John81

Can you believe the near 100 degree temps sure seem like summer?

umbrella

Zion

Florence

Exodus 18:19

Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:

49 minutes ago, Rosie said:

Sorry to hear this Merri, sure will pray for you

 

My right leg started hurting and I don't know why. I need prayer too please

Praying for you too, Rosie.

Denise

Exodus 18:17

And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.

"Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" 1 John 5:5

Your pain saddens me. My wife suffers from chronic pain and arthritis issues. She's had neck surgeries which has helped but there are no more surgeries which can be done for her neck so she will have to deal with chronic pain in that area. She's had two total knee replacements and is having problems with a shoulder too. Going through this with her I can greatly sympathize with you and will certainly lift you and your situation to the Lord in prayer.

May our gracious God send you comfort and peace along with wisdom.

There sure seems to be a lot of popular mythology concepts regarding prisons, prisoners and related matters here.

Prisons vary, often greatly, depending upon whether they are State or federal (or even large county jails which are basically prisons). Variations also exist within these different systems, such as differences between minimum, medium, maximum and super maximum prisons. Within those different types there is much variety from one to another within each State and federal institutions. (These days there are also a number of private, corporate prisons too, which is another issue.

The prison system basically begins with how the justice system is set up, which includes an over abundance of laws, a goodly number of which conflict, confuse or are themselves actually illegal. Then there is the massive corruption throughout most of the system.

I have some personal experience through work and evangelism as well as a great deal of second hand information from friends and family who work in a variety of prisons around the country. I also have several police and lawyer friends and family. Along with this there is also some prisoner and ex-prisoner information.

In all my time working in prisons I've only ever encountered two prisoners who claimed to be innocent (that whole idea that "everyone in prison claims to be innocent" is false. One of those two was eventually released from prison after finally being cleared in an appeal court but only after spending about a year in county jail and over two years in a maximum security prison.

It is true that a good number in prison will point out they are not guilty of everything they were charged with. It's a common tactic in plea negotiations for prosecutors to add charges from unsolved cases to suspects willing to exchange accepting that for a lighter sentence. Therefore it's fairly common for some prisoners to say they are guilty of beating some guy, but they didn't rob some other guy or vandalize a car.

Most prisons today have so many willing homosexuals that rape isn't as common as most expect. Rapes in prison usually occur due to a matter of power or payment. Those prisoners who avoid such matters, as well as those with the right connections, have very little to worry about. Also, prisons sizes and styles of management vary so that the better run prisons have few incidences of rape.

In a general sense, while they don't "run the prison", certain prisoners do have a voice and hand in how the prison is run. It's a common tactic for a warden (and individual guards) to make deals with one or more prison gang leaders. This gives the gang leader a say on certain internal matters while giving the warden/guards a more stable environment.

One thing I've noticed when listening to people talk or post online about criminal and prison related matters is they don't take a lawful or Christian view of the subject. It's common for Christians to "hope criminal Joe gets put in a cell with Big Bubba and raped for 20 years", or "hope criminal Joe gets beat every day or killed". Both are unlawful and not in accord with Christianity.

It's interesting to note that for most of American history laws were limited and enforced. Then when a prisoner was released their full citizenship rights were restored. They weren't stripped of voting rights, 2nd amendment rights, job or career opportunities, etc. It's fun to read of former prisoners who went on to become good citizens holding positions as lawyers, policemen, doctors, etc.

In contrast, former prisoners today are penalized for the rest of their lives as their citizenship rights are not restored. Along with this many job and career paths are closed to them and these most often in fields where job growth and career opportunities are highest. This accounts for the reason a substantial number of former prisoners find themselves living off welfare, only able to find minimal, under the table or even illegal employment to survive. (don't misread that as encompassing the reason for all repeat offenders, it's not, some people are career criminals and they should be dealt with through appropriate sentencing, not laws that impede others from success)

In any event, most people who go to and are released from prison probably never had any homosexual encounters in prison unless they chose to. For those who were forced in this area, they deserve our sympathy and prayers. Love and compassion are to be hallmarks of Christians, not harshness.

