Political pressure builds on Biden to strike Iran after US deaths​

"The killing of three U.S. troops and wounding of dozens more on Sunday by Iran-backed militants is piling political pressure on President Joe Biden to deal a blow directly against Iran, a move he's been reluctant to do out of fear of igniting a broader war."

The situation brings to mind Joe's previous comments:

Biden says he’s sent a message to Iran with Yemen strikes, calls Houthis a terrorist organization​

“I’ve already delivered the message to Iran,” Biden said when asked his message during a tour of a coffee shop in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “They know not to do anything.”

PARASHAH: “B'shalach” (when he let go) or (when he sent out) EXODUS 13:17-17:16


We are coming down to the “showdown” where Pharaoh gets his just desserts, and gets what he deserves for defying the God of Israel, going back on his word to “let Israel go”, you cannot pursue Israel without getting hurt, and Pharaoh and his army got to drink bitter waters, went off the “deep end” and received a very fatal “water baptism” in Yam Suf (Sea of Reeds)

Yet before all this happens, there are some interesting verses to look at. Exodus 13: 18 states;

“The children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt”

It also states that Elohim did not lead them through the land of the F’lishtim: (The Philistines) because an encounter with them might bring the Israelites to face war, frighten them, and cause them to go back to Egypt. But if they had weapons, why would they fear a battle? One can assume that even though they had weapons if they didn’t know how to use them, they would be no good.

We can say the same thing about the Bible. It is little good in the hands of one who does not know how to use it, or uses it in wrongful ways, inventing “strange” doctrines, or taking verses out of context. The Israelites were ex-slaves, not warriors. Another question, where did they get the weapons? Were the weapons among the spoils of Egypt? Here is another view from a Derashic perspective (Moral and spiritual)

The word for “armed” in Hebrew which is used is “chamushim” Jewish commentators state this word has roots in the words “chamesh” (the number 5) and “chamishim” (50). So how do we apply these? It is believed that it was the 5th generation after Yosef that left Egypt, if a generation is 80 years, it would add up to 400 years. Also, the number 5 symbolizes “grace”. So, the Israelites not only left Egypt with some spears and swords but they were also armed with the “grace” that Elohim bestowed on them. More importantly, they were armed with the protection, the blessings, and the leadership of Elohim who led them out of Egypt. The number “50” also reminds us of the “50 gates of understanding” which the ancient rabbis say are 50 questions that Elohim asked Job at the end of “Sefer Job.” (The Book of Job)

I would like to answer the question using a question. If we can have eternal life through the blood and sacrifice of Yeshua for our sins, past, present, and future, why do so many people still REJECT Him? The scripture states that ‘Wide is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to eternal life.’ How many Israelites put the lambs' blood on their doorposts? We hope that all did. But of course, we can't be sure.

Another word for “armed” is “equipped”. One could also say that “B’nei Yisrael” went out of Egypt “equipped” with the “5” promises that Adonai gave to His people; 1) Elohim will deliver Israel out from under the burden of Egyptian Slavery; 2) Israel will be REDEEMED by the ARM of Elohim-YHVH; 3) Elohim-YHVH will take Israel as HIS people and will be their GOD; 4) Israel will be brought into the chosen land of promise; 5) The promised land will be an INHERETANCE.

But let’s look at the Peshat, the literal meaning of the word; “armed” It could also come from the Egyptian word “chams” which is “lance." Here's something else. Once the Israelites crossed the narrow portion of the Sea of Reeds, they were "out of Egypt" and when the Egyptians drowned in the Sea, the scriptures state that the "Israelites saw their bodies on the seashore." from the bodies of the Egyptian soldiers the Israelites took weapons; swords, bows, and arrows, (the spears probably sunk to the bottom of the sea). So here we can confirm that they "left Egypt (behind) and were fully armed (with the weapons they recovered). Now, they would need to learn how to use them. Moses probably taught them how.

As believers, we have the Word of God, but if we are unskilled in using His WORD, or if we do not know how to interpret it correctly, we could do much harm to others, just like a sword in the hands of a child, the child could cut himself, or hurt one of his friends

Another thing to ponder upon is that when the word “Egyptians” is used, the word “Mitzraim” is used, which also means “Egypt” (the nation of). Why “Mitzraim” and not “Mitzrim?” One can say that even though “b’nei Yisrael” left Egypt, Egypt still followed them out! They left with the Egyptian culture, ways, language, and all that was part of them in those 400 years as slaves. It took Elohim one day to take Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to take Egypt out of Israel!

We are the same way, even though we are born-again believers, we still carry around the garbage related to our “Yetzer-Hara” (sinful nature) but little by little, the Ruach HaKodesh takes that from us as we mature in the faith.

We might wonder how many Israelites left Egypt, probably about 2 million, plus those Egyptians that “saw the light” plus the sheep and cattle, it was a huge people group that headed eastward across the Sinai Peninsula.

