some scriptures that come to mind on this thought, which was triggered by someone saying they believe Jesus will bear His crucifixion scars for all eternity to remind us of the cost.

But when presented this statement, the first thing that came to mind was

Isaiah 65

17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

Click to expand...

a place of joy in the Lord and rejoicing, not guilt over the sin that Jesus had to die to atone for you.

furthermore, God promises He will forget our sins as a part of the New Covenant.
Jeremiah 31

31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Click to expand...

Isaiah 43

25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

Click to expand...

So if God has promised to forget sin, when all is made new, why would we remember sin? What profit would it have? Rather it is dangerous. The first sin was .. gaining knowledge of evil, and thus we then choose to do evil. If we aren't thinking about evil and had no knowledge of evil, then we don't do it. Paul illustrates this:

Romans 7

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

Click to expand...

Part of how sin might not exist on the new earth is that we simply won't have memory of sin and sinful things just won't even come to mind. Why would you steal, God has promised to provide you with everything freely, stealing something you don't have but your neighbor has wouldn't come to mind unless you have memory of scarcity and a perceived need to have what you don't have. There'd be no need to remember a commandment not to steal, much less remember our past experiences with stealing, because the concept of stealing comes out of coveting and scarcity and a wicked heart that values self over others. All 3 of these things just won't exist, so stealing wouldn't even come into thought much less be done... unless you remind people of it.

Forgetting sin as God does, would ensure that we would not feel ashamed in His presence, which would prevent us from having joy or even feeling like we belonged there or it was like home.

That is something I have been meditating on recently is how would I ever feel at home on the New Earth, when I'm constantly reminded that I don't deserve to be there, don't belong there and am only there by grace, like charity, it wouldn't be home in that circumstance, it'd feel like a foster family, a refugee camp.
How it can be home is.. you don't remember your sins, and so all you know is a loving Father, and thus you do feel like you belong and you are at home.

Genetics virtually unchanged for 100,000,000 years

I wonder how as Christians you deal with self hate? What aspects of the teachings and beliefs help you when you feel down on yourself, or even on the edge of hurting yourself?
Do believing Christians experience a wish to end their lives sometimes or does God transform them so they can no longer feel such things.
What happens to people who commit suicide... believers and non-believers.
If a person has an inner compulsion that they can't resist is it still a sin?
Cheers

Trump apparently can't make his bond to appeal New York judgement.

Former President Donald Trump can’t find an insurance company to underwrite his bond to cover the massive judgment against him in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case, his lawyers told a New York appeals court.

Trump’s attorneys said he has approached 30 underwriters to back the bond, which is due by the end of this month.

“The amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million, and very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. (Trump himself was ordered to pay $454 million; the $464 million includes the disgorgement for his adult sons Don Jr. and Eric.)

An insurance broker, Gary Giulietti, who testified for Trump during the civil fraud trial, signed an affidavit stating that securing a bond in the full amount “is a practical impossibility.”

Potential underwriters are seeking cash to back the bond, not properties, according to Trump’s lawyers.

Trump’s lawyers have asked the appeals court to delay posting the bond until his appeal of the case is over, arguing that the value of Trump’s properties far exceed the judgment. If the appeals court rules against him, Trump asked the court to delay his posting the bond until his appeal to New York’s highest court is heard.

Trump said Monday he thought it was “practically impossible” for him to post the bond.

In a post on Truth Social, he claimed the size of the bond is “unConstitutional, un-American, unprecedented, and practically impossible for ANY Company, including one as successful as mine. The Bonding Companies have never heard of such a bond, of this size, before, nor do they have the ability to post such a bond, even if they wanted to.”

Last month, Trump was ordered to pay $355 million in disgorgement, or “ill-gotten gains,” by New York Judge Arthur Engoron in a civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Engoron wrote in his 93-page decision that Trump and his co-defendants – including his adult sons – were liable for fraud, conspiracy and issuing false financial statements and false business records, finding that the defendants fraudulently inflated the value of Trump’s assets to obtain more favorable loan and insurance rates.

The amount Trump owed surpassed $450 million with interest included.

This thread will be all about discussing other dimensions, or what you think other dimensions might be, but I would ask that we try to limit the discussions in this thread to that subject please, ok. At least "try" anyway, etc.

