Peace to all,

To me, the transfiguration starts with the Body that becomes from the storms from the sea, mortal and corruptible from Adam and Eve. Then through the waters of the Baptism the Body becomes immortal an incorruptible “from” the Body of Christ and then becomes regenerated and sanctified “through” the reconfirmation of the Holy Spirit will of God in the soul of the being in the Communion with the spirit and life from the cross becoming transfigured gloriously into the image of the God “to” The Father.

Baptism is to the spirit in the soul of the being in the flesh that becomes sanctified immortal and incorruptible “from” the body of Mary, the Christ, that becomes the re-sanctified reconfirmed “through” the Holy Spirit will of God in the soul of the Christ that becomes glorified and transfigured into the image of God “to” the Father.

"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things" is a verse from the Bible, Romans 11:36.

Peace always,

Stephen

20Burkina Faso​

Thanks to ongoing political instability, the impact of Islamic militant groups has remained steady over the last several years. There were two military coups in 2022, which contributed to civilian deaths, but the number of faith-related violent incidents decreased in 2023 – though the danger has not truly subsided.
The country has one of the world’s most severe displacement crises – with many Christians among the displaced – and the military government has faced accusations of war crimes. With this backdrop, Christians attempting to follow Jesus in Burkina Faso must try to do so without any sense of security or safety, even in places where Islamic militants were previously unable to reach.
Burkina Faso used to be the epitome of religious cohesion, but Islamic militant influence has managed to erode much of the peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians. Now, in addition to facing violence and threats from Islamic extremists, Christian converts from Islam face increasing pressure and sometimes even threats from their families and communities.

Meet Habiba​

“At prayer time, [the militants who kidnapped me] would gather everyone to pray. We couldn’t refuse or even hide. We were constantly surrounded by guns. They would kill you if you didn’t perform the Muslim prayers.”
Habiba (name changed), a Christian who was abducted by Islamic militants in Burkina Faso.

What does Open Doors do to help?​

Open Doors works through local partners to strengthen Christians in Burkina Faso by providing persecution survival training, relief aid, and spiritual and trauma care.

Please pray​

• Ask God to heal the hearts and souls of those affected by abductions, sexual violence and death.
• Pray that God would bind up the wounds of Christians displaced by Islamic militant violence.
• Pray for wisdom for Open Doors local partners as they try to navigate a changing political reality and humanitarian crises.

Considering that by chance perhaps with a swing around different galaxies, two free planets are moving towards each other at 30% and 80% light speed, the total is more than 100% and matter cannot naturally exceed light speed. What would happen around impact? In time and energy, would one planet turn into light?

G3307 μερίζω (merízō): to apportion, to divide, to disunite

G3308 μέριμνα (mérimna) from 3307: the state of being concerned and preoccupied, through the idea of distraction

G3309 μεριμνάω (merimnáō) from 3308: worry, concern, preoccupy

G3309 appears 19 times in the NT.

NIV Matthew 6:

25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry [G3309] about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.

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The same Greek word is translated as "anxious" in English Standard Version:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

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Luke 10:

41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried [G3309] and upset about many things"

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But then, the same Greek lexeme appears in 1 Corinthians 7:

32 I would like you to be free from concern [G3309]. An unmarried man is **concerned ** [G3309] about the Lord's affairs—how he can please the Lord.

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It is not a sin to concern G3309 about pleasing God.

33 But a married man is concerned <3309> about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned [G3309] about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned [G3309] about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.

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The English concept of worrying is not a good thing. The Greek original concept of G3309 is ambiguous. It could mean worry or concern, or it could be a good thing.

Is worrying or anxiety a sin?

That depends on whether you are worrying negatively or are concerned positively about something.

How to deal with negative anxiety?

Practice peace as a way of life. Philippians 4:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious [G3309] about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

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Look to Jesus. Focus on the Paraclete who dwells in you. He is your peace. Instead of dealing with anxiety on a case-by-case basis, practice the general solution of growing your faith daily. The more you grow spiritually, the less you will experience negative anxiety.

