Trump has been the plan for some time, it's all theater.
There is a video from behind the stage, moments before the shots happened.
A secret service agent walks up and escorts a group of photographers to the front of the stage,
about 20 seconds before the shooting happened. The guy who took the now famous picture of Trump with his fist up,
was one of the photographers ushered to the front of the stage, mere moments before it happened.
There is no way that is a coincidence, here is a link to a video of it.

bit chute . com/video/oyZgRYVCQGyj

Also the snipers behind Trump were already facing the way of the shooter.
Also people saw and reported and filmed a person on the other roof before the shooting happened.
The whole thing is a staged event, to pull at your heart strings, and to have you believe that God spared Trump.
Because they want you to believe in Trump, but instead we should simply focus on Jesus.

Trump is an actor, having been special featured on television and film since the 1980's.
The country has been literally brainwashed with Trump, leading up to these times.
It's a planned deception, for what ultimate purpose I am not sure,
one thing is sure our hearts focus should be Jesus and His words.

Should debate be an Olympic sport?

Some Colleges and Universities have debate teams.

Never mind

ROME (OSV News) — The artistic community founded by Father Marko Rupnik, the Slovenian priest accused of sexually, psychologically and spiritually abusing multiple women, dismissed calls from survivors to remove the artist’s work, saying such decisions are a symptom of “cancel culture.”

In a statement published July 24, Maria Campatelli, director of the Centro Aletti, said that while the center has remained silent as it awaits the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith’s investigation into the accusations, it viewed calls for the removal of the priest’s artwork as an attack against art and also a “desire for destruction.”

Though the art center has not commented on the Father Rupnik case before, “in the face of growing pressure for the removal of the works of art created by Centro Aletti,” the statement said, “we feel obliged to express our great concern regarding the widespread diffusion of the so-called ‘cancel culture,’ and of a way of thinking that legitimizes the ‘criminalization’ of art,” Campatelli wrote.

Allegations against Father Rupnik​

Continued below.

Donald Trump had hoped that starting a social network site would be a source
of income for him.

Unfortunately, last year it lost 58.2 million dolaars in 2023, and AMAZINGLY the
company lost 327.6 million dollars in the last quarter. The company is bringing in
only about 770,000 dollars in revenue, in the last quarter.

As many financial commentators have said, Trump is not particularly good at making
money. His investors, historically, have not gotten a good return on their Trump
investments.
---------- ----------

Truth Social has been welcoming to the conspiracy theories of Tucker Carlson,
and the radical "re-imagining" of reality that is required, for Trump and his
supporters to imagine that Trump won the 2020 presidential election, and
suffers from terrific persecution from some always hidden "Deep State"
conspiracy. Although Trump is massively rich, and has unending financial resources,
he could not hire investigators to find ANY substantial evidence of fraud in the
2020 presidential election, that was supposedly "stolen" from him. It has been
verified that 4 votes were involved in a fraudulent vote-stealing scheme, but
these 4 votes had no effect on the outcome of the election. Trump has filed about
24 lawsuits, claiming that the election was stolen. But they have ALL been rejected
by American courts, because Trump could not find ANY substantial or relevant
evidence that the election was stolen.

Still, Trump continues to use Truth Social to spread his fantasies about Deep
State persecution, daily, repeating over and over again, conspiracy theories
that he cannot demonstrate are true.

There are a number of similarities between Truth Social, and the official
media voices of radical Muslim jihadist news stations. Some of these are...

1 Many "news" items seem to be presented, only because they can be
used to try to tell a story of some "persecuted" group, to elicit anger
at some identified bully (such as Jews, or Christians, or "patriots")

2 The "news" items are presented as if there were overwhelming proof
of the trueness of the assertions of the announcers. But the "evidence"
that is presented to try to establish the truth of the assertions, is often only
an EXPLANATION that might fit with the assertion being true. Or, worse,
the assertion is noted to be compatible with other conspiracy theories
that have NOT been rigorously demonstrated. (This fosters the evolution
of an alternative "reality" that is fake.)

Many of the "news" items are only a coincidence, but they are explained
as causal events that demonstrate the truth of conspiracy theories that the
news outlet already presents as truths.

3 The news outlet has "journalists" or "experts" that continually are
repeating conspiracy theories, all day long. And this is done with the hope
that repeating a theory dozens of times a day, 7 days a week, will make
those listening to the outlet think that what is repeated is truth.

