God communicated with his people Israel in different ways and at different times. I do not see this sort of direct communication today with Christians in the age of grace.

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Ephesians 1

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
12 to the praise of his glory.
14 to the praise of his glory.

ITS ALL ABOUT HIM

Why does God do things?

Why does he save us?

We get so many benefits, surely it's for our benefit

Well, no it's to show forth the glory of his grace.

It's so that his grace, would show forth his glory and that his glory would be seen in his grace.

So many times, we hear testimonies and it's all about that person, what happened to them, how they changed etc.

But in truth, it isn't and shouldn't be about them, it's all about God, it's all about what he has done for us, remember that we are dead in our sins, we cannot help ourselves, left to ourselves, we would never move towards God, it is he who draws us, it is he who gives us the faith to believe, it is the precious Holy spirit who convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgement.

Next time you tell your testimony or share with another person, make sure, it's all about Jesus and not about you.

Remember, you are only saved to show forth the glory of his grace.

Are you doing that on a daily basis?

God bless you

Keith


Ephesians 1

TRUE ACCEPTANCE

6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

In Matthew 3:17, Jesus is being baptized by John the Baptist, the Spirit of God descends on him and the Father says this:

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

So many people, don't feel accepted in society today.

They crave to be accepted, if they are not accepted by this or that person, then they feel let down and take drastic measures, they try to change their appearance, some even change gender and some sadly commit suicide.

True acceptance comes through Christ.

How can we be acceptable to God, through the beloved, God's son.

We are accepted because of him, because of his atoning death on the cross.

These are truths to cling onto, these are defining truths for your life.

We are accepted because we are in the beloved, we are in Christ. He is in us and we are in him, because we have that relationship, we can know true acceptance.

When people won't or can't accept you as you are, know thus, that God in Christ, has accepted you, because you are in Christ.. HIS BELOVED SON.

Matthew Henry says this:

The next spiritual blessing the apostle takes notice of is acceptance with God through Jesus Christ: Wherein, or by which grace, he hath made us accepted in the beloved, v. 6. Jesus Christ is the beloved of his Father (Matt 3 17), as well as of angels and saints. It is our great privilege to be accepted of God, which implies his love to us and his taking us under his care and into his family. We cannot be thus accepted of God, but in and through Jesus Christ. He loves his people for the sake of the beloved.

God bless you

Keith

Who am I?

I am an ordinary Christian just like you and me, I love to study the scriptures and share what God shows me. I am from the UK, and at present live in Nanjing China. I am an English teacher. I have been saved from my teenage years, am now eligible for Pension.
I believe the whole of the bible, especially love the five Solas of the reformation.

I am saved by GRACE alone by FAITH alone in CHRIST alone through the WORD OF GOD alone for the GLORY OF GOD alone.

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Lord have mercy!

St. Benedict, pray for us.

Pain and sorrow know no bounds.
Joy and laughter oft not found.
Life depressing, oft distressing,
Yields no blessing, so unresting.

Trials often multiply.
Friends are often passersby.
Friendships failing, foes are railing,
Hypocrites, they’re often bailing.

Feel abandoned, left behind,
By those who don’t know they’re blind.
Boats are sinking, folks not thinking,
Eyes are blinking, friends are finking.

Answers now are hard to find.
Thieves and liars, one of kind.
Fires burning, stomachs churning,
None returning, are we learning?

Difficulties all around.
Someone honest, hardly found.
Lies, deceptions, few exceptions,
Thus, conceptions are rejections.

Hope, though, is not out of reach.
Jesus Christ we often preach.
Sacrificing, His blood buying
No more trying, blood applying.

Joy and laughter once again.
Jesus Christ now is our friend.
To Him listen, eyes will glisten.
He’s insistent you’re persistent.

Trusting Him with all your life.
Give your heart not up to strife.
Satisfying, sanctifying,
No more crying, peace abiding.

An Original Work / October 29, 2018

rambot said:

It's OK to prefer that. And if you don't get that then you get to practice grace with them

Click to expand...

Its also ok to admit you dont know what the next generation should do with their lives, or how to live them.

You know your kids are free to quit paying the taxes you voted for.. right?

Otherwise thats slavery to entrap them in it. But we all do it because we were born into it too.

