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  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

The Mamdani Model: More Socialist Mayors to ComeBeware! The DSA will attempt to repeat Mamdani’s success in other Democrat strongholds.

Ugh. Nevertheless, the Romans gave us the Republic.

Come on I just gave you a full-sized dish and you just wanna take a nibble at one turkey leg? I would even argue the Judges era of Israel has claims over that
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‘Go to Berkeley’: Ron DeSantis said students seeking ‘woke’ classes should study elsewhere

For Berkeley
Arts & Humanities:
  • The division offers more than 30 undergraduate and 27 graduate degree programs, enrolling almost 18,000 undergraduate students in courses each semester
Engineering:
  • There are approximately 4,100 undergraduates in their College of Engineering courses each semester

Berkeley is definitely more "arts & humanities focused" than many other high profile colleges out there.

That's not to say they don't have a great engineering department. But I think their "artsy" stuff and progressive campus culture is the thing they're known for.

In the same way that OSU has perfectly respectable STEM departments, but they're known for Division 1 athletics.
Thats not a comparison to other schools.

And for your comparison look at how many are enrolled in what majors, not taking an elective. Almost everybody takes a humanities elective at any college. Who takes an engineering elective? And just generally, Berkeley is one of the most renown engineering /science schools out there.
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How do I know what God wants me to do?

The Bible is God speaking, so checking what Scripture says about things and making sure we are in alignment with His ways is one solid way to know what to pray for and not pray for, and when it is something we want versus something God wants.

In addition to this is to listen with our hearts. God is love (1 John 4:8) and when we are in alignment with His will, which is always loving to Him, us, and others, He promises to fulfill those desires in His Word (Psalm 37:4). God doesn't speak in the ear, and loud booming voices don't interject when we need guidance or pray for insight into His wishes.

If you've ever felt the strong urge to do something uncomfortable and help someone while knowing full well it could end in personal embarrassment or just feel like it would be a waste of time, then you've heard God speaking to your heart. He lives in us (1 Corinthians 3:16) and when He speaks we feel. Now bear with me, not all "feelings" are God speaking, but He does move us to compassion and puts it in our heart to speak up about Christ to people and do the loving thing if we are listening to Him (with our heart).

You have to get "tuned in" to Him, be focused on Him, and know what He says in the Letter He wrote to us called the Bible. I have yet to date not found answers to my questions in that book, and it isn't the book but the fact I'm searching and listening to Him that rewards me for seeking His guidance (Matthew 7:7=Promise). It doesn't matter what we are reading, because He isn't limited to what He wrote down, but if we are reading we are listening to Him, and focused on Him, and He rewards us for that and those sought after insights start popping into our heads and the picture begins to clear up and our path becomes obvious (Hebrews 11:6).

My experience is the more I let go of concerns and focus on Him, the faster I obtain the clarity I was too busy seeking previously to focus on Him.
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Minnesota is drowning in fraud.

I'm about to reply to every individual thing here but can we just pause here for a second and zoom out? Nancy Pelosi's annualized return in the last 5 years is 22.8%. Berkshire Hathaway, the best investment firm in the WORLD's annualized return of the last 5 years is 13.6%, nearly HALF that.

There are three options here:

1. Occam's razor: She trades on nonpublic information that she has access to by being a politician/insider
2. She is an 85 year old house of representatives member fishing for geriatric Facebook approval by pulling stunts like this who also moonlights as one of the greatest investment geniuses of our time on the side
3. She just got lucky with a few stocks

Don't avoid the question, North. I genuinely wanna see which one you pick

Very good.

Thank you sir

It's not a crime to be in possession of inside information. It's a crime to trade based on that knowledge.

And I'm sure it's going to be a real picnic to prosecute a highly powerful person based on their private thoughts

See above.

You've said nothing. We both admit she has nonpublic info on companies right? And we both admit she trades stocks? So where is the hang up? That alone is enough to warrant insider trading on a moral basis, if not a legal basis

Don't hold your breath.

I'm glad I didn't because you still didn't answer yes or no

So you were arguing against something I never said?

It wasn't an argument, it was an informative statement.
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Is Hell Annihilationism or Eternal Torment

That's all based on your own private opinion, but there are no scriptures to support this opinion. There are countless scriptures which support the doctrine of hell as "Eternal Conscious Torment".

Thanks for your opinion, but private opinions have no value in Gods economy.
  • Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 is cited to support the belief that the dead "know nothing" and have no activity or knowledge in the grave (Sheol).
  • Psalm 146:4 states that when a person dies, their thoughts perish.
  • Psalm 115:17 indicates that the dead do not praise the Lord.
  • Job 14:10-12 describes death as a state of lying down until a future resurrection.
  • Genesis 3:19, concerning returning to dust, is seen as the punishment for sin, rather than eternal torment.
  • John 11:11-14, where Jesus describes Lazarus' death as a "sleep," is interpreted as a metaphor for the unconscious state of death before resurrection.
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Minnesota is drowning in fraud.