4 The conspiracy theories repeated, are meant to emotionally enrage
listeners, and make them think that they are "patriots", or "warriors of
truth", or the vigilante executors of justice (such as some DC Comics
characters such Frank Castle, the persecuted FBI agent, who became
"Punisher"). The comic book writers recognized this market for rage,
long before recent politicians such as donald Trump did.

5 These "news" outlets that propagate conspiracy theories, are targetted
at people who are illiterate (in the case of many Muslim jihadist recruiting
sites), or who do not have enough knowledge of logic and computer research
resources to investigate whether an assertion is sound, or whether an
argument that is presented, is valid.

Note that formal logic is based on a type of causality, called "logical
causality". This is a VERY STRICT AND RIGOROUS DEFINITION OF CAUSALITY,
but the conspiracy theory "news" outlets present versions of "causality" that
are merely correlation (at best), not logical causality. Try reading my threads on
Formal Logic, for more information.

6 These "news" outlets also present interpretations of history, that support
their ongoing goals to gain radical followers. Some examples of these are...

-- the Crusades in the Middle Ages were wars initiated by Christians to
destroy Muslims and Muslim culture. The reality is that Muslims engaged
in the conquering of Christian cities and cultures, for 3 centuries, before
we have the European response of the "Crusades".

-- Christianity is a white man's religion. In reality, Christianity was mostly
Asian and African, before the Muslims largely destroyed Asian and Muslim
Christian cities, leaving the Northern European Christians as "the last
man standing". Christianity grew in Europe, because Muslims waged physical
and cultural war on Asian and African Christians.

-- Note that there are many versions of interpretting history, whose goal
is to spread racial biases and fake blame.

... the Jews are involved in a worldwide plan to take over financial markets,
for their own benefit, and for the subjugation of non-Jews

... non-whites are inferior to Northern Europeans

... the goal of Christianity is for white Europeans to colonize the rest of the
world.... There are always colonizers that try to take advantage of ANY
religion, but that does not mean that they personify the virtues of that
religion.

... America was founded as a Christian country, for Christians. (This is the
fallacy that the Christian nationalists push). Although almost all the founders
of America were types of Christians, they explicitely built "freedom of religion"
into the founding documents, SO THAT America would NOT engage in the
religious wars that happened for a century in Europe, among Christian groups
(Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed), where all groups carried out unspeakable
atrocities.
---------- ----------

There are many reasons that Trump's Truth Social propaganda/conspiracy theory/recruiting
site should be seen as a flawed recruiting and alienating tool, to carry out Tump's own
goals. Truth Social spreads as many conspiracy theories as any radical Muslim jihadist
"news" site, or as some White Supremecist "news" site.

More and more people, when confronted by these crude similarities, are realizing that
Trump created this company as a propaganda site, with the goal of enraging American
citizens, pointing out fake "persecutor" groups, promoting (some) conspiracy theories,
and as a tool to incite lawless and unconsitutional violence against Trump's political
competitors.

As with the Project 2025 publishing, as more Americans see what Donald Trump's
real goals for America are, fewer and fewer Americans are looking to Truth Social
for intelligent and honest discussions of current events.

Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of the Archdiocese of Liverpool urged Catholics to join him in prayer for the victims of a stabbing attack at a children’s dance class in Southport, England, which left three young girls dead and nearly a dozen people injured.

“For those who have been injured, for those who are parents, family, and friends of the injured, for all involved in the emergency services, we pray for God’s blessing, God’s peace, and God’s presence today,” McMahon said in a statement on Monday, July 29, after the attack.

“Let us commend all to the loving intercession of Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted as we pray for peace, healing, and justice,” the archbishop said. “My prayers are with you.”

Three children — 6-year-old Bebe King, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and 9-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar — died in the stabbing attack, which occurred at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the northwest English town, according to Merseyside police. Law enforcement arrested a 17-year-old male in connection with the stabbing but have not yet determined a motive.

Continued below.

Three more pro-life activists have been sentenced for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act through their involvement in a 2021 blockade of a Tennessee abortion clinic.

James Zastrow, Eva Zastrow, and Paul Place were sentenced to 90 days in home detention and three years of probation for a “rescue” attempt in which they blockaded the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, according to reporting byABC News. The sentences were carried out by U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee Aleta Trauger.

