Musk tasked independent writer Michael Shellenberger with releasing the latest installment of the “Twitter Files” on Monday.

Shellenberger delves into how the FBI, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and intelligence community “discredited factual information about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.”

The files show a direct effort by America’s taxpayer-funded federal agencies to suppress negative press on the Democrat candidate during the 2020 election.

The latest release also reveals that the intel community has taken action on a domestic level to influence Twitter’s content moderation.

Modern European society is increasingly reproductively sterile. For example, Germany has not been having enough babies to naturally replace its population numbers since the seventies. Obviously this coincides with the widespread use of contraception and indeed more recently abortion. 20% of German adults never reproduce and these will die alone in the main. People live according to the principle of their own comfort and well-being and children are regarded as unnecessary lifestyle choices by many. Is this a symptom of a deeper crisis in the church and a loss of hope and conviction? Christians are called to evangelize and to go and make disciples of all nations. Yet many in Europe get very angry when attempts are made to convert the masses. Our churches should be growing not shrinking, they should be looking outward and not inward. What is the reason for current sterility? What can be done about it?

Modern existentialism, individualism, and emotional isolation have contributed to the bubble effect of society. People live in separate bubbles of consciousness and we have lost the human connections that traditional communities and organized religion used to provide.

Kierkegaard was one of the first philosophers to look at the world from an existential point of view. Though a Christian he addressed the ways in which the state church was too controlling and did not respect people's feelings and inner life and also the ways in which scientific objective truth had drowned out the significance of the subjective. Have we now swung too far the other way?

Nietzsche, an atheist, looked at the world also in a highly individual way and was proclaimed the first psychologist by Freud for example. His focus was arguably on individual creativity, on exceeding our limits and becoming superman. He was a force of destruction to existing structures and one of innovation of new ones. But has the continual will to power and to change without regard for God that he evoked become something that has destroyed essential communal values, good traditions, and the things that bound us together as people?

How can we find our way back to human society and connection from the existential bubbles that we currently live in?

There was an item on the ABC news a couple of days ago about a young boy being killed in an accident at a shopping centre in Palmerston, which is about 15 minutes drive from Darwin. My wife and I spent a couple of weeks in Darwin in June / July this year, wiht a side trip to Palmerston, and I was curious as to where the shopping centre was.


When I looked at the map of Palmerston online and then shrunk it on-screen, I noticed a road going to a place called Channel Island. We weren't aware of it when we were in Darwin.

So I looked up Channel Island on Google, and came up with the fact it used to be a leper colony before treatment became available. It's can be surprising where a train of thought can lead sometimes.


This reminded me that Peel Island off Brisbane also used to be a leper colony.


This got me curious about leper colonies in Australia and there were a couple more.

Several leper colonies, or lazarets, existed throughout Australia. Notable examples included Peel Island, off the coast of Brisbane, Fantome island, near Townsville (exclusively for Aboriginal patients), and Mud Island and Channel Island, in the Northern Territory.

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Unfortunately, as per the above article, it seems "leprosy isn't quite done with us yet".

I am interested in how many may be divided on this topic. So many Christians seem to have differing views on what the scriptures mean.

For example, these passages indicate that followers of Christ are His sheep, and being his "sheep" they "hear" his voice. There are different wordings depending on the version.

John 10:27
English Standard Version
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27
New International Version
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

My question, is this to be taken literally or figuratively? How many actually believe it's possible to "hear" God's voice? Can we hear it audibly? In our thoughts? In our spirit? Dreams and visions or signs? Or just by reading scripture alone?

Are there built-in limits to our existence that we need to respect?

Can gender or sexuality, for example, be a fluid concept? Can we abuse the planet without consequence? In an age where people obsess over superheroes on TV are there limits to our humanity that we need to respect? If God created us in his image whether quickly or slowly what limits has he imposed on us as finite, mortal beings who know only a little of what is out there?

Is respecting medical advice respecting how we are made and the limits that that configuration imposes on us. Or is medical advice now politicized by ideology and profit into something else? We cannot live by chocolate alone. Can a profession that profits from transitioning and abortion be trusted?

Have we lost sight of the boundaries offered to us by the doctrine of Creation?

Did sin fundamentally alter our relationship with Creation in such a way that the old boundaries are now beyond repair and destined to degenerate further?

This is not a specifically Creationist topic. I invite anybody who believes that God created the universe to participate however you think he did that.

Here is my view.

Acts 18
After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;

2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome and came unto them.

3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

5 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

7 And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

The Corinth "church" was mainly in Justus's house, which if you read Acts 18:7, shared a common wall with the synagogue.

Once you are able to see that, you can understand better why Paul only talk about tongues in his Corinthian epistles and how he stated categorically that "Tongues are for a sign, not to believers but to unbelievers".

