Cain and Calvinism

Everybody knows Cain did not inherit eternal life.

1Jn 3:12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.

Jud 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.


Calvinist thinking incorrectly states, that Cain never had any hope that he was predestined for destruction, that God choose Him for destruction, but what did God say in scripture? We know God is not a liar.


Gen 4:5-7 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."


God told Cain he had a choice, that if he did well he would be accepted. Cain had a chance at life. As do all people, all people are given a chance at life.


This choice is all throughout scripture.


Job 36:9-12 Then He tells them their work and their transgressions—That they have acted defiantly. He also opens their ear to instruction, And commands that they turn from iniquity. If they obey and serve Him, They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures. But if they do not obey, They shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge.


John 3:15-17 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Why do we pray for our enemies?

I have been pondering this question as to why and what are we suppose to pray for when God ask us to pray for our enemies? and why? what is the purpose to be achieved? what result should we be expecting?

This has been a source of confusion and perplexity. confusion because it is unclear why and perplexity as to what is the point and what is to be achive.

It seem like nonsense,
so could some please clarify this?

  • Locked
Would it be okay for a Christian to get cosmetic surgery?

I’ve always been very uncomfortable with my appearance. I don’t look like a normal person and I’ve been bullied before for some aspects of my appearance - even my own Dad called me ugly to my face. This has been very hurtful as I know he meant it and I already believed it about myself. I would not want to do anything that involves restructuring my face, but my hairline has naturally been very high and M-shaped which gives me super low self-confidence as my hair never looks nice and it looks like it belongs to someone 20 years older. If I were to get a hair transplant I know it would completely transform my confidence. This would cost around £5000.

I am very torn about this decision. I don’t like the idea of surgically augmenting appearance, however, as this only involves moving hair from the back of the head to the front of your head, it doesn’t seem very major in my opinion. Also, I do not think I am doing this out of vanity but because of such low self-confidence because of how abnormal my hair looks. I was clothes shopping two weeks ago and saw myself in the mirror in the changing rooms. It made me feel so sad looking at myself that I just went home and was very down. With one simple procedure, I would be able to have a nice hairstyle for the first time in my life and not see myself as ugly every time I see myself in the mirror.

I know I am ugly and so must every other young woman out there. Not one young woman has ever complimented my appearance (apart from clothing).

Pictures- Before and After Christ

Hi everyone, I just wanted to share something interesting. I have pictures of myself before and after receiving Christ! On the left I was an atheist and hardcore drug user, on the right it was years later after I have given my life to Christ! Pics are below:

beforeafter.JPG

Scientists say giants existed

There have been threads on here before in regards to the existence of giants and the Smithsonian cover ups etc. People argued that the pictures were not real... which, in all reality, many were not. But, many were real. So were the news paper articles stating that huge skeletons had been found in the US.

People argued and argued. Now, there is actual proof that scientists at universities have done DNA work that has left them no choice but to admit that giants were real.

In the video I have posted, the one guy even admits that it was ignored because it didn't fit with the history that they wanted to present.

Tell me what you think.

Login to view embedded media

Census 2021 reveals less than half of those in England and Wales identify as Christian, down from almost 60% ten years ago.

For the first time fewer than half of people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christian, the Census 2021 has revealed.
The proportion of people who said they were Christian was 46.2%, down from 59.3% in the last census in 2011.
In contrast the number who said they had no religion increased to 37.2% of the population, up from a quarter.
Those identifying as Muslim rose from 4.9% in 2011 to 6.5% last year.

Biden’s disinformation czar registers as a foreign agent

It is a one-year contract that began in September, a few months after the Biden administration abandoned its plans for a Disinformation Governance Board, with Ms. Jankowicz at its head, at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Ms. Jankowicz blamed the cancellation at the time on “disinformation.”



You can't make this stuff up!
  • Informative
Reactions: hislegacy

So, my three year old son prayed to the Christmas tree...

My son loves praying. He can sing the church's hymns, and recite the prayers, he even likes picking up the prayer book and he can read some of the prayers though he mostly likes mumbling a chant to be like mommy and daddy. We have him kiss the icons and identify who is on them. He goes to every liturgy that we can take him too, the Church is very much a part of life.

