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No person can come to Christ by their own freewill !

According to Jesus words here can a man by his own freewill ability come to Christ ? Jn 6:65

65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 2
What you have to ask is why it is given unto a person. Here is the answer:

It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.
— John 6:45
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The Orthodox stayed true

. I believe there was a beauty there like none other for a full thousand years.

This beauty continues, and we have reconstructions of services at Hagia Sophia according to the Cathedral Typikon by Dr. Alexander Lingas.

As splendid as those services were, I think Orthodox worship has grown more beautiful since then, in these respects:

Firstly, Hagia Sophia did not have a full Iconostasis, but rather a Templon - the exquisite towering iconostases with three or more rows of icons, sometimes as many as five or seven in some Russian churches such as in the Kremlin, and in some Ukrainian and other Slavonic churches, developed over the course of several centuries concurrently among the Coptic and Byzantine Orthodox from earlier arrangements which might be called “proto-iconostases” which developed from the classic liturgical curtain still in use in many Syriac Orthodox and Assyrian churches of the Church of the East, and the Armenian variant with the altar combined with the Bema as a raised platform with a row of icons in between the platform and the floor*

The extent to which having a towering wall of exquisite icons, combined with icons pained in frescoes along the floors and ceiling, cannot be overstated, and in this respect the newer Orthodox churches are particularly resplendant. Several of them follow the design of the Hagia Sophia very closely, including St. Alexander Nevsky in Sophia, which is my favorite Orthodox Church from an architectural standpoint (I also love St. Basil’s in Moscow, the Church on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, and various other churches the list of which would be too long to post here).

Secondly, since the time of the Hagia Sophia liturgical music has developed, with exquisite polyphonic music emerging in the Russian and Ukrainian churches as a result of the training of Slavonic composers by Italian and German composers during the Baroque, which allowed them to learn four part harmony and tonality (which were natural developments of the antiphonal form of hymnody developed by St. Ignatius of Antioch, which was historically avoided by the ultra-conservative church in Rome but embraced by the Gallican Rite churches starting with the Church in Milan under St. Ambrose during a vigil to prevent the Emperor from handing a church over to the Arians in 386 AD. Later, this style of music appeared in the Greek, Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian and Antiochian churches, where it has complemented but not replaced Byzantine Chant. The Georgians use a beautiful system of three part harmony which I also have a recording of in Greek, although I don‘t know the history of it in the Greek church, but that would be interesting to explore.

Thirdly, despite some setbacks such as the unfortunate Nikonian schism, the Sabaite-Studite Typikon became particularly exquisite, with more services, longer services and better services, celebrating more saints, with more beautiful vestments in a larger variety of colors. The colors themselves aren’t specified in the Typikon, which only indicates light or dark vestments, but several Orthodox churches, in particular the Slavic churches, have embraced liturgical color with gusto and have developed a few different but equally beautiful liturgical color schemes, the most common of which is the Russian color scheme that uses gold as the primary liturgical color, blue on feasts of the Theotokos, Green on Palm Sunday and on the Feast of the Trinity on Pentecost Sunday and on Holy Spirit Monday and, feasts of ascetics and confessors and sometimes on All Saints Day, purple on feasts of the Cross and on most Saturdays and Sundays in Lent, black during Holy Week except for Holy Thursday, white on feasts of our Lord, red in Advent and on feasts of the martyrs and during much of Eastertide (in most Russian churches except for ROCOR and emigre churches, there is a change from black vestments at the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Holy Saturday to white vestments, and then at night between the Paschal Matins and Paschal Divine Liturgy vestments are changed again from white to red, for two color changes of vestments (and paraments) in less than 24 hours. This use of color is relatively recent and is amazing, and the vestments are incredibly beautiful, whether the black and silver vestments used on weekdays in Lent and Holy Week, or the gorgeous blue vestments used on feasts of the Theotokos in a variety of shades, or the vibrant red, magisterial purple, royal gold, lush green and radiant white vestments. There are also more feasts as a result of more martyrs.

