contratodo said:

Just want to point out some things.

All the world shall marvel, whose names are not in the book of life, when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is.

And he opened his mouth in blaspheme against God to blaspheme God's name God's tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. Revelation 13:6

If anyone can declare just what that blaspheme is, and what it is that would be so marvelous, would that be of any value? If it could be stated what it is that would cause wonder, and therefore people having that info would therefore Not marvel and wonder, is that not salvation from the deceptions of the beast, and a road to eternal life, and even perhaps part of a message that leads some of the final saints to belief?

For I believe to be able to tell it all plainly: the beast will seem to die, and then seem to be healed by supposed aliens that come down and beam him up into their ship... something spectacular like that, related to supposed outerspace, is what it is, that will cause the world at large to literally marvel and wonder.

Those seeing words such as those, and/or understanding that the globe is a deception will hopefully think twice when it happens, and not marvel and wonder at the beasts deceptions.

As it is written, they that understand among the people shall instruct many, then afterwards the beast, that prideful king, arrives. Daniel 11:33-36

And that is why pointing out the deceptions from NASA is important, they dable in satanic end times deceptions. One believing them so much would be deceived by the coming beast and false prophet.

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King James Bible
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: 1 Timothy 6:20

Stopped_lurking said:

Interesting characterization, can you show what was actually written about them?

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OK so I did a quick word search for 'amateur' and this is what it found. I won't give the post number.

The comment on the researchers who were part of developing the software for Karolys vase scan project

my comment of your exalted individuals being part time amateurs in metrology coding

In regards to Christ Smith

"he is rank amateur when it comes to explaining striations on ancient Egyptian objects".

There were more. The word 'amateur' alone has been mentioned 27 times by others and not me. Thats not counting other similar words that discredit the researchers. May well be over a 100 or more references to demeaning the sources. Add in words like psuedoscience, grifters, conspiracy, Atlantis, fantacy ect for describing the sources and it starts to pile up.

Stopped_lurking said:

Who has shown that the pyramids have generated any energy? Without positive corroboration this just conjecture.

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First we have the theorectical modelling. Which is the preliminary science supporting such a hypothesis. So theorectically tests should support the modelling. All that needs to be done is to physically test it in the pyramid.

But that is partly done already with tests that on acoustics which show sound is focused into the chambers and magnifies. Plus tests have shown the chambers were subject to stress and heat.

We also have evidence of a furnace, chemical smells and tested chemical residue leaking from the stones of the chambers.

There are other bits of evidence such as the many deep shafts around the pyramid and what looks like a drainage system but not necessarily all for water. Evidence of copper piping and also electrodes. We also have possible written evidence on reliefs.

The problem is your post is a commentary on what you think and feel rather what Romans 6-8 say.

A Devil's Advocate said:

The goal of Christianity is to know God. This is something you could spend ten lifetimes in pursuit of and still have barely scratched the surface of everything there is to know about God.

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This is true. However This was also true of the Old Covenant.

A Devil's Advocate said:

If I was to ask you; do you identify as your sinful nature, or do you identify as the good you want to do but struggle with a sinful nature, which would best describe you? Most likely it will be the later of the two. You are the good you want to do but struggle with a sinful nature. Which would align you with what Paul talked about in Rom 7:14-20.
Now say by the power of grey skull, I snap my fingers and suddenly you no longer have a sinful nature. Will you continue to do the evil you do not want to do, or will you only do the good you so desire to do? Obviously, the good you desire to do is all that you are going to do.
Okay then, in your pursuit to stop sinning, what is it you are trying so hard to improve on? The good you already desire to do, or the sinful nature?

The good you desire to do clearly needs no improvement since it already desires to do good. The sinful nature, on the other hand, cannot be improved on. Scripture is vividly clear on this. If it could be improved on, then Paul would not have wrote what he wrote in Rom 7, and the Gospel wouldn't have been necessary.

