rambot said:

And measles vaccine.
and penicillin
and radiation as a cancer treatment
And any medication you put into your body.
And every medical treatment you've ever received.

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No argument there.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the mystery of the Holy Trinity is “the central mystery of Christian faith and life” and “the most fundamental and essential teaching.”1 But how can fallen human beings hope to comprehend “a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone”?2 For those who do not delight in reading theological textbooks, a recently canonized saint offers a practical guide to the truth of Trinitarian theology.

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Tellyontellyon said:

I believe in God.. but I don't know God. I don't know if God corresponds to any particular scriptures. How does one begin to sift through the different ideas to come to the truth.. what is the best way to approach the search?

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You know I was thinking of this very subject. How would a Christian explain Christianity or the message in the gospel or bible today. It seems a big topic and we hear about all the Christian apologetics let alone secular arguements about God and Christianity.

Its like how does anyone get any message out about anything in an age of info and rationalisations about what a Christian is, what is the right way. I mean we have 101 denominations all differing and arguing. No wonder people are bewilded.

Then I thought what happened in the early church. How did they get the message out. What was the message. Did they have appologetics. I mean they did not even have the bible apart from the old testament for much of the first century.

The disciples and especially Paul and others were going out more than ever to spread the message. So it wasn't as if there was no message they all knew to preach.

Then I realised it was so simple. They were witnesses and were being eye witnesses. They were giving an eye witness account of what happened and why. Thats it. The gospel. A simple message that Christ died and was raised again and that He sacrificed His life for us as sinners. That by believing this testimony you are saved.

Its so simple that we can miss it and complicate it. It is just repeating the eye witness testimony that we believe the same. We believe it really happened. From that all else flows.

When Paul speaks of the spirit and flesh you cannot know the spirit and flesh unless you live in Christs spirit. So it is the spirit that opens our eyes as we come closer to God. We can read something one day and then we understand. But the more we live in Christs spirit the more we understand. We will understand like the disciples understand because the spirit is for all and the same spirit.

I don't think its much more complicated than that because there are many people with varying abilities and some uneducated or with setbacks but can still understand. I don't think theres some complicated answer and its really the truth and real life if God is the God of life.

I think most people already know the truth and thats not always some arguement that makes it true according to some philsopher. I think its all contained within the bible. Early Christians did not have all the modern day arguements.

I am not saying comentary or appologetics doesn't help. It helps a lot in perhaps giving a more detailed response to the same basic truth. But I don't think we need that to believe the truth. Its more than that. That is why sometimes people will disagree. I mean how can two Christians disagree lol, they are suppose to be of one mind and spirit. I think keep it simple.

Another aspect to consider is that there are different personalities ie agreeable, assertive, disagreeable, introverted ect. Then you have personal experience. These can all influence the interaction and a confident liar can sometimes outsmart or play a not so sure truth teller.
Yes even in the church. They are the wolves and they are good at it so watch em. Just stay away lol.

But fundementally its about a belief and a sacrifice that have no winning arguement. Its taking on that belief that it renews your mind and you can see what cannot be seen and hear what cannot be heard by the world. I like Psalm 46:10 is fitting "Be still and know that I am God".

Michie said:

With Millennials and Generation Z leading the way, particularly among men, Bible reading among U.S. adults in 2025 is at its highest level in the last 15 years, according to new data from the "State of the Church" initiative.

The initiative by Barna Group and Gloocollected data from 12,116 online interviews conducted between January and October of 2025. The research revealed that approximately 50% of self-identified Christians report reading the Bible weekly, the highest level of Bible reading among Christians in more than a decade.

Weekly Bible reading among all U.S. adults reached its lowest point in 15 years in 2024 when it hit 30%. In 2025, the figure rebounded 12 percentage points to 42%, according to the latest data.

"Bible reading is rising again across generations, marking a reset to faith engagement levels we haven't seen in a decade," David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group, said in a statement. "People aren't just curious about faith — they're opening Scripture for themselves. This trend aligns with other signs of renewal we've seen in our research, like growing commitments to Jesus and increased church attendance."

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More Americans are now reading the Bible but fewer believe it’s 100% accurate: study

With Millennials and Generation Z leading the way, particularly among men, Bible reading among U S adults in 2025 is at its highest level in the last 15 years, according to new data from the State of

www.christianpost.com

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Or maybe that just means they aren't reading it with Fundamentalist slavishly literalist standards. That could be good.

I think spiritually theres a message. Like the Flood people got to a point in rejecting and defying God that brought judgement. It was so evil that it made bad look good. But still they did not lean and the spirit of that evil defiance lives on.

It is the way it has always gone until Christ returns. People reject God and the end result eventually is gross evil and defiance of God. Its almost inherited in the fall until evil has its way and it is no more. Like history repeating itself.

