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Oompa Loompa · 2025-11-14T19:20:38-0600

Bradskii said:
Having been a member of this forum for a number of years I can only agree with you. But the point is not that there are a lot of people like that, but that the number is increasing.

Yes. With the rise of moral and cultural relativism, people no longer see the value of religion. It is more like that of a bandwagon sports fan.

Bradskii · 2025-11-14T19:18:56-0600

ThatRobGuy said:
...the candidate that got them more of what they wanted was a "Casino owning, vodka brand creating, swimsuit pageant operating, greedy narcissistic real-estate developer, former New Yorker democrat who swears and cheats on his 4 wives"?

Just the sort of person that you would not invite around for dinner with the family. But... ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the man who represents your country to the rest of the world.

Oompa Loompa · 2025-11-14T19:18:18-0600

RileyG said:
As in so-called Sunday Christians? Then yes, I can agree. I think it depends on how sincere they are, or not - only God knows.

I would go as far as the Easter and Christmas Christians. Or people who never go to church or read their Bibles at all, but when asked, they will claim to be "Christian." I believe they are called "carnal Christians."

Robban · 2025-11-14T19:17:24-0600

jonojim1337 said:
From Wikipedia:

“No excavations are allowed on the Temple Mount, and no positively identified remains of the destroyed temple have been found.”

May I suggest to you the First temple was never in Palestine.

That is not what the thread is about, it is about Pharisees.

And I myself never use wiki.

RocksInMyHead · 2025-11-14T19:11:54-0600

ThatRobGuy said:
So now that we've got the semantics out of the way, do you feel that the IRS infringing in ways that are similar?

Given that we've just established that this:

ThatRobGuy said:
the IRS requesting non-specific account information from banks about wide swaths of customers in one swoop so they can go fishing for reasons to audit?

is not actually what's happening, I'm not seeing the similarities. The biggest, and most important, difference is that a John Doe Summons is - essentially - a form of warrant. The IRS has to go in front of a judge, present their case, and get the summons approved before they can issue it. For example, in the Coinbase case that you cited, the judge initially denied the summons because it was overbroad. They had to come back with a narrowed scope before it was approved.

Bradskii · 2025-11-14T19:10:40-0600

Landon Caeli said:
“People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k’s are Highest EVER. We are taking in Trillions of Dollars.

Trump should reduce the tariffs. They're causing food prices to rise.

MAGA: Reducing them is a terrible idea. Just listen to Trump.

Donald Trump moved to lower tariffs on food imports, including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, in an executive order on Friday as the White House fights off growing concerns about rising costs. Trump reverses course and cuts tariffs on US food imports

MAGA: Reducing them is a great idea. Just listen to Trump.

calicocat · 2025-11-14T19:10:20-0600

"The holiness of sin," "redemption through sin" and "the holy s*tan" are Sabbatean (Jewish satanist) terms. The actively reject the entire holy Torah, but also the entire rabbinical tradition.

Reform Judaism was founded by theistic satanists.

I suspect their longtime involvement in the pride movement, as the rabbinical tradition teaches that gay marriage and that between different kinds(exact meaning debated) was the final straw before the Flood of Noah and that even the worst of the B'nai Noah don't write marriage licenses for man with man. Hence the very meaningful logo.

(I saw a troon rabbi in the Israel times actually quote one of their mottos: "“Kinderlach (children), redemption will only come through transgression,” she[sic] tells them." https://www.timesofisrael.com/from-...film-depicts-journey-of-a-jewish-law-breaker/ )

They believe in forcing the coming of Moshiach (who in Kabbalah is a serpent emerging from the pit to behead Christians and make a "sacred economy only the virtuous will be able to participate in" and their Moshiach's number is 6-6-6.) Filling the world with evil sin badly God is forced to send redemption is a core tenet based on the Talmudic belief Moshiach will come when the world is completely either evil or good.

Christian support for pride might wane if more people realized certain aspects of the movement are meant to goad Him into sending the apocalypse.

seeking.IAM · 2025-11-14T19:08:58-0600

RileyG said:
3 pastors for a small congregation? How odd!

