From time to time, I’ve heard atheists incorrectly try to refute that a creator God exists because of all the evil and suffering in the world. But as atheist Richard Dawkins says, that’s flawed thinking: “The problem of evil, to me, shouldn’t be a real problem because you just say, ‘Well there’s an evil god,’ and so that’s a lesser question.”

The thornier issue is the question of evil and a God that’s supposedly infinitely benevolent and good. That, as I’m sure you know, has been debated endlessly with lots of both real and digital ink spilled (see my latest discussion on it here).

In that same vein has been the charge of skeptics who demand an explanation for a good God and all the various acts of violence that are recorded in the Bible, some of which God commanded. Dawkins addresses that issue in his book, The God Delusion, by saying he sees God as: “Arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

Atheist Charles Templeton piles on in his work Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith by writing (pg. 71): “The God of the Old Testament is utterly unlike the God believed in by most practicing Christians … His justice is, by modern standards, outrageous … He is biased, querulous, vindictive, and jealous of his prerogatives.” He’s joined by writer Robert Anton Wilson, who stated: “The Bible tells us to be like God, and then on page after page it describes God as a mass murderer.”

Admittedly, there are some passages of Scripture that, on the surface, appear to depict God as being pretty ruthless. Take the Flood described in Genesis as one example: “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish” (Gen. 6:17).

Then we have God’s orders to Israel about the land He was giving them and the people who lived there; the Lord told Israel: “You shall utterly destroy them … you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall utterly destroy them” (Deut. 7:2; 20:16).


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Six Israelis were killed and 12 others were wounded, including six in serious condition, after two terrorists opened fire at Ramot Junction, near the entrance to the capital Jerusalem, on Monday morning.

The terrorists began shooting at buses and passersby, managing to hit at least 15 people before they were shot and killed by a nearby armed civilian and a commander in the IDF's Haredi Hasmonean Brigade.

According to the Magen David Adom rescue service, its medics were providing “medical treatment and evacuating five individuals in serious condition, suffering from gunshot wounds, to hospitals in Jerusalem. Additional casualties at the scene are being treated for varying degrees of injuries.”

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Some Christian are elected to high office or appointed to it. How should they exercise the power that they receive?

A new study reveals that Generation Z has higher church attendance rates than older generations of American adults, marking a reversal of long-established patterns.

The Barna Group has released new research as part of its State of the Church initiative, revealing that Gen Z churchgoers attend services more frequently than their counterparts in older generations. The data included in the report is based on 5,580 online interviews conducted from January through July of this year.

The research examined the church attendance patterns among 3,579 churchgoing adults. Among all adult churchgoers, the average attendance rate was 1.6 times per month. That number rose to 1.9 times per month among Gen Z, which refers to the youngest group of American adults. Millennials, referring to the next youngest group of American adults, are close behind with an average attendance rate of 1.8 times per month.

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I am in the service of the Lord Jesus as an evangelist under the direction of the Holy Spirit as I seek to inform lukewarm Christians that Mormonism, theology and doctrine, is of the devil and is as far from Christianity as is Greek mythology. I pray that rank and file Christians will realize that the Utah Mormon Church (Latter-day Saints) was prophesied by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 1, as was Islam, as the only false gospels brought to the earth in the latter-days by demonic angels. I will spend what days I have remaining on the earth as an evangelist doing the will of the Savior through the dictates of the Holy Spirit.

A Finnish politician has been under fire and on trial after sharing Bible verses supporting traditional marriage. Päivi Räsänen, a member of Finland’s parliament, has spent more than six years locked in a highly-publicized legal battle that has placed Scripture center-stage.

Räsänen told The Christian Post the chaos began in 2019 when the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland reportedly announced support for a local LGBT pride event. Räsänen, an outspoken Christian, was stunned by the decision — and decided to speak out.

“It was a shock to me and to many other Christians, and I even thought about resigning [from] the church,” she said. “But I was praying and I got a strong vision that I have to speak. And then I took a photo from the Bible from the first chapter of Romans, verses 24 to 27, where Apostle Paul teaches about the same-sex relationships and calls them sinful and shameful.”

