I know I should write, but I just don't feel like it right now.

For my next article, I'm currently writing about a particular person that should be considered a false teacher. I got stuck on one of my points.

So I started writing about another topic. I think this one might be uploaded next.

Zceptre said:

I don't think that it is quite so simple to blame everything on Eve.

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When I wrote that, I had a particular group in mind. One that believes the world operates better if women are controlled because "women cause all these disasters to happen". This group that I'm talking about, they lack accountability and believe all the sin problems of the world can be attributed to women. So they believe that what happened in the Garden of Eden is to be blamed on Eve, while ignoring the fact that Adam deliberately sinned. Eve confessed that she was deceived and other parts of the Bible say she was deceived. That's clear. But it's wrong to try to alter God's Word by saying that Adam's sin was less worse than Eve's, or not hold Adam accountable in any way.

I'm glad God doesn't have that double standard of minimizing men's sins while putting all the blame on women.

Always in His Presence said:

We understand that Christ suffered and died for our sins - the scourging, being nailed to the Cross, having His body pierced for our transgressions brought intense physical pain. I take none of that away, nor do I diminish its magnitude.

Other than that instance -

Was Jesus ever sick or in pain?

Isa 53: A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our ]griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.​

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Good question. I've long asked that question myself! Personally, I think Jesus' suffering, as prophesied, was the suffering of opposition, or rejection, while he was on earth. Surely he suffered the subtle assaults of jealousy and envy, as well as outright hatred. In their state of backsliding, surely Israel hated any prophet, and especially the Son of God.

Jesus could certainly have suffered accidents caused by others, whether exposure to their viruses, or falling prey to misplaced items, for example. Weather happens to all, to the ungodly as well as to the godly. What we do know is that nothing Jesus suffered was due to his own sin or negligence.

I can't say for every single American church, but some churches are very messed up. After reading Beth Allison Barr's two books about Biblical Womanhood and reading Scripture, it's clear that the current church doesn't follow the format that the early church did. What we call the pastor now, was actually a small role in early church. It was not meant to be the big leadership role it is today, that requires men to be married, and may or may not have their wives involved in church service.

I was thinking earlier today how the one Baptist church wouldn't allow a Singles group to congregate at their big church with lots of space because "they had more important things to do" and now they're asking members for large amounts of money to donate to expand the church and make unnecessary recreation centers, so they can "save people from going to hell". If you can build a basketball court just to witness to people about salvation, you can allow Singles to congregate.

The Liturgist said:

Well, that’s a good question, a valid question, and the answer is, its probably not. It should be noted that The Way of the Pilgrim is popular devotional literature, but it never had the official standing of The Philokalia, and concerning it, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware remarked that the protagonist received the gift of unceasing prayer unusually quickly. It has also been recommended by many bishops to laity who wish to pursue hesychasm that they not attempt to do so without direction from a qualified elder, such as an accomplished monastic at a monastery like that of St. Tikhon, the main OCA monastery, or in California, their monastery of St. John Maximovitch or St. Barbara, Abbot Tryphon on Vashon Island, Holy Trinity in Jordanville, St. John the Baptist founded by Elder Sophronius in Essex in the UK, or the Athonite-style monasteries of Elder Ephraim across the US such as St. Anthony’s in Florence, AZ, or the monasteries on the Holy Mountain themselves.

Otherwise regarding the Prayer of Jesus, which can be said without persuing hesychasm, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov wrote a book about it, On The Prayer of Jesus, which should be regarded as an official and legitimate Orthodox document for laity published by the Russian Orthodox Church in the 19th century after the surge in popular interest in Hesychasm engendered by The Way of the Pilgrim.

I have this book, and would encourage any Orthodox laic who wants to practice the Jesus Prayer to obtain it with the blessing of their priest, for it was written specifically with the laity in mind. And also, obviously one should review their prayer rule with their priest, and also find out what their priest thinks about this issue, since between the different Orthodox traditions one might find slight differences of approach, and it makes sense as a general rule to use the one your priest knows.

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this

Michie said:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said Friday night she would resign from Congress in early January. The announcement followed a public breakdown in her relationship with President Donald Trump over issues including the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related files.

In a statement posted to X, Greene said her final day as representative of Georgia’s 14th District will be Jan. 5, 2026, citing Trump’s alleged recent attacks on her as a key reason for her decision.

Trump had called Greene a “traitor” and a “lunatic” after she supported a bill requiring the Department of Justice to disclose its Epstein investigation records, The Christian Post reported earlier this week.

Continued below.

Marjorie Taylor Greene announces resignation after Trump spat

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga , said Friday night she would resign from Congress in early January The announcement followed a public breakdown in her relationship with President Donald Trump over

www.christianpost.com

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I'm glad to see Greene leaving Congress and glad she finally realized how dangerous Trump is.

essentialsaltes said:

You mean like pi?

