FredVB said:

Where were you seeing something said indicating I have some problem I speak of that I am or would be upset? I spoke of the word election in the Bible where it is used. Believers are elected to be conformed to the image of Christ. That is the right application for the word. God chose people of Israel, but that choice was not the salvation of all of them. That choice has the revelation from God come through prophets among them with the revelation from God preserved and passed on so fully, and made available to the world, with the prophesied Christ testified in it who we really need. God does choose among us for those God does save, God is not willing that any would perish but they should come to repentance as in 2 Peter 3:9 with their faith in response to God, it is God's grace that is the basis.

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Ephesians 1 In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

ThatRobGuy said:

Those of us who would like see more stringent and rigorous immigration and asylum requirements reject the notion that we have to do either.

Are you familiar with the concept called "Defensive Democracy"?

Defensive democracy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Numerous democratic countries actually have provisions on the books of that nature (examples outlined in the wiki).


It's a recognition of the reality that democracy can be used against itself, and aims to prevent that.

Or, in other terms, it's an acknowledgment of the possibility that people can "vote their way out of of democracy, and into some other type of system that doesn't provide voting as a mechanism to revert it back", and seeks to prevent that.



What I was referring to, is the fact that the people of San Fran had been dealing with the rising rent costs and pricing pressures that long pre-date the tech boom due to various population influxes.

It was only when an influx starting involving people who weren't necessarily "like-minded" that they started to take a serious issue with it.

The cultural influx of the 60's (Haight Ashbury/The Summer of Love/etc...) brought a lot of new people to the area (something like 80,000 people -- to a city that only had ~650,000 at the time)

In the early 70's, it became something of a "safe haven" for the gay community, and tens of thousands more moved there.

By mid-70's, the median rents in San Fran were upwards of 60% higher than the national median.

Nobody was petitioning local government to stop the influx of people (because the influx involved people who they saw as like-minded, and "fitting in with the overall vibe" of the city).


Compare that to the tech boom era
Around 71,000 net new residents were added over the decade.


So the migration for that wasn't anymore "striking" than the "counterculture/free love" migration in terms of the numbers...so the problem they had with seems like it was more cultural than logistical.


People are allowed to have a preference for what they want the social fabric of their community to be.

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Sure, there is a certain amount of bigotry in all of us, and certainly we like it better when our immediate community reflects our personal values as much as possible. But that is why there are different communities.

What I am getting from you is something rather different. But San Francisco is probably not a good example for us to discuss, because I lived in San Francisco or an immediately adjacent community from before the "Summer of Love" until the mid '70s so it is unlikely we will agree about what happened there.

And yes, I understand defensive democracy. I think we just disagree about what values we should defend ourselves against. But that's why new citizens take an oath, which contains the values we must share.

Hollywood Catholic can confirm through multiple sources that Jim Caviezel will not portray Jesus in the upcoming film, “The Resurrection of the Christ.”

Caviezel starred as Jesus in the “Passion of the Christ,” in 2004. He was again cast as Jesus in Mel Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ,” set to release in 2027.

Jim Caviezel Recast in “The Resurrection of the Christ”​

Reports first surfaced on Friday, October 9, 2025, that Caviezel will be recast.

Page Six first broke the news:​

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Jim Caviezel Recast: ‘Passion of the Christ’ Star Will Not Return for ‘Resurrection’ Sequel

Hollywood Catholic can confirm through multiple sources that Jim Caviezel will not portray Jesus in the upcoming film, “The Resurrection of the Christ.”

hollywoodcatholic.com

Aaron112 said:

God's Justice Is In Perfect Agape (Love Beyond all imaginations of men).
Perhaps He May Grant you to see Perfect Harmony Consistently In and Through All of His Word, and His Plan.

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Tell that to the folks who perished in the Flood, not to mention the billions of humans who spend eternity burning in the Lake of Fire.

Friendship Press has published an official press release announcing the imprimatur for the NRSVue, Catholic Edition. It includes comments from Dr. Brian Sigmon, CEO of Friendship Press, and Dr. Hugh Page, Jr, chair of the Bible Translation and Utilization Committe of the National Council of Churches (NCC). It also confirms that there are no differences between the NRSVue and the NRSVue-CE except for the inclusion of the deuterocanonical books in the Catholic canonical order (a detail that was originally reported in the comments here on the blog).

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Now that four centuries have sped since a Ligurian first, under God's guidance, touched shores unknown beyond the Atlantic, the whole world is eager to celebrate the memory of the event, and glorify its author. Nor could a worthier reason be found where through zeal should be kindled. For the exploit is in itself the highest and grandest which any age has ever seen accomplished by man; and he who achieved it, for the greatness of his mind and heart, can be compared to but few in the history of humanity.