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The next lunar eclipse is around the corner, meaning some around the world will be privy to the uncommon phenomenon that turns the moon a striking red color.

The upcoming lunar eclipse, which happens when Earth is situated between the moon and sun, causing Earth's shadow to turn the moon a rusty red color, will sadly not be visible from the United States this time.

Each lunar eclipse is visible from half of Earth, according to NASA. The Sept. 7-8 event will have the best visibility on the half of Earth opposite the Americas.

Earlier this year, though, Americans did catch a glimpse of a March total lunar eclipse, which is also referred to as a "blood moon."

Here's what to know.

Continued below.

This is a bit of a confession along with just asking for advice. I struggle with lust and it's felt easier as of late to give in to it. Even though I know I'll only feel regret and shame afterwards. But I keep coming back to it because I just love it. It brings me good feelings. I have fantasies that idk if they could be lived out in a Christian marriage but I still desire and hope they can. I know that the pleasures are only good for a season but man they just seem so easy to give into. It shouldn't I guess be surprising either cause when i start to dwell on these thoughts and give in it just feels good. The issue is like I said when I give in after dwelling on it i feel shame and guilt afterwards. I'm not going to lie and say I dont enjoy this sin in the moment because I do. It's only afterward that my view changes. I've looked to see if there was a pill I could take just to kill my sexual desires or do something more extreme. Does anyone else feel this way with there sin? I know that this is referring to my sexual sin but I also have struggles with non sexual sins too like i'm sure everyone else does and could see areas in my life where my love for sin goes beyond sins that are sexual.

Shalom

This and next weekend, evangelistic meetings will be held again here in Salzburg, Austria.

In addition, the brothers and sisters here regularly hold book tables and distribute evangelistic literature.

We ask for your support in prayer in Jesus' name.

And may God continue to draw the people we have already reached to Himself in Jesus' name, Amen (John 6:44; 1 Corinthians 3:6).

Thank you very much, and may the Lord bless you abundantly (Luke 6:38; Job 42:10), in Jesus' name, Amen!

Soli Deo Gloria

Gleb Podmoshensky left a dark mark on Platina Monastery’s history. His crimes reportedly began after Fr. Seraphim’s repose in 1982, and it seems Seraphim was unaware of them,he would have repented such immoral urges, including those tied to homosexuality. When the allegations surfaced, ROCOR acted only to defrock Gleb for disobedience, taking no legal action and notifying no authorities; the monastery itself went into schism to avoid accountability.

Years later, a New Age group called the Holy Order of MANS encountered Platina. Drawn to its Orthodox practices, they gradually embraced Orthodoxy, eventually forming the Christ the Savior Brotherhood. Some communities joined the Bulgarians, others the Serbs or the OCA; Platina aligned with the Serbian Church. Part of this integration required that Gleb leave the monastery and be denied burial there. The Brotherhood’s delayed Orthodox embrace and distance from Platina were influenced by Podmoshensky’s crimes and the lack of justice, yet he still received a glowing obituary.

As a young man, my commitment to Orthodoxy over Catholicism reflects concern over New Age and sexual immorality infiltration, as well as the increasingly secular and liberal political and theological stances of the Catholic Church.


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Amid debate over whether prayer is a sufficient response to gun violence, a Minneapolis mother whose daughter was wounded in a Catholic church shooting said action is the only way to keep children safe. Speaking days after the attack by a trans-identified shooter that left two children dead during a Mass, she urged Americans to demand policy change.

Malia Kimbrell’s 9-year-old daughter, Vivian St. Clair, a third grader, was shot three times during the Aug. 27 attack at Annunciation Catholic Church, where students had gathered for a back-to-school Mass.

Kimbrell said Vivian was hit twice in the back and once in the arm, and a friend told her that Vivian had a hole in her back, NBC affiliate KARE 11 reported.

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A common Protestant claim is that the Catholic doctrine of purgatory is nowhere to be found in the Bible. But is this true? Since the Bible assures us that nothing unclean shall enter heaven (see Rev 21:27; cf. Heb 12:14), this implies that souls who die in a state of imperfect friendship with God must undergo some kind of final purification prior to their entry into eternal life. This fits with what Sacred Scripture teaches more generally about how God acts as a “refiner’s fire” (Mal 3:2) who disciplines His children in order to purify them of their unhealthy attachments to sin (see Wis 3:1-9; Heb 12:5-6, 10-11). But even so, if Catholics are right about purgatory, then we would expect there to be some passages in the Bible which point to its existence. Here we’ll explore five such passages.