What denomination was it, if i may ask? Not to go off topic…

Thank you for your insight!

I prefer not to say denomination because it is no indictment of them. It could happen any number of places in a shrinking congregation. The setting was a city church in a large city's once thriving neighborhood that had gone seriously downhill and was then infested with prostitution, drugs, and all that comes with it. Most of the former members had moved out and moved on - probably for good reason - all save the diehards who refused to give up. It was sad in one way, yet a few were still doing church in the midst of squalor. So, there was that. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

jonojim1337 · 2025-11-14T19:08:58-0600

Robban said:
From an artcle entitled, "The factions of the second Temple era."

Four, mainly, Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots and Sicari.

Pharisee from the Hebrew word Perushim "Separatist",

one explanation is that they seperated thenselves from the follies and pleasure of the world.

Ours Sages attribute the destruction of the second Temple to the baseless hate that prevailed among the Jews.

If the Jews had been united they would have merited G-d`s protection.

From Wikipedia:

“No excavations are allowed on the Temple Mount, and no positively identified remains of the destroyed temple have been found.”

May I suggest to you the First temple was never in Palestine.

jonojim1337 · 2025-11-14T18:58:21-0600

partinobodycular said:
I'm pretty sure @Maria Billingsley understood what you were saying. She was simply conjecturing as to what that 'archetypical' Pharisee would look like in the modern day. In the U.S. at least, they'd almost certainly present themselves as a Christian. In fact I'm pretty sure that I've had conversations with a few here on CF.

Ah yes, this reminds me of Christians who steal from Caesar, even under the guise of humility.

But going beyond just the religious pretext, I think we can see a personality from all walks of life, but showing the same traits.

Bradskii · 2025-11-14T18:53:01-0600

essentialsaltes said:
Deceptive Daily Caller headline. Mayor describes closing stores as one of the ills of private grocery stores, leaving food deserts behind, so her proposal is to create public grocery stores.

"We cannot allow" these ills to affect the people of the city. Hence, an alternative.

Her proposal for a 90-day warning for grocery stores to have mass layoffs only makes sense in the context of grocery store closures.

Impressive. It normally takes a few posts before these type of threads are 'corrected'.

Brightfame52 · 2025-11-14T18:51:59-0600

fhansen said:
Of course, but it's not only about the elect, as you put it. God wants all to repent, all to become the elect, IOW, as Paul made clear in his appeal to the Athenians. Also here in 2 Cor 5:20:
"We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."

Yes salvation is only for the elect. That scripture is only for the chosen of God

RileyG · 2025-11-14T18:47:49-0600

seeking.IAM said:
I do not know about the parish in this post, but...

I once got invited to speak in a large historic church (not Episcopal) in a large city. I arrived early and was promptly ushered into the Senior Pastor's study where I met all three pastors. When we emerged for the start of the service, I saw about a dozen people sitting in the first two rows of a church that could sit hundreds. I was flummoxed. I was so taken aback, it felt awkward that I had just gotten up early and drove 3 hours to talk to a handful of worshippers. After the service I was invited by someone to go to lunch. In the restaurant, my first question was, "Where was everybody today? Are the <NFL team> playing at home today?" They said, no, that what I saw was all of them. My next question was, "I have to ask. How are you supporting three pastors and a large building?" The answer: We have an Endowment.

Like, I said. I have lots of questions. Two dozen average attendance and an assault in the church. Imagine how that two dozen could break down into family units. Could the diocese be dealing with a situation where the alleged perpetrator or victim was the kid(s) of somebody on the Vestry or church board? Is that why there was no investigation from April to September? Does two dozen average attendance permit a church to have a paid Rector in place? Or are they relying upon supply priests shuffling in and out? Was there little oversight present until it all blew up?

To answer your question, I think pride, loyalty to the past, or money keeps people hanging on until the last guy turns out the lights rather than joining another congregation.

3 pastors for a small congregation? How odd!

What denomination was it, if i may ask? Not to go off topic…

Thank you for your insight!

