When God made humankind, he created us to worship him. And through all that he created he showed to all of humanity who he is and what he is about. For all of his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world. So all of us are without excuse if we choose to refuse God and his truth and his righteousness in favor of ungodliness and unrighteousness and open rebellion against him and against his commands.

Now God did not just create us humans and then leave us to our own devices. In the Old Testament he made a covenant with his people Israel, and after Jesus died and rose from the dead, he did away with that Old Covenant, and all God’s people who believed in Jesus entered into a New Covenant relationship with him. But all who denied Jesus Christ were cut out of that relationship with God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. But even the New Covenant has commands that we must obey.

And those commands are all written down for us in the New Testament Scriptures, which are primarily God’s moral laws, but many are carried over from the Old Covenant into the New Covenant. What didn’t carry over are all the liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions of the Old Covenant, including physical circumcision. Those we do not have to obey. But all God’s laws which are repeated for us under the New Covenant, we do have to obey.

But the situation we have today, at least here in America, is that there are so many undisciplined, unruly, morally impure, liars, deceivers, tricksters and con artists who are posing as those who believe in Jesus Christ but whose mission it is to lie to the people to lead them away from the truth of the gospel to follow after the lies of the enemy. And what they are teaching has gained much popularity among the people to the point that the lies have now been accepted as truth while the truth is being called lies.

Now one term for these liars is “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” For they are predatory people who prey on the naïve and the unlearned and those having not much knowledge of what the Scriptures teach. And so they teach their lies over top of the Scriptures as though they are teaching truth, but they are not. For they are operating in the flesh, and not in the Spirit. For they are wanderers, the self-indulgent, the crafty and sneaky and devious who teach false doctrines of man disguised as the truth of the Scriptures.

Now some of these “wolves in sheep’s clothing” are very charming and well liked by the people. Many of them know how to smooth-talk people into believing their lies. But they are immoral people, who are evil and wicked and who plot evil against others. They are those who betray and who stab others in the back and who are unfaithful. So they will just use other humans and take advantage of them in order to advance their own personal agendas and in order to deceive the masses into believing their lies.

So what they mainly do is that they remove Scriptures from their context and then they twist them to say what they do not say in context, and for the purpose to lie and to deceive and to lead people away from the truth to follow after the lies. And their diluted and altered character of God and of his church and of his gospel are largely what are being accepted today as the truth by the church at large because so many people are listening to these charmers and manipulators and are not testing them against God’s Word.

So what does that have to do with this passage of Scripture? Everything!! For this passage is talking about those who suppress the truth of God and of his word by their unrighteousness and ungodliness, and that is exactly what is happening in today’s modern market-driven “churches.” So they are rejecting what God has revealed about himself, both through his created works and through his divine word (the Scriptures). And they are accepting and worshiping the created rather than the creator of all.

And so they are choosing to believe the lies over the truth, and even if you point the truth out to them, so many will ignore it and will cling to the lies, instead, for the lies make no demands for them to change, to forsake their sins, and to now follow Jesus in obedience to his commands. And so God has given them up to their own devices to follow after the lusts of their hearts to do the evil that they want to do because they refuse to submit to him as Lord and to obey his commands. And this is sadly where many professing Christians are today, following the lusts of their flesh over obedience to God.

But the Scriptures teach us that if sin is what we obey, in practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, as a matter of daily conduct, then we are not in fellowship with Christ, we don’t know God, we are not born of God, but we are of the devil, and we will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what our lips profess. For Jesus said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).

[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]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

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Hi. I appreciate this part of the board being here.

I would like to talk to someone who is really close to the Lord. I would prefer it was a woman. I need to talk about my relationship with God. Could someone please help me? Someone who is very close to the Lord and walks the way they should.