"And it was told the King of Egypt that the people were fled” (14:5). What? Didn't he already know that? Of course, he did, he let them go! It was probably a team of scouts that were sent out to track down the Israelites to see where they were going, and they gave their report back to Pharaoh. Now this took place a few days later, now Pharaoh is sorry he let them go. What? Didn't he remember the plagues? Some people never learn, they love misery. Now Pharaoh musters together his entire army! Another mistake, never send out your entire armed forces, always leave behind reserve units. But Pharaoh was not a wise general. This probably took another few days, thus giving Israel about a week's head start, it would take quite a few days for about 2 million people to cross the Sinai Peninsula.

The names “Elohim” and “YHVH” are both used in this Parashah, “Elohim” is used at the beginning of this parashah, in Chap 13:17 meaning the “Strong, powerful God” yet the name YHVH, later on, shows the personal name, (coming from “Havayah” meaning “to exist”) shows the personal relationship as “Adonai” which we also say when reading YHVH, anytime the word LORD is used in scripture, it is the name YHVH.

YHVH takes them across the Sinai Peninsula to thus entice the Egyptians, to utterly finish destroying them thus ending the powerful rule of Egypt, Egypt never recovered from that defeat, it formed another army years later, but it never had the power it once had with Rameses, Thutmose, Narmer, and other pharaohs of the past dynasties.

When the Israelites get to the beach, they get ready to cross, in Hebrew it is known as “Yam Suf” in English, it is known as “Nuweba Beach” it is a tourist resort today in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. We see that YHVH goes behind the Israelites to protect them, in the form of darkness to the Egyptians, yet light to the Israelites. To us as believers, Yeshua is our light, for us to follow, but to Satan, Yeshua is the conquering king, without the light of Yeshua, without the light of the Torah, we live in darkness, spiritual darkness.

Chapter 14:13 is interesting. Moshe says; “Fear not and stand still and see the SALVATION of YHVH” In Hebrew, the word “Salvation” is “YESHUAT” we have the name of our Messiah “Yeshua” plus the “Tav” Symbolically, we can see that Yeshua is part of Elohim, and He is moving to bring HIS people through the sea, It also reminds us that the “Tav” (T) symbolizes the covenant, it takes the form of the cross in Paleo-Hebrew. We have the name “Yeshua” and the “cross” He is saving his people from physical destruction by the Egyptians, and in the future, He will die to save the world from Spiritual destruction.

In gematria, “Yeshuat” adds up to 786. Reading from right to left, one way to understand the message of this sum of numbers is; “MAN achieves ETERNAL life (a new beginning) through the PERFECT God who is Yeshua, who is part of Elohim

Now YHVH tells Moshe to “lift up your rod and your hand” and cause the sea to part, and it is divided in two. We read that Israel crossed on “dry land” with a strong wind to dry up the sea bottom, today this area is known as the “Gulf of Aqaba” They crossed a small stretch of sea bottom, about 10 miles across, to get to the land of Midian, now known as Saudi Arabia, if you go to Google earth, and look up “Nuweba Beach” you can see the area that the Israelites crossed over at.

Then, YHVH gave the order to Moshe to raise his hand over the water again, and the waters closed up again and drowned the Egyptian army. we see something in the words, “hand” (Yad) and “rod” (Mateh) that make us think. The “rod” is a symbol of authority, of rulership. The “hand” is a symbol of “power and strength” The Torah speaks of YHVH reveling his “Holy Arm” the “arm is connected to the hand” The ancient Hebrew symbol of the “Yod” is the extended “arm and hand” so we can see the message here, “Moshe” is the authority as he shows his leadership by raising his rod, and his hand opens and closes the sea, thus demonstrating his strength and power, but of course, it is not HIS, it is GOD's leadership and strength, being revealed THROUGH Moshe.

When the people follow Moshe, it is as if they are following GOD, trusting in his leadership and strength. When we receive Jesus/Yeshua as Messiah, we trust in HIM as our leader and our strength, and we follow HIM through his WORD, yet many hope that Yeshua will follow THEM! (not going to happen) .

Today, you can see on YouTube what is left of the Egyptian chariots at the bottom of the Gulf of Aqaba, they are coral formations that look like mushrooms, probably the axle and wheels of the chariots, look up, “The real Exodus Crossing”

When we look at all this from a moral and spiritual insight (Derash) We have been rescued from HaSatan, by our Leader, who is strong, whose “hand” struck the death blow to Satan, whose “hands” bore the nails of Calvary's cross, and who leads us to a new life, we have been “kadoshed” (set apart) to follow HIM for all of our days, (Should we choose to) of course it is a choice, but the “good Shepherd always “looks back” for his lost or misguided sheep, to lead them back to the fold.

We see other events that show God's protection and provision for his people, in verses 22-27 we see the “bitter waters made sweet” Moshe threw into the water “a tree” probably cut it down and threw it in, the waters were made sweet, the Torah is also called, “The TREE of LIFE” (Etz Chaim) that changes our bitterness to sweetness, from sorrow to happiness, from lost to saved.

