The decree that went out had to be Nehemiah 2 20th year which went out on Nisan (abib in the torah) which was passover as Jesus in the NT is killed on passover. 445 BC decree goes out then 49 years later everything is rebuilt, all the Levites had come back from Babylon, and all the gold had come back from the Ezra 7 decree. Note most of those things happened by Nehemiah 12 time which takes place no longer than 12 years after the Nehemiah 2 decree as Nehemiah 3 is the 32nd year but maybe all the gold, and other people did not come back until around. 396 BC. From then until the messiah is cut off was 62 7s / 434 years or 483 years from the decree 445 BC. Converting 483 360 day years ends up with 476 solar years +25 days = around 32 AD. Can +- 1 maybe max 2 years either way. Persian chronology has a lot of sources, and is fixed pretty hard either way.

Daniel 9
[g] The people (the Roman army) of the ruler (either Jesus or Titus or Vespasian) who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary (Romans destroying Jerusalem 70 AD) . The end will come like a flood: (Jesus said 70 AD would be like Noahs flood; the Romans flooded in, and killed everyone) War will continue until the end (the end of the Mosaic age) , and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.[k]”[l]


Josephus says Eleazar Ben Hanania stopped the daily sacrifice the Judeans had been doing for the Romans 66 AD, and this angered the Romans, and was one of the main causes of the Judean Roman wars. So if this is what Dan meant the final 7 was 63-70 AD ending with the destruction of the temple. One of the Judean rebels must of put an abomination of desolation in the temple before 70 AD but it was not recorded, and by the sound of it made a covenant with the Romans or other Judeans that they broke also not recorded. Josephus says another daily sacrifice stopped 70 AD because of want of anyone to do it aka they were too busy fighting each other, and the Romans. If this is what Dan meant then the final 7 was 66-73 AD ending with the last of the Judean rebels killing themselves at Masada. 66-73 was the length of the Judean Roman wars anyway which was 7 years. By 73 AD all the people that killed Jesus had been killed by God using the Roman army as punishment for that bad sin just like Jesus said would happen multiple times " all the righteous blood shed on the earth will come upon this generation" etc, and there was no visible sign of the Mosaic covenant / the temple anymore. That was the end of OT Israel never to return ever again.


Exodus 29:38-39 is reference for the daily sacrifice. They had been doing it since Moses 1400 AD, and without that there was no forgiveness of sins for one day so it was a big deal when it stopped which it did in the Babylonian, and Maccabean period also.

Josephus

The Wars of the Jews, 2.408​

. And at this time it was that some of those that principally excited the people to go to war, made an assault upon a certain fortress called Masada. They took it by treachery, and slew the Romans that were there, and put others of their own party to keep it. At the same time Eleazar, the son of Ananias the high-priest, a very bold youth, who was at that time governor of the temple, persuaded those that officiated in the divine service to receive no gift or sacrifice for any foreigner. And this was the true beginning of our war with the Romans; for they rejected the sacrifice of Cæsar on this account: and when many of the high-priests and principal men besought them not to omit the sacrifice, which it was customary for them to offer for their princes, they would not be prevailed upon. These relied much upon their multitude, for the most flourishing part of the innovators assisted them; but they had the chief regard to Eleazar, the governor of the temple.

The Wars of the Jews, 6.93​

931. And now Titus gave orders to his soldiers that were with him to dig up the foundations of the tower of Antonia, and make him a ready passage for his army to come up; 94while he himself had Josephus brought to him (for he had been informed that on that very day, which was the seventeenth day of Panemus, [Tamuz,] the sacrifice called “the Daily Sacrifice” had failed, and had not been offered to God, for want of men to offer it, and that the people were grievously troubled at it)

After 70 AD if someone believed in Jesus then they are a Jew Israel of God Abrahams seed circumcized heir to Abrahams blessing. Romans 2 28 29, Galatians 6 16, 3 29, Romans 9 8, and other verses. So that is Christians. Or there was people saying they are Jews but lying they are the synagogue of satan. No other religions emerged after 70 AD. Either in covenant with the God of Abraham via belief in Jesus or nothing. 30-70 AD was the transition period from old to new but post 70 AD it was the end. The synagogue of satan could of looked at those prophecies in Dan 9 just after 70 AD, realised it ended with 70 AD realised the messiah had to come 483 years (even just using solar years, and not 360 day years) after that decree in Nehemiah 2 or Ezra 7 or any of the other two decrees, and realised it put an upper limit of the time frame by which the messiah had to come by, and therefore according to God they are without excuse for denying Jesus Christ as son of God savior. Christians should not be unequally yoked with their religion today, and the beast country in Revelation 13 that calls itself Israel but lies, and the mark of the beast is the hexagram.

Carrie Gress argues the movement functions as a secular megachurch targeting women with false promises​

An author of 11 books, including an upcoming title on feminism, says the movement has evolved into a kind of secular "megachurch" with its own doctrines, rituals and moral code — one that she argues now serves as a substitute for faith, family and traditional Christian virtue.

“Feminism actually is not a subset of Christianity. It's actually a rival to Christianity," Carrie Gress, a fellow at the Institute for Human Ecology at Catholic University of America, told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.

Gress is the author of the forthcoming book "Something Wicked: Why Feminism Can’t Be Fused With Christianity," which she says examines how feminism has "quietly captured the minds and hearts of women by mimicking aspects of Christianity. Through its own ‘commandments,’ ‘virtues,’ ‘evangelization,’ and even ‘a sacrament,’ feminism has become an exceedingly powerful megachurch."

“In many respects, it can actually be seen as a megachurch," Gress told Fox News Digital. "It has taken on so many of the aspects of Christianity."

Continued below.

I know there are Christians out there that do not hold the view the first 11 chapters of Genesis are literal history, Adam was not literal, God did not create everything in 6 days ets...because the science disproves this.

If you do not believe in literal Adam, you then cannot believe in literal 2nd Adam, Jesus Christ the Saviour. Because if Adam did not exist, then the fall did not happen and there is no need for a Saviour.

