understand the meaning of Freedom from the perspective of Western world & Eastern Asian &Middle Eastern&Jewish.

Have a blessed week friends here.
  • Winner
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Harley-Davidson Remains Woke

On Aug. 19, Harley-Davidson released a vague memo that was touted as saying the company would move away from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies. Unfortunately, they did no such thing. Several legacy news outlets and mediainfluencers on the right claimed a “win” for the right in the battle over woke policies at the legendary American company.

One of those personalities was Robbie Starbuck. His proclamation of victory was shared all across the MAGA media spectrum.

If only it were true.

The only thing the memo promised was that the company would end its DEI scoring to HRC—the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates LGBT+++ “rights.” The rest of the memo was purposely vague. The company never promised to end DEI, and it certainly did not promise to back away from Environmental, Social, and Governance policies (ESG), of which DEI is a part.

To confirm my suspicions, I checked the corporate website and, sadly, all the woke policies of ESG and DEI remain. Not only is the company still supporting the Green New Deal, to remove from t Earth healthy CO2 gasses, but the company still has DEI initiatives on its website as a corporate goal: Note:

Continued below.
  • Wow
Reactions: AlexB23

Babylonian Myths & Legends

I love reading about Legends as there is a lot of truth to most of them.

Here's one I found to be very interesting;

Immortal City​

In Biblical Hebrew, “luz/לוז” means “almond” or “almond tree.” According to ancient legend, Luz was an interesting and important place:

And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day [Judges 1:26]. It has been taught: That is the Luz in which they dye the blue [tekhelet];* that is the Luz against which Sennacherib marched without disturbing it,** against which Nebuchadnezzar marched without destroying it, and even the Angel of Death has no permission to pass through it, but when the old men there become tired of life they go outside the wall and then die.
–Babyonian Talmud, 46b

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