Johamn had everything: good income, status, and a life of extravagance. A celebrated pharmacist turned businessman, he lived in a world
where nothing came cheap. He scoffed at meals below $20, considering them an insult to his refined palate.

One night, to celebrate securing a new contract, Johann and his business partner Hans resolved to find a truly fitting restaurant in Vienna——
one that could satisfy Johann’s uncompromising standards. But his sophisticated palates and exacting demands soon turned the quest into a prolonged ordeal, dragging them across the city. At one point, Hans muttered, “You’re not choosing a wife, Johann. It’s only dinner.” Johann ignored him, busy inspecting every menu he came across.

After four relentless hours of scrutinizing menus and dismissing venues, they finally settled on a lavish establishment that seemed worthy of their standards. Several ornate dishes were ordered, but the triumph was short-lived. One bite into the first plate and Johann’s face soured; he launched into complaints before the manager, demanding to leave. The manager, unmoved, insisted on payment. Johann paid for all the dishes ordered—grudgingly—and stormed out.

Undeterred, the hunt resumed.

Another hour of wandering through Vienna’s glittering streets brought them to yet another upscale location, one that promised refinement beyond reproach. With aged whiskey poured and expensive cigars lit, Johann and Hans prepared to celebrate triumphantly. Yet scarcely 19 minutes had passed when a waiter approached with blunt finality: the restaurant was closing. Their indulgence ended not in satisfaction, but in dismissal, as they were ushered out into the night.

"Why kick us out?" Johann stared at the waiter in disbelief.
"We are closing---it's 1 o'clock already!" The waiter replied.

They staggered out into the city streets, their judgment clouded by the alcohol and disappointment. They didn’t notice the black van parked nearby until it was too late.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The van screeched forward, headlights blinding. Before Johann could react, rough hands yanked him back. A hood was shoved over his head, muffling Hans’s protests as they struggled. Their kidnappers moved swiftly, bundling Johann into the van while leaving Hans behind. Johann’s world blurred into darkness.

Johann’s new reality began in a dim room in the beautiful rural town of Bad Goisern on Lake Halstatt. His two kidnappers' goal was to demand a ransom of 2 million. The two kidnappers were Robert and Rune—known to their friends as Rob and Run. They sat slouched in the dim room, their cigarettes dangling lazily from their fingers...

He was baptized Episcopalian as an infant even though neither of his parents are Episcopal.

May God bless him in his love!

Delvianna said:

Good for him! Stick to your guns no matter what happens! He shouldn't have to apologize for what he said. Was it a lot? Sure... but children are involved. I can understand the outrage. Forcing him to apologize, is forcing him to go back on his religious beliefs and for a country that is supposed to be freedom of religion, that's pretty anti-religious. The Pastor didn't cause harm, he just said stuff people didn't like and peacefully protested.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Children don’t need to be exposed to adult material. Drag queens belong in private gay bars- not a children story’s hour.

joechristianwarrior said:

Yeah, that seems like a reasonable explanation. The 'brain-washing' of capitalist values starts young, and doesn't stop when we grow old. We really do need to be "born again" to start to change our perspective.

Click to expand...

Yes, and it's not just capitalist values. Coveteousness is as old as the Fall of man. It comes down to this bottom line: do we love, first of all, as God both models and calls us to and as only union with Him can accomplish in us, or do we carry on the family tradition of self above all else which requires-which is intrinsic to-remaining apart from Him and wallowing in our greed, our sin, and the pride that drives it.

The Barbarian said:

The election. Biden beat Trump convincingly. Yes, Trump whined and threw tantrums, even incited an insurrection to stop the certification of the election. But Biden beat him.

And imagine the howls of MAGA if Joe Biden had kept falling asleep in meetings as Trump has. Dozy Don is clearly not as sharp as Biden was during his presidency.

Login to view embedded media
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Executive summary
Video and photos from a Dec. 2, 2025 White House Cabinet meeting show President Donald Trump with his eyes closed several times and at least once fully closed while officials spoke; multiple outlets describe him as “fighting sleep” or “appearing to doze,” while the White House press secretary said he was “listening attentively and running the entire” meeting [1] [2]. News organizations counted repeated moments of drooping or closed eyes during the roughly three‑hour meeting; some outlets quantified the behavior (for example, reporting “nearly six minutes” of eyes shut in aggregate) while others simply described multiple episodes [3] [4].

https://factually.co/fact-checks/politics/did-trump-fall-asleep-in-cabinet-meeting-d5699b

Obviously, Donald Trump has declined significantly since Joe Biden beat him in a presidential election. But it was obvious even before the last election...

