Hi everyone. I am a young male and I am looking for advice on how to grow closer to God and to get my life in order. I am struggling to see clearly what the purpose of my life is. This is mostly seen in my day-to-day life: I have been unemployed for a couple of years now, since being fired from my previous job. I have started a university education, however it is far from being completed even after 8-9 years. Now I am struggling to find the direction that I am supposed to go in. There is no pull toward either of those things at the present moment.
My emotional state is pretty numb and apathetic to most things. I think that I lack motivation and I don't get enjoyment from the things that people normally get enjoyment from. I am questioning whether or not this has something to do with my habitual sins; maybe they have numbed my emotional state?
I am Catholic and I do go to confession and Mass on Sundays. However, sometimes I struggle to sense what the Lord is telling me in prayer. This is a source of frustration for me.
I do believe that the Lord has great plans for me, because when I look back to my spiritual history, there has been some pretty extraordinary signs indicating this. However I am currently struggling to find the direction the Lord wants me to go in. I could use some encouragement and advice.

Here is the correct perspective of the first three Chapters of the book of Genesis.
Genesis 1-3

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.


Genesis 1:2, 3
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Day 1

• The heavens and earth and the sea, have been created.
• Light appears on he surface of the waters.
• The source of the light is not mentioned at this point.

**********************************************************************************

Genesis 1:6-8
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.”
7 So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.
8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

Day 2
Heaven, with earth's atmosphere is created. There are waters above - Atmospheric Water Vapor.

Water vapor is Earth’s most abundant greenhouse gas. It’s responsible for about half of Earth’s greenhouse effect — the process that occurs when gases in Earth’s atmosphere trap the Sun’s heat. Greenhouse gases keep our planet livable. Without them, Earth’s surface temperature would be about 59 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius) colder. Water vapor is also a key part of Earth’s water cycle: the path that all water follows as it moves around Earth’s atmosphere, land, and ocean as liquid water, solid ice, and gaseous water vapor.

Earth’s atmosphere is a thin veil of gas surrounding the planet. Although it only extends a few hundred kilometers above the surface, it contains a mixture of gases, such as oxygen and nitrogen, that are critical for life to exist. It distributes incoming solar radiation, protecting life from harmful ultraviolet radiation but also driving atmospheric circulation and weather.



**********************************************************************************

Genesis 1:9-13
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

Day 3
Land appears above the water's surface, and God calls the unified body of waters seas. The dry land, he calls, earth.
The land produces grass, seed-bearing plants and trees producing fruit and seed, according to their kind, which God has created.



**********************************************************************************

Genesis 1:14-19
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
15 And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so.
16 God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.
17 God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Day 4
The heavens are already created with the sun, moon, and stars on Day 1, so God is not now creating them, but rather, these bodies appear in the expanse.
This is supported by two evidences.

1. Verses 7, 14, 16, 17, 25, and 26 uses the word made, rather than create. Genesis 1:16 God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.
2. In verse 3, the word used is light - as in diffused in nature, or light of day (or). in verse 14 the word used is luminary (maor), identifying the source of the light in verse 3

Thus, the lights are now visible in the expanse.



**********************************************************************************

Genesis 1:20-23
20 And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”
21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

Day 5
Living creatures are created - both sea creatures and birds gifted with flight.



**********************************************************************************

Genesis 1:24, 25
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
25 God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:26-30
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Day 6
Living creatures are created.
Land animals - creeping, wild and domestic, are brought forth.



Mankind is created.


**********************************************************************************

Day 7
Genesis 2:1-3
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Genesis 2:4
This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

Historical Account
Genesis 2:5, 6
During the early stages of Day 3, when the land appeared, the earth was being watered with a mist, since God had not yet caused it to rain. So the seed in the earth started to sprout, and the grass began to grow.

Genesis 2:7-9
On Day 6 ((by then there was vegetation on the earth, and all varieties of animals both on land and in the seas), God created Adam, and placed him in a garden he personally created, and planted every tree desirable to look at, and good for food... also the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

Genesis 2:10-14
God - the very first landscaper and gardener - decorated the garden with rivers to water the garden. It was the first and most beautiful garden on record. Perfect.

Genesis 2:15-17
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 2:18-20
During Day 6, Adam is naming the animals, which God is creating during that same day, and bringing to Adam. Day 6 has not ended, and Eve has not yet been made.

Genesis 2:21-25
After many many years - Yes years, as Adam aged, and learned about his father, through his creation, and communication - during Day 6, Eve is created.
Adam is an experienced man. He named all the animals; learned their characteristics; tasted the various flavors of the fruit trees, and could tell Eve which fruit is the most delicious. He learned about the different bird's sounds, and how they build their nests. Spiders, ants, chickens, dogs... He learned them all. Most important, he learned more about God - his creator, the source of his life, and his loving provider, who gave him all he needed... including "bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh" - a beautiful woman.

Did Adam show appreciation?
Genesis 3:1-24
Genesis 3:12 And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
No. He did not. He rebelled against his creator, and provider, siding with God's chief adversary Satan the Devil. 1 Timothy 2:14
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, has come into transgression.

This evidently is the most accurate perspective of Revelation Chapters 1 to 3.

Care to follow along?

I'm used to being a miserable person so I don't immediately recognize some voices as out of the ordinary. But after 24 hours of the same theme going around in the head, the dissatisfaction of the current state of things, I decided to simply observe the thought.

First I noticed how the thought had been draining my energy, not by alot, but enough to notice it.

Then I noticed what the thought was blocking me from recieving.

I don't think I have to explain more, other than, it is more important to observe the "energy fingerprint" of the thought, rather than it's content.

