Benjamin

@JZivanDesign @thdxr So they should be. Love the enclosure, too. Your chickens are going to be thrilled.

@Benjamin_01X @thdxr Well, if you win the wrong lottery, I apologize. Chicken pot pies are one of my favorite things.

please i'm begging you show me something you built not another "this is my custom agent setup" post where you pretend you're doing something smarter than vanilla claude code please

Yep, exactly. I actually think the fauna of heaven is likely as diverse as that on earth. ...we just have no need to know about most of it. We have the Ophanim (wheels) covered in eyes in Ezekiel, weird locust things in Revelation 9, the horses and chariots in 2 Kings 6 and elsewhere, and so on... brief glimpses into a far fuller heavenly ecosystem, I suspect.

@Benjamin_01X And!!! Angels are ministers! Titles not beings!

This is one I’ve never heard!! 👀 “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”” Jude 1:9 ESV

@WonderWomaNinja oh, right. Yeah, we don't have those in Australia. Chevy weren't a thing here until the 2010s, unless you imported them.

I just had my fingers shut in a hinge and I’m ashamed at how loudly I screamed. 🫣 one feels broken tho so there’s that.

...you mean like the Scriptures do, in literally all of these places? Isaiah 53:6 John 1:29 Romans 5:18 2 Corinthians 5:14 2 Corinthians 5:15 1 Timothy 2:6 1 Timothy 4:10 Titus 2:11 Hebrews 2:9 1 John 2:2 You can say that Christ died for His sheep. This is true. But it's not the ONLY statement about who Christ died for. We can't just read one and ignore all the others. Did Christ die for His sheep? Yes. Did Christ die for all? Yes. Both can be (and are) true, and Scripture asserts both.

@1984_nate Actually I would say many does limit it. Otherwise he would just go ahead and say all.

Limited atonement is a doctrine in search of a text.

I've built a bunch of things - a couple of apps and some really super useful extensions for Chrome. My favourite? One of my Chrome extensions takes the data from an app I use daily, and instead of being forced to click into every individual entry and approve/reject/add comments, that data is now surfaced at the list level, so I can action everything without having to go multiple clicks deep in the app. REALLY simple, but it literally saves me hours every week (it's a risk & compliance app I use daily).

@JZivanDesign @thdxr

@thdxr I built this 2800 square foot chicken run

@WonderWomaNinja yeah, might have a bit of a cultural gap here. *a* malibu? I know of the drink, and of the place... Not sure you can really have your fingers in either of them in a way that would be problematic!

@Benjamin_01X Oh my lands sakes 🤯. I had my fingers in a Malibu once. Didn’t lose them.

look it up :P A few things that may or may not blow your brain: 1) no angel in the Bible is ever described as having wings 2) cherubim and seraphim are never called angels (and are instead called "living creatures") 3) angels always seem to appear as men and are often mistaken for them 4) Michael is the only archangel; 5) Michael and Gabriel are the only *named* angels

@Benjamin_01X Wally what?!! Gabriel isn’t an archangel??

Love the reply, thank you - it's thoughtful, and in some senses compelling - but let me break it down. I'll start with the initial questions: 1) am I saying I no longer sin or am tempted to? No. I'm not, and Scripture doesn't allow for that. But what it does allow for (and demand) is a change in *identification*. The believer is dead to sin - and our life is in Christ. That separation has already taken place - it doesn't happen at a later stage or process. So our constant challenge here in this life is to recognise and live in identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus as our own identity. This is (and let's not derail here, but it matters) what the eucharist is actually about. It's not mere memorial, but it's also not about a transubstantive process either; it's covenant association and confirmation ("this is His body; this is His blood... this is where I live and He is the one I identify with"). 2) am I saying that at death we are changed in an instant? No - I'm not saying that, and neither is Paul. The 1 Corinthians 15 context is the change of the body at the coming of Christ. For some, that demands a resurrection; for others, a rapture (set aside the 'left behind' implications of that term, let's stay Biblical). The point in referring to 1 Corinthians 15, however, is to show that Scripture doesn't describe believers as requiring a painful process of sanctification while awaiting resurrection. Let's pair those things together. You now say - rightly so - that believers continue to experience temptation and moral weakness. That's true. You also rightly point to "complete restoration" - which aligns with Scripture ("when we see Him, we shall be made like Him, for we shall see Him as He is"). What I disagree with is the extra step you take past this point. You bring this idea that even forgiven sin leaves "temporal punishment" to be accounted for; punishment that is '"restorative" but must exist because "forgiveness does not negate justice". I want to separate two things here, because in one sense you're absolutely right, but in another I think you're going beyond the Biblical text. 1) yes. Sin still has effects, even when forgiven. I think that's fairly clear to us both so I won't press into that -but you step further: 2) Because sin still has effects, there remains a post-death liability that only divine temporal punishment can satisfy - if we are to enter heaven. I note you haven't given Scripture to support #2. Let's take your quoted Revelation 21:27 passage. We're discussing the New Jerusalem: "...nothing unclean will enter it". I accept this. I argue the mechanism for that cleanliness is the adoption of the believer into the likeness of Christ at His coming - that God presents His children as faultless through miraculous resurrection and redemption. Ephesians argues this strongly (the spotless presentation of the Church as a result of Christ's sanctifying work, not temporal punishment nor our own effort). You say: "we will face the full reality of the harm we have caused. Everything will come into the light". This isn't disputed. There remains a judgment for the people of God; that judgment is shown throughout the Scriptures, and in fact you appealed to it earlier in 1 Corinthians 3. ...but what that doesn't demand, and what the text doesn't supply, is that next step again: that "therefore, the saved person must undergo therapeutic suffering after death". I actually really like your surgeon analogy - I think it's a great way to express your view. And I can see why the Catholic system regards this type of "therapeutic suffering" as necessary. But what I don't see is anywhere in Scripture where that specific mechanism is supplied as the resolution to the 'problem' you correctly identify. Rather, it supplies a single solution to it: Christ.

