(I hope it okay to post this here).

An artificial intelligence chatbot meant to answer questions about The Episcopal Church called “AskCathy” was launched via a collaboration with a ministry group and a research organization.

Short for “Churchy Answers That Help You,” AskCathy was given a soft launch in June after being developed by the Toronto United Church Council’s Innovative Ministry Center and the TryTank Research Institute at Virginia Theological Seminary.

The Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, executive director at TryTank Research, told The Christian Post that the goal of AskCathy was “to create a bot that could be accessed at any time from anywhere to provide basic answers about The Episcopal Church.”

Continued below.

Nu 6:

22 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

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The priests shall bless the people according to the following formula:

24 The LORD bless you and keep you;25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

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Wiki:

The Kohen raises his hands, with the palms facing downward and the thumbs of his outspread hands touching. The four fingers on each hand are customarily split into two sets of two fingers each (thus forming the letter Shin (שׁ), an emblem for Shaddai, "Almighty [God]")

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Spock from the Star Trek series used this hand gesture as the Vulcan salute by saying "Live long and prosper".

Check out this YouTube for Aaronic Blessing.

A Lutheran discusses one of their videos and the problem with the content about Heidi Baker.

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Yours in the Lord,

jm

Something interesting that happened to me- I just finished an online Micromasters program in Cyber Security at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology), I have just realized that I now have a special anointing on me to work with technology, God has given me this now that I am done with my program! Some absolutely mind-blowing things have been happening to me! I was at my church the other day and my pastor asked me to help him set up a DVD player and TV in his office, we couldn't get it working but suddenly an idea popped into my head and I tried it and the DVD player came on along with the TV! God has decided to use me in this fashion, I am honored to have the power of God on me like this! I want this special anointing very badly!

The term quiet time is not in the Bible and most people do not prescribe it as a doctrine.

There is some biblical justification of the concept.

Psalm 62:

1 My soul waits in silence for God only.

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Daniel prayed regularly and daily to God, 6:

10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

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Jesus spent time alone in some isolated place praying to God. Mark 1:

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

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Seeking God, studying His word, and prayer - are biblical concepts. The specific format and timing of such practices can vary among individuals and traditions Using the term quiet time is fine with me so long as it is not presented as a rigid, mandatory doctrine.

See also How to grow in faith

Some think of God as a stern judge who watches and judges everything that they do. Some think of God as their Saviour who loves them and will not condemn them no matter how many mistakes they make. Some think of God as vast and timeless and so far beyond human understanding that it makes every attempt to know what God is like, futile. And some have other views of God that they live in and with. So, my brothers and sisters, what is God like?

(Matthew 6:9-13 NRSV)

What do you think about ephebophilia? Do you think it's bad like pedophilia? I have this question because in some historical cultures, it's not uncommon for people to get married during late adolescence (even under 18), and the bible said sex should only come after marriage. Do you think ephebophilia is bad and immora.?

Does Qabalah have a place in Christianity?
Would/should you practice it?
What is it in your opinion? How do you understand it?

“There were pieces of men, women and children lying in front of me … heads separated from bodies, hands and legs all over,” Nasser said. “It was very difficult, but the worst was the man who was on fire, running and screaming. We ran over to him and put out the fire. He had burns all over his body to a massive degree.”

At least 80 people were killed in three Israeli missile strikes on the school, where about 6,000 displaced people were sheltering, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory."

And the death count has risen

Obviously a war crime and evil. Just as calling this simply 'war' is evil.

God has spoken and we know His thoughts on the matter.

Exodus 22:22
Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.


Exodus 22:23
If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;


Exodus 22:24
And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

That is what is coming to Israel for this and similar crimes. I agree with God, such evil must be punished. The decree is already made.

Some interpret 2 Timothy 3:16-17 as evidence that the Bible alone is sufficient for guiding us to eternal life. If this were the case, then the testimony found in Ephesians would be unnecessary.
(Ephesians 4:11-16 NRSV)

God endowed His Church with pastors, bishops, evangelists, teachers, prophets, and apostles; these are the individuals who shepherd the Church on its journey to eternal life.

We all know there are a lot of dishonest people out there who will pull any tricks they can to make sure their side wins the election. Please pray for the Lord of the angels to send his heavenly hosts out to protect us from stolen elections.

