I have formed no opinion on this subject, I have done very little research but I am interested to learn about this issue.

I would like to see where Christians stand on this subject, and share why they are either opposed to citizens owning guns or in support of it.

Walmart is getting out of Portland, Oregon because of theft and lack of law enforcement. This city is a prime example of Democrat Party poverty creation, poverty perpetuation, & political control. There is always a problem, someone else to blame, and false social concerns over those impacted by the economic fallout.

The NY Post points out the reason for the closures:



The Portland demopravda media reports on Walmart’s decision in dry business rationales divorced from the main reason: crime. They already focus on the impact of the closures on the needy and ignore why access to needed goods & services breaks down to begin with.

~ I don’t matter ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are some of the most freeing words on the planet, for because one matters to God, one does not need to matter to oneself….. For knowing that all things come from God and that all things are His; ‘being that in Him we live and move and have our being’…… For living in the knowledge of; because of Him there is something and not nothing, which knowledge produces a strength that comes from an eternal truth… Likewise the eternal truth of one being joined with Christ in both His death and resurrection is the strength of life that is offered in Christ….

For the strength that is offered in Christ is the heart resting in it’s death in Christ, for it being the effect brought forth by the proper cause…. For though the world may reject this truth, this truth causes the heart to rest in the reality of Christ’s death being it’s death, and Christ now living His life in and through, for this truth being the truth of the salvation offered in Christ… Then comes the rejoicing, as faith grabs unto this truth for the experiencing of all the goodness, love and mercy, and all the blessings of Christ’s life which are brought forth by being joined with Christ in His death and resurrection by faith…..

For the salvation offered by God goes to the very ground of life itself, for so very blessed is the heart that is willing to embrace God’s salvation on His terms…. For reckoning oneself dead in Christ is the opener of all God’s good things, for once the heart would rather die then sin, then the simple faith of the heart embracing it’s death in Christ is the way of entering into God’s rest…. Because of this most assured fact; ‘I don’t matter because I have died and my life is hidden with Christ in God’….

For all that matters now is walking in all the light one sees, for walking in that light is living up to the standard one has achieved, for it being the food which causes the growth of the new creation, for it being that life that will live on in Heaven….

For being set free from oneself is a matter of being willing to die rather then sin, then believing into one’s death in Christ, for Jesus did die and we in Him, blessed is the heart that hears those words….

May we all be blessed in the freedom that comes from not mattering to oneself…


Onto Him be our all, Not me

hi all,

As a few of you may know, I have bipolar 1. I was diagnosed around ten years ago. My parents always thought it was because of genetics, because my maternal grand aunt was retarded (I do not know what she had, but she had the IQ of a toddler) and 1 of my paternal uncle had a personality disorder that made him act impulsively and start a lot of fist fights.

Recently, I talked to my maternal and paternal uncles and aunts, and they all told me that they believed I do not have my paternal uncle and my maternal grand aunt's illness, one likely low IQ and the other probably middle to low functioning psychopathy.

I have also tested for slightly above average IQ, around 140, my mother got her results and her score was slightly below average, my father average, but on the low side.

My parents have always been very cruel to me. my mother was extremely strict towards me since a young age, and when my brother was born five years late, she became very cold and withdrawn towards me. I distinctly remember how I fell (I was 8) and skinned my knee terribly. to this day I have the scar and I'm almost thirty, and she ignored me while I was crying (even though I hardly cried) and continued to teach my brother how to read. She also reported my 'misbehaviour' such as being annoyed with her and using a bad word ( mild ones like "shut up"). Every little thing I did she had to tell my father, who would either yell at me or slap me. I was annoyed easily, still am. anyway my father was worse. like I've said, he would shout at me or slap me, and whenever I had ideas about anything, he would shoot them down. it's only after I was diagnosed with bipolar they stopped their cruel abuse and started being genial to me. which is actually what hurts even more. they weren't genial with me because they loved me, but because they finally 'understood' why I was so 'difficult', and that it was 'genetic' and I couldn't 'help' being that way.

the truth is, they were the only people in my life who thought I was difficult. everyone else, adult or peers, recognised my high IQ and maturity for my age.

I can't help but think that I developed bipolar because of my parents. they didn't want a child, they wanted a robot. my brother was the model child, he did everything they wanted and asked him to. I was precocious, I had a very active mind and got bored and annoyed often. I asked them questions they didn't understand so they thought I was the one with low iq.

