New Posts

JohnClay · 2025-07-18T22:42:59-0500

CoreyD said:
JohnClay said:

So those other things have overwhelming evidence but the most important part has no obvious evidence? BTW in all other instances kings have a power over the world. It seems your saying that in this instance there is nothing happening that non-believers could detect. I mean actions besides war, famine, and pestilence - unless Jesus the king is responsible for that.

Click to expand...

You did not understand correctly.
The evidence is there - overwhelmingly so. Like a fingerprint.
I'm saying to you that Jesus' followers are looking for it, as opposed to skeptics, and it is them Jesus gave it to.

Are you trying to find out who killed O.J. Simpson's wife? Neither I.
So I won't be looking for any evidence. Detectives will.
If I did take an interest though, I could examine that evidence, and determine what it says, but I need to get that information from the detectives, wouldn't I.
I could then go about the investigation, and accumulate more evidence if there is any.

I'm saying you aren't in such a position, but Jesus followers are.
I'm saying that there is no video tape for those looking for such, but any additional evidence will indeed be found by those detectives.
Jesus followers have that evidence.
They don't need a video tape, and neither does anyone else.

So you're saying Jesus has been ruling as king since about 1914. How have the lives of Jesus' followers changed since 1914? I don't just mean changes due to war, famine, pestilence and lawlessness. I mean due to something else - Jesus ruling as king. Or maybe there has been no change and saying that Jesus has been ruling as king doesn't really involve any changes at all.

CoreyD said:
Are you sure these can be considered miracles?

Putting a cover on wrong is a mistake, isn't it?

Perhaps covers of Bibles are put on upside-down in 1 in 1000 Bibles. But I got a sealed one about a day or two after I read a Bible upside down. And that was within weeks of that Connect 4 set event. Like I said skeptics would just explain that it was coincidence, etc, so that my belief in a non-obvious intelligent force is strengthened. Other parts of the Bible are significant - it was an NIV 2013 version which is the same one that my church had. It had red letters for Jesus words but John 7:53—8:11 was in black instead of red.

Bible Gateway passage: John 7 - New International Version

Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles - After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go...

www.biblegateway.com

In the text itself, not just in the footnotes, it says:
[The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.]
If it wasn't for that Bible I might not have realised that the story of the stoning of the adulteress didn't seem to be part of Jesus' history.
That Bible also is against a key Trinity verse:

Bible Gateway passage: 1 John 5 - New International Version

Faith in the Incarnate Son of God - Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep...

www.biblegateway.com

The footnote says:
1 John 5:8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century)
People like Jack Chick say that that trinity verse was part of the original Bible/text.

CoreyD said:
CoreyD said:

Jesus said...

“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” John 4:48

Click to expand...

JohnClay said:

It says "see" i.e. be an eye witness - not hear about them third or fourth hand, etc. Well I guess that is ambiguous.

Click to expand...

I don't understand what you are trying to say here.

Jesus apparently performed miracles. People "saw" them and believed. I haven't "seen" the miracles that Jesus performed.

Hans Blaster · 2025-07-18T22:38:14-0500

The post-episode 28 evolution of the volcano has reached the point where typically there would be an eruption about 24 from now in either direction. The ongoing inflation of the summit from magma flowing into the storage system that directly feeds the eruption. Under prior conditions (for the last few months) at this level of inflation we would be seeing time-varied glow from the two vents and then intermittent spattering. After that there could be hours to a day or so of "gas-pistoning" where the magma level rises near to the opening and may briefly overflow before retreating downward without fountaining. That could also go on for many hours up to a day or so, before the primary eruption begins with low fountains and overflows that transition to high fountaining as the degassed magma at the top of the column is pushed out and the fountains get pushed by gasses coming out of solution just like an uncapped bottle of pop.

That hasn't happened. No sign of major, periodic glow. No magma rising near the surface. No spattering. Something has changed. One thing we do know is that the south vent has been weakening in outflows in recent episodes, with none in the last episode and a lot of lava piled on top of it. That vent may be dead. Slumping of the ejecta from the last episode has also partially blocked the north vent. Let's see what the USGS report for today said:

"Incandescence in the crater last night was limited, mostly to a crack system on the tephra cone just above the north vent. Glow from the north vent itself was sporadic. Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS, or drone) images captured yesterday morning showed no visible molten lava within the north vent at that time."

