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Discover the ten powerful signs that the Holy Spirit is active in your life through this detailed and inspiring video. Whether you're confirming your spiritual experiences or seeking to deepen your understanding of the Holy Spirit's role, this guide will provide invaluable insights.

Key Highlights:
1. **Confidence in Salvation**: Learn how true spiritual confidence is a direct result of the Holy Spirit's presence.
2. **Transformation in Character**: Witness the Holy Spirit's transformation in your life through the Fruits of the Spirit.
3. **Passion for Evangelism**: Explore how the Holy Spirit instills a powerful drive for sharing the gospel.
4. **Speaking in Tongues**: Understand the significance of this spiritual gift as a sign of deep communion with God.
5. **Deep Love for Jesus**: Experience how the Holy Spirit intensifies your love and devotion to Jesus.
6. **Knowledge of the Truth**: Discover how the Holy Spirit guides you into all truth, providing clarity and wisdom.
7. **Holiness**: See how the Holy Spirit leads you to live a holy life, turning away from sin.
8. **Spiritual Discernment**: Learn about the gift of discernment, which helps you make wise decisions aligned with God’s will.
9. **Comfort in Trials**: Recognize the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit in times of difficulty.
10. **Intercession in Prayer**: Appreciate how the Holy Spirit intercedes for you with groans that words cannot express.

If anything can rightly be said about St. Mary Magdalene, it is that she remains a mysterious and oftentimes elusive figure. Over the centuries, her identity has been debated and disputed endlessly, with the result that today many Catholics are left feeling very confused. What exactly do we know about her on the basis of the Gospels? And was she a reformed prostitute?

Thus we know that Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out of her (see Mk 16:9; Lk 8:2); she helped to fund Jesus’s ministry (see Lk 8:2); she remained with Him at the foot of the cross (see Mt 27:56; Mk 15:40; Lk 23:49; Jn 19:25); and was the first person He publicly appeared to following His Resurrection (see Jn 20:11-18). For the Eastern Fathers, this is all that we can know about Mary Magdalene.

In the West, a rather different understanding of the Magdalene began to emerge in the earliest days of the Church. Beginning with figures like Tertullian (c. 155 - 220) and gaining traction under St. Augustine (354 - 430), a near-unanimous consensus arose in Western Christianity which continued largely unchallenged right up until the twentieth century.

According to this Western perspective, “Magdalene” is simply another title for Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, whom today we tend to call Mary of Bethany. Strikingly, this Magdalene figure was also understood by the Western Church to be the sinful woman who comes to anoint the feet of the Lord in the seventh chapter of Luke’s Gospel. On this traditional Western Catholic understanding, therefore, three female New Testament characters are identified as one: Mary Magdalene, Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and the anonymous sinful woman from Luke 7.

This may sound like a bold claim, but it was the position adopted by many of the Church’s greatest saints, mystics, and doctors. To name some examples, Gregory the Great, Bede the Venerable, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Thomas More, John Fisher, Teresa of Ávila, John of the Cross, Francis de Sales, Mary of Ágreda, Anne Catherine Emmerich, John Henry Newman, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Elizabeth of the Trinity all believed that Mary Magdalene is the same person as Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and the same person as the anonymous sinful woman in Luke 7.

Continued below.

The apostle Paul, from the beginning of this letter, was addressing the issue of some of the people raising up some of the ministers of the gospel above others, sort of in a worshipful way or as to make idols of them and to make distinctions among them as to who was greater. They were becoming followers of man in place of followers of Christ and they were idolizing certain men over others who were all servants of the Lord Jesus. And this was causing divisions among the people.

In our day and age we have the same situation where certain men or women are being raised up to almost God-status to where the people appear to be worshiping the man (or woman) in place of God, or to where they are making idols of these people, but based on the wisdom of this age, which is not true wisdom, but is a false wisdom of man. And I will give you some examples of what I am talking about here and what I believe Paul is talking about here, for this is a critical issue in the church today.

If you have gone to Bible college or to seminary and so you have a degree from one of these places of learning, you are raised up above the rest of us who do not have such degrees. If you have accreditation through a particular church denomination or you have a religious title in front of your name, you are raised up to a status above the rest of us common people. If you are a pastor or an elder in a church, or you have the official title of missionary to a specific physical location, you are also idolized and raised above others.

