As Heartbreaking Ad Reminds Us, the Church Shows Us How to Respond to Difficult Circumstances With the Compassion of Christ

Hadley Duvall is a young woman from Kentucky who has a heartrending story. From the time she was 5 years old, she was sexually abused by her stepfather. Growing up, she would be in school and think to herself, “Do these people go home, and are they afraid of their dad, too?” When she was 12 years old, her stepfather raped her, and she soon found out that she was pregnant.

Duvall made the choice to have an abortion.

In recent days, she spoke out in a recent ad by the Biden campaign, released before the president announced he was not running for reelection, against Republican nominees Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, stating, “The first thing that was told to me when I saw that positive pregnancy test was, ‘You have options.’ If Roe v. Wade would’ve been overturned sooner, I wouldn’t have heard that. And then it had me thinking that there’s someone that doesn’t get to hear that now.”

The young woman has offered her voice to champion so-called abortion rights in her home state of Kentucky for months. Kentucky has one of the strongest laws against abortion in the country. As of July 15, 2022, there is a complete ban on abortion, including in cases of rape and incest. This continues to polarize voters and politicians in the state, but also around the country.

Continued below.

KJV, 1 John 5:

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

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There is some controversy about this verse.

Wiki:

The Johannine Comma (Latin: Comma Johanneum) is an interpolated phrase (comma) in verses 5:7–8 of the First Epistle of John.[1]
The text (with the comma in italics and enclosed by square brackets) in the King James Bible reads:
7For there are three that beare record [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.] 8[And there are three that beare witnesse in earth], the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, and these three agree in one.
— King James Version (1611)
The passage appears to have originated as a gloss in a Latin manuscript around the end of the 4th century,[3]
The comma is absent from the Ethiopic, Aramaic, Syriac, Slavic, Armenian, Georgian, and Arabic translations of the Greek New Testament.
The earliest known Greek ms. occurrence appears to be a later addition to a 10th-century manuscript now in the Bodleian Library. The exact date of the addition is not known; in this manuscript, the Comma is a variant reading offered as an alternative to the main text.

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Without the comma/addition, it reads:

7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.

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There are good reasons to believe that the Johannine Comma was inserted:

1. The words did not appear in any Greek manuscript before the 14th century CE.
2. They were absent from all ancient translations of the Bible.
3. No Church Father quoted them in discussions about the Trinity.

How do we know that manuscripts used to compile the Bible or the Bible itself are not forged or changed?

This is where textual criticism comes in, which is a scholarly discipline that aims to reconstruct the original text of a document, particularly ancient texts, when the original is no longer available. 1Jn 5:7 is an example of this kind of criticism.

Hard to distinguish Bill Barr being a bad leader and Bill Barr doing things for the benefit of his boss.

DOJ review blames Stone sentencing flip on poor leadership, not politics​

The Justice Department’s inspector general said “ineffectual leadership” led to the softening of Roger Stone’s 2020 sentencing recommendation, which ignited a political firestorm.

The report upheld an account by then-Attorney General William P. Barr but also found that line prosecutors’ suspicions of political meddling by President Donald Trump’s administration were not unreasonable.

The report opens a window back on a bitterly contentious time in the department, when Barr was accused of undercutting special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, and of politicizing and replacing the leaders of two of its most important U.S. attorney offices for Washington and Manhattan.

Those accusations intensified after Barr removed Trump’s initial appointee as U.S. attorney two weeks before Stone’s sentencing, replacing Jessie K. Liu with his own counselor, Shea.

At sentencing, front-line prosecutors initially notified the court that a sentence of about seven to nine years would be appropriate under federal guidelines.

Within hours of that filing, and after Trump tweeted that the request was “disgraceful” and a “miscarriage of justice” that could not be allowed, Barr overruled the trial team. A second memo signed by supervisors retracted the recommendation, prompting all four prosecutors to quit the case. Some of them later said publicly that they believed they were undercut by department leaders to protect Trump’s longtime ally.

