I just don't get it. Everything seem chaotic.

Joshua 24:31 Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders
who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.

Before Messiah Yeshua came to earth, this time prior to the falling away in the Judges era
would be the Golden Age of Israel as viewed from a heavenly perspective.
This is profoundly demonstrated here.

Nehemiah 8:17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths
and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel
had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

This also gives us a unique lesson in faith from an Old Testament narrative of Joshua 24:31.
This period stands out by a complete lack of description for the era. One verse! One statement!

2 Corinthians 4:18 For we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

In the absence of a narrative, we have to believe that God’s Word is True, without a testimony for confirmation.
For if Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, AND all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua,
then we must believe that they lived under the blessings promised for them when faithful.

Deuteronomy 28:
1 Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God,
to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today,
that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you,
because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Clearly, the people did not abide under the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 long enough
to see themselves set over all nations of the earth. However, as a people who served
the Lord for a generation, the blessings would have been tangible.

Even more so, after using only 14 verses to describe the blessings of a faithful people,
Deuteronomy 28 goes on to use over 50 verses to describe the curses to be brought on
by disobedience! Surely this generation avoided all of these calamities.
By faith, we must believe that life was more bountiful for Israel at this time than any other.

Because:

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

What stands out immediately even from this scant information is that even after the leader
Joshua passed away, the elders of his generation were able to keep the people walking in
the Way of the Lord, without a central figure. We can now contrast this period with the time
of the monarchy of Israel. There was no king in Israel, and there was no intention in the heart
of God for there ever to be one. When the elders demanded a king from Samuel, he received
this word from God;

1 Samuel 8:7 And the Lord said to Samuel, Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you;
for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

Deuteronomy 31:​

19 Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel;​

put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel.​

20 When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers,​

and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them;​

and they will provoke Me and break My covenant.​

21 Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that​

this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their​

descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them​

to the land of which I swore to give them.​

24 So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished,​

25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying:​

26 Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God,​

that it may be there as a witness against you.​

Joshua Brings Witness Against The Congregation​

Joshua 24:
19 But Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God.
He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you
harm and consume you, after He has done you good.
21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!
22 So Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that
you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.
And they said, We are Witnesses.

The Witness of Samuel ​

1 Samuel 12:
3 Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed:
Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated?
Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which
to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.
4 And they said, You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken
anything from any man’s hand.
5 Then he said to them, The Lord witness against you, and His anointed witness this day,
hat you have not found anything in my hand. And they answered, We are Witnesses.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, It is the Lord who raised up Moses and Aaron,
and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt.
7 Now therefore, stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord concerning
all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did to you and your fathers.

14 If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment
of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God.

Covenant With David As A Faithful Witness​

Psalms 89:
35 Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David:
36 His seed shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before Me;
37 It shall be established forever like the moon,
Even like the faithful witness in the sky. Selah

The Glory of Yahshua, King of kings, and Lord of Lords
Psalms 21:
1 The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord;
And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire, And have not
withheld the request of his lips. Selah
3 For You meet him with the blessings of goodness;
You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
4 He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—
Length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great in Your salvation; Honor and majesty
You have placed upon him.
6 For You have made him most blessed forever;
You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the mercy
of the Most High he shall not be moved.

Leviticus 26:

19 I will also break down your pride of power; and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.

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It means no rain from heaven, and nothing will grow on earth. A similar warning is found in Deuteronomy 28:

23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

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Genesis 50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you,
and bring you out of this land unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you,
and you shall carry up my bones from hence.

[H6485]-pakad=to visit; [H6486]-pekuddah=visitation

The Israelites for 400 years in Egypt clung to this prophetic promise from Joseph.
This covenant oath between Joseph and the people continued as a memorial,
and became the words used by God to introduce Moses as their deliverer.

The fulfillment of this promise becomes a remembrance of the Lord
and is prominent in the narrative.
Exodus 3:16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them,
The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt”.

Exodus 4:31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel
and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Exodus 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel
under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

The Good News in the Old Testament
Job 10:12 You have granted me life and favor,
and your visitation has preserved my spirit.

