Political dissension, division, contention, strife, factions, worries, fears, suspicions, conspiracies, slander, rebellion, gossip, cursing, bitterness, unforgiveness, discontent and complaints are not good according to the holy spirit. None of these things are spiritual fruit from God

Hello!

Is this denomination considered confessional or no?

I do know they broke away from the ELCA due to the ELCA ordaining openly gay pastors, and have a conservative view regarding homosexual behavior, but do ordain women.

I only know about them because my advisor in college WAS an ELCA Lutheran and his congregation joined the NALC a number of years ago over LGBT issues.

Are they liturgical? Are they traditional? I know they are small in number.

***I am posting as a guest from an orthodox, traditional Roman Catholic**

Thanks

I have been in this place before, and it is a dark and dire place to be, fraught with depression, and at times insanity. It is well that every believer take heed, and avoid "The Sins of the saints" - taken from The Sins of the Saints by A. W. Pink, chapter 3​

What Are the Consequences of a Believer’s Sinning?

His communion with God is broken.​

The first consequence of Adam’s sin was a breaking of his fellowship with the Lord. When in the cool of the day Jehovah walked through the Garden, Adam sought to flee from His presence by hiding away among the trees. His conscience convicted him; he had no longer any relish for spiritual things; communion was broken. Such is always the case. How can two walk together except they be agreed? God cannot tolerate the indulgence of known sin. Once sin is allowed a place in the life, fellowship with God becomes impossible. Sometimes for days together the clouds will come in between and hide the sun from the earth. It is no longer visible: its genial warmth is no longer enjoyed, though its position in relation to the earth remains the same. Presently the dark vapor disappears, and once more King Sol gladdens the hearts of men by his welcome rays. In like manner, the sins of the believer come in between his soul and God, until the smile of His countenance is hidden, and His perfections are no longer enjoyed. Yet His relation to the believer remains unchanged. But it is not until he confesses and forsakes these sins that the cloud is removed and communion is restored.

Let no one think that the interruption of divine communion is a light matter. It is deeply serious. Not only does it mean the loss of peace and joy and the cessation of any further spiritual growth, but what is infinitely sadder, it means the grieving of the Saviour’s heart. What He desires almost above everything else is fellowship with His own blood-bought people. One of the most pathetic pictures presented in the Bible is that found in Revelation 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” It is not here a question of salvation but of communion. “Supping” is always the symbol and expression of fellowship. It is for this the Saviour craves, and sinning denies it Him!

His joy of salvation is lost.​

One of the results of David’s terrible fall was the loss of his joy of God’s salvation. “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation” (Psa 51:12), was his heart-broken cry. Note, he does not say, “Restore unto me thy salvation,” but “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” By his wicked conduct he had lost the enjoyment of it. In proportion that the believer allows sin a place in his daily life, he loses his relish for spiritual things: his love for the Word diminishes, his delight in prayer vanishes, his heart is empty and dissatisfied. Not only so, he is miserable. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom 7:24) becomes, more and more, his plaint. When Peter had denied the Lord, we read that he went out and “wept”—wept not profusely but bitterly, showing his joyless and miserable condition.

His power for service is destroyed.​

Sad, unspeakably sad, is this. Appreciation of the salvation which is ours, gratitude to the One who has done so much for us, compassion for the souls of the lost, obedience to
the Saviour’s commands, all demand that we should publish abroad the glad tidings of divine grace. But how can I bear the vessels of the Lord if my own hands are unclean? How can I tell others of Christ’s power to deliver from sin if I am living in it myself? How can I speak of the joy of salvation if I have lost it? How can I talk of the unspeakable blessedness of walking with God if I am out of communion with Him? We cannot serve God and mammon. We cannot live a life which is displeasing to God and be used in the service of Christ.

