JohnD

NIV uses the word pride... other translations call it boasting or rejoicing... I myself have relaxed my guard against pride (I used to say I am pleased with whatever people usually say they are proud of... taking the LORD's lead: "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased..." ). But I figured I was sounding sanctimonious / legalistic not using the word proud... as long as it is not pride in myself... but I may be slipping... LOL

You and I have similar backgrounds... minus extensive seminary upbringing. I attended only two semesters of SW Baptist Sem extension before the traditions of man drove me from the course and the denomination. It was not my distaste for the traditions but the Holy Spirit pointing them out and impressing on me the blindness to it all. As a seminary grad I am sure you are aware of the deutero-trito Isaiah curricula infesting not only SWS but all seminaries. What fuels the fire of tradition (which Jesus warned about in Mark 7:7 and Mark 7:13) ← an eye opening read... is our own intelligence getting in the way of God's Holy Spirit (who is the sole interpreter of scripture [2 Peter 1:20-21] and giver of all truth [John 16:13] ). We all struggle with this type of interference, usually in the form of trying to understand / getting our heads around whatever topic or circumstance. And our shortsightedness and ignorance plays a detrimental interference in God's truth being disseminated. From Eve considering the first temptation to the most recent choice made in the world at this very moment... humanity gets in the way of God trying to bring about good. And rather than placing our trust in the Holy Spirit of Truth we rely upon our own wits or the comments and conclusions of other mere mortal men (the seedbed of satanism). Satanism infests humanity in many more ways and degrees than the blatant occult / church of satan. It is what makes humanity the enemy of God by nature and is why even believers in Jesus Christ still sin. And almost no one pays attention to it or face it or are even aware of it. And it is the very thing we ought to be most aware of: beware... because we cannot adequately deal with the beast we all are through discipline etc. if we go through life ignoring it or pretending it's not there. Meaning no disrespect to my brothers and sisters in the LORD, but I find it frustrating to share what the Holy Spirit bids me to post (following the prescription he gave in scripture to receive his interpretation / inspiration) only to have most if not all question every syllable of the post. I find less frustration in secular forums like Quora Digest and Reddit especially answering honest questions and putting down cultist doctrines there. Christian sights have the many humanist traditions infesting them as well as (well meaning) people with a little bit of knowledge tripping up those who are trying to post what comes from the Holy Spirit and has been biblically tested... 2 Peter 1:20-21 / 2 Timothy 3:16-17 1 John 4:1 / 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Acts 17:11 Proverbs 25:2 / Deuteronomy 29:29 Isaiah 28:9-13 These are what I call the keys to the Kingdom. I also wonder if God isn't reminding us that we are to spread the Gospel to the outsiders rather than continually roosting in familiar coops.

I am praying for you. Are you a believer in Jesus? I ask this because you mentioned your wife becoming a Christian and consulting others who are Christian... Does your wife believe she is unequally yoked to you as an unbeliever? Sometimes people will use that as a reason to leave a marriage. The Bible does not support that reason... but I also cannot shake the feeling that there is more to her reasons for leaving. Even if she hasn't told you what that is. I pray for your family to be fully restored. And for your salvation if you are in unbelief (which is even more important). The Lord bless you!

Tradition.

America has long played the harlot ← which is how the Bible described Israel when she went after foreign pagan gods. America has at least done that (even in promoting secular humanism in place of the Christian course our founding fathers deliberately chartered for this nation). We have given atheism equal standing, foreign religions, amorality, and hidden Jesus from as much public view as possible for many more years than you might expect. Even when prayers were accepted in public... "in Jesus' name" was not tolerated. Same with entertainment / film even when the subjects were Christian. "Oh God... blah blah blah amen." ← was all that was acceptable in films and social; events even as far back as the 1940's and 50's. Bible study... kicked out of school. Christian prayer... out. And the big entrance of atheism into public education and the market place (Scopes Monkey Trials) where atheist beliefs demanded equal time not demand sole supremacy and faith based anything is not tolerated. If all we hope to do is restore prosperity or some global standing over the other nations or even freedom... we've missed the point entirely that and why America has been under God's judgment.

