Bob Crowley said:

I did a search on the Nigerian Anglican Church to see how many members it has.

There were conflicting accounts but an AI summary gave the number as 17.5 million.

That's a lot of members to lose in one fell swoop. Then there is the breakaway GAFCON movement as per another post by Michie.

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Yes. Depending on how membership is counted, the Church of Nigeria is either the largest church in the Communion, or the second-largest after the Church of England. This is a major schism.

GAFCON is not a separate phenomenon. The Church of Nigeria has been one of the leaders in GAFCON.

NewLifeInChristJesus said:

Ok, tell me how a person who commits (let's say) three little sins a day (all internal, unseen by any other person) qualifies as not being a habitual sinner.

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IDK, why don't you go ahead and answer that question?. Either way, you're still not addressing the question. Should a believer persistently engaging in grave ugly sin expect to enter heaven? And will that believer nonetheless engage in lighter sins?

Hentenza said:

But you did not answer my question. Hopefully you are not saying that God has to await your decision to know what happens next, right?

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No, God knows as from Romans. The Father knows everything, that is omniscience. Jesus somehow doesn't yet know, when He will return. He knows all of us, what we will do. I suppose in time He will become fully restored to glory as Isaiah 9:6, Father of Eternity. God in Jesus is the author of time.

Apple Sky said:

Not know them but can read about them.

AI Overview


View attachment 371763
Sean Duffy is the acting administrator of NASA, holding the position while also serving as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Amit Kshatriya serves as the associate administrator, which is the highest-ranking civil servant, and Casey Swails is the deputy associate administrator, assisting with day-to-day operations and strategic direction.

• Acting Administrator: Sean Duffy
  • He was appointed by President Trump and also holds his position as the Secretary of Transportation.
• Associate Administrator:Amit Kshatriya
  • He is the highest-ranking civil servant at NASA and advises the administrator.
• Deputy Associate Administrator:Casey Swails
  • He is the principal advisor to the associate administrator and helps with daily operations and strategic planning

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Right - and do any of those short bios say; "and he is a well-known liar who has successfully conned people into believing the moon landings"?

So you might have some information about what they do, but you don't know them.

Hentenza said:

Civilian spectators cheered "Allah Akbar," or God is Great, and called those killed "collaborators."

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Not doing so would have probably resulted in them being executed as well.

GoldenKingGaze said:

Romans 8:29, God knows in advance, what we will do, and some will be saved.

Why test us? He knows how we will respond, but He tests us anyway. Honor to God.

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But you did not answer my question. Hopefully you are not saying that God has to await your decision to know what happens next, right?

fhansen said:

How is that converse absurd, when Scripture tells us that’s exactly what a believer must do? You’re only avoiding the question here. The honest and logical answer is unavoidable, BTW.

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Ok, tell me how a person who commits (let's say) three little sins a day (all internal, unseen by any other person) qualifies as not being a habitual sinner.

“Later on Monday, a video circulating on social media appeared to show several masked gunmen, some of them wearing green headbands resembling ones worn by Hamas, shooting with machine guns at least seven men after forcing them to kneel in the street. Posts identified the video as filmed in Gaza on Monday. Civilian spectators cheered "Allah Akbar," or God is Great, and called those killed "collaborators."

Minister Monardo said:

Divine Purpose is established by perfect agreement.
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

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This is too esoteric for my taste.

Hentenza said:

But God already knows what you are going to decide so how do you factor that in? Hopefully you are not saying that God has to await your decision to know what happens next, right?

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Romans 8:29, God knows in advance, what we will do, and some will be saved.

Why test us? He knows how we will respond, but He tests us anyway. Honor to God.

And while Trump is racking up colorful ribbons, hamas is purging the gaza strip from any opposition.

It's nice when everyone gets what they want, I guess.

wing2000 said:

Depite the assertions of Steven Miller and Kristi Noem, only Congress can suspend Habeas Corpus.

• Section 9 Powers Denied Congress​

  • Clause 2 Habeas Corpus
  • The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

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But will the Supreme Court agree? So far they have not been anxious to confront Trump. Is there a line somewhere? I don't think it's clear.