Here is that view:

The vent seems to be at least partially stuffed up. Here is the USGS analysis:

"Summit inflation resumed at the end of episode 28 on July 9, and low-level degassing and seismic tremor persist, all of which indicate that episode 29 is near. The rate of inflation suggests it will likely occur July 18 (today). However, slumping of the tephra cone into the north vent at the end of the episode 28 created a blockage; UAS (drone) images captured Thursday, July 17, show that debris has filled the top of the north vent. Thermal data showed the plug to be hotter than the surrounding rock, although not incandescent. The small amount of persistent glow and significant degassing indicate that the north vent is not sealed tightly. Still, clearing the plug may require additional pressurization to initiate the next episode, delaying the onset of lava fountaining."

The magma keeps entering the system. It's got to go somewhere. Where and where we will see. If this has to break through the blockage and requires additional system pressure, the eruption could begin without as many warning signs as earlier episodes.

Now for a bit of fun:

Here's one additional from today's photo collection (north is up):

The dark "oval" on the right half (with the "smoking" north vent on the left end of it) is most of the 2018 caldera. (It is about 1 km wide.) The larger tilted "oval" surrounding it in gray and dark gray is the 1500 CE caldera. The brown shading on the left side of the caldera, both above and below the gas cloud is the tephra field from this eruption. Nice!

To contrast that the smaller gray oval just east of the main caldera is the old pit crater Kilauea Iki, which was filled by a spectacular, periodic fountaining eruption in 1959 with fountains of similar height. (The lava lake in the crater had a molten core for decades.) The "little" brown mound on the left edge of the crater is the tephra cone Pu'u Pua'i is 70 m high.

eclipsenow · 2025-07-18T22:23:23-0500

RDKirk said:
But one of the things she did was to invent a personal force field projector that could be worn like a wristwatch. She sold it to another student for a couple of hundred dollars. But it could easily have made her a billionaire...entire nations would have been throwing suitcases of money at her.

Great point! Depending on the tech, she may have just changed warfare forever - a bit like the Dune universe! Imagine how much money people would pay - even just to walk downtown without being shot or stabbed.

Hoping2 · 2025-07-18T22:11:08-0500

Clare73 said:
Willingly choosing what one prefers is not the meaning of coercion. . .plain and simple.

I agree.
If someone decides what I prefer though, it isn't really my will.

BCP1928 · 2025-07-18T22:10:13-0500

rjs330 said:
Around here in order to consolidate housing they passed a law saying land for building could only be sold in 20 acre lots or bigger. That put building out of reach for average person. Only developers could afford that. So rhe developers did. And then they doubled the cost and you had to buy a home feom them. It drove up the cost considerably.

I look now at the difference in what's happened. Homes went from decent lots with a nice yard for your family to these tiny lots with no yard and where your kid has to go blocks away to some park to play outside. So you cant just let your child go play in yard anymore.

And now there are tons of building going on for apartment complexes. For rent.

I dont know what the answer is but I do know that we could if we wanted to provide ways for people to buy homes for families. I gave some ideas for rhat. No one really WANTS to raise a family in a small two bedroom apartment.

One of the problems is that large RE companies, often foreign, are buying large tracts of single-family homes by bidding up prices and turning them into rentals. Remember when you were complaining that one of the tents of "globalism" is that nobody would have to own anything? That's neoliberalism.

BobRyan · 2025-07-18T22:03:53-0500

matt84 said:
I need some help or advice, I initially made this post on reddit a little bit ago when I was in a worse place, but I'm a bit better now so there is no need to worry about me.

I just don't know what to do any more. I'm 40 years old, gay, Christian, diagnosed with autism, and my depression has been getting worse and worse. I have been taking care of my mom since she had her hip and knee replaced, and still needs another hip replacement. She is a fall risk, and has now has had more memory problems as of late. I have no friends, no relationships, all I have is her, and I refuse to tell her how I'm feeling. My mom worked 3-4 jobs to take care of me and my siblings and did a good job. Out of my 40 years on this earth, I have had 2 friendships, each lasting only about year. I have had 1 relationship when I converted to atheism, but he just wanted my money, and didn't care for me at all. I had always been somewhat suicidal since I was in my late teens, but I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't do that to my mom. But the older I get, the harder it's becoming.

