The Liturgist said:

Furthermore, the idea that all conceptions except for that of the Theotokos are unclean contradicts the Scriptural statement that the marriage bed is undefiled.

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Undefiled marriage bed? Never heard that one before....where in Scripture is this found?

The Liturgist said:

We are conceived in sin, but are not corrupted by original sin as a result of our conception, but rather because the condition of hereditary sin applies in general and would be unavoidable.

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Using Scripture: Can you make that distinction between sin resulting from conception and the condition of hereditary sin? Never heard of that one either. There is no distinction post fall between hereditary conception and hereditary sin unless Scripture states there is. Trying to make post fall sex...into pre fall sex sounds like Platonism.

tonychanyt said:

What is the difference between justification and salvation?

Justification could mean God rendering a favorable verdict or a person demonstrating moral rightness.

Salvation could mean God saving a person for eternal life or just from a temporal danger.

Are they interchangeable?

No, not generally. Both justification and salvation are polysemantic. However, their meanings overlap when God justifies a person by pronouncing a favorable judgment on him and saving him for eternal life. Within that intersection of two meanings, the two words are interchangeable.

How do we know which meaning to apply?

That would depend on the specific verse and context.

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Justification is a declaration of not guilty, a sentence of acquittal.

Salvation is from the wrath of God on sin at the final judgment.

Both are by/through faith.

Vambram said:

What are those other ongoing factors?

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From what I've read - training bottlenecks (i.e. there's only one facility and its capacity is limited), insufficient pay for HCOL areas, extremely high stress, and inability to select the location of your duty assignment.

Those tariffs should remain in place until those nations stop the heinous and deadly flood of fentanyl into the USA.

Christsfreeservant said:

Johan, sad for the many who are perishing in their sins, especially for those who are perishing who are convinced that they have life in Christ, but who are being duped by master manipulators. Sad to see so many walking in darkness without hope. Grieving over lost souls.

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Those who say they see and are blind are those who, having itching ears, have heaped teachers to themselves and who crucify Christ again for themselves and put him to an open shame and I can feel no sorrow for them at all.

I do not delight in their death, but neither do I have compassion on them, seeing they are amongst those who crucified Christ.

They are my enemies and although I show them kindness, I do so by commandment not because of what is written upon my heart. My heart mourns for the downtrodden and the oppressed and the poor and the fatherless and those who suffer at the hands of the wicked but it is unmoved by the death of the wicked.

God knows how to keep the righteous from temptation and if they were righteous, they would not be where they are and if they are righteous and they are there anyway, God shall keep them from temptation and they shall be among the sheep of the fold and why should I then mourn for them?

JimR-OCDS said:

They work until they are ignored and not patrolled and maintained.

The Israeli's built a wall, but Hamas terrorist and the Israeli's themselves ignored it on October 7.

This is what will happen to us if we don't stay vigilant.

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Yes, adding humans to watch over the wall is much more effective with vigilance added. . . and there is enough staff with proper equipment.

Great!

J 6:

48 I am the bread of life.

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Was Jesus thinking about Challah or Matzah's unleavened Flatbread when he made that statement?

He might have but more than that. Chinese Union Bible:

我 就 是 生 命 的 糧 。

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糧 means food or provisions in general, not specifically bread.

Historically, rice was the staple of southern Chinese. Wheat was also grown, especially in northern China. It was ground into flour to make noodles, dumplings, or steamed buns (mantou) rather than baked bread as in the Middle East.

Moses said to the Israelites in the wilderness concerning manna in Ex 16:

23 “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’”

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Bake it into some kind of bread. Boil it into some kind of dumpling or mantou. Nu 11:

8 The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves.

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What did Jesus mean by saying that he was the bread of life?

Let's see the context, J 6:

31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

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The bread represented manna, symbolizing daily food provision. It wasn't literal or physical bread.

32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

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Manna symbolized true bread/provision of God from heaven giving life to the world.

34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

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They took the bait and wanted this (physical) food.

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;

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Jesus made a crazy declaration. He was the manna from heaven, not to the Israelites in the wilderness. To the people who were listening, he was the true food (spiritual food) that gave true life (spiritual life) to the world, not just to the hearers.

whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

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Jesus satisfies your daily spiritual hunger and thirst.

40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

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Jesus is the ultimate source of spiritual sustenance and eternal life. He is the (true) bread of (eternal) life.

