I'm 23 but have sever anxiety scared about the future am I too young to worry about myself in old age

Jimmy Carter part two continues....

So this happened...

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This lady supported defunding the police....and like most other places, San Francisco saw a spike in crime. What a surprise.

Now when she calls the police, and the police tell her there's no one to send/deal with it....she's a little upset and wants the police back.

She hasn't even gotten to the bad part yet, you can't undo the damage done to the police with dollars. No one wants to be a cop now that not only is it a tough job...but one that's been placed under a microscope and demands perfection.

Nope....no easy fix for this. Is it possible to just sort of push San Francisco off into the sea?


My favorite is this lady....robbed while covering the spike in crime. Her private security stopped the theives from running off with everything. Average San Francisco citizen has a 1 in 16 chance of being a victim of violent or property crime.

Another beautiful US city utterly destroyed by the left.

Thoughts?

Uganda's parliament passed a law on Tuesday making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence.

More than 30 African countries, including Uganda, already ban same-sex relations. The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to rights group Human Rights Watch.

The legislation will be sent to President Yoweri Museveni to be signed into law.

[If this sounds familiar, Museveni signed a notable anti-gay law in 2014 that originally called for the death penalty (later modified to life in prison). It was later ruled invalid by their Supreme Court. Museveni vetoed a similar bill in 2021.]

ETA: [A modified version has been signed by the president.] Uganda’s parliament originally passed the bill in March [i.e. the OP] but it was returned to legislators by a presidential veto. The final bill, approved by Museveni, remains largely the same but no longer includes a requirement for people to report homosexual activity or criminalizes the mere identifying as LGBTQ+.

Inside the rural Texas resistance to the GOP’s private school choice plan​

Backed by a surge of campaign spending from far-right Christian megadonors, Republicans in Texas and nationwide are pushing legislation that would siphon money from public education under the banner of “parents’ rights.” These plans, commonly known as vouchers, would give parents the money the state would have spent educating their children in public schools — between $8,000 and $10,000 per child per year in Texas — and allow them to put it toward homeschooling expenses, private school tuition or college savings accounts.

Officials in communities like Robert Lee, which has a population of about 1,000, warn these policies will chip away at already razor-thin public school budgets. With only 250 students — about 18 children per grade — even a slight drop in enrollment and funding can force rural schools like Robert Lee to make hard decisions, Hood said.

“We don’t have the same economy of scale as larger districts,” [Superintendent Hood] said, which is one reason he obtained a commercial driver’s license to serve as a substitute bus driver. “If we lose five or 10 students, that’s a teacher salary. But we can’t afford to have one less teacher, so now we’re cutting academic programs, we’re cutting sports, we’re cutting the things that this community relies on.”

“Nobody opposes school choice, but that’s not really what we’re talking about,” Hood said. “It’s all in how you ask the question. If you ask people in this community if they support sending their tax dollars to private schools with no accountability and no standards, they’re going to tell you they’re against that.”

[The closest private school is 30 miles away.]

For many years, an unlikely coalition of rural Republican lawmakers and urban Democrats formed a wall against private school vouchers in the Texas Legislature. But political spending by conservative Christian megadonors has helped chip away at opposition within the Texas GOP — including in the state Senate district that represents Robert Lee.

[The new state senator] Sparks also sits on the board of trustees at Midland Classical Academy, a private Christian school founded by [oil billionaire donor] Dunn, whose family donated $200,000 to Sparks’ campaign.

The freshman senator’s district includes 91 public school systems stretching from the Texas panhandle to the oil-rich Permian Basin; all but six of them are small rural districts with no local private school options, an NBC News analysis found.

On his private Christian school road tour, [Governor] Abbott has pitched school choice as a way of empowering parents to protect their children from a “woke agenda” he says is being pushed by some public school educators.

Such allegations sound fanciful to many in Robert Lee, where both the town and the school district are unapologetically named in honor of the famous Confederate general’s military service in Texas prior to the Civil War.

Hello all, i wanted to get your experience of praying.

I know that we are told to pray constantly, however, being a man, i do not do this. I wondered how often you all speak with the Lord.