You have to be born of the Spirit to inherit eternal life. Pets do not have the Paraclete in them. They do not bear the image of God. They are not resurrected on the last day, as per Jesus.

However, if you miss your pets and feel sad after the resurrection, God will do something to ensure you are not sad for eternity. God may even give you your pets back. Matthew 7:

11 if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

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There will be animals on the new earth (heaven), Isaiah 65:

25 the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

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There will be new pets.

See also No worries in the new heavens and earth.

If masturbation is controlled, without porn or lustful thoughts, is it sinful? Yesterday i did without any of those things but felt fear afterwards because I don't know if I sinned or not. But I didn't have any immoral thoughts or watched pornography. I just did it to de stress myself in the moment. Is it still considered a sin?

Matthew 15:

1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”

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Why would Jesus speak against washing hands?
He didn't. Mark gave more details in Chapter 7:

1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed

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i.e., so-called unwashed.
The Greek word here rendered "defiled", literally signifies "common". The Pharisees prescribed a hand-washing procedure. New Living Translation is helpful for Mark 7:

2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating.

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Jesus and his disciples did not ceremonially follow that system.

3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly

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ESV footnote: Greek: unless they wash their hands with a fist, probably indicating a kind of ceremonial washing

holding to the tradition of the elders,

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i.e., the traditional procedure

4and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.

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Greek: unless they baptize; some manuscripts unless they purify themselves

And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)

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They were overdoing the washing ceremonies.

5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”

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Then Jesus explained to them that they did not eat with defiled hands.
Pulpit thought that they did wash their hands but not according to the procedure prescribed by the Pharisees:

St. Mark explains the meaning of the word κοιναῖς (literally, common), by the word (ἀνίπτοις) "unwashen." The disciples, doubtless, washed their hands, but they abstained from the multiplied ceremonial washings of the Pharisees, which they had received by tradition and punctiliously observed. The scribes and Pharisees, who had come from Jerusalem, were doubtless sent as spies, to watch and to report in no friendly spirit the proceedings of the great Prophet of Nazareth.

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The Pharisees were watching and nitpicking.
Back to Matthew 15:

1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the wordb of God. 7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
8“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

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Jesus wasn't against washing hands; he was against the practice of washing hands ritualistically as a doctrine of worshiping God. You can wash your hands any time you want, but it is not a form of worship.

Surely he knew that this was of great health benefit. He might have had an issue with the ritual but why do you think he would speak against a practice that would save many lives?

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Jesus did not recommend anyone to eat with filthy hands, and Jesus ate with his hands without using any fork.

I used to have dreams before, around five to ten minutes ... in which I am in another better world, similar to this one, but there is like a higher vibration and a nice state and peace and tranquility..
For example, I was sitting at my PC at home, I was on YouTube and I was looking for musicians I know, etc. various films, everyone was there, but there were songs and videos on the menu... which do not exist in this reality.
Nothing from our world, everything was new...
And it wasn't just about the image and sound, but also about the feeling.. every time different Good emotions and vibrations came from it..
Maybe it was formed by the brain itself, but most likely it was a connection to another dimension..
..
When I clicked on mass media there was only good news, no crime, only new scientific inventions, medicines, also the world map always looked different..
..
Based on these experiences, I am sure that every person, every play, movie, and song, every day we lived here...has its other versions, in the brighter worlds (heaven) ..and in the dark ones (hell)
..
Once every few months, it's so intense that already in the dream I kept yawning and was grounded..
Our life form couldn't handle staying there yet..
Sometimes it was crazy.. the perception as in childhood .. and on top of that the state was like a combination of different drugs .. and much stronger. you couldn't even move.. the closest the state would be to dance drugs, but I have no possibility of comparison..
After such a dream, after waking up, my body vibrated for another five minutes and it had to catch its breath .. the state of peace and happiness left only after half an hour ...
...
But I also often visited "hell".
There is a strange dark state, a little hardness of everything and an atmosphere like in mad states ..
Each of the beings in that dark world did the same thing as here, they looked the same, but they were all there together at the same time in similar streets as here, playing Dark Melodies everywhere..
According to some theories, hell is a place for those who want to sin and do bad things and so on...
But each of them will always pay for it there, not like in our world, everything will be returned to them so that the soul does not disintegrate in the black darkness..

