#believers baptism

[andrewpcannon]

Daily Devotional: Exodus 4:24-26

Daily Devotional: Exodus 4:24-26

This part of the story sits awkwardly in the text. If someone was inventing a story to tell, this detail would be one left out. But, when recording actual events in narrative form—one cannot escape the awkwardness of the story. The Lord meets Moses at one of the lodging places on the way to Egypt in order to kill him. The reason is obscure at best in the text. We don’t know God’s method—whether…

[good-beanswrites]

A little something featuring Fuuta and Es after talking about their criminal lack of interaction in fanworks with @waivyjellyfish ! You had such awesome ideas (a few of which I'm still bouncing around in my head to post at some point,) but this one ended up taking over my brain -- I hope you enjoy 😅 Attempting to answer the widely-debated question:

“Oi, why didn’t you hit me?”

Es looked up from their paperwork.

“Prisoner number three. Most people are glad when they’re not struck.”

“Well, I’m not.” 

Es usually left the door open at this hour, in case anyone had any last-minute complaints before curfew. No one usually took them up on the offer. They figured that if there was any prisoner they could count on to complain, it would be Fuuta marching through their door.

“You hit all the other guys. You even hit some of the girls that were giving you trouble. So what? You think I’m too weak? You think I can’t take it?” Fuuta spread his arms. “I can, so show me what you’ve got!”

Es sighed. They put down their pen. They folded their gloved hands together, resting their chin on top. “Fuuta, I’m not going to hit you.”

“Why not?”

“As of right now, I have no reason to. If you’re referring to the interrogations…”

They reflected on the first one they'd shared with him. To be fair, the thought had crossed their mind. It would have been satisfying to give this rowdy prisoner a taste of his own medicine – striking him after such a dramatic charge at them. But Es was always good at reading people. It didn’t take them long to understand Fuuta was the type to lash out first and ask questions later. In fact, that was likely what had landed him in Milgram in the first place. 

Although Es knew they weren’t here to do any reformation, they wanted to try to show these prisoners where they’d gone wrong. So, they resolved to act as the bigger person. They’d prove that senseless violence was just that. By keeping their composure, they’d show Fuuta just how childish he was being. 

That wasn’t my only reason. I guess that's true, my actions weren’t all purely righteous. I still spent the entire time looking for ways to make him squirm… But it wasn’t all cruelty. I really did want to understand. I wanted to help. That counts for something, right?

Es never struck the prisoners out of anger, or as a petty show of power. It was a way to force the prisoner to mind their ego. When they’d gotten a bit too full of themselves, a bit too comfortable with the awful deed they’d committed, Es’ blow encouraged them to feel a bit more humility and guilt. 

By the time the second trial arrived, Fuuta oozed guilt. 

The moment Es entered the interrogation room, it was clear that he needed no lesson in humility. He hugged his arms to his chest. His remaining eye darted around the room in thinly-veiled hysteria. His voice trembled when he spoke. It didn’t require any people-reading skills to hear the remorse that underlaid all of his accusations and threats.

Hitting the others felt like giving a dog a tap on the nose after breaking a rule. Meanwhile, Fuuta snapped and snarled like a stray who’d been kicked time and time again.

Of course, he could never know any of this. Any way Es phrased it, Fuuta would misunderstand it as pity.

Well, wasn’t it? I thought he looked like a kicked puppy – that sounds a lot like pity. No, it was out of respect. Does that mean I didn’t respect the prisoners I did hit? No. I respected them too. Then, what’s the difference?

Fuuta was still staring at them, asking the very same question. What’s the difference?

“Each of Milgram’s prisoners is unique.” 

They were met with an unimpressed glare.

Es chose their words carefully. “Each one responds best to a variety of treatments. Some need attention to be comfortable, while others need time. Some need validation in order to confess. Others, a bit of debate does the trick. Some need a show of force. You –” remind me too much of myself  “– require something else. I’ve learned to change my approach depending on the person I’m dealing with.”

Fuuta’s features flashed with confusion, then shame, then his usual mask of anger. “Tch. How pathetic.”

“Excuse me?”

