Im curious about the phrase "spiritual accountability" that I have heard in some pentecostal churches but not not others. I wonder if it's a reasonably normal pentecostal phrase to use, or if it's unique to a particular types of churches pentecostal or not. Or is it actually not common at all? I know that the US (for example) is sometimes culturally different in terms of pentecostalism.

I tend to hear it in the context of leaders talking about Christians who are not listening to what they are told by the leaders. (As in its an accountability to rules or commands from a leader as opposed to rules or commands in the Bible more generally), it is also seemingly typically implied that there is a spiritual blessing of some type for people who "remain accountable" to these leaders.

What in your opinion are the barebone minimum requirements for salvation? I will share mine and open mine for discussion although a vast majority of Christians here are probably going to agree with these 4 "requirements".


1. Belief in Christ's Death, Burial, & Resurrection. This virtually all who carry the label of Christianity will agree on. You cannot be saved without belief in Christ's Burial, Death, and Resurrection because it is written everywhere in the New Testament that this particular belief is required for Salvation and it is the very heart of the Christian Gospel. If you deny Christ's resurrection than you cannot be Christian and cannot be saved.

2. Repentance. Every true follower of God will recognize in their lives that not only have they sinned against God but that they fall SO far short of God's perfect standard that their ONLY hope is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. One big sign of the believer is not that have repented once but rather that they keep on repenting and they keep on believing to the very end of their lives. EVERY sheep of God will recognize the masters voice and will seek to follow him and his commands which are clearly listed in the Bible. Not out of duty but rather because it is something that every Child of God naturally does as the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin daily and as we live out the lives that God prepared for us. This also a vast majority of Christians believe across all denominations. This isn't so much a requirement of salvation but rather evidence of Regeneration. No repentance = no regeneration and no regeneration = no salvation.

3. Belief in the Trinity and Christ's divinity. This is also important to salvation because the Apostles died for this very belief despite bring under constant torture. The church as a whole has carried belief in Christ's divinity and every child of God believes in Christ's divinity because not only did Jesus claim to be the very God of the universe, he WAS the God of the universe.

4. Fruit. Jesus said that all of his followers will bear fruit and that those who do not bear fruit will be "thrown into the fire and burned" . If there is a lack of fruit in a professing Christians life than that is evidence that said Christian does not have a relationship with Jesus at all because God has said that all of his sheep will bear fruit. Fruit bearing is a part of sanctification that happens immediately after a child of God has been regenerated and will not show up in a later time. If it shows up at a later time than that merely means that regeneration started after they claimed Christ as savior and not before.

These are the four main required beliefs of Christianity. Without these four beliefs I argue that one cannot be a Christian and one cannot possibly be regenerated. I argue that it's possible for a non child of God to have the first requirement but the last three are what separate a sheep of God from a goat.

Hello everyone, my name is hayden. I'm a greek orthodox christian man. I'm an american. I'm joining to have some civil discussion and im excites to give my opinions.
God bless you all

Me and dad were plinking at my gong last week and between his M9A1 and my taurus 856 using brass plated tips in my chamber; We walked home, and I decided to inspect the shrapnel zone and found a sliver of what appeared to be a casing seeing it was brass on both sides. I would think that either the hull of one of my .38spl slugs or a poorly chambered 9mm in the baretta may have sliced down the barrel when fired. The brass was right under the plate and both sides were yellow, no copper.

Do I need to inspect his gun for damage from this or is this a normal occurrence?

Pounded at an event in Kansas.

Joe Biden effigy hit and kicked at Republican event

A karate school decided that would be appropriate.

Former Kansas gop head said it was shameful to occur at an official event (difficult to say who put it on; leads line says no state involvement t but thr Twitter post said it was joint with the county.

I just find it weird because Biden is about the most bland vanilla president you could paper mache together. The fact that he elicits that reaction from people reflects more on them than on him.

Do you think that any of your religious beliefs are provable?
Is any religious idea "objectively true"?

How are we to talk online to others we don't know?

I can fall into the trap of skimming for fault and play offensive two moves ahead. It's not a very congenial way of discussion but it's good at winning - at least in it's own mind.

The above is more than common all across the internet and it's easy to do.

