As a practicing Christian all of my life, I was schooled in moralism by operant conditioning. My bad deeds garnered negative responses and my good deeds were rewarded. I must admit, to a certain extent that is true with most families regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. My view and understanding of God was forged by the carrot and stick and as a result I never felt I was good enough. Moralism did make me aware of how weak and helpless I really was but it offered no solution and no means to attain salvation.

I was taught that faith was a thing developed by exercise and this concept was very puzzling to me since I couldn't quite put it into an action plan. This resulted often in my prayers being followed by intense claims of belief and often ultimate disappointment in the results -- I would write this off to my own lack of faith rather than believing that something was broken in that great vending machine in the sky.

When I came upon This forum it struck me that the title, “The Sabbath and The Law” appeared a little strange in that the Sabbath is part of the law rather than something separate from it so that any discussion regarding the Sabbath was also a discussion of of law keeping. And it always been drilled into me that if you break one of The Commandments you break them all. After all, when Moses came down from the mountain the people were breaking the whole law that's why he threw the tablets to the ground even though the people were only specifically trampling the first commandment.

My story is too long to print here but in short I am filled with joy and happiness because God has revealed that my righteousness is not found in keeping the law or in any form of behavior. In fact, my righteousness is not even in my possession for it sits at this very moment at the right hand of God: it is Jesus Christ!

As the Apostle Paul explained, "But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin]" (1 Cor 1:30) When I was trying to earn my salvation or at the least earn Christ's Grace I was acting as my own savior and showing God away from the ultimate Throne of my heart. I was, in fact, Eve plucking the fruit from the tree in the center of the garden.

Does this mean that I am now free to be as sinful as I want to be? If this question is asked of me I always wonder how sinful the inquisitor wishes to be because the truth is that the behavior prescribed by the law, which includes the all Commandments is a lagging indicator of our Salvation found in Christ Jesus. It is the fruit of Salvation and not the root of salvation. When we abide in Jesus Christ we will bear much fruit but we cannot bear much fruit in order to abide in Jesus Christ. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Yes, some people thrive in our society, and flourish, so they can do as they want, others seek more contact with others, and struggle, but what I want until tonight then, are some basic beliefs that do not hold true in society, for example that the eyes only pretend to show a soul, produced by a brain, and there is no soul, even if science says it is real too, and you are only a brain, so that you can challenge each other a little, nothing is real according to most people, so it doesn't matter, I want to challenge this a bit, because people get unhappy with such nonsense, you never get confirmation that you are a real person, the thing is, some kids are born without a brain, they have only the brainstem, it is not part of the brain itself, the brain sits on top like an organ, but you don't actually need this to live, personality, feelings, needs,and so on, sitting in the brain stem, as shown in the picture below, it is somewhat well ingrained in society that you are a brain, because then you are also more primitive and can challenge each other, and nothing is real,

the brain was created to fill the void in the skull and circulate blood, and then it started making hormones that make us feel good, that's why cannibals don't think it was disgusting to eat this organ either, because it wasn't the person itself, the brainstem, your soul then, is more like a muscle, it is what makes you have the power to control a body too, a brain that just sits on top only gets sent signals, and would never have the power to move anything, the brainstem follows the entire spine, almost like a vertebrate, it is what makes you have the power to move, the reason why different areas of the brain light up when you do different things is because it is a very complex machinery to make hormones, there are different compositions based on what you do, that is why you often feel better at a young age than later,because the hormones are new to you, it decreases a little in effect based on the fact that you age, if you are a native who lives in the forest naturally all your life, then the hormones will always feel good, but if you live in a society where your body ages more, then diminishes this effect a little as I said, it is what makes you go bald, look older, get cancer, and so on, because when you hold on to something psychological like a system, or society, the body weakens,

