Mission leader says there are 'a few' Somali Christian fellowships in Twin Cities

As the Trump administration is reportedly preparing to deploy 100 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Minnesota, home to an estimated 87,000 people with Somali ties, Lutheran church leaders are pushing back against federal immigration enforcement actions with evangelism.

Last Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said ICE agents are being deployed to the Twin Cities to specifically target the Somali community, which has faced allegations of rampant fraud involving the state’s benefit system after federal prosecutors charged dozens of individuals with stealing over $300 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through Feeding Our Future, a Minnesota-based nonprofit.

The state's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz conceded that the total amount stolen through these fraud schemes could be as much as $1 billion. An audit is expected to be released to the public in January 2026.

Continued below.

• Summary

• Trump says he can stop war
• Thai PM says mediation should be done through proper process
• Cambodia pulls athletes from SEA Games on safety grounds
• Malaysian PM says he spoke to Cambodian, Thai leaders

BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Thailand and Cambodia traded accusations of targeting civilians in artillery and rocket attacks on Wednesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would try to intervene to stop the fighting and salvage a ceasefire he brokered earlier this year.
Clashes raged at more than a dozen locations along their 817-km (508-mile) border in some of the most intense fighting since a five-day battle in July, which Trump stopped with calls to both leaders to halt their worst conflict in recent history.

The Southeast Asian neighbours have blamed each other for the clashes that started on Monday.

When high-profile, Western-led ministries announce goals like “reaching every person on earth” by 2033 — the 2,000-year anniversary of the resurrection and Pentecost — it sounds bold and visionary in conference halls throughout America. Eastern missionaries in places like South Korea have expressed this goal as well.

But for our Christian brothers and sisters who are already a tiny minority in their nations, and who often face tremendous persecution, these public declarations are a recipe for trouble.

Every time a slogan like this goes viral, local churches face a new wave of attacks, from negative press and harassment to police raids and even dubious anti-conversion laws. We saw it in the late 1990s with the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement and the Joshua Project. The Joshua Project database was used as “proof” in the Indian Parliament of a foreign conspiracy to convert India by the year 2000. Politicians who feel threatened by the Gospel, and even those who don’t hold a strong opinion about it, were handed ammunition on a platter.

These date-specific, target-driven campaigns come straight out of a Manhattan-style management playbook — featuring SMART goals, KPIs, dashboards, and countdown clocks. They are backed by the economic muscle of a few Christian-majority nations and networks.

Evangelical Christians in relatively safe environments need to understand that this combination feels imperial, even when the intentions are sincere.

Continued below.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken’s decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.

The department under Blinken in early January 2023 had switched to Calibri, a modern sans-serif font, saying this was a more accessible font for people with disabilities because it did not have the decorative angular features and was the default in Microsoft products.

“To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface,” the cable said.

A petition written by a group of ethnic-minority pastors within the Presbyterian Church in America went viral this week after accusing the largest conservative Presbyterian denomination in the U.S. of being spiritually abusive, sidelining women and "demonizing" gay people, among other grievances.

"We write as ethnic minority pastors and leaders within the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) with hearts full of gratitude and grief," reads the petitiontitled "A Call to Prayer & Lament," the authenticity of which a knowledgeable PCA source confirmed to The Christian Post.

'A schismatic culture'

While expressing gratitude for "the ways God has used this denomination to shape our faith, theology, and ministries," the petition laid out four scathing "laments" against the PCA: fostering "a schismatic culture," sidelining "minority and female leaders," supplanting "confessional generosity" with "theological rigidity," and allowing "denominational burden" to become "an obstacle to mission."

Continued below.

Apocrypha means hidden, and God hides things God hides things especially from Christians that are wise in their own eyes eg the ones at universities that have degrees, and in my experience when it comes to the bible in plain English have no clue what they are talking about or worse teach false doctrine.
There are books that are outside the protestant canon that are inspired only for the wise that seek them out.

Jesus talking to the Sadducees who asked about resurrection.

Mathew 22 29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.