Since I've been saved almost a decade ago, I've been convinced I have to change the way I debate and discuss online to a more humble and God fearing speech when talking online.

But I don't always know how to accurately communicate my thinking.

Am I being too emphatic to the point of rudeness or am I understating the issues. I don't always know the answer to these questions.

I'm coming to this thinking and this thread once more because this is an election season and we are facing dangers in the world. We want to share our thoughts as part of the national discussion - or determine what those thoughts are - but we want also to help, or be leaders in, changing the temperature of the room so to speak.

To be able to stand saying we controlled our tongues yet spoke the truth in humility.

It's part self control, and part knowledge, and part humility and love of others.

I have a hard time truly opening up and when I do I am more easily hurt when insulted by others, therefore for me being Christian and talking about topics I am in some way passionate about is almost oil and water at times.

What are everyone's thoughts?

How do we communicate best with one another?

How do people think I do as a communicator?

What improvements could I make? What tricks do you have?

Now this is Old Covenant teaching, but yet so much of it is New Covenant teaching, too. But let’s begin with the Old Covenant. God’s people at that time were the Israelites, the Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham and Sarah. They were God’s chosen people, his holy nation by physical birth. God had made a covenant with Abraham and with his offspring that he would give them the land of Canaan (the Promised Land) for an everlasting possession. But with all of God’s promises there was a requirement that they had to meet. They had to keep (obey) the Lord’s covenant throughout their generations (Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19).

Now, many people today are still claiming that covenant for the Jewish nation of Israel, but it is not theirs to claim unless they are now believing in Jesus Christ, for Jesus is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he is the promised seed of Abraham from whom now all God’s holy people are spiritual descendants if they trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives and if they obey the Lord and his commandments (New Covenant). We are now the children of the promise, for if we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

[Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:4-8; Romans 11:1-36; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; 1 John 2:22; John 8:18-19,38-47; Jude 1:5; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]

So, that was then but this is now. And today God’s holy people are believers in Jesus Christ who have been 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. We are God’s holy people, his holy nation, Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. We are God’s possession. We are his temple in whom God dwells by his Spirit. God is now our God, and we are his chosen people. For in Jesus’ death he destroyed that dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile and he made us both one in Christ by genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ.

[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:6-7; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-29; Rom 11:1-36; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 1:9; 1 Co 3:16-17; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; 2 Co 6:14-18; Gal 5:13-21; Eph 1:3-4; Eph 2:11-22; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22; Col 3:12-15; 1 Thess 4:7; 2 Tim 1:8-9; 2 Tim 2:21; Heb 8:8-10; Heb 10:30; 1 Pet 1:13-16; 1 Pet 2:5-10,24; 2 Pet 1:3; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 2:3-6]

So we who believe in Jesus today, with God-persuaded faith in him, are a people holy to the Lord. We are his chosen people, regardless of whether we are Jew or Gentile by physical birth. We are his treasured possession. And he has redeemed us not from physical slavery to a physical nation, but out from our slavery to sin so that we can now honor the Lord Jesus with our lives. And just like his covenant with the Israelites of old, the New Covenant relationship we have with Jesus Christ is conditional upon us loving God and keeping (obeying) our Lord’s commandments (New Covenant). But those who do not obey his commandments will be cast off (Matthew 7:21-23).

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

So, don’t take your salvation from sin and eternal life lightly, thinking that you can just pray a prayer or make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ but that you can continue living in sin against the Lord as a matter of habit. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, we will die in our sins and we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). So, please take all of this to heart, and please follow Jesus in obedience to his will.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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What are the best novels and on screen stories, old and new, stories, characters, prose...? I never read but watched the LOTR in one evening and was impressed. Character development and history around the rings were interesting, suspense around the ending was great.

I also still love the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The original. Such amazing character and places, situations and imagination.

I liked of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. A fair read long ago, along with Animal Farm.

At the time I was very impressed by That was then this is Now. But in retrospect the characters were too violent.

I think Rebel Without a Cause was interesting, yet the characters were unrealistic. But others prefer that.

I am a Star Wars fan and the accidental development of Luke was amazing. Remarkable range of characters. And the developed over time, reminiscent of Paul the apostle and the Spirit. Also Hitler and WW2.

I watched and I am reading through The Shack and it is interesting.

