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Hi, everybody. A while ago I posted about prayer for my financial situation to improve so that I could go back home. Last week and Thursday, my aunt in my hometown 'phoned me and told me that some money from my granddad's estate has come loose and is due to me soon! I really believe this is the answer to my prayers, and I am SO thankful that people prayed for me. I refused to give up on praying to return home and the resources have finally come. Praise the Lord! Thank you to all who prayed for me.

I a 22 year-old female and an employee of the church for 3 years now. The custodian in question, let’s call him Tom, is a 50-something-year-old male. He is a newer Christian and has only been the custodian for about a year, and a member of the church for not too much longer than that.

Ever since October the church custodian has been hitting on me. Earlier on the events were minor, things that made me uncomfortable but I dismissed. Tom would manipulate me into letting them happen.

For example, one time I was eating at a barbecue place with some church members after we set up for the Fall Festival. Tom insisted on paying for my food. I told him I didn’t want him to, and he skipped ahead in line to the register to pay for my food anyway. Then he said that a woman should never have to pay for her food. He made me feel bad for not wanting his help. So this is how he works.

Over the course of a few months, paying for my food became other things, like leaving me notes and gifts at the church. I denied the bad feeling for a long time (in hindsight there were a lot of red flags, I know, but because of the age gap I hoped he knew better and that it wasn’t what it felt like), but unfortunately, as time passed, he only proved my suspicions.

I tried to keep this as quiet as possible because I didn’t want people to gossip or to slander his reputation in any way. So first, I tried to resolve this privately between the two of us. I pulled him aside and asked him to stop with the gifts and that it’s making me uncomfortable. He denied that he was hitting on me of course, saying that it was just a Christmas gift. But then after that, things just got worse. He started leaving more gifts and apologies and somehow got my Facebook and phone number and left me messages. I respond to him and tell him to leave me alone, saying I’m not interested. Then we awkwardly avoid each other for about a month, and I think he finally backed off.

Then messages start coming again. He finds ways and reasons to talk to me, whether it’s to hand me a church bulletin or to text me about a church member’s birthday that’s coming up. Then he asks me out to lunch. I decline.

I finally tell the pastor. He takes my side and meets with Tom to tell him to back off. All is well. Apparently. He stays away for awhile. Then he takes advantage of my dying grandmother on hospice to get one of her friends to bring him TO MY HOME so he can visit my grandmother on her death bed. Fortunately I am not home. On the day of her death, he texts me his condolences and follows me on Instagram. I notice he’s also following my sister (a personal trainer who sometimes posts videos of me) and her boyfriend’s business pages.

I tell the pastor again. He tells the deacons. They apparently have another meeting with him to tell him to back off.

A few days later I get a call from one of the deacons trying to get me to meet with Tom so he can apologize, with the deacon as a mediator. I refuse because I don’t want to be near Tom. The deacon tries to talk to me about forgiveness and it’s all been a misunderstanding. I try to explain to him that it’s way more than a misunderstanding. He’s clearly disappointed. My dad gets Tom’s number from me and threatens him with a restraining order if he doesn’t back off. The deacon calls my dad and my dad is very angry. The deacon finally understands. Supposedly.

At church, everyone is so chummy with Tom. Even the deacon. They act like everything is fine. Everybody lovesssss Tom. Everyone sees him as this wonderful, kind, considerate person. Not the predator that he is.

I block Tom on everything.

More time passes. Every month my church goes on day trips to do mission work. There’s a sign up sheet. His name isn’t on it, yet he shows up. I’m stuck in the church bus with him, and he talks to me. I engage in small talk with him to try and be civil. I start to think we’re finally moving forward.

Now he finds opportunities. He makes sure HE’S the one to pass out the Mother’s Day church gift to my mother, even if it means he cuts off the person who is headed over to her. He follows my sister on Instagram again. He talks to me in front of other people so I respond to avoid appearing rude. Then tonight he followed me on TikTok and liked and favorited my latest video. I had already blocked him on everything that was linked to my TikTok so he clearly either has another account where he can still access those links, or he saved the links from before.