His witness for Christ is nullified.​

Believers are living epistles read and known of all men and in proportion that sin is allowed in the life we misrepresent Christ before the world. Nay more, in proportion as sin is allowed by us Christ is dishonored and put to an open shame. O that we reflected more upon this! The Church is the Body of Christ. What is a body for? My body provides me with a home in this world. My body is a medium of communication, enabling me to come into contact with other people. My body is a vehicle of transportation; it is that which carries me from one place to another. My body is the instrument and organ through which I express and reveal myself: my eyes are the windows of my soul, my language is an index to the condition of my heart, my countenance reflects my character. And all that the body is to me and does for me, the Church is to Christ and does for Christ. And what is true of the Church collectively is true of the saints individually. Every believer is a member of the Body of Christ. Yea, every believer is himself a miniature body of Christ. I am to reflect Christ, reveal Christ, communicate Christ to others. Am I doing this? Not if I am giving sin a place in my life. Selfishness, worldliness, the lying tongue, the unforgiving spirit—were any of these seen in me I am misrepresenting Christ before the world.

His position in glory is affected.​

A place in glory is due solely to the grace of God, but the believer’s position in glory is determined by his works, service, obedience as a believer. Every act performed in the name of Christ, every service which was constrained by the love of Christ, every thing done for the glory of Christ, will in the coming day, receive its due reward. In proportion as we have failed to use our talents in the service of our Master, and instead, have indulged in self-pleasing and carnal gratification, we shall be losers in the world to come. We sometimes sing—“Will there be any stars in my crown?” It might be well for us to inquire whether we shall have any crown at all. There are crowns referred to in the New Testament, and each is a reward. If there has been no daily taking up of the cross there will be no eternal wearing of the crown.

In the next world, believers will no more be all on one common level than they are now. The Lord Jesus said, “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first” (Mat 19:30). “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory: so also is the resurrection of the dead” (1Co 15:41-42). In proportion as we now enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season shall we be losers in the next world.

The figure which our Lord used at the close of the Sermon on the Mount—the building of a house—is amplified by the apostle in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build
upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Every Christian is a builder. The foundation upon which he builds is Christ Himself. The materials he uses are the deeds and acts of his every-day life. The testing of our handiwork will take place at the second coming of Christ. The works which will be destroyed are those that were wrought in the energy of the flesh. The works which abide and receive a reward were those that were energized by the Holy Spirit and done out of loving gratitude to Christ. There will be a class who will “suffer loss” (of reward), whose works will be burned up, but who will be saved “yet so as by fire.” We have a striking and solemn illustration of this class in the case of Lot. Lot was a “righteous” man (2Pe 2:6-7). But his life did not count for God. Self filled his horizon. He was a worldling, occupied solely with the things of time and sense. Instead of living as a stranger and pilgrim on earth, he went and dwelt in the wicked city of Sodom. The time came when God determined to destroy this sink of iniquity. Because Lot was one of His children God sent an angel and delivered him. But all Lot’s possessions perished, were burned up in Sodom. Personally, he was saved, but he “suffered loss.” So will it be in the future. Lot was a pattern case. Those who are putting into their life nothing but wood, hay, stubble—dead works—will be the losers throughout eternity.

His conduct will bring chastisement from the Lord.​

God is holy and sin must be punished. The sins of the believer must receive “a just recompense of reward” (Heb 2:2) equally as much as the sins of the unbeliever. The difference between them is not in the fact of punishment but in the time of punishment. The sins of the unbeliever will be punished in the world to come: the sins of the believer are punished in this world, here and now. Such was the experience of Jacob, of Moses, of David. They were chastised severely.

This is a scripture which very clearly sets forth the consequence of a believer’s sinning—“If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with stripes. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail” (Psa 89:30-33). If God’s children walk disorderly and disobediently they are not cast off or disinherited, but they are chastised with the rod of divine justice. If we sin we shall suffer—suffer in our bodies, in our souls, in our circumstances.

