Seriously? Talk about a society losing it, i thought Running Man was a fun B movie, not a documentary.

Yes, some are. Witchcraft involves evil beings in the spiritual realm.

Something like witchcraft is mentioned in Acts 19:19

A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.

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Contemporary English Version:

Some who had been practicing witchcraft even brought their books and burned them in public. These books were worth about 50,000 silver coins.

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NIV Gal 5:

19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions.

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Does witchcraft work every time?

No. Satan is not omnipresent. Sometimes when someone is practicing witchcraft somewhere on this planet, he does not even know about it. His resources are finite. He needs to allocate them effectively. The demons are just not present when invoked in these cases.

Satan is not omniscient. When you ask an established witch a question, her associates/evil spirits may not know the answer.

Satan is not omnipotent. The witch and her evil associates can try to make something happen and it doesn't because of circumstances.

Finally, the good spirits may stop the evil spirits. This is spiritual warfare.

Banishing Rituals:

A banishing ritual is often performed at the beginning of a ceremony in order to rid the ritual area of negative or unwanted energy or entities that may interfere with magick or unbalance energies that will be raised or summoned during the ceremony. Most magical paths prescribe a banishing ritual of this type prior to any spellwork or magick of any sort.

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That's when the witch wants to get rid of the good guys.

Is witchcraft real?

Sorcery (black magic) can be real when Satan and his minions are behind it to back it up.

We are all smart enough to substitute cutting grass with any number of things. The point is not the act, so let's not scrutinize grass-cutting, the point is a motivation to help someone in need. Christ tells us it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath but some wish to debate that this goodness has limits on the Sabbath. I for one would gladly lend a helping hand, be it cutting grass, lifting boxes, or some other act aimed at being helpful and showing love especially when someone has a clear need. The opposite focus of avoiding help seems counter-gospel. Some would call help immoral if done on the Sabbath which I find a bit bizarre. So please, if you call this immoral make sure you let people know so we can understand your perspective.

The context in chapters 7-10 tell us explicitly what changed, Verse 12, 13 and 14 of chapter 7 tell us that the law changed which told us what tribe the priesthood came from.

Heb 7:11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
Heb 7:13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
Heb 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.


Since the priesthood is not to be from the Levites here on earth but our Lord from heaven, all the laws that pertained to the priesthood and their ministry changed or transferred to Christ. Jesus being the High Priest and we His royal priesthood through and in Him. In this change also is a change in how we are to receive the law. Whereas before the people receive the law, the word under the priesthood now we receive it through Christ by His Spirit, No longer by ink or tables of stone by a priest but the through fleshly tables of the heart through the Spirit, being begotten by the word of truth. We are the first fruit of Him having the engrafted word. As God had said He will put His Law in our hearts and in our minds. He will give us of His Spirit. This is brought out in chapter 8.

Heb 8:3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:


Chapter 9 begins by telling us the first covenant had ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. All this ended when the Levite's ministry ended through Christ, We are the Temple of God now as the body of Christ, having entered in through the veil, that is to say His flesh. They, the ordinances of divine service were only imposed on them until the time of reformation. Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience, the inner man, the body of sin, who we are without Christ. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience, the inner man, who we are, the body of sin from dead works, sin: acts the cause death to serve the living God? That they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.


Heb 9:1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
Heb 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 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.
Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.


As we go into 10 chapter 9 says leading into it, that Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. Staying in context 10 goes on to say, For the law pertaining to the ministry of the Levites could never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. The Body of sin being destroyed, hence there would be no more serving sin, right? But in those sacrifices, the Levite's ministry, there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is and was not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. But we know that he was manifested to take away our sin. Wherefore Because of this, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once, one sacrifice for sins forever. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof, this perfection in which he speaks the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before. 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;
Having therefore, because of this boldness to enter the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus; through the veil that is His flesh, to be in the presence of God in Christ Jesus. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, who we are, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised) Amen!


Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Heb 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Heb 10:8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
Heb 10:9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Heb 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Heb 10:11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Heb 10:13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
Heb 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Heb 10:15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
Heb 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;

Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;

Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Just a thought about the current disclosures being made by folks from the military about phenomena in the skies thought to be the activity of some advanced technology beyond normal human capabilities.

