Hello folks. Have you guys/gals tried European chocolate? It has a good taste and a higher quality to chocolate from other places in the world, and typically do not contain artificial colors or flavors. My favorite brands of European chocolate include Schogetten (found at Aldi for under $2.00 in my area for a 3.5 oz or 100 g bar as of December 2023) and Milka.

So, overall, chocolate is not healthy, but European chocolate seems to be made with more natural ingredients. It is good to check if the brand has the Fairtrade label also, even if the stamp of approval does not hold that much weight, as Fairtrade chocolate certifications only help farmer cooperatives, and not the individual farmers themselves, so the co-op leaders may make the most money, while a lowly farmer may not, depending on the co-op. But overall, Fairtrade chocolate somewhat works, as it has lower environmental impact compared to non-fair trade chocolate.

Fairtrade issues: Fair Trade Chocolate: Debunking The Myth - The Chocolate Journalist
Fairtrade somewhat works: Is Fair Trade Chocolate Really Fair? (an Honest Look at the Facts)

We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ (as the model "Spirit" to follow). It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own (like excusing our disobedience of the Ten Commandments as coming from the Holy Spirit). Our qualification comes from God (sending us Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow). He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant (Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow). This is a covenant not of the letter (Ten Commandments), but of the Spirit (Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow and not the Holy Spirit used as an excuse to disobey the Ten Commandments when Jesus obeyed them). The letter ends in death (sabotaged by Judaism to not remove sin); but the Spirit (Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow) gives life (the removal of sin). The old way (God's "order" by the prophet Moses), with letters etched in stone (Ten Commandments), led to death (sabotaged by Judaism to not remove sin), though it began with such glory (leading to righteousness) that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God (which is His righteousness expressed in the Ten Commandments), even though the brightness was already fading away (Judaism's unwillingness to obey "all" the Ten Commandments). Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way (Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow), now that the Holy (added by the translators) Spirit (not the Holy Spirit but Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow) gives life? If the old way (written letters etched in stone), which brings condemnation (Judaism not fully obeying "all" the Ten Commandments by replacing them with human "law"), was glorious (leading to righteousness), how much more glorious (leading to righteousness) is the new way (Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow), which makes us right with God (removes sin)! In fact, that first glory (which led to righteousness) was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory (leading to righteousness) of the new way (Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow). So if the old way (written letters etched in stone), which has been replaced, was glorious (led to righteousness), how much more glorious (leading to righteousness) is the new (Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow), which remains forever! Since this new way (of following the model "Spirit" of Jesus, rather than Judaism's human "law") gives us such confidence, we can be very bold (learning to use God's name properly, which Judaism does not). We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory (of God's righteousness), even though it was destined to fade away (by Judaism's unwillingness to obey all the Ten Commandments). But the people’s minds were hardened (to not obey all the Ten Commandments), and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth (of the failure of replacing God's Commandments with their own human law). And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ (as the model "Spirit" to follow). Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand (they failed to obey all of God's Ten Commandments by substituting them with human "law"). But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit (Jesus is the model "Spirit" to follow who obeyed the Ten Commandments as our example and Paul is not referring to the Holy Spirit as an excuse to disobey the Ten Commandments), and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (from sin and not from God's Ten Commandments). So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord (in obeying the Ten Commandments). And the Lord—who is the Spirit (Jesus is the model "Spirit" Paul is telling us to follow and not the Holy Spirit, whose job is to tell us things through prophets and remind us of Jesus as the model "Spirit" to follow)—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. (2 Corinthians 3:4-18 NLT fixed and overlaid with commentary)

Hi friends, my account is old, but I've never been active that much.
I thought I would reintroduce myself.
I am a Christian and Jesus is my Savior. I believe in the Trinity of God.
I am married 11 years, with a 9 year old son. I live in Tennessee.
I don't go to church and consider myself as a baby Christian.
I have been spending a lot of time in the Word lately and I was wondering if there are any Bible Study Groups online that I could participate in?

I can't believe the Pope called EWTN the work of the devil at any point in time. (And the guy who wrote this article isn't thrilled with EWTN either.) What is wrong with the Pope?? EWTN reaches millions who can't leave the house to attend Mass.

