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What’s going on in Jalisco? Updates from Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta


These cartels are powerful, they raked in huge sums of money from human trafficking to the United States. The U.S. may need to send in more troops. I have a cousin in Puerto Vallarta, emailed him about a week ago.

Lost tribes of Israel

but He has allowed them to be governed by others
Your overall response rings true. Yes the governing is still there but thanks to Jesus all under their rule are free now to change allegiance and reject their authourity for the Kingdom of God. No more need to take soil from the Holy Land home.

Btw... I appreciate your responses
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What actions should saved people do to get the most people saved?

How beautifully said; I think everything you said @1Tonne is extremely reasonable. It seems as a college student who was less than two years ago, I want God to use me to get the most people saved by Christ. I think just need more advice on how to get salvations by the work of Christ on the cross. It seems my initiative evangelism/prayer/disciple-making is resulting in fewer salvations than needed; so how do increase the number of people saved?
Don't look at it as numbers. It will become discouraging.
Many people are very hardened towards the Gospel and in reality, the Gospel is offensive to most people (If you also use the Law with the Good News like what Jesus did with the rich young rule in Mark 10). So, don't expect many converts. And even if they do have a revelation and understand their sin and the cross, many love their sin that much that they quickly push aside what they have learned and fall back into their old ways. But there will be a seed in them that you have planted.

If you do need to measure it, measure it by how many people you get to share the Gospel with. Some people make a good target of telling one person a day (some days you may be able to tell more than one, while other days none. But an average of 1 a day).

NOTE: Often churches will think that they are successful in evangelism because they have a lot of people going to the church. But in reality, many of these churches are built on friendship and not the Gospel. So, friends invite friends to come and then they all start acting like nice people towards each other and they all think that each one is saved because they are nice people. But in reality, a lot of these people have not had a heart change and when they come into trials and disagreements in the church will simply fall away and never go to church again. But someone who has had a true heart change will not fall away. They may leave a church, but they will then find another one.
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Devotees of the mysterious Mothman descend on its West Virginia hometown

(Left) A cryptid mask with red shiny eyes, a gray face and black fuzz. (Right) Selah Miller of Charleston, W.Va., poses for her portrait along the Ohio River wearing a red and black moth cape with a hood featuring red eyes and antennae.

(Left) Mothman masks and other cryptid-related items are on sale at vendors' kiosks along Main Street at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, W.Va. (Right) Selah Miller, of Charleston, W.Va., poses for a portrait along the Ohio River while attending the festival.

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Every September, the streets in this tiny town along West Virginia's border with Ohio are taken over by Mothman, a mysterious creature that, like Bigfoot, has inspired books, movies, podcasts and devoted fans.

It's the 2025 Mothman Festival, and many attendees are in costume, walking beneath giant inflatables ranging from Mothman — with filigreed wings and bulging red eyes — to the Ghostbusters Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. For an event celebrating a dark and mysterious being, the vibe is surprisingly uplifting.

"West Virginia's beautiful," says Eric Johnson, who's visiting from Chicago. "And Mothman is to die for," he adds with a smile.

Continued below.

Mike Winger Offers $100K To Investigate Faith Healer Todd White

The Lord commanded us to watch out for wolves in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). So good for Mike Winger, helping people to see the hidden wolves, although sometimes the sheep's clothing is rather thin.

My heart goes out to all those who are hurting because they were victims of spiritual abuse in a church, God willing they can find a safe haven with good fellowship where they can grow and heal. God Bless All.
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Will we be vegetarians in eternity?

Dairy with even cheese or eggs were not included in the provision from God in the design for us that alone in the Bible God called very good. It was consistent with vegan values. Our dependence on God and provisions we have from God were meant for us, there was the design for this, it will be that way again among those coming to God, in what comes. Really God loves us and made this world that would provide for all living here. Many contribute to ruining it. We can still learn of the design and see what is meant for us, such of us doing that will not still contribute to ruining it. We can help environments with not having demand contributing to more that worsens anything of the world provided to us from God.