Other things he has done:
• He asked for a hug once. I declined.
• He followed me on two different accounts which have different names. The names are different enough to where he’s clearly trying to have different aliases but they’re close enough to where they’re obviously still him.
• He’s also told people about videos I’ve posted on accounts I have not shared to the general public (there was an experimental film review YouTube account I set up that I didn’t link to any of my personal accounts because I wanted it to take off before I told anyone it existed. It never took off so I abandoned it).
• He was also caught snooping in the church office so we had to start locking it. He knows information about people that he shouldn’t. He looked up information on my grandmother (like when she was baptized) and made a point to announce to everyone that my birthday is coming up.

I’m so tired of dealing with him. He’s repeatedly been asked to stop and clearly he never will. I’ve come to the point where if I see him at a church event I’m gonna get back in my car and leave, no matter how big of a scene it creates. I’m planning to tell the pastor again tomorrow that I’m tired of it, and if he sees me making a scene about it, that’s why. If Tom does anything else, ANYTHING, I have a fully detailed list of everything he’s done, to the date, that I will make public so everyone knows. And hopefully I have enough on him to where I can take out a restraining order on him. Although lately he’s been more subtle, so I don’t know if it’s enough to convince a judge he hasn’t backed off.

What are your thoughts? I’ve tried to keep this private, but I’m so done. I’m exhausted. I’m tired of looking over my shoulder every time I’m at church. Is it wrong to tell everyone? That’s not something I want to do because people still gossip and I’ve seen scandals tear families and churches apart. But I’m running out of options. He’s fooling everyone and I feel like no one is doing enough to make it stop.

JEREMIAH 2


13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.


GOING DOWN THE TOILET

This is what is happening to the nation of Judah.

The nation of Judah had seen what happened to Israel, its larger neighbour. It saw that God had pronounced judgement on Israel and they were carried into exile. Although Judah had several Godly kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah, they still fell into idolatry and sin.

This verse speaks of Judah’s rejection of the glory of God’s presence and power, to chase after worthless idols.

Look at the verses before this, the Living Bible puts it very well in verses 8 & 10-12:

8 Even their priests cared nothing for the Lord, and their judges ignored me; their rulers turned against me, and their prophets worshipped Baal and wasted their time on nonsense.

10-11 Look around you and see if you can find another nation anywhere that has
traded in its old gods for new ones—even though their gods are nothing. Send to the west to the island of Cyprus;
send to the east to the deserts of Kedar. See if anyone there has ever heard so
strange a thing as this. And yet my people have given up their glorious God for silly idols!

The prophet Jeremiah is amazed at what THE NATION OF Judah had done. I can hear the prophet saying, "You have pure water – you can see its pure water – but you deliberately choose to drink stinking rotten water!” Judah chose to reject pure water (God’s presence) that is available for free, and work hard to obtain filthy water that will make them sick.

Christians in this present age have the pure holy water of Jesus, but they hew out the cisterns that hold no water by living in carnality and sin. We often struggle to place Jesus first in our lives because we are consumed with chasing money, wealth, sports, and TV. Consider this: How many Christians watch over 25 hours of TV every week, but can’t spend an hour in prayer?

When will we stop making cisterns or idols for ourselves that can’t hold water, which means that they have no value to our lives? It’s almost like Jesus isn’t enough for some believers.

Isn’t He lovely enough?
Isn’t He glorious enough?
Isn’t His sacrifice at Calvary enough?

It’s time to tear down our idols. Let me leave the final words to Charles Haddon Spurgeon on how beautiful Jesus is:

The incomparable sweetness of Christ!

At our very best we are strangers to much of the incomparable sweetness of Christ.
We shall never exhaust His goodness by our praise, for He is ever so fresh and has so much of the dew of His youth, that every day He has a new song to sing.
We shall find Him a new Christ every day of our lives, and yet He is ever the same; His surpassing excellence and unexhausted fullness thus constantly renew our love.
O Jesus! none can guess how great is the least of Your attributes, or how rich the poorest of Your gifts.

It is time to stop drinking dirty water out of man-made cisterns and drink the pure water of Christ and his Word


God bless you

KEITH



JUDGES 16

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.


LUST, LIES AND LOSS


The story of Samson is probably one of the saddest in the whole Bible。 Samson had awesome strength, but he also had a fatal flaw and that was his lust for women.

