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essentialsaltes · Jul 30, 2025

Speaking of temporary freezes...

Trump administration reverses course, lifts pause on NIH grant awards

The White House Office of Management and Budget halted payments from the National Institutes of Health to researchers around the country, according to a memo sent to the institute and center directors at the agency on Tuesday afternoon. Then late in the evening, after protests from members of Congress and patient advocacy groups, the Trump administration reversed the move and reinstated the funding.

Efficiency, steadfastness, and transparency.

davetaff · Jul 30, 2025

The Barbarian said:
No. "Basic structural similarity" is analogy, not homology.

In evolutionary biology, analogous structures are biological structures having similar or corresponding functions but not from the same evolutionary origin. In other words, species use these biological structures for the same purpose and yet these species are from unrelated evolutionary lines.

Analogous structures - Definition and Examples | Biology Online

Analogous structures have similar functions but with dissimilar evolutionary origins. Know more about its definition, examples, and process here.

www.biologyonline.com

Yes. It gets difficult and a lot of work involves untangling the anatomical data of fossils. For example, Alan Feduccia argued that birds and dinosaurs evolved from a common ancestor, basing his argument on which digits were reduced in bird and dinosaur forelimbs. Eventually, he was shown to be wrong about which digits, and his theory was refuted.

Sorry, that's wrong, tool. Depends on evidence. Which is why Feduccia's argument wasn't quickly dismissed. A great deal of work was required to sort out his claims and determine if they were correct or not. Would you like to learn about how it was finally resolved?

It probably seems unfair to YECs that when scientists learn that they were mistaken, they just accept the reality and change their theories to fit. Science looks at the evidence and finds the best their to explain it. YEC assumes a conclusion and tries to make the facts fit the assumption. Nothing better explains the logical differences between science and YEC.

It's a mathematical argument. Most YEC arguments on probability are something like "the likelihood of (large number) of amino acids in this order in a protein is so unlikely as to be impossible." Which, if a valid argument, would prove that poker games are impossible. Figures don't lie, but liars often figure. I could show you the math and a simple simulation to test the assumption, if you like.

Well, tell me how many mutations you think would be necessary to convert an archosaur leg into a functional wing. Then we'll do the math. Let's say 100. (obviously a great number of non-useful mutations would occur and be rejected by natural selection during the same time).
Each step in such an evolution depends on the last stage. So 1/100! or about 1/9.3^157. Very small likelihood, um? Which is why we never see a complex adaption form identically in two separate lineages. Just 10 would give us a likelihood of about 1/3,600,000.

So you've changed your position? The reason that bats and pterosaurs have different wings is that they both had to go through the same process of random mutation and natural selection. The odds of all those random mutations happening would more unlikely than shuffling a deck of cards and getting the same order of cards twice. Creationist arguments on probability are essentially arguing that one can't shuffle a deck of cards once. Would you like me to show you?

You've assumed that the landscape is much simpler than it is. For example, New World and Old World vultures are superficially very similar. But they evolved to fitness in entirely different ways. One example, is that one uses vision and the other uses sense of smell as hunting strategies. But there's more. The confusion between analogy and homology is a function of YECs being unable to comprehend how it all works and how evolution is opportunistic, rather than prescient.

The hope for convergence lies in the fenestration occuring precisely in the right place, involving precisely the same bones, connective tissue, muscles and nerves. There is supporting genetic and neurological data, supporting the way this happened:

Devolopment
Volume 144 Issue 22
November 2017

The evolution of cortical development: the synapsid-diapsid divergence
All these mutations happening to fall in exactly the same order, seems very unlikely. Why not just accept the evidence? Understand, the odds aren't for the result happening once. They are for the same result happening twice. And that is why poker games and analogous structures are possible.

It's pretty simple. You see, the paleontological data predicts that one will see genetic data supporting the divergences of synapsids and diapsids from an anapsid ancestor. And when the genetic basis of these developmental changes were found, that prediction was confirmed. It's been confirmed by other research.