By his toil another world emerged from the unsearched bosom of the ocean: hundreds of thousands of mortals have, from a state of blindness, been raised to the common level of the human race, reclaimed from savagery to gentleness and humanity; and, greatest of all,by the acquisition of those blessings of which Jesus Christ is the author, they have been recalled from destruction to eternal life.

Europe, indeed, overpowered at the time by the novelty and strangeness of the discovery, presently came to recognize what was due to Columbus, when, through the numerous colonies shipped to America, through the constant intercourse and interchange of business and the ocean-trade, an incredible addition was made to our knowledge of nature, and to the commonwealth; whilst at the same time the prestige of the European name was marvellously increased.

Therefore, amidst so lavish a display of honour, so unanimous a tribute of congratulations, it is fitting that the Church should not be altogether silent; since she, by custom and precedent, willingly approves and endeavours to forward whatsoever she see, and wherever she see it, that is honourable and praiseworthy. It is true she reserves her special and greatest honours for virtues that most signally proclaim a high morality, for these are directly associated with the salvation of souls; but she does not, therefore, despise or lightly estimate virtues of other kinds. On the contrary, she has ever highly favoured and held in honour those who have deserved well of men in civil society, and have thus attained a lasting name among posterity.

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President Donald Trump renewed the focus of Columbus Day to be celebrated on the second Monday of October, reclaiming the explorer’s “extraordinary legacy of faith, courage, perseverance, and virtue,” according to the president’s proclamation.

Since 1971, the second Monday in October has been federally recognized as Columbus Day to commemorate Columbus’ discovery of the Americas in 1492, celebrate Italian-American heritage, and acknowledge the 1891 lynchings of 11 Italian Americans. In 2021, former President Joe Biden issued the first presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day to be observed on the same day, following backlash toward Columbus.

The “current hostility to him is ill informed,” Felipe Fernández-Armesto, professor of history at the University of Notre Dame and author of “Columbus on Himself,” told CNA. “He was understandably conflicted about the people he encountered on this side of the ocean, but, by the standards of his contemporaries, his most characteristic judgments about them were highly positive.”

“Columbus Day is commendable — instituted in expiation of the worst lynching in U.S. history ... Columbus suited a project of national reconciliation because he was, for most of the history of the U.S., a unifying figure.” Fernández-Armesto added: “He should remain so today.”

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Yusuphhai said:

湘語有9個聲調，這是一位湖南人告訴我的。
Xiangyu has 9 tones, which was told to me by a person from Hunan(Xiang, 湘).

湘语-娄邵片-邵阳话词典 （Xiangyu）​

好多古汉语用词
Many ancient Chinese words

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謝謝您的科普，使我受益良多。我剛剛用AI了解到粵語是比湘語還要接近古漢語。總之謝謝您～

eleos1954 said:

• Matthew 12:31-32:
  "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come".
  
  
• • Mark 3:28-29:
    "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin".
  • Luke 12:10:
    "And to everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven, but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven".
  • 
    
  • • Blasphemy is considered a sin where a person has so hardened their heart against the Holy Spirit's work that they refuse to repent, even when faced with undeniable truth.

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Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is explained in the first part of this article by Dr Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum
http://arielcontent.org/dcs/pdf/mbs003m.pdf

A foreign-born Muslim inmate currently incarcerated in the U.S.’s most severely restrictive prison complex is asking the government to require the prison to accommodate his religious practices under a key federal statute, highlighting the far-reaching and comprehensive nature of religious freedom rules in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer in a Sept. 25 ruling agreed that Mostafa Kamel Mostafa had demonstrated that prison officials at the maximum facility had “substantially burdened the exercise of his religion” by failing to install a special cleaner in one of his cells.

The prison, a “supermax” facility in Colorado commonly known as ADX Florence and colloquially as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies,” is famous for its near-total state of lockdown.

Housing some of the most dangerous inmates in the U.S. penitentiary system, it features poured concrete cells in which prisoners are confined for most of the day as well as high-level security protocols that include motion detectors, pressure pads, and pits used for exercise.

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Postvieww said:

They are not shooting political or ideological leaders.

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Neither are gay Democrats.

Postvieww said:

Pure speculation.

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Just as every point you make is

Postvieww said:

That is not universally true. Some liberals leaders have called for the death of Republicans and some have celebrated the death of Kirk.

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Just as some conservatives, including Charlie Kirk, called for the deaths of liberals, and some celebrated the killing of Melissa Hartman.

Postvieww said:

Public records show he requested a mail in ballot but there is no public record he used it.

