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~ Webster's defines "penance" as an act of self-abasement, mortification, or devotion performed to show sorrow or repentance for sin. Extreme forms of penance include things like donning sackcloth and ashes, malnutrition, hermitage, celibacy, walking around with a pebble in one's shoe...

~ Messiah's administration will be unpleasant for criminals if perchance he exercises justice in the manner prescribed by Moses' law wherein are no penal systems and no plea bargaining. Punishment is typically swift and right to it: no appeals, no pardons, and no reprieves. A very serious...

~ ● John 3:14-17 . . As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal...

~ Some years ago a well-meaning Catholic man told me that had he been back there, he would've tried to stop the Romans from executing Jesus. I shocked him by saying that had I been there at the time, I would've driven the nails in myself: without guilt, without regret, and without apology. The...

~ 79) 1Cor 7:18a . . Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. It was of course impossible to literally reverse circumcision in Paul's day. However, there did exist a procedure to ceremoniously reverse it. (cf. 1Maccabees 1:15) ● 1Cor 7:18b . . Is any called in...

~ In the hands of a competent Bible teacher: 1Pet 3:18-20 is actually a pretty good proof text that the spirit of Christ (1Pet 1:11) and the spirit of God (Gen 6:3) are one and the same spirit. FAQ: How would the spirit of Christ go about preaching to folks back then? REPLY: By means of Noah's...

~ Jesus and his men ate their Passover dinner the night of his arrest. Matt 26:17-20 Mark 14:12-17 Luke 22:7-15 The Jews ate their Passover after he was dead and buried. John 13:1-2 John 18:28-29 John 19:13-14 John 19:31 The Jews were somehow unaware that their religious calendar was tardy...

~ My sins didn't put Jesus up on the cross: He volunteered for it. (John 10:15-18, Phil 2:5-8 & Heb 5:5-7) In point of fact: Christ volunteered for the cross many years before in the dateless past. (John 12:27, 1Pet 1:18 & Rev 13:8) In other words: my sins made it necessary for Christ to die...

~ I was born the year the allies landed at Normandy. Then came "the bomb" on Japan. Next came Korea. Then Vietnam. Then Kuwait. Then Iraq. Then Afghanistan. Then Ukraine. All that plus civil wars in Cuba, South America, Africa, and parts of Europe. Conflicts in just my lifetime...

~ ● Luke 2:8-12 . . Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of The Lord appeared to them, and the glory of The Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. . . .The angel said to them: Do not be...

~ 78) 1Cor 7:17 . . But as God hath distributed to every man, as The Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. "distribution" is likely talking about spiritual gifts. All of Christ's believing followers are supposed to have at least one. "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same...

~ I grew up in San Diego County's outback and lived there forty-one years before moving to Oregon. Certain times of the year I had to watch every step and be extra careful where I put my hands and/or sat down outdoors because of tarantulas, rattlesnakes, scorpions, centipedes, and black widow...

~ It's one thing to discuss Hell from the perspective of an armchair expert with no emotional attachment, while quite another when one of your own might be down there. My kid brother decided early to live life on his own terms and not allow religion to get in his way. As a result, he was...

~ Jesus today in Heaven has a so-called glorified body that his followers are on track to obtain in the future. (Phil 3:21) Just about everybody knows that when Jesus' crucified dead body was restored to life, it was capable of dining upon ordinary foods. (Luke 24:40 43) But it's possibly not...

~ ● 1Cor 1:26 . . Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you. Faith in Christ isn't an achievement like a Nobel prize in chemistry nor as if one ran for public office or climbed a corporate ladder. None of us...

~ 77) 1Cor 7:15 . . But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. In this situation, Christians are neither required, nor encouraged, nor under even the slightest obligation to attempt reconciliation...

~ I would like some time off for vacations in Messiah's kingdom because there are places on Earth I will never get around to visiting in this life before I'm dead; and being as I'm afraid of heights, there are some places I wouldn't visit in this life even if given the chance, e.g. Angel's...

~ 76) 1Cor 7:12-13 . . If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. It's not all that unusual for marriages to...

~ Considering the amount of damage done to the world's cities during the Tribulation, there ought to be plenty of shovel-ready jobs available afterwards for folks who don't mind getting their hands dirty. Rev 16:17-18 predicts a global earthquake so powerful on the Richter scale that cities all...

~ Hello; I was christened an infant into the Roman Catholic Church in 1944, and eventually attended catechism to complete First Holy Communion and Confirmation. I was loyal to Rome up until I was 24, then one day back in 1968 I was approached by a Protestant who asked me if I was prepared for...