I know both my family grew up in non conducive environments. my father was the last child in a 13 children household. he had no time to read or do anything good for his mental development. he had no educated parents to guide him either. his mother died when he was five, when his father came back from his work trip only to know his wife had died, he stopped talking and sat on his rocking chair all day, everyday, never uttering a word. he died a few years later. my father grew up with no worthy role models. he was also an introvert, and he was bad at presenting himself, and they were dirt poor anyway, so his idols are people who are poor but still made time to entertain or help other poor children. to this day he has a distaste for anything 'luxurious'. we are no longer poor but he likes to dress in faded clothes and keeps his hair unkempt. He talks loudly, almost rudely. this is the picture of someone worthy of respect, to him. and then he puzzles over why some people doesn't like to associate with him. He has average IQ, but on the low side, his beliefs and worldview are strongly affected by emotion. there is almost no introspection. But he is good at other things, because of his high profile job, he has learnt how to deal with dangerous people, like mob bosses, et cetera.
Disclaimer my father is not involved in anything illegal, he is a consultant for hotel management issues and some of the people who hire him are connected to the mafia, or other secret societies.

As for my mother, only she turned out the way she is. my aunt and uncle are very emotionally intelligent. I have an explanation for this. My grandmother probably has low IQ as well, the way she behaves. My grandfather divorced her when my mother and her siblings were 3 years old. My grandma sent my uncle to New York to study, and my mom and aunt were left with her. My aunt was very young, and since my uncle was away at New York and my grandma had to work long hours to be able to pay the bills, my mom, as young as age 5, had to take care of her little sister, and do the cooking, cleaning, and they didn't have a car, so she had to walk to school. my grandma returned from work late at night, and my mom had to pick her little sister from one of the bus stops, so from five years of age to fifteen, she had to run to the bus stop daily to pick my aunt up. my aunt was very young, so my grandma had no choice but to ask my mom to pick her up. my mom had to run because my grandma didn't want my aunt to wait too long at the bus stop because she was young and tiny.

they could hardly afford any food, so my mom probably didn't have much nutrients to grow her brain, all her life, and because she liked sports, she probably didn't have enough nutrients at all, both for her body and brain. Also, my grandma used to be one hell of a volcano. she was very strict with my mom, my mom was always terrified of her getting angry.

I know the histories of both my parents, but still, I feel so angry. and I feel hurt. I can't help but feel that if they were smarter or more educated or had more patience I wouldn't have ended up with bipolar. Most people with bipolar apparently have average or below average IQ, all the more convinces me that mine isn't hereditary. but I know my parents love me. it was just very circumstantial, everything was. but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. it's been ten years since I was diagnosed, and it still hurts so much.

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Pretty concerning. Some people found it odd this was shown on CNN.

NOT A QUOTE: Really, the safest way for Trump to arrive in courtI without disrupting traffic and inconveniencing New Yorkers would be a parachute jump on to the courthouse roof. After all, George HW Bush jumped out of a plane when he was 90, and Trump can't allow George HW Bush to outdo him when he makes his grand appearance before a grand jury. Ia am kind of disappointed, though. So many states and municipalities and even the DOJ trying to offer him 3 hots and a cot in their local prisons and the one that might land him will be indicting him for bribing Stormy Daniels? Could it be a Sampson and Delilah thing? It took a woman to bring him down?

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Matthew 5:28-- But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

I'm a single lady, I'm 26 this year. I've had several boyfriends in the past (but i'm still a virgin), but it never worked out. I've been single for around two years, and recently I've been thinking about boys a lot. not anyone in particular, just random people. I don't touch, and i don't watch porn, and when i say i think of these men, i don't mean sexually, but like, you know, just cuddling, all right fine, sometimes i do think of sex, but it's very rare, and when i think of a man sexually I don't touch. It's more of like a 'comfort thought'; I feel cozy and happy thinking of these things (89% thoughts about cuddling, 6% bringing him home to my parents, 5% sex) . But these past two days I've been getting a lot of 'messages' from the Lord, I think, and I feel that what I'm thinking of is sinful.

I use the Bible app (previously known as YouVersion), and I read the Daily Bread. I read them daily, no matter how busy my schedule. is. These past days, I've gotten the verse 2 timothy 3:16 and 1 John 1:9 from Our Daily Bread, and Proverbs 3:7 from the Bible app.

