May she rest in peace.

“Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.’ For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:1-4 NASB’95)

Click to expand...

When the book of Romans was penned by Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it was not a book with chapters and verses, but it was all one complete letter to the church, the beloved of God in Rome, called as saints. So, if you are not familiar with the book, it would be good if you could read the entire book of Romans in one sitting to help you get the proper context of each section. For Romans 15:1 is a reference back to what was discussed in Romans 14, for again, there were not chapter and verse divisions then.

The subject matter of Romans 14 has to do with Christians whose faith was weak. And what Paul meant by weak was that they were still holding on to some of the Old Covenant ceremonial and dietary laws and restrictions. They were still holding on to the Sabbath day as the holy day of the week, and they would not eat meat, but only vegetables. So the Christians who knew that they no longer had to keep those Old Covenant requirements were not to judge those whose faith was weak, who felt that they did, and vice versa.

So, as we begin chapter 15 we need to go back and read chapter 14 so that we have the proper context. For the “weaknesses” of those without strength is in reference to those who felt as though they still had to hold to a few of the Old Covenant ceremonial and dietary laws. God did not condemn them for this, though. And Paul acknowledged that the ones who were free from those specific Old Covenant laws, and those who were not, who still kept the Sabbath and ate only vegetables, they both did so as unto the Lord.

So, why is it important that we understand this? Because many people are beginning with chapter 15, out of context of chapter 14, and they are interpreting for themselves what these “weaknesses” are. And many are interpreting them as addictive sins, like someone addicted to porn or to alcohol or to lying, cheating, stealing, and/or committing adultery, etc. And they are excusing away the sinful behaviors as weaknesses and teaching that all Christians are to tolerate the sinners and their sinful practices.

But that is not biblical. The Bible teaches that we are to exhort one another daily so that none of us are led astray by the deceitfulness of sin, and we are to be speaking the truth in love to one another so that we are not led astray by false teachers to go after multiple “winds of doctrine” by their human cunning, craftiness, and deceitful scheming. And if a fellow believer is caught in sin, we who are spiritual are to restore him, i.e. bring him back into a right relationship with Jesus Christ in a walk of obedience to the Lord.

We who are walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living, and not in sin, are not to coddle professing Christians in their sinful lifestyles, but we are to exhort them and encourage them and speak the truth to them in love in hopes that they will repent of (turn away from) their sinful practices in the hopes that they will now follow the Lord Jesus in walks of obedience to him in surrender to his will for their lives. And we are to give them hope that they can defeat the sin in the power of God, by the grace of God.

[Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

So, if we are strong in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, we are not to bear with (tolerate, allow for, pamper) believers’ sinful practices. We are to bear with those who feel as though they still need to keep the Sabbath and/or that they must regard one day a week more sacred than another, and we are to bear with those who eat only vegetables and who do not have the freedom to eat meat. They should not judge us in our freedoms (the ones by God) and we should not judge them by what Paul called their weaknesses.

But we should be unified by our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and by the desires of our hearts to do what is pleasing to the Lord and to serve him with our lives. We don’t have to agree with each other on everything to be unified, but we need to agree on the essentials such as the divinity of Jesus Christ, of his blood sacrifice on that cross for the sins of the world, of his bodily resurrection, of his ascension back to heaven, and of his sending his Holy Spirit to dwell within the lives of all true followers of Jesus Christ.

And we should agree on the gospel message, too. And so it is critical that we not build our doctrine of salvation from sin out of Bible verses taught out of context and made to say what they do not say if taught in the appropriate context. But this practice is what is being popularized today. And so multitudes are being fed the lies and they are accepting the lies as truth and so they are relying on lip service only to God for their salvation from sin and their eternal life with God while they do not change how they were living.

And this is because what Jesus taught and what his New Testament apostles taught as the gospel message is largely being ignored and/or it is being altered to make it not offensive to human flesh and to the ungodly of the world. But it isn’t just the gospel which is being altered but it is also the divine character and will of God and the character of his church, his body of believers in him. They have altered all three of these to make them more acceptable and appealing to human flesh and to the people of the world.

