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Do Your Actions Speaks Louder then your knowledge?

There it is again. It is by Grace that ye are saved, through faith, and that not of ourselves, lest any man should boast.

We are unprofitable servants. Meaning, NOTHING you will ever do will profit you.
I agree, but Grace is nothing more than a free gift. And that free gift is our access back to the tree of life (Jesus) which Adam caused us to lose by disobeying God. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5: 12) But to maintain your grace you must keep the law. (1John 3:4) Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. Now we have just read the biblical definition of sin, the transgression (breaking) of the law (commandments.) It doesn’t matter what you or I think sin is, it’s what God says sin is that counts.
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An Un-asked For Street Debate In Greece

the sad thing is that the obsession over the crucifixion and atonement theology has left such a bad taste in my mouth, I find it quite cheapening of the faith.
True, Christ died, true he died a horrid death.
So too did many many people, some of which would have been innocent of their convictions.
The remarkable thing is not the death, or the suffering, but the unconquerable glory of the resurrection.
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Dear Pete Hegseth, I’m Grateful the Japanese Navy Spared My Grandfather’s Life

No, that picture was taken last year in the Red Sea shooting at an unmanned Houthi drone boat filled with explosives. I was the Weapons Officer on that ship as a lieutenant. I am now a lieutenant commander and the Navigator onboard a ship down here. For some reason, they don't want us taking or posting pictures so I had to go with an older one.
Fair enough. That looks like a lot of fun. Thank you for your service.
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Dear Pete Hegseth, I’m Grateful the Japanese Navy Spared My Grandfather’s Life

What it's about is killing the two survivors of that boat strike and why you think it was a righteous thing to do.
Show me exactly where I said killing the two survivors, assuming everything a Democrat senator claimed about the incident is true, is the righteous thing to do.
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‘Joseph Didn’t Make It’—Chicago-Area Church Updates Already Controversial Nativity Scene

So are political messages the norm in USA churches?

IRS moves to allow political engagement from churches, in a win for evangelical groups

Trump has long sought to revoke the tax provision blocking churches from politicking.

Hoist by his own petard.
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It's not just the Epstein files, now...

Trump Personally Intervenes to Block Release of January 6 Documents​

Donald Trump is blocking access in a lawsuit brought by police officers injured in the January 6 riot.​

The Department of Justice has confirmed that President Donald Trump blocked the release of more than 4,100 documents related to the deadly riot on January 6.

In a court filing Monday night, lawyers for the DOJ revealed that Trump had stepped in to prevent the release of some material requested as part of a lawsuit brought by police officers injured by violent rioters at the U.S. Capitol. The materials were originally subpoenaed from the National Archives and Records Administration in February.

The Saving results of the Death of Christ !

"Short answer: Dikai over-states what the Greek grammar can prove.
The adjective διδακτοὶ θεοῦ can fit a monergistic reading, but it does not grammatically require it. It is consistent with multiple theological interpretations, and standard Greek grammar does not force the conclusion that God's teaching is automatically effectual.

Dikai asserts:

1. The adjective requires effectual, irresistible divine instruction.

2. It presupposes divine initiative that accomplishes its intended result.

3. Therefore the reason they hear/learn is because God unilaterally made them such.

These conclusions are not demanded by the grammar. They are theologically deduced, not linguistically encoded.

ChatGPT
Respectfully, if all you are doing is copying my words into ChatGPT and pasting the output, I will not continue to engage. That approach is disrespectful. I am taking the time to offer careful, reasoned responses, and you are outsourcing the work to an AI and presenting it as a substantive objection. That is not argumentation; it is merely being argumentative. If you lack the Greek to respond yourself, either defer to someone who does or offer a different, thoughtful objection. Don't copy-paste something just to have something to say.

Past examples in this and other of our discussions have shown that ChatGPT outputs are only partially accurate, especially when it isn't given the full context. I've also shown that you often don't understand what you're even sharing. Once, for example, you pasted a response agreeing with a point I made, and missed it entirely, thinking ChatGPT was objecting to what I said. I will treat further ChatGPT copy-paste jobs as concessions. I will not read them.

