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

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

Please pray for me, I’m sick

I am in need of prayer for healing and to remove fear anxiety. I am sick with a cold that’s causing me to have a cold sweat, and it’s also giving me a fear anxiety. My feet are cold and I can’t seem to get rid of this cold. I also have a fever and I am in need of prayers to remove this fever as well. Please pray for me for complete and total healing and to remove this fear that I am having. Thanks and God Bless.

RNC makes plans for trump to accept nomination from prison

Republican National Committee Co-Chairman Michael Whatley said the RNC is prepared for the possibility Donald Trump may deliver his convention remarks from prison, noting the former president's June 11 sentencing will come just days before the convention.

Trump is expected to accept the Republican Party's nomination for the presidency at the Milwaukee convention, which will take place from July 15 to July 18.

During an interview Tuesday, Newsmax host Rob Finnerty pressed Whatley on whether the RNC had contingency plans for Trump's acceptance speech in the event Trump is sentenced to jail time. Following his guilty verdict last week, Judge Juan Merchan has scheduled sentencing for July 11, four days before the convention.


“Let’s say Trump is behind bars. And again, it is a possibility. Would he make a speech from prison?” Finnerty asked. “Would he make a speech before sentencing day? Just something that you could play during the RNC? Are those contingencies being thought about, considered, and planned for?”

“Everything is being thought about. Everything is being considered,” Whatley replied.

The RNC co-chairman expressed his belief that the former president will deliver planned remarks for the convention, even if that means from prison.

“At this point in time, we will have to wait and see kind of what the courts present us with the opportunity to do," he added. "But look, Donald Trump will communicate directly with the American voters the way that he always does.”


I can see pardoned felon Michael Flynn leading the chants of "don't lock him up!"

Good Reasons to Trust a Courtroom, Over a Scientific Laboratory


There are a lot of people who believe Trump's assertions that his hush money trial
was hopelessly biased, and that the jury arriving at his convictions was totaly
perverted.

But, from a Christian point of view, there are strong controls in place in an
American courtroom, to test the evidence that is introduced into a court trial.

Christians need to carefully think about these controls, before rejecting convictions
decided on by American juries.

Putin ‘invokes Cuban Missile Crisis’ as he moves ‘nuclear-capable’ ships to Havana

Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin ‘invokes Cuban Missile Crisis’ as he moves ‘nuclear-capable’ ships to Havana​

Four Russian vessels will make a port call to Havana between 12 and 17 June before sailing to Venezuela

Vladimir Putin is invoking the memory of the Cuban Missile Crisis by moving “nuclear-capable” warships to Cuba in a move intended to provoke the United States, a think tank warned.

Four Russian vessels will make a port call to Havana between 12 and 17 June before stopping off in Venezuela later in the month, according to Cuban and US officials.

The Admiral Gorshkov frigate, the Kazan nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, the Academic Pashin replenishment oiler, and the Nikolai Chiker rescue tug will all be part of the visit, the US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War.

The Admiral Gorshkov is capable of carrying Zircon hypersonic missiles, which the Kremlin has touted as being able to carry a nuclear warhead. There is no suggestion the ship will be equipped with nuclear weapons during the visit.

In 1962, former Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev moved nuclear missiles to Havana which led to an intense stand off between Moscow and Washington.

Meanwhile, Putin has threatened to retaliate against Western countries that are allowing Ukraine to hit Russia with their long-range missiles.


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Idaho bar celebrates ‘Heterosexual Awesomeness Month,’ gives free beer to straight people

Old State Saloon reports record-breaking sales since it announced it is celebrating June as ‘Heterosexual Awesomeness Month,’ with discounts for straight couples and women and free beer for heterosexual men.

EAGLE, Idaho (LifeSiteNews) — An anti-woke bar in Eagle, Idaho, is pushing back against political correctness and LGBT ideology by celebrating June as “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month.”

Mark Fitzpatrick, a former police officer who calls himself a “Bible believing Christian,” is giving out free beer and discounts for straight patrons who visit his Old State Saloon just 10 miles west of Boise.

“It’s the expectation that you’re supposed to jump behind and support something,” Fitzpatrick toldlocal media outlet KTVB when asked why he is doing it.

“And people are just rejecting it. They’re standing up and saying, ‘enough is enough,’ we don’t want all this.”

Continued below.

Southern Baptist Convention doesn't vote to expel churches with female pastors , but does vote to condemn IVF

Southern Baptists may ban churches with women pastors. Some are urging them to reconsider

The Southern Baptist Convention is preparing to vote on a proposed constitutional ban on churches with women pastors.​

At the SBC’s annual meeting June 11-12 in Indianapolis, representatives will vote on whether to amend the denomination’s constitution to essentially ban churches with any women pastors — and not just in the top job. That measure received overwhelming approval in a preliminary vote last year.

