please say a prayer for physical healing too much to explain thank you for any prayers

Google [USN:L4N3530B7 TEXT:"said this week"] it was testing blocking some Canadian users' access to news as a potential response to the Trudeau government's "Online News Act," which is expected to be passed into law.

Trudeau, speaking to reporters in Toronto, said the blocking of news in Canada was an issue "bothering" him.

"It really surprises me that Google has decided that they'd rather prevent Canadians from accessing news than actually paying journalists for the work they do," he said.

Not sure why he's surprised by this. When tech giants were helping filter certain results (in a way that helped his side with regards to certain mandates), they demonstrated that they have a certain level of "blocking power". Did he honestly expect that they could simply pass a law that would compel a private company in another country to supplement the salaries of an industry sector of his own country?

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RUSSIA​

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In Medieval burial ground, a rare embroidered Deisis depicting Jesus Christ was discovered​

The iconography of Jesus Christ known as Deesis, which can be translated from Greek as “prayer” or “intercession,” is one of the most potent and prevalent images in Orthodox religious art.

To quote from the article

Adams called Black Americans a “hate group” and suggested white Americans “get the hell away from Black people” in response to a conservative organization’s poll purporting to show that many African Americans do not agree with the statement: “It’s OK to be white.”


The Anti-Defamation League says the phrase was popularised in 2017 as a trolling campaign by members of the discussion forum 4chan and was then used by some white supremacists.

“If nearly half of all Blacks are not OK with white people ... that’s a hate group,” said Adams, who is white, on his YouTube channel on Wednesday. “And I don’t want to have anything to do with them.”

1 Thessalonians 1:4-7


We read in Matthew 22:14 ESV: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” The many are urged to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and to leave their lives of sin behind them to follow Jesus in obedience, but the chosen are those who follow Jesus Christ in obedience and in surrender to his will, and who walk in holiness and in righteousness in the power of God. And it is obvious that they are chosen by God because their actions reveal that their faith is genuine and that it is not lip service only.

So, they don’t just listen to the word and then walk away and forget what they heard, but they become doers of the word and not hearers only. They apply the word of the Lord (under the New Covenant) to their daily lives, and they put it into practice in their lives. And they cooperate with the Lord in becoming like Jesus more and more, and they do not continue in deliberate and habitual sin. It doesn’t mean they never sin, but that sin is not their practice, but righteousness and obedience are what they practice.

Those who are truly following Jesus Christ with their lives, in surrender to his will, and in obedience to his commands (New Covenant), will be hated and persecuted, even by others who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are still walking according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit. But this can serve to actually strengthen them in their walks of faith and to make them even more determined to stay the course and to keep following the Lord in obedience and in surrender to his will for their lives.

And those who are walking in genuine fellowship with the Lord, and not in sin, can be an example to other believers in Christ as to how they should live for the glory and praise of God. It doesn’t mean they are perfect in every way, for we won’t reach perfection until we go to be with Jesus for eternity, but that they are walking the walk and not just talking it. They are making righteousness and holiness and obedience to God their practice, and sin is not their practice, for daily they die to sin and live to righteousness.

1 Thessalonians 1:8-10


Now those who are truly walking in obedience to the Lord, and in surrender to his will, are also those who are not silent about their faith in Jesus Christ and about his gospel, but they are sharing the truth of the gospel with others, and they are encouraging their fellow Christians to walk in holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to the Lord, and not in sin. But it is not talk only. They are walking the walk, and it is obvious to those who have discernment to know when faith is genuine and when it is not.

For when we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine faith in him, we die with him to sin and we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. So our new lives in Christ should not resemble our old lives of living in sin. Now that doesn’t mean we become perfect immediately, but there should be an obvious transformation which has taken place to where others can see that we have turned from sin and from idolatry to serve the living and true God.

[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]

Full Release

An Original Work / April 15, 2012

Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.

Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.

Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.