Amazing how the traditions of man (and supplementary memory) does this. The lion and lamb refer to the Messiah Jesus in scripture (Lamb of God Lion of Judah). Noah is referred to as a preacher of righteousness, so building a barge in the middle of the desert (plus the fact that it may not have even rained to that point in history yet) may have helped the suppositional ridicule of Noah... but you are correct, the scripture does not record that he was mocked. Hebrews 9:16-17 states that the New Testament did not begin until Jesus' death on the cross (not at Matthew 1:1). Jesus is his own prototype human of a distinct but similar human race (1 Corinthians 15:45) making the virgin Miryam bat Eli Jesus' gestational surrogate rather than his DNA sharing mother. Which gave Jesus the [legal] heritage of our human race and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David. Jesus' return predicated upon the outcry of Israel for him to save them (Psalm 118:25-26 / Matthew 23:37-39). There are so many misunderstandings and misinterpretations and addition and subtractions to scripture by the hand of man (which Jesus warned about in Mark 7:7 and Mark 7:13).

Hallelujah!

Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Colossians 1:15 (KJV) 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: God exists beyond our ability to detect him with our five senses or our mechanical devices. Atheists claim that this is proof God does not exist. But there is evidence in life, circumstances, and for the existence of all things which prove God exists. Granting the Big Bang model, those who believe in only physics are hard pressed to answer "What caused the Big Bang?" By their own admission, the laws of physics (law of cause and effect specifically) demand that you cannot have an effect without a cause. This is the point where atheists expose their [faith] in atheism by refusing to face the facts that in a universe that cannot be eternal (according to the 2nd LAW of thermodynamics) and nothing in it can come into existence from nothing (according to the 1st LAW of thermodynamics) only something or someone that transcends physics who is eternal could supernaturally create all things from nothing at will. They refuse to believe the truth and put their faith in theories and when need be just bury their heads in the sand. So faith in God is not without evidence. It also has to do with an element of the human psyche. God placed in the hearts of man an awareness of God... a need for God... the Christ shaped hole in the soul as some refer to it. Many try to fill that void with sex, drugs, self interests, or the pursuit of other religious beliefs than what God revealed about himself to the world through the Judeo-Christian Bible. Man is prone to rebel against God and goodness because man fell into evil. That which plagues us until death. You want to gain the most from God's Word about God and his will for us, then seek his side of the story in scripture... let him tell you what he means using this formula as key to unlocking the scriptures: 2 Peter 1:20-21 (the Holy Spirit alone interprets the scriptures he wrote) 1 John 4:1 / 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (test the spirits to be certain the Holy Spirit is the one instructing you as we are gullible to deception by false spirits) Acts 17:11 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (the scriptures themselves are what you test all things by) Proverbs 25:2 / Deuteronomy 29:29 (then you will gain access to the intent of scriptures and any underlying super text / overall context most have missed) Isaiah 28:9-13 (the method of God's revelation and teaching) And you will not only have faith in a God that exists, but a true faith in the true God in the way that he requires for us to have a saving faith in namely Christ Jesus God's Son who is himself God incarnate according to the scriptures (which are truth John 17:17) and the Holy Spirit (who is the one who leads us to all truth John 16:13).

I feed and water mostly cats on my postal route. Many come up to me that I've never fed before... like I'm on some putty network... {smile} It is strange. Maybe cats do communicate more than we give them credit for. Anyway a cat that looked just like this one was a little fellow that came to me for food. Recently he grew really thin (even though he had owners who fed him as well as myself). And he stopped showing up. It was only then that I realized how much I enjoyed seeing him pace up and down his yard when I approached in my truck. And how he'd chatter with me as I brought the mail and treats. Until then I took it all for granted. Now I miss him terribly. We have our small Noah's Ark of pets (our family), and there are several others on my route that I feed and give water to... but when I lose one it hurts and reminds me of the others that were lost. My only solace is in knowing these innocent creatures are / will be in heaven. Just had to vent... remembering all the little ones...

