I don't know if it was actually implemented or not , but the rest of the world was horrified when we heard it.
We were all thinking George Orwell 1984.

So what were you Americans thinking at that time when it was announced ?

Genesis 1:26 (NASB20)
Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this scripture is put forth why there is evil in this world….

Seeing how this world was created out of the light and the darkness of the first day…. Man given rule over this created mixture could bring forth what there was to bring forth, that being either the light or the darkness…. If man would bring forth the light, that being the good this world was created out of, the good would be manifested and all the ramifications of that good…. But if man chose to bring forth the evil the same being true, evil would be manifested and all the fruit of that evil….

Case in point;

If man chooses to spend all his income on that which is not profitable and his offspring grows up without, and sees someone who’s parents chose not to spend their income on that which was not profitable but on that which was, covetousness would be brought forth, being, wanting what belongs to another…. Then that one’s offspring sees that one’s lack, and lies, cheats, kills to have that which belongs to another, henceforth lying, cheating, killing would take the place of doing that which is right to bring forth those things that make for life…

Then as generations come and generations go, more and more darkness would be manifested and the fruit of that darkness because man was given rule over this world and could bring forth that which he chose to bring forth, that being either the light or the darkness this world was created out of….

On the other hand if man would choose to bring forth the good and subsequent generations bring forth the good, life and those things that are good for life would be manifested….

Henceforth to this day man has a choice, he can bring forth either the light or the darkness, i.e., the good or the evil…..

To the bringing forth of the light and the good this world was created out of so those things that make for life might be manifested…..


Unto the good be our lives, a fellow follower of His, Not me

Stumbled across this today while fact checking information from elsewhere. It's voter turnout statistics from Michigan. Note the website belongs to the government of the State of Michigan and not some fringe site:

https://www.michigan.gov/sos/-/media/Project/Websites/sos/Election-Results-and-Statistics/General-Voter-Reg-Turnout-Stats.pdf

In particular, look at the statistics for 2020. 5,579,317 votes were cast out of 7,151,051 active registered voters. There was a voting age population of 7,914,600. There was also 8,105,524 registered voters.

Question: How was it that there were more registered voters in Michigan in 2020 than those of voting age? What is the official explanation?

The apostle Paul led an exemplary Christian life to the point to where he could, in good conscience, and of the Spirit of God, encourage other believers in Jesus Christ to imitate his walk of faith. And he also encouraged the believers in Christ to keep their eyes on other Christians whose walk of faith was according to the example that they had in Paul and in Timothy, from whom this letter came to the saints in Christ Jesus in Philippi.

But we should be cautious here about emulating the lives of others who we presume to be good Christians, for as he also said, many people walk as enemies of the cross of Christ whose god is their belly, and whose minds are set on earthly things. And this includes many who profess faith in Jesus Christ and many who serve as pastors and elders and deacons and Bible teachers within the gatherings of what are called “churches.”

For being a Christian is not just in professing faith in Jesus Christ nor by being baptized nor by any other religious performance that may be by outward appearance only but not true in practice. And having a Bible college or a seminary degree doesn’t make anyone more spiritual than others who do not have such degrees, either. A true follower of Christ is one who denies self, dies daily to sin, and who follows the Lord Jesus in obedience.

So, what was Paul’s example? For one, when he believed in Jesus Christ, he did a complete turnabout of his life. He took a spiritual U-turn and he went from persecuting Jesus Christ and the church to becoming a true worshiper of Christ and one of his apostles who taught the TRUE GOSPEL of salvation to the people despite being hated and rejected and falsely accused and imprisoned and beaten for his walk of faith and testimony for Jesus Christ.

And he is still being falsely accused today of having led a sinful life side-by-side with his spiritual life. For many people are taking some of his words out of context and they are making them say what they do not say if taught in the correct context, and they are drawing faulty conclusions which they then use to excuse away their own ungodly and immoral and sinful practices. So the Lord had me write on that subject to correct those errors (1).

If we read of Paul’s life as a follower of Christ, throughout his writings in the New Testament, we will learn that he was a man of God and a follower of Christ who gave his life up in entirety to follow Jesus Christ in obedience and to do what the Lord called him to do. And he preached the truth of the gospel even against much opposition, and even though many hated and mistreated him and rejected him and falsely accused him of wrongdoing.

