I propose a similar solution - retain universal suffrage, but impose severe limits on electoral candidate selection.

Candidates for any elected role must be able to pass tests based around knowledge, skills and applied competencies. The more important, meaningful and impactful the desired role, the more difficult and lengthy the testing. The testing for a lifetime judicial appointment or a presidential candidate should be substantially different from the testing for a city councillor or school board member.

The old English model of public service examinations would be a good starting point. India's current Civil Service Exam provides a model - multiple rounds of testing, conducted over a lengthy period of time (I think it's 12 months) with multiple different elements (there's a verbal exam/interview, a series of general knowledge exams and then another series of exams/assessments based around competencies and practical applications). I think the pass rate is about 1-2%, and you're only allowed a set number of attempts.

That way, no matter who the voter votes for, they know they're going to end up with a candidate that is qualified for the role they are seeking.

There are - of course - dangers and drawbacks to this. It may just end up creating a political class whose main skill is scoring high on tests (this was a common complaint of many English-style civil services). It may also discourage electoral participation by people who are potentially good leaders, but don't perform will in examination-type scenarios. Perverse incentives abound

There are many wicked people in this world, and not all of them are those who are being publicly identified as “evil,” but many of them are being publicly identified as “good.” And many who are being called “evil,” are not evil, but are “good.” So, please do not put your trust in what you hear or read or think you see on the internet or on television or coming from any other media source, pastors included. For lies and liars abound all over the place. And deception is huge just about everywhere you look these days.

But there are definitely real wicked people who are plotting and carrying out evil against those who have done them no harm. And many that they target are true followers of Jesus Christ. For Christian persecution is definitely on the rise, and some people making false professions of faith in Jesus are only helping in the charge against those who are true servants of the Lord Jesus. For some who profess to be good are our enemies, in disguise. And so they purposefully try to make Christians look bad so that we will be hated.

But we are not to fear these evildoers and what they might do to us. For our Lord was very upfront with us in letting us know that if we follow him with our lives that we will be hated and persecuted as he was, and that suffering is part of the Christian life, helping to make us more like Jesus. And if we are treated as Jesus’ enemies treated him, we will be falsely accused of wrong, when we are doing right. And we will have people who will lay mental traps for us to fall into, so that they will have cause to accuse us wrongfully.

But we are not to give way to fear of what they might do to us, but we are to put our trust in the Lord, and then keep on doing the good that we ought to do, as his followers, and as called of God to specific areas of ministry. And we do this because we love God, and we want to obey him, but also because we love our fellow humans, and we want them to hear and to believe the truth so that they can be delivered out of their slavery to sin, so that they will now walk in obedience to our Lord and to his New Covenant Commands.

And when this says that we should delight ourselves in the Lord, and he will give us the desires of our hearts, please know that if truly our delight is in the Lord, our desires will now be what he desires for our lives, and they won’t be sinful, fleshly, and selfish desires. And if we truly delight in the Lord, this isn’t just about feeling good and feeling happy, but it is about being joyful in service to him, with a desire to obey his commands and with a commitment to put sin to death and to live holy lives, pleasing to him.

And if we are slandered by those who oppose us, if they bring false charges against us in hopes to discredit us so that people will no longer listen to us –which was the intent of Jesus’ enemies always, and why they put him to death – then we must give it all over to the Lord, trusting that he will take care of us and that one day, maybe even after we die, the Lord will bring our true character into the light, and we will be exonerated of the lies spoken against us. For the Lord will plead our case for us. So we’re to have no fear!

For Our Nation

Professionally recorded in Nashville, TN
Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

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Because of Evildoers
An Original Work / July 22, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Neostarwcc said:

Sorry I forgot to update you all! He successfully had the surgery 2 weeks ago and is ok right now. He gets the sutures removed on Friday and will find out Friday if he has cancer or not. Right now he is in massive pain and the pain will get worse on Friday when they remove the sutures and will slowly get better over time. They've got him on prescription pain killers but they apparently do nothing. Please pray for him and I'll update you guys Friday on how it goes

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continued prayers!

July is just flying by!

May they rest in peace and rise to glory!

Thank you. A step in the right direction! Glory to God!

