These instructions are to us who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, in truth, and in righteousness, and in godly living. We are those who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Sin is no longer to be what we practice, what we obey. Righteousness and obedience to our Lord and to his commands are now to be what we obey (see Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 2:24).

Collectively we are the body of Christ, his church. The church is NOT a place we go to. It is not a building. It is not a church denomination. It is not a social club nor a civic center. And it is not a corporation under the state and a business being marketed to the people of the world. And it is not a place we visit for an hour or two once or twice a week and then we leave until the next week. And it is not a place for us to be spectators while a few people do all the ministering. But that is what many have made “the church” to be.

The church is us who believe in Jesus Christ, in truth and in righteousness. We are the temple of God in whom God dwells by his Spirit. And we are to gather together for mutual encouragement and edification, as each body part (that’s us) does its work. All of us are to be exhorting and teaching and encouraging and urging one another to live holy lives pleasing to God and to no longer walk in sin, and to serve the Lord Jesus with our lives. And we are to be warning each other against the lies of deceitful false teachings, too.

So this unity of mind that we are to have with one another is not the mind of the flesh nor the mind of men in their marketing gimmicks and deceitful scheming. So if you hear “unity” stressed in the gatherings of what are called “churches,” test what that “unity” is all about. Is it unity with business plans and goals of human making? Or is it unity with Christ and with his gospel message and with his plan and purpose for our lives? For Peter is talking about unity with the mind of God/Christ and with his purposes.

And we can only be united in mind with one another if we are first of all united with God and with his mind and purpose for our lives. And when we are united with Christ in heart and mind and actions, all these other things will be the outgrowth of our relationship with Jesus Christ. We will be people who love one another as Christ loves us and gave himself up for us. We will not be proud, but we will be humble, not bragging on ourselves for our own accomplishments, but humbly giving God the glory for the good within us.

We will not be people who feel as though we have to get even with those who we believe have done evil to us. But we are to love even our enemies. And we are to do good to them, and pray for them, and say to them what will be beneficial to them in the eyes of God. And even if they do evil to us continually, we are to love them in return, and to keep doing good to them. And if those who oppose us are those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but they are walking in sin, we should warn them of the consequences of sin.

[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ it is not of our own doing – not of the will of the flesh nor of human origin. So we don’t get to decide what that faith should look like. God does! His word does! But we have to read the Scriptures in their context. For many liars and deceivers are teaching Scriptures out of context to make them say what they do not say if studied in the appropriate context. For the faith that comes from God will result in us dying with Christ to sin and walking with him in obedience to his commands.

So, faith in Jesus Christ is not forgiveness of all sins and a promise of heaven when we die while we go on living like we did before. Faith in Jesus Christ results in us dying to self and to sin and now following our Lord in obedience to his commandments. So sin is no longer to be what we practice. Lying, cheating, stealing, committing adultery, slandering, gossiping, and living in sexual immorality, and the like, are not to be what we practice. For we are now to turn away from evil and do what God requires that we do.

And the peace that we are to pursue is not world peace. For us to have world peace, that will involve all of us compromising our faith and convictions in order to unify with the people of the whole world. So we will become like minions, all believing and doing the same things under the control of some type of tyrannical government. And this is what is coming (Revelation 13). But we are called by God out of the world to be different so that we, by God’s grace, are now being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ.

For those who are righteous in the eyes of the Lord are all who are living righteously, by the grace of God, for whom righteousness is their practice. And to be righteous is to live under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit of God in following our Lord and his commands. For it means to be right in the eyes of God, i.e. what he deems as righteous, holy, morally pure, upright, faithful, and submissive to God and to his will for our lives. This is how we are to live as followers of Jesus Christ.

But if we should choose to continue living in (walking in) sin, in practice, and not in walks of holiness and righteousness and obedience to our Lord, the Bible teaches us that we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what our lips profess. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God the Father in heaven. So if sin is what you practice, heaven is not your eternal destiny.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

In Harmony

An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Based off Ro. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-17

Love each other truly.
Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil.
Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor.
Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction;
Praying faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people
Who are found in need.
Do not be conceited.
Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion
In humility.
Keep your tongue from evil.
Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;
Listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil –
Is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear.
Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord.
Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

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For we who are followers of Jesus Christ, who are our enemies? They should be the same as those who are enemies of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – in truth. And if truth be told, God’s enemies are all who are still walking in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and who are not walking in his holiness and righteousness, in obedience to his commands. And they are all who alter his character and his gospel message to make them more acceptable to human flesh and to the ungodly of this world.