2 Maccabees 12:39-45

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5 Bible Passages Which Point to Purgatory - St. Paul Center

A common Protestant claim is that the Catholic doctrine of purgatory is nowhere to be found in the Bible. But is this true? Since the Bible assures us that nothing unclean shall enter heaven (see Rev 21:27; cf. Heb 12:14), this implies that souls who die in a state of imperfect friendship with...

stpaulcenter.com

I have a view similar to the Open View of God. What is this view, it is that God although a planner, does not know every choice that man will make. It is supported by verses like:

Gen 6:5-7 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."

This scripture is quite clear, God saw man’s evil, and wished that He had not created man. This can only happen in a situation where the future is partially “open”, not foreknown, certainly not preplanned.

But this would not come as a surprise to a person who believes God gives man the ability to make choices.

When investigating the issue of foreknowledge and how much freedom man has, I have read the early church fathers, from the first and many from the second century. From their writings, it is clear they believed in two things:

• Man has genuine free will, that God gives his good will to all
• They also believed that God has foreknowledge

So this introduces a challenge, how can God have foreknowledge, and free will still exist? There are many mysteries that we can not know. But I do have a theory on this.

I did some research into the theory of time, and theoretically it is possible to move both forward and backwards in time. This would allow God the Father to send information about time backwards in time to the beginning. So basically God could know that was going to happen in time at the start.

But time is still a reality, there are still free choices. God would have to play through time to “see” what happens. This is why He could have regret, and wish He had not created man, for there was a point that time was “open” to even God. Yet not entirely open, I believe God puts constraints on the choices we can make.

An interesting point is that even within the Godhead there, is hidden knowledge, Jesus did not know everything about creation that the Father knew. But that is a thought for a different time.

Mark 13:32 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Archaeologists uncover Christian care facility in Israel with 'Peace be with the elders' inscription​

Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered a 1,600-year-old Christian care facility for the elderly – a remarkable find that may be the world’s oldest nursing home.

The news, reported by Israel's news agency TPS-IL, was announced by the University of Haifa on Aug. 18.

The care facility was found in the ruins of the ancient city of Hippos near the Sea of Galilee. The Christian city was a significant bishop's seat in the region during the Byzantine era.

Continued below.

There are a number of verses that people call the scariest in the Bible. But there’s one verse that many overlook, yet, when read from a believer’s perspective, it can be deeply unsettling.

Before I share that verse, let me set the scene.
If we look back to WW1, when a soldier was commanded to go over the parapet, if he refused because he was afraid, then there were consequences. He was court-martialled and then put to death for being a coward.
We, too, have been given a command: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15)
Yet a survey once conducted by Campus Crusade revealed that only about 2% of Christians regularly share the gospel. That’s shockingly low. And why? Because most believers are afraid. Even Paul admitted that he was afraid, “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). But Paul did not let fear silence him. He was bold. He was faithful. He was like those men who charged over the parapet; he was not cowardly.

Now here is the verse that makes me pause:
Revelation 21:8 – “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
We know who the unbelieving are. The abominable are those who are morally filthy; we know who the murderers are. The sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars, we know who they are. But who are the cowardly? Are they people who have been given a command and know what they should be doing, but instead, they choose not to do it because they let fear rule them?
I believe cowardice is when someone has a purpose to fulfil, and yet they refuse to do it because they let fear stop them. Fear itself is not sin; it’s natural. But when we let fear stop us from obeying God’s command, that’s cowardice. Just as those soldiers faced fear in the trenches yet pressed forward, we are called to press forward in sharing Christ.