I was racking my brains, trying to figure out what was He trying to say, when I realised. I remembered the verse Matthew 5:28-- But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

What do you think of this? Does my situation and type of thoughts fit into Matthew 5:28? I was thinking, even if I wasn't thinking of those men with lust, they might be someone's husband. That means I'm thinking of cuddling with someone's husband. It's sinful isn't it?

Video Talk

Jeremiah 17:5-8 ESV


This here is not just Old Testament teaching. It is what is taught in the New Testament, too, just in different words, perhaps. For there are two types of people in the world, and they are not (1) those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and (2) those who don’t profess faith in Jesus Christ. They are (1) those who walk in the ways of the flesh and in sin, and whose trust is in man (in human beings) and in the flesh, and it is (2) those whose trust is in the Lord, and not in the flesh, and who walk in the ways of the Lord, in obedience to the Lord, and in walks of holiness and in righteousness, and not in sin.

For, contrary to what many people are teaching these days, we cannot just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and then have all our sins forgiven and be on our way to heaven, regardless of how we live. If our faith in Jesus Christ does not result in changed hearts and lives, then it is of the flesh of man and not of God. For genuine faith in Jesus Christ dies with Christ to sin and lives to God and to his righteousness. For the faith to believe in Jesus is not of our own doing, but it is gifted to us by God, and we can’t even believe in Jesus unless God the Father draws us to faith in Jesus Christ.

[Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14; Romans 8:1-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 6:44]

So, if we are still living in sin, according to the flesh, and if we are not walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, but we are making sin our practice, instead, and if righteousness and holiness are not what we practice, then we are still under the curse of sin, we do not know the Lord Jesus, we are not saved from our sins, and we will not inherit eternal life with God. For we are not born of God, but we are still of the flesh, and so we are of the devil, instead. And Jesus Christ is not the strength of our lives, but other human beings are who we are following, instead.

But we are blessed of the Lord and we are freed from the curse of sin if we, by God-given faith in Jesus Christ, have died with Christ to sin, and if daily by the Spirit we are continuing to put sin to death, and if we are now living to him and to his righteousness in obedience to his commands. And that is because our trust is in the Lord and not in the flesh of man, and we are feeding on the word of the Lord, and we are obeying what the Lord, by his Spirit, is teaching us from his word. For this is what it means to believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior of our lives.

[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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For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

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

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

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

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

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Credobaptists often rely on biblical references and ignore church history but if you accept that the church normally baptized via credo, but allowed infant baptism near death, than a fairly strong case can be made from church history.

Historical examples of credobaptisms

• Ephraim the Syrian
• Basil of Ceasarea (26 yrs old)
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Gregory of Nazianzus
• Gregory (father of Gregory of Nazianzus)
• Gorgonia (sister of Gregory of Nazianzus)
• Caesarius (brother of Gregory of Nazianzus)
• John Chrysostom (18 yrs)
• Ambrose (34 yrs)
• Jerome
• Heliodorus (friend of Jerome)
• Rufius (friend of Jerome)
• Rufinus
• Paulinus of Nola
• Augustine (31 yrs)
• Satyrus (Ambrose’s brother)
• Rufinus of Aquileia

Inscriptions (people baptised just prior to dying)

• Marcianus (12 yrs baptized 1 day before death)
• Tyche (1 yr 10 m baptized on day of death)
• Appronianus (1 yr 9m near death)
• Julia Florentina (1 yr 6m baptized on day of death)
• Postumius Eutenion (6 yrs baptized on day of death)
• Felite (30 yrs bapized 34 days before death)
• Fortunia (4 yrs baptized bear death)
• Antonia Cyriaceti (19 yrs baptized 4 days before death)
• Flavia (3 yrs 10 m baptized 5 months before death)

Inscriptions refering to neophytes (that is only newly baptized Christians)

• Flavius Aurelius (6yrs)
• Perpetuus (30 yrs)
• Proiertcus (2 yrs 7 m)
• Eugenia (19 years)

Polycarp does not give an age at which he was baptized, he says he followed Christ for 86 years, but there is no firm proof that he was 86 when martyred. The Harris fragments give a Syrian tradition he was 104. Irenaeus says that “he spoke with many that had seen Christ”, “by apostles he was appointed bishop “ (note plural apostles, when was the last date that another apostle along with John would have been in Asia-minor?), “he lived a very long time” and “he was a very old man”. Tradition says he was made bishop at 40. John the Apostle’s age also comes into the calculation (eg if John died at 100 AD, then Polycarp to have been made bishop by him at 40, would have been born around AD 60, and if Polycarp is martyred around 155 AD, Polycarp is around 95 at death but if was martyred at 166 AD then he was around 104. If however has was indeed at 86 at death, then in AD 100 has is either 31 or 20)

I have read the following asserted by Everett Ferguson in "Baptism in the Early Church -History, Theology and Liturgy in the First five Centuries", that there no examples of an infant baptism of a named individual that was not occasioned by imminent death before the 4th century. Can any Paedobaptists give an example of an infant baptism of a named individual not occasioned by imminent death before Julian the Apostate?

