walla299

Yeah, Biden & Crew working through the election night hammering they took . . . with some pricey wine (not that cheap truck stop stuff!) in pricey hotels, etc. Nothing to see here, nothing at all . . .

I don't have a issue with gift giving over the Christmas holiday season because it does reflect God's generosity to us in providing His plan of salvation: Jesus Christ. I do not care for the over commercialization that's happened to the holidays though. Our family stopped sending physical gifts years ago for two very practical reasons: shipping costs & difficulty finding/figuring out the right gift. This is because we have family members on three continents and can rarely gather all in one location. Shipping something overseas from the US can cost more than the gift itself - so we just send money. Then the one getting the gift can buy what they need or want. As a kid there was little worse worse than getting clothes you've outgrown, etc. before you could ever wear them. (Unless it was something that fit but was hideous!)

Good question. There is more than one example of an angel destroying an entire army in the OT . . . and that's a lot of power for just one angel. He could have wiped everyone out that day either in Israel or the whole planet, but He didn't. That's the kind of God we serve. He showed mercy even when they were about to kill him.

Moderation in all things. The Bible nowhere condemns drinking alcohol - but roundly condemns being intoxicated and the resulting debauchery. A similar principle would apply with social media. Sometimes when I need a break seeing a someone's cat freak out is hilarious. I can relate as a former cat owner. I was a late arrival on the social media scene and don't do much with it except to stay in contact with family and others I have met in the real world. Than means FB "friends" are those I've met in real life. I avoid the endless scrolling as much as I can and often the Spirit lets me know I need to do something else. Social media is not going away and the younger folks were raised with it. I believe we as believers better learn to use it responsibly for personal and kingdom purposes because the enemy will certainly us it for his. We're to share the gospel until the Lord returns and social media can be another means of doing so.

Found a couple of helpful articles while prowling the interwebs this morning. I didn't write these, and both are linked through the Challies Al la Carte site for convenience. Credit goes to the original authors. The first is What One Chinese Pastor Can Teach You About Suffering Faithfully. It's about a brother who is not famous but lived out the call to share the gospel under some pretty tough conditions. I find stories like this encouraging. The other is Satan's "Pastor's Heart". The title initially got my attention, but the author does a good job explaining his point. The article is a look at the enemy from a slightly different angle I haven't seen in a long time. Perhaps one or both might be good for thinking about or for a discussion.

That's because you should be using Vegemite on that toast!

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is one denomination here in the US that sings a mix of psalms & hyms. There's a link to the Trinity Psalter Hymnal they use on their site. The other is the Reformed Presbyterian Church of N. America (RCPNA) & they only sing psalms in worship a capella. The link for Crown & Covenant Publisher (for the Psalter) is on the site. This denomination traces its roots back to Scotland in the 1600s and their history is interesting. I don't agree with some of their beliefs, but they do a good job on their Psalter. Nice to be able to sing these in English because my German wasn't the greatest.

I personally never really thought of some worship songs that way, but I see your point. Some can be that way. Looking at some other posts it also seems many modern worship songs are too much about about man, or "me", and not enough about the glory of God. Some of 'em seem like one sentence repeated endlessly . . . not something I care for all that much. It might be a good time to mention that when you feel like the worship music or in church is a let down we can sing psalms. The church sang them for centuries before hymns were thought of (Yes, there was plenty of debate about psalms vs hymns back in the day!) I first encountered psalm singing in Germany at the church I belonged to there and found a small number of churches here in the US that do so. There are times when singing God's word is better to me than any hymn - and no worries about bad theology either. Just my 2 pfennig (cents).

I wouldn't go quite that far about no one caring. Plenty of folks do, and some are busy helping and therefore aren't online right now. I know a few truck drivers that are running supplies to the hurricane hit areas. Also several folks in our amateur radio club are training for emergency communications with FEMA, etc. and they are still assisting with some of the communications needs in the areas hit by Helene. Much of the cell infrastructure is back up, but there are still some gaps being filled by radio. A natural disaster of that size is going to take a long time to get back to normal. On the news media: I'd have to agree with Pat. There's so much garbage/propaganda out there its hard to know what the reality may be. Even first person videos could get edited. There's not really an answer to that one except to pray for discernment.

