please pray for wisdom and for the truth to come out about a broken plate at work, or at least for the person who let me take the blame for it feel some guilt about it and say sorry. sigh. not fair.

Cannibalism implies here the actual chewing, swallowing, and metabolizing of flesh and blood either after or during the killing of a human being; at least, if we stick to definition #1.


Catholics do not do any of this in the Eucharist. Though Christ is substantially present—body, blood, soul and divinity—in the Eucharist, the accidents of bread and wine remain. Here it is important to define terms. When the Church teaches the bread and wine at Mass are transubstantiated into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, we have to understand what this means. The word, transubstantiation, literally means “transformation of the substance.” “Substance” refers to that which makes a thing essentially what it is. Thus, “substance” and “essence” are synonyms. For example, man is essentially comprised of body, soul, intellect, and will. If you remove any one of these, he is no longer a human person. The accidents or accidentals would be things like hair color, eye color, size, weight, etc. One can change any of these and there would be no change in the essence or substance of the person.

In the Eucharist, after the priest consecrates the bread and wine and they are, in fact, transubstantiated into the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord, our Lord is then entirely present. Neither bread nor wine remains. However, the accidents of bread and wine (size, weight, taste, texture) do remain. Hence, the essential reason why Catholics are not guilty of cannibalism is the fact that we do not receive our Lord in a cannibalistic form. We receive him in the form of bread and wine. The two are qualitatively different.

To dive a bit deeper into this, I would suggest there are at least six reasons why the Eucharist and cannibalism are qualitatively, or essentially, different things.

1. In cannibalism, the person consumed is, generally speaking, killed. Jesus is not killed. We receive him in his resurrected body and we do not affect him in the least. In fact, he is not changed in the slightest. He changes us! This is far from cannibalism.
2. In cannibalism, only part of the victim is consumed. One does not eat the bones, sinews, etc. In the Eucharist, we consume every bit of the Lord, eyes, hair, blood, bones, etc. But again, I emphasize that we do so under the appearances of bread and wine. This is essentially different than cannibalism, which leads to our next point:
3. In cannibalism, the accidents of blood and flesh are consumed. One must tear flesh, drink blood, etc. In the Eucharist, we only consume the accidents of bread and wine. This is not cannibalism.
4. In cannibalism, one only consumes a body, not a person. The person and the soul of the victim would have departed. In the Eucharist, we consume the entire person of Jesus Christ, body, blood, soul and divinity. One cannot separate Christ’s body from his Divine Person. Thus, this is a spiritual communion as well as a physical consuming. We become one with Christ on a mystical level in this sacrament. This is far from cannibalism.
5. In cannibalism, one only receives temporal nourishment that is fleeting. In the Eucharist, we receive the divine life of God through faith and receiving our Lord well-disposed, i.e. we receive everlasting life (cf. John 6:52-55). This is essentially different than cannibalism.
6. In cannibalism, once one eats the flesh of the victim, it is gone forever. In the Eucharist, we can consume him every day and, as mentioned in #1, we do not change him one bit. He remains the same.

Final Thoughts

One always has to be careful when applying terms and concepts to God. Many people miss the mark with regard to the faith because they make the mistake of applying terms in a human way to God who is infinite. We could speak of Mormons who claim God, the Father, has a physical body because the Scriptures speak of God’s “back parts,” in Exodus, or “the hand of Lord,” the “eyes of the Lord,” etc. You’ve probably heard the classic rejoinder to these Mormon claims: “Psalm 91 refers to God’s ‘feathers and wings’. Does this mean God is some sort of bird?”

The error here, of course, is rooted in interpreting texts that were not intended to be used in a strict, literal sense, as if they were. “Back parts” have to mean “back parts,” right?

When it comes to the Trinity, some who deny this essential teaching will claim Christians are teaching God to be “three beings” because we say God is “three persons.” However, person, as it relates to God, does not mean there are three beings. There is an essential difference between “person” as it relates to God, and “person” as it relates to men and angels.

We could cite a litany of examples containing similar problems.

When it gets down to brass tacks, the nay-sayers who reject the Eucharist, and most specifically, those who accuse us Catholics of cannibalism because we say we “consume” the Lord in the Eucharist, body, blood, soul, and divinity, fail to understand what we actually mean by consuming the Lord. They end up objecting just as the unbelieving “Jews” of John 6:52, who said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

If you are thinking about a cannibalistic blood-meal, he can’t. But if you understand, as Jesus said, “It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail, the words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life,” then you understand. The Eucharist represents a miracle confected by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God can do that.

[Are Catholics Cannibals?]

What are your thoughts on Catherine Doherty and the Madonna house? She is an Eastern Catholic, and a former Orthodox Christian, who is being considered for the Sainthood. Her husband was a Melkite priest. I read her book several years ago, and loved it.

Apparently, she was still very attached to Orthodoxy throughout her life.

Is it ok to ask for her intercession or to pray for her?

Thanks

Galatians 2:11-14 ESV


I am not going to go into the history behind this story but I am going to deal with the subject of hypocrisy, which is what this story is about. For this has to do with behaving one way with one group of people and then behaving a different way when you are with a different group of people. And it has to do with shifting beliefs and practices depending upon the group of people you are with and/or on their particular influence in your life and/or on your desire to be accepted by them or not. But this also has to do with denying the other people in order to be approved by those of greater influence.

