A Devil's Advocate said:

Have you ever raised someone from the dead? Have you ever walked on water, given the blind sight or cured someone of their disease? Have you ever raised yourself from the dead? In all honesty, do believe you ever will?

Do you honestly think living in the twentieth century, within a culture where your understanding of language, the present world around you, and God Himself, that you are interpreting scripture the same way the audience of the day, who scripture was written directly too, would have understood it?

I'm not saying it wasn't written for us, but it certainly wasn't written to us. The very fact that we can have so many different and conflicting understandings is proof of this reality.

If you understand the very foundation upon which the Gospel is built, but certain scriptures later on appear to contradict this, isn't it more likely we have miss understood those pieces of scripture?

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I haven't, but GOD did through me on some of those things.

Christianity is a Spiritual walk of faith, of which Jesus is our only true example to follow, just like Paul did.

I'm not here to argue and debate. Enjoy what you have so far been able to achieve with GOD. Laters.

We learned some witnessing techniques to Common objections from people. False religions claim the Bible is corrupt. But it is still powerful enough to be effective, to change, to bless. Then pastor preached a little directly from 1Tom 4. It is well with us so we want to spread it around and get some people saved before the church is taken to the clouds and bless some and give them eteternal security for living now.

A Heavenly Mindset​

Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.
—Colossians 3:2

As believers in Yeshua, we must live for the age to come. We cannot allow our temporal circumstances or how people treat us to define who we are in God or distract us from having a heavenly perspective. We must set our focus on eternity even in the midst of tests and trials.

We must keep our eyes on the eternal prize. This world is not our home. Like Abraham, we are called to set our sights on the majestic city “whose architect and builder is God.” We must continually look toward heaven. All our thoughts and actions should be filtered through an eternal mindset.

Beloved one, we are not of this world, and it can never satisfy us. Let us stop trying to gratify ourselves with the fleeting pleasures of this life and instead live each day realizing that we are on a supernatural journey. Eternal life is our calling, and heaven is our destination. As we age, we see more and more how temporary our earthly life is. Many of us have family and friends who have already passed away. So let’s live for what will endure. Soon Messiah will return, and for those who have lived for Him, our final home will be in a place where God will wipe every tear from our eyes and there will no longer be any suffering, pain, or death.


(Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider, Entering His Presence (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2023), Used by permission.)

Christians in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, are protesting a new local government election law that denies religious minorities the right to directly elect their own representatives and undermines democratic participation through non-party elections.

The Punjab Local Government Act 2025, which will govern long-delayed local polls expected in late December, requires residents in more than 4,000 union councils covering rural and urban areas to directly elect nine general members but fills four reserved seats — for minorities, women, laborers or farmers, and youth — through a party-driven “selection” process. Christians, who constitute the bulk of minority population in Punjab, argue that the change entrenches political marginalization for already vulnerable groups and violates constitutional guarantees of equality and local empowerment.

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He didn’t die in Palestine and the 12th century dating is the correct date.

Darwin's great discovery was how it happens. Nothing in evolutionary theory is about "it just happened." It's a sad commentary on science education in the U.S. that so many people actually believe that story. Darwinian theory turns out to have useful applications in engineering, as engineers are now using evolutionary processes to solve problems that were not possible to solve using design. Turns out, God knew best.


It's directly observed today. It happened the way we see it happening now. God is a lot smarter and more powerful than most creationist think He is.

eleos1954 said:

It's "interpretation" of things seen ...

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Nope. Directly observed facts. We see evolution proceeding exactly as it always has. Perhaps you don't know what biological evolution is. What do you think it is?

eleos1954 said:

God does state His creative power is seen and we are without excuse.

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But YE creationists still attempt excuses.

eleos1954 said:

While it (the theory) can describe what happens, the ultimate "why"—the origin of the chain of events or what drives the universe—is a question science cannot answer and may lie outside the realm of natural science.

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Of course it does. You have that much right. Even Darwin just supposed that God created the first living things. Science is too weak a method to consider the supernatural. It can neither support nor deny God.

I watched Fr Chris Alar often on YouTube. I like his talks!

As God’s people, we were all given free will to choose if we are for or against Him. A common question I hear often is “I don’t see how a loving God could send someone to hell. Why would he want to punish one of his creatures for all eternity?” The simple answer is that God does not want us to go to hell. He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). It’s our very own actions and decisions in our everyday life that cause a separation from God. Hell is not a punishment that God imposes, but rather a separation that has been willfully chosen by a human person.

An individual may choose to remain separate from God. If the individual chooses to remain separate from Him, God will not force a union upon them. But as long as we are alive, we can still choose to turn to the Lord.