While some things are not as good as they were, for example, the Divine Liturgy of St. Mark is very nearly disused, in other respects some previously disused liturgies are being revived as well, for example, the Divine Liturgy of St. James, which was previously marred by what we might call an imaginative or speculative translation in the 19th century, but now Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, which operates the main seminary for ROCOR, has published a more carefully translated edition which lacks the dubious practices of most of the Greek translations, and this promises to improve the image of the Divine Liturgy of St. James and increase access to it. Also, with the emergence of Western Rite Orthodoxy, Western Christians who care about worshipping in spirit and truth have access to Orthodox ideals of liturgical beauty combined with a traditional Western liturgical style in both ROCOR and the Antiochian Western Rite Vicarate. ROCOR’s Western Rite focuses on worship before the forced conversion of all of Western Europe to to post-Orthodox Scholasticism, while the Antiochian WRV focuses on adding Orthodox values to the traditional Roman and Anglican liturgies, thus offering, for example, the traditional Roman mass celebrated in the vernacular with the Eucharist in both kinds (which is not unlike what Vatican II intended in its reformed, but they received a different bill of merchandise altogether).

Also the Orthodox continue to celebrate the Divine Office, which is extinct in most Western churches (aside from the Anglican Communion, where it was revived, but has become endangered in the past few decades by the overall decline in the Anglican Communion), and which does not really exist outside of monasteries and some cathedrals in other Western churches.

This is extremely important, because the most beautiful and ornate liturgical services composed in most liturgical rites are those of Matins, which contain the majority of proper hymns and related material for each liturgy; in many Orthodox churches, Matins is celebrated the night before, combined with Vespers and Prime and sometimes other offices to form the All Night VIgil.

So if you want to experience the liturgy in its fullness, whether for Holy Matrimony, or the anointing of the sick with oil (which is efficacious), or the Great Blessing of Water on the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, or the beautiful Memorial liturgy, or any other service, particularly Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy, the Orthodox church celebrates it, and you will not be able to tell whether you are in heaven or on Earth.


*The Armenian style is also used by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics as well as the Armenians at the jointly operated Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where it provides a convenient dual-level design that provides a liturgical altar above the exact place where the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to God. On the other side of a shared wall is the Syriac Orthodox Church of St. Mary’s, which is also used by the Copts, and which mirrors the layout of the Church of the Nativity.
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What do all Christian denominations agree with?

So, please tell us which "Christian" churches/denominations you referring to, specifically, as I would be interested to know!
I do not know what you mean by "Christian" in quotes. I am not here to judge. Many churches have quite a lot of freedom regarding individual congregations. Two different congregations in the same denomination/church can have different opinions about the Bible.
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Hello

The determination of truth is one that has occupied a number of philosophers for thousands of years. Today we have the advantage of advertising and politics to help us exercise discernment. In the movie "The Flim Flam Man" con men know the easiest man to deceive is the one whose own greed allows him to be deceived.

There is that within a person that makes him "of the truth" such that it can respond to truth like a Geiger counter.

Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Consider being faced with two propositions. The first the the assertion that in the beginning nothing existed and then it blew up and became everything. This then organized itself and became us.

The second assertion is that an all powerful person created the world and its inhabitants.

In considering these two propositions one examines the design of living organisms and their components like cells, the existence of light, gravity, and even tides. Einstein said that he believed in the God of Spinoza that made himself manifest in the harmony of nature. To be able to get this far requires one to "see" the hand of a creator. This is not the same as trusting in Jesus, but it is illustrative of the process of recognizing truth.

Most people who chose Christianity during its first 300 years (sometimes under very adverse circumstances) did so not because they considered history, doctrines, or theology. They did so because they observed very real changes in those they knew intimately. These were positive changes they wanted for themselves.

This aspect of Christianity is not often observed today because most who are Christian have become so as children and because few people know each other well enough to even know if there have been any changes. In addition Christianity is presented in so many strange and watered down ways that the core is hardly discernible today.

Here is a short (19 minute) video that sort of replaces the old paper tract that presents Christianity a little more clearly.


To discern truth, one has to value truth even over one's own comfort. In a way, truth can only bring humility as we see the truth about ourselves.
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Exploring the Relationship Between Adam's Initial Immortality and the Age of the Earth

If you have problems with this view, take it up with the
ones who wrote it, here is the link again if you missed it.
I don't have a problem with it. What I have a problem with is YECs who then turn and suggest that Genesis is literal history in light of its ancient Israelite cosmology and context.

