Jermayn said:

There's 3 sides of the story with this one.

Conservatives: Kamala Harris has stated she will sign a bill that allows 650 million dollars to go toward building the border wall. She also used photos of portions of the border wall built by Donald Trump in a political ad stating how tough she was on illegal immigration.

Progressives: The bill was a bipartisan bill that requires compromise on Harris' behalf to get policy on other progressive issues passed. The money is also not new money, but money that was already allocated to building the wall.

Independents: Harris is playing both sides of the field.

Let's hear your opinions.

Click to expand...

There was NOT a mass migration problem under the Trump administration, what is going on is what the Biden/Harris administration wanted to happen ... they own it ... she's just trying to garner votes and will continue with the same "policies" as has been going on for the last nearly 4 years and also further more radical policies.

The changes in the democratic party have been going on for several years and this is their playbook.

David Lamb said:

I don't know of any baptist churches that recite a creed in their services like Anglicans do, but most if not all baptist beliefs would agree with, for example, the Apostles' Creed.

Click to expand...

Not related to Baptist, but I found this article supporting the use of the Apostle's creed in Reformed churches.

KT

Hammster said:

Tim Walz Says He Got Into Politics Because His Students Were Kicked Out of a Bush Rally. That Doesn’t Seem to Be The Case.

Tim Walz claims that he was first inspired to seek public office after being denied entry to a rally for former president George W. Bush in 2004. But contemporaneous accounts of the story cast doubt on Walz’s version of the story.Walz claimed in an August 2020 thread on X, formerly Twitter, that...

www.dailywire.com

Tim Walz claims that he was first inspired to seek public office after being denied entry to a rally for former president George W. Bush in 2004. But contemporaneous accounts of the story cast doubt on Walz’s version of the story.

Walz claimed in an August 2020 thread on X, formerly Twitter, that he decided to run for office after he and his students “were denied entry because the students had previously volunteered for the democratic party.”


“The last sitting President to visit my hometown of Mankato, Minnesota was George W. Bush in 2004. As a high school teacher and football coach, I brought two fellow teachers’ children to the speech as an educational experience,” Walz wrote. “It was at this moment that I decided to run for office,” Walz states in his story.

But testimonies from multiple people present at the rally suggest that the Democrat’s origin story could be missing valuable context, the Washington Examiner reportedFriday.

Click to expand...

On the surface this might seem innocent but I will offer two reasons why this is a far larger issue. First, it is a poor reason to get into politics. Why because it is not benevolent. Getting into politics is about thinking you have an idea and desire to do better for others. Sadly, some just want to enrich themselves.

There is a movie called "working girl" where Melanie Griffith plays a secretary that has a great idea that is stolen by her boss for a merger. At the end, the CEO of the acquiring company asks them both how they came up with the idea. The secretary nails it, she gives specific details while the boss just lies in a general way. So my second criticism of Walz is more alarmist. It is worthy of speculation because: What if this is just a cover story for the "real" reason he wants to get into politics, like that he loves the Chinese so much he wants to be like them, or even worse owes them something for favors he received, or blackmail they may have on him? See he needs a cover because he can not tell the truth. Whatever the reason, Walz is politician filled with possible foreign influences that violate the spirit of America's founders wisdom of trying to protect America from being led by leaders with foreign entanglements. Though it is true (I believe) that Walz never lived overseas in the last 14 years, the 32 visits to China alone are a cause for concern.

So the story about the Bush rally is a solid red flag. Given his actions as Governor he is a weak leader, with poor ideology anyway. He is so far away from his Nebraska roots that one has to seriously consider his motivations. So you know too Walz receives less rural votes than most other midwest democrats. To put it mildly for one reason or another Walz is an outlier. "Even Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer outperformed Walz’s rural numbers." Rural voters don’t necessarily love Walz, despite the camo hat and small-town upbringing

If institutional churches were the way to prevent error, there would have been no need for a reformation. It is human nature to err whether in a denomination or outside of one. Institutional error is much harder to correct.

I have only found it useful as an adjunct to prayer. With a days business, it serves as a reminder that I had set my heart to prayer for something or someone. One might think of hunger pangs as an internal timer reminding one to pray.