I'll start with my thoughts to hopefully get this started, etc.

To put it simply, I think one other dimension could be other possibilities, since I think this universe only contains one, etc, but that all of those are still at the same "now" or "now time", etc. And then that another dimension could of course be "time" or "at all times", etc. And I'm not sure if the dimension of time, or at all possible moments in time, would include all places as well, etc. But if you think it doesn't, then maybe that could yet be another one as well maybe, but I tend to lean more toward the opinion that it might not be, but is included in the dimension of "at all possible times" or time, etc.

To try and get a simple grasp of other dimensions, think of adding another additional realm or new dimension as adding a new set of "slices" maybe, etc. Like when you think about a theoretical 2 dimensional being or thing trying to get a grasp on what the 3rd is, which is height in this case, and your adding the additional dimension of height, etc, which adds a new set of "slices", etc. Or a 1 dimensional thing or being trying to perceive the second, or the second and the third maybe, etc, which might help with this discussion, etc.

Once again, my theory is that adding other possibilites adds that, or adds one, and then also that "at all possible times" also adds that, or adds another one as well, etc, but I just don't know about all places yet, as I think those could maybe be included in the "in or at times" maybe, etc?

Again, this thread is about other possible additional dimensions, so let's try to keep it close to that subject, ok.

And, "go".

Take Care/God Bless.

This story needs a "Soap" intro.

A wild feud between a rising GOP star and the mom of her late ex-husband erupted into public view on Wednesday when candidate Elizabeth Helgelien’s infuriated former mother-in-law accused the MAGA-centric Nevada politician of being a liar and an adulterer.

[Helgelien's ex] Daniel Halseth, Christine Halseth’s son, was stabbed to death in 2021 by the couple’s teenage daughter, Sierra Halseth, and her boyfriend, Aaron Guerrero. The pair are now serving life sentences.

In a scathing op-ed published Wednesday in The Nevada Globe, Halseth pleaded with Helgelien to drop out of the race for the state’s 3rd Congressional District “for my family’s sake, and out of respect for voters and the office she’s seeking.”

“Elizabeth raised a murderer, was forced out of office after a series of sex scandals, was caught in a series of lies, posed for lewd photographs, and has already proven to be unelectable,” Halseth wrote.

Daniel Halseth and Helgelien both attended Corban University, a private evangelical Christian school in Salem, Oregon. [As did the man Helgelien was having an affair with and later married.]

This Forum is a place for respectful discussion and debate of political issues, by Roman Catholics, in the context of the Roman Catholic Faith.

The radical left will use anything they can find to use against former President Trump, even if that means spinning the truth.

On Saturday, during a campaign rally in Ohio, Trump predicted a financial “bloodbath” facing the U.S. motor industry if he is not elected, giving China the green light to flood the country with their products.

Trump said:

If you’re listening, President Xi — and you and I are friends — but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now … you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us, no. We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected.
Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it […] It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.

Click to expand...

However, Trump’s comments were taken out of context and spun to look like he is promising a “bloodbath” if he is not elected in November.

Continued below.

"President Vladimir V. Putin, a day after declaring victory in a performative election, signaled on Monday that the war against Ukraine would continue to dominate his rule and called for unity in bringing the people of eastern Ukraine “back to their home family.”"

"A 59-year-old social worker, who gave her name as Nadya and arrived waving a giant Russian flag and wearing a folk headdress known as a kokoshnik, said that she did not want war but that the West needed to stop antagonizing Russia. Russia, she said, needs to be respected, and ending the hostilities is not up to Mr. Putin.

“It doesn’t depend on us,” she said. “It’s the West. England, America — they want to divide us up and make us into little colonies.”"

"A 29-year-old government analyst at the celebration, who gave his name as Maksim, said that failing to see any other candidates as strong as Mr. Putin, he had voted for him. But he expressed sympathy for the people who live in Ukraine, as well as for Russian soldiers fighting on the front, and acknowledged that he feared another draft.

“I worry about it, I worry about it every day,” he said. “We don’t know what will happen even tomorrow.”

