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ThatRobGuy · Apr 27, 2023

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/27/politics/mike-pence-grand-jury-testimony/index.html

CNN —
Former Vice President Mike Pence testified on Thursday to a federal grand jury investigating the aftermath of the 2020 election and the actions of then-President Donald Trump and others, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

The testimony marks a momentous juncture in the criminal investigation and the first time in modern history a vice president has been compelled to testify about the president he served beside.

Things are getting interesting...

Dan Perez · Apr 27, 2023

DISPENSATION / OIKONOMIA and OIKOS MEANS A HOUSE and NOMOS means LAW .

This is what dispensation really means and hope that I wrote them all .

#1 OSAS

#2 Saved by GRACE

#3 Not by WORKS

#4 Chosen before the foundation of the world

#5 Promised to be RESURRECTED

#6 INDWELLED by the GODHEAD

#7 WE are permanently ( in Christ )

#8 We are given the MIND OF CHRIST

#9 WE ARE JOINT HEIRS with Christ through the GOSPEL that Paul preached .

#10 And the BODY OF CHRIST will GOVERN the Universe and ANGELS .

#11 And the OIKONOMIA is not PART of the NEW COVENANT , PERIOD !!

dan p

DarkForest · Apr 27, 2023

China protests over U.S. prosecution of Chinese police officers

Chinese Ministry of Public Security filed solemn representations and protests with the U.S. law enforcement agencies over the prosecution of Chinese law enforcement officers, a spokesperson from the ministry said on Wednesday.The U.S. Department of Justice

news.cgtn.com

"Chinese Ministry of Public Security filed solemn representations and protests with the U.S. law enforcement agencies over the prosecution of Chinese law enforcement officers, a spokesperson from the ministry said on Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Justice has maliciously concocted the so-called "transnational repression," fabricated evidence and flagrantly prosecuted 40 Chinese police officers, the spokesperson said."

Apparently some countries are not happy about China establishing illegal police stations of their own within their nations to "help" Chinese nationals get back to China. China is a sad panda about it

StillGods · Apr 27, 2023

please pray for improvement of my health and to hear back from a job I have inquired about.
I am very tired and down at times though and feeling like I am stuck where I am at. thank you for any prayers.

JHrusky · Apr 27, 2023

I just found this site while searching for Christian forums.
My name is John and I've been a Christian since a teen.
I currently attend both a non-denominational Evangelical church as well as a Baptist church.
I am a big fan of Dr. Thomas Horn and Skywatch TV. I have read many of his books and am aligned with their end-times prophecy approach. I would like to find similar discussion groups and, ultimately, prophecy conferences in the US that my wife and I could attend (1, 2, or longer-day conferences). Going to a live conference is the ultimate with the new friends one can make and the fellowship.

If anyone knows of any prophecy conferences, please let me know.

Thank you and God Bless everyone.

Merrill · Apr 27, 2023

I have typically been a DeSantis supporter until recently. But this latest measure is outrageous.

H.B. 269 codifies in law the concept of "hate speech" --something that exists nowhere in the US Constitution. The bill is promoted by the ADL, Israeli government, and left-wing politicians in the state, but has the support of DeSantis as well. Among other things, the bill:

" The bill would prohibit Floridians “from distributing onto private residential property any material that evidences religious or ethnic animus for purpose of intimidating or threatening [the] owner or resident.” It would also prohibit harassing or intimidating people “wearing or displaying of any indicia relating to any religious or ethnic heritage,” such as kippahs and other items of religious Jewish attire. "
Anyone found in violation of the law will be charged with a FELONY

And while this bill is being promoted under the cover of combating "Nazis" (its always Nazis), it would open the door to all kinds of authoritarian abuse, such as:

Charging a Palestinian activist with a felony for handing out flyers on a private college campus criticizing the treatment of his people by the Israeli government
Charging a Falun Gong member with a felony for "intimidating" Chinese people at an airport by handing out flyers or copies of Epoch Times
Throwing someone in jail for sending an angry letter to the house of a Jewish legislator. Doesn't matter what the letter says--the lawmaker is Jewish, and he feels "intimidated"
Attaching a flyer on someone's doorknob that simply lists the Jewish members of Biden's cabinet (this was actually the thing that got the bill started) could land you in prison
Holding up a sign that says "no men in women's sports" at a speech at a private university could be a "hate crime"
Handing out Bibles in front of a store, or handing out flyers that contain Gospel messages at a shopping mall, could get you charged.