Matthew 5:20 For I say to you, If your righteousness is not greater than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never go into the kingdom of heaven.

If one both takes part in Christian Church and Jewish Sinagogue，he can estimate. How many Christians have actually surpassed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees?

QvQ said:

Depends on the definition of "individual."
Multiply "individual" by 127 million and it does equal the "economy" in general.
Exactly what is "the economy" if not the individual (plural)?

Click to expand...

Economies are the production, distribution, and trade of goods and services. It's not simply household budgets.

AV1611VET said:

Specifically the Mount of Olives, which splits in half.

Click to expand...

That is actually my aviator. Zechariah 14 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

It took me a long time to figure out how the split can be east and west, north and south at the same time. Yet we see that is exactly what is going to happen.

In flesh, we all are filled with pride.
In flesh, the will of God denied.
In flesh, we think more than we should
Of whom we are and what is good.

In flesh, we look at others grim
When we compare them to us dim.
In flesh, we fill our minds with lies
When we our sinful hearts deny.

In Spirit we confess the truth
That in our flesh we are uncouth.
In Spirit we repent of sin
And let the Spirit dwell within.

In Spirit we on God rely,
And do His will, we not deny.
We live for Him, forsake Him not,
For by His death our lives He bought.

An Original Work / May 9, 2024

So I stopped asking for God to intervene about my dreams, and, the sensations of being touched on the forehead when falling asleep stopped.

I don't know what to make of it.

What came right before this was Paul stating that if our minds are set on the flesh, and so we live and we walk according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, its end is death, not life eternal with God. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” But the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (see Romans 8:1-8).

So, when this says that you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if, in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you, we have to read this in the full context of at least verses 1-17, and in the context of the whole of the book of Romans. For Christ is not “in us” just because we say he is. For we are not “in Christ” if we are still walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, and if we deliberately and habitually are sinning against God and other humans, who we are supposed to love, and if we are not walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, in practice.

For what does this say next? We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if we live according to the flesh, we will die. And in Romans 6 Paul said that if sin is what we obey, we will die. But if obedience to God is what we obey, in practice, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. And this is the essence of the gospel message, that Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross that we might die with him to sin, not just once, but daily, and that we might walk in obedience to his commands in holy and godly living.

But if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the body (flesh), then we will live. So, what is that saying to us? Same message over and over again all throughout the New Testament. It is the gospel that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught, but that not many seem to be teaching anymore. So many people today are teaching an altered gospel and an altered God/Christ and an altered church in order to attract the world into their gatherings and so as not to offend the ungodly with the truth of the gospel: If we die to sin and obey our Lord, we have eternal life in him.

For it is all who are being led by the Spirit who are the children of God. So, what is this saying? What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? It means that we are being guided and directed by the Holy Spirit in the way that we should go and that we are following the leading of the Holy Spirit in doing what he says we ought to do. For we are not being led by him if we are not following his lead. Thus, we cannot continue to walk according to the flesh, still yielding our lives over to the control of sin and of the flesh, and be “in Christ” and be children of God and heirs to the promise.

Now many people quote verses 16-17 independent of verses 1-15, and so they will teach anyone who makes a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that the Spirit now bears witness with their spirit that they are indeed now children of God, based upon lip service alone. But we are heirs with Christ PROVIDED (conditional upon) we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him. And the first way we suffer with him is via dying with him to sin in order that we might now live to his righteousness in his power. And then we suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness, like he did.

All of God’s promises have with them conditions, which we can know if we read the Scriptures in their appropriate context, and not out of context. Like so many people quote John 10:28-30 and they apply those promises across the board to all who profess the name of Jesus. But verse 27, which they leave out (why?), tells us who those promises are for. His sheep (his followers) listen to him, and he knows them, and they follow (obey) him. And they have the promise of eternal life with God, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of his or the Father’s hands.

[Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Php 2:5-11: Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

My Sheep

An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-30 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

Login to view embedded media

Finally a good thing from California!

Still would love to visit it one day!

(It's rather large, so it must be diverse, eh?)