3.1415926.....

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Kinda. What I meant was the number 1 cannot exist without all the numbers smaller than it such as 0.5, 0.4, 0.3 , etc.

Pharisees had some cunning, and malicious intent, but Wokeism is another story.

The Romans actually used several different types of crucifixion. One method was to drive the spikes through the wrists; the Greek word for "hands" used in the New Testament is the same Greek word for "wrists". Another method was to lash the arms to the horizontal crossbeam, and nail through the hands; there was no danger of the body ripping loose from the spikes and falling off the cross, because the weight was being supported by the lashed arms instead of the spikes through the palms. A third method was to place small boards or blocks over the hands and feet, and nail through them, into the hands and feet, and then into the crossbeams below. Another method (one that was not used with Jesus, as far as we know) was to drape the arms over the horizontal crossbeam, and either lash the arms, or nail them into the wood from the back side.

One small observation on the "wedge" which Jesus' feet were nailed to (as depicted in numerous crucifixion scenes): Jesus most likely had His feet placed one atop the other and nailed straight though both, either through the top of the arches, or through the side of the foot, straight into the upright of the cross, without any "wedge" placed there. In many crucifixions, however, a small board was strategically placed further up on the crossbeam, where it would strike the crucified victim approximately in the area of the kidneys. This board would be sharpened to the point where it had an edge on the side with contact to the victim's back. Crucifixion, remember, was a method of death where the victim literally suffocated---in the unnatural strictures placed on the chest and upper body, breathing normally became difficult; the victim had to push up with his feet to gasp for air, holding the position until exhaustion or pain made him relax his legs and slump back down on the cross. Eventually, weakness, trauma, and blood loss would sap the strength of the victim until he could no longer push himself up to breathe, and he smothered. The board placed at the small of the back was simply another little nasty device used by the Romans to increase the suffering of the victim---every time he pushed up to breathe, he was jamming his lower back against this sharpened plank behind him. Again, from what we know of Jesus' crucifixion, this method was not used for Him---but we do know that it was used on other people who suffered execution by crucifixion.

IMO they are both missing a critical part of the question.

The AI didn't just wake up (boot up) one morning and decide to write a Gospel song. Someone had to tell it to and had to tell it how the song was to sound, be crafted, etc..

Let me use another example. I paint a little. I'm not great, I honestly think I'm fairly horrible at it. But sometimes I paint something that someone likes. I also use AI to make images sometimes. I am a Christian.

I want an image of the Cross at sunrise.

I could break out my paints and canvas and paint a picture of the Cross at sunrise that matches the image I had in my head.
OR
I could devise a prompt including the details, mood, color scheme, perspective, background, foreground, lighting, style, etc, that I want in the image and feed that into an AI and get an image of a Cross at sunrise that matches the image I had in my head.

Does using AI make the 2nd one in my example less "Christian art"? The concept for them both came from me, a Christian.

What both people in the article are missing is the person behind the AI persona "Solomon Ray". That person is Christopher Jermaine Townsend, who also goes by his stage name "Topher". Topher makes music on his own. He also has created an AI persona "Solomon Ray" he uses to make music.

Maybe the real question is Townsend / Topher a Christian who is making Christian music?

Edit - I forgot to include an article about Townsend being behind Solomon Ray..

BCP1928 said:

That is how Christian Nationalism is being used by the administration, but I believe that the motivation of the majority of Christian Nationalists is sincerely motivated by their faith.

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It's not, their faith is generally nothing more than an identity flag for "us vs them" tribalistic sentiments. Especially considering most of them are dispensationalists which doesn't have the framework for dominionist theology, so even that is tacked on more for cultural reasons than spiritual or theological ones.

essentialsaltes said:

OK, but is this racist against Indians?

Conservative commentator Steven Crowder told Piers Morgan on Thursday that Indian immigrants were unlikely to take construction workers’ jobs because they were too “physically feeble” to perform manual labor.

"you’re very unlikely to have Indian H1-Bs in your construction company because they’re a physically feeble people."

“As far as immigrant groups, Indian Americans are among my least favorite,” he continued. “Just as far as the culture, as far as assimilation, as far as the leering, as far as full-grown men holding hands. I think it’s weird and it’s not really my jam.”

Remarking that “half their civilization lives in actual poop” as a fart sound effect played, Crowder argued, “India knows they’re not the best and the brightest"

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Wow that's classy. So the country that gave us the Taj Mahal doesn't know how to build or do manual labor? Indians are doing much of the construction work in Israel then past few years since Palestinians are no longer available.

The scars are pretty nasty.

essentialsaltes said:

Many people are saying she was a staffer of Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ). Warning, the lacerations are pretty nasty.

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'Tis the season....

