Dan Perez said:

AND THE SABBATH. means the SABBATH. , PERIOD !!

dan p

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No it doesn't. There is the weekly Sabbath about worship Isa66:23 and honoring God Isa 58:13 Exo20:8-11 and the annual sabbaths that had to do with animal sacrifices- festivals, offerings etc. If they were all the same both would have started at Creation, only one did Exo20;11 and was part of God's perfect plan before sin entered, the others came after the fall, once man sinned. One was written by God, the other written by Moses, one was inside the ark of the covenant, the others were outside the ark. Why we need to read our Bibles and not depend on our words as if its the same, when its not.

iluvatar5150 said:

The case is still ongoing, but according to the indictment, they paid Poole $100k per episode. In media production world, the title "producer" is annoyingly ambiguous and can have a bunch of different meanings with one of them being "financier."

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I know. I once watched the credits for a 22 minute TV sitcom. There were 3 executive producers, 12 producers, 27 co-producers, and 139 assistant producers, lol. The show was probably produced by more people than watched it. I suspect people are having lunch, and one of them says "Hey I'm starting a new project. If you pick up the tab I'll give you a producer credit".

But Tim has complete editorial control. He's seen enough to not be a dupe.

iluvatar5150 said:

I don't know. The indictment didn't say.

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I just don't get what your beef is. The aim of Russian and Chinese propaganda is to sow division to bring down America and the West. That's what your side of the aisle is already doing 24/7 anyway.

iluvatar5150 said:

Without knowing who did the shooting, it's impossible to know why. Maybe it was just some randos getting drunk and firing out their windows. Maybe it was somebody with a vendetta against guys in knit hats.

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I heard him say they had received death threats in October which were deemed credible by the FBI. And the threats came from some person(s) who are already "on their radar" for making threats to other conservative figures.

Dan1988 said:

I'm not sure what you believe about tithes and offering in the Church, but I can tell you that God takes this Church ordinance very seriously.

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I am referring to you stating that your pastor threatens church members with ex-communication over who they socialise with. It is not about money.

I am sorry you are facing this experience in your life, and thank Jesus for your faith to give you strength.

I have living relatives that I am not talking to because of advice from the police that it would be dangerous to communicate with them. It was impossible to explain this to any of my family, because it would also be dangerous to let on that the police said that.

I was raised in church, always liked it, missed some years as an adult, but never lost my own faith. Everyone who knew my family when we were together found us to be kind and helpful people. The internal dynamics were constant extreme stress. All it took was a secret, a lie, and one very bad influence on one person (a toxic friend) and the whole thing was a nightmare. If one person's needs start always, consistantly coming before another, family life has gone in real terms. If the attitude to one or more members is biased, in favour of or against, family life has gone. If everyone listens to whoever is shouting loudest, or crying hardest, instead of whoever is making the smartest suggestion family life has gone. It was a source of a kind of shame for me, especially regarding church, because I did not want to accuse other members of the church of doing very wrong things without proof.

I pray constantly for a restoration of healthy family dynamics in the western world, I look out for every way I might be able to help others learn from the disaster that I survived which called itself my family. I also ask Jesus to restore my contact with any willing relatives I still have, but there is a safety standard that they would have to recognise before that can be done.

Postvieww said:

So anything only mentioned only 1 time in scriptures is not considered to be inspired scripture?????

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To me inspired means an agent of influence. Things that are not true still can be written from some ideology of inspiration.

Thanks for starting this topic.

I play War of Rights.

The base game focuses on being historical. They did have a Risen Dead Event in October for a few weeks where you had to survive waves of zombies and titans. But you didn't play as any of them nor did you have to do any witchcraft or draw pentagrams or circles or stuff. You just had to reload your muzzle loader and fire them off as a team to survive the waves of undead. That's a 3 week event in October. I am curious how the other events play throughout the rest of the year.

I am trying to cut out elements from the video games I play too. I started playing Where Winds Meet, then got to a point in the game where you bow in front of statues and would be rewarded with gifts. Should have seen that one coming.

