In the stillness of the night
I sit quietly, waiting,
Listening to hear
My Savior’s voice.

In the quiet of the eve
It is so peaceful, restful,
Free from busyness
And distractions.

He speaks quietly to me,
Gently guiding me, leading,
Teaching me the way
That I should go.

He whispers softly His Words
Sometimes through music, singing.
The melodies play
Now in my mind.

Scriptures unfold before me
Teaching me what is righteous,
And holy, so I
May live for Christ.

In the quiet I talk, too,
Telling Him what’s on my mind.
I bring my requests
Then before Him.

Entered into His presence,
I humble myself in prayer,
Seeking to know His will
For my life.

I thank Him and I praise Him
For His love and salvation.
He crucified sin
And gave new life.

Oh, how sweet my communion
With my Lord and my Savior.
My spirit refreshed,
Now says, “Goodnight.”

An Original Work / June 10, 2018

That's the mantra from Klaus schwab and WEF , and all to be achieved by 2030.
So let's see how their going so far.

How is your CD collection going?...ANSWER: - Oh I don't own CDs anymore , I get all my music on line , Spotify etc.
How is your DVD collection going ?..ANSWER - Oh I don't own DVDs anymore , I get all my movies online.
How is your book library going?....ANSWER - Oh I don't own books anymore , I do all my reading online , Kindle etc.

We own none of the above , Spotify , Kindle etc , some one else doe's , and we are happy ...
Wonder what the next 6 yrs will bring..? More happiness I guess....lol

This is from Theopedia - a site I'm referring to for shorter theology definitions. It seems fairly helpful. I think below is a fairly gospel focussed message of eschatology - without all the details we all disagree on. Can we agree that this is what we agree on - in the most basic language - in the most general sense?
---

The Second Coming or Second Advent of Jesus Christ is seen as a yet future event by Christians. Jesus Christ's first coming, about 2,000 years ago, was to deal with sin. Before He ascended to heaven, He said, "if I go away, I will come back"; and His Spirit is given as a "guarantee" of His return and of our salvation in Him,^[1]^ to sustain the Church until His return.^[2]^ His return or Second Coming is sometimes called the Parousia (Greek: coming presence, arrival)^[3]^ and will be for the judgment of his enemies and the salvation of those who await his return.^[4]^ The many denominations of Christianity vary widely regarding the details surrounding Christ's return in relationship to the Great Tribulation and the Millennium. Because of the many false prophecies of man regarding His return, over the past 2,000 years, few dare to claim complete and authoritative interpretation of the many related prophetic biblical passages. However, it is commonly accepted that:

• Jesus Christ died on the cross.
• He was resurrected bodily.
• He ascended into heaven.
• He will return to earth, judge the world and establish his kingdom,
• No one knows the day or hour of Christ's return.

Daniel, the Gospel of Matthew and the Revelation are considered to be the most fruitful sources of study, although many parts of the Bible are sprinkled with references to the "last day(s)" and the "second coming" of Christ. A specific reference to it is contained in the early ecumenical creeds.

Multimedia

• The Basis of the Second Coming (MP3), by Arnold Fruchtenbaum

Testimony of the early creeds

The second coming (or return) of Christ is contained as an article of faith in all the ancient creeds:

• "He ascended into heaven. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead" Apostles' Creed.
• "He shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead" Nicene Creed.
• "From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead, at whose coming all men must rise with their bodies and are to render an account of their deeds" Athanasian Creed.

The latest act by Just Stop Oil was quickly condemned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “disgraceful act of vandalism.”

Wiltshire Police said the pair were arrested on suspicion of damaging one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments.

Stonehenge was built on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain in stages starting 5,000 years ago, with the unique stone circle erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 B.C. Some of the stones, the so-called bluestones, are known to have come from southwest Wales, nearly 150 miles away, but the origins of others remain a mystery.

Just Stop Oil is one of many groups around Europe that have gained attention — and received a lot of blowback — for disrupting sporting events, splashing paint and food on famous works of art and interrupting traffic to draw attention to global warming.


This part:
The group said it acted in response to the Labour Party’s recent election manifesto. Labour has said if it wins the election on July 4, it would not issue further licenses for oil and gas exploration. Just Stop Oil backs the moratorium but said it wasn’t enough.

