Lawmakers are demanding answers following multiple reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has identified more than 400 illegal migrants brought to the United States through an Islamic State-affiliated human smuggling network, as the whereabouts of dozens of them are currently unknown.

The DHS identified over 400 migrants from various locations, including Central Asia, as "subjects of concern." According to an investigative report from NBC Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks to arrest the migrants on immigration charges. While over 150 have been arrested, the location of over 50 migrants is unknown, three federal officials told the outlet.

The officials claimed that the over 400 migrants who crossed the southern border were not on the terrorist watchlist, which is why Customs and Border Protection released them into the U.S.

Continued below.

I prefer Real Clear Politics because it is inclusive across the spectrum.

Right now - hours before the debate:



Battleground states:

With all the talk about microphones being cut so the candidates cannot interrupt each other. I was thinking about the moderators. It is their job to ask the questions - not editorialize.

So I started this thread and every time the moderator asks a question and interrupts the candidate during his 2min reply. Simply write the candidates name in a simple post. We record it in real time then and we can compare the totals at the end.

Just an interesting experiment.

Plato thought so. Wiki:

Plato considered this essence to be an incorporeal, eternal occupant of a person's being. Plato said that even after death, the soul exists and is able to think. He believed that as bodies die, the soul is continually reborn (metempsychosis) in subsequent bodies.

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Plato thought the soul had no beginning and no end. I think all souls have a beginning. They are created by God.

Does the Bible say that human souls have an end?

Christians and philosophers have debated the issue for centuries. Here is my take:

Souls are mortal in two senses.

First, Ezekiel 18:

4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

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When a temporal life is finished, his soul or soul data is zipped up and stored. He no longer experiences the passage of time or consciousness.

Second, Matthew 10:

28 do not fear those who kill [G615] the body but cannot kill the soul.

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Kill the soul data.

Rather fear him who can destroy [G622] both soul and body in hell.

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destroy
Strong's 622: From apo and the base of olethros; to destroy fully, literally or figuratively.

The resurrected soul can be terminated/annihilated/deleted in the Lake of Fire, Revelation 20:

14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

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The souls of the good people will be resurrected to live forever.

Is the human soul immortal?

Some are; some are not.

Which souls are immortal?

Those who believe in the gospel of Jesus. 2 Timothy 1:

10 It has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

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The talking heads in mainstream media have psychologically manipulated us into thinking the economy is booming. This video shows that it is not and if you watch it be prepared to see a lot of charts as he talks about reasons home prices might decline. I posted this video because I was surprised at how many people held two full-time jobs, no wonder unemployment numbers have been low because more people are taking on two jobs. The Fed Reserve needs to change how it collects data because it's deceiving.

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Exactly what is the timing of Justification ? When is one for whom Christ died Justified before God ? John Gill gives reasons why he believes that the saint is Justified before God, from everlasting. I concur with his sentiment and here's why, and of course in ursuit it is reasonably concluded why Justification before God is before Faith:

1. Faith is not the cause, but the fruit and effect of justification. The reason why we are justified, is not because we have faith; but the reason why we have faith is because we are justified. Was there no such blessing of grace as justification of life provided for the sons of men, there would be no such thing as faith in Christ bestowed upon them, nor, indeed, would there be any use for it; and though it is provided, yet since not for all men, therefore all men have not faith. The reason why some do not believe, is, because they are not of Christ's sheep; (John 10:26) they never were chosen in him, nor justified by him, but are justly left in their sins, and so to condemnation; the reason why others do believe, is, because they are ordained to eternal life, (Acts 13:48) have a justifying righteousness provided for them, and are justified by it, and shall never enter into condemnation and, in asserting this, I say no more than what Dr. Twisse, the famous Prolocutor to the Assembly of Divines, has said before me. His words are these: "Before faith the righteousness of Christ was ours, being in the intention of God the Father, and Christ the Mediator, wrought out for us; and, because wrought out for us, therefore God, in his own time, gives us grace of every kind, and among others, faith itself, and, at last, the crown of heavenly glory." And, a little after, he says: "Before faith and repentance the righteousness of Christ is applied unto us; since it is on the account of that, that we obtain efficacious grace, to believe in Christ and repent." Likewise the judicious Pemble writes to the same effect, when, observing a two-fold justification, he says, the one is "In foro divino, in God's sight, and this goes before all our sanctification; for even whilst the elect are unconverted, they are then actually justified, and freed from all sin, by the death of Christ, and God so esteems of them as free, and, having accepted of that satisfaction, is actually reconciled to them. By this justification, we are freed from the guilt of our sins; and because that is done away, God, in due time, proceeds to give us the grace of sanctification, to free from sin's corruption still inherent in our persons." The other is, "In foro conscientiae, in their own sense, which is but the revelation and certain declaration of God's former secret act of accepting Christ's righteousness to our justification." And Maccovius says, "That because that God justifies us, therefore, he gives us faith, and other spiritual gifts." Now, if justification is the cause, and faith the effect; then, as every cause is before its effect, and every effect follows its own cause, justification must be before faith, and faith must follow justification.