It was not early in life when I found information that we could be healthy without meat in our diet and saw I could continue without it, and was happy with thinking this way did not contribute to the slaughter of animals. That was just about twenty years ago. It was before I was online. But with use of online access, I learned in group communication about the issues to all animals in the industries, the effect on environment, the greater use of land, water, and resources, I knew to give up all animal products, a couple of years after that I found the healthier way with whole foods from plants avoiding processed stuff that comes in food many choose. I see benefits with this healthy way, and now know to use a lot of variety, which is best.

The last meal I was making was with quinoa, and it was with carrot, broccoli, asparagus, celery, kale, cabbage, olives, lentils, various nuts and seeds, guacamole, hummus, and medium salsa, I added seasonings and some dry seaweed to it. What more could I have added to make it tastier? I do not think you can tell me anything that would be doing that.
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When should a pastor be restored after sexual sin?

And again I come back, for the last time now, to the question about whether you are fallible or infallible. Is it possible that you do not really understand everything of the Bible you read and could you get some of it wrong?
Im responsible for my own faith. Im a grown man with knowledge of God's commandments. I dont need a father.
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First Look: Ignatius Catholic Study Bible Personal Size

I will say this briefly: Right out of the box I couldn’t be happier. This edition is exactly the same as the full sized edition. Pagination is the same. In many ways, the printing is more uniformly bold than in the full sized one. Paper is great: Ghosting is not an issue. I can see me using this everyday in almost every setting.

I am happy to answer any questions. I hope to do a full review at some point, particularly since I never did one for the standard edition.

21 THOUGHTS ON “FIRST LOOK: ICSB PERSONAL SIZE”​


Continued below.

Ezekiel: measurement and science help us to reach spiritual truths

In my last article, I looked at the decision-making analogy of the four-faced creatures of Ezekiel’s chariot. I mentioned that when I started looking for science in the Bible, I was drawn to the wheels of Ezekiel’s chariot vision.

I wondered why wheels, which are a human invention made of solid material, were attached beneath Ezekiel’s vision of angel-like figures and surmounted by a figure surrounded by flames. The text stresses that when the chariot descended, the wheels touched the ground and it moved. A wheel running on the ground brought to mind a trundle wheel, often used to measure distances. As a wheel turns, it covers a finite distance on the ground. So, as the chariot moved on the ground, it was measuring out a distance. But measurement is a hallmark of science. In the 19th century, Lord Kelvin said that without measurement there can be no science. Measurement turns unknown lengths into standard units that can be examined, compared and interrogated. Was the chariot trying to tell us something about science?

Ezekiel is the book of the Bible that contains the most measurements. The volume, precision and specificity of these measurements differ from elsewhere in Scripture and seem to tell us something about Ezekiel’s approach to prophetic revelation. He gives frequent exact dates of events; he compares Jewish weights and measures and standardises them; he gives the exact weight of food and volume of drink that people would have during the coming siege of Jerusalem, illustrating that it was below the minimum needed to sustain life; he is told to gauge the depth of a river at four precisely measured intervals; and he records 101 measurements of the size of a visionary temple he sees.

But why did Ezekiel make so many precise measurements? If we look at what was happening in Babylonia at the time, we find that mathematics was highly advanced. The king used the positions of the planets and stars to help him plan battles and make other state decisions, so the royal astrologers became adept at mathematics capable of predicting planetary movement. It was recently discovered that the Babylonians developed an early form of calculus, long before it was thought to have been invented, and their discoveries have been described as the “first scientific revolution”. Ezekiel’s use of measurement was very much in keeping with his environment and suggests that he, too, may have been using measurement for its precision.

Continued below.

Taking up arms: Lent as spiritual combat

The season of Lent is upon us yet again, and it has made me reflective. Many of the habits and devotions we were most proud of have fallen into neglect. Again, it is time to tuck away our sweets and dust off our prayer books: the spiritual equivalent of a spring cleaning. It is time we put ourselves back in order, but not in just any order. The Christian is in the habit of putting last things first. From its beginning, Lent orients us towards our end, our death, for to dust you shall return. We are ordering our hearts, preparing our wills for a fight: a fight to the death, our own.

