please pray for healing and to find a good job.

Do wealthy Americans pay their “fair share” of income taxes?

If “fair” is defined as a reasonable equilibrium between someone’s share of income earned and their share of income taxes paid, then wealthier Americans actually pay more than their fair share.

That might surprise many people, but it’s the inescapable takeaway from the latest Internal Revenue Service (IRS) numbers.

It would certainly surprise Joe Biden, to the extent that he ever engages in thoughtful self-reflection. Oblivious to the facts, however, Biden instead continues to rationalize his relentless effort to raise taxes by insisting that he simply seeks to make the wealthy pay their “fair share.”

With this week’s grim news that the federal budget deficit has already reached a whopping $1.1 trillion just halfway through the 2024 fiscal year, Biden’s motive for raising taxes is obvious, even if his fidelity to facts leaves much to be desired. The problem isn’t that Americans are undertaxed, it’s that Biden and the federal government are overspending.

As for Biden’s “fair share” rhetoric, the IRS data eviscerates his claims.

For the 2021 tax year, the latest fully available to the public, the top 1% of income earners (Americans with incomes above $682,577) earned 26.3% of the nation’s income. But then take a look at the portion of the nation’s total income taxes that they paid: 45.8%. Accordingly, the portion of total income taxes paid is nearly twice as high as their portion of total income earned.

Under what form of logic can that gross disparity be characterized as “not paying their fair share?” Even the most stubborn leftists must experience an episode of cognitive dissonance upon the realization.

When it comes to the top 5% of income earners (those with incomes above $252,840), a similar imbalance exists. They earned 42.0% of the nation’s total income, but paid a lopsided 65.6% of the nation’s total income taxes. In other words, the top 5% is paying almost two-thirds of all income taxes, while their ratio of income on which they’re paying those taxes is well under half.

Moving down to the top 10% of Americans (those earning above $169,800), they earned 52.6% of the nation’s total income, but accounted for 75.8% of all income taxes paid – over three-fourths.

Even Biden himself would begin to detect a logical trend here.

Continuing to expand the income bracket survey, the top 25% of income earners (incomes above $94,440) accounted for 72.1% of the nation’s total income, but paid 89.2% of the federal government’s income tax share.

When in Genesis was there female DNA..

The universality of both symbols suggests a common point of origin. It must have been a place where people had a common language, had a unified social structure and belief system — all bound together by a single paramount figure. This place would have been brimming with high sorcery, to the extent where its citizens thought they could supplant their own Creator. This would have been the first One World Government.

Ragsdale is an Episcopal priest who has been outspoken about abortion rights, LGBTQ equality, and public policy issues affecting women and families throughout her career. She has testified before the U.S. Congress as well as numerous state legislatures about the importance of abortion access and was a featured speaker at the 2004 March for Women’s Lives in Washington, DC.

The military's most junior service members should get a 15% hike in their base pay in order to "restore real value" to military pay, a key bipartisan congressional panel formed to improve the lives of troops said Thursday.

The recommendation on boosting paychecks is part of the final report from the House Armed Services Committee's military quality-of-life panel, a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers that spent months analyzing service members' pay, housing, health care, child care and spouse employment.

The panel hopes to use the report to push improvements for troops this year. It also calls for a raft of other changes: increased allowances for housing and food insecurity; fully funded barracks renovations; exploring barracks privatization; offering more competitive pay for child care workers; evaluating health care access standards; and making permanent a pilot program for fellowships for military spouses, among other recommendations.

Critics of the Biden administration noted in the aftermath of the attack that Iran has had nearly five months to legally expand its development of drone and ballistic missile technology after “transition day,” October 18, 2023. As part of former President Barack Obama’s catastrophic 2015 “Iran nuclear deal,” known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the United Nations Security Council imposed limits on Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs. The signatories to the agreement chose October 18 as an automatic expiration deadline, presumably expecting Iran to abide by the deal and earn the termination.
That's our Joe.

