FireDragon76 said:

I'm not a Catholic. I just believe the government shouldn't interfere with the free exercise of religion, even if I don't adhere to the particular religion.

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Amen. Well said.

Generations of Christians have been captivated by C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters,” a work of fiction that gives insight into the temptations that humans face through imaginary letters from Screwtape, a senior demon, to his nephew, who has been given his first assignment: a young man who he must inspire to reject God and choose eternal damnation. Within its pages, the reader is confronted with the realities of the depth of evil and human weakness, as well as the relentless pursuit of God’s love.

In her latest book, Emily Wilson Hussem uses the same style to warn the women of today of the insidious ways the Evil One can influence them to stray from the path of love and mercy that God desires for them. “Sincerely, Stoneheart” is likely to resonate with women who find their struggles chronicled within the letters from the imaginary demon Stoneheart to her protégé, Belphegora.

The subject that Stoneheart and Belphegora are working to lure into rejecting God’s love is a young woman who came to commit her life to Jesus on a retreat. The key tactic the demons use is to have the woman doubt that she is beloved by God, making her become obsessed with her lovability and acceptance by others.

Unsurprisingly, one of the main themes in “Sincerely, Stoneheart” is the way that smartphones, the internet and social media provide a gateway to being influenced in mind and heart by voices that do not come from a loving God.

Continued below.

notRusskiyMir said:

Also, how he would bother to remember all that speech.

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Freemasons spend a huge amount of time memorizing and reciting speeches, gestures and so on. Indeed I suspect a fair number of people became Freemasons rather than members of other fraternities offering life-insurance type benefits, such as the Oddfellows, Woodmen, B.P.O.E. et cetera, was to practice and develop their skill at memorization or as a way of keeping their memory sharp.

In contrast the liturgical churches have always provided service books which can be used on the altar and the chant stand. Indeed even a 33rd degree Mason might balk at the prospect of having to memorize the entire range of Orthodox service books including all eight volumes of the Octoechos and all twelve volumes of the full Monthly Menaion, in addition to the General Menaion, the Octoechos, the Horologion, the Irmoilogion (which you need in some cases due to not all editions of the service books containing the full Irmos at the start of each Ode in the Canons), the Triodion, the Pentecostarion, the Liturgikon and Euchologion or Trebnik and Sluzhbenik as they are known in Russian (I think in Church Slavonic), and also the Evangelion, Apostol and Prophetologion, and finally the Typikon which acts as the liturgical glue which binds the whole system together like JCL (job control language) on an IBM mainframe, operating on a continual cycle that repeats approximately every 537 years assuming no one changes the service books or the Typikon (which they did; the Violakis Typikon differs in periodicity owing to various simplifications, but I prefer the tradititional versions of the typikon, namely, those versions of the Sabaite-Studite synthesis used by the Russian Old Rite Orthodox and those used by the Athonites ROCOR, the Serbians, Jerusalem, Georgia, and parts of the OCA, and also the disused Cathedral Typikon that ceased being used in Constantinople after the Venetian invasion in 1204, but which has been reconstructed by Dr. Alexander Lingas and sounds epic. When we retake Hagia Sophia from the Muslims without violence by converting the Turks to Orthodox Christianity that is the Typikon that should be used at Hagia Sophia.

Fromissouri said:

Here's the government's side of the story: Basin Man Convicted of Clean Water Act Violations and Destruction of US Property

I'm just wondering how "dredged and fill material [getting] into a tributary stream and adjacent wetlands" caused "widespread damage."

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There were a number of things going on in that case:

1. He was a repeat offender. He got a visit in 2013 and was told to stop, then they came back in 2014 and he had dug out more ponds.
2. The ponds were dug into a stream and wetlands area. That itself caused "widespread damage" by disrupting the stream and wetlands over an area of more than an acre.
3. Dumping unconsolidated sediment into a stream can substantially change the stream and have large downstream effects on the ecosystem. The specific quantity of material isn't clear, but given that there were nine ponds spread out over an acre, that would be many thousands of cubic feet of fill dumped into the wetland. And that's before considering any damage or pollution from the excavator(s) used.