The deputy chairman of the German bishops’ conference on Thursday invited Catholics in his diocese to contact parishes for liturgical blessings of their same-sex partnerships and other relationships regarded as morally illicit in the Catholic Church.

The move comes after the “synodal way” - an assembly of laity and bishops aiming to reform the Church in Germany - approved last week a resolution urging German bishops to officially permit same-sex blessings in their dioceses.

Because the Vatican announced recently that such blessings are impossible for the Church, some Catholics have asked whether Bishop Franz-Josef Bode’s announcement is formally an act of schism, a canonical crime which carries with it the penalty of excommunication.

To date, the Vatican has not declared Bode, or anyone involved in the German synodal way, guilty of schism — an action that would have significant consequences in civil and canon law, and could prompt complicated civil litigation.

But if the Vatican wants to sanction Bode without prompting debate about schism and its consequences, there are other canonical crimes for which the bishop could likely be called to account.

Still, as long as the Vatican does not intervene over Bode’s action, the German bishops are claiming a kind of victory by omission — arguing that liturgical blessings have already become status quo, and suggesting that Rome should rescind its earlier prohibitions against them.

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I think this is part of the problem with therapy. At least this is my experience in my therapy. It seems like we don't get much encouragement from therapists. We're just told this is a chronic condition that gets better sometimes and worse sometimes.

What if there was someone who could tell us we could be completely freed of OCD? I feel like one reason we don't get better is because we're taught to believe we won't get better.

I found someone on Youtube who helps people with OCD and says he is completely cured of OCD. After watching his videos for a week, I did a lot better with managing my OCD. Because I believed it was possible to cure OCD.

Faith truly heals.

“When our children tell us who they are, it is our job as grown-ups to listen and to believe them. That’s what it means to be a good parent.”

Wow... just wow.

Hi. This is watercolor on arches 12x16. Included some earlier stages.

As the campaign finance case involving Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels and Donald heats back up up, the DAs office has met with local, state and federal law enforcement regarding the ex-president travelling to NYC and appearing in court. The discussions are seen as an indication the an indictment is imminent.

CRISPR/Cas9 is a revolutionary genetic engineering tool that has been used to edit the genes of plants, animals, and even human embryos in laboratory settings. This technology has the potential to correct genetic defects and prevent heritable diseases, as well as enhance desirable traits such as intelligence, athleticism, or longevity.

Musk talks about a genetic modification to make humans better suited to life on Mars. For me, the question is not so much what we can do or what we have done with CRISPR/Cas9. It is a question of what should we do. As I have said many times, my father and both my brothers are doctors. So it is very common for us to have this sort of discussion at the dinner table. Usually, this discussion has to do with what is possible and what we can do. But should we? Is it right to do this?

For some the question maybe if they feel it is safe to eat genetically modified foods.

Lady Maga USA, the drag queen character played by a Salt Lake City-dwelling, gay, Mormon man named Ryan Woods, has walked a fine line for years since appearing in conservative circles and attending Trump rallies during the previous president’s tenure.

On Sunday, Woods announced that he no longer wanted to be called a drag queen when performing as Lady Maga. Instead, he said, he wanted to be called a “costume artist.”

