I'm a 56-year-old, married, Christian (non-denominational) man living in central Florida. I was raised Catholic. About six years ago I began to read the Bible in detail and listened to sermons from Christian teachers such as Pastor John MacArthur. It was then that I decided I was no longer a Catholic.

I am motivated to participate here for several reasons. One, I want to continue to grow closer to God the father in Heaven. Two, I would like to help others to do the same. Third, unless prohibited, I want to discuss in detail some of the teachings of the Catholic Church (RCC) in order to better understand how their theology is missing from scripture or contradicts scripture. And, just for the record, I have no hard feelings or bitterness against the RCC or any of its members. I have family and friends who are Catholic and I adore them and I know that they are saved by Christ. I just believe that their doctrine is mistaken.

I look forward to learning and sharing with the other members here.

P.S. Is there a way to turn off the snow effect?

In the OT God called the Jewish people his chosen people. Are they still his chosen people, he tells them in Matthew that he is going to take away the kingdom of God from them. Yet he cant be finished with them as we know he brought them back as a nation in 1948.

Matthew 21:43​

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.​

Deuteronomy 7:6​

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.


of course, we have Peter in the NT telling us Christians
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I think it would be interesting to get a sense of where CFers stand on this issue.

Eternal Damnation - some (many) will suffer eternal torment/separation from God and some will be given everlasting life

Conditional Immortality - some ( many) will be annihilated and some will be given everlasting life

Universal Reconciliation - all will eventually be reconciled to God in Christ

Agnostic - not committed to any of the three options above

I am assuming any who are "hopeful universalists" are basically in the agnostic camp.

For myself, I was agnostic for a long time while arguing that UR was the most likely position, having the better arguments on its side. Eventually, I have come to embrace UR. I do believe that some will suffer terribly, some not as much, and others will experience great joy as we all enter the unmitigated presence of God. To be in Christ is to be conformed to his image and prepared for the unmitigated presence of God who is an unquenchable fire that purifies us of all dross. Eventually, at the end of the ages, God will be all in all. As Origen said, either we are baptized by water in this life or fire in the next.

At any rate, please vote so that we can see what folks on CF believe. I have left voting anonymous so that everyone can vote their conscience without feeling compelled to defend their position. I'm hoping most everyone will vote so we can get a good sense of the group. But feel free to engage in lively but lovely discussion below. I've said my piece (many times over) so I'll turn it over to y'all. God bless us all.

States with more abortion restrictions have higher maternal and infant mortality, report finds

Maternal death rates in states that restricted abortion were 62% higher than in states where abortion was more easily accessible, new research showed​

Click to expand...

And, not only that but babies that were meant to be born that were WANTED? They died at a higher rate too.

And, unbelievably for a country as rich as it is, the US is ALREADY ranked a shameful 46th in terms of maternal mortality.
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/what-explains-the-united-states-dismal-maternal-mortality-rates#:~:text=Twitter%20LinkedIn%20Email-,What%20Explains%20the%20United%20States'%20Dismal%20Maternal%20Mortality%20Rates%3F,at%2046th%20in%20the%20world.

Is everyone/anyone okay with this shift in numbers?

Republican and Republican-leaning voters dealt the significant blow to the former president’s ego in a survey carried out by USA Today and Suffolk University and released on Tuesday.

There was good news for Trump in another poll covering the same time period, by Morning Consult, which gave him an 18-point lead over DeSantis. Furthermore, the polling website FiveThirtyEight still shows Trump in the lead in most surveys.

Despite the Guardian headline the polls are inconclusive.

Add your voice!

Genesis 1 describes how God created the heavens and the earth, "and it was good." This statement is repeated multiple times in Genesis 1.

I've heard from many people (including myself) who believe that Creation, at the beginning, was perfect. Everything was good, and there was nothing bad about it.

And I've believed this for a very long time, until I got into a lengthy discussion with someone, and read more closely in Genesis 2... "God saw that it was not good for the man to be alone." But God created everything so far, and "it was good". Here it says that "it was not good." How do you reconcile these two passages?

Video Talk

Personal Testimony

Eighteen years ago from this past September my husband Rick and I were training to be church planters with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (The Alliance), the church denomination I grew up under (same church denomination as A.W. Tozer was under). Rick was going for his ordination, and I was going for my consecration. So there was a district prayer conference for the official workers under The Alliance in our district which we both planned to attend. But Rick hurt his back and he could not go, so I went alone to represent our tiny congregation.