Now, this is happening much here in America in today’s modern market-driven “churches” (businesses) because they want to attract the world to their gatherings, so they are compromising the truth of the gospel, and the whole meaning of “church,” and the character of Almighty God in order to make “church” and God/Jesus Christ and the gospel more acceptable to human flesh and to the ungodly of this world. Yet, they still call themselves “the church,” and they teach as though they are teaching the truth of the gospel, and as though they are doing the will of God.

Now what is happening much is that those who are living in sin are being approved and coddled (pampered, indulged) while those who are walking in holiness and in righteousness are being disapproved, spoken out against, falsely accused of wrongdoing, and characterized as judgmental, hyper-religious, fanatic, and/or legalistic. So everything is being turned upside down, for what is of God is being rejected while what is of the flesh of man is being embraced and accepted in the name of God. And lies are being spoken of as good while the truth is being spoken of as evil.

So, in order for “the church” to be acceptable to the people of the world they have compromised the Scriptures by removing many of them from their context and then making them say what the Scriptures do not teach in context. And from that they are teaching a false gospel of salvation which seems to be being approved by the majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ. But in order to pull this off, they have also demonized the true gospel and its messengers so that people will reject them in favor of the lies. And that is working, for it is evidenced by what people are saying and doing.

For what most are teaching, it appears, is that we can profess faith in Jesus Christ, have all our sins forgiven, and now be guaranteed heaven as our eternal destiny, regardless of how we live. But that is not the message of the gospel that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught us. For the truth of the gospel is that Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And he died that we might live for him and no longer for ourselves (1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21).

Also the Scriptures teach that the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, trains (instructs) us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and fleshly (worldly) lusts (passions) and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. So, the grace of God is not permission to keep living in sin habitually and deliberately, knowingly and consciously doing what is evil and against God and harmful to other humans. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:10).

Now those who are doing wrong know that they are doing wrong, and yet many of them continue to do wrong even while professing faith in Jesus Christ and while confessing salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For God put within all of us the knowledge of him and his will and the knowledge of right and wrong, but many have chosen to do wrong and to not do right; to follow the ways of their flesh, and not the ways of God (Romans 1:18-32). And some of them will confess wrongdoing and will promise that tomorrow will be a better day, but then tomorrow comes and it is no different from yesterday, for they still continue in their sin while professing to be in relationship with Jesus Christ.

And the Scriptures call this kind of behavior being “double-minded,” which has to do with duplicity of character, pretending one thing while living another, promising one thing while delivering another, and willfully and deliberately deceiving people into believing what is a lie while they know the truth. But they tell them the lies in order to draw them in so that they can build their earthly kingdoms and while they knowingly promise them heaven as their eternal destiny while they know that they are sending them to hell. For many of these deceivers know what the Scriptures teach, in truth.

But Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. And he also said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

So, please study the Scriptures in their full context. Know what the Scriptures teach, in truth, and stop relying on other humans to tell you what the Scriptures say, for not everyone is telling the truth. Many wolves in sheep’s clothing are among us who are deceiving the masses into believing their lies. So test everything you read and hear against the Scriptures (in context), prayerfully, with a willing spirit to hear from God and to be taught the truth even if the truth contradicts what you were always taught.

[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]

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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Throughout the prosecution’s questioning of the witness, a subtle insinuation was made that the words of Mike’s 'slippery slope' motion were so hurtful that they could cause harm to suicide-vulnerable members of the LGBT community.

(Campaign Life Coalition) — This report is a summary of day 5 in the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) tribunal hearing against Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustee, Mike Del Grande, who is being persecuted for his defense of Christian moral teaching.

Now, let me tell you something…

Day 5 was a doozy!

For a recap of the charges against Trustee Del Grande, click here.

This fifth day of hearings took place February 22 and focused on the testimony and cross-examination of TCDSB Ward 2 Trustee Markus De Domenico, one of Del Grande’s biggest detractors.

Is the witness credible?

Let me give you an idea about this ‘star witness’ for the prosecution…

De Domenico is one of eight heretical trustees on the board who voted – in complete violation of Catholic moral teaching – to fly the gay “Pride Flag” at every Catholic school in the board. This flag is a symbol of sexual lifestyles which Church teaching and Sacred Scripture have always regarded as sinful.

It was ironic to long-time TCDSB observers that De Domenico would be relied upon as a witness to testify truthfully about the complaints of misconduct against Del Grande.

Why would that be ironic?

Continued below.

I'm a Lutheran but rather consider myself a non-denominational Christian. So I don't hold any denominational teachings strictly. But there is one aspect of praying to the saints for intercession that baffles me. I know Catholics say that asking the saints for intercession is similar to requesting a friend to pray for you. Saints are alive in paradise and can hear requests from earth therefore it is acceptable to request for intercession.

Here are a few things I just can't comprehend and hope that someone here can better clarify.

1. We know for certain people who are saints like the disciples therefore invoking them are pretty much "safe" in prayers, but how sure are you when you invoke later, less well known and regional saints in prayer? Wouldn't it be presumptive about their afterlife status. I don't want to sound mean but how sure that these saints are even in paradise?