The sentencing for Eva Edl, an elderly pro-life activist who was also found guilty of being involved in the same rescue attempt, was delayed until August. Edl is 89 years old and a survivor of a communist concentration camp.

Continued below.

The drag-queen-led parody of the Last Supper featured during the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games sparked outrage around the worldand has led C Spire, a U.S. mobile phone and internet company, to make the decision to pull all its advertising from the Olympics.

“We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics,” the Mississippi-based company announced in a post on X.

Commenting on the move, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said on X: “I am proud to see the private sector in Mississippi step up and put their foot down. God will not be mocked. C Spire drew a common-sense, appropriate line.”

Continued below.

I was reading something today about sin and how time doesn’t erase sin then I got worried. When I was applying to school in 2021 I wrote something in my application that wasn’t 100% honest and of course I repented for it then but now Im starting to feel guilty. I never confessed to the shoool or anything. I could have and probably should have at the time but I didn’t know how. It wasn’t a huge lie but a lie is a lie. Now I’m about to graduate and still feel guilty. I need advice on what to do? Do i need to confess to the school in order to be truly forgiven by God?

NASB 1977 John 14:

2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places [G3438]; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

Click to expand...

μονή (G3438) appears in only two verses. John 14:

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling [G3438] with him.

Click to expand...

Both times, it was used by Jesus. It means an individual dwelling unit. It is the noun form of the verb μένω (G3306) which means to stay, abide, or remain. The verb form appears in the next chapter, John 15 (Berean Literal Bible):

1 I am the true vine and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch not bearing fruit in Me, He takes it away; and every one bearing fruit, He prunes it that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean by reason of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 abide [G3306] in Me, and I in you. As the branch is not able to bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither you, unless you abide in Me.
5I am the vine; you are the branches. The one abiding in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from Me you are able to do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown out like the branch and is dried up, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and it is burned. 7 If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you wish, and to you it will come to pass. 8 In this My Father is glorified, that you should bear much fruit, and you shall be My disciples.
9As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My Love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you and your joy may be full.

Click to expand...

John 14:2 says that in the Father's house are many dwelling/abiding places. Jesus went away to prepare the Holy Spirit as Paraclete to come to dwell/abide in us. This abiding relationship begins in the present life and onto eternity. We don't have to wait until after our resurrection to move into these so-called mansions. It is actually the other way around. Presently, God moves into these dwelling places into us believers. Jesus' point is the present abiding places here and now, and not future retirement mansions in heaven

2 Thessalonians 2:13,14 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, (then at his coming those who belong to Christ)

Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Ephesians 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

So, here comes the genuine question. God equipped the Sainted Sinners on this earth with HOPE so strong that it was promised to prevail against the very Gates of Hell. (The system of death and the realm of the dead.) Do you believe that the Saints believed that they would be "asleep" in the earth, bodies dead and decayed to dust, their souls completely unconscious, OR that they would never die, but merely transcend their Mortal coils upon death, to be with Jesus, that very day? How strong do you believe their HELMET OF SALVATION had to be, to face being sawn in two? Most Western doctrine is written from the perspective of complacency. Do you believe that Christians are Death Defiers or captive by death?

This is very interesting and also the reaction from the administration...

"Ron DeSantis signs anti-woke law to stop banks from freezing Floridians? bank accounts based on their politics but Treasury says the law puts 'America's national security at risk'.
The Treasury Department has taken aim at Florida's new anti-woke banking law ? warning it could open the floodgates for criminals to use and manipulate the U.S. financial system.

The new state law (HB 989), signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, declares it would be 'unsafe and unsound' for banks to consider non-financial factors like politics, religion or environmental, social and corporate-governance (ESG) when doing business.

'We reject a global elite trying to force their ideology on us by capturing major institutions,' DeSantis, who has led an aggressive campaign against so-called ?woke? ideology in the Sunshine State, said when signing HB 989 into law.

'We are not going to allow big banks to discriminate based on someone?s political or religious beliefs.'

But while DeSantis claims he's fighting discrimination, the U.S. Treasury has labeled the Florida law, 'and other similar laws under consideration in mostly conservative states like Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana and South Dakota' as a potential threat to national security.