Science AdvancesVol. 9, No. 46

Turtle skull development unveils a molecular basis for amniote cranial diversity
Amniote skulls display diverse architectural patterns including remarkable variations in the number of temporal arches surrounding the upper and lower temporal fenestrae. However, the cellular and molecular basis underlying this diversification remains elusive. Turtles are a useful model to understand skull diversity due to the presence of secondarily closed temporal fenestrae and different extents of temporal emarginations (marginal reduction of dermal bones). Here, we analyzed embryos of three turtle species with varying degrees of temporal emargination and identified shared widespread coexpression of upstream osteogenic genes Msx2 and Runx2 and species-specific expression of more downstream osteogenic genes Sp7 and Sparc in the head. Further analysis of representative amniote embryos revealed differential expression patterns of osteogenic genes in the temporal region, suggesting that the spatiotemporal regulation of Msx2, Runx2, and Sp7 distinguishes the temporal skull morphology among amniotes. Moreover, the presence of Msx2- and/or Runx2-positive temporal mesenchyme with osteogenic potential may have contributed to their extremely diverse cranial morphology in reptiles.
gn
Some might deny the evidence, but there it is. No point in fighting the reality.

Hi Barbarian
Thank you for your post understood very little of it us uneducated have trouble with long words of foreign origin and I asked myself what has this to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ after all God created everything through him lets believe that and be content.

love and peace
Dave

kynthar7 · Jul 30, 2025

Royal-Fool said:
Thank you for allowing us to switch this off - it is distracting and can make things difficult to read.

Totally agree having the option to turn it off makes for a much smoother reading experience.

essentialsaltes · Jul 30, 2025

Prasad, an oncologist and a professor of epidemiology, biostatistics and medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, had previously criticized the FDA.

He was a fierce critic of US Covid-19 vaccine and mask mandates and, in the second Trump administration, he was controversially appointed as the director of the FDA’s center for biologics evaluation and research in May.

The government gave no details about the reason for his departure but he had fierce critics on both sides of the political aisle and the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources, that he had been ousted amid protests by conservative voices, with no response from Prasad to requests for comment.

[joking about having a Donald Trump 'voodoo doll' may have contributed to his exit, according to reports in the US media.]

His exit came after a number of unusual regulatory actions, including those taken recently by the agency on Sarepta Therapeutics’ gene therapy, Elevidys.

[And declining to approve some other drugs and downplaying COVID vaccination.]

The regulator’s decisions under Prasad raised concerns that he was anti-patient choice, Jefferies analyst Roger Song said, adding that investors will see his departure as a positive for gene therapy and vaccine makers.

Neostarwcc · Jul 30, 2025

RileyG said:
Glory to God in all things!

Exactly! I said "i told you God was in control amd that this would work out." He didnt say anything but it was like "I told you so!" When he told me the news lol. I was also like "im really glad man. Good for you." Glory to God though thank God it all worked out and hes okay now. Im really, really glad.

AFrazier · Jul 30, 2025

DamianWarS said:
Ezekiel and Jeremiah are exilic texts and certainly there was earlier instruction to release slaves at a 7 year mark but the year of Jubilee itself ia not so well rooted. You can say these texts alluded to but it seems odd not to mention Jubliee, especially given the detail in Jeremiah.

maybe it's that the concept was developing and that's why there so few references to kubliee and why these other references seem to fit so well, Jubliee could have been later developed and retrofitted into the existing system.

One thing is for sure it would be hard to count these years when they are never mentioned and biblical date counting can be problematic as the dates often don't have a high degree of resolution.

Ezekiel is most definitely an exilic text. The very first verse begins in the fifth year of the formal captivity that began under Jehoiachin in Adar of 597 BCE. But the bulk of Jeremiah's interaction began during the reigns of Josiah and Jehoiakim, and the passage referring to the redemption of land in the reign of Zedekiah was before the final overthrow of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. Although Jeremiah does have material that also includes his time in exile, a great majority of it is pre-exilic. Unless there is proof that Jeremiah was written during or post exile, the internal evidence suggests that it is pre-exilic. Jeremiah may not mention the Jubilee, but the topic of the passage is not the Jubilee. It's the redemption of land, which is a statute particular to the Jubilee. How much you paid for a parcel of land was all dependent upon the amount of time that remained until the Jubilee, because it had to revert to its original owner at the Jubilee. In which case, a man couldn't be expected to pay a full fifty shekels for the use of a plot of land if he would only get to use it for thirty years. The statutes of the Jubilee provide for an appropriate compensation scheme to adjust for this.