I.e. when walking down the street are you speaking with the Lord and saying thank you for my ability to walk and for the ability to create a plan and follow it etc.

( I hope that this makes sense.)

Thanks and God bless,

James.

P.S. this seemed like the most appropriate forum that i could find for the thread, though it is not a request for advice, but a request for people to share their personal experience.

Should debate be an Olympic sport?

1.) We know that we can't please God by works, law, or commandment keeping. So, all of that is not discipleship.

Paul said. "as many as be PERFECT",.. "the fullness of the Stature of Christ".
See that? That is referring to "the mind of Christ", and "walking in the Spirit". IN other words, that is SPIRITUAL.
That is where real faith and real discipleship exists.

2.) "Spiritual" is not self effort of any kind. So, "keeping" stuff, like law and commandments is not Spiritual, its self effort.
Self effort is not discipleship, ... as this is that "present your body a living sacrifice""" stuff.... and that is not Faith, that is Works.

Notice this now....

"Without Faith, its impossible to please God".

And what is that FAITH ?

That is SPIRITUAL understanding that = is to "come to the knowledge of the Truth" and go right on into revelation knowledge.

"They eyes of your understanding" being OPENED = Enlightened", is to have received LIGHT.

READER, the scriptures are not given to read, they are given to STUDY...= "study to show yourself approved unto God".
Why?
Because when you study, you meditate on the word and then God gives you revelation., = that is "discerning the word" Spiritually.
The eyes of your understanding being OPENED.
See that?
That is not reading the scriptures like they are a DICTIONARY.
And if you are only religious and water baptized, then God wont be giving you any revelation knowledge of His Word.
Believe it.


3.) Now, let me show you why law and commandment keeping obsession is not God's Salvation understood correctly.

Its very simple.

IN Heaven, there is no Law, no Moses Law, no commandment keeping, and no self effort to be good.

Why? Because Heaven is a Spiritual Kingdom, first, and a Literal kingdom , 2nd.

Christ said that the KOG, is "within you"..... not outside somewhere... but "IN YOU">. Luke 17:21
And why does He say that? Its because Christ and GOD are the Kingdom.....ITs a Spiritual Kingdom of LIGHT.
The born again are the "temple of the Holy Spirit". = The KOG is in them.
"Christ in YOU">.. = The KOG in you. and being "in Christ" is the Born again, in the KOG.

1.) God exists IN LIGHT
2.) Jesus is the LIGHT of the World
3.) The Born again are CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT.
4.) The born again, exist "under Grace"......not under the law.
Why?
Because GRACE is the Law of the KOG, and the born again are "translated from DARKNESS .....TO LIGHT....into this GRACE.

The born again, exit THERE, and there is no Law there.... = "not under the law but under GRACE"
"Christ is the END OF THE LAW....for righteousness" = if you are born again.
There is no Moses Law or 10 Commandments or any of this, in Heaven.
ZERO.
There is no NEED for them.
See, the law is for the unlawful, and commandments are for instruction, and none of this is needed in Heaven.
Does God and Christ need to be told about the Law and Commandments?
Not quite.

See, the law and commandments are not faith based, and Christianity is only faith based.
The Walk of Faith is not the walk of law and commandment keeping, as that is SELF EFFORT, ... its works, and works are not spiritual.
Whereas CHRISTianity , is ONLY Spiritual.

"""God is A Spirit"".
Being In CHRIST, seated in heavenly places is : SPIRITUAL Birth proven. = BORN AGAIN

So, when a believer is trying to see the spiritual and be spiritual THROUGH Law and Commandments, then their understanding of the KOG, of CHRISTianity, and regarding being born again, is not correct as they are trying to SEE IT through the Carnal mind and not the "renewed mind".

Attendees will gather to mourn the end of 'public health'​

Today, at 4:30 Pacific Time, a group calling itself Mask Bloc will gather in the courthouse square in Portland, Oregon dressed in black, with masks, to mourn the official end of mask requirements in healthcare settings in Oregon.

Mask Bloc’s tweets are now protected, but the gathering invited protesters to “”Wear funeral black, wear your mask, bring signs” to lament “the end of infection control in OR”. It’s billed as a “funeral” for “public health”.



