Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham came to the defense of two teenage girls who claim that Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton cursed at them and invoked religion after they expressed support for the WNBA player who said it's "common sense" to bar men from women's sports.

“I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind,” Cunningham wrote in an X post.

“Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon ... yay for gifts,” the female athlete continued. “Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is.”

Continued below.

Peace in Christ.

We have all repeated the errors of the past. The prophecies of yesterday applies to us today. The Word of God is living.

We do not hear the Word of Truth being preached by the man-based churches as they do not obey His voice nor receive correction. Truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth.

Jer 7:28-31 KJV
(28) But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

The LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.

What we have witnessed so far in the Christian world before us is the “generation of His wrath” and not the generation of His mercy. He has displayed His power upon the vessels of His wrath because of their disobedience. His glory does not appear upon the generation of His wrath.

(29) Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

The children of Judah…those who are following in the footsteps of Judas their guide…have done evil in His sight.

They have set their abominations in the house which is called by His name to pollute it.

The abomination of desolation (“desolation” because He has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath) is standing where it should not be found….in the holy place…in the house which is called by His name. His glory is not found there as it has departed. We must flee from "Judaea"...the land of Judas.

Mat 24:15-16 KJV
(15) When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)
(16) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Click to expand...

Those MULTITUDES who are following in the footsteps of Judas have bought a field of blood.....the generation of His wrath....the flock of the slaughter. They fall "headlong" after the reward of the iniquity...they go after earthly things. They "burst asunder in the middle"...that is, they rejoice in their hearts. "All his bowel gushed out"...that is, they have no pity in them for the people they are leading astray.

Act 1:18-19 KJV
(18) Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
(19) And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.

Click to expand...

The followers of Judas feed the flock of the slaughter....the generation of His wrath....the vessels of His wrath. They slay the people that they are supposed to be "feeding". It is a field of blood. The life of Jesus is not being made manifest in the mortal flesh of those they are preaching to. They are cutting His life and glory from being made manifest in the earth.

They "burst asunder in the middle" as they rejoice in their nurtured hearts: "Blessed be the LORD for I am rich". Their own shepherds...their own pastors PITY THEM NOT....which is another way of saying all their "bowels gush out".

Zec 11:4-6 KJV
(4) Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
(5) Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.
(6) For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

Click to expand...

The abominations are man’s governing handwritings of ordinances they have set up highly in their churches to keep and serve. They should not be found there.

The man-based churches keep and serve their handwritings of ordinances (their statements of faith, church constitutions and by-laws, creeds, dogmas, etc, etc) rather than keep and serve God’s commandments which are written upon our hearts and minds. They judge others using their external handwritings as a standard.

The man-based churches all have at the core church handwritings to govern themselves by and judge others with.

Their gatherings around their church documents are polluting themselves. They are tainted by the works of man’s hands…his handwritings. They are unclean and we need to come out from among them and be separate and not be attached to the unclean thing.

Jeremiah 7:
(30) For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.

They have passed their governing documents down to their sons and daughters for them to keep and serve…burning them in the fire of His wrath that comes upon the children of disobedience. The church fathers have passed down their church handwritings of ordinances down to the generations after them to also keep and serve and so they also perish under His wrath.

(31) And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.

Professing themselves as wise, they became fools.

Rom 1:22-24 KJV
(22) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

They change the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man. The glory of God has departed from the man-based churches as they have copied the nations around them in making governing documents for themselves and placing them in their churches. They have exchanged His glory for their images…their man-based governing handwritings which are patterned after the nations/ people of the outside world.

“Corruptible man” = the people of the outside. The nations are all likened to the animal kingdom who only mind earthly things.

(23) And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Therefore they are unclean. God gave them up to uncleanness. They dishonor their own mortal bodies between themselves. We must not be joined along with them or we are unclean. We must come out from among them and be separate.

(24) Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

MULTITUDES have gone down the broad way that leads to destruction.

They have all turned again to the “weak and beggarly elements” contained in their church handwritings of ordinances. They are doing service unto other “gods”.

“the weak and beggarly elements” =church handwriting of ordinances = other “gods”.

