I just need to unload this. I'm sorry. I don't want to keep making these kinds of posts but please consider how painful it is for me.

My dad is on a new kick to sabotage my walk with God. The newest thing is him saying how he wants to bring relatives from Pakistan (he doesn’t say who though) to live closer to us – and when I expressed my objection, he retorted “Is CHRISTIANITY more important??” When I accused him of doing this on purpose, he denied it, but I don’t believe it. He knows how much this makes me uncomfortable, and I don't doubt for a single moment that he doesn't relish in what he believes is the "fact" that I will give up the faith for the sake of his relatives, who I have no responsibility to obey. Even if my dad is doing this out of genuine desire to have his family around, I can't believe that he isn't dying for this to happen to me.

I'm not sure I can get Communion next time around (I just did confession on Ash Wednesday) because the thought crossed my mind "I hate his guts." I tried to sweep it aside, and I think I did (I don't know how long it took), but I'm still nothing short of exasperated at him.

Is this undercutting the GOP's impeachment inquiry?

The FBI source who claimed to have information regarding alleged bribes paid to President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, has been charged with fabricating the allegations during interviews with federal agents.

David Weiss, the special prosecutor and Trump appointee who is overseeing two federal cases against Hunter Biden, obtained a grand jury indictment in the Central District of California against Alexander Smirnov on charges that he made false statements to federal investigators during his time as a confidential human source for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the indictment, Mr Smirnov allegedly “provided false derogatory information” to agents about President Biden, who is described in the court documents as “Public Official 1, an elected official in the Obama-Biden Administration who left office in January 2017,” and Hunter Biden, who prosecutors describe as “Businessperson 1, the son of Public Official 1, in 2020, after Public Official 1 became a candidate for President of the United States of America”.

These false allegations have formed the backbone of a Republican impeachment probe into President Biden.
Are these allegations of the Informant lying a massive blow to House Republicans’ attempt to impeach Biden?

I've decided to post this thread in the Physical and Life Science forum instead of the Creationism and Evolution forum as it deals with debunking YEC when it presents itself as a "science" (creation science) rather than a purely literal interpretation of the Bible.

A typical YEC argument is radiometric dating can't be trusted as the decay rates may have been much faster in the past before setting down to the rates we observe today.
Even if this was true radioactive decay being an exothermic process produces heat irrespective of the decay rate which raises the question how was all this heat spanning Earth's history dissipated in the YEC time frame?

A PhD student has done her homework on the question and the answer it is impossible which starts from the 9 minute mark of the video.

Who could have predicted that Republican slam dunk witness in anti Biden farce would be charged with lying?



Fox News link now found.

RealClearPolitics​

GOP Rep. Clay Higgins: "The FBI's Involvement Was Deep, Not Just On J-6 But In The Days, Weeks, And Months Prior"​

November 30, 2023

REP. CLAY HIGGINS: The FBI was not only involved in actions on January 6 from within, they had I suspect over 200 agents embedded within the crowd, including agents they would call human assets inside the Capitol dressed as Trump supporters before the doors were opened. Beyond that, the FBI had embedded themselves and infiltrated online chat groups, websites, and social media accounts across the country.

NewYorkPost​

FBI lost count of how many paid informants were at Capitol on Jan. 6, and later performed audit to figure out exact number: ex-official​

Sep. 19, 2023

The FBI had so many paid informants at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, that it lost track of the number and had to perform a later audit to determine exactly how many “Confidential Human Sources” run by different FBI field offices were present that day, a former assistant director of the bureau has told lawmakers.

There is some interesting news that was uncovered a few years ago that I believe is worth discussing.

MoDOT claims unborn baby killed in crash as an employee​

Kaitlyn Anderson was nearly six months pregnant and an employee for the Missouri Department of Transportation when a vehicle struck and killed her at a worksite.

MoDOT has attempted to claim Anderson's unborn child, Jaxx, as an employee, which would make the case a worker's compensation issue rather than a wrongful death suit.

