• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

All Praise, Thanks, Glory, Honor, Victory & Joy to Jesus Christ for ensuring that Pope Francis will be discharged from the hospital on Sunday

All Praise, Thanks, Glory, Honor, Victory & Joy to Jesus Christ for ensuring that Pope Francis will be discharged from the hospital on Sunday:

  • Prayers
Reactions: Maori Aussie

What Was 'The Ark Of The Covenant' ?

How come it killed if touched & could only be carried by the Levites who wore special garments ?
In ancient Israel, the ark symbolized God’s presence.
Located in the holy of holies inside the tabernacle,
it was a symbol of God’s throne and rule from Jerusalem.

God gave Moses and Aaron specific instructions about the Tent
of Meeting and the movement of the Ark, they did not follow.

God is loving and merciful, but He is also holy, and He defends
His holiness with His power, and affronts to His holiness some-
times bring about His holy wrath. “It is a dreadful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

"But they must not touch the holy things or they will die."

Why did God strike Uzzah dead for touching the Ark of the Covenant?

Nothing in the biblical text says that electricity killed Uzzah, or anyone,
Nor anything about electrical protection clothing used by the priests.

What was the significance of the priestly garments?

"God used these distinctive garments to set His spiritual
leaders apart from the other Israelites. Each piece of the
priestly garments held significance related to the work
the priests performed."

Jeremiah 33:14-22
17For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit
upon the throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the priests
the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and
to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

20Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day,
and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day
and night in their season; 21then may also my covenant be broken
with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign
upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers."
Upvote 0

California woman strangled to death while on overnight prison visit with quadruple murder convict husband

No one has been charged in the killing, KCRA-TV reported.
If he is already life in prison, its just a Darwin award and not worth prosecuting if the cost of a death penalty exceeds the actuary tables for how much longer he will live in prison.

That being said perhaps the prison should be investigated instead...
Upvote 0

Please pray by saying, "In Jesus Christ's Name & By The Power & Grace Of The Holy Spirit, we rebuke te wildfires raging in South Korea & declare them

Please pray by saying, "In Jesus Christ's Name & By The Power & Grace Of The Holy Spirit, we rebuke te wildfires raging in South Korea & declare them extinguished":

  • Prayers
Reactions: Pop D.

Intimidation has it's own website

Nope - but I do own Tesla Stock - not as much as Tim Walz or his state workers pension plan - so my money going into the company as an invest helps them -

How do you feel about him celebrating violence that is doing harm to his states pensioners?

BTW - I don't buy beer - but am not boycotting and never have boycotted them for dressing a man as a woman and almost destroying their company.

I also don't buy Chick fil A very often either - that doesn't mean I boycotted them when the left went after their founder for upholding his Christian values and having the audacity to speak publicly about them!

Is Tim Walz celebrating the violence ? Or is he just talking about the schadenfreude regarding their tanking stock price ?

People are angry that the worlds richest man is talking about gutting Social Security and Medicaid. They do not want to support the man who intends to take away retirement and healthcare benefits from the most vulnerable. I don't support harassment, violence or vandalism, but getting rid of your own Tesla or changing plans to buy one and boycotting Tesla is a legitimate form of protest.

Elon can fix this by stepping down as CEO (which another investor have called for because he is just absent from his duties as CEO). There is also the fact that the CyberTruck has been underwhelming with lots of issues.

Since you brought up Chick-Fil-A, I really like their sandwiches, but I don't buy it because of their anti LGBT stance. To be clear, I like their sandwiches and my boycott also denies me something I like. But I am not required by any law (yet) to support and bolster the wealth of an individual or company for any reason.
Upvote 0

Acts 2:13 and “This Generation”

Since the days of Jesus’ physical time on earth, our generation is no different than previous generations who had in their midst people attempting to deceive for earthly gains. They mock those who live by their love of God in the marketplace of man. They defile God’s Words with their own. They try to mislead believers by implying that God sees them for fools in terms of what they believe God wants. And all the while, many of them try to line their pockets with money taken from those who love God through Jesus and live by God’s Word to show their love for Him.

Jesus in Matthew 11:16 calls them out. He says, “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates...” As the marketplaces function, these “children” are off to the side, chiding any merchant and buyer that passes by, but knowing in their hearts they couldn’t hold a candle to them. So they play their flutes of mockery and harass then with the banging of their drums, while their playmates look on appreciatively. They are not interested in any sense or order, since they are too immature and too ignorant to understand what order is.