I am playing Star Citizen as well, but have not seen any witchcraft or anything like that in the game so far.

..

RocksInMyHead said:

Can you name the car with four-wheel drive, smells like a steak, and seats 35?

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... Canyonero!

stevevw said:

I am not American so I could not vote lol.

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Steve, I know that you are a middle-aged Australian. But if I didn't, I would be forced to conclude that you were a 19-year-old homeschooled MAGA Trump superfan who went 5 years ago to the Capitol riot with his father (who stopped watching Fox News because it was "too woke" after firing Tucker Carlson) and is now aggrieved that his boss at the Piggly Wiggly won't let him wear his red MAGA cap while bagging groceries and who only recently learned that throughout his primary (home) schooling Pres. Obama had been ordering drone strikes in Afghanistan.

Even the most ardent American Trump defender here (and I have tangled with them all) have a far better awareness than you do and are not nearly so into the "deranged level of bias" (to quote you immediately below this) that you are. They have a lot better idea what America is like. They know our history a lot better. They experienced the news coverage of strikes under earlier presidents. They've watched the "drug war" for decades. They had to decide who to support in the 2016 election that first brought Trjmp to power. And I think more importantly, they know which of the conservative media and political figures who are concerned by these events have backed Trump in the past. (Even I don't know that one all that well.)

stevevw said:

I am explaining how there is a deranged level of bias and partisan politics against Trump and by extenstion his admin and supporters.

That this motivates haters to create falsehoods in the negative before any evidence or facts come out. They have been busted time and time again.

So all this negative spectualtion is not just coming hate and is biased.

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In the last few days (including since the post I am responding to) you have invoked "Russiagate", "Epstein", Trump's legal issues, "FBI investigations in to GOP members of Congress", Larry Summers, "Bill Clinton and Epstein", Soros, Fraud in minnesota, the "deplorables" comment, and so on and so forth with the MSM and leftists and "anti-Christian bias". (The last I can only assume is because some of us arguing with you or against the strikes are non-Christians.)

None of this has a single thing to do with this CURRENT EVENTS topic. At this point, I can only conclude that the concept of "on topic" is incomprehensible to you.

The Liturgist said:

Indeed - this is an interesting point.

You might enjoy reading the Orthodox theotokia, particularly the stavrotheotokia, the hymns venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross.

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Very kind of you. Thank you.
i looked for short (for i 'm lazy) examples of stavrotheotokion, and failed to find

Some of these Christmas messages I’m seeing aren’t right. The right message is what you & God want are different & God knows what’s best for you

BelieveItOarKnot said:

Paul himself had evil present with him, Romans 7:21, never claimed to be sinless, Romans 3:9 and even outright stated he had a messenger of Satan in his own flesh, 2 Cor. 12:7, inclusive of temptation in his flesh, Gal. 4:14. Paul also never exempted himself from any Word of God, as most are prone to do today.

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Again, you throw up a strawman argument about claiming I am suggesting, some people are sinless, which I never even suggested.

A lot is made of the fact Paul switched to the present tense in these verses, but was there a reason that the Roman reader to pick up on this switch and better understand what Paul was saying? We are reading other peoples mail to Romans in Rome during the first century, so what would be the best way to communicate a huge victory over sin to them?



When Mark describes in his Gospel is Christ’s great battle with a climatic victory being Christ rising, he wrote it in the “historic present tense”. Supporting the idea Mark was in Rome at the time.

What Paul is describing in Romans 7: 14-24 is a great battle and final climatic victory over sin in the “historic present tense”.

Sin has purpose for the nonbeliever, but what “purpose” does it have in the believer life?

When Deity dwelled unquenched in a human (Christ) it did not sin, so does deity dwell within Christians, so the problem is really the quenching of the Spirit?



On every major street corner in Rome were monuments to some great Roman victory, some parts of these monuments are in museums today and below each is given an exciting climatic description of the battle in the “historic present tense”. This was the same description carried by messengers sent out by the general over the Roman Empire, after a great victory.