In chapter 16, the provision of “Manna” in the desert “Bread from Heaven” (Lechem b'Shemayim) another provision from YHVH, it symbolizes “Yeshua the Bread of Life” and in chapter 17, “Water from the Rock” This rock is there today in the Saudi Arabian desert very close to Mt. Sinai, it seems to be about 50 feet tall and has a crack down the middle. Go to “google images” and click on “The water rock at Horeb” Moshe was told to “strike the rock” and he did with his staff/rod” and out flowed water so that the congregation and the livestock could drink. This symbolizes “Yeshua the Solid Rock” (Yeshua HaTzur) and Yeshua who is the Living Water. (Yeshua Mayim Chayim). It also symbolizes that Yeshua was “struck ONLY ONCE for our sins at Calvary, ONLY ONCE meaning “nailed to the cross and died one time” and when Moshe got mad later on and struck the rock again, he was punished by God and couldn't enter the promised land, since he “misrepresented” who God is.

As Moses led his people out of Egypt, so Jesus/Yeshua took us out of the camp of Satan, closing the gap, never to return. He gave us a new beginning. A change of masters, We are now under the guidance of the Good Shepherd, instead of the Father of Lies.

Have a blessed week. And thank you for attending "Torah Class" (each one of these posts can be considered a "class")

What is it about children that Jesus used them as an example? Children, as a general rule, though not necessarily all children, tend to be very trusting, and they believe easily without question and without doubt. Some of them have the greatest prayers, for they really believe God is going to answer them. So they pray with absolute faith. For they do not have all the experiences of adults which may make them more cynical.

I, as a child, and as a young adult, especially, was very trusting of God and of his word, and even of pastors and Sunday School teachers and youth leaders, etc. And I had very good reasons not to be trusting of people, too. But I always had that childlike faith. And I can still recall a youth meeting where the leader stated that we are to pray for the missionaries, “But none of us do,” he said. I think I raised my hand and said, “But I do!”

For if I was told to pray for the missionaries, that is what I did. And then someone told me I should carry my bible to school along with my other books, as a witness for Jesus Christ, and so I did that, too. But I was so trusting that I believed a lot of lies early on, too, which the Lord had to eventually get me to unlearn as I began studying the Scriptures more in context and began to realize that not everything I was taught is the truth.

So, it is good to have childlike faith in Jesus Christ which trusts our Lord and his word, which believes what he tells us, and which then acts upon that belief with our actions. But we need to guard against being naïve and too trusting of humans who may take advantage of us and of our trust and who may feed us lies, instead of the truth. So we need to couple childlike faith with spiritual wisdom and maturity and discernment of the Spirit of God.

But the message here isn’t just about having childlike faith, but it is also a message about being humble and not proud. For us to truly believe in Jesus Christ with this childlike (not childish) faith, it requires that we humble ourselves and that we believe Jesus, and that we believe his word, and so we surrender our lives to him to be his possession, and so we die with him to sin daily and we now live for him and his righteousness, and not in sin.

And something that comes to mind here has to do with titles that people give themselves or that are given to them because of their credentials, and that can often be something that leads people to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think and to think more lowly of those who do not share the same titles and credentials. Like this whole thing of clergy and laity is just not biblical. We are all one body with just many parts.

But there are many such people who have titles who think that they are greater than the rest of us, and just because they have particular credentials that the rest of us do not have. But God does not regard those with human credentials and titles above those of us without such titles and credentials, for he does not judge as humans do, nor by the same standards. For he judges us by his standards which have to do with how we live.

And that is also what this is really all about. So we are not to get puffed up and think we are superior to others because of the amount of knowledge or learning or training or credentials or accreditations we have received in this life coming from the standards of human thinking. For the ones God regards as those whom he approves are those who are humble like little children and who trust him with childlike faith and who will do what he says to do.

And that is one of the reasons I love the story in Luke 7:36-50 of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with ointment and who wet his feet with her tears and who wiped them with her hair. And she did this in front of a Pharisee who she certainly knew would disapprove of her actions, and he did. But Jesus honored the woman for what she did, in front of the Pharisee, and he told him that she did for him what he should have done but did not do.

So, our Lord is not impressed with credentials and titles and positions of honor and recognition by other human beings. What he loves is someone who is humble and who will serve him and do for him what pleases him and what he requires, even if she is rejected, mocked, criticized, and regarded as worthless because she is a woman and because she has no credentials other than her relationship with Jesus Christ.

Draw Me Close To You

Donnie McClurkin

Draw me close to You
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I'm Your friend

You are my desire
And no one else will do
'Cause nothing else can take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace

Help me find a way
Bring me back to You
Bring me back, oh Jesus

You're all I want
You're all I've ever needed
You're all I want
Help me know You are near

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So my understanding of Reformed Soteriology is that God predestines individuals for salvation from before the foundation of the world. That is to say that he chose who will be saved before he had even created the world. Is this a fair representation of what Reformed Soteriology says?

