The Biden administration’s program of secretly flying illegal immigrants directly from Latin America to U.S. cities dumps over 90% in hubs of two Southern states governed by the president’s harshest border critics, according to government data.

Using taxpayer funds for political purposes and attempting to interfere in an election.

With the shape my back and hips are in at my advanced old age, I believe I would prefer to have a john that I simply *sit* on, rather than having to *mount*, thank you.

Especially without reins and stirrups.....

Greetings, everyone. I registered here a loong time ago when I had just left the Pentecostal church and was an angry-atheist. After a couple of years I mellowed and developed an inexplicable (at the time) interest in spirituality, and after a couple more years, suddenly felt called to attend a church. I've been a faithful member of my local Episcopal church since, although in terms of theology and practice I'm closer to the Orthodox and Catholics. I'm trying to give up reddit completely, but still wanted to talk about faith & spiritual practice.

Trump Not Immune From Prosecution In Criminal Hush Money Case, Judge Rules​

Trump failed to invoke the defense in a timely fashion, the judge determined.

Former President Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution in his New York hush money case, in part because he failed to invoke the defense in a timely fashion, the judge in the case ruled Wednesday.

Trump was "well aware" he could try to claim presidential immunity after he was indicted one year ago on charges of falsifying business records related to a hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, Judge Juan Merchan ruled. "Nonetheless, defendant chose not to raise the defense of presidential immunity until well past the 45-day period provided by statute," Merchan said. Merchan avoided ruling on the merits of Trump's immunity claim, instead choosing to focus on the timing, which he said tested "this court's credulity."

"This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024," Merchan wrote.

The judge did draw a distinction between Trump's claim of presidential immunity in the New York case and in the federal election interference case, where Trump is arguing that he cannot be prosecuted for conduct that occurred while he was in office.

The U.S. Supreme Court will take up that argument at the end of the month.


In the hush money case, Merchan noted that Trump did not try to claim the alleged falsification of business records constituted an official act.

Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election.

Jury selection for the trial is scheduled to get underway April 15 in New York City. The former president has denied all wrongdoing.

Trump could be looking at a six-week trial that requires him to be in court right before the presidential election.

Sixty-four percent of prospective Jewish students have taken at least one school out of consideration, according to the poll from Jewish campus organization Hillel International, with 96% of survey respondents citing concerns about campus antisemitism and 80% citing campus safety as factors in their college decision-making.

“Even if they subsidized the cost of the electric vehicle 100%, I still would refuse because I still would go broke,” Mike Nichols, a truck driver from Wisconsin, told Fox News. “That’s how useless they are. If they gave me one of these things, I still wouldn’t take it.”
It's the green movement gone crazy.

That was an ignorant thing to do on his part.

New Member Here Saying Hello.

It’s not clear why some were remanded and some were cut loose — even though they all face the same charges of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a controlled substance and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
Police said they found four guns on the property.
Desousa-Villalta and Javier Alborno, both of Venezuela, were allegedly found with handguns on them when cops arrived.
Then officers found two more guns — including a Springfield 9 mm pistol and a so-called “ghost gun” — as well as three extended magazines, a box of ammunition, a bag of ketamine and a bag of ketamine mixed with cocaine, police officials said.
There was also a 7-year-old child inside, although it’s not clear who the parents were.

I strongly disagree with the liberal handling of crime. Recently someone suggested I must be against gun control, indicating the cause of so much crime was the availability of guns. That although NY had strict gun control laws other areas of the U.S. did not and that was the problem. To me this illustrates the real problem, that when criminals have guns there often are not serious consequences. Those who only want to defend themselves from crime are the ones persecuted, and prosecuted.

Economically speaking?
I like lots of choices

Who could have imagined?

The French government has initiated a series of legal measures against Father Matthieu Raffray for calling homosexual relations sinful and for describing homosexuality as a “weakness.”

On March 15, the priest of the Institute of the Good Shepherd — created in 2006 in Rome for “the defense and dissemination of Catholic Tradition in all its forms,” according to the website of this society of apostolic life — posted a video on Instagram in which he encouraged the faithful to fight against their weaknesses.

Raffray commented that each person has his or her own weapons with which to fight, but the devil convinces people that the fight “is too hard” and therefore it’s useless to resist.

The video was denounced by various LGBT lobby groups, and Aurore Bergé, government minister for equality between women and men and the fight against discrimination, called the priest’s statements “unacceptable.”

Continued below.

We’ve been lucky enough over the past several years to see at least one solar eclipse here in the United States.

With another one – this time a total eclipse for people from Texas all the way to Maine – occuring on April 8, 2024, it’s a good time to talk about all of the strange phenomenons that occur along with it.

Like, for instance, the way animals immediately change their behavior in the lack of sunlight midday.

When the eclipse happened in 2017, scientists were able to make some firsthand and interesting observations.