I could go on and on In Jerusalem, DeSantis says U.S. should not “butt in” when it comes to Israel’s affairs - Florida Phoenix

Michie · Apr 27, 2023

Go here to read the story. Arizona Democrat, Presbyterian minister, caught repeatedly swiping Bibles in congressional lounge as "playful commentary" on church and state An ordained Presbyterian Ministress, and so filled with hate towards Christianity that she engages, on video, of a game of hiding the Bible. I can see the humor in this situation but make no mistake that the raw hate which motivates her is not humorous at all.

Continued below.

Mental Illness and the Democrat Party: Exhibit 3000

Go here to read the story. An ordained Presbyterian Ministress, and so filled with hate towards Christianity that she engages, on video, of a game of hiding the Bible. I can see the humor in this…

the-american-catholic.com

LoricaLady · Apr 27, 2023

Apr. 27, 2023 | Burkina Faso
Couple Receives Replacement Bible After Attack
[6] prayers in [1] nation have been posted for Displaced Christians.

Christians have been a primary target of Islamists in Burkina Faso since April 2019 when approximately 70 Christians were killed and five churches attacked. In 2022, Islamist activity increased in the southwestern part of the country, resulting in numerous destroyed churches and the murder of several pastors. Read More.
Apr. 27, 2023 | India
Families Forced into Jungle as Homes Are Looted
[6] prayers in [1] nation have been posted for Evicted Christian families.

In December 2022, seven Christian families in Chhattisgarh State, India, were twice summoned by the village council and warned to reconvert to Hinduism. Both times, the families refused to turn away from Christ. After the second meeting, villagers visited each family's home, first taking their household goods and then physically removing the believers from the village, warning them not to return. Read More.
Apr. 27, 2023 | Afghanistan
Ministry Continues Amid Taliban Restrictions
[6] prayers in [1] nation have been posted for Christians ministering despite the Taliban.

On August 15, 2021, the Taliban, a radical Islamist military group, took control of Afghanistan. The impact on the small Afghan Christian community was immediate and severe. "It was just like in Acts, chapter 8: ‘On that day a great persecution broke out against the church and all but the apostles scattered," said a front-line worker. Read More.

Michie · Apr 27, 2023

BERLIN, Germany — Turns out you don’t need opposable thumbs to do things like peel a banana! Pang Pha, an Asian elephant at the Berlin Zoo is making headlines for her unique way of peeling back bananas. Rather than imitating humans, she has devised an ingenious method of getting her favorite treat — without the pesky peel.

Pang Pha first breaks the banana before shaking it out and collecting the pulp with her trunk, leaving behind the thick peel. This unorthodox method may have come from watching her caretakers peel bananas. If so, it shows yet another example to an elephant’s intelligence and manipulative abilities.

“We discovered a very unique behavior,” says Michael Brecht, a researcher at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin’s Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, in a media release. “What makes Pang Pha’s banana peeling so unique is a combination of factors—skillfulness, speed, individuality, and the putatively human origin—rather than a single behavioral element.”

Continued below.

Look, no hands! Watch this elephant's unique way of peeling a banana

Turns out you don’t need opposable thumbs to do things like peel a banana!

studyfinds.org

WordSword · Apr 27, 2023

“For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church” (Eph 5:30-32).

The special mystery committed to the apostle Paul is the mystery of the Church as the Body and Bride of Christ. Why, it may be asked, was this kept secret? Because it is a heavenly thing, the subject of God’s heavenly counsels; whereas the purpose of the Old Testament prophecies is to make known His earthly counsels. This is of great importance as showing how completely the Church lies outside the world (and outside of Israel—NC). It has a different origin, it is revealed at a different time, it cherishes a different hope, it belongs to a different sphere.

Instead of inheriting the Old Testament promises and fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies, it forms the most absolute contrast with them that the mind can conceive. So different are they that the two cannot exist together (the non-Christian Jews and the Christians—NC). While God’s purposes about the earth were being unfolded, the mystery of the Church was hidden (nobody but Paul and the Lord Jesus knew about the Church—NC). When the mystery of the Church was unfolded, the purposes about the earth were suspended (e.g. how there will be a new earth, and the Jews who believe in God will be its earthly representative for God—NC).

