2 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB20)
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are encouraged to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith, but what is this test one is not to fail..?

It is recognizing that Christ Jesus is most certainly in oneself, but even the more, it is recognizing that this same Christ Jesus is in all believing one’s…. This is the test; to recognize Christ in one and recognize Christ in another… For when one has learned enough to recognize Christ in themselves and in another, that one has learned how to learn Christ; for learning righteousness is learning Christ, the fruit being, all is now met with a ‘not I but righteousness’, righteousness being Christ’s expression of life in the believing one…

For Christ Jesus has most certainly come to make His abode in the believing one’s… It matters not how mature one is, Christ Jesus is most certainly alive in the heart that believes, it is recognizing this that is the test….

For it is recognizing the righteousness that is to be manifested in all things that is recognizing the Christ Jesus that is to be manifested in all things…. For Christ Jesus has come and He has died so His life might be spread to all those that are willing to believe…. For it is only this believing that can grab onto this expression of righteousness that is His expression of life, it is the grabbing onto this expression that puts one ‘in the faith’….

For in the believing does faith accept all things from the hand of God, for faith looks for what is the will of God in all things, it is this looking for that which is God’s will in all things that one is to judge oneself by, to see if one is, as scripture says, ‘in the faith’….

For it is the heart that recognizes that all things do indeed come from the hand of God, it is the heart that recognizes this truth that will rejoice and is at rest, and then this heart realizes this same truth that is in it, is in all other believer’s and rejoices even the more as this truth is brought to life in another, for then fellowship is established and Christ is shared and both hearts grow…

Be blessed in passing the test that scripture has set before the believing heart, for in the recognizing does one past the test…. For the fruit of the recognizing of Christ, being, that one’s heart does overflow with rejoicing…..


A fellow believing heart, Not me

Hello, all.

I’m 51 and have been a Christian all my life, having been baptized by my Grandfather (an ordained Lutheran minister), when I was an infant. I now attend a Methodist church, near my rural home. Found this forum, so I joined. I’m single, never married, have worked the same job for eight years now, have a degree in business and love cats. Politically, I stand mostly alone - or at least it feels that way, for I can‘t stand either major party and don’t give a cat’s toss who wins this November.

Great to be here. Thanks.

I have question to people who pray in tongues, there is lots of debate about prayer language (tongues) And what does Paul refer praying in spirit, does he mean Holy Spirit? As it is not a gift so to speak, but as prayer language, and of course there is lots confusion. So I do want to be sure I dont follow any false thing, coz also some occult religions pray on tongues, voodoo, and other Indian religions.
Iam not pentecostal, I seriously dont follow detominations and I try to follow Christ without any filter. But I am curious about this, I have prayed in tongues too, and I asked this gift from Father, I prayed as:

Dear Father your words says so :

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

So I asked father to baptise me in Holy Spirit and with prayer language.
And I started to speak, just randomly, but it by my own will, and my mind went idle and it started to flow.
I have heard pentecostals who say u need to be lay hands to receive and some fall down, roll under floor so that is then the sign you really got it? And some even have said they faked that falling and stuff, so I tried to be sure iam not deceiving myself, and I ask lord to babtize me in Holy Spirit, coz iam hes son.

I ask this coz I have some odd experiences maybe I want to talk via private msg to give some advice about it.

I apologise my English isn't that awesome

We argue:

Defendant’s position [to transfer venue] illustrates and underscores the prejudice and injustice that Plaintiffs would face if venue were transferred to the District of Columbia. Defendant mentions 80 Capitol Police officers and 60 Metropolitan Police officers that were injured and connects the deaths of three officers to the events on that day, thus connecting Ashli Babbitt to these deaths and other injuries, as if she caused them. The request for a change in venue is clearly influenced by Defendant’s strongest motivation for changing venue, which is to select the forum where it feels it would receive a favorable process and outcome based on adversity against January 6 participants. By its motion, Defendant hopes to unfairly and unjustly connect Ashli Babbitt to violence, injuries, and deaths for which she is blameless and connect her by association to thousands of individuals convicted of misdemeanors and felonies for which she was never charged and is unable to present a defense due to the lawless actions of one of Defendant’s employees in shooting and killing her.

