Mercy Shown said:

So, you do not work, and you do not allow anyone in your house to work. All cooking and cleaning must be done on Friday so that food prep or dishwashing can now occur during the Sabbath hours.

All electricity is turned off, so electricity is not purchased during sabbath hours. You do nothing for your pleasure during Sabbath hours.

Why do you do all this if God has already saved you by His grace and not your good works?


If you rely on God's power to keep from sinning but are not sin-free. Isn't there something wrong?

1 John 3:9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.

If Jesus saved a person from sin, but he/she is not sin-free, have they been saved from sin? We must define what "saved from sin" means if it includes some sin.

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Isaiah 58: 13 ¶ If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

I spend my Sabbaths in church fellowshipping with with like believers, studying God's word, sing hymns of praise to Him and excluding all secular activities from my day and enjoying myself while building my relationship with Him.

You are extremely legalistic,

SavedByGrace3 said:

Change the word "Trump" to "a politician" and that would be a fair statement.

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Sure, but some politicians are better at it than others,

Welcome to CF! Thanks for that introduction. Nice to have you join us.

Merrill said:

so again, you don't want to answer my question, but instead respond with this vagueness

either you believe

1. Books can be rejected by librarians, administrators, etc. based on content and whether or not they are age-appropriate

or

2. All books should be accessible in the school libraries, and any attempt to limit selection, is wrong

because what it seems to me is, the left thinks any book involving the alphabet people (LGBTQ+, etc.), regardless of content and appropriateness, should be available, but it is OK to take books like Huckleberry Finn out of the curriculum and the library, because they don't like those books.

I firmly believe #1, so I am not the hypocrite here

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That is a travesty of what is being argued here.

School libraries should hold books according to what is appropriate for children's ages. I don't think anybody here has suggested otherwise. The people to do this are the trained librarians.

What is worrying about the trend in some American states is the interference of right-wing extremists who have succeeded in forcing their agenda on to the wider public.

I think anybody who wants to remove Huckleberry Finn from libraries is just as mistaken as those who want to remove the graphic version of Margaret Atwood's novel. They are led by their narrow ideological mindset.

Merrill said:

Conservatives had very little to do with the Eugenics movement and sterilization laws

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No, that's wrong.

Bull. Hist Med
White Coats, White Hoods: The Medical Politics of the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s America

Leaf473 said:

Also, @Gary K my brother, please talk about this

Bible Gateway passage: Daniel 4:25 - New American Standard Bible

that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the animals of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind...

www.biblegateway.com

Why was Nebuchadnezzar going to be driven away from mankind?

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Because of his pride. He knew the God of heaven was responsible for all his success and yet after being warned what would happen to him if he continued to take credit for it he still did.

Daniel 4: 14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:
15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:
16 Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.
17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.
19 ¶ Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.
20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;
21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:
22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;
24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.
27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
28 ¶ All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.
34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

Nebuchadnezzar finally learned his lesson through the mercy and love of God. I believe he will be in heaven.

Tropical Wilds said:

So given you don’t watch Star Wars in general or the show specifically, how can you comments on the quality of what is included in it? For all you know it’s fantastic and the whole “it’s check box entertainment” is a manifestation of your bias, not the quality of the show. Especially given that the actor, not the character per say, is trans.

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Do you intend to watch it because an actor is a trans?

Age limited for ALL.

It's absurd that this is the "Best America has to offer it's citizenry". The political establishment should be utterly ashamed of itself to create a culture (by design) of this disposition.

rturner76 said:

The system is corrupt but politicians like Trump. I think that what people are tired of with Trump is, if he doesn't get his way (like losing an election for example), he will do things like demand the electoral college cast their vote for the loser of the election. Then, demanded his Vice President not ratify the vote if he lost. Those are some pretty big asks which are blatantly unconstitutional.

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I'm pretty sure I have seen the other isde do the same in different ways all protesting the results and doing stuff to undermine things. That is what I think people have picked up on.

They may see Trump sometimes doing the same thing but dislike more that the other side does the same thing and pretends they don't. Then make it worse by making a big noise about how rightous they are and how bad the Trump is when we all know thats not the case.

