1 Jn 4:12 "If we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us."

This harkens back to Deuteronomy 6:5, "You should love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." How do we fulfill this? Make our love for God "perfect" or complete? By loving those around us!

The other aspect to this scripture to consider is that the more we love those around us, the stronger we become in Christ, for God remains in us. In Jn 15, Jesus said He was the vine, we are the branches. The longer the branch abides in the vine, the more fruit it bears and the stronger it becomes.

The whole of 1 John, or more specifically 1 Jn 4:16-19, states the following [paraphrased], "We love only because He loved us. When we abide in love for those around us, God will continue to abide in us, for God is love and this is true light. God cannot abide in darkness, so those who say they love God yet do not love those around them are abiding in darkness and do not know or love God either. Our love for God is made complete when we abide in love towards those around us."

So what does this epistle say about what true love is?

1) It's honesty and commitment towards God. We all have sin and have sinned, admitting to Him that we are indeed sinners and need forgiveness. Then walking in that freedom.

2) It's not abiding in [or loving the things of] the world. The world is at odds with God. It's full of pride, greed, and immorality. Those who abide in the things of the world, cannot abide in God. Those who love the things the world loves, cannot love God. Those who love God, overcome the world through their faith.

What are the fruits of those who truly love God?

1) They give to those in need. (1 Jn 3:18) Real love doesn't just talk it, it walks it out. A lot like James 2:14-26. Real faith is more than just words, it's action. Truthfully, that's what faith is, is love for God. For both are evidenced by the same works, our love and compassion for those around us, especially those in need.

2) They receive answers to their prayers. (1 Jn 3:21-22) Those who walk/live in love will have the full attention of the Father, and as such, can be assured that their petitions will be answered. Why? Because those who live in love for others will not ask Him for something from a place of greed or selfishness. (1 Jn 5:14-15)

It's a never ending cycle. As we give to those around us, God replenishes us so that we can have more to give to others. We find this source of life in prayer. Jesus when He walked the earth, lived a life of prayer. He was always praying and prayer was one of His most discussed topics. But prayer and action go together. We pray and receive blessing from God, so that we can give to others. As we give to others, we are emptied (humility) and then return to our source of strength to receive further provision to bless more with.

"My strength is made complete/perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will glory in my weaknesses, for when I am weak then I am strong."

I'm not sure i am asleep when the terrors come in. How about you. Would you like to talk about them?

Sen. Ron Johnson is accusing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of abusing its authority by coordinating with social media platforms to censor information about COVID-19 vaccines.

The Wisconsin Republican referenced social media posts about vaccines, including one of his own, that were characterized as misleading.

In a letter he sent earlier this week to Dr. Mandy Cohen, CDC director, he called for critical documents and materials about the efforts to suppress vaccine information from the public through social media.

The White House refused to allow the release of 200 emails referencing Hunter Biden’s firm, citing executive privilege.

“Release would disclose confidential advice between the President and his advisors, or between such advisors,” NARA informed America First Legal in response to its records request.
Joe needs to step down. The emails involving Hunter's firm are a not a matter of national security. Under the Freedom of Information Act is is illegal to withhold records because those records might be embarrassing or show criminal activity. Joe vowed transparency, he has lied to the American people and no longer deserves to represent our country in any capacity.

Is it interest a sin in the bible? most christians today are ok with it but ive seen verses condemning interest. EDIT: also im asking because of a potential student loan i might use

I feel so distant from Jesus.
I keep having thoughts that saying I will become a Muslim if I do various things like go swimming or taking a hike. I fear that if I do those things I will suddenly become a different religion and sometimes I feel like I have somehow and it is very upsetting. Please help

It`s been a difficult transition really to the future, modern life, I`m still kinda young, only 38, but I`ve had alot of problems with the older generation adapting to the future, they`re like, power-hungry, and alot of personal problems, and problems adapting to the future, times they were violent also and abusive, especially sexually, but I managed to overcome it all, the ideal life would just us all be together in a normal way, but people in society want something else, what I want to say is that, someone out there cares about you, and you may be confused because all science today is basially nonsense, but there will be better and more modern science in near future, today`s science is mainly about how the brain works, and the bubble-theory about a universe that will just end cold and ark, but there`s a soul, and the universe won`t end dark and cold and dead, life`s only begun, some children are born without a brain and still have a personality, so it`s in the brain-stem, not the brain,