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I was looking at a church bulletin. One of its priests provided a Lenten checklist and although it contains a wealth of advice on how to improve yourself spiritually, it's just so overwhelming when I look at it. I feel like I can't even do 10% of what he's recommending.

I'm not sure how to start this thread. I previously came here in July 2018 and created the two threads linked below. I was desperately seeking wisdom, prayer, and help during a very bad situation. Everyone from my original threads were spot on. I was infatuated and not thinking clearly. I would give anything to take it all back.


After receiving much needed help from some great people here, I'm back to ask for spiritual advice. I'm happy to say that for anyone who remembers my original threads, I stayed with my wife and we're going on 14 years of marriage this year. Our baby is now six and growing like a weed. I took the advice given and fell back in love with my wife again. I have worked really hard to achieve this but it has been great.

What I came back for is to ask for spiritual advice. Before this emotional affair with my coworker (discussed in previous threads linked above), I was serving in the church and just living the Christian life. I confessed to my wife the emotional affair. I confessed that I had feelings for her. I confessed I had opened doors that should've never been opened and that I shared things with her I never should've. I confessed I had even thought about leaving to be with her. Soon after we stopped seeing each other and contacting each other, she left the company and moved out of town. We never saw each other again and only texted a few times after she left which I also regret.

What I'm seeking spiritual advice about is what my life has looked like since this affair. Before I was saved in Jan 2011, I cussed like a sailor, listened to rock music instead of Christian music, and so on. After January 2011, God instantly took away my cussing. I mean instantly it was stopped and I had no answer other than God took it away. I still struggled with pornography at times however. I started listening to Christian music instead of rock music. I still enjoy Christian music and find peace when listening to it. This was the case and my life until this emotional affair. I have obviously confessed this sin to God numerous times. I feel like I can't shake the guilt and the shame. Ever since this emotional affair, I feel like I have lost my salvation. I don't believe in losing your salvation. I firmly believe in eternal security, however it genuinely feels like I got so far in sin and so far away from God that I can't feel Him, hear Him, or see Him anymore. I know He is still right where I left Him, however even with me confessing my sins, it doesn't change. What am I missing? Do I have to confess every single detail about the emotional affair to my wife in order to be "healed" from this sin? It's like I feel I have unconfessed sin in my life. Since this emotional affair, I cuss at times like I used to before January 2011 when I profess Salvation. After this emotional affair, it's like there is a large spiritual injury that I can't seem to overcome no matter what I pray or say. What am I missing?

Thank you for taking the time to read this long post.

God Bless!

Many when they hear the word GOSPEL , some say that there is ONLY ONE GOSPEL .

Some . like me , say there is more than one GOSPEL .
It is translated GOSPEL
GOSPEL / EUANGELION means , GOOD TIDING OR GOOD NEWS .

The first time we read about the GOSPEL , is mentioned in Acts 20:24 that reads , Paul says , and the MINSTRY , which I received from the Lord Jesus , to earnestly testify , THE GOSPEL of THE GRACE of God .

#1 GOSPEL means , glad Tiding OR Good News .

#2 It is translated Gospel 46 x

#2 translated Gospel of Christ 11 X

#3 translated Gospel of God 7 x

#4 translated , Gospel of the KINGDOM , 3X

#5 translated ETERNAL
Acts 20:24 is called THE GOSPELGOSPEL 1 X


It , seems that Gospel covers many areas and 1 Peter 4:17 does mention the GOSPEL of God .

But Rom 1:1 THE MYSTERY .

#1 The GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD

#2 My GOSPEL , Rom 2:16 and 16:25 and 2 Tim 2:8 are raised for the DEAD .

