Yes, they referred to the same entity, the One True Most High God.

Why did the God of the Old Testament act so differently from Jesus?

No one can fully understand God. He revealed Himself to mankind progressively.

Hebrews‬ ‭8‬:‭

7‬ For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

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If God is perfect, why must He establish a second covenant? Did He err in the first covenant, prompting Him to create another one?

No, this relates to God's modus operandi of gradual revelation, also known as progressive revelation. It is the theological concept that God's plans were not disclosed all at once, but revealed gradually over time throughout biblical history. This concept helps to explain the developmental nature of certain theological ideas.

Examples of gradual revelation in the Bible include:

• The concept of God evolved from early Israelite monolatry to explicit monotheism.
• Messianic prophecies became increasingly specific from Genesis to the later prophets.
• The concept of the afterlife developed from vague references in the early Old Testament to clearer teachings in later prophets and the New Testament.
• God's gradual revelation to Abram
• God's gradual revelation to Joseph
• Why did God allow slavery?

This concept recognized that God communicated in ways appropriate to the recipients' cultural and historical contexts. God's revelation unfolded over time, becoming clearer and more complete as history progressed. The revelation culminated in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

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The Bible tells a cohesive story of redemption, but it acknowledges the developmental nature of God’s revelation. Earlier parts of Scripture lay the groundwork for later, fuller understandings.

Hebrews 13:

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

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The God of the OT and NT is the same God—one who is holy, loving, just, and merciful. The differences in how God is revealed in the two testaments reflect the unfolding of his redemptive plan through progressive revelation. The OT lays the foundation, and the NT brings it to fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

essentialsaltes said:

Fossil jawbone reveals mysterious Denisovans lived in ancient Taiwan​

First confirmed fossil found outside Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau shows the archaic human also lived in hot climates​

In 2008, Kun-Yu Tsai was shopping for antiques in southern Taiwan’s Tainan City when an unusual relic caught his eye: a brownish jawbone with blackened, thickset teeth that fishermen had dredged up from the nearby Penghu Channel. An amateur fossil hunter, Kun-Yu recognized the mysterious jawbone as human—but noticed it was distinct from modern mandibles. Intrigued, he bought the fossil and later donated it to Taiwan’s National Museum of Natural Science.

An analysis of ancient proteinspreserved within the fossil, published today in Science, pegs the jawbone as belonging to a Denisovan, a close cousin of Neanderthals that lived from roughly 400,000 years to 30,000 years ago. Previous confirmed fossils of the enigmatic hominin were found only in the cold, high-altitude climes of Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau. But Penghu 1, as the jawbone is known, shows Denisovans were also at home in humid lowland tropics, says Fabrice Demeter, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Copenhagen (KU) who wasn’t involved with the work.

The first Denisovan remains were uncovered by Russian scientists in Siberia’s Denisova Cave in 2008.

Hmmm... that's the same year this jawbone was found.

View attachment 363494

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If everything else is correct (???), it was near the peak of the Wisconsin Glacier Age. How warm could it be at Taiwan (25°N) at that time? Also, the current island of PengHu was about a 1500 ft high mountain at that time. Would people evacuated from the ice-covered north and migrated toward south?

Now this is definitely one of these passages of Scripture which we must read in the entire context of the book of Romans so that we get the correct biblical interpretation of what this is teaching us. For “the Law” is generally a reference to the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, dietary, and circumcision laws which we, who believe in Jesus Christ, are not under. We are not required to obey all those Old Covenant laws. And Paul spoke of this much in his writings, particularly in the book of Galatians.

But this is speaking of how, when we are born into this world, we are born in sin with sin natures, in the image of Adam, the first man God created, and the first man to sin against God. Not one of us is righteous in our own merit, and not one of us is able, of our own flesh, to be acceptable to God, to be approved of God, and to attain to the righteousness of God. Just keeping a set of rules will not get anyone saved from his sins, no matter how good you think that you are. For all of us are born into sin, separate from God.

So not one of us will ever be good enough to earn our way to heaven or to be deserving of heaven based in our own merit. No amount of “good works” will get anyone into heaven. It is only by the grace of God in him sending his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross to die for our sins that any of us can be saved from our sins and have the hope of eternal life with God. But Jesus put our sins to death with him on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and so we will now walk in his righteousness. Therefore…

By God-persuaded 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 God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. Thus, sin is to no longer be granted by us 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 is what we obey, it results in sanctification and its end is eternal life with God.