Thank you for your reply. Am I understanding it correctly, when you are redeemed as you say, don’t you still sin and tempted to sin? Are you saying at our death we are changed in an instant with a glorified body? I suppose I’m missing where the temporal affects are dealt with? I see purgatory as necessary its our: 1. Our final sanctification so we may enter heaven, as nothing unclean enters (Rev 21:27). 2. Perfect justice will be applied, dealing with the temporal effects of our sin. While we are forgiven from the eternal consequences of our sin, we still have temporal effects. We will face the full reality of the harm we have caused. Everything will come into the light. Nothing is simply ignored or erased. In fact, to pretend as if the hurt we have experienced or made others experience never mattered goes against the very character of God. In the new creation, every wrong is set right. Completely addressed and healed, not swept under the rug. And our complete restoration will come, whether in this life through repentance, penance, and restitution, or post death through purification. No one escapes the reality of what their sins have done, even when they are forgiven. Forgiveness does not negate justice. But more than a retributive justice, it is restorative. Think of a surgeon cutting away the diseased tissue of vital organ. The organ is good, but to allow the disease to remain unchecked would kill the patient. It’s painful, but necessary and good. Hurts must be healed. And yes, the treatment sometimes stings.

Respectfully Lizzie, there is quite a bit to back up the doctrine of post death purification. As a Protestant I believed in it. Logic requires it. But, since I know you appreciate scripture I will supply that. It's important to remember that purgatory is the process, not a place. It is not a second chance. It is only for those justified, or "saved". It's our final sanctification, a final mercy to be removed from the sin we remain attached to. Without it, we would drag into Heaven the sins we hang on to now. And the Bible is clear that nothing impure will enter heaven (Revelation 21:27), and although we are saved by Christ’s work on the cross, many believers still die with attachments to sin. Logically, if we are sinning or attached to sin at our last breath, and we wake in Heaven without those sins and attachment to sins, something must have changed. Catholics just give it a name. In 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, Paul speaks of this purification process after death. He says that a person’s works will be tested by fire, and even if their works are burned up, they themselves will be saved, but only as through fire. This is not a punishment but a purification. The fire is not to destroy but to refine, removing what is unworthy of entering the presence of God. We see this kind of cleansing in Isaiah 6:6-7. Isaiah cries out that he is a man of unclean lips. Then a seraphim takes a live coal from the altar, touches his mouth with it, and says, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” It’s a purifying fire that makes him ready for God’s presence. Jesus Himself speaks of purification after death in Matthew 12:32, where He says there are sins that can be forgiven in the “age to come.” This suggests that there is room for further purification after life on earth. In 2 Maccabees 12:38-46. Judas Maccabeus prays for the souls of fallen soldiers who had sinned by wearing pagan amulets. If your prayers can’t help those in Hell, and those in Heaven don’t need them, where are the prayers going? This is seen as an act of intercession, suggesting that there is a state after death where souls can benefit from the prayers of the living. We also see God’s pattern of purifying His people like a refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:2-3; Zechariah 13:9). And Philippians 1:6 promises that He who began a good work in you “will carry it on to completion.” If that completion isn’t fully done by death, it makes sense God finishes it in His mercy before we enter His perfect presence. Historically, the early Church Fathers, including Tertullian, Origen, and Augustine, all spoke of the purification of souls after death, often in the form of prayers for the departed. Ancient Christian tombs are covered in inscriptions like “Pray for us, holy martyr,” or “Peter, remember us,” showing that early Christians believed in prayer for those who had died.

