I've noticed something disturbing in my time in church life over the decades.
Not everyone displays this but only a select few, but when they do, it's almost as if though
they are all identical (as if coming from the same spirit).

It is the spirit of condescending or patronizing or sarcasm.

I'm sure some of you know exactly what I am talking about it. It's easy to pick out because
when it happens to you, your Spirit is shook by the audacity that these people have to actually
have words like that come out of their mouths in a loving-setting.

Where does this spirit come from? Is it the evil spirits doing this? Even though I've heard it from
the mouths of all kinds of different people, if I didn't know what they looked like and only heard
the words, I'd say they were all coming from the same person! That's how oddly identical it is.

For example, I speak genuinely and sincerely and ask a question to one of these "types" of people
and they would respond by saying something like, "What kind of question is that?!" and give you that
belittling or condescending look. Wow. Brother in Christ! Why would they speak that way even if
in joking manner. They are making themselves look good at the expense of trying to embarrass or
ridicule/mock others. It gives them a sense or air of superiority and the other a sense of inferiority or stupidity
like we were dumb to ask such a simple question like, "Where did you learn your English because it's so good?"

Where does this spirit of condescending and patronizing and sarcasm come from? Why are some people speaking
and using this form of language even within the church, within loving members who are sharing and opening up
or trying to open up to each other in vulnerable situations? How do we point this out without offending or hurting
the person that is being condescending/patronizing/sarcastic? It's like a rotting spirit that poisons us deep within
because it circulates and people speak this way which is damaging rather than uplifting and encouraging.

Well Republicans are going to start with some of their investigations pretty quick I'm sure.

If you were a Democrat strategist, what advice would you be giving to those who testify? Or, would you encourage folks NOT to testify?

Quick Reminder:
Kevin McCarty ignored a congressional subpoena
William Barr ignored a congressional subpoena
Jim Jordan ignored a congressional subpoena
Scott Perry ignored a congressional Subpoena
Wilbur Ross ignored a congressional Subpoena
Steve Bannon ignored a congressional Subpoena
Mark Meadows ignored a congressional Subpoena
Donny Trump ignored a congressional Subpoena
Donald Trump consistently attempted to have his staff ignore congressional Subpoenas
I don't think that's an exhaustive list of the previous 6 years.

Now, given all of that, I fail to see how Fauci, Hunter, or Garland have any obligation to testify. I mean, if you want to start the ball rolling down the hill, everyone gets to chase it...not just you.

Thoughts?

Hundreds of accusations against Chicago teachers have arisen including grooming, sexual assault and rape.

I wonder what it was in the Chicago area where teachers felt it was okay to engage in this behavior. While I have had a lot of respect for teachers in the past, this kind of stuff along with all the woke stuff has eroded my confidence in the education system.

Jesus says the Sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath.

The main issue I'm bringing up is I have always had a hard time knowing what is and is not ok to do on the Sabbath to the extent I almost do nothing at all.

I want to play games like I used to but always feel guilty. Specifically animal crossing where i like to fish and just have fun but I always think it's wrong. I don't want to sin but I don't want to live a life where I do nothing at all. What do you guys think?

*Permission to post in full*

As a speaker with Catholic Answers, I fly a lot. Part of what I love about flying is meeting those sitting next to me.

On a recent flight I had an opportunity to share my faith with a woman who seemed to believe in everything except the law of non-contradiction: fairies, God, heaven, reincarnation, Catholicism, the law of attraction.

One thing she didn’t believe in was hell.

In fact, after learning what I do for a living, one of the first things Mary said to me was that, though she believed in God, she did not believe in hell.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because I don’t think that a God who is all-good and all-loving would want to send someone there.”

“It’s certainly not his will that souls be sent to hell.” I said, “We know from Scripture that God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth [1 Tim. 2:4]. and that he does not want any to perish but all to reach repentance [2 Pet. 3:9].

“As a Catholic, however, you believe he already has sent someone, and indeed a multitude of beings, there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Catholics believe that demons are fallen angels. God has at least sent them to hell, yes?”