It's gotten progressively worse since hitting 40. I see guys with their wives and kids and I desperately want that. I want a family so much but I'll never have one. I have prayed and prayed begging for God to take the gay away and take the autism away so I can be normal, so I'm not alone; but it never happens. It's not like it matters though, even if a gay relationship wasn't considered a sin, if I can't even form friendships then an actual relationship is a stretch. And even if I decided I just wanted to adopt a child, nobody is going to give a child to a 40 year old single gay autistic guy with no support system or friends. I would mess that kid up worse than I am.

And it's not like I don't try to make friends. I have held a job pretty much non-stop since I was 16. I have gone to quite a few churches, I have gone to 3 different colleges for 3 different degrees. I tried to socialize with coworkers and other students, none of them ever evolved into a friendship. It's obvious the problem lies with me, but nobody ever yells me what I'm doing wrong, why they dislike me. When I had my friend around 19 years old, I had a job and other than bills most of my money went to doing stuff with him (hanging out, movie tickets, games, food, etc.). I was plenty generous and tried to be nice.

I became a Christian when I was about 18 and went to a church every Sunday and youth group every Wednesday night. Nobody really talked to me during Sunday service, and it took almost a year to make a friend in the youth group. And that wasn't until one night after another youth group of having nobody to talk to, I talked to the youth pastor, I literally went to him crying after everyone had left asking how to make friends. I still remember his answer "Just talk to people, you'll make friends easy." And I've been told that by many people, but it never held true for me. The next Sunday morning, two of the more popular kids who were twin brothers in youth group came up and started talking to me and asking if I wanted to play basketball. We talked for a bit and played basketball and they left after church, and to hang out with them some more and try to make friends I did some stuff that would be considered creepy looking back.

During that year I still went to youth group, tried to make other friends, but it never happened. And even with the 2 brothers, if I wanted to do anything with them I almost had to invite myself as I was never invited. When they left and moved away, I left that church and shortly after I became an atheist. I hated God for what he made me and I was angry. I still didn't manage to make any friends at work or outside work. Last year I don't know why but God or something brough me back to Christianity, and I was hopeful this time would be different. But sadly its no different and no better. Every time I see a kid with their father in a tv show, YouTube, or movie now, I can't stop but tear up.

I tried every local church I had that looked decent. I went a couple of days to weeks in each one. And never had more than a few words, and that was with the deacons greeting people. So right now I am struggling with that as well. People say God can be your friend, Jesus can be your friend, but I just feel like I'm talking to myself. I never get any type of reply, sign, feeling, nothing. It just feels like any other one-sided conversation I am having in my head.

I just don't know what is wrong with me and why God won't help me. I've heard of God having people live in celebacy, but they weren't alone, they had friends. Am I just supposed to live whatever left of my life completely alone?

God offers forgiveness
And He offers each of us "a New Creation"

2 Cor 5 "If anyone is in Christ - He is a NEW CREATION - old things passed away all things become new"

Born-again living is not "a slight improvement" it is "a NEW Creation".

Ask for the miracle. Submit to Christ.

Sacred.Beautiful. · 2025-07-18T22:00:56-0500

A quote from C.S. Lewis:

"When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others - not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as sunlight, though it has no favourites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as in a clean one.
You can put this another way by saying that while in other sciences the instruments you use are things external to yourself (things like microscopes and telescopes), the instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred - like the Moon through a dirty telescope. That is why horrible nations have horrible religions: they have been looking at God through a dirty lens.
God can show Himself as He really is only to real men."

BobRyan · 2025-07-18T21:59:06-0500

Michie said:
In 1873, Charles Finney wrote to pastors challenging them to raise the moral standards of the nation through preaching.

He concluded: “If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.”