2. If we work on the basis that everyone in paradise is alive and in communion, why not just invoke relatives or friends who had passed away to intercede since they know us better? Or must intercession be only permissible by saints not regular believers? If only saints can intercede then wouldn't asking an earthly family member or friend to pray invalid?

And she was specific in the “you all” to whom she was apologizing – “Conservatives, Republicans, MAGA: I am so sorry.”

This is how important transparency is. Let the people see all of the recordings for themselves, and realize for themselves just how fake the "insurrection" narrative is.

Canada a nation stereotyped by being excessively apologetic and having the fondness of ending sentences with "eh?". However her elected leader Justin doesn't seem to embody much of the Canadian nature.

It is not a secret that recently leaked CSIS papers on the Chinese interference in Canadian politics have landed the ex-drama teacher in hot maple syrup (yup I'm going there). With the reveal, all the numerous past pro-Beijing stances that Trudeau made leave uncomfortable implications - how much and how deep he is in the pockets of the CCP? How much of Canada has he compromised to the Chinese regime? According to the leaked papers the Chinese assisted directly and indirectly the Liberal Party to secure political positions. They actively worked against the conservative party by way of misinformation and funding of oppositions. This is on the premise that the conservatives are hostile to the CCP and liberals are easier to sway. Typical political meddling stuffs if you ask me. I would do the same if I'm a spy.

Trudeau for his part has vehemently downplay the effects of the interference. He is more displeased that the leak happened to start with and have indicated that actions will be take to address the leak rather than the content of the leak. He treats foreign threats like minor inconveniences, a far tepid response to the truck drivers protest where he cavalierly uses Emergency Powers.

Now he is actively resisting inquiry calls into the foreign meddling. What a wonderful leader...

There is a saying: It may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen! Zephaniah 1:14, Ezekiel 33:33
People are becoming more and more apprehensive about the future, as we see a proliferation of natural disasters, with increasing political and economic problems, coupled with shortages of food and fuel.

But, the most obvious and dangerous flash point of concern is the Middle East. Most of the countries surrounding Israel are now in a unstable condition, with outright war in some. The very existence of the State of Israel in their midst is an anathema to them all. Psalm 83 lists the origins of those people who will conspire to ‘wipe out Israel as a nation’. When their attack commences, God will then answer the prayer of Psalms 83:13-18 Scatter them, my God, like thistledown, as a fire raging through the forest. Terrify them with Your storm winds, let them suffer disgrace and perish.

Many prophecies state how the Lord will act on this Day of His vengeance and wrath;

Micah 4:11-12 But now, many nations are massed against you, they say; Let Zion suffer, we will gloat over her downfall. They do not know God’s purpose; He has gathered them as sheaves for the threshing. Matthew 13:30

Psalm 37:13-15 The Lord will laugh at the wicked, their judgement is coming. They have prepared their weapons, but their weapons will pierce their own hearts.
Psalms 7:12-16, Joel 3:4

Isaiah 66:15-17 See: The Lord is coming in fire, bringing His retribution and anger. He will judge with fire and sword to test all mankind. All the wicked will die.

Deuteronomy 32:41-42 I will sharpen My flashing sword and take vengeance on those who hate Me.

Malachi 4:1 The Day comes, burning like a furnace, all evildoers will be as stubble, destroyed in a fiery blaze.

Isaiah 30:26-33 The sun will shine with seven times its normal brightness. On that day He will protect and save His people. See; the Lord Himself comes from afar, His anger blazing and His doom heavy. With fire, He sieves the nations for destruction. Ref: REB, some verses abridged.



There are many other Bible passages that describe this Day. What we can establish from them is:

1/ It is this event that takes people unawares – that ‘comes as a thief’. Much later, for the glorious Return of Jesus, we are given the exact times from certain events.

2/ It will be a worldwide event, of 24 hours duration. Isaiah 29:5-6

3/ The Lord will actually cause fire to destroy His enemies, by the means of a CME. Isaiah 30:26a

Their own weapons will contribute to their destruction, the heat flash and the intense electromagnetic pulse will make rockets and bombs explode on the ground. Psalms 7:12-16, Joel 3:4

4/ His Righteous people will be kept safe, in a short time –Isaiah 29:17, they will gather and settle in the new country of Beulah – Isaiah 62:4, Isaiah35:1-10, Jeremiah 31:7-14, Ezekiel 39:25-29

Philosopher Agnes Callard veils low motive in high virtue -- and in so doing, is only an extreme example of us all

Look, marriage is hard. I'm only weeks away from being officially divorced, a fate that I never imagined for myself, one that shocks and embarrasses me even now, almost a year since my wife told me she had filed, and one that I lived for most of the last decade trying to avoid, solely for the sake of our children. I'm not going to say that everybody should stay married for the sake of their kids, but my soon-to-be-ex-wife and I managed to sustain a modus vivendi that did not traumatize the children (or even disclose to them that their parents were in trouble), until she decided she couldn't bear it anymore. As I have said here before, I don't judge her for that decision. We both hung in there for a long time after the marriage had died, and though I've not talked to her about it, I feel confident in saying that we both did it to spare our kids the pain of divorce. (Fortunately, two of them were already adults at the time of filing, and the third is now 16.) I believe that under ordinary circumstances -- meaning, unless there is infidelity, substance abuse, physical abuse, or serious mental abuse -- husbands and wives should live sacrificially through unhappy marriage, for the sake of giving their kids stability. I accepted a lot of private pain over the past decade out of love for my kids, and wanting to protect them. I don't think I did anything remotely heroic. I think it's what moms and dads should do, period. Hear me clearly: I am NOT justifying accepting abuse, drug or alcohol abuse, infidelity, or things like that. I'm talking about accepting unhappiness, loneliness, things like that, at least till the kids are adults.

