CHRISTIAN FAMILY HOSTAGES NOW IN HIDING.

On Aug. 27, 2025, at 1:30 a.m., a group of armed men took a Christian family captive, threatened to bring blasphemy charges against the family and demanded the family pay more than $150,000 to prevent the accusations. They also threatened to destroy everything the Christians owned. “You will be the next Jaranwala,” the abductors said, referencing a riot in August 2023 when Islamic extremists destroyed 26 churches and more than 80 homes in a Christian area after Pakistani Christians were falsely accused of destroying a copy of the Quran. Front-line workers said this family escaped from their abductors but have since gone into hiding. “The threat of blasphemy is such a weapon,” said a front-line worker. “Threats and false claims that someone has committed blasphemy are being used against Christians all over the country. Please pray for all Pakistani Christians to be safe and have wisdom as they serve Christ.”

EVANGELISTS WITH SOLAR PROJECTORS

Despite repeated and ongoing attacks on churches from radical Islamist groups, evangelists continue spreading the gospel throughout the country, most recently through solar-powered projectors. VOM front-line workers delivered the projectors to show the JESUS film and other Christian resources and provided training for 16 outreach workers to operate the projectors. “All were very happy to receive these projectors,” said a front-line worker. “And they were very happy to have the JESUS film in Fulfulde [the language spoken by the Fulani people].” The evangelists were also given Christian resources in multiple languages that can be shared with children and entire families. Front-line workers ask for prayer that God will bless the evangelists’ efforts and protect them as they travel in dangerous parts of Burkina Faso.

STUDENT RETREAT RELIEVES BUDDHIST PRESSURE

As Christian students are forced to participate in Buddhist practices in school, an upcoming retreat will encourage and strengthen their faith. In Bhutan, the king regards himself as a divinely appointed defender of Buddhism, and stringent laws are in place to restrict Christianity, forcing students to join Buddhist practices at school even when doing so is contrary to their faith in Christ. Pray that the upcoming retreat will give persecuted Christian students a reprieve from this pressure and encouragement to remain strong in their faith and witness. Pray that they will be equipped to stand firm in Christ despite forced practices and that, through these students, the Lord will raise up a new generation of leaders for his church.

Lord have mercy!

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

I'm living for myself instead of God, and I'm afraid of going to Hell.

Whenever I resolve to live for God, it lasts approximately 5 minutes before I revert and do whatever I feel like doing.

Right now, if I were living for God, I would get out of bed, get ready for my day, and start planning next week's lessons for my students. Instead, I'm being my usual lazy self, lounging in bed and spending time on the internet because it's easy and enjoyable. (Correction: It's not enjoyable, but it's enjoyable relative to work.)

Maria Billingsley said:

Welcome!

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Thanks

Pray Willing & Capable Opposition political parties, judges, & civil bureaucrats keep check-and-balances against India's Hindu Nationalist politicians:

This situation got resolved this morning. Apparently my dad was fooled by a scam, and my grandmother can stay in her Ohio house with her current caregiver team.

Relief. Thanks for praying, and happy Thanksgiving!

Avondale official who called Tom Hanks a ‘pedo’ accused of kidnapping​

In a lawsuit, an anonymous man claims Jeannette Garcia offered him a job for sex and briefly abducted his teen daughter.

In a lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court on Nov. 14, the MAGA darling is accused of drunkenly propositioning a male coworker to have sex and, when he rebuffed her, briefly kidnapping his 14-year-old daughter.

At the time, John Doe had been hired by Charlie Kirk’s right-wing political organization, Turning Point... Garcia ... was also working for the organization and was Doe’s direct supervisor.

“As the [election celebration] night progressed, Garcia began making remarks inviting and suggesting her interest in having sex or being intimate with Father Doe, which he repeatedly rebuffed,” the lawsuit reads. “At one point in the evening Garcia propositioned Father Doe, offering him employment with (Turning Point) if he agreed to have sex with her."

[He left. When he got home after midnight, his daughter wasn't there. Sheriffs later told him she was with Garcia.]

