For those of you who may not yet be aware of it, for the record, I do NOT engage in chain letter or chain message activity on Facebook, or anywhere else on the Internet for that matter. I assume that most of you already know what chain messages are. However, for those of you who may not know, they are basically a private message which claims that something good will happen to you — you will receive money, or you will be blessed in some way, etc. — if you pass along — or forward — the same message to a certain number of your other online friends. My friends, let’s be clear about this. Such bogus claims are both superstition and nonsense.
Other chain messages are political messages in support of some candidate or some political cause, which you are likewise asked to pass along to your online friends. And still other chain messages are invitations to sign online petitions regarding one cause or another. In short, chain messages come in many different forms.
My personal position regarding chain messages can be summed up like this: I do not care what the nature, content, cause or intent of the message is. Regardless of whether or not I deem it a worthy cause, I will NOT forward said message to anyone I know. Even if the message originates with one of my known online friends, I will still not forward the message to anyone.
Are you aware of the fact that some scammers and mischief makers are so talented at what they do that they can send you a chain message which seemingly comes from one of your friends, even if it really doesn’t? It is no different from email scammers who do the very same thing. And that is precisely why email scams proliferate so much. People are fooled into believing that the message is from their friend, when in fact, their friend’s address book may have been hacked. So again, passing along chain messages in any form is just too risky and too dangerous.
Do some of you folks even realize what kinds of nasty things can be embedded in videos and photos, which you cannot physically see with your eyes? They act as hitchhikers when you start forwarding said messages to all of your Facebook friends and other online friends. It goes viral. Personally, I refuse to be responsible for such things happening, so I simply do NOT forward any chain messages. Period.
Now, I realize that you may think that you are doing a good thing by supporting such causes — whatever they are — and by forwarding such chain messages, as the message originator prompts and demands that you do. However, you could also be doing a lot of harm and damage without even realizing it. Not just to other people, but to yourself as well.
Equally important, please be very careful regarding what kinds of links you click or tap on — anywhere, not just on Facebook — what web pages you open and visit, what emails you open and read, etc. Trust me; there are trolls and hackers lurking everywhere on the web, just waiting to take advantage of your naivety.
As I have mentioned so many times before, if you click on the wrong link, or open the wrong email, or go to the wrong web page, or tap on the wrong image in a chain message, it may begin a series of events behind your back, which you may not even be aware of, and which may leave you seriously embarrassed in the end.
I can’t count how many times I have seen this happen on Facebook. Some naive person clicks or taps on a particular link or image, and the next thing you know, dozens of their friends have received either a private text message from them, or a new comment posted on their timeline — supposedly from that friend — in which they are invited to visit some porn site. Ouch! I know that some of you who are reading this know exactly what I am talking about, don’t you?
So the people who have been targeted contact the originator of the message and say “Hey! How come you sent me that message? How come you posted that on my timeline?” The surprised victim says “I did no such thing!”. You see; they weren’t even aware of what happened when they clicked or tapped on that link or image, because it is all done surreptitiously without them being made aware of it. It can be rather embarrassing recovering from such a situation, as some of you have found out.
One chain message in particular which irked me some time ago was the “Corpus Christi” chain message, which I received a number of times from different Facebook friends. Yes, I can agree that the play — and now the movie — are disgusting and wrong. No true Bible-believing Christian can disagree with that point. However, what particularly irked me about the “Corpus Christi” chain message, is the fact that in their endeavors to pressure people into forwarding their message, the author of the message relied upon making the receiver feel guilt, and basically condemnation, if the receiver of the message did not forward the message. In fact, the author of the message implied that God would not bless the receiver of the message if they did not forward the “Corpus Christi” chain message. I am referring to this section of the message:
—– Begin Quote —–
“It will take you less than 2 minutes! If you are not interested and do not have the 2 minutes it will take to do this, please don’t complain if God does not seem to have time for you.”
—– End Quote —–
Folks, that is totally uncalled for. That is how Satan operates. That is outright condemnation. He tries to pressure you into doing what he wants, by making you feel guilty if you don’t do it.