Similar to this Roman section on (the war and victory over sin) is Mark’s whole Gospel of Christ’s war against satan’s follows of this world”.

As far as Ro. 7: 14-24

The Gospel of Mark was mimicking the messages that were sent out by the Roman generals after winning a great battle. These messages went with messengers to dramatically present the battle with the victory at the end, to the cheers of the crowd. They were always in the present tense and we have some copies that were written in stone under the battle monuments that were spread throughout Rome. The Gospel of Mark is written in the style of these Victory Messages sent by the Roman General to the Roman Empire and Mark’s is very much a victory message. Do you think, Paul in keep with the Roman culture of the day, would have written His victorious battle over sin in the present tense to the Romans in Rome?

It is called the “historic present tense”, by scholars and would fit what Paul was saying to the Romans.

This topic and the use of Romans 7: 14-24 come up a lot and a lot has been written on it.

The context helps and you need to address these questions:



1. When did Paul learn about “coveting”?

2. When did this problem start for Paul?

3. Does Paul continue in the misery and what would relief this misery?

4. Is “just being forgiven” a good solution to the problem?

5. When did Paul obtain the solution?

The answer to the problem of sinning while here on earth is solved with Romans chapter 8 and the indwelling holy Spirit.

We are all being temped by sin, but True Christians have the indwelling Holy Spirit to overcome those temptations. Ro. 3:9

2 Cor. 12:7 talks about the help he receives from satan’s thorn in the flesh Paul was given, but that is not satan himself living in Paul.

Gal. 4: 14 “and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.”

We all get sick sometimes while on earth, but that can help us.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

It really shouldn't be all that hard to figure out, even without scriptures, that we are tempted often, and internally, in effect blindsided from out of nowhere, and not from our own minds, but in mind nevertheless.

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1 Cor. 10: 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

These are not hard observations by either scripture or by experience. We ALL have an evil conscience.

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We can use our failures of the past as part of our witness, since we are no longer the same person.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

And we ALL have adversaries that are unseen. This really should be common knowledge among believers, not this lying "I am exempt" nonsense that most carry. It's really not even them making such statements. They are statements under the influences.

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All mature adults have sinned in the past, but the indwelling Spirit does not sin, but we can quench the Spirit and sin.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

God bound everyone to disobedience...Romans 11:32 and that disobedience is an unseen spiritual adversary, Eph. 2:2

These are, in essence the very same TWO VESSELS that Paul writes of in Romans 9, in ONE LUMP Paul termed "me."

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Romans 9

Paul uses two teaching methods throughout Romans even secular philosophy classes will use Romans as the best example of these methods. Paul does an excellent job of building one premise on the previous premises to develop his final conclusions. Paul uses an ancient form of rhetoric known as diatribe (imaginary debate) asking questions and most of the time giving a strong “By no means” and then goes on to explain “why not”. Paul’s method goes beyond just a general diatribe and follows closely to the diatribes used in the individual laments in the Psalms and throughout the Old Testament, which the Jewish Christians would have known extensively. These “questions or comments” are given by an “imaginary” student making it more a dialog with the readers (students) and not just a “sermon”.

The main topic repeated extensively in Romans is the division in the Christian house churches in Rome between the Jews and Gentile Christians. You can just look up how many times Jews and gentiles are referred to see this as a huge issue.



The main question (a diatribe question) in Romans 9 Paul addresses is God being fair or just Rms. 9: 14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!



This will take some explaining, since just prior in Romans 9, Paul went over some history of God’s dealings with the Israelites that sounds very “unjust” like “loving Jacob and hating Esau” before they were born, but remember in all of Paul’s diatribes he begins before, just after or before and just after with strong support for the wrong answer (this makes it more of a debate and giving the opposition the first shot as done in all diatribes).



Who in Rome would be having a “problem” with God choosing to work with Isaac and Jacob instead of Ishmael and Esau? Would the Jewish Christian have a problem with this or would it be the Gentile Christians?



If God treaded you as privileged and special would you have a problem or would you have a problem if you were treated seemingly as common and others were treated with honor for no apparent reason?