the soul is not made of DNA either, consciousness is transferred from life to life in a different way, DNA was created because, even if the soul maintains the whole body, it would be too difficult to do it with all cells, so DNA was invented to do maintenance of cells automatically, that is why cancer sometimes also occurs in cells, because it happens automatically, there is a general weakening of the body before cancer occurs, it goes beyond the weakest part of the body, say you smoke, then it happens beyond the lungs first if you are a little weakened, it may be that you find more uses for the brain than just circulating blood and making hormones, but that is currently my best theory, because there are actually children completely without a brain and they have personality, eat , moving, laughing, smiling, showing emotions, and so on, some would say that these are primal functions then,so that's why it's in the brain stem, but you can't avoid the fact that some people don't have a brain at all, and yet it works, they usually have some diseases that make life more difficult, since it often follows when development doesn't happen normally , like getting a brain, but it must not be confused with what it is actually for, people will spend thousands of years trying to figure out what the brain is for, and make theories out of nothing based on what a person does in a situation , and then end up with nothing, but that's the way of life for some, don't be one of them, my own gut told me I wasn't a brain, so I tried to figure it out for myself, and it gave me a lot , I've always known that I'm real and alive and have a soul and my eyes are the window to the soul, they don't pretend to be anything

"Earth is being choked by a thick, curling fog of carbon dioxide that coats the planet as the months go by, a series of NASA videos shows. The newly released animations visualize the astonishing scale of human carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over a year by coloring the invisible greenhouse gas."

Watch the world choke on CO2 in eerie NASA videos of manmade emissions

The Wall Street Journal is reporting:
“Russian authorities stepped up security in Moscow and issued an arrest warrant for Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner paramilitary group, on charges of mutiny after he called on his troops to oust the country’s military leadership.”

(part 1of 2)
I am posting the following, because it seems very obvious to me there is much misunderstanding when it comes to understanding the promises God made to Israel and the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.

It is a lengthly post but it will be well worth the read. Blessings

God Does Not Give Up (A Discussion on Plan A/Plan B)

The concepts presented in this chapter should be important to
you because every student of Bible prophecy is overwhelmed by
the sheer volume of data in the Bible. It has been said that a person has to know everything before he can properly understand anything! While this concept is not entirely true, the more we do know about the Bible, the better and richer the story of redemption becomes. God is never simple, but there are simple truths about God that help us understand Him! I would like to introduce you to a larger picture of God than you would normally see if your study of apocalyptic prophecy is limited to the books of Daniel and Revelation. Apocalyptic prophecy is difficult to understand at first because there are so many details that surround and encompass the plan of redemption. Therefore, I hope a few general concepts about the plan of redemption will prove to be helpful.

The Living Trust
The Bible teaches that God created a living trust to redeem man- kind when Adam and Eve sinned. The term, living trust, comes from two Latin words, inter vivos, which mean “between the living.” A living trust is a very practical tool. For example, it permits a wealthy grantor to distribute his assets to his bene- ficiaries over a long period of time without being present or having to micro manage the day-to-day process himself. Therefore, when a grantor establishes a living trust, he appoints a trustee or someone to stand “between the living.” When a person agrees to serve as a trustee of a living trust, he enters into a covenant with the grantor. The trustee promises to carry out the will of the grantor at all costs. This is a solemn responsibility and trustees are usually paid very well for their services. If a trustee fails to keep his promise to the grantor and steals the assets instead of distributing them to the beneficiaries, two things will soon happen. (Remember, the grantor is alive.) First, the grantor will see that his beneficiaries are not receiving the assets he wants them to have and understandably, he will become angry. Second, the grantor will confront the trustee, charging the trustee with dereliction of duty. The grantor may give the trustee a second chance to do the job that he wants done or the grantor may re the trustee and choose someone else. After all, the object of a living trust is the distribution of the grantor’s assets to his beneficiaries and any trustee who thwarts this purpose must be disciplined or eliminated.

Hopefully, this explanation helps you appreciate the overriding concept that the redemption of mankind is built on a living trust. God is the grantor and He chooses trustees to distribute His riches. He has chosen the whole world to be the beneficiaries of His riches. God originally created a living trust when Adam and Eve sinned because sin separated mankind from God. Consequently, sinners can no longer see God, so He chose to establish a living trust. God appointed trustees to be His representatives on Earth. His plan was that His trustees would be living examples of His character and love. Through their example, God wanted His beneficiaries (the whole world) to see Him. In other words, God’s plan was designed so His truth and grace would ow to mankind through His trustees. His trustees were to stand between a living God and the people living on Earth.

God has faithfully carried out everything necessary to make our redemption possible. He has done everything that He said He would do. Unfortunately, God’s trustees have not fulfilled their responsibilities. Bible history reveals that every time God chose a particular group of trustees to distribute the riches of His grace to the world, His trustees eventually failed. They either became distracted from their mission or they rebelled against God. When His trustees become utterly useless, God has no other option than to start over. After selecting a new group of trustees, He moves forward. This process will end with the 144,000. They will be the last group of God’s trustees.