and even science today knows there`s a soul, and since the universe started with a sun in middle of nowhere in empty space, it can happen again, and as black holes gathers mass and energy, and even old energy from sun`s burning, same as with your owens in house gives of old energy as they warm, they`ll collapse from the weight eventually, and form new suns, I`ve been writing about science alot the last years, thinking hard about important questions, so all the theories about string, dark matter, and so fourth, are just nonsense, I`ve also been singing karaoke because it was fun, I peaked 2000 uploads, 3 minutes singing multiplied with 2000 times, that`s about 400 hours of just pure fun, that`s what the future is about also, having fun, I`ve never really involved myself with society, but I`m excited about the technology it`ll bring though, just for the fun of seeing it and experiencing it,

don`t worry about the people trying to figure out how life starts also, how life evolves, all life starts with a will, so there`s nothing to find out really or exploit, life will never be controlled ether, everywhere there`s warm water and plants and stable enviroment over time life will form out there, so there`s probably alot of alien-life out there, but we`ve been around, or the universe, for 14 billion years and still no aliens have found a way to find us, so there could be a final limite to how fast we can travel after all, dark matter isn`t proven yet, so maybe there`s no matter to warp to travel faster, but you never know, we know that we can electrify an object and make it hover, so maybe we can do the same with an space-craft to make it lighter as we travel faster and faster, I don`t think wormholes are loopholes to another dimentions, they just gather mass, but you never know, there may be another way to travel faster, people around me have even tried to crusifie me because I don`t sin, but Jesus never really solved any problems, people still complain today 2000 years later, so people dying for us isn`t really the answer, I sure as hell want to live not be crusified so, yes I never did anything wrong to anyone, not even on accident because I`m smart, enough said, I look forward to the future, someone out there cares about you

Alabama bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Marshall argued while it’s legal for a woman to travel out of state for an abortion, he suggested groups that help her do so could face prosecution.

Just like Best Buy, NASCAR has been exposed as discriminating against white men.


Applicants are required to meet multiple requirements, one of which is being a member of one or more ethnicities, with white or Caucasian absent from the list.

How do you know when your political party is for racial discrimination? When their political slogan, diversity, equity, and inclusion literally means "no white men." The left likes to mock the right in this nation for voting against their own interests....but if you're white and voting Democrat you can give a masterclass on voting against your interests. You're voting yourselves and your children out of job opportunities. The party complaining about systemic racism is literally promoting systemic racism.

Hopefully, the NASCAR CEO ends up the same way the Best Buy CEO did.

Thoughts?

Psalms 95:6-7 ESV


We read in Romans 12:1-2 that to present our bodies to Jesus Christ as living sacrifices to God, holy and acceptable and well pleasing to God, is our spiritual worship of God, our reasonable service to God. We are to serve God with our lives, doing what he commands and what he has called us to do and to be. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus Christ in character and in deed.

And to kneel before God doesn’t have to be a physical thing at all, and it should not be merely physical. For kneeling is a sign of deference and respect and of submission, too. It is an expression of honor, surrender, and reverence to God. And the position in which we kneel has more to do with the disposition of the heart than it has anything to do with a physical position. It is the same as bowing down, in other words.

So, although singing songs of worship to God can be part of our worship of our Lord, if our hearts and our lives are not surrendered to Christ, and if we are not living in submission to his will for our lives, and if we do not practice daily giving our lives to the Lord as living sacrifices to do his will and to serve him with our lives in living holy lives pleasing to him, different from the world, then we are not truly worshiping our Lord.

For if we are truly his sheep, then we are those who are following him with our lives in obedience to his commands, in practice. We are listening to the Lord speak to our hearts through his word and through the Holy Spirit living within us, and we are doing what his word teaches us we must do, perhaps not perfectly, but we are growing and maturing and changing and progressing in our walks of faith in a forward and not a backward direction.

[John 10:27-30; Romans 12:1-2; Titus 2:11-14; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 4:17-24; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23]

Psalms 95:7-11 ESV


Now, this is repeated for us in Hebrews 3:1-19 and Hebrews 4:1-13 which also go along with 1 Corinthians 10:1-22 teaching. So this is not just OT teaching, but this is NT and New Covenant teaching. For we learn in the Corinthian passage that the things that took place when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years were written down for us as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

And then we are given some examples of what is meant by this. Many of them were idolaters and revelers and those who indulged in sexual immorality and who put Christ to the test and who grumbled and complained against God and against his servant Moses because they didn’t like their circumstances. And most of them died in the wilderness and did not get to go into the Promised Land because of their disobedience which our Lord described as unbelief. We are not to be like them or we will die in our sins.

