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Hello!

Thank you, Richard & Linux! The prayers / well wishes are much appreciated.

I do want to find some real-life friends, but it's tough. I found all of my previous friends through school, and now I'm not sure where to look... As much as I like my current pastor and appreciate his sermons, I might need to try a different church. There's no young people.
I have lived rural. Networking with ladies in the church might be one way to bring some opportunities. God bless!
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Hell doesn't exist and there is no eternal suffering, instead bad peolle just cease to exist

No, He was sent to save the (elect of God only),


Luke 4: 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
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It seemed so easy for the thief on the cross to be saved.

Others should be loved as one loves one's self. The repentance was still there, which Jesus Christ was always speaking for concerning restoration to God. It is more than admitting to guilt which he did. He knew he was deserving of what he was getting. He recognized Jesus was one totally innocent, and recognized with faith he spoke from that Jesus had a kingdom which he was now going to, and with that confession asked Jesus in that position for what he might do on his behalf.
That's right, in the same way we need to admit our backwards ways and admit God's will is better than ours and we should seek to serve Him rather that ourselves and the adversarial world we have built.
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University of Minnesota on Whiteness Pandemic

Not that I think it will make an actual difference to you, but it is not referring to skin color.

Whiteness refers to culture not biology: the centuries-old culture of Whiteness features colorblindness, passivity, and White fragility, which are all covert expressions of racism common in the United States. Naming the Whiteness Pandemic shifts our gaze from the victims and effects of racism onto the systems that perpetrate and perpetuate racism, starting with the family system. At birth, young children growing up in White families begin to be socialized into the culture of Whiteness, making the family system one of the most powerful systems involved in systemic racism.​

This is deliberately provocative to stimulate conversation about racism.
Poke. You want to talk about "White Culture" and how it is separate from biology. Yet when I ask you to discuss "Black culture" just crickets. I completely understand.
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Donald Trump Says US To Launch Land Action in Venezuela ‘Very Soon’

I wonder if this is related

No, I don’t think trump uses insta.
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Trump to pardon Ex-Honduras President Guilty of Drug Trafficking and conspiring to import cocaine into the United States

Trump is pardons convicted president who colluded with drug traffickers while his Secretary of War kills suspected drug runners on the high seas.....

"Kill them all"​

As two men clung to a stricken, burning ship targeted by SEAL Team 6, the Joint Special Operations commander followed the defense secretary’s order to leave no survivors.

Trump's Banana Republic. Make Honduras Great Again! (yes, he actually wrote that on Truth Social).
And folks here were questioning why US military were seeking outside counsel regarding illegal orders.
And why that group in congress reminded them their code requires them to refuse illegal orders.
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Foot washing?

While that’s true, the situation here is literally the opposite: the Ethiopian Orthodox converting non-Christian Rastafarians away from their decadent and indulgent false religion to the true religion of Christ our God.

To be clear, Rastafarianism didn’t consist of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians who decided to reject 1600 years of Christian teaching in order to smoke massive amounts of marijuana and perform obnoxious Reggae music, but rather, consisted of Jamaicans who heard of Emperor Haile Selassie, and, contrary to the wishes of the Emperor, decided that he was God, for reasons derived mainly from the color of his skin and the connections between Ethopia and ancient Israel. Among Ethiopians the small Rasta community that immigrated there is not well regarded.

Neither the Emperor, nor the Ethiopian church, refused to take action, however - actions to evangelize the people of the Carribean, including the Rastas, were undertaken, and these have been very successful in converting many Rastas to Christ.

+

Now that being said, Ethiopia did have, for several centuries, two schismatic, heretical sects which competed with the Orthodox for control of the church, both of which had seriously deranged teachings, however, through the grace of God, the Orthodox party associated with the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and most members of the Imperial household triumphed. But the schism was probably the worst one to happen to an Oriental Orthodox church since the Maronites broke away from the Syriac Orthodox Church in (many believe this was because the Maronites opted to embrace the Monothelite heresy being promoted at the time as a means of achieving EO-OO reconciliation, which resulted in St. Maximos the Confessor losing his tongue, and which also resulted in Pope Honorius I being the only legitimate Bishop of Rome (not counting anti-Popes) to ever be anathematized as a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church post-mortem).
Again, thank you for the excellent information. I did not intend to imply that Rastafarianism is a heretical offshoot of Ethiopian Orthodoxy, but merely a cult, not unlike the Mormons, which decided to adopt Christian trappings in order to provide some sort of legitimacy to their cult.
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Another shooting - Two DC Nat. Guard from W VA Killed

Has he gone to any funeral of import? Didn't he attend a J6 funeral?