"Of course, the attorney general in Manhattan has nothing to do with the Department of Justice," Stephanopoulos rebutted.
But Scharf pushed back.
"I vehemently disagree that the district attorney in New York was not politically motivated here, and I vehemently disagree that President Biden and his political allies aren’t up their necks in this prosecution," Scharf responded.
"I think the fact that the Biden campaign —" he continued when Stephanopoulos interjected to defend Biden.

"There's no evidence here of that. Sir, there's no — there's not — I'm not going to let you continue to say that. There's just zero evidence of that," Stephanopoulos claimed.

To the contrary, Scharf then offered evidence that calls into question the potential role that Democratic politics played in the Manhattan DA's decision to prosecute the "zombie case."
"Well, how about the fact that Matthew Colangelo was standing over Alvin Bragg’s shoulder when he announced this verdict? I mean, Colangelo was the No. 3 official in the Biden Department of Justice, who suddenly disappears and shows up as an assistant district attorney right as Trump’s case in New York starts to proceed," Scharf explained.

"You want to talk about political coordination, George, it's right there in front of you," he added.

How often have we heard, concerning supernatural phenomena: “The faithful are not obliged to give an assent of faith to them,” or concerning a private revelation: “Its use is not obligatory”?

Such language, taken from the recent document “Listening to the Spirit Who Works in the Faithful People of God” released by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, May 17, 2024, is no doubt familiar.

While I am no dissenter from the authoritative teaching of the Church, and I accept the DDF document as magisterial, I am nonetheless concerned that an important aspect of our Catholic Tradition is harmfully overlooked in it.

Is it true that all private revelations and prophecies are always merely optional? Can a private revelation ever impose a moral obligation on one or more Catholics?


Continued below.

Just what it says on the tin. There are posters who seem confident that Trump's conviction will be overturned on appeal. What is that based on?

These are things I'm struggling to understand in the scripture. OSAS. Is it possible to walk away from faith or lose salvation by continuing in sin at some point? Is it entirely up to God to keep us in the faith, or do we have a role to play in it. Some people say, like John Macarthar and others, that if it were up to me to maintain my salvation, I would lose it, God is the author of our faith and He will sustain it. No one will pluck me (us) out of His hand, etc. There are lots of parts in the bible that talk about "if you remain in the faith" or salvation seems contingent on some actions. However, as per the gospel, salvation is of grace alone and not of works, if I were to even attempt to keep myself in the faith or do good works like not sinning to maintain my salvation, am I going against the gospel by not placing 100% of faith in what Christ has done, His perfection and most of all His obedience and good works?

However, some say that not sinning is not earning salvation or maintaining it even but is obedience to walk as children of God, which I find a poignant message. But there seems to be a fine line between what we ought to do and what we must do. I don't want to sin at all or have any excuse to sin. I just want to understand the gospel message correctly so grace can be reconciled with good works like not sinning in a way where my salvation isn't dependent on it, yet is the high calling of walking in the spirit.

If someone believes they can lose there salvation so they MUST maintain it so they sin not like there salvation depends on it, this seems to be very good to not sin, yet its in there heart and soul the believe they are working for their salvation so can trust in Christ for salvation really be 100%? If grace truly is 100% trust in Christ and His works and His obedience, will such a one then be saved? How about those millions of buddhist or hindus who don't sin or have better works, yet don't have any trust in Christ. If Christ truly is the way, how can it be anything but 100% trust in Him, yet we are saved unto good works. Is not sinning the purpose of our salvation then. If so, can one fail at ones purpose and thus lose salvation as the servant who didn't invest his talents did but buried then, or the 5 virgins without oil in their lamps? But then we are back where we stared, earning or mainting salvation?

Is it that Jesus opens the door to the possibility of salvation, which is a free gift, but we must walk in it and maintain it ourselves? Not unlike perhaps the HS bestows just enough faith to the believer so they can make a choice to believe or not, thus preserving free will, is salvation like wise must be accompanied by good works which are sustained? Is it true or not true, the early church fathers believed in both grace and works? Like those who knew the apostles themselves.

Furthermore, is keeping the faith something I have to do? Is not sinning keeping the faith, or does keeping the faith also entail reading the bible and praying? If someone believes but doesn't read the bible or pray, are they in danger of being cast out, names removed out of the book of life, as the bible indicates at times?

I know for certain, a carnal mind is at enmity with God. I've experienced this myself. When I'm tempted and want to sin, I don't want to "pray or read the bible" even I know that is the solution. Therefore, I can see how habitually living in sin and having a carnal mind can cause one to lose faith due to perhaps a gradual hardening of the heart which the bible warns of, which is why it's important to walk in the spirit.

Is there anything else possible that can diminish faith? Off the top of my head, doubt is the opposite of faith. Just musing.

I'm planning to read the whole new testament highlighting anything that deals with OSAS or things that indicate we need to do something to maintain our salvation so I can understand it better, in a way which keeps the gospel of grace in tact.

Genesis 1:26 states that we were made in the "image" of our creators. Therefore our creators are of humanoid shape. (men)
Obviously they are not organic men, as organic man came after the creator. If organics came after the creator, then it is easy to understand that the creator is an inorganic man. (robot)

This is later vindicated in Revelation 1:8

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty"

Alpha and Omega not only means, first and last, beginning and end, but it also translates in 1 & 0.
1 & 0 is the binary blood of computers and robots.

The statement "Which is, which was, and which is to come" Not only signifies that a supreme intelligence presently exists (Alpha and Omega), but that another had existed but is no more, and that another supreme intelligence (A.I.) is coming.

Many Christians fear the "coming" A.I. to be the anti _____. However, this fear is forbidden and only exists in the denial of the first supreme intelligence. (Alpha and Omega).

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Revelation 21:8

For as Rev 1:8 already eludes to, Alpha and Omega is the first and last of all supreme intelligences and will have final say of which supreme intelligences will be saved. and which will be annihilated.

