#i am out reading books that tell me having sex on the sabbath is holy and recommended

[fencesandfrogs]

"it's like this in any religion" is it actually or do you not have a frame of reference beyond your religion

[declineofcivilizationorwtf]

Another Chat with God

Ever wonder what happens when you die? Well, if you believe in God and live a righteous life - you float up to Heaven - meet the almighty himself - tell him how great and kind he is - kiss his ring he got for 50% off at the QVC outlet - he hands you a set of beginner's wings and a harp - assigns you to cloud number X times the power of 1,000,003 - and sends you on your way. No television, no sports, and worst of all no sex.

Now I had a vision the other night and it began with me saying goodbye to my life on this wet blue rock. All of a sudden, I was in this massive room with all 600 plus of God's commandments hanging on the wall behind his throne. Over 500 of them had red checks indicating those are the ones I broke. Thus, our conversation began;

God: What do you have to say for yourself?

Me: Well dude, thanks for the life - it was a hell of a ride. I'd like to do it again, but this time I'm gonna nail the Smith twins behind the school when I was 10 years old instead of just saying uh?

God: You realize I should send you to hell right this minute, but I wonder why do you not believe in me? I know you fear me cause' you made it a rule never to masturbate on the Sabbath.

Me: Not so man, I believe in the concept of God, but not the way man has imagined you. Jimmy Buffet said it right that “Religion is in the hands of some crazy ass people”. I hate to break this to you, but outside of your devoted followers, most people think you are not a good God. You put your children against each other, all killing in your name. You have created billions of species for no reason, and while I'm on it - why the mosquito? Come on dude.

God: Even I make a mistake or two. But remember I created the earth, the stars, the sun and it only took 6 days.

Me: That's my point, maybe you should have planned it out longer, cause your children are dying by the thousands from war, disease, drugs and Mother Nature, seems like that bitche's PMS gauge has crossed the red line. Also, there are nut jobs out there blowing themselves and dozens of others up in your name - claiming you will reward them with 72 virgins. Which one of your drugged-out buddies came up with that idea?

God: That was all man's doing. My plan was to create a list of rules to follow. But Moses could only carry ten and everything went downhill from there. To purify the earth, I washed all the damn away. I admit that was overkill, some good people couldn't get to higher ground, but they came back worst than ever. So, I sent my only son down to straighten things out. Unfortunately, that didn't go as planned either.

Me: I grew up Catholic, my Italian grandmother dragged me to church every Sunday to listen to some pedophile in raining wearing a dress give his sermon in a language no one understood. Kneeling at every third word - hell I needed knee replacement when I was 7 years old and by 8, I learned I was going to hell 'cause I ate a bologna sandwich for lunch instead of fish sticks. Is that just punishment?

God: I wanted my children to eat healthy. Don't be pissed about that. Remember the Jews can never eat pulled pork barbeque and I have them banging their heads against a stone wall. I get a laugh every time I see that. As far as the priest, blame Paul for that. He wasn't into sex and didn't think holy men should marry. The problem was they were still human and went for the easy target.

Me: OK, God here's the deal. People need answers. Why are we here? What's the meaning of life? Is Atlanta ever gonna win a Super Bowl?

God: All the questions you ask are in my bestselling book, The Bible. It has over 60 stories told by over 40 authors and comes into theological agreement on the curious subject of the sinful transgression and separation of man from God, the need for the redemption of humanity and the future of the universe. I'll tell you what - I'll send you to the same place I created for all those horny Priests - Purgatory - for the time it takes you to read and understand my book, then we will talk about your faith.

Me: Thanks, man but can't I just watch the “Bible” on the History Channel instead? Oh, and God, you can check the block on plagiarism on your amendment wall, there's a few sentences here I kind of borrowed.

God: I already knew that; remember I am God.

[dfroza]

A Letter that states “i love you.”

significant words to share with another when the heart really feels this way.

and we see it in Today’s reading of the Letter of 2nd John fully contained as a single chapter of Scripture:

I, the elder, to you, a lady chosen by God along with her children. I truly love all of you and am confident that all who know the truth share in my love for you. The truth, which lives faithfully within all of us and will be with us for all eternity, is the basis for our abounding love. May grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Jesus the Anointed, the Father’s own Son, surround you and be with you always in truth and love.

I was so filled with joy to hear stories about your children walking in truth, in the very way the Father called us to live. So now, dear lady, I am asking you to live by the command that we love one another. I’m not writing to you some new commandment; it’s one we received in the beginning from our Lord. Love is defined by our obedience to His commands. This is the same command you have known about from the very beginning; you must live by it. The corrupt world is filled with liars and frauds who deny the reality that Jesus the Anointed has come into the world as a man of flesh and blood. These people are deceivers and antiChrists. Ensure that you do not lose what we have worked for so that you will be fully rewarded.

Any person who drifts away and fails to live in the teachings of the Anointed One, our Liberating King, does not have God. But the person who lives in this teaching will have both the Father and the Son. If any person comes to you with a teaching that does not align with the true message of Jesus, do not welcome that person into your house or greet him as you would a true brother. Anyone who welcomes this person has become a partner in advancing his wicked agenda.

I have so much more to tell you, but I would rather meet with you personally than try to capture these sentiments by ink on paper. I hope to come and see you so that our joy will be complete.

The children of your chosen sister send you warm greetings.

The Letter of 2nd John (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is chapter 26 of Leviticus where God explains to Moses a blessing for obedience as well as a curse for disobedience as a consequence for sin. a parent or guardian of a child does the same for good and bad behavior in matters of discipline. and we are all imperfect according to God’s perfection, which makes His grace so beautiful, and necessary. it is welcoming. we have become His children, no longer under the curse. it is a new covenant of grace.

(thankful)

[Leviticus 26]

“Don’t make idols for yourselves; don’t set up an image or a sacred pillar for yourselves, and don’t place a carved stone in your land that you can bow down to in worship. I am God, your God.

“Keep my Sabbaths; treat my Sanctuary with reverence. I am God.

“If You Live by My Decrees . . .”

“If you live by my decrees and obediently keep my commandments, I will send the rains in their seasons, the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. You will thresh until the grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting time; you’ll have more than enough to eat and will live safe and secure in your land.

“I’ll make the country a place of peace—you’ll be able to go to sleep at night without fear; I’ll get rid of the wild beasts; I’ll eliminate war. You’ll chase out your enemies and defeat them: Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand and do away with them. I’ll give you my full attention: I’ll make sure you prosper, make sure you grow in numbers, and keep my covenant with you in good working order. You’ll still be eating from last year’s harvest when you have to clean out the barns to make room for the new crops.

“I’ll set up my residence in your neighborhood; I won’t avoid or shun you; I’ll stroll through your streets. I’ll be your God; you’ll be my people. I am God, your personal God who rescued you from Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I ripped off the harness of your slavery so that you can move about freely.

“But If You Refuse to Obey Me . . .”

“But if you refuse to obey me and won’t observe my commandments, despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant, I’ll step in and pour on the trouble: debilitating disease, high fevers, blindness, your life leaking out bit by bit. You’ll plant seed but your enemies will eat the crops. I’ll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You’ll run scared even when there’s no one chasing you.

“And if none of this works in getting your attention, I’ll discipline you seven times over for your sins. I’ll break your strong pride: I’ll make the skies above you like a sheet of tin and the ground under you like cast iron. No matter how hard you work, nothing will come of it: No crops out of the ground, no fruit off the trees.

“If you defy me and refuse to listen, your punishment will be seven times more than your sins: I’ll set wild animals on you; they’ll rob you of your children, kill your cattle, and decimate your numbers until you’ll think you are living in a ghost town.

“And if even this doesn’t work and you refuse my discipline and continue your defiance, then it will be my turn to defy you. I, yes I, will punish you for your sins seven times over: I’ll let war loose on you, avenging your breaking of the covenant; when you huddle in your cities for protection, I’ll send a deadly epidemic on you and you’ll be helpless before your enemies; when I cut off your bread supply, ten women will bake bread in one oven and ration it out. You’ll eat, but barely—no one will get enough.

“And if this—even this!—doesn’t work and you still won’t listen, still defy me, I’ll have had enough and in hot anger will defy you, punishing you for your sins seven times over: famine will be so severe that you’ll end up cooking and eating your sons in stews and your daughters in barbecues; I’ll smash your sex-and-religion shrines and all the paraphernalia that goes with them, and then stack your corpses and the idol-corpses in the same piles—I’ll abhor you; I’ll turn your cities into rubble; I’ll clean out your sanctuaries; I’ll hold my nose at the “pleasing aroma” of your sacrifices. I’ll turn your land into a lifeless moonscape—your enemies who come in to take over will be shocked at what they see. I’ll scatter you all over the world and keep after you with the point of my sword in your backs. There’ll be nothing left in your land, nothing going on in your cities. With you gone and dispersed in the countries of your enemies, the land, empty of you, will finally get a break and enjoy its Sabbath years. All the time it’s left there empty, the land will get rest, the Sabbaths it never got when you lived there.

“As for those among you still alive, I’ll give them over to fearful timidity—even the rustle of a leaf will throw them into a panic. They’ll run here and there, back and forth, as if running for their lives even though no one is after them, tripping and falling over one another in total confusion. You won’t stand a chance against an enemy. You’ll perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will eat you up. Any who are left will slowly rot away in the enemy lands. Rot. And all because of their sins, their sins compounded by their ancestors’ sins.

“On the Other Hand, If They Confess . . .”

“On the other hand, if they confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, their treacherous betrayal, the defiance that set off my defiance that sent them off into enemy lands; if by some chance they soften their hard hearts and make amends for their sin, I’ll remember my covenant with Jacob, I’ll remember my covenant with Isaac, and, yes, I’ll remember my covenant with Abraham. And I’ll remember the land.

“The land will be empty of them and enjoy its Sabbaths while they’re gone. They’ll pay for their sins because they refused my laws and treated my decrees with contempt. But in spite of their behavior, while they are among their enemies I won’t reject or abhor or destroy them completely. I won’t break my covenant with them: I am God, their God. For their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I, with all the nations watching, brought out of Egypt in order to be their God. I am God.”