In a statement, the group said Labour, which is leading in polls and widely expected by pundits and politicians to lead the next government, needs to go further.

...so when the Labour party (who already said they wouldn't issue further oil and gas licenses) isn't quite "progressive enough" (but let's be honest, no matter what the Labour Party committed to, these doofuses would've found a reason why it's not enough in order to have a reason to do something like this, (being radical protestors is 90% of their personality after all...without that, they'd literally have nothing interesting to say about themselves), it's time to start vandalizing to virtue signal how radical they are. Because as we all know, there's a direct correlation between how orange you're wiling to stain something completely unrelated to the environment, and how much you care about the environment. It makes perfect sense!. They do need to raise awareness after all. Because nobody had ever heard of the issue of climate change until they started spaypainting and throwing soup at random things.

He has been active on Twitter/X just involved in politics and with some controversial figures (isn't he a monk?) and he posted a tweet calling out "miscegenation"/mixed-race marriage because Candace Owens is married and has children with a white man.


Doesn't he have an abbot/bishop to be reported to? He is making Orthodoxy look bad.

In other Bible translations it says, “not even be named among you,” or “not even be mentioned among you,” or “must not even be hinted at,” or “should not even be heard of among you.” Or as one commentator stated, “must not even exist among you.” So, this isn’t just about blatant and obvious sexual immorality, but this is about secret sins and delving into anything of a sensual or sexual nature, no matter how miniscule it may appear to be. For it doesn’t take much to get our minds and emotions in the wrong direction.

But this isn’t just about professing Christians being engaged in acts of sexual immorality and/or in being entertained by anything of a sexual or a sinful or a seductive nature, though it is that. But this has to do with the gatherings of the church and what goes on within those gatherings in the name of Christ, and in the name of Christianity, and in the name of trying to get the world into “the church.” There should not be even a hint of sexual immorality nor sensuality, et al, within the gatherings of what are called “churches.”

Sadly, though, so many of these gatherings have been incorporated under the state and turned into businesses, and thus are being marketed to the world just like other businesses, and so they have also been incorporating much of the world into their gatherings and into their sermons and music and videos and plays, etc., to where many of these gatherings are very similar to what you might find at a local bar and not something that should be within the gatherings of the body of believers in Jesus Christ.

But let me give you some examples of this. Twice we have attended “church” services where the singers were singing like bar singers with very sensual inflections in their voices while they were swaying their bodies to the music also in sensual manners and/or were dressed inappropriately for being up on stage while singing and moving their bodies in such a manner. And then in other gatherings they have showed video clips from secular movies that, if you saw the movies, you would find they had sexual situations in them.

And then you have preachers wearing T-shirts with the names of some secular Rock Bands on the shirts. And if you look up the lyrics to the songs that these bands sing, you will see very clearly that their lyrics are against Jesus Christ and his morals and his values. But the preacher is trying to relate to the people he is trying to reach to come to his place of business. And so he tries to become more like the world to reach the world with what is a compromise with the world in order to draw in people from the world.

And then you have some preachers telling jokes, which sometimes are mocking the Scriptures and making people laugh at what should be taken seriously, because they want to entertain the world. And then there are praise bands where the music sounds like bar music and where the lyrics are so repetitive and shallow that they do nothing to stir the human conscience and to convict of sin and to teach repentance and obedience to our Lord and to lead people to holy living. But what they do is stir human emotions.

But our gatherings are not to be mimicking the world in order to attract the world to our gatherings. And we are not to be unequally yoked together (partnered) with the ungodly. And we are not to turn our gatherings into places of business, being marketed to the world like other businesses. For the purpose of our gatherings is that the people of God might be strengthened and encouraged and exhorted in our walks of faith and in obedience and in surrender to our Lord, as we encourage one another.

[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

But so many of these modern gatherings of what are called “churches” are all about becoming like the world to attract the world to their gatherings so that they can grow in physical numbers and build their earthly kingdoms. And so what they also do is that they dilute and adulterate the character of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – and of his church, and of the message of the gospel of our salvation, so as not to offend the world and so as to appease human flesh, so people will come to their meetings.

