I hope Congress considers some legislation for mandatory fines for interfering in a law enforcement operation.

Hello!

I am exploring eschatology to have a better understanding. I see arguments for both premillennialism and amillennialism, though I admit to being biased towards the former due to my denomination and upbringing.

One view I am considering is progressive covenentalism. It seems pretty compelling from a biblical standpoint and I think it fits the best with the New Testament. I do think it's pretty obvious, based on the text, that Jesus is the true Israel and all who are grafted in are heirs to the promise, including the promise of the land.

However, I am on the fence between progressive covenentalism and progressive dispensationalism.

My issue is that I do think there is some kind of significance to the return of the Jewish people to their land and I anticipate a future Messianic kingdom like in Acts 1:6, but I think dispensationalists can go too far with the separation between Israel and the Church. So, I don't want to say that Israel and the Jewish people have no significance at all to God's greater plan, and some verses do seem to teach that the Jewish people will be restored.

What are your thoughts?

We cannot know all the ways that God creates, but we can have fun learning science in the light of faith.


Painting of a late Jurassic scene in northern Germany, showing several iguanodons and an adult and a juvenile specimen of the sauropod Europasaurus holgeri. (photo: Gerhard Boeggemann, / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5)

Suppose you catechize your children properly and teach them all about Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden and original sin. Suppose you sit on the sofa one Sunday evening, read the Bible with them and explain how God created all of the plants and animals.

On Monday morning, they return to their science classes and learn about fossils and dinosaurs, which have sparked an interest and led them to browse the Internet for more information. It’s not like dinosaurs are taboo or anything. Kids love dinosaurs! Eventually, they ask the obvious question.

“So, Mom, I have been wondering: Did the dinosaurs live before or after Adam and Eve?”

You open your mouth to answer and catch yourself mid-breath, as you consider the path of reasoning. Well, that little question is mighty loaded, isn’t it? You tread carefully.

If the answer is that the dinosaurs lived before Adam and Eve, then it follows that all words and sentences in the first three chapters of Genesis are not to be taken literally. Dinosaurs are believed to have dominated the earth for more than 100 million years, first appearing more than 200 million years ago in the Triassic Period and reigning during the Jurassic Period — until about 60-70 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, when they went extinct.

Continued below.

I am reading Proverbs 6:22 in the NKJV:
22 When you roam, they will lead you;
When you sleep, they will keep you;
And when you awake, they will speak with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp,
And the law a light

I am pondering whether "they will speak with you"
involves more than being spoken to. That is, is
there a dialogue going on between the soul and
the Lord, as the soul receives light from Torah by the Spirit?

In the Interlinear of Proverbs 6:22 at biblehub.com,
the "with you" is reinforced instead of "to you", which makes me wonder
if the picture is one of interaction. On the side, the Interlinear says "she will speak with you".
What is the "she"?

Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) government in Minnesota plans to discriminate in hiring with a new policy next month that requires “hiring justifications” if someone from a “non-underrepresented” group is hired.

Why doesn't Tim Walz step down so some DEI candidate can take his place?

The totalitarian mind is like “a system of gears where teeth have been filed off at random. Such a snaggle-toothed thought machine … whirls with the jerky, noisy, gaudy pointlessness of a cuckoo clock in Hell.”

Kurt Vonnegut used this image in his novel “Mother Night” to describe totalitarian madmen, but we all have the kind of mind he described. It’s a good image for the mind of fallen humanity and one that suggests an explanation for a particular problem: why we can hold with conviction beliefs that make little and often no sense, sometimes to the point of insanity, while thinking sanely about everything else.

It’s the problem that makes us say to others, or others say to us, “What’s wrong with you? You know better than that.” But they (or we) don’t.

The logic can’t be faulted​

Continued below.

“I was on the edge of a precipice, dead inside, at the very bottom of a dark pit.”

With these stark words, Spanish priest Salvador Aguado Miguel shared his testimony following the suicide last week of young Father Matteo Balzano, an event that has shaken the Catholic Church, especially in Italy.

In the wake of this tragedy, Aguado shared on social media something he had not said publicly until now: “Five years ago, I was in the same place, on the edge of that precipice, at the bottom of that dark pit. Thank goodness Manuel, my psychologist, came into my life; he was like an angel who rescued me, sent by God.

"It's very, very hard to be in that situation,” the priest wrote on Instagram.

Continued below.

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Studies debunk pro-abortion maternal health, 'OB-GYNs exodus' claims​

Recently released peer-reviewed research is disputing what pro-life researchers call “fear-mongering narratives” about maternal health and OB-GYNs.

A peer reviewed study published last week found that the maternal morbidity — health problems following pregnancy or giving birth — remained unchanged in states with pro-life protections for unborn children.

Continued below.

Report described as 'an openly anti-Christian piece of work' funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, George Soros

A Hungarian official has taken aim at progressive activists within the European Union, accusing them of authoring a report that attacks Christianity and seeks to diminish its influence.