A deeper comprehension of this word is needed to fully grasp the statement
“your visitation has preserved my spirit”.
Pakad appears 90 times in the book we call Numbers,
and is the basis for using this title.
The first four chapters recall a series of censuses that the Lord
commanded Moses and Aaron to take of the Congregation.

Numbers 1:
2 Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families,
by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;
3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel:
thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

Verse 2 describes a numerical count “take the sum” and is a head count.
“By the polls” literally means “by the skulls”.

Verse 3 uses the word pakad, “number them by their armies”.
So then what is the relationship between “to visit”, and “to number”
when the word pakad appears? The word more accurately means
“to make an assessment”; to observe to determine the mental,
physical, and spiritual condition.

The key here is the phrase “that are able to go forth to war”.
More than simply a head count, it is an assessment of ability
and willingness.

And so in Exodus 4:31 “He looked upon affliction”.
The visitation is concerned with the state of being.
This correct understanding of visitation forms the basis
for ministry and fellowship.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit
orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

This verse does not limit ministry to orphans and widows, but to all who are oppressed,
with these two as prominent examples from the Law.

Visitation also aids in defining the role of leadership within the Congregation.

Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant,
whom his lord hath made ruler over his household,
to give them meat in due season?

Remembering the words of Christ:

John 4:
32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me,
and to finish his work.

Many translations use “your care”, rather than “your visitation”.
This must be clarified to include the understanding that the visitation
can result in discipline, and even judgment.

For example;
Jeremiah 10:15 They are vanity, and the work of errors:
in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

And so this is found in the New Testament

Luke 19:
43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you,
surround you and close you in on every side,
44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you
one stone upon another, because “you did not know the time of your visitation.”

1 Peter 2:12 Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak
against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God
on the day of visitation.

“The burden of proof is an important one to remind everyone: It’s on the prosecution, right? They need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he commit — that Donald Trump broke the law. And you think after listening to all of this, you think they fell short. How?” host Kate Bolduan asked.

Zelin responded, ““They fell way short, because let’s start with reasonable doubt. What is reasonable doubt? And it’s not simply a doubt based upon reason. Any time a human being needs to make an important decision in life, if you have enough information, for example, doctor says you need open heart surgery. ‘Doc, go ahead and schedule. I don’t have a reasonable doubt.’”

“Conversely, if I say ‘I appreciate it, but I need a second opinion, I need more information,’ that is having a reasonable doubt. There is reasonable doubt all over this case,” he added.

Are you in favor of a mandatory retirement age for all three branches of the government?

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Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks about the backlash to Rashida Tlaib’s controversial speech at the People’s Conference for Palestine, which was funded by the far-left People’s Forum and had speakers like Wisam Rafeedie, who has been linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization; Roua Daas speaking openly about how pro-Palestine college protests are being used to train students for violent revolution;...

Luke 6:

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.

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This was typical Eastern poetic hyperbole. Jesus often used it to illustrate deeper spiritual reality. Jesus' point was: be generous; don't be stingy.

30 Give to everyone who asks you

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Again, this was not a literal universal proposition. Doing so may actually hurt the asker.

and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

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Give to others as you would have them give to you. You don't want to give someone something that may hurt them.

2 Thessalonians 3:

10 If a man will not work, neither let him eat.

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Jesus liked to use Eastern hyperboles. If he had just said, "Be generous," his words would not have stuck with his hearers as much.

"And thus we might go on, and show that what is ascribed in one place to the Spirit, is ascribed in another place to the Word—proving conclusively that the two always go together. Where one is, there the other is also. The Spirit operates through the Word, whether it be the written, the preached, the sacramental, or the Word in conversation or reflection. The ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit are through that Word. Those who are renewed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit are those who have been influenced by this regenerating and sanctifying Word."

"...men try all sorts of measures and methods to bring Christ near, because they cannot understand that when they have the Word, they have the Spirit, and when they have the Spirit, they have Christ. In Luke xi. 27, we read how a woman called down a blessing on the mother of our Lord because she was privileged to have borne Him. But Jesus answered, "Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it." Because that Word carries the Spirit to the hearer, and through it converts the sinner and sanctifies the saint. In the Acts of the Apostles also we read how again and again the Spirit was given through and in connection with the Word. The Apostles depended on nothing but Word and Sacrament."