Trump was brutally mocked as “Dozy Don” by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in October after he appeared to drift off at an event discussing the threat his administration said is posed by Antifa activists, in revenge for the president’s regular jibes against “Sleepy Joe” throughout his presidency.

Trump previously appeared to drift off during his criminal trial in Manhattan in May 2024 when the strain of fighting four indictments while campaigning for the White House seemed to get the better of him.

Fox News doctor tries to spin sleepy Donald Trump by comparing him to Thomas Edison

President drowsed for an estimated six minutes during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting

www.independent.co.uk

Click to expand...

Too bad that you only see this in Trump and dismiss all the videos of Biden’s gaffes and wondering around lost

Servus said:

Millions of babies killed:

View attachment 374097

Two drug smugglers killed:

View attachment 374098

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^^^Failure to deal with the moral problem presented by the current topic.

BPPLEE said:

I fell asleep watching that.

Click to expand...

But you're not the president of the United States. It matters.

Bradskii said:

...What exactly is the type of country you want to live in?

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I need the most available vital info in order to fairly answer fatuous questions, sir.

oh yeah
btw

In that example, will your drug trafficking perp be "walking down the street" to go deliver enough Schedule 1 drugs to kill multitudes of Americans?

2PhiloVoid said:

This particular forum is, and has never been, a discussion about 'Universalism.' In fact, NO ONE here is advocating for it. It's good to be clear on what the actual focus point is.

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Makes sense. I approve

The Barbarian said:

The election. Biden beat Trump convincingly. Yes, Trump whined and threw tantrums, even incited an insurrection to stop the certification of the election. But Biden beat him.

And imagine the howls of MAGA if Joe Biden had kept falling asleep in meetings as Trump has. Dozy Don is clearly not as sharp as Biden was during his presidency.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Executive summary
Video and photos from a Dec. 2, 2025 White House Cabinet meeting show President Donald Trump with his eyes closed several times and at least once fully closed while officials spoke; multiple outlets describe him as “fighting sleep” or “appearing to doze,” while the White House press secretary said he was “listening attentively and running the entire” meeting [1] [2]. News organizations counted repeated moments of drooping or closed eyes during the roughly three‑hour meeting; some outlets quantified the behavior (for example, reporting “nearly six minutes” of eyes shut in aggregate) while others simply described multiple episodes [3] [4].

https://factually.co/fact-checks/politics/did-trump-fall-asleep-in-cabinet-meeting-d5699b

Obviously, Donald Trump has declined significantly since Joe Biden beat him in a presidential election. But it was obvious even before the last election...

Trump was brutally mocked as “Dozy Don” by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in October after he appeared to drift off at an event discussing the threat his administration said is posed by Antifa activists, in revenge for the president’s regular jibes against “Sleepy Joe” throughout his presidency.

Trump previously appeared to drift off during his criminal trial in Manhattan in May 2024 when the strain of fighting four indictments while campaigning for the White House seemed to get the better of him.

Fox News doctor tries to spin sleepy Donald Trump by comparing him to Thomas Edison

President drowsed for an estimated six minutes during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting

www.independent.co.uk

Click to expand...

I fell asleep watching that. Glad I don’t have to listen to that for hours

Michie said:

Can a young child truly be saved and on their way to Heaven? Can he or she be in the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, one of those who is a genuine believer?

A Christian educator once said that the faith of a child — up to age 12 — could be called a “borrowed faith”; this faith could be borrowed from his parents or a Sunday school teacher. Then, in his early teens, the child would develop their “chosen faith,” ultimately moving on to their “owned faith.”

Now, when we think of a borrowed faith, do we also think of it as a saving faith? Not exactly, and not something you’d want to count on when you’re not totally confident.

Let’s see what Jesus had to say about children’s salvation. “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven’” (Matthew 18:1-4).

Okay, so the disciples have a different question than I originally posed; they want to know who’s the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus calls a little child. In case you question whether this really is a young child, the Greek word is paidión, which means “little” or “young.” So, he didn’t just call a child, he called a little child. Now remember, in that culture, a 13-year-old boy enters manhood. Young people were married at 16. So, if they are calling a child little, they mean little.

Continued below.

Can a young child become a Christian?

Can a young child truly be saved and on their way to Heaven

www.christianpost.com

Click to expand...

People can approach Jesus just like they can approach a mirror. The experience and comprehension may be very limited when you're very young, but you can still approach the mirror and appreciate what's in it.