So, if the Lord is speaking to you today about the life you are living, and if he is warning you that you need to change, please take him seriously. For it doesn’t matter what your lips profess. What matters is what you do with Jesus and with his Word and with his gospel. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and live for him and no longer for ourselves, and so we would honor him with our lives and no longer live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

And there are all kinds of warnings to professers of faith in Jesus Christ all throughout the New Testament like this one here. For biblical salvation is not a one-time thing which takes place in our lives, done deal. The Scriptures clearly teach progressive salvation for they teach that what we practice, and how we live, will determine where we will spend eternity. For faith is faith in practice, in walks of faith and obedience to our Lord, and not just something we profess with our lips. We have to live out that faith in our daily lives.

[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; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 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; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

So, we have these warnings given to us to not be like most of the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for forty years who ended up dying in their sins and who did not enter into God’s eternal rest because of their disobedience which our Lord called unbelief. And it was because they loved their sin more than anything else that they did not enter into God’s eternal rest. And the New Testament teaches us the same, that if we walk in sin we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess.

So, please take God’s word seriously and don’t play with fire. Repent of your sins today, die to sin daily and walk in obedience to your Lord, in his power and strength. Do not give the devil a foothold in your life, but resist him, and flee temptation, don’t toy with it. For Jesus Christ died on that cross to deliver us from our slavery to sin so that we might now walk in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) and that we might serve him with our lives.

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

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Initially, the state of Indiana wouldn’t allow Satanic Planet to play the Indiana capitol until The Satanic Temple’s lawyer reminded government officials about a Christian event led by Sean Feucht.

Lasting more than an hour, the May event inside the capitol included Feucht praying over Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, who’s now running for Indiana governor.

Critics of Feucht (pronounced Foyt) and his “Let Us Worship” tour of the country say he’s a Christian nationalist working to turn America into a theocracy.

So the building where devout Christian and former Vice President Mike Pence served as governor will also now become the venue for Satanic Planet.

Emmett

I am currently listening to the lost books of the Bible and am wondering if anyone here has as well. I’d like to preface this with saying I am not of the Christian faith. This is for historical research for myself. Looking at the Bible as a historical text. Piecing together the parts that were once removed to get the full picture before King James decided for the world really what everyone should and shouldn’t know, respectively. I mean absolutely no disrespect to Anyone. Just looking for others who may be interested in the same. Thank you!

Her comments to Newsmax commentator Eric Bolling:

Sarah Palin responded to Donald Trump's arrest in Georgia on Thursday night by talking up the possibility of civil war. Speaking to Eric Bolling as the former president was booked at the Fulton County Jail on election interference charges, Palin slammed “those who are conducting this travesty and creating this two tier system of justice. I want to ask them: What the heck?” the former Alaska governor said. “Do you want us to be in civil war? Because that’s what’s going to happen. We’re not going to keep putting up with this.” Addressing Bolling, Palin went on to say: “I like that you suggested that we need to get angry. We do need to rise up and take our country back.”

This is a ridiculous comment on several levels. First, she was always flaky. Now she's a flaky has-been. Nobody should give a flip about what she thinks. Secondly, what's with this "two-tier system of justice." Since when are billionaires being treated unfairly by the courts? And thirdly, what does she mean by "take OUR country back." Here's some news, Sarah. This country doesn't belong only to folks who think like you. It's every American's country, including liberals and progressives. Deal with it.

Sarah's gone round the bend. Maybe she still resents being skewered by Tina Fey on SNL.

Palin’s Civil War Threat a Sign of Very Bad Things to Come

Daily Caller​

Poll: Even Democrats Think There’s Election Interference​

Aug 29, 2023

A new poll from Rasmussen found that 41 percent of Democrats think that cheating impacted the 2022 midterms.

The same poll found that 44 percent of Democrats say officials ignored evidence of widespread election fraud in 2022 and 45 percent of Democrats say cheating impacted the 2020 results. The poll also found that 55 percent of Democrats say cheating will impact the 2024 results.
Did I mention that these are Democrats?