In Islam, the Mahdi or the 12th Imam that means the guided one is the long-awaited Saviour. He is the establisher of the final caliphate. The world must follow him as he takes over or he will destroy all enemies of Islam. He will come and he will carry on holy war and either you convert or you're killed by the Mahdi. He will have an army, his army will be a massive army and his army will go from nation to nation to punish the unbelievers the holy writings of Islam. This army will carry black flags and on those black flags there'll be one word and that one word will be the word punishment by the way the Iranian army today carries black flags they want to be ready for the coming of the Mahdi. He will lead the army of black flags first to Israel slaughter all the Jews and then he will establish his rule in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount, that's what their literature says: slaughter the Jews establish his rule on the Temple Mount. According to their holy writings, the Mahdi will bring rain and wind and crops and wealth and happiness so that all will love him and no one will speak of anyone but him. Their writing say the Mahdi will come and make at first a peace agreement with the Jews
and the West for seven years the reign of Mahdi lasts seven years in which he establishes Islam on the earth their holy writings say this the Mahdi will come riding on a white horse .

When the Mahdi arrives, he will discover hidden scripture, he will discover them interestingly enough somewhere near the Sea of Galilee, and there will be there hidden scriptures hidden Gospels and a hidden Torah and they will be the true scriptures which will be used by the Mahdi to show the Jews and the Christians they were wrong that their scriptures were the false scriptures. The Mahdi will be a messianic figure, he will be a descendant of Muhammad, he will be an unparalleled unequalled leader, he will come out of a crisis of turmoil, he will take control of the world, he will establish a new world order, he will destroy all who resist him, he will invade many nations, he will make a seven-year peace treaty with the Jews he will conquer Israel and Massacre the Jews. He will establish Islamic world headquarters at Jerusalem. He will rule for seven years established Islam is the only religion. He will come on a white horse with supernatural power. He will be loved by all people on earth. If that sounds familiar that is a precise description of the biblical Antichrist absolutely step by step by step by step. The Bible's Antichrist is Islam's Mahdi.

Watch this sermon by John MacArthur in full
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McManaman is currently detained at the Clayton County Jail in Georgia awaiting extradition to St. Lucie County. In a redacted probable cause statement, she told authorities during a recorded call that her brother has made these allegations multiple times.
TSA said it is aware of McManaman's arrest "for a non-work related charge" and he is on leave pending further law enforcement action.
Perhaps some officials around Joe should also be arrested.

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV

I trust the LORD and the words I've spoken and actions are acceptable, valid, and approved. For I'm a man of my word.

"But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that maintain the doctrine of Balaam, which taught in Balak to put occasion of sin before the children of Israel, that they should eat meats dedicate unto idols and commit fornication, and so forth.
I think here needeth not many words to shew wherefore I have alleged these sayings of meats offered unto idols, for all the godly do plainly see, that by like reason all divine service that is unholy or contrary to Gods word, with what color soever they be stained, are forbidden and condemned.
They see that all such expositions are put away, by which these fearful men and such do love the world and worldly pomp too much, do lead themselves away from the right track, that they should not sincerely confess Christ."
~ A Treatise on the Cohabitation of the faithful with the Unfaithful, by H.B. 1555 AD

Now Pastor Chris did on Dec. 20 confirm what I had written Dec. 18 (2023), saying Jesus anointed the Holy of Holies, as I'd written "His blood poured out to anoint the holy for us who believe on his name."
Indeed, Hebrews 9:12, "neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
Leviticus chapter 16 explains how the High Priest was to enter the Holy of Holies once a year. Here we see Aaron sprinkle the blood of a bullock and of a goat in vs 14 & 15 upon the mercy seat, within the veil (vs 12). We see also in Heb. 9:7 the High Priest went into the second, that is, the holiest, once a year. This then certainly refers to the Day of Atonement. Daniel 9:24 also refers to the anointing of the most Holy in the 70 weeks determined.

Hebrews 10:19 shows us WE now have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus. Oh, but don't take that lightly at all! Nadab and Abihu DIED by the fire of Yahweh for offering "strange fire" before the LORD, which He commanded them not. (Leviticus 10:1-3)
Ananias and Sapphira DIED when they LIED to the Holy Ghost in Acts 5. God can and at times will act to this extreme in His discipline. Hebrews 10:26-31 should be always at the forefront of our minds when we start to consider committing wilful sin against the Almighty Judge of the Universe; "A fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries." There's some nice soft New Testament preaching for ya!

