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  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

Archbishop: Africa’s “Vehement NO” on Women Deacons, LGBTQ+ Guided by Scripture, Church Teachings

We get to go downhill now. Zoom.
we have to repent, call on the name of the Lord, and seek His holy face.

We have to have the courage to stand up to the spirit of the age. That spirit is feminism. I can hear the groans now and shoots of misogynist and toxic, but just take a look at what it stands for.

The major left wing causes all destroy women by taking the one thing that makes a woman a woman, motherhood. I apologize to all women that are childless through no fault of their own.
You are loved by God and fully woman.
I refer to the deliberate destruction of motherhood. Abortion deliberately and with malice murders a child and thereby destroys a mother. Sterilization prevents motherhood and renders her a plaything of men instead of the mother she is supposed to be. Transgender makes a mockery of women by having men say that they are women, even though they can never be mothers. In others, women destroy their own bodies to live as men.

Could this be anything but a lie of Satan that promises power and fame for discarding motherhood and venturing to work outside the home? Your man is suppressing you, destroy your motherhood and take his place then discard him. Good plan. Sound familiar? I will put enmity between you and the woman. Satan does not just hate Mary. He hates all women and what they can be in God’s kingdom.

Even some Traditional Catholics bristle at the thought of being subject to their husbands.
Husbands fail to lead or else try to become tyrants. This should not be.

Research the history of feminism and you can clearly see its source. Early feminists were in a free love relationship with poet Percy Shelly and Lord Byron. The one they admired most, as the soul that was most free, was the Marquis de Sade. This was 150 years before the free love of the 1960s

The original American feminists Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony were spiritists that gathered around the spirit board to get messages from beyond. They even wrote a woman’s Bible that has the serpent as the hero that brought great knowledge and wisdom. Same lie as before, you shall be as God’s

They endeavored to subvert men and overthrow the patriarchy through promiscuity
Premarital promiscuity then marital frigidity
This now seems to be the accepted norm in society. Sexual intercourse and cohabitation before marriage then calling a man a pervert if he calls in the marital debt after marriage

This lie must end. We need to restore motherhood as a good to be desired, rather than an inconvenience to be avoided in then name of freedom

Does anyone have the courage to try?
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Sozo Healing

I really feel like i need to look into this topic more thoroughly with the Lord. There can seem to be a fine line between helping others see more clearly, and manipulating the situation.

And many may be doing it with good intentions, but don't realize that they may be doing more harm than good by not allowing the Lord to do the inner work.

It does reinforce the need to hear from the Lord for ourselves and only buy into his truth.

So many thoughts and opinions thrown our way. We can do the same. That's a shared life, but we must be careful what we take to heart. God really needs to reveal these things to us within, especially when it affects us personally.
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There's been another assassination attempt on Trump

Sweeping the perimeter and posting an agent at known spots of vunerabilities. This spot was known, it had been used previously by the press. Gunman was there about 12 hours prior.

1. Incompetence: Highly unlikely from supposedly the worlds most elite protectection service wit a 3 billion + budget. If this is the case why in Ron Rowe still there?

2. Insufficient resources: USSS has boasted enhanced protection for Trump and has previously guarded this golf course supposedly with less and according to the whistle blower did not follow previous protocols in this case.

3. Miscommunication: Laughable to suggest this from an elite protection service with a 3 billion dollars budget and years of experience and coming off o major failure in Butler, PA, while claiming enhanced security for Trump.

4. Last Minute changes: Well explain how a gunman lay in wait for 12 hours? No excuse for not sending an advance team just ahead of Trump to sweep the perimeter and cover know vulnerabilities. Teams were ahead of Trump on the course why not outside the course as well?

Nothing you thought of off the top of your head excuses or explains what happened. More heads need to roll but that is highly unlikely from this administration.

We have more than enough information to know that two failures of this magnitude from the USSS in this short period of time in inexcusable when our government has known about plots to take out Trump for at least two years and most likely 4. In 2022 Fox News reported on an Iranian threat to Trump and others. Ron Rowe and others need to go. Matt Getz says a top level DOD official told him there are 5 known hit teams in the US, 3 foreign and 2 domestic. And what was the liberal response on this forum? Matt is an "unreliable source" never mind the threats have been there for several years . It is always shoot the messenger (not literally) from liberals and ignore the facts.

