Napsterdad

Jesus "in the flesh" died on the cross for our sins. 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

My turn to be difficult: escort

...just a lonely ol' bill...

Oragami

So...A needle pulling thread. LOL - makes me think of "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, get your adverbs here!"

Useful

Y’all kept focusing on the ‘under’ so…

Underwhere?

You sir are evil but google came through... NDISwrapper

Once again, I’m a simple man and there are just some very simple hurdles I cannot get over to carry me into a Calvinist mindset. Throughout the Bible following God and salvation are given as choices, not a foregone conclusion already settled by God; and I’m not even touching on all the “whosoever” verses that infer choice. Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. From the very beginning Adam and Eve were given a choice. They did not have to eat that fruit. Unfortunately man has been making poor choices ever since. Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. YE have chosen??? Huh. Not God has chosen? That’s odd if it’s all predetermined. 1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Here is a choice between two opinions. Elijah asks them to choose. Psalms 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. David chose the way of truth. Interesting. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Trust in the Lord, or lean on our own understanding. If we trust in the Lord He will direct our paths. That is a choice we must make. Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Why did Jesus mention a choice of two gates if it was already predetermined which gate each person would take? Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. IF???? How could Jesus possibly say IF if our salvation status is predetermined. Why would God’s word make so many references to our choosing to follow Him if it is all predetermined? Is God deceiving us? I can’t, and won’t, believe that; so I must believe that we do indeed have a choice. We can choose the straight gate of salvation, or the wide gate of destruction. Sounds pretty simple to me. My oldest son is 33 years old. For a good part of his life (since he was five until he went in the Navy at 17) he had gone to solid Bible believing churches and been fed sound doctrine there and at home. Early on he professed to be saved, but it was not true. It wasn’t long into his Navy life that he came home and told us what we already surmised: he was not saved. Since that time, he went to college and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in chemistry. Obviously, being in the sciences, he was inundated with all the evolutionary arguments and led away from any possibility of a creation account. That along with his philosophy courses and a period of time when he deliberately read nothing but books that spoke against there being a god (Dawkins, Nietzsche, and others), has made him someone who on the surface seems an Atheist. But is he, or is he just kicking against the pricks? For one, he knows the Bible better than many Christians I know. He also knows the Quran quite well and has these two, along with other spiritual books, prominent on his reference shelf at home (right among his science books). He has a strong Christian ethic and behaviors. I often refer to him as the best unsaved Christian you could ever meet. Train up a child in the way he should go… His ex-wife went off the deep end and left him 1 ½ years ago and for a short period of time he went to his counselor's 7th Day Adventist church hoping to find peace and comfort. He could not continue with that because he knows the Bible too well and couldn’t buy what they were selling. He has rejected offers to come to our church. My personal belief is because he knows he’ll be brought closer to God than he is ready for. I say all this first in the hopes that many here will pray for my son, Jacob. That he will choose Christ and get saved. Secondly, to show that God has been calling my son and he has been rejecting that call. Jacob is obviously searching to fill a spiritual hole within himself, but has been choosing to spiritually go the way of the world. I do not believe he is predestined for hell or for heaven. I believe God is calling him. The CHOICE is his. Please pray with me that he makes the right choice before it is too late.

If Biden ever even references a Bible it is probably Das Kapital.

The arguments given here against Calvinism are profound, and scripturally true. But I am a simple man and to me it all boils down to a very simple argument and verse. If Calvinism is true, then God deliberately creates THIS person for Heaven and then He deliberately creates THAT person for hell. 1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. I'm sure that person that the Calvinistic god deliberately created for hell sure sees the Calvinistic god as love. I just cannot cross over that very simple hurdle. And no Calvinistic argument can change my mind. God is love. And He wants to share that love with whosever will. My loving God has NEVER created anyone for hell. If that is where you end up it was entirely your choice.

We’re hoping to but we have a heavy load this year and it may not be doable. One of these years I HAVE to make it. Preferably before my son graduates from there in two years.

