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Landon Caeli · 2025-12-01T20:30:44-0600

The Secretary of Homeland Security responds:

Screenshot_20251201_182751_Samsung Internet.jpg

BCP1928 · 2025-12-01T20:29:29-0600

hedrick said:
It may even be true. My bet: the Secretary of Defense didn't actually say "if anyone survives, kill them." But when someone survived, someone had to interpret what ambiguous orders actually meant. It's not liikely that they'll be court-martialed, but I predict further promotions will be hard to get.

They really should have followed the Democrats' advice. Not "I refuse to follow this order," but "I don't think that's what the Secretary really meant."

"Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" --Henry II

Christsfreeservant · 2025-12-01T20:28:55-0600

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.

This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” (John 1:6-7,19-25 NASB1995)

John the Baptist was called of God, even before he was formed in the womb of his mother, to be “a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” But he was no one of any prominence or notoriety. He was just called of God, and he believed God, and he answered that call, and he did what the Lord called him to do.

But the Pharisees, who were Jews and people of prominence in the Temple, who taught the Scriptures, but who were skilled in hypocrisy, and did not practice what they preached, sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was. And they didn’t like John’s answers. So they asked him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

And what this immediately brought to my recall is how so many people today get hung up on titles and diplomas and denominational positions, as though that is what qualifies someone to be a servant of the Lord in taking the message of the gospel to the people of the world and in ministering to the body of Christ what will encourage us all in our walks of faith in obedience to the Lord and to his commands. But it doesn’t qualify anyone.

And yet, people who have religious diplomas from religious institutions, and thus now have titles before their names, are often raised up to some superior status above all other Christians. So, if you have gone through religious training via a church denomination, and now you have received your ordination or consecration, and so you are now an “official worker” in any church denomination, people will usually regard you as now qualified.

But biblically speaking, that is not what qualifies any of us for service to our Lord and to one another. What qualifies us is that we are called of God according to his will and purpose for our lives, and that he is the one equipping us and training us in what he has called us to do, his way, in his timing, and for his purpose, and that we are walking in obedience to his commands, living holy lives, pleasing to him, and that we are willing to do what he has called us to do, even if it gets us hated and despised in return.

For some people with titles and diplomas and notoriety may not even believe in Jesus, and they may not even be listening to the Lord and following his calling, but they may just be following their training and going through the motions of religious practice. And they may not even be teaching the truth of the gospel, but they may be following business people and their marketing gimmicks for how to draw in large crowds of people into their gatherings. And so they could be those who are teaching lies, which are not of God.

So, just because someone is an official worker of a church denomination, it does not qualify them for the Lord’s service. Just because they are called “Reverend,” or “Pastor,” or “Missionary,” it doesn’t mean at all that they are called of God and that they are being led by the Lord in what to do, as John the Baptist was. He didn’t have to be “the Christ,” or “Elijah,” or “the Prophet” to do what God called him to do. He just had to be obedient to God’s call on his life, operating under the control of God empowering him.

So, just know that God does not require college or seminary degrees or titles or church denominations’ stamps of approval on you. All he requires is that you love God with your whole being, that you are obeying the Lord, in practice, and sin is no longer your practice. And that you are willing and available to be used of the Lord, as John the Baptist was, in doing whatever God calls you to do with your life. And then just follow the leading of the Lord in being and in doing what he has called you to be and to do, and leave the results to God, even if it means you don’t have approval by some others.

[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:11-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]

What the Lord Says

Based off Isaiah 43:1-44:5
An Original Work / February 24, 2014
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

This is what the Lord says to you:
Fear not, for I have chosen you.
I have summoned you by your name.
You are mine. I died, you to save.

When you go through your trials, so deep,
I will be with you; you will not sink.
You are so precious always to me.
Trust in your Lord, Savior and King.

This is what the Lord says to you:
He who gave salvation to you;
Who delivered you from your sin;
Takes your burdens now upon Him:

Forget the former things of your life.
Give of your heart not now up to strife.
See all the new things I have for you.
Walk in vict’ry. Trust in what’s true.

This is what the Lord says to you:
He who made you; who will help you:
Do not fear what humans may do.
Walk in freedom. Follow what’s true.