Footage of three individuals abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7 shows hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Or Levy and Eliya Cohen wounded and bleeding as they are forcibly taken to Gaza in a speeding pickup truck driven by the terrorists.

The families of the victims, alongside the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, released the footage to highlight the Israeli government's responsibility to secure a deal and bring the hostages home.

The terror group kidnapped Goldberg-Polin, Levy and Cohen from the field shelter they were hiding in after Hamas attacked the Nova Music Festival in Re'im during its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel in which terrorists killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted over 240 people, sparking Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

Continued below.

Two Washington state track coaches are speaking out after a male athlete identifying as a female "blew the competition away" during a recent state meet where he competed against girls.

Brad Anderson is the head track coach for the boys' team at Liberty High School in King County, Washington, while Jason Keniston is the head track coach for the girls' team at the same high school. During the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, trans-identifying athlete Veronica Garcia of East Valley Spokane High School won first place during the girls' 400-meter race with a time of 55.59.

The Independent Women's Forum, an organization that advocates for fairness in female athletics, published an interviewTuesday with the two head track coaches, who expressed hope that other instructors would do the same and speak out.

Continued below.

Throughout my life, I have had the immense honor of watching the women around me exhibit exceptional bravery. I first understood the true meaning of the word “brave” my senior year of college when I learned that my own birth mother was only 14 years old when she became unexpectedly pregnant with me, and with great courage and love, chose life and adoption.

My understanding of the word only grew when, two months later, I began working at Real Options, a women’s health clinic in Allen, Texas, which helps women facing unplanned pregnancies. I had always held a deep passion for supporting women in need, but the thought of my own 14-year-old mother seeking help when she was pregnant with me, turned that passion into my profession.

Over time, I became the executive director of the center. As I helped the families in my community, I knew I wanted to start a family of my own.

For years, my husband and I struggled with infertility, and I suffered from two painful and heartbreaking miscarriages, and then two failed adoptions. It became difficult going to work each day, knowing that I would be meeting with women who wanted to abort their child while I was mourning the loss of babies that I had so desperately wanted.

During my grief, I met with a woman who had a previous abortion and was now seeking guidance for another unexpected pregnancy. When I asked her about her abortion, she stated that it didn't bother her at all, but I could see the pain in her eyes. It was the same pain I was feeling.

Continued below.

A Texas surgeon, who is potentially facing 10 years in prison for having leaked information exposing Texas Children's Hospital for allegedly continuing to perform trans procedures on minors despite claiming otherwise, said his ordeal has convinced him of God's providence.

Dr. Eithan Haim, 34, told The Christian Post that he feels God is with him in his battle against the U.S. Department of Justice, which slapped him earlier this month with four felony counts after he "obtained personal information including patient names, treatment codes and the attending physician from Texas Children's Hospital's (TCH) electronic system without authorization," according to a DOJ press release.

Haim reportedly leaked such records to journalist Christopher Rufo last year because the hospital told the public it had paused such procedures after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott labeled them child abuse, though Haim uncovered documents that showed otherwise.

Continued below.

Boxing great Roy Jones Jr. is thanking God that he was able to see his son DeAndre the night before he died by suicide at age 32.

"Unfortunately, my son DeAndre took his life on Saturday," said Jones in a statementshared on social media Monday afternoon. "I'm so thankful that God allowed me to come Friday night to spend the last night of his life with me and the family."

"I know a lot of people are going through tough times right now, but nothing is worth taking your own life," he continued. "God gives it and God should be the one to take it away."

Continued below.

I've seen the threads of this coming together. This article pulls a lot of it together in one place.