I'm wondering if these folks actually feel this strongly about this topic, or if over the course of 3 years, they've allowed "caring about covid prevention" to become their main personality trait and core part of their identity, and they don't want to see it go away.

There was something similar that happened in NY when they lifted theirs

It seems sort of like the people who were the last remaining folks at the Occupy Wall Street protests...like it gave them a sense of identity and purpose and didn't want to see it go away.


And I was honestly unaware that there were areas left that had mask mandates in the US. When parts of Canada (like Ontario) had lifted their mask mandates on public transit and hospitals back in June 2022, I guess I just assumed that everywhere in the US had already done so by that point given that Canada was stricter in general with regards to covid measures than the US was.

Young Earth creationist organisations are united in rejecting the secular science of climate change.

Read more... and here: World on ‘thin ice’ as UN climate report gives stark warning

please pray for sleep thank you

Question: How can someone who makes it to heaven be happy knowing that a loved one is in hell?

— Barbara Allison, Charlottesville, Virginia

Answer: If a loved one is not in heaven, it is not as though God showed no mercy to them. He offered every necessary grace to be saved. And this fact fulfills mercy. As for justice, it is not simply about punishment. God’s justice is his fidelity to his promises. At the heart of his promise is his call — not his demand — to follow him. He knocks, he does not barge in (cf. Rv 3:20).

That some souls are not in heaven is because they preferred the darkness to the light of God’s truth. It is simply not true that everyone desires to go to heaven. This is because heaven is not a designer paradise on our own terms. Heaven is the fullness of God’s kingdom with all its truths and parameters. It is about what God loves and who God loves. It is about values and virtues, such as forgiveness, love of one’s enemies, chastity, the worship of God and a focus on him (not me and what I want).

But there are many who do not want some or all of the sorts of virtues and values just mentioned. They do not want to love their enemy, they want vengeance, not forgiveness, chastity is unwanted, and the worship of God is boring to many of them who often skip church services for just that reason. Such souls as these who have constituted themselves in a way that is averse to what heaven is, would not be happy in heaven. One of the saddest things about the souls in hell is that they would be more miserable in heaven. St. Thomas also teaches, “the damned will not repent of their sins directly, because consent in the malice of sin remains in them; but they will repent only indirectly, angry at the punishment inflicted on them for sin” (cf. Summa Theologica, Supplement, q 98, art. 2).

The saints in heaven surely know this and can rejoice in God’s justice and respect for the freedom of loved ones who sadly preferred the darkness to light.

Striking the breast

Continued below.

Besides the Book of Concord what other theological titles would you recommend? CPH is too expensive honestly but if the title is a real gem I'll add it to my list.

Thanks

Do you know all the commandments,
of the Lord Jesus Christ, written in the new testament,
in your own bible?

If not, then why not?

Your treasure your pleasures,
Indulgent enjoyment,
You follow whoever,
And praise the flamboyant.

The colors and baskets,
The eggs all a plenty,
The project, you task it,
The purpose is empty.

The bunnies with ribbons,
The trinkets on tables,
By greed you’ve been bitten,
You then tell your fables.

And Santa’s the bunny,
Now dressed for to suit it,
For he is so chummy,
And dare not refute it.

For he is the idol
For this rare occasion,
Replaces the Bible
With great jubilation.

For this is like Christmas
With all of its treasures,
With idols the business,
And all about pleasure.

But God would not have it,
With this competition,
With Santa as Rabbit,
Idolatry driven.

For he now is jealous,
He hates all the idols,
And He does now tell us,
‘Tis said in the Bible.

So, celebrate Jesus,
As your God the only,
For He has now freed us
So you would be holy.

An Original Work / March 22, 2023

Our God is a jealous God and he hates idols and idolatry:

[Exodus 20:4-6; Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 5:7-10; Deuteronomy 32:16; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; James 4:4-10; 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10; 1 John 5:21]

I recently watch a video on YouTube (several in fact) regarding the state of American comics industry. Well in short comics are getting their lunch money taken by the Japanese. For example Demon Slayer manga series alone in 2019/2020 sales is larger than the entire American comics industry sales. So there is no comparison that manga is eating up comics even in foreign markets.

