Why is the gospel of John so different?


The three synoptic gospels start different than John. Jesus' message of each of the synoptic gospels doesn't start until after an introduction of Jesus' ancestry and John the Baptist's message. After that the gospels will follow Jesus as He interacts with the nation of Israel. Jesus is sent to the nation of Israel. He is talking to and interacting with people who are, for the most part, sinners under the law, therefore, they are sinning. The NT does not start until Jesus dies. Therefore, caution has to be used when applying scriptures to His church.


The gospel of John starts out before the world began introducing Jesus as the Word of God. Then John the Baptist's mission is described briefly. Next, the Word becomes flesh and His purpose is described briefly. Then there is a wedding taking place on the third day which is prophetic. It is also important that Jesus, to honor His earthly parent, pushed His hour ahead. Therefore, John could write of the doctrine after His hour. After the wedding Jesus cleanses the Temple. In chapter 3 John describes how the bride is chosen. His message is for His bride, righteous people not under the law. For the most part John's gospel applies to His church.


Therefore, in general, the main gospel that can be applied to His church is the gospel of John. The other gospels, except where He deals with His disciples and a few other places, does not apply to His church.


Example: Luke 13:2 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. NKJV


The above message cannot be applied to His bride because His bride is righteous. Jesus was talking to people under to law and still in sin. His bride's sins are forgiven, and her sins are covered by Jesus' blood.

Another example: Matthew 19:17 So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." NKJV


Jesus does not need to tell His bride to keep the commandments to enter life. Why is that?


Romans 4:6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin." NKJV


Because the bride's righteousness is imputed to her through her faith, not works. She is ready to enter eternity.



Test: Can the following be applied to His bride?



Mark 8:31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." NKJV



People do not rebuke God. Jesus called Peter Satan; he must have blasphemed.


























Yes, this can be applied to the church. What Jesus told Peter to do is the same thing as He tells His church to do when they make a mistake (sin). He wants His church to repent and walk in the Spirit (follow Him).

John 2:13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up." NKJV



This definitely applies to His church and this placement is important. First thing after the wedding Jesus cleanses the temple. We are the temple of God. We are His fiancé, to the Jews we are considered His bride. Jesus does not require, it's good if we do, us to prepare His temple for His arrival (repent), He sprinkled His blood over everything and made it clean. After that we need to heed His voice and follow Him with a dustpan. He will clean His temple. He will put items in the dustpan for us to throw out. It is our job to let go of the things that He chooses to throw out. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, we ourselves will toss things out.

Do we have to clean the temple to be saved? No! If we had to clean the temple to be saved, it would be a works-based salvation. The problem arises if we do not want the temple cleaned. In that case we kick Jesus out of the Temple because He cannot leave the temple dirty. He will not leave on His own. Because He will get a clean temple even if He has to kill us to get it, some people will choose to kick Him out. Heaven is only for those who want it. He will not stay where His services are not welcomed.


John 3: 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." NKJV


Can the above be applied to His bride.


Not verses 19-20 because there is no condemnation for those who believe in Him. There are verses that I could cite, but here's the ultimate reason- because God says so. Under the new covenant anyone that believes in Jesus cannot sin. That is His law under the new covenant. Millions of unsaved people will scream “that's unfair.” His bride says “Praise God and thank you for Jesus. "Which group are you in?

I'm going to see the doctor for a skin problem. Pray that it's not cancer etc and that I will have a clear mind Amen

"Israelis are literally not allowed into Palestine; they're not allowed into the West Bank. However, I'm not Israeli, I'm an American Jew, and it doesn't say ‘Jew’ on my passport. So, I was told, ‘As long as you don't say you're Jewish, you know, they're not going to kill you on the spot,’" Fox told Fox News Digital.
During the journey, Fox told anyone who asked he was an Italian American and was able to cross the border into the West Bank without issue, which he felt was "kind of shocking."
Fox began his time in the West Bank with a prearranged interview with a man who was described to him by his Muslim producer as a "very smart and civil," "somewhat moderate" thinker who holds a Master’s degree and speaks good English. They sat down at a coffee shop in Ramallah, the Palestinian "capital" located near Jerusalem.
The man denied that "innocent Israelis" were killed during the attacks of October 7, expressed support for Hamas and suggested rape never occurred during the barbaric attacks.
"I realized quickly, if this is someone being presented to me as one of the more educated people, I might be in for a real shock," Fox said.
Then he hit the streets to find locals and recorded a series of spontaneous interviews while walking around Ramallah. But Fox said "things got very contentious very quick" once he hit the streets. "It was like one after another, massive love and support for Hamas," Fox said. "I was specifically looking for younger people thinking, OK, someone here is not going to support Hamas. And they all do," he continued. "It really ranged from sympathy to actual love and admiration for Hamas…. I thought I would find at least some people who were not diehard Hamas supporters, and I couldn’t find one."