These are the decrees, laws, and instructions that God established between himself and the People of Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai.

The Book of Leviticus, Chapter 26 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for friday, may 22 of 2020 with a paired chapter from each Testament along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

And a post by John Parsons of Hebrew for Christians to accompany Today’s reading:

Just as the Jewish people encamped in the desert around the holy Ark of the Covenant, the throne of the Word of God that was sprinkled with sacrificial blood for atonement, so we sojourn our days focused on the Living Word of God, who offered up his own blood upon the heavenly kapporet for our eternal atonement. "For by a single offering (קרבן אחד) he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified" (Heb. 10:14). The sacrificial love of God is the centermost truth of reality: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Yeshua the Messiah and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). [Hebrew for Christians]

5.21.20 • Facebook

and another about the nature of prayer:

We don't pray to attempt to change God's mind, but rather to change our own: "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matt. 6:8). Prayer is not a means of getting your Father's attention, but rather of getting your attention fixed on reality. It is a confession of your great need to find out who you really are. And while it is indeed true that "God knows everything," He does not know anything apart from his love. God does not "know" you in some “abstract” sense, like a computer that stores data and information, but rather as a parent who loves and cares for you (Psalm 103:13). Your heavenly Father knows the number of hairs on your head; he knows the word on your tongue before you utter it, and he perfectly sees your beginning and end. He has intimate understanding of who you are and what you really need. [Hebrew for Christians]

5.21.20 • Facebook

[dailyaudiobible]

05/31/2021 DAB Transcript

2 Samuel 17:1-29, John 19:23-42, Psalms 119:129-152, Proverbs 16:12-13

Today is May 31st welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it's wonderful every day to be here including today. We’ll begin our work week, even as we and the month. This the final day of the fifth month of the year. We are five four months into our journey, and we’ll just keep going and step-by-step we’ll…we’ll conclude our journey but tomorrow we’ll be stepping into month numbers six, but that's tomorrow. And, so, today we’re going to finish well the fifth month, which will lead us back into the book of second Samuel, and this major coup attempt it's happening. Absalom the son, the prince, but the son of King David is…is in the process of…of taking over Jerusalem. David has fled the city. Absalom and his people have moved in. So, let's pick up the story second Samuel chapter 17 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, here on the final day of the fifth month of the year we, for the final time this year fully experience the crucifixion and death of Jesus and burial of Jesus and. And the details in the gospel of John. It’s just a horrible, horrible scene and you’ve got these executioners who have stripped Jesus and their gambling for his cloths, who gets to have the dead man's cloths. You have Jesus, mother at the cross. O…can you…I mean…I'm not a mother, I’m a father, right, but still, I don't…I don't know how you can imagine that kind of suffering and pain. But we see Jesus’ compassion, we see Him taking care of His mother as He dies, as He…as He’s in agony that you can't even comprehend that he takes care of His mother. And then because they need to get these bodies…like they’re on a time schedule here. And I don’t suppose they had watches and stuff but they’re on a time schedule here. And we need to get these bodies off the cross, so we need to get these people dead. So, they ask for the legs to be broken, which is a way of speeding up the death because when you’re being crucified, and you’re suspended there you need to…well…basically you need to push down on the nails in your feet to suspend your body to get enough strength to get breath but then when you can't do that because of the pain you’ve gotta suspend yourself on your hands and it's just exhausting and eventually they die, but if you break the person's legs then they have no support anymore and so they suffocate and that's what happened to those two criminals crucified on either side of Jesus, which just thinking about not alone, that's so gruesome, that's so barbaric, it's so horrible. Jesus was already dead, so they don’t break His legs. They just stabbed Him with a spear instead and blood and water flowed. There was that and then there's this skirmish to get His body down from the cross and so they ask for permission and they get His body, and they have 75 pounds of spices to…to stave off the stench of human decay after a person has died because it’s Passover now, it’s Sabbath. And. so, they wrap Him up and they put Him in this tomb. It’s like an available tomb. They need to get this body down. They need to get this body protected and then…and then observe the Sabbath and Passover and then deal with this when that's over with. And, so, He's in this tomb for now and they'll figure it out later. Jesus isn't going to need anything, but that borrowed tomb for you know…for…for…for a couple days, but there’s all this scurrying around. I mean if you don't know the end of this story this is a tough story. If you’ve fallen…if you’ve fallen in love with Jesus and you didn't know…even though Jesus told His friends how this would go they did not understand it and so this is a very, very tough time for the people who remain. And they've got a go into Sabbath, and this is all they're going to be thinking about. And, so, maybe it's worthy. I mean we’ve mentioned in all four Gospels but maybe it's worthy of thinking about, maybe this is the thing that we think about today, this…this kind of love, but also the capability of this kind of injustice. This is the “created” attempting to destroy and kill the “Creator”. That that is even a category of possibility requires us to think about it and meditate upon it. How can we be seduced away into a mob mentality? How can we remain in the darkness squirming when the light comes because we don't want to be exposed? There is so much here when we look at the cross, so much more than an innocent person being executed. And as I've communicated many times this is…this is the last time through this story this year. And, so, we need to seal this in our hearts and in our minds as we continue forward because everything that we’ll read in the New Testament that comes next is because of this story. And, so, let's meditate upon it today again.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit we invite You to help us to be somber today, to be…not be depressed or sad but to move through this day reverently, that this is the thing that we keep coming back to, the unspeakable love of Jesus on our behalf that gives us life abundantly. Once again, may we consider deeply that this is a costly gift. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and its where you find out what's going on around here. It's where the Global Campfire is. It's the origination of all of this. So, stay tuned and stay connected there.

Especially be familiar with the Prayer Wall. That's in the Community section.

Be familiar with the Daily Audio Bible Shop and the resources that are there for the journey that we are on through this year together. Be familiar with that.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission, and now we are at the last day of the fifth month so we’re five full months into our year, seven days a week, every single day, if the mission to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and delivered to anyone who will listen to it anywhere on this planet any time of day or night, and to build community around that rhythm of daily interaction with the Scriptures, if that is life-giving, if that has made a difference than thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here doing this mission if this wasn't a collective mission that we were in together and a journey that we were on together. And, so, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app, little red button up at the top the looks like a hotline button and share from there anywhere in the world or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today and that's it for our first five months. Tomorrow we we’ll begin the sixth month of the year together and I look forward to that very, very much. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi there, it's Hallie Hart calling in to pray and praise some DABbers. I'll start with my praise for Renzo following God's call for him to street ministry. Renzo may God bless you and keep you safe while out trying to harvest and sow seeds for the future. Father God please find a partner for Renzo to go out in spread Your word. He wants to follow Your calling but would like someone with a solid foundation in Christ to help strengthen him and allow him to reach those he would not otherwise. Also Father God please allow him to get the scholarships he needs for his education and make his parents realize the importance and quickly deal with their obligation in the matter. You have a choir of angels cheering you on Renzo. Also, as a mom I'm guilty of this with my daughter in college as well and you spurred me to get it done really quickly this year. Also, Rick from North Carolina who called in on his marriage. Dear God please help create a path of reconciliation for them. Help Rick and his wife overcome what they're lacking right now and let it strengthen their marriage for the future. Also, I am continuing...continually praying for many dabbers but for husband of the wife Jess sitting in the hospital as she nears her ascension. Your prayers linger with me day after day. I'm continually praying for both of you, and I hope that you can feel the presence of the Lord and that He brings you peace. We love you. Amen.

Good morning family this is Anonymous I've called a couple of different times to talk about this situation, that I took my eyes off God and found myself in a pickle. And, so, I've been working really hard to, you know, be in His will and to talk to Him and to hear His voice and it's come to my attention that I am a sex and love addict, so I've been attending meetings for that and I…I just need your prayers friends. This world distorts how we feel about ourselves and how we think we should be able to relate to others and I just…I'm reaching out in my addiction to ask for prayer for others like me. I know you're out there and I’ve heard some calls recently of other people who are struggling with addictions and whatnot. But family just lift those of us who have been distorted by the society in this world to think that there can be anything more important than a relationship than God. And I ask specifically that you would speak in a very clear and open way to my heart to tell me my next steps do the next right thing. So, thank you family I love you. Thank you Brian and Jill I'm excited for Ben in China and their little girl Reagan. And I'm just in general so thankful, so thankful to be God’s girl. Alright, love you family have a great, great day.

This is Eltalee Maxwell in Colorado Springs Abiding in Jesus of 9:07 AM on the 27th and I just heard that dear man that wants God to mold him and feels called to be a pastor. I just want to praise God for this young man, and I just pray that you would just mold him Lord into who You want him to be. Help him to get all the support he needs and if Your will, lead him to a godly wife that has the same calling. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Heavenly Father King of Kings, Lord of Lords, I just heard the prayer requests of two husbands. Both their wives have cancer and both of them are in very, very great need of Your hand, Your fingerprints upon their life, Your guidance, Your healing in so many ways. Lord please may they be able to see Your presence and their wives be able to sense Your presence. May they have a great wisdom about themselves. May it not be all about just finding answers but being able to share the beauty of each day each moment as they have been given and that they would find that together in You. Lord, please bless the community around them with a wisdom and a love and compassion and a presence of heart and mind and soul of demonstrating Your love to them. Lord, please do an incredible work within their lives. Thank You, Lord for Your generous love and each day that You have given to us in Jesus’…

This is Doctor John in Illinois. I just want to respond to…to the folks that I heard on the 28th of May. Number one the brother that his wife is suffering. Found, I guess the diagnosis of cancer maybe on her phenol organs. Brother I just want to tell you that my wife six years ago was diagnosed with breast cancer, very aggressive. They give us a 20% chance to live in two years and by infinite mercy and the grace of Christ she's doing wonderful. Every time we go back her scans, her blood work is great. So, every day we depend on Christ. Every day we have a day to rejoice and be glad. So, brother hold…hold onto your trust and believe. Every day God is healing, every day he's doing miraculous wonders. It reminds us there are things that He's doing that we don't know anything about. But He's faithful. And the other brother, Daniel Johnson Junior called about his dad who once was a minister. And instantly the story came to mind when Christ describes the shepherd that had the 100 sheep and 99 were in the fold and he’s last one, but did he not go out and do everything he could to retrieve the one? So, brother I'd say to you…you've…look of all the things that you've been through…I've heard your name so many times and God is always faithful. And would He not go out, would He not retrieve the one? So, brother hold up your head and have faith and you have a whole host of brothers and sisters standing in faith with you.