The lawsuit says he “was understandably shocked with Garcia’s inexplicable decision to take his daughter from her home without his permission or consent, place her in a vehicle while (Garcia) was extremely intoxicated, along with two other unknown adults who were also likely intoxicated.”

[Daughter later told him Garcia told her] "Father Doe had been drinking, suggesting that Father Doe could become violent, and that he was on his way home.” [as a pretext for taking the daughter.]

Maria Billingsley said:

I understand your position and the significance of the AB blood type in those traditions ( the doctrine of Transubstantiation). However, as a Protestant who believes in symbolism, my focus is different. I view communion purely as a powerful act of remembrance commanded by Christ, which makes the elements a sacred symbol of His final sacrifice. On another note, it is not possible to know the blood type of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

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I agree with you on this. If transubstantiation were true, in my view it could be proven scientifically with a very quick test after the service. Check the chemical composition of the wine before and the chemical composition of the blood after. The latter test should be able to tell the blood type.

The fact that Eucharist access is restricted and this simple test cannot be run says a lot more about the falsity of transubstantiation than anything else. A simple taste test by a skeptic would also work. You should be able to see the flesh, and there are scientific controls to avoid slight-of-hand tricks.

Besides that, I believe that viewing communion as a memorial ordinance to proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes is more consistent with the First Communion and Paul’s doctrine to the Corinthians on how to keep it.

BPPLEE said:

Couldn't Biden have ordered the release then? What was he waiting on?

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Nobody was asking for it, plus he was busy getting us out of the Trump Recession.

Good companions make people thrive.

CMPNS

rambot said:

Lol! Imagine what would happen in America if there were zero social supports for the poor?

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Read all about it: How the Other Half Lives, by Jacob A. Riis: a Project Gutenberg eBook.

Pray that Godly Wisdom is granted to Rachel Reeves, the chancellor of the exchequer as she attempts to balance the UK budget:

Are you claiming

bling said:

Jesus was not encountering demons in everyone, so how can you say everyone has a demon in them?

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Mark 4:15 applies to everyone. All are tempted internally and therefore have evil present within them.

bling said:

1 John 4:7 Talks about “Godly type Love” which comes with the indwelling Holy Spirit, but as 1 John 4:7-11 points out it is contingent on “if we Love one another”, which is not true of everyone.

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And that would be your own add on position trying to disqualifying your neighbors love and self justifying yours.

bling said:

There are tons of warnings in scripture directed at individual people and not some demon living in them.

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Read my statements again. Then give a specific named person. Just one will do. Hint in advance. You wont find a single one.

bling said:

Jesus drove out the demons in those who had a demon around Him and it was not everyone.

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All are under sin. Romans 3:9. Sin is of the devil, 1 John 3:8, Mark 4:15.

It is incumbent on your position to eradicate those scriptures and a host of others

bling said:

People do not “save themselves”! God does not “force”

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God does make people believe or they wouldn't believe

bling said:

Love/charity/forgiveness/salvation on anyone. This is not a shotgun wedding with God holding the shotgun (which would not be Loving nor would the love received be Godly type Love). Jesus and God did their part perfectly, you just have to accept the charity as charity to complete the transaction.

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The shotgun is being held by people who thinks God is going to burn them or others alive forever. These positions are simply forced manipulation. Believe or else. Common works/law salvation positions

bling said:

What is really hard to believe is God’s Love to be so great as to allow His only innocent son to be willingly tortured, humiliated and murdered to save some really guilty unappreciative children deserving of nothing.

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God did it to Himself bt aggravating devils in people which same killed Him, thereby sealing their fate to hell

bling said:

We are talking only about a very limited amount of free will, which God is Loving enough and powerful enough to provide to humans, without negatively affecting others with their free will choice. God and Christ have free will and thus can Love with a free will choice, for us to Love like Christ and God we to must have free will.

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God is not in need, least of all for the self centered self interested love of mankind, as if we have something Ge needs.

Nope

bling said:

The one autonomous free will choice

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As previously noted your pisition eliminates both the Will of God and the will of the tempter in the equations. And therefore doesnt add up

bling said:

How is this not saying that God’s actions are contingent on the choices of the people?

