I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel lonely in this world of ours. I can be surrounded by people all around me and still feel lonely. I often hunger for the kind of Christian fellowship I knew years gone by, but that seems a rarity these days, where we share deeply from our hearts and encourage one another with God's love and his word.

[This was written in May of 2011, 13 years ago, and much has changed since that time. More recently (now in 2024) I have found some Christian sisters with whom I can now have the kind of fellowship I was longing for here. And so I am very thankful to the Lord Jesus for that.]

During these times of loneliness, though, Jesus' love comforts our hearts with his presence, his grace, his comfort and compassion, his warm embrace, and his close and abiding friendship. He understands us like no one ever could. He knows what is truly in our hearts and he knows and feels all our hurts. By his stripes we are healed! Amen!

When You’re Lonely

An Original Work / May 14, 2011

When you are lonely, needing a friend,
His love will comfort you; give peace within;
Providing His grace; keep you from sin;
Jesus, our Savior, Master and friend.

If you will call Him to meet your need,
He will be there to bring understanding;
Offering His love and compassion,
As we seek Jesus, turning from sin.

He wants your whole heart and devotion
Committed to Him in full obedience.
Give Him your whole life, a sacrifice,
Forsaking the world; live to please God.

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Tim Tebow and John 3:16


John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but inherit eternal life."

This message is for the church, the body of Christ, comprised of all who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. It was written specifically to the church in Corinth of the time of the apostle Paul, yet this was written down for our instruction and included in our Scriptures, so we are to learn from this, too.

We learn here that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is also the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. And this word translated as “mercies” also means compassion, favor, and grace. God feels it when we who are followers of Christ suffer for the sake of his name and when we go through trials and tribulations and when we suffer afflictions. And he cares, and so he offers words of encouragement to us. But he also offers words of counsel, correction, and exhortation, urging us to carry out his divine will.

So, we are to do likewise when we see a brother or a sister in Christ suffering affliction. But wisdom says that this should be male with male and female with female unless the other person is our spouse or another close family member or is someone you are dating. In other words, a married man or a married woman should not be having private words of encouragement with other people of the opposite sex (or same sex, if same sex attracted). But this encouragement may be given in an entire group or in public.

But this word “comfort” isn’t all just the feel-good stuff, though certainly some of it is, but it means to urge one another with a holy urging to carry out the divine will of God for our lives. It is the same things that God says to us when we are going through times of difficulty. And sometimes that involves biblical counsel and correction and exhortation and holy urgings to live holy lives and to obey our Lord’s commands, and to change course, when necessary, and to do something different from what we’ve been doing.

But it also includes encouraging words related to our own circumstances in sharing how God worked in our situations for his glory and honor and for our good. And those experiences won’t all be the same, and not the same all the time. So we share our testimonies with others to let them know the struggles, the battles, the persecutions, and the sufferings we endured, some of them self-inflicted, and others for the sake of the gospel. And then we share with them what the Lord taught us and how that changed us.

And that is what this passage is talking about. We are not to be those who suffer in silence all the time and who never share with anyone our struggles or our heartaches and our persecutions, for how else will others be able to comfort us in our afflictions, and how else will we be able to comfort them in their afflictions with the same comfort we received if we are not open and honest about the things we are going through, or have gone through, and how the Lord has helped us through them to a better place?

Now I am not encouraging gossip or venting or purposefully just trying to make someone else look bad in front of others. But if we never share our burdens with others, how will they know how to encourage us? And how will we then be able to comfort them with the same comfort we received from the Lord if we cannot mention what our circumstances were or are? There has to be a means for us to be able to do what this passage is teaching that we should do. So this requires prayer for wisdom and discernment.

I just know that, for me, I suffered many things for many years without much of any comfort from anyone with regard to what I was going through other than from the Lord. And when I finally heard others tell their stories, only six years ago now, not only did I cry great tears knowing that I was not all alone in this, but I felt validated (supported, authenticated, advocated). And that’s a very big deal to be believed. And I no longer felt as though I was completely alone in this, as far as human support and encouragement.