In 1980, a very similar argument was raised by Jerry Falwell, Tim LaHaye, and other leading pastors as they launched the Moral Majority. Churches had been lured into silence on moral issues that were prevalent in politics, and we were reaping unwelcome consequences from our inaction. Cal Thomas and I were both involved in leadership positions in the Moral Majority in 1980 and were—and I believe, still are—friends.

However, Cal’s recent column decries the idea that pastors exercise their right to fully preach about moral and political issues, along with giving their candid views on political candidates who have such a significant impact on these issues.

Continued below.

Should pulpits remain silent on politics?

Should churches avoid talking about political issues

www.christianpost.com

Pastors should stick to moral issues - leave out politics.

The Bible is not concerned with "guns or butter" issues in the state.

It is concerned with morality. The Cross, the Gospel

Freedom of religion
Freedom to evangelize rather than a state-religion that persecutes all other Christian groups... etc.
Marriage between one man and one woman - Gen 2.
Thou shalt not murder Ex 20 -- no abortion

Definition of man and woman in Gen 1 and 2.

Freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience.

Hoping2 · 2025-07-18T21:51:20-0500

stevevw said:
I am not sure what you mean.

I have found that most who usurp the title of priest are the servants of sin.

stevevw said:
Does 'minding the flock' include protecting from the wolves who teach a false doctrine. I thought the greatest threat to the church isn't the sinners out in the world but the wolves that come up within the church itself.

Yes, it does.
I think the greatest threat to the church is how false churches are portrayed as something God founded.
That ends up making God look responsible for all the "churchified" sin coming down the pike.

stevevw said:
Or pretend to be the church as opposed to Christ church. So they are not obviously pointed out through evil acts. But mimick the true church so that even the elect will be fooled.

See above.

stevevw said:
The teachings don't say the church must become political and take control back or impose the teachings or Gods Will onto the world.

Agreed.

stevevw said:
Pauls teachings and commands are about protecting the church from the outsde world coming in. Which makes sense because if the church was surrounded by a pagan culture and Jewish radicalism then they could in no way become winners in the world and will always be fighting.

That didn't make sense.
The church is still surrounded by pagan cultures, and is still supposed to win the world to Christ.

stevevw said:
But they can certainly stop this from coming into the church. That is why they had to hide and keep the church seperate and protected. That was Pauls biggest worry that the church would allow the wolves in after he went.

I don't know about "hiding" .

stevevw said:
So was Paul and Clement when it was needed. But Christ also was quiet and meek when he was accused of heresay while actually being the truth. This is why Peter says to be subject to masters and rulers even if they are unjust to you. That by your obedient and pure example that this itself without words will expose the injustice and turn people towards God through Christs example in them.

Then Clement should have qualified his words better.

stevevw said:
But when they do speak it should be well respected. But its the Christlike quiet and meek disposition that is a sign that the bishop is within Christ that they will be above reproach and their words will be aligned with Christs I think.

While everyone keeps imagining that the church is as bad as any criminal, that isn't likely to happen.

stevevw said:
Yes thats the idea and we see Paul sometimes say I am glad and happy that the church is doing well and following his teachings and example. But he becomes a different leader when they disobey his teachings lol.

Yeah.

stevevw said:
Yes but spiritually it was still known as the place of Christs borth and crucifixtion and resurrection and where the Holy Temple was which stood regardless for Gods people and Christs redemption and the place He will return.
As opposed to Rome which was the capital of the pagans and had the opposing Temples in Rome like the Pantheon. But it doesn't matter anyway.

OK.

stevevw said:
So you don't believe Peter was ever in Rome.

I have no scriptural proof he was ever there.

BobRyan · 2025-07-18T21:50:53-0500

Trivalee said:
There are differing views on salvation.

Some Christians believe that once saved, one cannot lose salvation. IOW, they believe that eternal life is guaranteed. On the flip side, there are those that believe that even though we are saved, we still have the risk of losing our and eternal life if we fail to abide in Christ until the end of our mortal life.

What is your position on this topic? Kindly support your case with relevant scriptures.

