Across the country, violence rose substantially this year over last year – a shocking increase even for a place used to physical threats. Christians were kicked out of their communities, their homes were destroyed, and they endured so much for following Jesus.
At the local level, Communist authorities heavily monitor religious activities in some parts of the country. In these areas, church leaders reported cases of local authorities closing down house churches, which are technically illegal. But even among registered churches, they are monitored.
Converts to Christianity carry additional vulnerabilities. Because they’re seen as traitors to their communities who have angered the spirits, they can face pressure and violence from their families and local authorities. Families have been known to stir up the local community, who often expel converts from their homes and villages.

Meet Maixay​

“When I hear of someone being persecuted, I go to them right away because I don’t want them to give up their faith in God. I’m afraid they will forsake God, which will be very discouraging… I ask what their needs are, and I discuss this with my church and with same-hearted people just like Open Doors to help these believers and deliver their needs.”
Maixay (name changed), a believer in Laos.

What does Open Doors do to help?​

Open Doors’ local partners strengthen persecuted believers in Laos by providing Christian materials, leadership and discipleship training, socio-economic development programmes, advocacy support and emergency relief.

Please pray​

• Pray for wisdom for Christians, especially church leaders, who are heavily monitored by government.
• Pray for comfort for believers who are expelled from their rural communities for their faith.
• Ask God to protect unregistered churches so they can continue to meet and fellowship.

Kokavkrystallos said:

I'm pretty sure it's talking about unholy alliances. It doesn't mean not being around sinners at all, for then we'd need to leave the world. It's like Jesus went about His daily business and would have certain associations with sinners, but they were not there when He spent all that quality time with His disciples.

I don't wall myself off from everyone, but there are certain alliances I cannot & will not enter into, especially any of a romantic nature. I'd go fishing with an unbeliever, no problem. Give me a chance to witness. But to hang out every day as my best friend, couldn't do that. Work environments are different, you have to be around unbelievers, and that's where Jesus says let your light so shine before men.

I won't go into any of my old haunts: not a bar, not a rock concert, not a street corner where drugs are dealt, not a keg party, or a house party. But I associate with those who do, especially on Sabbath when we have our studies - there are many worldlings that have various addiction problems, and as long as they are willing to come there and hear about Jesus, I eat with them, because we have a meal afterwards. That's the sort of thing Jesus did, right there.

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One of His disciples was never a believer. And none of His disciples were believers until after He had fellowship with them. Remember the Pharisees said “why does He eat with sinners?” His reply was “healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do”. So I do agree that there are some that we should not even associate with, people who go out of their way to make a mockery of God. This is why I ignore most of the atheists here on CF, because I come here to talk to Christians, not people who are here just to mock us and God, I couldn’t care less what they think. Unfortunately I have some family and friends who are not believers who I hope and pray for that one day they will see the truth. So I try to be a light to them. I don’t try to push Christ on them, I just let His love be a testimony to His truth.

By "my Paraclete," I mean the point of connection where the Holy Spirit contacts my human spirit. My spirit is like an electric socket; the Holy Spirit is the power station. He provides an extension cord to plug into my spirit.

KJV, Genesis 2:

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

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When God created man, a (detached) breath of life entered his nostrils and settled in the sphenoid sinus. (See appendix.) That divine breath became the man's spirit. Adam became a living soul.

Ezekiel prophesied in 36:

26 I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

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I believe that Ezekiel prophesied on the Indwelling Paraclete in the NT.

Etymology:

Paraclete comes from the Koine Greek word παράκλητος (paráklētos). A combination of para ('beside/alongside') and kalein ('to call') ... often used of one called to help in a lawcourt. In the Jewish tradition the word was transcribed with Hebrew letters and used for angels, prophets, and the just as advocates before God's court.

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When I was born of the Spirit, the Paraclete dwelled in my human spirit. Romans 8:

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children.

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The Paraclete is in touch with my conscience, Romans 9:

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.

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The human spirit and conscience are housed in the sphenoid sinus (Gen 2:7). The Paraclete is the Holy Spirit's tentacular connection (a branch) to our human spirit.