If so, my question is how?
I also understand from a Reformed perspective (as opposed to what Arminius proposed) this is based of the sovereignty of God, not based on his foreknowledge. As such, how could God predestine me, before I was created (before anything was created), without knowing that I would exist, because it is not based on his foreknowledge?

(Please don't answer by saying that God sits outside of time, so doesn't need to use his foreknowledge to know I would exist - consider foreknowledge to mean a knowledge of thing within time - if we agree that this is what we mean by foreknowledge?)

I can understand that if God was thinking about creation, he could consider than man would sin, and therefore could predestine Jesus to come and be a propitiating sacrifice for the world. But if he knew exactly what would happen to each individual, because that is how he planned it, rather than what he foresaw, then how is free will even possible? I was born dead, my parents ignored the doctors when they said it was hopeless to consider that I could live. The billions of choices that have culminated in me even existing, if they are truly free, could even God actually do the math? Of course yes, but the other question is would he?

Further, if you say that it is a mystery of God. Do we believe that we are made in God's image, able to understand his ways, or at least his ways with the world?

Pray that cooler heads prevail in regards to the currently ongoing Middle Eastern military confrontations so that we can all Avoid WW3 :

"Two recently discovered Byzantine-era coin weights are evidence there was a Christian presence on the Temple Mount before the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, and perhaps even point to an early church there, archaeologists said in a recent paper."

Anyone here still get "the paper" ?

As Christians, we should to spread the Gospel, the good news, right? This is something that also makes me happy, to talk about how the Gospel has transformed my mind and life, and restored peace and meaning to it.

With people getting busier and busier, I believe it is good to have an “elevator pitch” ready for this. This is a marketing term for giving a one minute enthusiastic presentation which explains the essence of an idea, in this case Christianity.

To share ideas and encourage inspiration, I want to ask you if you want to give me your “elevator pitches” for Christianity. How would you explain, in less than 200 words, what Christianity offers to us all? What would be your “elevator pitch” to do this? Please let me know. Thank you!

Hi everyone,

No real question here, just a post to vent because I just can't talk to anyone else.

It's literally been years since I've posted on CF, and at that time I was well and truly single. In October 2021 I married my wife, who I loved and love. And counted my blessings. She was married before (from early 20's to early 30's). Me, not, and I've only had two other GF's and she's my only sexual partner. But since we got married, life has been down the darn toilet. Whereas most couples have a relatively easy marriage with some hard times, out started out hard from the outset. When we married, it wasn't the wedding we wanted (though still fun) because she had an injury and her dad cancer. Because of her injury we also knew we couldn't go on a honeymoon. That sucked, because though I never told her (as not her fault), I was a bit jealous that she got to have the wedding she wanted, go away on honeymoon and holidays with her first husband. But I let it go, because it's the big scheme of things irrelevant, because her operation for muscle tears were just two weeks after we got married, she'd heal up, then life is ours, for kids, family, honeymoon etc. Well, that's we're things went downhill:

- Operation happened, just for surgeon to say the real issue was a completely busted hip bone, and she'd have to wait at least a year to heal, before having a surgery to fix it. Aftermath of that:
- Over 2 years on, no honeymoon or even any holidays with my wife. Sex is/was also vanilla due to her injury. All of these things increasingly grated on me, as she got to do them with her ex-husband.
- Social life went downhill for both of us, as she'd feel too unwell and pained to see friends or my family. (Though we'd see hers often).
- She lost her independence as couldn't drive (or barely walk) and unable to work. So I became to sole earner since wedding day.
- Wife had (understandable) gradual mental/emotional decline, leading to depression and anger (including lashing out at me).
- We've gone financially backwards.
- Past two years, has me being the worker, and also essentially a carer for my wife and doing the vast majority of chores.
- I use to be fit and healthy due to exercise routine which I had to give up because too exhausted. And I'm also finding (through no fault of hers due to the past 2-3 years of injuries, pregnancies and treatments, not finding my wife as attractive to me as before we got married).
- Then at the beginning of last year, at the hip surgeons suggestion, we started trying for kids (he recommended before the surgery so to preserve implant). It happened very quickly for us. Suddenly everything (all of our struggles/trials) made sense, and we knew what our future was. We thought our child was a miracle. Then at 7 weeks in the womb, they died. To make matters worse, the obstetrician said it was an ecptopic pregnancy, and one of my wife tubes had to be removed (decreasing further fertility). Just for after the operation, for the doctor to say, they diagnosed wrong, and the baby was in the uterus the whole time.
- That just created a lot of extra grief and stress for us. So we went on the IVF wagon twice last year. Losing one baby and the other round not successful.
- After that, we got my wife's surgery, as she couldn't delay it any further. Both physically, mentally and emotionally. The surgeon said that after the implant/replacement, we could still have kids. The surgery did go well and showed real promise.
- In November last year, we had a "nice night". And fell pregnant. Very surprised as 6 weeks after surgery, and based on the obstetrician advice, our time had passed for that. We're now 11 weeks! This had made us hopeful again.
- Last week, my wife had an accident, and she believe she's fractured her operated hip implant. The pain is unbearable. Our first appointment with the obstetrician, is Thursday. Has been for over a month and looking forward to it. But no also, as imperative, we're also seeing the hip surgeon on that day. They have said that scans (that could hurt the baby) have to be done (and they know about the pregnancy) and that if it is a fracture, for my wife's health that needs to take priority. Rightly so and I want her to survive (she can't carry a child with a fractured/broken hip replacement). But they've made it clear that will likely kill the baby too. So for our second "miracle" baby, who we've seen a heartbeat for and little hands, things are not looking like they're coming out of this alive either way and both of us belive by the end of this week or next, they'll be dead. And with my wife losing everything past (nearly 3 years since injury), and how bad the pregnancy has been for her and with fertility level as well, it's unlikely we'll get another shot. My wife does need to rebuild herself and she feels nears the end of her tether.