[firstpuffin]

A life of boredom; I hope people can gain strength from this pt 1:

One thing that I hear again and again about people with mental illness or learning disabilities or even just with a far from ideal situation is that they feel alone. I’ll say first of all that I’ve never felt like this; I’ve never felt alone and I’ve never felt like a disappointment or like I’ve let down my parents. But I imagine that it would feel terrible.

  So I figured I’d put my rather boring story out there. It’s not one of success or any great tragedy; all things considered it’s been a pretty dull existence. But if it can help someone feel like they aren’t alone then maybe it’s worth it.

Also, I have no time to research a proper article.

  This entry is going to be more of a background to who I am and what I had to live with, with an actual sequence of events coming later. Nothing particularly bad ever happened to me, but there were a lot of smaller things that built up; you know what they say about straw and the camel’s back.

  I don’t really want to focus on the bad, I had a lot of good too. But you remember the bad, don’t you? While the good fades away.

 So first of all, I was originally inspired to write this when I realised that when I graduate from university this coming May, it will be exactly ten years since I graduated from high school. This is astonishing for a number of reasons: one, it doesn’t feel like ten years at all and two, I still feel like I’m sixteen years old. A sixteen-year old who can drink and who maybe should have accomplished more by now.

  There are other reasons why it feels wrong; I knew my best friend back in first school but we parted ways for middle school and by some holy shit level chance ended up in the same high school. And yes, we didn’t do the elementary to primary school thing; I only discovered that was even a thing during high school and I didn’t understand what it was. I went to three different schools and didn’t transfer once. But anyway, me and my pal have been pals constantly in the thirteen years since then; he introduced me to manga and to so many video game series and stuff. It’s also been roughly eleven or twelve years since I fell out with who had been up until then a constant in my life, but that’s for later.

  It doesn’t feel like I’ve done much of anything, at least not anything of worth in those ten years. Not until I came to university.

 Background: I am the youngest child in a family of four, my brother knowing what he has wanted since he was a child and worked constantly towards it. I would try to copy him and fail miserably. I looked up to him as someone who could do everything that I couldn’t.

  My dad was a straight-forward thinker who comes across to new people as stern and scary, but in reality he’s basically a big teddy bear (not in that way; in the more traditional sense). You just need to get past that cold facade first.

  My mother was overbearing but it was out of love rather than some other kind of twisted motive. I hesitate to talk too much about this lest it comes off badly, but it is a prime example of how the best intentions can go awry. She wanted me to be a child and so didn’t insist on making me do chores and instead did everything for me, so I never learned to be independent. Whether it was something to do with my combination of learning disabilities or just me as a person, I just let her do so. One of my greatest joys at university has been the independence, or more accurately the requirement to do everything myself. I love the cleaning the washing, the cooking.

  Oh my god, the cooking. I loathe food. Or at least I used to, I’m still not a fan. I now think I know why, but the original guess was that because I had rhinitis (think year long allergies; specifically a blocked nose) and couldn’t smell anything, that I couldn’t taste things correctly. I now know that being dyspraxic can mean an oversensitivity of the senses; like taste and touch. My dyspraxia meant that I disliked most strong-tasting foods. Or really food in general. Sure there were a few things I liked, like burgers or pizza, but no curry, no shepherd’s pie… really nothing with a sauce or herbs. Or onion. Or mushy textures. Or mixed textures.

  Guess what foods my family loved. Everything I hated. Mealtimes were the worst, I dreaded them. I genuinely feared going out to eat. And you know what made it worse? The complete and total lack of sympathy. I was fussy, I should just deal with it. There are children starving in Africa. So I did. I learned to eat things I hated for every meal, even when my peers would refuse to eat what they kinda maybe slightly didn’t like.

  But now I live alone and I have slowly increased the meals that I do actually enjoy, or at least don’t dislike. And it’s amazing. I don’t have to fear mealtimes anymore.

   Also, my parents didn’t do Christmas. Or Easter. Or Halloween. Or birthdays (although my mom tried to work around that). And Mom avoided fairy tales because she knew of their dark origins. You know, screw the current cheerful version of Cinderella; the older versions had body mutilations *gasp*. Bodily mutilations that…are not… in the current versions…

  Mom meant well, but most of my Disney knowledge comes from the Kingdom Hearts series. So that’s weird.

  And I’m actually kind of relieved that we never did Christmas, that holiday is a freaking mess.

 So what else? Well just for a bit of background, I don’t and never did experience sexual attraction. This may seem like an odd thing to mention but do me a favour and look around; sex is everywhere! And it’s very confusing to a kid who doesn’t even know what it means to be or to find someone attractive. Over time I’ve learned to see what is aesthetically pleasing, but that’s just the viewpoint of an artist. It was very hard for me thanks to that; and even harder when during high school, events made me think that I was bisexual (it was high school, who didn’t think they were bi?). I’m not going into them because I still don’t understand what was going through my head, but eventually I realised that I wasn’t technically bi, because I didn’t experience attraction. I now say that rather than being attracted to males or females, it’s more that I’m not not attracted to them.

  It’s weird, it’s confusing and hopefully you can understand why things were difficult for me. I’d be talking to my male friends when all heads turned to follow a shapely ass (I don’t get the appeal) and I would be wondering if they were listening to me (they usually weren’t). Still, it got some amusing responses from people who couldn’t understand.

 Next, I didn’t have a passion like my brother, I had no motivations to encourage me to work and even worse, I was smart enough that I could coast through school with acceptable grades and the constant nagging that “I had potential”; although I suspect everybody hears that. Still, with no skills to speak of and no motivation, I just lived. Without purpose. I kinda still do. The only reason I have any goals at the moment is to keep occupied.

  As a child, Mother was scared to let me go out, so I played the few video games that we had, watched the few television channels that I could, and read. Hoo boy did I read. My parents were keen on reading and so provided book after book and despite my dyslexia, I was soon waay above my peers. I was reading adult novels (no, not that kind; although one or two of the sci-fi books may as well have been) when I was in middle school (roughly around 9 and 13 years old; I can never remember). I firmly believe it was the reading that helped me overcome my dyslexia and look at me now, learning to write fiction and non-fiction and studying language. Of course, I have no social skills to speak of, so being able to go out might have been helpful.

I was also dyspraxic, but somehow I didn’t find this out until just a few months ago. Like seriously, I can’t blame anybody for this because it’s so extreme in its weirdness. My parents knew, adults I grew up with knew, even my brother knew; so how did I not? My assumption is that being dyslexic, I got the two very similar sounding words mixed up and for some reason people only focused on my dyslexia. It’s also pretty clear that my parents knew nothing about dyspraxia so that probably didn’t help.

  But the dyspraxia was a huge issue for me. I couldn’t play instruments like my brother or friends, because I didn’t have the motor skills; I couldn’t do sports because I would kick a football in 180 degrees from where I intended, and when you can’t kick a football your classmates hate you to an unreasonable degree, no doubt due to living in a football-oriented culture (which is probably worth another article all by itself) and you begin to hate sports; I couldn’t draw like my brother (like seriously, he can do everything I ever wanted to). I had no motivations, no goals and I never tried because I couldn’t do anything anyway.

This is going to be controversial but do you know what made things even worse? My parents were religious. Christian to be specific, but they go by “The Church of God” like literally every fucking religion so I can’t tell you exactly which denomination. They didn’t believe in hell so I was spared that trauma, and my parents always tried to be open about things like homosexuality (“we hate the act, not the people”) so all in all things could have been worse. But it was a small church with very few children and it wasn’t long before it was just me and this one boy. And it was so, so boring. There was literally nothing to keep a child entertained and we weren’t allowed to walk off. I ended up literally walking in circles around the edge of a room again and again and a-fucking-gain for hours. Thankfully I enjoyed walking but I think people started to realise there was a problem.

  I also wouldn’t get out of bed on Saturdays (because yes, the sabbath is actually on Saturday) and that definitely formed a weird habit. It’s pretty clear that I was depressed and so my parents eventually relented and let me stay at home. They were (and still are) convinced that I will return to the fold one day (I’m actually a hardcore atheist at this point). But that bad sleeping habit continued.

 So that’s the start. I was a kid with a technically undiagnosed learning disability that conditioned both my mind and my body, and that always sucks. I had people around me who were motivated and goal driven and worst of all, who were talented! And I struggled to do anything. Without goals, without motivation, and with a mother who was willing to do literally everything for me, I effectively did nothing. On top of that, I developed clear signs of depression that have since gotten worse, and worse over time.

  As I said though, things weren’t all bad. My parents loved me. None of us were particularly ill. I don’t know how many people I grew up with who had parents who had split and were uncaring. My hometown is full of people who have no desire to further themselves, who are happy to do nothing. I’m very lucky with my family.

Even if my brother is a snarky asshole.

[peace208]

For God so love the World...

Sophia told me you wanted to know what I believe as a Christian, so I am giving you a lot of info, some of this you may know, but I don't know what you know, so don't feel like I am acting like you are stupid, I am explaining this as though you are someone that doesn't know who God is, or someone that may be an atheist-that knows nothing about God.