Bradskii · 2025-11-14T18:47:20-0600

Oompa Loompa said:
Yes. A lot of people call themselves "Christian" but do not think following Christ is important. That is not new. They believe in Jesus, but do not follow Jesus.

Having been a member of this forum for a number of years I can only agree with you. But the point is not that there are a lot of people like that, but that the number is increasimg.

Spiritual Jew · 2025-11-14T18:47:10-0600

Dikaioumenoi said:
Do you have a point?

LOL. That's the last question you should ever ask me. I believe I make my points very clear and I don't play games.

Dikaioumenoi said:
I've not argued that the text says "they were appointed to believe." They were appointed to eternal life.

I'm not talking about you making a claim about what the text says. Clearly, everyone can see that the text doesn't explicitly say that they were appointed to believe. Yet, you do believe that they were appointed to believe because you believe that those who are appointed to eternal life are also appointed to believe. That is what I'm addressing, which is what I believe to be your false interpretation of Acts 13:48.

Dikaioumenoi said:
But their act of belief flows from that prior divine appointment, not the other way around.

And there it is Why do you act as if you don't understand my point? What I'm addressing is what you said right here. I disagree completely with your statement here.

Dikaioumenoi said:
You can't dispute that grammatically.

LOL. Yes, I can and I have. Don't try to tell me what I can or can't do.

Dikaioumenoi said:
Your best bet for defending your view would be to argue for the middle reading of τεταγμένοι, not a reversal of the syntax.

I'm arguing using scripture to interpret scripture. I don't need to buy into your "middle reading" nonsense. Your interpretation of Acts 13:48 contradicts a lot of other scripture. Does that matter to you or do you think it's acceptable to interpret a verse in isolation from the rest of scripture?

Dikaioumenoi said:
This comment of yours was offered in response to a straightforward grammatical analysis of Acts 13:48, not a theological argument. Labeling the grammar as "wrong" or saying it "doesn't line up with Scripture" tacitly concedes that your theology, rather than the text itself, is your standard of truth. Luke's syntax is painfully clear: the entire relative clause ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον ("as many as had been appointed to eternal life") functions as a single substantival unit and occupies the subject position of ἐπίστευσαν ("believed"). It cannot mean "those who believed were appointed." That reading is grammatically indefensible, as it would require ἐπίστευσαν to lie within the relative clause as its predicate, reversing the syntactic relationship. Luke wrote the opposite: the appointed ones [subject] believe [predicate]. The Greek allows no other reading.

Whatever your view of the rest of Scripture, it must be reconciled with the grammar Luke actually wrote. If it cannot, then it is your interpretation, not my presentation of the syntax, that produces the apparent contradiction.

You really need to humble yourself. You have deluded yourself into thinking that you are the ultimate Greek grammar expert of the entire world. You're making me nauseous here with your boring nonsense. I don't care what you say, the verse is up for interpretation and the meaning of it is not based on our understanding of the Greek grammar. And I certainly don't trust that your understanding of that is correct, anyway, since you are clearly very doctrinally biased. There is nothing in the text to demand that those who were appointed to eternal life were also appointed to believe by God because of being appointed by God to eternal life. If you actually read ALL of scripture, it should be clear that God wants all people to be saved and wants all people to choose to repent and believe or not. You need to question yourself and your understanding of the grammar and of scripture itself when you interpretation of any given verse or passages contradicts many other verses or passages.

Dikaioumenoi said:
The irony is hard to miss. You ask whether it matters to me not to contradict other Scripture, yet you dismiss the plain grammar of the verse because it contradicts your interpretation of other passages. Which is more likely at fault: Luke's Greek, or your reading of the rest of the Bible?

Your doctrine is VERY CLEARLY false, so the way you're talking here means nothing to me. I know the truth and your doctrine is not the truth. I can prove that with ALL of scripture. We can't just base everyone on one verse. But, our interpretation of that verse needs to be able to be reconciled with all of scripture and you cannot do that with your interpretation of Acts 13:48. No amount of talk about the Greek grammar can change that.

Dikaioumenoi said:
I am letting Luke speak for himself; you are imposing your system over his syntax. If anyone is forcing a contradiction here, it is not me.