I found the story of the Exodus hard to read, God seemed distant and hard on them, prompting explanations!

Howard Storm's NDE was interesting, his own character change and the places.

I'd like to know others impressions...

Hello everyone. Been hitting the books a lot, and still getting at it.

I think I am changing my opinion on who Babylon is. For the longest time, I looked at it as Rome, Istanbul, or some other Gentile Empire. I am now under the opinion it is Jerusalem. I did not come to this interpretation easily and it took a great deal of debate before changing my position.

The beast she rides are all the kingdoms that ruled over Babylon after the LORD departed the temple in the days of Ezekiel. According to Zechariah 5:5-11, the house built for wickedness was among the exiles in Babylon. So that makes Babylon the first head of the beast, conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. Cyrus of Persia conquered it from the Babylonians. Alexander the Great conquered Jerusalen from the Persians but it passed to Ptolemy I of Egypt before he could formally rule it. Antiochus III of Seleucia conquered Jerusalem from the Egyptians. Judah Maccabees conquered Jerusalem from the Seleucids and ruled over a Jewish Empire until Augustus Caesar of the Romans conquered it. The Romans (Ottomans included) held onto control of Jerusalem from 37 BC to 1923, when the Mandate passed to George V of Great Britain. They held onto it until 1948, when the nation of Israel was created.

Those are the seven heads. The ten horns, I believe, are the nation of Israel. Israel was a name for the Northern Kingdom in the Old Testament, also called Ephraim. This kingdom consisted of the ten tribes of Israel while the Southern Kingdom of Judah, with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin ruled over Jerusalem. Rev 17 says these will give their power and authority over to the beast. This beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived is a Jewish Empire. We are on the cusp of this as Israel has determined to exterminate Hamas, refuse Palestine to be ruled by Palestinian authorities, and has threatened to end negotiations with Hezbollah in Lebanon by March 15th.

Perhaps we are at the eve of the events of Daniel 11:40-45 and haven’t realized it yet. Jesus said He would come as a thief in an hour He’s least expected…

Steve Bannon Suggests Donald Trump Has Been Bought by Billionaire Tiktok Investor/GOP Donor​

A bipartisan bill put forward by members of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party last week would work to "incentivize divestment of TikTok" by ByteDance by blocking it from appearing in American app stores and granting Executive Branch authority to take similar action in the future against social media companies operated by a "foreign adversary."

Lawmakers on the House Committee on Energy & Commerce advanced the legislation last week in a 50-0 bipartisan vote to the full U.S. House of Representatives.

Despite his past stances in favor of action against TikTok for its Chinese ties, Trump, the leading candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday that he opposed the recent bill, [suggesting that Facebook would gain if Tiktok loses, and Facebook is a "true Enemy of the People!"]

In response to this post, reports noted that the seeming shift in stance from Trump came after a meeting with Jeff Yass, a conservative hedge fund manager who has a $33 billion stake in TikTok. Yass, according to Intelligencer, has been allegedly threatening to pull support from GOP lawmakers who back the bipartisan divestment bill.

See also from 2020:

I know I posted in another thread about how I gave up watching all my favorite tv shows because I felt they all had some kind of sin in them, but now, I'm beginning to think there's sin in every show and wonder, if maybe I'm putting myself in a prison by restricting myself to nothing, but specifically Christian shows, Christian speakers, and the 700 Club or I wonder, if this is Satan making me think I'm putting myself in a prison just to try to get me to watch the shows I used to like again. So I was wondering, if I list the shows I like, could you guys let me know if you've ever heard of them and if so, do you think they're okay for me to watch, do you think they're bad and I shouldn't watch them, or do you think I can watch them, but just use discernment? Here are the shows I like: 90-Day Fiance, Dr. Phil, the Steve Wilkos Show, all the Gordon Ramsey shows, Worst Cooks in America, Judge Judy, any other kind of court show, ID crime shows like Deadly Women, Cops, Intervention, Wife Swap, Super Nanny, and Chopped. All advice is welcome. Thanks everyone in advance.

The tapestry was marvelous,
Well done, and was not frivolous.
All shown to fit together well
For all who on the earth do dwell.

For God had His design in mind
In hopes that Him the people find.
He showed Himself to everyone
Through His created works, well done.