His physical life is endangered.​

But suppose the Divine chastisement does not have the desired effect, then what? Suppose that instead of the transgressor humbling himself beneath the mighty hand of God, he hardens his heart? Suppose that instead of confessing and forsaking his sins he deliberately continues therein? In that case God will remove him by the stroke of death. In the first part of this article, we referred to the fact that the Corinthian believers, though guilty of the most awful sins, yet, were still indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But mark now the other side. Referring to other desecration[14] of the Lord’s Table the apostle says, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [had died]” (1Co
11:30). Dealing with the same solemn subject the Lord Jesus said, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away” (Joh 15:2). That is, removeth it from the earth. The believer is to be a fruit-bearer, but if he fails to fulfill the purpose of his calling then God will not permit him to cumber the ground.

It is to this the Apostle John refers when he says: “There is a sin unto death” (1Jo 5:16). This is physical death, and the sin referred to is committed by a believer—see context. We understand this Scripture to mean—there is a limit to God’s forbearance: after the believer has reached a certain point, he then “sins unto death.” We have an illustration of this in the case of Moses. For his sin of striking the rock, the Lord cut him off out of the land of the living, refusing to allow him to enter Canaan. But that he was not lost is proven by the fact that he appeared with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. For a Christian to continue in known sin, and especially to remain unaffected by the chastening of the Lord, is to endanger and imperil his life.

Hear now the conclusion of the whole matter: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal 6:7-8). May the Lord give both writer and reader a greater hatred of sin, a greater fear of displeasing Him, a greater desire to cleave to Him more closely.

https://wapo.st/3wa4JIL

WaPo:
As soon as Collin Davis found out his ex-partner was planning to travel to Colorado to have an abortion in late February, the Texas man retained a high-powered antiabortion attorney — who court records show immediately issued a legal threat. If the woman proceeded with the abortion, even in a state where the procedure remains legal, Davis would seek a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abortion and “pursue wrongful-death claims against anyone involved in the killing of his unborn child,” the lawyer wrote in a letter, according to records.

The decision to target an abortion that occurred outside of Texas represents a potential new strategy by antiabortion activists to achieve a goal many in the movement have been working toward since Roe v. Wade was overturned: stopping women from traveling out of state to end their pregnancies. Crossing state lines for abortion care remains legal nationwide. Davis’s petition — filed under Texas’s Rule 202 by Jonathan Mitchell, a prominent antiabortion attorney known for devising new and aggressive legal strategies to crack down on abortion — follows a lawsuit filed last spring by another Texas man, Marcus Silva, who is attempting to sue three women who allegedly helped his ex-wife obtain abortion pills.

“Mr. Davis is considering whether to sue individuals and organizations that participated in the murder of his unborn child,” Mitchell, widely known as the architect of Senate Bill 8, wrote in Davis’s complaint in March. Davis’s petition — filed under Texas’s Rule 202 by Jonathan Mitchell, a prominent antiabortion attorney known for devising new and aggressive legal strategies to crack down on abortion — follows a lawsuit filed last spring by another Texas man, Marcus Silva, who is attempting to sue three women who allegedly helped his ex-wife obtain abortion pills.

“Mr. Davis is considering whether to sue individuals and organizations that participated in the murder of his unborn child,” Mitchell, widely known as the architect of Senate Bill 8, wrote in Davis’s complaint in March. Davis’s petition includes no evidence of illegal activity. Davis’s former partner ultimately obtained her abortion in Colorado, Davis claims in the court documents. Mitchell suggests in the petition that people who helped her procure the abortion could be found liable. Mitchell said in a statement that abortions that occur outside Texas can be targets for civil litigation. “Fathers of aborted fetuses can sue for wrongful death in states with abortion bans, even if the abortion occurs out-of-state,” he wrote. “They can sue anyone who paid for the abortion, anyone who aided or abetted the travel, and anyone involved in the manufacture or distribution of abortion drugs.”