I love this passage of Scripture! It is one of my favorites. Why? Well, let me tell you. For one, God allows things in our lives which don’t always make sense to us at the time we are going through them. And they may even be very painful experiences. Two biblical examples come to mind.

The first one I thought of was Job. God allowed Satan to kill off his children and his servants and his livestock and then to inflict him with horrible sores. And what did Job’s friends do? At first they were sympathetic, but then they began accusing Job of sinning against God, and of that being the reason for his suffering. And then there was Joseph whose brothers sold him into slavery. Now Job told his friends that he had not sinned against God, but they would not believe him. And later in life Joseph told his brothers that what Satan meant for evil, God meant for good, for the saving of lives.

So, the point here is that one, the bad things that come into our lives are not to be assumed to have happened due to any sin on our part or because of anyone else’s sins. They could be, but God has his reasons for why he does what he does, and for why he allows what he allows, and for why he puts us in difficult situations. And sometimes it is to humble us, and to mold us into his likeness, and sometimes it is in preparation for what he has planned for us later in our lives in the way of his calling on our lives.

For in Psalms 139 it says that God knit me together in my mother’s womb. He put me in the family I grew up with. So this was God’s will for me. Yet, I was severely abused as a child by my father. And my mother, although she was a good woman, she was emotionally distant and neglectful, and she didn’t always pay attention to what was going on. But he was abusing her, too. And he was a mean and hateful and violent man, and he was scary, and he had a split personality, so we never knew what was coming or when we were going to get hit. It was a very fearful time for me.

But God allowed it, and not only did he allow it, but he put me in that family. He knit me together in my mother’s womb. All the days ordained for me were written in his book before one of them came into being (Psalms 139). But God had a plan and a purpose for my life, didn’t he? He allowed me to go through much suffering in my life, for it didn’t end with my dad. But through all this suffering I learned obedience. And I was humbled. And I learned submission to my Lord. And I gained great passion for ministry to the hurting, the neglected, and to those trapped in sin’s deceitfulness.

So, had I not gone through what I went through, I doubt that I would be here today doing what I am doing with the same heart and passion and compassion that God has given me through the things I suffered… So the man was born blind, not because someone sinned, but because God wanted to display God’s works through him. So, whatever you are going through, please know that God is sovereign, and he has his reasons for why he does what he does, and for why he allows what he allows, in order that all the praise and glory would go to him.

And then there is this part here about how we need to work the works of God while we still have time, for time is running out, and not one of us is promised the next breath, let alone tomorrow. So don’t waste your life on things that don’t matter for eternity. Make your life count for Jesus Christ today, and let him display his works in and through your life as you submit to him as Lord, and as you surrender your lives to him, and as you walk in holiness and righteousness, in obedience to your Lord, in his power.

And another thing I see in this story is that healing isn’t always instantaneous. Sometimes it is a process of healing which takes time, and it requires walks of obedience. But I also see this on a spiritual level, that this speaks to our salvation, which is also a process, which involves us obeying the Lord and doing what he says to do. For Jesus could have just laid hands on the man and healed him at that moment. But he chose to do it a different way, and the man had to obey the Lord and go to the pool and wash, or he would not be healed. And we have to walk in obedience to our Lord so that at the end we have complete spiritual healing and eternal life with him.

And lastly, the man gave testimony that his healing came from Jesus and not from himself or by any other means. And when the Lord heals us spiritually, and he changes our lives, and when he turns us from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, we are also to give him praise, and to give testimony to his saving grace. And I am not talking about a testimony of when you first believed in Jesus, but a current testimony of what he is doing in your life right now in the spiritual healing process he is doing within you. But also we should be sharing the truth of the gospel of our salvation.

God Has His Reasons
Video Talk

April 3, 2023

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Keep them safe, Lord, keep them safe.
Don’t let death, Lord, be their fate.
Keep them in your tender care.
Don’t let them be caught in snare.

Lead them in the way to go,
Show them truth, Lord, let them know.
Help them follow You each day,
Read their Bibles, kneel, and pray.

Keep them from the snares of death,
Till they breathe their final breath.
Help them to know lies from truth,
To not follow those uncouth.

Give them wisdom from above,
Help them know You, know Your love.
Help them follow You each day,
Live in truth, to know Your way.