They get burned by the things they make, they let the wind leak through their own sails, they mock those who honor God’s Calling while having no idea what their own calling is, since they have become subsumed in their jealousy of people who have played by the rules and have turned them away.

And who pays them any mind? Those who cannot afford to pay for the things in the marketplace. Those of whom the marketplace is beyond reach. They won’t be mocked to their faces by the mockers sitting around and calling to their playmates. But they are mocked behind their backs by those very mockers who tell them, ‘Have some wine...We will let you be one of us. Have some oil...We will help you shine like the sun. All we ask is that you sit alongside us, playing a flute or a drum. You see, we give you a choice. Only thing is, you are fools to believe we will give you what you need. We will only take what little you have while refusing to give you any semblance of a real expectation of things that distinguishes man from the animal kingdom he rules over.’

With every generation there are implicit and explicit flute and drummer players that play louder and louder, in hope of drowning out the marketplaces that are the lifeblood of mankind, as more of the blood of mankind has been replacing the roses that are found alongside the same old wine.

#12 in Christian persecution, Saudi Arabia

It’s very risky to become a Christian in Saudi Arabia. Not only is it illegal to leave the Islamic faith, but new believers will also face intense opposition from their families and communities. In a shame and honour culture, bringing shame on the family in this way is considered the worst thing a person can do. They can be pressured, disowned, locked away, beaten, or even killed to restore the family’s honour.
Because of this, most Saudi Christians tend to follow their faith quietly and secretly. This can extend to not even telling their own spouse or children about their faith, for fear that extended family members or school staff could discover they’ve left Islam. There are no legal church buildings or meetings. But secret believers have become bolder in recent times, sharing their Christian faith with others on the internet and Christian satellite TV channels. Though Saudi Christians caught doing this have faced serious repercussions.
Most Christians living in Saudi Arabia are temporary workers from other countries. They’re forbidden from sharing their faith with local Saudis and gathering for worship is restricted. Breaking these rules can get them detained and deported.
12-Saudi-Arabia-WWL-2025-second-banner.png

Meet​

It’s too dangerous for any Saudi Arabian believer to share a quote.

What does Open Doors do to help?​

Open Doors supports the Body of Christ on the Arabian Peninsula by organising prayer, distributing Scripture resources, and training believers and pastors.

Please pray​

  • Pray that believers here will find a place to worship and grow in knowledge of the Lord.
  • Pray for immigrant Christians who meet secretly to receive God’s protection and wisdom.
  • Pray for God to bless al

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy reflects on first months of tenure and his faith

Sean Duffy shared how his family and Catholic faith have sustained him during his extraordinarily intense first months as U.S. secretary of transportation.

Despite the major challenges he has faced in the role, Duffy said: “I think that when you’re called to service and called in times of crisis, you don’t do it by yourself … you have someone walking with you, and it’s important to tap into your faith.”

In an interview with EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on March 20, Duffy discussed the horrific airplane crashes in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia earlier this year. He told Arroyo that the devastating losses “put in focus the mission of the department is safety.”

“It was not the way we anticipated our tenure starting out,” he said. “I talked to a number of the families from the DCA [Reagan National Airport] crash who lost loved ones. And if you can prevent that, if you can have policies in place that save future lives, I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”

Continued below.

In Lk 8:5, the word 'seed' in Greek was masculine, so why were its pronouns neuter?

Lk 8:

5 “A sower went out to sow his seed [masculine]. And as he sowed, some [neuter] fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it [neuter]."
Koine Greek collective (masculine, neuter, or feminine) nouns were sometimes referred to by neuter pronouns regardless of the antecedent's gender because the neuter gender in Greek could function as a generic or collective reference, focusing on the group rather than its individual members.
  • Agree
Reactions: Mark Quayle

Many People DO Think That Musk is Responsible for Government Cuts

It's also possible that you're right, to an extent, and iluvatar5150 is also right, to an extent. These issues are rarely simple and usually have multiple contours and layers to them.
Well I think that the OSF runs a large network of charities, activist groups, etc. --some of these, as was shown, receive USAID money

but at the end of the day, USAID shouldn't even exist: it is a Cold War initiative that is no longer needed
Upvote 0

James Carville offers love advice to young progressives following 'Love is Blind' political blow-up

Evangelical Protestants aren't the whole of Protestants in the US. Many belong to either older Mainline denominations, or smaller Confessional bodies not aligned with Evangelicalism.



