The court heard 61 arguments in 69 cases this term (some of the cases were consolidated for oral argument), 20 of which the court has already decided.
Opinions in some of the biggest cases, however, have yet to be issued. These cases address issues ranging from government censorship of online speech to abortion drug regulation to Trump’s immunity from criminal prosecution to how much deference courts should give to federal agencies’ interpretations of the scope of their own authority.
The court heard five cases this term that could significantly reshape administrative law and the regulatory state.
In Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, for instance, the court will decide how much courts should defer to agencies’ often expansive interpretations of federal law.

The world is a dangerous place to be an American ally right now. The Biden administration announced last Tuesday that it has paused arms deliveries to Israel until its concerns over the planned invasion of Rafah are “fully addressed.” Earlier that day, the State Department informed Congress it was extending waivers for Qatar, Lebanon, and five other Islamic nations to receive American weapons.

In other words, the Biden administration will supply weapons to state sponsors of terror, but not to our closest allies.

It should seem obvious, but “ally” is not an empty phrase for a “country we feel positively toward.” No, an ally is a partner, one we have agreed to work closely with, and one with whom we have established contractual obligations. Allies develop such strong mutual bonds that they are willing to work through minor differences in order to preserve the relationship. Punitive actions, such as sanctions and embargoes, are reserved not for allies but for hostile powers, geopolitical rivals, or at best frenemies.

Israel is currently fighting Iran-backed Islamist terrorists on three fronts (Hamas to the southwest, Hezbollah to the north, other factions to the west), not to mention fending off missile and drone attacks launched by the Houthis in Yemen and from Iran itself. Israel is “our very closest friend and ally,” Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) declared on “Washington Watch” Monday. “We have friends like Israel. We have enemies like Iran.”

On March 13, 2024 — after five months of attacks on Israel and U.S. forces by Iran-backed militias — the Biden administration renewed a sanctions waiver giving Iran access to $10 billion.

Congress understands which countries are America’s friends, and which are our foes. In 1994, Congress amended the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (22 U.S.C. 2751) to prohibit the sale or lease of any “defense article or defense service” to any country known to participate in the “Arab League boycott of Israel,” although the State Department could grant waivers if America’s national security was at stake.

“As Floridians prepare for Freedom Summer, Florida’s bridges will follow suit, illuminating in red, white, and blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day!” Florida Transportation Secretary James Perdue wrote on X.

“Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida continues to be the freest state in the nation,” he added.

Mr DeSantis’ display will wipe out several scheduled lightings [of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which is outfitted with 1,800 LED lights], including for Mental Health Awareness (28-31 May); Juneteenth (19 June); and Ovarian Cancer Awareness (1-7 September).

[And Pride Month of course.]

Makes a lot of sense to be honest. Assisting someone who is actively sinning by breaking the law isn’t loving them.

2 John 5-6
I beg you, dear lady, not as though I wrote to you a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

With 6 weeks notice Sunak gambles on a July 4th election. At almost 22 points behind labour in the polls he has taken his own party by surprise.

Last summer, two years after an upside-down American flag was flown outside the Virginia home of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., another provocative symbol was displayed at his vacation house in New Jersey, according to interviews and photographs.

This time, it was the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which, like the inverted U.S. flag, was carried by rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

It seems Justice Alito is oblivious to the appearance of bias by such actions.

Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home

In 1967 Louis Armstrong popularized this song:

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At the same time, the University of Michigan was saying this:

During the late 1960s, an “environmental crisis” took shape as a series of environmental catastrophes and revelatory books transformed the American environmental consciousness. Soon before the crisis took its final form, several immensely popular books including Rachel Carson’s 1962 Silent Spring and Ralph Nader’s 1965 Unsafe at Any Speed pushed the public to question the relationship between the government, tasked with protecting the public interest, and industries, incentivized to act in their own economic interests. Pervasive smog in New York City and Los Angeles, the Santa Barbara oil spill, and the Cuyahoga River fires made headlines and frightened Americans across the country. Paul Ehrlich’s book The Population Bomb (1968) connected the dots and helped the public realize that the issues were all related: an exponentially growing population meant an increasing demand for limited resources, which led to unwise decisions about resource use. Driven by fear and empowered with information, the American public was poised to demand change.

Question:

Who do you believe?