I know that we must exercise discretion and discernment in what we share and with whom, but bottling it all up inside and not sharing it with anyone is not healthy. And we should have other Christians with whom we can share our burdens who will pray for us and who will offer words of encouragement and comfort and healing. And we are keeping others from being comforted with the same comfort that we received from the Lord, too, if we do not share what we went through and how God brought us through it.

So, be wise. Be discerning. But pray to the Lord and ask him what he wants you to share with whom and when and where and to what detail, for we are to be those who encourage and comfort one another in all our afflictions with the comfort (encouragement, exhortation) we received from the Lord when we were going through our times of difficulty.

You are Loving and Forgiving

An Original Work / February 19, 2012
Based off Psalm 86

You are loving and forgiving,
Jesus, Savior, King of kings.
You provided our redemption.
By Your blood You set us free.
You are gracious; full of mercy.
No deeds can compare with Yours.
Great are You; there is none like You.
Glory be to Your name.

Teach me Your way, and I’ll walk in it.
O Lord, I will walk in Your truth.
May I not have a heart divided,
That Your name I give honor to.
I will praise You, O Lord, my Savior,
For great is Your love toward me.
You have delivered me from my sins.
Your grace has pardoned me.

You, O Lord, are full of compassion,
Slow to anger, bounteous in love;
Faithful to fulfill all You promise;
Glory be to Your name above.
Hear, O Lord, and answer Your servant.
You are my God. I trust in You.
Turn to me and grant Your strength to me.
You are my comforter.

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Hey everyone! Martin Barret here.
I thought this might be a good place to share my brand new album with everyone!

My wife and I cowrote everything original here. The project is quite eclectic, "like a box of chocolates" ... Sgt. Pepper's ... you get the idea.

Looking very much forward to your thoughts and comments. And if you have any suggestions with getting this project/album heard by more people, we're all ears. God bless all ye listeners!
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Living in an aging community is something that takes getting used to. Perhaps something I will never be able to feel comfortable with. I keep thinking I am younger, but there is truth to that. I believe that we are all young when we are by ourselves. I believe it was Carl Jung who stated, "When alone, we are all children”.

When I entered as a young man, most monks in the community were in their 40’s, and 50’s. Many were veterans from the 2nd world war. A few were in the Korean conflict. There was a time when I was the youngest, but now, I am the second from being most senior here. Time carries us forward like a bullet train in Japan at a dizzying speed, at least for me.

One thing I learned early on about different age groups. When living together, age does not matter. I remember talking to one of the monks who was in the middle 80’s and afterward being amazed that he was no different than me…...well he had depths of wisdom that I lacked. Still, trying to catch up.

Now that I am 75 when talking to the younger monks, I forget the age differences. True, each generation has distinctions, but not so deep that they need to interfere with true communication. Stereotyping can be a great evil blinding us to our commonality and leading to many cultural problems.

Ideology, when mixed with faith tends to become the dominant force in how one’s faith is lived out. Faith is not a closed system, but open to growth in understanding, and leads to having the humility to admit one’s faults and failures. The deeper our union with God, the more compassion and empathy we have. Since God is truth, as we draw close, all that keeps us from union is manifested so that we can accept our need for grace, mercy, and healing.

Prayer leads us to listen to what the Spirit is saying to us. We are brought face to face with our inhumanity and tendency towards self-destruction.

When we forget ourselves, we tend to bring out our problems and place it on others.

It is our interaction with others that ‘forces’ us to grow if we wish to be able to live with others. Having a strong faith, and an openness to the life-giving Spirit allows us to see others more deeply as fellow travelers and not enemies.

Only one-on-one relationships can lead to deep healing for society. Governments cannot do this. I believe we place way too much faith in our leaders and governments. Change, repenting, and embracing one’s need for community, as well as God’s grace can give us the ability to bring healing to our world. If not, then war is the second option. -BrMD

After walking across the red sea on dry ground and watching the armies of Pharaoh drown in the sea Moses sang a song of deliverance to the people of Israel. His song was this:
(Exodus 15:1-21 NRSV)

Sing it often, sing it with understanding, it is not vain repetition.

