Amen.

YHWH is not a spirit, like the other spirits, who do you favors for having praised and sacrificed to their image. The reason why is understood by understanding his name, or just reading the Bible.

However, he upholds his word, and everything by it, so I think statements of faith will surpass the individual (if he doesn't live by it), as long as they are the words of Christ.

I like the section around 19:20 when he discussed background checks for those hoping to work in the government:

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"If you have been convicted of a crime, you will not be serving in the federal government. Crimes such as fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion show a lack of moral character, just like similar white-collar offences that are highly frowned-upon and will bar you from service."

Hmm. In that case I wonder who exactly these people will be working for?

essentialsaltes said:

This seems to be a small government solution: staying out of people's healthcare business as they consult with their private physicians.

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Covid snitch-line.

If he were consistent I'd probably not care...but I don't think he holds any positions on healthcare that aren't pre-approved by Phizer.

I should have invited Ruth to our wedding—to acknowledge how much our ordinary moments point to the story of Christ.

On Monday of next week, my wife, Maria, and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. As I think about those two kids standing at the altar, I would want to say “I do” all over again to everything. One of the very few exceptions would be one decision that had to do with the wedding, not with the marriage. After 30 years, I’ve changed my mind about the biblical text I wouldn’t let us read.

Somebody suggested that we read at the ceremony a passage from the Old Testament book of Ruth, one that we heard read or sung at almost every wedding at the time. In the King James Version (which was what people almost always used), the text reads, “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (1:16). It’s about the young widow Ruth from Moab, pledging to her dead husband’s mother, Naomi, that she would go with her to Naomi’s homeland of Israel.

I believed then, and still do, that all Scripture is inspired and “profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16, ESV throughout), but I didn’t think that particular Scripture was appropriate for a wedding.

“It’s not about marriage,” I said. “It’s about someone taking a trip with her mother-in-law.” I wanted something about the mystery of Christ in Ephesians 5 or about love from Song of Songs or about Jesus at the wedding at Cana. I could even have lived, I said, with 1 Corinthians 13. Of all of the things about the wedding ceremony, I only insisted on two—that we use the traditional vows and that we read some other text than that one. You could say that I was ruthless in my Ruthlessness.

Continued below.

The Barbarian said:

There are some hints from people in the Trump campaign, that Trump is tossing out these stories to lay the groundwork for another claim that yet another election was stolen from him.

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Trump misses Biden. He wishes Biden would do something that weird because he's confident he can beat Biden. All that has changed, though. So he does what he does: he sows doubt on the process if he doesn't win. His supporters will buy that every time. That's his fall back. If he wins, it represents the will of the people. If he loses, it was stolen from him. lol

Age 16 was the first time I was introduced to God .I grew as the good child until I was 12 years old. After I turned 13,I went down the wrong path in my life. Met the wrong people that were a bad influence on me hanging out with them. They were doing the drugs and alcohol, did get me to try the drugs. Was a couple that I did not like. Age 15, did drink and came home drunk a few times. My parents were not too happy with me at all. It was not just the drugs and alcohol, did have unprotected sex with boys starting at age 14 and some older men. My parents were to the point they were stressed out and I put them through a lot. Age 16, was at a party that was busted by cops and I was drinking a beer caught given a minor in possession ticket. My dad was not too happy that night with me. Had a talk with my mom and she agreed with him on entering me in a program for troubled teens to see what prison life is like. Dad told me this was tough love from him and glad he did it. I learned prison life was not for me, a female prisoner that got into my face and I talked in her cell. Said she was doing what I was doing, was in for a drug possession caught with drugs. Got it to me I needed to change my life around and she was right. Gave me a huge wake up call and my parents noticed it. Told them I am going to change my ways and apologized to them for the pain I put them through. I had to prove it and did. It was also 3 days after I finished the program, found out I was pregnant at age 16. The boy that got me pregnant left and this was tough. I knew that I ruined a part of my life and decided to focus on becoming a mom. Proved it to my parents when my son whom is 28 now came into my life at age 17. Started going to church with my parents and asked the pastor for advice after a service. Said he seen I have changed in the right direction and God will forgive me in time. Even said I had to gain that trust back from my parents back proving it. He helped me through everything.I still remember asking him if I could speak out how God changed my life around during a service a year later after the change. He said yes and I did,my parents including the other members said they were proud of me.The cop that gave me the ticket was there too also a member and he was glad I changed as well.