This was a bad shooting, the officer's life was not in imminent danger. He panicked and shot Ashli in cold blood.

PARASHA: “Shemini” (Eighth) LEVITICUS 9:1-11:47


We know that a week is seven days, We count starting Sunday, and seven days later, we come to “Yom Shabbat” the 7th day, a day to rest. So, what is the “eighth” day? It is another way of saying “Sunday” The number “8” symbolizes “a new beginning” the beginning of the week, the old week is gone, and a new week is before us. So, we begin the week with “Shemini”. Now this word is interesting, within this word “Shemini” we find two words, “Shem’ (name) and “Shemen” (oil) what could these words convey to us as believers?

One could say that “HaShem” (The NAME) (Adonai) has just finished anointing Aaron and sons as high priests with oil, and now, they are ready to officiate the office of the priesthood, they are waiting for YHVH to come down and consume the animal offerings. It is a “New Beginning” because Adonai will come to live amongst them all.

When a believer is “born again” that believer has a “new beginning” a new life in Messiah Yeshua. We all hold the office of the “priesthood” representing Adonai on this earth.

Aaron and his sons had been preparing for the priesthood for seven days. So, we see a period of “7” days, that Aaron and his sons have been in the Mishkan, preparing, praying, and being “ordained” by YHVH to take on the ministry of High Priest (Aaron) and “priests” Nadav, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Is it surprising that we see the number “7” here since it is God’s number of perfection? The Hebrew letter “Zayin” is the number 7 in Gematria” and symbolizes “weapon”. The Holiness of Yeshua is our “weapon” against HaSatan.

On the “Eighth” day, the sacrifices begin, the whole ministry begins, and YHVH himself will ignite the first fire on the brazen altar, saying, “I AM HERE, in your presence” Chapter nine tells of the animal sacrifices the priests offered. They symbolize “Yeshua” who took our place and paid our sin debt. The brazen altar is the “Cross” upon which “Yeshua” was judged for our iniquities. Yet we can also recall that during the Feast of Tabernacles, there was an “eighth day” the day which is called “Shemini Atzeret”

A little more about the animal sacrifices, Yes, they are no longer because Yeshua, the sacrificial Lamb was the ultimate sacrifice, yet the animal sacrifices are meaningful in that they represent Yeshua in different ways. The bullock = the strength of Adonai, the ram; the atonement for Isaac, Isaac symbolizes us all, and the ram, which took the place of Isaac, Yeshua, who took our place. The lamb = Yeshua, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the goats on Yom Kippur = One was sacrificed, as Yeshua was sacrificed, the “scapegoat” which took upon itself all of our sins, and led away to the desert, never to return.

The Talmud tells us that a Levite would take the scapegoat far away, and push it over a cliff to die, and that way, never return. But if this did not happen, would the goat follow the Levite back to the camp? Perhaps it would. It is like our sin nature, the “Yetzer Hara” We need to take the goat of our sin nature and “push it over a cliff” so it will never follow us home, yet this is easier said than done, it always finds a way to grab hold and follow us home, especially the sin of evil or lustful thought. It is a constant battle of the mind vs “Yetzer Hara” The sin nature is part of our being; it is the goat that climbs back over the cliff to follow us home.

“7” symbolizes the ending of the week, the Sabbath, the “Perfect” Sabbath which Adonai had ordained for man since the beginning. The 7-day week symbolizes a complete unit, and the “eighth” day, is like “starting over at a new level” The Children of Israel have accomplished “leaving Egypt” via “Yad Elohim” (The Hand of G-d), “Receiving the Torah” (At Sinai) “Building the Mishkan” (Per instructions of Elohim via Moshe) and now, “The beginning of offerings” They will come “close” to G-d through the offerings, via the cohenim.