The discussion that Paul was having with the Corinthian church was on the subject matter of the resurrection of the dead. Some believed in the resurrection, but some did not, so he was making a case for the belief in the resurrection from the dead, as Jesus Christ had been raised, and as all of Jesus’ followers will one day be raised when Jesus Christ returns for his faithful ones and he takes us to be with him for eternity. But I am not going to enter into that subject in detail as he did, so please read chapter 15.


So, what is the overall message being taught here? It is that we cannot just believe part of the gospel message and not all of it. We cannot pick and choose what we want to believe and accept while we reject the rest. And that is what is largely happening today, at least here in America, and perhaps in other nations, too. So many people are just picking out the parts of the gospel that they like, those which give them comfort, while they choose to ignore anything that does not agree with their human theologies.

But what is the result of that? Many indeed have this mindset of “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” And this isn’t just about whether or not they believe that the dead will be raised, but it is about whether or not they believe that they will die in their sins and that they will not have eternal life with God if they continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and if they do not surrender their lives to Christ as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, in walks of obedience to his commands and not in sin.

For this really is the BIG issue plaguing the church here in America today. And it is the one that I must, by the grace of God, bring to the attention of those professing faith in Jesus Christ, in order to let all know that true faith in Jesus Christ results in us dying with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and it results in us walking in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) in holy living. But if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of obedience to God, then we will not inherit eternal life with God.

But a lot of people dismiss that as “works salvation” even though it is what Jesus clearly taught, and it is what his NT apostles taught. And so the Lord is saying to the American church today: “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.” For Jesus said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23; 1 Corinthians 15:34).

So, don’t be deceived. “Bad company ruins good morals.” Many are they today who are preaching an altered gospel message absent of God’s requirements for dying with him to sin daily and us walking in obedience to his commands in holy living, in practice, if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. So the Lord is indeed calling out to the adulterous church here in America (and perhaps elsewhere), and he is telling them to wake up from their drunken stupor and to not practice sinning.

For, if you do not die with Christ to sin, and if you do not walk with him in obedience to his commands, in practice, then your faith is futile and you are still dead in your sins. For if we don’t die with Christ to sin we are still of the flesh, and the flesh cannot inherit eternal life with God, only those who are born of the Spirit who are walking in obedience to the Lord and who are no longer making sin their practice. For flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to what is spiritual and is of God.


[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]

The Lord’s Anointed

An Original Work / December 16, 2011
Based off Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;
Anointed to preach the Good News;
Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;
Proclaim freedom for the captives.
He sent me to preach release for pris’ners
Who are walking in sin’s darkness;
Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;
And tell them about God’s judgments;
Comfort all who mourn;
Give crowns of beauty;
Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,
A planting of our Savior, God,
For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and
They will rebuild God’s holy church.
God will renew them, and will restore them,
And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.
You will be ministers of our God, and
You will rejoice in salvation.
The Lord loves justice;
He is faithful to
Reward those who are seeking Him.

I delight greatly in the Lord;
My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.
He has clothed me with His salvation,
And in a robe of His righteousness.
He has given me priestly garments to wear,
As the bride of Jesus Christ.
As the garden of our Lord and Savior,
He causes us to grow in Him.
He makes righteousness,
Praise, and thanksgiving
Spring up before all the nations.

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I pray for peace on both sides but I automatically see many Christians choosing to stand with Israel despite their government obvious war crimes and the country’s law against Christians. Is there anywhere in scripture especially in the New Testament where Jesus says we must have support Israel through almost anything?
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Hi,

So I dont like this verse, reason is why cant we as christians pray for our own healing, why depend on others, why depend on the elders. Depending on others, people can abuse if u know what I mean, some elders think, I have the power, u not or something like this.

James 5:14-16 KJVIs any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

“Every single person who registers to vote in a Federal election must prove they’re an American citizen first” under the bill, Johnson told reporters. “Our bill would put us on par with virtually every other democracy around the world that also prohibits non-citizen voting.”

This is one bill the country should be able to get together on.

Luke 17:

3b If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.

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You can wait until he repents, but you don't have to. Note that Jesus did not say that if your brother did not repent, don't forgive him. While on the cross, Luke 23:

34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

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Peter was inquisitive and wanted to know more, Matthew 18:

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

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Jesus proceeded to tell the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant who refused to forgive his brother:

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’

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What if the brother refuses to acknowledge his offense against you?