This is the issue and Paul will explain over the rest of Romans 9-11.



Paul is specific with the issue Rms. 9: 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?”



Who is the “one of you” is this Jewish Christian (elect) or Gentile Christian (elect) or is this “non-elect” individual (this “letter” is written to Christians and not non-Christians)?



Can Jews say they cannot be blamed for failing in their honored position or would it be the Gentiles that would say they cannot be blamed since they were not in the honored position?



Is it really significant when it comes to what really counts, if you are born a gentile or Jew in first century Rome?



Are there issues and problems with being a first century Jew and was this a problem for Paul?



The Jews were created in a special honorable position that would bring forth the Messiah and everyone else was common in comparison (the Gentiles).



How do we know Paul is specifically addressing the Jew/Gentile issue? Rms. 9: 30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.



Paul is showing from the position of being made “common” vessels by God the Gentiles had an advantage over the born Israelites (vessels of honor) that had the Law, since the Law became a stumbling stone to them. They both needed faith to rely on God’s Love to forgive them.



Without going into the details of Romans 9-11 we conclude with this diatribe question: Romans 11: 11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!



The common vessels (gentiles) and the vessels of honor (Jews) are equal individually in what is really significant when it comes to salvation, so God is not being unjust or unfair with either group.



If there is still a question about who is being addressed in this section of Rms. 9-11, Paul tells us: Rms. 11: 13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.

Rm 9: 22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?

This verse is not saying all the “vessels” created for a “common purpose” were created for destruction (they were not made from the start by the Potter “clay pigeons”). Everything that leaves the potter’s shop is of great quality. Those vessels for destruction can come from either the common group or the honor group, but God is being patient with them that will eventually be destroyed. The vessels God does develop great wrath against, will be readied for destruction, but how did they become worthy of destruction since they left the potter’s shop with his mark on them? Any vessel (honorable or common) that becomes damaged is not worthy of the potter’s signature and He would want it destroyed.

To understand this as Common vessels and special vessels look at the same idea using the same Greek words of Paul in 2 Tim 2: 20. There Paul even points out the common can become the honored vessel.

2 Tim. 2: 20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Important to note is the fact: the dishonorable vessel can cleanse themselves and become vessels of honor.

That is a short explanation, since you really need to study all of Romans especially chapters 9, 10 and 11. Also please look at individual laments in the Psalms and diatribes in general, I really cut those short

BelieveItOarKnot said:

It was your used translation that used the term "some people." That doesn't exist in the KJV or other translations.

ALL parables consist of 3 parties: God/people and the devil

The parable is The Word. Luke 8:11

Most often these terms are rightfully stated as "these" and "they. No one is exempt from Mark 4:15 OR the remaining parts of the parables because ---> ALL people are God's children bound with our adversaries in our flesh. It's also the identical principle spoken of by Paul in Gal. 4:21-29, and many other places throughout the scriptures.

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The content has four very different soils: hard packed down, rocky, thorny and fertile and they all cannot be the same.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

God does really want people to understand, but likewise the devils will never understand and to them, they will neither understand and they will resist, obfuscate, disobey every single time.

Since in the end there will be no harm, no foul to people, it all works out and we will have served His Purposes for us in these events of our lives.

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WOW! We have no objective for spending time here on earth.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

That is only what you'd prefer it to say. I really don't see how anyone can honestly come to that conclusion if they believe Jesus, that man shall LIVE by EVERY WORD of God.

