• 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.

If You Love Me

Jesus speaking: “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth." ~ John 14:15-17a
"Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'" ~ John 14:23

Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, was very passionate, but he was also extremely impulsive, and, though he was sincere in what he felt, he didn't always follow through with what he said he would do. Yet, Jesus transformed his life and he became the first disciple to share the gospel message on the Day of Pentecost when thousands of people believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and received His Holy Spirit within them.

Subsequently the church was formed and began meeting together daily for teaching, fellowship, prayer and the breaking of bread. Yet, prior to Peter's transformation, he denied Jesus Christ three times when Jesus was arrested, put on trial, and ultimately was crucified on the cross. Once Peter heard the rooster crow, he knew that what Jesus had said would happen had come true, and he wept in repentance for what he had done.

Later, after Jesus had been resurrected, Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me?" Peter answered, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." Jesus was asking Peter if he loved (Agape - God-like love) him and Peter responded that he friendship (phileo) loved him. Jesus asked again a second time to Peter if he (agape) loved him, to which Peter responded that he (phileo) friendship loved him. The third time Jesus asked Peter if he (phileo) loved him, to which Peter responded, "Lord, you know that I (phileo / friendship) love you." Jesus then responded to Peter, "Then, feed my sheep."

This song, thus, is based off this idea that if we love Jesus, we should obey and serve him by feeding (spiritually) his sheep.

If You Love Me

An Original Work / May 6, 2011
Based off of John 21:15-25


If you love Me, why not serve Me?
If you love Me, why not serve Me?
If you love Me, why not serve Me?
Won’t you feed My sheep?
Tell the world that Jesus loves them.
He died for their sins.

If you love Me, why not trust Me?
If you love Me, why not trust Me?
If you love Me, why not trust Me
To do what I say?
Give your lives to Jesus only.
Serve Him as your King.

If you love Me, I will bless you.
If you love Me, I will bless you.
If you love Me, I will bless you.
I’ll give you a crown.
When I come I will receive you
As My very own.

Login to view embedded media

Planned Parenthood accused of violating tax-exempt status with abortion van at DNC

The pro-life group 40 Days for Life has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over a mobile abortion clinic operated by Planned Parenthood in Chicago this week.

The abortion giant offered free abortions and vasectomies to residents and visitors in Chicago as the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) was held in the city’s downtown from Aug. 19-22.

Planned Parenthood described the service as a “mobile health clinic” set up in the city’s West Loop neighborhood. The van reportedly sold out of abortion appointments before it opened.

In a complaint obtained by CNA, 40 Days for Life told the IRS that Planned Parenthood, in using its abortion van, may have engaged in “potentially prohibited political activities” that could “impact the tax-exempt status” of the abortion provider.

The mobile clinic “openly advertise[d] and provide[d] free services from not-for-profit entities to participants of and in direct relation to a nationwide political rally for one party and certain political candidates,” the complaint said.

Continued below.
  • Like
Reactions: Richard T

Chicago pregnancy center vandalized as Democratic National Convention closes

Chicago pregnancy center attack
A Catholic pregnancy center called "Aid for Women" in north Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood was vandalized with red paint and the words "fake clinic" and "the dead babies are in Gaza" at 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 23, just hours after the closing of the Democratic National Convention. Mary FioRito, a spokesperson for the center, said that vandals also cemented the doors shut, forcing the nonprofit to cancel appointments for around 12 women. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Aid for Women.

Catholic pregnancy center in Chicago called “Aid for Women” was vandalized in the early morning hours after the closing of the Democratic National Convention.

No one was present at the center at the time of the incident. Police have been contacted and are investigating the incident as a violation of the Freedom of Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, according to Mary FioRito, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a spokesperson for Aid for Women.

Aid for Women is a non-profit which according to its website was “founded on the faith and teachings of the Catholic Church.”

The nonprofit operates five pregnancy centers and two maternity homes in the Chicago area. The group partners with the Archdiocese of Chicago and offers a range of services including ultrasounds, abortion pill reversal medications, counseling, and material aid.

Continued below.

Secret Service Agents placed on leave


What are y'alls thoughts about this development here?

What is your favorite Kamala policy.

This is a serious question because I genuinely would like to understand why Democrats support Kamala Harris for President. So the question is simple, which of Kamala's policies are your favorite and why? Please note that answers like "because she isn't Trump" or "because she is a woman of color" are not considered official policies of the Harris caplaign. Thank you.

