• 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.

Rise of the 'AI god'

Rise of the 'AI god'

Navigating the growing Artificial Intelligence conundrum from a Christian perspective.

Is an "AI god" on horizon? There are a growing number of adherents in this evolving AI religion.

Click on the link and read but be prepared for a surprise towards the end of this essay.

Please pray for my mother who's very sick

Please pray for my mother who's very sick. She's been dealing with skin problems for a while now(many years) and the doctors just aren't able to figure out what's wrong. She has a psoriasis/eczema rash that just keeps spreading all over her body and they turn into nasty sores, and usually the sores heal up with treatment, but they're having a hard time healing now and it's starting to make her physically sick. She's going to the doctor tomorrow, but I don't really have much faith in doctors at this point. Please pray for her total body healing, for these sores to heal up and the rashes to go away. Please pray for any infection to leave her body and for her to start feeling better.

Thank you all so much

Russia says deeper U.S. hybrid war using Ukraine will end in Vietnam-style humiliation

Russia said on Sunday that U.S. lawmakers’ approval of $60.84 billion more in support for Ukraine showed that Washington was wading deeper into a hybrid war with Russia that would end in a humiliation on a par with Vietnam or Afghanistan.

President Vladimir Putin’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has triggered the worst crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, according to Russian and U.S. diplomats.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday with broad bipartisan support passed a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, over bitter objections from some Republicans.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that it was clear that the United States wanted Ukraine “to fight to the last Ukrainian” including with attacks on Russian sovereign territory and civilians.

“Washington’s deeper and deeper immersion in the hybrid war against Russia will turn into such a loud and humiliating fiasco for United States as Vietnam and Afghanistan,” Zakharova said.

She said that ordinary Ukrainians were being “forcibly driven to slaughter as ‘cannon fodder’” but that the United States was now no longer betting on a Ukrainian victory against Russia.

The leaders of the West and Ukraine have cast the war in Ukraine as an imperial-style land-grab which shows that post-Soviet Russia is one of the top two biggest nation-state threats to global stability, alongside China.

Putin, though, presents the war as part of a much bigger struggle with the United States, which he says ignored Moscow’s interests after the 1991 Soviet collapse and then plotted to cleave Russia apart and grab its natural resources.

Revealed: documents shed light on shadowy US far-right fraternal order

The US has far-right issues just as Germany does (German far-right leader in court charged with using 1940s German slogan). Here is the article link: Revealed: documents shed light on shadowy US far-right fraternal order


Short summary of the open-access article by The Guardian (<20% in length, for fair usage reasons):

The Guardian article by Jason Wilson, published on March 19, 2024 reveals new information about the Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR), a secretive far-right men-only organization with an emphasis on Christian nationalism (and racism). The group's origins date back to the latter half of 2020, and documents obtained by The Guardian indicate that its founders sought inspiration from the Afrikaner-Broederbond, a white men-only group in apartheid-era South Africa.

Boise State University Professor and Claremont thinktank scholar Scott Yenor is believed to have played a central role in SACR's activities. He reportedly coordinated with other initiatives, including an open letter on "Christian marriage." The documents also suggest that SACR members may be preparing for violent struggle against the current leadership.

SACR's rules place a high value on secrecy, and potential members are vetted carefully with questions about Christian nationalism, the Trump presidency, and their role in the household. The organization values influence, capability, or wealth in its members.

Soldiers Charged With Violent Crimes Will Now Face More Scrutiny

Hello folks. This is an article by ProPublica, an open-access, non-profit news (ProPublica copyright info, Creative Commons license) agency that covers current events. US soldiers may face investigations by military attorneys after committing crimes: Soldiers Charged With Violent Crimes Will Now Face More Scrutiny Before They Can Simply Leave the Army


Here is a summary of the ProPublica article on soldiers charged with crimes. ProPublica has very lax copyright regulations:

The ProPublica article by Vianna Davila, published on April 19, 2024, reports that the U.S. Army will no longer allow military commanders to decide on their own whether soldiers accused of certain serious crimes can leave the service instead of facing a court-martial. This change comes in response to an investigation by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune, and Military Times that exposed how hundreds of soldiers charged with violent crimes were administratively discharged rather than going to trial.

