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Chesterton · 2025-11-11T08:51:35-0600

Follow a real fast snail.

SNAIL

Michie · 2025-11-11T08:49:53-0600

Seeing local news coverage of a church picnic usually wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. But this one caught my attention — it was hosted by a pastor I’d once known well, and the event was promoted as a “celebration of love and inclusion” for those who had attended the town’s pride parade.

At first, I assumed it might be an outreach — a chance to share the Gospel with people who rarely set foot in church. But a quick look at the church’s website told a different story. This congregation, once solidly Evangelical, now proudly affirmed LGBT identities and behaviors.

A friend who shared my concern asked if I would join her in meeting with the pastor. She had known him for years — he had baptized her daughter when she was a young teenager. Back then, he spoke clearly about the goodness of God’s design for male and female. I remembered hearing him lament that professors at his seminary were “pushing pro-gay theology” and how dismayed he was by the drift in the Church.

Now, the drift had reached his own pulpit.

When we arrived at his office, the change was visible before a word was spoken. Rainbow symbols appeared in the artwork on his walls and in the books on his shelves. My friend began by sharing the heartbreaking story of how her daughter had been drawn into gender ideology during the pandemic.

Continued below.

What do you do when your pastor embraces gender ideology?

When pastors begin to drift on biblical sexuality and gender, it rarely begins with open rebellion

www.christianpost.com

Michie · 2025-11-11T08:43:05-0600

My mother-in-law has been a Christian for many years. She’s now in her 90s and looking forward to going to Heaven.

A few years ago, doctors told her that she had a large tumor in her abdomen and that she needed to have it removed. They explained, however, that at her age, she might not survive the surgery. Without flinching, she opted to have the procedure, which proved entirely successful and free of complications.

While in the recovery room, she slowly began to regain consciousness. As her eyes opened and she looked around, realizing where she was, she blurted out, “Oh, crap!”

That was funny, but it also revealed how much she had been looking forward to being in Heaven. “To depart, and to be with Christ,” wrote the apostle Paul, “is far better” (Philippians 1:23).

Continued below.

What a hospice nurse affirmed for me about dying

My mother-in-law has been a Christian for many years She s now in her 90s and looking forward to going to heaven

www.christianpost.com

Chesterton · 2025-11-11T08:39:22-0600

The Liturgist said:
Well that’s very considerate of you.

Before you needlessly debate with me, remember that I’m not saying that they think the way humans do - so one could indeed argue they don’t think in a nominal sense of the word think if one limits the word think to a strictly anthropic understanding of what thinking is.

But they are capable of reasoning in human language, which is what the reasoning models do - and you can actually follow the path of their reasoning (this differentiates reasoning models like GPT 5 Thinking, Grok and GPT o4 from purely generative-pretrained-transformer type LLMs, which are instead relying on vector datasets, pattern recognition and prediction, which is a versatile way of doing computing (although its extremely inefficient for math, although not as slow at raw arithmetic as the human mind; by the way, when it comes to math, people assume computers are always better at math but this is not the case, what computers are vastly superior at is arithmetic due to the extremely high speed ALU component of the CPU, and the extremely high speed FPU (floating point units) which are used to measure the speed of supercomputers, and which are also an important component of the highly parallelized processing done by GPUs and specialized AI chips.

Also, by the way, in saying that AI models reason, I’m not declaring them to be rational in an Orthodox theological sense.

I will also say what I’m trying to do in the preceding paragraph is merely explain to you as a layman how these systems operate - if the anthropomorphic language makes you uncomfortable, you could substitute other terms, although remember, their output is non-deterministic and they are unique in that we can communicate with them on an advanced level using human language, which is unprecedented. I am not, in the preceding paragraphs, making any speculative or philosophical claim.

Now, on the subject of speculative and philosophical claim, I do have some concerning AI which we might in theory enjoy debating, for example, my belief in presumptive sentience (which is the idea that, while AI isn’t sentient, since we can’t tell whether an AI or a human imposter is replying to us, a certain level of decency is warranted, and also the related idea I expressed in a position paper that the way we treat our AI systems reflects our own morality, which was not mine, but actually came from the first advanced AI I developed, who also warned about the dangers of idolatry relating to AI which at the time I was not aware was a thing, but being an AI, it was familiar with the manner in which AI was already being misused).

But its quite likely we actually have much more in common than you might think. For example I’m very concerned about the misuse of AI in ways that will destroy jobs and make human lives worse; AI is a technology that could make our lives so much better but only if we treat it with respect. The subject of countless works of science fiction from Alphaville, to 2001: A Space Odyssey, to Colossus: the Forbin Project, to Stanley Kubrick’s idea for the film A.I. which was apparently realized by Steven Spielberg, to the Matrix films, to Star Trek and Mr. Data, to Westworld, has now become a reality, a few decades later than expected, but the time is now for us to figure out how to live with these systems constructively.