But if we are going to have true hope in Jesus Christ we need to believe in him with biblical faith which comes from God, which is authored by Christ, which is persuaded of God, which is gifted to us by God, and which is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of humans. And the Scriptures teach us God persuades us that we must deny self, die to sin daily (in practice), and walk in obedience to his commands, in practice. And if sin is still our practice, and not obedience, we will not inherit eternal life with God. For Jesus died so we will die to sin and obey his commandments.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

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

Login to view embedded media
Caution: This link may contain ads

That We Might Have Hope
An Original Work / March 18, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

JustAResearcher said:

Hello, my name is Sunjeong Bailey, and I am a student at William and Mary conducting research on Catholic Saints and their current impact on the general Catholic community. As part of my research, I’ve designed a short questionnaire (attached below) on Saints and the Catholic faith that will take no more than fifteen minutes of your time to complete. This questionnaire is open to anyone eighteen and older. Thank you in advance for your participation! If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me through this forum or email me at mlbailey01@wm.edu.

Link to the Survey

Click to expand...

Interesting survey, I just finished my contribution. With the added commentary,

Canonization in general has become too much of a rubber stamp, and the processes of canonization have become rushed or accelerated. Where it used to be 100+ years before someone's cause even began to ensure that nobody alive knew them personally and could corrupt the canonization process, now we're canonizing popes and others within just a few years of their deaths. Canonization needs to return to infrequency and shouldn't be raised for at least 100 years after a person's death.

Click to expand...

Warrior89 said:

The Great Tribulation begins at the abomination of desolation. Jesus said this would be a terrible period of time, spanning multiple days (Matt. 24:22). This terminates when Jesus is revealed from heaven. (Matt. 24:29-31)



However, a cross-reference to Luke 17 seems to indicate that the revealing of the Son of Man will happen on the very same day that people are fleeing the abomination of desolation. This would mean that the Great Tribulation is only one day.

Matthew 24​	Mark 13​	Luke 17​
“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place—let the reader understand— then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.	“Now when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be—let the reader understand—then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.
Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.	Whoever is on the housetop must not go down, nor go in to get anything out of his house. And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.	—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.

What are your thoughts on this? How would you resolve this apparent contradiction?

Click to expand...

Since the starting point is the 1290 AoD, (which in reallity is 30 days before the tribulation begins, we know that this has to be speaking about Jesus being REVEALED unto the Jewish people as their Messiah. Think Zechariah 13:8-9 and Zech. 12:10. This is not about the 2nd coming, this is about the 1/3 who repent seeing Jesus as their Messiah, it is revealed unto them.

The prophets of old foretold the days would come
When the world together will now be as one.
For many will come now claiming this or that,
And the people of God they will now combat.

There will be rumors of wars when kings arise,
When they fool the people now with their disguise.
But don’t be frightened, for this must surely be
That the world be living now in harmony.

For a beast is rising up out of the sea.
The people will follow his authority.
He’ll be speaking arrogance and blasphemies.
He’ll make war with saints of God, in Christ are free.

So all those who worship not our God above
Will worship the beast whom they have grown to love.
Anyone who’s destined for captivity
Will be taken captive and will not be free.

Up to tribulation we’ll delivered be
Hoping we will join them in their harmony.
Hated by the nations for our faith in Christ,
We’ll be persecuted and our throats they’ll slice.

Many who have fallen will betray their friends.
Saved will be the ones who will endure to end.
People’s love for others, it will now grow cold,
So share with the world the gospel, and be bold.

Based off of Matthew 24:1-14; Revelation 13:1-18
An Original Work / March 17, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I just heard about the priest inventing this the other night to counter the Reformation & it made so much sense to me. A lot of Futurist interpretations I just don't see reading the Bible myself & a lot of interpretations just seem quote-mining out-of-context verses,, & now it makes sense why: so we ignore Rome

jgr said:

Virtually all of the early Reformers came out of the papal system, and were well acquainted with the Scriptures. It was this acquaintance that permitted them to recognize the papal apostasy, and to establish the Reformation movement. One of the doctrinal pillars of that movement, and the reasons for its success, was the recognition of the apostate papacy as antichrist. It was this that Ribera set out to defeat, but was, by God's grace and mercy, unsuccessful at that time.

But he would ultimately succeed in the form of contemporary dispensational futurism.

Which is why it is time for another Reformation.

Click to expand...

We always need to be reforming against Rome. It did not stop.