As I said earlier, all of this talk about how God will bless you in some way if you forward a particular chain message to five or ten or more of your friends is absolute nonsense. It is superstitious. It is silly. It is not true. So please don’t believe it for a minute. I don’t think God has anything to do with online chain messages.
In conclusion, some of you people need to wake up, stop being so gullible regarding these chain messages, and ask God for some Wisdom and Spiritual Discernment, because obviously, some of you are still lacking in that area. I don’t mean to offend you, but that is simply the truth. Protect yourself, and protect your online friends, by not engaging in chain messages in any way.
This morning I dedicated some time to try to understand why certain third party blogging tools — such as auto-posters and re-posters — no longer work on some of the popular social networks. A person may have successfully used such syndication tools for quite some time — perhaps even years — to auto-post and re-post perhaps many hundreds or even thousands of images to their favorite social networks, and then the tools suddenly stopped working. For example, thus far, I found this to be true with both Twitter and Tumblr, and there may be other social networks where this happens as well.
So, why does it happen? Well, quite simply, my observation is that it is because the owners and administrators of some social networks are becoming a lot more restrictive and stringent regarding people who rely upon such auto-posting and re-posting mechanisms to post memes to their networks.
The fact of the matter is that in the eyes of certain social network owners and administrators, when an end user posts the same image on the network more than once — which is exactly what auto-posting, and particularly re-posting, is designed to do — they view it as spam, and they obviously want to stop it. They want to stop YOU in your tracks.
The truth is, to a certain degree, I understand why some social network overseers have chosen such a restrictive path in regards to what they allow to be posted on their social networks. Furthermore, I will honestly admit that they have a right to do it as well. After all, it is their social network, and they make the rules, whether we like them or agree with them or not.
The bottom line is that in addition to trying to stop money scammers, false advertisers, political manipulators, online child predators, porn site promoters and similar ilk, social network owners and administrators want fresh, new content constantly populating their networks. After all, that is what keeps their networks alive and interesting. They don’t want the same old, regurgitated content which never seems to die. And that is why some of them have obviously declared all-out war on auto-posting and re-posting mechanisms. They want to put an end to content which they view as spam.
Now, from what I have been able to determine through some of the tests I ran this morning, one of their big targets is graphics which are constantly re-uploaded, re-posted and re-circulated. To combat this, these social network owners have implemented certain mechanisms, bots, algorithms, or whatever you want to call them, which can detect when a person has previously uploaded a particular image. If they do make that determination, they will stop you in your tracks after you have uploaded that same image so many number of times. Exactly what that number may be is a big secret. The social network may possibly publish the text portion of your post, but the image will be nowhere to be found. Such is the case with Twitter, for example.
Some smart users may try to find ways to get around the blockades which have been imposed by certain social networks. If you happen to fall into this bracket, then listen up. One approach is to rename one’s images in order to try to trick the social networks. However, not only is that impractical to do if you happen to have thousands of image files in your rotation, but it will obviously break your blog structure, leaving you with a lot of broken images on your blog. Besides, it won’t work anyway. The social networks will still know that it is the same image, despite the file name change, because they look at other parameters in order to determine an image’s newness.
Furthermore, you can try changing the creation date of the file to see if it will slide by the social network’s nasty sentinels. However, I can tell you right now that it won’t work either. In other words, taking such action will not trick the social network into reposting your image. Their AI is smart enough to know that it is still the same image.
Lastly, you can try changing the modification date of the image file so that the social network thinks that it is a new, or at least changed, file. But again, doing this simply will not work either. It won’t trick the social network into reposting that image for you. Why? Because as I stated a moment ago, my tests seem to indicate that the social networks look at something else in order to determine an image’s newness.
At this current time, the impression I have is that the key parameter which some of these social networks look at in order to determine if an image has truly been modified and updated, is the file size. That is the one thing you cannot change by using any kind of the currently-available file attributes manipulation applications. In fact, even doing that — if it were possible — would probably really wreck your OS anyway.