Even if that is true there is no justification for releasing such information to the public. Indictments are sealed all the time , all evidence is not released to the public in many cases . This was a blatant ridiculas move that could inspire more crazies to act. This was not needed in the public forum to charge this gunman!


The above link shows a poll of 1000 registered Democrats voters. 28% percent shocking say the US would be better off if Trump were assassinated.

Food for thought if 28% of everyday voters feel that way how many Government workers or politicians who stand to lose power and influence if Trump is elected feel that way.

What has happened to Trump by all available evidence screams it was allowed to happen.
I feel the poll question was leading but regardless, responders are just being honest that with Trump out of the picture, in this case an unfortunate assassination, would leave the US better off. It is an extreme way to just ask “ Would the US be better off without Trump as a candidate/ President.“

1727370370839.png


Obviously the poll is designed to be interpreted, by inference, that those responding yes actually want him killed, but that is not what was actually asked.
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Diocese of San Diego Bans Catholic Homeschool Groups on Parish Properties; Non-Catholic Schools Allowed to Remain

He's the worst.

Okay he's among the worst...like on Mount Rushmore of active horrible US prelates: McElroy, Cupich, Gregory.
There are others. Stowe should be on the list. Cardinal Tobin too.
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Catholic Institute for Nonviolence to launch in Rome, contribute to 2024 synod

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Myanmar and Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego will lead the inauguration of the Catholic Institute for Nonviolence on Sept. 29 in Rome at the Istituto Maria Santissima Bambina, a convent just outside St. Peter’s Square.

The institute’s goal is to deepen “Catholic understanding of and commitment to the practice of Gospel nonviolence,” according to a Sept. 25 press release.

Sister Teresia Wachira of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and renowned author and researcher Maria Stephan will lead the inauguration alongside the two cardinals.

Continued below.

Pope Francis to young economists: ‘Love is the first and greatest factor of change’

Pope Francis on Wednesday met with young adults participating in the annual Economy of Francesco gathering as the movement for economic change — inspired by the pope and St. Francis of Assisi — launched a permanent foundation.

“It is not the great and powerful who change the world for the better: Love is the first and greatest factor of change,” the pope told the foundation’s founding members and others from more than 30 countries at the Vatican on Sept. 25.

According to an announcement on Instagram, the new foundation, formally instituted on Sept. 23, will work in three areas: research and study, business and innovation, and education and culture.

Continued below.

Lebanon’s Christians also affected by Israel’s attacks

The large-scale bombings Israel unleashed this week against Hezbollah in Lebanon are affecting all of Lebanon’s residents, including Christians, according to the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

ACN’s project coordinator in Lebanon, Marielle Boutros, indicated that many Christian families residing in the bombed areas have been affected.

“Some have lost their homes and are now moving from the south to other places in Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and the north to find safety,” she said.

Continued below.

Pew survey in U.S. and Latin America gauges views on Church teachings, popularity of Pope Francis

The Pew Research Center has released the results of a survey of how Catholics in the United States and six Latin American countries feel the Church should handle a variety of issues related to the priesthood, contraception, and sexuality as well as their views of Pope Francis.

In its survey of more than 12,000 Catholics in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, Pew found widespread dissent from Church teachings, including majorities of Catholics in every country except Mexico in favor of allowing women to become priests.

Support for the ordination of women to the priesthood ranged from a high of 83% in Brazil to a low of 47% in Mexico. Sixty-four percent of U.S. Catholics surveyed were also in favor, slightly higher than the 62% when Pew surveyed American Catholics on the issue 10 years ago.

Support for female ordination varied widely by age, however. For example, only 34% of Mexican Catholics above age 40 favor female ordination, compared with 64% in the 18-39 age bracket.

Continued below.

