Authorities charged the suspect Friday, alleging he choked the priest to death while parked off the interstate.​

A photo from the 1980s of the Rev. Larry Johnson.

Murder charges filed Friday allege a St. Paul man strangled a 76-year-old priest on the side of Interstate 94 Thursday while en route to a mental health evaluation with the suspect telling police voices told him to commit the act.

Ramsey County prosecutors charged Nathan Thomas Wondra, 32, of St. Paul with second-degree murder in the killing of the Rev. Lawrence Johnson. Authorities arrested Wondra moments after he said voices told him to strangle Johnson in order to “save humanity.”

Wondra appeared in court Friday and is scheduled for another hearing Monday. His bail is set at $2 million. State court records show no civil commitments for Wondra related to his mental health.

Continued below.

This one family has changed Christendom basketball for the better since arriving at the college as students 14 years ago.

Editor’s Note: This story is reprinted with permission from Christendom College, where it appeared in Instaurare, the official magazine of Christendom College.



Basketball has been a part of Jeremy ’16 and Mary (Barbale) ’15 Minick’s lives since they were kids.

As students, they competed on Christendom’s Thomas S. Vander Woude Court, playing varsity basketball for the college.

It was also on this court that the two first met, beginning a romance that eventually led to marriage. Fittingly, the two keep returning back to this court that has so defined their lives, with both now serving the college community as head coaches.

What leads them back to this basketball court, again and again? A desire to give back — and to continue leading student-athletes to Christ.

Continued below.

Among American Olympians achieving a spot on the podium in Paris are Catholics who have expressed their dependence on faith over the years as they’ve pursued excellence in their athletic pursuits.

Katie Ledecky shares her strong faith​

Swimmer Katie Ledecky, who made U.S. history Aug. 1 when she became the most decorated woman in Olympic history after winning her 13th Olympic medal — silver — in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, is outspoken about how her Catholic faith guides her life.

After the 2021 Olympic games in Tokyo, the Catholic school graduate told the Catholic Standard, the Archdiocese of Washington’s newspaper, that she prayed the Hail Mary before each race to calm her nerves, just as she had during the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Continued below.

​

Sister Pia Maria, third from left, and her fellow nuns of the Sisters of Mary Morning Star, a contemplative order near Waco, Texas. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Sister Pia Maria

When Sister Pia Maria first set foot in the maximum-security prison that houses Texas’ female death row inmates, she was understandably nervous. Not only was she entering what was arguably the most dangerous part of the prison, but she was also about to spend some quality time with a group of women who had committed hideous, unspeakable crimes.

What would she say to them? Would she even make it out?

But when at last Sister Pia and her fellow nuns from the Sisters of Mary Morning Staractually came face-to-face with the condemned women, “all the barriers just dropped.”

“It was like we were just immersed, and we were friends, and we were talking, and we were laughing, and we were just at peace,” she recalled, speaking to CNA.

“There was a spiritual presence, and we were able to connect and bond on our first visit. It was just the grace of God — it was just amazing.”

Continued below.

They hatched a plan to 'infiltrate' pro-Palestinian groups. Then they started drinking.​

Michael Spadone, an ex-Project Veritas field director, was arrested after he and his group of “undercover journalists" got drunk and rowdy at a Michigan hotel, police said.

In May, a group of right-wing “undercover journalists" descended on a hotel in Michigan to prepare for a clandestine operation. Some of them were alums of Project Veritas, the conservative group known for elaborate sting operations targeting liberal organizations, journalists and unions.

They came to the city of Dearborn, which has a large Arab population, to infiltrate pro-Palestinian groups. But the effort was derailed on their first day in town when they got drunk and rowdy at their hotel, and the leader of the group was hauled off in handcuffs after he hurled insults and expletives at police officers, according to a police report and bodycam video obtained by NBC News.

But after 1 a.m. on May 24, Spadone was the one being recorded on video — a police body camera — as he threatened officers with the Dearborn Police Department.

“It’s amazing these [gentlefolk] hate America so much,” Spadone said during the 81-minute encounter.