Plan A / Plan B
The process of starting over and over with new trustees will take a few paragraphs to explain. For purposes of discussion, let us assume that Plan A describes God’s first plan for mankind and Plan B is a followup plan that God put into motion when the trustees responsible for Plan A failed. God’s living trust is intact and He will accomplish all that He intends to do with or without man’s cooperation. God will not terminate His living trust until He redeems all sinners who choose to follow Him. Consider the following scenario:
God gave Adam and Eve possession of the Garden of Eden. It was God’s plan that they should live there forever and Adam should serve as “the father” of mankind! (Plan A) However, Adam and Eve sinned and had to be evicted from the Garden of Eden.

1. Plan B: God started over. He made Adam and the patriarchs who followed him trustees of His gospel. The trustee- ship of the patriarchs lasted about 1,600 years (from the fall of man to the flood). It failed miserably because the patriarchs lost sight of God.4 In fact, during the operation of this plan, the world became hopelessly evil and God destroyed all but eight people in Noah’s day.
2. Plan C: About four hundred years after the flood, God start- ed over. He called Abraham out of Ur to be “the father” of the faith-full. Then, God chose Abraham’s descendants to be the trustees of His gospel and He entered into a covenant with them. This 1,500 year plan (1437 B.C. - A.D. 70) failed because Israel would not remain loyal to God long enough to get the job done. Therefore, God destroyed Israel in A.D. 70 because of rebellion.
3. Plan D: During the seventieth week, God started over. Be- cause He made some unconditional promises to Abraham, God had to raise up another group of trustees to keep moving forward. Many Christians do not understand why it is important that believers in Christ are counted as the heirs of Abraham. The heart of this issue involves a promise. God promised Abraham that He would someday give the whole world over to Abraham’s descendants. Thankfully, God considers Abraham’s descendants to be those people who love and trust God as Abraham did! Carefully study this passage and notice that biology does not determine the descendants of Abraham:
   “ ‘Abraham is our father,’ they answered. ‘If you were Abraham’s children,’ said Jesus, ‘then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does.’ ‘We are not illegitimate children [we have a father] they protested. ‘The only Father we have is God himself.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!’ ”
4. When the nation of Israel passed a point of no return, God rejected Israel as the trustees of His covenant. Consequently, every one who loves and trusts in Christ for salvation becomes Israel, the heir of Abraham. “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” God raised up a new set of trustees for His living trust. He created a new covenant because He needed a new set of trustees. However, this 2,000 year plan (A.D. 30 - 1994) has failed, too. Corporately speaking, God will abandon Christianity and eventually it will be destroyed. Plan E: God will soon start over again, but for the last time. He will select 144,000 people as trustees of His living trust. To ensure the success of their mission, He will first remove their carnal natures. This wonderful miracle will ensure their success. (Incidently, the fallen nature of man explains why all of the previous trustees failed.)

The 144,000 will proclaim the riches of God’s grace and His offer of redemption to the whole world during the Great Tribulation. The 144,000 will not deviate or fail to accomplish their mission. When they complete their mission, everyone on Earth will either have the mark of the beast or the seal of God. I have listed five examples showing that God does not quit. When one group of trustees refuses to cooperate with Him, God moves them out of the way to keep moving forward. God chooses new trustees because He cannot be thwarted! The repetitive process of starting over with new trustees has been synthesized in this book to what I call Plan A and Plan B. Rather than identify each successive plan, I prefer to simplify the concept of starting over by identifying Plan A as a previous plan and Plan B as the plan that follows. I like to do this so that I can make certain categorical statements about Plan B.

For example, Plan B is always better and more glorious than Plan A. Some people, upon hearing this comment say, “You make it sound as though God’s first plan was imperfect!” Actually, God’s earlier plan (Plan A) was perfect because God’s ways are always perfect. However, Plan B is better and more glorious because God uses the failure in Plan A to reveal more about Himself than He previously revealed. Here is an example: If Adam and Eve and their offspring had lived in the Garden of Eden without sinning, Earth would have been “a perfect place” to live. God’s original plan was perfect, but Adam and Eve sinned and God’s in nite love for mankind moved Him to redeem the guilty pair (and their offspring). Plan B was put in motion and as a result, we now see a component of God’s love for sinners that would not be seen if sin had not occurred. Plan A was perfect, but Plan B reveals new things about God which could not be seen in Plan A. This makes Plan B better and more glorious than Plan A.