The other day my wife and I put up the Christmas tree, the first one he'd remember (he did have one when he was first born) and of course its exciting. Every ornament box is like a toy that needs to be unwrapped, the lights, etcetera. We celebrated by watching a bunch of Christmas cartoons about the nativity.

So, I come home from work last night and my son walks in front of the tree and he makes a posture with his hands like he is praying (two hands touching like this):
delete.jpg

I felt this was strange because I don't remember any cartoon where they pray like this nor do we pray like this at home (we do the sign of the cross, may rise out hands to the air outstretched). I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I'm praying." I said, "To what?" He replied, "To the Christmas tree."

This really bothered me. I suppose I understand that due to sin, man is always liable to pray to idols, the moon--you know, big shiny things. I suppose a Christmas tree is just like that. However, I felt hurt that God would have not given the grace to protect him from such a temptation after all the communing, praying, and kissing of icons. Theologically speaking, we don't do anything bad on our own but rather we act upon demonic suggestions (this is Saint Maximus). Something had to suggest to my son that the Christmas tree was worthy of worship.

I told him, "No, not the tree, you pray to the icons."

Maybe not a perfect answer I suppose. But it shows a 3 year old certainly has eternity in their hearts and we must be vigilant to direct things the right way or they can go wayward. Comments, advice, similar stories?

Questions about prayer

Does God actually talk back in prayer? I always read about people who pour out their hearts to God and who find comfort in prayer but if it remains silent from the other side than how can that be comforting?
How do you know your prayer has been answered? And how do you know the answer is yes? If you were to ask for healing and the answer would be yes then it wouldn't be too hard to notice that the answer was yes, but what about prayers that are more spiritually related? How can you know for sure that God will/has answered those prayers?
  • Like
Reactions: Brother-Mike
Michael S. Blanchard
Michael S. Blanchard
Prayer is a covenant between you and The Eternal. When we pray to God we should make a covenant with Him. If we execute our covenant with him he will not forsake you. God is big on covenants, he never goes back on a covenant he makes. Study the Old Testament, the covenants he made have not changed. Christ did not change them either. Prayer should be a covenant, not, "this is what I want you to do for me"
Upvote 0

The Church accepts ideological rule of the Woke Managerial Class

Modern democratic societies are essentially governed by a managerial class. This managerial class has formed somewhat organically as a response to mass society itself... industrialization and urbanization, and the need for more and more mass organization and planning. In the past, this managerial elite were focused more on the economic and mechanistic aspects of social planning but over the course of the 20th century they have come to be managers of culture and ideology and have disciplined society into the managerial ideology through mass media and mass communications. This ruling managerial ideology, popularly understood as "political correctness", is self-evident today in virtually all major institutions. Managerial class ideology has given birth to the "religion of Woke" that we see permeating every facet of public life today. This is not a culture that was assumed democratically. Society did not vote for a world where their children have instant access to pornography, but that world was created for them. People didn't vote for the domestic culture war imposed upon their society any more than they voted on engaging in foreign wars and military interventions. Actual democracy is only permitted within the bounds set by the managerial elite. (Though truthfully, we all share responsibility in allowing this managerial system to establish itself because of the comfort and convenience it provided us. Smartphone culture and social media were just too great a thing to pass up, regardless of what it has done to the minds of children)

Anyways, with that said.... Christians are familiar with the instruction of Romans 13, to obey governments and authorities, even when they are actively persecuting the church. But obedience to state law, and participation in state-sponsored ideology are very different things, are they not? In my view, this is the fundamental problem of the modern church. We pretend we are just obeying the government, when in reality we are obeying a system of social-engineering and ideological discipline that usually has zero force of law, but definitely has social consequences.

It would be like the early disciples of Jesus, instead of only obeying the laws of the Roman government, they became intimately involved with all aspects of Roman civic culture and educating their children in Roman civic religion, educated by Rome's high priests and councils of pagan philosophers. And even surrendering to all of that, the cult of Rome would probably have far less influence over their minds than the modern managerial class does over the minds of our communities today. Our entire worldview has been completely invaded and permeated by 'postmodern thinking', and is continually managed through such mass media and communications networks.

We are in effect, willing participants in a highly organized permanent cultural revolution that is totalitarian in scope, attempting to redefine humanity itself. The church accepts and surrenders its young children to be fully disciplined by the managerial priest-class. We celebrate how great it is that our children have access to such wonderful education.