And the gospel message that he taught is not the one that is most popularized in America today, but it was a message of self-denial, of self-sacrifice, of dying with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and of walking in obedience to the Lord and no longer in sin. This is the message of the cross and the purpose for why Jesus gave his life up for us, that we might die to sin and now live to God and to his righteousness, in His power.

So, be very careful about who you raise up as someone to be followed, and be very careful about who you ignore and reject and cast aside as worthless and not worth your time or consideration. For you may be raising up those who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, whose god is their belly, while you might be rejecting the Lord’s true servants and messengers who are suffering great persecution for their walks of obedience to the Lord.

For the Lord does not see and choose as man sees and chooses, for God looks on the heart, and not on the outward appearance which could be fake. But when our hearts are in the right place, our actions should follow suit, and we should be those who emulate the Lord Jesus in our actions and who are following the Lord in obedience to his commands, even if it means being hated and rejected and cast aside by others professing faith in the Lord.

For Jesus Christ said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living for self and in sin, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For righteousness, and not sin, is our practice, because we love God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; 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 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Make Me a Blessing

Ira Bishop Wilson / George Schuler

Out in the highways and byways of life,
Many are weary and sad;
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife,
Making the sorrowing glad.

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love,
Tell of His pow’r to forgive;
Others will trust Him if only you prove
True, every moment you live.

Give as ’twas given to you in your need,
Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed,
Unto your mission be true.

Make me a blessing, make me a blessing,
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray,
Make me a blessing to someone today.

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(1) Was Paul a Hypocrite? II

It seems that the string theory failed to be the unifying theory or to bring anything of practical use to the table, regardless of enormous resources thrown at it. Is it time for other models to get the attention?
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It's not clear where Biden was going or what he was doing....but it appears to be one of those unfortunate incidents where the Biden wranglers weren't nearby because of the photo op and Biden (as is traditional for him in these situations) seems to begin wandering off...

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Now, is this the worst I've seen him during this administration? No. No the worst has to be the Vietnam press speech....

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Now...it's not really a question of whether or not Biden's mental state has deteriorated. He's spoken to the press less than any president in the past 40 years. He's spent more of his time in office on vacation than any other president (depending on who you ask, other sources have him closer to Trump’s time on vacation)


I don't think it really matters much...I've never seen the white house have to correct the president so many times nor have I ever seen so many whistleblowers from so many agencies. My personal favorites are the IRS specialists on international money laundering accusing him of corruption and the old lady from HHS speaking at length about how over 100,000 unaccompanied children were given to known criminals and human traffickers with little regard for their safety and no accountability for where they are or what conditions they are in.

I'm not here to rip apart Biden....it would take too long. From the Afghanistan withdrawal to funneling endless cash and arms into the Ukraine where liberals ignore war crimes and Gaza where liberals complain about war crimes....this presidency is just a series of low points and crony capitalism....and abuse of the DOJ and executive branch.

I'm asking anyone and everyone....why do you think Democrats decided to run Biden despite the many problems with both his administration and mental state? Here's some suggestions starting with what I think is most likely....followed by guesses in no particular order. Say what you will about the right or republicans....they at least trotted out some options other than Trump for the US voters to choose from whether it was DeSantis, Ramaswamy, or that one unqualified lady who thought the civil war had something to do with "states rights".

Did the left decide to run Joe because...

1. He's so far gone he isn't making any decisions, and whomever is making them in his place won't be held accountable for them as Joe continues to get the blame.

2. There's really nobody else to vote for on the left. This is essentially the reason Joe ran and won the nomination in 2020. He still had familiarity with voters from his time as VP and although clearly a lie...a return to the steady leadership of those days during covid and 2020 riots was appealing.

3. The issues/platform. Joe's positions on the issues of the day really resonate with the voters. This seems unlikely as I've yet to have a real life discussion with a Biden voter who knows his positions on any issues and that seems appropriate since it doesn't appear Biden knows either.

4. He's doing a good job. Again, seems unlikely with his approval ratings that many people think this....but it's somewhere above 30% so technically 3-4 out of 10 Americans seem to approve of the job he's doing.

5. They actually want Trump to win. This one is for the conspiracy theorists out there who think that the 4 years of complaining about an oppressive and unfair justice system to appeal to the feelings of voters on the left, and then using that oppressive and unfair justice system to attempt to defeat Trump is a deliberate move to make him sympathetic to the left and independent voters.