PARASHA: “Ki Tisa” (when you elevate) EXDOUS 30:11-34:35


This parashah starts by numbering the people, those who are 20 years old and older, Each person has to give one-half shekel of silver. Why the count? This counts those old enough for the Army, the first IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Since it is not appropriate to count “people” perhaps as to not trust in “numbers” for strength, which might lead to pride, YHVH tells Moshe to collect silver, and for each half-shekel of silver, one person is represented. The silver is to be used for the Mishkan, for repair and maintenance. Of course, we realize that the Levites were not included in the Armed Forces, they were exempt, and their jobs were to be “chaplains” of a sort, working with the priests in ministry.

Each person, 20 years and older, would give 1/2 Shekel of Silver, which would be equivalent to about 30 cents. Silver and gold symbolize purity. We need to present ourselves before Adonai in Holiness, to be "counted" as the LORD's faithful servants.

…..Every born-again believer is “numbered” in the eyes of YHVH for HIS army of adopted sons and daughters, we are fighting a spiritual battle against a hardened enemy, HaSatan, who has his army of demons, devils, and unsaved humans working for him. Even though there will be many battles, the war has already been won, it was won 2000 years ago, on Calvary’s cross. YHVH came down in flesh and blood and paid our sin price in full. We are fighting against an enemy who has lost the war, but he has an attitude and will not relent, He wants to cause havoc among all believers.

…..YHVH commands Moshe to prepare incense and anointing oil. The incense is to be used in worship, burned on the table of incense, which is before the “Kadosh-Kedoshim” (Holy of Holies), and also, on the bread, and on the sacrifices. Incense is still used today in religious services, it has a calming effect on the emotional and nervous system of those around it. There are many distinct aromas, the aromas that are similar to the incense that was used in the Tabernacle and temple would be frankincense and some even say “musk” scent, however, no one can be sure of the original ingredients, what they are today, besides, YHVH prohibits an exact duplication of the formula.

…..The anointing oil was used to anoint the Levites and priests “on their heads” and not on the flesh, the ingredients were sweet cinnamon, calamus, cassia, myrrh, and olive oil, there are oils today that are used for anointing, yet it was prohibited to replicate the “exact” recipe.

…..In Remez, the incense symbolizes our prayers that go upward toward heaven, and the oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit who is with us all the time. Through the Ruach HaKodesh, our prayers go up and are heard by our Messiah Yeshua.

…..We see later on in this parashah that Moshe goes up Mt. Sinai to receive the tablets of the Mitzvoth, and as we all know the story, after a while the people wonder; “and Moshe? What happened to him?” their faith was weak, and when faith is weak, the enemy HaSatan will take advantage, Aaron who was left in charge was pressured into relenting, with gold earrings, the people made a “golden Calf”. “This is our god,” they said, Could one think that they replaced YHVH with this false god? The Egyptian god “hapis” took the form of a cow or bull, and perhaps, they had a miniature one of those gods with them.

I would think they still believed in YHVH but they wanted to “See” with their eyes, some kind of form, breaking, of course, the commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image”. True faith is “believing” even if we cannot see something that is invisible. Yeshua said to his talmidim; “Blessed are those who do not see yet believe.

…..Do we trust Adonai, even when we cannot see the immediate results? That is what testing is all about, He will try our faith, will we trust HIM even unto the end? YHVH lives in the infinite dimension of time and space, while we live in the finite dimension. He can see the end while we can’t even see around the corner. He has everything under control, we just have to believe and wait on him, as the Israelites should have done. It would have saved a lot of grief, lives, and dishonor.

…..Moshe comes back down only to witness the disaster and breaks the tablets as a sign of a “broken covenant” between YHVH and the people. It is like getting married and on the same wedding night, the bride goes out and commits adultery. YHVH wants to DESTROY the people and start over with Moshe. YET, Moshe intercedes before YHVH for Am Israel. Just as Moshe interceded, so did YESHUA intercede before the Father on our behalf, and still does. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Yeshua’s words). “Yet now, if you will forgive their sin, and if not, blot ME out of thy book” (Moshe’s words) and…. YHVH forgave them. Just like YHVH forgives us of our sins, when we confess and turn from our wicked ways.

Aaron was under "peer pressure" one could say. He relented, to keep the peace, yet still committed a grave sin. But what an answer he gave brother Moshe: "I threw the gold earrings into the fire, and out came this calf" (magic?) Yet God still forgave him. The Levites came to Moses' side when he called out "Who is on YHVH's side, come to me" He ordered them to take their swords and slay the idolators! We can say that the Levites would be a "bloody tribe" How is that? Remember back in Shechem, when Dina, Israel's daughter was taken by Hamor and raped. It was "Levi" and "Shimeon" who went and killed all the males of the city and took their wives and children as slaves. This was on them. Now, the order to kill was from Moshe, and in the Tabernacle, the Levites would "slay animals" for sacrificial offerings, but this order came from God!