[Stone was give a little over 3 years, but Trump commuted the sentence.]

Barr declined to be interviewed for the inspector general’s investigation, but denied in testimony to the House and news interviews at the time that Trump’s Twitter tirade prompted the reversal. Instead, Barr said Shea — formerly one of his closest advisers at the department — had initially signaled to him that the recommendation would be much lower. Barr said he had been “very surprised” by the outcome.

Barr expressed to staffers that the action was not what he and Shea had discussed and needed to be “fixed,” but the inspector general found that Barr’s position was consistent before and after the recommendation was filed and before Trump tweeted.

[Barr wasn't bent by Trump's tweet; he was bent all along!]

“We recognize that the Department’s handling of the sentencing in the Stone case was highly unusual,” given the participation of Trump political appointees Shea and Barr, the report stated. However, it concluded that absent any prohibition on their involvement, their actions were ultimately left up to their own “discretion and judgment,” including on how they would affect public perceptions of the department’s integrity and independence.

see also:

Every prosecutor in the Roger Stone Trial quits​

Federal Judges Association to meet to discuss Barr's meddling in Stone case​

Peace in Christ.

Our mortal bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We need to be separate from the churches of fleshly-minded men who are preaching their handwritings of ordinances for us to keep and serve.

We must not be joined together with those who are preaching their handwriting of ordinances (teaching things that they ought not be) for money’s sake. They preach for their own belly….they preach themselves.

They are overturning whole houses….everyone that goes and sits in their “churches” mortally perishes under the wrath of God that comes upon the children of disobedience.

Tit 1:10-11 KJV
(10) For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
(11) Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.

Such is a “harlot” church…the “strange woman”. When we go to one, we are sinning against our own mortal body as we are being mortally destroyed along with them.

1Co 6:15-20 KJV
(15) Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

We become “one flesh” with them ( the harlot church) in their mortal destruction when we attach ourselves to them. We are "ONE BODY" with them in their destruction. There is no “peace and safety” among the churches of false prophets.

(16) What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
(17) But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

We must flee the “fornication”….that is, flee from being joined together with them in their “church” bodies. That is our sanctification. We are cleansed by doing so by the blood of the Lamb.

(18) Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
(19) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

We are bought with a price…and so we must glorify God in our body by fleeing from them…never looking back. We must flee the “fornication”….being joined together with them and becoming “one flesh” with them in their destruction.

(20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

They preach many strange teachings in the churches of fleshly-minded men. They forget the covenant of their God…as He wrote His laws on our hearts and minds for us to keep and serve rather than keep and serve their church handwritings of ordinances/dogmas..

Their “house”…their church…inclines unto death….mortal death. All that go to their churches (the “strange woman”…that preaches many strange teachings) are being led down the broad way to their mortal destruction. These verses in Proverbs about the "strange woman" applies to going to a harlot church where they are perishing away in their mortal bodies in the destruction of the flesh. We must not be in them...becoming ONE BODY with them as we mortally perish with them.

Pro 2:16-19 KJV
(16) To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
(17) Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
(18) For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

“Her” paths lead unto death and none that go unto “her” return again. They do not take hold of the paths of life as they go down the broad way to their mortal destruction.

(19) None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

MANY go the broad way that leads to destruction. “Her house”…the churches of fleshly-minded men who deceive us is the way to “hell”…the grave. Their way go down to the chambers of death.

Pro 7:24-27 KJV
(24) Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
(25) Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
(26) For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
(27) Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

Beware of those who are not serving our Lord Jesus Christ but are instead serving for their own belly. They are preaching things that they ought not be for money’s sake so that they can get their earthly needs met. By “good words and fair speeches” do they deceive the hearts of the simple.

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

The “strange woman”….the harlot church…flatters with the tongue. Her false prophets speak “good words and fair speeches” to the “simple”. The “simple” are those who are “void of understanding”…and they get deceived into going to a “church” where they are preaching things that they ought not be.