What your latest copy-paste job also shows is you are missing the substance of my argument (which, again, invites the question, what prompt did you give ChatGPT?). I have never claimed that διδακτοὶ θεοῦ, as a grammatical form, by itself necessitates monergism. Adjectives do not encode causal mechanics. My point is that, in John 6:44-45, the syntax and discourse logic, especially in light of the Isaiah citation, demonstrates that διδακτοὶ θεοῦ describes the result of God's sovereign action, not the mere offering of instruction. It is a predicate adjective of state, reflecting a completed, effectual divine act.

The question is not what the adjective can mean in isolation, but what it denotes in context. The text presents a causal and logical sequence: those who are drawn (ἑλκύσῃ) are "God-taught" (διδακτοὶ θεοῦ) and thereby possess the capacity to come. This is not contingent or optional; the state described is the effect of God's action, enabling coming to Christ.

Moreover, the aorist participles ἀκούσας … καὶ μαθών ("who has heard and learned") indicate antecedent action. They describe those who come as already having heard and learned form the Father, precisely what "being God-taught" entails.
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B flat B♭

That is a load of nonsense. The difference between the highest peak on the moon's surface and the lowest craters is 19km, which is slightly over 1% of the moon's radius, and those high and low points aren't adjacent. No one is going to be able to discern 'rugged edges' that vary a fraction of 1% of the moon's radius.

You can clear see the rugged edge on all photos except solar eclipses.


Not according to @Apple Sky . All she needs to claim something is fake is for it to be contrary to what she believes. I'm assuming that you also believe all photos of the earth from space are fake based on the same criteria.

Yeah most space photos are fake or have fish eye lenses but the Chinese forgot to use a fisheye lens on their latest ”space walk” I wonder if they’re trying to tell us something.
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Dear Pete Hegseth, I’m Grateful the Japanese Navy Spared My Grandfather’s Life

Is there a problem with your screen..?

Hope that appears OK.
I have already addressed the drug smugglers on multiple occasions. So I do not see where I ever deflected discussing them. Heck, we have discussed them in our conversation. So what on earth are you talking about? Now, if you are referring to my preference as to how drug smugglers should be handled, which is not the topic of the thread, I made my opinion abundantly clear was back in post 37. You should probably go back and reread the thread before you start harassing people to force a confession that had already been given.
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$1 Trump coin: Treasury shares draft design for America's 250th birthday

.....How about they focus on a different coin-related matter pertaining to Trump that actually has some issues and take a run at his family's crypto-currency scheme......
Hopefully we'll get a D house in a year and they can fire that up.
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Is the first amendment under attack?

Trump's 'Absolutely Crazed' Threat To Those Who Question His Health Sparks Outrage

Donald Trump flipped out in a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday as he issued an ominous warning to anyone who questions his health, suggesting “it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous” and libelous.

[The whole rant is worth skimming, but here's the heart.]

View attachment 374309
I think he's jumped the shark!
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Human/chimp genomic similarity drops to ~85%: for real this time?

Two different ways of measuring two slightly different things, thus producing differing numbers. One uses single-nucleotide variants which produces a genetic difference measurement of 1-2% and one uses nucleotide gaps which produced a genetic difference measurement of 13-16%.

The nucleotide gaps method that produces the "85%" genomic similarity between chimpanzees and humans - which the paper actually calculates as a difference of between 13.3% and 14.9% - also produces the following:

A genetic diversity of 8.8% within chimpanzees (ie chimps are only 93% similar to each other)
A genetic diversity of 13.8% within gorillas (ie gorillas are only 86% similar to each other)
A better than 15% genetic diversity between chimpanzees and gorillas (ie chimpazees and gorillas are more genetically distant than chimpanzees and humans)

The low-end calculation of a 13.3% genetic difference between chimpanzees and humans means that the chimpanzee-human genetic variability is would be lower than the 13.8% intra-species variation within gorillas.

(Data from here: Human and Chimpanzee: 15% or 1% Genetic Difference? How Creationism Misleads the Public)

BTW, Luskin got publically dragged over the coals by evolutionary biologists and professional geneticists about his presentation, argumentation, conclusions and selective "simplification" of this data earlier in the year.

Gutsick Gibbon recap of the whole kerfuffle: Login to view embedded media If you don't have a spare 3 1/2 hours, Dr Dan Cardinale did a 9 minute summary: Login to view embedded media
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Trump says U.S. seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast

I'm not going to subscribe. What was the Port-of-Call of the tanker? Who owned it? I assume it was Venezuelan oil...?
Here is google AI answer
What tanker was seized today by the US? Where was it from and where was it going? https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/10/us-seizes-venezuelan-oil-tanker-00685289



The U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker called the Skipper off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. The operation was led by the U.S. Coast Guard, FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations.