But these could be people who are living worldly and fleshly lives, who are not really serving the Lord with their lives, whose lives are not surrendered to Christ, but who are still operating in the flesh. But because they have a degree or a title or an accreditation, then they are raised up above the rest of us to some special status that is above us common folk. And they could be called missionaries and pastors, but they may be teaching a false gospel to the people and using trickery to deceive the people under them.

But as soon as it is acknowledged that they have a title or some kind of official position within an official organization, they are automatically raised up above the rest of us. This should not be! And I am not saying that this happens in all cases, but from my observation over my 74 years of life and over 50 years of Christian ministry, I would say that this is more the norm than it is the exception. And so it puts this unnecessary separation between clergy and laity, and between “missionaries” and those not in official positions.

And this is what Paul was speaking against. For what does this also do? It lowers those who do not have these credentials as though they are less, or as though what they are doing is not as important as what someone is doing if he is called “pastor” or “missionary.” And that is just wrong! For someone not credentialed could be serving the Lord Jesus full-time in ministry without recognition and be leading people to faith in Jesus Christ and be treated as a nobody while the credentialed get acclamation for titles.

But all of us who believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ are all to be his servants and witnesses. All of us are to be sharing the gospel and ministering to one another in the areas of giftedness and calling where God has gifted us and assigned us. And titles and diplomas mean nothing in the sight of God. What matters to God is that our lives are surrendered to him, that we are committed to his service, that we are walking in obedience to his commands, and sin is not our practice.

And it is that we are ministering to one another in the ways in which the Scriptures teach that all of us should be ministering to each other, and that we are faithful in being lights in the darkness for the truth of the gospel of our salvation, and that we are sharing the truth and not the lies, and that we are not ashamed of the gospel, and that we are not more concerned with people liking us than we are with obeying our Lord. The Lord is looking for those who will serve him with their lives, no titles required.

And if people judge us because of our service to the Lord because of their own preconceived religious notions as to how things must be done within institutional Christianity, but not according to the Scriptures, then we cannot let that determine who we are and what we do in love response to our Lord. But we are not to be prideful, but to give God all the glory for what he accomplishes in us and through us. And we are to have fair and honest evaluations of ourselves, too, and to not think too highly of ourselves.

We must recognize that all that we are and do in accord with the Lord and with his teachings are only because of God’s grace to us, and have nothing to do with our greatness in our own flesh. All that we are able to do in ministry and to accomplish in the name of the Lord are only possible because of God’s love for us and his callings upon our lives, and because of his guidance and direction and empowerment in our lives. And if this is not our approach or belief, then we are operating in the flesh.

So be careful in making judgments of other people that you don’t raise some people up too high and put others way too low who are serving the Lord with their lives. Be careful, too, that you don’t make judgments based on your own way of thinking or based on human philosophy and tradition or on religious cultures and practices which have been passed down from generation to generation but which are not biblical, but which are just the opinions of humans who are of the flesh who are not listening to God.

Pray to the Lord that he will give you the discernment and the knowledge to make wise and just decisions in how to view all people regardless of their status or titles or education level, etc.

Servant of the Lord

An Original Work / July 26, 2012
Based off Romans 1:1-17

Servant of the Lord;
For the gospel you’re set apart.
Promised through the prophets of old:
Jesus, Son of God.
Through Him, and for His name alone,
We receive His grace
To call people, Him to obey;
Coming from their faith.
Servant of the Lord,
For the gospel you’re set apart.
Promised through the prophets of old:
Jesus, Son of God.

You belong to Christ;
Loved by God, and called to be saints;
Serving God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching Jesus Christ;
Always praying for others’ needs;
Helping hand to lend;
Giving courage to others’ faith,
For the praise of God.
You belong to Christ;
Loved by God, and called to be saints;
Serving God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching Jesus Christ.

Servant of the Lord;
Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For salvation, power of God
To those who have faith.
In the gospel find righteousness:
Being right with God.
Turn from sin, and trust Jesus Christ.
By faith, live in Him.
Servant of the Lord;
Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For salvation, power of God
To those who have faith.

