• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

DOJ Sues Life Surge Founder, Ex-Welfont CEO Joseph Johnson; He Says the IRS Is Using ‘Abusive Tactics’

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil injunction lawsuit against Dr. Joseph Johnson, a serial entrepreneur whose latest venture is the Christian company Life Surge. The DOJ’s lawsuit pertains to a former company of Johnson’s, The Welfont Group, and accuses him of for more than a decade orchestrating a multi-state tax scheme involving inflated property appraisals and improper charitable deductions.

Federal attorneys say Johnson was the “architect” of “as many as 190 abusive bargain sale transactions” and claim the conduct might have caused “as much as $46 million” in “total tax harm.”

The DOJ lawsuit, filed Aug. 5, describes the same alleged patterns of misconduct that were related in at least five previous lawsuits filed against Welfont by property owners in different states that were litigated in federal court from 2020 to 2024.

In an extensive statement to ChurchLeaders, Johnson denied all wrongdoing and said the IRS has targeted him for years because of his conservative Christian views.

What the DOJ Is Alleging Against Dr. Joseph Johnson


Continued below.

Is Amazon Renewed a good place to find an iPad?

I'm considering using Amazon Renewed to find a good quality cheap refurbished iPad. I am wondering how reliable a refurbished device would be, because one time a friend bought a refurbished Samsung Galaxy phone from Walmart and it had severe charging problems. So I have a distrust of buying refurbished, and wonder if I want to go with a brand new device. I have a brother who has autism and lives at a care center, and I can FaceTime him if I have an Apple device, and the care center is overly restrictive on not allowing any cross platform apps (not allowing Zoom or WhatsApp for Windows or Android).

Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk set for televised town hall with CBS' Bari Weiss

One-hour conversation to focus on 'faith, grief, perseverance and the memory of her husband'

Erika Kirk, the widow of slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, will take part in a televised town hall with Bari Weiss, editor-in-chief of CBS News, the network announced Thursday.

Set to focus on Kirk’s “life, loss, the state of political discourse and more,” the one-hour event will be filmed before a studio audience in New York City and “feature Kirk fielding questions from young Evangelicals, prominent religious leaders, and figures across the political spectrum.”

Prospective attendees who used a now-static sign-up formreportedly were asked about their faith and other questions, including whether they identify as Evangelicals, if they consider themselves to be a conservative, or if they were “grieving the loss of a loved one.”

Continued below.

RFK Adjusts Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendations; Democrats Lose Their Minds

Democrats are having existential meltdowns over RFK's department issuing revised recommendations for Hepatitis B vaccines in children. Instead of the current recommendations that have Hospitals as a matter of course inject all infants with Hepatitis B vaccines on the day of their birth, the new recommendations are that infants whose mothers have Hepatitis B be given the vaccine for protection at birth, but the others who have no risk getting the disease, instead delay until 2-3 months after birth before getting the vaccine. Apparently this will cause all sorts of death and destruction according to dems. The reality is there's nothing wrong with the recommendations at all, and there's no reason we should be injecting newborn infants who are not at risk, with something that they don't need, on the day they're born.
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https://ground.news/article/us-vaccine-advisers-say-not-all-babies-need-a-hepatitis-b-shot-at-birth_014461

St Nicholas

When Emperor Constantine brought Christianity out of hiding and prison in the fourth century, the Church faced an empire-wide debate between the Egyptian theologians Arius and Athanasius over the divinity of Jesus. Followers of these two literally rioted in the streets against each other. The issue, brewing for some time, was supposedly settled in 325 at the Council of Nicea, source of the Nicene Creed prayed at Mass today. But the struggle over this doctrine of Jesus’ divinity continued for decades.

There is an apocryphal story that Archbishop Nicholas, at the Nicene Council, was so infuriated at the Arian bishops who denied Jesus’ full divinity that he slapped one in the face! He was censured, the story goes, until the same bishops had a dream in which God told them to reinstate Nicholas. They reinstated him. This story, true or not, put Nicholas squarely on the side of those who proclaimed Jesus as “one in being with the Father” in the struggle to capture the minds and hearts of Christians of the day.

