Pommer said:

I totally believed the folks who told me not to “pop” the chicken pox pustules “it’ll leave a scar!”, so I only did one on my left calf, when the light hits it obliquely I can still see it there, 60-something years later.

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I've got a bunch of scars on my forehead - I had chicken pox as a baby, and I've been told I resorted to scooting around the crib on my face to scratch after they wrapped my hands up.

This bugs me.. It really does. I count several clergy members as friends, and they are the among most ethical, trustworthy people I know!

Being that it bugs me, I went digging a little deeper. I'm not really any closer to figuring out why the drop, but I did find another article that goes into a breakdown of the demographics.

NOTE: - the gallup poll specified "clergy". This article uses the term "pastor" instead. However, I checked and they are using "clergy" numbers just using the term "pastor" instead. Possibly the use of "pastor" instead of "clergy" is a Baptist or SBC thing as it is a Lifeway article? As someone said above, "clergy" covers more ground than "pastor".


Anyway.. here is the article and breakdown..

Pastors face lower levels of inherent trust among some segments of the population. Women (26%) are less likely than men (30%) to rate their honesty and ethics as high. Additionally, non-white Americans (18%) are less trusting than white Americans (33%).

Politically, Republicans (36%) have higher levels of trust than Democrats (25%) or Independents (24%). Independents are the most likely to say they rate pastors low or very low—21% compared to 15% of Republicans and 14% of Democrats.

Comparing the Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents who give pastors high marks for honesty (36%) with the Democrats and Democratic leaners who do the same (21%) reveals a 15-point trust gap, the seventh largest partisan gap.

Pastors are also less likely to find trust among younger adults, those with less formal education, and those with lower household incomes.

Almost 2 in 5 Americans 55 and older (38%) have high levels of trust in pastors compared to 24% of 35-45-year-olds and 17% of those 34 and under.

Those who are high school graduates or less (15%) are half as likely to say they have high levels of trust in pastors compared to Americans with some college (30%) or who are college graduates (38%).

Additionally, as household incomes increase, so does the likelihood of higher rankings of pastors’ honesty. Those making less than $50,000 a year (19%) are less trusting of clergy than those making between $50,000 and $100,000 (28%) and those bringing in $100,000 or more annually (34%).

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It short, it seems white, Republican-leaning, well educated, well-off, older men are most likely to view clergy favorably.
The view of clergy goes down from there depending on which of the demographic buckets the person falls in.

orbiter said:

We are to leave the man-based churches and not be unequally yoked together with them.

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As we are to be in fellowship and not neglect the gathering together, kindly tell us where we are to find such fellowship in this age.

As we are told the Wheat and the Tares remain among us wherever we gather, how will this preferred fellowship look ?

The deeper issue is Hindu nationalism. It goes hand in hand with reinforcing the logic of the caste system, and many of the converts to Christianity or Buddhism in India are from lower castes who are tired of being the metaphysical doorstop for Hindu identity.

According to experts, the accusation of “genocide” against Israel had been prepared for years.

The president of the organization NGO Monitor, Dr. Gerald Steinberg, accuses international non-governmental organizations of having worked systematically for decades to level the gravest of all political accusations against Israel. In his view, it was only the Gaza War after October 7 that provided the moment these groups had been waiting for.

Steinberg explains that numerous NGO networks had been discussing for more than twenty years whether to label Israel an alleged “genocidal state.” This choice of words is not just any political term. It is the strongest moral accusation that can be levelled against a state. Those who use it question not only political decisions, but the legitimacy of a country itself.

According to the expert, many of these organizations followed a recurring pattern. Israel was systematically demonized, while the organizations reinforced each other's messages. These were not spontaneous reactions to current events, but narratives built up over the long term.

This is consistent with internal accusations within the aid organization Oxfam. The former head of Oxfam UK accused her own organization of allowing anti-Semitic tendencies and pushing to label the war as genocide without providing sufficient evidence. #5324

Steinberg emphasizes that many NGOs today are no longer just humanitarian actors. With budgets running into the billions, they can have a decisive influence on global public opinion.

From Israel's perspective, the impact of these campaigns is enormous. The accusation of genocide comes at a time when Israel is fighting a defensive war against the terrorist organization Hamas. On October 7, Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack, deliberately murdering, kidnapping, and abusing civilians. Nevertheless, international attention quickly shifted to accusations against Israel.