Leaders of First Baptist — which has given millions to Southern Baptist causes and has been involved with the convention since its 19th century founding — are bracing for a possible expulsion.

“We are grieved at the direction the SBC has taken,” the church said in a statement.

By some estimates, the proposed ban could affect hundreds of congregations and have a disproportionate impact on predominantly Black churches.

Since Baptist churches are independent, the convention can’t tell them what to do or whom to appoint as a pastor.

But the convention can decide which churches are in and which are out. And even without a formal amendment, its Executive Committee has begun telling churches with women pastors that they’re out. That included one of its largest, Saddleback Church of California.

--

The SBC will also decide whether to condemn IVF.

Milky Way last major collision

“We get wrinklier as we age, but our work reveals that the opposite is true for the Milky Way. It’s a sort of cosmic Benjamin Button, getting less wrinkly over time,” said Donlon, lead author of the new Gaia study, which also served as his doctoral thesis at Rensselaer. “By looking at how these wrinkles dissipate over time, we can trace when the Milky Way experienced its last big crash – and it turns out this happened billions of years later than we thought.”

"The collision is thought to have resulted in a large number of stars with unusual orbits. Previously, scientists dated it at between eight and 11 billion years ago in a collision called the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE) merger. Rather, Newberg and Donlon’s findings indicate that the stars may have resulted from the Virgo Radial Merger, which crashed through the center of the Milky Way less than three billion years ago."


Rensselaer Researchers Upend Theory About the Formation of the Milky Way Galaxy | News

Good Guy with a Gun Prevents Teen from Returning Malfunctioning Airsoft Pistol to Sporting Goods Store

Off-duty security guard fatally shoots Renton teen after mistaking BB gun for real firearm


"(The suspect) believed the group was going to commit armed robbery at the location," noted investigators. Police said the 51-year-old told them he felt that he didn't have enough time to call 911 to prevent the alleged armed robbery, so to protect his son nearby, he said "he had a duty to stop the individuals."

Immediately afterward, police said the suspect told them he exited his vehicle and pointed his security guard-issued gun at the three teenagers, commanding them to drop the firearm and put their hands in the air. At that point, police said the teen who carried the gun complied with the suspect's orders and threw the gun onto the ground. According to court papers, the suspect then grabbed the teenager so the boy would be unable to retrieve the firearm that was on the ground.

As this occurred, police said the suspect believed one of the other teens was grabbing for a gun located in that teen's waistband. It was at that point that police said the suspect fired multiple times. After the initial shots, he stood over the teen on the ground and continued to fire, according to court documents.
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Common low-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds



A low-calorie sweetener called xylitol used in many reduced-sugar foods and consumer products such as gum and toothpaste may be linked to nearly twice the risk of heart attacks, stroke and death in people who consume the highest levels of the sweetener, a new study found.

“We gave healthy volunteers a typical drink with xylitol to see how high the levels would get and they went up 1,000-fold,” said senior study author Dr. Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol, a carbohydrate found naturally in foods such as cauliflower, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms, spinach, plums, raspberries and strawberries. However, the amount of xylitol found in such natural sources is tiny, Hazen said.



Xylitol isn't the first in the realm of "replacement foods" that end up having some potential consequences.

I think, like with many other things in the realm of health and nutrition (particularly in the areas of weight loss and cholesterol reduction), the never-ending quest to find either A) "things that taste like the thing that's not good for me, but won't cause me to gain weight", or B) "things I can take in conjunction with my food, so that I don't have to change my dietary habits" has caused some "solutions" to be somewhat rushed in order to accommodate market demand.

Basically, there's no ideal solution for the problems of obesity and cardiovascular disease that doesn't involve willpower (either in the form of portion & interval control).

And in order to tackle those problems correctly, I think people are going to need to make peace with the fact that there's no such thing as a good diet/lifestyle where "I can gorge myself on sweet-tasting or decadent foods 3 times a day, 7 days a week, and still maintain a health body weight".

Asking...
"How can we make a cookie that's artificially sweetened and low calorie, so I can still eat 9 of them while bing-watching netflix and lose weight?"
"How can we make a pill or injection so I can still eat fast food till I feel stuffed 5 days a week, but that won't raise my cholesterol/weight?"
...aren't the right approach. And as much as it may pain some folks to hear it, if they want to keep those two problems in-check, they may have to break down and eat some veggies along side a small chicken breast or piece of fish every once in a while, and realize that not every meal needs to be "eat nothing but delicious-tasting foods until I feel full"

I wonder.....