We can thank Saint Nicholas, and others like him, that the acceptance of Jesus’ full divinity carried the day as the Church grew.


The Real St. Nicholas | Franciscan Media

Hoping everyone is blessed on the real St Nicholas Day.
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fears over Islam often a political maneuver against migrants, says Pope

"Questioned about a growing trepidation among western Christians about the growth of Islam outside of the Middle East, especially in predominantly Christian nations in the West, the pope said this was something touched on in his discussions with interfaith leaders in Turkey and Lebanon.

However, he cautioned that oftentimes these fears are “generated by people who are against immigration and trying to keep out people who may be from another country, another religion, another race.”

Pope inflight says fears over Islam often a political maneuver against migrants | Crux https://share.google/S89I3mLpZGSSx9eTv

Video footage shows 8 Evangelical leaders’ last moments before they were killed

Newly released video appears to show eight Christian religious leaders being transported by armed men in a Colombian river shortly before they were executed and buried in a mass grave. The footage was found on a mobile phone belonging to an alleged dissident of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who is now charged in connection with their killing.

The video retrieved from the phone showed the leaders, identified as Isaid Gómez, Maribel Silva, Carlos Valero, James Caicedo, Jesús Valero, Maryuri Hernández, Nixon Peñalosa and Oscar García, being transported along the Itilla River to La Ojona farm, not far from where their bodies were later exhumed, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported.

The footage reportedly also captured armed men photographing and interrogating the victims.

Continued below.
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Most self-identified Christians think doing 'good things' is enough to get to Heaven

New research reveals that most self-identified Christians think doing “good things” for others is enough to secure them a spot in Heaven, in what one leading researcher laments as the latest example of a widespread embrace of “unbiblical beliefs” among American Christians.

A recent report released by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University examining Americans’ views on the afterlife constitutes the latest installment of the American Worldview Inventory 2025, a survey of 2,000 American adults conducted in March.

Overall, majorities of all Christian subgroups believe that every person will be judged personally by God, with 95% of theologically identified born-again Christians, 86% of Pentecostals, 84% of Evangelicals, 84% of independent and non-denominational Christians, 83% of Protestants, 82% of Mainline Protestants, 78% of self-identified Christians and 74% of Catholics embracing this belief.

Continued below.

Assurance of Eternal Life

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Opening Prayer: Almighty God, we praise You for Your greatness, Your goodness and Your faithfulness. Thank You for giving us Your Word, which is the living word of God. Thank you for the assurance it brings to our hearts. As we read and study this devotional, we ask You to open our spiritual understanding, eyes to see, ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the truths of Your word, and Your promises with faith. We seek Your guidance, direction and leading through Your Holy Spirit, as we read and study this devotional. In Jesus’ Mighty name, Amen.

The promise of Eternal Life is made to all those who believe in Jesus Christ. The assurance of eternal life brings a deep sense of peace and joy to the believer and calms the hearts of many believers. We know by God’s own words: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son”, that this promise stands true for all those who believe. We no longer are fearful about our future, nor do we wonder about it anymore because we know our future is safe with God, and that He has promised us, all those who believe in His Son will never perish but will live forever with Him.

John 3:16 God’s promise of everlasting life brings deep peace and hope. Joy flows from the certainty of reunion with Christ.

1 John 5:11–13 (NKJV) “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

This assurance is not based on our feelings or circumstances, but on the unshakable truth of His Word and the finished work of Christ. Eternal life means we have already passed from death into life, held securely in the hands of the Father and the Son, with no one able to snatch us away.

John 10:28–29 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

God’s Holy Spirit now lives within us and He now “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” We are looking forward to the place our Savior, Jesus Christ has gone to prepare for us, where we will be with Him always. This certainly fills our hearts with joy, confidence and thankfulness in knowing that our salvation is secure, and our eternity is promised.

Romans 8:16 (NKJV) “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

John 14:2–3 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

God wants to assure all believers that their future is safe and secure with Him, and to know that their faith is genuine. He wants them to feel secure in knowing they belong to Him and have eternal life through Christ. Assurance of salvation is the knowledge and confidence that we belong to Christ. Christians find assurance through many means, including their faith.

