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  • 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.

UN demands Israel withdraw to pre-1967 borders within a year, limiting Israel’s ability to fight terrorism

From the OP article:
The resolution, the first proposed by the Palestinian delegation since being granted diplomatic privileges in May, was approved with 124 nations voting in favor, 14 against and 43 abstentions.
The 14 U.N. member states who voted against the UNGA motion are Argentina, the Czech Republic, Fiji, Hungary, Israel, Malawi, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, Tuvalu and the United States.
The 43 countries that abstained from the vote included nations that have recently moved toward withholding arms sales to Israel, including Australia, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Following the vote, Oren Marmorstein, the spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted a message to X calling it “a distorted decision that is disconnected from reality, encourages terrorism and harms the chances for peace.”
In particular, Marmorstein slammed the resolution for ignoring the issue of Palestinian terrorism targeting Israeli civilians. The resolution makes no mention of the Hamas atrocities of October 7, or the ongoing Gaza War which resulted from that attack.
“The General Assembly decision bolsters and strengthens the Hamas terrorist organization and the Iranian terrorist state that stands behind it,” Marmorstein said.
“The resolution sends a message that terrorism pays off and yields international resolutions.”
  • Informative
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Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a FATHER and a priest"

Judges 17:

5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
It was all against the law of Moses.

7 Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.”
The young man was a Levite. Micah's biological son was not.

10 And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest,
Strong's Hebrew: 1. אָב (ab) — 1212 Occurrences

H1 was polysemantic. Meaning #8 in Brown-Driver-Briggs: 8. term of respect & honour

Micah used H1 metaphorically as a term of respect.

and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.
The father/priest was like Micah's biological son.

Later, the Danites used the same terminology in Judges 18:

19 "Be quiet," they told him. "Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?"
What was a father/priest?

It's a term of respect and authority, similar to how Catholic priests are called "Father" today.

Police arrest Muslim who vowed to ‘kill the God of the Jews’ in London church

That’s pretty strange since Muslims worship the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.

Or so they claim, but really, the Islamic deity bears no resemblance to the our God, the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity, but is instead an idol, according to the Masoretic reading of Psalm 96 v. 5* (The gods of the gentiles are idols).

This is made evident by the fact that the Islamic God is not the God of Love and infinite Mercy we find in the Bible, but rather an abjectly evil tormentor.

It also seems clear that the supposed appearance of the Archangel Gabriel, “Jibreel” who inspired the initial visions of Muhammad was a demon.

This corresponds with the Septuagint version of the aforementioned Psalm, which is Psalm. 95. v. 5 in the Septuagint due to differences in Septuagint versification, which states “the gods of the gentiles are demons.”

In this case I regard the two readings as complementary rather than contradictory (much like how minor variations in the accounts of certain events in the Gospels are complementary rather than contradictory, which is why I really have no use for “Gospel harmonies” such as Tatian’s Diatessaron. Every attempt at merging the four books into one unified narrative is less than the sum of its parts.
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Muslim donor's blood denied for donation to sick Hindu woman at Indian hospital

An incident at the district hospital in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, has ignited public outrage after a Muslim man was refused the opportunity to donate blood for a critically ill Hindu woman.

The refusal, captured on video and circulated widely on social media, has drawn sharp criticism, with many condemning the communal overtones of the situation.

According to reports, the incident occurred when Pawan Sonkar, a resident of Ajaygarh, brought his mother to the district hospital for treatment. His mother was diagnosed with a severe blood deficiency, and the attending doctors urgently requested him to arrange a blood donor. In response, Sonkar brought his friend, Raja Khan, a Muslim, to donate blood.

Continued below.

My protestant brethren, and those who eschew that name, do you think about the pope too much?

As a Baptist, you may question whether Baptists are entirely orthodox in the eyes of Catholic doctrine. It is our belief that they are not. Therefore, how can one accurately evaluate Pope Francis's statements, made in Italian, when one's theological perspective is not Catholic? This suggests that one may not be suitably positioned to pass such judgment.
Using that measure, it would then disqualify my Catholic Brothers and Sister from any comments on any Doctrine outside of the Roman Catholic Church. Because they may not be suitably positioned to pass such judgement.