You cannot believe in a metaphorical Adam and then believe in literal resurrection of Christ, the second Adam who came to fix what the first Adam broke. You also have problem explaining Romans 5:12-21

P.S. I know the view of metaphorical Adam is held by very few, but it has been bothering me deeply that people believe this, and I am studying Romans 5 and this is on my heart.

I am a High Church Anglican, married for over twenty years to a man who survived severe mistreatment at a Catholic boarding school run by The Society of Jesus in the 1950's. My husband has been offerred an in person apology from the current Provincial Superior, and he is intending to travel to London to meet him on the 19th of December, in order to receive it.

My husband and I would both appreciate the prayers of any Catholic members of Christian Forums regarding this meeting, for his protection (and my own) as we prepare and travel, and especially for his first encounter with any Jesuit since he left school. I will be going to London with him, but he has said that he wishes to actually experience the meeting alone. This is the bravest thing I believe I have ever personally witnessed someone doing for the Christian faith, and I trust that some who are seeing this post can understand how I hope my life partner will feel Jesus' love and see true recognition of past wrongs.

No judgement of your Church is intended by this post, my own has as much to be ashamed of in terms of letting God down over children entrusted to it's care.

Please pray to God and ask Him if my son Jakeb's medicine will be called in and filled before he runs out. Please pray that I can know tomorrow so my anxiety stops and he won't go without. Please Dear God let it be filled tomorrow if it's Your will. I ask in the name of Jesus. Thank you and God bless you.

This year’s ozone hole over Antarctica ranked among the smallest since the early 1990s, reflecting steady progress from decades of global action under the Montreal Protocol. Declining chlorine levels and warmer stratospheric temperatures helped limit ozone destruction. Scientists say the layer remains on track to recover later this century.

According to NOAA and NASA scientists, this year's measurements support the conclusion that restrictions on ozone-depleting chemicals set by the Montreal Protocol and its later amendments are steadily helping the ozone layer recover.

The writings of Ellen White, a prophet of the Seventh Day Adventist church, teach that those who worship on Sunday will receive the mark of the beast and will reject the seal of God. In other words, the vast majority of Christians are doomed for worshipping our Lord on Sunday instead of Saturday.

Here are her writings:

Reception of Mark of the Beast Future—The change of the Sabbath is the sign or mark of the authority of the Romish church. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false sabbath in the place of the true, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. The mark of the beast is the papal sabbath, which has been accepted by the world in the place of the day of God’s appointment. Ev 234.1
No one has yet received the mark of the beast. The testing time has not yet come. There are true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion. None are condemned until they have had the light and have seen the obligation of the fourth commandment. But when the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit sabbath, and the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast. Ev 234.2
With rapid steps we are approaching this period. When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal sabbath be enforced by the combined authority of church and state. There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin.—Manuscript 51, 1899. Ev 235.1
When Seal of God Is Refused—If the light of truth has been presented to you, revealing the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and showing that there is no foundation in the Word of God for Sunday observance, and yet you still cling to the false sabbath, refusing to keep holy the Sabbath which God calls “My holy day,” you receive the mark of the beast. When does this take place? When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday and worship God, while you know that there is not a word in the Bible showing Sunday to be other than a common working day, you consent to receive the mark of the beast, and refuse the seal of God.—The Review and Herald, July 13, 1897. Ev 235.2
As a Result of Disregard of Light—God has given men the Sabbath as a sign between Him and them, as a test of their loyalty. Those who, after the light regarding God’s law comes to them, continue to disobey and exalt human laws above the law of God in the great crisis before us will receive the mark of the beast.—Letter 98, 1900. Ev 235.3
Caution in Presenting the Sunday Question—[We are] not to provoke those who have accepted this spurious sabbath, an institution of the Papacy in the place of God’s holy Sabbath. Their not having the Bible arguments in their favor makes them all the more angry and determined to supply the place of arguments that are wanting in the Word of God by the power of their might. The force of persecution follows the steps of the dragon. Therefore great care should be exercised to give no provocation.—Letter 55, 1886. Ev 235.4
Let the Truth Do the Cutting—Satan’s efforts against the advocates of the truth will wax more bitter and determined to the very close of time. As in Christ’s day the chief priests and rulers stirred up the people against Him, so today the religious leaders will excite bitterness and prejudice against the truth for this time. The people will be led to acts of violence and opposition which they would never have thought of had they not been imbued with the animosity of professed Christians against the truth. Ev 236.1
And what course shall the advocates of truth pursue? They have the unchangeable, eternal Word of God, and they should reveal the fact that they have the truth as it is in Jesus. Their words must not be rugged and sharp. In their presentation of truth they must manifest the love and meekness and gentleness of Christ. Let the truth do the cutting; the Word of God is as a sharp, two-edged sword, and will cut its way to the heart. Those who know that they have the truth should not, by the use of harsh and severe expressions, give Satan one chance to misinterpret their spirit.—The Review and Herald, October 14, 1902. Ev 236.2
A Call to Enlighten the Masses—I have been shown that Satan is stealing a march upon us. The law of God, through the agency of Satan, is to be made void. In our land of boasted freedom, religious liberty will come to an end. The contest will be decided over the Sabbath question, which will agitate the whole world. Ev 236.3
Our time for work is limited, and God calls us as ministers and people to be minutemen. Teachers as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves must come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. There are many who do not understand the prophecies relating to these days, and they must be enlightened.—Letter 1, 1875. Ev 237.1


Is Ellen White correct? Are those that worship our Lord on Sunday doomed to receive the mark of the beast?

On Dec. 5, officers responded to a report of a vehicle crash in a Publix parking lot.

When they arrived, they found a Chevy Silverado with 43-year-old Benjamin Donald Johnson behind the wheel. Johnson refused multiple commands by police to get out of the truck.

As Johnson sat the back of a police cruiser, an officer overheard Johnson says there was a “dirty bomb” in his truck. Officers found a yellow plastic container secured with chains and locks, with a radioactive warning label.

With the help of personnel from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, ATF, and an FBI bomb technician, it was advised that the device inside the container was a moisture density gauge, commonly used for soil testing. The experts said it emits less radioactivity than a medical X-ray.