“I’m not sure I believe that,” Mary said. “But at any rate, I’m talking about us, people on this earth.”

“Do you think that all will be saved?”

“I do.”

“Do you think that anyone will be saved against his will?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, suppose a person rejects God and does not wish to be with him. Would an all-loving God coerce that person into being saved or would he respect the person’s free choice?”

“Well, I suppose in that case God would respect his freedom.”

“So you can’t rule out the possibility of hell in light of an all-loving God then, right?”

Once Mary had conceded that the doctrine of hell was not logically inconsistent with an all-loving God, I quoted C. S. Lewis from The Great Divorce:

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in hell chose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened. ”

Interested in learning more? Read my colleague Jim Blackburn’s article, Hell? Yes! Part 1 Hell? Yes! (Part I) and Part 2. Hell? Yes! (Part II)

Last summer on an evening walk, I got sprayed by a skunk. It was an embarrassing, smelly situation where my wife had to help me with the deodorizing bath late into the night (and then dealing with the odor in the house. Phew!). I had more than one person mention the lingering odor the next day. Has anyone else here been sprayed by a skunk?

South Carolina's six-week abortion ban struck down by state Supreme Court | CNN Politics

(CNN) - The South Carolina state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state’s six-week ban on abortion violates the state’s constitution. The 2021 law had banned abortions once what it called a “fetal heartbeat” is detected, which can be as early as four weeks, and more commonly, six weeks into pregnancy, with exceptions for fetal anomalies, risk to the life of the mother, or in some cases of rape or incest. In a 3-2 ruling, the court concluded that the law ran afoul of the state constitution’s privacy protections, with Justice Kaye Hearn writing in the lead opinion that the “state constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s decision to have an abortion.”

While the state can impose some limits on those rights, Hearn wrote, “any such limitation must be reasonable and it must be meaningful in that the time frames imposed must afford a woman sufficient time to determine she is pregnant and to take reasonable steps to terminate that pregnancy.”

Not surprisingly, some Republicans are suddenly unhappy with letting the states decide.

South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster blasted the ruling on Thursday, writing in a statement that the court “has found a right in our Constitution which was never intended by the people of South Carolina. With this opinion, the court has clearly exceeded its authority. The people have spoken through their elected representatives multiple times on this issue. I look forward to working with the General Assembly to correct this error,” the governor said.

Maybe Republicans should just put abortion rights on the ballot in all 50 states and see what the voters decide.

A coup appears to be in progress.

Hello all,

How was the Eucharist received in the East during the early Church?

It is my understanding, in the WEST, it was received on the hand, and the chalice was directly drank from.

When did the liturgical spoon become common?

Thanks in advance

In Matthew 19:3-9, the Pharisees ask Jesus if it’s lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus refers them to Genesis 2:24 which says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Jesus further says that as they have become one flesh, then what God has joined together, “let not man separate.”

When God gave His Command in Genesis 2:24, this was before the Hebrews, led by Moses, embarked on their 40-year journey to the Promised Land. In answer to Genesis 2:24, effectively, the Pharisees asked Jesus in Verse 7 of Matthew 19, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” They were referring to Deuteronomy 24:1, which, in the face of do’s and don’ts in Old Testament Law, implies that it is OK for a man to send his wife away if he gives her a certificate of divorce. Jesus answers in Verse 8, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” Commentators have written that Jesus had the Hebrews’ wilderness journey in mind, inferring that because of man’s tendency for his heart to harden, which could disrupt the Hebrews’ journey to the Promised Land, it was necessary to allow a man to divorce his wife if he saw fit, and to give his wife a certificate to avoid any misunderstanding that may lead to violence or disruption amongst the rest of the Hebrews that may ensue from their separation.

On the basis of being allowed to acquire an understanding of the Scriptures by using reason as provided for in Isaiah 1:18, it seems that Jesus may have seen the issuance of a certificate as necessary in this extraordinary event of the Hebrews’ journey to the Promised Land, but a) having then arrived at the Promised Land, and b), “from the beginning” as Jesus says, the Law of Genesis 2:24 was in effect, so, on the basis of Genesis 2:24 alone a man cannot divorce his wife.

