• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

South Dakota Democrat says wanting kids to have a mom and dad is ‘dangerous and un-American’

Rep. Erin Healy's tweet was bombarded with social science literature.

PIERRE, South Dakota (LifeSiteNews) — A Democrat lawmaker in South Dakota is under fire for declaring it “dangerous” and “un-American” to believe that children should have both a mother and a father.

On Monday, State Rep. Erin Healy tweeted, “Extremist group Family Heritage Alliance said this morning that the safest place for kids are in families that have a married mom and dad. What a dangerous and un-American belief,” apparently in reaction to comments against an unsuccessful bill to remove sex-specific language from South Dakota’s legal definition of marriage.

Continued below.

Asbury Revival

Happening now at a College from what I've gathered. Thoughts?

Live link on YouTube:

Frivolous Lawsuit Headed to Supreme Court



Is this true? Should not "Rejected" been rubber stamped on this ridiculous lawsuit before it hits the Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court declined to consider the lawsuit on January 9, but the plaintiff, Raland Brunson, filed an appeal on January 23. Now, the court has to reconsider whether or not to hear the case, according to an update on the SCOTUS' website that read that the lawsuit was "distributed for conference" on Friday.
How much "reconsideration" should it take to decide that there is no possible reason that Biden should be removed and Trump reinstated? Has this not been investigated and studied and litigated and relitigated as the potential indictments and lawsuits and criminal charges pile up?

In addition, it gives the insurrectionists and most irrational of his supporters "hope" and keeps them in an agitated and potentially dangerous frame of mind.
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Republicans take aim at SNAP benefits in growing fight over federal debt

Top House Republicans are exploring significant changes to the nation’s food stamps program, including benefit cuts and stricter work requirements, as some in the new majority scramble for ways to slash government spending this year.

The emerging GOP campaign arrives at a pivotal moment for the nutrition program, which is set to cease providing emergency pandemic payments this March. Congress terminated the allotments as part of a $1.7 trillion deal to fund the government reached at the end of last year, though some states — including Arizona, Florida and Mississippi — already had returned SNAP benefits to their normal amounts. [But some in the GOP are looking to cut even more.]

A key federal law that authorizes agricultural subsidies and nutrition programs including SNAP is set to expire at the end of September. Lawmakers must approve some sort of extension before Oct. 1, or enact a newer version of the measure, known colloquially in the Capitol as the “farm bill.” Otherwise, millions of farmers and families alike could experience significant economic disruptions this fall.

Firing an early warning shot, a group of five conservatives led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) last week cited the country’s “untenable” debt levels as they called for new “work requirements as a feature of welfare reform.” They specifically pointed to the need to make “structural reforms of SNAP,” saying such rules would restore “dignity” for beneficiaries.

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Fox News Anchors.....

So now that Fox News anchors admitted in court that they knew what they were saying on the news was a lie but they "didn't want to alienate their audience", we can communally, disavow them as a news network right? Or are we just gonna focus on the SPECIFIC anchors who testified?
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/16/1157558299/fox-news-stars-false-claims-trump-election-2020

Because between them and Tucker "any reasonable person would know you can't trust" Carlson, I would hope to not see news stories featuring these journalistscelebrities.

And yes, I know "CNN DOES IT TOO". Well I "know that". But I don't "they testified under oath and that leads their integrity to come into question" know that.

Far-right Republican groups surge in swing state Michigan

America First Republicans now control local party leadership in more than half of Michigan's 83 counties, a senior party official estimated, paving the way for an important victory on Saturday when an election denier is expected to be elected to state party chair.

Jon Smith, a local leader in rural Michigan of America First, a far-right Republican faction that denies the results of the 2020 election, wants to shift the entire party to the right - even if it means short-term losses at the ballot box. "We need to redefine what it means to be a Republican," he said in an interview.

In pursuit of that aim, Smith and other hardliners deployed armed guards to bar moderate delegates from a county meeting last August, threatening to bring criminal trespassing charges against them, according to an email to the moderates seen by Reuters.

Last July, the far-right faction adopted a resolution to "protect the party from a hostile takeover of actors with intent to dilute or destroy the values of the party," voting to expel 70 moderates. The resolution, which Reuters has seen, claimed the party had been "infiltrated" in the 1970s by members who practice socialism.

