There is only one faculty of volition—the will—for us and for God. Nevertheless, the outputs of the volition can be categorized in different ways:

Type 0 outputs of the will of God (or, more conveniently, type 0 directives):

These are "desires" and "wishes". Type 0 may not be fulfilled in the space-time realm. God desires that Israel would have only Him as King. God desires that no man would divorce his wife. In 1 Timothy 2:4a

[God] desires all people to be saved.

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Jesus said in Luke 12:

49, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"

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Luke 13:

34, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

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2 Peter 3:

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

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Type 1:

This consists of his providence, fate, God's sovereign hand over His creation, the so-called "permissive will", etc. In other words, it is everything that has transpired.

Type 2:

These are doctrinal codes, righteous precepts, morals, and the Ten Commandments.

Type 3:

These are God's most specific will in a given instance in the vertical-horizontal reality. In Jonah 3:4, God's type 3 directive was that Nineveh be destroyed in 40 days, as Jonah proclaimed. Only six verses later, God again directed Nineveh to be spared of the destruction proclaimed earlier.

The types are not mutually exclusive; e.g., a directive can be type 1 and type 3. When sin and death disappear, all directives will collapse to type 4 = type 0 = type 1 = type 2 = type 3.

Hamas leader says Palestinian deaths put Israelis 'right where we want them'​

Messages from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to other top Hamas officials reflect a willingness to sacrifice thousands of Palestinian deaths to gain a permanent cease-fire − one that allows Hamas to declare a historic victory by outlasting Israel and claim leadership of the Palestinian national cause, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Journal says it reviewed dozens of messages, including one in which Sinwar cited civilian losses in Algeria, where hundreds of thousands died fighting for independence from France, saying, “these are necessary sacrifices.”

In an April 11 letter to Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh after three of Haniyeh’s adult sons were killed by an Israeli airstrike, Sinwar wrote that their deaths would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.”

I am just wondering where we stand here.

RICHMOND, Va. — The Presbyterian Church in America has approved a resolution to investigate the influence of Sarah Young's book Jesus Calling on the denomination and might decide to ban it.

Less than a year after Young died at age 77, commissioners at the PCA General Assembly on Thursday morning voted to approve Overture 33, which called on two denominational agencies to investigate the book.

Specifically, the amended overture called on the Committee on Discipleship Ministries to make a report assessing “the book’s appropriateness for Christians in general” and to “outline its reasons for withdrawing the book from its inventory previously and not offering it for sale since.”

Continued below.

Judge orders show cause hearing following diary leak



Warning: The following article contains graphic descriptions of sexually explicit diary entries.

Newly published excerpts from the purported diary of the trans-identified perpetrator behind the mass shooting at Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, show perverse sexual fantasies, homicidal impulses and hostilities toward her parents' Christian beliefs.

In a lengthy X thread Wednesday, Daily Wire blogger Matt Walsh unveiled the contents of the diary belonging to Audrey Hale, the trans-identified shooter who killed six people at the Covenant School affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of America in March 2023.

Continued below.

My original testimony to the committee, which was consistent in every interview and court appearance, highlighted that “The authorization came in beforehand. It was relayed to the appropriate officials in D.C. and the Capitol Police. It was declined, and we acted when their request finally came in on January 6,” and “Trump had authorized the deployment of 10,000 to 20,000 National Guard troops to support law enforcement in multiple meetings.”
Clear and direct.

Peace in Ukraine or money for his campaign

VP Kamala Harris to attend global peace summit, confirming Biden snub​

My kids were kicked out of Catholic school — after being too patriotic​

A Southern California mom claims that her 13-year-old son was kicked out of middle school after being “too patriotic” in a speech he planned to deliver to his classmates.

On May 16, middle school student Jimmy Heyward was set to address his peers as part of his campaign for Commissioner of School Spirit and Patriotism at Saint Bonaventure Catholic School, a K-8 institution in Huntington Beach.

[First of all, why is there a 'Commissioner of School Spirit and Patriotism'? Oh, Huntington Beach. Anyway...]

When the school reviewed Jimmy’s speech, as was required of all candidates, he was asked to tone down language like the word “hate” in the context of talking about people who “hate” their country, as well as references to patriotism.

Jimmy’s mother, Hattie Ruggles, told The Post that he toned down the “hate” verbiage as requested, but refused to remove references to patriotism.

The school disagreed [that the problem was resolved]. The principal allegedly barred the boy from speaking, and, on Tuesday, Ruggles received a letter informing her that Jimmy, along with his 5- and 11-year-old sisters, could not return to the school in the fall.

From the letter:

This decision comes as a result of serious violations of the Christian Code of Conduct and the Parent Electronic Communication Policy, as outlined in our Parent Student Handbook and included below.

[The five bullet points all seem to clearly describe things the parents did, rather than the student.]



And so.... private school jettisons nightmare parents. Adios!

Yes, those same Jurist that return abortion issues to the sates and were castigated for months as biased -

Now they voted on banning an abortion pill


NOTE - a unanimous decision

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion for a 6-3 court. The court’s liberal wing, led by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented.