The Church is associated with Christ in heaven; Israel is associated with Him on earth. The Church knows Him in His sufferings and patience; Israel will know Him in His exaltation and power. The Church rejoices in Him as the Bride in her Bridegroom; Israel will rejoice in Him as a nation in her Sovereign (people of God but not children of God—NC). The Church looks for Him to take her to heaven; Israel looks for Him to establish her on the earth. Such is our blessed lot, such our heavenly portion, in contrast with even the most favored of the earthly people. Alas, that hearts will fall short of this wondrous position (being earthly dwellers instead of heavenly hosts—NC).

However we may slight or neglect it (fail to know the difference between the Church and Israel and their destinies—NC), the apostle did not. Earnest as he was in seeking souls, full as he was in setting forth the simple truth of grace to the sinner, this magnificent subject of the “mystery of Christ“ (which was the mystery of Him being the Bridegroom—NC) was never absent from his thoughts or heart. If he prayed for the establishment of the saints, it was “according to the mystery” (Rom 16:25). If he would have them “knit together in love, and into all riches of the full assurance of understanding,” it is “to the acknowledgement of the mystery” (Col 2:2). If he would have the real character of the truth committed to him understood by others, it is that God had by “revelation made known unto me the mystery” (Eph 3:3).

This mystery is the Church, as the Body and Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, already united with Him by the Holy Spirit sent down to dwell in the Body on earth, and awaiting the time when this blessed oneness will be publicly displayed: “When Christ, who is our Life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Col 3:4). Surely if our hearts were more in tune with the mind of the Father and with the affections of the Lord Jesus, this wondrous theme would fill us with never-ceasing worship and praise (esp. in the trialsome times—NC).

Thomas Blackburn Baines (1832-1891)

MJS daily devotional for April 25

“The love of the Lord culminates in this, that we should be with Him. He died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him (1 Thess. 5:10). I find the one who is set on usefulness (Martha) does not advance like the one set on personal affection to Him (Mary). The Lord give us to be more personally attached to Himself; then we shall be useful according to His good pleasure.”

“There is one thing that all can do—be ‘meet for the Master’s use’ (2 Tim. 2:21); and this is the secret of usefulness. Usefulness is not activity; it is not merely being used, but it is fitness, cleanness, preparedness, and separation of heart, singleness of eye, the affections set on things above—all, in fact, that proceeds from the judgment and denial of self, and the manifestation of Christ in the life by faith.”

“All my ability to act for the Lord Jesus here depends on my conscious identification with Him where He is, not where He was for me; though as I receive power from Him I walk here even as He walked; His life is manifested in me. -James Butler Stoney (1814-1897)

None But The Hungry Heart

9Rock9 · Apr 27, 2023

What can you tell me about Independent Baptists?

They are stereotyped as fundamentalist, very strict and KJV-only, but I am wondering how personal experience differs from the stereotype?

How do they differ from Southern Baptists?

perplexed · Apr 27, 2023

Trump is definitely the best tv show ever. I would like a Hypothetical discussion about what are the best tactics for the Trump
campaign, you can discuss whether he is good or bad in other threads
I heard a theory that Trump will avoid debates this time because they will only hurt him
Many republicans don't like his "Desanctus" attacks and some independents don't like Janurary 6th so
a good strategy might be not to debate, can win the primary because he is in the lead and Biden lose by being really bad at his job.

Christson 24 · Apr 27, 2023

My name is Philip and I am very happy to be part of the body of Christ among children of God

Servant4JC · Apr 27, 2023

Hi everyone! In this discussion group I'll do my best to help people like yourself learn how to mentor new believers in Christ Jesus. Please feel encouraged to visit my website, heart4followup.com. You will find much help at my website. God Bless!

9Rock9 · Apr 27, 2023

So, I have been interested in the Nazarene Church lately, and I was surprised to learn that the denomination doesn't adhere to inerrancy the same way that most other evangelical denominations do.

Supposedly, it is inerrant in matters of faith and practice while other evangelicals believe it is inerrant in all that it teaches.