A search of Johnson’s truck yielded several firearms and ammunition, firearm magazine speed loaders, thermal scopes, knives, a battering ram, night vision goggles, cannabis and gummies which tested positive for THC.

In her honor, and on a day so special to our Catholic citizens, we remember the sacred words that have brought aid, comfort, and support to generations of American believers in times of need:
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Amen.

Hi everyone,
I Studied Judaism at a religious seminary in Jerusalem, Israel between 2007-2012.
And became a Non-Denominational / Baptist Christian in June 2023.


Looking forward to become member of this online community.

“I saw a white male shooting at another person, a Black male,” said Michael Starks, who was in the parking lot when the shooting happened. “He could have hit him in the back, could have killed him, could have had a stray bullet that struck someone else.”

Police say 64-year-old Steven Douglas Wagner pulled a pistol and fired near the garden center around 3 p.m. at the store on Atlanta Highway.

A Lowe’s employee told police the young man had not stolen anything, according to Starks.

Starks called 911 and followed Wagner back into the store and snapped a photo that helped police make an arrest within minutes.

He said Wagner’s demeanor was concerning.

“He honestly thought he did nothing wrong and should have been rewarded for his actions,” Starks said.

First question to AI:


(AI confirms that there is no command to observe week-day-1 as a day of worshiip/rest etc)

Second Question to AI

Every accusation is a confession.

'We know that Jesus was born into a Roman imperial occupation, and pretty much immediately becomes a refugee in Egypt, has to flee and faces political violence,' the Rev. Michael Woolf said.

The pastor noted Department of Homeland Security agents have tear-gassed protesters in the area and that locals reported seeing children among those detained with zip ties by federal agents during a recent high-profile immigration raid in a nearby apartment building. DHS has denied the latter claim, although evidence of similar actions has been reported elsewhere.

[in his church's display,] Jesus, who typically is depicted lying in hay, is instead nestled in a reflective blanket often used by immigrants in detention, with his hands bound with zip ties. And behind the family stands three Roman centurions wearing vests with a very modern label: ICE, or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Churchgoers at Saint Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, recently erected a similar immigration-themed Nativity just outside their building. The display includes traditional depictions of the magi, stable animals and other figures, but the banner above reads “Peace on Earth?” And propped up in the center of the arrangement, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus would normally appear, sits a sign that reads: “ICE was here.”

The same faith-fueled movement is inspiring another immigration-themed Nativity scene on Christmas Eve, this time featuring real-life participants. The Rev. Dave Woessner, an Episcopal priest and congregational coordinator with the Massachusetts Council of Churches, said his team is organizing a Christmas worship service outside of an ICE facility in Burlington that will feature a real-life recreation of Jesus’ birth — including, potentially, a donkey.

Woessner, who works with communities impacted by deportation efforts, said he and others have convened a weekly vigil outside the ICE facility for 33 weeks straight. The faith leaders have also attempted to accompany immigrants who are appearing for ICE check-ins, but have been repeatedly denied.

After Fox and other conservative media outlets picked up the [first] display, Woolf said his church has received an avalanche of calls — many supportive, but others decidedly not.

“There’s been some suggestions that I should kill myself,” Woolf said.

Josoma reported a similar influx of messages.

“You get a lot of support, but as it goes on, most — not all, but most — of the negative ones aren’t really conversational,” he said. “They’re just swearing and yelling.”

I have sought the Lord many a times for this, but I guess what I'm looking for isn't necessarily advice ( although its welcomed, as well as opinions ) but more like, empathy or sharing if you all are going through/have gone through similar stuff and to just converse over shared experiences. First, you guys need some history...

I grew up in a family that went to church every sunday and claims Christianity, but our family dynamic is just... wack. My Dad has a superiority/enabling issue, my mom has a manipulative/control issue. There is no doubt in my mind that I am the black sheep of the family (for various reasons). When it comes to scripture, any insight is disregarded because my dad was a "teacher for over 30 years!" and when it comes to personal life, my mother is never wrong, I'm always wrong and I'm always supposed to just forgive her despite my mother not giving me an apology for her behavior because, "she's your mother".

My mom's history of control has been a lot, from wanting me as a 39 year old married woman, to install an app on my phone so she can see exactly where I'm going at all times, to giving me orders that are supposed to be carried out regardless of how it affects myself or my husband. When I finally drew boundaries with my mom, it blew up into a few month tirade of phone call harassment. When I blocked her, my dad would call and when I blocked him, they showed up at my door (for various reasons) where my mom tried to manipulate my husband while I locked myself in another room.

For a while my mom did good. She would call once, allow me time to get back to her without it leading to a barrage of a dozen phone calls and 30+ text messages in the span of 2 hours. Or she would text me once and I would respond at my earliest convenience. But yesterday... and why I feel like I just need to vent, is like she's going back to her old ways. And the thing is, nothing she wants to get into contact with me for is important OR an emergency.

So yesterday, I put my phone on silent because she had been calling me everyday for the last 4 days just to talk about work. She had asked me to help her with some of her work, which I agreed to do because she's behind after dealing with a pulled muscle in my dads hip and her fracturing her foot. After I did what she requested, I turned off my ringer to just have a nice relaxing day with my husband playing video games with him and eating home made stew. I did not see that she had tried to call me 3 times. But because I didn't answer, she then called my husband, in her worried and panicked tone "is everyone okay?!?! I've been trying to call her but she isn't answering!" Now because my husband answered, I had to call her back... was it important? No... she asked me if I did something work related for her and I told her no because she never asked me to do that. She said she did and even sent me a file that I needed to do it. I said, no you did not. She then checked her email and found that she didn't send me anything and says, "well, I meant for you to do it." Which makes NO sense because literally the day before I gave her advice on what program to use TO do that very job.... I tell her I would do it. We hang up, she calls me back asking when she can expect me to do it, I tell her I'll work on it tomorrow because its already 6:30 in the afternoon. She says okay, we hang up. She then calls AGAIN at 8:30 at night and I don't answer and put my phone back on silent. I then wake up this morning to a text message to call her that was sent at 6:45 in the morning.