And here’s where it becomes even more serious. If we believe in God, in heaven and hell, in judgment, and we know the Saviour, then it is wrong not to tell others about Him. It’s like seeing a house on fire with people inside and choosing to do nothing. You simply allow them to die. This would be morally outrageous. In human law, such deliberate inaction is called “Depraved Indifference.”
If human courts recognise this injustice, how much more would a holy and just God recognise the injustice of our not warning others about eternal death?
There is also a biblical example of Depraved Indifference in the Old Testament. God says to Ezekiel that if he does not warn the wicked of their deeds, their blood is on his hands. In Ezekiel 3:18-19, God says, "When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul."
So, failure to warn others of danger is condemned in Scripture, just as being cowardly is condemned.

James 4:17 says: “Anyone who knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
We know the good we ought to do. If we truly believe eternity is at stake, then failing to warn and to share the hope of Christ is not just neglect, it’s sin.

Now, I want to be very clear: I am not promoting a works-based salvation. I am not saying that you must go and tell people the Gospel in order to be saved. Salvation comes by faith in Christ alone, through His grace.
What I am saying is this: true faith naturally produces action. If you genuinely believe in the reality of God, heaven, hell, judgment, and the salvation offered through Jesus, that belief will move you. It will compel you to act, to speak, to warn, to love, and to share the hope you have. Faith without action may still be faith, but genuine belief shows itself in obedience and courage. Our actions flow out of our convictions; they are the evidence of a heart transformed by God.

So, ask yourself: Who are the cowardly in Revelation 21:8? Has your faith truly transformed your heart so that you are willing to obey God’s command to share the Gospel, or are you, like many believers, remaining silent out of fear?

“While Americans enjoyed the holiday weekend, ICE law enforcement was hard at work arresting barbaric criminal illegal aliens. Some of the worst of the worst arrested include murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and drug traffickers,” a DHS Spokesperson shared with The Daily Wire, adding, “Our brave ICE law enforcement officers never stop working to make America safe again.”

Thank you ICE!

'If you search MSNBC, CNN, NY Times or Washington Post, you won't find any mention of this news story about Iryna Zarutska,' one X user also wrote.
'The Democrats on the Charlotte city council tried to block the release of the video footage.
'Why are they avoiding the story of a Ukrainian white girl being so brutally kiIIed?'
'How can all these outlets have zero stories on a deadly attack and still claim to keep the public informed?' another person wrote.
A third X user slammed the media for 'ignoring "black on white" crime'.
'Iryna Zarutska was brutally murdered, yet CNN, NYT, WaPo, BBC, Reuters said NOTHING.
'Zero coverage. If it were the other way around, the outrage would be everywhere.'
Brown Jr. had a lengthy rap sheet and had been released by the Democrat-run police force several times before.

They keep their base in line by suppressing information that conflicts with the narrative.

Ivan:
Tell me, then—what use is this freedom you so exalt, if it can be twisted into chains for the innocent? Children suffer, and you say it is permitted for the sake of some grand design. But what child ever consented to be the price of mankind’s liberty?

Theologian:
I will not tell you their tears are part of “God’s plan” as though the suffering itself were necessary. That would be obscene. Their suffering is real, unjust, and stands as accusation against the world. But freedom—true freedom—must be capable of terrible misuse, or it is no freedom at all.

Ivan:
Then God is guilty for giving such a poisoned gift. If freedom leads to Auschwitz, to the torn body of one innocent child, I return the ticket.

Theologian:
And yet your refusal—your cry of indignation—already acknowledges the standard by which you judge God. You expect goodness, you demand mercy. Where did such a demand come from, if not from the very image of God etched into the conscience?

Ivan:
Conscience, perhaps. But it accuses God as much as man. What is the worth of an eternal harmony purchased with the screams of even one child?

Theologian:
None, if harmony means mere compensation, a balancing of accounts. The gospel does not promise that evil will be explained or justified as if it were a piece of a puzzle. It promises that evil will be judged, exposed, and finally transfigured by love stronger than death.

Ivan:
Fine words. But while we wait for this transfiguration, children suffer still. Where is your God when they cry?

Theologian:
On the cross. That is the only place I dare point. God does not watch from afar; He enters into that suffering, bears it, and makes it His own. It does not cancel the scandal—it deepens it—but it also says that no tear falls outside His wounds.

Ivan:
So the answer is more suffering—God’s this time? That hardly satisfies me.