But let’s pretend otherwise.

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Her excruciating “We’ve been to the border” interview with Lester Holt was perhaps the nadir of her vice presidency, although it’s hard to choose. The attack ads write themselves.
She has been enthusiastically in favor of every bad idea the left has dreamed up in the last decade: open borders, cashless bail, banning fracking, Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, racist identity politics.
Her boosters think they will cast her as The Prosecutor versus The Felon. But as the original Soros prosecutor, she is really the anti-law-and-order candidate. Installed with the help of her lover Willie Brown as San Francisco’s district attorney in 2003 and California’s attorney general in 2010, she owns the crime-infested hellholes they have become.

The establishment is powerful, and they are experts at propaganda. But they are short on time to remake Kamala. We will see.

Evidently there were people in Thessalonica who professed faith in Jesus Christ who were lazy, idol, and slothful, who did not work to earn their own living, but who fed off of others and their generosity. We have people like that still today, even within the gatherings of the church, who are capable physically of holding down a job, but who take advantage of others and their kind hearts, and who use others to get what they want, sometimes to use the money not wisely, and sometimes to feed sinful addictions. Sadly so.

But then we have a different situation in our world today where we have such things as social security (NOT welfare) and retirement accounts which people work for many years and pay into these retirement packages so that when they get to be elderly that they can retire and not have to continue to work to earn money, though some still do because these retirement systems are not enough to pay all their bills. So they earned the money which is then paid out to them in increments when they retire. This is not wrong.

However, there are many Christians who get into their retirement years who then become lazy, idol, and slothful. They don’t have to work for money, for they already earned their living, but they have this idea that retirement means they can just do whatever they want, and so they sink into lifestyles of laziness to where they spend their days just entertaining themselves. But as Christians we are to be working for the Lord, and our lives are to be surrendered to him to do his will, so we should be busy about the Kingdom.

God did not call us to his service so that we would sit around just giving pleasure to ourselves. He called us with a holy calling, and we are to work for him in doing what he has called all of us to do. So we should be busy doing the work of the Lord in ministering to the people of God, and to the people of the world, and in sharing the message of the gospel of our salvation and whatever else the Lord has for us to do to show his love to other people and to spread his gospel throughout the world.

But there we need to be cautious, for many people get into ministries where they feed the hungry, which is a good thing, but it is not good if we are feeding those capable of earning a living who are idle and who are taking advantage of others while they feed their own fleshly appetites. And I believe that is the caution here. It is good to have compassion, but compassion can be misdirected sometimes. As the saying goes, sometimes we need to teach people how to fish instead of just supplying the fish.

And Paul and Silas and Timothy here set the example for us in how we ought to conduct our lives in so many different areas. We are not to be idle. We are not to take advantage of others. And I know that times are hard right now and some people are having difficulty finding jobs while I see lots of signs up in places of employment where they are looking to hire workers. But I think there is some crooked stuff going on there high up, so not everything is as it appears on a surface level. Just saying that some people can’t find work.

So we must be discerning people, for there are people everywhere asking for money. Especially, we must pray before giving money to any charitable organization, for they are not all on the up-and-up, and sometimes the money never gets to the people, or most of it goes to administration fees and very little gets to the people. Sadly there is so much deception these days that we must pray through everything, especially when it comes to contributing to what is being advertised as legitimate needs of others.