After the city's annual lighting of the tree ceremony in Millennium Park in the Loop, 300 juveniles apparently went on a rampage, resulting in numerous gunshot wounds, and injured police officers. A nearby shooting resulted in one fatality.

So how's that stringent gun control policy workin' out for ya, Chicago? Crime stats down? No? Maybe you need more gun control.

MSN

essentialsaltes said:

Trump administration to prioritize ‘patriotic Americans’ for federal jobs​

Under the plan, all federal job vacancy announcements starting at the GS-5 pay grade or above will require short essay responses to questions about ... how they plan to advance Trump’s executive orders and policy priorities

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Government employees asked a federal judge Wednesday to block the Trump administration from encouraging job applicants to demonstrate their loyalty to the president’s agenda.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, a group of federal labor unions argues that the White House’s “merit hiring plan” violates applicants’ First Amendment rights. The plan, put forth by the Office of Personnel Management, includes the following short essay question:

Inside the DOGE Succession Drama Elon Musk Left Behind​

For months, the young engineers who had descended on the capital to shrink the federal bureaucracy had lived with the ever-present threat of backlash — public scrutiny, upset Cabinet officials, even the prospect that someone might assert criminal charges against them. But on the morning of June 5 something changed: Their figurehead, Elon Musk, had a falling-out with his patron, Donald Trump, that played out very publicly across the two men’s social media platforms.

As the sun fell on downtown Washington, the displaced dozen joined up with fellow DOGE staffers atop the nine-story GSA building, armed with beer, pretzels and La Croix, and prepared for something akin to a wake. Word spread in group chats on Signal, and by 9 p.m. the rooftop area was full of dozens of staffers, some of whom had already left DOGE.

Amid the group photos and toasts, a senior DOGE figure named Donald Park tried to reassure his colleagues that they were still “brothers in arms” and that Musk would continue to protect them, according to three people who attended the gathering. Other DOGE leaders were less sanguine. “Guys, seriously,” one warned, “get your own lawyer if you need it. Elon’s great, but you need to watch your own back.”

“The height of our power was the five-bullets email,” said a DOGE official, calling it a “mistake” that pitted DOGE against departments and agencies who were increasingly frustrated by Musk’s lack of communication and heavyhandedness. “Then it turned into fear and revulsion and hatred.”

A Vance ally rises at the Pentagon — with Trump's blessing​

Dan Driscoll’s visit to Ukraine this week underscored his new prominence in the administration.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s high-stakes visit to Ukraine this week to deliver the Trump’s administration’s latest peace plan has placed the service leader into the role of major international negotiator — a sharp contrast from his boss, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who spent the time in Washington sitting through White House meetings and firing angry missives at Democrats on social media.

There have also been some rumors that the 1 year mark will usher in some Cabinet changes.

Fantine said:

I am glad that, in an era where Texas and other states are trying to wipe all evidence of slavery off the map, racism is being called out,

Immigrant hatred fanned the flames of racism in the 2024 campaign--and it worked.

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As the son of a legal immigrant - I hope you realize how repulsive and completely ignorant these type of statements can be. The incessant waving of the race card - calling illegal aliens immigrants is a slap in the face to legal immigrants who went through the proper process of legally entering the US. Like my mother and father who spent 7 months in an internment camp waiting for their turn to enter.

Are you an immigrant? If not - you have no footing to make any type of comments on how we feel or what we experience.
I would ask you to please stop insulting us.

Immigrant hatred IMHO is only in the hearts and minds of people who do not stand for righteousness and truth. It is one of the reasons why so many LEGAL immigrants supported President Trump and still do today. We want what's right.

From the link:

The ruling is a blow to Trump’s rush to create a more favorable political landscape for Republicans in next year’s midterms, at least for now. Texas filed an appeal Tuesday evening with the U.S. Supreme Court after Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans publicly defended the map, which was engineered to give Republicans five additional House seats.

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How about if we wait until we do any ghigh fiving or backslapping

essentialsaltes said:

U.S. poised to strike military targets in Venezuela

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essentialsaltes said:

US not poised to strike military targets in Venezuela

Trump admin tells Congress it currently lacks legal justification to strike Venezuela​

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USAF B-52 Bombers, Navy Fighters Fly Near Venezuela​

Multiple B-52H Stratofortress bombers flew off the northern coast of South America Nov. 20, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine, the latest show of force by U.S. bombers in the region as the Trump administration builds up its military power in the Caribbean.

The B-52s took off from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., on the lengthy, nearly daylong flight, which a U.S. official said was a “presence patrol.”

At the same time that the B-52s were operating in the region, the U.S. also dispatched Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets embarked on the USS Gerard [sic] R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, and a U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft.

--

FAA warns all pilots of risks of flying over Venezuela over ‘worsening security situation’​

The message said the unspecified threats “could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes” as well planes taking off and landing in the country and even aircraft on the ground.

Aircraft on the ground? What's gonna happen? Something gonna fall out of the sky on top of them or something?