I think we can see the developing spirit of change away from God generally. I think we crossed a threshold as the so called free western empire that Christianity came from finally rejected God from the public square and we have seen the changing culture. What was unacceptable decades ago is now the norm.

I reckon some goings on today pretty well are getting up there with the goings on in the back streets of Sodom lol.

Pope Leo XIV addressed a message to the approximately 300 exorcist priests who came together September 15–20 for the 15th International Gathering of the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) at the Fraterna Domus House of Spirituality in Sacrofano, near Rome.

The Holy Father expressed his appreciation for the priests who dedicate themselves to the “delicate and necessary ministry of the exorcist.” The pontiff urged them to carry it out “both as a ministry of liberation and as a ministry of consolation.”

In a message signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope also exhorted pastors to provide spiritual support to the faithful who are suffering.

Pope Leo emphasized the need to “support the faithful truly possessed by the evil one with prayer and the invocation of Christ’s effective presence, so that through the sacramental of exorcism the Lord may grant victory over Satan.”

The pope’s words were read at the opening of the event—held every two years—by Father Francesco Bamonte, vice president of the IAE and moderator of the conference.

During the presentations, Monsignor Karel Orlita, president of the IAE and exorcist for the Diocese of Brno in the Czech Republic, highlighted the beauty of the ecclesial communion in which this ministry, firmly rooted in the Gospel, is embedded, and underlined the importance of the ongoing formation that the association promotes in Italy and abroad.

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All appearances to me are that Trump is trying to create enough consternation and turmoil within the borders (however that could POSSIBLY be) that conflict will allow him to cancel midterms or (fingers crossed) 2028 though that's a ways away still.

I mean...Trump STILL wanted to withhold SNAP payments from the poor.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/10/us/snap-benefits-limbo-shutdown-court

Boy I hope me having a problem like this isn't because I "hate Trump so much"

To know the end is near, to watch for the end, St. Augustine taught that the fruit of such knowledge and vigilance is patience. Instead of anxiety, instead of chaos and overactivity, rather calm should rest the soul of the believer.

The readings this Sunday are indeed about the end. “Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,” the passage from Malachi begins (Mal 3:19). Like Jeremiah before him, Jesus talks about the destruction of the temple; after this, he’ll talk about the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet what he fully means by “the end” is bigger than that (Lk 21:5-24). Jesus here is talking apocalyptically.

That is, reading all this we can’t help but think of the ultimate end. Of that inevitable future these passages are meant to remind us. We are being spiritually prepared in these readings for the season of Advent, prepared even for that reality beyond all Advents, for the final advent of Christ the Lord.

The spiritual capacity to endure​

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Paulwat said:

Lately I’ve really been struggling with anxiety and OCD, especially around intrusive fears about hell. It’s been taking over my thoughts and making it hard to get through the day. Sometimes I get stuck worrying about people I care about possibly “going there,” and other times I spiral into fear about myself.

Whenever I come across posts that talk about eternal torture or damnation, it makes everything worse — it triggers the anxiety and sends me into a loop I can’t easily escape. I know these thoughts don’t reflect who I am or what I truly believe, but they still feel so real in the moment.

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This used to be me. For me, what helped was leaving these things to God and refraining my thought process. God is good, so He has his ways to pursue people for his kingdom in gentle and loving ways.

Sometimes all the retoric about hell is perceived by people as manipulative and as something that draws people to church out of fear, and not out of love. Refraining your thought process to understand that the gospel is about God’s love, mercy and grace could be helpful.

I was like this because I was taught a overly judgmental and pharisaic approach to Christianity, where silly things (like being grumpy one day) were exaggerated into very bad “evils” and guilt was used manipulatively. This type of christian interpretation of the gospel is very law oriented and harmful. It has been also hard for me to accept I may not be perfect, but I’m definitely not the most evil human being for having character flaws and occasional slips with sin, or struggling with personal particular issues long periods of time with little success. Sin cannot be fully conquered in this life and that doesn’t mean we are all going to hell.

Being doctrinally sound in this topic is always important, as universal reconciliation is not biblical. At the end of the day we want to believe in the God that is and not in the God we want him to be. Hell is a necessary evil because evil exists and deserves punishment.

I believe God wants and will make sure hell contains every unrepentant rapist, child abuser, human trafficker, mass murderer, violent dictator and every man or woman who does unspeakable evil against their fellow man. God’s justice is about the purity of the heart, the intent of the soul and how this translates to actions and behaviors.

Humility is key, we are not meant to understand everything about how God will judge, but we can be sure God is just and people who deserve eternal punishment for their evil will receive it and those who God gives grace to will be saved and forgiven fully. I don’t recommend getting worked up with deep theological debates on salvation, just trust God, be thankful for the good in you, address the sin and evil that is still in your heart and live everyday in peace.

