God gave man free choice. People's individual choices, and mankind's cumulative choices are why things are the way they are.
The Devil is real. He is the great "deceiver". People are being deceived, which explains the bad choices that are manifest at every level, from petty lies and theft to embezzlement to wars big and small.
God gave man free choice. People's individual choices, and mankind's cumulative choices are why things are the way they are.
The Devil is real. He is the great "deceiver". People are being deceived, which explains the bad choices that are manifest at every level, from petty lies and theft to embezzlement to wars big and small.
It is good to have faith. I share your view that the bullet "missing" by an inch or two is miracle, in the positive sense. God can, and does, thwart the powers of evil. It is possible that nefarious forces or people sought Trump's removal, and God thwarted their plans. The Holy Trinity is, ultimately, "the boss."
I like to think this experience (even more than his advanced age) reminded Mr. Trump of his mortality, of the fact that we are not going to be here forever.
I can't read Trump's mind though. I can perceive his ACTIONS by what I DISCERN from what I see and read. And his actions, whether they reflect his beliefs or whether he is being manipulated, when it comes to war and peace are not encouraging. While I recognize it is impossible to satisfy everyone, all the time, President Trump could have pulled the plug on the Ukraine war. He has not done so. And his words and actions in the Middle East, at least to me, point to wider war with a lot more death and destruction coming, and very likely adversely impacting the US economically, perhaps kinetically.
Now, he may think he is really a peacemaker, and his actions are necessary to pave the way to a long-term peace. I just don't see it. Time will tell.
Zelensky, galaxies far from a great mind, is being manipulated by the EU and the UK, based on their delusional and diabolical motives, to keep throwing wrenches into the ceasefire/peace efforts, convincing him via promises to have his his back based upon pure fairy dust.
The combination of their certifiably insane TDS, and their utter hubris have brought us to the brink of WWIII, and mutually assured destruction.
Ironically, it has only been Putin’s personal resistance to pulling the nuclear trigger that has kept us from crossing that Rubicon.
Vladimir Putin is the greatest leader Russia has ever had (possible exception Catherine the Great), and one of the greatest leaders in the world today. Hungary's Orban and El Salvador's Bukele are equally brave and visionary, but their countries are not as huge and consequential as Russia. (Although they are certainly playing key roles in the current world situation right now, aren't they?!)
"God gave man free choice. People's individual choices, and mankind's cumulative choices are why things are the way they are."
Exactly. This principle tells me two things, Socrates.
1. God cannot violate his own laws and therefore cannot get involved which means we humans are on our own to fix the mess our actions and inactions have created.
2. God is not all powerful and cannot intervene. If God intervenes God breaks his own law of human free choice and free will and if he breaks his own law he becomes a liar. If God becomes a liar he loses his authority which comes from his honor and the honor of his creations.
Either way, I don't believe God is going to save us from our wickedness. We made this mess. We need to fix it. We fix it by first fixing ourselves, inwardly. Once we as a people fix ourselves inwardly and turn ourselves back to righteous principles and righteous living, everything else will fall right in line. I truly believe this.
Oh, and Socrates, a close friend of mine is a police chief in my town and believe me when I tell you, the people themselves are corrupted and wicked. The heart breaking stories of drugs, crime, child abuse, spouse abuse, infidelity, pornography and so forth are stunning. And I live in a rural Utah community.
Drugs can turn people into MONSTERS. Like you, I am closely acquainted with this fact. I have friends who have adopted foster children.... The hell that those kids endured as victims of drug-addicted parents is unimaginable.
As for porn, I have seen marriages destroyed. And I know of at least one man who always tried to be a good and decent husband, father, church member and community leader, but was addicted to online porn. He committed suicide because of the crushing guilt he felt at leading a double life.
If anyone reading this has this problem, I beg you: Get help!!! I just did a search for "porn addiction hotline christian" and a TON of resources came up. Get help. Today.
Well said. And many women are addicted to social media, doing all kinds of crazy things for likes. Many of them are still on dating sites after being married just for the validation, or to keep their options open. About 60% of married women admit to having a "Plan B" or back up man if things get bad.