In other words they don't mind a few blemishes with Trump because at least he seems to not pretend he is better. People don't mind that a polititians may have done some shady business deals but they don't like it when they mess around with our fundemental rights and pretend they have our best interests at heart when we know they are in it for themselves. I think at least Trump acknowledges the system stinks and needs to change and thats what people relate to.

I think whats happening with Trump is happening in a number of nations and has been coming for a long time now. We all heard the rumblings about how polititians were out of touch. people called for polititians who had life experience, were street smart and understood and represented the common person.

We have seen independents and minor parties win larger % of the vote as a result. The Left is aligning itself more with the old system people distrust of centralised control, and using their position to maintain their own power and people are sick of it. Trump has tapped into the sentiment of most people who want change, who want someone who represents them.

Trumps able to do that because he is not a career polititian that has to tow the party line. Its similar to how independent music and media is becoming more popular because it speaks to the common person and isn't bound to bow to the system they percieve as taking their rights away.

childeye 2 said:

Respectfully, it's irrelevant that God made sure we had choice since we're talking about a coherent definition of a free will.

Consider this reasoning: The term "will" is a noun that denotes an individual's faculty of reasoning and desire of the heart. Hence the ability to choose is already contained in the term 'will' without adding the adjective 'free'. So, when the adjective 'free' is added it suggests to the mind that this ability to reason and choose and the desire of the heart), is free from something. Free from what? the term 'Free' must be qualified to be coherent.

We have the option to "Rebel against Rebellion"

Let's not conflate the occasion of options with the ability to make decisions. After all, in reality there's only one God, and no other options.

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Do I have to be more clear?

There's only 2 sides to the war. When we rebel against God, we are on the side of darkness. When we rebel against the rebellion against God, we are back on God's side. It takes grit and rebellion! The order of Satan not only made sure that the Messiah was crucified, but lined the streets of Rome with the crucified body's of Christians, who they had dipped their heads in oil, to light the way of that road. That's true DARKNESS! Those who were fed to lions, sawn in twain, hung, crucified, Put to the sword, Put to the Ax, Drug by horses, Drawn and quartered... etc etc etc..... they Rebelled against the Darkness. Paul was struck BLIND by the TRUE LIGHT. He truly believed he was serving God, until the Great Living Breathing I Am identified Himself Audibly to Saul, as Jesus Christ. Saul isn't a picture of "Election". That was actually working out poor for Him, a Pharisee of Pharisee's who just knew that he was CHOSEN. Saul is a picture of a man swallowed by the kingdom of darkness which is brutal and being confronted with the mysterious Love of God, the very God of the Gospel. Steven gave his swan song out of rebellion to the Kingdom of Darkness.

There is indeed only one God, Who is beyond worthy. We have 1,000,000 + other alternative choices than Him. The Road to destruction is quite Broad, after all. We can't climb over the narrow gate. We can't break in. We can't assume we are "chosen". We can't just "get to know Him". We have to WILL of our sincere heart of Repentance that He gets to know us. We can only enter through Him! Those theological words smash the chains of Man Made concepts. They put EVERYTHING in perspective. Wait, let me rephrase that. The Living WORD Smashes the chains of Words devised by men of religious affiliation or other. He, alone, is the Truth.

We all have the Free Wil to CHOOSE ye this day. Some trust in horses, chariots, weapons of war, etc etc... but...

In my opinion self reflection is the BEST way to become a better person and certainly the best way to improve job performance. At the very least, it's the FIRST step in personal growth; realizing where you faulted and made mistakes and be determined to improve on those mistakes.


What mistakes do you think President Trump has reflected on and what changes do you think he would consider to handle those mistakes better.


Same question about Biden?

Paulos23 said:

You think there would be a low threshold for Supreme Court Justices on gives.

Somewhere around a million say.

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I'm often surprised at how low the amounts are when people get busted for bribery. Richard Hanssen got paid $1.4 million over 22 years. He could've taken a consulting job and made that.