There's a pretty shocking list of funerals he didn't attend (Though I think he wasn't invited to some of them).
Who would want a guy with his thumb up near the grave of a loved one?

1764439675182.png
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Trump dispenses with trials, orders military strike on alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking boat (Now up to 2, 3, 4...)

I generally agree and I have the same concern that you express about subtly accepting the notion that any of this operation is within the 2001 AUMF. The overall Venezuela operation is not popular with the people. I suspect Congress can be turned toward the "Venezuela is not covered by AUMF" resolutions that have failed so far, but hearings on the "double tap" are a way to start that will eventually broaden. (I wouldn't be surprised if there are Senators who are using this as an entry path so they can publicly oppose the whole operation.)
As I said, the Pentagon itself should have both feet on the "double tap" accusation because that would be a clear-cut violation of the Law of Armed Conflict at the basic troop level. The Congress should not be involved at the level of figuring out who pulled the trigger...their involvement would come from how the Pentagon resolves that violation of the LOAC (presuming it actually happened). We don't need Congress investigating a problem the Pentagon is already charged by law to investigate.

But to the extent it keeps Congress from discussing the extent of the resolutions they've passed, it delays the resolution of the problem only they can resolve.
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Young earth vs Old earth?

I agree we cannot just up and say something without a substantial reason for taking that position.
However, we do have a solid basis for applying these verses to the Messiah.
  1. The first book of the scriptures started with the fall of man, and God's promise of a Messiah. Genesis 3
  2. Jesus, the Messiah, said that all these prophecies and sayings apply to him Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39
When they are quoted, they are quoted as references to the Messiah.
Matthew 2:14, 15
14 So [a]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He [b]stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through [c]the prophet would be fulfilled: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Of course Mathew is referring to Jesus. But that doesnt mean that Hosea 11:1 was.

Does a formless pizza exist?
How then can you create it, if it is already present?
You create it, by giving it form. Just as God took the formless earth, and gave it form.

Your "unformed" pizza is in existence. It is still a pizza.
Yes, exactly. And the unformed or formless earth was in existence, it was still the earth too. The earth was formless.

If you want one that is empty and waste, just remove the paste. <------> Earth is formless and waste, but it exists.
View attachment 373799

Correct.

Your pizza is not out of nothing, but created from something. <------> Earth is created from existing essence, or energy.


Your pizza is now completed.. <------> Earth is completed when God finishes creating everything in it.
View attachment 373801
The earth is finished when God created it and everything on it. That's why Genesis 2:1 NRSV says: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude.

Your argument is actually saying... I contend that the earth could have been formless for three or four days before God finished it, and this is because you think the earth was only created after it was in existence... which is not correct.
If something exists, it is already created.
I thought I made that clear.
That's incorrect. Throughout the Old Testament, God creates things that already physically exist. We've already covered this. God creates Israel (Isiah 43:1-15), God creates a blacksmith (Isaiah 54:16). Ezekiel creates a signpost. Did the signpost already materially exist in Ezekiel? Of course it did. Yet Ezekiel could still create it anyway. Physically and in material terms, the signpost already existed. Ezekiel didn't make matter appear out of nothing. Ezekiel created the signpost using material that is already there. When God creates Israel, God doesn't snap his finger and make Israel appear. Same with the blacksmith, it is not as though a human body appeared out of thin air as a blacksmith. God took something that was already physically there and created it. God opens rivers and plants trees and "creates" them in Isiah 41:20. This doesn't mean that God snapped his fingers and trees appeared out of thin air. The physical matter is already there.