You can read about it on this thread... Whistleblower Testifies Under Oath to Congress that the Government has recovered "non-human biologics" from UFOs

Should these claims stack up and we are faced with there being life beyond the earth - will your theology cope with that ?

My thought is that such activity if real, is demonic in origin for these reasons.

First we know that angels can assume human form - otherwise we couldn't entertain them unawares as Scripture says.

It follows then that fallen angels are equally capable of appearing in physical forms and may present with very high intelligence and forms that are non humanoid.

Second the narrative in Revelation speaks about the deception to come involving signs and wonders on earth and in the sky.

Thirdly the temptation in the garden was all about knowledge and being presented with superior knowledge from such beings will again be Satans trump card to draw humanity away from Godliness.

Hey - these are my musings and it seems very soon this matter will be in our face to deal with if what we are hearing is to be believed.

When I went into the 7th grade I was picked on, bullied and beaten up repeatedly. One time they held me down and slammed a door on my head and gave me a concussion.
One day in PE they took us in a room with a Universal Gym and we started lifting weights. I could bench press more than anyone else. I had found my thing.
We had a weight set at home and I started lifting weights doing push ups and jogging.
I didn’t know what I was doing I just worked until I couldn’t do any more.
The next summer I flew to Georgia to visit relatives and when I came through the airport there was Arnold Schwarzenegger’book. I got it and started buying magazines and discovered Mike Mentzer’s high intensity training.
By the 9th grade I was a different person. The second week of school someone started a fight with me and I hit him so hard that his eye swelled shut.
After that I was popular.That’s what every kid wants.
The rest of my life I continued working out.
I never competed but I got pretty strong for someone who didn’t take steroids. My best lifts were
Bench Press 405 x 5
Squats 405 x 10, 315 x 20
Dumbbell Curls 80 x 10
Leg Press 1000 x 10
One Arm Row 120 x 20
Lifting weights helped me in my career in law enforcement and security.
6 years ago I remarried and moved 70 miles from where I worked. I started driving 2 and 1/2 hours every day. There was nowhere to put my equipment so I sold it.
I quit working out and I gained 100 pounds. I didn’t workout for 6 years.
3 months ago I started working out and again. I’ve lost 40 pounds and I am trying to lose another 40 by December.
I started with DDP Yoga because there is a program for beginners that are completely out of shape and have limited mobility.
I also started working out with the X3 Bar Band System, the Total Gym and dumbbells.
My strength has improved substantially in 3 months.
I had to tussle with someone at work last week and working out has made a big difference.
If you’re out of shape and need a program for beginners DDP Yoga is perfect.
If you don’t have a lot of room the X3 Band System stores neatly in a duffel bag when you’re done working out.
I’m trying to stay in shape so that I can keep working into my 70s

Pray that anxiety at work will go away and a respectable working environment. Also pray for my health and peace of mind Amen

Burning of Bibles and Korans

Some say: If a book belongs to me, I may burn it, of course.

I say:

It depends, whether I burn a book at home because it is old and I do not need it any more.
Or if I burn a Bible or a Koran in a public place in front of many people, as a kind of protest demonstration.

What do you think?

Hi, everybody. Now that I've moved back to my hometown, I'm more positive, but I have new challenges, such as how to survive financially and how to manage my medication/cope with depression and anxiety and insomnia. I humbly ask that you please pray for me, for fortitude. Please ask the Lord to stay closer to me than ever. I have a poor work history and am on a small disability grant. I get some help from an aunt of mine, but she's done for the time being. I share a house with about 8 other people and the various personalities clashing, the general ruckus, is quite disturbing. My landlords are always at odds. I feel unsettled and worried. Please pray for me that I may remain peaceful and focused during all this stress.

I do need to take medication for my mental health issues, but I often have trouble mismanaging it, not having access to proper healthcare.

I'm still grieving many losses, many injustices, and am very stressed, mostly about finances. Please pray for God's provision. And finally (this may be an odd request), please pray that my furbaby, my cat Lola, will find peace here, as well. She's been from home to home so much, I'm afraid she's quite bewildered.

May God bless everyone who sincerely and intensely prays for me. Thank you.

Isaiah 66:7
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth [the 144,000] ;

before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. [Jesus]

The man child in that verse is Jesus. The same man child as in Isaiah 9:6.

Before she travailed in bringing forth her children, before her pain came - which is the pain of going through the great tribulation, 2000 years later, in the end times....