At the conference the Lord spoke to me about many things through the various people who spoke, as they shared what the Lord was teaching them through his word. So, I took detailed notes so that I would remember what all he taught me. This is a summary of what I learned:


All of this that was said there at that conference was meant for me to hear and to apply to my life. God had a purpose in it all, and he has made that purpose very clear to me. And it was then the Lord began to call me to this present ministry of writing down what he teaches me from his word each day and of placing it on the internet so that the internet could “run with it” (the name of my blog). I would never have imagined then the journey that God has taken me on these past eighteen years. All glory to God!

Login to view embedded media Caution: This link may contain ads beyond my control

Should I Not Preach Jesus

An Original Work / July 4, 2013
Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.
I make myself a slave to ev’ryone
To win their hearts to Christ.
All this I do for my Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of His Name;
Do it for the sake of His gospel,
So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;
Written down for us as examples
To keep us from setting our hearts
On evil as did those of old.
Do not worship other gods of man;
Do not give your hearts to them;
Not partake in immorality.
Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are
Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.
God has given his word to warn us,
So through faith we will not fall.
No temptation has o’ertaken you
Except what is commonplace.
God is faithful to not let you be
Tempted past what you can bear.
He gives the way of escape.

Login to view embedded media

DeSantis forms panel to counter CDC, a move decried by health professionals​

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he is forming a new state committee to counter policy recommendations from federal health agencies — a decision that medical professionals said will further politicize medicine in the Sunshine State.

At a news conference in South Florida, DeSantis also said he is requesting a statewide grand jury investigation into alleged “crimes and wrongdoing” related to the coronavirus vaccine. He provided few details on what specifically he wants a panel to probe, but in a press release, his office noted side effects like myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation, that have been observed in rare cases.

“In Florida, you know, it is against the law to mislead and to misrepresent, particularly when you’re talking about the efficacy of a drug,” DeSantis said.

The governor said the new public health committee will be led by Ladapo, who has recommended against vaccinating children for covid and questioned the efficacy of the vaccines for anyone but the elderly.

Ladapo ... said the state would work with the University of Florida to study autopsy results in cases of “sudden deaths of individuals that received the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida.”

Large-scale observational studies on hundreds of millions of vaccine recipients have shown that while heart inflammation can be a rare side effect of the messenger RNA vaccines that disproportionately affect young men, with a small number of deaths in that age group, the protective effects of the vaccines at preventing severe covid outweigh those risks, experts at the American College of Cardiology concluded.

Good Evening,

I'm in a really tough and, in many respects, weird situation theologically. I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church, and I greatly admire it in many ways. I think Catholic critiques of Protestantism that suggest the movement has become a theological mess are fair, although I do think some Catholics have exaggerated the claims. I also love the history of the Catholic Church, liturgy, the stunning beauty of cathedrals, the sense of community in good parishes, and a whole lot more.

With that said, I continue to have some very important, very strong objections to Roman Catholicism that keep me from rejoining the Church. One of the most important is that I do not believe the arguments for the Catholic understanding of the infallibility and supreme authority of the papacy are supported by history or scripture. I see the value in having a single visible Christian leader, but no matter how many times I've studied the issue and prayed about it, I have never been convinced that the evidence supports such a claim -- and I have been studying it for many years now.

I'm not writing this post to be convinced that the Catholic Church is the "best" church, or to argue that you should stop being Roman Catholic. Rather, I'm asking your advice about what I should do while I continue to study and pray about this and other issues. I cannot take communion in the Catholic Church, because I don't agree with its teachings on core issues, but I'm not sure what else to do. I feel so awkward attending a church where I really cannot be a parishioner in good faith. But attending Protestant churches has felt strange too. I'm just at a total loss, and not sure where to go from here. I've spent the past decade trying to sort all this out, and I've had no luck, no matter who I've talked to, how much I've researched, or how hard I've tried to understand all of this.

Any help, advice, prayers, or guidance would be much appreciated.