There are multiple reasons as to why comics are in such a humiliated affair. One of the key point that put forward is the introduction of "diversity, inclusion & political" agenda into comics. Well it is not exactly wrong but it is not the whole truth either. I just like to give my opinion on this aspect alone. Preamble I read a lot of manga (still do) and use to (past tense) read American comics when they are still in newspaper strip format - days long gone.

Now I don't read modern comics but I do skimp thru the more notorious comic panels featuring these "diversity, inclusion & political" agendas when they pop up in the news. Some of the most audacious ones I have seen are drawing Trump as MODOK (a villain), putting talking point of conservatives into Red Skull speeches (another villain), gender swapping of Iceman & Superboy (into gay & bi respectively) and replacement of white heroes with other ethnicity. There is nothing wrong with diversity, inclusion & progressive ideology in comics by itself.

Here is where the Japanese manga did right - a space for all and everyone. Every form of storytelling is permissible as long as you have an audience and sales to backup. True diversity. So let me breakdown by segments.

Gender identity
Modern comics like to introduce LGBT characters or gender swap their existing characters and always in favor towards LGBT. These characters are nothing but their sexuality. Their mannerism, issues and story progression are nothing but in service to their sexual identity. It is putting the message before the story. Manga industry on the other hand welcomes all character sexuality without changing existing characters. You even have multiple genre like Yuri (lesbian romance), Yaoi (gay romance) and genderbender (turning into the opposite sex) along side the traditional genres. Another key differentiator is how they portray and develop these characters as normal humans. Take "Kyou Kara Mirai" manga as an example, it is about a school girl confessing her love to another girl and waiting for her answer. No LGBT message about acceptance or prejudice. Just a simple yet very charming about young love yet the characters are clearly lesbians.

Racial inclusivity
This has been a contentious issue in comics today where white characters are race swapped or replaced outright. Usually I hear the same point that minority needs the visibility. To get that visibility it is only right that prominent white characters are phased out. In manga industry you are allowed have manga featuring people from all races without the need to replace existing ones. This is also helped that each mangaka are independent of one another even when publishing under the same company. The publishing companies don't dictate the agendas to be put into their manga. So mangakas (artists) are free to explore different ways of storytelling and character creation. This freedom has led to many stories about people of other ethnicities from the mangakas for examples "Otoyomegatari" where it is about a central asian girl and "Arte" where it is about an Italian girl during the renaissance. At the same time quintessentially Japanese characters are able to exist.

Political messages
America is rife with partisanship to put it lightly. Not surprising this tribalism makes it into the comics industry. It has always been there but never as overt as present times. On top the overtness is the antagonistic nature of how it is implemented. It is next to zero nuance as to which side is the villain. Manga too has its fair share of political messages. However it is never overt like American comics. Take "Akumetsu" where the protagonist schoolboy kills corrupt politicians vaguely based on real life Japanase politicians and heavily promote then prime minister Koizumi Junichiro. The story is full of nuance where his actions are not 100% noble and the people he kills are not 100% evil. The story also revolves around the schoolboy and not the politics alone. In the end what he set out to do didn't come true and the prime minister he supported became a homeless vagabond due to his involvement. No side has the moral high ground to stand on.


TLDR - Manga is a space where all could exist where American comics today is exclusionary. Manga achieved true diversity.

Christ came to confirm the covenants and promises made to the fathers of Israel; as seen from the references below, it was with the purpose for Israel to be to be a light to the gentiles in God’s Kingdom (Rom.15:8-9; cp.Lk.2:32). The order of events in the prophetic timeline of God purposes are that Israel was to be saved first, and then through them, God would channel His blessing out to the rest of the world (Isa.60; Jn.4:22; Acts 3:25-26).

This is why when Christ came here His ministry was exclusively to the nation (Acts.5:31).He told the disciples not to go into any of the cites of the Samaritans, or the way of the gentiles (Mt.10:5), and when the gentile woman approached Christ he said to her I have not come but for the lost sheep of the House of Israel, it is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs, let the children “first” be filled (Mt.15:26; Mk.7:27;cp. Acts.3:25-26 ); while he did honor her faith, we must understand the reason for His attitude and not minimize it.