And if we have retirement money, and we don’t need to have a job to pay our bills, at least for now, then we should do volunteer work under the direction and leading of the Lord. Even if we are somewhat handicapped, as I am, we can still do something. I can’t do a whole lot physically, and even my brain is not as sharp as it was when I was a lot younger, but I am able to write, and so that is what God has called me to do. And he has something that he wants all of us to do, and it isn’t to just entertain ourselves.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

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Eleven children and two adults have been knifed at a Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport

A knife-wielding attacker has injured eleven children - two of them fatally - and two adults at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga event in the town of Southport in northwestern England.

Channel 3 named the suspect as Ali-Al-Shakati, an asylum-seeker who arrived in the UK by boat last year.

A RADICAL religious group has raised more than £3 million to buy an entire Scottish island, with the aim to create a closed community which practices sharia law.

On Sunday, the Daily Mail reported that the London-based preacher Sheikh Yasser al-Habib and his followers were in “advanced talks” to purchase the island of Torsa, in Argyll.

The Daily Mail reported that, in a video calling for donations to help buy Torsa, al-Habib says he will negotiate with the UK Government to allow Muslims “from all over the world” to get a visa to live in their new “homeland”.

This has been one of my favorite pieces of Scripture so far

" However the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infermaties. So He himself often withdrew in the wilderness and prayed."

My interpretation of this is that even Jesus needs a break and to take time to be in solitude and pray. This shows the true mercy and human qualities that God bestowed. Despite being the Lord, He must still be present and mindful as we all must.

This passage struck me as we must also do the same in order to embrace God's love and Word.

I KINGS 18:46-19:21

In this study, we see a second example of “zeal” for Adonai. Israel was again, bowing down and worshipping Baal, and Eliyahu (Elijah) had enough and decided to do something about it. He initiated a contest between YHVH and Baal. Whoever answers the prayers and brings down fire to devour the animal sacrifices, that “god” would be GOD, who the Israelites would worship from then on.

Of course, we know who won the contest. Yet as soon as Jezebel, the queen and wicked wife of King Ahab, heard this, and was told that Eliyahu had the 450 priests of Baal slain, she sent a “death threat” to Elihayu. Well, he ran to Mt Horeb in Saudi Arabia, hundreds and hundreds of miles away. There he hid out for a while.

There are times when a “man of God” or a “woman of God” can pretty much be tired out, exhausted, and they need a rest. Eliyahu was no different. Adonai understood that. He allowed him to rest, sending an angel to cook for him and reassuring him that there were 7000 Israelites that did not bow the knee to Baal! Elihayu’s mission wasn’t quite over yet, he still had a job to do before being taken up to Heaven in a chariot of fire. Now that was quite a hot exit!

When we serve the LORD, we work to the best of our anointed abilities, yet we need to know when to rest. Not quit mind you. Quitting and resting are two different things. Serving Adonai in ministry is a life calling, ending only at death! So, continue to serve YHVH, in this way, we show our zeal. Always allow yourself a time for personal "Shabbat" time, a time for rest and relaxation. A walk in the woods, a trip to the beach, leaving the cell phone at home, or turned off. Even a trip to the desert would be interesting, that's where Yeshua/Jesus went to be alone with the Father. Just remember to bring water.


LUKE 23:1-24:53

We have seen in the above cases, “zeal” for YHVH, yet in this case, we see YESHUA himself, who the zeal was directed to, in his case, he was the “lamb to the slaughter”. Remained silent in front of his accusers, before Pilate and Herod. There is a time for a believer to protest, to speak out, and there is a time to remain silent. For this reason, Yeshua came into the world. Not to claim kingship then, yet the whole earth was his to rule. His mission was to teach the Torah, heal the sick, and to die for our sins.

Yes, there were times when he got incensed and angry, and there were times when he showed his power, yet on the final day of his earthly life, it was a time to be silent, yet a time to forgive his accusers, to accept the nails, and to say; “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do!’ “Aba, Sh’vook l’hoon la ge’ir yadeen mana av’deen” (Aramaic) and “It is finished” “ha m’shalam” (Aramaic) seems like the translation is saying “the peace’ (is restored)

Zeal can come in two forms, aggressive, and passive, we need to know when to use them.

Olympics commentator fired for making controversial John Lennon statement
MSN

Truth hurts.

Ok, how did I make it to 63 and never noticed this before? Is there no end to God's little prophetic gems? Brilliant!

