I have a question that is not a matter of theology or liturgy but more of a cultural question for a specific subset of cradle Orthodox Christians. Why do some Orthodox Christians have nostalgia for the communist days of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union? It is akin to Armenians being nostalgic for being under the Ottoman yoke. I know it's not everyone but I do know there are a few people who are devout Christians but you have the nostalgia


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Would you eat meat sacrificed in other religious traditions? My neighbors are a kindly Muslim couple who regularly bring us food from their country and religious traditions, including those that call for sharing with neighbors and friends as part of their religious observance.

Today's gift is lamb sacrificed yesterday in observance of Eid al-Adha, which according to MS Copilot, "...will be observed from June 6 to June 9 in the United States and Saudi Arabia. This holiday, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, commemorates Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to Allah's command. It is marked by prayers, feasts, and the ritual sacrifice of animals, with the meat shared among family, friends, and those in need."

I accepted today's gift of lamb, then thought, "I wonder what the folks at CF would have to say about this?"

And this doesn’t apply only to false prophets and teachers and evangelists. But this applies to anyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ but who is false to the truth. This applies to anyone who gives lip service to the Lord but by their actions they deny him. They live for self and for self-pleasure and not for God according to his will and purpose for our lives. They chart their own life course instead of following the life course that God laid out for all of us to follow who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.

And this is not a claim to sinless perfection on the part of all who are following the Lord in his ways, according to his truth and righteousness. But it does teach us that to follow Jesus Christ, in truth, requires that we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and that we walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and in walks of surrender to God in obedience to his commands. For if sin is what we practice, or if we live by the self-life, and not according to God’s will, we are not in relationship with our Lord.

But with regard to those who are preachers and teachers of The Word of the Lord, we should be those who are testing their words against the truth of the Scriptures, taught in the appropriate context. And context is critical, for many or most lies today are products of Scriptures taught outside their appropriate context which are then made to say what they do not say if taught in the right context. So we need to be students of the Scriptures who read them in context so that we can test the spirits to see if they are of God.

But it isn’t just by their words that we will know if they are of God or not of God, but it has to do with their practices, too. What is important to them? What do they value? Do they put tremendous value in the things of this world? Or do they place enormous value on the things of God, and of his word (taught in context)? What do they live by? By the patterns of this sinful world and by worldly culture? Or by the Word of God and his requirements of us who profess faith in the Lord and who claim Jesus as Lord of our lives?

But by what they teach we will know if they are of God or not if we are diligent about testing what they teach against the truth of the Scriptures taught in the right context. For by this we will know if they are wolves in sheep’s clothing, or if they are genuine followers of Jesus Christ who speak the truth and not the lies. Especially if they are not emphasizing the critical importance of putting sin to death, by the Spirit, and walks of obedience to our Lord, in holy living, they are not of God, but they are still of the flesh.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

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Beware of False Teachers
An Original Work / June 9, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Hi everyone, I would greatly appreciate your prayers- For several months now I have been experiencing severe jerking and twitching in my body, where it jerks uncontrollably, it is painful. I am not sure what the cause of this is but in the last few days it has been happening every 3 minutes, please pray that this stops. Thank you!

-Dave

The Senate Finance Committee’s plan to extract savings from the Medicaid and — perhaps — Medicare health insurance programs could depart in key respects from the version of the giant bill that narrowly passed the US House in May. The release of the panel’s draft will likely touch off a new round of wrangling between fiscal conservatives and moderates.

Senate Republicans want to scale back the $350 billion cost of increasing the [SALT] cap from $10,000 to $40,000 for those making less than $500,000.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and a group of Republican members from high-tax states have warned that any diminishing of the SALT cap would doom the measure

To pay for [tax breaks for businesses], which most economists rank as the most pro-growth in the overall tax bill, senators may restrict temporary breaks on tips and overtime

[They may also scale back cuts to green energy tax credits.] Banks are especially interested to ensure that tax credits on their balance sheets as part of renewable energy financing aren’t rendered worthless by the bill. [Certainly can't have unhappy banks]

Medicaid and Medicare cuts present the most daunting challenge in the committee’s draft. [Situation murky, ask again later.]

see also:

A Humanists UK spokesperson has said the case does "raise concerns" and the bar for prosecutions is too low.

They said: "When blasphemy laws were repealed in 2008, it was a victory for freedom of expression.

"We must make sure that public order legislation is not used to disproportionately target speech – even offensive speech – on religious matters, thereby chilling legitimate criticism and expression."

• Vessel aimed to deliver aid, raise awareness of Gaza crisis
• Crew includes climate activist Greta Thunberg
• 'If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped'
• Israel says all aboard are safe, heading to an Israeli port
• UN rapporteur urges more boats to challenge Gaza blockade

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LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed back against threats of arrest by Trump administration officials, remaining defiant as he oversees clashes between law enforcement agents and protesters in response to immigration raids across Los Angeles while also managing an ongoing power struggle with the federal government.

