I think this is a sign of the times of a post modernist and relativist society.

This is the idea that there are many ways to God. The remaking of Christ as a modern day egalitarian and progressive. Love makes up for sin. Love is love.

It is the world becoming more dominant even infiltrating the church. Secular and church beliefs becoming more unified. Instead of the renewing of the mind and spirit of Christ. Which is apart from the world and even in conflict with it. If we stand with Christ the world will hate us and see Christs way and truth as foolish.

Dan,

I would be cautious. Many people hear the word "law" and automatically think in terms of rules they have to follow.

An alternative view of increasing faith might be seen by differentiating between saving faith (trusting in the gospel Eph 2:8-9, 1Cor 15"1-4) and a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).

The use of the word "fruit" with the work of the Holy Spirit implies a growth. Here the increase is not so much a matter of trying harder, but of not interfering with.

Consider the interesting verse in James.

Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

This seems to tell us that there is a principle that if we do not bring ourselves into alignment with God, we are unable to fully receive his grace. For Christians this alignment is in two parts. The first is to trust in the gospel enough to be saved. The second part is to let the Holy Spirit increase his "fruit" (including faith) in us.

Galatians chapter five details how we frustrate the work of the Holy Spirit by walking after the flesh (including pride). One might see that increasing in faith is a result of the work of the Holy Spirit as he is allowed as we stop walking in the selfishness of the flesh.

BobRyan said:

Are you familiar with Righteousness by faith?

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I believe so, are you familiar with Paul's writings concerning it?
We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[d] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in seeking to be justified/righteous in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. Gal2:15&18

Justification/righteousness is instantaneous when a person gets saved, the justification Paul is writing about in verse17 clearly takes time to be seen, what justification is he writing about?
Why does he ask the question: ''Doesn't that mean that Christ promotes sin?
And what does he mean when he states: ''Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.''
Thanks

Good.

Now it's time for Homeland Security to end their blatent hypocrisy on this exact issue.
Homeland Security.
“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens.. in America’s schools and churches.."

bling said:

It is wonderful to have someone else to blame for our sins: The devil made me do it,

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This was a big joke for Flip Wilson. He would dress up like a women and says:
"The devil made me do it!" People would laugh and laugh.
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Again, the "tithe" was to support the Levites. The Priesthood of Aaron collected the tithes to support the Levites (Numbers 18:28). And Levites weren't driving around in their personal cars or private jets let alone living it up wealthily.
But anybody else money isn't mine.

FenderTL5 said:

I will agree with the majority that going into churches is at the minimum bad protocol. I don't know if it is illegal, but willing to see it as a possibility, perhaps case by case.
That said, I don't think it was coincidental that this event (stunt) took place after policy changes were made by Homeland Security.

“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens.. in America’s schools and churches.."

This is bad policy and as some have argued, may be illegal.

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I disagree, whatever is meant by "churches", I'm glad the Feds "check" the churches. Too many abuses by "churches", again, whatever that means.

JohnClay said:

It sounds to me like Jesus was a blank slate that talked to God (Father/Holy Spirit) to get his knowledge. If he knew everything already he could have done that Temple thing as a 3 year old.

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Jesus was fully God, so nothing about His divine nature or divine knowledge ever disappeared. But in becoming fully human, He voluntarily chose not to use or exercise the full range of that divine knowledge at every moment. Philippians 2:7 describes this as “emptying Himself,” meaning He laid aside divine privilege, not divine identity. Because He lived as a real human, He truly understood human limitation, weakness, learning, and depen

Hvizsgyak said:

Hey, you leave Big Foot Alone - He exists - somewhere.

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I was walking in the park early one morning and someone had been running in the snow in their bare feet. They made kind of an amazing long jump. The sun came out, the snow melted and I was the only one that saw that. They were not big footprints though. More like a size 9.

Now this is in the context of the teaching about how God tempts no one to sin and so we should not blame God if we should ever be tempted to sin. And if we are indeed tempted (led into) sin, and so we give in to that sin, it is not God’s fault but our own. Yet, as this continues on, there is a broader picture here beyond just what has already been spoken. We who believe in Jesus Christ serve an unchanging God. He is who he has always been and always will be, so he does not teach one thing and then teach the opposite.