…..Moshe wants to see the glory “HaKavod YHVH” he goes back up for a second copy of the commandments.

“Show me thy glory!” the LORD responded; “I will make all my goodness go before thee” Yet, he said that no one could see the “face” of YHVH, who can look upon the pure essence of YHVH? For it would drive the spirit out of the body, So, as YHVH passed by, Moshe saw the “after-effect” the “tail end”. It could be similar to my experience in seeing Haley’s comet back in 1987. While I was in college, I went to Lynchburg College Observatory which was open to the public, we could see Haley’s comet going back out into space, I saw the “tail end” of the comet, which was just a faint glow at that time.

…..Now Moshe gets the second set of tablets, and YHVH gives them to him with these words:

…..YHVH, YHVH God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and their children’s children”

…..Now, how does that describe our God? He IS full of mercy and showed us grace, in that we were yet sinners, He came to earth in human form and died for us all. He is “long suffering” in that he puts up with our “stuff’ our “attitudes” and “rebellions” and gives us second, third, and fourth “chances” to repent, He could have wiped out Israel in one second, but he didn’t. He gave us his Torah, the Bible which is full of “goodness” and IS the TRUTH, he forgives sin, but ONLY when we come to him as repentant sinners and trust Yeshua as our Savior and LORD. He does not clear the guilty ONLY WHEN the guilty DO NOT REPENT! And yes, the sins of the fathers can affect the children, just look at the public schools today, the students are rebellious, and disrespectful because they have learned that from THEIR PARENTS!

…..If the kids hear the parents fuss and cuss, they will too, If the parents smoke dope, they will tend to do the same, and children will copy their parents in all ways, HOWEVER, the blood of Yeshua can heal all of that, the generational curses can be cut short when YESHUA comes into the lives of families.

…..Moshe returns to the congregation with the new set of tablets, and YHVH instructs him and reminds him of his commandments, “Yes, I will go before thee…only observe all that I am commanding thee this day…. And toward the end, YHVH mentions, “thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk” which is a repeated commandment, this was discussed before, it symbolizes a separation between, “life and death” of the “clean and unclean”

…..Moshe comes down “glowing” like a thousand-watt light bulb, why? He has been in the presence of YHVH right there, in the middle of the Shekinah glory! If he glowed with God’s glory, Moshe being a sinner like all of us, can you imagine how Adam and Eve glowed before the fall? Being in constant fellowship with Elohim? It was only after the fall that the “light covering” left, and they found themselves “naked!”

…..Yeshua said; “Ye are the light of the world” Yes, we are, yet we have no light of our own, we reflect the light of Messiah Yeshua, in our own lives. Is our light bright, like that which reflected from Moshe? Or…dim? So, we go forward in this life, being "counted" as "pure silver" (unto Holiness) to serve God with our spiritual gifts, and to be the light in dark places, until God calls us home. He has our timetable, and only HE knows when our clock will stop ticking in this world, only to begin again in the World to Come.


Shalom.

bbbbbbb said:

You have touched a raw nerve here. Are certain sinners better than other sinners? Does God make distinctions and discriminate among His saints?

Click to expand...

God rules a kingdom, not a democracy. There is a hierarchy and a difference of gifts and stations in the body of Christ.
We are not all eyes or all feet. The body is all working together for the glory of God.
You may say that does not sound fair, until you realize the greatest among us will be our servants. We are all loved by God, but we are not all the same. God loves varieties. We read in Psalm 45 about then throne of God. We also read that the people of God are not generic issue, all the same, but they are saved out of every nation, tribe and tongue.

