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Shane R · 2025-08-13T05:32:18-0500

I know a bloke who lives in Toronto and he told me they have a 2 foot long hot dog available at Jays games. I am a bit of a connoissseur of hot dogs and find that delicacy both tempting and gluttonous. I suppose we could all 3 share it.

MarkRohfrietsch · 2025-08-13T05:12:19-0500

The Liturgist said:
None of that would ever happen in a traditional Liturgical church

(whether an Eastern Orthodox, traditional Roman Catholic, Assyrian, traditional Lutheran (Evangelical Catholic LCMS/LCC etc, such as my dearly beloved brethren @Ain't Zwinglian and @MarkRohfrietsch) or high church continuing Anglican or traditional Anglican church).

This is because we do not agree with the Pentecostals and Charismatics on the definition of tongues and we do not ordain to any ministry nor consecrate as a nun anyone who is what I once amusingly heard referred to as an avowed practitioner of the Sapphic arts.*

* This tongue in cheek term I somewhat prefer, because the pious Greek Orthodox Christians from the actual Isle of Lesbos suffer from the lack of a usable demonym due to this immorality. Misandry (despising of men) might be another good term related to misogyny (despising of women) which was historically used to refer to those who conducted themselves after the men of Sodom.

Christian Forums just gets weirder by the month. LOL; Tongues, as defined by charismatics, are anti-scriptural.

If such did happen in one of our Churches, we do have a process, it is called Exorcism.

David Lamb · 2025-08-13T05:10:59-0500

Strong in Him said:
Oh I understand why you say what you say.
In your own words, you're addicted to conspiracy theories and you believe what ever Dean says.

You didn't read what I said; why do you expect US to watch a 2 hour video just to find out where a mountain is located, when, previously you said, "I don't have time to watch a long video, can you give me a link to the exact bit?"

And if I ask a question about why you are doing something and you think it's not worth answering, you can't blame me if I form my own conclusions.

I agree. I have before seen Apple Sky claim that the River Euphrates starts in the Arctic, and now here she is claiming that Mount Zion, which the bible says is in Jerusalem, is actually close to the North Pole, a location not even mentioned in the bible.

The Liturgist · 2025-08-13T05:07:46-0500

RDKirk said:
People talk about the "morally gray" characters in Star Wars Andor. However, I don't think a person who has to do an evil thing morally gray if he understands that what he did was evil without rationalizing it as good.

For instance, the character Luthen says, "I'm damned for what I do." That indicates a person of conventional morality, not different from the average soldier of the Allies during WWII. On a personal note, and why this is an issue of importance to me, all of my elder relatives were ground combat veterans. Toward the ends of their lives--good lives, well-lived lives--they were all still tortured by things they'd done in combat. None of them felt his actions had been justified even though their actions had been forced upon them by circumstances they did not create.

Luthen's acknowledgment--"I'm condemned to use the methods of my enemy to defeat him....I'm damned for what I do"--is not morally gray in the classical sense. It reflects a man with a strong moral compass who knowingly violates it for a cause he believes just. That’s very different from someone who redefines wrong as right, which is often what the term “morally gray” suggests.

Luthen does morally reprehensible things: manipulating people, sacrificing allies, orchestrating civilian deaths, but he never excuses them as good. He doesn’t relativize morality; he believes in it. He just accepts damnation as the cost of victory.

That places him closer to the moral framework of Allied soldiers in WWII: “I’m doing something I believe is necessary, but I still know it’s morally wrong.”

IMO, a "morally gray" character is one who doesn’t operate on a fixed moral code or shifts between ethical systems situationally. A morally gray character denies the evil they do is actually evil, or they deny that good and evil actually exist.

Luthen believes in absolute morality, but he chooses to sin against it consciously and accepts a tragic ending that he considers a just ending for what he has done.

I rather liked Andor and I agree with your assesment of Luthen Rael’s character.

A better example of actually morally grey characters might come in the form of some of the “good Imperials” we see in the show, for example, Major Lio Pardigaz of the ISB, who one can dismiss as a mere bureaucrat but who seems to have a genuine interest in safety and stability, or even more poignantly in the first season, the Imperial engineer on Aldhani who attempts to force the rebels into releasing the young son of the garrison commander who was being held hostage, who was the same engineer who had been sent to construct a dam which was to flood the valley regarded by the locals as sacred (I would actually argue this character could be regarded as a good character overall, since we never see him conspire to use violence).

