Video Talk

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV


Please pay attention to “if” words, for they usually introduce a conditional clause such as “if” this is true then it should result in this. So, when this says, “if anyone is in Christ,” it is not assuming that everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is indeed “in Christ.” And remember the words of Paul in Romans 8 where he describes those who are “in Christ” as those who are no longer walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the flesh, but now according to the Spirit, in righteous living, in obedience to the Lord.

Therefore, IF we are truly in Christ, by genuine God-given faith in him, then the old life of living in sin and for self should have died with Christ (passed away), and we should have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And that is the new that should have come. And all this is from God, for we can’t even come to faith in Jesus unless God the Father draws us to Christ, and even the faith to believe in him comes from God.

Yet even though it is God who initiates our salvation and who draws us to Christ, and even though he is the one who reconciles us to Christ, we still have to believe in him, and we still have to be reconciled to God, and we still have to die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, but in his power, for this is what it means to be reconciled. It means to change and to change to the same position as God with regard to sin and righteousness, and to change from being God’s enemies to now being his friends.

2 Corinthians 6:1-2 ESV


If we receive God’s grace in vain, it means that it is futile, useless, ineffective, abortive, and/or worthless. And this can happen through false professions of faith in Jesus Christ, or professions in a false faith, or it can result from a superficial faith which never takes root, etc. But the point is that there are people who have received the grace of God (or a false grace) in vain, for it has taken no effect in their lives, for they are still living in sin, making sin their practice, and righteousness and obedience to the Lord are not what they practice, and so they have not changed.

The old has not passed away and the new has not come because they are not truly “in Christ.” They just think they are, probably because someone told them that they were. And so the encouragement here is to make certain you are truly “in Christ,” and the evidence is that you have changed, and you are no longer living in sin, but now you are walking in obedience to the Lord in walks of righteousness. But if you are still walking in sin, and sin is still your practice, then you will not inherit eternal life with God unless you repent of your sin and you follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his ways.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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Patrick Yan



Steven Shi | 約 翰 一 書



芮牧师 | 约翰二书

真柱浸信教会


Rev. John Byl

圣传归正教会改革宗华语堂

SHANGRI LA TIBETAN

Tibetan, Shangri La in China

Hey, I went to a confessional Lutheran conference in Niigata, Japan. I was graciously invited to make a presentation on Lutheran Liturgical Worship, and I made a recording of the same speech when I came home, if anyone's interested:

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and I wonder, because when the Church was picking which books to include in canon, for old testament they just accepted what the Jews had made canon, and the Jews established their canon bible after the 1st century, if the Jews had excluded Enoch BECAUSE it is so Christ Centric and equates Christ on the same level as God, this being a book written before Jesus was born, found in the dead sea scrolls.
I've read part of it and I'm still trying to process it, but many of the doctrines that the New Testament screams, but the Old Testament only whispered about, are screamed in I Enoch, such as salvation by grace, the worship of Christ Himself, the separation of the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man as 2 distinct people both worshiped as God, the lake of fire, the new earth, immortality of the elect

But to post first century Judaism those doctrines are anathema, they believe Messiah will be their King but do not believe Messiah is divine. It is whispered in the canon old testament, but shouted in I Enoch.

Now there are problems with the book's descriptions of cosmology, and giants that are miles tall, it uses geographic locations that shouldn't have existed (or at least shouldn't have existed by the names used) pre flood, like Dan, in a similar manner people think the book of Job is the oldest book in canon scripture, believing it to be pre flood, but it uses the Chaldeans, which would have been around the time of Babylonian captivity (I Enoch also mentions the 2 giant monster like beasts that are from Job, Leviathan and Behemoth)
But this book, reads like it'd HAVE to have been written after the new testament, but.. archaeological evidence puts it before the time of Christ.

I really don't know how to parcel it because if it was written before the apostles.. the Apostles seem to reference it, Jude quotes it.