As far as I know, the only way to alter the file size is by actually opening the file in the image editor of your choice, and making some change to the image, so that the size of the file — not the dimensions of the image, but the actual file size in KB or MB — is changed.
If you then take that updated image file and include it in a new post on your blog, you will discover that the social network will allow you to auto-post the image, or even re-post it, at least the first time around. Who knows. As I mentioned earlier, you may even be able to re-post it a few times before they stop you again. All of the social networks have their inside secrets and techniques which they are not about to share with us. That is precisely how they keep us end users at a disadvantage.
In the end, what it comes down to is this: Either we play by their rules, or else they will just find a way to stop us in our tracks. That could mean an on-screen warning and a slap on the wrist; or temporarily being thrown into “jail”; or in extreme cases, even being locked out of one’s online account completely, and possibly permanently.
The sad thing is, even when we do play by their rules, we still find ourselves constantly being harassed, blocked, thrown in jail or locked out of our accounts, because their imperfect bots and algorithms are constantly misidentifying some of our actions, and falsely accusing us of “suspicious activity” when there really is none. Many of you who are reading this commentary are no doubt familiar with this “friendly” message from your ever-so-helpful Facebook bot:
The result is a lot of false positives, which negatively affect so many of us, to the point where we just want to give up, throw up our hands in disgust, and possibly even leave that particular social network altogether. I know that I have felt that way at times. Have you? Using the social networks is not as much fun as it used to be, is it? Sometimes it feels like we are walking on eggshells, because the social network thought police are watching our every move, just waiting for us to commit some infraction which contradicts their liberal agenda.
What makes it even more frustrating is the fact that there is very little that we can do about these injustices which are committed against us. Some of these social networks — such as Facebook, for example — have built such huge walls around themselves, so that even trying to get help from a real person is really next to impossible. They just lead you in circles from one link to the next, and from one help page to the next, never offering any real information which will help to resolve your dilemma. Either that, or you are forced to deal with some bot in a chat window, which half the time doesn’t even understand what you are saying, or what you are requesting. It can be really frustrating. To make matters worse, it is all so inhuman and impersonal. I don’t like it at all. And you?
Considering how much personal data mining occurs on the social networks — even without us knowing about it — I really think that some of them need to lighten up a bit, and grant us more freedom of expression without imposing so many restrictions on us. Please note that by saying “freedom of expression”, I am of course not referring to the negative stuff I mentioned earlier. Some of us have important things we feel we need to say, and sometimes that requires posting the information on more than one occasion, so that it eventually begins to sink into the heads of our audience. After all, as they say, repetition is the law of memory.
Since I first began the Bill’s Bible Basics writing ministry back in 1993-1994, I have written over three hundred articles. Of these, a substantial amount — over three dozen to date — delve into a wide range of topics which are related to some area of science to one degree or another. Please note that these are NOT heavy, peer-reviewed technical theses and such. Rather, my articles are light fare, and discuss subjects from a Christian, Bible-based perspective which may in fact go against accepted science in some cases. Below is a list of said articles and series. Simply click on a link of your choice to be taken to it on the Bill’s Bible Basics main website. Thanks so much!
Note: This commentary was originally written in March of 2018. Given how quickly the situation changes with the different social networks, some of the information below — such as the URLs — may no longer be valid at the time you read it.
Some time ago, I received a shock when I discovered that in the data they had collected on me, Facebook had some personal information for my mother, my father, my brother, my daughter, my landlord, and a few other parties.
All of this data had been acquired via my “Contacts” app. Furthermore, it was done with MY PERMISSION, because I had failed to disable one of the options in Facebook’s Messenger app.
It all began when I became curious regarding what Facebook knew about me. Then I found this article on the web:
WARNING: Before you take any of the steps which are described below, please read the full contents of each page, so that you know and fully understand what you are about to do. I don’t want anyone coming back and blaming me if you messed things up, or lost data that you didn’t want to lose.
At any rate, I followed the previous instructions on the aforementioned page, received the necessary email link, and then downloaded the zipped archive of my Facebook data.
