• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

Did Ham uncover the nakedness of his father?

Why don't you develop your thought further? Perhaps we have overlooked a detail.

Imagine you are Ham's lawful wife; you love your husband and are happy to have given birth to a healthy baby boy. What would you think if the grandfather stood next to you and pronounced a terrible curse on your own child, when you knew that neither the child nor its parents had done anything wrong?
Good question.

If I were Ham's wife, I would be thinking
Proverbs 26:2
Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.
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The third commandment

This is two commandments, not one

you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

This is one commandment- not two

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
That is your opinion, I do not share it, nor does the Catholic Church.

And why not three commandments:
" you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments."​
And why not two commandments:
  1. Neither shall you covet your neighbour's wife.
  2. Neither shall you desire your neighbour's house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
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Reality Check on America's Christian Heritage

“America’s motto” since 1954.
But it is not quite true, is it? And it is divisive. There are quite a few Americans who would not subscribe to this as their motto.
Many of us would like to return to E Pluribus Unum
It never went away. It is still on the Great Seal of the United States of America.

It is a declaration of unity.
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Lost Altar Discovered on the Site Where Jesus was Crucified: It’s ‘Sensational’ and was Sitting in Plain Sight

Crusaders-alter-credit-Israel-Antiquities-Authority-permission-1024x539.jpg
Credit: Shai Halevi / Israel Antiquities Authority via Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW)

Inside one of the most extensively researched historic sites—the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified and buried—researchers have discovered the largest known medieval altar, which had been considered lost for decades.

After its unveiling in 1149, the magnificently carved ‘high altar’ made a great impression on visitors for many centuries, until it abruptly disappeared from public view following a major fire in the Romanesque part of the church in 1808.

“Since then, the ‘Crusader’s altar’ was lost—at least that’s what people thought for a long time,” says Ilya Berkovich, historian at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW).

Continued below.

Christian Disallowed To Praying Together in Sidoarjo, Indonesia

This incident occurred in Indonesia in late June 2024.
Location of the incident: Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia

Source : Permadi Arya on Instagram: "cuma di Indonesia, umat islam boleh solat berdoa di rumah, tapi umat kristen tidak boleh berdoa di rumah kejadian di desa mergosari Tarik Sidoarjo, jemaat GPdI dilarang berdoa oleh kepala desa, padahal menurut SKB 2 menteri bab 1 pasal 3: berdoa di rumah tidak perlu izin sampai kapan diskriminasi SARA anti kristen ini dibiarkan di negeri pertiwi ini? mohon atensi gus menag @gusyaqut @ansor_satu pak plt. bupati sidoarjo @cakband1 @polsektariksidoarjo @polresta_sidoarjo teman2 bantu mention 5 akun di atas di kolom komentar yaa yuk banjiri notif bapak2 itu viralkan"

Local Muslim community leaders forbade Christians from worshiping together in their homes. On the grounds that religious activities require permission. However, if a Muslim community group holds a joint worship event at home, permission is not required.

The excuse that worship activities require permission is often used by community leaders in Indonesia to prohibit Christians or minority religions from worshiping in Indonesia. They require Christians or other minority religions such as Buddhists, Hindus and Catholics to apply for permits if they want to hold an event. However, if Christians ask for permission, permission is usually not given for various reasons.

Discerning God's Will

Also, since you say "back to college," might want to check to see how many yrs you have to complete the coursework to fall under the classes the institution required for that degree. It will be stated in the cataIog for the specific year you enrolled. Or check with the department/college to get a clear, accurate evaluation - getting the results in writing with a signature. Though some can make exceptions regarding this matter depending on numerous factors.
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Window Dressing

Window dressing, now impressing,
Artful, skillful, and misleading,
Superficial presentations,
On this many now are feeding.

Scheming, dreaming, eyes are beaming,
Cunning, crafty, they are teaming,
Skillful in their craft, deceiving,
Many now in them believing.

Fewer, fewer truth receiving,
Less and less in Christ believing,
Fewer, less, their sins are grieving,
More and more they are deceiving.

Fewer still the Lord obeying,
And the gospel they are sharing,
And for people’s souls, they’re caring,
Persecution they are bearing.

