Benjamin

@TheresaArueyin1 I read my Bible! I have to admit though, Leviticus was ROUGH this year. Normally I read the Bible in a year. This year I decided to read the NT for enjoyment, the Psalms daily and the OT as in-depth study. I loved the study of Genesis and Exodus, but Leviticus was a lot.

Christian to Christian… Do you actually read your Bible… or just rely on sermons?

@iamlena___ ...now THAT is worth pausing for.

Everyone pause!!!!!! My 4 year old autistic son just called me mommy for the first time and I am losing my mind🥹

@rootcausesleuth He's already authorised it. All of it. Even the stuff you 'make in your heart'. He gives us a new song to sing. We should sing it.

@Benjamin_01X And, your point?

Shocking and unbelievable

@rootcausesleuth Brave and stunning!

So if the athleticism *ISN'T* gone, what's the reason for him making the Lakers materially worse for 2/3 of the season on both offense and defense? Side note: "he's 41, bro" is a perfectly acceptable answer. This is what happens to athletes at this age - sometimes you can fly, other times you plant your feet and the lift just isn't there.

The athleticism is gone.

@1984_nate 'decree'. 'Prescriptive will'. ...as if these things are present in the text...

As if anything can go against the decree. This is called a distinction without any real difference. Most Calvinists have already been duped and are a lost cause but for those still on the fence, see it for what it is, unbiblical nonsense.

Yep. Could have seen that coming. I have an explicit set of instructions for all my AI tools to prevent this type of thing. It helps greatly: "Text first. Treat the passage as the controlling authority. Do not let later theology, confessions, doctrinal systems, or familiar debates determine meaning unless explicitly asked. Tier every claim: - Explicit: the text states it. - Contextual inference: drawn from immediate literary, grammatical, rhetorical, and discourse context. - Framework import: later theology, tradition, harmonization, or cross-canonical synthesis. Never present a lower tier as a higher one. Genre sensitivity: let literary form govern interpretation. Do not flatten poetry, narrative, epistle, prophecy, apocalyptic, law, or parable into the same discourse. Do not treat description as prescription or imagery as literal unless the text requires it. Semantic precision: do not say "X means Y" unless the text or immediate context warrants it. Where meaning is disputed, note the main viable options, then justify narrowing from usage, syntax, and discourse. Define loaded terms locally. Keep grace, faith, salvation, justification, election, predestination, atonement, and similar terms scoped to what the passage itself says. Keep distinct concepts distinct unless the text links them. Do not replace a passage's stated category with a broader doctrinal label unless the text does so. Do not import controlling meanings from other passages unless the local text signals the link or the user asks for synthesis. Distinguish primary text, background, Second Temple material, patristics, and systematics. Later sources may illuminate reception, not determine meaning. If wording matters, say whether it is in the source text or introduced by translation. If a concept is absent, say so. Use calibrated verbs: "states" for explicit, "suggests" for inference, "in tradition X" for framework import. Never use "clearly" or "obviously." If challenged, identify the breach, acknowledge any tier shift, and restate the claim at the correct tier."

I asked Grok why the two answers were different and it basically said, "When Mr. Berean asked it, I answered it using inferences not explicitly stated in scripture but synthesized from later Reformed views." Whoops.

@IndieGameJoe Okay, but why does it look like it was made in 1997?

BREAKING: An indie studio is making a "Jesus Simulator" game that retells the earthly life of Jesus Christ. - Narrative Visual Novel Experience - Key Gospel Events - Multiple Perspectives Called Jesus Simulator

@DoctrinalPossum I'm not sure why you expected to get sense from someone who capitalises the first letter of every word in their communication with you...

"Now the Bereans were more noble, in that they searched Grok and their confessions daily, to see if these things were so."

@usuallypregnant I had my first at 20. Wouldn't change anything.

Is waiting until your 30s a mistake?

@Toneskeee ...sorry. That was meant to say 'depravity' in the last sentence! I can't edit and fix my typo, which is super annoying.

I understand. I think Westminster overstates this markedly. It infuses total depravity into a context that never deals with it (Gensis 3 doesn't make that claim) and suggests a degree of separation that actually isn't present in the text. If you read Genesis 3-5 you find that Adam and his descendants didn't actually depart from Eden - they stayed outside its gates (tragically, I think). In Genesis 4, Cain (having killed Abel) is terrified of being driven away from God's face - so there's specific locality not just inferred, but explicitly stated - and verse 16 says that Cain "went out from the presence of the Lord". Adam's separation from God wasn't full and final in the way that Westminster claims it was. The denial was access to the garden (and thus the tree); God immediately began to regulate access to His presence in a different way, which is why Cain and Abel even know what sacrificing is in the first place (and why it's necessary). It's subtle here, textually (and I have to be careful not to overstate this too), but Abel approaches God in what seems to be a way that God has clearly already declared (with blood: a gift of the firstborn, with fat portions - remarkable, given that this is pre-Sinai), while Cain's offering is stark in contrast: "from the fruit of the ground". That doesn't mean that we're viewing a contrast between atonement and firstfruits here (we don't have that kind of access regulation established until Sinai), but I think what we CAN say textually is that Abel's sacrifice was costly, where Cain's wasn't - at least, not in the same sense. God clearly looks on the two men, their disposition and the quality of their offerings, and finds Abel's succifient to permit approach. Cain's isn't. Ultimately though I think one thing is very clear in Genesis 4: God is still present... ...and a desire to be close to God is evident in both locality (remaining near Eden) and orientation (longing to be near Him and not be driven from His presence). The confession neglects this and goes far, far further in stating severance and depravicy in ways the text doesn't.

Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?

@KeruboSk I get up at 6am for work. I often wake up at 5:55. I don't know how or why. Sometimes I wake up at 6am deeply resentful, too... so I don't really know what the heck is going on.

Apparently there are people who wake up before their alarm… and just get up. Just one alarm. No snooze. No struggle. Explain yourselves. How do you do that?

@Iokionioki @YesboxStudios That would be AWESOME. City builder. Flip a switch... SYNDICATE.

@YesboxStudios All it needs is this

It's 11:00 PM, Saturday night. The moon is obscured by the clouds.

It's a difficult thing to unwind. I ran child care centres for two decades and had many male staff work for me - in a female-dominated industry that was genuinely unusual. But it's hard sell - particularly in early childhood settings - when everyone is always on the lookout for child predators. Rightfully so in some senses (we live in a broken world), but why would any young man want to enter an industry where people will question his motives?

I believe more male teachers could help fix so many problems… We need more male teachers! How can we do this?

@oldyzach The Settlers was such a brilliant game. I'd love to see a remake of the first one without all the additions from the later ones.

Let's take it down a notch. Green has a calming effect 🎶

@apeoples13 I did this. We've been married for nearly 20 years.

Just had a guy that I’ve known for 2 weeks tell me he’s in love with me… like what 😭 Men… please don’t do this lol