Salyan

No. But when a culture is steeped in false religion, it’s spiritual thoughts will be based from that. And the examples you have weren’t ‘cultures’ (e.g. Arabian, Nepalese), they were religions (Muslim, Buddhist). Just going off the information you provided.

While a rich tapestry of cultures is great for general understanding and cultural diversity (and food!), 'rich spiritual thoughts' from pagan cultures/religions have no place in a Bible class... unless you're explaining what the Bible has to say about those pagan ideas (Eph. 5:11). There can be no true unity in a church except through God's truth. Not saying there won't be differences of opinions, but good doctrine is non-negotiable. Jesus' prayer for the unity of the church is centered on with sanctification through the truth of God's Word (John 17).

Be wary of these books, Bill. Both these authors support so-called Christian mysticism - spiritual formation, as it's called nowadays - which is a dangerous heresy infiltrating our churches! Brother Lawrence was likely influenced by Teresa of Avila. https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/brotherlawrence.htm

If you feel you should wear a mask, then do so. But please don't go pretending it's somehow spiritually superior. I shouldn't do this... (I really shouldn't do this)... it's behaving just like you. But do you drive a car? Because if you do, you are potentially putting others in danger. And there is a far better chance of being killed in a car accident than dying of coronavirus. So if you do drive a car, and want to be 'spiritual', then perhaps you should stop travelling in vehicles. Oh, and BTW, don't wear a mask in the effort to protect yourself. Because it doesn't. https://fee.or

God ordained human government for 'the punishment of evil doers and the praise of them that do well.' When the government prevents churches from meeting as a whole, or forces small businesses out of business due to arbitrary and senseless guidelines; when they prevent people - especially seniors - from necessary human contact and the ability to gather and encourage each other - they are punishing those that 'do well'. They are no longer acting within their God-given mandate. Furthermore, the church is a separate realm of authority altogether. Christ is the head of the church - not the gov

No, they don't always change, and yes, they do usually survive. The survival rate for Covid, at least in my part of the world, is something like 98% if you catch it (so that's not 98% of society, but only of those who actually get it), and the vast majority of those who are dying are the very old and very sick - in other words, those who are already actively dying and would die of anything they happened to catch. In our province, as I suspect in most of the world, we're supposed to stay home if we're sick. And that's one thing that everyone is very good about doing - not because we're so

That's not a rabbit hole, Bill, that's common sense. I would prefer people behave like adults and avoid sneezing on others. I would also prefer the government stop acting like we are all toddlers who can't be trusted to behave like adults. I hate seeing people in masks - it's dehumanizing and depersonalizing and contributes to the divide the 'powers that be' are trying so desperately to create to distract us from what they're really up to - the removal of our liberties and freedoms. The creation of a communist society worldwide. So all that to say, while I would rather people avoided sneezing

Why would you be sneezing directly at him? Don't know about you, but I was taught as a child to cover my mouth and sneeze in a different direction from people. Also, if you care about these rules, why are you only 2 feet from him?

How did the singing hymns go? Cause we tried it for our first Zoom Bible study, and it.... didn't work. It just so didn't work.

I figured as much, with Bill Gates involved.

This is not a Biblical statement. “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Religion =/= Christianity.

And if we take your idea to its logical conclusion, society will tie itself in knots trying to prevent even one death - which is of course impossible. Seriously, please stop trolling with the Covid posts.

When you figure out how to end death, let us know. Otherwise let's stop pretending that death is not part of life.

And how many of these were true medical cases, with people presenting sick enough to be admitted to hospital? Please stop pushing liberal opinions here.

Yeah, you can see that here. Alberta is traditionally very conservative (think Texas level), except for the cities might be more liberal, and the heavily student areas around the universities are more socialist. In the last election, you could clearly see the strongly immigrant-settled areas of our major cities by the areas that voted socialist.

They may not understand the significance of candle-lighting for the dead, or in front of icons - it dates from pagan times. But that significance is still there. I consider the candle-lighting in Orthodox/Catholic Churches to be idolatry. And you do realize that Orthodox doctrine is heretical to the point that people who truly believe it are not saved, and thus not Christians? There may be some present in those 'churches' who have been saved despite that, but they should be coming out as per Scriptural directive.

Both of these church light candles in front of icons, making them a prayer/offering to the icon (which then makes it a kind of idol). I like a candle-light service as much as the next person, but candles are a form of light - nothing more.

Preaching/teaching is not necessarily a pastor-only job, so those preaching/teaching are not necessarily limited to pastoral requirements, whatever they may be. Teaching in particular may done by women (to other women or children), so that obviously would not be linked to the position of pastor.

I don't know if we maintain better or not, although we wouldn't see many fires in southern AB or SK due to lack of continuous trees and high population centres. I suspect this map is only showing US data. These won't match the data above, as they're current, but here's today's fire map for BC: https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/f0ac328d88c74d07aa2ee385abe2a41b And here's Alberta: https://wildfire.alberta.ca/wildfire-status/status-map.aspx This was actually a quieter year for wildfires up here - either that or Covid took over all the news. We'v

You could put together a temp page until you find more info. "This church was started by so-and-so in the mid-___. In ___, Pr. DePriest...."

Good for them. You wouldn't contact trace or provide minute-by-minute coverage for a nasty flu - good on them for not pretending this is the end of civilization as we know it.

I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, just that the likelihood of it being serious is low enough that I don’t believe it is worth the measures taken. I really agree with Luanne’s assessment there. And honestly, if I can’t find places to laugh at it all, I’ll go insane with frustration at what the governments are doing to our liberties - and how much people are letting them.

Based on our averaged stats (so including all the people over 80 who have died), I have a slightly better chance of drowning than dying of Covid. Surprisingly, the government has not instituted warning signs or snorkels around bathtubs.

I'm with Jim-Alaska - I think it's a non-issue. A more pertinent question might be - should churches provide tax receipts?

That is a cute little international airport! Your website looks very sharp. I want to visit Vancouver Island one of these days, and if the borders allow, was thinking it might be fun to drop by for a visit.