Details of the Seizure
  • Tanker Name: The vessel was identified by officials and maritime groups as the Skipper (previously sailing under a Latin American flag where it was not properly registered).
  • Origin: The tanker was carrying Venezuelan crude oil from the state-owned oil company PDVSA. It had been previously linked to the smuggling of sanctioned Iranian oil.
  • Destination: The ship was reportedly bound for Cuba where the oil would go to Asian energy brokers.
  • Reason for Seizure: The U.S. government executed a seizure warrant because the tanker was part of an illicit oil shipping network supporting entities designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S.
  • Location: The seizure occurred in international waters off the coast of Venezuela and was conducted without incident or casualties
  • President Donald Trump confirmed the seizure, calling it the "largest one ever seized" and stating the U.S. would "keep" the oil. The move is a significant escalation of the U.S. pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
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what is Calvinism answer to how God works?

I'm going to disagree with this a bit....

My anchor is Jesus, not scripture. Without His shed blood, we have nothing, so yes, He is our anchor in all things pertaining to this new Spiritual life we now have inside.
I agree. But I refer to scripture as the anchor concerning doctrine, and the results of doctrine. He does not "reveal", anything new separate or not in accordance with Scripture. We can check what he "reveals" by Scripture. He does definitely comfort, lead and cause, quite apart from our reading.
My understanding of scripture comes from the daily inner revelation of The Holy Spirit inside of me.
I agree with that. Intellectual facts give us only feelings of condemnation (or a false sense of apathy) when not walking with God, which walking and understanding is a gift of God, not of the intellect. But he uses the intellect too, both to get in one's way and blind the presumptuous, and to learn truth.
I depend upon GOD that way because I want the direct source of the truth I read on those pages, I want His understanding being given to me, so that I'm not misunderstanding passages, and thereby being deceived, as I've mentioned about so many folks on here over the years.
Any of us can be deceived, and, I think, all of us are, to some degree, deceived by our mere human presumptuousness, our notions of reality, as opposed to what God will show us when we finally see him as he is. That is to say, what we think we understand still has a lot to be built upon what is true, and a lot to be removed and cleaned that results from our assumptions.
Scripture is a certainly a foundation in our Christian lives that we need, but we can't truly know GOD by just reading the pages about Him, hence why I advocate a day to day relationship with Him through prayer and worship.
Of course.
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EASY MONEY: What the Federal Reserve did Today Besides Lower their Overnight Rate.

Most might know the Federal Reserve lowered their overnight lending rate to banks to be in the 3.5 to 3.75% range. But what surprised me was that the Federal Reserve did not stop there. "Notably, the Fed announced it start buying short-term bonds, expanding its balance sheet. Short-term Treasury yields moved lower as a result."
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/09/stock-market-today-live-updates.html

So where does the Federal Reserve get those billions that it uses to buy back debt of the U.S. Government? I creates the money. So now the USA is not just lowering interest rates, it is back to basically printing money through their good friend the Federal Reserve. Now if done at the rate of growth, it may go unnoticed, but if it is starting to be 40 billion a week, then these buybacks from the Federal Reserve are likely to cause inflation. (Some theorists say this is not true, others suggest a direct link with a bit of a time lag.)

Currently the Federal Reserve has 7.4 trillion dollars of government debt on its books. As recently as a couple of months ago, they were retiring their their holdings of U.S. debt with the additional debt being financed by others. Thus, the amount of debt is not being lowered as the USA is spending 1.30 for every dollar it collects. So to avoid pain and borrow at market rates, the USA is back to EASY MONEY. The U.S. Fed suggests they will do the bond buybacks for several months, but during covid it was for years, not months and it contributed to the 9 plus percent inflation in 2022. In 2019, the assets created from money printing stood at 3.8 trillion. In 2021 they peaked at 8.8 trillion. So by this money printing both Trump and Biden were on baord and both responsible for inflation. I say this because the serious money printed started under Trump and continued until 2022.

Since june of 2022, the Federal Reserve was tightening and retiring some bonds until a couple of months ago. So Biden should get credit too for reducing inflation because the policies that reduced it were started in the middle of his term. The Fed Reserve over this three year period, got their balance sheet back to 7.4 trillion this year. If they create 40 billion a week in dollars, that pace is two trillion a year SO HERE WE GO AGAIN!.

