Laodicean60 said:

The politics of today and if Trump had been assassinated the Republicans probably would fall in line in like manner with whoever.

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Ironic that Trump actually picked whoever for VP.

Bradskii said:

I get the 'taxed twice' argument.

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As others before me have pointed out, the money put into SS is untaxed (by the feds but also by most if not all states) . There are 4 important thresholds: 1) income under $600 does not get taxed and does not need to be reported. 2) Income under something like $1800 must be reported but not taxed 3) Income over something like $120,000 is not subject to FICA (social security tax) and often not Medi-FICA, although it may still be that 4) income above a certain level is taxed an additional percentage (.09%? Med-FICA only)

If there were no cap on the amount that was subject to FICA, the problem would be solved. As it stands, the tax is extremely regressive.

This was the magic trick that Bush used for his income tax cut - most the budget surplus was extra social security money that was not encumbered for that year, but meant to pay future retirees but most the "surplus" was refunded to people .who put the least part of their income into it.

Lord have mercy!

Good! Leave the faithful alone!

I've always admired Dr. Carson.

iluvatar5150 said:

And what I was trying to get at before was that schools largely don’t respond to market incentives, and when they do, they’re often low quality and expensive. We’ve had the equivalent of “vouchers” in higher ed for decades and very few new universities have popped up as a result. What we’ve gotten instead are some middling trade schools that often have sticker prices rivaling those of the ivies.

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Opponents of tenure argue that this job protection makes the removal of poorly performing teachers so difficult and costly that most schools end up retaining their bad teachers. How is this protected against?

How terrifying.

May he rest in peace and rise to glory!

FaithT said:

Link?

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God bless them.

This one family has changed Christendom basketball for the better since arriving at the college as students 14 years ago.

Editor’s Note: This story is reprinted with permission from Christendom College, where it appeared in Instaurare, the official magazine of Christendom College.



Basketball has been a part of Jeremy ’16 and Mary (Barbale) ’15 Minick’s lives since they were kids.

As students, they competed on Christendom’s Thomas S. Vander Woude Court, playing varsity basketball for the college.

It was also on this court that the two first met, beginning a romance that eventually led to marriage. Fittingly, the two keep returning back to this court that has so defined their lives, with both now serving the college community as head coaches.

What leads them back to this basketball court, again and again? A desire to give back — and to continue leading student-athletes to Christ.

Continued below.

During his first Angelus address of the month, Pope Francis asked his listeners on Sunday to seek the path of charity, “which keeps nothing for itself but shares everything.”

“Material things do not give fullness to life. They are important but they do not fill life. Only love can do that,” the Holy Father said to crowds of local and international pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 4.

Reflecting on Sunday’s Gospel reading (John 6:24-35) — which recounts how many people followed Jesus because they were looking for bread to eat and not because they believed in him or his miracles — the pope challenged his listeners to ask themselves: “What kind of relationship do I have with material things? Am I a slave to them? Or do I use them freely as instruments to give and receive love?”

Continued below.

Genesis 9:

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

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18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)

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God blessed Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Canaan was the grandson of Noah.

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.

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Noah wasn't behaving righteously.

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan,

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Again, Canaan was mentioned even though he was doing nothing here.

saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,

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Noah didn't like what Ham did. He felt disrespected by his son.

25 he said,
“Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

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Why didn't Noah curse Ham?

Canaan didn't do anything except be a son of Ham. The so-called curse was actually a prophecy. At the beginning of this chapter, God had already blessed Ham, and Ham didn't commit any great sin. God was not going to curse Ham. Instead, God used this occasion to pronounce a prophecy against Canaan. This prophecy was very relevant to the Israelites at the time of Exodus:

1. They had left Egypt, which was somewhat cursed because he was a son of Ham.
2. Israel is blessed by Noah through Shem, their ancestor.
3. They are about to conquer Canaan, fulfilling the prophecy spoken by Noah.

If you were an Israelite at that time, Genesis 9 made a lot of sense, and you felt that you were making history, fulfilling God's word.