"if" and "since"

Balak summoned Balaam twice in Nu 22. On the second try (ESV):

20 God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.”
If
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not
Strong's Hebrew: 518. אּם (im) — 1070 Occurrences

H518 was a very frequent word with a wide variety of usages. NASB Translation:

although (2), although* (1), certainly (1), either (1), either an or (1), either their or (2), else* (1), except* (22), however* (1), if (588), if* (1), indeed (1), less than* (1), more of her than* (1), more than* (1), most assuredly* (1), never (2), never* (1), nevertheless* (1), no (6), no means (1), none (1), nor (7), nothing (1), O (1), Oh (2), only (4), only* (7), or (75), rather* (11), should (1), since (4), surely (6), surely there shall be neither (1), surely* (35), than* (2), though (35), though* (2), truly (1), truly* (2), unless* (16), until* (7), when (17), whether (16), whether for or (1), whether it is or (1), whether they or (3), whether* (1), without* (2).
By far, most of the times NASB translated H518 as 'if' and rarely as 'since'.

BDB:

  1. hypothetical particle if.
  2. Interrogative particle
Consider the conditional statement: If P then Q. Statement P may or may not be true.

Now consider the statement: Since P then Q. Statement P is asserted to be true.

NIV decided to translate H518 more narrowly:

That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.”
LXX used the conjunction εἰ. In the NT, G1487 appeared 508 times.

HELPS Word-studies:

1487 expresses "a condition, thought of as real, or to denote assumptions" (i.e. viewed as factual. for the sake of argument) (BAGD). Accordingly, 1487 (ei) should not be translated "since," but rather always "if"
NASB never translated G1487 as 'since':

although* (1), if (341), no (1), only (1), only* (11), suppose* (1), though (7), though* (5), unless (2), unless* (5), until* (1), whatever* (1), whether (19), whoever* (3).
On Biblehub, 24 versions used 'if' and 6 used 'since'.

Biden-Harris Price Controls Causing Senior Drug Prices to Skyrocket

Informative and it works for me since I'm on Medicare but knowing the greed of companies it makes me wonder if the ones on private insurance will have to absorb the costs. I guess time will tell.
Private insurance companies are already free to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies and medical providers - they almost never pay out the full amount that you would be billed for out-of-pocket. Until this year, Medicare was legally prevented from doing that - now they're able to negotiate in limited and highly specific cases.
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When Jesus sent out the Twelve two by two on a healing mission, did he allow them to carry a staff?

Mk 6:

7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.
A staff was a common item for travelers. It was a walking stick.

But then, the parallel account in Mt 10:

9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.
Luke agreed with Matthew, 9:

3 He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.
Take a staff or not?

I will go with the majority, no staff. In any case, the disciples were to go out with minimal provisions, trusting in God and the hospitality of those they would minister to.

To any one who is a new ager what exactly is new Ageism ?

I hear vague concepts such as spirituality and meditation and crystals but what exactly do new agers believe in ?
New Age is anything that breaks from traditional religion which is why it is called new. It takes bits and pieces of those traditions and manipulates them into a self serving vice. Hinduism is typically the root and is mixed with Christianity. Here is an example:

Christianity: Spirit of Christ- As Christians we know that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is God in the Flesh. He makes His Home in us through His Holy Spirit.
New Age: Christ consciousness - As a New Age follower , Jesus Christ of Nazareth is not God in the Flesh but rather a state of being achieved through the many practices introduced by this movement like meditation. The goal? To become God Himself.

This is only scratching the surface but if you start with this core belief , the rest is a moot point.

Blessings

Many dead saints were raised and appeared to many. Why was it not reported outside the Bible?

You think the news are interested in the gospel? there is testimonies of people healed and resurrected today, and the news are not going to touch that. Not every miracle mentioned today, is a false testimony from some wacko looking for money.
Just in the small church i go a girl was healed of cancer.
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St Tikhon’s umbrella plan - Something to do with a Unified American Church?

it was the plan that each ethnicity would maintain their traditions and customs, and each would have a representative as a bishop on one standing synod.
Basically how the OCA is organized today.
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He is Pouring Out His Spirit

“Be glad, O children of Zion,
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the latter rain, as before.
“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent among you.
“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.” (Joel 2:23-29 ESV)

What if this is not all to be taken so much literally, but more figuratively? Now I do not always reference commentaries, but I sometimes will go to them when a passage of Scripture is not clear to me as to its meaning. And I do not follow any commentator in particular, nor do I accept what any of them say unquestioningly. I read a variety of them (not all of the same theology) prayerfully, asking the Lord to direct me to the truth of what this is saying. But many of them all seemed to be consistent on this one thing.