I haven't spent too much time just yet trying to work out the specifics of why the amount was seventeen shekels, but I feel confident that when I figure out the specific formula, the price will end up confirming that a number of years consistent with the cycle extrapolated from Ezekiel will show that Jeremiah was redeeming the land in a specific year of the cycle. We know, for example, that a parcel of usable land was worth fifty shekels of silver (Lev. 27:16). By Ezekiel's count, the Jubilee should have fallen in Tishri of 575 BCE. If Jeremiah was redeeming the land according to a shekel per year for the remainder of the cycle, this transaction should have been during the Tishri year beginning in 591 BCE, which would have been the thirty-fourth year of the Jubilee cycle according the Ezekiel's enumeration. However, this would have been in the seventh and eighth years of Zedekiah, whereas Jeremiah 32:1 says this redemption occurred in the tenth year of Zedekiah, which is off by about two or three years. Arguments in the Talmud then discuss the actual cost per year, which can't be an exact shekel per year because the purchaser isn't actually purchasing the land, but the use of the land. And since the land is not usable in Sabbatical years, these are to be deducted from the fifty year total, making fifty years only forty-three in practical application. In which case, each usable year amounts to something like 1.16 shekels per usable year. From Zedekiah's tenth year, there are two Sabbatical years before the Jubilee, making the seventeen shekels the valuation for approximately 14.65 years worth of usable time for the land. But, again, from here I haven't taken a bunch of time to work out the math. There are about thirteen usable years on the land from the tenth year of Zedekiah to the Jubilee by Ezekiel's count.

In any case, there is a formula in the Talmud. I just have to spend some time with it. What I can say is that a land redemption to the tune of seventeen shekels in the tenth year of Zedekiah is extremely close, even by rudimentary math. I'm confident that Jeremiah will ultimately end up corroborating Ezekiel. I just need to work out the details, objectively, of course. If the numbers don't end up matching, then so be it. But, again, it's too close to ignore.

As I pointed out, the Jubilee years are counted. Evidence of it is seen in Ezekiel 1:1–2. The "thirtieth" year has no corresponding contemporary association. 594 BCE was the fourth year of Zedekiah and the twelfth year of Nebuchadnezzar. There is no reign or dating convention that would correspond to a thirtieth year in that particular year, with the exception of the Jubilee cycle.

I don't find there to be much difficulty in Biblical date counting. The only reign parallels I've had any difficulty with are Hezekiah, Manasseh, Azariah, and Jeroboam. All the remaining kings chart just fine and present a smooth timeline that can be corroborated by Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles. But, those four kings that present difficulties don't interrupt the timeline sequence. We can conclusively date Hoshea's final year to 723 BCE via the chronicle of Shalmaneser V, and we can conclusively date the reign of Josiah and his successors by the chronicle of Nabopolassar. Ahaz can be dated off of Hoshea, as can Pekah and Jotham. From Jehu beginning his reign in 841 BCE, we can also easily chronicle the kings through Amaziah of Judah and Joash of Israel. All the events of significance are also datable, including the fall of Samaria under Hoshea in 723 BCE and the fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BCE.

So, we have a gap from the end of Ahaz to the beginning of Amon where the specifics are unclear for Hezekiah and Manasseh, though we can date Ahaz and Amon, redering that gap a nonpoint issue in terms of the timeline. The other gap is from the end of Joash of Israel to Hoshea. We know where Joash ends, and we know where Hoshea begins and ends. So the uncertainty of Azariah and Jeroboam is also a nonpoint issue. They don't disrupt the timeline. The specifics just need to be worked out to determine precisely where they both fall. And they are only made complicated by the reign of Menahem, whom we know paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser III, which is not consistent with the parallel of Azariah to the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam.

