This is an amazing & uplifting encapsulation of so much of what has been happening across our land! Please take the few minutes needed to watch this glimpse into the unfolding American Dream & prayerfully consider supporting Trump in 2020.
Our land was on a collision course headed for despair & destruction. We have been undergoing a miraculous course correction in the natural world, helmed by the imperfect yet perfect for the moment man President Donald Trump.
For such a time as this…
There are many dangers ahead & darkness is ever trying to overcome The Light…
We followers of Jesus must be diligent to continue to seek His Face & that includes praying for those in leadership. Let us all contribute to rebuilding the wall, the hedge of protection that God in his gracious mercy has placed about us & our land…
We have been blessed…to be a blessing…
Lord give us hearts that long for You…
Show us the way & help us to pray according to Your Will…
This scripture applies in all times & places but especially now in America…
Help us Lord to turn to You, to seek You & Your ways…
Lord, have mercy on our land & guide us in the paths where you’d have us go.
Thank You Lord for showing us the way in Your Word…
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We trust You Lord & thank You for caring for all of our needs…
God Bless YOU & guide you where He wills, in Jesus’ Love…
President Trump and his administration have crafted a powerful & revolutionary Trade Deal with China and signed the Phase 1 Portion prior to beginning negotiations for Phase 2. I copied this material primarily from a post at WolfMoon’s Q-Tree, an offshoot of The Conservative Treehouse. There are links to the details of the deal at the original post, found here:
These remarks were by President Trump, unless otherwise attributed. He gave a lengthy “shout-out” session to many attendees from government, business, & diplomacy. He is very much an encourager by nature, in my opinion, and this shows in the many warm & personal remarks he shared as he acknowledged so many valuable people. Emphasis added below is my own perspective…
“So, for decades, American workers, farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and innovators have been hurt by the unfair trade with China. Forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft have been huge problems. Since China joined the World Trade Organization two decades ago, we have racked up nearly $5 trillion — the Vice Premier, I hope he’s not listening to this — (laughter) — in trade deficits, lost millions and millions of manufacturing jobs, and saw tens of thousands of factories close. And that had to do, also, with Mexico, and, to an extent, Canada.
What they did to this country with trade and trade deals — NAFTA. We had no deal with China. I mean, we had no deal. And it was like just easy pickings.
For years, politicians ran for office, promising action to remedy these practices, only to do nothing but allow them to continue. And it was pillage.
As a candidate for President, I vowed strong action. It’s probably the biggest reason why I ran for President, because I saw it for so many years. And I said, “How come nobody is doing something about it?” In the meantime, immigration, and building our military — also important. But that’s probably the biggest reason.
In June of 2016, in the great state of Pennsylvania, I promised that I would use every lawful presidential power to protect Americans from unfair trade and unfair trade practices. Unlike those who came before me, I kept my promise. They didn’t promise too hard but — (applause) — they didn’t do anything. And I actually think I more than kept my promise.
Now our efforts have yielded a transformative deal that will bring tremendous benefits to both countries. We have a great relationship with China, we have a great relationship with the leadership of China, and China fully understands that there has to be a certain reciprocity. There has to be. It cannot continue like this. It would be dangerous for it to continue like it was.
The agreement we signed today includes groundbreaking provisions in an area of critical importance to the United States: protecting intellectual property. So the deal you’re seeing today is a much bigger deal than — we have it very much guarded. They asked one of our Democratic — Cryin’ Chuck Schumer — “What do you think of the deal?” — two weeks ago. He had no idea what the deal was. Never saw the deal; it’s totally guarded.
“I don’t like it. I don’t like the deal,” he said. “Well, have you seen it?” “Yeah, I think I know what…” “Well, why don’t you like it?” “Well, they took the tariffs off.” Actually, we didn’t. He didn’t know anything about the deal. He just said exactly what probably you should say, as a politician. “How do you like the deal?” “I don’t like the deal.” “Do you know the deal?” “Uh, uh, sort of.” He never saw the deal. He knew nothing about it. He would love the deal, but he can’t say it, because he’s on the other party. But maybe Patrick would do the same thing, right?
But you know what? I would say that you shouldn’t. This is an unbelievable deal for the United States. And, ultimately, it’s a great deal for both countries. And it’s going to also lead to even a more stable peace throughout the world.