I say that as background for the contempt I feel towards Agnes Callard, a University of Chicago philosopher, and the colleagues who justify her scandalous behavior. In a New Yorker profile, we learn that she fell in love with one of her students, divorced her husband and father of her children three weeks later (with his consent), and ran around making philosophical justifications for what she had done, almost bragging about it. Eventually she and her lover, Arnold, married, and later they moved in with Ben, her ex-husband. Naturally, these philosophical types are Beyond Good And Evil, and petty bourgeois morality.

Continued below.

Please could have prayers for my current situation.
A have a very good friend who I have known for a very long time and currently our friendship has become very stressful and difficult for many reasons.
Ultimately I may have to walk away from the friendship, but I'm very reluctant to do so, since we have been friends for many years.

President Joe Biden's 2024 budget proposal stresses 'equity' and 'climate change' while downplaying inflation and the drug epidemic.

(LifeSiteNews) — President Joe Biden’s new 2024 budget plan, released on Thursday, places heavy emphasis on advancing the administration’s “equity and equality” programmes, proposing to funnel some of the $137.9 billion discretionary budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) towards “providing gender affirming care to the Nation’s veterans.”

According to the 184-page fiscal plan, the Biden administration “remains steadfast in its commitment to invest in opportunities for women and girls and support the needs of marginalized communities, including the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex community.”

“Reflective of that commitment,” the document continues, “the Budget requests more than $3 billion to advance gender equity and equality across a broad range of sectors.” The VA announced in 2021 that it was lifting a 20-year ban on funding surgeries and drug protocols for so-called “gender transitioning,” thereby permitting the use of taxpayer dollars to go towards the controversial programmes.

Continued below.

Which Person in the Trinity spoke directly to Moses?

God the Word (Yeshua Jesus, preincarnate).

Exodus 3:13–15 (KJV)

13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

John 8:58 (KJV)

58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

The Jews in company understood what Jesus meant and wanted to kill him for blasphemy because they did not believe him (verse 59).

The Great I AM tantamount to YHVH (the LORD) in the text (Exodus 3:14–15 above) now notice:

Isaiah 44:24 (KJV)

24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

YHVH the Creator of all things in the beginning did so alone / by himself. Now note who YHVH the lone Creator of all things created in the beginning is:

Colossians 1:16 (KJV)

16 For by him [Jesus] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

John 1:3 (KJV)

3 All things were made by him [God the Word]; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

God the Word became flesh and dwelt among us as the glorious only begotten of the Father (John 1:14).

Jesus is the LORD / YHVH / Jehovah the only Creator of all things created in the beginning.

The Father created only the body / humanity of Jesus (John 1:14 / Hebrews 10:5 / Hebrews 1:5).

This stands to reason that the one in the Trinity who created all things (which fell from the good and perfect state he created them in due to human sin) is the one who became a man and the sacrifice for human sin.

I sincerely believe mine is better. A4 or 24 x 32 cm. Watercolour pencils.



This was therapeutical painting now. Since 2 months/for 2 months I am going not well, very very bad nearly always. I do not want to say what is going on you would not take me serious. If somebody believes in Jesus God please pray for me thanks!



Do you like it?

I just want to lift up Noah and pray that the Lord would open his eyes and soften his heart so that he might repent and be saved. That the Lord would raise up witnesses to share the Gospel with him. I never realized how depraved he is but he’s straight up evil.

Have you prayed the Lord's Prayer more than once in your life ? Why ?

“And no matter what country you’re a member of, the countries all are susceptible to pressure, to peer pressure, they don’t want to be the outlier — I mean, there’s a couple of countries that we know are outliers and don’t care — but — but, I think China has done — has been very sensitive, and has actually invested a lot in their solutions, to achieve their goals,” Granholm continued. “So we’re — we’re hopeful that, you know, we can all learn from what China is doing, but the amount of money that they’re investing in clean energy is actually you know, encouraging.”
To me this is the biggest problem with the American left, they idolize the Godless communist countries and seemingly have no idea of the corruption, cruelty and inhumanity that goes on in these communist countries.

Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV


If you were to guess the number one sin plaguing the church in America today, what would you say it is? I would say sexual immorality. In fact, from what I can tell, sexual immorality, adultery, sensuality, impurity, passionate lust and homosexuality appear to top the lists of most or all of these passages of Scripture where specific sins are listed and where Christians (the church) are being warned against taking part in these sins, and where they are being called to holiness and obedient walks of faith in Jesus Christ.