Oh, when lust is conceived it bringeth forth sin - you might let it incubate awhile in the mind first, but if you don't put that wicked things down right away, it will bring forth sin, and when sin is finished, it brings forth death. (James 1:14-15)
You think things are going so good - Eh, a little sin here and there; after all, nothing bad is happening, You're fine. You're cool. Well...probably not! Because if you're without chastisement you're bastards and not sons, because the Lord chastens those he loveth, and scourgeth every son he receiveth (Heb. 12:5-11) But beware that middle verse: "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." That means you'll be an illegitimate child.

Strange fire is what you offer God in the hopes to be adopted. Oh, you have a father, but "Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:14)
Go on with hating and gossip, and lying, getting over on people, stealing - after all, it's as clear as can be: "Whosoever is born of God sinneth not, for his seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is NOT OF GOD, neither he that loveth not his brother." (1 John 4:9-10)

I know I hit a lot on 1 John, but to go back on a topic is good, and often needful. It's a clear as a cloudless day. Why do so many question the Word? It's as if people look for any excuse to sin, to find loopholes, to get away with things that make their flesh feel good. It is SIN, it is UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, and it certainly is NOT of the Holy Spirit, for God doth not lead into sin, nor give you excuse to sin. We are to FLEE from it.

Consider what Jonathan Edwards preached in his sermon "Flee Out of Sodom," 1740s
"Consider therefore what the state is that you are to get out of, you that are seeking an interest in Christ. You are to flee out of Sodom. Sodom is the place of your nativity, and the place where you have spent your lives hitherto. You are citizens of that city which is full of filthiness and abomination before God, that polluted and accursed city.
Let such be warned by what has been said, to escape for their lives, and not to look back. Look not back, unless you choose to have a share in the burning tempest that is coming down on that city. Look not back in remembrance of the enjoyments which you have had in Sodom, as hankering after the pleasant things which you have had there, after the ease, the security, and the pleasure which you have enjoyed.
Remember Lot’s wife; for she looked back, as being loth1 utterly and forever to leave the ease, the pleasure and plenty which she enjoyed in Sodom, and as having a mind to return to them again. Remember what became of her."

Strange fire. That's what a lot of contemporary Christianity offers. A lot of this so called "worship music" is rock & roll, a music of Satan. A lot of songs, you can't tell the difference between them and a secular love song. There's no depth to the lyrics.
And then there's the positive confession declaratory songs: "Get ready for your blessing! Get ready for your miracle! Gods got a blessing, with your name on it!" Can't stand that song honestly. It grieves my spirit, and that's cuz it grieves Gods Spirit. Prosperity gospel foolishness! God ain't some genie in a bottle, or some big cosmic Santa Claus!
He does bless us, but we need to be seeking the BLESSER, not the Blessing! "Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. 6:33) His righteousness; Don't leave that part out. Many try to seek Him and His kingdom without His righteousness, apart from His righteousness. So many are trying to seek Him with strange fire.

Let us then seek Him who baptiseth with the Holy Ghost and FIRE, the TRUE and cleansing fire of the Living God, as the fiery stream that issued and came forth from before Him as King Belshazzar saw in his vision of the Ancient of Days, the Eternal and Everlasting God of heaven. Seek not the use of strange fire that is corrupt and incomplete, and at its very best, is out of Gods will. Seek directly His fire; do not fear its burning, for best His holy fire burn IN you now, than you to burn in IT later.

What are the most frequently encountered sins that you have to cope with? Not the worst sins, but the everyday type.

What helps in your effort to be a better person?

(NB. This is not meant to be a discussion on salvation.)

I noticed alot of negative things that happened in my life have alot association with the number 7. I had alot a good amount of tragedy happened to me on the years or days or months with 7 in the them. I am I wrong or sinful for this superstition ?

