19 I wanted to be sure about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and was exceedingly terrible: it had iron teeth, bronze claws, it devoured and crushed and trampled the rest with its feet,
23 He said this: “The fourth beast - there will be a fourth kingdom on earth, it will be different from all kingdoms; he will devour the whole earth, tread it down, and crush it.
(New world order)
24 And ten horns - ten kings will arise from that kingdom.
(Ten equally powerful countries will want to form a one world government)
After them another will arise, he will be different from the previous ones and he will depose the three kings.
(Globalists/antichrist, will destroy three kings out of ten .. weakening and destroying USA, Russia and China)
25 He will speak against the Most High and destroy the saints of the Most High.
(Denying the Bible and Jesus Christ, banning Christianity)
He will seek to change the times and the law. The saints shall be delivered into his hand until time and times and half a time,
(Creation of one new super tolerant religion....persecuting Christians and those who will not want the "mark of the beast", duration of NWO for "42 months")
26 but the judgment will sit and the rulership will be taken away from him, and he will be completely destroyed and destroyed.
(The destruction of the NWO, a global storm after which the small remnant of humanity will start over)

Does prayer work? By "work" I mean "produce the desired (asked for) results".
How do you know?

Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple and signs of the end times in Matthew 24:

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

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Vultures will gather at an exposed dead body.

37 "For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away,

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they drowned and died

so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.

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Barnes explained:

One shall be taken - The word "taken" may mean either to be taken away from the danger - that is, rescued, as Lot was Luke 17:28-29, or to be taken away "by death." Probably the latter is the meaning.

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Gills agreed:

one shall be taken by the Romans, and either put to death, or carried captive; and the other shall escape their hands, through the singular providence of God.

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They were taken by death.

Parallel account in Luke 17:

34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?”

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The disciples wanted to know more.

He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

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The bad people will be taken by death.

Parallel account in Mark 13:

21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

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Be on your guard so that you will not be taken by the vultures.

On the last day, Jesus will be coming on the clouds of heaven (Matt 24:30). The bad people will be taken to eternal death. Live believers will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord (1 Thess 4:17). Then, they will descend back to the earth for the wedding banquet. The 'left-behind' people are believers who first go up to meet the Lord and then come back down with the Lord. They are the welcoming party.

See also Great tribulation, then rapture

Does anybody know how the early Catholic Church (say 500AD and earlier) compares with the modern Catholic Church and with the Protestant reformation?

For example the prayers to the saints, papal infallibility, infant baptism, purgatory, priests forgiving sins, Mary being sinless etc-were these part of the early church?

Were the reformers actually returning the church to how it originated or would the modern church be unrecognisable to the early church?

I have an unusual dilemma. I am a Christian, and I am also an avid pool player. I am wanting to have a custom cue made for myself and found a very talented custom cue maker. His work would be perfect for the designs I am wanting to have created on my cue. The dilemma I am faced with is in the name of his custom cue brand.
His company is call "North Demon Custom Cues"
As a Christian, I am uneasy about the name "demon" being in the bame of his brand. And i am wondering if owning and playing with the cue is going against God? Am I putting to much into the brand name, or should I look elsewhere to another cue maker?
His work is unique, and I don't know that I can find someone else to make me what I am wanting done.

Hey - for years we have made the stand that un married folks stay in separate rooms in our house.

I assume this might be considered extreme and 'forcing morality' on others.

Your thoughts ???

And in our day and age this is exactly what is happening in the majority of the gatherings of what are called “churches” here in America. They are turning the church, the body of Christ, the house of God into places of business to be marketed to the people of the world. And if Jesus were still on this earth, and if he could be physically in every location where this is happening, he would be in these gatherings with a whip driving out all of those who are turning his house, his body, into a place of business.

For the church is not a building called “church,” and the physical building is NOT the “house of God.” It is just a building. And the church is not a church denomination, and it is not a business incorporated under the state being marketed to the people of the world. And it is not a social club nor a civic center. And it is not something that you go to. But this is what human beings have turned it into, and this is what is generally now being accepted as “the church.” So the whole biblical concept of “church” is getting lost.

For what is the church? We who believe in Jesus Christ with God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, who have been 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 – we are the church, the body of Christ, born of God and not of man. And the purpose of our gatherings is so that we can encourage one another in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.