Trump allies test a new strategy for blocking election results​

In five battleground states, county-level officials have tried to block the certification of vote tallies — which election experts worry is a test run for trying to thwart a Biden victory.

When a member of Georgia’s Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections refused to join her colleagues as they certified two primaries this year, she claimed she had been denied her right to examine a long list of election records for signs of fraud or other issues.

Now the board member, Julie Adams, an avowed believer in the false theory that the 2020 election was stolen from former president Donald Trump, is suing the board, hoping a judge will affirm that right and potentially empower others in similar positions elsewhere to hold up the outcome of elections.

CF thread:

Tea Party Patriot elections board member refuses to certify Georgia primary results (others certify results over her abstention)​

The Democratic National Committee and the state Democratic Party have asked to intervene in the suit, claiming Adams’s actions are part of a coordinated effort by Trump, his allies and the GOP to sow the same kind of doubt in this year’s presidential election that led to the violent attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, to overturn Biden’s first victory.

“They are playing poker with the cards up,” said Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye, executive director of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “They are telling us exactly what they are going to do. We would be foolish if we sat on our hands and did nothing and watched this happen.”

Trump has stated plainly that the only way he can lose this fall is if Democrats cheat. His campaign and the Republican National Committee are spending historic sums building “election integrity” operations in key battleground states, preparing to challenge results in court, and recruiting large armies of grass-roots supporters to monitor voting locations and counting facilities and to serve as poll workers.

essentialsaltes said:

Lara Trump is building an army of ‘100,000 poll watchers and over 500 lawyers’ to ‘deploy’ across America in November​

Following her remarks — which were full of militaristic language such as “deploy” and “battleground” — the assembled volunteers began training as volunteers.
“I’m convinced that the election was stolen in 2020 . . . and I genuinely think if Joe Biden wins this one we will be heading towards World War Three,” one attendee told The Post.
“This isn’t just about protecting our votes, it’s about protecting our families.”

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Certification of local results is a key target in this effort, a once-mundane administrative step that has become a flash point in the debate over election security — and a potential opportunity to subvert the will of voters. Election officials in the nation’s 3,000-plus counties must sign off on results, followed by a similar process at the state level. Typically, certification does not mean there were no errors — it simply reflects the votes tallied at that point. And it does not preclude lawsuits contesting those results; in fact, in some states lawsuits cannot be filed until after certification is complete.

[This is an administrative step, not an audit.]

Delaying certification at any step could hold up or halt the process [that funnels into electoral votes], potentially preventing the rightful winner from taking office.

Since 2020, county-level election officials in five key battleground states — Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania — have tried to block the certification of vote tallies in both primaries and general elections. So far, none of the efforts have succeeded.

But the chaos and confusion that could result from such an effort are themselves a deep concern among voting rights advocates, who believe that unsubstantiated claims of fraud by Trump and his allies are sowing even deeper mistrust in the fall election results than they did four years ago, raising the potential for unrest and even violence on a greater scale too.

In 2022, two commissioners from rural Cochise County in Arizona refused to certify midterm election results.

CF thread:

Refuse to Certify​

The same year, local election boards in three Pennsylvania counties withheld thousands of votes from certified totals. Last month in Michigan’s Delta County, the Board of Canvassers voted not to certify local results. A similar attempt to not certify May election results occurred in Nevada in Washoe County, home to Reno. In all four states, officials cited mistrust in election machines or ballot errors but offered no evidence of widespread fraud. In all four, certification proceeded after state intervention.

U.S. presidential elections operate on a tight schedule, with most states requiring county- and state-level certification within days of Election Day. Federal law in turn requires governors to declare which candidate’s electors will cast electoral college votes at least six days before Dec. 17, when they are scheduled to meet. If they fail to meet and cast votes that day, a state’s electoral votes probably would not be counted during the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, the final step in determining the presidential outcome.

[Since Jan 6, a law was passed making it more difficult for Congresscritters to challenge states' electoral slates at the Veep counting. But if the slates never arrive, due to refusals to certify and inevitable lawsuits, they can't be counted.]

[Such a move could swing the result, or might] deprive both candidates of the 270 electoral votes required under federal law to win [in which case each state gets one House vote, and Republicans control 28 of 50 states.]

“I worry a lot about the disinformation that, no matter how this plays out, is going to be rampant,” [Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania’s secretary of state during the 2020 election] said. “It’s so much easier to spread disinformation than it is to explain all the ways that the incorrect information is wrong. Combined with this very angry, stressed environment that we’re living in right now, it’s such a fraught time to be having a major election in.”