These types of unhelpful mindstates cause suffering and can lead to other problems... damaged relationships, violence, broken promises etc.
What is your way of managing these mindstates/feelings/ beliefs/attitudes... when they arise?

Do you notice yourself when you are like that? What do you do then?

As Israel was freed from the slavery of Egypt, all of spiritual Israel have been saved from the bondage of sin by Christ and are given the tablets which go into their hearts.

Deuteronomy 5
The Ten Commandments
1 Moses summoned all Israel and said:
Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It was not with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. 5 (At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:
6 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
7 "You shall have no other gods before [a] me.
8 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
12 "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
16 "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
17 "You shall not murder.
18 "You shall not commit adultery.
19 "You shall not steal.
20 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
21 "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." 22 These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

When we see the Law, then look at Jesus, we see Him fulfilling the letter and the spirit of the Law, by Loving God and His neighbor according to the the Commandments which are the two principle's they break down to.
Matthew 22:36-40
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

So what does the Bible say about the application of God's Law in the heart of a Christian?

2 Corinthians 3:2, 3
2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Hebrews 10:16
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

Which was what He intended..

Jeremiah 31:33
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.

The Law of God, instead of being done away with, is being brought to life. God's Law was never done away with, not a jot or a tittle. Jesus had it in the fleshy table of His heart too, and He kept it perfectly.

Modern day Judaism is definitely not a branch of the Christian faith, yet many Christians have the deepest respect for Judaism, and some Christians have sought out their "Jewish roots", blowing a shofar at their meetings, praying according to various forms used in current Judaism, or otherwise engaging with Judaism as Christians. So, can a Christian, in good conscience pray to Hashem (the name), with Jews in times of stress or need?

This is a Ghost Viper NV flashlight. I call it "The owl's eye", Haven't put on the pressure switch because I have not found a place to put it yet, however, really nice thought to share with the community, need to get a different color of stop band for the zoom function because the orange does kind of stand out too much...

We have been taught for many centuries that one of the End Times events was a great battle at Armageddon, presupposed to be at the Mount of Megiddo, in the expansive plain of Megiddo. But is that true? There is no 'mount' or 'mountain' on the plain of Megiddo. There is only a 'tel' otherwise known as the remains of an ancient city or town that presents as a small hill.

The only linguistic reference we have is in Revelation 16:16 and the translation from the Greek in my interlinear reads, (CLV) Rev 16:16 "And they mobilized them at the place called, in Hebrew, "Armageddon." (Italicized text inserted by the translators)
Notice the footnote: ARMAGEDDON (Hebrew, perhaps mount-Megiddo).

Again, the only problem is that there is no mountain at Megiddo!

I want for you to watch this short video by Dr. Michael S. Heiser. It is a remarkable analysis of both the Greek and the possible Hebrew references found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Then of course, give me your impressions.

May this be for a blessing.

If food packages have any of these symbols can an Orthodox Christian still eat it? Is it a sin? A lot of organic foods have one or more of these labels stamped on them. What does the church say about this? Thanks.

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:13-21 ESV)

Click to expand...

Peter wrote this to those who were believers in Jesus Christ regarding their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel of our salvation. And these were some of his instructions to the believers in Jesus Christ with regard to their salvation and their walks of faith and obedience to our Lord, and with regard to how that should be lived out in their daily lives. And this was written down and preserved for us as instructions to us, as well, in how we are to be living as followers of Jesus Christ today.

We are to be those, too, who are preparing our minds for action, and who are being sober-minded (serious-minded) about our Lord and about his truth, and regarding our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord. And the way in which we prepare our minds for action is first of all through surrender of our lives to Jesus Christ and to doing his will, through forsaking our sins, and through walking in obedience to his commands in holy living and in moral purity, uprightness, godliness, honesty, and in faithfulness to God.

For we can’t be preparing our minds for action if we are playing with sin, if we are delving into areas which we know are contrary to the will of God and are sinful, and if we are being spiritually lazy and just drifting and doing what we want to do regardless of what God’s word teaches us we are to do or to not do. And especially if we leave doors open for us to keep going back to the same sins habitually, we cannot be people of God who are serious-minded and who are preparing our minds for the right kind of action.

