From A.W. Pink's First John, 1 John 1:1 - 3:1, chapter 6, 1951-52
(I feel a bit guilty of the first paragraph here, though it is what the LORD shows me often, and I also speak of rejoicing when we see such things because rather than become depressed or scared, we have assurance that we shall be delivered, and that Christ's return is sooner than before. "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28)

Space will permit us to name only two or three of the principal hindrances. Prominent among them is a defective ministry. In view of our text we place this first. How few ministers could warrantably say, “These things preach we unto you that your joy may be full!” What numbers of them are almost for ever talking about the increased wickedness which is in the world, the likelihood of another war, the menace of the atom bomb, or the waning spirituality of the churches—things that tend to horrify rather than edify, to depress rather than delight their hearers. Many others confine themselves very largely to a dwelling upon the shortcomings and failures of God’s people as though it were most desirable for them to cherish doubts and fears. Others are all for the performance of duty and discharge of obligations which, if stressed disproportionately, can but promote a proud and legal spirit. There is so very little of that preaching of Christ, which draws out the renewed heart unto Him, which leads to a closer walking and more intimate communing with Him, and which not only fills the saints with joy but at the same time instills a deep abhorrence of sin and inspires a stronger desire to honour and please Him.

Second, the lack in many Christians of a definite assurance of their acceptance. How can one experience the peace of being reconciled to God, or the joy of knowing his sins are forgiven, while he be constantly debating whether or not he be His child? Not a few of His people dishonour the Father’s gift to them of His Son, in whom they have redemption and eternal life, by not estimating that gift at its true value. They do not take God at His word and believe that the death of Christ has cancelled all the guilt of His people, that He will by no means cast out any sinner who comes to Him for salvation, and that through Him they have full access and welcome to the Father’s house and heart. They have not really learnt the first lesson of the Gospel—the sufficiency of the divine love. “Not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1Jo 4:9-10); and consequently they withhold from Him that full confidence which the manifestation of such love calls for, and which He delights to receive from those upon whom He has bestowed such favours.

Third, even when a Christian is well assured of his salvation he may dim and dampen the joy of it by failing to walk as a child of light (Eph 5:8). To do so he must cast off the “unfruitful works of darkness,” so far and so soon as he discovers them to be such. God hates sin, and sent His Son to save us from our sins. If then we turn again to folly, yield to the lusts of the flesh, and “allow” evil in our hearts and lives, then the Holy One will withdraw from us the light of His countenance. Yet even in this case He has made most gracious provision for our immediate and complete restoration to the knowledge of His favour and the joy of His smile: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jo 1:9). The moment any emotion, thought or deed is revealed to us as sin, we should penitently confess the same and then rejoice in the divine declaration that the blood of Christ has washed away all the stain of it. Thus if we live up to our holy privilege, not even our sins should cloud the sunshine of God’s love or destroy the happy consciousness that He dwells in us and we in Him.

When John penned the words, “These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full,” it is highly probable that he had in mind those statements which he had heard from his Master: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (Joh 15:11), “These things speak I in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (Joh 17:13). It is to be carefully observed that both these utterances fell from the lips of the Saviour upon the night of His betrayal. Very remarkable and blessed is it to hear Him—with the terrible crucifixion staring Him in the face—speaking of His joy. What a proof that spiritual joy is in no wise created or regulated by circumstances or external conditions!

I am taking wagers here. This OP is NOT about whether you have a soul. I'm assuming you don't think you have one. This post focuses on wagering on what you believe.

Let proposition P1 = I have a soul.
P2 = not P1.

Between 0 and 10, how much weight do you put on each of the above propositions? The stronger your belief in a proposition, the higher the weight. Your weighting scheme will determine the betting odds.

This is not a lotto or gambling bet. It is a wager to mathematically and scientifically measure the strength of your belief. Put money where your mouth is. If you are interested in mathematically finding out the strength of your belief, then tell me those two weights. See Subjective (Bayesian) Probability.

“Four more years, pause,” he said, glancing around, looking to all the world like a man whose TV remote is attached to a string. It’s a little quiet before the audience realizes what he’s asking for and erupts into “Four more years” chants.
And our White House staff carefully removed the gaffe and presented a special, clean transcript.

I agree. I clearly heard “Four more years PAUSE." I don't believe the White House is being honest with the American people. I have seen similar gaffes by Joe before, and, while I am not a doctor, I don't think Joe is capable of firmly and capably leading our country until January of 2029. I know what the major media and party leadership tells you, but I don't think he has the mustard to take on evil world leaders.

Okay, I am humbling myself. I am the same guy.

Brethren, I'm sorry. You can tell me all your opinions and I will take them well, this time. Please, I need your honesty.