Wrong. Your argument is not convincing even a tiny bit to me even though I know you have convinced yourself because of what you want to believe.

Dikaioumenoi said:
The issue isn't whether humans make choices. We obviously do. The question is why some believe while others do not.

And your answer doesn't line up with the scriptures which teach that God graciously offers salvation to all people, implying that all people are capable of accepting it, or else He would not offer it or His offer would not be genuine.

Vambram · 2025-11-14T18:44:46-0600

essentialsaltes said:
Is that why he pleaded guilty, because it was political hit job?

He didn't have the millions of dollars necessary to defend himself from the weaponized lawfare of a corrupt DOJ.

fhansen · 2025-11-14T18:44:24-0600

Brightfame52 said:
Yes according to the Bible. Where you think I saw the word Elect from ? The Bible!

Of course, but it's not only about the elect, as you put it. God wants all to repent, all to become the elect, IOW, as Paul made clear in his appeal to the Athenians. Also here in 2 Cor 5:20:
"We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."

jonojim1337 · 2025-11-14T18:44:11-0600

Ehh I think that’s beside the point. My point was, aligning your joints and posture = good. This is the same as having a good balance. My biggest concern is that chiropractics as a philosophy has you rely on the “therapist” rather than being aware of your own body and fixing it yourself, and they also tend to overdo it because they want to create the impression that they are giving you treatment.

LoricaLady · 2025-11-14T18:44:05-0600

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Pray that God will bless and protect our partner; particularly for strength to manage the heavy responsibilities carried on a daily basis.

Pray for recent graduates from the mission training as they return to their ministry locations: that the Lord will give them boldness as well as discernment in sharing Christ with those around them. Many have already experienced persecution and hardship.

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Pray for Christians from a Muslim background, who often face rejection and persecution from their communities. At the same time, they can also find it difficult to fit into the existing Christian culture and churches.

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GoldenBoy89 · 2025-11-14T18:43:40-0600

essentialsaltes said:
Trump to ask DOJ to probe Jeffrey Epstein involvement with Clinton, JPMorgan, Summers
President Donald Trump on Friday asked the Department of Justice to investigate relationships between notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and former President Bill Clinton, JPMorgan Chase, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, billionaire tech investor Reid Hoffman, and others.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said later Friday that she had appointed Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to lead the investigation.

Trump’s statement comes as he faces renewed pressure over his own past friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in August 2019 after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges.

Well it’s a good thing the president isn’t focused on keeping this “nothingburger” going…

Vambram · 2025-11-14T18:43:13-0600

The Barbarian said:
Flynn lied about his contacts with Russian agents. That is a fact.

Information the Justice Department collected from Roger Stone’s iCloud accounts and email accounts and on computer hardware spans “several years,” special counsel Robert Mueller said Thursday.

As is required by law, the prosecutors will begin sharing the evidence against Stone that they collected with his legal defense team so he can prepare for a trial. Stone pleaded not guilty last week to seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

The evidence includes “multiple hard drives containing several terabytes of information consisting of, among other things, FBI case reports, search warrant applications and results (e.g., Apple iCloud accounts and email accounts), bank and financial records, and the contents of numerous physical devices (e.g., cellular phones, computers, and hard drives).”

The prosecutors say in the filing Thursday that the FBI seized electronic devices from Stone’s home, apartment and office.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/31/politics/roger-stone-evidence-mueller/

No point in denial.

I'm not the one who is in denial.

Belk · 2025-11-14T18:39:50-0600

essentialsaltes said:
Trump to ask DOJ to probe Jeffrey Epstein involvement with Clinton, JPMorgan, Summers
President Donald Trump on Friday asked the Department of Justice to investigate relationships between notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and former President Bill Clinton, JPMorgan Chase, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, billionaire tech investor Reid Hoffman, and others.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said later Friday that she had appointed Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to lead the investigation.

Trump’s statement comes as he faces renewed pressure over his own past friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in August 2019 after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges.

Robban · 2025-11-14T18:39:37-0600

jonojim1337 said:
The archtypical Pharisee is everywhere around us. It’s interesting that Christ did spend a good part of his ministry exposing these people, explaining their doom. And just like Abraham said, if they do not believe the words of Moses, neither will they believe if one rises from the dead.