CNN Poll: Percentage of Republicans who think Biden’s 2020 win was illegitimate ticks back up near 70%​

August 3, 2023

Trust me, I am aware that I bounce around the different congregation and denominational forums. However, MJ always seems to call me back. What most people here may not realize is that I am not just a follower of Yeshua, I actually did convert to Judaism at one time, so the Messianic stream of Judaism holds a special place in my heart. Judaism brought be back from the wilderness of unbelief, and Messianic Judaism brought be back to Yeshua. With the High Holidays approaching it seems prudent to proceed back on this journey. I still struggle with the disunity of MJ, but that is what it is.

Before there were newspapers and institutional people who we trust to vet information to certify it is true or at least thought to be true by those we hold in high regard, there was an individual responsibility to vet information for himself or for his family (if he was head of the household). Now we have just reached the tail end of the age of newspapers and trusted institutions and what are we to do? Shall we return to the middle ages approach?

In conjunction with this is the role of the Church because middle ages people trusted the church (in varying degrees) to vet information for its safety and truth whenever it dealt with matters of eternal life. Who do we trust now? Just ourselves? Or are there some institutions we trust and if so which organisations do we trust and are they really trustworthy?

What of the scriptures? We, as Christians, acknowledge them as the inspired oracles of God and as such as trustworthy but we must admit to ourselves that holy scripture is difficult to interpret at times, and even those passages that seem easy to interpret may contain allusions to past revelation and revelatory events or even to cultural "memes" that a modern reader doesn't understand or know. So despite the trust we invest in the scriptures we are left with a task of interpretation that is inherently complex, who do we trust to help us with the work of interpreting the holy scriptures? We might appeal to the Holy Spirit, and that is excellent, yet how can we know what he is saying or if it is he who is saying it? Many men and women have claimed the Holy Spirit told them such and such, are we obliged to believe them, and if not shall we be as sceptical of our own "leadings from the Holy Spirit"?

Who can we trust, if anyone?

The White House on Thursday urged Congress to adopt a short-term measure to fund the federal government, a move meant to buy time for lawmakers to craft a broader spending deal and avert a shutdown at the end of September.

The GOP demands [to cut spending] mark a sharp break with the deal that party leaders, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), worked out with the president this spring to raise the nation’s debt limit — an agreement that was supposed to prevent another stalemate over spending this fall.

“Although the crucial work continues to reach a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills, it is clear that a short-term continuing resolution (CR) will be needed next month,” a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget said Thursday.

Even with such a stopgap, though, OMB said some federal accounts would need spending increases. That includes the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, known as WIC, which provides monthly aid to roughly 6.6 million poor families. With food prices still high and program participation on the rise, its existing, roughly $5.69 billion budget is not sufficient to provide benefits at their current level through next fiscal year

The new White House call for [additional WIC] funding stands in stark contrast with the plan put forward by House Republicans, who instead seek to roll back that expansion — which could reduce the amount some WIC recipients receive for fruits and vegetables to about $11 per month.

[Another account in need is FEMA. 'Deanne Criswell, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said its primary disaster-response account had reached a dangerously low balance, now at $3.4 billion.' Early estimates of damage from Hurricane Idalia range from $10 to $20 billion.]

Earlier this month, [House Speaker] McCarthy and his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), each signaled early support for a continuing resolution that might offer lawmakers more time to craft a full-year spending deal.

But conservatives have resisted the idea, once again illustrating how the powerful far-right lot could frustrate any attempt to reach a deal. As lawmakers departed for their annual August recess, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) — a top member of the House Freedom Caucus — pledged on local radio to “use every tool I have at my disposal” to stop a short-term spending deal that doesn’t include conservatives’ priorities.

Note that this inability to smoothly pass spending bills and raise the debt ceiling (largely due to pointless hard-right truculence) is what led to a ratings downgrade of US debt.

Theodore McCarrick, ex-cardinal of the Catholic Church, ex-archbishop of Washington DC, ex-priest thankfully defrocked, has gotten away without criminal prosecution for any of his crimes. He is 'no longer competent' to stand trial.

This king-maker was highly influential in the creation of numerous bishops, archbishops, and cardinals. Pope Francis is in a very real way McCarrick's pope, as the king-maker pushed hard for the Argentinian cardinal to become pope after papa Benedict resigned.