I was raised up in the church. I've never not known who God is, and who Jesus is. It's just that my appreciation of who He is was limited by my age.

I have talked with God throughout my life, and did not really, really appreciate who God was to me until after I backslid and found out that was a very bad path. When I returned to obedience I learned to appreciate God no matter how good or bad things may be--at least things weren't bad because I had disobeyed God.

So even if we know God from very young, or even if we know Him as a full-fledge adult, we still won't fully appreciate who God is to us if we don't obey Him. We ave to be able to hear Him in our conscience. When we do so, and obey that voice, we'll know God well.

A little child can certainly know Jesus. I know I appreciated him when I was first joining a small children's gathering in our church basement Sunday morning. I felt so "grown up" being able to attend without my parents present. They sang, "Jesus loves me." And the birthday kids were able to drop pennies into a church steeple--a penny for each year of their age.

I honestly felt a very special presence at that time. But even before that I felt my conscience when I screamed bloody murder when my parents took away my blanket--I had been eating it, and I knew I was over-acting the rage.

Oompa Loompa said:

Poor poor narco terrorists drug smugglers. If only they had the same level of outrage for the kids they kill every year with their cargo.

Click to expand...

Suspected.

If found guilty, then they should be punished as the law prescribes. But just killing suspects rendered harmless and not fighting back, no trial. This is barbaric.

Freth said:

Let's look at the statements I made again.



Tradition that goes against the commandment of God, according to Jesus Matthew 15:3-6, makes the commandment of none effect. This was the specific point I was making.

I didn't say all tradition is bad.

Let's look at 2 Thessalonians 2:15, but include verse 14 for context.

The gospel.

2 Thessalonians 2:14-15 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.​

Jesus.

Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.​

What does Paul say about the gospel in 1 Thessalonians 7:7-10?

1 Thessalonians 7:1-10 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.​

Paul is speaking of those who do not obey the gospel. Obedience. I was addressing tradition that specifically causes transgression of the commandments of God and makes it of none effect, as per Matthew 15:3-6. I'm calling for obedience.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the clarification. I now understand your concern more precisely: you’re not rejecting all tradition, but specifically that which contradicts the commandments of God. That’s an important distinction.

But respectfully, here’s where I believe your argument runs into difficulty:

The Apostolic Tradition upheld by the Orthodox Church does not contradict God’s commandments—it preserves them, along with the fullness of the Gospel. As St. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, we are to “stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle.” He does not limit this to Scripture, nor does he describe “tradition” only as the written Gospel.

Later in 2 Thessalonians 3:6, he tells us to avoid those who do not walk according to the tradition they received. That warning is not addressed only to outsiders, as you suggest—it is addressed to Christians who were part of the Church. The idea that Paul’s rebuke applies only to non-believers isn’t found in the text. On the contrary, he’s warning against disorder within the Church, not simply among those who deny the Gospel outright.

This is critical: Paul sees Tradition as something living, binding, and passed down both in written and unwritten form. The Gospels themselves were written after the Church had already been proclaiming Christ for decades. The Creed, the canon of Scripture, the doctrine of the Trinity—these were all received and preserved by Apostolic Tradition, not discovered by private interpretation.

As for obedience: yes, it is central to the Christian life. But the question is, obedience to what? If we reject the Tradition that gave us Scripture, how can we rightly interpret it? If every believer must determine for themselves what is and is not “the Gospel,” what prevents error, schism, or distortion?

On the Sabbath, we Orthodox honor the Sabbath. We use it as a day to commemorate Christ our God reposing in the tomb after remaking Man in His image, in preparation for the celebration of His resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit on Sunday.

The specific Sabbatarian objection, that the Sabbath was changed, does not apply to the Orthodox, and historically did not apply to the Roman Catholic Church, until some ill-advised Scholastic era theological statements; but if we look at the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, of the Tridentine Mass, it refers to Saturday as Sabbato, and I would note, I can’t fathom why your denomination objects to Roman Catholics so much, because the majority of worship services held on Saturday by Christians are Roman Catholic masses - which undermines the argument made by EGW about the Catholics having corrupted it at the timeline she specified in The Great Controversy.