Under the new rule, military commanders will no longer have sole authority to grant a soldier's request for a discharge in lieu of court-martial (Chapter 10) in cases involving sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, kidnapping, and murder. Instead, the newly created Office of Special Trial Counsel, a group of military attorneys who specialize in handling cases involving violent crimes, must also approve such decisions. Without the attorneys' approval, charges against a soldier cannot be dismissed.

Colorado organizers fail to gather enough signatures to put anti-abortion amendment on ballot; abortion rights amendment has ~double the amount needed

Colorado organizers fail to gather enough signatures to put anti-abortion measure on the ballot

The group needed to collect 124,238 signatures by the April 18 deadline. Faye Barnhart, co-sponsor of the measure, told CBS News that the group had collected "tens of thousands of signatures," but fell short.

In a press release, the Colorado Life Initiative blamed abortion opponents they deemed "ProLife In Name Only" — even calling them "PLINOs"

['Are the PLINOs in the room with us right now?']

An abortion rights group, Coloradans for Reproductive Freedom, appears to have been more successful in its signature collection efforts. It hopes to put a constitutional amendment enshrining the right to an abortion on the ballot and submitted 230,000 signatures to the secretary of state's office on Thursday. The group's signatures must now be validated by the secretary of state.

Back in Communion

Hi Everyone,


I am happy to say I am officially back in the Orthodox Church. I did my lifetime confession last week and also had my first communion in many years Wednesday night. After not having communion for several decades, I had it twice in one week which is amazing.

My wife is going to be baptized this Saturday on Lazarus Saturday which is even more amazing. She has been on her own journey. She was immediately drawn to the church after I brought her for the first time - a year ago.

It is strange to think I am actually Orthodox again which is really cool. I spent most of my life away from the church but still interested in it. Some of my "Orthodox Wanderer" posts are kind of embarrassing but that was where I was at.

I feel a slight difference after the communion. I feel the same but a couple times I noticed that I had check myself. I was getting mad about an unexpected dental issue and I had to pause. I am Orthodox now. I just can't let my tempter flair like I used to.

Will post more later.


Prodigal 7

I committed the unpardonable sin

The Holy Spirit has been very longsuffering in my life but I know he left rightfully so. I’ve resisted him all my life and I never listened..as a result I committed some serious and evil sins and I’ve destroyed my life. I’m trying to go back to god but I know I’m the past I deliberately purposely blasphemed the Holy Spirit by spitefully never listening- I did so with the intent in my heart. I was still an unbeliever that was never saved because I had no saving faith it was professing faith. I don’t know how ti cope with the fact that I can’t go to heaven- I’m trying to turn from my ways but I know that I’ve seared my conscience because I was impetinent in my sins and these sins are orettt hard to commit against conviction- I had to use my will to pursue these sins going against my conscience and the Holy Spirit. I can’t repent from the heart and I desperately need regeneration however I can’t repent and I can’t come back to god. I committed the one sin he doesn’t forgive. I refused to let the Holy Spirit work within me and now I’m lost forever.


Edit- I self examined and found that I have a seared conscience

Mark Driscoll Calls Out Megachurch over Controversial Sword-Swallowing Performance at Men's Event

"I've been up since 1 o'clock in the morning," Driscoll, the senior and founding pastor of Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, told attendees at the Stronger Men's Conference, which was held April 12 and 13 at the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri.

"The reason I'm hoarse is I have been praying and my heart is very burdened for you. And I want to be very careful with this and it's not what I want to say, but the Jezebel spirit has already been here."

"The Jezebel Spirit opened our event. This is a rebuke and a correction of no one. This is an observation. Before the word of God was open, there was a platform,” he continued.

“It was a high place. On it was a pole, an Asherah, the same thing that's used in a strip club for women who have the Jezebel spirit to seduce men.

"In front of that was a man, who ripped his shirt off like a woman does in front of a pole at a strip club."

According to Newsweek, Driscoll noted that the man “ascended” the pole before “he swallowed a sword and Jesus cried.”
At that moment, John Lindell, lead pastor of the James River Church in Missouri, who organized the Stronger Men's Conference, can be heard calling Driscoll’s name and saying he was “out of line.”

"Okay, Pastor John, I'll receive that," Driscoll said before going off-stage. "Thank you."
As Lindell went up on stage after Driscoll left, attendees started to boo loudly and many could be heard chanting "bring him back!"