China is helping us with North Korea. China is helping us with a lot of the things that they can be helping us with — which you don’t see in a deal, but they have been very, very helpful with respect to Kim Jong Un, who has great respect for President Xi.
And it’s all a very, very beautiful game of chess, or a game of poker, or — I can’t use the word “checkers” because it’s far greater than any checker game that I’ve ever seen. But it’s a very beautiful mosaic.”
…
“China has also pledged firm action to confront pirated and counterfeit goods, which is a big problem for many of the people in the room — the counterfeiting. We’ll make sure that this happens, and we have very, very strong protection.
In addition, the agreement addresses forced technology transfer policies that can require companies to give away their know-how and trade secrets. So now, when Boeing has some work done over in China or wants to sell planes over in China, they don’t have to give up every single thing that they’ve ever — you know, that they’ve worked so hard to — to develop and to come up with. Are you guys hearing that? You don’t have to give up anything anymore. Just be strong. Just be strong. Don’t let it happen. But you don’t have to do that.
It was a terrible — it was a terrible situation going on there. And a lot of it was because our co- — our companies, I have to say this, were very weak. You were very weak. You gave up things that you didn’t have to give up. But now, legally, you don’t have to give them up.
Under this deal, transfers and licensing of technology will be based on market terms that are fully voluntary and reflect mutual agreement.
Phase one will also see China greatly expand imports of the — to the United States. We want to buy a lot of their product inexpensively.”
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“One of the other things I have to say is that protection of intellectual property — we have very strong protection of intellectual property. A lot of people thought this deal was just a simple deal for — the farmers are going to get $50 billion. Remember I said, Lindsey, they have to go out and buy larger tractors?
China was doing $16 billion with the farmers. And they stopped. Why not? You know, they’re in a negotiation. So our people agreed to $20 [billion], and I said, “No, make it $50 [billion]. What difference does it make? Make it $50 [billion].” They say, “Sir, our farmers can’t produce that much.” I said, “I love our farmers. Let them tell me they can’t do it.” And I said, “Tell them to go out and buy a larger tractor. Buy a little more land.” But they’ll be able to do it. I have no doubt they’ll be able to do it. (Applause.)
So, the other thing that I think we have is the currency devaluation standards. We have a very strong standard for currency devaluation. And, in all due respect, China was one of the greats in history at doing that, and we’re going to work on it together. But currency devaluation will now have some very, very strong restrictions and very powerful restrictions. And we have just full — again, the word — one of the strongest things we have: total and full enforceability. And you know what that means: total, full enforceability on all of this.
So, the agreement tears down major market barriers for U.S. food and agricultural exports. China will now welcome American beef and pork, poultry, seafood, rice, dairy, infant formula, animal feed, biotechnology, and much, much more. Because frankly, you know, they were not doing things that they were supposed to be. And that’s okay. Because now they will. The deal will also benefit energy, manufacturing services, and all sectors of the economy.
And I will say this: This deal — again, they thought it was a 50-billion-dollar agricultural deal. Now it’s much more than $200 billion, of which 50 is agricultural. But the rest is in all of the other things that we just discussed, especially for financial. And you should really look at it. And you have a free pass. And you don’t have to worry about the 49 percent where you can’t own, because you’re going to be able to own now. And you’re not going to have to take partners that are forced upon you. It’s an incredible deal from that standpoint, too.
We’re delighted that the Chinese consumers will now enjoy the greater access to the best products on Earth — those made, grown, and raised right here in the USA.”
…
“With this signing, we mark more than just an agreement; we mark a sea change in international trade. At long last, Americans have a government that puts them first at the negotiating table. First in trade. First in every deal, every decision, and every action we take with incredible enforceability.
As we move on to phase two, I look forward to continuing to forge a future of greater harmony, prosperity, and, really, commerce — commerce and — far beyond commerce, between the United States and China. This is something that — far beyond even this deal — it’s going to lead to a even stronger world peace.
We now have — we now have a big investment in each other and in getting along with each other. And this deal is phase one. We’ll probably be able to conclude it with phase two. We don’t expect to have a phase three. But it’s something that we all want to get done, and it’ll be a tremendously big deal. This is something that’s going to be so special, however, to our manufacturers, our farmers, our bankers, our service people. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. This is the biggest deal there is anywhere in the world, by far. And that’s good.”