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Jesus is not talking about one soil, but four different soils.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

Your position has obviously both rejected personal applicability of Mark 4:15 and Matt. 4:4, Luke 4:4 and Deut. 8:3

Again, no blame to you as a person. It's really meant to happen this way

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You cannot defend your interpretation as being the most likely alternative.

essentialsaltes said:

Sportswear boss offers his £3billion firm to anyone who can prove Earth is flat​

In a video posted on Columbia Sportswear’s YouTube channel on Tuesday (December 2), the boss, dressed in a casual navy quarter-zip and red and white checked shirt, challenged conspiracy theorists to prove him wrong


But by about 300 BCE, educated scholars overwhelmingly accepted that the Earth is a sphere

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They was all part of a Satanical conspiracy.

partinobodycular said:

But if I buy the whole Orthodox Christian story of 'God the creator' then I have to ask myself... why in the heck did God do such a poor job? I mean just think about it, the earth that you and I live on is currently crawling with a 'multitude' of fallen angels and demons who are constantly trying to corrupt our very souls. Thank you God for the 'wonderful' world that you've created for me to live on.

That seems like a horrible plan to me, and therefore the Orthodox Christian God is somebody that I'm not really willing to accept as a worthy recipient of my undying praise and admiration. Surely that's not an unreasonable position for me to take.

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God, Who owns and has all the gold and silver and gems in the entire universe at His disposal, is willing to give it all up for something He doesn't have yet.

You.

BNR32FAN said:

Then why did He say get the beam out of your own eye, then you can see clearly enough to take the speck out of your friend’s eye?

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Christ often used things like parables, hyperbole, metaphors, and similes to make his point.

For instance he commanded that we be perfect even as God is perfect and yet none of us are in ourselves.

Jesus gave extreme commands to people at times that were all but impossible to obey such as telling a man who had been lame for 30 plus years to take up his bed roll and walk. Or commanding a person with a withered hand to stretch it out.

These commands fortunately came with his divine power so that the impossible became possible.

Unfortunately many who are obsessed with social Justice are attempting the impossible by their own power. They believe that what they deem as just and unjust is a fact and that could be the biggest log they have in their eye.

The industry of social Justice is a very hard place to check one’s ego where as in the gosple the ego finds no purchase.

Many recognize Dec. 7, 1941 as the date the Empire of Japan attacked the US. And we, quite rightly, remember that date. But there is another date coming up, that represents events equally or more horrible.

On December 13, 1937, the Japanese invaded the city of Nanking. The defending forces scattered, and General Iwane Matsui in command of the Japanese Central China Area Army entered the city. The course of that army was marked by appalling atrocities, including killing contests and the massacre of whole villages. When they entered the city, it got worse. For example -

...the Nanqiantou hamlet near Wuxi was set on fire, with many of its inhabitants locked within the burning houses. Two women, one a 17-year-old girl and the other pregnant, were raped repeatedly until they could not walk. Afterwards, the soldiers rammed a broom into the teenager's vagina and stabbed her with a bayonet, then "cut open the belly of the pregnant woman and gouged out the fetus". A crying two-year-old boy was wrestled from his mother's arms and thrown into the flames, while the hysterically sobbing mother was bayoneted and thrown into a creek. The remaining thirty villagers were bayoneted, disemboweled, and also thrown into the creek.

Prince Yasuhiko Asaka was installed as temporary commander in the campaign. He issued an order - "kill all prisoners".

Estimates of the number slaughtered range from the most common of 100,000 to 200,000. And then there were the rapes. Tens of thousands of them.

Japanese soldier Takokoro Kozo recalled:

Women suffered most. No matter how young or old, they all could not escape the fate of being raped. We sent out coal trucks to the city streets and villages to seize a lot of women. And then each of them was allocated to fifteen to twenty soldiers for sexual intercourse and abuse. After raping we would also kill them.[86]

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The women were often killed immediately after being raped, often through explicit mutilation,[87] such as by penetrating vaginas with bayonets, long sticks of bamboo, or other objects. For example, a six-months pregnant woman was stabbed sixteen times in the face and body, one stab piercing and killing her unborn child. A young woman had a beer bottle rammed up her vagina after being raped, and was then shot.

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Pearl Harbor was bad enough, but at least it was a military target. Nanking wasn't war. It was demonic.

There were other casualties. Minnie Vautrin was a missionary in Nanking, who tried desperately to save as many as she could, sheltering them in the school she headed. She saved many, but she could do nothing for the others. In 1941, she was able to return to the US after 28 years of missionary service in China. But, haunted by the memories of those she could not save, she took her own life.