#3 THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST , Rom 1:16 , and Rom 15:19 , 29 , Gal 1:7 , 1 Cor 9:12 , 18 and many are still trying to CCORRUPT the GOSPEL OF CHRIST , Gal 1:7 ,

#4 The GOSPEL of PEACE , Rom 10:15 and Eph 6:15

#5 The GOSPEL of his SON , Rom 1:9

#6 The GOSPEL OF GOD , Rom 1:1 , 15:16 , 2 Cor 11:7

#7 The GOSPEL of THE UNCIRCUMSISION , Gal 2:7

#8 THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION , Eph 1:13

#9 THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL OF CHRIST , 2 Cor 4:4

#10 THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL OF THE BLESSED GOD , 1 Tim 1:11

And each of the ten points above is GOOD NEWS for all believe and saved by GRACE OF GOD , by believing 1 Cor 12:3

What I see is that of the points above explains what that good NEWS means and what it is .

Then Rom 10:9 .

Then Eph 2:8 says you are saved by GRACE and NOT / A DISJUNCATIVE PRONOUN and means NOT OF WORKS .

Then you are PLACED / BAPTISMA into the DEATH of of Christ , Rom 6:4 and the BAPTISMA is called the HOLY SPIRIT .

And the you are the PATTERN of Paul , 1 Tim 1:16 .

dan p

.

I have some questions for those who believe that hell is a real place and that the wicked will be punished forever. What would be the purpose of this? What does it accomplish? How does this give glory to God? Why would God require the wicked dead to suffer forever?

I am not looking to debate whether or not hell is real. I don't believe it is; others do. I'm not looking for somebody to prove hell is real. What I seek is Scripture-based answers, answers using verses. I don't want opinions or speculations.

I wonder if that camp even thinks about these questions. It is clear in Scripture that unforgiven sinners will be punished for their sins. Jesus was punished on the cross for sins. He paid the price of the punishment for sins. Yet, did he not die? And with his death, did not the punishment for sins end? If you use the rationale that the punishment for sins is never to end, doesn't that mean that Jesus would still be on the cross, still being punished for sins, until today? And beyond today into eternity?
Without a doubt, there have been many, many wicked people in the history of mankind. Individuals, governments, religions, criminals, warlords, etc., are personally responsible for countless deaths. And the many others who have caused incredible pain and suffering. People who should have been made to suffer great punishment while alive. It is also true that God dealt out some severe punishments in the Old Testament.

Let's move on from all of that. So Jesus has returned and judged all of the goats. So, what happens next? There is no way that all goats are equally guilty of the same evil deeds, quantity or degree. Your vision of Dante's Infernal aside, Scripture makes no mention of what type of punishment or if there are different degrees of punishment awaiting the goats, so we must deduce that the punishment is the same type for all of the goats. So, will a man who abused his children, committed adultery, and embezzled money from his job be punished the same as Hitler or Stalin? Or a woman who was a junkie, defrauded the government, stole widows' social security checks, and robbed men for kicks is going to pay the same price as Pol Pot or Mao?
According to the narrative, every goat in hell will be punished forever and ever. Not just a hundred years, a thousand, a million but trillions of years? Doesn't that seem like overkill? Doesn't that seem beyond excessive? God can do as He sees fit, of course. So no amount of punishment ever fits the crimes, right? A thousand years of 24/7, excruciating, non-stop pain and agony isn't even close to being enough punishment, right? Not a thousand, not a million, not a trillion years is even close to unforgiven sin ever being paid for?
This is what you people believe. The idea that God would simply destroy all the goats after judgment day just doesn't make any sense, does it? According to you, God has no mercy and no sense of justice. Just "Let 'em burn," right? "Let them suffer forever," right? To me, this makes God out to be the most sadistic, mean, and petty tyrant one could ever imagine.
And yet, why would God do this? Everything God has done, is doing and will do is because He has a reason to do so. What would be the reason for hell? Everything that God started is going to come to an end and God is going to start over; any traces of the old world and the taint of man and sin will have been eradicated and forgotten. Does God want to keep a reminder of sinful men around? Is hell going to be there as a warning to the saints, who after the resurrection, will never commit sin again? I'm just trying to put this puzzle of ever-lasting punishment together. I'm hoping one of you can explain it to me, using Scripture of course!