@MaeOfFable just one?

@Benjamin_01X You found one!!!!

I had planned to comment to this post with that old GIF of Megan Follows, as Anne Shirley, walking through the woods reciting Tennyson. X is only showing me 'Anne with an E' and 'Anne Green of Gables' and not the REAL DEAL-that is the flawless 1985 miniseries 🇨🇦 classic. 🫩

@MaeOfFable Let's be clear here. Megan Follows is the only permissible Anne with an E.

@DavidFischer In moderation? Of course. Personally, I don't drink. When I was 15 I read the words "always be ready to give an answer..." It's very difficult to do that when you've been drinking - so I chose not to.

Question for Christians: Can Christians drink alcohol in moderation? A. Yes, the Bible doesn’t forbid it B. No, total abstinence is safest C. Yes, but never around weaker brothers D. I’m personally convicted against it E. Depends on the reason

I'd love to answer this if you're happy to squeeze me into the conversation. You say this: 'purgatory is the process, not a place. It is not a second chance. It is only for those justified, or "saved". It's our final sanctification, a final mercy to be removed from the sin we remain attached to. Without it, we would drag into Heaven the sins we hang on to now. And the Bible is clear that nothing impure will enter heaven (Revelation 21:27), and although we are saved by Christ’s work on the cross, many believers still die with attachments to sin.' The question ("if not post-death purification, then what?" - I won't repeat the whole thing here, but rest assured I've read it) is a good question. The answer to the question is actually very clear in Scripture, and perhaps the simplest single-passage answers is in 1 Corinthians 15 (I'm going to quote verses 50-54, but the whole chapter matters): "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”" Ultimately your question isn't "if not post-death purificaiton, then what?", but the thing that comes before that: "how can we - when even after having come to faith in Christ, we feel the sting and presence of sin in our bodies - be "presented faultless before the presence of His glory" (Jude 1:25) unless further purification (or at least the removal of attachment) takes place? I'd suggest that Paul has already supplied an important element of the answer here. Our final condition (of total purity) is produced by resurrection transformation, not by temporal refinement post-death. Importantly (and lots of us miss this - Protestants, too), Romans 8 says that the Spirit Himself can "give life to our mortal bodies". See, the transformation of 1 Corinthians 15 isn't the destruction of a sinful thing, it's the *redemption* of it. This redemption is actually what the Bible calls "adoption" - and Romans 8 deals with it in language actually quite similar to your question. "Not only that, but we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body." This is God's plan: ...not that we should need further physical or temporal sanctification in this body after death, but that we should put off the old self in sanctification here in this life, and - in the final culmination of that same process - God Himself willput on us a new body, made in the likeness of Christ, at His coming (in the adoption). Because you're absolutely right: this flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but our sin is paid for, dealt with and nailed to the cross of Christ. Our redemption comes not in a final temporal punishment for sin, but the once, for all, forever work of Christ, which has its culmination in the day that we see Him face-to-face, made new, with bodies like His.

Please answer the question Lizzie. It’s a good question. but what is finished? That’s an important question. The answer is the passover. He was the Passover lamb. Pretty unrelated to my question actually. If you are going to answer in good faith, I’d appreciate it. unfortunately, it seems everyone is unwilling to answer- much like my Protestant pastor.

@farmingandJesus I literally had this conversation with my wife two nights ago. Who would have thought that movie would end up being profound, let alone prophetic...

Have you guys seem the movie called idiocracy? Social media was a mistake I think.

@WonderWomaNinja @ImJimR87 I have really selective memory loss. I'm completely rubbish at remembering stuff from my own life, but I can remember chunks of Scripture and random NBA players' stats from 1995-6 without issue.

@Benjamin_01X @ImJimR87 Benjamin, I have every term memory loss

Bro asking way too many questions. I heard @ImJimR87 in my head saying ‘block’. And if you see this post, Jerome… it ain’t NUNYABIDDNESS WHY OR WHEN OR WHERE OR WHO I GO SEE.

@WonderWomaNinja @ImJimR87 I was referring to the occasion on which you were selling stuff and men kept asking to buy your boots...

@WonderWomaNinja @ImJimR87 short term memory loss, eh?