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But Have Not Love

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

Now, if we want to understand this passage of Scripture in its correct context, it is very helpful if we can look at the Greek word for love, which is agape, and see what this love is all about. For this is not human love which is based in our emotions or that is based in the one we are loving, but this is love which comes from God and which prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commandments under the New Covenant.

For this love engages doing for others what God prefers that we do whether or not our emotions feel the love. For we can even love those who hate us and who mistreat us and who do evil against us. We can do for them and to them what is loving and kind and godly even if our emotions are hurting from how they treated us. For this love centers in moral preference and it comes from God and so it will love like God loves us. For even when we were the Lord’s enemies, Jesus Christ died for us on that cross.

Now there are people who are misinterpreting this passage of Scripture because they are interpreting “love” with human understanding and not with biblical understanding. So they might end up condemning those who are living righteously and who are loving biblically because they are thinking humanly and not biblically. For they want the kind of love that just makes other people feel good about themselves, even if it requires lying to them and withholding the truth from them in order to make them feel good.

But in reality, a lot of that kind of “love” is selfish, and so it only says to others what makes them feel good because they want others to like them and to not turn against them. So they are not really loving like God loves, thinking about what is truly best for us, for what we need, but it is a very fleshly “love” that is often more about pleasing self than acting in true biblical love towards others. And so some of these people will condemn those who are loving biblically if that requires speaking the truth in love.

So, we need to understand this love from a biblical and godly perspective and realize that this isn’t all just about making other people feel good. Now are we to be encouragers? Absolutely! Are we to be those who make it a point to thank others and to acknowledge them and their accomplishments and who do acts of kindness towards others? Absolutely! But we are not to neglect agape love which considers other people’s true needs and which reaches out to meet those needs, even if it engages confronting sin.

So this agape love is not all about making everyone feel good about themselves all the time. There has to be a balance. For when God loves us, sometimes he encourages us in ways that bring us joy and happiness and that feel good to our emotions. And other times he encourages us more in a way of exhortation or urging where he may even have to correct us and warn us and convict us of wrongdoing in order to get us to turn about, to turn away from what is evil, and to follow the ways of righteousness.

So, my point here is that if someone is truly exercising spiritual gifts of the Spirit of God in biblical ways, then this is going to involve the kind of love which feels good to our emotions but also the kind of love that may not feel good, at the moment, but what is needed, and what is necessary, and what is truly loving and kind. For it is thinking about what the other person truly needs and not just about how it is going to make them feel at the moment. And this involves laying our lives down for others for their ultimate good.

But there is a balance to be required here. We can be overly harsh, and that is not good, and we can be overly soft, and that is not good. Jesus is a wonderful example for us in how he dealt with other people and in the words that he spoke to them and in the things that he did for them. He had the right balance, but then he is God. But he was still man, too, when he walked this earth. So just because someone is called of God to speak the truth of the Scriptures, in love, that is not to be taken as being unloving or unkind.

For, again, agape love prefers what God prefers which is all that is honest, faithful, upright, and morally pure, etc. And so agape love is not going to compromise the truth of the gospel and the teachings of the Scriptures in order to make people feel good. For we can encourage other humans in ways that do not compromise truth and righteousness and godliness and still be loving and kind. Again, balance! But balance is not compromise when it comes to biblical truth and righteousness and obedience to our Lord.

Yet it is true that if we have spiritual gifts, but we do not exercise them in agape love, then we have gained nothing. And this doesn’t require that everyone else see that what we are doing is “love,” but that we are truly doing for others what is in preference to what God prefers, which is all that is righteous, godly, morally pure, and honest, etc. and which does not compromise truth and righteousness just to make people feel good so that they will like us and not think evil of us. Again, Jesus is our example.

[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]

To Be Like Him

An Original Work / March 16, 2014
Based off Scripture


Crucified you are with Jesus.
To be like Him, oh, you’ll be,
Because He died at Calv’ry,
So from sin you’d be free.
Oh, what joy He brings into your life,
Giving life with Him endlessly.