"Weak-[butt] [parentlovers]," he added. "If they took their vest off and their badges, they’d get knocked the [love] out. ..."

Will Heller is a 21-year-old weightlifting phenom from Toledo, Ohio who now has his sights on becoming a Catholic priest. | Credit: Will Heller/USA Weightlifting/The U.P. Catholic

Will Heller, a 21-year-old from Toledo, Ohio, is a two-time Junior National Medalist and All American, a state record holder in Ohio and Michigan, and the 2023 University National Champion in the 102 kilogram class in weightlifting. However, the weightlifting phenom now has his sights on a more soul-intensive goal — becoming a Catholic priest.

At the age of 17, Heller was introduced to the sport of weightlifting by his high school strength and conditioning coach. He quickly excelled in the sport and earned a plethora of achievements, including being invited to represent Team USA in the 2022 and 2024 FISU America Games, the 2023 U20 Pan-American Championships, and the 2023 U20 World Championships.

Weightlifting consists of two lifts: the clean and jerk and the snatch. Heller shared in an interview with CNA that his heaviest weight for each is a 324-pound snatch and a 388-pound clean and jerk.

Continued below.

During his first Angelus address of the month, Pope Francis asked his listeners on Sunday to seek the path of charity, “which keeps nothing for itself but shares everything.”

“Material things do not give fullness to life. They are important but they do not fill life. Only love can do that,” the Holy Father said to crowds of local and international pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 4.

Reflecting on Sunday’s Gospel reading (John 6:24-35) — which recounts how many people followed Jesus because they were looking for bread to eat and not because they believed in him or his miracles — the pope challenged his listeners to ask themselves: “What kind of relationship do I have with material things? Am I a slave to them? Or do I use them freely as instruments to give and receive love?”

Continued below.

In response to the July 26 Paris Olympics opening ceremony that mocked the Last Supper — and after the French bishops and other Catholic and world leaders decried the display — the Vatican on Saturday issued a statement denouncing the scene.

In a brief statement emailed to journalists in French, the Holy See said it “was saddened by certain scenes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices raised in recent days to deplore the offense done to many Christians and believers of other religions.”

“In a prestigious event where the whole world comes together around common values, there should not be allusions ridiculing the religious convictions of many people,” the statement continued.

Continued below.

Luke 6:
46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.
And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it,for it was founded on the rock.
49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth
without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell.
And the ruin of that house was great.”



Are there eternal homes without foundation for those who heard and believed, and did not obey?

Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,”
says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.

Genesis 9:

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Click to expand...

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)

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God blessed Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Canaan was the grandson of Noah.

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.

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Noah wasn't behaving righteously.

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan,

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Again, Canaan was mentioned even though he was doing nothing here.

saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,

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Noah didn't like what Ham did. He felt disrespected by his son.

25 he said,
“Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

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Why didn't Noah curse Ham?

Canaan didn't do anything except be a son of Ham. The so-called curse was actually a prophecy. At the beginning of this chapter, God had already blessed Ham, and Ham didn't commit any great sin. God was not going to curse Ham. Instead, God used this occasion to pronounce a prophecy against Canaan. This prophecy was very relevant to the Israelites at the time of Exodus:

1. They had left Egypt, which was somewhat cursed because he was a son of Ham.
2. Israel is blessed by Noah through Shem, their ancestor.
3. They are about to conquer Canaan, fulfilling the prophecy spoken by Noah.

If you were an Israelite at that time, Genesis 9 made a lot of sense, and you felt that you were making history, fulfilling God's word.

26 He also said,
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.

Click to expand...

The Israelites read this as they, the descendants of Shem, fulfilled the prophecy by defeating the Canaanites.

Why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham?

Right after the flood, God blessed Ham already. Later, God used the incident of Noah's nakedness to pronounce a judgment/curse against Canaan, a son of Ham.

Hi should we just believe Gods word as it is or should we try and manipulate it to suit our theology even if we do not understand what we read should we just believe what it says its Gods word it can't possibly be wrong
When God says he created the world and everything in it then that's what he did we must believe it not disect every word of scripture trying to prove it's right or wrong all we have to do is believe.

