The real question is the mystery of how one day can contain all days. Genesis is literal, yet there is a deeper meaning. In the same way we have the body, which represents this world and we have the soul that represents the world to come.

I am amazed at how a few word can tell us about all of creation. We need to be careful not to confuse day Yom that represents a 24 hour period with bə-yō-wm, which represent an age or an era. Not only in a 24 hour day. In an instant of time God created all of time, all ages and all eras. So we wonder how can a little contain so much?

Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day bə-yō-wm that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

I always get asked this question: YEC represent YOM the 24 hour day. OEC represents bə-yō-wm meaning all of time and all ages. They are talking about two different word with two different meaning in Genesis one and Genesis two.

The first letter in the word for day means a little that represents a lot. As they say a day contains all days and all ages. One literal, the other symbolic.

The real question is the mystery of how one day can contain all days. Genesis is literal, yet there is a deeper meaning. In the same way we have the body, which represents this world and we have the soul that represents the world to come.

I am amazed at how a few word can tell us about all of creation. We need to be careful not to confuse day Yom that represents a 24 hour period with bə-yō-wm, which represent an age or an era. Not only in a 24 hour day. In an instant of time God created all of time, all ages and all eras. So we wonder how can a little contain so much?

Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day bə-yō-wm that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

I always get asked this question: YEC represent YOM the 24 hour day. OEC represents bə-yō-wm meaning all of time and all ages. They are talking about two different words with two different meaning in Genesis one and Genesis two.

The first letter in the word for day Yom means a little that represents a lot. As they say a day contains all days and all ages. One literal, the other symbolic.

The temporary pier constructed by the US military to transport aid into Gaza broke apart and sustained damage in heavy seas on Tuesday in a major blow to the American-led effort to create a maritime corridor for humanitarian supplies into the war-torn enclave, the Pentagon said.

The pier was “damaged and sections of the pier need rebuilding and repairing,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Tuesday. The pier will be removed from its location on the Gaza coast over the next 48 hours and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where US Central Command will carry out repairs, Singh said. The repairs will take more than a week, further delaying the effort to get the maritime corridor fully operating.

Earlier, four US officials told CNN the pier broke apart in heavy seas.

Part of the pier, which consists of a narrow causeway to drive aid into Gaza and a wider parking area to drop off supplies transported by ship, disconnected on Sunday, the officials said. The parking area will have to be reconnected to the causeway before the pier can be used again.

The damage, first reported by NBC News, occurred three days after heavy seas forced two small US Army vessels to beach in Israel, according to US Central Command, while another two vessels broke free of their moorings and were anchored near the pier.

“I believe most of our soldiers were able to remain on the vessels and still are currently on them,” Singh said during Tuesday’s Pentagon press briefing. “And … within the next 24 or 48 hours, the Israeli Navy will be helping push those vessels back and hopefully they’ll be fully operational by then.”

One adviser to major Democratic donors keeps a running list of reasons Biden could lose.
A pervasive sense of fear has settled in at the highest levels of the Democratic Party over President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects, even among officeholders and strategists who had previously expressed confidence about the coming battle with Donald Trump.

All year, Democrats had been on a joyless and exhausting grind through the 2024 election. But now, nearly five months from the election, anxiety has morphed into palpable trepidation, according to more than a dozen party leaders and operatives. And the gap between what Democrats will say on TV or in print, and what they’ll text their friends, has only grown as worries have surged about Biden’s prospects.
“You don’t want to be that guy who is on the record saying we’re doomed, or the campaign’s bad or Biden’s making mistakes. Nobody wants to be that guy,” said a Democratic operative in close touch with the White House and granted anonymity to speak freely.
But Biden’s stubbornly poor polling and the stakes of the election “are creating the freakout,” he said.
“This isn’t, ‘Oh my God, Mitt Romney might become president.’ It’s ‘Oh my God, the democracy might end.’”
Despite everything, Trump is running ahead of Biden in most battleground states. He raised far more money in April, and the landscape may only become worse for Democrats, with Trump’s hush-money trial concluding and another — this one involving the president’s son — set to begin in Delaware.
The concern has metastasized in recent days as Trump jaunted to some of the country’s most liberal territories, including New Jersey and New York, to woo Hispanic and Black voters as he boasted, improbably, that he would win in those areas.