(From 2023)

DNA from a supposed Abominable Snowman actually came from a horse, but that doesn't mean stories of the Yeti passed on by local people aren't important.


A purported Yeti footprint in the snow in Bhutan. (Image credit: Sonam Penjore)


A search for the Yeti ended last month with a single strand of horse hair, a BBC Radio 4 program covering the Himalayan hunt has revealed.

Andrew Benfield, a writer and meditation teacher, has spent years looking for the Yeti with his skeptical friend and political analyst Richard Horsey. The pair traveled through India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, listening to stories about the legendary creature and eventually making "Yeti," a BBC Radio 4 series about their search.



The series finished on a cliffhanger in June — a mysterious hair supplied by an unnamed source awaiting DNA analysis. A bonus episode published Oct. 20 has now revealed the hair came from a horse.

Continued below.

Earth — the blue marble — is our spherical home. But what if Earth were flat? After all, some people, called flat-earthers, truly believe in this retrograde idea. How would everyday life function? Would it function at all? We explore how much of an oddball, or "oddslice" Earth would be if it were flat and whether there are any advantages to living on a strange disk with the sun and moon rotating overhead like a cosmic carousel.

1. Say goodbye to gravity (at least as we know it)​

Gravitropism is the gravitational process that directs a plant's roots to grow downward and its shoot upward. If gravity were altered to be orientated toward the North Pole, we could see plants acting strangely. (Image credit: Tim Graham via Getty)


Continued below.

King James Bible
And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

Polaris - The North Star.

Researchers identified websites that they attributed to the Iranian operation, aimed at voters on the political left and right. One website, Nio Thinker, bills itself as “your go-to destination for insightful, progressive news and analysis that challenges the status quo” and hosts articles that bash former President Donald Trump and hail Vice President Kamala Harris as “our unexpected, awkward savior.”
Expect big time money coming in to stop Trump from getting elected while defeating America without firing a shot.

At a recent rally, Trump went off on a tangent about how he used to know Willy Brown, former mayor of SF and former beaux of Kamala Harris. In this tangent, Trump regaled his audience with a story of how the two once shared a helicopter ride which suffered some difficulty and almost crashed. In the face of death, Willy Brown allegedly dished some dirt on Kamala.

Problem is, Willy Brown says he’s never been on a helicopter with Trump.

NYT speculates that Trump is confusing Willy Brown with former CA governor Jerry Brown, with whom he once did share a helicopter ride (along with Gavin Newsom, the ex of DJT’s future DIL).

Problem is, that flight didn’t have any problems and they never talked about Harris.

Now that NYT picked apart Trump’s story, he’s threatening to sue.

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I still love this great song by DC Talk. I believe this is the hit song that helped make them famous. The lyrics are timeless.... even 30 years after Jesus Freak first hit the Christian charts.

I was sensing that the Lord Jesus was wanting me to share a little bit of my testimony about the times in my life when I pursued getting an education in order to end up in a particular field of study, and hopefully a career, and to share how that went and where ultimately it all lead. And so I shared the following on Facebook with my Facebook friends. But then I sensed that the Lord was saying that he had more for me to share than just that, and so I looked at the verse of the day from Bible Gateway, and that led me to this passage of Scripture above. And it touched my heart in a special way.

In context, it is letting us know that we are not to fear other humans and what they will think about us or say about us or do to us. We are not to fear nor succumb to their opinions of us and thus let that determine who we become and what we do with our lives. And we are not to be persuaded by other humans to go any direction that is not of God. And we are to guard our hearts against hypocrisy and not be led by those who are hypocrites. We are not to be easily influenced by other humans who may put a damper on what God has in mind for us to do. But we must be following the Spirit’s leading.

My Testimony

In 1968 I graduated from East High School in Akron, Ohio. After that I took classes at the University of Akron in general studies and in music education. I was hoping to get a degree in music education. After about 3 years in the music department, late in 1971, I think it was, I was sitting in our general area at the Music Conservatory, and I heard this student talk about how he took music classes for 5 years but he could not get his degree because he could not pass the piano proficiency exam. Immediately it hit me! I was horrid at piano. I mean, I was tolerable, but not good enough to pass an exam like that.