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Bhutan​

Pray for a Release International partner as he oversees the only theological seminary in Bhutan. His focus is to offer discipleship and biblical training in order to see a new generation of Christian leaders equipped to serve the church.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Bhutan​

Though small numbers of Bibles are allowed into the nation legally, the Government continues to restrict widespread distribution. Most copies must be smuggled in. Pray for successful Bible distributions.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Bhutan​

Converts to Christianity endure threats and pressures from local community leaders and Buddhist religious leaders. Christians have lost jobs or have been unable to find employment because of their faith. Ask the Lord to provide for them.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Bhutan​

It is extremely difficult for Christians to meet publicly in Bhutan and church buildings are illegal. Pray for Christians who are forced to practise their faith at home or in secret.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Bhutan​

Christians are often viewed as followers of a foreign, Western religion and can be subject to various forms of discrimination. Buddhists who become Christians can even lose their citizenship. Pray that Christians would be able to stand firm in their faith and multiply.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Bhutan​

Bhutan’s constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, in practice, evangelistic work that seeks the conversion of Buddhists is illegal. Pray that Bhutan would open its doors to a vibrant Christian witness.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Burkina Faso​

Pray for those being recruited into terrorist and criminal gangs; that God would call them out to a different life and provide them with honest ways to make a living.
YES - I WILL PRAY

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To lift up persecuted Christians in your prayers and see God at work in their lives
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Children’s Prayer Sheet​

It’s not only adults who can pray for our persecuted family. Every month we produce a prayer sheet aimed specifically for children. Each sheet has specific activities and prayers which will help children learn more about how persecution affects children in other countries.
You can visit our Children’s Prayer Sheet page here.

He went down in medical history: the “Berlin Patient,” the first person in the world to be cured of HIV, following a stem cell transplant at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Now, a team from Charité has repeated this extremely rare medical achievement. The second Berlin patient has had no detectable virus for more than five years even though he is not taking antiviral medications. What makes this case special is that the team used a treatment method different from previous cases in which patients have been cured of HIV. It necessitates a new explanation of the mechanism by which the virus was cured.

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Done with Inkscape. Turns out I didn't need paint after all.

While passing out Gospel tracts at the Farmer's Market, I was reminded of what Jesus says in Matthew 24:40, "Two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left." It always there will always be groups who don't want anyone else to get a Gospel tract but then usually one person in that group will take one. If one person spoke for everyone I used to just accept it and move on, but I realized that we can't let one person speak for the whole group. So, with this, I want to encourage you when passing out Gospel tracts if you go up to a group ask everyone in the group if they would like one, even if one of them tries to speak for the whole group by saying, "No!" You just never know how the Lord will use that one tract...

1Co 15:

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

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The imperishable bodies will be glorious and powerful. Paul was talking about believers.

54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

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Death does not have power over the imperishable bodies.
Re 20:

13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

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Unbelievers will be resurrected to some kind of perishable body to suffer the second death.
When Jesus returns, will the dead, believers and unbelievers, be resurrected and receive imperishable bodies?
Believers will be resurrected to imperishable bodies; unbelievers, to perishable ones.
See also Does the Bible teach conscious torment over an infinite period of time?

I loved everything he did.

“If you think that there is consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to leave that they will support Vice President Harris, you would be mistaken,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “They’re not going to be fully honest, but I’m going to be honest for them.”

It is something that so many powerful Democrats who said Trump is a threat to democracy are willing to throw out their own democratically elected primary winner, Mr. Democracy himself, in order to promote others.

I am taking wagers here. This OP is NOT about whether by "all" in 2Co 5:10, Paul included both believers and unbelievers. I'm assuming you think Paul did. This post focuses on wagering on what you believe.

Let proposition P1 = By "all" in 2Co 5::10, Paul included both believers and unbelievers.

P2 = not P1.

Between 0 and 10, how much weight do you put on each of the above propositions? The stronger your belief in a proposition, the higher the weight. Your weighting scheme will determine the betting odds.