...Jesus, the deliverer, was born to Israel, which took place historically, 2000 years ago. The historic verses of Revelation 12:1-5, Jesus is the man child in those verses as well.. The remainder of Revelation 12:6-17 is end times, when Satan will be cast down to earth in the early parts of the great tribulation.

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Next verse, Isaiah 66:8, is about the end times, When the Jews come out of the nations and Israel becomes a nation in the land again, born as such, in one day on May 14, 1948.

Isaiah 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children (the rest of the Jews)

The 144,000 in verse 7
The rest of the Jews in verse 8

The 144,000, sealed in Revelation 7:3-4 are the firstfuits, Revelation 14:4, the special group of Jews saved before the judgements of God begin - i.e. before the trumpet judgments and the bowls of God's wrath judgments get going in full swing once the great tribulation begins.

The 144,000 Jews are in Isaiah 66:7 "before Zion travailed".
The rest of the Jews are in Isaiah 66:8 "as soon as Zion travailed".

So all Israel will be saved, as it says in Romans 11.

What it boils down to is that the rest of the Jews will turn to Jesus, the deliverer, and the gospel of salvation in the early beginnings, i.e. as soon as Zion travailed, of the great tribulation - which will begin when the abomination of desolation statue image is placed on the temple mount.

Those are the ones in Revelation 12:10.

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

After a report from The New York Times revealed that staff were not permitted to say that Biden actually has seven grandchildren, not the six he was willing to claim, there was a public outcry against the president's behavior, at least from conservtives.

"Thousands of families have faced similar circumstances," that source said, "working it out in private, versus the spotlight. At the center is a 4-year-old girl and everyone wants what is best for her, including all her grandparents."

With Hunter's ex-business partner testifying against Joe, Joe had to switch his position as to Hunter's business. The fact that Joe lied caused more questions about Hunter and the Biden family business, Joe cannot afford more negative attention. I bet he was lectured and told he has to acknowledge her.

I’m struggling with sexual temptation. I’m engaged but have 9months to go. I don’t know how to fight it. I wan t it so bad that it makes me mad. If anyone has any advice then please tell me. Please pray for me.

I figured we needed a place to discuss men's grooming, fashion, fragrance, all that good stuff.

I got myself a copy of the "New Believer's Bible - New Testament" and inside the book there's reflection questions and other things like that to help me delve deeper into scripture as I read it. I'm honestly so excited to start reading it. My approach for how I'm going to absorb the information will be by reading the text and journaling about what I read at the same time with my own reflections and answers to questions that are asked. The best part is that I'm using a cheap composition notebook that doesn't even cost a dollar, so it's affordable to do this! It also gives me a reason to journal, and journaling is my absolute favorite past time.

Now to stop procrastinating and actually start reading.

As someone who comes from a line of broken homes, I'm just thinking about what I want out of life now at the age of 27. I'm going to be thirty before I know it, and I'm excited to reach that milestone if it is God's will. That being said, there's a wish I'd love to be fulfilled during my thirties. In thinking about my future, I think I'd like to be a mother to a baby all my own. My only problem, however, is that I haven't got a husband with which to start a family with. I'm someone who has never been in a romantic relationship before, and while I don't see that as a personal failing in any way, I have to admit that is has been a bit lonely. I'm thankful for the time that I've had to develop further into my own person, and as I approach year thirty, I hope for more instances for personal growth among different life events.

If I should ever find someone with whom to fall in love with and marry, that would be wonderful, provided that he is a good man... but I think the thing I'd be looking forward to the most would be becoming a mother... I've had plenty of dreams in the past where I have had children. Those are some of the best dreams ever. The only difficult part of the dreams, however, is waking up to realize that it was only a dream and that my children were just a figment of my imagination. Because of how much I miss my dream-children during my waking life, it actually makes going into places like the baby section of stores very hard for me.

I know it's not all sunshine and rainbows having children of your own, and in fact I'm worried that I wouldn't be the best mom my kids deserve... but I'd still like to try all the same, even if I only had one child. I think the anxiety comes from the fact that my family was always unstable and I ended up growing up with a single mom who struggled to get by. My dad was around too, but his first re-marriage ended in a divorce that impacted me more than his original divorce to my mom. Then my dad got into another relationship that resulted in a marriage that's still going strong... but dad got sick and isn't able to do as much as he used to do. Extended family is no better either, with them being toxic and turning on each other whenever it's in their best interest to do so.