Vice Premier Liu speaks through an interpreter:
“President Xi Jinping points out that there are a thousand reasons to make China-U.S. relations succeed and not a single one to let it fail. We must seek common ground while putting aside differences and find a path toward win-win cooperation. This has important implications for China, the United States, and the world at large.
It has been, and will continue need to be, proved that we both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Cooperation is the only right choice. We need to act in the overall interest of world peace and development and shared future of humanity, pursue equal consultation with mutual respect, and take forward China-U.S. relations based on coordination, cooperation, and stability, and fulfill the great historic mission that we shoulder together.
While I see many visionary people here in the audience who have made an important contribution to the sound development of China-U.S. relations, please accept my most sincere appreciation. (Applause.)
The Lunar Chinese New Year is coming soon. I extend season’s greetings to you. I wish you good health and all the success. Again, thank you very much, President Trump, and thank you all. (Applause.)”
The original post where I found the verbiage is from this link:
I recently encountered a great comprehensive piece that laid out many components of the Q Phenomenon in a very straight forward & thoughtful manner. I have no personal opinion as to whether “Q” is real or not. It is a tool of information as well as disinformation & has spawned a whole cottage industry of soothsayers & prognosticators. What many of these Q enthusiasts seem to have in common is patriotic passion, primarily for America, but also for freedom’s unshackling in other lands. Many Q-pers also appear to be people of joyful faith & conservative or libertarian leaning political perspectives.
Regardless, the genie of information access & overload is definitely out of the bottle. The so-called mainstream media no longer has exclusive control of the message of what’s going on & what it all means. There are many sources of alternative information & in the Internet Age we can each find sources that fit our comfort zone & world view. So here I want to share some access points with which I’m familiar to encourage each of you to expand your thinking & your source material as you get more informed about what’s really taking place in our culture & in our world.
The Internet is such an amazing tool & source of information so most of this will be Internet based. However, as a Bible-believing Christian I believe the Word of God is the greatest source of truth there is. An excellent tool for accessing scripture online is BibleGateway.com which allows you to search the scriptures by keywords & lets you view The Word in many translations (I really enjoy using the New International Version for ease of understanding & the King James Version for beauty & historicity) & even lets you compare passages in a parallel manner.
The Bible is truly the best filter for Truth & can be the best guide for our lives & our understanding of human nature & the events that swirl around us…& the forces that work behind the scene of these events.
Another important online choice is which search engine to employ of the myriad choices out there. Although “Google” has been used popularly as a verb as well as a search engine that would never be my search engine of choice, though I do appreciate & use some of their extra features. Google has been shown in numerous analyses (not that you’d find using a “google search”) to be highly biased & to hide information that is against their agenda. There are many other good search engines available & they have various features & merits. Here are a few that I occasionally employ depending on my objective:
Bing.com
Dogpile.com
DuckDuckGo.com
Clusty.com
Yahoo.com
AskJeeves.com
Internet Archive aka the Wayback Machine (find archived versions of websites)
Social media is a huge deal nowadays & (dis)information seems to travel at the speed of sound or even light. Some of the largest platforms have been shown to have huge leftist/liberal bias so you have to consider that what you are being allowed to see is often highly filtered through the prism of leftism. So the age old adage of buyer (or user) beware applies in spades here. Especially suspect are Facebook, Twitter, & YouTube. Each of these platforms have been demonstrated to censure, de-platform, de-monetize, & shadow-ban Conservatives, Christians, & Trump enthusiasts.
Here are some Tweeters that have strong messages of Truth & are influencing the culture in positive ways (in no particular order):
President Donald Trump
Vice President Mike Pence
Rudi Guilani, POTUS’s attorney & adviser
Ivanka Trump, POTUS’s daughter & adviser
Donald Trump, Jr., POTUS’s son, with hard hitting info
Melania Trump, First Lady, sharing the softer side & positives
Bill Barr, US Attorney General, investigating the Deep State
Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, advancing the US in the world
Ron DeSantis, Florida Governor addressing illegal immigration, etc.