See How to resolve conflicts among Christians?.

In any case, we should always have a forgiving heart.

Paul summarized it nicely in Ephesians 4:

32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

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Colossians 3:

13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

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Forgiveness is a group thing. You may have inadvertently offended your brother at times. Be quick to forgive one another.

Proverbs 17:

9 Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.

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Do we have to forgive blindly?

You don't have to. However, it is wise to forgive even if someone does not repent. Do yourself a favor: forgive and set yourself free to love.

The Father forgives you iff you forgive others.

There is no free lunch in repentance and forgiveness. If the person who offended you is an enemy of God, God will punish him. Leave it to God.

When do we forgive?

You are doing yourself a favor when you do. You are hurting yourself when you don't. You choose when.

Hi all,
At the moment I'm putting out a call out for any good papers you know of that summarise the "I" for Instability.

INSTABILITY sums up climate impacts on economic prosperity and lifestyles. Some have modelled significant economic cuts to our lifestyles. Other studies confirm increased interpersonal conflicts as temperatures increase. Both of these can exacerbate into increased violent crime, especially as other sources of tension increase from social media echo chambers and the increase in violent political protests etc.

There's also the phrase "Threat Multiplier" that states:-



So I'm interested in domestic politics and economics and lifestyle changes - through to the very worst case scenarios.

THE VERY WORST of the WORST CASE SCENARIOS!
(Though NOT what this whole thread should be about!)​

This is crazy stuff.
Scientific - backed by peer-reviewed papers - but still crazy.
It's not the sort of stuff you talk about at polite dinner parties.

The Pentagon calls climate change a "Threat Multiplier". Climate change may just provoke already very stressed nations highly suspicious of each other - like Russia Vs NATO or China vs the USA - into conflict - and that could quickly escalate into full scale nuclear war.

If that happens, the latest science on it is NOT good.

Climate science studying Australia's 2019 mega-fires casts new light on how 'black carbon' in soot behaves up in the stratosphere. The sun's rays keep it floating around like a hot air balloon. This prolongs the nuclear winter - making it so, so much worse.

Here's the crazy bit - the bit you don't talk about at parties.

The northern hemisphere may just starve back to 1% of their original population! (Xia et al, August 2022).
The following short Youtube is based on the latest papers. (Click under the youtube for the papers).
It's truly horrific - the worst thing on my blog.

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Over 5 billion may starve.
In the worst case scenario - only 1% of the Northern Hemisphere survives. Think about that! The USA's 330 million down to 3.3 million - if that. They go from being a super-power to half the size of Sydney - Australia! Check the map. Even YELLOW is horrific - meaning your government has had to decide which of your 25% to 50% of your population had to starve and who survives! No country would be the same after something like that - not for generations. Light GREEN is horrific - 1% to 25% - up to a quarter of your population starving.

But orange and brown? Forget it. Gone.





Warmer oceans down south help shield Australia and Argentina somewhat. After reading a few of these papers and thinking it through with my social sciences background - my guess is that after the skies cleared 5 to 10 years later, Australia and Argentina would probably emerge as the new super-powers in a catastrophically reduced world. But that's just an introduction to the very worst case scenario.

I is for Instability.​

I'm still interested in the smaller stuff - like increased prices, reduced lifestyles, inflamed politics, etc.
Do you have good references for papers like that - or a particular area that you care about?

(This post edited after some negative feedback in the thread below.)

Please pray for Kalebs salvation

Sorry.

*Posted in wrong forum.

This news is slightly old, as three new moons were discovered in 2023, one orbiting Uranus, and two orbiting Neptune. These moons are tiny compared to Earth's moons, but will allow scientists to learn more about how the early solar system formed. @sjastro and @Astrophile might find this stuff interesting, as well as myself, cos space was my favorite subject as a kid and got me into science. Article: New moons of Uranus and Neptune announced


Here is the article's summary, for those who only have a few seconds. Also, to convert kilometers into miles, multiply the km value by 0.62:

The Carnegie Science article published on February 23, 2024, announces the discovery of three new moons in our Solar System: one around Uranus and two around Neptune. The discoveries were made using ground-based telescopes, specifically the Magellan Telescopes at Carnegie Science's Las Campanas Observatory in Chile and the Subaru telescope in Hawaii.