So, what this means for us, when we are studying the Scriptures, especially the ones taught under the New Covenant relationship God has with his people Israel (Jew and Gentile by faith in Jesus Christ), is that when the Scriptures appear to us to contradict each other, we should not just go with the one which we like the best because it makes us feel good or because it doesn’t seem as severe as the others. But we should compare Scripture with Scripture and we must read them in their appropriate biblical context, too.

For many people are misinterpreting the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles, largely because they are being taught Scriptures out of their appropriate biblical context, and so they are getting a distorted message which will, thus, not agree with other Scriptures which teach the opposite. And so many people ignore the Scriptures they don’t like, and they embrace the ones taught out of context, because they give them more freedom to live however they want to live while assuring them of salvation.

But God does not teach us that faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God and not from human flesh, is just words we say in a prayer to receive Christ and now we are forgiven all sins and heaven is guaranteed us when we die. Yet, that is the “gospel” message which appears the majority are teaching today and that the majority are believing. Yet, God teaches us that faith, which is of God, must result in us denying self, dying to sin daily, by the Spirit, and us walking (in conduct) in obedience to our Lord’s commands.

Now this does not mean if we should ever sin just once that we are cut off from God. God does not demand that we remain sinless, but he does instruct us that we are no longer to make sin our practice, and that obedience to our Lord and to his commands must now be what we practice, in the power of God (see 1 John 2:1-6). And this is not permission to sin, but it is a recognition that we might sin sometime. However, if sin is our habit, and not obedience to our Lord’s commands, we do not have eternal life with God.

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

So, please take this to heart, for where we will spend eternity depends on us believing and living the truth of the gospel, and not the lies of Satan.

Living Sacrifices

Based off Romans 12:1-2; Romans 6:11-14 NIV
An Original Work / September 14, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you,
In view of God’s mercy,
To give yourselves to God in love
As living offerings,
Pleasing to God, holy in love.
This is your true worship.
Do not conform to worldly lives.
Let God transform you today.
Then you’ll be able to
Test and approve of what
God’s will is – His pleasing
And perfect will. Oh, holy ones,
I counsel you – Offer yourselves unto God.

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you –
Do not be conceited.
Humble yourselves before your God.
Do not be self-righteous.
The strength you have to live in love
Comes from your Lord God, so
Live your new lives in pow’r of God.
Be changed in heart, mind and will.
Do this because of what
Christ did for you when
He died on the cross to save
The world from sin. Oh, holy ones,
I counsel you – Humble yourselves before God.

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you –
Count yourselves dead to sin,
But be alive to God in Christ.
Do not let sin reign in
Your earthly lives so you
Obey its evil desires.
Offer yourselves unto your God
As those who’ve been born again.
For sin shall no longer be
Your lord and master.
Give of yourselves to God
For righteousness. Oh, holy ones,
I counsel you – Be alive to God in Christ.

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No Variation or Shifting Shadow
An Original Work / January 23, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

DragonFox91 said:

Well not all people who call themselves Protestants think the same, but I think they were right

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I agree that not all Protestants think the same about the Puritans. That being so, how can you believe that all of them are right?

eclipsenow said:

Actually - you were. Actually - it was far worse back then! You were not earning as much from Europe as you are now.

Previous Presidents discouraged an "EU Army" ever forming and divided Europe!​

Previous presidents understood the importance of the NATO alliance from a geopolitical and security angle. So why would they discourage Europe from all the advantages of unifying and streamlining production of their own kit? For exactly that reason. They did not want them producing ALL their own kit!

Previous President's discouraged the EU from ever developing their own EU army. They wanted countries to 'specialise' in certain fighters and tanks, and those other EU countries to 'specialise' in their OWN fighters and tanks. Why? So they could never reach economies of scale and form their own Military Industrial Complex. Everything they build is at tiny runs at enormous cost per unit. Nothing that can compete with Uncle Sam. They have over 175 different weapons platforms. The USA has 30 - and built at enormous economies of scale and efficiencies that streamline production, and streamline operations in the field.