An Original Work / March 24, 2024

The apostle Paul addressed these words to the saints who were in Ephesus and who were faithful in Christ Jesus. And a saint is one who is being made holy by God, set apart by and for God, different (unlike) the world because “likeness of nature with the Lord.” For, by genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with God 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 (see Romans 6:1-23).

But they were not just the saints of God (God’s holy ones), but they were the faithful (trustworthy, reliable, loyalty to faith, fullness of faith). And that word “faith” means to be persuaded, in this case to be persuaded by God. And God persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to deny self, to die with him to sin, not just once, but daily, and to walk in faithful obedience to his commands in holy living. For this faith is authored by God and is gifted of God and not of our flesh.

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

So, when the apostle Paul said that he had heard of their faith and their love toward all the saints, this is the faith he was speaking of, not a mere verbal profession of faith or a mere acknowledgement of who Jesus was and is and of what he did for us in dying on that cross and being resurrected from the dead. He was speaking of a faith that transforms our hearts and minds and behaviors to make us more like Jesus, separate (different) from the world. He was talking of self-denial, death to sin, and obedience to our Lord.

So his prayer was for their spiritual maturity, their spiritual growth in their walks of faith in the Lord Jesus. But it was also that they would hear the Spirit speaking truth to their hearts guiding them in the way that they should go. And it was that they would gain spiritual discernment so as to be able to discern truth from lies, and so that they would not end up following the liars and end up heading in the wrong direction instead of the direction that God had planned and purposed for their lives.

And we need this, too. For this included that they (and we) would know the hope to which our Lord called them and us. And it is not just the hope of forgiveness (salvation) from sin and eternal life with God. For Jesus took upon himself the sins of the entire world when he was crucified on that cross so that, by genuine faith in him, we will die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to our Lord in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives, which we are shown in the Scriptures.

We all have a choice to go the right way or the wrong way, but we need to know which is the right way and which is the wrong way, for if we go the wrong way, thinking that we are going the right way, it will end in death, not in life eternal. And many are those who are traveling that wrong pathway convinced that their sins are forgiven and that heaven is guaranteed them when they die, but without regard for why Jesus gave his life for them and what our Lord requires of all who profess his name.

So, just know that Jesus died so that we would die with him to sin and now walk with him in obedience to his commands and in surrender of our lives to do his will and purpose for our lives, to be pleasing to him. And please know that he taught and his NT apostles taught that if we choose not to die to sin, and not to walk in obedience to his commands, but to continue in deliberate and habitual sin, in direct defiance of his commands, that we will not inherit eternal life with God. If sin is what we obey, it ends in death, not life.

So, we cannot just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and then follow our own course, doing whatever it is we want to do with our lives. For if our faith is genuine, God now owns us. We are his possession. And our lives are now to be surrendered to him to do his will, not just what gives us pleasure. And we need to be so discerning about the people we believe and follow, too, for there are many “wolves in sheep’s clothing” out there leading professing Christians in the wrong direction. So pray for discernment!

And this isn’t just about discerning people who are preachers and teachers of the Scriptures, but this is about politicians and people in our governments and in the news media and in the educational system and the world of medicine, etc. Liars abound everywhere we look! So just because it looks good on the outside, it doesn’t mean that it is good. And please know that if you do not pray for discernment and you end up following the lies and not the truth, it can cost you your lives for eternity. And I weep over that!!

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

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FCC trying to demand staff demographics so they can be publicized.

A fight involving a Christian broadcaster based in Medford, Oregon, reaching out via radio and television, holds the potential now for a significant ruling that federal bureaucracies are supposed to do what Congress tells them to do – not more.

It is theDove Radio & Television that is contesting demands by the Federal Communications Commission that it start monitoring, recording, reporting and even publicizing the makeup of its employees, their race and sex. It's a type of fight that has come up before, and will come up again: Bureaucrats decide that Congress has given them an authority so they try to impose requirements that are not necessarily germane to that task.
The government right now is trying to delay the case at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because other plaintiffs also have raised their concerns, but it is theDove case that would, when and if it is decided, go further. Perry Atkinson, president and CEO of the broadcaster, told WND that his organization, unlike many avenues for communication in 2024 America, is already highly regulated.
The FCC had proposed, some time back, to monitor and record the makeup of staffs, but had delayed its plan. Now it's on the move again. Atkinson explained that making public the "diversity, equity and inclusion" factors about his employees could be used by detractors to create problems for the broadcaster, including when periodic license renewals are at issue.