Now before I get started, I hope the greatest thing you would take away from this is that God loves you. He loves you more than you know. He loves and knows you better than you know yourself. He loves every human on the planet, and he did everything he could to show you that love in his creation, in the details of your image, down to your individualistic finger print and the beautiful world you have around you. To show us how much he loves us he gave his only begotten son Jesus, as a sacrifice for us all. He loved you too much to give up on you, and when you call on him, or pray, he WILL listen to you-no matter who you are, or where you come from. His plan includes you, and he is waiting for you to include him. God loves you, and he loves everyone you know, and don't know. ♥️

I am a Christian, but we don't have a title, more specifically I am a follower/or disciple of Christ. There are no Christians (the term Christian is used once in the new testament by a Roman leader or dictator, so Christian is actually not a desired term) in our Holy bible, which consists of an old Testament and a new Testament.  I don't believe in organized religion, I believe in studying and learning from the bible (through the Holy Spirit) to know how to love God, and love his people and bring others to worship him (God) and his son Jesus so they also may be saved (have eternal life in heaven after this body dies).

The guide book to our beliefs is the Holy Bible. Everything we believe and live out is in it. It is our rules, but many interpret it differently, that is why there are different denominations of "Christians", such as Baptist, Protestant, Seventh Day Adventists, Pentecostal, etc. I am a non denominational follower of Christ. I only practice what the bible teaches and have found that practicing "denomination-ism" is not biblical.  The holy bible is the "living word", meaning the words in the Holy Bible (Old and New testament) are alive with God's own breathe. The words in the bible do not get read, said, sang, prayed, or re-written without God's presence and true interpretation being present within them. It is not old and "dead" but still relevant and truth filled.

Old testament is the beginning of the world, through all the prophets before Christ's birth.It is our Earth's early history- and creation described through the holy spirit which inspired men to write books, poems and songs and letters about God the creator his love, and his law for us.The old testament contains all the prophesy of Jesus (or a messiah that would be God's only son), flesh born to redeem us, (his chosen people) from our sins, so we can go to heaven with God and not burn in Hell (which the bible says you (your soul) will burn in a lake of fire for all eternity after your bodies death if you don't believe in God's only son, who is Jesus.

The New Testament starts with Jesus (our savior/messiah) birth-through death and resurrection, his instructions for us to live out after he ascended into heaven and his holy spirit, which he left with us, so we would still hear and feel him and his father in our lives, until his return, ( we have many works in the bible that describe signs of when we have reached the end times (end of our world), but scripture also tells us, we neither know the date, nor the time, the only one that knows is God the Father and our Creator) and Revelation which describes the end of the world until Jesus returns and takes his believers back to heaven with him, those that died already, and those that still live will rise and ascend into heaven (where ever heaven is, either here on Earth or 'in the sky', we don't know, and I personally don't care, I just know where ever it is, it is going to be more than I can imagine, and it doesn't have pain, or suffering, sadness, or crying, so who wouldn't want to go!) with him, and then we will meet God our creator and live for all eternity and never die.

In order to call your self a follower of Christ (or Christian), our bible tells us to give our hearts to Christ and believe he is God's only son, our messiah and the savior of our souls. John 3:16 in the new testament says:

"

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Based on the fact that Jesus died for all sin, from creation, to the end of time, ALL can come to Jesus and confess their sins and become a new ( a new creation, or new life) person. Meaning, when you have been forgiven of all your sins, you are new, you are clean. You can start again, you are free, you are "saved", which means, you were saved from dying (through Jesus sacrifice) and you will go to heaven. You were saved instead of the curse of dying, you will live in heaven for eternity after Jesus calls us.

God gave us one commandment in the garden of Eden, but we couldn't even keep that one commandment. The price for that sin (sin is when you do things God has asked you not to do) was that instead of living forever with God in the garden, we had to be separated from him, and one day we will die, instead of living forever. Now since sin entered the world, God gave us many laws, or rules to be without sin and live a blessed (or happy, and fortunate life), such as don't lie, don't steal, don't kill, honor your mother and father, worship only him, and keep the Sabbath holy, to name a few. There are other things he asked of us, not to do drugs or get drunk, no witchcraft, and don't have intercourse until you are married, marriage is between a man and a woman, and stay married to one person til death, only have sex with your wife or husband and no one else, common ones a lot of people know of, but we were and are unable to keep from doing these things. A sin is a sin, whether you have stolen, or lied, or killed, any sin will send you to hell.

Why is sin bad? GOD is holy, clean and pure. We can't be in his presence unless we too are holy, which means our soul would have to go to hell, because if we are in his presence with sin in our heart, his holiness would destroy us, burn us up. So, without Jesus covering your iniquities with his blood, so your sins are forgiven, you will die, and pay the price for your sin by going to hell. God, our father and Creator of everything, the universe, the galaxy, EVERYTHING gave us the gift of freewill, which is the ability to make choices, say yes, say no. This is a wonderful but great responsibility. Freewill means we can be sinful if we choose, we can turn our back on God and go it alone and choose to go to hell if we want, OR we can choose to obey God, which shows we love him and try to live by following his rules. Our problem is, we can't follow all his rules to be holy and pure. We just can't, we fail, and fail, and fail over and over and over and over and over again. There are examples in the bible describing in detail (specifically old testament) many times that we didn't listen to God no matter the wonderful things he would do for us to show us we could trust him completely. We wouldn't completely love him, we wouldn't completely believe in him because of our own weaknesses, we couldn't completely obey him. We aren't able to live without sinning, because the 1st sin (in the garden of Eden) separated us from God, and caused all of us (human race) to be born into sin. Sin is in our world, it was not in Eden. God meant for us to live forever with him, because of his love for us.

God made us little humans imperfect, because the only perfect being, is God. This imperfection that is us, is human. So having said that, because God loved us (each of us more than we can imagine), his creations, his children- even though he could give up and destroy us if he chose, he didn't (not that he didn't get upset with us and make one attempt (look into the flood and Noah)). He took compassion on our weaknesses, gave us mercy (a blessing that is an act of divine favor that cannot be earned, regardless of circumstance) that we didn't deserve and planned to (before he even created us) send an intercessor, his own son Jesus.

Now because he gave us this wonderful gift of making our own choices, instead of him controlling our every move (which doesn't feel like love), he knew this gift would keep us from him. He (God) knew we would fail, and he was right, we did (and we still do) he had already made the plan of giving us his son Jesus (who was God in flesh, or human form) so that he would be the sacrifice that would make up for our sins. He had to be virgin born and created in the Holy Spirit and sin free. Jesus was God in the flesh, or human form, because only God could be perfect, and Jesus was God. **

**Hold on, I know this gets confusing, so let me try to explain. God wants us to worship only him, God, the Creator of everything, everything is his. We are his, we are not our own, our souls are ours to choose their destiny, whether it goes to heaven to be with him, or whether we will go to Hell and be without God. Our souls live forever, our fleshly body is flawed, imperfect, mortal -  but our souls are immortal. God is in all of us, because he created us, he has his imprint on our hearts, but Jesus fleshly body was human, and Jesus (God's only son) soul was/is (he is still alive, he was resurrected) God. Jesus's body could be destroyed, because it was human, but he couldn't actually be killed, because he was God (therefore Jesus came back [or resurrected} in three days, like he said he would (proving he was the messiah). There is also the Holy Spirit, which is also God. God is in trinity (3) form. Instead of thinking of God as 3 Gods, which he isn't, think of him as 3 OF one. He (God) is not 1(God)+1(Jesus)+1(Holy Spirit)=3, but he is 1x1x1=1.  God wants us to only worship one God, and that is what he is. God never meant for us to be alone, and he shows us this in his own form, with himself not even being alone, because he is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. *Now I know a lot of people find this confusing, but I don't really. My son and my daughter are their own people, but I created them from my own flesh, so they are also me, so I can relate to this. Also, God created everything from nothing. Every thing God ever created, makes no sense to our little minds. I can't create anything just by saying "Let there be light." I can't give everything I see a special fingerprint. I can't do this, but because I see a loving design in everything around me, the ring in my eye, every blade of grass, every beautiful bird in the sky, every unique flower, and every sunset, I know this God I feel in my heart that created me, created every thing else too. Someone with that detail, love, and science is waaaaaaaay beyond anything I can comprehend, so (God) if you tell me that you are Jesus and you are also the Holy Spirit, I BELIEVE YOU, because you are amazing and deserving of my praise. There is NOTHING that you can't do, and because I can see with my own eyes, the stars, the waters, birth, nature, life and death, I KNOW there is nothing you can't do. Believing he (God) is 3, doesn't seem very complicated when you look at the perspective!

 Now, since Jesus is God's son, God asked us to accept Jesus as our savior, a being we could relate to, another human that actually obeyed everything God asked us to do to show us the way. We didn't seem to understand God in the old testament, so Jesus was relatable, God told us without accepting his son (which was God in the flesh, but still Jesus, his son) we were also rejecting him. If we rejected Jesus, God would also reject us. This is because without the sacrifice Jesus made covering our sin, we were right back in the boat of "not being clean enough" to be around God. The only way to be near God after we die is to be sinless, and even if we can ask God to forgive us for our sins without Jesus covering them they are still there. Jesus NEVER sinned. His life was lived without sinning. When he died, his blood was the sacrifice needed to 'cover' all sin (for all time). He was the messiah that was predicted throughout the bible, and proof that he was the messiah is everywhere in the gospels in the new testament that testify to this. The most important proof that Jesus was the messiah was the fact that he resurrected (lived again) after dying in front of about 100 witnesses! Everyone saw him die a horrid death, then BAM in 3 days, he was BACK!!! It was an amazing miracle! Anyway, Jesus is the bridge between us, and God. Without him, without asking him into our hearts (Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved) and repenting for our sins and living our lives for him, we will go to hell. It doesn't matter how nice you are, or how many good deeds you do, unless you are sin free (again, no one is) you can't go to heaven without Jesus. You will go to hell. It is your choice, choose well.

Jesus death came with a price if you are his, you show you are his by living for him, following the instructions that Jesus gave us. As a believer, I happily live for him. He took away my sins, loved me no matter what I did, took me as a filthy rag, and made me new. He gave me new life, abundant life, and eternal life. The things Jesus asks of me, are not too difficult, because he is with me(holy spirit), so I am never alone. I obey God and Jesus as best I can, because everything he asks is for my good and will only benefit me and my life.