An Original Work / May 18, 2023

Renouncing Disgraceful Underhanded Ways

“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-2 ESV)

Having This Ministry

This was part of a letter from Paul and Timothy to the church in Corinth. It was penned by the apostle Paul as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit. So these words are from God, and they are included in our Scriptures.

Paul was called of God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. I know not whether Timothy was regarded as an apostle, but he was a fellow worker for the gospel of Christ, and he had some level of authority within the body of believers of Jesus Christ. To what extent, I do not know. But he was also called of God to this ministry, and he was gifted of the Holy Spirit, and Paul encouraged him to fan into flame the gift of God within him, and to not fear other people, and to not be ashamed of the gospel (2 Timothy 1:1-14).

Now, if we are going to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which all Christians are called to do, we must first of all be in fellowship with Jesus Christ in following him in obedience to his commands and in living holy lives, pleasing to him. We must have renounced all sinful practices, such as what is disgraceful, underhanded, deceptive, cunning, immoral, crooked, and evil, etc. And we must not be those who dilute and who alter the message of the gospel to make it more acceptable to human flesh and to the ungodly.

And this is critical that we understand this, for we have so many charlatans and “wolves in sheep’s clothing” among us in positions of pastor and elder over “church” congregations, who definitely are using disgraceful and underhanded ways in order to manipulate the gospel message to make it more attractive to human flesh, and so as not to offend the ungodly. And they are definitely practicing cunning, and they are tampering with God’s word by teaching Scriptures out of context in order to teach what is false.

But Paul and Timothy were not like that. They were above reproach, men of God who took seriously the word of God, and who taught it in its true form in the power of God and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Veiled to Those Perishing

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-6 ESV)

If something is “veiled,” it is concealed or hidden. Now Paul and Timothy were not servants of the Lord who concealed the message of the gospel in any way, as many are doing today. Especially Paul was very forthright in making certain that the whole truth was presented and that nothing was hidden that needed to be made known. So if the gospel was concealed, it was hidden from those who were perishing, for Satan had blinded their eyes so that they did not see the truth. But they had a part in that blindness, too.

For we read in Romans 1 that God made himself known to all humankind via his created works so that his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived in his creation. But people suppress the truth that can be known about God by their own ungodliness and unrighteousness, so they are without excuse. They can’t just blame the devil. For they exchange the glory of God for the idols of the flesh and they worship the created rather than the Creator. We make our own choices.

Especially if we have been raised in the gatherings of the church, and if we have heard the gospel taught in truth and in righteousness, and not in part, but in whole, we are definitely without excuse if we then turn to a false half-truth gospel message in order to appease our own consciences and so that we can continue living in sin free from the feelings of guilt. But this is what many are doing today, rejecting the truth that they know to follow after a lie so that they can keep sinning while consoling themselves that all is well.

But Paul and Timothy did not teach lies, especially not deliberate lies which so many are doing today in order to willfully deceive the people. And if we claim Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, we need to not be following after the lies and/or spreading the lies to others. So we need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their context so that the Word we are spreading is the whole truth and not these tampered with gospel messages which so many are spreading today as though they are the truth.

For many people are being deceived, and others disheartened by all the lies which are being spread in the name of Christ and of his gospel. And those who are following the lies are definitely those who are prone to continue living in deliberate and habitual sin without conscience. But they will never be at true peace as long as they are at odds with Christ and with his gospel message. And if they continue in sin, they will not have eternal life with God, regardless of what their lips profess. So know and follow the truth, please!

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Come, Ye Disconsolate

Lyrics by Thomas Moore, 1816
Arr. by Thomas Hastings, 1831
Music by Samuel Webbe, Sr, 1792


Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot cure.”

Here see the bread of life, see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heav’n can remove.

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When One Turns to Christ

“Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:12-18 ESV)

In this passage in 2 Corinthians, it speaks of Moses at Mt Sinai who put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from seeing the radiance of God’s glory fading from his face after he had been with God face-to-face. Yet, the reference appears to be about another kind of veil that covers people’s hearts – the veil of unbelief. And, that veil of unbelief has continued to this day for the Jewish nation. As a whole, the Jewish nation refuses to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah, Lord, and Savior. So that is why their minds are still veiled. But there is a minority of Jews who do believe in Jesus Christ.