God talking to the fallen angels pre flood in 1 Enoch that left heaven, came down to earth, and married women

1 Enoch 15
But you originally existed as spirits, living forever,
and not dying for all the generations of eternity;
7 therefore I did not make women among you.’
The spirits of heaven, in heaven is their dwelling;

He calls 1 Enoch scripture, and Jude says "Enoch 7th from Adam" so Jude believed what he was quoting was written before Noahs flood, and not pseudepigrapha first written 300 BC, and backdated. Jude, and 1 Enoch
The Sadducees stuff up a story from Tobit about the woman being married then demons killing her 7 husbands each night before the marriage too. They forgot to add she married successfully the 8th time. So Jesus is calling Tobit scripture too. That was written in the 700s, and 600s BC, 1 Enoch was written 4400-4000 BC after creation 5500 BC but before Noahs flood 3300 BC. There are a lot of other texts inspired apocrypha that are not pseudepigrapha for the wise only too. My summary list of the most important ones are 1 Enoch, Life of Adam, and Eve, Assumption of Moses, 1/2 Maccabees. For the NT Gospel of Nicodemus, History of Joseph the Carpenter, Proto James. All on audiobook on youtube or annas archive and internet archive are two free e book websites.
There are 2 canons of the bible.

Luke 24:44-53 He said to them, “Remember when I was with you before? I said that everything written about me must happen—everything in the law of Moses, the books of the prophets, and the Psalms.” Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

This canon list excludes 1 Enoch, and other OT texts (Jubilees, Test of the 12 patriarchs, Tobit, 1/2 Maccabees, and others). Josephus gave the same canon list around 100 AD, and it was Genesis to Malachi. This is the primary canon.

Yes the secondary canon is hidden but hidden does not mean myth/ pseudepigrapha/ fake/forgery/ lie it just means it is for people that choose to believe the bible wherever it may lead otherwise maybe God thought it would be throwing pearl before swine to reference it in very obvious ways.

This concept of 2 canons in the NT goes back to 2 Esdras (internal date 557-457 BC consistent with 1 Ezra, and same genealogies as 1 Ezra which go back to Aaron son of Levi) where Ezra, and some others rewrite the bible because it was destroyed by the Babylonians

2 Esdras 14
44 So in forty days, ninety-four books were written. 45 It came to pass, when the forty days were fulfilled, that the Most High spoke to me, saying, “The first books that you have written, publish openly, and let the worthy and unworthy read them; 46but keep the last seventy,that you may deliver them to those who are wise among your people; 47 for in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of knowledge.” 48 I did so.

The 24 was for the worthy, and unworthy aka everyone- this would of been the now protestant canon from Genesis to Ezra (Malachi, and Nehemiah may not of been written at that time as they came a bit later on in the 400s BC), and the other 70 was 1 Enoch, Jubilees, Test of the 12, Life of Adam, and Eve, Assumption of Moses, Testament of Job, Tobit, Baruch, other ones that still exist today, and some others that would be lost works today. For the NT it would be proto James, pseudo Mathew, gospel of Nicodemus, Didache, History of Joseph the carpenter, and some others. The expanded canon is only for the wise.

2, and 3 Enoch, and book of Jasher are all myths not inspired written after 70 AD (inspired scripture stopped 70 AD based on Daniel 9). 3 Enoch, and Jasher are Jewish fables (1 Titus 14), and 2 Enoch is either Jewish or Samaritan fables.

Jasher says Shem is Melchizadek like the Talmud does in an attempt to discredit Jesus from being a priest in the order of Melchizadek. 2 Enoch mentions the 532 year great cycle which was not discovered until 400s AD. 3 Enoch says It was written by 'rabbi' Ishmael which the Talmud says was 130 AD however the synagogue of satan actually believe it is pseudepigrapha written much later.


Jubilees internally is written by Moses 1400 BC same time as the torah is internally which was after they came out of Egypt but before they came into Canaan. The Israelites had a choice at this time- follow God or idol worship- they chose idol worship - Moses comes back down from the mountain with the law on tablets, they are worshipping a golden calf, he breaks the tablets thinking why should I even bother. Had they stayed faithful to God they would of seen the 364 day calendar in Jubilees (and 1 Enoch) is the one that God wanted them to follow, and they would of done that but because of their apostasy they just followed the torah one which was luni-solar (ask chat GPT for the details). The Qumran dead sea scroll sect 150 BC-68 AD started to go back to those old books, and thinking this is what God intended for us originally lets follow it. Hebrew roots movement lol. There are a couple of prophecies about Jesus in Jubilees.