As we grow spiritually, the Paraclete strengthens our inner being, Ephesians 3:

16 according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith … 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

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Whenever I focus on the Paraclete, I always sense peace, John 14:

26 But the Helper [Paraclete], the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

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Isaiah 26:

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

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When the Paraclete first took up residence in my human spirit, I did not feel a thing. Some people may feel it. I didn't. However, some months later, I started sensing his speaking in my conscience. I could sense his peace in here and there. Some years later, I could sense his peace consistently any time, any day, whenever I focused on him. Right now, I can sense the Paraclete in me. 99% of the time, I don't feel anything except peace, internal peace. It is a feeling of peaceful connection. Other times, I feel joy, e.g., when I worship

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Appendix: Where is the sphenoid sinus?

It is behind your eyes and nose before the imaginary plane formed by the two ears in the middle of the skull.


Behind our natural eyes are our spiritual eyes. Between our natural ears are our spiritual ears.





It is near the pituitary

An Original Work / March 3, 2018

The old cross is the cross
On which our Savior died.
He took our sins upon himself,
And he was crucified.

He died upon that cross
To put our sins to death,
That we might die with him to sin
And live to righteousness.

The new cross, not the same.
On sin it puts no blame.
It satisfies the flesh of man.
He does not have to change.

Its god does not require
We leave our flesh’s desire.
It modifies and pacifies.
It strives to not offend.

But where, in all, lies truth?
It’s found in Jesus Christ.
He said that we must die to sin,
Live to His righteousness.

His Holy Spirit, gave,
To live within our lives,
To take away the pow’r of sin.
We live victorious!

So, no one has to sin.
Our Lord has made a way
That we can walk in holiness
And live for Him each day.

In truth, we must believe,
By faith, our Lord receive.
Accept Him now to be your Lord,
And walk in victory!

I believe that there are many times we are guilty of taking God/Jesus Christ for granted. As well, I believe today’s church is often at fault in how they present God/Jesus when they paint God as a big doting grandfather in the sky, and/or when they paint Jesus as a weak and powerless person who just went around loving on people and making them feel good all over. By giving these false images of God – Father and Son – I believe it helps feed complacency, apathy, dishonor, disrespect and taking God for granted.

In addition, when we teach salvation as some kind of emotional decision we make to receive Christ, but we don’t tell people that coming to Christ means death to sin (death to our old lifestyles of sin), and transformed hearts and minds, and walking in Christ’s righteousness and holiness, then we give them a false image of God. This often translates into people thinking that God’s grace means they can do whatever they want and still have their ticket into heaven.

Yet, his word teaches us that Jesus died, not just so we could go to heaven one day, but so we could die with him to sin, and so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us (See Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 4:17-24; 2 Corinthians 5:15).

In fact, his grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled and upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for our Lord’s return (See Titus 2:11-14). Thus, when we realize what Jesus Christ has done for us in saving us from our sins, we should turn from our sins, walk with him in truth, and choose to obey him in all things.

Realizing

An Original Work / May 14, 2011

Realizing what He did for you
Should cause you to walk with Him in truth.
Trust in Him to be your Lord today.
Turn from sin; obey without delay.

Realizing He died on a tree,
So that from sin you could be set free,
Should bring you down upon bended knee,
Repentant; humbly; submissively.

Realizing that He loves us so,
Which is why, to the cross He did go,
Is what leads us to salvation free,
Through our faith in Jesus Christ our King.

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We don’t always know for certain what the will of God is in any given situation, do we? Now, if we read the Scriptures we can learn what his will is and what it isn’t with regard to the gospel message, and to our salvation, and in regard to the promise and hope of eternal life with God, and with regard to the subject of habitual and deliberate sin against the Lord Jesus. Those things are made clear to us in the Scriptures, but we must read the Scriptures in their appropriate context to learn the truth of the Scriptures, for so many people are teaching Scriptures out of context erroneously.

But we don’t always know God’s specific purpose for our individual lives other than what is stated clearly in the Scriptures, or to know where we are to go or what job to take, i.e. things which are everyday decisions we must make that aren’t addressed to us specifically in the Scriptures other than we are to seek the Lord and his counsel and direction, and we are to walk in his ways and in his truth and in righteousness, and not in sin. So sometimes when we pray for something, we may have to say with Jesus, “Nevertheless not my will but Thine be done.” That is still praying according to God’s will.