The Corinth church is the gentile church that is so close to the Jewish synagogue.

You can imagine if I am a Jew who rejects Christ as my messiah, as I visit the synagogue every Sabbath, I will keep hearing gentile believers speaking in actual foreign languages that they have not learnt.

I will recall Isaiah 28:11-12, as Paul cross referenced in 1 Corinthians 14:22, and understood that God is proclaiming judgement to my nation, just like it was for my rebellious ancestors who had to listen to the Akkadian language when they were in exile.

This is something that only Jewish unbelievers would have understood, not gentiles, the latter whom would have thought that that the Corinth church was full of mad believers. (1 Corinthians 14:23).

2 Thess 2:3 reads , Let no man deceive you by any means , for ( that day shall not come ) except there come a FALLING AWAY FIRST , and that man of sin be revealed , the son of perdition .

#1 Some say that when believers , straighten out , Christ will come for us .

#2 The Greek word APOSTASIA is translated ,, by Falling Away , by KJV and the NKJV .

#3 The NIV and the CSB translate APOSTASIA , by APOSTASY .

#4 The RSV and the NET translate APOSTASIA , by REBELLION .

What say you ?

dan p

Must we fast if there is something very difficult that we need God's help, like healing cancer patient ?​

​

Mark 9:25-29​

And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.”

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No one votes to fill the role of "god".
No one voted for the role of saviour.
Truth seems to be true regardless of voter preferences.
In the Old Testament God chose Judges for Israel and when Israel wanted a King things went badly.

Western nations favour democracy, but Christianity is not western.

Is the idea of voting and elections biblical, or are the democratic nations walking in the footsteps of someone other than the Lord?

I've struggled with this concept ever since being saved and learning about The Holy Trinity beyond my childhood religious upbringing and understanding.

I'm starting to think that "dying to the flesh", does not just mean the sins that contaminate our lives, nor does it just mean avoiding temptation of fleshly or worldly things - but it goes much deeper than this.

We are born into the world, into our familial, social and socio-economic environments. We develop our individual identity through a range of factors, including biological and psychological predisposition, and environmental/relational stimuli. These factors develop within us an "ego" identity, and (in my POV) often the identity that is created in the world, is not the identity that God intends for us to have.

This is why when we come to Christ, God makes us a "new creation" in Him through the sanctification process, which can often (and only if we are willing), take years of dismantling old belief-systems and patterns of behaviour that have been developed while we were separated from God. I have noticed in my own walk so far, I am being shown through people and circumstances, the areas in which I am led by the Holy Spirit to "let go" of certain thinking and behavioural patterns and often find his corrections and his way to make more sense than my own "way" the further down the path with him I go.

I am starting to understand my ego identity is not the "real" me, which leaves me feeling as though I'm entering into a bit of an "identity crisis", not quite understanding yet, what or who I am as this "new creation" in Christ, or what it truly means to be one of God's "children".

What does it mean to you to have your "identity in Christ"? Have you experienced the need for such an identity "transition"? Or do you believe our personal "identity" is included in our new identity in Christ?

1 Jn 2:18 states twice we are living in the last hour.

FIRST PREMISE: My understanding is that the last hour from the Hebrew perspective meant the soon-coming end of the old covenant (the last hour came upon Jerusalem in A.D. 70). This means the end of an era was at hand which would immediately open the floodgates of the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God to the entire world. No more Israel, no more temples, no more "chosen people" (through the law of Moses).

Since Yeshua the Messiah shed His blood (Mat. 26:28, Lk 22:20), the people of "The Way" became the only chosen ones who walk forward into the realms of eternity.

SECOND PREMISE: In my view, the last hour also means that from the moment the resurrection of Jesus Christ took place, the "last days of history" began because death was defeated by a MAN who rose from the grave to ascend to the throne of glory and rule from heaven over all His creation.

The following verses can be understood from the perspective of the coming judgment of Israel, but also as the closure of the age of the law, (Heb 1:2, 1Pe 1:20, 1Cor. 10:11, James 5:8, 1 Pet 4:7, 2 Pet 3:9, 11; Rev 1:3, 22:10).

Do you agree? If not, why not?

It is my understanding that the ideologies that both the Greeks and the Romans adopted led to the demise of these once-global powers from the west.

Things like adopting Homosexuality, a loss of national identity, and generally an attack on family values led to the demise of these once powerful entities.

That is exactly what is happening in the west today. A society cannot continue to function when family values (Read: Judeo-Christian values) are eroded from the culture.

In fact, even though we have a global economy which means it is harder for the west to fall, nonetheless, we may be more immoral in the US than in any other culture in history. We have mass shootings, abortion, an LGBTQ+ agenda, a decline of Christianity, and only about 6% of people in the US hold a Biblical worldview (which drops to 2% for Gen Z). While you could make the case that other nations around the world are more unchristian (Japan, for example, where there are only 1% of Christians in the population including cults and anything even resembling Christianity), I say what I say due to such a rapid drop away from Christianity in the US. It is how fast we are declining that I say this. We are entering a state of spiritual blindness in the US.