Therefore, we must be those who are walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands under the New Covenant. Obedience to the Lord and holy living must be what we practice, and not sin. For as followers of Jesus Christ we are to no longer be conformed to the passions of our sinful flesh. Now we are to be conformed to the ways of God and to his righteousness and holiness. For we are to be God’s holy people who are living different from the ways of the world in all our conduct and attitudes and actions.

And we are to be those who conduct ourselves with the fear of the Lord, who take God and his word seriously, and who believe all his promises and his warnings and the conditions for those promises and warnings to be fulfilled. We do not take God and his word lightly, but we are serious in our pursuits of truth and righteousness. And so we honor God with our lives, and we show him respect and reverence through our walks of obedience and via submission to his will for our lives.

For Jesus Christ gave himself up for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery (addiction) to sin so that we can now serve the Lord in walks of holiness, righteousness, moral purity, honesty, integrity, and faithfulness to our Lord in obedience to his commands. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might live for him and no longer for self. And he died to deliver us from slavery to sin so we will now walk righteously before him.

[1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Romans 6:1-23]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

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John chapter 1 verse 1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John chapter 1 verse 14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Luke chapter 6 verse 40
A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.
Matthew chapter 23 verse 10
And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
John chapter 8 verse 31,32
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

I switched from NIV to NEW KJV and old KJV because they changed the NIV many years ago, to make the bible less gay friendly, I don't know why, unless you have a translation from 2001.

I don't think I've become like Christ yet, but I've read the bible or listened to it over 200 times maybe over 300 times, I've lost count, The year before covid I listened to the bible 20 times. I've been studying the bible since 1982, and study it about 2 hours every morning, and in the afternoon, I play hymns on harmonica on tic tok.

I have been reading about the resurrectionfd of Dorcas by Peter in Acts 9:32. What happened was the Dorcas died and the disciples who were with her sent for Peter who was living at another town. He came and raised her from the dead.

Now if signs and wonders were available for ordinary believers, why didn't they raise Dorcas from the dead instead of having to send for Peter? When Peter arrived, why did he not reprimand the disciples for not having the faith to raise her from the dead themselves.

I wonder if the answer is that because Peter was an Apostle, he was the one who had the ministry of signs and wonders. I looked through all the other examples of signs and wonders through the book of acts, and I found that all of them were performed by either Peter or Paul, and in some cases by Stephen and Philip. No recorded signs and wonders were performed by the ordinary believers in the book of Acts.

So, is the teaching that ordinary believers are able to perform signs and wonders in today's church true or false? If we go by the book of Acts, we may have to decide that the teaching is false. We also have to remember that Acts is descriptive church history and not doctrinally prescriptive.

Of course some in the NAR are saying that there are apostles in today's church, but there is a problem - Apostles are witnesses of the resurrection of Christ, personally appointed by Christ, and given the ministry of signs and wonders. Modern "apostles" are not direct witnesses of the resurrection of Christ, and have been appointed by their church and not personally by Christ; therefore they cannot be the specially chosen Apostles of Christ who can perform the same signs and wonders we see performed by the Apostles in the Book of Acts.

The much maligned Professor James Tour's research team may have found a cure for cancer. Professor Tour is pilloried by the science community because he criticises OOL research and rejects the theory of evolution. God blesses this man. Maybe his detractors will finally be silenced by this recent research breakthrough.

Hello to all who read this introduction,

I joined the forum to try and find like-minded Christians to have fellowship. I have accepted Jesus as my Savior and abide in Him. I live my life in the will of God and enjoy good conversation on a variety of topics. And, I am retired and spend most of my time devoted to spreading the gospel and keeping physically fit.

The second reason to join the forum, is figuring out a way to bring lost Christians back into the fold of God's will and putting into practice a solution without stepping on everybodies toes and creating hate and discontent. I cannot do something like this on my own.