Love and Peace
Dave

c6p22n0z5m2o

"The judge overseeing Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case has dismissed an effort to have it thrown out.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Trump's legal team had provided “no meaningful evidence” the former president had been prosecuted for "vindictive and political purposes".

Trump has been accused of spearheading a widespread effort to overthrow the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden.

He has denied wrongdoing and has previously claimed the Biden administration is behind the prosecution."
---------- ----------

As in the case of about 24 lawsuites that Trump filed, in order to claim that
he won the 2020 election (and the judges involved reached the conclusion
that Trump had no relevant or serious evidence of fraud, so rejected them), so too,
Donald is filing lawsuits without any relevant evidence for why they should be considered.

I've been waiting for our ABC to cover this story for a long time.


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Hello brothers and sisters,

I have many sins that I need to work on but today’s confession is that I can’t help but despise islam and muslims, both for all the things they’ve done to oppress, enslave and genocide us Orthodox and for their conscious choice to follow a pedophile murderer as a prophet.

I always try to impede them in any way I can and it pains me that my country will not fight back against them. But to hate them is wrong, not something God would want of me.

What are you all’s thoughts?

I know he is already the accepted nominee.
But if it turns out this Kamala phenomenon keeps growing and drastically overtakes Trump - is there a process for revoking Trump's nomination and doing a last minute emergency installation of someone else? Pulling a 'Biden' in effect? What kind of positions in the party would decide such a thing? (Not names, but titles - party infrastructure and systems - this is not about identifying potential 'traitors' to the cause.)

Hi,

Just open discussion. Can men and women be friends ? My experience is no. Thing is I observe the following, with my guy friends both do equal effort to keep the friendship alive. I call them to hangout and do stuff and sometimes they call me to hangout.
In my experience as an average guy, With women they never do effort to keep the friendship alive, it is always the men that have to do the effort, is this real friendship ? Not imo.
Maybe the chads have different experience because of their chad powers,

Br,

about to begin...Israel vs Iran...US vs Russia.

About to begin...Israel and Iran. US and Russia proxy war...

For this discussion, let's define "hell" as "the place of the dead," signifying a spiritual separation from God and His grace. The nature of hell, whether it's considered eternal punishment or a lake of fire leading to annihilation, is not the focus here. Instead, the intended topic is what actions or behaviors you believe will lead a person to hell and what types of individuals, if any, will be found there.

Holiness is what I long for
Righteousness, to walk God’s ways
Faithfulness in every footstep
Walking with Him day by day

Listening to the words He teaches
Making them my faithful friend
Doing all that His word shows me
Faithful to Christ to the end

Loving Jesus, Lord, my Master
Sitting daily at His feet
Loving all the times together
When my Lord and I do meet

Worship Him in truth forever
Sing His praises, bless His Name
Changing in the ways He leads me
Not remaining just the same

An Original Work / December 8, 2022

This brotherly love mentioned here has to do with the love that is among us who are followers of Jesus Christ. It is the love that we have for one another that is a proper affection and morally pure emotional feelings that we have for one another who are within the family of God. But when it says here that we who believe in Jesus have been taught by God to love one another, a different love is mentioned, which is agape love, which comes from God.

And this agape love means to prefer what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, godly, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. For the Christian it means to prefer to live through Christ, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power, strength, and wisdom. It means that we are actively doing what God prefers because we have the Holy Spirt living within us by faith in Jesus Christ.

So, in what ways is that love expressed to one another? Well, it is based in moral purity, so it will be morally pure. And it has to do with doing what God has designed and purposed for us to do, so it is going to involve obedience to his commands. And it is a love which comes from God, who is love, and so we will love one another in the same ways in which God loves us. So we will not deliberately and habitually do what is evil against one another.

Rather, we will show to one another kindness, compassion, concern, caring, and sympathy. And we will minister to one another’s legitimate needs in the power of and under the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit, utilizing the spiritual gifts we have been given by the Spirit. And we will encourage and exhort one another and speak the truth in love to one another in order to help one another to walk faithfully in obedience to our Lord in holy living.