But what we can be most certain of is the message of the gospel, for it is stated for us clearly all throughout the New Testament, but we must guard against getting our gospel alone from Scriptures taught out of context, for many false gospel messages come from selected Scriptures taught outside their original context. For, to believe in Jesus is not just professing him as Lord or praying a prayer to receive him into our hearts. Belief in Jesus is persuasion of God to leave our lives of sin behind us and to now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands in holy living (Luke 9:23-26).

And the Scriptures teach us that the way that we can know that we have eternal life with God is if we are dying to sin daily, by the Spirit, and if we are walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and if we love our fellow humans. For that is faith, to die to sin and to live to righteousness and in obedience to our Lord and no longer in sin and to love our neighbors as ourselves. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness, in his power, by his grace.

Now, with regard to this next section about sin leading to death, or not leading to death, I will share here my understanding based on all the Scriptures which teach on salvation from sin and on eternal life with God, and on the subject of putting sin to death in our lives and no longer walking in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. For it is the practice of sin that leads to death, and it is the daily dying to sin, by the Spirit, that leads to eternal life. So this all comes down to what we practice, either dying to sin and obeying our Lord, or continuing in sin and disobeying our Lord.

And then the passage here continues by stating that. For everyone who is truly born of God does not keep on sinning, making sin his practice. For Jesus protects us from the evil one. But, we do have examples in the Scriptures of Christians falling back into sin and forsaking the lives God had for them to live, and so we have much counsel given to the churches in the Scriptures instructing the Christians to repent of their sins and to return to following the Lord as they once had. So this is not saying a true Christian will never sin, but when he comes to Christ he doesn’t still practice sin.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

And an idol is not just a statue formed in the hands of human beings. It is anyone or anything that is honored by us and is valued by us and to which we give our undivided loyalties and hearts and minds and passions and commitment to in place of God or above God. And so an idol can be a person or a possession or a talent or intellect or a people group or a philosophy, or habits and practices which are dishonoring and disobedient to the Lord. It is what we are most devoted to, what we talk about most, and that which has our hearts surrendered to do its will in place of us doing the will of God.

Only in Him

An Original Work / February 19, 2014
Based off Isaiah 30

Woe to those who look to man’s help;
Who turn away from Jesus Christ;
Forming an alliance not in step with God;
Making their own plans, and praying not.

Willing not to listen to truth,
They close their ears to what is right.
Pleasing words are all that they’ll hear;
Feel good messages that bring cheer.

Trust in your Lord; turn from your sin.
Put your faith now ONLY IN HIM.
Do not turn to idols. They’ll not satisfy.
Jesus will save you. That’s why He died.

Your Lord will be gracious to you.
He cares all about you, ‘tis true.
He forgives you all of your sin
When you give your life up to Him.

Oh, how truly gracious He’ll be
When you bow to Him on your knees;
Turning now from your sin; walking in his ways.
He’ll lead and guide you all of your days.

Now you will sing praises to Him.
He delivered you from your sin.
You’ll tell others now of His grace,
So they may see Christ face-to-face.

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There is a particular Christian song out there which has the appearance of all goodness, but if you listen closely to the words, and especially if you compare the message given there to the message given in this Psalm, perhaps you will see what I am seeing, but maybe not. But I believe the song lyrics, much like what many are preaching today, are a mixture of truth and untruth (deception). I cannot say that the deception is willful on the part of the author, but that the lyrics, I believe, give a mixed message.

So, first I want to look at the words of the psalmist. What I find consistent all throughout this 119th Psalm is that the Psalmist speaks continually about walking in the ways of the Lord and obeying his commandments and seeking the Lord and his will. He speaks of keeping the word of the Lord diligently, and of being steadfast in faith, and of having an upright heart. He wants to be kept from sin and to have his eyes fixed on the ways of the Lord. And he speaks of his opponents as those with evil purpose, far from God’s law.