1 Enoch internally is written by Enoch 7th from Adam pre flood- it contains I Enoch, and I saw statements many time. Also one section is written by Noah as he says my great grandfather Enoch; Noah was Enochs great grandson, and Lamech or Methusaleh wrote a section too; it mentions my father or grandfather. Not a single part of 1 Enoch claims to be written after the flood, and there is nothing in it that is evidence that any part of it was written after the flood. There is nothing in the dead sea scrolls saying "we wrote this text at this time, and backdated it". It has a lot of prophecies about Jesus in it. Ask chat GPT to show all the prophecies of Jesus in 1 Enoch. All Israelites BC that had read it believed it was written pre flood, same as all Christians pre 70 AD believed the same. By 400 AD Christians started to believe it was pseudepigrapha. Likely the synagogue of satan started attacking 1 Enoch after 70 AD saying it was not written pre flood, it can't be, it is too old, Noah did not take it aboard the ark, the flood was a myth anyway, etc etc because of the son of man prophecies it contains - the high priest went ballistic when Jesus called himself the son of man LOL. Sadly early Christians believed satans lies like Adam, and Eve believed the devils lies. The lie continues today taught at all universities around the world, in all studies, and in all textbooks.


Testament of the 12 patriarchs internally is written by the 12 patriarchs 1700s-1800s BC. In one part it says "so it is written in the law of Mose" but by the time the 12 are dead Moses was not even born yet so has been edited a bit later, and someone added that. That part does not claim to be said or written by one of the 12 so there is no problem there. Has some very specific prophecies about Jesus, and warnings about alcohol, greed, lust.


Assumption of Moses internally written by Moses, Joshua, and maybe someone else. Is Moses dying words to Joshua. Has a paraphrased version of 1 Enoch 1:1-9 about the first century AD, also prophecy about Jesus Assyrian, and Babylonian judgment on the Israelites. Says to store the books of their fathers in earthenware Jars; the dead sea scrolls which are the books going back to Moses fathers shown above were found in earthenware jars. So Moses told them to do that 1400 BC but they didn't do it until 300 BC in the DSS. Probably had the part Jude says about the devil, and Michael the angel disputing over Moses body which is in the Assumption of Moses but was restored from early Christian writings as it is not in the Assumption of Moses manuscripts from 600 BC

Some NT ones
Gospel of Nicodemus
History of Joseph the carpenter
Proto James all internally written before 70 AD therefore inspired scripture (Daniel 9 said vision and prophecy would stop 70 AD aka inspired scripture). All explain Joseph was widowed from a prior marriage, was forced to marry 12-14 yo Mary (Roman marriage was 12 for women 14 for men ), and Jesus 4 brothers, and 2 sisters were his step siblings. Joseph never had sex with Mary. Mary was a virgin her whole life; Catholics are right even though they view those texts as pseudepigrapha.

All those and more are free audiobook on youtube or annas archive internet archive are e book websites. Or google the name of the book with PDF after it.

Warning spoilers!

I saw the movie Predator Badlands and can't help but notice uncanny / undeniable inspiration by Starcraft II. I'm going to list the Starcraft II parallels:

Predator Badlands = Starcraft II:

Dek (Yautja warrior) = Zeratul (Protoss Dark Templar). Even their voice sound the same!
Thia (female android) = Sarah Kerrigan with behavior of terran medic
Tessa (female android) = Nova with similar costume and demeanor
Grown Bud = Dehaka
Kalisk = Brutalisk
MU/TH/UR = Terran adjutant

Yautja Prime = Shakuras
Genna = Zerus even many of the native creatures look the same

Yautja = Nerazim Protoss, similar-looking tech, weapons, and also possess personal cloaking tech.
Weyland - Yutani Corp = Moebius Foundation / Terran Dominion (they also capture strong Zerg specimens for weapons development)
Genna creatures = Primal Zerg


I keep waiting for a Starcraft movie, I think Predator Badlands would suffice for now!

Was the Biden handlers’ plan for more poor to grow the welfare state and expand liberal government?
Was it misplaced idealism to welcome in millions of the world’s poorest, who would soon make it even more difficult for the nation’s poor citizens poor to find affordable housing and health care?
Was the agenda to create future dependencies and constituencies for an otherwise ossified Democratic Party?
Or was it an effort to ensure, in DEI terms, that the oppressed and victimized would outgrow the inert white oppressors and victimizers?
Oddest of all has been the attitude of the left toward the past destruction of the border. They went mum about the rampant illegality as the border disappeared and as millions filtered throughout the nation. Americans had no idea who the newcomers were, or even where or why they were here.
Given that it is much easier to destroy the border and allow millions to enter than to restore itand find the millions who entered illegally, the Democrats’ response has been Orwellian. After assuming the law did not apply to illegal alien entrants, they now insist its full force must apply to each of 10 million aliens before they can be sent home.