Minnesota DHS workers accuse Gov. Walz of ignoring fraud warnings


MINNEAPOLIS (NewsNation) — Hundreds of Minnesota Department of Human Services employees are allegedly accusing Gov. Tim Walz on social media of ignoring early warnings about massive fraud and retaliating against whistleblowers in a scandal that allegedly funneled over $1 billion in taxpayer funds to fraudulent operations.
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Minnesota is drowning in fraud.

Bessent orders Treasury investigation into possible diversion of Minnesota tax dollars to terrorists

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Monday that the Treasury will launch an investigation into allegations of a Minnesota fraud scheme purportedly mishandled under Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN).

“At my direction, @USTreasury is investigating allegations that under the feckless mismanagement of the Biden Administration and Governor Tim Walz, hardworking Minnesotans’ tax dollars may have been diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab,” Bessent wrote on X.
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Anyone attempt to start a Bible Study with the people you evangelize who are mostly homeless?

Some of the homeless people we have been evangelizing are starting to come to church.

Its challenging to get them to stay for the entire service.

Many are very anxious and can be overwhelmed just being there.

But they are getting themselves over to the building and inside the door.

Often, there is getting up and down as well as pacing around, sometimes even talking a bit to them selves....

Yet, they are there. They are seeking. There is a light of hope in their eyes.

They respond to being welcomed inside with genuine warmth, and sometimes sitting with them for support.

With a welcome word of support and fellowship, said with sincere warmth, people do respond to that!

Thanks for the update. I was wondering how that went.

As with others here I'm also part of ministry that feeds and helps the local homeless. I do not know about the homeless in your area, but to be honest, there is a fairly large segment of homeless in our area that suffer from addiction, mental issues, or a combination of the two.

In the area where we feed, we had the homeless do all of the following on occasion - sudden outbursts of profanity or just yelling, arguing, fighting sometimes. Drug use, or dealing. "Tweaking out" - ie bizarre behavior while high and/or having a mental issue. Using the bathroom outdoors and in view of others. Stripping down. Sitting up camp / sleeping on the property. Destruction or vandalism of property. Theft. Passing out. Leaving trash scattered about.

Granted - not all of these happen all the time. Like, leaving trash scattered about happens all the time. An actual fight is rare. An argument or outburst of profanity isn't uncommon.

The churches in our area are aware of all of this behavior and most of them have had issues with the homeless sleeping on their property, breaking in, theft, property destruction, using the bathroom on church grounds, etc.. While some of the churches do have a heart for the homeless they are simply afraid to invite them in.

I will freely admit that far from all of the homeless are like I described above. It is more a case of "a few bad apples spoiling the barrel."

Did (or do) you face any of the above and how did you overcome it in getting the homeless into church and the church allowing it?
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Minnesota is drowning in fraud.

Yes. And just because a law doesn't currently exist preventing a politician's husband from running a hedge fund doesn't mean she didn't commit insider trading. Insider trading is the purchase or sale of a publicly traded company’s securities while in possession of material, nonpublic information (MNPI) that could significantly impact the company’s stock price.
Very good.
Are you legitimately going to tell me she is not in possession of material nonpublic information that could significantly impact a company's stock price?
It's not a crime to be in possession of inside information. It's a crime to trade based on that knowledge.
I won't hold my breath for a yes/no on that question. Possessing nonpublic information is in a politician's job description as far as I and anyone else is concerned.
See above.
And you have foolishly forfeited your right to ever make it
Don't hold your breath.
When did I say you did?
So you were arguing against something I never said?
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‘Go to Berkeley’: Ron DeSantis said students seeking ‘woke’ classes should study elsewhere

If that were the case, then schools like BYU would've gone bankrupt. (they have a strict cultural code that would probably put his "New School Florida" to shame)

Not sure whether or not people were familiar with Brigham Young University's "Honor Code"

No Homosexuality allowed
No visitors of the opposite sex are allowed to come over
Men can't have long hair
No Piercings
Shorts have to be knee length
No Profanity
No coffee allowed

There's a difference between setting out to do a Thing while also having a political/religious agenda, and setting out to advance a political/religious agenda and using that Thing as the vehicle for the agenda. The former can lead to many great things (e.g. institutions, works of art, etc); the latter usually leads to shallow pap and incompetence. That's why so many explicitly Christian movies are awful - their focus is agenda first, filmmaking second. I'd include in that bucket a lot of left-wing documentaries and right-wing attempts at writing "history", too.