Continued below.

Pew Research: Biden in trouble with Catholic voters

Incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden, a Catholic, is battling a high unfavorability rating among his fellow Catholics, according to survey data released by the Pew Research Center.

According to the data, neither Biden nor his Republican rival, former president Donald Trump, are viewed favorably by a majority of Catholics surveyed, but Biden is the more unpopular of the two.

The findings were part of a presentation on “Religion and Politics Ahead of the U.S. Elections” by Pew’s associate director of research, Greg Smith, at the 2024 annual conference of the Religion News Association, which concluded over the weekend.

Included in the data provided by Smith, Pew’s late February survey of 12,000 U.S. adults found that only 35% of Catholics hold a favorable view of Biden while 64% have an unfavorable view of the incumbent president.

Continued below.

Supreme Court exposes Biden’s selective prosecution of political opponents

“Would a sit-in that disrupts a trial or access to a federal courthouse qualify [as illegal obstruction]?” Gorsuch asked Biden’s solicitor general, Elizabeth Prelogar. “Would a heckler at today’s audience qualify or a heckler at the State of the Union address? Would pulling a fire alarm before a vote qualify for 20 years in federal prison?”
Progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) used the fire alarm stunt before a key spending vote last Sept. 30 and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge carrying negligible penalties, but he bragged about not being charged for obstructing House proceedings even though that’s what he had obviously done when the alarm forced an evacuation.

Bowman BRAGGED about not being charged. The double standard is clear, and the violations of our Constitution need to stop.

In That Day

I read Isaiah 12 for my quiet time with the Lord the morning of May 21, 2011. I learned that “That Day” refers to both the Day of our Salvation (deliverance) and to the Day of Judgment when Jesus Christ comes to judge the earth and its inhabitants. Here we see Christ Jesus as the Savior and deliverer, following the time of judgment.

The Lord had been angry with his people, but now his anger was turned away from them, and so he comforted them with his salvation (deliverance). This speaks, I believe, of both physical and spiritual deliverance (salvation). So, “That Day” has both a negative and a positive aspect to it. On one end, they were under God’s wrath in divine judgment and on the other end, he delivered them from his wrath, and he restored them to himself, both physically and spiritually.

Before we trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we are under God’s wrath in divine judgment. We are separate from God, without hope, and bound in slavery to sin. So, Jesus Christ died on that cross, taking our sins upon himself, putting sin to death with him, so that, by faith in him, we might be delivered from slavery to sin and be free to walk in his holiness.

I believe that at the end of time that God/Jesus will judge not only unbelievers, but he will judge (discipline) his adulterous and idolatrous church, but not to destroy her, but to save her out of her adulterous and idolatrous ways, and to deliver her out of her short-sightedness due to her giving way to deception and falling prey to the ways of this sinful world. At this time of judgment (divine discipline), I believe, he will revive his church, and from his revived church the gospel will go forth so that many will be saved.

In That Day

An Original Work / May 21, 2011
Based off Isaiah 12


In that day you will say:
“I will praise You, Lord.
I know You were angry;
anger’s turned away.
God is my salvation;
I’ll trust; not afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, my strength;
the Lord, Lord, my song;
He is my salvation;
Lord, my comforter.”
With joy you’ll draw water
from salvation’s wells.

In that day you will say:
“Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on His holy name;
make Him known today.
Proclaim: He’s exalted.
Tell what He has done.
Sing, for He is glorious;
make this known to all.
Shout aloud; sing for joy,
people of Zion;
Great is the Holy One,
who among us dwells.”

Login to view embedded media

They Do Not Honor God

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 1:18-25 ESV)

What does it mean to be godly and to be righteous in the sight of God? This has to do with us living lives which are pleasing to God, in submission to Christ as Lord, in surrender of our wills to the will of God, in true worship of the Lord, which is to give our lives to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him. It means that we love (prefer) what God prefers, which is what is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, and faithful to God. And it engages us, in the power of God, doing what is right in God’s eyes.