Theologian:
Nor should it satisfy. Faith does not remove the scandal; it carries it. To believe is not to explain away the horror, but to live in defiance of it, trusting that the God who shared our agony will not let agony have the last word.

Ivan:
Then perhaps unbelief is the more honest path—refusal, revolt, rejection of such a God.

Theologian:
Even in revolt, you wrestle with the Christian God, not some abstract deity. Your rebellion is the shadow of faith; your “no” presupposes His “yes.” The very vehemence of your protest honors the goodness you deny.

Ivan:
Or perhaps it only proves the wound is too deep to heal.

Theologian:
Or that the wound cries out for healing so profound it must come from beyond us. That is why I hope, even while I cannot explain.

Ivan (bursting out):
You theologians come with your formulas, your immovable God who suffers nothing, who stands above all tragedy like some cold star. But tell me—when the child is torn by dogs, when the soldier laughs and the mother screams—do you dare tell her this is for freedom? For some grand transfiguration? Bah! If that is heaven, I return the ticket!

Theologian (calmly, almost tenderly):
You think me a fool if I speak of freedom. Yet freedom is no abstraction, Ivan Fyodorovich. It is as terrible as it is glorious. Have you heard the story of the master who gave his servant a key to the house? The servant could lock himself in forever, or open the door and flee into the night. The master gave it, knowing he might never see his servant again, but preferring the risk of absence to the certainty of slavery. God has given us such a key, and He will not take it back.

Ivan (with bitter irony):
A pretty parable! But what of the child who never asked for the key? Whose bones are crushed under the wheel before he can even turn the lock? You theologians speak as though children are born with full freedom, when in truth they are born only to suffer for the sins of their fathers. No harmony, no golden Jerusalem is worth a single child’s tear. You tell me of keys and houses. I tell you of basements, dark cellars where the innocent scream. And your God? He builds His heaven on their cries.

Theologian (pausing, then slowly):
I will not deny it is a scandal. To deny it would be to mock the very victims. But what if God Himself has entered the cellar? Not as master, but as the condemned. Have you not considered, Ivan, that the cross is God’s descent into that very darkness?

Ivan (with a sharp laugh):
Ah yes, the cross. Always the cross! Another child nailed up to save the rest—except this one is divine, so we must all be satisfied. But what if I do not want salvation through blood, even divine blood? What if I reject the very economy of suffering? I want innocence unbought, joy unearned, life without payment!

Theologian (softly):
And yet you cannot escape the payment. Even your rebellion is paid for in anguish. You reject the ticket, but you cannot unhear the music. You wish for innocence, but you know of it only because you have seen it profaned. Even your revolt confesses the goodness it denies.

Ivan:
Why must the conscience accuse me of believing even as I deny? Why must my refusal sound like prayer? If your God exists, He has made me His enemy without my consent. Tell me, priest, is not rebellion also a kind of communion?

Theologian (after a long silence):
Perhaps it is. Judas too was given bread from the same hand. And even he could not escape the love that chose him.

Ivan:
You want me to kneel. But I will not. Not while the children cry. Not while the world bleeds. If your Christ waits for me, He must wait forever.

Theologian:
He will wait, Ivan. He waits in every child, in every cry, in every restless night of your mind. He waits not above you, but within the very revolt that tears at you now. And when you curse Him, you speak His name.

As I worked through my engineering degrees, I often found myself using math & science I didn't really understand. As is often the case, no one wants to be the first to speak up and admit a weakness, but I suspect it is the same for many who work their way through the sciences. Having a philosophical nature, working that way created a cognitive dissonance I was very much aware of. The justification I settled on, was that if, at the end of the day, the machine worked, the means justified the end. Further, no machine is ever perfect (just as no person is ever perfect). So, if we're working to improve ourselves and the machine, that's the best we can do.

All of this is a preamble to my question, but feel free to comment on it if you like.

Over my decades-long career I've continued to knock down the things I don't understand one at a time. The latest hill to conquer was the Kalman Filter, which depends on the Cauchy Principal Value. Once the light bulb of understanding went off, my immediate reaction was, "Well, nuts." A common topic in the Philosophy of Science is the meaning of the correlation between mathematics and reality. In this case, there is none. The Cauchy Principal Value is something we can pretty easily say is not real (though I'm sure someone is going to disagree with that). The math is valid - I don't question that - but it has no correlation to anything in reality. All it does is help us make a better guess.