I feel like I don't have much of a safety net in place for if anything were to ever go wrong and I needed help. That's what makes the thought of being married and having children such a daunting thing for me, even though I want both very much... but I think with therapy and continuing to try and reach out to friends at church, I'll be able to quell at least some of these fears... and above all else, putting my trust in God to keep an eye out for me.

Now is not the time to go along in order to get along. To be clear, evangelism and good manners are not in contradiction, just like love and truth are one and the same. It is possible to do and be both – and all at once.

“Do not be conformed to this world,” wrote Paul. “But be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

Conformity and a “go along to get along” mentality are one of the many reasons we find ourselves in this uneven and dysfunctional season of American life. Of course, it’s propelled by fallen man and sin, but if nobody steps up or speaks out, the abnormal begins to be seen as normal.

It’s almost impossible to read today’s headlines and not think of Isaiah’s words: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight” (5:20-21).

The Gospel is the antidote to the world’s dysfunction, and as believers, we have the privilege to carry this Good News forward.

The purpose of this expository is to catch whoever will fulfill Biblical prophecy by killing the two witnesses in Jerusalem. First, it aims to expound on earlier prophecies.



“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate (Dan. 9:24–27).”



“Then you are to lie down on your left side and put the wrongdoing of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their wrongdoing for the number of days that you lie on it. For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their wrongdoing, 390 days; so you shall bear the wrongdoing of the house of Israel. When you have completed these days, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the wrongdoing of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year (Eze. 4:4–6).”

1 prophetic day = 1 year

Jeroboam’s idolatry (976 BC) – 390 years (Eze. 4:5) = destruction of Solomon’s Temple (586 BC)

Crucifixion of Jesus (AD 30) + 40 years (Eze. 4:6) = destruction of Herod’s Temple (AD 70)



“Seventy weeks have been decreed…,” not 355 weeks.

70 weeks * 7 days/wk. = 490 days

490 days * 1 year/prophetic day = 490 years

355 weeks * 7 days/wk. = 2,485 days

2,485 days *1 year/prophetic day = 2,485 years

This prophecy was fulfilled by the Messiah, not by some future antichrist figure.



“So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress (Dan. 9:25).”



“Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra went up to Jerusalem; Ezra was the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest. So this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him. Some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes [458 BC].

“And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king [458 BC]. For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. For Ezra had firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezr. 7:1–10).”



“Now this is the copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes to Israel: ‘Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. Since you are sent on the part of the king and his seven advisers to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God which is in your hand, and to bring the silver and gold, which the king and his advisers have voluntarily given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, with all the silver and gold which you find in the entire province of Babylon, along with the voluntary offering of the people and of the priests, who offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. And whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. Also the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. And the rest of the needs of the house of your God, for which it may be incumbent upon you to provide, provide for them from the royal treasury.

“I myself, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently, up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred kors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of anointing oil, and salt as needed. Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, it shall be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons. We also inform you that it is not allowed to impose tax, tribute, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges so that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the Euphrates River, that is, all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them. And whoever does not comply with the Law of your God and the law of the king, judgment is to be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment, or for confiscation of property or for imprisonment (Ezr. 7:11–26).’”



7 weeks * 7 days/wk. = 49 days

49 days * 1 year/prophetic day = 49 years

King’s decree on behalf of Ezra (458 BC) – 49 years (Dan. 9:25) = restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem (409 BC)



“And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes [445 BC], that wine was before him, and I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. So the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This is nothing but sadness of heart.’ Then I was very much afraid. And I said to the king, ‘May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the site of my fathers’ tombs, is desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?’ Then the king said to me, ‘What would you request?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.’ Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, ‘How long will your journey be, and when will you return?’ So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time (Neh. 2:1–6).”



“Then I said to them, ‘You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.’ And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, ‘Let’s arise and build.’ So they put their hands to the good work (Neh. 3:17–18).”



“So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul [445 BC], in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they realized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God (Neh. 6:15–16).”



“… it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress (Dan. 9:25).”

The wall of Jerusalem was completed in 445 BC, but there is no mention of streets and a moat. The streets and moat would have been completed by 409 BC.