Will be sorry to see the old girl go.....

NASA will have a spacecraft from Elon Musk’s SpaceX guide the International Space Station’s destruction later this decade, the agency announced Wednesday.

More than half of the states in the country still allow doctors to perform sex-change operations on and provide sex-change drugs to children.

President Joe Biden’s administration pressured at least one health care association to eliminate proposed guidelines that would have discouraged doctors from providing sex-change drugs and surgeries to young children, according to newly released court documents.

Draft guidelines by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) in 2021 set recommended age minimums for certain sex-change procedures. It suggested the age of 14 for hormone therapy, 15 to remove healthy female breasts, 16 to put prosthetic breasts on boys, and 17 to perform genital surgeries on boys and girls.

However, following external pressure from Adm. Rachel Levine — Biden’s assistant secretary for health — WPATH eliminated its age-based recommendations entirely and declined to suggest age minimums for any sex-change drugs or surgeries. Levine, who assumed office in March 2021, is the first person who identifies as transgender to hold a Senate-confirmed position in a presidential administration.

The Biden administration’s influence over WPATH’s guidelines came to light in filings in a court case about an Alabama law that prohibits doctors from providing sex-change drugs to minors and performing sex-change operations on them. The documents show internal WPATH emails that discuss the guidelines and Levine’s suggestions that the association remove its minimum age recommendations.

Continued below.

(OSV News) — While many Catholics today do not believe, as Pew Research reported a few years ago, that the Eucharist is Jesus — body, blood, soul and divinity — it’s not at all hard for 4-year-old Joseph Paul of Steubenville, Ohio, to believe. He knows.

“Bye-bye, Jesus!” little Joseph yelled to our Lord from the banks of the Ohio River at the marina in Steubenville as the sternwheeler carrying the Most Blessed Sacrament set off on its journey down the Ohio River June 23. The procession was part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Route.

A child’s innocent faith​

The Paul family, of Holy Family Parish in Steubenville, was among hundreds of Catholics from the city who came to the marina that morning. Little Joseph joyfully waved to our Lord as he watched the sternwheeler make its way down the river. “Bye, Jesus,” he said once again. Catholics who don’t believe in Christ’s real presence can learn a lot from little Joseph.


Leading the Eucharistic procession down the river were Bishop Mark E. Brennan of Wheeling- Charleston and the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Steubenville, Bishop Edward M. Lohse of Kalamazoo, Michigan, as well as priests, seminarians and laity from the two dioceses.

Also aboard the “Boater-cade” were perpetual pilgrims on the Seton Route and the route’s chaplain, Father Roger Landry, who is a Catholic chaplain at Columbia University and the Thomas Merton Institute for Catholic Life in New York. A priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, he is also one of the official preachers for the National Eucharistic Revival.

The perpetual pilgrims on the Seton Route left New Haven, Connecticut, May 17 and have traveled through 13 dioceses since then. The pilgrimage arrived in West Virginia June 20 in Weirton and, after a Eucharistic procession in the city that day and other events there and across the river, the perpetual pilgrims took to the waters of the Ohio River with our Lord for the June 23 Eucharistic procession.

Blessing spots along the route​

Continued below.

Four officers associated with a now-disbanded unit of the Baton Rouge Police Department have been indicted by a Louisiana grand jury on charges alleging that they covered up the beating of a suspect in custody.

The charges stem from an attempted strip search in September 2020, when two officers from the Street Crimes Unit allegedly hit a suspect and shocked him with their stun guns. The episode was captured by body-worn cameras that the officers didn’t know were turned on.

The arrest warrant for the officers said the camera was later hidden and never returned. The accused officers later conspired to write a letter, falsely claiming the body camera was missing or lost, the department said.

The charges come as the FBI pursues a civil rights investigation into allegations made in lawsuits last year that officers assaulted detainees in an obscure warehouse known as the “ Brave Cave.”

Link to Table of Contents​

Continued from Hebrews It! (Legal Study, Chapter 3) Pt. 14​

Hebrews 3:15 Today, if you hear His voice,
This should be located at the Start of Hebrews 4, but it is saying TODAY if we can Hear the Loving Call of Jesus Christ through his Gospel revealed life.