On the other hand, there is no similar Law that applies to a woman; so, taking into account other parts of the Scriptures, it seems a woman can divorce a man provided certain conditions are met, which, again apply to men. In Matthew 5:32 Jesus says “...whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Well, adultery is a sin. So, a woman can leave a man, but under God, she cannot marry another man. To a certain extent, this is in contrast to Deuteronomy 24, which implies it is not sinful for a man to marry a divorced woman...in fact, under Deuteronomy 24 a divorced woman can be passed around to any man, so long as that man is not her original husband.

Deuteronomy 24, not even taking other commentators into account, seems to apply just to the Hebrews in their journey to the Promised Land, since Verse 4 says “...And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.” Seems that to Jesus, after they settle in the Promised Land they revert back to Genesis 2:24 which faults the man for divorcing a woman, and Jesus adds the touch that whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Seems that in Jesus saying in Verse 6 of Matthew 19, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate,” he may be inferring that any marriage between a man and wife is an act of God, which a man cannot undo. On the other hand, a woman can undo it without punishment, so long as she doesn’t marry another man, putting the other man at risk for committing a sin.

Visions, Dreams, Parables, Parabolic Examples and Language, Nothing New under the Sun, etc, etc, etc...

Visions, Dreams, Parables, Parabolic and Metaphorical Examples and Language, Symbolisms, or Things that represent other Things, but are actually the same Things, etc, etc, etc...

Whatever you want to call these things, as they are all pretty much the same things, etc, a woman "this", or a man "that", or "this or that situation or circumstance" with "this or that person or certain (group of) people", etc, or "this or that person, place (or places), or things", etc, under "this or that situation or circumstance", etc, is "all pretty much the same thing", etc, and is "timeless or ageless in this or these creation(s)", or in "creations like these" always, which will always exist always, though they may start all over again, etc...

Anyway, when this kind of Language is used, or these kinds of things are talked about in this way, especially in the Bible or in Scripture, or with God, etc, they are talking about things that are "eternal" here basically...

And that these things always repeat, and have been alwaysbeing repeated for quite a while now, etc, so that none of them are "new" ever, etc, as there is basically not ever anything new here, under the/this creation/sun, etc...

Visions and dreams express this also, and it is only because we don't have all of the "keys" as to how all of this is, that we don't understand them, and are quite confused by them, most of the time, etc...

Are any of you following what I am trying to be saying here so far...?

Got any comments maybe...?

There were certain people, certain humans in the Bible, who were said to have great insight into this or these things, etc, people like Daniel, and Joseph, from the OT, were said to have specifically, etc, and I'm sure there were others who probably did as well, etc... They had a lot of these "keys", etc...

God Bless!

Hi, my name is Megan and I am new to the forums. I am currently in a treatment program for a year and am just looking to connect with other Christians. I am glad to be here and look forward to chatting with you guys!

I have a strange relationship with God. I try to be a better person, I try to turn my back on sin and be a good person, but I remember past sins and regrets which basically feels like it throws mud on my efforts, I then give up trying and start to switch back to my old ways. A while ago I used to want to be a bad person, I used to deliberately be horrible to others and I used to not care because i considered myself one of the Devil's, but due to things in personal life I've realised that's not what I want and I try to change, but when I feel like I've failed if I commit a sin again, or if i feel like God has rejected me, I go into a sort of sulk and start thinking I have more in common with Satan and that's why things aren't working out when I try.

Some people are of God and some are of The Devil, how do you know exactly which side you belong to? I can't be all bad as I desire a relationship with God, but sometimes I get sick of trying and start to go the other way thinking that perhaps I'm more accepted by Satan than God.


I'm genuinely confused and I worry that I'm kidding myself when I say I want a relationship with God, as I've not been a very nice person in my life, and because I've always felt like an outcast I've always felt like I have more in common with Satan than God, as he too is technically an outcast for pretty much the same reasons I've always been, namely wanting to do things his own way instead of living upto his expectations.