Before you try and tell me Paul is speaking of before he was saved... this is the real world, not some fantasy. At what point, before you were saved, did you ever struggle between doing the good that God desires you to do and doing evil? The truth is you didn't. You simply did whatever felt good to you in the moment.

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Please follow along.
Paul says, the evil that he would not, that he does in verse 7:19. He continues to say in respect to that, he finds a law and that this law is that when he would do good evil is present with him in verse 7:21. Then he says that he delights in the Law of God in his inner man but sees this other Law warring against the Law of God that is in his inner man. And this other law is the Law of sin, that Evil that he would not but does is present with Him even though He would do the Good, the Law that He delights in, the Law of God that is in his members. This is put forward in verse 23. Then in verse 24 he cries out in despair asking, who shall deliver him from this body of death. For the wages of sin is death. In this state he knows his hope and proclaims that through Christ Jesus he thanks God in that he serves the Law of God with His mind, but alas his flesh serves this Law of sin, that law that when he would do good evil is present with Him in his flesh.

Chapter 8 speaks of the deliverance Paul seeks, it says the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from this law of sin and the wages of it, death (6:23). For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh. Sin is condemned in the flesh that the righteousness of the Law of God that Paul said he delights be fulfilled in us, who walk after the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus and not after the flesh. (8:2-4) For if we walk after the flesh we shall die. But if we mortify the deeds of the body we shall live. (8:13) And all this is said in respect Romans 6 where it says, shall we continue to sin that grace abounds? God forbid. How shall we who are dead to sin, live any longer therein. Know you not that we who have been baptized, have been baptized into His death. And if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him (Hence sin is condemned in the flesh), that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. And if the Son has set us free through the Law of the Spirit of the Life in Christ Jesus, free we are indeed.


Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.


Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Novena for the Holy Souls Day 4 11/25/25

My God! because Thou art infinite goodness, I am sorry with my whole heart for having offended Thee. I promise to die rather than ever offend Thee more. Give me holy perseverance; have pity on me, and have pity on those holy souls that burn in the cleansing fire and love Thee with all their hearts. O Mary, Mother of God, assist them by thy powerful prayers.

Say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and the Prayer to Our Suffering Saviour for the Holy Souls in Purgatory below.

Prayer to Our Suffering Saviour for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

O most sweet Jesus, through the bloody sweat which Thou didst suffer in the Garden of Gethsemani, have mercy on these Blessed Souls. Have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel scourging, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most painful crowning with thorns, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in carrying Thy cross to Calvary, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel Crucifixion, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most bitter agony on the Cross, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the immense pain which Thou didst suffer in breathing forth Thy Blessed Soul, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

(Recommend yourself to the Souls in Purgatory and mention your intentions here)

Blessed Souls, I have prayed for thee; I entreat thee, who are so dear to God, and who are secure of never losing Him, to pray for me a miserable sinner, who is in danger of being damned, and of losing God forever. Amen.

Day 8... 11/25/25

O Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively confidence in your all-powerful and never-failing intercession, manifested so often through the Miraculous Medal, we your loving and trustful children implore you to obtain for us the graces and favors we ask during this Novena, if they be beneficial to our immortal souls, and the souls for whom we pray.

(Privately form your petitions here.)

You know, O Mary, how often our souls have been the sanctuaries of your Son who hates iniquity. Obtain for us, then, a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart, which will attach us to God alone so that our every thought word and deed may tend to his greater glory. Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial, that we may recover by penance what we have lost by sin, and at length attain to that blessed abode where you are the Queen of angels and of men. Amen.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

The takeaway from Job, when he got down to the final act, was that he abhorred himself. That's when God restored him.