“So you just change your personality when it’s convenient? You put up fake smiles and fake attitude? Have some balls and just be yourself.”

Es was caught by surprise. “... I am. Those are all pieces of myself. I choose to bring out different parts when it would be most helpful.” 

“Sounds manipulative as hell to me.” 

It makes sense he doesn’t understand. He’s a very clear-cut person, with every aspect of his personality lining up in a way that makes sense. I find that predictability fun. Or, is it something that I envy? Could it be both?

They had no time to dwell on it, as Fuuta was struck with an idea. “Though, if you can do it on command, why don’t you give me the ‘you’ that wants to hit someone?” 

He spread his arms once more, hands gesturing to his chest. Es pretended not to notice him wince. They remained in their seat. 

“What are you waiting for? Hit me!” 

“I will not.”

“You just said you can change your personality on a whim, so let’s see it!” 

“That is not what I said.”

His good eye began to look frenzied. He raised his voice. “You scared? The big bad warden of Milgram, nothing but a big coward!”

“Stop this. You’re acting childish.”

“No! You’re treating me childishly! Let me see the Es that kicked Shidou! The one that slapped Kazui! Treat me like you treated them!”

“I hit them because they said something stupid. They deserved it.”

“Are you fucking kidding? I deserve it too! I deserve it! Come on!”

At the last word, his voice broke. He stumbled to his knees. He let his head drop. He sucked in strained breath after strained breath. Shidou would surely give him a lecture about getting so worked up with his injuries. 

Es finally stood.

They made their way around the desk. They knelt on the floor in front of him. 

“Why?” he wheezed. “Tell me…”

“Fuuta.” 

Should I just go ahead and do it, just to make him happy? No, I want to talk it out. But what do even I say? I'll tell him that I care. I can’t. None of the prisoners understand that I care. Why? Why is it so hard for them to see? I’m trying my best, why can’t they see? 

Es extended their hand carefully. They didn’t know what they hoped to accomplish, but in that moment their thoughts were too loud and conflicting. They needed to do something.

Fuuta saw the gentle intention, and immediately raised his own hand to strike. It froze midair, though whether it was from Milgram’s restrictions or his own hesitation, Es would never know.

Neither of their gestures connected.

Footsteps. Then Yuno’s voice, hesitantly from the doorway. “We heard shouting, is everything alright in here?”

Es retracted their hand.  A beat. Fuuta dropped his, too. 

“Yuno. Yes, we’re fine. Fuuta was just heading to bed. I’m going to walk him to his cell.”

“I can handle myself.”

“I said, I’m going to walk him to his cell.” 

Es stood, nodding to Yuno. When she’d gone, they turned their attention back to the prisoner crumpled on the ground. They made an effort to quiet their ever-racing thoughts. 

“Listen. I know you can handle yourself. I’m not doing this because I think you’re weak. You’re strong. Don’t think for a moment that I don’t see that.”

They held out their arm to help him up. He didn’t move.

“Sometimes you are a bit too strong, if you ask me. I mean, picking fights with your prison warden, really?” They clicked their tongue. “You should be grateful for a superior that gives you second chances.”

At last, Fuuta  took their hand. He avoided meeting their eyes, but his voice had softened considerably from his rant. “The only thing you give me is a headache.”

Es offered a dry smile as they pulled him to his feet. “The feeling is mutual.”

[strxnged]

guys i might change my url again

[canwediscuss]

When Christianity is gone, nature will heal. Honestly though, the cognitive dissonance required to be devoted to a slave religion death cult really makes me understand why every historical society had some kind of class/ caste system. These people are incapable of critical thought and only survive because the billionaire oligarchs want them to

[heckling-hydrena]

love being the resident Atheist Blasphemer in a household of Lax "yeah sure we believe in God" Orthodox Christians. I've already eaten 2 of our easter eggs early. Hristos vaskrse to all who celebrate I hope your chosen egg beats the shit out of all the other loser eggs

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Believe and Be Baptized

The one having believed and having been baptized will be saved, but the one having disbelieved will be condemned. — Mark 16:16 | Berean Literal Bible (BLB) The Berean Literal Bible © 2016 by Bible Hub and Berean Bible. All rights Reserved. Cross References: John 3:18; John 3:36; Acts 2:38; Acts 16:31