But in this Christian song I am speaking of, when the person is concerned that her faith may fail, or when the tempter would prevail, or when she can never keep her hold, for her love is often cold, then she just claims that Christ will hold her fast. And then she continues by stating that Christ will not let her soul be lost because her soul was bought by Christ at the cost of his blood shed for us on that cross. For her Savior loves her so, she states, and therefore the love of God will hold her fast, even if her love is often cold.

Do you see the contrast between these two messages? Now, as I am writing this, I will have to say that I just looked up the author to these hymn lyrics. She died in 1918, so these lyrics are not modern lyrics. And they do have truth in them. But let’s compare them to what the Psalmist said. When he cried to the Lord, looking for help, his response was “I will keep your statutes.” When he called to the Lord to save him, perhaps from his enemies (see v. 150), he wanted saved so that he would observe God’s testimonies.

But in contrast, the song writer, when she feared her faith may fail, she just claimed that Christ would hold her fast. And when the tempter would prevail (conquer, win) in her life, again she claimed that Christ would hold her fast. Then she claimed that she could never keep her hold for her love was often cold, but that Christ would hold her fast. Now are we perfect people? No! But we are not to be those who go through life not keeping our hold and having love that is often cold and expect that God is just going to hold us.

That is not the message of the cross of Christ, and it is not the message that Jesus taught and not what the NT apostles taught. And I am not pushing legalism here nor harshness nor a hammer hanging over your head the first time you get out of step even a little bit and then “BAM!” No! This is not what this is about at all! This is about this attitude that is being spread today that we can have our salvation from sin but that Christ does it all for us and that no matter what we do, he will always be there for us. Just not true!

For the Psalmist, he was focused on his love response to the Lord for all that the Lord had done for him. He was focused on a walk of obedience to the Lord and to his commands with a strong desire to please the Lord in all things. And he saw the enemies of God who were persecuting him as those who were workers of evil who were far from the Lord and his commands. And he didn’t want to be like them. He wanted the Lord to rescue him from his enemies so that he could keep the commandments of God.

But the hymn writer, at least in this one song that she wrote, presumed upon the Lord that he would hold her fast even when the tempter prevailed in her life, and even when she did not keep her hold, and even though her love was often cold. It was all about what Jesus could do for her despite her failures to be who he wanted her to be, and with no mention of those, in fact. And it was presuming that her salvation was secure solely on the basis of God’s love for her, but not with regard to her response to him.

Do you see what I am getting at? And this is not legalism. This is the gospel that Jesus taught and that the NT apostles taught. They didn’t teach that Jesus does it all and that nothing is required of us at all other than a profession of faith in Christ. We can’t go on living in sin and expect that God is going to let us into his heaven on the basis of lip service. Whether intended or not, though, that is the message this hymn is giving, for the focus is solely on what Jesus does for us despite what we do in return.

So, what did Jesus teach? He taught that if we are going to come after him that we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have eternal life. For if we deny him by our actions in this life, he will disown us when he returns (Luke 9:23-26).

And he also taught that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven. For many will stand before him one day professing him as Lord and proclaiming all the things they did in his name, and he is going to say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they did not obey the Lord (Matthew 7:21-23).

And Paul taught that genuine faith in Jesus Christ results in us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So we are no longer to allow sin to reign (prevail) in our bodies to where we obey its sinful desires, for if sin is what we obey, it will lead to death. But if obedience is what we obey, it will lead to righteousness, and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (Romans 6:1-23).

So, no matter what you may think of my assessment of the woman’s hymn (song) lyrics, and how they compare to the words in this psalm, please know that our salvation is not just God’s gift to us so we can be forgiven all our sins so that we can escape hell and go to heaven when we die. He died that we would die to sin and live to his righteousness. But, Jesus does hold fast those whose true trust is in the Lord, who are walking in his ways in obedience to his commands, and who are no longer walking in sin.

To Be Like Him

An Original Work / March 16, 2014
Based off Scripture

Crucified you are with Jesus.
To be like Him, oh, you’ll be,
Because He died at Calv’ry,
So from sin you’d be free.
Oh, what joy He brings into your life,
Giving life with Him endlessly.

Oh, what plans He has for your life.
Share the gospel faithfully.
Show the people He loves them.
Now His witness you’ll be.
Tell the world of sin about Jesus,
How He died for them on a tree.

