I think that AOC needs to go back to tending bar, frankly; she wouldn't know a fascist if one came up and punched her in the nose.

On the other hand, while I do approve of the message that "Jesus gets us", I also think there are a lot better ways they could have spent $20 million dollars instead of wasting it on television ads. Think of the clothing and food they could have provided for the homeless, even if just for a couple of days. Think of the medical bills they could have paid off for destitute people. Think of the prescriptions they could have filled for elderly folks who simply can't afford to pay for them.

The Church of England has women priests and women bishops.

Should there be more BBC TV shows about them?

Lesser known languages where you can say Hello and Thank you and good-bye etc ....

I will now list some.

I do have Scrupulousity, by the way. I don't know if that's relevant, but I should probably tell you just in case.

Also, this may be potentially triggering to someone else with OCD.

How do I do everything for God? And if I don't do something with the explicit purpose of "doing it for God", is it a sin? I've got it in my head that it is (I'm not 100% sure how much Scripture backs that) and it's causing me anxiety. I'm nervous to commit myself to anything if I can't find a religious motive behind it.

I'm worrying about my motives involving everything. Is getting my Driver's License a sin if I'm doing it for practicality's sake? Is taking care of my appearance and hygiene a sin 'cause I'm doing it to feel clean and better about myself? I recently started trying to wake up early with the hopes of getting my life together... Is that wrong because I'm not really doing it for God?

Does this make sense?

I kinda wanna ask my pastor and/or my mom, but I'm worried they'll think I'm ridiculous. Either everyone else is wayyy more moral than I am, and does everything for God's sake... Or they don't worry about this? Maybe I'm being ridiculous after all.

What are your thoughts? I kinda feel like I'm in a hypothetical limbo rn.

I doubt that we will (except if we choose to). Now, the Prophet Isaiah does mention lions lying next to the lamb, but it simply means we no longer have to hunt.

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. Genesis 9:1-4

Now, this also shows that we have no dietary laws, with the exception of eating blood, for those laws weren't given to anyone prior to Moses.

Why have lambs been slaughtered anyways? To remind us of Christ and his sacrifice

That's just my opinion thus far. Animals will be in heaven indeed, but I doubt that God will renounce his original plan. Indeed, Adam and Eve would only eat fruits, but that was prior to the fall. I believe we will keep celebrating Passover as a remembrance for Him for all eternity.

I also do not believe that time will no longer be a thing in eternity

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2

I'm wondering when your church is choosing the new pastor, do they bring in the candidates and let them guest preach for one Sunday
and then have the congregation secretly submit a voting ballot to see who they want or don't want?

Or does your church simply make the decision based on the leader of the church and they make the decision without the congregation input/vote?

The Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, commonly known as the Don't Say Gay act or as the Don't Say Gay or Trans act, is a Florida state law passed in 2022 that regulates public schools in Florida.

The provisions of the act prohibit public schools from having "classroom discussion"[a] or giving "classroom instruction"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Parental_Rights_in_Education_Act#cite_note-4 on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through to third grade or in any manner deemed to be against state standards in all grades;

prohibits public schools from adopting procedures or student support forms that maintain the confidentially of a disclosure by a student, including the confidentially of a disclosure by a student of their sexual orientation or gender identity, from parents; prohibits public schools from preventing parents from accessing the education and health records of students; and requires public schools to bear the costs of all lawsuits filed by aggrieved parents.[3]

The focus is on five to nine year olds…..

Why on Earth would anyone in their right mind think giving classroom discussion or instruction on gender identity be beneficial to a child whose maturity levels requires supervision going to the bathroom?

Once again there are element on the left that are being overly dramatic and supporting physical mutilation of our children and practices that just 6-7 years ago would be considered child sexual abuse or at the very least corrupting the moral of a minor.

im interested in a give and take conversation keeping in mind we are speaking of children of a tender age.