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God always has two positions active with everyone And it's quite simple. For good/against evil, simultaneously

Neither can be eliminated from His sight

bling said:

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." (John 5:39-40). Note that Jesus does not say, "you cannot come", which the Greek does not say here, but, "you refuse to come", in order that you may have eternal life. It was their own rejection of Jesus and the Gospel, that would damn their souls, and not because they were "unable" to make the "choice" themselves.

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The evil present in no one makes good choices is the point. Your positions try to eliminate the obvious issue. It doesn't add up.

Never will

rambot said:

That is some serious reality denial there.

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That us the power of ideology. It alters perception to reinforce itself. It is similar to religion in that way. Belief influences perception and then perception aligns with belief.

It takes courage and humility to dare break that cycle.

FBI believes National Guard shooting suspect was from Bellingham (Washington State)​

(other headlines suggest he drove across country with some sort of plan in mind.)

The Washington, D.C. mayor described the attack as a “targeted shooting.”

At last check, the two were critically injured.

Following the shooting, President Donald Trump has asked for 500 more National Guard troops to be deployed to D.C.


ETA:

Pirro said the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, allegedly drove across country from Washington state to target the Guard members.

The White House was briefly put on lockdown on Wednesday but that the order was lifted at about 5 p.m. President Donald Trump and the first lady are in Florida, where they are spending Thanksgiving at his Mar-a-Lago club.

[The perp] applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted asylum in April of this year, under the Trump administration, according to three law enforcement sources.

"He previously worked with the USG, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar that ended in 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan," CIA director John Ratcliffe said in a statement.

Hi Friend,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!



I wanted to share some great one-liners from the saints about gratitude. Spend some time chewing on these today. It’ll lift your soul. And if you live them, it’ll change your life. (The first four are from an American, Blessed Solanus Casey.)



“It’s heaven begun for the grateful on earth.”

— Blessed Solanus Casey



“Thank God ahead of time.”

— Blessed Solanus Casey



“Be sure, if the enemy of our souls is pleased at anything in us it is ingratitude—of whatever kind. Why? Ingratitude leads to so many breaks with God and neighbor.”

— Blessed Solanus Casey



“Gratitude is as necessary for social order and harmony as are the laws of gravity for the physical world.”

— Blessed Solanus Casey



“Thank him for everything, because everything is good.”

— St. Josemaría Escrivá



“Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward and learning to enjoy whatever life has, and this requires transforming greed into gratitude.”

— St. John Chrysostom



“The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for what He is sending us every day in His goodness.”

— St. Gianna Beretta Molla



“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”

St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier



“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”

— St. Ambrose



“Think of all the beauty in yourself and in everything around you and be happy.”

— Anne Frank (I know. Not a Saint. But a hero nonetheless!)



“What most attracts God’s graces is gratitude, because if we thank him for a gift, he is touched and hastens to give us ten more, and if we thank him again with the same enthusiasm, what an incalculable multiplication of graces! I have experienced this; try it yourself and you will see! My gratitude for everything he gives me is limitless, and I prove it to him in a thousand ways.”

— St. Thérèse of Lisieux



If you’re reading this, I’m grateful for YOU, and to know that I’m spiritually walking through life with you. My family and I are praying for you today.



HAVE A GRATEFUL DAY!



God bless you,



Chris Stefanick

Real Life Catholic

el3venS1x said:

I've been thinking about the stark contrast between Christianity and Nazism, yet I've noticed that some people seem to conflate the two. One promotes love, forgiveness, and humility, while the other is rooted in hatred, domination, and prejudice.

Context: One prays, the other preys.

How is it possible for individuals to draw parallels between these two ideologies? Could it be due to historical misinterpretations, propaganda, or a misunderstanding of faith itself? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this confusing juxtaposition.

• What examples can you share that highlight these misconceptions?
• How can we better educate others on the true message of Christianity in light of such conflation?
• What role do you think social media plays in perpetuating these misunderstandings?