1. So these neighbors who are just relatively new are noisy, and they let their kids to be noisy.

2. So after talking with them gently and all other good actions and they still did not budge, I play the Angels' Recording loudly whenever they are noisy.

3. I play these not out of revenge or retaliation, but just to let them know that they need to control their noise.

4. Before, all other ways don't work, and they keep being noisy and inconsiderate
To my shock, playing the Angels' Recording makes them stop their noise.

5. But they become ANGRY and agitated whenever I play this real recording of Angels singing loudly.

I want the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, "Yahuah Elohim", to tell me what will happen if I will continue playing this Angels' Recording to them. I do not do this out of retaliation, but just for them to control their noise.


Please help me and advice.

Much appreciated, thank you! Thank you!

Professors from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University recently condemned the use of the phrase “sex assigned at birth” in an op-ed published in the New York Times.



“Sex is a fundamental biological feature with significant consequences for our species, so there are costs to misconceptions about it,” MIT professor of philosophy Alex Byrne and Harvard University psychology professor Carole Hooven said in the Times op-ed tilted “The Problem With Saying ‘Sex Assigned at Birth.’”

According to The Christian Post, the professors noted how the phrase “sex assigned at birth” became more prominent in the last decade as “‘sex’ is now often seen as a biased or insensitive word because it may fail to reflect how people identify themselves.” According to Byrne and Hooven, “One reason for the adoption of ‘assigned sex,’ therefore, is that it supplies respectful euphemisms, softening to what some nonbinary and transgender people, among others, can feel like a harsh biological reality.”

“Sex assigned at birth” is an example of “an increasing emphasis in society on emotional comfort and insulation from offense — what some have called ‘safetyism,’” Byrne and Hooven said, adding that, “saying that someone was ‘assigned female at birth’ is taken to be an indirect and more polite way of communicating that a person is biologically female.”

The professors also pointed out that “this terminology can also function to signal solidarity with trans and nonbinary people.”
“The shift to ‘sex assigned at birth’ may be well intentioned, but it is not progress,” they insisted. “We are not against politeness or expressions of solidarity, but ‘sex assigned at birth’ can confuse people and creates doubt about a biological fact when there shouldn’t be any. Nor is the phrase called for because our traditional understanding of sex needs correcting — it doesn’t. This matters because sex matters.”

Continued below.

Title says it all. I know that it greatly depends on shot placement, but is it adequate for black bear and wild hog. It would be for encounter situations, not hunting black bear and hog from something like a stand.

More than 7 million migrants have been encountered by US Customs and Border Protection agents along the southern border since Biden took office in 2021, the latest CBP data show, including 961,537 in the current fiscal year.
Biden, for his part, has repeatedly tried to blame former Trump for fueling the crisis by blowing up the Senate’s bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.

Do you think Joe will make some gesture or excuse, perhaps say he wanted to stop the border crisis but his lawyers said he couldn't legally do it?

Secret Service protections are not just afforded to current and former presidents but also other high ranking officials and immediate family members of protectees.
But Trump is the only protectee facing felony charges — 91 various felony charges across four different state and federal cases.

Déjà vu? “I want to tell you, Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Gorsuch, you have unleashed a whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” said Chuck Schumer. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

See these Democrat leaders for what they really are and what they are about.

Had some branches growing into the power line running to our house. They were pretty high up, but God enabled us to safely trim them, glory to Him! Hopefully that'll at least cut down on the brownouts.

According to Smithsonian:

When Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago from a hot mix of gases and solids, it had almost no atmosphere. The surface was molten. As Earth cooled, an atmosphere formed mainly from gases spewed from volcanoes. It included hydrogen sulfide, methane, and ten to 200 times as much carbon dioxide as today’s atmosphere. After about half a billion years, Earth’s surface cooled and solidified enough for water to collect on it.

SOURCE

According to the Bible:

Genesis 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Now ... notice that, according to the Smithsonian, Earth already had an atmosphere.

Here it is again:

When Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago from a hot mix of gases and solids, it had almost no atmosphere.

"Almost no atmosphere" means it had an atmosphere.

Only that atmosphere at the time wasn't anything like the air we breathe today.

Nor do we know how extensive that atmosphere was.

Did it stretch around the earth? was it thin? what did it look like? could you smell it? taste it? breathe it?

Anyway, according to the Smithsonian, we got our atmosphere by ... well ... um ... it existed, then it got bigger and bigger when volcanoes spewed gasses into it (kinda like blowing up a balloon, I guess), and so on and so forth.

And, of course, this took 500 million years from 4,600,000,000 BC to 4,100,000,000 BC.

As opposed to the Bible, which shows an earth without an atmosphere one day, and the very next day, there it is.

Pure, breathable air; void of contaminants of any kind.

