• 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.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

6,000 Years?

I am not "playing games", this matters to me, and it is something that I research a lot. Yes Sumer is still thought of as the oldest "civilization" by many people, but that's frankly based on old ideas and old data. Whether you want to believe the people around were a "civilization" pre-Sumer or not is not so important, the fact is that there were people, people like us, building things and leaving evidence way older than 6,000 years ago.

It matters to me that we had a civilization pre-Sumer, but for the discussion it probably isn't super relevant, what matters is that we have solid archaeological evidence, all over the world, of people doing the things people do - art, building things out of wood and stone, making fires, hunting, etc.

The whole idea of what makes a "civilization" is a hot debate topic in those circles, right now.

No, because I don't believe creation was 6,000 years ago and I don't believe civilization happened just 6,000 years ago. Sumer didn't just start doing it all and run with it. The development of the wheel, domestication of plants and animals had been happening for much longer, we have records of that. They are not written records, but we can see the progression of the technology through other archaeological evidence.
Why are they not written records?

Again, according to History…the world’s first civilization was ~6000 years ago and recorded History began approximately 6000 years ago. Using the genealogies from the Bible creation was ~6000 years ago. I’m not asking whether you believe anything…but how can you not stop and think wow what a coincidence.

How about this: the world’s first civilization (according to History) was in the same region as Eden (Mesopotamia) and the creation setting of mankind. Another coincidence? Those are head scratching facts.
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Keeping people down, who could climb up if you'd leave them alone

people wanted me to stay in it and not get out of it.
I was going to ask who these people were and why they said that. May be ones into the Bible could say, stay with a husband. But I see the reasoning was not related to what certain Bible claiming people say.
I have diabetes and my eyesight is failing.
I have been told someone with adult-onset diabetes can lose weight and that removes the fat which is ordering the body not to use sugar.

But I understand every person is the only one like that one; so I am careful about telling a diabetic what to do.

My stepfather had adult-onset, and my mother made him exercise and eat what she gave him. He lost weight until he did not need insulin any more. However, among other things, a person had better know what he or she is doing, losing weight. And have a **sustainable** lifestyle developing for if you lose weight. With God, whatever you do will be enjoyable and He will make things even easy, in His wisdom and how He blesses. He is creative :)
We are now in a position to help others, and we do.
As we do what God guides, there are all-loving benefits . . . not you alone getting blessed and prospered. Because . . . God is all-loving.
It’s true I married into this,
If you have trusted in Jesus, there are a lot of goods that you "married into", with Jesus and His people. When God knows you are ready, He can already have a lot of things ready.
For background, I have dealt most of my life with complex PTSD and chronic major depression after suffering childhood and later marital abuse. I also have some permanent physical injuries from a car accident. (I wasn't driving, by the way, and it wasn't my car.) Currently I cannot commit to an outside job, and I am minimally functional around the house. I have to do housework in spurts until the pain becomes so great I have to stop and rest, then I do a little more. I cannot complete tasks such as vacuuming or cleaning the kitchen in one go. As mentioned before, I am also diabetic and losing my eyesight.
Yeah, that sounds disabled.

I have not suffered like you have, maybe, but I have found it helps to trust God to get rid of anything which is negative and cruel in my emotions and imagination. And trust Him to change me so I am pleasing Him and all-loving.
I've been homeless a few times in my life,
Be at home with God.
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The USA's 250th birthday to be celebrated with Octagon UFC/MMA fight, possibly on the White House South Lawn

UFC CEO Dana White says White House card is officially happening after meeting with Trump administration

UFC CEO Dana White announced on social media that he had productive meetings at the White House on Thursday and indicated they are really moving forward with the spectacle for next year's Fourth of July celebration:


Details for the card remain scarce, but White has hinted at the event being held on the South Lawn of the White House, while Trump spoke of setting enough seating for 20,000 to 25,000 people.

"The difference with the White House is I don't think they've ever had anything very heavy out on the lawn, and the Octagon alone weighs 20,000 pounds."

The event would be the first professional sporting event hosted at the White House in U.S. history, though there have been many recreational events.

President Donald Trump, who has ties to White and the UFC going back decades, floated the idea around this year's Fourth of July and the two sides quickly started working things out.

see also:
Nothing screams “stable democracy” quite like a government funded cage fight. Happy birthday, America.
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Trump to sign executive order directing AG to prosecute flag desecration

Christianity doesn't support freedom of speech though. Not as a moral tenet or core belief. The historical prevalence of blasphemy laws in officially Christian countries attests to that.

For instance, criminal laws in the UK only prohibited blasphemy against Christian beliefs until the early 2000s (and this was the reason the famous Salman Rushdie case was dismissed in the early 1990s). In Australia, similar laws are nominally in place at the state level although in practice never enforced.
European Christianity doesn't support freedom of speech because Europeans doesn't support freedom of speech. Other than instructions on having self-control over your mouth, the Bible remains silent on the topic.
  • Agree
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Let's Track the Economy (with objective empirical data?)

Core inflation rose to 2.9% in July, highest since February

  • The personal consumption expenditures price index showed that core inflation ran at a 2.9% seasonally adjusted annual rate in July, meeting estimates but higher than June.
Inflation edged higher in July, according to the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure
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The USA's 250th birthday to be celebrated with Octagon UFC/MMA fight, possibly on the White House South Lawn

That was LGBT day at the WH with trans dudes flashing their artificial breasts.
Boob flashing was not part of the plan and the admin was embarrassed by all that.

This is the opposite. Now they actually want an absurd spectacle.
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War increases risk and opportunities. Murderer of missionary family freed from prison. Christian converts opposed by community.