I know it's going to get a lot of flack even posting this thread, but.. reading it, it's just.. a huge flagpole waving just how much it is about Christ., and how much it exalts Christ. Isaiah had a lot about the Messiah and if you really read into it, yeah Messiah is divine.
... But you really have to read into it.
I Enoch.. Messiah's divine and there's not even any way to plausibly deny that He is.
The doctrines in it on Christ are.. so far, consistent with New and Old Testament canon.
But.. cosmology problems and exaggeratedly tall giants.

The Hebrew word translated "God" is Elohim (H430); which is also translated "gods" throughout the Hebrew canon (Ex.12:12,18:11), this is because Elohim is a plural noun. But always in all scripture, when Elohim is used for the God of Israel, it is used in a grammatical singular sense, because it governs the singular verb and adjective, speaking of one, this is the simple interpretational key to determining its use when refencing the God of Israel, and any other would be a clear perversion to one of the most fundamental rules of hermeneutics (interpreting it differently than its use in every other occurrence, to satisfy one's own theological understanding)

In Gen.1:26, elohim is being used in its natural plural sense, by the plural verb "let us make", and the possessive pronoun "our". In every other occurrence where elohim is used with the plural verb it is not used for the GOD of the bible. So why read GOD into this scripture? The text should read like this: And (the) gods (elohim) said, let us make man in our image and likeness: that they may have dominion...now we know that GOD is the only creator, but the bible does teach of a divine counsel of spirit beings that deliberates in making decisions (Dan.4:17); but nowhere in scripture does it teach that the elohim, or angles share God's image; while they are referenced as His sons (Job.38:7), nowhere do they bear the title "image". The word does however teach that from among this divine counsel some have rebelled. So what is taking place in Gen.1:26, are the rebellious elohim of the divine counsel, that are making the wicked suggestion that man be made in their image and likeness (1Kings 22:19-22; Ps.82;86.8); that's why the serpent later tempts them with the temptation, "you will be like the elohim (the gods)".

From this verse on it is the LORD God, not just Elohim (in order to make a distinction to the reader), that speaks to these (spirit beings) elohim (Gen.3:22;11:6-7; Isa.6.8); as the Most High Elohim of the divine counsel (Ps.89:5-8). Showing that God is not the one that is speaking in Gen.1.26; but rather what we have here is the "us" being used as a grammatical clue to draw the reader's attention to the authors (elohim) thought play; which is veiled within the narrative of the multiple previous statements "And God said".

And in response to their suggestion, it says "God made man in His own image" (not theirs), this seems to be the reason for the little poem of repetition that is in (Gen.1:27) in order catch the reader's attention on what is taking place in these verses (meditation literature).

The close context clues of verses 14-18 give further support as this being the meaning, where the hosts of heaven (sun, moon, stars, spirit beings are referred to as stars throughout the scripture,Ps.148:1-3; Jud.5:20; Dan.8:10; Amos.5:26; Job.38:7; Rev.12:4,9) are given rule over the day and night, and assigned with separating the light from the dark as God did in v.4 (delegated authority); which in ancient near eastern cosmology, the sun, moon, and stars are metaphorically used for the (elohim) gods. Who were believed to maintain the function of the cosmos. They wanted man to rule over earth in their image (instead of God's image), as they (the elohim) ruled in the heavens, they wanted the glory and worship (Deut.4.19).

Further evidence is clearly seen in Ps.8; which quotes Gen.1.28, speaking of the glory and honor that God allotted to Man over all creation ...thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou has put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen...Ps.8:6-8.

Paul's refence to Christs exaltation in Eph.1:22 quotes Ps.8 "And hath put all things under his feet" He describes these "all things" as the principalities, powers, mights and dominions; Eph.6.12 describes them as the rulers of darkness of this world, as the evil spirits in the heavens.

Well where does it mention in Ps.8, that evil heavenly ruling spirits would be included in these "all things" that are to be placed under Mans feet?

In Ps.8:3 "When I consider the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have ordained" it does not mention the Sun, but rather the moon and stars, which in Gen.1.14-18 where given dominion over the night (the rulers of darkness, Eph.6:12; Col.1:13).