Praying Medic, truth-teller & culture warrior
Candace Owens, Blexit (blacks leaving the Democrat plantation)
Brandon Straka, Walk Away (democrats/leftists leaving the Democrat plantation)
Diamond & Silk, straight-talking, humorous take on society
Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA, college students seeking truth
Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch (keeping tabs on government & holding it accountable)
James O’Keefe, Project Veritas (exposing corruption, lies, & bias in the culture)
Scott Baio, culture warrior speaking out from the entertainment industry
James Woods, ditto, may still be banned by Twitter for quoting Trump
Catherine Herridge, journalist keeping tabs on the Deep State
Sheryl Atkinson, ditto, was actively spied on by the Obama-bots
Tucker Carlson, Fox News commentator, threatened by Deep State
Lou Dobbs, classic reporter digging into deeper truths
Judge Janine Pirro, Fox news commentator extraordinaire
Maria Bartiromo, Fox News interviewer & culture warrior
Mark Levin, Constitutional Scholar & TV & radio show host
Jordan Peterson, insightful academic & culture warrior
Pamela Geller, truth teller & exposer of radical Islam in America & beyond
Devin Nunez, California Congressman relentlessly pursuing the Deep State
Jim Jordan, Ohio Congressman culture warrior
Elise Stefanic, Congresswoman impactful in various Congressional hearings
A. F. Branco, hard-hitting political cartoonist
Grrr Graphics, ditto
Carpe Donktum, meme-maker extraordinaire
Charlie Daniels, entertainer & Christian w/ daily prayers
The Last Refuge, Sundance of the Conservative Treehouse, shining sunlight
George Papadopoulos, victim of the Deep State & coup against Trump exposer
The Epoch Times, hard hitting right leaning online journalism
Dr. Quigley, fact-based analysis of current events
Paul Joseph Watson, video-based culture warrior
Prager University, short videos explaining important things understandably
OANN, One America News Network, anyone there has great info & analyses
John Solomon, fact-based journalist
Finding a great aggregating news source can really facilitate one’s search for information on current events. Although I used to regularly use the Drudge Report I’ve lately found his offerings to be more biased & agenda driven in a way that I no longer prefer. A great source that is well worth your time is WhatFinger.com which provides a Huge Amount of news from a primarily conservative perspective. There is usually a great description to help you decide if you want to read the source or just skim the headlines. There is quite a collection of videos, memes, & podcasts as well as links to many news sources (like may also be found still at Drudge).
Here are some good sites with various merits worth checking out:
Well, this post has swelled beyond what I’d originally envisioned, so to wrap up. There is interesting material, insight, & encouragement to be found in many places. Radio is still a great place to get informed. Here are a couple of radio shows to consider:
Rush Limbaugh
Mark Levin
Sean Hannity
Michael Savage
Red Eye Radio
Many of these shows can be found using Radio.com.
I also enjoy listening to Christian Music & have been much refreshed at:
ClassicChristian247.com
StreetsOfGoldRadio.com
The original inspiration for this post came from a piece I recently read at American Thinker about the “Q” Phenomenon. Please check it out for yourself & decide:
I finally got back to Ya’acov Apelbaum’s amazing blog where I always learn something & frequently get my mind blown. He has provided some great tips for the wise evaluation of news reporters & reports in the comments section of a recent post, found here:
copied from the amazing news aggregator WhatFinger.com
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When evaluating any report/reporter, I try to ask the following questions:
1. What is the source of the report (using statements like “speaking on condition of anonymity…” can be categorically classified as manipulative)?
2. Why is the reporter sharing this information and not another story (is this part of a broader narrative)?
3. Are there any flaws in the information (even a small flaw can disqualify the whole story)?
4. How did the reporter learn this information and why were they chosen by the source?
5. Does the reporter have documented history of dishonesty?
6. How is the reporter benefiting from transmitting this information?
7. What is the age and gender of the reporter (attractive younger female reporters are more likely to exchange sexual favors for high value information)?
8. Is the reporter transmitting secret or classified information (typically obtained via some illegal collection and makes them accessories to a crime)?
9. Does the reporter have an emotional attachment to the story?
10. Does the reporter have a pattern of reporting and promoting certain topics?
11. Does the reporter understand the low level details of his reports and can they explain them?
12. Is the reporter promoting an ideology?
13. Is the news organization promoting a narrative that is tied to its corporate interests
14. What did the reporter do before working for the current news outlet?
15. Is the reporter or his family benefiting financially or professionally from the report or source?
16. Who is in the reporter’s social network?
17. Is the reporter using third party experts to prop the story and who are these experts?
18. Is there a revolving door in the news organization where sources become contributors?
19. Is the reporter working for a ‘state’ news agency? (Al Jazeera, RT, the BBC, etc. reflect government propaganda and foreign policy objectives)?