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?

The Republican Embracing of a Felon, is a Disaster

The Republican choice for a presidential candidate convicted of felonies, is having its effect.

To continue down this path, means that the Republican Party will have to start asserting that the fair rule of law in America, is something that can be discarded, whenever they wish.

Continuing to support Trump, is a disastrous choice.

'Opting out': Major retailer refuses to sponsor GOP convention to nominate Trump

Thomas has accepted $4M in gifts during career: Watchdog


Supreme Court justices have received nearly $5 million in gifts since the early 2000s, and one justice in particular, Justice Clarence Thomas, accounts for nearly all of it.
Data released Thursday by watchdog group Fix the Court unveils a list of gifts justices have received since January 2004. The dataset was released ahead of an expected release of the justices’ financial disclosure reports Friday.
Thomas, nominated to the high court by former President George H.W. Bush, made headlines last year after an investigation found he had taken dozens of trips paid for by separate billionaire friends.
According to the data compiled by Fix the Court, since 2004, Thomas has accepted $4,042,286, or 193 gifts. The group reported that, for Thomas, there’s an additional 126 “likely but not confirmed gifts.”
Of the nearly 200 gifts, the group said Thomas only reported 27 of the gifts on his financial disclosures.
When I worked for a Navy contractor many years ago we couldn't even take any of the military personnel we were working with out and pay for their lunch without violating our contracts. This is so transparently unethical and it's so obvious what is going on here and there's nothing that can be done about it? Ridiculous.

Dementia doctor explains what is happening to Trump and Biden

Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk, dementia and Alzheimer's disease expert, joins David Parkman to discuss cognitive concerns about former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden with regard to their age and brain function.

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Harry Segal, clinical psychologist and Senior Lecturer in the Psychology Department at Cornell University and the Department of Psychiatry at Cornell Weill Medical School, joins David to compare and contrast what is being labeled "cognitive decline" with regard to both Donald Trump and President Joe Biden

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Cursed by parents = Doomed?

Hi all, I am in a particularly dark and lonely time in my life, and would appreciate some Christian encouragement, advice and prayers.

I come from a broken family. Both my parents would profess to being strong Christians but fight often with each other and pretty much non stop spout venom about their other half, or venom about other people, or about how the world has mistreated them...kind of like what you are about to hear in this post...I am sorry but I have to state what happens to get advice and prayers for it, but everyone is anonymous here.

For example, I have tried to get my parents to focus on and talk about positive things for just one day (like their birthday) or even 30 minutes....but they are unable to do so. It seems almost like a spiritual wall; after I complete the sentence they would immediately be talking about how someone wronged them, or somesuch.

Both my parents committed adultery to get together and I was their first son as a result of it. Could I have been doomed from birth like David and Bathsheba's firstborn son because of this? My parents became Christians after they divorced their first partners and married.

At various points in my life, my parents have cursed me, for example saying that I am a bad seed, a wicked person, will never amount to anything good or have never brought them good news. Like a piece of paper cut by a pair of scissors, I remember the events although for some of them my parents claim they do not remember.

My life itself has been that of an afflicted Christian, so the words of my parents if they did not already cut deep, resonate in my life like an echo chamber because of the evidence I see of how my life is.

For example, I have had multiple near death experiences in my life since I was a baby (choked, drowned, many different accidents, attempted suicide, etc.). I was falsely accused and ended up in prison with a criminal record for crimes I did not do. I have been unemployed for a few years already, despite having a PhD. I am in my early 40s and have no family of my own. When I see my other siblings and friends have happy families, jobs and moving forward career-wise, it saddens me because I think about the life I could have had if things were different.

I try to read the Bible every day, and pray, and thank God for giving me life despite my circumstances, and saving me from all my trials and tribulations. I always try to give credit to God for any accomplishments I do, and I pray that God would exonerate me from false accusers, show kindness to me in the land of the living and to prove wrong people who condemn me on the basis of my life's afflictions.

It does look like my life is cursed. In Genesis we see Jacob curse some of his sons. Also, we see in Isaac/Esau/Jacob that the blessings of our parents are irrevocable, likewise the curses?

What do you suggest I do in the circumstances? My parents are in their 80s. I feel like I have to honor them while they are still alive but the whole relationship is toxic.

Is my life doomed because of the curses of my parents upon me?

Please pray for me.

Need prayer for an apartment

Hi everyone, I would greatly appreciate your prayers- I am in a situation where I would like to move out of my current apartment ASAP and I would like to move into a 3 or 4 bedroom house or apartment with some friends that are believers in Christ, however my parents are acting like they are not going to allow it. They are trying to run my life, they are saying they will cut off my health insurance unless I do what they say and I need the insurance for medication that I am on. I really want to move in with 3 friends, I know them well and we will get along fine, we can get a nice 4 bedroom place in town that I can easily afford and it would also be a tremendous blessing to live with other believers. Please pray that my parents will allow me to do this! Thank you!