I'm not sure what more can be said in a situation like that. OP did fine, sharing Christ died for his personal sin & rose to give him eternal life

My guess is he's well-learned based on his response & he took time to think out his beliefs. I would venture he's read the Bible to a greater extent then many people who identify as Christians. His response can't be given the care he requires in that short time frame. His response requires Apologetics & time. Sadly, I fear many Christians downplay the need for apologetics when evangelizing. The NT is more then just 'you will believe b/c an Apostle told you.'

That's really too bad. I really enjoyed some of their stuff.

Good! Just leave them alone!

PloverWing said:

I wish you success and safety as you defend your country.

One possibility you might consider is to pray the Daily Office, as your schedule permits. My church's Book of Common Prayer has liturgies for Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline. All of these are services that can be done without clergy. You can pray them on your own, or you can gather with a few friends if there are others nearby who want to join you. Praying all four each day is a lot, but pick one that fits your schedule well, and try praying it regularly -- daily, if you can.

An online version of the Book of Common Prayer is here: The Online Book of Common Prayer . It's in English, but your English seems excellent.

Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer assume you have access to a Bible. Bible passages can be found online (at least, in English; I hope Ukrainian too?), if you don't have a print copy of the Bible. Noonday Prayer and Compline (late evening) are shorter and more self-contained.

To be clear, there are many kinds of spiritual disciplines that are useful for Christians, and the Daily Office is just one. But I know a number of Christians who find it beneficial.

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(posting in fellowship)

Great advice!

I'm not Anglican, but I also love the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer, as well as the prayers within it. I find them very uplifting.

God bless our Holy Father!

The Barbarian said:

President Donald Trump is tired of defending Attorney General Pam Bondi and wants her to take the flak for the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
“One thing that’s been clear is his feelings about it,” an unnamed White House official told


President Donald Trump is tired of defending Attorney General Pam Bondi and wants her to take the flak for the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

“One thing that’s been clear is his feelings about it,” an unnamed White House official told






1/2Skip Ad
Continue watchingDonald Trump Cancels Another Mainstream Interview with NBC and Heads for Safety of Fox and Friendsafter the ad




Trump Wants Pam Bondi to Take the Heat Over Epstein Crisis/

The president doesn’t want to be on the hook for the outrage over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files.​

Trump Wants Pam Bondi to Take the Heat Over Epstein Crisis

The president doesn’t want to be on the hook for the outrage over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files.

www.thedailybeast.com

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Sounds like Trump should take the heat, considering what has been revealed about Trump's birthday card sent to Epstein. Presuming that isn't a deep fake.

I never cared much to know all about Epstein. But now that the 'list' went from being on Pam' Bondi's desk to never having existed, I really want it to come out. I get it that too many powerful people will be on that list, but if it became public maybe we could clear out a bunch of Democrats AND Republicans and have a shot at a decent government again.

Trump doesn't get it that cleaning out corruption is a chunk of what got him elected. And that if that means Trump is part of the corruption he has to go too.

FredVB said:

God does not exclude anyone by God's will. God is caring, and being unlimited as God is God's caring is not limited. None are created to perish, all who would repent of being contrary to God with their lives should be brought to that repentance, to be restored to God as Christ made possible through him. None are kept from that and are provided opportunities, which we here should increase, and their own resistance is to blame if they will not. Some may go along with those of faith but without repentance they will fall away at some time when coming to a challenge.

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What happen to the people who will not repent?

FaithT said:

Same here. Every time my granddaughter smiles or giggles she melts my heart. And about a month ago my then 3 year old grandson just all of a sudden stopped whatever he was doing and said “I love you.“ My heart melted then, too. Children and birth are miracles.

this is the third time I’ve tried writing this and my posts keep disappearing so I’m not going to correct my spelling or punctuation. I think the OP is talking about about something more like this. When he was 17 a fellow parishioner was in a horrific car crash, along with his sister. They his a tree going about 40 mph. Severe head I just and they thought he wouldn’t make it. He was in a coma for I think 72 days. His caregiver said his was the only time she witnessed a true miracle. He went on to recover, an walk, and talk and talk and become a

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*I’m trying to say that my priest had a severe head injury.
*become a priest.