=======

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”​

- Luke 2:4-5​

Mary and Joseph were betrothed and living in Nazareth, where the angel Gabriel had announced the coming birth of Jesus. But Bethlehem, not Nazareth, provided the environs for Jesus’s birth. A Roman census initiated by Caesar Augustus required everyone who owned property to register it in person for taxation purposes. Because Joseph was from Bethlehem, the census set them on the road to that village.

The Gospel writers make special effort to be sure we know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, as it happened there to fulfill a promise the Lord had made through the prophet Micah. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2).

Many babies were born in the Promised Land, but only a child born in Bethlehem qualified for consideration as the promised Messiah.
Why did the Lord pick Bethlehem? This was David’s hometown, a village that had enjoyed a long association with David’s ancestors, including his great-grandmother Ruth. To think about Bethlehem was to think about David. To think about David meant to think about the powerful promise the Lord had given him. One of David’s descendants would rise to sit on Israel’s throne and rule an eternal kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12–16). Thus an important link was forged through family history and prophecy. From the town of Bethlehem, which means “house of bread,” would come King Jesus who said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry” (John 6:35).

Prayer​

Lord Jesus, we thank You for fulfilling Your Father’s promise to be born
in the city of David, Bethlehem, “the house of bread,” and for inaugurating Your rule on earth as the King of Kings for eternity.

Amen!!!

From: Holy Land: Born in David’s Hometown, the “House of Bread” - C.S. Lewis Institute

Is there any proof that what is carried on today by the Catholic faith, carries on from the teachings of Jesus and his apostles?


The Didache is a brief anonymous early Christian treatise (ancient church order) written in Koine Greek, dated by modern scholars to the first or (less commonly) second century AD

Dating the document is thus made difficult both by the lack of hard evidence and its composite character. The Didache may have been compiled in its present form as late as 150, although a date closer to the end of the first century seems more probable to many.

Baptism
The second part (chapters 7 to 10) begins with an instruction on baptism, the sacramental rite that admits someone into the Christian Church. Baptism is to be conferred "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" with triple immersion in "living water" (that is, flowing water, probably in a stream). If this is not practical, baptism in cold or even warm water is acceptable. If the water is insufficient for immersion, it may be poured three times on the head (affusion). The baptized and the baptizer, and, if possible, anyone else attending the ritual should fast for one or two days beforehand.

Fasting
Chapter 8 suggests that fasts are not to be on the second day and on the fifth day "with the hypocrites", but on the fourth day and on the preparation day. Fasting Wednesday and Friday plus worshiping on the Lord's day constituted the Christian week. Nor must Christians pray with their Judaic brethren; instead they shall say the Lord's Prayer three times a day. The text of the prayer is not identical to the version in the Gospel of Matthew, and it is given with the doxology "for Yours is the power and the glory forever." This doxology derives from 1 Chronicles 29:11–13; Bruce M. Metzger held that the early church added it to the Lord's Prayer, creating the current Matthew reading.

Daily prayer
The Didache provides one of the few clues historians have in reconstructing the daily prayer practice among Christians before the 300s. It instructs Christians to pray the "Our Father" three times a day but does not specify times to pray. Recalling the version of Matthew 6:9–13, it affirms "you must not pray like the hypocrites, but you should pray as follows." Other early sources speak of two-fold, three-fold, and five-fold daily prayers.

Church Organization
The local leadership consists of bishops and deacons, and they seem to be taking the place of the itinerant ministry. Christians are enjoined to gather on Sunday to break bread, but to confess their sins first as well as reconcile themselves with others if they have grievances (Chapter 14).


From this, we can see quite a number of differences between what the Bible teaches, and what this document alleges is "The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, Didachḕ Kyríou dià tō̂n dṓdeka apostólōn toîs éthnesin)".

Baptism
Matthew 3:16, 17; Romans 6:3-7;

Fasting
Luke 18:9-14;

Praying
Matthew 6:7-13; Acts 2:42-47; Acts 14:22; Romans 15:30-33;

Church Organization
Matthew 24:14; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 5:41, 42; Acts 20:20, 21; 2 Timothy 4:2-5

One major question
While Biden's first two proposals will likely never become law, that Biden is choosing this moment to demand Supreme Court reform raises a major question.