And it is so that we can be equipped in service for our Lord within the body of Christ and in order to take the true message of the gospel to the people of the world. For we are not to be inviting the people of the world to these institutions of human origin that are businesses of men, but we are to be going out where the people are and we are to be inviting them to surrender their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ in death to sin and in living to God and to his righteousness so that they are now part of his body, his church.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]

For, we are not to conform the gatherings of “the church” to the likeness of humankind in order to attract the world to our gatherings. But this is what so many are doing. They are appealing to the felt needs and the likes of the flesh in order to draw in large crowds of people of the world into their gatherings so that they are winning the people of the world to these “places of business” but not usually to genuine walks of faith and obedience to the Lord in holy living. For they dilute the gospel to make it more appealing.

And so many of them have this idea that “sowing seed” is doing stuff that will attract the world to their gatherings, but that is not sowing the spiritual seed of the gospel of our salvation, but it is sowing seeds of worldliness in order to attract the world to their gatherings. So they have all these fun activities and great performances and light and fluffy sermons that they have in order to attract the world, and they buy chairs and discard their pews (at great expense) to attract the world to their gatherings, etc.

But this is not “sowing seeds” of righteousness and of repentance and of obedience to the Lord and surrender of our wills to his will for our lives. But this is all about attracting the world to the gatherings of these businesses called “churches” so that they can fill up their chairs with the people of the world and entertain them with their music and with their performances and with their fun activities and their modern sermons, so many of which are intended to tickle itching ears and to dilute the truth so as not to offend.

So, what do the Scriptures teach should be our response to all of this? We are not to be unequally yoked together with the ungodly. And the ungodly are all who are still walking in sin and not in righteousness and not in obedience to our Lord, even if they profess faith in Jesus Christ. We are not to partner with nor be in fellowship with the ungodly. So we are to come out from their midst and be separate from them, and God will be a father to us and we will be his sons and daughters (see 2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

And we are not to partner with gatherings called “churches” if these gatherings are being led by the marketing schemes of the ungodly and not by Jesus Christ, and not by his teachings and his gospel message. For if our goal is to make “the church” attractive to the world so that they will enjoy being among us, then we have it all backwards. And if we are trying to win people to our gatherings and not to biblical repentance and to walks of obedience to Jesus Christ in holy living, then we have it all backwards.


And we are not to worship “the beast,” i.e. the world’s system. We are to be God’s holy people who are taking the message of the cross to the people of the world and who are calling them to leave their lives of sin behind them to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands in holy living. So we are to come out from the midst of those who are following after man and not the ways of God and of Christ and of his Spirit. We are to come out from among them so that we do not take part in their sins and in their punishment.

See: [Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

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Hi, everybody! My name's Magdalena, and I'm from the Romanian region of Transylvania. I'm an Eastern Orthodox Christian, married and 18. I'm a housewife. I hope to learn some things from here and maybe make some new friends. Nice to meet you all!!!

"It does not appear that these cases will be filed anytime soon, as they do not seem to be in the DA's office. So if the DA is indicating they are not ready to proceed, we are going to release these individuals on their own recognizances," the judge ruled.

Pray for our nation.

Now i'm not saying that there is any cheating going on because there is no proof of it , but sometimes you do have to wonder.
For example here in OZ when we vote , we are given the usual ballot paper or papers to fill out with the candidates of our choice.
We are then supplied by them with a lead pencil to fill out our ballot , we are not allowed to use a blue or black ink pen.

Well......um.....you know , like a lead pencil tick or x in the choice box could be rubbed out. Of course they tell us they wouldn't do that , stop being paranoid and trust your gov , yeah right!

Anyway , any sus goings on with voting in your country ?

'The value of Donald Trump’s stake in Truth Social fell by more than $1bn on Monday after the social media company revealed it lost $58.2m last year and an auditor disclosed “substantial doubt” over its ability to continue operating.

While over $4m in sales marks significant growth from $1.47m in 2022, the previous year, it underlines the small scale of Trump Media’s operation – and the depth of its losses.

Net losses at Trump Media came to $58.2m in 2023.'

A high of $61.00 is now $48.66. Stay tuned...

Isaiah 65:17-19 says, “For, behold, I create [Heb. bârâ'] new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying."

The Hebrew word bârâ' means to create, shape, form or fashion. In Scripture it refers to what God does to the heaven and earth, and to man, when He comes. The word describes new conditions and circumstances and transformations.

