God could do it, English Standard Version, 2 Chronicles 9:23 all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.

When God allowed, the devil could do it, John 13:2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

I interpret the above as the devil putting the thought of betrayal into Judas' mind. For pseudo-believers and unbelievers, Satan has significant leverage over their minds.
2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Even for believers, James 1:14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

If you have been born of the Spirit/Paraclete, Satan cannot just take control of your mind. You have to be enticed to it.
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:16 "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

I don't think Satan can directly inject thoughts into a believer's mind but he can influence it by tempting you and your mind.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defeat for gay rights, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled Friday that a Christian graphic artist who wants to design wedding websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples.

Continued below.

OTTAWA, June 29 (Reuters) - Google said on Thursday it plans to block Canadian news on its platform in Canada, joining Facebook in escalating a campaign against a new law requiring payments to local news publishers.

Alphabet-owned (GOOGL.O) Google will remove links to Canadian news from search results and other products in Canada when the law takes effect in about six months.

Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) made a similar announcement last week after the passage of Bill C-18, or the Online News Act.

Facebook and Google said the proposals were unsustainable for their businesses and for months signaled possibly ending news availability in Canada unless the act was amended.

Galatians;2:20b( NASB20)………………………………………….and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above words are describing the practical side of someone who is living after the Spirit, that being, what one’s inner life of faith actually looks like in real terms… The ‘I now live’ puts everything in the present present, this is what one’s life is to look like on a moment by moment basis, a life of one following after the Spirit by faith….

This is where the peace of Christ in the heart plays its role as the director, as the arbiter in one’s life, as the pointer of what to do and what not to do….. This constant looking to Christ by faith to live His life of righteousness in and through one…. Because Jesus did die and the believing one with Him, now all things take a second place to this being joined with Christ in both His death and resurrection….

I.E. the life of faith is lived out practically as one goes through their day….The life of the Spirit of faith becomes more and more real as it is seen Christ of a truth does deliver one from sin…. Sin stays very real and alive but being joined with Christ when He died sets one free from the power of sin that dwells in one…. This can and will only be experienced to the degree one would rather die then sin, for when one would willingly enter into Christ’s death rather then sin, that one as fast as a blink of an eye is set free from whatever they would rather die to then sin….

As the experience of this is experienced does one’s joy in their salvation become a palpable thing….. Because Christ’s deliverance from sin is real and it is for the time in this world, accessing this deliverance is done by the faith of the heart being willing to die to all the things of this world….

Be blessed in accessing the deliverance that being joined with Christ brings, and the new life that follows…


A fellow follower, Not me

Luke 4:5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Satan claimed to have the authority of all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus didn't directly contract this proposition. Later, before he went to the cross,
Jesus acknowledged this claim in
John 14:30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming.

After the cross, 1 John 5 affirmed this claim:

Paul agreed in
2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

But there is good news. Jesus' cross restrained Satan's ability to deceive nations.
Colossians 2:14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Is Satan the ruler of this world?

I think so. But he does not rule us. His influence is particularly strong on the unbelievers.
2 Timothy 2:26 they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Satan holds the power of death.
Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.

For the believers, Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Jesus is greater than Satan. Satan's power was permitted for trials and testing of the believers. This is consistent with the developmental process of satan. God is using Satan to test everyone. This is why Satan is still around until the end.
Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Here is the good news:
1 John 5:4a for everyone born of God overcomes the world.

Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit [H7307, G4151] of God was hovering over the waters.

Strong's Concordance:
H7307. ruach
ruach: breath, wind, spirit
Original Word: רוּחַ
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Definition: breath, wind, spirit

Strong's Concordance:
G4151. pneuma
lpneuma: wind, spirit
Original Word: πνεῦμα, ατος, τό
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Usage: wind, breath, spirit.

John 16:7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate [G3875] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

Advocate
Παράκλητος (Paraklētos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3875: (a) an advocate, intercessor, (b) a consoler, comforter, helper, (c) Paraclete. An intercessor, consoler.