Video Talk

Note: When I do these video talks normally, as a general rule, they are not scripted. I just share the Scripture and then what the Lord is teaching me through it on the spot. And I don’t remember everything I said in the video when I get finished recording, so when I write a summation of what was said in the video here, it may not be exactly everything I said in the video and the Lord may give me more to say here. So, just letting you know that these summations may not match word for word what is said in the videos.

James 1:2-4 ESV


All people have trials. It is because we live in flesh bodies and we live on this earth, and so we are all going to suffer something or other at some time or another, especially if we live very long. But as followers of Jesus Christ our trials have a purpose, and sometimes they are because we are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

But our trials test our faith to see if it is genuine, which is for our benefit, since God already knows the results. And that testing of our faith is for the purpose that it might produce within us steadfastness of faith so that we might be whole (mature) and complete in Christ and reach maturity in our walks of faith. For that is the goal to make us holy, and to make us more like Jesus, and to strengthen us in our walks of faith so that we can endure trials and so that we can grow to mature walks of faith in our Lord.

But we may not all have the same trials, especially if we live in different countries. Like for instance, persecution of us Christians is a trial, but the way some Christians are persecuted in some countries is probably not exactly the same as persecution is for us who live in America. For in America we are not generally beaten and arrested and put to death for our faith in Jesus Christ. But we who are following Jesus with our lives are being persecuted in many of the same ways Jesus was prior to his arrest and his death on that cross, and by many of the same types of people.

James 1:12 ESV


Now I am going to refer back to verse 4 here because it ties in with verse 12. I looked up the word “perfect” on biblehub.com, on their interlinear, and now I have a new understanding of the message in verse 4. This is really talking about the end goal of our faith, the “consummated goal,” like when the Jewish groom has now prepared the place for his bride and he comes to get her and to take her to be with him, which is when their marriage is consummated.

And this parallels over to our salvation. For we are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ (our husband/groom) returns for us, his bride, and he takes us to be with him in the place he has prepared for us, which is when our marriage to him is consummated and our salvation is complete. So, in verse 4 when it speaks of steadfastness having its full effect, that we may be perfect and complete, it is talking about the end goal of our faith.

And this ties in with verse 12 because it tells us that we are blessed of God who remain steadfast under trial, for when we have stood the test we will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Again, this is the end goal of our faith. And please know that those who love him are those who obey him, and if we do not obey him we do not love him and we do not know him and we do NOT have eternal life in him. So obedience to our Lord is part of believing faith which saves.

[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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Wait!

An Original Work / February 8, 2014

Wait for your Lord. Be of courage.
Be strong and take heart today.
God is always watching o’er you.
Trust Him with your life always.

Sing of your Lord. Praise His blessings.
Believe in His sovereignty.
He delivered you from your sin;
Gave you life eternally.

Rest in your Lord. Know His promise.
Beneath His wings rest secure.
Your God has a plan and purpose.
Let your faith in Him endure.

Trust in your Lord. He’ll not leave you,
Because He is faithfulness.
He will lead and guide; protect you.
In His love you can find rest.

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What languages do you speak more or less fluently?

I won't list Standard English.
If you did not know English, you would not write in this forum here.

So the first time I read the bible, it was eye opening, and I felt blessed. but the second.. and third times.. and 4th time going cover to cover before I was just frustrated and stopped any kind of formulaic daily bible reading... I didn't feel blessed, I didn't come to new understandings, it just felt like retreading the same ground again. I pray, I ask for God's wisdom so I don't lean on my own understanding.. I pray to be led by God, where does HE want me to read.. but nothing came, and so I did the same ole.. pick up from where I left off, or what I thought would be a good place. I tried rote things like "no bible no breakfast" because of things I saw by Ray Comfort for instance, it made sense right? Paul Washer "read your bible daily or die" etc It just .. wasn't blessed, like God was letting me fumble in the dark alone.

Or even when I have a question and I want God to answer it.. I desire to get guidance, where would scripture be that answered my question... but no guidance.