So to be ungodly and unrighteous in our deeds is to do the opposite of what it means to be godly and righteous, by God’s standards. It means we are not living lives pleasing to God, but to the flesh, and for self. It means we are not living in submission to Christ as Lord, and we are not living in surrender of our wills to the will of God, in true worship of the Lord. Our lives are not being given over to the Lord as living sacrifices, because self is still on the throne. And so we are preferring what is of the flesh in place of God.

So, this is not just about those people in this world who have never professed faith in Jesus Christ and who refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. This is about anyone who prefers self and sin over true worship of God in surrender of their lives to do the will of God. This is about those who, in practice, are living in sexual immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, committing adultery, and/or in unfaithfulness, etc. Although they know who God is, they do not honor him as Lord (Master).

So, what we profess with our lips has little to do with this. What we do in love response to God for what he did for us in sending Jesus Christ to the cross to die for our sins is what really matters to God. For we can honor Christ with our lips but deny him with our actions, and that is not true honor of God, but it is false. So we need to understand here that this wrath of God is not aimed only at those who do not profess him as Lord and Savior, but at those who by their unrighteous deeds suppress the truth about God.

This wrath of God is aimed at all who do not honor God with their lives in how they live, but who go after the things of this world – the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life – instead of honoring Jesus Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives. For they truly worship what is created rather than the creator, for that is what they chase after. And so God gives them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, for they traded the truth for a lie.

And honestly, this is where many professers of faith in Jesus Christ in America are today, exchanging the truth about God and about his gospel for a lie which is telling them that they can have faith in Christ, have all their sins forgiven, and be on their way to heaven, but regardless of how they live. And so their gods become the things of this world and of the flesh, and God is not their God and Lord, but the world and the flesh are their gods. For that is what they worship, and not God, in truth.

“Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1:32 ESV)

And this is yet another aspect of the same whole. Even if they do not do some (or all) of the really wicked stuff themselves, they watch TV shows, movies, videos, cartoons, and games (participatory) which glorify these things and which give approval to them and which feed their minds with the filth of the world. And they give honor to these deeds by giving their time and attention and affections to them, and by giving their approval of them. And we can sin against the Lord just in our minds, you know.

So what we need to understand here is that the wrath of God is not just against those who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ. The wrath of God is against all who by their unrighteous and ungodly deeds suppress the truth about God, and about his gospel, and about his righteousness and his plan for our lives, that we should surrender our lives to him in submission to his will and purpose for our lives, and deny self, and die daily to sin, and walk in obedience to our Lord until the end of time.

And so we need to understand that giving lip service to God alone is not going to secure heaven for any of us. For the Scriptures teach that, as true believers and followers of Christ, that we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but to God. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (Romans 6:1-23).

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

A Believer’s Prayer

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray
To be Yours, and Yours always.
Lead me in Your truth today.
May I love You, and obey.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
When I sin, may I confess;
Bow before You when I pray;
Live for You and You always.

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.
Life with You will never end.
You are with me through each day,
Giving love and peace always.
You will ne’er abandon me.
From my sin You set me free.
You died on that cruel tree,
So I’d live eternally.

Soon You’re coming back for me;
From this world to set me free;
Live with You eternally.
Oh, what joy that brings to me.
I will walk with You in white;
A pure bride, I’ve been made right
By the blood of Jesus Christ;
Pardoned by His sacrifice.

Login to view embedded media

First Religious Charter School Sparks Legal, Philosophical Battles

Oklahoma school, which is set to become the nation’s first religious charter, finds little support among broader community charter advocates​


A legal battle over a proposed charter school in Oklahoma could unlock a new avenue for religious education—and some of the fiercest opposition is coming from within the existing charter-school movement.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently heard arguments over whether to allow a publicly funded, expressly religious Catholic charter school, which would represent the first of its type in the nation.

State laws have long barred such schools. Supporters, including conservative lawyers and religious-education advocates, call those laws discriminatory and say they run afoul of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings. Some observers expect the issue to eventually reach the high court.

If the effort to allow religious charters is successful, it could open up school options for some parents, redirect public money to support religious instruction and upend the charter-school movement and publicly funded education more broadly.

Some charter advocates are wary of this future. They say that charters were always intended to be secular, public schools. A religious charter school, they say, is a contradiction in terms.

“It’s a complete repudiation of the central principles of the chartering idea,” said Joe Nathan, who was a leader in the successful effort to pass the country’s first charter-school law in Minnesota in 1991.