There are several articles I just read over the last few days, by an archaeologist named Bargil Pixner which I thought I would post here. The first article is mainly archaeology, the discovery of the southwestern wall which enclosed that corner and gate of the Essene Quarter of Yerushalem. The findings are laid out fairly straightforwardly and are undisputed, and most everyone now understands this area to have been the location of the Essene Quarter. What I think less people realize is that the Upper Room was located in this same area, and below that was a very ancient Jewish-Christian Synagogue. That is where the second article comes in, written by the same author and archaeologist, and that article is much more from a standpoint of historical records with a background knowledge of the archaeology of the area. I found nothing in either of these articles that sounds outlandish or like wishful thinking, (and I am generally pretty skeptical about such claims as those made herein). The second article appears to be laid out quite well, at least to me anyway, being methodical, well researched, and well thought out, as well as reasonable and full of common sense. The following map is not from either of the articles but I include it just to show the location of the Essene Quarter and the very ancient traditional location of the Upper Room which he speaks about in the second article.



Both of these articles first appeared in Biblical Archaeological Review, but this is apparently a website for a Foundation called Century One, where the author also apparently posts some of his articles. The point is, this author is the real deal, a legitimate archaeologist.

An obscure provision of Ohio law could keep Biden off the ballot in November​

President Joe Biden might not appear on the November 2024 presidential ballot in Ohio. Ohio law requires that presidential candidates be certified – that is, the state must be notified that presidential candidates have been officially nominated – 90 days before the general election in order to get on the ballot. That is the earliest deadline of any state.

But the Democratic National Convention that will formally nominate Biden won’t open until nearly two weeks after Ohio’s Aug. 7 deadline. The Republican National Convention will wrap up nearly three weeks before the deadline, so Donald Trump won’t have a problem getting on the ballot.

The 90-day deadline has often caused trouble since its adoption in 2010. Only in 2016 did both parties’ conventions take place before the Ohio cutoff date. Both conventions took place after the deadline in 2012 and 2020, and legislators extended the deadline both times.

There are ways to resolve this problem, as two other states with early deadlines have already done. Washington state officials said they will accept a provisional certification of Biden’s nomination before the convention. And Alabama’s Legislature shortened its deadline so that Biden could qualify for the ballot there.

Neither solution seems likely in Ohio, where Republicans may be seeking to make life harder for the Democrats’ presidential nominee.

--

Now, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose has just send a letter to the Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party stating that he does not believe the legislature is going to grant an extension so the DNC is going to be forced to either change the date of their nominating convention to satisfy Ohio Republicans, or take them to court.

The Biden Campaign and the DNC has been largely silent on this issue, apparently attempting to resolve this behind the scenes through negotiations. However, LaRose's letter makes it clear that the time for a settlement to this appears to be at an end with Ohio Republicans prepared to force Democrats to take them to court.

“Veteran researcher George Barna of the Barna Group recently said that we’ve reached "Christian invisibility in our culture” amid a decline in biblical worldview and diminishing interest in spiritual formation.

People have become more selfish, churches have become less influential, pastors have become less Bible-centric,” Barna, a professor at Arizona Christian University and the director of research at its Cultural Research Center, told The Christian Post in a recent interview. “Families have invested less of their time and energy in spiritual growth, particularly of their children. The media now influences the Church more than the Church influences the media, or the culture for that matter. The Christian Body tends to get off track arguing about a lot of things that really don't matter.”

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Barna noted a troubling trend, such as a decline in discipleship and the lack of solid, biblical training in seminaries. He also contended that churches use measures for success, such as attendance, fundraising, and infrastructure have little to do with Jesus’ mission.


“There is poor leadership in seminaries that mislead local churches into thinking that they're actually training individuals whom God has called to be leaders and are qualified to be leaders and certifying them to lead local churches, not knowing any better bringing them on,” he said. Despite seminaries having “good intentions,” Barna said they are setting up young leaders for failures.

Continued below.

I would like to consider some terms used when considering salvation. Because it seems to flavor how one considers the topic.

SIN

• A rebellious act. E.g. God told Adam not to eat the fruit, yet he did. That was disobedience, and thus a sin.
• Any wrong-doing, even apart from willful disobedience. E.g. Lev 15:27 “If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering."
• General ignorance. E.g. Ps 86:11 "Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name". Here we have the psalmist asking instruction that he might become more aligned with God, more perfect. 1 John 5:17 "All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death." In this construct, everyone will always have more to learn from God and even after the 2nd coming of Christ, we will continually be learning, improving and becoming more like our Father.
  