In this case, we have the very words of Our Lord and Savior very plainly and that circumvents any authority on earth including the pope’s complete contradiction to Jesus.
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Fellowship The gifts of healings (Read the ruleset before you post)

From my experiences is we don’t own the gifts.

Those eager to serve filled with and a strong desire to love the Lord and others through His help…
Are like the servants who have talents and do not bury them but increase the Lords love poured out for others.


peace
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I want to engineer a Catholic version of the "Free State Project" on a smaller scale

What is the situation of the Catholic Church in that location? If it's really something special then maybe it's a good idea. If it's moribund then fixing that would be the first step, maybe by bringing in like-minded Catholics. A good Catholic parish will be a healing balm for a neighborhood or a town. A not so good parish and the neighborhood will go downhill unless the evangelicals have a big presence there.

I saw a list once of best places to be Catholic. It can vary by state or by county or by diocese. And of course if we live in some of the not quite best locations it can still be OK if we are in a good parish with a good priest.
Speaking as objectively as possible, my parish is tied for the most thriving parish I've been a part of since my conversion. Including parishes I attended/joined in Virginia, Maryland, and New York during my east coast stint.

They've kinda rewritten (or restored perhaps?) the book on RCIA and it's been tremendously successful, evident by classes of 30+ receiving their sacraments on Easter Vigil. The person responsible for reforming the program has kind of passed the torch and gone on to develop something new called RCIF (Rite of Christian Initiation for Families) that encourages parents who want their kids to be baptized and receive their sacraments to learn what their kids are learning for support, but it's also kind of a sneaky way of winning more souls, and it works. I'm co-teaching a class of adults whose kids have been at it for a bit and there's some enthusiastic parents who are excited to become Catholic themselves.

Beyond that the five Sunday Masses (counting Saturday vigil) are typically full, in some cases standing room only. I haven't been to daily Mass in years but I assume the attendance there is about average, or slightly above.

Parish events like the KOC crab feed and the parish picnic, etc are always sell out crowds.

I would characterize the Catholic community here as "brimming with vitality".

This kind of goes with my theory that some of the best places to be Catholic are actually embedded in more broadly "hostile" states. I hear the Archdioceses of San Francisco and Portland are amazing and those cities are notoriously liberal. I suspect the goodness of the Churches there stems from a sense that the Catholics need to bond more closely as a community to withstand the temptations and opposition to God's work.

My thinking was I hope we get to a place where the richness of the Catholic community here extends beyond my parish. There's another parish here but it's not as vibrant. What I hope to see is maybe 1-2 religious communities established here, we have Trappists and Carmelites close by but they're not like Franciscans or Dominicans who are "out there" in the community. One thing I really wish I could do is help the Sisters of Life open a west coast chapter here, their presence is overwhelmingly in NY with a smaller chapter in Colorado, but I see incredible potential for their ministry here in CA and where I'm located it would be easy to find a place within shouting distance that could be built up as a retreat in the mountains or something.

With that kind of growth then hopefully other kinds of growth are inspired, like the creation of more shrines and the establishing of new regular events that bring Catholics together like Catholic Underground in NYC.

Obviously this would all happen incrementally, not at once but these are some big picture ideas I've hoped and prayed for.
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Catholic manifesto calls on faithful to act coherently in the face of societal crisis

The Congress of Catholics and Public Life, which is scheduled to celebrate its XXVI edition in Madrid in November, calls on Catholics to act coherently to offer solid foundations to a society in crisis that lives “as if God did not exist.”

Organized by Spain’s Catholic Association of Propagandists (ACdP, by its Spanish acronym), a manifesto has been issued for the Congress titled “Quo Vadis? Thinking and Acting in Times of Uncertainty.”

The manifesto points out that “the greater the loss of permanent references, the more political and social disorder there is” and refers both to “the concealment of everything that expresses the transcendence of the human being” and to the construction of a society that lives “as if God did not exist.”

In contrast, Catholics are encouraged to make “a redoubled effort in defending their foundations” against moral relativism, in an attitude that “is not an exercise in fundamentalism but, on the contrary, means being at the vanguard of the main debate on the future of our societies.”

Demoralization in the face of imposed social disorder​


Continued below.