Some of the Jews, however, are still trying to reach God through the Old Covenant regulations, and they never will, because they don’t understand that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law and the promise, and that the Old Covenant was temporary until Jesus Christ could be revealed. So, they are stuck in time with no way to “cross that river” until they decide to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, who is the only one who can lift that veil of unbelief from their hearts. And he will do so whenever anyone turns to the Lord Jesus in repentance, faith, surrender, and obedience to God.

Many people are trapped on the side of life which only offers them doubts, fears, and lack of faith and trust in God/Jesus Christ. They are searching for something to fulfill them, but they are never finding what they are looking for because they are searching in all the wrong places – in pornography, entertainment, self-gratification, busyness, and temporary happiness and fulfillment. So many of them end up empty inside, ready to give up searching, confused and unsure about their future life. And finally their search ends in futility and emptiness and total lack of belief in anything.

The gospel is veiled to them. Their hearts are hardened through unbelief, so they cannot see the truth of the gospel. And it is Satan (the god of this age) who has blinded them so that they cannot see the truth. They are not free. The veil of unbelief still covers their hearts, as they are still trapped on the opposite side of life from the promise of eternity with God through genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ. The only path for them to freedom is for them to step out in faith, to put their feet forward, to trust God/Jesus to part the waters of doubt, and to follow God/Jesus wherever he leads them.

Many people are on that opposite side of life from God. They are blinded to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and their only path to freedom is to step out in faith and to trust Jesus. For by faith we receive the Spirit of God within us, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom – freedom from the penalty of sin, and freedom from the control and bondage to sin in our daily lives, as well as freedom to serve God and to walk daily in obedience and in surrender to him and to his will for our lives. Oh, what freedom that is! I’ve been on that other side. I don’t want to ever go back!!

When we yield control of our lives over to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit within us through our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and through our willingness to step out in faith and to follow our Lord Jesus to the other side of life, the veils of unbelief are not only removed from our hearts, but in their place is now the glory of God within each believer in Jesus Christ. And as we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus, we are then able to reflect the Lord’s glory, which is ever-increasing as we continually yield control over to Jesus and we let go of the reigns of control over our own lives.

Our character and our lifestyles (our daily practices) will reflect whatever controls us and whatever fills our lives and minds, and whatever is our “god” or is most important in our lives. So, Christ’s glory can only be reflected in our characters and in our lifestyles as we are spending time with Jesus in his word, and as we are listening to his teachings, and as we are submitting to his Lordship, and as we are obeying his commands, in practice, and as we are being transformed to the likeness of Jesus with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit, and which is not from us.

The way in which this “ever-increasing glory” is then able to operate and to be reflected in our hearts and lives is through us renouncing secret and shameful ways (repentance), and by us refusing to use deception, and by us not distorting the word of God to suit our own purposes in order to excuse away sin and rebellion against God. To the contrary, we must set forth the truth plainly - through our words, our characters, our lifestyles, and through our witness for Jesus Christ. And we must humble ourselves and become the Lord’s servants.

Come, Ye Disconsolate

Lyrics by Thomas Moore, 1816
Arr. by Thomas Hastings, 1831
Music by Samuel Webbe, Sr, 1792


Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot cure.”

Here see the bread of life, see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heav’n can remove.

Login to view embedded media
Caution: This link may contain ads

CHIPS act recipient laying off workers

Good timing for Intel - they received $8.5 billion
Did they though? From what I can tell they entered into a preliminary deal in March for that amount, but haven't been able to find anything saying that the deal has been finalized or the money distributed.
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Michele Bachmann: Tim Walz is 'as radical as AOC or more'

Michele Bachmann: Tim Walz is 'as radical as AOC or more'​

(Member of Congress served with Kamala's VP pick for years)

Former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, now dean of the Robertson School of Government, served with now Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for years.

And after Kamala Harris tagged Walz as her pick for the Democrat party's nomination for vice president, she spoke out.

"I went to Congress with Tim Walz in 2006 and served with him for 8 years. On the outside, he looks like an awe-shucks, back slapping, nice guy politician, when in fact he is as radical as AOC or more," Bachmann said.

She said, "Because of Tim Walz, more people have moved out of the state than at any other time in Minnesota's history. Last year, $2 billion and 30,000 people left the state of Minnesota." And she noted Walz promoted "the strongest transgender protection bill in the country and the strongest pro-abortion bill in the country."

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota is also coming out with revelations about Tim Walz and his time in Congress. It's interesting how you can't really hide your past.

