gkuhns

Category: Commentary

  • PSA: Scam Alert! Forever Yorkie Kisses – Happy Pet Companions

    PSA: Scam Alert! Forever Yorkie Kisses – Happy Pet Companions

    My wife found a really cute Yorkie puppy named Blue and wanted to buy it. After a couple of emails, the alarm bells started ringing. Following are the points of evidence for me to call a scam alert.

    Here is a picture of Blue on the site https://foreveryorkiekisses.com/available-puppies/

    {imagealt=237}

    My wife filled out the “Adopt Blue” form on the site and here is the first email we got back in response.

    We are writing to you in response to your inquiry on Yorkie puppy; BLUE
 We greatly appreciate your interest in our little buddy and also hope that the information on Blue stated below meets your expectations so he can make you and your family absolutely happier.
 BLUE’S INFO:
 He is AKC registered just like the rest of our Yorkies.
 He is current on all his shots (vaccines).
 His birthday is January 21st, 2021
 He currently weighs 1.4 lbs and his estimated adult weight is 5 lbs
 Blue has equally been Microchipped
 Like the rest of our puppies, he has been potty trained to use a puppy pad.
 Blue loves giving puppy kisses, he loves to cuddle, he's filled with love and he is also very playful
 He gets along very well with children as well as with other home pets.
 Basically, Blue loves to be spoiled.
 Since all our puppies are a great part of our family (Forever Yorkie Kisses), we are always concerned about the kind of home/family any of our babies will be going to at any given moment.
 For that reason, we have a couple of questions we would like for you to answer before we can proceed with the entire process.
 How big is your home/house/apartment? Will your job/school provide you with enough time to be able to take care of this puppy?
 Are you experienced with this breed of puppy or with puppies as a whole?
 Do you have any intentions to breed our puppy/puppies?
 Do you live with kids or other home pets?
 How soon would you like to have BLUE as part of your home/family?
 The cost to adopt Blue is $500.
 From the inquiry you sent earlier, we noticed that you are from [name of our town] which is about 18 hours drive away from us, but that isn't a problem at all because we shall have Blue transported safely to your city by a professional pet transportation company via flight (in the cabin), and then he will be delivered to your address by an agent within the same day. Transportation to your location will cost $200.
 Hence, the total cost will be $700 for you to have Blue.
 We are very much looking forward to hearing from you soon.
 Kind regards!

    Fair enough. Breeders should be careful about where the puppies are headed. No red flags here, except that price! My wife sent an email in response to the questions with a couple of questions of her own. Namely, where are they located? Here is the second email we got from them.

    Thank you for getting back to us. We have read through your mail and would like to inform you that we are pleased to let you provide a home for baby BLUE. He is in perfect health condition and doesn’t not have any genetic or physical defects. 
Find attached a recent photo and a video of Blue.
 
In order for us to proceed, when we receive your reply to this email stating if you are still willing to provide a home for this fur baby, we would then forward to you a “PURCHASE AGREEMENT FORM”
via email in the form of PDF which you will download and print the documents; then fill the form, and finally scan the filled form and send back to us before you make the payment for your to-be puppy. If you do not have a means to scan the form, simply take clear photos of each page of the form with all 4 edges of the pages showing in the photos. Once we receive the filled form and your payment, we will then proceed with necessary arrangements for transportation of the puppy to your home address which you will include on the form.
A deposit of $400 is required to reserve a client’s puppy till they are ready to receive the puppy at their home.
 
We currently accept payments via ZELLE, APPLE PAY, GOOGLE PAY, Walmart2Walmart, Western Union, MoneyGram, and BITCOIN.
 
We hope to hear back from you soon!
 
Warm regards!

    Following are the included picture and video.

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    Cute little guy, isn’t he?

    No answer to the question about their location. The use of language is stilted and the list of payment methods is concerning, as well as a 57% deposit. So now the red flags are starting to fly. That led me to do some hunting. I discovered that Blue is also named Kevin on this site https://happypetcompanions.com/available-puppies/

    {imagealt=238}

    That was the last red flag for me. I cannot say with empirical evidence that the people involved with this are scammers and neither am I interested in finding that evidence. I’ll pass on getting scammed, thank you very much! All in all, there are many reasons to believe that both sites are run by the same people and that neither of them is to be trusted.

    There is uncommon effort put into this attempt. I’m positive there are many thousands of these stories happening now so that means uncommon diligence is needed. Stay frosty my friends!

  • Profound Change

    Eph 2 is a wonderful parallel text to the first half of Romans 8. Christ fit both the old and the new together. He is the cornerstone of the kingdom of Heaven. Everything hinges on Him. He fulfilled the law and made it possible for us to do the same. Only through His Spirit and through His Spirit we fulfill the law and we are fellow citizens with the saints and the household of God. No longer is there enmity. We are free to become righteous. We no longer need to sin. There is no longer the need. 