WarriorAngel said:

I reread Don Bosco's vision of hell.
He said that confession cuts the cord to hell.
The swords are Our Lady and the Eucharist.

Click to expand...

Amen.

May 31, 2011: I was babysitting my one-year-old grandson at his house yesterday. He had a stuffed toy musical turtle that played notes when you pressed on the squares, with notes pictured on the squares. So, I began playing notes for my grandson when this tune began to form. So, I recorded it from the toy onto my phone, and then when I got home, I transferred it to the keyboard and then to paper. When the tune was recorded, and the chords figured out, then the Lord gave me the words. This is from the Lord Jesus to me and to you.

Jesus is asking us to hear him calling to us, to realize that he died on the cross so we could go free from sin, and to trust him with our lives today. Then he will wash our sins away. The call is urgent, so he is saying, “Don’t delay!” He not only has made the way possible for us to be forgiven of our sins, and to be set free from the control of sin over our daily lives, but he is also our sympathetic and compassionate high priest who feels and who cares about our suffering. When we accept his invitation to let him into our lives, he will be there for us to see us through all of our heartaches, and to show us much comfort and love.

His Loving Arms

An Original Work / May 31, 2011

When I’m with you, hear My call.
I died once, shed blood for all.
Hear Me calling you today.
I’ll wash all your sins away.

Don’t delay to let Me in.
I’ll purify, cleanse within.
I’ll heal all your heartaches, too;
Wrap My loving arms ‘round you.

I love you, won’t you love Me?
I’ll give life eternally;
Wipe away tears from your eyes,
When I meet you in the skies.

Login to view embedded media

In the book of Romans, chapter 7, Paul described for us the struggle with sin that we have in our flesh natures. The good we want to do, we do not do, and the evil we don’t want to do, we end up doing. And Paul came to the conclusion, “Oh, what a wretched man I am!” But then, he asked, “Who will rescue me from the body of death?” And, then he answered the question with, “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” We, who believe in Jesus Christ with God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him, are rescued! We no longer have to be in bondage (slavery) to sin! (see Romans 6:1-23)


There are many people professing faith in Jesus Christ whose minds are still set on the flesh, who are still living according to the flesh, who are still being controlled by the flesh and by sin and not by the Spirit of God. Their minds are hostile to God and to the teachings of the Scriptures, for they do not submit to the Lord and to his commandments. And so they are not able in their flesh to be pleasing to God for they are still living to gratify the sinful cravings of their flesh. And the end result of this state of mind is death.

And for many of them, it isn’t that they don’t know what the Scriptures teach. It isn’t that they don’t know right from wrong. It isn’t that no one has ever encouraged them to have changed hearts and minds of the Spirit of God via being crucified with Christ in death to sin and being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer in slavery to sin. It isn’t as though they have not been encouraged to get rid of the sin in their lives and to now walk with God in holiness and in obedience to his commands.

But instead of having a pure and moral and upright relationship with God, via submission to him as Lord of their lives and self-denial and dying to sin daily and following the Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, they practice what is immoral, vile, corrupt, and dishonest, and they use trickery and scheming to try to mask their sin, hoping that no one will know. They may give an outward appearance of righteousness and of having their sins under control, but it is all a façade, a dishonest display to try to fool others.

For they are not lovers of God, but they are lovers of self. What is of upmost importance in their lives is their flesh and pleasing their flesh and doing what they want to do regardless of what God wants them to do or who they hurt in the process. They are the self-indulgent, not the self-controlled. For they are living in addiction to sin, and their lives are not committed to holiness and purity and honesty and faithfulness. Their marriage is not with God but with self, and their bond is very twisted and perverted and self-serving.

They are those who make promises but who do not keep them, who promise to be faithful, but remain faithless. They say they are doing one thing while they do another. They say they love God and that they are in fellowship with him but while they continue in their sinful patterns of behavior and while they continue to not walk in obedience to his commands, in practice. So they make false confessions of love when truly hate is what is motivating them to sin against God and other humans, deliberately and habitually.

And in Romans 6 we read that if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Christ our Lord. And in Romans 8 we read that God, “by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (vv. 3-4). Do you see what this is saying?

