If you’re not learning, you’re not living.🇻🇦
Joined July 2009
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James Rutter retweeted
Tonight’s Candlelight Procession in Fatima, Portugal, on the eve of the 109th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, and Our Lady’s final apparition in Cova da Iria.
James Rutter retweeted
The best thing that can happen to your character is that success takes longer than you wanted.
James Rutter retweeted
Do not be afraid to sow without immediately seeing the fruits. The sowing belongs to you; the growth belongs to God. No gesture carried out in the name of Christ is useless.
James Rutter retweeted
Your entire life will change when you realize energy is the most attractive human trait. Not looks, wealth, or status. Energy. Start walking into rooms with genuine enthusiasm, curiosity, and interest. Watch what happens. You become a magnet for the highest quality people. Energy is contagious. Spread the kind you’d want to catch.
James Rutter retweeted
Rome handed out free grain to 40,000 citizens in 73 BC. By 46 BC, Julius Caesar found 320,000 people lining up for their monthly ration. That eight-fold expansion happened in under three decades, and it shows you how welfare states actually grow.
No Roman senator stood up and announced a plan to addict a third of the city to government bread. It happened incrementally, through political competition. Each magistrate who wanted votes expanded eligibility. Each expansion normalized the next one. The citizen who once considered the dole shameful eventually expected it, then demanded it, then organized politically to protect it.
This is the core mechanism free market thinkers have identified across every era: once you create a transfer program, you create a constituency for that program. Recipients vote. Administrators build careers. Grain merchants who supply the state develop a stake in keeping the contracts flowing. The political economy locks in.
Caesar, to his credit, actually cut the rolls back to 150,000 through verification audits. It was one of his more economically coherent moves, though the Senate still murdered him. His successors quietly let the numbers climb again.
What did the dole require? Massive grain imports from Sicily, Sardinia, and Egypt, organized through state logistics at state expense, funded by taxation and conquest. When the conquest revenue dried up, the obligation remained. Rome had written a check against future military success, and future military success eventually failed to arrive.
The lesson is not complicated. Distribute a benefit and you distribute dependency. Distribute dependency and you distribute political power to whoever controls the distribution. The grain dole didn't weaken Rome overnight, but it made every subsequent reform politically impossible.
I’ve talked to a lot of people who have old 401(k)s sitting with former employers, and most of them aren’t being careless.
They’re just busy.
They changed jobs, moved on with life, started focusing on the next thing, and that old account slowly became something they knew they “needed to look at eventually.”
But “eventually” can turn into years and in those years, a lot can happen.
👎 Fees continue coming out.
👎 The account can stay exposed to market swings.
👎 The investment options may no longer fit where they are in life.
And sometimes people don’t even remember where the account is anymore.
I don’t say that to scare anyone. I say it because I’ve seen how common it is.
Most people are trying to do the right thing with their retirement money. They just don’t always know what their options are.
When you leave a job, you typically have a few choices with your old 401(k). You may be able to leave it where it is, move it into your current employer’s plan, roll it into an IRA, or cash it out.
That last one is usually where people can get hurt the most because taxes and penalties can take a big chunk of money that took years to build.
But even with the other options, it’s worth slowing down and making sure you understand what you’re doing before moving anything.
That money represents years of work.
Early mornings.
Long weeks.
Sacrifices.
Time away from family.
It deserves more than being forgotten on a statement you barely look at.
If you have an old 401(k) sitting somewhere, it may be worth taking a few minutes to look at it again and ask:
🤔Is this still the best place for this money?
🤔 Do I understand the fees?
🤔 Do I know how much risk I’m taking?
🤔 Do I have better options available to me now?
Sometimes the best first step is just getting clarity.
Not pressure.
Not a sales pitch.
Just clarity.
If you have an old 401(k) and you’re not sure what to do with it, I’m always happy to help you walk through your options and understand the process before you make any decisions.
James Rutter retweeted
IF YOU WANNA BE FIRED UP JUST WATCH THIS EDIT THE USMNT SOCIAL TEAM COOKED UP!
