New Posts

BNR32FAN · Mar 4, 2025

Jeff Saunders said:
Our Spirit is who we are it will never die in the sense that our body will be dead and no more.

Did they not also at that council say , Mary was a continuous virgin? And other Catholic things that are not true , so even if they did it formally it really means nothing. Also there is much debate over if the council was even legit or not so no that means nothing to me. Also what they supposedly condemned were not Origens teachings but what other’s distorted about Origens teachings. The reason to look at the first couple hundred years of the church to get a better understanding of scripture is for several reasons. 1 they were closest to the original writers of scripture and Greek was their native language, that is Ancient Greek not modern Greek, and some of the writings come directly from people who were taught by the original authors. 2 the church had not become a state religion at that time and so it was organic and not institutionalized. Gregory of Nyssa was one who taught the most consistent understanding of scripture and did not have to explain away much of the plain reading with pages of explanations of why the plain reading had to be explained away. That’s partly of why I follow the early teachings over the modern ones.

I don’t think you ever answered my question, why did Jesus make it a point to point out that no one is allowed to cross over from Abraham’s Bosom to Hades and vice versa in the story of Lazarus and the rich man?

Servus · Mar 4, 2025

Michie said:
Epstein files will be dealt with 'as fast as we can,' Bondi said

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed that the Department of Justice has received more Jeffery Epstein files from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after the document release she touted last week fell flat.

Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, Bondi confirmed that a "truckload" of Epstein files were delivered by the FBI after she gave the agency until 8 a.m. on Friday morning to deliver them.

"I gave [the FBI] a deadline of Friday at 8 a.m. to get us everything," Bondi explained. "And a source had told me where the documents were being kept, Southern District of New York, shock. So we got them all by Friday at 8 a.m."

"Thousands of pages of documents. I have the FBI going through them...and Director Patel is going to get us a detailed report as to why the FBI withheld all of those documents," she continued.

Continued below.

AG Pam Bondi says FBI delivered 'truckload' of Epstein files after she put out hard deadline

AG Pam Bondi said the FBI handed over a "truckload" of Epstein files after she gave the agency until 8 a.m. Friday morning to turn them over. She also praised FBI boss Kash Patel.

www.foxnews.com

According to some folks that must be making her boss feel very uncomfortable. He better have Elon fire her quick.

tonychanyt · Mar 4, 2025

The Book of Proverbs is part of the Bible's "Wisdom Literature" and provides practical guidance for living a righteous and godly life. It emphasizes themes such as wisdom, justice, humility, and the fear of the Lord.

Pr 21:

3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

God values moral integrity, ethical behavior, and acts of justice more than ritualistic or ceremonial practices like sacrifices. Love God by loving your neighbors.

Isaiah expressed similar sentiment in 1:

11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.

Ritualistic sacrifices were meaningless without social justice:

17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

James carried this theme to the NT 1:

27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Why are righteousness and justice more important?

Because God is righteous and just. That's God's character. We are to be like God.

Don't just pay God lip service in words or ceremonies. Examine our hearts. Express our faith through tangible deeds of love, compassion, fairness, and caring for others.

Christsfreeservant · Mar 4, 2025

Disappointments – bad intentions
From the ones that we won’t mention.
Heartaches thunder, lies now plunder
Those who serve them, live now under.

Rules to follow changing daily,
Discipline to rules not gaily.
Topsy Turvy, all things curvy,
Those who plan them got the nervy.

All things crazy, not expected,
What’s okay, and what’s rejected?
Who truth telling? The truth spelling?
Who the lies they are now selling?

What’s tomorrow? What will happen?
On our plans will it now dampen?
Got no money? All be taken
By those who are now be snaking?

All confusion it be bruising
Those who trusted in illusion,
Thought they knew who could be trusted,
But their dreams, they are now busted.

What relied on, blown to pieces,
While your confidence decreases
In what dreamed of, thought assured of,
What believed in and thought was love.

Look to God now, and to Him bow,
Him rely on; His truth avow.
Repent of sin, Him believe in,
Do what He says, Him forgiving.

Trust in His Word, not what’s absurd,
What God defines, not what is blurred.
Follow His ways throughout your days,
Bow down to Him, from Him not sway.