Then in Ps.8:5 "For you made him a little lower than the elohim"; now remember that the moon and stars in Ps.8:3 are the works of Gods fingers, then it says Man will be given dominion over the works of God's hands(this is to draw the reader's attention to what was previously mentioned as being the works of Gods fingers, the moon and stars, which are included in the works of God's hands), that have been placed beneath His feet, to which Paul interprets as being the evil spirits that have been placed beneath the feet of Christ; Man was made a little lower than the elohim (which the moon and stars that the psalmist was considering are meant to represent), but Man as God's image has now been exulted above them, above the evil spirits in the heavens (Eph.1.20-23;Col.1:15-16).

The Hebrew word translated "God" is Elohim (H430); which is also translated "gods" throughout the Hebrew canon (Ex.12:12,18:11), this is because Elohim is a plural noun. But always in all scripture, when Elohim is used for the God of Israel, it is used in a grammatical singular sense, because it governs the singular verb and adjective, speaking of one, this is the simple interpretational key to determining its use when refencing the God of Israel, and any other would be a clear perversion to one of the most fundamental rules of hermeneutics (interpreting it differently than its use in every other occurrence, to satisfy one's own theological understanding)

In Gen.1:26, elohim is being used in its natural plural sense, by the plural verb "let us make", and the possessive pronoun "our". In every other occurrence where elohim is used with the plural verb it is not used for the GOD of the bible. So why read GOD into this scripture? The text should read like this: And (the) gods (elohim) said, let us make man in our image and likeness: that they may have dominion...now we know that GOD is the only creator, but the bible does teach of a divine counsel of spirit beings that deliberates in making decisions (Dan.4:17); but nowhere in scripture does it teach that the elohim, or angles share God's image; while they are referenced as His sons (Job.38:7), nowhere do they bear the title "image". The word does however teach that from among this divine counsel some have rebelled. So what is taking place in Gen.1:26, are the rebellious elohim of the divine counsel, that are making the wicked suggestion that man be made in their image and likeness (1Kings 22:19-22; Ps.82;86.8); that's why the serpent later tempts them with the temptation, "you will be like the elohim (the gods)".

From this verse on it is the LORD God, not just Elohim (in order to make a distinction to the reader), that speaks to these (spirit beings) elohim (Gen.3:22;11:6-7; Isa.6.8); as the Most High Elohim of the divine counsel (Ps.89:5-8). Showing that God is not the one that is speaking in Gen.1.26; but rather what we have here is the "us" being used as a grammatical clue to draw the reader's attention to the authors (elohim) thought play; which is veiled within the narrative of the multiple previous statements "And God said".

And in response to their suggestion, it says "God made man in His own image" (not theirs), this seems to be the reason for the little poem of repetition that is in (Gen.1:27) in order catch the reader's attention on what is taking place in these verses (meditation literature).

The close context clues of verses 14-18 give further support as this being the meaning, where the hosts of heaven (sun, moon, stars, spirit beings are referred to as stars throughout the scripture,Ps.148:1-3; Jud.5:20; Dan.8:10; Amos.5:26; Job.38:7; Rev.12:4,9) are given rule over the day and night, and assigned with separating the light from the dark as God did in v.4 (delegated authority); which in ancient near eastern cosmology, the sun, moon, and stars are metaphorically used for the (elohim) gods. Who were believed to maintain the function of the cosmos. They wanted man to rule over earth in their image (instead of God's image), as they (the elohim) ruled in the heavens, they wanted the glory and worship (Deut.4.19).

Further evidence is clearly seen in Ps.8; which quotes Gen.1.28, speaking of the glory and honor that God allotted to Man over all creation ...thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou has put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen...Ps.8:6-8.

Paul's refence to Christs exaltation in Eph.1:22 quotes Ps.8 "And hath put all things under his feet" He describes these "all things" as the principalities, powers, mights and dominions; Eph.6.12 describes them as the rulers of darkness of this world, as the evil spirits in the heavens.

Well where does it mention in Ps.8, that evil heavenly ruling spirits would be included in these "all things" that are to be placed under Mans feet?

In Ps.8:3 "When I consider the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have ordained" it does not mention the Sun, but rather the moon and stars, which in Gen.1.14-18 where given dominion over the night (the rulers of darkness, Eph.6:12; Col.1:13).