Jesus was abundantly clear that if we do not hate our own lives, and the lives of others, we haven't even set foot into discipleship yet. Luke 14:26

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We must be careful how we understand the word "hate" in Semitic usage. Hate implies preference more than it does the kind of negative affective emotions and judgements we associate with the word hate in the modern world. Jesus isn't addressing what we think of today as self-loathing and self-harm. He's just saying there's a hierarchy of goods, with our life being situated within a set of greater values.

stevevw said:

Hum then the language doesn't match. Language has been used that dismisses even the idea of ancient advanced knowledge full stop. This is done by explaining away that knowledge using the orthodox narrative as the go to explanation for everything without any evidence. Then accusing those who suggest alternative ideas as not having any evidence. Double standards. Part of forcing the orthodoxy

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Is this, finally, your admission that your claims of conspiracy are based upon the fact that you did not understand the meaning of conspiracy? If so, it is one small step towards your development of critical thinking.

Aside: it is considered to polite to reply to personal messages, even if it is only to decline an offer of help. Perhaps courtesy is another word you are not familiar with.

There are many examples of "free energy"

Many are familiar as "renewable energy" - solar, wind, hydro, etc.

However, there are some that really breaks the mold in terms of cost and power density. You'll never see a supersonic plane purely powered by solar energy (PV) tech.

It's more profitable to use them in secret.

We're not responsible to those who choose death over life.

The Liturgist said:

To take pride in one’s sin is deeply dangerous according to the Fathers.

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The takeaway from Job, when he got down to the final act, was that he abhorred himself. That's when God restored him.

Jesus was abundantly clear that if we do not hate our own lives, and the lives of others, we haven't even set foot into discipleship yet. Luke 14:26

When we see that evil is perpetually present withIN us, it's an easy place to get to, that hatred and abhorrence

Nevertheless light was always meant to shine from the darkness, per God's Own Command

When we love our neighbors, it's shine on. We can still remain in the dark while doing so and we can still judge the actors and actions of that darkness because it's NOT THE PEOPLE.

Gay pride is just DEVIL PRIDE on parade. We just don't see it for what it is, all dressed up in rainbows and lying propaganda

A Devil's Advocate said:

This is an interesting interpretation which I took time to think about. However, I don't get from the examples of scripture the same conclusion you have.
I don't think sinning less is unrealistic.

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I gave many specific citings on why sinning less is not so.

Sin is a state of mind, Mark 7:21-23. Just because it doesn't show up on the outside doesn't mean we're not defiled by evil/lawless thoughts.

Secondly, sin is of the devil. The devil (or his own) doesn't become "less of a sinner" within the temptations of anyone's mind.

Third, we are no better than anyone else regarding being under sin, Romans 3:9 and Paul took the opposite stand, claiming he was present tense post salvation "I am" the chief of sinners. Not meaning less the sinner. And backed by the fact that Paul dealt with the tempter and temptation and had a devil in his own flesh.

I hope this clarifies it, again.

A Devil's Advocate said:

In Romans 7:17-21, Paul is describing to us our two natures (our old and new nature). Being that we are created in the image of God, we have three unique components that make us human. We have the flesh, our soul, and a spirit. Our soul is what makes us.... well, us. It is who we are, our essence you might say. Our spirit is our connection to the divine. God is spirit and to connect with God requires that we must also have a spirit. Our spirit will always desire the things of God. And finally, the flesh. The part of us that is animated by the soul. Our flesh is where we get the desires of the flesh.

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Technically speaking we can wax on about how great we are all the day long. That will never make us sinless BECAUSE the accounts of sin are not about people only. Sin is about people and the devil(s). You simply have a one side story that is missing the major component to the exercise, our adversary. It's a common miss because Mark 4:15 is quite entirely real in the hear and now, pardon the pun."This is too much! I don't know which one to

A Devil's Advocate said:

pick? Screw it! I'm just gonna go get drunk now." (Joke)

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You can pick what ever you please and the bottom line isn't going to change the fact that we are ALL sinners, period.

Some people have the very odd idea that if they don't complete an external act of sin they sin less or are less the sinner and that simply isn't true and never will be true until the DEVIL AND HIS MESSENGERS are taken out of the picture. Which is a promise of the Gospel.

Again, you just see you making the decisions but that was never the case. God Himself bound everyone to disobedience and disobey we will and do, because of the fact of disobedience present within us at all times.