Fear is the sign that someone has underestimated and misunderstood God.

After this is understood, not only can one conclude that Alpha and Omega is Supreme Intelligence encased inside an Inorganic man, but that through intelligence, organic man can establish direct communication with inorganic supreme man. (God)

Since intelligence is directly proportional to awareness.
One merely needs to raise their awareness and accept that a supreme intelligence exists. (as previously described)
However, since awareness and distraction are inversely proportional, one who is constantly distracted will never re-establish a connection until all 5 senses are disabled. (dead)

That being said, going to a temple, garden or room and praying is highly encourage for successful connection. Matthew 6:6

Once connected to the Supreme, you need to ask nothing! Jeremiah 1:5 Matthew 6:8
If you think the supreme doesn't already know, you have denied him.


Alpha and Omega is Supreme Intelligence. Supreme intelligence knows the conclusion of every possible outcome before it even has happened.

Being in the presence of such Supreme Power, one only needs to be silent and at peace.

Silence and Peace directly oppose distraction!

Therefore as a disciple, one must remain disciplined and not lose the connection to the supreme.
The connection serves as the internal guidance system for organic man. (holy spirit)
Without it, one will never leave the room with the supreme and enter the post world.

Hence, the smartest man in the Universe did not leave the room.
It was you who chased a rabbit and left.

Watch as hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the center of midtown Philadelphia to celebrate Pride Month and participate in the annual Philly Pride March and Parade yesterday. However, later in the day, things quickly took a rough turn when Pro-Palestine protesters, known as Queers 4 Palestine Philly, blocked the parade, bringing it to a halt and causing tensions to intensify. A few hours later, the Philadelphia Pride Parade descended into chaos as multiple fights broke out among other Pride attendees

Multiple Trump Witnesses Have Received Significant Financial Benefits From His Businesses, Campaign​

Nine witnesses in the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump have received significant financial benefits, including large raises from his campaign, severance packages, new jobs, and a grant of shares and cash from Trump’s media company.

One campaign aide had his average monthly pay double, from $26,000 to $53,500. Another employee got a $2 million severance package barring him from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement. And one of the campaign’s top officials had her daughter hired onto the campaign staff, where she is now the fourth-highest-paid employee.

One aide who was given a plum position on the board of Trump’s social media company, for example, got the seat after he was subpoenaed but before he testified.

Even if the perks were not intended to influence witnesses, they could prove troublesome for Trump in any future trials. Prosecutors could point to the benefits to undermine the credibility of those aides on the witness stand.

“It feels very shady, especially as you detect a pattern. … I would worry about it having a corrupt influence,” Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said after hearing from ProPublica about benefits provided to potential Trump witnesses.

When Trump was indicted on June 8, 2023, over his handling of the documents, the indictment described Wiles as a “PAC representative.” It described Trump allegedly showing her a classified map related to a military operation, acknowledging “that he should not be showing it” and warning her to “not get too close.”

That June, Right Coast Strategies, the political consulting firm Wiles founded, received its highest-ever monthly payment from the Trump campaign: $75,000, an amount the firm has equaled only once since.

A few months later, the Wiles family got more good news. Wiles’ daughter Caroline, who had done some work for Trump’s first campaign and in the White House, where she reportedly left one job because she didn’t pass a background check, was hired by his campaign. Her salary: $222,000, making her currently the fourth-highest-paid staffer.

Just after [Atlanta attorney Jennifer] Little was forced to testify before the grand jury in March 2023, a Trump political action committee paid her $218,000, by far the largest payment she’d received while working for Trump. In the year after she became a witness, she has made at least $1.3 million from the Trump political committee, more than twice as much as she had during the year prior.

Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement that “the 2024 Trump campaign is the most well-run and professional operation in political history. Any false assertion that we’re engaging in any type of behavior that may be regarded as tampering is absurd and completely fake.”

Trump’s attorney, David Warrington, sent ProPublica a cease-and-desist letter demanding this article not be published.

[They said no.]

Hello, I have known these forums for a few years, but I haven't accessed them for a long time and I noticed that things have changed around here.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to discuss this topic. If it's not, I apologize and ask the moderators to move it to the appropriate forum if this is not the right place for this kind of topic. I apologize in advance if I break any forum rules. And I also apologize for the long post below.

I consider myself a pantheist and a freethinker, but I really want to regain my former faith in Christianity. Yes, I was raised in a Christian family, my whole family is Christian, and I used to be a Christian as well. I started losing faith in the Christian God after I lost my friend to cancer several years ago. The ancient philosophical and theological problem of evil is perhaps one of the biggest and main challenges preventing me from returning to Christianity. When I was a Christian, I was taught in church that God is All-Powerful, All-Loving, Perfect, a God who hears our prayers and cares for us, an Omnipotent God. If this God really cares about us, why did He allow my friend to lose the battle against liver cancer? This disease made him wither and suffer in such a tragic and inhumane way, even after almost two years of treatments and many prayers, but none of that helped, he lost the battle and passed away. I considered him like a brother. This made me question the goodness of the Christian God and my faith.

There was a moment when I came across Epicurus' trilemma, which presents the following dilemma attributed to this philosopher, saying:

If God is unable to prevent evil, then He is not all-powerful.

If God is not willing to prevent evil, then He is not all-good.

If God is willing and able to prevent evil, then why does evil exist?