Here's why policymakers are butting heads over so-called debanking, and what it means for Americans.

Florida deters debanking
DeSantis? goal with HB 989 was to ?strengthen Florida's protections for consumers ? from being forced to adopt ideologies or reflect a preferred political behavior.?

Per an Associated Press report, DeSantis said the law will protect the access that conservative groups and the firearms industry have to the financial sector ? and stop them from having their accounts frozen or closed.

The law makes it illegal for banks to 'deny or cancel, suspend, or terminate its services to a person, or to otherwise discriminate against a person in making available such services' on the basis of several factors, including (but not limited to):

The person's political opinions, speech, or affiliations

Any factor if it is not a quantitative, impartial, and risk-based standard, including any such factor related to the person?s business sector

The person?s engagement in the lawful manufacture, distribution, sale, purchase, or use of firearms or ammunition

The person's engagement in the exploration, production, utilization, transportation, sale, or manufacture of fossil fuel-based energy, timber, mining, or agriculture".........https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ron-desantis-signs-anti-woke-100600372.html

Shadows of the Messiah – Passover Introduction​

march 29, 2010 by heather, posted in bible study, shadows of the messiah

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (KJV)

These words were spoken by Jesus just after the healing of the man at Bethesda. The Jews wanted to kill him for healing on the Sabbath. But, He was informing them that the Father had sent Him, and that the scriptures they diligently searched were telling them about Him. They were trying so hard to find their Messiah, but He was standing there in front of them, and they didn’t realize it!

Likewise, if we search the Old Testament scriptures, we will find Jesus in the pages. God is so orderly and detailed, it’s like hunting for a treasure. When we find Him, we learn to love Him even more than we did before.

This teaching is an introduction to Passover, which starts this evening at sundown, and how we can find Jesus woven all through it. The Christian church has been under the impression that we don’t need to concern ourselves with the “Jewish holidays”, because they’re in the Old Testament, and they don’t apply to us. No, we’re not required to celebrate these feasts as part of our salvation. However, learning about them gives us great insight into Jesus and His work in our lives. There are also many Christians these days that do celebrate them…not as a legalistic work, but in remembrance of the awesome things our God has done to redeem us.

Leviticus 23:1-2 The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are MY appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies’. (Emphasis mine)

The first error we’ve made is to decide that the feasts the Jews keep are “Jewish holidays”. However, this scripture in Leviticus easily refutes that idea. The Lord calls these feasts His feasts. They are appointed times that God chose to meet with His people in a special way. The word ‘feast’ is the Hebrew ‘moed’ (singular), or ‘moedim’ (plural). It means just that; a set, appointed time. The feasts happen at set times each year. Several times throughout Leviticus 23, we are reminded that these are the Lord’s feasts, not the Jewish feasts. The feasts are also called ‘sacred assemblies’, meaning they are a time set apart from the rest of the year as holy to the Lord.

Passover is the first of the appointed feasts. One interesting thing to note is that in Acts 12:4, the word translated ‘Easter’ in the King James Version is the Greek ‘pascha’, which is ‘Pesach’ in Hebrew. Pesach is the Hebrew word for Passover. So, the events of Acts 12:4 actually took place at the time of Passover. ‘Easter’ wasn’t celebrated or named until several hundred years after the Biblical events took place, but it was well known by the time King James ruled (when the KJV was written). Easter and Passover do not always fall during the same week of the year, although this year (2010) they do.

The feasts are celebrated by the Jews annually. They are celebrated as ‘rehearsals’ or ‘anniversaries’. The easiest way to explain this is to think of a wedding. Before we get married, we rehearse the ceremony. Then, the actual event takes place, and every year thereafter, we celebrate an anniversary. It’s the same way with the feasts. For some of them, the major events have already taken place, and now they are celebrated as an ‘anniversary’ every year. For others, the annual ‘rehearsal’ is still taking place, because the actual event hasn’t occurred yet.