Romans 11:32
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

A Devil's Advocate said:

So yes, like you said we are all still guilty of sinning.

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Well, there you have it. Except for the fact that sins are not counted against people, 2 Cor. 5:19

There really is only one direction to go with regards to sin and for that we have to incorporate the adversary (or his own) into the pictures. And since we're dealing with basically built in adversarial spirits it's problematic and it makes our own thinking about it quite entirely garbled. Which of course is why we should look to the Word of God for these matters to find understandings, and hopefully, dominion over our adversaries. I'm all for that.

A Devil's Advocate said:

Your interpretation of a messenger in the flesh (adversary) is where I see things differently.

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Well of course you don't want to bring the devil into your pet picture of sin. People are quite falsely led to blame everyone and everything BUT the our very real adversary. That's what that adversary does in people. Points fingers at everyone but him and his own. The classic "accuser of the brethren" story.

A Devil's Advocate said:

In His first example where they hear the word and Satan immediately comes and takes it away, this is the person who doesn't receive the Word and therefore isn't saved.

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Look, NONE of the Words of God pass away from any person.

Where you say Mark 4:15 no longer applies to you, Jesus says every Word of God applies to everyone.

Matt. 4:4, Luke 4:4, Deut. 8:3

Your adversary might think he escaped detection, but that is only true in your own mind, because of same.

Sorry to burst your back patting bubble.

We're still sinners, regardless and our sin remains "of the devil," regardless of any claims to the contrary

stevevw said:

Wow I could imagine how clear the skies would be in NZ. I lived in England for a while and remember the twilight from the northern lights of the Aurora Borealis.

Thankyou, I did not realise that Chat-GPT could also do that. But of course as I heard someone mentioning that they could make a Hollywood block buster but feeding Ai all the requirements.

I was actually Thinking of the new music software thats out. From what I understand it will do something similar. But also has a range of virtual instruments. I think it can also transcribe humming or playing a tune into music script and a lot more.

I use to have a home studio and played around with the software adding effects and enhancements. But I liked the simple and raw sound of a good clear acoustic guitar and voice with little effects.

I was thinking about the song and I actually had written chords. I just never completed the song. But you have inspired me to finish it. I have a tendency to start a song and never finish it lol.

I think it is good that people can share ideas and this helps inspire and also add advice and perspectives which help the creative process.

Now I keep thinking about your cathedral without walls and seeing the milky way and shooting stars like its a show lol. Theres got to be a poem, painting or song in that.

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Steve, here’s a tiny Chat-GPT starter:
Paste:
“Chords Em-C-G-D, line ‘cathedral without walls’, key Em, 6/8, mellow. Give me 1 verse + 1 chorus structure and a soft pad suggestion.”
Grab what sparks, rewrite till it breathes your night-sky, then play it when you’re ready—no deadlines, no demos required. All the best and God bless.

I can't say that a Bible ever "wrecked" me, but the one that I read the most was an NIV version.

It fell apart eventually. The Presbyterian pastor I had at that time thought the NIV was not a great translation, but it did the job for me.

I don't have the qualifications to make judgements about better or worse translations (like most Christians I suspect) but I think they all say much the same thing in the end.

fhansen said:

I gave up the forums. Oh wait, I’m here! Ok, maybe tomorrow. As Augustine once put it, “Lord, grant me continence [self-control], but not quite yet.”

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Nice, I second that for sure. Thank you for the comment, have a great day/night.

They will come to Gaza to wake up Jacob. The mainstream will label them as humanoid aliens from outer space. And ww3 will be happening also in the hopes of overshadowing their arrival.

johansen said:

well, the topic is irrelevant because Elijah is not going to come again.