But humans have a different mind,
And therefore not all God do find.
For many cast off truth they know
And worship God they do not show.

Instead they worship God’s creation,
The things of earth in jubilation.
They make the things of earth their idols,
And lusts of flesh they do not bridle.

So God, He gave them to their pleasures
To do what in their hearts do treasure,
To live their lives in much confusion,
To treat the Lord with much derision.

But God is calling out to all of us
To live our lives for Him who’s marvelous.
To make Him Lord and Master of our lives,
To live for Him, and to reject the lies.

An Original Work / March 10, 2024
Based off Romans 1:18-32

Katie Britt defends sex trafficking story she falsely links to Biden presidency​

Republican denied hiding fact that the abuse she referred to in her State of the Union rebuttal had actually occurred during Bush era

In her first interview since delivering her widely ridiculed rebuttal to Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech, Republican senator Katie Britt refused to apologize for invoking a story about child rape that she implied resulted from the president’s handling of the ongoing crisis at the southern US border – even though the abuse occurred years earlier in Mexico while her party controlled the White House.

Britt, 42, appeared on Fox News Sunday and denied hiding the fact that the rape and sex trafficking case to which she referred had actually occurred during the presidency of George W Bush. She also made it a point to criticize what she called “the liberal media” for how they have covered her rebuttal to Biden’s speech on Thursday, which earned being parodied on the latest episode of Saturday Night Live.

She's not the first, of course. Marjorie Taylor Green lied about Biden's imagined role in a school shooting:
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She lied about when it happened, too. Happened before the Safer Schools law was signed into law by George HW Bush. (not Joe Biden)

As they get more and more desperate, they don't even care if the stories make any sense or are remotely believable. They're just tossing stuff out to see if any of it sticks.

Believers in the Lord Jesus, when Jesus died on that cross he put our sins to death with him so that by God-given and God-persuaded and God-ordained faith in Jesus Christ we might die with him to sin and now live to his righteousness in his power, strength, and wisdom, by the grace of God. This is the essence of the gospel message that we, if we are to come to Jesus Christ, must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) in holy living.

Therefore, we are not to let sin continue to reign in our mortal bodies to obey its desires, for Jesus Christ delivered us from our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives. We are no longer to live our lives for human passions (lusts), but for the will of God. For if our faith in Jesus is genuine, we are now God’s possession, and he owns us, and our will is now to do the will of God and not the will of our flesh. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death, not to life eternal with God.

Thus, the Christian life should not be characterized by us living in sensuality, sexual immorality, sinful passions, drunkenness, orgies, and lawless idolatry. Instead we are to be people of integrity who live in moral purity, honesty, faithfulness, meekness, godliness, and in faithful obedience to our Lord, as a matter of life practice. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what faith we profess with our lips.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-26; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 2:6-8; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 1:21-23; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

But when, by the grace of God, we make that transition from death to life, and from the power of sin and Satan to now following our Lord in obedience to his commands, we should not look, think, believe, talk, and behave like we did before. It should be obvious that we have had a heart transformation of the Spirit of God and that we are no longer who we were before we believed in Jesus. And we should come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit that many of the things we did before are wrong for us to do now.

And so when we change, and we should be continually changing and growing and maturing in our walks of faith in our Lord, it should be obvious to our friends, family, and fellow “church” goers that we are different than we were before, and that the things we used to be okay doing we can no longer do. Our attitudes, beliefs, and desires should all change for the better. But this will not make us popular. And those who were our friends previously may now malign and mock and criticize us for being different than before.

At one point in my life, my husband and I had joined a Bible study group with some fellow Christians (or professers of Christianity), and that seemed to be going well until some of them started following a particular book author who was teaching lies, i.e. who was twisting the Scriptures to say what they do not teach, and the opposite of what they teach. And they were following a particular religious movement which was also teaching lies and twisting truth, both of which were using misimpressions (indirect lies).

The Lord led me to write on these authors and movements and what they are teaching, and to post these writings on my blog and on Facebook. And this angered one of the men in the group who then came to my house and took it upon himself to yell and scream at me and to tell me that I needed to get with the majority, for the majority is right, he said, not the minority. And I was in the minority, he said. And this is what this passage of Scripture is talking about, how some people will treat us when we change course.