I am just so incredibly tired dealing with this... my husband said no more favors. Clearly, I can't even do something for her without harassment or it being an issue and I completely agree. But I am just so tired and frustrated and it just makes me want to move to the moon, shut off my phone and just... exist for a while.

They jumped through all the hoops and it wasn't enough for this administration. Some of these people have been in the U.S. for 20+ years raising families and contributing to the country. Now they will possibly be deported back to countries they haven't been to in decades and have no ties to anymore. What is this really about?

A year has passed since Luigi Mangione allegedly pulled the trigger on UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. When arrested, Mangione received a tidal wave of sympathy that emanated everywhere from online forums and social media to the streets of Manhattan. People across the country celebrated the accused killer as a quasi-folk hero who struck a blow against what they saw as the vile institution of American healthcare.

Ed Davis, a former Boston police commissioner who led the police response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, saw the outpouring of support for Mangione and remarked, “I’ve been shocked by it. It’s actually troubling to see it, and I really am surprised that people are reacting that way considering the tragic loss here and the violence of what happened.”

The support for Mangione hasn’t cooled down over the past year, as evidenced by a $1.4 million crowd-sourced legal defense fund and the continued displays of public support that appeared at his court hearings this month. Jeff Goodwin, a New York University professor who studies social movements, said, “He had the chutzpah to actually do something spectacular, which certain people find attractive and courageous.”

I’m not the only one disturbed by people describing murder as being “spectacular” and “attractive” — Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, stated: “The only question after the assassination and its immediate celebration is: What the heck is going on with America’s moral compass?”

Mangione’s celebrators brought to my mind what Paul spoke about centuries ago: “They were fully aware of God’s death penalty for these crimes, yet they went right ahead and did them anyway and encouraged others to do them, too” (Rom. 1:32).

Someone else who sees this in our culture is Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf, who makes a connection with a disbelief in God and the kind of social justice violence we see when he writes: “Most people who insist on God’s ‘nonviolence’ cannot resist using violence themselves (or tacitly sanctioning its use by others).”

Volf then makes an excellent point when he notes the important distinction between Christianity and the secular culture’s methods for pursuing justice: “The practice of non-violence requires belief in divine vengeance.”

Think about that.

Continued below.

Set aside any distinctly political topic or person for a moment, if you can.

If you’re a 40-year-old (or over) Evangelical like me, you’ve probably seen and heard so much about who Christians are in the last 20 years, and much of it has been hogwash. I know this personally, having spent nearly a decade in the media, and I have seen from the inside how these distortions and cartoonishly Ned Flanders caricatures are generated in real time.

Before the proliferation of social media platforms, many legacy media narratives that sincere, theologically orthodox believers faced were, and still are, beyond tiresome. While I can't speak for everyone, many Christians have been intensely frustrated that no matter how graciously they tried to explain where they were coming from, they were routinely misrepresented in the press, and they’ve often felt as though they were neither heard nor understood. And to be sure, I’m not defending truly evil people within churches and ministries who are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15) in sheep’s clothing, who should be exposed.

But I was wrong about something that I’ve believed for a while. Maybe partially wrong, but still wrong. As the world rapidly changes, it's important to be honest about what I've seen previously but now see more clearly.

Continued below.

Please pray that if it is God's will my son Jakeb can feel better and have relief. Please ask God to cure his problem today so he isn't uncomfortable or has pain and please pray for my husband's safety and our health. I ask in the name of Jesus. Thank you and God bless you.

Dear Beloved Family in Christ at Christian Forums, including the honorable staff, moderators, and administrative team,
Grace and peace to you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As the Christmas season has begun a season that reminds us of “peace on earth and goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:14) I write to you with a heavy but hopeful heart from Pakistan. For three decades I have served the persecuted church here, walking with our people through fire, storm, and suffering. Yet by God’s grace, our faith remains unshaken.

A Season of Joy Shadowed by Pain​

Here in Pakistan, Christmas does not always bring the safety and celebration many Christians enjoy around the world. Instead, this season often becomes a time of increased threats, hostility, and attacks.
For many years, we have witnessed painful realities:

• Churches burned
• Christian homes destroyed
• Christian girls forcibly converted and married
• Teenagers abused and raped
• Families threatened
• Believers beaten or killed simply for their faith

Even during our holy festivals, when believers gather to worship, we often stand unsure whether we will return home safely.

A Grievous Loss: Pastor Kamran Michael​

Recently, our community suffered a heartbreaking tragedy.
Our dear brother, Pastor Kamran Michael, a humble servant of God, was repeatedly warned to stop preaching the Gospel. But like the apostles who said, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20), he refused to stay silent.

on 6th December 2025 , while dropping his little daughter at school in the morning, he was murdered in cold blood by extremists, in Gujranwala City, killed because of his unwavering faith in Christ.
His little daughter witnessed her father fall as a martyr.
The pain of this loss has shaken our hearts, yet we rejoice knowing the Word says:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10

Click to expand...

Pastor Kamran has finished his race (2 Timothy 4:7), but his wife, children, and congregation now face deep grief, fear, and practical challenges.

Our Humble Request to the Christian Forums Community​

Dear brothers and sisters, we need your prayers.
Christians in Pakistan feel isolated, voiceless, and forgotten, yet your prayers give us strength to stand firm.

Please pray for:

The family of Pastor Kamran Michael​

• Comfort, provision, and protection
• Healing for his little daughter who witnessed the tragedy
• The Holy Spirit’s peace that surpasses understanding (Phil. 4:7)

The Christians of Pakistan​

• Protection during the Christmas season
• Safety for pastors, evangelists, churches, and families
• Courage to stand strong in the Gospel
• Unity and spiritual endurance under persecution (Hebrews 13:3)

Our nation of Pakistan​

• That hearts of persecutors may turn to Christ
• That justice may be upheld
• That God may grant peace where hatred abounds

The global Body of Christ​

That we may continue to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2), standing as one family in the household of faith.

