• 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.

Father, sons drowned teen daughter over her ‘Western lifestyle’

There's not much to say about the murders , besides saying they should all be punished. Just like if any religious or non religious person, that murders people.
Yup. I agree completely.
Upvote 0

‘Just atrocious’: Trump’s polling numbers just hit a new low

Enten cited a recent Gallup poll that saw Trump’s net approval rating sink to -24 percent from -1 percent in January. “We’re talking about a drop of over 20 points in the wrong direction for the president of the United States,” the analyst said.

The only president who was less popular than Trump at this point in his second term? Richard Nixon, who had an approval rating of -36 points just a few months before he resigned from office. “Anywhere you look this is the second-worst for a president of either party in their second term dating all the way back since the 1940s,” Enten said.
Upvote 0

The New Testament begins in Acts not Matthew chapter one.

Plus, there is Spiritual Israel, which, apart from Jesus Himself, didn't begin until Pentecost, when the first believers were placed into Christ. It's not cut and dry. There seems to be a lot of overlapping.

Pentecost was a Jewish festival, no gentiles will be coming into Jerusalem (Acts 2:5), and Peter was only speaking to "Men of Israel" (Acts 2:14).

So the Body of Christ did not begin at Pentecost, God was adding the believing Jews into little flock.

As for your point about natural vs spiritual Israel, are you using Romans 9:6 to form that kind of distinction?
Upvote 0

Have Christians misunderstood the scriptures of Gods plan for them?

NT Wright is about as far as one might wish to be from Adventist eschatology. He is a preterist (A partial preterist, which is what most Preterists are, few are "full preterist".

For him almost every prophecy in the Bible is fulfilled by 70 AD but he still allows the Rev 20 2nd resurrection, second death to be future.

as for SDA theology about the soul, the 28 FB do not teach non-existence at first death.
Neither the Bible, or EGW nor our 28 FB claim that Ezek 18:4 "the soul that sins it shall die" is a reference to the first death.

2 Cor 12 tells us that Paul does not know whether he went to the third heaven in the body or out of the body. hmm how is it that Paul is not a smart as N.T. Wright?

Matt 10:28 "do not fear those who can kill the body but CAN NOT kill the sou., (First death). Rather fear Him who can destroy BOTH body AND soul in fiery hell"

John `11 "our friend Lazarus sleeps", NOT "our friend Lazarus no longer exists"
Upvote 0

‘TERMINATED!’ Trump Calls to End FEMA and Let States Manage Disasters for ‘BIG SAVINGS’

FEMA employees call for reforms to restore disaster response capacity ahead of Katrina anniversary

The “Katrina Declaration and Petition to Congress” calls out reductions to CERT, the National Fire Academy and hazard grants as weakening national disaster readiness​


FEMA employees who signed letter critical of Trump suspended, unsuspended, then resuspended

“CNN reporting revealed that 14 FEMA employees previously placed on leave for misconduct were wrongly and without authorization reinstated by bureaucrats acting outside of their authority,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill.

FEMA’s lawyers had determined that the decision to sign the letter were protected under both the First Amendment and the Whistleblower Protection Act. “They went back to work … yesterday morning and they were sent home yesterday afternoon,” Government Accountability Project senior counsel David Seide told The Hill Tuesday.
Upvote 0

Is Morphic Resonance Real

Here's an example of scientific materialism attempting to explain morphic resonance, from that view:

Plants "Listen" to the Good Vibes of Other Plants | National Geographic Plants "Listen" to the Good Vibes of Other Plants

"Whatever the signal is, we don't know if the plants produce it for the purpose of signaling or if it is an accidental byproduct that other plants then 'eavesdrop' on," Renton said.

Other unknowns: What structures are plants using to talk to and listen to one another? And can insects and animals spy on plant conversations and exploit them for their own purposes?

To these questions and more, Gagliano said, the answer is "we don't know."

But "the data are here. Plants are doing something," she added. "I can't fully explain it, but that doesn't mean it's not happening."
This is chemical signaling and had nothing to do with Sheldrake's nonsense about "morphic resonance". I watch the short video in you earlier post and Sheldrake goes on about crystals of the same compound "communicating" throughout the planet. That was his "morphic resonance" and it is utter nonsense.
Upvote 0

Why Christians can't look away from Israel

For the boarder's that Israel will eventually be again?