1 John 5:13 (NKJV) “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

John 3:16 (NKJV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

These last two verses reveal the fullness of salvation through Jesus Christ. Jesus is assuring us that those who hear His word and believe in the Father who sent Him already possess everlasting life. This is made possible because we have already passed from death into life and freed from judgment, through the acceptance of Jesus Christ, and God’s promise of Eternal Life to us. Paul echoes this truth by declaring that believers are set free from sin and made servants of God. We now bear fruit leading to holiness, with the ultimate end being Everlasting Life. These scriptures remind us that eternal life is not merely a future hope but a present reality, grounded in faith and evidenced by a transformed life of holiness and obedience to God.

John 5:24 (NKJV) “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

Romans 6:22 (NKJV) “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

Questions to Ponder

How does knowing that eternal life is a present reality, not just a future hope, change the way I live each day?

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In what ways does the assurance of salvation bring me peace and confidence, even when circumstances feel uncertain?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How can I bear fruit leading to holiness, as Romans 6:22 describes, in my daily walk with Christ?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Closing Prayer: Heavenly Father, we come before You with hearts full of thanksgiving, as we rejoice in the promise of eternal life through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for the assurance that we are held securely in Your hands and freed from fear and judgment. Thank You that you have given us everlasting life, and the assurance that when we leave this world, we will be taken home to be with You forevermore. In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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Pastor outraged after friend jailed for refusing to apologize over drag queen story hour protest: 'Minions of Satan'

A Canadian pastor expressed outrage to The Christian Post regarding a fellow pastor who was arrested this week for not apologizing for protesting drag queen story hours with children at a public library two years ago.

"These people are sick in the head. They're demon-possessed. They're wicked, evil minions of Satan," Pastor Artur Pawlowski told CP on Friday from a court in Calgary, Alberta, where he was showing support for his friend, Pastor Derek Reimer, as he faced a bail hearing.

Reimer was arrested in Calgary on Wednesday after he refused a court order to write and sign an apology to the library manager of Calgary Public Library regarding his 2023 protest at a "Reading with Royalty" event, which featured male drag queens reading to children, according to the Western Standard. Reimer told the Canadian outlet that he felt he had nothing to apologize for.

Continued below.
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2 tips on how to overcome fear of evangelism

How do you respond to a missed Gospel opportunity? You want to share Jesus, but sometimes your feet don’t move. Your mouth fails to open. I have been there, and I’m guessing you have too.

What if we let God turn our regrets into resolve?

Two weeks ago, I was at a gas station and sensed the Holy Spirit prompting me to give a Gospel tract to a Muslim man nearby. Grabbing a tract from my dashboard, I slid it into my pocket. Intending to step out in faith, I opened the car door. But my two feet did not respond in obedience to the Holy Spirit’s prompting.

I have to admit, my response was hesitancy and excuses. Filling my gas tank, I just stood there. Excuses piled high in my mind. What will he think of me? What if it’s awkward? I’m tired. Do I really have time? I need to get home to my three young kiddos. I’m already running late.

Did you hear the common thread through all my excuses? Me, myself and I.

Like an intense ping pong game, my mind bounced back and forth between deep conviction and selfish, fear-filled excuses. It’s crazy how we can get in our heads, overcomplicating a very simple act of obedience. Deep desire to share the best news ever filled my heart. I saw a simple gospel opportunity before me. Why did my feet not move?

Regret sat with me as I got back into my car, Gospel tract still in my pocket. Immediately, I wished for a greater faith, deeper love and determined attitude. God provided an opportunity. The Holy Spirit prompted. I missed it.

How do we respond to missed gospel opportunities?

Continued below.

Being wrong often is a blessing. Here's why

Most of us hate being wrong. We associate it with failure, embarrassment, and weakness. But the Bible treats being wrong very differently — not as a sign of defeat, but as the starting point of wisdom.

Proverbs reminds us that “the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice” (Proverbs 12:15). The greatest obstacle to growth is not ignorance; it’s arrogance. The wise person isn’t the one who never errs, but the one humble enough to admit when they do.

That’s what repentance really is — not shame, but reorientation. It’s the courage to turn around when you’ve been sprinting in the wrong direction.