This will be a hard hitting interview.....: ) .....

Former president Donald Trump is scheduled to be interviewed on social media Monday night by billionaire Elon Musk. The interview on X, the platform owned by Musk, is set to air on Trump’s account.


...and look who is back on X? The Trump campain is reportedly running adds on X as of today.

In late 2022/early 2023 I fell in love with a young Christian woman (she was attending a Calvary chapel but didn't limit the Christian life to Sunday) from Fontana CA. Sadly, we never got to meet in real life, only online. Our ways would part eventually and I wonder why it was not meant to be. I wish not to date an non-believing woman, especially not in a sick world like this.

I do miss her tho, in fact, I do have lust problems. Is this normal? I know God wishes that I may marry a Christian woman, but in my area I have little options. Yet distance shouldn't be an issue.

Peace in Christ.

We are dead with Christ from the “rudiments” of the world. You have to go to the Greek word and not other Bible translations to see what the true meaning of it is.

Col 2:20-22 KJV
(20) Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
(21) (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
(22) Which all are to perish with the using) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

The transliterated Greek word for “rudiments” is “stoicheion” - Neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of G4748; something orderly in arrangement, that is, (by implication) a serial (basal, fundamental, initial) constituent (literally), proposition (figuratively): - element, principle, rudiment.

The base word of it is:

“stoicheō” - From a derivative of στείχω steichō̄ (to range in regular line); to march in (military) rank (keep step), that is, (figuratively) to conform to virtue and piety: - walk (orderly).

The “rudiments of the world” are the “orderly arrangements” of the world’s governmental documents (such as a “constitution”) by which they self-govern and self-judge themselves with.

They conform to their documents…like keeping in step with it (such as marching in a military rank order) Their governmental documents are their orderly arrangements of fundamental principles of which they keep and serve.

Look at what the word “constitution” means – “a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.”

Why would a “church” have a handwritten document such as a church “constitution” to organize and self-govern themselves with when our God is our Ruler and His commandments are “written” in our inward parts?

Why be subject to church “ordinances”….dogmas arranged in order for you to keep and serve?

These church documents are elevated in their gatherings. They are highly regarded and men rule over others based on their handwritings of ordinances.

Indeed, these things are the devices of Satan used to deceive us and bring us into the bondage of sin. Men use these handwritings to judge others with ….thereby becoming slaves of the sin. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood….but against the so-called authoritative, highly regarded (among men) church handwritings of ordinances which are a device of Satan used to deceive us.

Eph 6:12 KJV
(12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

2. The iconoclast crisis

The Second Council of Nicaea marked the end of a long process of reflection on the meaning and place of images in the life of the Church.

Before the beginning of the third century, there were few images in the Church. This was due to the danger of idolatrous practices widespread in the pagan world, which had already been at the basis of the Old Testament legislation forbidding the fashioning of images.

The peace of the Church at the time of Constantine had decisive consequences. As the number of baptised Christians increased, exterior signs of Christian devotion multiplied, the cult of the martyrs grew, people began to make pilgrimages, and everywhere new churches and basilicas were built. Christian art ceased to be mainly funeral iconography, unintelligible to the uninitiated, and was used to further the evangelisation of the growing numbers of Christians.

In the fourth century, for the first time in the history of the Church, voices were raised in opposition to religious images on the basis of the prohibitions contained in the Old Testament (cfr Ex 20:4; Dt 4:15-18). Canon 36 of the Council of Elvira, (ca. 300 AD.), a Council of which we know relatively little, decreed that “images may not be exposed in Church;” while iconoclast statements are found in the letter from Eusebius of Caesarea to the Empress Constantia and the writings of Epiphanius of Salamis. According to scholars, this first form of aversion to icons was a limited and restricted phenomenon, perhaps somewhat coloured by Arianism; there would seem to be a connection between the Arian insistence on God’s transcendence and the banning of images. However iconoclast views persisted as the centuries passed, and so other voices were raised in defence of icons. Gregory the Great (540-604) wrote that “it is not without reason that in the older Churches the lives of the saints were depicted in paintings... what Scripture is for the literate, so the image is for the illiterate... images are the books of those who do not know the Scriptures” (Letters, IX, 209).