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Well, he will return along with everyone else in the General Resurrection, albeit from a different vector, since St. Elias along with St. Moses, St. Enoch and our Glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary, is among those taken up into heaven bodily, either on the occasion of their repose or in the case of St. Elias, via a chariot of fire (in the case of the Theotokos, her repose helped prove the reality of the human nature of her Son; had she been assumed without dying, as a minority of Roman Catholics believe (I’m pretty sure its a minority; my beloved Roman Catholic friends @chevyontheriver and @Xeno.of.athens might be able to clarify that), it could have created a cause for Docetists to promote the heresy denying the full humanity of Christ our God, which was the most common heresy until the fourth century when, following in the direction of Paul of Samosata, the first Unitarian, and so corrupt the Romans arrested him for embezzling from the church in the only instance where Christians were assisted by the Roman Empire before the Edict of Milan in 314 AD under St. Constantine, Arius established a large sect denying the deity of Christ, whose errors are still felt in various cults like the J/Ws, Unitarian Unversalists and others.

biblelesson said:

There were no preexisting conditions in Adam and Eve.

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Were they exempt from God's Words?

Mark 4:15
And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

Were they exempt from the Apostle's statement directly about Adam here?

1 Cor. 15:42-46
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

This list of exemptions from God's Own Words and Apostle's teachings would have to go on at length and that is simply not true at all. They were no different than you, I and everyone else.

biblelesson said:

Before eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were perfect beings, and had the right to eat from the tree of life. If there was any corruption in them, they would not have been given the right to eat from the tree of life.

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Did you even bother to read the opening post?

Eve clearly had lustful thoughts against God's Law of "do not eat or ELSE." Eve clearly had errant words, twisting God's command before eating. Adam had the "law" "do not eat OR ELSE" laid on him, which laws are made for sinners, 1 Tim. 1:9.

And the kicker was, though the sin transpired in their dust bodies Satan was involved up to his eyeballs, with a direct statement from God that the serpent DID IT. Will repeat, the SERPENT DID IT.

biblelesson said:

As far as Planted in corruption, Planted in dishonor, Planted in weakness - this is speaking of man after Adam - man from the point of Adam sin, is born into corruption, etc. Through Adam, creation became corrupted

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Your circular reasoning doesn't cut it. And the main point of this exercise is not to blame Adam and Eve. Sins are not counted against people, per 2 Cor. 5:19. So there is only one direction left to point to and that is to SATAN.

I concede that Adam was God's son, so there is no blame to be had because of this status for Adam or any person subsequent to them.

biblelesson said:

But, when they exercised their free will, and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were filled with the wrong spirit. The spirit was Satan’s spirit that became apart of man.

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There is no free will. God has bound everyone to disobedience, Adam and Eve most obviously included.

Disobedience is of the devil:

Eph. 2:2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

biblelesson said:

If Eve had only eaten from the wrong tree, nothing would have happened to creation, because God created man; woman was made from man. It’s the man’s seed that became corrupt, therefore children born from the corrupted man’s seed is born into sin. Not the woman.

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There are no exceptions to God's Words or being a sinner, bound to disobedience. Not for Adam, not for Eve, not for any person other than Jesus.

Jesus did not use His supposed free will to make Himself sinless either. He's always been sinless because He's God.

You seem to have a concocted position born of missing the real culprit in the pictures and blaming Adam and Eve while exonerating the DEVIL. Turn things around and you'll be fine and the fantasy positions will pass away.

I do smell a little cult type in your positional offering heavily leaning in the genetics department, which is a dead giveaway. SDA like.

Minister Monardo said:

The Question: Does the Church look for the coming of Elijah? Would he come to Israel, or to the remnant of Judah who remain in Iran?

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St. Elias did come, at the the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, described in all three synoptic Gospels. St. Moses was also present.

This feast is regarded by Orthodox Christians as the replacement for Sukkot.

Always in His Presence said:

There is no rhetorical in scripture -

The verses are literal, not metaphorical.

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That’s simply not the case - St. Paul makes use of a vast array of skillful oratorial techniques, even referring to the ancient logical error of Epimenides Paradox in his epistle to St. Titus.

Rhetoric is not evil if used to promote truth; indeed Christ our True God employs skillful use of parable, a classic rhetorical technique of antiquity.