As believers, we get “Close” to G-d through Yeshua/Jesus, who is the realization and culmination of ALL the Levitical offerings. Getting “close” to Adonai was what the animal offerings symbolized. But wait a minute, something is about to go wrong! Inauguration day is about to smudge. The football is about to be fumbled. The waiter carrying the wedding cake is about to slip and fall.

Vs 10, “Then Nadab and Abihu, “b’nei Aaron” (sons of Aaron) each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane (Tamei) fire before YHVH which He had not commanded them. So, fire went out from YHVH and devoured them, and they died before YHVH”

Many Bible students look for a meaning in all of this. What was the “Esh Tamei” (profane fire)? The Torah is not crystal clear on that, so we can only assume, or come to an educated guess taking into account “clues” Perhaps, Nadab and Abihu were not asked or commanded to offer incense PERIOD! Or at least at that time, perhaps they thought, “Yo bro, this might be a good idea! Let’s try this!” well, they got fried! Many believe that they can come to God “their own way” or might think; “there are many ways to get to God” YHVH has set the record straight, the ONLY way is through YESHUA, through simple FAITH. Yeshua said; “I AM the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE, NO ONE comes to the Father but by ME, (John 14:6)

Another thought is that perhaps Nadav and Abihu had too much to drink, that they might have been drunk when they offered the incense, that they were not in their right minds, with clouded reason, so the “incense offering became “profane” their “holiness” was marred, so, being a God of Holiness, HE could not accept the sacrifice, and so, HE burned THEM up! We can understand this concept by Moshe’s words:

” By those who come near Me, I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people, I must be glorified”

We see that the LORD speaks and says; “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you when you go into the tabernacle of Meeting, lest you DIE”.

The other thought is that they made their own “fire” instead of taking the fire from the brazen Altar and placing the incense on IT. This also could be “profane fire” that would symbolize that entrance to the Holiness of YHVH could be from OTHER sources, other than the Brazen Altar, remember, it symbolizes the cross and Yeshua was crucified on it to pay our sin debt. By making their own fire, they were saying, “We can come to God by OUR OWN WAY. Not the “Yeshua” way. This answers the question; Can one come to God in any manner? NO, only through faith in Yeshua.

If this is indeed the meaning, perhaps they erred in their reasoning because they were not in their right mind, because of “strong drink?” so we are back to the “strong drink prohibition” Well, it makes sense, when ministers serve in the pulpit, behind the Bema, and they are teaching Torah, they need to be in their right mind, clear thinking and not have their reasoning clouded because of alcohol or other drugs. It isn’t that alcoholic beverages are prohibited to believers, they are prohibited when we are “Ministering” before the LORD and others. Wine helps the digestion of food; did you know that? But many believe that it is better to abstain at all times, so as “not to fall” into the temptation of “overdoing it” by taking “one cup too many.”

Here is another interesting fact. Aaron refused to eat of the offering because of what had befallen him, (losing his two sons in one day). Torah says that “Moshe INQUIRED about the goat of the purification offering” (10:16) the word “Inquired” is written as, in the Hebrew “Derosh, Darash” which means “inquire, search out, find out” These two words are right in the middle of the Torah!(The Pentateuch) There are 1188 verses before this and 1188 verses after these words. It reminds us of John 5:39 “You SEARCH the scriptures because you think you have everlasting life through them, and these are the ones that bear witness to me”

Every single offering/sacrifice symbolizes Yeshua in one way or another, so, when we “derosh, derash” the scriptures, they lead us to Messiah Yeshua.

When we look at 9:10, we can see a message; …” And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, between unclean and clean, and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statues which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.”

Would not this be the message that every preacher, pastor, rabbi, Sunday school teacher, and Torah teacher should direct to the sheep of the fold? Teaching the WHOLE of scripture, which has been passed down to us all, especially, directing the lost to a saving knowledge of Yeshua / Jesus as Savior and LORD? I would say YES.

