Many of us who grew up in the 80's and 90's would have read at least one of Frank Peretti's novels. A few of them have been made into movies but have never seen the success the books deserve. I'm interested to know what one of Franks novels would you like to see made into a movie? ('This Present Darkness' excluded, because we all want that!)

The report, which announced the findings of a monthslong probe sparked by the federal prosecutor’s appearance at a Democratic political fundraiser involving first lady Jill Biden, comes one day after Rollins’ attorney said that she plans to submit her letter of resignation to President Joe Biden by the end of the week.

After media reports raised questions about the appearance, Rollins suggested on Twitter that she had “approval” to be there, according to the report, which said she in fact did not receive the necessary approval to attend the event.

Rachael Rollins, the US attorney for Massachusetts, leaked sensitive Justice Department information to a journalist in an effort to influence a local election, according to a report released Wednesday by the department’s inspector general.

Rollins also lied under oath to during an interview with the inspector general about the information she gave to the reporter, the report says.

--

Government official trying to influence an election? Bad apple sniffed out and gone.

Hi all. I’m back again, I was a member here about 10 years ago, and have returned looking for some good discussion and making new friends.
Side note. I’m not really Foghorn, nope sorry. Just using the name.

An article from conservative media, The Bulwark.

What's bad that we knew was bad but maybe worse than we thought...

Senator Dianne Feinstein -

Senator Tommy Tuberville -

Elon Musk -

Heritage Foundation -

Nikki Haley -

U.S. Secret Service -

Can you guess why each one of these has been shown to be worse than the bad we already knew?

Some of the biggest focus on there being a climate change catastrophe in progress has been Lake Mead in Nevada, USA drying up.
But now the tables have turned and it's filling up. The Great Salt Lake in Utah is experiencing the same results.

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I have to ask, why is the President denouncing only "alt right" ideologies and not Leftist ideologies? Who are the "alt right" besides the boogie man of the Left, used as a slur? "The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, its president, vice-presidents and all 35 district presidents, along with its ministerium and congregations..."

Was this passed in some kind of vote or is the Pres taking liberties? Where can I find a list of those who signed this document? This is not a good look for the LCMS if they are only striking to the right and not the left.

Yours,

jm

Things just not getting better at Disney:

Owner Gabriel Sims-Fewer cites lack of seed capital as one of the primary reasons for the failure.

I was gonna say that the combination of letting people take stuff for free while having signage and messaging that many find off-putting (thereby all but ensuring that your establishment is only frequented by freeloaders and drifters) would've been the likely culprit...but what do I know, I've never owned a coffee shop.

Although, the lack of seed capital part seems a tad ironic. I guess that would be a tough sales pitch when trying to raise capital...telling all of the people who have the kind of money that they could afford to invest in your startup that they're "colonialist scum".


The Anarchist opened in March of last year with a goal of making third-wave, specialty coffee drinks accessible to working-class and poor people. The cafe offered pay-what-you-can drip coffee alongside a range of lattes, teas and pastries. It also carried radical books, prints, and merchandise. People were not required to make a purchase at the café to use its restroom facilities or rest in the space.

But he did leave his Instagram followers with a message of unity and hope: (the word isn't "to heck with" obviously, I can't use the real language here)
“<to heck with> the rich,” he wrote. “<to heck with> the police. <to heck with> the state. <to heck with> the colonial death camp we call ‘Canada.’”

The entrepreneur had also made social media posts where he apologized for the fact that he is a “white, cisgender”, and another where he said “the queen was <not a nice word> and should have died sooner,”


Seems like this business owner needs to get a little perspective here... How far left on the spectrum do you have to be in order to hold the view that Canada, of all places, is some sort of "right-wing Colonial death camp"? And in Toronto none the less (which many ranking lists rank in the top 10 or top 20 in terms of most progressive cities in the world). It'd be like a person living in Midland, TX looking around and saying "this place is just too darn liberal"

I am new here. I grew up in going to several denominations, Baptist, Charismatic and Evangelical, however because of unresolved childhood abuse I walked away from all of it. I have slowly began to meander back by way of history. I have been studying the Patristic age with the goal of understanding where the church stated up till now. I am currently reading A History of Penance by Oscar D Watkins. I have a lot of questions about the orthodox view and how that has morphed and changed in the reformation. I look forward to conversing with many of you.