When Christ came on the scene in fulfillment of Daniel 70 week prophecy, to redeem the nation from their sin, and from their gentile enemies (Lk.1:71-78), the Kingdom was indeed at hand in the person of the king, the members of the nation were called to a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, in order to prepare themselves for the day of the Lord judgments where the Messiah would establish the Kingdom(Mk.1:4;Mt.3:8-12).



When we look at some of the characteristics of when the Lord commissions the 12 disciples; He tells them to not go into the way of the gentiles, or any city the Samaritans, he tells them preach the Kingdom of heaven is that hand, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons… (Mt.10:5-10). Now we must understand that these instructions of Christ to the 12, are specifically to Israel, because under the blessings of the old covenant the nation of Israel was to be free from all diseases (Ex.15:26; 23:25-28) but if they broke the law, sickness would come upon them (Jn.5:14-15). Also, when God made the covenant with Israel, He called heaven as a witness to the blessings and cures of the covenant (Deut. 30:19), and we know that when people broke Gods commandments in the O. T. God would allow the evils spirits in the heavens to execute His judgments, this is why sickness is so closely associated with demonic possession in the narrative of the prophetic program in Gods dealings with Israel (1 Kings 22:19-22; cp. Mt.4:24; 8:16).

So, these were the signs to Israel that the Kingdom was indeed a hand, the nation had the responsibility to receive the Christ by faith. Christ was weaking satans kingdom before He would establish God's (Mt.12:25-29). Also note that the resurrection of the dead also relates to the Kingdom, being that in the Kingdom there will be a resurrection, along with the demons and the devil being locked away.

When John the Baptist was in jail he sent his disciples to question if Jesus was the one that they were waiting for, and Jesus quoted from Isaiah telling them that the lame are healed, and the sick are healed, the deaf can hear, and the blind can see, when we look at this quote from Isaiah we see that the context of the chapter is talking about a universal restoration where desert lands will be turned into paradise(Mt.11:4-5;Isa. 35:1-7). This is why in Hebrews it speaks about these powers from on high, as being the powers of the age to come, the signs of the Kingdom (Heb.2:4; 6:5).



Once Israel repented, they were to be missionaries to the gentile world (Zech.8:20-23; Isa. 66 :19) but we know that the nation rejected and crucified the Messiah. But when he was on the cross, he prayed to the father to forgive them for they know not what they do, here he is praying that they be spared of the national judgment of the tribulation. So, during the early acts period, the nation of Israel is then offered the Kingdom, for it was necessary first for Christ to suffer, for the nation to be forgiven of their sin of breaking the old covenant, it is through the death of Christ (Jer.31:31-40). So now once He died and was risen, it was time for them to receive the Kingdom, and this is what Peter tells them, he says if they repent Christ would be sent back to them and would establish the Kingdom (Acts.3:17-21).

Here we are establishing context following it till we come to the call of the body, then we will find our doctrine. But notice when we get to the post-Acts ministry, Paul's gift of healing is no longer (1Tim.5:23; 2 Tim.4:20); as it was during the Acts period (Acts.19:12), this because health, and the longevity of life, is not a characteristic of the current age of Christ's body, as it is with Israels kingdom age (Isa.65:20). And certainly, when we have a cold, or get a sickness does it mean demonic possession, of course not!, for the Spirit of God lives within us, but when we understand Israels place in scripture and the doctrine that pertains to them and His heavenly Kingdom on earth, apart from the doctrine that is for us today, the Church which is Christs body, things will begin to make sense.

I was wondering if anyone has advice/could pray for me/maybe experienced similar things. I've been struggling with this for years and it's gotten really bad since I've left my church in 2020. I've been out of fellowship due to leaving my church and it hard getting connected with other believers these days. Anyway, when ever I TRY to read my Bible I get thoughts like "if you finish this paragraph in your Bible your going to belong satan" " if you don't pray right now in the middle of your study you'll be demon possessed ". Writing these out right now I am calm because I know they're ridiculous and unbilical, but when I'm alone especially when I haven't been in fellowship for these last three years I start to believe my ocd thoughts again. I need a snap back to reality but it's so hard when I'm dealing with the hurt from my old church and new churches in my area make it feel impossible to join. Anyone have words of hope for me ?