Yes, they figured out the nuclear bomb just after they figured out a nuclear reactor. Same for every other new tech that came along. Rather interesting when I'm seeing some of the dystopian sci-fi stuff from when I was a kid becoming reality today. Frankly, I'd rather be home with Jesus than "worship" at the AI altar. I've spent part of today on the phone sorting out some issues . . . chatbots are still horrible, which makes me think we may not have Terminators kicking the door in any time soon . . . but that could change. Visions of the old Logan's Run movie or Terminator dancing in your head anyone?

. . . and they didn't even feel the need for an Elections Are Evil thread!!

Yes, we used to have the "(Insert holiday here) is Evil" threads for Christmas, Easter, and a few others I don't remember, but they've been missing for the last few years. Perhaps they were not as noticeable as in past years? Once someone put up a thread about how Thanksgiving was evil . . .

I'm thinking both . . . if he survives the frying pan!

One or more layers of bubble wrap inside the window frame will add insulation and still allow light through. Its also relatively cheap depending on where you get it. Or if money is a problem Goodwill usually has blankets that can be thumb tacked up when needed. (Yes, its kinda redneck but warm is warm and not going broke on heating fuel is good.)

I may be showing my age here, but does anyone else find it disgusting (feel free to insert your own adjective(s)!) at the idea of cry closets, safe spaces, etc. over an election outcome - or any other real world situation that adults should realize they have to control over? I'm in my 60s and learned early that you have to deal with real life - and not all that life throws at you will be nice. As my DI in basic training was fond of saying, "Suck up, buttercup!" usually followed by push ups or something else we didn't like. We learned to deal with it and life went on - and the world didn't end. Hmm . . . Trump won - but we're all still here! What was it Obama said? "Elections have consequences." or some such.

Yeah, it would be nice to see the leftists' unnecessary war on fossil fuels ended. I'm all for being more efficient and being good stewards of creation, but there's a balance. The war on fossil fuels jacks up the cost of energy and transportation - which jacks up the price of everything else by default. You can't have one without the other. What the green energy folks don't get is we need the technology to replace fossil fuels first. There's a lot of that under development but its not ready for general use yet and so this stuff is going to take time. It will not happen overnight. When the automobile was invented they didn't go out and shoot all the horses and burn the wagons. People switched to the automobile over time because they were available at an affordable price and more efficient by the standards of the day. The change took time and investment in infrastructure also and much of that was private not from the government.

Perhaps this explanation I was given years ago may help in cases like that. For context: I had some questions for our pastor about how we should relate to those whose lifestyles conflict with the the Bible, i.e. living together, etc. I was told we should treat these individuals like we'd want to be treated because no matter how bad their conduct they are still fallen humans created in the image of God. The lifestyle or bad choices don't really matter on the scale of eternity, and the lost will perish without Christ. We should pray for them, share the gospel if we can, but we do not have to condone their bad choices or lifestyle. The lifestyle thing usually comes up in conversation at some point and the Lord tends to open up a chance to share the gospel or start in that direction. Its amazing to watch Him work. :)

Word Salad Lid?

This is true. Everyone on the planet will be "downwind" once the first nuclear warhead goes off. That would be bad enough from the radioactive fallout. A full exchange would leave a world I would not want to live in. Given a choice I'll pass on the radioactive hellscape, thank you! I'd rather be home with Jesus.

Agreed. The Russians are more aware of their history the some in the west may think. They've been on the receiving end of many invasions through history and so from a human viewpoint I don't think its about fear so much. Given their losses during WWII their policy is to make any invasion of their territory very costly for the invader is understandable. Last time it was Hitler and it didn't work out very well in that case.

Just need to tell them the Unemployment line starts over there ---->

I wouldn't call it Politically Afflicted - its more like Politically Annoyed . . .

I usually try to keep all the election hype/hoopla at arms length (several thousand miles away is even better!) but with all the division and drama sown over the last 4 years it was hard to do that. So I ignored the whole thing as much as possible and tried to find folks to vote for who at least seemed to track with a Biblical worldview. I don't hate politicians because I don't personally know any. Some of their policies are another matter, however. Now that its over all that stuff is done - and our lame stream media (aka propaganda ministry) is strangely silent for now.

Remember: Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional!

I prefer the sign my neighbors hung on their apartment door in English, Spanish & Russian: "Jesus found us. We know who we are voting for. If you're not selling Thin Mints, please go away."