So I stopped at a local Lutheran church for the first time and talked to the pastor. Good, conservative guy - I liked him and we got along really well.

I like Lutheran teaching and answers on a lot of things, but the service has me put off to be honest. This one they do is like a Latin mass. Pastor has his back to the people at communion time, and he said the pastor is acting "in persona Christie" - a term I didn't like in Catholicism either.

At the Last Supper I don't think Jesus had his back to everyone while he broke bread - or ever when they broke bread for that matter. I have heard all the logic behind it, but it does not seem Scriptural, nor does it confer that sharing a meal togetherness.

And the "in persona Christie" thing - I am sure there are explanations. But if you support it, would you support that a Catholic priest is also "in persona Christie"?

Priests in France will be required to carry QR codes that the public can scan in order to check if they have been struck off as part of a sexual abuse clampdown.

The new wallet-sized ID cards will, after being scanned by a mobile phone, bring up a green, orange or red light depending on the priest’s status and career history.

The new system announced at the French Bishops’ Conference is designed to make the church more transparent but has been criticised as frivolous by some sex abuse survivor groups.

The ID card’s main function is to show whether a priest is qualified to lead Mass or hear confession, but the code also discloses whether the priest has been stripped of clerical status.

The card does not explicitly state why a priest has been stripped of that status, but the red colour code would serve as an early warning signal that they may have faced sexual abuse charges.

This means the cards can apparently be used by Catholics to find out whether bishops, deacons and priests in their area are possible sex offenders, broadcaster France 24 reported.

Continued below.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV


Sin has always existed since Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord. For, ever since then we have all been born into the world with sin natures, in the image of Adam. So none of what is listed above is new. But I do believe it is increasing in severity in these last days, and that it is increasing greatly among those professing faith in Jesus Christ. For much of what is presently being taught as the gospel actually sanctions a lot of what is listed above.

So, sinful addiction is not unusual among those who call themselves Christians here in America. Very few seem to truly grieve over that reality, either. It seems to be generally accepted as just the way things are. So, many have become desensitized. And the church, in general, is doing little to stop it, and many are giving believers in Jesus carte blanche to continue in deliberate and habitual sin under the guise of God’s grace and forgiveness.

So, you can have a man professing faith in Jesus Christ openly admit that he is an adulterer and a spousal abuser and that he refuses to let God change his heart, and it seems that no one blinks an eye. And no one calls him on the carpet and confronts him with his sin. It is kind of like the man talked about in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 who had his father’s wife and the church was proud and did not mourn over this man’s sin. The people didn’t care.

Only now it is not just one man, but it is hundreds and thousands of men and women and children who are living in sexual sin while the church, in general, embraces them and will not confront them, for they do not want to offend them. And so marriages are being destroyed, and families are being torn apart, and children are becoming sex addicts, and it is destroying their hearts and minds, but few will lift a finger to try to help. They are heartless.

And the godly are becoming the enemy while the ungodly are becoming the accepted. So, it isn’t that any of these sins are new, but that they are increasing and they are being accepted as the norm even among those professing faith in Christ. Yet, many who are living this way will give off the image that they are true believers in Jesus while they deny the Lord and his gospel by their sinful practices. And we, the church, are to avoid them.

2 Timothy 3:10-14 ESV


So, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ who grieves over these sins which are running rampant in today’s modern market-driven “churches,” i.e. businesses, you may not have many others grieving with you. And you may even come under rebuke, and you may be accused of being unloving, or judgmental, or self-righteous, because you are sharing the truths of the Scriptures which call for us to forsake our sins and to obey our Lord.