Gal 4:8-9 KJV
(8) Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
(9) But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

If we are dead with Christ from the “rudiments” of the world…the elements…the founding principles contained in governing documents of men, why as living in the world are we subjecting ourselves to ordinances?

MANY go to a man-based church where they have copied the nations around us (who do not know God ) and have put their own governing documents of men (the commandments and doctrines of men into their gatherings)…in the place where His name is being called.

Col 2:20-22
(20) Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
(21) (Touch not; taste not; handle not;

We PERISH with the using of them. The generation of His wrath perishes in His fire (for our God is consuming fire) because they serve man’s church handwritings of commandments rather than His.

(22) Which all are to perish with the using) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

We are dead with Christ to the world’s (Egypt) governing documents. He has delivered us from out of the land of Egypt so-to-speak.

Exo 20:1-6
(1) And God spake all these words, saying,
(2) I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

We are not to have other gods before Him. We are not to have any “graven image”….handwritings graven by the lying pen of the church scribes.
3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

The graven image is the handwriting of ordinances that are patterned in the likeness of the nations around us. They have their governmental documents (such as a “constitution”). We are not to be like them and do the same thing for our gatherings in His name. These governing documents of men are abominations that pollute us.

(4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

The man-based church “fathers” had made graven images for their “children” after them to bow down to and serve.

They made graven images….church handwritings of ordinances/dogmas…to keep and serve. These “images” are patterned in the likeness of the outside nations around us. The governing documents are made in the likeness of the people of the outside world…corruptible man.

The church fathers have them passed down from one generation to another as they are set up in exalted positions in their churches and they never move from them. The iniquity of the church fathers are then visited upon the children after them who also keep and serve their church fathers’ governing documents.

We are to keep and serve God’s commandments that are written upon our hearts and minds rather than keep and serve church graven images. We show that we love Him by keeping and serving His commandments.

Those who “hate” Him do not keep and serve His commandments but instead keep and serve the church handwritings of men.

(5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth of them that hate me;

But the FEW…the “thousands” …the vessels of His mercy…keep His commandments. He shows mercy to "Jacob".

(6) And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Whoever loves God keeps His commandments (in contrast to keeping the commandments of men that are contained in their handwritings).

1Jn 5:2-5 KJV
(2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
(3) For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

We are to overcome the world…the orderly arrangement (Greek: kosmos) …organized religion …which is structured upon their church handwritings.

(4) For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
(5) Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Michie said:

August 2026​

For evangelization in the city
Let us pray that in large cities often marked by anonymity and loneliness we find new ways to proclaim the Gospel, discovering creative paths to build community.

Click to expand...

Lord. Hear our prayer

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

The Rev. Franklin Graham called the idea of paper gender dolls being used in the Minnesota public school system “sick,” “warped,” and “wicked.”

On Monday, Graham shared a New York Post article titled, “Taxpayer-Funded Trans Dolls With Removable Genitalia To Hit Classrooms This Fall for Kids as Young as 4 To ‘Learn About Different Options.’”

“Really?” the evangelist continued. “This is so sick and warped.”

Continued below.

Psalm 86:11-13 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)


If our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine biblical faith in the Lord, we should desire to have the Lord teach us His ways that we may walk (in conduct) in His truth. We should want to have undivided hearts. We should want our lives to be surrendered to the Lord to doing His will for our lives, and we should no longer desire to live according to the flesh. So we should not be those who look for “loop holes” to wiggle our way out of having to obey God. But we should long to obey our Lord and to serve Him in submission to Him.

And our praise to God will not be empty praise, just going through the motions of religious practice. We will praise our Lord with our whole hearts sincerely from hearts of thankfulness and joy because of all that He has done for us in providing us with salvation from our addiction to sin and in giving us new lives in Him to be lived for His glory, all in His power, wisdom, and strength. For we glorify our Lord, not with words only, but by our submission to Him in doing what He requires of us who profess His name.

Psalm 86:14-15 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)


Who are the arrogant? They are the prideful, the proud who are lacking in humility and in submission to God. They are those who are living separate from God because they are still walking in sin and not in obedience to the Lord. They are the selfish and the self-indulgent who want things their way, and not God’s way, who do what pleases their flesh without regard for God or for who they hurt in the process. And they are liars and deceivers who speak lies to the people in order to slander others or to lead others astray.