According to the book of Revelation when does the new heavens and new earth appears – before or after the millennial period? Does this match up with anywhere in Revelation or anywhere in the New Testament?

Of course!

Revelation 21:1-5: “And I saw a new [Gr. kainos] heaven and a new [Gr. kainos] earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away [Gr. parerchomai]; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven … God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new [Gr. kainos].”

It is not hard to see the likeness and correlation between Isaiah 65:17-19 and Revelation 21:1-5. They depict to the exact same arrangement that arrives at the exact same time. This is the same eternal age. In the biblical new heaven and new earth everything is made new and perfect and the past corruption and sin, death are gone forever.

Please note: it does not say He makes ‘all new things’. To create a new arrangement does not require the complete destruction / replacement of what we now have. It requires the creation of a new perfect glorified environment that is purged of all the bondage of corruption (the result of the Fall). So, this does not negate the renewal/regeneration of this current decaying earth.

This is also pictured in God's redemptive work with us. Interestingly, the same Greek words are used to describe both acts of regeneration. 2 Corinthians 5:17 confirms: “if any man be in Christ, he is a new [Gr. kainos] creature: old things are passed away [Gr. parerchomai]; behold, all things are become new [Gr. kainos].”

Paul uses the same terms “new” and “passed away,” talking about the condition of renewed believers after salvation, as John does in Revelation 21 describing the new heavens and earth. The exact same Greek construction is found in both of these writings.

No one would argue this means that we are not the very same entity after salvation. We are! But we are irrefutably changed through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. We are new spiritual creatures. We are a new person. We think different. We feel different. We function different.

Just as we have become a new creation in Christ, yet we remain the exact same entity, so it is with this current earth when He appears. Also, when Jesus comes and glorifies the redeemed are we annihilated? Are we destroyed? Do we become a completely new person? No! We are changed. We take on a new perfected eternal form. This is what happens to this current earth.

It would have been great if this had meant that my old nature was completely eliminated and that I had become completely brand new, although, in a spiritual sense I did – even though my physical appearance remained exactly the same. This did not mean that the core “us” did not continue. It did! But our spiritual outward covering was forever changed. We are now clothed with His perfect righteousness. That will be realized in all it literal and physical fullness at the second coming. This is a strong reason to think the earth is going to undergo similar.

The Premil “millennial new heaven and new earth” are more of the same.

PARASHAH: “Tzav” (command) LEVITICUS 6:8-8:36


Last week we studied Parasha “Vayikra” (and he called) and this week, we read Parasha “Tzav” (command). We are studying the same offerings, yet the titles are different. One is “Called” and this study falls under “command.” What is the relationship here? One way to look at this is that “offering up to Adonai” is a calling. We are called to “offer up to Him” yet not all respond. But for those who DO respond to the calling, there is a set way to offer up to HIM.

HaShem is saying in a way; “You are called, but I know that not all of you will respond, yet to those who DO respond, THIS is how it is done! Remember that today, there are no more animal offerings/sacrifices, yet the offerings are symbolic in how we relate to HaShem today, through prayer, mitzvoth, and our relationship with Messiah Yeshua.

We continue to look at the “Korbanot Shel Mishkan” (the offerings of the Tabernacle) which are…

“The Burnt Offering” (Korban Olah), “The Grain Offering” (Minchah), “The Peace offering” (Zevah Shelamim), the “Sin Offering” (Korban Chatat), “The Trespass or guilt offering” (Korban Asham). One thing about the burnt, sin, and guilt offerings, there had to be “Teshuvah” (repentance) or “a change of heart”. A “Turning away from sin” like when Yeshua told the woman who was caught in the act of adultery; “Go and sin no more!” (by the way, I wonder why the crowd didn’t bring the man?) If the woman was caught in the “act” the man was there too! Yet he was not brought forth.

The burnt offerings symbolized recognizing our sin nature and a willingness to give oneself to God. The sin and trespass/guilt offerings symbolized the offeror’s recognition that “I have sinned” in a specific way, unintentionally, and forgiveness was sought. If the trespass was property damage or stolen, the person offering the animal has to first “compensate” the person offended, and “restitution” was in order. I

The grain and peace offerings were to “thank God” for blessings received or anticipated. Every time people go to the park and fire up the BBQ grills and invite guests to eat hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage, tostadas, and grilled peppers, they are, in a way, lifting up a “peace offering”. These offerings were not without fine flour, olive oil, salt, and Frankincense. I guess a good outing in the park could not be complete without garlic bread brushed with a bit of olive oil and salt. Salt in the bible symbolizes “incorruptibility” and what better way to lay down to rest at night than to light an incense stick of Frankincense.