So, you may end up being persecuted by others who profess faith in Jesus Christ because you are concerned that these sins are going on within the gatherings of the church, and you are concerned that not much is being done to stop it, and that so many are teaching a diluted gospel which is not demanding death to sin nor living to righteousness. For all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

But while the godly are being persecuted, those who are making evil their practice – which includes many professers of faith in Christ who are impostors – they are going from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived, and not much at all is being done to stop them. And many people are following them and are approving and accepting of them, sometimes even knowing some of the evil that they are doing.

And if we are among the persecuted because we stand for truth and righteousness, in a generation which is diluting the gospel to make it more acceptable to human flesh, we must not lose heart. We need to bless the Lord and be thankful regardless of our circumstances. And we must give it all over to the Lord and release our hurt over to the Lord for his healing mercies. And we must forgive others who are hurting us, too.

And then we must continue in following after the Lord in obeying his commands (New Covenant), and in living holy and godly lives for his glory and honor and praise, in his power and strength. And we must not fear what other humans may do to us or say to us or about us, but we must commit our lives into the hands of the Lord and trust that his will is being accomplished through it all, and that our suffering will serve a purpose.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Blessed Be Your Name

by Matt Redman

In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness

When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be the name of the Lord

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

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Hello I am new here and no my user name is not like a super hero thing though that is funny it is an anagram of the word anagram.
I have been known to be a bit out there. The way I describe my love and affection for Jesus wierds even other believers out while some find it beautifl a lot think I am over the top.
I am very honest and open and naturally speak my heart God and I have a very close and intimate relationship I am prone to boast of the treasures of heaven he has shown me the wonders that mezmorize the soul. For instance when I discovered the glory and joy in praise and worship, not just singing and giving praise oh no I mean tuning into his frequency going into a state of worship and your suddenly envolped in his presence as you are singing and dancing in your chair like a goof ball unable to give him enough praise but the scriptures that speak of those who worship him day and night well I understand why now when your in true worship you could do it forever if you were able

I have always been very close with him but after the beginning of this year I felt him calling me into a deeper realm with him. I was talking to him about how it has always bugged me that we are so seperated and divided as the body. these denominations different sects different view points doctrines that divide verse used against against in endless arguments even having one brother mock and attack another for this very reason.

We have been in this system for so long and have seen the results, we all study the word of God each person believing the truth was revealed from the holy spirit but as far as I know there is no confusion in his spirit yet one can if presented with one stance easily counter with a verse or scripture going back and forth. Jesus was able to shut the pharisee's down they had no way or countering because he was and knew the truth, can any of us in our knowledge and understanding of the word in all our growth and maturity do this?

I mean I was kind of shocked really that we don't seem to see something is not right here, we act like this is the norm when we were clearly warned how the enmy works divide confuse and conquer.. So I just had enough, the definition of insanity is to keep trying the same thing expecting different results I wanted the truth the real thing I was not ok with having some of the truth or even most of it I wanted the real thing.

I figured if I am unable to see the truth when I read and study the word of God then maybe I am not ready to study it. I made a decision that night, I got on my knees and kneeled before him as if in front of his throne and I swore to him that night that I wanted the truth the truth of him the turht of God the truth of the word the turth that we all seem to be not seeing. I told him and made a covanent with him that in order to really know and have the truth I would surrender to him utterly and completely I would do as he says no if and or but what he says goes no added interpretation no trying to figure out what the truth is just follow and trust him and listen take in what he says he is the truth the way the life so if the truth eludes us well I mean the answer seems kind of obvious we go to the truth itself.