Republicans position reality in the most convinient way possible:

All crime is due to Democrats.


I can't imagine a more convinient view of all the problems in a country.

Benjamin Müller said:

So, Russia who is anti-gay and clinging to Christian values is being blessed with near-record wheat crops, whereas in America who is morally degenerating is facing a dismal wheat harvest.

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This came to mind since Russia is currently declaring agricultural emergencies today in 10 regions.

I thought it would be good though to revisit your post -- I'm hoping you will.

(it's always good to be humble -- this is just the temporary world that will pass away and nothing here will be remembered in the Life to come -- so "store up treasures in heaven" Christ said, not on Earth....)

Let me highlight 2 things of interest to you, first:

In 2022 the U.S. was simply continuing to plant less acres in wheat, as more farmers choose to plant other crops instead....

As you can see here:

Corn and soybean acreage has increased since the 1990s, while fewer acres are planted with wheat​

Since 1993, combined acreage planted to corn, wheat, soybeans, and upland cotton in the United States has ranged from 219 million to 242 million acres. Starting in the 1990s, policy changes increased planting flexibility provided to farmers. These changes have allowed farmers to respond to market signals for their cropping choices. Over the past 10 years (2014–23), the combined annual planting acreage for these crops has maintained a higher average (236 million acres) than the previous decade (232 million acres). Since 1993, the three highest combined annual planting totals for corn, wheat, soybeans, and cotton occurred in 2012, 2014, and 2018. Combined acreage in 2023 increased from the previous year to 238 million acres with increased corn and wheat plantings, which offset decreased soybean and cotton. Combined planted acreage for the four crops in 2023 marked their 7th largest since 1993.


Next, it's very notable that in 2022, the U.S. had a record total agricultural production value -- the highest ever value of all crops by far the U.S. has ever had.

So.....if you think agricultural production indicates if we are doing well as Christians, then in the year you thought the U.S. did poorly, in actual reality that year -- 2022 -- was a year that in reality the U.S. did the best ever agriculturally....

The Barbarian said:

He's dropped about 4.5% since the trial, according to Real Clear Politics. If we get another trial before the election...


You've confused consequences with intent. I have seen some extreme Trump supporters claim that Trump shouldn't be accountable for his crimes because it could hurt his election campaign. But that kind of thinking is what got him indicted in the first place, wasn't it?

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“If we can get another trial before the election…”

That's good. Any more thoughts on the distinction between John 8:58's hiding and Luke 24:31's vanishing? For example, the former is pre-crucifixion/resurrection/transformation; the later occurs after all of those events.

selfpromotingwalloftext

BCP1928 said:

The !st Amendment to the Constitution is binding on the states as well.

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Oklahoma's own Constitution is quite clear:

SECTION II-5. Public money or property - Use for sectarian purposes.
No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied,
donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or
support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or
for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister,
or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as
such.

For me, speaking as a Catholic believer, the key was my own repentance, as hard as that was due to my being on the receiving end of much harm.

I still had to look at myself, and get clean before God, and it was so difficult and brutal to keep coming to confession, to keep looking at my vices and sins and reconciling myself to God.

Absolutely brilliant, is the timing of the most recent episode of season 4 of the series, the chosen, in which Peter is depicted as having a very hard time, trying to forgive Matthew when he was not converted yet and following Jesus, and had been bringing harm to Peter as depicted in this series.

Peter consults Jesus, giving justification after justification for all the listed harms done to him, to withhold forgiveness-in this theatrical production, that is being utilized to teach the Gospel message.

I very highly recommend watching episode 2 of season 4.

Just watched it this morning and cant stop weeping, as Jesus is so beautiful, His message so badly needed.

Having to repent and to forgive, 70x's 7 can be quite hard, but it is necessary.

To pick up my cross and follow Him, has been the most freeing and life changing experience I have ever had.

Holding grudges I have learned, blocked the Grace of God from working with me.

Unrepentant sins blocks Gods Grace.

Please consider making an appointment with a Catholic priest for confession. Explain that you are not Catholic but have heavy burdens.