"To me, this is like a coup of the Republican Party," said Penny Swan, who joined the moderates after seeing the armed guards at the August meeting. "It's like the radical right is trying take over."

Seeking God and Divine encounters? (God prompted)

I live in Kentucky. I started working at my job in June 2018 and starting in January of 2020 a man came up to me out of the blue and told me “Jesus loves you”. And I had a handful of strangers talk to me about Jesus. They brought Him up first. I didn’t. It seems to me with most of those strangers is that God prompted them to. Any thoughts? I have been seeking God as well.
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Prayer Request- Severe Pain

Hi everyone, I would greatly appreciate your prayers. I am in severe pain right now in my foot and lower back and also my leg, I believe this pain is due to a reaction to a supplement I am taking but I am taking a huge cocktail of supplements and I have no idea which one is causing it. I also have a headache and and sick to my stomach, also I am in distress mentally and God heals me but then it just comes right back, sometimes within minutes. There are also other things wrong with me, I am very ill.

Religious Person v. drag person charged with sex crimes against children.

To keep a good eye on the scope of the problem, I'd like to see this thread reporting incidents of sexual misconduct against minors so we can see the data.

Florida Deacon Sentenced for Producing Child Porn in Church

I don't think we want to be going too deep in history (my first quick research shows the last drag queen attack reported was last year summer)....so please share here anything you hear about from the beginning of February 2023 until, let's say end of April. Let's compare which demographic is a greater propagator of sex crimes against children during this time frame.


JUST to be clear: I would only be sharing christians IN CHURCH LEADERSHIP positions. There are probably many other christians who perpetrate but are not in leadership positions. I think that would also give a slightly better comparison of populations; There are a LOT of Christians in American but FAR fewer of those people are in leadership positions.

Need Relationship Advice

Hello,
My previous post, "Will We Ever Get Past This?" got moved to Face the Board, but this post is related to that if anyone wants context.

I am not sure what to do in my relationship with my boyfriend. I showed him the post I made, how I was feeling so guilty about our sin 6 months ago. He reiterated that he's trying to forgive but it takes time. He also said that he has a lot of external factors in his life that is making it hard to think about this issue and work through it (ie job struggles).

Also, I had had an outburst last Thursday, and long story short he told me then that he wasn't sure if he should stay with me, because I need to work on being content in my current situation (its been almost 11 months and i want to marry him, and ive mentioned this months ago, but he said recently he's nowhere near being ready as he's not sure about me). I called my parents after, and my father instructed me to not wallow in self pity, but to know that I've been told what to work on, and now I need to work on it. So I've been trying to do that.

And my boyfriend is still with me. He's been nice to me, we went swimming 2 days after that night, and have been getting along. But he says he still needs to process my outburst from last week. He says right now he wants to be in a relationship, but I feel as though I've given him an essay that I'm waiting for him to review and grade.

So I asked if I could just have this weekend pretty much to myself. I want him to prioritize processesing what happened and I want to just clear the air and move forward... or break up. I just don't want to be in limbo.

What do I do? What do I ask him to do? Do I ask him to prioritize processing what happened and prioritize fixing our relationship? Do I just keep quiet and see what happens?

When in the 7 years, the 7th vial takes place

In Revelation 16:17-20 is the 7th vial of God's wrath poured out on the world. It involves huge hail stones, a massive global earthquake, buildings falling in the nations.

It is after the kings of the earth begin gathering their armies to (in vain) make war of Jesus. Their gathering for such an endeavor, angers God, that He has the 7th vial of His wrath poured out on the world, that has gone into unrepented rebellion against Him and His Son, our Lord and Savior - Jesus.

On my chart, I show the 7th vial highlighted in green....


the seven seals c.jpg

Get Corporations OUT of the Government

Biden DOJ Backing Norfolk Southern’s Bid To Block Lawsuits


It's a good reminder that even the democratic party as a whole really, when it comes down to it, not interested in workers EITHER; not if it comes at the expense of corporate profit.

