A puppy’s jaw spontaneously regrew after Cornell veterinarians removed a majority of his lower left mandible due to cancer. Although this phenomenon has been documented in children, this is the first reported case of its kind for dogs of any age or breed.

Tyson, a 3-month-old French bulldog, was originally scheduled to see Cornell’s Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service for cleft palate surgery in the spring of 2023 when his primary veterinarian noted a cancerous tumor on his jaw.

“Tyson’s tumor was an oral papillary squamous cell carcinoma, which is a malignant cancer in dogs,” said dentistry and oral surgery resident Alexandra Wright, DVM ’18, who led Tyson’s care team. “Oral squamous cell carcinoma is the second-most common malignant oral tumor in dogs, and this papillary subtype has previously been reported in young dogs.”

Continued below.

Gallup says Democrats have lost more black and Hispanic voters than ever.

Not hard to figure out, those groups are hit hardest by this administration's poor policies.

Dems also now losing amongst men, college educated or otherwise, though I'm not certain what that means....since less men are in college these days.

Though the First Amendment says the government cannot establish A religion as was in England, here's an idea to reduce cultural friction between people of various faiths and those of anti faith in the public schools, which can happen in larger school districts with dozens of schools. Have separate schools for Christian, possibly for various denominations within, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, not believers of traditional marriage lifestyle, Atheists, etc. and not restricted to skin color, ethnicity, race, or nationality. Parents choose for their children which is cheaper than private school and less time constraining for parents than home schooling. Some interaction between different belief schools in the school districts with sports games and academic competitions. Also so if the Christian kids want to pray or study the Bible in their own Christian publc school, they could do so without offending others, likewise if Muslim, Jewish, or choose to participate in an alternative lifestyle.

Larger school districts have the real estate of many buildings to do this. I do see added school bus transportation costs with this, but reducing cultural friction and lawsuits is priceless. Maybe this idea is being done today in sections of other countries besides the United States, but I don't know. Some districts do have special schools for bad behavior students, gifted academically, or the disabled, so why not of various beliefs?

Thoughts, pro or con?

Assuming what's evident.

In our times there are many wars and many men of violence. Yet, one day, God promises that wars will cease.


It is one's duty to defend one's home and family, to fight for one's nation when it is threatened. It is one's glory to lay down arms and seek refuge in the Lord of hosts.

What to do in the garden in February–is this some kind of a joke? Here’s a thing I like to do in February: sit by the fire and look at the garden through a window.


However. If you (or I) can find the motivation to throw on a coat, a hat, gloves, a heavy woolen scarf, thick socks, boots, and lip balm–this is what I wear to brave the chilly weather in Northern California; if you live in New England or Colorado, you might want to add a layer of thermal underwear and a second coat–we will be well rewarded for our efforts in springtime.

If you live in a warmer climate, your to-do list for February garden chores will be different from what you can accomplish in colder regions. (For instance, in my USDA zone 10a garden, where the ground does not freeze, I can weed even in cold months. In winter, before weeds spread, is an ideal time to get rid of them.)

Here are a few things we all can do in the garden this month.

1. Prune trees.​

Continued below.

From Australia comes a story too cool to believe. Like a vegetable version of Jurassic Park or King Kong, a copse of pine trees from a species that evolved in the Cretaceous Era were found high in the mountains.

These living fossils, to use the classic phrase, survived both the comet impact and subsequent global firestorm that killed the dinosaurs, as well as two intervening ice ages to make it to our time, and Australian botanists are treating the specimens as a top-secret national treasure.

The Wollemi pine evolved 91 million years ago and went extinct according to the fossil record 2 million years ago, but in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, a stand of 90 specimens were found high in the more remote peaks in 1994.

For the past three decades, and in extreme secrecy, a team of specialists from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of Australia has been gradually planting small clumps of the Wollemi pine in other locations to help ensure it has every chance to see another 91 million years.