The new Uranian moon, provisionally named S/2023 U1, is likely the smallest of Uranus' moons, with a diameter of only 8 kilometers. It takes approximately 680 days to orbit around Uranus and was first detected on November 4, 2023. The new Neptunian moons, provisionally named S/2021 N1 and S/2002 N5, have diameters of about 14 kilometers and 23 kilometers, respectively. They take almost 27 years and nearly 9 years to orbit Neptune, respectively.

Scott S. Sheppard of Carnegie Science made the initial discovery of S/2023 U1 using Magellan and later confirmed its existence in older images. He also discovered one of the Neptunian moons using the Magellan Telescope, while the other was found with the Subaru telescope in collaboration with David Tholen, Chad Trujillo, and Patryk Sofia Lykawa.

The discovery of these moons required special image processing techniques to reveal their faintness. Follow-up observations at various telescopes were essential for determining their orbits and confirming their existence. Both Neptunian moons required observing time under ultra-pristine conditions at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and Gemini Observatory's 8-meter telescope.

The discovery of these new moons brings the total number of known moons for Uranus to 28 and Neptune to 15. They all have distant, eccentric, and inclined orbits, suggesting they were captured by the planets during or shortly after their formation from the ring of dust and debris surrounding the Sun.

The discovery of these new moons, along with previous studies, indicates that there are dynamical orbital groupings of outer moons around Uranus and Neptune. These groupings suggest once larger parent moons have been broken apart by past collisions, leaving the broken fragments behind in similar orbits as the original larger moon.

The discovery likely completes the inventories of Uranus and Neptune's moons down to between 8 and 14 kilometers in size. In comparison, Jupiter is complete to moons of about 2 kilometers, while Saturn is complete to moons of about 3 kilometers in size. These discoveries help astronomers better understand the history of our Solar System and provide new insights into the tumultuous early years of its formation.

I've been having sharp back pain for the past few days and had to call in on Friday. Please pray it is nothing serious.

Rom 1:20 NKJV
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Sorry if it's in the wrong place in this forum.

I used to understand this verse as me knowing God's creation. Mankind is the only one that can think. Science says we all vibrate at different frequencies including nature. Some say that's how prayer works. Then when I read the underlined above it doesn't mean just me but nature knows the Creator or all things made by God.

Am I in left field?

With what’s going on between Israel and Iran. It’s hard to stay focused on “do not be anxious” about wars and rumors of war.

Israel is surrounded by hostile nations presently, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Iran, will they soon March towards Jerusalem?

Luke 21:20-22KJV
20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Hello everyone. I was a catholic up until the age of 18. From that point on, I strayed away from the faith for five years. During my period of nonbelief, I was struggling with a particular sin. I recently came back to believing in God again because I could no longer deny the truth that I needed Him - the sin I was engaged in was destroying me and my atheistic worldview was depressing me. I repented of my actions and I'm making it a habit of reading the Bible everday. I'm now looking to repair my relationship with God. How do I go about doing this?

There is oneness in this Body, 1 Corinthians 12:

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

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27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

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What is the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12?

This Body of Christ is a spiritual reality. We are born of the Paraclete. Jesus sent the Paraclete to dwell in us. Every believer with the Paraclete is a member of this Body of Christ, which is not a fleshly reality but a spiritual one. It is not the visible physical church. The Body of Christ is the true church existing in the spiritual realm.

Christ is the head of this church, Colossians 1:

18a He is the head of the body, the church.

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The invisible Body of Christ is expressed visibly as the church. Every believer who has the Paraclete dwelling in him is a member of this spiritual church.

Ephesians 1:

22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

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Metaphorically, we play different parts in the body of Christ. Some are eyes, ears, nose, hands, feet, etc. (1 Corinthians 12:12-20).