Jerry Falwell Jr. returns to Liberty University for the first time in over 3 years

Former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. visited the campus for the first time since he reached with a settlement with school officials regarding disputes over his 2020 resignation.

Falwell and his wife, Becki, attended a football game at the Lynchburg, Virginia-based Evangelical institution founded by his father on Saturday, having previously been banned from the campus during the litigation.

"It's so wonderful, after spending the better part of 40 years imagining and building what's here, to be able to come and enjoy it without all of the responsibility on my shoulders," Falwell told WSET News.

Continued below.
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Michigan pastor arrested, fired after camera found in bathroom

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Police refute reports that explosives were found near Trump rally

Authorities have refuted reports circulating online that explosives were found near the location of a planned rally for former President Donald Trump days after he survived an apparent assassination attempt.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, was slated to hold a campaign event at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, on Wednesday. Unverified reports surfaced claiming that explosives were found in a car parked at the venue.

However, Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Patrick Ryder released a statement Wednesday denying the claims, labeling the earlier reports as "unfounded."

Continued below.

True Church vs Denominational fake Church

False. Christ describes his coming as "immediately after the tribulation of those days"
Five Happenings of the 2nd Coming of Jesus (6th Vial)

Mat 24:29 (1) Immediately after the tribulation of those days (6Vial) (2) shall the sun be darkened, (3) the moon shall not give her light, (4) and the stars shall fall from heaven, (5) and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:


The 2nd Coming of Jesus

Mat 24:30 (1) And *then shall appear the sign of the Son of man (Matt 24:24, 27, 37, 44) in heaven: (2) and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, (3) and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven (4) with power and great glory.

  • *then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: Time Gap between tribulation and the 1000 year Kingdom.

Elect Gathered Between Tribulation and the 1000-year Kingdom

Mat 24:31 (1) And he (Jesus) shall send his (Jesus) angels with a great sound of a trumpet, (2) and they (angels of Jesus) shall gather together his (Jesus) elect from the four winds (angels), (4) from one end of heaven to the other.
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Gravitons?

Go ahead and watch ST V. Unlike II, III, IV, and VI it may be your only viewing. It's not dire, and it is definitely not dull (like TMP). Just remember as "Shatner" said in Futurema "Where No Fan Has Gone Before": "and I got such a great performance out of me in Star Trek V because of how much I respected myself." :) (There might also be gravitons...)
Well then, I might just have to try out Star Trek V. Plus, I can not miss out on the gravitons.
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Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump.

I said, "Don't do it!"
He said, "Nobody loves me."
I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"
He said, "Yes."
I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?"
He said, "A Christian."
I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?"
He said, "Protestant."
I said, "Me, too! What franchise?"
He said, "Baptist."
I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?"
He said, "Northern Baptist."
I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist."
I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?"
He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region."
I said, "Me, too!" Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?"
He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912."
I said, "Die, heretic, and pushed him over.

2024 Sees Significant Decline in OD Deaths, First Decline Since 2020

Evolutionary forces are at work here. Kill off all the dummies. The people who are left either don't take the drugs or change behavior. It looks like more people are just changing behavior: Take the drugs but have a friend around with naloxone.

All those people who want to casually take drugs alone will have to stop or risk death.
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Will the Antichrist be a cloned being ?

I don't know what the "Image of the Beast" will be. Antichrist will not be a clone--he will be a man, in my opinion. There isn't enough time in history to perfect the science of cloning simply to fulfill prophecy. Antichrists have existed all through NT history--all without cloning. It is, I think, a bit of a distraction. Let's focus on what the Scriptures say, instead of getting too speculative about modern science.
The Image of the Beast could be made up of multiple components? The technologies we got today, like communication and surveillance, AI and so on. All the necessary components have to be put into place before the "mark" is required.

As for the Antichrist being a man, in the case of a single individual, I don't feel this is the case, but that is my opinion.
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Are We Asked To Earn Money?

I would never associate either with the Lord or claim His influence for their establishment. Social Security and SSD are man's creations. That's why they're rife with abuses and funding woes.

@Gregory Thompson is correct. This is the worst time to be financially dependent because everything is changing and we're moving to a new system. Those who've heard from the Lord are making back up plans. They're not putting their eggs in one basket or relying on governmental sustenance. They've read the times accurately.