Throughout his 40 years of judging Israel, Samson was a living, breathing scandal when it came to women. Despite his great strength he had a weakness for women. And it was this weakness that would be his undoing. One day he met a woman named Delilah. She was not a woman of the house of Israel. She was a Philistine, a people who were the sworn enemy of Israel, the people who Samson was appointed by God to judge and protect. But Delilah had one thing going for her: She was beautiful, and as far as Samson was concerned, that was all that mattered. The above passage tells us what happens next: Delilah presses Samson for the secret to his strength, Samson deceives Delilah, Samson eventually gives in to Delilah, Samson loses his two eyes, and Israel loses one of its greatest military heroes.

Samson is a warning to every believer about the power of lust to distract and destroy your fellowship, your family, your reputation. The path of lust and sin leads to death. Romans 6:23 reminds us that, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Look at the end of verse 19. Delilah started to laugh at Samson. The world and the devil lures the believer and when we fall to temptation, we become the object of his ridicule and scorn.

Verse 20 is one of the saddest verses in the whole Bible. Samson not only lost his strength, he lost his dignity, and eventually he lost his two eyes. This is a picture of the Christian who falls out of fellowship with God. When we lose our connection with God, defeat follows. We think we can live on past glories. And while the Lord never leaves us, we can leave Him. This makes us an easy prey for the enemy. If we lose God's power, then we lose our spiritual sight and we end up in the prison house of sin and regret.

Lust leads to a life of lies and to the loss of our spiritual power. Samson, who had never lost a fight, lost everything to his lust for a woman.

What have you lost because of sin? Think about it.

Fortunately, the story of Samson does not end with him losing his two eyes and grinding away in the prison house. Eventually, his hair grows back and so does his strength. One day the Philistines decide to bring Samson into the temple of Dagon, their god to make sport of him…big mistake. The great Samson, is now a laughingstock to his enemies. He calls out to a young boy to place his hands on the two pillars of the temple. He then does something that he should have done when he was with Delilah…he prayed. He says to God: “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God…”. The Lord heard his prayer, and gave Samson the strength to bring down the temple of Dagon on the entire hosts of the Philistines! Here is the lesson: If you have fallen into sin, it is not the end of your story. God still has a plan and a purpose for your life. God is waiting to restore you, and give you the power to overcome the enemy. And through Him, you can do more for His glory now, than at any other time in your life. Seek Him today. You will be glad you did.

God bless you
Keith

The depths of one’s need…

One will not but ask according to the need one sees, the deeper one sees one’s need of Christ, the deeper, the more persistent, the more fervent, the more unrelenting will one’s asking be…. For it is a truth, to the degree one sees the depths of their need of Christ, to that degree will one see into the salvation that is offered in Christ….

For in the seeing of one’s need of Him will be the depths of one’s relationship with Him, for as scripture says; ‘that one might turn, that He might heal’…. For the soul is to do the turning, then God will do the healing, for in the desire to turn, in the desire to ask, in the desire to be healed, being that desire which opens the heart to Him…. For regardless of how one might find oneself, the will to ask God, it itself being that from which all the things of God grow….. For as one’s heart desires, so is it that leads one’s life, for the life is limited to that for which the heart desires…..

For here is the tribulation of life; mankind’s fall into the life of this world, it is this life that one needs to be saved from, this life might behave itself for a season, but sooner or later it will demand it’s own way…. It is here the salvation of Christ is applied, that being, one’s death in Christ, it itself being, believing uncategorically into the death of one’s life of this world, for once one learns enough to see the necessity of it, the joy that is unspeakable will be one’s daily portion….

Which then prompts the question; why is the life of this world, wrong..? It is because the life of this world wants something other than righteousness….

For in one’s devotion to righteousness will be one’s devotion to God, for it will only be as deep as two things…. One, one’s degree of desire for righteousness and two the degree of reckoning to death by faith the life of this world to bring forth that righteousness….. For the desire to righteousness and the desire to die to the life of this world is what one needs, for if the desires are there, in any degree at all, God will work in the desire(s) to create more and a deeper desire…..

For God’s life is the expression of righteousness, for righteousness itself being that which makes for life, for joyful and blessed is the one that tastes the life expressed by righteousness….. For allowing righteousness to slay one, is seeing into the mystery of Christ one’s life, which is that which brings forth the righteousness that is necessary for life; for that which makes for right, is that that makes for life….. Which will only be seen according to the seeing of the depths of one’s need…..