Putin Hails Conquests in Ukraine in Red Square Spectacle

A day after a rubber-stamp presidential election, President Vladimir Putin said he would not back down in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

www.nytimes.com

I would post this in the "Christian Ministries" section, but this question does NOT fit any of the categories. So here it is:

Do you think churches should have a policy about not allowing rides by the opposite sex, when the couple is not married, engaged, or dating?

I have personally seen men that have come into the church with an agenda in mind, to target women for their own lust and entices. Yes, people come to the church for the wrong reason! Many years ago, I watch the pastor stop a few men from preying on single ladies, by offering them a ride home. He would stop them in the parking lot and explain that we don't allow that here. And then he would order an Uber for the lady.

I 100% agree with that intervention! But what about two singles of the opposite sex that might have an interest in each other. Should there be a church policy to discourage rides from the opposite sex? I mean, at some point, if two people of the opposite sex like each other, they will go on dates together and ride in the same car. The church should not heavily shepherd the people to try to keep from all presence of evil. Don't get me wrong, there should always be accountability.

and no where to say it?

Former President Donald Trump responded to the torrent of establishment media reporting that he was predicting a “bloodbath” if he was not elected in November by labeling it “fake news.”

At a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday, the Republican presidential candidate spoke about the auto industry, saying, “Mexico has taken, over a period of 30 years, 34 percent of the automobile manufacturing business in our country.”

He then pointed out that China is building massive car manufacturing facilities in Mexico.

“They think that they’re going to sell those cars into the United States with no tax at the border,” Trump said.

In 2020, the U.S. and Mexico entered into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which allows qualifying goods to enter the U.S. free of tariffs.

Various studies show that some Native Americans have both Egyptian & Hebrew roots, which I believe came from the tribe of Ephraim -

1 Kings 10:22 - "For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks."
(We know Peacocks come from India, so this shows the ships were capable of that voyage, and as we'll see, there's some evidence voyagers from Tarshish came to the Americas)

(DNA shows link of Cherokee & Egyptian):

The many interrelationships noted above reinforce the conclusion that this is a faithful cross-section of a population. No such mix could have resulted from post-1492 European gene flow into the Cherokee Nation. So where do our non-European, non-Indian-appearing elements come from? The level of haplogroup T in the Cherokee (26.9%) approximates the percentage for Egypt (25%), one of the only lands where T attains a major position among the various mitochondrial lineages. In Egypt, T is three times what it is in Europe.

(Artifacts show Phoenician travel to the Americas):
Whittall showed Fell a photograph of an inscription engraved on a cliff above Mount Hope Bay, in Bristol, Rhode Island, which was discovered and recorded in 1780. Because of vandalization, it was necessary to work from the photograph. Fell soon translated a single line, which was written in Punic: “Voyagers from Tarshish this stone proclaims.”

Tarshish was a Biblical city on the southern coast of Spain, and its citizens were among the boldest sailors of antiquity, famous for the size of their ships. In 533 B.C., the Carthaginians and their trade taken over by these ambitious, daring sailors destroyed Tarshish. Here was evidence of how the partnership between Celts and the Carthaginians began.

On Monhegan Island, 12 miles off the coast of Maine, another inscription was brought to Dr. Fell’s attention. It was written in Celtic Ogam and read, “Cargo platforms for ships from Phoenicia.” [(Also scan Photos) ] From these and other inscriptions, as well as an intensive study of historical data on the seafaring ability of the men of Tarshish and Carthage, Fell concluded that there was a highly developed trade route between America and the Mediterranean for at least 400 years before the birth of Christ. The principal products from North America were probably copper, furs and hides. Fell noted that there was evidence of very early mining in the copper fields of Minnesota as well as of an extensive fur trade. The Carthaginians used to proclaim that they obtained their furs from Gaul. But when the Romans finally invaded Gaul, they found very little evidence of a fur trade. Thus, Gaul might have been a code word for America. A prevailing obstacle to verifying Bronze Age voyages from Europe to America is the absence of bronze tools among the American artifacts

