Did Caleb capture Hebron before or after Joshua's death?

The LORD swore in De 1:

35 ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’

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It was fulfilled in Joshua 15:

13 According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14 And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.

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Caleb captured Hebron before Joshua's death.

But the parallel account in Judges 1:

1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?”

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10 Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

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The above verse could be a flashback to Josh 15:14.

Did Caleb capture Hebron before or after Joshua's death?

God promised to give Caleb the land he trod on. He probably received the land before Joshua died.

Walking The spiritual life is not about ‘dressing up’, though it can often be that for a while. No, our seeking after the Infinite, is, in fact, a ‘dressing-down’. It is about falling through the cracks in the ice, that thin layer that hides the often-brutal unconscious from my sanitized, self-serving thoughts about myself. I cannot go very deep unless I face what is dangerous to myself. Not only myself but others as well. The news is full of stories when someone falls through that layer of ice and comes in contact with the ‘Id’ as Sigmund Freud would call it. The Id according to Freud is

“The division of the psyche that is unconscious and serves as the source of instinctual impulses and demands for immediate satisfaction of primitive needs.”

This is a gift? I would say yes, a gift that paradoxically needs a strong ego to deal with it. I believe that ‘self-knowledge’, has to do with embracing aspects of myself that are painful to look at. Yet there you are, if it is part of me, not dealing with it would have me shut down, and not approach the bright light of the God-Head, in silence, or any kind of prayer. To pray from the heart is to open up myself to the actions of ‘Infinite Truth’. It can seem like hell, but in reality, it is purgatory. A necessary step in letting go of the false idea that I have to be ‘pretty’, or ‘together’ before I can come before the ‘Face of God’, which for me is revealed in Jesus Christ.-Br.MD

Ana the Ist said:

I'm not sure what case you're referring to here.

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Only the Right’s long struggle with the Administrative State

Ana the Ist said:

Most cases sent to the SCOTUS aren't heard by the SCOTUS.

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The venue for adjudicating Agency v. the Regulated cases , cease being decided by the internal agency administrative-judges and lands back into district courts (which are ill-equipped to deal with thorny, technical, jargon-laded issues) which will ensure that appealable errors will abound; more work for the Circuits, more work for SCOTUS, (eventually).

Ana the Ist said:

They all hear the same cases....lol....so there's literally no decrease in workload that can be had by adding justices.

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We had gotten up to nine justices when the nation had but ~40 million people; granted technology has vastly increased the Justices efficiency but having the same number seems wildly optimistic.

No one presses play on Netflix’s newest season of Bridgerton expecting a theologically sound lesson in the nature of the human heart. But when a television show claiming to be about love captures as many eyes as this one has — with 68.7 million views since its full debut on June 13 — it reveals a truth about how people are spending their time, which in turn exposes a truth about what they are worshipping.

In addition to the clearly objectionable pornographic elements in “Bridgerton,” there are also revealing flaws in the series’ storytelling and confused messages about female empowerment.

Love story of Penelope Featherington​

This season tells the love story of Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), a wallflower who discovered her independence by writing an anonymous gossip column. Her writing, described as her “life’s work,” is her great, brave undertaking as a woman with precious few ways to make her place in society. For all her writing talent, the most this feminist heroine can show for herself is pages picking apart people’s lives and berating them for their worst moments. This newest season concludes with Penelope finally signing her name to the column, after years of using it for her own personal advantage. This act proudly declares ownership of something that is, in the end, as ordinarily petty as speaking poorly about someone to a crowd of eager listeners.

Far from a heroic lead himself, love interest Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) comes into his own as a man by frolicking across foreign countries having casual sex with strangers. After failed attempts to stifle romantic feelings for Penelope by having more casual sex (this time with paid prostitutes), he begins their courtship by admitting his affection and initiating — can you guess? — a casual sexual encounter with her. An abrupt marriage proposal follows: the epic romantic conclusion to the first half of the show.

Real-world parallels to Colin’s behavior​

Continued below.

rockytopva said:

To scare... To terrorize... Little difference as far as I am concerned.

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Exactly my point. You refrained from saying the man who dropped the child on his head to scare him was a terrorist but did so label the robbers.