It would end up being a "controlled speech" agenda, as the station would be required to constantly monitor all comments and issues to make sure nothing controversial would be expressed. Or even exist. Such as what if a Christian broadcaster would hire workers who are … Christian? He explained his hiring would be managed by "a quota" system should the rule advance.

Others who have brought similar concerns include the National Religious Broadcasters, the American Family Association and the Texas Association of Broadcasters, and those disputes now are pending before the 5th Circuit. Atkinson explained his organization's contentions go one step further than objecting to the rule by questioning whether the FCC has the authority, without congressional approval, to make such demands.

It's a common theme of federal bureaucracies to establish requirements and issue demands, even if such authority from Congress is not clear. For instance, the feds tried to ban an Idaho couple from building on their residential lot because federal bureaucrats claimed it was a wetlands, even though it was a typical suburban lot and not a waterway.

The Supreme Court eventually blocked that agenda.

Now it is the Pacific Legal Foundation, long an advocate for private property rights, that is assisting in the broadcaster's fight. Senior attorney Oliver Dunford told WND the FCC wanted, then halted, collection of millions of datapoints of demographics about broadcast company employees.

Then it came back. The case argues that the FCC doesn't have the authority to demand that information, then publish it and make it publicly available. The case raises potential violations of equal protection and First Amendment issues under the Constitution. He explained the actual timing of the case, and any decision, isn't firm because of the other consolidated cases, and the fact they they have been fully briefed, while theDove's case is just starting its appeals court run.

The origins of equal opportunity employment ideologies at the FCC started in 1970, and courts twice have struck specifics. The FCC's later iteration from Congress regarded cable outlets, and didn't mention radio. Complicating the fight is that broadcasters operate on public frequencies, much like ski areas lease public lands to stage their ski slopes, and the requirement is that those operations be for the public good. That easily could apply to broadcasting itself, but that still would not necessarily create an authority to demand quotas in hiring and such.

The lawyer told WND, "Congress can set policy. That's fine. Agencies are supposed to be limited to the policies set forth in the statutes. I do think this is an example of an agency trying to make policy or to extend policy that Congress has not expressly authorized."

Pacific Legal, at one point, characterized the FCC's plan as a "public shaming rule."
TheDove now operates nearly three dozen faith-based radio and television stations, cable channels and more. While the FCC claims its demands are for equal employment opportunity reporting, the EEOC already does that.

The legal team explained, "In reality, the FCC rule is a thinly veiled attempt to do indirectly what it may not do directly: pressure stations into race- and sex-conscious hiring practices."
The lawyers explained, "Besides being a blatant end-run around the Equal Protection Clause, the rule also violates the non-delegation doctrine. The Communications Act of 1934 gave the FCC authority to regulate broadcasting, not to enforce what amounts to race and gender quotas."

Fyrewulf said:

My wife and I let my childhood friend of several decades move in with us. I'm disabled, and he was in a tough living situation. He could help me and keep me company at home, and he would be in a much better situation with his own space.

He's been here for a couple of months, and the problems are piling up. He threw up a huge red flag in his first few days here when he mentioned that his source of income could be as my caretaker. SSA would pay him. The problem with that is, if I needed such a thing, that would go to my wife. But most of all, I don't need a caretaker. We shut that down. He has to get a real job. And we thought he would. He talked about it a lot before coming.

Upon arriving he spent $7,000+ on toys and electronics. My wife and I looked at each other bug eyed. He wasn't working, and where he worked before, he didn't make all that much. It turns out this is all the money he had, and 2 months later he's still not working to pay his share. I've had to hold his hand every step of the way. I've led him to 11 job applications, none of which he would have gotten on his own. Not one time has he sought employment on his own. If I'm not finding jobs and staying on him to apply, he won't.

When we found out that he had blown all the money he had, we asked him why he would do that before making sure his bills were paid and he was working. He blamed me and said because I said there are a lot of jobs here. There are a lot of jobs here, but you actually have to go get one. The job fairy doesn't drop them off to you. Yesterday he argued with me that he's not going to call and ask the businesses about his applications because that won't change anything. I've been out of the workforce for 3 years and that's not a long time. I know full well that this does matter, and I've probably called for updates about every job I've ever applied to.