They’re good at trying one’s patience and faith. Is that the only reason why they’re here?

From an artcle entitled, "The factions of the second Temple era."

Four, mainly, Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots and Sicari.

Pharisee from the Hebrew word Perushim "Separatist",

one explanation is that they seperated thenselves from the follies and pleasure of the world.

Ours Sages attribute the destruction of the second Temple to the baseless hate that prevailed among the Jews.

If the Jews had been united they would have merited G-d`s protection.

Akita Suggagaki · 2025-11-14T18:38:39-0600

I am at a point where I would rather see character in any leadership rather than my political views. Here at the local city and county level, or even place of work, I can get behind someone I know and trust even if I do not agree with them.

And I am concerned about the future of our society. How do we promote the development of character in our children? Examples? Role models? Television and social media? There are so many factors and possibilities.

What Is Character? - Character Lab

We define character as everything we do to help other people as well as ourselves.

characterlab.org

Spiritual Jew · 2025-11-14T18:33:33-0600

Dikaioumenoi said:
Those who were appointed to eternal life, did what? They believed.

Yeah, so? It doesn't say they were appointed to believe. What don't you understand about that? According to John 3:16, those who believe are appointed to eternal life and, since God loves everyone in the world, all people get the opportunity to believe unto eternal life. Some resist the gospel and the promptings of the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51) and make themselves unworthy of eternal life as a result of their choice to reject the gospel (Acts 13:46). You can't say that they will not receive eternal life because God chose not to appoint them to eternal life. Scripture never teaches such a thing. Yet, that's what you believe. Instead, scripture teaches that God offers salvation to all people (Titus 2:11), making the reason that some will not inherit eternal life is not because God didn't appoint them to it, but because they chose to reject God's offer of eternal life.

Dikaioumenoi said:
It is not believers who were appointed to eternal life on account of their belief.

God appoints whoever believes to eternal life, as John 3:16 says. He doesn't just randomly appoint people to eternal life and then cause those people to believe, as you imagine. Instead, He graciously offers salvation and eternal life to all people and make everyone responsible to chooes whether to accept or reject His offer.

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

It makes sense that God would offer salvation to all people since He so loves the world that He sent His Son to die for the sins of the whole world (John 3:16, 1 John 2:1-2) and He wants all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-6).

Dikaioumenoi said:
It was those who were appointed to eternal life, who consequently believed on account of that appointment.

Nope. That is not what it says. That's what you think it says, but it definitely doesn't actually say that.

Dikaioumenoi said:
That is the way the grammar reads. ὅσοι ("as many as") is the subject of both ἦσαν τεταγμένοι ("were appointed") and ἐπίστευσαν ("believed").

So two things are true of ὅσοι. (1) They believed, and (2) they were in the prior established state of "were appointed," at the moment they believed. Thus, the appointing precedes and qualifies the reason for their belief. It is ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι -- those characterized as the appointed ones -- who believed.

Please don't pretend like you are a Greek expert. I am using ALL of scripture to back up my beliefs. Are you? Clearly not. I don't need a Greek lesson from you.

Dikaioumenoi said:
The contrast between v. 46 and 48 is between that of self-judgment and divine appointment. Self-judgment explains unbelief. Divine appointment explains belief. What "doesn't make sense" about that?

What doesn't make sense about that is the idea that being judged unworthy of eternal life is based on man's choice, as Acts 13:46 implies, but being judged worthy of eternal life is God's choice, as you think Acts 13:48 implies. If you think that makes sense, I can't help you. Those things are contradictory. I'm not sure why you can't be honest about verse 46. Can you not bring yourself to acknowledge that you believe God judges people to be unworthy of eternal life rather than people judging themselves unworthy of eternal life, as Acts 13:46 indicates?

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Trump to ask DOJ to probe Jeffrey Epstein involvement with Clinton, JPMorgan, Summers

Trump to ask DOJ to probe Jeffrey Epstein involvement with Clinton, JPMorgan, Summers