The party alleges that Alvarez, a key figure in crafting the state’s recent election reform law, tricked its members and 17 election candidates into believing that the 2022 general election in Harris County was rigged against Republicans.

According to the lawsuit filed in Mitchell County, Alvarez is accused of fabricating the existence of a “data model” that supposedly proved a deliberate shortage of paper ballots targeting GOP voters. However, the lawsuit contends that such a model never existed.

The Texas GOP is seeking to recover $350,000 in legal fees and up to $1 million in damages, alleging that Alvarez took advantage of the party and its donors.

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee says the lawsuit is an admission that the initial [election] suits were frivolous. [Harris County certainly prevailed in court.]

Possibly related.

9 December 2023​

​

2023 is the hottest year in recorded history, with a month to spare.​

Scientists have confirmed 2023 will be the hottest year on record, with the official declaration from climate change service Copernicus, run by the EU, made with a month to spare.

The startling heat records come as large parts of Australia are set to endure heatwave conditions, with temperatures expected to reach over 40 degrees in some places.

The world can't stop breaking heat records this year, with each month since June becoming the warmest on record.

The Copernicus data confirmed the trend, with the warmest November on record globally hitting 1.75 degrees above the 1850–1900 pre-industrial reference period.

"2023 has now had six record-breaking months and two record-breaking seasons," Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said.

"The extraordinary global November temperatures, including two days warmer than 2ºC above pre-industrial, mean that 2023 is the warmest year in recorded history."

Link/more

(Aus is currently experiencing a serious heatwave with temps in the South, South-east and Central parts of the country in the mid 40s (113+ Fahrenheit) along with significant (30,000+yesterday) recorded dry lightning strikes. We're only 9 days into Summer - OB)

Does the Lutheran Church ordain women?

Democrats have a plan to shake up the housing market

This week, Merkley and Smith introduced the bill, the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act of 2023, which takes aim at hedge funds and private equity firms that have snapped up single-family houses as investment properties.

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I gotta say. This is a pretty good solution and if it passes (and it should because there are very few markets where this isn't affecting prices).

I think what makes this a pretty good solution is that it will have an impact (if 44% of the houses bought in the last 2 years end up back on the market that is going to affect prices for sure.)

It's also a pretty good solution because it's a meaningful action to improve the cost of housing and it just really seems like nobody has had any other GOOD ideas.

But.....

Thoughts?

OSV News) — “Pick 1,” directs a guide printed in the parish bulletin of St. Joseph Church in York, Pennsylvania. The command in the graphic is listed twice, over two columns: The first lists Mass times for the fourth Sunday of Advent, the second lists Christmas Mass times.

The takeaway: No single Mass fulfills both a Catholic’s Sunday obligation and the Christmas obligation. Because they are different liturgical days — even if they overlap on the calendar — they require attendance at different Masses.

Typically, Mass celebrated at any time on Sunday — including Sunday evening — fulfills Catholics’ obligation to attend Sunday Mass. Same goes for Saturday evening Masses that anticipate Sunday Mass. Likewise, an evening Mass before a holy day of obligation (such as Christmas) also typically satisfies a Catholic’s requirement to attend the holy day Mass.

This year, Christmas Eve is Sunday. So, many Catholics are asking if attending Sunday evening Mass this year can “count” for both.

Canon lawyer Jenna Marie Cooper recently tackled the query in her regular “Question Corner” column for OSV News.

Two days of obligation​

Continued below.

Anyone watch the testimony of the presidents of Harvard, M.I.T. and UPenn? I thought at one point it must be a well-produced show from the Babylon Bee, but disgustingly, it was real. Thankfully those three neo's are being condemned from all sides. I suspect they'll all be seeking other employment soon. One donor is withholding $100 million from UPenn until Magill is fired. When serious money is at stake, any university's going to throw you under the bus,, where these ladies belong.

I would like to point out something in the life of Jesus that I think will be new to most people.

Hebrews 1: 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Jesus hates iniquity and did during His life here on earth. He is sinless.

Hebrews 4: 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Now let's go to the temptation in the wilderness.