Of the tribe of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do. --1 Chronicles 12:32

Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle with your hands in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening planting will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both alike will be good. --Ecclesiastes 11:6-7

Give a portion to seven, or even [divide it] to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth. --Ecclesiastes 11:2

He who watches the wind [waiting for all conditions to be perfect] will not sow [seed], and he who looks at the clouds will not reap [a harvest]. --Ecclesiastes 11:4

The Proverbs 31 woman is an excellent example of this principle. Industry has many guises and the Internet provided more. Most people are using computers or smart devices. There's numerous ways to increase your income from home that people can explore.

The government is in the world's hands and his master is mammon. You can put yourself in his clutches if you want to. But don't complain when he betrays you.

~bella
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Peace be upon the Holy Land

Isaiah 58:1-2 Shout aloud without restraint, declare to My people: Israel, their sins. They seek guidance of Me day after day and say they delight in knowing My ways, as if they were a nation which had acted rightly and had not abandoned the just Laws of their God. The Jewish State of Israel.

Isaiah 58:3-5 Why should we fast and work hard for God, when He seems to pay no heed? In fact you just serve your own interests on your holy day, keeping your workers employed. Your observance of a holy day leads only to trouble and strife, on such a day your ‘fasting’ [secular activities] means that you cannot expect your voice to be heard in heaven. Is that what you call a ‘fast day’, holy to the Lord? Just a day for a man to humble himself, bowing his head like a bulrush and repenting in sorrow. The situation of many Christian Church’s today.

Isaiah 58:6-7 This is the kind of ‘fast day’ that I require; to loose the chains of injustice, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke. To share your food with the hungry and to provide the homeless with shelter. When you see those without garments, to clothe them and to never evade your duty to your kinfolk.

Isaiah 58:8-9 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, your healing will appear, your righteousness will go before you and the glory of the Lord will follow you. Then you will call and the Lord will answer, you will cry for help and He will say; Here I am! Call upon the Name of the Lord and you will be saved. Joel 2:32, Acts2:21, Romans 10:13

Isaiah 58:13-14 If you keep your Sabbath day holy by not doing as you please, making the Lords day worthy of honour and do not attend to your own affairs, then you will find joy in the Lord. He will give you dominion over the Land, the holding of your father, Jacob will be yours to enjoy.

Isaiah 58:11-12 The Lord will guide you always. He will satisfy your needs in the sun scorched Land and give you strength. You will be like a well watered garden, like an unfailing spring. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and build upon ancient foundations. You will be called the restorers of houses and towns.

Psalms 125:1-5 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion; it cannot be shaken, it stands forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, for now and evermore. Surely wicked rulers will not continue to control the Land allotted to the righteous, or the righteous may put their hand to injustice. Do good, Lord to Your people, to those who are upright in heart, but those who turn aside into crooked ways, let them suffer the penalty of evildoers

PEACE BE UPON ISRAEL.
Reference: REB. some verses abridged.

Surely wicked rulers will not continue to control the Land’ – the apostate, atheistic and false religion peoples who currently occupy most that area originally promised to Abraham, will not stay much longer. The soon to happen, Lord’s Day of vengeance and wrath, will ‘sun scorch’ the entire Middle East, allowing His faithful Christian people to ‘have dominion over the Land’, and they will ‘rebuild the ancient ruins’. Then, there will be truly; Peace upon the holy land of Israel.

Kamala Harris slammed for deploying a ‘fake accent’ in Detroit speech

Obviously the left eat it up. It must be what they want.
Well now that I stop and think about it, I can see how riding the shifting political winds might be exciting for a Liberal.

This one could take them on an exhilarating ride; but she might wear a wrist compass; so she can figure out where she is going.
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White House falsely claims grocery prices have ‘come down’ under Biden — while Harris revives price-gouging claim

Harris says ‘very few’ companies are price gouging, despite her pledge to eradicate it​


Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday acknowledged that corporate price gouging is not widespread, despite her campaign’s instance that it’s rampant and tackling it would bring down costs for Americans.


So she changed her position again?

That seems to be the one thing that we can count on with her.
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