I love my wife. She's been a darn superwoman with how much she's done. But we're also feeling life nothing good has been shown by God to us in this marriage. Whereas friends are either having kids, or if not (because of age) are getting rich and having romantic holidays together. If another operation needs to be done, that would also be another year of the wife having to recover. And honestly, after 2 years of getting the brutal end of her depressions, including calling me a loser and a failure (despite a good job and working hard at it and at home and my career suffering because of being a carer to her as well), once it's confirmed our baby is dead, I just don't see what God has given us through this marriage and for me to continue at it. I've just felt so let down past two years with a lot of sadness, and now I feel like the crescendo is about to happen.

Sorry for the long post. I don't actually expect anyone to really read it. But I can't talk to anyone about my true feelings, and this is the only way I felt like I've got room to express my feelings, anger, pointlessness and disappointment at my/our life married. Constant sacrifice by both of us for nothing. Particularly as it's all but confirmed to help my wife we'll have to kill out baby, that seemed like God's miracle to us (at last).

i wonder if anyone here owns this book, and if so, what do you think of it? many years ago i read some excerpts from it and was very impressed. i'm thinking about ordering it, but it's over $50.

i bought a book he published about 10 or so years ago that has to do with the doctrine of the Cross, but that book was of no value to me at all. he repeated himself to the point of tedium and never made it clear exactly how i was supposed to apply it. (which i think tends to be very usual with Brother Jimmy's teaching.) but what i saw of his book on Romans was not like that.

2 Peter 2:

20 For if, after they have escaped the pollution of the world

through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

they are again entangled in them and overcome,

the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

21 For it would have been better for them not to have known

the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn

from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Jesus spoke in Mat 24:

42 "Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

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Be ready for Jesus' second coming.

Paul repeated the warning in 1 Thessalonians 5:

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

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Though we don't know the date of Jesus' second coming, when he comes, it should not surprise us.

Peter used the same imagery in 2 Peter 3:

10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

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Jesus warned the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:

2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

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Be ready. Be on the alert.

Jesus exhorted everyone in Revelation 16:

15 “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”

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Don't get caught exposed. Be diligent so you won't be surprised when Jesus comes like a thief in the night.

The prophet Isaiah, who lived in Jerusalem in the eighth century BCE, gives us strength from the distance of generations: "Fear not, O worm Jacob, O men of Israel: I will help you —declares God—I your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel" (Isiah 41:14). There is a tradition in our ancient sources that Jacob's worm is the silkworm, that the third stage of its life cycle (after the egg and larvae stage) is the cocoon stage. The cocoon seems to be in a state of death and emptiness, but life is forming inside of it, and if we are patient and believe in its happy ending, we will see how at the end of the process a beautiful butterfly emerges from it and spreads its wings to the light.
The Jewish interpretation. Israel Hayom; January 29, 2024

The Christian interpretation:
Isaiah 41:8-20 But you, Israel My servant – Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of My friend Abraham. I have summoned you from the ends of the earth and called you My servants. Have no fear, for I am with you – I am your God. I shall strengthen you with My victorious right hand.
Now, all who defy you will be humiliated. They will be as nothing and will perish. Your enemies will no longer be found.

For I, the Lord your God will help you. Have no fear Jacob, you worm, Israel you maggot, your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. See; I shall make of you a sharp threshing sledge. You will thresh and winnow the land and the wind will carry away all that pollutes the Holy Land. Then you will rejoice in the Lord.
The poor and needy look for water and find none. The Lord will not forsake them, He will open up springs in the hills and pools in the desert. All kinds of trees will flourish in the Land, so that everyone may see and understand that the Lord Himself has created this.