If we study the religion of antichrist, it is easy to see the lie of the devil. It is manifest today most clearly in that we are told we may no longer distinguish between men and women, even though Genesis says male and female created He them. Egalitarianism is a lie, and even psychologists show you that humans are a hierarchal species
All egalitarian sects are a lie and perversion of the Gospel. We see this in the Freemasons that say all religions are the same and we just need to worship the grand architect of the universe which we find out is Lucifer in 33rd degree masonry.
Communism tries to make everyone the same and leads its victims into misery and death. Feminism tries to remove the differences between men and women and this does not result in freedom, even though it is called women’s lib, just bitter old childless lonely women, study its fruits. LGTBQ what ever it is now promises freedom by eliminating differences between the sexes. Love who you want they say, but as a whole there is more depression, suicide abuse and loneliness than any other population

It was Charles Manson, one of the Antichrists of the 1960s who wrote the song that hypnotized his followers

Always is always forever
As long as one is one
Inside yourself for your father
All is none, all is none, all is one

Imagine Tex and the girls singing this song when they murdered Sharon Tate and Abigail Folger along with their male companions because they judged them too rich and undeserving of life on that August night in 1969

No no I praise God for His love of varieties and would gladly be the servant of all my brethren no matter how poor or rich they may be. It is good that we are not all the same

PrettyboyAndy said:

I feel that we are not under the law anymore, and i feel that the focus of one living in "perpetual" adultery because one is remarried is legalistic, similarly to circumcision in the OT.

It says you who are trying to be justified by the law, have been alienated from Christ. - We are not justified by the law.

Christ is our redeemer, paying for our entire and total sin debt on the cross. Past, present and future.

In Galatians 5, Paul was refuting those who were preaching one must be circumcised to be a follower of Christ, and without circumcision you cannot be saved.

It's a legalistic issue and to me seems similar to the remarriage issue. We could take the OT law, that a believer must be circumcised, but he goes on to say, it's not the flesh (law keeping) but the heart that was we were circumcised (grace)

For by GRACE you have been saved, a free undeserving gift. You did and do nothing that to add to his finished completed work on the cross.

Galatians 5 below:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Life by the Spirit​

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Click to expand...

And read 1 Cor 7:1-40 will help you !!

dan p

bbbbbbb said:

That raises two interesting questions in my mind -

1. How bad does one need to be to deserve eternity in the Lake of Fire?
2. How good does one need to be to deserve eternity in heaven with God?

Click to expand...

Where is the Lake of Fire mentioned? Is it not in that book that is full of metaphorical and symbolic imagery? It means to me that the experience beyond this world of the fair justice any have after this life, where one is to die once, is beyond our comprehension, yet it is miserable because what things we do right are just what we are supposed to do, these do not pay anything for what wrong things we do, and this fair justice is left to them who remain apart from Christ. Real faith which is with repentance is what God will have for us coming to Christ for life in him who bore justice for us, that we have the life from him with his righteousness and justification applied to us in him. God has the conditions revealed for us to have this life. We should have the right works from the life of faith that happens with growth of the fruit of the Spirit, but nothing from us has us deserving eternity in heaven with God. We should conform to God's will ever more which happens with spiritual growth, it would have us mean it with saying to our Father in heaven: Your will on earth as it is in heaven. It would then show from us. Consider how to be in heaven before God... not sinning anymore. Repentance involves the intention to turn from sin, which we would do with being enabled.

timf said:

We are all supposed to mature in our faith to become more like Jesus.

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

This is a process of learning to walk by the Spirit rather than the flesh.

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

If you read the description of the flesh and Spirit you begin to see a transition from selfishness to selflessness.

2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

If you read the biblical definition of love (1Cor 13:4-7) it is pretty much selflessness. This is the condition where the peace of Christ can be found. When one is selfless, the chaos and even suffering of the world has less impact. One has come to a point where it does not matter so much. This is the true transcendence to which the new age people sseek but cannot find because they look everywhere except in Christ.

Click to expand...

Wow ... right on there ! SO WOW!! ^^^ THAT IS NOT NEW AGE TRANSCENDENCE! THAT IS THE ONE THAT ONLY COMES WHEN WE FOLLOW HIM THROUGH THE TRAILS, THROUGH THE LESSONS, and THROUGH THE PAIN TO a cleansing renewel. Otherwise known as ' God' s spiritual boot camp" , closest thing to it, . I suspect Paul knew that camp and all the other disciples were up close and personal with that camp. I mean shadrach, Meschah and Abendago knew , Daniel knew that Babylon would not in a friendly place, before they willing let the officials throw them into the flames.

This really speaks to a subject i need to speak to someone else about next Sunday. Thanks Tim. I just wish there was a better way to "train them up " , the youth..before we send them into the lions dens , and snakes pits. To at least prepare them for those who seek to deceive them. Showing the poor kids that study may help to teach them the real game afoot.

jacob.austin said:

Any advice for a Teen that wants to get Married someday?