Hello folks. This is a Bible study that may ring true to a lot of us suffering in the modern world. Micah 4:4-7 discusses how God will gather the disabled and exiled, while John 14:15-21 describes how the Holy Spirit is with us, as Christians.

It seems like not only did the SD governor not write her autobiography, but she didn't read it either. We've mostly heard about the dog and goat slaughter, but the new errors, "starring down" Kim Jong Un, cancelled a meeting with Macron and got threatened by Ambassador Nikki Haley. Ai yi yi! She is blaming her ghost-writer and editor. SMH.


https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/03/kristi-noem-book Ai-excerpt-nikki-haley-dog-00155925

These men are God's government authorities. As such I must honor them and obey them according to Romans chapter 13 and Titus chapter 3. I don't judge them as government leaders but I let God judge them.

I judge them as Christians however and i do not follow any politician or teacher. I follow Christ and his apostles. I follow scripture and the holy spirit.

He says you cannot be Catholic and promote death (words to that effect).

I've been saying that for decades

If the following (from the site) is not "promoting abortion" (which Catholics are forbidden to do and all are forbidden by GOD to do)

i don't know what is

Site

In April, Biden launched a seven-figure ad buy in Arizona about abortion, and he has continued to speak out against Florida’s continued efforts to protect unborn human life — notably, the six-week abortion ban, which has gone into effect following a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court, upholding the 15-week abortion ban.

this is the 2nd site i went to and I still don't have the details I was looking for.

Just what is meant, exactly, about Fox reporting false information (my term) about Dominion?

I still don't have that information. Something is odd about that, all by itself. Maybe there was one of those infamous gag orders or something...



I'd like to know what exactly happened! I guess that' asking too much

Hey, something interesting. If you get on YouTube and type in "Iran" and look at videos made in the last few days you will see this- it looks like Iranian women are ditching the hijab (muslim head scarf) en-masse, almost not a soul is wearing them anymore despite it being illegal! This is very brave! Apparently alot of Iranians have had it with islam and are ditching it! Islam may be about to lose it's grip on the country! If you want to see this a video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB6dn8BWZTg&t=4s

Something else- if you get on Youtube and look at videos made in Iran in modern times there is something creepy about them, the atmosphere is pretty grim, you can see it! However if you look at videos made there before the 1979 islamic revolution the creepiness isn't there! You can see that too!

My friends.

Politics are not worth it. They don't help us grow in Christ.

Political division doesn't obey Romans chapter 13 or Titus 3. It doesn't obey Paul, who teaches us to have no divisions, disagreement, or fighting. Politics fear what mankind fears instead of trusting God.

Politics fear economics recession, jobs loss, wars, conspiracies, suspicions, and is concerned and worried about worldly matters Instead of seeking the kingdom of God.

It's full of division, dissension, factions, slander, rebellion, gossip, fear, worry, and anxiety. It wants to have control and to Lord over others instead of submitting to others in Godly fear and reverence.

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

I follow Jesus and the apostles. I follow the Psalms. I sit under my own vine and tree as Micah chapter 4 teaches. Politics and division is wrong to me. That's why i sit alone. I escaped religion and politics and i found Jesus in simplicity.

It's pure religion in my view. I submit Micah 4, John 14, Matthew chapters 5-7, Jerimiah 31, 1 John 2:27, 1 Timothy 3:16-17, Isaiah 55 and 66 and Matthew 11:28 as my foundation. That and everything else that Jesus snd his apostles teach us.

During his time in office and amid his inaugural 2020 run for Texas' 22nd District congressional seat, Republican Rep. Troy Nehls has repeatedly claimed to be the recipient of two Bronze Star medals and a Combat Infantryman Badge from his time in the U.S. Army serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There is no question that Nehls served overseas, engaged in combat, and was awarded a Bronze Star for his duties there. But military documents obtained by CBS News after a months-long investigation and a review of his service record by the U.S. Army at the Pentagon show Nehls received one – not two – Bronze Star medals. And his Combat Infantryman Badge from Afghanistan was revoked from his service record in 2023 because Nehls served as a civil affairs officer, not as an infantryman or Special Forces soldier.