"The Lutheran doctrine, then, that the Word of God is the great effectual means of Grace; that it is the vehicle and instrument of the Holy Spirit; that through it, the Spirit renews the soul, applies forgiveness, and sanctifies the hearer or reader more and more—is the pure truth of Christ. Hence, wherever the Lutheran Church is true to her name and faith, she preaches the whole counsel of God, and relies on that for ingathering and upbuilding. A true Lutheran pulpit cannot be a sensational pulpit, for discoursing wordly wisdom, philosophy, poetry, or politics. It must expound the Word, and never gets done preaching repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." THE WAY OF SALVATION IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. BY REV. G.H. GERBERDING.

See Glory and dwelling

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil...

The exorcists I consult occasionally for articles have personally seen a lot of the devil’s theatrics: levitation, room temperature suddenly and drastically dropping, people knowing foreign languages they never studied, foul odors, objects flying and other antics intended to intimidate the exorcist. Yet, we are told not to fear evil. The exorcists do, however, strongly warn us to stay away from it and use the protection God gives us.

I put together advice on how to guard against evil taken from two recent interviews with Msgr. John Esseff, a priest in the diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania for 64 years and an exorcist for over 40 years, and also Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois.

1. Hate sin.

“The usual work of the devil is sin. Sin leads to the death of souls,” –Msgr. Esseff.

2. Understand that spiritual warfare is not a fight between equals.

Continued below.

The Jews who believes in God (“Ye believe in God” JN 14:1 - KJV), but not yet in Christ until they see Him, will be translated and restored in fellowship with Him later. These Jewish believers in God will inherit the new earth. But to inherit the new heaven one must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
NC




How amazingly different Paul’s method of provoking the Jews “to jealousy” (Rom 11:11), from that pursued by many Jewish mission workers today! For them the Jew must have a “special” place as a Jew. In some quarters they are even organizing “Messianic assemblies” (the Messianic ministry of Christ is over and, to enter heaven, the Jew now must come to Christ like the Gentile does. This Messianic ministry was to the Jew only, but now is removed—NC)!

All this, we cannot but feel, is abominable kowtowing to Jewish flesh, and can hinder their salvation. Jews now are common sinners (Jews who believe in God inherit the new earth, but to inherit heaven you must be Christian—NC), who have for the present been set aside nationally (but not abandoned by God—NC), and must come to rely, as individual sinners, hopelessly guilty and helpless, upon the shed Blood of Christ, and upon Him risen from the dead. It as an awful thing to make present day Jewish claims, when God says Jews during this present dispensation, are no different from Gentiles before Him: but are just—sinners!

There are those who insist that the Jew has a special place right through this dispensation; that he must always be “first” (Rom 1:16; 2:10), that there is a difference, although God says plainly in Romans 3 that there is no difference as to the Lordship of Christ and the availability of salvation to the “whosoever’s,” Jew or Gentile. If Paul were among us today, he would abhor and decry the special, esoteric methods of approach to the Jew in vogue in some pretentious quarters today. Become all things to the Jew, to win him, certainly. Paul did. But tell him the truth that he is just a whosoever.

What the poor Jewish exiles need this hour is a Paul to go right in amongst them with a “whosoever” message for sinners, “provoking them to jealousy” by boasting in a Savior whom their nation has lost—a nation to whom God is not now offering a Messiah (Christ’s ministry of Messiahship which was only to the Jew—NC), but instead salvation, as common “whosoever’s,” non-distinction people, ordinary guilty lost sinners. In Acts 28 God through Paul officially closed the door to the national offer of the Gospel to the Jews (now it’s an individual offer like all—NC); thereafter to treat the Jew as having a special place with God is to deny Scripture.

