Chesterton said:

Looking back, I would have benefited from taking it. It's not easy keeping a home.

Click to expand...

Yes, but I bet you still have the bench you made in shop.

RileyG said:

Not to mention, many radical Muslims react very strongly if they are offended. It has happened countless times. I’m referring to a very small minority of Muslims. A vast majority of Muslims are peaceful, even if their ideology is not.

Click to expand...

A vast majority of police officers are honest and respectful.

A vast majority of Southern whites during Jim Crow didn't lynch black people.

It's still a "they" problem when that "vast majority" turns its head from the actions of that "small minority."

essentialsaltes said:

Why are all these leading Democrats suddenly facing mortgage fraud charges? Guess who’s behind it​

[Adam Schiff, Letitia James, and now Lisa Cook.]

What gets me, and should get you, is the flimsiness of these accusations despite how loudly they’ve been bruited about on the MAGA right as though they’re signals of profound moral turpitude on the part of the targets, and how they all originated in the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which is led by Trump acolyte and sycophant William J. Pulte, in private life a big homebuilder.

The important question, in the view of Adam Levitin of Georgetown Law, is who is driving these investigations and levying these accusations, and whether they reflect an “enemies list” Pulte has compiled on Donald Trump’s behalf. I asked the FHFA to respond to Levitin’s questions, but received no response.

...none of the public accusations from the FHFA specify what, if any, financial advantages were received by the targets.

And it’s unlikely that they’re the result of random audits of FHFA loans, as Levitin observed in relation to the Cook case.

“No one ever goes back and examines loan applications on performing loans for occupancy fraud; that would entail expenses for no benefit,” he wrote. “Instead, the only way anyone would have noticed a problem with Cook’s loan application is that Pulte, as head of FHFA, directed Fannie or Freddie to pull her application. That is unheard of.”

[In Schiff's case, we have an FHFA memo that says as much. The order came from one of the IGs Trump installed after firing most of them.]

The Fannie Mae memo says that the FHFA inspector general demanded “the loan file and any related investigative or quality control documentation, as well as all other loans associated with...Adam B. Schiff.”

The allegations against Schiff relate to his ownership of two homes, one in Burbank and the second in the Washington, D.C., area. But his dual ownership obviously was known to his mortgage lenders, and he has said that he took the homeowner’s property tax exemption only on the Burbank property.

[For James] In all but one of several documents, she stated that the niece would live in the house; according to her lawyer, on one form she said she’d be the occupant. But the bank could hardly have been misled, given the other documents. ... One form filed in 2001 regarding a Brooklyn brownstone bought for her family listed the property as having five units, but all the other pertinent forms stated correctly that it was four units. ... And in the 1983 purchase of house in Queens, New York, James’ father identified her as his spouse, not his daughter, on one form among others that identified her correctly.

Back in 2014, David H. Stevens, a former federal housing official then serving as CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Assn., told the Washington Post that the paper file for a standard mortgage had ballooned to 200-500 pages. “The likelihood of a minor defect is almost 100 percent,” he said. That reduces the significance of the errors Pulte claims to have found nearly to the vanishing point, especially given the paucity of evidence that Schiff, James or Cook got a financial benefit from any of them.

... the law is not concerned with insignificant trifles. In the Trump case, however, [the judge] declared that Trump and his fellow defendants saved tens of millions of dollars. “The frauds found here,” he wrote, “leap off the page and shock the conscience.”

Click to expand...

Kind of like both Comey and McCabe being audited, it's just a coincidence.

Tropical Wilds said:

It’s not that we are worried about negative connotations and political correctness… It’s that when something becomes a thing used by racists to be racists, we don’t want to be lumped in with the racists.

We harken back to the time where doing things that racists did was entirely undesirable.

Click to expand...

Bradskii said:

If I was in a group of men marching through the city waving Australian flags then unless there's an obvious reason for it (we're heading to the SCG to watch Australia beat England in the cricket), then people would assume this was some kind of march against immigration. Again, it's context.

I've got a keffiyeh in my wardrobe. I bought it years ago in a market in Morocco. I wore it recently on a march supporting Palestine and it was obvious why it was being worn. But wearing it on a daily basis locally where there are a lot of synagogues might be seen as being anti-Semitic. Context is all.

Click to expand...

@Tropical Wilds' statement removes it from context-dependence.

I thought this would be helpful for those who do not believe evolution is all it is cracked up to be - there are alot of missing parts.

Login to view embedded media

Daniel Carlton said:

Is this not a problem for certain churches who claim to be following apostolic teaching?

Click to expand...