Charter schools are typically run by private nonprofit boards, overseen by public agencies and funded with public dollars. The idea has held appeal across the political spectrum, including among Democrats supportive of school choice but wary of vouchers that would fund private religious schools. Charter schools, which exist in 44 states, have grown rapidly since their creation and now educate nearly four million students, amounting to 7% of all publicly educated students.


Continued below.

Millions at risk of floods in China’s Guangdong province after heavy rain

Man, the weather seems to be getting worse. China is experiencing floods that may impact a large swathe of the Guangdong Province. I will pray for these folks in China: Millions at risk of floods in China’s Guangdong province after heavy rain


Here is a 5 or fewer sentence summary of the open-access article that is a collaboration between Reuters & The Guardian (<20% of the article length):

This is a summary of a Guardian article by Reuters, published April 21, 2024. In a grave warning, Chinese authorities in Guangdong province have initiated emergency plans to protect over 100 million people as major rivers and waterways are at risk of causing dangerous floods due to unprecedented heavy rains and spike in water levels. The Xijiang and Beijiang river basins have seen water levels rise to a point that only has a 1/50 chance of occurring annually. Torrential downpours and strong winds have affected several parts of China for weeks, leading to evacuations, power cuts, and school suspensions. Over 20K people have already been evacuated in Qingyuan alone.

Hopefully, my friend here @essentialsaltes likes my shorter format summaries, instead of the four paragraph summaries I did prior to April 18, 2024.

God said, God Said, God Called, God Divided, God Saw.

We are having a discussion about the word DAY in Genesis chapter one at the beginning of the Bible. The first five Hebrew words in the Bible are: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" According to the law of first mention all of the Bible is an explaination of the word Beginning because we are told: God declares the end from the beginning. The beginning of Creation was far less than a trillionth of a second. So let us just say everything began in a moment. What began: "Heaven and Earth". We currently believe that Heaven or the universe is 13.8 trillion years old. The earth is said to be 4.5 billion years old. If you use these numbers the first day was 9.3 billion years.

Then we are told God divided night and day, light and darkness. We are also told that God is light and there is no darkness in Him. I wonder about black holes and event horizons but that is another story. Here we see God said, God saw, God divided and God called.

What does said, saw, divided and called have to do with the first day? I think we need to examine this if we are going to decide if a day is 24 hours or 8 or 9 billion years.

3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

German far-right leader in court charged with using 1940s German slogan

Man, seems like Germany has issues with the far-right as well just as the US has the MAGA and fascist groups. The article is from a Guardian collaboration with the Associated Press: German far-right leader in court charged with using Nazi slogan

Any Germans here on Christian Forums, such as @Nithavela ? What are your thoughts on this news?


Short summary of the open-access article by The Guardian (<20% in length, for fair usage reasons):

Björn Höcke, a prominent far-right figure in Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, stands trial on charges of using a Nazi slogan, "Everything for Germany!," during a speech in May 2021. Prosecutors claim Höcke, the leader of AfD's eastern state branch in Thuringia, was aware of the phrase's Nazi origins as a slogan of the SA stormtroopers. The trial began on April 18, 2024 and Höcke maintains his innocence, insisting he was unaware of the slogan's history. Demonstrators gathered outside the court to protest against Höcke and the AfD party. With Thuringia's state election approaching on September 1, 2024, and the AfD in first place in polls with around ~30% support, the party's strength complicates coalition formation. The AfD has been criticized for radicalization and extremist views, with its Thuringia branch under official surveillance as a "proven right-wing extremist" group. The party's leader in Berlin once called the Holocaust memorial a "monument of shame," and Höcke has been influential in moving the AfD further to the right.

Movies and Christianity

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9 ESV)

When I was a young adult, young in my Christian faith and practice, I was discerning and picky about what I would allow myself to watch on TV. I can’t say I did that perfectly, but I was guarded about what I watched and about what I would allow my children to watch. But little by little the influences of the world were introduced into my home via movie rentals, and then my husband and I became avid movie watchers. And little by little we allowed a little bit more than we did before until eventually we compromised too far.