SALVATION

• Forgiveness of an offense. Adam sinned and created problems for his offspring. God forgave Adam and "saved" him.
• Protection against consequences. After Adam's sin, God put forth immense effort to right the wrong. Adam acquiesced power and authority to Satan in the garden. Christ overcame Satan by obeying the Father to the point of death, regaining the authority Adam had lost. Christ "saved" us from Adam's actions.
• Personal improvement. This would be the process whereby God empowers us to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. He helps us put our foolishness behind us and stop doing bad things, thereby "saving" us.
  

What do you think of my flavors of interpretation above? Do you think they are all the same thing? Is there some additional nuance I missed? And how does swapping one interpretation of a word for another affect your understanding of salvation?

Best wishes,

KT

I have been reading through the Bible (actually listening), and I have come across several passages relating to blessings and curses and thought I would explore the idea here.

First, there are the classic blessings and curses that God gives, linked to Mt. Ebal. And I have no issues with this. God issues a policy of blessing, and his servants (angels) carry it out to bless a person or nation. Likewise a policy of curse (disfavor) can likewise be carried out by angels such that everything seems to go wrong.

Next, I am not considering when a person might (wrongly) say a curse when they are angry, for example if they hit their thumb with a hammer.

But what interests me is when humans issue the blessings or curses.

I'm going to list passages relating curses that I found. Comments below.

1. Gen 9:24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
   
   
2. Gen 27:11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”
   
   
3. Gen 27:27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
   “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.
   28 May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine.
   29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you.
   Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
   May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”
   
   
4. Gen 27:33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!” 34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
   
   
5. Gen 49: Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
   2 “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel. ...
   5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords[a] are weapons of violence. ...
   7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
   
   
6. Numbers 22 10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message: 11 ‘A people that has come out of Egypt covers the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps then I will be able to fight them and drive them away.’” ... 12 But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.”
   
   
7. Deut 21: 22 If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, 23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
   
   
8. Joshua 6 26 At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:
   “At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations;
   at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.” ... (see fullfilment of this below)
   
   
9. 1 Kings 16:34 In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
   
   
10. Joshua 9:22 Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by saying, ‘We live a long way from you,’ while actually you live near us? 23 You are now under a curse: You will never be released from service as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
    
    
11. Judges 9 Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal ... murdered his seventy brothers, .... But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. ... he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. ... 16 “Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? ... 20 But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!” ... 56 Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. 57 God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them.
    
    
12. Judges 21:17 The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18 We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite."
    
    
13. 1 Sam 14 24 Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food. ... 41 Then Saul prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, “Why have you not answered your servant today? If the fault is in me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the men of Israel are at fault,[d] respond with Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared. 42 Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken. 43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done." So Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now I must die!” 44 Saul said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.”
    
    
14. 2 Sam 16 5 As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul’s family came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out. 6 He pelted David and all the king’s officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David’s right and left. 7 As he cursed, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you murderer, you scoundrel! 8 The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a murderer!” ... 11 David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. 12 It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today.”
    
    
15. 2 King 2 23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. 25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
    
    
16. Nehemiah 13 25 I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.
    
    
17. Job 1:5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
    
    
18. Mat 26: 69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, ... 74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed.
    
    
19. 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.
    
    
20. 1 Cor 16 21 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Come, Lord!

Here are my thoughts:

• Blessings or curses are a supernatural phenomena, so if carried out, the source of the power must be from God, either directly from the Father, or by one of His servants (angels) acting in accordance to His policy.
  
  
• Some of the blessings/curses seem to predict the future. E.g. Jacob's words to his sons before his death (item #5 above). I'm not sure if this curse came true. Were Simeon and Levi dispersed in Israel?
  
  
• When Isaac's blessing was stolen by Jacob, how did this work? Was Jacob bound by his word after being tricked? Was God bound to this? This doesn't make sense to me.
  
  
• When Hiel rebuilt Jericho, he lost 2 sons. Did God kill these two to honor the curse issued by Joshua?
  
  
• In the case of Baalam, why did God tell Baalam not to curse the Israelites? What was the worst that would happen, that God would ignore the invocation? What he trying to save Baalam's reputation of being an effective curse-giver?
  
