I cannot believe that this is happening all over again; I am devastated.

DragonFox91 said:

He never got cold feet w/ regrets. He was either a madman or knew what he was talking about!

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He operated in the power of God and not in his own flesh. And that is the only way that he survived all the abuse and persecutions which he faced because he spoke the truth that so many did not want to hear. And it is the same today. If we are true servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we are out here in the world sharing the truth of the gospel of Christ with the people, we will face persecutions and mistreatments and rejections. And the only way we are able to survive is in the strength of the Lord and not in our own strength.

DaisyDay said:

Maybe water? The Columbia River starts in Canada - how much will wind up in the US?

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…and will it be tariffed?

A proposed rule to mandate monogamy among ordained clergy, including those in homosexual relationships, has prompted pushback from three committees of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The overture, which was submitted by the Presbytery of Sierra Blanca in New Mexico to be considered at the PCUSA's General Assembly later this month in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, would amend the denomination's Book of Order to require clergy "in any relationship of a sexual nature" to be "living in a monogamous one."

According to "advice and counsel" appended to the overture, the proposal has been met with resistance from the PCUSA's Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice, the Advocacy Committee on LGBTQIA+ Equity and the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy.

The Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice said they could not support the overture requiring monogamous relationships "because it extends beyond the Church's call to form disciples into an attempt to regulate the private lives and relational structures of individuals in ways that risk harm rather than healing."

Citing the Book of Order's affirmation that "God alone is Lord of the conscience," the Women and Gender Justice committee said "that the role of the Church is not to impose uniformity of personal life but to cultivate communities marked by justice, accountability, and love," and argued that the overture "frames moral character through a narrow relational mandate that does not, in itself, prevent harm."

Continued below.

chilehed said:

From the moment you entered this thread you've ignored the facts, ignored the law, and made things up. Your gaslighting is obvious to everyone.

I see no reason to continue with you. Sleep well if you can.

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lol You are yet to explain why you think the shop owner showed intent. The moment you entered this thread you ignored the facts of the case and made up some fictitious course of events that did not happened or stated that things that are in the article did not happened.

I can sleep just fine.

Gene must have inherited good genes ... but perhaps his dry wit and sense of humor helped abit, too! ​

​

Gene Shalit, longtime 'Today' show movie critic, dies at 100​

NEW YORK — Gene Shalit, a movie critic and arts reporter for the "Today" show over four decades who was known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and affection for groan-inducing puns, has died. He was 100.

Shalit's family announced the death Friday to NBC News, saying in a statement that he "passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life."

Here is a site you may want to look through on this... Who Changed the Day of Worship From Saturday to Sunday? Why?

I do!
(That's me in the picture ... j/k! lol)

To be clear, my only objection, and its less of a rejection and more of a regret, is that the Latin word Lucifer has become the default Western “proper name” for the devil rather than the original Hebrew word “Heyel” or, most appropriately, simply referring to him as “The Adversary” (which is what Satan means).

It is regrettable because early Christian martyrs who died for Christ were named Lucifer or the Greek equivalent (Luciphoros) and there is even a Paschal hymn called the Exultet which refers to Christ as the light bearer.

Additionally the idea that the word is the proper name for the devil is really very strong in the English language, less so outside of Western Europe. The popularity of Milton’s Paradise Lost and later countercultural media further contributed to the unpleasant diabolicization of “Lucifer” and the eradication of collective memory of the Christian contexts of the name - references to Christ as the bringer of light (the true bringer of light; in this respect the devil is an imposter) and early Christian martyrs and the fourth century bishop St. Lucifer of Cagliari, who was by no means a devil worshipper (indeed, he was an admirer of Origen, and Origen was one of the first Christian theologians to highlight how Isaiah 14 was referring not just to King Nebuchadnezzar but to the devil).

Conversely, while we have managed to, through countercultural media, load the word Lucifer with an absurd amount of diabolical implication, we have also managed to ignore through popularization the strong connection between dragons and the devil. This largely happened in the late 20th century. For example, in 1959 we see Sleeping Beauty which had a clearly diabolical dragon being controlled by Maleficient, a diabolical female character, defeated by Prince Philip whose sword featured a prominent cross. Walt Disney was actually Christian and consistently referred to the devil as “that old dragon”, for example when talking about his animation of “The Night on Bald Mountain” by the Russian composer Mussorgsky. But by the 1970s we started seeing massive numbers of friendly dragons in the media and the dragons were a major theme in “The Game of Thrones” for example.