A Much Different World History
According to the Old Testament, world history would have been much different over the past 2,000 years if the nation of Israel had embraced Jesus as the Messiah at His first advent. If this had occurred, Jesus would not have returned to Heaven. There would have been no need for a second advent. There would have been no need for a New Testament and there would have been no need for the books of Daniel and Revelation because these two prophetic books contain Plan B! For the sake of discussion, let us lump all of the promises and prophecies ancient Israel received into Plan A. Bible history records how Israel rebelled time and time again. God could not carry out His redemptive trust for the whole world because His trustees refused to do the very things that He wanted done. Therefore, God had no choice but to fire Israel for dereliction of duty during the seventieth week. When it became clear that Israel would not receive Him as Messiah, Jesus selected a new set of trustees. He implemented a new covenant between Himself and His new trustees. Keep in mind that the living trust (God’s offer for salvation) remains unchanged. The only element that changes are the trustees.

A Faithful Model
When Jesus selected Israel to be the trustee of the gospel, Jesus gave Israel many laws and regulations. These statutes were perfect because God thoughtfully and deliberately designed them. One set of laws pertained to an intricate ceremonial system (including animal sacrifices), but most people today misunderstand the purpose for this intricate system. God gave the ceremonial system to Israel as a faithful model. This model reveals the dimensions of the plan of redemption. Each process the priests conducted in the earthly ceremonial system faithfully parallels a real process that occurs in Heaven. When Jesus died on the cross, He abolished the ceremonial system along with its perfect laws because the purpose for which the ceremonial system had been created had been fulfilled. This does not mean that the ceremonial system is unimportant today. In fact, the ceremonial system God gave to Israel is profoundly important today because it was a faithful “model” that reveals the plan of redemption. In other words, every theological idea concerning the salvation of mankind has to be evaluated to see if it is in compliance with the ceremonial system God gave to ancient Israel because it is a perfect explanation of redemption’s process.

I like to think of the ceremonial system in this way. Suppose a group grade school students act in a skit that illustrates the separation of the United States from Great Britain. The children thoroughly research the topic and portray the events of history. When the skit is over, we could say two things: First, since this was a skit, when the fifth graders “signed” the Declaration of Independence, they did not sign a valid document. In terms of reality, the skit is just a depiction of the actual events. In terms of “representing” actual events that occurred, their actions were perfect. Second, assuming the skit was a faithful representation of what actually happened, the skit was valuable because everyone could quickly see how the facts together. The skit portrayed the truth even though it was just a shadow of the truth.

The ceremonial system is like a skit revealing God’s living trust. The ceremonial system shadows events that began in Heaven when Adam and Eve sinned. These events will continue to function in Heaven until the sin problem is resolved on Earth and the redemption of sinners is finished. The ceremonial system God gave to Israel was not a reality, but Israel had to faithfully carry out the skit because it was a faithful representation of God’s living trust. The Bible clearly says in Hebrews 10:1-4 that sinners were not redeemed by the blood of animals because the ceremony was not a means to salvation. The ceremonial system has enormous value today because it can be used to test every concept concerning redemption.

Would you say that given the tangible ways the faith is supposed to be lived out, which means having a social impact on your community and potentially the world at large, that Catholics are almost forced to be political creatures? Sure we could say that nobody has to partake in politics by any measure, but are we effectively participating in salvation history with Christ as we're called to do, if we abstain and remain apolitical? It seems like if we're at all devout and sincere in our faith then we have a duty to affect and change the laws, ideas, and mores that govern our respective countries to align better with the uprightness of Catholic doctrine. I mean, at the end of the day that's the truth of it, right?

I mean, I'm trying my hardest to divest from politics and essentially bury my head in the sand. I've just had waaaay too much from both sides. Yet, as a Catholic I feel like social issues (which are inherently political) get equal face time as just about anything else so it's pretty hard to break away for me.

Whether or not it's possible, the way to do it remains entirely elusive to me and I wish there were some gurus out there who knew the best way to climb out of the political pool.