Purifying hearts, He saves them,
Who believe on Christ, God’s Son.
Turning now from their idols,
New lives they have begun.
Jesus saves from sin; we’re forgiven.
Over sin, the vict’ry He won!

When He comes again to take us
To be with Him evermore,
There will be no more crying.
Gladness will be in store.
Heavens joys will now overtake us:
We’ll be with our Lord evermore.

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returntosender said:

You discipline your own kids not a stranger. To me she is too violent in the movies he makes and those that produce the movies concerning blacks represent them as low moraled and That's putting it mildly.

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Abuse is definitely a serious matter.

But in the end, Madea films is simply comedy, humor, satire which isn't meant to be taken seriously.

Though it is sending a message that if you're misbehaving and aggravating / bullying other people on purpose, don't expect the court of law to keep you safe all the time if you have that privilege. You could come across someone deranged or insane like Madea and you could end up disabled for life or even dead before you can even call 911 or your lawyer.

It's a real possibility you can't always threaten anyone with a lawsuit esp against someone who doesn't fear the jail or even the death penalty. These people are real and they exist.

Video by Catholic Productions

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I think someone was asking?

Grip Docility said:

Thank you! Not only will contrast be seen, but your life applications will be there! Deeply appreciated!

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You are welcome, bro. It is getting late here, but hopefully these two devotionals work out for you. However, there is a difference between pride and confidence. We can be confident in Christ, and trust His ways.

Confidence in Jesus

johnsubira said:

I planned to marry this April (next month) but now I want to postpone the marriage the reason is because, I see that I won't be able to get the needed money for the process, actually it's supposed to be a traditional marriage so it's about buying some cows and some stuff for the girl's parents..

So the problem is that I find it very difficult to tell my fiancee about the issue, She looks very happy and exited so telling her seems like it's going to break her heart and I don't like that, as I really do love her.

Is anyone know how I should handle this, so can give me suggestions on what I should do or say to her?

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I believe you should have get it over with the wedding. If you've not and you haven't told her about your financial capability, please do so. It's better she knows everything from the onset. Moreover, you guys are intending life partner, you should develop that good communication within yourselves. Peace

tonychanyt said:

Thanks for the reference. This is how to do referencing and quotation in a scholarly manner:

1. Display and indent the relevant text.
2. Selectively bold the particular keywords that are important to your point. There is no need to bold the entire sentence. Have a laser-sharp focus.
3. Be concise and precise to the point. No need to quote the whole paragraph.

I do this for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship. If you practice this, I guarantee it will sharpen your analytical thinking. In any case, no one is required to do it.

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People are more keen in your response to the post content itself.

Harley. said:

Last may (Exactly one year ago) I started to experience frequent deja vu. First it was once every few weeks, then once a week and now its several times a day. I can't shake it and im terrified that its seizures. I have seen two neuros and both have said im most likely in the clear but im still scared as hell. Has anyone else had this?

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Wow, that's quite a lot. I have had the experience, I would say, but not for maybe even over twenty years.

Deja vu is supposed to tell you you've been in a present situation at some other time. But we Jesus people do not believe in reincarnation; but God gets His purpose done, the first time, and each person dies once.

The truth is, you have been in any situation before . . . a couple of seconds ago, or less!

God knows what is happening, in any case. So, keep attentive to God >

"casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

Don't let anything get you anxious and worrying; but trust God to make you peaceful and caring. And don't let things get your attention away from appreciating and depending on God and caring about others as yourself.

Hallelujah!

Mr. M said:

Psalm 119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.

What are these precepts, and how are we to seek them?

Romans 12:
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

​

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Blessings, for in the walking before Him, will the experiencing of Him be found…

Oh to that finding….


A fellow follower, Not me

RileyG said:

Thanks for clarifying

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Seems like it's possible one of those odd dynamics where, in efforts to replace one thing (aspartame, which is artificial, and has been linked to some problems), they "fast tracked" the usage of a replacement for it, and falsely assumed "natural = better", which obviously isn't always the case when it comes to food additives.