Drink of my Spirit given for you.
Trust in my mercy, for I love you.
I have a plan for all of your life.
Follow my ways. Do what is right.

Login to view embedded media
Qualifications for Christian Ministry
An Original Work / December 1, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

FreeinChrist · 2025-12-01T20:28:03-0600

ADVISOR HAT

This thread had a small clean up. Please remember this site rule:

Vulgarity and Profanity

Please do not post, or link to, violent, disturbing, graphic, or sexually explicit images or text. Profanity or foul language is not allowed. This includes using punctuation, symbols, or acronyms to bypass the profanity filter. A few non-censored words are found here.

keith99 · 2025-12-01T20:10:15-0600

A lot of those posting in this thread would do well to check the Wiki for New School.

It was not at all conservative until about 2 years ago when it was gutted and nearly half the faculty quit.

Hentenza · 2025-12-01T20:09:47-0600

BobRyan said:
indeed, instead of that we see verses all speaking of eternal fire and we take them all as dealing with the subject we are studying.

Instead of merely ignoring whatever does not suit our preference.

This is the easy part.

Jude is also dealing with that same feature of the those who are not saved.

LOST/wicked PERSONS:
4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

you really don't have much wiggle room there. The author makes the very connections that your preferences do not tolerate

Didn’t ask for wiggle room. I explained in my post that Matt 25 and Jude are about people and both are about eternal punishment. I don’t see what it is you are arguing. In fact you seem to be agreeing with me.

BobRyan said:
Looks like it is the same great day of judgment that Jude speaks of.

Impossible to miss.

Not in the language of 2 Peter.

BobRyan said:
or the judgment of the great day, 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah

Ezek 28 Satan destroyed and reduced to 'ashes on the Earth" as stated explicitly in Ezek 28.

But satan is not destroyed and turned to ashes instead is thrown into the same lake of fire as the beast, the false prophet, and the wicked to be tortured for ever (Rev. 20). So do you think that your interpretation of Ezekiel. 28 is correct given that you just put it in tension with Rev. 20? To put in tension is not a good thing.

BobRyan said:
The wicked destroyed as "ashes under your feet"

Mal 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” 2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 3 You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.

You continue to interpret symbolic language literally. It seems that you just googled verses that contain the word “ashes” and are bundling them together to attempt to shore up your argument but all you are doing is mixing unrelated verses.

BobRyan said:
You seem to be digging the whole deeper for your own argument

Nah. I think you are getting more confused as you go.

another_lost_guy · 2025-12-01T20:04:14-0600

Why do we get mad at people for dressing up as Hitler or Nazis for Halloween but we don't get mad at people for dressing up as Satan or demons? People genuinely believe Hitler is worse than Satan today and it's ridiculous.

another_lost_guy · 2025-12-01T20:01:26-0600

I recently listened to a high quality upload of Late Registration on YouTube and it blew my mind. Diamonds from Sierra Leone is incredible. I listened to the album before but I'm not much of an audiophile so the quality never meant much to me until now. I posted this in the Christian Music board because I also like Ye's gospel tracks.

iluvatar5150 · 2025-12-01T19:53:14-0600

Vambram said:
Here's more information that you might want to consider.

Treasury Secretary launches probe into Minnesota tax dollars allegedly funding Al-Shabaab terrorists

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched a federal probe into serious allegations that Minnesota tax dollars were diverted to terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

www.foxnews.com

I don't know what you're getting at. I never said the thing in MN didn't happen or that it was okay if it did.

iluvatar5150 · 2025-12-01T19:52:12-0600

ThatRobGuy said:
What area hasn't been ravaged by some form of Colonialism?

One could make a sound argument that Latin American countries, to a larger degree, and much more recently, have been impacted by that. Western interests were still meddling in their governments (in a big way, up to and including CIA backed coups) as recently as the 80's and 90's.

Instead of honor killings, central and south america have extremely powerful drug cartels. Is that better?

Either way, the lack of honor killings in South America would also be consistent with it being a regional cultural thing rather than a religious thing.

Why do we not see Catholic Theocracies down there enforcing Catholic law with the strictest possible interpretation, using the absolute harshest penalties known to man for minor infractions?

