peaceful-forest said:

I was wondering if any other Christians are having trouble with making friends. Friendships you're actually happy with and are good for you. It can be with other Christians or non-believers.

I feel like I have trouble. I don't really know where to find other Christians that are like me.

At work I'm around people I do not trust. They lie, they gossip, they're out to get others, etc. So I have to watch what I say and do, and protect myself.

I also haven't been to church in 6 years. I know that's bad. But I'm not impressed with the churches in my area.

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I don't have advice other than to have friendly comments when you talk to people. Don't crticize or condemn. Don't coplain about your upbringing. I wasn't allowed friends growing up and we moved every year.

How to Win Friends and Influence People is a 1936 self-help book written by Dale Carnegie. Over 30 million copies have been sold worldwide.

Ivan Hlavanda said:

What I am definitely sure of, is that they are 2 literal persons, and not a metaphor for the Church and Israel

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I agree.

Rescued One said:

Quote the verses that supposedly support your statements

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My apologies, I mistook this statement, possibly because I'm still raw to the whole encounter that spurred this discussion in the first place and the limitless ways our intent can be misconstrued by text.

The verse is from 1 Timothy 2:12-15

12I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

I have since found What does it mean that women will be "saved" through childbearing (1 Timothy 2:15)? | GotQuestions.org this site which states that this verse is often misinterpreted so it's something I am still considering.

Happy for your thoughts, too!

Is the teaching outdated, or is the New Testament still relavent?

Delvianna said:

when it comes to personal life, my mother is never wrong, I'm always wrong and I'm always supposed to just forgive her despite my mother not giving me an apology for her behavior because, "she's your mother".

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I realise that this will not help you with the terrible way that you are being treated, but I have never accepted that Christians must forgive people who deny that they are doing anything wrong. We can know that Jesus does love them too, and we should. We can avoid taking justice into our own hands, and know that God is a just judge. We can be sorry for our part in any problems. We do not have to accept one-way demands from bullies that we forgive them, when there is nothing there but a requirement they carry on the same way.

In my own case, I was deemed guilty of sometimes really bad wrongs, the guilt was established by gossip, roumers and theories. Then, in the name of "Christianity" I was genourously forgiven for my dreadful sins. All of that without me ever knowing that I was meant to have committed those sins in the first place!

dichotomy

Aggie said:

Anybody remember me? I was a regular on this forum from 2004 until 2018, after which I mostly moved on to other things. I don't plan on becoming a regular here again, but I'm back for the time being to ask about a recent piece of evolutionary anthropology news.

https://x.com/OriginsUnveiled/status/1964040999468224774

According to this analysis, when the human and chimpanzee genomes are compared while including portions that hadn't previously been sequenced, their similarity drops from the commonly given 98% value to 84.7%. On the surface this seems valid, and the conclusion has been accepted by Jerry Coyne, an evolutionary biologist who is qualified to evaluate it. Jerry Coyne's post from yesterday is what brought this analysis to my attention.

But there is something odd about this conclusion: it's virtually identical to an argument made in 2012 by Jerry Bergman and Jeffrey Tomkins in the Journal of Creation. Bergman and Tomkins' 2012 argument was that when human and chimpanzee genomes are compared using data typically omitted from these comparisons, the percentage similarity drops to somewhere in the 81-87 percent range. Either the recent analysis by "Origins Unveiled" is an example of a major creationist claim being vindicated by mainstream evolutionary anthropology, or it's a very clever false flag operation by a creationist or Intelligent Design proponent, which was convincing enough for even Jerry Coyne to be fooled.

Looking more closely, I've noticed a few other possible red flags. First, the argument made by "Origins Unveiled" (and accepted by Jerry Coyne) is based on a paper published in Nature on April 9th. The exact same argument made by "Origins Unveiled"—that this paper shows the creationist figure of 81-87% to be correct—was previously made six months ago by Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. And second, "Origins Unveiled" is a relatively new Twitter account (registered in 2024) without any identifying information, aside from that they were a were considering a Ph.D in evolutionary anthropology until they quit due to "the rampant political correctness I witnessed among professors and students in potential university programs". Some of the account's other posts include accurate summaries of evolutionary anthropology concepts, but a fair number of creationists have legitimate PhDs and have published mainstream biology or geoscience research, so the ability to accurately explain these concepts doesn't prove the account's provenance either way.