Trump’s "border czar," Tom Homan, warned Saturday that immigration operations and the presence of federal personnel would continue in the city despite criticism from Democratic leaders who've warned it could further escalate protests. He threatened arrest for anyone who obstructs the immigration enforcement effort, including Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — though he acknowledged that neither yet had "crossed the line."

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We need to recognize the evil of these countries.

What's really going on in the world and life is the war between God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom. ABC News wants to paint you another picture of what's going on. So there is a conflict between perception and reality. This conflict is enough to drive some people crazy, such as myself. My OCD intensifies my insanity, but the root cause is the conflict between perception and reality, which is universal.

I came across this recent podcast episode from Christian apologist, Frank Turek, where he interviews Shane Rosenthal about his new book, "Luke's Key Witness."

The new book posits that some evidence may point to Joanna, who was a disciple of Jesus during His 1st advent, as being one of the people from whom Luke drew information for his Gospel. I found this interesting and hadn't heard it before, so I'm posting it here in case any of the rest of you would like to listen in on the discussion. (The video is set at the 12:30 minute mark because that's where the main conversation for the book actually picks up].

Who is Luke's Key Witness? with Shane Rosenthal​

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Greetings to everyone here and praise the Lord!

I have arrived here to look for fellowship of other Believers! (even if it's online) I look forward to getting to know you, this place, and more importantly, getting to grow my relationship with Christ!

(Also to the staff) Thank you for giving me as well as everyone here the opportunity and privilege to be with each other and to serve God at this place!

I'm back after a long sleep. Was ABlessedMan in the past. Had a little change.
@hhodgson, @PastorMike .... I knew many others here in WoF but too much time has passed to remember handles.

How active is this forum these days? It doesn't look very active from the topside. Am I wrong?

I was going to post this in the what are you watching thread. But it’s so out there I figured it’s a better fit here. At first glance this is really unsettling. But are there use cases when the technology could be helpful? And if so, what would that involve from your perspective? I don’t necessarily want a debate. But an opportunity for us to view the topic from different angles. Not only ourselves but others in different circumstances. This is going to be an issue for our generation and we might as well confront it.

The Ai Girlfriend Apocalypse. It’s an interesting piece and expected to rise significantly in the future. Elon did an ad campaign with Kim Kardashian last year and I knew was a certainty. The video stated the most common use case for Generative Ai was therapy and companionship. I’ve heard some people mention its suitability for mentorship and related tasks. I’m including the video and a link to the app Replika. The intro is a little racy but it’s harmless.

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Goodbye dad
I am heart broken
That I have lost you
So fast
I can't stop crying
Yes I could never believed
That you had to part so soon
But deep down
I could not stand to see you
Suffer every day
Battling you disease
I tried to make you
Comfortable
Also I had to be strong for you
And it is very hard to do
Yes you lost you battle
And at the same time
It was hard to see you leave
This earth
But at the same time
I must understand that
You are in a better place them
Me
You are living a new life in
Heaven
Without suffering
Dad go ahead
And rest all you want
Yes darling daughter
You still have a life to live
On earth
Ahead of you
Please daughter live your life to
The fullest on earth
Yes daughter heaven holds a place
For you
Daughter do me a favor
And pray for me every night
AIso I will be watching you down
From heaven
You can't see me anymore
Because the earth is far
From heaven
Also I am weaving goodbye
To you daughter
From heaven
You can't see me waving goodbye
To you
Yes daughter one day
When you die
You will come to heaven
And you will see me in
Heaven
And in heaven we
Will meat again
Some day
Daughter of mine
In this difficult time
I must say that you were
Brave
Now it is time
To grieve daughter
I can't tell you
How long you must grieve
And I know that
Everybody grieves different
From each other

If you want to find a Catholic wife worthy marrying, start here.​

Last year, I wrote a piece for Catholic Answers called “How to Find a Husband.” Here is the belated companion piece for men who are looking for a good Catholic wife.

Much of the advice is the same: expand your social circle by attending both Catholic and not-necessarily-Catholic events that attract single adults, then challenge yourself to actually speak to at least one single woman at each social event. Have a “wing man” hold you accountable to this goal if needed.

However, I have some specific tips for men, too, based on what I liked when I was looking for a husband a couple of years ago, and what I heard from other women as I researched for my book, Pretty Good Catholic.

Many Catholic women complained that the devout Catholic men they met were . . . well, boring. They tended to have fewer hobbies and interests than non-Catholic men and didn’t joke or flirt as much. So you can take three concrete steps to make sure you stand out from the crowd.

1. Develop or rekindle some interests so that you’re well rounded. Ideally, you should do something physical that keeps you fit and doubles as a social activity, where you can meet women who share the interest. (I know a married couple who met through a casual Ultimate Frisbee group, and plenty of Catholic women love partner dancing!)

Intellectual and creative pursuits are great, too: play an instrument, learn a new language, or read some great works of literature. Basically, do things that women also do, so that you have something to talk about with them, and somewhere to take them on dates besides coffee or dinner. If you find that you and she are both into art, inviting her to a museum comes naturally.