Pro 7:6-8 KJV
(6) For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
(7) And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
(8) Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

For certainly the simple of heart listen to the flattering of “her” lips…and so they go to their church where they never take hold of the path of life….the way that leads to an age-lasting life in this mortal body (never dying….never perishing). If we listen and are deceived by their good words and fair speeches, we are being defrauded of the age-lasting life that was promised us. We know not that it is for our life that they are seeking to remove.

Pro 7:21-25 KJV
(21) With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
(22) He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
(23) Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
(24) Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
(25) Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

We must hear and receive His knowledge and be delivered from them that preach “forward things”….that is, things that OVERTURN.

Pro 2:12-16 KJV
(12) To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
(13) Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
(14) Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
(15) Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
(16) To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

I don't, and I didn't let my kids say that when living under my roof. Having said that, when other people say it, Christians or not, they don't bother me. The phrase by itself does not violate the commandment: You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. It is not what you say but what you mean by it. In some usages, it may violate the commandment.

Instead of "Oh my God," when you are surprised positively, you can say "Wow!". If you are in disbelief, you can say "No way!".

Is saying Oh my God as an exclamation of shock or surprise a violation of the Commandment?

No.

See also Mind your language

Matthew 5:

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

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Strong's Greek: 2816. κληρονομέω (kléronomeó) — 18 Occurrences

What is this usage of "inherit"?

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

1. "to receive a lot, receive by lot; especially to receive a part of an inheritance, receive as an inheritance, obtain by right of inheritance";

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This first meaning has to do with inheritance after the death of someone. There is a more general meaning:

2. universally, "to receive the portion assigned to one, receive an allotted portion, receive as one's own or as a possession; to become partaker of, to obtain".

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This develops into a special usage:

But as the Israelites after taking possession of the land were harassed almost perpetually by their hostile neighbors, and even driven out of the country for a considerable period, it came to pass that the phrase was transferred to denote the tranquil and stable possession of the holy land crowned with all divine blessings, an experience which pious Israelites were to expect under the Messiah: … it became a formula denoting to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah's kingdom.

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Is 60:

21 Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.

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BDAG κληρονομέω:

① to be an inheritor, inherit
② acquire, obtain, come into possession of
esp. of participation in Messianic salvation
receive, share in eternal life

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Matthew 19:

29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

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They will obtain and partake in eternal life on the new earth.

Vambram said:

Kevin Young is the lead singer for this group as well as Disciple. Two other members of Disciple are also in Honor & Glory.

Have a blessed night, brother.

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Thank you, brother. Disciple and Honor & Glory should do a super band, and join forces for their next album.

If Jesus is living in our hearts by faith, how is it that people look up and raise their hands in worship, as if God is somewhere above them? If people really believed that Jesus is living inside of them, as the Scripture clearly points out, then they might not feel the need to lift their hands and look up to the ceiling.

It has been said that people lifting their hands are like those who like to pray on street corners in order to receive the praises of others. Drawing attention to themselves to show everyone how devoted they are in worship is a great way of demonstrating how spiritual they are. Perhaps the positive response from others may be all the reward they are going to get. It is the same with praying in tongues out loud in a meeting to show everyone he or she is filled with the Spirit, liking the attention that he or she brings to self. Maybe the Scripture, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble". The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Gatherer can apply here as well. The Pharisee prays loudly all his religious observances to show how dedicated he is to God, while the Tax Gatherer won't even lift his eyes off the floor and quietly prays "Lord, forgive me, a sinner". Jesus lets His listeners guess which one will leave justified by the Lord.

tonychanyt said:

Purposes of paedobaptism:

1. As a parallel with circumcision in the Old Testament, Luke 2:21.
2. Initiate the baby into the Christian community because his parent is a Christian, Acts 16:33, 1 Corinthians 7:14.

I baptized all five of my kids by near submersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit when they were eight days old. I understand that the evidence for infant baptism in the Bible is not explicit and is debatable. So, when my kids were teenagers, I told them that if they believed that was sufficient, they would not need to be baptized again. But if not, feel free to have an official adult believer's baptism from a reputable local church.