The other aspect of this Parashah is Chapter 11. It talks about the food we are to eat. This is where some believers get upset, and start misinterpreting scripture, by saying; “God has cleansed ALL FOOD” so now we can eat “porky the pig” and dive into the seafood restaurants and indulge in lobster, crabs, oysters, clams, crawdads, shrimp, and other marine cockroaches, which God never intended for human consumption. “ALL FOODS” are what HE has ALREADY DEEMED as our FOOD! Which are the animals listed in Lev 11! Not what “man” has come up with to be “food” as if God’s menu is lacking!

Many will go to Acts 10 to the vision of Sh’mon Kefa and say, “You see, God told him to eat all those creepy, crawly things!” but Adonai was using food as a “focal point” to get Kefa’s attention, it wasn’t about food at all. Kefa only ate “kosher’ food, from Lev 11, He knew it, God knew it, so, in a way, God is saying to Kefa, “The same way you feel about all these creepy crawly beasts in the sheet, you won’t touch them, you feel that way about the Gentiles! He says, “Don’t call unclean, what I call Clean” In other words, "I consider the Gentiles clean! (it wasn’t about food at all). ALL PEOPLES from ALL OVER THE EARTH, are considered “Tahor” (clean) when we come to Yeshua as LORD and Savior, not just the Israelis from Israel.

So why the prohibition of many of the popular “food” items we see today; like pork, pork sausage, ham, shellfish, catfish, shrimp, etc.? God made our bodies and our physical makeup, so as our creator, HE KNOWS what should go into our bodies and what needs to stay OUT. Those animals are “scavengers” and will eat almost ANYTHING dead or alive, many have toxins in their fatty flesh, high levels of cholesterol, etc, so, even though all that Italian prosciutto and hard salami looks and smells great! Resist it! Choose turkey sausage and Turkey bacon rather than pork sausage and pork bacon. Yeah, Yeah, it doesn’t taste the same.

Yes, we are free to eat anything we want to, it is a free world, we are in a free society, and we have free choice So did Adam and Eve, and see where it got them, they ate something they weren’t supposed to have eaten! If we want optimum health and feel good, stay with God’s diet, if we want something less than God’s best for our health, go for Porky P. Our LORD and God wants the best for our Spiritual health as well as for our physical health, that’s why he gave us his Torah. Read it, study it, and learn from it, put it into practice.

Have a blessed week.