Michelle Bachman was my representative in the third congressional district for a few years. Then she ran for president. Bachman got her political start by running for school board and my Republican caucus endorsed her with me rather vocal in support.

Oh, and I moved out of the state too, in 2020. I was NEVER going to move but when the Democrats in Minnesota were the first state to legislatively legalize gay marriage it kind of killed the desire to stay there. That was before Walz became governor, but he helped unglue me from Minnesota too.
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Homosexuality: Calvinist vs Arminian perspective

The debate as to whether homosexuality is a sin often revolves around the question whether or not its a choice. But this assumes that something has to be a choice in order for it to be a sin -- which is implicitly an Arminian assumption. So its interesting that Calvinists, too, argue that homosexuality is a choice. Why can't Calvinists say that homosexuality isn't a choice since everyone was predestined to either go to heaven or hell from birth, so including homosexuality as a part of this predestination-package won't be any more unfair? Thus, it would make logical sense if Arminians were to say homosexuality is a choice while Calvinists were to say that it isn't.

However, despite the fact that Arminians would logically be more likely to agree with the statement "homosexuality is a choice", Calvinists would logically be more likely to agree with the statement "homosexuality is a sin". Here is why. The reason for arguing that homosexuality is not a sin (despite Bible clearly teaching that it is), is the fact that, based on secular evidence, homosexuality doesn't seem to be a choice, while sin is a choice. So, again, the underlying assumption here is Arminian: namely, that sin is a choice. So, logically speaking, Calvinist can argue their way out of it by saying "fine, people are born gay, but homosexuality is still a sin, because according to Calvinism every sin is predestined from birth". An Arminian won't be able to argue that way so thats why the Arminian, if faced with a failure of refuting evidence against homosexuality being a choice, would be forced to try to argue that its not a sin.

Combining the two paragraphs above, here is what would happen. An Arminian would, logically, first take "conservative" position and try to argue that homosexuality is a choice. Then, after he fails to make his case, he would, logically, switch to "liberal" side and argue that homosexuality is not a sin. On the other hand, Calvinist would logically be fine simply maintaining a fixed point of view that partly agrees with liberals and partly with conservatives, namely "homosexuality is not a choice but its still a sin, since those people were predestined to sin".

Now, you might notice that in the above I didn't say they "believe" something; I only said "one would logically expect them to believe it" (with the word logically being key word). Because I don't think the actual opinion survey would confirm what I would logically expect in the above discussion. Why not? One logical explanation is maybe because Calvinists used to be Arminians prior to converting to Calvinism. So, back in their Arminian past, they had to say homosexuality is a choice. And then, after they became Calvinist, they never came back to re-evaluate their perspective. Either that, or a different explanation is that Calvinists want to give people milk before giving them hard meat. Openly admitting to predestination would be hard meat that many people can't bear. So, in order to give them milk (since the discussion in question is the one with either non-believers or not true believers) they have to pretend to be Arminian and then argue from Arminian viewpoint.
Homosexuality as a choice vs you are born with it are both flawed arguments.

Broadly speaking homosexuality is no more of a choice than heterosexuality is. I don't wake up and choose to be attracted to the opposite sex I just am and that's not something I can choose away so why is it any different for someone who is attracted to the same sex?

But we are also not born with sexual preference which is an absurd (and disturbing) notion. I have 2 kids, male 9yrs and female 6yrs, neither one of them shows any sexual preference be it homosexuality or heterosexuality. They are kids and kids are not sexually motivated. Social constructs likes to label non-sexual preferences like the toys you play with or a favorite color, etc.... These constructs also play into environmental factors that can make someone feel out of place.

kids are influenced by these unique environments which can create positive or negative feedbacks when viewing same sex or opposite sex relationships or their own identity of where someone fits in, it also developes what is normalized and what isn't. This all happens before they go through puberty, as they mature physically they begin to translate all those existing environmental factors into attraction. It's a complicated process with many factors involved and should not be reduced to mere choice or being born with it.

