contratodo said:

How is it that the sun, outside of the sky and millions of miles away does not completely light up the whole part of the earth facing it?

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It does, though there is a projection angle thing going on. If you measure the zenith angle z between straight up and the Sun, the amount of light you get is L = S cos z. The Solar constant is 1360 W/m^2. When the Sun is 60 degrees from zenith (30 degrees above the horizon) L = 1360 W/m^2 * cos (60) = 680 W/m^2 (half). At the horizon, z = 90, cos 90 = 0, total light goes to zero. Thus, the "limb" of an irradiated sphere, like the Earth or the Moon, will appear dimmer, but still be lit.

David Lamb said:

The bible doesn't tell us how old Mary was, nor does it tell us that she rode a donkey to Bethlehem.

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No don't say that. Your spoiling the image I have in my head of poor Mary, or rather brave Mary riding a donkey in the cold desert night air with the stars shining above. Now I have to reimagine it. No I'm keeping my image lol. Thats how I picture it.

David Lamb said:

It also doesn't tell us that Joseph was much older than Mary. We have songs that tell us these things, for example, "Little Donkey" and "The Cherry Tree Carol" which begins: "Joseph was an old man, an old man was he." But such songs are unbiblical.

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Yeah they are filling in the picture and each culture will have their own version. THough they are pretty close. They all say he's older but some like to elaborate he was much older as the percieved custom could potentially have an old man marry a very young women in those times.

Some religions in ancient times had girls of 8 and 9 bestowed and married at 9 or 10. But the husband had to wait to the coming of age. Still a scarry proposition to allow such an opportunity in the wrong hands. But that was the custom and practice in some parts of the world. Which was really an extreme version of how generally it was the norm for older men to marry females at 14, 15 and often 16 years.

I think it was around the 50s that some western nations had marriage laws below 16 years. I know Gerry Lee Lewis got in trouble for marrying a girl at 14.

Thanks! Glad you liked them!

durangodawood said:

Rap can be clever as heck. But its not so good for generating emotion.

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Idk… I think it’s a YMMV kind of thing. The first time I sat on the lyrics to “Gangsta’s Paradise” it kind of broke my heart. And there are lots of good hype up songs that are rap.

I think since music depends on so many factors to illicit a response… Words, music, voice, pacing… It has more benchmarks to hit in order to hit people in a certain way. Like, I think Bob Dylan is a lyrical genius but his voice and accompaniments make me want to beat my head on a wall so I don’t find his music all that inspiring. Rap has a similar issue for me, but it’s because my tastes gravitate more to dance or modern pop, which in many ways is the opposite. The song that makes me feel heard, sometimes to the point of tears, is a dance pop song. It hits me perfectly, but anybody who’s not into that genre isn’t going to feel it like I do.

Guojing said:

So what do you mean by this?

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The church is only required to teach and tell the world of salvation by being redeemed by Jesus. Every time I have heard a teaching about the white throne judgment is that no one is saved from the white throne judgment. The teaching that I have heard about the Matthew 25 judgment is Jesus judges people who enter the 1000 years when He sits on His throne on the earth.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

Deserving? Clearly "all of Israel" shall be saved inclusive of enemies of the Gospel.

The individuals did exactly nothing to "deserve" their salvation. Romans 11:26-32 other than to be genetically lucky enough to have believing forefathers of faith.

The "Bible" tells me that anyone who loves knows God and is born of God, recipes and incantations involing Jesus, notwithstanding. There is no technical difference between Jesus/God and Love. Love of any kind comes from God to start with and, in addition to that, Jesus advised us that we ALL have ONE Father, God, in Matt. 23:9.

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The New Testament begins when Jesus died. All that is said does not apply to the church. In Matthew 23:9 Jesus is speaking to the Israelis of His time on earth. Exodus 4:22 Israel was set aside as His people, His bride, and His children. It was not until the NT that we discovered not all Israel was Israel. Not all people on earth are His children. After Jesus died only those who believe in Jesus and walk in the Spirit are His children.

When did I ever mention any recipes or incantations? Please show me just where I cited anything other than scripture to justify my conclusions. Since you have accused me of this, I do expect you to prove it.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

I'd suggest being saved is not complicated whatsoever using that measure, of 1 John 4:7, Matt. 23:9 and others such as Jesus actually being The Savior of the world who presumably gets the job done, and this not of ourselves.

