• President Donald Trump unveiled the new rates in letters to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum.
• Trump said that if the EU or Mexico retaliates with higher tariffs, “then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added on to the 30% that we charge.”
• “Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough,” Trump wrote to Sheinbaum.

One of the most typical things for tourists to buy are souvenirs from Rome, and of course, souvenirs of the Pope. But at this time, even after two months of his papacy, shops still don’t have official souvenirs of Pope Leo XIV.

STEFANO COMANDINI
Souvenirs Comandini – Religious Articles
Yes, indeed, everyone is asking for images of the new Pope, but we are still not authorized to sell anything because the Vatican has not yet issued the necessary approval. Therefore, absolutely nothing with the new Pope's image can be sold until the Vatican grants it.
Many tourists have already cometo the Borgo Pio area looking for them—and to their surprise, there's still nothing available.

Of course, with Pope Leo being from the United States, we wanted to see if we could find something from the Jubilee. Unfortunately, they don't have anything yet.

Continued below.

12 July 2025 – India​

Pray for protection for the rural village pastors in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and other eastern Indian states who have been attacked and threatened by Hindu mobs intent on destroying their ministries.

11 July 2025 – India​

Remember in prayer the leaders of our partner organisation who face increasing surveillance and pressure. Pray that they will know God’s protection when they travel and His wisdom in their decision-making and leadership.

10 July 2025 – India​

Please pray for pastors such ‘Mohan’, who have been arrested and charged under anti-conversion laws and now face long-running legal cases. Pray for God’s protection on them as they continue to serve and that they will be acquitted.

09 July 2025 – India​

Pray for our Bibles for Pastors project which is putting local-language Bibles into the hands of believers and seekers. Pray for a continued reliable supply of copies.

08 July 2025 – India​

Pray for Jose and Sheeja Pappachan, who have been sentenced to five years in prison under the anti-conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh state (the first conviction of its kind). Pray that they will be acquitted on appeal and that there will be no more convictions under these unconstitutional laws.

07 July 2025 – Burkina Faso​

As the situation in the country constantly changes, Christian women have started to cover their heads and wear Islamic clothes in order to protect themselves from harassment or worse. Pray they will have wisdom to know how best to live out their faith.

06 July 2025 – Burkina Faso​

Pray for the displaced pastors who are now running new churches in IDP (internally displaced person) camps around the cities. They minister to thousands of displaced individuals with acute spiritual and physical needs. Pray for God’s wisdom, strength and provision on their ministry.

​

“You’ve got to stop worrying.” Oh, the countless times this phrase has been spoken to me. The devil knows how to get to each one of us, striking where we are weakest in order to cripple and pull us from the path toward holiness.

One of my greatest weaknesses is how easily I capitulate when fear strikes. I allow it to take root in my heart and, from there, grow like a terrible weed throughout my entire being until it negatively alters my disposition, robs me of hope and joy, and nearly causes me to forget that my Father is king. I allow fear, worry and anxiety to obscure my identity and knock me from the path I should be treading.

Continued below.

The situation for Christians worsened after the July 2023 coup. There were fears this would open the country to further attacks from Islamist extremists. The impact of this continued throughout 2024.
The jihadist group al-Sunnah wa Jama’ah (ASWJ) has made life increasingly difficult for Christians in Niger. In areas under militant control, church services and other events are carried out under the shadow of potential violence or physical attack. The presence of radical Islamist groups has led to frequent attacks and kidnappings, significantly limiting the freedom and safety of Christians. It’s also led to a rise in attacks on Christian property, such as churches, schools and health-care centres.
Those who leave Islam to follow Jesus face pressure from their families to renounce their new faith. Pressure also comes from the authorities. The legal process for registering a church is arduous and protracted, and legal roadblocks have been used to prevent Christians from gathering. Believers can also face discrimination in the public sector; they seldom secure jobs within local government services, and promotions are frequently denied.

Meet Elisabeth​

“We are facing persecution day and night. Oh God, deliver us from this bad situation.”
Elisabeth (name changed), who has been persecuted by her mother because of her faith.

What does Open Doors do to help?​

Open Doors works through partners in Niger to strengthen persecuted Christians through economic empowerment programmes, leadership and discipleship training, persecution survival training and pastoral care for new believers.

Please pray​

• Pray that God will bring order and prevent extremists from taking power or territory.
• Pray that God will protect Christians from Islamist attacks.
• Pray for converts from Islam – especially young people – who face rejection and oppression.

​

Friar Clodovis Boff belongs to the Order of the Servants of Mary. | Credit: Lennoazevedo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Friar Clodovis Boff has written an open letter to the bishops of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops’ Council (CELAM, by its Spanish acronym), who recently met in assembly, asking: “What good news did I read there? Forgive my frankness: None. You, bishops of CELAM, always repeat the same old story: social issues, social issues, and social issues. And this has been going on for more than fifty years.”