Would Biden and Democrats be demanding change if the Supreme Court had ruled the way they wanted on abortion, presidential immunity, executive-branch power, student-loan forgiveness, the Second Amendment, and a host of additional issues?

The answer to that question likely reveals the motive for their demands.

Hello. My name is Joseph and I live in Argentina. I do not belong to any religious denomination although I feel closer to the Catholic Church but disagree with some of its dogmas. Thank you for accepting me into this Christian community. God bless you.

There is no way for me to reality check the things I am going to present below. But one way or another I hope you will consider these issues worthy of prayer for light from the Lord.

World rulers used have cup bearers who would taste their kings’ food so that there was no chance of anyone poisoning them.

I am praying for Trump to have a cup bearer, in a modern sense.

And here is why. Again, please just pray about it to get the Lord’s guidance.

Over a week ago, I suddenly had this vision of Trump in a coffin, from the chest up. There were no visible wounds. There was no explanation. But at about the same time I kept inaudibly being brought the word “poison”. Finally, I put two and two together.

I would certainly not be the first person to be concerned that Trump‘s enemies might try to poison him. Poison can mimic illness, especially for an elderly person. It wouldn’t leave visible wounds on the outside of the body.

Funny thing, as I was pondering whether or not to leave this post, I felt told inaudibly that milk would be the greatest source of danger. So I researched to see if Trump even drinks milk. And apparently he loves raw milk.

And come to think of it, raw milk is not all nice and bottled up to prevent tampering, unlike, I assume,standard milk is.

Once again, why should you believe me? But if you feel so led, please pray for Trump not to be poisoned. (I know a lot of you are praying for his safety already, of course.)

And by the way, I’m really not a political fan of anybody. But I sure wouldn’t like to see our nation being traumatized by an assassination of a major political figure. And of course murder is breaking a major commandment.

A half-million records and one app: The group behind a massive effort to ‘clean’ voter rolls​

CNN —
Police officers in Texas, senior citizens at a nursing home in Pennsylvania and people who had registered to vote at a Marine base in California.

They are among the thousands of voters whose right to cast a ballot has been needlessly challenged ahead of this November’s election by activists — many of whom have been inspired by conspiracy theories — seeking to prevent voter fraud.

Election officials across the country have been inundated with dubious complaints about inaccurate voter rolls, which have wasted government resources and sapped taxpayer money spent reviewing lists of registered voters that officials say are already carefully maintained, a CNN investigation has found.

One of the main drivers of the fruitless challenges is a conservative Texas-based nonprofit group called True the Vote, an election-monitoring organization that has long peddled debunked voter-fraud theories.

About a dozen people in Denton County, Texas — outside of Dallas — have submitted what has sometimes surpassed 1,000 challenges a day, according to the county elections administrator, Frank Phillips. Records show at least some of them have used IV3 [the True the Vote app].

Phillips said he has sought to review all their challenges but added the effort has become “a little time-consuming.”

Some election observers have argued that even if the activists submitting mass challenges are operating in good faith, their efforts waste election officials’ time, promote false notions about the maintenance of voter rolls and could prompt the inappropriate removal of some registered voters. In Waterford, Michigan, for example, an activist’s lobbying last year led to what the state called the improper removal of 1,000 people, including an Air Force officer’s registration that was later reinstated, as reported by The New York Times.

“A lot of these people are people of goodwill. They have just been fed a constant diet of lies,” said David Becker, founder of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research, who added that one of the “great ironies” is that “the voter lists are more accurate than they have ever been” because of modern data-sharing technology.

Melanie Patterson, the Fayette County woman who submitted those challenges [to people living in a nursing home] after doing research with IV3, told CNN that she wanted to help clean the rolls to deter potential fraud in future elections. Despite an absence of evidence, she said she believes voter fraud in Pennsylvania influenced the 2020 election.

“Dirty voter rolls mean dirty elections,” Patterson said. “If you don’t protect that vote, we are going to lose the foundations this country was built on.”

Patterson’s views were largely reflected by a handful of other IV3 users who agreed to speak to CNN.

--

True the Vote was also involved in convicted felon Dinesh D'Souza's 2000 Mules (which has been dropped by its publisher for false information) and earlier this year the group admitted in court it had no evidence of election fraud.