The Holy Spirit in Hebrew is feminine gender; in Greek, it is neuter; and as the Paraclete, it is masculine. Bill Mounce gave a good explanation of the grammatical genders of the Holy Spirit.

PLEASE PRAY FERVENTLY AND SHARE

CHINA

Prayercast | China

HAZARA

Hazara in Afghanistan

Here's one for the laptop deniers.:

The FBI's property receipt for the laptop, first obtained by Fox News Digital in 2020, had a "Case ID" section, which was filled in with a handwritten number: 272D-BA-3065729.

The number "272" is the FBI's classification for money laundering, while "272D" refers to "Money Laundering, Unknown SUA [Specified Unlawful Activity]—White Collar Crime Program," according to FBI documents. One government official described "272D" as "transnational or blanket."

Want to suggest a new forum especially for unreached peoples

keith

Hyperintelligent octopuses just got weirder: scientists have found the cephalopods can recode their brain when temperatures change

Octopuses are among the smartest animals on the planet—and some of the strangest. They have about the same number of neurons as dogs, but more than half of those cells are distributed across the slippery cephalopods’ eight arms rather than contained in a central brain.

As researchers report on June 8 in Cell, the neural anomalies only get more bizarre from there. Octopuses, they found, have the ability to recode their neurons in response to temperature shifts so those cells produce different proteins. Like people adjusting their clothing to match the weather outside, octopuses edit their RNA, which is a genetic molecule that carries DNA’s instructions to produce proteins—the workhorses of cells.

The researchers suspect those “brain edits” help octopuses adapt to heat or cold when the seasons change. And they do this to “an extraordinary extent,” says co-senior author Joshua Rosenthal, a biologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.

RNA editing happens when an outside force activates certain enzymes inside the body’s cells that then make chemical changes to the RNA. Depending on the changes, the cells produce different forms, or isoforms, of proteins. Because RNA is a transient molecule, any changes made to the genetic information it carries will not be permanent—a feature that, in theory, makes it a powerful tool for on-the-go acclimation to changing environmental conditions.

Continued below.

In Texas, the Southern U.S. and Mexico, a three-week heat wave has gripped the region with temperature records falling for days in a row. Extreme heat has also hit India, China and Canada, where widespread wildfires are burning.

"Most of the world's population has experienced record-breaking heat in recent days," says Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.



Compared to long term averages for this day of the year, you can see many very populated regions in elevated temperatures compared to a average for June 29th. A white color means the temperature is right at average for June 29th for that location. Blue color means the local temperature at a location is below the average for June 29th. Red colors indicate above average at a location for June 29th.



Europe, Japan, much of China, Southern India, and also in the U.S. a current heat wave in the U.S. expanding out of Texas and Oklahoma.

Notably today a significant portion of permafrost tundra areas in the northern hemisphere are well above average temperature for June 29th, so permafrost melt this summer will be interesting to monitor.

I was just wondering what this means in regards to thermodynamics.

A thirty minute long video which also describes the science behind each pretty picture.

I don't know if you're all familiar with John Mcarthur but he is a reformed theologian that is the leader of the mega church Grace Community church. This might be news to some of you and many of you probably know this already but John Mcarthur may be guilty of heresy by denying that Mary is the mother of God.

I know when he made this statement he was trying to be as anti catholic as possible (in fact he denies that Catholics are even saved in the first place even though they hold to the nicene creed like every other true mainline Christian Denomination.)

But anyway, by saying that Mary is not the mother of God is he guilty of heresy? Since historically the Christian church holds to the fact that Mary WAS the mother of God because Jesus is the son of God and Mary was his mother.

So him openly denying that Mary was the mother of God means that be doesn't believe that Jesus is divine. Because if Mary carried a half human half God baby In her womb than, she definitely is the mother of God. There's nothing Catholic about it it's a fact.

Thoughts? Can you think of other heresies Mcarthur might be openly teaching? If he doesn't repent I feel bad for him.

Audio of his claims Exposing the Idolatry of Mary Worship: An Overview

I don't know what to think of delusions. I know sin comes with delusions - is a delusion.