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.
Look to Jesus. Turn our hearts away from self! We are sinners, God is perfect! It depends on what HE DID, not what we do. We are asked to keep our Hearts on Him! It's simple! Simple! Simple! Focus on Jesus! Don't turn back to Moses and that feeling of hopelessness! Keep our eyes on Jesus! Don't Judge others or charge others for the free gift that cost Jesus EVERYTHING!

This chapter is one of the deepest contentions between Sabbatarians and non-Sabbatarians. I have exegeted the Royal Law written in James Chapter 2 into every word that I have typed apart from scripture all the way up to this point. It is now time that I surrender to this Royal Law of Love and simply place this passage of scripture underneath this Introduction in it's exact flow, free of my personal exegesis. A Sabbatarian reads this chapter one way, while a non-Sabbatarian reads it another. In respects to the true unity in Jesus that scripture begs of us, I now say... The Apostle Paul demands that we make peace with one another on matters such as this. It is the presence of Jesus Christ within our souls as His very Holy Spirit that unites us! It is not our differences of opinion, but instead our desire to build one another up in Love that reveals that we are all disciples of He Who knew no Sin, yet became all Sin, that us sinners, could be declared righteous! If Jesus Christ, the rightful Heir of ALL Creation could Humble Himself enough to walk this earth a Servant of all mankind, a fool like me can humble myself to the right of the Sabbatarian and non-Sabbatarian alike. How do others know that we are of HIS Body? LOVE. It is how we display our Love for one another.


Hebrews 4

Therefore, while the promise to enter His rest remains, let us fear that none of you should miss it. 2 For we also have received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith 3 (for we who have believed enter the rest), in keeping with what He has said:

So I swore in My anger,
they will not enter My rest.
And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world, 4 for somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this way:

And on the seventh day
God rested from all His works.
5 Again, in that passage He says, They will never enter My rest. 6 Since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again, He specifies a certain day—today—speaking through David after such a long time, as previously stated:

Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts.
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. 10 For the person who has entered His rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His. 11 Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.

Our Great High Priest​

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

This concludes Pt. 15. Pt. 16 (Hebrews 5) to comes soon.

Christ and his followers drew parallels between the OT and the NT in order to demonstrate that he was the Messiah and the fulfillment of the prophecies.

*Is there anything in the OT about the manner of Christ's death? I e., on a cross or a tree or something that suggests that.

Also, could you say something about tree symbolism and stories in the bible, in both OT and NT and the significance of tree symbolism in Judaism and Christianity.

Thank you

We all know that God created all things bright and beautiful but what about the thing that arn't so good such as the;

Wasps, snakes, scorpions, thorns, poisonous apple trees & plants and last of all Satan.

King James Bible
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

The deadly Manchineel apple tree;
Known as the most dangerous tree in the world, the manchineel tree is found along the sandy beaches and mangroves in tropical climates;

Hello Everyone!

I have a question. I'll explain the situation first. I began seeing a girl almost 2 years ago. Things are progressing nicely, and we're now talking about engagement, marriage, children, etc. Here's the part I am seeking guidance on. She was married before. The marriage largely ended due to the former husband being an alcoholic. She kicked him out, he then when out and began seeing another woman, with whom he had a child. This was a significant period of time before I began seeing her. My concern is marrying her being adultery in the eyes of God. I've been praying about it, researching it, and my thought process is this:

1. Re-marriage is allowed in the Bible under certain circumstances, one of those being adultery. If he has gone out and had relations with another woman, having a kid with her, and entering into a relationship with her, in my eyes that is adultery, and thus would allow her to re-marry and me to marry her without committing adultery.

Am I right in this line of thinking? I've really been praying over this and the world wide web has a load of opinions on this. Seeking guidance. Thank you everyone!

God sets the sun, moon & all the stars IN the firmament


We read in Amos 9:6..



King James Bible
And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

King James Bible
Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

King James Bible
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

King James Bible
Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?

Psalm 104:5​

He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.

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So what are your views on the Firmament ?

Nicholas Dames remembers the first time he really got thinking about a very obvious but largely invisible writing device.

It was around two decades ago, when he was completing a PhD in English and American literature.

"A friend of mine, who was not an academic, over drinks one night, just blurted out to me, 'why do novels have chapters?'," the Columbia University humanities professor tells ABC RN's Late Night Live.

"I realised I hadn't the faintest clue how to answer that question. It was one of those, 'why is the sky blue' questions."
In the years that followed, Professor Dames returned to this question again and again, so he decided to explore the history of the chapter.