Meanwhile among my Romanian Orthodox friends, with the exception of one strange youth who was less Orthodox Christian and more of a hardcore Romanian nationalist who admired the man (despite him being ethnically German-Hungarian), Prince Vlad the Impaler also known as Vlad Dracul, a real historical figure who inspired “Dracula” but who was not actually a vampire (but he was a monstrous war criminal whose atrocities were so horrifying as to cause the Turkish Sultan to turn back in horror, and given the Ottoman Empire’s later enthusiasm for atrocities (performed by mercenaries called the “Bashi Bazouks” which means “broken heads” in the context of “evil demented people’”, its possible that they may well have gotten the idea from Vlad Dracul - at any rate, my Romanian Orthodox friends thought the name referred to the devil and only on reflection recalled that Dracul could also mean “dragon” in a more generic sense, but by default, Dragon and Devil are essentially synonymous among the Romanians and were historically largely synonymous even in English, as we see from the speech of Walt Disney.

The use of “Lucifer” to translate the Hebrew word “Heyel” was a deliberate choice by Latin translators of the Vetus Latina and later of St. Jerome in translating the Vulgate, in that it preserved the masculine gender associated with Nebuchadnezzar.

However I would argue that another viable translation in the present day would be “Venus” provided one was clear one was referring to the planet, which is actually the planet being referred to by Heyel, and also to idolatry and false gods generally, and not specifically just to the deity Venus, but if we look at Psalms 96:5 “The gods of the gentiles are idols” and the more interesting Septuagint translation (which may well be, like so much of the Septuagint, an older alternative reading) “The gods of the nations are demons” which is rendered as “devils” in some translations such as the Challoner Douai Rheims. Both are correct, since the false gods worshipped by non-Christians are in all cases idols of the devil or of diabolical origin or confusion. Thus linking the word explicitly to a pagan deity via the planet named after that deity that Heyel was referring to would be an interesting and literally accurate way of translating Isaiah 14:12, to render the word Lucifer as “Venus.” But it would be necessary in doing so to clarify the rationale of the translation and also to avoid appearing to feminize Nebuchadnezzar (while sexual immorality including sexually ambiguous hieratic temple servants did exist in ancient Babylon, as far as I am aware Nebuchadnezzar was not himself effeminate or homosexual, although he might well have engaged in homosexual activity as this kind of decadent behavior was common in antiquity, but without definite proof we don’t want to imply that in the context of Nebuchadnezzar. In the case of the devil however, since being a fallen angel he is not a being capable of reproduction, it could serve as a poignant reminder that the gods of the gentiles are demons (which we Christians need to remember as an evangelical imperative - the fact is that some liberal Christians who have de-emphasized the propagation of the faith are greatly misguided - although conversely it would not be productive as a means of conversion to try to convince non-Christians that they are engaging in diabolatry, even accidentally, indeed that would cause so much offense as to shut them down and preclude conversion in many cases.

In the Orthodox Church we like to avoid negative proselytism altogether.

Evangelist and YouTuber Bryce Crawford recently documented his experience attending the West Hollywood Pride Parade in Southern California.

Crawford said that this is the third time he has attended the event. Throughout his video, Crawford emphasized that he wanted to have “respectful conversations” about faith.

Among those whom Crawford engaged in conversation were counter-protesters who stood near a group of Christians that held signs denouncing the event. One woman to whom Crawford spoke said that she believes “Jesus was a pretty righteous man” but that Jesus “weeps at what many—not all—but many Christians have done in his name.”


“The Christians that I know, the people that I hold dear to my heart, follow his Word,” she added. “And they’re some of the most amazing people I’ve ever known in my life and I am so blessed to have in my life. Because they really practice what he preached.”

Continued below.