In Acts 28:25, 28 Paul officially shuts the door to national Israel: “Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers . . . Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it” (of course not to boast, but there will be mostly Gentile Christians in heaven—NC).
The Gospel has no Jewish bounds or bonds whatever. It is presumption and danger now, to give the Jews any other place than that of common sinners! “No distinction between Jew and Greek” (Rom 10:12) says God. Those who preach thus have God’s blessings. Those that would give and special place whatever to Jews, since that day (Acts 28:28), do so contrary to the Gospel; and, we fear, for private advantage.

Tell Jews the truth! Their Messiah was offered to their nation and rejected. God is not offering a Messiah to Israel now, but has Himself “cast” them “away” (Ro 11:15 - “broken them off” v17 - until their restoration—NC): all except a “remnant,” who leave Jewish earthly hopes, break down into sinners only, and receive a sinners Savior—not a Jewish one! Then they become “partakers of a heavenly calling” (Heb 3:1).

—Wm R Newell (1868-1956)


“The majority of believers today are in legal bondage because they do not see the essential difference between our position and that of Israel under the Law. Israel depended upon their own obedience to get their blessings in the land. Christians receive their blessings because of the Lord Jesus’ obedience in their stead. He paid in full “the wages of sin”—which was death (Romans 6:23): and we have the “free gift of God”—eternal life.” - W. R. N.



MJS daily devotional for May 29

Just whose side are we on? The enemy who would occupy us with ourselves, or the Comforter who would occupy us with the risen Lord Jesus? -MJS

“If we have only learned the Lord at our own side, the tendency is to be occupied with ourselves, or to seek to be an object of consideration; whereas if we have been led by the Spirit to His side, His interests and concerns will singularly occupy us.”

“The natural inclination is to make oneself the center of everything passing, how it pains or cheers oneself, even musing on oneself as if one were the one solitary object for the sunshine or the cloud to rest on. If I am a hero, or a martyr to myself, I look at and regard divine things as they suit my thinking about myself, and not as answering to what He is thinking of me. I am confining the Lord to myself instead of rising up and seeing myself lost in Him, and then following Him in all the greatness and blessedness of His work and ways down here.” -J. B. Stoney (1814-1897)

None But The Hungry Heart

Caesarean section rates continue to rise, amid growing inequalities in access
According to new research from the World Health Organization (WHO), caesarean section use continues to rise globally, now accounting for more than 1 in 5 (21%) of all childbirths. This number is set to continue increasing over the coming decade, with nearly a third (29%) of all births likely to take place by caesarean section by 2030, the research finds.

I was told... born from water at John 3:5 is when the mother's water breaks and the baby is born of water.
If you search through these forums, you will likely find more than fifty (50) posts with similar statements to "The mother's water breaks and the baby is born of water......"
I have been told this more than once.

My question is, does such a view not mean that all persons born by caesarean section, are barred from heaven, because they cannot enter into their mother's womb again, and scream, "Push mommy. Push. Don't let them cut you. Push. I want to be born again. "?


What does it mean to be born of water. Please see the Bible's answer.

I've been settled in this for as long as i can remember, or apparently not. All things were made clean in acts? Pigs and sea creatures, etc?

Link to Table of Contents​

Hebrews 1​

1 Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways.​

2 In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him.​

2 But now, in the acharit-hayamim, he has spoken to us through his Son, to whom he has given ownership of everything and through whom he created the universe.​

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature,​

3 continued- sustaining all things by His powerful word.​

3 continued- After making purification for sins,​

3 He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.​

Tomorrow, we will have to dive in to a simplified pictorial representation of the Jewish Tabernacle. This is How deep Hebrews really is! We are only 3 verses in and it is full of things that are the very deepest depths of the Gospel. It is by far, the most Revelatory book in the New Testament! See you there, tomorrow.

All Love in Jesus Christ to All of you!

Do you have to learn Greek and Hebrew to understand the bible fully?

No one can fully understand the Bible. Studying the Koine Greek and ancient Hebrew languages will help you understand some verses better. It is not a prerequisite to know God, who dwells in you.

Should you study Koine Greek and ancient Hebrew?

If you are interested in grammar and syntax, then yes. If not, then no. Would you read something like Grammatical Mood on a daily basis?