Steinberg also criticizes the role of individual medical and humanitarian organizations. Some of their representatives spread serious accusations that later turned out to be false or greatly exaggerated. A particularly striking example was the claim that Israel had bombed a hospital and killed hundreds of people. Later investigations indicated that a misguided rocket from Gaza itself had caused the explosion.

Another key issue is Hamas' use of civilian facilities. This practice presents Israel with a moral and military dilemma.

According to Steinberg, this raises a fundamental question. If organizations knew that aid supplies were being misused and civilian facilities were being used for military purposes, why did they remain silent? This question concerns not only the past, but also the credibility of international institutions.

For Israel, this is not just a matter of criticism, but of its own legitimacy. The accusation of genocide is no ordinary political attack. It targets the moral existence of a state. When such accusations are spread without clear evidence, the damage extends far beyond the current political situation.

Reliant

yali

Origami

Oompa Loompa said:

Because we are like the Tin Man, so we are immune to any attempt to be manipulated through pulling of heart strings.

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Nah, you guys get plenty emotional when people you care about are threatened. You just don't care about people like the one in the OP.

Geometry is our Universal language that is why it has the possibility to convert..... everyone understands the basics. These multiple convergences offer that Hope.

1 John 3:13 says, “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.” Who hated Jesus the most? Who laid traps (mind traps) for him to fall into on a somewhat regular basis, hoping to trip him up with his words so that they would have cause to accuse him? Who harassed him on a regular basis, falsely accusing him of wrong when he was showing love to the people? Who were they who were jealous of him and of his temporary popularity among the people? And who plotted and had carried out his death on a cross?

They were not the pagans and the unbelieving who made no professions of faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they were God’s people of that time, many of whom were rulers in the temple, and instructors in the Word of God, and people of power and influence within the Jewish community. And they were his own brothers, and perhaps his neighbors. They were people he grew up with, many of whom he probably knew from birth, and that he sat with and talked with in the temple of God of that time.

So, don’t be surprised if it is not so much the people unassociated with “the church” and with worship of the One True God who will hate, persecute, reject, and mistreat you, but it will be others who call themselves “Christians,” and who claim faith in Jesus Christ, and who attend weekly gatherings of the church (or what is falsely referred to as “church”), and even those who serve in positions of leadership as pastors and elders. For many who profess Jesus are rejecting those of mature faith in our Lord.

For we live in a day and time when so much of what is called “the church” is not the universal body of people of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus putting sin to death in their lives and walking in obedience to the Lord, in practice. But “the church” has become these institutions of human origin created in the minds of people, many in their deceitful scheming, who have partnered with the ungodly in order to pattern their gatherings after the world in order to attract the world so that they can grow their numbers.

Thus, they have compromised with the world in order to “win the world” to their gatherings, but mostly not to genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus. For if they literally teach the truth as Jesus taught it, and as his New Testament apostles taught it, in the correct biblical context, it will not draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings. For the true gospel teaches that by faith in our Lord we must deny self, die to sin daily, and walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, as a matter of practice.

Therefore, if we are ones who are spreading the truth of the gospel to the people of the world, we are likely not to be welcome and accepted in many of these gatherings called “church” which are businesses of human origin partnered with the government and with the world in unholy unions. And we may face much persecution and rejection and ridicule from those in positions of authority. But that’s okay, because God is calling us to come out from among them so we don’t share in their sins and in their punishment.

[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

But love is not the “feel good” “tickle itching ears” approach to Christianity and to faith in Jesus Christ which so many people are marketing to the world today. Biblical love is willing to put our lives on the line by telling people the truth of the gospel so that by faith in Jesus they will deny self, die to sin daily, and follow our Lord in surrender to his will in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. For if we teach lies to the people, it is the same as us signing their death warrant. For we curse them to hell while promising them heaven as their safety net. And that is hate! It is not love! Don’t lie!

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Acts 26:18]

My Cry for Mercy

Based off Psalm 86
An Original Work / October 31, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Hear my prayer, Lord, I am needy.
Guard my life, for I’m devoted to You.
Save me! I’m Your servant.
You are my God. I trust in You.

O, Lord, have mercy on me,
For I call to You.
Bring joy to me, for to You
I will lift up my soul.

You are giving and forgiving.
You abound in love to all who
Call upon You. Hear my prayer, Lord.
Listen to my cry for mercy.

