JohnD

In Quora Digest in an area that prides itself on being "the Way" (Christian) this was declined as too political:

I was blocked / black balled from Instagram for simply clicking the follow button on a alleged Donald Trump Instagram page. "Your content does not jibe with the providers of Instagram" or something to that effect was all the warning I got. Then boom. Censorship. Welcome to communism.

I realize politics has been turned into a flaming dung pile by antagonists trying to expedite the downfall of America, but rather than giving into their tactics to silence any opposition we should weed them out as antagonists the same way we would in any other forum. George, please reinstate the Politics forum.

A very neglected commodity of this WCF one which could benefit and equip Christian men in a world arrayed against us (especially so with Christian males). It would be worth at least trying to give this forum a shot to help us. You'll need to consult George to get the password if you are interested. Hope to see you there.

What will heaven be like? We must remember that the present heavens and earth will be done away with and a new heaven and new earth will be created in their place. Since we will be with God directly in that eternal kingdom, it's just my opinion, but I believe the two (heaven and earth) will be fused into one heaven-earth (in like manner we as individuals will be fused into one spirit-body where presently we are body, soul, spirit). 1 Corinthians 15 touches on the subject of our spiritual body (which will be like Christ's resurrected body see 1 John 3:2). Eternally: Heaven has been described (in human terms) as being a mountain top where fiery stones and streets of gold and gates of pearl exist. Mansions are prepared for those who reside there. We cannot perceive of the way heaven will be, not really. The one thing we can understand is that we will be with Jesus forever and forever and ever. And IMHO that is what makes heaven heaven.

From Eden's Garden to the Day of Judgment the fallibility of man and human inability to understand have limited Almighty God in his progressive revelation to man. For example: the Apostle Paul spoke of the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12 in a time when humanity had no real understanding of cosmology: Hence the use of metaphors to covey infinite points to finite minds. Jesus described heaven as a house of the Father having many mansions. And as a far country. And that heaven is within. Of all the many attempts to describe heaven (which always fall woefully short of their claim to definitively describe heaven) suffice it to say it is beyond our ability to fully grasp in this life, with our limited minds having no reference points (other than the metaphors) to even describe heaven. Heaven is above, hell is below, it is a kingdom, it is within and among us... In our attempts at artistry (specifically writing things like science fiction) we imagine concepts which very well could be applied to heaven... as the universe, another dimension within this universe, multi-dimensional. 2 Corinthians 12:1–5 (KJV) 1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. This is a humble testimony of the Apostle Paul describing what he could about a time when he was stoned and left for dead. Humble in that it does not mention his being raised from the dead or that it was even him. Two take-aways 1. not lawful is more about beyond description than breaking any laws mentioning what he saw and heard. 2. the difference between being in a body and out of a body is apparently so insignificant as to be hard to distinguish (at least initially). Another example is found in Luke 16:19-31 we read about the disembodied spirits of Abraham, Lazarus, and the Rich Man. The account is not post-resurrection / judgment day. It is Sheol the place of disembodied spirits of the dead at a time before the cross. Since the cross of Christ, all who die believing in Jesus go directly to heaven to be with him there in our disembodied state (2 Corinthians 5:8). Note the similarities of the disembodied spirits and the functions of the human body: 1. sight 2. speech 3. hearing 4. sensing pain 5. sensing comfort 6. thirst / quenching thirst 7. recognition of others 8. the ability to speak to others across a great chasm / abyss (more a trait of spirit than body, I will grant you) This could also have been metaphor / anthropomorphic speech (using human terms to describe a situation that is beyond human understanding). Which I grant the possibility... but then again, what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12 about being unable to determine if in the body or out of the body lends itself to the literal interpretation of Luke 16:19-31. According to Ephesians 4:8-10 Abraham's Bosom was emptied out by Jesus the same day he died on the cross (according to Luke 23:43). Henceforth: 2 Corinthians 5:8 (KJV) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Amen.