For example, they saw bees taking a break from their daily routines in three states. Namely, they stopped buzzing at the time of totality. Since bees usually fly more slowly at night, this suggests that they rely on environmental cues like light to know when it’s time to return to the hive.

At the Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina, scientists observed 17 different species behaving oddly. The gorillas and the elephants, for example, all started heading toward their nighttime enclosure.

Continued below.

Roll that headline around for a bit, before diving in to the story. What could it possibly mean?

Fairfax police academy bars Herndon officers in dispute over Chinese signature​

When 61 law enforcement trainees graduated last month from Fairfax County’s Criminal Justice Training Academy ... each received a certificate signed by the academy’s director, county police Maj. Wilson Lee, who is Chinese American.

Lee, whose given name is Lee Wai-Shun, signed the certificates in Chinese, as he typically does. Among those who received certificates March 7 were three new officers from the Herndon town police force — the first trainees from that department to attend the academy since Lee took command more than a year ago. When Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard noticed the Chinese signature shortly before the graduation ceremony, she was not pleased.

“This is not acceptable for my agency,” she told Lee in an email. “I don’t want our Herndon officers to receive these.”

Not only did Fairfax County refuse to issue new certificates as DeBoard requested, but a top Fairfax official has notified DeBoard that Herndon police trainees will no longer be welcome at the academy.

Unforeseeably one of the people behind the overturning of Dobbs worries that women have been left to using potentially life threatening procedures to obtain abortions.

Is this a case of simply the 'consequences' of unprotected sex or was the reduction in abortions NOT the primary drive of the pro-life movement?

We are told in Genesis 2:7 "Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being". First of all, when we see the word: THEN, we have to look at why it is there. We have to look at this in context.

We know that Adam came from the dust of the ground. We know Adam was given plants to eat. Plants that were created days before Adam was created. If you read every science book in the world that helps to explain Genesis chapter one, we would just begin to understand what God is doing. We should use every tool we have to help us understand what we are reading in the Bible, God's word to us.

John 21 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Genesis 1:29 "Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.'"

We could spend our whole life to study Genesis 2:7 and in the end we would just be beginning to understand.

I was blessed to be a part of the March for Jesus in Medina, Ohio on March 24th! Below is a video which I hope it's an encouragement for you to get out there and share the good news of Jesus with someone, whether it's a sign or Gospel Tract, the good news of Jesus goes forth!

The great cloud of witnesses, I believe, is in reference to Hebrews 11, which is regarded by many as the “faith chapter” of the Bible, for it details for us so many of the saints of old who walked by faith and who did what the Lord led them to do. They obeyed God, which was evidence that their faith was genuine faith. For imagine with me if Noah claimed to have faith but he did not build the ark, where would his faith be then? And what if Moses did not lead the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt? Faith is shown by what we do.

So, all of these people of faith set before us an example of what it looks like to have faith and to live by that faith, in practice. By faith Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice to God. By faith Noah, in reverent fear of God’s warnings, constructed an ark for the saving of his household, as directed by God. By faith Abraham obeyed God and went where God was sending him, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin, etc.

So, following their examples of faith, we are to lay aside every weight (hindrance), and sin which clings so closely. For faith in Jesus Christ is not of our own doing, but it comes from God, is perfected by God/Christ, is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God. So those of genuine God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ will do as God commands. We will die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and we will now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, and no longer under the control of sin, in the power of God.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44]

We will get rid of every hindrance to our walks of faith, too, i.e. all that tempts us to sin, and all that leads us into sin. We will discard them from our lives. We won’t “play with fire” and expect not to get burned. We will be proactive in knowing our areas of weakness so that we do not “tempt fate” and then expect not to fall. But the biggest thing that leads people into sin is what is stored up in their hearts. If their hearts do not change, they can try all they might to change, but they will keep going back to their sins.

So the weight that many need to lay aside is hate, pride, resentment, bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness, etc., for as long as these are what are stored up in their hearts, this is what they will produce. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. These are what defile a person.” (see Matthew 15:17-20) For, “the good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil” (see Luke 6:45).

So, we must first of all have a spiritual cleansing of our hearts and minds of the Spirit of God, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ. And this is what should take place by genuine faith in Jesus Christ whereby we die with him to sin so that we may now live for him and to his righteousness. Our hearts should be transformed of the Spirit of God and so we now are putting sin to death in our lives, by the Spirit, and we are now walking in the ways of the Lord. But we are still human, so we must do this daily.

And then, as empowered by God’s Spirit living within us, we can run with endurance the race that God has set before us to run. And all throughout the New Testament we read what that looks like. For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have eternal life (Luke 9:23-26).