Hello folks. Kids are probably not in it for me, unless via adoption, as this world is a strange, dark place. This final devotional for the month focuses on how we can raise and protect our children from the world in this strange new world.

Lock the doors. If the doors are locked he can't get in.

A New York jury on Thursday found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records after a weeks-long trial. The verdict appears to have energized his supporters, however, as the campaign's donation page crashed, evidently due to the volume of traffic.

The campaign on Friday initially announced it had brought in $34.8 million in small dollar donations, marking a near-doubling of its single largest day total on WinRed. Later, it updated the total to $52.8 million raised in the 24 hours following the verdict.

“In the 24 hours since Crooked Joe Biden and his New York henchmen got their sham trial verdict, the Trump Campaign has raised $52.8 million through the online digital fundraising platform,” the campaign said in a statement reported by the Daily Wire. “THAT’S MORE THAN $2 MILLION PER HOUR!”

I had been mentally preparing all week to go to the 11 o'clock Mass this coming weekend because of a Corpus Christi Procession but by the looks of it, it might not be happening. I'm utterly dismayed. No one did this to me, I did this to myself. Praying for a miracle but miracles are exceptionally rare.

There is no longer a Democratic majority in the Senate

Police officers put their lives on the line daily, going out on patrol to ensure their community is safe. Unfortunately, some bad actors, bolstered by the establishment media have decided to paint all cops as evil, based on the actions of a few, and have encouraged others to harm the people who are protecting us. That’s exactly what happened in Minneapolis when police officer Jamal Mitchell was ambushed and killed Thursday evening.

Mitchell, 36, was an accomplished cop, earning an award just last year for running into a burning building to save an elderly couple just days after taking up the job, according to KMSP-TV.
He remained extremely humble when interviewed after the incident and restated his commitment to his job.

It is interesting during Philip's ministry in Samaria where there was a mighty revival, and Peter and John came to impart the Holy Spirit to the converts. Simon the Sorcerer offered money to the Apostles for the power of the Spirit, but Peter turned him down flat, and gave him a severe rebuke, saying that basically that he was a false convert.

I reckon that if it were Benny Hinn instead of Peter, he would have taken the money from Simon as a "seed offering" for the filling of the Holy Spirit and the power that went with him.

Hi,

So after some observations, some claims they hear the voice of God, but now I have my doubts, sometimes some of them say that to put themselves above you, they kinda imply: " I can hear the voice of God you not, so you better listen to me"

I am honest to myself, I never really heard the voice of God, what I do is, I read the bible and listen to other people and then I formulate what I think the voice of God is. Some things are easy, do not steal, do not fornicate, do not murder etc, some things are not that easy, like the 3 topics mentioned below.

Topic: how should the church be organized ? what is God's opinion regarding this ?
possibilities are: elder board, one man at the top decides everything, democratic meaning the members of the church decides etc etc.
Each type of church organisation claiming they heard the voice of God, really I have my doubts now.

Personally I think elder board is best church organisation.

Another Topic: Should churches publish financial transparancy what happens to the collected money ? what is God opinion regarding this ?

You see, this topic, you also have people claiming to hear the voice of God regarding this.

Another topic: which denomination is right, which denomination has heard the voice of God ? Every denomination claiming they have heard right from God, the others wrong.

Br,

In Mark 7:8-13, The Lord condemns the practice of designating personal wealth as korban (a gift) rather than
providing parental care, undermining the commandment of God. This Word is in support of the previous statement:

Mark 7:
6 He answered and said unto them, Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written,
These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

To fully comprehend this, we find that throughout the Law, korban is preceded by the word korab, with
the typical translation being "to bring an offering". However, a more literal meaning of korab is "to draw near".