It helps the story that the Wollemi doesn’t look much like any pine tree you’ve seen in the woods by your house. Sporting Granny Smith apple-green foliage that grows in a pattern similar to a fern, it has a covering of bark reminiscent of Coco-puffs.


“Wollemi Pine seedlings and saplings grow less than one centimeter a year. They won’t mature until they can reach the rainforest canopy and access the sunlight above,” research scientist Berin Mackenzie told national news, adding that they grow extremely slowly.

Continued below.

I thank you and praise you Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray for the spiritual help of my whole family, including my estranged husband Rudi. Please pray that my whole family comes back to God. Please also pray I get the right medication to heal me of the satanic attacks and the voices I hear daily, that are vile and disgusting. Please also pray that I quit smoking and vaping and have more energy to do things. Please pray that God the Father forgives me for my many sins, through Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you and God bless

I believe the rapture of the church is so close that we can almost touch it. Having said that, I, as others, I'm sure, don't know how much more we are going to see. I certainly see the collapse of the dollar in full view for sure. I'm thinking only things that have intrinsic value will be worth anything at all such as property and such. This brings me to ask the question: If one is able to pay off debts such as montages even if it will bring hardships, do you think its a good Idea to do so ? Not sure if a disclaimer is needed here LOL, just looking for options from a Christian point of view as to how things might go down.
Thanks!!

One Missouri GOP candidate has incorporated book burning into her campaign. Valentina Gomez, who is running for secretary of state, posted a video of herself burning public library books with a flamethrower.

A library catalog label can be seen attached to at least one of the burning books.

Last year, you may recall that candidate for governor Bill Eigel used a flamethrower on empty boxes to demonstrate his position on woke books and the liberal agenda. Metaphorically speaking.

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Hey I just ran across this on the internet, you might want to check this out- it is called Kali Nethunter. It is a version of Linux loaded with hundreds of hacking tools that can be installed on your cell phone! With this you can hack and do penetration testing using your cell! I want this, I will be downloading it right away! It is totally free and can be downloaded online! https://www.kali.org/docs/nethunter/

I actually agree with Republicans on this, but for different reasons. I would vote for this bill.

"Surprise discovery of 168-million-year-old pterosaur in rocks on Isle of Skye will help scientists narrow down major events in the evolution of these flying reptiles."

Jurassic 'mist wing' fossil discovered on Scottish island could be missing link in pterosaur evolution

Here's a link to the researchers published findings:

Whaaaaat??? No way!

Why are there Christians who are saying the Jubilee will 'actually' take place, with 'all' debt 'actually' being literally cancelled. And in addition: loads of gold being lifted from hidden reserves under the Earth (!) Some christians have said the Jewish year of Jubilee was supposed to be 2023 and some have it in 2025, whatever the date is not my primary focus - my primary question is: do people believe this?

I have some good friends who actually have been telling me this, and I cant figure out where they are getting this from (?)

'I' have understood that the Jubilee would be observed when all twelve tribes of the Jewish nation are living in Israel, as is derived from verses in Leviticus 25 like "And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live on it”
I know the Jewish people do not currently or officially declare or celebrate the Jubilee, primarily because they respect the popular rabbinical notion that all 12 tribes including the 10 'lost' exiled tribes need to again be living in the land of Israel again. Yet, where are 'christians' getting the notion of a literal Jubilee coming?

The Catholic Church has a christian version of the Jewish Jubilee, as noted in the following article below:

"The next Jubilee will be in 2025 and there is great expectation among the faithful from all over the world. Its importance is also recognized and respected by other faiths around the world. The last Jubilee was the extraordinary one of 2015 wanted by Pope Francis. The one that will take place in 2025 will be the second with Pope Francis. As many know, the Jubilee is a special year of grace, in which the Catholic Church offers the faithful the possibility of asking for a plenary indulgence, that is, the remission of sins for themselves or for deceased relatives"

BUT I am not asking about with this. I'm asking about christians who are anticipating that a literal forgiveness of all literal present debt will be forgiven (seemingly before the second coming of Jesus?) And in addition: loads of gold being lifted from hidden reserves under the Earth (!)?.