I've found that the accusation of idolatry is usually dircted at those whose traditions include icons or statuary. Personally, I've never met anyone who I reckoned worshipped either a picture or a statue. "oh, them Catrholics worship that crucifix." No, not unless they're suffering from a mental afflicton. "those Orthodox are praying to that icon." No, the icon is just a pictture, and no one expects it to answer back, leave the pic to get a drink of water, or hum "Jerusalem".

It's easy to play the "Those people worship them images " game when it makes you feel superior somehow, but I've never known the charge to be true.

zoidar said:

I thought what I held was close to Arminianism, maybe provisionism then? Anyhow I in no way believe you have to work for salvation. You say I believe we have to make ourselves worthy to be saved. I believe nothing like that. I believe we need to acknowledge and confess we are totally unworthy of salvation to be saved. God convicts, we confess our unworthiness, our need of His mercy, then God gives us His Spirit, saves us. Isn't that the teaching of classical Arminianism?

Maybe it's true God works in our heart long before we are saved, but we have still not received His Spirit, been born again until we repent, confess being a sinner unworty of salvation.

Click to expand...

Those that you listed are fruits of the Spirit. We cannot confess without being born again. Paul is clear in Romans that people who are dead in their sins cannot seek Christ. The Bible is one big picture of God pursuing us. He writes his law on our hearts. He removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19 The heart of stone is not capable of repenting or confessing. Repenting is a response to being given a new heart. Repenting means agreeing with God that we are sinners and turn from our sins.

Dale said:

You say that the Marriage Feast of the Lamb is what matters. It seems to me that the Marriage Feast is only one of several ways that we are told of the saved entering Paradise, but we’ll take a look at it. Consider this passage.


Mt. 22:1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:
Mt. 22:2“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a
wedding banquet for his son.
Mt. 22:3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the
banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
Mt. 22:4“Then he sent some more servants and said, `Tell those who
have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen
and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is
ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
Mt. 22:5“But they paid no attention and went off — one to his field,
another to his business.
Mt. 22:6The rest seized his servants, ill-treated them and killed them.
Mt. 22:7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those
murderers and burned their city.
Mt. 22:8“Then he said to his servants, `The wedding banquet is ready,
but those I invited did not deserve to come.
Mt. 22:9Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you
find.’
Mt. 22:10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the
people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding
hall was filled with guests.
Mt. 22:11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a
man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
Mt. 22:12`Friend,’ he asked, `how did you get in here without wedding
clothes?’ The man was speechless.
Mt. 22:13“Then the king told the attendants, `Tie him hand and foot,
and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Mt. 22:14“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 22:1-14 NIV

The King represents God the Father, and the Prince, His son, can only be Jesus Christ. The servants of the King are the Apostles, Disciples and later evangelists who bring God’s word to the world. The slaugtering of the oxen and cattle in verse 22:4 are are slightly veiled reference to the Crucifixion of Christ. The Crucifixion has already happened when the Apostles are sent out with God’s word. Verses 6 and 7 tell of God’s messengers being rejected, persecuted, and even killed. God will bring destruction on those who persecute His messengers. In verses 10-12, we are told of the man who is improperly dressed and is thrown “into the darkness.” Here Jesus warns us about hypocrisy. Those who join God’s Kingdom must do so whole-heartedly.

This parable tells us that some who are brought into the King’s great banquet were not thought to be good people before they listen to God’s servants.

There is no promise here that those who respond to God’s invitation will be free from persecution before they get to the wedding banquet. There is the promise of heaven in this passage but there is no promise that God will snatch Christians off the earth before the Second Coming.

Click to expand...

The Parable of the Banquet always seemed pretty straight forward. Remember Jesus said to the Pharisees and teacher of the Law, "The prostitutes and tax collectors are entering the kingdom ahead of you"? That's what the Parable is about. The invitation is sent out, but the ones to whom received the invitation--e.g. the Pharisees, scribes, the chief priests--refused. So then the invitation is sent to the street corners, to the Gentiles, to the prostitutes, the sinners, the tax collectors, etc.

The kingdom of God, Jesus says, is like this Wedding Feast. This isn't about the end of the world, it's about the kingdom of God which has come through the Person and Work of Jesus.

-CryptoLutheran

MehGuy said:

I just want to be clear. Is earthly love the only kind of love that can be felt by many Christians?

I have heard this term 'earthly love' in Christian circles before. Never gave the term much thought.

Are there any books or other resources that delve into the topic? I have always felt alone pondering this, besides finding a few others with similar thoughts online.

Click to expand...