{Sigh} I hesitate to go into the globalist dilemma that infests American politics, finance, health, entertainment, you name it... I've repeated myself like a broken record album... Reverend Doctor J. R. Church did a series of radio broadcasts in the 1990's on the Watchman on the Wall Radio Broadcast of Southwest Radio Church on the topic of "Secrets of the Federal Reserve" roughly based on the book with the same name by author Eustace Mullins (minus Mullins' antisemitism). Dr Church headed up "Prophecy in the News" ministry before going home to be with the Lord. In the week long series of 30 minute broadcasts, Church lectured on and documented the infiltration of the globalists through the world central banking system beginning as far back as the late 1700's. He named financial moguls and corporations (Rothschild, J.P. Morgan, Citibank, Chase, Brown Brothers Harriman, Bechtel, Halliburton, etc.) and their effect on the enslavement of the American people financially with the ultimate goal of riding the world of the one thing that stood between the globalists and the realization of their world domination goal: the U.S. Constitution. I could hardly believe my ears. I bought the cassette of the series and made copies of it and sent it to everyone I could think of. This was 30 years ago. Most received it with a grain of salt... conspiracy theory... could never happen... yadda yadda yadda... The cassette ended up in the donation pile with the rest of my cassette library when I upgraded to CDs (thinking I could contact Prophecy in the News or Southwest Radio Church to get CD copies of the broadcast)... but neither ministry has it in their archives. And they archive everything. Suspicious. Bottom line: Globalists have infiltrated and infest every aspect of life (especially in America ← which is the ultimate battleground for globalist world domination). Globalist plants are in every political party... in most courts... championing the causes that undermine America and the U.S. Constitution. December 10, 2020, as you pointed out indirectly, Trumps law suits over flagrant election violations and fraud the U.S. Supreme Court refused to even hear! Every holder of public and / or government office takes an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic. I've taken that oath twice and it means everything to me. But to SCOTUS... "nah... don't want to get involved... don't want to be bothered..." Then what in the h-e- double hockey sticks does SCOTUS even exist for?! The ultimate defense of the Constitution is in its provision for a bloodless transfer of power every 2, 4, and 6 years. And the ultimate body to make that defense is SCOTUS. And they renegaded... handing the sacred honor system over to thieves, liars, cheats, and worse.. globalists. The last line of defense provided by the founding fathers was the VPOTUS not to certify questionable electors (even if it meant throwing out entire State's electors). But the globalist plant wasted no time certifying the fraudulent election on January 6, 2021. So unsure they could get away with such blatant fraud, the newly rigged government brought in the national guard and set up fenced perimeters to guard against any revolts from patriotic citizens. But week after week went by with no uprising. Huh... the people were in the clutches of globalism far more than even they realized. The resolve of the people is only as deep as their love for their smart phones, or of any sort of inconvenience. Then can the planned invasion of Democrat voters / illegal aliens... who are told Republicans do not want you here... insuring the Democrat vote. Even if by some miracle Trump gets elected, the riots will return... circuit court judges will declare everything from waking up in the morning to squeezing the Charmin as unconstitutional, the media and entertainment industries will blitz like never before... and 4 years later... back to the old drawing board again... The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly expecting different results... 2024 same rigged system as 2020... we'll show 'em next election... sure, sure... As Christians... we must consider the root cause of all of this. Sin, yes. But specifically, America's sin against God... against Christ. America was blessed because we set out on a chartered course that was deliberately Christian from our founding fathers. Little by little that course has been deviated from and the Christian resolve has been chipped away until we find ourselves up to our cheek bones in the cesspool of immorality today. God warned us in many ways, and turned up the heat to try to wake us from our slumber, from our stupor, from our indulgence and toleration of evil and filth and paganism and satanism... America is under God's judgement. For the same reason America was under God's blessing for following his will he must judge America for forsaking him and embracing the devil.

Controversial topic. But it doesn't have to be. The scriptures are clear; once you are saved, you are saved forever (John 10:27-29). And if you can lose your salvation, you were never really saved to begin with (1 John 2:19). #1. Becoming a Christian / being a Christian is believing in the genuine Jesus Christ (John 3:16-18). No other definitions or attempts to qualify as a Christian or to remain a Christian are true. None of them. Ephesians 2:8-10 clearly indicates that only faith in Christ Jesus is the key. #2. Reread #1. #3. You cannot gauge your eternal standing with God by your behavior in this life. Again, I cannot emphasize enough that Christianity is about whom you believe in not what you do. You "could" spare yourself and others a world of grief by living perfectly. As "could" we all. But we don't. And we actually can't (Isaiah 64:6). Proverbs 24:16 (KJV) 16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. So you backslid... get up! Keep persevering. And don't harp on it. Don't remind yourself about past failures. Time moves forward. We are in the present now. What's past is past. And 1 John 1:9 is a good place to unload your guilt confessing your sins to God who is the only one we've ultimately wronged (Psalm 51:4).