Eph 5:1 "Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children" IN the early church there were 3 schools of thought UR, Annihilation . and ECT . How we imitate God in our actions will depend on our view of God. UR view God as a loving Father and the great physician, they saw Jesus as God in the flesh and he is our example . Jesus loved the down trodden was friend of tax collectors and sinners, feed the hungry healed the sick and showed the love of the Father to a sick world , he even said on the cross to the very people who were killing him "father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. They believed in Apokatastasis and that Jesus was the savior of the world not the potential savior. Jesus was meek and humble of heart willing to take on the role of servant even washing his followers feet. they were non violent and that is how they saw God and tried to imitate that in their lives because they saw God in that. Then comes along Augustine, He couldn't read Greek only Latin and had some bad translations and did not see God as a loving Father but a God no different than the other Greek Gods just more powerful . ECT sees God as a God who loves and hates is jealous and even got to the point that he was sorry he made man. ( as if God made a mistake) He is also no different from the other Gods in that he had all this wrath that needed to be taken out on someone and Jesus stepped in and took Gods wrath in our place and if you cross him he will torcher you forever. When Augustine / Justinian/ Constantine gained power and combined religion and government and took control they were imitators of their view of God, if God can kill and torcher his enemies they should also , the killing of those who disagree was an acceptable norm. So if you were to put 2 people in a room one believes in loving your enemies and praying for them and one believes that killing you enemies is ok who comes out the winner? UR doesn't believe that you advance Gods kingdom by the sword but on your knees so fighting back is not an option. Now for about 1500 years ECT ruled by the sword and even when so far as to try to stamp out those who oppose them, they even have had 1500 years of "scholars" who have written many volumes of books saying we are correct and if you don't agree with us you may die and all opposition is silenced its no wonder that that view had dominated the western church. Fortunately in todays world they are no longer killing us who have a different view and we have the internet to read the very things that have been hidden for so many years, we can go and read the early church Fathers and find out what they believed and read things that we didn't even know existed . I went to a 4 year Bible college and these early church writings were never even alluded to or studied. The cat is out of the bag now and the information that is available is growing, and I now know for a fact that Apokatastasis is Gods heart and his scripture is the grand story of how he is completing what he started a long time ago.

Hi everyone,

Something that happened last night- I was at a young adult meeting at my church. I had strabismus (a lazy eye) and had been seeing double for several years, however at the meeting someone noticed my lazy eye and asked to pray for me, he prayed and minutes later I noticed I was not seeing double anymore!

Another thing- someone else prayed for me at the meeting God removed an absolutely MASSIVE curse from my life, it was so huge I may never be the same! This all was completely supernatural!

Well, there they go again. Pope Francis spoke of celibacy, the commercial media reported it, and they got it wrong.

(Chronic failures by commercial news outlets to report happenings in the Church fully and accurately is why Our Sunday Visitor, OSV News, Catholic News Agency, America and others were founded and see themselves still today as having a mission.)

First, what did the pope say? He did not announce an end to priestly celibacy. He said that celibacy, or the choice not to marry, is not essential to the priesthood. Nobody in Church authority ever said that it was. The priesthood was established by the Lord and comes to a man in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, whether he is married or not.

Many Catholics forget that everything with which they are familiar in the Roman rite does not pertain, and has never pertained, universally or always in their Church. Millions of good, devoted Catholics worship according to the other rites of the Church, originally, because of historical developments, centered in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

In many of these Eastern rites, priests are married. Ukraine has been much in the news. Ukrainian Catholic priests often are married and are active as priests, with the full blessings of this pope and of popes going back many centuries.

Celibacy, or the choice never to marry, is a requisite for being ordained as a priest in the Roman rite, historically based in Western Europe, and brought by Western Europeans to places like this country.

Critics of the Church, or of celibacy, say that St. Peter was married. He was. The Gospel mentions his mother-in-law (cf. Lk 4:38). Was Peter married when Christ called him to be an apostle? Was he a widower? Nobody knows. Were the other apostles married? The New Testament is silent. One guess is as good as another.

Scholars believe St. Paul was not married.

Continued below.

Hedman was served with a cease-and-desist order from the Canon Law Society of America (CLSA), which is the copyright holder of the translation.

A popular canon law website, CanonLaw.Ninja, is removing much of its content by Friday, March 17, to comply with a copyright complaint, which will leave the website without an English translation of the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law.

The website, which describes itself as “a resource for both professional and armchair canonists,” includes an up-to-date translation of the Code of Canon Law with a tool that helps users easily find the information they’re seeking. Father Paul Hedman created the website when he was a seminarian and pays for the website’s upkeep with donations from users.

“Prior to my site, the only place that the code was online was http://vatican.va, which was out of date, poorly formatted, and unsearchable,” Father Hedman said on Twitter.

“So I made a tool to be of help. Sourcing the canons from the Vatican website and other places the code was freely available, I put together a website that for the past several years has helped hundreds of canonists, students, and Christian faithful know the law of the Church,” he wrote.

Continued below.