The European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) has published a report claiming that Europe is suffering from a rise in religious “anti-feminist” groups. The report was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and George Soros.

Hungarian Ministerial Commissioner, Bernadett Petri, said the report was yet more evidence of the EU’s slide into godlessness. Speaking to Hungary Today,she described it as “an openly anti-Christian piece of work.”

Continued below.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA failed to include multiple buildings on its flood risk map for Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, according to an analysis by NPR, PBS's FRONTLINE and data scientists.

At least 27 camp attendees died and five others remain unaccounted for after massive flash flooding swept the private Christian summer camp for girls along the Guadalupe River on July 4.

These findings come from a new analysis by NPR, PBS's FRONTLINE and data scientists, which show that at least eight buildings, including four cabins housing younger campers at Camp Mystic, are located within FEMA’s designated floodway, which is a dangerous area expected to see high-velocity water.

Continued below.

Grok, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI, made a series of comments this week praising Hitler and criticizing Jews, which were soon deleted.

One of the comments came in response to a post claiming to show someone named “Cindy Steinberg” celebrating the deaths of girls killed by recent flash floods at a Christian camp in Texas (the post turned out to be a hoax).

Responding to the post, Grok wrote the following:

Continued below.

A political action committee formerly known as “Evangelicals for Harris” apologized for using footage of the late Rev. Billy Graham to attack President Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential election.

Evangelicals for Harris, which has since been redubbed Evangelicals for America following former Vice President Kamala Harris’ electoral defeat last fall, issued a statement earlier this week acknowledging they had wrongly politicized the late evangelist’s Gospel message.

“In the lead up to the 2024 presidential election, Evangelicals for America PAC's ‘Evangelicals for Harris’ campaign produced several ads using clips of Rev. Billy Graham,” the group said. “We did this believing that our use of the clips of Rev. Graham, although not done with the prior permission of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), would meet the criteria for Fair Use under the US Copyright Act.”

Continued below.

Seven of the eight gangbangers are in the country illegally, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office told Fox News Digital. They are all members and associates of the 18th Street gang, which was formed by Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1960s and today has members throughout the United States as well as in Mexico and Central America, prosecutors said.

No help from AOC.

The criminal alien was apprehended alongside an MS-13 associate he was residing with and who was also in the United States illegally.
His associate, Rene Saul Escobar Ochoa, 30, is a criminal alien, known MS-13 gang member and foreign terrorist also wanted in El Salvador. Escobar Ochoa is accused of giving orders to fellow gang members to commit a variety of crimes, including multiple homicides, extortion, imprisonment and drug trafficking.


Please note the message to not interfere in arrests. I know some political leaders might paint some of these guys as "dads" or "residents" but think about the victims. Interfering can have deadly consequences.

Pope Leo XIV has written a warm and detailed letter to Cardinal Raymond Burke, thanking the American cardinal for 50 years of priestly ministry, in a gesture that marks a shift in tone following years of tension between Burke and Pope Francis.

The cardinal was one of the most prominent critics in the hierarchy of the late pope, under whom he fell conspicuously out of favor.

Leo’s letter, written in Latin and signed by the pope on June 17, was posted Tuesday by Burke on his official X account. In it, the pope praised Burke “for the prompt service he has zealously carried out and the earnest care he has demonstrated most especially for the law, which has also been of good service to the dicasteries of the Apostolic See.”

The pope went on to commend Burke’s pastoral witness, writing: “He has preached the precepts of the Gospel according to the heart of Christ and has recounted His treasures, diligently offering his devoted service to the Church universal.”

Continued below.

What was true 100 years ago is true today.


Historical sign in Dayton, Tenn., marking the Scopes Trial. (photo: Jerome L. Lawson / Shutterstock)

“When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, / the moon and stars that you set in place — / What is man that you are mindful of him, / and a son of man that you care for him?/ Yet you have made him little less than a god, / crowned him with glory and honor.” — Psalm 8:4-5

Click to expand...

Perhaps one of the most famous trials in the history of the United States began on July 10, 1925, in Dayton, Tennessee.

Officially, the case was Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, a high-school biology teacher. Most people refer to it as the “Scopes Trial” or the “Scopes Monkey Trial” because Scopes was accused of violating the Butler Act, which made it illegal, in Tennessee, to “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.”

Aided by the American Civil Liberties Union, Scopes was represented by the famous attorney Clarence Darrow, and the state was assisted by the former three-time Democratic nominee for president William Jennings Bryan. The trial was depicted then (and now) as a classic case of science and reason versus faith and superstition. This depiction is usually followed by an assertion that “science won” the trial and the argument.

Continued below.

Bolsonaro was a right wing authoritarian. Bolsonaro tried to steal the election. He used his office to enrich himself replete with luxury gifts from the middle east.
So when Trump sees him, he sees a lot of himself.