Incidentally, it’s only mentioned in one out of the four gospel books. Why?

John probably knew the three synoptic gospels when he wrote his gospel and he didn't want to be the fourth synoptic. Instead, he wanted to focus more on Jesus' divinity and pre-existence. Jesus came down from heaven like the manna in the wilderness, but the effect is to be the spiritual sustenance of the whole world for those who believe. John wrote the most theological gospel.

See also

• Give us this day our DAILY BREAD

My testimony of times gone by and of where I am now, by God’s grace.

Broken lives fall all to pieces,
Not just one kind, but many species,
Different looks and circumstances,
Sometimes just from happenstances.

The ins and outs and whereabouts
Of why things happen can cause doubts
And fears of future situations,
Depending on our life’s relations.

Some people choose to medicate
Their pain, because they can’t relate
To why things happen as they are,
And why they’ve gotten now so far.

They run away, and so escape
From what is hurting them to date,
But then they find it doesn’t help,
But makes them feel like they’re in hell.

So, what’s the answer? Is there one?
The answer falls in Christ, God’s Son
Who gave His life in death on cross
So He can heal us, soothe the loss.

Not only does He forgive sins,
The Holy Spirit lives within
The lives of those in Him do trust.
And healing lives, it is His thrust.

He’ll heal our hurts and change our lives,
So now our lives on Christ rely.
He’ll give us strength for everyday
To bow before Him, kneel, and pray.

He’ll help us now to walk in truth,
And give not in to those uncouth.
He’ll heal our hearts and give us strength
To live in peace, not short, at length.

An Original Work / February 2, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

KCfromNC said:

Weird how factual data is dismissed as simply a point of view.

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And interesting to hear that factual data is considered the "liberal point of view"
Where as alternative facts or divisive and hateful is considered "the voice of the right"

dogs4thewin said:

and does Trump being in office mean you have to quit doing that? I know last week when school was canceled on Friday through much of north GA for snow at LEAST one county offered sack meals for the students so they would not miss a meal on Friday. Now, Biden was in office at that time, sure but who is in office would not mean they could not do it again this time ( It is quite likely that it will be canceled part of this week as well.)

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I think the point was they are barely managing now and need help so they aren't food insecure over the weekend. Further cuts to those families, as is being proposed, would only exacerbate the problem.

In the last few years, I have suffered some deep relational wounds. I know I am not the only one. And because so much of my life is lived within the community of the Church, many of these wounds — most of them even — have been within the very community whose aim is to bring us closer to Christ.

Many people, mostly those outside the Church, have encouraged me to leave, to find community elsewhere, to find people who will appreciate me. But how can I? Just as St. Peter replied when Christ asked if his disciples would leave him, I cry out, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68).

These wounds have brought me closer to Christ, and I know that without the Church, I am lost. And we are the Church. There is a saying, attributed to St. Teresa of Avila, that goes: “Christ has no body but your body; no hands, no feet on earth but yours.” We are broken and bruised, catty and uncharitable at our worst, but sound and sacred, gracious and generous and a glimpse of glory at our best.

I am not going anywhere.

I want to reflect Christ’s glorious body more clearly. Instead of dwelling on problems, I want to shine light on goodness, beauty and truth. I want to be part of a Church where a spirit of generosity flows effortlessly as an act of worship to our Savior. I speak of a life lived in the Spirit. Yet how can we cultivate a culture within the Church that reflects this goodness? How can the Church tell the story of how we can live?

Continued below.

Pakistan’s preferential trade status could be jeopardized if it fails to address human rights concerns, including controversial blasphemy laws, forced marriages and conversions of religious minority girls, and freedom of religion, a European Union (EU) delegation said on Friday.

The delegation, led by EU Special Representative on Human Rights Olof Skoog, warned in a press statement that Pakistan should not take its Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status for granted. The delegation noted that Pakistan’s trade benefits depend on progress made in addressing concerns about human rights, which also include freedom of expression.

“As we approach the midterm of the current monitoring cycle, we encourage Pakistan to continue on its reform path as it prepares for reapplication under the upcoming new GSP+ regulation,” the EU delegation stated. “The trade benefits under GSP+ depend on the progress made on addressing a list of issues, including on human rights, and tangible reforms remain essential.”

Continued below.

You need to define what you mean by "spiritual".
(One of the Greek meanings is "logical", which an AI tool should
be able to (sorta) handle.)

By "AI", I assume that you mean an "AI" software tool.