Like you claiming God fought a mystical chaos dragon at creation
to create order. A multi-headed fire breathing, armor plated.. myth.

In the Bible, God is described as battling a multi headed sea serpent, and in the end times as well. There is even an ancient tablet discovered from Isreal that depicts this as well.

Psalms 74:14-17 NRSV
[14] You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. [15] You cut openings for springs and torrents; you dried up ever-flowing streams. [16] Yours is the day, yours also the night; you established the luminaries and the sun. [17] You have fixed all the bounds of the earth; you made summer and winter.

By his power he stilled the Sea; by his understanding he struck down Rahab. By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
Job 26:12‭-‬13 NRSV

When you smote litanu the fleeing serpent, annihilated the twisting serpent, the dominant one who has 7 heads.
KTU 1.5 1-2 (Ugaritic ancient near east text)

surely I lifted up the dragon of the two flames. I destroyed the twisting serpent, the tyrant with the seven heads. KTU 1.3.:III:28-46

On that day the Lord with his cruel and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.
Isaiah 27:1 NRSV

A video on leviathan:

The bible does not say the earth is flat with a solid sky dome over it.

Daniel 4:11 NRSV
[11] The tree grew great and strong, its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth.

Job 38:12-14 NIV
[12] “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, [13] that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? [14] The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.

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From a variety of translations:

Amos 9:6 NASB1995
[6] The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth, The Lord is His name.

Job 22:14 ESV
[14] Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.’

Job 22:14 LEB
[14] Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he does not see; and he walks about on the dome of heaven.’

Exodus 24:10 ESV
[10] and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.

Job 37:18 NIV
[18] can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?

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Genesis 1:6 LEB
[6] And God said, “Let there be a vaulted dome in the midst of the waters, and let it cause a separation between the waters.”

Genesis 1:7 NIV
[7] So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.

Genesis 1:6-7 NABRE
[6] Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. [7] God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened.
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Normandt' meditations

167. The Doctor





Jesus declares:

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Matthew, chapter 9, verses 12 to 13



Ah well, it’s surprising! Jesus calls “sinners” to him. He Lo-o-o-o-ves sinners! Not because he encourages us to sin, but because he knows that our request for forgiveness will heal us and grant us peace of heart. His Love will be able to go through our life.



Jesus comes not for the ones who are well, but for the sick, for those who need the Doctor. To acknowledge that we are sinners, to recognize that we need Jesus, to recognize that we need the Doctor is already a step ahead.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Watch with faith, Normand Thomas
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Angels

Sorry for not being able to connect what you are saying here, except perhaps the idea that Jesus leads individuals by means of God's spirit, which isn't exactly true in the way people say, but not a subject for this thread, I suppose.

What I would like to be able to connect to, is what you meant by "in this manner", when you said "God has visited me many times in this manner ..."
If "in this manner" is not by angels, then perhaps there's no need to discuss it, if you are thinking of something else.
I thought you had angels in mind, when you asked "Have you (as the hebrew writer put it) entertained angel's?"

What does this mean to you ... coupled with what Jesus had said Nathaniel would see ... ("Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.")

"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."
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Trump floats stripping Rosie O’Donnell of US citizenship: ‘She is a Threat to Humanity’

It will go as far as his demand that the Panamanian govt. return the Canal.
It won't go as far. Part of the treaty relinquishing control of the canal to the Panamanians contains a provision where the Panamanians acknowledge that the US has the authority to take the canal by force under situations. The Panamanians allowing Chinese owned corporations to see after things arguably triggers that part of the agreement, so yes, there would arguably be legal grounds for retaking the canal.

So, while there's arguably legal grounds supporting retaking the canal (or were - the Panamanians may have backed away from letting Chinese companies have as much control of it as they did or was planned), there is none for removing O'Donnell's citizenship.
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The importance of the apsotle Paul to the early church

At present I am in a thread about the early church and happen to be researching on how the early church transitioned from the Jewish Temple and synagouges to the Christ church we know in some part today.