The archive itself is in the form of a mini-website, meaning that there is an index.html document in the main folder.
So, either use the “Open With” command on your platform, or tap or double-click the index.html document, or else drop the index.html document on an open web browser window, in order to open it. The document should open in your default web browser.
You will find a lot of interesting stuff in there, such as advertisers you are linked to, etc. But one of the more sensitive ones — at least in my view — is found in the “Contact Info” section, which is the second link in the menu on the left side of the page, right below your profile image.
If you click or tap that link, you will see the names and phone numbers of people which Facebook has stored on its servers. That is where I received my shock. I am sure that said persons would not be too happy if they knew that Facebook had that info concerning them, particularly because some of them don’t even have Facebook accounts.
NOTE: Be advised that I was reading on one Facebook page that while you can only see contacts’ names and phone numbers, Facebook seems to imply that it may possess other data regarding each person, which it simply does not show you.
So, if you are concerned about this as much as I am, then what you need to do is to go to this page and carefully follow the instructions:
More specifically, on the very first item that is listed on the above page, you need to click on the blue link that says “Manage Invites and Imported Contacts“. That will take you here:
That is where you will see the options to delete invitations and contacts from Facebook’s servers.
But here’s the thing. Unless you do TWO MORE THINGS, that very same contacts data will reappear when the Messenger app, or the Facebook app, resyncs with Facebook. So, what you need to do is to prevent the Messenger app and the Facebook app from continuously uploading your contacts data to the Facebook servers. To find out how to do that in Facebook Messenger, please go here:
To save you time, here are the instructions for iPhones and iPads. The above page also has instructions for Android phones as well:
1. Go into the Facebook app’s “Settings“.
2. Tap on “Account Settings” when you are presented with various options on the bottom of your screen.
3. Once that new “Settings” window appears, tap on the “General” option.
4. In the new window which appears, tap on the fourth option called “Upload Contacts“.
5. Make sure that it is disabled by sliding it to the left.
NOTE: After you have done all of the above, you should go back to the aforementioned pages and verify that your contacts info has not reappeared in the list of contacts.
By the way, I also have the desktop version of Facebook Messenger installed on my iMac, so I checked its preferences as well. From what I saw, there is no option to enable or disable uploading contacts, so I don’t know if that means that the desktop version of the Messenger app doesn’t have the capability to upload contacts, or what.
NOTE: Please note that according to everything I have read regarding this issue, unless you take the above steps, the only other way to delete the “Contact Info” data is by actually deleting your Facebook account. However, there is another caveat, and that is this: Even if you delete your account, if anyone else has shared/imported any of your personal data, it will NOT be deleted from Facebook’s servers, because that data is NOT actually a part of your Facebook account. It is a part of THEIR Facebook account.
One thing which I find a bit sneaky about all of this, is the fact that in the various tables where they list the kinds of data they collect, they do NOT mention “Contact Info” at all. Like I did, you have to dig a bit deeper into their help files to even find out this piece of information. As I said, I view it as being a bit underhanded.
WARNING: Please be aware that sometimes, when Facebook makes changes on their end, certain options are enabled again without you knowing it, so you may want to periodically check, and makes sure that the “Sync Contacts” option in the Messenger app, and the “Upload Contacts” option in the Facebook app, remain disabled.
I hope this helps some of you. Please feel free to read some of my other Facebook Notes as well, as they likewise contain valuable information which may be useful to you.
Dear friends, I just wanted to remind you again to please be very careful about propagating fake news and misinformation, on Facebook, and elsewhere on the Internet.
Pranksters and manipulators just love to use social networks as tools to spread fake news, false information and Internet rumors, because such networks are populated with millions of people, many of whom tend to be rather naive and gullible.
Rather than taking the time to verify whether or not a piece of information is true, upon receiving such alarming fake news or false information, such people immediately post it on their timeline or their Facebook page, or they tweet it, or they post it on their personal blog, or else they forward it to a lot of their friends via a private text message. Thus, the false information continues to spread, sometimes for many years. Once it is out there, my friends, it is out there, like a virus in the wild, and it is next to impossible to stop. What if the information turns out to be false and you were responsible for passing it along? How would you feel?
