WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) - A Dallas megachurch whose pastor has been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump was approved for a **FORGIVABLE** loan worth $2 million to $5 million, according to long-awaitedVice President Mike Pence spoke at a rally last month at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, whose pastor, Robert Jeffress, has been on Trump's evangelical advisory board government data released on Monday. Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a rally last month the the Firtst Baptist Church of Dallas, whose pastor, Robert Jeffress, has been on Trump's evangelical advisory board!!
Posted : 9 Jul, 2020 09:31 PM
And your posts would be more convincing if you actually addressed the arguments I made.
Besides, Satan has been known to quote scripture just as well as you do, sir, and it appears to not be helping you make an effective argument against the points I made. Please, either formulate an argument that addresses the points I made, or go back to waiting for your apocalypse.
WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) - A Dallas megachurch whose pastor has been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump was approved for a **FORGIVABLE** loan worth $2 million to $5 million, according to long-awaitedVice President Mike Pence spoke at a rally last month at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, whose pastor, Robert Jeffress, has been on Trump's evangelical advisory board government data released on Monday. Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a rally last month the the Firtst Baptist Church of Dallas, whose pastor, Robert Jeffress, has been on Trump's evangelical advisory board!!
Posted : 9 Jul, 2020 08:56 PM
Yeah? And?? What's missing from all of that?......The time. The deadline. The doomsday clock to hit midnight. The last grain of sand to fall in the hourglass. We have a story of what will happen with nothing to say when.
You talk about that day like you WANT the disasters associated with those last days to befall mankind. It's been described as a "great and TERRIBLE" day. We all fall short of the Kingdom and so it's not likely to be a pleasant time for ANYONE to have to stand and account for themselves.
Has it never occurred to you that instead of "waiting" for that day you should be praying for postponement? If it is scheduled to happen tomorrow, I ask today for it to be postponed another day, just so that I could have a chance to lead one more soul to Him, and I would pray that prayer every day until the end of my life!
WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) - A Dallas megachurch whose pastor has been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump was approved for a **FORGIVABLE** loan worth $2 million to $5 million, according to long-awaitedVice President Mike Pence spoke at a rally last month at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, whose pastor, Robert Jeffress, has been on Trump's evangelical advisory board government data released on Monday. Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a rally last month the the Firtst Baptist Church of Dallas, whose pastor, Robert Jeffress, has been on Trump's evangelical advisory board!!
Posted : 9 Jul, 2020 06:15 PM
Christians have been looking for the antichrist and 666 for centuries and pointing fingers in every direction imaginable. Biden and Trump are flawed men, yes, but they are not Satan. This is hyperbole and is dishonest. Again, I would also like to ask: since we are 0 for umpteen (I won't even guess a number it's so high) attempts to predict the end of the world or the tribulation or the apocalypse, does that mean that those who have predicted it and were wrong are false prophets? If someone says "we are in the last days," how much time has to pass before we can call them out for being a false teacher? Those predictions go back to the year 1000 AD, possibly before. Can we stop the melodrama for a moment and think about this logically for a second? God didn't even let Jesus in on the secret! What makes us think we can know when it's going to be???
Trump is a bigger liar than Satan? That's really saying something since Satan is described as the "father of lies." However, we can typically list lies that Satan tells, so let's do that! What would be a good number.... how about 20? If Trump lies more than Satan, identifying 20 lies that President Trump has told should be a simple matter (remember that lies are falsehoods told with KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH AND AN INTENTION TO DECEIVE).
Sadly, voting for the King of Kings on a ballot is kind of like casting a vote for Snoopy. Jesus isn't here and he's not going to sit in the Oval Office or sign our bills into law. That's because he's sitting at His Father's right hand instead and sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us. That means that all we have for candidates to fill our offices of leadership are flawed human beings, but who we end up with ultimately depends on how well we are doing socially and spiritually. We ultimately either get a deserving leader, or we get the leader we deserve.
