rjs330 said:

I think Americans should have a right to take some of their social security payout and put it into an investment portfolio.

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Americans already can invest as much of their SS payouts as they choose. What you want is for them to self-invest their pay in money. What happens when they need that money for emergencies or schooling or housing? We already know what happens.

rjs330 said:

It could even be capped at a certain risk level, so that they could just toss it into some real risky investments.

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Could or couldn't? Qualified retirement accounts already have this stipulation, if I'm not mistaken.

Some people would invest well and wisely; others would not. We already know this as anyone can already invest their loose change. The point of SS is to not end up with a population of impoverished seniors alongside their luckier, more investment savvy brethren.

dms1972 said:

Yeah Michael Polanyi is good. Have read a bit of him, not much though. Actually its writers like Karl Stern I find helpful at the moment. CS Lewis too.

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If Karl Stern and C.S. Lewis are lighting the way for you, then go with them. But Dru Johnson is worth a read, too, I think.

ThatRobGuy said:

If that was what it was being chalked up to, you'd think they would've made some sort of notation, or did a re-issue with the correction in the days following the actual event.

Given intense scrutiny that entire situation was under (one of the highest profile criminals of our generation being found dead in a jail amid security cameras that magically stopped working for a few minutes in the HVI wing of a special protected cell block) seems like the sort of circumstances that would lead to official information releases being reviewed with a fine tooth comb.

Not to mention, a lot of times those documents are generated via templates that automatically populate what the current date is on header for the letterhead. And if it was typed in manually and wrong (it's literally the 2nd thing on the sheet), that's a pretty big flop for reviewers to miss.

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I was just kidding.

It's an epidemic: In the US, Turkey, Greece, France, Romania and probably elsewhere, governments have been using the judiciary to try and get rid of the opposition.

Michie said:

The Left is desperate to make lawful deportation in America a giant, impossible mess to deal with.

According to a new media narrative, President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security are behaving irresponsibly by conducting more immigration raids around the country, which in turn have allegedly led to violence against innocent civilians and illegal aliens.

And if you’ve been listening to Democrats, you’d think that the reason that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is particularly active in blue states is that the Trump administration is being mean to them for political reasons.

Their reasoning goes that Trump wants to occupy and bully their states with ICE “terrorists” who spend their time murdering innocent American citizens for no reason other than to cruelly “own the libs.”

“This is retribution-style politics,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a recent CNN interview. “This is drama. This is performance politics at its worst, and it’s hurting people and it’s making us less safe.”

This is projection. It’s Frey and friends who are all about “performance politics.” They desperately want to convey the idea that Trump’s immigration enforcement policies are the real problem.

But the narrative that aggressive ICE enforcement in blue states is just some kind of political retribution is bunk for many reasons. The biggest one is that Democrats have actively pursued policies that would lead to a confrontation with the federal government over immigration law.

This is happening by design.

Continued below.

Here's Why There Are More ICE Raids in Blue States

Democrat politicians and their activist supporters certainly know that sanctuary policies encourage more aggressive ICE enforcement.

www.dailysignal.com

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The chaos is created by "leaders" who would rather promote rioting in their streets than follow the law.
The trump haters are not in favor of anything he does.
Comments such as claiming
Ice going into communities and jails
And finding these ppl have no criminal
Background other then entering through
The Border???
Like that is not a Crime to enter in
Illegally, when crime escalated during
The years illegals were being allowed in
Is a real problem, worse in Sanctuary Cities
And hopefully Trump will take down any
Sanctuary City to no longer abuse the
Initial reason they were created in the first
Place, thats already a proven fact.

Go Trump

A new case before Europe’s human rights court could reopen a long-running fight over Christianity’s place in public life—this time inside Greece’s courtrooms.

For several years now, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has made the presence of Christian images and symbols in public spaces one of its recurring battles. After Italy was pressured through litigation to remove crucifixes from its schools, Greece is now being targeted over the presence of holy icons in its courts. Italy ultimately won its case. Will Greece succeed in safeguarding this essential part of its historical and spiritual heritage?