But what about mental health kind of delusions?

I know there is some overlap. How are these differentiated?

Without specific laws requiring officers to place their lives at risk, this was always going to be a hard case for the prosecution.

See How did Nephilim make a comeback after the flood?

Posting this also here in the open to all news forum.

In Texas, the Southern U.S. and Mexico, a three-week heat wave has gripped the region with temperature records falling for days in a row. Extreme heat has also hit India, China and Canada, where widespread wildfires are burning.

"Most of the world's population has experienced record-breaking heat in recent days," says Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.



Compared to long term averages for this day of the year, you can see many very populated regions in elevated temperatures compared to a average for June 29th. A white color means the temperature is right at average for June 29th for that location. Blue color means the local temperature at a location is below the average for June 29th. Red colors indicate above average at a location for June 29th.



Europe, Japan, much of China, Southern India, and also in the U.S. a current heat wave in the South and middle of the U.S., expanding some.

Notably today a significant portion of permafrost tundra areas in the northern hemisphere are well above average temperature for June 29th, so permafrost melt this summer will be interesting to monitor.

This is very interesting and makes sense...

""Wokeness" has become so pervasive across America's institutions from schools to corporations that author Vivek Ramaswamy argues it meets the Supreme Court test for religion.

"Wokeness is a secular religion. It isn't a religion based on God. It isn't a religion that offers a path to redemption, but it is a secular religion nonetheless," Ramaswamy, author of Woke, Inc. tells CBN News.

In his new book, Ramaswamy lays out legal solutions for people who've been fired for not ascribing to this religion of wokeness.

"When you have a moral vacuum that runs that deep, that's when secular dark religions like wokeness start to fill the void as we have seen the things that used to fill that void: patriotism, faith, hard work on the decline or nearly disappearing ? that's what allows 'woke-ism' to effectively become opium for the American soul," Ramaswamy explains....

He proposes adding political speech and belief to the list of protected classes, which he says is needed to fight a form of discrimination reaching scary heights.

"In my opinion, it is certainly far more rampant than racial discrimination which we instead obsess over and we need to apply those standards evenhandedly," he says.

And now as multi-national American companies like Coke, Disney, and Nike impose this new religion ? he says foes like China are benefiting at the expense of the United States. "What they've recognized is that American wokeness ? they even have a word for it ? this is cultural weakness."

Because he says, America's greatest asset on the national stage isn't our military might, it's our moral standing.

"They get companies like Disney, or Nike, or associations like the NBA or celebrities like LeBron James to criticize the United States relentlessly about alleged social injustice but they do not say a peep in China ? in fact, many of them actually praise China and the reason they do it is because that is their condition to be allowed to enter the Chinese market."

And he says the hypocrisy is astounding.

"One of them is Disney's hypocrisy, in particular, saying they could not shoot a film in the state of Georgia if Georgia passed an anti-abortion statute ? the equivalent of a heartbeat bill a couple of years ago but last year they shoot Mulan in the Xingjiang province of China literally ground zero of the Uighur human rights crisis and not only do they stay silent ? at the end of the film they actually praise China ? they thank the Xingjiang authorities at the end of the film in the credits ? you can see it today. Those are the same authorities who are responsible for enslaving the Uighurs," he says.

Tech companies, he says, are also using the woke corporate culture to their advantage.

"What you're seeing right now especially in big tech is big government is now dispatching big tech to do through a back door what it could not directly do under the constitution ? namely to censor political speech and alleged hate speech and misinformation that it did not like to see online."

All while enjoying legal protection from liability. In his book, Ramaswamy argues ? if tech companies are acting as agents of the state, then they should be bound by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

He hopes his book will help Americans wake up and realize what's at stake."...... https://www2.cbn.com/news/us/wokene...nes-light-dangers-woke-corporate-culture

The term original sin is not written in the Bible. It is a matter of choosing a definition. Regardless of how you define it, Romans 3:

We are all guilty of sin, original or not, and we all need the blood of Christ to redeem us.