This “early rain” is given “according to righteousness,” and also has in this verse a significance of a “teacher” being given, i.e. a teacher “unto righteousness.” This can also be spoken of as spiritual blessings being bestowed on the “Children of Zion,” which have a connection to the grace of God. And if we then connect this to verses 28-29, we can also connect this, potentially, to what happened on the Day of Pentecost when God poured out his Spirit on Christ’s followers and they did prophesy (see Acts 2:1-21).

Young’s Literal Translation of Joel 2:23: “And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In Jehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered -- in the beginning.”

Okay, what I am seeing from this is that this may be a prophecy, not only of the coming of the Lord Jesus, the Christ (the promised Messiah of Israel), but of salvation from sin, eternal life with God, the receiving of the Holy Spirit, the outpouring of the Spirit (who is our teacher and counselor), and of the gifts of the Spirit given to us by the Spirit to be used within the body of Christ to minister God’s love and grace to one another. For both Jesus and the Holy Spirit were given to us to be teachers of righteousness.

So, this would be a prophecy regarding the Messianic age and of God’s grace to us in sending Jesus Christ to be our “sacrificial lamb” to die on a cross for the sins of the entire world. And we are definitely to rejoice and to be glad in that! For this had to take place in order that we might now, by faith in Jesus Christ, be crucified with him in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Jesus Christ is a teacher of Righteousness!!

And when Jesus died, and was resurrected from the dead, and after he appeared to many people, he then ascended back to the Father in heaven. And after a little while he then sent his promised Holy Spirit to indwell and to empower his people and to teach them all things about Christ. So the Holy Spirit living within us is God/Jesus Christ living within us, empowering us to no longer walk in sin and to now walk in obedience to our Lord, and helping us to live righteously and to minister God’s love and grace to others.

But this also has to do with the last days before the return of Jesus Christ, and these days are days filled with trials and tribulations to test our faith, and persecutions and misjudgments because we follow Christ with our lives, and because we believe him and his word, and so we share with others what he is teaching us through his word. And so I believe there is a promise here of Jesus’ return when he takes us to be with him for eternity, when our sorrows and heartaches will be no more, but only rejoicing in heaven.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

A Believer’s Prayer

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray
To be Yours, and Yours always.
Lead me in Your truth today.
May I love You, and obey.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
When I sin, may I confess;
Bow before You when I pray;
Live for You and You always.

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.
Life with You will never end.
You are with me through each day,
Giving love and peace always.
You will ne’er abandon me.
From my sin You set me free.
You died on that cruel tree,
So I’d live eternally.

Soon You’re coming back for me;
From this world to set me free;
Live with You eternally.
Oh, what joy that brings to me.
I will walk with You in white;
A pure bride, I’ve been made right
By the blood of Jesus Christ;
Pardoned by His sacrifice.

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"the tribulation of those days" Matthew 24:29

Where do you get the idea that Gog attacks before the great tribulation? The attack of Gog starts the great tribulation.
No, the Gog/Magog event is years before the beginning of the great tribulation.

A quick review of events....in order.

First the Gog/Magog event of Ezekiel 39.

Then, right after it, is the 7 years of Ezekiel 39:9. Coinciding with the 7 year 70th week of Daniel 9:27.

Then, the beginning of the false messianic age, the world saying peace and safety, as the Antichrist begins the false messianic age.

Then, about three years later, the Antichrist commits the transgression of desolation act - triggering the beginning of the Day of the Lord. The rapture/resurrection event to take place anytime between right now and before then.

Then, peace taken from the earth, and the revealed man of sin killed. And shortly brought back to life to become the beast.

Then, the statue image of the beast made and placed on the temple mount - triggering the beginning of the great tribulation.
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The World as We Know It

Slander, meander, and gander, not candor,
Inviting, enticing, spicing, and dicing,
Twirling, and hurling, and whirling, unfurling,
Outrageous, egregious, rampageous, contagious.