Then in Ps.8:5 "For you made him a little lower than the elohim"; now remember that the moon and stars in Ps.8:3 are the works of Gods fingers, then it says Man will be given dominion over the works of God's hands(this is to draw the reader's attention to what was previously mentioned as being the works of Gods fingers, the moon and stars, which are included in the works of God's hands), that have been placed beneath His feet, to which Paul interprets as being the evil spirits that have been placed beneath the feet of Christ; Man was made a little lower than the elohim (which the moon and stars that the psalmist was considering are meant to represent), but Man as God's image has now been exulted above them, above the evil spirits in the heavens (Eph.1.20-23;Col.1:15-16).

"The letter of "reprimand" that Saint Porphyrios sent to Elder Paisios is misinformation" is the title of a YouTube video of an audio recording of a conversation between a radio show host and Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou. ​

In the online article by John Sanidopoulis entitled “Controversial End Time Prophecies by Holy Elders”, mention is made of a retraction by Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou of a statement he’d made 20 years earlier during a public broadcast, with regards to an alleged “letter” of reprimand from St. Porphyrios to St. Paisios, (due to the latter’s concerns about addressing and speaking about “end times” matters with people). This retraction was recorded as a radio interview, but there had been no subtitles in English available in any of the online offerings. Thus, I was able to get it transcribed in English for anyone who may be interested in knowing what the Metropolitan says in his retraction. The conversation went as follows:

Bishop: On occasion of the nice show we are

doing, I want to tell you something that you

might not know. We have benefited people my

dear Cleito.

Cleitos: I hope so.

Bishop: But we have scandalized some people,

you know, and I want to tell you an incident; I

think, in the year two thousand; I was then a

young bishop and you were even younger.

Cleitos : 14 years ago.

Bishop: 14 years ago, we did a show again

about the holy fathers and in fact it was about

the three, Porphyrios, Iakovos and Eumenius,

the three I got to know the most.

Cleitos: yes, yes, yes.

Bishop: At one point in our talk, because there

was then in Cyprus a widespread prophecy

that there will be a war in Cyprus, that there will

be a disaster in Cyprus in the year 2000, it was

the millennium then, do you remember then?

Cleitos: yes, yes, yes.

Bishop: The completion of the second

millennium of Christ. The world reached the

peak of its anxiety as it happens at every

completion of a millennium, and therefore

various people began to prophesize either true

or half-truths; half-truths means half-lies.

Cleitos: Scaremongering.

Bishop: Scaremongering. In my attempt, a new

bishop at the time, to stop this terrorism, I

remember I said something, for which I need to

publicly apologize, now that I'm speaking

publicly, since I said it publicly then. I said

something, which is now on the Internet, you

know; they have found our show that we did

back then.

Cleitos: Yes.

Bishop: And they have posted it, only that

fragment is heard; your voice and mine, you

asking me and I answer and roughly say the

following. And I need to apologize and you

should use your judgement and intelligence.

Cleitos: Let me find it and listen to it.

Bishop: Yes. On the Internet it appears as: "the

reprimand Elder Porphyrios issued on Elder

Paisios" why? Because I misrepresented, for

that I apologize deeply, publicly. I conveyed the

revelation of a saintly monk who visited me

before I became a bishop in Mavrovouni, in the

monastery where I was a monk, and it was

then that the Saint Paisios of blessed memory

wrote about 666, about the antichrist about the

card...

Cleitos: Yes, yes.

Bishop: ...the identity card and by the grace of

God, this holy man, God enlightened him, to

put these in writing so that there is no doubt

that they are not his. I say to this monk from

Mount Athos: "but what are the things that

Elder Paisios writes? "This monk is a good

man. He says to me, you know, Elder

Porphyrios does not agree with these and he

supposedly sent Elder Paisios a letter, in which

he wrote: “Elder Paisios, you should stop

prophesizing and I reprimand you because, I

am also a priest, and these things are of no

use and you should not tell them to people”.