Nevertheless, the timelines in general are intact and corroboratable.

An Edit Update:

Redemption is counted at one sela and one pondion per year, which is one shekel plus a 1/20th denomination (bArak. 25a). This is forty-nine years of a cycle minus the seven Sabbatical years, equaling forty-two usable years in a cycle (50 shekels ÷ 42 = 1.19 shekels, or one shekel and a fifth). So each year up to the Jubilee equates to 1.2 shekels. Counting from the first half of Zedekiah's tenth year of reign, the cumulative total owed to redeem the land with fourteen years remaining through the forty-ninth year prior to the Jubilee would amount to 16.8 shekels. So, the seventeen shekels looks pretty accurate.

While it's off by a pondion, I would say it's close enough to count it as corroboration that Ezekiel is giving us the year of the Jubilee cycle in Ezek. 1:1–2.

A New Dawn · Jul 30, 2025

Hoping2 said:
"Interesting", was such an understatement.

Not sure what ISTM means, but can anything be impossible for/with God ?

It Seems To Me ….

Michie · Jul 30, 2025

Catholics are called to be at the forefront of defending human life–let’s stand together to protect this vulnerable population.

recent article in The New York Times (NYT) titled “A Push for More Organ Transplants Is Putting Donors at Risk” uncovered that 55 medical workers in 19 states “had witnessed at least one disturbing case of donation” using an organ harvesting technique called “donation after circulatory death” (DCD).

The article highlighted multiple cases of organ retrieval either beginning or nearly beginning on living patients, one of whom recalled feeling afraid while in the hospital.

The NYT quoted Dr. Wade Smith, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, as stating: “I think these types of problems are happening much more than we know.”

In addition, the Health Resources and Services Administration, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), reported in its recent article “HHS Finds Systemic Disregard for Sanctity of Life in Organ Transplant System” that in 351 cases where organ donation was authorized but ultimately not completed:

103 cases (29.3%) “showed concerning features, including 73 patients with neurological signs incompatible with organ donation.”
At least 28 patients (7.9%) may not have been dead at the time organ harvesting was initiated.

This disregard for patient safety was characterized as “clear negligence.”

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. posted on X “There have been massive ethical breaches in many organ transplant cases….” He wrote that some “dead” donors had blood pressure and heart rate elevation at the time of organ harvesting, indicating they could feel pain.

Continued below.

Now is the time to end organ harvesting from “dead” donors

www.catholicworldreport.com

Michie · Jul 30, 2025

The word “Psalm” comes from the Greek word for a “song” (psalmos), which is itself a translation of the Hebrew word for a song or melody. In Jewish tradition, however, the book of Psalms is known simply as the “Praises.” Here we’ll explore ten different facets of this extraordinary collection of hymns and prayers.

1) The Psalms are split into five books. In their book A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, Scripture scholars John Bergsma and Brant Pitre offer the following breakdown:

Book 1: Introduction and Laments of David (Ps 1-41)
Book 2: The Rise of the Davidic Kingdom (Ps 42-72)
Book 3: Fall of the Davidic Kingdom (Ps 73-89)
Book 4: Reflections on the Fall of the Kingdom and Exile(Ps 90-106)
Book 5: Rejoicing and Restoration of the Temple (Ps 107-150)

2) The Psalms have multiple authors. While King David wrote the largest number of psalms, many were written by other authors such as King Solomon, a figure named Asaph, or a group known as the Sons of Korah. Even Moses is credited with having written one of the Psalms (Psalm 90).

3) The Psalms frequently use parallelisms. The Psalms are works of Hebrew poetry, but they don’t rhyme in the way that English poetry does. The metrical patterns in the Psalms are also unclear to modern scholars. But what we do find repeatedly in the Psalms is the literary technique of parallelism. Very frequently the Psalms are organized so that two or more verses are supposed to be read either as complements or as contrasts.

Continued below.