While he’s long lagged Biden in cash on hand, Trump’s fundraising outpaced the president’s by $25 million last month, and included a record-setting $50.5 million haul from an event in Palm Beach, Florida. One adviser to major Democratic Party donors provided a running list that has been shared with funders of nearly two dozen reasons why Biden could lose, ranging from immigration and high inflation to the president’s age, the unpopularity of Vice President Kamala Harris and the presence of third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Hey a question- do you think it is wisdom to cast the enemy out of a place when there is a good chance someone will let it back in? (Such as an apartment complex) I know that the scripture says that if you do that and someone lets it back in it will come back 7 times worse. I was able to cast the enemy out of several apartment complexes, I took authority and told it to go and instantly I felt it leave! However the tenants may have let it in in the first place due to their actions and I just hope they don't let it back in! Is it wisdom to do this or is it wiser to evangelize the place first?

Asking for prayer to find a suitable job. Because of my disabilities, I'm looking for a remote from home job.

I'm considering medical transcription. A friend of mine is going to try to contact someone they know who is in the medical field about how I could get hired by a company who would pay for the course/certification, because I can't afford to do that on my own.

If that falls through, then something like that would be good. Where I can work on my own and not have to use the phone. Thanks.

I must say... Keeping up with SpaceX has been exciting for me...

Why Does the Bible Say So Much about Widows?​

All Over Scripture​

Much earlier in my ministry, I began to include widows in the public prayers of the church where I was the pastor. I spoke at a gathering of ministers on public praying and mentioned widows among those who were often neglected in the prayers and ministry of the church. Called to care for widows in my own congregation, I began to study the Scriptures.

I soon discovered that there were very few books written about caring for widows but was taken aback by how much the Bible said about them. Whether you read Moses and the prophets, the Psalms and the Proverbs of Solomon, the four Gospels, or the book of Acts and the letters to the churches in the New Testament, you will not be able to read far without the subject of widows coming up. There are about eighty direct references to widows in the Scriptures. Why?

The Defender of Widows​

Fundamentally, God is the kind of God who keeps a careful eye on the widow. He is profoundly concerned for her, together with the stranger and the fatherless. He is righteous and protects them for he is “a father of the fatherless, a defender of widows . . . in his holy habitation,” (Psalm 68:5).

The incarnate Son of God is like him. He cared for his widowed mother (John 19:25-17), he raised from the dead the son of the widow of Nain and returned him to his mother (Luke 7:11-17), and, in the spirit of the prophets, condemned those who took advantage of widows (Matthew 23:24).

Called to Imitate God​

In line with this, God commanded that the nation of Israel care for widows, being diligent to not isolate them or take advantage of their vulnerability. Deuteronomy 16:11-14 shows how God provided for widows so that they were not excluded; instead, they enjoyed full participation in the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.

However, when the nation of Israel turned away from serving God, they also turned away from his commandments. Who suffered when that happened? Widows were among the first casualties. The Old Testament prophets reproached those who wronged widows and called the nation back to its God-given responsibilities (e.g. Isaiah 10:1-3, Jeremiah 22:1-5, Ezekiel 22:6-7).

The church is called to be God-like, imitating his example and obeying his commandments. The early church cared for widows (Acts 6). In fact, the task was so important that seven men of good reputation, full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit, were selected to be responsible for the matter.

What's more, Paul laid out clear instructions in 1 Timothy 5 about how widows were to be regarded and treated. James did not mince his words in James 1:27. He said, in effect, “Let’s be clear about the nature of real religion. It must be visible and practical. It visits widows and orphans in their trouble as well as maintains moral purity in an evil world.”