And then there is this:

So there you go. The United States saw a $7.4 billion trade surplus with Brazil and the USA government is going to introduce a tax on its own citizens who buy Brazilian products? You just can't make this up.

The new head of LifeSite News is its co-founder Steve Jalsevac who sent out the message below. Is this the whole story? I doubt it and I suspect there are other issues. I was once involved with a contentious fight over who would run a pro-life organization. We ended up in arbitration. The primary issue had nothing to do with the focus of the organization. It was management style and personality conflicts. I'm wondering how much of that played into Westen's firing.

The fact that one of the reporters, Stephen Kokx, was also fired impacts the credibility of Jalsevac's message. As one of the reporters, Kokc clearly had nothing to do with the "business challenges" at LifeSite: the loss of readership, the decline in donations, etc; so why was he fired?

Continued below.

Serena Dyksen had never even heard the word "abortion" until a family doctor recommended that her parents take her for one at the age of 13 after she was raped and impregnated by her uncle.

"One day, I was on the school bus, and I just blurted out to someone what had happened to me," Dyksen told The Christian Post in an interview. "I think I was just at a point in my life where I needed help."

Becoming pregnant from her uncle in the late 1980s was something Dyksen tried to hide at first out of shame. But a guidance counselor later pulled Dyksen out of choir class to ask if a family member had assaulted her. At first, the child didn't want to admit she was assaulted, but she eventually did. The girl's parents came and took her to the family doctor, who referred them to an abortion facility.

Continued below.

As the tragic events in Texas demonstrate, rurul counties often do not recieve the funds needed to implement preventative measures to protect human life. Kerr County Texas had previously applied for FEMA funds were denied, with Texas deciding to direct those funds to larger urban areas such as Houston. President Biden passed a program to address the needs of smaller communities: BRIC.

DOGE killed it.

In April, the Trump administration canceled the Building Resilient Communities Program, or BRIC, which funnels billions of dollars to states, municipalities, and tribal nations so they can prepare for future disasters. Ironically, Trump signed this program into law during his first term. But now, in the name of eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse,” the Trump administration has cut $750 million in new resilience funding and clawed back nearly $900 million in grant funding already promised but not yet disbursed to states for improvements like upgrading stormwater systems, performing prescribed burns, and building flood control systems. FEMA also canceled $600 million in Flood Mitigation Assistance funding to communities this year, money that helps states protect buildings from flooding. Government analyses have determined that every dollar spent preparing for a disaster reaps $6 or more in costs saved down the road.
Will Trump re-instate BRIC?

"Liberia is a longtime friend of the United States, and we believe in your policy of making America great again," Boakai told the president, according to Reuters.

"Well, thank you, and such good English," Trump replied. "That's beautiful. Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated? Where? In Liberia?"

I do not know what sub-forum this should be in ... but read carefully and there is a theological matter here, it is what is the pastoral approach that matches your doctrinal perspective best.

substitute something important that comes to mind where the paragraph below says "in these situations", do not tell us what you had in mind, commenting on the paragraph below is the matter in discussion - do you agree or ...

Pastoral care in these situations is not about offering easy answers. It’s about being Christ’s presence—gentle, patient, and faithful. The Church’s role is not to coerce but to console, not to condemn but to carry burdens alongside the wounded.

Once more I want to thank you
Father
For everything you did for me
Through all the years
You gave me the gift of life
After you had created
Me in you image
You had given me
Grey hair and brown eyes
You tell me that I am
Beautiful you in your eyes
Father I don't agree with you
At all
Father you are untitled to your opinion
I am untitled to mine
I feel that I am an an ugly men
I must say that I am happy
To be alive
Every single day
Father I don't mess up with
My health
I am taking good care of my health
Father I never smoked for 60 years
And I don't plan to smoke now
Because I would ruin my health
Also I would damage my lungs
Yes Father thanks god I have
healthy lungs
Also I been sober for 60 years
So I have a healthy liver
Yes every single morning
I go for a big walk around the block
And also walk is good for me
Today the day ended very fast
The sun went down very fast
And I saw the beautiful sunset
That left me speechless
Now the night arrived
And it is my bed time
I must pray to my father
It only takes a couple minutes
Then I can go to sleep
I hope that I don't wake up
In the middle of the night
I want to sleep all through
The night
Yes tomorrow will be another day
That will arrive early for me
I will be up by then
I will not sleep in during the morning
Because I will be wasting a beautiful day
I need to go out and get a life
And live it to the fullest
I also need people in my life
That will be my friends

"Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul's servants said to him, “See now, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command the servants who attend you to look for someone who is skillful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will feel better." 1 Sam. 16:14-16

Enter David, who plays the lyre and makes Saul feel better.

What is this evil spirit from the Lord that departs (or relents from tormenting Saul) when good music is played?