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From USA Today:
Routh also wrote in a self-published book in 2023 that he voted for Trump in 2016, but said he later regretted his decision because of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. But public records reviewed by USA TODAY last year indicated that Routh had cast ballots in general and municipal elections going back many cycles, including 2008 and 2012 − though not in 2016, when Trump first ran.

Postvieww said:

The facts just don’t support your claim

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Hr wrote that he voted for Trump, though they can't find records to back that up.

Postvieww said:

. It absolutely was not conservative values that shot or tried to shoot other conservatives.

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That's just speculation. Never Trumpers were Republicans.

It's not consistent with liberal values to shoot anyone, though some crazy liberals have done it.

He's not going anywhere. Steve Bannon said he will be on the Ballot in 2028.

bèlla said:

They’re having serious issues now and I wouldn’t use them as an example. Leadership devoid of God will give you a mess like they’re grappling with. And we need to get away from numbers and seek the Lord’s input before we decide. He doesn’t always follow conventions and the best fit may not be someone we’d consider.

Christians should be viewing it as vocations as @Paidiske noted. We want a lot of things God hasn’t sanctioned and He must be in it for us to succeed.

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Ironically the side project I have put on hold could solve many of their problems especially the big ones. I do have some connections with Europe via relatives who are also missionaries who in-turn have connections to the government but it's too soon to contact them yet about the matter.

I also have direct affiliations in the right places like universities from long ago but have lost their contact info. It's only a matter of finding and reconnecting with them. Things are still premature however. But if it works, it can dramatically shift the geopolitics in the region, and I'd be riding a huge wave staying ahead to fund my the next phase of the project. Success or failure.

And instead of feeling threatened by someone’s ascent study them instead, ask questions, pray for them and cheer them on. That’s what’s missing in the church. We should be one another’s biggest cheerleaders and advocates.

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I don't make a big deal of it probably because I don't have aspirations nor see the need to become a leader myself unless I have something to bring to the table. So far, that situation hasn't come and I feel genuinely useless in that situation.

What did you say about your circumstances a few weeks ago? Most of the advice Ai suggested I’d mentioned earlier. But I’m a woman. ;-)

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I forgot! But I remember about AI giving similar solutions you're proposing. I consider AI feminine purely by behavior and nature of replies and mirrors your posts so I'm not mistaken on your gender!

I kept telling chatgpt, I have no time and energy for its solution and then it will come up with possibly easier alternative and I'll make the same reply probably because that's the truth until we hit a wall. Chatgpt almost sounded frustrated but I somehow felt better I was able to let it out. Normally, I'm too embarrassed to talk about it to another person.

Says economic, crime woes linked to 'spiritual problem'

Like so many of us, Pastor Ché Ahn was waiting for a sign.

Before announcing his candidacy for governor of California in June, the 69-year-old pastor, author and global ministry leader experienced what he calls a divine calling.

“On April 28th at 2:22 in the morning, I woke up and I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit,” Ahn told The Christian Post on Wednesday. But when he realized he was being called to run for governor of California, Ahn recalled his initial response: “Please God, not that.”

Seeking confirmation, Ahn says he prayed for an invitation to the White House, which materialized days later: “I said, 'Lord, if this is of you, let me be invited by President Trump to the White House.'” When he returned from a prayer meeting, Ahn received a text saying he would be receiving an email from the White House.

“When I got the email, I said, 'OK, Lord, I’m in, I'll do it,’” he said.

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Douggg said:

okay, it looks like everyone is getting on board with the list making. I like the little black dots of a not in order list.

• a Jew, anointed the King of Israel thought-to-be messiah. @Douggg 's view
• a Gentile. @kinshasa19 's view
• a Jew, the false prophet (in revelation 19:20), a nephilim, the actual seed of Satan, the beast from the land/earth. @d taylor 's view
• a Gentile - from Islam. @Marilyn C's view
• a Jesus teaching the opposite of Jesus' teachings @Gregory Thompson's view
• There are many antichrists, not just one. All who deny Jesus is the Christ denies the Father and the Son and are antichrists (1 John 2:22). @Spiritual Jew's view

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A Rottweiler...

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is planning to inform U.S. President Donald Trump today that he will receive the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor for his efforts in bringing the Israeli hostages home and ending the two-year long war in Gaza.

Trump landed on Monday in Israelfor an official visit and will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump is also scheduled to address the Israeli Knesset, where he just recently met with the hostage families.

The U.S. president is also praised for his strong support for Israel and his contributions to its national security. The prestigious medal is the State of Israel’s highest civilian honor and is awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Jewish state.

Herzog is scheduled to meet Trump today in the Israeli parliament.