Why admitting wrong feels so hard

It’s uncomfortable to confess error, especially in a culture that prizes certainty and self-assurance. Social media rewards the bold declarer, not the humble learner. We’d rather double down than backtrack, even when we know we’ve missed the mark.

But every time we resist correction, we cut ourselves off from the very wisdom that could save us. Solomon says, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid” (Proverbs 12:1). Strong words — but necessary ones. Correction, though painful, is one of God’s greatest tools for shaping our hearts.

In spiritual life, humility is not optional. God designed truth to be discovered through community — through counsel, Scripture, prayer, and yes, even rebuke. That’s why repentance, not self-defense, is at the center of the Gospel.

Jesus began His ministry not by saying, “Believe harder,” but “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17). Repentance is not a punishment for being wrong; it’s the gift of being invited back on course.

The blessing hidden in correction

Continued below.

Can a young child become a Christian?

Can a young child truly be saved and on their way to Heaven? Can he or she be in the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, one of those who is a genuine believer?

A Christian educator once said that the faith of a child — up to age 12 — could be called a “borrowed faith”; this faith could be borrowed from his parents or a Sunday school teacher. Then, in his early teens, the child would develop their “chosen faith,” ultimately moving on to their “owned faith.”

Now, when we think of a borrowed faith, do we also think of it as a saving faith? Not exactly, and not something you’d want to count on when you’re not totally confident.

Let’s see what Jesus had to say about children’s salvation. “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven’” (Matthew 18:1-4).

Okay, so the disciples have a different question than I originally posed; they want to know who’s the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus calls a little child. In case you question whether this really is a young child, the Greek word is paidión, which means “little” or “young.” So, he didn’t just call a child, he called a little child. Now remember, in that culture, a 13-year-old boy enters manhood. Young people were married at 16. So, if they are calling a child little, they mean little.

Continued below.

Trump Admin Removes MLK Day, Juneteenth From National Parks Fee-Free Days (but adds Trump's Birthday!)

The Department of the Interior (DOI) recently announced its "resident-only patriotic fee-free days" for 2026, and missing from the list were MLK Day, which has been a National Park fee-free day since 2018, and Juneteenth, which was introduced as a fee-free day in 2024.

In place of these days commemorating American history, civil rights and equality, the Trump administration has instead opted to celebrate additional former presidents' birthdays and Flag Day, which is also President Donald Trump's birthday.

The removal of these days as fee-free National Park days follows the Trump administration's pause on certain days of remembrance, including MLK Day and Juneteenth, earlier this year, as part of the president's ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

For next year, the days chosen seem to fall in line with the Trump administration's "America-first" policies.

The department also announced the launch of new digital "America the Beautiful" passes, which will allow Americans to buy and use their passes on mobile devices ... The new passes also feature Trump's face, according to People

OU Student given a zero for citing the bible in essay

There is a thread in the Christian-only section, consisting of lots of misinformed opinions. Apparently when you don't read the assignment, you can just cite the Bible and then complain when you fail! Here's the Fox News version:

United States senators are speaking out after a student at the University of Oklahoma said she was given a zero on an assignment for her "Christian kind of worldview" questioning gender norms. Word of the failed assignment has now reached the halls of Congress, raising eyebrows from top senators, including former presidential candidate and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who represents the university in Congress. "That’s insane," Mullin told Fox News Digital. "Especially in Oklahoma. There should be zero tolerance for woke activists disguised as ‘educators’ who punish students for no reason and put their toxic political agendas ahead of our kids’ education."

Aaaaand here's what really happened:

[From Rachel Hurley as quoted on FB]:]

The conservative media machine has been running this story for days now, painting her as a persecuted Christian hero standing up against radical transgender ideology in academia. Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s disgraced former schools chief, called her “an absolute American hero.” Fox News gave her the full sympathetic treatment. Turning Point USA blasted it out to 38 million views.


The assignment was to write a 650-word reaction paper to a 2014 study called “Relations Among Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health During Early Adolescence.” The study looked at 84 middle schoolers and examined whether kids who don’t fit gender stereotypes - tomboys, boys who aren’t stereotypically masculine - get bullied more. It found that gender-atypical boys especially faced more teasing, and that this teasing was associated with worse mental health outcomes like depression and anxiety.