-Justin

The most frustrating part of discussing abortion with people who totally oppose it except to save the mother's life is when challenged, they never answer the title question. So I am putting it here hoping all abortion opponents will stop dancing around the extremely obvious and repeatedly proven fact that without a lot of help from the government, hundreds of thousands of pregnant girls and women need abortions for many justifiable reasons. It is literally impossible to oppose both abortion and all government programs that can prevent most of them unless you happen to be a misogynist whose real intention is to control women, which I am sure no Christians are because they believe in love.

One reason I am a Democrat is I want the number of abortions to drop. I want all of the reasons many girls and women suffer psychologically, physically, and socially during their unwanted pregnancies to nearly disappear. I also want the reasons women who wanted babies, but suddenly find themselves unable to care for them, to be gone. Only the federal and blue state governments can do that for them.

So, what do you want the federal government to do to help pregnant girls and women who lack the ability and resources to carry their unborn babies for nine months and take care of them for the next 20 years? What would be your plan if you were a politician? Would you prefer they get all their help from states or the federal government? Keep in mind we are not talking about crisis pregnancy centers here because they have very limited resources and, as Catholic Church-based organizations, will do nothing for non-Christians who need help. It truly is the government or nothing, no matter how she got pregnant or why she is considering abortion.

The White House shone with rainbow colors as the Respect for Marriage Act was signed into law. The White House needs to stop embracing moral depravity and start embracing virtue. This act does not respect marriage as it claims to do. In fact, it disrespects marriage by enshrining something which is not marriage into law as marriage. Same-sex "marriage" is not marriage. Marriage is only a union between one man and one woman as created by God.

6 years ago, I was banned from a Bionicle discussion forum for the Gospel. Admittedly, it wasn't the cleanest of situations because I was going through a mental breakdown at the time, but basically I was banned for confronting a fellow Christian using Matthew 18 and telling the truth about transgender stuff to a transgender individual in front of the entire trans-supportive moderation staff. (Boldness and insanity don't mix well, in case anyone was wondering in the back. )

God used this situation to witness to said moderation staff and the group of homosexual and transgender members of that forum and present them with the Gospel, albeit in sloppy, not-so-stellar fashion. I still have contact via social media with many of these individuals, despite the fact that none of them have accepted the Gospel via my incredibly clumsy evangelism efforts. Instead, I keep seeing them, and the entire Bionicle community, keep sliding downhill into greater sin and destruction as time goes on. I took on this mission field, the most difficult evangelism task that I have ever walked into, at the lowest point in my life when my mental health and spiritual health was at my absolute worst. I consider this to be my biggest ministry failure of all time.

And I'm ready to move on. Sort of. I want to get out of that community. Further, I have a large collection of Bionicle sets that I want to sell off as a prelude to getting out of there, but I can't bring myself, emotionally, to do it. I feel like I'm quitting an active mission field, God has placed me there for a reason, and that I'm quitting too early. (There's also a part of my brain that thinks that my presence is making things worse - I'm indecisive.) So I have a series of prayer requests - I'd like to get some prayer support for this situation and difficult decision.

1. First, pray that God would show me what he wants me to do, guidance and direction for me, and the courage to act for his glory and honor. If anything needs to be done before I move on, that He would show me and that I would do it.
2. Pray for Ryan, that he may come to know the Lord, who loves and cares for him, despite the fact that many other human beings have failed to love and care for him. (Yes, that is his accurate name and gender. He was a friend of mine before he chose the transgender dark path.)
3. I'm not going to name any more names, but please pray for my friends from back there, that they may come to know the Lord. My heart still hurts for them. One man I met in person was harassed by the homosexual/transgender group and suffered for it - pray that the Lord would open his eyes to the truth.
4. Please pray for those in this community who have been sexually harassed and raped. Yes, a convention hosted by this Bionicle website resulted in an actual rape. It's absolutely heartbreaking what Satan has done to a community of people who were discussing children's plastic toys. It's so hard for me to leave - I feel like I'm abandoning them.
5. In Romans 13 fashion, pray for the leadership of the forum that banned me, that they would come to know the Lord and change their ways. Not only are they shutting out the Gospel, their only hope of remedy, they are also wounded and broken and in need of God's healing and comfort.
6. Please pray for my brother, who is still enmeshed in that community by doing Bionicle YouTube Let's Plays of all of the Bionicle games. He wasn't directly involved in the community that banned me (and still isn't) but I think his interest in doing video game YouTube isn't doing as much for him as his healthier interests in bassoon and climbing mountains. I'm scared of impairing my relationship to my brother. While the two of us have connections outside of Bionicle, Bionicle is a part of our relationship that has brought us together for years. He doesn't even like the particular Bionicle sets that I'm selling off, but yeah. He got me into the franchise in the first place.
7. Finally, pray for my efforts to keep children away from that site. Bionicle is a toyline for children and the fact that this site exists is reprehensible. While the Bionicle line itself is discontinued, members of the Bionicle community repeatedly harass Lego to bring the line back in some form. This is within the eyes of people who are on the Lego official Twitter account and sites like Lego Ideas. This is why I want to sell off my Bionicle sets - for financial reasons, and also so my future children, if any, are not drawn into that community of people.