But we cannot do this in our own flesh, of our own making. For Jesus Christ is the author and the perfecter of our faith, so our dependency is in his power and strength to help us to resist the devil and to flee temptation to sin and to walk in holiness and in righteousness and in purity of devotion to our Lord and no longer in deliberate and habitual sin. But our eyes and our minds and our hearts must be set on Jesus Christ and on following him in obedience and not on our own flesh and on our own fleshly desires.

And he is our example that we must follow, too, for he endured the cross, and he endured taking upon himself the sins of the entire world on that cross so that in his death he put our sins to death with him so that by faith in him we might now be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And this is possible through faith in Jesus Christ which dies daily to sin and lives to his righteousness.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; 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; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

VOICE OF TRUTH

By Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman
II Corinthians 12:7-10/I Corinthians 1:20-24

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He’s holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”
“You’ll never win!”

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
And the voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth..

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Hi there,
it's a while since I have come last here.
Lately I have been studying Judaism, since I realised that I practically know nothing about it. Since there is no real forum anymore, at least I couldn't find one, where you can discuss and learn about other faiths, I decided to post in this forum. Feel free to move, if I missed a forum in here.
As a Christian it is, in my oponion, indeed useful to learn about Judaism, to understand the Bible better. I have learned about the Tanach so far, also about the Talmud and the various existing Jewish groups today (from Orthodox to Restorationist).
In my research I learned that originally the Septuagint was a Translation from Jews for Jews around 100 BC. Also, and this is interesting, for learning Hebrew.

My question today is however, do Jews read the apocryphal books in the Septuagint still today? They are not read in Shabbat of course (I have found already the Jewish Reading plan for the week and Shabbat in the Internet), but privately? Or are they meanwhile completely unknown in modern Judaism?

I am talking about the Books :
Prayer of Manasseh
1 Esdras
Tobit
Judith
Additions to Esther
1 Maccabees to 4 Maccabees
Psalm 151
Wisdom or Wisdom of Solomon
Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
Baruch
Letter of Jeremiah
Additions to Daniel
Psalms of Solomon

I couldn't find out which of these are already of Christian Origin. I believe the book of Baruch is however.

I would be happy, if there are (former) Jews in this forum that could answer my question, and maybe some follow up questions, as I study along about Judaism and Jewish history.

Yours,
Timothi

Why it will be the Mt. Sinai covenant.

Deuteronomy 31, Moses starts off by speaking to all Israel, i.e. the people gathered together, saying that he was 120 years old and not as fit as he once was. And that the LORD told him he would not be entering the promised land. But also informing them that God will destroy the nations in the land that they would inherit.

Then after giving some encouraging words to Joshua, in verses 7-8, Moses wrote a law which is essentially instructions to confirm the Mt. Sinai covenant on a 7 year basis and handed it to the priests there that day.

9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

In the law, instructions, Moses commanded them to

10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

So the cycle was set after that first seven years. And has been done every seven years since - unless circumstances like being in exile from the land prevented it. It has not been done in recent times because of the access issue to the temple mount.

Moses continued....

11 When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

The place of God's choosing is currently taken to be the temple mount by the Jews. I was informed by the Jews (Judaism) themselves of their position.

12 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:

So the whole nation is going to be a participant to confirming the Mt. Sinai covenant of God giving the promised land as their forever.
You can see how that would not go over with Muslims under the current circumstances. So it will be done once the Muslim presence is removed from the temple mount - i.e. following Gog/Magog.

13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

Moses was intent that future generations would not forget everything the children of Israel of his generation went through under the Mt. Sinai covenant by which God gave them the promised land as theirs forever.

-----------------------------------------------

So that ceremonial event will be overseen by the Antichrist on the feast of tabernacles from the temple mount. A big speech, confirming the Mt. Sinai covenant for the 7 year cycle established by Moses. The false prophet will also take part in the ceremony in my view.

Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley’s vehicle found abandoned near Kansas border​

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that it believes two women who vanished over the weekend while traveling to pick up children are "in danger" as it’s now been days since they were last seen.


The vehicle that Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, were driving in was found abandoned Saturday in a remote part of the state near the Kansas border. The women were "traveling together to pick up children" but they "never made it to the pickup location," according to the Texas County Sheriff’s Office.

"We believe they are in danger because we have not heard from them in, coming up on three days now," OSBI public information manager Hunter McKee told Fox News Digital. "Where their vehicle was last seen was a very rural area of the state as well. We have not found them yet. We are doing everything we can."

The OBSI earlier described the situation as a "suspicious disappearance case."


Continued below.

Hi,

So I have been thinking and it seems I have this bad habit, maybe it is pride, maybe it is sin, maybe it is not wanting to depend on God, I need to think more about this.

Just sharing to gain more insights faster, so drop your opinion.

God can always give us strength and wisdom to handle all kinds of suffering I suppose, the thing is we should keep praying to God to give us strength and wisdom.

But it sometimes feels awkard to pray for this as a full grown adult or not ?

Maybe that's why some christian fail morally, who knows ?

Br,