I simply don't see that reflected in reality.

Take Democrat representation in Congress, for instance. Most Democrats in the House and Senate are either Jews or Christians, with only a handful belonging to other minority religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam. A few are non-religious, but most aren't.
I wasn't speaking about Jews or Muslims

a vast majority of Jews are Democrats. Most Muslims are as well.
Upvote 0

When the Jews killed their enemies in the Book of Esther, was it vengeance or self-defense?

I would agree that it would count as self-defense. At the same time, I know I am not alone in thinking Esther can easily be read as comedy/satire. There are a lot of exaggerations such as the 7-story stake Haman built, characters like Haman that are basically caricatures, and there are scenes that can almost be read as using low-brow or slapstick humor. When read this way, the 75,000 number also seems like an exaggeration, especially for a minority community to pull off.

Of course, even if it might be comedy the book addresses many serious issues. This includes things that have always been important for the Diaspora, including anti-Jewish sentiments (usually fomented by lies and demonization), and the real danger of violence against them.
Upvote 0

The Whole Armor of God

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:13-17 NASB’95)

We who are followers (disciples) of Jesus Christ have an enemy, Satan (the devil), who will “pull out all the stops” (make every possible effort or use all available resources to achieve an end) to try to keep us from obeying our Lord and from walking in his ways and in his truth and righteousness. And so we are given this spiritual armor by God in order to fight off Satan’s evil attacks against us, so that we can live for our Lord in holy living, and so that we can withstand the evil day and stand firm on the teachings of Christ.

So, if we have fastened on the belt of truth, what that means, in all practicality in daily living, is that we have put off lying, and now telling the truth is our practice (Ephesians 4:25), but not just any truth, but mainly the truth of God’s Word in the Bible (Genesis to Revelation). For even withholding the truth that is owed to other people is lying, and it is sinful for us to keep back the truth of the gospel from other people out of fear of what they might think of us and how we might be treated by them (Luke 9:26).

But it isn’t just that. Satan is a liar and the father of lies, and he has convinced many people, even some pastors of churches, to accept his lies and to spread them as truth, and to call them “the gospel,” when they are not the gospel. And so, not only should we be spreading the truth of the gospel, in opposition to his lies, but we need to be refuting the lies of the enemy, for many people are being led astray by them, convinced heaven is secured for them, even though they are still walking in sin in disobedience.

And righteousness has to do with what is deemed right in the eyes of God, i.e. what is approved by God. But this is not just a status that we wear, but we must be those who are walking in righteousness, and for whom sin is no longer what we practice. And faith is not just words that we speak, but it is action. For faith comes from God, it is gifted to us by God, it is not of ourselves, but it is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness and of our need to repent of sin and to now follow Jesus in obedience.

Our salvation is not just forgiveness of sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven, and not to hell. For Jesus died to deliver us out of slavery to sin so that we will now be slaves of God and his righteousness. He died so that sin will no longer reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, and not obedience to our Lord, it will lead to death, not to life eternal. But if we obey obedience to God, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification and its end is eternal life (Romans 6:1-23; 1 Pet 2:24).

And we are to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And this is not just going through the ritual of reading a passage of Scripture each day, but this is about applying the truths of God’s word, meant for us who believe in Jesus Christ, to our daily living. So, we walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, and we deny self, and we die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands in holy living, doing what pleases our Lord Jesus (Luke 9:23-26).

For, Satan wants nothing more than to get us to give up and to retreat back into sinful practices and to not obey our Lord. Or he just wants to make us afraid of what others might do to us or say about us so that we won’t be out in the world sharing the truth of the gospel, calling people to repent of their sins and to walk in obedience to the Lord. If we are servants of the Lord, and his messengers in sharing the gospel with others, the devil will try every which way he can to stop us, to discourage us, and to get us to give up.