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I’ll be sincere, there are dark forces in this world that are beyond human capability. Devoting our children to God before they are able to understand this is wise.

Also, I’m so sick of petty division in the Body. Jesus saves. Only Jesus has a lock on perfect doctrine. We don’t have a right to tell people how to express who they are. The Divided body needs to get over itself and unify under Jesus, alone, to deliver the physical gospel to a hateful world in need. It would be so much more wonderful if the entire invisible Body could learn to understand that God is Love to all humanity, the Law of stone kills and Jesus is our unification. Different people express their Love and devotion to Jesus differently.

I think that what you did is beautiful and expresses your consent for God to protect your little one’s.

This OP is unifying to the divide between the Mother Brick and Mortar and her offspring!

Respect

Many years ago I was working as a plumber's labourer. We were digging a fairly deep trench for a large pipe.

The next day I was sent to aother site. And on that day the trench I'd been in the day before collapsed.

A bloke I used to play hockey against lost an eye, fractured skull, broken collarbone and maybe other injuries.

After that they made sure the trench walls were reinforced with sleepers.

When you're tuned in to God, you hear from Him. And sometimes directly, not just in scripture. And anyone who doesn't believe that is obviously someone who hasn't experienced it. And no argument will convince them. This is not an audible voice as if a speaker in the room, generally speaking. But rather through the heart and mind. You sometimes speak the words out yourself. God's answers, in my experience, are not long, rather one word, maybe two and done. You can't pry more out of Him either. That's where you dig into scripture.

He may also send an angel, though many would not recognize it as such. " Many entertain angels unawares". Angels observe for one activity. And have a message for another activity. And these types, the " unawares" type, look like you and me. They aren't glowing forms, don't have wings etc. But if you hear from one, you can be sure it's from God. They manifest in human like form. Demons ( unholy angels) do not, that I am aware of.

God is reasonably quiet with me right now. When I go to a pulpit or am to present something together with a pastor, I will surely get a theme, often a verse, to build a message from.. It's beyond coincidence and proven to me time and again for 1-1/2 decades. Not to mention personal answers for much of my lifetime ( I'm 74) yo.

I don't expect anyone to believe it. And there is more to it yet, but this is enough for an online forum, where people often in their canned beliefs , also often try to shred things apart. Plus some things are meant to stay unspoken.

Spiritual Jew said:

You lost me there.

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Short version once again: It was not just and only people standing there, or anywhere that day or any other day when Jesus spoke

Read Mark 4:15 and see if you can figure out who else was standing there, in the people, unseen

Joseph G said:

Hey timewerx, I totally agree those are certainly standard debating tactics inspired by the evil one, but I'm asking about the reverse - slander by us towards him as in Jude 1:9. What constitutes "slander"?

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The slander here is telling things about the devil that isn't true.

Wannabe-exorcists say many things about the devil that most likely isn't true. The Angel in Jude 1 simply said "I rebuke you". For me, that's more than good enough to drive away evil spirits.

Jude 1:8 - heaping abuse on celestial beings - driving away spirits who may not be evil. Treating these spirits as if they were evil spirits.

Jude 1:10 - slander of spirits (good or evil) and supernatural phenomenon. Just because something moved on its own that can't be explained physically, people default to evil causes which isn't always the case. Ofc, if you say something is evil when it's not then you're committing slander.

Many Christians today behave in the same manner as described in Jude 1. Quick to accuse /slander supernatural /paranormal phenomenon. They're too afraid of spiritual reality because of their worldliness.

Also couldn't find a reference to "Satan" in 1 Corinthians 11. Sorry if I'm misunderstanding!

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Jesus used exactly the same word to call Peter when Peter was acting against Jesus.

"Satanas" in Greek can also mean "adversary" and adversaries/enemies can also be people.

rjs330 said:

They loved each other in the beginning. They had already fallen in love thats why they got married.