Is there a wide range of debate about what exactly inerrancy means in the church?

Xeno.of.athens · Apr 27, 2023

One example of the Mythic history of the church Genre in literature is "The trail of blood"

The Trail of Blood is a 1931 book by American Southern Baptist minister James Milton Carroll, comprising a collection of five lectures he gave on the history of Baptist churches, which he presented as a succession from the first Christians. The work has been criticized for linking together numerous unrelated sects and historical heresies that have no relation to Baptist theology or polity.

Others are "The Great Controversy"

The book begins with a historical overview, which begins with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, covers the Reformation and Advent movement in detail, and culminates with a lengthy description of the end times. It also outlines several key Seventh-day Adventist doctrines, including the heavenly sanctuary, the investigative judgment and the state of the dead.

And "Jehovah's Witnesses : proclaimers of God's kingdom"

Summary: Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom is a 749 page book that is published by Jehovah's Witnesses which gives a detailed history of the organization and organizational structure, various schools, assemblies and programs, literature, as well as a section on persecution, and problems within the organization itself.

Each book purports to give a history of Christianity, each has sources from which very tenuous ancestry for the denomination or religion is drawn, and each book proclaims that the denomination or religion it advocates for is The church that Jesus Christ founded.

I think that all three of the ones I have mentioned are mythic rather than historic and all three are fundamentally incorrect.

totallylovedbygod · Apr 26, 2023

GODLY FATHERS

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever…Psalm 23.”

There are no perfect dads in this world but the 23rd psalm paints a beautiful picture of those dads desiring to live godly lives before their children. Like our heavenly Father, a godly dad does not desire his family to be in want. Within his capability, he will not withhold any good thing from his family even if it means lying down self-interest and sacrifice on his part. He is the protector of his wife and children and wants them to feel safe and secure. He believes the effective prayer of a righteous person can accomplish much and daily intercedes for the Lord to watch over his family. Understanding the power in prayer, a godly dad takes joy in praying for the physical, emotional, moral, and spiritual health of his family.

Such a dad understands spiritual guidance involves loving instruction (Proverbs 1:8-9), discipline (Hebrews 12:7-9), and being there for his wife and kids during the good and bad times. He has learned the importance of living the Christian life before his family for the greatest gift you can give your kids is your time. He trusts if you train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. Therefore, he challenges his children as he shares with them the truth in love.

A godly dad capitalizes on those teachable moments (Deut. 6:4-9) God grants to point his children to Jesus. He makes a special effort to speak to each about their future here and in the hereafter. And he deals with each child personally, loves each child uniquely, and lives in the hope each of them will live their lives with integrity. His hope is they will store treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. (Matthew 6:20)

Such a dad is transparent and honest about his own weaknesses. He knows he is far from perfect and takes comfort in knowing he serves a perfect God. He thanks the Lord each day for showing him the best way to encourage his children (Ephesians 6:4) as he hopes to invest the Christ in his life into the life of each of them. He knows when his wife and children are relying on and depending on the Lord, his goal is accomplished. And if the Lord calls him home first, God’s goodness and lovingkindness which followed him will follow them all the days of their lives and they will dwell with him in the house of the Lord forever.

Servant4JC · Apr 26, 2023

When someone asks Jesus into their heart as their Lord and savior, we, the mature believers need to come along side these new believers and mentor them in the faith. Unfortunately this rarely happens today. This is why I created heart4followup.com. It's a resource site to help people like yourself mentor new believers. All the tools and resources and my site are FREE! Have a look! Be blessed! Be encouraged to do what God has called you to do!

Minute-24 · Apr 26, 2023

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Goonie · Apr 26, 2023

Oklahoma death row inmate loses clemency bid despite attorney general appeal

Only Republican governor Kevin Stitt stands between Richard Glossip and the death chamber, with lethal injection set for 18 May

www.theguardian.com

Should be an easy decision for the governor.

Light of the East · Apr 26, 2023

This appeal was posted on Facebook by a dear friend of mine who is a former convert and now an OCA priest. He ministers in Williamsport PA. I know him and trust him.

Please consider helping this priest to get out of his situation.

https://www.givesendgo.com/GADND?sharemsg=display

Jamdoc · Apr 26, 2023

First thing Amillennialists have said to me that doesn't fit: Isaiah 2 is about this current age, not a future age, or they may say it's about the eternal state, I've heard both from Amillenialists.