Over the entrance to Dachau it says, "Forgive, but never forget". On December 13, let's forgive. But we must never forget.

Regards,
Shodan

Valletta said:

“The evil of human trafficking cannot be overstated. It’s modern-day slavery. By leaving our borders open and even encouraging people to come here illegally, Biden enabled the largest human-trafficking operation in modern history,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said after a rescue operation this past July.

NEW: Immigration Agents Have Rescued More Than 60,000 Children From Human Smugglers

Federal immigration agents under the Trump Administration have rescued more than 62,000 migrant children from situations involving sex trafficking and forced labor, White House border czar Tom Homan announced Sunday. “Over half a million children were smuggled into this country under Joe Biden,”...

trendingpoliticsnews.com

May God bless continued efforts to rescue victims of human trafficking.

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Here’s what was actually said about the 62,000 children by Tom Holman. “SOME OF THEM were in sex trafficking, SOME were in forced labor”.

Login to view embedded media
So after hearing it from Tom Holman himself, would you agree that the article you posted in the OP is incorrect?

A2SG said:

Well, that is certainly new.

-- A2SG, maybe it will start a new trend....

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His "base" would never stand for that.

GoldenBoy89 said:

Cruelty is the point and the goal.

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It's a shame, really. ICE is actually doing good work (in cooperation with local police even in "sanctuary cities") rounding up actual criminal gangsters that they have to be shy taking credit for because MAGA isn't really about that. Trump wants them to show that they can rough up people on ideological grounds.

Thank you for your service.

I have prayed over each area mentioned in your post. It was long, but so worthwhile.

May you be blessed and encouraged and protected in the work you’re doing.

Around 2,000 Christians from across India gathered in New Delhi to protest rising, sustained and systematic violence against the religious minority community. Speakers at the gathering called attention to a 500% rise in reported violence since 2014, and largely with impunity.

Representing over 200 denominations, civil society groups and legal advocates, the Christians rallied under the banner of the National Christian Convention on Nov. 29, affirming their faith in the Indian Constitution, and calling for unity, justice and hope.

From 139 reported cases of violence against Christians in 2014, the number rose to 834 in 2024, with nearly 5,000 incidents documented over the past decade, according to the United Christian Forum, one of the organizers of the convention.

Continued below.

One hundred children kidnapped from a Catholic boarding school in central Nigeria last month have been released by their captors and transported to the capital, authorities confirmed Sunday. The fate of more than 160 other students and staff members abducted in the same attack remains unknown.

The mass abduction occurred before dawn on Nov. 21, when armed men stormed St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Niger State, and seized 315 students and staff, most of them children aged between 9 and 14, at gunpoint.

On Sunday, Nigerian presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare confirmed 100 of the children had been freed, according to Agence France-Presse. They were flown to Abuja and were expected to be handed over to the Niger State government on Monday.

A United Nations source told AFP that arrangements were being made to transfer the children back to state officials. Reports did not specify whether the release was achieved through negotiation, ransom or military intervention, and no information was available on the condition or location of the remaining hostages.

Local church officials said they had not yet received formal notification from the federal government.

Continued below.

essentialsaltes said:

'We know that Jesus was born into a Roman imperial occupation, and pretty much immediately becomes a refugee in Egypt, has to flee and faces political violence,' the Rev. Michael Woolf said.

The pastor noted Department of Homeland Security agents have tear-gassed protesters in the area and that locals reported seeing children among those detained with zip ties by federal agents during a recent high-profile immigration raid in a nearby apartment building. DHS has denied the latter claim, although evidence of similar actions has been reported elsewhere.

[in his church's display,] Jesus, who typically is depicted lying in hay, is instead nestled in a reflective blanket often used by immigrants in detention, with his hands bound with zip ties. And behind the family stands three Roman centurions wearing vests with a very modern label: ICE, or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Churchgoers at Saint Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, recently erected a similar immigration-themed Nativity just outside their building. The display includes traditional depictions of the magi, stable animals and other figures, but the banner above reads “Peace on Earth?” And propped up in the center of the arrangement, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus would normally appear, sits a sign that reads: “ICE was here.”