Passover is actually part of a set of feasts that occur in the spring. Basically, there is a set of 3 feasts celebrated in the spring, one single feast in the summer, and another set of 3 in the fall. Passover is part of the spring feasts, which also includes the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Firstfruits. For ease, it’s often called just Passover, but Passover is simply the first feast in the set of three that occur at the same time. The first day of the set is Passover, immediately followed the next day by the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which lasts 7 days). The Feast of Firstfruits occurs within the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Throughout this week, I’d like to discuss various aspects of the spring feasts that will point to Jesus Christ as our redeemer. Easter Sunday is very important to the Christian church. I truly believe that this set of messages will help give you a new perspective on how great Resurrection Sunday really is. God’s order and detail are so incredible. I think you’ll be as amazed as I was to see how it all fits together.

May God bless you today, and the entire week. Walk with the Lord, and rejoice in His provision for you!

This new Facebook Group has been created to showcase what God is doing, feel free to join the Facebook group or enjoy the images and videos I will post here.Spectacular2024
Latest Post Psalm 8 The heavens declare
Copy of post here
Beneath the canopy of celestial fire, Where silent whispers breathe the night, A thousand eyes in the heavens conspire, To weave a tapestry of holy light.
The stars, like ancient scribes, recount, The tale of creation, vast and deep, In their glittering chorus, we surmount, The earthly bounds where shadows creep.
Eternal silence speaks in hushed tones, Of worlds beyond our mortal grasp, In every glint, a mystery known, To Him whose hand we cannot clasp.
The night, a velvet shroud of wonder, Unfolds the secrets of the skies, In awe, we stand, hearts torn asunder, By the beauty of God's endless ties.
In this sacred, luminescent sphere, The cosmos sings a hymn divine, A testament to love sincere, In every star, His presence shines.
We walk beneath this holy vault, Lost in the reverence of the night, Our souls uplifted, free from fault, Bathed in the Creator’s radiant light.
So, let us marvel, let us dream, In the quiet of this stellar sea, For in each flicker, in each beam, God’s boundless glory we shall see. [Inspired by TS Eliot]
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Some people ( conspiracy theorists ) say he is JFK jr , and you can check that out online for yourselves guys.
And because of this conspiracy , I decided to watch him very carefully at Trumps attempted assassination , he's behind Trump on our left.


Now I don't know if he's JFK jr or not and I couldn't care less.
But what I found interesting with this guy is his response while bullets are flying around and Trump hits the dirt and so on.
He seems unfazed by what's going on , check it out for yourselves guys and let me know what you think. Don't take your eyes off him.

After he sees Trump shot , he just shakes his head and sit's down , like his football teem just missed a goal....lol

This is the most moving thing you will see

The tell-tale signs of liars’ lies
Are often seen within their eyes.
Their body language tells a lot
When they are then put on the spot.

They will not look you in the eyes,
Or else they’ll put on a disguise.
Pretending is part of their game,
They shift from truth and others blame.

Forgetful are they, truth not tell,
Their made up stories straight from hell.
They tell the same stuff o’er and o’er,
The truth you tell them, they abhor.

They will not listen to the truth,
For they are surely so uncouth.
They may pretend from time to time
That what they’re doing’s not a crime.

The truth they not tell bothers them,
For it exposes lies, and then
It calls them to repent of sins
And to the Lord be obedient.

But they’re content within their lies
To live and put on a disguise.
The fear of God, they have not known,
And so in Him they have not grown.

So life eternal not for them
And of their sins they’re not forgiven.
For they refuse belief in God.
They follow the road that is broad.

So be not like them, tell the truth.
Follow Jesus. Be like Ruth.
Go where’er your Savior leads you
Live the truth of what He feeds you.

An Original Work / August 6, 2022

Although it does not say, it is generally accepted that Paul is the writer of Hebrews, so I will use his name. But regardless of who actually penned the book, God is the true author of the Scriptures. So, these are the words of God to the people of God, but yet it can’t be assumed that everyone professing faith in Jesus Christ is truly a child of God or that everyone is walking in fellowship with the Lord in holy living, in obedience to the Lord, and not in sin.

And Jesus Christ said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 7:21-23).

In this chapter of Hebrews it speaks much about struggling against sin and God’s disciplines in our lives. “It is for discipline you have to endure” (v. 7). And “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (v. 11). “And make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed” (v. 13).


So, the warning to us here is that we are not to refuse the Lord Jesus who is speaking to us through his word as the Jews did who rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah and who chose their sins, instead. And Jesus told them plainly that God is not their Father, and that Abraham is not their father, but that the devil is their father and that they do the works of the devil because they refuse Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah. And if Abraham is not their father, they are not inheritors of God’s promise to him and to his seed (see Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; John 8:18-19,38-47).

