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The Catholic church is divided over a silly argument whether the Spirit emanates, or is sent out by the Father, or by the Father and the Son. The doctrine is not of sufficient import that is should negate the love of true brethren. The schism should be particularly embarrassing because it is easily resolved in the first verse of Jonah.

Fasting is an exercise in recognizing the sinfulness of sin. You attempt to control the flesh, but you always give in. We cry with Paul, "Who can save me from this body of [sin [and ] death]"<ref>Ro 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?</ref>.

The world did not fall and God did not lose control of his creation to a devil when Adam fell. We live in a perfect world by God's estimation, but we live in the isolation ward of crazy people who think they are God. It is a perfect isolation ward. He said that he would give us what we want and permit us to wallow in the consequences. <ref>Ro 1:18ff</ref> We wish to be gods. The consequences are pain, suffering and death. And this is good! We have two schoolmasters to bring us back to God. The law leads our mind and spirit to Christ, since there is shadow in the law which speaks of the 'good things coming' <ref>Heb 10:1 ¶ For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.</ref>.

He said that he would give us what we want and permit us to wallow in the consequences. <ref>Ro 1:18ff</ref> We wish to be gods. The consequences are pain, suffering and death. And this is good! We have two schoolmasters to bring us back to God. The law leads our mind and spirit to Christ, since there is shadow in the law which speaks of the 'good things coming' <ref>Heb 10.:1</ref>. Suffering is the schoolmaster that leads the flesh to repentance. In the midst of suffering, no one ever said, "This is the way it should be." They cry out that their suffering is wrong, and that it should not be that way. In doing so, they acknowledge that there is way it should be, and it is not their way; they have no control. Suffering forces us to acknowledge that we are not gods<ref>Ro 14:11 For it is written, [As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.</ref>.

This is God' purpose for suffering in this world. When we suffer and we have acknowledged God as God, as we continue to suffer (for in this world there will be tribulation), we glorify him and give him thanks in the midst of it that he is in control, leading the world back to himself. If if we were to demand that we not suffer, we would be demanding that God get rid of all suffering. That ; that he would end the world prematurely, before every last soul came to Christ that will. The souls under the altar crying out for vengeance in Revelation <ref>Re 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?</ref> are not Christian saints! They are Old Testament saints. The Christian saint is willing to suffer a bit longer so that Christ may receive his full harvest. The Christian saint prays for God's mercy on his enemies. The Christian saint is willing to die so that one not assured of salvation may live for another opportunity to bow to Christ.

If Christ sets up and tears down kings, having ALL authority <ref>Mt 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.</ref>, isn't the government upon his shoulders now? <ref> Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.</ref> There is no devil to stand in his way<ref>Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.</ref>. There is no need for a future time when the government will be placed upon his shoulders. The need isn't for Christ to clean up the world, but to let the consequences of sin drive men to their knees in submission to him. He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords and God of Gods. This is his world.

Salvation is of the Lord. Discussions of who is saved and who is lost are inappropriate since we do not know the state of a person in God's eyes<ref>Joh 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.</ref>. No one I have ever met who asked "What about the person in deepest darkest Africa, who has never heard?" has cared about the person in deepest darkest Africa or they would be on their way to tell them about Christ. Such arguments are excuses to not believe and be saved.

The Greek word for church is ''ekklesia'' which means 'called out'. The church is made up of those who are called out of the world, not those who are called into a building. This means that there may be people in the building who are not really the church. We don't fret it. Where would you rather have them be, than learning the word of God. There are two mechanisms to remove people from the local church. One is to be used only for the one who is teaching others to sin either by their words or by their unrepentant grievous and public sin<ref>Mt 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and [that] he were drowned in the depth of the sea.</ref>. The other is used by the Spirit to drive away those who were not of us <ref>1Jo 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with us: but [they went out], that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.</ref>.

The doctrine of Balaam would compromise the church teaching that with the lifestyle of the world change is through or the power of politics. God changes the world through the teaching of Christ. Western political ideas have no place in the global gospel. A Christian is able to live, without compromise, under dictators, Communist rule, and worst of all, individual freedom, where every man does what is right in his own eyes <ref>Jud 17:6 In those days [there was] no king in Israel, [but] every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.</ref> <ref>Pr 12:15 ¶ The way of a fool [is] right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel [is] wise.</ref>. The church is not a social change instrument. It changes society by changing hearts. In the US, the government is of the people, which means we are the designated source of authority, and it is wise to take political participation seriously as individuals.

When God "hated" Esau<ref>Ro 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.</ref>, it was not an animosity. He moved him from the first son, to the second son position, giving Jacob preeminence.

When David sinned by stealing a man's wife and having him murdered<ref>2sa 11</ref>, he repented saying "Against you alone have I sinned, Oh Lord" <ref>Ps 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, [and] be clear when thou judgest.</ref>. He did not sin against the man or his wife, but against God, because the man and his wife belonged to God.

When you your cheek is struck, you interpret it as an accident and there is no offense<ref>Mt 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.</ref>. You have absorbed the sin. When you give the item stolen to the thief, you have absorbed his sin. There is no theft when it is a gift. This is the love Christ demonstrated. Prior to the Wedding at Cana<ref>Joh 2:1 ¶ And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:</ref>, he was not sure if he would give judgement (and rightly so as God incarnate) or grace to man<ref>Joh 2:4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.</ref>. He chose then to give grace. So at the cross he says "Forgive them, they know not what they do." <ref>Lu 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.</ref> He was not talking about the Romans who had driven the nails, but of us, his bride , who was deceived by the flesh. He absorbed our sin by not taking offense.

:aleph א - God spoke and created the heavens and the earth.:bet ב - He revealed to man:gimel ג - That he pursued them:halet dalet ד - with a command:he ה - which they did not understand:vav ו - but it distinguished them:zayin ז - as the bride:chet ח - when they did understand it:tet ט - through a marriage:yod י - they became a new creation:kaf כ - The Son of God:lamed ל - taught how the cross was:mem מ - the promise of the Father:nun נ - The Son of Man:samech ס - fulfilled the promise.:ayin ע - He was full of grace and holy in the flesh.:pe פ - He spoke in prophecy, parables, and riddles.:tsadi צ - Holiness and grace were reconciled on the cross and passed to man.:qof ק - The Son of God died:resh ר - revealing:shin ש - that his word did not return void:tov ת - the revelation resulted in a new life responding to God:final kaf ך - the Son of God died:final mem ם - finishing the works of God. :final nun ן - The Son of Man died:final pe ף - Prophecy was fulfilled:final tsadi ץ - Judgement was ended