Listings of Specific Sins: [Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 3:5-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8]

So, why do you suppose that is? Why does it appear that sexual immorality, in its various forms, tops most or all of these lists of specific sins? I believe it is because the marriage relationship between a man and a woman is to be sacred and held in high honor, and it is to be modeled after our relationships with our Lord. In Scripture we see where marriage between a man and a woman are paralleled over to our marriage to Jesus Christ. And in both cases, if those covenants of marriage are broken, it is called adultery.

Marriage relationships: [Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Matthew 25:1-13; John 3:25-30; John 14:1-3; Ephesians 5:22-33; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Revelation 19:6-8; Revelation 21:2-4,9-11; Revelation 22:16-17]

So, when these marriage relationships are broken due to sexual immorality and adultery, in its various forms, it not only impacts those specific relationships, but it impacts the fellowship of the believers, too. It is a lot like what is described for us in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. Sexual immorality among the fellowship of the believers was being tolerated and it was impacting the whole fellowship, and so they were being counseled to remove from among them the guilty one so that it did not spread throughout the whole body of Christ.

But in America today, if you literally did that in most of these “churches,” you would have to remove probably over half of the congregation. For, according to most statistics I read, over half of American Christian men, including pastors (less than half of them), are engaged in sexual immorality on a consistent and habitual basis. Usually this is in relation to the viewing of sexually explicit materials, but it involves lusting after others, too, which Jesus called adultery, and often it leads to other adulterous actions, too. And a number of women and children are engaged in this, too.

And I believe there are multiple factors involved here, the first of which is that “the church” in America, for the most part, has adopted a gospel message which does not require dying with Christ to sin and living to him and to his righteousness. And many are teaching against walks of obedience and true repentance (turning away from sin). And so we have many people in the gatherings of the church professing faith in Jesus Christ who have not died with Christ to sin and who are not walking in obedience to him.

They believe that their profession of faith in Jesus Christ sealed the deal for them and that all their sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed them when they die and that their current sins will not be charged against them. So, many of them feel at liberty to continue in deliberate and habitual sin (the sin which clings so closely) without guilt and without remorse. And so sin continues to permeate the gatherings of the church, and morality continues to plummet, and marriages and families are being destroyed.

Another factor involved here, too, is the easy access to engaging in sexual immorality (and other sins, too) via the internet and social media and especially smart phones (minicomputers) and texting and emailing and illicit internet sites, etc. Many people can now engage in sinful behaviors in the privacy of their own personal space via a smart phone without anyone else knowing what they are doing. And lust is everywhere you look, pretty much, on newsstands, in grocery checkout lines, on billboards, and on most internet sites, it appears, including on some Christian sites, too.

What’s the Solution?

So, what is the solution to it all? First of all, “the church” needs to repent of her spiritual adultery against the Lord, and she needs to start teaching and living the truth of the gospel, and she needs to address sin in the same way that Jesus and his New Testament apostles did rather than giving the professers of faith in Jesus Christ carte blanche to continue in their sins without conscience and without remorse, while promising them heaven when they die.

But all individuals professing faith in Jesus Christ, who are living in immorality and who are making sin their practice, and for whom godliness, righteousness, and obedience to the Lord are not their practice, they need to individually repent of (turn away from, cast aside) their sins which cling so closely, and they need to turn to the Lord and follow him in obedience. Then they can run with endurance the race that God has set before us to run, which involves daily dying to sin and denying self and following the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands (New Covenant).

But not one of us can do this in our own flesh or of our own willpower. We must all surrender our lives over to Jesus Christ and submit to him as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives. And then we can live holy lives pleasing to him in his power and strength, as we cooperate with his work of grace in our lives. But we must all know that the Scriptures teach that if we don’t do this, but if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, then heaven is not secured for us. We will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Please check it out:

[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]

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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A mother went into a school and confronted her 12 year old daughters bully. When the billy tried walking away the mother grabbed the bully's arm. Teachers intervened and the police arrested the mom for assault.

Of course there are a lot of people concerned that this mom was able to wander the school in search of the bully. She could have had a gun and killed her.
We've had conversations about hardening the schools. And this school proved to be too soft. The school should have metal detectors and guards at the entrance. The school should have parents wait in the office and have students meet them there so they are not wandering the schools.

But there is another picture here that is being ignored. The bullying. I bet the school has an anti-bullying policy. Yet this kids is bullied anyway to the point where someone feels they have to intervene. This is just another case of school failures to protect kids from bullying. As long as schools only give lip service to anti-bullying it is never going to stop. You have to stomp on bullies hard. Automatic suspensions and their friends, they always have a group around them, have to be pulled into the office and given a stern warning that if anyone retaliates against the victim they will face the same suspension. And it doesn't matter where it occurs. If a victim is injured the bully should be charged with a crime as well as face a year long
Suspension. I have no tolerance for bullies.

There are no right or wrong answers to this.
For everyone it is speculation / belief.
I am just curious to know what people think.

Many think the product of abiogenesis ( or creation) was a minimal living organism, then evolution took over to produce the life we see today.
I am talking to you…

But There is a massive void between the structure of the simplest organisms we know, and the Simplicitly needed to be likely to form by chemistry alone.
even Craig ventner, stripping down cells, I believe failed to get down below a couple of hundred genes before his backward engineering of cells was unstable or ceased to function. So there is no real picture of life before that. If someone’s done less as a backward engineering reduction, than I am interested.