On his official House of Representatives website, Nehls also lists in his biography as having two Bronze Star medals while his photograph shows him wearing the Combat Infantryman Badge lapel pin.

The investigation by CBS News found Nehls' single Bronze Star medal was awarded to him in September 2004 by now-retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste for his service in Iraq. The award citation obtained by CBS News reads in part: "Captain Nehls trained and mentored nine Iraqi staff members and four coalition soldiers assigned to the Kirkuk Business Center, which became known as the best business center in all of Iraq."

The Pentagon said Nehls does not have a Combat Infantryman Badge but instead a Combat Action Badge. U.S. Army regulations distinguish between how the two badges are awarded.

Hello. I'm follower of Jesus and i suffer mental illness and spiritual battles. I try to avoid debate and contention or division against the word of God. These things are wrong in my eye's. I avoid politics as well. I seek the kingdom and God's righteousness and I love simplicity in Christ and in life. I think I'll post things here in this thread. My little corner of the world where I can express my faith, love and hope in Jesus Christ our lord and savior.

How do you forum posters explain that evil exists despite God being, all powerful, all knowing and all love?

Why does God permit or create evil? Or did God not want it for anything? Is evil and illusion?

Why did Jesus create the situation of the crucifixion and go through that? Why does the victory of death and Satan, take so long to fully establish?

Will the fallen angels and souls ever repent?

The Shroud of Turin has its own liturgical celebration, though it is typically only celebrated in a few places in the world.

Over the centuries the Church instituted a few different feasts surrounding elements of Jesus’ Passion.


For example, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14 is often connected to the finding of the true cross by St. Helena. This event also once had a separate feast on May 3 called the “Invention of the Holy Cross,” now celebrated only in a few local areas and by communities using the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Missal,

While some still debate whether the Shroud of Turin is a real artifact from Jesus’ tomb, the Church has instituted a few different feasts surrounding the “Holy Winding Sheet of Christ.”


The Catholic Encyclopedia explains the history of these various feasts with the different relics associated with Jesus’ Passion:

Continued below.

In the very early Church, Christians would pray the Our Father as the Angelus is prayed currently by many Catholics.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the primary prayers of the early Church was the Our Father.


It was the prayer that Jesus taught them and so they held it in high regard and didn’t want to forget it.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, early Christians prayed the Our Father three times a day:

This indivisible gift of the Lord’s words and of the Holy Spirit who gives life to them in the hearts of believers has been received and lived by the Church from the beginning. The first communities prayed the Lord’s Prayer three times a day, in place of the “Eighteen Benedictions” customary in Jewish piety.
CCC 2767

Click to expand...

In this paragraph the Catechism cites the Didache, which is an ancient text that many scholars date to the 1st century. It is one of the earliest texts the Church has outside of the four Gospels:

Continued below.

In a pair of busts that will end up costing criminals millions, Thai police raided a suspected wildlife smuggling site and saved hundreds of animals.

48 lemurs, 30 primates of various species, several crocodiles, and over 1,000 rare tortoises were seized when a convoy of four smuggling trucks was raided in Chumphon, Thailand, as well as a farming front connected with the subjects.

Valued at over $2 million on the black market, this seizure spells good news for endangered species. Radiated tortoises and all the lemur species are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I, meaning that trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.

Both species are native to Madagascar and are highly sought-after commodities in the global illegal pet trade market.

Coordinated by a suite of Thai law enforcement and wildlife organizations with aid from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the investigation is focused on dismantling a transnational organized wildlife trafficking network operating in Thailand, with linkages stretching across Africa, Asia, and South America.

Continued below.

A Utah housecat was reunited with its parents recently after a nap in her favorite hiding place turned into a 6-day nightmare.