In terms of Arminian or Calvinist reactions to homosexuality, choice is in opposition to being born with sexual preference and is not a theological position of choice as an abstract. Although "choice" is a poor word to champion "being born with it" doesn't reflect Calvinist theology as well as it's not about divine influence. "choice" is more of a misnomor to the defence of being born with sexual preference. Instead we should be saying early childhood development of sexuality is about learnt behaviors based on positive and negative environmental factors that can be accelerated and become more cemented in during key developmental stages like puberty as well as mirror social influences.
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Rado thouht

I have seen consequences come to people after they have treated me the wrong way. People have died.

But there has been the temptation to feed on that and welcome it so I have special power; but that would be joining with Satan.

Because Jesus got rejected and He did not kill the people who treated Him the wrong way > Jesus says >

"the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them" >

This is in Luke 9:53-56.

Also we have how Jesus on the cross *prayed* >

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (in Luke 23:34)

So, that instant justice stuff could be Satan tempting you by promising you such swift revenge if you do things with Satan. Or, God could be showing you how He is able to do this, since you say you can need the help of "seeing is believing". And God could be testing you, to see if you will be humble about it.

In any case, it can be good not to give it much attention, since the perfect revenge is to have a lost evil person turn to God and trust in Jesus and become adopted as a child of God. And then the person is your brother or sister in Jesus and is helping against evil, now, instead of helping Satan. So, getting someone born-again is the better justice against Satan and evil.

And you can grow in faith so you do not need seeing in order to believe.

And faith is not only for trusting beliefs and accepting that God watches out for us. Our Apostle Paul talks about >

"faith working through love" (in Galatians 5:6)

Also, you can read and feed on how God took care of Joseph while people did bad things to Joseph > Genesis 37-50. People did horrible things to Joseph!! But I encourage you to read how God used all that, plus God made Joseph able to take good advantage of what evil people did, and how Joseph was able to see and work along with how God used even the evil to help to bring about the good which God was doing.
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Trump is still pining for Joe - and posting on "Truth" social as if by sheer magical repetition, Joe will come back and he won't have to face Kamala

Let's a guy was standing for a local council. I tell you how he avoided the draft, the sexual assault charge, he slept with porn star while his wife was pregnant, the comments he's made about women, all his failed companies, the way he talks about his opponents, the fact that he's a felon...I could go on and on. Any reasonable person would say 'Well...that's enough. No need to go on. I think we'll skip on this guy'.

But wait. How can you reject him? I haven't told you what his policies are. And again, surely all reasonable people would say 'I don't care what his policies are. His behaviour, his character, has excluded him from being considered.'

It seems that that's not the way the world works any more.
Agreed
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Teach (διδάσκω) vs preach (κηρύσσω)

Mk 9:


Strong's Greek: 1321. διδάσκω (didaskó) — 97 Occurrences

BDAG:
① to tell someone what to do, tell, instruct
② to provide instruction in a formal or informal setting, teach

Mk 1:


Strong's Greek: 2784. κηρύσσω (kérussó) — 61 Occurrences

BDAG:
① to make an official announcement, announce, make known
② to make public declarations, proclaim aloud

Teaching was more personal and interactive, while preaching was more public and unidirectional. However, their meanings overlapped. Mark 6:
The method also was usually different. One common method of teaching was (and still is) used, where a statement is made as though absolute, that is not meant as absolute, but something to consider by which to bear upon other applications, and often followed soon after by a contradictory statement, also presented as absolute. Preaching rarely did (does) this.
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The Second Commandment

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

The name of the Lord is YHWH in Latin letters and יְהֹוָה in Hebrew. It is commonly pronounced as Yahweh or Jehovah.
ok but Ex 20:7 (third commandment) is not about pronouncing the Hebrew word.
Misusing God's name would involve using it disrespectfully or as if it had no value.
exactly!
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A Fake News Vaccine? Science says misinformation can be fought with inoculation

Fake news has been a topic that has come up often in the last few months, with some saying it helped President Donald Trump win the election while the president himself called his “Golden Shower Gate” controversy another piece of fake news.

Around the world too, there have been various instances recently involving fake news — China, Germany and Sweden, among others, are mulling action against Facebook and other social media platforms for the propagation of misinformation; Pakistan’s defense minister threatened Israel with nuclear war based on a bogus news story; a fake news story about a blast in Thailand triggered the safety check feature on Facebook; and so on.