Paleontologists recently identified a dinosaur that is believed to have lived at least partially underground—demonstrating that dinosaurs successfully exploited every kind of habitat available to them.

Fona herzogae lived 99 million years ago and possesses a skeleton that bears many hallmarks of animals that burrow.

Discovered in Utah by paleontologists from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, it was a rather simple, unornamented dinosaur about as big as an average-sized dog.

Examinations of several close-to-complete skeletons show that F. herzogae possessed large bicep muscles, fused bones along the pelvis, and strong muscle attachment points on the hips and legs: all signs of a burrowing lifestyle.

Where it was discovered in Utah was, at the time of the animal’s life, a flood plain called Mussentichit that formed along the edges of a massive inland sea to the east, and peaks and volcanoes to the west. It was warm, it was humid, and it was riverine.

Continued below.

Terrorist attacks have forced a denomination to close 70 churches in central Nigeria's Plateau state, while in the country's northwest, Christians are celebrating the release of a kidnapped priest.

The Rev. Amos Mohzo, president of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that attacks by Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists have forced 70 congregations in Plateau state's Mangu and Bokkos counties to stop services in the past two years.

Previous Christmas attacks last December directly affected COCIN congregations, he said.

“Our members were killed, people were killed, people lost their houses, many [were] traumatized and we couldn't do anything," Pastor Mohzo said. "We were stranded, but we had to face the challenge, and Christmas was celebrated by displaced Christians in Internally Displaced People's (IDPs) camps in spite of the tragedy."

In the Mangu area, attacks forced at least 40 COCIN congregations to close, he said.

Continued below.

Michie said:

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President Joe Biden argued July 11 that he is equipped to win the November election and serve another term in the White House in his first solo press conference since his performance at a debate raised concerns about his physical and mental acuity.

The high-stakes press conference — also the president’s first in eight months — took place at a NATO summit in Washington, as a growing number of congressional Democrats and some of the party’s top donors have raised concerns about his candidacy, or have called on him to step aside in favor of another candidate to run against former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, in November.

Biden’s press conference followed a significant gaffe earlier in the day, when he intended to introduce Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the conference, but called him “President Putin,” the Russian leader who ordered the invasion of Ukraine. Biden returned to the podium to correct himself, with Zelenskyy joking he is “better.”

Biden’s response to health concerns​

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In first post-debate press conference, Biden argues he will stay in race

President Joe Biden argued July 11 that he is equipped to win the November election and serve another term in the White House in his first solo press conference since his performance at a debate raised concerns about his physical and mental acuity.

www.oursundayvisitor.com

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It amazes me that the MSM was calling that a good press conference

he was fading at the end, wasn't making sense, and started to sound confused. Earlier, he introduced Zelensky as Putin, and said Trump was VP

I put the odds of a Trump victory in November at around 70% right now. If anything additional happens to Biden (falls down, has another confused press conference, bombs another debate, etc.), it is all over for the Democrats

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Bishop Kevin Vann, center, has spent more than three years pursuing a retraction and a monetary award over an email sent to 47 people in 2020. He contends the letter by a charity administrator damaged his reputation by suggesting he meddled unethically in the finances of an independent Catholic foundation.


Suzanne Nunn prays the rosary with friends each morning in her Mission Viejo home. From St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in Laguna Niguel, she brings Communion to the sick and homebound. She drives parishioners without transportation to Sunday Mass, decorates the altar for holidays and instructs adult converts in the tenets of the faith.

One observing the 68-year-old in her church volunteer work or at prayer in her regular pew might struggle to comprehend another role she plays in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange: the target of a protracted and expensive legal crusade by the bishop.

For more than three and a half years, Bishop Kevin Vann has pursued a libel lawsuit against Nunn over an email she sent to 47 people in 2020 about what she saw as his improper meddling in the finances of a Catholic foundation where she worked.

Vann, the leader of Orange County’s 1.3 million Catholics, has persisted in the litigation despite court defeats, including a stinging January ruling in which a Superior Court judge threw out his entire suit against Nunn and voiced support for her criticism of the bishop. The decision means that, unless an appellate court intervenes, the bishop will be responsible for Nunn’s legal bills, calculated at nearly $2 million by her attorneys in court filings requesting repayment.