But what does this Scripture (and many others) teach us is the result if we become more like the world and if we live like the world, and in sinful practices? If sin is our practice, i.e. what we do deliberately and habitually in direct disobedience to God, we will not inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God, regardless of what we profess with our lips. So we are not to be deceived into believing that our sins no longer matter to God or that he will not judge those who live in deliberate and habitual sin.

For what did Jesus say? He said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father. And he said (in summary) that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his commands. For if we hold on to living in sin, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in obedience, in practice, then we have eternal life (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26).

So, this is a warning of God to all of us to not take him and his word lightly, but to take the warnings of God seriously, for he means what he says. If we live in sin, we will die in our sins. But if we die to sin, and live to righteousness, and we obey our Lord’s commands (New Covenant), and we live holy lives pleasing to him, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. It is what Jesus and his NT apostles taught, if read in CONTEXT. So, let there not be even a hint of any deliberate sin taking place in your lives.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 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; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Beautiful Lamb

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

By Gary Miller

Beautiful Lamb of God, guiltless and pure as snow,
Gentle and merciful, beautiful Lamb of God.
Sent from the Father’s love,
Sent from the throne above,
Sent to redeem us with His blood.

Beautiful Lamb of God, guiltless and pure as snow,
Gentle and merciful, beautiful Lamb of God.
Behold the Lamb of God
Suff’ring great pain for us,
And by His wounds we all are healed.

Beautiful Lamb of God, guiltless and pure as snow,
Gentle and merciful, beautiful Lamb of God.
Like sheep we’ve gone astray,
Each turn to his own way,
But Jesus will take our sins away.

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Hello folks. Today's devotional covers health and safety, in a Biblical sense from both the NT and the OT.

I have not seen this movie yet. I am glad that this movie is very successful and I plan on watching it soon with my wife.

She is back in the hospital. Her blood pressure has spiked, serious headache, dizziness, and numbness in her arm. They've ran all kinds of tests last night and today, and have yet to determine the cause. Thank you so much. The last time you all prayed for her was very effectual!

That is a pretty simple goal. Of course, probably not many miracles.

But truly listening to others, being generous with time, showing genuine kindness.

We can do that.; If he lives in us and we get out of the way.

Hey! i'm here to let you gamers know that i have started a Christian Discord for people that play Star Citizen. The group is called "Hangar 7" and the link to the discord is Here

We are a Christian Star Citizen Org and a Christian Star Citizen Discord for people to play together who are like minded people of faith =) we get to travel the universe and work together as a team and even role play as evangelists within the universe.

Sorry in advance because I know this topic IS talked about a lot but I really need help.

I feel that gods spirit will never draw me again or come back. At first god really did his best for me, he delivered me from many bad situations and he kept calling me to repent because he knew the possibly irrevocable damage my sins would have on me. At the time I thought I was saved and born again because the Holy Spirit was talking to me and god was revealing himself to me but I wasn’t even though I bore some fruits and I got comfortable and started rebelling.

I didn’t listen though and never had much change , even after the Holy Spirit gave me some knowledge and awareness surrounding my sins. I’ve always been rebellious and have always been stubborn anyway.


I kept consciously persisting and hardening my heart. Similar to the Pharisees, I had a good knowledge of Jesus and the gospel but I kept consciously rejecting god even then. I don’t have that knowledge anymore though because I refused to retain god and respond to his calls like I was supposed to. I then willingly confused god and the devil thinking that I could taunt/test god.

I might’ve even done so to push the Holy Spirit and his convictions away so that I may commit the terrible sins I wanted to commit. I did everything I could to push god away basically.

I never once listened to him and I was stiff necked. I knew the path I was going down but I thought I could push still and find mercy because I was young.

There were moments where I took gods kindness as an opportunity to sin more. I know I’m to blame and everything but I really just want some hope and to return to god. In terms of the severity of my sins it’s pretty bad and has hurt others very badly. Spiritually and physically. I know god needs to bring his justice on behalf of those who I’ve hurt with my sins. I know I’m responsible for the actions I took and I should’ve resisted the temptations to commit these sins.

I know an unsaved person can commit this sin which is why I’m almost sure that I committed it. I have a small idea on what I can do to repent actions wise but I’m scared that it won’t be enough or it will be false repentance.