Former Avalon member Melissa Greene, who is featured on the new version of “Testify to Love” with founding Avalon member Michael Passons and country singer Ty Herndon, says that Christian music and gospel music have been “built, honestly, on the back of so many queer people.” Greene, Passons, and Herndon appeared on Jen Hatmaker’s podcast this week, where they discussed their spiritual journeys and how they are “reclaiming” the hit song.

“I just want to note one thing,” said Greene after explaining how her spiritual beliefs changed in the time since her youth, when she attended a Baptist megachurch, until now.


“The one thing that bothers me is, Michael said, you know, a few minutes ago, Christian music, gospel music, southern gospel music, it has been built, honestly, on the back of so many queer people,” she said. “Literally, it still is. It still is.”

“So obvious,” Hatmaker agreed, as Passons noted, “Songwriters, producers.”

Continued below.

Several demonstrators gathered outside a small Iowa church Sunday to protest a sign declaring, “Ditch Pride. Embrace Humility!” But the church’s pastor says the message was not intended to target anyone or spread hatred.

The demonstration took place outside Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in Des Moines, where Pastor Michael Demastus said the sign was posted two days before the start of June to communicate what he believes is a central Christian teaching during a month when discussions of pride are highly visible in public life.

“The message was ... intentional that we're going to hear all of June all about pride,” Demastus told The Christian Post. “And the message of Christianity is the converse of that. I guess it's OK to say it inside of our walls, right? But as soon as you take a message like that outside of the walls, it is not received well.”

“The reality is Christ didn't just say it was a possibility, He promised. They hated me; they're going to hate you,” the church leader continued. “So any believer that lives out his faith in the public arena is going to be hated by the world. That's just a truism of being a person of faith who follows Jesus.”

According to Demastus, local activist Heather Ryan organized the protest, which he estimated drew about a dozen participants. He said demonstrators remained within the law but used bullhorns to shout at churchgoers arriving for worship services.

“They had bullhorns, and they were obscene, and they were loud, and they respected all the laws, but people in our church were driving into the parking lot, and they were yelling with their bullhorns at them, and just acting rather gross,” Demastus said.

Continued below.

USA vs Paraguay
Pre Game Show - 6pm

A Sudanese Muslim attempted to behead a man in a Belfast street. Now, citizens in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the UK and across Europe are beginning to fight back against enforced immigration and conquest, rioting in the streets. Welcome to the Bubba Effect.

A Sudanese Muslim immigrant named Hadi Alodid, 30, attempted to behead a neighbor of his named Stephen Ogilvie, 44, in the middle of a street in Belfast, Ireland, reportedly four days after Ogilvie tried to help Alodid move. The victim has lost one eye, and the other may go as well. He was stabbed in the head, face, and back before his attacker tried to cut off his head.

essentialsaltes said:

About that...

Leaked phone call shows Trump’s final humiliation of fired Cabinet member​

Axios reports that Bill Pulte, whom Trump wants as his new DNI, called Gabbard and told her that her time was up and that she would have to depart immediately.

“I need to hear it from the president or the White House,” she told Pulte, two officials briefed on the conversation told Axios.

Gabbard then called Trump directly and the president asked her: “What day works best for you?”

Gabbard named June 19 and Trump quickly announced the date on his Truth Social site.

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Her switch to R party went sooo well.

I'm a brony. Fluttershy is my favourite.

If I think of the Church of England, an institution cannot bind our society in any way, however positively it can, if virtually everyone has left the institution.

Although I can see from the OP and the article why certain people in UK politics are attacking institutions and undermining trust in them. They do not want anything that might steady immediate reactions, or nurture unity and community.

There are more than just John, Paul, George and Ringo?!?!

Who knew?!

Seriously though, it is always cool to hear about a new discovery!

President Donald Trump carried Ohio by more than 11 percentage points in 2024, but a new Fox News survey finds his standing in the Buckeye State has deteriorated — a development that is benefitting Democrat Sherrod Brown in the Senate race.

The poll of Ohio voters, released Wednesday, finds Trump’s ratings are about on par with views of Republican incumbent Senator Jon Husted (41% favorable, 50% unfavorable), while challenger and former Ohio Senator Brown is viewed significantly more positively (53% vs. 44%).