Jesus was not saved by "works." He was and Is God, Perfect from before eternity and after.

"I Am" never changed nor did He have to.

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I never said that Jesus was saved by His works. Jesus saved His body, the church, by His works.

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. NKJV

Jesus suffered death, which He could have avoided as He never sinned. He suffered death so those who believed in Him did not suffer eternal death. Because He died in obedience to the Father's wish, God gave Him the right to save the world. He chose to save all who believed in Him (the redeemed, all true Israel) and also save those who showed Him and His brethren kindness (the white throne judgment). Two different groups.

With 234 million people, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa.

Despite the potential that this gives it, it has become known for a far more infamous reason in recent years, becoming the epicentre of anti Christian violence in the world.

The modern state of Nigeria was created by the British in the 20th Century, bringing together a wide variety of tribes who only had the commonality of having been within the confines of British control. The country is roughly half Muslim/half Christian.

The scale of violence in Nigeria is mind boggling. The Open Doors 2025 Watch List reports 3,100 Christians killed during that reporting period, with 69% of all global faith related murders taking place there.


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Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called for overcoming ideological divisions within the Catholic Church in a Spanish-language interview on the “Sacristy of the Vendé” YouTube channel in which he reflects on the “instrumentalization” of abuse cases.

Held last July, the interview was released this week after the coordinator of the priests’ YouTube discussion group, Father Francisco José Delgado, was acquitted of charges of “inciting hatred” against the Holy See, interfering in the Vatican’s investigation into the Sodality of Christian Life, and damaging the “good reputation” of layman José Enrique Escardó, one of the main proponents of the case against that apostolate.

Müller stated that, since its inception, the Catholic Church has experienced divisions “because of these false doctrines, heresies, or pagan ideologies” and thus proposed that “everyone has to be aware that one is following Jesus Christ and not ideologies.”

For the cardinal, within the Catholic Church it is not possible to define oneself as conservative, traditionalist, or progressive: “We must overcome these divisions that stem from the French Revolution, from the Jacobins. In the Parliament of that time, these right-wing and left-wing groups existed, but these are political and ideological concepts, not Christian ones.”

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Delvianna said:

I'm getting tired of people trying to sell their book... If it was so amazing and could help so many people, post it for FREE as an e-book. Otherwise, I think you're trying to making money off of God's work and that doesn't sit right with me.

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Many people write books. I have no issue with Christians doing the same.

The judges' statements seem to be a good analysis of the two conflicting principles in the case: the right to feel safe in school, and the right to exercise free speech and religion.

ViaCrucis said:

I never spent much time watching Kirk's material.

Could you elaborate on how Kirk exhibited and advocated for Christian faith, practice, ethics, and general engagement with the world?

I've been told many times that Kirk promoted Christianity. So I'm curious how he did that.

-CryptoLutheran

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I happen to watch a lot of his material and thats part of the problem that I think many who say bad things have never really look at much of his stuff and have more likely seen snippets on legacy media which may be out of context. Or the one example that may have been wrong for Kirk to say be blown up and represented the entire Kirk.

This happens in many ways today. The media age and especially social media which has almost become another source of reporting on par with official news outlets. Or can even influence the narrative of scientific fact and what we know is truth to look like its not the case. Also remember now theres Deep Fake and Ai. Who knows whats going on. Whats the truth.

Anyway sorry for the rant. But I feel strongly about how truth has been lost in the wash of all these fighting narratives.

I could show you many. But I don't like the idea of doing that as its more or less the same as showing the negative. I am saying the entire game or culture of doing this is itself the problem and I suspect inflaming the problem. Though good intentioned.

I think it best you investogate yourself. Thats what we do with academia and critical thinking. We have to work out the truth for ourselves. All I am saying I have probably watched more stuff than most who are objecting and I don't see the same Kirk. Likewise many are the same. In fact there has been an upsurge in Christianity since his death.

For me like many others who hold the same beliefs on many of what Kirk believed. We are reflecting and reproving our faith. I guess in any horrific and traumatic event people take a step back and reflect and try to take stock and be asking what happened and why. What can we do to change this current climate and culture war.