I would like some help evaluating whether the "Origins Unveiled" Twitter account is for real, and whether it's a coincidence that they've reached the same conclusion as Luskin (and also previously Bergman and Tomkins), or whether this Twitter account is being operated someone associated with the Discovery Institute who's posing as an evolutionary anthropologist. I suppose it's also possible that this account belongs to a creationist or ID proponent but that the substance of their argument is still correct. I'm aware of one other case where a creationist objection (not to the theory evolution itself, but to the way it's been presented in textbooks) turned out to be valid.

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The problem with cherry picking methods of comparison to drop the similarity of chimps and humans to 85% is that the same method make gorrillas and other gorillas less related still.

This means the comparison clearly isn't useful as a demonstration of separate lineage.

iluvatar5150 said:

You said that there was a distinction between immigrants and refugees. Trump canceled the temporary protected status of Haitians and is sending them back in February. I figured since you made the distinction, you knew something about the places where these folks were being sent back to.

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It is about drawing lines, wishy washyism leads to chaos. As an American you should know, your flag has red lines.

But back to reality, the only thing I know of the place apart from the clear waters is, well, what is there to say............

the leaving was the best, but that I can say of many places.

Valletta said:

The Somali Welfare Fraud Scandal Is Even Worse Than You Think

The Somali-tied welfare fraud scheme in Minnesota is likely far worse than the American people think, involving “complicit” state government officials and totaling far more stolen money than original early estimates stated, according to Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller.Billions of...

www.dailywire.com

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Do yourself a big favour. Try to find reputable sources to back up any claims you want to make. And tell anyone who thinks to use that dismal excuse for a human being such as Miller to support anything whatsoever is only illustrating their own gullibility.

Ivan Hlavanda said:

But AI is more than just summary. AI is to use fake voices, fake images, videos and what not. Christians use AI for prayers, teachings, sermons. Where is the authenticity? Where is the heart that God desires? We worship the Lord with new hearts of flesh, and not like machines. Prayers, sermons it's not about using beautiful words, but words from a heart that fears and love the Lord.

Yes, technology is just a tool. A good servant but a terrible god, it can become easily our idol. So in sense technology is not bad, but it is the way we use it. AI however, is much much worse.

We can have a discussion, but I want a discussion with a human being, not AI

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AI has many outlets, some are for pure entertainment but others can be used for critical discourse/study. the video/image content doesn't have a goal of accuracy in retelling accounts but rather is entertainment driven.

we typically know the difference quite easily. we don't watch Charlton Heston to understand who Moses was even if he is famous for dipicting him. so a measure of common sense is still needed and like any mediums we can't lump it all together and say because some things are bad then it's all bad. for example the Internet clearly has inappropriate and moral failures throughout, but that doesn't mean we should never use it. AI is not some self thinking machine with all these goals to corrupt reality. people are still controlling the content, AI is just the tool they use.

the church historically has used a lot of prewritren content for expression of worship outside of the Bible. liturgy, songs, prayer, ceremonial aspects, preaching, devotionals, meditation, etc.... the fact that we are going off a script doesn't make it insincere, certainly we can challenge these things but when I sing a favorite hymn I still need to find a place in my heart where I can personally use the hymn to give glory to God rather than just mechanically string the words together. Sometime I identify with the words so much that I find it some of the best ways to expression my deep feelings. The words and music together may be beautiful in their arrangement but those things themselves do offer worship to God, it is still through the heart not the physical (or audible) thing. no matter how melodic if there is no love, it's just a resounding gong.