Some cases have a long life. In 2009, the ECtHR issued a ruling requiring Italy to remove crucifixes from public schools. The unprecedented mobilisation of twenty-one European states alongside Italy forced it to back down, and two years later, in 2011, in the case known as Lautsi v. Italy, it finally handed down a ruling in favour of Italy’s position, allowing it to keep its crucifixes.

The Lautsi case was followed by a period of relative calm in the fight against the presence of religious symbols (Christian, needless to say) in public spaces.

In 2020, a request was filed inviting the ECtHR to take up another contentious case: the presence of Orthodox icons in Greek courts.

The offensive came from an atheist association, the Union of Atheists of Greece. The first appeals were lodged in 2018 and 2019. The applicants requested the removal of Christian symbols displayed in the courtroom during hearings on religious matters. They argued that the presence of these icons was discriminatory, compromised the objectivity of the court, and violated their right to a fair trial, as well as their right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

Continued below.

Always in His Presence said:

Did you not read your link?

From the link:

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Across this series of polls conducted through web‑based interviews, Trump’s approval among low-income voters ranged from a low of 34 percent to a high of 38 percent. Disapproval consistently sat in the mid‑50s to low‑60s.

Support from low-income groups is not collapsing; it is eroding. In one year, it eroded nearly 20 percent. Do you think Trump can turn things around?

Good observations, When I read the history of marriage, it seems that thru the centuries there have been many reasons to marry. To keep a kingly line going, so cement business associations, for love. Thru much of history it was a union that really helped people life, a division of labor, the jobs that took more strength (plowing a field) and interaction with nature and other groups of people(trading) and the live stock, crops and house chores.

I've heard of so many marriages that over the years just become friends.

Marriage itself has changed from who authorized the marriage, thru early history it was the family patriarch that defined who married who. Then the church said they were the ones who authorized marriage. Finally, in the 1500 the government became the ones authorizing marriage. Thru this whole period there were couple who just said forget all that and decided for themselves who they lived with and under what worked fro them! So despite the church saying there is one way marriage should be done, it's never worked that way.
That's not to mention all the other ways genders have done relationships thru the years.

They put people in jail for praying in front of abortion clinics, but they do this and walk free.
And then we have to go to their wars?
Wicked world eh.

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in Hong Kong​

Lai was found guilty on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. He had pleaded not guilty.

It is the harshest sentence delivered to anyone under the sweeping national security law since Beijing introduced it as part of crackdowns in 2020.

The sentence has been widely condemned by human rights groups, with Human Rights Watch calling the length of the sentence "effectively a death sentence." [Lai is 78]

Amnesty International said it was "another grim milestone in Hong Kong’s transformation from a city governed by the rule of law to one ruled by fear."

Meanwhile, Beijing and Hong Kong officials welcomed the penalty, with Hong Kong’s leader John Lee saying Lai deserved the 20-year prison sentence for his "evil deeds."

jacorian said:

It's not the whodunit that one may think. See the folks keep thinking that someone who is adulterous is automatically a pedophile. They are 2 very different behaviors if you open up an abnormal psych text. That goes for Clinton is well. Pedofilia is a much different problem & frankly I don't think Trump or Clinton fit that bill. The reason why it's played up so much is because the people are acting on emotion, not cogent arguments. They want it to be true. Now we do know that some of the victims have already received a payout. If there was an unusually young female, I doubt very much that 25 years later they would remember any particular details.

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So as long as it’s not pedophilia, by which you presumably mean here sex with anyone under 18, it’s really OK? If that’s your standard then Bill was cool too. Maybe. Then nothing sordid happened.

Praying for you, your niece and her daughter and that they are given a comfortable home that meets all their needs.