He came to set the captives free.

Do the work!

Zaha Torte said:

He is. You believe a show of force means that he isn't?

I remember when Trump went to North Korea. He walked right in.

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....and fawned over Jim Jung Oon.

Yeah. Tough guy.


And then when he was away from him again, he's the tough guy.

I know kids like that in the gr4 behaviour class at my school! The pretend tough guy!

ViaCrucis said:

Biden hasn't tried to abuse the Christian religion for selfish and personal gain. That's certainly a lot more than could be said of Trump.

The best thing a politician can do for Christianity is to leave it alone and let Christianity just be Christianity.

-CryptoLutheran

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You're right. He's only mocked and gone against his own Church's beliefs. He is considered a "Cafeteria Catholic" by Cardinal Wilton D Gregory, the archbishop of Washington.

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Both men are lukewarm Christians at best.

daq said:

Surely it is intended, but I did not come up with that term: it is simply the name by which it has been called in more recent times. The word quarter has several different meanings in English, one being a fourth part, the other being used for a living quarter or more commonly, plural, as in the term living quarters. It is probably this second meaning which is intended, and not like a fourth part of the city but rather an area sectioned off for a specific sect or group of people for living quarters, as in "the Essene Quarter".

This is all the more reason why it is curious that the living quarters for the High Priest were in the Essene Quarter: does that mean the Sadducees might have been related in some way to the sons of Tzadok? the Tzadokim? It very well may be, however, the etymological origin of the term Sadducee is clouded with uncertainty, although we know the Sadducees were in charge of the Temple in the first century, (even by statements found in the Briyth Hadashah such as the Gospel accounts and the book of Acts).

Either way, when it came to theological constructs, beliefs, and understanding of the scripture, the Sadducees were nothing like the Tzadokim of Dameshek, a.k.a. Khirbet Qumran, (the modern Arabic name for the location where the DSS were discovered). The Sadducees neither confessed spirit, nor angels, nor even a resurrection, even according to the scripture, (Mat 22:23, Mrk 12:18, Luk 20:27, Acts 23:8), and Josephus moreover confirms the very same things. They were utterly carnal in their understanding of the Torah, and even rejected the oral law and traditions of the Pharisees, believing only what is written in the Hebrew scriptures, (albeit apparently not understanding much of any of it, as is apparent by their utterly carnal minded beliefs).

This vehement difference in theological positions and beliefs provides the most likely reasoning for the split between the Tzadokim or sons of Tzadok at Dameshek-Qumran and the Sadducees at Yerushalem: but again, that is only if indeed they were truly related at all. And if they were related, it was only by blood, not by theological positions and beliefs, (and it is also possible that the Sadducees were not legally blood related to Tzadok the Kohen at all, but only claimed they were, being usurpers, or at least considered usurpers by the true Tzadokim: we will probably never know the full truth either way).

The only records I know of pertaining to the origin of the Sadducees are the aggadic work Avot of Rabbi Natan, (Talmud), which tells the story of the two disciples of Antigonus of Sokho, (3rd Century BC), Zadok and Boethus, and the other source is Josephus, who makes reference to one named Sadduc along with Judas the Galilean at the time of the commencement of the first revolt over the taxation of Quirinius, governor of Syria, (following Archelaus having been deposed by the Romans, circa 6-7AD). There are those who speculate both ways and also a few other hypotheses. The Wikipedia article "Sadducees" gives a limited overview of some of these things.

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Family:
Luke ch 1
[ 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.]

Herod being of questionable lineage"

[ 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.]

During the time of herod and his sadduccee court of usurped?
Perveiw> Not only did herod falsely invoke the kingly throne of yhdh. His lackeys falsely/arrogantly invoked the name throne of tzadok.?

I've read of opinions concerning author john and his relationship with the priesthood. And agree that he was a disciple of john the levite Baptist.
With that view it isnt strange that john acted as a witness to The miracles falsely accused of being wtichcraft.
As per account they (levite) dismissed the case.
Mark 14
[55 And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.]

So then the suddeccees were forced to differ to a roman court of dogs.