James 1:5-8 ESV


So many people are quoting verse five out of context and they are leaving out the rest of what this says. And so they are giving their listeners the impression that they can ask God for wisdom and it will just be given to them, unconditionally. But that is not what this says. It says we have to ask in faith without doubting or we won’t receive anything from the Lord.

So, what is faith? Well, the word means “persuasion,” and in this case “divine persuasion.” And what is God going to persuade us to do? From what we read in the Scriptures, he persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of our sins and to follow him in obedience in living holy lives, pleasing to him.

But faith is also believing God and his Word, and belief involves putting that word into practice in our everyday lives. For if all we do is just give lip service to God, then that is not genuine faith which saves. For by faith we die with Christ to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to his righteousness.

So, if we doubt God, what does that mean? It means we don’t believe him, for we are questioning his Word and his wisdom. And those who do this while they profess faith in Jesus Christ are called “double-minded.” And that is a person of two minds and souls, who continually vacillates between opinions, one moment saying he believes God and the next moment not.

And if we are double-minded, and we keep vacillating between following the Lord and not following him, and if we go back and forth between obeying him and obeying sin, then we do not have salvation from sin. And I am not saying here that we must be absolutely perfect! This is about someone who professes one thing with his lips but who lives the opposite.

So, don’t be double-minded. Be people of faith who stay the course and who stand on the truth and who do not go back and forth in opinion and belief as though changing like shifting shadows. Be who God called you to be and stay there. And then be faithful to the Lord and to his calling on your life, and don’t allow yourself to be easily swayed by the opinions of man.

[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]

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Walking in The Light

An Original Work / November 16, 2011
Based off 1 John 1-2

When I lift up my voice, and
Sing praise unto God,
I will fellowship with my
Lord and Savior, King.
In Him there is no darkness.
He is in the light of truth.
If we walk in His light,
From sin He purifies.

If we repent of our sins,
He’ll forgive us now,
When we humble ourselves, and
Before Jesus bow.
The man who says, “I know Him,”
But does not obey His truth,
There is no truth in him.
In darkness still he’s found.

Do not love the world of sin,
For it is hell bound.
If you follow the world, you’ll
Not in Christ be found.
The world and its desires
Will not last; they’ll expire.
The one who does God’s will,
Receives eternal life.

See that what you have heard from
Christ remains in you.
Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and
In His Father, too.
This is what He promised us –
His eternal life with God.
So, continue in Him, and
You’ll receive a crown.

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The court just blew up another MAGA talking point.....

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled for the Biden administration in an important immigration case, saying Texas and Louisiana lacked the legal standing to challenge the executive branch’s priorities on who should be deported.

At issue is a Biden administration policy that says the Department of Homeland Security should focus on arresting recent border crossers and immigrants who pose a threat to public safety, rather than the millions of other noncitizens who have lived here for years.

“Across 25 years and five presidential administrations, the agency has never implemented the INA in the manner that [the states] suggest,” Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar said during oral arguments. “Given congressional funding choices, it would be impossible for DHS to do so.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/23/supreme-court-immigration-deportation-biden/

So I'm 22 now and currently in a relationship with my boyfriend who is 31, I deeply love him and wish for us to marry one day.

Everything was okay at first but as the time went on I started realizing he is something special and with that came the regret of him not being my first.

He is my fourth partner, the number didn't bother him that much considering he wasn't a virgin either and had multiple partners before me.

I had my first partner when I was 20 I think, but he left me rather quickly, I was so disappointed but moved on eventually.

After that I had another partner and what bothers me about that relationship is that we moved too fast and slept on our first date, a mistake I will always regret. We broke up after three months cause he would constantly drink to the point of blacking out and would unfortunately abuse his own mother.

Finally I slept with one more person with whom I wasn't in a committed relationship.

I'm afraid my boyfriend will judge me (most likely will) for my rash decisions and think I'm someone who is not worth marrying and that in the end he will leave me as well.

I wish all the time he was my first and one and only, I'm constantly asking myself why couldn't I meet him earlier.

I don't feel worthy of love anymore and even started having suicidal thoughts for which I know is even greater sin, but it's like i can't control my mind at all, this thoughts just keep on coming back.