Where that money would come from is unclear. So is the source of funding for extensive legal work on the bishop’s behalf by a Costa Mesa firm. A spokesman for the diocese declined to answer questions about the financing of the litigation, including whether it is being underwritten by Sunday collections or other donations from the faithful.

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David was vulnerable in 1 Samuel 21:

10 David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.

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Gath was a Philistine city (1Sa 17:4), and Achish was a Philistine ruler. David was desperate. He was willing to seek refuge among his people's enemies to escape Saul, hoping to stay under Achish's protection.

11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

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Achish's servants alerted him that David was a servant of Saul and posed a danger. Achish didn't want him.

12 Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

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Why was David afraid?

David thought he was in danger now because he didn't have many men with him while fleeing from Saul. He was afraid that Achish would take revenge on David, who had killed many Philistines. Sensing that, David changed his tune:

13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

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Achish was fooled by David's pretense and dismissed him.

Later, David wrote about this incident in (NIV) Psalm 34:

1 Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

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David pretended to be insane before Achish and Abimelek. Wiki:

this seeming contradiction is easily explainable when you understand that Abimelech would have been his title and Achish, his actual name.

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For the next many months, Saul continued to pursue David. Then, it was public knowledge that David was Saul's enemy. 1Sa 27:

2 David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.

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Why did King Achish reject David in 1Sa 21 only to welcome him in 1Sa 27?

Achish rejected David earlier, thinking that he was still Saul's servant. Later, the geopolitical situation changed. This time, David came with women and children, seeking asylum. Achish thought he could use David against Saul, their common enemy.

12 Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”

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For the second time, Achish was fooled by David. David had an adventurous life.

David Lamb said:

This post reminded me of one of my "Thoughts for the Week" (biblical messages written for our local secular newspaper) one Easter time. It emphasizes the fact that Christians celebrate the Resurrection every Sunday. Here it is:

Hello! It’s almost Easter, that time of year when people tend to think particularly about Jesus rising from the dead. Having said that, really every Sunday should remind us of the resurrection. The first Christians started meeting for worship on the first day of the week, the day on which Jesus rose. (Yes, I know that most secular calendars now have Monday as the first day of the week, but that was not always so).

The resurrection of Jesus is right at the heart of Christianity. What use would a dead Saviour be? Yes, Christians serve a Saviour Who lives! Paul puts the matter like this:

If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” (1Corinthians chapter 15, verses 17 & 19)

Do you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead? An investigative journalist didn’t believe in the resurrection, and he set out to write a book debunking it, and indeed Christian belief generally. The book he actually wrote didn’t match his first intentions at all, because the more he tried to debunk, the more convinced he became of the absolute truth of the resurrection. He calls the first chapter, “The Book that Refused to be Written”; the book is called “Who Moved the Stone?” by Frank Morrison.

If Jesus hadn’t risen, the Jewish authorities could easily have put a stop to the rumours by producing the corpse. Instead, they bribed the Roman soldiers who’d been guarding the tomb, telling them to say they’d fallen asleep. The bribe must have been large, because sleeping on duty incurred the death penalty for a Roman soldier!

The gospel, or good news, of Jesus Christ is that all who believe on the risen Saviour have complete forgiveness, and eternal life. No dead Saviour could give that!

May God bless you this Easter!

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Us Catholic Christians celebrate Resurrection Sunday also. It is cool how a journalist ended up proving the Resurrection of Christ. Happy early Easter, brother. Every Sunday is an Easter.

Peace in Christ.

God has not appoint us….the vessels of His mercy…to mortally die under His wrath. We shall not perish...mortally perish...from this earth.

He has not appointed us to mortally die under His wrath but instead appointed us to inherit an age-lasting life (aka “eternal life”) in this mortal body for the duration of this present, evil age.

We….who will hear and believe in the Word of Truth…obtain that salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ rather than mortally perish under the wrath of God that comes upon the children of disobedience (disbelief). Colossians 3:6. Ephesians 5:6 . Ephesians 2:2-3 .

1Th 5:9 KJV
(9) For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of His own will does He beget us with the Word of Truth…..the good news of our mortal salvation…so that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. We shall not mortally die under His wrath but shall be saved from wrath.