THE HEALING SPRING BY THE HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN MARY ON TOP OF A SMALL MOUNTAIN JUST OUTSIDE THE MASSIVE RUINS OF ANCIENT EPHESUS

I find it fascinating that the healing springs miraculously dug up by Bernadette at Mary's behest is not the only healing Marian springs. My fellow parishioner Dick climbed this little mountain on a "Footsteps of St. Paul Tour" that he (and later I) took about 10 years ago. Dick went on this tour despite the fact that he had torn tendons in his badly arthritic knee.

He limped badly up the beautiful little mountain lined with box-shaped trees and an elegant wall along the pathway. A Turkish lady saw him limp and urged him to bottle water from the adjacent Marian spring that could be tapped from a spigot in the descending wall. A skeptical Dick complied just to be polite, but when he returned to his hotel, he complained about his pain to his wife, Mary Ann. She replied, "Well, why don't you pour the bottled water onto your knee to see if that helps?" Dick replied, "Why? It's just water with no special powers!" His wife retorted, "I agree, but what do you have to lose?" So Dick reluctantly poured the water on his knee. He felt a little better, but attributed this to a placebo effect.

When he returned to the US, he entered a Spokane hospital for orthopedic surgery on his knee. When he came out of the anesthesia, his surgeon stood at the foot of his bed. The surgeon said defensively, "I don't understand it. We took MRIs and did other tests on your torn tendons before your trip, but when we cut you open, your knee was perfectly normal and even the arthritis was gone!" The doctor probably feared a malpractice lawsuit. Dick testified to his miracle in my church and began it in this unforgettable way: "Now I do some things which many of you would disapprove of!"

wing2000 said:

"At least 32 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977, according to The Associated Press. Thursday’s crash was the deadliest since at least 2018, when a sightseeing helicopter without doors fell into the East River, flipped over, and five people drowned."

New York Helicopter Crash Recalls Another. And Another.

Dozens have died in accidents since helicopters were allowed in the city in 1949. Residents have complained for nearly as long, but reforms rarely stick.

www.nytimes.com

Maybe it's time to shut down helicopter tours?

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idk... 32 people in 50 years doesn't strike me as that bad, especially when you figure there are probably multiple fatalities per incident. And that's all helicopter accidents, not just tourist charters.

Mountainmike said:

Perhaps he chose do this just to remind an unbelieving world the Eucharist “ really is me”

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except His humanity is unfallen, so it’s not really Him.

Nithavela said:

They seem to be old school liberal insane clowns that haven't made the switch.

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It's getting hard to tell the clowns apart without a playbill.

Ready for a robot that not only looks human but also acts and reacts like one, expressing emotions like shyness, excitement or friendliness? Disney Research, the innovation powerhouse behind The Walt Disney Company, has turned this into reality.

Its latest creation is an autonomous humanoid robot that can mimic human emotions and behaviors in real time. Think of it as a real-life WALL-E, but with even more personality.

This groundbreaking robot uses advanced artificial intelligence to replicate natural gestures and deliberate actions with striking accuracy. What makes it truly special is how it learns by observing and mimicking human operators who guide its emotional responses during interactions.

Over time, the robot becomes capable of engaging with people on its own, making every interaction feel personal and lifelike.

Continued below.

iluvatar5150 said:

Elon Musk?

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I will stick with the real world and my measly $250k.

RileyG said:

Autism cannot be "cured." It's a spectrum.

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It probably doesn't have a single cause. In some cases it may actually just be a normal variation in human development, albeit one that is disabling in certain cultural contexts.

At the beginning of this chapter Paul talked about the gospel of our salvation which he preached to the people, by which we are saved if we hold fast the word which he preached, unless we believed in vain. And the gospel he preached includes all he taught, as recorded in all his writings. And so the Lord had me write on that subject earlier this morning in a writing titled, “Unless You Believe in Vain.” So I am not going to go into all of that again. But I will give a synopsis of it, for it fits with this last verse in this chapter.

Paul spent the majority of this chapter 15 proving that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, for there were many people with whom he was speaking who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. He said, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” (1 Corinthians 15:32-34 NASB’95) That fits with this:

By God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. Thus, sin is to no longer be granted by us to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God.

That is a summary of Romans 6:1-23, which was also penned by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And it is a summary of the gospel message that Paul taught, too, and that Jesus taught, and that the other New Testament apostles taught, as well. For the faith to believe in Jesus comes from God, and it is not of our own doing, not of human flesh. So, by faith, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as servants of God.


