Salyan

There was a comment earlier about women making comments in their own SS class. If it’s a teaching style class, then obviously we are to listen. If it’s a discussion-style one (which I personally find to be problematic for other reasons), I don’t see any issue with women commenting. In that context, they aren’t speaking from a position of authority, and thus wouldn’t be usurping authority. In my very early twenties, I attended an evangelical church with a discussion style class, peopled with many adults who had very little Bible training. Oh the misconceptions they could come up with! I could have spent the whole class just explaining what the Bible actually said about the topics at hand. ? (Not to imply I thought I was ‘all that’ - there was just really that little Bible knowledge in the group.) I finally resorted to using the Strong’s Concordance to define words in question - that simple step could bring a discussion back on track Biblically and let the authority be the concordance instead of me. ? (Note that this class did not have a true leader that gave the sense of the passages; it was truly a discussion-style class. I do not recommend the style.)

You know perfectly well what I mean. BTW, you know it's flu season right in the Northern Hemisphere, right? Absolutely shocking, isn't it, that flu cases increase in flu season.

Don't be a pot-stirrer, GloryLand.

That’s awful! Will be praying she gets home.

That’s good advice for all of us all the time. ?

GloryLand, it’s just like real conversations. Once you say something, you can’t just unsay it.

That language is unnecessary, SureWord.

I don't think Jerry is saying this, but I wanted to clarify that there are Christian groups that preach a true gospel but don't call themselves Baptists (e.g. evangelicals, Brethren). I might disagree on other doctrines with these groups but absolutely believe there are true believers in them - who would thus be coming to the wedding feast.

Oh! I didn’t realize it could do that. Hmm. The original post I was writing was worded more strongly - although still within the bounds of my authority as a moderator. I decided that the additional words were unnecessary and would be unhelpful, so I removed them. This was not a case of trying to cover something up, but rather trying to be more circumspect with my words. (It’s a little unfair of the site mechanics to mess with that!) I’m not sure what you think forwarding that to the admins will accomplish, but I am perfectly comfortable with them reading the original wording. Tony, you need to respect the authority of the moderators as well as the administrators. There is no practical difference when it comes to moderating site activity.

Excuse me? I did not send you any email...

Halloween has historically and currently been nothing but a celebration of darkness and the devil. I won't speak to the history because I'm sure anyone interested can research it themselves. When I was a kid, modern 'celebrations' were candy & costumes and 'cutesy' witch posters (which is problematic enough - we oughtn't to be desensitizing our children to witchcraft or making it seem 'cute or 'safe'). Now, the decorations themselves celebrate gore and horror. Half the decor you see looks like it came from some serial killer's trophy collection! How parents can think this is okay I don't know. Trick & treating itself comes from some rather nasty origins - do we really want our kids to think they should be able to demand what they want or destroy someone else's property? (wait.... maybe THAT'S where all the BLM and railroad/protestors got their ideas from!) I honestly, personally really hate Halloween and refuse to celebrate it in any form. I'd have to apologize to any kids who came around cause I just don't have any candy for them. ? I don't think anyone will penalize you for giving kids candy... but (perhaps aside from this discussion), remember that there are an awful lot of activities that God hates that you will not lose your salvation for. ?

Tony, you may not ask members not to participate in discussion. We moderators will decide if a member is disruptive. Moving on...

Don't monies usually go to the church to get used as needed? Speaking from experience (church treasurer here), the church likely needs that money to pay the pastor. ? But that member really needs an attitude adjustment..

Yes, we have a batch. I agree with BroMatt… less is more. I’ve seen churches in the states that gave $25/month - or even $10/month!! Maybe in 1969 that was worth something, but what a waste of time and resources for missionaries to have to raise support in such miserly increments. One thing I can’t figure out is why our churches haven’t moved more toward electronic transfers for missions support. We had a couple local missionaries that our church served as the distributor for. Supporters would send Cheques to our church, which had to be mailed, deposited, recut, and mailed again. Electronic would be soooo much quicker for getting funds to missionaries in the field.

Tony’s right, no swearing please.

I'm not surprised the VA physician said that - he's probably been instructed to blame everything possible on Covid - even the deaths that occur because of the federal vaccine push. After all, if he had Covid, he would either be symptomatic (and should have been isolating instead of getting vaccinated) or presymptomatic (so they wouldn't have known without a positive test - and again, isolating). I'm still impressed with the hospital's honesty.

So he didn't pass from Covid, he passed from the vaccine - that's actually pretty cool of the hospital to actually admit that instead of blaming it on Covid.

Where do you think the raw product comes from to refine? Socialist taxes are a good part of the reason - and idiot easterners who keep blocking pipelines to cheaply ship our product out.

So $3.29 US is about $4.05 CAD right now.. and that's per gallon, which makes it about $1.01 per litre. This last weekend, I paid $1.44 per litre - in Alberta, which produces a ton of the raw product which goes into making it. I think that would work out to $4.68 USD per gallon. Your gas is cheap!

That's a misrepresentation. No one here is against 'modern medications.' There are plenty of people - even prestigious doctors - who are against this particular vaccine although they are not anti-vaccine in general. Anything like this for which the government lies about the death rate, runs a comprehensive marketing campaign, and begs, bribes or coerces people into participating in is not to be trusted. Get it if you want - but see through their lies and divisiveness. They're seeking to remove our liberties, and turning the people against each other. It's a very effective tool of preventing us from turning against them. That is a good question about the JWs. They refuse blood transfusions, so if they're being consistent, they should likely refuse this. Maybe in 20 years they'll be the only ones left alive.... (j/k... kinda)

It's also of note that it is estimated that only 1% of adverse reactions are reported to VAERS.

You have a short memory. ? I don't appreciate having words put into my mouth, and I don't appreciate men mansplaining how they think a job they probably never do would work better (i.e. be 'fairer' or 'quicker') - but maybe I misread your intent on that second point. Also, if people aren't being touchy, suggesting they are being so is a great way to make them so. JMHO. ?

Never said it was every church. Trust me, as someone who’s likely spent more time in church kitchens, when someone needs to be present to watch the ovens, one person is sufficient and more people slow things down (and distract each other by talking). I think there’s a saying about that somewhere…

I agree with that. We’ve had times where there’ll be three ladies setting up in the kitchen - where only one is needed - and Sometimes with children’s church on the other side of the divider. Or men taking long over their mid-service coffee. Adults forget and talk out loud and it was such a distraction to the kids. The fellowship can wait an extra ten minutes after service. With Covid now, our basement fellowship space is service overflow. So now they can’t set up early and have to wait till after the service. ?

’Find yourself and help yourself live the right life’? ‘All you need to do is trust Christ then life a… blameless life’? I’m not sure it’s just poor wording on your part, but these phrases smack of the false idea of works salvation.