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

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

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

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

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

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

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Walking in The Light

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm trying to understand how what the Pilgrim engages in isn't imaginative prayer. In chapter 2, when he's spending the summer in the forester's hut, he achieves self-acting prayer in the heart as follows:

"I set about reading The Philokalia in the exact order [my starets] had bidden. I read it once, and again a second time, and this reading kindled in my soul a zealous desire to make what I had read a matter of practical experience. I saw clearly what interior prayer means, how it is to be reached, what the fruits of it are, how it filled one's heart and soul with delight, and how one could tell whether that delight came from God, from nature or from temptation.
"So I began by searching out my heart in the way Simeon the New Theologian teaches. With my eyes shut I gazed in thought, i.e., in imagination, upon my heart. I tried to picture it there in the left side of my breast and to listen carefully to its beating. I started doing this several times a day, for half an hour at a time, and at first I felt nothing but a sense of darkness. But little by little after a fairly short time I was able to picture my heart and to note its movement, and further with the help of my breathing I could put into it and draw from it the Prayer of Jesus in the manner taught by the saints, Gregory of Sinai, Callistus and Ignatius. When drawing the air in I looked in spirit into my heart and said, 'Lord Jesus Christ,' and when breathing out again, I said, 'Have mercy on me.' " (emphasis mine)

This looks to me like he's imagining his heart while praying the Jesus Prayer. However, later in the book, in chapter 4, he cautions a fellow traveler, who has gone blind in his old age, against imaginative prayer, even as he instructs him in how to achieve self-acting interior prayer via imagination:

" '...can you not picture your hand or your foot as clearly as if you were looking at it, can you not turn your eyes to it and fix them upon it, blind as they are?'
" 'Yes, I can,' he answered.
" 'Then picture to yourself your heart in just the same way, turn your eyes to it just as though you were looking at it through your breast, and picture it as clearly as you can. And with your ears listen closely to its beating, beat by beat. When you have got into the way of doing this, begin to fit the words of the Prayer to the beats of the heart one after the other, looking at it all the time. Thus, with the first beat, say or think "Lord," with the second, "Jesus," with the third, "Christ," with the fourth, "have mercy," and with the fifth "on me." And do it over and over again. This will come easily to you, for you already know the groundwork and the first part of praying with the heart. Afterwards, when you have grown used to what I have just told you about, you must begin bringing the whole Prayer of Jesus into and out of your heart in time with your breathing, as the Fathers taught. Thus, as you draw your breath in, say, or imagine yourself saying, "Lord Jesus Christ," and as you breathe out again, "have mercy on me." Do this as often and as much as you can, and in a short space of time you will feel a slight and not unpleasant pain in your heart, followed by a warmth. Thus by God's help you will get the joy of self-acting inward prayer of the heart. But then, whatever you do, be on your guard against imagination and any sort of visions. Don't accept any of them whatever, for the holy Fathers lay down most strongly that inward prayer should be kept free from visions, lest one fall into temptation.' "

How is this picturing of the heart while saying the Jesus Prayer distinct from using imagination in prayer?

Isaiah 49:1-26 Listen to Me you peoples far distant,...... But Zion [the Holy Land] said: The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me…. The children which you will have, after you have lost the former ones, shall say to you: This place is too small for us, give us more space to dwell . Then you will say to yourself: Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am alone and desolate, and where have they come from? Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders, for they shall not be ashamed that have faith in Me.

Hebrews 12:22-24 But you have come unto mount Zion......
We Christians are the latter children of Zion, Spiritually of the twelve tribes, the true Israelites of God, all the faithful Christian peoples from every tribe, race, nation and language. Revelation 5:9-10

I have been thinking about the current political claimte and how people are being cancelled and even killed for their views. Is street preaching or declaring the gospel in public now a dangerous occupation.

Hello everyone, I would like to ask for prayer.

Lately, I’ve been feeling emotionally overwhelmed because of my father. In my daily life, I often have to be with him, and he frequently brings up heavy topics, complains, or speaks in ways that feel intense and pressing. This leaves me feeling anxious, drained, and afraid of losing my peace. I naturally long for calm, quiet, and a gentle environment, but daily life makes it very hard to find these moments.