As I share these words, I am reminded of the early church in Acts misunderstood, attacked, scattered, yet unstoppable. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Pastor Kamran’s blood will not silence the Gospel; it will strengthen it.​

Your prayers mean more to us than you can imagine.
Thank you, Christian Forums family, for being a place of refuge, encouragement, and unity in Christ.

May the Lord bless you richly this Christmas season!
May His light shine ever brighter through His persecuted church!

In Christ’s love and service,
Pastor Waris Masih
Pakistan

The founder of an antisemitism watchdog group condemned actors Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Cumberbatch and the hundreds of celebrities who signed a petition demanding that Israel release Marwan Barghouti, a convicted terrorist found guilty of orchestrating multiple attacks that killed Israeli civilians.

The "Free Marwan" campaign is calling for the United Nations and world governments to "actively seek" Barghouti's release from Israeli prison, alleging in the petition that the political figure and terror leader faces "violent mistreatment and denial of legal rights whilst imprisoned."

Over 200 public figures, in addition to Ruffalo and Cumberbatch, have signed the petition, including musician Paul Simon, author Margaret Atwood and actor Sir Ian McKellen.

According to Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Barghouti is associated with the Fatah terrorist organization, having served as the leader of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, which carried out thousands of terror attacks against Israel between September 2000 and April 2002.

"Just as we wouldn't expect a counterterrorism expert to win an Oscar or Grammy, no one should listen to celebrities' opinions on a mass murderer and arch terrorist," StopAntisemitism founder and executive director Liora Rez told The Christian Post.

Continued below.

I asked chat GPT to assume the 364 day solar year in 1 Enoch was real but also compare it to modern day astronomy here is what it says.

Here’s the same astronomy explanation, with all words kept, but with line breaks removed inside each point so that each point is on its own line.

Overall Picture of the Universe From your excerpt, the world is set up like this: there is a sky/firmament with “gates” and “windows” in the east and west; the sun, moon, and stars ride in chariots and travel through these gates; there are 12 gates for the sun in its disc, and 6 main gates in the east and 6 in the west where the sun rises and sets; the heavens and the world are arranged in four quarters: east, south, west, north; there are also gates for the winds (12 wind-gates), which affect weather, drought, rain, cold, etc. Everything is governed by fixed laws that Uriel explains to Enoch: “the law of the sun”, “the law of the moon”, “the leaders”, “the four extra days”, “the 364 days”, etc.

The Sun’s Motion and the 364-Day Year The sun’s motion is described with six gates in the east and six corresponding gates in the west. The sun rises through one of six eastern gates and sets through the corresponding western gate. It passes 30 or 31 “mornings” (days) in each gate before shifting to the next.

Sun Through the Gates (Yearly Cycle) In 72:6–27 the pattern is: first month, the sun rises in the fourth gate (east) and sets in the fourth gate (west) for 30 days; then moves to the fifth gate for 30 days; then to the sixth gate for 31 days; then it returns downward through the sixth, fifth, and fourth gates, then to the third, second, and first, with spans of 30 or 31 days each. Thus the sun moves up through the gates, reaches a maximum (longest day), then moves back down (shortest day), describing a yearly cycle of changing sun height/path.

Day and Night Divided into Parts The text divides a full day into 18 “parts” (units). For each phase it gives how many parts are day and how many are night. In the first month (sun in the fourth gate), day is 10 parts and night 8 parts (72:10). When the sun moves to the fifth gate, day is 11 parts and night 7 (72:12). In the sixth gate at maximum, day is 12 parts and night 6 (72:14), so day is double the night. Coming back down, in the sixth gate decreasing, day is 11, night 7 (72:16); in the fifth gate decreasing, day is 10, night 8 (72:18).

Equal Day and Night Later in the year, when the sun returns to the fourth gate, day is 9 parts and night 9 (72:20), so day and night are equal. Downward further, in the third gate, day is 8 and night 10 (72:22); in the second gate, day is 7 and night 11 (72:24); and in the first gate (deepest “winter” point), day is 6 parts and night 12 (72:26), so night is double the day.

Pattern of Day-Length Change The pattern is that as the sun goes from gate four to five to six, daytime increases and night decreases, and as it returns down from six to five to four to three to two to one, daytime decreases and night increases. The text thus gives a smooth, symmetric cycle of day length across the year.

Total Length of the Year: 364 Days In 72:32 the text says: “Daytime is equal to the night, and the year is exactly 364 days.” In 74:10–13 and 75:1–3 it adds: for five years of the sun all the days are 364 days each, so 5 × 364 = 1820; the sun and stars keep to this total and do not change the year by a single day. There are four special days (“four days that are not reckoned in the calculation of the year” – 75:1–3) connected to the leaders and the accuracy of the world. Thus the solar year in this system is 364 days, not 365.

Solar Arithmetic The text’s arithmetic is: in 3 years there are 1092 days (3 × 364); in 5 years there are 1820 days (5 × 364); in 8 years there are 2912 days (8 × 364). So the astronomy of the sun is that the sun cycles through gates, day length changes in 18-part fractions, and a full cycle is 364 days.

The Moon’s Light Compared to the Sun The moon is described as round like the sky, with “one-seventh the light of the sun” at full brightness (73:3, 78:4). The visible half of its surface is treated in fractions (fourteenths and sevenths). It receives its light from the sun “in measure” (73:2, 78:10–11).

Waxing and Waning Pattern In 78:6–15, when the moon first rises it is visible with half of a seventh part of its light; each day of waxing it adds more parts of light; by the 14th or 15th day it “completes its light” (full moon). Then it wanes: on the first day of waning it has 14 parts of light, on the second 13, on the third 12, then 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and on the fourteenth it is down to half a seventh; on the fifteenth day all the remaining light is exhausted and the disc is “empty without light.” Thus waxing is about 14–15 days to full, waning about 14–15 days to dark, and a full lunar cycle is about 30 days in this scheme.