This is an OLD debate, in the software development community...
Most hardware engineers who wrote in C++, didn't know anything about creating larger class infrastructure. Nor were they interested in writing broad and shallow hierarchies of classes. They weren't really programmers, although they thought they were.
The attempts at "safe" computer languages, has a history of making programming languages (like ADA) with training wheels, that keep a programmer from some simple errors, but do not protect the SOFTWARE DESIGN from incompetent programmer choices.
Bill gates is responsible for the modern "operating systems bugs" by introducing the "Visual" languages, that can be coded in ASCII, transmitted, and dynamically compiled and executed on the fly. This opened the door to the modern massive threat of remote introduction of code as simple text, which is then compiled into executables upon arrival at its target. That bill, for this "convenient" and dangerous threat. It rejuvenated criminal hacking on a global scale.
---------- ----------
Scripting languages (like Python) seem easy to use.
Anyone can write their own scripting language, using one of the established computer languages as a compiled base to execute the scripts. This is just smart programming.
But the entire security of a computer, needs a holistic approach to security. The hardware engineering companies have got to ditch the amateur hardware engineers who write code -- knowing the syntax of a computer language, does not make one competent in Computer Science algorithm design, or code security design.
And, there should be legislation that stops manufacturing companies from hooking up their manufactured product to the Internet, using a simple processor to make the product "easy to use from a cell phone". If the security features of a "smart home" or "smart car" or a "smart phone" or smart jogging shoes are not engaged, then the "smart" product becomes potentially hackable from Communist china or Russia, or some criminal cartel in Mexico. Trying to make everything "smart" and "connected", is a really bad and unsafe idea.
If you don't want your private religious school to NOT be hacked by criminals using ransomeware, then don't connect vital school data to the Internet. This is a basic concept that any competent Computer Science student would understand, but that STEM teachers often don't understand. Or parents.
America's software is unsafe, often in its amateur design, and often in the way in which it is installed without security walls, or with the security walls disabled. We have yet to see what the Communist Chinese and Russians can really do, if the West got into an open war with the loose conglomeration of tyrants and radical Islamic groups and criminal gangs, that often work together to commit online crime.
---------- ----------
The situation will be MUCH WORSE, with AI tools becoming available, that can auto generate code to do complex infiltration and criminal activities using the Internet and computer chips.
---------- ----------
As usual, the American citizens are more interested in voting for politicians who know little about software professional standards and safety, and are more interested in bronze sneakers, massive lying on social media, tea sipping, and a neurotic attraction to 2 colors. Most politicians are incompetent to reason about software safety, or even know the Computer Science definition of Artificial Intelligence, or what it could or could not do.
The rosy developers of auto driving cars, should have done their homework on intractable algorithms (predicting human behavior). The rosy developers of cell phone social media interfaces should have seriously considered that they were developing a type of drug addiction for the younger generations. The functional illiteracy of the younger American generations is largely due to the playing of games online, and the lack of vocabulary that is used in texting.
Americans do not care about developing safe software applications. Not do they care about developing educated, disciplined kids.
Although there will be dozens of companies that CLAIM to be able to develop safe software, as there are NOW dozens of companies that CLAIM to be producing "AI tools", most of these claims will be false.
And, American citizens won't know this.

Ge 1:

11 God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants [H6212] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Click to expand...

Plants showed up on the 3rd day. God created humans on the sixth day (Ge 1:27).

According to this first account of creation, plants existed before humans.

There was a 2nd account, Ge 2:

5 No shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant [H6212] of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.

Click to expand...

The second account focused on the fields in the Garden of Eden. Although plants had been everywhere since Day 3, there were no shrubs or organized plantations in the fields.

6 But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land. 7 Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

Click to expand...

God created man on Day 6. In the second account, man is mentioned in connection with the garden.

8 And the LORD God planted [H5193] a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Click to expand...

God planted special shrubs, plants, and trees for Adam and Eve in the garden.

Did plants come before or after Adam?

Before. Ge 1 described the global picture; Ge 2 focused on a locality. On Day 3, God created plants [noun H6212] everywhere. On Day 6, God planted [verb H5193] a garden in Eden. Plants existed globally before Adam, as described in Ge 1. However, with its cultivated plants and trees, the Garden of Eden was prepared after Adam's creation, as detailed in Ge 2. The two accounts work together to show both the grandeur of God's creation and his intimate care for humanity.

This is a bit slow moving but not too bad. It invokes populism, celebrity, outside the box political stints and power. The intro speaks of how fragile democracy is and how real the threats are. I can't help[ wonder if the producers intend warning about Trump.

This ought to be good also. Dante: Inferno to Paradise | PBS

A 23-year-old Florida woman who posed online as a 14-year-old girl to meet and molest a teenage boy has been hit with additional charges, officials said.

Alyssa Ann Zinger, of Tampa, was arrested for the second time on Thursday and charged with additional sex crimes with minors after four more victims came forward, WFLA reported.

She was first arrested in November for allegedly engaging in at least 30 sexual acts with at least one middle school student between the ages of 12 and 15 and sending explicit videos to several more, according to an arrest report.

Zinger and one of the victims were busted shoplifting at a Nordstrom in July. She tried to continue putting up the front and told cops she was born in 2009 — which he could not verify, according to a search warrant.

This wicked documentary saying "OSAS false" (once saved always saved) teaching a lose your salvation, works salvation false gospel, is out there and listen it is wicked. Nobody in that entire video is saved, every single one is a false teacher who will split hell wide open and is a wicked devil going straight to hell busting hell wide open at lightning speed lowest hell and the saints will rejoice when they are thrown into Lake of fire. Jesus said I give them eternal life they shall never perish John 10:28

Login to view embedded media

The people in this video are going straight to hell when they die, the lowest hell, don't follow them there!