  
• In #13 above, the situation where Saul had put a curse on anyone who ate, was God honoring Saul's authority by not responding after his son had eaten honey?
  
  
• In #20, is this type of curse the same kind of curse seen in the OT? Was Paul really evoking a curse, or was it more causal?
  
  
• In the Law that God instructed Moses to give, there is regulation that a son should not be punished for the sins of the father. But it seems that curses are applied over generations, to people that had not personally done wrong. How is this consistent?

I'd be interested in everyone's thoughts.

Best wishes,

KT

Ukraine's navy claims it has likely destroyed the last of Russia's cruise missile carriers operating out of the crucial Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

In remarks made to Radio Free Europe, Ukraine's navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said the navy was currently trying to verify whether or not it had destroyed the small missile carrier "Tsiklon" on Saturday.

If confirmed, it would mean there is no longer a Russian missile carrier based out of the key peninsula, he told the outlet.
Ukraine says it may have destroyed Russia's last cruise missile carrier based out of Crimea

This conflict has caused the worst naval defeats on Russia since the Russo-Japanese war. And inflicted on them by a nation that doesn't even have a deep water navy.

This shadowy group is undeniably calling forth Satan and the Antichrist to lead the world. But what is this group doing at the United Nations?

The Lucis Trust, which has a long history of working with the United Nations, will be celebrating the World Invocation Day tomorrow (May 23). This event has been consistently observed on the “day of the Gemini full moon since 1952”, according to the Lucis Trust website. The annual event has to align with astrological cues. Last year, the World Invocation Day was held on June 3 which naturally featured a Gemini full moon. (Tomorrow also happens to be the Buddhist holy day of Vesak).

An integral part of the event is the Great Invocation which summons the “spiritual energies of Light, Love and Purpose”. The following mantra, appealing to the “Mind of God” itself, will presumably be chanted by adherents worldwide in order to accelerate the “evolution of human consciousness and the elevation of the Planet.” Here it is, in all its claptrap glory:

Psalm 110:

1 Of David. A psalm. The LORD says to my lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

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The LORD
יְהוָ֨ה (Yah·weh)
Strong's Hebrew 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

to my Lord: לַֽאדֹנִ֗י (adoni)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew 113: Sovereign, controller

David distinguished H3068-LORD from H113-adoni-my-Lord. Who else did David call adoni in the Bible?

David addressed King Saul as his Lord, 1 Samuel 24:

6 He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord [H113], the LORD’s anointed**, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.”

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1 Samuel 26:

17 Saul recognized David's voice and said, "Is that your voice, David my son?" David replied, "Yes it is, my lord [H113] the king."

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There were other instances. The only times David called someone adoni-my-Lord were all addressed to a king.

The Jews at the time of Jesus knew this usage of the word adoni-my-Lord. Then Jesus presented the conundrum to the Jews in Matthew 22:

41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” The Pharisees knew:

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1. The Messiah King was supposed to be a descendant of David.
2. Psalm 110 was messianic.
3. David called the Messiah King adoni-my-Lord.

It made no sense to the Pharisees. How could David call one of his own descendants adoni-my-Lord?

The Pharisees didn't know what to say afterward. So they shut themselves up.

46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

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Jesus resolved it by the following:

1. He is the Messianic King.
2. He is the Son of David in the fleshly lineage.
3. Only the Son of God can sit at God's right hand.
4. He is the unique Son of God in the divine lineage.

This Lord is not just a human descendant son of David but also the Son of God.

Finally, to confirm the prophecy of Psalm 110:1, near the end of the Book of Mark, Mark 16:

19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.

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The LORD says to my Lord: The LORD says to my son (the Son of David) and the Son of God.

Right off the bat, I wanna say that whatever you watch is your business. I'm only speaking for myself.

I have 200 channels and only watch 2 - sports and the game show channel. I've grown progressively disgusted with the rest. Sex, sex, sex. Immoral situations. Worldly values. And just in general, I'm just losing interest all together. I think Ive gorged on sitcoms long enough. I really wish I got a nature channel, I would really dig that. Just one Christian channel (won't say which one) but it's all prosperity preachers and mega-churches. No thanks.

I spend most of my time posting here and elsewhere online and watching Christian video shorts on YouTube. Really enjoying it.

As for sports, I'm eager for football season, been a fan since the days of Roger Staubach with my Dallas Cowboys.