Be blessed in Him, a fellow servant of His, Not me

Friday night and Sabbath Conrad Vine held a 4 meeting series on what is coming on our world in a very short time. His basic message was now is the time to prepare to meet Jesus as his estimate of how much time we have left before persecution starts is a very few months.

This series will be available in about a month for download or streaming. I would highly recommend listening to them as he had some very eye opening things to say. He said the GC has made a decision to not support any church members who choose to not get vaccinated. He talked to Ted Wilson about and was told the GC would not reverse their decision. In fact, he was blackballed for speaking out. He told Wilson that he was acting like the Catholic church in this by refusing to support liberty of conscience.

Morning:​

"So to walk even as he walked." — 1 John 2:6
Why should Christians imitate Christ? They should do it for their own sakes. If they desire to be in a healthy state of soul-if they would escape the sickness of sin, and enjoy the vigour of growing grace, let Jesus be their model. For their own happiness' sake, if they would drink wine on the lees, well refined; if they would enjoy holy and happy communion with Jesus; if they would be lifted up above the cares and troubles of this world, let them walk even as he walked. There is nothing which can so assist you to walk towards heaven with good speed, as wearing the image of Jesus on your heart to rule all its motions. It is when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are enabled to walk with Jesus in his very footsteps, that you are most happy, and most known to be the sons of God. Peter afar off is both unsafe and uneasy. Next, for religion's sake, strive to be like Jesus. Ah! poor religion, thou hast been sorely shot at by cruel foes, but thou hast not been wounded one-half so dangerously by thy foes as by thy friends. Who made those wounds in the fair hand of Godliness? The professor who used the dagger of hypocrisy. The man who with pretences, enters the fold, being nought but a wolf in sheep's clothing, worries the flock more than the lion outside. There is no weapon half so deadly as a Judas-kiss. Inconsistent professors injure the gospel more than the sneering critic or the infidel. But, especially for Christ's own sake, imitate his example. Christian, lovest thou thy Saviour? Is his name precious to thee? Is his cause dear to thee? Wouldst thou see the kingdoms of the world become his? Is it thy desire that he should be glorified? Art thou longing that souls should be won to him? If so, imitate Jesus; be an "epistle of Christ, known and read of all men."

Evening:​

"Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee." — Isaiah 41:9
If we have received the grace of God in our hearts, its practical effect has been to make us God's servants. We may be unfaithful servants, we certainly are unprofitable ones, but yet, blessed be his name, we are his servants, wearing his livery, feeding at his table, and obeying his commands. We were once the servants of sin, but he who made us free has now taken us into his family and taught us obedience to his will. We do not serve our Master perfectly, but we would if we could. As we hear God's voice saying unto us, "Thou art my servant," we can answer with David, "I am thy servant; thou hast loosed my bonds." But the Lord calls us not only his servants, but his chosen ones-"I have chosen thee." We have not chosen him first, but he hath chosen us. If we be God's servants, we were not always so; to sovereign grace the change must be ascribed. The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of unchanging grace declared, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." Long ere time began or space was created God had written upon his heart the names of his elect people, had predestinated them to be conformed unto the image of his Son, and ordained them heirs of all the fulness of his love, his grace, and his glory. What comfort is here! Has the Lord loved us so long, and will he yet cast us away? He knew how stiffnecked we should be, he understood that our hearts were evil, and yet he made the choice. Ah! our Saviour is no fickle lover. He doth not feel enchanted for awhile with some gleams of beauty from his church's eye, and then afterwards cast her off because of her unfaithfulness. Nay, he married her in old eternity; and it is written of Jehovah, "He hateth putting away." The eternal choice is a bond upon our gratitude and upon his faithfulness which neither can disown.

I was at Deep Rivers church tonight for the Sunday PM, something came to me while I was sitting there!

Our DNA is written at the moment of conception! The sperm and egg come together and the embryo receives DNA from both the mother and father! This backs up the Christian belief that life begins at conception, all of our physical and mental traits, everything about us, is written in our DNA! If our DNA is written at the moment of conception one could argue that life certainly begins at conception!

Does anyone wear Christian clothing here, and if so how often and where do you wear it? I was thinking about picking up a couple t shirts with bible verses on them and im not sure if its a good idea or not as im more introverted and less outspoken but still want to spread the word.

What are your thoughts?

Hello everyone ! Please help me praying against the doubts and questions of my salvation the enemy has been throwing at me. Thank you all and God bless !