10 Things You Should Know About the Psalms - St. Paul Center

The word “Psalm” comes from the Greek word for a “song” (psalmos), which is itself a translation of the Hebrew word for a song or melody. In Jewish tradition, however, the book of Psalms is known simply as the “Praises.” Here we’ll explore ten different facets of this extraordinary collection of...

stpaulcenter.com

chevyontheriver · Jul 30, 2025

Michie said:
On July 26, 2025, a meeting took place at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican between Metropolitan Antony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, and Pope Leo XIV.

During the meeting, Metropolitan Antony conveyed greetings from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ and congratulations on Pope Leo XIV’s election as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Leo XIV expressed gratitude to Patriarch Kirill for his good wishes and emphasized the importance of strengthening relations with the Russian Orthodox Church.

The discussion touched on numerous issues, including the state of Orthodox-Catholic dialogue and ongoing global conflicts, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Continued below.

Metropolitan of Volokolamsk meets with Pope Leo XIV | Orthodox Times (en)

On July 26, 2025, a meeting took place at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican between Metropolitan Antony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, and Pope Leo XIV. During the meeting, Metropolitan Antony conveyed greetings from His Holiness...

orthodoxtimes.com

Is this more than a formality? Hoping.

Michie · Jul 30, 2025

chevyontheriver said:
Pope Francis. He all but officially canonized Martin Luther in 2017 for the 500th anniversary 'celebration' of the nailing of Luther's 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg church.

Ah! I recall that now. That was very confusing to many. He was very difficult to figure out.

johnnypapa · Jul 30, 2025

The Virgin Mary of Glory, A 20th-Century Japanese Madonna and Child

Sacred liturgy and liturgical arts. Liturgical history and theology. The movements for the Usus Antiquior and Reform of the Reform.

www.newliturgicalmovement.org

johnnypapa · Jul 30, 2025

Sermons For Everyday Living: Ss Peter Chrysologus, Abdon & Sennen - 7/30/25

July 30th, 2025: Chrysologus's Golden Words for Our Dark Age; Ss Abdon & Sennen - Fellowship of the Catholic Faith; St Simon of Lypnica; God Lives in the Church; Life Requires Sacrifice; St Peter Chrysologus

sites.libsyn.com

pastorwaris · Jul 30, 2025

Michie said:
A: First of all, it’s not known whether Job was a literal historical figure. Many Scripture scholars believe that the Book of Job in the Old Testament is essentially a sort of fable — that is, it was not necessarily recording events that actually occurred, but rather telling us a story to illustrate some deeper truth.

This would make the book of Job similar to the parables that Jesus was so fond of telling later on in the New Testament (e.g., we don’t need to believe that the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son were real people in order to understand and appreciate the point Jesus was trying to make).

On that literary level, the entire Book of Job is a consideration of the meaning of suffering in the life of the faithful, and in that sense it’s actually asking the same question you are!

For those unfamiliar with the story of Job, his namesake book opens by introducing Job as an “upright man” who “feared God and avoided evil” (Job 1:1). Job was also very prosperous: “Seven sons and three daughters were born to him; and he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-donkeys, and a very large household, so that he was greater than anyone in the East” (Job 1:2-3).

Continued below.

Why would God allow Satan to torture Job?

The Book of Job doesn't give us easy answers, but it does give us glimpses of the purpose of suffering and the nature of our loving God.

www.oursundayvisitor.com

Dear beloved in Christ,

Thank you for such a thoughtful and reflective comment. I appreciate the care you've taken in laying out your thoughts it shows a genuine desire to understand the Word of God more deeply, especially on such a profound question: “Why would God allow Satan to torture Job?”

Now, regarding the historicity of Job yes, some scholars do interpret the Book of Job as poetic or allegorical literature, much like a parable. However, it’s important to note that the Bible itself refers to Job as a real person, not merely a character in a story. For example, in Ezekiel 14:14, the Lord speaks of “Noah, Daniel, and Job” as righteous men placing Job in the company of clearly historical figures. Also, James 5:11 in the New Testament says, “You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” This suggests Job’s experience was not just symbolic but also instructive and real.