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
James Rutter retweeted
🚨🇦🇷メッシとの写真を撮り逃したカーボベルデの選手たち。🇨🇻
諦めきれず、アルゼンチン代表のバスの前で待ち続けた。⏳🚌
その想いに応えたメッシは、バスから降りて一人ひとりと記念撮影。📸🐐
こういうところが、世界中から愛される理由。❤️ xitter.cf/MessiGlazer01/status/2…
James Rutter retweeted
If you're 25 you've seen 10% of of American history. A 63 year old would have seen 25%
James Rutter retweeted
Folarin Balogun, the U.S. striker who scored against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the FIFA World Cup, shared a photo on social media wearing a Rosary around his neck.
Someone please give this guy a job where he permanently has a microphone. Every time he holds a mic, it’s just gold.
𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 - 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁? 🤷♂️
*𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰. 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭.
I decided to make a post on this subject because I have been asked many times, “Why can’t we just confess our sins directly to God to have them forgiven?” or “Why do Catholics confess to priests instead of directly to God?”
𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹? 🤔
You may have heard it said that the New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New. Many people would like to just focus on the New Testament, but the New Testament itself says, “ALL scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) So we don’t disregard the Old Testament. We look to see how it is revealed in the New.
That being said, let’s look at Leviticus 5:5-6. It says, “When a man is guilty of any of these (the sins listed before this verse), he shall confess the sins he has committed, and he shall bring his guilt offering (a sacrifice) to the Lord for the sin which he has committed… and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.” So what do we see there? We see that people had to confess their sins to be forgiven and that they didn't go straight to God, but confessed to a priest, and there had to be a guilt offering (a sacrifice).
You may be saying, “But hey, that’s the Old Testament. What about the New Testament? We aren’t bound by the Old Testament anymore” and I’d agree with you, but as I already mentioned, “ALL scripture (both Old and New) is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” So let’s look to the New now, shall we?
Hebrews 10:1 tells us, “The law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities.” We are being told here that the Old foreshadowed the New. The Old gave us a clue and an outline of the equivalent New Testament practices.
Don’t believe me? Keep reading and I’m confident you will.
1 John 1:9 tells us that, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Okay, so we see here in the New Testament that God will forgive us if we confess our sins, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗛𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗶𝗺. He just says that we need to confess our sins. He does; however, very clearly tell us to whom we need to confess our sins, which I highlight below.
*I think it’s important to note at this point, before going any further, that 𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲. Believe me, I looked. It’s not there. When I was Protestant I was told that's what we needed to do, so I REALLY wanted it to be there, but it’s not. It’s unbiblical, as there is no Scriptural evidence of Him telling us to only to confess to Him and Him alone. Some people may feel like I did when I realized this and get upset with it, but it's just a Scriptural fact and one I had to accept.
Now, back to specifics… Scripture IS more specific as to whom we need to confess our sins. Looking at James 5:16 you’ll see that the Word of God commands us to confess our sins to “each other.” This is not a suggestion, but a clear command to confess our sins to each other, not to God or God alone. You may be thinking at this point, “Okay, but each other is to anyone, not to a priest.” ***Remember this verse toward the end of this post. (1/3)
Now, do we just go around confessing our sins to just anyone? No, of course not. Why? Because everyone doesn't have the authority to forgive sins. 𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺? 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗛𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱.
“WHOA! Wait a minute James, are you claiming that men can forgive sins?” Yes, I am. This is the MAJOR stumbling block for people, but it’s one that I can easily help you over. Watch this...
Turn to Matthew 9 (the story of the healing of the paralytic). Jesus tells the man that his sins are forgiven then the scribes immediately call Him a blasphemer. Then what happens? Jesus then shows them that their understanding of God’s power is a limited one. In verse 6 He tells them, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins.” Then in verse 8 it says that the crowds were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to a man. Wait, no. That’s not what it says. It says that He gave authority to men. Plural. In some translations it says “human beings.”