Thanks in advance.

Assume that the medical treatment is necessary to keep living and that cost is not a problem.

Twitter has reinstated the accounts of two doctors who were banned over the social media platform's policy on Covid-19 misinformation.

Dr. Robert Malone, an mRNA vaccine researcher, and cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, both saw their profiles reactivated amid Twitter owner Elon Musk's ongoing efforts to restore accounts that were previously banned.

Malone announced his return to the platform on Tuesday with a Tweet saying 'I'm back', before plugging his latest blog post 'Welcome to Fifth Gen (Information) Warfare' - which in its first paragraph featured misinformation on Covid-19 vaccines.

McCullough has not yet posted since his account was reinstated.



I know there are going to be some mixed opinions on this one.

But, from purely from a pragmatic standpoint (saying this as someone who's very much pro covid vaccine), I think it makes sense to end their twitter ban.

Though I disagreed with them getting banned in the first place...I think bad information should be combatted with good information and not censorship, even if one agreed with their bans, the conditions that would've justified their bans are no longer applicable.

If it was done in the name of "making sure people aren't exposed to information that would dissuade them from getting the covid 19 jabs, and what impact that could have on the healthcare system", I don't think those conditions apply anymore. Now that most of use have been vaccinated (and boosted), or have already had covid...or both, and most governments themselves have adopted a "live with the virus, it's no going away" approach...combined with the fact that if someone hasn't gotten the vaccine at this point over 2 years in, despite these two guys not being on Twitter for the last year, it would seem as if those folks are pretty "dug-in" on their anti-vaccine position and don't have any intention of changing, so there's no real harm in allowing them back on Twitter at this point. (and furthermore, I would have to assume that the people who were devout followers of these two guys probably found other non-Twitter ways to access their latest content and opinions, so it's not as if the Twitter bans were really accomplishing much)

【Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 】Matthew 16:16~17

Please pray for me(sangeun) and all of my family members(junghee dohan jieun hochul jeolja nosun zzomi) to know the Jesus and Gospel and the truth by Spirit of God and accept the Gospel and Jesus christ and believe in Jesus christ. and not to give up on Jesus christ and faith at any situation and repent of all our sins and be free from all our sins and be forgiven all our sins by Jesus and go to heaven surely.

Please pray for me(sangeun) and all of my family members(junghee dohan jieun hochul jeolja nosun zzomi) to believe that the Father is in the Son Jesus and that Jesus is in the Father. And Jesus Christ directly reveal the name of God the Father to all of us. And that God fulfil the Bible verses above for all of us.

Tuesday morning, judges in Maricopa County Superior Court heard arguments on two separate election lawsuits filed last week by former GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, who ran for Secretary of State.

So I guess it's a thing that a lot of people are looking to get in relationships around this time of year. I'm not sure why since it's one of the busiest times of the year.
Today on the Christian radio the DJ was talking about their niece having found someone on Black Friday.

She was already talking about buying an Apple watch for him, which he said is a whole another topic and no no. But for some reason he said he didn't want to spend Christmas with her. So she's postponing giving him the Apple watch, but the DJ says that he thinks that it's a red flag. He said he understands how busy one can get, but to have a few minutes together for Christmas seems like a solid relationship choice.

What do you think?