6. Some sort of test to see what exactly the Democratic Party can get away with? When combining all the failures of the administration and the rampant hatred of old white men that the left has been stoking for the past 10 years... why not shuffle out this old white man who seems confused and inept just to see how much the voters on the left are willing to take before they get angry at their own party?

7. Full blown denial. Those in charge of such decisions genuinely believe that Joe is either still up to the job or actually doing well....and the voters agree. This would take a very cynical optimistic, perhaps even delusional perspective, but who knows who is running things at the moment anyway? Maybe they do think he's doing good.

Thoughts?

Answers I'm not interested in are....

1. Tradition. This administration has broken a lot of traditions and not just a few laws so I don't think they care more about running an incumbent president than they do winning.

2. He's not Trump. Technically, anyone who the left runs isn't Trump so....it's not really a reason to run Joe.

Again....looking for reasons why the Democratic Party decided to run Joe Biden again, despite extremely low approval ratings, poor performance on key issues like the economy, immigration, education, the wars we're now funding, etc....and his obvious mental decline.

My dad fell pretty bad the other day, has bruises all over his face and his leg. He fell last year and fractured a bone in his leg. He is getting old, so please pray he recovers perfectly.

nice

The U.S. military launched a clandestine program amid the COVID crisis to discredit China’s Sinovac inoculation – payback for Beijing’s efforts to blame Washington for the pandemic. One target: the Filipino public. Health experts say the gambit was indefensible and put innocent lives at risk.

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Who is correct in this topic? Do you agree with Sec. Haaland and the Biden Administration or with the native Arctic Inupiat tribal leaders?

Hi Christian Forums!

Just a quick intro from me as I have just joined after lurking on your End Time Prophecy thread. I am 49 and have been a Christian all my adult life. I firmly believe the Bible is the Word of God and that Jesus Christ is returning soon. I can’t wait, the World definitely needs Him.

I have spent quite a bit of time reading and thinking about what God says will happen in the near future. Daniel 7 is a particular interest of mine, hence the user ID. I look forward to discussions with you.

BibleDaniel7

There is only one faculty of volition—the will—for us and for God. Nevertheless, the outputs of the volition can be categorized in different ways:

Type 0 outputs of the will of God (or, more conveniently, type 0 directives):

These are "desires" and "wishes". Type 0 may not be fulfilled in the space-time realm. God desires that Israel would have only Him as King. God desires that no man would divorce his wife. In 1 Timothy 2:4a

[God] desires all people to be saved.

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Jesus said in Luke 12:

49, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"

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Luke 13:

34, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

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2 Peter 3:

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

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Type 1:

This consists of his providence, fate, God's sovereign hand over His creation, the so-called "permissive will", etc. In other words, it is everything that has transpired.

Type 2:

These are doctrinal codes, righteous precepts, morals, and the Ten Commandments.

Type 3:

These are God's most specific will in a given instance in the vertical-horizontal reality. In Jonah 3:4, God's type 3 directive was that Nineveh be destroyed in 40 days, as Jonah proclaimed. Only six verses later, God again directed Nineveh to be spared of the destruction proclaimed earlier.

The types are not mutually exclusive; e.g., a directive can be type 1 and type 3. When sin and death disappear, all directives will collapse to type 4 = type 0 = type 1 = type 2 = type 3.

Hamas leader says Palestinian deaths put Israelis 'right where we want them'​

Messages from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to other top Hamas officials reflect a willingness to sacrifice thousands of Palestinian deaths to gain a permanent cease-fire − one that allows Hamas to declare a historic victory by outlasting Israel and claim leadership of the Palestinian national cause, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Journal says it reviewed dozens of messages, including one in which Sinwar cited civilian losses in Algeria, where hundreds of thousands died fighting for independence from France, saying, “these are necessary sacrifices.”

In an April 11 letter to Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh after three of Haniyeh’s adult sons were killed by an Israeli airstrike, Sinwar wrote that their deaths would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.”

I am just wondering where we stand here.

RICHMOND, Va. — The Presbyterian Church in America has approved a resolution to investigate the influence of Sarah Young's book Jesus Calling on the denomination and might decide to ban it.

Less than a year after Young died at age 77, commissioners at the PCA General Assembly on Thursday morning voted to approve Overture 33, which called on two denominational agencies to investigate the book.