We also have the interesting case of Syril Karn who is manipulated by Dedra Meero into becoming an unwitting accomplice of genocide against the Ghormans.

MarkRohfrietsch · 2025-08-13T05:07:41-0500

chevyontheriver said:
Wow! That is an interesting way of putting it.

As some of us certainly do.

honey badger · 2025-08-13T05:07:30-0500

BelieveItOarKnot said:
Deuteronomy 30:15
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

Choosing life and good never eliminated the other matters set, nor was it meant to. It is good to speak truthfully, even if the conclusions are personally derogatory.

A vision sheet descended on Peter and the earth, filled with unclean animals, and the Lord directed him to eat. He derived from that to call no man common or unclean, and that God had cleansed the people everywhere.

The whole earth has a covering that God will at some time, destroy. The covering can't be seen. But the works of it are thought, spoken and acted out continually. The cherubs wings covered the mercy seat. The sword blocks the garden way

The password to the Mercy Seat is GUILTY

the chosen fast is not to eat of your own reasoning between two fruits of a tree and it is from here all things become clean, as in even the darkness becomes light ...

Therefore when you shall see 'the abomination of desolation,' having been spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place--the one reading, let him understand--

i see this covering as clear as day ...

when we keep the law 'thou shall not eat of it' the keys to the city are freely given ...

MarkRohfrietsch · 2025-08-13T05:06:09-0500

Shane R said:
So I'm slowly working on taking my daughters to the baseball parks that are within a days drive of our house. We've hit Cincinnati (my favorite team), Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Next closest is Detroit then probably the 2 Chicago parks, then Washington and Baltimore and Toronto are all about the same distance, and Milwaukee and Philadelphia are just in range. They've expressed a preference to go to the Rogers Centre in Toronto next.

Enjoy the traffic; I read an article that Highway 401 is one, if not the busiest highways in North America; I will avoid it at all cost. If we are going down-town, we drive to Burlington then take the GO Train to Union Station (Cheaper to take the train than to pay for parking in Toronto) ; Roger's center is a short walk and is right beside Ripley's Aquarium, the round house museum, Fort York, and Steam Whistle Brewing (also in the round house).

If I am not going to the other side of Toronto, I will use the 407 Toll Road (not cheap), or go north of the city through Arthur, Orangeville, Newmarket. If going north, we avoid the 400 at all cost and go cross country, and catch the north end of the 400 at Horseshoe Valley Road; then north towards Sudbury.

David Lamb · 2025-08-13T05:03:54-0500

Spiritual Jew said:
Of course you won't admit it, but I have proven it wrong. Scripture is very clear that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1-2) including the false teachers and prophets who Peter said denied the Lord who bought them (2 Peter 2:1). That you won't admit it doesn't change that I have proven limited atonement wrong with scripture. You are obviously very stubborn and believe what you want to believe regardless of what you are shown.

Yet Jesus said:

““I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” (Joh 10:11 NKJV)

Not, "The good shepherd gives His life for the whole world."

Later on in the same chapter, He tells some of His hearers that they are not of His sheep:

““But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.” (Joh 10:26 NKJV)

BelieveItOarKnot · 2025-08-13T05:00:32-0500

pastorwaris said:
But here’s the good news: while perfection awaits us in eternity, Christ’s work on the cross broke sin’s power over us now (Romans 6:14).

Dominion is one thing. Eradication claims are just a common form of spiritual blindness or an outright lie. We all know full well and entirely that we think lawless evil thoughts, most often blindsided out of left field, out of nowhere, it hits. These are "reminders" of our truthful condition, no different than Paul getting a messenger of Satan, temptation, in his own flesh. 2 Cor. 12:7, Gal. 4:14

There is no possible way for the evil that comes from within ALL of us to be legally obedient. It's not in the cards, nor was it ever.

That same evil within causes us to falsely justify ourselves and to condemn other people, the exact same sinners, to burn alive forever.

There is only one honest conclusion derived from the laws and that verdict is GUILTY. Romans 3:19

I think it is wonderful, marvelous, that God's Laws are against lawlessness and evil. Fantastic. I would expect no less. Within the laws are beautiful things, most often unseen, not even written, yet therein, plain as day once seen, 1 Cor. 9:9-10

Even if the conclusions are derogatory to me, personally. There is no use in lying hypocrisy about these matters

The Liturgist · 2025-08-13T04:58:12-0500

@RDKirk it seems to me like the coercion of the story to be more woke lies at the root of its problems, which is often the case these days.