But when someone else has a question....
I don't even need to pray for Wisdom... I get prompted, to go to passages of scripture that sometimes.. I don't even remember what they were about or if I do think I know what they were about, I can't fathom how they will help me answer this person's question, or engage in this debate that I'm having, but I get prompted, I get led, I get connected with passages I didn't even know were connected or referred to each other. It's like I'm being taught by someone and all I can do is learn, go where He tells me to go, and have my eyes opened, learn what He teaches in His word. I feel blessed at those times, connection that I seldomly ever experience aside from those times. It's the only times where I feel like God is really with me.

why doesn't He bless what I try to do to know Him on my own?
Why don't my own questions result in being taught like this? He just doesn't seem to honor anything I do that is religious in nature or habit or lifestyle. He only honors it if He leads and I yield, but why doesn't He lead me just all the time? Are my questions no good? Is it not good of me to seek Him early?

Who do you suspect - besides China?

Russia?
North-Korea?
some other nation?
somebody like Elon Musk?
somebody else?

and just to be complete, I add: Aliens? But I can't really believe that these things come from outer space.

In a protestant context is the following a fair summary?

For credobaptists, baptism is a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ and a symbol of the individual's union with Christ and identification with the Christian community. Credobaptists, also known as advocates for believers' baptism, hold the belief that baptism is only to be performed on individuals who have made a personal confession of faith in Jesus Christ and many also require the the baptised person has demonstrated a change in their life as a result of that faith. In other words, credobaptists believe that baptism should follow a credible profession of faith, and not be based on family tradition or covenantal relationship.

Baptism is seen as an outward expression of an inward change and a testimony to others of the individual's faith in Jesus. It is seen as an act of obedience to Christ and a way to publicly identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In credobaptist traditions, baptism is typically performed by full immersion in water, representing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the believer's death to their old self and the beginning of a new life in Christ.

-----

For paedobaptists, baptism is a sacrament that signifies the initiation of an individual into the covenant community of the church. Paedobaptists, also known as advocates for infant baptism, hold the belief that baptism should be administered to both believers and their children, as a sign of God's covenant with His people.

In paedobaptist traditions, baptism is seen as a continuation of the Old Testament practice of circumcision, which was performed on male infants as a sign of God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Similarly, baptism is seen as a sign of God's covenant with believers and their children, symbolizing their inclusion in the people of God and their reception of the spiritual blessings of salvation.

For paedobaptists, baptism is not just a symbol of personal faith, but also a sign of the individual's participation in the larger community of faith and their membership in the church. It is seen as a way to pass on the faith from generation to generation and to publicly declare the individual's connection to the wider body of Christ. In paedobaptist traditions, baptism is typically performed by pouring or sprinkling water on the head, representing the cleansing and renewing power of the Holy Spirit.

-----

Herman Hoeksema wrote a book called "Believers and their Seed" which is a theological treatise on the subject of baptism and the covenant relationship between God and His people.

In the book, Hoeksema argues that the Bible teaches a covenant of grace, in which God establishes a covenant relationship with His people and extends the blessings of salvation to them and their children. He argues that this covenant is administered through the sacrament of baptism, which is a sign and seal of the individual's inclusion in the covenant community of the church.

Hoeksema asserts that the New Testament teachings on baptism are consistent with the Old Testament practices of circumcision, and that baptism should be administered to the children of believers as a sign of God's covenant with them. He argues that baptism is not merely a symbol of personal faith, but a sign of the individual's connection to the wider body of Christ and their membership in the church.

Overall, "Believer's and Their Seed" is a robust defence of paedobaptist theology and a critique of credobaptist views on baptism. It offers a comprehensive understanding of the significance of baptism in the life of the believer and the church and provides a biblical basis for the practice of baptizing the children of believers.

John 8:31-38 ESV


You can believe Jesus in your flesh, but that is not the kind of faith which saves. You can acknowledge that he died on a cross for our sins and that God the Father raised him from the dead, and you can verbally confess him as Lord, but that doesn’t mean you truly believe in him with God-given faith or that you have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For he is not Lord of your life unless he is Owner-Master of your life and you are now living in submission to him and to his will for your life, in practice.