Not all prideful people seek to do harm to others, though, but some or many of them do. For in their pride and in their stubbornness they are not willing to submit to God and therefore they may also be against those who do. And so they plot evil against the righteous to take them down, perhaps out of bitterness and resentment or because they don’t like what they are teaching. Or it could be because they are of Satan, working for him, doing his bidding, taking down the nations of the world to create a one world government.

But God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Our Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness. So He has delayed His judgment on all human kind to give everyone time to repent and to submit to Him as Lord. So evil people will continue to do evil unless they truly repent of their sins and they surrender their lives to the Lord to now obey Him and His commands. So we should pray for their salvation.

Psalm 86:16-17 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)


I like this prayer! The Psalmist was not calling on God to kill his enemies, but he prayed that his enemies may see a sign of the goodness of God and be ashamed. And if they are truly ashamed, this might then lead them to genuine repentance and changed lives. So, praying to the Lord for mercy on ourselves, because of our enemies, and for Him to grant us strength, and to deliver us, does not have to include praying for judgment on our enemies. We should be praying for the salvation of our enemies from their sins.

Give Me an Undivided Heart
An Original Work / August 1, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Recording Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger

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.

Login to view embedded media

Laodicean60 said:

I imagine that being in NATO, it makes sense to disconnect.

Click to expand...

I don't think it would overall really matter. It's public data, it's just a hilarious own goal by Russia because they are the ones who cut off the electricity export and made the upkeep of the lines carrying that amount of their data unviable. And now they are scrambling to get something done to stop net speeds outside of Russia from plummeting.

ThatRobGuy said:

I don't think the atheism aspect has much to do with it.

A lot of the older institutions (both political and social) in the western world were constructed to operate within an environment that had a certain level of cultural hegemony.

What happens in that situation, is that fewer things are directly codified in law, and more societal interaction exists within the realm of "it goes without saying" (because most everyone is raised in the same culture, has similar values & norms, so the parts that need to be explicitly codified are minimal).

When you introduce the metaphorical "salad bowl" (as opposed to the "melting pot"), those rules and norms that weren't codified (because everyone used to just agree on them) are now ambiguities subject to a political tug-o-war.

The institutions that were built aren't well-tailored to a "salad bowl" scenario.


And here's where the polarized political factions diverge on what the solution should be:

One faction says "These institutions don't work, so lets tear them down or radically reshape them in order to try to accommodate everyone at once and view all cultures as equal"

The other faction says "Let's make efforts to try to return the citizenry back to the composition that these institutions were designed for"

Click to expand...

Sure - when deep cultures mix - there is friction. I agree.

another way of thinking about it is that we are saying the same thing. Only i am speaking across time and you are speaking across space.

I think people over time moved into enlightenment, industrialisation and materialism. This turned people materialistic, atheistic and i guess nihilistic.
Ideas of beauty got turned on its head. Ugliness followed everywhere.

Im trying to adopt an atheistic view and maintain consistency with everything that should follow. Surely, you should be selfish, care only about your own generation (after all, you're not going to be here, so why think about it and spoil you fun). Beauty is just whatever you say it is, cant you just warp your mind to put up with the ugliest (and cheapest) building and spend the rest of your resources on hedonism??
Worst of all - and scariest - surely an atheistic view sees everyone as glorified clocks ??? Like a computer programme randomly running. Without a divine spark - whats special about people??? What, in an atheistic view, makes people valueable? that we should care about eachother after death??

It's hard for me to see people as anything more than an object in space/time if they don't have a higher spark in them - something like the spirit of god.

Seems your view is based on cultures colliding and it creates so much friction that everything stops. ???

essentialsaltes said:

Trump Administration is batting 0 for 19.

Click to expand...

So ... three times better than 2020!

Winning!

But we need voter ID!

It is essential that we understand how the ministries of the Lord Jesus and His disciples are correlated. The Lord Jesus’ ministry was primary to the Jews. He said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (to display the Father’s special care and love for His first-chosen people—NC). Paul said of Him, “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers (Mat 15:24; Rom 15:8).