I wish I could answer your questions. I'm not sure what others may mean by "Earthly Love", I was just saying what I meant by it, in my previous post. Like you, I have also been unclear what people may mean by "love", "agape love", "brotherly love", etc. I feel different about my wife and my dog (usually ) but I "love" them both. I have fallen in "love" with strangers (to be honest pretty women) just looking at them. I love my parents, even though they are no longer living and I love almost every animal I meet. In my post I meant the type of love that is just a positive feeling towards people and a sincere desire to want the best for them. It also includes a feeling of appreciation for everything around me and a felling of connectiveness.
I know this all sounds touchy/feely, but I think these are emotions we all feel at times.

Nithavela said:

From patriotic to racist – can the England flag ever be reclaimed?

A group raising money to get every lamp post in their village adorned with the ‘beautiful’ St George’s flag has been met with backlash. Helen Coffey asks whether the far right’s commandeering of our national symbol means it’s forever tainted

www.independent.co.uk

Click to expand...

Thank you for the link. I appreciate it.

Peace

RileyG said:

What? I’m sure I’ve seen countless images of Jesus with the English flag and no one ever complained.

(I’m aware the English flag is NOT Union Jack)

I need to be enlightened.

Click to expand...

RandyPNW said:

I think it was Hank Hanegraaff's book, "Christianity in Crisis," that pointed out how Kenneth Hagin, a father of the Faith movement, built his beliefs on a time when hypnosis and mind science was prevalent. This Faith and Prosperity message doesn't seem to be biblically-based, even though it draws upon biblical statements.

Click to expand...

Hagin largely took his message from EW Kenyon, Kenyon basically took 19th century New Thought and repackaged it in a Christian veneer.

There is a direct link between New Thought and Word of Faith through Kenyon and Hagin. WoF proponents will deny this, but it's actually pretty blatant.

This is why if you've ever noticed that WoF stuff sounds suspiciously similar to New Age stuff, it's not purely coincidence. Both WoF and New Age share a common ancestor. There is no substantial difference between "anointed prayer cloths" and "essential oil manifestation crystals" or whatever.

-CryptoLutheran

Clare73 said:

They violated the law.

Click to expand...

We’re supposed to wait until a person is indicted, tried and convicted before passing such judgment, (or so I have been told).

ozso said:

There's also:

In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Romans 1:27

Click to expand...

Let's dig in that Romans a little bit more, because Paul mentions men of God that knew the scriptures, but failed to revere the ONLY REVEREND meaning REV. JESUS, the Lord gave them up because of unbelief and allowed them to commit vile acts such as lying with the same sex. Let’s take a look:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:18-21)

Note what the verse says, “Who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” Here we see these men knew the truth but “they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart were darkened.” They professed themselves to be wise but became fools. Let’s skip down to the 24th verse.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (Romans 1:24-28)

Note what’s being said, “God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature, men with men working that which is unseemly…” God placed men and women on this earth to be fruitful and to multiply. This isn’t a genetic thing, which suits the taste of the general public. These individuals that call themselves homosexuals simply have unbridled sexual desire that came out of their own imaginations, they were not born that way. Therefore, we have a dreaded plague among us that’s not only devastating the gay community; it’s also spilling over into heterosexual assemblage as indicated by the AIDS crisis that has been mounting in the world.

Since the first AIDS cases were reported in 1981 through mid-1998, more than 665,000 AIDS cases and more than 400,000 deaths have been reported in the United States alone. This is only the tip of the iceberg of HIV infection. It is estimated that nearly 1 million Americans had been infected through the late 1990s but had not yet developed clinical symptoms. AIDS has spread around the world. In 1997 the United Nations announced that it had underestimated the spread of the disease and revised the worldwide estimate of people living with the virus from over 22 million in 1996 to over 30 million in 1997. More than 20 million of these people are in sub-Saharan Africa; 6 million are in Southeast Asia. The AIDS epidemic, which started in the 1980s, has devastated the gay community. (Quote from Grolier multimedia encyclopedia.)

The acceptance of homosexuality is also being spearheaded by today’s modern church.

“….Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” Many leaders of today’s churches have “changed the truth of God into a lie” and have led their congregation in accepting homosexuality as an acceptable practice. Those so-called men and women that announce themselves as ministers of God, and say this behavior has their approval, will have their day in the lake of fire. The occupation of a minister of God is to be a watchman that warns the masses of the wrath to come because of sin. One of the most prevalent lies told by these ministers of Satan is, “come to the Lord as you are.” The Bible is clear on how an individual comes to stand before the Most High God

Nithavela said:

And yet the left now acts like the english flag is forever claimed and tainted by racism and can no longer be used in any positive context.

Click to expand...

Well, you may know someone English who thinks that. Personally I think it's an idiotic position. The flag means what you want it to mean. Support for your team or a racist comment about immigration.

I keep saying this, but context is all.

Glory to God!