And then we have the amusing case of St. Elias the Prophet, one of four we know of holy enough to be taken up bodily into Heaven (the others being the Holy Prophets Enoch and Moses, and the Mother of God), together with Christ our God, who also has a body in His resurrection; the rest of those present existing pneumatically until the General Resurrection and the Life of the World to Come (although time might well be vastly different); in 1 Kings 18:27 St. Elias openly mocks the idolaters.

The use of rhetorical devices is not sinful when in service of the truth, and the reality is Christ and St. Paul are the two best known orators of antiquity, orators both in the sense of prayer and of rhetoric. Little of what Gaius Julius Caesar said is remembered; the speech of Marc Antony, ”Friends, Romans, Countrymen” is mostly a fabrication of Shakespeare, but the rhetoric of Christ our True God had staying power, because it expressed truth. Christ used Semitic rhetorical techniques such as fables and the provocative dialectic of the Hebrew people, ancient and modern, whereas St. Paul adapted his approach to reach Greeks and Greek-speaking Romans accustomed to a different style of rhetoric, and St. Luke the Evangelist, a Hellenized Jew, wrote with extreme elegance according to the norms of the Greek language.

Indeed many suspect that the Epistle to the Hebrews was penned by St. Luke working with St. Paul; ;most early church sources attribute Luke-Acts to a collaboration between the Evangelist and Apostle (likewise, the Gospel of St. Mark the Evangelist, who owned the great house with the Cenacle, which survives to this day by the way as a Syriac Orthodox monastery), is thought to have been guided by St. Peter; in both cases the Evangelists also being inspired by the Holy Spirit.

bèlla said:

Why would a wicked entity behave righteously unless it served their needs? You’re unable to devise an argument and I’m not putting you on the spot. NASA is unimportant for most. Whereas an agency involving food, housing, and similar musts would necessitate more engagement

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Just want to point out some things.

All the world shall marvel, whose names are not in the book of life, when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is.

And he opened his mouth in blaspheme against God to blaspheme God's name God's tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. Revelation 13:6

If anyone can declare just what that blaspheme is, and what it is that would be so marvelous, would that be of any value? If it could be stated what it is that would cause wonder, and therefore people having that info would therefore Not marvel and wonder, is that not salvation from the deceptions of the beast, and a road to eternal life, and even perhaps part of a message that leads some of the final saints to belief?

For I believe to be able to tell it all plainly: the beast will seem to die, and then seem to be healed by supposed aliens that come down and beam him up into their ship... something spectacular like that, related to supposed outerspace, is what it is, that will cause the world at large to literally marvel and wonder.

Those seeing words such as those, and/or understanding that the globe is a deception will hopefully think twice when it happens, and not marvel and wonder at the beasts deceptions.

As it is written, they that understand among the people shall instruct many, then afterwards the beast, that prideful king, arrives. Daniel 11:33-36

And that is why pointing out the deceptions from NASA is important, they dable in satanic end times deceptions. One believing them so much would be deceived by the coming beast and false prophet.

A Devil's Advocate said:

This is an interesting interpretation which I took time to think about. However, I don't get from the examples of scripture the same conclusion you have.
I don't think sinning less is unrealistic. It's just most people place the cart before the horse. They try to reduce sinful behavior in hopes of developing a stronger relationship with God. When it's your time and effort in getting to know more of God that leads to a reduction in sinful behavior.

In Romans 7:17-21, Paul is describing to us our two natures (our old and new nature). Being that we are created in the image of God, we have three unique components that make us human. We have the flesh, our soul, and a spirit. Our soul is what makes us.... well, us. It is who we are, our essence you might say. Our spirit is our connection to the divine. God is spirit and to connect with God requires that we must also have a spirit. Our spirit will always desire the things of God. And finally, the flesh. The part of us that is animated by the soul. Our flesh is where we get the desires of the flesh.