Specifically, the amended overture called on the Committee on Discipleship Ministries to make a report assessing “the book’s appropriateness for Christians in general” and to “outline its reasons for withdrawing the book from its inventory previously and not offering it for sale since.”

Continued below.

Judge orders show cause hearing following diary leak



Warning: The following article contains graphic descriptions of sexually explicit diary entries.

Newly published excerpts from the purported diary of the trans-identified perpetrator behind the mass shooting at Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, show perverse sexual fantasies, homicidal impulses and hostilities toward her parents' Christian beliefs.

In a lengthy X thread Wednesday, Daily Wire blogger Matt Walsh unveiled the contents of the diary belonging to Audrey Hale, the trans-identified shooter who killed six people at the Covenant School affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of America in March 2023.

Continued below.

My original testimony to the committee, which was consistent in every interview and court appearance, highlighted that “The authorization came in beforehand. It was relayed to the appropriate officials in D.C. and the Capitol Police. It was declined, and we acted when their request finally came in on January 6,” and “Trump had authorized the deployment of 10,000 to 20,000 National Guard troops to support law enforcement in multiple meetings.”
Clear and direct.

Peace in Ukraine or money for his campaign

VP Kamala Harris to attend global peace summit, confirming Biden snub​

My kids were kicked out of Catholic school — after being too patriotic​

A Southern California mom claims that her 13-year-old son was kicked out of middle school after being “too patriotic” in a speech he planned to deliver to his classmates.

On May 16, middle school student Jimmy Heyward was set to address his peers as part of his campaign for Commissioner of School Spirit and Patriotism at Saint Bonaventure Catholic School, a K-8 institution in Huntington Beach.

[First of all, why is there a 'Commissioner of School Spirit and Patriotism'? Oh, Huntington Beach. Anyway...]

When the school reviewed Jimmy’s speech, as was required of all candidates, he was asked to tone down language like the word “hate” in the context of talking about people who “hate” their country, as well as references to patriotism.

Jimmy’s mother, Hattie Ruggles, told The Post that he toned down the “hate” verbiage as requested, but refused to remove references to patriotism.

The school disagreed [that the problem was resolved]. The principal allegedly barred the boy from speaking, and, on Tuesday, Ruggles received a letter informing her that Jimmy, along with his 5- and 11-year-old sisters, could not return to the school in the fall.

From the letter:

This decision comes as a result of serious violations of the Christian Code of Conduct and the Parent Electronic Communication Policy, as outlined in our Parent Student Handbook and included below.

[The five bullet points all seem to clearly describe things the parents did, rather than the student.]



And so.... private school jettisons nightmare parents. Adios!

Yes, those same Jurist that return abortion issues to the sates and were castigated for months as biased -

Now they voted on banning an abortion pill


NOTE - a unanimous decision

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion for a 6-3 court. The court’s liberal wing, led by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented.

Trump had pushed for the ban in response to a 2017 mass shooting that killed 58 people at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas. Bump stocks allow a shooter to convert a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire at a rate of hundreds of rounds a minute.

The ban was challenged by a Texas gun store owner, Michael Cargill, who purchased two of the devices in 2018, turned them over to the government after the prohibition was implemented and then promptly sued to get them back. The federal rule made possession of a bump stock a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

New worship song dropped.
Plot twist, it's not about Jesus.
And it's not satire, it's sincere.

In American Politics for obvious reasons (I hope). Perhaps it should be in the Christians-only section instead, I'm not sure.

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-CryptoLutheran

I think so, Romans 1:

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

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That's lesbianism, a woman having sexual acts with another woman. Meyer explained:

How very prevalent among the Gentiles was the so-called Lesbian vice, λεσβιάζειν (Lucian, D.Mer. 5. 2), women with women abusing their sex, see Salmasius, foen. Trapez. p. 143 f., 152 f.

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Paul continued:

27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

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Paul described both male and female same-sex sexual activity as going against the natural order established by God.

TIL that there was a provision in the Trump Tax Cut plan that changed the way companies had to deduct salaries of software developers (which are treated as an R&D expense). Instead of giving companies the option of deducting it upfront or amortizing it over 5 years, it just required them to amortize over 5 years. When the provision kicked in in 2022, any dev whose salary had been deducted up front got quite a bit more expensive.

This provision was added to the bill to keep it “revenue neutral” so it could pass via budget reconciliation and only kicked in after 5 years, because…. reasons?