[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

But when this counsels us to live quietly, and to mind our own affairs, this is not to negate the teachings all throughout the New Testament which teach us the many ways in which we are to demonstrate the love of God for one another. For this engages us in exhorting one another and in speaking the truth in love to one another and in helping one another out of sin if any have been caught in sin. For we are to bear one another’s burdens.

Definitely we must be those who are walking properly before everyone. We all should be living righteous and godly lives in submission to Christ as Lord, and in surrender of our wills to his perfect will. We should all be modeling what it means to be a true follower (disciple) of Jesus Christ. And we should, thus, speak the same kinds of messages that Jesus taught, and to warn against taking God’s grace for granted and of falling back into sin.

We should also be warning our brothers and sisters in the Lord against false teachings and false gospels and false preachers and prophets and apostles and evangelists and politicians and newscasters who are proclaiming and teaching lies to the people in order to lead them astray. For so many professers of Christianity are being duped by master manipulators and they are being led away from the truth and to following after lies, instead.

But Jesus Christ is the ONLY Savior of the people, and the only one to rescue us from what ails us as a people, as a nation, and as the world. He is our ONLY hope for salvation and for deliverance, and his gospel message is the ONLY one that we should be following, which is the same one that his NT apostles taught. And that is basically that we must die to sin and to self and follow the Lord in obedience, by his grace, if we want eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

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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Unlike Genesis however, we don’t know the author of Job and we are not sure exactly when this book was written, though some scholars place this book as written possibly up to 400 years before Genesis.

The reason Job is considered to potentially be the oldest book in the Bible is also because of some of the content within it such as;


Job 1:6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. “Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.

From this passage we can see that Satan has not yet been exiled from heaven to earth.

Job 38:7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

This passage tells us who the sons of God are, they are the angels. Now go to Genesis 6:1 ;

Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.

So we know now that it was angels who came down to earth to mate with women.

Also in Job we have the mention of Leviathan & Behemoth & Satan had God's permission to test Job

So was there a time before Genesis ?

This song is a prayer to my Lord, expressing how much I love his daily presence with me as I go throughout my day walking in his footsteps, listening to him speak, and having him teach me how to live and to work for him. My heart’s desire is to be his witness, to tell others of his love and grace, to serve him only as my Lord and master, living to please him, and then to be an example of one who has truly been set free from the power of sin and death, and set free to walk humbly in obedience to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I truly identify with the words to this song. I want to serve my Lord only and not my own flesh. It does not mean I deprive myself of what he has given to us to enjoy, or that I don’t take enjoyment and pleasure in food, nature, art, or a song, etc. Yet, I should not make my flesh my god nor should I make the things I enjoy my gods, but my Lord should be my only God, and he is the one I should obey and follow and desire above all else. My life should be complete in him, and I should be content with him alone.

Your Servant

An Original Work / September 21, 2011

Lord, I love to have You near me
As I go throughout my day,
Walking daily in Your footsteps,
As I humbly pray.
List’ning to You, hear You teaching
Me to live and work for You,
Lord, I pray You lead and guide me
Daily in Your truth.

Lord, I want to be Your witness,
Telling others of Your grace;
Telling how they can be set free
Of their sins today;
Share with them the love of Jesus,
He died on a cruel tree,
So that we’d be forgiven
For all eternity.

Lord, I want to serve You only,
As I bow on bended knee,
Making You my Lord and master,
And Your servant be.
Humbly walking in obedience,
Doing what You say to me,
Lord, may I be an example
Of one who’s set free.

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We believe in Jesus Christ, not just so we can get our sins forgiven so that when we die we get to go to heaven. Our salvation from sin is not just all about what God did for us and what he will yet do for us. Jesus planned for us that, by faith in him, we will deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his commands. His design for our lives is that we now live in submission to his Lordship, in surrender of our wills to his will, in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, and that we cease from sin.