You can see the disdain in Omar. She essentially received a free American education yet shows contempt for our country. We want people country who respect and love the principles upon which America was founded.

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is in. the EMPHATIC. and it means ME and NOT some one ELSE , ME PAUL !!

#12 IS. /// ESTI. is in. the PRESENT TENSE in. the INDICATIVE MOOD and this MOOD , means you better BELIEVE IT

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dan p

The Rev. Franklin Graham was recently unable to attend a Christian revival event in India due to a visa issue, with some alleging foul play.

Reports circulated last week stating that the 73-year-old Graham was prevented from speaking at an event in Nagaland late last month to commemorate the anniversary of a crusade his father, the late Rev. Billy Graham, conducted in the region 53 years earlier. The Times of India reported that Graham had been denied a visa, causing one local leader to send letters to federal officials voicing displeasure with the matter.

A spokesperson for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association clarified the situation in a statement sent to The Christian Post on Tuesday.

"The visas for Rev. Franklin Graham and our team were approved by the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Foreigners Division; however, it was after the necessary departure date for Mr. Graham to arrive in time for Nagaland United: A Gathering of Faith, Hope and Revival and for the Hornbill Festival," read the statement.

Continued below.

About the incident in Acts 16 where Paul circumcizers Timothy
⭐ 1. TORAH SYSTEM: ANCESTRY IS THROUGH THE FATHER (NOT THE MOTHER) You are correct. ✔ Tribal inheritance ✔ Land inheritance ✔ Lineage ✔ Covenant membership by birth All come through the father’s line in the Torah. Examples: Levi → Levite Aaron → priestly line Judah → Davidic line Israelite status → father Land allotments → father’s house (Num 1, Num 26, Josh 13–21) Nowhere in the Torah is descent through the mother the determining factor for tribal identity. So by Torah law, Timothy — whose father was Greek — would be considered: ⭐ A Greek (non-Israelite) unless he underwent circumcision and entered the covenant. The Torah basis is correct.


⭐ 2. SECOND TEMPLE JUDEAN CUSTOM: IDENTITY OF CHILDREN OF MIXED MARRIAGES WAS MATERNAL This is NOT Torah law. This is post-exilic Judean halakhic development. By the time of Jesus, Paul, and Acts: Children of a Judean mother and a Gentile father were treated as Judeans who must keep covenantal signs (circumcision, Torah, customs). Evidence: ✔ Ezra–Nehemiah Mixed marriages were condemned because of the mothers, and the children were assumed to “belong to” the foreign women. ✔ Mishnah Kiddushin 3:12 (reflecting earlier practice) “If her child is from a slave or a Gentile, the child is like her.” Meaning: If mother = Israelite, Father = Gentile, The child is treated as Israelite (obligated to circumcision) ✔ Josephus also confirms this social assumption. He describes children of Judean mothers as part of the Judean community even when the father is non-Israelite. So although the Torah itself is patrilineal, Second Temple Judean society was functionally matrilineal for identity in mixed marriages. This is the world Paul is operating in.


⭐ 3. TIMOTHY’S REAL SOCIAL SITUATION Acts 16:1–3: Mother = Judean (believer, raised him on Scriptures — 2 Tim 1:5; 3:15) Father = Greek Locals all knew the father was Greek Timothy was NOT circumcised So to the surrounding synagogues, Timothy was: ⭐ A Judean (by maternal identity in Second Temple society) ⭐ But an uncircumcised Judean = covenant-breaker An uncircumcised Gentile is one thing. An uncircumcised Judean is FAR WORSE in the eyes of Judeans. Paul could not bring him into a synagogue without massive scandal.


⭐ 4. CIRCUMCISION IN THE TORAH IS ABOUT COVENANT, NOT ANCESTRY Genesis 17 teaches: “Every male among you shall be circumcised… He who is not circumcised shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” Key points: ✔ Circumcision = sign of the covenant ✔ ANY non-Israelite can join Israel THROUGH circumcision (Ex 12:48) ✔ An Israelite male who is not circumcised = covenant breaker So by Torah definition: Timothy’s ancestry is irrelevant His covenant status is determined by circumcision Timothy was: ✔ raised in Scripture ✔ Judean by community definition ✔ but uncircumcised = outside the covenant in Judean eyes This is the problem Paul needed to solve — not salvation, but social identity and synagogue access.