It is the same concerning Peter’s ministry. “As the gospel of the circumcision was committed unto Peter … for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision …” (Gal 2:7, 8). In the former passage the Lord Jesus is called a “minister of the circumcision,” His ministry being connected with the people of the covenant of circumcision—that made with hands. In the latter passage, Peter is also spoken of as having the “apostleship of the circumcision.” In this sense, then, Peter’s ministry was similar to that of the Lord Jesus. In both cases it was a ministry on behalf of the truth of God—a ministry of the security and establishment of the promises made to the fathers. But Peter’s ministry was rejected as that of the Lord’s had been. Individuals submitted to the Messiah and became recipients of a blessing that was according to the promise, but the nation in blindness and unbelief refused their blessings (i.e. some who believed in God - Jn 14:1 - received blessings, but not most because of unbelief—NC).

Peter had another ministry, just as the Lord Jesus did. If the Lord Jesus had a ministry in which He addressed Himself to the Jewish nation as such, He had also a ministry in which He specifically addressed Himself to the true children of God (believers in Him—NC) in the midst of the nation. In John 10 He speaks of thus ministering to the true sheep of the Jewish fold. Peter was given a ministry of like nature—a ministry specifically intended for the true believers among the circumcised. In John 21:15-17 our Lord commissions Peter to shepherd and feed His lambs and sheep.

In the early chapters of Acts we have the record of Peter’s ministry to the nation of Israel, and in his two epistles he carried out a special ministry to the persecuted and dispersed disciples—the followers of the persecuted and rejected Messiah. In speaking of Peter’s ministry in his epistles as especially intended for converted Jews, it is to be understood that it applied to all Christians; but its primary application is to believers connected with Israel wherever they have been scattered (1Pe 1:1; 2Pe 1;1).

Paul also had a double ministry: one towards the world—the nations—all men; the other towards the Body of Christ, the Church (Col 1:23, 24). In either case it was a ministry of the grace of God—a dispensing of blessings from the Father, whether to believers individually or corporately.

In the Old Testament times promises were made, but the blessings implied in the promises were not then dispensed. When our Lord was on earth He did dispense certain blessings to individuals where He found faith, He did minister the forgiveness of sins, for instance, to individuals who believed; but He did not give the full blessing that goes with the fulfillments of the promise of forgiveness (e.g. New Heaven not yet—NC); nor did He, in the days of His flesh, give the Holy Spirit.

In connection with the ministry of Peter there was both the ministration of the forgiveness of sins and of the Holy Spirit; yet Peter did not minister the fullness of blessing which is the present portion and possession of faith. In the Father’s wisdom, this was reserved for Paul. The full scope of faith’s blessings, so far as they are now bestowed in this dispensation, is exclusively through the ministry of Paul (knowledge of the Body and Church of Christ was only through Paul—NC). We have also in Paul’s ministry the blessings that are in hope—that is, what will yet be done for us and given to us as completing the blessings which redemption has acquired for us. What we find in Paul’s ministry, then, is the entire sphere of blessing in which the Father displays His wondrous grace and mercy.

But now to turn to John’s ministry. Its leading feature is that it occupies us with the Father Himself—with what He is in Himself. It is what is intrinsic, essential, underived and eternal. It is the Life of God, the eternal Life that was ever with the Father. In his Gospel, John’s ministry related to the manifestation of God in His Son become Man. His life on earth is viewed as a declaration of what God is—His nature, character and Life, displayed on earth as testimony to men, the features and characteristics of His unchangeable nature, not only proclaimed but shown and exhibited.

In John’s Epistle the Life that is eternally in the Son and has been manifested among men in its eternal, unchanging nature, is viewed as a communication, and the ways in which it displays itself in those to whom it has been communicated are unfolded. In the book of Revelation John writes of the ways of the Eternal—He who is the First and the Last, Head of the new creation, the living One, though He died—in bringing all things into accord with His own eternal nature.

The distinctive features of the ministries of Peter, of Paul and of John are explicit and plain. They are in no way in opposition, but perfectly harmonious, each in agreement with the others, none to be pitted against the others. They are not to be compared as if one is paramount to the others. There should be no depreciation of Peter’s ministry as if it were defective—not equally perfect with that of Paul and John.

