This is the second interview with Sandy on mercy and forgiveness. It was interesting to do this, but I find Zoom difficult.

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This is the second interview with Sandy on mercy and forgiveness. It was interesting to do this, but I find Zoom difficult.

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2PhiloVoid said:

I don't believe we're subject any longer to "generational curses."

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I don't know. It's already been 2000 years since Jesus. An actual Hebrew Generation is approximately 30 years, so we only have 28,000 years of mercy left! Getting nervous!

Mr. M said:

The apostolic doctrines most certainly do not
interpret eternal life as a blessed assurance,
but a blessed hope.

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1 Peter 1:

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again

to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away,

reserved in heaven for you,

5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation

ready to be revealed in the last time.

Philippians 3:

10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,

and the fellowship of his sufferings,

being made conformable unto his death;

11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect:

but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also

I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:

but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,

and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high

calling of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded:

and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded,

God shall reveal even this unto you.

16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained,

let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

Jesus began talking with the crowds and with his disciples, warning them against becoming like the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. They were so caught up in the externals of religion and with following their traditions that they failed to show love, justice and mercy. And they twisted and distorted the word of God for their own advantage.

They were hypocrites, for they did not practice what they preached. They loved to be honored and recognized in public places, and worked hard at appearing righteous on the outside, though they were full of wickedness on the inside. (See Matthew 23:1-39)

And Jesus is still warning us against such attitudes and hypocrisy in our own lives, and against following after such leaders or becoming just like them.

Seven Woes

An Original Work / May 31, 2012
Based off Matthew 23

Woe to you, teachers of the law;
Hypocrites, you keep men from God.
You refuse to obey the truth,
Nor will you permit others to.
You travel o’er land and sea
To win a single convert to you.
When he becomes one
You make him twice as much
A “son of hell” as you are.

Woe to you, blind guides of mankind.
You distort the words of your God.
By your practices you declare
Your oaths mean nothing, though you swear.
You give a tenth of your spices,
But you neglect justice, mercy.
When you focus your
Time and talents on
What is external, you miss out.

Woe to you, who appear so clean,
When inside you are crass and mean.
You work hard to look so upright,
While you hide all your sins inside.
You deceive yourselves when you think
You would not have done what others
Did to God’s messengers
And prophets of old,
For you will do much the same.
You’re to blame.

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To be an imitator of God is to be one of his followers, one who emulates him in character, mind, heart, and purpose, and who follows him in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). And God’s will and purpose for our lives is that we believe on Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who is God, the second person of our triune God, that we deny self, die to sin (not just once but daily), and that we follow him in obedience to his commands.

And if we are followers of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – then we will be those who make it our practice to deny self, die daily to sin, and to follow our Lord in obedience. We will walk in his ways and in his truth, and we will follow him wherever he leads us in ministry. We will be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit living within us each day so that we are guided by the Spirit in our daily walks of fellowship with our Lord in holy living.

For our faith in Jesus Christ is not solely for the purpose of getting our sins forgiven so that we can go to heaven when we die. In fact, without surrender of our lives to Jesus Christ, and to his will and purpose for our lives, and without the forsaking of our sins and our walks of obedience to his commands, our faith in the Lord is not faith at all, but just lip service. And Jesus will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of iniquity.”

For our salvation from sin is not a get-out-of-jail-free-card, but it is deliverance from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin so that we can now live holy lives, pleasing to our Lord, in service to him, according to his will and purpose for our lives. Every day we must put our faith in our Lord in practice by how we conduct our lives in moral purity, uprightness, honesty, faithfulness, integrity, obedience, and submission to the will of God.

Basically, when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to righteousness. So, sin is no longer to be what we practice, but righteousness and obedience to our Lord are to be what we practice. But if obedience is not our practice, but sin is, we will die.

And then we are to walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But this is not human love, but it is a love which prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, just, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, and faithful, etc. So, we prefer to live through Christ, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power, according to his will and purpose for our lives, for the glory of God.

And to walk has to do with how we conduct our lives day in and day out, and all throughout our day, no matter what we are doing. For our Lord is not just our Savior from sin so that when we die we get to go to heaven, but he is now owner and master of our lives and our lives are to be surrendered to him to doing his will, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all during our waking hours. So our lives are daily to be guided by the Holy Spirit.

And we should have open communication between us and our Lord all throughout our days, every day of the week, and any hour of the day or night. And in this way the Lord can speak to us at any time and guide us in what to do or in what to say or to write or to whom to speak or to do something for or to pray for or to encourage in some way. For the Christian life and practice should be a full-time assignment from our Lord to us.