Isaiah 40:27-31 Jacob, why do you complain? You Israel, why do you say: my cause goes unheeded by my God? Do you not know, have you not heard – the Lord does not grow weary or faint and His understanding cannot be fathomed.
The Lord gives strength to the weary and those who trust in Him will soar as on eagles wings, they will run and not feel faint, march on and not be tired.
Ref. REB some verses abridged.

‘Israel My servant, the descendants of Jacob, whom I have chosen. I have summoned My servants from the ends of the earth; out of every nation.’ The Lord’s righteous people, now every faithful Christian, called out of the nations after the Lord’s Day of vengeance. They will be helped and strengthened by their God. As we know from other prophesies and the New Testament, the Lord’s servants include peoples of every race, tribe, language and nation. We Christians are His people by faith.

‘Any who oppose them will be destroyed, by God’s victorious Right Hand’. The Lord Jesus will instigate this judgement/punishment of the nations; Psalms 83, Psalms 110:5-6, Luke 3:16-17, Ezekiel 30:1-5, Micah 7:10, by sending fire from the sun.

‘Jacob you worm, Israel you maggot’ The Lord has a sense of humour! The people of all the 12 tribes are unworthy, but God will fulfil His promises to the Patriarchs through their descendants who believe in God by faith; Galatians 3:26-29 and all who have accepted the Salvation offered by Jesus.

‘The storm wind sent by the Lord, will remove all that pollutes the holy Land’, This refers to the Day of the Lord’s wrath, a terrible worldwide devastation by fire, earthquakes, storms and tsunamis. Isaiah 30:25-28, Malachi 4:1, 2 Peter 3:7

‘The Lord will provide water and the Land will flourish, all will acknowledge the Lords hand in this’. Once again it will be all habitable and fertile. Ezekiel 25:5-7, Ezekiel 36:8, Isaiah 25:9, Amos 9:13, Isaiah 51:3, Isaiah 49:19

“The poor and needy”, This is a description of His people, when they first enter the Land. ‘The Lord will give them strength, they will march into their heritage and not be weary’. Psalms 107:1-43, Isaiah 35:1-10, Jeremiah 31:7-14, Psalms 68:24-27

Be patient, Israel, God is in control. Psalms 37:5, Jeremiah 23:24
Put your trust in the Lord, He will help and strengthen you. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

Two bills advancing through the Florida Legislature would ban cities and counties from forming civilian police oversight boards and dissolve already-existing boards.

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The legislation, House Bill 601 and its companion Senate Bill 576, would make it unlawful for a county or municipal government to pass ordinances related to civilian oversight of police misconduct investigations or the handling of misconduct complaints against law enforcement officers.

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Currently, the bills have passed several committees, and the Tallahassee Democrat reports they have the support of Republican majorities in both chambers, as well as influential Florida law enforcement groups.

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The bill's text says its purpose is to create a uniform process for how police departments handle misconduct complaints against officers, but it would also leave police departments to hold themselves accountable and eliminate 21 civilian police oversight boards operating throughout Florida.

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Today was the official election day for Finland's next president, so boring news for most of you.

Polls closed at 20:00 local time and the counting has began and as of me posting this, 84,8% of the votes have been counter and we are going into the second round in a few weeks.

The two candidates with the most votes and going ahead are Alexander Stubb (27,3%) and Pekka Haavisto (25,8%).


Will put some details of the two candidates if anyone is interested or talk about Finnish elections in general.

Multi Billionaire Mr Trump has form for asking regular working Americans to donate to his Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee.

"Please make a contribution – of truly any amount – to defend our movement from the never-ending witch hunts and WIN the WHITE HOUSE in 2024," said an email sent by a Trump fundraising group called the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-seeks-make-criminal-allegations-pay-with-2024-fundraising-drive-2023-03-30/

If he does so again for his current financial woes will you step up to help the multi billionaire pay his $83 million fine?

Three U.S. service members were killed and 25 injured Sunday in a one-way drone attack at a small U.S. base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border, U.S. Central Command announced. These were the first U.S. fatalities in months of strikes against American forces in the Middle East by Iran-backed militias amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The attack is another escalation of the hostilities between the U.S. and enemies in the Middle East following the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

To update the famous comment of Leon Trotsky, you may not be interested in the sexual revolution, but the sexual revolution is interested in you. Some of us are still privileged enough to be partly sheltered from this revolution. I count myself as one, along with those whose detachment from real-life pastoral situations apparently qualifies them to sell political pedagogy to others. But as the push among the progressive political class to dismantle traditional sexual mores continues apace, it is harder and harder to find a pastor or a priest who has not faced a difficult question from congregants about Christian obedience and their livelihood. Only last week a pastor friend told me of a member of his church who, as a manager of a business, has been ordered to integrate the bathrooms and is now faced with complaints from women staff who feel their safety and privacy have been compromised. It’s easy to decry right-wing scaremongering in the abstract, far more difficult to give advice to real people who have to make decisions that could cost them their careers.