It was only a glimpse only for a mere moment but I felt the truth inside me it is like there is a barrier of sorts one we never saw, like you get to the point where you know the word you have the onformation you have grown and matured with him but eventually there reaches a point where it seems like there is a limit or where things kind of just slow down, you learn still and grow but it is as if there is a point where he is like it's time to take it to the next level into the great unknown with hima whole other level and position with him

But this truth this realm level and position with him you have to be dead serious about seeking after the truth, you can't just go about your daily life like before all the distractions of life all our hustling about that isn't happening anymore he isn't messing around and he demands full devotion in this your going to have to trust him in ways that are scary at first he brings you into the great unknown and the things he shows and teaches you the relationship you suddenly have with him the very presence of God himself just filling your room like a thick soup seeing everything with a new perspective being so much more tuned into his frequency learning how the kingdom works and in doing so you see that the kingdom is greatly lacking here in this world even in his own church so you say to him I am going after the kingdom and I am bringing it here.

I apologize for the long introduction and if I seem a bit off my rocker

JOB 6

约伯记6章

30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?

我的舌上岂有不义吗？我的口里岂不辨奸恶吗？

TASTING YOUR TONGUE

品味一下你的舌头

Job asks two very probing and potent questions, we all need to answer!

约伯问了两个非常尖锐而有力的问题，我们都需要回答!

Iniquity is a lifestyle of sin.

不义 是罪恶的生活方式。

He asks the question, is speaking curses and swearing a way of life? If it is, then it is not the right way for the Christian and they should repent. In many passages in both the OT and NT, such as Proverbs 15, James 3 and Ephesians 4, we are taught that if the tongue is out of control, then the person using the tongue is also out of control. I know my tongue gets me into the biggest trouble, and on occasion, I wish it wasn't there.

他问了一个问题，说脏话是一种生活习惯吗? 如果是，那么对基督徒来说 这不是正确的道路，这样的人应该悔改。在《圣经·旧约》和《圣经·新约》的许多段落中，如《箴言》第15章、《雅各书》第3章和《以弗所书》第4章，我们被教导说，如果舌头失控了，说

明使用舌头的人也自我失控了。我知道我的舌头 给我带来了最大的麻烦，有时，我希望它不在那里



Second, he asks, if his taste buds can discern the things he is speaking? Our taste buds can taste various things; some can taste sweet things, and some sour. Likewise our spiritual taste buds should be able to taste anything that is perverse and opposite to the good things of God. But as you get older... like me, your taste buds lose their ability to decipher flavours, and likewise we sometimes lose our spiritual taste buds.

其次，他问，他的味蕾是否能辨别他说的话吗? 我们的味蕾可以品尝各种各样的东西;有些能品尝甜的东西，有些能品尝酸的东西。同样地，我们属灵的味蕾应该能够品尝到任何反常的、与神的美好 相违背的东西。但随着年龄的增长……就像我一样，你的味蕾失去了辨别味道的能力，同样，我们有时也会失去属灵的味蕾。



We need to ask these questions to ourselves and to keep our tongues with a bridle, because it says in James that the tongue is a world of iniquity and an unruly evil: James 3:6, 8.

我们要问自己这些问题，并且要勒住我们的舌头。因为在雅各书中说，舌头是一个充满不义和罪恶的世界。雅各书3章6节，8节

Please ask these questions every day... what is your answer?

请问每天这些问题，你的答案是什么？

Further study

进一步探究



Proverbs 15

箴言15章



Ephesians 4

以弗所书4章



James 3

雅各书3章



God bless you

上帝祝福你











ISAIAH 31
以赛亚书31章

1Woe[a] to those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
1祸哉！那些下埃及求帮助的，
是因仗赖马匹，倚靠甚多的车辆，
并倚靠强壮的马兵，
却不仰望以色列的圣者，
也不求问耶和华。

2 And yet he is wise and brings disaster;
he does not call back his words,
but will arise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
2其实，耶和华有智慧；
他必降灾祸，
并不反悔自己的话，
却要兴起攻击那作恶之家，
又攻击那作孽帮助人的。

3 The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
3埃及人不过是人，并不是 神；
他们的马不过是血肉，并不是灵。
耶和华一伸手，那帮助人的必绊跌，
那受帮助的也必跌倒，都一同灭亡。
(以赛亚书 31:1-3 和合本)