Curved space-time is peculiar. It is curved and has a compressing effect on all things from that curved state (which produces gravity) ← I've gone round and round with physicists / armchair cosmologists on this who can never quite accept that the universe pushes back against the mass and energy that displaces it producing what we call gravity. They can't explain gravity. They just believe I'm wrong / what I teach can't be true. Period. Curved space-time also invokes equatorial plains (the rings around Jupiter and Saturn for example). And the flatness of spiral galaxies. Add in the right-angle of light, the upwelling of curved space-time causing it to expand over the universe... and the rarity of the precise conditions necessary for life to exist on this one infinitesimally small planet... and it all adds up to an intricately designed cosmos (meaning a Designer exists, who designed and created it) for a very specific purpose. And we have only to read the divinely inspired Bible to learn what the purpose is. For this Grande Designer Creator of the unimaginable greatness and vastness of all that exists is completely capable of communicating with the human race. And by God's traits, his ability to see the future before it happens / and to inspire 40 different authors on 3 different continents over 1500 + years to write the same narrative (and each using their own communication skills without deviating from the overall theme) assures us that the Judeo-Christian Bible is in fact the very Word of God. Read it, study it under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible through the prophets (2 Peter 1:20-21) with a vengeance. A time is coming when the Bible will be taken from us or we will be kept from it (Revelation 12:17 / Revelation 13:7).

One must also remember that the sun is a giant ball at its source but is in fact a star as luminous as the distant stars we see over trillions and trillions of miles away. The sphere of the sun's influence is many times greater than its actual source, and that sphere cannot be totally blocked out by the moon which can only block the source temporarily. I call it the right-angle of light. Light is strange in that sense. In the vast darkness of space, you can look across that sphere of influence and see the darkness beyond and look to a planet or other body further away from the light source to see the reflection of the light source within that greater sphere of influence. One would think (using our monkey brains) that the entire sphere of influence should be lit up like a room with a lamp turned on. It has something to do with the nature of light (mixture of particle and wave) but also the vastness of space. Let's the last bit of air out of the flat earth belief.

All I know is it's totally weird to see the little half circles of light under trees (projected on the ground through the leafs) during a partial eclipse and the major darkness drop in a total eclipse (or super tall thunder storm for that matter). It's unnatural. I do recall during a partial eclipse looking at the sun (with eye protection USE EYE PROTECTION [like a welder's mask] if you look ! ! ! or you'll lose your eye sight). And it gave me a strong sense of depth of field (me to moon, moon to sun). Almost like looking over the moon's shoulder at the sun. But other than that it was no more spectacular to actually see than looking at a photo of it online. Be safe (and and all who are in the path of the eclipse today) ! ! !

There is so much joy in giving especially to the helpless and truly needy. I hear Mother Teresa has a nut of some $6 million which she never touched / used personally. Perhaps mostly money people who wouldn't take "no" for an answer put in bank accounts for her / her cause. But her TRUE wealth was in the giving she selflessly gave to all. I am in no way a Catholic or supporter of Catholicism, but there are those within who (despite Catholicism) are examples for us all. Also Father Joe Carroll in San Diego. ← who I just now learned passed in 2021.