⭐ 5. WHY PAUL REFUSED TO CIRCUMCISE TITUS BUT DID CIRCUMCISE TIMOTHY ⭐ TITUS 100% Gentile Pressured by false teachers to circumcise “for salvation” Paul refuses (Gal 2:3–5) Circumcising Titus would corrupt the gospel. ⭐ TIMOTHY Considered a Judean in Second Temple society Uncircumcised Judean = covenant-breaker Impossible to bring him into synagogues without offense Circumcision removes a cultural obstacle, not a theological one Acts 16:3 explains Paul’s logic: “because of the Judeans in that region who all knew his father was Greek.” This is 100% a missionary strategy, not covenant theology.


⭐ 6. PAUL’S CONSISTENT RULE ✔ If circumcision is demanded for salvation → REJECT IT (Titus) ✔ If circumcision helps avoid unnecessary offense → ALLOW IT (Timothy) This exactly matches Paul’s own stated principle: 1 Corinthians 9:20 “To the Judeans I became as a Judean, to win Judeans.” Timothy needed to be acceptable in Judean synagogues. Titus did not. Thus Paul circumcized one and refused the other deliberately.

⭐ 1. The problem was NOT race — it was covenant identity. Ezra 9–10 and Nehemiah 13 make this absolutely clear. The issue was: ✔ foreign wives ✔ who did not worship YHWH ✔ raising children in foreign religion ✔ which threatened to destroy the restored covenant community. The complaint in Neh. 13:24: “Their children spoke half in the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah.” This means the children were being raised in Philistine / pagan culture, did not know Hebrew, could not learn Torah, and followed their mother’s religion. Thus: The foreign mothers were producing non-Israelite children culturally and religiously. This is why the marriages were condemned. ⭐ 2. In the ancient Near East, children normally followed the mother’s culture. This is a key fact. Across the ANE: mothers raised children, fathers worked outside the home, religious instruction came from the mother, language, customs, and household gods were transmitted maternally, and mothers’ foreign cults typically entered the home. So when Ezra says the children “belonged to the foreign women,” he means: ✔ they were being raised as Gentiles, not as Israelites ✔ they would not be covenant members ✔ they threatened the Israelite identity of the restored community. This is NOT about DNA. It is about covenant lineage. ⭐ 3. Torah explicitly warns that foreign wives will turn sons away from God. Ezra quotes Deuteronomy 7:3–4: “You shall not intermarry with them… for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods.” The warning is not that foreign people are bad — but that foreign worship destroys covenant continuity. This is exactly what happened in Ezra–Nehemiah. ⭐ 4. Defining “Israel” in Ezra’s time = covenant membership, not genetics. After the exile: Israel was a tiny remnant, identity was fragile, the nation had nearly disappeared, idolatry had destroyed them once already, and they needed to rebuild a faithful community. Therefore, Ezra took a strict stance on marriage to ensure: ✔ children were raised Hebrew ✔ children learned Torah ✔ households worshiped YHWH alone ✔ Israel did not become culturally dissolved among the nations. ⭐ 5. Why children were assumed to “belong to the foreign women.” There are four reasons in the text: A. Language — Neh. 13:24: “Their children spoke the language of Ashdod… not the language of Judah.” This shows the mothers trained them in foreign identity, children were disconnected from Scripture, and they could not participate in covenant learning. B. Culture and religion — Foreign wives brought household gods, pagan festivals, ancestral deities, foreign customs, and syncretism. The home was influenced far more by the mother than the father. C. Household inheritance laws — In many ANE cultures the mother’s clan or tribe conveyed household gods (teraphim) and children inherited the mother’s cultic obligations. We see this in Genesis 31 with Rachel’s teraphim. D. Deuteronomy 7:4 — Ezra interprets this literally: “They will turn your children away from Me.” Ezra concluded children of these marriages were being lost to foreign worship, so they “belonged” to the mothers’ nations, not to Israel. ⭐ 6. Why the solution was strict (Ezra 10). Ezra commands: “Send away the foreign women and their children.” (Ezra 10) This sounds harsh, but the logic was: Israel was rebuilding a pure covenant community, the family line must be “holy seed” (Ezra 9:2) meaning covenant-faithful lineage, not genetic purity but spiritual loyalty, Israel was only a few thousand people — cultural dissolution was a real threat, and foreign wives represented active idolatry at the center of the home. Ezra acted to preserve the covenant identity of the nation. ⭐ 7. Important: The Bible does NOT prohibit all mixed marriages. Examples of righteous mixed marriages: Moses marries a Cushite woman, Boaz marries Ruth the Moabite, Salmon marries Rahab the Canaanite, Joseph marries an Egyptian, Tamar (a Canaanite) becomes ancestress of Judah, and Uriah the Hittite is a righteous Gentile. Why were these allowed? ✔ Because these foreign spouses joined Israel’s covenant ✔ They accepted YHWH ✔ They raised children as Israelites. This is the exact opposite situation from Ezra–Nehemiah.