Data from America now began to multiply. Most important was Fell’s translation of the Davenport stele, which some people compare to the translation of the Rosetta stone—the 19th-Century breakthrough that enabled a reading of hieroglyphics and to grasp the awesome sweep of Egyptian history. On this inscription, which was found in a burial mound near Davenport, Iowa in 1874, Dr. Fell was able to read three kinds of writing. At the top were Egyptian hieroglyphics. Below them was the Iberic form of Punic writing found in Spain. The third line was in Libyan script. This mean that there were Egyptians, Libyans and Celtic Iberians living together in a colony in Iowa in 900 B.C. It also means that we have to revise a lot of our ideas about American history in general and the culture of the Amerindians in particular.
Revelations about American colonization
(Brazil associated with Ophir):
These original inhabitants, the aboriginal people of Brazil—whom Brandão depicts as provident and skillful traders, actively engaging in business with the colonizers—are the same people whose origin he investigates in relation to the Old Testament’s history of the Jews. The Brazilian Indians are the descendants of an ancient tribe sent by King Solomon to the celebrated land of Ophir in order to fetch wood for the construction of the Temple of God.
The Indians Who Came from Ophir: Prophecy and Natural History in Early Modern Brazil

Interesting prophecies regarding the tribe of Ephraim specifically, who is 1/2 of the tribe of Joseph:

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel)
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." (Genesis 49:22-26)

I've often wondered if the everlasting hills refer to the Appalachian mountains of North America, which is exactly where the Cherokee dwelt

"And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession." (Gen 48:1-4)

"And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?
And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.
And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations." (Gen 48:8-19)

Who is Ephraim's mother? Asenath, daughter of the priest on On, and Egyptian. (Gen 41:45 & 50, 46:20) Also interesting is where it says Ephraim's seed shall become a multitude of nations: that's "Goy", specifically "goyim" which is usually a reference to heathen, or non Hebrew people's or nations, a foreign or Gentile Nation.

"Using a combination of DNA analysis, historical research, and classical philology, it uncovers the Jewish and Eastern Mediterranean ancestry of the Cherokee" - Old World Roots of the Cherokee, by Donald Yates, 2014

Finally, look at Deuteronomy 33:13-17,
"And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh."

It was back in 1993 when this just exploded like a revelation, and it was as if the Spirit was saying "Come and see" and to look into these things, which continue to be confirmed now over 30 years later.




"In other words, the erosion of the landscape began long after the Appalachian Mountains themselves were pushed up" - Biblegeology.net

And here's a decent paper on the Appalachians

https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1147&context=icc_proceedings

Is masturbation a sin under the new covenant?
Yes, no, maybe, evidence.
Thank you.

Almost 30% of Generation Z women identify as LGBTQ, according to a new Gallup survey.

Could that possibly be true?

Well, the Gallup survey, which also found that 22% of Gen Z overall identifies as LGBTQ, is no outlier. In recent years, data has clearly shown a rising number of Americans identify as LGBTQ, in no small part driven by an enormous percentage of Gen Zers who identify that way.

A survey released in January by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 28% of Gen Zers consider themselves LGBTQ. Meanwhile, among high schoolers in 2021, only 74% said they considered themselves straight, according to a study released last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


What is driving this huge surge?

One possibility is societal acceptance. Same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the Supreme Court in 2015, the same year former Olympian and reality TV star Bruce Jenner announced that he now identified as a woman and wanted to be known as Caitlyn.

For Gen Z adults, which Gallup considers those 18 to 26, their youth was in an era of rapid change about LGBT views.

Since 2012, more Americans than not have favored the legality of same-sex marriage, according to Gallup. Since 2009, more Americans than not have said they believe that gay and lesbian relationships are moral. Even now, while 55% of Americans say they believe it is immoral to change one’s gender, as Gallup phrases it, a strong minority (43%) says they think it is moral to do so.

But widespread societal acceptance doesn’t seem to have so drastically affected other generations. Among millennials, about 10% say they identify as LGBTQ. That number drops to 4.5% for Gen X, 2.3% for baby boomers, and 1.1% for the Silent Generation.

This disparity is curious, and raises questions about the born-that-way argument about the innateness of LGBTQ identity. Wouldn’t Americans who had been hiding their identity now want to reveal it in light of current social views?

Continued below.

Hey. Over your latte, I saw the worry in your eyes. I know this isn’t who you want to be; you never wanted to be attracted elsewhere, you thought you would always be contented in your marriage. But I know your longing runs deep and you’re afraid of your own heart.