Whistleblowing hotel employee Felipe Rodriguez also alleged that the once-trendy hotel — formerly known as the Milford Plaza, which advertised itself as the “Lullaby of Broadway” — had turned into a “free-for-all” of sex, drugs and violence.
Most people still don't realize the magnitude of this disaster. The article said "at least 47,600 migrants have flooded into the city since the spring of last year." In fact the U.S. has encountered over ONE MILLION immigrants just this year! Certainly New York and the other areas that advertised themselves as sanctuary cities are not taking in their fair share. Just imagine the conditions in border towns.

In Archbishop Dmitri's commentary on the Epistle of Saint James, he writes in his commentary on 1:13

God incarnate, the Son of God, was not tempted (in His so-called temptations) in the sense that He was even for one instant attracted by the devil's propositions, nor could He be tricked into proving who He was.

Click to expand...

Is the section in bold above the unambiguous Orthodox understanding of the "temptations" in the Gospels of Sts. Matthew, Mark, and Luke?

I was just alerted by my credit card company that over the last 2 days there were several charges to my credit card totaling about 4000 dollars. A stop was put on my card and the transactions suspended pending an investigation. This creates a problem for scheduled automatic monthly withdrawals. Please pray about this situation.

I moved to a new town and want to start going to church, but as a married lady of 51 who suffers from anxiety and Aspergers, I don't know if I should for a few reasons.
1. I'd really like to walk through the door, find my seat and not be hounded by a ton of questions like what church I came from, what do I do, how many kids do I have, where's my husband, why did I choose that church, etc. I'm a very private person and would love to make new friends but I don't like talking about myself. Ironic, I know.
2. There's always some person (usually older with no manners) who has to give you a spiritual shakedown to see if you're worthy enough to befriend that keeps me from going. I don't know how to politely say I'd rather not answer that or why are you asking me all these questions? Obviously, if I come to your church, I'm looking to be fed from the Word and worship. That should be good enough but it never is. If you say you're uncomfortable answering questions, they think you have something to hide when I feel like they have no right or need to know.

Should I just stay home? Or would saying, "I don't know if I'm ready to share anything personal about myself until I get a feel for the church and want to come back." Would that be acceptable? Any more suggestions would be appreciated.

John 3:16-17 KJV "For God so loves the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved."

I always thought that only a select few were going to be saved after Judgement Day but after reading this passage in the Bible (King James Version), I am reconsidering what I had always believed. If God has been actively trying to save the world from condemnation (and by extension, hell), then won't this have an effect on the quantity of souls saved?

I think it does because if God loves us all and wants the best for each and every one of us, then won't we be given all the chances we need to accept Him and become saved? The world clearly is a lot more than just Christianity and atheism.

There is one passage more than any other which is I appealed to by those who believe in universal redemption, and which at first sight appears to teach that Christ died for the whole human race. We have therefore decided to give it a detailed examination and exposition.

“And he is the propitiation[3] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). This is the passage which, apparently, most favor the view of those who believe in universal salvation, yet if it is considered attentively it will be seen that it does so only in appearance, and not in reality. Below we offer a number of conclusive proofs to show that this verse does not teach that Christ has propitiated [atoned] God on behalf of all the sins of all men.

In the first place, the fact that this verse opens with “and” necessarily links it with what has gone before. We, therefore, give a literal word for word translation of 1 John 2:1 from the Updated American Standard Version (UASV): “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not commit a sin.[2] But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.” It will thus be seen that the apostle John is here writing to and about the holy ones of God. His immediate purpose was two-fold: first, to communicate a message that would keep God’s children from sinning; second, to supply comfort and assurance to those who might sin, and, in consequence, be cast down and fearful that the issue would prove fatal. He, therefore, makes known to them the provision which God has made for just such an emergency. This we find at the end of verse 1 and throughout verse 2. The ground of comfort is twofold: let the downcast and repentant believer (1 John 1:9) be assured that, first, he has an “Advocate with the Father;” second, that this Advocate is “the propitiation [atonement; covering over] for our sins” Now believers only may take comfort from this, for they alone have an “Advocate,” for them alone is Christ the propitiation, as is proven by linking the Propitiation (“and”) with “the Advocate!”