did it violate the torah to trace ancestry through the mother

ChatGPT said:​

Short answer: No — tracing ancestry through the mother does not violate the Torah, but it is not commanded in the Torah either.
It is simply not the Torah’s system for determining tribal identity or covenant lineage.
Let’s break it down clearly:

---

⭐ 1. TORAH DOES NOT DEFINE TRIBAL IDENTITY THROUGH THE MOTHER​

Every place in the Torah where lineage, tribe, land, inheritance, or covenant status is assigned, it is always:
✔ “by the father’s house”
✔ “according to their fathers”
✔ “from the sons of … (father)”
Examples:
Numbers 1:2
“by their clans and families, by their fathers’ houses.”
Numbers 34–36
Land inheritance is only through the father’s line.
Leviticus 24:10 (the blasphemer)
Son of an Israelite mother + Egyptian father = not considered Israelite, treated as outsider.
Deuteronomy 7:3–4
Israelite women marrying Gentile men → the children would “turn your sons away,” showing the child follows the father.
Conclusion:
The Torah’s structure is fully patrilineal for identity.
So Torah law does not trace tribal identity through the mother.

---

⭐ 2. BUT — THE TORAH DOES NOT FORBID TRACING ANCESTRY THROUGH THE MOTHER​

Here is the key distinction:

◼ Torah commands tribal identity through the father​

—but—

◼ Torah does not prohibit recording or noting ancestry on the mother's side.​

You can know someone’s maternal ancestry, talk about it, document it — there’s no law against that.
Examples of maternal lineage mentioned:
✔ Moses’ mother is named (Exodus 2:1–4)
✔ Kings’ mothers often listed (1–2 Kings)
✔ Judges and leaders sometimes identified by mother
✔ Priests sometimes identified by both parents (Leviticus 21:13–14)
This proves maternal lineage can be recorded biblically,
but it never determines tribal identity or covenant membership.

---

⭐ 3. SECOND TEMPLE “MATERNAL IDENTITY” WAS A CUSTOM, NOT TORAH​

After the exile (5th century BC), Judeans developed a halakhic rule:
Child of a Judean mother = Judean
Child of a Gentile mother = Gentile
This was not biblical law, but a cultural and religious fence built to protect purity.
This rule is visible in:
✔ Ezra–Nehemiah
✔ Early Pharisaic halakhah
✔ Mishnah Kiddushin 3:12 (reflecting earlier custom)
✔ Josephus (1st century AD)
But none of this is found in the Torah itself.

---

⭐ 4. SO DID IT VIOLATE TORAH TO TRACE IDENTIFY THROUGH THE MOTHER?​

No.
It did not violate Torah because:
✔ The Torah never forbade maternal genealogy
✔ The Torah only prescribes how official tribal identity is assigned
✔ Cultural customs can go beyond the Torah without contradicting it
✔ As long as the custom does not replace or alter Torah commandments, it is not a violation
However:
If someone claimed “maternal descent = tribe” as if it were Torah-commanded,
that would contradict the Torah’s patrilineal system.
The Second Temple practice did not formally try to replace tribal identity,
because after the exile, most tribes (except Judah and Levi) were lost anyway.
It was simply a practical purity rule, not a biblical lineage rule.

---

⭐ 5. SUMMARY​

Here is the simplest answer possible:
✔ Torah identity = father’s line only
✔ Torah does NOT ban recording maternal ancestry
✔ Second Temple Judaism used maternal identity for community membership
✔ This did NOT break Torah, but it did not come from Torah


All this ancestry stuff became irrelevant since Jesus

I thought that this was an interesting read.

There are three main components to our Lord’s commandment that I see here, and so I am going to look at each of the three parts individually, but then I’ll also look at how the three must all be a part of the same whole.

Love One Another

Now, for us who are English speaking people, we must understand that this word “love” is not of human flesh. It is not centered in our emotions nor in the ones we are loving. We love others regardless of whether or not others love us in return, or even if they hate and despise us, in return. For this is loving like God loves, like Jesus loves us. For Jesus didn’t give his life up for us on that cross because of how wonderful we are, but while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. So this love is self-sacrificial, and it is unselfish.