The sexual revolution has revolutionized everything, to the point where questions that once had simple answers have become complicated. For instance, the question “Can I attend a gay wedding?” comes up with increasing frequency and is proving less and less easy to answer, as Bethel McGrew’s closing paragraphs in her recent World column indicate. It is not hard to guess what reasons a Christian might give for attending a gay wedding: a desire to indicate to the couple that one does not hate them, or a wish to avoid causing offense or hurt. But if either carries decisive weight in the decision, then something has gone awry. A refusal to attend might well be motivated by hatred of the couple (though in such circumstances, an invitation would seem an unlikely event) but it does not have to be so. To consider a declined invitation necessarily a sign of hatred is to adopt the notion of “hate” as a mere refusal to affirm. That is our secular age’s understanding, and not that of the Christian faith. A refusal to attend might also cause offense, but to make the giving of offense itself into a moral category is to replace moral categories of right and wrong with aesthetic categories of taste. The latter should always be subordinate to the former in the realm of ethical questions.

There are also obvious reasons why a Christian should never attend a gay wedding. Many wedding liturgies, including that of the Book of Common Prayer, require the officiant to ask early in the service if anyone present knows any reason why the couple should not be joined together in matrimony. A Christian is at that point obliged to speak up. I would hazard a guess that such an intervention would be far more offensive than simply refusing to be at the service.

Continued below.

Good day, I'm asking for prayer for the salvation of Andrew Blanchard, Palmatee Blanchard and their son, the Yee Shong Family, Dulah, Static, Chan, Claudia Creese, Anil Gunness, Kamo, Anthony, Carla Creese, Andy Singh, Barber Brent, Kyle Clarke, Verne Titte, Shane Alleyne, Josiah Smith, Vikash Singh, Asahel Robinson, Paula Mae Weeks, Yahya Sinwar and Abubakar Shekau. Thank you for all your prayer.

I particularly like Guildford Cathedral for their music program, and was excited last week to hear a Christological sermon by the celebrant.

However, on hearing it, I was disappointed, because rather than stressing the deity of Christ, she managed to inadvertently imply Arianism, through two errors: stating that the Gospel of John chapter 1 asserts that Jesus Christ was created, which is utterly false, and this has the effect of negating one of the most important proof-texts of Christianity against the false Arian and Unitarian religions, and also by failing at any point in her sermon to refer to our Lord as God, or as God Incarnate, which I regarded as a grave omission.

Now, she did correctly assert that anyone could become a Christian in the early church, but she failed to mention that not anyone could become a Christian while retaining their existing occupation. Specifically, no one who was employed as a gladiator or trainer or keeper of gladiators, or as an actor (for the theatre in the Roman Empire was exceedingly lewd; it was not until the era of playwrights such as William Shakespeare that the theatre became respectable), or as a teacher of Hellenic philosophy, or as a prostitute, could be baptized without first renouncing their profession and obtaining a more legitimate form of employment, according to the Apostolic Canons (I think; it is among the ancient canons, and I can look up exactly which ones if desired, and quote them). I suspect she was unaware of this fact as alas very few people, including clergy, have ever bothered to read a compendium of the canon laws of the early church such as the Pedalion (Rudder), which contains all of the canonical legislation of Eastern Orthodoxy, which consists predominantly of Patristic canons from the first millenium and differs from that of Oriental Orthodoxy in that it includes the canons of Chalcedon, the Quinisext Council (also known as the Council of Trullo) and the Second Council of Nicaea, and from early Roman Catholicism in that the Roman Church never accepted the validity of the Quinisext Council or its canonical legislation, and this was one of the earliest signs of a rift between the Eastern and Western churches. Since that time, the Roman church has issued its own compendiums of canon law that supercede the ancient canons, something which I greatly disagree with as I believe the canons of the ancient Ecumenical Synods are an integral part of those councils, such as the Council of Nicaea, and cannot simply be set aside without deprecating the council as a whole.

In viewing this sermon, however, the main problem was the priest failing to refer to Jesus Christ as God, or God incarnate. Indeed it was only the recitation of the Nicene Creed, which not everyone understands correctly, which ensured Christological correctness.

As a secondary consideration she made the popular but unproven assertion that the Apocalypse of St. John, or Revelation was not written by St. John the Apostle, but this belief is extremely widespread in Anglicanism, with the author of Revelation often referred to as St. John the Divine (of course, some Anglicans who are more invested in the traditions of the early church and who believe that the Beloved Disciple wrote all of the Johannine books, including Revelation, the three Epistles and the Gospel, refer to St. John the Apostle and Beloved Disciple aS St. John the Divine, which literally means St. John the Theologian, for the word Divine applied to a person or group of person, such as the group of early High Church Anglicans known as the Caroline Divines, literally means Theologian, and the Eastern Orthodox venerate St. John as St. John the Theologian.* However, while I find it annoying when people assert that the author of Revelation is not the same as the author of the Gospel of St. John, considering that there is no actual proof, and the subtle stylistic variations could be caused by many things other than different authorship, but rather, this is essentially a guess made by practitioners of Higher Criticism, if she had only made this assertion I would not have complained.