I believe most of the fault for this falls on Millennials (of which I am a part). I know people close to me who say, "I am thankful for deconstruction," Etc.

It's time for millennials to make the change we need to make as a society. This can only be done by God. The US is in a very sad state. Liberalism is rampant. Philosophers are knowingly trying to change the definition of words (such as questions of gender). If you are a Christian, you must speak out against the secular society, get on your knees and pray for revival. God can change this country, but He's the only one who can.

Video description
"Robby Soave delves into the latest "Twitter Files" published, this round focusing on the FBI's role in suppressing content that it doesn't like or that is unfavorable to the government."

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The video covers a number of big points the biggest being how incredibly minor or dubious the reason for intervention was, it often took only one online article largely based on rumor to get the FBI complaining about bots interfering with something.

A true faith will always have repentance and works. This is stated in scripture over and over again but I'm only going to give one example due to time and length of the OP. In John 15 for example Jesus shows a beautiful illustration in how true faith works.

In John 15:2 Jesus says:

"Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

John 15:4

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

In John 15:6 Jesus again warns that those who do not bear fruit will be tossed into the fire and burned.

In John 15:8 Jesus says that the Father's will is that the Christian will bear much fruit and prove to him and to the world that we are his true disciples. When we Christians bear fruit God prunes and takes care of it (See John 15:1)


Now we turn to the Book of Ephesians.


In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul says "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."


This proves that we are not saved by works as does Romans 4:5 but in the very next verse Paul teaches where our works come from and what they're for.

Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So if you call yourself a Christian and you don't bear fruit that can be problematic and I would question whether or not your faith is genuine as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5. Repentance on the other hand is a sign that you're saved and sealed because Repentance comes from the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. Without us being regenerated by the Holy Spirit we have no hope for heaven (See John 3).

15 Christmas Traditions Only Germans Will Understand​

Here I found this list.


Now I wonder which of these you know.

Silent prayer near an abortion centre is wrongthink under the law.


Police try to demand bail conditions that she MUST not speak to a Catholic priest!
How dare they ?

Hey, has anyone here tried fasting? If so how was the longest you went, and did you experience any results? The longest I went was 24 hours on a strictly water fast, I did not experience any obvious results but I think something may have happened in the spirit world. Many times if someone at my church was ill I would decide to fast for a healing to try to help them out, one time a woman was very ill with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and I fasted for her healing, a month or so later she got prayer and God touched her and she got miraculously healed! I am not positive but my fast might have had a hand in this!

She tweeted this evening: 'Our Election Case is going to trial. Katie Hobbs attempt to have our case thrown out FAILED. She will have to take the stand & testify. Buckle up, America. This is far from over.'

I was just asking for anybody who passed by to pray for my dad. He just started feeling bad and remarked that I might have to take him to the ER a few minutes ago. Maybe it is a Satanic attack, today I was talking to my mom about my dad and how they should be thankful for his health. In spite of his minor ailments, he has had a White Blood cell Leukemia that has been in remission for 10-15 years. I told my mom that many Christians, like Pentecostals and Charismatics would consider it a miracle, because back in 1997 when he received the diagnosis 20 years was the maximum that anybody lived with it. And here we are past that, and his blood work is normal etc. (My parents Lutheran background was shy about that kind of thing, even teaching that miracles went away with Apostles previously).


Anyway, thanks for your prayers!

Of all the Israelites and Pharisees living in the time of Paul who rejected the gospel, why was paul chosen? What made him different from all other Israelites and leaders of that time?

Isn’t it strange that only one Pharisee receives mercy above all others? He was an antichrist before his calling, so why did YashaYah have mercy on him?

Could he be a foreshadowing for future Israelites chosen to become Gods elect?

It’s said in scripture that many are called but only few chosen and we know in revelation only 144,000 are chosen from among the Israelites in the future

And why only 144,000 to become chosen firstfruits? Yes there will be others gathered which are the elect of god when he sends his angels but what will make these 144,000 special, above all?

Thoughts?

What consequences are appropriate if our free-will choices are uninformed?

Like Adam and Eve, we have no idea what death is like, or the afterlife.
If our decision to follow Christ is based on acquiring a desirable afterlife for ourselves,
as opposed to being incinerated for all eternity... then...

It's an uninformed free-will decision.

Those who decide to not follow Christ are equally uninformed. (or more so)
In that case, what are appropriate consequences? (if any)

If free-will is an uninformed choice, what about consequences?
Jesus said it best...

Luke 23:34 NIV
...“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”...