The topic may sound deeply academic, but it's not all laborious details about medieval tomes.

At the heart of this history is how we tell stories.

And from a child's development to an evening on the couch watching Netflix, the chapter affects our lives in many unnoticed ways.

Chapter 1: A long history​

Continued below.

…for the USCCB

In 1969, the United States bishops created the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Its mission is to fund programs that address “systems and structures” of injustice and poverty in America. Unfortunately, over the years many CCHD programs have not upheld basic principles of Catholic social teaching. The CCHD has also used its money to fund left-wing political groups and support community organizing programs.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently met for a general assembly, where they held a closed-door, confidential discussion about the future of the CCHD. This was prompted largely by the CCHD’s desperate financial situation: It ran a deficit of $5.7 million dollars in 2022. The 2023 numbers are not available. The bishops also wanted to assess whether CCHD is effective—that is, a good use of the generosity of the faithful, who fund the organization. Is CCHD money serving the poor while upholding Church teaching? And is it serving the poor effectively?

Care for the poor is a moral obligation for Catholics. This is not open to debate. As Archbishop Chaput once said, “If we ignore the poor, we will go to hell.” Yet how we most effectively care for the poor is open to debate, and it is fitting that the bishops of the United States periodically examine whether a particular use of limited resources is the best or even an adequate approach—especially since CCHD’s resources come from the faithful in the pews.

Continued below.

What’s weighing on my heart tonight?
So many things that just aren’t right.
A list of them, I have not made.
But into them, I will not cave.

I give them all to Christ alone
Who for my sins He did atone.
How beautiful the love of Him
Who cares for me – not on my own.

I worry not, oh, come what may.
I’ve no control of what they say.
It’s all, it’s all in God’s own hands.
On Him, I’ve taken up my stand.

My future’s all by God’s design.
My good, I know He has in mind.
Without Him, I would fall apart.
He is my Lord. He has my heart.

So, one step, two step, three step, four,
I’m daily trusting, trusting more.
Yes! Letting Jesus have his way.
I’m bowing to Him, as I pray.

An Original Work / April 7, 2021

Before any of us became believers in and followers of Jesus Christ we were dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked when we were still under the control of Satan and of the flesh. We were separate from God and unable in our own flesh to be acceptable to God and to share in his holiness and righteousness. We were doomed to destruction, without hope, and with no way out of our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin.

But, by God-provided, and God-gifted, and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing (not of the will nor of the flesh of man), we were crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So sin is to no longer have mastery over our lives. For if we obey sin, it leads to death, not to life everlasting.

Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24; Acts 26:18; Matthew 7:21-23; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10

For what does it say here? “You WERE dead in the trespasses and sins in which you ONCE WALKED” (past tense, not in the present). So as those who have been saved from our sins, delivered out of our bondage (slavery) to sin, and who have been given new lives in Christ Jesus to be lived for his glory and purposes in holy living, and in walks of obedience to his commands, we should no longer live as those who are addicted to sin.

We once followed the course of this world, but that is now history. We once lived in the passions of our flesh, but no more. We once walked in sin, but Jesus delivered us from our bondage to sin. We once carried out the desires of our flesh and minds, and so we were once children of wrath, like everyone else. But if we have died with Christ to sin, and we are now walking in obedience to his commands in holy living, all of that should be in our past.

Now this is not saying that we are now perfect in every way or that we will never fail again (see 1 John 2:1-2), but that we who believe in Jesus Christ, if our faith is genuine, should no longer be those who are living according to our flesh to obey its sinful desires. We should now be living for the Lord Jesus to please him in all that we are and say and do, and for his glory and purposes. For we should now be his possession to do his will, not ours.

For Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us on that cross that we might die to sin and now live to righteousness, by his grace, in his power. He died that we might now live for him and no longer for self. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives, and honor him with our bodies, and walk in his righteousness and holiness.

2 Corinthians 5:15,21; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23

For the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. And the faith to believe in Jesus, which comes from God, is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to turn from our sins and to now walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands.

Titus 2:11-14; Romans 1:18-32; Acts 26:18; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30

And, although not one of us can be saved by of our own fleshly works, we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works, which are the works that God ordained and requires of us that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Galatians 5:6; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-14; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12; 2 Timothy 2:21; John 15:1-11; Titus 3:8; James 2:17

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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