To understand how Lent prepares us for death, we should begin by talking about docility. An essential quality in our preparation for death is this calmness of spirit, a docile heart. It is worth adding that this calm is not indolent. No, the Christian must be docile and remain decisive. In fact, he must be decisively docile. It is not laziness that causes the monk to sit still at his office, but an intense act of will. Docility is not a passive quality; it is not inaction. Docility is the quality of the soldier at the ready. The soldier must be able to follow his general’s orders at any moment, and so he has a duty to be still. The soldier must be docile in his heart, so that he can be decisive in his assault. Thus, stillness becomes not an escape from battle, but the very discipline that makes free action possible.

Likewise, the Christian must be docile in his prayer so that he can be decisive in his sacrifice. He must quiet his heart to hear his Lord and train his heart to follow His orders. However, the Christian is not only decisive in worldly affairs, nor is the world his primary focus. His chief concern is the marshalling of himself against himself, or, if we are to speak more precisely, his higher reason against his unreasonable desires. If he ever hopes to be trustworthy in external affairs, he must become distrustful of his own judgment. This distrust is not despair, but humility: a recognition that grace must lead where instinct would mislead. He must be merciless in crushing the mutinous desires that arise within his own heart if he hopes to become truly faithful. He must know that before he can be an ally of men, or even a servant of God, he must be an enemy of himself.

Continued below.

Preach the Gospel

Shalom!

This and next weekend we are on the street here in Salzburg (Austria) and preach the Gospel.

Can you please pray for us in Jesus name?

The one sows the other waters, both are happy.
Thank you we are working together for the kingdom of God! God bless you in Jesus name Amen.

Must we use the Law in our evangelism?

I understand that people like Billy Graham and Ray Comfort have represented the gospel as fire insurance, so to speak, but I think that is the wrong approach. The response to the gospel becomes a matter of self-interest. That is self-centered, not Christ-centered. While guilt-awareness is necessary, it is not sufficient—and it is not the gospel. The gospel is the person and work of Christ.

And Jesus didn’t always make people aware of their personal need for salvation (although sometimes he did); the Holy Spirit did that when they were confronted by Jesus as he is. Jesus proclaimed himself as the authoritative Son and the fulfillment of Scripture.

And the effect varied. Some were cut to the heart. Others were hardened. That divergence is not explained by rhetorical technique but by sovereign grace. The Spirit convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. No one comes unless drawn by the Father (John 6:44). So, the decisive agent in awakening need is the Spirit through the Word, not the evangelist’s strategic deployment of commandments.

This guards against two errors: (1) legalism, thinking that sufficient moral pressure will generate repentance, and (2) pragmatism, assuming that a particular technique guarantees conversion.

The law has its place, I admitted, like when you’re confronting someone who insists he doesn’t need saving. In its pedagogical use (Gal 3:24), the law still functions to shut mouths (Rom 3:19). For the self-righteous, explicit confrontation with the law is appropriate. For the crushed and weary, Christ proclaims himself as rest (Matt 11:28). Wisdom discerns which is needed.

Evangelism is not fundamentally about producing awareness of hell; it is about proclaiming Christ as Lord and Redeemer. The Spirit, through that proclamation, exposes sin at its root—namely, our refusal to have God as God.



From A (“it is finished”) to B (“until all is accomplished”)

In Matthew 5:18, when Jesus says that not the smallest letter or even stroke of a letter will pass from the law “until all is accomplished,” he is speaking about the abiding authority and teleological fulfillment of the Mosaic economy within redemptive history. The law remains in force until its goal (telos) is reached in him.

In John 19:30, “It is finished” refers specifically to the completion of his atoning work—his obedience unto death, the climactic act that satisfies divine justice and secures the covenant promises. So, the cross does not cancel the law, it is the climactic fulfillment of the law in its covenantal and typological dimensions. Christ fulfills the law’s precepts (active obedience), its penalties (passive obedience), and its types and shadows (sacrificial system, priesthood, temple).