The same faith-fueled movement is inspiring another immigration-themed Nativity scene on Christmas Eve, this time featuring real-life participants. The Rev. Dave Woessner, an Episcopal priest and congregational coordinator with the Massachusetts Council of Churches, said his team is organizing a Christmas worship service outside of an ICE facility in Burlington that will feature a real-life recreation of Jesus’ birth — including, potentially, a donkey.

Woessner, who works with communities impacted by deportation efforts, said he and others have convened a weekly vigil outside the ICE facility for 33 weeks straight. The faith leaders have also attempted to accompany immigrants who are appearing for ICE check-ins, but have been repeatedly denied.

After Fox and other conservative media outlets picked up the [first] display, Woolf said his church has received an avalanche of calls — many supportive, but others decidedly not.

“There’s been some suggestions that I should kill myself,” Woolf said.

Josoma reported a similar influx of messages.

“You get a lot of support, but as it goes on, most — not all, but most — of the negative ones aren’t really conversational,” he said. “They’re just swearing and yelling.”

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It is about knowing the difference between immigrant and refugee. a refugee seeks refuge until the danger he is fleeing from is over,

relieved he returns. Matthew 2:13-14, Matthew 2:19-20.

Bob S said:

And when a change in the priesthood happens there are changes in the law.
Hebrews 7:12
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the l

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Yes, Bob. One of the most deceiving tactics used by deceivers, "Who come in Christ's name", is to quote some of God's Word to promote a philosophy or doctrine that would not stand if more of God's Word is considered. I have observed for many years, the promoters of this world's religions use "some" scripture, but omits the weightier parts because to include them would actually expose their religion as wrought in man, and not God. One of the more egregious examples of this evil tactic is concerning Hebrews 7:11. where the Spirit of Christ in the Hebrews author details for us the truth about the Old Priesthood covenant, and the New.

Heb. 7: 11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) "what further need was there" that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called "after the order of Aaron"?

In the Old Priesthood, a person received God's Laws and forgiveness of transgression of God's Laws through the Levitical Priesthood, that Abraham wasn't under because it wasn't ADDED until 430 years after him. But this was only a temporary Priesthood Covenant with corruptible Priests and animal sacrifices given them on Mt. Sinai that was Prophesied to change.

12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

The deceiver stops right here, and says, "See, we don't have to submit to God's Laws we don't like". Refusing to show others what is specifically spelled out in the very next 7 verses, which shows perfectly, in great detail, exactly what Law changed, out of necessity, and the reason why it was changed. This exact same evil tactic was used by the very first deceiver, "who professed to know God" in the beginning with Eve.

Gen. 3: 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat "of every tree of the garden"?

And sure enough, when I go back and read God's Word for myself, I find:

Gen. 2: 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden "thou mayest freely eat":

So the deceiver preaches, "By God's Own Words", "See. God Commanded the man to eat of "EVERY Tree" in the garden".

And a man can be deceived by this, unless they follow Jesus instruction and consider Every Word inspired by God.

You don't have to fall for this tactic Bob. Read what Law changed in the New Priesthood Covenant. Set yourself free from the deception promoted by the "course of this world".

Bob S said:

Is that something new? That is what I was taught and as far as I know most of Christianity believes that, so where is the lie you say we are living under?

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The "LIE" is the popular deceitful practice of quoting only "Some" of God's Word for the purpose of defending and promoting a falsehood. In this case, that a man can reject any Law of God they don't like, and live after the imagination of their own hearts, and they "Shall surely not die". The Spirit of the Christ, "of the Bible" warns us of this in Jeremiah 23.

16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one "that walketh after the imagination of his own heart", No evil shall come upon you.

Bob S said:

The "old Priesthood Law" you are referring is was the Sinai Covenant.

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To make this statement true, it should read "The "old Priesthood Law" you are referring is was the LAW that was ADDED "Because of Transgressions" on Sinai Covenant. And it is the Covenant that changed. As the Scriptures just laid out for you.