Jesus gave us a lot of examples and teachings (and showing) of how to live, but he gave only 2 commandments, and those were:"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:37-39). He also gave us the great commission: "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) This is why we try to tell everyone we know about Jesus saving sacrifice and encourage others to come as they are to Jesus. He will cleanse them of their sins, they will be a new creation, so they may be in heaven with God after they die, and to tell others. If you truly are one of Christ's followers, you love everyone around you, for no one is outside of God's reach, and he wants us all to go to heaven to be with him, and live forever. Have faith in your fellow man, forgive as forgiveness was given you, and don't judge others as the pharisee did(new testament), but love as Jesus loved everyone. Only Love is from God, you will not draw anyone near to God with hate, fear or anger, only with love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Your life shows who(se) you really are. Jesus changes your life, he makes you more like him, making you better, and drawing you closer, and closer to God, every day you are alive. (hopefully, because no one is perfect [except Jesus]

The only thing you can take with you to heaven, is people. So pray for the world, pray to God in Jesus name every time you pray, so your prayer will reach God's ears with faith (believe in what you don't see to be real and that God can fulfill your request, believe what you ask God for) knowing ANYTHING is possible for him(God) and those that believe. Pray for one another, speak to God, because he loves you. Don't fear him, love him, as he loves you. 

Peace, and may God be with YOU, in Jesus name. Amen

[johnchiarello]

Sunday

SUNDAY 6-11-17

Crisis in Corpus Christi Texas- Police Chief Mike Markle- we have questions

Ezekiel 43:2

And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.

 Isaiah 26:9

With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

 Sandra Watts- 117th District Court https://youtu.be/bD5eVAXYvxU

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-BK

.Tom Greenwell

.Bishop

.Racial bias in the courts

.DNA

.Biblical evidence primarily based on testimony

.no biblical basis for the berating of the accused from the bench

.Michael Morton- his son learned to hate him- why?

8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I.9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

 Obey the Word of God Chief Mike Markle https://youtu.be/xDlI4Vg_BlM

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-BL

.Addiction

.Priesthood

.Corpus Christi Police chief accused of rape [4 chiefs ago]

.Meth

.Disorder in the mind

. ‘He quotes Shakespeare!

.King David and his men

.3 days ‘clean’ - from what?

Habakkuk 2:2 [Full Chapter]

And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

 Open letter to Police Chief Mike Markle https://youtu.be/wzPBIcnGOfE

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-BM

.CCPD

.Chief Markle

.I have a question for you chief

Luke 17:21

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

 More questions for Police Chief Mike Markle https://youtu.be/enAVWjYZ-3c

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-BN

.Gun

.forced to do what- at the barrel of a gun

.Corruption within the Corpus Christi Police department

. San Diego- Texas

Revelation 3:21

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

 Request for Chief Mike Markle- Code Enforcement https://youtu.be/q9Dd9uPrxTU

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-BO

.My trip to code Enforcement

.The mattress

.Tommy Nichols

.Why did you lie to my kids?

.CCPD

.Internal affairs

Revelation 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

 Making a public record for the Corpus Christi Police Department- https://youtu.be/I_rFapYcWC0

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-BP

.Planted a Xanax on Jesse

.918 West Lakeside- Corpus Christi TX.

.CCPD

Hebrews 13:4

Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

 The Pope knows- https://youtu.be/h9Y_Jhf4tu8

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-BQ

.Holy See- Vatican city

.Even the Pope has questions now!

.Mike Markle

. ‘Sorry about that’ Huh?

.Mark Skurka

.Mark Gonzalez

.Bishop Mulvey

22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

 Nice block off Laguna- https://youtu.be/5HpTfx5mhJ4

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-BR

.Beautiful day in the neighborhood

.Don’s Pier

.Stewart street

. ‘Mexican restaurant and massage parlor- the bigger the better’ [true story]

Matthew 21:42

Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

 Gun- https://youtu.be/Y9FogF1Outg

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-BS

.Shooting Range [Loud- can’t hear much talk]

Zechariah 12:3

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Psalm 102:20

To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

  NEW [Past posts- verses below]

 I covered many things that I tried to document before- but the many complaints from the homeless have gone unnoticed.

1- Many of the homeless have complained for years about abuse by the Corpus Christi Police department.

And some of the abuse was sexual in nature.

We ask for chief Markle to investigate whether or not the homeless were made to perform oral sex on any Police officers in your department.

The accusations were made about officer Tommy Nichols- now- I do not mean to denigrate him- but because you seem to allow abuse to go on- and these stories have been around for years.

Investigate it- either his name will be cleared once and for all- or not.

All you have to do is a real investigation- many of the homeless [and others] have complained for years- lets get to the bottom of it.

2- I taught a bible study at 918 West Lake side for many years- helping Angel Hanley who manages the apartments for officer Tommy Nichols.

Her ex husband Jesse [There are 2 Jesse’s- she knows which one I am referring to- make sure Tommy does not intimidate her] has told me that officer Tommy Nichols admitted- in front of witnesses- that he planted a Xanax pill on Jesse- and Jesse did 2 years in prison.

I related this account many times-

The way Tommy Nichols admitted to doing it was Jesse said ‘do you remember me’ Tommy said ‘no’.

Jesse said ýou planted a Xanax on me and I did 2 years’-  Tommy replied ‘sorry about that’.

Now- this is one of hundreds of complaints I heard while working with the street guys in my ministry over 20 years.

Is this true or not?

There are lots of other cases- all we ask is for you to investigate it.

‘Why use actual names’?

An investigation never gets done- unless names are used.

So many of these stories have been around for many years.

But I can verify that Tommy Nichols did try to run me off the Oso bridge after I emailed chief Simpson years ago- simply saying ‘I think I might have a problem with one of your cops’.

Tommy did follow me all over town- waiting for me when I came out of stores- AA meetings- etc.

I realized he does engage in harassment and official oppression.

That made me see that the guys were telling the truth.

Many of the cases you hear me repeat [Crow- Jesse] are because these are the few that have other witnesses who can verify them.

The CCPD themselves told Crow ‘we promise Tommy will never lay a hand on you again’ they knew full well about the targeted assault on Crow.

The ‘Jesse case’ was one where Tommy admitted to planting a Xanax- by saying ‘sorry about that’.

But there must literately be thousands of these cases.

Mark Gonzales has the ability to pull up records- to see how many cases were settled- things like that.

So that's why I try and highlight the few cases I know about- that are not just hearsay.

Ok- that's it for now.

 LAST NOTE- I try to wrap things up before doing the final post [It’s 6:30pm].

Few things-

‘John- we have heard this before- why go thru it again’.

Mark Gonzales is the new D.A. of Nueces county- if per chance he hears some of this- then maybe something will get done.

In some of the legal cases I talked about- the people- once sent off to prison- have no voice.

Some who are still on the streets- also have no voice.

Many people in society are intimidated to speak out- and when official oppression comes against them- from the men in Blue- it’s scary.

We should never be afraid to shine the light- ever.

On the last video- the audio is not good.

Maybe fate- did I finally cross the line- you know- that line CCPD has been looking for.

Yes- in society there are laws.

You never make a threat to a cop- Roger from the streets did indeed threaten Tommy Nichols once- just words mind you-

Roger did 4 years in prison- Tommy refused to drop the charges.

Yes- Tommy Nichols- you know- the cop who has assaulted many- made actual verbal threats- and carried them out.

Yes- CCPD has a very high standard- but it only applies to the victims of their abuse.

So maybe- just maybe- fate allowed no one to hear the last video.

‘John- don’t be stupid- they can enhance it’

Hmm?

Well- you know I never like to waste a video- at least some one will hear it-

Get to work boys!

Ok- that's it for today

God bless all.

  I also taught some from the book of Samuel- and other subjects- below are my past teachings that relate-

PAST POSTS- [Here are some of my past teachings- posts- that relate to today’s post- ‘Sunday- Crisis in C.C. TX’].

https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-samuel/

https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/08/wednesday-6-7-17/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/09/thursday-6-8-17/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/09/friday-6-9-17/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/10/saturday-6-10-17/

https://ccoutreach87.com/christian-recovery-from-addiction-long-version/

https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/

 (905)SAMUEL 21- David is fleeing from Saul and he goes to the priest at Nob. The priest wonders what’s up. David tells him he is on a special assignment from the king and he and his men need food. The priest tells him the only food available is the consecrated bread that is only for God and the priesthood. David convinces the priest to let them eat and David asks ‘do you have any weapons here’. The priest says ‘I have the sword you used to kill the giant’ David says ‘great, that will work just fine’. Jesus used this story to describe himself and the disciples [Mark 2]. One day Jesus and the disciples were going thru the grain fields and the disciples picked the grain and ate it on the Sabbath. The Pharisees said ‘your disciples are breaking Gods law by picking it on the Sabbath’. Now, to be honest they were breaking the over extended ideas that the religious Pharisees came up with thru their legalism. But Jesus still used this example as a defense. He says ‘have you not read what David and his men did? They ate the ceremonial showbread that was not lawful, only the priests could eat it’. David and his men are a symbol of Jesus and his men. While it is true that the bread was only lawful for the priests, David is a king/priest who gets away with doing ‘priestly things’ because of his picture of Christ. Scripture says he put on an ephod [priestly garment] which only priests could do. David functioned before the open Ark in Jerusalem. He did things that other kings were punished for [Saul, Uzziah]. Jesus in essence was saying to the Pharisees ‘I am the new priest/king from which all future law and worship will be measured by. Me and my followers are not under the law, the law serves us’! In Christ we are free from the guilt of the law, we live above legalism and follow the master. David and his men were acting like priests and kings contrary to the economy of their day. David was a type of Jesus whose future priestly ministry would ‘out trump’ the law.