If something exists, it is by definition natural.

• Eyewitness accounts: People have reported seeing ghosts for centuries. While some of these reports may be hoaxes, others are difficult to explain.
• Photographic evidence: Some people have taken photographs that appear to show ghosts. While these photographs can be faked, some of them are difficult to explain.
• Instrumental evidence: Some people have used electronic devices to detect ghosts. These devices have recorded strange readings that some people believe are evidence of ghosts.

• It is important to note that there is no scientific consensus on the existence of ghosts. Some scientists believe that the evidence for ghosts is not strong enough to support their existence. Others believe that the evidence is strong enough to warrant further investigation.
• It is also important to note that the definition of a "ghost" is not universally agreed upon. Some people believe that ghosts are the spirits of dead people. Others believe that ghosts are a form of energy or consciousness that is not bound by the laws of physics.
• Ultimately, the question of whether or not ghosts exist is a matter of personal belief. There is no scientific evidence that can definitively prove or disprove the existence of ghosts.

Hi all,

For about 10 or 12 years now, I have been waiting and praying for my future husband, has anyone been in the same situation ?
And did you get to a situation where you pray, then trust God, and then doubt comes in and restart all over again to appoint it gets so tired.

I do have some people at church praying for me.

But surely God can see how this is effecting me and why is he making me wait ?

Anyone been in this situation ?

John 6:16-20 describes Jesus walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee toward his disciples who were struggling in their boat as they rowed across the roughness of the stormy Sea, amidst strong winds, toward Capernaum. The second he steps into their boat, they are whisked to the shoreline leading to Capernaum. No, this isn’t the part of John 6 that may have exclusively determined the truth of Jesus’ Divinity, although combined with what happens later, it comes to be more acceptable to many, when through John’s depiction of people’s reactions to what Jesus says, perhaps to relate to any doubts that those, including us, who weren’t there may have, those doubts are allayed.

What happens later is described in John 6:33-65. Among those Verses, Jesus says to the crowd “...For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world...” “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst...I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh... Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Now, whoever wrote those passages, be it either God or those who wrote them upon God’s Inspiration, could have left out the subsequent verses which describe the puzzlement of not only the Jews who heard this, but Jesus’ own disciples. The Jews ask, in Verse 52, ““How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” And even his disciples, in Verse 60, state, ““This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

Clearly, whoever penned these verses wanted to at least convey to us the doubts and consternations that the Jews and the disciples felt upon hearing these words. Was it necessary to do so? After all, a belief in God and the acceptance of what His Bible says is based on a matter of faith; fact checks need not be made. But here, perhaps, for the purpose of heading off any possible wonderments of those who read the words of John 6, we get a bonus, if you will, telling of how ‘people like us’ reacted to Jesus’ words, as if to say we aren’t the only ones who may shake our heads. And the fact that, as we see in the Bible, not only did his disciples remain his disciples despite how Jesus portrays himself, but there were also many Jews who converted on the same despite.

This is the part of the Bible that John 6 helps to justify...that if people like us resolved to overcome potential misgivings and reconciling themselves to Jesus, then who are we to not do the same? Furthermore, if the same doubting disciples tell us that Jesus walked on water, as if to say, ‘Yeah, Jesus says we can eat his flesh, and by the way, we saw him walk on water, so he’s the real deal,’ as the decent disciples striving for righteousness and to wake up the world have asserted, then some understanding that may be perceived as leaps of faith are deemed justified.

The political spectrum has actually two parameters: one is top vs bottom and the other is left vs right. The top vs bottom is pretty straightforward: top is more covernment, bottom is less government. But left vs right is a lot more difficult to define. In issues such as taxes or gun control the left wants more government, yet in issues of homosexuality and abortion the right wants more government. So it is a bit weird that the two major parties (Republicans vs Democrates) are alligned across left vs right, while the top vs bottom is more of a third party issue (Libertarians is a third party thats a bottom). It would have been more logical if it was the other way around. The way it feels to me is that top vs bottom are the concepts that are easiest to define in a purely logical terms, while left vs right is the issue of herd mentality (there is no logical connection between gun control and homosexuality). So the fact that the major parties are alligned as left vs right tells me that the majority of people are following the herd rather than the logic.