So, it is not enough to just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, just like it is not enough for a Jew to claim Abraham as his father, for all of God’s promises to us have conditions, mainly the condition of obedience to his commands. For his word teaches us that if we do not obey him, like so many did in the wilderness, we will not inherit eternal life with God. We will not receive his promises any more than any Jew is a recipient of God’s promise to Abraham if they do not obey God by believing in Jesus Christ.

So, if we ignore the words of the Lord, and if we think that we can live however we want while we go through the motions of religious practice, then we have another thing coming. For he says in Romans 11 that we can be cut off, too, like he cut off all the non-believing Jews who refused Jesus as their Messiah, the Christ. For we are all going to be judged by God on the basis of our deeds. Those for whom sin is their practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to the Lord, they will not inherit eternal life. And all Jews who do not believe in Jesus will not inherit the promise God made to Abraham.

And the Lord will judge his people. And he will shake the earth and the heavens in order to remove the things that have been made in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain, such as genuine walks of obedience to our Lord in holy and righteous living, to the glory and praise of God, in the power of God, by the grace of God. For Jesus died on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, not so that we will go on living in sin while claiming heaven as our eternal destiny. Heaven is not promised to all those who do not obey God.

And so the encouragement here is for all of us who profess the name of Jesus Christ to offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. And that acceptable worship of God is for us to give our lives to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our acceptable worship of God. And that also includes that we must no longer be conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but we must be transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God so that by how we live our lives we prove what is the acceptable and perfect will of God. So we must no longer walk in sin, for our God is a consuming fire to all who will not obey him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

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I was praying this afternoon (5/22/11), and I was thinking about the busyness of our lives and how we can get so busy with all of life's activities that Jesus often takes a back seat or is forgotten altogether from our lives. The Lord inspired me to write a song about all the things in our lives, which begs the question to be asked, "Where is Jesus?"

The assumption is not that Jesus is missing, but the question posed is for us to examine our own lives to see if he is there involved with us in all of our activities, and if we are involved with his will for our lives while we are engaged in all our busyness. Or are we involved in activities which would not be pleasing to him? Or is Jesus taking a back seat in our lives? Or is he forgotten altogether?


Where is Jesus?

An Original Work / May 22, 2011

Fishing, swimming, boating, sailing,
Driving, hiking, camping, trailing,
Bowling, golfing, TV watching,
Videos, movies and talking –
Where is Jesus found?

Friends and Facebook chat and email,
Internet, blogs, news sites, retail,
Magazines, books, sports and music,
Laptops, I-Pads, smart phones, texting –
Where is Jesus now?

Jobs, careers, and data bases,
Business, money, many faces,
Get ahead of everyone who’s
Competition; always running –
Where does Jesus fit?

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If we read this first sentence as one whole thought, I believe that we will see that this is not saying that we should be at peace with all people in the sense of absence of conflict. For holiness means to be unlike, different from the world, because we are being conformed by God to his likeness of character. And this word “peace” means “to join, tie together into a whole,” “properly wholeness, i.e. when all essential parts are joined together.” (interlinear) And we are to be joined to Christ and to his body, but not to the world.

But as much as we can be at peace with all people to where we are not fighting with anyone, we should strive for peace. We should not be troublemakers and those who just enjoy stirring up conflict. Yet, as servants of the Lord, we must be his witnesses in taking the truth of the gospel to the people. And when we speak the truth in love to people we are going to have people who will try to fight against us and who will reject us and persecute us, and some of these people may profess faith in Jesus Christ.

And then notice with me what this says about holiness, “without which no one will see the Lord.” Do you see what this is saying? If we are not living holy lives, in practice, to the glory of God, in walks of obedience to his commands, we will not see the Lord. We will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what we confess with our lips. For Jesus Christ died on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and so that we will no longer make sin our habit.

So we cannot be worldly people, and not godly, in practice, and still have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. If we are there, living that way, and if we continue to live worldly lives in disobedience to our Lord, and in walks of sin, and if we do not repent of our sins, and turn, and now follow Jesus in obedience, the Scriptures teach clearly that we will not inherit eternal life with God. For it is not enough to just give lip service to the Lord, but we must walk in accord with his will and purpose for our lives.

