The business of making health care a privilege for the well off in the United States is messy and confusing. One of our members just explained what Trump did (and didn't do) today, Friday, October 13, 2017.

"This order doesn't even impact unsubsidized premiums directly at all. He is threatening to end subsidies paid to insurance companies to help them comply with their obligation to reduce your out-of-pocket costs.

Insurance companies are required by law to reduce the deductibles and coinsurance payments for low income people (essentially anyone who is eligible for reduced premiums is also eligible for reduced cost sharing). They are still required to do so, even if they do not receive the subsidies Trump is threatening to cut off.

You will still receive the individual ACA subsidy. You will still get the cost sharing reduction on deductibles and coinsurance. Just like you don't pay $1202 now, you won't pay the $1330 in 2018. Your premium subsidies are safe (for now). Your reduced out-of-pocket cap and reduced coinsurance and deductibles are safe (for now).

The indirect impact, though, is that the insurance company can't create money out of thin air. Because it is obligated by law to give you a break, it has to find that money somewhere. The only option is to increase premiums (or leave the market). Many insurance companies increased their rates in anticipation that Trump would carry out his threat, so because of how late he issued the order, there is not likely to be much additional impact this year.

Hope that helps. None of the articles I've run across are explaining it clearly." 

Having done this for almost 9 years now once in a while we come up with something worth preserving here on the blog. Today was one of those days. It's related to things we hear daily from conservative "Christian" trolls.

Conservative "Christian" trolls frequently tell us "There is no such thing as The Christian Left."  That's silly of course and truth be told we're not sure if there's any such thing as a right-wing "Christian." We have a really hard time reconciling right-wing ideology and the words spoken by Jesus.

Another thing they like to harass us about daily is that we discuss politics here. In fact this is a page where Christian progressives (and their allies) can freely discuss political and cultural issues of the day without being harassed. It's a haven and we protect it.

Right-wing "Christians" have been blabbering about politics and culture in the public square forever. The second Christian progressives start doing the same they come here all day and say things like, "I don't see anything Christian about this page. You need to call it 'The Left' instead of 'The Christian Left'"

That is of course ignorant. We post scriptures every single day and anyone can talk about Jesus on any thread we post. In fact we encourage that because right-wing politics is so obviously opposed to the words of Jesus that every post is an illustration of the contrast.

by Charles Toy

Let this sink in. Vladimir Putin “asked” Trump to take Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak on a private tour of the Oval Office. Trump complied and the “Russian press” was allowed in but the American press wasn’t.

Russia just hacked our presidential election, breaking in to the DNC computer network and distributing their confidential information with precise tactical timing to cause the maximum political damage. They were sanctioned by President Obama because this kind of cyber-sabotage is an act of war.  Every single US intelligence agency confirmed it was Russia behind these attacks. In recent public hearings James Comey stated that Russia continues to manipulate and sabotage the US political system on a large scale. Trump fired Comey the day before he granted the private tour of the Oval Office to Putin’s Russian officials.  Then he made veiled threats to Comey via Twitter.

A few questions come to mind.

Are you KIDDING me? What the hell is going on?! Why are we giving private tours of the Oval Office to our enemies? How many Russian spies do you think were in that Russian press pool in the Oval Office? What does Putin have on Trump? What do you think Ronald Reagan would think of all this? What actions do you think he would recommend moving forward? Why is every member of the US congressional leadership utterly paralyzed to do anything about this?  Even McCain is walking back his comments comparing all this to Watergate earlier today and is now trying to water down those  statements. Watergate was 5 guys breaking in to DNC headquarters. This was an entire nation with vast resources breaking in to the DNC’s electronic data files and using them to sabotage one party in the presidential election.

Several more developments have recently come to light. It turns out Trump invited Comey over to the White House for dinner the week after he was elected. After spending dinner talking about crowd size Trump told the other two guests, AG Sessions and VP Pence, to leave.  He then demanded loyalty from Comey and dropped big hints that he wanted the Michael Flynn investigation terminated. Comey refused on both counts and went home and typed up a memo detailing the entire encounter. He sent the memo to contacts within the FBI and filed it.

In an interview with Lester Holt last week Trump said that when he fired Comey he was thinking, “This Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story; it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election.”

During the private Oval Office tour, in an attempt to brag, Trump blurted out information categorized as “Top Secret” and held in a secure “compartment” to which only a handful of intelligence officials have access.  Several news agencies including ABC reported the life of a spy placed by Israel inside ISIS was at risk last night as a result of Trump’s carelessness.

Today, in his commencement address to United States Coast Guard Academy graduates, Trump didn’t even try to take the high road.  On one of the biggest days of their lives Trump made it all about him. Everyone is being mean to him. “Look at the way I have been treated lately, especially by the media,” he said. “No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly.”

There was one small silver lining in Trump’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad two weeks. Vladimir Putin put the word out that he would be happy to provide a transcript of the private Oval Office tour. Let that sink in.

As you may have heard, A senior member of our admin team has been banned from posting to the Facebook page or interacting with the page in any way, this time for 7 days.

The offense was posting an article about Alex Jones from Right-Wing Watch. The header on the post was simply a quote from the article.

It seems like this only happens if people complain about it to Facebook, which leads us to believe we are being targeted. We have an e-mail in to Facebook about the situation. As you may remember this has happened before. Facebook also says that if it happens enough the ban can be permanent and the page could be taken down.

All the more reason for you to do two things in case we're ever taken down and you want to remain in touch with the community.

First, Sign up for our e-mail list by clicking on the link below,

Second, make secure emergency donation so we can set up an emergency fund if we ever have to do some fast developing. We may have to set up our own website that functions much like Facebook. Emergency secure donations can be made by clicking on the link below. Backup Facebook pages wouldn't help if we were personally suspended from Facebook.

1.) Join Our E-mail List By Clicking Here. You will receive regular e-mails from us as well as instructions of how to find the community if we're ever taken down from Facebook.

Once you join you will receive a welcome e-mail detailing all the various methods of staying in touch with the community and the story about the last time this happened to us.

2.) Make A Secure Emergency Donation By Clicking Here. We will store the funds in a development fund should we ever need to re-build the community from the ground up. We could face building a website that acted much like Facebook.

By Charles Toy

Good news! I found an Orthopedic Surgeon who accepts an A1C level of 7.5, which is my current level!

I'll keep you all posted. I meet with his physician's assistant on Monday.

I knew it was going to be a good idea to tell this story and get your feedback. I have my pain post running as a promoted post for the next week. So many have already offered great suggestions for pain. I hope this comment thread will be an ongoing resource for people like me, those who have long term untreated severe chronic pain.

You can view the original post and read all the comments by clicking the link below.

Pain Post

We're Going To Do What?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by invading the privacy of women’s bodies and the sanctity of their most private medical decisions? Instead allowing the federal government to be in charge of making these decisions?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by rounding up people like animals?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by writing laws that allow bigots to discriminate against LGBTQ people in the name of ‘Religious Liberty?’

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by ripping away health care from 30,000,000 people and with the assured outcome of going back to discriminating against sick people who have ‘pre-existing conditions?’ We’re going to cause 24,000 Americans to needlessly die every year because Republicans have turned health care into a political game that they must win for the sake of their party? Can you imagine how the country would mobilize if terrorists killed 24,000 Americans per year? We would stop at nothing. We would spend trillions. What is the difference? A death is a death.

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by profiling and tracking adherents of an entire religion thus putting all of them under a veil of suspicion?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by privatizing Social Security and Medicare which by its very nature turns these funds over to the volatile, for-profit Wall Street sector? We’re going to put the elderly, who are highly vulnerable in the hands of cut throat capitalists whose only objective is profit?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by ratifying the draconian, social Darwinist ‘Ryan Budget’ based on the daydreams of someone who worships Ayn Rand and has said he bases his entire economic philosophy on her philosophy? We’re going to ‘balance the budget’ on the backs of the most vulnerable Americans in every category? We’re going to take food off their dinner tables to pay for bogus wars based on lies and reckless Wall Street gambling?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by labeling black people as criminals and gangsters because they are tired of getting shot and killed by dirty cops over nothing?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by granting access to white supremacists like Steve Bannon to the Oval Office itself? A person who has made up crazy conspiracy theories about Democrats specifically for years? There’s just something God awful wrong about that. It’s sickening actually.

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by turning over Medicaid to the states in the form of ‘block grants,’ which experts have shown will deprive the poorest of the poor of health care?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by demonizing the press and stepping all over the first amendment, thus making the only ‘news’ outlets people believe are those like Alex Jones, Fox ‘News,’ Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart ‘News,’ and other right-wing extremist propaganda outlets that spew lies and opinions based on fear and emotion but have nothing to do with reality?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by denying climate science as a matter of national policy and setting the planet on an even faster course towards widespread human suffering and death?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by giving those who need it the least more tax cuts and adding to the tax bills of those who can least afford it? We’re going to take away tax breaks like earned income credit from the poorest of the poor?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by allowing private prisons to exist and flourish thus putting a profit incentive behind locking people up? Not only that, everyone knows that the rich don’t get locked up. The poor do. The rich can afford lawyers. Court appointed attorneys will provide you with what you paid for ... nothing.

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by installing people to cabinet positions who want to wipe out and destroy the departments they’re in charge of?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again decimating public education and gradually privatizing all of it? You know what that means. The rich will get a quality education. The poor and middle class won’t. Oh and it’s easy to see how we could go back to ‘white only’ schools. Bigots have been furious about that for decades. Depriving them of their federally subsidized ‘white only’ schools is what caused them to rise up and establish the modern “Christian” Right.

• We’re going to Make America Great Again trampling all over the rights and wishes of Native Americans by resuming the building of the North Dakota pipeline as soon as Trump is installed?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again stacking the Supreme court with right-wing extremist, activist judges who will slant the court for decades?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again taking the policy boilerplate of states like Sam Brownback’s Kansas and imposing it on the entire country, assuring the same outcome, the wholesale destruction of all civic institutions and services throughout the entire country, throwing just about everything into utter chaos?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by allowing nutcases like Mike Pence to have their hands on the levers of lawmaking and government? The man who says birth control is ‘too modern and newfangled’ for him to understand and who wanted to force women who had abortions or miscarriages to conduct funerals for the fetuses? This almost takes the cake on this whole disastrous mess if it wasn’t for all the other things literally causing the death of thousands of Americans. It’s just nuttier than sh-t, and this man is Vice President!

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by continuing to erode decades worth of human effort and suffering to assure that all Americans have the right to vote and that right isn’t infringed upon by ridiculous actions like eliminating poll locations, demanding special voter ID’s and all the other petty methods Republicans use to suppress the vote?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by allowing people like Jeff Sessions, our new Attorney General and a well-known bigot, homophobe, and right-wing extremist, to take our Federal Law infrastructure back to the thirties?

• We’re going to Make America Great Again by throwing out the Iran Deal, moving the Capital of Israel to Jerusalem, encouraging the continued building of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, and abandoning the Two-State Solution? All of this will pretty much assure World War Three, the final war.

This is craziness.

It’s time to rise up by any and all (non-violent) means available.

It’s time to take this to the streets with as many organized marches as possible as often as possible.

It’s time to call all of the Democratic Senators and tell them we expect them to stand in the way of every one of these killer policies. Every single one.

It’s time to get politically active in new and creative ways. If you write, write something. We can put it out there. If you’re an artist draw a piece of protest art. If you’re a musician write a protest song. On and on. Figure out a way to use your unique gifts and special talents for the cause. We’re going to need all hands on deck for this one.

The fate of our nation hangs in the balance.

 The Word became flesh!

Do you know why among other reasons that’s so profound? It’s because God knows what it’s like to actually be a human being. God has experienced first-hand everything you and I have experienced. He was born of a woman. He worked with his hands. He got tired and needed rest. He enjoyed companionship. He experienced hunger and required food. Many times he had to flee from those who wanted to harm him. He wept with sadness. He took part in celebrations, even providing the wine for the party. He endured temptation and experienced abandonment from people he loved. He suffered immense physical pain and agony at the hands of the Romans. He was tormented and laughed at. Ultimately he experienced death. He was fully human and he knows exactly what that feels like in every way.

What a beautiful thing. We have a God who knows what it’s like to be one of us! We can’t ever accuse God of “living in a bubble.” He told us we can call upon his name any time and he will deliver us and walk by our side. He assured all of us who are weary and burdened to come to him and he will give us rest. He told us he was gentle and humble in heart, that drawing close to him we will find rest for our souls. His yoke is easy and his burden is light.

At the center of his teaching is to love God and love our neighbor as we do ourselves. That’s something profound and important too. When we live in harmony with God and neighbor we can not only draw strength and comfort from God, but from one another as well! We can assure one another, love one another, care for one another, bear one another’s burdens and share one another’s joy! We will experience troubles in this world but God has provided us with everything we need to survive and thrive. The more we love God and neighbor the easier this life becomes. Love is the final solution! Love wins!

"For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” -- Matthew 12:50

“For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37).

“Truly, truly, I tell you, one who does not enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep” (John 10:1-2).  “Remain in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.  I am the vine.  You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).  “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Mat 28:18).  “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:23).  “…neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him” (Mat 11:27).  “Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master” […] (John 15:20).  “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord” (Mat 10:24). “Whoever receives me receives him who sent me” […] (Luke 9:48).  “[…] Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16).  “[…] You are from beneath. I am from above…” (John 8:23).  “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:28).  “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.  He who does not love me does not keep my words” (John 14:23-24).  “But whoever denies me before people, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Mat 10:33).  “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.  By their fruits you will know them.  Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?” (Mat 7:15-16).  “…everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand.  And the rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell, and great was its fall” (Mat 7:26-27).  “It is the spirit who gives life.  The flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life” (John 6:63).  Jesus Christ is the only legitimate authority to the word of God.  By the words of Jesus Christ the words of Jesus Christ take precedent over all, therefore nobody has ever had the authority to invalidate that which he taught.  “Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it.  How narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way that leads to life.  Few are those who find it” (Mat 7:13-14).  All these words of Christ show a widespread Christian misunderstanding regarding the meaning of faith in Jesus Christ.  One cannot cite one passage in an attempt to invalidate the teaching of Christ in the face of this mountain of evidence to the contrary.  (And this is precisely what theology does.  The passages used to do so open in a new window HERE.)  “You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  This is the great and first commandment.  A second likewise is this, “You are to love your neighbor as yourself.”  The whole Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments” (Mat 22:38-40).  “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by [Christ], it is nothing; but whoever swears by the [church], he is obligated.”  You blind fools.  For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctified the gold?” (Mat 23:16-17).  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.  For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faith.  But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.  You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel” (Mat 23:23-24).
“But all their works they do to be seen by others.  They make their tefillin broad and enlarge the fringe of their garments, and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called Rabbi by men.  But you are not to be called Rabbi, for one is your Teacher, and all of you are brothers.  Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.  Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Messiah.  But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mat 23:5-12).  “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: “God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week.  I give tithes of all that I get.”  But the tax collector, standing far away, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:10-14).  “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, “make room for this person.”  Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place so that when he who invited you comes he may tell you, “Friend, move up higher.”  Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:8-11).  “Truly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mat 18:3-4).  “Truly I tell you, whoever will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child, he will in no way enter into it” (Mar 10:15).  “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  It will not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you must be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you must be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mat 20:25-28).  “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof.  Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers.  I tell this one, “Go,” and he goes; and tell another, “Come,” and he comes; and tell my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.”  And when Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, “Truly I tell you, I have not found so great a faith with anyone in Israel” (Mat 8:8-10).  Jesus and his disciples “…came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them “What were you arguing on the way?”  But they were silent, for they had disputed one with another on the way about who was the greatest.  And he sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:33-35).  “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.  To them he said, “You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.”  So they went their way.  Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing.  He said to them, “Why do you stand here all day idle?”  They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.”  He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.”  When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.”  When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.  When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius.  When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, saying, “These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.”  But he answered one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take that which is yours, and go your way.  It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own?  Or is your eye evil, because I am good?”  So the last will be first, and the first last” (Mat 20:1-16).  “For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).  “[…] For whoever is least among you all, this one is great” (Luke 9:48).  “[…] Look, those who are gorgeously dressed, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet” (Luke 7:25-26).  “Therefore when you do merciful deeds, do not sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from people.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward” (Mat 6:2).  “And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by others.  Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward” (Mat 6:5).  “Moreover when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with sad faces.  For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward” (Mat 6:16).  As we can see from all this exalted Christian ecclesiastical positions are a contradiction.  Jesus Christ warned of following the example of those who do not practice what they preach, and so claiming that Christ would approve of Christianity not practicing what he preached is tantamount to claiming Jesus Christ is a hypocrite.  “…but their works do not do, because they say, and do not do” (Mat 23:3).  Christ denounces hypocrisy at all these points in the gospels.  (Mat 6:2, 6:5, 6:16, 15:7, 16:3, 22:18, 23:13, 23:15, 23:23, 23:25, 23:27, 23:29, 24:51, Mark 7:6, Luke 12:56 and 15:13)  “[…] “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).  The definition of the word faith is, “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.”  As we can see from all this the overwhelming majority of Christians do not meet this definition, as they have permitted and defend the exalted ecclesiastical contradiction to Christ’s actual teaching.  The actual purpose of the teaching is not known by the majority; the purpose being a nonviolent cultural revolution through education, understanding and conversion to Truth.  The message cannot be advanced where the full Truth of it is not acknowledged, as forces cannot be fully united behind this message from untruth.  All need be acknowledged is the honest Truth.  The core of the teaching has been discarded and not understood.  This makes a widespread faith in it an impossibility and the claim of faith in it a lie by any aware of these Truths.  It makes those converting others to it guilty of converting others to a corrupted teaching.  “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.  Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you do not enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter” (Mat 23:13).  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.  For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much of a son of hell as yourselves” (Mat 23:15).  “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Mat 15:3).  “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by [Christ], it is nothing; but whoever swears by the [church], he is obligated.”  You blind fools.  For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctified the gold?” (Mat 23:16-17).  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.  For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faith.  But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.  You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel” (Mat 23:23-24).  “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29).  “These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.  And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men” (Mat 15:8-9).  “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord.  It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord.  If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household?” (Mat 10:24-25). “For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mat 5:20).  “Can the blind guide the blind?  Won’t they both fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39).  “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers did the same thing to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26).  “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is justified by her actions” (Mat 11:18-19).  There is only one teaching yet there are an infinite number of denominations.  All call themselves by the same name “Christian,” including many hate groups.  “…every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit.  A good tree cannot produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit.  Every tree that does not grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.  Therefore, by their fruits you will know them” (Mat 7:17-20).  “[…] “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and carry off his possessions, unless he first bind the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.  Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” (Mat 12:25-31).  “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe. But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He that is not with me is against me. He who does not gather with me scatters” (Luke 11:21-23).  “But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, “Son, go work today in the vineyard.”  He answered, “I will not,” but afterward he changed his mind, and went.  And he came to the other, and said the same thing.  And he answered and said, “I go, sir,” but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?”  They said, “The first.”  Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you” (Mat 21:28-31).  

“Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake” (Luke 6:22).  “[…] “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house” (Mark 6:4).  “[…] “Who are my mother and my brothers?”  And looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Look, my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother” (Mark 3:33-35).  “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: “A servant is not greater than his master.”  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept my word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:18-20).  “And you will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved” (Mat 10:22).  “[…] “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the [so called] wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children” (Mat 11:25).  “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear, neither do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, “By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive: for this people’s heart has grown callous, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and should turn again; and I would heal them.  But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.  For truly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and did not see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them” (Mat 13:13-17).
“[…] “Beware. Keep yourselves from all covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.” (This includes the coveting of exalted ecclesiastical positions!) […] “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly.  He reasoned within himself, saying, “What will I do, because I do not have room to store my crops?”  He said, “This is what I will do.  I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years.  Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.”  But God said to him, “You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you.  The things which you have prepared whose will they be?”  So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:15-21).  “Do not lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.  No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Mammon” (Mat 6:19-24).  “That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity” (Luke 8:14).  “[…] To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked” (Luke 12:48).  “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?  For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:25-26).  “Truly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God” (Mat 19:23-24).  “Many will tell me in that day, “Lord, Lord, did not we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?”  And then I will tell them, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity” (Mat 7:22-23).  “The King will answer them, “Truly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”  Then he will say also to those on the left hand, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you did not give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you did not take me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.”  Then they will also answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not help you?”  Then he will answer them, saying, “Truly I tell you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”  These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mat 25:40-46).  “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?  Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, saying, “This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”  Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.  So therefore whoever of you who does not renounce all that he has, he cannot be my disciple.  Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it?  It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile.  It is thrown out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 14:28-35).
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.  For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also” (Mat 23:25-26).  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.  For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Mat 23:27-28).  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, and say, “If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.”  Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.  You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of hell?” (Mat 23:29-33).  “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Mat 11:12).  “It is written, “My house will be called a house of prayer,” but you have made it a den of robbers” (Mat 21:12-13).  “Take these things out of here.  Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace” (John 2:15-16).  “Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks, for there will always be something to cause people to stumble, but woe to the man through whom the stumbling block comes” (Mat 18:7).  “…whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Mat 16:19).  “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God (moral force) and Mammon (immoral force)” (Mat 6:24).  “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit” (Mat 12:33).  “…who is there among you, who, if his son will ask him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he will ask for a fish, who will give him a serpent?” (Mat 7:9-10).
“There was a man named Zacchaeus.  He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  He was trying to see who Jesus was, and could not because of the crowd, because he was short.  He ran on ahead, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.  When Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully.  And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.”  And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor.  If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.”  Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:2-10).  “But you go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mat 9:13).  “[…] They did not receive him, because he was traveling with his face set towards Jerusalem.  When his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from the sky, and consume them?”  And he turned and rebuked them” (Luke 9:53-55).  “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed” (Luke 4:18).  “So therefore whoever of you who does not renounce all that he has, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).  “I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).  “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:16-17).  “For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him” (John 3:17).  “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living”(Mat 22:32).  “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mat 11:28-30).  “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.  They do not toil, neither do they spin, yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these” (Mat 6:27-29).  “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Mat 6:34).  “Do not let your heart be troubled.  Believe in God.  Believe also in me” (John 14:1).  “Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).  “And which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to his height?  And why are you anxious about clothing?  “Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away him who desires to borrow from you” (Mat 5:42).  “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light.  For nothing is hidden, that will not be revealed; nor anything secret, that will not be known and come to light” (Luke 8:16-17).  Truth —> Love —> Peace —> Kingdom of God.  “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).  “I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent” (Luke 4:43).  “For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).
“But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers” (John 4:23).  “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I tell you, do not set yourself against the one who is evil. But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away him who desires to borrow from you.  You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.  For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mat 5:38-48).  “…for all those who take the sword will die by the sword” (Mat 26:52).  “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.  For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.  And why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and look, the log is in your own eye?  You hypocrite. First remove the log out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Mat 7:1-5).  “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions” (Mar 11:25-26).  “You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  This is the great and first commandment.  A second likewise is this, “You are to love your neighbor as yourself.”  The whole Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments” (Mat 22:38-40).  “Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, do also to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Mat 7:12).  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled” (Mat 5:3-5:6).  “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh” (Luke 6:21).  Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.  Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.  Blessed are you when men insult you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.  For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mat 5:7-12).  “When you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately you say, “A shower is coming,” and so it happens.  When a south wind blows, you say, “There will be a scorching heat,” and it happens.  You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not know how to interpret this time?  Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?” (Luke 12:54-57).  “For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?” (Luke 23:31).  “But woe to you who are rich.  For you have received your consolation.  Woe to you, you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep” (Luke 6:24-25).  “…many who are first will be last; and the last first” (Mark 10:31).
“Whoever does not know the work of perfection knows nothing.  If one does not stand in the darkness he will not be able to see the light.  If one does not understand how fire came into existence he will burn in it because he does not know the root of it.  If one does not first understand water he knows nothing.  What use is there for him to be baptized in it?  If one does not understand how blowing wind came into existence he will blow away with it.  If one does not understand how body which he bears came into existence he will perish with it.  And how will someone who does not know the Son know the Father?  And to someone who will not know the root of all things they remain hidden.  Someone who will not know the root of wickedness is no stranger to it.  Whoever will not understand how he came will not understand how he will go, and he is no stranger to this world, which will exalt itself and be humbled.” –Jesus Christ in “The Dialogue of the Savior”

BOOK LINK: The Theology of Jesus Christ: The Christian Red Letter Redaction of Jesus Christ’s Philosophy of Human Extinction  The assembled and explained philosophy behind the parables of Jesus Christ.  

Useed by Permission

(Public domain source New Heart English Bible Standard Edition, a source that I must use so as not to be chased by the Bible police for such vast citation of the words of Jesus Christ)