There are a FEW individuals in Government who do seem to be concerned with the common person: Bernie Sanders, AOC (to some extent). Are there some Republicans who consistently vote for things that support workers (and not "taxpayers")?

It seems perverse that the company could get off without punishment for this accident. If you dump paint down the drain, you can get a 5000 fine....and that is NOTHING compared to what happenned.

Man with animus against Jewish community arrested in Los Angeles shootings outside synagogues, sources say

The Los Angeles Police Department has arrested a suspect in the shootings of two men outside synagogues in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of L.A. over the last two days.

The man has a history of animus toward the Jewish community, law enforcement sources told The Times.

In a statement late Thursday, the LAPD said that “the facts of the case led to the crime being investigated as a hate crime.”

The first shooting occurred around 10 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Shenandoah and Cashio streets, when a man in his 40s was shot in the back while walking to his vehicle, authorities said. The second was around 8:30 a.m. Thursday near Pickford and South Bedford streets — about two blocks away — when a man walking home was shot in the arm. Both victims survived the attacks.

Does Good or Evil attach to physical "things", or Relics?

In other traditions there is a concept that physical things can have good or evil attached to them. In Catholicism and Orthodoxy I think of Relics - often referred to as having some sort of "power".

Then I heard of a more Pentecostal person seeing a pagan type statue and saying something about evil being attached to it.

Where does Lutheranism land on all this "stuff"?

Don't Be Double-Minded

Psalms 119:113-115 ESV

“I hate the double-minded,
but I love your law.
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Depart from me, you evildoers,
that I may keep the commandments of my God.”

Who are the double-minded? In James 1:5-8 it says this:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Double-minded means to be of two minds and souls, and to be wavering and vacillating between two opinions. It is like a person split in half, kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – one person but split personalities. It is a lot like someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ but who lives like hell, still walking in deliberate and habitual sin without regard for the Lord and for his commands (New Covenant). He professes one thing but lives the opposite.

And it is like the modern-day church in America, professing to be the church, the body of Christ, while most of it is the institutional “church,” which is of man, not of God, and which gives honor to the world and to big business and to marketing schemes and goals and instructions. Now I am certain that genuine believers in Jesus exist within these institutional “churches,” but the institutions themselves are not the church, the body of Christ, and the buildings where they meet (gather) are also not the true church.

So, believers in Christ, or those professing to be in Christ, if they are all caught up with these institutional churches and their marketing schemes and goals, and with following the ways of the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings, and so they are compliant with the diluting of the gospel, too, so as not to offend the people of the world and human flesh, then they would also be considered to be double-minded. For they profess to follow Christ while primarily they are following man and his methods.

So, then if we become followers of the world, we cease to be followers of Christ, for we can’t do both, though we might try. But this is where so many professing Christians are today, professing faith in Jesus Christ but still caught up in the world and in the worldly “church” which is a product of human thinking and reasoning and greed, and not a product of our Lord and his righteousness and holiness. And so many of these institutional “churches,” i.e. businesses, have rejected the Lordship of Christ and his gospel message, and they are following the world, instead.

So, if you are part of an institutional church which is worldly, and which is using worldly means and methods to attract the world to their gatherings, and which has diluted and altered the gospel message to make it more attractive and acceptable to human flesh and to the people of the world, please know that this is not the true church, but a business, and its goal is not to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to do his will, and it is not to spread the true gospel of Jesus Christ and of our salvation.

So, if you truly want to follow Jesus Christ with your life wholeheartedly, in walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands (New Covenant), and in walks of holiness and righteousness, and if you want to have a voice and a testimony for the Lord and for his gospel, chances are pretty good that the institutional market-driven “churches” are not going to provide that for you. Chances are greater that they will reject you and they will silence you and that they might even cast you out if you are very verbal about your walk of faith.

So, you might want to seek the Lord’s face and to inquire of him as to whether or not you are where he wants you to be, for you may not have a voice in these institutional churches and God wants you to have a voice, and he wants you to be where you can grow in your walks of faith in him, and where you can connect with other believers who are also following the Lord Jesus in walks of obedience to him and in righteousness. For ungodly influences have a way of pulling us away from pure devotion to our Lord.