Here's the punchline.

​

Previous President's understood the sheer PROFITS involved in supporting Europe and NATO!​

For their "leadership" role in supporting NATO, the EU were hoodwinked into mainly buying American military kit. As a result, America earns over 105 TIMES more from NATO than it puts into running European military bases and 'defending Europe.' (These bases mostly pursue America's own agenda in the region anyway!)

To hear JD Vance on Signalgate actually complain about 'bailing out the Europeans again' made me shudder. I thought all this buffoonery and whining must be for show - that they could not be this ignorant! Please no!

JD Vance believes America is losing out on this NATO deal in his bones.

What have they done?​

As a result of Trump and MAGA - the EU is now scaling back their investment in American kit - and building their own.

Carney's speech has pricked the bubble. Europe stood up to Trump. Even the far-right European parties that value nationalism over this EU project are distancing themselves from Trump now that he threatened a European ally's sovereignty!

By the time they have weaned off American weapons 2 things should have happened:​

1. The American military will lose $60 billion in investments. That's about 7%, so not the end of military jobs by any means. But that's not the point. As industries scale back, the cost-per-unit goes up. America will literally have a bit less 'bang for their buck' after the EU weans of American arms because of this whining, pouting Trump regime.

2. The EU will have scaled up their own military production - and possibly their own integration!
For the first time ever, 6 different EU nations entrusted the EU with their arms money to do a bulk tender of military kit to the EU marketplace. It was ony about $300 million - not the billions we've been talking about. But if this works, and the EU gets all the jobs, it could escalate. The call for a combined EU army would require a combined EU international policy - a European mandate. That is a stepping stone towards a "United States of Europe" - with 500 million citizens compared to America's 330 million.

By then Trump will be well out of office, and most probably out of this world.

But the damage he would have done to America on a geopolitical and economic level could take decades to repair. Because Americans saw Trump in all his ignominy, all his court cases, his losing a sexual harassment case, his inciting a mob to march on the Capitol, his denial of reality and pouting over losing 2020, his being fined for defrauding the state of New York, his racist lies ("They're eating the dogs" straight out of a 1970's racist trope): and American's elected him anyway. Twice.

The damage has been done.

Good luck with that!

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Did you ever think for one second that Trump thinks, "[blessing not curses] to the previous presidents because they enabled NATO to become complacent and completely forget why they exist?" Heck, NATO countries are still buying oil from Russia, the adversary that prompted NATO's existence! Do you really think Trump cares about revenue from the military industrial complex? Did you miss the announcement from Peat Hegseth about addressing the mass fraud found in military contracts? At the WEF, Trump and others were correct in pointing out that the NATO countries are now too weak and inept to carry out their basic duties as members of NATO, and gave a stark ultimatum. Being that they either start making the much needed effort to robust their own defense, or find themselves once again being invaded by a foreign adversary and begging for good old Uncle Sam to bail them out once again. Yes, everything you said was true. However, everything you said has resulted in the situation that we have today. You think it is a bad thing for the EU to distance themselves from the US? I say it is a good thing. Like a mother bird kicking it's spoiled and entitled little chick out of the nest after telling it, "You have the rest of your life to learn how to fly." Would it not be better for the entire world if NATO countries learned how to fly instead of depending entirely on the US to be their bodyguard?

Now, whenever I read this passage of Scripture, what immediately comes to mind is the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. How does that fit with what James teaches on temptation? I cannot reconcile that, for Jesus was not carried away and enticed by his own lust, for he was not born with a sin nature as we are, and he never once sinned all the time that he lived on the earth. For not only was he a man, but he was also God – God incarnate, made flesh, who lived among the people of the world.

Therefore, when Satan attempts to tempt us into doing wrong, or to going the wrong direction, or to giving up, it doesn’t necessitate that we are being tempted of Satan because we are carried away and enticed by our own lust. It could be that we have no such desires as what Satan is trying to convince us to do, like he did with Jesus. So, perhaps there is a difference between Satan’s attempts to tempt us and us actually engaging in and considering doing what he is trying to get us to do, because that is what our flesh wants.