However, I still want to find some logical way of left vs right. So what I been trying to think is trying to linguistically analyze the words that define them. Linguistics has no bias, so that would probably be the best way to get to the source. However, if I look at the word "liberal", I immediately see that it is misleading. Because, linguistically, it comes from the word "liberty". Yet "liberals" do not support the "liberty" of owning guns. On the other hand, if I look at the word "conservative", that is a lot more revealing. Conservatives want to "conserve" the way things "used to be". Since in the past people owned guns, a "conservative" position would be to own guns now. Since in the past homosexuality was outlawed, the "conservative" position would be to outlaw it now.

The other thing to look at is where does left vs right comes historically. It all started from one specific meeting where people at the right were in defense of a king and people at the left were in opposition to the king. Now, this again might be misleading. Because this might sound like the right wants more government while the left wants less, which isn't true. But a different way of looking at it would be that the right wants specific type of government: namely the government at that particular time in history that the king represented. And from this perspective, one can say "if the king back then wanted us to have certain freedoms, then supporting the king implies supporting those freedoms" which would in turn explain why there are some freedoms that liberals oppose while conservatives defend.

But then again, supporting that particular time in history is not the same as going back as far to the past as possible. But maybe conservatives don't want to go as far back to the past as possible: I don't think they really care about going back to 500 BC. So if I were to say that the goal of conservatives is to go back to the time period where the above meeting took place, then it would both explain why they would sit at the right (defend the king) and also why they would be called "conservative": they are trying to "conserve" something that is a century old rather than age old.

As far as liberals, like I said, analyzing the word liberty would be misleading. So the best way to make sense of them is to simply think of them as "anti-conservatives". And then the root of the word "conservative" (namely "conserve") would explain both "conservative" and "anti-conservative" position.

But then the problem with this would be third parties. Since third parties are in opposition to both Republicans and Democrats, would that mean that they are at the left, since they "oppose the king"? Well, I guess not, because they agree with "the king" on some issues and only oppose him in others. For example, liebrtarians "agree with the king" in gun rights yet they "oppose the king" in birth control. Thats why they are neither left nor right.

Anyway, those were my thoughts. But what do you think?

Of course, people who watch "The haunting of Molly Hartley" might not admit they have satanic tendencies, but they probably do. Thats why they enjoy the movie. The reason they don't admit it is because they were dissensitized by modern culture. I am sure that devoted Christians would probably agree with me on this one.

Now, here is an interesting part. How about approaching a Calvinist and asking them why its the case? Why is it that their doctrine of predestination happens to be something satanists would love to get off on? Just ask that question and have them sit on it. See what they will say

I see it sinful for two reasons:

1) It is a permanent change to the body. So it is sinful for the same reason as tatoo is sinful

2) There is actually a notion of alive tooth and dead tooth. Those procedures actually start out with alive tooth and end up with dead tooth. So they violate the commandment "don't kill".

But what is your opinion on this?

The reason I am asking this is because a dentist wants to extract a wisdom tooth and possibly do root canal on the tooth next to it. And I have reservations doing this due to the above.

Stay safe out there

If there was a 2100% increase in the use of so-called “assault weapons” this would be headline-worthy news.

“Personal weapons” are defined as hands, feet, fists, or teeth.

Is anyone bothered at all, the object of many praise and worship songs today is about how Jesus saved ME? Or a battle cry for the Lord to deliver us OUR victory?

While we do absolutely nothing!

Have we made false gods and idols of ourselves and turned God and Jesus into our faithful servants while we drink with drunkards and conduct ourselves in every way as unbelievers do?

Does any Christian even know that Jesus needs help too and but we chose not to help because we'd rather do our worldly stuff than help Jesus. It's all there in the Bible.

I'm not really keen on sharing those verses at the moment. I may be persuaded later on. Do your homework please.

This is why I prefer the older worship songs. More about the Lord and less about self.

Pray that management at my job will stop mandating me and stop asking me to work overtime as I am feeling very weary Also pray that management wont change my current schedule against my will as the new proposed schedule wont work for me. Also pray for a comfortable working environment with respect and for anxiety to go away as well. Amen

Is obedience to God tied to salvation? In 1 Peter 1 I read, Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.