Jesus is already great. It's our society's PERCEPTION of Jesus that needs to be made great again. That's not up to the president or the president's office. It's up to US as individuals. One way to do this is to stop blathering on about the end times with this silly "Chicken Little Christianity" and start striving to BE like Jesus in how we carry ourselves, how we love, and how we address those who stand against us. Another is to stop shooting at each other and start learning how to love each other instead. The Army of the Lord is the only army that shoots its own wounded. The problem is, we're all damaged. We all hurt. We all fail. We all fall short. We all are flawed. That makes for a LOT of friendly fire.
We can't just tell the Gospel. We have to strive harder to LIVE it. That's how to make America, or for that matter ANY country truly GREAT.
I'm not sure there is such a thing as "handling" the COVID situation. We have dozens of mayors and governors across the country and leaders across the world who haven't done much better than President Trump at controlling the spread of this thing. We may just have to ride this out as best we can. Herd immunity may be our best hope, and if we look to a vaccine to fix this, that's in the hands of medical researchers, not elected officials.
To question #1: Sure, it's the 21st century. For my own part, if I'm not looking in the right direction, I might otherwise miss the right one if she doesn't reach out to me. She may also be listening to God's nudging better than I am in that moment, so no problem if a woman decides to reach out first, at least for me.
To question #2: Well, if it's true of me, it would certainly explain a lot of my lack of success finding my match. However, since I have struggled to make a relationship work when I'm a couple of hours away from the one I'm dating, let alone a continent away, I fear I may have to live with wondering on that one. I value being able to meet in person when I'm in a relationship, and a long distance relationship puts a lot of strain on that. Unfortunately, I think these feelings are shared by a fair number of others on here because I've seen similar feelings expressed on the forums before.
**DOES POPE FRANCIS WHOSE NAME ALSO ADDS UP TO **666** COMPLETELY QUALIFY TO BE THE FUTURE FALSE PROPHET OF **666**??
Posted : 3 Jul, 2020 08:45 AM
I think I'm with David on this one. I agree that some of the things Pope Francis has been saying have been plainly wrong and he should be corrected. I think Jesuit priests have had a bit of a checkered history of getting involved with Saul Alinsky and his methods of community organizing too, which also is disquieting. But let's cut to the chase on this:
People have been predicting the end of the world since they could use reason to predict the outcome of... anything. The early church did it, and the world was supposed to end any number of times just in the last century: The Cuban Missile Crisis was going to blow us all to Kingdom Come, I heard some believed President Ronald Reagan was supposed to be the Antichrist because his first, middle, and last names all had six letters in them, "88 Reasons the World's Going to End in 1988," Y2K was supposed to send us back into the dark ages, The Mayan Calendar ended in 2012, then came the corrections to the Mayan Calendar that adjusted that to, I think 2014? Now Coronavirus is supposed to lead to the Mark of the Beast and the great Tribulation. Did I miss any? If we spent this time and energy looking instead to find Christ in each other instead of the Antichrist as David has suggested, the world would be a much better and more cooperative place, I think.
How many times have these doomsday predictions been right so far? 0 for... how many again? I know, I know, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while right? You only have to make the right call once, right? Well, the blind squirrel is still hungry, he hasn't found anything yet. So what happens when Pope Francis dies or resigns and Rome isn't destroyed and the Vatican picks pope 113 from the time of this prophesy? No apology for being wrong? Just forget the guy that made the prediction and move on to the next prophesy of the end of the world? I like to call this "Chicken Little" Christianity.
And let's think a little about the people led to God because of the fear created by these warnings, signs, and dire predictions. Fear is a powerful motivator, both for the believer to recruit others and for the questioning unbeliever to join up, if nothing else to save their own hides. However, when every single one of these predictions comes and goes without coming close to the pandemonium the predictors expected, does that not erode the credibility of those making the predictions? Do we hear from the guy who wrote "88 reasons why the World's going to end in 1988" anymore? No, he made his million on the book and he slinks away and his book is forgotten. On to the next...