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But they don’t love each other now. So the marriage is currently loveless.

To read and study the psalms is like coming upon a hidden treasure – the more you study it, the more beautiful and priceless the treasure becomes. The first 19 psalms covered many subjects. Many touched on how to deal with the problems and suffering of life. Psalm 19 was especially beautiful as it pictured the presence of God in His creation.

Now, another treasure is revealed in Psalm 20. This psalm is a song of encouragement, and the structure of the psalm gives some strong indications as to how the song was sung and by whom. The subtitle states that David wrote Psalm 20. David and his army composed this psalm in anticipation of their imminent military campaign against a foreign adversary. The psalm adopts a statement-response structure.

The first five verses were written with such words as: he, you, we, our, and etc. “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! And May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high!

May He send you help from the sanctuary and support you from Zion! And He remember all your meal offerings and find your burnt offering acceptable! May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your counsel!



We will sing for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.” The same was also used in verses 7-9. Such words indicate that probably the people of David’s army sang the first and last part of the psalm.

However, in verse 6, the psalm changed to the first person, with the word “I”. “Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.” The indication was that a high priest, or David himself, sang the response in verse 6.

The poetic picture surrounding the reciting of Psalm 20 is very impressive and beautiful. David and his men were going to war. The people sang for their king before the Lord. The king responded with his faith in the Lord, and the people again sang of their assurance that they had in the Lord.

​

Many may wonder what possible application such a psalm could have today; but across the centuries, this psalm of David reaches out and touches the lives of people today. Every person has to deal with the struggles of life – whether that person is a Christian or not. However, for a Christian, there is help that will bring victory over the conflicts of this life. Some of that help comes in the form of fellow Christians who can give spiritual support, encouragement, and comfort to those who are struggling – just like fellow soldiers will do in an army.

Then there will be times where a person will be the one in a position to give support and encouragement. Psalm 20 holds the key in understanding how this works. The first 5 verses contain words of comfort and hope that can be given to a brother or sister who is in need. Carefully read the first 5 verses and see how they can be used. All of the good feelings, love, and hope are reflected in those verses.

Verse 6 also applies today just like it did in the past. In the Psalm, David was talking to his people. In David’s time, it was a declaration of his trust in the Lord – “Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed….” As inspired prophecy, David also pointed to the future certainty of Jesus’ victory over death.

Jesus Christ is now the King, and He has plainly said that all authority now belongs to him. Verse 6 reflects the assurance that any of God’s children can have. Whatever will be faced and whatever happens, Christians know that Jesus Christ is King. He is the victor; and, in Him, one can find salvation and victory.


Finally, verse 7-9 are also very appropriate today. “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God. They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stood upright. Save, O Lord; may the King answer us in the day we call.”

The key to this passage is verse 7. “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God.” Instead of chariots and horses, a Christian can substitute words such as careers, money, power, family, security, happiness, or pleasure. Whatever the words, the principle is still the same. Others may trust in all sorts of things, but Christians trust in the name of the Lord our God. Through God the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, the battle is over and the victory has been won!

Ministers of the gospel
Take heed, just so you know,
You work for God, not for self.
He’s the one who makes things grow.

The church is not of yourselves.
She is not your creation.
You didn’t make her, God did.
She is His holy nation.

The plans for her are of God,
Not of the will of man.
Forget those marketing schemes.
Surrender your lives to HIS plan.

The church is not a building.
Not a denomination.
Not an incorporation.
Not a business of man.

The church is the body of Christ,
The people who trust in God.
Those who are filled with God’s Spirit,
Who for Jesus do plod.

Jesus is to be their Master,
The One on whom they rely.
He is the One to lead them,
To Him they then should cry.

So, lead them to follow Jesus,
To go wherever He leads.
Teach them to trust in Him fully,
And to let Him meet all their needs.

Teach them to forsake their sins,
And to follow in all of Christ’s ways.
Teach them to obey their Lord,
And to give Him all their sway.