Scourging Fire, plant your will, that perfect will within every hidden motive to accomplish that baptism we eagerly desire.

Hammster said:

I think the implication is that as long as she’s not Trump, she’s good. It’s the only reason she went from a VP with the lowest approval rating in history to the Golden Child.

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I don't think the polls are real.

How stupid would this nation have to be to vote for absolutely nothing?

Do you think 50 million people would vote for nothing?

Hammster said:

And the legacy media will help her by not demanding interviews or press conferences.

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Oh it's worse than that...they're lying about what they said about her for the past 4 years. Even the people going along with it for whatever personal reasons can see it.

Hammster said:

What will sink her is the debates. Trump was smart in getting her to agree with three debates.

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That's my point...there has to be some sort of agenda to float or what kind of questions will she be answering? Her favorite color?

St. Augustine, who was trained in the heights of the Latin rhetorical tradition, found Scripture rhetorically primitive when he was looking at it from the outside, before his conversion. But he became far more impressed with the rhetorical power of both the Old and the New Testaments once he began to grasp their inner meaning. There are in fact many different rhetorical flourishes in Scripture, and some of the most satisfying of them employ what we might call “sequences” of various kinds. Indeed, rhetorical sequences seem to play an important role in most languages—such as the common habit of ending a speech with a triad of phrases, as Abraham Lincoln did in the Gettysburg Address: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.

There are a number of different kinds of sequences in Scripture. Perhaps the most fundamental are the sequences of seven, which was a Hebrew word with the same consonants as the word for “completeness” or “wholeness”. Consider, for example, the seven days of Genesis and the seven churches, seven seals, and the seven trumpets of the Book of Revelation. But almost wherever we turn in Scripture, we encounter rhetorical sequences of various kinds, sometimes involving specific numbers, but also highlighting the unfolding of events, the connection between multiple concepts or ideas, or the nature of the Divine gifts.

Continued below.

God’s intervention in near-assassination attempts is not something that can been proven by any empirical test.

Near-assassination attempts make us pause. God can intervene. But does he? Consider the following.

After the Battle of Monongahela on July 9, 1755, a 23-year-old soldier wrote a letter to his brother in which he said, “But, by the all-powerful dispensations of God, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation, for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side.”

That soldier was none other than George Washington, America’s first president.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Donald Trump told the crowd on the first day of the 2024 National Republican Convention. “If I only half-turn, it hits the back of the brain,” he said. “The other way [the bullet] goes right through [the skull]. ... The chances of my making a perfect turn are probably one-tenth of 1%.” He made a full turn to look at data concerning immigration displayed on a screen. Was Trump’s brush with death a matter of mere chance, or was it, in some sense, an act of divine intervention?

Continued below.

Among the many challenges young men face today, a common one is the struggle with habitual vice, oftentimes in connection with sexual sin. In the face of near-overpowering societal pressures to live a lifestyle of vice and spiritual slavery, what encouragement can today’s aspiring “man of God” (1 Tim 6:11) find in the Scriptures?

Before all else, the Bible reminds young men of their desperate need for divine grace. Like St. Mary Magdalene and St. Augustine of Hippo, they must learn that until they abandon themselves completely to Christ, spiritual victory will evade them.Young men must come to the firm conviction that they can’t do this on their own. As St. John Paul II liked to point out, the great saints of history became saints not by conquering the world, but by allowing Christ to conquer them.

This truth is echoed in the great Pauline insight that God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). For young men in the throes of habitual vice, this is an incredibly consoling verse. In our most frustrating, demoralizing, and shame-filled moments, we must remember that this is precisely the place where God desires to intervene with power to soften our stoney hearts and conform them more closely to his. As Saint Paul exclaims in another place, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more!” (Rom 5:20).

In the fight against sin and demonic powers, God’s Word continually prescribes prayer as an essential weapon: “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Lk 22:40). Prayer is one of the non-negotiable elements in the Christian life, a dependable protection against spiritual bondage. Prayer invites us into a daily contemplation of our immeasurable dignity as sons of the Father: “I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well” (Ps 139:14).

Continued below.

On this feast, we praise God who has taken the sinless Virgin Mary, body and soul, into His glory.