And then the Lord convicted me that I needed to stop watching stuff that was dishonoring to him, and so I did, and then a few years later I asked my husband if he would do something with me, and if he would pray about it, for he professes faith in Jesus Christ. I asked him if he would take all of our movies, and we had a hundred of them, probably, and if he would examine each one of them with me against this Scripture in Philippians 4. So, we did that, and I think we only had two movies left that passed the test.

That was in 2008, I believe, which is when we also got rid of our TV. We didn’t have a TV again until just recently. Then a neighbor of ours was moving out and he could not take one of his TVs with him, and my husband asked him if he could have the TV. But at first we were using it for Wii bowling, which is bowling with a remote and not a real live ball, and on a TV screen, and not live and in person. For this is exercise for us, which we need, and physically it is the only bowling I can do because I have neuropathy in one leg.

But then he started looking at movies, and then I asked him about looking at Christian movies to see if there were any decent ones. For I had tried “Christian” films many years ago which were not much better than the non-Christian films because they were trying to be too realistic, and they were putting in my mind things I did not want there. And most of them that we saw that were called “Christian” didn’t even mention the name of Jesus, but they seemed more ecumenical with a generic “all fit” god.

Anyway, we found a group of movies on YouTube TV by the Christiano brothers, which have been clean cut, honoring to God, and promoting the truth of the gospel, from what I have seen so far. For in their stories they present faith in Jesus Christ as us repenting of our sins and then turning our lives over to Jesus Christ to follow him with our lives, under his command, and resulting in changed lives which are following Jesus in obedience and which are no longer living for the sinful pleasures of the flesh. Refreshing!

So this evening we watched another one of their movies called, “Power of the Air,” which is on YouTube, and is a Dave Christiano Film. And in this movie we were presented with the reality of the spiritual condition of the church in America, at large, and how so much (probably the majority) of what is called “church” is so far from God and from who he saved and called us to be and to do. For so many professing Christians are so worldly and they are living not much different from those non-professers of faith.

And the film largely centered on movie watching and how so many people who call themselves Christians today are busy entertaining themselves with the garbage that the world is putting out and so their lives are not surrendered to Jesus Christ, and they are not walking in obedience to his commands, and so they are not the light of the world and the salt of the earth shining the light of the gospel to the people of the world, because they are joining in with the world in being entertained by the world.

And as I was thinking about all of this, and how that used to be me, too, but how the Lord has turned my life around – all glory to God – then the Lord put the lyrics to a secular song in my mind which describes how many professing Christians today approach faith in Jesus Christ. It is much like some of the lyrics to the secular song, “I Have Nothing,” which was famously sung by Whitney Houston:

“Share my life, take me for what I am
'Cause I'll never change all my colors for you
Take my love, I'll never ask for too much
Just all that you are and everything that you do.”

[By Carlo Donida / Giulio Mogol Rapetti / Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller

They want Jesus Christ, but on their terms, not on his terms. And they want him to do for them whatever they want him to do, but they want Jesus to take them just as they are, for they don’t intend to change who they are and what they do, because they don’t believe they have to. For many are being taught that they don’t have to do anything. But while it is true that we can do nothing to earn nor to deserve our own salvation, in our own flesh, true biblical faith in Jesus Christ requires death to sin and living to God.

For Jesus said that his true sheep listen to (heed) him, he knows them, and they follow him in obedience (John 10:27-30), and they have eternal life, and they will not perish, etc. And he also taught that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and walk in obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God (Luke 9:23-26).

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Video Talk

Login to view embedded media
Caution: This link may contain ads

The Spirit Calling

An Original Work / November 12, 2019

Hear the Spirit calling.
He’ll keep you from falling.
Tenderly He’s calling,
“Come and follow Him.”

Walk with Jesus daily.
Don’t give in to lazy.
Folks may call you crazy.
Fellowship with Him.

Follow where He leads you.
Eat what Jesus feeds you.
His love will renew you
If you follow Him.

Do what Jesus tells you.
Don’t let your faith fail you.
His love will avail you
If you walk with Him.

Jesus, Lord and Savior,
Reigneth now forever.
He gave us His favor
So we’d live with Him.

Turning now from our sin,
Holy Spirit live-in.
Holiness we walk in,
Purified by Him.

Login to view embedded media

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
5,875,697
Messages
65,369,983
Members
276,218
Latest member
WesT81