Landon Caeli said:

Such a thing may turn out to be not so far fetched. The first victims might not even be believers, as we recognize them now, and those victims may not realize exactly what they're doing, until they're fully ingrained in it.

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Some unbelievers have been worshiping Big Tech for awhile now. This is just another slide down the hill for them in their belief that technology can save us.

University of Tennessee: University's interests outweigh First Amendment rights of assistant professor who derided Charlie Kirk​

KNOXVILLE, Tenn — An assistant professor's social media post deriding conservative Charlie Kirk undermined the University of Tennessee's "mission" and put campus safety at risk, UTK lawyers contend in a court response to her federal lawsuit.

Shirinian, an assistant professor in cultural anthropology, is asking the federal court in Knoxville for emergency intervention so she can come back to work. UTK opposes that as indicated in its filing this week.

She's on leave with pay [as the school moves to terminate her]

wing2000 said:

...and restricts entry from other countries.

The ban, which goes into effect on Monday, bars travel to the United States by citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

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Haiti qualified for the World Cup. But the Trump administration says its fans aren’t welcome.​

The Caribbean nation joins Iran as World Cup competitors covered by travel ban.

Haiti, which this week qualified to compete in the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1974, is covered by a travel ban President Donald Trump signed in June. The presidential proclamation restricts people from 19 countries from entering the United States, while including exemptions for players and their families, coaches and support personnel to participate in major sporting events. But the State Department confirmed to POLITICO on Friday that this exception will not apply to Haitian fans or spectators hoping to attend.

‘We want to trust what we’ve heard’: Farmers remain unsettled on trade, even after China’s biggest U.S. soybean purchase in two years​

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the sale of 792,000 metric tons of soybeans to China. The move follows a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the end of last month to ease trade tensions, with China committing to resume orders of U.S. soybeans and purchase 12 million tons of of the crop by the end of the year, as well as at least 25 million tons in each of the next three years.

Earlier this month, China bought 332,000 tons of U.S. soybeans, bringing the total so far in November to more than 1 million tons.

So as long as China buys 11 million tons in December, we'll be just fine!

“We are concerned about the volatility in the trade relationships,” Main continued. “It’s hard for people to make plans—whether that’s farmers planning for next year’s crop, or buyers that are planning to make big investments in equipment or facilities or what have you—where there’s lots of instability.”

In 2024, soybeans made up about 20% of U.S. “cash crop receipts,” worth about $46.8 billion, according to USDA data. While about a quarter of those soybeans went to China, retaliatory tariffs as a result of trade disputes with Beijing hobbled the U.S. soybean industry while South American countries gobbled up market share. Brazil and Argentina are replacing U.S. farmers, with Brazil making up about 71% of China’s soybean imports, according to the American Soybean Association. Three decades ago, Brazil accounted for just 2% of those imports.

StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman said in a note earlier this month that ... China’s soybean processors have “zero financial incentive” to buy more U.S. supply because of the more affordable options from South America.

RDKirk said:

But, you know, that's never been the general circumstance in the US.

Parents in the US, in general, have never been able to help their children or provide a "positive and productive environment" for learning. That's a fairy tale, gaslighting that the education industry has spun for decades...it's never been the general case in the US. Parents have been poor, parents have had to work, parents have always been strung out in the US. The best they did was to send their children to school and insist that their kids do what their teachers told them.

It is true that since about the 80s there has been a disconnect between parents and the education system. For sure, to "insist that their kids do what their teachers told them" has been a ball that parents have dropped.

As a black man who made the transition in the 60s from segregated Southern schools with deeply caring black faculties to integrated schools with sometimes uncaring (sometimes malicious) white faculties, I can see that as a factor. But the phenomenon wasn't happening only as a result of integration. Something larger was happening across the board so that today there is very little trust between parents and teachers regardless of race.

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My memory as I was growing up in the sixties and seventies is one we’re my parents and the parents of my friends were quite involved in our educations but I grew up middle class so not indicative of how it was for the poor. As a parent I spent time with my kids helping them with their homework and reading to them every night. This in turn showed my kids the importance to be part of their kids education and they are involved just as we were. Consequently I started reading at around 4 years old, my kids started reading at about the same age, and so have my grandchildren.

My neighbor, whom I’ve known for about 20 years, taught 6th grade math in public school for 30 years. His school was in a mixed income area ranging from poor to high middle class. His major complain was that those of lower income would not prioritize their children’s education and complain the loudest that the teachers were not doing their jobs. Also their behavior would be much worse because of the lack of attention. It’s sad really.

These are just my observations and are in no way representative. I did find an interesting reading how children’s reading literacy has changed in the last 50 years and there has been advances but no where near enough. In my opinion, if the schools would spend time educating the parents on the importance of being part of their children’s education the outcomes might be better.