Ezekiel 21:19 NIV
“Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city.

The earth was there, it was formless. Nothing confusing about this. The earth was formless and empty, that is the state that it existed in when the spirit was moving upon the waters.
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The doctrine of imputation is hypocritical

Here's the beauty in Imputation. God imputed Adam's sin to us. Then God Imputed our sin to Christ. And then Imputed Christ's righteousness to us. All according to Romans 5. But look how we made out. Jesus is God, so we now have the infinite righteousness of God worthy of all the blessings only God deserves!!
Baptism with water is what Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:18-20 and which we must receive to remove our sins from our souls. The Holy Spirit then abides in our souls after our sins (Adam's and our own) are removed. It is the Holy Spirit's presence that sanctifies us and keeps us sanctified. We are made holy and kept holy by the Holy Spirit's abiding presence.

1 Corinthians 6:11
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Washed - baptized
Sanctified - made holy
Justified - reconciled to God
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The NEA is pushing far left teaching upon children

This is hypothetical. There aren't any reliable studies that show this. There is a lot that isn't covered in a questionnaire. Often we cant even see the questionnaire. We dont know anything about the people. We have no idea what other comorbitities they have. No, sorry, this is not real scientific research. It's interesting. It is something to consider, but its not reliable
I just provided studies, and there are a lot more. But again, put those aside. It is a hypothetical. If gender affirming care led to lower suicide rates would that be enough for those who are not supportive to those actions to reconsider?
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Why we are not supposed to keep the Sabbath

Not really. People read and interpret with the idea of defending their pet doctrines. Most have no clue how to eisegete a verse.

Jesus is the Lord of the sabbath. The early church knew that it was to celebrate the resurrection day not the day that Jesus was still dead.

In context:

Mark 2:27-28 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
The very reason Jesus calls Himself Lord of the Sabbath is because the Sabbath was made for man (therefore). Pointing directly to creation and the Sabbath sanctified. Sunday resurrection taking the place of the Sabbath is nowhere to be found anywhere in scripture.

"The early church knew," and took it upon itself to change the law of God (prophesied by Daniel 7:25) and make it of none effect (Matthew 15:1-9).

Jesus settles the issue concerning Sunday, which is a commandment of man not a commandment of God.

Matthew 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
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Eternal fire does not mean eternal torment

I think there are multiple visions here:
  • Matthew likely sees some kind of eternal punishment for the wicked. I think Calvin is right, that it is unimaginable remorse from being excluded from the Kingdom.
  • The other Gospels are less clear. I agree with the video above that destruction is a possibility. But so is finite punishment.
  • Paul seems to be universalist. Commentaries universally try to avoid this. I find their arguments odd. I take 1 Cor 15:20ff to be his vision of the future, but it needs to be coupled with 1 Cor 3:12, which talks about passing through fire, with everything not built on Christ destroyed.
One assumption behind Paul's whole vision is that Sin is a power oppressing people. In the end Christ defeats the power of sin. Christ is the second Adam. "for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ." In the end God will be all in all. You can explain away one or two statements like this, but it is a consistent them throughout Paul's writings. As I real 1 Cor 15:20 ff, things happen in order. First, those in Christ are raised. Then he defeats the enemy, and eventually death itself. Finally, everyone will be united in Christ, though 1 Cor 3:12 would qualify that by saying that this doesn't exempt people from judgement.

However I think it's safest to stick with Mark, Luke, and maybe John, and leave the nature of judgement a bit ambiguous.
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Why do people hate ICE...

Incorrect. These aren't legal proceedings. They are out of their jurisdiction which does not make them legal.
That's interesting. Why do you think this is true?
These judges don't know the law and THINK their power is greater than it is. It is almost as if they think they are more powerful than they really are.
How did these judges come to hear the cases? They don't just pick up a newspaper and declare they'll look into something.
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Bill Gates Says Climate Change ‘Will Not Lead to Humanity’s Demise’