One way in which we can assert that the sexual revolution has produced grave sin is its chief temporal celebration, that being Pride Month. Even a casual reading of Scripture will confirm that both pride and sexual perversion such as that being celebrated this month are viewed as dangerous sins which we must confess and struggle against through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore I propose henceforth all Nicene Christians of traditional moral theology observe the period from the second Sunday after Pentecost until the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, which corresponds to the ancient Apostle’s Fast commemorated annually by the Oriental Orthodox and most Eastern Orthodox (the Syriac Orthodox commemorate it for three days immediately preceding the feast in the US, perhaps due to the use of the Revised Julian Calendar, which I believe can in some cases cause the Apostles Fast to disappear from some Orthodox calendars when Pascha and thus Pentecost are celebrated particularly late in the year). Alternately, the month of June could be chosen, but the period of time tends to be about a month if we use the Christian feasts as points of reference.

During this time, while some people choose to celebrate their sexual sins, we should humbly repent of our own, as we do in Lent and Advent (the Apostles Fast and the Dormition Fast are the two ancient fasts that were traditionally commemorated in the Summer months by the early church, balancing out the winter-beginning Nativity Fast, which is traditionally six weeks long except in the Roman Rite, where it has always been four weeks long, and thus the Protestant rites, but in the Ambrosian Rite of Milan celebrated a few hundred miles from Rome it has always been six weeks, and thus starts at the end of autumn, and Lent likewise begins in winter and ends in joyous Spring.

The Apostles Fast is dedicated to the memory of the Holy Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul in particular, and the working of the Holy Spirit through them. By making an example of ourselves through extreme Humility during Humility Month, reflecting on our own personal sins whether sexual or otherwise, we can witness against worldliness while evangelizing the world in an Apostolic manner, for the contrast could not be more striking than between the humble Apostles of Jesus Christ, who detested sexual immorality yet regarded themselves to be notorious sinners and never adopted a holier-than-thou attitude or took pride in their holiness in any sustained way after their conversion, for the Holy Spirit enabled them to challenge and overcome Pride, and those who take pride in those acts referred to in Scripture as abominations, and admonished in the canons of St. Basil, St Gregory of Nyssa and other Early Church Fathers, who were unwavering in their opposition to such sin, and who ultimately had implemented the Apostle’s Fast probably by the fifth or sixth century at the latest, based on the age of certain hymns.

House votes to refer Biden impeachment resolution to committee​

Once again Riccardo Bosi gives us the latest update on what's going on. 13 min vid

Riccardo Bosi - Buckle Up Buttercups - NCSWIC

Hebrews 1:8 says:

8But to the Son He says:
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

Quoted from Psalm 45:6 :

6Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

9Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

So the question would be how would the Son be God with a capital G when the source of the text is from Psalm 45 that describes a human king with a wife?

Furthermore, Hebrews 1 goes on to say :

9You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

Does God have a God? I thought Christianity was monotheistic.

Thank you.

We understand that the Law and the 10 Commandments are good. They are Holy. They are Pure.


But, because they are Holy, they show us that we are not.... as that is the main purpose of the Law and 10 Commandments.

They are a Spiritual Mirror, a HOLY Mirror that reflect God's Righteousness against us, so that we can SEE OURSELVES, as compared to God.

And that reflection, of US, as compared to GOD........ that is the main purpose of the Law and 10 Commandments, and it is a CURSE to us, as it reveals us as dirty, sinful, fallen, and lost.

The Law and 10 Commandments reveal us as..."ALL HAVE SINNED".

So, now that the Law and Commandments have revealed us as unholy, .. how can we become a part of God's family that is Holy and Righteous?

Simple.. We need God's Righteousness, as ours. We need God's purity as ours., as until we have it, God can't have us, and will not take us.

You can't go to heaven as a sinner with sin, so God has to deal with all your sin, and birth you spiritually as a "NEW Creation" "in Christ'.

See that SIN issue? That is what the LAW and COMMANDMENTS have REVEALED about us, and that is the : "CURSE OF THE LAW".

What is the Solution that deals with and removes that "curse of the Law"...forever ?? ?

A.) God came here as a virgin born man, and died on the Cross for the SIN of the World....., and This shed blood and death of Jesus forgives all our sin forever, and removes the curse of the Law from us..... forever.

This is what Jesus was explaining to you, Reader, when He was Dying on the Cross and said to you...

"It is FINISHED".

What is finished?