26 He also said,
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.

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The Israelites read this as they, the descendants of Shem, fulfilled the prophecy by defeating the Canaanites.

Why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham?

Right after the flood, God blessed Ham already. Later, God used the incident of Noah's nakedness to pronounce a judgment/curse against Canaan, a son of Ham.

Michie said:

“What would happen if we prayed more and complained less?” Pope Francis asked Aug. 2 on his official profile on X.

He then invited the faithful to ask the Lord for “the grace to know how to pray for one another.”

The Holy Father posted this message as part of the Year of Prayer 2024, which he proposed as a preparation for the upcoming Jubilee of Hope 2025.

Continued below.

Pope: What would happen if we prayed more and complained less?

Pope Francis invited the faithful to ask the Lord for “the grace to know how to pray for one another.”

www.catholicnewsagency.com

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Pope Francis is right once in a while like a stopped clock. Here he is sort of right. We need to maintain criticality in thinking, and sometimes confront error, but we do need to pray more.

I think it is a given that society has jumped into the deep end of the pool and can’t swim. The Church has lots of confused people in it who don’t know what to do, maybe jump in too, maybe get a pole, maybe just watch, maybe cheer the inevitable drowning on. Rescue drowning individuals, pulling them onto the barque of Peter? That’s too obvious.

We can’t do that without prayer. Prayer is the essential to engaging in rescue. Before that it is essential to getting right with God. Once right with God we are no longer tools of the enemy but can be useful for God.

I have been given a word that I should be doing a lot of intercessory prayer. God will provide the names. I will pray for their souls and their needs. I’m going to try. And as part of that try I’m going to also disengage as much as I can from politics this silly season. I will try not to feel the need to challenge every lie posted on the internet. I’m going to see if I can find a Peter Sonski for president lawn sign and leave to at that. Let the dead bury the dead.

I am of the opinion that the end is near. Maybe not, but that’s my opinion. Real global war is ready to go, something that won’t be fought ‘over there’ but will hit us all hard. I just endured three days without power after a windstorm. A few well placed EMP would mean a lot more than three days without power for tens of millions of people instead of tens of thousands. Point being it looks like it may be time to be cramming for the spiritual final even more than planning for a big power outage. I am going to be looking at inverters and batteries and solar panels, but I better look more to the state of my sorry soul.

c6p22n0z5m2o

"The judge overseeing Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case has dismissed an effort to have it thrown out.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Trump's legal team had provided “no meaningful evidence” the former president had been prosecuted for "vindictive and political purposes".

Trump has been accused of spearheading a widespread effort to overthrow the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden.

He has denied wrongdoing and has previously claimed the Biden administration is behind the prosecution."
---------- ----------

As in the case of about 24 lawsuites that Trump filed, in order to claim that
he won the 2020 election (and the judges involved reached the conclusion
that Trump had no relevant or serious evidence of fraud, so rejected them), so too,
Donald is filing lawsuits without any relevant evidence for why they should be considered.

Merrill said:

not sure why he would say that

but if Putin thought Trump was going to win, he would have held the prisoners back until after Trump took office. Then the exchange could be used to generate some favorability toward Russia

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Or maybe Putin realized Trump would never be able to convince Germany and Solvenia to cough up their convicted Russian criminals.

Unfortunately this doesn't sound biblical. Not to downplay the fact your feeling better. I'm pleased you haven't had any admissions to hospital and glad that your feeling better. God is good and is able to heal.

The word "friend" may simply refer to a comrade or companion and does not prove one's salvation status as saved. In regard to the word "friend," elsewhere in Matthew 22:12, we read - So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. In verse 13, the next thing you know he is bound hand and foot, taken away, and cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Also, Jesus would never trust an unbelieving, unclean devil who He knows will betray Him. (John 6:64-71; 13:10-11) To suggest otherwise would imply that Jesus is not omniscient. John 6:64 - But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.