WHO ARE YOU TRUSTING?
One of the reasons that God sent the children of Israel into captivity
was that they looked to other nations to defend themselves.
Zedekiah the final king of Judah sought
help from Egypt, and looked what happened to him.
Our help comes from the Lord, not man.
你相信谁呢?
上帝允许以色列人被囚禁 原因之一
是他们指望 外族来保护自己。
犹大王西底家寻求埃及来帮助他，看看他所遭遇的事。我们的帮助来自上帝，不是人。

How many Christians, who get into financial trouble, go to the banks or lending agencies, who charge massive interest, and then they get into financial disaster.
有多少基督徒陷入财务困境，去银行或贷款机构，他们收取高额利息，然后他们陷入财务恶心循环。

We hear of so many Christians who get into financial trouble because
they do not consult the Lord or seek Him.
What is your first response when you get into some kind of trouble?
Do you go to outside agencies or even to family or even church members?
我们听说很多基督徒陷入经济困境，因为
他们不求问耶和华，也不寻求他。
当你遇到麻烦时，你的第一反应是什么?
你会求助外部机构，甚至是家人，甚至是教会成员对吗?
Why do we run to everyone other than God?
为什么我们寻求所有人 唯独不寻求上帝呢？

Why don't we trust God?
为什么我们不信靠上帝呢？

God so often is one of our options, when he should be the only option.
上帝常常只是作为我们的一个选择，而不是唯一的选择！

So many Christian lives have been wrecked, because that believer has trusted in something that is not God.
很多基督徒的生活一团乱麻，就因为那个他们相信的往往不是上帝。

Do we think that God can't be trusted?
It's time to stop trusting in our own individual Egypt's, because it will lead to disaster.
Let's put all our trust in the Living God!
我们认为上帝不可信吗?
是时候停止相信我们每个人的“埃及”了，因为它
将导致灾难。
让我们全心信靠永远的活神!
God bless you
上帝祝福你！

A doorbell camera may have recorded part of the targeting, and law enforcement is examining the footage. Bishop John Noonan of the Diocese of Orlando sent a priest to bless the building the next morning. The clinic is not affiliated with the diocese.

The FBI and local police have opened an investigation after three mutilated animals were left on the property of a pro-life pregnancy center in Orlando, Florida, last week.

On May 10, a staff member from the facility discovered the decapitated corpses of a “very large” chicken, baby lamb and another “large bird” in front of the clinic, according to Bob Perron, executive director of the Catholic-based JMJ Pregnancy Center.

When the staff member informed him about the dead animals, Perron thought it was a joke.

“I mean, who would even think that that’s possible?” he told CNA Tuesday.

A police officer came and made a report of the dead animals, and animal control took them away.

“We think there was probably some kind of ritual that was involved,” Perron said.

He said that there was “almost no blood” on the animals.

No patients witnessed the dead animals, he added. A doorbell camera may have recorded part of the targeting, he said, adding that law enforcement is examining the footage.

According to Perron, Bishop John Noonan of the Diocese of Orlando sent a priest to bless the building the next morning. The clinic is not affiliated with the diocese.

All of the clinic’s services are free, and it mostly serves minority women, he said.

Continued below.

James Boice.
If we are following the TULIP acronym, this is the doctrine called “irresistible grace,” which refers to the way God calls us to Jesus Christ. But again the words themselves are somewhat misleading, for they do not mean (as they seem to imply) that God will drag us kicking and screaming into his kingdom. Nor do they mean that grace is never resisted by us. Obviously it is. What they mean is that we do not resist effectively. Or, to put it the other way around, they mean that when God calls us to faith in Jesus Christ he calls effectively, succeeding in his purpose to save us. The grace of God’s calling is overwhelmingly efficacious. A good way of expressing this is to say that the Holy Spirit regenerates us, giving us a new nature, as a result of which we naturally do what the new nature does: that is, we believe the gospel, repent of our sin, and trust in Christ unto salvation

I especially like the way Boice explains it in this last sentence above.