Next we get to his selfishness in the home. He stays in his room most of the day, usually only coming out to eat. In his room he has 4 screens going. One he's playing online games on, one he has a game playing in the background, and on the other 2 he's streaming content. I'm a huge gamer. It's all I have to do while my wife isn't home. When he got here, everything fell apart with the internet. He maxed us out of data after a week and we had to switch over to the more expensive unlimited internet for the first time.

My internet speeds are half of what they used to be before he got here, and my games lag and I get kicked out of them a lot. We can't hardly watch TV. My wife's shows lag the whole time, and maintain the pixelated look rather than smoothing out and being clear. We couldn't figure it out. I was trying everything. We even paid the $100 to have a service technician come out and check on everything. Everything was good. Today my wife mentioned how maybe it's because he's running multiple PCs that are gaming and streaming all at once. 4 screens! So I did a speed test on my system. 300 down and 80 ping. I should be at 1,000 down and 20-30 ping. I went into his room and said I wanted to him to shut it all down so I could conduct the test 3 times, spaced several minutes apart. 900-1100 down and 21-38 ping every single time. I told him that he's the problem. I said you can't even watch or play 4 screens at once. Choose one thing at a time to do. My wife only watches one TV and show at a time, and I'm only playing one game at a time on my system. There's no reason to be sucking up all that bandwidth and slowing down the house. He hasn't even paid for anything yet, and we had to go out of our way to change the internet to accommodate him being here, which wasn't a problem at the time considering we thought he would be contributing sooner rather than later. Not to mention how rude it is to move into someone's home and take ownership of the resource. I also noticed that my ethernet cable was unplugged and plugged into a different port, and he had taken the best one for himself (the only max speed port on the router). I switched them and said this one is mine.

He argued with me for a couple hours about how it's got to be something else and it can't just be his heavy bandwidth use. I calmly kept saying the test doesn't lie. We even had him go back to having the 4 screens going at once and my down went back to 300 and the ping went back up to 80. Every test coincided with his heavy usage. He went back to streaming content while he plays games anyways. He cut 2 screens off, but is still not just sticking to one thing at a time like we always have.

I'm starting to regret this. The internet isn't the only thing that is an argument. He makes everything an argument or debate. He has zero motivation to get out and find work. Zero motivation to lessen his footprint around the home to share equally with everyone.

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Kick him to the curb.
You may think your acceptance of him is love and patience, it is not!
It is encouraging a fool, it is pearls before swine. It is enabling a lazy fool, that scripture says should not be allowed to eat.

You've allowed him to become stronger every day in his fallacy.

Do not argue with him. Do not debate. Do not discuss.
(Never argue with a fool, they will drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.)
He has had ample opportunity. Boot him tomorrow.
The guy is a con and certainly not a friend.

In Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law of works with a law of faith, in Galatians 3:10-12, he contrasted the Book of the Law with "works of the law", and in Romans 3:31 and Galatians 3:10-12, he said that our fait upholds God's law in contrast with saying that works of the law" are not faith, so that phrase does not refer to obedience to God.

According to Deuteronomy 27-28, relying on the Book of the Law is the way to be blessed while not relying on it is the way to be cursed, so it would be absurd to interpret Galatians 3:10 as Paul quoting from that passage in order to support a point that is arguing against that passage by saying that relying on it is the way to be cursed while not relying on it is the way to be blessed. Rather, cursed is everyone who does not continued to abide by all of the things in the Book of the Law, which is why all those who rely on works of the law instead come under that curse.

In Galatians 3:10-12, Paul associated a quote from Habakkuk 2:4 that the righteous shall live by faith with a quote from Leviticus 18:5 that the one who obeys God's law will live by it, so the righteous who are living by faith are the same as those who are living in obedience to God's law. The context of Habakkuk 2 contrasts the righteous who are living by faith with those who are not living in obedience to God's law. In Isaiah 51:7, the righteous are those on whose heart is God's law, and in 1 John 3:4-7, everyone who is a doer of righteous works in obedience to God's law is righteous even as they are righteous, so the righteous living by faith does not refer to an alternative form of living that is not in obedience to God's law.