Where are they getting this from, and has it passed?

Who is the Lord? He is our God, the one and only true God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – three distinct persons and/or personalities in one God. He is also our creator God who made the earth and all that has life in it on the earth. He always existed and he will always exist, which is difficult for our human minds to comprehend. And he is fully supreme and sovereign and in control and in power and authority over all that he has made. And no one and nothing can thwart his purposes or overcome him.

And righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. And what is righteousness? It is all that God deems right, that he approves. And so it is honesty, integrity, moral purity, faithfulness, uprightness, kindness, love, repentance, compassion, and obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice. And what is justice? It is fairness, righteousness, honesty, integrity and judgment which separates good from evil, and right from wrong, and which makes just and righteous decisions regarding right and wrong.

In Romans 1:18-23 we read these words (ESV):


So, this parallels what we just read in Psalms 97 with regard to the sovereignty of God, and his righteousness, and his judgments, and with regard to the heavens proclaiming his righteousness so that all the people see his glory. So God is not hidden from the people of the world. We can all see him and his attributes via his created works. And this also parallels what Psalms 97 talks about on the subject of idols and idolatry, as well. For even though the knowledge of God is not hidden from humanity, many people go after the gods of this world to worship them instead of the only true GOD.

And the sad reality is that it is many who profess faith in Jesus Christ who are worshipers of idols and false gods in place of true worship of the God of the universe who made all created things. For an idol or a false god is not just a physical statue of someone given the name of a false god. But it is anything that we give our loyalties, devotion, time, affections, passion, and worship to above and/or in place of true worship of our creator God. And true worship of God is in surrendering our lives to him fully. And it is a refusal to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world (Romans 12:1-2).

Therefore, because our God is righteous, and he is just, and he judges all human beings according to his righteousness and justice, and because he made us and he is sovereign over all that he has made, and thus he sets down the rules that we are to follow, and because God has made himself known to us, so that we are all without excuse if we choose sin and idolatry over him, we are being called upon here to give our worship only to God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and to no other gods. And so we are also being called upon to live righteously and no longer in sin and in idolatry.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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There was a famine in Canaan in Gen 12. Abram took Sarai to Egypt to escape the famine. He instructed her:

13 "Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”

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Did Abram tell his wife to lie?

Sarai was Abram's half-sister. It was a half truth—or half lie. The statement was meant to deceive the Egyptians. It was a lie in heart.

Gill explained:

though it was not putting a direct lie into her mouth, she being his sister in some sense, as appears from Genesis 20:12 yet it was done to conceal truth, and to deceive the Egyptians, and tended to endanger his wife's chastity,

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Abram jeopardized his wife's honor.

as well as showed great timorousness in him, and distrust of the divine care and protection of him;

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It showed Abram's deficiency of faith in God.

and upon the whole it must be criminal in him, and shows that the best of men are liable to sin, and the strongest believer to fall, and that a saint may fail in the exercise of that grace for which he is most eminent, as Abram was for his faith, and yet fell into unbelief, and through that into other sins; this he said to his wife, and desired her to say on occasion, when she found it necessary: that it may be well with me for thy sake; his life spared, as follows:
and my soul shall live because of thee; his life be safe and secure for her sake, being reckoned her brother, whereas he feared it would be in the utmost danger should it be known she was his wife.

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Abram used/manipulated his wife to save his own skin. His scheme worked only because God interceded and worked with sinners like Abram and us.

What was the reason the story of Abram telling Sarai to tell people that she was his sister and not his wife included in the Bible?

It shows that the Bible writers told it like it was. They did not try to cover things up.

Abram would learn to grow in faith in God as he walked with God more and more.

Should we replace the National Anthem/Motto carte blanche?