I know that in January I will have to travel and spend whole days with him, which adds to my worry. I want to be emotionally strong, but I feel the weight of constant tension and pressure.

I am asking for God’s help to use the next two months to cultivate peace in my heart, so that I can:

Handle daily life with patience, calmness, and joy

Remain gentle, wise, and emotionally resilient when interacting with my father in January

Maintain healthy boundaries without dishonoring him

Keep my spirit connected to God’s presence and inner peace despite challenges

Please pray for God’s peace, strength, and guidance in my daily life, and that I may be prepared emotionally and spiritually for the month of January.

Thank you so much for your prayers. I deeply trust God to guard my heart, restore my calm, and fill my days with His peace.

Single mom needs prayers about relocation and new housing, after suffering in isolation for many years

Jesus said that if as few as "two or three" Christians are gathered together in His name, He is present.
In one sense, He is always present as He indwells, through the Holy Spirit, in every true Christian, but when as few as two Christians come together, He is present in an even greater sense in that a group of Christians gathered in His Name is a manifestation of His corporate body. He is, in a sense, physically present through His corporate body. Furthermore, because all Christians are united in the Holy Spirit, when even two Christians come together in prayer and worship, there is a sense in which the entire church of Christians (both alive and in the Father's nearer presence) are also present through the unity of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus is the Head!
As an aside, I suggest that "church" be taken as a collective noun - a swarm of bees, a murder of ravens and a church of Christians! A "church of Christians" is a gathering of born-again believers to worship God through Jesus. Thinking in this way helps us avoid the tendency to think of "The Church" as either an organisation or a building.

It's difficult to understand the mentality of Bragg and others.

“Any violence or threats of violence against any federal officer will not be tolerated. Period. This is unfortunately becoming a trend as radicals continue to attack law enforcement agents around the country,” she wrote.

Sadly I expect more violence if they don't tone down the rhetoric.

Warns? Really? Isn't that what every honest democracy-loving person in the country been praying for since 2016?

A real "choice" between two parties whose members are, for the most part, honest and independent, who care about issues, who aren't puppets slavishly bowing and scraping to their purported leader?

Progressive or Conservative, don't we want informed, educated, patriotic leadership free from self-interest and revenge fantasies?

Former Senator Flake, I sure hope you've got this right.

Sheriff doubles down on arrest, cites state penal code

A Texas sheriff’s office is doubling down after deputies arrested a local activist and Navy veteran after he posted a satirical meme on social media.

Hood County Sheriff’s deputies arrestedKolton Krottinger, 38, of Granbury, on Nov. 5 for felony online impersonation after he allegedly created an Oct. 2 Facebook post that appeared to come from another local activist, showing her endorsing Granbury ISD school board candidate Monica Brown.

On his Facebook page, Krottinger is listed as the founder of Blue Branch Historic Ranch, a mental health retreat for veterans and first responders, and the owner of the Anxiety Hackers cannabis dispensary in Oklahoma.

According to a criminal complaint, the alleged victim, Tina Brown, contacted authorities about the post, stating that she did not support Monica Brown and “that the public is being misled by the post as to what [Brown’s] actual beliefs are concerning this particular election race.”

The complaint — which says the alleged victim obtained a search warrant for Facebook owner Meta, and later identified Krottinger as the owner of the Hood County Sheepdogs Facebook page — alleges the post was made “without obtaining the other person’s consent and with the intent to defraud the general public against the peace and dignity of the state.”

Continued below.

Apologist Wes Huff recently responded to an influencer who claimed that the Bible was created hundreds of years after the time of Jesus “by a pagan emperor for political reasons.” In a post on Instagram, Adam Allred made a series of unorthodox claims about Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible.

“The Bible was literally voted on by a bunch of politicians and bishops in a room deciding what made the cut and what didn’t out of mounds of texts, centuries after the fact,” Allred said. “That’s like building your spiritual life around the minutes of a corporate board meeting.”

“This reference to a pagan emperor who supposedly compiled the books of the Bible,” said Huff in his response, “I only have to assume is referring to Constantine and the Council of Nicea. But there are some truly serious problems with this.”