God is trustworthy, therefore His law is also trustworthy (Psalms 19:7), so the way to trust in God is by obediently trusting in His law, it is contradictory to think that we should rely on God, but not on His instructions, and the position that God is a giver of instructions that are untrustworthy/not of faith is the position that God denies the trustworthiness/faithfulness of God.

Michie said:

It’s also arguable, at least, that there is no more important passage in Catholic ritual.

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It is important to know:

Canon 916: "A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without prior sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case, the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, which includes the intention of confessing as soon as possible."

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11 29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment.…

"God began putting those seeds in my heart around 2014, and that is when I realized the world was changing to a degree that, frankly, I did not understand," Cooper told Crosswalk Headlines, referencing his desire to speak out about Christianity and cultural issues. "I began a journey of What is going on? But I knew by 2017, I knew that God was calling me to be someone that would defend the faith and that would stand up for Christian morality. And it was around 2019 when I finally decided: I have to do this."

The deconstruction of Joshua Harris and several other high-profile Christian leaders was confirmation to Cooper of his new mission. Harris was the author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye (1997) and several other books.

"And I thought: Okay, I want to speak out about what is happening and make a real clear statement. Because I think there's a lot of Christian people in my generation that were really impacted by Joshua Harris [and] who subsequently were going, 'If Joshua Harris didn't make it, what does that mean for the faith?'

"And I wanted to say: Stand firm on the Word of God. The Word of God never ever changes. The grass withers, the flower fades. The Word of our God will stand forever. You can bank on it."

A decade ago, Cooper said, "Everybody took it for granted that if you called yourself a follower of Jesus, then you held to certain moral principles." One of those, he said, is the pro-life position.

"So it didn't need to be said all the time by a musician like me," he said. "And as I've seen more and more Christians -- whether it's churches, theologians, influencers, whatever -- be on the opposite side -- I started saying, 'Oh, I guess we need to begin to be clear about those positions now. And that's why I did so."

Thank you so much and for the encouragement! It's all the Lord's doing.
Cleveland is great! Maybe I'll cross paths with some of your loved ones to share the Gospel with them.

All Becomes New said:

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Icon veneration might go back to the Apostles as an acceptable piety. It would seem to originate from the catacombs and was not mentioned much because it wasn’t condemned until heavy handed iconoclasm was applied. When iconoclasm lost dominance, an equally heavy handed approach was implemented. This is fallen human nature in which the spirit of the law is neglected to the letter of the law.

There is also no mention of the Oriental Orthodox in this video who practice icon veneration but were not in communion during the 787 council.


It is the Incarnation from which stems the ability for holy images ( John 1:1-18, Colossians 1:15) in worship and the avoidance of error ( John 1:18). Our understanding of grace is the free gift of salvation ( Ephesians 2:8-10) in which being partakers of the divine nature ( 2 Peter 1:1-4, per 2 Peter 1:1-21). This was experienced by the Apostles with the Lord in His Transfiguration ( Matthew 17:1-9, testified to by St. Peter per 2 Peter 1:16-18). The light experienced on Mt. Tabor is understood as uncreated an aspect of grace the basis of a window to heaven expressed in the icons.

The stringent emphasis in the council on the externals of kissing icons and lighting candles are not my personal emphasis of my faith. It has not much occurred to me actually although many parishioners faithfully practice this. I am just a warehouse worker in my secular life and a part time parish janitor.

I'd argue it wasn't his high numbers but his opponents incredibly LOW numbers that got him elected.

Dead Eye said:

Healings​

Jesus Healed Everyone of Everything

Mat 4:24 And his (Jesus) fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he (Jesus) healed them.

Mat 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Mat 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you (Christians) have received, freely give.

Mat 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

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Under the Law, God literally promised Israel that if they obey him, they will never fall sick (Deuteronomy 7:15, Exodus 15:26)

Under the promised kingdom of heaven on Earth, no one in Israel will be maim or sick too (Isaiah 33:24, Psalms 103:1-5.

Israel broke their covenant of Law that was given at Mount Sinai. They killed or ignored all the prophets that God repeatedly sent to them when they were separated into 2 kingdoms and went into captivity under Babylon, and then under Persia. (Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19).

Thus, at the time of Jesus's first coming to Israel, many people in Israel are sick, demon possessed, precisely because they have forsaken that Law covenant. (Luke 13:11, Acts 3:2)

Jesus thus healed all of them as a sign to show Israel that he is their promised Messiah that will usher them to that promised kingdom (Deuteronomy 18:15, Luke 7:20-22, Acts 3:22-23, John 11:45-48).