For Jesus said that we must abide in (remain in, obey) his word (his teachings, his commands) for us truly to be his disciples (his followers). And we will know the truth that Jesus taught, and that his New Testament apostles taught. And that truth, if we obey it, it will set us free.

And Jesus summarized that truth in these words, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (see Luke 9:23-26). So, if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin and we live to him and to his righteousness, then we will have eternal life in him (Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 2:24).

Some people are teaching today that all we have to do is make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is guaranteed us as our eternal home when we die, regardless of how we live. But they have removed all of our Lord’s restraints and controls (the narrow way) and they have turned the gospel into the broad way that many follow to their destruction. And so we have to resist them and that teaching, and we have to follow Jesus.

For Jesus said that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. And Jesus died to set us free from our slavery to sin. But if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, then we do not have the promise or the hope of eternal life with God. So we cannot just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and assume we are now good to go for eternity. We must die with Christ to sin daily (in practice) and walk in obedience to his commands and in walks of holiness and righteousness, or we do not have eternal life in him.

[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 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

John 8:39-47 ESV


A lot of people will claim their church heritage or their baptisms or their church memberships or a mere profession of faith in Christ, which did not result in the crucified life, as the reason that God is going to let them into his heaven. But Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. And many who professed his name are going to hear him say one day, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they did not obey the Lord (Matthew 7:21-23).

But if we are genuinely saved from our sins, and if we are truly on our way to heaven, then we would be obeying our Lord in practice. We would be doing the works he prepared in advance that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10; cf. Titus 2:11-14). But if we are continuing in sin, making sin our practice, and if righteousness, holiness, and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we don’t know the Lord, and we are of the devil, not of God, and we are not born of God, and we do not have eternal life in him (1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10, etc.).

Now, we need to learn to discern truth from lies, for there are many liars out there disguising themselves as truth tellers who will try to convince you that the truth is the lie and that the lie is the truth, and so they will teach the opposite of what Jesus taught. They will tell you that you can just make a one-time profession of faith in Christ and now all your sins are forgiven and heaven is your eternal destiny, regardless of how you live. But the Scriptures teach death to sin and living to God and to his righteousness if we want salvation from sin and eternal life in him.

So, please be students of the Scriptures who read them in their context prayerfully and carefully, seeking God’s face for truth. And then be those who stand on and who live the truth and who do not give lip service only to God, which does not save. Be those who are dying daily to sin and to self and who are walking daily according to our Lord’s commands in holiness and in righteousness, in the power of God.

[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]

My Sheep

An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

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Some reminders from the past to refer to as well so you don’t have to wade through old threads.

It was daytime but we experienced a blackout in our city. But I have to go to the car which is parked several levels below ground level of our apartment building with no light.

Thankfully, the elevators are still working with backup generator. But when the elevator doors opened several floor underground, I was greeted by darkness save for the green lit exit signs.

I could have gotten back to our apartment to get my phone for light but I didn't and walked to our parking spot which also happened to be farthest away from the exits and so, was in pitch black darkness!

As I slowly walked towards the car in pitch black darkness, the feeling of dread overcame me and my hairs stood on end. The feeling is so strong, I started feeling my own fear bouncing against the walls of the confined space and back to myself. It's a very strange sensation like an overwhelming force. How is it even possible?

Then I started seeing weird stuff. A strange, faintly glowing cloud started appearing on the floor, somewhat illuminating the way. It looked a stellar nebula with void spaces glowing with faint green glow. It was creepy at first but it was actually breathtakingly beautiful. In fact, it looked like a very dim green version of the Crab Nebula. Within the cloud are small tadpole like things also glowing in the same color moving slowly across its spaces just like a tadpole. All their glow is fluctuating at the time like a heartbeat but much slower. They seemed to guiding me towards the car, helping to illuminate the way with a faint/dim green light but creepier still, they are leaving a void just in front of me. It looks like a hole in the floor as if I'm standing over a bottomless pit.