Galena the calico was accidentally shipped—in the box she had snuck into—all the way to a fulfillment center in Jurupa Valley, California.

Oh yes, epitomizing the internet adage of ‘if it fits, I sits‘ Galena had cozied up inside an Amazon box, unaware that the shoes she was sharing it with were due to be returned.

Owners Carrier and Matt Clark love their cat, as much as she loves sitting in boxes. But her quiet, demure demeanor got the best of her this time, and she needed all 9 lives to survive in the box for 6 days without food or water.

Continued below.

I was talking with a wonderful guest we had here for a retreat last week. We talked about many things and one of the subjects she brought up was the Blessed Mother. She told me that she loved the Blessed Mother, but did not understand the relationship that Catholics and other Christians from the older Churches had with her.

As we talked, I brought up the differences in how Catholics and many non-Catholics look upon the Body Of Christ. I believe that Catholics have an understanding of the Mystical-Body that is deeper and broader, in the sense of our understanding about the continuing role those with the Lord play in the church, as well as in individual lives. Those who die, and love God, do not go anywhere since they are already part of the Body Of Christ. You could say that they go higher up and deeper in, that C.S. Lewis liked to state in his Narnia books.

Those deeper in and higher up, have also put on the “Mind Of Christ” fully. They no longer struggle to love God and others and to do the will of God, which is to Love God, Love Others, and Love self. They are free and in union with the Infinite. So they to, will seek to do what Christ Jesus is doing, to tend to the needs of their brothers and sisters, to bring them to the fullness of life in Christ Jesus.

So to ‘pray’ to a saint, is not worship, since only God can be worshipped, Just as we on earth, tend to the needs of the church, so do those who have passed on. They love more deeply, and in that, they still share in the suffering of Christ. Yet their suffering differs for the most part in how we experience suffering on earth. They suffer because they love, as Christ Jesus loves. The closer they are to Christ, the deeper that suffering, yet it does not take away joy, nor does it cause bitterness. They love with the love of Christ Jesus, because, again, they have put on the Mind Of Christ. They pray with us, and for us, being part of that cloud of witnesses as stated in the book of Hebrews.

On the Cross, Jesus looked at Mary and told her to take John as her child saying “Behold your son”. Then Jesus looked at John and said: “Behold your mother”. Because these are among Jesus’s last words, the church takes them seriously and continues to reflect on this mystery, something that we can dive deeper into for an eternity and never reach the bottom.

Because of her deep love of God, and her deep humility, and understanding more than any other creature of her ‘nothingness’, she is deeper in and higher up, more than anyone else. Her self-knowledge is so profound that she sees herself as less than others, because of the graces given to her.

Her greatness, being above all saints, comes from her deep humility, and her understanding of the truth of God’s mercy, compassion, and love, shown to her without any merit on her part.

She by the grace of God is gifted to mankind as ‘Mother’. She prays with us and for us. All are her children. We are called, like her, to be pregnant with God, to bring Christ Jesus into the world, by allowing Christ to incarnate through our humanity, bringing us deeper into the mystery of sacrificial love.

Those who are devoted to Mary will never apostatize, since they know that she is the ‘Mother Of God’, she brings us to her son.

I love the Rosary, for me it is not a boring prayer, nor a mere repetition of words, but a way to become still before God, allowing the life of Christ Jesus to grow in me, and to flow through me. It can be said slowly, or fast, just as long as it is the right way to pray for the one saying the Rosary. It leads to deep meditation on the Gospels, as well, as calming the mind, relaxing the body, and allowing the one praying, to enter deeply into the embrace of God.

Did I convince the beautiful, loving, soul, who asked me about Catholics, and Mary? Well, she told me that she understood a little better, but no, I did not convince her really. Which is OK, she listened and respected what I had to say. We are both brothers and sisters in Christ after all.

So let us not fear to draw close to the Blessed Mother, her only desire is to bring us to her Son.—Br.MD