We either do not see it or we pretend not to see this managerial elite, which is in effect an entire Priest-class of Woke religion that is directing the social-planning of our society and the values our children will be discipline in as they move through different spheres of education. This ideological priesthood has no governmental authority, and yet Christians submit to them voluntarily, at most offering only private resistance, but rarely if ever as a unified church body do we even recognize the organized institutional forces arrayed against us, with the minds of our children as primary targets.

The modern church hides from it all with the cowardly pretense of "not getting involved in politics"... and this again plays back into the illusion of democracy, where we pretend not to see the managerial class doing the social engineering. We've allowed idols to fill our backyard because it made life easier. New gadgets, cheaper goods, streaming video, and our ideological priesthood was there with tickling words to assure us how much more free and liberated society was becoming as long as we just sat back and let them steer the ship into the future.

The new world order looked pretty good in the 1990s... you just had to stop being so bigoted and accept homosexuality, that's all... and today we have Drag-queen story hour for kids. And still the church refuses to organize against the wolves.
  • Agree
Reactions: Brother-Mike

Hi! My name is Emmanuel and I need advice;

This is long and I am going to be very blunt about the whole issue I am dealing with and my feelings so you’re warned;

Hi, My name is Emmanuel, tbh I randomly did a google search for forums for Christians to talk to. I need advice. I’m pretty sure I have a massive calling from God to “unite” the Churches around my area as an “organization” or something and let a God lead revival occur like Azusa Street and 16th Century Revival, or the Jesus Freak Movement…. But I’ve been consumed with melancholy and this…this weight that makes this life seem so mundane and things in life so, empty, vain. I feel like Solomon did in Ecclesiastes. I recognize the worth of life and everything in it but, the largest thought in my mind has been,” Whats the point?” And I find myself not even seeing the worth of “fighting” or “standing” for a people who in my observations rather be so dividied due to nonsensical things like politics, sexuality, minor issues and anything else that is so, trivial and far from God’s concern. I used to have hope, but it seems the Church as a whole rather be divided and unwilling to give up these temporary comforts in life, for God, for his plans and callings.

But even so, These callings haven’t disappeared, I even have Holy Spirit like…Its like he’s giving me ideas and more but I just…I have lost faith in the Church, all churches, Talling is so easy and so are promises but this calling of mine is bigger than me. The vision God’s been giving me is a nation shaking event or something idek the depth of it. Idek why I am even on this random post, maybe I have hope, but I dont want to hope alone and do this alone. I mean, the resources, time, to unite entire churches under the banner of God so we can do his work effectively and stop being divided….No offense but many of you will argue over basic things like clothing and other nonsense that is irrelevant to God’s heart. So Us working together? Entire Churches from all backgrounds? And yeah right……Idk, I’m a logical person and I just, I guess I need reasons to believe. I used to Hate all Christians except a minority because God showed me so much evil in Churches and how far we as a whole body, are. We are so disorganized, when our own enemy, our real enemy, is so organized against us. We were supposed to be lights in this world, lighthouse on a hill, kingdoms of light on a mountain. I dont, I cant do this alone. But whats the point? Idk. So many pastors and leaders seem to busy to even care, or try, too many stupid schedules and planning for things that should be so easy, seems like no one is willing like our ancestors were in Azusa street or Jesus Freak Movement, or those marches we’d used to do where entire Churches united to march to the state capital from other states. It seems like a pipe dream and I guess I wanted advice. I want to give up on pipe dreams and I have lost all confidence in the entire Church. I see no difference between the Pharisee’s of Jesus time and in book of Lamentations and The Church today, as always theres a remnant but apart from them, too much bs in the Church. Rejection of LGBT Christians who are treated like Lepers or Black Christians in 1901 when Christians segregation by skin color and angered God by doing that. The stupid nonsense of watering down or weighing down the Gospel, which Jesus gave us basically, the Lack of leaders and discipleship…I can go on and on but idk……To unite such a people would require a miracle, even Moses had to deal with his peoples nonsense.

But even so, I’m certain its my calling and I made a vow to God, I feel like I know the basic things I should do but all these reasons exist to not even care or try. I dont want to fight for a people who want to be divided and want to hate their own brothers. I dont want to fight for people who say they love their LGBT Brethren, or their “liberal/Conservative” brethren and only give superficial love.