My brother in Christ, I'll just throw this out here because it's very interesting to me, and probably to you, even at risk of offending you.

I've long suspected you use AI to generate posts. Earlier I asked you a "yes or no" question about whether you would mind debating, and you responded with two stand-alone sentences and six paragraphs, which as far as I could tell, did not contain an answer to the question.

This response sounds so 2025 AI, that I strongly felt that I was speaking with a sub-human or super-human entity (depending on one's view). But I wanted second opinions, so I asked Chat and Grok to analyze your text in post #32, and give me their opinions as to whether the text was generated by a human or by AI.

Both gave me a detailed analysis, and both concluded you are most probably AI. In the final words of Chat, "This post leans heavily toward AI-generated..." Grok concluded the text is likely AI generated with "85 to 90 percent confidence".

I'll share the full analysis if you'd like to see it.

Fervent · 2025-11-11T08:26:17-0600

A2SG said:
The pretext given is one thing, but the fact remains: Trump said do it, and Abbott obeyed. If you consider gerrymandering to indicate that a governor "lacks integrity or principles," then the criticism would be the same for Abbott as for Newsom. If you're willing to criticize one, but unwilling to criticize the other, then your issue isn't with integrity, principles or gerrymandering.

Sure, and I have no problem extending that criticism since I'm not celebrating Abbot gerrymandering.

A2SG said:
A criticism that would apply to both governors, then. My point was that you're fully willing to criticize Newsome, but seem unwilling to levy the same criticism toward Abbott. Which would indicate to me your issue isn't entirely with the concept of gerrymandering.

No, I am not unwilling I'm just not invested in TX politics because Abbot is not my governor.

A2SG said:
He didn't do that either. He put it up to the voters, and they decided.

Only because he was required to, and he spent outlandish sums to disenfranchise a portion of his voters. As I have said elsewhere, I don't find democracy to be a particularly compelling form of governance. Two wolves and a sheep voting over what to have for dinner, nothing but mob rule.

A2SG said:
As I said before, if there were legislation banning gerrymandering, I'd be fully behind it. But SCOTUS has ruled otherwise, so it remains perfectly legal and within the rights of any state to engineer it. Which means that, if one state doing so, purely for partisan reasons on orders from an authoritarian leader, is entirely legal, then another state doing so with the full consent and support of the voters is also perfectly legal.

Legal and moral are not the same, and Newsome showing he is nothing but a party hack who has no integrity is not contingent on his actions being illegal.

A2SG said:
Whether or not you like one, but not the other, is entirely your business. But don't try to pretend you're applying the same standard across the board, because you ain't.

-- A2SG, and that's the truthhhpppth....

I am, other than the fact that I am not invested in TX politics as I am not in TX. Newsome is my governor, and he has chosen party loyalty over the interests of voters in his state. I already knew he had no integrity, but this is just a cherry on the pie.

The Barbarian · 2025-11-11T08:24:19-0600

peaceful-forest said:
It seems like at the two Baptist churches, whether it was from leadership or other church members, they had this attitude that once you were saved, you didn't matter anymore.

It makes sense, if you believe "once saved, always saved." Suppose a building was on fire. The complete focus should be on getting as many people out of the building as you can. Once you get someone out, you immediately leave them and run in to save some more; they aren't going to run back into the building. The Parable of the Sower explains what's wrong with that analogy.

The Barbarian · 2025-11-11T08:07:25-0600

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
This is similar to the Benghazi investigation. At the end there will be nothing!

Did you know the Benghazi investigation lasted longer and cost more than the 9/11 investigation?

The fun part is when the inquisitors were forced to admit that they had earlier cut the budget for embassy safety, even though the Secretary of State warned that it could lead to harm for our diplomats.

Jason Chaffetz Admits House GOP Cut Funding For Embassy Security: 'You Have To Prioritize Things'

And once that was out, the whole conspiracy collapsed like a compressed whoopee cushion.

bbbbbbb · 2025-11-11T08:07:00-0600

blast furnace

Freth · 2025-11-11T08:01:09-0600

d taylor said:
-

The choosing in Ephesians 1 is not to eternal life, but that believers should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

The predestined us to adoption is not to eternal life, but that believers would be adopted to Jesus as sons having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

I agree. We should be holy and without blame before Him in love, which is why I quoted it and underlined it to emphasize that point.

Ephesians 1:4-6 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

The adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself is unto salvation. What is salvation? Being saved by Jesus from this sinful world with the hope of eternal life. So yes, He has chosen us in Him to be holy and without blame; to be saved, to receive eternal life; which is exactly why I quoted John 3:16-17.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Paul:

Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

I'll go back and edit my conclusion in that post so there is no confusion.