As the “National Football League will feature the singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the song originally known as the “Negro national anthem, now known as the “black national anthem" to reportedly be sung, , after the actual national anthem of the United States.” What are we to make of this divisive outlook?


There appears a subliminal fear going on and it wishes to push itself onto the American psyche right into our national motto: E Pluribus Unum, "From many, one". Already a relic described as “traditional”, to reinvent the motto to another is divisive. What other damaging effects is this fallout likely to have? Surely, a knee-jerk reaction from fear of mass repercussion, the attention has swept the sporting world. NFL, NBA, MLB, USTA have all agreed to either couple with or abandon altogether the Nation Anthem for the “black national anthem”. The Super Bowl will “honor” both.

Rarely sung, the third verse which enjoys the defeat of the “band who so vauntingly swore” America would lose its independence:


Brigitte rightly links the “woke” ideology due to its incessant quest to abolish the past. Why do certain members of the citizenry wish to abandon the truth of the past? What is the root of anything that wishes to impose such a darkened trait? Does this root provide refuge already established by some pre-existing response? Is there such a hardness people are prone to harbor? One does seem to indicate so,


Thanks for looking! Thoughts?

Revelation 13:16-18
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

In the book Book of Revelation Chapter 13:16–18, the Textus Receptus manuscripts of the New Testament, cryptically asserts 666 to be 'the number of a man' associated with the Beast of revelation.. Some manuscripts of the original Koine Greek use the symbols χξϛ chi xi stigma (or χξϝ with a digamma), while other manuscripts spell out the number in words. But there are a few that try to misdirect or say it is another number or put in the margin that some 'authorities' that 'read Six hundred and sixteen.' or 'one early ms has the letters for 616'

But it is clear that it is 666 and today this has become one of the most widely recognized symbols for the Antichrist. Now the number 666 in and of itself doesn’t mean anything bad. Sometimes something might cost 666 dollars, or someone’s address or phone number might contain the numbers '666' and many other examples. But in the Bible this number does have significance, in the final verse of Revelation 13 we find an identifying clue for the Beast: 'Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred sixty and six.'

So the Bible tells us that this number '666', is the number of a man, symbolized by the first beast of Revelation 13. Notice that “666” is not the “mark of the beast,” but is an identifier, something that helps us to identify who or what that beast is. This Beast is identified elsewhere as Babylon, which brought false worship and confused the people with it. You have to understand that false worship had spread from that to the true God, to the created objects such as the Sun, Moon and Stars. The ancient Babylonian false worship was basically development of star worship of what were created objects they saw. The heavenly bodies were seen as gods and worshipped as a supernatural beings. We find the sun, moon were identified with Shamash, Sin, and the planet Venus with Ishtar, Jupiter was Marduk, Saturn was the war god, Mercury was Nebo, Mars was Nergal, god of the dead as we find in history.

This system of identification was taken over and modified by the Greeks and Romans, using the names of their own deities. But when the Greek sailors and soldiers went to the temples they had to know or identify the "gods" or religious system they were worshiping, so the use of numbers/letter symbols of which "god" the temple was dedicated to or worshipped. We see the same system of identity in use today with the use of symbols on monstrance icons or on books, altars, baptismal fonts, communion hosts, letters which also have numeric meaning.

The use of "IHS" is translated some claim as a symbol for the name of Christ. As Greek has its own alphabet and in it “Jesus” is spelled “ιησυς” and when capitalized it becomes “ΙΗΣΟΥΣ”. The claim is that if you take just the first three letters of this word or “ΙΗΣ” which are the Greek letters “iota”, “eta” and “sigma”. When these letters are converted into modern alphabet it becomes “IHS”. However, no one can explain how these letters came about and their meaning with any certainty or real evidence which "god" they may represent.