20. Does the reporter have any known character flaws (i.e. committing sexual harassment or shielding another sexual harasser)?
21. Does the reporter have an unusual number of scoops and/or industry awards (could be an indication of some sort of a Mephistophelian contract)?
Once you take these and other questions into account, it’s easy to evaluate information processors like CNN, NYT, or Google and classify them as propaganda mills. You can also apply these same evaluation methods to independent sources like blogs.
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In general, (1) truth tends to be rich in detail, have a organic look and feel to it, and be supported by a variety of people and events, (2) made-up events on the other hand, tend to be more linear, syntactic, and feature a skeletal set of characters. The reason for this is that in case 1, the plot-line is generated by the universe, in case 2, the plot-line is generated by someone with a constrained imagination and resources.
I’m not sure what the long term solution to the news reliability problem is. I think that when it comes to the social media/internet platforms, we should either force them out of the news collation and classification business or regulate them as news outlets. They should be forced to choose one or the other. If they chose to become news outlets, and the likes of Google/FB continue to sensor search results, then they should be open to civil claims like civil rights violations, hate crimes, and discrimination. There is also no reason why entities like Google—which are a classic monopoly—shouldn’t be broken up to multiple business units.
As far as MSN, its little more complicated because of historical precedent, but considering the fact that they no longer report the news but manufacture it, opening them up to a corporate and personal liability claims could put them back on track. Either way, I think that we need to re evaluate the definition of freedom of the press and enact new laws regarding the use of protected sources and the ability to publish classified/illegally obtained information. If a news outlet can’t clear most of the questions in the list above, cite their source for the story, or use only legally obtained information, they shouldn’t publish the piece.
FYI, I copied his comment “as is” & added ellipses (…) when removing a couple portions not relevant to my post here.
This is great advice for any of us needing to evaluate information & news reports & reporters in the ongoing quest for truth…
This blogger has also done amazing work exposing a lot of the Deep State players & connections at one of his most important posts well worth reviewing here:
Well I mentioned to my family that I had 15 posts begun but unfinished on my blog (it turns out it was actually 13) & that lead to an ADHD discussion with other family members telling me that I Had ADHD. Now I’m one of just 2 of the 6 of our original family who has never been Officially diagnosed with ADHD so I declared that there was no proof of that condition!…Anyway I guess it’s time to finally finish up at least one of these potential posts & get it out there in cyberspace…so, if memory serves, here’s that Soup-sational stuff.
A few months back I had the fixings to make some soup but insufficient amounts for a decent pot by itself. So I got the bright idea to concoct a form of a soup base & then create two separate soups from it using some leftovers on hand & creative seasoning…
Soup Base
previously saved “potato water” from some mashed potatoes
large potato scrubbed & diced
large onion chopped medium
one rib of celery (it’s all I had) chopped
cloves of garlic smashed & chopped
It’s been a while & my memory is faulty, but I believe that I precooked the veggies in a bit of bacon grease then added the potato water that had already been seasoned with rosemary (which is the way my husband likes to do his mashed potatoes). When this was fully cooked I lightly seasoned the broth with garlic salt & fresh ground pepper. I divided this soup base in half & used it to make the two soups below.
Chicken Alfredo Soup
raw chicken breasts cubed & marinated in Italian Salad Dressing
leftover chicken alfredo–an amazing dinner my husband had previously made from scratch using butter, half & half, wine, garlic, & marinated chicken breasts
leftover pasta
half an onion diced
This/both soup(s) was primarily comprised of what was available to work with in our house at the time. The raw chicken had been pre-cut & seasoned since our daughter was working on healthy eating but now it needed to be cooked. I ended up frying up the chicken & onion in a slight amount of bacon grease & more Italian Salad Dressing. When this was lightly cooked & the onions softened I added in the soup base. If I’d had more celery I would have likely used two ribs & leaves here chopped…
An image from bing.com that looks better & different from my soup
This mixture was brought to a boil & the leftover chicken alfredo & pasta, all cut into reasonable bite sizes, was introduced into the pot. I believe that I also ended up adding the remainder of the half & half & the end of the bottle of wine. This was thoroughly heated & possibly a small can of mushroom pieces & juice was added to the pot. This was all then seasoned to taste with garlic salt, fresh ground pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme, & basil. I would also have added a little parsley it I could have found it. I think I also added a bit of a kickin’ chicken garlic parmesan seasoning & some parmesan cheese.