Saint Great is no longer a meme at this point. I'm speechless as to the irrationality displayed by another western academic center. Day by day they erode the principles of being an academia. Greta knows as much about theology as the climate which is to say rudimentary and surface level. Her claim to fame (infamy) hinges on activism alone. Many times when pressed for scientific accuracy she chokes like a student who didn't study for an exam that have no multiple choice answers.

She now has a doctorate in theology. The faster this world ends the better. Angels blow your trumpets!

Will the pro-Trump people cheer more for the attention and "street cred" louder than the anti-Trump people wishing he will be sent to prison or at least do the "perp walk"?

Right now I really don't think he will be indicted but we'll see.

Hello,

Browsing the categories here, I am an egalitarian, xennial non-word-of-faith charismatic.

I became suddenly severely ill on the cusp of adulthood while co-leading a mission trip in a remote area in Latin America and have been disabled for over two decades (most of those years housebound or bedridden). I have sought healing from many avenues and need a miracle.

I am and have always been single and not really able to consider much else because of my condition, although that is thoroughly contrary to my personality.

I like bible scholarship (e.g., Tim MacKie, Craig Keener, Kenneth Bailey) and theology (both from within and outside my own camp) and have devoted energies to it in the past but am far more limited in cognitive energy and audio-visual tolerance these days. Also my memory has been quite impaired, so everything is kind of fuzzy except for the conclusions I came to or the questions I still have. I do think outside of the box but agree with the Nicene creed and accept scripture rightly interpreted as the authority for faith and life. I was raised in an uber-conservative house-church tradition. I resonate quite a bit with the Vineyard Association of Churches today. For many, many years I was certain I was called to the ministry, actually.

I have been involved in the arts community through poetry (not just as self-expression but as a strenuous engagement with the capacities of its different schools of style, content, and form). Many of my interactions, then, have been with folks most Christians would consider odd bedfellows to keep.

In my before life I was very active. I love nature and dream of being on the trails.

I’ve popped onto this forum previously without joining. Cognitive exertions and screen time are costly for me even if more possible than physical exertions. However, I’m in an increasingly isolated position. Even among my online friends, many have lost faith or the like in the upheaval of recent years. (And I get that; I’ve probably been, well, let’s call it “reconstructing” my entire life.) Others seem to have lost their bearings on everyday reality while holding on to their tenets of faith. Many have become more callous toward the disabled amid the camps that have formed of late. Either way I’ve lost a good deal of what little online fellowship I still had. Crucially, I’m now living in an area where I’ve never lived before; just about no one even knows I exist hidden away in this house except for my very elderly caregivers.
It is hard when you like to go deep but have no energy to go deep even in a written format (which is far less costly for me than orally or in person). I don’t know if it will be possible for me to make some meaningful contacts here in the dizzying array of discussions. I'm also not clear if there are truly private boards here, which would help me feel less inhibited. But it seems right to join.

Thank you to all moderators and volunteers!
Deborah

As you all know my friend suffered a concussion a few weeks ago. Well it turns out his concussion got a lot worse. He discorded me in the middle of the night last night and mentioned that he was feeling very dizzy and lightheaded and had a bad headache and had been throwing up all evening/night. I told him this morning when I woke up to get some medical advice and he hasn't messaged me back yet. He may possibly be in the hospital again because it is not like him to not respond to me. I mean sometimes he sleeps all day but he would have normally woken up by now. So odds are he's in the hospital and doesn't have his phone on him. Please pray for him again and keep him in your prayers. Thank you.

I know a lot of people say "God wins" but to me this feels more like a happy-talk slogan or propaganda. I think the values of good are losing the war and if anything it appears to be growing in intensity every day. If I saw this "good" manifest materially I'll be inclined to have more faith in it.

Why did the humorous bone struggle to come up with a good joke? Because he did not have a funny bone in his body.

While that joke plays on the similarity between "humerus" and "humor," it's important to note that bones do not have the ability to tell jokes or possess a sense of humor, as they are inanimate objects.