Jesus asked, "why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not the things that I say?" So it appears that obedience is indeed tied to salvation but in what way? Those who are saved will be obedient ones, certainly the disobedient will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9-10)

Yet none of us are perfectly obedient and if we claim we are, then we are being disobedient by doing so. I mistakenly thought that obedience was the way to salvation but it has turned out to be the result of salvation in my case. God saved me in Jesus Christ making me perfect forever before God even while I am being made Holy. (Heb 10:14)

Jesus taught that good comes from a good heart and evil from an evil heart. So I have figured that you can't make you heart good by doing good. No, it must be good in order to do good, so how does it become good? By being made good and that is Salvation. It is made good over time but counted good the moment we submit to God's will for our lives.

What practical advice can you share as to how you share as to how you increase your obedience to our Savior?

Woke is Marxism Evolved to Take on the West​

This article is a nicely formatted transcript of a speech by James Lindsay about cultural Marxism. It was recently given at a conference:

"Conference organized in the European Parliament by the Identity and Democracy Foundation."

You can read the article because an article is required, or you can watch the video. In the video, James starts at 4:30 and goes to 32:55. I've put excerpts below.

I'm bringing this up because if you are sleeping then you are in trouble. There is no stopping this, and this is "Woke."

I call Woke the religion of equality, aka Church of Woke. Note that Woke is replacing Christianity and IMO it is the dominate religion in the West today. Woke is suppose to advance equity across the West:

Equity: “An administered political economy in which shares are adjusted so that citizens are made equal.”

Effectively, everybody ends up at the same economic level.

James explains the various species of Marxism. Genus is the umbrella that various species are under.

Cat: lion, tiger, leopard, house cat, ... .

Marxism: classical Marxism, radical feminism, critical race theory, queer theory and others.

Woke seems to cover many of the species under Marxism but not classical Marxism. James says Woke is Marxism with American characteristics.

Classical Marxism didn't work in the West, so they (professors and other influencers) shifted to cultural Marxism which we know as Woke. Instead of a fight between economic classes, now it's a fight between races. And Critical Race Theory falls out of that fight. Whiteness is a form of private property.

"Systemic racism is enforced by an ideology of white supremacy instead of capitalism. If you think of whiteness as a form of cultural capital, white supremacy, as they define, is identical to capitalism. It’s not believing that white people are superior. It’s believing that white people have access to the control of society and should maintain that, even if you don’t actually believe that. If you merely support that you have adopted the ideology of white supremacy into your mind."

...

"I wrote a book called Race Marxism and I defined Critical Race Theory as it really is in that book on the first page. I said that"

Critical Race Theory is calling everything you want to control racist until you control it.

Click to expand...

Moving on to queer theory:

But what about say queer theory, how is that Marxist? It’s very strange. All this gender and sex and sexuality.

Well, Tom said, what is woke attack?

The idea of being normal. Well, the queer theory thinks that there are certain people who get to set the norms of society, they are privileged, they call themselves normal. ... They’re heterosexuals. So they get to define the heterosexuality as normal and other sexualities are abnormal.

... But technically who is a queer, which sounds like a slur, but they adopted it and it’s a technical academic term now. It means an identity without an essence, by the way. An identity that is strictly oppositional to the concept of the normal, ... So you see queer theory is just another species of the genus of Marxism.

Click to expand...

Postcolonial theory:

What about postcolonial theory, which is plaguing Europe thanks to Franz Fanon and his biggest European fan, Jean Paul Sartre. What about this?

It’s the same?

You have the West as the oppressor, they have access to the material and cultural wealth of the world because they’ve decided their culture is the default and have gone and colonized the world to bring culture to the world as they say.

And so the oppressed, the natives around the world, the people have to band together and their activity is going to be called decolonization.

They have to remove every aspect of Western culture.

Click to expand...

The goal is the same as in Marxism. Seize the control of:

1. Means of production.
2. History.
3. Society.

Marx thought this would happen via economic means. In the West this is happening via socio-cultural means.

The various Marx species have divided themselves into peoples - folk. LGBTQ is a folk as is the black community. They act like nations and as colonizers:

They think of themselves as nations–don’t they all have flags?

Click to expand...

"Don’t they put them on your buildings like colonizers? Don’t they hang them in your streets?"

"They think of themselves as occupying nations,"

China's Mao used identity politics to gain power. Woke is Maoism with American characteristics.