Continued below.

link - Martine Croxall broke rules over 'pregnant people' facial expression, BBC says

"Martine Croxall altered a script she was reading live on the BBC News Channel, which referred to "pregnant people" earlier this year... Croxall was introducing an interview about research on groups most at risk during UK heatwaves, which quoted a release from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

The presenter changed her script to instead say "women", and the BBC's Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) said it considered her facial expression as she said this gave the "strong impression of expressing a personal view on a controversial matter.""

The number of people who believe their faith does not depend on attending Mass has increased as more Catholics are cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus, according to a recent survey of U.S. Catholic beliefs.

ACS Technologies, a church management software and data analysis company, investigated the trends in “American Beliefs Study: Religious Preferences and Practices.” The study researched the religious preferences, practices, beliefs, and media habits of Americans.

Initially conducted in 2012-2013 and repeated in 2016-2017, 2020-2021, and 2024-2025, the study reflects the responses of roughly 60,000 participants over time. The most recent version of the study surveyed more than 15,000 Americans on Christian preferences, affiliations, values, and beliefs.

ACST Catholic, a business of ACS Technologies, specifically examined the feedback from 3,100 self-identified Catholic participants in the most recent survey. The updated findings were published in a recent guide: “The Evolving Landscape of Catholic Beliefs in 2025.”

Continued below.

Hello!

I'm undecided about eschatology but doing some research on it. I think good points are made for both amillennialism and premillennialism. The only view I currently hold to with is inaugurated eschatology (or "already and not yet") where most prophecy has double fulfillment. It's normally associated with George Eldon Ladd, who was a premillennialist, but I don't see why one can't be amillennial and also agree with inaugurated eschatology.

I'm wondering if one can hold to a non-literalistic premillennialism?

Like, I don't think the events in Revelation are strictly chronological and probably could be oit of order or just the same events from different angles.

I also don't know if I believe the 1,000 years mentioned in the book to be be a literal millennium.

Could one believe in a Millennial State after the Second Coming, but not think the Millennial Kingdom will be a literal 1,000 years?

My how the errors in choices creep in.



Adam received “the command” from God, the quite entirely infamous “do not eat OR ELSE” command that we apparently all fell under.

Eve was not yet separated and formed from Adam. But Eve apparently had heard the command. How so?

Gen. 3:
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

So we have 3 basic possibilities where this repeating of the command from God came from. We have no record of God repeating it to Eve. She may have had an inert or inner understanding of the command, being “within” Adam at the time, (God called them BOTH Adam on the day they were created-Gen. 5) OR the most likely source, Adam himself.

In any case Eve clearly got the command wrong, adding to it the statement that they may not “touch it.” God never said that. In fact they were meant to tend to the Garden and presumably every tree therein, inclusive of the infamous tree of knowledge of good/evil. An error was already in place and an unknown violation of God's Intentions for them, again most likely from the recount of Adam of that command, which would essentially prove his own fault in listening or retelling or tending the Garden. Or Eve made up the error herself, again showing error was in her own mind. In any case the command was mangled in her own mind and statements in stating the command to the serpent. She basically erred to the serpent and of course the serpent struck from there, getting her to consider making a “MORAL CHOICE.” Perhaps not even cognizant of the fact that she already erred.

So Eve starts her decision making with a built in fault. An error in recounting the exact command, to not “touch” the tree.

And here is where her decision making starts, all quite in line with making a good moral decision for herself:

Gen. 3:
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

A classic setup for making a moral choice.

Good/Pleasant/Wise. What could possibly go wrong?

What’s wrong with the picture is that we fail to see that lawlessness was already at work within both Adam, who never even bothered to correct Eve’s misstatement of the command, and Eve, showing that LUST, LUST and PRIDE was already within her, referring to this pattern stated by John in:

1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Basically the things of the Father were NOT in Eve, but things of the world: good for food, pleasant to the eyes, the pride of being wise. All seemingly legitimate on the surface using the world’s decision making moral choice methods.

I honestly would hardly find fault in the decision making process, that we all employ daily. In many ways this decision making course is required to even survive. We have to eat. We like to eat things that please our eyes and we certainly are not rewarded for making foolish decisions.

But you see none of these observations are even accurate. What is accurate is that the package of Adam and Eve came PREPACKAGED with FAULTS.