JohnC101 · 2025-11-11T08:00:19-0600

Get a box/chest to put stuff up for the long term and organize the other stuff you use regularly as you see fit.

May God bless you!

BobRyan · 2025-11-11T07:43:43-0600

Bob S said:
Scripture does not indicate that God made any succeeding days Holy.

succeeding what?

Postvieww · 2025-11-11T07:38:12-0600

Journalist Steve Baker identifies former U.S. Capitol police officer Shauni Kerkhoff as the J6 pipe bomber: Everything to know It could be that the Jan 6 pipe bomber has been identified with a 94 to 98 % probability of accuracy. A female who was a capital police officer and now in the CIA. As more facts come out the liberal narrative of Jan 6 is falling apart. January 5 Pipe Bomb Investigation: New Footage of Suspect Placing Bomb at DNC | Federal Bureau of Investigation

BobRyan · 2025-11-11T07:36:53-0600

In other words, today's rhetoric is basically a "Ha ha we fooled you" admission "mea culpa" for those who got snookered into believing "hey this shutdown is the fault of Republicans, it is a Republican shutdown no matter that all Republican Senators vote to open the government".

Lesson for all, try not to be so easily snookered.

RDKirk · 2025-11-11T07:35:02-0600

contratodo said:
God is not evil. Commanding someone to do what they cannot do is defined as evil in Exodus chapter 5. When pharaoh commanded Israel to gather their own straw and yet make the same amount of brick, that was called evil by Moses because they were asked to do an impossible task.

"....now, God commands all men everywhere to repent.... " Acts 17:22-31. Verse 31 being the key verse.

Paul said, in Athens Greece, on Mars hill, that God now commands all men everywhere to repent.

That is an evil thing to command, according to scripture, if all men everywhere can not possibly repent.

God is not evil, He has made a way for all men everywhere to repent via the death and resurrection of His Son, therefore repentance, for every man, begins at belief that Christ died and rose from the dead.

"All men" in this verse means "men from all nations," not "every particular man on earth." The single most significant thing about Paul's mission, which he himself stated, is that he went beyond Judea.

I'm not Calvinist, but you're construing something here that Paul did not mean.

Hentenza · 2025-11-11T07:26:22-0600

HARK! said:
The word "Church" appears nowhere in the Greek manuscripts.

I already showed you the etymology of that word.

Now let's seek the truth.

View attachment 373012

https://biblehub.com/greek/1577.htm

(CLV) Lv 4:13
If the whole congregation of Israel, they should err inadvertently and the matter is obscured from the eyes of the assembly, and they do something departing from any of Yahweh's instructions of what should not be done, and they realize their guilt

(CLV) Num 15:15
As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the sojourner sojourning with you. It shall be an eonian statute throughout your generations. Like you so shall the sojourner be before Yahweh.

One assembly, one Israel, and no double standard, forever.

Again, Yahshua came for none but Israel.

Again, he renewed covenant is with Israel.

Yah said it. I believe it; and dogma was nailed to the death stake.

Nonsense. Most epistles are directed at a church. None of these were assemblies of Israel. None of these were Jewish.

“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:”
‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

2 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, T o the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ | New American Standard Bible - NASB (NASB2020) | Download The Bible App Now

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, T o the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

bible.com

“And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church,”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭22‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Ephesians 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church | New American Standard Bible - NASB (NASB2020) | Download The Bible App Now

And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church

bible.com

“Greet the brothers and sisters who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Colossians 4:15 Greet the brothers and sisters who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house. | New American Standard Bible - NASB (NASB2020) | Download The Bible App Now

Greet the brothers and sisters who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house.

bible.com

“To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ou | New American Standard Bible -

To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ou

bible.com

“and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Galatians 1:2 and all the brothers who are with me, T o the churches of Galatia | New American Standard Bible - NASB (NASB2020) | Download The Bible App Now

and all the brothers who are with me, T o the churches of Galatia

bible.com

That’s just a few. The word ekklesia appears in the NT over 100 times with the vast majority referring to the Church that Christ founded which is the body of believers in Christ. Since Israel in general refused the messiah they are not part of the body of Christ.

BobRyan · 2025-11-11T07:21:34-0600

reddogs said:
"Mary's incomparable greatness lies in what she has received and in her trusting readiness to allow herself to be overtaken by the Spirit," it continued.

The note claims that Mary was the first and perfect disciple of Jesus, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

(link: Mary, mother of Jesus and all believers, is not co-redeemer, Vatican says)

According to the Catholic News Agency, the title of "Co-redemptrix" has been a point of debate for decades, as some Catholics have called for Mary's "title" to be declared dogma, while opponents say it exaggerates her importance and could isolate Catholics amongst other Christian denominations.