So I am curious to know peoples opinions on answers to these - don’t know is ok as answer,

1/ do you believe there were multiple starts to life or just one?
2/ do you believe the life start process should still be continuing? If not why not?
3/ do you believe early reproduction was what we would term asexual?
4/ so do you believe HGT was the first way two genomes interacted for diversity? Otherwise how did diversity happen?
5/ how many genes ( ie information content in bits) do you believe the first genome had?
6/ do you believe that DNA/RNA/nucleic acid was the first genome or only a later one?
7/ do you believe that sexual reproduction Only started with dna/rna?
8/ if you believe in other than dna as genome how complicated do you think ( bits infirmation) a genome carried before the transition to DNA/ RNA
9/ do you believe the genome was / is the only contributor to diversity? If not what else?

I guess the last one is..
10/ if you can’t answer any or all of those how can you say it’s a fact it happened at all which many seem to do now?


For the abiogenesis believers, I am fascinated how you think life developed?
to me - this is most of the problem , not a small detail at the start.

A new corridor measuring about 30 feet was discovered recently in the biggest of the three Giza Pyramids, the Pyramid of Khufu.

Images and videos were released to the public after the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities investigated the tunnel using an endoscopic camera.

Despite the nearly unlimited intrigue and mystery surrounding Ancient Egypt’s most remarkable engineering accomplishments, the tunnel has been quickly labeled as a method to disperse the weight of the sandstone blocks above.

Continued below.

To make the thread tag clear, debate from non-MJs will not be entertained here. Questions and fellowship posts by non-MJs are welcomed.​

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Name​

The fragments found in Cairo in 1897 were originally called the Zadokite Fragments[7] but after the work was found at Qumran, the name was changed because the document had numerous references to Damascus.[8] The way this Damascus is treated in the document makes it possible that it was not a literal reference to Damascus in Syria, but to be understood either geographically for Babylon or Qumran itself. If symbolic, it is probably taking up the Biblical language found in Amos 5:27, "therefore I shall take you into exile beyond Damascus"; Damascus was part of Israel under King David, and the Damascus Document expresses an eschatological hope of the restoration of a Davidic monarchy.


I find it interesting that Betharaba (renamed Qumran by Islam) was the home of the Zadokite Priests.

I find it interesting that they were in the wilderness preparing the way (like Yochanan the immerser, who was also in the wilderness preparing the way; and he was also eligible to be a Zadokite Priest) ; as they were preparing for the Messianic age.


I find it interesting that Sha'ul was turned back from his his quest for persecution on the road to Damascus.

I was reading an article on UpWorthy this morning which got me to thinking specifically about my generation - Gen X - and our general political attitudes of that day (the 90's generally) and how it's affecting our society and culture today.

One of the points the article made about my generation is:

Deep inside the heart of almost every Gen Xer is a deep-seated feeling of nihilism. We didn’t trust the corporations that laid off our parents or gutted their pensions in the ’80s. In fact, everything corporate was predatory. We didn’t have a lot of faith in family values because we were the first generation raised by single parents or in daycare. We didn’t care much about politics either. Back in the ’90s, Gen X’s aversion to politics was historic.

Click to expand...

Outside link: Five Gen X values from the ’90s that can save today’s world

I agree when the article says that Gen X's aversion to politics was historic. I personally was one of those people who didn't give a lot of thought to politics, though I voted. I was more just "into" real life - the day to day of it - and I was happy not giving much thought to politics in general. I never understood why it was important as it all seemed to be about grandstanding and fame, and I saw our political situation as being a settled matter via the constitution in general, so I like many others ignored it.

It was a little like being in a dream, it was a great little dream - life was good here in America and we were "over" many of the issues of my parents day and we were ready to move forward in our better day, as a fully united America living out our values.

It was also a dream I woke up from, because while I was "checked out" others had been busy trying to undo everything that had been built by former generations.

While I think my generation had some very positive attitudes (happily not buying into the corporate influences around us) I have come to believe that we are in the situation we are right now (a divided America full of hate for neighbor spiralling at an insane pace towards a fascist state) exactly because my generation had literally checked out of politics.

My generation, in my current opinion, left a power vacuum that got filled with all things negative.

Certainly, I am right-wing politically so my view will be different than others but I do wonder what other people's views are considering whether others think Gen X left a power vacuum of sorts, by checking out of politics.

Discuss?

PARASHA: “Ki Tisa” (when you elevate) EXODUS 30:11-34:35


Here’s an interesting question; “Does God have faces? If yes, how many? Think about this question and we’ll come to the answer later on in this study. Can a man look upon the "face" of God and live to tell about it? we'll soon find out.

This parashah starts out by numbering the people, those who are 20 years old and older, Each person has to give one-half shekel of silver. (about $4.50). Since it is not appropriate to count “people” perhaps as to not trust in “numbers” for strength, which might lead to pride, YHVH tells Moshe to collect silver, and for each half-shekel of silver, one person is represented. The silver is to be used for the Mishkan, for repair and maintenance. The count was also to determine those eligible to be part of the army of Israel, a fighting force that would conquer the pagans of Canaan in the future.