The overly ethos of "help the suffering" should kind of be enough.

You know the easy way to deal with insider trading now that Republicans have full control of 3 branches?

Create laws to punish insider trading by elected officials and their families.

Go Republicans Go! I know how upset their base is about this. I'm SURE it'd be a no brainer.

BNR32FAN said:

So as far as sin goes they’re pretty much the same? Neither are completely absent from sin and neither are completely absent from doing good?

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Slaves to sin refers to a lifestyle of disobedience, not found among the born again.

Bob Crowley said:

Being of Irish descent, I went looking for "ancient stone eggs in Australia".

The closest I could find was "thundereggs", which I believe have some similarity to opal bearing rocks. There's a "Thunderbird Park" somewhere around Tamborine Mountain behind the Gold Coast.

Other than that there apparently used to be "ducks of doom" in Australia, which laid water-melon size eggs.

'Demon ducks of doom' laid melon-size eggs in prehistoric Australia

Scientists crack a 41-year-old mystery about prehistoric eggs.

www.livescience.com

Being told by the parents to go to the chook shed to get some eggs for breakfast ain't what it used to be....

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"Demon ducks", indeed. Holy Moses. Sort of like those "terror birds" they've found evidence of, except that those were predators:

Syrian security forces conducted nationwide raids against suspected Islamic State operatives, detaining dozens, before President Ahmed al-Sharaa's scheduled historic meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

The visit follows recent diplomatic overtures between the two governments, including the removal of al-Sharaa, a former leader of an al-Qaeda affiliated terror group, from the United States and United Nations terror sanctions lists.

Syria's interior ministry said Saturday that 61 coordinated raids were carried out across the country, resulting in 71 arrests and the seizure of weapons and explosives.

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peaceful-forest said:

I have a family member that is going through some trouble. He is in his 20s, has money problems, smokes marijuana, and is expecting a baby with his girlfriend.

I have thought about buying this family member a Bible, but I do not know which one to buy him. I believe his current problems are happening and God is allowing them so that this family member will turn to Christ for salvation.

What recommendations do you all have?

Thanks.

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I like the NKJV which is easy to understand. I would also recommend this book


It a story of my pastor, who grew up in a dysfunctional home. His dad was a billionaire, his mom an actress, his parents divorced he was shipped off to military and catholic schools. He ended up dropping out of school and doing drugs living in a cave outside of LA. Someone left a bible in the cave that he started reading and it changed his life (and many others) This was an inspirational story and may help him.

God bless!

Pray The Holy Spirit guides the first responders, security personnel, medics, doctors & nurses as they address the emergency needs of the victims of a terrorist attack that took place in Delhi, India:

keras said:

What people seem to ignore, is the many things Prophesied to happen before the glorious Return. All of Revelation from Rev 6:12 to 19:11.
All unfulfilled, as yet, the Sixth Seal being the next event we can expect.

They are the Words of Jesus, given to us in a viable sequence. To not take very careful note, is a serious denial of scripture.

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Expectation is not the same thing as anticipation.

Once Upon a Time

DialecticSkeptic said:

Emotional wounds left from betrayal, especially by trusted Christians, tend to persist until they are processed, not just waited out. A good trauma-informed or faith-sensitive counselor can help you process this, separating what happened from the truth of Christ himself. Some offer reduced rates or sliding-scale sessions, and there are community or online options that can make it more affordable; some churches can recommend a specific faith-sensitive counselor that would be free to you because their charitable giving covers the costs. (My church does that.)

That being said, the church is God's appointed channel of grace, community, and spiritual edification, even when people inside it fail badly (because they do). Healing doesn't happen apart from Christ's body but through being gently restored within it. The key is finding a setting where safety, accountability, and pastoral care exist together. It might help to start by meeting privately with a trustworthy pastor or elder. (It doesn't have to be from the church where you were hurt.) Tell him what happened and that you're struggling to come back. A good pastor will listen carefully, take your fears seriously, and help ensure that whoever mistreated or harmed you is not in a position to hurt anyone else. Church leaders have a responsibility to protect the flock and to address sin openly and justly (though not necessarily publicly).

Pray for courage and discernment, and remember that Christ himself was betrayed by religious people and those closest to him. He understands your wounds better than anyone—and he also knows how to lead you safely back into his church.

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Hello! Your advice sounds very sound as I’ve not had the chance to really talk to this with someone mature enough. If you can recommend online counseling with a pastor or therapist who is Christian I would totally do it.

I expressed what happened to two friends who have good intentions and have been respectful, but they don’t understand just saying that “not everyone is like that” will help me feel safe enough to go back to the church I used to go to.