That being said, I also agree with you in this: whether or not Job is taken literally, the spiritual truth of the book remains powerful and undeniable. Just as Jesus' parables while not historical narratives revealed deep divine wisdom, the story of Job carries enduring truths about faith, suffering, and God's sovereignty.

Your insight is right on point: the Book of Job does not offer an "easy" answer to suffering, but rather invites us into a sacred mystery. Job’s trials pull back the curtain and let us glimpse the heavenly courtroom, where God is not absent but actively engaged. And even though Job doesn’t get a neat explanation for his suffering, he encounters the living God and that, more than any answer, becomes his restoration.

It’s also crucial to remember that Job was not punished. He was tested, and ultimately honored. Satan sought to destroy him, but God set boundaries, proving that even in suffering, God remains sovereign. The lesson isn’t about why bad things happen, but about how faith can remain unshaken even when we don’t understand the “why.”

So, whether we view Job as a literal man or a literary symbol, the message is the same: God is just, God is loving, and our suffering is never wasted when we trust Him. And the ending of the book reminds us that restoration and double blessings await those who endure with faith (Job 42:10).

Thank you again for sparking such a meaningful discussion. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide us into all truth and comfort all who suffer, just as He did with Job.

In Christ’s grace and peace,
Pastor Waris Arif

Shane R · Jul 30, 2025

There's a Celtic rule conference at St. Patrick's Anglican Church in Parkersburg, WV this weekend. I think the church also hosts some sort of Celtic rule monastic community, probably all third order.

linux.poet · Jul 30, 2025

Dear Lord,
I pray for Your provision for Dorothieya. You own the cattle on a thousand hills, so I pray that you would bring some to her doorstep. Help her to find productive employment and a kindly Christian landlord who can rent a room to her. Help her to find her way back to college.

I pray for healing for Dorothieya's body and mind, that she may be able to keep a job. Help her to work as unto You, to bring You glory and honor.
In Christ's Name,
Amen

(Maybe try applying for fafsa anyway and see what government financial aid will give you. I found a reenrollment scholarship with my college that allowed me to finish college and do the last two classes to get over the college finish line. I hope that is there for you. )

Christsfreeservant · Jul 30, 2025

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-30 NASB1995)

Late last night the Lord began preparing me for this passage today. He was giving me a picture in my mind of someone who is egocentric, full of pride, morally unclean, a liar, a deceiver, malicious, a manipulator, not trustworthy, and someone who fakes their Christianity to appear good when they are really evil of heart and practice. They know the truth of the gospel, and they can even recite the gospel truth to others. But in their pride they are not submitting to the gospel but they are continuing in their sexual immorality.

Rather than submitting to God, humbling themselves, turning from their sins, and walking in obedience to the Lord, they hold on to their pride and to their sin. And they continue to drift, to descend, to go under, and to worsen. The feeling was also that they continued on this course because they were feeling sorry for themselves, moping, perhaps blaming others for their predicament, rather than to take responsibility for their own actions. This is someone who is resisting God and a heart transformation of the Spirit.

Then I had this image of someone scattering the seed of the gospel of Christ to this person, but they kept resisting and resisting the witness for Christ who was spreading the message of the gospel which would set them free if only they would be humble, repent, and obey God and die to their old lives of living in sin and for self. But truly it was God who kept giving the witness the message of the gospel, with the intent to bring down the adulterous from their prideful position so that they would die to sin and obey God.

And all this was going through my mind even before I knew what passage of Scripture the Lord would lead me to write on this morning. And then I read this passage of Scripture, and it fit with what I was seeing in my mind. For adultery is not just having sexual intercourse with someone not your spouse. Adultery is looking with lust for another. And this reminds me of pornography addiction, which a high number of people are being controlled by today, even a high number of people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, even pastors.

But the only way anyone is going to be free from addiction to sexual immorality is if they are willing to humble themselves, to forsake their pride, and to surrender their lives to God to do his will. And this may mean giving up some things which habitually serve as tempters to draw them right back into sin. For there is a need to throw off all that leads you to sin, as well as the sin itself, if you are serious with God about being totally free from all addiction to sin. But sadly, not everyone will yield to God. And God will have to be good to his promise, and he will send them to hell. Breaks my heart!