I’ll never forget where I was when I received the news that Father Jacques Hamel, a French parish priest, had been murdered by two ISIS loyalists. On July 26, 2016, I was in Krakow, Poland, with tens of thousands of young American pilgrims. As word spread, we offered a prayer for Father Hamel. We prayed for peace.

It was unthinkable to me that a priest could be murdered in Europe. And yet, while offering Mass in a suburb of Rouen, not two hours’ drive from Paris, Father Hamel was brutally killed by Muslim extremists. All of France mourned. The next day, a Mass was offered by the cardinal archbishop of Paris for Father Hamel at Notre Dame. Then-president of the French Republic, François Hollande attended. At Pope Francis’ instruction, images of Father Hamel were placed in local churches. He was widely acclaimed a martyr.

Not 10 years to the day of Father Hamel’s murder, the Church in France again finds herself attacked. During the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Olympic Games, a blasphemous depiction of the Last Supper portrayed a woman as Jesus surrounded by drag queen “disciples.”

Continued below.

That’s right. The same propagandist who reported Kamala as in charge of the border, several calling her the border czar. Are changing their stance and actually editing and in some cases deleting their past articles.

.

The Bible doesn't prescribe specific verses to be read at funerals, but here are some ideas:

• "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)
• "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.'" (John 11:25-26)
• "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope." (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
• "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1)
• "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Predestination I believe is the plan God has for those who will believe, not the plan to “make” people believe. I take two of the passages regarding Predestination (our destiny in Christ), and give it meaning.

Eph 1:3-12 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us [both Jew and Gentile, mankind in general (1John 2:2, 1 Timothy 4:10, 1Timothy 2:3-6), those who will believe] in Him before the foundation of the world [His plan was laid out before creation], that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined [created a plan for] us [both Jew and Gentile, mankind in general] to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself [God purposed the cross before creation], that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things [Jew and Gentile, those who will believe] in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined [having a plan laid out for us] according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.



Rom 8:29-30 For whom He foreknew [would trust in Christ (John 14:15-26)], He also predestined [planned] to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined [those He planned salvation for], these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

The Early Church made it clear that Foreknowledge is not fore-choosing. Using the terms foreknew, and foretell. Making statements like:

Justin Martyr [A.D. 110-165]

... Furthermore, I have proved in what has preceded, that those who were foreknown to be unrighteous, whether men or angels, are not made wicked by God’s fault, but each man by his own fault is what he will appear to be... (Justin Martyr - Dialoque with Trypho, Ch 140)



Foreknowledge is not seen as fore-choosing. But rather knowing some people will be a certain way.

I said briefly by anticipation, that God, wishing men and angels to follow His will, resolved to create them free to do righteousness; possessing reason, that they may know by whom they are created, and through whom they, not existing formerly, do now exist; and with a law that they should be judged by Him, if they do anything contrary to right reason: and of ourselves we, men and angels, shall be convicted of having acted sinfully, unless we repent beforehand. But if the word of God foretells that some angels and men shall be certainly punished, it did so because it foreknew that they would be unchangeably [wicked], but not because God had created them so. So that if they repent, all who wish for it can obtain mercy from God: and the Scripture foretells that they shall be blessed, saying, ‘Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin;’... (Justin Martyr - Dialoque with Trypho, Ch 141)


The word of God knows some will be evil, but God did not make them that way. They are able to repent. Justin also states, as do many, that free will is not overridden by foreknowledge, and that salvation is not fatalistic.


But lest some suppose, from what has been said by us, that we say that whatever happens, happens by a fatal necessity, because it is foretold as known beforehand, this too we explain. We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, and chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Since if it be not so, but all things happen by fate, neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it be fated that this man, e.g., be good, and this other evil, neither is the former meritorious nor the latter to be blamed. And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be. But that it is by free choice they both walk uprightly and stumble, we thus demonstrate. We see the same man making a transition to opposite things. Now, if it had been fated that he were to be either good or bad, he could never have been capable of both the opposites, nor of so many transitions. But not even would some be good and others bad, since we thus make fate the cause of evil, and exhibit her as acting in opposition to herself; or that which has been already stated would seem to be true, that neither virtue nor vice is anything, but that things are only reckoned good or evil by opinion; which, as the true word shows, is the greatest impiety and wickedness. But this we assert is inevitable fate, that they who choose the good have worthy rewards, and they who choose the opposite have their merited awards. For not like other things, as trees and quadrupeds, which cannot act by choice, did God make man: for neither would he be worthy of reward or praise did he not of himself choose the good, but were created for this end; nor, if he were evil, would he be worthy of punishment, not being evil of himself, but being able to be nothing else than what he was made (Justin Martyr - First Apology - Ch 43)

JD Vance’s Catholic conversion is part of young conservative movement​

The Republican vice-presidential nominee and Ohio senator was raised nominally evangelical, then dabbled with atheism before converting in 2019.

