If Jesus is literally going to reign on earth, then He must necessarily reign from a geographical standpoint. One of Jesus' names is ‘Son of David.’ Scripture is clear that the Messiah will reign over David's kingdom (the Kingdom of Israel) and that He will sit on David's throne (in Jerusalem). In order for Jesus to fulfil biblical prophecy, both the people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem must exist forever.

G-d has designated Jerusalem as Jesus' global headquarters on earth during the 1000-year kingdom. Jesus called it ‘the city of the great King’ (Matthew 5:35) because it is the city from which G-d's appointed Messiah will rule over the earth (Isaiah 9:6-7).

For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. Ps 132:13-14

Jesus comes to rule over the earth from Jerusalem. The establishment of G-d's kingdom throughout the earth is dynamically linked to Jesus' return to reign as King of the Jews in Israel. He will sit on David's throne (King of Israel) and his kingdom will never end

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Isa 9:7

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord G-d shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Lk 1:32-33

G-d has determined that righteousness will shine forth from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, fulfilling all His covenant promises to Israel as a nation, saving them, restoring them, and ruling over them from Jerusalem.

When Israel is saved and Jesus reigns from Jerusalem, the earth will be filled with G-d's glory

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isa 11:9

Before Jesus ascended to heaven after his death, burial and resurrection, the disciples asked Him when the political kingdom of Israel would be restored

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Acts 1:6

Some have used this passage to illustrate that the disciples were slow to understand the nature of the kingdom. However, Jesus does not rebuke them. He does not deny that there will be a physical, political manifestation of his kingdom. He merely says that the manifestation will not take place right now.

The prayer for Israel and Jerusalem is about the salvation of all Israel.

Jesus' return to Jerusalem depends on Israel's acceptance of their Messiah

For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Mt 23:39

We are aware that G-d does not have a separate path for the salvation of Israel. Paul is very clear that there is no inherent privilege outside of a personal relationship with Jesus

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. Rom 10:12

The salvation of all Israel (Romans 11:26) refers to the nation as a whole returning to the covenant with the G-d of Israel through the blood of Jesus.

Habakkuk is extremely important in the Orthodox Church as the author of one of the Odes of the Canon at Matins.

Michie said:

You are in the Catholic forum…

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You're right! I'm sorry.

Perhaps treat my reply as one explanation why some believers are convinced they don't need mass gatherings anymore.

Dikaioumenoi said:

a q]I skimmed your latest set of assertions. I will not waste my time responding point by point because the pattern is clear: claims are being offered without engaging the actual argument or evidence I've presented. It is not my burden to disprove your assertions; it is yours to substantiate them. If you want a substantive discussion, raise focused, textually and methodologically grounded objections. Broad dismissals and unfounded accusations do not qualify as argument and do not merit serious engagement.

To clarify the stakes: your position on ἑλκύω implies that, syntactically, John 6:44 leaves coming to Jesus potentially impossible -- a consequence of your view I have already argued and that you have ignored. You have also ignored that the semantics of ἑλκύω are irrelevant to the Calvinist argument itself. Once again, you are sidestepping the actual issue and fishing for something to latch onto just to have a reply. I am not going to play that game. Until you offer a focused, substantive objection that engages these points seriously, this conversation is over.

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So since you seem to have taken your ball and went home, I should probably explain something. What you call my "latest set of assertions" are largely drawn from Barr's criticism, which was not exclusive to the TDNT but simply used the TDNT as its exemplar. His criticism in no way discredited the TDNT, though it did alter how it is used in scholarship as well as every other lexography. You seem to misunderstand what Barr was actually saying, which was not that the TDNT was methodologically flawed but that word studies are misguided in general. His argument rests on 4 fallacies he identified, 2 of which you are clearly employing(word-concept and essentialism) and a 3rd seems to be present in your argument as well(totality transfer). Barr's argument was that word studies are poor exegesis because meaning is not at the word level, with Barr believing it to be at the sentence level but more recent arguments placing it primarily at the level of the paragraph or even entire pericope. Word studies are a supplement to exegesis, not an act of it. Word meanings aren't sufficiently fixed to be able to establish a meaning outside of their context, which is why now when scholars engage in word studies they are comparitive studies of a limited body of work, not sweeping studies of particular meaning. If you're going to cite a source, you might want to make sure you actually understand what that source argued.

rjs330 said:

It appears this really is the only reason the left cares. If they can help sow chaos they are happy to do so. Maybe we ought to just ignore them since their concern isn't really genuine.