We can see Yeshua in all of these offerings. The clean animals symbolize Yeshua as the “perfect sacrificed lamb of God” the grain offerings symbolize “Yeshua the Bread of Life” and the peace offerings “Yeshua, the Prince of Peace” (Yeshua Sar Shalom). The olive oil the “Ruach HaKodesh” (The Holy Spirit) and the Frankincense “Our prayers and supplications” go “up” like burning incense.

In this Parashah we see “Esh Tamid” (the eternal fire) the burnt offering roasted all night and the ashes that remained in the morning were removed to a clean place outside the camp. The fire symbolizes purification, destruction, heat, light, and judgment of sin. It can also symbolize our zeal and love for God and the things of God, service to Adonai, I am sure you have heard the expression “being on fire for God!” The things we did yesterday are gone, and the things of today remain to be done. We can consider the “ashes” the things of yesterday, and the things of today, are being done, and the things of tomorrow, “yet to be done”

YHVH considers all things done for His name’s sake, honor, and glory. The ashes of “yesterday” can be our “future rewards” in Heaven in the world to come.

Chapter 8 is the highlight of the Torah. The Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy) has 304,805 Hebrew letters, 79,977 words, and 5845 verses. Lev 8:15 is the “midpoint” with the word “Yesod” (foundation or base). It talks about Aaron being anointed as the high priest. He is symbolically a “type of Messiah.” The blood from the offering was sprinkled onto the 4 horns of the altar, and the rest was poured out at the "Base" (Yesod) of the altar.

This gives us imagery of Yeshua/Jesus who was nailed to the Cross of Calvary, the blood from his extended hands marked the two ends of the cross, the blood from his head marking the top part, and the blood from his feet marking the bottom part or "base" of the cross. His blood marked all 4 parts of the cross, just as his redemption and atonement affected all 4 corners of the earth, ALL people of the earth can receive his atoning redemption, (if they choose to receive it).

“to anoint” is “m sh k” (Mashakh) in Hebrew letters. We get the Word "Mashiach" or "Messiah" from those letters. The word “Mishkan” (Tabernacle) also has those letters. The Mishkan was anointed for the place of worship. In the high priest, we have the mediator between man and God, and now “Yeshua” is our “Cohen Gadol” (High Priest)

The blood of the animals used to anoint Aaron and his sons was sprinkled on the horns of the brazen altar and poured out at the “base” or “foundation” of the altar, pointing us to Yeshua who is the “Chief Corner-stone” or the “Foundation Stone” (Yeshua HaYesod)

It is also interesting to see that the first word in the Torah is “B’reisheet” (in the beginning) the middle was now known is “Yesod” (foundation) and the last word in Deuteronomy is “Yisrael” giving us the message that “Yeshua is the Foundation of Israel” but where is “Yeshua” in Genesis? If we take the last letters of the first three words of Genesis “B’reisheet Bara Elohim” we get the word “Emet” (truth) and one of Yeshua’s titles is “The Truth” the “Alef” “Mem” and “Tav”. Yeshua said;

“I AM the Way the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6).

Aaron and his sons were anointed with blood on their right ear lobes, their right thumbs, and the big toe on their right feet. This can symbolize our “hearing” (Shema) and putting into action what we hear from God’s Word, our “doing” through mitzvoth (good needs, following the commandments) and “walking” according to HIS direction, walking a “Torah based lifestyle, or “Halacha” as some put it. This was the ministry of Aaron and his sons, and also our ministry as well.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have marched in Jerusalem, calling for increased efforts to free captives held in Gaza and the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Demonstrators on Sunday evening blocked a main city highway, after earlier rallying in front of the Israeli parliament, lighting fires and waving the national flag. They claim that the protest was the biggest since the war in Gaza broke out in October.

Police used water cannon against the crowd, and jostled and pushed protesters back as they shouted that Netanyahu “must go”.

Tens of thousands of Israelis rally against PM Netanyahu in Jerusalem​

Israelis thronged central Jerusalem in the largest protest since Israel’s war on Gaza broke out in October.​

Photos: Tens of thousands of Israelis rally against PM Netanyahu

The protest in Jerusalem was the largest since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October.

www.aljazeera.com

Pressure has been growing on the prime minister as opponents of his right-wing government have found common cause with the families of the hundred or more captives still held by the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

The families have pledged to take to the streets every night this week as they call for the government to “bring them home”.