An Original Work / April 25, 2021

When we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we die with Christ to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. We also enter into a spiritual marriage covenant with Christ whereby we become his bride and he becomes our husband and so we are now to be faithful to him as our only Lord (Owner-Master). And we also become members of his body, the church, the people of God.

So all of us who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ are now part of the body of Christ, his church, the one and only church of God, with Jesus Christ as our only head. And this is the universal body of Christ who all make up one church, but we live in different places and so we gather in different locations, too. And each one of us has a participatory part in this body which we are to do as gifted by God, as equipped by the Lord, and as assigned by God to varying areas of ministry and service within the body of Christ.

Now this has nothing to do with the institutional church which is a creation of man and which is incorporated as a business under the state. These “churches” are institutions and businesses of human making and origin which are being marketed to the world just like any other business. So they mostly are all diluting and altering the gospel and the character of God to make them more acceptable and agreeable to human flesh. And they alter the biblical character of “church” to draw in people from the world.

So just because it is called “church” does not mean that it is the body of Christ comprised of those who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ with Christ as their only head operating as the biblical body of Christ in order to do the will and purpose of God for his church. So many of them today are these human based businesses being marketed to the world, and so they are mostly not following our Lord’s design for his church, but they are following marketing people’s design for these businesses called “church.”


Now, because so much of what is called “church” here in America are these institutions of human making which are being marketed to the world, they are being designed to attract the world to their gatherings. And many of the pastors of these “churches” are being trained in how to market their “churches” to the people of the world. Since most of these are not the biblical body of Christ operating as the biblical body of Christ, but they are following marketing books, then we have much of “I don’t need you.”

And that is because Jesus is not the head of these “churches,” and they are not following the leading of the Holy Spirit, but they are following after the spirits of the flesh, and are learning what to do to make people want to come to their gatherings. I know! I was once a church planter along with my husband and we went to some of their training. And we were told to use “needy” people to get up and running, but once we were up and running we should get rid of the “needy” people or they will drag us down. Wow!

And I had at least one pastor tell me that he was warned about people like me, i.e. “people with strong convictions.” And he was warned in his marketing training to get rid of people like me. At first he told me that I was to let him be God’s voice to me, in place of God, but then he invited me to go someplace else where I would be “a better fit.” I did not fit there or anywhere that “the church” was a business being marketed to the world, for they rejected my body part, for it would not draw in large crowds.

But this should not be! As Christians we are not to be trying to attract the world to our gatherings via marketing schemes and tricks and entertainment and the altering and diluting of the gospel message to make it more acceptable to the ungodly of the world. We are not supposed to be inviting the world into our fellowships. We are supposed to be going out into the world to reach them for Christ, and via genuine faith in the Lord then they become part of the body of Christ, his church.

But as the body we are all given different assignments from God which we are to fulfill. And these are biblical assignments, not fleshly assignments of men who want to attract the world to their gatherings. And we have all been given spiritual gifts which we are to utilize within the body of Christ to minister to one another. So we would do well to study the Scriptures and what they teach our gatherings should be like and how we are to operate as the body of Christ so that we aren’t telling those who are walking in fellowship with the Lord that we have no need of them. We do need them!

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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FreeinChrist said:

no

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I wondered cause this was a relatively recent interview and it clearly shows his decline.

It would he best if Harris just took over now.

September 26, 2011

I was reading in 1 Corinthians 10 for my quiet time with the Lord. The children of Israel had experienced all of God’s blessings and provisions, as well as his guidance, leadership, and protection in bringing them out of slavery. And yet, God was not pleased with them, because they did not obey him. They wanted the blessings of God absent of obedience. So, their lives are examples for us to keep us from setting our hearts on evil, and from becoming followers of idols, in place of being followers of God.

So many times in our lives we allow so many other things to crowd out our times with God and our relationship with him. When we need to be still before our Lord so that we can hear him speak, we are busy doing other stuff, or we are fretting over this or over that, often involving other things which have become our idols.