Janos - Plan B's aren't all bad. About 95% of Americans don't even have a Plan A, so they're already screwed.
About 4% have a Plan A, so they're on the right track.
It's the 1% that have a Plan B, that'll come out the other side, knowing full well, that something always goes awry with Plan A.
Those women are just covering their downside risk. Problem is that a lot of one-time losers - men or women - end up becoming two-time losers. It's a pattern.
And if wifey meets a better man online, she'll start talking with him. If it all checks out, she'll replace her husband and blame him for it. Such is the feminine nature which you adore.
God rules absolutely. We have all been subjected to vanity. That's the point of this exercise. God makes what He will of every vessel, honorable or dishonorable. He creates good and evil. You have no choice in when you were born, to whom, and all your personal characteristics. You have no choice in life but what He puts before you. After choosing wrong for so long and reaping the consequences, you will learn to choose right by His grace only. Repentance and faith are a gift.
John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son for part of a weekend."
We are told an all-knowing God designed the incredible complexities of life, yet was so unimaginative & primitive it could only resolve issues by killing people.
"In the beginning man created God, then he created stories in which God created man."
When I was 4 years old, my grandmother was given a couple of red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) by one of her students (she taught third grade). She made up a terrarium for them where they did - nothing. Not satisfied with this inactivity, I took a pencil and started prodding them to get them to move, to do - something... Well, I may have prodded too much because eventually they became VERY inactive.
I don't think that "God" is a 4-year-old with a terrarium.
Carl Gustav Jung, whose work was influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology and religious studies, in his autobiography "Memories Dream Reflections" said "I will not discuss the transparent prophecies of the Book of Revelation because no one believes in them and the whole subject is felt to be an embarrassing one."
If God is willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
If he is able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
If he is both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
If he is neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
People put in far too much effort to still end up being wrong.
The God excuse: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument.
"At what point does all of this stuff just break down and become just a lot of stupid shit that someone made up! They fucking made it up folks! It's make-believe!” – George Carlin
Yes, there seems to be different factions of globalists striving for dominance. Trump is part of the Neo-Con/Israeli faction - and they are terrible warmongers.
Israel is a warmonger? You can't be more upside down that that, Lugh. Look up Raymond Ibrahim and read some of his stuff or watch his videos. It's not about Israel, but it will show you who the real warmongers are.
The Greater Israel Plan means taking over whole nations such as Lebanon and large parts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. It's imperialism on steroids and the burning wick of WW3
How far God will extend Israel is up to Him, but as for your accusation, it's patently ludicrous. If Israel had been planning to take over territories it would have done so after the '67 war and in the years since. Instead, it didn't take over Judea and Samaria, gave Sinai back to Egypt, and vacated the small Jewish population of Gaza.
I would say you should limit yourself to talking about things you know about, but I'm not sure any of those apply to the topics on this blog.
You're the liar. The IDF banned those patches, which were taken on by some orthodox soldiers.
That said, I fully support Israel expanding as much as God wills, which is more than what's held at present. Judea and Samaria, Gaza, Sinai, some of southern Syria and Lebanon for sure.
They always intended to expand, the two blue lines on their flag being the two rivers, the Nile and the Euphrates.* Thus they never negotiated in good faith.
*Whether this is the actual dimensions delineated in the Bible is debatable. It says the "spring of Egypt", is the Nile a spring? And by the Euphrates, did it mean the Euphrates in the north or in Iraq?
In any case, this is not the Israel of God. But it is the Israel of the Antichrist.
How do you even talk to people like this "Cohen?" Shouldn't he be engaged in a check cashing racket or scamming life insurance policies from veteran's widows? Why is he here mudding up the chat?
That bullet didn't really miss though, did it? Just barely nicked Trump's ear, not even leaving a lasting scar. A few millimeters to the right and it busts off a chunk of Trump's head. A few millimeters to the left and he doesn't even feel the breeze. Certainly a miracle - or possibly something a little more profane.
I can't read Trump's mind either - fortunately, there are many who can. Many of them can also read God's mind and know that Trump has been chosen by God to lead us out of the wilderness. "Mysterious ways" indeed. The shadow of doubt need never darken our lives again.