GoldenKingGaze said:

I am not saying Hi s existence depends on angels or sons of God, or evil... just that He uses it, and knew it would come about, since He doesn't force control us. We have to be able to say yes or no to God.

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But God already knows what you are going to decide so how do you factor that in? Hopefully you are not saying that God has to await your decision to know what happens next, right?

Hentenza said:

Aquinas argued that faith and reason are complimentary including his five ways to show the credibility of faith. However, Aquinas also argued the limits of reason with regards to fully understanding the infinite God. He uses the concept of the Trinity as an example. Remember that Aquinas also put forth the contingency argument for the proof of God as well as His attributes so Aquinas fully understood the necessity of God with regard to contingency. He argued that if a being is contingent on any agency then He can choose not to exist but God is necessary, therefore, He can not be contingent on any agency.

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I am not saying His existence depends on angels or sons of God, or evil... just that He uses it, and knew it would come about, since He doesn't force control us. We have to be able to say yes or no to God. Maybe I misunderstood what you mean by contingent.

The new report by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) bears the dramatic title Solidarity as a Crime - Voices for Palestine Under Fire and purports to document the allegedly repressive treatment of pro-Palestinian movements by Western democracies. Between the lines, the organization makes serious accusations against countries such as Germany, France, Great Britain, and the United States. They are accused of suppressing legitimate protest against Israel's government policy and criminalizing “solidarity with Palestine.”

But the report conceals what this is really about.

Anyone who has witnessed such demonstrations in Berlin, London, or Paris over the past two years has seen it: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” chanted the crowds, a slogan that means nothing less than the demand for the destruction of Israel.

When people shout this slogan, they are not talking about borders, they are talking about the end of the Jewish state. When they carry posters describing Israeli soldiers as “child murderers,” this is not political discourse, but old anti-Semitic rhetoric in new packaging.

The Samidoun network, which is now banned in Germany, is considered by the FIDH to be an example of “repressive measures” against civil society. No mention is made of the fact that on the day of the massacre in Berlin, the same organization publicly celebrated the death of Jews. No mention is made of the fact that it never distanced itself from terrorism, but instead ideologically glossed it over as “resistance.”

It is telling that the FIDH report almost consistently refers to Hamas as a “resistance movement” and criticizes its classification as a terrorist organization. Anyone who argues in this way undermines the core of the international human rights concept: the protection of life. An organization that commits massacres against civilians, uses children as human shields, and mistreats hostages cannot be a legitimate actor.

Anyone familiar with European history knows how dangerous it is to disguise anti-Semitic stereotypes as “resistance.” The idea that one can fight for freedom by denying the Jewish state's right to exist is not new, it is a rehash of an age-old pattern.

Human rights without moral distinction lose their substance. An organization that relativizes violence by interpreting it politically betrays its own mandate.

The FIDH report aims to protect solidarity, but it protects the wrong people. There is a line between legitimate criticism and anti-Semitic incitement that must not be blurred. The West has a duty to protect its Jewish citizens and to tell the truth: those who celebrate the death of Jews or want to wipe out Israel are not committing an act of solidarity, but an attack on humanity itself.

rjs330 said:

Funny how small percentages seem to only matter for certain things. Yet small percentages don't matter for others. They are touted as "not that bad because its just a small percentage and so we dont really need to address it."

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Depends on the situation, since life is rarely that black and white. A small percentage might matter more in one situation than it does in another. Unless you're someone who likes false equivalencies, which politicians in the U.S. are very fond of.

In other words, a simple law that could possibly prevent a small percentage of gun deaths and which (by my estimation) has very little to no negative impact? Yeah, I would say that's worth it. Claiming a "national emergency" and starting a trade war with a neighboring country over fentanyl inflows when only 1% of fentanyl seizures are coming from that country? I would say that's a situation where the small percentage didn't justify the action that was taken.

rjs330 said:

Look, I personally could care less if private sales had to have background checks. Just dont blow smoke up our skirts, trying to tell us its a problem and its going to solve much of anything. Its not.