Lately I've been evaluating whether I really should watch football though. Even though the protection has improved, there are still a lot of serious injuries, especially concussions. So it can rightfully be called a violent sport - like boxing - which I definitely dont watch.

And the player's salaries are obscene (as is all entertainment). There's something, I dunno, unbiblical about fans paying huge ticket prices just to watch their sports gods (ie, literal idol worship) running around tossing a pigskin this way and that way. Ya know?

But pro ball, on the other hand, does have The Fellowship Of Christian Athletes. And players who give testimonies and pray on the field before the cameras.

I like college football much better than pro. No salaries (supposedly), a little more green and less polished thus more exciting.

And just two examples where God sure seemed to involve Himself. Colt McCoy of my Texas Longhorns getting sidelined by a concussion in the National Championship and the rest of the team getting stomped without him (whimper). At the press conference the next day he said (paraphrasing) that football was not his top priority in life, that Jesus is. And that he'll get over it pretty quick. He was just happy for such an exciting year. Humbled all us fans.

And finally there's Tim Tebow who wore John 3:16 under his eyes. Google reported millions of searches of that verse that day. A year later somebody asked him if he'd seen his stats for the game that just finished. He showed Tim that just about every stat was 316. Cool, huh?

So... I dunno. Thoughts?

There is a dual context in this passage of Scripture and in the verses following after these, and there are many misinterpretations of some of these passages of Scripture, as well, but if read and studied in context, those should be cleared up. For context is critical to correct biblical understanding and interpretation. And there are many false teachings among us which stem from Scriptures taught outside their context and thus are made to say what they don’t say if taught in the proper context.

The primary teaching in the book of Galatians, I believe, has to do with the subject of the transfer from the Old Covenant laws and customs and religious practices to the New Covenant relationship God now has with his people Israel, both Jew and Gentile, who are his by faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. For if we do not believe in Jesus Christ, we do not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. And to deny Jesus is to deny the one and only true God.

And the problem that they were being faced with at that time is that there were Judaizers among the Christians who were trying to convince them that they still had to be circumcised, and that they still had to obey some of the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, and dietary laws and restrictions. And so Paul set out to correct this error and to let them know that if they believed that they had to be circumcised in addition to their faith in the Lord that they were basically as though they were still living under the Old Covenant.

So “the law” being spoken of here is not God’s moral laws, but it is the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions, including the requirement for circumcision. These were done away with via Jesus’ death on that cross. But he did not do away with God’s moral laws nor with God’s requirements for the forsaking of our sins and for walks of obedience to his commands, in his power, as required as part of saving faith in Jesus Christ that promises us eternal life with God.

But we have a lot of people today misinterpreting these passages of Scripture, because they are not looking at the whole context, and they are teaching that we are not required to forsake our sins (to repent), and that we are not required to obey our Lord’s commandments under the New Covenant. And they misinterpret “faith” as just some confession of Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, and while they tell them that no works are required of them at all, because they leave out Ephesians 2:10.

So, as followers of Jesus Christ we do not have to adhere to the liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions of the Old Covenant, nor is circumcision required of any of us. But we are not now lawless. We are still required to obey our Lord’s commandments under the New Covenant, which are primarily (or completely) his moral laws. For faith in Jesus Christ requires death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands. So if we walk in sin, we do not have eternal life with God.

And Paul made that quite clear in these verses and in the verses following this. For we are not to use our freedom from the Old Covenant as an opportunity for the flesh, to do what is sinful and evil in the sight of God. But we should agape love our neighbors as ourselves. And this kind of love prefers what God prefers which is all that is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord. So when we love with this love we will want to forsake our sins and obey our Lord.


So, what’s this saying to us? It is not teaching that faith in Jesus Christ forgives us all sin so that we can go on living in sin, only now without feeling guilty. And it is not teaching that there are no more commands that we must obey. It is teaching us to walk (conduct our lives) by the Spirit, in walks of holiness and righteousness and obedience to our Lord and no longer in walks of obedience to sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, and idolatry, and the like. For if we obey sin, in practice, we will not inherit the kingdom of God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Nails Were Pounded

An Original Work / June 4, 2011

Nails were pounded when
He hung on a tree;
Suffered for us so
we could be set free.
He died for our sins;
rose up from the grave,
So we could be forgiven;
by His grace we’re saved.