So here's my challenge:

Which scenario would you rather go with?

Some institute that says we got it, but can't tell us how?

Or the Bible, which testifies of God's powerful ability to call it into existence, purer than the air in Lapland?

This guy a former free mason gives an interesting testimony. He heared the voice of God a few times, God let his existence known so clearly a few times to guide him supernaturally. Who has heard the voice of God like this, who has been guided by God supernaturally like this ?

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In a Hurry? Skip to key parts of our conversation:

Why do people need to identify an enemy?(What you need to know about the other 80%)

Hate of Ourselves = Hate of Others (Look in James 4)

Did the pandemic re-wire us?

When conspiracy theories prove to be true

St. Maximillian Kolbe’s message when the world fell apart

A warning to preppers

So this all started in the Garden of Eden?

The Secret is in Romans 8

Aesop’s Fable teaches us how to help others

Video below.

So many of us have probably gotten tired of news about wars, so let's discuss books. A French library found out that some books in the collection, specifically a few from the 1800s were laced with arsenic, a toxic metalloid (partial metal with nonmetal properties, arsenic Wiki Link). Who knew that reading can be sometimes be deadly (being facetious here). Article link: French national library quarantines books believed to be laced with arsenic


Short summary of the open-access article by The Guardian (<20% in length, for fair usage reasons):

The French National Library in Paris has removed four 19th-century books from its shelves due to concerns that their emerald green covers may contain arsenic. The library plans to send these books to an external laboratory for further analysis, following the discovery by US researchers that publishers in the Victorian era used arsenic to color book bindings. The Poison Book Project at the University of Delaware has identified over 200 potentially dangerous volumes containing arsenic-laced green pigments, and four such books were found in the National Library of France's collection. The World Health Organization advises against long-term exposure to arsenic through water and food, but there is no mention of contact with objects containing it. The Poison Book Project cautions that handling arsenic-laced green bindings could pose a health risk to library staff and researchers. (Author: Agence France-Presse, Publishing Date: April 25, 2024)

Yes... European architecture, one of my favorite forms of architecture in my opinion. A new concept study hall in Germany was built to be modular, with movable sections to facilitate studying or meetings. The study hall won an award in 2024 for modern architecture. Any comments on this @Nithavela ? Here is the article link: ‘It should feel like an extension of the living room’: radical study centre is named best building in Europe


Short summary of the open-access article by The Guardian (<20% in length, for fair usage reasons):

In an article published on April 25, 2024 in The Guardian by Oliver Wainwright, the Technical University of Braunschweig's new lightweight and easily disassembled study pavilion designed by Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke has been named the best building in Europe at the EU Mies award. Inspired by radical superstructures of the 1960s, this elegant white steel and glass pavilion houses flexible study spaces across two levels, with thick yellow curtains and movable furniture that allow students to create their own learning environments. The building, which is not permanent but can be modified or dismantled, has won praise for its rigor and precision as well as its lean and economical design. The architects' innovative structural system uses prefabricated components that can be easily taken apart, making it an example of circular construction. Despite being their first building project, Düsing and Hacke's collaboration has already gained recognition in Germany with the national architecture prize from the Deutsches Architekturmuseum.

Hi, it's me again. There have been times when I ask myself if I should have become Catholic if I knew that fulfilling my baptismal promises would be too difficult. It's difficult mainly because of my dad, but that's bad enough. To make matters worse, I'm worried that since the weather is becoming warmer, I'm not wanting to wear pants to church. On top of that, I feel that the only time I have a self-esteem is when I wear a dress. I tend not to wear a dress if it doesn't reach at least halfway in-between my knee and ankle, but I know my dad won't like it anyway. My brother is not helping the situation and is trying to placate my dad by telling him that even though I go to church, it doesn't mean I agree with everything in the church. It turns out that he said that to my dad without my knowledge or permission and I don't appreciate it. My brother is also suggesting to me not to wear any dresses in front of my dad if it bothers him and to change the clothes at church and I'm like, that's a burden just to bring a separate set of clothes to change in a public restroom. He's like "Well you don't go to church that often, do you?" As if there's a certain point to where it becomes "I'm at church too often."

(I'm not trying to make it look like the dress is the central point of this thread, but it's a part of it)

He went from proclaiming Jesus is Lord to claiming he is God again. Do yall think he fits the description of a apostate in Hebrews?

Just a quick hello. My name is Ken and I really don't know what to say in these introductions. LOL. However I did want to thank you for this site and looking forward to interacting

Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, said that through the latest rules, “the EPA is systematically dismantling the reliability of the U.S. electric grid.’' He accused Biden, Regan and other officials of “ignoring our energy reality and forcing the closure of well-operating coal plants that repeatedly come to the rescue during times of peak demand. The repercussions of this reckless plan will be felt across the country by all Americans.”