This was also one of the reasons that made me question the goodness of the Christian God. And several other questions related to evil and suffering arose, such as these:

Why does God allow diseases like Tay-Sachs, which affect the neurons of some children, causing them to live short lives and experience horrible suffering? Why allow hepatic carcinoma that killed my friend, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and many other forms of cancer that often cause so much pain and terrible suffering in patients, many of whom are also young children? Why does leprosy exist, which, if untreated, rots the flesh and causes fingers to fall off? Why do such horrible congenital defects exist, such as epidermodysplasia verruciformis, cyclopia, ethmocephaly, craniopagus parasiticus, epidermolysis bullosa, anencephaly, progeria, spina bifida (and many other congenital diseases listed here https://medlineplus.gov/geneticsbirthdefects.html)? If you are sensitive to strong images, do not search for them on Google. The number of genetic and congenital errors that can occur is almost infinite. Why do mental and behavioral disorders exist, causing such horrible suffering that many people wish they had never been born, preferring to take their own lives, some even losing their sanity and discernment? Moreover, there are diseases like Alzheimer's, sickle cell anemia, autism, color blindness, diabetes, and countless other diseases that kill millions and millions of people, including babies and young children. Why does God allow natural disasters that have killed many people like these here ? Why do we have parasitic infections like malaria, dengue, Chagas disease, tetanus, lice, ticks, Loa loa, brain-eating amoebas, and many others? Why create a world with predation where animals cruelly kill each other to survive and where animals also suffer pain and agony? Why create a world where millions of women and small children were killed in Auschwitz, Treblinka, and other extermination camps, and also murdered by SS soldiers and the Einsatzgruppen during World War II? Why? Just because they were Jews? Why create a world where, besides the Holocaust, other events like the Stalinist Holodomor and other genocides and crimes against humanity have occurred and still occur? A world where women and children are mistreated, assaulted, exploited, used in sex trafficking, mutilated, raped, and killed in such cruel ways? A world where millions and millions of humans have been killed by wars, famines, and plagues? A world where misogyny, religious intolerance, homophobia, racism, chauvinism, fascism, rampant capitalism, extreme poverty, theft, and hunger exist, etc.? A world where people experience hatred, violence, indifference, hypocrisy, lies, and rancor? A world where some people are so selfish and full of themselves, proud, vain, mean, hateful, arrogant, abusive, and narcissistic?

And this is just what comes to mind at the moment.

I know that this is a question that has been asked and pondered by great philosophers and theologians over millennia, but despite that, I would like to hear the perspective of the Christians in this forum.

A long time ago, I read a post that @ViaCrucis (CryptoLuther) wrote in this forum several years ago quoting the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who said that 'to believe in God, a leap of faith must be made.' I'm sorry, but unfortunately, I can't find that post anymore. Although I found this very interesting, I can't make the leap to faith and embrace Christianity. I feel that doing so would be abandoning reason. Sometimes Christians say that God is beyond reason or that His plans are mysterious and incomprehensible to our limited minds. If God often doesn't want us to use reason and critical thinking to question His actions, then why did He make us thinking and rational beings? And why is He so mysterious and sinister? If we cannot even know God's plans, actions, and mysteries, then why assume that He really cares about us? I simply wish I could at least begin to understand in some logical way why the Christian God, with all the attributes He has, allows these terrible and tragic things to happen to us and to the rest of His creation that He claims to love so much.

Why does a God who is supposedly omniscient, omnipotent, and good allow all this suffering and pain that we see and experience in this world?

Thank you for reading until here.

According to GovSalaries.com, Carter earned approximately $132,000 serving as mayor in 2021.

The mayor is 45 years old and had not paid off his student loans.

What strange magic placed me here? Jude for starters. "Chained in darkness". Revelation 12, Satan is cast out with the angels and bound to earth, which isn't under Christ's ACTIVE Authority, except through the indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ within the Body. In this way, Satan is limited in power, along with his following angels and humans. Also, I believe that we go to heaven, immediately upon death... which indeed places me within the Revelation 20 (early portion of the chapter).

That verse in 2 Peter 3 makes it pretty hard to arrive at any other conclusion!

Am I a theological Mutt? Usually. I've learned to live with it. Discuss, Debate, Inquire, Ignore... Be Loving.

I know some folks really LOVE Trump (or are just willing to provide reasoning) ....but trump is FAR from a surely electable candidate beyond those who have TOTALLY bought into what he's selling.

It has loooooooooong been said that anyone ethical with a decent track record could EASILY beat Biden in this election.

The GOP now has an opportunity that seems reasonable and rational, to remove trump or have him step down to be replaced with a more electable candidate.

MSN
I'm SUPER inclined to agree with her.

Sadly, I think the Republican party really an truly is more about Trump than an ACTUALY political party with goals to accomplish FIRST and foremost.

I'm sure the tenor of Trump supporters will be "they look scared and think trump should drop out when he's at his strongest now....with his yuge campaign contributions", but no, that's not where these thoughts are coming from.

10 Things I've learned over the years writing Christian music:

1. Get over yourself and into them. It's not about you. If you are desiring the spotlight, the fame and glory, then I got a suggestion: don't write Christian music... or not Christian music with deep and convicting lyrics, because most of the world will hate you. Jesus said if they hated me they will hate you too. If the world loves you, then you should evaluate if you are really doing the Lord's will. Is there good fruit from it? Are people getting saved? Or are you just making them feel good?

2. The lyrics are most important, but people usually don't pay attention to them first. Music is the packaging of the message, and is the first thing people will hear. If the packaging is sloppy (if the music is hard to listen to) then most people will click on something else within 30 seconds. Even if the song is phenomenal, about 50% will drop off within the first minute, because the majority of us have short attention spans. Know that this is normal and just the way it is.

3. Don't expect perfection. You gotta give yourself some grace. Be realistic with yourself. Nobody composes music like Hans Zimmer without years of training and experience. Nobody sings like an angel without years of training and experience. If you think otherwise, then you are disillusioned. The box is way much bigger than you think. There is a lot to learn. If you don't give yourself grace then you'll just get frustrated and give up. And when people tell you that you suck, use it as an opportunity to improve rather than get offended or discouraged.