The Roman Catholic priests hold up a monstrance during their high mass, and the form of a monstrance is that of a circular window which contain a host, which symbolizes the sun. It is surrounded by a golden rays of the sun emitting all around that circular window which contain "IHS" in the form of a host. This sunburst monstrance with the round host that symbolize the sun encased for the people to adore and venerate and so anytime this pagan sun symbol is viewed by the congregation, they kneel in submission. If you look you find that "IHS" is also the mystery name that the Roman Catholic churches have on their altar, on their vestments, when they say mass. You find this in the definition of "monstrance"...

mon·strance /ˈmänztr(ə)ns/

noun (in the Roman Catholic Church) an open or transparent receptacle in which the consecrated Host is exposed for veneration.

Now only is the symbol also on their host but they claim it becomes or transformed into the actual body of Christ, but we will leave that for another discussion. So letters in Greek had numeric meaning and these letters were used to identify what system of worship or "gods" the temples were dedicated to or followed.

We see in Revelation 13:18: “18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." The thing that throws most people off is when they look just at the "number of the man" 'anthrōpou' or 'of a human being' and then we are given the number which is 666. The number can represent the system of worship and at the same time show it is led by a "human being" not God, so we see how the number can be used to identify this antichrist entity, which at the same time is represented by a man.

Now as many will argue many other names, such as Nero, or Mohammed, or a king of Israel, none of these can be it as they do not fit the things it does or the length of its power, especially when it comes to the timeline which stretches to the end times. But we have to understand what prophecy in Revelation tells us and it gives us clues to follow of this system of worship which is led by a man..

Most of us here would agree that the resurrection was on week-day-1 -- (what we call Sunday today).

However when it comes to the New Testament and the weekly day of worship found there --

1. Not ONE text in the NT says "the Sabbath is now kept on the first day of the week"
2. Not ONE text in the NT says "we now keep the first day of the week as the Lord's Day"
3. Not ONE text in the NT says "we meet for worship every week day 1"
4. Not ONE text in the NT says "We meet on week day 1 in honor of the resurrection on week day 1"
5. Not ONE text in the NT says "The Lord's day is on week day 1"
6. Not ONE text in the NT says "Ignore the Commandments of God"
7. Not ONE text in the NT says "ignore scripture, ignore what the Holy Spirit says"

NOTE: Those points are irrefutable - and you can see how they are avoided in the opposing posts ....

Mark 7:7-13 condemns Jewish tradition that tries to run over one of the Commandments of God

What we DO Find in the NT is
1. "what matters is KEEPING the Commandments of God" 1 Cor 7:19
2. "the saints KEEP the Commandments of God AND their faith in Jesus" Rev 14:12
3. "this IS the Love of God that we KEEP His Commandments" 1 John 5:3
Where "The first commandment WITH a promise is - Honor your father and mother(Ex 20:12) " Eph 6:2

We also find this in the NT
1. "the Gospel was preached to Abraham" Gal 3:8
2. there is only ONE Gospel Gal 1:6-9
3. The "Gospel was preached to us just as it was to them also" Heb 4:2
4. the NEW Covenant of Jer 31:31-34 quoted verbatim in Heb 8:6-12
5. Moses and Elijah stand in glory with Christ in Matt 17 - even before the cross.

=========== by contrast EVERY reference to the weekly Sabbath in the NT refers to the seventh day of the week - Saturday

Acts 18:4 4 And he (the Apostle Paul) reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks."

Acts 13:42 So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

Acts 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.

Which is inline with Is 66:23 where we find that for all eternity after the cross in the New Earth of Rev 21 - "from Sabbath to Sabbath shall all mankind come before Me to worship" (far from it being deleted 2000 years ago)

======================================

If this is the case - then keeping week-day-1 instead of the seventh day -- as either "the new Sabbath" or as your own personal "Lord's day" is a preference or a later tradition rather than something that comes to us from the actual New Testament.

No wonder - almost every Christian denomination on Earth affirms the continued *"unit of TEN" for Christians today - the list includes;

• The Baptist Confession of Faith section 19
• The Westminster Confession of Faith section 19
• Voddie Baucham
• C.H. Spurgeon
• D.L. Moody
• Dies Domini by Pope John Paul II
• D. James Kennedy
• R.C. Sproul
• (others...)