So, he calls us to be still so that we can hear his voice speaking to our hearts, so that he can point these things out to us. Then, we need to recognize what things are taking his place in our hearts, so that we can forsake those, and then draw closer to him in fellowship with him, and in obedience to his Word.

When in The Stillness

An Original Work / September 26, 2011

When in the stillness of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord, I humbly pray.
Be my desire, set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in fellowship with You,
Listening to You; sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently, guiding me in Your truth.

While we are waiting for Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts be King today.
Help us to live for you ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from your word within us,
Help us obey You, Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment, Lord, in Your presence,
Our offerings to You bring.

Help us to love You, Lord, our master;
Be an example of Your love,
Helping the hurting, lift up the fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You, follow You always,
Bearing their cross and turning from sin;
Walking in daily fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.

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Spiritual Jew said:

Are you not familiar with all people being either saved or lost? Those who are saved go to heaven and those who are lost go to hell. You are not familiar with this elementary concept? What groups did Jesus place people into? Shouldn't we go by that instead of inventing a third group?

Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Matthew 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

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That was the topic you and I were addressing - just heaven or heaven/universe and earth.

The context here is that of the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. With most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Why? Because they were idolaters and revelers and drunkards and those who indulged in sexual immorality and who put Christ to the test and who grumbled against God and against Moses. They did not listen to God. They did not heed his instructions and his warnings. But they lived however they wanted to live regardless of our Lord’s commands.

And then what does this tell us? These things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. And they were written down for our instruction. We are not to do the things that they did and thus suffer the same result, which is that they did not get to enter into God’s eternal rest. We will not inherit eternal life. And they did not get to go to the Promised Land because of their sinfulness and their unwillingness to repent of their sins and to obey the Lord and to submit to his Lordship over their lives.

So, if we don’t want to end up the same way that they did, we are to flee from idolatry. And idolatry is the worship of anyone or anything that is not God. It is to give our undying loyalties and devotion to any person or entity or organization or government or possessions, or to any sinful practices, or to being entertained, and regardless of what the Scriptures teach. An idol is anything which pulls us away from the Lord and/or that replaces him in our hearts and minds and devotion, to where he gets pushed aside.

And then we have a reference to the taking of communion, which Jesus instructed his followers to do after his death as a remembrance of what he did for us in dying on that cross so that we can now die with him to sin and live with him in obedience to his commands in holy living, because he was resurrected from the dead. But this was not to be a mere formality or just a religious ritual, for Jesus’ blood was shed for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our slavery to sin so we now honor him.

So this is a time when we not only remember what Jesus did for us on that cross, but when we repent of any known sin and when we recommit our lives to the Lord to dying daily to sin and to walking in obedience to his commands. For, again, this is not a religious ritual we go through. What Jesus did for us needs to be a reality in our every day lives or perhaps we don’t really know him, in truth, and heaven is not our eternal destiny. For many profess his name but they are still walking in sin.

Now if we are idolatrous, and our hearts and minds and passions and desires are being given over to the flesh and to sinful practices and to following and obeying what is not God, in place of God, then it is the devil we are serving and not God. And the Bible teaches that we don’t know God, we are not born of God, we are not in fellowship with God, and we will not have eternal life with God unless we repent and we turn and we follow Jesus in walks of obedience and in holy living and no longer in deliberate and habitual sin.

So, the message here for us is that we cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. We cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. We are either on the side of God or we are on the side of Satan. We are either walking according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. For we can’t be in fellowship with God if sin is our practice. And we can’t even know God if we do not obey his commandments (New Covenant), in practice. Obey idols and not God? You will not have eternity with God.

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

Teach Them

An Original Work / May 24, 2012
Based off various scriptures

Open up the blinded eyes of
Those who walk in sin’s darkness.
Turn them to the light of Christ
And to His righteousness.
Turn them from the pow’r of Satan.
Turn them to the peace of Christ,
So they may receive forgiveness
And eternal life.