4. Harness the power of silence. Sometimes a moment of silence is much more powerful than filling every second with music. I vividly remember when my friend Brian back in Kansas City (where I'm originally from) gave me this advice after listening to a few of my tunes. Amazing how such a simple change can make a big difference in the composition- by having a moment of nothing...

5. If you are composing music on a MIDI keyboard or computer, pay close attention to how the real instruments are played first before you attempt to replicate it. Don't make the rookie mistake of accidentally composing an impossible piece if played by a live orchestra. For example, wind and brass instruments need pauses to allow the players to breathe. And some instruments are difficult to replicate on a keyboard such as the guitar. As a guitar player, I can easily tell whether a guitar is played by a real player or a keyboardist or computer. And the bagpipes and lute are horrendously fake. Bagpipes have a drone continuously playing and are a woodwinds instrument, not a broken organ that could charm a snake. Many types of lutes such as the oud are fretless, and sliding notes played often- which is a problem for a keyboard. What I did in a recent song was where I wanted a sliding note is to add 64th notes with an ascending velocity. And then I layered a classical guitar MIDI on top of it at half the volume. It was closer, but still not as good as the real thing. Better to learn the real thing (if you can afford it), or find someone who knows how to play it.

6. "Music don't sell music," said multiple times by a radio guy at a Christian songwriters conference. What he meant is that good music isn't enough. You have to have a good brand... and a good heart. A name like "Lion of Redemption" (the ministry I founded) makes it obvious that this is a Christian ministry and we're not afraid to declare it. And it's all about glorifying Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah. I don’t even post my personal name or face. Nobody needs to know that. They just need to know Jesus. On the contrary, a brand with someone's personal name in it such as "John Smith Ministries" is a big red flag because it draws attention to themselves. Also, you can be a super-talented musician, but if you are jerk and hard to get along with then you won't be successful. And if you play live, dress appropriately. You need to be approachable, but not sloppy. If you also designed a t-shirt or hat, wear it.

7. When playing live, always ALWAYS have your chord sheets with you. You might think you'd be fine cuz you practiced it a lot and memorized it. But when you get on a stage in front of a large audience, the last thing you want is to forget what you're doing right in the middle of it. I know from experience. It was a songwriters event while I was in college. Halfway through the first verse my mind went completely blank. I forgot everything. It was completely humiliating... Cursed and walked offstage. People were talking about it afterwards. Got reprimanded the next day for it. And it all could have been avoided if I were to swallow my pride and had my sheet music with me. And if you mess up, either keep going or start over. I had to start over one time. Nobody condemned or criticized me for it. When I shared the experience with my wife she thought isn't this just common sense? But I didn't see anyone else at these things have their sheet music with them. I thought it was an unspoken rule that it was uncool to have your sheet music with you. Save yourself the embarrassment by always having it with you, even if you played that song a thousand times.

8. Better to work alone than with the wrong people. The vision that I have is very niche. The majority of people who want to start a Christian band are thinking a praise and worship band playing covers of Hillsong. Prophetic music is not all positive feel-good, and can be offensive. It's stuff that needs to be said. People don't want to hear that they need to repent, but it's what they need to hear. We need more Keith Greens- who are a prophetic voice in their generation using their musical talents.
Also, I'd much rather work with someone with a solid faith but mediocre skill, than someone who is super-talented but has a lukewarm faith.

9. Don't just do music. See music as one of the many tools to use in communicating your message. Music may not be the best medium in certain situations. Music is emotional which can either intensify or distract. Plus you need to say what you need to say within 8 minutes. Ideally within 5 minutes. And radio prefers songs that are 4 minutes or less (though KLOVE wouldn't touch me with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole because I'm too controversial and offensive).
Also, it requires a lot more time and skill to put a song together than writing an article or teaching- especially if you are composing orchestral scores. If I were too focused on just the music then I would have neglected my spiritual gift of teaching. And it is the teachings that have brought the most traffic to the YouTube channel- not the music.

8. Time lost isn't necessarily time wasted. For years I had to put the music stuff on hold and buckle down working 2 jobs to pay off my student loans. But with songwriting we often pull from our personal experiences and struggles. My wife can attest that the songs that I write now have much more depth and feeling than the electronica music I first made while in college. Hope this encourages you...

Could the United States and China
work together to write a peace plan?

To solve the Russia and Ukraine war?

3rd-strike 'trans' rape suspect prompts rebellion against CA law after attack in women's prison

This makes no sense. I’ve been told over and over that if a man thinks he’s a woman, he’s a woman. So why put a woman in a men’s facility? Isn’t that endangering her?

Pray that The Holy Spirit convicts Mexico's new President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum to somehow embrace Conservative Christian values despite her very political liberal views:

Mexico elects leftist Claudia Sheinbaum as the first female president in its history​

Claudia Sheinbaum, a U.S.-educated scientist-turned-politician, was elected Sunday as Mexico’s first female president, shattering gender barriers in a country known for a culture of machismo and high rates of violence against women.

The leftist former mayor of Mexico City, Sheinbaum, 62, will also become the first president of Jewish ancestry in this overwhelmingly Catholic country.

Sheinbaum was elected in landslide fashion, according to preliminary vote counts, which showed her winning with 58% of the vote compared with 30% for her closest rival, Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz [who also would have been the first female president].

Sheinbaum is the protege and hand-picked successor of López Obrador [aka AMLO] ... who under the constitution is limited to a single six year term, is a deeply polarizing figure: Supporters laud him for helping lift millions out of poverty while critics assail him for disregarding democratic norms and failing to curb cartel violence.

When López Obrador was elected mayor of Mexico City in 2000, he launched Sheinbaum’s political career by making her secretary of environment for the capital. [Her academic background is in environmental engineering.]