Just returned from the New Manna Youth Rally '24. What a blessing. Ridgecrest was packed out and the worship and preaching did not disappoint. SO powerful. Kenny Baldwin on Friday night, Tony Shirley on Saturday morning and Brother "Chaalie" Clark on Saturday night and Sunday morning. You can find all the meetings on YouTube if interested. NMBCMedia - YouTube. If you have a youth group and would like to see them spiritually moved this is the place. They say it is for the youth, but all ages are blessed. It's like a Summit light for those familiar with that (my wife's words). Can't wait for next year.

Didn't say you were. I said "anyone". That's a global reference.

To be fair, my last two pastors are also the administrators of their schools. Since the school is considered a part of the ministry I lumped that into their pastoral duties. In my mind 1 Timothy 5:17-18 is a good guide to go by: Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. 18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward. Elders that rule well are certainly worthy of double honour. I could not do that job, and anyone that would criticize should walk a mile in their shoes before casting aspersions.

Every Pastor of churches I have been a member put in far more than 40 hours a week. Most pastor's I've known you usually had to make an appointment weeks in advance to get an opportunity just to have them over for dinner. Had these pastors gotten paid an honest hourly wage for all the hours they actually put in a week the church probably couldn't have sustained them.

You know it!

It's nationwide. I am still suffering with a lingering bronchitis that I have had since first getting sick in mid-November. Another cold in mid-December, followed by another in early January and here I am, still coughing up a lung. My wife does Pre-K4 at our churches school and she can't keep a full class. Serious stuff for the little crumb-crunchers too. Covid, Strep, Pneumonia. They're getting it all. It just keeps recycling. Every time my wife or I go to the store for cold meds there is always someone else there grumbling that they or a loved on just can't break it. The school just had the week off, due to a lingering 6" of snow and some icing, so hopefully the isolation will have helped to put an end to the infections. On the lighter side, being from Buffalo, NY I still get a kick out of how paralyzed they get here with a little snow. We went to Walmart the day after the "storm" hit and it was empty. I'm glad it was open at all. It was the most enjoyable Walmart experience I ever had. The roads were nearly deserted, and they were really pretty clear of ice.

A church I went to in New York would take the Sunday School hour to let loved ones come up and relate what made their parent/spouse special to them. I always enjoyed that. I can never say enough good things about my wife; and to have a captive audience... It was nice to hear others extol the virtues of their loved ones as well. Sometimes your eyes get opened to unseen aspects of a person's character and what they are, or have been, going through; and the strength and compassion they truly possess. At my church here this past year they did Moms and muffins, and Dads and doughnuts. The lobby was filled with a wide assortment of each on the relevant day for all to share and fellowship around. (you know...Baptists and food).

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

We had lasagna on New Year's Day too. I love my wife's lasagna. Leftovers were all gone yesterday . My birthday is coming up. Maybe I'll ask her to make some more for that.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas to all, wherever you are. Praying you all have a blessed day. Spanish – ¡Feliz Navidad! French – Joyeux Noël! German – Frohe Weihnachten! Italian – Buon Natale! Portuguese – Feliz Natal! Romanian – Crăciun Fericit! Russian – Счастливого Рождества! (Schastlivogo Rozhdestva!) Swedish – God Jul! Norwegian – God Jul! Danish – Glædelig Jul! Finnish – Hyvää Joulua! Icelandic – Gleðileg Jól! Polish – Wesołych Świąt! Dutch – Vrolijk Kerstfeest! Croatian – Sretan Božić! Czech – Veselé Vánoce! Japanese – メリークリスマス！ (Merīkurisumasu!) Chinese – 圣诞节快乐! (Shèngdàn jié kuàilè!) Korean – 메리 크리스마스! (Meli Keuliseumaseu!) Latin – Felicem Natalem Christi! Irish – Nollaig Shona!

AMEN! Too bad all salvations and baptisms weren't listed in the news.