The use of icons became more widespread in the sixth and seventh centuries, encouraged by popular faith, legends and miracles. Yet it did not spread evenly throughout Christendom; because of their cultural background, the Syrians and Armenians, for example, were much less inclined to use images. Significant, the emperors who encouraged iconoclasm were of Isaurian or Armenian origin. In 692 the Council in Trullo stated that: “in certain sacred images the Precursor is portrayed pointing to the lamb. This portrayal was used as a symbol of grace. It was a hidden figure of the true lamb, that is Christ our God, revealed to us according to the law. Having therefore accepted these figures and shadows as symbols of the truth handed down by the Church, today we prefer grace and truth themselves as the fullness of this law. Therefore to expose by means of painting that which is perfect we decree that henceforth Christ, our God, shall be represented in his human form and not in the old form of the lamb” (Can 82). Already for the Fathers of the Council in Trullo, the image of Christ implied a confession of profound faith in the incarnation.

One factor which contributed to a hardening of positions for or against the use of icons was the advance of Islam, which claimed to be the highest and purest revelation of God, and accused the Church of polytheism and idolatry in her veneration of images. The eighth century saw the rise of heated disputes. The opening act of the first stage of the iconoclast conflict was an order, issued in 726 by the Byzantine emperor Leo III ‘the Isaurian,’ to destroy the image of Christ over the bronze gates of the imperial palace in Constantinople; the image was replaced with a cross beneath which the emperor placed the following inscription: “Since God cannot bear for Christ to be portrayed in an image without word or life and made of corruptible matter despised by Scripture, Leo and his son the new Constantine, engraved the sign of the cross, the glory of believers, on the palace gates.” That act was followed by the official promulgation of measures against images and their veneration, as well as by acts of violence directed against icons and those who venerated them. It should be recalled that these iconoclastic measures begun by Leo III came only a few years after the edict of Caliph Yedzid II to destroy images in every Christian province he conquered and attacks on Christian worship by Jews. The emperor sought a cultural compromise aimed at enabling Arabs, Christians and Jews to live in harmony by eliminating elements of conflict. Reasons of state were more important than the rights of the faith. Pope Gregory III reacted in 731 by excommunicating those opposed to icons and their cult. In the East it was mainly Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, George of Cyprus and John Damascene who defended the veneration of icons. Germanus stated that to reject icons was to reject the Incarnation; for in the icon “we depict the image of [Christ’s] human aspect in the flesh, not that of his incomprehensible and invisible divinity, because we feel the need to represent that in which we believe, in order to demonstrate that God did not embrace our nature only in appearance, as a shadow, but that he became truly man” (Letter to John of Synnada). John Damascene fought the iconoclasts at various levels. He countered the accusation that in icons a piece of wood was adored, saying: “It is not matter which I venerate, but rather the Creator of matter who became matter for me” (Discourses, I, 16), and added that icons are “the books of the illiterate” (Discourses, II, 10). However the most important argument was theological; the dogmatic foundation for the cult of icons is the Incarnation. The Word became flesh: Jesus is the human face of God and therefore we may represent Him (Discourses, I, 22). The Old Testament forbade images; in the Old Covenant God had revealed himself only by word. In the New Testament, the Word becomes an image. Psalm 47:9 was often used to defend icons: “What we have heard, we have seen.” John Damascene makes a clear distinction between the icon and the prototype which it represents. The image is the object of veneration, not adoration; the latter is reserved for God alone.

In 754 a Synod convoked at Hieria on the Bosporus at the initiative of the emperor Constantine V gave normative status to the decisions of the iconoclasts. About 388 Bishops took part, but none from the Sees of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch or Jerusalem. The Synod declared the emperors equal to the Apostles, filled with wisdom through the working of the Holy Spirit, and charged them with leading the faithful back to the right path and instructing them; it also condemned the making and the cult of icons. It insisted on the distance between the icon, a material object, and that which it claimed to make visible. It considered the Eucharist the only true image. In this way, iconoclasm, hitherto supported by an imperial edict alone, became a dogma of the whole Church.