Thus, “all is accomplished” reaches its decisive turning point at “it is finished,” but it extends beyond the cross to resurrection, exaltation, and the eschatological consummation. The cross secures; the resurrection vindicates; the ascension enthrones; the parousia consummates.

Evangelism and the Ten Commandments

The Mosaic law as a covenantal administration is therefore fulfilled and no longer binding upon believers as a covenant of works. We are not under law but under grace. The believer does not relate to God through Moses but through union with the risen Christ.

However, that doesn’t mean the moral law has evaporated. The ceremonial law is fulfilled and abrogated. The judicial law has expired as Israel’s national code. But the moral law, reflecting God’s character, is abiding in substance. The Ten Commandments, as a summary of the moral law, continues to reveal God’s righteousness.

But its covenantal function has shifted. It no longer condemns those in Christ (Rom 8:1). It now functions normatively, not covenantally. And this distinction is critical for evangelism. If Christ has fulfilled the law’s condemning power for his people, then we don’t preach the law as something we must keep—Christ did that. Nor do we preach the law as a perpetual threat hanging over the justified—we preach Christ crucified and risen.

Yet the law still serves a pedagogical use. For unbelievers, it exposes sin and shuts the mouth; it reveals not merely behavioral failure but covenantal rebellion. In light of my original point, evangelism shouldn’t devolve into a mechanical recitation of the Ten Commandments, as if awareness of infractions automatically generates repentance. That would treat the law as a technique. Rather, the law functions diagnostically. It reveals idolatry. It exposes autonomy. It strips self-righteousness. The gospel is not “you broke the rules.” The gospel is, “God has acted in Christ to reconcile rebels to himself—and you’re a rebel.”

Jesus does not abolish the moral substance of the law. That persists for as long as God is God. Rather, Jesus embodies and fulfills the law. Our evangelism should then reflect that structure. The law reveals God’s holiness and man’s rebellion. Christ fulfills the Law and bears its curse. The Spirit unites sinners to Christ, granting repentance and faith.

Conclusion

The shift after “it is finished” is not that the law becomes irrelevant, but that it’s no longer the covenantal administrator of the relationship between God and his people. Christ is—and always has been, a point to which the Mosaic covenant always pointed.

To answer your question, then: We use the law insofar as it exposes sin and drives to Christ. We do not use it as a covenantal framework to place people back under Sinai, nor do we reduce the gospel to an escape from penalty. The law prepares; it is Christ who saves. The law diagnoses; it is Christ who heals. The law commands; it is Christ who accomplishes.
The apostle Paul asked what fruit we had in the things we are now ashamed of. It seems that guilt is a part of the gospel
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Know The Truth

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
“They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:1,5-6 NASB1995)

What do false prophets or teachers or preachers do that is false? They speak lies to the people as though what they are saying is from God when it is not from God, but it is from the flesh of humankind. And how is it that it seems as though most people who profess faith in Jesus Christ do not recognize the lies for what they are? It is because the lies are a careful and meticulous blend of truth and lies made to appear as truth, and because they are not testing the spirits against the Scriptures (in context) to discover the lies.

But it isn’t just that. Many are they who prefer the lies, because the lies give them permission to keep living in deliberate and habitual sin without conscience and remorse and biblical repentance, and absent of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice. For the lies promise them that they are permanently saved from the punishment of all sin, that all their sins are forgiven, and sometimes that God can’t even see when they sin, and that by God’s grace they have the guarantee of eternity in heaven with God.

So, this is why we are encouraged here that we are not to believe every spirit, and that includes not believing everyone who calls himself Reverend or Pastor or Elder or Deacon or Prophet or Evangelist or Apostle. For they don’t all speak the truth. Probably most of them are not teaching the gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. So we need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their biblical context so that we can discover any lies we have believed.

And we should not base our faith on what we have always heard is the truth, just because so-and-so said it, or just because it feels good and it is comfortable to our ears and fits with our preferred lifestyles. So, if someone teaches something contrary to what we have always believed, we should not write it off unless we have done the due diligence to test it against the Scriptures. For many of us out there, speaking the truth, are being ignored because the majority prefer the lies which feel good and tickle itching ears.