Oh, what plans He has for your life.
Share the gospel faithfully.
Show the people He loves them.
Now His witness you’ll be.
Tell the world of sin about Jesus,
How He died for them on a tree.

Purifying hearts, He saves them,
Who believe on Christ, God’s Son.
Turning now from their idols,
New lives they have begun.
Jesus saves from sin; we’re forgiven.
Over sin, the vict’ry He won!

When He comes again to take us
To be with Him evermore,
There will be no more crying.
Gladness will be in store.
Heavens joys will now overtake us:
We’ll be with our Lord evermore.

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A Baptist Case for Real Presence in the Eucharist

I believe it would be safe to say that God does not judge us solely on our actions, but perhaps even more so on our intentions, on where our hearts are. If we hurt someone but our intention was loving, that's different in God's eyes than if we do it with the actual intention to hurt.

It makes sense that our intention to partake of Christ is necessary to actually receive the grace from ingesting the bread and wine. That's probably why the Catholic Church requires that one go to Confession before Communion. Confession is an expression of one's intention to receive Christ in the Eucharist. In other words, that you are taking it seriously, not just going along with the crowd.

This was a very interesting video.
Thank you for posting it.
The Baptist connection is surprising.
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GovTrack deleted their 2019 page showing Harris to be the most liberal senator.

Good grief...Harris is a liberal? Why wasn't I told!

I thought that all her talk about gun control, climate change, women's rights, education and health was just a cover for her far right views. I'm so glad this despicable charade has been uncovered.
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St. Irenaeus of Lyon: the legacy of the early Church father and doctor of unity

People are fond of reading more out of Scripture than was written in to it, in an understandable desire to fill in blank places. We are not told whether they were mature or not, so it is an unsubstantiated assumption to say that they were one or the other. It seems to be very difficult for some people to simply say, "We don't know."
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Chain of Grace by Dallas Holm

As always, my friend, it is a blessing to me to be able to share Christian music with all of my friends.
Amen. It is a blessing to live in the internet age, as we can share our faith and Christian music of all eras through digital platforms, even though I like the 20th century, the 21st century has benefits.
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Anti-Israel rioters burn US flag, attempt to breach Capitol Police line as Netanyahu addresses Congress

There is nothing unChristian about flying a US flag as a patriotic gesture--this is America after all. But it's just a flag, not a fetish.
Agreed. That is true as well. :) For myself, I just had to do some housecleaning and keep my focus on God and drop stuff of this world, though for other things, it can be hard to drop worldly stuff. Patriotism has become harder for me after 2016 or so due to events that happened around then.
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My Incomprehensible nightmare

I thought they were trying to help me figure out why my brain isn't functioning properly)
In psalm 139 16 we read: " all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.". God has our life planned out for us from the beginning and we need to pray and ask Him to help us become the person He created us to be. They already told you about being born again and putting on the mind of Christ. Our job is to worship God and bring Him Praise, Honor and Glory. So we need to line ourselves up with Him and His plan and purpose for us and our life. In some cases we may not fully understand until we go to Heaven and then we will understand why we go through what we go through in our life here. You can rest and know God has all of this worked out for you and He will bring it to pass. We just need to trust in Him and He will never ever disappoint us. So continue to rejoice in the Lord and be glad. As they say the joy of the LORD is our strength.
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The Name by Disciple

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Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him (Psalm 9:10)
How I have proven Him over and over (Psalm 18:30)
I will not bow my knee to any other God but You (Exodus 20:3 & 23:24; Daniel 3:17-18)

The One I live and I die for (Romans 14:8)
Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14)
Prince of Peace, Jesus (Isaiah 9:6)

I will not be afraid to speak Your Name (Hebrews 13:6)
I don’t care if they drag me off in chains (2 Timothy 2:9)
No power from Hell can shake my faith (Luke 10:19)
I’m not afraid to speak Your Name (Acts 4:29)
This body will starve these bones will break (2 Corinthians 4:8-18)
But as long as I’ve got the lungs to breathe (Psalm 104:33)
I will not be afraid to speak Your Name

Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus (1 Peter 1:18-19)
Oh for the Grace to trust Him so much more (Colossians 2:6-7)
You gave it all and I will live to give it all back to You (2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:17)
The One I live and I die for (Romans 14:8)

Immanuel, God with us
King of kings, Jesus (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16)

I will not be afraid to speak your Name
The Name of Jesus, Jesus

I will never be ashamed (2 Timothy 1:8)
I will be bold for Christ (Ephesians 6:19)
And bring honor to His Name whether I live or die (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Dear X you Don't Own me by Disciple (Concert Video)

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Dear pain, oh, it's been a long time
Remember when you were holding me tight
I would stay awake with you all night
Dear shame, I was safe in your arms
You were there when it all fell apart
I would get so lost in your beautiful lies
I let you go but you're still chasing


Go ahead, you're never going to take me
You can bend, but you're never going to break me
I was yours, I'm not yours anymore
O-oh you don't own me


Dear hate, I know you're not far
You would wait at the door of my heart
I was amazed at the passion in your cries
Dear anger, you made me so high
You were faithful to show up on time
Such a flame that was burning in your eyes
I let you go, but you're still chasing


Go ahead, you're never going to take me
You can bend, but you're never going to break me
I was yours, I'm not yours anymore
O-oh you don't own me
Go ahead, put a target on my forehead
You can fire, but you've got no bullet
I was yours, I'm not yours anymore
O-oh you don't own me


You tempted me to look back
But everything that we had together was a lie

Go ahead, you're never going to take me
You can bend, but you're never going to break me
I was yours, I'm not yours anymore
O-oh you don't own me

Go ahead, put a target on my forehead
You can fire, but you've got no bullet
I was yours, I'm not yours anymore
O-oh you don't own me

Go ahead, put a target on my forehead
You can fire, but you've got no bullet
I was yours, I'm not yours anymore
O-oh you don't own me
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The Executioner by Disciple

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I never was the picture of a model son
A crooked criminal they caught holding the gun
It got so hard to see the truth from all the lies
Slowly becoming more and more what I despise
I never should've left my foot inside the door
Never content and always craving something more
I feel the darkness closing in on every side
It's time for something deep inside of me to die


The executioner puts the cross upon my back
How beautiful, the breath that is my last
Start praying over me last rites
I'm giving up the ghost inside
I'm hanging on the nails I drive
This cross is where I come to die
And I've waited so long
This is the hill I'll die on
Start praying over me last rites
This cross is where I come to die

You're not allowed to see the cards against my chest
I never trust nobody with my wretchedness
So I sit and try to fight this fight alone
I fake allegiance, can't decide which side I'm on
So I scream, beat my head against the wall
Forget the walk, can't even crawl
I abuse the wounds that grace healed
You say you love me, but it's hard to love myself

The executioner puts the cross upon my back
How beautiful, the breath that is my last
Start praying over me last rites
I'm giving up the ghost inside
I'm hanging on the nails I drive
This cross is where I come to die
And I've waited so long
This is the hill I'll die on

Start praying over me last rites
This cross is where I come to die!
Let the hammer swing down
I've made my peace
Said my goodbyes
There's no eulogies
When this convict dies

My beautiful executioner
My beautiful executioner
I've made my peace
Said my goodbyes
There's no eulogies
When this convict dies
I've made my peace
Said my goodbyes
There's no eulogies

Start praying over me last rites
I'm giving up the ghost inside
I'm hanging on the nails I drive
This cross is where I come to die
And I've waited so long
This is the hill I'll die on
Start praying over me last rites
This cross is where I come to die
Let the hammer swing down
I've made my peace
Said my goodbyes
There's no eulogies
This cross is where I come to die
  • Love
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(1- Having an unveiled face) By beholding we become changed (What is called Antinomianism is not Lawlessness)