Some claim:

I was listening to a wonderful Bible scholar and he said you should at least know the Greek and Hebrew alphabet to appreciate the deeper meaning of scripture.

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That's superficial. Knowing the spellings does not give you that advantage. Worse, it makes you think that you have that advantage over people who can't spell in Greek or Hebrew.

The best way to learn Greek or Hebrew is to study it in a classroom setting from a professor.

Studying grammar is a serious business. If you enjoy doing lexical-syntactical analysis, then go ahead.

COMMENTARY: The Council was a historical occasion in which the Church solemnly recognized the profound significance of the laity in its mission.

On Oct. 16, 1963, during the Second Vatican Council’s debate regarding the Church, the Council Fathers began discussing a draft text dedicated to the laity. The Spanish Cardinal José María Bueno y Monreal delivered one of the opening speeches. He expressed his pleasure that, for the first time in a solemn declaration, the Church was giving attention to the movement to elevate the presence of laity in the Church.

The Archbishop of Seville recognized that the increased activity of the lay members of the People of God, present particularly in the early part of the 20th century, had already been a source of renewal for the Church. The draft text which had been elaborated during the Council’s preparation was very much a fruit of this renewal.

Continued below.

I don’t know when all this began, perhaps in 2020, but definitely it has increased much in the last year or two, but the Lord added on yet another ministry to what he was already having me do. Yet, this all began in 2004 when the Lord used the passage of Scripture in Habakkuk 2:2-3 to begin to nudge me toward this present calling of God on my life.


Initially, all I knew is that the Lord was speaking to my heart, and that there was something that he wanted me to do, and that it involved writing, but it was about five months later when I really began to grasp what the Lord Jesus was wanting me to do. And what he called me to do then was to write down on a computerized device (the tablet) what he was teaching me through my times daily with him in his word. And then I was to place these writings on the internet (the herald) so that the internet could “run with it,” which eventually became the name of my primary blogs on the internet.

At first these writings were irregular, not every day like they are now, but only as the Lord led me to write something. And then by June of 2006 they increased to at least every other day. And by the end of that year it was about 25 days a month that I was posting these writings on the internet. Then in 2020 he added an additional 200, and each year since then there has been added about 200 writings on top of the previous year’s number, only this past year it was about an additional 400 that he added on from the count from the previous year. So this is my full-time assignment from God.

So, writing down what the Lord was teaching me from my times with him in his word each day was my only ministry from the Lord of this manner for the first seven years. Then in 2011 he added on another ministry. He gave me the gift of writing songs, with most all the lyrics taken from the Scriptures or based on the teachings of the Scriptures. I had never done anything like that before, so I had a lot to learn about writing and producing songs so that others could listen to them. And then seven years later, in 2018, he had me begin writing poetry (without music), for by 2020 my voice gave out.

The Lord also had me write a couple of short books as my life testimonies, beginning also in 2018. And then in 2020, I believe, he had me begin doing video talks which are on YouTube and on Vimeo. And some time after that, maybe not until 2022, he had me begin writing Christian memes to put on the internet, for many people will read memes who will not read anything of any length at all. And then he had me compile all the songs in a book form, and all the poems (up to the present) in a book form, and now he just had me put all my memes in a book form, too, which you can access here:


Now each day the Lord Jesus has me writing daily devotions, and sharing songs, and sometimes poems, and sometimes memes, and sometimes video talks. And all these can be found on my blogs (“Run With It” and “Walking Wounded”), on my Facebook page (open to the public), on YouTube, on Vimeo, and on Christian forums (as Christsfreeservant).

All this comes from the Lord, is gifted of God to me, and all of this is for the glory and praise of God, not for my own glory, and for the encouragement of the Body of Christ, and for the salvation of human lives from slavery to sin, and for walks of obedience to the Lord, so that they can know God/Christ, follow him with their lives, and have the hope of eternal life with God.

[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; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]

The latest controversy involving bishops the Holy Father has appointed in his native country may have permanently scuttled the chances of ever making a papal trip home.

Pope Francis is having serious trouble with the appointment of bishops in his native Argentina.