Humility and Pride, Please Share your personal thoughts on their Contrast. Discussion, not Debate, please

Non Debate Thread. This OP is asking for you, the reader to share your thoughts on how Pride contrasts against Humility as biblically defined within this OP. All Loving participation desired and welcome. Biblical Examples of either that you can think of are not only welcome, but wanted, even if they involve narrative from scripture that helps further define these terms, that doesn't specifically use the words.

6038. anavah This is the Hebrew Transliteration for the word Humility and it has 4 occurrences in the OT.
gentleness (1), help (1), humility (4), meekness (1).​
Proverbs 15:33
The fear of the Lord is what wisdom teaches, and humility comes before honor.​
1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. 14 But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.​
Proverbs 18:12
Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.​
Proverbs 16:5: "The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished".​
Proverbs 16:18: "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall".​
Luke 14:11: "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted".​
I Peter 5:6: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time".​
James 4:6: "God gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud"​
Proverbs 22:4
The result of humility is fear of the Lord, along with wealth, honor, and life.​
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.​
1 Timothy 4:8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.​
Zephaniah 2:3
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who carry out what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the Lord’s anger.​
Colossians 3:2-4 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.​
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.​
5012. tapeinophrosune This is the Greek Transliteration for the word Humility and it has 8 occurrences in the NT.
humility, lowliness of mind, modesty​
Acts 20:19 N-GFS
serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews—
Ephesians 4:2 N-GFS
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love,
Philippians 2:3 N-DFS
Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.
Colossians 2:18 N-DFS
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated without cause by his unspiritual mind.
Colossians 2:23 N-DFS
Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.
Colossians 3:12 N-AFS
Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
1 Peter 3:8 Adj-NMP
Now, to say over, all of you be an agudah (bound together union) in your thinking, have achdus, be sympathetic, having ahavah (agape) for the Achim b’Moshiach [Tehillim 133:1], being tenderhearted men of mercy v’shiflei ruach (and lowly of spirit),​
Psalms 133:1 A song of ascents of David. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers also to dwell together!​
1 Peter 5:5 N-AFS
In the same way, you younger men, be subject to the elders. And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud
but gives grace to the humble.​

1344. geah This is the Hebrew Transliteration for the word Pride and has 1 occurrence in the OT.
pride and arrogance (1).​
Proverbs 8:13
To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse ( to distort, misinterpret, corrupt) speech.​

5243. huperéphania This is the Greek Transliteration for the word Pride and has 1 occurrence in the NT.
pride, arrogance, disdain​
Mark 7:22 N-NFS
adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, promiscuity, stinginess, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.​

My take on Biblical inerrancy

The word "inerrant" is not in the Bible. The term is not in the Scripture. I neither believe nor disbelieve it. When it comes to doctrines, I prefer to adhere to the phraseology of the Scripture. I would not bother using the term in the formal doctrinal sense. People who like to generalize tend to overgeneralize in a doctrine. More precisely, I know the following:

2 Timothy 3:

16a All Scripture is God-breathed.
See Is the Bible the word of God?.

Buying already prepared food vs cooking them

I have bought Dutch Farms hardboiled eggs, they come in a sealed package and refrigerated lasts about 2 months, I then buy a 1 1/2 a cup of cut fruits. I am having this every day for breakfast.

Other than the added costs, what am I potentially missing out on or even end up risking by buying these already prepared foods, then doing it myself? I have never gotten sick from eating these, I hear the food standards and safety is high here in America.

Beauty queen/Apprentice contestant who confessed married Trump kissed her now claims he tried to go further

Among claims made by former "Apprentice" winner Randall Pinkett to Setoodeh [in a new book] is that the married Donald Trump wouldn't stop talking about how much he wanted to have sex with another contestant, Jennifer Murphy, The Atlantic reported.

Murphy, a 26-year-old beauty queen at the time of the taping, has spoken out about Trump's affection for her previously, claiming he gave her a "little kiss."

While she previously spoke about the "little kiss," now she says Trump also "invited her to his room at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She declined the invitation because he was married to his current wife, Melania," The Atlantic wrote.

“I have a conscience,” Murphy explained to Setoodeh, implying that the invitation was for sex. “I have integrity. I made up a reason I was busy."

“I think he looked at me in a way like he does his daughter,” Murphy told the book's author. “But also, I did think he had the hots for me a bit.”

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