The above paragraph is a summary of Romans 6, and we are taught the same in Romans 2:6-8 and Romans 8:1-14 and Romans 12:1-2, etc. For Jesus Christ did not die on that cross merely to forgive us our sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven. He died to free us from our slavery to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives in walks of surrender and in obedience to his New Covenant commands. And if we do not obey his commands, and we obey sin, instead, we do not have eternal life with God.

So, faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, which is authored of Jesus Christ, and which is not of our own doing, is gifted to us by God, and it persuaded of God as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with Christ to sin and to walk in obedience to his commands. And his 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 await our Lord’s return.

So, please read all of Romans before you try to interpret Romans 3. And please read Ephesians 2:10 along with Ephesians 2:8-9 before you draw the wrong conclusion that works are not involved in our Christian walks of faith at all. They are! And we will all stand before the Lord on the day of judgment and we will be judged according to our works. If we denied self, died with Christ to sin, in practice, and we followed our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, by faith, then we have salvation and eternal life with God.

But if sin is our practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, we will not inherit eternal life with God. And I know this can be a confusing subject, for in some sense this all appears contradictory, but it isn’t. One has to do with people trying to earn their salvation by keeping the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws but without their hearts surrendered to Jesus Christ under his rule and command following him in his ways as led daily by the Spirit of God.

In other words, you can be a “good deed doer” and still end up in hell. And you can profess faith in Jesus Christ with your lips and go through the motions of religious practice, and still end up in hell. But when we have a biblical understanding of faith and grace, it helps us to understand better what this all means. For faith is persuasion of God as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to surrender all to him and forsake our sins and walk in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit.

And grace is what sent Jesus Christ to that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will now die with him to sin and walk with him in obedience to his commands, empowered by God and not by the flesh. And the righteous who are righteous in the sight of God are those who are making righteousness their practice, their lifestyle, in the power of God, by the grace of God, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ. And faith in Jesus has to do with us being surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will.

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

For Our Nation

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.

An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

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The Gift of His Grace
An Original Work / April 13, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Another interview with Marcy:


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She's getting some pushback from trans activists online. Some are angry or usympathetic. She doesn't fit the dominant narrative of a trans activist online, and people forget that Rosa Parks act of civil disobedience also involved the intention to be arrested. I can appreciate her call for respecting human dignity, and I find her faith and basic decency inspiring.

Florida jails are not great places to be, though, especially for trans people. What can happen to a trans person in the penal system can get really, really ugly.

We've been trying to find information about a legal defense fund for her, but so far I haven't found anything. We've been trying to contact her through Bluesky.

Lazarus Saturday, 5 baptisms, including, I think I heard someone say, a mother and daughter.
Praise God!

Dear Lord,
I pray for mercy for international students here in the United States, that their education may continue uninterrupted. Please guard Your children, especially, who may be studying here from other countries around the world, and protect them from unexpected departures.
In Christ's Name,
Amen

Day after day, and hour by hour,
We who believe in Christ rest in His power.
Moment by moment we rest in His love
Which He provides for us from up above.

Walking with Him each day, follow His lead,
Reading the Scriptures, on His word do feed.
Learning to walk in His ways, do what He says,
When life turns upside down, in Him we rest.

Chaos is everywhere, so much unrest,
Fearmongering surely now at its best.
So much confusion, go here and go there,
So much completely we are unaware.

Drama plus drama in movies, cartoons,
But drama everywhere, spoon after spoon.
So much confusion, not know whereabouts
All things are headed, so many do doubt.

All things upheaval, so many with fears
How things are going, will the end be near?
None of us knows for sure where this will go,
But we are assured that our Father, He knows.

God has a plan, and He’s sure in control,
Even though things look bad, He’s on patrol.
Nothing is out of sight, now on His watch,
We must put trust in Him, let the fears stop.

Will there be war? Lose our jobs? No escape?
Will the rich take the advantage, berate
All who’re not like them? On us they will pounce?
Not really care for us, not e’en one ounce?

Bible, it tells us that these days will come,
When people on the earth, many be none.
Death and destruction, we cannot escape.
Trust the Lord with your life, do not be late!

An Original Work / April 12, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

A word of encouragement for my brothers and sisters in the faith...

God confirms our identity in Christ:

Isaiah 54:17 KJV

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord."

God confirms our testimony and witness for Christ:

Isaiah 44:23-26 KJV

"Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel."

"Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers..."

Therefore:

Do not grow weary of doing good, oh ye servants of the most High God - ye co-laborers in God's garden - ye Ambassadors for Christ... the yield of your efforts is *guaranteed*:

Isaiah 53:9-12 KJV

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

"So shall My word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

"For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

So *chill*, brethren!