Consider this verse, Galatians 1:15-16
But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace, 16 to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood:

1 Corinthians 2:10-14,​

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the spirit of the person that is in him? So also the thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14 But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

It can be very difficult in this life to hope, believe, and especially to believe in God’s love for us. I believe that one reason atheists accuse believers of believing that we seek a “Magic Man in the Sky”, as false as it is, because Christians will often complain that life is rough. I have done it, complained from this childish place. We do this because on some level we believe that God should keep us comfortable, happy, and free of pain and worries. Yet, experience tells us that God is no magician when it comes to His care for us. This care is often hard to understand, and it can lead to anger, and even the temptation to reject God entirely. Suffering is a testing ground for everyone, no matter what their faith is, or even if they have none at all.

So faith is tested in the forge of suffering. No one can escape it. Even those who seem to live charmed lives are often filled with great suffering hidden from others. In loneliness, isolation, and rejection, we are truly tried. Yet the scriptures in no way promise that life will be easy. It is hard for everyone.

I believe that the reason we can trust God, and love Jesus, in all circumstances of our lives is because His sufferings were greater than ours. Not only when He went through His passion, but every day. He saw each human being deeply truly, taking on their pain because of His love. He was love itself, so vulnerable to all, he could not hate, label, or reject anyone, and in that he suffered, for he can be rejected by many, yet he loves.

When Jesus tells us that we have to die to self, he meant it. Not because he wants us to suffer more, but because he wants us to let of our ego that feels the need to fight for control over life, which is not going to happen.

In the midst of his deepest suffering, Jesus trusted, he asked that the chalice of suffering be removed, but in the end, only if the Father willed it. He experienced God’s silence, and endured it, never losing faith. So in our lives, he lives in us, giving us strength to make that act of faith that will open up our hearts to learn to love God for God’s sake. Not an easy lesson to learn. In fact, without grace, we can’t absorb that.

In the depth of our souls grace works, often hidden so we do not get in the way. God is kind, yet can seem stern. People have a choice when they suffer, or go through “hell on earth”. Trust is a choice, often a hard one, yet, as we learn to let go of our own agenda, and embrace the often hidden path we are all on, we discover something that only trust can deliver.

I still struggle with suffering. There are times when talking to people whom I know and love who are going through a very bad time, all I can say is “Just get through the day”. Pray, struggle, yes be angry, yet pray, and choose to trust". Again in that, we learn over time that this aspect of the death to self is very important, arduous, but worth it.

God is with us, tents with us, more than just in us, for we are growing into Christ, He lives in us, suffers with us. Yet he also says that His cross is light. In fact, it is, compared with the crosses we create for ourselves when we wander off against his will.-Br.MD

Evidence for evolution tends to be based on a range of research findings rather than a single wham-bam knockout factoid. For many Creationists fossils are the basis for anti-evolutionary arguments and they may not be aware of the strength of genetics in confirming evolution/common ancestry.

In my opinion, the strongest single argument for common ancestry is the existence of Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) in cross species DNA. Unfortunately, this can be a tedious, hard-to-follow explanation using concepts unfamiliar to most of us.

I recently came across the ‘Stated Clearly’ YouTube explanation for ERVs which does an excellent job of explaining the link between common ancestry and ERVs in plain, non-technical English with animations. I pirated the video text to put together a written version of how ERVs effectively ‘prove’ common ancestry (see below).

For those of you who prefer Talking Pictures, the YouTube version is tacked in under the text.

OB

ERVs & Common Ancestry

Several decades ago, judgements about the ancestry of species (like humans and chimpanzees) were based largely on fossil comparisons. The discovery of genes and DNA created completely new and different ways of determining these relationships through genetic comparisons.

One method involves the analysis of Endogenous Retrovirus (ERV) DNA shared between species.