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The Trump administration has called for the immediate release of an underground church pastor detained in China whose children are American citizens. The State Department’s demand follows a sweeping crackdown by Chinese authorities on unregistered religious groups.

Pastor Jin Mingri, also known as Ezra Jin, was detained Friday at his home in Beihai, Guangxi Province, according to his daughter. Around the same time, nearly 30 other leaders and members of Zion Church were either arrested or reported missing from multiple cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, The New York Times reported.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement condemning the arrests and urging Beijing to allow people of all faiths, including house church members, to worship without fear of retribution, a position that has become increasingly contentious amid growing U.S.-China tensions.

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"Staff in Israel’s Knesset were seen handing out the caps for Trump's address, heralding a new era of peace in the region. ho received near-endless rounds of applause and standing ovations. Many also wore red ties in honor of Trump, who received near-endless rounds of applause and standing ovations."

Thank God for their release. I am sure President Trump will continue to work with countries in the region to try and bring about lasting peace.

Auto loan delinquencies on the rise: Here's what that means for the economy

Data shows more than 5% of Americans with car loans are past due


Auto loans remain the second-largest debt category for American consumers, behind mortgages. Now, more people are falling behind on their car payments, with total auto loan debt reaching more than $1.6 trillion nationwide.

LendingTree data shows more than 5% of Americans with car loans are past due. The rates vary by state, with Mississippi nearing 10%, followed by 8.4% in Louisiana and 7.8% in Georgia.

What does born again mean? Born again means that we have received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes when we accept Jesus into our lives. Jesus offers us forgiveness of our sins, not based upon our righteousness, we don’t work to receive the Spirit, and we don’t work to keep the Spirit, but we must resolve to repent, to leave behind our sins and the dark areas of our life.

Accepting Jesus brings with it much blessing. But we have to be careful how we present the idea of being born again, and the blessing that we receive, that it does not become a ticket for instant, or assured blessing. There are certain things we can believe God for, but equally there are things that we need to allow for God’s will.

As an example, although Jesus said things like:


A person may have a business, and claim that word over their business that they will make a great profit, and there is nothing wrong with claiming such a thing. With the following understanding:


There is a fine line between claiming Jesus promises, and boasting. We still need to allow for God’s will in all of our prayers. Although we can pray for our needs to be met, as an example, we can’t just pray prayers, for our own pleasures.


Also in the area of praying for those who are sick; Jesus would have us pray for the sick, but we can’t demand that God use us. Firstly we must be proved faithful.


If we are not able or willing to present the word of God faithfully, we will not be able to perform a sign.


This does not mean that if we don’t see healing “immediately” that we are unfaithful? Not at all. It is just a fact that “claiming” a promise does not mean that in all cases we will have it.

God actually assigns the gifts based upon the faithfulness and faith of the messenger.


Note Paul gives an order “first”, “second”, “third” etc. This shows there is a level of trust God gives people. He goes on to say not everyone is a miracle worker, an apostle etc.


He finishes by saying “earnestly desire” the best gifts.



However we should have great faith, and this is where verses like:


If we or someone else have a heath issue, financial difficulty, emotional issue; we can stand on the word of God, that He will answer us, to bring healing or provision. In many cases God will answer us because of our faith. But again we have seen we can’t demand, but we certainly should not quickly surrender. For God respects faithful, persistence, and faith.


I have heard it preached, that when we receive the Holy Spirit, are born again, we not only become a spiritual new creation, but we receive assured success, in healing, finances, emotions, as a part of the born gain experience. But we can not equate being born again with perfect success.

God certainly does not want us depressed, oppressed, or troubled. And we can stand on His word for personal healing. But we have to acknowledge that there are times when God’s will appears to be to allow us to walk through valleys, where things are not always perfect.


If everything was always perfect, we could not be refined with spiritual patience. Some time character is more important to God than our comfort.

The bible says that all scripture is God breathed. The scripture tells us that one of the greatest prophets in the Bible died from a sickness. This shows us that being full of God’s power, and having the Spirit does not always mean we are guaranteed perfect prosperity.


I think it is dangerous not to look at the whole of scripture; my mother as an example, tried in “faith” to go off her medication, and fast for healing, she almost died. For the rest of her life she advised against such acts of “faith”. I personally, although having prayed for the sick, and seen them healed both instantly, and through fasting, had to have an operation in hospital after I was not healed after many months of faithful believing and at times painful prayer.

Does this stop me praying for the sick? No. Does it diminish my desire to believe for the mountains to be moved? In no way. But if Elisha died sick, we need to allow for such possibilities in the lives of the people we pray for, and the church.

Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death.
Amen