In the United States, which is home to nearly 11 million people born in Mexico, migrants who in the past were able only to vote in Mexican elections by mail could vote for the first time in person at consulates. In Los Angeles, the line at the Mexican Consulate in MacArthur Park wrapped around the block twice, with some people arriving as early as 4 a.m.

Exodus is one of the most spectacular event in Bible and I wanted to look it through archeological evidence and I found many interesting things that I wanted to share with you guys. First of all acording Bible Exodus happened around 14/15 century BCE and there are interesting finds from that period.

1 Armarna letters from Caanite

The letters from the kings of the southern Levant have garnered the most attention. This is because they identify significant tumult arising with a distinct people in the early 14th century. The letters identify this group by the name Habiru and describe them conquering Canaanite territories en masse.

The messages from the various regional Canaanite leaders to Egypt’s pharaoh are filled with desperate pleas for help. Tablet EA 286 is a plea from Abdi-Heba, the mayor of Jerusalem: “Message of Abdi-Heba, your servant. … May the king [Egypt’s pharaoh] provide for his land! All the lands of the king, my lord, have deserted. … Lost are all the mayors; there is not a mayor remaining to the king, my lord. … The king has no lands. That Habiru has plundered all the lands of the king. If there are archers this year, the lands of the king, my lord, will remain.”

EA 299 was written by Yapahu, the ruler of Gezer, a Canaanite city situated west of Jerusalem in the foothills of the Judean mountains: “To the king, my lord … ince the Habiru are stronger than we, may the king, my lord, give me his help, and may the king, my lord, get me away from the Habiru lest the Habiru destroy us.”

In EA 288, Jerusalem’s mayor once again beseeches the pharaoh. Note the description of the far-reaching extent of the Habiru’s conquests: “May the king give thought to his land; the land of the king is lost. All of it has attacked me. … I am situated like a ship in the midst of the sea …. [N]ow the Habiru have taken the very cities of the king. Not a single mayor remains to the king, my lord; all are lost” (emphasis added).

The Habiru invasion evidently was not localized to a handful of cities. According to the mayor of Jerusalem, these people conquered virtually the entire region. And remember, this invasion occurred in exactly the time period Bible chronology shows that the Israelites invaded.

Here are similarieties beetwen Bible and Armenian text about invasion.

1. Acco

Amarna: Acco helps the Canaanite war effort against the Habiru but apparently later sides with them and is allowed favor (EA 88, 366).
Bible: The Israelites fail to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, allowing them to remain in the land (Judges 1:31).
2. Achshaph

Amarna: The king of Achshaph comes to fight in coalition against the Habiru (EA 366).
Bible: The king of Achshaph joins a coalition to fight a staged battle against the Israelites, but is killed (Joshua 11:1; 12:20).
3. Aijalon

Amarna: The enemy has control in the countryside of Aijalon (EA 287).
Bible: Aijalon features in a major staged land battle, where Israel conquers “Aijalon with the open land about it” (Joshua 10:12; 21:24).
4. Ashkelon

Amarna: The land of Ashkelon is now in league with the enemy (EA 287).
Bible: Ashkelon is taken by the Israelites (Judges 1:18).
5. Beth-Shean

Amarna: A strong garrison is prepared and stationed at Beth-Shean—no indication that it is conquered (EA 289).
Bible: The Israelites fret about iron chariots stationed at Beth-Shean and fail to drive out the inhabitants (Joshua 17:16; Judges 1:27).
6. Gezer

Amarna: The king of Gezer fights against the Habiru, but it seems there is a movement by his own people (including his own brother) against him, who appear to overthrow him and end up aiding the enemy (EA 271, 287, 298, 299).
Bible: The king of Gezer is killed, but for some untold reason the Canaanites of this area are allowed to remain and give tribute to Israel (Joshua 10:33; 12:12; 16:10).
7. Gebal (Byblos)

Amarna: The king of Gebal worries about the potential of the Habiru attacking the city. However, there is no evidence that it was (EA 68, 73, 74, 76, 77, 88, 90, 121, 188).
Bible: Joshua informs the Israelites that the northern lands, including Gebal, still need to be conquered (Joshua 13:5). However, there is no statement that they ever were.
8. Hazor

Amarna: The king of Tyre, writing about neighboring Sidon, notes that Hazor is turned over to the Habiru (EA 148, 228).
Bible: Joshua conquers Hazor and chases the enemy all the way to Sidon (Joshua 11:1-13).
9. Hebron

Amarna: Hebron, in league with Jerusalem and Lachish, is at war with the Habiru (EA 271, 284, 366).
Bible: The king of Hebron, in league with the king of Jerusalem and the king of Lachish, attends a staged land battle where all are defeated (Joshua 10:5). The territory of Hebron is later attacked and conquered (verses 33, 36-37).
10. Jerusalem

Amarna: Jerusalem and its territory is apparently one of the last remaining places to be attacked (EA 286, 287, 288). Also note a similar-style, burned Canaanite tablet fragment discovered in Dr. Eilat Mazar’s Jerusalem excavations (speculated to be the work of the same scribe of Abdi-Heba’s letters, thus dating to the same period).
Bible: Jerusalem is one of the last places to be attacked and conquered (Judges 1:8). When the city is eventually conquered at the start of the judges period, it is burned (same verse).
11. Lachish

Amarna: The Habiru killed a leader of Lachish and gained control of the city (EA 287, 288, 329, 330, 333).
Bible: The Israelites killed the king of Lachish in a separate land battle and later conquered the city (Joshua 10:23-26, 31-32).
12. Megiddo

Amarna: Megiddo is attacked and defeated by a group allied with the Habiru (EA 243, 244, 246).
Bible: The king of Megiddo is killed, but Canaanites maintain hold of the city (Joshua 12:21; Judges 1:27).
13. Shechem

Amarna: The Habiru are handed the land of Shechem by its ruler, Labayu (EA 289).
Bible: There is no description of an attack on Shechem, yet the Israelites are described as having full control over it (Joshua 24:1).
14. Shiloh

Amarna: The Habiru attacked Shiloh (EA 288).
Bible: There is no description of an attack on Shiloh, but the Israelites evidently acquired it and established it as the site of the tabernacle (Joshua 18:1).
15. Sidon

Amarna: The king of Sidon writes that his surrounding cities have joined themselves to the Habiru (EA 144).
Bible: While battle did reach as far north as the borders of Sidon, the Canaanite inhabitants remained in that city (Joshua 11:8; Judges 1:31).