Matthew 4: 1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Have you ever been tempted to turn stones into bread when hungry? So, if the devil is tempting Jesus to sin how is being hungry a sin? I propose that it was futile for the devil to tempt Jesus to sin as we think of sinning. Hebrews 1:9 tells us Jesus hated sin. So was the sin the devil tempted Jesus with the same type of sin which we are tempted to indulge in? Yes. He was tempting Jesus to feed Himself miraculously. To use His own power to help Himself. Why would this be? How can this be? Jesus said:

John 5: 30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

The temptation was to separate Himself from His Father and do things on His own. And what is our temptation? To separate ourselves from God and do things our own way. Both actions are sinful as God is righteousness and the devil fell in heaven by wanting to do things his own way and thus separate himself from God. He set himself as his own idol and by separating ourselves from God and His power to live right we are doing the same.

The only way to live righteously as Jesus did is to submit ourselves to God as Jesus did to His Father. Then we are not part of the equation in our salvation.

Hunter Biden was indicted in California on a number of tax charges after pleading not guilty to federal gun charges earlier this year. On "FOX & Friends" Friday, former Whitewater deputy counsel Sol Wisenberg argued the indictment is "devastating" for President Biden's son and will be a "vindication" of the IRS whistleblowers.
SOL WISENBERG:This indictment, which is a devastating speaking indictment, really is a complete vindication of the whistleblowers. There's no reason this indictment couldn't have been brought a year ago or two years ago. Remember, the whistleblowers had to fight to get this investigation continued and ultimately lost. And if it hadn't been for [Judge Maryellen Noreika] in that federal Delaware courtroom, that hinky plea deal would have gone down. She did her job and stopped this from happening. And it's really, from a criminal defense perspective, from a white-collar crime perspective, I would really say the defense attorneys for Hunter Biden got too greedy in what they wanted from that plea deal. And that's why it blew up. It was a big mistake in how they handled this case.

President Biden's son Hunter Biden was indicted in California Thursday on a litany of tax charges, according to documents made public.

The indictment alleges Hunter Biden's failure to pay nearly $200,000 of income tax in the year 2019.

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in October to federal gun charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware after being charged out of Weiss' years-long investigation.

Thursday's development comes ahead of an expected vote from House Republican leaders next week on a measure that would formally initiate an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over possible ties to his son's business dealings.

Prosecutors charged Virgil L. Marsh with one count of first-degree statutory sodomy and two counts of first-degree child molestation involving two girls under the age of 14 who attended his church between 2011 and 2018.

According to the probable cause statement, Virgil told police he “asked for forgiveness from God, and he is no longer the man who had previously done things to the victims.”

At one point, the alleged victim told another person who lived in the home with Marsh. That triggered a meeting between the victim, her parents, and Marsh. The alleged victim told Independence police that Marsh apologized and cried during the meeting, but that the inappropriate contact involving Marsh continued.

Please criticize the author or better yet the falsehood of the content or don't participate.

My mom came here after we nuked her country for the American Dream (AD). I was always told to work hard to achieve it. Lance talks about the misconception of the AD and some of the causes of the loss of faith in some, Disclaimer: I watch this guy on YouTube for stock info.

Trigger Alert:


"If you look at the faces of those pushing back, they are of every race, religion, and creed. Their commonality is they are the demographic most impacted by job losses, income destruction, financial disparity, and debt. That inequality gained enormous traction following the Federal Reserve’s repeated bailouts of the financial system."

"The “American Dream” is the idea that the Government should protect each person’s opportunity to pursue their vision of happiness. It is the dream of opportunity, the dream of freedom, and the dream of liberty."

"Due to 50 years of debt, deficits, and ongoing interventions in the financial system, there is a visible gap between the “rich” and everyone else. However, that is not a failure of “capitalism;” it is the byproduct of “corporatism.”

"
The American dream was never about being granted a high salary, given an opportunity, or gifted wealth.

However, we were given the “freedom” to start with nothing and, by sheer “will,” create success. For example:"
And sadly I only know Oparah and Ralph

Acts 9:

1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord.

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5 “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.

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Jesus was the Lord.

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

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Jesus, the Lord, spoke to Ananias.

“Here I am, Lord,” he answered.
11 “Get up!” the Lord told him.

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13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.

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15 “Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.

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17 So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

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All the references here point to Jesus as the Lord.

Did Jesus or God come in a vision to Ananias?

From the texts as well as the context, according to the point of view of Ananias, it was Jesus who spoke to Ananias in a vision.