If only “I do” meant our eyes never swiveled from our mate’s. But the reality is, they do.

Sure, marriage is a big choice we make once. But it’s also saying “I do” over and over and over again. When you’re drowning in household chores. When he’s flipping on the news and tuning out right when he gets home from work. When you’re depressed after your mom dies, and are looking for anyone, anything, to fill the gap.

Unfortunately, Christians can fail to understand and openly admit how our hearts are “prone to wander” until it’s too late. Emotional affairs, in particular, can arise and flourish because there’s no clear line between appropriate and non-appropriate behavior. We drift into them.

The Clever Lie​

Continued below.

Jesus was praying to God the Father with regard to the fact that he was about to be crucified on a cross for the sins of the world and that he would be leaving the world to go back to the Father, and so his followers would no longer have him physically with them.


After this, Jesus also prayed for all who would yet believe in him, which includes us who are believing in him now (John 17:20-26). He prayed that we would be one in him and in the Father and that we would be united as one with one another as we are all one with Christ and with God the Father. And this oneness is to serve as a testimony to the world that the world might believe that Jesus came from the Father, and that the Father sent him, and that God the Father loved them even as he loved his Son Jesus, and that the love that the Father has for Jesus might be in them, and Christ in them.

Yet much of what he prayed for those who had been with him physically also applies to us who believe in him now. For if we are believing in Jesus Christ with genuine God-ordained and God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, and thus we have been crucified with him in death to sin, and we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as slaves to God, then we are also those who have kept and who are keeping (obeying) his word that is written for us to follow (Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 6:1-23).

Now this specific prayer was for those who were presently his followers, and so those of us who are presently his followers can apply it to ourselves where it is applicable. Now here he said that he was not praying for the world but for those whom the Father had given him. This is not saying that he did not pray for the world, for this next section that I mentioned first indicates that he was very much concerned for the people of the world that they would believe in him and that Christ would be in them, and that they would know the love that the Father had for them.

But this first part was a prayer for his followers who he was going to leave behind when he returned to the Father. And what was his primary concern? He would be leaving them and thus he would no longer be in the world, but they would still be in the world, not of it, and he would no longer be with them in person to protect them from the evils that are in the world. For he did not want any of them to be lost. And so he prayed to the Father that he would keep them in his name. And he is still concerned for all who are his that we would remain in him and that his word would remain in us.

And another one of his concerns, which I believe is connected to this previous one, is that because Jesus had given them (and us) his word, they would be, and we are presently, at least to some degree, hated by the people of the world because we are no longer like the world (if this is true of us), just as Jesus is not of the world. And he is our role model for what it means to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus in character, thinking, attitude, words, and deeds. Like the old cliché said, “What would Jesus do?”

Now, there is a difference between living in the world and being among the people of the world and us literally becoming like the world and participating in worldly practices. So we are to live in the world and among its people, and we are to go out into the world with the message of the gospel, but we are not to embrace worldly practices and attitudes and thinking and behaviors. We are to be in the world but not of the world. So we are not to seclude ourselves from the people of the world, but we need for the Lord to help us to not get caught up in the evils that are in the world.

But this involves our full participation with the Lord in his work of grace in our lives. We must choose the Lord over all else. We must choose to serve the Lord and not the flesh. Daily we must be putting sin to death, by the Spirit, and we must be walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands under the New Covenant, by his power, and in his strength and wisdom. Moment by moment we must be growing in the grace of the Lord in our walks of holiness and righteousness in surrender to God’s will for our lives. And then we have the hope of salvation and eternal life with God.

[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 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; 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]

Broken and Contrite

An Original Work / May 13, 2012

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.

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Arachnophobia is what dramatized me as a kid. I remember looking under the covers to make sure there were no spiders in my bed. What about you?

How would a nuclear war between Russia and the US affect you?

Simulation and Explanation Youtube 4:08

Hi,

So Paul was a missionary and suffered sometimes. Some contemporary missionaries sometimes also suffer sometimes for example this youtube. I have heard this testimony and other testimonies of missionary, but thing is I still kinda disagree with God's way, my expectation is, at least God could have protected the missionaries, they already have sacrificed earthly wealth and comfort to spread the gospel. Those who know the story of Corrie Ten Boom from world war two, she also suffered sometimes kinda for doing the will of God. I really disagree with God on this.