John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. John 11:25-26 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus died buried rose again shed his precious blood on the cross to pay for our sins. we simply Believe on him for the free gift of eternal life, by grace through faith.

Revelation 20:14-15 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

All liars so if you tell one lie you're damned. James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

I've know I've lied before, we have all lied before and we have all done worse than lying let's face it.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Salvation is grace through faith whosoever believeth in Jesus hath eternal life. Jesus paid it all. Amen the good news of the gospel is that Jesus took our sins and died for them.

Will you call on the name of Jesus, ask him to be saved? Say this prayer dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and deserve hell, but I believe in you and ask for the free gift of salvation, your word says whosoever believeth, and well, I believeth in you, that you died buried rose again for my sins, I call on your name Lord Jesus and ask to be saved, will you save me? I am only trusting in you Jesus, thank you for saving me, amen.

If you prayed that prayer and meant it in your heart, the bible says you are saved and have eternal life that can never be lost you can trust Jesus Christ for your salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.


How to go to heaven simply explained, I hope to see you there!:

Login to view embedded media
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved! amen

Oil represents the Holy Spirit and empowerment, 1 Samuel 16:

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.

Click to expand...

Matthew 25:

1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any ****oil with them.

Click to expand...

The foolish virgins either do not take any oil with them, or they do not take enough oil. This is the poverty of their spiritual condition.

4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

Click to expand...

The wise ones are prepared for contingency. They have the Holy Spirit's anointing.

6“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9“ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

Click to expand...

You cannot borrow the Holy Spirit. You have to pay a price for it.

10“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

Click to expand...

It's too late. The oil that they have now is powerless to get in.

12“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Click to expand...

The oil symbolizes spiritual preparedness.

Lately, I've been struggling with the teaching in scripture that most of humanity will not be saved, and it honestly makes me want to give up.....if most of humanity is going to hell, then why should we spread the gospel or evangelize? If God already knows how many people are going to be saved by the end of all of this and a predetermined number of spots in Heaven from this foreknowledge, then why bother trying to win our loved ones to Christ?

I can't take it....

Israel ready for ‘any scenario’ with Iran – defense minister​

Since the sovereign territory of Iran (consulate) was bombed, one can only assume the desired outcome was escalation.

I used to belong to the LCMS which believes in much of the Bible literally…..900 year life spans, giants etc.is the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod considered Evangelical?

We are not talking about the imminent return of pre-Christian polytheism as the state religion. The new paganism will not necessarily come with the outward trappings of the old, but it will be no less pagan for all that. It will be defined, as it always was, by the belief that nothing is true, everything is permitted. And that belief will produce, as it always has, a world defined almost entirely by power: the strong subjugating or discarding the weak, and the weak doing what they must to survive. That’s why nearly all pagan civilizations, especially the most “advanced” ones, were slave empires. The more advanced they were, the more brutal and violent they became.

The same thing will eventually happen in our time. The lionization of abortion, the rise of transgenderism, the normalization of euthanasia, the destruction of the family, the sexualization of children and mainstreaming of pedophilia, and the emergence of a materialist supernaturalism as a substitute for traditional religion are all happening right now as a result of Christianity’s decline.

We should understand all of these things as signs of paganism’s return, remembering that paganism was not just the ritual embodiment of sincere religious belief but an entire sociopolitical order. The mystery cults of pagan Rome and Babylon were not just theatrical or fanciful expressions of polytheistic urges in the populace, they were mechanisms of social control.

Click to expand...

Companies are using drones to check out roofs or to spot yard debris and undeclared trampolines.

Cindy Picos was dropped by her home insurer last month. The reason: aerial photos of her roof, which her insurer refused to let her see.