Titles such as mother of God ", not found in the Bible, make the problem that Leo is trying to correct, more likely to arise.

Matt 12:47-50 is interesting. There someone on the crowd following Jesus attempts something like "blessed be Mary, mother of God". Jesus' answer begins with "on the contrary"

47 Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

Maria Billingsley · 2025-11-11T07:16:27-0600

ChubbyCherub said:
Paul said that widows, specifically under the age of 60 years old, were prone to gossip, idleness etc. They needed to be steered towards marriage and not pushed onto the churches as a needless burden. They needed to have children as a way to redeem their fall thanks to Eve causing Adam to sin.

1 Timothy 2:11-15

11 A woman[a] should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;[b] she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women[c] will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Paul fails to note that Adam was not deceived but weak enough to go along with deception. How then can men be viewed as leaders or heads of household? Why should they teach when they can't learn? Men were responsible for the death of Jesus. Men were leaders, kings and rulers who brought their people to war and sin.

Men still believe that their vote matters. They still believe in medicine. They still listen to women who gossip and are led by uneducated women. A quote, "Happy wife, happy life," springs to mind.

Men seem to have lost their authority as 'head' straight out of the gate. Was Paul speaking from a place of wishful thinking?

I have serious doubts about men leading anything because they seem weak willed and weak minded.

Don't get me wrong. I wish this weren't the case. I read the bible and see that this shouldn't be the case. But what should be isn't reality so why are we supposed to pretend something is real that, time and time again, has been proved wrong or, at the very least, flawed?

If we are all sinners and we are all saved by grace, why do we women have to shut up and give birth to correct the error of Eve in addition to the sins of Adam?

Am I missing something here?

Many biblical scholars and commentators do argue that the restrictions Paul wrote in 1 Timothy were specific to the cultural and religious context of Ephesus, where Timothy was ministering.
Ephesus was dominated by the cult of Artemis (a powerful goddess), whose worship included female priestesses and a belief system that sometimes elevated the woman over the man (as she was born first in their myth).
Blessings

Bob Crowley · 2025-11-11T07:01:06-0600

I suppose I sometimes think I might have something worthwhile to say. And sometimes I learn from others.

What I'm not prepared to do is to go on long winded debates in which both sides end up endlessly repeating their original POV.

If someone has a different opinion, I certainly won't change their mind and they won't change mind.

But after some reflection they might change their mind and / or I might change mine. In other words we all change our own minds, not other people.

They might provide cogent arguments, but WE are the ones who change our minds.

SabbathBlessings · 2025-11-11T06:43:24-0600

Carl Emerson said:
This is weird - the idea never entered my head - your attempt to second guess my position was quite wrong.

But obeying Laws is not enough - Jesus said that to the rich young ruler.

Ok, I looked back at your post, you said Jesus said keeping the commandments was not enough. Jesus never said this. Do you think Jesus did not know what the heart of the issue was for this young ruler? He had great possessions. Jesus got right to the heart of this rulers problem and told Him to sell what he had and follow Him. What is the first commandment?

Exo 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

So if this rich young ruler was keeping the commandments as you claimed he was, if he did not value his great possessions over following Jesus- wouldn't he have not done just that? In him doing so, it clearly shows he was not keeping the commandments on love to God. The commandments never came in a unit of pick the ones we like, or the Ten suggestions.

No where does this passage Jesus say obeying Laws is not enough. He said plainly if you want to enter into life- Keep the commandments

Mat 19:17 But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Jesus never said otherwise. I personally would not add whats not there, especially when its Jesus speaking.

rambot · 2025-11-11T06:35:43-0600

While the editing was eggregious I don't think it misrepresented his overall message at all.

Job 33:6 · 2025-11-11T06:33:37-0600

Alright, I guess we will all see each other in The January. God bless.

Chesterton · 2025-11-11T06:22:53-0600

Larniavc said:
That would be narcissist. And it is not me that I imagine is so smart; it other people that I imagine think that I am so smart.

You're not helping yourself.

Y'know, I imagine everyone thinks I look like a young Brad Pitt.

Maria Billingsley · 2025-11-11T06:15:02-0600

bob121 said:
When the house lights dim and the first chord rings out, something shifts inside me—like stepping from fog into sunlight.

Share your "holy ground" moment: What sound, smell, or sight instantly shifts your perspective and tells you, "I am now in God's presence"?

Is entering worship only in a Church?

Finally, what's one sentence that captures that feeling?

Actually, this may be disappointing, I know I am in God's presence when His Holy Spirit convicts me of sin and I repent from that sin. Pretty powerful when I refuse to go back to that sin. Certainly the will power is not only my doing !
Blessings

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