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Br,

THREE TABERNACLES? OR THREE IN ONE?

(Pikudei: Exodus 38:21-40:38) "accountings of"


The Tabernacle is finished, and the congregation brings the finished product to Moshe for inspection. Giving an account of one's work, contribution, offerings, tithes, etc is very Biblical. The LORD expects nothing less from his people. Giving an account of what one has done. It is being accountable for what we have been given and what we have done with it all. That is why there are "accountants" in every business.

Even though Moshe probably didn't do any of the physical building (or perhaps he did) he was in charge of the building project as he received the instructions of how the Tabernacle was to be made directly from Adonai. We have the same method today. "Ronald MacDonald" himself doesn't make hamburgers, but all of his managers have to give an "account" to him of how the businesses are going, The gains and the losses, etc.

Once everything had been placed inside the Tabernacle, the "Anan HaKavod" (The Glory Cloud) came and surrounded the Tabernacle. The Torah states that Moshe could not enter the Tabernacle because of the Glory Cloud of YHVH, yet on other occasions, he went into the cloud (example, on Mt. Sinai). Why couldn't he go into the Tabernacle on that occasion?

One good answer might be; "He was invited by God to enter the Glory Cloud while on Sinai." This time, the invitation was not given. We might say this also. YHVH came down to inspect His house where He will dwell among His people. He wanted to see that all was done under His instructions.
The Tabernacle was finished and Adonai came in to dwell with His people on the 1st of Nissan, (April 9th this year) So, April 9th is "New Year's Day"
There is only one way to approach YHVH, and that is through Yeshua. The Tabernacle reflected the person of Yeshua in all ways. It is like if you had a house designed and built according to your specifications. Upon finishing the house, you will want to go in and inspect it to see if all is as you wanted it to be. After that, then you will want others to come in.

In this Torah portion, the Tabernacle is mentioned/referred to in three ways:

1. HaMishkan (The Tabernacle)
2. HaMishkan, HaOhel Moed (The Tabernacle, Tent of Meeting)
3. HaMishkan, HaEidut (The Tabernacle of the Testimony).

In reality, they are ALL the same, yet referred to by different names. Why is that? Why does Moshe refer to them in different ways? Perhaps we can see the ministry of Adonai in different ways.

“HaMishkan” If we go back to the ancient Hebrew spelling of the word “Mishkan” It is spelled with 4 Hebrew letters. “Mem” “Sheen” “Kaph” and “Nun” It comes from the verb “Sh’ken” which is “to dwell”. Adonai ordered Moshe to build the Tabernacle so that HE could dwell amongst HIS people. One can look at the letters from the ancient Hebrew perspective and say;

“The Living Water who is the All-Consuming Fire anoints (his people) with life” … or … “Our lives became anointed when the presence of the All-Consuming Fire /the Living Water is amongst us”

“HaOhel Moed” (The Tent of Meeting) Why do we go to the synagogue/church? Because it is the meeting place where we meet with Elohim. His spirit is there! Even if only two believers are present in some place, HE is in the midst! So, Adonai dwells with his people so we can “meet” with HIM. “Ohel Moed” has 7 letters, “7” is the number of perfection. “Aleph” “Hey” “Lamed” and then; “Mem” “Vav” “Ayin’ “Tav”

Again, going back to the ancient Hebrew understanding of the symbolism in the letters, we could understand these two words in the following manner: “Behold the God of Instruction and Teaching (gives his people/us) the “living water (of the word) which connects us with insight, which is at the door”.

When we meet with Adonai, we are taught His Word through his chosen teachers, we are taught about Yeshua who is the “Living Water” who gives “insight’ (or understanding). The understanding is there at the door, all we have to do is open the door (of our mind and heart) to receive it. It is interesting that the last word “Moed” has the letters “Ayin and Dalet” which spell “Witness” There are witnesses when we meet with Adonai, Adonai himself, and his holy angels besides those who are there to receive the Word of God.