An Original Work / March 4, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Michie · Mar 4, 2025

As Catholics journey towards Calvary, they undertake many particular practices and devotions during the Lenten season.

For 40 days every Lenten season, purple linens adorn the altar, and priests don violet chasubles for Mass and Stations of the Cross services. Behind the practices, traditions and liturgies of Lent are a wealth of spiritual traditions and theological reasons for this 40-day spiritual journey that Catholics enter into as a period of fasting and penance to prepare to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord.

Royal Hue

While the Alleluia and Gloria may disappear after Ash Wednesday, the purple (violet is the preferred term) appears for altar cloths and vestments, as it “denotes affliction and melancholy” according to The Catholic Encyclopedia.

Father Bryce Sibley, a professor at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, has studied liturgical colors as a hobby. He shared that tradition commonly attributes the Church’s use of the color purple, as it is often associated with royalty and is also a spiritual symbol.

Continued below.

The Color Purple: The Hue Reflects the Reason Behind the Penitential Season

As Catholics journey towards Calvary, they undertake many particular practices and devotions during the Lenten season.

www.ncregister.com

Say it aint so · Mar 4, 2025

stevil said:
If it was before, then perhaps that's worse. Maybe it shows that the Republican team intended to attack Zelensky, like it was planned.

It was before JD Vance stepped in. It was the second question asked to Zelensky by a right wing corespondent.

tonychanyt · Mar 4, 2025

2Sa 14:

27a Three sons and a daughter were born to Absalom.

2Sa 18:

18 Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom’s monument to this day.

Absalom had no son to preserve his legacy.

How to reconcile the above two verses?

Absalom’s three sons died prematurely. In ancient times, infant and child mortality rates were high, and it was not uncommon for children to die young. If all three of Absalom’s sons had died before reaching adulthood, Absalom would indeed have no surviving heir to carry on his name. This adds to the tragic nature of his story, as his rebellion and death effectively ended his family line.

Stephen3141 · Mar 4, 2025

Trump announces $100B investment in U.S. from TSMC, calls it 'most powerful company' in world

The new capital brings TSMC’s total investment in the U.S. to $165 billion and will go toward building five new fabrication facilities in Arizona.

www.nbcnews.com

The ability of TSMC to build cheaper and more complicated silicon chips,
is tied to its highly educated work force, and their strict code of work
discipline.

Perhaps TSMC can hire the best of the laid off federal workers.

One basic problem is that the pay rate in America, would be MUCH higher
than the pay rate in Taiwan. America could manufacture the most sophisticated
silicon chips in the world, but not necessarily more cheaply.

And then there is the problem that the president has ignored before, when pushing
for more housing in Arizona -- there is no water down here.

And, if America abandons Taiwan to the Communist Chinese, then the owners of
TSMC will have a lot of ill will toward the president.

tonychanyt · Mar 4, 2025

Why didn't God have Sarah bear Isaac from the start? Why bother with Ishmael?

God allowed Ishmael to be born first to teach lessons about patience, faith, and divine sovereignty, while reserving Isaac as the child of promise to establish the covenant line. Both sons were part of God’s broader plan, reflecting his wisdom and grace.

God used people to work out his salvation plan on earth. People have weaknesses. Abraham was impatient. He told God, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir" (Ge 15:2). Sarah thought she was too old. So Sarai told Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her” (Ge 16:2). God tests everyone. God tested Abraham and Sarah's trust in God's timing. We must wait on God's promises, even when they seem impossible.

God used Ishmael and blessed him. God promised to make him fruitful and multiply him greatly (Ge 17:20). His grace and provision extended even to those outside the specific covenantal lineage.

Isaac, the child of promise, represents God's grace and the fulfillment of His covenant, while Ishmael represents human effort and the consequences of impatience. Paul explained the difference in Ga 4:

22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh,

i.e., Ishmael

while the son of the free woman was born through promise

i.e., Isaac.

28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

Christians are Abraham's spiritual descendants through Isaac, not Ishmael.

31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

While the inclusion of Ishmael before Isaac may seem puzzling at first glance, it serves some purposes within the biblical narrative. It highlights human weakness, demonstrates God’s faithfulness, establishes distinctions between human effort and divine intervention, and points to the complexity of God’s redemptive plan. He uses even imperfect circumstances to fulfill his eternal will.

