chunkofcoal said:

That verse in context Paul is telling people they need to get along -
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
(Gal 5:13-15)

But James also said:
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
(Jas 2:8)

And Yeshua said:
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
(Mat 7:12)

So, what are they teaching? How is what they are saying to be understood?

If you read your quote from Yeshua in context, notice He says "the second is like unto it" -
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
(Mat 22:37-40)

So, how is "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" like unto "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind"?

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You just reminded me of something I was to mention.

@visionary
1 John 4:20, 21
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

Obeying the second commandment is required to obey the first.
We cannot obey the first, if we are not obeying the second.

Nithavela said:

I don't know if that's such a big change. In both stories, he was going vigilante against something he apparently thought was evil. In the first story, he helped in taking down a criminal, in the second story, he tried to kill a former president of the USA. Seems to me like a change in degrees of violence and social acceptance of the target instead of complete change.

(To be clear, I'm not condoning trying to shoot Trump. Just speculating on the mans deranged thought processes.)

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Yeah, it does sound like the man has changed his tactics, and became more violent between 1991 and 2024. I am curious what his religion is. Some religious fanatics like to commit violence it seems, regardless of religion or denomination.

All Praise, Thanks, Glory & Honor to Jesus Christ for ensuring that political leaders in India are kept Humble due to recent elections that have led to a parliament with larger share of seats won by the opposition parties:

Rxlx said:

Geology merely proves The Flood and the Upheavals of the Day of Peleg.

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Yep, and the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Archeology proved that one.

DennisF said:

What is the difference in meaning between (H7854 satan) and (H6862 tsar)? If H6862 is best rendered "adversary" what of H7854? Accuser?

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See Compare H6862-adversary and H7854-satan-adversary and follow up there

Ge 14:

20 Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

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your enemies
צָרֶ֖יךָ (ṣā·re·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6862: Narrow, a tight place, a pebble, an opponent

Strong's Hebrew: 6862. צָר (tsar) — 111 Occurrences
Strong's Hebrew: 7854. שָׂטָן (satan) — 27 Occurrences

צַר: from root צ-ר-ר (tz-r-r), meaning to bind, be narrow, be in distress
שָׂטָן: from root ש-ט-ן (s-t-n), meaning to oppose, be an adversary

צַר: adjective or noun
שָׂטָן: noun

צַר: often used in contexts of national enemies or personal distress
שָׂטָן: often used in legal or cosmic contexts of accusation or opposition

Their semantic ranges overlapped. From the frequency counts, tsar had a broader meaning, while satan focused more on a special job of persecution. By NT, the two words had rather different meanings because the satan-adversary became the person Satan, the devil.

Do we know if that includes payroll taxes?

Gov Ron Desantis said that they will conduct their own independent investigation as well.

We'll see who presents facts or tries to spin it for political purposes.

timothyu said:

"So God is still interested in reclaiming all nations for Himself"

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I might add that one of Heiser's big interests was driven by Psalm 82, about the council of the gods. The biblical worldview does not deny the plurality of gods. It differs from paganism (the Babylonian mystery religion of Nimrod, with the Devil behind him) by denying their equality or superiority to Yahweh Elohim - the "Lord of gods" (my rendering). Heiser's PhD thesis at UWM was on this topic, as I recall.

Scripture gives us little insight into the doings of the gods, though if angels, cherubs, seraphs, et al were taken out of the Bible, it would be a different book. They appear, often humanoid, offering piecemeal hints about the higher realm of interstellar governance. Now that humanity is on the verge of becoming space-faring, it fits in with this being the "last days" of the previous chapter in human history, where the climax of the exopolitical battle finds us in the middle of it. (I suggested on a previous thread the possibility that this conflict is about us and what Satan versus God wanted in bioengineering homo sapiens sapiens after the Ice Age. I know there is much to unpack in that statement!)

UFOlogy arose as an area of inquiry post-WWII and Michael Salla, former George Washington U. (in DC) professor of political science, has made a career of exopolitics; see his site at Exopolitics Unsurprisingly, Heiser was also interested in UFO-UAP doings and wrote some fictional books about it. (Fiction is where you can say what you believe, or strongly surmise, is true without being held to account for it!)

Rxlx said:

a 'supercontinent' implies a big island. not a totally encompassing land mass.

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It's not an island.
In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass.


Islands would be those pieces of land surrounded by water
Supercontinents can have any shape.

Diamond72 said:

Ezekiel 28

17Your heart grew proud of your beauty;

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Diamond72 said:

you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor;
so I cast you to the earth;

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The meaning of Ezekiel 28:13-14 is a little harder to unravel.

You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone
adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and
jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on
the day you were created they were prepared.
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained
you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked
among the fiery stones.
Ezekiel 28:13-14 NIV



John Gill’s commentary provdes some enlightenment on this.