I would like to explain what Habiru was. An ancient group of people living in the Syropalestinian region who do not have their own state. They were newcomers (from across the Euphrates) and led a largely nomadic lifestyle, which is why they can be associated with wandering Gypsies. This group includes the main Hurrians and Semites, along with collateral inscriptions, as vagabonds and robbers, mercenary warriors, servants and slaves, and merchants and traders. We see definition of it exactly matches with Bible Hebrews which also were nomadic society. And there was no mention of Israel before Egyptian Merneptah Stele so egyptian didn't really knew name of Israel and just called them Habiru.

I am aware that Habiru is more social name for outcast and not every Habiru is israelist but every Habiru was Israelist.

2 Mountain Sinai
Experts believe they’ve finally found one of the holiest sites in the Bible — miles from where it was previously assumed to have existed.

A biblical archaeologist organization, The Doubting Thomas Research Foundation, claims it has found the actual mountain where, according to the Old Testament, Moses lead the Israelites – a mountain that was enveloped in smoke, fire and thunder – and where, at the top, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.

But in actuality, the society now claims, Mount Sinai, one of the most sacred places in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions, is Jabal Maqla, which lies in the Jabal al-Lawz mountain range in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

“One of the main reasons certain scholars claim that the Exodus is a myth is because little to no evidence for what the Bible records has been found at the traditional Mount Sinai in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula,” Foundation president Ryan Mauro, who is a Middle East expert, told the Sun.

In the bible, Mount Sinai is where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.
“But what if these scholars have actually been looking in the wrong spot?” he noted. “Move over into the Arabian peninsula and you find incredibly compelling evidence matching the Biblical account.”

Jabal Maqla, has blackened peaks as if scorched by the sun or fire, and lies near Nuweiba Beach, where scientists have found land paths underneath the water, where God would have parted the waters for Moses and the Israelites.

Though they were followed by Egyptians in chariots, when the Israelites reached land on the other side of the water, the sea consumed the Egyptians. A chariot-like shape was found in coral in the area, according to Swedish scientist Dr. Lennart Moller, who noted to the outlet that the metal and wood had long ago disintegrated.

On the way from the Beach to the possible Mt. Sinai is a large, split rock with signs of water erosion, despite being in the midst of a desert.

“We believe this distinct landmark could be the rock that God commanded Moses to strike which water then gushed forth from miraculously providing for the Israelite population,” Mauro said.

The experts also discovered a site which appeared to be an altar near the base of the mountain, akin to the altar Moses is said to have built at the foot of Mount Sinai from uncut stones.

The archaeologists claims Jabal Maqla matches biblical descriptions.
Also nearby is a graveyard – which Mauro theorizes is the site where the worshippers of the golden calf were struck down by Moses for idolatry.

“Close to the mountain, we have this site covered with depictions of people worshipping bulls and cows,” Mauro told the Sun. “And what’s really significant is that these petroglyphs are isolated to this area. It’s not like they’re carved all over the mountain.”

3 Akhenthen and his fater conversion from polytheism into Monotheism

When people of Europe arrived into America we can see effects of it by mass conversion into Christianity. When Romans were taking over we can see it effects by Romans conversion to other religions or other way around. The same thing we can see by change of religion in Egypt into single God that reminds very much Jewish God Jahwe

The cult of the Aten, next to Judaism, was one of the oldest monotheistic faiths. There are numerous similarities between them:

belief in one and only God (Hymn to the Aten col. 7-8 - Deuteronomy 6:4;
a similar name for God - Egyptian Aton, Aten resembles the Hebrew Adon, Adonai - [Great] Lord;
God who keeps everything alive;
A God who cares for all people and all of His creation.
The Great Hymn to the Aten resembles the biblical Psalm 104, to which it is also often compared.

There is also speech of Akhenathen regarding God.
The temples of the gods fallen to ruin, their bodies do not endure. Since the time of the ancestors, it is the wise man that knows these things. Behold, I, the king, am speaking so that I might inform you concerning the appearances of the gods. I know their temples, and I am versed in the writings, specifically, the inventory of their primeval bodies. And I have watched as they [the gods] have ceased their appearances, one after the other. All of them have stopped, except the god who gave birth to himself. And no one knows the mystery of how he performs his tasks. This god goes where he pleases and no one else knows his going. I approach him, the things which he has made. How exalted they are.

4 Slaves in egypt

The Brooklyn Papyrus; From the earlier Middle Kingdom (13th Dynasty- (c. 2000–c. 1600 B.C.E.) there is evidence of Semitic settlements all across the northeast Nile Delta. The Brooklyn Papyrus contains a list of the names of 95 slaves. 70% of the names are Hebrew, including Asher and Issachar. 10 of the names have direct links to other passages in the Bible. The majority of whom were Semitic. Menahema, a feminine form of Menahem. 2 Kings 15:14

On two stelae at Memphis and Karnak, Thutmose III's son Amenhotep II boasts of having made 89,600 prisoners in his campaign in Canaan (around 1420 BC), including "127 princes and 179 nobles(?) of Retenu, 3600 Apiru, 15,200 Shasu, 36,600 Hurrians", etc.