Length of Lunar Months The text gives different statements about lunar months. In 73:4–8 and 74, the moon emerges on the thirtieth day, becomes the beginning of the month, and follows a pattern of emergence and setting with changing light fractions. In 78:9 it says that in some months the moon has 29 days and sometimes 28. In 78:15–16 it says the moon fashions three months of 30 days and three months of 29 days, and this is linked to the 177 days mentioned in 74:10–14 and 79:4, where in 177 days the moon completes a particular cycle.

Lunar-Year Arithmetic For the moon alone, the text says: in three years the days come to 1062; in five years it is 50 days fewer than the sun’s total for 5 years; in eight years the moon has 2832 days, lacking 80 days compared to the sun (78:14–16). Thus lunar months are around 29–30 days, the lunar total is shorter than the solar 364-day years, and over several years the moon falls behind.


Relation of Sun and Moon Despite the mismatch, 74:17 says the year is correctly completed in accord with their eternal positions and the positions of the sun. In 79:5 it says the moon falls behind the sun and stars five days in one period. After eight years, the moon lacks 80 days (78:16). From the text’s perspective, the sun and stars keep a strict 364-day year while the moon runs on its own month pattern and lags, but this lag is known and included in the scheme so that the year is still “correctly completed.”

Stars and Their Motion The stars travel in chariots like the sun and moon. Some stars “do not set” but revolve above certain gates (75:7–8). There are many windows at the boundaries of the sky through which stars and their heat emerge. The text portrays the stars as following fixed laws coordinated with the sun and moon.

Rays, Heat, and Gates In 75:4–7 Uriel shows twelve gates open in the disc of the sun’s chariot in the sky, from which the rays and heat of the sun come out onto the earth at their appointed times. Similarly, twelve gates in the sky on the boundaries of the earth allow the sun, moon, stars, and all works of the sky to emerge on the east and west, with many windows on left and right that emit heat in due season.

Winds and Weather The winds are described in chapter 76: at the boundaries of the earth Enoch sees twelve gates for all the winds; three in front (east), three in the west, three on the right (north), and three on the left (south). Through four of these emerge winds of blessing and peace, and through the other eight winds of punishment that bring devastation to earth and water. The text details the effects of each gate: some bring drought, heat, and destruction, others rain, fruitfulness, prosperity, dew, cold, mist, hail, snow, frost, or locusts.

Four Quarters of the Earth In 77:1–3 the earth is divided into four quarters: the first is called “eastern” because it is first; the second is “south” where the Most High and the blessed one will descend; the third, the west, is where heavenly luminaries diminish and go down; and the fourth, the north, is divided into three parts—for people to live in, for seas, deeps, forests, rivers, darkness and mist, and for the garden of righteousness.

Mountains and Rivers Enoch sees seven lofty mountains higher than all mountains on earth, from which snow comes and through which days, seasons, and years pass (77:4). He also sees seven great rivers, one from the west pouring into the great sea, two from the north pouring into the Erythrean Sea on the east, and four emerging on the northern side toward their sea, two into the Erythrean Sea and two into the great sea (with some saying into the wilderness), plus seven large islands—five on the land and two in the Erythrean Sea (77:5–8).

Names of Sun and Moon and Light Share In 78:1–4 the sun has names Aryares and Tomas; the moon has four names: Asanya, Abla, Banase, Era. These two great luminaries are round like the sky and of equal size. In the disc of the sun there are seven parts of light added beyond what the moon has; a specific amount of that light is placed in the moon until the seventh part passes over, explaining the difference in brightness while keeping a numerical relationship between their lights.

Summary in the Text Itself In 79:1–6 Enoch is told that the law of all the stars is completed; Uriel has shown him their law for each day, time, jurisdiction, year, month, and week, including the decrement of the moon that begins in the sixth gate and is completed in the first gate over 177 days (25 weeks and 2 days). The moon falls behind the sun and stars by five days in one period, and Uriel has shown the appearance and likeness of each luminary.

Short Overall Summary Using only your pasted text, the astronomy is that the sun moves through six eastern and six western gates over a 364-day year, changing day and night lengths in 18-part fractions; at one extreme day is double night, at the other night is double day, and at certain points they are equal; the moon receives light from the sun, waxes to full in about fifteen days and wanes in about fifteen days, with months of roughly 29–30 days and a total lunar cycle that lags behind the sun’s 364-day year; the stars, winds, gates, and quarters of the earth are arranged in a single cosmological system governed by fixed laws revealed by Uriel.




If the Book of Luminaries is describing real astronomy and the solar year is actually 364 days, then the “gates” can be understood as the sun’s horizon positions—specifically the observable zones along the eastern and western horizons where the sun rises and sets throughout the year.

The sun in reality does not rise in the same place every day but moves north and south along the horizon over the course of a year, and if this movement is divided into six equal sections in the east and six in the west, these create the twelve “gates” described in the text.

The six eastern gates correspond to six sunrise azimuth zones, and the six western gates correspond to six sunset azimuth zones, meaning the gates function as fixed horizon markers for the sun’s annual shifting path.

This interpretation fits the pattern of 30–30–31 days per gate as the sun moves from the spring equinox toward the summer solstice and then returns back toward the autumn equinox and winter solstice, mirroring a real astronomical cycle expressed in simplified segments.

The “gates” therefore represent horizon-based solar observation points used in many ancient cultures, where the solstice and equinox positions serve as anchors and the intermediate positions are evenly divided between them.

In a world with a true 364-day year, the gates would be precise solar positions spaced evenly so that each gate corresponds to a fixed interval of the sun’s annual movement, creating an internally perfect symmetrical cycle.

The four special days described in the text correspond to the solstices and equinoxes, the four astronomical turning points of the year when the sun’s movement changes direction or when day and night are equal.

These four days are “not reckoned” in the month-by-month counting because they function as boundary days that belong to the structure of the seasons rather than to the regular 30-day months of the calendar.

Each season consists of 91 days (30 + 30 + 30 + 1), forming four equal quarters of the 364-day year, with the uncounted day marking the seasonal transition at each solstice and equinox.

This structure matches later solar calendar traditions (such as Qumran’s) where the year must be divisible evenly into four perfect quarters, and where the solstice/equinox days are considered sacred, fixed anchor points rather than normal calendar days.