Paul outlined this clearly in 1 Cor. 15:42-46 showing us exactly the conditions that
Adam and “all” natural people are planted in. These 3 things also correlate to Eve’s built in flaws:

Planted in corruption
Planted in dishonor
Planted in weakness

Is there supposed to be some surprise if outcome of making decisions with those pre-existing conditions is not and can never be moral? We make every decision from those planted conditions. Basically being seeded in dung, within the darkness of earth, our own dust body.

And lets not ignore what really happened to both Adam and Eve. Where the Word is sown, Satan comes immediately in our hearts to STEAL, to SIN in our own hearts via THEFT.

Obviously both Adam and Eve were stolen from within.

I believe the tempter was already at work within them both from the moment they first heard the Words of God. Yet hardly a one of us can see it, because we too have been stolen from.

And in this state we can’t even be honest with ourselves about it.

Instead we’ll claim that we justify ourselves by making good moral decisions, even with the hard line fact of EVIL CHOICES WITHIN TO CHOOSE FROM.

Remember these Words from Jesus: EVIL COMES FROM WITHIN.

It’s not optional, so let’s not try to pull Jesus’ Leg about it claiming we’re legally obedient and making good moral cnoices. Evil thoughts defile us all, period.

Mark 7:21-23

You have to love an HONEST BOOK. And of course not everything is as it appears on the surface, or in the mirror

I am learning more about the Bible.

What happens in the future? Where there be an eternity of people being on Earth then dying later to be judged or will there come a point where there is no longer a need to judge and either people are in heaven or hell. And there are no more people left for God to judge?

If that is the case, what happens next? Is it possible for another rebellion to occur and people get kicked out of heaven? Remember the angels rebelled from the very beginning.

I have recently published a book on why it matters that Jesus is divine. It's only 80 pages and can be found here if anyone is interested: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1916801463

The site where the Temple stood, is now dominated by two structures which keep Jews from any chance to build or restore, which are the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, near the center of the temple mount, which is seem as one of the holiest Islamic structure in the world, and has been the scene of much resistance to Jews coming near.

The temple mount is the base and is the place where the past Jewish temples stood, which makes it among the holiest sites in Judaism to say nothing of how Christians look at it. The First Temple was built by Solomon, the son of David, in 957 BC, and was destroyed by the Babylonian Empire, in 587 BCE. The Second Temple was constructed under of Zerubbabel in 516 BCE, was renovated by King Herod, and this is the temple that was standing when Christ came. The second temple lasted until AD 70, when it was razed to the ground by Roman soldiers under Titus.

Now today, we have many evangelicals and many orthodox Jews want to reestablish the temple and even the sacrificial system. Many Christians hold that the Jewish temple will be rebuilt before Christ comes, and have set up Christian ministries to assist in the building of the temple to hasten the return of Jesus. For many of them, they think such an event will signal the start of the final events of earth’s history, but they are confused on the subject of the temple. They claim certain text as proof such as 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4..
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

They misinterpret who the man of sin is, and think it is a future antichrist, when the apostate church has already revealed itself and persecuted the faithful and burned them at the stake and tried to wipe them out, which history shows us clearly is here in the Papacy.

Now, the Jews have claimed Donald Trump as a new 'King Cyrus' by some evangelical Christians and Israeli political figures for his Gaza Peace initiative and strong support for Israel, as part of a divine plan. And we have Orthodox Jewish "tradition" that claims it is here, in the city of Jerusalem that the third and final Temple will be built when they say the 'messiah comes'. But if Christ came and they did not recognized him, then what 'messiah' are they waiting for. And we have Gods Word which tells us what Temple or Tabernacle its talking about..

Hebrews 6:20
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Hebrews 9:11
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Hebrews 10:19-23
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 ;By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 ;Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to live among His people by a "greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands'.

Prosperity theology suggests that the Christian lifestyle will make you more healthy, wealthy and happy. Focusing on the wealth side of things I asked ChatGPT to work through all the most reliable sources like PEW Research and Credit Suisse's global wealth survey to create the following table. I separated Chinese from Western humanism because they are entirely different.