That helps Brown outperform Husted by a 53% to 45% margin in the race to fill the state’s Senate seat. His 8-point lead is outside the poll’s margin of sampling error.

Brown also receives backing from outside the democratic base: 31% of non-MAGA Republicans and 13% of all Republicans. Only 2% of Democrats pick Husted.

Inflation dominates, with 43% saying it is the most important issue in their Senate vote. All others trail far behind, including healthcare (12%), immigration and border security (11%,) political divisions (9%), jobs (8%), Iran (7%), abortion and crime (4% each). Notably, inflation is the top issue among independents (50%), Democrats (44%), Republicans (40%), MAGA (34%), and 2024 Trump voters (39%).

CDC and Florida at odds over hantavirus cruise ship passenger’s quarantine ​

One of the 18 passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius says she feels like she’s being “held hostage” and just wants to go home.

Florida health officials are pushing back at quarantine guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius exposed to the deadly Andes hantavirus.

“I’m being held hostage in this power struggle between a state and the federal government,” said Angela Perryman, 47, who has been at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit since May 11.

Perryman said that health officials previously told passengers that they would be able to leave federal quarantine by the end of May and spend the rest of their 42-day quarantine under home supervision. The first five went home June 1.

States were required by the CDC to station law enforcement or public health employees outside the homes of quarantined passengers for surveillance.

Florida health officials, it appears, have a different approach.

“At this time, neither the state of Florida nor the Department is planning to implement round-the-clock surveillance measures,” Brian Wright, a spokesman for the Florida Health Department, said in an email.

Pepperdoodle said:

Yes, they love to throw the words bigot, hater or phobia around, as if that makes them right on the issue, lol.

Yes, in the last 15+ yrs it's gained too much ground and thus in their eyes makes it all just as normal as anything else.
It's not.

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I think one reason it's gained so much ground is that it gets mixed up with the idea that some people have bullied LGBTQ people. I certainly have never approved of that. I remember when I was in school, there was a lot of talk about "beating up" gay people and whatnot, and I was always like why don't you just leave them alone? The funny thing is, it turned out that the people who bullied the gay people the most, actually turned out to be homosexuals themselves. Maybe they were targeting a part of themselves they hated or something, I don't know. Of course bullying is wrong, and no one should be bullied. But that doesn't mean these lifestyles should be pushed onto the culture, and especially not the children.

The other reason is that some pander to "victim groups" because they see political advantage in it.

ThatRobGuy said:

I'm getting that in another thread right now as we speak because
-I dared to suggest that diet & exercise are preferable to a bunch of people rushing to get on GLP-1s
-Suggested that direct-to-consumer marketed telehealth services
- and linked a WHO report that suggested antibiotics are overprescribed as a means of demonstrating that "no, not all doctors use due diligence when handing out prescriptions"

Things that shouldn't be controversial at all

Took all of the two posts before the "you're not a doctor" and "you're just a guy who found links on the internet" crap started up.

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eh... That's not really all you're communicating in that thread.

RocksInMyHead said:

Having read through that thread already, it's only the first one of those that prompted the "you're not a doctor" statements - and that's a reasonable criticism of anyone dispensing medical advice on the internet. Everything else was people simply disagreeing with you or disagreeing with your interpretation of the links you posted. You have a tendency to speak authoritatively, even when simply voicing your opinion, and of treating your own opinions as factual, and that colors people's responses. Again, there's an objective difference between stating "I think [X]" and "[X] is the truth." I (think I) understand the point you were trying to make, but making your argument as an absolute is always going to set people off.

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Also, the one person in that thread who's making the credentialism argument is obviously touchy from having already gone through some of this gatekeeping to get something for a legitimate need that others refused to acknowledge.

During his 2016 campaign, a YouTube video circulated showing Trump at a WWF event, taking on the owner of WWF, bringing him down and shaving his head in the center of the ring.
It was perhaps the 150th indication of his complete unsuitability to be president--at this point the indications have reached well into the thousands.
Might he try to take on an MMA fighter? Might his staged victory wind up giving him a heart attack or stroke?
Who am I, an ordinary citizen, to try and stop him, even if I were so inclined?
And that's a big if.