There is a tendency, perhaps, naturally in us all, to give a prominence to the blessings ministered by Paul which overshadows the Blesser Himself. It was this tendency that was in the mind of our dear brother Darby, when he counseled us not to neglect John when pressing Paul. He did not mean by this advice that John is to balance Paul, but that the apprehension and enjoyment of John’s ministry will be a cure to our proneness to being occupied with the range of our blessings in such a way as to have them more distinctly before us than the One who has blessed us.

It is the Blesser Himself which whom John occupies us. What He is—what He is essentially, intrinsically, eternally. What He is in essence, in nature and character: this is what John reveals to us. What would all the sphere of our blessings be without God Himself? It certainly ought not to need much consideration to realize that the Blesser is greater than the blessings. The Giver is higher than His gifts.

The Son of God who came from the Father to give us knowledge of Himself is above the benefits He has procured and secured for us, inestimable as all these are; and we need the sense of this in our souls to keep us from glorifying ourselves on account of the great blessings that have been given us. The ministry of John serves to maintain us in this very needful apprehension.

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full” (1Jo 1:3, 4).

— Corydon Crain (1847-1925)




MJS daily devotional excerpt for July 31

“The present and eternal ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Son; the past, present, and future ministry of the Son is to glorify the Father. Our life and ministry will bring glory to our Father to the extent that we abide in the Son, and are controlled by the Holy Spirit.” -MJS

“When one’s ministry or outreach flows from close communion with the Father, one’s influence and moral authority will be recognized. Moreover, such a workman is not carried beyond what he has received from the Lord, so that his ministry finds sanction in hearts without any pressure.” –John Nelson Darby (1800-1882)

“The object of all Christian life and ministry, of whatever kind, must surely be to bring glory to God. Any lesser motive is inferior. If this were kept in the forefront of our thinking and praying, it would have two beneficial results. The hectic strain would be taken out of our lives and service, and spontaneous fruitfulness would follow.

“We can aim to meet the needs of people as a primary objective, and fret because so many of our efforts prove abortive. We may secretly pride ourselves on our ability to minister, or on our efficient service, and reap nothing but frustration. It is only when our whole outlook is made radiant by His glory, because we are hungry to do His will and that only, that our activities will be quickened into new life, and others be truly blessed.” -J.C.M.

essentialsaltes said:

Voice of America brings back Farsi-speaking staff amid Israel-Iran conflict
It is a dramatic turn of events for the American government-funded broadcasting system that was shut down by the Trump administration in March.

This really is key to understanding the value of investing in all of these public goods constantly. Imagine if VOA had been gone for ten years, and suddenly, on a dime, we wanted to start transmitting messages to the people of Iran.

Maybe we'll find out in 10 years when the next situation is in Argentina or Pakistan or Bulgaria.

Click to expand...

Let's see how things are going now.

The New Yorker, Marc Fisher reports that “some Trump administration officials now seem to recognize that the silencing of VOA has left the country with a diminished capacity to push back against other countries’ disinformation efforts.”

The nominee (for US Agency for Global Media), Sarah Rogers, talked of careful “resuscitation” of some USAGM services at her confirmation hearing yesterday. Rogers also saidsome sidelined staffers will be reinstated: “We do need to reform and modernize, but we should see people coming back to work.”

(but what about our own disinformation?)

Fisher’s article conveys just how bad it’s been inside USAGM in recent months. Overall, he reports, VOA is broadcasting in just seven languages, down from 49 previously. And many staffers believe the product is not just paltry, it’s tainted.

He quotes one longtime journalist (on condition of anonymity) saying “we used to” do original reporting but “now we’re just rewriting press releases from the administration.” Another, who works for VOA’s Persian Service, says, “Before, I had the freedom to contrast what Trump did with what critics thought of it. Now I just say, ‘Trump said,’ ‘Trump said,’ ‘Trump said.’”

Fisher opens with an internal dispute about whether the Persian Service would report on the U.S. missile that struck an Iranian elementary school, killing nearly 200. He says a journalist in DC confronted a senior manager and said: “Are we North Korea now? This is going to be all over the news. We can’t just be silent about it.”

Carl Emerson said:

A couple of comments on this topic.