DEA laboratory testing indicates that 7 out of 10 counterfeit pills contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. Counterfeits made in the United States typically use pill press machines that can easily be purchased online and – depending on size and capacity – can manufacture anywhere from 1,800 pills to more than one million pills per hour. Many of the pill presses shipped to the United States come from China. The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on numerous Chinese entities for allegedly distributing pill presses and other equipment used to manufacture illicit fentanyl in the United States. Recently, under "Operation Artemis," CBP officers at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York seized 14 pill press machines in five separate shipments that arrived from China.
In the United States, pill press laws at the federal level are limited, and state laws are generally weak or nonexistent. Federal law currently prohibits the sale, possession, and use of unregistered pill presses. However, the registration process relies heavily on self-reporting, usually during the sale and transfer of machines. For instance, thousands of pill press machines have been sold through eBay, contributing to the current crisis. Current law also states that any person who possesses a pill press machine with the intent to sell shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not more than four years, a fine or both. We believe that the criminals who manufacture and traffic these deadly drugs should face clearer, harsher penalties.
For more than four years, we have led bipartisan legislation to make possession of a pill press mold with the intent to counterfeit schedule I or II substances a federal crime. Specifically, our Criminalizing Abused Substance Templates (CAST) Act would allow for criminals who possess a pill press and are planning to manufacture counterfeit pills – whether they have yet to do so or not – to be imprisoned for up to 20 years.

Renowned researchers David Chalmers and Anil Seth join Brian Greene to explore how far science and philosophy have gone toward explaining the greatest of all mysteries, consciousness--and whether artificially intelligent systems may one day possess it.

This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

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Suicide is a delicate issue, many of us know a person or persons who have either attempted suicide or carried it out to completion. The word is a Latin derivation into English, it means in English deliberate killing of oneself. In the Catholic Church suicide is considered, or at least has been considered, a mortal sin. Being a mortal sin, it may not be left unconfessed, but if one succeeds then earthly confession seems impossible. In your tradition how is suicide seen?

---

suicide (n.) see here​

1650s, "deliberate killing of oneself," from Modern Latin suicidium "suicide," from Latin sui "of oneself" (genitive of se "self"), from PIE *s(u)w-o- "one's own," from root *s(w)e- (see idiom) + -cidium "a killing," from caedere "to slay" (from PIE root *kae-id- "to strike").

Probably an English coinage; the word was much maligned by Latin purists because it "may as well seem to participate of sus, a sow, as of the pronoun sui" [Phillips, "New World of Words," 1671].

The meaning "person who kills himself deliberately" is attested from 1728. In Anglo-Latin, the term for "one who commits suicide" was felo-de-se, literally "one guilty concerning himself." It was used occasionally as a verb 19c.

Even in 1749, in the full blaze of the philosophic movement, we find a suicide named Portier dragged through the streets of Paris with his face to the ground, hung from a gallows by his feet, and then thrown into the sewers; and the laws were not abrogated till the Revolution, which, having founded so many other forms of freedom, accorded the liberty of death. [W.E.H. Lecky, "History of European Morals," 1869]

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In England, suicides were legally criminal if of age and sane, but not if judged to have been mentally deranged. The criminal ones were mutilated by stake and given degrading burial in highways until 1823.

Suicide blonde (one who has "dyed by her own hand") is attested by 1921; OED defined it as "especially" one with hair dyed "rather amateurishly." The baseball suicide squeeze play is attested from 1937.

also from 1650s

No one quite knows what the process of picking a new nominee would be if Joe Biden did step aside – but many Democrats say that any process is likelier than ever to quickly end with Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee.

The informal conversations about how a fight to replace Biden at the top of the ticket would play out have been raging for weeks behind the scenes. But uncertainty about the process has been so unclear it’s given multiple Democrats – even those with serious concerns about Biden – pause about coming out against the president’s candidacy, given that what comes next could be even messier.


It should also be noted:
California Governor Newsom and Michigan counterpart Whitmer—who were both floated as possible replacements for Biden on the ticket—have told party leaders they would not be interested in being Harris' No2, according to The Hill.


Given that Harris has some popularity issues (even within her own party), and given that the two governors who are more popular with their party have stated that they have no interest in playing 2nd fiddle to Harris, it seems like the DNC rallying around Harris could be a strategic blunder and perhaps they should just let Newsom (or maybe even someone like Jared Polis from CO) leap-frog her and take the top spot on the ticket.

On the scale of "VPs who you could see as P", Harris strikes me more as being toward the Dan Quayle end of that spectrum.

So...a few "celebrities" like the half of Tenacious D that people don't know the name of have arguably lost employment. Jack Black cut that guy loose faster than you can say Kung Fu Panda 5.