“Dear older brothers, don’t you see that this music is getting old?” asked the priest who belongs to the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites), in reaction to the final document of the 40th Ordinary General Assembly of CELAM, held at the end of May in the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"When will you give us good news about God, Christ, and his Spirit? About grace and salvation? About conversion of heart and meditating on the Word? About prayer and adoration, devotion to the Mother of the Lord, and other such themes? In short, when will you send us a truly religious, spiritual message?"

Clodovis Boff, along with his brother Leonardo Boff, was one of the most important philosophers of liberation theology. However, in 2007, he published the article "Liberation Theology and Return to the Fundamentals" in the 68th issue of the Brazilian Ecclesiastical Review.

Continued below.

DOJ issues 20 subpoenas to doctors, clinics over 'transgender medical procedures'

Warning: This article contains graphic details of chemical and surgical procedures performed on individuals who were once identified as transgender. Descriptions also include bodily functions of adult subject matter.

WASHINGTON — Panelists were reduced to tears during the Federal Trade Commission's day-long workshop this week, featuring multiple panels of experts and detransitioners who shared their stories as the agency assesses whether consumers have been subjected to misleading or unsubstantiated claims about "gender-affirming care."

During the workshop on Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department's Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle announced that the agency has issued more than 20 subpoenas against clinics that are engaged in transgender medical procedures on children.

Continued below.

In you eyes
I see the tears
Running down you face
I am not upset with you
When you are crying
I understand that
You have you sad and happy moments
Also Are you sad because
Winter is not over
Yes I know that you don't like the winter
I also must confess to you that
I just hate the winter
But I go out during the winter
I put my winter clothes
I wear also my long johns
To keep my legs warm
I also boots and my winter coat
And I go for walk around the block
At the sane time I am letting the fresh
Air go into my lungs
You don't go out in the winter
The winter is very long
We can't no longer wait for the spring
To come
Yes it is taking a long time for the
Winter to end

---

Jesus encouraged his disciples to struggle against sins. We are also his disciples. We also struggle against sins.

Saints like Maximilian Kolbe taught that repeated falls can be occasions for deeper humility and dependence on grace—not despair.

The Church sees the struggle with sin as a path to holiness, not a sign of failure. As Augustine said, “God would not allow evil if He were not powerful enough to bring a greater good from it.”

The Church offers Confession and the Eucharist as means of grace to strengthen the soul against sin.

Prayer, fasting, and cultivating virtues like chastity, humility, and temperance are essential tools in this struggle.

I encourage every reader of this post, Catholic and non-Catholic to take courage from the holy scriptures and from the example of the saints and the teaching of the Church in their struggle against sins.

This section of Scripture speaks the message of the gospel of Christ, of our salvation, for it begins with a call to repent of (to die to) our sins and then is followed by a call to leave our old lives behind us and to follow Jesus Christ with our lives, without delay, without hesitation, but immediately when called of God. So this is not about lip service only. The disciples of Jesus didn’t respond to his call with, “I will follow you,” only then to remain where they were, still doing the same things that they had been doing every day. But they immediately left it all behind them to follow Jesus with their lives.

Do you see the parallel here? When our Lord calls us to repent of our sins and to follow him in obedience to his commands, by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, which comes from God, and which is not of our own doing, we should immediately respond by surrendering our lives to him to do his will. We should, at that moment, choose to now die to sin and to obey God, and to do what pleases the Lord in surrender to his will, and to forfeit our old lives of living in sin and for self, which are controlled by the flesh, and not by God. For this is the divine will and purpose of God for our lives.

Yet we live in a day and age when this is not being taught much at all anymore. The vast majority appear to be teaching, instead, that we can just profess Jesus as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, convinced that all our sins are now forgiven, and that heaven is our eternal destiny, but without us immediately leaving our former lives of sin behind us to now follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his will and purpose for our lives. But if we don’t leave our lives of sin behind us to follow Jesus where he leads us, then we are not truly his, by faith in him, because we didn’t follow him with our lives.

So…

By God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are 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 righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

So, repent of your sins, and immediately leave your old lives of sin behind you, and now follow Jesus Christ with your lives in obedience to his will.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Seek the Lord

Based off Isaiah 55
Musical Instrumentation by Mark Bradley
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”

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Immediately They Followed Him
An Original Work / July 12, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Shalom

Praise the Lord because he is good!

I have been suffering from extreme back pain for a week and ask for your prayers in the name of Jesus Christ.