* - unit of TEN in verbatim unchanged form or else "edited" by man's tradition

Those groups above are at some level of agreement with Michael Youssef of Leading The Way ministries as we see here --
The Ten Commandments (Part 5)

Calvinism presents the idea that God has chosen a group of people for damnation. In the same way, He chose and elected a group for salvation. This group chosen for damnation can never be saved according to Calvanism's teaching. God created them to display His wrath.

Now if this were true, fine, but if it is not true it is an attack on the very nature of God. An attack on His goodness and forbearance.

Now I would like to assert that this Calvinistic idea is not at all of God. That God did not create man to destroy them.

Genisis shows us firstly, that God was shocked at how bad man had become, and He wished He had not created them.

Gen 6:5-7 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."

The fact that God wished he had not created man, shows us that He certainly did not plan their wickedness, He did not desire it to display wrath.

The scripture also shows us that God has a desire, even a longing, to save even the wicked, but it is them who are unwilling to be saved.

Mat 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

That verse alone should settle the issue.

But there is more, all of the Early Church leaders who came after the apostles, within a generation or two, believed that man was "not" predestined by God to damnation. They taught that man has free will to choose life or death. Yet, a Calvinist will look to people who came 100's of years later, who taught what they teach, as if it was from the mouth of the apostles. Yet ignore that those close to the apostles taught against Calvinism.

So I ask the reader who opposes this, are you sure you are doing God a favor, protecting His honor, and word? Are you not maybe destroying the opinion of God in the ears of those you teach?

Irenaeus (120-202 AD) in his Against Heresies - Book 4 Ch 35-38 shows clearly that it is man's free will choice to choose or reject God.

Chap. XXXVII. — Men Are Possessed of Free Will, and Endowed with the Faculty of Making a Choice. It Is Not True, Therefore, That Some Are by Nature Good, and Others Bad.

1. This expression [of our Lord], “How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not,” (Mat 23:37) set forth the ancient law of human liberty, because God made man a free [agent] from the beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul, to obey the behests (ad utendum sententia) of God voluntarily, and not by compulsion of God. For there is no coercion with God, but a good will [towards us] is present with Him continually. And therefore does He give good counsel to all. And in man, as well as in angels, He has placed the power of choice (for angels are rational beings), so that those who had yielded obedience might justly possess what is good, given indeed by God, but preserved by themselves. On the other hand, they who have not obeyed shall, with justice, be not found in possession of the good, and shall receive condign punishment: for God did kindly bestow on them what was good; but they themselves did not diligently keep it, nor deem it something precious, but poured contempt upon His super-eminent goodness. Rejecting therefore the good, and as it were spuing it out, they shall all deservedly incur the just judgment of God, which also the Apostle Paul testifies in his Epistle to the Romans, where he says, “But dost thou despise the riches of His goodness, and patience, and long-suffering, being ignorant that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “But glory and honour,” he says, “to every one that doeth good.” (Rom 2:4, Rom 2:5, Rom 2:7) God therefore has given that which is good, as the apostle tells us in this Epistle, and they who work it shall receive glory and honour, because they have done that which is good when they had it in their power not to do it; but those who do it not shall receive the just judgment of God, because they did not work good when they had it in their power so to do.


Justin Martyr (110-165) brings up the topic of Predestination (Fatalism) and says it is not what the Church believed in his day

Justin Martyr - First Apology - Ch 56-50

Chap. XLIII — Responsibility Asserted.

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

Justin Martyr - Dialoque with Trypho

Chap. CXL. — In Christ All Are Free. The Jews Hope for Salvation in Vain Because They Are Sons of Abraham.

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

Chap. CXLI. — Free-Will in Men and Angels.

...But if the word of God foretells that some angels and men shall be certainly punished, it did so because it foreknew that they would be unchangeably [wicked], but not because God had created them so. So that if they repent, all who wish for it can obtain mercy from God: and the Scripture foretells that they shall be blessed, saying, ‘Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin;’...