And among his enemies are many who profess faith in Jesus Christ, some of whom are preachers and teachers of the word and who serve as pastors and elders in what are called “churches,” but which are really businesses of men being marketed to the people of the world, incorporated under the state. One with the world, they are following the business models for how to “grow their churches” and for how to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” into their gatherings (their businesses). The Holy Spirit is pushed out.

So, because they are followers of man and of marketing schemes and of diluted gospel messages which appeal to human flesh, because their goal is to attract the world to their gatherings, and/or because they want to continue in deliberate and habitual sin while claiming Jesus as Savior and heaven as their eternal destiny, many are those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing whose purpose is to deceive and to trick and to manipulate. They willfully deceive, make false promises, and betray others routinely.


Now, God does not promise to keep us from being mistreated, hated, rejected, and falsely accused by our (and his) enemies. In fact, in the New Testament, he and his NT apostles told us that if we follow Jesus Christ with our lives that we will be hated and persecuted as he was. Those who are enemies of God will not like (approve of) us if we are following Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands. And so they may look for ways to try to trip us up so that they will have cause to accuse us, as Jesus’ enemies did him.

But the Lord will deliver us through our times of mistreatment and persecution and rejection. Sometimes it may be physical removal from such as this, while other times it will be the strength and endurance and wisdom and grace that we need to walk through these difficult situations in the power of God. For our God is completely sovereign and in control over everything that he has made, and nothing can thwart his purposes, and evil people are only able to do evil if God allows it to happen, for a time.

But we need never to fear what evil other humans might do to us, or attempt to do to us, for if God allows it, he will see us through it. God will accomplish his purposes in and through our lives for his glory if we remain steadfast in trials and persecutions, and if we keep trusting in him to work all things for good for us who love (obey) him, who have been called according to his purpose. We have to just keep believing that he has all things under his control and that it is all going to work out for our ultimate good.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]


Now, under the New Covenant, we are taught that we are to love our enemies. We are to pray for them, and do good to them, and say to them what will be of benefit to them in the eyes of God. And we are to forgive them and to not retaliate, and not get even, no matter what they do to us or how often they do it. But forgiveness is never permission to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin. Forgiveness says, “Go and sin no more.” So forgiveness of sin is never free license to keep on in deliberate sin.

And God will give us that (agape) love for our enemies. And he will give us the power and the desire to forgive. For Jesus loved us while we were still his enemies, and he gave his life up for us on that cross to forgive us and to deliver us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin, for those who are repentant and who obey his commands. So if God (the Son of God), who is perfect and without sin, can love and forgive us our sins, how can we who are sinners by nature not forgive others their sins? And how can we not show them love?

In Harmony

An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17

Love each other truly.
Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil.
Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor.
Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction;
Praying faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people
Who are found in need.
Do not be conceited.
Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion
In humility.
Keep your tongue from evil.
Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;
Listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil –
Is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear.
Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord.
Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

Login to view embedded media

I love the way Zola Levitt spoke of this.
The cry was a courtesy, if you will. "She had to have just a moment...to get her feet over the edge of her bed.. to put her vail on. She's going out, she isn't married yet".

(OSV News) — As more U.S. adults are delaying marriage — or simply saying, “I don’t” — the Catholic bishops of California have launched a new initiative to inspire and encourage the vocation.

“Radiate Love” provides an array of resources such as monthly reflections, prayers, videos, homiletic guides and even social media graphics, all designed to “help families become witnesses of God’s love” as it is expressed through marriage and family life, according to the initiative’s website.

Shifting the narrative on marriage​

Launched in July, “Radiate Love” seeks to “shift the narrative” on marriage, especially in light of the U.S. bishops’ three-year National Eucharistic Revival, Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, told OSV News.


“The (California Catholic) bishops had this great idea that it would be a fantastic outgrowth of a year spent talking about the Eucharist to talk about marriage, and for them to kind of lead the conversation — to lead some education, reflection, information and prayer; to share some resources to help people who are already married; and to give encouragement to people who would like to be married,” she said.

Continued below.

The cross of Christ is powerful. No matter where our minds may wander, eventually we return to the cross anyway. There is a great, comforting simplicity to it. It's hard to describe with words, but the heart of a child just seems to know what it is regardless.

tonychanyt said:

I am taking wagers here. This OP is NOT about whether Jesus asserts that it is possible for you to forgive other people when they sin against you. I'm assuming you don't think so. This post focuses on wagering on what you believe.

Matthew 6:


Let proposition P1 = Jesus asserts that it is possible for you to forgive other people when they sin against you.

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.

Click to expand...

P1=9 for me

HopeSings said:

He strengthens me. I don't comprehend his mystery but it's ok. He is surely with me

Click to expand...

