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  • 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.

CATFISHING? Ai Videos Use Prominent Pastor's Name to Push Their Heretical Teachings

The ministry could have had them removed and there’s prominent cases involving influencers who’ve done the same. The larger goal of deepfakes is regulation through products that confirm our identity like the orb produced by Tools for Humanity. The deepfakes make us uncomfortable so we’ll welcome the solution. They’ll promote its security, trust, etc. But you’re losing your privacy.

~bella

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The law, the commandments, and Christians.

So the same concept must hold for the other things we are discussing too since they all go together. Is it correct to say that in Catholicism, one may not have absolute certainty that...
  • they are one with the Father and the Son (Jn 17:22),
  • they are in Him and He is in them (Jn 17:23),
  • they are joined to the Lord and are one Spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17),
  • they have eternal life because Jesus lives in them (1 Jn 5:11–12), and
  • they shall not come into judgement because they have passed from death into life (Jn 5:24)?

As far as I'm able to understand it, salvation to Catholics is not an experiential thing. In other words, they don't have that answer from heaven about it.
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Angels in heaven

I do not see the concept of guardian angels there, I think that's reading something there that isn't there.
The children are children of God, so their angels are God's angels. Their angels are not angels of darkness, but angels of light. It's specifying 'their', not b/c they belong to an angel, but b/c they belong to the light.

Our angels are no better or no worse b/c God's on each one of our team as his children. When you lose, it's not b/c your angels are a loser. God is over the angels & he knows what he's doing.

So I do not see the concept of you turning into an angel or a child turning into an angel there, either. Is this the part people get that idea from? We know from other parts of the Bible angels are warriors, messengers, & spiritual beings created separate from humans, & not humans, but not divine either. The angels are actually in awe of us. So a part that may appear to be linking humans & angels together as one, like the children are here present tense but they're as angels future tense, we need to be looking at the whole Bible & not one part to understand that that's not right
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The Son of Man and the Throne Room

I think Jesus will come back to earth bodily just once more. He will come back to judge the living and the dead, meaning all the people who have ever lived. The judgment will be in the Kidron Valley (Valley of Jehoshaphat).

2 Timothy 4:1
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

1 Peter 4:5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Hebrews 9:28
so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.


1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

I have changed my mind and agree with you on this point. Thank you for sharing your perspective. :)


I think this future kingdom with Jesus will actually be in heaven where Jesus has already prepared places for his true followers in his Father's house.
My own belief, though highly speculative, is that when Jesus comes again to earth, he will bring his glorified Church with him. However, being that we will have become immortals we may go back and forth dimensionally from the earthly plane to the heavenly plane, just like the angels.

But for a thousand years there will still be mortals on earth, and nations, who will fulfill the climax of world history. There will be Christian nations, Israel included, as well as nations not so disposed to Christianity and yet submissive to it. The Devil will be bound at this time. It will be a time of fulfilling the promises God made to Abraham, to have Israel in Abraham's faith and to have many nations sharing in Abraham's faith--all these Christian nations.

As for those of us who are transformed into immortals we may be in heaven for this thousand years, doing what the angels are doing now, monitoring, managing, and judging. Again, this is purely my speculation. If you have any ideas, I've love to hear them?
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Experimenting with AI

Indeed, although I will also say chatGPT has very good guardrails against racism so what could be going on there is prompt hacking and/or outright fakery. Did you see screenshots or was it just purported output.
Oh, I was actually able to get it to make similar assertions. It's basically a matter of having it assume a persona.
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Tactile Icons

That would be fantastic if you have suggestions. She’s a dear friend that we helped her move recently and I noticed she had some that were raised and I asked her about them. She referred to them a tactile. I’ve been searching around but haven’t found anything so far so I figured I’d check here. Y’all have always been so kind and helpful.
any of the big ones like St Tikhon’s, any of Elder Ephraim’s, St Gregory Palamas, etc
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Ways to deal with being 31 and never having a relationship after improving

Marriage is often like a business transaction even from a Biblical perspective. Everyone's got a price and there's always something you can offer.

As cold as that sounds. Jesus discussed about it as little as possible and the most important part of marriage it seems is not breaking it just like a business contract. The presence of "romance" doesn't seem as important.
It's often "sold" as fun & enjoyable, but I picture a lot of work going into it. What it really is is: you're signing up to take care of the other person & meet their needs.
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Exclusive: The White House is looking to replace Pete Hegseth as defense secretary

There is no Secretary of Defence any more, there is no department of Defence anymore.