Regarding babies in the womb, Romans 8:10b when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad

Why do babies die?

We all die, 1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

We all died because of the consequence of the first sin. Adam and Eve fell and brought the first sin into the world. As a consequence, everyone is subject to death. Babies are born into a sinful world. They could physically die at birth but they are not automatically condemned to eternal death because of Adam's or Eve's sin. They do not die for the first sin itself. They die because of the consequence of being existing in a sinful world.

To use an analogy, Dan is going to get married and his friend George is a marriage counselor who gives him a gift of a book containing instructions for how to have a good marriage. Dan is going have a different marriage experience if he trusts George by following his instructions than if he leans on his own understanding of marriage and does what his right in his own eyes instead. Essentially, if Dan has faith in George, then George is saving Dan from having one experience by giving him the gift of teaching him how to have a different experience, so while Dan's salvation requires him to follow George's instructions in order to have a different experience, Dan does not earn his salvation as the result of following them.

In a similar way, we are going to have a different experience if have faith in God by following His instructions for how to rightly live than if we lean on our own understanding by doing what is right in our own eyes instead. If we have faith in God, then He is saving us from having one experience by giving us the gift of teaching us how to have a different experience, so while our salvation requires us to follow God's instructions in order to have a different experience, we do not earn our salvation as the result of following them. For example, God teaching us to have the experience of honoring our parents is intrinsically part of the concept of him saving us from having the experience of not honoring our parents. Eternal life is the experience of knowing God and Jesus (John 17:3) and God's law is His instructions for how to have that experience (Exodus 33:13, Matthew 7:23), which is saving us from having the experience of living in sin, and which is why Jesus said that the way to enter eternal life is by obeying God's commandments (Matthew 19:17, Luke 10:25-28).

The minimalist and modern style of the new liturgical furnishings aims for a ‘noble simplicity,’ but has drawn criticism from art experts and Catholic observers.

The Archdiocese of Paris has unveiled plans for the new interior of Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral, which was heavily damaged by fire in 2019.

While the cathedral is set to reopen Dec. 8, 2024, as initially announced, the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, has revealed the names of the two candidates chosen to create the new liturgical furnishings — including the altar, tabernacle, cathedra, ambo and baptistery, as well as the chairs for the faithful.

This decision, made public on June 23, followed two consultation phases launched last October and January, at the end of which five artists’ projects (out of 69 submissions) were selected by the archdiocese’s artistic committee.

The Archbishop of Paris had called on candidates to strive for “noble simplicity” in their artistic expression, asking that “the works presented be respectful of the place, its history, its strong symbolism constituted by the mission it has fulfilled over the centuries” — but also, that they respect “the spirit of the Catholic liturgy, according to the meanings and norms established following the Second Vatican Council.”

Continued below.

Good day,

Supreme Court sets new limits on affirmative action programs


Supreme Court sets new limits on affirmative action programs in landmark ruling (msn.com)

“ Roberts writes: Snip… “ The court said that it has "permitted race-based admissions only within the confines of narrow restrictions. University programs must comply with strict scrutiny, they may never use race as a stereotype or negative, and -- at some point -- they must end."

In Him,

Bill

45 years ago, SCOTUS allowed Affirmative Action programs as a temporary solution to a problem. Thes results have been impressive as the Obama's noted. Barrack noted in his campaign that he didn't think that his advantaged children should be given such preferences. And this is the heart of the matter.
=========
The way to reduce discrimination based on race is to stop discriminating based on race. This idea is that of the Supreme Court.
==============
Harvard is majority-minority. There are lots of blacks in their class, lots of RICH blacks, many of whom got in based on their race. Berkeley has few blacks, though many minorities. They don't discriminate. Blacks simply go to Stanford. Berkeley also doesn't discriminate in favor of the poor.
===============
THE SOLUTION
Colleges should discriminate based on social factors, especially in favor of the economically disadvantaged. Under 40% of voters support discrimination based on race. I agree. The majority of Americans do indeed believe in a step up for the poor.