For Jesus Christ did not engage with Satan and with his attempts to tempt him, but he immediately countered him with the word of God, which is what we should also do when Satan tries as he might to convince us to NOT do what God has called us to do but to do what the devil wants us to do. There was no sense here at all that Jesus was considering Satan’s temptations, for he immediately responded in opposition to what the devil was trying to get him to do. He cut him off immediately, which is how we should do, too.

So, I believe, based off Jesus’ experience, that being tempted can be solely on the side of the devil who is trying to persuade us to doing what is wrong, but we choose to respond to him in the same way in which Jesus did, with the truth of the Scriptures. Or, for some (or many) people, they are in the habit of being persuaded of Satan to do evil, and so they are carried away and enticed by their own lust, because that is really what is in their hearts, and it is what their wicked hearts desire, and that is why they blame God.

For, those who are taken captive by the lusts of their flesh are often also those who like to cast the blame on anyone else but themselves, and that includes blaming God. They do not want to give up their sinful habits, and so they try to make it someone else’s fault but their own. There is most always an excuse for why they sinned, or for why they were unfaithful, or for why they lied and deceived and committed adultery against their spouses. Even if they know the truth of the Scriptures by heart, they will choose sin, instead.

So, just because the devil tries to convince you to do wrong and to not do right, it doesn’t mean that is what is in your heart, and that is what you lust after, unless you do, in fact, lust over those things, by habit, and that is the desire of your heart, in practice, and so that makes you an easy target. For Satan is going to try to get us who are following the Lord with our lives to disobey God, because that is what he does. For he doesn’t want anyone serving the Lord with their lives, and so he will try as he might to stop us.

And that is why we must put on the full armor of God daily with which to fight against him and his evil schemes against us. And this is why we must walk by faith in walks of surrender to the will of God in obedience to his commands, living to please our Lord in all that we are and do and say – all in the power of God. And righteousness and speaking and living the truth of God’s word, and sharing the truth of the gospel with others, as led by the Spirit of God, must be our practice (Ephesians 6:10-20; Matthew 4:1-11).

What the Lord Says

Based off Isaiah 43:1-44:5
An Original Work / February 24, 2014
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

This is what the Lord says to you:
Fear not, for I have chosen you.
I have summoned you by your name.
You are mine. I died, you to save.

When you go through your trials, so deep,
I will be with you; you will not sink.
You are so precious always to me.
Trust in your Lord, Savior and King.

This is what the Lord says to you:
He who gave salvation to you;
Who delivered you from your sin;
Takes your burdens now upon Him:

Forget the former things of your life.
Give of your heart not now up to strife.
See all the new things I have for you.
Walk in vict’ry. Trust in what’s true.

This is what the Lord says to you:
He who made you; who will help you:
Do not fear what humans may do.
Walk in freedom. Follow what’s true.

Drink of my Spirit given for you.
Trust in my mercy, for I love you.
I have a plan for all of your life.
Follow my ways. Do what is right.

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Tempted of Satan
An Original Work / January 23, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I don’t understand why he cared so much? Is he a Minnesotan? I find it a bit odd.

Oompa Loompa said:

No. I do not believe it. He acts like a chameleon on his podcast. Constantly shifting his positions depending on who he is talking to. Just pure political posturing for his personal political advancement. Do not forget the days of COVID where he arrested people for going to church only to find him unmasked and dinning with friends. He has absolutely no respect for, and cares nothing about, Californians. Only himself. Worse than a greasy car salesman.

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I only wish Californians the best, and I mean that sincerely.

I have nothing else to add.

Thank you, very clever and funny taking it to the next level.

I believe it’s a young earth

The contents of the Bible and all its accounts just would not in my view leave room for an earth which is millions or billions of years old.

Laodicean60 said:

Good for her, but one thing I noticed about the elite is that they can fall into another cushy job, whereas the little people lose everything.

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Tsking over the “natural order of things”?

Oh, fire, why’s it hot?