In our travels, we somehow stopped adopting dogs years ago. Before we met my Beloved Wife and I both owned / grew up with several dogs. Shadrach (black cocker) latched onto us one July day after having been separated from his owners. The poor fellow was terrified of fireworks and apparently ran away in fright. He was covered in ticks and the Vet thought he wouldn't survive but he did for several years. It wasn't until the last few years that he stopped checking out people as they drove up in cars (we assume looking for his former masters). He was such a good boy. Moving around a lot in those days made pet ownership near impossible (and why we spent so much time volunteering at animal shelters). A tabby male we named D.C. (a feral who we fed at the park along with the ducks and geese) won our hearts and became our first cat we adopted. He and Shad got along great, but D.C. liked to tease Shad at times. When Shad passed we became strictly cat owners for many years. Fostered many mama cats and litters. D.C. went out early one morning and never came back. We searched and searched the nearby canyon in San Diego but never found him. Coyotes, we suspect. Broken hearted we vowed never to take in another... until we found Shalom (a dark brown Persian who was quarantined at the Woodward Center and who looked as if she had given up all hope to live). ← her previous owners used her as a breeder and when she was no longer able to breed they at least dumped her at the no kill animal center... but that still sucked. Despite the rules not to touch quarantined animals new to the center, I couldn't help but open her tiny cage and scoop her up into my arms. She needed encouragement to live. We loved her a moment and returned her to the cage and drove off, but a mile or two down the road we turned back knowing despite our previous resolve never to go through the heartbreak of losing another pet we adopted the little girl (at Halloween) ← which the Center did not allow for obvious reasons, but made an exception in our case because they knew us. Shalom, so aptly named (which we renamed her from a Spanish name for traveler Via Vallarte or something like that) was the sweetest most peaceful person you'd ever want to meet. I grew up in a large family of heatherns (lol) and for lack of furniture I guess I used to sit or lay on the floor to study the Bible or watch TV (head propped up on the foot of the sofa). Shalom would sit on my stomach as I watched TV or in the small of my back as I studied the Bible. She love aerosol whipped cream and often had a white beard when she ate it. She loved the empty boxes we used to transport groceries from Costco, sometimes a whole stack at a time, which I lovingly referred to as Shalomy's hobo neighborhood. And she loved when I'd push her around in a box lid on the floor like it was her Barbie's convertible car. Next came Indiana Jones and Miss Ginger Rogers who we adopted from a litter we found on the property we lived at the time. R2D2 and Indy would sit on shoulders (one on each side) as kittens when we took them to the Vet. R2 and their sister Leah we found homes for. Indy and Ginger we almost turned over to the no kill animal center we volunteered at (Shalom's loss after her health went south was harder on us than the losses of D.C. and Shad) but we could not give up Indy and Ginger after all. Indy was the little face peaking out through the bushes where their mother had them. My Beloved Wife saw him and he melted her heart. It was from there we rescued and fostered the litter. We credited and reminded Indy often that he was special for rescuing his family. It's only been a few years since they had to be put down (poor health... their mama who was a stray we fed where we lived at the time was in poor health and had to be put down just after we found the litter she abandoned). Long story. Sad. But painfully necessary. We believe in giving people and animals every chance to live... but there comes a point when keeping them alive is a living death sentence. We found three munchkin kittens in a flower bed where their mother abandoned them soaked to the bone from a water sprinkler. Poor things. They were sick and their eyes were swollen shut. My Beloved found them on a bike ride she used to do around the neighborhood. We came to feed them and I picked up one of them and held her to my tummy. We reluctantly put them back in a dry part of the yard and the one I picked up followed after me. Even though we lived in an apartment at the time and we had our quota of pets (Indy and Ginger) we fostered the little kittens. We nursed them back to health and they ran like a team of horses back and forth in that tiny apartment. Indy and Ginger did the same thing when they were kittens. When we were about to release the munchkins to the SPCA we had second thoughts and adopted them as the LORD opened doors for us to rent a house. This was during the financial crunch and I had just returned to my Government job after ventured out into the Limo business had gone bust... but on faith we moved into the house and the LORD provided for us the home we needed to house our small version of Noah's Ark. LOL After Indy and Ginger passed was when we adopted the first dog we've had in decades. A wire terrier whose previous owners had grown too old to care for her. Schatzi (German for sweetie) was so very well trained and the politest dog. She was in the SPCA for two years. I'm not in the habit of griping about others, but several of the workers there mistreated her and they gave her the reputation of being a mean dog that hates men and doesn't get along with most dogs and who bites. After we adopted her (and renamed her Chardonnay) we found she had bruised ribs (yiped a lot from fear and pain) and her paranoia of doors closing on her made us suspect they'd closed her stall door on her at least once. Couldn't do anything about it after the fact, but God help those I catch abusing an animal!!! The SPCA admin waived all fees (wanting to get rid of Chardonnay) when we finally decided to adopt her. We tried finding her a home but failed. Took out ads in the newspaper and everything. But this little girl who they swore hated men jumped up in my lap and covered me with kisses from day one. She got along with our kitties since day one and often touches noses with them. But we since found that she doesn't trust other people or other dogs. We assume from the mistreatment at the SPCA. Our niece got nipped when she tried to pet Chardonnay so we are very cautious about others who want to pet her. She's very pack exclusive. Then came Dakota. A large off white lab / pitbull mix who looks like Superboy's dog Krypto. We tried and tried to get her adopted. I even photoshopped her as Krypto with a cape and with a wonder woman crown on her head. She was a year and a half old and spent her entire life at the SPCA (often in a cage that was cramped and too small for her to even sit up straight. I know... We gave in and adopted her as well. Chardonnay and she had minor issues but once the pecking order was established they got along fine ever since. Dakota loves our kitties and with the most recent adopted one (Mia, who is blind but gets around so well we often forget she can't see) will stand up on her hinds and hug Dakota's snout when she gently pokes her with it. We have to get it on video! Adorable. Mia appeared on a web page my Beloved spotted one day and fell in love with her and said we had to adopt her. I responded that we just couldn't. The ark is full. My Beloved nodded (respecting my decision, acknowledging the logic of the situation) but her expression was that of heartbreak which broke my heart and we adopted Mia. She was born with eyes that were too small and were surgically removed. The SPCA switched her from cage to cage since the other cats all picked on her and ate her food. Backed into a corner and eating from the litter box, she had it rough. She lashed out often, not knowing where the next assault from cats was coming. We brought her home and the cats we already had were not too happy. Often I stepped in to break up disputes scooping Mia up and assuring her "it's okay." I guess that's how we bonded. She's my little shadow and bunk mate now. She's been on regular cat food for years now, but when we first brought her home she'd eat pretty much whatever I ate often sharing my TV tray (meat, green beans, etc). When it's meaty enough, she will still let me know she's interested in what I'm eating, but I discourage this now since cat food is better for her. I will slip her a piece of chicken of fish every now and then. My Beloved Bride is the one who loves animals the most. She inspires me and awakened in me this love for God's creatures from the indifference I once had. And she got that from her mother who was the sweetest person I ever met in my life. Sorry I got so carried away and wrote this long post.