Numbers 34:6 (NIV): "Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west."
Exodus 23:31 (NIV): "I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines..."
Genesis 15:18 (NIV): "On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, 'To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.'"
Numbers 34:10-12 (NIV): The eastern border is described as running from Hazar-enan south to Shepham, continuing along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee (Chinnereth), and then running along the Jordan River to the Salt Sea (the Dead Sea).

View attachment 373928

I am going to come back to you because this is a large subject. The area west of the Jordan corresponds Joshua’s conquests, so I don’t think the map you have given here is accurate, because I don’t see how 31 kingdoms could possibly fit into that little area as shown.




IMG_7947.jpeg
Upvote 0

Game based on Bible passage about killing everything that breathes

If this Game is for children, have you considered rating it PG?
Actually it is for 13+ year olds. You have to be at least 13 on Steam and there is no age check for the game (based on the game's cartoonish content). The warning says it isn't suitable for younger players which means under 13 year olds.
Not that that would matter, if only atheists are playing this, since they will probably try to make God look as ugly as possible, and not tell them the whole truth.
I'm not an atheist - I believe in a non-obvious intelligent force. I did include entire Bible passages rather than leave out the problematic verses. Like I said there was a Christian that reviewed it and he thought it didn't involve enough suffering. i.e. Christians are playing it too.
No lover of God would enjoy this game though, for those two reasons.
God (1) hates the one loving violence, and (2) will punish the one that delights in the destruction of individuals.
In fact, God himself does not delight or pleasure in the death of anyone. Ezekiel 18:23, 32
The goal was to show some of the most controversial passages in the Bible - not to portray everything in the best possible light.
How accurate is your game?
If it's not accurately based on the scriptures, it's not based on the scriptures.
Well for Deuteronomy 20:16-20 every single verse is in the game:
But what about the cities the Lord your God is giving you as your own? Kill everything that breathes in those cities. Completely destroy them. Wipe out the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. That's what the Lord your God commanded you to do. If you don't destroy them, they'll teach you to do all the things the Lord hates. He hates the way they worship their gods. If you do those things, you will sin against the Lord your God.
Suppose you surround a city and get ready to attack it. And suppose you fight against it for a long time in order to capture it. Then don’t chop down its trees and destroy them. You can eat their fruit. So don’t cut them down. Are the trees people? So why should you attack them? But you can cut down trees that you know aren’t fruit trees. You can use their wood to make ladders and towers to help you get over the walls and capture the city.
Except that I only mention the Jebusites. It includes soldiers telling you not to chop fruit trees and you have to chop other trees to build ladders to climb over city walls.
Usually, when endeavoring to make a game or movie based on history, or a document, or book, people do thorough research, so as to not misrepresent the facts.
The parts I added were obviously not historical - e.g. magic laser swords, holy hand grenades, etc.
Joshua 10:28, and Joshua 11:11 are corresponding text, and no one was buried, or pushed into a pit, and there was no need to skillfully chop animal, since they burned the city. So any survivor would be "incinerated".
I think Joshua wasn't set at the same time as Deuteronomy 20. Apparently it happens after Moses' death.
The Israelites did not only have swords. They had spearmen Numbers 25:7, and they also had archers Genesis 27:4; Genesis 48:21, 22. The archers in David's time, were accurate to a hair's breath, and would not miss.
Well I had technical issues adding in arrows.
I can't see them running behind a horse, or cat.

Striking the city with the sword doesn't necessarily mean the sword alone was used.
Joshua 24:11-13 reads
11 “When you crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho, the men of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I gave you victory over them.
12 And I sent terror ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not your swords or bows that brought you victory.​
13 I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build—the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them.​

Psalm 44:3 reads
They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory. It was your right hand and strong arm and the blinding light from your face that helped them, for you loved them.​

So, there are a few details missing from your game.
I think it is far more closely based on the Bible than most Bible games - e.g. in the SNES Noah's Ark game you have to shoot food at aggressive animals and they fall asleep.
Not that they make that much of a difference to what you are aiming to achieve.
Well when I began this game as part of the university subject "Playcentric Game Design" the player experience goal was for the player to feel shocked. Now the goal is for the player to feel conflicted - i.e. the gameplay could feel fun but they can feel bad because they are committing war crimes (including killing babies - though you can order the soldiers to do that)
Upvote 0

Special Counsel Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted in Election Case

Appeals court finds ‘undue delay’ in Cannon’s handling of litigation over Jack Smith report

A judicial panel gave the Florida judge, who presided over Trump’s classified documents case, 60 more days to rule on long-pending release motions.
THE BOSS HAS SPOKEN

Trump Urges Judge Aileen Cannon to Keep Jack Smith Report Secret

On Tuesday, Trump argued in a court filing that Smith’s report should never be made public, in what would be a deviation from previous practice, Politico reported.