So, don’t be someone who plays with sin assuming that because you made a confession of faith in Jesus Christ that you can keep on in your sin and that God will give you a free pass to heaven. The Scriptures make it very clear that if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, regardless of what we profess with our lips, we will not inherit eternal life with God. But many people are gambling that that is not the truth, and that the truth is that they will still go to heaven because they “prayed the prayer to receive Christ.” So, please don’t gamble with your destiny. God will keep his word!

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

My Sheep

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

Login to view embedded media
Adultery in Your Heart
An Original Work / July 30, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

linux.poet · Jul 30, 2025

Gracious heavenly Father and Lord Jesus,
I pray for healing for Carmen's bladder and relief from pain. Help her to get some cranberry juice and get to a doctor if needed. Lead and guide her as to what to do.
In Christ's Name,
Amen

Grafted In · Jul 29, 2025

Final episode of the Goren- Eams L&O, C.I.

linux.poet · Jul 29, 2025

MOD HAT ON

This thread has been moved from Ethics and Morality to Technology.

We're not talking about moral or ethical principles here as much as debating what A.I. and cannot do for humans at this point.

MOD HAT OFF

linux.poet · Jul 29, 2025

MOD HAT ON

This thread has been moved from Ethics and Morality to Technology.

We're not talking about moral or ethical principles here as much as debating what A.I. and cannot do for humans at this point.

MOD HAT OFF

ViaCrucis · Jul 29, 2025

RainySunflower said:
Post of another place where I write.

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Jesus promised He would send the Holy Spirit after He ascended, and so about a week after He ascended, He kept His promise and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all those gathered in the upper room. When this happened, they began to speak different languages. This happened during the Jewish Feast of Shavu'ot, also called Pentecost. Shavu'ot was one of the three major festival on the Jewish calendar, where God commanded all Jewish males to come to the Tabernacle (later, the Temple in Jerusalem) to offer sacrifices. Because of this, Jerusalem was full of Jewish pilgrims from many different places, who all spoke different languages. They took notice of the twenty or so people who started speaking, because they were speaking the languages of these different Jewish pilgrims. Some among the pilgrims were astonished, "Are these not Galileans, and yet they are speaking in our languages?" but others scoffed and said, "Pfft, these guys are drunk as heck".

This is when St. Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, stood up and addressed the crowd that was gathering. He then gave a lengthy sermon, and quoted the Prophet Joel. Joel had prophesied that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, "your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams", then Peter says that Joel's prophecy was being fulfilled right then and there. This was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, on Pentecost two thousand years ago, when God poured out the Holy Spirit upon His Church. Peter then went on to preach that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, and though Jesus was put to death by the plotting of wicked men, God raised Him up, vindicating Him, and that He is truly Lord Messiah, and now is the time to repent, believe the good news of God's victory through the Messiah, and to come and be part of what God is doing through Jesus by receiving baptism and repenting.

When the crowd heard these words, they believed and they received baptism and became Christians, about three thousand in total. And that is the day as Christians we usually remember as the "birthday" of the Church. When God fulfilled His promise to send the Holy Spirit, and the Apostles were given the power to bear witness to Christ beginning in Jerusalem, throughout the cities of Judea and Samaria, and then further to the various nations of the world. Soon the Apostles would go from preaching in Jerusalem and Judea, and would be preaching the Gospel in places like Antioch, Ephesus, Athens, and even the heart of the Roman Empire, the city of Rome itself. This is the day when God inaugurated His Church to the Gospel mission which she has been living for the last two thousand years, which we are still living today--by the power of the Holy Spirit who was poured out two thousand years ago on Pentecost.

-CryptoLutheran

linux.poet · Jul 29, 2025

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Chrystal-J · Jul 29, 2025

They say they are "born this way", but as Christians we are called to be "born again". Dying to self and accepting our cross.

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Trump administration reverses course, lifts pause on NIH grant awards

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