The daily offerings [Exodus 29:38-46] were made specifically to sanctify the tabernacle to enable
the children of Israel to "draw near" to the presence of the Lord.

Exodus 29:
42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door
of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you.
43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory.

This condemnation of only drawing near with hypocritical lips but not in heart came upon not only the leaders
the Lord is addressing, but also Jerusalem, the city of the great King, fulfilling the word of the prophet against Her:

Zephaniah 3:1 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
2 She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received corrections;
She has not trusted the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.

For this the Lord raised this lamentation:

Matthew 23:
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent unto thee,
how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gather her chickens under her wings,
and you would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, You shall not see me henceforth, till you shall say,
Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.

I don't think so.

One of the Book of Job's lessons is trusting God regardless. Job never learned about the interactions between God and Satan in Heaven. In our lives, often, we have no idea what is happening in God's plan for us. But we still trust in God's sovereignty and believe that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. God is the potter, and we are the clay. He does not need to explain everything to us. This life is a testing place for everyone.

Vanity of vanities.

I studied the phenomena of NDE:s and made an interesting find.

First of all, you may notice that no two NDE:s are the same. Whether they are good or bad, they are never in the same universe.

Also, here are spirits who say they are able to tailor, in their words, a character to the person.

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However I would suggest they do more than that.

Thus we enter the CUBE, also known as the flower of life, or marriage.

As some of you may already know, the cube can be unfolded into a cross. As well as the hypercube.

Thus we conclude, that when transitioning, both at the time of death and in the body, there is room for only one spirit and one reality.

Hello Christians!

I read the Bible often, not only in English but also in Greek and sometimes Hebrew. I've recently finished reading Romans with the assistance of commentaries by Cranfield and Bruce, and I'm now reading Paul R House's commentary on the beautiful book of Daniel. So far I've never got around to learning Aramaic, but I could reasonably be described as an expert on the Bible, in comparison with most people. I'm also aware that one of the things the Bible teaches is that my scholarly knowledge is nothing to be proud of!

I want to be a Christian. I try to live as a Christian. I pray, sometimes for hours and hours...

But the end result is always that I think: none of it is true, is it?

So I'm joining your forum as a sympathetic and knowledgeable atheist. I hope you don't mind.

Nov 2016 the vote was cast for the Presidential term that started in 2017​

from: Hush money, catch and kill and more: A guide to unique terms used at Trump’s New York criminal trial ​

FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS​

==================== next the 30,000 payment

from: $30,000 rumor? Tabloid paid for, spiked, salacious Trump tip

By JAKE PEARSON and JEFF HORWITZ Published 4:23 PM EDT, (Thursday) April 12, 2018



==================== Next the 130,000 payment stormy was supposed to pay back


==========================end quote

Wanted Daniels to repay 130k??

In any case, all of this is about "incorrect business records" (which is not legal, possibly misdemeanor, like jaywalking) not about "paying hush money" (which the article says is not illegal)

So then when is jaywalking a felony? Answer: "when one is jaywalking in order to rob a bank".
IN other words - all the "talk" was supposed to be about how problems with business records - was on the way to "robbing bank" and would mean that they should be pushing the crime of "robbing the bank" and not the crime of hush money or incorrect bank records.

So where has all the "Robbing the bank" sort of news been all this time??

Seems to be conspicuously absent.

Genesis 1:

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

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The first day was the beginning of light and physical time. The last day will be the end of physical space-time as we know it. The Bible spoke of a future last day (singular) with only one meaning.

John 11:

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day

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John 12:

48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

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The last day is the day of resurrection and the end of physical time.

John 5:

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

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Jesus was serious about the last day, John 6:

39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

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44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

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54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

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The last day is the end of physical time and the beginning of a new experience of eternal time.

See also Are we living in the last days?.