So I dropped out and tried to get a job. But I had no particular skills to speak of, and that didn't go so well. So I went back to Akron U to take a typing class, and I also took bowling and English literature and one other class (don't know what). And then I was able to get a job at the Summit County Welfare Department where I worked for a few years in their clerical department and as a caseworker before I had my first child. Then I was a stay-at-home mom, basically, until all my kids were out of high school.

Then, in 2002, at the age of 52, I believed the Lord was leading me to take classes at York Technical College. So I took business classes there part-time for the next 4 years, and I achieved an entrepreneur certificate. I could have kept going to get a degree in business, but I felt that I learned what I needed to learn during that time, and that was that I could learn. I did not have much confidence at all in my ability to learn, so I needed that time to learn that I could learn, by the grace of God, and with his help and with the help of family.

Two years later, in 2004, the Lord called me to this writing ministry where he began to teach me so many things I would never have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever be able to comprehend. And I was never much of a reader, for I had poor reading comprehension, but he was having me read science, history, and political articles, etc., that I would have considered way over my head, and he was helping me to understand them to a certain degree. And I learned so much I had no idea about before.

And he was teaching me from the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and then back to the beginning to the end, and then from the Psalms through Revelation, and again, and again, and he was teaching me so many things from the Scriptures that I would never have ventured to try to learn before. But he was opening up my mind and my heart to see so much I had no understanding of before but that I needed to understand, because he knew that I was going to need to know those things to do what he has me doing.

So, if you ever feel as though it is too late for you, or that you are not good enough, or as though you can't learn, if you are a believer in Christ, ask the Lord to help you to learn, and ask other people to help you, too. And ask him what he wants to do with your life, no matter how old you are. And then trust him that he will give you whatever you need to do what he wants you to do, even if it seems utterly impossible. He has done the impossible in my life these past 20 years, and nothing within God's perfect will is impossible for him. Just don't ever give up. Every day is a brand new day.

**

I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go

Lyrics by Mary Brown, 1891
Music by Carrie E. Rounsefell, 1894

It may not be on the mountain’s height,
Or over the stormy sea;
It may not be at the battle’s front,
My Lord will have need of me;
But if by a still, small voice He calls,
To paths that I do not know,
I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in Thine,
I’ll go where You want me to go.

I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,
O’er mountain, or plain, or sea;
I’ll say what You want me to say, dear Lord,
I’ll be what You want me to be.

Perhaps today there are loving words
Which Jesus would have me speak;
There may be now in the paths of sin,
Some wand’rer whom I should seek;
O Savior, if Thou wilt be my guide,
Though dark and rugged the way,
My voice shall echo Thy message sweet,
I’ll say what You want me to say.

There’s surely somewhere a lowly place,
In earth’s harvest fields so white,
Where I may labor through life’s short day,
For Jesus the Crucified;
So trusting my all to Thy tender care,
And knowing Thou lovest me,
I’ll do Thy will with a heart sincere,
I’ll be what You want me to be.

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What's your favorite title for Mary?

31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

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16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

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It is evident, with titles such as these, that the Devil does not accept his place in creation, nor does he see the merits of Christ.

For to him, the innocent dying for the sake of the guilty is folly. Just like he said when the woman was washing the feet of Jesus, don’t you know who this woman is?

In like manner, the spawns of Satan will continue their persecution based on their own merit. They exalt themselves, and tread underfoot the blood that would lead to their salvation.

Like mindless beasts, they are not given the grace to see their own folly, and are definitely not allowed beyond the Thunderdome.

Please, I am asking for prayer for healing for my brain and strength as I continue to fight because I don't know if he will heal me or not​

I recently found out that I have a degenerative brain disease that gives me a memory worse than most with dementia and fewer and fewer thoughts all the time. I can't hardly figure out how to do simple things like moping or loading a dishwasher which used to be-


incredibly easy and can not hardly figure out how to keep my self safe because I don't have all of those thoughts( like avoiding cars that are driving on the street while I'm walking.

I thank God every day for all he has given me and try to read his word or listen to it but my mind cant hold onto it and that makes me the most sad.