We served this over croutons & added (garlic) salt, pepper, & parmesan cheese to each of our bowls to taste. This was a Really Tasty Soup, largely due to my husband’s amazing alfredo sauce as a major ingredient. Also there was a goodly amount of chicken which mightily pleased the family carnivores!
Sauerkraut & Kielbasa Soup
sauerkraut & kielbasa leftovers
carrots
potato
onion
garlic
barbecue seasoning
barbecue sauce
Once again this was using up the leftovers from a potluck dish my husband had made for his work (he’d combined like a gallon of sauerkraut & 4 pounds of kielbasa). I cut up the kielbasa into smaller bite-size half circles & “triangles” & fried them along with potato, carrot, onion, & garlic in the pot then added the soup base. After everything was thoroughly heated I added the sauerkraut & juice (I’d used all the leftover meat but only about half of the kraut). When this was heated I added some homemade barbecue sauce & seasoning leftover from another dinner my husband created using his smoker. Finally this was seasoning adjusted with salt, pepper, ketchup, & further barbecue sauce both in the pot & individually in the bowl.
another bing.com image that loosely looks like my soup
S & K Soup, Version 2
There was still a decent amount of the sauerkraut leftover & the first version of the soup had been quite tasty…so we bought 2 pounds of kielbasa that I similarly cut up as above & fried along with some potato, carrots, onion, & tomatoes. To that well cooked concoction I added pasta water (saved from another meal) & the remaining sauerkraut & juice. Similar seasoning to above was used though I ended up using the rest of the homemade barbecue rub in the pot & rinsing the container into the stockpot to get the maximum flavor possible. I believe that was also the case with the homemade barbecue sauce where I added the remainder to the soup pot & rinsed out all the residue with water into the pot. We adjusted seasonings in our individual bowls & some of us added some ketchup (up to a tablespoon) to our bowls. Both versions of this S & K Soup were very tasty (& I’m no big fan of sauerkraut!)
still another bing.com image that somewhat resembles S & K Soup Version 2
So the bottom line is that in this instance I created two very different styles of soup using a fairly neutral soup base & then building up different culinary creations based on what leftovers & other fixings we had available at the time in our house. These actually even turned out better than expected & were eaten up quite quickly by the gang of savages that inhabit my particular domicile…So go for it & unleash those creative juices & find out just what’s cooking at home!
I just read an interesting discussion on the Q Tree that I wanted to retain & share on Special Connections…this is a link to the original discussion & so much more!!!
Sidebar (just for reflection or consideration, not derail or change the direction of discussion)
“This brings me to a final point. The disarming of modern Christianity…”
_________________
This raises a fundamental question.
Without a written record (e.g., the New Testament), how would anyone know how the Author of Christianity intended for Christianity to be followed and practiced?
This leads to a follow up question:
Has the New Testament — which contains the examples, commandments and pattern for Christianity — changed since it was written down? Yes there are minor discrepancies due to translation and other anomalies, but to my knowledge not even scholars who are critics claim any of those anomalies result in any conflict of doctrine, practice or belief.
If the New Testament has not changed since it was completed in the 1st century AD, and the New Testament contains the examples, commandments and pattern for Christianity — then what difference could there be, between 1st century Christianity and ‘modern’ Christianity?
Or to ask it another way, WHAT practice or doctrine or belief found in the New Testament and practiced by Christians in the 1st century is notalso applicable today?
And if we do anything today that was not practiced in the 1st century and recorded in the New Testament, then by what AUTHORITY do we do that thing?
By the power and decree of Toby?
Was it Toby’s idea?
Is Toby in charge?
Are we going to be judged by the word of Toby?
Or by the Word of God?
Has the Word of God changed since it was written down?
Has God indicated that He has changed His mind about anything, or added anything, or subtracted anything, since the New Testament was completed?
If the answer to that question is ‘No’, then how can ‘modern’ Christianity be even the slightest bit different than 1st century Christianity?
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[The reason the question is relevant to this discussion is because the closer we adhere to what the Scriptures actually say / authorize / approve by command / example / necessary inference, the LESS likely we are to be deceived or led astray into false doctrines by wolves in sheep’s clothing.]
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This is profound.