And this is why the church is given warning after warning all throughout the New Testament against walking in sin, and against worldly living, and against disobedience to our Lord’s commandments under the New Covenant. For when it says to “see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God…,” it is letting the church know that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ is not going to land them in heaven. They must die to sin daily and walk in obedience to the Lord, or they will not have eternal life with God.

For God’s grace to us is not just forgiveness of all sins and the guarantee of heaven when we die. God’s grace sent Jesus Christ to that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will be 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 now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And God’s grace is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.

[1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26; Titus 2:11-14; Acts 26:18]

And then we have a warning here that we are to see to it that no “root of bitterness” springs up within us and by it we become defiled. For the Bible teaches us that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” And these stem from what is stored up in the heart in the way of bitterness, hatred, anger, resentment, pride, selfishness, unforgiveness, and revenge, etc. For what is stored up in our hearts comes out in our actions and words and attitudes.

[Luke 6:45; Matthew 15:17-20]

So what this is saying is that what we have stuffed in our hearts impacts how we treat God and how we treat other people. For example, if someone was hurt by a family member early on his life, he may become angry with that family member and hold on to that anger throughout his life. If the family member was female, for example, he may end up hating all women, yet he may be a smooth-talker and a charmer at the same time. But deep down he devalues women and so sexual immorality is what he goes to.

And that is why we have the example of Cain and Abel. Abel’s offering to God was acceptable to God but Cain’s was not, and so he hated his brother because his brother’s deeds were righteous and his were not. And then we have the example here of Esau who sold his birthright for a single meal. He sold his inheritance to feed his flesh, and that is what many professing Christians are doing today, living in sin, and not in walks of obedience to the Lord, and thus they have sold their inheritance to feed their own flesh.

So we need to take these biblical warnings to us seriously and not just assume that we are a “shoe in” (a guaranteed winner) to go to heaven when we die just because we profess faith in the Lord Jesus, and/or just because we attend gatherings of what are called “churches” religiously on Sunday mornings. For true worship of God is not something we do religiously once a week for an hour or two. True worship of God is 24/7 and it involves surrender of our lives to the Lord in holy living, by the grace of God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

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The bishop of Nigeria’s Diocese of Lokoja has withdrawn the ordination certificates of four men he ordained as deacons July 12 after it was revealed he had been presented with allegedly forged documents claiming the men were qualified for holy orders.

In a statement issued July 30, Bishop Martin Dada Olorunmolu revoked the four men’s certificates and suspended their activities as “deacons.”

After the ordinations, it emerged that everything Olorunmolu was presented with — including the existence of the congregation the men supposedly belonged to called the “Paraclete Missionaries” as well as the congregation’s superior general — was fraudulent.

The men involved in the alleged forgery were identified as Aloysius Kubiatabasi Ebong, Francis Mario Daudu, Nkemaka Charles Chukwudi, and Emmanuel Chukwudum Ezeh.

“I was deceived,” the bishop said.

Continued below.

Australia’s bishops have published a guide for pastors and other faith ministers to help them provide “spiritual support” to those who may be considering assisted suicide.

In Australia, all six of the country’s states currently allow assisted suicide, or “voluntary assisted dying.”

A document released last year by the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ACBC), “To Witness and to Accompany with Christian Hope,” was meant as “a service to those who are called to attend to the spiritual and pastoral needs of patients who access or seek to access services that are designed to terminate a person’s life,” the manual says.

Continued below.

Two bills meant to protect children and teens from online exploitation were passed in a bipartisan vote in the Senate on Tuesday.

The bills, titled the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), passed the Senate in an overwhelming 91-3 vote on July 30.

KOSA imposes a “duty of care” on social media companies, holding them legally liable if they are negligent in their efforts to prevent children from accessing harmful material.

Continued below.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond this week is petitioning the state Supreme Court to force education officials to comply with an earlier court order, one that directed them to cancel the state’s contract with a Catholic charter school.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court earlier this summer ruled against the establishment of St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School. The publicly funded, Catholic-directed institution would be the first of its kind in the nation.

The court argued that extending public funding to a religious school would be a “slippery slope” that could lead to “the destruction of Oklahomans’ freedom to practice religion without fear of governmental intervention.” It ordered the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to rescind the school’s contract.

Continued below.