certainly AI can be used irresponsibility, (so can tongues as Paul made that very clear) so we still need to critically approach these tools and ensure they are being used to edify and build the church or as a tool to love others while giving glory to God over a competing focus which indeed can be forms of idolatry, non different than any "thing". AI is has more rapid results so ifnit has a negative/positive impact that too can manifest quicker but that's not AI's problem, that's still a user problem and AI is still just a tool (regardless of how big the tool is, it's still a tool)

its also very much the future. you may reject it today but it's rapid development will force you to approach it down the road. I guarantee there will be AI translations of the Bible and AI content through the church in all aspects mentioned above. we can't just deomonize it but rather learn how it can be used still as a responsible tool. If Hitler liked apples does this mean that apples are evil and we should stay away from them? certainly not, and such a conclusion would be absurd, but is AI no different? AI doesn't corrupt everything it touches and it's still on us to critically and faithfully use it to give glory to God over "thing"

David Lamb said:

Why expect teachers in schools to teach that "carriages" used to mean "luggage," that "fetched a compass" meant "turned around," etc.? Such meanings are not "correct usage" in the English of today.

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Because it's not only the Bible that uses historic vernacular.

Take for instance the Romans and how they phrased quotations on engravings underneath their monuments or busts, and then think about if we had teachers rephrase these quotations so that we understood them in modern context. Why wouldn't we apply this to other writings?

Now, if we argue that we can't expect secular teachers to teach us the changes within our Bible, fine. But, surely, this is where the church comes in?

For example, our church uses the NIV. Seemingly, even some of the words and phrases which I consider to be 'everyday' and basic, are beyond the scope of what some have been taught or come across often, so our pastor provides alternate words or summarizes phrases in a more 'modern' way for generalized understanding.

The responsibility for learning has to lie somewhere. We can't all just delegate responsibility to someone else or just cease the pursuit of knowledge. There are many paths to learning if someone is willing to pursue them.

RamiC said:

They certainly are not doing it quietly, as if it would be rude to complain.

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Quite. And yet all the while claiming that they have been ‘silenced’ while talking through a sound system on stage in the middle of London.

I believe the church is taught by GOD through Jesus Christ. Jesus said , John 6:45 , John 14:26 , John said , 1 John 2:27
we have the anointing that teaches us. This is saying we are taught by divine revelation just like the prophets and Apostles were. I do not think that any man or woman can reach anyone spiritual things, only GOD can do this. These shepherds in the churches today think they can do what only GOD can do. The early church was not a one man show. 1 Corinthians 14:29 since we are taught by divine revelation then we must be prophets and prophetesses because no man can teach us. This idea is in the scriptures if you look for it. I believe that that after the deaths of all the Apostles massive deception began and many false churches came and took the name of Christian and perverted it. There is a prophecy in Ezekiel 34 about these false shepherds and what GOD said HE would do about it. This is a hard thing to see but this too is in the scriptures if you search for it.

Praise God for their release and praying that those still held hostage will be freed.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed.

More confusion and more prayer required for me, trying to wrap my head around our ability/inability/requirement to honor the Sabbath and/or not eat pork or all of the other things that our church does not teach nor uphold because a) the law of the land changed it for whatever reason in the year 'dot' and I have no idea about it because I was not born in the year 'dot' and b) some suppose that Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law and, in doing so, made the old law invalid c) suggesting that the old law is invalid is some sort of heresy because Jesus came to fulfill the law and not abolish it (despite Paul saying that only slaves were bound to the law and Christ is freedom (paraphrased, please cite scripture if you know it off the top of your head) d) some saying Paul had no authority to say what he said and do what he did and we should only follow Jesus but how we follow him ...well ... see point b) and c) above..

And so, it makes me feel like believing in Christ, as the Savior of us all, the Son of God, who died for our sins doesn't matter because we are not upholding the old law. Or, if we do, we are not upholding Christ because we can't do the two things together. This is contrary to what Jesus Christ said gave us salvation so where do we go from here?

Where are our churches so we can learn correctly? Didn't Jesus know how fractured we'd be? Without guidance from those who have had the 'law' passed down from the year 'dot' to teach us, translate for us, instruct us in what is/isn't required, we're left to the church and, yet, the church is of man?

If I read the bible one way, someone else reads it another way........