I have been praying about how to deal with this situation. A family member said some very hurtful things to me via text. Then later text -i went to far sorry. After we spoke on the phone she never said I’m sorry. The things she said was horrific. I know she was being demonically influenced. However, I am praying to be able to find a way to have a relationship with her, but am afraid of what she will say. At this time, I do not want my daughter to be over her house. It sounds sad. But if she’s being led by the devil she will use anything to get to me. I understand the enemy goes about seeking those whom he can devour and uses most of us at times if we are not in the spirit. I’m staying prayerful.

Hello everyone

I am a believer in the Judeo-Christian narrative. I am looking for sources of Christian "material/churches/groups/people" that would help me strengthen my faith, so to speak, the problem is I am very picky.

I am sort-of tired of "chewing the meat and spitting out the bones", and I would like to find a preacher/pastor/church/books/materials that I believe actually hold up accurately theology, following Jesus, loving others, humility, kindness, non-judgementalism, non-religiosity, authenticity, genuineness, biblical, supporting and prayerful for each other, etc. I know so many do seek this type of thing. I've to many good churches, which I am thankful for.

I was an atheist who believed evolution and had a NDE/OBE, became a theist and then researched science and religion, now believing we both did not come from evolution, and that Jesus is who he said he is, and rose from dead.

I absolutely am repulsed by "complete and exhaustive foreknowledge", and find some strain of "open theism" that supports a literal "free will" that can actually "surprise God" as refreshing and biblical.

I've done a lot of research in the past reading certain Early Church Fathers like Irenaeus, and books like the Shepherd, Enoch, Wisdom, etc.

I am tired of, and I really don't like going to, or watching online, churches who preach like inauthentic religulous people, or if they preach on topics that reveal their own theological compromise such as "evolution".

I want to respect them from a distance, but at the same time find people who want to be genuine and authentic and "real" believers, I don't know how else to put it, but also take God's word as the early church did, and Jesus. Like.... literally. Or symbolic literalism, regrading things like revelation. But not allegorical, such as what evolutionists would have to conclude.

If religulous works for some people, fine, I am happy for them. I consider them fortunate the have so many good things.

Anyone else have any of the same thoughts, or seeking something similar?

Maybe I am off, I am sorry if I am.

Just to list a couple preachers and authors who I have very much admired in the past: Derek Prince, Neil T Anderson, Nabeel Qureshi, Francis Chan.

Thanks for any responses

I feel like I'm in a perpetual cycle of mustard grain faith and that mustard seed being snatched away and turning from God altogether. It just seems that when I try to build a relationship with God my life becomes harder and more stressful or everyone around me is testing me more by showing more disrespect or something.

Like last week, got kicked out, broke phone then was having car problems, no money, got a new phone and that one was magically malfunctioning then I got a 3rd one and my provider lost all records I ever had my phone number that I had everything linked to. Coworker was yellin at me bein disrespectful too when I was nothing but respectful. Finally I said I give up, thought there was suppose to be peace in the Lord and told God to smight me. Is God just testing me and I failed? If it was how long does the bad stuff keep happening before things get good?

I think my main test is people though, like disrespectful judgmental people that show no courtesy. I go to the store or work and its like theres always someone trying to "flex" on me by refusing to even move a little to let me pass if we are walking towards eachother or someone lookin at me and shakin their heads when im just trying to mind my own business. Sometimes I just get sick of it and cut right in front of them or give them the shoulder.
How do you deal with that? I know the bible says to turn the other cheek but God doesnt want all his children to be pushovers does he?

Now I feel my heart is hardened again and lacking faith and hope. Perhaps God doesnt want me in his kingdom?

Hi! I hope your day is going well.

I have a question. I was thinking y'all can help me figure out something. I just got a printing job done at this business, and the way they do things is really high quality and the price is amazing. They're all really nice. They even seemed to have knocked $20 off my order. So my question is, would it be okay for me to go back and give them a tip? Would they consider it rude or insulting?

They did a good job, excellent. They took $20 off my order and didn't even mention it. They even did a part of the order for free, they didn't even charge me for it.

For the sake of the people of God and the economy suffering potential damage and loss, I am praying and requesting prayer concerning the severe weather moving across the US at this time.

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt 18 informs us that the matter is not confined to priests/pastors/apostles.

Matt 18:


Peter spells it out for us very specifically --

Matt 18: 21


Jesus makes it clear in Matt 6 - the Lord's prayer