Does God truly protect the godly?

Psalm 37:23 The steps of a man are from YHWH, and he establishes him in whose way he delights; 24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for YHWH is the stay of his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread. 26 He is ever giving liberally and lending, and his children become a blessing.

Are such promises applicable to every godly person?

  • Poll
Where were they taken?

Where shall they be taken?

  • Into the clouds in the rapture

    Votes: 4 40.0%
  • Into destruction

    Votes: 6 60.0%
  • To a place where dead bodies are laying around

    Votes: 1 10.0%

Luke 17:26-27 KJV
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Matthew 24:39-41 KJV
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Luke 17:34-37 KJV
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him,
Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles* be gathered together.
*vultures


Luke 17:28-30 KJV
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
  • Like
Reactions: Vambram

I don't know what to do

Before I got saved I just worked, play video games, hung out with friends, and slept. Obviously I can't do that as much anymore, I don't think God wants me to abandon these things but give them less time. So what should I do because I can only read the Bible so much before I get overwhelmed, I could talk to God but the longer I do it the more mental fog I develop (which I why I can't/find it difficult to pray in the morning) and praying for several hours as a new believer seems impossible to me so I have a decent amount of free time so what should I do?

The Bible

What do Catholics think of the bible?

We think thus: Through the sacred scriptures and in His goodness and wisdom God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will (see Eph. 1:9) by which through Christ, the Word made flesh, man might in the Holy Spirit have access to the Father and come to share in the divine nature (see Eph. 2:18; 2 Peter 1:4).

And where does God reveal himself? In sacred scripture. Through this revelation, therefore, the invisible God (see Col. 1;15, 1 Tim. 1:17) out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends (see Ex. 33:11; John 15:14-15) and lives among them (see Bar. 3:38), so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself.

And in history and creation too, God reveals himself. God, who through the Word creates all things (see John 1:3) and keeps them in existence, gives men an enduring witness to Himself in created realities (see Rom. 1:19-20). Planning to make known the way of heavenly salvation, He went further and from the start manifested Himself to our first parents. Then after their fall His promise of redemption aroused in them the hope of being saved (see Gen. 3:15) and from that time on He ceaselessly kept the human race in His care, to give eternal life to those who perseveringly do good in search of salvation (see Rom. 2:6-7). Then, at the time He had appointed He called Abraham in order to make of him a great nation (see Gen. 12:2). Through the patriarchs, and after them through Moses and the prophets, He taught this people to acknowledge Himself the one living and true God, provident father and just judge, and to wait for the Savior promised by Him, and in this manner prepared the way for the Gospel down through the centuries.

Why does God reveal himself to us? This plan of revelation is realized by deeds and words having an inner unity: the deeds wrought by God in the history of salvation manifest and confirm the teaching and realities signified by the words, while the words proclaim the deeds and clarify the mystery contained in them. By this revelation then, the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines out for our sake in Christ, who is both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation.

Then, after speaking in many and varied ways through the prophets, "now at last in these days God has spoken to us in His Son" (Heb. 1:1-2). For He sent His Son, the eternal Word, who enlightens all men, so that He might dwell among men and tell them of the innermost being of God (see John 1:1-18). Jesus Christ, therefore, the Word made flesh, was sent as "a man to men." He "speaks the words of God" (John 3;34), and completes the work of salvation which His Father gave Him to do (see John 5:36; John 17:4). To see Jesus is to see His Father (John 14:9). For this reason Jesus perfected revelation by fulfilling it through his whole work of making Himself present and manifesting Himself: through His words and deeds, His signs and wonders, but especially through His death and glorious resurrection from the dead and final sending of the Spirit of truth. Moreover He confirmed with divine testimony what revelation proclaimed, that God is with us to free us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to life eternal.

The Christian dispensation, therefore, as the new and definitive covenant, will never pass away and we now await no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Tim. 6:14 and Tit. 2:13).
  • Informative
Reactions: A_JAY

A Conservative Republican Explains Why He Will Vote for Harris and Walz


Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican lawmaker, explains at the Democratic
National Convention, why he will be voting for the Democratic presidential ticket.

And, he urges conservative Republicans who value law and order, and the
Democratic institutions, to do the same.

Kinsinger represents the dilemma of conservative Republicans, who were
repulsed by the lawless violence demonstrated by MAGA Republicans at the
rioting at the Capital Building. And Kinsinger is clear that he is convinced
that it was Donald Trump who inspired this lawless violence, against
an institution of American democracy.