That’s the whole thing. The study was asking whether kids who don’t fit neatly into “boys play sports, girls play with dolls” boxes get picked on, and whether getting picked on makes them depressed. The answer was yes. Not exactly radical territory.

But Fulnecky apparently skimmed the abstract and saw the word “gender” and decided the whole thing was actually about transgender people trying to turn kids demonic. Her essay argued that gender teasing in schools is not a problem because God made men and women different on purpose. She wrote that society pushing “the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth.” She prayed that children would “not believe the lies being spread from Satan.” Not a single engagement with the study’s methodology. Not a single mention of its actual findings about depression and anxiety in bullied kids. Not a single counter-argument to the researchers’ data. Just vibes about how Satan wants kids to be different genders and God’s plan involves letting gender-nonconforming eleven-year-olds get teased.

The grading rubric was straightforward: 10 points for demonstrating a “clear tie-in to the assigned article,” 10 points for a “thoughtful reaction or response to the article, rather than a summary,” and 5 points for clear writing. She met none of these criteria.

And the whole conservative persecution narrative falls apart even faster when you look at who’s running this show. Her mother is Kristi Fulnecky, a Missouri attorney who defended January 6 rioters, filed lawsuits against mask mandates, and had such a contentious tenure on the Springfield City Council that the city spent nearly $100,000 on legal fees dealing with her eligibility fight after she operated a business without a license for seven years. One city attorney accused her of “grandstanding.” Kristi posted on Facebook that her daughter was “a warrior for Christ” and helped her daughter decide who to take her complaints to.

This is a manufactured controversy.
The formula is simple: find a culture war angle, refuse to do the actual assignment, cry discrimination when the grade reflects the work quality, and then watch the right-wing media ecosystem do the rest. Fulnecky gets to do the Fox News circuit. Ryan Walters gets to rail against “Marxist professors.”
The university, spooked by political pressure, put the graduate teaching assistant on administrative leave and assured Fulnecky the zero won’t affect her grade.

But sure, religious persecution.



Years ago a teacher handed out Christian materials in class with the Declaration of independence stapled to the back. When the administration banned the assignment, the right started screaming that "Radical left bans the Declaration from classroom!"

It's a simple formula.

Humility Is the Devil’s Achilles’ Heel...

From Genesis to Guadalupe, Scripture and tradition reveal that Satan cannot replicate humility — the very virtue through which God and his saints defeat him.

Our God is a God of surprises. From the Son of God being born a helpless infant raised by a carpenter and then dying to bring salvation, his ways are beyond human imagination.

The humility of God is the ultimate plot twist that baffles Satan. The devil chose eternity in hell rather than to humble himself before the very one who created him. And his first big score against humanity was made possible through pride — the opposite of humility — by Adam and Eve eating the fruit so they would become like God. Humility would have protected them from their foolishness.

How infinitely clever it is that through our humility and thus obedience to God, the devil is defeated. St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, who was often harassed by the devil, related a conversation with him.

“I can do everything you do,” said the devil. “I can also do your penances; I can imitate you in everything. There is one thing, however, that I cannot do; I cannot imitate you in humility.”

Continued below.
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What the Vatican’s New Curia Rules Change — and Why They Matter...

By reshaping competencies, tightening accountability and institutionalizing consultation, the new regulations outline how the Roman Curia will function under Pope Leo XIV in the next phase of papal governance.

The new General and Staff Regulations of the Roman Curia, published on Nov. 23, marked the conclusion of the Curial reform initiated by Pope Francis.

Almost simultaneously, Bishop Marco Mellino — named secretary of the Interdicasterial Commission for the Revision of the Regulations of the Roman Curia under Pope Francis’ pontificate — was appointed adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts by Pope Leo XIV. This appointment signals that the work is complete and that a new chapter has begun.

Origins and Mandate of the New Regulations​


Continued below.

‘Miraculous’ Summer Wildfire Reveals Dramatic Discovery in Biblical Bethsaida...