We are not “in Christ” by a verbal profession of him as Lord and Savior of our lives. We are “in Christ” when we die with him to sin and we now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, by his grace and in his power. We cannot live according to the flesh to please the flesh in disobedience to our Lord, in practice, and be in relationship with God and have salvation from sin. So if we want to be “in Christ” and not under condemnation then we must die with him to sin and now follow him in obedience to his commands.

[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 2:3-6,15-17; 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]

My Sheep

An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-30 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

Login to view embedded media

The Catholic Church’s teaching on surrogacy is rooted in the desire to preserve the dignity of human life.

Few subjects are more emotional than procreation. The need to have a child is not just a personal desire, it’s often a primal instinct—the desire to see something of yourself left on the planet, carrying on your work and your legacy long after you’re gone.

That is why baby-making—or the inability to make a baby—is such a fraught phenomenon, made, as many things are, more fraught by the cultural and political climate. As celebrities and political commentators embrace surrogacy as a natural, logical, and inconsequential development in baby-making, global leaders—notably, and recently Pope Francis—have stepped in to remind a world so used to immediate gratification that scientific developments, however personally fulfilling, can have reverberating ethical, moral, and cultural consequences.

In his New Year’s address to members of the Vatican’s diplomatic corps, Pope Francis attacked surrogacy directly, calling it an “exploitative” and “deplorable practice” that “represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child.” He added: “The path to peace calls for respect for life, for every human life, starting with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking.”

One of the primary drivers of surrogacy, infertility, is a gut-wrenching journey that challenges families, couples, and, humans, in ways many marriage and family life foibles rarely do.

Back in 2012, I found out I couldn’t have kids. Although everything seemed correct and in working order, month after month, no pink lines came up on those Amazon pregnancy tests I’d bought by the gross. It would take six long years, and two miscarriages, to discover that I had such severe endometriosis that my ovaries had fused together; instead of turning out eggs for babies, I was randomly gifting my abdominal organs with ovum.

Continued below.

While both liberal and conservative Catholics focus on defending various human rights, we need to vote for the candidates that will most allow us to defend the rights of God.

Many Catholics, on both sides of the political spectrum, continue to struggle with how to cast their votes in November. Some conservative Catholics struggle with the Republican Party’s changed platform and wonder if they can still vote for a Party that’s no longer pro-life. Some liberal Catholics struggle with the impact of excessive immigration on the urban poor and wonder if they can still vote for a Democratic Party that ignores it.

Several highly respected Catholic authors have written on the subject, and walking through their various perspectives provides us an opportunity to sort out and clarify the issues. In this article, I look at some of these perspectives, specifically ones by philosopher Edward Feser, theologian R.R. Reno, and commentator Kennedy Hall.

Let’s start with Dr. Feser. In his Catholic World Report piece titled “Donald Trump has put social conservatives in a dilemma,” he argues that the changes Trump made to the Republican Party’s platform constitute a complete betrayal of the pro-life cause and have turned it into what is now a moderate pro-choice Party. This creates a dilemma for social conservatives.

Continued below.

CV NEWS FEED // A Catholic counselor partnered with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate to survey Catholic families whose adult children still practice the faith, identifying the practices common to these families.

In an article for Catholic Standard, Catholic counselor Dr. Greg Popcak identified the common denominator among families with adult children who practice the faith. He said that the key factor is “a family dynamic in which the family (especially the children) experienced their faith as the source of the warmth in their homes.”

While regular Mass attendance and regular family prayer time were important, Popcak said that families saw these factors as “secondary and supportive of the way they lived their faith at home.”

Continued below.

Wednesday's vibrant catechesis on the drama of the migrants made a lot of noise. But the touching appeal to take on the suffering of so many people was unfortunately counterbalanced by a series of ‘excommunications’ and political judgments based on ideological visions and deficient information.