With Indiana Jones, I'm thinking of that scene in the movie the Last Crusade where he and his dad are getting shot at. Henry Jones: They're trying to kill us! Indy: I know Dad! Henry Jones: This is a new experience for me. Indy: Happens to me all the time... Our Indiana Jones climbed into places he fell three stories from (only bruised his paw pads)... got his tail tangled up in window blinds draw string (he was okay after we cut the draw string but until we freed him he was in such a panic that he bit my Beloved Bride so hard in the hand it swelled up and we have to get her shots) She held him up while I cut the draw string. He was just prone to these sorts of things. He got stuck in a neighbor's garage door as they were opening it. Ironically he was generally unscathed by all of this. His guardian angel has nothing on mine (even though I am prone to taxing my guardian angel to the limits too).

I used to have to put rubber bands on the faucet handles to keep Indy from turning on the faucets unsupervised. He never turned them back off. LOL He did this "side step" down the length of the fence. Indy and Ginger loved to pose for photos especially when they were kittens. I wrote these two a song on my guitar: "Indiana Sunshine Ginger paper mill Indiana sunshine, oh ho what a thrill" Indy loved it and would stretch or pat me on the side as I played and sang it. Miss Ginger wasn't so into music. BTW the paper mill was a reference to how much she loved playing with balled up paper. She'd come running to play when she heard us ball paper up.

We named her because she was a dainty lady but because she had a beauty mark on her nose. Our niece pointed out that the coloring of her ears was like she was wearing a big bow. She and her brother Indiana Jones when they were kittens. Indy earned his name always into something or in trouble... ever on the brink of using all his 9 lives... I'm getting choked up going so far down this memory lane. They are all gone now... in their places new little ones who needed us (all of which have special needs). But the past family members will never be forgotten. Ever.

We volunteered there 14 years so there's tons of photos.

Reminds me of a little one we used to have (Miss Ginger Rogers): She brought my Beloved Bride a heart shaped leaf because she thought it was pretty. My Bride put it in this display to photograph:

Thank you. Yes. That's us.

@Debp, @ladypeartree This little genius watched at the fish market how people would buy fish from a vendor. So she brought a leaf to the vendor who gave her a fish. From that day forward she brings the vendor a leaf and he gives her a fish.