Ultimately what really bothered me was her assertion that the Prologue of the Gospel of John asserts that Jesus Christ was created, which is entirely false, for it specifically does not say that, and I hope she simply misspoke and this was a flub, as opposed to her actual belief, and also her failure to compensate for this potential incitement to Arianism by failing to refer to Jesus Christ as God, God the Son or God Incarnate, or indeed to begin her sermon with the Trinitarian formula “In the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost” which many preachers use. It is insufficient and confusing for the laity when they are only told that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and are told that he is divine as well as human, but not fully God and fully Human, since the word divine, since divine as an adjective does not unambiguously identify its subject as God.

Rather, in the case of Jesus Christ, His actual deity along with his perfectly assumed humanity must be stressed in order to ensure that the Incarnational and Trinitarian reality which is at the beating evangelical heart of Christianity, the very essence of the Gospel being, to quote St. Athanasius, that God became man so that man could become god, that is to say, that we could by the grace of the Holy Spirit attain godliness and overcome our sinful passions, and enjoy eternal life in fellowship with God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and furthermore, we are called to make our relations with other humans an icon of the Holy Trinity. The Trinity is vital because it is an eternal union of perfect love between three persons.

Here is a link to the Eucharistic liturgy, which contains the Homily immediately following the three Scripture lessons:


*Indeed he is one of only three persons who the Eastern Orthodox venerate as theologians, the others being St. Gregory of Nazianzus, the friend of St. Basil the Great and along with St. Basil and his younger brother St. Gregory of Nyssa, one of the three most important Patristic figures known as the Cappadocians, and St. Symeon the New Theologian, a 13th century Athonite monk who was instrumental in a revival and popularization of Hesychasm, and whose writings were later defended by St. Gregory the Theologian against a false accusation of Nestorianism by Barlaam.

i do!

I was wondering if it might be a NO NO now ? It was fun when we were kids. Is it something that is common everywhere?

Now, these words are being addressed to those who were once slaves to sin, meaning that they are no longer living in slavery (addiction, bondage) to sin. Sin is no longer their practice, but now righteousness and obedience to the Lord and to his New Covenant commands are their practice. Now they are slaves of righteousness. And the standard of teaching to which they are committed is what Jesus taught and what his NT apostles taught, which is not what is predominantly being taught in America today.

Yet, we are still human beings living in flesh bodies in a fallen world with all sorts of evils and temptations everywhere you look, pretty much. And so many people today are teaching a diluted, altered, and corrupted gospel message, which also corrupts the grace of God. And so even those who have been walking faithfully to the Lord in obedience to him may be tempted to be drawn into false teachings which may make no (or little) demands for holy living and for walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands.

And so the truth of the gospel is being reinforced here. Just as once we presented our members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, we are now to present our members (bodies, minds, hearts, souls) as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For Jesus died on that cross so that we would be crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

For when we were slaves of sin, we were free in regard to righteousness. Do you understand what that is saying? We cannot be slaves to sin and to righteousness at the same time. It is one or the other. Either sin is our practice, and what we obey, in practice, or righteousness and obedience to our Lord are what we practice. So we are not righteous in the sight of God if we are still slaves to sin. The two don’t mix. And this doesn’t mean we are perfect and that we never fail, but that sin is no longer our practice.

And then really pay close attention to verses 21-23, for many people are teaching Romans 6:23 out of context, and they are making it say what it does not say, if taught properly in context. For the free gift of God is not given to those who are still walking in sin. For God’s gift of grace to us is not freedom to keep walking in sin, only now without having to feel guilty. For what does this say? If we are still living as slaves (addicted) to sin, the end of those things is death, not life eternal with God.

But now that we have, IF we have, been set free from our slavery to sin, and we have, IF we have, become slaves of God, the fruit that we get leads to sanctification (holiness), and its end is eternal life with God. So when this says that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, we have to read that verse in the context of the whole of Romans 6, and in particular in the context of verses 21-23 which makes it very clear what it all means. If sin is our practice, it will lead to death.

So, we don’t just pray a prayer or confess belief in Jesus Christ and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and so now we have heaven guaranteed us when we die, and it can’t be taken away from us, but regardless of how we live. For the free gift of God’s grace instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions (lust), and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For God’s grace frees us from our slavery to sin so we now become slaves of righteousness.

So the free gift of God, although we do nothing to earn or to deserve it in our own flesh, is not without cost. It is not without rules and regulations which we must follow. For the gift is deliverance from our slavery (addiction) to sin, and it is empowerment of God’s Spirit to now live in moral purity, honesty, integrity, faithfulness, and in obedience to our Lord’s commands (New Covenant). The gift is not freedom to keep living in sin while claiming Jesus as Lord and heaven as our eternal destiny. So please see this!

[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 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown
Music by American Melody

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).

I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

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