Valletta said:

While the labor market has slowed, remember inflation is down

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Inflation is right where Trump inherited it. The end of Bidenomics dropped it lower early in Trump's term, but now that Trump's policies have taken effect, it's climbed back up to where it started.

Apparently, it's not only Christians who are not allowed to criticize Islam. Even atheists are not allowed to criticize Islam anymore. This is getting sketchy!!

Bill Maher Criticized Over Muslim Week at the White House Joke Bill Maher Slammed by Fans Over 'Muslim Week at the White House' Joke: 'I Can See Why You’re Not Touring Anymore' | Video

Aryeh Jay said:

If you don't believe his spoken words that he said as being solid evidence, well there's not much to say.

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What actual evidence is there that Hegseth said "kill everybody"? So far that's a supposed claim made by a supposed anonymous source.

another_lost_guy said:

At least I have a number.

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No, you don't. You have something that somebody else made up based on assumptions that are, at best, questionable.

another_lost_guy said:

You don't have any projections at all.

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That's because I appreciate the limitations of my own knowledge.

another_lost_guy said:

Perhaps they should be to prevent stuff like this from happening. But Pelosi and her sycophants are against it

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Perhaps.

another_lost_guy said:

No, if you have a problem with the claim, it's up to you to dispute it

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In that case, I saw you molesting a kid. Disprove it.

Thankfully, our legal system isn't set up that way, else anybody could be sent to jail merely on an accusation. Anybody can make up anything.

another_lost_guy said:

You can literally go to pelositracker.app and follow the purchases she makes in real time. You can recreate her returns and see for yourself. People have made an entire business model centered around tracking her trades. Is that not enough for you?

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sigh

1.) It's not real-time. Congressional reporting rules require transactions over $1,000 to be disclosed within 30-45 days. So there is some delay.

2.) The exact amounts aren't reported. They're still only reported in the aforementioned brackets. From this, you can get an ROI on an individual asset, but not on the entire portfolio. Because it's impossible to tell where in the bracket a particular asset lies, it's impossible to make anything but an extremely rough comparison between the values of two different assets, which is what's required to value the portfolio.

3.) This tracker only works for publicly-traded securities. If you'd read her disclosures (as I have), you'd see that a significant chunk of her wealth (likely over half) is in real estate and other private businesses. The stock holdings she's reported are largely the same suite of big tech firms that dominate most of the top-performing ETF's (e.g. Microsoft, Nvidia, Netflix, Alphabet, etc)

FAITH-IN-HIM said:

Why would one compare these two events? In Acts 9, the event occurs on the road to Damascus during Paul's conversion to Christianity, while the account in Acts 22 takes place 23 years later in Jerusalem.

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Hmmm. Better read again. They are talking about the same event.

As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and journeyed to Damascus to bring them also that were there unto Jerusalem in bonds to be punished.
Acts 22 : 5

And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and drew nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
Acts 22 : 6

And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Acts 22 : 7

And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
Acts 22 : 8

And they that were with me beheld indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
Acts 22 : 9

These are speaking of the same event, Paul's conversion. Both written by Luke, in Acts.

Servus said:

Funny how they end up as supposedly mediocre and also supposedly strongmen who are putting fear into the democrats they're supposedly out to get.

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Oh no. I have NEVER thought they were actually strong men. I think they constantly want to give the appearance of strong men.

Also, how do you come to the conclusion that strongmen are NOT (or cannot be) mediocre? Geez.

Honestly, I see these posers in their positions and all I can THINK is mediocrity. That their underlings see it more visibly isn't super surprising to me.

He will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusted h in Thee. Trust in the lord forever because in the lord Jehovah is ever lasting strength.

Lord I pray you help and bless this man and give him strength to ride out this storm. There is so much hope in Jesus and so much reason not to be bitter in you lord. But it’s a bitter pill to swallow being sick. My wife and I are sick and we wake up every morning to do battle with the flesh. Please get @LHADEN over the top to joy and peace and love and gratitude for you and for salvation. Much to go on and his base to go out and be like Jesus. Work a transformation in his mind and attitude change his heart to one of love. He needs you lord. Bless him and help him and heal him in Jesus mighty Name.