What I have is extremely rare and doctors don't fully understand how it affects me so obviously no one else does either ( like my parents who are taking care of me.) I will continue to pray for healing because this is so frightening and it is hard to have a relationship with God when I can't hardly figure out how to stay alive any more... Thanks for caring❤

Do y'all agree with the application of this double standard?

Hi There,

Just raising the issue of the meaning of Yah.

Is this a title that should be more widely acknowledged and used.

We see it having prominence in Revelation yet in modern time there is little or no usage of the term.

Yah would seem to be more specific than Lord so why don't we use the term ?

It's only 17 min, but it seems she is so scripted it is down to word for word in some cases:


Thanks to my friend who told me about it...

What do you think of Chuck Missler's teachings? I started studying the Bible with the help of his teachings and I can say that it is excellent.



I am currently attending his teaching “Chuck Missler - 7th Day (2000)”. It consists of two audio lectures and a text accompanying part that is very rich in references.


I am delighted with everything I have learned so far. I should finish this tutorial tomorrow so I'll post here a summary of what I've learned and some of my thoughts on this great topic, which Chuck Missler has rounded up so nicely, he literally covered it all.

“She wants to take away your guns.”​

— Former President Donald J. Trump

False.​

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“They take the strategic national reserves. They’re virtually empty now. We have never had it this low.”​

— Former President Donald J. Trump

This is exaggerated.​

President Biden has indeed tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try to mitigate gasoline price increases, drawing it down by about 40 percent from when he took office, and it is currently at the lowest level since the 1980s. But it still has 375 million barrels in it now, which is not “virtually empty” nor is it at the lowest level ever.

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“The vast majority of the country does support me.”​

— Former President Donald J. Trump

False.​

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4% is not the majority of the country.

“They’re going to destroy Social Security.”​

— Former President Donald J. Trump

False.​

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“Everybody is going to be forced to buy an electric car.”​

— Former President Donald J. Trump

False.​

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“They’re drilling now because they had to go back because gasoline was going up to seven, eight, nine dollars a barrel. The day after the election, if they won, you’re going to have fuel prices go through the roof.”​

Click to expand...

— Former President Donald J. Trump

False.​

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“Democrats are really the radical ones on this, because they’re allowed to do abortion on the eighth and ninth month, and even after birth.”​

— Former President Donald J. Trump

False.​

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“Nobody was killed on Jan. 6.”​

— Former President Donald J. Trump

False.​

At least 7 people died in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, including a Trump supporter who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer.

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That is some of it.

Mk 12:

26 But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

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In this context, Jesus did not assert the existence of the God of the Dead.

Let's check out the broader biblical context. 1P 4:

They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

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God will judge the dead. In this special sense, God is the God of the dead too. There is only one true God.

The Minnesota National Guard is disputing Governor Tim Walz's military biography, saying that the Democratic vice presidential candidate did not hold the rank of command sergeant major at the time of his retirement. Army Lieutenant Colonel Kristen Augé, the state public affairs officer for Minnesota National Guard, told Just the News on Wednesday that the governor did not retire as "Command Sergeant Major Walz" in 2005, as stated on Minnesota's official website.

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Screengrab via WTNH


A Connecticut man is facing multiple charges after allegedly stealing a police car with an officer inside before crashing the vehicle into a church. Stacey Footman, 49, was caught on camera entering the driver’s side of the car and driving away.

The charges against Footman include second degree larceny, second degree kidnapping, assault of a public safety personnel, second degree criminal trover, and interfering with an officer.

Continued below.

Screengrab from YouTube / @thebrycecrawford

When evangelist Bryce Crawford recently saw a man in unusual dress standing outside a Los Angeles library, God tugged on his heart. Crawford’s resulting encounter with “Chad,” an avowed satanist, has since gone viral.

Crawford, a 20-year-old full-time missionary, podcaster, and social media influencer, shared the gospel and prayed with Chad, who was dressed in black and wore heavy face makeup. Crawford, who’s associated with the missions organization EquipNet, said he plans to follow up with Chad and keep showing him the love of Jesus.

Continued below.