Whats the point of even trying for such people? All our efforts would probably be undone in a week lol…..I used to think there existed modern day Peters or Pauls or Noahs or Enochs…but I lost that naïve belief…The lack of wisdom from our so called leaders alone, is enough reason to not even try. I guess I wanted a reason to try, that despite all these observations and wisdom I got from God, despite everything in my own fleshly mind that says to give up on His people, I guess I wanted even one genuine reason, to try. I’d have to sacrifice entire days honestly, months, weeks fasting. That’s how big God is making it seem. A nation changing movement……………it’s intimidating to think about…How many people are even willing? Idk, I doubt this’ll get any replies anyways but if you read this far then….I guess…..Ask God to give me hope, for the Church, if there’s any logical reason and any evidence it is worth it, that I wont be wasting my time for “my” people, then I guess I can do it. But for now, nah….knowing Church history, The Church would kill this movement like they killed Azusa Street and other God lead movements. Why waste my time then?

And to those who are part of the remnant though, those few who do love God and are awesome, thanks! God is proud of you. All I said is not related to you few. But my calling is like Moses gathering his people to all leave Egypt, can you imagine if he had to unite all kinds of sects and groups and ensure they all knew the day to leave Egypt lol. Thats what this calling feels like. A person said to me,” Dont carry the Burden of an old man,” because I am young. But ever since then the desire to “change the world” has become a hunger so deep, but its like, like because of the Churches failures and more, I have lost all desire to even try. I used to care but seeing the entire Church fall worse than Babylon or Juresalem and this nonsensicial fighting I see in the Church, all I can say is,” Why try” i’m not Moses, I’m can’t unite a people like Joshua or David or Solomon can. Idek.

Elon Musk prepared to ‘go to war’ with Apple over moderation demands

Elon Musk accused Apple of threatening to block Twitter from its app store without saying why in a series of tweets on Monday that also said the iPhone maker had stopped advertising on the social media platform.

The billionaire CEO of Twitter and Tesla said Apple was pressuring Twitter over content moderation demands.

  • Informative
Reactions: DaisyDay

What is the worlds worst sin?

The Bible talks about different punishments based on the sins unbelievers have committed. But which is the worst sin that a person could possibly commit? I know Jesus talked about the unforgivable sin but that was rejecting Christ until your final breath. My guess would be that homosexuality or perhaps abortion/murder would be the worst sin. After all an entire nation was destroyed because of homosexuality and taking the life of another including your own child has got to be one of the worst sins a person can commit. Or am i missing something here?.

Rancher: Illegal immigrants pour through gap in border wall in Arizona

People in camouflage walk through his lands with the assurance that they are not likely to be caught as they hoof it for the road near Arivaca to catch a ride east to Tucson. Mr. Chilton said Border Patrol agents have told him that one-fifth of the people crossing his ranch tote drugs.

“I’m outraged,” he said in a telephone interview with The Times. “Bottom line, four, five, six years ago, we were averaging about 130 people every six months [on the images]. Since February, we picked up our cameras just lately, 2,500 images. That’s at least a 10-times increase.”

Hunter Biden’s dubious business dealings raise specter of a ‘compromised’ president

Hunter Biden’s long trail of suspicious business dealings will get new scrutiny as House Republicans, armed with subpoena power, begin what is expected to be an intense, politically charged investigation of President Biden’s suspected involvement in his son’s moneymaking schemes.

By serving on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company, pursuing deals with Chinese Communist Party-linked energy tycoons and reportedly pocketing more than $3 million from a Russian businesswoman and widow of a former mayor of Moscow, Hunter Biden’s far-flung business deals have raised eyebrows for years about potential influence peddling and other possible crimes.

President Biden, who has denied any involvement in his son’s business deals and framed his son’s tribulations as a struggle to overcome years of addiction and grief, has largely been granted a free pass from the mainstream news media and the powers that be in Washington.

All of that is changing, though, as Republicans aim to expand their investigation of Hunter Biden, 52, and look at whether the president has been “compromised by foreign governments” in connection with his son’s overseas business ventures.

Details that Republicans hope to uncover will add to the mountain of evidence accumulated over the years from investigative reporting — mostly by conservative-leaning news outlets — and from inquiries on Capitol Hill.