It is interesting that other faiths, when considering what is authentic Christianity, consider water Baptism the pivotal issue that identifies this.

Doctors from 'Christian' countries wanting to work in Saudi Arabia are required to be baptised. Many with no history of church attendance applied to the local Anglican Church for baptism for this reason.

In Buddhist countries like Malaysia, Christian converts are often expelled from families at the point of Baptism, not conversion.

Back in the Day, Floyd Mc Clung the well known evangelist who set up safe houses for new converts on the 'drug trail' between Amsterdam and Kabul noticed that spiritual opposition was much more intense leading up to baptism than conversion.

The renunciation aspect of Baptism is what is dreaded by the demonic, and is a most critical step in the life of a believer.

Renunciation (or denunciation) is mentioned only once in the NT and in Greek literally means 'to speak against'. This is more than turning away from sin and repenting, but is a declaration against the spiritual powers that love to fuel sinful action.

Like many aspects of the Christian life, we participate in obedience, not seeing or knowing the impact of our actions on the opposing Spiritual Realm.

Click to expand...

Thank you!

In Colossians we read:

And this is directly tied to our baptism, and participation in His death, burial and resurrection in which He forgave us all our sins, canceled our certificate of debt, and triumphed over the powers of evil later in the book:



the principalities and powers are ones that Paul speaks of in other places with the same terms, which are the devil and spiritual forces of evil, as well as death:



He disarms death and the devil, by forgiving trespasses. Death and the devil, and his minions are still going to be vanquished but they no longer have power over those in His kingdom, due to His victory on the cross, in which He triumphed over the principalities and powers.


His victory is compared to a Roman triumph where captives were led in procession as defeated. The powers of darkness are not yet dead, but Jesus triumphed over them, and disarmed them in His death, and in His resurrection, which overcame death. This was a public spectacle in which the evil forces and death were overcome.

We are participating in that death, burial and resurrection in baptism

essentialsaltes said:

LAPD officer who recorded colleagues’ racist comments charged with felony eavesdropping​

• Prosecutors charge that LAPD officer Daniel Flores violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, which prohibits recording others without their consent.
• Flores filed an internal affairs complaint against his LAPD colleagues after recording them making racist, homophobic and sexist comments.
• Flores’ lawyer said the case sends a message that “if you document bigotry inside the LAPD, you will be the one who ends up in a courtroom

In a statement announcing the charges, L.A. Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said that while he found the recorded comments deplorable, Flores still violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, which prohibits recording others without their consent.

[Flores' lawyer] Jackson said the officer will fight the charge and plead not guilty, and that the law only applies where the speakers have a reasonable expectation that what they say would not be overheard or recorded.

Jackson said the anticipated charge against Flores sends a message that “if you document bigotry inside the LAPD, you will be the one who ends up in a courtroom. It tells them the safe move is to hear slurs and say nothing.”

Click to expand...

That is a sticky situation.

I've been in the an extremely similar situation as the supervisors of the officers Flores recorded when I was in Illinois managing a call center. One of my subordinates was on the phone with one of our agents in California and turned to disparage the agent with a co-worker--thinking he'd put the phone on mute. The agent had recorded their conversation, then passed it to our company headquarters in California. It went up the chain to the regional president, then over to our corporate CEO, back down the chain to my director.

My director called me into her office and said, "I need you to hear something." Listening to the recording, I actually laid my forehead down on her desk.

Well, of course, immediate dismissal was called for. But I reminded my director that both California and Illinois had laws against one-sided recording. If we fired them for that cause, we would be liable to a lawsuit and maybe even criminal charges. Indeed, a couple of days later we got the advisement from the legal department to leave them alone. For the moment.

I had a very serious conversation with them, though, to let them know they were skating on the thinnest of ice and would be wise to start sending out resumes.

essentialsaltes said:

via Desk Trauma

Justice Dept. admits Reflecting Pool renovation was ‘hasty and botched,’ drops case against former Olympian​

DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office wrote in a new court filing Friday, “It was not until after the return of the indictment [of Hearn], that the [Department of Interior] provided additional documents to the [US Attorney’s Office in DC] indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.”

Click to expand...