In his conversion, he is part of a cohort of rising young conservative figures who are bucking the general trend of young Americans to reject institutional religion — and many, experts say, are choosing Catholicism. Catholicism, religion analysts say, exudes the confidence and staying power of a two-millennia-old hierarchical institution — not to mention the world’s biggest church — at a time when so much seems unstable.

Vance has said he looked for a philosophy that incorporated doubt, embraced scientific advancements like the theory of evolution and also came from somewhere “more ancient,” he wrote in 2020 in the Lamp.

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Looking to what he wrote in the Lamp.

[E]volutionary theory in some form struck me as plausible, and though I consumed Tornado in a Junkyard and every other work of Young Earth Creationism, I eventually got to the point where I couldn’t square my understanding of biology with what my church told me I had to believe. I was never so committed to Young Earth Creationism that I felt I had to choose between biology and Genesis. But the tension between a scientific account of our origin and the biblical account I’d absorbed made it easier to discard my faith.

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Making evolution-denial or globe-denial a central facet of one's religious denomination may not be instantly fatal, but it is a recipe for failure. When kids learn better through exposure to the evidence-based reasoning supporting the globe and evolution, that's an impetus to drop the religion entirely, not just the erroneous dogma.

I have no problem with new legislation that would

1 limit the term of Supreme Court justices to 18 years
2 enforce a code of ethics on the Supreme Court justices.

In past decades, most Americans understood what it was to be immoral,
and so a code of ethics was not seen as necessary to write down and
legislate, for the Supreme Court. Now, that has changed. I have no
problem with this type of new legislation.

I have no problem with term limits, for Supreme Court justices.

But, Biden, and MANY Americans, are not understanding some of the
decisions of the Supreme Court (such as about presidential immunity, and
even the constitutionality of the "right" of abortion).

Regarding presidential immunity, the Supreme Court came up with guidelines
under which lower courts could decide whether a former president was covered
by "immunity" from prosecution, for "official acts" they did when in the office
of President. These guidelines were...

1 The act must be done as part of the "responsibilities" of the President,
under the Constitution.
2 Lower courts would decide what specific act would qualify as an
"official act" of the President
3 Acts of the President that were done, meeting the first 2 requirements,
had immunity from prosecution.
4 The former president was to be assumed innocent, until proven guilty.

***** NOTE THAT NONE OF THESE GUIDELINES IS RADICAL.
***** NOTE THAT THESE GUIDELINES ELIMINATE MOST OF THE RIDICULOUS
CLAIMS OF IMMUNITY, THAT DONALD TRUMP IS CLAIMING TO HAVE.

For example, Trump suggests that the President has immunity for killing his
political opponents.
Is this a consitutional responsibility of the President? NO!
So, can this be called an "official act" of the President? NO!
Would this be considered murder under the fair rule of law in America? YES!
So, the President could be prosecuted for murder, if he assassinated his
political opponents.

The assertion by many people, that the Supreme Court HAS DECIDED that the
President has complete immunity from prosecution for all acts that he declared
to be "official acts" when he was president, IS A CRUDE MISUNDERSTANDING
OF WHAT THE SUPREME COURT DECIDED.

I think, that on this point, Biden misunderstands the decision of the Supreme
Court regarding immunity and the President. And, it is evidence that Biden
should NOT run for president again.

NOTE: I would also say that ALL American citizens who hold the same
misunderstanding about the Supreme Court's decision about immunity,
ALSO are not competent to run for president.

Stop the knee-jerk reactions to the decisions of the Supreme Court!
Just because you may not like some decision of this Court, that does not
mean that the decision is wrong, or MERELY politically motivated.