“So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks (Dan. 9:25);”



62 weeks * 7 days/wk. = 434 days

434 days * 1 year/prophetic day = 434 years

Restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem (409 BC) – 434 years (Dan. 9:26) = baptism of Jesus (AD 26)



“Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing… (Dan. 9:26a).”



“He was oppressed and afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off from the land of the living
For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?
And His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth (Isa. 53:7–9).”



“… and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined (Dan. 9:26b).”



Nero entrusted the job of crushing the rebellion in Judaea to Vespasian, a talented and unassuming general. In early AD 68, Roman General Vespasian landed at Ptolemais and began suppression of the revolt with operations in the Galilee. By July 69 all of Judea but Jerusalem had been pacified and the city, now hosting rebel leaders from all over the country, came under Roman siege. A fortified stronghold, it may have held for a significant amount of time, if not for the intense civil war that then broke out between moderates and Zealots.

In the summer of AD 69, Vespasian departed Judea for Rome and in December became Emperor. Command of the Roman legions passed to his son [Prince] Titus, who was now in charge of the siege of Jerusalem.

Following a brutal five-month siege, the Romans destroyed the city and the Second Jewish Temple. On Tisha B’Av, AD 70 (August 30), Roman forces finally overwhelmed the defenders and set fire to the Temple. Resistance continued for another month, but eventually the upper and lower parts of the city were taken as well, and the city was burned to the ground (Wikipedia).



“And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering… (Dan. 9:27a).”

1 week * 7 days/wk. = 7 days

7 days * 1 year/prophetic day = 7 years

Baptism of Jesus (AD 26) + 3 ½ years (Dan. 9:27) = crucifixion of Jesus (AD 30)

Crucifixion of Jesus (AD 30) + 3 ½ years (Dan. 9:27) = conversion of Paul (AD 33)



“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3–4).”



Council of Jerusalem (AD 50) – 14 years (Gal. 2:1) – 3 years (Gal. 1:18) = conversion of Paul (AD 33)

“Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas [Peter], and stayed with him for fifteen days (Gal. 1:18).”

“Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also (Gal. 2:1).”



“This is what God the Lord says,

Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it:
‘I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison (Isa. 42:5–7).’”



“The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us,

‘I have appointed You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You may bring salvation to the end of the earth (Acts 13:44–47).’”

With all the hostilities lately, I thought we should have a thread to celebrate each other, and focus on the positives.

Rules:
No debating, no negativity, just positive vibes all around.

Republicans want to cut food assistance for 5 million low-income babies and parents​

Under the House GOP agriculture appropriations bill, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — known as WIC — would not be funded to the extent the program needs, according to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, potentially leading to hundreds of thousands of kids and postpartum parents getting turned away or cutting their food budgets.

As the Washington Post's Catherine Rampell notes, WIC is a rare bipartisan program that both sides of the aisle have historically agreed to fund. The OMB said in its statement that it "urges the Congress to continue the long
bipartisan agreement to provide enough funds for WIC to serve all eligible participants without harmful benefit cuts."

[From that WaPo link: There’s been strong bipartisan support for WIC for decades. Every year since 1997, Congress has committed to fully funding WIC — a fancy way of saying we’ve ensured there would be enough money to serve everyone eligible who applied.]

Hello, family. I googled “find other Christians to collaborate on music with” and a five year-old post to this site came up, so here I am trying another potential resource for meeting other born-again believers who share some of the same music and technology interests as I do. Please pardon that run-on sentence. That said, I‘m more concerned with potential collaborators being born-again believers than virtuoso musicians and/or gear-heads.
In any event, I’m curious about this site and glad to be here.

I'm new here, I was inspired by one of your old threads to join. Thanks

Posted my story over here: Prayers to erase my past due to OCD contaminations

I have read Acts 9:5 so many times that part of Acts 9:5 I have SKIPPED over many times .

And Paul answers in verse 5 , And he said , who are you Lord ? And the Lord said , I am Jesus Whom you are persecuting , ( It is ) HARD for you to KICK against IRON GOADS .

Has anyone knows what , Is it HARD for you to KICK AGAINST IRON GOADS ?

dan p

When Torah and the prophetic word provide instruction in righteousness that directs the mind to the past, they establish in God's Word a system of memorial and remembrance for our edification, exhortation and comfort that establish the hearer in the word of faith. Fourteen times in the Debarim of Moses, which we call Deuteronomy, he uses the admonition: remember!