Maybe the catholics worked that out of their system 1,000 years ago?

Can we at least agree on the fact that of the two texts, the tone and "hero" of the story in Christianity is a much more benevolent and "softer" type of person, whereas the "hero" of the story in Islam was something of a warlord with ambitions of conquest?

The hero in the New Testament, sure. The heros in the OT, definitely not.

ThatRobGuy said:
People have been trying to draw the link to "western colonialism" as some sort of destabilizing factor that allows fundamentalist Islam to take over in a region.

Allow me to bring up the following nations as a counterpoint:
Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan
Azerbaijan
Tajikistan

They were member states of the USSR (about the most "anti-West" "anti-Western Christian" entity that's existed in the last century -- they had state imposed atheism as a governing principle and their bedrock ideas were based on opposing "westernism" in efforts to create an equal society where "the bourgeoisie couldn't oppress the proletariat" and tearing down any oppression based on superficial characteristics)

What happened to the rights and treatment of women, gay people, and free thinkers in some of those countries after the Soviet Union dissolved and removed their influence from the area, and countries that were >75% Muslim were left to their own devices again to govern how they saw fit?

I never said "western".

Either way, we were talking about honor killings, not this. There are hoards of Christians in the US right now who praise strict rules like that and would implement them in the blink of an eye if given the chance. Here's a sitting congressman who did just that:

GOP Congressman Traveled to Uganda to Give Speech Praising Anti-LGBTQ Death Penalty Law

The GOP lawmaker urged Ugandan leaders to "stand firm" against international opposition and condemnation of the law.

truthout.org

Those American Christians aren't better; they're just held in check by the rest of society.

stevevw · 2025-12-01T19:51:24-0600

sjastro said:
Each individual exhibited a form of creativity but sorry to dash your hopes but creativity is not some ethereal quality which science cannot explain.

I disagree with the meaning you are defining conscious experiences as. I don't think its about creativity. Thats a different aspect and one that can be linked to processes we can define redlating to form. It may be associated with consciousness.

But whatever is the conscious experience related to creativity it cannot be measured by science because the very nature of subjective experiences cannot be captured in material terms. So I think your conflating something thats not consciousness but a cognative intellectual process about defining the line between creative thinking and consciousness..

sjastro said:
Einstein's brain was removed under the flimsy excuse it was part of the autopsy procedure of the hospital but turned into a full blown scientific investigation of how his brain varied from a typical brain, particularly Einstein's superior visual spatial reasoning which defined his creativity.

Still this is correlation and not accounting for the actual nature of conscious experiences. We can map out all the neural correlations of conscious experiences and know exactly what brain parts and wiring lights up. But none of this tells us anything about the nature of the experiences coming out of those firing mechanism. You cannot see the golden sunset in those brain activities. You have to ask the experiencer directly.

It is only the experiencer who is directly having that experience and gaining that knowledge from it. Like colorblind Mary. She could know everything about the brain activity but none of that gave her any experience or knowledge of colors. It was only when she could then see the color Red that she experienced it and gained new knowledge.

sjastro said:
Brain Feature Typical Human Brain Einstein’s Brain Possible Cognitive Advantage
Inferior Parietal Lobule (IPL) Normal size and folding; separated by a typical Sylvian fissure. Unusually large, highly folded, Sylvian fissure partly absent, giving more cortical area. Enhanced visual–spatial reasoning, mathematical intuition, and ability to mentally manipulate physical systems.
Parietal–Frontal Integration Standard boundaries and separation between frontal and parietal regions. More integrated parietal and frontal regions observed in images. Improved ability to combine abstract ideas, form mental models, and think conceptually.
Glial-to-Neuron Ratio (especially in Area 39) Average glial density; typical metabolic support. Higher glial density in some regions responsible for complex thought. Enhanced neural support for sustained reasoning, possibly enabling long periods of intense thought.
Corpus Callosum Thickness Typical thickness and fiber density. Thicker in several regions, especially mid-body and isthmus. Better communication between hemispheres → integrative, cross-domain thinking.
Overall Cortical Complexity Typical gyrification patterns. More complex folding in certain cognitive areas, especially parietal regions. Increased surface area for specialized processing → potentially greater cognitive capacity in specific domains.
Frontal Lobes (DLPFC areas) Typical prefrontal organization. Some evidence of unusually connected frontal-parietal networks. Improved working memory, planning, and conceptual synthesis.
Language Areas (Broca/Wernicke) Typical development. No major anomalies observed. Consistent with Einstein's own statements that he “thought in images, not words”—creativity rooted in visual reasoning rather than linguistic processing.
Overall Brain Size ~1,350 g average adult male. ~1,230 g (slightly smaller than average). Shows that size is not related to intelligence; efficiency and structure matter more.