The world as we know it, not pretty, tis true,
The world should not live now, not inside of you.
The Spirit of God should now live in your heart,
And from God you now should not ever depart.

As Christians we are to be loyal to God,
As Christians we’re not to live now like a fraud.
We are to be faithful in all that we do,
We’re not to live now like we ain’t got a clue.

The Bible will tell us right now how to live,
As those who by faith did their sins God forgive.
We are to live righteous and godly pure lives,
Whose faith in the Lord, when it’s tested, survives.

An Original Work / April 24, 2023

Hyperdimensionality

Here's the article for those who can't view it.

Human Consciousness Comes From a Higher Dimension, Scientist Claims​

You’re living in a three-dimensional world. We all are. You can go left, right, forward, backward, up, and down. Now, picture a being that can pop in and out of your reality as if pressing a button, like the most brilliant master of illusions. Untethered from the physical limitations of our world, this entity can now travel instantly across vast distances in space. Whether you think of it as a type of “soul” or a “spiritual entity,” this being has unlocked hidden dimensions that some believe lie beyond our perception.

But what if you were similarly connected to these higher dimensions? What if another word for the otherworldly being in question were “consciousness”—including your very own?

Despite centuries of scientific study, the nature of consciousness remains a mystery. Theories to explain the phenomenon abound, ranging from neural networks in the brain to complex algorithms of cognition, but none have definitively captured its essence. Michael Pravica, Ph.D., a professor of physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, believes that we should be looking at hidden dimensions to explain consciousness. In his view, consciousness has the ability to transcend the physical world in moments of heightened awareness. His concept ties into the theory of hyperdimensionality, or the idea that our universe is not just made up of the three dimensions we perceive. Instead, the universe might actually be part of a much larger nexus with hidden dimensions, Pravica suggests.

If this controversial theory turns out to be true, we would have to accept not only that some beings may be residing outside the physical realm, free from the limitations of space and time, but also that our consciousness might have a similar capacity, Pravica claims.

An Orthodox Christian with a Ph.D. from Harvard, Pravica has found hyperdimensionality to be a unique way of bridging his scientific background with his religious beliefs. For this, he is on the fringes of traditional scientific thinking, taking more widely accepted ideas to extremes as a way to think about complex topics. Pravica believes hyperdimensionality is a much more familiar concept than we think. For example, he claims Jesus could be a hyperdimensional being—and not the only one. “According to the Bible, Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after being on Earth. How do you ascend into heaven if you’re a four-dimensional creature?” Pravica asks. But, if you’re hyperdimensional, it’s very easy to travel from our familiar world into heaven, which could be a world of higher or infinite dimensions, he says.

Pravica suggests that we all might have the potential to interface with higher dimensions when we engage our brain in certain ways, like while creating art, practicing science, pondering big philosophical questions, or traveling to all sorts of far-flung places in our dreams. In those moments, our consciousness breaches the veil of the physical world and syncs with higher dimensions, which in return flood it with currents of creativity, Pravica claims. “The sheer fact that we can conceive of higher dimensions than four within our mind, within our mathematics, is a gift ... it’s something that transcends biology,” he says.

This idea of consciousness interacting with higher dimensions ties into some of the most advanced theories in physics, like string theory. It says that everything in the universe—from the smallest particles to the forces that bind them—is made of tiny, vibrating strings. The vibrations of these strings in multiple, unseen dimensions gives rise to all the different particles and forces we observe. “String theory is essentially a theory of hyperdimensionality,” says Pravica. “It’s looking at how the universe is put together on a sub-quantum scale.”

Hyperdimensionality may also help explain the curvature of spacetime, how space and time warp around massive objects like stars or planets and cause gravity. “If spacetime is not flat and it’s curved, then one could possibly argue that this curvature somehow comes from a higher dimension,” Pravica says.

While physicists commonly accept these theories about higher dimensions, not everyone agrees with Pravica’s ideas relating hyperdimensionality to consciousness. They might even be considered heretical within the scientific community, or a reductio ad absurdum, a Latin logic argument meaning “reduction to absurdity.”