Jas 1:18-20 KJV
(18) Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

This is why we need to be swift to hear that Word of Truth….the truth of the good news (gospel)…and slow to speak and slow to wrath over what we hear. The wrath of man (such as the wrath of Cain or Esau) does not work the righteousness of God.

(19) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
(20) For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

We shall be saved from God's wrath through Jesus Christ who gives us an age-lasting life. We do not mortally die under His wrath but are saved by His life that He gives us now in this world.

Rom 5:9-10 KJV
(9) Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
(10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

We trust in what we hear Christ saying…that Word of Truth….the good news of our salvation. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of THE promise….the promise of an age-lasting life in this mortal body. He promises us an age-lasting life (aka “eternal life”). 1 John 2:25 .

Eph 1:13-14
(13) In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of THE promise,

The Holy Spirit of the promise of inheriting an age-lasting life (“eternal life”) in this mortal body is the earnest of that inheritance UNTIL the redemption of the “purchased possession”…that is, the mortal body.

(14) Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

With that Holy Spirit of the promise of an age-lasting life, we are to slay the deeds of the body so that our mortal bodies are given life. We shall mortally live until the redemption of our mortal bodies at the “last trump” of this current age.

Rom 8:12-14 KJV
(12) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
(13) For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
(14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

That Spirit quickens….that is, makes alive…our MORTAL BODIES. That Spirit gives us life when we live according to it (doing His righteousness). The mortal body is good as dead because of the sin….but if we live according to the Spirit, we shall mortally live as it gives our mortal bodies an age-lasting life until the redemption of the purchased possession. Romans 8:23 .

Rom 8:10-11 KJV
(10) And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
(11) But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Whoever LIVES and believes into Him shall NEVER DIE…into the age.

John 11:26
(26) And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die- into the age. Believest thou this?

We who first in Christ…believing in His Word of Truth ….the good news of our mortal salvation…shall NEVER MORTALLY DIE as we shall continue to live until the redemption of this mortal body where it puts on immortality…this “mortal puts on immortality”.

We shall not all “sleep” as we…who believe in the Word of Truth...shall NEVER MORTALLY DIE…we shall never perish from this earth. We are the firstfruits of Christ in the first resurrection as we are kept standing here mortally by His life.

We continue to mortally live until the “last trump” moment where this mortal body (having never died) puts on immortality.

1Co 15:51-53 KJV
(51) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

The “dead” are those who believed in Christ but perished in their mortal bodies. They are the “corruptible”…the perishable…who will at that time be raised unperishable (incorruptible).

They had “slept” until then as they had perished from this earth for the duration of this age. Jesus shall raise them up at that time. Christ shall lose nothing of His as He will raise up also those who had mortally perished.

(52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Christ shall lose nothing as He will raise those who believed in the Son but did mortally perish. He shall raise them again AT THE LAST DAY. He is the Lord of both those who had mortally perished (the "dead") and those who will NEVER mortally perish (the "living").

Joh 6:39 KJV
(39) And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

Even if a believer in Christ mortally perished, he shall live as Jesus shall raise them up again AT THE LAST DAY. They do not mortally live until then as they had perished.

John 11:25
Young's Literal Translation
Jesus said to her, 'I am the rising again, and the life; he who is believing in me, even if he may die, shall live;

But those who see the Son and believes on Him (hearing and believing in His Word…Saying..of Truth) shall NEVER MORTALLY DIE as they will have an age-lasting life and He will keep us raised up (mortally) TO The last day. This is the “firstfruits” resurrection…the first resurrection.

Joh 6:40
(40) And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up (keep him standing) at (TO) the last day.

Whoever LIVES and believes into Him shall NEVER DIE…into the age. They shall never "sleep" in mortal death. We shall not all sleep but shall have an age-lasting life in this mortal body.

John 11:26
(26) And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die- into the age. Believest thou this?

The “firstfruits” never mortally perish as they will be kept standing here throughout the duration of this age. Those who are Christ’s at His coming are the “dead” who had mortally perished. They had believed in Him but perished without understanding the truth of the gospel…the Word of Truth.