1.) The Law has no more power over you to define you as a sinner, ever again.., that "curse" is gone.

2.) God gives you His "GIFT of RIGHTEOUSNESS" so that you have now gained as your own, God's very Righteousness. "Made Righteous".

This is to be "made righteous", as = "The Righteousness of GOD..."in Christ".

All the born again are ..."IN Christ". "Made Righteous" "one with God".

See all that ?

"Christ has redeemed us from the CURSE OF THE LAW", and now the Law can't define us as a sinner, ever again, and that is why the NT defines the born again as a "SAINT"

And the born again have been "made Righteous", having received God's GIFT of RIGHTEOUSNESS"
See that ?
If you are born again, you have become that....and that is your : Eternal SALVATION.

You cant earn it... You have to , by faith, RECEIVE what Jesus has accomplished for you on the Cross.


Welcome to : Salvation.

Its a "GIFT" from God through The Cross of Christ.

How do you get this "GIFT"?

"all that believe in Jesus, shall be Saved"
"all that call on the name of Jesus, shall be saved"

Jesus said... "ALL that believe in me....i give unto them Eternal LIFE, and they shall never go to Hell.(perish).

Isaiah 40:27-31 ESV


Have you ever felt that way? There have been times in my life when I did feel that way, that God had forgotten about me. I know better now, but I didn’t know better then. But I wanted to have a better understanding of verse 27, so I looked it up, and I read this on the Benson Commentary:


Now the interesting thing about this is that it is true that the Lord does allow our enemies to abuse us at their pleasure. He does permit us to suffer. He does allow Satan and his cohorts to attack us, sometimes mercilessly, and to do all sorts of evil against us, and to get away with it, at least at present. Otherwise these things could not happen to us. For, remember how he gave Satan permission to afflict Job, a righteous man, but he set limits on Satan and on what he was allowed to do or not do.

And actually realizing this truth, and accepting it as truth, but then realizing that God is good, we can soon begin to understand that God allows these situations in our lives to make us strong in the Lord and in his strength, to mature us in our walks of faith, to humble us, and to make us more like Jesus. And if we are truly being called to suffer, it is going to hurt, and we probably are going to cry, and we will most likely cry out to God to rescue us. But when he does not immediately rescue us, we are not to assume that he has forgotten about us or that he is not listening to our cries for mercy.

But we need to then surrender our lives to the Lord and to his purposes for our lives, and submit to his sovereign will over our lives, and trust the Lord to work all of this out for good in our lives. But this is not saying that we cannot defend ourselves against false accusations against our character and against our walks of faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus defended himself against his accusers on a regular basis, as did Paul, as did Peter and John. Now we should not be mean and hateful, but we can stand up for ourselves if we know we are in the right, but not out of pride, but as led by the Spirit.

But the good thing to know here is that, if we are serving the Lord with our lives faithfully, and if our consciences are clear that we are not sinning against the Lord – not that we are claiming absolute perfection – then we can trust that the Lord is not only going to work it all out for our good, and perhaps for the good of others, too, but that he will give us the strength we need to endure and the wisdom to know what steps to take and what things to say. And if Satan tries to attack us in the process, we can trust the Lord that he will continue to lead us in what to do and in what to say and in how to respond to the enemies’ attacks against us.

And, honestly, we are still human beings, and we are not superman or superwoman. We have limited strength. And we do grow weak and tired. And we cry. And sometimes that is all we can do is just to cry it all out to God and to say, “HELP!” Even the young get weary and exhausted, so us old people definitely don’t have the physical or even emotional endurance we did when we were young, especially if we are taking beating after beating from the enemy. Even Job, a righteous man, struggled with his emotions when he was suffering physically and his friends were accusing him falsely.

So, sometimes we just need time and space where we can cry it all out to the Lord, and release those emotions, and then let God heal us and bring comfort to our minds and hearts. And then he will renew our strength. And oh, I have seen the Lord do this in my life over and over again. Once I am able to cry it out, then he comforts me, and then he guides me in the way in which he wants me to go, and he gives me the strength I need to endure and to keep going in his strength. And he will do the same for you if your trust is in him, and if you are resting in him, and if you are letting him lead.