There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest. Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin (CCC 982).

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In order to turn away from sin, we must not only run to God, but we must also avoid anything that turns us away from Him. “If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We must first acknowledge our attachment and desires for material things of this world. These material things do not last long and only distract us to what is important which is Jesus Christ. To detach yourself from the world, repeat this prayer to God:

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Aryeh Jay said:

The only real truth comes from God.

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Yup

Delvianna said:

"Some that illegally crossed the border into the United States, some that came in through visa waiver and were prohibited from working, some that had visas and overstayed their visas." link

Out of the 330 people detained, 316 South Koreans have been deported, the rest were Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian. link

Sounds like illegals and people who broke the law to me. If you break your visa agreement, the US has the right to deport you.

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The people suing were there on proper visas.
And part of the problem with the other visas is a fewfold. The Trump admin was insisting that the work on the factory be finished by the end of the year, so workers were needed on a quick schedule to accomplish that. Problem with that was, the time it takes for the states to process visa applications is long for the type they'd need and previously, for these sort of cases, the US government had allowed other types of visas be used, even if they didn't allow work by letter, because it was deemed necessary to get the people in. So there's been an understanding between companies and the state that this is ok in these cases.

""A report in The Lancet estimates that deep funding cuts to USAID could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, with one-third being children, if the funding isn't restored. The cuts have already caused the immediate shutdown of essential programs, leading to a higher risk of diseases like cholera and a rise in under-five mortality rates in affected areas. As a result, some models already estimate that the dismantling of USAID has already caused 600,000 deaths, with two-thirds being children."

USAID cost the average US taxpayer $0.18 per day - Trump, with the support of Elon Musk and American Evangelicals, shut it down which has already resulted in the loss of an estimated 600,000 lives, 2/3 of them children!

How ironic that Donald Trump, a billionaire and Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, were both instrumental in terminating USAID - which is credited with saving over 90 million lives of the world's most desperately poor, in the last 2 decades alone!

Trump and his MAGA supporters are now hoping that the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE COMMITTEE will be more impressed by his White House $300 million golden ballroom than the 14 million additional deaths by 2030 that USAID could have saved!

Trump is currently suing the Department of Justice for $230 million for what he considers politically motivated investigations - despite claims that the White House ballroom will be privately financed, what are the odds that it will be directly or indirectly "bankrolled" by the American taxpayer?

Whether Trump receives the Nobel Peace Prize or not, history will hold him and his supporters responsible for the millions of lives that USAID could have saved!

The White House golden ballroom, primarily built to impress the rich and powerful, will stand as a constant reminder that in "Trumpworld," extravagance took priority over lives - his campaign to receive the Nobel Peace Prize is intended to feed his insatiable personal ego, because in reality he has shown little concern for the lives and welfare of others!

FOOTNOTE: The Department of Justice is under no obligation to inform the American public as to whether President Trump's own loyal political appointees at DOJ followed his instructions and provided him with the $230 million!

essentialsaltes said:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-14/ponzi-schemer-who-got-trump-clemency-faces-50-years-in-new-fraud

MSN

Trump commuted Eliyahu Weinstein's 24 year sentence in the Pardonpalooza at the end of Trump 1.0. After his release, he stole another $44 million from his suckers and has now received a brand new 37 year sentence.

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As the kids say, "Game recognizes game",

essentialsaltes said:

OK, they were in no danger. Is that relevant? Have you been to a federal courthouse?

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I've personally filed a lawsuit against a number of federal intelligence agencies, so I've spend some time in a federal courthouse. I've even been in a judge's chambers with a judge and numerous government attorneys. It seemed pretty secure, but someone with intent who doesn't care about sacrificing himself could be a real danger. People go in and out of locked doors, but a criminal could slip in. We saw weaknesses in security in regard to protecting President Trump.

When you're worried about your aches and pains, these comforting Bible verses remind you that God is near and cares deeply for you.

We all know how physical ailments – even routine colds or flu – can make us feel vulnerable and anxious. Not knowing what the doctor will say, waiting for test results, or coping with persistent aches can stir up real fear. In those moments, God’s Word can be like a gentle companion, reminding us that we are not alone.

Thankfully the Bible offers many verses about God’s care, strength, healing and presence. Here are five comforting passages and why each one can bring peace to a worried heart.

1- Isaiah 41:10 -- GOD’S PRESENCE IN OUR FEAR​

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with the onset and the global reach of the internet the gospel going out has never been more available than it is right now ... pretty amazing. Everything is escalating.