In days of trouble I call to You,
Knowing that You will
Do marvelous things,
Because You are my God.

Teach me Your way; I’ll walk in it.
In Your truth, Lord, You will guide me.
A pure heart, Lord, You will give me,
So that I may glorify You.

Turn to me, Lord, and grant
Strength to Your servant.
O, Lord, You are my help,
For You love and You comfort me.

Teach me Your way; I’ll walk in it.
In Your truth, Lord, You will guide me.
A pure heart, Lord, You will give me,
So that I may glorify You.

Login to view embedded media
Don’t Be Surprised
An Original Work / February 16, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Desk trauma said:

A leadership summit for people precluded from leadership by their religion? Odd.

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They are NOT precluded from leadership by their religion.

Paulos23 said:

The father of the shooter is facing charges now.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/06/us/colin-gray-georgia-shooting-suspect-father-charges/index.html

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Murder trial begins for Colin Gray, father of Georgia high school mass shooting suspect​

The father accused of giving his son an AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas present that prosecutors say the teenager used in a 2024 mass shooting at a Georgia high school went on trial on Monday, facing murder and manslaughter charges stemming from the shooting.

Colt Gray, [14 at the time] now 16, has been charged as an adult and is awaiting a separate trial on multiple counts of felony murder and attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

FireDragon76 said:

What I am saying is well known to anybody in an historic Christian church, like Episcopalians, Anglicans, Catholics, Orthodox.

Anthropic Claude gave this brief synopsis:



Claude is largely correct but doesn't go into the fact that the early church was even harsher on its regard for those who bore arms in violence, and the idea of bringing a weapon into a sacred space would have been unthinkable. Anybody that had shed blood was forbidden to be ordained as a presbyter, and Christians were expected to live peripatetically in expectation of the consumation of the Kingdom. Their ethics were far closer to Amish than to modern day American white Evangelicals. Churches were regarded as sanctuaries, embassies of another Kingdom not dominated by violence, but by love.

Many Roman soldiers who converted to Christianity left the military, such as Martin, bishop of Tours. It was only with Augustine's shift in theology that some concessions were made to Christians participating in warfare, as long as the cause and methods were just, but this wasn't seen as making war or violence in itself holy, and didn't change the attitude towards weapons in churches, which continued to be forbidden.

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It’s not necessarily a denominational thing, but an American one, and even there perhaps more rural than urban. I had to look it up to find prohibitions on weapons in churches dating back to the 5th Century, but during the American Revolution, there was a Loyalist Anglican minister who thought it prudent to have a loaded pistol handy in the lectern.

Northern woman from original Pathways video:

"Amelia joins a Gospel church and learns not to put her hopes in the things of this life, and discovers that true belonging isn’t found in flags, memes, or political causes — it’s found in the sovereign grace of Christ alone. She learns Romans 13 and that noone can be in the Country unless under God's sovereign hand. She uses the energy she now had to share the Gospel!"

A Tennessee school district has agreed to tighten oversight of guest speakers following accusations that a high school assembly featuring a Memphis rapper crossed into unconstitutional religious promotion.

The controversy began when Haywood High School in Brownsville hosted Patrick Earl Houston, whose stage name is Project Pat, for a school-day assembly in December.

A Facebook post shared by Haywood High School on Dec. 5 thanked Houston and his ministry partner, Chris Smith, “for sharing important life lessons with our students,” and acknowledged that students received a copy of The Tongue: A Creative Force, a 1976 book by Word of Faith teacher Charles Capps.

Formerly linked with rap group Three 6 Mafia and the older brother of rapper Juicy J, Houston now leads the Go Foundation, a nonprofit prison ministry he launched in 2021 to take the Gospel to inmates at county jails and other facilities.

Continued below.

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee over allegations that its policies discriminate against Jewish students.

The DOJ's Civil Rights Division is partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine if the LMU’s DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine is intentionally stopping Jewish students from completing their exams during the spring semester.

“This Department of Justice is fiercely committed to shutting down the concerning outbreak of antisemitism that has been spreading on college campuses since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, in an announcement last Friday.

Continued below.

Peace in Christ.

Our Savior has abolished death….rendered it idle…and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. This is a NOW thing for this mortal body in this earth….in our earthen vessels.

He has “abolished”…aorist active in Greek indicates a simple, punctual, or "snapshot" action, usually in the past, without focusing on its duration or completion ….death for us.

He has already did that for us so that we might have life now.