Read full chapter

Baptism and Mark 16:16

[hanzajesthanza]

my favorite part of season of storms is when geralt seasoned all over the storm and said “it’s a season of storms out here”

[kimabutch]

Most people, whether Christian or not, wildly overestimate how much stuff all Christians, or even most Christians, agree on. As in, there are many Christians, including ordained ministers, including entire denominations, who do NOT believe:

That the Bible is the literal Word of God, unerring and infallible

That God is unchanging and unchangeable

That hell exists (or that if hell exists, so does eternal damnation)

That Satan exists

That humans are inherently sinful

That Jesus was born of immaculate conception, of a virgin mother

That Jesus died in place of humanity

That Jesus was physically resurrected

That Jesus is God

In the Trinity, just, in general

And it’s not just some new thing — many of the points above, and far, far, more, have been debated since the early church, for nearly two thousand years. Christians love arguing!

I’m not saying that you need to care about what Christians believe and I’m certainly not saying this as a #NotAllChristians kinda thing. I just think it’s super interesting and kinda wild how many beliefs are generally perceived to be inherent to Christianity when they evidently very much are not.

[uhhhhhhhhhuh]

[pigeon-ponders]

i know shit looks bleak right now but the symbolism in ep11. the marauder exploding and in flames. hunter falling in the water. point of no return, indeed. i think major change is coming, especially for hunter.

[lachoco]

Guardian Angel Christianity Watercolor Photo Print

[the---hermit]

Baptism Of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski

This is the third novel, and fifth book of the Witcher series. I have picked this series up a couple of years ago at this point, and I think I have been reading one/two books each year, for some reason mostly in winter. After the last book I was pretty intimidated by the series, because the political intrigues are really complicated, and the lst book I read felt really slow. Thankfully I found the perfect combination of reading the book with the additional help of the audiobook, as well as taking some notes at the end of each chapter to keep up with everything that is happening since there's a lot of characters in very different situations. With this system I read this book incredibly quickly, and my reading experience has improved so much compared to the last time. Sapkowski's writing is still a bit slow for my personal taste, and most importantly he writes very long chapters which I am not the biggest fan of. That is my main problem with his books, the chapters are too long and sometimes they feel quite messy, because they include a lot of scenes in different places and times which often makes things harder to follow. Aside for this more stuctural thing I really enjoyed my time with this book, I am not going to say much about the plot because it would all be spoilers for this series, but we get to know some new character, and get to know better other character we have seen previously. I am really happy with the main group of people we follow in this novel, I think each one of them is really intriguing in their own way, and although they form a really unsual team it has a lot of potential. I am really curious to find out what will happen next in Geralt's adventure, so much so that I think I'll pick up The Tower Of Swallows as my next read, which is really unlikely of me, as I like to break series apart not to get bored with them. I am really happy I found the enthusiasm I had at the end of the first book, because I was afraid it was slowly going to die down more and more with each novel. I would highly recommend pairing the books with the audio version, it has been helping me immensly. It will take me a long time to finish the series as a whole, but as usual I will bring my updates as I read.

I read this book for the second chance prompt of the winter reading challenge, I originally had another book in mind but I dnf-ed it, and then I remember that when I got this novel I had started reading the first few pages before being too intimidated to continue.

[mcxlii]

aaaahh dude i know is converting to catholicism please pray for him that he will be able to have his baptism soon and that he will seek to follow God's will

[asinglesock]

when starchild from ghost quartet said "when I was a baby, I was blessed by a stranger / in waters I didn't understand / and now I'm infected with disbelief and blasphemy / I'll never have a holy land / I am a ghost in the eyes of my God" that felt targeted :/

[yeslordmyking]

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their... [ Read devo thought and prayer for this Bible verse ]

[asbestieos]

OMGFGBH!GHJFG I FORGOT PAPA TOJO WAS THE ONE GETTING HIS SHIT KICKED IN BY SPECIALS IN PART 1 HLEPNJGNFHGN.. jun u r too kind to be helping sad old men like this