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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.

When the Sacrament Bites Back: Has Communion Ever Frightened You?

Sometimes I don't, but usually I remind myself that the solemnity is not in my performance but in the testament to God's faithfulness. My understanding of the text in question is that the unworthy manner was because they were missing the fellowship that the Lord's Supper speaks to, through their flagrant injustices towards one another.
Exactly—Corinth’s problem was love-less greed, not quiet doubts.
I’m with you: the solemnity rests on God’s faithfulness, not my pulse-rate.
Humility still matters—too many services rush the moment and it’s gone; I wish we’d slow it down and let people reflect.
May these shared moments be received in the same grace they were given—humble, honest, and anchored to Christ’s finished work alone.
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what are you feeling right now? (24)

I’m feeling a year older, and all that goes with it. I feel like I don’t want to do much. But when there is something it gets done. I have a very quiet life and it’s very enjoyable. I feel the Life still surging. Gods love is still there, it needs expressing. Fall wasn’t long enough, spring is far away. Some people hibernate for winter and I sleep and will sit by the fire this winter and I will pray and spring will sprang. Hope will continue God willing.
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WHERE TO POST A QUESTION ABOUT CHRISTMAS CARDS?

Do people still send Christmas cards? Some years I sent 70. At any rate I always sent several cards. Now I'm blessed if I receive two. Are cards a thing of the past? I have some boxes of beautiful cards and i hate to throw them away. I also miss receiving them. Can someone enlighten me about this custom?

Harvard conservative magazine is suspended by its own board after publishing article laced with Nazi rhetoric

When you consider the vast library of Hitler quotes from various long & laborious speeches (that were scattershot across a myriad of subjects), is it perhaps too easy of a jab to take to merely find "resemblances"?

Overlap in policy & rhetoric doesn't necessarily mean perfect overlap in terms ideological agreement.

"America for Americans" and "France is for the French" existed before Hitler.

And Hitler made quotes about vegetarianism and animal welfare, and I'm sure we could find some "similar sounding" rhetoric between his statements and that of PETA. That wouldn't mean PETA (or the animal rights movement more broadly) should be linked with a propensity for Nazism.


And one certainly doesn't have to be a Nazi to hold the position that fundamentalist Islam is incompatible with Westernized society.

And that's a bidirectional opinion for that matter... Many in the west feel that way... and many Fundamentalist Muslims in the Middle East also feel that their religious ideology and the "excesses of the West" are incompatible.


I'd bet dollars to donuts that at some of those anti-Israel protests that were happening at Harvard, there were probably a lot of things being shouted and written on signs that we could probably track down some overlap with.
Also when I read the words 'blood and soil' Hitler was the furthest from my mind in relation to American history of fighting for anti slavery and the principles of freedoms and democracy.

They certainly fought and spilt blood on their own soil and that soil produced one of the worlds greatest democracies which gave us freedoms.

But to then equate all this as Nazi is actually the injection of Woke ideologues who turn absolutely everything into being about identity groups. One identity group oppressing another. This isa common MO of the ideologues. They have been calling Trump and his supporters Nazis for 10 years now lol.

Thats why I reckon don't even engage. If you try to defend or talk reason it does not work. This is about ideological beliefs and not objective reality. You can never win. State your beliefs and views when required and don't buy in. Tell the truth when required but don't buy in.

Theres too much fake news in this modern tech world. Too much whitenoise. Too many dark forces at work that will consume you.
Walk away and come back another day. Things may change. But no one will ever win in the culture war and buying in is the fuel that keeps it going.

For a Christian its unbeatable. Just speak the truth and leave it at that. If people don't like it so be it. You can't change them, only God.
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The Lord's Wrath - How will it Happen

"Also, consuming fire." In addition to.

"For our God is a consuming fire." is referring to both His countenance (Exodus 24:17, Revelation 1:16, Revelation 19:11-16) and His wrath (Jeremiah 4:4, Revelation 6:15-17, Revelation 19:21). His countenance is like the sun. A CME isn't necessary. Fire and brimstone from heaven comes after the thousand year reign of Christ (2 Peter 3:7, Revelation 20:7-9).
Isaiah 30:26, specifically mentions the sun as causing all the graphically Prophesied things. A CME is a one day event; the blast carries on into outer space.
The Lords terrible Day of wrath, must be a natural event, so as the ungodly people can continue in their rejection of God.
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There’s a Giant Flaw in Human History

Actually if you listened to the video its was an academic who cited his credentials who was presenting the video. He was taking an academic appraoch. Thats is what I have been doing. I stated that the views on how this might have come about such as knowledge from immersions in nature was spectualtion.
I watched the video in the OP months ago. The presenter of the video in question has a BA in ancient history. That does not make him an "academic".
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Zions New Children

Don't negate the promise to Abraham of the "seed" which will never die which means ethnic Jews (biological descendants of Abraham). We don't replace Israel, as Paul says, we gentiles are grafted in. The original branches are still there and will always be.
Jesus said: I know you are descended from Abraham....If you really were Abrahams children, you would act as Abraham did. John 8:37-40
Paul said: .....it is those with faith who share the Blessings with Abraham. Galatians 3:6-9 and - If you belong to Christ, then you are a child of Abraham