Mystical unity of persons​

Bryan Melvin is a Protestant NDE experiencer whose testimony went viral after his claim to see Hitler in Hell. Martin’s testimony was that Hitler’s punishment was to experience the anxiety, suffering, pain and death he caused in others, from the moment his policies first affected them till their death in the camps. Hitler had to live each of the lives of each of his victims, experiencing each life as his own.

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Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch had the help of 12 other Catholic biblical scholars to gather and compose the commentary on the books of the Old Testament alone.

Eighteen years ago, I walked into my first night class with Scott Hahn on the New Testament. My fiancé and I had the required books for the class divided between us, which were mostly individual volumes of the books of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible — three of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Every week, we would attend the lecture and absorb scholar Hahn’s biblical knowledge, trying to let it soak in, hoping to remember it all, and, of course, studying our notes.

A few years after we took our class, it must have been easier for Hahn’s students, as they could get the whole Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament in one volume, which was edited by both Hahn and Curtis Mitch. I asked for my own copy of the New Testament for Christmas one year and started to meet monthly with friends, studying different books of Scripture. The women in our group had a wide variety of backgrounds, some having read Scripture their whole lives and others barely reading it at all. The notes and essays in the Study Bibleon the RSV: Second Catholic Edition translation, opened our minds and hearts to the Scripture in a completely new way for all of us.

What makes this Study Bible unique are the extensive essays, introductions to each book, commentaries, charts and notes on nearly every verse of the Bible. The notes are rooted in the Tradition and drawn from the fathers, doctors and councils of the Church, giving the various interpretive senses of Scripture. They tie together the Old and the New Testaments.

I loved the New Testament edition so much that I started checking several times a year (as many others did as well) on the status of the complete Old Testament. From time to time, I would see that another individual book of the Old Testament had been released, but I held off. I wanted to have the whole Old Testament at once, as I knew it would aid me in both my work as a theological editor and writer but also in my personal prayer life. And sometime late summer 2024, I learned to my great delight that the complete Bible would be released by the end of 2024. I had a copy pre-ordered, the leatherbound as opposed to the hardback, and waited eagerly for it to arrive.

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The streets of Rome and its most emblematic churches come to life in the exhibition “The Seven Churches of Rome,” the Jubilee itinerary captured through the photography of Romualdo Moscioni.

Located inside the Vatican Museums, this exhibition aims to present two paths: the Jubilee year and an itinerary through the seven most prominent churches of Rome.


PAOLA DI GIAMMARIA

Head of the Photo Archive of the Vatican Museums

You will see in this exhibition seven sections, one for each church. The pilgrimage begins at Saint Peter’s, the heart of Christianity, continues at Saint Paul Outside the Walls, and then touches all the most important basilicas—from the Cathedral of Rome, the first and most important basilica of the East, to the three minor basilicas which are the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls, and Saint Sebastian Outside the Walls. It concludes at the heart of Marian devotion par excellence, that is, the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

The exhibition seeks to bring visitors into the origins of photography, as the pilgrimage images are shown through photographic negatives.



PAOLA DI GIAMMARIA

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Every relationship, no matter how strong, eventually faces moments that shake it. Misunderstandings, old wounds, sharp words, unmet expectations—these can leave us feeling disconnected from the people we love most. It’s tempting in those moments to assume the story is over… that what was once warm has gone cold for good.

But the Christian story insists on something radically hopeful: love can be healed. Not in a quick-fix way, not by ignoring the pain, but by letting God step into the mess with us.

That truth sits at the heart of Doug Hinderer’s compassionate book, Rekindled Hearts: A Spiritual Journey to Marital Healing. Hinderer, a licensed therapist and marriage coach, walks couples through a simple—but powerful—path: acknowledging hurt, seeking forgiveness, and slowly rebuilding trust. His message is realistic yet full of hope, reminding us that healing isn’t about going back to “how things were” but moving forward into something deeper, stronger, and more honest.

Healing Begins With Honesty​

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150-plus saves a lot of potentially future victims. Well done!

Fantine said:

He attributes this not to hunger for power but to not having the cognitive awareness of how the U.S. government, which he leads, works.

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It was clear in Trump 1.0 that he didn't know how the government works. But he had people around him who did, who mostly kept the president's crayon colors within the lines. This time, he has purposely surrounded himself with people who don't know or don't care (or both) how the government works.

So I don't see that particular point indicates and degradation of faculties. He never had that one.

Clare73 said:

There are several numbers of significance in Scripture. . .10, 1,000, 12, 144, 144,000. . .

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Of course, I'd forgotten 12 x 12 = 144 - Thanks.

Go up to your house in peace
1 Samuel 25
NRSV