So if our faith is tied to these predictions of the end times, what does that do to a person's faith to see the failure of the predictions? Faith from fear can fade as the fear fades, or can turn to anger at being deceived (please note, I'm not talking about the same sort of fear as we see in the phrase "Wisdom begins with fear of God." I'm talking about the fear that paralyzes, that makes you cower and scramble for safety). Faith from Joy and love are stronger bonds, and we forge them by doing exactly what David alluded to: Seeking Christ, not the Beast.
Oh, and here's an interesting question for us to bake our noodles on for a while: speaking of false prophets, false teachings, and deception: When a prediction of the end times turns out to be false, does that make the one who predicted it a false teacher and deceiver? No doubt keeping the prediction vague and generalized can help skirt one's sense of guilt over this, but still...
No, it's not just you. I've gotten a couple of similar messages. They weren't exactly verbatim, but they had a common structure. The first time I received the message I speak of, my initial reaction was one of excitement because it looked like the relationship was going somewhere, but something made me look deeper into it. I think it was the fact that in a matter of two messages things went from cordial to what I would almost call "sappy romantic."
I don't remember what I did exactly. I don't remember if I just googled signs you're talking to a scammer online or if I actually copied the message text into the search bar and searched for that. I think it was the former, but one of the first hits was someone sharing a story of a correspondance with someone that included a similar way that the message suddenly went from cordial and friendly to a highly romantic message that had the exact same structure and said many of the same things as the message I had received. The wording was slightly different, but the essence of the message was the same. Needless to say I didn't and don't reply to it when I see it.
Jayzee, if you take home nothing else of what I’m about to say, please at least understand this: The phrase/message “black lives matter,” is a “duh” statement for most white people, especially those with values aligning to the right wing in the United States (Republicans and Libertarians; I know the terms right and left politically have somewhat different connotations in some European countries). You say, “black lives matter,” we say, “thanks Captain Obvious.” What we find offensive, is the ASSUMPTION that we think black lives DON’T matter. You don’t ask us, you don’t watch how we treat people of different races in our daily lives. You just assume you know our hearts. This is as far from the truth as east is from west.
The phrase would probably go down a whole lot better if it said “Black lives matter TOO.” The unspoken questions that the chant raises in our minds when we hear this phrase is, “does that mean other races and perhaps especially white lives DON’T matter?” When you assume we don’t think black lives matter, we start to assume that you don’t think our lives matter. This is a dangerous game to play and it has to stop. That’s why the common response you hear is “all lives matter.” This should be a uniting phrase. When BLM chants “Black lives matter,” and we reply, “No kidding, ALL lives matter,” we should be able to come together in that moment and embrace and find some common ground to work from. Instead, “all lives matter,” is termed “RACIST!” This solidifies the presumption that BLM thinks white lives and other races don’t matter.
Now let’s go in deeper. A vast majority of black lives that are lost in the US to murder comes from black-on-black crime. BLM pitches a fit over one black suspect being killed in police custody, but says nothing of the hundreds of blacks murdered by other blacks every year: making up about 93% of those being killed. For instance, more than 6,000 black people tragically lost their lives at the hands of other blacks in 2015, compared with 254 at the hands of police officers that year. Those of us outside of BLM have to wonder if they really think black lives matter? If they did, wouldn’t black on black crime be at the top of their agenda to fix too?
Furthermore, you have George Floyd, who did 5 years in prison for holding a pregnant woman at gun point while his friends ransacked her home being memorialized and even a folded flag given by Nancy Pelosi to Floyd’s family (an honor normally reserved ONLY for those killed in action in the armed services), but Aunt Jemima, an image from a woman quite worthy of being remembered is being erased from our culture as a racist trope. The original Aunt Jemima was a woman named Nancy Green, who was born in 1834 into slavery, was freed, and was recommended to do the job of being the character of Aunt Jemima by a member of the family she once served. As a former slave, no one would have begrudged her a dime if she had decided to hoard the money she earned from that job. She’d have every right to that money after what she went through. But instead, she showed the strongest character and became a philanthropist and one of the first black missionaries working to end poverty through her church. She gave from her wealth to help and to serve others, and her legacy, almost forgotten if not for the Aunt Jemima label, is being replaced because the image she portrayed has suddenly been demanded to be changed as a racist trope. Doesn’t her life matter? Doesn’t her legacy matter? Doesn’t her strength of character and generosity matter enough to keep her image alive in our cultural memory?