Psalm 46:10 NKJV

"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"

God bless us all who do, and who will, believe!

biblegateway.com

I think He did tell him, "follow me", he preferred his riches, like a lot of people seem to get entrapped in the deception of money and the world and reject the gospel. Just imo may be wrong.

KevinT said:

Well said. He has never struck me as patient -- though he is 1000x more patient than I am. Ha!

KT

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It depends on how you look at it. He was impatient in the ways that Tony mentioned, but I think he was quite patient in keeping his faith in God despite his horrible circumstances instead of cursing God like Satan wanted him to and like his wife told him to do.

The problem there is that a quick search of Google or the use of an AI could identify any text, so such a test would rely on the honesty of the test takers.

If you wish I can whip something up myself (probably after Holy Week), send me a PM. But its only use would be as a means of people to honestly evaluate their own ability to recognize Scripture. And this has more to do with knowledge of what is in Scripture than the text itself.

Inspiration was discerned by the Early Church Fathers such as St. Athanasius of Alexandria, who was terribly persecuted by the Roman Empire starting in 336 AD for his opposition to the heretic Arius (he was the leading force at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD: if St. Constantine was the judge, and the bishops the jury, then St. Athanasius, the protodeacon to, and later successor of St. Alexander as Patriarch of Alexandria, was the prosecutor. And for this he was made to suffer grievously, in addition to already being a celibate monastic. Of him, after his repose, St. Gregory Nazianzus wrote a panygeric declaring “his name is synonymous with virtue.”

Likewise earlier fathers such as St. Irenaeus, who was ultimately crowned a martyr, who advocated for the use of only the four Gospels we now have, were of an extreme piety.

From formerly enslaved runaway to revered saint, St. Moses the Black's life tells a story of radical redemption.

Now, Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese brings the tale of the bandit-turned-monk to life in part two of the powerful Fox Nation docudrama series, "The Saints."

Set in 4th century Egypt, the episode follows a violent fugitive named Moses as he transforms from a feared, bloodthirsty bandit into a symbol of spiritual awakening – one whose story would become etched into Christian history.

Continued below.

Michie said:

More mysteries from Scripture that get to me.

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

John 21:25

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I love that Scripture.

Even if you stop an abortion, the mother can still have murder in her heart. This needs help.

There are people who do not have the upbringing to cherish an unborn and desire to nurture the unborn baby.

So, if families bring up people who do not know how to love . . . this can be part of the abortion problem.

And there are Jesus naming families who do not bring up their children to know how to love the way Jesus wants. So, even such Bible claiming people can help to produce ones capable of abortion.

If paremts are into a church culture thing, their children do not grow up with an example of how to relate in God's way of loving. And when they see how their parents' thing does not work, they can rush to peers who also don't have an upbringing in God's way of love. And in their desperation for attention and affection, they can get into drugs and immorality and abortion and fake sexuality and false gender stuff.

And their parents can be even speaking against that stuff, but while not having what works to prevent it. And so they could be helping to produce it.

So, it can help to be good examples at home and pray so our children can grow up knowing how to share in a close relationship . . . so they don't get into abortion and other ways of giving in to peers who do not know how to love.

Jermayn said:

I don’t see Scripture endorsing one particular form of government over another. What it does emphasize is how we live under any government, with love, integrity, and devotion to God. As Jesus said, all the Law and the Prophets hang on two commands: love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

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Humans can use anything in a bad way. But with God we can have dictatorship that is good . . . with Jesus ruling as our King. And we can be democratic, no one lording it over someone else, and have even unanimous agreement. And the early church had all things common; however, certain ones abused that.

With Moses, I guess you could call the tithe a tax. But it was to be used to help the needy and to feed the tither while the people were attending a gathering of the LORD.

But then was while so many owned land for agriculture for supporting their families. In the United States we do not have most families owning lands where they can sustain themselves. And we don't have every man of age ready and expert with weapons, for war. Everyone was commanded to help the poor; so they did have a sort of welfare.

Richard T said:

An interesting post though your thinking is not mainstream and perhaps over-reliant on Professor Mounce, who is nearly alone in his interpretation?
I am not scholarly enough to debate the points you have made though in this. However, I am sure that anyone contemplating a divorce, that the Holy Spirit would lead them in the direction they should go. I recall a testimony where a woman in my church waited 7 years to remarry because she believed God told her too. She was legally divorced but she waited, prayed, put out the effort and was fully rewarded as he came back and was really committed to God. I imagine too there are many who are justified to get rid of their abusers. That if someone takes it sincerely to the Lord, that He will give them the guidance they need.