Continued below.

People wonder a bit about it then, whether plants have souls or not, they kind of do, but to explain a bit better then, everything that exists in our universe consists of energy, that's why you can set fire on rocks even with enough heat, but this energy is not directly dead, it lives a little, so when everything was just a sun in the beginning, the pressure and gravity inside it made matter to be shaped, it is actually solidified energy , it is kept going a little by the fact that it is constantly supplied with energy, otherwise it would have just solidified completely into stone, all matter then, but plants are really this energy then, which lives a little, a little that radiates from the earth, man has is a more evolved soul and a body to walk in, so that's why plants are a little different, they're more this energy around them, so they live, absolutely, just a little different than animals, and humans, we have more of a body to walk around in, move the soul around in, but everything lives around us, precisely because this energy lives a bit, that's why we don't just walk around dead too, without this energy that the sun, and so on, consists of, then we'd just be walking around, dead, and not really feeling alive, more like a robot then, but we feel real, and senses, so do plants, they are a slightly purer form of life, more like energy in its purity, humans are a lot weirder because we are more intelligent, but not necessarily better at behave, it's a bit because we're quite new too, plants, and animals, have lived much longer, they're wiser you could say, but they've always been kinder then, but I think maybe we humans will get there one day too, with that in mind, did god create this first energy, the first sun?

When a person dies are they judged immediately?

If they are then why is there a last judgement like the one described in Matthew chapter twenty five?

Matthew 25:31-46 NIV

All,

We have been in the process of starting an off-grid and sustainable community for interested Christian families who desire to live according to Biblical ethics, regardless of denomination, in the Caribbean. We have been making contacts on a particular island and such is place that is very well-suited for homesteading and off-grid living. We already have several interested families and have organized a website for drawing others as well. We will make all of our own food and practice holistic medicine and commonly own all things in the community. We will have chapel daily, as well as various studies and a Sunday worship service conducted by an ordained minister. We will do outreach and charity on the island, and work with other churches to help aid the work of the Kingdom there, we will likewise have scheduled times of fasting, as well as feasting and making merry as a community. Everyone would have weekends to themselves for their own personal time and at the start some of us may have to work some side-gigs until everything is well-established. Otherwise, all the work, from building, to growing food, raising animals, fishing, etc, would be done as a community. I myself have been ordained in the Lutheran and Reformed churches and have built and maintained my own off-grid homestead and some of the other interested families have backgrounds in building homesteads, holistic medicine, and teaching at Christian schools.

Beyond this, we would all have our own “huts” or simple home with a shared community center which would work as our chapel, kitchen, dining hall, school, library, storehouse, bathhouse, etc.

This is a very simplistic summary, but things are starting to move in a great direction and everyone is feeling very optimistic. Thus, for those who want to live somewhere with other Christians where we can be easily self-sufficient and eating fresh all year round, where there are nearly no regulations or restrictions on how we build our homes, raise our animals, educate and discipline our children, then consider joining in our plans. We hope to make the official move in the next couple of years once everything is wrapped up.

For more information, contact me via the message feature here on the site and then we can continue the conversation via email. Godspeed.

Texas Prosecutors Can't Target Groups That Fund Out-Of-State Abortions
https://www.usnews.com/news/top-new...groups-that-fund-out-of-state-abortions-judge

(Reuters) - Local prosecutors in Texas cannot use state laws that are more than 60 years old to prosecute organizations that help fund and arrange travel for Texans to obtain abortions in other states where it is legal, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin said that 1961 state abortion laws, which were rendered unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade establishing a nationwide right to abortion, were not revived when the Supreme Court overturned Roe last June.

The pre-Roe laws include criminal penalties for people who help others obtain an abortion.
Pitman's order, which is preliminary, will remain in place while abortion funding groups, including Fund Texas Choice, The North Texas Equal Access Fund and The Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity, move forward with a lawsuit seeking to block enforcement of the laws.