James Hansen predicted that burning all existing fossil fuels "would make most of the planet uninhabitable by humans"...
Which we haven't (yet), so Hansen's prediction doesn't apply.
Another thing to keep in mind is to check when a certain prediction was done and whether it was the best case scenario, the most probable or worst case scenario.
Prior to 2014 it was projected that we would cause a rise in temperature of 4°C for the year 2100. In 2015 the Paris Agreement was accepted targeting 1.5°C or maximum 2°C increase. Different measures taken have indeed lowered the expected warming from 4°C to 2.7°C by the year 2100. Still very bad, compare that with an obese person who has lowered its BMI from 40 to 37, that person will still have severe health issues, but less severe than if it stayed at 40.
I know most of the planet is not all the planet, so I guess Gates built kind of a strawman, but even then, sources say we've already burned half of earth's supply, and all we've seen so far are a couple tennis court size islands go underwater.
Which is only one consequence of global warming.
It is expected that a big area will be inhabitable due to heating, and that in an even bigger part of the world heat stress will cause a lower life expectancy.
Besides that, if the lives and wellbeing of outdoor workers is of no concern, their economic productivity will decline also.
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Amnesia

But who will we be if we are not us now. Most people see themselves as flesh.
You seem to be assuming some implication to what I said, to ask this question. I don't understand what you are getting at. We ARE us now, but not completely yet. But what does that have to do with what I said?
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Are there still Apostles today?

No one alive today is entitled to call themselves an Apostle. If that were the case, then surely St. Clement, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Justin Martyr, St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. Ireaneus of Lyons, St. Victor of Rome, St. Cyprian of Carthage, St. Gregory the Wonderworker, St. Gregory the Illuminator, St. Nino the Enlightener of the Georgians, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. John Chrysostom, St. Cyril the Great, St. Cyril and Methodius, St. Herman of Alaska and others would be venerated as Apostles. As it happens, some, such as St. Nino, are venerated as Equal to the Apostles, and some such as St. Athanasius, are venerated as Apostolic.

However, there are bishops in Apostolic succession, both according to the definition of succession of St. Cyprian of Carthage which requires doctrinal orthodoxy for apostolic succession to be transmitted, and the definition of St. Augustine of Hippo, which does not.

Obviously some bishops are more deserving of the episcopate than others.

Additionally there are evangelists who have received a blessing from the Orthodox Church to preach, such as Billy Graham, memory eternal, who assisted the Russian Orthodox Church, the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the other canonical Orthodox churches in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics by preaching there, with the blessing of the Patriarchate of Moscow, for during the Soviet Union, the churches therein were prohibited from catechizing the youth, preaching became dangerous, and many parishes were closed so accessing church became very difficult, and in some cities there was no church at all*.

Thus, with the blessing of the Russian Orthodox Church, Billy Graham did a great service for the Christians of the former Soviet Union, by preaching throughout; his popularity was such that the Soviets dared not interfere without embarrassing themselves on the world stage.

But Billy Graham did not claim the title of Apostle; this title has only been used to refer to the Twelve (including St. Matthias, ordained to replace Judas Iscariot), the Seventy and St. Paul. Self-appointed Apostles are always a red flag; no traditional denomination has allowed anyone to claim such a title.


*for example, in Pripyat, although there was an Orthodox church nearby in Chernobyl, which survived the disaster, has miraculously low radiation levels and is still open for liturgy, the only operational church in the Exclusion Zone.
Saint Innocent of Alaska is referred to as an Apostle in the Russian Orthodox Tradition.

Also, we cannot argue that the 318 Fathers at Nicea were not guided by the same Holy Spirit, in equal measure to those 120 at Pentecost. Ignatius, ordained by Peter, carried on the Catholic faith at Antioch. Are we to believe that Ignatius was somehow inferior? On the contrary. Ignatius led the Church in Antioch with no less authority or affect than Peter.

Apostolic Succession is precisely what it says
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Lost tribes of Israel

Twice in history, G-d's people were led into exile. The first time, they lived in exile in Babylon for 70 years before G-d brought them back, and the second time, they were scattered among the nations for 2,000 years. But both times, the divine promise remained the same: the people of Israel would return home. The return from Babylon could not take longer than 70 years, because the prophets had announced that the Messiah would be born in Israel. In order for this promise to be fulfilled, G-d brought His people back in time to restore Jerusalem and the land.