All software, deals with symbol manipulation. It is questionable whether
ANY software tool could "understand" anything, as a human being would.
This brings up, what you mean by "understand".
(A mathematical calculator can spit out an answer to a lot of math problems,
but that does not mean that it understands any of the philosophical/logical
basis of mathematics.)

The NT authors use vocabulary that is commonly translated as "spiritual" or
"fleshly" or "heavenly" or "earthly" in a number of ways. These usages may
correlate with the TOPIC that is being discussed, or the VIEWPOINT that is
being discussed, and not particulalry whether the one doing the thinking has a spirit.

All Moral-Ethical models deal with what different people think is "right" or "wrong".
Some of these models are (sorta) compatible with Christianity. Many of them are
NOT. Many of the differences deal with different concepts of what is a "virtue", and
what is a "vice". This is again, (sorta) the same thing as defining what "good" means,
and what "evil" means.

It is possible that an AI tool has been "trained" on historical ME (moral-ethical)
models. Although, the answers that I have seen so far from the AI tools, seems
to reflect that they do not know the difference between an ME model, and a "model"
of an aircraft carrier. Nor are most Christians conscious of the historical ME models.
---------- ----------

You need to clarify your initial question.

I live in the United States of America. Here we have many prominent preachers who I believe use “lofty speech” to get across their messages. For their teachings and their teaching styles are patterned after the flesh of humans and not of the Spirit of God. They know how to speak to attract large crowds of people, and they can be very winsome, but they are following some training manual or some marketing scheme on how to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” to their gatherings. So they say what people want to hear, not necessarily what people need to hear.

Some of this is according to church denominations, too. Now these will be stereotypes, but these characteristic traits appear to be consistent, from what I have been able to ascertain. But things could have changed, too. Typically Baptist preachers will begin a sermon with a joke, then tell funny stories to illustrate biblical truth, and will conclude with a “tearjerker” story at the end to stir up people’s emotions towards some kind of decision making, possibly to get them to join “the church” or to get baptized, etc.

Charismatic preachers will (or did) typically begin softly and gently, and then they will begin to pump up the volume and perhaps begin to stomp their feet and then they will end up yelling and screaming and use a certain inflection in their voices which sounds something like “and uh.” Their sermons are very passionate and emotionally based which are also intended to stir up people’s emotions, and for perhaps some of the same reasons, to get them to make some kind of decision about their lives or the church or whatever.

Lately I have listened to several more modern preachers, and I am finding a newer pattern of preaching that exists, but which is a little harder for me to describe, for it is not as passionate and emotional based as the others. It is feelings oriented, too, but with a softer touch, I think. It is coming down to where the people are and connecting with them on their level so that the people can feel as though the preacher is identifying with them. But from preacher to preacher they are following the same style, for it carries over from one to the next. All this comes across as human created.

And now I am not saying that all preachers use some kind of gimmick to try to manipulate the emotions of the people in a particular direction, but a lot of them do, maybe even the majority of them do. I believe the majority of them today are largely being influenced by marketing schemes and gimmicks which teach them what to say and how to say it in order to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” to their gatherings, so that the world will feel at home in these “churches,” and will want to come back.

So, what Paul was expressing here is that he did not use any kind of gimmickry or flattery or lofty speech of any sort to try to manipulate human emotions. He was what I call a “straight shooter.” He just said it like it was. I don’t think he was harsh or mean, but he didn’t sugar coat the messages to make them less offensive to human flesh, and he didn’t soften them in order to not hurt people’s feelings or so that people would like him and so that he would have a huge following. He was concerned for people’s souls that they end up in heaven and not in hell, and that they live for God, not for self.

And we need more preachers like that today who are preaching the pure word of the gospel as Jesus taught it and as his New Testament apostles taught it (in context), which is intended to turn hearts and minds to Jesus Christ, to die with him to sin, and to now follow him in obedience to his commands, from now to eternity. We need them to teach it in truth and in righteousness and to not compromise the truth in order to win people to themselves or to their businesses (their “churches”). For it is the truth which saves, not the lies which tickle itching ears and appease human consciences.

So, the gospel that Jesus taught and that Paul and the other New Testament apostles taught teaches us that faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, and is not of our own doing, will result in us denying self, dying with Christ to sin daily, and us walking (in conduct, with purpose, in practice) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands in holy living. Sin will no longer be what we practice. Obedience to the Lord will be our practice. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not have life in God.