That's what I told you back then, now you

know, the demons have gone mad at the glory

of Paisios and because Elder Paisios is

confirmed in many things he said since 1980 all

the way to the day he died and some blogs on

the Internet, that then when we did this show,

there was no Internet, have made it their goal

to demystify Elder Paisios, maybe other Elders

too… and they found this speech.... we sent a

message that this was not our talk, it was

someone else's. I checked and Elder

Porphyrios never spoke like that about Elder

Paisios.

On the contrary, each honored the holiness of

the other. Sometimes Elder Paisios would say

with his good sense of humor, what are you

guys from Athens coming to me, I have a black

and white TV, you have Porphyrios who has a

color one.

Cleitos: Yes, and he showed his humility and

recognition.

Bishop: We also investigated with the people of

the hermitage with whom I have excellent

relations, as you know, in Milesi if there ever

was such a letter from Elder Porphyrios to

Elder Paisios. There never was such a letter.

So it is my duty as a responsible bishop who

honors and respects and is grateful to the

memory of the holy Elders Paisios and

Porphyrios to apologize for this

misunderstanding that occurred.

I used to listen to this preacher a lot and I found some of the things he mentioned helpful, but I didn’t realize the great error of this one teaching until much later. For one he had the strange idea to teach the gap theory on creation and he would advocate The Old Scofield Study Bible (which I’m glad I never did buy that book). But at least one thing I learned from him that seemed to stand out uniquely as true was his teaching on cessationism. That was at least the one take away for me.


But moving on now to my comments on this video:

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Would you notice what he’s doing here? He’s pointing out the error of “make Jesus Lord”. Yes, we shouldn’t tell people to make Jesus Lord because he already is. However, repenting of your sins is not a work. Confessing sin, accepting his forgiveness and requesting that he help you to obey is not a work. Notice also the YouTuber’s channel EZsalvation. And he titles the video Lordship salvation heresy. But what is heresy to these people? They think you can profess faith in Christ, be saved and be a heretic, though they would never affirm what’s known as hyper grace. They don’t wish it on anyone to be saved and then go on to live as a heretic. No instead what they teach is that they need a second act of grace, one to be saved and sealed, and they may or may not go on to be a disciple of Christ. I see no need to divide belief in Christ from disciple of Christ, as the only thing that matters is growing in that discipleship—not that some luck out and fail to see Jesus as Lord. Remember the significance of the Philippian jailer being told to believe in the LORD Jesus and you will be saved. That in itself is an act of surrender.

Far-right broadcaster Pete Santilli called on members of the military to execute former President Barack Obama, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and former National Security Advisor Susan Rice if former President Donald Trump is arrested.

"Get the military, whatever few are left that are gonna side with the people. You military personnel and you people with guns and badges and law enforcement will succumb to the will of the people," Santilli said in a clip flagged by Right Wing Watch.

Who is this clown? What in the heck does Pres. Obama have to do with Donald Trump's legal problems?

He's obviously trying to rile up the conservative troglodyte wing. It's cosmically asinine.

https://www.salon.com/2023/03/20/right-wing-host-calls-for-military-to-execute-obama-if-is-indicted/

I typed into a website and found criticism of it by some who said it was NAR, and NAR was new to me. I had to look it up. I never read any of C P Wagner works. I also judge not to agree with the end times transfer of wealth from the unrighteous to the just... I hold to Bible promises. I want the life of blessings.

I think the old witch hunter and thirty years war type of people look for reasons to infight, using NAR currently. Some prayers we all pray are now considered NAR and the infighters want them cancelled. Like "Dear God, give us government with faith and Christian values." These prayers are ancient. Even going back to Constantine.

Wouldn't it be great if China became a Christian country? I think it unfair that a person can be labelled NAR. It is a theological movement and has no members. It based on Wagner's observations of dynamic expanding churches across the world back in 1988... and so if he got it askew, it is not fair for them to be labelled and cancelled by his mistake... we need church expansion, it is God's Kingdom will, His commission. Lives depend on it. I don't think NAR is all wrong, but partly so it needs sorting.

From Wikipedia, what is right or wrong with this? How can we bless churches that expand while not erring in our ways? How can we deal with the jealous and otherwise motivated infighters? New Apostolic Reformation Description

One of our largest enemies, just accomplished a peace treaty with the world's largest producers of oil.