In the two decades that followed, the monks, the chief promoters of icons, were violently persecuted; numerous monasteries were confiscated, their monks were forced to join the imperial army, and some were tortured. In 769 Pope Stephen convoked a Synod at the Lateran which anathematised the Synod at Hieria; the Patriarchs of the East, Theodore of Jerusalem, Theodore of Antioch and Cosmas of Alexandria also rejected the decisions made at Hieria.

The statistics say that violent crime is DOWN, since the end of the COVID pandemic.

This is important, as one common theme of Trump, is that crime is UP,
under the presidency of Joe Biden.

Credit: Shai Halevi / Israel Antiquities Authority via Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW)

Inside one of the most extensively researched historic sites—the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified and buried—researchers have discovered the largest known medieval altar, which had been considered lost for decades.

After its unveiling in 1149, the magnificently carved ‘high altar’ made a great impression on visitors for many centuries, until it abruptly disappeared from public view following a major fire in the Romanesque part of the church in 1808.

“Since then, the ‘Crusader’s altar’ was lost—at least that’s what people thought for a long time,” says Ilya Berkovich, historian at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW).

Continued below.

This incident occurred in Indonesia in late June 2024.
Location of the incident: Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia

Source : Permadi Arya on Instagram: "cuma di Indonesia, umat islam boleh solat berdoa di rumah, tapi umat kristen tidak boleh berdoa di rumah kejadian di desa mergosari Tarik Sidoarjo, jemaat GPdI dilarang berdoa oleh kepala desa, padahal menurut SKB 2 menteri bab 1 pasal 3: berdoa di rumah tidak perlu izin sampai kapan diskriminasi SARA anti kristen ini dibiarkan di negeri pertiwi ini? mohon atensi gus menag @gusyaqut @ansor_satu pak plt. bupati sidoarjo @cakband1 @polsektariksidoarjo @polresta_sidoarjo teman2 bantu mention 5 akun di atas di kolom komentar yaa yuk banjiri notif bapak2 itu viralkan"

Local Muslim community leaders forbade Christians from worshiping together in their homes. On the grounds that religious activities require permission. However, if a Muslim community group holds a joint worship event at home, permission is not required.

The excuse that worship activities require permission is often used by community leaders in Indonesia to prohibit Christians or minority religions from worshiping in Indonesia. They require Christians or other minority religions such as Buddhists, Hindus and Catholics to apply for permits if they want to hold an event. However, if Christians ask for permission, permission is usually not given for various reasons.

The church is mainly made up of Gentiles who became Christians. Unlike Jews, Gentiles do not know anything about the law or the perfect standard of God. Usually, people come to church because of brokenness (in need of physical healing or emotional distress) or invited by friends.

Without the knowledge of the law, we do not know what the flesh and sin is.

To operate in the flesh does NOT mean to sin. Operating in the flesh is like a TWO-edged sword. One side is following the desires of your flesh which will lead to sin. The other side is to use your flesh (will-power, determination, perseverance and other good traits in human) to do good deeds or obey the law. When you think you are doing well, pride arose, and you will eventually end up failing and falling flat on the ground.

Peter was a very good example of a disciple of Jesus who depended on the flesh to follow Jesus. Before Jesus was capture, he was telling Jesus that he will not deny him and will die with him.

Matthew 26:35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.

But fearing death, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times.

Everyone is who not born again, is living in the flesh. The flesh sometimes does good works. But God does not accept everything that is from the flesh. Everyone who tries to earn their own salvation through the flesh is condemn.

Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

If good works from the flesh alone can earn salvation apart from the work of Christ, then Jesus died in vain!

New or immature Christian will try to combat sin by obeying the law with their flesh. Since we have been living in the flesh since birth and that is the only way we know and operate.

The first step to Christian maturity is knowing what the flesh is, and sin comes from the flesh.

The law empowers the flesh to act. From the flesh spring forth sin and no good thing.

Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

After endless cycle of obeying and failing which is like a refining process to remove dependence on self (flesh).

The second step to Christian maturity is to know our helplessness. The more we depend on ourselves (flesh), the more we fail.

Romans 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

The third step to Christian maturity not to be law and sin conscious. To do that, we must know what Jesus did for us and as us on the cross.