And if you dare to be different, which is what it means to be holy – set apart by and for God to be different from the world because we are being formed into the likeness of character of Jesus Christ – and so you go against the flow and you don’t join in with what everyone else is doing and teaching and believing and living, you can expect to be treated like I was, and to be hated and fought against and told that you are the one who is wrong because you are not with the majority. But make sure you are following God’s word.

But we are to be encouraged, for the Lord told us in advance that if we follow him with our lives that we can expect to be hated and mistreated and persecuted as he was, and that we might even be falsely accused of wrong, falsely arrested, falsely imprisoned, and perhaps even put to death. But we are to be strong in the strength of the Lord and to keep on following after truth and righteousness, but according to the Word of God taught in its appropriate context, while testing whatever we hear against God’s Word.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

On My Knees

By David Mullen / Michael Hunter Ochs / Nicole Mullen

There are days when I feel
The best of me is ready to begin
Then there days when I feel
I'm letting go and soaring on the wind
'Cause I've learned in laughter or in pain
How to survive

I get on my knees, I get on my knees
There I am before the love that changes me
See I don't know how, but there's power
When I'm on my knees

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A constitutional republic and a democracy are two different forms of government, each with their own set of principles and characteristics. A constitutional republic, such as the United States, is a form of government where the powers of the government are limited by the law, specifically by a constitution. In a constitutional republic, the citizens elect representatives to govern on their behalf. The government's powers are defined and limited by the constitution, and the rule of law is supreme. The constitution is the highest legal authority and protects the rights of the citizens. On the other hand, a democracy is a form of government where the people have the power to make decisions directly or through elected representatives.

In a democracy, the majority rules, and the minority has to accept the decisions made by the majority. In a direct democracy, citizens have the power to vote on laws and policies directly, while in a representative democracy, citizens elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf.

The main difference between a constitutional republic and a democracy is that in a constitutional republic, the government's powers are limited by the constitution, protecting the rights of the citizens, while in a democracy, the majority has the power to make decisions, which could potentially lead to the oppression of the minority.

Biden’s speech at Pullman Yards, Atlanta failed to draw much of a crowd, as just a handful of people were seen waiting outside the event venue. Newsmax correspondent Addison Smith shared pictures of the sparsely filled room and reported that the entire outside viewing area was empty.
In one photo, less than 10 people could be seen waiting in line.

Don't expect to hear this on mainstream news.

Pray for those affected by the death of a lady named Kagney who died by committing suicide

Were/are Samaritans jews?
Is it a different religion?
What are the differences?

Is it wrong to be a Christian and be Pro for your race ?

I never believed in a God, and people always felt I was a little arrogent when it comes to other people`s problems. I never had a personal problem, and everything I solved just by doing hard work. But, there was always a side of me that had a soft spot for them, I lost empathy a little over the years because they always made me suffer, and I felt it a little degrading to be in a society. I prayed sometimes, though I never got heard in the sense that Jesus talked to me, or something changed. So many years now I have focused on making life better for everyone, you can`t expect life to be good if you don`t go through the hardships, but I didn`t want to be too judging. Why people have problems, I don`t know, I just wanted us to be together and have fun. For the first time, I feel Jesus don`t have an answer for me, we don`t mix me and society. I feel sad that people follow the gouverment and wants to be enslaved

If God is not in control of everything, how can he make the promise of Eternal life? How can he go a step further than eternal life but also promise that sin itself will never happen again? Think about it, if humans had free will as it is understood today how is it that they can live forever if the requirement to be in the very presence of God is eternal sinless perfection? What is stopping another human, angel, or other potential creation of God from rebelling against God again if God is not in complete control of all things? What caused lucifer and humanity to fall? Two creations from God who by the way, were created perfect in every way and at one point in time probably thought that they would never fall. Yet, they did and they chose evil. Why? If it was not in God's will for these to happen and they all had the free will to do whatever it is that they wanted how and why did they fall? There are two arguments that i can think of that can be made to explain this conundrum.

1. Lucifer, Adam, and Eve chose to fall and God had to make a backup plan for how to redeem mankind and how to deal with Lucifers rebellion. But this argument doesn't explain how exactly God is going to keep humanity, the angels, and other creation of God from ever sinning again. It doesn't match up with the scriptures that say that God planned from before he created the world to redeem his Elect, it denies Gods omnipotence as a God that knows all and does whatever he pleases yet never sins because he is God and none are greater than him.