Psalms 119:118-120 ESV

“You spurn all who go astray from your statutes,
for their cunning is in vain.
All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross,
therefore I love your testimonies.
My flesh trembles for fear of you,
and I am afraid of your judgments.”

Please know that a mere one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ is not enough to guarantee you salvation from sin and eternal life with God. The Scriptures teach that we must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and that we must walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. We must obey our Lord and his commands (New Covenant), in practice, and we must walk in righteousness and holiness and not in sin or we don’t have eternal life with God and heaven is not our eternal home.

And also please know that the wicked are defined in the Scriptures as all who are walking in sin, for whom sin is their practice, and for whom righteousness and godliness and obedience to our Lord are not their practice, regardless of whether or not they profess faith in Jesus Christ. For many who profess faith in Christ are going to stand before him one day and he is going to say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because obedience to God was not their practice, but sin was (Matthew 7:21-23; cf. 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10).

So, don’t be like them. Love the Lord your God with all your being, and follow the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands under the New Covenant. Surrender your lives to Jesus Christ and make him truly Lord (Owner-Master) of your lives. And love his word, and obey his word, in practice. And share the truth of the gospel and not the lies. So be students of the Scriptures who study them in context so that you can discern truth from lies, and so you make certain what you are believing and sharing is indeed the truth according to the Scriptures.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Praise the “I AM!”

An Original Work / February 24, 2012

Jesus, my Savior, full of compassion,
Glorious in power, mighty in strength;
Gracious Redeemer, mighty deliv’rer,
My heart adores Him. Praise to His name!
Perfect salvation my Lord provided
When He died for my sins on a tree;
Crucified my sins; conquered in vict’ry,
When He arose, so I could be free!

I am so thankful for His forgiveness;
Grateful that He chose to pardon me,
Giving me new life full in His Spirit,
So I can serve Him; His servant be!
Walking in daily fellowship with Him,
Obeying Him whate’er He commands;
Forsaking my sins, living in freedom,
I will endure with Him to the end!

He gives me peace and calm reassurance
In times of sorrow, or in distress.
His grace is sure, and oh, how sufficient
To meet me in my need for sweet rest.
Oh, how I love You, Jesus, my Savior.
My heart longs for You where’er I am.
Your word is precious; speaks to my spirit;
Brings comfort, healing. Praise the “I AM!”

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What if Sunday was the seventh day of the week?

What would you do if the governments of the modern West—the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and so on—collectively decided to change the calendar so that the weekend was actually the end of the week, such that the week started on Monday, ran through to Friday, and ended with Saturday and Sunday. To be perfectly clear, in this scenario Sunday would be the seventh day of the week. Would all of Christianity attend their places of worship on the same day? Or would Seventh-Day Adventists continue worshiping on Saturday, which would now be the sixth day throughout the entire Western world?