It's part of being an engineer that you are constantly making estimates (guesses). So, knowing a Kalman Filter is based on a guess of a function's value rather than the function itself isn't going to slow down engineering. But what about science? Of course people work on improvements to the Kalman Filter, but I don't see any signs that the goal is to find the "real" value. It's more just to make a better guess.

Finally, the question. If it were known (e.g. widely accepted) that a scientific model isn't real, but merely our best guess, should we continue to build on that, pushing the extrapolation farther and farther? Or should our efforts be focused on a better model of reality? In other words, engineering is essentially saying, "As long as machine performance continues to improve, it's not worth the cost, even though we know our model isn't based on reality." Is it OK for science to also adopt that attitude?

UFC White House plans revealed, including weigh-ins at Lincoln Memorial: report

Seems hilarious to me. Not sure how this lends credibility but given opinions of Trump on the international stage it's obvious he doesn't care.

I think a person could be forgiven I'd they were reminded of Nero a bit.

Last week, the shooter in Minneapolis of little children in a Catholic church-school during mass was discovered to have written on one of his weapons, “Where is your god [sic].” He used a picture of Jesus on his target in practice before the big day of shooting last Wednesday.

And now the left says to us in effect: “Don’t pray, just prey.” The last part refers to allowing unfettered evil to flourish — to continue to prey on the weak and vulnerable.

As Gary Bauer noted last Thursday: “Satan wrote the script for the atrocities that transpired yesterday at a Minneapolis Catholic church and school. The transgender shooter’s message, ‘Where’s your God now,’ wasn’t referring to Allah. It was referring to the God of the Bible, the God Catholics, Jews, and Protestants worship. The only God, by the way. ‘Where’s your God now’ was Satan mocking God.”

It’s amazing to see how swift the condemnation from the Left was against even the idea of prayers — as if prayers alone were the solution offered to try and stop these things. They do hint at the solution: to get back to the knowledge of God, the one who is there and who will hold us all accountable one day.

As to the condemnation of prayer, consider these examples:

• Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frei, who almost single-handedly destroyed his city in the wake of the George Floyd riots, spoke of prayer as if it were nothing. After all, the children in the church-school were literally playing when the bullets began to fly.

Continued below.

The Trump administration has launched a counterrevolution in American culture and government. As much as the credit for this sudden and dramatic reversal belongs to the president, it is further being fueled by larger changes in the conservative movement.

These changes were set in motion in part thanks to the annual National Conservatism Conference, initially created by Yoram Hazony, author of The Virtues of Nationalism, and hosted by the Edmund Burke Foundation. The conference first launched in 2019 and just wrapped up its fifth such gathering on Thursday.

As a disclosure, I’ll note that my wife Inez Stepman is one of the hosts of the “NatCon Squad” podcast, an excellent weekly show that provides some of the most insightful analysis about contemporary politics. (Yes, I’m biased, but it’s true.)

The National Conservatism message has largely “won” on the Right. That’s in part because it’s strongly aligned with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Vance has spoken several times at the conference, including in 2024, when he spoke about how America is a “homeland” and not just an idea.

But in a certain sense, the movement has run alongside Trump and Vance’s success. It has thrived because it filled the vacuum of where the pre-Trump conservative message failed.

Continued below.

Well I don't know much about theology history or scripture however I have a older Vietnam veteran Christian friend who is an evangelical. He's extremely low church and doesn't even attend services because he feels disillusioned by the fact that these churches preach to the pulpit but seem to do nothing about the millions of infanticides that occur daily. I was wondering how can I get a more interested in Orthodoxy and perhaps not view Church authority with a negative connotation.