A Christian preacher in the United Kingdom who was arrested for saying “God bless you” to protesters at a pro-Palestinian demonstration now plans to sue Wiltshire Police, arguing officers have repeatedly violated his freedom of speech.


Shaun O’Sullivan, who preaches at the Awaken church in Swindon and often speaks to homeless individuals and addicts on the streets, says police have a “vendetta” against him. He has been arrested 16 times, yet none of the charges have resulted in a conviction. A jury unanimously dismissed the most recent case in just 90 minutes, according to the Daily Mail.

The incident occurred after he said, “God bless you,” which reportedly offended Muslims at the march. He had previously been accused of harassment for saying, “Pray for the Jews and pray for the Palestinians.” After the most recent remark, a female officer told him the phrase could be a crime “if it causes distress” and said that “if that person was a Muslim,” they may be distressed.


Under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, a person commits an offense if they use “threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour…within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby."

Continued below.

The New Testament Begins in Acts Not Matthew​

When you read the Gospels in the Bible, such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, do they sometimes seem to contradict other parts of the New Testament Scripture? For example, in Matthew 6:15, Jesus said, “If you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Yet, in Colossians 2:13, the Apostle Paul wrote, “…God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.” How can there be two different perspectives written in the same New Testament?

Many Christians experience confusion because they think all of Jesus’ teachings are part of the New Testament, also known as the “New Covenant.” However most of them are not. The New Testament, which is God’s New Covenant with mankind, actually starts in the book of Acts, not Matthew. How do we know this fact is true?

When reading the New Testament, ask yourself this question, “Had Jesus died yet when this was written?” If not, then those writings are part of the Old Covenant in most cases. If the writings are after Jesus died, then it’s part of the New Covenant.

When Jesus came to earth, He came directly to the Jews who were still under the Old Covenant with God. Want the gist of the Old Covenant? Deuteronomy 28 spells it out very clearly. If Israel obeyed God’s laws, there were 12 verses of blessings He would give them (see Deuteronomy 28:1-14). But, if Israel disobeyed God’s laws, there were 52 verses of curses He would give them. (see Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

Would you want to live in that kind of tension-filled relationship with God? No way! Unfortunately, many Christians today believe that is still how God treats them, even though we are under the New Covenant of grace. Therefore, Christianity feels more like a burden, instead of a blessing.

Many of the things that Jesus taught in the Gospels was Old Covenant instruction to the Jews of His day. When He taught them, He was raising the bar of how perfect they needed to be accepted and blessed by God. Here are some examples:

• “Unless you are more righteous than the strictest religious leaders in Jesus’s day, the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will not go to heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)
• “Calling someone an idiot or crazy because you are angry with them will send you to hell.” (Matthew 5:22)
• “Lust is adultery.” (Matthew 5:27-28)
• “You must live a perfect life exactly the way God does.” (Matthew 5:48)

These performance-based teachings were aimed to show the Jews and anyone who reads the Bible today that it’s impossible to get God’s unconditional acceptance by obeying the law. Jesus was preparing people to understand how much they needed Him to be their Savior.

God was about to bring into existence the New Covenant, and Jesus was preparing them and everyone else for it. But, here’s the key. The New Covenant did not begin until Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension were complete. For instance, Hebrews 9:15 says:

“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a New Covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the Old Covenant.”

Remember Jesus’ teachings we just listed from the book of Matthew? Let’s compare what the New Covenant says about you as a Christ follower:

• God has already forgiven you whether you forgive or not. (Colossians 2:13)
• God made you perfect in your identity in Christ. (Hebrews 10:14)
• God made you a holy person and not a lustful person in Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:2)
• God made you a patient person because you’re complete in Christ. (Colossians 2:10)

The Old Covenant was conditional based on mankind’s imperfect works. The New Covenant is conditional based on faith in Jesus’ perfect work. Do you see the amazing difference?

Read the New Testament with a lot more clarity now that you know the New Testament starts in Acts, rather than Matthew!