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Sounds like when it comes to this issue there are those on the left who are just basically trolling. So noted.

JimR-OCDS said:

Learn to detach from the need to be accepted. I've gone through this and I'm still learning to detach from that
necessity in my life.

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We need to contemplate why we are at Mass. it is for worship of God and His sacrifice to save us from sin. Fellowship with others is secondary, and we need to clear our minds of distractions

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Satan and his demons play with our emotions and look for our weaknesses. If we feel overwhelming loneliness at Mass, we can be fairly confident that we are being attacked.

Know that we pray for you and the body of Christ will join with you in the fight against the powers of darkness

hedrick said:

Father and Son are both relational words. All 3 persons are involved in all activities, including creation.

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"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 NIV

When this becomes "For the Creator so loved the world that we were given the Christ that whoever believes in Christ shall not perish but have eternal life." the crucifixion starts to look a lot less personal, human and agonised. This is God suffering as one of us, for our sakes, and because of our sins, such that they are forgiven. It is important to know the extent of that love.

The purpose of our faith is to see God glorified and to accomplish His will (read John 14:13). So when we pray we must keep in mind that “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14). If it’s not according to His will He will not give us what we ask for.

There are reasons why we don’t know—aren’t able to discern—His will. For example, we may need to be transformed in our thinking by renewing the mind “so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

Those who are “filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (see Colossians 1:9) will offer prayers that God will receive. When He answers our prayers the Father and the Son will be glorified.

Jesus taught the disciples that a tiny amount of faith will move a mountain (Matthew 17:20; see also 1 Corinthians 13:2). This certainly exposes my level of faith for what it often is and is another reason why my prayers go unanswered.

We are more likely to pray with understanding when we are grounded in the fullness of God’s Word. In each Bible-centred local assembly God provides gifted teachers who build up believers so they will follow Christ with “spiritual understanding”.

I think this universe will be swept out of existence. It adds up to nothing anyway, in that it is a sum zero energy universe.

Considering the amount of energy packed in the nucleus of a single uranium atom, or the energy that has been continuously radiating from the sun for billions of years, or the fact that there are 10^80 particles in the observable universe, it seems that the total energy in the universe must be an inconceivably vast quantity. But it's not; it's probably zero.

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God made it from nothing; it adds up to nothing; and when He's finished with it it will disappear back to nothing. Energy can be neither created or destroyed, so if it started from nothing (except possibly some sort of quantum fluctuation) it's going to continue to add up to nothing.

What this "new earth" will be is in the too hard basket as far as I'm concerned. The impression I get is that God will dwell with His people, and He doesn't need a planet to do that.

There is also the image of the celestial city with streets of gold and all the other gadgetry. I don't bother thinking that one through, as the main business of life now is to keep short accounts with God. If we do that, the rest will take care of itself.

If you are someone who loves God, who loves his word, and who takes God and his word seriously, to obey it to the best of your understanding, and so you have renounced sinful practices, and you now walk (in conduct) in holy living, in obedience to the Lord, by the grace of God, in the power of God, and by his Spirit, then you are likely to find yourself being opposed, even by some others who also claim to believe in Jesus Christ, and even by some pastors of “churches.” For not everyone is who they claim to be.

Many who are in positions of leadership within the gatherings of what are being called “churches” are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are what the Scriptures refer to as “dogs,” but many of them are in disguise. And a dog is someone who is despicable, who is a spiritual predator who feeds off others. They are the impure, the wicked, and those outside of genuine faith in Jesus Christ who are workers of evil and smooth talkers who manipulate and who charm and deceive the naïve into believing their lies disguised as truth.

They are those who oppose the gospel message taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. And so they will remove particular Scriptures out from their intended context, and they will alter what they say to make them less offensive and more appealing to human flesh and to the ungodly of the world. For their goal is to trick and to deceive people into believing the lies, and into rejecting the truth, while they promise them heaven for eternity, but while they are leading them to hell.

We are to resist such people as these. And we are to reject their false teachings. And we are to be students of the Scriptures who are testing what we are hearing against the Scriptures (taught in context), and by comparing Scripture with Scripture to make sure that they agree with one another. For Romans 10:9 has to agree with Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; and Romans 12:1-2. And Ephesians 2:8-9 has to include verse 10, and it has to agree with Ephesians 4:17-24.

And sometimes we may need to pray for protection from those who oppose the truth of the gospel, and who teach the lies, for they are not all content with just giving out a false doctrine of salvation, but they also fiercely oppose the truth of the gospel and those who are teaching the truth of the gospel, too. We may need to pray that God will rescue us from such evil liars and deceivers who are trying to force their way into our lives, either in an attempt to deceive us, or to try to dishearten us to the point of us quitting.

We should never give in to their intimidation, though, but we must be those who love God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and who love his word (taught in the right context), and whose desire it is to obey our Lord and to do what his word teaches us that we must do, as his followers. And we must continue to spread the good news of the gospel of Christ (taught in truth) to the people of the world, and to the worldly church, for the salvation of human lives from bondage to sin, so they can serve Jesus with their lives.

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).

[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]

Walking in The Light

Based off 1 John 1-2
An Original Work / November 16, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

When I lift up my voice, and
Sing praise unto God,
I will fellowship with my
Lord and Savior, King.
In Him there is no darkness.
He is in the light of truth.
If we walk in His light,
From sin He purifies.

If we repent of our sins,
He’ll forgive us now,
When we humble ourselves, and
Before Jesus bow.
The man who says, “I know Him,”
But does not obey His truth,
There is no truth in him.
In darkness still he’s found.

Do not love the world of sin,
For it is hell bound.
If you follow the world, you’ll
Not in Christ be found.
The world and its desires
Will not last; they’ll expire.
The one who does God’s will,
Receives eternal life.

See that what you have heard from
Christ remains in you.
Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and
In His Father, too.
This is what He promised us –
His eternal life with God.
So, continue in Him, and
You’ll receive a crown.

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Your Testimonies My Delight
An Original Work / November 16, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

eleos1954 said:

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out

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The great experiment.

Probably at the expense of many New Yorkers.

bob121 said:

Paul says some of you are sick and dying because you gulp the Supper unworthily (1 Cor 11). Share the moment the bread and wine stopped being routine and started feeling dangerous.

What happened, and how did it change the way you prepare?

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I agree that taking Communion is a sacred and solemn occasion, and we should examine ourselves before partaking.

However Paul made it very clear what the unworthy manner was. And it's virtually impossible to repeat it when taking Communion in church these days.

The Communion is known as the Eucharist. And Eucharist means "Thanksgiving". And in Paul's time the Eucharist was like the feast Americans have on Thanksgiving Day.

It was a big banquet. And some were being selfish and depriving others. Selfish and committing gluttony. Treating the Eucharist like a pagan pig-out. Which is clearly spelled out in 1 Corinthians 11.

Considering how Communion is taken in church these days, it's virtually impossible to partake in an unworthily manner as Paul described, by hogging the Eucharist and pigging out on it, and getting drunk on the sacramental wine.

I’m feeling a year older, and all that goes with it. I feel like I don’t want to do much. But when there is something it gets done. I have a very quiet life and it’s very enjoyable. I feel the Life still surging. Gods love is still there, it needs expressing. Fall wasn’t long enough, spring is far away. Some people hibernate for winter and I sleep and will sit by the fire this winter and I will pray and spring will sprang. Hope will continue God willing.

Do people still send Christmas cards? Some years I sent 70. At any rate I always sent several cards. Now I'm blessed if I receive two. Are cards a thing of the past? I have some boxes of beautiful cards and i hate to throw them away. I also miss receiving them. Can someone enlighten me about this custom?

ThatRobGuy said:

When you consider the vast library of Hitler quotes from various long & laborious speeches (that were scattershot across a myriad of subjects), is it perhaps too easy of a jab to take to merely find "resemblances"?

Overlap in policy & rhetoric doesn't necessarily mean perfect overlap in terms ideological agreement.

"America for Americans" and "France is for the French" existed before Hitler.

And Hitler made quotes about vegetarianism and animal welfare, and I'm sure we could find some "similar sounding" rhetoric between his statements and that of PETA. That wouldn't mean PETA (or the animal rights movement more broadly) should be linked with a propensity for Nazism.


And one certainly doesn't have to be a Nazi to hold the position that fundamentalist Islam is incompatible with Westernized society.

And that's a bidirectional opinion for that matter... Many in the west feel that way... and many Fundamentalist Muslims in the Middle East also feel that their religious ideology and the "excesses of the West" are incompatible.


I'd bet dollars to donuts that at some of those anti-Israel protests that were happening at Harvard, there were probably a lot of things being shouted and written on signs that we could probably track down some overlap with.

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Also when I read the words 'blood and soil' Hitler was the furthest from my mind in relation to American history of fighting for anti slavery and the principles of freedoms and democracy.

They certainly fought and spilt blood on their own soil and that soil produced one of the worlds greatest democracies which gave us freedoms.

But to then equate all this as Nazi is actually the injection of Woke ideologues who turn absolutely everything into being about identity groups. One identity group oppressing another. This isa common MO of the ideologues. They have been calling Trump and his supporters Nazis for 10 years now lol.

Thats why I reckon don't even engage. If you try to defend or talk reason it does not work. This is about ideological beliefs and not objective reality. You can never win. State your beliefs and views when required and don't buy in. Tell the truth when required but don't buy in.

Theres too much fake news in this modern tech world. Too much whitenoise. Too many dark forces at work that will consume you.
Walk away and come back another day. Things may change. But no one will ever win in the culture war and buying in is the fuel that keeps it going.

For a Christian its unbeatable. Just speak the truth and leave it at that. If people don't like it so be it. You can't change them, only God.

Freth said:

"Also, consuming fire." In addition to.

"For our God is a consuming fire." is referring to both His countenance (Exodus 24:17, Revelation 1:16, Revelation 19:11-16) and His wrath (Jeremiah 4:4, Revelation 6:15-17, Revelation 19:21). His countenance is like the sun. A CME isn't necessary. Fire and brimstone from heaven comes after the thousand year reign of Christ (2 Peter 3:7, Revelation 20:7-9).

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Isaiah 30:26, specifically mentions the sun as causing all the graphically Prophesied things. A CME is a one day event; the blast carries on into outer space.
The Lords terrible Day of wrath, must be a natural event, so as the ungodly people can continue in their rejection of God.

Emoji faces are so cute ☺️

Breeding season

Delvianna said:

Don't negate the promise to Abraham of the "seed" which will never die which means ethnic Jews (biological descendants of Abraham). We don't replace Israel, as Paul says, we gentiles are grafted in. The original branches are still there and will always be.

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Jesus said: I know you are descended from Abraham....If you really were Abrahams children, you would act as Abraham did. John 8:37-40
Paul said: .....it is those with faith who share the Blessings with Abraham. Galatians 3:6-9 and - If you belong to Christ, then you are a child of Abraham

All the natural branches were cut off the Olive Tree of Jesus and only a few became Christians and got grafted back, then and still today. That remnant will join with their brethren, as a small minority of Gods peoples. The rest of the apostate Jews, are just the same as every other ungodly people and will share their fate. Isaiah 6:11-13, Luke 19:27

It's never been without risk, since you never know how some random person will react. But are you suggesting that it has somehow become more dangerous? How many street preachers have faced reprocutions, and how does it compare to people who generally make spectacles of themselves in public?(i tried to phrase that less provocatively, but I couldn't quite figure out how to phrase it appropriately)

I was speaking to a friend about vows of silence. Why people use to take vows of silence like Monks or were generally more quiet and said less as church leaders. Clement of Rome I think mentions how the Elders were of quiet disposition and how this was Christlike. That it was their example that spoke for them.

Paul mentions that it was his reputation for exampling Christ that the church knew he represented the truth. They did not need rationalisations as they could tell by his Christlikeness. When he did speak he was taken seriously and respected. Like many of the early leaders. There was a unity behind the Elders because everyone was unified in Christ. They could recognise the signs.

Whereas today with all the whitenoise of modern rationalisations and even false facts and narratives appealing to feelings. Its hard to tell. We have to stop and listen and try and block out all that white noise to know the spirit and the good fruits.

2PhiloVoid said:

Y'know, with the way the world is, one would think Christians would see the need to unite together for mutual support and encouragement rather than wrangle over certain points of the faith ad infinitum. But I guess I hope for too much.

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No you don't hope too much. For God nothing is impossible and I believe He does not allow for His church to go for too long without a correction.

It will come and I think its beginning now. Just like in society we have witnessed some horrible and hateful stuff. As a response I think good Christians will reflect and be reproved and rise up. Its like every action will have an equal and opposite reaction.

But this won't be any human made rising up. This will be Gods spirit at work being poured out on the world.