The thing that all non-caloric or low-calorie sweeteners seem to have in common (artificial or natural-derived), is that they appear to mess with the body's metabolism and insulin response.

The thing the human body is evolved to do (or designed to do if that's what people prefer) is to trigger a particular chemical and metabolic response to the foods we eat.

Under normal circumstances, when you consume something sweet, in nature, that means there's sugar in it, so your body would be "expecting something" (and produce the appropriate insulin response), over time, if you accustom your body to "I just drank something sweet, but no need to do anything, there's 0 calories and 0 sugar in it", when you do actually eat sugar, things aren't going to respond appropriately because you've been "tricking your body" in a sense.

Cleveland Clinic and Harvard have even done some write-ups on it

They call what I was referring to "insulin confusion"



That's why I mentioned it all comes down to willpower in the end. There's no magical shortcut that's going to allow someone to eat cookies till they feel full, washed down with a soda of some sort, several times a week, and still maintain health.

With the hype around the new weight loss drugs like Ozempic, it's become pretty clear that people are looking for the "magic bullet" so to speak.

"At every meal, I want to satisfy my cravings for fullness, satiety, and decadence/richness...I don't want to have to sacrifice any of those 3 things, but I still want to be able to lose weight", that's where the market demand for these weight loss drugs and artificial replacement foods come from.

Same can be said for a lot of the 'fad diets' that pop up all over the place.

It's rather conspicuous that in all of the 'fad diets', none of them ever seem to incorporate "yeah, you have to eat broccoli once in a while instead of garlic bread". They're always these "you can eat all the ABC you want, just so long as you <insert trivial ineffective thing here>"



My mom's side of the family is all from the portion of the south that's known for not eating well. They're a "big bunch". They jump on all the bandwagons.

"I'm trying this new diet...you can eat all the <insert unhealthy food here> you want, just so long as you have one glass of cranberry juice with it, and don't have any carbs after 8pm, and take a teaspoon of oregano oil right before bed"

And burn through a bunch of those diet fads, and when they don't lose a pound, dismiss it as "It's just genetic, I've tried everything and I can't lose weight" (while conveniently ignoring that I come from the same genetic line they do)

...when in reality, they haven't "tried everything", they've tried everything except eating less and eating things that may not taste super great, but are better for them lol.

They'll spend more time googling reasons not to eat the healthier foods. I have this conversation with my cousin down there at the yearly holiday gatherings. He's a big fella, lots of fast food, lots of pizza, lots of fried food. I tried telling him that if he kept it 1800 calories a day, cut down on the sweets, and ate things like a 5oz chicken breast and 2 cups of broccoli as a staple meal, he'd lose weight.

3 days later, I got an email from him with links to some stuff he found on google from carnivore diet "gurus" warning against "the anti-nutrients in green vegetables" and "why broccoli and kale aren't actually healthy" and why "red meat has more bioavailable nutrients than chicken" (ironic that he doesn't have a problem with chicken when it has the skin still on and fried in oil lol).

"Anti-nutrients" and "bioavailability" are nonsensical debate points from a person who's under 6 foot tall and tipping the scales at 325 and eating a bunch of garbage. They're just excuses for not having to make sacrifices.

They give the pro life movement a bad name.

Sickening how some people don’t treat others with proper dignity.

BPPLEE said:

But a misleading misreading. Apologies

Click to expand...

None needed. I assume it was an error.

Ezek 18 describes forgiveness revoked
Matt 18 describes forgiveness revoked
Rom 11 describes forgiveness revoked

The New Covenant text is found in Jer 31:31-34 and in Heb 8:6-12 quoting Jer 31 verbatim. It tells us that the first of four promises contained in the New Covenant is that God writes His law on the heart instead of "deleting His Word".

So then , we are saved by grace through faith Eph 2:8-10 - but we continue to have free will even after being born-again and as Ezek 18, and Matt 18, and Rom 11 remind us - we can always choose by our actions "to walk away".

OP Pt. 5 Complete. Pt. 6 will come next.

It's always difficult to see dedicated leaders step down. Pope Francis's acceptance of the Argentinian archbishop's resignation must be a deeply emotional moment for the community. His legacy will surely leave a lasting impact.