I dwned on me how vital Paul was in this transition to the Gentiles and how this related to the new covenant of Christ for the church and how this was a fullfillement of the old covenant.

In some ways Paul was the practical instrument that Christ used to teach this transition to the Jews and also to teach to the Gentiles how this was the fullfillment of the Jews. A sticky situation right in the middle of both sides.

Up until Pentecost and even until Paul this was a Jewish religion being fullfilled. There was no thought of Gentiles and it was strict Judaism. But after Paul we have a situation where the church is being open to the Gentiles but still heavily influennced and directed by Jewish tradition.

Paul is in both camps and teaching that circumcision and other rituals are not necessary while at the same time adhering when necessary. So the Jewish factor was still there. In fact from what I have discovered the Jewish factor was there for a very long time and in many ways Christian worship is premised on Jewish worship but modified.

Such as the prophesies of the old testament that the Gentiles would become a pure sacrifice replacing the animal sacrifice. The breaking of bread becoming a participation in Christs sacrifice in bring ourselves to the alter as a sacrifice to God imitating Christ. Paul in this sense seen himself fullfilling the old testament priesthood.

Because of the grace given me by God, [I am] a minister (λειτουργός, [leitourgos]) of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service (ἱερουργοῦντα [hierourgounta], literally serving as a priest, i.e. sacerdos) of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:16).

So in some ways though Peter was the Rock on which Christ build His church I think Paul was the Rock on which the fullfillment of GOds covenent to Abraham in while all nations (Gentiles) would become part of Christ church.

I think this is captured in that Peter and Paul were both executed in Rome by the decree of Emperor Nero. Two great men parting the church leaving it to the world. But their influence was enough to establish Christ church as He instructed that would never be defeated by Hades.

The Attitude of Christ

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11 NASB1995)

Jesus Christ, when he lived on the earth, was fully God and fully human (God incarnate), but without sin. He who is the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – left his throne in heaven, came to earth, and was born as a human baby to a virgin woman of God, but conceived of the Holy Spirit, and thus he was not born with a sin nature as we are. He grew to manhood, and in the last few years of his life he, along with his 12 disciples, spread the message of the gospel of our salvation to the people.

But he was hated by many of his people, many of whom were people of importance, prestige, and/or authority in the temple of God. A group of them followed him around, continually accusing him of things he did not do, looking for ways to trip him up with his words in order to accuse him, so that the people would not listen to him. For they were jealous of him and of his temporary popularity among the people, and they were threatened by him, worried that their own positions of authority might be compromised.

His opponents, though, were so bent on destroying his life that they did not give up, but they continued to accuse him falsely and to try to do everything they could to discredit him and his ministry. And eventually they plotted and carried out his death on a cross, hoping to get rid of him for good. But that backfired on them, for in Jesus’ death, he put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will now die to sin and obey our Lord. And then Jesus rose from the dead, ascended back to heaven, and sent us the Holy Spirit to continue his work in the hearts of those who believed on the Lord.

And so the gospel of our salvation continued to spread among the people. And many people came to faith in Jesus Christ whose lives were also committed to serving him with their lives, because of what Jesus did for us on that cross, and because in his resurrection he conquered sin and death on our behalf so that, by faith in him, we will now live godly and holy lives, pleasing to our Lord, and so we will no longer walk in sin, living to please our flesh and not God. His enemies intended to destroy him and his messages, but God had another purpose in mind. And many people were saved.

Now, when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, to be Lord of our lives, and so we have died with him to sin, and we are now walking with him in obedience to his commands, in holy living, and so we are serving him with our lives in the areas of ministry to which he called us, we are going to be opposed as Jesus was. We will have people who will make it their aim to try to accuse us falsely of what we did not do, and to try to trip us up with our words, because they don’t want people to hear the truth of the gospel.

But despite how we are treated, we must continue in spreading the truth of the gospel and in sharing the truth of what the Scriptures teach about what it means to believe in Jesus. Because we love people with the love of God, we want to see them believe in Jesus, to die to their sins, and to now live for God in walks of obedience to his commands, that they might have salvation (deliverance from addiction to sin) and the hope of eternal life with God. In that way we are having the same attitude as Jesus had, out of love for us.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown
Music by American Melody

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).