Of course it was all nonsense. I think even those here who tried to justify the false accusations knew it was nonsense. Box wine Jeanine probably knew it as nonsense from day one. I just don't understand how people are so willing to debase themselves to protect Trump from embarrassment. In the case of the Trump DOJ ran by his personal lawyer Todd Blanche, that even means trying to jail someone who they knew was innocent.

Since my previous analyses of Psalm 107 and shipwreck rescues in the NT are now shifting heavily toward historical and theological questions surrounding the Northern Kingdom of Israel, I will continue the next part in a thread that is more thematically appropriate. You can now find the post about the connection to the lost tribes here: #650.

Many thanks to everyone who has been following this structural aspect here in the Psalms thread.

In this post, I would like to draw a theological connection between Psalm 107, the calming of the storm on the Sea of Galilee, and the fate of the lost tribes of Israel. I have outlined the textual and structural foundations for this in a series of posts in the thread Acrostics in the (Book of) Psalms. Anyone who would like to follow the line of reasoning from the beginning can find the previous installments here: #38ff.



This map acts as a prophetic magnifying glass: The Sea of Galilee sits at the literal crossroads of the nations where the Lost Tribes of Israel were scattered (Rome, Babylon, Persia). When Jesus calms the storm on this specific lake, He models the future gathering and deliverance of His exiled people out of the chaotic sea of the Gentile world.


And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! Mt 8:23-27

Geographically, this biblical scene took place on the Sea of Gennesaret (also known as the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberias) in the north of present-day Israel. The area around the Sea of Gennesaret historically belonged to the northern tribes (Naphtali, Zebulun, Issachar). These tribes were exiled by the Assyrians centuries before Judah and scattered among the nations.

The stormy sea symbolizes the turbulent world of the Gentile nations (e.g., Isaiah 17:12; Rev 17:15), into which the northern tribes were scattered.

The distress at sea experienced by the disciples in the boat, who symbolize the house of Israel, reflects the existential crisis and the panic-stricken fear of the scattered people before the Messiah’s saving intervention takes place.

Psalm 107 begins right in its first verses (1-3) with the theme of the eschatological gathering: It praises the Lord because he has gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

In this interpretation, Jesus’ calming of the storm is not merely a physical miracle, but a prophetic sign: The sleeping Messiah appears to be inactive during the long period of the tribes’ exile. The disciples (Israel), in their greatest distress, realize that only He can save them. Jesus’ word silences the cosmos and the nations. He safely leads the scattered ones to the longed-for shore: the spiritual and physical restoration of the entire House of Israel (the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom of Judah united, as prophesied in Ezekiel 37).

When one compares the Hebrew text of Psalm 107:23-32 with the Gospel accounts (especially Mk 4:35-41), it becomes clear that the evangelists deliberately portray the scene as the ultimate fulfillment of this psalm.





After the miracle, the disciples ask in awe, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Mk 4:41. For any Jewish reader familiar with Psalm 107, the answer was immediately clear: Only YHVH Himself has the power to calm the storm. Here, Jesus reveals Himself as the G-d of Israel who saves His people.

Next, we will explore how the prophets Hosea, Ezekiel, and Isaiah tie into this dramatic scene on the lake, and what hidden prophetic symbolism is embedded within the wood of the boat and the inscription of Chesed in the artwork.

JU DIANHONG​

In 2017, Ju Dianhong was sentenced to 13 years in prison on false charges of ‘cult activity’. Ju Dianhong was accused of being linked to the Three Grades of Servants, an organisation Chinese officials view as a dangerous cult. During a 2016 government crackdown on the TGOS in Yunnan province, about 200 Christians were caught up in the raids and arrested, including Liang Qin, Zhang Hongyan, Zi Huimei, Yang Shunxiang and Zhang Shaocai, all of whom denied ever being a part of the sect. Despite this, the judge sentenced them to between four and thirteen years imprisonment.

Ju Dianhong, a devoted Christian, was accused of being one of the main leaders in recruiting members and doing missionary work on behalf of the cult. The court also said that they found the members in possession of Christian books, such as Pilgrims Progress and Streams in the Desert, which they labelled ‘evil cult materials’. During her trial, Ju Dianhong asked her lawyer, “why is it a crime to believe in Jesus?”.