Genesis 5:21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years.24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

It is so awesome to hear that someone in the bible was so close to God that He just took him to be with Him in Heaven. I always have aspired to just be close to God like Enoch was. Sometimes when I wonder what I should do as a hobby or some new thing to do, I walk and talk to God. Then I realize maybe just talking to God is my hobby, it is rather who I am. The relationship with Him is what makes me who I am and I shall be thankful for the simple lifestyle I have. I may not play video games or watch much tv, but who cares right? Isn't it rather more of a beautiful thing to be close to God anyways Hope you're all having a great new year, I know I am and I like the number 7 from the bible, and 2023 adds up to 7 2+0+2+3=7

I am slightly anxious when it comes to communicating with men. The reason for this is that I consider myself not beautiful enough and even ugly sometimes, although I have often received attention from men.

However, something happened recently that made me a complete mess. I went to a party where one of the boys repeatedly initiated conversations with me. I noticed how he was often looking at me, one time even staring at me continuously, and even smiling at me. I also talked to him, smiling and trying my best to show that I was interested too.

Then, just when my insecure mind decided that maybe there is a slim chance that he liked me, I was left shocked. Suddenly, he asked me and my girlfriend for advice about some girl he met recently and liked, but she ghosted him.

Since he told us that he realized it wasn't worth it and got over her, I decided to keep communicating with him, hoping that we would at least exchange contacts in the end since we would never see each other again. But that didn't happen and we all left.

So, I welcomed the New Year with a shattered peace of mind, very confused, miserable, and convinced more than ever that apparently I'm not pretty enough or even ugly once he didn't do anything more. I know how he was looking at me, it was definitely not accidental eye contact, he was staring at me repeatedly and consistently. And he began initiating conversations. Am I really that delusional and if there is any chance he really liked me? But if he had, why didn't he want anything more?

So the communion (the eating the bread cookie and drinking the cup of grape juice)
and the benediction (the simple saying of 2 Cor. 13:14) are often given in church services.

In my church, we haven't had it for 6 months. The reason is because our part-time pastor
is not ordained. It appears that only ordained pastors can deliver communion and the benediction.

Of course it is always nice to have communion and/or given a benediction at the end of service,
but why do some people seem to need it like it is a requirement to their spiritual survival or sustenance?

It is always a blessing to have it but I don't feel less blessed if I don't. Communion is a sacrament, not
means for salvation. The benediction is just a nice blessing given but I don't believe it has any more or
less power than if you used any other verse or prayer to bless people.

Can anyone explain where some members got their deep-seeded reliance or dependency on these?
It just surprised me.

please say a prayer for sleep thank you

I'm going to make y'all jealous

Matthew 4:17 ESV
“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

Why is it that Christ did not start his ministry saying, "You all need to be baptized," and instead said the above?

Acts 16:30–31 ESV
“Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.””

Why was the condition for salvation belief in the Lord Jesus and not baptism?

Mark 16:16 ESV
““Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.””

Why didn't Jesus say, "whoever is not baptized will be condemned?"

I can only assume that someone can be saved without being baptized. Of course, this does not mean that baptism is "bad" or that we should not be baptized. All it means is that baptism is not as fundamental to being a Christian as faith is.

Now, I know people are going to appeal to church history here. But consider...

1 Corinthians 1:14 ESV
“I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,”

So the question becomes, "Who baptized these people?"

And if Christ Himself never baptized anyone but calls everyone to repent, what does that say?

If we are alone with no social life, what do
For my part i don't want to seek in church

Proverbs 14:2, 5, 25 ESV


In America, many people profess to be Christians, to be believers in Jesus Christ, but they don’t all know the Lord. They are not all serving him with their lives. Many are giving lip service only to him, but their hearts are far from him. For some of them, Christianity is just a religion of choice, but it doesn’t mean that they are in relationship with Jesus Christ. Many profess him with their lips but by their lifestyles they deny him.

