As Lent represents the rejection of the will of man in favour of the will of God, that is to say this world in favour of the Kingdom to come as Jesus did in the desert, how many here are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and give up their smartphones and online computer use for the period?

If McCarthy simply wanted to give the American people access, Carlson would not have been give the only access to all the footage. Do they have some sort of deal, expressed or unexpressed?

Hi everyone,

You definitely do NOT want to take the supplement Resveratrol! It does have a number of strong health benefits but I tried it and the skin on my neck is now very soft, it has been like that for years and has never gone back, I think it may have changed my DNA! Avoid it like the plague!

It was revealed after the occupation that Seattle officials, including former Mayor Jenny Durkan, former police chief Carmen Best, and Fire Chief Harold Scoggins deleted thousands of text messages from their city-owned phones regarding the zone, including communications with the infamous “warlord” of the autonomous zone, Raz Simone.
At least some times there is a little justice. Transparency is important, whether it be in regard to elections or January 6th or any government action.

Mike Pohlman at the Gospel Coalition has posted a very helpful list of resources to counter the idea of "Christian Universalism." I have reproduced it below because it is worth your time to check it out. "Christian Universalism" is universalism with a veneer of Christianity. It is the belief that, in the end, Jesus will redeem all mankind unto salvation regardless of what they have believed.


We recently had an email inquiry to The Gospel Coalition asking for resources on “Christian Universalism.” And because we all learned in school why we should ask questions (i.e., other people probably have the same one), we are posting our recommendations here. (This list, of course, is not exhaustive and can be added to by our community in the comments below.)

Books
•Faith Comes by Hearing: A Response to Inclusivism (IVP Academic, 2008)
•Hell Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment (Zondervan, 2004)
•Let the Nations be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions, 3rd Edition (Baker Academic, 2010)


Audio
•Sermon: “Hell Isn’t Worth It” (Mark Dever)
•Sermon: “The Echo and Insufficiency of Hell” (John Piper)
•Sermon: “The Final Judgement” (Ligon Duncan)
•Lecture: “What Happens to Those Who Have Never Heard the Gospel?” (Mark Rogers)
•Q&A: “If Hell is real, how can God be loving?” (John Piper)


Video
•Q&A: “What is the importance of believing in Hell?” (Sandy Willson)
•Q&A: “How should pastors preach about Hell?” (John Piper)


Articles/Q&As
• “Is Universalism Biblical?” (Ron Rhodes)
• “Are those who have never heard of Christ going to Hell?” (R.C. Sproul)


Conference
•1990 Bethlehem Conference for Pastors: “Universalism and the Reality of Eternal Punishment” (Sinclair Ferguson, John Piper, Greg Livingstone, Tom Steller)


TGC Confessional Statement
•Section 13:
The Restoration of All Things We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. On that day the church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his ineffable holiness, and everything will be to the praise of his glorious grace.

Two years ago, an Orange County megachurch took a stand that pitted it against conservative members of its denomination. It ordained three women as pastors.

Now, the Southern Baptist Convention has ousted Saddleback Church, its second-largest congregation.

The Lake Forest-based evangelical church, founded by popular pastor and author Rick Warren, is one of the largest churches in the United States [14 campuses in California, and four others in Germany, Philippines, Argentina and China.]. It was among five congregations found not to be “in friendly cooperation” with the convention because they “have a female functioning in the office of pastor,” according to a statement from Jared Wellman, chairman of the convention’s executive committee.

It also ousted a sixth church, Freedom Church in Vero, Fla., for “lack of intent to cooperate in resolving concerns regarding a sexual abuse allegation.”

In 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention added the ban on female pastors to its Faith and Message doctrine.

Jesus teaches us that we should forgive others just as God has forgiven us. If we don't forgive others while God has forgiven you, then you will be going against God's teaching.

So I was just wondering, do you think there are any situations or sins you feel like you can't forgive others for and don't have to? Would God be pleased or fine with you not wanting to forgive someone of their wrongs against you? Do you have to forgive as a Christian?