But by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are 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 righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

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]

Arise and Shine

Based off Isaiah 60
An Original Work / March 6, 2014
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love


Arise and shine; your Lord has come.
Allow His light to flow through you,
For many walk in wickedness.
Show them the way to life anew.
Arise and shine. Your Lord loves you.

Lift up your eyes, and look about.
Some do believe, while others doubt.
Believe in all God’s promises.
The many will, In Christ, find rest.
Lift up your eyes, and you’ll be blessed.

Arise and shine; salvation comes
To all who trust in Christ, God’s Son.
Forgiven of their sins, they’ll be,
When they repent on bended knee.
Arise and shine, so all will see.

Lift up your eyes, and see your Lord.
He will revive his church, forlorn.
Though humans have forsaken you,
They will find Christ, and walk in truth.
Lift up your eyes; God honors you.

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Know The Truth
An Original Work / February 22, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Mamdami Demands U.S. Immigration Policy Start Obeying Islam

DHS has rescued many children and saved many lives.
Cool. It's good to know that they are not unmitigated evil! Is it asking too much that kids held be held humanely?


In Minnesota they found over 3400 of the unaccompanied children abandoned by the Biden administration.
Cite?
I believe they would have rescued more but for the people who interfered, people who put their own political passions ahead of the welfare of others. Few if any of that crowd ever mentions the victims.
Well, that's counterfactual.
Many are the same people who allowed their political leaders to raise the level of human trafficking in our country to one not seen since the Civil War, and who allowed hardened criminals into our country to prey upon innocent people.
How do we stop our political leaders from doing this? Surely not by making ill advised arrest quotas that ensnare legal but not yet naturalized immigrants and actual citizens.
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I'm tired of seeing many Christian churches not looking approachable for poor people to enter

I grew up Catholic but a couple of years ago I converted to Christianity.

Ouch. Just have to say it. Catholics are Christians, too. But, beyond that, in what way exactly do you find your church unwelcoming? What, specifically, would a welcoming church look like to you?
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Lenten Inspiration from St. Francis de Sales

This Lent, I’ve picked up my brother’s favorite book, St. Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life. This book, written for all Christians in all walks of life, can be a little guide in building a life that expresses the abundance of Christ. Expression needs discipline as well as freedom. De Sales writes with so much optimism and so much kindness. Throughout his book, he is continually urging his reader to approach the spiritual life with attention, care, and charity.

Tit for Tat Tariffs - The US versus the World

Trump tariffs: EU grapples with fallout of US court ruling​




The US Supreme Court's dramatic decision on Friday to rule most of US President Donald Trump's tariffs illegal has left the country's trade partners trying to figure out what the verdict means for them.


Although Trump says he will press on with tariffs using other statutes, the ruling could halt his flagship trade policy and give countries and sectors affected by the tariffs an unexpected but welcome reprieve.


European leaders have cautiously welcomed the decision.


French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the decision when speaking at an agricultural fair in Paris, saying, "It is good to have power and counterweights to power in democracies." He said France would consider the consequences of the new global tariff announced by Trump. The US president had first announced a global 10% levy but on Saturday said he'd raise the tariff to 15% instead.


German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped the decision would ease tariffs for German exporters, telling broadcaster ARD that "tariffs harm everyone". He echoed Macron's remarks that the decision suggested the "separation of powers in the US still seems to be functioning."


A trade spokesperson for the European Commission said the 27-nation bloc was in "close contact" with the US administration as they seek clarity on the next steps.


Uncertainty over EU-US trade deal​

The verdict has created deep uncertainty over the EU-US trade agreement struck last July. EU lawmakers had paused the ratification process of that deal after Trump's threats to annex Greenland, but the European Parliament's trade committee is due to vote on the deal this coming Tuesday (February 24).

That vote is now in doubt, and EU lawmakers will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the next steps. "The era of unlimited, arbitrary tariffs ... might now be coming to an end," Bernd Lange, chairman of the trade committee, said on X. "We must now carefully evaluate the ruling and its consequences."
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