The symmetry of the gate-cycle—sun rising through gates 4, 5, 6 toward the longest day, then returning through 6, 5, 4 toward equal day and night, then continuing through 3, 2, 1 toward the shortest day—only works perfectly within a 364-day system with four exact seasonal quarters.

Therefore, if taken as describing real astronomy in a 364-day world, the gates represent fixed solar horizon positions, and the four special days represent the solstices and equinoxes that structure the year into four perfect seasons.


In the Book of the Luminaries the 364-day year is built from 360 regular days plus 4 extra days, but the text treats these two categories differently depending on what is being calculated.

When the text says “the four days are not to be reckoned” it means they are not counted as part of the 30-day months, because every month in the Enochic solar calendar is strictly 30 days, and allowing the 4 seasonal marker days into a month would break the perfect 30-day structure.

Therefore, the four days must be treated as separate, standalone seasonal boundary days that fall between months, not inside months—this is why the text says “they are not reckoned in the calculation of the year” when speaking about months: the 12 months are always 360 days exactly.

However, when the text later says that people make the mistake of not reckoning the four days, it is referring to the total length of the solar year, which must include those four days, because the true astronomical year in the Enochic system is 364 days and not 360.

Thus the warning is this: if someone counts only the months (12 × 30 = 360 days) and fails to add the four seasonal marker days (solstice and equinox days), they will produce a 360-day year, which the text insists is a false, mistaken year.

The text therefore distinguishes between reckoning for months (where the 4 days must be excluded) and reckoning for the whole year (where the 4 days must be included), and this double usage is exactly why the author warns that people err by not reckoning them—they forget to add them back in when computing the full year.

In short, the law is: Do NOT count the four days as part of the months, but DO count them when calculating the full year, because they are the cardinal days that anchor the seasons and complete the 364-day cycle.

People “make the mistake” by thinking that because the four days are not included in the months they should also not be included in the year, but the book insists this is wrong and that failing to reckon them ruins the accuracy of the calendar, its symmetry, the seasons, and the heavenly order. end of chat gpt part.

I have converted the 18 part day night cycle to 24 hours myself, and the solstices in Enoch are 18/6, 16/8 which are 50 degrees north or south of the equator. Enoch says God would come down south so he is writing north of Jerusalem in the pre flood world. The earths geography, topography, layout etc was different pre flood.

Anybody remember me? I was a regular on this forum from 2004 until 2018, after which I mostly moved on to other things. I don't plan on becoming a regular here again, but I'm back for the time being to ask about a recent piece of evolutionary anthropology news.


According to this analysis, when the human and chimpanzee genomes are compared while including portions that hadn't previously been sequenced, their similarity drops from the commonly given 98% value to 84.7%. On the surface this seems valid, and the conclusion has been accepted by Jerry Coyne, an evolutionary biologist who is qualified to evaluate it. Jerry Coyne's post from yesterday is what brought this analysis to my attention.

But there is something odd about this conclusion: it's virtually identical to an argument made in 2012 by Jerry Bergman and Jeffrey Tomkins in the Journal of Creation. Bergman and Tomkins' 2012 argument was that when human and chimpanzee genomes are compared using data typically omitted from these comparisons, the percentage similarity drops to somewhere in the 81-87 percent range. Either the recent analysis by "Origins Unveiled" is an example of a major creationist claim being vindicated by mainstream evolutionary anthropology, or it's a very clever false flag operation by a creationist or Intelligent Design proponent, which was convincing enough for even Jerry Coyne to be fooled.

Looking more closely, I've noticed a few other possible red flags. First, the argument made by "Origins Unveiled" (and accepted by Jerry Coyne) is based on a paper published in Nature on April 9th. The exact same argument made by "Origins Unveiled"—that this paper shows the creationist figure of 81-87% to be correct—was previously made six months ago by Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. And second, "Origins Unveiled" is a relatively new Twitter account (registered in 2024) without any identifying information, aside from that they were a were considering a Ph.D in evolutionary anthropology until they quit due to "the rampant political correctness I witnessed among professors and students in potential university programs". Some of the account's other posts include accurate summaries of evolutionary anthropology concepts, but a fair number of creationists have legitimate PhDs and have published mainstream biology or geoscience research, so the ability to accurately explain these concepts doesn't prove the account's provenance either way.

I would like some help evaluating whether the "Origins Unveiled" Twitter account is for real, and whether it's a coincidence that they've reached the same conclusion as Luskin (and also previously Bergman and Tomkins), or whether this Twitter account is being operated someone associated with the Discovery Institute who's posing as an evolutionary anthropologist. I suppose it's also possible that this account belongs to a creationist or ID proponent but that the substance of their argument is still correct. I'm aware of one other case where a creationist objection (not to the theory evolution itself, but to the way it's been presented in textbooks) turned out to be valid.