Will we still yet be stigmatized by what we’ve learned in our walk on this old earth of fear; that when we arrive at the golden throne ready for our judgment of good deeds, shall we think twice about where we are really at?

We must realize that once we have entered those gates, it will be done. Then why such confusion could be avoided at a time for ultimate rejoice?

Unfinished business? Or failing to release the fear of the old earth of here and now? has your love for God been perfected? Or are we still stigmatized? We must never forget that God’s love for us goes high as the farthest galaxy and the depth of the lowest cave, and north, east, south, west, and all time zones in between...

And Paul. and may your entire. spirit and soul. and body be kept blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. !

So where did your spirit and soul and body begin and where do they go at your death ??

dan p

Agreement reached after filing federal lawsuit

A California-based technology company has agreed to give theologian Christopher Yuan’s nonprofit a discount after initially refusing to do so because the organization is religious.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal nonprofit specializing in religious freedom cases, announced last week that a settlement had been reached between OpenAI and Yuan’s group, Holy Sexuality.

As part of the agreement, OpenAI will remove a previous policy that barred religious nonprofits from receiving a 20% discount on a ChatGPT subscription, which it had previously offered to secular nonprofits.

Continued below.

The U.S. Department of Justice dropped a Biden-era challenge to a Tennessee law prohibiting the use of puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones and experimental sex-change surgeries to address gender dysphoria in minors following a ruling last month from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Monday that the DOJ's Civil Rights Division filed a notice of voluntary dismissal, stating that the Trump administration "will no longer be in the business of attacking laws like Tennessee's that protect children."

Bondi highlighted the high court's rulinglast month in United States v. Skrmetti, in which the justices ruled 6-3 that Tennessee's Senate Bill 1 passed in March 2023 did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court rejected the arguments from trans activists and the Biden administration.

Continued below.

After a months-long visa dispute that went public in a dramatic way last week, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee announced that the U.S. Embassy, Israel’s Interior Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office agreed on a solution to the visa issue that had limited the activities of Evangelical organizations in Israel.

“A solution has been reached to the satisfaction of all parties. The Evangelical Christian organizations active in Israel, which represent the vast majority of Zionists in the world today, will receive all of the visas they need through a streamlined and efficient application process,” Calev Myers, the attorney for the organizations, told ALL ISRAEL NEWS on Monday.

In the evening, Huckabee wrote on his X account that “the issue concerning visas for American Evangelical organizations has been fully resolved. Starting in January, a change in the manner in which visas for Christian organizations had been processed for decades led to serious challenges bureaucratically and financially for the groups.”

Continued below.

James Talarico suggests Mary gave her 'consent' before 'creation' of Jesus in her womb

A Texas state representative and aspiring Baptist preacher said he believes the true test of a Christian is not how much they love Jesus but whether they “love Judas” and suggested Mary gave her “consent” before the “creation” of the Son of God in her womb.

State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, made the comment during a July 18 episode of the "Joe Rogan Experience," where he spoke about his opposition to the state’s new Ten Commandments law, how Democrats can win over white Evangelicals, and what it means to bear the “sacred image” of God while supporting abortion.

Talarico, 36, opposed state legislative efforts to infuse public school curriculum with lessons about Christianity and teachings from the Bible, calling such efforts tantamount to Christian nationalism.

Continued below.

A male athlete who identifies as female is seeking damages from Princeton University and athletic officials after he was removed from a track meet at the New Jersey-based school.

Sadie Schreiner, a male who began identifying as female in high school, filed a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court with the assistance of attorney Susan Cirilli on July 15. The lawsuit lists Princeton University, timing vendor Leone Timing and Results Services, Athletic Director John Mack and Director of Track Operations Kimberly Keenan-Kirkpatrick as defendants.

The athlete seeks unspecified damages for what the filing claims was a "humiliating, dehumanizing and dignity-stripping ordeal" witnessed by his friends and relatives.

Continued below.

The Barbarian said:

My bad. Feel free to use my WFTH-I (Warning For The Humor-Impaired) I assume your name here is in homage to G.K. If so, I should have realized the dry humor.

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It's not your fault that the joke wasn't a good one.

essentialsaltes said:

It's Tuesday, so...

Trump China tariff deadline likely to be extended, Bessent says​

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Yeah, but this time, he means it.