"Many of them can also read God's mind". Give me a fuckin break.
The same folks that are delusional.
I’m delusional and talk to an imaginary friend in the sky. You guys are too naive and don’t make enough efforts to become delusional like me. If you don't agree with my God delusion, then you're naive!
'My God has ALL the answers. ''
"Okay, tell me one of the answers.''
"My God doesn't have to tell YOU." "Na na na Neener neener nee ner"
"Oh, but there's plenty of evidence for Gods existence! There are so many things!"
“There's...... uhh......eeermm ... I saw God’s face and I talk to him!”
"Faith" is the excuse people give when they don't have a good reason to believe something. If they had a good reason, they would offer that as justification for their belief, not "faith".
Faith is the deliberate refusal to think critically and the glorification of wilful ignorance that follows. Religion is the permission slip to set aside truthful thought.
EVERYTHING happens according to God's PLAN Christians will say.
But when SOMETHING tragic happens, the Christian says God gives us FREE WILL.
The age-old trick of constantly moving the goalposts.
Or the cop-out: God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform
Hmmm, “The Devil is real”? Could it be he is the cumulative of Man’s evil side, that he represents the “evil” side of our nature, inside our minds and souls, as God represents the “good” side? Is the battle between good and evil within ourselves?
Let’s give Trump a break relative to his being a peacemaker. I think Putin dropped a turd on his idea of what it would take to make a deal to stop the Biden stupidity. IMHO, Putin is using the slowdown from Trump to his advantage and will continue to push his land grab in East Ukraine until stopped. Watch Odessa.
Putin will definitely finish the denazification by fall, when the now clearing Rasputitsa (literally "season of bad roads") muds return. Only then will peace be made. And who can blame the Russians for not trusting any deal to restrain those who mercilessly murderered their own Russian speaking civilians in Donbass? They haven't forgotten about Minsk! Merkel herself admitted to acting in bad faith to rearm the Ukraine.
Can you imagine what the US would do if Mexico contained a significant concentrated enclave of Americans & the Mexican gov't shelled & slaughtered them? We would not stop until every last Mexican combatant was killed to ensure an end to the threat. It's a very loose analogy since the Ukraine, a term meaning periphery (as the center of the empire had moved east to Moscow) was always an artificial construct; empires such as the Hapsburg (Austro-Hungarian) & Polish-Lithuanian pushed Ukrainization (to make them feel like a separate people from their fellow Russians, despite the Kievan Rus being the origin of Russia) even before Vladimir Lenin's wheeling & dealing fraudulently officialized it through Soviet "Republic" status. Other neighboring countries also lost some land to the north & west of the Ukraine, but Russia is likely to take back much of their own lost land, probably to include Odessa. This will leave a landlocked rump state of a demilitarized zone ripe for regional reabsorption into respective parent nations once EU & NATO military support collapses & US subsidization ends (the Ukraine has been FULLY subsidized, military & civilian operations alike- the whole enchilada- since at least 2022).
God gave man free choice. People's individual choices, and mankind's cumulative choices are why things are the way they are.
The Devil is real. He is the great "deceiver". People are being deceived, which explains the bad choices that are manifest at every level, from petty lies and theft to embezzlement to wars big and small.
It is good to have faith. I share your view that the bullet "missing" by an inch or two is miracle, in the positive sense. God can, and does, thwart the powers of evil. It is possible that nefarious forces or people sought Trump's removal, and God thwarted their plans. The Holy Trinity is, ultimately, "the boss."
I like to think this experience (even more than his advanced age) reminded Mr. Trump of his mortality, of the fact that we are not going to be here forever.
I can't read Trump's mind though. I can perceive his ACTIONS by what I DISCERN from what I see and read. And his actions, whether they reflect his beliefs or whether he is being manipulated, when it comes to war and peace are not encouraging. While I recognize it is impossible to satisfy everyone, all the time, President Trump could have pulled the plug on the Ukraine war. He has not done so. And his words and actions in the Middle East, at least to me, point to wider war with a lot more death and destruction coming, and very likely adversely impacting the US economically, perhaps kinetically.