Instead of more power for our electric grid in order to handle EVs, Democrats are cutting back. That means your driving miles will have to be limited, and industry in the U.S. will also have to cut back on electricity.

I guess he means that it won't be tolerated anymore.



I guess he doesn't support free speech on college campuses anymore.

There's been several debate about whether same sex attraction is a sin or not. Some says that same sex attraction is just a temptation while other says it's a sin just like homosexuality, what do you think?

Hi everyone, I would greatly appreciate your prayers. I need a miracle, I am on some very strong medication and one of the side effects is thinning of the enamel on your teeth. So far I have had to get like 4 fillings and the last time I was at the dentist the dentist said I had 4 more cavities that needed to be drilled, I am scheduled to have 2 drilled on Mat 6 and then another 2 at a later date. I am currently in alot of pain in my mouth so I may have to try to get in sooner to have them drilled. If God does not intervene I am going to have a serious problem, they are going to have to drill out my whole mouth. Years ago this was happening as well but God showed up and miraculously healed my teeth and the pain was gone, the cavities were gone, I was fine for a good 15 years, however I am in need of a miracle again. Please pray for a miracle healing! Thank you!

Land and sea temperatures have warmed much more than models forecast in the last year, and as of these articles various new factors being considered appear not enough to account for that spike. Relatively speaking it's quite large.

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Nature
9 March 2024

Climate models can’t explain 2023’s huge heat anomaly — we could be in uncharted territory​

Taking into account all known factors, the planet warmed 0.2 °C more last year than climate scientists expected. More and better data are urgently needed.

For the past nine months, mean land and sea surface temperatures have overshot previous records each month by up to 0.2 °C — a huge margin at the planetary scale. A general warming trend is expected because of rising greenhouse-gas emissions, but this sudden heat spike greatly exceeds predictions made by statistical climate models that rely on past observations. Many reasons for this discrepancy have been proposed but, as yet, no combination of them has been able to reconcile our theories with what has happened.
...
So, what might have caused this heat spike? Atmospheric greenhouse-gas levels have continued to rise, but the extra load since 2022 can account for further warming of only about 0.02 °C. Other theories put forward by climate scientists include fallout from the January 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcanic eruption in Tonga, which had both cooling effects from aerosols and warming ones from stratospheric water vapour, and the ramping up of solar activity in the run-up to a predicted solar maximum. But these factors explain, at most, a few hundredths of a degree in warming (Schoeberl, M. R. et al. Geophys. Res. Lett. 50, e2023GL104634; 2023). Even after taking all plausible explanations into account, the divergence between expected and observed annual mean temperatures in 2023 remains about 0.2 °C — roughly the gap between the previous and current annual record.

There is one more factor that could be playing a part. In 2020, new regulations required the shipping industry to use cleaner fuels that reduce sulfur emissions. Sulfur compounds in the atmosphere are reflective and influence several properties of clouds, thereby having an overall cooling effect. Preliminary estimates of the impact of these rules show a negligible effect on global mean temperatures — a change of only a few hundredths of a degree. ...


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Also, related is more information about another factor that could turn the wrong way, increasing warming. Normally the Earth absorbs about 1/2 of emitted CO2 each year, but that might change in a bad way:


"That one-half figure is an approximation. It varies from year to year depending on weather conditions and other environmental factors, resulting in the jagged lines you see in the chart above. For example, in a warm and dry year with many wildfires, the land may absorb less carbon dioxide than usual.

As the Earth warms further, climate scientists expect the land and the ocean to absorb a smaller share of carbon dioxide emissions, causing a larger share to end up in the air, said Doug McNeall, who studies these effects at Britain’s Met Office.

Xin Lan, the lead scientist responsible for NOAA’s global carbon dioxide measurements, referred to the natural absorption as a “carbon discount.”

“We pay attention to it because we don't know at which point that this discount is gone,” she said.

In addition to carbon dioxide, the levels of other potent greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide are also on the rise, which further contribute to warming."

Luke 23:

12 The same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.

Click to expand...

Barnes explained:

What had been the cause of their quarrel is unknown. It is commonly supposed that it was Pilate's slaying the Galileans in Jerusalem, as related in Luke 13:1-2. The occasion of their reconciliation seems to have been the civility and respect which Pilate showed to Herod in this case.

Click to expand...

They were enemies before due to their different political agendas. However, they both agreed that Jesus should not be executed. Based on this common point against the Sanhedrin, they were on friendly terms.

After the resurrection, they worked with Jews and Gentiles in Jerusalem against the nascent church. Acts 4:

27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

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The friendship between Pilate and Herod was based on political convenience.