We are all equal in the eyes of God and thus, Black lives matter (too)! If individuals don’t act accordingly, those individuals are wrong, and they will have to answer for that in the right time, but so will those who assume they know another person’s character because of the color of their skin, for this too is racism. If after this you still think I’m a racist, then the place you need to look to find the hate you’re trying to destroy is in the mirror. Nothing I’ve said has had so much of a modicum of hate behind it and you will receive no hate from me in the hereafter either. Any hate you may think you sense in reading my reply comes from within you, not me.
So protesters want to take down Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Statue?
Posted : 30 Jun, 2020 08:55 PM
If you have nothing further to say, then maybe you'll take a little time to listen instead. :)
Alligator's comment reveals a bitter truth. It does not taste like honey. Don't assume you know anything about me. You know nothing of me.
Hate is opportunistic, as are hate groups. Alligator's comment reveals that a hate group like the KKK finds nourishment in a climate already rich with hate and violence. This has been proven through history and even very recently.
After the Confederacy lost the Civil War, many racists in the south wanted a way to feel better than someone. A former Confederate leader and pledge delegate to the Democratic National Convention named Nathan Bedford Forest provided a way for that to happen by becoming the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, promising the racists a social position above the newly freed blacks and “justice” for all the so-called wrong the Union Army did. They have laid in waiting for the right conditions in which to flourish, like they did in the late 1920s when the DNC led by Woodrow Wilson refused to denounce them in their platform, leading to the massive marches in what became known as the Klan bake.
At the end of World War I, the Allies saw Germany as the culprit for causing the war. In their collective hatred, they ground Germany under their heels, splitting up the country and imposing a debt they couldn’t possibly repay. In the bitterness of their depression, the Nazis found a foothold, by blaming the Allies, and then later the Jews for all their woes. They promised Germans their own form of “justice,” that they’d never hang their heads in shame again and that instead they’d bring the surrounding countries to their knees.
Black Lives Matter has taken advantage of recent events to push for a surge in hatred toward white people regardless of whether the white people they aim their hatred at are responsible for any kind of racism present OR past. They're taking advantage of the idle hands of people who are out of work and going stir crazy due to the Novel Coronavirus to stir up unrest and hatred at every turn. What I find sad is that the Black community allows itself to be manipulated this way. We need more "uppity" (i.e. independent) blacks who won't allow their emotions to be controlled so easily.
Alligator's comment was a grim prediction. I pray she's wrong about it, but it's not hard to see the path. With all the wanton destruction happening over an incident that has no real proof that it was racially motivated in the first place, it may follow that frustrations or injuries done to people who otherwise have no racist bent and had nothing to do with the event with George Floyd might begin to trigger some racist feelings. And if history is any indication the Klan waits for the chance to promise them some twisted form of "justice" and to tell them who to hate.
Hate doesn't stop hate. It only gives birth to more of it. Hate from BLM will only lead to more hate from those that they target.
It's not too late, though, Jayzeee. This mess started with individuals, and it can be stopped by individuals. The Bible says that God so loved THE WORLD that He gave His only Son for the forgiveness of sins. Not just blacks, not just whites, or any other color. It was His love for ALL OF US. This identity politics garbage HAS TO STOP. When we are committed to our faith and our identity as covenant brothers and sisters through Christ, there is no room for tribalism or identity politics. When we move away from our identity in Christ, that's when these ideological and racial divides form. Don't let those divisions become chasms. Please don't let yourself fall into them. It can only take you farther from God.