“HaEidut” (Testimony or Pact) The Mishkan was also known as the “Eidut” the Tabernacle of Testimony. What is the testimony? The testimony is the presence of the “Tables of the Torah” The tablets of the Commandments placed in the Ark of the Covenant. The word “Eidut” spelled in Hebrew consists of three letters; “Ayin’ “Dalet” and “Tav”. When we see these from the ancient Hebraic perspective, we can see this message;

“Insight is at the door of the Covenant” or we could also understand it as; “The covenant gives insight, and that is at the door”. The letter “Tav” in the ancient spelling looks like a cross leaning to one side. It speaks of the New Covenant under Yeshua, and when we understand (insight) the message of “Yeshuah” (Salvation) then “Yeshuah” is at the “door”.

All that we need to do is open the door and receive “Yeshuah” which comes from “Yeshua” (which seems like a play on words). Again, we see the two letters “Ayin and Dalet” (ED) yet here they are reversed, yet they are still present, the “Witness”

Inside the Ark of the Covenant were the tablets of the Commandments which YHVH made anew after Moshe broke the original ones, and the broken pieces of the first tablets. We might ask why. It might be to remind us that we broke the law, and we are guilty and we have the sin nature, yet we have been renewed by Yeshua, who made us "anew" through His Holy Spirit. He is the one who fulfilled the Torah in full, without breaking it.

In conclusion, the Tabernacle was all about where Adonai came to dwell amongst his people to dwell with them, teach them his word, his ordinances, and his commandments, to direct them to a new lifestyle other than the life they had in Egypt.

We meet with Adonai in HIS place of worship to receive his word, and to allow HIM to dwell inside of us through His Holy Spirit. We learn His Word and his Word directs ALL to YESHUA/JESUS, who is the Messiah in the New Covenant.

"Chazak, Chazak, v'nitchazek" (Be strong, hold fast, let us strengthen one another) We say this when we come to the end of each book in the Bible.

Have a blessed week.

While we live on the face of this earth, we will have troubles, hardships and trials. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have an arch enemy in Satan, who is out to destroy the church. So, we should expect that we will be hated, persecuted, despised and rejected of humankind. Although Satan is our real enemy, he has many people working for him whose goal it is, also, to destroy the church. And, they are coming against us fiercely, either through physical warfare or through psychological warfare, manipulation, and deception.

Yet, their real enemy is Jesus Christ and his gospel of salvation. So, they are aggressively attacking the foundations of the gospel and the basis for our faith in Jesus Christ. Their goal is to discredit the gospel, and to prove it to be hateful, bigoted, intolerant and divisive, all the while they are passionately promoting global unity among all faiths.

Yet, we are to be encouraged. Our God is completely sovereign and in control over all things and over all powers. Although right now the enemy of our souls is coming against him, and his gospel, and his followers, he will reign supreme over all. One day his name will be lifted up throughout the earth, and he will be honored and worshiped as the King of kings, and Lord of lords. One day every knee will bow and will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen!

So, we should not be afraid or get discouraged. God has a plan and a purpose for all of this, which is to bring humans to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to revive his adulterous church, to mature his followers in Christ, and to strengthen us in our faith. So, be strong and courageous! God is with us! He will never leave us or forsake us. Amen!

Forever with Us

An Original Work / February 5, 2016
Based off Psalm 46

Be still and know
God is over all things.
Throughout the earth,
He’ll be honored as King.
The Lord Almighty,
Forever with us.
He is our refuge
When we’re in distress.

Therefore, we have
Not a reason to fear.
Trials will come,
But our God is still near.
He is our helper,
So we do not fall.
Mountains will quake,
But on Jesus we call.

Joy to the Church,
Even if sorrow comes.
Enemies rage,
But our faith marches on.
God’s Holy Spirit,
Now living within,
Gives peace and comfort,
And grace without end.

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This will be a thread strictly about discussing "time", and what we know about it, and maybe also what we don't know about it, or might not know about it as well, etc.

But let's try to keep it on the topic of time, ok.

A certain CF poster posted this here (below), and so I'm going to try and respond to it, or will be using it here to start this off, ok.


I've been aware for a while now of how this works on the larger scales, so I'll discuss it first, ok.

For the record I did state that light, or the speed of light has little to nothing to do with time, etc, and I'm going to try and explain that one here in a minute, etc.