2. The fall was part of God's plan from the beginning and this fits in with God's complete sovereignty and this explains how he can promise that sin will never again enter the world nor will we, God's chosen children ever sin against God again. It also explains why God created lucifer and sin entered the world in the first place, another brain teaser.

The second argument seems to answer what really happened and how a fall will never happen again. Because the fall was part of God's plan and the rest of God's plan is that it will never, ever, happen again whatever God decrees it comes to pass. It argues that God knew from the very beginning and the very end of time that the fall was going to happen and that he not only let it happen, but predestined it to happen as part of his eternal and divine plan.

And all of Nigeria...

Christian pastor Rotimi Obajimi has escaped from terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria after nearly 10 months in captivity and has been brought back to his church, reports said.

"We were so amazed to see him because we have been praying earnestly for a long time trusting Jesus that He would surely come back, but lo and behold he was brought to our headquarters in Maiduguri by the military," a pastor at Redeem Church in Maiduguri told SaharaReporters.


Obajimi, who led the church in the rural area of Borno/Yobe province, was kidnapped by Islamic militants on Jan. 6. He was then taken to Sambisa Forest, where he was tied down for months, before being moved to an unknown destination and brought back to Sambisa once again.

The pastor revealed that he managed to escape thanks to a heavy downpour that led to large floods in the area, forcing his captors to leave him. Obajim wondered for days through the forest, before finally arriving to a village, where the Nigerian military picked him up.

He was treated at Maimallari Hospital and debriefed by the military before being allowed to return to Maiduguri.

Boko Haram, who have been waging war on the Nigerian government for over five years now, have slaughtered Christian pastors and entire congregations in their mission to establish Islamic rule over the nation.

Earlier this week the militants beheaded seven villagers in the northeast town of Ngamdu, apparently as revenge attacks against locals who have aided Nigeria's military or have formed vigilante groups to fight back against Boko Haram.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dismissed claims that he had been killed in a video last week, and said that he is implementing strict Sharia law on towns in Nigeria that have been captured.

"Nothing will kill me until my days are over. ... I'm still alive. Some people asked you if Shekau has two souls. No, I have one soul, by Allah," Shekau said in the video.

We are running our caliphate, our Islamic caliphate. We follow the Quran. ... We now practice the injunctions of the Quran in the land of Allah," he added.

The militants made international headlines in April after they kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok.

There are fears many of the schoolgirls have been sold off as child brides, sparking international outrage. In July, prayer rallies and vigils in support of the girls marked 100 days since their kidnapping.

Initial hopes in September that the girls had been rescued were dashed after the Nigerian army clarified it had rescued some girls from the militants, but not those from Chibok. Boko Haram fighters have reportedly killed at least 11 parents of the schoolgirls in separate raids near Chibok.

please pray for sleep and for a toxic 'friend' to be kept at a distance from myself and other non-toxic friends in Jesus Name.
thank you for praying

Considering that we are dealing with “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” in the last book of the Bible, the fifth seal can only be rendered as the last judgment of the Church. Christ is not the mediator of the Old Covenant (Hebrews 12:22-24). Futurists and Preterists are only fooling themselves that the seven seals pertain to the Old Covenant people. The martyrs in the fifth seal are “slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,” which refers to the Church, not the Jews that rejected Christ.

Revelation 4-5 mirror the judgment scene in Daniel 7 and represents the antitypical seventh month in the Hebraic cultus calendar, which is concomitant with what is revealed to the martyrs in response to their enquire,


The response is that the saints must endure a final judgment before judgment is meted out upon “them that obey not the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17). Again, futurists and Preterists are only fooling themselves; the seven seals pertain to the final judgment upon the Church, not the Old Covenant people.

The point is that the NT affirms there is a great falling away in the last days, and apostasy calls for judgment upon the Church in the last days,


Again, the house of God that Peter addresses the Church, not strictly the biological descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob under the Old Covenant.


No argument prevails against the truth that the Church is judged for its apostasy in the last days. Amos affirms Revelation prophesies about that judgment because “GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”