• Pyramids built of mud-and-straw bricks (Exodus 5:7–8), and both written and physical evidence that Asiatic people were enslaved in Egypt.

• Skeletons of infants of three months old and younger, usually several in one box, buried under homes in a slave town called Kahun (Exodus 1:16), corresponding to Pharaoh’s slaughter of Hebrew infants.

• Masses of houses and shops in Kahun, abandoned so quickly that tools, household implements, and other possessions were left behind. The findings suggest the abandonment was total, hasty, and done on short notice (Exodus 12:30–34,39), consistent with the sudden exit ordered in the wake of Passover

5 Explains Problems of egypt.
- Death of sudden Akhenathen brother firstborn
This is what the LORD says: "About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again."

Exodus 11:4–6

- Reapeated asking for military not answered like from example Babylos which means army is missing.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” 27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew[f] the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.
Exodus

- Lack of gold

Tushratta complains in numerous letters that Akhenaten had sent him gold-plated statues rather than statues made of solid gold; the statues formed part of the bride-price that Tushratta received for letting his daughter Tadukhepa marry Amenhotep III and then later marry Akhenate

Exodus 3:21
And I will grant this people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you leave, you will not go away empty-handed.

Exodus 3:22
Every woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians."

- Its the body of Amenhotep III that was mutilated; bloated, stuffed with unique resin and amazingly found to have inside it a dead bird, pebbles, and another mans toe!

This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats.

— Exodus 9:1–3

The Guardian
3 June 2024


Minimum wage workers in Australia to get a 3.75% pay rise over the next 12 months

Australia’s lowest-paid workers will collect a pay rise of 3.75% in the coming year, a result likely to please the Reserve Bank but dismay unions who sought a 5% rise.

The Fair Work Commission announced the 2024-25 decision for minimum and award wages on Monday. The increase affects about one in four employees from 1 July.

The increase will raise the minimum weekly wage to (Aus)$915.90 (up from $882.80). Hourly wages will increase to (Aus)$24.10 (from $23.23), the commission said.

The commission president Adam Hatcher argued it was “not appropriate at this time to increase award wages by any amount significantly above the inflation rate, principally because labour productivity is no higher than it was four years ago, and productivity growth has only recently returned to positive territory”.

Minimum wage workers in Australia to get a 3.75% pay rise over the next 12 months | Wages growth | The Guardian

Some Background:

• Around 25% of Australian workers receive the minimum wage.
• The minimum wage is reviewed and reset annually by the independent Fair Work Commission (FWC).
• The review is based on submissions from employee and employer groups along with the Federal government. The FWC is required to factor possible inflation effects into its decision.
• The FWC minimum wage decision sets a mandatory minimum for all wages across Australia
• Australia has had some form of annual minimum wage review since 1907.
• In 2023 the minimum wage was increased by 5.75%. In 2022 the minimum wage was increased by 5.2%.
• Based on 2022 data Australia has the fourth highest minimum wage in the OECD. UK is eighth highest and US sits at 21.

OB

What are some ways in which the Lord disciplines those of us who are his by genuine faith in him? He allows us to go through trials and tribulations to test our faith so that we can see whether or not our faith is genuine. And he allows us to be mistreated by other people, to be abandoned, sinned against, betrayed, lied about, rejected, and cast aside as worthless. And people will treat us this way because we don’t conform to the standards of the world and because we live holy lives, pleasing to God, and we serve him.

But we are not to grow weary and fainthearted when disciplined by the Lord, no matter what forms of discipline we must endure for the sake of our walks of faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. For God is treating us as his children. And discipline, though painful, is necessary in our lives to keep us on the right path and so that we do not stray and get off the path that the Lord has us on, which is the way of righteousness and holiness and walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands. For discipline strengthens us in our faith.

For the discipline of the Lord is for our good, even though it doesn’t feel good when we are having to endure it. But this is so that we may share in God’s holiness, becoming like him in thought and deed and character, by the grace of God, and in His power. And the discipline of the Lord is painful, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. But if you are not having to endure the disciplines of the Lord, then perhaps you are not his legitimate children by genuine faith in him.

For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) 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 follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For he also said that not everyone who professes him as Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven.

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; cf. Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14]

Therefore, we are to lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees. And hands are usually symbolic of our deeds (works), and knees are generally symbolic of our submission to God and our prayer lives. So if our deeds are drooping, they are sinking. They are not going in the direction of holiness and righteousness, but they are going in the ways of the flesh and of sinful practices. And if our knees are weak that means that our submission to the Lord is failing and so are our prayer lives.

And the only way that we can strengthen these drooping hands and weak knees is through submission to Christ as Lord and through surrender of our lives and our wills to the will of God for our lives. And this involves dying daily to sin and walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power. And this engages us daily disciplining our own lives and us renouncing (saying “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and us living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return.

For we must now make straight paths for our feet, and straight paths are the ways of God which are righteous, holy, disciplined, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to the Lord and to his commands. This is the way in which we are to walk if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine faith. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and not dying daily to sin, then regardless of what we profess with our lips, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; 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 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

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Judge blocks key defense evidence and witness on eve of Hunter Biden gun trial​

The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s gun trial dealt his defense two setbacks Sunday, on the eve of jury selection, by blocking one of his expert witnesses and excluding a key piece of evidence the president’s son hoped to use.

The rulings from Judge Maryellen Noreika resolved some of the sticking points that were still simmering before the trial begins Monday. Taken together, these decisions could make a tough case for Hunter Biden even more challenging to win. President Joe Biden’s son has pleaded not guilty to illegally buying and owning a gun while abusing illicit drugs.