My main problem I have is that I’m a pretty lonely woman, I dont have a Christian family to attend church with and my friends have their own lives they can’t go with me, and in spite they used to sometimes, the men still managed to find ways to harm me.

I will get married soon so hopefully I may be able to go to church accompanied at all times in the next months or years, but the emotional harm is still there and I don’t even want to go and have to deal with people and unnecessary problems.

JimR-OCDS said:

I don't see anyone calling for a change in the Jewish calendar.

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The link I posted, "Rectified Hebrew Calendar" is doing just that.

Hentenza said:

Your strawman continues. Bye

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Well, still sniping, I see.

The Catholic Parliamentary Office has reacted with concern to the rejection of a number of proposed safeguards to Scotland’s assisted suicide bill.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is currently at Stage 2 of the legislative process, meaning that the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee are examining amendments to the proposal. The Scottish legislation is separate from that currently being debated in the House of Lords in Westminster.

Concerns have been raised at the speed of the process, which is currently set to examine all 287 proposed amendments in just three weeks, with just one session per week.

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If wealthy tax deadbeats leave NYC to leach off the taxpayers of anither state, good riddance.
In 1980, Trump sued NY in order to get a 40 year property tax abatement---meant to encourage investment in distressed areas--for Trump Tower!
Do you know how many of our tax dollars were used to provide public services to tax deadbeat Trump's building?
But like other tax deadbeats, he moved, selling his trashy souvenirs and crypto online to his fans--and bilking Florida's taxpayers.

In the movie Addams Family Values, Wednesday is made fun of by other girls and is asked why she dresses in black like she’s going to a funeral. “Why are you dressed like somebody died?” a girl asks.

“Wait,” Wednesday responds.

She’s right. And the thing is, you don’t have to wait long.

Recent stats peg the number of deaths at 7.8 deaths per 1,000 people for 2025. In raw numbers: about 62 million people die each year worldwide, which breaks down to around 172,800 deaths per day globally in 2025, 120 deaths per minute, or about 2 deaths every second.

That’s a lot of souls going into eternity, some of which got up today having no idea it would be their last. Stop and think about that for just a minute, and keep in mind that it could be any one of us.

John MacArthur talks about that reality when he recounts being on the Larry King show the day after 9/11:

“Larry King said to me, ‘What is the lesson here.’ I said, ‘The lesson is everybody’s going to die, and you’re not necessarily in control of when.’ The danger of death is around us, and what contributes to that death is both around us, and even in us. Everyone dies. A hundred years from now none of us will be around; that’s inevitable. Life is the most comprehensive danger of all; no one escapes its inevitable end.”

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I doubt you would select “life” as the biggest danger out of a list of other options, but I get what MacArthur is saying. In fact, it explains something Jesus said in one of His biographies that has always bugged me.

When towers fall

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rocknanchor said:

Appraising a favorite quote, Surely, you must have one among several that could be considered?

Here’s one of mine, ,

You cannot have the indwelling [also infilling] without turning the [Church service] gavel to the Holy Spirit and you turn to a great truth, for the Holy Spirit is the vicar of Christ (John 16:7,14:26) – C.M. Ward

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One thing we all agree on is this: Jesus did physically leave us, Hooray! Long-live the thing we agree on, NOT on things that divide us! But, as we know, that fundamental, victorious unity is short-lived. Let’s talk about it.

Some we must admit, are unavoidable, but, I suggest here the vast majority are quite infantile! Among the many things Brother Ward said in his lifetime, some, I hold in sharp disagreement. But this ‘truth’ as he says is as unfiltered as it gets.

For there are so many influences around that the young convert is faced with such a steep uphill battle that they would benefit far more from you who hold the truth if we could step back from the playing field just long enough to address some of these things that ends up distancing themselves from biblical truths.

The Elephant Issue, Doctrinal Bias Gone Bonkers


One of the first things to slap a new convert’s face is our UN-CHRISTIAN divide over the “Vicar”. A search within AI is futile;


AI tries to apply subtle variables to the differences of Church OS vs Vicar, but is incapable of removing them from those who are considered to be a ‘Vicar’. So the question remains over this issue that has done far more than just threatened unity which we are told over and over in the NT to keep. That question is, by the New Testament standard, how well has DO survived? We know Cephas (Peter) found error enough “to be blamed”, Has today’s DO found error? I just told you it does – divisions.

How do we know? Ask yourself, Does today’s DO demonstrate an approval for the excellence of 1 John 2:27, or treat it as “a lie”?


There may be other examples, but if those are sound, so will they be here, will either be shown to treat the ‘Vicar’ as worthy of far more than DO, or, well within the above NT bounds!