<< Ezekiel 28:13
Ver. 13. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God,.... Not only in Eden, but in
the garden which was in Eden, and was of the Lord's immediate planting; and
therefore called the garden of God, as well as because of its excellency,
fragrancy, and delight; not that the king of Tyre was literally there, or ever
dwelt in it; but his situation in Tyre was as safe, and as pleasant and delightful,
as Adam's was in the garden of Eden, at least in his own imagination. So the
Targum,
"thou delightest thyself with plenty of all good things and delectable ones, as if
thou dwellest in the garden of God;'' >>

What of the mention of “guardian cherub” in verse 14? John Gill’s commentary:

<< Ezekiel 28:14
Ver. 14. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth,.... In allusion to the
cherubim over the mercy seat, which covered it with their wings; and which,
as the ark of the testimony and all the vessels of the tabernacle were anointed,
were so likewise; in all probability the king of Tyre is called a "cherub"
because of his wisdom and power; "anointed", because of his royal dignity;
and "that covereth", because of his office, which was to protect his people; all which he either was, or ought to be, or was in his own opinion so: antichrist
makes great boasts of his wisdom, power, and authority, as a teacher, pastor, or
bishop, the cherubim being symbolical of the ministers of the word; and of his
being anointed by men, that he may be the cover and shield of the church; and
of his being the Lord's anointed, and the vicar of Christ, and head and protector
of the church, as he calls himself {s}. The Targum understands all this of regal
power, and renders it,
"thou art a king anointed for a kingdom:'' >>

The King of Tyre was never really in Eden but was in a place of delight and safety. Likewise, the King of Tyre was never a cherub in the Jewish or Christian sense, but was anointed as a king.

RawStrength said:

That was sick (as in awesome) thanks so much for that. I'm gonna keep telling myself and others that the almighty God doesn't create losers. Thank you for the support and for being my cheerleader!

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Always! Know that we on this board have your back in prayer and would love for you to keep us updated on your triumphs. They're coming! I'm glad to have met you, my brother.

Bobber said:

It's actually an interesting question. A few months back in our home bible study we were pondering this very thing.

I suggested the following that many found quite interesting. Just why would Satan who they say was called Lucifer at the time.....even think to go this direction. Could it possibly have been for this reason? He knew God was all powerful when it came to ability....but perhaps he looked upon the gracious, kind, loving character of God as being LOVE and started to envision within himself maybe it's a weakness? In other words if he took actions to rebel against LOVE maybe LOVE would be too nice and give in having no backbone.

His great failure however was not to appreciate that for LOVE to be LOVE it has to draw the lines and stand by them in no uncertain terms or it'll bring darkness or what I call the degeneration of LIFE. LOVE made a warning of punishment so severe as well to keep all away from going into death. I think Satan wagered God ultimately wouldn't have the character to back it up. His way was a new way of strength according to him and he talked some angels into it. Of course we know the end result. HE WAS WRONG. He was trying to re-invent the wheel which rightly didn't need to be changed and most of the angels rejected his crazy presumptuous notion. I'm not saying all I shared here was exactly the way it was but it feels that way to me.

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Presumably Satan thought he could rule the earth as his own kingdom just as he rules it now from his base on and in the moon?

so..... what is the point of this thread?

When the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, it revealed another wall unseen for decades. Tens of thousands of children living behind the walls of orphanages across Eastern Europe were seen for the first time, and it was a heartbreaking sight. Years of institutionalization left generations of boys and girls scarred and aimless.

Western organizations such as Buckner International moved into countries like Russia to serve these orphans. At first, our approach was intercountry adoption. From 1995 until Russia closed these adoptions in 2013, Buckner placed more than 350 children in U.S. homes. But 350 children out of more than 1 million wasn’t enough, and intercountry adoption couldn’t be the only solution.

Wanting to serve more children, we began training orphanage workers and introducing in-country, family-centered care — a holistic approach to supporting children and their parents. That model aligns with our belief that every child belongs in a family, not an institution.

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Pastor David Lin | FreePastorLin.com

California Pastor David Lin has been released from a Chinese prison after nearly two decades and has returned to the United States, the State Department said Sunday, ending a case that sparked an international outcry from free speech advocates and U.S. officials who say he was wrongfully detained.

“We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China,” the State Department said, Politico reported, adding that the 68-year-old pastor “now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years.”

Lin’s daughter, Alice Lin, told the outlet that the State Department notified her on Saturday that Chinese authorities had released her father from prison and that he would arrive in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday.

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JosephZ said:

There were five lies being pushed in the video that I included in that paragraph.

The lies:

• 15,000 Haitians were imported into Springfield by VP Harris

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This needs a little explanation. From the Springfield News-Sun

"Status extended by feds​

Most Haitians are here legally, making their way from a violent and gang-ruled island homeland to Mexico.