When I think about it I just pity myself or condemn myself or

be almost nonchalant about it like ‘what was I expecting honestly’ which is why I feel I might not even care. In the end I know the root is pride. All I have is remorse for my sins, not a repentance that could lead to real change.





I also recognize that with the wording- it could make god seem bad and like I’m blaming him- I could be unconsciously blaming god but I’m trying not to.



I welcome any rebuke or sternness because maybe that’s what I need.

A South Carolina police officer's attention to detail during a traffic stop resulted in a woman rescued from a man wanted for a shooting.

Everyone is familiar with the phrase, "It's the little things that matter." That can apply to about any and every situation. Whether it’s writing and sending a company-wide email, baking a cake or building a table, attention to detail is key. It can often be the difference between success and failure.

Paying close attention to detail is what likely led to an officer in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, saving a woman being held against her will, according to CBS News.

The situation began in the early-morning hours on May 28 when Officer Kayla Wallace, with the North Myrtle Beach Police Department, spotted a white Jeep run a red light. Kayla, who happened to be patrolling in that area, immediately tracked down the Jeep and initiated a traffic stop.

When Kayla approached the Jeep, she noticed that a female was driving with a man sitting in the passenger seat, according to the North Myrtle Beach Police Department.

As Kayla was conducting the traffic stop, she picked up on something rather odd.

Kayla, when talking to the female driver and the male driver, noticed the female driver signaling to her for help. She mouthed, "Help me" repeatedly. She only did this, though, when the male passenger wasn't looking at the woman driving the white Jeep.

Continued below.

The actor best known for his roles in the Ant-Man and Ghostbusters franchises didn’t hesitate when recently asked which historical figure he would most like to meet. It’s Jesus Christ.

Paul Rudd answered as much while discussing his latest film, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. He said people sometimes laugh when he answers “Jesus,” even though he believes it’s an obvious reply. His answer came during an interview with IGV Presents, which noted that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire opens with a trip back in time.

“If you guys could go back in time and spend a day with anyone in history, who would you choose?” Simon Harkness asked Rudd and co-stars Mckenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard.

“Anyone from history, who would we choose?” Rudd replied. “I know my answer:

Jesus Christ.”

Grace and Wolfhard, already laughing from one of his previous answers, started giggling again.

“Laugh all you want,” Rudd said, standing firm.

Wolfhard then questioned if Jesus was real.
“He existed,” Rudd said. “Wouldn’t you want to spend some time with Him and go, ‘Jesus, what’s the deal?’”

“It’s genuinely a great answer,” Wolfhard acknowledged.

“Fantastic answer,” Grace said.

“You say this, and people are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, you can’t say that.’ And I’d say, ‘Why?’ That’s who I would choose,” Rudd said.

It’s not the first time Rudd has given such an answer. In 2018, Rudd told Vulture, “People say, ‘Who would you have dinner with,’ and I say, ‘Jesus Christ.’ And people laugh. They think that I’m kidding.”

Rudd is Jewish.

Continued below.

The host of an upcoming TBN special says Juneteenth is a holiday “as American as apple pie and Chevrolet” and is filled with biblical themes that Christians of all races should celebrate. TBN will air Juneteenth: Conversations of History and Healing on Monday, June 17, at 8 p.m. Eastern. The show will follow host Rick Rigsby as he travels the United States, uncovering stories of redemption, justice, and healing and examining the church’s role in them.

Celebrated each June 19, Juneteenth is a new national holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. and has been celebrated within certain segments of the black community since the late 1800s. It became an official holiday in Texas in 1979. The holiday was born June 19, 1865, when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that all enslaved people—250,000 or so in the state—were free. Their arrival came some two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

“This is not a black holiday, it’s an American holiday,” Rigsby told Crosswalk Headlines. “And what I really want people to know is that history is beautiful at times, it’s ugly, it’s even, and it’s uneven. ... It is a series of threads that make up a tapestry. This is an American holiday worthy of being celebrated. Why? Because the Lord is being glorified. Because wrongs are being discussed and addressed. And that’s a good thing.”

The TBN special, Rigsby said, is filled with stories of hope and healing. The award-winning journalist traveled to Crownsville, Md., where he attended a memorial service for 500-plus black patients who went unaccounted for at a segregated mental hospital in the 1900s.

Continued below.