1Co 15:22-23 KJV
(22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
(23) But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Theologians warn that open-ended proposals and questionable theological foundations in the new text could allow activists to push forward controversial agendas

If the Vatican’s newly released working document guiding the Synod on Synodality’s closing session in October is any indication, delegates at the monthlong assembly in Rome will spend little, if any, time deliberating over women deacons, LGBTQ inclusion and other hot button issues that dominated last year’s session.

The 32-page document, called the Instrumentum laboris, scarcely mentions those controversial topics, several of which were shifted to the purview of separate study groups — a welcome development for theologians like Larry Chapp.

A frequent Register contributor, Chapp has previously raised concerns that the Synod was being used as a “stalking horse” to change moral teachings, but he described the new text as “balanced, focused, and concrete.”

“I think the document is really quite good. Far better than I had hoped for,” he told the Register.

But not everyone who has reservations about the Synod is ready to relax.

“This is a big, ‘general’ document that opens a lot of doors, for good and for ill,” Chris Ruddy, a theologian at The Catholic University of America, told the Register. “I think the synodal organizers know that the hot button stuff is off the table for October, but they’re laying the groundwork for big transformations/deformations.”

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trophy33 said:

This would make it possible. It seems to me that the point of the text is that its supposed to be impossible, naturally. Only God can make it possible. No stripping away of riches is given as a solution, in the context.

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It is not impossible if they strip out the mammon worshipping.
A rich man counts and wants more.
He thinks only of what he or she gains now.

The ones who love the Lord will use it to bless others.
Foundations to help people.

Keeping enough or a little more to live for themselves.

It is not impossible, for those who 'love the Lord' will be like silver in the hands of the Silversmith who molds and bends them.
He resides in their hearts so they do His will on earth so others come to the Lord.

Remember the 3 with talents.
1 buried them and would not use them.
The others used them and gained more.

JimR-OCDS said:

Isn't it interesting that when Trump said we need to "fight" for our country it is taken as promoting
the violence that happened on Jan 6, but when BLM use the word "fight," it was not taken as
promoting violence despite the cities burning down in the BLM protest?

Also, Biden has used the phrase "we need to keep fighting" but he mis not accused of promoting violence.

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I agree with you. And your comparison of reaction to words logically parallels the comparison of reaction to actions. BLM in summer 2020 physically destroyed a lot more than Jan 6, yet Jan 6 got stronger reaction.

And both of this parallels what i talked about in OP. Jan 6 is basically exactly what Yeltsin did in 1991 on barricades (and then what Yeltsin did in 1993 dismantling parliament way surpasses it). But liberals view Yeltsin in more favorabke light than Trump because they see Yeltsin as a liberal.

NxNW said:

The contradiction is curious. Either we make a choice, or our every thought and action is preordained. But it can't be both.

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I believe it can be both. Our actions and choices will decide our fate. If I choose to believe Jesus is my savior I can receive eternal life in heaven. This is preordained. If I don't choose Jesus as my savior, I have still made a choice. Yet the result and consequences will be much different. And these consequences also seem preordained. God knows how we will choose even if we ourselves aren't sure. Not to mention the fact He inspires us with the Holy Ghost in our hearts. Free will can be a bane or a gift. Because humans are flawed creatures.

This life on earth may simply be an inconsequential test for believers in the long run. God lives outside of space and time. He is merely grooming us here on earth for our higher purpose in the hereafter. And thankfully we are not given to fathom all His minute details or plans. I wasted a lot of time trying to analyze everything when I was younger. I finally realized I was chasing the wind and I don't need to understand everything in the universe.

GOP credentials committee reinstates Missouri convention delegation at center of dispute​

Tom Mendenhall of Columbia was just about packed and ready to drive to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention when he got word not to bother.

Mendenall, who has attended seven previous conventions, was told that the convention’s Credentials Committee had voted unanimously to reinstate the delegation selected at the May 4 state convention in Springfield.

Mendenhall was on the replacement slate selected July 3 by the state party’s executive committee when a challenge displaced the “Truly Grassroots for Trump” slate. He’s not certain about what will happen with his hotel room reservation – only delegates and people with official passes can stay close to the convention hall – and he’s not happy with the conflict over the delegation.