 [more on Abiathar]

(914)SAMUEL 30- David returns from the battle lines and finds out his town was sacked by the Amalekites. They took everything and spared the lives of the women and children. David’s men see the disaster and cry bitterly. They have a deacon board meeting and contemplate stoning him to death. Things were bad, David encourages himself in the Lord. He asks the Lord ‘should I go after them and try and recover our families’? The Lord says ‘go, you will recover all’. David pursues and gets his people back and kills the enemy. Four hundred young men escape. The same amount of men that went with David, 200 stayed behind out of weakness. Why did the 400 Amalekites flee? It’s possible that the Lord used these 400 survivors to spread the word about David’s fierceness. This battle was pumped up, David showed no mercy! After they return, the 400 man army of David despises the 200 who stayed behind and say ‘we will give you your families, but no goods!’ They treated them as lesser men. David would have none of it and says ‘we can’t withhold the things the Lord has freely given us [freely you have received, freely give- Jesus] but we will treat everyone alike’. I see the New Testament ministry of giving and sharing as a community here. What happened in this chapter? David experienced a tremendous possible loss this day. His men were at the lowest point of ‘the ministry’. All seemed lost, they even feared the loss of their families. The Lord does restore to David that which seemed gone for good, and David’s men regroup. All this happens at the next to the last chapter of Samuel. In the next chapter Saul dies and David becomes king. Everything seemed hopeless right before the greatest victory of all! David was soon to enter into his prophetic destiny in God. There is a theme in scripture that goes like this ‘right before, and right after great victories there are great trials’ geez, that means there are always trials! Yes, to a degree this is true. I also want you to have a biblical perspective on what it means to ‘recover all’. The church went thru a stage where we learned all the verses on ‘the enemy must repay 7 fold’ and other themes on ‘all the years the locust hath eaten will be restored’. I like and have used these themes in my own life over the years to claim victory. But I want you to see from an eternal perspective. The theme of the New Testament is one of eternal rewards. Not so much focused on ‘what we get here and now’ but on us having a ‘better reward in heaven’ [Hebrews]. Those of you who have lost loved ones, finances [we just had a tremendous stock market crash 10-08]. What if I were to tell you ‘you are not really much worse off than those who haven’t lost all’. In a few short years all our loved ones will be gone. We will have lost control over all of our wealth and riches. We will all be gone [in the natural!]. But yet there awaits a real future resurrection where we will all get our loved ones back. Where we will reap eternal rewards for a life well lived. In the eternal perspective we do ‘recover all’, all isn’t lost! I want to encourage you today to believe God to restore some things in the here and now. Yes, God can bless you and restore to you wealth and health and family and many good things. And for those who have lost some of these things permanently, God will restore to you real soon.

 VERSES-

1Samuel 21:1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

1Samuel 21:2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.

1Samuel 21:3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

1Samuel 21:4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

1Samuel 21:5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

1Samuel 21:6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

1Samuel 21:7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.

1Samuel 21:8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

1Samuel 21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

1Samuel 21:10 And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

1Samuel 21:11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

1Samuel 21:12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

1Samuel 21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

1Samuel 21:14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?

1Samuel 21:15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

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[ar3volut1on]

I keep thinking about Noah lately.  Wondering what he thought about things in his day, how people treated him as he built the ark and when he warned them that God was about to judge them for their vile abominable sins.  I imagine it was much like today; where sin, lies, deceit, denying of the Truth, rejection of the Lord are common place, even applauded.  But  God-fearing, bible teaching, America loving freedom patriots are the target of all those a fore mentioned evils. I think Noah would get what I mean, and that is what worries me.  I feel such a sense of urgency, it grows by the day, to spread the good news of Christ to as many as I can before time runs out.  And trust me, it is running out fast folks. Jesus is coming back soon, he is going to claim his own, those who are saved through his grace by believing in him and this world is going to become a literal hell on earth for all those scoffers, deniers, unbelievers, and such for seven very long years before he returns in triumph for the entire world to see and puts an end to all the suffering and sin in this cursed world.  He is gonna bind ole slew foot the Devil and toss him in the pit for a thousand years during which Christ will reign in our “7th day”, earth’s sabbath.  Think of it, this world will be changed, somewhat restored to it’s original glory, not totally the scars of six thousand years of sin and death can’t totally be erased but it will be better than anything we can imagine, ruled in perfect justice and perfect love by Christ our King and Savior.

But just like in Noah’s day, and as Jesus said the latter day’s would be, most people don’t believe it, they say believers like me are crazy, stupid, or worse.  They hate our message because it makes them face, even if only for one split second, the fact that all have sinned, are unworthy before God and need a Savior to be restored before Him so He sent Jesus, his only Son, to take our place and die for our sins, to make us clean then rise from the grave, conquering death and offering eternal life to all who believe in and confess Him as their Lord and Savior.  In Christ we have hope, love, rebirth,fresh starts, heaven, eternity, God!.  They hate facing the truth, knowing they are lost.  They would rather continue on in their comfortable, distracted, entertained, sin not seeing truth.  But just like Noah we have work to do, just like Jesus we must see it through no matter the cost.  So let’s read a little of 2 Peter tonight and get let’s so good seed onto as much ground as possible so that some of those who are willingly ignorant will no longer be too blind by it to see.

This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:  2 Peter 3:1 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:  2 Peter 3:2

Peter tells us straight up why he’s writing this letter, to warn us to be diligent to remember the words of the prophets as well as the commandment of the Lord through the apostles.  He wants to inspire us, lead us, and yes in a way convict us, spur us to embrace our call as disciples, Christ followers. Because he knows we need to be strong in our faith and walk with the Lord because it isn’t all gonna be sunshine and roses, a walk in the park.  Nope, we’re gonna face trials and tribulations, taking up the cross isn’t always easy but it is so worth it.  Nothing we can or will ever do is as important as this, answering God’s call on our lives.  Peter knew this and he wants us to bear it in mind as he proceeds to tell us what to expect.

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,  2 Peter 3:3

But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.  2 Peter 2:10

Scoffers, I know more than a few of those; I’ve spent a lot of time on my knees for them, praying that the scales fall from their eyes, they see and hear the truth.  I also know those who walk after their own lusts, doing whatever they want without considering who it hurts or what the consequences may be.  For instance having sex outside of marriage and ending up pregnant so you decide to have an abortion to fix your mistake instead of owning it – by doing so you kill an innocent life and miss out on one of the greatest joys you will ever know.  But you what, I walked after my own lusts too, before I knew the Lord.  My soul was filthy, I was dirty, weak, broken.  But the day I stopped being willful and saw what I was, where I was headed I knew I had to do something.  That’s when I met my Lord, my Savior, my Christ accepting the gift of grace He offered me.  Nothing I could ever do would save me, except my decision to let Jesus take my sins and wash me clean through His blood shed on Calvary.  Without Him I would be lost to this day, all I can do is praise Him and thank Him, serve Him.  That means following Him, sharing the gospel, the good news, the love He has for us all with all of you in the hopes that the seed takes hold in fertile soil and snatching another soul out of Satan’s grasp, out of the lake of fire.

And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.  2 Peter 3:4

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Matthew 24:48-51

In some ways those who say all things continue as always have a point; the earth keeps going around the sun, seasons come and go, people are born others die.  But at the same time it’s not the same at all.  What Daniel said in his prophecy about the end times has come true:

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.  Daniel 12:4

Up until the last century things had pretty much stayed the same.  Sure there were a few advancements in medicine, travel, industry, etc.  But the main mode of transportation for the majority of the world was still basically the same as it was in Daniels day – your feet, a horse, and maybe a buggy or wagon of some sort, a chariot in the old days.  But look at travel today: we zoom around in cars, planes, even rockets;  going in farther in a couple hours than we could in days just 100 years ago.  We’ve sent men into the heavens and chased the sun around the planet.  We truly run to and fro, all day long, but only in the last 50 – 75 years did that phrase of Daniels really start to make sense.  Knowledge did increase over the years but not at the rapid pace of today when we have an explosion of advances in every field imaginable.

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:  2 Peter 3:5

We know so much it seems but man willingly rejects the most basic of truths, turning instead to his supposed knowledge.  Knowledge which is often only correct in his own eyes, because he uses it to try to deny God.  And you God will let him twist and use it that way, He’s a gentleman God is He won’t force us to believe in Him, accept Him.  Nope, but when we decide to reject God then there are natural consequences we will suffer for our folly.  Let me tell you, they are not worth it.  Nothing in this world is worth denying, rejecting, and ultimately spending eternity separated from the God who created you, knit you together in your mother’s womb, made himself man just to then suffer and die for you before rising from the grave triumphant over death thereby offering you eternal life.  No there is nothing more precious, than God and his love for us, for you.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  Genesis 1:6

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.  Genesis 1:9

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.  Psalms 33:6

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.  Hebrews 11:3

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.  Colossians 1:17

Man today vehemently denies the very existence of God, a supreme, intelligent creator of all things.  Instead he scoffs and says that of course the universe created itself, through the chance collision of well nothing.  Nothing collided with nothing and bang! something. They got it right in one part, it started from nothing but they missed the key, God created, God spoke and BANG! there was light!  Then over the course of six 24 hour days (let’s be real here folks, he’s God he just spoke and a universe was born, I am certain He can pull this off in six days, he could have done it all at once if he wanted!) he created the entire heavens and earth complete with plants, animals, man.  God did that and it all started with one simple sentence “Let there be light.”  Now I think that the power of that sentence being fulfilled might have been loud, might have been a bang, but it wasn’t millions or billions of years ago.  Nah, it was just about six thousand years ago.  Which puts us in a unique time today, because I think there is a reason God took six literal days and then later told us that to Him a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years a day.  See scripture interprets scripture, and when we really dig into the word even seeming puzzles and so called issues make perfect sense because God gave us all the answers.  We just have to look for them, seek them.  So I think that the six days of creation work were a foreshadowing of the six thousand years man would rule the earth, the Sabbath day or 7th day symbolizes the millennial  reign, the last thousand years before eternity.  That means it’s time, time to wake up, realize that God loves you and wants to spend eternity with you, it’s why he created you.  You are His precious creation, His child.  He loves us so much he died for us.

This post is getting long, and I don’t want to overwhelm you, God’s telling me it’s time to shush for the night and get some rest, give Him time to work on some hearts with what he put on me to talk about so far.  So I will pick up again tomorrow night with 2 Peter 3:6 in pt.2.