In a statement, the researchers from universities of Yale, George Mason, and Cambridge in the United Kingdom, said: “A new study compared reactions to a well-known climate change fact with those to a popular misinformation campaign. When presented consecutively, the false material completely cancelled out the accurate statement in people’s minds — opinions ended up back where they started. Researchers then added a small dose of misinformation to delivery of the climate change fact, by briefly introducing people to distortion tactics used by certain groups. This ‘inoculation’ helped shift and hold opinions closer to the truth — despite the follow-up exposure to ‘fake news’.”

Over 2,000 participants across the United States were tested for the study, in which they were presented with opposing statements on climate change — from false assertions about there being no consensus about climate change among the scientific fraternity to accurate ones like 97 percent of scientists agreeing on human-induced climate change.

Researchers found those who saw only the facts about climate change were quite likely, irrespective of political affiliation, to move toward believing in the scientific consensus. Those who were shown only the misinformation were inclined to move away from scientific beliefs. Participants who saw the accurate data followed by fake news had very little change in opinion, the two competing sets of data cancelling each other out.

Two groups among the participants, chosen randomly, were given two separate doses of “vaccines.” One was a general warning that some groups tried to mislead the public by talking about disagreement among scientists on climate change. The other was a detailed breakdown of such claims by the Oregon Global Warming Petition Project, explaining how the signatories were fraudulent (Charles Darwin and members of the Spice Girls are among them) and how less than 1 percent actually had a background in climate science.

It was seen that the groups so inoculated showed a marked shift in opinion toward believing in climate change, and its human cause.

Sander van der Linden, a social psychologist from the University of Cambridge and director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab, and lead author of the study, said: “We found that inoculation messages were equally effective in shifting the opinions of Republicans, Independents and Democrats in a direction consistent with the conclusions of climate science. What’s striking is that, on average, we found no backfire effect to inoculation messages among groups predisposed to reject climate science, they didn't seem to retreat into conspiracy theories. There will always be people completely resistant to change, but we tend to find there is room for most people to change their minds, even just a little.”

Titled “Inoculating the Public against Misinformation about Climate Change,” the open access study was published in the journal Global Challenges.

Full article here: A Fake News Vaccine? Climate Change Misinformation Can Be Fought With ‘Inoculation,’ Scientists Say
I bet "Big Brother" would like to do that to keep all the slaves happily following the Party Line.
By the Way, What is "fake news"? Is it the big news stations?
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Man Accused of Stealing Police Car With Officer Inside, Crashing Into a Church Building

I wonder, was the cop sleeping in the back seat at the time when Mr. Footman drove off in the car?
And, later, maybe the cop woke up and tried to get control of the car thus causing the crash?
No idea.
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How likely was the first day to be a duration of 24 hours as we know it?

International System of Units defines an hour = 3,600 seconds. A second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.

Genesis 1:


Darkness was first.


The light was next.


Darkness was followed by light.


The usage of "night" here was related to the darkness in verse 2. The usage of "day" here was related to the creation of the light and not the sun. Here, I define the first day as the time elapsed from Genesis 1:2 to 1:5.

Could the first day be defined as a 24-hour earthly solar day?

I doubt it. The flow of time is not absolute but a relativistic experience. It depends on the local gravity or acceleration exerted on the time observer. To my reading, the first day seems short. God was the observer, 2 Peter 3:


This is not an equation but a simile. God is timeless and above time. No human observers were there to experience the first day. The first day marked the creation of light and delineated it from the creation of the following day. These days were markers of milestones and achievements placed by God. They are not related to the scientific SI definitions.

See also How old is the earth?.
The word "Day" in Genesis 1 in Aramaic is Heat which means the process, effort & thought, all of which is heat.
Therefore, those "heats" could take a long time from the human standpoint. There is no sense in defining the time to create as it occurred in stages that could have varied much time wise. Besides, what is time to Yahveh, the Creator of all things?
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what would Christians think of a religion whose only real purpose was to exploit the sins of Christianity?

No, thanks. Let people join or not the thread.
I'm not disappointed by our dialogue, Alex, whether or not you're a theologian ; and i wish you the same : a blessed day (how kind!)
You are welcome, bro. :)
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Did Jude quote from the Book of Enoch?

This statement is conjecture. Pure opinion without facts. I read this internet myth frequently, as it is spread without regard to proper research.
You again? Do we need another back-and-forth? Fallen Angels Sure, only you have the facts. Others who may have studied a subject for years, only have conjecture and opinions.
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