And everything else in our lives should stem from our relationships with our Lord in service to him, with him directing our lives and giving us the power and strength and wisdom that we need to follow him wherever he leads us in obedience to his commands and in service to him as our Lord. And daily we should be drawing on his strength and wisdom and guidance to know where to go and what to say and what to do or to not do, so that we please him.

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-26; Matt 7:21-23; Titus 2:11-14; Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]

Seek the Lord

An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”

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I'd just like to go on record saying that the earliest we can see into the universes past right now (which right now currently is the JWST I think) we are still seeing stars and solar systems, and fully formed galaxies, etc. It's a bit hotter, and more dense (somewhat) but that's as far back as we can see that we have evidence for/of right now, etc.

I know, some are going to say "Well, how did it (the universe) get that way or start out that way (hotter and denser than normal) or how did it come into being without a "big bang" then, etc? And I'd just like to say that there are other possible alternatives, etc, and other possible explanations as to why it might have started out a little bit hotter, and more dense back then than normal, etc, and that there are other possibilities, etc. But if we are all going to be 100% honest "scientists" here, then we have to say that we do not yet have any proof that there was any "big bang" yet, but that it is only an assumption right now, etc. Now maybe one day we'll have and get more proof, but right now, we just don't have it yet, etc.

I don't think the universe is expanding any longer from that center where the big bang might have happened though, because we see no evidence of that, whereas maybe we should by now with what we can see/observe of the universe now, etc. If there was a big bang, then it (the universe) stopped expanding from that center almost immediately right after it supposedly happened, etc, and the only quote/unquote "expansion" that is happening now, is in equal uniformity equally everywhere, with nowhere as the center of it, etc.

Still could have been a big bang maybe, but it is also still right now (until we have more evidence) just as equally possible I think that maybe there was not one right now maybe (at least, not until we are able to get or gather more evidence), etc. And I'm guessing that that's why it's still called a "theory" right now, etc. But let's not all make the mistake of thinking that the big bang theory is on par with say, the theory of evolution right now, ok. Because it's just "not" yet, etc, ok.

God Bless.

Dave Darling said:

Hey I just found this online, apparently Columbia University (the elite school in New York City) is offering online coursework in Cyber Security

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My son is a computer engineer. He builds networks for major drug companies. Although the company he works for just got a contract with SpaceX in Texas. The school he graduated from only graduated half of his class. The other half flunked out on a curve. I hear the elite schools are more difficult to get into but they graduate a much higher percentage. Like medical school is difficult to get into but they graduate 85% of the class.

The people in these schools are very happy because of the people they associate with in the program they are in. These are very high caliber people. Even in high school he had friends that were getting $90,000 scholarships' to school that most people can not even get into. We had a foreign exchange student and it was difficult for him to get into a engineering program. But he did find a school and he did graduate.

Schools that are easy to get into graduage 50% and schools that are difficult to get into graduate 95%. Bill Gates for example was a part of that 5% that dropped out of Harvard University.

From what I read Rhema is more of the word of God packaged as a verbal declaration. Logos just means recorded which when you think about it Logos was once Rhema when it came by revelation. I think some allow their minds to get confused over this and they use it as an excuse for some subjects of their not getting victory in but not others. I've heard some say you can't just take the Bible what it says for healing....by his stripes you were healed.....but they jump in and claim well you need that to become a rhema to you for it to be real.....so God hasn't revealed it to you......

Big problem with that is they don't or would never apply that to other Bible subjects. The same Bible says we're to forgive or we're to seek to walk in love......we don't see them say well God's got to make that a Rhema to me.....why shouldn't they? It's the same Bible. No they say look you can see it and choose to obey it. So with all other things I'd say too.

wing2000 said:

...a good guy who is well trained on the use of that gun. But, you know, those California criminals are so much more dangerous than say Oklahoma City criminals.

Alas, I don't think the agent was on duty and was proabably caught off guard. The police report noted it took place in a residential area in Tustin, CA. (Note, at the the time, Biden was nearly 1 hour away at the Peacock Theatre in L.A. ).

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Oh good, Biden has an alibi. I thought for sure someone was going to accuse him of robbing the agent.

-- A2SG, wouldn't be the wildest theory I've heard....

Hello folks. Remember this classic Christian adage? "Love the sinner, hate the sin"? Today, we will delve into just that, using two Bible verses. This is something that I sometimes struggle with, but hey, let us dive into Amos and Jude together, brothers and sisters.