In the New Testament this word “love” is most always in reference to agape love, which is based in moral preference, and which means to prefer what God prefers. For the believer in Christ it means to prefer to live through Christ, to embrace God’s will, to choose his choices, and to obey them in his power. And what God prefers is what is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, discerning, integrity, faithful and obedient to God. And all throughout the Scriptures we are taught that love for God is obedience.

So, if we truly are preferring what God prefers, then we are going to hate evil like he does, too. Yet we are not to hate evil people, but we are to love them, and do good to them, and pray for them, and say to them what will be of benefit to them, as God would regard as beneficial. But we should hate the evil that people do, and we should, thus, not desire evil in our own lives. We should have no part with evil, but we should be servants of the Lord Jesus who make righteousness and obedience to God our practice.

Now, who are the saints? They are not “good people” who some religious people decided to designate as “saints.” In the New Testament a saint is a person who has been set apart by and for God who is holy, i.e. different from (unlike) the world because he is being conformed of God into the likeness of nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he is someone who is also not conformed to the pattern of this sinful world, but he is living in obedience to the Lord in walks of faith in holy and godly living, in the power of God, by his grace.

But this is not optional for the believer in Jesus Christ. For if our faith in Jesus Christ is God-given and God-persuaded faith in him, then our faith is going to conform to the divine character and will and purpose of God for us who are followers of Christ. And we can’t be a true believer in Jesus and not be one of his followers, either. For if we are of God-ordained faith in Christ it is going to result in death to sin and living to righteousness and walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living, though not necessarily in absolute perfection. But lack of perfection should not be used to excuse willful sin.

Now what does it mean that God preserves the lives of his saints and that he delivers us from the hand of the wicked? For are we not taught in the New Testament that God is going to allow us to suffer greatly at the hands of our enemies for our walks of faith in Jesus Christ? Yes, this is true! We are taught that we will have enemies who will hate us, and who will do evil against us, and who will persecute us if we are true followers of Jesus Christ, and especially if we are those who are spreading the truth of the gospel.

So, this is not a promise to us today that we will not have to suffer at the hands of the wicked or that we will not have to suffer in all sorts of other ways because we are in flesh bodies on a fallen earth. It just means that God is our sanctuary, and he will uphold us and sustain us through the trials of our lives, if we will keep putting our trust in him and not in the flesh. If our faith is in him, he will carry us through whatever we have to go through, and he will give us the strength that we need to endure.

And with regard to deliverance, he may not always deliver us physically from our difficult circumstances, but he will deliver us through those times by teaching us to rely on him for our support, and by training us in holiness and in righteousness and in faithful endurance. He will keep us from falling if we put our trust in him and if we do not choose to run away from him, instead. So he will deliver us from the influences and the lies and the deceptions of the enemy if we will remain steadfast in him and not give up hope.

With regard to “light,” I believe this is speaking of spiritual, not physical light, though the two do parallel themselves in many respects. For spiritual light has to do with Jesus Christ, who is the Light, and with truth and righteousness and the revelation of God’s holy word and the gospel. And light helps us to see (discern) spiritually what is good and evil. And the righteous are those who are living according to God’s divine character and will and according to his word and all that God deems as right and just.

Again, this is not claiming absolute perfection, for we are all still a work in progress while we still live on this earth in these flesh bodies. But our Lord has “drawn a line in the sand” in separating “the sheep from the goats,” and it all comes down to what we practice. What the Scriptures teach, basically, is that we are what we practice. So those who make a practice of lying are liars, and of thieving, are thieves, and of adultery, are adulterers, et al. So if sin is what we practice and not obedience to our Lord, the Scriptures teach that we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what we profess.

So, if you want to have the joy of the Lord, then you must hate evil and love God and his righteousness and prefer to obey him and to not obey sin.

[Matt 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 3:5-11; 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]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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