In our first reading, from Revelation, we find God’s temple in heaven opened and the Ark of the Covenant revealed. The most sacred item in Israel’s history, the Ark had been missing since the Temple’s destruction in 586 B.C. Thus, John reports some startling news. Even more startling is his revelation that the sacred vessel is now a woman, who is mother of the royal Son of David, the Messiah.

Of this woman, then, we sing to God as the ancient Israelites sang: “The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.” In the court of King Solomon, we glimpse Israel’s traditional arrangement: Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, takes her place at the king’s right hand (see 1 Kings 2:19).

At Mary’s Assumption, as we see in Revelation, the queen once again takes her place at the right hand of the Son of David.

Our second reading shows us why this is fitting: “in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order.” What is implicit in St. Paul’s statement is revealed in Revelation. The consummation of Christ’s work has begun, as is proper, with the Assumption of the queen mother.

Continued below.

Worry or anxiety presents itself as a forecaster, so how does it measure up? The evaluation is pretty straightforward: just take

1.) The evils you worry about that happen, and divide it by
2a.) The evils you worry about that don’t happen (plus)
2b.) The evils that happen to you which you didn’t anticipate and so didn’t worry about.

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In the case of 2a, we probably have to clarify that if you’re worried about, say, talking to your boss, then the evil is not the talking to him, but some awful outcome actually occurring from the discussion. If you dread talking to your boss, do it, and things end up going more or less fine, then it counts as a (1.) A 2a, by contrast, means you leave the meeting thinking “That was as awful as I expected it to be.”

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Mark 15:

25 It was the third hour when they crucified him.

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33 When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

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Without a sundial, Mark rounded the time to the 3rd, 6th, and 9th hour.

John suggested a later time for Jesus' crucifixion in 19:

14 It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

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Did they crucify Jesus in the 3rd or the 6th hour?

Probably somewhere in between. The following is from Got Question:

This may be a case of expecting modern scientific precision from an ancient book. Carson puts it this way: “More than likely we are in danger of insisting on a degree of precision in both Mark and John which, in the days before watches, could not have been achieved. The reckoning of time for most people, who could not very well carry sundials and astronomical charts, was necessarily approximate. If the sun was moving toward mid-heaven, two different observers might well have glanced up and decided respectively that it was ‘the third hour’ or ‘about the sixth hour’” (p. 605).

Taking all the evidence together, Jesus was crucified at some time in the morning, and He died at some time in the afternoon. He would have spent somewhere between three and six hours on the cross, with a good portion of that time in total darkness. The gospel writers were not overly interested in precision in this matter. They were far more concerned with the theological implications, which they faithfully recorded.

“Have you ever thought of the Father dealing with you, not as to what you are in yourself (one possessing a sin nature but forgiven and accepted—NC), but as to where He has positioned you in His Son (your “condition” cannot affect your “position”—NC)? Have you ever thought that it is the affections of the Father’s heart which flow down to us where we are, seeing us in the Son, not in our poor wretched selves? What we were in the old man is not the thing to scan, but what we are, and where we are, in the Son; and what there is in the living affections of the Father, who has raised us up together with His Son, and has given us all heavenly blessings in Him.”— George Vicesimus Wigram (1805-1879).

“The lack I fine in souls is, that while they know that their sins are forgiven, they do not know their new place. What place have you” Is it earth or heaven (Christians presently have the surety of heaven waiting for them—NC)? It could not possible be earth, for Christ was rejected from the earth (majority of mankind will never believe in God - Matt 7:13, 14—NC). It has a great moral effect upon a person to be able to say, “I have a place in heaven, I have no property on earth at all, it is all in heaven. It is the Lord’s property I have on earth (1Co 10:26), but in heaven I have my own place (Jhn 14:2, 3; Rev 3:21-27). In the Garden of Eden man lost his place (which God foreknew would be, even when instructing Adam not to partake of the “Tree”—NC); man is lost, but the question to him then is first, “Where art thou?” Then, “What have you done” (The two questions implies that the Lord was aware of their endeavor to hide themselves from Him - Albert Barnes—NC)? Every believer seeks to be clear as to the latter, but very few are clear about the former (many believers do not understand about heaven waiting for them because they do not understand the doctrine of “eternal security,” but are yet forevermore saved—NC).—J B Stoney (1814-1897).”

