Huh? Who are these people?

The purge is real but it will not succeed much longer. This is no Christian nationalist government either. That is a fantasy that some Christians started. In this case, the city and state do have a say. Why this administration consistently pushes the limits of executive power is beyond me.

Ora pro nobis

JustaPewFiller said:

He'd have my vote over most current politicians..

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Mine too!

With the 2028 presidential election still over two years away, outspoken sports commentator Stephen A. Smith is not ruling out a run for president, pointing to encouragement from his pastor, A.R. Bernard.

In an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Monday, Smith indicated that he was “leaving the door open” to a presidential run in 2028.

“I just hate the way things look,” he said. “I hate the way that things are, and I think that there needs to be some common sense brought to the equation.”

“I have no desire to be a politician, especially when I was informed I’d have to give up my money in order to do it,” Smith stressed.

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If you are a Christian, i.e. a follower of Jesus Christ, and if you have been on the internet for any length of time, on sites where other professers of faith in Jesus Christ are sharing their faith, you may have discovered that many of them are following after the ways of the flesh rather than the ways of God. Many of them are sharing false gospel narratives and not the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ. For they are believing the lies they are being taught rather than believing the truth of what Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught. But by faith in Jesus, we die to sin and we obey God, in practice.

Yet, what is most popular today is a more watered down and diluted and altered gospel message which is friendlier to human flesh, and which makes allowances for deliberate and habitual sin. For they teach that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ promises them forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny, but regardless of how they live, i.e. regardless if they continue to make sin their practice and not obedience to our Lord and to his commands in holy living. And they falsely refer to that as “grace.” But that is because they are misunderstanding God’s grace.

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return (See Titus 2:11-14). For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23). For not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Matthew 7:21-23). For faith is not in words only, but faith reveals itself by faith in action.

So, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we need to be those who desire to be taught of God as to what he requires and desires of us who profess his name. We should desire him and his truth and righteousness, and we should long to walk in his ways. And we should walk in the fear of the Lord, in obedience to his commands, and no longer as slaves to sin. For to fear the Lord is to give him honor, respect, and obedience, and to take him and his teachings seriously. For salvation from sin is not a free ride to heaven, but it is deliverance out of addiction to sin to serve and obey God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Trust and Obey

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887
Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

When we walk with the Lord
in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

But we never can prove
the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

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The Ways of Man versus The Ways of God
An Original Work / February 18, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Well, I don't really believe in astrology per se, but I am a Fire Rabbit (an odd and freaky combination, I know). I was born on July 30, 1987. My western sign is Leo.

I do have some rabbit-like traits, like introversion, passivity, and gentleness, while I have passion for things in life, which is where the fire comes from.

Some rabbit readings done on me were actually pretty accurate. But despite the accuracy, I still don't believe....the Bible forbids the practice of astrology anyway. As a saint I am not allowed to practice it. Sorry.

jonojim1337 said:

So where does it say the Holy Land is in Palestine.

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The new Jerusalam is 1500 by 1500 by 1500 miles. That is all of the land given to Abraham and all of the Arab continental plate. Does God gave a different covenant with the descendants of Hagar compared to Sarah?

I think we should live a simple life free from both excessive and expensive things. That's how Jesus and his apostles lived. In my opinion they're our examples.

JacquelineDeane55 said:

I think God hates lying too. Isn't it in Psalms or Proverbs somewhere? Doesn't it say in Revelation that all liars will not inherit the kingdom of God? It says such people will be condemned to the Lake of Fire.

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Hello Jacqueline, yes, the Bible certainly has a lot to say directly about lying, both in the OT and in the New .. e.g. Leviticus 19:11, Psalm 120:2, Proverbs 12:22, Ephesians 4:25, Colossians 3:9, Revelation 21:8.

I believe that lying is always the wrong thing to do, except in very extreme/rare circumstances, some of which have already been mentioned in this thread (Rahab, Moses, and situations where we know that telling the truth would result in serious harm to oneself or to another person, for instance). Also, rather than justifying lying, even in the rare circumstance that requires that we do so, I think that we should consider it the lesser of two evils.

God bless you!!

--David

sjastro said:

There is also this recent information indicating predynastic Egyptians used copper drill bits and bow drills, not CNC lathes as idiotically asserted in this thread.

A 5,300-year-old ‘bow drill’ rewrites the story of ancient Egyptian tools

A recent study has recontextualised a small copper-alloy artefact from Predynastic Egypt, identifying it as the earliest securely attested rotary metal drill in the Nile Valley. - HeritageDaily - Archaeology News

www.heritagedaily.com

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Here is the academic article.

It may be the Naqada II culture predynastic Egyptians had a superior metallurgical technology compared to the succeeding pharaonic Old Kingdom given XRF analysis of the drill bit showed apart from copper it contained arsenic, nickel, silver and lead which would have hardened the tool.
By comparison copper tools found in the 3rd dynasty contained less than 2% arsenic and would have been softer.

Since the actual composition of the Naqada drill bit in percentages is not revealed, ChatGPt created a hypothetical case for a recipe to maximize hardness and assuming the Naqada II culture could cold work the alloy.
This was compared to the hardness of tools used by the Egyptians from later periods.