Anderson's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit. However, in court filings MoDOT claims Jaxx was their employee, according to reporting by KMOV-TV.

A Missouri Supreme Court trial is set for March.

Concerning the issue of homosexuality, I studied the issue from different perspectives and arrived at my conclusion. I think homosexual intercourse is a sin, and I do not support the practice of it. I think each believer should follow his conscience in answering this question. Let God's peace guide you. I leave the eternal judgment to God and live in peace with God, myself, and everyone else.

Concerning the issue of transgender, is it a sin?

I think so. We are called to glorify God in our lives.

In Toronto, I have attended churches that are LGBTQ+ friendly and hugged gay people. I saw the Pride Parade. Many of them are nice people. In Toronto, there are quite a few churches that are officially LGBTQ-friendly, and gay pastors head some.

I sat through sermons delivered by gay pastors many times. 95% of the time, it was no different from a sermon delivered by a non-gay pastor. One church surprised me in that it was my 4th visit before I realized that the pastor was gay! This rainbow church was family-oriented. The majority of the congregation were straight people with kids. They didn't make a special point of it.

Check out this trailer. The full documentary 너에게 가는 길 Coming to You is available on Netflix.

Is supporting the LGBTQ+ community a sin?

I would think so.

Jesus mentioned eunuchs/homosexuals/asexuals in Matthew 19:

12a For there are eunuchs who were born that way.

Click to expand...

I ask you: What is the difference between a gay person and one who believes that Mary is the Mother of God?

Bottom line, 1 Corinthians 13:

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

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See also

• Transgender people have higher death rates than their cis gender peers

Arrested Ontario teen had ‘every intention' to carry out school shooting, police say​

Authorities were initially contacted by an Ontario Christian High School official, who was alerted by another student who expressed concerns about 18-year-old Sebastian Villasenor, who was “showing signs of being fixated on school shootings and [having] access to weapons.”

“Ultimately when we arrested Villasenor at his residence, we collected numerous weapons.”

In addition to having “over a thousand rounds” of ammunition along with 11 weapons, including seven rifles and one shotgun, Lorenz said the teen carefully mapped out his violent plot.

I'm serious, physically, how can you tell a male from a female? I was told i was wrong but not told why and how i can tell. I need to know before i die. Of course it's crowing says but in a group that are not crowing, how then do you?

Praise & Thank The Holy Spirit for ensuring that India's Supreme Court took the opportunity to keep the Nationalist Hindu party called BJP in check when it came to financial political donations:


India’s Supreme Court delivers a rare setback for Narendra Modi

"Prior to October 12, 2018 (the date of the gun purchase), the defendant took photos of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia on his phone," the Justice Department said in a court document released Tuesday.

The federal minimum wage is currently set at $7.25 an hour, though a number of states have set their own requirements. In California, the minimum wage rate is currently set at $16 an hour, though it is slightly higher for fast food and healthcare workers.

Who said Democrats were not doing anything to fix the economy?

Jesse Hernandez of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office shot up his vehicle after the acorn struck the hood during the Nov. 12, 2023 incident. His partner, Beth Roberts, also opened fire on the vehicle after Hernandez yelled “Shots fired!” and said he had been struck by gunfire.

The handcuffed suspect inside the car, Marquis Jackson, was not struck by any of the bullets.

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I'm grumpy! I'll snap out of it, but I'm spoutin' off. I HAVE TO ORDER A LOT OF THINGS ONLINE














































I'm aggravated. I get over things rather easily, but I just want to complain. I hate having to order things online. I hate having things arrive and not be what I expected. Because I don't drive, shoes and clothing will come and not fit right. And I end up with millions of catalogs and boxes. Right now I'm really aggravated that I got a new flashlight and I can't make it work. There aren't any directions. I'm not looking for advice or solutions. Just say "I hear ya!" Thanks...I got that off my chest.