Thats why I think the best way is to take a step back. I don't think people realise that the debates being had over Kirk are more or less the same kind of debates that Kirk was having live. The back and forth or opposing views. The objections and accusations back and forth. So in some ways its just keeping that climate going.

I think right now regardless of who is in the right or wrong or who said what or what it meant. All I can say is that if we are talking about what is the Christian thing to do and if we are talking about Christs church or the Christian community as well as individuals within that community.

Then I think Christians are to be different to the culture war. By engaging in the back and forth debates and arguements this is part of the culture war. It cultivates the culture war and its a world system and not a Christian one.

Christians should be seperate from this and even insulated from it. Even quiet and saying very little. Just exampling Christ. Especially right now as the culture war is heating up. In fact its perfect timing. Because when the world heats up Christ shines in that darkness twice as much.

Its noticed more because the evil has become so entrenched that people are actually looking for something different. And it appears we are seeing a rise in young people, the new generation looking at tradition and church and God again.

So nows the time to shine. Which means being as Christlike as possible, Even if that means loving your enermies or sacrificing your life for the very people who persecute you. In upholding Christs example of goodness and obedience to God. A Peter says 'it exposes evil and injustice without words' and turns people towards God', This is pleasing to God.

PS

I also don't think a social forum is the right place to sort out what is right and truth about moral or social issues. There may be a place this can be done in a fair and formal way. But not on social media. The church use to always stand seperate and give their ethical opinion. This included research on how society was affected and called to help the needy. But they never got into bed with the State. The culture wars are getting into bed with the State and the World..

The Pontifical Swiss Guard this week opened an internal investigation to clarify an alleged act of antisemitism committed by one of its guards against two Jewish women in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican confirmed.

“The Pontifical Swiss Guard received a complaint regarding an incident that occurred at one of the entrances to Vatican City State in which elements interpreted as antisemitic were allegedly detected,” Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni stated on Monday.

The reported incident took place during Pope Leo XIV’s Oct. 29 general audience commemorating the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the 1965 declaration on the Church’s relations with non-Christian religions.

According to a Nov. 7 report published in Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Israeli writer and theater director Michal Govrin said a Swiss Guard “hissed at” her and a female colleague, saying “les juifs, the Jews,” before “making a gesture of spitting in our direction with obvious contempt.”

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essentialsaltes said:

Utah Supreme Court Upholds Block on Gerrymandered Congressional Map​

A district court ruled last month the 2021 map unconstitutionally violated the redistricting reforms voters approved through Proposition 4, and it developed a plan to put in place a new map in time for the 2026 election. The court also denied the legislative defendants’ motion to keep the 2021 map in place throughout the remedial process and any appeals – a ruling they appealed to the Utah Supreme Court.

In the latest development, the Utah Supreme Court upheld the district court’s decision to deny the motion keeping the 2021 map in place.

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Utah Judge Strikes Down GOP Gerrymander, Restores Voter-Approved Fair Map​

In a sweeping victory for voters, a Utah court struck down the GOP-controlled legislature’s congressional gerrymander and a companion law designed to entrench partisan power.

The court also approved a new map for the 2026 elections, which is likely to give Democrats one of the state’s four congressional seats.

Judge Dianna Gibson ruled Monday that both the legislature’s new map, known as Map C, and the accompanying law, SB 1011, violated Proposition 4, the voter-approved constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering.

Gibson found that the Republican map directly contravened the will of voters, as expressed in their support for Prop 4.

At the center of the case was Map C, a congressional plan pushed through by GOP lawmakers after the court’s earlier [previous story] August order required new maps to comply with Proposition 4.

To remedy the violation, Gibson adopted Plaintiffs’ Map 1, a plan submitted by the pro-voting plaintiffs finding it best met the state’s constitutional standards.

More than three decades after his father preached the Gospel in Argentina, the late Billy Graham's son, the Rev. Franklin Graham, shared the Good News of Jesus with more than 70,000 Argentinians last weekend as part of an outreach one church leader is calling “a miracle from Heaven.”

In a statement published Monday, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association provided a recap of a free two-night evangelistic outreach event in Buenos Aires, Argentina, titled Esperanza Buenos Aires. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association CEO Franklin Graham spoke to nearly 75,000 people at Velez Stadium over the course of the two-night event, where he shared the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

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Political commentator Tucker Carlson has prompted renewed scorn after providing more details about a supernatural attack he alleges happened to him in his bed in February 2023, months before Fox News fired him.