The president urged Cannon, whom he nominated to the bench, “to extend her 11-month-old order blocking the Justice Department from releasing the full report, which Smith submitted shortly before Trump’s second inauguration.”

“Trump’s request is a break from the Justice Department’s handling of all special counsel reports in recent decades,” Politico added. “Typically, those reports are provided to Congress and made public, even when they have included damaging findings about the incumbent administration.”
Upvote 0

Anti-ICE protestors block vehicles, hurl objects and trash at NYPD officers

Police charged several protestors who attempted to interfere with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in New York City by hurling objects at vehicles and screaming obscenities at authorities.

The New York Police Department confirmed that it has charged 18 protestors that it had taken into custody, CBS News reported.

On Saturday, the protestors attempted to stop ICE agents from leaving a parking garage near Centre and Howard Streets in lower Manhattan. The demonstrators were reportedly trying to stop immigration enforcement operations on Canal Street.

Continued below.

Jude, and 1 Enoch

No. Inspired scripture stopped 70 AD (Daniel 9 said vision, and prophecy would stop 70 AD), and they have texts in their canon that are written after 70 AD like pseudo Josephus. The most important inspired apocrypha not pseudepigrapha texts for the wise only are 1 Enoch, 1/2 Maccabees, Assumption of Moses, Life of Adam, and Eve. For the NT it is gospel of Nicodemus, History of Joseph the Carpenter, Proto James.
Ok. Nevertheless, hyper Preterism really does not square with scripture.
Thanks for sharing!
Upvote 0

Scholar wins Grawemeyer Award for book on enslaved ghostwriters of the Bible

When many Christians think about the authors of the Bible, some of the names that tend to stand out are Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Peter and Paul.

In her 2024 book, God's Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible, biblical scholar Candida Moss recognizes the contribution of many enslaved Christians and ghostwriters, like Tertius, who wrote down Paul’s letters to the Romans.

“I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord,” he wrote in Romans 16:22.

Moss, who is the Cadbury Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham, England, presents the significant role enslaved people played in spreading the Gospel, working as scribes and missionaries.

“While he’s one of the few enslaved Jesus followers whose name is preserved in the New Testament, Tertius’s is not the only set of enslaved hands to have played a formative role in the making of Christian Scripture,” Moss writes in the introduction of the book. “For the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture have credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Peter, and Paul. But the truth is that the individuals behind these names, who were rewarded with sainthood for their work, did not write alone. In some meaningful ways, they did not write at all.”

Continued below.

In act of transparency, K$H Patel fires FBI leader after it becomes known Patel used FBI jet to see his girlfriend perform

Patel defends FBI leadership, jet use: ‘I’m entitled to a personal life’

On Tuesday, House Democrats also launched an investigation into his jet usage, asking the FBI to turn over all flight records amid reports of Patel’s “date night” travels with his girlfriend and to sporting events as well as a hunting retreat called Boondoggle Ranch.

House Democrats on Tuesday slammed Patel for using the jet to meet his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, at an event where she performed before flying back to her home in Nashville. They also noted various trips to sporting events and the hunting trip as well as Patel’s efforts to remove the FBI jet from the flight tracking site Flight Aware.

“I’ve also used the airplane less than my prior two predecessors. And, yes, I’m entitled to a personal life just like my other agency counterparts with their partners. Do I support my girlfriend? Absolutely. And I do take trips with her? Absolutely,” he said.
Upvote 0

Recipes using inexpensive items

Anything with marrow bone is amazing. I once found an extremely old one in the back garden. It still tasted yummy!
Do any of you think Christians will still be living in cities in the end times? And if so, do you think any of them will live off the waste of society in that time period?
Upvote 0

Trump’s Defense Secretary Accidentally Texted War Plans to The Atlantic: ‘I Didn’t Think It Could Be Real,’ Editor Says

Pentagon watchdog finds Hegseth’s use of Signal posed risk to US personnel, AP sources say

[One source] also said the report concluded that Hegseth violated Pentagon policy by using his personal device for official business and it recommended better training for all Pentagon officials.
Upvote 0

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
5,879,128
Messages
65,429,262
Members
276,428
Latest member
Lovelybreeder