Such money printing not only paid for your covid rebates for Americans but cash infusions are highly correlated to stock market gains. "Academic studies confirm a long-term positive relationship between the Fed's balance sheet size and future market performance. One analysis suggests an R² (a measure of correlation) of 0.8832 since 2009, indicating a strong long-term association." Source google ai.

My point in all of this is to suggest that the renewal of essentially printing money during a time when inflation is already running around 2.9 percent could create more persistent and elevated inflation. So while you are being taxed on the tariffs you also are taxed by the higher prices due in part, to excessive money printing. I will say too that Trump is going to install his own Chairman and some new Governors that will be even more dovish at lowering interest rates and printing money. IF you notice too that while the Fed lowers rates to their banking members, the mortgage rates actually climbed. A solution that worked during covid was to have the Federal Reserve buy back mortgages. So I suppose they could do that again to artificially lower mortgage rates but the markets are not setting interest rates at all when this occurs and yes such intervention causes distortions that can be harmful.

You should realize too that when inflation is 3% and your only getting 2.5% interest on your money from loaning it to the government or member banks, you are losing money while at the same time paying tax on the 2.5% gain. The USA is not there yet but she may soon be back to negative interest rates on short-term government debt and on longer debt when inflation reignites.

If you study nations that expand the money supply even more significantly, the value in some cases has gone down to nothing. For the U.S. "By Consumer Goods (CPI): According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, what cost $1 in 1913 required approximately $96 to $100 to purchase in recent years. This reflects a loss in value of about 96% to 97.5%."

So is there anyone that even cares in the U.S. government? I mean giving it more than just lip service. Saying they want interest rates at 2% but failing to make that happen since 2001. That is deception, not true concern. So I asked google AI. This is where AI currently has issues with discerning intent and motivation. The Fed says they want 2% inflation, but they won't take the action to make even that occur. In questioning google ai I asked for names, and it gave me former congressman Ron Paul. I pressed him about Senator Rand Paul and it answered. "High Stringency on Fiscal and Monetary Policy: Senator Paul has a reputation as one of the toughest votes in the U.S. Senate on spending issues. He has voted against major budget deals and debt ceiling increases because, in his view, they do not cut enough spending or address the underlying fiscal imbalance. His consistent reintroduction of legislation like the Federal Reserve Transparency Act makes him a leading figure in the push for stricter monetary discipline." Google ai.

I am not trying to make this too political, yet it is a serious economic and political issue. Inflation is theft too, and the framers were quite aware of it.

"George Washington: He observed the consequences of paper money in Rhode Island, stating in a 1787 letter that paper money "has had the effect in your State that it ever will have, to ruin commerce – oppress the honest, and open a door to every species of fraud and injustice". Google ai.

On the banking system - "Thomas Jefferson & James Madison: They vehemently opposed Alexander Hamilton's plan for a national bank. Their primary concerns were that such an institution would centralize power in the federal government, favor wealthy commercial elites and financiers over common farmers, and undermine state banks. Jefferson feared a financial monopoly that could adopt policies contrary to the public good. He believed the bank was unconstitutional, as the power to create a corporation was not explicitly listed in the Constitution."

So there you have it. A new round of money printing that is going world wide. The system will hold only as long as investors see value in buying government debt. Even the USA Federal Reserve cannot buy all the debt to target interest rates for loans at all intervals from 1 month to 30 years.

As always we can be dismal for a nation, yet as individuals we can prosper if we hold dear to God's principles on giving the use of money and His grace. May each of us be stay free from the love of money and fix our eyes on Jesus as the wrold's economic system is thrashing in these times. Goid bless!
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Citizens are fed up with Dem-invited migrants that have disdain for US law and culture

Why do you hate America?
Sarcasm?

While I disagree with Mrs. Omer's politics and lifestyle, it's important to be truthful and avoid spreading falsehoods. Claims that Mrs. Obama married her brother are baseless, yet some conservatives continue to spread them, and it's really sad to see individuals who call themselves Christian these kind of these lies just to make political point.
No, the absurd claim about Mrs. Obama is that she is a man whose husband is gay. ^_^ Mrs. Clinton got Frazzledrip.

I dunno why some love to revel in such dreck.
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