This is very disingenuous of you to put it that way. I do NOT refuse to obey God's law which is summed up in the 2 greatest commandments. I try to love God with all my heart, soul and mind and love others as myself in everything I do, so don't lie about me. You just broke one of God's commandments here, so you need to repent of your lie.
If there is any part of the Mosaic Law that you refuse to obey, then you are a lawbreaker, so that is not lying. Everything commanded in the Mosaic Law is either in regard to how to love God or how to love our neighbor and a sum is inclusive of all of its parts, so by claiming to try to obey the greatest two commandments, you are also claiming to try to obey the Mosaic Law. If we love God and our neighbor, then we won't commit adultery, theft, murder, idolatry, rape, kidnapping, favoritism, and so forth for the rest of the Mosaic Law. What God was commanding to the Israelites two by giving the greatest two commandments does not mean something different from what Jesus was instructing us to do by quoting those commandments. The greatest two commandments are a lot easier said than done, so thankfully God gave us all of the other commandments to flesh out what it looks like to correctly obeying them. Someone who was correctly obeying the greatest two commandments would be indistinguishable from someone who was correctly obeying the Mosaic Law because they would both be following the same example that Jesus set for us to follow.

What I'm saying is that we are not under the law of Moses and I am NOT saying that we can just ignore all 613 commandments in the law of Moses as if it doesn't matter if we put other gods before God or if we lie, murder or steal and so on.
The position that we are not under the Mosaic Law is the position that we can ignore all 613 of its commandments.

I again must tell you that Gentiles have NEVER been under the law of Moses but instead are under grace.
In Psalms 119:29, he wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Law of Moses, but you want God to be gracious to you instead of teaching you to obey it. The position that Gentiles have never been under the Mosaic Law is the position that Gentiles have never been obligated to refrain from doing what it reveals to be sin, that Gentiles have never needed salvation from sin, that Gentiles have never needed the Gospel message, that Gentiles have never needed grace, and that Gentiles have never needed Jesus to have given himself to redeem us from all lawlessness.

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
In Psalms 119:142, the Mosaic Law is truth, so grace and truth came through Jesus because he spent his ministry teaching his followers how to obey the Mosaic Law by word and by example. There is no "but" in the Greek, rather John 1:16 says grace upon grace, so it is speaking about about example of grace being added upon another.

And I believe you said before you don't follow all 613 commandments in the law of Moses. If you want to put yourself under the curse of the law, what gives you the right to pick and choose which of the 613 commandments you want to obey?
The Bible repeatedly says that the Mosaic Law is a blessing, so do you think that those verses are wrong? While there are illegitimate reasons for not following God's commandments, there are also legitimate ones based on what is instructed, and James 2:10 is only speaking against illegitimate reasons. For example, not even Jesus obeyed the commandments in regard to giving birth or to having a period because he was not a woman, and James 2:10 is not suggesting that that means Jesus was a lawbreaker. Likewise, Deuteronomy 17:18 gives a law that is only for the King of Israel.
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Familiar faces: Left-wing dark money groups fuel violent DC protest backing Hamas

I agree with the Prime Minister of Israel who said that the pro-Palestinian protests whom also happen to be gay are Iran's "useful idiots."
There has never been any doubt at all in my mind that the dark money funding all of the so-called pro-Palestinian protestors has been coming from organizations that receive money from terrorist factions as well as far left wing billionaire globalists.
KJP and her friends would be thrown off of a rooftop if they visited some of those radical Islamists.
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To Understand The “Mark”, One Must First understand The Trumpet Judgements.

a comprehensive story of how a God of love will divide a world of eight billion individuals of religious diversity into just two groups, those who will worship Jesus and those who refuse.
Start with a faulty premise, and well, you know, the thing...
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4,000-year-old Tablet Describes Ancient ‘Lunchables’ of Cheese and Meat Carried in a Box

Kasseri is also the Greek word for yellow cheese made from fermented curds of sheep and goats milk.

Early Greek was one of the first languages to evolve from PIE.

The Dutch use kaas for cheese. Kaas is also the origin of the English 'cheese'. Latin had caseus and Scots, Welsh and Irish Gaelic all use a similar word. Gaelic is based on Celtic which was originally spoken throughout Europe and may be a cousin to Latin. In Spanish cheese is queso while Basque uses gazta as its version of 'cheese'.