Pravica’s view implies a “God of the gaps” theological perspective, “where gaps in scientific knowledge are attributed to divine intervention, rather than being seen as opportunities for further inquiry and understanding,” says Stephen Holler, Ph.D., an associate professor of physics at Fordham University in New York. “It’s a poor explanation mechanism that arguably stifles the inquisitive nature required for good science and teaches that it’s not okay to say, ‘I don’t know,’” Holler says. Admitting to ignorance about something is an opportunity, not the end. You also need to account for the trade-offs involved in disregarding reality.

The way science fills in our knowledge gaps is apparent in the way people eventually figured out how our solar system works, says Holler. At one time, people used to rely on the geocentric model to explain the world, an ancient belief that Earth is at the center of the universe. In the struggle to form an observational model out of this idea, astronomers turned to the epicycle—a model that adds small circular orbits (epicycles) on top of their larger circular orbits around Earth—to explain retrograde motion and apparent distance. However, epicycles made the geocentric model more convoluted, delaying the acceptance of the more accurate heliocentric model we know today. “The cost was a complex deviation from reality,” says Holler. “It’s cool to think about a hyperdimensional space, and advances in mathematics have come from understanding the interplay of dimensions, but do they really exist or are they modern day epicycles?”

This skepticism extends to the notion that our ability for novel thought is due to hyperdimensionality. “I don’t know of anyone who can visualize an object with greater than three spatial dimensions,” Holler says. The mathematical operations we perform on objects possessing more than three spatial dimensions are all algorithmic. This means that an operation on a fourth spatial dimension is performed in the same manner as an operation performed on a one, two, or three-dimensional object, says Holler. “The rules remain the same. Our visualizations of such objects are projections into a three-dimensional space in the way that a cube projected into two dimensions is a square.”

Even though Holler identifies as nonreligious and an atheist, he acknowledges that spiritual beliefs that are consistent with established physical principles can strengthen both faith and science. Still, he says that “hyperdimensionality borders on science fiction.”

The hands-on investigation of these realms is beyond our current scientific abilities. Even the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) hasn’t been able to provide a clear picture of higher dimensions. CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, smashes particles together at high speeds to explore the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Scientists using the collider access infinitesimally small dimensions, smaller than a proton. If you enlarged a human hair to the width of a football field, a single proton would still be smaller than a grain of sand on that field. Yet, to see the higher-dimensional strings that quantum physics predicts, we need to get far more granular, using a kind of super-CERN or a cosmic megastructure like a Dyson Sphere.

Pravica has faith that, within his children’s lifetime, we’ll figure out a way to generate the incredibly high energies required to investigate other dimensions. Meanwhile, he remains a vocal supporter of hyperdimensionality.

“I see no point otherwise,” he says. “Why study? Why live?” Hyperdimensionality gives the physicist a purpose, a happiness that “transcends this universe.”
A problem with this argument is that electrostatic and gravitational forces follow the inverse square law (1/r²) where r is the distance and can only be true for a three dimensional (spatial) universe.
For a two dimensional universe the inverse law (1/r) applies while for a four dimensional universe it is the inverse cube law (1/r³).

In general for an n dimensional universe the force law is (1/rⁿ⁻¹).
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Gossip

“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil..” (Romans 1:28-30 ESV)
“For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.” (2 Corinthians 12:20 ESV
“Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.” (1 Timothy 5:13 ESV)

Please pay careful attention to this definition of gossip:

Greek Interlinear definition: psithyristḗs - “Secret Slanderer.” Wow! That says it! “A whisperer; a sneaky gossip (a ‘back-stabber’); a backbiter, quietly (secretly) destroying another person’s character – i.e. covertly, not out in the open, but rather operating ‘in a corner.’” (source: Bible Hub .com)

So, this is not about anyone accidentally saying something about someone else that perhaps they should not say. But I will say here that we should, as Christians, ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this. And if we begin to say something about someone that we should not say, we should stop, even in mid-sentence, and not continue just because we already got out the first half. And if someone asks us to say the rest, we can just say, “I shouldn’t say more,” or “The Holy Spirit stopped me, so I will not continue.”