Now, he may think he is really a peacemaker, and his actions are necessary to pave the way to a long-term peace. I just don't see it. Time will tell.
Zelensky, galaxies far from a great mind, is being manipulated by the EU and the UK, based on their delusional and diabolical motives, to keep throwing wrenches into the ceasefire/peace efforts, convincing him via promises to have his his back based upon pure fairy dust.
The combination of their certifiably insane TDS, and their utter hubris have brought us to the brink of WWIII, and mutually assured destruction.
Ironically, it has only been Putin’s personal resistance to pulling the nuclear trigger that has kept us from crossing that Rubicon.
Vladimir Putin is the greatest leader Russia has ever had (possible exception Catherine the Great), and one of the greatest leaders in the world today. Hungary's Orban and El Salvador's Bukele are equally brave and visionary, but their countries are not as huge and consequential as Russia. (Although they are certainly playing key roles in the current world situation right now, aren't they?!)
What remarkable times we live in....
Putin is a great leader. He’s shown remarkable patience in the USA proxy war…he knows our deep state put Z in place.
I don’t know if I’d use the word “greatest”, as it can imply characteristics I wouldn’t necessarily apply to Putin. But I would go with smartest.
Amen. You forgot the Democrat machine backing Zelensky.
"God gave man free choice. People's individual choices, and mankind's cumulative choices are why things are the way they are."
Exactly. This principle tells me two things, Socrates.
1. God cannot violate his own laws and therefore cannot get involved which means we humans are on our own to fix the mess our actions and inactions have created.
2. God is not all powerful and cannot intervene. If God intervenes God breaks his own law of human free choice and free will and if he breaks his own law he becomes a liar. If God becomes a liar he loses his authority which comes from his honor and the honor of his creations.
Either way, I don't believe God is going to save us from our wickedness. We made this mess. We need to fix it. We fix it by first fixing ourselves, inwardly. Once we as a people fix ourselves inwardly and turn ourselves back to righteous principles and righteous living, everything else will fall right in line. I truly believe this.
Oh, and Socrates, a close friend of mine is a police chief in my town and believe me when I tell you, the people themselves are corrupted and wicked. The heart breaking stories of drugs, crime, child abuse, spouse abuse, infidelity, pornography and so forth are stunning. And I live in a rural Utah community.
Drugs can turn people into MONSTERS. Like you, I am closely acquainted with this fact. I have friends who have adopted foster children.... The hell that those kids endured as victims of drug-addicted parents is unimaginable.
As for porn, I have seen marriages destroyed. And I know of at least one man who always tried to be a good and decent husband, father, church member and community leader, but was addicted to online porn. He committed suicide because of the crushing guilt he felt at leading a double life.
If anyone reading this has this problem, I beg you: Get help!!! I just did a search for "porn addiction hotline christian" and a TON of resources came up. Get help. Today.
Well said. And many women are addicted to social media, doing all kinds of crazy things for likes. Many of them are still on dating sites after being married just for the validation, or to keep their options open. About 60% of married women admit to having a "Plan B" or back up man if things get bad.
Janos - Plan B's aren't all bad. About 95% of Americans don't even have a Plan A, so they're already screwed.
About 4% have a Plan A, so they're on the right track.
It's the 1% that have a Plan B, that'll come out the other side, knowing full well, that something always goes awry with Plan A.
Those women are just covering their downside risk. Problem is that a lot of one-time losers - men or women - end up becoming two-time losers. It's a pattern.
Plan A will definitely go awry if you have a Plan B. That’s not a marriage, it's a "situationship," as the kids say. That’s no way to live.
And if wifey meets a better man online, she'll start talking with him. If it all checks out, she'll replace her husband and blame him for it. Such is the feminine nature which you adore.
God rules absolutely. We have all been subjected to vanity. That's the point of this exercise. God makes what He will of every vessel, honorable or dishonorable. He creates good and evil. You have no choice in when you were born, to whom, and all your personal characteristics. You have no choice in life but what He puts before you. After choosing wrong for so long and reaping the consequences, you will learn to choose right by His grace only. Repentance and faith are a gift.