H. E. Bishop Fellay on the Episcopal Consecrations
Sermon given on Sexagesima Sunday - 2/8/26

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Peace in Christ.

“Into the age” in several verses found in John is in the Greek manuscripts but is not translated whatsoever in most Bible translations (such as the KJV).

"into the age" = Greek: eis ton aiona.

In John 8:51, "into the age" (or "to the age") in some literal translations refers to a temporary state, meaning those who keep Jesus' word won't "see death for this age," , for this age we are currently living in, highlighting a significant difference from translations who just say "never see death" without including “into the age”.

If we keep His saying, we shall never see death (mortal death) but shall continue to live here “into the age.” We shall have an age-lasting life (aka “eternal life”.)

John 8:51 KJV
(51) Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death (INTO THE AGE).

Most of the “literal” translations include it though:

Literal Standard Version
truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone may keep My word, he may not see death—throughout the age.”

He gives (present tense) us an age-lasting life so that we shall never perish (our mortal bodies will not be destroyed) but shall be living INTO THE AGE.

John 10:27-28 KJV
(27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
(28) And I give (present tense) unto them eternal (AGE-LASTING) life; and they shall never perish (INTO THE AGE), neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Literal Standard Version
and I give continuous life to them, and they will not perish—throughout the age, and no one will snatch them out of My hand;

The Lord is the Lord of both the dead and the living.

John 11:23-26
(23) Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

“AT” or "IN"…the Greek word “ἐν”.... is NOT a textual variant here in verse 24. The dead….even though they believed in Christ but mortally died…shall live again. They shall be resurrected AT the last day. The first shall be last in the resurrection.

(24) Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

The “dead” who believed in Christ shall be raised to life again AT the last day.

They believed in Christ as the Son of God but they listened to false prophets who led them astray from the path that leads to His life (an age-lasting life).

They were sown in dishonor. They were sown in weakness. They were sown in corruption. They died mortally in such a way.

Yet, they will live as they will be raised in glory. They will be raised in power. They will be raised incorruptible. All this is to be done to the "dead" AT the last day of this age when the last enemy (DEATH) is destroyed. The resurrection of the dead. Though they had mortally died (perished), they shall live as they will be resurrected AT the last day of this age. The Lord is Lord of both the DEAD (who mortally died without having an age-lasting life) and the LIVING (who shall never die throughout this age).

(25) Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

But the “LIVING” shall never die….INTO THE AGE. They shall not mortally die (perish) but shall have an age-lasting life TO THE last day of this age where their mortal bodies shall then be changed into immortal. They will have circumvented death completely in Christ.

(26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die (INTO THE AGE). Believest thou this?

wing2000 said:

Nope. Memory gaps are consistent with head trauma.

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Yeah but usually those gaps are short term memory and mostly fuzzy when the trauma occurred.

What is faith, in this biblical context? What does this faith look like, in word and in deed? Well, the word “faith” means “persuasion.” In this case, since it is faith in Jesus Christ, it is the divine persuasion of God as to our sinfulness, of God’s righteousness, and of our need to repent of (turn from, die to) sin, by the grace of God, and to commit our lives to following our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, empowered by God. We believe God and his Word, and so we surrender to God and we obey the teachings he has for us.

So, if we who believe in Jesus are increasing in faith, what should that look like? Well, the more that we know God and what God has for us to be and to do, because we want to know and to do his will, because we are studying the Scriptures in their correct biblical context, the more we should be obeying him in doing his will. We should be maturing in our walks of faith on a daily basis, becoming more and more like Jesus in godly character and in doing and speaking the kinds of things he did and that he spoke to people.

We should be stepping out of our comfort zones more and more, even more willing to speak truth to the people, many of whom we know will not listen to us, and some of whom will mock us, laugh at us, disregard us as crazy, and otherwise just ignore us because they think that we are religious fanatics of some kind. And some of them may rebuke us, and treat us like trash, and lie about us, and treat us with disdain and abuse. But know they treated Jesus and his New Testament apostles and the prophets before them the same.