I believe if we read these three passages of Scripture mentioned above in their full context that we will see that gossip, at least in the New Testament, is always used in the strong sense of how it is defined in the Greek interlinear. Although all of us need to put a guard over our mouths, and watch what we say, and as soon as we realize we are saying what we should not say, that we should stop, and not continue, there are those among us for whom gossip is their intent, and their intent is to do others harm, not good.

And good people’s reputations are being destroyed by those who exercise such deliberate gossip/slander with the intended purpose to destroy their characters, so that other people will turn against them and hate them and want nothing to do with them. And Jesus had this done to him, and so did Paul, which is one of the reasons that Paul had to periodically come to his own defense, but not just for his own honor, but so that the honor of the gospel message that he was teaching would not suffer harm.

But, at least Jesus and Paul appeared to both be aware of the falsehoods that were being said about them and so they were able to come to their own defense. That isn’t always the case. Sometimes we are gossiped about in ways we have no knowledge of, at least not directly. We might be able to tell that other people’s attitudes or actions or words towards us have changed, and we might wonder what brought about that change, but without any direct knowledge of words spoken against ourselves, we can do nothing. And we should never accuse without knowledge.

But this kind of gossip, as defined above, has real power to destroy people’s lives and their reputations and to turn many people against them, just on the power of one person’s words against them. So, please do not believe everything you hear anyone say about anyone else, whether good or evil. Test what you hear, in prayer, against the teachings of the Scriptures (in context), and via getting to know people personally without relying on other people’s opinions of them. For not everyone has good intentions. Not everyone tells the truth.

There are many evil people out there, out of spite, hatred, violence, pride, jealousy, envy, bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness, who willfully do what they know to do to destroy other people's lives and reputations. And indeed they do this underhandedly, secretly, deviously, with much hate, and covertly, so that their “victims” have no knowledge of what is being secretly said about them behind their backs. And if other people listen to them, and believe them, then they may also end up treating the victims unjustly.

So, we all need to be careful with our words and with what we say. And we should all be examining our own hearts and minds and attitudes and intent on a regular basis to make certain that we are doing and saying what we should, and not what we shouldn’t. And all of us need to stop, even in mid-sentence, if we begin to say something we know we should not, rather than to keep going because other people now want to hear what we were about to say. And not one of us should be deliberately gossiping about others.

But on the receiving end of this, none of us should be listening to what is defined here as “gossip.” But let me say here that it is not gossip to report sinful behavior among those who are professing Christians if those who are sinning against others are unwilling to stop their sinning and to repent and to do what is right. And “unwillingness” is shown in attitude, actions, words, and behaviors, and not just in words which may or may not have any truth to them. For many make promises not kept. Lip service alone is not enough.

For both Jesus and Paul called people out publicly by name who were sinning against the body of Christ and who were doing harm to the body and to the gospel, and who had the potential of leading others astray. They, and the other apostles, too, warned against “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and against false shepherds of the people and those who were sinning against the body and who were spreading lies and false teachings and sinful attitudes and thinking and behaviors.

Now, if we are able, we should first talk to the people, if these are people we know personally, and we should confront them gently with their sins and call for repentance and walks of obedience to the Lord. If they profess faith in Jesus Christ, and if they are among those who are followers of Christ, and so they have the potential of spreading what is wrong, but they are not willing to repent of their evil, then we should take the biblical steps to correct these situations. Sadly, though, not many people will cooperate with that.

Anyway, it is not wrong to call out sin and wrong teaching if we have first of all taken the appropriate steps to try to get others to make things right, where that is possible. For we are to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness and we are to warn against false shepherds and false teachings. But it is wrong if, out of spite and hatred and a desire to cause others harm, we secretly and deviously speak evil about them behind their backs and if, in so doing, we willfully turn others against them so that others will hate them.

And we who follow Jesus Christ with our lives should not be entertaining bitter and resentful and hateful gossip intended to do others harm. We should refuse to listen to secret slander and back-stabbing which is intended to destroy another person’s character and reputation. And we should not believe everything we hear others say about someone if we cannot verify that for ourselves. And we should not reject and/or mistreat others based upon secret slander (gossip) that we hear about them.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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