Regular people have lost jobs though...and I'm not really a fan of that. I certainly don't care if anyone is fired for promoting violence. Violence (actual violence, not the kind that has been equated with not using someone's pronouns) has long been the line in the sand when it comes to free speech. Most of what was said probably isn't criminal...but there's a difference between wishing Trump died of Covid-19 (back when he caught covid in 2020) and cheering on murder attempts.

Anything short of that though...really shouldn't cost people their jobs. People have different opinions...I think we're a better society when people are free to express them. I know that I can't change what some employer does. I certainly don't have any say what is allowed on any social media platforms.

Cancel culture can broadly be described as the attempt to punish people (usually job loss) for having a different opinion than yourself. For a long time....particularly when X was Twitter...people went after people over petty things. Pronouns. Dead names. Unpopular political beliefs. People lost their jobs...over petty stuff....not supporting violence. The reality of course, is that everyone disagrees with you...on a lot of things. It's not something we should try to punish each other for. I feel sorry for anyone who didn't express any support for violence and got caught up in this anyway....I'm sure it happened some of those who lost their jobs. It shouldn't have. People need to lighten up...or understand the internet isn't really a place for them.

Thoughts?

Hi, I'm not looking for a church but I have been invited to go on a day trip to the seaside with them in a coach next week the Seventh Day Adventists. I already go to church but they are not offering this trip this summer. I do have disabilities so going in a coach is helpful for me and I like to go the sea in summer.

I read up yesterday about them, it seems ok to go with them I had a bit of an issue with William Miller but it doesn't seem he was a prophet and believing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit myself have nothing to say about Ellen White.
The other differences doesn't seem like a deal breaker to me even though I don't share them. I'm not going there to worship with them. They profess to believe in the central elements of Christianity.
Is there anything I should be aware of. I am not really going to make friends but will talk to people if spoken to.
I notice there isn't a section for them and it got me wondering a bit as well. I am a Christian and my faith is central to my life, i'm just checking if it is ok to go.

A new drug tested in mice septupled the number of beta cells in the pancreas, reversing the symptoms of diabetes until the disease was gone.

This has never been achieved before in drug development, and the scientists behind the breakthrough are calling it a “functional diabetes cure.”

It took just three months for the mice cells to start excreting insulin again, which was achieved via a combination of two drugs: the first called harmine which is naturally found in plants which works to inhibit the enzyme DYRK1A, and the second which acts as a GLP1 receptor agonist, also found in the diabetes drug Ozempic.

Continued below.

I thought this was a good video explaining why DEI (Diversity, equity,and inclusion....also known as Didn't Earn It) doesn't ever work.

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Although DEI is really just an political ideal to justify discrimination against white men, many people on the left don't genuinely believe that or understand it. Instead, they believe...

1. In diverse societies, businesses and employment should generally reflect the diversity of the population.
2. If #1 isn't true of a company...the reason is bigotry...or some sort of social oppression of whichever group is underrepresented.

I don't recall if the woman in the video is originally Icelandic or if her business is Icelandic and therefore race is far less of a factor than sex....but the general thrust of her argument is....

1. I hired women in IT because women are underrepresented in IT.
2. I no longer hire women (or perhaps no longer favors hiring women) because women are bad IT employees.

Are women bad IT employees....well no...of course not. It does appear that way to her though...because she tried to fulfill point #1 of DEI.

The problem is that far less women than men go into IT careers. Let's say it's 90% men...and 10% women (the actual percentages don't really matter as long as it's more men than women). Within that group of men who make up 90% of potential employees....competency or merit....can be expressed on a standard bell curve.

This is a bell curve.





If we were describing the merit of potential male employees....that first 15.8% describes the weak or bad employees. The middle 68.2% describes the average employees. The right side 15.8% will describe the exceptional employees.

The exact same curve applies to the smaller pool of female potential employees. The only difference is that for every one of them....there are 9 men.

So for this businesswoman to have a "diverse" group of employees where roughly 50% are men and 50% are women....she cannot simply hire the average or exceptional woman, as they will be in high demand by every other IT company that has bought into DEI.

No...she'll have to also hire the bad, weak, incompetent women....who she probably wouldn't have hired if they were men.