We are to hear and believe and not to be ashamed of this testimony of our Lord. We are not be ashamed of Him and His words.

We are to be partakers of the affliction of the gospel according to the power of God. The unbelievers among the man-based churches will persecute us for the preaching and believing in of the truth of the gospel. They will hear and scoff at it and persecute any that will believe in it. But we are not to return evil for their evil.

2Ti 1:8-10 KJV
(8) Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
(9) Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world (age_ began,
(10) But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

The gospel is hid to them that are perishing (present tense)….perishing mortally to the grave. They have no understanding of the truth of the gospel. They preach it...but without the true meaning of it.

2Co 4:3-5 KJV
(3) But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost (PERISHING…present tense)

The god of this age has blinded the minds of their preachers. The “god of this age” = their belly that they are "preaching" for to feed. They preach themselves instead of Christ Jesus the Lord.

(4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
(5) For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

Their end is destruction….mortal destruction…and they are taking MANY down with them to destruction with their deception. Their god is their belly as they preach only for earthly things….minding earthly things.

Php 3:18-19 KJV
(18) (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
(19) Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Isn’t that what the serpent does? Upon his belly shall he go….that is, to walk. They are only thinking about filling their own belly when they “preach” to us. They are only minding earthly things: what to eat, what to drink, what to wear.

Their glory is in their shame as the rest of the world is hostile towards them (and those who follow after them). The rest of the people of the outside world ….the “cattle” and every “beast of the field”….shames them. They curse them. They have become a byword among the nations….a den of thieves. The people of the outside world are comparable to the animal kingdom for they do not know God nor have His Spirit within them. They only go after earthly things instinctually....on all "fours" such as cattle and speak evil of the false prophets who do the same thing in the man-based churches.

The Hebrew expression translated as "above all" in the KJV is מִכָּל, micol, which uses the prepositional "all of", כל, with the prefix מ, "from". So the simple translation, as well as the plain meaning in Hebrew, is "from all of" not "more than all" or “above all”.

Gen 3:14
(14) And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed FROM all cattle, and FROM every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

As a serpent twists upon the ground in his movement, the false prophets also "wrest"...that is, twist...the Scriptures to their own destruction. They reverse their meanings to fit their earthly needs to be met.

The thief does not care about what the world says about them. They even portray the hostility of the world towards them and those who are following them as being “persecuted for Christ”. They glory in their own shame. The nations should look at us as a house of prayer and not a den of thieves that it is today.

Just as Judas, who did “bear” what is put into the “bag”.

The Greek word for “bag” is “glossokomon” which is derived from glossa ("tongue") and the base of kosmos ("world"). It is the “tongue” of the world that he bears with as he does not care about what they are saying about him. The "thief" does not care what the tongue of the world says.

Joh 12:4-6 KJV
(4) Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him,
(5) Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
(6) This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag (tongue of the world), and bare what was put therein.

The serpent goes upon the belly. They do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly….and with good words and fair speeches…fine, eloquent speaking… do they deceive the hearts of the simple….and there are MANY that are being deceived.

They are charismatic and speak eloquently but they do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ (even though they come in His name and say they are sent by Him).

Rom 16:17-20 KJV
(17) Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
(18) For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

We are to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves.

(19) For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

Satan…the serpent and his ministers…. shall be bruised under our feet shortly. Genesis 3:15 .

(20) And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

The serpent comes preaching “another jesus”…. “another gospel” (not the gospel of Truth)….with “another spirit”…the spirit of error. They come in "unawares" while men sleep.

2Co 11:2-7 KJV
(2) For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

And many are being beguiled by them. They “well bear” with them.

(3) But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
(4) For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

The false apostles portray themselves as being sent by Christ: super apostles. “apostles” = “sent.” They glory that they are one of the true apostles…but they CHARGE you for preaching the gospel of God of which Paul did not .

(5) For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.

They are the opposite of Paul. They are not “rude” in speech as Paul was…that is, Paul wasn’t an eloquent speaker while the “super apostles” are. Paul had the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ…while the super apostles do not.

(6) But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.

The super apostles charge you for their preaching…. “give, give”. That is all you hear while they feed you crumbs from their “preaching.”

(7) Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?

The false apostles…deceitful workers….transform themselves into the apostles of Christ. They are portraying themselves as sent by Him. They come in His name/authority and say that they are the Christ…that Christ preaches through them. Yet, it is by the spirit/breath of the antichrist (opposite of the true Christ) that they are preaching with.