It is quite likely that the latest calamity will kill off whatever slim chance existed of a papal visit home later this year. It was the disastrous papal visit to Chile in 2018, plagued by controversy over troublesome episcopal appointments, that led the Holy Father to cease visiting South America.

On Monday, Archbishop Gabriel Antonio Mestre resigned as archbishop of La Plata. He is only 55 and had been the archbishop for less than nine months. Mestre had previously been bishop of the Diocese of Mar del Plata, appointed by Pope Francis in 2017. The similarity of diocesan names — Diocese of Mar del Plata, Archdiocese of La Plata — may cause confusion, but nomenclature is the least confusing part of this startling story.

Mestre’s resignation after only nine months in La Plata comes after two failed attempts to replace him in Mar del Plata since last September. First, though, the backstory.

The Rise of Fernández​

Continued below.

A young man has won a five-figure financial prize at the nation’s top science fair for his research into a mysterious outbreak of tumors he witnessed among the sea turtles under the waves of his home in Hawaii.

Maddux Springer lives on Oahu and spent most of his free time during the pandemic free diving among the reefs in Kāneʻohe Bay. Down among the quiet and peaceful corals, he couldn’t stop noticing that practically every green sea turtle he saw was covered in cauliflower-like tumors.

Whether young or old, the whole population seemed to be infected and slowly dying, prompting Springer to start what would become a 2.5-year research program. It might have gone faster if wildlife authorities had agreed to allow him to perform a biopsy on one of the tumors, and without this direct evidence, he had to find other ways to collect data.

Continued below.

See Thou shalt not kill or murder?

Using cutting-edge high-resolution microscopy, researchers were able to track the developmental stages of butterfly scales, tracing their formation from caterpillar to butterfly and revealing how they become so vivacious.

Their work reveals that actin, a protein in butterfly’s scales, orchestrates the intricate arrangement of the colorful structures.

Conducted at the University of Sheffield and the Central Laser Facility, scientists noticed that the colorful scales had much denser actin bundles, creating more reflective ridges than dull-colored scales.

Using powerful microscopes, the researchers watched as actin shifted during scale growth and color formation, demonstrating how actin is crucial for creating a butterfly’s colors, and is likely a universal process among all butterflies. They also observed that if the actin structures were dismantled or too drastically altered, the colors faded before the eye.

“Actin is like a dressmaker, laying out and pinning the arrangement of these structures to shape the vibrant colors,” said Dr. Andrew Parnell, lead author of the study. “Once the actin has finished its work it departs the cell like the removal of pins in dressmaking.”


“Butterfly scale nanostructures are a powerful way in which to make long-lasting bright colors that don’t fade or become bleached by the ultraviolet rays of the sun. The museums of the world contain direct evidence of this,” he added.

Continued below.

Out of curiosity I watched "NCIS - Sydney" tonight for the first time. The introduction had a shark coughing up a former US Navy Seal's arm in a tidal swimming pool.

I was sceptical about a shark being swept into a tidal swimming pool, but apparently it did happen once at least. Mind you it was a juvenile and wouldn't have been big enough to swallow an arm.


Part of the reason I watched the show was that I knew there really had been a "Shark Arm Murder" case involving a boxer murdered by a criminal associate or associates in Sydney, but it was a long time ago in 1935.


No doubt the scriptwriters picked up on the old case and used it to underpin an NCIS episode.

2Co 4:

16 We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

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Sanctification is the process between initial justification and eventual glorification of our bodies. It is the process of growing in faith in the Paraclete.

1. Make sure that you have been born of the Spirit. God lives in you.
2. Familiarize yourself with the whole Bible by daily reading.
3. Pray daily. Make your prayers your prayer life.
4. Have a repentant heart daily.
5. Practice hearing from God.
6. Find a local church to attend. Get involved in its programs.
7. Volunteer regularly to do good. Help the homeless. Etc.

If you are growing in faith, you will never lose your salvation. This is not some theological study. I am speaking from personal experience. This practice helps me grow in faith. It works for me

What is the best way to raise children to be Christian?

Practice the above with them.