Many protesters carried placards of Netanyahu’s face covered in blood, accusing him of failing to protect the country from Hamas.

“UR the boss, UR to blame,” read messages written on signs held by the protesters. Others said “Elections now!”

Even before Israel’s war on Gaza, Netanyahu had faced months of street protests over controversial judicial reforms.

Hamas seized about 250 captives on October 7, of whom Israel believes 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 who are presumed dead.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,782 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

I'm searching for believers who God has given understanding regarding Mathew 27:52-53.

Both the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church would consider themselves the one true church and they can't both be right.

There are also so many protestant denominations.

My question is this - how do we discern the truth?

Florida court clears the way for ballot measure on abortion rights – while granting 6-week ban​

Abortion will officially be on the ballot in Florida this fall, after the state's Supreme Court on Monday issued one ruling approving a ballot measure that could expand access to the procedure, but another [entirely separate ruling] that paves the way for a strict six-week ban [i.e. challenges to the 6 week law already on the books were rejected].

Floridians have the chance to essentially vote on whether to reinstate what was once the federal standard set by Roe v. Wade, before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark case in 2022.

But at the center of the state Supreme Court's ballot measure decision this week was the constitutional amendment's language, which opponents argued was too complicated for voters to understand.

"The people of Florida aren’t stupid. They can figure it out," Chief Justice Carlos Muniz, a DeSantis appointee, said then.

Albuquerque police said they stopped a Florida man from taking a 14-year-old Albuquerque boy to a furry convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to an arrest warrant, police will charge 33-year-old Conrad Coovert with child abuse when they take him into custody.

Coovert has faced allegations of being with an underage boy in similar circumstances in the past.

The boy told officers the two of them had walked all night and slept in a park in the cold. The boy had blisters on his feet. They note that it’s at least 6.5 miles between the Guitar Center and where they found the two of them.

Police said that they found furry costumes and sex bondage items in Coovert’s luggage.

Court records show in 2015 investigators in southern Georgia said he tried to have sex with a 13-year-old boy. They said he met the teenager at a furry convention in South Carolina, traded sexual texts, and went to meet the boy at his Georgia home.

A viral video of FBI agents looking into pro-Palestinian Facebook posts reflects the muddled politics and social media swirl of 2024​

The video begins with a door opening onto a recent bright spring day. Three visitors, identifying themselves as FBI agents, stand in the yard of a woman who makes it clear they are not welcome.

Using her phone to record the exchange, she lays into the agents, demanding to see their credentials. When they tell her they want to “have a conversation with you about some social media posts,” the woman, sounding incredulous, asks: “So we no longer live in a free country?”

There will be no conversation, the woman tells them, and refers them to her attorney. [Eventually, they leave.]

Devoid of information about Abdeljawad or her beliefs, the video was uncomplicated by racial, religious or ideological baggage.

Muslim civil rights groups saw it and worried about a resurgence of surveillance tactics that vilified communities in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Among Donald Trump’s Republican base, the visit was evidence of “Joe Biden’s Justice Department” harassing ordinary citizens. Left-wing activists saw the long arm of the state. Far-right militia groups saw proof of the “tyranny” they profess to fight.

“Wake up, America,” posted Richard Grenell, who is said to be a top contender for secretary of state if Trump wins the November election. “The thought police,” declared Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder, to his 2.2 million followers on X. “Holy smokes,” wrote Libs of TikTok, an account known as a right-wing outrage factory,

The video has since popped up in Reason, the libertarian magazine, and in a Fox News article. Anti-government militants hailed her as a patriot. Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency whistleblower living in Russia, weighed in on X: “So, the FBI is now doorstopping ordinary Americans for criticizing the White House’s Gaza policy online?”

“Definitely a strange turn of events. Didn’t see that one coming,” said Adam Soltani, executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, referring to the right-wing support for Abdeljawad.

[but it may not last long]

Conservative figure Chris Loesch, for example, shared Abdeljawad’s video last week with the comment: “The FBI needs to be dismantled from the top down. An agency that had lost its way.” By Saturday, Loesch was on the defensive as followers called him out for supporting what one described as “an un-American Muslim.”