It is impossible not to be struck by the unscheduled catechesis delivered by Pope Francis at last Wednesday's audience in Saint Peter’s Square. ‘Sea and desert was the title of the Vatican communication and obviously the theme was migrants, their sufferings, their aspirations, their broken lives: “And when I say ”sea’, in the context of migrations,’ said Pope Francis, ’I also mean ocean, lake, river, all the insidious bodies of water that so many brothers and sisters all over the world are forced to cross to reach their destination. And ‘desert’ is not only that of sand and dunes, or rocks, but they are also all those inaccessible and dangerous territories, such as forests, jungles, steppes where migrants walk alone, left to their own devices'.

It is a speech that will probably turn out to be one of the most important of his pontificate, the synthesis of his arguments around his main theme. One grasps the sincere participation in the drama that involves at least 400 million people around the world; a profound and heartfelt appeal to our humanity too often engaged in ideological judgments that mask a real indifference to the pain of others. But the comments in the major newspapers with which this speech was received show how ideological even those who fill their mouths with welcome are, concerned to read the Pope's speech simply as an attack on Italy’s Meloni government as well as on those European leaders attempting to resolve a politically charged issue by restricting numbers.

Returning to the pope's speech, it is certainly important that the personal stories of suffering, violence and death evoked pierce the armour of ready answers on this world emergency. Yet there are aspects in this discourse, the conclusions the pope draws, that are out of tune and reduce everything to a political and moralistic horizon that cannot be shared in the slightest.

Continued below.

Hammster said:

Dana asked good questions.

Click to expand...

What will you do on day 1? Warm up question.

What is your position on fracking? Answer fact checked as lie....but whatever...

Do you regret making statements about Joe's mental fitness? Answer is a deflection. I felt like of all the questions, that was her real opportunity. She could have said yes... she regrets it...but she was wrongly putting playing for a team above the interests of the people.....that would have been genuine, if not honest, and I think more people would understand it as an answer.

Instead she doubled down. I don't recall her actual response....just that it was some "whaaaaa??? I don't know what you mean? Joe Biden is a mental dynamo!"

Hammster said:

The issue was that she didn’t push on the non-responsive answer.

Click to expand...

I recall her actually offering answers at one point.

Hammster said:

Kamala was great at deflecting, where it seems she answered but didn’t. Sometimes Dana would do a good follow up, but wouldn’t press when she knew that Harris wasn’t going to answer. I get it. She didn’t want to look like a bully.

It would be great to see the unedited footage or read the transcript.

Click to expand...

I'm gonna have watch it again. I saw a lot of substance lacking and it felt obvious. I understand politicians need to say empty statements but they need to do so in a way that tricks people into thinking an answer was given.

RileyG said:

Fascinating! Eternity is such a mind-blowing concept.

Click to expand...

It’s very difficult to comprehend. I’m not sure it can be without actually experiencing it.

Vambram said:

You're welcome, my brother. I'm glad that you're starting to like David Meece as much as I do.

Click to expand...

This means a lot, man. Remember, some young folks enjoy older styles of music, so yes, David Meece is a good musician. We need more of his style of music today. No Auto-Tune, nothing computerized, just pure vocals and real instruments with maybe a synth here and there.

Joseph G said:

Login to view embedded media

Click to expand...

Hallelujah!!!!
The Lord Jesus Christ is ALL that we need!!!

Joseph G said:

Thanks for posting this, Vambram, really needed to hear this reminder!

I've been grieving lately over how we have to carry this body of death around with us, this old sin nature - that for some reason can still speak to us. That the Spirit of Jesus in us has to hear some of the damnable thoughts that go through our minds.

I thought about this today though - that even though Jesus didn't have a sin nature, he was willing to hear the temptations, taunts, jeers, and challenges to HIS identity for 33 years - all the way till His final breath - and won our victory by profoundly demonstrating God's love, and declaring exactly Who He is - praying to His Father for the world to hear and see that He IS God's Son - despite bearing all of God's wrath!

So yah, like the song says, we are secure because HIS robe of righteousness covers us. We just gotta keep bearing our crosses till the day the enemy's voice is silenced FOREVER! Right?

God bless!

Click to expand...

Amen and Hallelujah, my brother.

It seems Donald Trump was once involved in the casino industry in Australia, although it was nearly forty years ago.

There were claims of mafia links even back then.