No single institutionalized earthly visible church/denomination is the true church. Everyone born of the Spirit is connected to the organic Body of Christ as a spiritual reality in oneness. The Body of Christ is the true church as a spiritual organism.

There is a lot of spiritual meat packed into these two verses. So we will be looking into what this is teaching us today. And the first part of it is that Paul stated here that he would remind the brethren (the Christians, male and female) of the gospel that he preached to them. For we all need reminders, don’t we? I mean we all can be forgetful, at times, and with the busyness of life, sometimes our priorities can get out of order, and so it is good to have reminders, and this is one reason why the Scriptures repeat themselves.

So, the first caution that I see here is for us to be careful that we don’t get so busy with life that we forget that our lives are to be about Jesus Christ and about doing his will, and that they are not about us and what we want out of life. Jesus Christ is to be the central focus of our lives, and our desire should be for him to do his will. So we should be seeking his face daily to know what his will is for us for each day so that we are doing the will of God and so that we don’t drift back into living for self and not for God.

And what did Paul remind them about? He reminded them of the gospel that he preached to them, yet he didn’t give a summation of the whole gospel message in this context, but he hit upon certain points of it which were evidently under scrutiny and thus needed to be explained. So first he reminded the believers that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared to many. Then he went into a discussion on the resurrection of the dead.

So here is a summation of the gospel that he taught and that Jesus Christ and the other apostles taught: Jesus Christ died on that cross so that we would die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). He died on that cross so that we would be crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if we obey obedience, its end is eternal life (Romans 6:1-23).

And the gospel that Paul taught isn’t just about receiving Jesus into our hearts. We receive (accept and apply) the gospel, then we stand on (continue in) the truth of the gospel, then we are “being saved” (progressive salvation). For to receive Jesus Christ into our lives is not a formality, and it is not a one-time experience. We must daily choose to receive Jesus and his gospel into our lives, and we must be “believing” in him (continuous). For we must hold fast to the word of truth, in practice, or we believed in vain.

And now not many people these days are teaching the gospel that Paul taught, in truth, and that Jesus and the other NT apostles taught. Many are teaching a very diluted and altered gospel message which teaches a one-time belief that “seals the deal” and that they can go on with their lives of living for self and in sin and still have heaven secured for them. But the writers of the New Testament taught progressive salvation and that we must continue in walks of obedience to God or we will not inherit eternal life.

But what Paul taught was not just that we must continue in Christ and in his word and in his gospel, which requires that we deny self, die daily to sin, and walk in obedience to our Lord in holy living until the day we die or until Jesus returns to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity, but that if we do not continue in Christ in walks of obedience and in surrender to the will of God, and in the forsaking of our sins, then we believed in vain. Our belief is worthless, and we will not inherit eternal life with God.

So, please take this to heart. And please read the Scriptures for yourselves, but please read them and interpret them in their true context, in the whole of the books in which they are written and in the whole of the teachings in the New Testament. For the Scriptures definitely teach progressive faith and progressive salvation which will not be complete until Jesus returns for his faithful bride and provided that we continue in those walks of obedience to our Lord, and not in sin, until the very end.

[Romans 6:1-23; Galatians 4:8-9; Colossians 1:21-23; Colossians 3:1-17; Titus 3:1-11; 1 Peter 2:9-12; 1 Peter 4:1-3; 2 Peter 1:5-11; Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14; John 8:31-32; Romans 11:17-24; 1 Corinthians 15:2; 2 Timothy 2:10-13; Hebrews 3:6,14-15; 1 John 2:3-6,24-25; John 15:1-12; Romans 8:1-24; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5]

Near the Cross

Hymn lyrics by Fanny J. Crosby, 1869
Music by William H. Doane, 1869

Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.

Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand
Just beyond the river.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

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Hi everyone,

What does this happen I've have been trough an awful lot of trauma in my life I am trying to loose weight but find it very difficult to do so I am a type 2 diabetic and have other health problems I need more support for weightloss I am trying my best but it's not good enough.
Is their any support I can get through this website I am surely not the only one going through trauma.
I want to be how I used to be 60kg.

Brightest62