So, I met someone via mutual friends about 5 months ago. I thought he seemed like a nice guy, although we didn't have a lot of conversation at that point. Eventually, we began going out about once a week starting at the end of January. We live about two hours away from each other and we both have pretty busy schedules, with him driving public transit for a college town several days a week, and me working night shifts three to four nights a week as a university security officer (different town). He's pretty much had to do all the traveling to get together, as my car wouldn't be able to make frequent trips to his town. He's had a few other prior short-term relationships while I have never dated or had a relationship.


We were both pretty awkward when we were seeing each other for the past couple of months and were learning as we went along. I'm not really the greatest at carrying the conversation and am pretty introverted. He had more stories to tell about his adventures as a transit driver, although his language was kind of salty and had some f-bombs thrown around, which I wasn't too thrilled with. He is certainly more extroverted and outspoken than I am.


We hadn't really had the talk about what we were looking to get out of dating and our values in deal breakers. I finally brought up the topic when I was chatting with him a couple of nights ago, as I wasn't sure what his faith beliefs and values truly were. He seemed pretty liberal based on his Facebook content, which in and of itself probably isn't much, but as I am fairly conservative, having major philosophical differences would be pretty stressful for both of us, and I wasn't sure about his faith beliefs, even though I suspected he was a non-believer. In answering my questions, he did say he's not religious, so not really a believer.


I told him I am a born-again Christian and need a partner who was and basically said the differences in our faith beliefs would not work in the long run. I also said I would still value friendship even if a relationship didn't work. He said he appreciated my honesty and wished me well in my endeavors, but in having my suspicions confirmed, I didn't want to lead him on, but I kind of feel bad letting him down like this when he probably caught the feels a little more than I did, and I know he's dissapointed about it. Most of the time I take longer to establish an emotional connection to someone, and it makes it tougher to let someone down when they're more emotionally invested early in the relationship and something that can't be reconciled pops up.

The economics of Lenten fast-food fish. And in our taste test, the winner will surprise you!

It’s Lent, and that means that the nation’s fast food chains have rolled out their seasonal fish sandwich offerings, to compete for the business of hungry Catholics on the go.

But while many fast food chains do offer a fish sandwich option this time of year, how do those products stack up against their everyday staples of hamburgers and chicken sandwiches?

Is a fish sandwich a Lenten indulgence, or will you save enough on your lunch to put some extra in your Operation Rice Bowl bank for the world’s poor?

And on Good Friday — is a fast food fish sandwich more like your “one normal size meal,” or closer to one of the “two small meals which taken together would not exceed the main meal in quantity”?

As a former menu pricing manager for Wendy’s corporate (2010 to 2012), analyzing these questions for our readers was an assignment I couldn’t pass up.

The menu landscape: How fast food works

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Psalms 23:1-3 ESV


When we are born into this world of ours, we are born in the image of Adam with sin natures. We are separate from God, unable within ourselves to be acceptable to God. So God the Father sent his only begotten Son to the earth to be born to a human mother, with God himself as the birth father, and with the full intention that Jesus Christ, God the Son, would one day be our final and complete sacrifice for the sins of the entire world.

So, by God-given faith in Jesus Christ, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are 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, in the power of God, to the glory and praise of God. So sin is to no longer reign in our mortal bodies, to where we obey its passions and desires. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, it leads to righteousness, to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.

And now we are in relationship with Jesus Christ, and him with us. He is our shepherd (guide, comforter, encourager, and helper) who leads us in the ways of righteousness for his name’s sake and for the sake of our salvation from our slavery to sin and so that we can have eternal life in him and the forgiveness of sins. He cleanses our hearts of sin and he restores our souls, and now he is our life, he is our Lord and Master, and so we now follow him in obedience to his commands. And he supplies us with all that we need.

[Rom 3:9-26; Rom 5:12-19; 1 Co 15:21-22,42-49; John 1:1-36; John 3:16; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Titus 2:11-14]

Psalms 23:4-6 ESV


Now as followers of Jesus Christ, and as humans who live on this planet earth, we are going to have troubles and heartaches. We are going to face all kinds of difficulties and life’s challenges. We will have trials and tribulations which will test the faith of those of us who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives. And we will be tempted to sin. And as followers of Jesus Christ we will be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake and for the sake of Jesus Christ and his gospel message.