JustaPewFiller · Mar 4, 2025

RileyG said:
Sounds like pure greed to me. Eh?

I can understand Google (or any company) not wanting to be left behind on tech changes, wanting to be profitable, or wanting to cut costs. Make no mistake, despite the talk many companies hope that AI will enable them to fire the people they are currently wanting to work 60+ hours a week.

Using the old, "carrot and stick" analogy the only "carrot" for the employees here is they get to keep their jobs for a little longer. Not sure that will motivate them to the upper plateaus of productivity and teamwork that Sergey is wanting.

Christsfreeservant · Mar 4, 2025

Christsfreeservant · Mar 4, 2025

Agra man said:
I can tell it was holy spirit inspired keep writing my friend you have talent

Thank you. All glory to God. Again, thank you for your words of encouragement.

Christsfreeservant · Mar 4, 2025

These were the Lord’s instructions to Joshua, who was to succeed Moses, after his death, as the leader of the Israelites. And he was to lead God’s people, who were left, out of the wilderness into the Promised Land. God said to him, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” So, the words written here were specific to Joshua and to the Israelites of that specific time period. Nonetheless, there are lessons here for us Christians which we can gain from this to apply to our lives today, as they do apply to our lives.

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7-9 NIV)

First let me mention here that God, in the wilderness, weeded out all the Israelites who were living in sin in direct disobedience to him and who refused to bow the knee to him in humble surrender of their lives to the Lord in walks of obedience to his commands. Not only did they die in the wilderness, and not only did they not get to enter into the Promised Land God had prepared for his people, but they did not get to enter into God’s eternal rest, i.e. into salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

So those who went with Joshua into the Promised Land were a remnant, chosen by God, who were the faithful and not the disobedient. Now, I do not have all the history of the Old Covenant Israelites in my memory bank, so I cannot say with any confidence that those led by Joshua did not ever sin against the Lord, but only that the majority of the Israelites who were with Moses in the wilderness died in the wilderness because of their disobedience to God and because of their idolatry, immorality, and rebellion against God.

See: [1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13]

Now these, again, were God’s specific instructions to his people of that time who were getting ready to go into the Promised Land. They were also living under the Old Covenant God had with his people at that time, who were the Jews. And those of us who are Christians today are now living under the New Covenant God has with his people Israel, the Israel of God comprised of both Jew and Gentile by genuine God-provided faith in Jesus Christ. We are now biblical Israel, but we are not living under the Old Covenant.

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; John 8:18-19,38-47; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 9:4-8,25-28; Romans 11:1-36; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13;1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:22; Jude 1:5; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]

But just because we are not living under the Old Covenant, it does not mean that we are to be lawless or that we no longer have to obey God’s commands. For under the New Covenant we still have to obey God and his commands. And both walks of obedience to our Lord and death to sin are required of God under the New Covenant for our salvation from sin and for the promise of eternal life with God. These we must live by, in practice, though not necessarily in absolute sinless perfection (1 John 2:1-2).

With that understanding we can look at this passage of Scripture in Joshua, chapter one, and we can apply to our lives these instructions, but under the New Covenant. For this is speaking to those who are the faithful remnant in Christ Jesus today who are not living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord but who are walking in his ways and in his truth and righteousness. We are to be strong in the Lord, and we are to be courageous in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and in our testimonies for the gospel of Christ.

And we are, indeed, to be careful that we obey our Lord’s commands to us under the New Covenant, which we can read about in the New Testament books of the Bible. And we are not to swerve from them to the right or to the left, but we are to stay the course on the “straight and narrow way” (Matthew 7:13-14) provided to us by Jesus’ death and resurrection. And not only are we to live his commands to us in our daily walks of faith, but we are to be speaking his commands to other Christians, for their obedience, too.

But if we are going to be those who obey our Lord and his commands then we need to also be students of the Scriptures who study them in their full context and who do not interpret them and apply them apart from their appropriate context, which so many are doing today. For context is critical to us understanding and obeying our Lord’s commands to us, his people. And if we are speaking the truth of the gospel to the people, we absolutely need to do so in the strength of the Lord, without fear, for we will be opposed much.

So, what is the truth of the gospel that we should be obeying and putting into practice in our daily lives and spreading to other people through our words and deeds? It is that to come after Jesus 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, in practice, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, then we have salvation from sin and life eternal.

[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 5:16-21; 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]

For Our Nation

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

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.

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Be Strong and Courageous
An Original Work / March 4, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

prayer kid · Mar 4, 2025

We need serve Him. For example, encouraging children to believe in Jesus on the street, near schools, you can give them something like flayers with lines from the Bible, glue stickers of a similar format at schools. We need to work hard and repent , with all due respect.
Example below

FireDragon76 · Mar 4, 2025

Jermayn said:
What part is going to be reversed? Do the majority of Americans feel the need to send condoms to Gaza? How about funding transgender comic books in Peru? Maybe sending money to gay people in the UK?

Gaza, Mozambique.

Job 33:6 said:
The challenge I keep running into is that federal employee salaries make up such a tiny sliver of federal spending, that it seems almost meaningless to have mass layoffs. For example, the DoD intends to cut 61,000 positions. But oddly enough, this only amounts to something like 0.03% of Elon Musk goal of 4 billion per day in savings.

Meanwhile Donald Trump keeps ensuring people that there won't be cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, even though the two of those produce the vast majority of the countries deficit.

And for that reason, it's just not clear to me that these layoffs will be meaningful for the national deficit. Which begs the larger question of what the real motives are behind the layoffs. Because thus far, even after laying off 20,000 federal employees, such cuts are practically non-existent in terms of the deficit.

Even if 100% of federal employees disappeared tomorrow, it would barely scratch the deficit and the vastly more significant costs of Medicaid and Medicare.

It's part of Curtis Yarvin's 2022 playbook to destroy the regulatory state. It has nothing to do with saving money and everything to do with that agenda. And FWIW, Curtis Yarvin is the "intellectual" influence behind J.D. Vance. Yarvin insists that the US is actually properly a patrimonial monarchy or oligarchy, and not a democracy, and that it would be more efficient to simply eliminate most government spending and replace it with corporate power.

Of course, Yarvin is a dangerous fool whose plans would amount to a dystopian, crime-ridden hellhole, but the far right has had some crazy ideas before, so it's just par for the course.

Aaron112 · Mar 4, 2025

Funnel money, billions worth, into a container ship.
Crash container ship.
Collect billions from insurance.
As usual.
"Launder money", rinse, repeat.
Funnel money, billions, into skycapers.
Burn skycaper.
Collect billions from insurance.
As usual.
"Launder money", rinse, repeat.

Vambram · Mar 4, 2025

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@Joseph G @Hazelelponi @mourningdove~ @friend of

God of Jacob, Great I Am
King of angels, Son of Man
Voice of many waters
Song of Heaven's throne
Louder than the thunder
Make Your glory known

Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Roar (roar)
Roar (roar)
Roar

Pride of Zion, prophets spoke
Our Messiah flesh and bone
You alone are worthy to open up the scroll
Like a lamb, You suffered, but the Lion has arose

Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar!

Roar! (Roar!)
Roar! (Roar!)
Roar! (Roar!)
Let it roar, let it roar, let it roar
Let the Lion roar

Prepare the way
Prepare the way of the Lord
Prepare the way
Prepare the way of the Lord
Prepare the way
Prepare the way of the Lord
Prepare the way
Prepare the way of the Lord

O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low

Roar! (Roar!)
Roar! (Roar!)
Let the Lion roar! (Roar!)
Roar! (Roar!)
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar (let the Lion)
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar

O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low
O valley, be raised up
O mountain, be made low

RileyG · Mar 3, 2025

That's quite interesting! Thanks for sharing!

RileyG · Mar 3, 2025

Thank you all!

I still haven't heard back yet.

I think it went ok.

linux.poet · Mar 3, 2025

MOD HAT ON

This thread is permanently closed.

Since calling each other fake Christians (and flaming public figures in like fashion) is against the rules, this thread is not a good idea.

MOD HAT OFF

Christsfreeservant · Mar 3, 2025

“As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:10-12 NIV)

God’s Word is reliable. It can be trusted. But let me add a word of caution here. The Scriptures, in their original form, were without error. But since then there have been copies of copies and many different translations and transliterations. So, if possible, it is best to make certain that we are reading a reliable and tested translation that is considered to be accurate as well as readable. And if you have access on the internet to Bible helps, using them can be helpful, too, but we should not rely on them as our primary source.

It is also good to make certain that we are reading the Scriptures in their appropriate context and that we compare Scriptures with other Scriptures to make certain that they agree. For many people today are being taught the Scriptures out of context which are then twisted to teach what they do not say if taught in their appropriate context. And from that many false doctrines are being taught as though they are truth when they are lies. So be students of the Scriptures who study them in context. Then apply them to your lives.

Now, what God said in his word that he would do, if he has not already done it, he will do it, unless he retracted what he said he would do because the people repented (example the story of Jonah and Nineveh in the book of Jonah, chapters 1-3). God will fulfill all his promises which he has not yet fulfilled, but we must understand that his promises all have conditions which we must meet for us to receive those promises, if they were written for us. So, make certain that you know what those conditions are.

Also, he will fulfill all the threats he made and all the judgments that he promised to the unrepentant and to the disobedient who refuse to bow to him as Lord and to die with him to sin and to now walk in obedience to his commands, in the power of God. For, regardless of what professions of faith in Jesus we may make with our lips, if we continue to deliberately and habitually sin against God, and walks of obedience to his commands are not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

But I find comfort in this. Even if the many are rejecting the words of the Lord now, and they are not accepting the truth of his gospel, the truth of his gospel is still going out to the people of the world. And many who have heard the truth, but have not yet believed the truth, may yet believe. For the word of the Lord which is going out to the world will not return empty, but it will accomplish what God desires, and it will achieve the purpose for which he sent it, even if that is many years later from when it was sent.

Now, at the beginning of Isaiah 55 we read that the wicked (sinful) must forsake their sinful ways, and they must turn to the Lord and he will have mercy on them, and he will pardon their sins. But to turn to the Lord is to surrender our lives to him to now follow in his ways and in his truth in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. So we not only forsake our sinful practices, but now we must walk in obedience to our Lord. For if we choose not to, in practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

So, when this says, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace,” etc., this is based on the premise that we have died with Christ to sin and that we are walking in obedience to his commands, in practice, and that sin and disobedience to our Lord are no longer what we practice. This does not make us perfect people, but if sin is what we practice, and not obedience, we do not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. For God’s word will be fulfilled. We must obey him if we want to have his promises in our lives.

[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]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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God’s Word Will Not Return Empty
An Original Work / March 3, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Vambram · Mar 3, 2025

I predict that the golden age of American's economy is coming quickly.

Fantine · Mar 3, 2025

ThisIsMe123 said:
Polish Cold War hero Walesa writes to Trump expressing 'horror' at Zelenskiy spat

He still believes in Solidarity. What a fine human being!

fide · Mar 3, 2025

RileyG said:
That's fair. To be honest, I don't like him that much. There's something about him that makes me uneasy. Maybe I'm being too judgmental? I dunno.

It's important to seek to discern rightly; "judging" is something else entirely. It is very dangerous to "judge" another. Whenever we are tempted to judge (and it is a temptation, and one that we must conquer), we ought to ask ourselves, and then God, "Who am I, Lord, to judge another man?"
Related to that thought, I think I'm remembering correctly when I say, Teresa of Avila said and wrote that we must never leave the "Room of Self-Knowledge." Most of us, sadly, have never entered that room of horrors. If by grace He has led us there, then we know the horrors to be seen there and we are convicted even more deeply for ever seeking to escape it to presume to hide ourselves from ourselves, and judge another.
Related also is understanding the nature of the love which we are commanded to live: it is the very love by which Jesus - and the full Holy Trinity - loved and loves all human persons of His own creation, in His own image. We were created to love as He loves, thus He made it possible by creating us in His image. A likeness exists, a place in us exists within our nature to love as He loves; thus His New Commandment is right and righteous. And possible, by His grace, and in His mercy.
Related and helpful, I believe, also is His letter to Ephesus, in the Book of Revelation:

Rev 2:1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
Rev 2:2 "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear evil men but have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and found them to be false;
Rev 2:3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.
Rev 2:4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
Rev 2:5 Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Rev 2:6 Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Rev 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

Those are some things to think about, Riley - a journey that I continue on, a journey that He mercifully is willing to help us on.

RandyPNW · Mar 3, 2025

EschatologicalHistorian said:
Here’s is an English translation of Ribera

Amazon.com

Thank you!

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