“Most do not go beyond His resurrection; they do not extend to His ascension (eternal security or “perseverance of the saints” confirms they are presently with Christ while He is in heaven via omnipresence - Jhn 3:13 KJV—NC). They are occupied with Him in relation to their own side. He was at my side and glorified the Father perfectly in His walk and death here; but He is now on His own side, and it is here I intelligently realize the vastness of my life in Him, for He is my Life (Col 3:4; Gal 2:20). His death, resurrection and ascension translated the believer from his own side to His side, so that “as He is so are we in this world” (1Jo 4:17); and according as we are at full rest about ourselves (permanently saved—NC), we are occupied with Him who has set us free.”—J B Stoney

“Our growth is wrought out in our lives down here; but it is formed up There in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, where our affections and minds get into the condition to be manifested down here.”—J N Darby (1800–1882) (Note: he was a was prominent figure among the original Plymouth Brethren and the father of dispensationalism)

“’Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth’ (Col 3:2). For this I need to keep my heart more fixed upon the Place where the Lord Jesus is. Nothing will draw my heart there like dwelling on the delight the Father has that I should be there, and the delight of the One who has brought me there. There I learn the blessedness and the freshness of His love, and there I become qualified to stand for Him in the place where He is not.”—J B S

“The grace that saves from death and judgement with permanent forgiveness of sins, is much clouded with uncertainty (many will not understand the permanency of faith and salvation, which is understandable considering the passages that appear to refute these truths, but actually supports them when closely examined with the rest of Scripture—NC); so that the fullness of grace in seating us in the Lord Jesus in heaven (Eph 2:6) is rarely heard of, much less known and believed in as a present reality. No wonder therefore, that the ground of an earthly people (Israel) is accepted, and Jewish things initiated (many Christians mistakenly claim Israel’s blessings—NC); as if what was should still be in experience and practice, rather than what is, since Christ has come and is gone back in heaven. Eternal redemption, eternal life, present seated position in Christ before the Father, in the abiding rest and peace of a complete salvation, are nevertheless for today. Happy they who receive in their simplicity these blessed realities as beyond all question”—G Gardner

(Note: believers who miss these spiritual growth truths remain saved, but will undergo unnecessary, but not overbearing, difficulties - 1Co 10:13. God never fails to eventually get us through our trials and “hardness”; but the more mature we are in Christ (Eph 4:15), the quicker and easier we “patiently” learn to endure them - Rom 12:12—NC).






MJS daily devotion for August 14

“At first the heart hunger for maturity in the Lord Jesus is personal, subjective—and necessarily so. Later, when the path to maturity is known and entered upon, this hunger is projected to His Body, and becomes sacrificially objective.”—MJS

“The great lack in servants is not having a sufficiently self-less walk, because you cannot lead anyone beyond where you have been led yourself. Moses was himself many years in the wilderness before he led the people (40 years with Jethro and 40 years in the wilderness with God’s people—NC). I cannot ask anyone to leave anything that I have not left myself. It is not the man who sees defects, but the man who removes them who is being used of God.”

“Will you choose the path of death that others may have life? Will you choose to ‘fill up the afflictions of Christ for His Bride’s sake’? But what does it mean? It means living, weeping, suffering, loving with infinite patience, infinite tenderness, unwearied love for every member of the Body of Christ. It means the whole being bound up, not in your own progress, but in the progress of the Body of Christ. It means sinking all the personal element into the service of God, wanting neither credit, nor notice, nor recognition. It means an utter dropping of yourself, and a handing over of yourself to God to be poured out for His Body’s sake, the Church.”

“The unwearied care of our Father for us, His patient grace, His gentleness, His leading us on from the world nearer, in spirit, to Himself, indicate what should be the character of our love’s activity towards one another. Our joy in the Father’s presence, as He Himself and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, are made manifest to our hearts, gives us the character of the joy of true fellowship one with another.”—Henry Forbes Witherby (1836-1907)

fli said:

I have heard some Christians claim that Satan was able to make Eve eat the fruit because she added to God's word. For me to agree with that accusation I would need a verse that said God or Adam told her not to eat of the tree. Nowhere is there any verse that states just how Eve heard of the restriction. Minus that, to accuse her of adding to God's word is bearing witness against her without all the facts. I agree that Adam may well have told her to not touch the tree.