Every born-again believer is “numbered” in the eyes of YHVH for HIS army of adopted sons and daughters, we are fighting a spiritual battle against a hardened enemy, HaSatan, who has his own army of demons, devils, and unsaved humans working for him. Even though there will be many battles, the war has already been won, it was won 2000 years ago, on Calvary’s cross. YHVH came down in flesh and blood and paid our sin price in full.

We are fighting against an enemy who has lost the war, but he has an attitude and will not relent, He wants to cause havoc among all believers.

YHVH commands Moshe to prepare incense and anointing oil. The incense is to be used in worship, burned on the table of incense, which is before the “Kadosh-Kedoshim” (Holy of Holies), and also, on the bread, and on the sacrifices. Incense is still used today in religious services, it has a calming effect on the emotional and nervous systems of those who are around it.

There are many distinct aromas, the aromas that are similar to the incense that was used in the tabernacle and temple would be frankincense and some even say “musk” scent, however, no one can be sure of the original ingredients, what they are today, besides, YHVH prohibits an exact duplication of the formula. Some people light incense before going to bed at night. We do, using frankincense and Myrrh.

The anointing oil was used to anoint the Levites and priests “on their heads” and not on the flesh, the ingredients were sweet cinnamon, calamus, cassia, myrrh, and olive oil, there are oils today that are used for anointing, yet it was prohibited to replicate the “exact” recipe.

In Remez, the incense symbolizes our prayers that go upward toward heaven, and the oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit who is with us all the time. Through the Ruach HaKodesh, our prayers go up and are heard by our Messiah Yeshua.

We see later on in this parashah that Moshe goes up Mt. Sinai to receive the tablets of the Mitzvoth, and as we all know the story, after a while, the people wonder; “and Moshe? What happened to him?” their faith was weak, and when faith is weak, the enemy HaSatan will take advantage, Aaron who was left in charge was pressured into relenting, with gold earrings, the people made a “golden Calf”. “This is our god,” they said, could one think that they replaced YHVH with this false god? The Egyptian god “hapis” took the form of a cow or bull, and perhaps, they had a miniature one of those gods with them.

I would think they still believed in YHVH but they wanted to “See” with their eyes, some kind of form, breaking of course the commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image”. True faith is “believing” even if we cannot see something that is invisible. Yeshua said to his talmidim; “Blessed are those who do not see yet believe”.

Do we trust Adonai, even when we cannot see the immediate results? That is what testing is all about, He will try our faith, will we trust HIM even unto the end? YHVH lives in the infinite dimension of time and space, while we live in the finite dimension. He can see the end while we can’t even see around the corner. He has everything under control, we just have to believe and wait on him, as the Israelites should have done. It would have saved a lot of grief, lives, and dishonor.

Moshe comes back down only to witness the disaster, and breaks the tablets as a sign of a “broken covenant” between YHVH and the people. It is like getting married and on the same wedding night, the bride goes out and commits adultery. YHVH wants to DESTROY the people and start over with Moshe. YET, Moshe intercedes before YHVH for Am Israel. Just as Moshe interceded, so did YESHUA intercede before the Father on our behalf, and still does.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Yeshua’s words). “Yet now, if you will forgive their sin, and if not, blot ME out of thy book” (Moshe’s words) and…. YHVH forgave them. Just like YHVH forgives us of our sins, when we confess and turn from our wicked ways.

Now we will answer the question; Does God have faces? If yes, how many? First of all, we know that this is not literal, since God is not human, so as to say He has a face or faces. So, this must be a Derashic question, with a spiritual or symbolic answer. The reason for this is because we read in Exodus 33:11; “YHVH would speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another..” Yet in another part of scripture, we read: “You can not see my face, for man may not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20) So, how did Moshe and God speak “face to face?”

The English reads, “face to face” but in the original Hebrew, it reads; “Panim El Panim” or “faces to faces” The word “El” could also be read as “God” because that is one of His names. So we could also look at it as; “faces God faces” It makes no sense in English, but in Hebrew, it does make sense.

When a person has mood changes, the face changes as well. We can make “sad faces’ “happy faces” “ angry faces” etc… So, let’s read on and see if we can understand “Panim El Panim”.

Moshe wants to see the glory “HaKavod YHVH” he goes back up for a second copy of the commandments.

“Show me thy glory!” the LORD responded; “I will make all my goodness go before thee” yet, he said that no one could see the “face” of YHVH, who can look upon the pure essence of YHVH? For it would drive the spirit out of the body, So, as YHVH passed by, Moshe saw the “after-effect” the “tail end”. Yet 70 elders and Moses "saw" God on his throne, and saw the emerald floor beneath the throne. So, they "Saw" God, yet lived to tell about it.

It could be like trying to look a the mid-day sun in full summertime. You can't it is too bright. However, you could look at the sunrise and the sunset with no problem. It's the same sun yet at different times, with different potentials. Perhaps, what the elders saw was the "glory" of God in a less powerful and pure state.

It could be similar to my experience in seeing Haley’s comet back in 1987. While I was in college, I went to Lynchburg College Observatory which was open to the public, we could see Haley’s comet going back out into space and I saw the “tail end” of the comet, which was just a faint glow at that time.