You have a simple, strong faith. Something many of us should strive for, and what some of us envy. God bless you.

How have you been?

The truth is not our feelings. If you are a believer, you have the Holy Spirit. God is so with you, he is inside you! The Holy Spirit does not leave you. He is inside you working in tandem w/ the Father & Son for your ultimate good & God's ultimate glory

tonychanyt said:

Was the destruction of Jerusalem 70 CE a result of the Jews rejecting Jesus?

Lk 19:


Jesus was sad about this prophecy.


I believe Jesus was talking about his visitation of Jerusalem. The Jews did not recognize him as the Messiah.

Lk 21:


What was 'all' that was written?

Click to expand...

I believe that refers to Daniel 9:26-27 in particular. That describes the destruction of the city and the sanctuary and that is what occurred in 70 AD.

tonychanyt said:

Do you view the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD as a punishment from God for the Jews not accepting Jesus as their messiah?

Click to expand...

Yes. No doubt in my mind about that.

tonychanyt said:

I think so. Further, it also inaugurated the times of the Gentiles over Jerusalem.

Click to expand...

Right. Their temple was destroyed and they've had no temple ever since.

tonychanyt said:

Is this a standard view within Christianity? That the destruction of Jerusalem was God punishing the Jews for not recognizing Jesus as their Lord?

Click to expand...

I think so, but I'm not sure. I think a lot of Christians are not aware of what happened in 70 AD. Once I became aware of that, it was very clear as to what passages like Luke 19:41-44 and Luke 21:20-24 (and I believe Matt 24:15-22 and Mark 13:14-20 as well) were about.

Ignatius the Kiwi said:

Neocon warmongers like the Lincoln project aren't people you should appeal to as beacons of sanity. They are just afraid of their power and influence failing.

When you said violence is never a legitimate option, did you mean that? Do you know your country was founded on the basis of violent revolution?

Click to expand...

He said Republicans weren't doing it and I showed that they were

Our country was founded on violent revolution but they created the US Constitution so Americans had another way to settle their differences.

Amen!

God loves all His children.

Selah

tonychanyt said:

Of course I believe in free will! What choice do I have?

Click to expand...

I found all of the jokes to be funny, but I particularly like this one. I guess a Calvinist would say that I believe in free will because I have no choice but to believe in it.

I agree with her. I really don't like either one.

This is why this movement needs to stay FAR AWAY from children.

RileyG said:

Lord have mercy on your persecuted people

Click to expand...

Amen

Fantine said:

Hmmm...if his net worth is accurate, it's increased by 750%. Not bad. Shrug.

In.the same period, the DOW went from 2510 to 41535. An increase of 1600%.

If he put it in index funds it would have done better.

Click to expand...

According to an inflation calculator I found, $400M would have been worth about $1.7B. So taking inflation into account, he managed to double his networth in 35 years. That's not bad, but IMO it's not an indication of a financial wizard.

Yeah that is really inappropriate.

Apparently, they only have 18 congregations per wikipedia, where as the mainstream CofE has over 26 million baptized members.

I'm not really surprised. I wonder how more dangerous professionals will think social media is as the years go by.

A great article and question. the only thing I would add is that perhaps the first step to faith was a vision and not partial sight. As the man saw the vision (angels?) or even partial sight, it gave him additional faith. So the second time Jesus laid his hands on him the faith was there and the healing was complete.

Here is another source that helps describe the city, why Jesus had to led him out, and what really was the context. Basically Jesus was not spitting on the man, but may have used spit, to spit on the curse of blindness.

Congrats on coming back to God. Since you had some bad discernment in the past, I pray it is not an issue in you finding a good fellowship in your area. If it were me I would check online first to get some samples of the sermons. I would probably suggest you stay mainstream to avoid, universal salvation, dogmatic doctrine that thinks only their denomination goes to heaven. If you are conservative then Southern Baptist or Assembly of God might be a good fit. I would check for sermons online and statements of beliefs as another suggested too. God bless you in fidning you a palce to fellowship and grow.

Here's the source. "Rocks.." is absolutely right. It is not automatic that Vance would get promoted. Could be they would pick Haley if they thought it would help their chances. What happens if a presidential candidate dies or steps down?

Pray that Jesus Christ immediately Stops the spread of mPox all over the world:

This discussion is off to an award start. The egg of the woman and the male of female sperm that join together are both alive. If that growing infant is not disturbed but, rather, nurtured and cared for it will grow into a young man or young woman. If at any point you are stupid enough to murder it you are shaking your fist in the face of the Creator God and you are murdering the Image of Yehovah God.