Reminds me of the years my Beloved Bride and I volunteered every Sunday after Church at the Helen Woodward Animal Center near San Diego. We turned out horses to graze and romp while we cleaned their stalls and fed them snapped carrots. The stopped letting us tend the horses for insurance reasons (had to be employees). But the center of our afternoons was with two lamas, a 300 lb sheep, 2 pygmy goats and a Sicilian donkey. There was a fenced in area we turned then out in but also this great big lot behind the Church and the animal center bordered by a huge horse track on the far side. Being out of their enclosures and let off their leads they romped around free. Just before taking off the leads (not the sheep's is already off). There was also a coral with a roof for when there was a rare rain: We called it the Out Back. We moved away 15 + years ago and they all are passed on. But the memories... Annual fundraiser Spring Fling ambassadors Sparky, Tommy and friends... The theme for the fund raiser was the Gay 90's (1890's).

I think there is a reluctance to go into much detail in this subject since it open most up to scrutiny and doubt. God [speaks] in many ways and through many people and even animals. At least the one donkey (Numbers 22). Satan does as well (and through at least the one serpent Genesis 3). Sometimes people are not good judges to distinguish between the two. As with all things, we tend to believe in what appeals most to us. But imagine Abram at the behest of the LORD took Isaac to Mount Moriah to slay (Genesis 22). Or Hosea being told to marry a prostitute. Our wits and personal bias and self serving desires kick in and reason "surely not Lord" ← Simon Peterobics {wink} "Unless I see the prints of the nails... I won't believe." ← Thomasonics I have heard my name called out audibly when no one was around causing me to pause just long enough to avoid a fatal accident. I have hear the voice of God in my heart aiding me in an intense debate with a Jewish Rabbi (guiding me to a profound point about Isaiah 53 that the suffering servant is Israel as the Jews claim... but that Israel is none other than the Messiah (Israel is a contraction of three words he / prince / God yish sarar elohiym and the ultimate Prince of God is... Messiah Jesus). I seek the tutelage of the Holy Spirit every time I read scripture (2 Peter 1:20-21 / 1 John 4:1 / Acts 17:11 / Proverbs 25:2 / Deuteronomy 29:29 / Isaiah 28:9-13). I endeavor not to write or do Bible studies by my own understanding but by what the Holy Spirit gives me at times which flows so consistently I hardly know what is coming next until I've typed it. Often times I am given a word to type that I do not know for sure what it means until I look it up. The late great Dr Walter Martin (founder of Christian Research Institute and the original Bible Answer Man radio broadcaster) once put it like this... "you have to do your home work... but you also learn by doing... debating cultists and skeptics and atheists and heretics of all varieties, I sometimes find answers to their questions or challenges that are not coming from me because I did not know them before." God also speaks as in Revelation with a completely audible thunderous voice. I guess the point in all this is the testing by the scriptures (Acts 17:11 / 1 John 4:1) to determine whatever you hear however you hear it is actually the truth / voice from God or not.

The one memorial Jesus actually commissioned until he returns is his death (Passover Seder). Otherwise, if we wanted to keep holidays that actually point to Jesus we would keep the Jewish high holy days.

Astarte / Easter (like Christ Mass / Christmas) are evidences of paganism brought into the realm by Roman Catholicism = the ongoing compromised Church.

Strays will certainly eat the dry but they LOVE the wet food!

I just remember going to the city dump in St. Pete, Florida 50 years ago working with my Stepdad (law service) to dump grass clippings etc. every couple weeks and the millions of seagulls that blanketed the landfill. Their motion overall almost made the dump look alive like it could stand up and be some monster in a Spider Man film....

First of all we must remember that the book of Hebrews is written to the Hebrews to tell the Hebrews that the completeness of being fully Hebrew is to believe in the Hebrew Messiah Yeshua Jesus and live under the New Covenant he gave predictive prophecy about in Yirimyahu 31:30-33 / Jeremiah 31:31-34. ← the book of Hebrews reads as a divine commentary on that passage in the Tanakh Old Testament. Hebrews 6:4-6 must be tempered with 1 John 2:19, John 10:27-29, Jeremiah 32:40, 1 Corinthians 5:5 (all of which demonstrate the security of genuine salvation).