In the face of kindness, love and grace, Judas had a chance to repent, but still went out and betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. This event happened AFTER Jesus had already referred to Judas as a devil (John 6:70) and declared him to be unclean. (John 13:10-11) So, Jesus was not an intimate friend of Judas. You don't betray a true friend. With friends like Judas Iscariot, who needs enemies!

The OT reference to Judas from Psalm 41:9, which was about Ahithophel "mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted," was omitted in John 13:18 in regard to Judas and there was no OT reference to Judas in Matthew 26:50 when Jesus addressed him as friend.

The discipline of fasting allowed her to be disciplined in her request to the king.

about to begin...Israel vs Iran...US vs Russia.

Grip Docility said:

It could indicate heavenly dwelling with Jesus and the indwelling of the Paraclete, here.

That is a possibility. Not setting forth rebuttal or argument, but it is a possibility.

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Yes heavenly dwelling. But it is directly related to the ancient Jewish wedding. We are the bride and He is the bridegroom. It is a marriage covenant. We are bethrothed to Him. ....The Last Supper....Marriage supper of the lamb when He returns...
Shavuah Tov!

Holiness is what I long for
Righteousness, to walk God’s ways
Faithfulness in every footstep
Walking with Him day by day

Listening to the words He teaches
Making them my faithful friend
Doing all that His word shows me
Faithful to Christ to the end

Loving Jesus, Lord, my Master
Sitting daily at His feet
Loving all the times together
When my Lord and I do meet

Worship Him in truth forever
Sing His praises, bless His Name
Changing in the ways He leads me
Not remaining just the same

An Original Work / December 8, 2022

This brotherly love mentioned here has to do with the love that is among us who are followers of Jesus Christ. It is the love that we have for one another that is a proper affection and morally pure emotional feelings that we have for one another who are within the family of God. But when it says here that we who believe in Jesus have been taught by God to love one another, a different love is mentioned, which is agape love, which comes from God.

And this agape love means to prefer what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, godly, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. For the Christian it means to prefer to live through Christ, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power, strength, and wisdom. It means that we are actively doing what God prefers because we have the Holy Spirt living within us by faith in Jesus Christ.

So, in what ways is that love expressed to one another? Well, it is based in moral purity, so it will be morally pure. And it has to do with doing what God has designed and purposed for us to do, so it is going to involve obedience to his commands. And it is a love which comes from God, who is love, and so we will love one another in the same ways in which God loves us. So we will not deliberately and habitually do what is evil against one another.

Rather, we will show to one another kindness, compassion, concern, caring, and sympathy. And we will minister to one another’s legitimate needs in the power of and under the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit, utilizing the spiritual gifts we have been given by the Spirit. And we will encourage and exhort one another and speak the truth in love to one another in order to help one another to walk faithfully in obedience to our Lord in holy living.

[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

But when this counsels us to live quietly, and to mind our own affairs, this is not to negate the teachings all throughout the New Testament which teach us the many ways in which we are to demonstrate the love of God for one another. For this engages us in exhorting one another and in speaking the truth in love to one another and in helping one another out of sin if any have been caught in sin. For we are to bear one another’s burdens.

Definitely we must be those who are walking properly before everyone. We all should be living righteous and godly lives in submission to Christ as Lord, and in surrender of our wills to his perfect will. We should all be modeling what it means to be a true follower (disciple) of Jesus Christ. And we should, thus, speak the same kinds of messages that Jesus taught, and to warn against taking God’s grace for granted and of falling back into sin.

We should also be warning our brothers and sisters in the Lord against false teachings and false gospels and false preachers and prophets and apostles and evangelists and politicians and newscasters who are proclaiming and teaching lies to the people in order to lead them astray. For so many professers of Christianity are being duped by master manipulators and they are being led away from the truth and to following after lies, instead.

But Jesus Christ is the ONLY Savior of the people, and the only one to rescue us from what ails us as a people, as a nation, and as the world. He is our ONLY hope for salvation and for deliverance, and his gospel message is the ONLY one that we should be following, which is the same one that his NT apostles taught. And that is basically that we must die to sin and to self and follow the Lord in obedience, by his grace, if we want eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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