Later, Paul recounted this story to the crowd at the Jerusalem temple in Acts 22:

12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment, I was able to see him. 14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

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Paul met Ananias. Paul said that Ananias said that "the God of our ancestors has chosen you". There was no contradiction. As far as Paul was concerned, Jesus was God. Paul didn't say that Jesus did not come to Ananias in a vision.

Alot of women in the world get validation from sex and alot of physical affection.
I was wondering was it hard to tell the interest level of a Christian man when a women becomes a Christian and becomes celibate and has boundaries ?
Have any Christian women experienced this before in their early years as a Christian ?

It may sound like a ridiculously insignificant dream but it happened anyway and happened in the most ridiculous set of circumstances.

Approximately 4 years ago, I had a dream of the "light at the end of the tunnel". I came to the end of this tunnel and saw the space beyond the tunnel is made entirely of soft white light like the "Construct" in the Matrix. I also found a spider right at the center of the tunnel's opening hanging by a thread of a web.

Just last year, we installed a round LED light 1 ft in diameter at the ceiling of our room. It produces a soft white like like a fluorescent bulb and looks just like the "light at the end of the tunnel" in my dream.

But the strangest thing happened this morning. I woke up with the round LED light illuminated with a really tiny spider who build a cobweb just a few feet above my head and precisely between the LED and my eyes in a straight line so the spider appears situated right at the center of the LED light when looking at it.

And this all occurred under some insane circumstances. First, the spider is really tiny like a black dot. It is so tiny the cobweb it made is virtually invisible and only becomes barely visible like a shimmer when viewed at a certain angle against the light. The tiny round cobweb is strung across two objects couple of feet apart. By some tremendous luck with a tiny amount of randomly blowing wind from the fan that the spider would line up perfectly centered with the LED light from my point of view.

I did have a weird dream probably at the same time the spider built the web, hanging out with different people from different time periods.

Anyway, I removed the spider and its web with my hand because it's in my way. The size of the whole cobweb is smaller than my hand. It's that tiny. I didn't even feel the web as if it's not even there. I released the spider in the wind and it just flew away because of its really tiny size.

It reminded me of the Native American "dreamcatcher". I don't know, maybe something quite huge is about to happen.

After the fall, did Lucifer become ugly or did he remain beautiful?

I am reading in John 18:1-27. It is a long passage so I am going to summarize much of it. So, please read it for yourselves.

Judas Iscariot, who was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, who had traveled with him in ministry for 3-3 ½ years, had just betrayed Jesus to the authorities. So he went to where Jesus was, and along with him were a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They came there to arrest Jesus, which they did.

First they led Jesus to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. And Peter and John (“the other disciple”) followed behind Jesus. John was known to the high priest, so he entered with Jesus into the courtyard.


Now, what is the back story behind all of this? First we read in John 13:2 that the devil prompted Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus. And then Jesus predicted Judas’ betrayal without actually naming him other than he was one of the twelve. But he did signal that it was Judas. For Jesus said,


And who was Peter? He was one of Jesus’ closest disciples who also had traveled with him in ministry 3-3 ½ years. He was a faithful and dedicated servant of the Lord. He did have a tendency to be impulsive, though, and he was sometimes quick to respond to situations with actions and/or with words, often without thinking. So when Jesus told his disciples he was going away, Peter wanted to go with Jesus, and so he claimed he would lay down his life for the Lord. But Jesus responded to him with these words:


So Jesus Christ predicted both Judas’ betrayal of him and Peter’s denial of him. And what happened to Judas? He hung himself. From what I recall, there was no indication that he had repented of what he did. Peter, on the other hand, once the rooster crowed, remembered what Jesus said to him, and he began weeping in anguish (or bitterly). And he did repent, and he went on to be one of Jesus’ apostles and preachers of the gospel of Christ and an author of two of the New Testament books (1st & 2nd Peter).

Now, although Judas had a free will to choose Jesus or to reject him, still it was within the will of God that Jesus was to be betrayed to death. For Jesus came to this earth to die on a cross so that when he died he would put our sins to death with him, so that when we believe in him we are able to die with him to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, in His power, strength, and wisdom (Romans 6:1-23).

And Peter also had a choice to deny Jesus or not to deny him, but it was within God’s permissive will that Peter would deny the Lord. Why? I believe that God allowed this in Peter’s life to humble him and to teach him the importance of faithfulness and commitment despite his surroundings, and despite what other people do to him or say about him. And that served him well all throughout his ministry when he had to stand up against people in authority who wanted him to stop speaking in the name of Jesus.

And Jesus told us, his disciples (if we are truly his disciples/followers), that if we believe in him, and if we follow him with our lives in obedience to his ways and to his commands, that we will be treated like Jesus was treated. So, if our lives are committed to the Lord Jesus, to doing what he says to do and to say, it should not surprise us if even people we are close to, who are our friends, or neighbors, or other professing Christians, and even family members, might betray us and/or deny us because of what we do in faith.

For if we are truly following the Lord, doing and saying the kinds of things he did and said, and if we are bringing to the people the truth of what the Scriptures teach, in context, and the truth of what Jesus and his NT taught us regarding the message of the gospel, and if we are exposing the lies and the fruitless deeds of darkness for what they are, as did Jesus, and as did his NT apostles, we are going to have people betray us and deny us, too. And it hurts, especially if they are people close to our hearts.

But regardless of how other people treat us or what they do to us or say to us or about us, we must keep on keeping on in our walks of faith and obedience to the Lord. For Satan wants to use these people, with or without their permission, to destroy our lives. He wants to hurt us and to crush us in our spirits to the point to where we retreat and we give up. He was able to accomplish that in my life early on, so I had to go through a lot of trials before I finally stopped retreating and I stayed the course, all glory to God.

So, the encouragement here is to remain faithful to the Lord no matter what Satan throws your way. It never ever benefits anyone when we let the enemy defeat us. So, stay strong in the strength of the Lord, keep obeying him, keep serving him, and keep speaking the truth, in love, to the people. For many people are teaching lies, and so the people need to hear the truth. So we have to put aside any desires we have to be loved and accepted by others in order to love the people of this world enough to tell them the truth and to expose to them the lies so they will believe the truth and not the lies.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

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

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Hello siblings,

I will first start by stating that I believe in unlimited atonement.

I came across an article:


This article quotes early Church members, and some of these quotes seem to hint that limited atonement may not have been rejected by some well known figures.

Are these quotes taken out of context? Can someone explain them to me?

I look for someone who is more knowledgeable than I on the quotes that were used.

Hello guys, my name is Álvaro. I'm a catholic from Spain, and I'm currently working on a project about ecumenism and the apostolic churches. That's why I'm doing a survey to understand better orthodoxy and your faith, that is not well known in my country. Everything I have learned about your Church in the past few months has been great and I would love to hear you guys opinions and thoughts.
Answering this survey will only take a few minutes, but it is an act of charity


Also, please if you know any orthodox clergy I could contact to further my research I would be eternally grateful. May the Most Holy Theotokos protect us!

I need to do something important, like a legal matter, like writing a will, or filing paperwork, something like that.

I'm in fine health, and emotionally OK, blessed in God, loving God and the body of Christ.

However, it seems like taking this action will radically change my life in a better way, but I'm putting it off.

Will accept all prayers or any good ideas.

I am reading now in John, chapter 16. Jesus was speaking to his disciples, preparing their hearts for the time when Jesus would leave them via his death and resurrection and ascension back to heaven. And he let them know that, as his disciples, they would be put out of the synagogues, and whoever killed them would think (misguidedly) that he is offering service to God.

And then he let them know that he was leaving them to go back to where the Father is, but that it was to their advantage that he went away so that the Helper (the Holy Spirit) would be sent to them.


And what is the role of the Holy Spirit here (not including all his ministries)? To CONVICT the people of the world concerning SIN and RIGHTEOUSNESS and JUDGMENT, and to GUIDE us who are the Lord’s disciples INTO ALL TRUTH, and to DECLARE to us the things that ARE TO COME. And this really is a summation of the purpose of the message of the gospel of Christ which we who believe in Jesus Christ are to be living and are to be sharing with the people of the world and with the church, the body of Christ, too.

But we live in a day and time here in America where this is largely not the picture being given of the Holy Spirit nor of the message of the gospel of our salvation by “the church.” For many are avoiding such words as “conviction,” and “sin,” and “righteousness,” and “judgment.” And they are avoiding and altering and sanitizing the truth of God’s word and of the gospel of our salvation in order to make them less offensive and more acceptable to the ungodly and to human flesh. So they remove the truth they are not willing to accept and they insert half-truths (lies) in the place of truth.

But the gospel message that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught all talked about sin and conviction of sin and repentance and righteousness and judgment and obedience. And none of them sugar-coated the truth. None of them felt it necessary to remove or to ignore certain parts of the gospel message in order to make it more acceptable to the ungodly and to human flesh. For they were not concerned with whether or not they offended people with the truth. They were concerned about people heading to hell.

And this is where we need to be, too. We need to be more concerned with where people are going to spend eternity than we are with what they will think about us or how they might treat us. For we can’t have it both ways! For in this day and age, if you tell the people what Jesus said and what his NT apostles said (all of it), in context, you are not going to have many friends or “likes” on social media. For the modern way is not to talk about stuff that makes people uncomfortable or offended, but to say only what makes them feel good about themselves.

And they like to hear the promises of God, but all of God’s promises have conditions. So if we tell them the promises, to make them feel good, but without the conditions, we are not telling them the truth, and it is the truth which sets us free. For if we claim to be in fellowship with God while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, we are liars. And if we claim to know God but while we do not obey his commandments (New Covenant), in practice, we are liars. And if sin is what we obey and not righteousness, we are not born of God, but we are of the devil, and we don’t have eternal life with God.

[1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Romans 6:1-23]

And the message of the gospel must include conviction of sin, repentance, righteous living, walking in the truth of God’s word, walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and warnings regarding the judgment of God if we do not walk in righteousness and in obedience, but we, instead, choose to walk in sin. But when this is what we teach, and not the lies that so many are teaching, we may get put out of or encouraged out of small groups or out of larger gatherings of what is called “the church.” And that is because that is largely not the message they are wanting people to hear these days.

And that is because they are listening to men, and not God, and so many are getting their messages from men, and not God’s word. Even if they use the Scriptures, often they are taken out of context and twisted and made to say something that the Scriptures do not teach. But we are to be students of the Scriptures who rightly handle the word of truth, to the best that we understand, but as we are seeking the understanding and the counsel of God and not of man. And I am not against Bible helps. But they should not replace the Holy Spirit. We need to let the Spirit guide us to all truth.

For the gospel that Jesus and his NT apostles taught teaches us to forsake our sins, and to die with Christ to sin that we might be raised with him to walk in newness of life, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So sin is to no longer have mastery over our lives to where we obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and sanctification and its end is eternal life with God. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. That is the gospel message.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

I Will Call Upon the Lord

Words and music by Michael O'Shields

I will call upon the Lord
Who is worthy to be praised
So shall I be saved from my enemies
The Lord liveth and blessed be the Rock
And let the God of my salvation be exalted

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In a controversial move [in 2017], the Republican-led Iowa Legislature opted to leave behind $3 million annually by discontinuing the state's participation in the federal Medicaid family planning network. Instead, policymakers replaced the program with the current state-run version.

Critics argued the move would result in Iowans receiving fewer family planning services, a concern that some say has been confirmed by the latest state figures.

Iowa's state-run family planning program has seen a nearly 83% drop in people using its services since it was created in 2017 to exclude abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood from government funding, new state figures show.

The main goal of Iowa's family planning program is to help low- and moderate-income Iowans obtain birth control, routine exams and testing for sexually transmitted infections, along with a variety of other sexual and reproductive health services.

Fewer than 500 Iowans used program services in 2021​

By comparison, in 2016, when the state family planning program was still using federal Medicaid money, 4,642 people received services.

In 2016, the cost of services administered was $1.5 million, before falling in 2017 to nearly $837,000. In 2021, the cost for 423 patients under the program was less than $165,000.

[Well, on the plus side, they've saved almost $1.5 million by providing hardly any family planning health services. I wonder what they could do with that money?]

"While fewer Iowans are able to access care under this program, the state Legislature is putting $1.5 million into funding anti-abortion centers who do not provide any kind of medical care and they are touting them as one of the solutions to the many public health care crises that they've created through their harmful policies," Dooley said.