John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son for part of a weekend."
We are told an all-knowing God designed the incredible complexities of life, yet was so unimaginative & primitive it could only resolve issues by killing people.
"In the beginning man created God, then he created stories in which God created man."
Repentance and faith are a gift.
Oh, no! Please! No!
Not Hell! Not the Lake of Eternal Fire!
Lord, I believe! I repent!
I'm saved now, praise Jesus!
I'm saved!
Thank you, Jesus, thank you!
The anti-Gospel according to a perverse and corrupt mind.
When I was 4 years old, my grandmother was given a couple of red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) by one of her students (she taught third grade). She made up a terrarium for them where they did - nothing. Not satisfied with this inactivity, I took a pencil and started prodding them to get them to move, to do - something... Well, I may have prodded too much because eventually they became VERY inactive.
I don't think that "God" is a 4-year-old with a terrarium.
Cankerpuss
Your last paragraph is a wonderful summation of the message of Jesus. The key to salvation is within every one of us.
Oh, no! Please! No!
Not Hell! Not the Lake of Eternal Fire!
Lord, I believe! I repent!
I'm saved now, praise Jesus!
I'm Saved!
Thank you, Jesus, thank you!
Yes. "...within you but you don't realize it."
That is, make it real.
God has interviened many times in the Bible. He has a master plan, and will follow that to the ultimate end.
No argument here, but maybe included in that master plan is to let humanity fail because humanity no longer believes in or listens to God.
The message of Revelation.
If Vegas could vote on the likelihood of human self-salvation, I think the odds would be very long.
Carl Gustav Jung, whose work was influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology and religious studies, in his autobiography "Memories Dream Reflections" said "I will not discuss the transparent prophecies of the Book of Revelation because no one believes in them and the whole subject is felt to be an embarrassing one."
Beware of those who claim to interpret God’s “word.”
They don’t know any more than you do.
What they want is not truth, but power.
The bolder their interpretations, the more power they want.
"(God) has a master plan, and will follow that to the ultimate end."
In which everything plays a part, with humanity a barely noticeable background blip.
If God is willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
If he is able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
If he is both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
If he is neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
People put in far too much effort to still end up being wrong.
The God excuse: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument.
"At what point does all of this stuff just break down and become just a lot of stupid shit that someone made up! They fucking made it up folks! It's make-believe!” – George Carlin
Yes, there seems to be different factions of globalists striving for dominance. Trump is part of the Neo-Con/Israeli faction - and they are terrible warmongers.
Israel is a warmonger? You can't be more upside down that that, Lugh. Look up Raymond Ibrahim and read some of his stuff or watch his videos. It's not about Israel, but it will show you who the real warmongers are.
The Greater Israel Plan means taking over whole nations such as Lebanon and large parts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. It's imperialism on steroids and the burning wick of WW3
How far God will extend Israel is up to Him, but as for your accusation, it's patently ludicrous. If Israel had been planning to take over territories it would have done so after the '67 war and in the years since. Instead, it didn't take over Judea and Samaria, gave Sinai back to Egypt, and vacated the small Jewish population of Gaza.
I would say you should limit yourself to talking about things you know about, but I'm not sure any of those apply to the topics on this blog.
The IDF wear a patch of the map of Greater Israel on their shoulder. Do you really not know this or are you lying?
You're the liar. The IDF banned those patches, which were taken on by some orthodox soldiers.
That said, I fully support Israel expanding as much as God wills, which is more than what's held at present. Judea and Samaria, Gaza, Sinai, some of southern Syria and Lebanon for sure.
They always intended to expand, the two blue lines on their flag being the two rivers, the Nile and the Euphrates.* Thus they never negotiated in good faith.
*Whether this is the actual dimensions delineated in the Bible is debatable. It says the "spring of Egypt", is the Nile a spring? And by the Euphrates, did it mean the Euphrates in the north or in Iraq?
In any case, this is not the Israel of God. But it is the Israel of the Antichrist.
God does not exist Paul.