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Neh 4:1-2

In the Book of Nehemiah, we read about a decisive moment: when the Jews began to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after their exile, resistance suddenly arose from all sides. The neighbouring peoples, Ammonites, Arabs and others, mocked them, and their anger led to attacks against Israel. But Nehemiah and the people did not give up. They prayed, they worked, they fought, with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. Their faith carried them through mockery, threats and intrigues. And after only 52 days, the wall was completed, a visible sign that G-d's hand is upon His people.

This biblical story sounds frighteningly topical. Since the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, we have seen a similar pattern. Even today, neighbours are rising up against the return of the Jewish people to their land. Immediately after the state was founded, five Arab armies attacked the newborn Israel, with the declared aim of destroying it. But as in the past, the people remained steadfast. They built, planted, defended and believed. From the ruins of the Shoah, a flourishing country emerged, one of the most innovative and vibrant in the world.

Jerusalem lay in ruins for seventy years until G-d brought his people back from Babylon. The land was desolate for two thousand years until 1948, when Jews from all over the world returned and brought the land back to life. Why has there been such fierce opposition to Israel since their return?
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Two National Guard soldiers shot in Washington DC

He didn’t mention that the shooter failed to cooperate with police, just as someone trained in CIA protocols and somehow, inexplicably, he failed to mention this man had been granted legal asylum by the Trump administration this past April.
Or as trained by Islamists who hate America. And the fact he was an asylee, is a stain upon the administration that let him in and the one that granted him asylum. Its a clear failure and just another reason why we need to be highly skeptical of anyone who wishes to come here from an Islamic country. Particularly the men.
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The goal of Christianity in 'Not' to stop sinning!

......They are called unto liberty, but they use it as occasion to the flesh, BITING AND DEVOURING ONE ANOTHER, CONSUMED OF NE ANOTHER, instead of LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF. ( they do not hear the word of faith, to WALK IN THE SPIRIT, as we see they were caught up in the LUST OF THE FLESH.)
If you truly love your neighbor as yourself, you will not harm your neighbor in any way.
You will only do good to him instead of evil.
If you are truly doing good to him, you cannot sin against him.
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Israel-Hamas Thread II

Turkey is building a multi-layered air defence shield called ‘Steel Dome’, explicitly inspired by Israel's Iron Dome. Contracts worth billions have already been signed. A state that has sharply condemned Israel for years for its defensive measures is now claiming the same protection as if Erdogan's tirades defaming any Israeli self-defence as aggression had never happened.

While Ankara publicly announces a defence system against alleged Israeli threats, Turkey continues to offer safe havens for Hamas officials. Some of them live freely in Istanbul, travel unhindered, operate, recruit and plan. Even European intelligence agencies speak openly about the Turkish hinterland, on which the terrorist organisation can still rely today. It is therefore no coincidence that Israeli ministers are now openly calling for Turkey's diplomatic missions to be closed. Those who support a terrorist network cannot be partners in security matters.

At the same time, Erdogan is trying to position himself as an indispensable player in the debate about Gaza's future. He is signalling his willingness to participate in an international presence and gain influence in the post-war order. The political calculation behind this is transparent: Turkey wants to play the role of mediator without taking responsibility for its own years of support for Islamist structures. The fact that a country that offers Hamas operational protection wants to have a say in stabilising Gaza reveals the absurdity of international diplomacy.

But the more Ankara provokes Israel, Greece, Cyprus and the Kurds, the greater the fear of the consequences becomes. The Steel Dome is not a strategic necessity, but a political cover for the risks of Turkish foreign policy. In contrast, Iron Dome was born out of bitter necessity. Israel was confronted with incessant attacks that explicitly targeted civilians. The threat was real, concrete and life-threatening.

A country that destabilises the region by courting terrorists and putting pressure on minorities cannot ensure its security with steel and sensors. As long as Hamas operates in Istanbul, as long as Turkey disregards its international obligations, as long as anti-Semitic sentiments are reinforced by the government and the media, any defensive shield will remain nothing more than a façade.
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