I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

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The Attitude of Christ
An Original Work / July 13, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

The Holy Peoples and the Treaty

I think it means that great tribulation will come upon all on the earth, and to avoid being involved is to escape - i.e taken out of the world to stand before Jesus in heaven.
Only by a stretch of imagination, can that verse mean a rapture and there needs to be supporting scriptures as well. There isn't any.
The only time people will stand before Jesus and God in Judgment, is at the GWT Judgment of Rev 20:11-15

I know that the Lord will greatly reward those who overcome their false beliefs. But sadly, many will not change until it's too late. 2 Timothy 4:4
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Flat or round earth -The final experiment.

Why wouldn't "they" expect us to believe that a car can fly into space??

I didnt't say a car could fly in space, what I said that they had supposedly lunched a Tesla car into space & expect us to believe it's just floating around up there. :rolleyes:
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Does the "reign in the influence of Israel" movement need a Tucker Carlson to be credible?

It is not intended as trolling, but rather to demonstrate what is perceived as hypocrisy within the international community.

For 20 years, while Hamas controlled and oppressed the Palestinian people—impoverishing its people and launching rockets at Isreal—the world remained silent. There were no protests in London or on college campuses, and few expressed concern for the Palestinian people.

Suddenly, the world now cares about the Palestinian people.

The outcry today is nothing but crocodile tears.
What a fascinating revisionist history! It's hard to run an economy when you've been illegally displaced from your land, half your grandparents slaughtered by Israeli settlers, and then you're shoved into a confined area that is basically the world's largest open-air jail.
The restrictions on movement and goods in Gaza imposed by Israel date to the early 1990s.[1] After Hamas took over in 2007, Israel significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade on the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip.[2] In the same year, Egypt closed the Rafah border crossing.[3] The blockade's stated aims are to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza and exert economic pressure on Hamas.[1] Human rights groups have called the blockade illegal and a form of collective punishment, as it restricts the flow of essential goods, contributes to economic hardship, and limits Gazans' freedom of movement.[2][4] The land, sea, and air blockade isolated Gaza from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory and the world.[5] The blockade and its effects have led to the territory being called an "open-air prison".[6][7]


Remember that Palestinians - whether Christians, Jews, or Moslems - all lived together relatively peacefully until Zionism conducted mass immigration programs to flood Palestine with Jews. Then when the critical mass was reached, the war and the pogroms stated, and the rest is history. The west turns a blind eye to it because after America broke Iran's democracy and installed the Shah and then that backfired into today's militant theocracy, they needed a new friend in the middle-east.

Basically the world has cared about the Palestinian people during this time.
There have been protests, campaigns, letters, all sorts of reporting on this issue for decades.

Today's protests are because the sheer scale of destruction has accelerated. While there might indeed be other worse human catastrophes looming in South Sudan and other areas of the planet - Israel's apartheid regime apparently has our backing and direct support! So I ask you? Do you support apartheid regimes? Did you condemn South Africa's white apartheid against blacks? Then what about Jewish apartheid against Arabs and Moslems? Why do so many Christian Americans support a racist concept anyway - a "Jewish state"? Why is Zionism so popular when it is inherently a racist concept at its very core? There is now a thing called Israel. I must accept history - and that this state exists. However I do not accept that it has to be a Jewish state. I support separation of church and state for a reason, and that applies to Christians, Jews and Moslems.
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The struggle ...

The saints sin because they're human, but they know they sin. The hardline sinners don't regard even extreme sin as wrongdoing. Stalin and Hitler encouraged the mass murder of millions, and did not repent. I think Stalin said something like "One man's death is a tragedy. A million is a statistic."

Whereas a genuine believer would feel guilty if they didn't get to church or mass on Sunday; happened to speak sharply to their neighbour, or if they had some other besetting sin.

The concept of original sin is a bit of a dead end in my opinion. We live in a society where sin is all around us, with its disastrous results on our nightly news channels showing wars, crime and man's inhumanity all over the world. It travels down the generations. Hardline atheist parents for example encourage their own children to ignore or detest the idea of God, and in doing so ensure that sinfulness becomes entrenched in society.