  • Aug. 28, 2025 | Iran​

    War Increases Risk, Also Opportunity

    [72] prayers in [10] nations have been posted for Iran.
    Christians in Iran take great risks to distribute Bibles.
    Front-line workers have reported that the risk of advancing the gospel in Iran has increased since the Twelve-Day War in June of 2025 - but so has the opportunity to advance it. "In the past, if Christians were arrested for distributing Bibles or Christian literature, they were typically charged with unauthorized possession and distribution and ‘actions against national security,'" said one front-line worker. "Now, they fear being charged with espionage, which carries an automatic death penalty." Despite this pressure, Christians say there are new opportunities to share their faith. Read More.
  • Aug. 28, 2025 | India​

    Murderer of Missionary Family Freed from Prison

    [55] prayers in [8] nations have been posted for India.
    Graham Staines was an Australian missionary who had served leprosy patients in India since 1965. His sons were 10 and 6 at the time of the murders.
    On April 16, 2025, prison authorities in India's Odisha state released one of the men who had murdered Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons, Philip and Timothy, in January 1999. Mahendra Hembram, who set fire to the car in which the family was sleeping, was sentenced to life in prison in 2003 but was granted early release for good behavior. Hembram's release was celebrated publicly by Hindu nationalist organizations such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad, who called it "a good day for us." The convicted murderer was greeted at the gate of the prison by crowds chanting Hindu slogans and welcoming him as a hero. Read More.
  • Aug. 28, 2025 | Algeria​

    Christian Converts Opposed by Community

    [58] prayers in [8] nations have been posted for Algerian Christians.
    When Algerians leave Islam to follow Christ, they may be rejected by their families. Pray for them.
    When Algerian Muslims become followers of Christ, they often experience rejection from their families or job loss. Once the local Muslim community knows of their new faith, Christian converts may struggle to find replacement work. With the help of the global body of Christ, one convert who has had difficulty providing for his family since becoming a Christian is now starting a dairy business, hoping to sell cheeses to provide for his family. Another Christian, who formerly worked as an Islamic teacher in an area where many radical Islamists live, is struggling to provide for his family since losing his job. Read More.

Tom Homan: 28,000 of Biden’s 300,000 Missing Trafficked Children Located – “The Last Administration Wasn’t Even Looking for Them” (VIDEO)

Homan: Out of the 300,000 children, I looked at the numbers just yesterday. We've located over 23,000 of them. So, 23,000 locations of 300,000. President Trump's committed, we're not going to stop until we find every one of them or at least run every lead down on those 300,000 children. That's a big plus for the administration because the last administration wasn't even looking for them.

Please say a prayer that all of the missing still alive, in and outside of the U.S., will be safely returned to their families.
:prayer:
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Here’s how the first proteins might have assembled, sparking life

Is this word jumble describing evolution?
No, just basic biology.

This yeast became a new species? Is it describing it dying off?
They evolved lots of new traits and "forms" (to use your term) in response to a new environment.

The evolution of new species is described in the other papers I posted for you.
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Here’s how the first proteins might have assembled, sparking life

Well that's weird. I posted that scientists have observed populations evolving new things and new species, then I backed that up by posted published papers where scientists describe their work in observing populations and new species evolve.

For example, the very first paper at the PNAS link goes to:

Experimental evolution of multicellularity​

We subjected the unicellular yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to an environment in which we expected multicellularity to be adaptive. We observed the rapid evolution of clustering genotypes that display a novel multicellular life history characterized by reproduction via multicellular propagules, a juvenile phase, and determinate growth. The multicellular clusters are uniclonal, minimizing within-cluster genetic conflicts of interest. Simple among-cell division of labor rapidly evolved. Early multicellular strains were composed of physiologically similar cells, but these subsequently evolved higher rates of programmed cell death (apoptosis), an adaptation that increases propagule production.​

The speciation papers are the same (published examples of the evolution of new species).

I'm not sure what's tripping you up.
Is this word jumble describing evolution? This yeast became a new species? Is it describing it dying off?
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Air Force to provide funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt

No one made her join a violent mob and then break into a room where that officer felt an understandable duty to protect others.

To me the outcome seems entirely understandable. And to make her into some kind of cause martyr is just part of the rightwashing of that miserable day and the lies that stoked it.
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Pope Leo XIV urges Catholic politicians to follow the Gospel in public life

I wonder if this advice is just for French politicians, or whether it should apply as well to American politicians. I'm thinking of the likes of Pelosi? In any regard, it is good advice for us all.
Pelosi is well on in years. I sincerely hope she repents before it’s too late.
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Air Force to provide funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt

That’s a rare take on the right. Is that what you thought at the time too, totally unjustified use of force? That’s odd. Most on the right were saying Floyd’s actions and his actions alone along with a combination of his weight and past drug use are what contributed to his death.
Floyd had drugs in his system but as a former law enforcement officer I despise Chauvin.
Kneeling on Floyd's neck for over 8 minutes contributed to his death as much as any drugs in his system.
Chauvin is where he belongs
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The mass

The service on Good Friday is a communion service, not a mass, because a mass necessitates the recitation of the words of institution, which are not spoken on Good Friday. This applies to both the extraordinary and the ordinary forms of the mass. It is considered presanctified as the Mass of the Lord's Supper is celebrated on Holy Thursday, and the consecrated hosts from this mass are reserved for the communion service on Good Friday.
It’s my understanding in the pre-Vatican II Good Friday liturgy, Holy Communion was not received by the faithful.
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