A retrovirus is basically a string of RNA which penetrates a cell, converts into DNA and inserts itself, at random, directly into the cell’s DNA chain. Once inserted, the retrovirus DNA is duplicated, as part of the cell DNA, every time the cell duplicates itself.

If an infected cell happens to be a sperm or egg cell involved in fertilisation, that cell’s DNA, including the inserted ERV, will become a permanent part of every cell in the newly created offspring. Given enough time the changed DNA will spread through the entire population and all of its descendants. A retrovirus permanently implanted into a species DNA is known as an Endogenous retrovirus. The human genome contains thousands of ERV segments from a number of different ERVs dating back millions of years.


In 2003 the chimp genome was described and found to be almost the same as human DNA. Chimp DNA also included its own ERVs. This raised immediate questions:

Do chimps and humans share the same ERVs located in the same DNA locations?

If true could this be mere coincidence?

ERV’s insert themselves into DNA at random and there are at least 10 million potential insertion locations in the human genome. The odds for the same virus, inserted in the exact same location, in both chimps and humans, being coincidental is less than 1 in 10 million.

The odds of this coincidentally happening twelve times are one in 10 million multiplied by itself twelve times – a figure bigger than the total number of atoms in the observable Universe.

To check on the possibility of common ERVs, scientists searched chimp DNA for ERVs commonly found in human DNA.

They found 205 instances of the same ERV implanted in the same location in both chimps and humans. The odds that this is a coincidence amount to an impossible one in 5.88 x 10^1418 (588 followed by 1416 zeros).
Odds this high amount to certainty. Beyond any reasonable doubt, chimps and humans are descended from a common ancestor.

OB
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I haven't seen many threads in this type of thing, maybe because people don't really care. But we have homeowners who own property, and leave it vacant for whatever reason, trying to sell it or rent it. And then they get some homeless person who gets into the house and then starts living in it. Sometimes bringing in more people. The owner finds out and then wants them removed only to find out they can't.

What!? It's their property and this person has no right to be there. That's called trespassing. We have states that refuse to prosecute this kind of idiocy. And if the homeowner tries to remove them they can be charged with a crime. This is insanity.

Any tips on how to grow a shrinking Lutheran congregation? In the past I have gone door to door, witnessed to the homeless while taking food and water, did a little street preaching, ran social programs free of charge to the public, used social media, etc. all of the typical ways modern evangelicals have tried to reach the unchurched and lost with mixed results.

I'm not sure how to go about it in a Lutheran context, the church I attend doesn't seem to have the heart for it, I'm not sure how to proceed. I'm guessing in 20 or less years this church will close it's doors.

Yours in the Lord,

jm

Hello I am agra man I came across this site and saw that it had this section on Christian Philosophy. To be honest I have heard of it but never really got into what it is so I am niave in this area. And a friend of mine well we got intoan argument because he was saying some really odd things calling it philosophy things about mother earth using the mind to sync to the spirit even going so far as to explain how mother earth has some kind of life energy that using the mind with the spirit creates an aura of protection and just odd stuff he said there was a marriage with the angels and the church before creation and that divorce was in heaven with us and them

I love talking with him about the things of God we have a blast but the things he was saying here well he didn't take to well to me warning him about all this stuff even though there was absolutely no evidence of what he said what so ever he just saw it as truth and saw me as being petty and attacking him.

I tried first before even confronting him to understand what he meant about it being philosophy he said it is basically adding to an already established thing. Ok for studying and research looking at things from a different perspective maybe I can be on board with that but to say it as fact though well I wasn't having that.

But I wondered if perhaps the argument could have gone different if I had understood what Christian Philosophy is so what is it exactly what the reason to study it and what purpose does it serve?

Lol

Are we talking about one entity, or more than one? An actual being/s or symbols?

Muslim families are raising their political profiles as they join the parental rights debate, most recently in Montgomery County, Maryland, where the school district has approved a host of books on homosexuality and transgenderism for the pre-K 5 curriculum and removed an opt-out choice