All the above does is like mapping out the corelations of consciousness is tell us the technical data of what happens in the brain when we have a conscious experience. It tells us absolutely nothing about that experience or the knowledge that comes from it.

sjastro said:
I want you to tell me the outcome of the ancient Egyptians transcendental ideas or experiences which according to you is manifested in the use of superior technology so where is it? I could just as easily state it is in the existing tools as confirmed by the archaeological evidence.

Thats silly. If I could tell you that then I would have cracked the Hard Problem of Consciousness and so far no one has come near to this.

All I can say is I have shown that there is an aspect of knowledge that material science cannot explain. So there is knowledge beyond the objective empiricle knowledge that tells us something about reality.

sjastro said:
Lets throw a spanner into the works on the subject of Methological Naturalism which you mistakenly refer to as material science.

Methological naturalism deals with the naturalistic processes that are measurable through testing. That is matter, particles, chemicals, elements, forces and fields. So it is material or if you like physical in nature. Any non physical effect like consciousness is classed as an epiphenomena of the physical.

sjastro said:
The Kahun Medical papyrus from the Middle Kingdom shows the Egyptians had developed a pregnancy test where women would urinate on barley and emmer-wheat seeds over several days. If the seeds sprouted indicated the women where pregnant.
Modern scientific studies indicate the test is up to 80% accurate and caused by increased levels of estrogen in the urine of pregnant women.

This is an example of the science of cause and effect, the ancient Egyptians only had the experience of observation which is the effect, they were not aware of Methological Naturalism and attributed the cause to magic.

Actually its now classed as science and not magic. But to the ancients this was like magic. For all we know it may well have been. If you consider that nature has a prenancy test available then it shows how much in nature are the solutions to almost anything. Thats like magic and especially to the ancients.

But none of this tells us anything about how they discovered such things. I am saying that because of their deep immersion in nature consciously that its no surprise they were discovering such things as they came to know how nature worked through an intimate relationship with in.

As opposed to material science when has to first collect a lot of data to work out how nature works in the first place by looking from the outside in. Then after centuries of information come to understand such things.

sjastro said:
It highlights the fact the role of the supernatural in science is useless particularly when it is not falsifiable.

Yes I have been saying that for some time now. Science cannot tell us anything about the supernatural. Yet it is a reality and gives us knowledge that methological naturalism cannot tell us.

Science cannot falsify God or consciousness beyond the physical brain. That means it cannot claim it holds all the knowledge of nature and reality. That means as the ancients lived within this supernatural realm more often or completely they gained knowledge that we cannot get today from material sciences.

Well we can but its taken millenia. Even then we are still struggling with stuff like consciousness and phenomenal experiences like belief.

In some ways methological naturalism is hitting brick walls and is naturally looking at ideas that involve other dimensions that could almost be classed as supernatural. Like the idea that Mind or Consciousness or Information itself is fundemental reality that the material world eminates from.

another_lost_guy · 2025-12-01T19:51:01-0600

NxNW said:
There was no scheme.

Come on now, North. Are we really going to argue semantics here? Even democrats agree Pelosi is corrupt when it comes to insider trading.

Vambram · 2025-12-01T19:50:28-0600

iluvatar5150 said:
I'm pretty sure I said I prefer this sort of fraud:

Rick Scott - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Why do you keep linking to different articles about the same story?

Here's more information that you might want to consider.