The New Testament Begins in Acts Not Matthew​

Lady Bug said:

Yup, the fact that I already knew this before making this post, makes me perplexed that this applies to me, too.

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I don't know that this will be of any consolation to you, but some of the greatest artists, composers, musicians, actors, comedians, etc. ... and yes, even saints! ... endured thru their own personal challenges, while God chose to work thru their lives to be a blessing to others.

I imagine you may have gone to the formation courses for what you hoped you might find there for yourself, but sounds like God did use your presence there ... and one aspect of your personality (humor) ... to also be a blessing to others!

You are in a major time of life transition right now. Former domestic responsibilities have been lifted; you now have opportunity to more freely explore life. Moving forward, trusting God, this can very much be a 'blossoming' time for you ... and especially as you continue to connect with others. Many of our gifts and talents don't really surface, until we are in connection with others.

I'm very glad to hear the course went well for you all, as it sounds like it did.

Go here to read the story. My guess is that Maduro has maybe 48-72 hours to flee into exile before Trump acts. We shall see.

Trump Told Maduro He Needs to Flee or Die in Phone Call

The image of GOD. GOD is not flesh and blood, GOD is spirit. All humans have a human spirit and this is how we are in GODS image. GOD wants to make the spirits of just men perfect. GOD created an image of HIMSELF in Jesus. This is not the omnipresent, omnipotent or omniscient, it’s love and righteousness. This was Jesus Christ. We are to be transformed into the image of Jesus who was the image of GOD. IF Jesus was GOD then are we going to be GOD ? Isaiah 43:10 No, we are going to be like Jesus, love and righteousness without the Omni attributes. Only GOD has the omnis. This is part of what makes him GOD. As far as the body, soul and spirit theory; a human is a soul composed of two things body and spirit. Look at how Adam was created, Adam became a living, not immortal, soul. We are all souls composed of dust and breath or body and spirit. So the three “parts” of a human to be the image of the trinity is a lie. There is only one being who is GOD, the GOD and FATHER of our Lord Jesus Christ. Check out this phrase in scripture, it is repeated numerous times. Then, for unto us there is but one GOD. Take note that many times the Holy Spirit is not included with the FATHER and Jesus. The throne of GOD and the throne of the Lamb, two thrones only , what about the throne for the Holy Spirit ? The truth is that the FATHER is the Holy Spirit. If the trinity was true and GOD did become a man that would have been all through the pages of scripture as it would have been made very clear. Why did it require a council almost 300 years later to declare Jesus was GOD. How could something like that be forgotten ? When Jesus asked Peter, “who do you say that I am ?” Why didn’t Peter say you are GOD, the second member of the trinity ? There are scriptures used by trinitarians to “prove” the trinity but they are either grossly misunderstood or very poor translations. When Jesus said he was one with his FATHER trinitarians jump on this without reading John 17. We are to be one with GOD and Jesus, obviously the meaning of the word “one” has been misunderstood. There are many scriptures on various topics that have been incorrectly interpreted thus causing false doctrine. Jesus called the FATHER the one true GOD, John 17:3 Jesus said many times that he had a GOD. How can a flesh and blood human like Jesus be fully GOD and fully man at the same time, was Jesus omnipresent, omnipotent or omniscient ? It would be impossible. You would think that Satan would recognize GOD wouldn’t you ? Why would Satan try to tempt GOD. Yet Satan did try to tempt Jesus. When you examine scripture ask a lot of questions; who, what, when, where, how and why then ask GOD to give you the answers not some man.

What a reaction!

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday rejected Pope Leo XIV’s call for a Palestinian state to be established in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.


“Our Torah says that the solution is one state: a Jewish state,” Ben-Gvir told JNS, speaking at the weekly faction meeting of his Otzma Yehudit Party at the Knesset.


“That’s what our Torah says. And I believe in the Torah of Israel. This is what we believe,” the senior minister said, urging Leo to focus on “other matters.”

Valletta said:

"The Sixsmiths of this world are not at all angry about the mass killings and the mass burnings of unborn babies going on today right before our eyes. No, they are too busy fabricating stories about nuns sexually assaulting young women, stealing their kids, and dumping their bodies in septic tanks. It tells us a great deal about the current state of anti-Catholicism that such bull is not only accepted, it is welcomed as affirmation of the venality of the Catholic Church."