All the natural branches were cut off the Olive Tree of Jesus and only a few became Christians and got grafted back, then and still today. That remnant will join with their brethren, as a small minority of Gods peoples. The rest of the apostate Jews, are just the same as every other ungodly people and will share their fate. Isaiah 6:11-13, Luke 19:27
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Do you keep the Sabbath? (poll)

I think we'd have to define what it means to keep the Sabbath in order for anyone to answer this question, especially in identifying how certain restrictions that are set out in the Bible apply to modern life. Is using electricity causing a fire to be lit? How about driving a car that uses internal combustion in its engine? Is carrying a Bible against the restriction on carrying? And what of the other 30 some categories of work that were forbidden by the Jews on the Sabbath? What do we mean when we say "keep the Sabbath"?
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Street Preaching

It's never been without risk, since you never know how some random person will react. But are you suggesting that it has somehow become more dangerous? How many street preachers have faced reprocutions, and how does it compare to people who generally make spectacles of themselves in public?(i tried to phrase that less provocatively, but I couldn't quite figure out how to phrase it appropriately)
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Does God want us to live in a patriarchal society ?

I was speaking to a friend about vows of silence. Why people use to take vows of silence like Monks or were generally more quiet and said less as church leaders. Clement of Rome I think mentions how the Elders were of quiet disposition and how this was Christlike. That it was their example that spoke for them.

Paul mentions that it was his reputation for exampling Christ that the church knew he represented the truth. They did not need rationalisations as they could tell by his Christlikeness. When he did speak he was taken seriously and respected. Like many of the early leaders. There was a unity behind the Elders because everyone was unified in Christ. They could recognise the signs.

Whereas today with all the whitenoise of modern rationalisations and even false facts and narratives appealing to feelings. Its hard to tell. We have to stop and listen and try and block out all that white noise to know the spirit and the good fruits.
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What really is "dividing the body of Christ"??

Y'know, with the way the world is, one would think Christians would see the need to unite together for mutual support and encouragement rather than wrangle over certain points of the faith ad infinitum. But I guess I hope for too much.
No you don't hope too much. For God nothing is impossible and I believe He does not allow for His church to go for too long without a correction.

It will come and I think its beginning now. Just like in society we have witnessed some horrible and hateful stuff. As a response I think good Christians will reflect and be reproved and rise up. Its like every action will have an equal and opposite reaction.

But this won't be any human made rising up. This will be Gods spirit at work being poured out on the world.
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Gallup: Drop in U.S. Religiosity Among Largest in World

And where is there only 10% Muslim population where this has happened?
Not specifically Muslim, but major political changes in general tend to break down to 10% on one side, 10% on the other, and 80% who are simply worried about their day to day living and can't be bothered with bigger issues.
Oh great, another poster who doesn't know how liberal & progressives aren't leftists. You need to get a leftist to explain it to you.
You're splitting hairs, and seem to be invoking a bit of a no true scotsman thing.
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SO HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE SAVED ??

You seem to be stuck in complication and self justifications land dan

"-everyone who loves knows God and is born of God" capital word spellings not required, but I like the bold
And in. 1 John 5;18. SAYS that. whosoever is BORN. OF GOD. SINNETH NOT // OV. is a DISJUNCATIVE PARTICLE NEGATIVE

AND. that means you can NOT EVER SIN. , and you say you never EVER SIN. ??

# A Is this for TODAY. ??

# B Is it for the FOR THE BODY of CHRIST. ??

# C Is it for ISAREL. , yes it is for Israel , in. the GREAT TRIBULATION. !!

dan p
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The role of imagination in prayer in The Way of a Pilgrim

I'm trying to understand how what the Pilgrim engages in isn't imaginative prayer. In chapter 2, when he's spending the summer in the forester's hut, he achieves self-acting prayer in the heart as follows:

"I set about reading The Philokalia in the exact order [my starets] had bidden. I read it once, and again a second time, and this reading kindled in my soul a zealous desire to make what I had read a matter of practical experience. I saw clearly what interior prayer means, how it is to be reached, what the fruits of it are, how it filled one's heart and soul with delight, and how one could tell whether that delight came from God, from nature or from temptation.
"So I began by searching out my heart in the way Simeon the New Theologian teaches. With my eyes shut I gazed in thought, i.e., in imagination, upon my heart. I tried to picture it there in the left side of my breast and to listen carefully to its beating. I started doing this several times a day, for half an hour at a time, and at first I felt nothing but a sense of darkness. But little by little after a fairly short time I was able to picture my heart and to note its movement, and further with the help of my breathing I could put into it and draw from it the Prayer of Jesus in the manner taught by the saints, Gregory of Sinai, Callistus and Ignatius. When drawing the air in I looked in spirit into my heart and said, 'Lord Jesus Christ,' and when breathing out again, I said, 'Have mercy on me.' " (emphasis mine)

This looks to me like he's imagining his heart while praying the Jesus Prayer. However, later in the book, in chapter 4, he cautions a fellow traveler, who has gone blind in his old age, against imaginative prayer, even as he instructs him in how to achieve self-acting interior prayer via imagination:

" '...can you not picture your hand or your foot as clearly as if you were looking at it, can you not turn your eyes to it and fix them upon it, blind as they are?'
" 'Yes, I can,' he answered.
" 'Then picture to yourself your heart in just the same way, turn your eyes to it just as though you were looking at it through your breast, and picture it as clearly as you can. And with your ears listen closely to its beating, beat by beat. When you have got into the way of doing this, begin to fit the words of the Prayer to the beats of the heart one after the other, looking at it all the time. Thus, with the first beat, say or think "Lord," with the second, "Jesus," with the third, "Christ," with the fourth, "have mercy," and with the fifth "on me." And do it over and over again. This will come easily to you, for you already know the groundwork and the first part of praying with the heart. Afterwards, when you have grown used to what I have just told you about, you must begin bringing the whole Prayer of Jesus into and out of your heart in time with your breathing, as the Fathers taught. Thus, as you draw your breath in, say, or imagine yourself saying, "Lord Jesus Christ," and as you breathe out again, "have mercy on me." Do this as often and as much as you can, and in a short space of time you will feel a slight and not unpleasant pain in your heart, followed by a warmth. Thus by God's help you will get the joy of self-acting inward prayer of the heart. But then, whatever you do, be on your guard against imagination and any sort of visions. Don't accept any of them whatever, for the holy Fathers lay down most strongly that inward prayer should be kept free from visions, lest one fall into temptation.' "

How is this picturing of the heart while saying the Jesus Prayer distinct from using imagination in prayer?

Exorcist Diary #369: What Works Against Demons?

Early in my walk, back in the 70s, I recall reading a great deal of material by Kurt E. Koch, a German theologian, on the subject of the occult, paganism, and demonology. Very interesting subject.
Occult bondage and deliverance - 1970
The Devils Alphabet -1971


Thank you for sharing this information.
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Trump promises $2000 tariff dividend to all Americans

But you mentioned it effecting international trade... Now you're backpedaling. Are you now saying international trade isn't effected by the tariffs? Only Americans feel the crunch?
How can you not understand that post. If you buy corn, it's going to come from Iowa. If you buy oranges, they'll likely come from California. Some basic foodstuffs that you buy can be home grown. But check out your pantry. I literally just walked into my kitchen and 5 of the first 6 things I looked at were from Pakistan, China, Italy, UK and Thailand. Put tariffs on those and they'll cost me more.

I'm typing this on a Dell laptop. They are made in the US but the components all come from all parts of the world. Every tariff on each country (which YOU will pay) means I will pay more for it. My T shirt was made in Vietnam. The tea I'm drinking now is from Sri Lanka. I just made a salmon sandwich for lunch. The salmon comes from Canada. I made the bread from Australian flour but the yeast comes from China.

We bought a new barbeque yesterday. A Weber. Some are made in the US, but some in China and Taiwan. Possibly using steel from Australia. If the US puts a tariff on our steel, then Weber in the US pays more for it to make them, then we'll place a tariff on your goods and the importer here pays yet more again.

Look, you are locked into the international trade to an extent which is difficult to convey. Arbitrarily messing about with tariffs on a whim, which is what Trump it doing, messes with world trade. Everyone suffers. Because we live in a global village. And when all the deals are done, all the tariffs are paid for, all the extras for the dongles and gizmos and materials and foodstuffs that you import are paid, the prices will rise and it's you who'll be paying the extra.

Plus, you completely avoided this: 'factory employment has dropped by more than 40,000 jobs since April, while the ISM index of manufacturing activity fell in October for the eighth month in a row.'

Trump told you that the tariffs would bring manufacturing back to the US. It didn't, it isn't doing it right now and it won't in the future. He lied to you. Did I really need to have to point that out to you?

He said tariffs wouldn't raise food prices. It did, it is now and it won't change until he removes the tariffs. Again, he lied to you. It's what he does.
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The Saving results of the Death of Christ !

I skimmed your latest set of assertions. I will not waste my time responding point by point because the pattern is clear: claims are being offered without engaging the actual argument or evidence I've presented. It is not my burden to disprove your assertions; it is yours to substantiate them. If you want a substantive discussion, raise focused, textually and methodologically grounded objections. Broad dismissals and unfounded accusations do not qualify as argument and do not merit serious engagement.

To clarify the stakes: your position on ἑλκύω implies that, syntactically, John 6:44 leaves coming to Jesus potentially impossible -- a consequence of your view I have already argued and that you have ignored. You have also ignored that the semantics of ἑλκύω are irrelevant to the Calvinist argument itself. Once again, you are sidestepping the actual issue and fishing for something to latch onto just to have a reply. I am not going to play that game. Until you offer a focused, substantive objection that engages these points seriously, this conversation is over.
It most certainly does not leave any such impossibility. There's no need for the success of the drawing to depend on force in order for it to create the possibility of success. It is only within a Calvinist framework that the need for force is required, because the act of being drawn is presented as a sufficient grounds for coming to Jesus. You are imposing your conclusion onto the text, and then engaging in grammatical puffery as if that is argumentation.
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