I am upset that he got away with it. No, I agree that one has to be competent to stand trial. But he got away with so many debauchings over so long a time and the legal system in the USA couldn't or wouldn't do a thing. Bishop Lopes mentioned that his debauching was not a secret to the US bishops. Rod Dreher had the information but waited for someone else to report it, and in the meantime left the Catholic Church because nobody else would do anything, while he did nothing. McCarrick had his fingers in the New American Bible editing, in policy on sexual abuse, on the Land O Lakes revolt of Catholic universities and colleges, the Vatican China policy, and so much more. His accomplishments have been a disaster for the Catholic Church. Worst his debauching of seminarians and his normalization of the Lavender Mafia within the US episcopate.

He got away with it. His friends known or unknown to us protected him well. I am discouraged.

The 2020 election broke all historical norms on voting, the ballot box, and counting votes

Mark Zuckerberg funding $419 Million in "key swing states" regarding their "key" voting precincts and ballot counting through targeted grant monies, is just one mention on the 2020 election question?

New York Post​

Zuckerberg’s election spending was ‘carefully orchestrated’ to influence 2020 vote: ex-FEC member​

October 14, 2021​

A former federal election official on Thursday called the $400 million-plus that Mark Zuckerberg spent to help finance local elections a “carefully orchestrated attempt” to influence the 2020 vote — and recommended that all states ban private funding of election offices.

“My reaction is that this was a carefully orchestrated attempt to convert official government election offices into get-out-the-vote operations for one political party and to insert political operatives into election offices in order to influence and manipulate the outcome of the election,”

New York Post​

Mark Zuckerberg spent $419M on nonprofits ahead of 2020 election — and got out the Dem vote​

October 13, 2021

During the 2020 election, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent hundreds of millions of dollars to turn out likely Democratic voters. But this wasn’t traditional political spending. He funded a targeted, private takeover of government election operations by nominally nonpartisan — but demonstrably ideological — nonprofit organizations.

Analysis conducted by our team demonstrates this money significantly increased Joe Biden’s vote margin in key swing states. In places like Georgia, where Biden won by 12,000 votes, and Arizona, where he won by 10,000, the spending likely put him over the top.

This unprecedented merger of public election offices with private resources and personnel is an acute threat to our republic and should be the focus of electoral reform efforts moving forward.

The 2020 election wasn’t stolen — it was likely bought by one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful men pouring his money through legal loopholes.

The Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) and the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) passed a staggering $419.5 million of Zuckerberg’s money into local government elections offices, and it came with strings attached. Every CTCL and CEIR grant spelled out in great detail the conditions under which the grant money was to be used.

Good morning,

By now, many of you have noticed the Chatbox has been moved to the main page, after years of being on its own page. For those who were around when CF was on vBulletin, the Chatbox was always at the top of the main page, but after moving to XenForo was put on its own page and not always used. The Chatbox has been moved back to its original place to be used more in the interest of light chat only, but not to take away from the forums.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask here, and if you have any private feedback, please feel free to PM me.

Please pray for my brother in law.

Five pro-life activists have been found guilty on charges of conspiracy against rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act in connection with a 2020 “rescue action” they undertook at a Washington, D.C.–based abortion clinic.

The incident began when pro-life activist Lauren Handy made an appointment at the Washington Surgi-Clinic under a fake name. When clinic staff opened the door, pro-life activists rushed from the building’s emergency stairwell into the facility, where they formed a blockade for more than three hours until authorities removed them. The incident allegedly led to an altercation that left a clinic employee hospitalized with an ankle injury.

Prosecutors accused Handy, William Goodman, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, and Herb Geraghty of violating the FACE Act, which is a federal law that prohibits the use of physical force, threats of force, or the intentional damaging of property to prevent someone from obtaining or providing abortion services.

Continued below.

I have previously asked for prayer for my friend Dave, who is a former neighbour and a bit like a nephew to me. Also he was friendly with a Reiki healer. Unexpectedly they visited me last night and she said that she has become a Christian and given up the Reiki involvement. Her brother had become a Christian, a little while ago, and I think it was him who helped her to accept Jesus. I am praising God for answered prayer and praying that she will find a church and grow in the faith.

I'm also thanking God for seeing Dave again. I think I had upset him, before he moved away, and it was good to meet up again. He is looking well and seems to be in a better place emotionally than when he had to move out because the landlord was selling the house.

So praise God and thank you to everyone who prayed. It is so encouraging when we hear about answers to prayers. Sometimes we don't always know what happens so it's great when we do.