The thing that BYU and the old iteration of the New School had in common was that they were trying to be good universities first. The new administration of the New School was selected for the purpose of advancing an agenda, not for the purpose of making a good university.
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The Mamdani Model: More Socialist Mayors to ComeBeware! The DSA will attempt to repeat Mamdani’s success in other Democrat strongholds.

That’s a form of democracy.

Yeah and national socialism isn't real socialism and the sky is green. As long as we have the Supreme Court we're not a democracy. And that's a beautiful thing
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"Don't Give up the Ship"

Can you provide the audio of the murdered woman threatening to murder anyone?
Audio of her conspirators, whom she was leading in the attack, is easy to find.
If not I stand by my statement. You do realize there were planted agitators in that crowd!
Never happened.
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The NEA is pushing far left teaching upon children

No, the right answer is that it is a picture appears to be that of a human who looks like a cat for some reason. That's the reality, It's entirely likely that his appearance is the result of surgery, but so what?
The posters answer was that it appeared to be human, but "looks can be deceiving." In other words, "It looks human but looks can be deceiving. So it could be a cat."

Basically, what is going on is a situation of the Emperor having no clothes. The con-artists in the story who convinced a naked Emperor that he was beautifully dressed are the academic elites and school teachers who deceived their students into believing the trans ideology.

Then for years, anyone who had the audacity to question the Emperor's attire where ostracized and sent to the gulag out of fear of the king's embarrassment. It worked for a while, and many people went along with the lie to protect their jobs and reputations. But not anymore.

Now, the people are no longer afraid to speak the truth and are calling it what it is, delusion. The strange thing is that so many people have been groomed and indoctrinated so much that they truly believe the emperor is dressed when he is clearly naked. Now they cant even tell the difference between a cat, and a human having surgery to look like a cat.
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Minnesota is drowning in fraud.

Lack of indictment and lack of conviction are semantics?

Yes. And just because a law doesn't currently exist preventing a politician's husband from running a hedge fund doesn't mean she didn't commit insider trading. Insider trading is the purchase or sale of a publicly traded company’s securities while in possession of material, nonpublic information (MNPI) that could significantly impact the company’s stock price. Are you legitimately going to tell me she is not in possession of material nonpublic information that could significantly impact a company's stock price? I won't hold my breath for a yes/no on that question. Possessing nonpublic information is in a politician's job description as far as I and anyone else is concerned.

I never made such an accusation.

And you have foolishly forfeited your right to ever make it

When did I say anything about Trump and insider trading?
When did I say you did?
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Young earth vs Old earth?

Quote: "the new testament was written centuries later by different authors"
How can that be understood since each author was ultimately inspired by God the Holy Spirit? I recognize the fact that the writing styles were different according to the penman but the ultimate author is God the Holy Spirit is it not.
Forgive me sir but and I agree with what you are saying... I think that was what I was struggling to say all along.
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Minnesota is drowning in fraud.

Alright so you've decided we are going to argue semantics here.
Lack of indictment and lack of conviction are semantics?
Just know that if you want to remain consistent you no longer have the right to accuse Trump of insider trading with his crypto/DWAC grift (since he doesn't have an insider trading indictment or conviction).
I never made such an accusation.
That's the fun part about having the integrity to call out wrongdoing wherever it may be. I myself as a Republican have the moral consistency hold him accountable for insider trading but you don't since you don't ALSO want to implicate Pelosi, lol
When did I say anything about Trump and insider trading?
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America, Please Put Some Pants On

Eh - I think there is kind of a blurry line here. At least for me..

Its clear the author doesn't like quirky t-shirts for men. But, I'll go with one of his examples...

What do we make of the 48-year-old father/accountant wearing a Pokémon T-shirt to parent-teacher night,

I make of it that is 100% ok. Nothing wrong with a pokeman shirt to a casual event like that. In fact, cheers to the 48 yo dad that actually went to parent teacher night! The world needs more dads like that! That dad and his pokemon t-shirt are great IMO.

So, that's on the OK side of the line.

On the "Not ok" side of the line.

I saw a family in the grocery the other day. Parents in their early 40's. Little girl about 8. Mom was in jeans and a short sleeved top, looked normal for an outing to the grocery. Little girl was in shorts and a t-shirt. Normal kids attire. Both had hair combed, shoes on, etc. Dad was in flip flops, and thin, worn, stained, white and blue pajama pants, a white tank top style undershirt that was also worn, stained and torn. His hair looked like it hadn't seen a comb in about a month or so. Unlike the dad in the author's example, this dad did not look OK IMO. Instead of looking like a dad out with his family it looked like Mom and daughter had found some bum off the sidewalk and taken him to the store with them.
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