DEBUNKING THE "MASS GRAVE" STORY - Catholic League

To read Donohue's full account of this story, see the "Special Reports" section on the Catholic League's website.

www.catholicleague.org

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I can't take a site seriously that claims to defend the catholic church and then has every second story dealing with transsexuals.

Always in His Presence said:

Yes please - not just the twelve

God healed the sick through them - according to God's will. Not something they could turn on or off.

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Hello Always! Good to hear from you. I hope you're doing well today.

For example all those on whom Peter's shadow fell were healed:

Acts 5:14-16 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

I don't think there's anything like this today?

Always in His Presence said:

The Word of God is still just as inspired. The writing has ended but the Word is still just as inspired, just as anointed and just as powerful.

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Yes the Word Of God the Bible is still inspired. The writing is ended as you say, but that's because there are no more apostles to write scripture? The Canon closed when the Apostle John died, because he was the last. What an apostle wrote was considered to be part of the Bible, the inspired word of God, just as if God himself was speaking.

As Peter said about Paul's writings:

There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures (2 Peter 3:16).

In the bible the words of a real Prophet or Apostle were considered to be infallible, the very words of God. It's a high standard.

Always in His Presence said:

13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting

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Could that be talking of the closed Canon, which we now have?

God Bless You

Aryeh Jay said:

It is.

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Maybe I have a misunderstanding of what a follower of Christ means.

NBB said:

So you may need to be filled with the Holy spirit to have more guidance and more communion with God.

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Absolutely.

John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Four men have been arrested over their alleged involvement in an “international satanic child sex abuse material ring,” according to Australian Police, who say they’re still working to identify the victims.

Det. Supt. Jayne Doherty, commander of the New South Wales sex crimes squad, said the four men allegedly shared “abhorrent” content with an international network depicting children from infants to 12 years old – as well as animals.

“Police will allege in court that this international group were engaging in conversations and the sharing of material which depicted child abuse and the torture of children involving symbols and rituals linked to Satanism and the occult,” Doherty said Monday.

“Thousands of videos” were found on electronic devices seized during several simultaneous raids on properties in Sydney last week, Doherty said.


Continued below.

In 2016, Canada legalized euthanasia “for people whose natural death was ‘reasonably foreseeable’ and wanted to end their lives.” Less than a decade later, that definition has radically expanded—so much so that 1 in 20 deaths in Canada in 2023 were from euthanasia—and activists want it broadened still further to even include children as young as 12 years old! As we have warned, once the door is opened a crack, it will then be opened wider and wider.


Dying With Dignity Canada, a euthanasia (actually, murder) activist group, believes that “maturity” rather than age should determine who is eligible for medical assistance in dying and “recommends minors as young as 12 be included in the program, and goes as far as to suggest 16 and 17-year-olds shouldn’t even need parental consent to be killed by a doctor if they fit broad criteria.”

stevevw said:

I mean under the law. The law use to be aligned with biblical marriage. Its there in the vows. Or was lol. Then it was redefined around the year 2000 onwards for most western nations.

This was a redefining of marriage in the public square and social norms. So the State in changing the marriage laws was also legalising as morally good a new definition of marriage. Thus taking a moral position on marriage which conflicts with biblical marriage and the definition the State had previously upheld for generations.

That doesn't make it morally right. Yes the State laws and policies are usually a reflection of the social norms the community supports. Thats the point. Social norms change with the times and biblical norms don't. Thats why they come into conflict.

But the idea that its "we the people" will decide is unreal. The way its been going lately and being so polarised it seems half the population is devastated they are no longer in power. They feel disenfranchised and like they are living in some alien nation because Trumps in power.

The same when the Dems were in. It seems that half the population is never represented. Let alone all the smaller groups who never get a say. Or get too much say. Its all corruption and power and its no longer about the people.