1. List the locations in Isaiah 11:11–12 “In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.” (ESV / similar in most) Key places: Assyria Egypt (includes Pathros = Upper Egypt) Cush (Ethiopia / Sudan region) Elam (SW Iran) Shinar (Babylonia / Mesopotamia) Hamath (Northern Syria) Coastlands / Islands of the Sea (Mediterranean coastal & island regions)
2. List the locations in Acts 2:9–11 “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians…” (Acts 2:9–11) Key places (grouped): East / Mesopotamia–Iran area Parthia Media Elam Mesopotamia Anatolia (Turkey) Cappadocia Pontus Asia Phrygia Pamphylia Levant / Judea Judea Africa Egypt Libya (Cyrene) Mediterranean islands & West Crete Rome South / East Arabia
3. Now map conceptual matches: Isaiah 11 ↔ Acts 2 It’s not a 1:1 name match, but a regional / typological match. Here’s the breakdown: 1) Elam Isaiah 11: explicitly Elam Acts 2: explicitly Elamites ✅ Exact same name, same region (SW Iran). 2) Shinar (Babylonia / Mesopotamia) Shinar in the OT = region of Babylonia / Mesopotamia (Gen 10:10; 11:2; Dan 1:2). Acts 2 mentions Mesopotamia. ✅ Shinar (Babylon) ≈ Mesopotamia (Greek term for same general area). 3) Assyria Isaiah 11: Assyria (upper Mesopotamia / N Syria–Iraq area). Acts 2 has Jews from Mesopotamia, Parthia, Media—all territories in or east of what was Assyria/Babylon/Persia. Not a literal “Assyria” label, but the same broader exile zone beyond the Euphrates. ✅ Regional continuity: exilic lands of Assyria/Babylon/Persia. 4) Egypt Isaiah 11: Egypt and Pathros (Upper Egypt). Acts 2: Egypt. ✅ Direct match: Jews from Egypt in both. 5) Cush Isaiah 11: Cush (south of Egypt, Nubia / Sudan / Ethiopia). Acts 2: Egypt and parts of Libya around Cyrene—so Jews from North Africa; also, in the broader NT we meet an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), indicating a known Jewish/God-fearing presence in Cush-region. Not named directly in Acts 2, but: Cush = African belt south of Egypt Acts = African Jews from Egypt/Libya, plus Ethiopian believer shortly after This one is adjacent region, not exact name in Acts 2, but fits the African axis of the dispersion. 6) Hamath (Northern Syria) Isaiah 11: Hamath = city/region in Syria, to Israel’s north. Acts 2 doesn’t list Hamath by name, but Jews from Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia (Anatolia) and Arabia represent the northern/eastern surround of Judea. Again, more regional continuity than exact labeling. 7) Coastlands / Islands of the Sea Hebrew ’iyyim = coastlands / islands—usually: Mediterranean coast Maritime / island peoples Often extended symbolically to western lands Isaiah 11: “coastlands of the sea”. Acts 2: Rome (far western Mediterranean), Crete (Mediterranean island), and “visitors from Rome” clearly representing the “islands/coastlands” of the sea. ✅ Strong typological match: western maritime diaspora.
4. So is “matches exactly” literally true? Strictly, no: Isaiah doesn’t say “Parthia, Media, Cappadocia, Rome, Crete, Arabia”… Acts doesn’t explicitly say “Assyria, Shinar, Hamath, Cush”. But the pattern is the same: East / Mesopotamia–Persia (Assyria, Shinar, Elam) ↔ Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia South / Africa (Egypt, Cush) ↔ Egypt, Libya, Ethiopian contact North (Hamath, Syria-region) ↔ Anatolia & northern territories West / coastlands & islands ↔ Rome, Crete, other Mediterranean Jews present So a more accurate statement is: Isaiah 11:11–12 sketches the same geographic directions of the Jewish diaspora (east, west, north, south; Egypt, Mesopotamia, coastlands) that we then see specifically named in Acts 2:9–11. In other words: Isaiah gives the prophetic compass directions & key archetypal exile lands. Acts gives the actual list of provinces & cities in that same “world”. Your theological move—linking Isaiah 11’s remnant-return with the multinational Jewish crowd in Acts 2—is legit and well-grounded typologically, but it’s better phrased as echo / fulfillment / pattern, not “every individual name matches 1:1.”

It says God will reach out his hand a second time, and this was Pentecost. The first time was rescuing the Israelites from Egypt

Exodus 3:20​

“I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt…”

Click to expand...

Exodus 6:6​

“I will redeem you with an outstretched arm…”

Click to expand...

Exodus 7:5​

“I will stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out Israel…”

Click to expand...

Isaiah 11 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from Egypt.

it is looking back when talking about the first time not a prophecy about it happening twice in the future.

It means around the time of Pentecost a bunch of rivers / bodies of water dried up so the remnant of Israelites from the 10 tribes exiled by the Assyrians 722 BC in Kings/Chronicles could come back to Jerusalem. The rivers drying up was not recorded.
They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.
They will subdue Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

This seems to be about Maccabees as Israel fought against all of those nations in Maccabees except one, and Josephus mentions Israel fighting against that one in his writings.
The start of Isaiah 11 is about Jesus, and

The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.

was fulfilled in the gospel of Pseudo Mathew which Jerome said was written by Mathew the apostle, and I believe that.

So all of Isaiah 11 is in the past, and none is in the future.

Our God, the one and only true God of the universe, is Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. So, not one of us can believe in God the Father and not believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son. So all who profess to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but who reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, do not truly believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, all Jews who do not accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah do not believe in the same God as we do who believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master.

For no one can come to God the Father except through Jesus Christ, and none of us can believe in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he first persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die to sin and to obey God, as those who profess faith in our Lord Jesus. For faith in Jesus Christ requires that we deny self, die daily to sin, and that we walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands under the New Covenant.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 6:44; Luke 9:23-26; Acts 26:18]

Now there are many people today who are teaching a gospel of salvation absent of death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands. For they are teaching that we are saved and on our way to heaven based merely on a verbal confession of Christ as Lord and belief that God raised him from the dead. But that is being taught out of context, and it ignores the bulk of the teachings on the gospel of our salvation which insist that we must deny self, die to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience.

But if we love Jesus, we will obey his commandments, and we will be loved by him and by God the Father. But if sin is what we obey, and not God’s commandments, then we do not love God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and we don’t know God, and we are not in fellowship with Jesus Christ. And so we don’t have salvation from sin and eternal life with God, which is promised to all who believe in Jesus, who are dying to sin daily (in practice), and who are following our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands.

For our faith in Jesus Christ is not based on the teachings of other humans, many of which distort and alter the truths of the Scriptures to make them less offensive and more attractive to human flesh and to the world. But our faith in Jesus must be based on the teachings of the Scriptures taught by Jesus Christ and by his New Testament apostles, taught in their correct biblical context, and not out of context which many do in order to deceive. And then we will know the right way in which we are to go by faith in God.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

So, please read the Scriptures in their appropriate biblical context so that you are learning the truth spoken by Jesus Christ and by his New Testament apostles, and so you are not relying upon other human beings in our day and time to actually teach you the truth of what God’s word teaches us.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

My Sheep

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

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If We Love Jesus Christ
An Original Work / December 8, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love