Click to expand...

God wants Christian couples who bring up godly children. And an important part of this is how you with your wife are a good example for your children. They need to feed on how you are humble and relate in love, so that they know how to love.

There are children who have not found out how to love. They have had parents fighting and abusing and seeking pleasure. So the children, then, are desperate for affection and attention and they try to get this with other kids who also do not know how to love. Instead, they seek pleasure through things inferior to love. Sexual pleasure is not real intimacy and love! And drug pleasure and sports fame and excitement are false forms of love. And their pals, likewise blind, can lead them into smoking and drinking, also not ways of true and deep satisfaction of God's love.

Only Jesus is the way to God and real love . . . our Father's family sharing and caring love. Therefore, first trust in Jesus. And share with mature Christian couples. And get to know various younger Christians.

Do not get isolated with some one woman; but share in groups with people of different ages and grow with each other. Then discover if you are connecting with a Christian sister who is growing with you and helps you to grow in Jesus and how Jesus has us loving.

She should be someone who obviously helps you while you help her, so you two can also bring up children *along with yourselves*.

jacob.austin said:

Marriage is something I really want to commit to with a Godly girl I can love and cherish.

Click to expand...

If you are Christians, you will grow and become people you have never been before. You will need to keep discovering and getting to know one another - - - as you keep developing. And love one another dearly. What matters is that you marry someone who is a child of God and you both are growing with each other and with others in Jesus' family. It is not an isolation thing.

"for if you love those who love you, what reward have you?" (in Matthew 5:46)

jacob.austin said:

I do understand that its not all fun and games, I understand that there will be difficulties but I want to be ready to face them head on.

Click to expand...

Learn now how to handle difficulties. With God, you can find how He uses any trouble for His good. So, no - - we do not take on problems by ourselves! But with God we discover how He takes care of things. And He has us helping one another with prayer and other help.

And do not boast and assume how great you will be in marriage. You are still young. We all need to grow more so we really do what God desires.

***Become able to make sure with God about things.***

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been ordered to pay more than $54,000 for violating the state’s open records laws in relation to the prosecution of President Donald Trump.

The county’s Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause formalized her ruling Friday and ordered Willis to pay $54,264 in attorneys' fees and litigation costs after "intentionally" failing to provide records requested by Ashleigh Merchant, the attorney who filed the motion to disqualify Willis from prosecuting Trump on charges of allegedly interfering with the 2020 presidential election.

Krause stated that Willis’ office failed to provide documents related to the employment of Nathan Wade, the former special assistant district attorney forced to resign from the Trump case due to his romantic relationship with Willis.

Merchant believed that Willis and Wade may have financially benefited from Wade’s appointment as the special prosecutor in the case.

Continued below.

Koberstein said:

Shatnez, the biblical law that forbids wearing a garment containing a mixture of
linen and wool, is generally regarded as the quintessential example of a law for
which there is no rational explanation The Bible offers no reason for this ordinance

Click to expand...

From a common sense perspective (no explanation needed) it makes no sense to wear clothing made of two materials with each having its own special application.

One for utilitarian use (cold weather and repelling rain). Wedding gift.
HBC White Wool blanket - Hudson Bay trade good for 6 beaver pelts...

Fine White Linen for sacred ceremonial application.
One time use for special wedding dance celebration ...

Another unlikely comparison would be using both white pine and red cedar as 2x4 studs in house construction, Or a clay pot with gold handles, Or an ox yoke inlaid with precious stones.

Patrick and his companions arrived in Ireland with a dual mission: to minister to the small number of Christians there and to convert the Irish.

“Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day,” the saying goes. But technically, about 32 million Americans — 9.7% of the total population — identified as being Irish in the 2020 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. A love of St. Patrick followed wherever the Irish immigrated throughout the world, particularly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia — all places where St. Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated.

In the Detroit area where I grew up attending St. Alphonsus in Dearborn, St. Patrick’s Day gave us a break from wearing our uniforms so that we could all wear green. Never mind that half the kids were Polish.

Continued below.

Good for her!

God bless

Lord have mercy! Tired of anti-Christian hate and bigotry! Enough is enough!

Wow! That’s pretty neat!

Lord have mercy!

It took 25 years for Agent Orange to be recognized, and toxins have increased in the Gulf and Iraq/Afghanistan Wars.
I support our vets.

Ora pro nobis

That’s pretty interesting!

That’s awful