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The state has taken no position at all on the Christian sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Same sex marriage is not a new version of civil marriage, merely a reconsideration of the qualifications for it. Civil marriage is nothing but a legal arrangement, allowing couples to form a legal household with respect to the state, nothing more. No physical consummation is required, and the personal relationship between the two parties is not specified, nor are the reasons for entering into the relationship considered. There are countless examples, some known personally to me, where no emotional or intimate sexual relationship was even contemplated by the couple. For example, in the early years of the twentieth century, young women with no other prospects would marry elderly veterans of the American Civil War, to share the pension in return for services as a caregiver. Forming a civil household. provided a convenient legal arrangement. (The last Civil War widow died in 2020, 165 years after the end of the conflict). Considered as a civil contract, there is no reason to deny civil marriage to any two unrelated adult citizens. If the rights of citizenship are extended to homosexuals and homosexuality is not illegal, then it is hard to see why civil marriage should be denied them. It certainly has no effect whatever on me or my marriage.

New York City’s new socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani has pledged to open city-run grocery stores to lower costs and help the working class with his socialist policies.

City-owned and managed grocery stores have resurfaced as eye-catching policy ideas to lower food costs and fight hunger. However, they will have the opposite effect: wasting taxpayer money, promoting inefficiency and hurting local food businesses.

Mamdani’s Plan: Bad Economics​

Mamdani bases the need for city-run grocery stores on a socialist theory rather than hard data. This is a blatant feel-good dream that denies basic economics. This sounds very good on paper, ‘free’ always does, until the money needed to fund the free goods cannot be found.

He argues that these stores are needed to address supposed food “deserts,” which are usually crime-ridden areas that retailers often avoid. He also claims the groceries will provide working-class New Yorkers with better access to affordable food. His pilot program consists of launching five stores across the city, one in each borough. It is all part of his socialist platform, which, besides lowering grocery costs, also includes freezing rent and increasing corporate taxes to fund this project.

A closer examination of the plan reveals it cannot succeed because it entirely replaces market signals—such as costs, property rights, profit and the profit motive—with bureaucratic decision-making. He proposes the classic Marxist alternative to a free market economy.

Continued below.

timothyu said:

Yas and the only chosen people will be all those of the Kingdom. Religion and ancestry is obsolete. Jesus went first to the House of Israel, and when they failed Him yet again, then later to the gentiles of all nations, for all of mankind was free to repent and pledge allegiance to the Kingdom,, no longer being slaves to the nations nor the elohim powers that still control them.

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G-d's promise to the nations is that they can be grafted in to the spiritual olive tree of Israel through faith in Christ, sharing in the promises and blessings of the covenant. Two olive trees symbolize the two houses of Israel (Jews and Gentiles) to carry out His heavenly mission. Romans 11 holds powerful truths that relevant for us today as we witness Israel's two-stage restoration (both physical and spiritual), depicted by the symbol of two olive trees.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: Isa 5:7

Yttrium said:

...

Wait, what?

You have a problem with fables?

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When I was in primary school I remember being given a school book about evolution, diagrams of a fish like creature crawling onto land an artist's impression of ape men sitting round a camp fire having a jolly, based on a single tooth. The people who produce such drivel for children were evidently ideologically driven blinkered zealots, but I have even encountered people in the church who would irrationally defend this stuff. God Bless You have a good day

AI overview:

While the lily is more commonly associated with Mary in Christianity, the lotus flower can represent her as well, symbolizing purity and divine beauty, much like the lily. Both flowers represent purity and are often found in artwork and churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Similar symbolism

• Purity: Both the lily and the lotus are used to symbolize purity because of their ability to rise from muddy water or dark places unstained and pristine.
• Divine beauty: The lotus is seen as a symbol of divine beauty and grace, qualities also attributed to Mary.
• Church art: The lotus is depicted in some ancient churches dedicated to Mary, according to Oxford Academic.

More common association with Mary

• The Lily: The lily, especially the white lily, is the more prominent flower linked to Mary. It was carried by the Archangel Gabriel during the Annunciation and is often used in art to represent her.
• Other flowers: Other flowers, such as roses, violets, and bluebells, also have specific connections to Mary in Christian tradition.