With the exception of Basque, all these languages are in the PIE family which originated some 5,000 years ago on the steppes just north of the Black Sea.

OB
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Gab owner says Trump shooter may have had pro-Biden social media account

'Approximately 30 minutes ago, Gab learned that Thomas Crooks, the deranged Joe Biden supporter who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump, may have had an account on our platform,' Gab owner Andrew Torba posted on X Wednesday afternoon.

Andrew Torba, the owner of alternative social media platform Gab.com, has announced that Donald Trump’s now-deceased attempted assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, may have had an account on his platform in which he posted a number of times seemingly in support of “President Biden’s COVID lockdowns, border policies and executive orders.” Torba says he was only made aware of the alleged account after receiving an “emergency disclosure request from a law enforcement agency.”

“Approximately 30 minutes ago, Gab learned that Thomas Crooks, the deranged Joe Biden supporter who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump, may have had an account on our platform,” Torba posted on X Wednesday afternoon. “We are unable to confirm that the account in question actually belonged to him.”

Continued below.
Also from that post, and setting off my conspiracy alarms is: "News of the Gab account potentially linked to Crooks follows shortly after another bombshell report from earlier this week found that devices that “regularly visited” the would-be assassin’s home and place of work also visited a location near Secret Service headquarters as well as FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C."
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US homelessness up 12% to highest reported level as rents soar and coronavirus pandemic aid lapses

Why clearing homeless camps is harder in California than most states. Will Supreme Court make it easier?

But thanks to a series of rulings by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, public officials in California and eight other Western states face greater scrutiny and legal challenges when they move to clear encampments or relocate homeless people — even when the local laws are virtually the same as those used by cities outside the 9th Circuit.
But no other federal appellate court has followed the 9th Circuit’s legal reasoning and now the decisions are being challenged in the Supreme Court, which could take up the issue early next year.

Divided Supreme Court rules in major homelessness case that outdoor sleeping bans are OK

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places on Friday, overturning a California appeals court ruling that found such laws amount to cruel and unusual punishment when shelter space is lacking.

Gov. Gavin Newsom issues executive order for removal of homeless encampments in California

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, buoyed by a recent US Supreme Court decision, issued an executive order Thursday calling on state officials to begin taking down homeless encampments.

The move to begin dismantling thousands of encampments throughout California comes after the high court ruled last month in favor of an Oregon city that ticketed homeless people for sleeping outside.

“This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to deliver on common-sense measures to protect the safety and well-being of our communities,” Newsom added.

The case was the most significant appeal involving unhoused Americans to reach the Supreme Court in decades.
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Kamala boycotts our closest ally in the Middle East

Kamala meets our closest ally [sic] in the Middle East

Vice President Kamala Harris is meeting now with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the vice president’s ceremonial office.
“Welcome Mr. Prime Minister. I look forward to our conversation. We have a lot to talk about,” Harris said as she shook Netanyahu’s hand.
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Change the World by Dallas Holm

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Change the world, change the world,
We can change the world through pow’r in Jesus name.
Change the world, change the world,
We can change the world through pow’r in Jesus name.

Verse:
Don’t be shy, don’t be afraid,
Worry not what others say,
Though the world may think you strange,
Righteousness will have its day.

Chorus

Verse:
Truth will bring us liberty,
Lies will only bring us death.
Just speak the truth of God in pow’r
For as long as He gives breath.

Chorus

Bridge:
Put yourself aside, give your life away,
Crucify your pride, let the words you say
Speak His name to all, ev’ry soul in need,
You must heed the call till the bound are free.

Chorus
Oh, He died of a broken heart,
I’m so glad He came into this heart of mine.
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How do you come to terms with your adult child denounce her belief?

I sometimes blame myself or rethink if there is anything I could have done differently. I pray daily for her heart to turn back to God. What else can parent do?
First, you can stop blaming yourself.
That would be like crying over spilt milk.
If she is of right heart, God will let himself be found by her, and draw her to Christ. John 6:44; 1 Chronicles 28:9
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