Paidiske · 2025-08-13T04:54:32-0500

Supermarkets? Okay then. If that works for him.

:scratch:

The Liturgist · 2025-08-13T04:54:28-0500

johansen said:
I know a woman who spoke in tongues at a church, a decon or elder publicly told her she had a demon. She then over heard him privately say to another what she said which was "I am sending a fire amongst you"

The next week she went to church they had bought half a dozen new fire extinguishers.

Its also possible what was spoke was "i am setting a fire in your midst" or "i am setting a fire against you".

This church was the first in our town to have a lesbian pastor

I told the lady... Its not a physical fire. Where do you think that elder is going to spend eternity? -her innocent mind hadn't even thought of that...she was just deeply hurt by being lied to and never went back there again.

None of that would ever happen in a traditional Liturgical church

(whether an Eastern Orthodox, traditional Roman Catholic, Assyrian, traditional Lutheran (Evangelical Catholic LCMS/LCC etc, such as my dearly beloved brethren @Ain't Zwinglian and @MarkRohfrietsch) or high church continuing Anglican or traditional Anglican church).

This is because we do not agree with the Pentecostals and Charismatics on the definition of tongues and we do not ordain to any ministry nor consecrate as a nun anyone who is what I once amusingly heard referred to as an avowed practitioner of the Sapphic arts.*

* This tongue in cheek term I somewhat prefer, because the pious Greek Orthodox Christians from the actual Isle of Lesbos suffer from the lack of a usable demonym due to this immorality. Misandry (despising of men) might be another good term related to misogyny (despising of women) which was historically used to refer to those who conducted themselves after the men of Sodom.

BelieveItOarKnot · 2025-08-13T04:49:10-0500

honey badger said:
interesting question ... my view at present is when we reason between the two a 3rd is birthed out from them ... interesting Noah has three sons and the younger sees his nakedness but two do not and we also know that what comes out is feminine in relation to what it came out from being masculine, as in a truth cast down ... and we also know the tail speaks to the perception of flesh as in the natural mind as apposed to being spiritually minded which we know is to only eat of that which grows of itself and this the chosen fast and so when we view this as the three feasts the two thirds that where not cast out are Passover\wisdom and Tabernacles\understanding seeing its Pentecost\knowledge which be the reasoning between the two likened to a field we labor in caught between two mountains of which they speak to the law ... so am i correct to say the two thirds that are not cast down are yet another picture of the two witnesses pictured as the two cherubs holding a flaming sword who keep the gate ( way back ) open ...

Deuteronomy 30:15
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

Choosing life and good never eliminated the other matters set, nor was it meant to. It is good to speak truthfully, even if the conclusions are personally derogatory.

A vision sheet descended on Peter and the earth, filled with unclean animals, and the Lord directed him to eat. He derived from that to call no man common or unclean, and that God had cleansed the people everywhere.

The whole earth has a covering that God will at some time, destroy. The covering can't be seen. But the works of it are thought, spoken and acted out continually. The cherubs wings covered the mercy seat. The sword blocks the garden way

The password to the Mercy Seat is GUILTY

rocknanchor · 2025-08-13T04:43:07-0500

Continued greetings to all heirs of the most high, ultimately, God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Continued in the same recognition of His shed blood, give us wisdom to our progression of faith Lord and continued fellowship and power of the Spirit. For as our brother said in the first quarter-hour, the faith that held the feeding of Christians to lions, gave way to feeding those in Zion, liberty anew by the state. But, while the speaker, brother Larson, lamented the loss early Christian faith to ''ease in Zion'' (Amos 6:1) and so many aspects of faith's fallout, regardless, wants to re-permeate with that same early faith, rightly so (all the gifts re-invigorated), but stops short of welcoming these same heirs (1 Corinthians 4:8).

To date, the recoil of fear is in no earthly Christian kingdoms, yet the wish of an Apostle rings out. We still anticipate lives of ''doves'', harmless, blameless, but fear forbids us to heed the Master's word, ''wise as serpents'' Lord. Oh but the ways the Master can toil in the affairs of man, bring us to a profitable press Lord. A press to fearlessly invoke daring frontiers. The Master's train is on watch, the Spirit still disperses everything according to His riches in glory, even a kingdom above while on earth, ''so that we also might reign with you''. If wrought by God, without question, it will be above carnal understanding.