Trump had pushed for the ban in response to a 2017 mass shooting that killed 58 people at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas. Bump stocks allow a shooter to convert a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire at a rate of hundreds of rounds a minute.

The ban was challenged by a Texas gun store owner, Michael Cargill, who purchased two of the devices in 2018, turned them over to the government after the prohibition was implemented and then promptly sued to get them back. The federal rule made possession of a bump stock a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

New worship song dropped.
Plot twist, it's not about Jesus.
And it's not satire, it's sincere.

In American Politics for obvious reasons (I hope). Perhaps it should be in the Christians-only section instead, I'm not sure.

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-CryptoLutheran

I think so, Romans 1:

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

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That's lesbianism, a woman having sexual acts with another woman. Meyer explained:

How very prevalent among the Gentiles was the so-called Lesbian vice, λεσβιάζειν (Lucian, D.Mer. 5. 2), women with women abusing their sex, see Salmasius, foen. Trapez. p. 143 f., 152 f.

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Paul continued:

27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

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Paul described both male and female same-sex sexual activity as going against the natural order established by God.

TIL that there was a provision in the Trump Tax Cut plan that changed the way companies had to deduct salaries of software developers (which are treated as an R&D expense). Instead of giving companies the option of deducting it upfront or amortizing it over 5 years, it just required them to amortize over 5 years. When the provision kicked in in 2022, any dev whose salary had been deducted up front got quite a bit more expensive.

This provision was added to the bill to keep it “revenue neutral” so it could pass via budget reconciliation and only kicked in after 5 years, because…. reasons?

Admittingly, I need to shore up. Depending on your particular view, what does one see in the political landscape in response to the country’s (my view) now critical stage? The House of Representatives could use quite a bit more unity (those GOP resignations by design?). As for the Senate,

• Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy
• Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran
• Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski
• Utah Sen. Mitt Romney
• Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
• Maine Sen. Susan Collins
• Indiana Sen. Todd Young

One thing I’ve noticed Rand Paul?, but this stage has amassed new trenches everywhere. Although apparent as ever, does not appear to be of any concern whatsoever to these, , right to the bitter end, including GOP leader McConnel. It’s all so very swamp-like or engulfed in a political inferno, whichever form of tyranny you prefer. I prefer the old standard of insanity of corruption.

It has been proposed that the Nicene Creed be added to the Baptist Faith and Message.
Do you have an opinion either way?

As a former Independent Baptist (I grew up there) turned Southern Baptist (30+ years before becoming Orthodox), Just curious.

[Quoting the article, sic]
Andrew Brown, Stephen Lorance, Steve McKinion and Malcolm Yarnell broke the news on X (formerly Twitter) May 29 with a teaser and a link to their proposed amendment to the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message.

Quite simply, they propose adding the full text of the Nicene Creed as Article XIX to the 2000 statement of faith.

In case you are not familiar with the Nicene Creed, it reads as follows:

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father. By him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he descended from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again, in accordance with the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again, in glory, to judge the living and the dead, and his Kingdom shall have no end.... (continues)

Donald Trump on Thursday brought up the idea of imposing an “all tariff policy” that would ultimately enable the U.S. to get rid of the income tax, sources in a private meeting with the Republican presidential candidate told CNBC

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High heels are bad for your feet and your back.

High heels are bad for every bone in your body.

Because they cause you to walk incorrectly.

Hey something amazing just happened! I was at Christ Community Church this morning and I went up for prayer after the meeting for my illness (schizophrenia). I got ministered to very powerfully, I was sick as a dog, profoundly ill, I probably belonged in the mental hospital but didn't have to go thus far. I am now better socially, I am experiencing pleasure in daily life for the first time in my life, and I am more functional all the way around! I got down on my KNEES and thanked God for what He did for me! I now understand God better, previously I saw God as being very mean, I did not realize it but it was my illness! I also got healed of emotional trauma, I had alot of emotional trauma as a child and God showed me I had something wrong with my brain that stopped me from letting it out, I had no choice but to stuff-it. God told me that this was why I had schizophrenia, I had repressed emotions and that triggered my illness.

I ran across this interesting survey tonight as it was linked from a website which I often read for news and opinions. Do the survey results match up with anyone from Generation Z that y'all know?
What are y'alls thoughts concerning the different results of this survey?

Feast of the Dedication and the Festival of Lights... why did John focus on the "dedication" aspect and Yeshua focus on the "light" aspect?

Multiple members of Congress, including members of Wisconsin’s own delegation, debunked Sherman’s false claim. According to several congressmen present, Trump’s use of the term “horrible” was specifically tied to these systemic problems, not the city or its residents.

I'm glad to see swift action. All Americans can help stop the media hoaxes from spreading so fast.

When it comes to doctrines, I prefer to adhere to Scripture's wording. The terms "mortal sin" and "venial sin" are not in the Bible. I would not bother using these terms in the formal doctrinal sense. When others use them in an argument, I would not give them much weight.

We are nominating a book to study from chapter to chapter in a new discipleship class in my local church. We can choose any book. Which one would be ideal to pick to focus on discipleship or perhaps covering a range of topics on discipleship?

Bonus question - what is discipleship? Which book is best to learn this from in new testament?