Isaiah 2

2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Now first off this can't be the eternal state, because as we'll see it conflicts with Jeremiah 31 which I'll discuss later as the 2nd thing. This is a period of time where people will make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to learn about the Lord, Jeremiah 31 has no more teaching about the Lord because everyone will already know all about Him.

4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Obviously this is not this current age, they're talking about nations not the church before someone claims it's within the church..
it isn't the eternal state because the new earth they never will have had weapons to refashion into other tools.

and next.. Jeremiah 31

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

and I've heard Amillennialists say this is fulfilled now, but the great commission absolutely trainwrecks this idea because the Lord is talking about a future where evangelism won't be happening because everyone will already have been evangelized. It can ONLY be the eternal state. Why do amillennialists claim this is now?

Both Isaiah 2 and Jeremiah 31 are not this current age
and they can't be the same age simultaneously as the eternal state/new earth.

Isaiah 2 fits a Millennial Kingdom on Earth, and Jeremiah 31 fits an eternal state on a new earth. But they contradict if applied to the same age, and neither fit this age at all.

Chris V++ · Apr 26, 2023

This is watercolor. Just playing around with a new look. It's based on the Caravaggio painting 'David with the head of Goliath' where Caravaggio based Goliath on himself. Should I keep going or is it better deliberately unfinished? It seems to have a lot of impact as is in the more abstract state.

Roman57 · Apr 26, 2023

I was brought up in a secular Jewish family in Russia, so religion wasn't something that was in my mind a lot. In fact, religion was limitted to passover celebrations. Outside of that, I didn't think much about it.

So one of those days, when I was around 12, there was an article in the secular newspaper about 10 commandments: just introduce them to people. So my grandpa sat me down to read them to me. Not any specific point. Just a nice thing to read to a kid I guess. And when he read the commandment love your neighbor, I took it literally, as in love specifically my neighbor. Except that in Russian it doesn't read as "neighbor", it reads "the person close to you". So I understood it as in I am to love my family or something similar. But then my grandfather clarified to me that it means I am to love everyone. And I asked him "why are you saying everyone, if it says the person close to you?" He responded "by the person close to you, it means any person, since you should regard any person as close to you". And I was like how are we supposed to know it? If it wants us to believe everyone is close to us, why doesn't it say so?

Fast forward many years. I wasn't thinking back to this conversation up till now. Instead, I just used to the idea that this commandment says to love everyone, and was taking it this way. And for the most part everyone takes it that way too. Even the people to whom it is inconvenient, they would use the "hate the sin love the sinner" line, since they still assume that somehow that commandment applies to all people rather than some. I think there were VERY few times when I heard some Christian say that not everyone is your neighbor. But those times were very few, indeed. And that would typically be some Christian at the fringe. And I would assume they are twisting the words to suit their own "hateful" agendas.

But now that I remember this conversation with my grandpa back when I was little, I realize: its not them who twists the words, its everyone else who does. Because when I was 12 year old, I didn't have any agenda. In fact, like I said, religion wasn't anything I ever thought about. But taking "love your neighbor" to mean as "only" people closest to you was my own, natural, way to understand it. So who is doing the twisting here?

Michael70 · Apr 26, 2023

The devil is in charge of this world until Jesus saves us. Perhaps his evil has penetrated and continues to penetrate Western Society. Is he really the cause of the turmoil in our country? Can we as Americans, in a day of prayer, pray to the Eternal for our country's sins of not following the Commandments of God? 2nd Corinthians 4-4, Revelation 12-9-thru17, also Ephesians2-2.

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Apr. 27, 2023 | Burkina Faso​

Couple Receives Replacement Bible After Attack​

Apr. 27, 2023 | India​

Families Forced into Jungle as Homes Are Looted​

Apr. 27, 2023 | Afghanistan​

Ministry Continues Amid Taliban Restrictions​

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Apr. 27, 2023 | Burkina Faso

Couple Receives Replacement Bible After Attack

Apr. 27, 2023 | India

Families Forced into Jungle as Homes Are Looted

Apr. 27, 2023 | Afghanistan

Ministry Continues Amid Taliban Restrictions