Now Moshe gets the second set of tablets, and YHVH gives them to him with these words:

“YHVH, YHVH God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and their children’s children……”

Could we dare say that these “attributes” or “personalities” could be expressed in the words “Panim El Panim” The “faces of God’s character?” He has the face of mercy, the face of Grace, the face of long-suffering, the faces of goodness and truth, the face of forgiveness, yet He also has the faces of judgment, punishment, wrath, and jealousy “El Kana” (Jealous God) This is something to think about and ponder over.

These are good descriptions of our God. He IS full of mercy and showed us grace, in that we were yet sinners, He came to earth in human form and died for us all. He is “long-suffering” in that he puts up with our “stuff’ our “attitudes” and “rebellions” and gives us second, third, and fourth “chances” to repent, He could have wiped out Israel in one second, but he didn’t. He gave us his Torah, the Bible which is full of “goodness” and IS the TRUTH, he forgives sin, but ONLY when we come to him as repentant sinners and trust Yeshua as our Savior and LORD. He does not clear the guilty ONLY WHEN the guilty DO NOT REPENT! And yes, the sins of the fathers can affect the children, just look at the public schools today, the students are rebellious, and disrespectful because they have learned that from THEIR PARENTS!

If the kids hear the parents fuss and cuss, they will too, If the parents smoke dope, they will have the tendency to do the same, children will copy their parents in all ways, HOWEVER, the blood of Yeshua can heal all of that, the generational curses can be cut short when YESHUA comes into the lives of families.

Moshe returns to the congregation with the new set of tablets, and YHVH instructs him and reminds him of his commandments, “Yes, I will go before thee…only observe all that I am commanding thee this day…. And toward the end, YHVH mentions, “thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk” which is a repeated commandment, this was discussed before, it symbolizes a separation between, “life and death” of the “clean and unclean”

Moshe comes down “glowing” like a thousand-watt light bulb, why? He has been in the presence of YHVH right there, in the middle of the Shekinah glory! If he glowed with God’s glory, Moshe being a sinner like all of us, can you imagine how Adam and Eve glowed before the fall? Being in constant fellowship with Elohim? It was only after the fall that the “light covering” left, and they found themselves “naked!”

In stead of seeing the "glory" of God, which passed by within a few seconds maybe, he received a revelation in His NAME! The WORD and revelation last forever, while an image or vision is temporary.

Yeshua said; “Ye are the light of the world” Yes, we are, yet we have no light of our own, we reflect the light of Messiah Yeshua, in our own lives. Is our light bright, like that which reflected from Moshe? Or…dim?



Moshe asks YHVH a very interesting question; “You say bring this people up, but who is going with me?”

Without guidance, we can go nowhere. It is like walking in the dark without a flashlight or being in the middle of the ocean without a compass. Where will we go? Who will lead us? Adonai has the answer Moshe is searching for;

“My presence goes, and I shall give you rest” (vs 14) The “Ruach Elohim” will go with the people, and they will receive “shalom”. There are two kinds of rest, “physical rest” from our labors, and “spiritual rest” that is from within us. Before, we were burdened with the curse of sin, but once we accept Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ) as our LORD and Savior, we have his “presence” inside of us to give us “peace” (shalom)

Moshe wants to experience the “essence” of YHVH, but who can know who He really is? Can we grasp the meaning of the universe? The mind of God? We are limited, to what we can fathom as fallen beings, but YHVH listens to Moshe and gives him an answer;

“I shall cause all my goodness to pass before you, and I shall proclaim the Name of YHVH………See, there is a place with me, and you shall stand on the ROCK……. (vss 19,21)

There was a special place, a special ROCK, where Moshe was placed, he “Stood” upon the ROCK” (HaTzur)

In the picturesque/symbolic ancient Hebrew, the letters can symbolize, “The first Tzadik to receive the nail” The ROCK symbolizes YESHUA, who IS the TZADIK (the righteous one) who received the Nail and paid our sin price in full, and thus…giving us SHALOM (rest) from our spiritual torment of being lost, sinners. The name YHVH proclaimed is HAVAYAH, (the essence of existence) who is “Haya” (the past) Hoveh (the present), and “Yiyah” (the future) and who is YESHUAH (salvation of YAH)

Ben Avraham

Hi all,
Just wondering if I can please get advice on what a woman's submission in marriage should look like?
I'm having problems with my partner. We have only been together less than a year.
He wants to direct everything, I mean everything I do down to what I eat, how I spend my time, where I go and how long I can be gone for, who I speak with, when and how, how we spend all of our money, and bigger decisions such as whether I work or study, where we should live, absolutely everything. And he won't let me really have any say or input..I am expected to just say yes and obey, because 'thats obedience to God through obedience to my husband.'
I feel like this is like being like a robot and I am losing any sense of self. I feel it's too codependent as he wants me constantly by his side. He doesn't work and doesn't want me to at the moment. He says he makes all decisions with my protection in mind (as he was a refuge for me from and organised abuse situation - he doesn't trust my judgement of others to keep myself safe, and says he is putting a lot of boundaries around me to prevent me being abused again). But it feels over bearing and I wonder if it's abuse sometimes, especially when he shouts and swears at me. Can I please get perspectives on a balanced view of submission in marriage, I am having real trouble finding balanced views on this topic anywhere. Thanks