“I thought they had the wrong house,” said Picos, who lives in northern California. “Our roof is in fine shape.”

Tim Sheehy, a charismatic former Navy SEAL who is the Republican candidate in a U.S. Senate race in Montana that could determine control of the chamber, has cited a gunshot wound he received in combat that he said left a bullet in his right arm as evidence of his toughness.

It was one of several inconsistent accounts Sheehy has shared about being shot while deployed. And in October 2015, more than a year after he left active duty, he told a different story.

After a family visit to Montana’s Glacier National Park, he told a National Park Service ranger that he accidentally shot himself in the right arm that day when his Colt .45 revolver fell and discharged while he was loading his vehicle in the park, according to a record of the episode filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.

The self-inflicted gunshot left a bullet lodged in Sheehy’s right forearm, according to the written description accompanying the federal citation that the ranger, a federal law enforcement officer, gave Sheehy for illegally discharging his weapon in a national park. The citation said the description was based on Sheehy’s telling of events.

Asked this week about the citation, which has not been previously reported, Sheehy told The Washington Post that the statement he gave the ranger was a lie. He said he made up the story about the gun going off to protect himself and his former platoonmates from facing a potential military investigation into an old bullet wound that he said he got in Afghanistan in 2012. He said he did not know for certain whether the wound was the result of friendly fire or from enemy ammunition, and said he never reported the incident to his superiors.

Sheehy said he did not shoot himself in the park in 2015, but rather fell and hurt himself on a hike, necessitating a trip to an emergency room, where he said he told hospital staff he had a bullet in his arm, triggering his interview with the ranger.

What are the basics to understanding exactly what John meant in his first letter to the Christians of his age? Are these points of John instantaneous upon regeneration and will ALL of them be a 100% requirement for salvation? In other words is 1 John a complete instant test and failing even one part of the test makes you unsaved or not?

"Ukraine military chief’s chilling warning to the West about Russia’s threat​

Russia is ready to “swallow” Europe whole, a top Ukrainian commander has warned - less than two months after he led a costly evacuation from a key city on the eastern frontline.
Speaking to The Independent from an undisclosed location in Donetsk, deputy commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade, Maksym Zhorin, issued a troubling warning to Kyiv’s Western partners.
The West, he said, must urgently prepare. “Create serious defence systems that could counteract Russia because it will undoubtedly open its mouth and try to swallow the rest of Europe,” he warned."

Ukraine military chief’s chilling warning to the West about Russia’s threat

Exclusive: The Independent speaks to Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade deputy commander Makysm Zhorin about the costly retreat from Avdiivka and the threat of another Russian advance

www.independent.co.uk

Ukrainian propaganda? If Russia struggles to make small advancements in Ukraine, how shall it "swallow Europe whole?" Russia could nuke Europe and do it in that way, but then it wouldn't be fit to "swallow" at all!

I'm not talking about blatantly obvious false teachers like Jim Olsteen or Bill Winston or Joyce Meyer ...etc. I'm talking about preachers who generally have a good reputation but unlike my examples above who only "preach" to lead people further and further away from Christ they instead by make sure that.

I'll give an example. John Mcarthur. now, I generally don't agree with Batpist Theology but I do love and respect Mcarthurs teachings because they are generally spot on as to what the Bible says and only to what the Bible says. I absolutely adore that. Yet, many people call him a false prophet despite him generally having generally solid teaching. Mainly because he in a Catholic bashing sermon declared that Mary wasn't the mother of God making him guilty of teaching the heresy of Neostorianism.

I could include a few other solid Theologians out there but you get the gist of my question though, I hope. If not maybe you guys can help me make it clearer.

Who do you think / guess the AntiChrist would be / is?

Please support with Bible verses. It would be great if we True Believers would be basing it on the Bible. Let's be like the Bereans who examine things.

This is a safe place and of course, no bashing.

Thank you very much. If you're more comfortable, you can put some of the letters of the name such as Don _ _ _ Trum_ or Prince Ch _ _ _ _s.