Thank you very much, and God bless you and your family in Jesus' name, Amen.

Calvinism paints a picture of a God who preplanned the salvation of each individual, that the number that was to be saved was fixed before creation, and that the will or actions of man play no part in man's eternal destiny. As stated in The Westminster Confession of Faith:

The idea (above) of God fixing destinies was not believed for the first 400 years of recorded Christian history. Those who came directly after the Apostles believed our actions determine if we are saved. The Earliest Church Leaders believed in Free Will theology. The idea that we work in Synergy with God, that our actions, either good or evil, determine if we are saved. Making statements like:

So what am I posting today? Well, I was doing my daily Bible reading, and came across the following which supports the Free Will, argument.

Firstly, it shows that God's plan is not fixed, that when He decrees a thing, He does change His mind, based upon man's actions. If everything was predestined, then He would "know all things", and would never have made the statement.

Secondly, it shows there is an action of man's that brings God's honor, or displeasure.


and

Yesterday the Lord led me to write a meme on the subject of “Internet Trolls.” And as I read this passage of Scripture this morning, that is what immediately came to mind. For these internet trolls work like messengers of Satan, working to try to trick us into some kind of response that would not be of God, that would not be God’s will and purpose for our lives. For they instigate (incite, goad, provoke) a particular negative response, hoping to trip us up, just like the Pharisees did to Jesus, which is how Satan works.

But we have to not take the bait. And with internet trolls, the best thing we can do is to ignore them, and to not take the bait, and to not get into useless and meaningless debates with them, which are meant to tear us down, to distract us, to get us upset, and to tempt us to sin against God. So we need to pray for spiritual discernment so that we don’t let Satan get us to the point of frustration or anger or fear. We need to discern if a response is legitimate or if it is intended to stir us up emotionally to commit sin.

So, if a responder comes at me, “all guns blaring,” attacking me personally, when this “person” does not know me, making up stuff about me that is not true, accusing me falsely of what I did not do or say, I need to stop and pray, and seek the counsel of God as to whether or not I should give any response at all, and if so, what that biblical response should be, spoken in love, and never in hate. For when Satan came at Jesus, to tempt him, Jesus always responded with “It is written..” (in the Scriptures).

But if we quote Scripture to some of these internet trolls, they may just attack us, or they may also quote Scriptures, but out of context, and twisted to their advantage, or which have nothing at all to do with the topic of the writing to which they are responding. For their objective is to confuse, to distract, to upset, to attack, to contend with, to disrupt, to anger, and to create chaos and discord, to disrupt meaningful conversations, and to try to incite emotional distress and fear or anger in their intended target.

If an internet site on which we post has moderators, and a way to report a responder who is obviously being vicious, and who is trying to incite fear or a response so that they can continue in their attacks, and/or because what the responder is doing clearly goes against the site’s rules of decency and respect for other humans, then it is good if we can report such individuals to the moderators, and if we have moderators who will take action, and if they will not permit such vicious and personal attacks, one person to another.

And this is not saying that we all have to agree with everyone on everything in order to “make peace.” But if we disagree, we should do so respectfully, calmly, trusting the Lord to give us the right words to say, which will be beneficial to others who are watching, reading, or listening in on the conversations. We, as Christians, should not allow ourselves to get into heated debates or arguments which produce nothing good, and we should not lower ourselves to name calling and to personally attacking others.

Now, Jesus did speak the truth in love, at times, to his opponents, so this is certainly not saying that we cannot speak truth in response to lies, but it should be the truth, and not a heated and emotional response just because someone disagreed with us on any given subject. But we also need to learn when to just walk away from a discussion, because it is going nowhere good. I see so many heated discussions among Christians that can go back and forth indefinitely, but that end up producing nothing of value to anyone.

Satan’s goal is to get us to fail. And he will attack us in our weaknesses, for sure, on days when we are more emotional or tired or already distressed over a particular situation. He will go at us at our weakest points in order to try to bring us down and to get us to fail. So we need the wisdom of God in these situations spoken of here, so that we don’t get caught in the devil’s traps and end up ruining our testimonies for Jesus Christ. And we need the wisdom of God as to when to just walk away and to not get engaged.

So we need to test the spirits: [Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; Romans 16:17-19; 2 Corinthians 11:3,13-15; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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The Devil’s Schemes
An Original Work / July 12, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Dear friends,

Did you know that Malechi 4 is fullfilled? He would send healing under His wings and restore the heart of the children (present day Christians) to the hearts of the fathers (Christians in the Book of Acts). We witnessed millions of healings through the ministry of Oral Roberts and William Branham.

I got healed myself too from psychosises. I read about the healings and prayed to the Lord Jesus and am healed. Even my wife and son who got kidnapped in Peru by the corrupt government and churches will reunite with me soon, by prayer and believing the Word of this hour!