The confrontation that has played out over the past two weeks between party regulars and insurgents who took over the convention will likely leave no one satisfied. The 54-member at-large delegation — 27 delegates and 27 alternates — has been discarded, replaced and reinstated all within that time.

The new Trumpier GOP: functioning like clockwork.

It's not just that he hates fig trees.​

There’s a scene in the 1979 comedy The Jerk in which a madman has randomly targeted dim-witted gas station attendant Navin Johnson (Steve Martin) for assassination. The madman’s aim is off, and he ends up shooting the oil cans directly behind Navin, prompting his memorable line, “He hates these cans! Stay away from the cans!”

Navin persists in this confusion until his boss Harry (Jackie Mason) corrects him: “He doesn’t want to put holes in the cans, he wants to put holes in you!” Until that point, Navin couldn’t see past the cans to understand what was going on. The cans were just an inadvertent symbol of the madman’s rage.

I’m reminded of that scene in reading the 1927 talk (and later, essay) Why I Am Not a Christian, in which the British philosopher Bertrand Russell argued that Jesus was not, in fact, “the best and the wisest of men.” To be sure, Russell accepted certain of Christ’s teachings, even claiming to ”agree with Christ a great deal more than the professing Christians do” on teachings such as not judging, turning the other cheek, and so forth. But in particular areas, Russell found Jesus’ morals lacking. To wit:

Then there is the curious story of the fig-tree, which always rather puzzled me. You remember what happened about the fig-tree. “He was hungry; and seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, he came if haply he might find anything thereon; and when he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it: “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever” . . . and Peter . . . saith unto him: “Master, behold the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away.” This is a very curious story, because it was not the right time of year for figs, and you really could not blame the tree. I cannot myself feel that either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history. I think I should put Buddha and Socrates above him in those respects.

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In other words: “He hates this fig tree! Stay away from the fig tree!”

I cannot help but wonder how Russell would have approached a passage like 1 Kings 11:26-40, in which the prophet Ahijah tears a garment into twelve pieces and instructs the king to pick up ten of them, foreshadowing the division of the Israelites into the ten northern tribes (Israel) and the two southern tribes (Judah). Reading this, would he seek to understand why the prophet was mad at a garment and object that the garment had done nothing wrong? Or would he understand (as he apparently failed to in his objection to Jesus’ conduct with the fig tree) that the action here is symbolic?

In the case of Jesus and the fig tree


Continued below
Why Does Jesus Curse the Fig Tree?

While there is no conclusive proof that the Shroud was ever identified at any point in history as the Grail, there are many intriguing connections between the two.

There have been not a few attempts to identify the elusive Holy Grail as not just the Shroud of Turin itself but also its reliquary casket. But in just a cursory glance into the deep depths of Arthurian lore, we can see how the quest for the Holy Grail is fulfilled not so much in the artifact of the Shroud, but in what it represents: the body and blood of the Lamb of God.

Although Pope Urban IV decreed the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264, it was slow to gain traction throughout Christendom. Urban’s own devotion to both the corporal and Eucharistic body of the Lord is evidenced in the popular story of his coming into possession of what is known today as the Holy Face of Laon, after Urban (then still Archdeacon Pantaleon of Laon Cathedral) sent the icon to his sister, Abbess Sibylle at Montreuil-les-Dames, in July 1249. The inscription is in late-first-millennium Slavonic: “The image of the Lord on the sudarium-shroud.” Pantaleon is said to have urged his sister in his accompanying letter to look upon it “like the holy Veronica, as its true image and likeness.”

Continued below.