This thread is divided into four parts to be issued over the course of this week.

1) Rick Warren’s basic hermeneutical errors.
2) Examination of Warren’s exegetical gymnastics.
3) Warren’s flawed understanding of SBC’s particular teaching of primary and secondary doctrines.
4) Warren’s low view of the authority of Scripture and even lower view of the doctrine of Public ministry.

Warren’s interview can be found here. Rick Warren: The Great Commission’s ‘Go and Teach’ Applies to Women

Rick Warren’s interview on the Russell Moore show (3/8/23) gives tremendous insight how Warren handles Scripture. He basically discards basic hermeneutical rules for interpreting Scripture…. one of which is “THE CLEAR TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE INTERPRET THE OBSURE TEXTS.” Warren reverses this and uses “out of context” obscure texts in the NT to allow women’s ordination, while discarding or ignoring the clear texts of what the doctrine of doctrine of Public Ministry is and who is qualified for it.

If for example I would like to teach the subject of Election in Scripture, I would go to Eph. 1 & 2 and Romans 9 first, because the doctrine of Election is most clearly articulated there.

If I want to teach on who is qualified to be a pastor in the church, who is disqualified, and who is forbidden to hold the office of pastor, I would go to I Cor. 14, Titus 1, I Tim. and II Timothy.

The reason why Warren refuses to begin his investigation on who is qualified to be a pastor in the NT is because there are hundreds of different interpretations on this subject. “Now we’re talking about difference of interpretation. Those particular passages—Titus, Timothy, and Corinthians—have hundreds, literally hundreds, of interpretations.” This is a straw man argument.

Warren doesn’t even attempt to understand the clear texts of Scripture, because there are “literally hundreds” of interpretations. In responding to this line of reasoning, couldn’t Warren’s argument be applied to any part of Scripture? After all, it is possible that any part of Scripture can have “hundreds of interpretations?”

There are not “hundreds of interpretations” to Paul’s teaching on Women’s ordination….basically two. Those that affirm Paul’s teaching and those that do not.

“There are hundreds of interpretations” motto is Rick Warren’s GET OUT OF JAIL CARD. Anytime someone criticizes him for not following Paul’s teaching…all he has to say is “There are hundreds of interpretations” on this matter and the conversation is over. And you can bet he will use this card again and again in the future.

Hello all,

So the focus of my church at the moment is on growing our church. I have thought about this a lot and i believe that the primary way to do this is to follow Gods word as best as we are able.

However, my church does not seem concerned with this. One obvious example is that we have female elders. From my understanding of scripture, it is clear that one of the qualifications for a church elder is that they are male.

It is therefore my belief that if we were to appoint male only elders, this would please God and in return He would bless our church and help us to grow not only in numbers but also in each church members love of Jesus Christ: or at least start us moving in that direction.

The problem here is this: i believe that bringing this idea up will cause controversy and conflict and i am reluctant to be the person who causes division and ill feeling in my church and probably getting a reputation as a trouble maker/ contentious person.

However, it seems to me that if God redeems a person and chooses a church for that person to worship Him in, He would be more likely to send them to a church that cares about following His word thanone that is seemingly unconcerned about it.

Therefore my question is this: would addressing this issue/topic be the right thing to do or am i acting like a pharisee? because i am to-ing and fro-ing over it a great deal.

Sometimes i think it is not a big deal, but then i also wonder about Paul entering our church and looking at our elders board. Would he overlook this? or would he weep over our hard-hearts? Is the Lord pleased that we are disregarding a seeminlgy clear instruction as to how we are to order a church that pleases Him? or is He also unconcerned over the point? Would He want me to focus on something else? is this a trivial point?

Hi.I can't do this anymore. I feel empty and fears. I think i going to hell . I commited the blasphemy the Holy Spirit by intrusive thoughts it was so scary beause of this i doubt my salvation i can't be saved. I afraid this sin so much and it controls my life. I am depressed i can't handle with this problem. I can't trust Jesus ,he can't help me cause i am unforgiven. I have suicidal thoughts too,i would end me but i scared and i wanna live. I cry everyday for reaction to Jesus. It seems to me He doesn't want to help me and talk to me.I took knife and i would to hurt myself. But i couldn't .There is no hope for me. I can do nothing my life. Before conversion i had sad life , i had miserable love, no friends,no job,no drive license,i had dreaming about better life. I want live forever.Please pray for me my heart is so borken by intrusive thoughts!!!