If you’re using a dating app or website, showcase all these interests on your profile, via words and pictures, so women can really see who you are.

2. Lighten up a little bit!

Continued below.

Revelation 13 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion:

According to Daniels visions these animals are - Greek empire , Media Persia and Babylon and all can be seen here in this picture of the Greek empire. However , Italy Rome and the Vatican are not in this prophetic picture , so where did I go wrong ?

One of the most famous and dramatic scenes in the entire Bible comes in Genesis 22 when God tells Abraham to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him in the land of Moriah. For Christians and non-Christians alike, the passage can feel challenging and perplexing. How could an all-loving God command a father to kill his innocent son? And what’s to stop God doing the same thing again in the future? To answer these questions, we need to look more carefully at what’s going on in the biblical text.



A Willing Victim

The first thing to notice about the sacrificing of Isaac—also known as the Aqedah, or “binding”—is that Isaac is old enough to consent to what’s going on. Jewish tradition holds that he was in his 20s or 30s at the time, and this is supported in the text of Genesis. For one thing, the same Hebrew word that’s used to describe Abraham’s servants (“young men” in the RSV) is also used to refer to Isaac (“lad” in the RSV).

Additionally, there’s the important detail in the narrative that Isaac is the one who carries the wood for the sacrifice: “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son” (Gen 22:6). Given that the quantity of wood would have been considerable, Isaac must have been a strapping young man by this point. And it makes sense that Abraham would lay the wood on his son, since Abraham was well over a hundred years-old by this point (see Gen 21:5)! Isaac could easily have resisted and overpowered his elderly father if he so chose.

Continued below.

Hi, brothers and sisters,

A couple of months ago, my church stopped saying those words in the title of this thread: "Most Holy Theotokos, save us" in all of our services. I asked my priest. He said it was never part of the liturgy, just done out of respect. I was thinking it was because of all the new people coming to our church (and others around the country) - that they didn't understand what that meant (which is understandable because it's a saying for people already members of the church), and many Protestants are offended by that, thinking we're asking the Panagia to save us as in through salvation, which isn't the case.

Has anyone else's church here in the U.S. or elsewhere taken out that lovely chant? I'm sorry to see to gone. So used to hearing it. I still say it at church (not loudly, but quietly) during the liturgy and such. Anybody?

I don't understand these online news feeds that present controversial subjects as their article topics and then do not allow people to comment on the article unless it is in support of the controversial article. Sensible responses need not apply against these articles, the comment usually doesn't get posted. But I tried with what I thought was a sensible and polite response:

"You got that right! A long while back, yes there may have been one or two trans people in each of our communities but, they did their whole "trans" thing and the rest of the world was allowed to ignore it and not have to play along with their delusions.

Now, the online news medias have to throw it in our face 24/7 as if the more they present the subject the more "enlighten" we'll become and accept the false trans lifestyle. I can tell you, it'll never happen even in a million years - because it is so unnatural.

I think that some of the people who report for these online news medias are even more delusional than the person who acts trans. Maybe, psychiatrist need to take a closer look at those people."


So, after trying to post the above response, I got the message, "This comment doesn't meet the community guidelines; please try another one." Anybody see anything repulsive, mean, hateful in what I wrote? A far as I can tell there is nothing bad about this response. So, I thought we could have a better discussion here on the subject. Here, everybody can say what they want (to a certain degree).

Q: Is it always wrong in every case to lie? What about the so-called “little white lie?”‘ I’m thinking of situations where you tell a person something you know is false to spare their feelings, when they’re likely never going to know the truth anyway.

A: Our Catholic faith teaches us that lying is an offense against the eighth commandment and is in principle always wrong. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity” (CCC 2485).

Speaking and acting against the truth​

However, as your question suggests, there are some nuances to consider. For one thing, a lie might be mortally or venially sinful depending on the objective importance of the truth being obscured and on the seriousness of the potential harms that might come about because of the lie. A quick fib about eating the last piece of cake is obviously not on the same level as a lie in a business transaction that causes a family to lose their entire savings.

It also might be useful to consider what a lie technically is. As the catechism, referencing St. Augustine, puts it: “A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving” (CCC 2482). This means that not every untrue statement is a lie. To give some examples, acting and some jokes involve saying things that aren’t true, but untruths uttered by an actor in a play or as part of the set-up for a clear punchline aren’t intended to deceive and typically aren’t misleading in actual fact. Likewise, inaccurate statements that come about from an honest mistake also are not lies, because there was no intention in such statements to distort the truth

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CNN —
Colombian senator Miguel Uribe, in the running to join next year’s presidential race, is in a critical condition in hospital after being shot at an event in Bogota, allegedly by a 15-year old boy.

The 39-year-old, from the center-right Centro Democrático – or Democratic Center – the biggest opposition party in the South American nation, had expressed his intention to run in next year’s election.

He was shot twice on Saturday afternoon in the capital’s Fontibon district, according to the General Prosecutor’s Office. Police said the 15-year-old was carrying a Glock pistol when he was arrested.

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