"And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing."
- Ezekiel 34:25-26

These two verses hit me with a mighty blessing last night before bed. As some here know, I am planning on moving back to my land, and want to build a chapel, but there was also much evil that went on there over the years.

I at first saw that a covenant of peace would be made, and we know Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27) I say "Jesus SAYS it" rather than that He said it, because His Word still speaks to us today and every day. The Word is not something spoken in some distant past and then done. No! His Word speaks!

And we also know, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7

Now "evil beasts" will be caused to cease out of the land. There's been a lot of different commentary on this portion. Some say the evil beasts are animals that tear and rend, for the scripture does warn of these. But it's also been called a reference to enemy people or nations around Israel. Sure, it can be people. I've heard it's devils, or rather devil infested beasts, or people. All could be true, and all of these do exist. I know in my case on my land it's devils pure and simple, or, well, NOT pure, and not simple; more like impure and mischievous. I pray God by His mighty power cause all them, all those evil beasts to CEASE from the land in Jesus name!

And they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I take that at face value. It says what it says, and my place is in both the wilderness and the woods.
This is just down the road from my place:

the next part is, "I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing" I pray this for my place, and all the surrounding area, that what was once an accursed land for many who dwelt there, and what did drive many people from that place, and some to their deaths, shall be restored in the name of the LORD.

Then, "I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing."
For 7 years it has lay fallow, but now it's time to break up the fallow ground, and receive the blessing of the LORD.
As for the "them," I do not know. I know the passage is speaking to Israel, but also that all things are written for our admonition, and edification, and learning, and that God's blessing falls on Jew and Gentile alike. Right now there is just me. Maybe it could mean everyone up there in that hill will be blessed, or maybe I shall meet someone I as yet do not know - though any relationship would have to be with a solid believer in Christ, mature, and marriage in the sight of Yahweh the LORD.

Hmmm, when I typed in the title just now, I see similar threads and this popped up. Ok, what don't I know, Lord?


Login to view embedded media

If I started to read NT Wright, where should I begin?

Blessings

Pray that GOD will soften the hearts of Jake, Brandon and Daniel. Remove the spiritual blindness from their eyes, and help them to understand the truth about Jesus. Bring them to repentance and salvation. Help me to let my light shine before men that they may see my good deeds and glorify my Father in heaven. Pray that a friendship will develop. A specific need would be Jakes marijuana usage. Please pray that he will be sent free from it. Thank you.

Expert says the Chinese military could seize Taiwan’s government buildings in under an hour​

Images of Chinese warships seen off the coast of Taiwan served as a dire warning of a potential invasion that could disrupt the technology supply chain, plunge the world into an economic catastrophe, and start a hot war between the U.S. and China. NBC News’ Ken Dilanian speaks with a geopolitics expert who believes an actual invasion could be over before the U.S. even has a chance to respond.

Video:

Hi, I don't know why this is happening, but I hope it doesn't devolve into another spiritual mess.

Before I came into the church, I had been exploring a different denomination which seemed very close to the full truth at the time. There were things that turned me off by the denomination, so I abandoned the idea, but now I'm feeling tempted again. There must be something that caused this. I'll try to think.

A particular stumbling block occurred yesterday when I was watching a video (came up as a suggested one). It was in regard to Matthew 5:23-24. The narrator of the video (who I have to admit, does have a magnetic quality about the way he preaches) was saying that the altar was something referring to Old Testament Law, and that while Jesus was making that statement, we were still under OT Law and that verse was referring to OT Law. It confused me because there are some Christians who separate some of Jesus' teachings for OT Law and some for NT Law. The preacher was trying to give a quote by Origen, the latter who said that the earliest Christians didn't have altars, and the preacher was trying to say that altars are an invention by the Catholic Church (sigh). I'm like, now what?

AI makes ketchup flavored Jam. Bros, don't eat this. Now for only $2.49 at your local Wally World.

Prompt: Ketchup jam branded jar.