They have been renamed to Department of War and Secretary of War.

It is a name change. Nothing more.
I know that Pete Hegseth is a great Secretary of Defense and now a great Secretary of War.
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Are Some Prayers An Exercise In Futility?

It's crazy how wasting people's time is a lucrative business. I suppose it's like selling drugs. Many people also do this on social media platforms as influencers with time-wasting content that doesn't add value to anyone.

It was really bizarre and I understand why companies are investing heavily. Competitive players spend a lot and being on a team is like a second job. They’ve captured their attention and the platforms are milking it by offering perks in the beginning and reducing them over time while raising prices.

I saw the same with physical games. We were huge fans of The Sims and had several editions and expansion packs. But every update included a little less which required another purchase. By the third release I was done. The fourth was gutted and I refused to support the company anymore.

I grew up with Atari and Nintendo and my mother used to take us to the game room and played as well. There were two consoles that came before Atari that we used to play as well. I understand the draw but I’ve seen the same unfold in other areas online. Watching people get sucked into worthless things or destroy their lives keeps you levelheaded.

As for influencers, it was never a draw and my business coach warned us against it. The majority aren’t entrepreneurs in the traditional sense with products and the like. They work for brands and the bulk of their income is derived from pushing their products. But budget cuts can reduce their earnings significantly. We witnessed this with pride day campaigns.

Influencer content comes in three varieties: aspirational, informational and entertainment. All of the channels I follow are educational and I’m always learning something or increasing my proficiency. I’m not into escapism and I was late to YouTube. I don’t look at Tik-Tok, Instagram or X.

Or turning useful people into useless people.

If you take what he said at face value it isn’t possible. The human spirit is resilient when applied. If Ai eliminated jobs a portion of those impacted will seek alternatives. But the ones who don’t are the people he’s referring to. Their willingness to accept government support in place of employment is problematic from their perspective. Because work is a spiritual act at its core. The free time won’t allow them to do xyz and we saw that with covid. The people who used that period productively were doing it elsewhere. That’s the society they want.

It's not just video games. Men can be very involved with hobbies and even fiercely protective of them. I used to have the same problem. But I started losing interest in everything but a few things.

I heartily support hobbies and don’t believe a relationship should be anyone’s orbit. That position belongs to God and the kingdom is inclusive. We’re meant to impact our home, church, community and so on. When the pairing is balanced you welcome those opportunities.

Time with God.
Time with your spouse.
Time with your children.
Time with your family.
Time with friends.
Time with believers.
Time with neighbors and the community.

But that’s predicted on the principle of seeking the kingdom first (step one) and its righteousness (step two) that establishes our priority. Which is the governing influence of heaven on earth in everything and the right alignment/positioning with its authority. That‘s our compass. Once we comply the “rest” will be added. We were never meant to pursue it.

~bella
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might seem silly but I just wonder

I will not question my faith with you, what you are asking about is a matter of belief in the end. I know God is real. Do you? doesn`t sound like it the way you question. I see what you try to do. I do not bite. You know, I used to talk like you, back in the occult. This is quite their standpoint. To refuse to acknowledge God, or make others not believe. However, my experiences are way beyond all that. I have seen things. And no, it is NOT up to debate. END of conversation
Then go to the Christians Only part of this forum. Stay there.
  • Agree
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A Shortlist of Federal Data the Trump Administration Has Tampered With or Destroyed in Acts of Greater Transparency

LINK

Pregnancy and Family-related Data​

  • The Trump administration moved to eliminate the Centers for Disease Control’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), a research program that collects data about people who are pregnant or have recently given birth. It has been running since 1987 and is “the only national survey dataset dedicated to pregnancy and the postpartum period,” according to Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

HIV/Aids Data ‘TBD’​

  • Data collected as part of the U.S. effort to address HIV and AIDS in foreign countries has been taken offline. The program, started by George W. Bush, is known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

No SNAP, No Measure of Hunger, No Problem?​

  • The Trump administration ended the annual U.S. Department of Agriculture survey on food insecurity, just in time for Republicans’ cuts to SNAP to take effect.

No ‘Short-Term Solution’ for Down Census Bureau Tool​

  • The Census Bureau’s QuickFacts website, which usually lists population estimates over several years; age, sex and race; foreign-born and veteran status; and other demographic information for specific regions, has been down since at least August,

Fifteen-Agency National Climate Assessments Initiative Goes Dark​

  • The U.S. Global Change Research Program, an intra-agency initiative between 15 federal agencies which creates the national climate assessments, went offline in June.