2Co 11:12-15 KJV
(12) But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
(13) For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
(14) And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Satan’s ministers have transformed themselves as the ministers of righteousness. Their end (destruction) is according to their works.

(15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Beware of false prophets who come to us in sheep’s clothing….as ministers of righteousness. By their deception, they lead MANY down the broad way to destruction….the destruction of our mortal body. In this way, the serpent eats “dust” all of the days of his life....as they are leading many to perish while they seek after earthly things...crawling upon the belly.

Mat 7:13-15 KJV
(13) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
(14) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
(15) Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

.Take heed that no man deceive you…

Mat 24:4-5
(4) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
(5) For many shall come in my name, saying, I am THE Christ; and shall deceive many.

…for they deliver us up to be afflicted and shall kill us. They deny what the Lord has done for us…that He has abolished death now for us. They lead many down the broad way to the destruction of our mortal flesh without the life of Jesus that is to be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

The nations all hate us because of His name’s sake….as the false prophets are coming in His name and deceiving many. The outside people of the world are hostile towards us because of false prophets and their followers. They blaspheme His name because of false prophets.

Mat 24:9 KJV
(9) Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

The thief only comes but to steal and to kill and to destroy….while Jesus comes so we might have life and to have it more abundantly.

Joh 10:10 KJV
(10) The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Jer 23:1 KJV
(1) Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

From the prophets profaneness goes forth into all the “land”…that is, the earth. The people of the outside world hate us and speak evil of us....and the source of this is the false prophets among us.

We are being fed “wormwood”…which means “to curse”. The nations curse us because we are listening to false prophets who falsely prophesy “peace” to us where there is no peace. There is no peace in their houses. We are made to drink the water of gall as the nations around us speak evil of us.

Jer 23:15-17 KJV
(15) Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
(16) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

The false prophets prophesy "peace" to us where there is none.

(17) They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

Deu 28:37 KJV
(37) And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee

Trump indicates DOJ would request death penalty if Nancy Guthrie not returned unharmed​

chevyontheriver said:

Nice.

I'm a Fedora guy from way back, and used Gnome 2 quite happily. I wasn't too pleased by Gnome 3 but tolerated it. That is until they also decided to only use Wayland for their Gnome 3, abandoning X11. Which also meant abandoning Xscreensaver, a favorite of mine. I'm still with Fedora, but now using MATE, which is a BIT like Cinnamon. I'm enjoying it. And Xscreensaver still works for now. Long run it looks like it is going to be a Wayland world.

I think Cinnamon was built off of Gnome 2 after Gnome 3 came out. Is that your understanding?

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@chevyontheriver ,
Yes that is my understanding. I will always use Cinnamon over other DE's. Mainly because everything just works out-of-the-box.

Cheers!

Dave... said:

Ephesians 2:19-22 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

1 Peter 2:4-6 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."

How did God's dwelling evolve to become what it is today? What happened?

Dave

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Exodus 25:40 And see to it that you make them according to the pattern
which was shown you on the mountain.

Hebrews 8:
4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests
who offer the gifts according to the law;
5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was
divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said,
“See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

Hebrews 9:
23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be
purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

No change or evolution, but a deepening revelation
Revelation 21:
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.
God Himself will be with them and be their God.

God Himself the capstone.

The Scripture Passage:

But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 When Anani′as heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Hark, the feet of those that have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard of these things.

It seems to me that this couple assured the apostles and everyone in their community that they would sell their private property and then give all the proceeds to their Christian community for community use.

Instead of giving all the proceeds to the community as they promised to do, the husband secretly kept back part of the proceeds from the sale for his and his wife's own personal use. If they had told the apostles and their community that they would sell their land in order to give most or part of the proceeds to the community, this would have been acceptable.

The problem was that they both lied to the apostles. Jesus Christ had given his authority to his apostles to lead his church before he ascended into heaven. Therefore, if a person lies to an apostle, the legitimate authority who is leading Jesus' church, the person is also lying to the Holy Spirit who dwells within these apostles.


Another example:

If a person attacks Jesus' church members, he is also attacking Jesus.

Acts 9:1-5
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. 4 And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting;


God is sovereign. God wills when a person is conceived and when a person dies. God's will is done for each person on earth either by his direct intervention or by his allowing of human events to follow their natural course.