We may be subject to original sin, but we commit our own personal sins. That is what we will answer for, not Adam's original sin.
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Intent on One Purpose

“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:1-4 NASB1995)

What should “encouragement in Christ” look like? How did Jesus and his New Testament apostles encourage the followers of Christ of their day? And how do the Scriptures encourage us who believe in Jesus today? For those who have died with Christ to sin, and who are walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commandments, who are in genuine fellowship with Christ, doing his will, they were and we are encouraged to keep pressing forward, to keep obeying the Lord, to keep resisting the devil, and to remain strong in faith.

Those who were still making sin their practice, still holding on to some of their old sinful habits, who were not walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commands, but who were living immoral and ungodly lives, who were treating others with hate, and who were being hypocritical by presenting one image outwardly while they were, instead, living in sin and for self, they were and are encouraged to put those sins to death, to repent, and to obey God with their lives in faithful surrender to the will of God for their lives.

And what is consolation of love? Well, consolation is encouragement, but it is also exhortation, an appeal, a strong urging, counsel, or caution. And love (agápē) centers in moral preference and refers to what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful and obedient to God and to his commands. So this isn’t about lying to people to make them feel good while they go on living in sin. This is about loving people enough to tell them the truth which can save their souls from hell.

And what is fellowship of the Spirit? The word is koinónia, and it means sharing, contribution, participation, cooperation and partnership with the Spirit in the work of God in our lives, in obedience and in submission to the Lord. So this involves us dying with Christ to sin and walking in obedience to his commands in living our lives to please God and no longer to live to please the sinful desires of our flesh. And all Christian affection and compassion should then be a result of this, in agreement with God.

And what does that look like if we are “being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose”? Well, the “same mind” is the mind of Christ (of God) and of the teachings of the Scriptures, taught in their appropriate context. And the same love is agápē, which centers in moral preference, and which prefers all that God prefers. And the one purpose is the purpose that God has for our lives, that we should die to sin and obey God and walk in holiness and righteousness, no longer in sin.

And if that is how we are living, in truth, with purpose, then we will not be those who are selfish and self-centered who care only for ourselves and for what we want, regardless of how that impacts other people. But we will be those who love God and our fellows humans enough to tell them the truth of what the Scriptures teach, even knowing that we will be hated and rejected in return. For we put the true needs of others above our own needs, and we love as Jesus loves, even willing to die to see others go free from their sin.

[Proverbs 24:17-20; Proverbs 25:21-22; Matthew 5:8-12,43-48; Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:27-36; Luke 10:27; John 13:33-35; John 15:12; Romans 12:9-11,14-21; 1 Corinthians 13:1-8; 1 Corinthians 16:14; 1 John 4:7]

Refiner’s Fire

By Brian Doerksen

Purify my heart,
let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart,
let me be as gold, pure gold.

Purify my heart,
cleanse me from within
and make me holy.
Purify my heart,
cleanse me from my sin, deep within.

Refiner's fire,
my heart's one desire
is to be holy;
set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be holy;
set apart for You, my Master,
ready to do Your will.

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Intent on One Purpose
An Original Work / July 13, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Do you agree with the President on border enforcement and illegal aliens?

I had no trouble discerning the OP is about what President Clinton and President Obama had to say about border control, illegal aliens and deportation.

Which in both cases was much closer to what Trump has to say about it, than what the Democrats and Left are saying about it now.

It was all pretty bipartisan, until Trump started saying the same kinds of things Clinton and Obama had. The Left decided that any stance Trump took, absolutely had to be opposed, even if it was a stace previously held by the Left.
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Immigration operation at California cannabis farms leads to clash between federal agents and protesters

According to the article the "underage" workers were "one as young as 14". Farm work is *legal* at those ages. I worked in the fields from 14-16 in the summer many years ago.
There were around 300,000 minors that the Biden administration lost track of. There was very little information to go on, so far the Trump administration has located about 5000 unaccompanied minors and reunited them with their loved ones. The administration needs cooperation from the blue states.
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