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At least it would show that they care. I'm guessing here, but such laws could have a broader cultural impact on attitudes toward guns in general. In other words, they might have an impact which goes beyond just the direct results of the law. And it would be encouraging to have some politicians on the right demonstrate that they aren't going to be held captive by the NRA.

Let the great rebuild begin!




Just kidding.

Hans Blaster said:

The US Attorney for that district was definitely a Trump somebody.

It is utterly irrelevant to indictment who the assigned judge in the case is. Judges are only assigned *AFTER* there is an indictment.

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A lot of career, professional attorneys signed the indictment, so this isn't in the same league as the Comey and James prosecutions: there may be a "there" here.

GoldenKingGaze said:

Some people are not happy with blind faith, Thomas Aquinas began to address that. Thomas the apostle checked Jesus, and was told happy are those who have not seen yet believe. But Thomas also spoke a revelation of great value in that moment, "My Lord and my God."

Jesus was happy for the Jews to believe by seeing the miracles. We need things like that.

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Aquinas argued that faith and reason are complimentary including his five ways to show the credibility of faith. However, Aquinas also argued the limits of reason with regards to fully understanding the infinite God. He uses the concept of the Trinity as an example. Remember that Aquinas also put forth the contingency argument for the proof of God as well as His attributes so Aquinas fully understood the necessity of God with regard to contingency. He argued that if a being is contingent on any agency then He can choose not to exist but God is necessary, therefore, He can not be contingent on any agency.

The returnees from the tunnels of Gaza smiled, they waved, some were in shock. But anyone who visits them today can sense how fragile this moment of deliverance was. Two years of darkness, violence, hunger, and isolation cannot simply be shaken off. Now that they are sleeping in their own beds again, they must learn what it means to live again.

Rom Breslawski's family is currently trying to raise one million shekels (300,000 USD). His body is emaciated, his soul exhausted. “Rom was alone, abused, in complete darkness for months,” says his cousin Liron Oberländer, who started the fundraising campaign. “He had hardly any contact with other people and was sometimes chained up. Now he has to learn to be part of the world again.”

Since his return, Rom has spoken very little. He avoids screens and withdraws into himself. “He doesn't want a phone. He just wants to see the sky,” his family says. Two years without windows, without daylight, and now an almost childlike desire for light, for freedom, for normality. His family is accompanying him carefully, step by step. “We are slowly bringing him back to life. Everything at his own pace.”

Even more drastic is the fate of Elkana Buchbut, who worked as a member of the technical team at the Nova Festival. He was abducted at dawn on Oct 7 and spent over two years in the tunnels of Hamas. His mother Ruhama describes the unimaginable: “He was chained, barely allowed to move, and in all that time they let him shower once.”

His body is scarred, his muscles weakened, his soul traumatized. His family describes it as “survival in the shadow of humanity.” Now Elkana struggles with pain in his legs and back, suffers from panic attacks, nightmares, and feelings of guilt. “The return is not the end of captivity,” says his mother. “It is its echo.”

Guy Gilboa Dalal, also kidnapped from the Nova crowd, spent two years in a tunnel cell. No daylight, no food, beatings, humiliation. His family writes: “He survived because he held on to hope.” Now he needs psychotherapy, medical care, and rest, but above all, time. “He has to learn how to live again,” says his brother Gal, who fought for his release for two years.

Israel's government supports the families with financial aid, but rebuilding bodies and souls cannot be mandated by law. What they need are people who will help them carry what they can no longer bear alone.

They were victims of horror, and they are witnesses to survival.

Aldebaran said:

Obama already fixed it, remember?

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Do you remember all the amendments the GOP made to the bill and then still refused to vote for it? They have been chipping away at it ever since without proposing anything better to replace it. The Democrats did vote for the CR back in April with the understanding that there would be negotiations on healthcare which have not happened because the Magas reneged.

d taylor said:

-

​

Well if yall think Mississippi is going to change its gun laws, then you better look for another solution.

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Americans do like to place their right to bear arms above their right to life.