In your post you state that “when Eve sinned” and the context is she sinned by eating the fruit. Let's see if God agrees with that statement.

Genesis 3:14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, …....... NKJV

God blamed the Serpent for his part in the event.

Genesis 3:17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': NKJV

God blamed Adam because he obeyed Eve's voice instead of heeding God's warning concerning eating fruit from the tree.

Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; NKJV


He tells her that for her childbirth will now be in pain and her husband will now rule over her. I do not see any because in the statement God made to her.

She ate the fruit first.

Romans 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. NKJV

The Holy Spirit states that Adam sinned.

Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. NKJV

When Adam sinned all of creation fell into sin. God subjected the world to futility when Adam sinned, which could explain what happened to Eve after the fall.

1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. NKJV

The Holy Spirit agrees that Eve was deceived and fell into sin. By Romans 8: 20 all of creation fell into sin.

Without supporting scripture, I will not accuse Eve of sinning because she ate the fruit.

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No, it was not Eve who added to the word of God. The error was ENTIRELY Adam's. Eve is UNDER Adam's Spiritual COVERING. It is ADAM that is made in God's image. Eve is made in man's IMAGE AND IN FACT SHE IS CREATED BY TAKING A rib from Adam. GOD spoke to Adam, Adam spoke to Eve, Adam's failure is first he ADDS to God's word when she saw that it was delightful to the eye and NOTHING happened by TOUCHING IT she deduced that the Serpent was telling the truth and ADAM WAS A LIAR. Add to that fact that Adam was not with Eve which allowed Satan to deceive and get Eve to fall. Instead of IMMEDIATELY going to God to fix this horror show Adam ignored seeking Gods face but decided to EAT the Fruit knowingly SINNING, and He fell also. Eve was truthful with God and said to God that I was decided by the serpent... ADAM tried to BLAME GOD... When God asked Adam what happened he says IT WAS THE WOMAN YOU GAVE ME...

JM said:

I'm an stodgy old right-winger who prefers historically approved works, those that have lasted over time.

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On this we agree entirely. I regard Barth as not Orthodox, but since much of my work involves studying non-orthodox theology so as to be able to differentiate it from Orthodox theology, it would be useful to have, although frankly I hope I can find an electronic edition, because of how much room it takes up, which I would rather have for the set of ancient Orthodox hymnals which I presently have only in electronic form known as the Monthly Menaion.

She's just a different hand puppet, controlled by the Democratic Party and the Lavender Mafia. Just like Joe, she won't make any decisions, enact any decrees, decide any policies, or even have any original thoughts or words----it'll all come from her handlers.

Joe was too feeble to lead the country, and Harris (please excuse my bluntness) is too stupid to lead the country. All the decisions are made by a committee made up of Democratic operatives and lobbyist groups.

May they rest in peace.

Making marks in a Bible just feels wrong to me. If I want to take notes I'll write them out on a separate piece of paper. The exception to that would be if there are extra pages in the front for another use, like filling out your name or a family tree if it's intended to be a family Bible.

Vambram said:

If you want to buy an EV, please go ahead and do so. In my state and in many, many other states, an EV simply isn't a good or practical solution to drive as compared to gasoline or diesel vehicles.

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I'm not going to buy an electric. The vehicles I own have a good many miles left in them, maybe more than I do. You'll just have to keep your car on the road a while longer, too.

May 10, 2022 is the day the FBI raided my home and office. One year later I was facing 20-years in Prison. One year after that I was called and ordained as a Pastor, set free from jail, marriage restored, and now serve God daily in full time ministry in Las Vegas.

It took God's agents (Romans 13) to finally set me free. I was locked in the bondage of lust and pornography for over 40 years, since the age of 9. But God is very patient and filled with mercy and grace. I used to see everything through the lens of sex. Now, like Elisha, God has lifted the veil from my eyes to see into the spiritual realm, and I no longer see anyone as an object of desire, except my beautiful wife.

For 12 years the devil took the words "I love you" out of the mouths of me and my wife, and we never kissed or had intimacy in those 12 years. Now God has restored that, and He is snatching all of those defeats right out of the hands of the devil... and turning them into testimonies.

No matter how dark and depraved you have fallen, God will always be there, waiting to rescue you. Hallelujah!