Genesis 1:1 (KJV)

The relationship of faith and Torah that Paul spoke of should become quite evident.
Romans 9:
30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness,
even the righteousness of faith;
31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained unto the law of righteousness.
32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.
For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.
33 As it is written:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.”

Here is one example from the Debarim:
Deuteronomy 8:
1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live,
and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers.
2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness,
to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart,
whether thou would keep his commandments, or not.
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna,
which thou knew not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that
man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chastens his son, so the Lord thy God chastens thee.
6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

And we can clearly see as a demonstration of a word of the faith of Jesus Christ,
quoting this to rebuke the tempter.
What great encouragement for our faith, to know that Israel walked in the wilderness forty years,
and their feet did not swell, nor did their clothing wear out!

Matthew 4:
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Paul then continues:

Romans 10:
1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes.
5 For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law,
That the man which does those things shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in thine heart,
Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is,
the word of faith, which we preach.

And from where does this word of faith originate? The Debarim.

Deuteronomy 30:
11 For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us,
that we may hear it and do it?
13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us,
that we may hear it and do it?
14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

Romans 10:
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart
that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
We employ this system of remembrance to our life experiences to remain anchored in our faith.
Peter clearly had one particular experience that he refers back to as a definitive moment.

2 Peter 1:
12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them,
and be established in the present truth.
13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
15 Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17 For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereof ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light
that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arises in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God
spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Peter 3:
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which
I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets,
and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior:

Ephesians 2:
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Hi everyone, I found this forum through this: Can God reverse time?

Last weekend my OCD from the past two years imploded on me, I instantaneously fell into severe depression. While I've struggled for twenty years, the last ten were tough but there were times it got better with help.

In July 2021 I underwent some kind of episode...people going to "special places" bothers me if I feel the person has contaminations. I thought someone I knew said they were going to visit there, I cried for two days. I quit my job, I went to work for the college I went to. My new job was filled with triggering contaminations for me, I did my best to try to work past it because of the benefits.

It started to get better butI withdrew from my relatives in the house thinking I would bring contaminations home with me so I hid from them in the house. I tried to justify why this job was better or why the people were

I don't like gifts from people outside my relatives, for the holidays some of my co-workers gave me very nice gifts the last two years but I'm scared to touch them.

Recently I needed to undergo colon surgery for the third time. One of my co-workers put their get well note in my vehicle. I was mortified cause my car is super sentimental to me even though what they did was super nice. My mom wiped my car off, we said that because my car was covered in gunk then my car wasn't touched directly but it still bothers me.

Rememeber why I quit my last job? Now I'm tormented weekly by people with "contaminations" telling me they're going to special places of mine-places I felt safe, sentimental, or special because I spent time with loved ones there.

I'm religious, I believe God can do lots of things so I've been praying for days for God to fix this for me, to take me backwards in time to not ruin everything or to fix my thing like these things didn't happen.

Nobdy I know is willing to join me in prayers for this so it's been super hurtful, I've seen incredible prayers of theirs come to pass with no natural explanations.

Thank you

im unvaccinated however i took a pcr test once, and have come across several convincing videos and articles about how theyre the mark of the beast to the point where im 50/50 on it now. Since then i've lost so much sleep, got on the floor crying and praying for god to forgive me, I have to constantly talk to people to keep my mind off the subject or calm me down, have lost a any zest for life i had, crying constantly for my family members that were vaccinated and how if id been wiser more resilient and more devoted to jesus i could've helped them, ive been considering suicide constantly but what stops me is the fact id go to hell if i went through with it. I can't handle this any longer, i dont think im going to make it this is probably the darkest period in my life and i NEVER thought it could get to this point. I've made so mistakes in my life, i had so many chances and over the years ive had to deal with these consequences now i think i might've made the ultimate mistake one can and i truly feel like god is done with me. I feel incomprehensibly lonely and doomed like i have no one to turn to, no answers, and no hope. few seem to understand and have patience for me. I want help, i just want to know god is still willing to give me a chance and that i can still be his, and perhaps those things arent the mark, i wont deviate again

, i've learned my lesson. please pray he reveals to me i need deliverance! Maybe im being swarmed by demons