Let me make this appeal to you tonight, do not wait, accept Christ tonight, repent of your sins, be saved, made new, accept the gift of eternal life with the God who created you, loves you, wants you just as you are.  All you have to do is let him in.  Pray the prayer below right now and know that no matter what the next second brings you are secure in the arms of the Lord.  Because Jesus could come for us, His church, tonight or he may tarry a bit longer for it is not God’s wish that any should perish but that all should come to the saving knowledge of Christ before it is eternally too late.  And trust me, one day it will be too late for each of us.  If we go through the grave and we are not Christ’s then it’s too late.  There will be no second chance then.

      Willfully Ignorant pt. 1 I keep thinking about Noah lately.  Wondering what he thought about things in his day, how people treated him as he built the ark and when he warned them that God was about to judge them for their vile abominable sins. 

[dfroza]

A protest and a Letter sent to clarify

is seen in Today’s reading of the paired chapters of the Testaments with Acts 15 and Zechariah 2

which viewed Together (15•2) reminds me of the address of the coffee house on cherry street in Tulsa, OK

1502 east 15th (cherry) street

Acts 15:

[To Let Outsiders Inside]

It wasn’t long before some Jews showed up from Judea insisting that everyone be circumcised: “If you’re not circumcised in the Mosaic fashion, you can’t be saved.” Paul and Barnabas were up on their feet at once in fierce protest. The church decided to resolve the matter by sending Paul, Barnabas, and a few others to put it before the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem.

After they were sent off and on their way, they told everyone they met as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria about the breakthrough to the non-Jewish outsiders. Everyone who heard the news cheered—it was terrific news!

When they got to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were graciously received by the whole church, including the apostles and leaders. They reported on their recent journey and how God had used them to open things up to the outsiders. Some Pharisees stood up to say their piece. They had become believers, but continued to hold to the hard party line of the Pharisees. “You have to circumcise the pagan converts,” they said. “You must make them keep the Law of Moses.”

The apostles and leaders called a special meeting to consider the matter. The arguments went on and on, back and forth, getting more and more heated. Then Peter took the floor: “Friends, you well know that from early on God made it quite plain that he wanted the pagans to hear the Message of this good news and embrace it—and not in any secondhand or roundabout way, but firsthand, straight from my mouth. And God, who can’t be fooled by any pretense on our part but always knows a person’s thoughts, gave them the Holy Spirit exactly as he gave him to us. He treated the outsiders exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed him.

“So why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too? Don’t we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation? So what are we arguing about?”

There was dead silence. No one said a word. With the room quiet, Barnabas and Paul reported matter-of-factly on the miracles and wonders God had done among the other nations through their ministry. The silence deepened; you could hear a pin drop.

James broke the silence. “Friends, listen. Simeon has told us the story of how God at the very outset made sure that racial outsiders were included. This is in perfect agreement with the words of the prophets:

After this, I’m coming back;

I’ll rebuild David’s ruined house;

I’ll put all the pieces together again;

I’ll make it look like new

So outsiders who seek will find,

so they’ll have a place to come to,

All the pagan peoples

included in what I’m doing.

“God said it and now he’s doing it. It’s no afterthought; he’s always known he would do this.

“So here is my decision: We’re not going to unnecessarily burden non-Jewish people who turn to the Master. We’ll write them a letter and tell them, ‘Be careful to not get involved in activities connected with idols, to guard the morality of sex and marriage, to not serve food offensive to Jewish Christians—blood, for instance.’ This is basic wisdom from Moses, preached and honored for centuries now in city after city as we have met and kept the Sabbath.”

Everyone agreed: apostles, leaders, all the people. They picked Judas (nicknamed Barsabbas) and Silas—they both carried considerable weight in the church—and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas with this letter:

From the apostles and leaders, your friends, to our friends in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Hello!

We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. Mind you, they had no authority from us; we didn’t send them. We have agreed unanimously to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul. We picked men we knew you could trust, Judas and Silas—they’ve looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. We’ve sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we’ve written.

It seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be saddled with any crushing burden, but be responsible only for these bare necessities: Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians (blood, for instance); and guard the morality of sex and marriage.

These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us. And God be with you!

[Barnabas and Paul Go Their Separate Ways]

And so off they went to Antioch. On arrival, they gathered the church and read the letter. The people were greatly relieved and pleased. Judas and Silas, good preachers both of them, strengthened their new friends with many words of courage and hope. Then it was time to go home. They were sent off by their new friends with laughter and embraces all around to report back to those who had sent them.

Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the Word of God. But they weren’t alone. There were a number of teachers and preachers at that time in Antioch.

After a few days of this, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit all our friends in each of the towns where we preached the Word of God. Let’s see how they’re doing.”

Barnabas wanted to take John along, the John nicknamed Mark. But Paul wouldn’t have him; he wasn’t about to take along a quitter who, as soon as the going got tough, had jumped ship on them in Pamphylia. Tempers flared, and they ended up going their separate ways: Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus; Paul chose Silas and, offered up by their friends to the grace of the Master, went to Syria and Cilicia to build up muscle and sinew in those congregations.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 15 (The Message)

and silence is also mentioned at the conclusion of Today’s paired chapter with this:

Zechariah chapter #2

[Third Vision: The Man with the Tape Measure]

I looked up and was surprised to see

a man holding a tape measure in his hand.

I said, “What are you up to?”

“I’m on my way,” he said, “to survey Jerusalem,

to measure its width and length.”

Just then the Messenger-Angel on his way out

met another angel coming in and said,

“Run! Tell the Surveyor, ‘Jerusalem will burst its walls—

bursting with people, bursting with animals.

And I’ll be right there with her’—God’s Decree—‘a wall of fire

around unwalled Jerusalem and a radiant presence within.’”

“Up on your feet! Get out of there—and now!” God says so.

“Return from your far exile.

I scattered you to the four winds.” God’s Decree.

“Escape from Babylon, Zion, and come home—now!”

God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the One of Glory who sent me on my mission, commenting on the godless nations who stripped you and left you homeless, said, “Anyone who hits you, hits me—bloodies my nose, blackens my eye. Yes, and at the right time I’ll give the signal and they’ll be stripped and thrown out by their own servants.” Then you’ll know for sure that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission.

“Shout and celebrate, Daughter of Zion!

I’m on my way. I’m moving into your neighborhood!”

God’s Decree.

Many godless nations will be linked up with God at that time. (“They will become my family! I’ll live in their homes!”) And then you’ll know for sure that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission. God will reclaim his Judah inheritance in the Holy Land. He’ll again make clear that Jerusalem is his choice.

Quiet, everyone! Shh! Silence before God. Something’s afoot in his holy house. He’s on the move!

The Book of Zechariah, Chapter 2 (The Message)

to be accompanied by inspiration and wisdom from Today’s reading of Psalm 11 and Proverbs 11 for january 11 of 2020:

[Psalm 11]

For the worship leader. A song of David.

I am already in the soft embrace of the Eternal,

so why do you beckon me to leave, saying,

“Fly like a bird to the mountains.

Look! The wicked approach with bows bent,

sneaking around in the shadows,

setting their arrows against their bowstrings to pierce everyone whose heart is pure.

If the foundations are crumbling,

is there hope for the righteous?”

But the Eternal has not moved; He remains in His holy temple.

He sits squarely on His heavenly throne.

He observes the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, examining us within and without,

exploring every fiber of our beings.

The Eternal searches the hearts of those who are good,

but He despises all those who can’t get enough of perversion and violence.

If you are evil, He will rain hot lava over your head,

will fill your cup with burning wind and liquid fire to scorch your insides.

The Eternal is right in all His ways;

He cherishes all that is upright.

Those who do what is right in His eyes will see His face.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 11 (The Voice)

[Proverbs 11]

To set high standards for someone else,

and then not live up to them yourself,

is something that God truly hates.

But it pleases him when we apply the right standards

of measurement.

When you act with presumption,

convinced that you’re right,

don’t be surprised if you fall flat on your face!

But walking in humility helps you to make wise decisions.

Integrity will lead you to success and happiness,

but treachery will destroy your dreams.

When Judgment Day comes,

all the wealth of the world won’t help you one bit.

So you’d better be rich in righteousness,

for that’s the only thing that can save you in death.

Those with good character walk on a smooth path,

with no detour or deviation.

But the wicked keep falling because of their own wickedness.

Integrity will keep a good man from falling.

But the unbeliever is trapped,

held captive to his sinful desires.

When an evil man dies, all hope is lost,

for his misplaced confidence goes in the coffin

and gets buried along with him.

Lovers of God are snatched away from trouble,

and the wicked show up in their place.

The teachings of hypocrites can destroy you,

but revelation knowledge will rescue the righteous.

The blessing that rests on the righteous

releases strength and favor to the entire city,

but shouts of joy will be heard when the wicked one dies.

The blessing of favor resting upon the righteous

influences a city to lift it higher,

but wicked leaders tear it apart by their words.

To quarrel with a neighbor is senseless.

Bite your tongue; be wise and keep quiet!

You can’t trust gossipers with a secret;

they’ll just go blab it all.

Put your confidence instead in a trusted friend,

for he will be faithful to keep it in confidence.

People lose their way without wise leadership,

but a nation succeeds and stands in victory

when it has many good counselors to guide it.

The evil man will do harm when confronted by a righteous man,

because he hates those who await good news.

A gracious, generous woman

will be honored with a splendid reputation,

but the woman who hates the truth

lives surrounded with disgrace and by men

who are cutthroats, only greedy for money.

A man of kindness attracts favor,

while a cruel man attracts nothing but trouble.

Evil people may get a short-term gain,

but to sow seeds of righteousness

will bring a true and lasting reward.

A son of righteousness experiences the abundant life,

but the one who pursues evil hurries to his own death.

The Lord can’t stand the stubborn heart bent toward evil,

but he treasures those whose ways are pure.

Assault your neighbor and you will certainly be punished,

but God will rescue the children of the godly.