  • Like
Reactions: hislegacy

  • Poll
Majority of Americans want House GOP to probe Hunter Biden’s overseas business deals: Poll

Do you approve of this investigation?

  • Yes

  • No


Results are only viewable after voting.

According to the Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday, 62% of likely voters in the U.S. approve of the recently announced plans by the top Republicans on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees to investigate the overseas ventures by the president’s son.

Of those, 42% say they strongly approve of a congressional investigation.

The law of prayer is the law of belief.

The title is an approximate translation of a very ancient aphorism of Catholic faith.
Lex credendi lex orandi​
"The law of what is prayed [is] the law of what is believed"
So, with the Church calendar being in Advent season and thinking of advent prayers it seems fitting to present an advent prayer that all of you are likely to know.

Prayer:

December 17, O Wisdom

O Come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things mightily
To us the path of knowledge show
And teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel​
shall come to thee, O Israel.​

December 18, O Lord and Ruler
O Come, O Come, Thou Lord of might:
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai's height
In Ancient times did give the law
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel​
shall come to thee, O Israel.​

December 19, O Root of Jesse
O Come, thou rod of Jesse's stem,
From ev'ry foe deliver them
That trust Thy mighty power to save,
And give them victory o'er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel​
shall come to thee, O Israel.​

December 20, O Key of David
O Come, thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav'nly home,
Make safe the way that leads on high,
That we no more have cause to sigh.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel​
shall come to thee, O Israel.​

December 21, O Dawn of the East
O Come, Thou Dayspring from on High
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadow put to flight.

Refrain

December 22, O King of the Gentiles

O Come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid every strife and quarrel cease
And fill the world with heaven's peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel​
shall come to thee, O Israel.​

December 23, O Emmanuel
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel​
shall come to thee, O Israel.​
  • Optimistic
Reactions: Blade

Very clear

So very clear. Poor Biden bumbles about, and his press secretary has to try to convince us he’s very clear.

Former Virginia policeman 'catfishes' teen girl, travels to California and murders her mother and grandparents, kidnaps teen, dies in police shootout.

Virginia man accused of ‘catfishing’ teen before killing her family, police say


A former Virginia police officer, believed to have murdered a teenager’s family in Riverside, California after “catfishing” her online, was killed in a shootout while trying to flee authorities, the city’s police department said in a news release.

The man [who kidnapped the teen] was eventually identified as Austin Lee Edwards, 28, of North Chesterfield, Virginia, according to the release.

Detectives said they believe Edwards had met the teen through the common form of online deception known as “catfishing,” where someone pretends to be a different person than they actually are.

According to police, Edwards had developed an online relationship with the teen and obtained her personal information. He then traveled from Virginia to Riverside, where he parked his vehicle in a neighbor’s driveway and walked to the teen’s home, the release stated. At some point, authorities believe Edwards murdered the teen’s grandfather, grandmother and mother before walking back to his vehicle with the teen and leaving.

Should Christians observe Easter Week

Should Easter Week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday take a week off of normal economic activity? So taking the whole week off from normal work in observing Easter Week? And even limiting economic activity that makes a person work or at least do as minimal as possible.

Example is, getting gas from the pump vs gas inside the gas station. If one gets gas from the pump then they will reduce the need for a person working or less people working at the gas station compared to going inside.

God's Legal Demands?

Most among the Reformed would say that the substitutionary atonement is not only essential to the gospel, but is the gospel itself, and that to deny it is to deny the faith. Of course, this is not to say that the other theories cannot be taken in light of and an analogous of Christ's substitution to God's legal demands.

How important is a specific atonement theory in the Christian faith and/or when presenting the gospel? What atonement theory do you ascribe to, or do you find a common ground in them all?

The death of Willie MacRae

For all you conspiracy buffs here is one from Scotland, the death of the lawyer, law professor and former army officer Willie McRae:


Key points in summary:

Was investigating UK government plans to dump nuclear waste in the sea
Was found in a remote place after a car crash with a gun-shot wound to the head (1985)
The gun was found in a stream sixty feet away
Discrepancies in the police report, the car was moved by police to another location a mile away, location later corrected by independent witnesses
Was under surveillance by the intelligence services
His home was burgled and his research was stolen
Enquiries into his death have been stone-walled

Kind Regards :)

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
5,842,205
Messages
64,813,261
Members
273,738
Latest member
csmith8835