I did not know where to post this but i am happy to be back to christian forums.
I am Daniela and live in albania.
It is great to be back.
Also if you want to be my friend message me as i want to make new friends.
Hugs and love ❤️

Two Knesset members propose legislation to outlaw sharing the Gospel in Israel and send violators to prison – could it become law? ​

Former Trump-Pence official warns bill poses massive threat to free speech, human rights and religious freedom

Although this is aimed at Evangelical Christians (note the Palm Sunday and Easter reference) it is still of note here in this forum for Messianics as it would affect them living in the land as well.

Some quotes from the article, please read.


"The proposed legislation would outlaw all efforts by people of one faith who, in any way, want to discuss or try to persuade people of other faiths to consider changing their current religious beliefs.

The punishment for doing so would be “one year imprisonment.”

If the conversation is with minor – someone under the age of 18 – the punishment would be “two years imprisonment.”"

My wife received a recorded phone call that she must appear in court tomorrow or a warrant will be issued for her arrest. She was previously exempted from court because she has a critical appointment concerning her gums at the same time. She can't reach anyone by phone to resolve the situation. Please pray that this situation is resolved.

and others to control theirs.

Anger is harmful to children whether it's verbal or physical. Some children are more difficult than others, but anger causes more harm than good. We should demonstrate self-control even if our parents and childcare relatives didn't with us. Patient parents calmly instruct and explain.


"A fool vents all his anger, but a wise man holds it back." (Berean, Prov. 29:11)


"My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,"
(Berean, James 1:19)


"Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly." (Prov. 14:29)

BOOK PICK: Hungry and looking to learn more about holy lives? Pick up Father Leo Patalinghug’s ‘Dining With the Saints.’

DINING WITH THE SAINTS

By Father Leo Patalinghug and Michael P. Foley

Regnery History, 2023

500 pages, $39.95

To order: EWTN Religious Catalogue

Catholic and love to cook?

If so, check out the brand-new cookbook called Dining With the Saints, authored by chef and EWTN host Father Leo Patalinghug and drinks writer Michael Foley.

New from Regnery History, the book takes readers through 12 full months of saintly days that list many familiar and some relatively unknown figures, with recipes tied to what foods and drinks they enjoyed.

That is Part I; Part II takes readers — and cooks — through “The Liturgical Seasons” with even more recipes.

And at the end of each saint’s recipe is a box called “Food for Thought.” Each delivers a message about faith, food or advice from a saint.

Continued below.

This isn't about any certain flaws about the current death penalty in states that do still have them, flaws such as mistakes when innocent are executed.

Let's assume if there were no mistakes. And forget the cost, and if it even has any impact at deterring crime compared to states that have life imprisonment instead.

This will be about how God would want things done. And about giving justice and in what way will there be justice, what is the appropriate punishment?

Should a Christian support the death penalty or not?

The Old Testament had the death penalty, are we still to have it today?

This expands on a post "the world's first horse riders"


It's not just horse riding that gives the lie to evolution. Man has achieved more in the last 6,000 years than in the million or so since man supposedly first evolved. There are plausible and logical explanations that do not require evolution. There are many facts that demonstrate that evolution as usually defined is implausible.

Psalms 112:1


If we fear the Lord, we take God and his Word seriously. We take it to heart, and so we do what it teaches those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, under the New Covenant. And we cease doing what it warns us we must stop doing. And we give honor, respect, submission, and obedience to our Lord because we love him, and because we are so grateful for what he did for us in putting our sins to death with him on that cross so that we can now die with him to sin, by his grace, and live to him and to his righteousness.

Psalms 112:6-9


By God’s grace, and in his strength and power, those of us who are walking in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord are able to remain steadfast in faith and to not be moved away from those walks of faith in him. Even when our faith is being tested by trials and tribulations of many different kinds, we are able, by the grace of God, to remain firm in our faith, trusting in the Lord despite all that is going on in our lives. For our faith in our Lord, a faith which comes from God, is able to conquer all our fears.