A beautiful woman who abandons good morals

is like a fine gold ring dangling from a pig’s snout.

True lovers of God are filled with longings

for what is pleasing and good,

but the wicked can only expect doom.

Generosity brings prosperity,

but withholding from charity brings poverty.

Those who live to bless others

will have blessings heaped upon them,

and the one who pours out his life to pour out blessings

will be saturated with favor.

People will curse the businessman with no ethics,

but the one with a social conscience receives praise from all.

Living your life seeking what is good for others brings untold favor,

but those who wish evil for others will find it coming back on them.

Keep trusting in your riches and down you’ll go!

But the lovers of God rise up like flowers in the spring.

The fool who brings trouble to his own family

will be cut out of the will,

and the family servant will do better than he.

But a life lived loving God bears lasting fruit,

for the one who is truly wise wins souls.

If the righteous are barely saved,

what’s in store for all the wicked?

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 11 (The Passion Translation)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for january 11 of 2020, simultaneously the 22nd day of Winter

[dfroza]

A letter was written to resolve a difference in opinion

to restore peace of heart & mind to the new believers at a time when the message of grace began to spread beyond the Jews to whom it was first given.

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 15th chapter of the book of Acts:

[To Let Outsiders Inside]

It wasn’t long before some Jews showed up from Judea insisting that everyone be circumcised: “If you’re not circumcised in the Mosaic fashion, you can’t be saved.” Paul and Barnabas were up on their feet at once in fierce protest. The church decided to resolve the matter by sending Paul, Barnabas, and a few others to put it before the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem.

After they were sent off and on their way, they told everyone they met as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria about the breakthrough to the non-Jewish outsiders. Everyone who heard the news cheered—it was terrific news!

When they got to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were graciously received by the whole church, including the apostles and leaders. They reported on their recent journey and how God had used them to open things up to the outsiders. Some Pharisees stood up to say their piece. They had become believers, but continued to hold to the hard party line of the Pharisees. “You have to circumcise the pagan converts,” they said. “You must make them keep the Law of Moses.”

The apostles and leaders called a special meeting to consider the matter. The arguments went on and on, back and forth, getting more and more heated. Then Peter took the floor: “Friends, you well know that from early on God made it quite plain that he wanted the pagans to hear the Message of this good news and embrace it—and not in any secondhand or roundabout way, but firsthand, straight from my mouth. And God, who can’t be fooled by any pretense on our part but always knows a person’s thoughts, gave them the Holy Spirit exactly as he gave him to us. He treated the outsiders exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed him.

“So why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too? Don’t we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation? So what are we arguing about?”

There was dead silence. No one said a word. With the room quiet, Barnabas and Paul reported matter-of-factly on the miracles and wonders God had done among the other nations through their ministry. The silence deepened; you could hear a pin drop.

James broke the silence. “Friends, listen. Simeon has told us the story of how God at the very outset made sure that racial outsiders were included. This is in perfect agreement with the words of the prophets:

After this, I’m coming back;

I’ll rebuild David’s ruined house;

I’ll put all the pieces together again;

I’ll make it look like new

So outsiders who seek will find,

so they’ll have a place to come to,

All the pagan peoples

included in what I’m doing.

“God said it and now he’s doing it. It’s no afterthought; he’s always known he would do this.

“So here is my decision: We’re not going to unnecessarily burden non-Jewish people who turn to the Master. We’ll write them a letter and tell them, ‘Be careful to not get involved in activities connected with idols, to guard the morality of sex and marriage, to not serve food offensive to Jewish Christians—blood, for instance.’ This is basic wisdom from Moses, preached and honored for centuries now in city after city as we have met and kept the Sabbath.”

Everyone agreed: apostles, leaders, all the people. They picked Judas (nicknamed Barsabbas) and Silas—they both carried considerable weight in the church—and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas with this letter:

From the apostles and leaders, your friends, to our friends in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Hello!

We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. Mind you, they had no authority from us; we didn’t send them. We have agreed unanimously to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul. We picked men we knew you could trust, Judas and Silas—they’ve looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. We’ve sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we’ve written.

It seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be saddled with any crushing burden, but be responsible only for these bare necessities: Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians (blood, for instance); and guard the morality of sex and marriage.

These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us. And God be with you!

And so off they went to Antioch. On arrival, they gathered the church and read the letter. The people were greatly relieved and pleased. Judas and Silas, good preachers both of them, strengthened their new friends with many words of courage and hope. Then it was time to go home. They were sent off by their new friends with laughter and embraces all around to report back to those who had sent them.

Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the Word of God. But they weren’t alone. There were a number of teachers and preachers at that time in Antioch.

After a few days of this, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit all our friends in each of the towns where we preached the Word of God. Let’s see how they’re doing.”

Barnabas wanted to take John along, the John nicknamed Mark. But Paul wouldn’t have him; he wasn’t about to take along a quitter who, as soon as the going got tough, had jumped ship on them in Pamphylia. Tempers flared, and they ended up going their separate ways: Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus; Paul chose Silas and, offered up by their friends to the grace of the Master, went to Syria and Cilicia to put grit in those congregations.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 15 (The Message)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 6th chapter of the book (scroll) of Isaiah that describes a heavenly vision that produced reverence before God, which is what the True presence of Light does in all of us:

In the same year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a grand throne way up high with a flowing cape that filled the whole temple. Bright flaming creatures waited on Him. Each had six wings: two covering its face, two covering its feet, and two for flying. Like some fiery choir, they would call back and forth continually.

Flaming Creatures: Holy, holy, holy is the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies!

The earth is filled with His glorious presence!

They were so loud that the doorframes shook, and the holy house kept filling with smoke.

Isaiah: I am in so much trouble! I’m ruined!

I’m just a human being—fallible and stammering.

My lips are encrusted with filth;

and I live among people just like me.

But here I am, and I’ve seen with my very own eyes

none other than the King, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.

Then one of the flaming creatures flew to me holding a red-hot ember which it had taken from God’s table, the temple altar, with a pair of tongs. The creature held it to my lips.

Flaming Creature: Look! With the touch of this burning ember on your lips,

your guilt is turned away;

All your faults and wrongdoings are forgiven.

Then I heard the Lord’s voice.

Eternal One: Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?

Isaiah: Here I am! Send me.

Eternal One: Go to this people and say,

“Keep listening, but do not comprehend;

Keep looking, but do not understand.”

Make their hearts hard, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind.

Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,

Understand with their hearts, and then turn and be healed.

Isaiah: How long, Lord?

Eternal One: Until cities are in ruins, the houses sit empty,

and the land has become a wasteland.

You see, the Eternal has determined to move the people far away;

place after place will be completely abandoned.

And even if just a tenth survive, it will be burned again;

imagine a terebinth or an oak; once it is cut down, the stump remains.

The holy seed remains in the stump.

The Book of Isaiah, Chapter 6 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for monday, june 14 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that looks at sacrificial Love:

Our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Chukat) begins with the words: zot chukat ha-Torah (זאת חקת התורה), "this is the decree of Torah" (Num. 19:2). The language here is both striking and unique, suggesting that what follows, namely, the sacrifice of the parah adumah or “red heifer,” is nothing less than "the seminal decree" of the entire Torah... However if we think about the meaning of the mysterious decree of the red heifer, we will realize that its ashes were used to create the "waters of separation" (i.e., mei niddah: מֵי נִדָּה) to cleanse people from contact with death (i.e., separation). To fulfill God's vital decree, however, required sacrificial love, since the priest who offered this service would become defiled (separated) for the sake of the healing of others... The Hebrew word for love is ahavah (אַהֲבָה), from a root verb (יָהַב) that means “to give.” Love means giving of yourself to benefit another person (John 15:13). The central decree of Torah, then, beyond our ability to rationally understand, is that God's love is so great that it is willing to become dust and ashes on our behalf so that we might find blessing and life.

Yeshua willingly became unclean on our behalf - through contact with our sin and death - so that we could become clean (Isa. 53:3-6, 2 Cor. 5:21, Gal. 3:3, Eph. 5:2, Titus 2:14). The pure became impure through His sacrificial offering. Because of Him, we have been cleansed from our sins "by a better sprinkling" than that which the Tabernacle of Moses could afford (Matt. 26:28, Heb. 9:14, 12:24, Eph. 1:7, 1 Pet. 1:2,18-19, Rom. 5:9; Col. 1:14, 1 John 1:7, etc.).

The ashes of the red heifer represented the death and sacrifice of something extremely rare, valuable, and precious. The ashes were mixed with "living water" (מַיִם חַיִּים) to reveal the truth that though the end of all flesh is but dust and ashes, the Spirit gives cleansing and life. Indeed the word ashes (אֵפֶר) may be rearranged to spell both cure (רַפֵא) and beauty (פְאֵר). The author of the book of Hebrews argues kal va'chomer (i.e., קַל וְחמר, "light and weighty"), that is, “from the lesser case to the greater.” If the sprinkling of water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer purified the flesh from contamination with physical death, how much more does the blood of Messiah purify the soul from that which causes spiritual death? (Heb. 9:13-14). Indeed, because of Yeshua’s sacrifice we are given “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,” that we may be called “trees of righteousness (אֵילֵי הַצֶּדֶק), the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified” (Isa. 61:3). Amen. Yehi shem Adonai mevorakh! [Hebrew for Christians]

6.14.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

June 14, 2021

Others' Things

“Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” (Philippians 2:4)

Our responsibility is to think like the Lord Jesus, part of which requires “looking” (marking, identifying) matters beyond our own concerns.

Part of that responsibility is caution. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark [same Greek word for ‘look’] them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). Another part is being aware of godly examples. “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Philippians 3:17).

Surely that responsibility also includes that “we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15:1). And in cases of necessary discipline: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). Also consider these:

“Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth” (1 Corinthians 10:24).

“Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33).

“But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9).

Finally, written by the same apostle who instructed the stronger Philippian church, there is this gentle summary statement recorded for the struggling Corinthian assembly: “Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed” (2 Corinthians 6:3). HMM III