Deception abounds in America, too. Liars are everywhere – in the government, in the church (or just the institutional church), in the world of medicine, in the media, in the news, in sports, in entertainment, and in other religious or civic institutions, etc. In fact, pastors are even being trained to be liars, in some cases, for they are being taught how to market their ”churches” to the world, and this involves some deceptive practices.

My husband and I were church planters twice. Both times we had to go through training. The second round of training I remember well. We were told that when we start out we are going to attract a lot of “needy” people, and that we are to use them, because they will help us to get up and running. But once we are going good, we are to discard the “needy” people because they will drag us down. Ouch!

Proverbs 14:6-8 ESV


And then my husband and I were searching for an institutional church many years ago and so we visited this one IC. The sermons were good, and so I complimented the pastors on their sermons. But this one sermon I had a question about, so privately (including my husband) I inquired of this one pastor about something he said. And, bottom line, he told me that in his training he was warned about people like me, people with strong convictions, that he was to encourage me to go someplace else.

But if I decided to stay and continue at “his church,” I was to sit back and keep my mouth shut, and I was to let him be God’s voice to me, he said. He was to be God’s voice to me, not God. Walk away from such situations as this. No human is to be God’s voice to us. We can learn from other humans, and they may teach us things we did not know before, but they are not to replace God in our hearts. We are not to listen to men in place of God. God is to be our only God, not any man on this earth.

There are so many “pastors” of “churches” these days who are not following the Lord Jesus but they are following the teachings of man and marketing schemes for how to build their churches and humanistic training to let them know who they want in their “churches,” and who they are to discard. Manipulation and trickery are used in these “churches,” too, to get the people to do what they want them to do. And many don’t see it at all.

Proverbs 14:15-16, 22 ESV


So, we need to be people who exercise wisdom and discernment. We need to be people of God who test everything we hear against the teachings of the Scriptures to make certain that what we are hearing is the truth or not. We need to be those who ask questions, for if we don’t, then we can be deceived. And we need to make certain that the preaching we are listening to is indeed the word of God taught in context and not the teachings of man.

We are not to be those who just readily accept whatever sounds good, for whatever sounds may be a lie, not the truth. And that is one of the dangers of “memes” on social media, some of which have religious content. They are quick little messages or images which give off a quick impression but they can be very deceptive and twisted, too. From some of the ones I have read, I can tell you that some of them are intentionally deceptive. But we live in this “fast food” generation where people want their spiritual food quick, too.

So, be people of discernment who ask questions, and know what the Scriptures teach in context so you are not easily deceived. Test everything you read, see, and hear against the Scriptures (in context), for lies abound out there. Ask the Lord to direct you to what is truth and to make you aware of the lies that are being spoken. And then follow the truth of God’s word even if you may feel sometimes as though you are standing alone.

[Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:3-23]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

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

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

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

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

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"During the final rounds of voting Friday, Trump placed calls lobbying the remaining holdouts to drop their objections."

The night before taking the oath of office for her second term, Noem learned that her Social Security number and those of her immediate family were leaked by the Jan. 6 committee.

Among the hundreds of records posted online by the committee laying out the timeline of the events leading up to the storming of the Capitol was "a spreadsheet with nearly 2,000 Social Security numbers associated with visitors to the White House in December 2020." The list included several high-profile Republicans.

The Democrats allowed the law to be broken and Supreme Court justices and their children to be put in danger. They allowed innocent conservatives to be handcuffed and chained and in some cases unjustly imprisoned. President Trump's taxes were released, the taxes of American citizens are supposed to be private. This was done because Trump is Joe's political opponent. Third world dictatorships treat their political opponents in such a manner. This social security number release should really not be a surprise. This is how it was in Germany, they first took over the press and eliminated free speech, then the rights of the Jews were completely taken away, not enough people stood up, and then more and more people were put under Nazi control. If this continues be aware that eventually only a small elite class will rule and the Democrat constituencies the hard left panders to today will be find themselves oppressed, only a small number of elite will rule.