[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]

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

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No Lofty Speech or Wisdom
An Original Work / February 2, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

This article is SPECIFICALLY about teenagers, and whether or not they believe
what they see online.

There is a growing doubt among teeagers, that what they see (graphical pictures or
videos), are real. About half of teenagers say that they have been deceived by
generative AI fakes.

This growing doubt, by teenagers, also applies to institutions.
This is a horrible trend, as it meters that the growing number of graphical fakes
on the Internet, is undermining the believability of American institutions. Note
that American institutions, have nothing necessarily to do with graphical images
that appear online.

"How does this get fixed? The Common Sense study found that 74% of teens agree that generative AI “should have visible warnings that its outputs could be harmful, biased, or wrong.” And 73% of teens want content generated by AI “to be labeled or watermarked” to show its source."

Note that the wish of most teens, will not fix the problem. Teenagers tend to believe
what their friends post. BUT, this is not really a metric of whether or not the posted
material is real. The posted material could be from some conspiracy theory source.

NOTE: the older method (back in the olden times, when people read books, and
certain books were carefully fact-checked by publishers) of including authoritative references
with written material, is GONE. This vacuum of fact-checking, on social media, is a core
problem for American democracy, and American institutions.

This is a problem for Christians, because the Bible presents truth, and reality, as concepts
that are independent of some opinion of our friend, or some popular story that is told
on some web site.

This is a problem for the hard sciences, and logic-based disciplines, because the
scientific methodology, and the rules of formal logic, are independent of what YOUR
FRIEND thinks is true, and are independent of what some POPULAR story on the
Internet, or what some Internet influencer, is saying.
---------- ----------

This is a problem for the younger American generations, that are image-centric, and
have little in terms of formal logic methodology to follow serious fact-checking methodologies.

I have said it before, and will repeat it again: this massive multiplication of fake
information on the Internet, could make the Internet largely useless. And, this is what
the abandoning of fact-checking, would lead to.

Peace in Christ.

We are to seek first the kingdom/government of God and His righteousness….and all of the things that the outside nations seek after shall be added to us.

The earth then will flow with “milk and honey” rather than produce thorns and thistles for us.

Mat 6:31-33 KJV
(31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
(33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

For Jesus gives us life (an age-lasting life in this mortal body) and we shall have it more abundantly (all the earthly things shall be added to us.) We shall be saved and go out into this world and find “pasture.”

Joh 10:9-10 KJV
(9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
(10) The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Let us not seek the government of the man-based churches whose handwritings of ordinances/dogmas they keep and serve rather than the internal writings of God’s commandments upon our hearts and minds …His government. We must go OUT of them who keep and serve their handwritings. We go out of them and we will then find "good pasture".

Eze 34:13-15 KJV
(13) And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
(14) I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
(15) I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.

The church handwritings of ordinances/dogmas are the “accursed” thing …a thing devoted to destruction…among us. The mystery of this iniquity is already at works among us.

We mortally perish with the keeping of them. Why willingly subject ourselves to their ordinances? They do nothing to save the mortal body but instead destroy it.

Col 2:20-22 KJV
(20) Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
(21) (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
(22) Which all are to perish with the using) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

They...the commandments and doctrines of men... bring us trouble. The “accursed thing” = the doomed object….the thing devoted to destruction which destroys those who keep and serve it.

That destroying/doomed thing is the church documents…the handwritings of ordinances of church scribes that are being kept and served among the churches of earthly-minded men. We make ourselves “accursed” with it as we perish in the wrath of God with the keeping and serving of them.

Jos 6:18 KJV
(18) And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

We must “arise” up and be sanctified by taking away the “accursed thing” among us. The glory of God is not with us any more when we have the "accursed thing" among our gatherings of His worship. Remember the story of “Achan”….which means “trouble”….

Jos 7:11-13 KJV
(11) Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
(12) Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
(13) Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.

The mystery of THE iniquity (the placing of the church handwriting of ordinances inside the churches of men) is already at work: it brings us trouble.

2Th 2:7
(7) For the mystery of THE (definite article) iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

It is the “abomination of desolation” as the whole group of people who keep and serve their handwritings are void of the appearing glory of God for it is “desolate” of it because of it.

God will not give His glory to them nor their “graven images”…their handwritings that they keep and serve where it should not be found. It desolates the place of His glory. The glory has departed. We must flee the land of Judas (those who are following in the footsteps of Judas) and flee to the mountains where we shall find "green pasture."