And this word translated in the English language as “love,” in the Greek interlinear it is the word “agapē,” which means “to prefer.” It is used in the Bible in the context of either preferring what is evil (this one very little) or preferring what God prefers (which is how it is used primarily). And what God prefers is all that is holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord’s commands. So this love is morally pure, upright, honest, and faithful in its love for other people.

Lay Down Your Life

And, as already was mentioned, this love is self-sacrificial and unselfish, and it is willing to die to show the love of Christ for the people of this world. It is willing to be hated by other humans in order to love them with the love that Christ had and has for us. And in what ways did Jesus demonstrate this love? Well, he spoke the truth in love to the people, whether they wanted to hear it or not, and whether they liked him or hated him in return. He told them the truth they needed to hear even though, for him it meant his death.

So, when we love others like Jesus loved us, it is not about a popularity contest. It has nothing to do with whether people love us in return. It is all about what they need and us supplying them with what they truly need (not necessarily want), as we are able, and as we are led by the Spirit to do so, even if it costs us friends, family, church family, and other humans who might reject us and turn away from us, because we are just too weird for them. It is what it cost Jesus in order for him to show us his love for us.

Do What God Commands

If we are going to love God and our fellow humans with this kind of love, the way in which God loves us, we must be those who are walking (in conduct) in obedience to our Lord’s commands. This is not to say that we will always do this perfectly, or that we will never fail (1 John 2:1-2), but the Scriptures make it quite clear that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant), that we do not know God, we are not in fellowship with Christ, and we will not inherit eternal life with God.

So, obedience to our Lord’s commands is not something to be dismissed, nor is it just a recommendation which we are free to ignore. It is a requirement of God, not as a means of earning our salvation, but as a love response to God for saving us from our sins. Yet, it is not optional. In the Scriptures we learn that obedience to our Lord’s commands = faith, and that disobedience to his commands = unbelief, which results in separation from God and us not having the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God in heaven.

The Scriptures Teach

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

In Harmony

Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17
An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Love each other truly.
Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil.
Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor.
Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction;
Praying faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people
Who are found in need.
Do not be conceited.
Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion
In humility.
Keep your tongue from evil.
Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;
Listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil –
Is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear.
Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord.
Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

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All About Love
An Original Work / December 9, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

For new Christians what would you recommend?

Democrat Eileen Higgins has flipped the Miami mayor’s office, defeating Republican Emilio Gonzalez and marking the latest sign of the party’s momentum heading into next year’s midterms, according to Decision Desk HQ.

The win is the latest boost for Democrats, who are coming out of better-than-expected elections in November and a strong showing in this month’s special House election in Tennessee. The party hopes that an energized base and a focus on issues like affordability will help them flip the House and possibly even the Senate in next year’s midterms.

European Union’s announcement Friday of a roughly $140 million fine against X for violating the bloc’s digital rules have fueled the fire, pushing transatlantic relations to their lowest point since Trump returned to the White House in January.

Elon Musk, the owner of X, is calling for abolishing the E.U., and Trump supporters are railing against the 27-nation bloc.

Ok so during my father in laws funeral today something deeply offensive to me happened. My sister in law happened to marry a full blooded jew and today after communion during the funeral and after my Jewish brother in law came up to the priest for a blessing the priest says "we have a jew in our midst today. Please pray for him because hes in need of salvation." And he singled my brother in law out and made him feel like an outcast. There were plenty of atheists at the funeral. There was a Buddhist. Why did he have to single out the one Jewish man in the church DURING A FUNERAL when my sister in law was grieving and my brother in law was trying to comfort her! And the worst part is all my brother in law wanted from the priest was a blessing from God and he instead he was singled out and targeted. True he needs christ true he is unsaved. But a funeral is NOT the time to bring that up when a family is grieving.

And then he goes and brings it up again during the burial! What should I do? Should I try to comfort my brother in law before leaving back to New York tomorrow? Should I apologize to my sister in law? Should I do anything? Im just angry and offended and I just dont know how to handle this situation. Help?

How tragic. It should not have happened.