Niels said:

In light of the fact that homosexuals are often mistreated, I can't help but wonder if early commands against it have more to do with protecting them from said mistreatment. Shielding them from harm. Much suffering might be avoided by remaining celibate or acting straight. On the other hand, there are Christians who seemingly go out of their way to make LGBTQ+ people suffer, which makes it look like Christians are part of the problem. They mostly seem like hypocrites to me because Jesus said we should love or neighbors as we love ourselves. Gay people are counted among our neighbors. At the very least, we could mind our own business.

That said, I don't usually consider it any of my business. I don't experience same sex attraction myself, but I also don't like it when people are harassed or bullied. That part bothers me quite a bit. Especially, when done in the name of Jesus, who I'm reasonably confident would not partake in the bullying.

Last I checked, Christianity isn't a religion of public stonings or other such things. That ended with Christ. We are not under Levitical law. It's about the individual's personal relationship with God. If somebody reads God's word and feels convicted by the holy spirit that being gay is wrong, the change comes from within. A place that they must arrive at of their own free will for it to be meaningful.

Click to expand...

Take a look at this verse in the book of James. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (James 1:14-15)

Homosexuality is not an abnormality; it is a result of an individual’s own sexual desires. Once this takes place, what happens? Note what the verse says, “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” This death is the second death, which is the Lake of Fire.

We already incarcerate more people than most civilized countries. Can't we just do a hefty fine rather than taxpayers paying to keep them in the Graybar Hotel for a year? Why has our answer to everything become, "lock them up?"

Fascinating!

Tropical Wilds said:

Thats absurd to even claim and you know it. Flaming another religion by seeking out victimhood is bad enough, but to flat out lie is a bit much.

Click to expand...

By the way, I am glad to hear that you find the UK's policies on free speech to be absurd. I agree.

JosephZ said:

D.C.’s 12-day streak without a homicide is over, Not as rare as Trump says.

Click to expand...

I stand corrected. I should have done a more thorough search. I doubt if Trump really knew it was a lie. These obviously false stories seem to be confabulation a symptom of his ongoing mental decline:

But what Trump is doing now is something different. Confabulation is sometimes called “honest lying,” because the person doing it genuinely believes what he’s saying, even if it is obviously and patently false. A person confabulates when they are telling completely invented stories that don’t provide them any particular tangible benefit. In other words, it’s not like lying to try and get out of a speeding ticket.
...
In older people, confabulation is one of the clearest early signs of dementia. The day you witness someone confabulate is often the day you are forced to admit to yourself that a beloved parent needs help, and that all the little slips and oddities you’ve been seeing can no longer be rationalized away.

For Trump, the day we could no longer pretend everything is fine came on July 15, when he told a lengthy story about his uncle, John Trump, who he claimed taught at MIT and held three degrees in “nuclear, chemical, and math.” His uncle, according to Trump, once told him how he had taught Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, and how very smart Kaczynski was.

Trump’s uncle was indeed a professor at MIT, but everything else in this story is pure confabulation. Trump’s uncle didn’t have degrees in “nuclear, chemical, and math” — he had degrees in electrical engineering and physics. And Kaczynski did not go to MIT at all — he went to Harvard.

Always in His Presence said:

As of Friday morning, D.C. had gone a full week without a murder, Trump boasted in an interview, a new record for a city that in recent years averaged at least one killing every other day. Trump celebrated the milestone on Truth Social, posting “MAKE WASHINGTON, D.C. GREAT AGAIN!” alongside photos with law enforcement..

Click to expand...

D.C.’s 12-day streak without a homicide is over, Not as rare as Trump says.

“In the last 11 days we’ve had no murders and that’s the first time that’s taken place in years actually, years,” Trump said Monday morning,

“No police officer working in the city can remember a time in their lives when there has been no murders,” Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said during the news conference Monday. “We’ve checked the records, no one can even find a record of being murder-free as long as we’ve been murder-free under President Trump’s leadership.”

D.C. went 16 days without a homicide earlier this year, from Feb. 24 to March 13.

Monday was not the first time Trump falsely claimed unprecedented stretches without killings in D.C., saying in a news conference Friday morning that last week marked “the first time in anybody’s memory that you haven’t had a murder in a week.”

Washington had other such seven-day stretches without homicides in April and May of this year, as well as three times last year. D.C. also experienced a respite from killings around this time last year, when no homicides occurred for nine days from Aug. 3 through Aug. 13.

Dan Perez said:

And most of them call themselves GRACE CHURCHS. and some. use different names and are scattered over the USA .

dan p

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info!

Michie said:

You’d think so wouldn’t you?

Click to expand...

SMH

enough with DQSH, and all this fetish nonsense.

It’s vile!