Hey, something that happened- there are several people in the congregation at my church that have Downs Syndrome. God shared something with me, that their spirit does not have Downs! There is a young man or woman that is trapped in there inside a body that does not work properly and can't get out! I have committed to pray that the young man or woman trapped in there is able to get out!

God also shared this with me- some aspects of their personalities are the real them trying to get out! The real them is trying to get out!

It seems 2024-5 is the time for earth shaking to begin, no?? New Madrid...? California coast and tsunami....? I would take a wild guess and say by Dec. 24 there will be some earth changing calamities
and people need to be ready. We have had the easy times. They are ending. Be good to other Christians. Thats what Christ would do...or a lot of people have it wrong..

LINK

House Bill 71, approved by state lawmakers last month, mandates that a poster-size display of the Ten Commandments with “large, easily readable font” be in every classroom at schools that receive state funding, from kindergarten through the university level.

The legislation specifies the exact language that must be printed on the classroom displays and outlines that the text of the Ten Commandments must be the central focus of the poster or framed document.

In a joint statement prior to the governor’s approval of the measure, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation said that the bill was “unconstitutional” and that “many faith-based and civil-rights organizations oppose this measure because it violates students’ and families’ fundamental right to religious freedom.”

From the Bill:

The Ten Commandments
I AM the LORD thy God.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."

Pr 6:

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

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Being lazy and not working is not wise. It could be a sin. Work while you can. Ec 9:

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Click to expand...

Pr 12 was getting more serious:

24 The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

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Jeremiah was against procrastination in 48:

10a Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD with slackness.

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When it comes to accepting Jesus, it is a really bad idea to delay the decision. James 4:

13 Listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Click to expand...

The Bible does not clearly spell out that procrastination is a sin. However, James 4:

17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

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If your conscience convicts you, then it is a sin.

I think this is a very important question. When studying the New Testament, are there any places that conceptualize what it means to be a Christian in terms of ethics and philosophy? Are there any places where these questions are answere more concisely or specifically. It's something that I think about because I don't want to say the Bible contradicts itself but people interpret things that they read differently.

I'm not starting this to be a debate. I want to see if there are things that can be agreed upon universally.

In my personal opinion, it seems the sermon on the mount is one of the most precise description of Christian ethics. Christ doesn't seem to be laying out what laws to follow but what way of living or thinking is blessed. I believe following the Batitudes will bless people both on Earth ad in the beyond. In fact, I believe that Matthew Chapters 5 through 7 unites all Christians.

Any thoughts?

On the day of the atonement in Leviticus 16:

15 He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull's blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it.

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After the Babylonian exile, Zerubbabel rebuilt the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Although the ark of the covenant was no longer available, they still set up the curtain between the holy place and the most holy place.

What did the high priest do with the sacrificial blood on the day of atonement behind the curtain?

The place was empty. He probably sprinkled the blood in the spot where the ark was supposed to be. The space remained sacred.

When Jesus died on the cross, Matt 27:

50 Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

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In 70 AD, the Romans destroyed the temple, which has not been rebuilt since.

Berean Study Bible Luke 3:

23 Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,

Click to expand...

known, supposed
ἐνομίζετο (enomizeto)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's Greek 3543: From nomos; properly, to do by law, i.e. To accustom; by extension, to deem or regard.

Strong's Concordance:

to practice, consider
Usage: I practice, hold by custom; I deem, think, consider, suppose.

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Thayer's Greek Lexicon:

1. to hold by custom or usage, own as a custom or usage; to follow custom or usage; passive νομίζεται it is the custom, it is the received usage: οὗ ἐνομίζετο προσευχή εἶναι, where according to custom was a place of prayer
2. to deem, think, suppose: … as was accustomed to be supposed

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Luke used this Greek word to hint that Joseph was not the biological father but a legal one.

Barnes:

As was supposed - As was commonly thought, or perhaps being legally reckoned as his son.

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I don't think Joseph went through the formal legal proceedings to adopt Jesus. Nonetheless, Joseph considered Jesus his own son, having all the legal inheritance rights when Joseph died.

Genesis 13:

13 Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

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Jude 1:

7b Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

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Jude used the example of Sodom and Gomorrah to illustrate eternal fire punishment.

But then, Luke 10:

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.