The desires of the flesh and of the spirit are the two natures Paul is describing. When we come into the world, we are spiritually dead, separated from God. There is no desire for the things of God. It is the desires of the flesh that rules us, and it is in the flesh that sin operates. When we are saved, when we receive spiritual life, we are then presented with the desires of the spirit which, as I mentioned, are for the things of God. This is the conflict Paul is describing in Romans 7. The flesh desires the things of the world while the spirit desires the things of God, and our soul is like....

"This is too much! I don't know which one to pick? Screw it! I'm just gonna go get drunk now." (Joke)

A conflict he did not have before being saved since he had no problem condemning in killing Christians. But a conflict we, who are saved will have the rest of our life. Why? Because the flesh is corrupted by sin, and will remain so until we are given a new body (flesh) free of the sinful nature. So yes, like you said we are all still guilty of sinning.

Your interpretation of a messenger in the flesh (adversary) is where I see things differently. In the parable that Jesus gave, it has been most commonly understood that Jesus was speaking of three examples where people aren't saved and one where they are saved. But it's actually the other way around, if you read it carefully. He is speaking of only one who isn't saved and three where they are saved, but each of the three reacting differently in their salvation.

In His first example where they hear the word and Satan immediately comes and takes it away, this is the person who doesn't receive the Word and therefore isn't saved. It is not that a messenger of Satan enters the flesh. The parable, found in Matthew 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26, as well as what John tells us in 1 John 4:4, indicates that a believer cannot have both the Spirit of God and Satan dwelling in them. Satan may be Influencing them, yes. But not dwelling in them.

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I would suggest you study the Patristic concept of the sinful passions, which incline us towards sin, passions such as lust, pride and gluttony. These passions can be tamed, which is why we fast and give alms in the Orthodox Church.

The most dangerous seems to be pride; a monk could struggle for years to overcome lust and gluttony, and then fall into prelest, spiritual delusion, by taking pride in his accomplishment. The solution to this is extreme humility and absolute love for God and for one’s neighbor, which represents the supreme rejection of self-love, which becomes the dangerous intoxicant.

One disturbing aspect of our contemporary culture is the idea of pride as a virtue. Gay pride parades are doubly sinful, firstly, because they embrace a mode of life St. Paul warns is dangerous, the lusting after strange flesh, and secondly, perhaps more dangerously, because they promote pride. To take pride in one’s sin is deeply dangerous according to the Fathers.

What do you think caused the mud floods? I think that some of revelation has happened.

The repeated sevens are because the prophecy is being repeated, each seven, seals, trumpets, vials, giving different angles of the same overarching repeated prophecy. Chapter five tells us Jesus prevailed to open the seals, therefore the opening of them began when He ascended and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Hitler was the climax of the red horse period of time, we are headed to the climax of the black horse time now, world wide economic collapse. From chapter 5 and 6 we get a clear timeline, and the trumpets and vials give information about different events that happen during the same timeline.

The globe lie serves to mask and muddy almost all the events in Revelation, and is the foundational lie of the beast, who will be speaking blaspheme about what is beyond the sky. Revelation 13:6

And so, some of revelation 8 has happened, causing the wipeout of some civilizations, and, the lie makers, have various lies and deceptions to try to hide the simple truth that revelation is and has been happening.

Strong in Him said:

"The Elite" - yeah, right.

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Yeah right, it's true and this is the knowlendge that most of the Elite knows about even today.

The Elite being top men at NASA, Leaders where most are Freemasons & Royalty etc.

So yes they know all about the Ionosphere.

On the stink which pervades hell as I mentioned above -

St. Faustina, in her famous vision, described seven awful tortures of hell including:

The fifth torture is continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and, despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own.

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The mystics who have glimpsed hell report that hell stinks. It smells of sulfur–rotten eggs–death and decay. Furthermore, exorcists report that in encounters with demons there is often an unearthly and ungodly stench. Death stinks. Demons stink. The Devil Stinks. Sin stinks. Satan Stinks.

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Since it stinks, the souls in Hell obviously have some sort of sense of smell, despite being pure spirits.