Here is an example among many.
I saw the court proceedings of the case of the US gymnastics girls who were sexually abused by the team doctor or the US program doctor. Years later it came out and went to court and they found him guilty and he was sentenced to like life or something. But in the court, each girl had a chance to read their hand written letter out loud to that doctor so he can hear everything they wanted to say to him. They were obviously hurt and traumatized and even though it happened many years ago, they were reliving it saying everything they wanted to say to him for their own closure or healing I guess.

But one thing I noticed was how all the girls except one of them didn't forgive him. They said they hope he lives out the rest of his life behind bars to think about what he did wrong and how he hurt them. One even said I will never forgive you.

When I heard that, I thought to myself, by not forgiving him, she's hurting herself. She's holding in the pain and it will eat at her all the days of her life until she can find it within herself to forgive him. So no matter how heinous the crime, do you think God still wants us to forgive our transgressors?

Is it wrong if we don't?


There is another case with Jeffrey Epstein and one of the victims said she was so upset and hurt when she found out Jeffrey took his own life while in prison waiting for the trial to begin. It was as if he escaped again and now he'll never be brought to justice and the girls (victims) described how it felt like he hurt them again by getting away before going to court. They lost their satisfaction of wanting to see him prosecuted and because they haven't forgiven him, and he's now dead, it's as if they are now left with the pain to bear in them forever. I thought to myself, all you have to do is forgive him to let him go and let yourself free from the pain. Instead by not forgiving him, and now never getting the chance to see him get prosecuted and brought to justice, they'll live with that pain even more.

COMMENTARY: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had the answer to the recent question of the president of the Central Committee of German Catholics on women’s role in the Church.

Nowhere in the Bible or Catholic Church teaching will one find that priests and bishops are the greatest in heaven. Nowhere. And, yet, when it comes to talking about roles in the Church, the conversations keep coming back to the question of who can be ordained, particularly whether women can be ordained. In light of what we know about our ultimate goal, that we are called to be saints whatever our vocation, that makes little sense.

The recent report on the remarks of Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the lay Central Committee of German Catholics, included her comments when addressing the question of ordained ministry and how she asked, “How do you explain the multiple gifts and vocations of women in the Catholic Church worldwide if the Holy Spirit did not want it? I would like an honest answer to that.”

In 1977, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, wrote an article for the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, looking precisely at the question of women and the priesthood, and he spoke of a “woman’s right to be herself.”

To my mind, we fall into two traps when considering women’s ordination. First, we clericalize women. Clericalism seems one of the few things that opposing camps in the Church agree upon. Some give too much deference to the priest immediately, as in not questioning anything said or done by a priest.

Continued below.

Romans 16:17-20 ESV


The Truth in Christ Jesus

If we have been taught the truth that is in Christ Jesus, the doctrine that we all should have been taught is that Jesus Christ died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. By God-given faith in him we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our old self is crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin but to God and to his righteousness.

Therefore, we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, and if obedience is not what we obey, then that will lead to death, not to life everlasting with God. For the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk (in conduct, in practice) not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For if we walk according to the flesh, the end result is death, not life eternal. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And that gift of God is freedom from slavery to sin.

[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]

Contrary to The Doctrine

So, we are to watch out for those who cause divisions and who create obstacles contrary to the doctrine we should have been taught. And who are they? Some of them are pastors of church congregations (or institutional market-driven “churches,” i.e. businesses), and many of them are those who are being indoctrinated by these pastors who are teaching what is false. And what is it that they are teaching that is false?

Well, the primary message I keep hearing both from pastors and from the people being indoctrinated by them is that we can just accept God’s grace, or we can just acknowledge who Jesus is and what he did for us on that cross, or we can just accept his affection for us, or we can make a public and verbal declaration of him as Lord and Savior of our lives, or we can pray a prayer inviting him into our hearts and lives, etc., and now we are saved, done deal, and now we are forgiven all sins and we have heaven guaranteed us when we die, regardless of how we live our lives on this earth.

But that is not the salvation that the Scriptures teach. And then many of them go on to try to discredit the true gospel of our salvation, calling it works salvation in order to discourage anyone from believing in it. And then they teach their adherents that they don’t have to repent of their sins, and that they don’t have to obey the Lord, and that no works are required of them, and that they don’t have to do anything to please God. And many are teaching their followers that God can no longer see when they sin but that all he sees is Jesus, and so their sins no longer matter.

But if we have a true biblical understanding of the gospel of our salvation we realize that our salvation is progressive and that it won’t be complete until Jesus returns for his bride and he takes us to be with him for eternity. But all that is dependent on us walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, us daily (habitually) dying to sin and denying self and us following our Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). And we have to continue steadfast in that faith until the very end. For this is the salvation message that the Scriptures teach (see noted verses above).

So, those who are telling you that you can believe in Jesus one time and that it secures you heaven regardless of how you live, they are lying to you. They are serving their own appetites, and they are not serving the Lord. For many preachers/pastors these days are buying into the lies of the enemy in order to build their own earthly kingdoms. They want to attract the people of the world to their gatherings, so they have altered the gospel and the gatherings of “the church” in order to make Christianity more attractive and acceptable to the world and to human flesh.

But these charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing are deceiving many people into believing the lie and into rejecting the truth. And so we need to be people who are wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil, and we need to be people of discernment who are testing what we are hearing from people who are pastors or teachers of the Scriptures to make certain that what they are teaching is the truth. And we do this by testing what they teach against the Scriptures taught in context. For many false doctrines stem from Scriptures taught outside their context and thus made to say what the Scriptures do not teach.

[Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:3-23]

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.

Login to view embedded media

I think I have committed the unpardonable sin. I have no Holy Spirit conviction over my sin. None whatsoever. I do have a little guilt though. I have been actively seeking Christ for a few months now.

I was interested to hear this because the homicide is in LASD's jurisdiction and Romero is retired LASD, so he still has CI's and contacts on the force. He was able to get some inside information that hasn't been released to the public yet. Some of it won't come out until the trial, if it comes out at all.

Login to view embedded media

I have been given many instruments supernaturally https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClB-XriafFwPuWgmD7nrleQ here is one of them. This is a story of a miracle that you will see is genuine. The dark one hates it because I walked away from dark music and receive this miracle. Login to view embedded media

Hello

I'm Aaron and I live in New Zealand. I'm 31 and have just started going back to church after a bit of a break.

Nice to meet you all.

My truck has been laid up for a month with some sort of a leak; we haven't had the money to get it fixed yet. We've been using Momma's truck for all our travelling, but I noticed last Sunday on my way back from Mass that the brakes were kind of spongy.

Momma took Noah to a medical appointment this afternoon, and I told her to keep an eye on the brakes. She called me about half a hour later, and said, "The brakes aren't spongy any more, they're completely GONE. I dropped Noah off and went straight to the mechanic's. Can you find enough transmission fluid to put into your truck to come get him and me, if need be?"

I said I would check. Turns out it didn't need transmission fluid (which is what I thought was leaking), it was oil. Not a drop in the engine---the dipstick came up completely clean. I looked around the garage. Antifreeze, window washer fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, chain saw bar oil, even a can of kerosene. Not a drop of oil. Called Momma back and said, "I can't drive this thing, because it has no oil in it, and we can't afford to replace the engine."

Long story short, I had to borrow the car from one of Noah's friends.....a tiny Chevy that was designed to fit an 80-pound Asian teenager instead of a six foot, 250-pound American cripple with a bad back and stiff shoulders. But I managed to pretzel myself into small enough of a wad to get into it. Went and picked up Momma. The brake line had rusted through and will have to be replaced; won't be ready until tomorrow afternoon sometime. We went over and picked up Noah. On the way back, we stopped at Wal-Mart so Momma could get some items, and I bought four gallons (not quarts, mind you---gallons) of 5W30 motor oil, to put into my truck when it's time to go pick up her truck.

But it won't be tomorrow. For the same reason I won't be making it to Ash Wednesday services. Here's the forecast:

NOAA said:

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EXTENDED FORECAST: WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM EST WEDNESDAY TO 1 PM EST THURSDAY...

* WHAT...Heavy mixed precipitation expected. Total snow and sleet
accumulations of 3 to 7 inches and ice accumulations of up to
two tenths of an inch. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph.

* WHERE...Portions of central and west central Michigan.

* WHEN...From 10 AM Wednesday to 1 PM EST Thursday.

* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. Areas of blowing
snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous
conditions will greatly impact the Wednesday evening commute.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The heaviest snow accumulations will be
near and north of Highway U.S. 10.

You are strongly urged not to travel. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.

Click to expand...

That's on top of the 60% chance of snow we're supposed to get tonight. There is no way I'm going out in that mess. Especially since I don't have a reliable vehicle.

(sigh) Well, I almost made it a whole month without car repairs.

The photo studio can place photos on a wood panel or a hanging canvas for a very affordable price, just something if no one has checked out, it's something to look at.

Pray about this. Lord do I have any spirits of doubt or unbelief. These spirits can be a real hindrance. Or do I have spirits of fear in waiting for God to manifest my answer while I am in a certain trial of trouble. Ps. 46:1 The Lord is a very present help in time of trouble--by faith. God said ask in Jesus name not that if you don't give to the preacher you get nothing. What if you need water in a dessert are you going to find a preacher before you die of thirst. Demons are not monsters, they are fallen angels and they are out numbered by the angels God puts around us. warning a commitment to Christ is mandatory then you can be under full protection. I know we are not under the penalty of the law in O.T. but you can see that Jesus had to change that curse. righteousness fulfils all the law especially Love God and your neighbor. Matt. 22:36-40. we must keep the darkness out of our lives and be full of the light of God's word 24-7

I'm just curious how many nondenominationals would be interested in my idea for a hypothetical evangelical denomination with these distinctives; this would be like a mixture of many denominations
1. Presbyterian view of baptism
2. TULIP or TUP (strategic ambiguity like ACNA)
3. Lutheran view of real presence/ Lord's Supper
4. Greek Orthodox liturgy and worship style (so not evangelical music like guitars etc), standing, black robes, hats etc
5. Catechetical sermons style (like Presbyterian style where the sermon is very long like 40 minutes from OT and NT)
6. Amillenial/Postmill acceptable escatology
7. icons allowed in church but no prayer to Saints
8. LXX OT and Greek NT, required Greek for all members for ease of understanding depth of Scripture

the bible warns us many false teachers will arise to deceive the believers (2 Peter 2).

We are taught to discern (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

There are many disagreements among Christians on unimportant issues, why can't people just stick to Jesus's core teaching? Yes, many things are unclear to us, but if we all start to speculate, there's how the church got split.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a liberal Christian who accepts things like LGBT, but sticking to the main message of Jesus and the apostles doesn't seem hard.

Buon Carnevale! Buon appetito!

When Mardi Gras is brought up, everyone always imagines New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro — but the truth is, the Italian Carnevale is the original inspiration for those parties.

When you have a basic Catholic culture someplace such as Bavaria, Italy, Ireland, Haiti, Philippines and Brazil, our religious feasts will affect the local customs. In the case of the necessities of the Church’s prescribed Lenten fast, naturally, we want a fare-thee-well to fun, excitement and Bananas Foster beforehand.

Even non-Catholics know that we start a 40-day fast on Ash Wednesday and want to brace ourselves for going cold turkey on the hot fudge sundaes — so we have a chance to have a little fun, gastronomically speaking. Partying before Lent is meant to use all of the extra luxury foods before Ash Wednesday. It was a day when Catholics need to use up all of their fats, meat, sugar, honey, butter and eggs that were any other day were historically considered extravagances, even for the wealthy. One final fling, one last night of “decadence,” before we all deepen our prayers for our salvation and that of our relatives and friends.

Continued below.

In case potential customers are concerned that this 'Christian' game seems strikingly similar to the occult Ouija boards used to contact demons, Amazon provides a not very comforting assurance.

(LifeSiteNews) — Amazon is playing with hellfire by promoting a recently released product: the “Holy Spirit” Ouija board.

In 2022, Amazon began selling this horrendous new product, created by an obscure online website called Holy Spirit Games. The object, marketed by Amazon as the “Holy Spirit Board,” is a “Christian Religious Talking Board for Seance with Planchette.” The manufacturer claims their product will allow Christ-loving individuals to get in contact with Jesus directly, by providing them with “a fool-proof way of understanding the Lord’s will.”

“GET THE ANSWERS YOU NEED!” the product description on Amazon reads. “The Holy Spirit Board can answer all of life’s most important questions, straight from the man [sic] himself!”

In case potential customers are concerned that this “Christian” game seems strikingly similar to the occult Ouija boards used to contact demons, Amazon provides a not very comforting assurance.

“Unlike other spirit boards, this one will NEVER contact evil ghosts or demons, so you can ask your questions with an assured sense of safety,” it states.

The Holy Spirit Games website claims that this is the “new way to pray” that provides a “direct line to Jesus Christ.”

“Holy Spirit Games presents: The Holy Spirit Board!” the website reads. “A new way to pray! With other spirit boards, you have to worry about ghosts and demons haunting you and your family, but with the Holy Spirit Board, you only have a direct line to Jesus Christ himself.”

“Let’s face it, we all pray to Jesus but sometimes the message he sends us isn’t so clear,” it continues. “Now, you have a fool-proof way of understanding the Lord’s will right in the palm of your hand.”

Continued below.

Hi everyone,

If you are suffering from mental illness you may want to do this- lay your hands on your head and say "Mind, brain, and body I command you to line up with the word of God in Jesus' name". I have done this numerous times and always received healing, sometimes profound healing! This has saved my hide numerous times, there were times when I was so ill mentally I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital but I did this and instantly I snapped out of it, I was healed and didn't have to go! If you have a mental illness you may even want to do this right now!

Hi.

I've been working on my website - so this is shameless self-publicity and I hope you guys and gals engage with my work etc.

That said, in the context of Lent, I've been reading a book called Between Cross And Resurrection: A Theology Of Holy Saturday. Look it up. It is astonishing - and I mean - ooooh.

So and I shall inevitably dumb this down - my being a bit dumbed down... For the first Christians, the crucifixion happened, and Easter hadn't happened yet.

God was a dead human corpse put away in an available tomb prior to Sabbath - having been crucified. (The book is really good and spectacularly intelligent...)

Therefore, as we consider the crucifixion, we need to see/hear/read the story in ways that both already know the resurrection, Easter, and ways that don't - as if this is the first time and we are then.

That's as briefly as I can put it.

It is so profound - thoughts if you let them play.

And I put a reading of Acts 7 on my website - which was recorded awhile ago but I can understand what I was doing there....

Link: Listen To The Bible! | Jesus Loves You | King James Version | Audio KJV

The audio in question does not auto-play - but I hope you enjoy and that you do not mind me posting to ask you to listen to it.

xOliver

Our church needed a youth minister to fill in. All the youth were there and one boy came in with crutches and a cast on one leg. I asked him if he would believe when all of us would pray for him. ( 2 or more in Jesus name) He said yes. I said here is how to act your faith--drop your crutches and run down the hall. Child like faith he did. He said he felt something and could walk better. That night he went home as was told us, he asked his mom, can God heal me? she said she believed God could. She took him sometime to the Dr. and had a x-ray. Dr. told her there is nothing wrong with him and so they cut his cast off. The power of Jesus through little children halleluiah.

Are we wearing our masks, and green, gold, and purple beads today? At least, have a piece of King Cake. With the baby in it of course.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!