It’s using Americanized identity categories. And while some of those will not work in Europe, I guarantee you the colonial aspect will. They will find your weakness. They will adapt the theory to fit because it’s like a virus that will evolve to its host and Europe is at great risk.

Now, the last thing I’ll mention is this risk is twofold. When you endure Marxist provocation, Marxist strategy, is always of the same type. It’s called “Middle Level Violence”. They don’t come at you with full blown Bolshevik assault very often. It’s middle level violence–they provoke.

Click to expand...

"Because the goal is to make us into what they call global citizens."

What is a global citizen?

"It’s somebody who supports the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030."

"It’s more about global responsibilities. In other words, slavery."

"This is a pivotal moment in the history of the Western world."

The Bible describes Jesus as one who preexisted his incarnation (his humanity):
John 1:1 (KJV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 (KJV)
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And that the Word was not only with God, the Word was God which is confirmed in:
1 John 1:1–2 (KJV)
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us
Same time frame (the beginning), the Word which John 1:1 declared is God and is with God (here referred to as the Word of life echoing John 1:4 “in him was life…” ). And calling him (the Word) “that ETERNAL LIFE which was with the Father.
Eternal God (the Word) WITH Eternal God (the Father) with no indication whatsoever of inferiority or superiority between the two. The lack of an article in the Greek in John 1:1 actually indicates that God the Word is the same in nature as God the Father whom he was with.
This so-called “missing” article is called noun kai noun in Greek grammar (article + noun + and noun = two of the same kind of something). Distinction, yet the same in kind / nature.
“The Babe was with the New York Yankees (noun and (kai) New York Yankees (noun) was the Babe.”
The Babe btw was George Herman Babe Ruth…
The Word was with (the) God and God was the Word is how the phrase in John 1:1 appears in Greek. The Christadelphians (who came up with the ruse) and the Jehovah’s Witnesses who bought into the lie that this missing article in Greek makes the Word a lesser god) is a lie from the pit of hell. A lie that in John 20:17 (in the same Greek noun kai noun) would make the Father a lessor god who is referred to with noun kai noun twice in the verse.
Jesus said in the original Greek: “I go to the Father of me (noun) and (kai) Father yours (noun) to the God of me (noun) and (kai) God yours (noun)…
Though he is the same Father / same God, there is the distinction between his being God and Father to the man Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:5) and his being God and Father to us. Namely that the Father is the Creator of his humanity (John 1:14 / Hebrews 10:5 / Hebrews 1:5)... and the preincarnate Jesus (who is God the Word) is the LONE Creator of everything and everyone else that was created (John 1:3 / Colossians 1:16 / Isaiah 44:24) ← which indicates he did so alone by himself.
Those who attempt to undeify Jesus (specifically God the Word) love to cite passages like John 20:17 to mislead people from the truth, “How can God have a God?” When clearly the Bible teaches that Jesus is both God and man, and that in his humanity he has a Creator (the Father). God the Word did not create the body / humanity of Jesus. God the Father did not create anything other than the body / humanity of Jesus:
John 1:14 (KJV)
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
In his Spirit Jesus is equal to God:
Philippians 2:6 (KJV)
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Being in the form of God in the Greek morphe theos huparchon is best understood as never ceasing to be God. This eternal God is clearly declared to be equal with God.
With the fuller understanding of God and which individual in the Godhead is which, we know that:
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God the Word created the heaven and the earth.
And:
Luke 3:38
Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God the Word.
The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit were always present together from eternity past (John 1:1–2, 1 John 1:1–2, Genesis 1:1–2). But God the Word acted alone by himself in creating all things created in the beginning.
Which leads me to the final point: the personhood and deity of the Holy Spirit.
While it is true the Spirit of God can come upon someone in power and inspiration and encouragement… this does not de-personify him as some force or thing like team spirit or being psyched… the Spirit of God is God:
Acts 5:3–4 (KJV)
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
He has been sent into the world as the divine magistrate of King Jesus in his absence (Hebrews 8:1–5 / John 14:26 / John 15:26) ← Jesus said “if I do not leave, the Spirit of God would not come (John 16:7)
The Holy Spirit / Holy Ghost / Comforter / Spirit of Truth is a person with thoughts and feelings (you can grieve the Holy Spirit see Ephesians 4:30) and is as much God as the Father or the Word.

Do you receive communion on the tongue? This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

Yours in the Lord,

jm