Jesus Christ taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, daily putting sin to death by the Spirit, and we now walk (in conduct, in practice, with purpose) according to the Spirit in walks of obedience to our Lord, in the power of God, then we have the hope of salvation and the assurance of eternal life with God in his heavenly kingdom.

And this is not “works salvation.” All this is of God, by the Spirit, and according to the will and purpose of God for our salvation from sin. It has nothing to do with any of us, in our own flesh, trying to be good enough to earn or to deserve our own salvation. But it is us, in the power of God, according to his will and purpose for our lives, walking in the salvation which he provided and which we already received, by faith, by his grace. For our salvation is something that we are to live out in our daily lives, by grace.

So, as those who are of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, which is gifted to us by God, and which is not of our own doing, we die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and now we walk (in practice) in obedience to his commands. And this does not make us perfect people, but if sin is our practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of surrender to God in obedience to his commands, then we have believed in vain, for we will not have salvation from sin, and we won’t have eternal life with God.

But if we are of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, a faith which is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die to sin and to obey God and his commands, then we will be those who die to sin, in practice, and who obey God, in practice, and for whom sin is no longer our practice. And in the power of God, under his guidance, we will be steadfast in faith, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, having a faith which is not in vain.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Walk With Me

By Al Langdon and P.J. Zondervan

Walk with me, walk with me,
Lest mine eyes no longer see
All the glory, all the story of Your love;
Talk to me, talk to me,
Like You spoke so tenderly,
When You talked there,
When You walked there by the sea.

Talk to me, talk to me,
Lest mine ears no longer hear
All the wonder, all the beauty of Your grace;
Walk with me, walk with me,
As You walked so lovingly,
When You walked there,
When You talked there by the sea.

Let me follow in the footsteps
That trod the shore of Galilee,
Let me learn to pray like He did
In the Garden of Gethsemane;
Take my hand, take my hand,
Teach me Lord to understand,
All the duty, all the beauty of Your love.

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Abounding in The Work of The Lord
An Original Work / April 14, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Twelve protesters have been charged with felony vandalism and conspiracy for occupying and damaging a Stanford University building last June. The demonstrators, aged between 19 and 32, barricaded themselves inside the university president’s office, causing significant destruction, prosecutors said.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced this week that those charged face counts of felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass, The Associated Press reported. They are scheduled for arraignment later this month at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.

Prosecutors stated the protesters’ cellphones contained messages coordinating the occupation, including a “do-it-yourself occupation guide.” They added that demonstrators wore masks, and at least one person broke a window to gain entry into the building.

Continued below.

The Gucci Goddess, $108 Million Stolen

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A disgusting politicization of our religion based on the nonsense that Christians are being persecuted in the United States.

God didn't create hell. Hell is simply the rejection of God's grace and dwelling in sin.

1J 2:

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

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Little children were the new believers.

13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

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Fathers were seasoned believers.

I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

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Young men were growing strong spiritually.

I write to you, children, because you know the Father.

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'Children' was John's inclusive term for all believers. John himself was an elder of the Johannine community.

14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

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John used the terms 'little children', 'young men', and 'fathers' for believers at three stages of spiritual development: new believers, growing believers, and mature believers.

As soon as these thugs started getting arrested - the terrorist attacks ended.

Valletta said:

"This will help County Recorders find and remove any aliens on their voter rolls," Rogers said. "It will also potentially enfranchise federal-only voters whose citizenship is confirmed, which would allow them to vote in state and local elections. AFL congratulates each of Arizona’s 15 county recorders for taking this bold and important step for election integrity in the state."

SCOOP: Arizona to begin removing as many as 50K noncitizens from voter rolls following lawsuit

Arizona will begin removing noncitizens from its voter rolls after a successful lawsuit by America First Legal paved the way for counties to coordinate with DHS.

www.foxnews.com

It should not have taken a lawsuit to get this done.

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This article is so misleading! I did not have to register with my birth certificate or passport either. I was born here. Additionally, all these people are most likely citizens who just need to re-register.

Nithavela said:

No attacks on his political enemies? No crass statements? No bragging about personal achievements?

Honestly, I can't find much fault with this. Of course it's playing to his religious base and not very inclusive to non-christians, but for a christian holiday, you don't have to be.

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QFT - well said - you have my respect.