DALL-E 3 XL V2: Ketchupp - Ketichup Jam Banded Jaim

It seems there is a faction of people who hold the Founding Fathers up to be almost gods (but certainly some kind of divine representative). So much so that they figure a 240ish yr old legal document is as applicable in today's culture as in one from that long ago.


I'm curious, is there anything you think that Founding Fathers really should have thought a bit harder on. So I'm thinking problems that they REALLY should have been able to foresee and not empowered.

For example (and I am NOT a historian so please feel free to eviscerate and enlighten me)....I don't understand how a judge appointed by a president would be permitted to try that same president in their court room. How is it that this did not have some kind of stop gap measure?

Thoughts? Other examples? Keeping in mind it I'm looking MOSTLY for examples that are not explicitly from our times but are problems that could have arisen back then (ie..nothing about AI...that kinda thing)

David conquered Rabbah, the royal citadel of the Ammonites in (NIV) 2 Sam 12:

31 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

Click to expand...

The Ammonites worked for David.

and put [them to work]
וַיָּ֣שֶׂם (way·yā·śem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

with saws,
בַּ֠מְּגֵרָה (bam·mə·ḡê·rāh)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4050: A saw

King James Bible translated this verse differently:

And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

Click to expand...

The Ammonites were executed.

The original Hebrew could be translated either way. On Biblehub, 17 versions used "work"; 10 used "under".

David did not occupy the Ammonite cities. I think he executed the inhabitants and left.

Parallel account in (NIV) 1 Chronicles 20:

3 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

Click to expand...

King James Bible:

And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Click to expand...

cut
וַיָּ֨שַׂר (way·yā·śar)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7787

with saws,
Strong's 4050: A saw

H7787 appeared only once, and its meaning was obscure. On Biblehub, 17 versions used "work", and 18 used "cut."

Both H7760 and H7787 were ambiguous, so translators had to interpret them. I think execution makes a bit more sense.

Hey does the flag of the European Union give you the creeps? I find something about it disturbing. The scripture says that the 1-World government of the antichrist will emerge from a revived roman empire, I think this could be the European Union!

Almost all European nations are post-Christian societies, many of them are athiest states. Sweden is an especially bad one, there is a microchip that may be the mark of the beast and many people in Sweden are taking the chip voluntarily! They are excited about it, they like it! The chip is designed to replace credit cards, the chip would be implanted in your hand and you would just swipe your hand at the check-out at the store rather than a credit card. If this ever became mandatory it would agree with the scripture that you could not buy and sell in the marketplace without the mark (the chip)!

How would you stabilize the price of food in desert countries?

If you can answer the question
you might get peace in the Middle East.

John Touhey | Aleteia | Image generated using ChatGPT



What did the “Miracle of the Sun” look like to eyewitnesses? Generating A.I. images of their accounts produces fascinating results, but we need to be cautious.

With the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima upon us, my mind turned to her apparitions at Fatima and particularly to the last one on October 13, 1917. It is only natural to think about what it would have been like to be among the tens of thousands gathered that day who saw the “Miracle of the Sun.”

Would it be possible, I wondered, to get some idea of what they saw using generative A.I.?

“Revelatory possibilities”​

Continued below.

Where’s purgatory in the Bible? Protestants ask this all the time.​

“Where’s purgatory in the Bible?” Protestants ask this all the time.

Any Catholic who is familiar with apologetics knows to answer with 1 Corinthians 3:11-15:

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Click to expand...

Paul is talking about the Day of Judgment, which comes after death (see Hebrews 9:27). And in light of the “fire” that tests the quality of a person’s works, Catholics argue that the person is being purified. Fire is used metaphorically in Scripture as a purifying agent—in Matthew 3:2-3,11 and Mark 9:49—and as that which consumes: Matthew 3:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8). This state of existence can’t be heaven because the individual has the defilement of bad works and is suffering loss. Nor can it be hell because Paul says the person “will be saved.” A state of purification in the afterlife that is neither heaven nor hell—that’s purgatory!

But for Protestants it’s not so clear. They offer a few reasons why they think this doesn’t refer to purgatory.