A spear pierced His side;
His clothes they’d divide;
A crown on His head
to mock Him instead
Of honoring Him
as our Savior, King,
Who gave his life for the world
to be free from sin.

Forsaken by friends,
though He’d not offend.
He lived perfectly;
our High Priest to be.
He calls us to see,
and by faith believe;
In repentance receive Him;
live eternally.

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Hello folks. This analysis is about not dwelling on the past, as we must focus on the present as stated in the Bible.

The "prince to come." I've had a go at trying to interpret the "70 Weeks of Daniel" for about 50 years now. And I've tried to correct my errors with every legitimate argument that has come to challenge my positions. Here is how I see things today, after many views and many corrections.

Probably central to my view are a few major points.
1) The prophecy concerns the coming to fruition of God's Covenant, as it relates to Temple Worship.
2) The Prophecy is a period of 70 Weeks of Years that is completed with a Half Week in which Christ is cut off, leaving Temple offerings delegitimized.
3) The completion of the 70 Weeks is essentially an indictment against Israel, leading to the destruction of the Temple after the completion of the 70 Weeks.
4) The "prince to come" is the generic Roman ruler who determines to do things that from God's point of view confirms His promised covenant with Israel. In other words, this confirmation of God's covenant is not the prince's determined effort, but rather, the indirect effect of what he determines to do.

Dan 9 and the 70 Weeks. Daniel is shown a 70 Weeks of years period of time, encompassing the time from 457 BC to approx. 30 AD. The 70th Week is cut short into a half Week. The focus of this period has to do with the restoration of the Temple worship from the time of King Artaxerxes up until the time the Temple is completely destroyed by the Roman prince. But this 70 Weeks period also is designed to lead up to Messiah, who brings about God's Covenant.

So we are told about an initial 7 Weeks period of time, 49 years, in which the Temple worship is fully restored and Jerusalem built as an independently-run city. Ezra and Nehemiah contributed to this process. Then there is a long expanse of time up until the final Week, the 70th Week, which stops short of a full Week by the death of Messiah. This completes the promised Covenant of God. The old Temple is then destroyed, after Christ, the new Temple, has been established in its place.

We are told that the people of a prince to come will destroy Jerusalem and the Temple. This prince, the Roman ruler, indirectly fulfills the New Covenant of Christ by putting him to death. He cuts Christ off after half the 70th Week, indirectly confirming God's Covenant to save Israel despite their waywardness. He signals the termination of Temple offerings by destroying the Messiah himself, for whom these offerings have been given. And he finishes the job by destroying the Temple itself in 70 AD.

The "prince to come," who was the Roman ruler, did not intend to fulfill biblical prophecy, but in effect that is what he did. By having Christ killed at the end of his 3.5 year ministry he in effect "confirmed God's Covenant of atonement with Israel."

He in effect put an end to Israel's offerings to God inasmuch as the God to whom they were offering these things was rejected at the cross. And the Roman ruler merely confirmed this rejection by accommodating their request to have Christ put to death.

Dan 9.The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.... 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ [That is, the Roman ruler will cause God's Covenant to complete the 70 Weeks.] In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. [That is, the Roman ruler will end Israel's Temple offerings by having Christ cut off.] And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on it. [That is, the Roman ruler will set up his people as an army to lay siege to Jerusalem, destroying the temple.]

This is just something for you to consider....

I've been down for the past week with a terrible virus. Not any serious ones that have been in the news; all tests for those have been negative, and not pneumonia. Simply a general viral infection. It feels awful, and it hangs on. According to my doctor, people have been taking three weeks to get better from it. That news did not make me happy. My throat and sinuses feel like they're on fire, and I'm dripping like Niagara Falls. My nose hurts from all the tissues. When I went to the doctor, I had to keep changing my mask because I was soaking the one on my face. I have an uncontrollable, spasmodic cough. My ribs hurt from coughing, and yet I cannot stop or control it. I can't sleep because the cough keeps waking me up. My temperature has been up and down, as high as 103 (39.4 for those outside the US.) Nothing they can do except treat the symptoms, and the cold medicines I am taking are not working. The doctor essentially said I've got two more weeks to go through it.

Which leads to wanting God's protection for my husband. It would be bad, not awful, if he had to miss work, but oh, this bug is such a doozy, I don't want him suffering from it. I don't want ANYBODY to get this sick. Please pray for my healing, and his protection. Thank you.