A. This is a great point.
B. This is why we are constantly “going back to the beginning” to try to re-understand Christianity in today’s context.
C. This is why it’s useful to think of Christianity in its origin as a school of Jewish thought, just like the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Baptists (John’s movement), Samaritans, etc.
D. This is why I sometimes describe my outlook as proto-Christian (I prefer to go back all the way – to when Christ was WALKING and TEACHING and JEWS but more and more GENTILES were his audience.
Now, this gets into a BIG DEAL where I see the arguments of all sides having some validity.
On the one hand, you have the “red-letter Christians” who say we should only REALLY pay attention to Christ’s own words and directly paraphrased parables, as recorded in the Gospels, with the other, apostolic works (which are mostly Paul) being treated as essentially the Talmud of Christ.
But at the same time, we realize that Christ understood that a CHURCH would arise AFTER he was gone, and he left explicit instructions for GROWTH.
That is why your idea of TIMING of “First Century” is probably about right, IMO. I tend to agree that everything after that may be fundamental to the CHURCH, but it is still FLOORBOARDS that can be ripped up if need be, for example after MAJOR FLOODING or FIRE. But such serious renovation cannot really take place without a LOT of discussion within the ENTIRE congregation. Major renovation has its risks, too. Sky-garden “Church of Gaia” plans for Notre Dame come to mind!!! LOL!!! NO THANKS!!! But making things look OLD AGAIN (Retro-Christianity?) has some appeal!
It is amazing that you found and linked that website.
More than 10 years ago, when I was searching to find if there was any church today that practiced New Testament Christianity simply as it is written and authorized in Scripture — not more, and not less — that is the first Christian website I found, in which I could not find anything to trip them up, or anything which was taught, that was not according to what the Scriptures actually say and teach.
And it took a long time to find it. There are THOUSANDS of websites which self-identify as Christian. Probably tens of thousands. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. A BIG haystack.
I saved it / bookmarked it (that particular website is in Canada), and kept searching. About a month later, I stumbled across another website (this one is in America) which is completely different, but which taught the same things, on every subject that was covered by both websites: http://www.gospelway.com/
It turns out that both websites are owned/managed by members of the same worldwide church, which is not to say they are related by any human governing body, but autonomous, independent congregations without any umbrella Authority organization, just as the congregations at Corinth, Ephesus, Loadicea, Thessalonica, etc.
Each congregation’s sole Authority is the Scripture, and there are independent or autonomous congregations of this church all over the world, in fellowship with one another, but with no congregation having any authority over any other. Decentralized, organized according to Scriptural example, with the governing power and authority being God’s Word, and only God’s Word, for each congregation.
It is the second website link above which I eventually contacted, and who in turn put me in contact with a faithful congregation near where I lived, which is where I was later baptized and have been a member since.
If anyone has a Bible question and is looking for a Bible answer, I would recommend either of those two websites. 👍
I should probably mention that I have not spent a lot of time on either website in recent years, as once I identified the church itself I could easily find lots of other websites managed by members of other mostly small, autonomous congregations of the same worldwide church.
I have no reason to think either of them are not still faithfully teaching and practicing according to Scripture, but as they would say and encourage themselves, check everything they might say against God’s Word to see for yourself whether those things are so (cf. Acts 17:11). And they make it easy to do so, providing the Scripture references, and often the verses themselves.
It may be hard to internalize or remember at first, but try to bear in mind that these websites are run by individuals, there really is no ‘synod’ or ‘board’ or ‘president’ or governing Authority behind these websites or over the congregations of the members who are responsible for these websites, and this is in stark contrast to most churches.
The men who run these websites don’t speak ‘for the church’ because that’s not how it works, any more than I speak for the Lord’s church when I discuss Christian subjects. God’s Word speaks for the church. God’s Word is the Authority. As such, each website will somewhat reflect the personality of the man who maintains it, but the teaching should be the same, whenever it comes to doctrine, practice or belief. What these men are doing is pointing out what God’s Word says about different subjects, with extensive Scripture references to back it up.
Where they might be different is, as I recall, the website Wolf linked goes more into history, and pointing out conflicts between various churches (denominational, Protestant, Roman Catholic, non-denominational, etc.) and reflects that particular member’s views on various subjects, which is certainly his right, and I may agree or disagree with some of his views — but what is Authoritative is the Scriptures, which he references extensively.