During an extensive interview last Thursday with fellow former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, Carlson suggested the attack was in response to a positive supernatural experience he had had the day before, during which he experienced love toward someone he hated.

“Culturally, I'm just not from a world where people are attacked by demons," Carlson told Kelly, who noted it is becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss the demonic in the wake of the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting and Charlie Kirk's assassination.

"I'm not embarrassed at all, and I don't care if I'm mocked," Carlson said. "I don't get anything out of making this up, and I'm not making it up."

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What, is he going to put barracks in the mall to lower the vacancy factor?

(also, Miracle Mile is in Los Angeles, Magnificent Mile is in Chicago.)

Lava fountains at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano reached 1,100 feet: USGS​

The current series of eruptions has featured lava fountains up to 1,500 feet.

The current episodic eruption began on Dec. 23, 2024, and has produced significant lava fountaining not seen since the 1983–86 episodic fountains at the beginning of the Puʻuʻōʻō eruption, according to the USGS.

Welcome to CF! I hope you find it edifying.

Thailand suspends Cambodia ceasefire deal, testing Trump-brokered truce​

Thailand said on Tuesday it was halting implementation of a ceasefire pact with Cambodia a day after a landmine blast maimed a Thai soldier, posing the biggest test for a truce brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Thai government has accused Cambodia of planting fresh landmines along a stretch of their disputed border, including a PMN-2 anti-personnel mine that injured four Thai soldiers on Monday, with one losing a foot in the explosion.

At least they got the photo op.

Zohran Mamdani has been elected mayor of New York, the USA’s most populous city. Mamdani, 34, is a self-professed Democratic Socialist and a Muslim. He was elected with just a shade over 50% of the vote in a 3-way race with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

How did New York City, arguably the world capital of capitalism, elect a Democratic Socialist (on a good day) and a Communist (on a bad day) mayor? If one takes issue with the word Communist, I would submit as evidence Mamdani’s statement that “you must seize the means of production” (emphasis supplied).

Mamdani ran on a platform including free childcare up to and including age 5, a rent freeze on the city’s over 1 million rent-controlled apartments, free (and “fast”) bus service, and government-run grocery stores.

When you break the race down by income groups, the results are surprising and informative. Mr. Cuomo won among the lowest income group (under $30,000 by 50% to 42%) and the highest income group ($300,000 or more, 62% to 38%). However, the former governor lost everywhere in between to the young Socialist. Among the $30,000 to $49,999 group, Mamdani won (52% to 40%).

Among the $50,000 to $99,999 group and the $100,000-$199,999 group, Mamdani won 58% to 38%. Among the $200,999-$299,999 annual income group, Mamdani won 56% to 42%. So Mamdani won decisively among all but the lowest and highest income groups.

When broken down by age groups, Mamdani won 18 to 29-year-olds 77% to 20% and among the 30-44 age group, 70% to 27%. Cuomo carried the 45-64 age group 49% to 47% and those 65 and over voted for Cuomo 54% to 38%.

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Them's MY tomatoes, 'oney!

MATO

Follow a real fast snail.

SNAIL

Seeing local news coverage of a church picnic usually wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. But this one caught my attention — it was hosted by a pastor I’d once known well, and the event was promoted as a “celebration of love and inclusion” for those who had attended the town’s pride parade.

At first, I assumed it might be an outreach — a chance to share the Gospel with people who rarely set foot in church. But a quick look at the church’s website told a different story. This congregation, once solidly Evangelical, now proudly affirmed LGBT identities and behaviors.

A friend who shared my concern asked if I would join her in meeting with the pastor. She had known him for years — he had baptized her daughter when she was a young teenager. Back then, he spoke clearly about the goodness of God’s design for male and female. I remembered hearing him lament that professors at his seminary were “pushing pro-gay theology” and how dismayed he was by the drift in the Church.

Now, the drift had reached his own pulpit.

When we arrived at his office, the change was visible before a word was spoken. Rainbow symbols appeared in the artwork on his walls and in the books on his shelves. My friend began by sharing the heartbreaking story of how her daughter had been drawn into gender ideology during the pandemic.

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