As Bible-believing Christians, it is particularly important that we guard and protect our online reputations. Let’s face it; there are already enough people opposed to us and our faith. We don’t want to inadvertently give them free ammunition and another reason to attack us, by becoming conduits for fake news or false information. So again, please check the information before you begin spreading it around on Facebook, or elsewhere on the Internet.
One thing about such false information, is that often it seems very believable, and perhaps even probable. That is precisely how these pranksters and manipulators catch you in their ever-growing web of deception. However, there are a few telltale signs you can look for, which will alert you to the fact that the information is false.
For example, one odd thing is that oft times, the false information will not include any specific names, places or dates. I suspect that the pranksters do this in order to protect themselves from accusations of libel. The misinformation may also not include any contact information for the individual or entity who is providing the information. Finally, the fake news or false information will be far from perfect English. There may be errors in grammar, spelling or punctuation, suggesting that the prankster is a non-English-speaking foreigner.
One website which may be reliable for exposing fake news and false information is www.snopes.com. Please note, however, that some people don’t even trust snopes.com. If you receive a piece of questionable information from a friend in any form, simply copy and paste the title or opening line of the information in your web browser’s search field. More than likely, if it is fake news or false information, one of the first entries on the SERP — Search Engine Results Page — will be from snopes.com. Simply follow that link, in order to learn the truth regarding the information you have received. Whether or not you believe what snopes.com says is entirely up to you.
But again, the main point I wish to convey here is that we should not be too quick to post something on the social networks that we participate in, just because it sounds juicy, and may possibly increase our likes, comments, shares, page views, or whatever. Act in a responsible manner, and thoroughly check out the information first. You may save yourself some embarrassment later, should the information turn out to be false.
I hope the above information is useful to you. Following are a few things you may enjoy reading:
“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and WITHOUT SHEDDING OF BLOOD IS NO REMISSION.” Hebrews 9:11-22, KJV
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22, KJV
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.” Hebrews 11:24-28, KJV
“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24, KJV
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” 1 Peter 1:1-2, KJV
“But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” John 19:34, KJV
“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Matthew 5:7, KJV
“And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Matthew 9:10-13, KJV
“At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.” Matthew 12:1-7, KJV
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matthew 23:23, KJV
“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:” Luke 6:35-37, KJV
“And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” Luke 10:30-37, KJV
“For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” James 2:13, KJV
“(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)” Numbers 12:3, KJV
“The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.” Psalm 22:26, KJV
“The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” Psalm 25:9, KJV
“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psalm 37:8-11, KJV
“Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.” Psalm 76:8-9, KJV
“The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.” Psalm 147:6, KJV
“For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.” Psalm 149:4, KJV
“But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” Isaiah 11:4, KJV
“The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 29:19, KJV
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;” Isaiah 61:1, KJV
“Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.” Zephaniah 2:3, KJV
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5, KJV
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matthew 11:29, KJV
“Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” Matthew 21:5, KJV
“What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?” 1 Corinthians 4:21, KJV
“Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:” 2 Corinthians 10:1, KJV
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23, KJV
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Galatians 6:1, KJV
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3, KJV
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” Colossians 3:12-14, KJV
“But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.” 1 Timothy 6:11, KJV
“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26, KJV
“Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.” Titus 3:1-2, KJV
“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” James 1:21, KJV
“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” James 3:13, KJV
“But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” 1 Peter 3:4, KJV
“[A Psalm of David.] Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits . . . Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.” Ps 103:1-2, 22, KJV
“Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.” Psalm 104:1, KJV
“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:25, KJV
“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.” Daniel 11:36, KJV
“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.” Revelation 13:5-6, KJV
“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty . . . And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Revelation 16:13-14, 16, KJV
“Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Matthew 12:31-32, KJV
“Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.” Mark 3:28-30, KJV
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. GOD IS A SPIRIT: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24, KJV