Mar 13:14 KJV
(14) But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

The glory of God is currently being exchanged into an image (a church handwriting of ordinances) made like the documents of the outside people of this world who are likened to the beasts of this earth as they go on all fours (like mindless instinctual animals) after earthly things. They rush after these things. They creep upon the earth after these things.

Rom 1:22-23 KJV
(22) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
(23) And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

It is the abomination that causes the desolation (God’s glory departing.)

Let him that reads understand: Daniel could “read” and understand (make known) the handwriting on the wall….which was God’s “meme” of man’s handwritings of ordinances….the decrees. It is pointing to us what the abomination of desolation is.

Dan 5:17 KJV
(17) Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

This is in contrast to the king’s men who could not read and understand…

Dan 5:8 KJV
(8) Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.

The abomination of desolation is the handwritings (of man’s hand) of ordinances.

It...the writing of a man’s hand…. is “against” the light (candlestick =shining)...the glory light of God. It is found in the King’s “palace”…that is, His temple.

Dan 5:5
(5) In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick (SHINING LIGHT) upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace (TEMPLE): and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

We must flee it when we “see”…when we understand…what the abomination of desolation is. That is our sanctification. We must come out from among them who keep and serve their handwritings and be separate and no longer be attached to the “dead body” of the man-based church gatherings.

In doing so, the glory of God will then arise upon you....and the people of the outside world shall see His light and be attracted to it. The curse....the accursed thing...shall not be there. We shall then serve God in His government (the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it). The Lord God shall give us His glory light and we shall reign in this earth with Him and the Lamb.

Rev 22:3-5 KJV
(3) And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
(4) And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
(5) And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Why did the OT not explicitly spell out the fact that the Son of God would die for our sins?

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

For two months as he campaigned for Democratic National Committee chair, Ken Martin worked methodically through a call sheet of the committee’s 448 members, sometimes on the phone for as long as an hour, even two hours, at a time, often until 10 p.m.

It was the kind of exhaustive, behind-the-scenes operative work Martin knew best from his time leading Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and the Association of State Democratic Parties, where he built a reputation as a mild-mannered tactician with a Midwestern work ethic.

Continued below.

This can be a source of interesting sermons

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- There's still a lot of uncertainty when it comes to fatalities and injuries following Friday's devastating plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia.

Only Action News spoke with the mother and father of a 10-year-old boy believed to be one of the first patients to arrive at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital on Friday night.

"My baby in there, it's hard seeing him like that. As a mother what am I supposed to do? But he's good. He's pushing through," cried Lashawn Hamiel, Andre Howard's mother.

Ten-year-old Andre Howard was in the car with his father and siblings when tragedy shook the busy area near the Roosevelt Mall.

Continued below.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has kicked off his first official foreign trip with a stop in Panama, a longtime US ally shaken by President Donald Trump’s extraordinary threat to seize the Panama Canal.

Continued below.

While I think the decline in marriage is a sign of moral decay, I'm not all that perturbed by the fact the population might decline.

Personally I think we should be taxing machines which do the bulk of the work already, consuming vast amounts of material and energy in the process.

Why should the working class be singled out for tax reasons?

Secondly it will just be one more problem to be solved in the normal scheme of things - since the year 2000 we've had 9/11, wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and Gaza, Russia and Ukraine; two tidal waves, one of them killing around 300,000 people and the other damaging a nuclear power plant; fires in LA and we've got floods now in north Queensland.

PS - And Covid in 2020 which killed 7 million or so people by April 2024, with 705 million cases at around the same time.

So there might be slower population growth - so what? When I was born there were about 2.7 billion people. We now have 3 times as many. Given the same rate of population growth, there would be 24 billion in 2094, 72 billion in 2164, 216 billion in 2234.

What's this obsession with an evergrowing population so can have an ever expanding economy so we make more stuff we often don't need when right now we're confronting a very real issue of climate change bought on by this very same obsession?

It's just one more problem in the long troublesome history of the human race.

There's a problem? So what's new?

It was eight years ago that Donald Trump — then in the home stretch of his first campaign for the presidency — offered a range of promises on trade and tariffs while barnstorming the country.

A Yahoo Finance review of those speeches found that his pledges, while less sweeping than today and with some Trumpian flourishes that never came to be, are promises that he largely ended up keeping.

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