And contrary to what so many people are telling you these days, we do have to live our lives to please God. We are not pleasing God by merely giving him lip service. We please him when we walk in obedience to his commands and we do the things that he has called us to do as his followers. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance for us that we should walk in them. We are not saved by our own fleshly works, yet our salvation is not absent of works that God has for us.

And the New Testament writings are filled with instructions to us who profess faith in Jesus Christ with regard to what we should not be doing and regarding what we should be doing, and how we should be living as followers of Jesus Christ who have died with Christ to sin and who have been raised with him to walk now in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And we are to conduct our lives in a manner which is pleasing to God according to the Scriptures.

But not only should we presently be living our lives to please God, in the power of God, but we should be doing this more and more. Our faith should be increasing, and we should be growing closer to our Lord in deeper commitments to him and to his service the longer that we know Jesus and the longer that we walk in his ways and in his truth and righteousness. For the will of God is our sanctification, that we be made holy, different from the world, because we are being made to be like Jesus in character.

Therefore, as followers of Jesus Christ we are no longer to walk in sin, making sin our practice. We must abstain from sexual immorality, and each one of us should learn how to control our own bodies in holiness and in honor, and not in the passions of lust like those who do not know Christ as their Lord and Savior. For Jesus died to free us from the passions of the flesh so that we will now be passionate about serving our Lord in holy living. And he will empower us to live righteously and to no longer walk in sin.

Sadly, so many people today professing faith in Jesus Christ, at least here in America, are addicted to sexual sin in one form or another. Many are addicted to pornography or to viewing anything that is sexually explicit or that is even sexually and immorally suggestive. Some are having extra-marital flirtations or affairs. Some are engaged in even worse forms of sexual perversion. And with so many having smartphones in their possession, it just makes it so much easier to engage in immorality.

But, as those who make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, we are to cease from making sin our habit, and we are now to serve Jesus Christ with our lives in holy living. And we are not to sin against God, and we are not to sin against our fellow humans, especially those who belong to the family of God. And this is not saying that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin should no longer be our practice. Instead, holiness, righteousness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness and obedience to God should be our practice.

And then notice with me that Paul, in saying these things, is letting those who profess the name of Jesus know that the Lord is the avenger in all these things. And so he was warning them against taking God’s grace for granted, thinking that they could now continue living in sin and not in obedience to the Lord. And we should not take God’s grace for granted, either, for if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of obedience to our Lord, then we will not inherit eternal life with God. Hell will be our destiny.

So, don’t buy into the lies which tell you that once you “believe” in Jesus that all your sins are forgiven and now heaven is guaranteed you when you die, but regardless of how you live or how often you choose to sin against the Lord. For all of God’s promises come with conditions that must be met by us. So if we claim to be in fellowship with the Lord but while we walk in sin, we are liars. And if we say that we know God, but while we do not walk in obedience to his commands, we are liars. So please take God seriously!

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 5:9; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6; Gal 6:8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 5:10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 1 Thes 2:4; 1 Thes 4:1; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:4,21; Tit 2:11-14; Tit 3:8; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; Jas 2:17; 1 Jn 3:22]

You are Loving and Forgiving

An Original Work / February 19, 2012
Based off Psalm 86

You are loving and forgiving,
Jesus, Savior, King of kings.
You provided our redemption.
By Your blood You set us free.
You are gracious; full of mercy.
No deeds can compare with Yours.
Great are You; there is none like You.
Glory be to Your name.

Teach me Your way, and I’ll walk in it.
O Lord, I will walk in Your truth.
May I not have a heart divided,
That Your name I give honor to.
I will praise You, O Lord, my Savior,
For great is Your love toward me.
You have delivered me from my sins.
Your grace has pardoned me.

You, O Lord, are full of compassion,
Slow to anger, bounteous in love;
Faithful to fulfill all You promise;
Glory be to Your name above.
Hear, O Lord, and answer Your servant.
You are my God. I trust in You.
Turn to me and grant Your strength to me.
You are my comforter.

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.....the general election is less than 100 days away and what does Trump do at a rally in a key swing state? Attack the Republican governor (and his wife)....naturally.

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