The groups filed their lawsuit not long after last June's Supreme Court ruling, saying they risked prosecution for helping Texans obtain legal abortions in other states. They cited statements by Paxton and by some state lawmakers suggesting that the pre-Roe laws criminalized funding or facilitating such abortions.
Pitman wrote that while the pre-Roe laws could be read to criminalize helping with out-of state abortions, they were implicitly repealed when Texas passed new abortion restrictions after Roe.

Gonzalez v. Google LLC (Docket 21–1333) is a pending case at the Supreme Court of the United States which deals with the question of whether or not recommender systems are covered by liability exemptions under Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, which was established by Telecommunications Act of 1996, for Internet service providers, in dealing with terrorism-related content posted by users and hosted on their servers.[1][2] The case was granted certiorari alongside another Section 230 and terrorism-related case, Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh.

Many signs and wonders were regularly being done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

Acts 5:19-21 ESV


I always love reading this Scripture passage! It does my heart good!! For if God opens a door, no man (or woman) can close it, and if he closes a door, no man (or woman) can open it. For our God is still fully sovereign over all that he created. He is still the one in control. No devil nor demons nor any human nor any creature on this earth can thwart God’s will and purposes and plans for us. And if we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, well that is within his sovereign will, too.

But the other thing I love about this is that the apostles showed no fear. Even though they had been arrested and put in prison, when the angel of God spoke to them and told them to go stand in the temple and speak to the people the words of life, they did exactly what the angel told them to do, knowing full well that they might be arrested again or beaten or killed.

But when the religious rulers gathered together and they sent to the prison for the apostles, the officers did not find them in the prison, and this was reported to the council, which then had the council members perplexed. And then they were told that the apostles were standing in the temple teaching the people. Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Acts 5:27-32 ESV


And, of course, I love this, too! For the apostles were not threatened at all by their opponents’ threats. For they knew that God was in control of the situation. So, even though they were reminded that they had been instructed to not teach in the name of Jesus, they did it anyway. And so the apostles answered them, “We must obey God rather than men.” Amen! And then they went on to proclaim the gospel message.

The apostles told them that the man Jesus, who they had killed by hanging him on a tree, God had raised from the dead, and he exalted him as Lord and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. But they didn’t stop there, but they went on to tell of the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to all those who obey him. Amen! There you have it! Repentance and obedience are critical to both the true message of the gospel and to our salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

So, two things here. First, when God has called you, and he leads you to speak his words to the people, his instructions trump any orders from human beings. But let me say this here. It is best to do this in submission to the authorities if at all possible. And where that is not possible, sometimes the Lord leads us to just leave and to go someplace else where we can share the truth of the gospel. But in times of severe persecution, where we are not given permission anywhere to share the gospel, then the Lord may direct us to go against the authorities in order to get the truth out to the people, even if it means our arrests or persecution or even death.

Secondly, when sharing the gospel message, make certain that you are sharing the whole counsel of God and not a diluted feel-good message that promises people salvation from sin, all sins forgiven, and heaven as their eternal destiny without repentance and without obedience required. For if repentance and ongoing obedience to our Lord are not required, then it is not the true gospel of our salvation, but an attempt by humans to dilute the gospel to make it more appealing and acceptable to human flesh.

For 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 him in obedience. For if we hold on to (save) our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we lose our old lives for the sake of Jesus, i.e. if we die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, then we have eternal life with God and the hope of heaven when we die, providing we continue in those walks of faith steadfast to the very end.

[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]

I Pray for Them

An Original Work / June 4, 2013
Based off John 17

“Glorify Your Son, that Your Son
May glorify our God in heav’n.
Father, You granted Him all power
And all authority over men,
That He might give eternal life
To all those whom now
You have given Him.”

“This now then is eternal life:
That they may know You,
Father, and Your Son;
That they may know the only true God,
And Jesus Christ whom the Father sent.
I have brought You the glory by
Finishing the work that You’ve given Me.”