Kind regards.

Dominique

So often the major media portrays these people as "protestors" or the clashes as "mostly peaceful protests." Judge for yourself.

While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
J 9:4-5

When Jesus left, He sent the Holy Spirit. And there is church and a lot of people are doing good works. What does it mean that "night is coming, when no one can work"?

The beast with seven heads and ten horns in Revelation 17, 12, 13 is the Roman Empire.

Revelation 17 beast with the seven heads and ten horns is the fourth kingdom of Daniel 7 - the Roman Empire - it's status at the time of John, 1st century.

In Revelation 12, the fourth kingdom the Roman Empire (manifested in the end times as the EU) - its status with 7 years before Jesus returns. Revelation 12:6, the 1260 days, plus Revelation 12:14, the time/times/half time total the 7 years.

In Revelation 13, the fourth kingdom the Roman Empire (manifested in the end times as the EU) - its status with 42 months before Jesus returns. Revelation 13:5, the 42 months rule of the beast-king.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Revelation 17 (status first century)
7 heads - no crowns - the prophecy of the 7 kings incomplete. king 7 yet to come.
10 horns - no crowns - the prophecy of the 10 kings not started.

Revelation 12 (status with 7 years before Jesus's return)
7 heads - crowns - the prophecy of the 7 kings complete, king 7 the little horn person in power.
10 horns - no crowns - the prophecy of the 10 kings started, but no crowns since the little horn person has not become the beast-king yet.

Revelation 13 (status with 42 months before Jesus's return)
7 heads - no crowns - no crowns because the little horn person has been assassinated, ending the prophecy of the 7 kings.
10 horns -crowns - to rule with the beast-king (the little horn person brought back to life) for the 42 months.

Self-explanatory

Looking for new and exciting ways to pray!

Your comments are all welcome!

God bless you all abundantly!

O gracious and holy God,
Give us wisdom to know you, Intelligence to understand you, Diligence to seek you,
Patience to wait for you,
Eyes to behold you,
A heart to meditate upon you,
A life to proclaim you.
To the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Amen.

“O glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessing be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy towards those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention it), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.

Help me, O great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.

Amen.”

N.B.: the term "Christian" in this story actually means "Catholic,"--whether Roman or an Orthodox sister-church. That translation applies to almost all news reports from the Middle East.

Priests of the churches in Tabyeh, the last fully Christian town left in the West Bank, have implored help from “international actors” amid a destructive siege by Israeli settlers.
“Israeli settlers are torching holy sites, destroying farmland, and terrorizing families. The priests of Taybeh are crying out for help. The world must hear them — and act,” human rights activist Jason Jones urged on Tuesday....

Click to expand...

Netanyahu's war on Catholics is not a new thing for Israel; it is merely a continuation of a decades-old policy whereby long-settled Catholic communities are systematically eradicated by Jewish "settlers" who lay claim to land--and then find ways to 'remove' the original inhabitants. (Yes, it is a replication of the wars on Indians in the USA.)

Continued below.

Pope Leo XIV has erected a new Catholic diocese in Kenya and appointed its first bishop.

The Holy See Press Office announced July 10 that the Diocese of Kapsabet will be the 28th Episcopal See in Kenya, carved out from the country’s Eldoret diocese, and Bishop John Kiplimo Leleiwill be its first bishop.

Lelei has been serving as an auxiliary bishop of Eldoret, the diocese in which he was born.

The newly established diocese becomes the eighth suffragan diocese of the Kisumu archdiocese, alongside Bungoma, Eldoret, Homa Bay, Kakamega, Kisii, Kitale, and Lodwar.

Continued below.

A Catholic flight attendant who says United Airlines fired him after he endorsed Catholic teachings on marriage and gender identity while talking with a co-worker can proceed with his lawsuit against his union for not standing up for him, a federal judge has ruled.

The flight attendant, Ruben Sanchez, of Anchorage, Alaska, claims the airline investigated his extensive social media posts only after receiving what he describes as “baseless accusations” arising from a red-eye flight conversation in May of 2023 — and that when the company came up with nothing that violated its social media policy, it terminated him anyway.

Sanchez filed the lawsuit in January of 2025 against United Airlines and the union he belonged to while working for the airline, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

In court papers, he claims the airline violated his right to express his religious beliefs and discriminated against him because of his age, which was 52 at the time of the firing two years ago. He said had served as “a loyal United flight attendant” for almost 28 years.

Continued below.

I guess this is an admission he was born on Krypton and is not a natural born American. Too late to do anything now.

Democrats clash with ICE over characterization of marijuana farm raid