But since Jesus Christ is our Lord and Shepherd, we are to put our absolute faith and trust in him through every difficulty that we face, and we are not to be afraid, for Satan wants us to give up in fear. He wants us to retreat and to fall back into sin and to give up our walks of faith. But we are not to be afraid of him and of his evil plots against us. And we are not to fear what man (or woman) might do to us or say about us, either. But we are to walk through these valleys knowing that our Lord is with us and that he will show us the way, and that he will help and strengthen us through every storm.

For, even though we have enemies who are and who will come against us to try to destroy us and our walks of faith, they can do nothing without God’s permission. And God sets the limits on what they can and cannot do, and our Lord is going to help us every step of the way. So, we never have cause to fear if our faith is firmly planted in Jesus Christ and in his grace and salvation, and if we are following him in obedience to his commands. So, we just need to rest in him and then follow his lead, and then keep trusting him.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13]

He Lifted Our Burdens

An Original Work / February 15, 2014
Based off Isaiah 9:2-7

People walk in darkness.
They abide in their sin.
It has power o’er them.
True belief escapes them.

Jesus Christ came to save them.
He gave His life up for them;
Crucified; died for our sin,
So we might be forgiven,
And have life up in heaven.

Many come to know Him.
God’s love now o’erflows them.
They rejoice in vict’ry.
Their sin is but hist’ry.

We were once bound in slav’ry.
Jesus lifted our burdens;
Set us now free from Satan,
So we now walk in freedom.
Sin has no more dominion.

Praise be to our Savior!
He showed us His favor.
He took all our burdens;
Cast them all upon Him.

He is our mediator;
The Light which shines in darkness.
Counselor in our troubles;
He gives peace now in our hearts;
Joy which is everlasting.

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Morning:​

"Remember the poor." — Galatians 2:10
Why does God allow so many of his children to be poor? He could make them all rich if he pleased; he could lay bags of gold at their doors; he could send them a large annual income; or he could scatter round their houses abundance of provisions, as once he made the quails lie in heaps round the camp of Israel, and rained bread out of heaven to feed them. There is no necessity that they should be poor, except that he sees it to be best. "The cattle upon a thousand hills are his"-he could supply them; he could make the richest, the greatest, and the mightiest bring all their power and riches to the feet of his children, for the hearts of all men are in his control. But he does not choose to do so; he allows them to suffer want, he allows them to pine in penury and obscurity. Why is this? There are many reasons: one is, to give us, who are favoured with enough, an opportunity of showing our love to Jesus. We show our love to Christ when we sing of him and when we pray to him; but if there were no sons of need in the world we should lose the sweet privilege of evidencing our love, by ministering in alms-giving to his poorer brethren; he has ordained that thus we should prove that our love standeth not in word only, but in deed and in truth. If we truly love Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by him. Those who are dear to him will be dear to us. Let us then look upon it not as a duty but as a privilege to relieve the poor of the Lord's flock-remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Surely this assurance is sweet enough, and this motive strong enough to lead us to help others with a willing hand and a loving heart-recollecting that all we do for his people is graciously accepted by Christ as done to himself.

Evening:​

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." — Matthew 5:9
This is the seventh of the beatitudes: and seven was the number of perfection among the Hebrews. It may be that the Saviour placed the peacemaker the seventh upon the list because he most nearly approaches the perfect man in Christ Jesus. He who would have perfect blessedness, so far as it can be enjoyed on earth, must attain to this seventh benediction, and become a peacemaker. There is a significance also in the position of the text. The verse which precedes it speaks of the blessedness of "the pure in heart: for they shall see God." It is well to understand that we are to be "first pure, then peaceable." Our peaceableness is never to be a compact with sin, or toleration of evil. We must set our faces like flints against everything which is contrary to God and his holiness: purity being in our souls a settled matter, we can go on to peaceableness. Not less does the verse that follows seem to have been put there on purpose. However peaceable we may be in this world, yet we shall be misrepresented and misunderstood: and no marvel, for even the Prince of Peace, by his very peacefulness, brought fire upon the earth. He himself, though he loved mankind, and did no ill, was "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Lest, therefore, the peaceable in heart should be surprised when they meet with enemies, it is added in the following verse, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Thus, the peacemakers are not only pronounced to be blessed, but they are compassed about with blessings. Lord, give us grace to climb to this seventh beatitude! Purify our minds that we may be "first pure, then peaceable," and fortify our souls, that our peaceableness may not lead us into cowardice and despair, when for thy sake we are persecuted.