God vs Satan

Satan has always counterfeited God's creation even Humans.

Here are just a few examples of what God has made & Satan has counterfeited.

God - An unmovable earth
Satan- A movable earth.

God - All plants & trees.
Satan - Plastic Artificial types.

God - Silk, Cotton
Satan - Satin, Nylon

God - Gold
Satan - metal the look like gold

God - Diamonds
Satan - Zirconium

God - Meat
Satan - Lab Grown

Can you come up with anymore ?

My wife got promoted and likely we will never have time for church again

So my wife's been working for Walmart for almost 13 months now and she just recently got promoted and is now making even more than she was before which means that she's getting more hours than she's had before. It was very difficult with her old job for us to attend Church not only because it was an hours drive away but also because she virtually never got a Sunday off even when she applied for one. When she first applied for the job she mentioned that she didn't mind working weekends but that she wanted some Sundays off so that she could attend Church and they said no problem. She was working part time then and in the first year that she worked there she got maybe 4 Sundays off many of them she had to request off.

She started her new full time job Monday and I've barely seen her. She doesn't get another day off until next Monday and Wednesday and she's regularly working 6 sometimes 7 days a week for the foreseeable future. I'm concerned that she will never get another Sunday off again and I want to attend Church to see my church Elder and my church family.

My Elder I can see virtually anytime because often he and his wife will take my wife and I out to dinner. In fact we have plans to eat out sometime in September. But spending time with my Elder who is like my best friend is only part of the reason I like attending church. I also like listening to him preach he gives fantastic sermons every Sunday, I go for communion, I go to spend time with our congregation, I love the hour long car ride there and the hour long car ride back, I go so that my Elder can help me grow as a Christian and help my wife and I shape and mold. Things that just can't be done by regularly contacting him through email.

I don't know what can be done though. I don't want to change churches because for one, our church is the closest PCA church to us and for two, im so close to our Elder and congregation that I don't want to leave even if there was a closer church. I mean, he would always talk to me and probably would always remain friends with me but I like him being the leader of my presbytery he does a fantastic job at it and I really hope he never retires.

And I don't want my wife to quit her job because she makes enough for me to get off of ssi so I'm not bound to the government anymore and I can actually save money and no longer can the government say "sorry you have too much money. You need to spend it all". No longer do I have to deal with my parents trying to encourage me to commit capital fraud and hide money from the government because my grandmother does it and everyone else does it and gets away with it and they're not going to prosecute me for it. No longer do I have to try to explain to them that I'm not worried about the government I'm worried about and obeying God who sees all. No longer do I have to deal with them not getting it and their constant harassment.

So really the only option is for my wife to get fired and be forced to find a new job because my wife really loves her job and loves working there and Walmart appreciates her enough to promote her so they like her too. So unless she does something grossly wrong I don't think that's going to happen. So... I guess I'm just stuck? How do I deal with this?

Salvation from the Catholic View Compared to the Eastern Orthodox View

Are there any big differences in their doctrines regarding this? Is there any risk to a believer for believing either doctrine in the perspective of either Denomination?

From what I have heard. Both denominations believe Salvation is conditional, along with belief that any man can come to the faith by their own will. And that any person can walk away from the faith by their own free will.

There isn't a belief of predestination, or OSAS (Once saved always saved), In either denomination.

If anything I have said is wrong about the beliefs or disbeliefs of either denomination please correct me. I have one question for both, and that is for those who left the faith, can they re-enter back in and be saved, or is that a permanent decision on behalf of the ex-believer?

Need the joy of the Lord

Hi everyone, I would greatly appreciate your prayers. For whatever reason I do not have joy, I have never had it, I had it for about 5 minutes right after I got saved and then it left and has never come back. There must be a very good reason why I do not have it, I have been seeking God for the reason why but no reply so far. I do not have peace either. The bible says that the joy of the Lord is your strength and I lack strength!

Proof of Pre Trib Rapture

During the last years the believers/saints will be overcome and their power and a mass murder of believers will occur. Surely anyone posting here would know that much is true according to the bible. Many martyrs, beheadings, believers fleeing and not being able to preach the gospel freely etc etc

The bible tells us that the gates of hell will not withstand the church, or as some interpret, overcome it.

If the church were here in those last years, then it would be overcome. So it cannot be here if what Jesus said is true.

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
5,876,000
Messages
65,375,306
Members
276,240
Latest member
mayersdylaan45