Treasury Secretary launches probe into Minnesota tax dollars allegedly funding Al-Shabaab terrorists

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched a federal probe into serious allegations that Minnesota tax dollars were diverted to terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

www.foxnews.com

Mark Quayle · 2025-12-01T19:48:51-0600

Dan1988 said:
If we consider the fact that God is outside of time, and He is not bound or governed by any laws of nature as His creation is. Then if we consider that God created time, at the same time that He created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 says "In the beginning", this is when time began. And God has appointed an end to time itself as well.

I'm not suggesting that God had a begging, we know He is outside of time and He is not a part of anything He created, He is separate to His creation so He is nothing like we are.

The reason, those who are cast into hell will be tormented in fire for ever and ever, is because they continue to sin while they are being punished and that means they are heaping more coals of fire on their head.

They actually blaspheme the name of God while He punishes them, just like we hear unbelievers blaspheme the name of God when they burn themselves with a hot coffee or hit their thumb with a hammer, but the pain is much worse in hell so their blasphemy is much worse, and they never reach a time when they find the peace in their heart to repent.

It's actually impossible to find peace in your heart which would allow you to repent while you are in excruciating pain, so all they can do is scream out blasphemies against God, and that keeps their condemnation building up perpetually forevermore.

Time will cease to exist, when Christ returns to judge the world. All of mankind will step into eternity, and time won't exist anymore. Those who abide in the spiritual realm (the Angels) are already outside of time.

At the end of this age, Christ will return, the dead will be resurrected, the final judgment will occur, and the eternal state (new heaven and new earth) will begin immediately.

Matthew 24:35: Jesus states, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away".

2 Peter 3:10: This verse describes the "day of the Lord" when "the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed".

Revelation 21:1, 4: John's vision describes a definitive end to the current order: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away".

Yet even our terminology to describe the state of things to come is temporal terminology. And so is our thinking on the matter. But, it's ok. We really can't help ourselves. But it is good to keep a skeptical eye on our own conclusions. It is easier to say what such things are not, than to say what they are.

another_lost_guy · 2025-12-01T19:48:36-0600

Things have gotten laughably insane for me in a very short amount of time. It's not like I'm struggling with my faith, in fact I feel more detached from the world than ever. I am likely going to be living in a truck pretty soon. It seems to me that Jesus was homeless during His ministry. Are there any other writings about feeling closer to God during homelessness besides Matthew 8:20 and Luke 9:58? Are there saints or church fathers who wrote anything about it? Is anyone here homeless?

Brain Feature	Typical Human Brain	Einstein’s Brain	Possible Cognitive Advantage
Inferior Parietal Lobule (IPL)	Normal size and folding; separated by a typical Sylvian fissure.	Unusually large, highly folded, Sylvian fissure partly absent, giving more cortical area.	Enhanced visual–spatial reasoning, mathematical intuition, and ability to mentally manipulate physical systems.
Parietal–Frontal Integration	Standard boundaries and separation between frontal and parietal regions.	More integrated parietal and frontal regions observed in images.	Improved ability to combine abstract ideas, form mental models, and think conceptually.
Glial-to-Neuron Ratio (especially in Area 39)	Average glial density; typical metabolic support.	Higher glial density in some regions responsible for complex thought.	Enhanced neural support for sustained reasoning, possibly enabling long periods of intense thought.
Corpus Callosum Thickness	Typical thickness and fiber density.	Thicker in several regions, especially mid-body and isthmus.	Better communication between hemispheres → integrative, cross-domain thinking.
Overall Cortical Complexity	Typical gyrification patterns.	More complex folding in certain cognitive areas, especially parietal regions.	Increased surface area for specialized processing → potentially greater cognitive capacity in specific domains.
Frontal Lobes (DLPFC areas)	Typical prefrontal organization.	Some evidence of unusually connected frontal-parietal networks.	Improved working memory, planning, and conceptual synthesis.
Language Areas (Broca/Wernicke)	Typical development.	No major anomalies observed.	Consistent with Einstein's own statements that he “thought in images, not words”—creativity rooted in visual reasoning rather than linguistic processing.
Overall Brain Size	~1,350 g average adult male.	~1,230 g (slightly smaller than average).	Shows that size is not related to intelligence; efficiency and structure matter more.

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