Katie Kersh, senior attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, said many Haitians coming here go to Mexico and get a CBP One, a mobile app that allows users to request appointments related to immigration. That allows them to be legally processed into the U.S. through what’s called the parole program. They then typically obtain Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which allows them to temporarily stay in the country. Others may apply for asylum, which is evaluated based on a person’s individual situation and if they were persecuted or have a fear of persecution, or for both TPS and asylum."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other words, the Haitian immigrants get a mobile app on their phones in Mexico, which allows them to get an appointment with
the courts. This allows them to be legally processed into the US through the app. They get a TPS via the US Federal Government.
As I understand it, the US Government change the rules for applying for asylum when Biden took office.
They go to Springfield from Mexico because they have relatives and friends there, who will help them get a job.
Of course the businesses in Springfield hire them at minimum wage, because Haitian immigrants are willing to live in
apartments with multiple families. The citizens of Springfield live with one family in an apartment and as a result, can't
survive on minimum wages.

In other words, before Biden, they would be illegally in the US. But because the rules changed, they now hold a legal status while
waiting to go to court. In the past, 80% of immigrants who applied for asylum, never showed up at the court date they were given.
Why would they, when there's a chance, they'll be sent back to the country they came from?

But they're here so the only humane thing to do is help them and this is what Catholic Charities does, not only in Springfield,
but across the nation.

Christian apologist Gratia Pello has been released on parole after more than a year in an Indonesian prison, where he was held on charges of blasphemy for allegedly insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad in a video.

Pello was arrested on Dec. 6, 2022, on charges of blasphemy for posting the video, which refuted insults against Jesus. He was granted parole earlier this year, reported the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern, whose staffer recently confirmed his release.

Pello is required to report to the prosecutor’s office monthly until his parole concludes in December, ICC said.

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o_mlly said:

No, you have not directly addressed the argument in its premises or conclusion. Rather, you have repeatedly deflected using nonsensical rabbit holes. Your latest rabbit hole leaves the mammalian category and invites us to go down a "tree" hole.

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I have addressed the first "premise" of your "argument" multiple times. You seem incapable of grasping your failure.

o_mlly said:

Only those with an open mind can be persuaded. Based on your replies, I judge that your mind is closed so I will only respond to your new posts that directly address the simple argument put forward.

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I see no attempt to persuade, only to obfuscate and weave.

Fantine said:

Photoshop's getting better.

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wouldn't now a days the first thing you jumpt to be AI not photogshop?

The aggressive advocacy of abortion by Democratic Party candidates up and down the ballot this year, coupled with abortion ballot measures in 10 states, is causing pro-life groups across the political spectrum to adjust their tactics as well as expand collaborative efforts.

At the state level throughout the country, “there are things that we are excited about and others that are very troubling,” said Americans United for Life (AUL) Chief Executive Officer John Mize in an interview with CNA.

“What we find most troubling are the ballot initiatives that are very deceptive by pro-abortion forces that have caused utter confusion in a vast swath of the American public,” Mize indicated.

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God does what is needed that is according to not being willing that any would perish. But the way is still really narrow and many are going toward the destruction, as there is no deliverance that God provides without repentance, with which there is essential faith with salvation in Christ through his accomplishments. Those in Christ that way are all delivered to be in bliss with him coming to God eternally then, after making it through this world yet with curse that has grown with sin since the fall.

ViaCrucis said:

A lot of the language that Paul uses (not just Paul, obviously, but Paul is big on it here) is proleptic. There is a sense in which the future bleeds into, or breaks into the present.

A really good example of this is when Paul says that we are "seated with Christ in heavenly places". Paul speaks present tense, even though we are obviously still very much right here on earth; yet at the same time we are--because we are in Christ--seated with Him. We are living and reigning with Him even though we are still down here.

Regeneration means the birth of a new man, a new human person; we are sharing in Christ's (resurrected) humanity right now, as a gift and work of God's grace. There is still the old man, who must be put to death daily through repentance. St. Paul talks about this struggle between the new man and the old man in Romans ch. 7. But Paul sees, already, in the powerful work of God's grace, by which we are alive by the Spirit, united to Christ, a new creation in Christ, that the old is passed, the old is dead. The old man died already in baptism (see Romans chapter 6), even as the new man was created, born, in that very baptism. Because we are in Christ there is a sense of receiving already what will be. We know that when Christ returns the dead shall be raised, in a sense we have received this already proleptically, through faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are also called to put off the old man and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-23). It's something we have been given; and it's something that is to mark our ongoing struggle as followers of Jesus. We have been made new, we are being made new, and we will be made new.

The telos--the end or goal--is something which defines the present already. We will be saved, we have been saved, and we are being saved. We will rise again, we have been raised, we are being raised. What will be, has already, and is now.

We see in Christ what God will do, and God has already done it in/for Christ; and since we are in Christ, it is now our present reality. Through faith, by the power and work of the Holy Spirit.

-CryptoLutheran

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Very interesting way to put it--"Proleptic." And I agree. What we will have in the future, with respect to our resurrection and glorification, is, in some sense previewed by our current redemption. We have a downpayment, spiritually, on our future inheritance. A great way to express it, I think. Thank you!

Larniavc said:

Didn’t he post pics of roasting chickens and claim they were cats?

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They are killing and eating your chickens!