And this is not to say that we have always been this way, and it definitely has not come about in our own strength and willpower. Some of us have had to learn this the hard way, through many trials and tribulations, in order to make us strong and determined to not be afraid, and to not give up, and to not retreat. For we learn obedience through the things which we suffer. And through troubles and hardships we learn to rely on the Lord and not on ourselves, and we learn perseverance and steadfastness of spirit.

Now “bad news” comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes. And sometimes it is the realization that we are being targeted for failure, that there are those who are plotting evil against us, trying to trip us up with our words, so that we will fail. Or they may be secretly doing things against us to try to make us afraid so that we will fail. And they may be trying all sorts of different things until they can find one trick they think will work and will be successful in bringing us down and in getting us to fail spiritually. For that is their goal.

And in some cases, this is a lot like Cain and Abel, for Cain hated his brother Abel, and he was jealous of him, because Abel’s sacrifice to God was acceptable to God and Cain’s was not, but also because Abel’s deeds were righteous and Cain’s were evil, and so he hated his brother and he murdered him (see 1 John 3:11-12; Genesis 4:6-8). And thus we may have people in our lives who are resentful of our walks of faith, for the same reasons, and who will make attempts at trying to get us to fail.

So, we need to be aware that these types of things are not only possible, but that the Scriptures teach us that if we are following Jesus Christ with our lives that we will be hated and persecuted like Jesus was hated and persecuted, which is what I just described above. And this is Satan’s plot against us because he wants us to fail and to walk away from God and to return to living in sin and for self. So if we recognize that these types of things may happen to us, then we can be prepared to combat them.

[Matt 5:10-16; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Matt 28:18-20; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Acts 1:8; Acts 14:22; Acts 26:18; Rom 5:3-5; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; 2 Co 1:3-11; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Phil 3:7-11; Col 3:16; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; Heb 3:13; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 2:9; 1 Pet 4:12-17]

Psalms 112:10


Now our resistance to Satan and to his evil plots against us will anger him, and it will anger those who are working for Satan and who are plotting evil against us. They will be upset when we do not fall apart, for that is what they hope for. For they want us to fail. They want us to curse God and die. So they are hoping we will fail so that they can point a finger at us in order to justify their own wickedness. For our walks of faith are an offense to them, and they are a constant reminder of their own failed lives.

So, we need to be on guard, and we have to anticipate that Satan might use all kinds of different tricks and schemes to try to get us to fail. And sadly, we can’t really trust anyone to be who he or she says they are, especially if they are people on the internet who we don’t know, because anything can be faked on the internet, and people can be whoever they choose to be, and even people we know in person may pretend to be what they are not in an attempt to try to deceive us or to trick us, again in hopes we will fail.

So, when we don’t fail, and when we keep trusting the Lord, and we keep following him in obedience, despite all the schemes against us, and all the tricks being tried against us, this will anger the wicked who are plotting evil against us. And especially if they were ever successful in leading us astray, but they aren’t anymore, because our faith is much stronger, they may get enraged because we are not caving to our trials, but we are victorious. But the desire of the wicked will perish along with the wicked who will perish.

[Jn 3:19-20; 2 Thes 2:9-10; 2 Thes 3:1-2; Jas 1:19-21; 3 Jn 1:10; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 15:18-20; Mk 7:20-22; Lu 6:45; Lu 13:26-28; Jn 5:28-29; Rom 1:29-32; Rom 2:6-10; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-11; Heb 3:12; 1 Pet 3:12; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

The Prayer

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,
Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

I pray you'll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don't know

I pray we'll find your light
And hold it in our hearts
When the stars go out each night
Remind us where you are.

Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe.

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Bless Israel With Yeshua - ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry
OUR MESSIAH JESUS HAS BEEN THE BEST KEPT SECRET AMONG THE JEWISH PEOPLE.

ISRAELI ARABS AND JEWS. UNITED IN THE GOSPEL.

Mark 12:27 (NASB)

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.