I'm exasperated.

jonojim1337 said:

Funny how Nasa means deceive in Hebrew

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Here we go again.

NASA is not a word. It stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and should be written N.A.S.A.
Whatever the word is in Hebrew that we translate as "deceive", that word existed long before America was even discovered, never mind them setting up a space agency.

I'm sure these highly educated and qualified men and women did not set up their agency and think, "we need people to know who we are and what we do; what shall we call ourselves? I know, there's a word in OT Hebrew which means "deceive"; that'll do."

d taylor said:

Only a denomination and its members who believe it takes more than belief in Jesus to receive God's free gift of Eternal Life. Wold read what i have written and then believe, i believe moon landing are a salvation issue.

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So you are on record that what anyone believes about the shape of the earth has absolutely no bearing on their salvation, correct?

The image of the beast. A beast is a nation, it’s ruler and people as is seen in Daniel. This beast nation was, is not and yet is. It was a nation, then disappeared from history only to return again. It is the man of sin who creates an image of this beast nation going as far as reinstating the sacrifices and building a third temple. The false prophet is an Elijah imitator who calls fire down from heaven to burn up the sacrifices in order to deceive people into thinking the man of sin is GOD. This beast nation is populated by people that came up out of the sea of humanity because it’s people were scattered during its previous downfall. The capital city is a harlot city built on seven mountains that are the seven heads with blasphemous names. One of these heads or mountains suffered a deadly wound when it’s temple was destroyed in 70 AD but the building of the third temple heals this wound. This beast is a restoration to the glory days of an ancient nation whose king received his weight in gold yearly of 666 talents. The measure of a man.

We read in Romans 11 about the branches which were broken off from the “Olive Tree,” which was not a literal tree, but which symbolizes biblical Israel, i.e. Jesus Christ. Once Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him, and then he was resurrected from the dead, God’s covenant people (Israel, the branches) now included all Gentiles who believed in Jesus Christ and who followed him in obedience. And all Jews who refused Jesus as their Messiah were cut out of Israel (the tree).

I see this as paralleling with this passage of Scripture in John 15, only here Jesus is symbolized by a vine of which we are the branches. And the message is fairly of the same nature. Every branch in Jesus Christ, the vine, that does not bear fruit (spiritual results according to God’s word), he takes away (removes from the vine). And if one of the branches does not abide in the vine, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. Similar results as above.

For we read in 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; and Hebrews 4:1-13 that all those who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years who did not obey God, but who chose the path of sin and rebellion, instead, were put to death by God. And not only did they not get to go into the Promised Land, but they did not get to enter into God’s eternal rest because of their disobedience, which God referred to as unbelief. And he referred to obedience as belief. And these things were written down for us so we don’t follow their example.

All of this has the same message. If we profess to be part of spiritual Israel, the body of Christ, by faith in Jesus Christ, but we do not bear spiritual fruit in keeping with repentance, and we do not abide in Christ, i.e. we do not obey him and his commandments, and so we do not conform to his will and purpose for our lives, and so we do not follow his leading, and so we do not continue in and remain in him, but we go our own way, instead, then he will throw us away unless we repent and we obey him in doing what he says.

Jesus taught it, and his New Testament apostles taught it, and we can read about this all throughout the New Testament writings. We cannot just claim that we are in Christ but then keep living in sin, and not in obedience to our Lord in walks of surrender to the will of God for our lives, and then expect God to forgive us of all sins and to let us into his heaven when we die. But sadly that is what many people are teaching and believing. But please know that is not the gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

So, believe and live the truth of God’s Word, and reject all of Satan’s lies.

Seek the Lord

Based off Isaiah 55
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Musical Instrumentation by Mark Bradley

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”

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Branches Not Bearing Fruit
An Original Work / December 9, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Scripture tells us that everlasting life is a gift from GOD to the church to be received in the last day. Immortality was withheld from humanity when Adam sinned. This MORTAL must put on immortality. Everlasting life is a promise dependent upon our submission to GOD in love and faith. No deliberate habitual sinner will have everlasting life.

Do you know what a jetski is?

Truth or Dare, again?

GAIN