Suffering, trials, persecutions: [Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

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

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

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

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

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The Catholic Church began with **Jesus Christ** and his teachings; Catholic tradition teaches that the Catholic Church is a continuation of the early Christian community established by the Disciples of Jesus ¹. The Church teaches that its bishops are the successors of Jesus's apostles with the Bishop of Rome, as the successor of Saint Peter, who ministered in Rome in the first century AD after his appointment by Jesus as rock upon whom the Church is built.

Sources: (1) History of the Catholic Church - Wikipedia. History of the Catholic Church - Wikipedia Accessed 23/06/2023.
(2) Catholic Church - Wikipedia. Catholic Church - Wikipedia Accessed 23/06/2023.
(3) Person (Catholic canon law) - Wikipedia. Person (Catholic canon law) - Wikipedia Accessed 23/06/2023.
(4) What is the Church Age? - GotQuestions.org. What is the Church Age? Where does the Church Age fit in biblical history? | GotQuestions.org Accessed 23/06/2023.

I think what's happening in Belarus reminds Soviet Union and their religion politics.
They persecuted people who believed in God and were practicing Christianity.

North Carolina’s GOP-controlled state House voted on Thursday to approve a bill banning the participation of transgender women and girls in sports outside of their biological sex. The ban covers athletics from middle school through the collegiate level.

None of the top 10 most liveable cities for 2023 are in the US

For a country many people called the greatest in the world for decades, CNN's front page headline is depressing.

2023’s Global Liveability Index: The top 10​

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Melbourne, Australia
4. Sydney, Australia
5. Vancouver, Canada
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Calgary, Canada
7. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Toronto, Canada
10. Osaka, Japan

The IRS whistleblowers said the recommendation called for Hunter Biden to be charged with tax evasion and filing a false tax return – both felonies – for 2014, 2018 and 2019. The IRS also recommended that prosecutors charge him with failing to pay taxes on time, a misdemeanor, for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, according to the transcripts, which were released Thursday by House Republicans

Immaculate Conception
Which is defined as - the Immaculate Conception of Mary by her mother-- Mary born sinless like Christ.

Assumption of Mary into heaven
Mary taken bodily to heaven without dying --or--- Mary resurrected at her death then bodily assumed into heaven.

I don't find any NT author commenting/admitting/stating the above.
I don't find any mention of this in Christian documents for more than 200 years after Christ.

Question:

Without any scripture support and without any early church documents in first or second century showing that Christians all believed in it - how did it come about?

On what basis could either of these teachings be considered mandatory, required or even true??

Today I lost my temper with my wife. We were arguing about groceries because she didn't get all the groceries that we needed after my mother was kind enough to take us grocery shopping this morning. I took it as personal because my mom has been the family chauffeur ever since my wife broke our car in early spring.

Anyway during my rage I screamed expletives at her and had completely lost my top because I felt like she could walk all over me all she wants but she can't walk all over my mother. Anyway while I'm screaming at her I threw her tablet on the floor shattering it into a million pieces. Needless to say the tablet doesn't work anymore. So, we have to share my tablet until I can afford to buy her a new used one.

I cannot be more sorry and I feel as though I'm completely at fault even though it was her taking advantage of my mother and her calling me a insensitive child that sent me unto my rage.

Normally I just ignore my problems when I get angry and let my wife walk all over me because I do have a big problem with anger. I'm a man and men have difficulty controlling their temper which is why I usually just ignore my problems. But that didn't happen today and I just got more and more angry the more she seemed indifferent to our problem and the more she was walking all over my mom.

I've prayed to God countless times for my anger but I always get angry. It's even getting to the point where ignoring my problems isn't working either. Can people pray for me and guide me in the right direction? I know I'm supposed to control my anger but, how?

Thread title should be self explanatory. What was the first creature(s) to have a soul and to have a spirit? Were soul and spirit imbued at the same time or different times? When and where did each take place? What evidence leads you to your answer? Interested in hearing what people think about this. I'm sure this isn't an exhaustive list, but here's a few maybe starting points off the top of my head.
1) The first living thing
2) Complex lifeforms with brains and such
3) Do dogs go to heaven? (e.g. sometime in the evolution of mammals)
4) Primates
5) Early humans (Homo erectus or thereabouts)
6) The first evidence of religion associated behaviors in humans (burying the dead, etc.)
7) Some other time?

Notice: This posting originally only asked about the soul, and was modified to include spirit when it was explained to me that they are not the same thing.