Should you have any doubts about that, look at John 20:21-23 - Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Look closely at verse 21: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” How did the Father send Jesus? Well, we saw in Matthew 9:6 that He sent Him to forgive sins. So the Father sent Jesus to forgive sins; so Jesus sent His apostles. Just in case someone didn’t understand Him in verse 21, He clarifies in verse 23 (whoever’s sins you forgive are forgiven, and those you retain are retained). We see similar authority given to the apostles in Matthew 18:18 and 16:18-19.
Now stop here and ask yourself, why would Jesus give His apostles (the first priests of the New Testament) the authority to forgive sins if He didn’t expect people to confess their sins to them for them to forgive? 🤔 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗛𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘀𝗼.
Can it get more clearer than that? Yes, it actually can. Earlier I referenced James 5:16 (the verse I told you to remember), but look two verses prior to verse 14. Who were they told to call before they were told to confess? The elders! Who are the elders? They’re the priests and bishops of the early church.
So just like in the Old Testament system God setup, we see in the New Testament that we are to confess our sins, not to God, but to men. We see who we are to confess them to as well (those who have the authority to forgive sins on earth). But what about the sacrifice in the Old Testament? Aren’t we missing what that foreshadowed? Nope… the New Testament sacrifice was Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross.
So yes, you can absolutely confess your sins to God, but the system which God clearly setup all the way back in the Old Testament and again in the New for the forgiveness of our sins involves confessing our sins to those who have the authority to forgive sins on earth (priests). You can also confess your sins to your friends, but your friends weren’t given the authority to forgive sins, priests were. (2/3)
Confessing our sins to men is something God setup, not man. Just as God can give His power to man to heal someone physically, He can do the same spiritually. To say otherwise would be putting limits on God. Let’s not forget either that Jesus sent His disciples out to heal people both physically and spiritually by exorcising demons.
𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁:
1. Why would Jesus give the apostles the authority to forgive sins if He didn’t expect people to confess their sins to them?
2. Why would God foreshadow confessing sins to a priest in the Old Testament if He didn’t want us to do the same in the New?
3. Why would James make note that they called the “elders” FIRST before telling them to confess to each other if the priests weren’t necessary?
4. Why would the Catholic Church include these passages in Scripture when they compiled the Bible hundreds of years later if they weren’t the practices being used at the time?
*Side note, did you catch that it says in Matthew 9:6 that “He will forgive our sins” and in John 20 He gave the apostles the authority to forgive sins, and in James 5 we are told to confess our sins? Here’s why I ask that: Many claim that when Jesus died on the cross their sins are forgiven now and in the future automatically and there’s nothing else they need to do. If that were so, why would Scripture tell us that we need to confess our sins to be forgiven? Why would Jesus give the apostles the authority to forgive sin if He was going to do everything that needed to be done on the cross. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 (𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁) 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻. That was the Scriptural interpretation of those who walked with the Apostles, which will be clear if you read the church fathers.
𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 - 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁?
Well, if you’re keeping a tally, there’s an example of confessing to priests in the Old Testament (Leviticus), two in the New (James and John), and zero examples of God telling us to confess our sins to Him and Him alone for forgiveness in all of Scripture. There's only one Old Testament Scripture of someone confessing directly to God for forgiveness (Psalm 32:5). So according to Scripture, there are more examples of confessing to a priest than to God and God alone and, therefore, confessing to a priest isn’t just more biblical, but God telling us to "confess to Him and Him alone" is completely unbiblical as there's no Scriptural evidence for it.
So if God gave us a system to have our sins forgiven by confessing them to a priest and confessing directly to "God and God alone" is a man-made belief, wouldn't it be wise to use the system God gave us?
*Final note, we didn’t have the Bible for hundreds of years after Jesus was crucified and it wasn’t until Johannes Gutenberg (a Catholic) made the printing press in 1450 that the Bible began to be mass produced. So what did the early Christians do before they had a Bible? 🤔 For that you have to look at tradition, which Paul told us to “hold fast to whether by word of mouth or by letter.” (2 Thessalonians 2:15) This is why everyone should read the church fathers and the Didache (the first Catechism or manual for the Christian faith). When you do, you’ll realize that what the Catholic Church practices today is what the earliest Christians practiced as well. (3/3)