Hebrews 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins

Jesus has fulfilled the law on our behalf so that we are no longer under law. The law demanded that all sinners be put to death. When Jesus went to the cross, he went to the cross representing us. We have been put to death with Jesus and the payment for all our sins have been paid. With all our payment paid, the law is done with us, and we are no longer under it.

Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

The fourth step is focus on Jesus and remind yourself of what he has given and did for you. It will help you to be humble and grounded. When you encounter a problem, you will pray before doing.

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God

The fifth step is to learn how to walk in the Spirit. The Lord knows all things including our beginning and our end. He knows what is to come for tomorrow and nothing catches him by surprise. For we do not know what is to come for tomorrow, but the Holy Spirit is God, and he knows. By praying in tongues, we are allowing the Holy Spirit to intercede to the Father on our behalf.

Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Conclusion:

For a Christian, the final stop for maturity is Grace. The law is just a stepping stone to the final stop. Without the law, we will not know our helplessness for salvation and how much Jesus has love and given to us. From the Law to Grace, it is like from infancy to adulthood.

1 Timothy 1: 8-9 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers

Law and Grace cannot be mixed. They represent different stages of Christian growth and maturity.

Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Take it all away, everything, and this is all we want:

I Just Want To Speak The Name Of Jesus - Charity Gayle (featuring Steven Musso)

I just wanna speak the name of Jesus
Over every heart and every mind
'Cause I know there is peace within Your presence
I speak Jesus

I just wanna speak the name of Jesus
'Til every dark addiction starts to break
Declaring there is hope and there is freedom
I speak Jesus

'Cause Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire

I just wanna speak the name of Jesus
Over fear and all anxiety
To every soul held captive by depression
I speak Jesus

'Cause Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire

Shout Jesus from the mountains
Jesus in the streets
Jesus in the darkness, over every enemy
Jesus for my family
I speak the holy name
Jesus, oh (oh)

Shout Jesus from the mountains
And Jesus in the streets (oh)
Jesus in the darkness, over every enemy
Jesus for my family
I speak the holy name
Jesus (Jesus)

'Cause Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire

Your name is power (Your name is power)
Your name is healing (Your name is healing)
Your name is life (You are my life)
Break every stronghold (break every stronghold)
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire

I just wanna speak the name of Jesus
Over every heart and every mind
'Cause I know there is peace within Your presence
I speak Jesus

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All the way to our Heavenly Home:

Job 13:15 KJV

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him."

Commandments four to ten focus on our relationships with one another. In Catholicism, three commandments are dedicated to God's relationship with humanity, and seven govern interpersonal relations.

• Honour your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.​
• You shall not murder.​
• Neither shall you commit adultery.​
• Neither shall you steal.​
• Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbour.​
• Neither shall you covet your neighbour's wife.​
• Neither shall you desire your neighbour's house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.​

In the article “Father Donald Calloway: What Catholics Can Do About the Alarming Decline of Belief in the Real Eucharistic Presence,” a growing concern within the Catholic Church is explored: the alarming decline in belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In a discussion with John Heinen on “The Catholic Gentleman,” Father Donald Calloway from the Congregation of Marian Fathers addresses this crucial issue. Despite the Eucharist being the "source and summit" of Catholic faith, recent surveys reveal that fewer than one-third of American Catholics believe in the Real Presence. Calloway emphasizes that this crisis is not limited to the U.S., but is a global issue, with a significant drop in Mass attendance in countries like Italy. The article outlines how weak catechesis and a lack of reverence in liturgy contribute to this crisis of faith and offers practical recommendations to restore belief and reverence toward the Eucharist.

Father Donald Calloway: What Catholics Can Do About the Alarming Decline of Belief in the Real Eucharistic Presence

No debating please. This is a fellowship/testimony thread. Please respect it.

I am interested in testimonies from those who heard someone speaking in tongues, speaking in their native language when they knew the tongues speaker had not learned the language. Here is an example: Derek Prince led a non English speaking woman in Germany through to the baptism with the Spirit and when she spoke in tongues she started praising God in Oxford English. Dr. Prince ask the woman (through an interpreter) which she understood English. She replied in German that she didn't, and then she continued to praise God in perfect English! In another meeting, in Tennessee, an American woman praised God for an hour in French. These were witnessed by everyone attending those meetings.