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8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

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The healing was a sign or demonstrative miracle.

10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

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Jesus asserted (by "I tell you") that on the day of final judgment, the wicked people of Sodom would have more hope than the people of the town that rejected Jesus' message of the kingdom of God.

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

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On the day of the final judgment, there is some hope for the people of Tyre and Sidon.

The LORD summarily judged the cities of Sodom, Gomorrha, Tyre, and Sidon without giving them the benefits of healing miracles and the good news. In the final judgment, Jesus would take this into consideration: some of the people from these cities will be saved. On the other hand, people from Capernaum would not have this excuse:

15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.

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They saw Jesus' miracles and yet refused to believe. They had no excuse. The judgment on you depends on how much you have known and seen.

16 Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

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That's the solemn warning: Do not reject Jesus' good news.

=======================================================================

Appendix: FOL analysis of Jesus' hypothetical statement

Contemporary English Version, Mt 11:

23b If the miracles that took place in your town had happened in Sodom, it would still be standing.

Click to expand...

Consider the compound proposition: If P, then Q where P and Q are simple propositions and if is a first-order logical operator.

Let R = If the miracles that took place in your town had happened in Sodom, it would still be standing.

P = The miracles that took place in your town had happened in Sodom.
Q = It would still be standing.

Case 1: A usual human spoke statement R

R is a hypothetical statement. We know that historically, P did not happen. It was not true in reality. If P is false, then the truth value of Q does not matter, and R is always true, according to the FOL truth table of the if operator. If P is an impossible hypothetical scenario (i.e., P is false), then Q can be anything. And R is fine. E.g., if the moon is made of cheese, then Trump is God. The last material conditional is a vacuously true FOL statement.

Case 2: Jesus spoke R

He was saying this: Assume that P is true. If P is true, then Q will be true as well. Jesus asserted R to be true. In modal logic, this counterfactual is not vacuous.

You can choose not to believe in Jesus' assertion. That's up to you. Here, I have explained his assertion R in terms of FOL's if.

Was it possible for the LORD to have performed demonstrative miracles in Sodom before he destroyed it?

Yes, all things are possible with God (Mt 19:26). But he chose not to do the miracles.

Why not?

So that Jesus could then use it as an example to illustrate eternal fire punishment and the notion that judgment on you depends on how much you have known and seen.

Does Mt 11:23b imply that God could have done demonstrative miracles in Sodom?

Yes, proof by contradiction:

Let assumption N1 = God could not have done demonstrative miracles in Sodom.

It was impossible for God to perform positive miraculous signs in Sodom. Now, P has a truth value of F (false). Q can take on any proposition, and R will still be true. This line of reasoning does not prove anything. Trump is not God.

However, Jesus asserted that Sodom would be better off than Bethsaida on the judgment day, using Mt 11:23b to prove it. This is the contradiction that I am looking for.

Therefore N1 is false. The truth is that God could have done demonstrative miracles in Sodom.

Joshua 3:

3 They commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.

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Did priests also carry the ark?

Not usually, Numbers 4:

5 Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.

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15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them by the poles, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

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The priests packed up the holy objects. The Kohathites had the responsibility to carry them. It was a special occasion of a miracle in Jos 3:

13 When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.”

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Thailand’s Senate voted Tuesday to pass a marriage-equality bill, putting the country on track to become the first in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

The legislation, which passed with 130 senators in favor, four opposed and 18 abstaining, allows any two people, regardless of gender, to get engaged or married. It was approved by the House of Representatives in March and now must be endorsed by King Vajiralongkorn, which is considered a formality. Once it is published in the official journal of the Thai government, the law will go into effect after 120 days.

A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 60 percent of adults in Thailand supported legalizing same-sex marriage. Thavisin, the prime minister, has emphasized that the Thai government is committed to marriage equality and touted Bangkok’s Pride parade this month.

The legislation that passed Tuesday also swaps out terms such as “husband” and “wife” in Thai marriage law for gender-neutral language, such as “spouse.” One member of the Senate fought against that change. Retired army Gen. Worapong Sa-nganet said cutting those terms would be “a destruction of the family establishment in the most violent way.”

He added that “if there’s no term ‘husband’ or ‘wife’ in the law, it would disappear from the Thai language."

Seems unlikely.