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Here are 4 words that I always see !

# 1 THE ARGUMENT

# 2 THE PREMISE

# 3 THE CONCLUSION

Then , is this ARGUMENT for today and I say NO .

# 4 It is speaking to ISRAEL

# 5 AND 1 Cor 7:1-17 speaks to your ARGUMENT for the Body of Christ , right on the button !

dan p

Fantine said:

Only a last name was mentioned in the original post. I just assumed it was a politician because who else would want to spend time with Trump?

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Huh, you're right. I mentally filled in Bill because there isn't anyone with that name more notable, but the original post really should've specified Bill Maher to avoid confusion (particularly as it doesn't link to any article).

Fantine said:

Not stand-up comedians searching for inspiration?

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Could be. It is a very low traffic site.

A suspected member of the radical "Zizian" cult was forcibly removed from a California courtroomafter claiming an officer said she should be killed for being transgender.

Alexander "Somni" Leatham, a 29-year-old trans woman from Agoura Hills, California, was one of five alleged members of the group of radical vegans, many of whom identified as trans, who were in Solano Superior Court Tuesday.

Leatham alleged that an officer told her she "deserved to be shot for being transgender while he had a gun, and I was in chains," according to SFGate. Leatham, and others in the group, face charges in connection with a string of killings across the country that culminated in the January killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent along the northern border.

Continued below.

On Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Year C,we hear the culmination of Jesus Christ’s extraordinary story and witness his grand plan to restore the world to its original purpose and return his people to their innocence.

We all know how deep the pain of sin goes.

Sin has wrecked every life, and not in some abstract way. We can each name one sin — something we did, or something that someone did to us — that left a wound as fresh today as the day it happened.

And we each know exactly what we would do if we could go back to the moment right before we hurt the people we love the most, right before we were wounded by someone we trusted, right before we were forever changed. If we could, we would go back to that moment and get as far away from that sin as possible.

Now, imagine you were God the Father, and you could go back to the very first sin, the headwaters of the poison of sin, and cut all sin off at its source.

God created a Paradise for his children. He made Adam and Eve to be his pride and joy, in his image and likeness, and put them in charge of Eden. He gave them reason to know and contemplate the truth, and they used it to manipulate each other. He filled their lives with beauty, and they channeled it toward self-gratification. He gave them goodness to share and delight in, and they schemed ways to horde everything they could get for themselves.

They handed his Paradise to the devil, and like the vineyard workers in the parable, destroyed everyone who tried to restore it.

Continued below.

Let’s look at what has happened to the US bond market for 10 year treasury notes and how much extra interest the US government needs to pay after a one week trading period.
At the start of trading on 7th April the bond yield was at 4.15%, at the end of trading on the 12th of April it had risen to 4.49% indicating a major sell off of bonds during this period.

The yield is the indicator for the fixed interest paid at maturity for 10-year bonds when sold by the US government at auction and is determined by the market, in the current climate where there is a lower demand for buying bonds, yields increase.
On average the government will auction $42 billion dollars of $1000 10-year bonds per month.

For $42 billion in newly issued bonds auctioned at an interest rate of 4.15%.
Annual interest: $42B × 4.15% = $1.743 billion
10-year total = $17.43 billion

For the $42 billion in newly issued bonds auctioned at an interest rate of 4.49%.
Annual interest: $42B × 4.49% = $1.886 billion
10-year total = $18.86 billion

Increase in interest payment which is paid over the life span of the bond.
18.86 – 17.43 = $1.43 billion.

This is why Trump caved in by introducing the 90 day tariff pause, while Elon Musk is engaged in a scorched earth policy, the perceived gains are being lost on the bond market which can get considerably worse if China decides to start selling their sizeable percentage of US debt they possess in 10-year treasury bonds.

What is truly comical is how the Administration are treating the American public as total fools by spin doctoring Trump's backdown as a work of genius.

mark46 said:

The tech companies give a big sigh of relief. The Chinese workers on the Apple assembly line can continue to remain employed for $500 a month. This was critical for tech companies and for the countries of South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

75% of the US market was already excluded since the tariffs didn't apply to services. Also excluded are products addressed in the first trump administration deal with Mexico and Canada.
========
It seems that most affected will be food from South America, for example bananas and coffee. Also, all those inexpensive goods sold at Walmart.

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I used to think an expensive watch was a status symbol, now it's a bag of rock hard avocados.