Bob S said:

No, it was the Law that was the schoolmaster not some priesthood as you have implied. Be careful what you are trying to teach.

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All men have sinned, and are in need of salvation. The Levitical Priesthood sacrifices for sin, was to lead men to the Prophesied Christ, without whom there is no forgiveness.

I will ask you another question and see if you will answer. Were Zacharias, Simeon and Anna, (Luke 1&2) led to Christ for their salvation before HE was even born? Was David not led to this same Christ?

This temporary Law was designed in the very beginning, to foreshadow Christ's saving Life (Blood), and put in place, "Till the Seed Should come".

You don't know this Bob, because you are taught by the religions of this world.

Bob S said:

What does all you have written have to do with where we stand today?

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You are promoting a philosophy that God, His Son Jesus, and the Apostles God gave to His Son, all promote a religion where men are free to just reject any of God's Laws they don't like, and as long as they offer to God the Blood of a perfect innocent being, as per God's Law even to this day, they are justified.

The Pharisees religion was exactly the same. They full well rejected God's Commandments that they might live by their own religious traditions. They rejected God's judgments and definition of Holy and Righteousness, and went about establishing their own. And yet every week they would offer the blood of an innocent life, as per the Law, to justify their sins. There is no flesh justified by "works of the Law".

Bob S said:

Today we are under the New and Better Covenant Jesus ordained at Calvary, What the priesthood did or didn't do has nothing to do how we can come directly before Jesus and get remission for breaking His Law of Love, the command He gave all mankind to live by.

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That sounds all churchy and all. But according to what is written, mankind's love and God's Love are two different things. Just as mankind's definition of Holy is different than God's definition of Holy. All I advocate for is submitting to God in search of HIS Righteousness, not submitting to this world's religions who have gone about establishing their own.

But none of this matter unless a man has a repentant, AKA, "Circumcised" heart.

CoreyD said:

When I read the Bible, what I see is that none of the wars God waged had anything to do with the soldiers. ‘Not by valiant troops, nor by might, but in my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

In fact, God didn't even want them to think it was due to their mightiness that they won, because God was the one fighting for them. Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Judges 7:2

These righteous wars were either God's judgment on wicked people, or his delivering his people from their enemies... his enemies.

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You remember that time when God chose 300 of the Israelites?

CoreyD said:

So, what wars are you fighting?

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Like I said, Reformation era or the Sack of Constantinople (First Crusade/Calling of the Varangians) would be fun. Given the right historical sources.

Edit: the right historical sources:

CoreyD said:

That is a question I would ask myself if I were playing FPS games.
In fact, when I was playing a turn based strategy game, shooting and killing aliens, and my brother was playing a FPS, hearing the gunfire, the slashing of flesh, the screams and groan, caused me to ask myself, 'What's the difference between what he is playing, and what I am playing"'
The only difference was third person, as opposed to firs person.

I stopped playing. Why?
I asked myself two questions:

1. How does God feel about these games, and would I feel comfortable if Jesus came to my house and saw me playing these games?
   
   I did not have to guess at the answer. It was right there in Psalm 11:5 The LORD examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence.
   
   
2. Paul wrote at Romans 2:21-24 21 you, therefore, who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who [a]preach that one is not to steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one is not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast [b]in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.
   
   So, how can I be witnessing to people about what the Bible tells us about God, and at the same time not doing what it says? That's hypocritical.

That did it for me. I did not try to rationalize playing the games.
I know it's hard letting go pf the things in Satan's world. After all, he is a skillful bird catcher, and knows what the bird will enjoy nibbling on.
However, as I was saying in the other thread, it's really commendable that persons really make the effort to gibe up things they cherish, just to please God.

You sure you don't want to make a game instead?
Adventure games are fun.

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I’m probably sick, but Soldier of Fortune: Payback is my favourite game right now.

That being said, I think a medieval FPS game has a lot of potential for adventure, history and a lot more.