what to do

hello all. I'm in a situation that i just don't quite know what to do. we got a new pastor a year ago. it started, the pastor wanted to meet with everyone, so i did, i ended walking out of the meeting. the pastors husband was at the meeting, and he started to go off on some things that happened at the church before we were there. He (not the pastor) started to bring some things up that I said was done and buried and I was not going to go thru that again, but he wouldn't stop, seeing that, I got up and said I don't have to take this, and while taking two steps out, he started in by saying "go ahead, run away like you have all your life"...this person didn't even know me...and to think I spent almost 2 hours helping them move into the parish house, me and only 2 to 3 others.
after a few weeks I cooled off....i was one of the people that run the local meal program, feeding on aveage 150 one night a week...there were just a few of us, and we got tired, working 2 days to fix the meals, we had been going for 12 years, and thru 2 pastors. one of the things was that the pastor was always there, and meet and talked with people, wonderful outreach, the new pastor, there only 3 or 4 times....then the new pastor does not list an after hours number to be contacted at...I could not believe it, but no where in the church stuff is there an after hours contact number....the needs of the flock does not end at 5 pm, and not available on fri-sun.
well, our meal program took a month or so off, one person could not come back due to health, so just a very few left but we thought we would try...well when we have our restart meeting, the pastor says the quality of our meals was low, and if we did better meals, we would have more people and they would pay more...first, we don't care what people throw into the donation plate, and the food is good, maybe it's basic, not fancy, it is good food...a menu was presented, which would require alot of work for those few that were left, and would have pushed the cost per plate to over $5, which we could handle, but not for a long time...well, that caused the remainder of the group to say no, they worked hard, to provide good meals, and now told the quality was low, and propose meals that would take alot of time (how about frying 150 pieces of chicken, making gravy from the drippings and then pealing potatoes to mash, plus a fancy desert)....and then say to fix something better for people will pay more...then the pastor recommended to operate only on rsvp....never heard of a church doing that for a meal, plus who was going to answer the phone...so...
the remainder of the group left, so now it's just me. Then one of the ladys were talking to me that does another food program, and come to find out, we now charge so much for the janitor to clean after a funeral dinner (a pretty nice sum, plus the church already pays the wage), and that the pastor requested money from the meal doantion to pay for the cleaning of the hall, but also $100 for their services doing the funeral....this was to come out for the donation for the meal...after all the other came out, almost not enough to pay for the food...that fund always carried a surplus since sometimes there were small donations for funeral meals. We never charged a cleaning fee, and many times, the pastors did not charge for a service, since they were already working for the church.
so, with all of this, i don't know if i can continue...i continue to help for the people in the community, we deliver to shut ins, we have older couples that come, and families with childen that don't have money, and some families come and get carry out to take home, since they don't want to get the whole family there. I also am a member of a group with only a few members that do commodies for the community, and do the big food semi that comes twice a year, and other things...but it is unbearable at the moment. Staff parrish will do nothing, matter of fact they believe the pastor is doing a wonderful job, but none on staff parrish help with any outreach activities.

what to do ?

Turkey set to fall due to extreme Inflation.

Turkey has taken a nosedive in recent years. 5 years ago, it was heralded as a great emerging economy. Now it has 80% official annual inflation and experts say the real rate is double that. Besides that, it also is featuring a brain drain, as the young and educated are leaving it for greener pastures.

It seems like it is having much the same problem as Sri Lanka and Pakistan with deficit spending from a trade disparity, but there is the added problem of religion and Islam wanting low interest rates due to the faith's prohibition of making money off of lending money.






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I think my mother is going to move in with us finally.

Things are getting tougher and tougher for her. We talked today after I drove in to do her errands, etc. I’m going to pick her up next Thursday and bring her here so she can get a feel of things. I’m already taking care of her diabetic dog. I think that was her tipping point. I feel she is going to make a decision soon but there is lots to do. Prayers appreciated!

I could use some prayers from my friends here...

It's hard to explain this in a short post but basically my wife's come to me and asked me to pray about the possibility, or rather likelihood that her parents might give us their house. They just paid it off and apparently that was the last hurdle between her dad and retirement, supposedly their plan after that is her parents would retire to Ecuador where they have another home.

The problem is the house is a money pit, and you all know how badly I've wanted to move back to California since I set foot on east coast soil two years ago. I can see the benefits and drawbacks of both scenarios. She's asking me to pray about it so we don't ignore a lifeline God might be throwing us, but I'm afraid I can't be objective and if that God tells us to stay I may ignore or dismiss that.

I'm just completely convinced that moving to California isn't just what I want but it would also be good for my family. In some ways it'd be an "eat your vegetables" experience but in others I think there's real potential to be happy there and most importantly: grow in the faith. If we stay in NY we could be stuck with a house that's a huge liability, her dad's done a bunch of work on the house but it's not permitted, and as you might know towns in NY highly regulate everything - apparently the town already has an open file on the place because some neighbors narc'd on them years ago. The house may need new wiring, plumbing, and a septic tank at least. So we'd have to take out a small mortgage or a home equity loan to pay for those expenses. On top of that, my wife has expressed multiple times that she doesn't want to stay in her hometown longterm because she has bad memories on every corner and she thinks her family overall is a negative influence on her and the kids.

While it would be great to have a free house, I just don't think NY is a good place for my family to be. But I could use your help objectively seeking an answer from God about what to do because I don't trust myself to be honest if he tells me we need to stay.

So if you wouldn't mind praying, I'd appreciate it. And please, if you have any advice feel free to give.

Thanks

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