We live in a fallen world where crime is a fact, corruption is a fact, and most "good guys" are lost sinners and a part of the problem too. We are called to love everyone, share the Gospel with everyone, pray for everyone.

Israel Bonds with Russia 

The deepening ties between Israel and Russia are important for the country’s security, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he addressed a Jerusalem Day ceremony on the eve of his departure to Moscow.
    Israel has worked to strengthen its ties with Moscow, alongside those of its chief ally, the United States, whose President Barack Obama, Netanyahu has met only once in the last year.
    Coordination between the IAF and the Russian air force continues to be good, due to the need by both countries to avoid inadvertent incidents in the crowded air space over and around Syria.
    Despite the fact that Moscow is working closely with the Iran-led axis, which includes Israel’s most bitter, formidable enemy in the region—Hezbollah—Russia’s presence has proven to be a moderating, restraining influence on Hezbollah’s conduct vis-a-vis Israel.
-jpost.com, 5 June 2016
 

Our church tries to be very careful in this area too. We believe members should give to the church but we don't want to give an appearance of trying to "get money" from non-members (though they are free to give too!).

We don't have a website where someone could give to the church, but we have established a means for giving via credit card or automatic withdrawal from a bank account. In order to do that, we can give the church secretary our information and it will be set up.

We still pass the plate around during a service, and many still give that way, but there are also a number of people who have opted to give through the other option now.

Whenever our church holds a special service or a holiday service we don't pass the plates so as to avoid the appearance of seeming to be after money through the special service or holiday, or of trying to make guests feel obligated to give or feel guilty for not giving.

2 hours ago, heartstrings said:

 

 

 

It may or may not be "unconstitutional" but it is Biblical, according also to Romans 13;3 where it says 3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.because the sale and use of of illicit drugs is certainly evil.

While the principle is biblical, it is required to be conducted lawfully and that's impossible at the federal level as things currently stand. Individual States and localities may have the authority (depending upon how their constitutions and laws are set forth) to establish a drug enforcement agency, but not the federal government.

The federal government was never meant to be the main ruler of the land nor the main law establisher or enforcer. Those matters were left to the States and people of each State.

Very interesting ideas.

Most churches, when receiving warnings, will notice and respond to the warnings they are already aware of or concerned about, but will not recognize those they are already comfortable with.

15 hours ago, MountainChristian said:

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Who but Jesus knew this? The same could happen again while we are looking for Rome.

Indeed, in hindsight the First Coming of Christ seems clear, and the Jews at that time certainly thought they understood exactly what Scripture meant regarding the coming of Christ...yet they were wrong.

We are getting close to summer, right?

stainless steel pots

Xanadu, Utah

Stanton

Becky

ten

12 hours ago, Rosie said:

pepper spray mace and a taser have been suggested

It also depends upon which ones are legal where you live or plan to travel, and of those legal, which one you are most comfortable with (could most easily carry, get to and use well).

Exodus 18:15

And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:

Most folks, Christians included, are woefully ignorant of what Scripture actually says in these matters, what actual science indicates, and that popularized theories regarding evolutionary ideas are not fact and in many cases have either been clearly proven false or there are other possibilities which carry far more weight.

Our pastor did an adult Sunday school class on this early this year and I was amazed at how little most in the class actually knew about the topic. The time spent covering this topic was well spent as all but a couple in the class learned and grew greatly in this area.

Unfortunately, too many pastors, along with too many in the congregation, are far too lazy or apathetic to take the time to research this topic and preach and/or teach the truth of the matter. Therefore, by default the proponents of evolution win as their false message is taught and promoted through government public schools and colleges, throughout TV programming, movies, books, magazines, music, etc. This then finds its way into churches where it's often either silently or outright accepted.