And the one the Israelis invented conveniently played real estate agent in their favour.
"God gave us this land"....
"It's bullshit, and it's fucking stupid." Probably the best and most accurate description of religion I've ever heard.
No, that’s a self-description, Dennis. That’s on you. “The fool has said in his heart there’s no God.”
...than that....
How do you even talk to people like this "Cohen?" Shouldn't he be engaged in a check cashing racket or scamming life insurance policies from veteran's widows? Why is he here mudding up the chat?
You can't answer me directly because you have nothing and can only resort to wild ad hominins born of your own moral depravity.
That bullet didn't really miss though, did it? Just barely nicked Trump's ear, not even leaving a lasting scar. A few millimeters to the right and it busts off a chunk of Trump's head. A few millimeters to the left and he doesn't even feel the breeze. Certainly a miracle - or possibly something a little more profane.
I can't read Trump's mind either - fortunately, there are many who can. Many of them can also read God's mind and know that Trump has been chosen by God to lead us out of the wilderness. "Mysterious ways" indeed. The shadow of doubt need never darken our lives again.
"Many of them can also read God's mind". Give me a fuckin break.
The same folks that are delusional.
I’m delusional and talk to an imaginary friend in the sky. You guys are too naive and don’t make enough efforts to become delusional like me. If you don't agree with my God delusion, then you're naive!
'My God has ALL the answers. ''
"Okay, tell me one of the answers.''
"My God doesn't have to tell YOU." "Na na na Neener neener nee ner"
"Oh, but there's plenty of evidence for Gods existence! There are so many things!"
“There's...... uhh......eeermm ... I saw God’s face and I talk to him!”
Every fucking time.
I hope you feel better now.
"Faith" is the excuse people give when they don't have a good reason to believe something. If they had a good reason, they would offer that as justification for their belief, not "faith".
Faith is the deliberate refusal to think critically and the glorification of wilful ignorance that follows. Religion is the permission slip to set aside truthful thought.
EVERYTHING happens according to God's PLAN Christians will say.
But when SOMETHING tragic happens, the Christian says God gives us FREE WILL.
The age-old trick of constantly moving the goalposts.
Or the cop-out: God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform
Hmmm, “The Devil is real”? Could it be he is the cumulative of Man’s evil side, that he represents the “evil” side of our nature, inside our minds and souls, as God represents the “good” side? Is the battle between good and evil within ourselves?
Let’s give Trump a break relative to his being a peacemaker. I think Putin dropped a turd on his idea of what it would take to make a deal to stop the Biden stupidity. IMHO, Putin is using the slowdown from Trump to his advantage and will continue to push his land grab in East Ukraine until stopped. Watch Odessa.
Putin will definitely finish the denazification by fall, when the now clearing Rasputitsa (literally "season of bad roads") muds return. Only then will peace be made. And who can blame the Russians for not trusting any deal to restrain those who mercilessly murderered their own Russian speaking civilians in Donbass? They haven't forgotten about Minsk! Merkel herself admitted to acting in bad faith to rearm the Ukraine.
Can you imagine what the US would do if Mexico contained a significant concentrated enclave of Americans & the Mexican gov't shelled & slaughtered them? We would not stop until every last Mexican combatant was killed to ensure an end to the threat. It's a very loose analogy since the Ukraine, a term meaning periphery (as the center of the empire had moved east to Moscow) was always an artificial construct; empires such as the Hapsburg (Austro-Hungarian) & Polish-Lithuanian pushed Ukrainization (to make them feel like a separate people from their fellow Russians, despite the Kievan Rus being the origin of Russia) even before Vladimir Lenin's wheeling & dealing fraudulently officialized it through Soviet "Republic" status. Other neighboring countries also lost some land to the north & west of the Ukraine, but Russia is likely to take back much of their own lost land, probably to include Odessa. This will leave a landlocked rump state of a demilitarized zone ripe for regional reabsorption into respective parent nations once EU & NATO military support collapses & US subsidization ends (the Ukraine has been FULLY subsidized, military & civilian operations alike- the whole enchilada- since at least 2022).
Good summary, thanks.