Please read our writing guidelines before writing to prisoners​

Writing Guidelines

Start your letter with a sample letter in this prisoner’s language:​

Chinese Sample Letter

Prison Address:​

No. 1 Prison for Women of Yunnan Province
Kunyang Town, Jinning District, Kunming City
Yunnan Province
China 650600

PASTOR LI JUNCAI​

Pastor Li Juncai of the Yuanyang County Central House Church in Xinxiang, Henan Province is currently serving a prison sentence of five and a half years after protesting the government’s attempts to remove the cross atop his church building in 2019.

Mass removals of crosses from church buildings began in Henan Province in 2018, with police removing at least 4,000 crosses over the course of a year. Even the crosses of government-run churches were removed, and smaller churches were completely shut down. It is rare to see a cross in Henan province these days.

When authorities brought a crane to remove the cross from Pastor Li Juncai’s church on Feb. 20, 2019, a group of Christian senior citizens, mostly women, met the plainclothes policemen and their crane. The Christians sang hymns and prayed while attempting to keep the authorities from taking the cross. Police beat and arrested the protesters before forcing the church gate open and removing the cross. Pastor Li Juncai told the workers they should proceed according to the law and that he opposed the removal of the crosses. He was arrested and accused of disrupting public service.

The next day, Religious Affairs authorities removed signs from inside the church building and forced church members to fly China’s national flag from the front of the church. Many churches are now required to do the same, along with hanging an image of President Hu Jingpin in the sanctuary and installing security cameras facing the congregation.

Pastor Li Juncai was charged with ’embezzlement and obstructing government administration’, sentenced to five and a half years in prison and given a fine of more than $7,000 USD.

The Yuanyang County Central House Church was a government-run Three-Self church until 2013, when it merged with a local house church. Each week, they served approximately 700-800 people.

CHARGED WITH: Given a 5 and a half-year prison sentence for “embezzlement and obstructing government administration.”

Click to expand...

Please read our writing guidelines before writing to prisoners​

Writing Guidelines

Start your letter with a sample letter in this prisoner’s language:​

Sample Letter

Prison Address:​

The No. 3 Prison Section
Jiao’nan Prison
Yinghu Road,
Jiefang District, Jiaozuo city,
Henan province
454003
The People’s Republic of China

TODAY
1 AUG
ALGERIA
1 August 2026 – Algeria
Pray for the re-opening of the more than 45 Protestant churches that have been closed by the Algerian Government, some since 2019. Even though a number have had court orders instructing their re-opening, local authorities have not complied.

FRI
31 JUL
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Friday 31 July 2026 – Democratic Republic of Congo
Pray for ‘D’, who is in hiding after speaking up against corruption and violence in eastern DRC. Pray for courage, wisdom and protection for all who speak God’s truth there, and healing for all who have been traumatised by years of conflict.

THU
30 JUL
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Thursday 30 July 2026 – Democratic Republic of Congo
With no functioning state apparatus in many communities, the church is all that local citizens have. Pray for Congolese pastors who are ministering amid great suffering and need, often at significant personal risk from Islamist militia.

WED
29 JUL
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Wednesday 29 July 2026 – Democratic Republic of Congo
The long-running conflict in eastern DRC is often forgotten but continues to create orphans and widows and cause untold suffering. Although complex and multi-faceted it has a religious component to it and Christians who speak up for justice and against armed groups have been targeted, sometimes brutally. Pray for peace in this nation.

TUE
28 JUL
IRAN
Tuesday 28 July 2026 – Iran
Pray for a change in attitude towards Christians in the Islamic regime and that followers of Christ would play a significant role in the rebuilding of the nation.

MON
27 JUL
IRAN
Monday 27 July 2026 – Iran
Pray for the networks of house churches across Iran and the brave Christians who lead them, despite all the pressures they face. Pray that they will stand firm in their faith and see lasting fruit.

SUN
26 JUL
IRAN
Sunday 26 July 2026 – Iran
Pray for comfort for Iranian Christians who are mourning lost loved ones, whether from the brutal crackdowns of the regime or from the US and Israeli bombing.

Servus said:

It will always be Elon's Crater to me

Click to expand...

If they musk.