Top Viewed Data Set Ends Updates​

  • The Environmental Protection Agency said it would cease updating researchconnected to its highly viewed greenhouse gas emissions calculator after the researcher who created the database was suspended for criticizing the president.

Where Do Homosexual Activists Want the Church to Go?

Pro-homosexual activists working inside the Catholic Church used to ask for pastoral openness as a means to gain sympathy for their cause. They knew that as long as Church doctrine defined homosexual acts as intrinsically disordered and gravely sinful, they were limited to cries for “inclusion” and “welcome.”

Now, however, activists are openly calling for doctrinal change. Inclusion is not enough. Catholics must accept and cherish homosexual relationships as good and normal.

Attacking Pope Leo XIV

Such demands surfaced when Pope Leo XIV recently said that doctrinal change was “highly unlikely, certainly in the near future.” In reply, “queer theologian” Ish Ruiz showed the true face of the movement’s rage with his article, “‘Not in the Near Future’ Is not Good Enough for LGBTQ+ Catholics.”

The article appeared in the misnamed National Catholic Reporter, a media outlet that regularly publishes unorthodox commentaries from leading figures of the Catholic left. The article leaves no doubt as to where the movement wants to go. Activists want the Church to change its immutable teaching. They want gravely sinful actions to no longer be considered so. Ruiz claims they should not settle for anything less. The Gospel timeline is now.

Continued below.
They want us to all become Episcopalians. It's the same playbook they are following. And they are progressing in that direction. The proof of that is that they can state that "Not in the Near Future Is not Good Enough". They are telling us we should jump to attention to become Episcopalians in the near future. We have been told.

I had hoped that these activists would have happily joined the Episcopalians and be done with it. But they have a much bigger goal. They want to totally bugger the Catholic Church. Nothing less will do.
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Let the Left Do What They Want To Do Here In America

I appreciate your input as to what should be done if liberals had no opposition in implementing their policies but what I'm really looking for is would liberal politicians leave conservative people alone to live their own lives the way they see fit or would they come after conservative (who many are religious in nature) people's way of life. Something that you are touching upon a little - their religious life.
Duplicate Post
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Hunter Biden’s Lawyers Put Fox News on Notice, Demand Retractions and an Apology – Or Risk a Defamation Lawsuit


Donald J Trump is the current President of the United States elected by a red tsunami landslide to save the country from the damage done from the previous placeholder.
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The Brokenness of Christianity

A relationship with God is the most important. This helps keep you safe against false doctrine. My attitude in scripture is, I let go of all my preconceived notions of what people tell me scripture says, and if it's truth, when I look into it and research for the answer, I will eventually come full circle. If God takes me in another direction, then I'll follow that until I reach an end point. This is why I say a relationship is most important because without one, where is my guidance and direction? I trust that the Lord will guide and direct me and I don't need a pastor to explain to me what the verse tells me... If they're correct, then the Lord will show me they're correct and if they aren't, then I can ignore them. People put WAY too much stock in spiritual leaders. We have but ONE teacher and that is Christ.
yes because in front of God everyone stands or falls. We have the Word. And we have God.
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Trump joint session speech: "So to our farmers, have a lot of fun. I love you too. I love you too."

The shutdown is delaying Trump's farm bailout. Farmers say it won't be enough even when it happens.

The shutdown is furloughing administration staffers needed to finalize and implement the farmer aid that had been promised to be unveiled on Tuesday, as well as putting on ice any additional money that lawmakers may need to provide.

For now, no new timing is imminent for an announcement, with a Department of Agriculture spokesperson telling Yahoo Finance on Wednesday that the agency "will continue to assess the farm economy and explore the need for further assistance."

"However, there is nothing new to share at this time."

American Soybean Association president Caleb Ragland recently appeared on Yahoo Finance and noted that proposed ideas for $10 billion to $14 billion in aid are akin to "putting a Band-Aid on an open wound."

"We are bleeding economically," he added, saying eventual relief will come "by not having tariffs that are in place," referring to both President Trump's tariffs and the countermeasures from foreign nations.

Farmer Blake Hurst, former president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, added in his own comments that Trump's tariff plans have, in his view, been "a complete bust."

More important to Hurst than a bailout is that he wants Trump to "drop the tariffs and resume normal trade relations."
One reaps what they sow and the definition of insanity is still doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.
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