On the larger scales, the universe is the same age, and is therefore set at the same time, equally everywhere, etc. This is evidenced by when we look at places in the universe very, very far away, we're seeing them just as old as they are in the past, as it is light years away from us, and it would be vice-versa from that position observing us very, very far away from where they are at, etc, or they would also be seeing us as many years in the past, as they were the number of light years they were away from us, etc, and this is because either way, or from each reference point, that is the time it takes the light to reach there, but that is not the real or actual picture of how it is now, or how it would be if we were able to travel to it very, very, very quickly, etc. We'd have to account for billions of years of stellar change, if we could travel nigh instantly to something billions of light years away very, very quickly, etc.

But I never thought of applying this to much, much smaller scales, etc. This CF poster pointed out to me very correctly that light travels about 1 foot in a nanosecond of time, etc, and he is very, very correct about that, but didn't agree with me when I said light itself, or the speed of light itself, has nothing to actually do with time, etc. And also in my opinion, he's only halfway correct about events at different places not being able to be simultaneous, or not being able to be happening simultaneously, or at the same quote/unquote "time", etc, and I will try to explain that one here in a minute also, etc.

Two events happening 1 foot apart from one another, etc. Now when one is looking at the other, it takes the light 1 nanosecond to travel to his frame of reference, or reference point, or his eyes, etc. Now you could say they didn't or don't happen at the same time, but what's really happening is that from one of them's reference point, etc, the light took 1 nanosecond of time to get to each the other's reference point, so they are seeing each others events 1 nanosecond in the past, or one nanosecond old, etc, but as far as the "now" goes, they both happened at the same time, or simultaneously if they were truly the same age and/or old, or really did happen at the same "time" once they (those simultaneous events) had passed into "the past" simultaneously, etc. The pictures that we are getting are just older from each one another's reference point or frame, etc.

It is possible for two separate events in different reference frames to happen at the same "time" (and/or simultaneously) if they both happen in the "now" simultaneously, but no observer would be able to observe that unless they were in each others reference frames/points simultaneously, or could be one thing existing at those two places at once simultaneously, etc.

"Now" is how everything is actually at the same age everywhere equally, etc. But you'd have to be the same thing in two places at once to observe that directly. Honestly, it makes much, much more sense on the much larger scales, but it also applies to everything on a much much smaller scale also, like two persons, places, or things being one foot apart, but seeing each other as being one nanosecond old, due to the time it takes the light to reach them in each others reference frames, but that really has nothing to do with the actual time at all, the time it takes the light to reach each others reference frames, etc.

There are two other things that can actually affect how slow time passes for a person, place, or thing, etc. One is speed or motion through spacetime, etc, if it is fast enough for whatever happens to be moving or traveling this quickly through space, time will slow down or go slower for that thing, etc. The other is strong gravitational pulls, etc, if you are close enough to a strong enough one, this will also slow down the flow of time for that thing, etc. Obviously all gravitational pulls, and all speed of motion affects this slightly always, but it's barely measurable until it gets past a certain point in gravitational pull or speed, etc, and then it can start it's increase towards affecting the slowing down of the flow of time for that thing after that increasingly exponentially, etc, to where, like with speed, at the speed of light, anything having any mass, is said to maybe stop the flow of time for that person, place, or thing completely, etc. But everything else in the universe that was not with you in these situations or states, nothing changes for them unless they were with you in these situations or states. Time, and the flow of time, for them, etc, is still the same as it has always been for them always since you left them, or before your own situation ot state changed, etc.

Another thing which might be a third thing that I was researching, was acceleration alone possibly affecting time, or time dilation, but there are varying answers to this, and until I do more research I do not know if acceleration all alone, or all by itself, can affect time, or time dilation, some say it only can indirectly, by changing one of the two other factors just mentioned, but there are also some who disagree, etc, so I haven't been able to get any for sure answers about this possible third factor yet completely.

Anyway, this thread is for "all talk about time", etc, but I would please ask if we could please limit it to just that only please, etc.

I know many of you will probably disagree with a lot of what I just said, and that's more than ok, etc, and that's way, way ok, etc, because most of this is just to get "the talk about time" going, ok.

It came up so much in my other thread, that I had to make this one for it, as it was way, way off-topic in my other thread.

So let's hear everyone's ideas, and let's let "the talk about time" begin, ok.

Take Care/God Bless.