    We can change. We may change. It is possible for us to change. We can change through His Spirit. We can change through the power of the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and brought new life. That power. That life. That very same Spirit enlivens and powers us today. That is the grace of God. That power. That life. It is the grace of God in our lives. We may change because our why can change. The reason why we live. The reason why we strive. The reason we want to change can change. It no longer must be about ourselves. It may be about Him. It must be about Him. That change changes everything. 

    No longer are we slaves to what we were. We are free to change. To become righteous. To become better. To become more like Him. Not because it is about us any longer. But because it is about Him. We are able to move forward and change. Change because it is who we are becoming. We are becoming more like Him. Jesus embodies perfection. We don’t want to be like Him because we want to be perfect. We want to be like Him because we are now a new creation and we are now meant to be like Him. We may be like Him. Let this same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus… 

    [Phl 2:5-11 CSB] (5) Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,  (6) who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.  

    (7) Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,  (8) he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross.  

    (9) For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,  

    (10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth —  

    (11) and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

    The struggle will be with us to the end of this life.

  • How Then Shall We Live

    Ecc 1:1-18 CSB The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem. (2) “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Absolute futility. Everything is futile.” (3) What does a person gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? (4) A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. (5) The sun rises and the sun sets; panting, it returns to the place where it rises. (6) Gusting to the south, turning to the north, turning, turning, goes the wind, and the wind returns in its cycles. (7) All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. (8) All things are wearisome, more than anyone can say. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing. (9) What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. (10) Can one say about anything, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us. (11) There is no remembrance of those who came before; and of those who will come after there will also be no remembrance by those who follow them. (12) I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. (13) I applied my mind to examine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied. (14) I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind. (15) What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. (16) I said to myself, “See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.” (17) I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind. (18) For with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.

    In much wisdom is much grief.

    I don’t consider myself a wise man but I am, in biblical terms, somewhere in the middle of my life. Of course, I am a typical man so I am wondering what mark, if any, I will leave here.  Please forgive the introspective tone of what I have to share.

    What is the stuff of life? Is it relationships? Is it to help others? To improve their lives? Christ came to heal. [Isa 61:1-3 CSB] (1) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners;  (2) to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, (3) to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the LORD to glorify him. 

    God created the world for His own glory. So how can we as Christians bring Him glory? 

    We bring glory to God when we trust Him. Put our weight on Him. Put our faith in Him and let Him lead us. We can mess up our lives and our witness with our mis-understanding of what God wants and what He is about. We don’t want to mess up. We don’t want to make God look bad so we refrain from doing things that could make God look bad. The problem we often face though is that we don’t want to make ourselves look bad if God doesn’t come through with what we think He should do. What if we look like fools?

    Let us read that last sentence of the last verse I just read. “And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the LORD to glorify him.” 

    [Isa 61:10-11 CSB] (10) I rejoice greatly in the LORD, I exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a groom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.  (11) For as the earth produces its growth, and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. 

    [Mat 5:13-16 CSB] (13) “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.  (14) “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. (16) “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.  

    [Jer 17:7-8 CSB] (7) The person who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence indeed is the LORD, is blessed.  (8) He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit. 

    [Psa 30:11-12 CSB] (11) You turned my lament into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,  (12) so that I can sing to you and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever. 

    [1Pe 2:9-10 CSB] (9) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (10) Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

    [Eph 2:1-10 CSB] (1) And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (2) in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. (3) We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. (4) But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, (5) made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! (6) He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, (7) so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (8) For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift ​– ​ (9) not from works, so that no one can boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do. 

    We are not saved by good works but we are created for them.

    [Heb 13:5-18 CSB] (5) Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you. (6) Therefore, we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?  (7) Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. (8) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (9) Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited. (10) We have an altar from which those who worship at the tabernacle do not have a right to eat. (11) For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp. (12) Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by his own blood. (13) Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace. (14) For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come. (15) Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. (16) Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices. (17) Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. (18) Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything.

  • The Law of God

    Through the law, God was trying to to tell us who He is. We treat it as a go, no go document. If our obedience to the law is based on the reception of guidance instead of a method to achieve righteousness, we can begin to understand the heart of God.

  • Christ and the Law

    Christ and the Law

    The law is given in the Old Testament in the Bible and strengthened to the point of impossibility in the New Testament by Jesus Christ Himself

    Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [between us]; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in

    Old Testament
    Old Testament

    ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

    Peace, of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is It seems that the law was a wall between the Jews and the Gentiles and Christ abolished the emnity caused by it because it now applies to all.

    Here are some verses about Biblical law.

    [Mat 5:17-20 ESV] 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

    [Rom 10:4-10 ESV] 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

    [Rom 7:4-9 ESV] 4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. 7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.

    [Gal 3:21-29 ESV] 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.