I felt a bit scared that maybe, somehow, I could walk into something and then I'm gone.

It's been doing that for a couple months now.

It doesn't happen all the time but often enough to drive me batty.
I tried to use another engine; but it was Dogpile and of course it's favorite engine is Google!

So I went to my browser's settings and put Bing in the default position.
But when I went to use search; Google was still in the box!!!

Anyone know what's going on?

By laws of Science I mostly mean the laws of physics but there are also laws of Biology, Chemistry, and Geology. Even there are laws for Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Politics, and so on.

We know how accurate and precise the Laws of Physics and the Universe are. Do we know how exact and precise the Justice of God is? Why is it that people are so quick to embrace the Laws of Physics but they want to reject the law and commandments of God?

Clearly, we are told to be Holy and not to defile ourselves. Leviticus 11:44
Do we take God at His word to believe He means what He says?

I think we've all seen that particular mem. Anyway, when it comes to high altitude objects, the US military isn't ruling out aliens. Or so they say:


Sigh. Not quite how Roswell started, but it's close enough.

The Biden administration had barely tossed its bomb before the backtracking began.

In the immediate aftermath of the “Top Gun”-style destruction of a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, a “senior defense official” dropped word during a news briefing that such incursions were known to have taken place at least “three times” during former President Donald Trump’s administration.

When Trump exploded in furious denial and key members of his White House backed him up — even outspoken opponents like former National Security Advisor John Bolton — it wasn’t long at all before Biden administration “sources” were feeding a slightly different tale to their media lapdogs — but it only made matters much worse.

Here are two related thoughts which have concerned me for some time:

A) As we dig up fossils, will future generations have fossils left to dig up? Are we digging up all the easy to retrieve fossils, meaning that future generations will have a much more difficult time finding and extracting them (similar to the situation with oil)?

B) Are we contaminating the fossils we are digging up? Will generations living centuries in the future, with presumably more advanced scientific methods and techniques, be stifled by our current work?

She claimed the new law is “poised to cost Arizona taxpayers an estimated $1.5 billion over the next 10 years if left unaddressed.”

But there’s an obvious problem with her math. Arizona spends more than $12,000 a pupil on its public schools, while the typical universal ESA award amount is only $7,000. Ms. Hobbs counts the cost of the program but ignores the fiscal benefit. An analysis from the nonpartisan Common Sense Institute finds that the ESA program will save taxpayer money.
Kids of all races and income letters should be given the choice to get a good education. That means a school with discipline, where teachers and students do not have to fear roving bands of thugs.

A nondenominational group wishes to share the message of Christ’s love to whole new audiences.

Super Bowl viewers this Sunday may be surprised to see two ads that don’t seem to have anything to do with Christianity until the end, when the words “Jesus” and “He Gets Us” flash across the screen.

The He Gets Us ads running during the Super Bowl, the most-watched U.S. event of the year, were created by a nondenominational group to share the message of Christ’s love to whole new audiences.

Here are 5 things to know about the HeGetsUs.com ad campaign:

The two Super Bowl ads created by the campaign will focus on “the behavior Jesus modeled in relationship and conflict,” He Gets Us spokesman Jason Vanderground told CNA.

“Instead of responding to divisiveness in anger or avoiding conflict altogether, Jesus demonstrated how we can and should show confounding love and respect to one another,” said Vanderground.

More than just Super Bowl commercials, the He Gets Us campaign first surfaced in March 2022 and has been causing waves through TV spots, billboards and digital ads.

Continued below.

I keep receiving packages I didn't order. It's relentless.

Public gatherings were discouraged or outright forbidden in 2020 amid the pandemic, as we can all remember.

There were numerous large protests following the death of George Floyd.

Why did authorities, both political and medical, say that the protests would not spread the virus?