For an administration inclined toward bad energy decisions, this one is hard to top. The pause on permits out of the U.S. Department of Energy risks preventing other countries from realizing the significant emissions reductions the United States has achieved from natural gas and could ultimately leave America’s allies in the dark.
But the president’s blatantly political decision in an election year fits a broader trend: This will make it harder for American companies to produce natural gas and oil. At nearly every turn in the past three years, the administration has erected regulatory barriers to oil and gas infrastructure improvement or creation.
Such decisions damage our environment and our country's economy.

This is a warning against adultery, but this can be applied in a much broader way other than just to the subject of marital infidelity. For the “forbidden woman” could be the adulterous church or the market-driven and flesh-driven “church” (businesses incorporated under the state) of today here in America. Or the “forbidden woman” can be a false teacher or preacher or a politician or a nation’s government or the news media. For the “forbidden woman” is anything that lies to us and leads us away from our Lord.

But if we are easily led astray by whomever or whatever it is usually because of what is stored up in our hearts. For the Scriptures teach us that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (see Matthew 15:17-20; cf. Luke 6:45). So it is the human heart which leads people astray and which tempts them to sin and to do what is evil in the sight of God.


But sometimes it is just plain ignorance, i.e. lack of knowledge and understanding of what a person is really made of and what he/she is really all about. And here I am not speaking of knowingly being led into what is obvious sin, but I am speaking of us being deceived into giving our loyalty and devotion to another person or to a political party or to a government or to an institutional “church” (the forbidden woman) because of what we have always been taught and because of our upbringing, etc.

So, before we go giving our loyalty and devotion to another person or to a group of people or to a nation’s government or to a political party or to a particular politician or to a news source or to a preacher, etc., we should bathe these decisions in much prayer and in the study of the Scriptures seeking the Lord’s counsel and wisdom and understanding of who these people are and regarding what they are really all about and what the Scriptures teach us regarding putting our trust in other human beings.

For, again, the “forbidden woman” is not just an adulteress leading people into sexual sin, although that is a huge problem in America today, even within the gatherings of the church and among professing Christians. But the “forbidden woman” is anyone or anything that leads us astray from our pure devotion to the Lord Jesus and that leads us into any kind of sin or that leads us to be followers of other human beings over and above being followers of Christ and of the teachings of his word (the gospel).

So, we need to be people of God who use good judgment and discernment and who pray and seek the Lord regarding these matters so that we are following the counsel of God and his wisdom and discernment and so that we are not taken captive by the seductress (the forbidden woman) who would lead us astray to follow after the gods of this world, instead. And there are many preachers who fall into this category, so we need to be very discerning about who we listen to, and we should test everything that we hear.


Much of this covers what was just talked about in the section above. But this is a warning against rejecting the wisdom of God and of the teachings of the Scriptures, and this is a warning against using your own fleshly judgment and discernment and going by your feelings rather than to seek the counsel of the Lord and to listen to his warnings and to obey his commands. For if we ignore God and his word and we choose to go our own way, instead, despite the warnings, then we are definitely on dangerous ground.

But many foolish people ignore God’s warnings and they go their own way, instead, and they end up following the wrong people while ignoring wise counsel, for they think they know better. But they are unwise and worldly and self-indulgent and reckless, and so it will not end well for them. For by ignoring godly counsel and by following after these “forbidden women” they end up “going down the toilet,” i.e. they become useless, good for nothing, because their lives are wasted on the flesh, for not in submission to God.

And many are they who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who give off the appearance of being righteous while they are not, in truth, but it is just a performance. And they may be people who proclaim loyalty and devotion but who desert and depart from the faith, instead. For they portend one thing while they live another. And they reject godly counsel, and so they continue to head down the toilet, for they are the self-indulgent who are senseless, and if they remain on that path it will be the death of them, not life eternal.