“This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because THE SPIRIT IS TRUTH.” 1 John 5:6, KJV
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the SPIRIT OF TRUTH; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you . . . But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:16-17, 26, KJV
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, which PROCEEDETH FROM THE FATHER, he shall testify of me:” John 15:26, KJV
“Howbeit when he, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:13, KJV
“We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:6, KJV
“In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” Daniel 10:2-3, KJV
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.” Matthew 4:1-2, KJV
“Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:16-18, KJV
“Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” Matthew 9:14-15, KJV
“Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:21, KJV
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.” Luke 4:1-2, KJV
“And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:29, KJV
“And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.” Acts 9:8-9, KJV
“And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.” Acts 14:23, KJV
“Seventy weeks are determined upon THY PEOPLE and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” Daniel 9:24, KJV
“Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall THY PEOPLE in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.” Daniel 10:14, KJV
“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of THY PEOPLE: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time THY PEOPLE shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Daniel 12:1, KJV
”It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.” Proverbs 25:27, KJV
“Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:23-24, KJV
“But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:5-12, KJV
“And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.” Mark 12:38-40, KJV
“Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.” John 8:49-50, KJV
“Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:42-43, KJV
“But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Romans 2:29, KJV
Therefore let no man glory in men . . . And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” 1 Corinthians 3:21a, 4:6-7, KJV
“Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.” 2 Corinthians 12:5, KJV
“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5, KJV
“Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” 1 Corinthians 1:20, KJV
“For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” Jeremiah 4:22, KJV
“O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:” 1 Timothy 6:20, KJV
“This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.” James 3:15, KJV
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20, KJV
“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13, KJV
“Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” 1 Corinthians 8:1, KJV
“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2, KJV
Please note that in 1 Timothy 6:20 above, the word “science” is derived from the Koine Greek word “gnosis”. This word is normally translated as “knowledge” in the New Testament of the King James version of the Bible. This is the only verse where it is actually translated as “science”, and I am not sure why the translator made this choice.
Great! You listened to the cow! Don’t worry; I won’t tell anyone. Honest.
Thanks for taking the plunge. As you will see by the links table below, the Bill’s Bible Basics ministry is about more than just posting images on the social networks. While said graphics may momentarily feed and inspire you, if you really want to dig into God’s Word, and avail yourself of all that the Bill’s Bible Basics ministry has to offer you, then please consider exploring some of the areas which are listed below. You won’t be disappointed. Thanks so much!
Sharing my work on your own timelines and pages, or on messageboards/forums, in private chat, via email, by way of texting, etc., accomplishes two things.
1. If you are personally limited in computer resources, or lack sufficient knowledge and experience to set up your own online ministry, it allows you to feed and inspire other Christians, without having to do all of the behind-the scenes work yourself. I’ve already done it for you. I’ve written the articles, made the graphics, composed the poetry, compiled the KJV Bible Verse Lists, etc. All you have to do is take the initiative by clicking or tapping on the share buttons.
2. Word of mouth and personal recommendations are a very important part of any online Christian ministry. By clicking or tapping on the share buttons, you are helping the Bill’s Bible Basics ministry tremendously. You may be able to reach people that I will never ever meet online, or otherwise.
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So, my friends, what it really comes down to is this:
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Psalm 119:11, KJV
“. . . For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” Psalm 119:89, KJV
“. . . Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105, KJV
“Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.” Psalm 119:140, KJV
“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” Psalm 119:160, KJV
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17, KJV
“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Psalm 138:2, KJV
“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Psalm 119:18, KJV
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” Psalm 139:6, KJV
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33, KJV
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26, KJV
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:13, KJV
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5, KJV
You might also be interested in reading these two Bill’s Bible Basics articles:
Article: “Humility in Our Understanding of God’s Word”
Bill’s Bible Basics’ central Salvation message called “Message to the World” is currently available in PDF format in the following seven different languages:
Afrikaans
English
French
German
Korean
Portuguese
Spanish
Each language is a separate PDF file which you can easily download individually from the page below:
