• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

Independence MO pastor charged with sexually abusing children

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.
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The "American Dream" Isn't Dead

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

Did Jesus or God speak to Ananias of Damascus?

Acts 9:

1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord.
5 “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.
Jesus was the Lord.

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

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

Women when you first started dating as a Christians was it hard to tell if a man was interested or not while dating ?

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 ?

Spider dream fulfilled

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.

Stand Strong in the Face of Rejection

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.

“But Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, ‘You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.” (John 18:16-18 ESV)
“Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, ‘You also are not one of his disciples, are you?’ He denied it and said, ‘I am not.’ One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with him?’ Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.” (John 18:25-27 ESV)

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,

“’It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot. And as soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. ‘What you are about to do, do quickly,’ Jesus told him, but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him” (John 13:26-28 NIV 1978).

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:

“Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” (John 13:38 NIV 1978)

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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The Different Beliefs (Unlimited Atonement vs Limited Atonement)

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.

Please help me understand orthodoxy better

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!

Procrastinating about something important

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.

Conviction of Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment

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 when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:8-15 ESV)

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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Few are using Iowa's family planning program started in 2017 to thwart Planned Parenthood

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.

Hunter Biden faces 17 years in prison after spending millions on lavish hard-partying lifestyle while dodging taxes: special counsel

“The Defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019,” Special Counsel David Weiss writes in the 56-page indictment out of the Central District of California.

“In furtherance of that scheme,” Weiss notes that Hunter “subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company, Owasco, PC by withdrawing millions from Owasco, PC” and “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills.”
Joe said Hunter "did nothing wrong."
  • Agree
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I need so help. Christian with OCD.

I have always had OCD, ever since I was born. However, I havent always been a christian. Quite the opposite: I was a die hard atheist. Only recently did I come to Christ, which is a long story.
Mostly my OCD is under control, and for the most part I dont have too much trouble. But recently I have had some REALLY creepy coincidences that I dont know what to think of. For example, my ocd made me say out loud "make it so X messages me within the next few days". Now I havent had X message me for over a YEAR. Sure enough within the next three days for whatever reason, they contacted me. This has now happened FOUR times in a row. Another example, I was going off on vacation and my ocd thought "if X is true, your hotel room number will be 123" Sure enough when I got there, I was given room 123. I am freaking out. Are these demons trying to creep me out? I dont even understand this.
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Christians in the Money Program 12 Step Groups

Has anyone here ever tried the groups Underearners' Anonymous or Debtors' Anonymous?

I am by no means poor but I'm a composer and writer and try to have time for ministry focus. I decided that to have

more time for my arts, trying to be successful with a small business would be the ideal, if I could achieve it.

I looked at these two groups as possibly offering support, but many of the people in 12 Step groups fall more into a New Age background,

such as people talking about things like Tarot cards and the like.

These groups (as well as other 12 step groups) have dozens of phone or zoom meetings a day.

I thought it would be an interesting to have Christians discuss these concerns, maybe with using some of the tools as they have lots of tools and

literature.

What A Day :)

I had an accident in my truck today. I prayed before I left and invited the Lord to accompany me and protect me. Here's how it went:

I had gassed up at the gas station and was turning left crossing oncoming traffic and going to the far lane. Busy intersection. I met eyes with the guy in a small suv because I wanted out. So the guy glances in his mirror and then waves me out. I thought it was clear. I started to go, and...it wasn't clear. I hit some medium sized suv looking thing and it sure was my fault. Even if the guy did wave me out. I wasn't going fast when I hit her. It smudged the paint on my rock solid bumber, lol. But it caved in her passenger door So I went ahead and made my turn so I wasn't blocking traffic and we both pulled over across the street from where it happend.

Bad things I was looking at were:
My DL was expired!
I had no insurance.
I was packing a pistol in my belt for protection. (supposed to be legal now but it's still akward!)
With no license or insurance, they might impound my truck! So I could get a slew of charges. :(

The only good thing I did have was good tags. But I am newish to this area and I knew my license was expired since 2020, but they had shut down the DL office because of Covid. So I waited on that to end. Then after that, we all know what happened. Food prices went up very fast and are ridiculous now. And I'm on disability SS. I could not afford all those charges and would likely lose my only transportation at the impound lot Isnt an impounded vehicle like, hundreds and hundreds of dollars to get out?

Luckily by the grace of God, the cops took 45 minutes to show up. So I had a lot of time to pray and praise the Lord and tell Jesus that I trust Him, and that's what I was doing! So the cops roll in and I get out and the others did too and License & Insurance please. Man, I did not want to lose my truck! SO I gave him my expired license and registration and said I don't have my insurance info available right now and I think it might be expired...

He said ok and went back to his car. When he came back, he said, do I have anyone that can come drive my truck home for me because he can't let me drive it away and if I don't then he has to impound it. I mumbled under my breath, I trust you Jesus and was was honest with the officer and said no kids are grown, wife moved on. I'm new to the area and on SS and could not have any hope of keeping my truck and getting it out. So this will be a major downfall for me and then the cop said instantly, Ok You can leave it here and walk home and I wont impound it!But just get someone to help you get it home. Then he gave me two tickets. One for failure to yield, and one for having no valid license. I told him I had plans to renew it but at first it was covid and after that the food went up so much that it started being my priority. I do still like to eat, lol.

That was one nice cop! God bless him for going minimal on me! First time that I've been pulled over here in Ohio and the cops here arent anything like they were in Colorado. In Colorado Springs, where I used to live the police are all militant and stuff. I've had them guys get a tape measure out of their car and stop and measure my truck tires from the curb. Nobody gets any breaks from the police in C. Springs.

I guess I am getting a license and insurance for Christmas then, before the court date on 12/21 lol! and those tickets prolly wont be more than a couple hundred bucks and I can deal with that.And to top it all off, the people in the car I hit said they know a body man and will let me make payments to them for the damage. So how cool is that?! It wasnt a pristine super nice car so there's another blessing.

Praise the Lord! No gun charges or confrontations, nothing big. Just traffic.

I had invited the Lord to ride with me, so He could have prevented me from the accident? Perhaps, He wanted to see if I would hold onto my faith in Him until the end of the incident? I don't know. But I kept praying and telling Jesus that I trust you Jesus and stood on my faith and hobbled through it until the Lord let me off the hook so to speak!

And yes, I went across the street and bought a cup of coffee and the cop drove away pretty quick and within a few minutes I felt an inner peace in me that said, go drive your truck home. So I did and it's all right now. I had no one to call to come drive for me. I think the cop knew that too. In fact I told him I didn't. The Lord softened his heart and I Praise Him for that!

What's that scripture say? In the world, you will have tribulations...but keep your faith.

The son of man coming “with” his kingdom

Matthew 16:28 would be better understood as christ coming “with” his kingdom instead of “into” his kingdom.

Matthew 16:28 28Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming “with” (en) his kingdom (or royal power).”

En”
of that which one either leads or brings with him, or with which he is furnished or equipped;
especially after verbs of coming (ἐν of accompaniment), where we often say with: ἐν δέκα χιλιάσιν ὑπανταν, Luke 14:31; ἦλθεν ἐν μυριάσι, Jude 1:14; cf. Grimm on 1 Macc. 1:17; ἐισέρχεσθαι ἐναἵματι, Hebrews 9:25; ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καί ἐντῷ αἵματι, 1 John 5:6 (i. e. with the water of baptism and the blood of atonement, by means of both which he has procured the pardon of our sins, of which fact we are assured by the testimony of the Holy Spirit); ἐν ῤάβδῳ, 1 Corinthians 4:21; ἐνπληρώματι εὐλογίας, Romans 15:29; φθάνειν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ, 2 Corinthians 10:14; ἐν πνεύματι καί δυνάμει ἥλιον, imbued or furnished with the spirit and power of Elijah, Luke 1:17; ἐν τῇ βασιλείααὐτοῦ, furnished with the regal power of the Messiah, possessed of his kingly power (Buttmann, 330 (284)): Matthew 16:28; (Strong's Greek: 1722. ἐν (en) -- in, on, at, by, with)

The parallel passage in mark 9:1

1Then Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God arrive with (en) power.”


So what does it mean that some wouldn’t taste death until they saw the son of man coming with his kingdom/royal power or that some would not taste death until the kingdom of God would arrive with power?

Elon Musk demands Bob Iger ‘be fired’ after Disney pulled ads from X

“He should be fired immediately,” Musk, who often uses his influential perch to bully critics and others, wrote about Iger on the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Walt Disney is turning in his grave over what Bob has done to his company.”

All Musk has to do is look in the mirror for the one to blame for his failing social media network.

Christmas way for new Church. Mother, children rejected. Ministering to stateless new believers.

  • Dec. 07, 2023 | Sri Lanka​

    Christmas Care Distribution Makes Way for New Church

    [8] prayers in [1] nation have been posted for churches in Sri Lanka. Ministering to stateless new believers.
    Children at a Christmas Care pack distribution in Sri Lanka.
    A church in the Batticaloa area of Sri Lanka conducted their first Christmas Care Pack distribution early in the summer. One of the distribution points was in a hunters' village deep in the jungle. The children in this village were overjoyed to receive their packs. No church was in this village prior to the distribution, but this event gave front-line workers the opportunity to negotiate with the village leader to allocate land to build a church. Read More.
  • Dec. 07, 2023 | Laos​

    Mother and Children Rejected for Faith

    [6] prayers in [1] nation have been posted for Phin and her family.
    Phin with one of her daughters.
    When Inn's uncle shared the gospel with his family in February 2022, Inn was the only one who accepted Christ. The village leaders threatened Inn and his parents, saying he would be kicked out of school and jailed and the whole family would be evicted. Inn sought refuge with front-line workers so that he could finish high school and grow in his faith. Inn stayed in touch with his family, sharing about Christ whenever he could. Those gospel seeds took root. In January 2023, Inn's mother, Phin, and his two sisters accepted Christ. Village officials made daily threats, and Inn's father persecuted them as well. Read More.
  • Dec. 07, 2023 | Arabian Peninsula​

    Local Churches Minister to Stateless New Believers

    [6] prayers in [1] nation have been posted for New Believers.
    A family gathering in a Gulf nation.
    The nations of the Arab Peninsula attract people from around the world. Some come to participate in a religious pilgrimage while others arrive seeking job opportunities. Very few who decide to settle are ever given the opportunity to become citizens. "I know of one family where a grandfather came for a visit and stayed. Some of the family members have since become Christians," said a front-line worker. "And if they, or other second- or third-generation people living in the country, experience persecution … the church becomes their only refuge." Read More.

Should a man in a Godly relationship compliment how beautiful his girlfriend is daily ?

I know looks starts the initiation of the relationship but should a man compliment his girlfriend or WIFE looks daily in a Christian relationship? Or is that vain and sign of insecurities and being carnal from the women she’s in need of compliments or the man being desperate

Ukraine/Israel military aid package fails in the Senate 49-51

Ukraine aid from US in doubt after briefing walk-out, failed Senate vote

The $110bn (£87.3bn) package included $61bn for Ukraine, as well as funds for Israel and aid for Gaza. The package [also] includes provisions for border security, but Republican demands for additional changes to asylum rules has complicated negotiations with Democrats.

Concerns over the future of the $110bn package grew on Tuesday after a classified briefing for lawmakers aimed at shoring up support for new funds broke down spectacularly. Senators shouted at each other over border security and at least a dozen Republicans walked out.

A Ukrainian official said that failure to secure more US aid would mean a "very high possibility" that the war will be lost to Russia.

Republicans are insisting that any aid to Ukraine be tied to sweeping US immigration and asylum reforms.

Earlier on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said he was "willing to make significant compromises on the border" in order to get the aid bill passed.

[In addition to all GOP Senators, Bernie Sanders voted against the package due to the lack of conditions on the military aid provided to Israel.]

"What the Netanyahu government is doing is immoral, it is in violation of international law, and the United States should not be complicit in those actions."
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  • Poll
Is this the hardest teaching of Jesus as it relates to Salvation?

Is this the hardest teaching of Jesus as it relates to Salvation?

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    Votes: 6 85.7%
  • I am not sure

    Votes: 1 14.3%

Good day,

Is this the hardest teaching of Jesus as it relates to Salvation?

I know it is hard to hear ( it is the hardest teaching of Jesus IMHO) that man has a complete inability to come. It does grate as it were against one's own view of self-determination and highly valued self-autonomy.

We see in John 6 Jesus says it twice and it does not go over very well.

Joh 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Then again:


Joh 6:65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

The universal inability of man to come to Christ requires the active intervention of God on behalf of man.. so, he told them twice.... it finally sank in.

They (many) did not like that, so they leave Him.


Thoughts?

In Him,

Bill

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