“I have shown You to those whom
You gave to Me out of the world;
They were Yours. You gave them to Me
And they have obeyed Your words
And they accepted them. They knew
That I came from You, and they believed
With certainty, I was sent.”

“Holy Father, I pray for them by the
Power of Your name: Protect them,
So that they may be one as we are,
For they are still living in this world.
I have given them Your word;
Because of Your word, the world
Has hated them.”

“I pray they may have the full measure of
My joy now living within them.
Father, I pray You sanctify them
By Your word; truly Your word is truth.
As You sent Me into the world,
I send them to tell the world to repent.”

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This happened almost 30 years ago before smartphones.

Huntsman spider eggsac hatched in our bathroom and the seemingly thousand spiderlings filled the entire bathroom walls. This happened past midnight where everyone is asleep and not a sound can be heard around.

Then I started hearing this noise, like the faint noise of a thousand children screaming. The noise changed when I moved and the only thing(s) nearest my head and my ears are a bunch of a hundred spiderlings.

I noticed the noise went a bit louder when I moved closer to them. So I tried waving my hand very slowly over the spiderlings and true enough, the noise kept on changing each time I waved my hand which confirmed the source of the noise, it was the spiderlings. It went on for a few nights until the spiderlings have dispersed and only very few remained. I figured they can only make the noise audible enough when there's dozens of them making the noise at the same time.

It only crossed my mind recently, searched the internet, and found NOTHING about baby huntsman spiders making these screaming children noises.

I never hurt another huntsman spider since after that incident.

Feds fine Mormon church for illicitly hiding $32 billion investment fund behind shell companies​

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a nonprofit entity that it controlled have been fined $5 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission over accusations that the religious institution failed to properly disclose its investment holdings. In an order released Tuesday, the SEC alleged that the church illicitly hid its investments and their management behind multiple shell companies from 1997 to 2019. In doing so, it failed to disclose the size of the church’s equity portfolio to the SEC and the public.

The church was concerned that disclosure of the assets in the name of the nonprofit entity, called Ensign Peak Advisors, which manages the church's investments, would lead to negative consequences in light of the size of the church’s portfolio, the SEC said. The allegations of the illicit shell company structure first emerged in 2018, when a group formerly called MormonLeaks — now known as the Truth and Transparency Foundation — claimed that year the extent of the church's investments had reached $32 billion. The following year, a whistleblower filed a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service, according to a 2020 Wall Street Journal report; that year, the newspaper said the church's holdings had grown to $100 billion.

“For more than half a century, the Mormon Church quietly built one of the world’s largest investment funds,” the Journal said. “Almost no one outside the church knew about it.” The SEC accused the church Tuesday of going to "great lengths" to avoid disclosing its investments and, in doing so, "depriving the commission and the investing public of accurate market information.”

After the SEC expressed concern about Ensign Peak’s reporting approach in June 2019, the church said, Ensign Peak "adjusted its approach and began filing a single aggregated report. This settlement relates to how the forms were filed previously," the church said. "Ensign Peak and the Church have cooperated with the government over a period of time as we sought resolution. We affirm our commitment to comply with the law, regret mistakes made, and now consider this matter closed."

A billion here, a billion there . . . pretty soon you're talking real money!

So I am a musician. I was researching (on ultimate-guitar) a song the other day from Elevation Worship, which is the musical arm of Steven Furtick's church. The song is "Graves to Gardens". Apparently they have copyright claims against website that even just show people how to play their songs. So the website is not allowed to show any of their songs for legal reasons. Now that in itself isnt a huge deal to me, another artist had the same song up and the chords were correct, I learned the song, so on.

What Im concerned with is this idea of blocking others from learning. I cant articulate my thoughts clearly, and I understand as an artist they are likely trying to protect their work, just seems wrong to me as a believer, especially since they are the only worship band I know to do this. Added to this is their affiliation to Steven Furtick. Am I wrong in my view here? Seriously, Im asking to see if Im just being dramatic.