One is that Paul says these things will only happen at the Final Judgment—“for the Day will disclose it” (v.13; emphasis added). For this text to support the Catholic doctrine of purgatory, so the argument goes, it would need to speak of an intermediate judgment before the Second Coming. Since it doesn’t, a Catholic can’t use it to support purgatory.

What should we make of this Protestant counter? Is it a precious stone that would survive the fire of scrutiny? Or is it more like straw? Let’s test it and find out.

Continued below.

“Hail Mary, full of grace.” We often repeat these words as part of the prayer for many different daily devotionals, such as the Angelus, the Rosary, and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. When applied to the Blessed Mother, it is easy to see how she is full of grace, but have you ever thought about what it means for you to be “full of grace”? In the same way that the Blessed Mother leads us to her Son to grow in a relationship with Him, she also teaches us how to be grace-filled women. When coupled with St. Paul’s writings that outline the Christian virtues, we have a blueprint for being “full of grace” in our own lives.

Perfection​

“Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:48

Click to expand...

At face value, the word “perfect” might sound hopeless, but when placed into the context of our faith, it becomes more achievable. St. Louis de Montfort wrote, “All our perfection consists in being conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ; and therefore, the most perfect of all devotions is, without any doubt, that which the most perfectly conforms, unites, and consecrates us to Jesus Christ. Now, Mary being the most conformed of all creatures to Jesus Christ, it follows that, of all devotions, that which most consecrates and conforms the soul to our Lord is devotion to His holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more is it consecrated to Jesus.” While we may not yet be perfectly conformed to God at this moment, the ways that we grow in holiness come from striving for perfection. Also, placing ourselves in the Blessed Mother’s hands will help us grow to be full of grace in each of our vocations.

Talk with God: Consider your vocation or how God has called you to live your life (i.e., a wife, a mother, a religious, a consecrated person, or a single person.) Ask Him to show you how to grow in holiness so that you may reach perfection in your state of life.

Humility​

“God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
James 4:6

Click to expand...

Continued below.

ROME – The Vatican’s doctrinal chief has held talks with the Coptic leader to heal the rift caused by Rome’s decision to provide non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples.

The December declaration Fiducia Supplicans prompted the Coptic Orthodox Church in March to sever ecumenical dialogue with the Catholic Church.

Argentine Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), has travelled to Cairo for a meeting with Pope Tawadros II in an attempt to repair the rift.

The reason for the visit, according to the Vatican, was to discuss Fiducia Supplicans “and the Coptic Synod’s subsequent statement rejecting it and announcing a suspension of dialogue”.

One of the largest and one of the most influential Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Copts had announced publicly that because of the declaration it would “suspend the theological dialogue with the Catholic Church, re-evaluate the results that the dialogue has achieved since its beginning 20 years ago, and establish new standards and mechanisms for the dialogue to proceed”.

Continued below.

DISCERNMENT OF ALLEGED SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA One of the most compelling attractions of Catholicism is the immersion in the supernatural. The Church birthed with the miracle of the resurrection. It was launched with the miracle of Pentecost. The old pagan gods of the Roman Empire gave way before the supernatural potency of the sub apostolic church. Despite the best efforts of schismatics down the ages, God has renewed and refreshed his Church with infusions of the mystery of the miraculous. Protestantism has increasingly succumbed to either dull rationality or hyper-hysteria. In the Catholic world the apparitions of our Lady remain one of the most powerful tools of renewal of piety, repentance and faith. But the supernatural is double edged. It presents us with authentic interventions, but equally with distorted and even diabolic phenomena. It is a truism that evil has the capacity to present itself as good. It is equally true that the supernatural can be mimicked. The Catholic Church has taken the task of discernment with the utmost seriousness. A good deal hangs on being able to tell good from evil and the authentic from the illusory. The last time the procedure for assessing the authenticity of supernatural phenomena took place was 1978. Their are a number of cogent reasons for Giving fresh thought to the process, of which the most persuasive is the development of social media. 20:15

Login to view embedded media