Looking forward to a thoughtful discussion!
el3venS1x (Dell)

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The comparison of Christianity to an atrocity like Nazism stems from a place of profound fear and deep-seated historical memory, rather than a literal equation of their objectives. It is this version, Christian Nationalism, that has unfortunately caused the tension you are speaking of.
For those drawn to Christian Nationalism, there is often a genuine, deeply felt grief over cultural change and a belief that the nation has lost its moral compass. They sincerely yearn for a sense of community, stability, and shared values, often rooted in a sincere religious conviction, hoping to "restore" a perceived golden era where their beliefs were central to public life. This movement is driven by a profound desire for certainty in a rapidly changing world.
However, the reason this movement evokes comparisons to the darkest chapters of history, like Nazism, is due to the terror it instills in those on the margins. The fear is not about theological debate, but about the weaponization of state power. When an ideology claims that only one specific faith or cultural identity is legitimate for governing the nation, it inherently seeks to define who belongs and who is an "outsider." Critics see proposals like those in Project 2025—which would centralize power in a single executive and dismantle protections for minority groups—as creating the structural framework for tyranny. The comparison to Nazism tragically recalls the historical pattern where exclusionary nationalism, even when framed in terms of restoring a virtuous state, inevitably leads to the systematic dehumanization and persecution of the "others."

This diverse coalition is watchdogging L.A. immigration raids, driving ‘Liberty Vans’​

• A politically diverse coalition, made up of Democrats and Republicans, has dispatched vans to drive through L.A. and other cities to document ICE raids.
• The vans record enforcement actions at worksites and Home Depots, with footage published online to show the human impact.
• Volunteers include pastors, immigration lawyers and veterans who provide support and legal guidance to day laborers targeted in the immigration sweeps.

One of these organizations [doing something in the face of ICE's escalation] is the Save America Movement, which runs the Liberty Vans and includes a bipartisan leadership that is far more politically connected than that of many grassroots organizations. The group was founded by Steve Schmidt, a former top aide to Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and Mary Corcoran, a longtime public relations specialist, with a steering committee that includes law professors, pastors and strategists.

The Save America Movement launched the vans first in L.A. and then in Chicago and Charlotte, N.C., where federal immigration agents were raiding heavily Latino areas. The motivation behind the project was to provide support and help people understand the impact of the daily immigration raids, Corcoran said in an interview. Outside California, she said, many people don’t get it.

“If they did, I believe there would be much more urgency around what’s happening,” she said.

In October, the organization said video by a Save America Movement photojournalist in Chicago recorded federal agents deploying tear gas against protesters and pointing weapons at journalists, which at the time violated a federal court order. The organization made that footage available online with time stamps and annotations.

On Friday, the van ride included the Rev. Madison Jones McAleese, Navy veteran Brian Kelly and immigration lawyer Juan Jose Gutierrez, who can offer legal support to families or offer “know your right” basics to laborers. And to capture it all was cameraman René Miranda, who started covering raids when a large protest broke out in Paramount, where he lives.

For McAleese, she said she felt it was her duty to be part of the effort to stand against the raids because of what she views as unlawful actions being taken by ICE enforcement. McAleese carries holy water and offers to pray with any one who seeks prayer.

“I don’t feel like I have a choice,” she said. “God is reflected in the face of every immigrant, documented and undocumented.”

Noah Chan said:

In the beginning was the Word

And the Word was with God

And the Word was God

He was in the beginning with God

All things came into being through Him

In Him was life

And the life was the Light of men

The Light shines in the darkness

Jesus, the Christ

Messiah of the Most High

Blessed be the Lord

Blessed be the Lord indeed

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Indeed, the deity of Christ, His being of one essence with the Father, fully God and fully Man, and of the Holy Spirit, are part of the Nicene Creed, which is part of the Christian Forums Statement of Faith.

The importance of the doctrine of the Incarnation, as described in John 1:1-18 and in Luke ch. 1-2 and Matthew ch. 1 and Matthew 28:19 cannot be overstated.

simplefaith said:

Interesting subject, not very often discussed-or mentioned in the churches themselves, but much discussed on the internet.

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Well that’s because all Christian churches, like Christian Forums, adhere to the NIcene Creed, which is the definitive standard of faith which distinguishes Christians from Unitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other heterodox belief systems.