Pray that 2 stateless women are granted permanent refugee in India on humanitarian & compassionate grounds:

Because I have both Religious OCD and wavering faith at best, I have been seeking salvation by Jesus Christ the Lord for over 14 years and have never been able to hold onto assurance of salvation. My most recent thread was “I cannot bring myself to trust” in “Struggles by Non-Christians.” After an extended discussion with caring Hazelelponi, I came to the understanding I am a Christian. But as usual, doubt again followed and I have gone back to Jesus for salvation numerous times since then. Each time I give my life to Christ, I mean it sincerely. But because my faith wavers on a moment-by-moment basis, one to a few moments after sincerely asking Christ to “Take Me!”, I waver back to living for self on a moment-by-moment basis. It seems I cannot take the first step or steps in the Christian walk because my faith wavers that severely. Not being able to take the first step drives doubt of being really saved in the first place.

I have long had a concern about the line or chasm between God’s will and my will. I was raised in the belief that I should use my brain/mind to figure things out and to decide on courses of action. I once wrote in a post on this forum something to the effect of: “Gospel tracts often say that God has a wonderful plan for your life. But I have a wonderful plan for my life.”

I once explained this concern to a pastor. He asked me what I had for breakfast. Then he asked me about my decision as to which shirt to wear for the day. He asked if I thought I was out of God’s will in making those decisions. I said, no. He went on to indicate that it is up to us to make various decisions, apparently including things like career, where to live and maybe even whom to marry. I have thought about that, but I am not so sure.

I heard a true story about a man whose daughter had done something bad and he sent her up to her room. As dinner time approached, she called down “Can I come down for supper?” He said “Yes.” He said she did not have to keep asking detailed questions during supper. For instance she did not have to ask, “Dad, can I put my next biteful of food on my fork?” “Dad, can I place the next forkful of food in my mouth?” “Dad, can I chew and swallow my mouthful of food?” Etc. He said that if she had asked questions like that, he would have run away from home. This story was part of a teaching on God’s will.

I could see his point except for the fact that it seems like a slippery slope between “Dad, can I come down for dinner?” and “Dad, can I take my next bite of food?” Where do you draw the line? We can use our brains to, say, as a kid, learn ‘don’t put your finger into an electrical socket’ and so it would seem, we could use our brains to figure out our career, where we are going to live, and whom we are going to marry.

My question is, can one be a born-again Christian, be in the will of God, be being led by the Spirit, and still have the latitude to use their brain to decide what to do next? For that matter, to decide what to do in the next sixty seconds?

I would understand that one should aim for being in the will of God. But with my wavering faith, I can try to sincerely ask Jesus that His will be done, not mine, as some pray, but only keep that commitment up sincerely for one to a few moments. Then I waver away and it’s back to living for myself, moment by moment, after that. This propensity drives doubt of salvation.

And yet I really want eternal life. I have repeatedly gone to God about this in intense sincerity.

The problem might be due to a past (present?) cynical approach in which I want the security of being saved yet to continue to live for myself, moment by moment. A person with such a cynical approach may not be savable. This leads to asking Christ to be my Lord and Savior, thinking for a moment that I have been saved, then immediately pulling back to go my own way. One idea is that God might be giving me what I am seeking: salvation in a moment, but, since I pull back, doubting salvation the next. Or he may be looking down at my cynical approach and saying, this guy is not serious. I cannot save him.

I have sought and doubted salvation, in a sense, continually (really, repeatedly) for over 14 years since my mother died. I have been dysfunctional and unable to do anything else, such as work to earn a living. I am liable to run out of resources and not be able to afford to live.

Yesterday is an example. I thought I had really, sincerely, come to Christ and been saved. Turning from seeking salvation to taking care of scheduled, practical matters, I got stymied by the thought that I am really doing my will, not God’s.

Let me give a hypothetical example. Suppose, one is about to take out the garbage. But first, one wants to make sure they belong to Christ and are saved. They sincerely give their life to Christ, then turn to taking out the garbage. As they start to take out the garbage, in their heart they think, “I am doing this for me. I am doing this of, by and for myself. I am doing this of my own will, under my own power, for my own purposes.” Their commitment to Christ is gone now that they have turned to carry out a task. It is like, in my heart, I think that the only practical way to get things done is to do them in, of, by and for myself. The only practical way to live is to live for myself, moment by moment. I can try to live for Christ for a moment, but then it’s back to real life, the next moment.