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BETHSAIDA, Northern Israel – A wildfire on the Sea of Galilee has revealed new archaeological evidence about the birthplace of Jesus' disciples, Peter, Andrew, and Philip. The place where Jesus fed the 5,000 and healed the blind man is yielding new secrets. Just as archaeologists prepared to dig again for answers, disaster struck. One member of the scientific team, Dr. Steven Notley, dean of the School of Religious Studies at New Jersey's Pillar College, recalled for CBN News what happened this past July. Read the full story from CBN News: https://cbn.com/news/i...

Miraculous Archaeological Find CONFIRMS Catholicism?
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‘Peace Be With You!’ First Full-Length Book by Pope Leo XIV Set for February Release

The book includes sermons and addresses delivered since his election on May 8, 2025, according to the publisher, which has also distributed works by St. John Paul II and Pope Francis.

Pope Leo XIV will offer his “vision for peace, unity, and reconciliation” in his first full-length book to be published in February 2026.

The Holy Father’s book, Peace Be With You: My Words to the Church and to the World, is set to be published in English and Spanish on Feb. 24 by HarperOne, according to a Dec. 4 press release.

The title of the book recalls the first words spoken by the risen Christ, which also were Leo’s first words as pontiff: “Peace be with you.”

“I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world. Peace be with you!” Leo said at his first appearance from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Continued below.

Altar Rail Gets Reprieve at North Carolina Church

It will stay indefinitely at St. Mark Catholic Church, while the Diocese of Charlotte awaits liturgical changes from the Bishop Michael Martin.

A North Carolina pastor has decided to keep using altar rails to distribute Communion during Mass instead of stopping the practice.

The decision flips his announcement of about a month ago, when he said the church would stop using altar rails as of the first Sunday of Advent last weekend, as the Register reported in mid-November.

Father John Putnam, pastor of St. Mark Catholic Church in Huntersville, about 15 miles north of Charlotte, told the Register he received requests from parishioners he believes had consulted a canon lawyer, as they used Church law language in their communication with him.

“I had lots of parishioners who asked that I reconsider my decision or suspend my decision, as an administrative recourse. My choice was I’m fine with that, and let things stay as they are,” Father Putnam said in an interview Friday. “And if something happens from a higher authority, we’ll deal with it when it happens.”

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Sidewalk counselor finds woman crying in pain outside Planned Parenthood clinic in Chicago

The pro-life nonprofit Coalition Life is planning to ramp up its sidewalk counseling initiative at a Planned Parenthood facility in Chicago after a woman was found crying in pain outside of the clinic.

A video shows sidewalk counselor Jacob Tipre observing the woman curled up, leaning against the doorway for the Planned Parenthood Elizabeth Cohn Morris Health Center, which is located in downtown Chicago. The incident occurred Nov. 15 shortly before 4 p.m., according to Coalition Life.

Mary Jane Maharry, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, told CNA: “We’re not commenting.” Planned Parenthood Federation of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A video posted by Coalition Life shows Tipre asking the woman whether she was OK. She responded: “No, I am not.”

“They just do the procedure, and they threw me out on the streets,” the woman said, while crying. “They just threw me out on the streets.”

Continued below.

Leader of schismatic Colorado Springs group disregards excommunication

After receiving a letter of excommunication from the Vatican, the leader of a schismatic group in Colorado Springs told congregants he would ignore it — furthering the divide between the small splinter group and the Catholic Church.

Anthony Ward heads the Servants of the Holy Family, a group that labels itself as Catholic in spite of the Diocese of Colorado Springs’ declaration that the group is schismatic.

In a 40-minute speech to his congregation in which he called Church authorities “a kangaroo court” of “heretics” and “freemasons,” Ward went public on Nov. 16 about his excommunication and his plans to continue ignoring the Catholic Church’s directives.

During a secret ceremony in 2024, a bishop whose name was withheld at the time consecrated Ward as a bishop without papal permission.

In the Catholic Church, only the pope can appoint bishops. Consecrating a bishop without papal mandate is considered illicit and incurs an automatic “latae sententiae” excommunication for both parties.

Continued below.
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What to say in water baptism(at least)?

Do you have videos of water baptism in your language?

Here is one video in finnish language ( it has english subtitles). It is important to say "...in the name of Jesus Christ" as it is instructed in Acts 2:38.


“…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…” (Acts 2:38).


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