The Lord Jesus made the point "anything you ask in my name that I will do..." (John 14:13). Rather than giving humanity the secret password to the eternal vault of God's treasures... our Lord was in effect defining prayer itself as that which Jesus' name stands for. An example of this point is when an officer of the law gives the legal command, "Halt, in the name of the law!" The officer is exercising their authority citing that it is what the law stands for (peace officers are granted certain authority that citizens must obey). In Jesus' case, the authority is that of the Father which is granted to the Son... "I am come in my Father's name..." (John 5:43). But also in what the name stands for. The will of God. When your will aligns with God's will you are on the right track. Compare Matthew 16:16-18 with Matthew 16:23. Simon was in tune with God the Father himself enough to be renamed "little rock" (Cephas / Petros / Peter) in comparison with "super rock" (corner stone / foundation) referring to Jesus himself. Only to turn a corner a few verses later for poor Peter to put his foot in his mouth and be called Satan for aligning with the devil. Folks, Peter's dilemma is the Christian condition. We must actively discipline ourselves with the preparation and knowledge of our fallen natural propensity to sin / be influenced by evil in this life. We must beware of is and be on guard at all times. For there are only two wills in this life (and the next for that matter... ) God's way and not God's way. God's way is love, life, peace, joy... Not God's way leads only to evil. When you pray according to God's will (which is what in Jesus' name and in the Father's name means) then of course you will have what you ask for because God is going to accomplish his will.

John 3:16–18 (KJV) 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

In the 1990's I listened to the Watchman on the Wall radio broadcast of Southwest Radio Church (home based in Tulsa, OK). The 30 minute daily broadcasts were dedicated that entire week to the guest teaching of Reverend J.R. Church (of Prophecy in the News Ministry). His subject: Secrets of the Federal Reserve, based on a book written by Eustace Mullins by the same title. The book is not one I'd recommend because Mullins tended to reveal his antisemitic views (blaming Jews entirely for something that some Jewish people participated in), and Mullins tended to speculate about future events. Even Dr. Church speculated about what he called "rainbow money" in the future. But when he stuck to the history of world events and the financial systems in place (which he thoroughly documented) he was so spot on that I sent off and got a copy of that series of broadcasts and made copies of them and distributed them to as many people as I could. Why am I bringing this up here? Our two party system, and many aspects of our governance had been surprisingly effected and at times controlled by the same entity Mullins and Church spoke about. Beginning with the Rothschild dynasty (circa mid 1700's) when the London stock exchange was manipulated into making the dynasty's fortune overnight. "Give me the purse strings of a nation and I care not who makes the laws," said Nathan Mayer Rothschild. And thus began the system of centralized banking that eventually consumed the entire world. Every time America bucked that system (as far back as 1812), a war or a depression resulted. Many believe it had everything to do with the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy; both set into motion the printing of American currency beyond the pail of the Federal Reserve. Lincoln's famous "greenbacks" and Kennedy's two dollar bills (if you ever see one you will note it has "United States Note" on the top rather than the typical "Federal Reserve Note" which is on every dollar in America currency). Take out your money and see for yourself. Before folks grab pitchforks and torches and head for the Federal Reserve buildings, the globalists behind this system are not all contained there. They infest ALL parties of all politics in all nations. They are generational as far back as the late 1700's predating the American revolution. They are quite well embedded. And for the most part, the thing that stood mostly in the way of their realizing their goal of world domination was (and note I way "was") America and specifically the American Constitution. The framers of which were well aware of the chicanery of the centralized banks in their day... set out to establish American governance to be free not only from monarchies but from such financial entanglements as the central bank / fed. This was one of the reasons the U.S. Postal Department was formed; not only to deliver mail and parcels but to keep communication available and affordable to every American citizen. This was Benjamin Franklin's brainchild. He'd been to Europe many times and saw first hand that it was not just the out front monarchs who tried to rule the world (or as much of it as they could) but also the stealthy behind the scenes manipulators pulling the purse strings of the world... who wanted no part of fame but only anonymity. It's these people who black balled Jimmy Carter, and Taft, and others like them calling upon they stooges (like Theodore Roosevelt) to run a third ticket to unseat an incumbent for reelection. These people (this system) that no doubt had a hand in most of the wars in the last 150 years and quite probably the terrorism. Dr. Church in his broadcast named most of the huge war machine companies still in existence today. Bechtel, Halliburton, to name a couple, and some that may no longer be intact but reigned supreme in their day Brown Brothers Harriman, Citibank, J.P. Morgan, etc. Church cited how most of the Bush family (from Prescott on down) belonged to secret societies Skull and Bones and met with nefarious secretive meetings on Jekyll Island... It was all quite eye opening. And heart sinking. We have to ask ourselves, can all this be true? Or is it just wild accusations and theories of conspiracy that live only in the minds of the paranoid or suspicious folks who thrive on such... Global domination is as old as the oldest empire in ancient history. Those who seek it today have refined the process with anonymity and patient influence over long periods of time. Today they are quite entangled in the global DNA / RNA. This was quite apparent when Donald Trump began undoing most of what the globalists had accomplished stealthily over many decades (and even centuries in some cases). They had to raise opposition to Trump no matter what (even if that showed their hand and exposed their deeds). That's what fueled the riots etc. And they had to throw the 2020 election to get him out of office. Frankly I fear for my President because what he is up against is bigger than big and infested in every aspect of life. Interesting that the radio broadcast I mentioned above is not in the archives of either ministry (who meticulously keep all broadcasts). It may have been law suits or other forms of intimidation, but both ministries suggested the other had the archived material that neither do anymore. The two party system is contained and managed by the globalists who reached into the Supreme Court December 10, 2020 refusing them the legitimate court cases the Trump campaign filed over voter fraud. They were either intimidated or compromised or both. For months after the rigged election D.C. was essentially in lock down the frauds in fear of an uprising that never transpired... the fight in the American patriot has long since petered out from the lust of the flesh over worldliness that civil war or revolution would deprive us of. we are like the monkey with his hand caught in the monkey trap. All the monkey has to do to escape is let go of the goodies inside the coconut...