Burkina Faso​

Pray for the Government and security forces battling the Islamist insurgency. May they serve their people with courage, justice and integrity and restore peace to their nation.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Burkina Faso​

Pray that all the displaced children whom our partner is supporting through educational programmes will be able to learn and make friends in their new situations.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Burkina Faso​

Pray for wisdom for those displaced pastors who are keen to return to the places they left. May God’s call to them be clear and may He give them peace whether He is calling them to stay or return.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Burkina Faso​

Pray for ‘Annette’ and other widows whose husbands have been killed for sharing the gospel and who have also been displaced. Pray that they may find support in their new locations and God’s comfort.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Burkina Faso​

Pray for the pastors and churches ministering to all the displaced people in Burkina Faso; that Christians will be helped to stand firm and others will be brought into the faith.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Burkina Faso​

Pray for our partner, Pastor ‘Samuel’, and his ministry to displaced Christians. May God protect him as he travels all over the country and give him wisdom on prioritising resources.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Sri Lanka​

Thank God for a Release International project training a new generation of Christian leaders across Sri Lanka. Pray that He would work powerfully in and through this initiative.
YES - I WILL PRAY

Sign up for email prayer alerts​

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Children’s Prayer Sheet​

It’s not only adults who can pray for our persecuted family. Every month we produce a prayer sheet aimed specifically for children. Each sheet has specific activities and prayers which will help children learn more about how persecution affects children in other countries.
You can visit our Children’s Prayer Sheet page here.

Not much.

God sent the flood when few were righteous on earth. Ge 6:

5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. 6 And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7a So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth”

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God sent judgment against widespread wickedness. He also sent Noah to warn his contemporaries. 2 Peter 2:

5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;

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Next, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because Genesis 18:

20 The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous.

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God could not find 10 righteous people in the cities (v 32).

Lot was a righteous example for them. 2Pe 2:

7 if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard).

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Again, people were destroyed wholesale when wickedness was great and righteous people were rare.

Concerning the 2nd coming, Jesus spoke in Lu 18:

7 "Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help? 8 I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

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Perhaps not much.

Similarly, Paul in 2 Timothy 4:

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

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Jesus will come again to judge people.

2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

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There will be righteous people who warn the wicked, but they will not listen to righteous teachings.

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

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Just like in Noah's day, there will be great wickedness on earth. A few righteous people will warn them, but they will not listen. Then Jesus will come to destroy and judge.

​

Individual communities may be Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or animist/tribal, but converts to Christianity face significant difficulties in any of these places. Religious beliefs are tied to the identity of the community, so turning from the locally dominant faith to following Jesus can result in accusations of betrayal.
Any churches that work and evangelise among the Muslim majority face persecution – but even historical denominations like the Roman Catholic Church are increasingly targeted by death threats and attacks.
Tribal Christians face an increasing double vulnerability since they belong to both an ethnic and religious minority. These believers struggle with people taking their land and face violence.
Christians among the Muslim-majority Rohingya, who fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar, face harassment and strong pressure from their community. Believers who live in the Rohingya refugee camps can encounter persecution even as they live in displacement.

Meet Shakib​

“Teachers always said bad things about the Christians, and all the Muslim students laughed and enjoyed mocking us. I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t protest. I had no place to complain. Nobody listened to me.”
Shakib (name changed), a teenager in Bangladesh.

What does Open Doors do to help?​

Open Doors works through local church partners to strengthen persecuted believers in Bangladesh through biblical training, Bible distribution, literacy programmes and socio-economic development projects, as well as emergency relief aid.

Please pray​

• Pray for healing for Bangladeshi Christians who have been attacked or physically abused for their faith.
• Ask God to give perseverance to Christians who endure pressure from their communities.
• Pray that people who persecute Christians will come to realise the truth of Jesus love and grace.

Grip Docility said:

I believe that Jesus intended His blood to all mankind. This would demonstrate the Fathers Love for all (Omnis) humanity.

This demonstrates that Love is God’s highest desire for Creation to have amongst itself.

The burden of Changing one's mind from self to God is on each person. They can Believe in Gods Love which is already there for them, or, they can forsake it.

The work of the Human Heart is Gods work. This is my opinion on the matter.

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Well, do you also believe the every single person who has ever lived will eventually be saved? If not, and if, as you believe, Jesus intended His blood to all mankind, how could He possibly be satisfied if just one sinner was not saved:

“He shall see the labor of His soul, [and] be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:11 NKJV)

wing2000 said:

I'm really curious how anyone thinks deporting millions of workers and slapping a 10% tarriff on all imports is a good economic idea. Any takers?

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No takers apparently.

Why is it that Trump supporters will declare their support by x Trump objective, but then refuse to discuss the details of how that objective would be achieved?