The end result of her "diverse, equitable, and inclusive" workplace is one where her typical male employees are far more competent and far more capable than her typical female employees.

I would usually believe that because she's in IT... she would understand this already because it's rather simple statistics. The fact that she's telling this audience quite honestly that her female employees are bad and she doesn't want to keep hiring women suggests that perhaps statistics aren't a strong point of hers.

Watching the video made me think perhaps my friends on the left don't really understand this either. Hopefully I've explained it well enough. DEI is a dismal ideal for most companies....but in sectors like medical professionals and pilots or even law enforcement....it should be terrifying.

The only way to achieve the goals of DEI (point #1) is to quite literally hire those underrepresented potential employees despite a lack of ability, competency, or merit.

I'm not suggesting that a black woman, for example, cannot be an excellent fighter pilot in the airforce. In fact, the first black female fighter pilot retired not long ago....and without any knowledge of her career, I'm inclined to believe she was at least competent if not exceptional....because she earned that job before DEI initiatives existed in the Air Force.

Thoughts?

The foundation to which Paul is referring here is a spiritual foundation, not a physical one, which is Jesus Christ and the gospel of our salvation. So by Paul stating that he laid a foundation, according the grace given to him, this is what he is speaking of. For he was called of God to preach Christ crucified, dead and buried, resurrected, ascended back to heaven, and coming again one day to receive his faithful ones (his bride) to himself for eternity. For he was called of God to preach the gospel of our salvation to the people.

And the gospel message that Paul taught was that Jesus Christ died on that cross, taking our sins upon himself, in order to put our sins to death with him, so that by faith in him we might die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and in holy and righteous living – all for the glory and praise of God. By faith in Jesus Christ we are, thus, crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin.

Now obedience to our Lord, and righteousness and godly living, are to be what we practice. And daily by the Spirit we are to be putting to death the fruitless deeds of darkness. No longer are we to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But obedience to our Lord leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Christ our Lord. For Jesus died that we might not live for ourselves but for him who gave his life for us.

So, for us to first of all be those who are building on this foundation, we have to first of all have the correct biblical foundation. For many people are building upon false foundations of false and altered gospel messages which are not in agreement with the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles with regard to the full message of the gospel. For the correct foundation is what was spoken of above, but many have diluted that to a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ but absent of death to sin and walks of obedience.

And building on the correct foundation has to do with our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord in holy living, and the works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10), and the fruit of the Spirit as evidenced in our lives, and our service to the Lord in ministry and in surrender to his will for our lives. But I admit that I find the wording here a little confusing, and even the old commentators don’t all agree on what it says. But what is clear is that both are building on the correct foundation.

So, this cannot, by that understanding, be saying that we can profess faith in Jesus Christ and then continue living in sin and wickedness and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, for that would not be the foundation that Paul laid – not according to the gospel that he taught and that Jesus taught. So this is not saying that we can live a wicked life and not walk in obedience to our Lord and that we can still be saved from our sins and go to heaven when we die, only as through fire. The other Scriptures refute that notion.

For what does it say next? If we destroy God’s temple, which is the body of Christ, his church, but which is our individual lives, too, that God will destroy us. For God’s temple is holy. It is not given over to willful and deliberate and habitual sin and rebellion against the Lord and in refusal to obey him and his commands. Yes, there will be believers in Christ who will bear more fruit than others, which is the kind of fruit that survives and bears more fruit. But we cannot refuse to obey the Lord and walk in sin and go to heaven.

For, if we say we have fellowship with God, but we walk in darkness (in sin), we are liars, and the truth is not in us. And if we claim that we know God, but we do not obey his commandments (New Covenant), in practice, we are liars. For it is those who practice righteousness who are righteous. And all those who practice sin are of the devil. And if we hold on to our old lives (of living for sin and self), we will lose them (for eternity), but if we die to sin and to self and follow Jesus in obedience, we will gain eternal life.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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I am 68 years old and I presume you are much younger, yet you seem to long for the mass as it was in my early childhood. Why is that? Do you yearn for stability, believing it resides in the past rather than the present?

[NOTE: I understand that some younger individuals have been raised with the Latin Mass, and I do not presume that everyone who appreciates it, longs for it, or desires its continuity is driven solely by a longing for stability.]