But Christian persecution isn’t just about attacks on us and on our character because of what we believe and put into practice. But this about attacks on the truth of the gospel of our salvation. This is about people falsely claiming to believe in Jesus and to speak the truth of the gospel who are, in reality, “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” out to steal, kill, and destroy, not only the people of God, but the message of the gospel of our salvation. And so they teach the Scriptures out of context, and they speak lies disguised as truth.

So they teach God’s grace as free license to continue living in deliberate and habitual sin against God, only now without feelings of guilt. And they teach that, even if you are living in deliberate and habitual sin, that you can just “claim who you are in Christ” to relieve any feelings of guilt. But we are not “in Christ” by lip service only. “In Christ” means we have died with Christ to sin and we are now walking in obedience to his commands, by the grace of God, in practice. So don’t believe the lies! Believe God’s Word (in context).

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[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]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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Is Your Faith Growing More and More
An Original Work / February 9, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

That whole argument is a thinly veiled strawman. I don't see anybody suggesting they have their own reality.

Valletta said:

Fifty agitators were arrested.

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Looks like they are going to make some money. That will help them to keep their job secure if they are able to bring in money like that.

Welcome aboard 'Poetrob'! What a rich background you bring!

We are born again by believing into the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We were raised together with Him. He is the head, we are his body.

1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,


Ephesians 2:5-6
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved; )
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

John 3:15-18
15 that everyone believing into Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone believing into Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
18 The one believing into Him is not condemned; but the one not believing has already been condemned, for he has not believed into the name of the only begotten Son of God.

As followers of Jesus Christ we must guard our hearts and minds against relying upon Scriptures, taught out of context, to teach us the truth of the gospel. So many people today are creating a gospel of salvation that is not of God, and that is not consistent with the teachings of the Scriptures, because they are teaching the Scriptures outside of their correct biblical context. And some (or many) of them are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” who are doing this purposefully in order to lead the people to believe the lies.

Here are some of the Scriptures that are typically taught out of context:

I Give Them Eternal Life


Taught out of context, this is typically used to assure all who profess the name of Jesus that their salvation (genuine or not) is secured for them for eternity, and that not even their deliberate and habitual sinful lifestyles and practices, and their refusal to surrender to God to obey God’s commands, in practice, will keep them out of heaven for eternity. But why do they leave out verse 27 which tells us who “they” are? Mostly this is done by liars and deceivers in order to give a false message of grace. For Jesus said,


So, it is not all who say they believe in Jesus who have this promise, but all who are truly his followers (his sheep) who are listening to the Lord, who are heeding (obeying) his commands, and who are following him in living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives, for his glory. Yes, it is possible that we might still sin (1 John 2:1-2), but if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Galatians 5:16-18; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 3:4-10).

In Christ Jesus


Taught out of context, often this is used to assure all who profess the name of Jesus that they truly are “in Christ,” and therefore they are not under the condemnation of God, so no matter how much they sin, those sins will not be charged against them, and heaven will still be secured for them no matter how they live. And it is very popular today to tell people who are, indeed, deliberately and habitually sinning against God, that they should just “claim who you are in Christ,” as though that covers all their deliberate sins.


So, those who are “in Christ” are all who, by the grace of God, no longer live (in practice) according to the flesh (in sin) but according to (in agreement with) the Holy Spirit, in surrender to our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, in the power of God. For “our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6). For we are slaves of the one we obey, either of sin, leading to death, or of obedience, leading to righteousness and to eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[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]

My Sheep

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

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

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

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

They know my voice, so they follow me.

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Out of Context 1
An Original Work / February 9, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Thanks for the contributions to the discussion.

Brunner downplayed propositional doctrinal knowledge and placed his emphasis on the need for a Divine-Human encounter as more important than assent to propositions. Protestant system building he suggested could at times be like a frozen waterfall, great shapes of movement but with no movement.