Now, on the subject of obedience to Commandments, the Holy Spirit also has the right to issue Commandments, as much as Christ, who, as Adventists like to say, was the person of the Holy Trinity who inscribed the Decalogue with his finger (but the Decalogue he later summarized as “Love Thy neighbor as Thy self, and Love God with all Thy heart, mind and soul”, which corresponds to the two tablets; the tablets are indeed a typological prophecy of the Incarnation Christ our God, for the the word of God was carried in an ark, and likewise, the Incarnate Word of God was carried by our Glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary prior to His glorious Nativity, which we celebrate on December 25th, except for the Armenians, who retain the ancient custom of celebrating this together with the Baptism of Christ on January 6th (in Jerusalem, where all EO and OO churches use the Julian Calendar, this results in them celebrating Christmas on the 19th of January; this also greatly helps reduce overcrowding at the holy sites, so I am thankful the Armenian church retained, as was its perogative, the older liturgical custom). However, the fourth century practice, adopted in response to the Arian heresy, was simply to add nine months to the date of Christ’s conception, which was already celebrated on March 25th, since, it is a tradition of the Church, and one that in no respect contradicts any commandment, that Christ was conceived on the same day that would have been the 14th of Nissan according to the Jewish calendar in use in 33 AD (which was changed after the destruction of the Temple, which is why the church discontinued Quartodecimianism at the Council of Nicaea, but I digress).

At any rate, insofar as the Holy Spirit, as God, coequal to the Son and the Father, can issue Commandments, and insofar as the Holy Spirit speaks through the inspired writings of the Holy Prophets and those Apostles, in the canonical 27 books that He guided the Church into adopting as our New Testament, the instruction by St. Paul to adhere to Holy Tradition can be regarded as a commandment in and of itself. Thus, insofar as Tradition includes worship on the First Day in celebration of the Resurrection as well as the Seventh, since Christ our True God commanded that we pray without ceasing (and we know the Apostles worshipped on the first day - since all 12 of them, and 200 other followers of Christ, were in the Upper Room of the house of St. Mark the Evangelist at the Third Hour, approximately 9 AM, on Sunday - which also corresponds to one of the three daily times of Jewish prayer, since Jews historically prayed three times a day since the time of St. Nehemiah the Prophet and St. Ezra the Priest, and this formed the basis for Christian daily prayer, specifically, Matins, Vespers and Compline - Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer), we should worship on Sunday as well as Saturday, and the Sabbath commandment is in no respect violated.

What is more, the Orthodox uphold the Sabbath commandment correctly, by on that day remembering that Christ, God Incarnate, after His passion, after remaking fallen Man in HIs image, as He made us in His Image in Genesis 1 (itself a text both literal and prophetic of His passion and resurrection) rested - this time in a tomb, and thus in our Sabbath liturgies we commemorate Christ’s repose, and additionally, all of the saints in Heaven, and also pray for the salvation of our departed loved ones, and also commemorate the blessed Virgin Mary, who points us to Christ, for there is a direct typological parallel between Christ’s repose in the Tomb, in which He who created the universe and is uncircumscribable was contained in the Holy Sepulchre, and His time in the blessed immaculate Womb of the Theotokos.

Thus, I propose if one really cares about adherence to the ten commandments, and all other commandments of God, whether delivered by HIm orally, or by tracing His finger, or through the mouths of HIs Apostles, and only following traditions that do not contradict any commandment (for example, Christ’s commandment that we partake of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, and that we should be Baptized), one should associate themselves with a traditional liturgical church like the Eastern or Oriental Orthodox Churches and the other traditional liturgical churches which have a similar understanding of things, such as the Roman Catholic Church, the traditional Anglicans, and Confessional Lutherans, and the Assyrian Church of the East.

I would also encourage Sabbatarians to add worship services on Sunday to commemorate the Resurrection of Christ our God, in addition to daily prayer services on every other day of the week; which is the common practice of all churches (the highest priority days, however, if it comes down to it, are Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday; the liturgical day begins at sunset, as was the case in Judaism, so for example, Friday can be observed on Thursday evening, Saturday on Friday evening, Sunday on Saturday evening, and Wednesday on Tuesday evening - the importance of Wednesday is because it was on that day that Judas arranged to hand over our Lord, thus betraying Him. For this reason, Wednesday and Friday are the traditional days of fasting, with Saturday and Sunday the traditional feast days; indeed, John Wesley desired all Methodists to fast on Wednesday and Friday, reviving the Patristic custom that had fallen out of use in the West, with fasting limited to Fridays in Lent - and additionally Wesley, who was heavily influenced by Orthodox theology, desired that Methodist churches have prayer services that specifically included the Great Litany, a beautiful Anglican liturgy of supplicatory prayer, on those days, which would have been most appropriate.