FredVB said:

Any disobedience to God is what we should be concerned with. We are alienated from being in relationship with God with having that still. We would still have salvation with being believers, so we would not have the mark of the beast, if it were already coming. There are things yet to come, ahead of that. We should not remain here, with any of the cities of civilization, it is not meant for the people of God. To have the image of God we should obediently have good stewardship to the earth, God's dominion is not destructive. God hates the destruction from people to this earth, see Revelation 11:18. It will all collapse, see Isaiah 24. This is what the fall of Mystery Babylon is about, and meanwhile so many argue their position like arguing how many angels can dance together on a head of a pin. We have responsibility and we can't just stay here, with doing those things still needed. The one prophesied to be like a beast will come still, with promises to rebuild everything and will deceive many, with not having any godliness in what would be brought, that one should not be followed, and the people of God should not be fooled by him. Staying away from centers of civilization is much much better

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As a Christian environmentalist concerned about climate change - I am sympathetic to your argument that we should not be 'destroying the earth'. There are plenty of good gifts we can use in this material world - but we need to champion both people AND planet - both human life and the biosphere - and my (mostly secular) blog is all about how we can do that. But avoiding big cities is NOT one of them. Why? Because it is both a good environmental strategy and gospel opportunity to live in cities. I have seen missionary organisations with good hearts go out and serve people in various far flung villages - and those people were grateful for the medical charity care they received but only a few responded to the gospel (for various ethnic and local cultural reasons.) But if the same mission had focussed on the young people going through university age in that country, I'm sure if converted those smart university people would have gone on to do great things for promoting the gospel in their country that would eventually feed out to the villages as well. It's just more strategic.

So here I can only conclude that something in your eschatology has so overwhelmed you that you may have forgotten the Great Commission and urgency of the overall thrust of the whole bible? God acting to save human beings. The gospel! The message we need to share. That's the real priority - NOT some weird end-times table that may nor may not play out according to whatever events you are imagining.

The question is not, “Is God able?”
For our Bible’s not a fable.
The question then is, “Are you willing
To surrender, your life giving?”

When Jesus gave His life up for us,
Died on that cross, so He’d free us.
So He, in His death, conquered our sin
So that we might walk in freedom.

So, there’s no question, “Can it happen?”
Hope has conquered. There is freedom!
We must believe it, then receive it,
Put our trust in God, our witness.

Our God is able sin to conquer.
Give Him your life. Give Him honor.
Then you will walk in vict’ry o’er sin,
Praising Jesus, free now within.

But, are you willing?

An Original Work / June 8, 2018

Hammster said:

That’s not true. But since you don’t want to see the evidence, then we are at an impasse.

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Yes, possibly an impassible impasse. And yet, I figure that someday, decades from now in another place, we may well meet and one of us will have gained the privilege to shake their finger and say, "See, I told you so." Except that it won't matter by then .

Meanwhile, thanks again for another engaging while sometimes frustrating and always reasonably civil conversation.

Michie said:

PARIS (AP) — As athletes rev up their training and organizers finalize everything from ceremonies to podiums before the Paris Olympics, more than 120 faith leaders are preparing for a different challenge — spiritually supporting some 10,000 Olympic athletes from around the world, especially those whose medal dreams will inevitably get crushed.

Continued below.

In secular France, chaplains prepare to provide Olympians with spiritual support during the Games

More than 120 faith leaders are preparing for an Olympic challenge — how to spiritually support some 14,000 athletes and their staff who will take part in the Paris Games.

apnews.com

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God bless these chaplains. Also, I pray for the conversion of France to Christianity as a whole.

RDKirk said:

People on both the far left and the far right agree...those guys might also be outlaws.

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If it comes from the far right and far left you can bet it's probably wrong.

rockytopva said:

@AlexB23 @Mr. M Thank you for the likes and blessings on the both of you.

And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. - 1 Kings 19:13-14

Being part of the modern day seven thousand ought to be something to delight in...

2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying,
3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. - Romans 11

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You are welcome.

Grip Docility said:

Martyrs faced death without fear, thanks to Christ's work and ticket HOME! We are Heaven bound! All Love to you, Brother in Him! Wonderful Scriptural Study! I Love it!

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Amen to this. Martyrdom connects somewhat with 2 Timothy 3:12.

Georgia 2nd Congressional District Primary Runoff
Wayne Johnson wins. AP race call at 4:23 p.m. on June 18, 2024.


estimates75% of votes counted

WarriorAngel said:

This is why purgatory is so full up. Imagine if most humans were all Saintly.
We miss the mark. At least one part of each day.

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Well said. I’m far from perfect and am willing to admit it

Michie said:

They want to be the change.

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Agreed. They want to corrupt the Church from the inside.

Glad that church had it's eyes open.