“Is she an American citizen? I disagree with her, think her views are disgusting and she is wrong but I see that sort of [poop] from popular accounts on X all day,” Loesch replied. “She still has a right to be offensively wrong, right?” [Hey, the vision-impaired squirrel found a nut! The First Amendment protects speech we don't like.]

--

The scenes of carnage [in Gaza] make her feel helpless and furious, she said. She said she began looking for ways to express her solidarity with Palestinians and to condemn the actions of Israel, which she pronounces “Isra-hell.” In late October, she changed her Facebook profile picture to a masked figure in the black-and-white Palestinian kaffiyeh.

As the war continued to rage, Abdeljawad posted angry screeds, including thinly veiled support for armed Palestinian resistance. She posted an image lionizing a Hamas militant and another calling Israeli military forces “terrorist filth.” At least one post nodded to antisemitic tropes about Jewish power. In other Facebook posts, her tone was conciliatory, such as when she praised an interfaith peace effort.

Abdeljawad said she hasn’t heard from the FBI since and sees no reason to pick up the conversation: “If I have not transgressed the boundaries, the limitations, on free speech, and I’m not breaching the law, I’m not calling for violence against others, then really I have nothing to discuss with them.”

“I am that person that actually has a pocket Constitution on their shelf,” Abdeljawad said. “They actually, unfortunately for them, walked in on a very educated, very aware American.”

NYT - Ending many of his rallies with a churchlike ritual and casting his prosecutions as persecution, the former president is demanding — and receiving — new levels of devotion from Republicans.

Long known for his improvised and volatile stage performances, former President Donald J. Trump now tends to finish his rallies on a solemn note.

“The great silent majority is rising like never before and under our leadership,” he recites from a teleprompter in a typical version of the script. “We will pray to God for our strength and for our liberty. We will pray for God and we will pray with God. We are one movement, one people, one family and one glorious nation under God.”

Mr. Trump’s ability to turn his supporters’ passion into piety is crucial to understanding how he remains the undisputed Republican leader despite guiding his party to repeated political failures and while facing dozens of felony charges in four criminal cases. His success at portraying those prosecutions as persecutions — and warning, without merit, that his followers could be targeted next — has fueled enthusiasm for his candidacy and placed him, once again, in a position to capture the White House.

Mr. Trump has long defied conventional wisdom as an unlikely but irrefutable evangelical hero. He has been married three times, has been repeatedly accused of sexual assault, has been convicted of business fraud and has never showed much interest in church services. Last week, days before Easter, he posted on his social media platform an infomercial-style video hawking a $60 Bible that comes with copies of some of the nation’s founding documents and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the U.S.A.”

Last year, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and a close Trump ally, said both the former president and Jesus had been arrested by “radical, corrupt governments.” On Saturday, Mr. Trump shared an article on social media with the headline “The Crucifixion of Donald Trump.”

“He’s definitely been chosen by God,” said Marie Zere, a commercial real estate broker from Long Island who attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in February outside Washington, D.C. “He’s still surviving even though all these people are coming after him, and I don’t know how else to explain that other than divine intervention.”

White evangelicals voters have brought us Trump and his MAGA political team. They voted for him in overwhelming numbers in 2016, 2020 and in the 2024 primaries. Polling shows that they will again vote for him in overwhelming numbers in November and will continue to support his political and legal actions.
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My point is a simple one. OWN UP to the choices that you continue to make for the direction of America. Celebrate where your choices continue to bring America. Sure, the rest of America might be able to beat Trump. However, let's be clear. Trump's political present and future is as the leader of white evangelical Christian voters.
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Let's be very clear. Without overwhelming white evangelical support, Trump and his MAGA supporters would be easily defeated and the Republican Party would have to find a new direction.

Praise & Thank The Heavenly Father for ensuring that Turkey's Secular Opposition parties defeated the Pro-Islamic party in recently held local city elections:

I wonder why our church took communion today. We should have focused far more on resurrection. What does this mean for ourselves, our own resurrection? Our future hope? We should all have left the church filled with hope and anticipation.
Instead resurrection was tagged onto Jesus's sacrifice. Think opportunity missed. After all, it's only one day in the year. How did Paul define the gospel? Resurrection a major, major part of it. The Orthodox do it better.

Top European prosecutors are investigating allegations of criminal wrongdoing in connection with vaccine negotiations between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer, according to a spokesperson from the Liège prosecutor's office.