Using the description you provided — especially the phrase “highly unusual CuAsNi material with the addition of silver and lead” — we can make a reasoned metallurgical hypothesis about likely composition ranges and revise the hardness estimates accordingly.

Since it is described as CuAsNi rather than simple arsenical copper, that suggests:

• Arsenic content likely ≥2–5 wt %
• Nickel likely ~1–3 wt %
• Silver and lead probably <1–2 wt % each (minor additions)

That would place it well above simple arsenical copper and approaching low–medium tin bronze strength, especially if cold-worked.

Below is the chronological table with hypothesized composition and updated hardness estimates.

---

Egyptian Tool Materials — Chronological Metallurgical Comparison​

Period	Approx. Date	Hypothesized Composition	Estimated Vickers Hardness (HV)*	Relative Performance	Metallurgical Notes
Predynastic (Naqada IID, Badari drill)	c. 3300–3000 BC	Cu + 2–5% As + 1–3% Ni + trace Ag, Pb	100–160 HV (up to ~170 HV cold-worked)	High for Copper Age	Combined solid-solution strengthening from As + Ni. Could rival low-tin bronze if heavily work-hardened. Technologically sophisticated alloy.
3rd Dynasty (Old Kingdom)	c. 2700 BC	Mostly Cu, sometimes <2% As	50–90 HV (up to ~100 HV work-hardened)	Low	Primarily work-hardened copper. Limited alloy strengthening.
New Kingdom (Bronze Age peak)	c. 1550–1070 BC	Cu + 5–12% Sn	120–200 HV (occasionally 220 HV)	Very High	True bronze phase strengthening. Better edge retention and wear resistance.
Late Period (Iron Age Egypt)	c. 664–332 BC	Wrought iron (0.02–0.1% C), occasional early steel (0.3–0.6% C)	120–200 HV (wrought iron) 250–400+ HV (quenched steel)	Highest overall	Carburization and quenching produce martensitic structures exceeding bronze hardness.

*HV values are approximate experimental ranges based on comparable ancient alloys and degree of cold work.

---

Key Metallurgical Implication​

With this revised hypothesis:

• The Predynastic Cu–As–Ni drill may have been nearly as hard as moderate tin bronze, especially if work-hardened.
• It would have been substantially harder than Old Kingdom copper tools.
• It likely falls in the lower-to-mid bronze hardness range, which is remarkable for ~3300 BC.

Revised Hardness Ranking (Softest → Hardest)​

Old Kingdom copper
→ Predynastic Cu–As–Ni alloy
→ New Kingdom bronze
→ Wrought iron
→ Early steel

---

Important Insight​

If the arsenic content were closer to 4–5% and the nickel near 2–3%, this drill could represent one of the hardest known Egyptian copper-alloy tools of the 4th millennium BC, potentially explaining its suitability for bead drilling and woodworking.

If you'd like, I can now:

• Convert this into MPa tensile strength estimates,
• Compare it directly to granite/quartz drilling requirements, or
• Model the expected wear rate relative to bronze tools.

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The alloy would still not be hard enough to drill holes in granite requiring the use of abrasives and was softer than New and Late Kingdom tools.

I am glad you learned this. Being rich is not in and of itself a bad thing, but we must be careful not to descend into greed and want even more. Greed destroys us and other people's lives as well.

Good lesson.

Wait, when did these forums become a place to write new music?

Hhmm...I have actually listened to a little bit of Green Day myself. As I understand it they are pretty popular.

My little sister actually used to listen to Depeche Mode quite a bit, like, around 10 years ago or so. I remember being with her in her car listening to it with her as we went down the road.

Then one day she just stopped cold turkey. I think she grew out of it. But Heaven forbid we grow out of any music, right? Sadly, it happens. We grow older, we mature, our tastes in things change...we change as people...she hasn't listened to Depeche Mode in years...

Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the easy bake oven. Yeah, I actually remember this toy. I had one when I was 3. It soon broke. =\

prodromos said:

Hospitals in the heavily Moslem populated areas of Sydney see a huge influx of patients during Ramadan due to the habit of some to stuff themselves stupid after sunset and the same just before sunrise. Not eating all day when you are active then stuffing your stomach when you are inactive is extremely detrimental to your health and completely unlike Traditional Christian fasting which sees a lot of health benefits. It is easy to see which fasting practice came from God and which one didn't.

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That doesn’t surprise me, sadly.

God bless him for helping people and making moral choices.

God bless him!

Oh I'm sorry, but I don't believe I have ever heard of this particular anime? Is it new?

Let me see.....well, when I was a kid I watched Pokemon and Digimon religiously, saw practically all of it there was to see, then when I was a teenager I saw Ouran High School Host Club, just like vanillaicecream did. And would she agree with me that it was a pretty good anime? I think it was. I liked Tamaki and Honey Sempai the best.

But I haven't seen any anime in years. I just lost interest one day when I was 35. I'm 38 right now, and am horrified at the thought of getting older and older. I'd like to think I am not too old for cartoons, but I just don't know anymore. Hopefully I haven't completely grown out of them yet.

Bad news: I do not have enough time to go to 2 stores.

Legislative committees in both chambers of the Virginia Legislature chose not to advance bills to legalize physician assisted suicide. Both Catholic bishops in the commonwealth praised the decision.

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