I have to say that the result suggests to me the following.
1) Christianity is the wealthiest religion.
2) Atheists are richest in predominantly Christian or Post Christian cultures where their selfishness can still be blessed.
3) Islam and Hinduism are also-rans in the wealth leagues
4) Jews are a very small group but quite rich indicating to me that living out some of those Old Testament principles could also be a blessing to Christians if they let them

So do these stats indicate that prosperity theology is a real thing?
It seems to me that the kinds of things that make people poor e.g. war, poor government, lack of moral living, divorce are all mainly non Christian behavior patterns.
Is fair to say that while on individual level Christians can become poor by self sacrifice, that on an overall level a Jewish-Christian culture will be richer than its alternatives?

This move comes as President Trump looks for ways to boost affordability for Americans. The renewed focus follows the victory of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, which has heightened attention on housing and everyday living cost.

I lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck and the Schumer shutdown was a shot that had a ripple effect that economically hurt a lot of people. President Trump is right on top of the situation.

During the seventies, most American Catholic bishops, priests and laypeople rapidly abandoned the traditional devotions and trappings that had sustained the Church for generations. Those who objected often felt like strangers in their own spiritual homes.

Three recent studies indicate that this trend is finally coming to an end.

Three Studies, One Conclusion​

Younger priests, on average, are more traditional than the older men they will replace in the coming decades. That is the conclusion of a new study titled “Morale, Leadership, and Pastoral Priorities: Highlights from the 2025 National Study of Catholic Priests.”

The new study confirms two earlier ones. The first was “The Class of 2025: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood,” conducted by Georgetown University in 2024, and focused on those about to be ordained. The other study was released by “The Catholic Project” in 2022.

The 2022 study gave rise to an article from Pope Francis’s confreres at the Jesuit journal America, “U.S. Catholics are More Liberal. Young Priests are More Conservative. Can the Synod Help Us Overcome Our Divisions?”

Consigning Felt Banners to Storage Bins​

Continued below.

I totally identify here with the Psalmist. I wholeheartedly agree with his words! Yes, God is totally righteous. Amen! And upright are all his judgments, even the ones that are difficult to accept, like the death of a loved one, or a serious body infirmity where he says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). For he allows trials and tribulations to come into our lives to test our faith, and to conform us to his likeness, and to make us holy as he is holy.

And, yes, he allows us to have enemies and those who persecute us, who treat us as though we are the scum of the earth for them to trample upon. Even among those who also profess faith in Jesus Christ, and even among the clergy of religious institutions called “the church,” we will have enemies who will persecute us without cause because we stand for what is righteous and holy and obedient to our Lord without compromise of faith and conviction. For we do not fit in with the modern idea of what church is.

For so many today have gone the way of the world, and they have altered and diluted the gospel of our salvation to make it more palatable and acceptable to human flesh in order to not offend the ungodly who they are trying to draw into their gatherings. And they have partnered with the government and with the world, and they have turned the gatherings of the church into places of business to be marketed to the world just like any other business, all of which God forbids. So we are being pushed out.

[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

But this is for our good. How so? For when we face trials and tribulations and persecutions to test our faith, and we respond to them in faith and in obedience to our Lord, we draw closer to our God in full assurance of faith and conviction as to what is right and to what is wrong. And we become more passionate about right and wrong, and so our zeal for truth and righteousness and holiness consumes us. And we must speak truth to the people and we must expose the lies in hope the people will not be deceived.

And the more passionate we become about truth and righteousness, and holy living, in contrast to what so many have come to accept as truth, but which are lies intended to deceive, and the more we speak out on these issues, and we confront the lies for what they are, and we speak the truth of God’s word in opposition to the lies, the more we will become “small and despised” in the eyes of those who are opposed to what we are teaching, for they prefer the broad way leading to destruction over the way leading to life.

But if we love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, and we truly love our neighbors as ourselves, we will care enough to make certain that the truth of God’s word is getting out to the people, in opposition to the lies, in hopes that they will believe and live the truth, and no longer the lies, even if it means that we are despised, rejected, falsely accused of wrong, and cast aside as unnecessary and as unwanted, in return. For we want people to genuinely be saved and to have eternal life with God in heaven.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Change My Heart, Oh God

By Eddie Espinosa

Change my heart, oh God
Make it ever true
Change my heart, oh God
May I be like You

You are the potter
I am the clay
Mold me and make me
This is what I pray

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