After arguing that hell doesn’t involve “conscious eternal torment,” actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron is receiving pushback for supporting annihilationism. In the Dec. 3 episode of “The Kirk Cameron Show,” the conservative author spoke with son James Cameron about views on divine wrath. The pair focused on God’s merciful nature and a supposed lack of evidence

Annihilationism, which dates to early church fathers, holds that unbelievers are destroyed and that the human soul is immortal only if a person receives eternal life and goes to heaven. Kirk Cameron said:

Eternal judgment or eternal punishment doesn’t necessarily mean that we are being tormented and punished forever and every moment for eternity. It means that the punishment we deserve is irreversible. It’s permanent. It’s eternal. You’re dead. You’ve been destroyed. You have perished. You’re gone. And…you’re never coming back.


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Pray that peace and calmness prevails between the nations of Thailand & Cambodia Immediately:

Zohran Mamdani taps ex-con rapper who served 7 years for armed robbery as criminal justice adviser on transition team:​

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has picked a controversial rapper who did seven years in state prison for armed robbery to advise him on the criminal justice system, The Post has learned.

Mysonne Linen, 49, a Bronx convict-turned-activist who was found guilty of two felony heists in the late 1990s, was appointed by the democratic socialist to sit on his mayoral transition’s “criminal legal system” committee — just one of many questionable picks.

A growing number of Britons who leave Christianity are turning to paganism or other forms of spiritualism instead of converting to other major religions, a new study has found.

The survey, released by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life, questioned 2,774 adults who self-identified as having "experienced a change in their religious belief," seeking to provide insight into "how, why, and in what direction Britons are moving between faiths, spiritualities, and non-belief."

The researchers conclude that "Britain is not secularising in a straightforward way" but rather "undergoing a re-composition of belief, a shift away from inherited institutional structures towards personalised, practice-based, and wellbeing-oriented forms of faith."

Forty-four percent of respondents said they left Christianity, while only 17% said they had newly become Christians. Meanwhile, 39% of respondents said they had become an atheist or agnostic.

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Screengrabs from X / @LasVegasLocally


All hell has broken loose online after Zac Brown Band played the first of eight shows slated for their residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas. The Sphere is an experience “that envelops you in 270 degrees of visuals while filling your ears with immersive sound,” and the band is taking heat for subjecting viewers to “demonic” and “satanic” imagery that included a fiery wasteland and a giant skeleton with a crown of bones.

“I rebuke [these] demons and principalities in the name of Jesus,” said one user on Instagram in response to a clip of the show that showed a hellhound charging toward viewers as if to swallow them. “I [am] speaking healing and deliverance for the people who attended that concert. I pray for Zac Brown Band to open their eyes to see what they are doing and to repent. In Jesus name amen.”

Zac Brown Band Under Fire ​

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It's my understanding that any religion that teaches anything that is against the Scriptures is a false religion, i.e. anti-Christian! This article is not for the purpose of judging anyone in particular but only for revealing error (sin), via the Word of God!



Overview of the Seven Sacraments

Sacrament Description
Baptism Cleanses a person from original sin and welcomes them into the Church.
Only confession of sins to God cleanses one from sin, and "all unrighteousness" (1Jn 1:9).

Confirmation Strengthens the baptized person in their faith, typically performed by a bishop.
Baptism does not affect any type of power, it only reveals obedience of Christ's command to “baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Mat 28:19. It gives encouragement, but no attributed power.

Eucharist Also known as Holy Communion (or Transubstantiation), it is the central rite of Catholic worship, involving the body and blood of Christ.
This is one of the most anti-Christian doctrines, in that it assumes, during the Mass, that the Lord Jesus literally enters the implement of the Body (for re-sacrificing), and the Blood literally becomes the implement of His Blood.

Penance (Reconciliation) Allows individuals to confess sins and receive forgiveness, restoring their relationship with God.
Only if we confess our sins to God can there be forgiveness (1Jn 1:9).

Anointing of the Sick Offers comfort and healing to those who are seriously ill or near death.
Only if requests are made to God can He possibly heal.

Holy Orders The sacrament through which men are ordained as deacons, priests, or bishops for service in the Church. If anyone believes any of the before mentioned Catholic teachings, they are without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and do not possess any godliness.

Matrimony The covenant between a man and a woman, establishing a lifelong partnership in love and faith.
The authority God gives to marry anyone absent of indwelling of the Holy Spirit is want of any authority of God.

–Wikipedia


This final doctrine isn't a sacrament, but are significant enough to mention. If you look in a dictionary for the term, Immaculate Conception, it will define it as "a doctrine of the Catholic Church, that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin." It is stated in Scripture that, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Ro 3:23).

This story is 2 years old, but 'tis the season for a reminder.