Teach them to put off their old selves
And their former way of life,
And to put on their new self,
Reborn to be like Christ;
To not copy worldly customs;
Be transformed in life and mind;
Obey freely His word in them,
Pleasing unto God.

Teach them how to love their neighbors
Truly as they love themselves;
Be a witness; share the gospel;
Satan’s lies dispel;
Comfort all who mourn in sadness;
Share Christ’s love and joy today.
Do this through your life and witness
For your Lord always.

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To reflect upon the Psalm 23 meaning is like trying to do a critical review of the Sermon on the Mount! Many writers have written extensively about this beautiful work, requiring caution to avoid sounding trite or shallow. For millions of people, this psalm of David has been, and will be, the pearl of the Psalms.

One of the amazing things about Psalm 23 is that it only contains six verses. Yet, the effect of those six short verses has been felt throughout the world. The 23rd Psalm has brought rest to weary souls for many centuries, and it has presented a message of hope that no writings of man have been able to match.

Psalm 23 Meaning​

Jesus Christ has been called the Good Shepherd. He used the analogy Himself in several of His parables. In John 10:11 Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus also said in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” For Christians, Jesus Christ is the good shepherd. He knows those who are joined to Him, because there is a relationship that exists. That relationship is based upon love. The love of God opened the way of salvation for all people.




Psalm 23 points to Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd, and it also describes the work He does for His disciples. The shepherd protects and nurtures His flock. That is what happens to those who are joined to Jesus Christ through faith, repentance, confession, and baptism. Of course, foremost of those is love. The emphasis in the Old Testament scriptures was on obedience and judgment. The New Testament scriptures also contain the principles of obedience and judgment; but with those are joined the great love of God through Jesus Christ, and the blessings that those in Christ can enjoy.

Paul wrote that Christians receive every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Those that are outside Christ Jesus are lost. Nothing is more helpless than a sheep with no shepherd or protection. Lost sheep are easy prey for wolves and other animals. They can become easily trapped, and they cannot care for themselves. Sheep without a shepherd will perish, and people without Jesus Christ will likewise perish.

But for those in Christ, there is the Good Shepherd. Because of Him, there is the promise of rest, nourishment, and guidance. When a Christian faces the dangers of life, he, or she, can say, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

In verse 4, the “valley of the shadow of death” does not directly refer to the time of physical death. Verse 4 has a more direct bearing upon life today. The “valley of the shadow of death”, or “The darkest valley” is the time when the experiences of this life result in intense sorrow, distress, and pain. The anguish of the soul can make the heart break under the load.

The imagery is so vivid! A person is walking along a path that leads into a dark and dangerous place. In the dark, you can’t see an enemy approaching. In the shadow, you can’t know if there is an ambush prepared just around the next turn. What a scary place for a person who is alone. But in Christ, a person is not alone! Each step of the way, a Child of God is protected from evil. When problems loom up, when there seems to be no solution, when we tremble on the edge of despair, we need to remember these words! We are never alone! Trust in the Lord!

The inspired Word of God always states the truth that there will be trials in life. But verse 5 emphasizes again that God will take care of His people – His children. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.”

Children look to their parents to meet their physical needs. Loving parents will try to provide shelter, food, and safety for their children. In the same way, God will, not just try, but will, provide for His children. Sometimes physically, but always spiritually, the Lord will give us comfort, nourishment, and protection from our enemies.

The last verse of this psalm reveals its crowning jewel: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” This powerful declaration encapsulates both present assistance and hope for eternity—a profound combination that fulfills our deepest needs. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift – Jesus Christ our Lord!

Joseph G said:

Amen, Alex! Totally agree, the big 3: grace, mercy, and compassion = forgiveness!

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Amen to this. All Christians must focus on the Big 3, including myself. Compassion = kindness, forgiveness = patience, and grace = love. Ooh, those are the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

Follower3 said:

PTL, Test 1? does that mean theres more?! >_>

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Yeees, it’s one of four testing blocks. Each getting progressively harder. Though everyone says 3 is worst than 4.