Acts 10:38 is an especially beautiful summary by Peter to show that

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Dead Eye said:

Fruits of the Holy Spirit

1Co 12:8-10 For to one (Christians) is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 1Co 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

1Co 12:8 For to one (Christians) is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom;

to another (Christians) the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

1Co 12:9 To another (Christians) faith by the same Spirit;

to another (Christians) the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

1Co 12:10 To another (Christians) the working of miracles;

to another (Christians) prophecy;

to another (Christians) discerning of spirits;

to another (Christians) divers kinds of tongues;

to another (Christians)(Christians) the interpretation of tongues:

Gifts to the True Church from God

1Co12:28 And God has set some in the (True) church, (1) first apostles, (2) secondarily prophets, (3) thirdly teachers, (4) after that miracles, (5) then gifts of healings, (6) helps, (7) governments, (8) diversities of tongues.

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But now, God no longer relates to us under the Law (Romans 6:14, 1 Timothy 1:9).

So when we believers are sick nowadays, we can be rest assured that it is not because we have disobeyed God in anyway.

Conversely, if we find ourselves getting better, it is NOT because we are currently doing something that pleases God.

That is what I believe Paul is teaching us now when he shared with us Romans 8:18-25 and 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, and when he gave Timothy common sense advice regarding his frequent stomach aliments.

2K 22:

3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord.

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8 And Hilkiah [H1] the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.”

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H1 found the Book of the Law in the temple.

Jr 1:

1 These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah [H2], one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

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Were H1 and H2 the same person?

2 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3 and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

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H1 and H2 were probably two different persons.

1. H1 was the high priest. H2 was one of the priests.
2. H1 was in Jerusalem. H2 was in Anathoth, a few km northeast of Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin.
3. Anathoth priests likely descended from Abiathar. Solomon removed his line from Jerusalem temple service. They would not have been eligible for high priesthood.
4. The name Hikiah meant "YHWH is my portion." Levites received no land inheritance because YHWH himself was their inheritance (Jos 13:14). There were a few Hikiahs mentioned in the OT. There was a priest named Hikiah in Ne 12:7 and a Levite in 1Ch 6:45.

Michie said:

From the article:

But in every meltdown, one thing is clear: their despair isn’t just that the vice president failed, but that the country is too stupid to understand that famous people know better. It’s the same campaign of condescension that led to the demise of woke corporations. And with a little luck, celebrity endorsements will meet the same fate.

Of course, as plenty of news outlets are pointing out, using star power in politics isn’t new. More than 100 years ago, “Al Jolson led a march of fellow actors through the streets of Ohio in support of Republican Warren G Harding’s bid,” The Guardian explains. “Endorsements from Babe Ruth, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand have all been coveted by the candidates of their day.” But that was before the vast majority of Hollywood and pro athletes became an arm of the socialist Left and lost all touch with the average American.

“Even though Harris’ slogan was, ‘We are not going back,’ the campaign was firmly in reverse,” the New York Post’s Kirsten Fleming insists, “taking the DeLorean to 2008 … back when Hollywood A-listers meant something … Before the Democratic Party completely abandoned the working class. Talked down to them. Told them they were racist or bigoted for not putting their pronouns in their bio.”
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I tend to agree. The majority of these celebs are clueless and are just going with the flow for selfish reasons. But lately, it’s backfiring. I do not know of one single person who is swayed by these endorsements.

Clooney comes to mind about asking Biden to step down and now he’s being blamed in part for the loss by some. Oprah accused of taking money, etc. Seems to be a sideshow we can do without.

What do you think?

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I think that using the celebrities was fine but really stupid to pay them as much as she did. If they were really about helping Harris they would have donated their time.

As far as being clueless, Trump is a celebrity, is he as clueless as Clooney?

Michie said:

'Everyone is psyched for Trump to be back in the White House, including Biden,' one conservative account joked​

Continued below.

Social media erupts after Biden appears jubilant in Trump White House meeting

President Biden's smiling demeanor during a White House meeting welcoming President-elect Trump on Wednesday sparked social media speculation.

www.foxnews.com

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Biden showed Trump how a President was supposed to behave.