So, be cautious about who you believe and who you follow, for not everyone is who they say that they are. For many are liars, deceivers, and manipulators who deceive the naïve and the undiscerning who too easily follow others and believe others without taking the time to test what they say and do in prayer and in the study of the Scriptures. And definitely do not go against what you already know is wrong (sinful) just because you are tempted to do so. Learn to say “No!” to sin and “Yes!” to God.

For the Scriptures teach us that if we walk according to the flesh, and if sin is what we practice (obey), and if we do not walk according to the Spirit in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in holy living, then it doesn’t matter what we profess with our lips. We will die in our sins and we will not have eternal life with God. We will not enter into God’s heaven just because we call Jesus “Lord” and we do “good deeds” done in the flesh. But it is those who obey the Lord who have heaven secured for them.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

• A time to be born and a time to die.
• A time to plant and pluck up that which is planted.
• A time to kill and a time to heal.
• There is a time to break down and a time to build up.
• A time to weep and a time to laugh.
• A time to mourn and a time to dance.
• A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together.
• There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.
• A time to get and a time to lose.
• A time to keep and a time to cast away.
• A time to rend and a time to sew.
• A time to keep silent and speak, a time to love and hate, a time of war and peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Many of us pray and fast at the beginning of the year, seeking God's divine direction for the days ahead. You may have missed this time in January; no worries, the next season is here! You can participate in the season of Lent.

What is lent? Lent is forty days from February 14 (Ash Wednesday) to March 28, 2024 (High Sabbath day). Lent is a time of self-reflection and repentance as we continue cultivating a deeper relationship with our Lord and Savior through fasting, prayer, and reading the Word.

It's a time when we journey to the cross—preparing to celebrate the Passover feast, which serves twofold- remembering the exodus and the crucifixion of Jesus. These times remind us of God's faithfulness in delivering His people from physical bondage and eternal death. It's a time to thank God for giving us eternal life through His son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Take time to share the gift of Love with others.

Jesus said, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Father, teach us your ways as you change our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. We desire to do your will.

Make each day a great day when you study the living Word.

Here is how grocery prices have changed since 2021.

I really appreciate all of your help, True Believers. Humbly, after asking God about this, please let me know your honest thoughts.

I. I am a Worship Leader of a certain church, for years.

Many pastors and people have told me I sing excellently, I am anointed, all glory and credit belong to our God because He empowers me. I alone am unworthy.
People constantly tell me they cry when I sing, or they are touched or blessed. In my heart, I do my best when singing heartfeltly in church. And my exhortations are brief but I try to make them deep and what the Bible really says (turn away from sin, etc.) and not just "Come on church, let's sing the Chorus!"

But the people are NOT SINGING. (only very few). Is it my responsibility to make them sing?

1. Aren't they so spoiled? They ARE RESPONSIBLE in worshipping God on their own, intimately. It's their relationship with God personally! There are I think many non-Christians allowed to enter the church, by the way. We are a big church.
2. Who knows, they could be worshipping God, just not through singing. I see some people raising their hands, closing their eyes in prayer. Why do I have to make them sing? They can just listen and soak in the lyrics, you know?

II.
So I am a Worship Leader of the above church and it does seem to be an Apostate church.

So days ago, I finally talked to my Pastor and told him everything. Why does the church seem to be so afraid of offending the carnal churchgoers? Is it because they might lose the income? Why are Repentance and turning away from sins not preached?

Why are the exhortations always "feel good", to tickle the itching ears?

I told him the Truth in the Bible against OSAS and that God will be angry at those who continue in the practice of sin...

I told him a person who lusts after a woman in his heart is already committing adultery.

I was shocked! My Pastor listened! He will tell this to the other Pastors as I have detailed their words. And awhile ago at the service, my Pastor repented in front of everyone!!! And his preaching involved holiness and turning away from sin!!!

Also, before him, God was able to use me to convince some people in this very church to turn away from sin and live holy for Christ.

What shall I do? Can I stay in this church? I am happy using my singing abilities and God can use me to lead them towards Righteousness??

Thank you so much Brethren. Be continually blessed. I appreciate you.