Window dressing, now impressing,
Artful, skillful, and misleading,
Superficial presentations,
On this many now are feeding.

Scheming, dreaming, eyes are beaming,
Cunning, crafty, they are teaming,
Skillful in their craft, deceiving,
Many now in them believing.

Fewer, fewer truth receiving,
Less and less in Christ believing,
Fewer, less, their sins are grieving,
More and more they are deceiving.

Fewer still the Lord obeying,
And the gospel they are sharing,
And for people’s souls, they’re caring,
Persecution they are bearing.

An Original Work / May 18, 2023

Having This Ministry

This was part of a letter from Paul and Timothy to the church in Corinth. It was penned by the apostle Paul as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit. So these words are from God, and they are included in our Scriptures.

Paul was called of God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. I know not whether Timothy was regarded as an apostle, but he was a fellow worker for the gospel of Christ, and he had some level of authority within the body of believers of Jesus Christ. To what extent, I do not know. But he was also called of God to this ministry, and he was gifted of the Holy Spirit, and Paul encouraged him to fan into flame the gift of God within him, and to not fear other people, and to not be ashamed of the gospel (2 Timothy 1:1-14).

Now, if we are going to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which all Christians are called to do, we must first of all be in fellowship with Jesus Christ in following him in obedience to his commands and in living holy lives, pleasing to him. We must have renounced all sinful practices, such as what is disgraceful, underhanded, deceptive, cunning, immoral, crooked, and evil, etc. And we must not be those who dilute and who alter the message of the gospel to make it more acceptable to human flesh and to the ungodly.

And this is critical that we understand this, for we have so many charlatans and “wolves in sheep’s clothing” among us in positions of pastor and elder over “church” congregations, who definitely are using disgraceful and underhanded ways in order to manipulate the gospel message to make it more attractive to human flesh, and so as not to offend the ungodly. And they are definitely practicing cunning, and they are tampering with God’s word by teaching Scriptures out of context in order to teach what is false.

But Paul and Timothy were not like that. They were above reproach, men of God who took seriously the word of God, and who taught it in its true form in the power of God and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Veiled to Those Perishing


If something is “veiled,” it is concealed or hidden. Now Paul and Timothy were not servants of the Lord who concealed the message of the gospel in any way, as many are doing today. Especially Paul was very forthright in making certain that the whole truth was presented and that nothing was hidden that needed to be made known. So if the gospel was concealed, it was hidden from those who were perishing, for Satan had blinded their eyes so that they did not see the truth. But they had a part in that blindness, too.

For we read in Romans 1 that God made himself known to all humankind via his created works so that his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived in his creation. But people suppress the truth that can be known about God by their own ungodliness and unrighteousness, so they are without excuse. They can’t just blame the devil. For they exchange the glory of God for the idols of the flesh and they worship the created rather than the Creator. We make our own choices.

Especially if we have been raised in the gatherings of the church, and if we have heard the gospel taught in truth and in righteousness, and not in part, but in whole, we are definitely without excuse if we then turn to a false half-truth gospel message in order to appease our own consciences and so that we can continue living in sin free from the feelings of guilt. But this is what many are doing today, rejecting the truth that they know to follow after a lie so that they can keep sinning while consoling themselves that all is well.

But Paul and Timothy did not teach lies, especially not deliberate lies which so many are doing today in order to willfully deceive the people. And if we claim Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, we need to not be following after the lies and/or spreading the lies to others. So we need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their context so that the Word we are spreading is the whole truth and not these tampered with gospel messages which so many are spreading today as though they are the truth.

For many people are being deceived, and others disheartened by all the lies which are being spread in the name of Christ and of his gospel. And those who are following the lies are definitely those who are prone to continue living in deliberate and habitual sin without conscience. But they will never be at true peace as long as they are at odds with Christ and with his gospel message. And if they continue in sin, they will not have eternal life with God, regardless of what their lips profess. So know and follow the truth, please!

[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]

Come, Ye Disconsolate

Lyrics by Thomas Moore, 1816
Arr. by Thomas Hastings, 1831
Music by Samuel Webbe, Sr, 1792

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot cure.”

Here see the bread of life, see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heav’n can remove.

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