Strong in Him · 2025-08-13T04:40:49-0500

Apple Sky said:
Just watch the video & you may just understand why I say what I say.

Oh I understand why you say what you say.
In your own words, you're addicted to conspiracy theories and you believe what ever Dean says.

You didn't read what I said; why do you expect US to watch a 2 hour video just to find out where a mountain is located, when, previously you said, "I don't have time to watch a long video, can you give me a link to the exact bit?"

And if I ask a question about why you are doing something and you think it's not worth answering, you can't blame me if I form my own conclusions.

Shane R · 2025-08-13T04:39:36-0500

Paidiske said:
It'd be interesting to see where he thinks the optimal place is.

Church and supermarkets.

peter2 · 2025-08-13T04:38:32-0500

stevevw said:
Thats why I think now more than ever we need to be sure about the teachings and expose when this is denied. I definitely think there are more wolves in the church today than in the early church because people were constantly reminded to stay true to the teachings.

There are likely some tares surrounding the wheat each time some wheat is seeded.
i feel this like the tare counterfeiting the wheat, as soon as it may, in order to catch attention and perform satan's or wolves plans against sheep

stevevw said:
While at the same time bringing the church into the heart of Christs sacrifice and the new covenant He made with us. In fact the breaking of bread would have been the main part of worship with perhpas prayer and praising and the reading of the Torah and any new testament writings or oral testimony that were available.

Yes exactly. What i meant is i feel a lack of depth in the contemplation of Jesus love, through his willing sacrifice, even while celebrating. Spread unbeliefs have trivialised this sacrifice, the depth of men's sinning that made it necessary, and how much unaware or merely unthankful men remain.
Unbelief is responsible for a lot of forgetting

stevevw · 2025-08-13T04:34:15-0500

Bradskii said:
What's innate about gender?

Innate, something that is inherent in gender to the biological sex. Its grounded in biology and genetics.

For example hormones influence orientation and femininise or mascullinise thinking, feelings and behaviour. As mentioned earlier studies show that infant male chimps will tend to play with toy trucks, blocks and things as they are more spatial and dimensional in thinking. The same with female chimps playing with dolls.

In other words these stereotypical behaviours are not completely socially constructed. There is some innate basis for the differences.

There is also the famous study where a baby boy had lost his genitals and was reconstructed to be a female from birth and brought up as such. Only to find as an adolescent that he identified as a male and stopped wearing dresses ect. No amount of social conditioning could turn him into a girl.

Dr. John Money Gender Experiment: Reimer Twins

The John Money Experiment involved David Reimer, a twin boy raised as a girl following a botched circumcision. Money asserted gender was primarily learned, not innate. However, David struggled with his female identity and transitioned back to male in adolescence. The case challenged Money's...

www.simplypsychology.org

Paidiske · 2025-08-13T04:27:03-0500

It'd be interesting to see where he thinks the optimal place is.

Silver in the hair doesn't have to be a drawback. Beards, though...

David Lamb · 2025-08-13T04:24:32-0500

Apple Sky said:
Well if you watch the video Dean tells you where it is located in the Bible.

I do not need to watch a video to tell me where the bible says Mount Zion is. The bible itself tells me where Zion is:

“And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.” (Isa 4:3 NKJV)

One web site: Mount Zion « See The Holy Land says concerning Mount Zion's location:

"Mount Zion, the highest point in ancient Jerusalem, is the broad hill south of the Old City’s Armenian Quarter."

Christsfreeservant · 2025-08-13T04:22:59-0500

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB1995)

This is probably one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted passages of Scripture in the Bible, partially because verse 10 is usually omitted from most quotations of this section of Scripture, and because it is taught out of context of the whole of the book of Ephesians, and out of the context of the whole of the teachings of the Lord’s apostles in the New Testament writings. So, again, it is good if we can read the entire book of Ephesians first, to get the full context of what is being taught, so that we interpret this in context.

What is God’s grace? It is his favor, his gift, his leaning towards us to share benefit; him freely extending himself to people, to give himself away to people (source Bible Hub Interlinear). And what did Jesus Christ do to give himself away to us? He died on a cross, taking upon himself the sins of the world so that when he died, our sins died with him, so that by faith in him, which comes from God, we will now die to sin and be raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but to God.

[Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24]

For, the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For 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.” (See Titus 2:11-14). So God’s grace is not a free pass to keep living in sin and not in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, as many teach.

For “you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:20-24 NASB1995)

And what is faith? The Greek word is “pistis,” and it means to be persuaded, and in this case it means to be persuaded by God (John 6:44). And God persuades us as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of our sins, to die to sin, and to now walk (in conduct) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands in daily practice. He persuades us as to his will and purpose for our lives so we will do as he wills and no longer as our flesh dictates, for we now prefer what he prefers.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2]

But many people are teaching this passage in Ephesians 2 out of context, and they are persuading many people that God just hands them salvation “on a silver platter,” and that nothing is required of them at all other than a verbal profession of faith in Jesus, no works required. And yes, we are not saved by our own fleshly works that we do in our own flesh, but we are saved by God to do the works of God which he had planned in advance that we should walk in them, by his grace, and in his power and strength.

So death to sin and obedience to God and holy living are required by God as evidence of believing faith which saves, without which no one will see God.

[Matthew 7:13-14; John 10:27-30; Romans 2:5-10; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 5:3-6; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22 plus all above Scripture references]

For By Grace

Based off Ephesians 2:8-10
An Original Work / January 27, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

For by grace we’ve been saved
Of all our sins,
So that with Christ Jesus
Our lives begin.
Cleansing us from sin,
He made pure within
All who trust in Him
As their Savior, friend,
So that with Christ Jesus
Our lives begin.

We’ve been saved through faith;
This not from ourselves,
Lest that we should boast
In our fleshly works.
Our salvation is
A gift from our God,
Who loves us so much
That He gave His Son
To die on the cross
For all of our sins.

So repent of all
Of your sins today,
And He’ll forgive you;
Wipe your sins away.
Obey all of His
Teachings given you,
So that you can walk
With Him now in truth;
So that you can walk
With Him now in truth.

Login to view embedded media
By Grace, Through Faith
An Original Work / August 13, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Jerry N. · 2025-08-13T04:20:45-0500

RDKirk said:
"A difference that makes no difference is no difference" -- Spock

If whether it actually has "good intent" or "evil intent" makes no difference in what it does or how we deal with it, it makes no difference.

When the people posting on this thread write about flatworms, smart cars, viruses and the like, they are using similes to express ideas, but they break down. Interaction with AI is much more of a social interaction. In social interactions in families, courts, business and other places where people interact, there is a difference. If I accidentally dropped a heavy object on my brother’s foot, my father would tell me to be more careful. If I punched my brother in the nose, I would be in big trouble. When considering AI, intent may have an important impact on how the problem is solved.

Nithavela · 2025-08-13T04:14:59-0500

GoldenBoy89 said:
Thanks but I believe you guys are guaranteed something like a month of vacation where you are. We aren’t, so I’m taking whatever paid time off is mine. I’m not saying I use all my sick days just like PTO but I have used some before and don’t feel the least bit bad about it.

In germany, it's enough vacation days for 4 weeks of vacation, minimum. So 20 days for someone who works monday to friday, 24 days for someone working on saturday. Most places also give an additional 5 days of vacation time for educational purposes, though a lot of people don't take those.

I guess it's two different ways of going about business. When you're in a system that is based on selfishness, it's completely understandable to act selfishly. This is not disparaging your system per se, it has been quite successful for a long time, and other systems develop their own problems, like too many people living on the dole without ever paying something back.

But if you desire to transition to a different system, all parties must transition.

prudent_commenter · 2025-08-13T03:57:37-0500

Aaron112 said:
All mankind all over the world is "under" this or other curse - a world of sin and wickednesses that do not at all promote anything that is right with the Creator nor good for men.

That's true. I have a lot of problems with the way the world is right now. Their are doing things beyond their comprehension, and all is done against God.

Aaron112 said:
It is also a test - if you willing to accept this - the Creator testing to see who trusts Him no matter what, no matter when, no matter who seems to be against and who for, no matter even when all seem to seek our downfall.

Does the testing ever stop? If you fail, I would assume, it simply gets repeated. But what about if you pass the test; would another more "higher" test come?

I've been heavily tested since I was born. I've always knew what to do, with the only times of failure being based on impulsiveness. However, with it, also comes a form of protection. I can't tell what it actually is, but it seems that I can't be harmed without severe repercussions to those that hurt me. Could it be tied tied to the testing?

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