At one time in American history, the Bible was the textbook for public schools. How far we've fallen as a nation.

Praise God! Just what I needed to hear.

If you look hard enough you can find YEC that support TE. And you can find evolutionists who believe the world is flat. So? If what others think or believe is your basis for faith in a thing... good luck with that. Dogs don't beget cats. Transitional forms outside of a species do not exist. The speed of light is slowing down. The sun is burning down toward its core (meaning billions of years ago the earth would have been inside the sun). Evolution is not science but a fairy tale made to sound scientific. And I conclude with reiterating you can believe whatever you jolly well wish. It simply isn't true.

Within a species. Microevolution. It's macroevolution that is unfounded and unbiblical.

Fine. Then you go ahead and believe what you want. I'll take God at his word.

I would argue against TE because evolution at its base is the A-theistic attempt to invent historic origins devoid of a Creator God. TE is an attempt to bridge the gap between theism and atheism based on the concocted reasoning and theories of those who reject God. A reminder that evolution is just a theory. One that even dyed in the wool evolutionists admit is a bad theory. Why not bridge the gap between wicca and Christianity or Judaism that rejects Jesus with Christianity?

Life is hard.

To be truly saved is to believe in the LORD Jesus Christ. Do you believe Jesus lived, died on the cross, rose from the grave three days later, and 40 days later ascended to heaven? The Bible says any human being who believes is saved (John 3:16-18). We don't have to be little monks or nuns or TV evangelist types always dressing the part always speaking the part... In a very real way, that is being a religious Pharisee. God is genuine. He wants us to be genuine. If we feel bad then own it. Confess it to your loving heavenly Father who loves you dearly for loving and believing in his Son (John 16:27). People will try to make you feel like you are not a believer or as good at being a Christian as they think they are. Forget about them. This is between you and God and God knows everything about you. Even in Christ we still possess a sin nature that we must be wary of, prepared for, and to discipline. But it is not an indicator that we are not a believer. It just means we are not dead yet. When we die we are free from sin completely (if we believe in Christ). And when we are resurrected we will be free from sin forever and ever. In many ways, our grief over contenting with our own sin is an indication that we are saved. Before we were saved we had no grief over sin. We just sinned without worrying about it. The only worry then was about getting caught. The Bible pulls no punches and hides no faults with the men and women of God. Only Jesus was flawless. Believe in him and don't be hard on yourself. Be motivated to improve in your walk with God and excel in life.

I realize it is impossible in this life to be isolated from the evil in the world and the paganism etc. But if this has anything to do with your past paganism, perhaps the Holy Spirit is impressing on you to leave and distance yourself from whatever you made you god in the past. Praying for you about this.

The thing to keep in mind is that the Old Covenant was still in effect and that the New Covenant would not begin until the cross of Christ (Hebrews 9:16-17). The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus' own divine commentary on the Law to define its purposes and put the teeth back into it. This is why he comments: "You have heard it said... but I say..." There are other hints about this being Old Testament text... going to hell for lusting after a woman when the New Testament teaches that only faith (not works) qualifies us for salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Isaiah 64:6 (KJV) 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.