The history is also fascinating, but I remember that he is very blunt in his assessments, which may be off-putting to some. That’s his style, and everyone has their own style, and the style of the man who manages the second website is maybe a little less aggressive, which may be preferable to some, but where it comes to actual doctrine or practice, they should both be teaching the same and referencing largely the same Scriptures.
I could post links to many other independent congregations of this same church, and each one reflects the style of the individual who runs the website, they are all going by the same Authority and teaching the same doctrines and practices, all cross-referenced to the same Scriptures.
I hope that makes sense. It’s not complicated, and I might be making it more complicated than it is.
Please ignore any strange numbering or margins above as they occurred when I removed some of the intervening comments to keep my post focused on what I perceive to be the meat of the Q Tree discussion….Blessings to All!!!
LOL!!! NO THANKS!!! But making things look OLD AGAIN (Retro-Christianity?) has some appeal!
The Journey
A man looked at our country and saw the dark days;
Liberty and justice all gone by the ways.
Our spirit was smothered, our faith was put down,
Our families suffered as the jobs left our towns.
He knew hope remained, but soon would be gone.
He knew he could help; a task he’d take on.
“Our country’s been good to me. I’ll answer this call.
I’ll stand in the gap and then rebuild the wall.”
He’d leave what he knew and set himself to the chore
To restore our great country and do even more.
He’d give of himself and not for power or fame,
But all for our country, and our country’s name.
He left his happy home, his child and his wife,
To travel fate’s path and fix our country’s strife.
As the Traveler strode down his path of fate,
He came to a long wall and in it, two gates.
A Gatekeeper stood, in a cobblestone yard,
His visage was grim and he was lean and hard.
The Traveler spoke, “I’ve come a long way.”
“Can you tell me which gate I’m to use today?”
The Gatekeeper said in a gruff, gravelly voice,
“It’s your destination, so it must be your choice.”
“But there are two gates,” the Traveler said,
“I can’t see the road, or what lies ahead.”
The Gatekeeper said, “I can show you the road,”
“But the choice will be yours, which way to go.”
The first gate was grand, it was tall and wide;
Set with gems and gold, a monument to pride.
An inscription above, not just one, but two,
“Enter ye worthy men.” and “To thyself be true.”
The Gatekeeper said, “Come over and see.”
“This way is beautiful. I think you’ll agree.”
The Traveler approached and looked down the way
At trees, a brook, and a long green fairway.
A broad, smooth road wound lazily away,
And a breeze, puffy clouds, made a beautiful day.
He saw on tables, placed all along the road,
A huge feast was spread, a sight to behold.
The men dressed richly, women gaily, with frills.
As they laughed and strolled toward the low hills;
A place to indulge, revel in all delights,
Along this road ‘til it wound out of sight.
He wasn’t quite sure, but thought he could hear
Soft music playing and beckoning “Walk here.”
The Gatekeeper spoke, with his words still gruff,
“You’ve seen what you need. You’ve seen enough.”
“Come over this way, come over and see,”
“Have a look where this other gate will lead.”
The Traveler came near and peered close to look
At a small narrow gate in a dull, dirty nook.
This second gate was drab and stood quite low.
He must stoop way down before he could go.
Above the small door, a few words were spread;
“The last will be first.” was all that it said.
The Traveler bent down and peered through the door
At a few dying bushes, dirty weeds, little more.
The path was narrow with holes, mud and rocks,
Further on, withered bushes with broken off tops.
A few groups here and there, forgotten, alone,
Wearing patched clothes, having nothing of their own.
The scene was so bleak and the sky was so gray,
Yet a soft voice of hope whispered through the dismay.
Three men wearily marched with two drums and a fife,
One limping, two bandaged, barely clinging to life.
Another came by, bloody uniform in rags,
Cradling gently in his arms a muddy, torn flag.
He was helped by two women; one’s torch lit the way.
Another, blind, held scales; they trudged slowly away.
A small family appeared, starving, almost dead,
But a man shared his meal, two small fish, some bread.
Near a small cross on a low muddy hill,
A few people knelt, closely huddled with chill.
All were so weary, some rested, some prayed;
There were a few children, but none of them played.
Then the Traveler spoke, “It’s this way I’ll go.”
“The small gate’s the way. I can help, I know.”
The Traveler passed through and looked all around.
The Gatekeeper watched, but didn’t make a sound.
The Traveler reached out, took the hand of a child.
The Gatekeeper stood up, and then slowly he smiled.