So, we must resist him, and put on that armor of God daily, in practice, so that we can withstand the evil day, and so that we can combat Satan’s lies, and so that we do not get discouraged and give up because life got too hard all of a sudden. And we must keep speaking the truth, for the lies are gaining ground and they are drowning out the truth, for the most part. And the truth says we must deny self, die with Christ to sin, and follow Jesus in walks of obedience to his commands or we don’t have eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1


As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

Login to view embedded media
Caution: This link may contain ads

The Whole Armor of God
An Original Work / March 22, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Bill Maher sounds the alarm over Dems' record-low approval rating

The HBO host sounded the alarm over an NBC poll showing Democrats at a 27% approval rating​

"Real Time" host Bill Maher warned Democrats that their party may face the same fate as the Whigs if they don't embrace deregulation.

During Friday's panel discussion, Maher sounded the alarm on the NBC poll that showed Democrats had only a 27% approval rating, a record low for the party.

"I've never seen one this bad," Maher reacted.

Maher later cited the American Redistricting Project, which projected that Democrats will lose congressional seats in California, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Oregon by 2030 while Republicans will gain seats in Texas, Florida, Idaho and Utah.

Continued below.

'Angry flyer in First Class' loses to power of prayer

I was on a flight from Salt Lake City to Chicago, and it was full — of passengers and stress. We were quite late in departing, and many overhead bins were off-limits due to being full of ski gear. For a while, we idled on the tarmac with no heat. There were gripes enough that everyone could latch on to the stressor of their choice.

But for me, this flight brought the rare joy of getting bumped to First Class. The man beside me, however, was not a happy traveler. Besides the delays, my neighbor was angry about the meal offered in First Class. “You call this food?” he asked. Then he loudly announced, “I wouldn’t feed this to a dog!”

His increasing anger — and vitriol leveled at the cabin’s two servers — made everyone uncomfortable. One of the attendants, patiently offering the man every conceivable food or drink option, was rebuffed numerous times. “I paid for First Class,” he barked. “Get some decent food on the plane, for God’s sake!”

Everyone else in the cabin (me included) tried to compensate by smiling and profusely thanking the attendants. But it seemed the harder they tried, the more abusive the man became. I spent the majority of the flight praying — praying for the angry businessman and for the beleaguered attendants.

Continued below.

8 glasses of water mythbusted


For reference, I live in hot and humid tropical climate and my estimated daily water loss far exceeds my daily water intake(only 2 to 3 glasses of water from all sources). Yet I'm still able to exercise like an athlete without any difficulties and my heart rate and blood pressure is that of athletes. I still sweat but I don't feel hot during workouts. It doesn't make sense at all.

I only drink when thirsty and that is how my hydration went down to only 2-3 glasses over time.

Leftist Protests getting violent

What exactly is "nonsensical"? That's for Congress to decide, not a billionaire oligarch.
Congress just dictates the amounts that each department and agency will have to work with.

They decide the "how much"

It's the bureaucracy within the agencies that determines the "who receives it"

So while it's not nonsensical for Congress to say "we allocate $10 billion to the EPA this year"

It is nonsensical for the federal bureaucracy to shovel that money out the door to organizations that have little to no expertise in the realm of climate or environment.

That's how a Social Justice NGO (whose primary focus is encouraging banks to adopt more inclusive lending practices in urban communities), ended up being the stewards of $2 billion of the EPA budget, to distribute over the next 3 years.

Since the federal bureaucracy & agencies are so heavily stacked with Democrats, them shoveling money out the door to NGOs to distribute over the subsequent years is a thinly veiled way of doing an "even if we lose, we win"
Upvote 0

Victims secure $17.5M settlement from Philly hotels where they were sex trafficked as minors

Three women have secured a $17.5 million settlement after contending that the Philadelphia hotels where their bodies were sold for sex as minors were aware they were hubs for human trafficking but failed to take measures to protect potential victims.

Attorneys with Kline & Specter, a Pennsylvania law firm, secured the settlement on behalf of the three women, as The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Wednesday. The settlement was reached on March 13, and the victims will receive the $17.5 million from the Motel 6, Days Inn and North American Motor Inn.

The plaintiffs, whose names were not mentioned in court documents to protect their identities, filed their respective lawsuits against the Philadelphia hotels between 2022 and 2024 in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia.

Continued below.

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
5,889,320
Messages
65,581,088
Members
276,854
Latest member
ChrBro