I have to say when I read of conversion accounts like Joy Gresham's where she described it as "God came in" Brunner may have a point, but he probably goes too far. However nowadays the problem may at times be more doctrinal indifference, than when Brunner wrote. Or on the other hand a sort of doctrinal eclectism.

That Brunner's Christology may lean towards Docetism I have heard suggested (sorry cannot recall where I read that).

Anyone any thoughts on any of that?

Chaos is often the bogieman of the faithless and unimaginative that needs the heavy boot of the law for what anthropologists have dubbed "terror management". But what happens when increasingly it seems the terror management itself is terror? "Are we the badguys, Hans?"

Now, the Lord led me to do a video talk on this subject, and unless I am reading in the video what I wrote here, which I have not yet written anything, I am usually just sharing in the videos what God gives me to say at the moment that I am recording. So rarely will these writings and the videos be exact copies of one another. So, while the video is being uploaded I will write here whatever else the Lord puts on my heart to say on this subject, some of which may or may not be the same as on the video.

Basically, the picture the Lord is giving me from this passage of Scripture is not so much centered on talk that is corrupt, distasteful, and unethical, but on talk which is just wasteful. Obviously I am on the internet, and I am in the world of blogging, and on social media, and on Christian discussion sites, and so I get to see a lot of what other people are writing and posting on the internet, including what others who profess faith in Jesus Christ are posting on the internet for others to read. And so much of it is just pure junk!

Now, I feel as though I have a fairly good (healthy) sense of humor. As the mother of 4 (+4) and the grandmother of 14 (+2), and the great-grandmother of 2, I have to have a good sense of humor. Right? Children are always going to do things to make us laugh. And laughing can be very healthful, if what we are laughing at is not what is crude, distasteful, unkind, immoral, and/or mocking of others who are just different from us. But humor is not to be what we live by and all that we talk about and share on the internet.

For God did not put us on this earth to be entertainers who everybody loves. God put us who believe in Jesus Christ on this earth to die with him to sin, and to live with him in righteousness and holiness, and to walk (in conduct) in obedience to his commands. And he put us on this earth to be his witnesses in sharing with the people of the world the truth of the gospel of Christ, which is that Jesus died on that cross to put our sins to death with him so by faith in him we will die to sin and live for God and obey our Lord.

So, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we need to be doing what God has called us to do as his followers. And we need to not be wasting time and speech and writing on what is pure garbage, or on what has no eternal value, or on what is just empty and does nothing to help anyone. And I am certainly not saying that we can’t talk about what is going on in our lives, or that we can’t share pictures or human interest stories, and the like. But we need to be sharing Jesus with the world and not just what is of this flesh.

We need to be writing about and talking about what is beneficial to us spiritually, morally, ethically, and of great importance, like sharing about what is going on in the world and how it relates to what the Scriptures teach about the last days. For we live in very troubled times, and it is looking more and more like that rule of the beast is already on our doorsteps and is about to consume the nations and peoples of the world. So time is not on our side. So we need to be about the work of the Lord and not waste away our time.

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)

[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]

Being Made Right

An Original Work / September 8, 2019
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Jesus, lover of my soul,
Cleansed and saved me,
Made me whole;
Purified me, now new within.
By His grace, I’m free from sin.

Holy Spirit lives within,
Teaching me to walk with Him,
Guiding me each step of the way.
Living for my Lord each day.

Father God, He is my Lord.
Walk with Him in one accord.
Follow Him wherever He leads,
Living holy, Him to please.

Witnessing for Him each day,
Loving others in His way,
Telling them about Jesus Christ,
And how they can be made right.

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Only What is Helpful

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An Original Work / February 8, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

We should leave Australia Day as it is. We should celebrate the arrival of the British, along with their rule and culture.

I'm an immigrant myself, yet I respect local tradition & customs.

To change Australia for the sake of immigrants or aborigines does not seem reasonable to me.