I will post more about this in the appropriate forum when I get all-things-forum, figured out. In the meantime thanks for having me- I look forward to visiting and getting to know you if and when our paths cross.

Im aware he died on the cross for us to have salvation and go to heaven, but he requires us to repent and change our lives to have relationship with him. I know he wants the best for us but if Jesus loves us unconditionally we could do whatever and still go to heaven because the love is unconditional ?

National Rifle Association (NRA) head Wayne LaPierre will resign from the organization at the end of the month, the group announced Friday.

LaPierre’s resignation, first reported by Fox News, comes as the organization defends itself in a New York civil suit alleging he and other executives spent millions of the group’s funds on luxury vacations and other perks.


He's citing health concerns as his reason for stepping down, but part of me suspects that he's looking for an escape hatch as the organization is in some legal trouble, and more and more people have realized that they're getting fleeced by the organization.

They're an organization that's basically outlived any usefulness they may have had decades ago, and when you look at their revenue vs. other much smaller gun rights organizations, and consider the fact that those aforementioned smaller organizations have been the ones to win all of the high profile court cases (which NRA has then tried to piggy back off of and claim the victory as their own), I think it started to become obvious to people that they were paying $500 for a duffel bag and a ballcap.

Last Sunday, on New Years Eve, my S.O. played the piano at church and she is going to become the official organist after our current organist retires and goes back to the Carolinas to be closer to family.

After church we went to the grocery store, and we split up and I was sent to the milk section to look for some oat milk in a tetrapak. There was a woman standing there as I browsed the selection, unable to find any Oatly and debating what to get instead. This small Hispanic woman was looking at me and then she approached me and said "Excuse me, Sir... The Lord sees you and loves you." I was a bit surprised by this but just said "thank you", then picked up a carton of hemp milk and went on my way. It was a very strange occorance, I've only encountered somebody once before talking about religion in a supermarket, and it was never so direct (usually people are looking to invite us to their church).

Hi all!
I’m still here. That may sound wonderful or not, but if someone has chosen not to do away with himself, with a “yet” in parentheses always lingering, then it might be seen as a wonderful thing.

I have felt as betrayed as one might be by one’s Church, by the support and encouragement given to people who support the past regimes and leaders that fought violently against the Church, and have very nearly lost faith altogether. The fat jolly Englishman for whom I constantly experience derision for admiring, who keeps pointing me to Christ, and discourages me from drunkenness and worse, has helped me hold on to the rags of my faith, despite what I have seen in Russia.

I defended Russia for years, most of you know that. And certainly, the American government is fast falling to rival the Soviet government in the evils it now perpetuates. I had to ultimately flee my adopted land before nastiness befell me as one continuing to love both the land of my birth and my adopted land, standing between them with no other option than to fight for peace between them. I now live as a stranger in a strange land, now even an illegal alien, in constant despair at the turn of events that have destroyed my life and left me and my family all but homeless.

I am absolutely not partisan, and would not take the side of the globalist elements in the Greek Church, driving HH Bartholomew to push schism as he has in fact done, the betrayal from the Greek side for the benefit of the globalists, and his attempts to restore the glory of the Patriarchate of Constaninople and the glory of this world. But the Russian Church has not taken the high road in response, but has chosen to support the restoration of bi-or multi-polar conflict, in its support of the secular government of Russia regardless of what the princes of the earth there should choose to do. I know of the imprisonment and even torture of people who have fallen out of favor with the regime, and however wrong Navalny is, his punishment is grossly disproportionate to his alleged crimes. There is enough shame to go around for the true rulers of both nations.

And now a fairly final straw has broken the camel’s back in Russia, the firing and exiling of the last priests who have in any way spoken out against the war, and called for peace with Ukrainian brethren. There are now no voices that dare challenge this marriage of Church and state, to point out that Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world.

this is disastrous from my perspective, and discourages me from any hope of returning to Russia soon. On top of all my other woes.
The daughter of the surviving senior priest, after the death of the arch priest, who let us for so long, lives in our town, and teaches in my school, and we support her as best we can. Her father is next on the chopping block. pray for us.