Matt 18 ends with "forgiveness revoked"
John 15 "branches in ME... broken off and case into the fire -- burned up"
Heb 6:2-9 salvation lost
Gal 5:1-7 "severed from Christ", "fallen from grace"
Rom 11 "you stand only by your faith... you should fear.. for if He did not spare them neither will HE spare you"

Learning always · 2025-07-18T21:44:52-0500

Grasshopper elegantly navigates empty room

WSNSP

PloverWing · 2025-07-18T21:44:36-0500

Congratulations on the birth of your baby!

Your life will probably be a sleep-deprived fog for the next couple of months, and then things will get better as the baby starts sleeping for long stretches at night. As I recall, my prayer life for those first couple of months was chiefly "Please, God, let the baby fall asleep!"

God sees it all, and loves you. Be gentle with yourselves. You may be able to do some Bible reading at 4am while you're feeding the baby. But if you can't, because you haven't slept in a week, then okay. In a few months, when the baby is sleeping more regularly, you'll be able to return to your regular spiritual practices.

I'm not sure what you mean by a rigid schedule. My advice is the opposite, to be as flexible in your schedule as you can. The demands of work schedules are what they are. But for everything else, be prepared to eat meals or take showers or do the laundry at odd hours, because newborns have their own idea of time. Hang on. It'll get easier.

Oompa Loompa · 2025-07-18T21:43:07-0500

RileyG said:
Not to ramble on, but I wonder if the pandemic had anything to do with it? Since then, so many people have been changing their habits in everyday life.

I dont think so. I think it is mostly a cultural shift. Just like how the internet is killing newspapers, YouTube, TikTok, and other social media platforms are

BobRyan · 2025-07-18T21:38:48-0500

d taylor said:
-Belief in Jesus is the way to enter through the door. I do not believe The Bible or Jesus states anything about the cross being a key to heaven.

2 Cor 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Rom 6:
2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Gal 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Oompa Loompa · 2025-07-18T21:36:31-0500

Michie said:
Woke late night hosts have revived their tired anti-Trump jokes as he begins his second presidency - and viewers are already bored.

'Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and like Martin Luther King, I also had a dream,' Seth Meyers said on the set of NBC's Late Night. 'I mean, it had to be a dream, right? It's too weird to be real.'

Over on ABC Jimmy Kimmel told viewers 'Today at noon Eastern, our long, national nightmare was officially sworn in... a second time.'

Jimmy Fallon, meanwhile, mockingly donning a Melania Trump-styled hat, elicited a mix of boos and cheers at the mere mention of Trump's name.

'After this we're going to play who wore it better, me, Melania, or the Hamburglar,' Fallon said of the head covering. The McDonald's gag had been making the rounds on social media for hours by that time, with few who watched likely to be amused by Fallon's stale observation.

He then joked, 'We're all united, that's great to know' - before likening Trump's second term to Netflix's 'Squid Game.'

Stephen Colbert, the top dog in a fading field, told his unhappy attendees, 'Don't boo - vote,' before adding, And if possible, do that several months ago.'

Continued below.

Bleak future for late night hosts with tired old Trump gags

Fed-up viewers slammed late night hosts for wheeling out anti-Trump gags last seen eight years ago.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' canceled by CBS, ends May 2026

The most recent ratings from Nielsen show Colbert gaining viewers so far this year and winning his timeslot among broadcasters, with about 2.417 million viewers across 41 new episodes.

www.pbs.org

Go woke, get broke.

RileyG · 2025-07-18T21:34:42-0500

BassLine said:
Or for people like me who can barely talk at 8 am.

As a night person, I relate

Hoping2 · 2025-07-18T21:33:33-0500

fli said:
Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. NKJV
Galatians 2:11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. NKJV
Because Paul wrote the above, I got the idea that sanctification was a lifetime process. I really thought as long as we were in the flesh God still had more to sins to put to death.

You were mistaken.
We are sanctified by the blood of Christ: the fulfilment of the OT's blood sanctifications.
We do however, grow in grace and knowledge.
Paul's Rom 7 experience is a recollection of his days still in the flesh, wherein he unsuccessfully tried to please God with Law keeping.
And where is the sin in condescending to Jewish visitors ?
Peter's fault was his mistaken belief that the Law still held some sort of power over a man.

fli said:
John 2:24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. NKJV
Jesus also knew that the man was not one of His. He did not come to Jesus to find his savior.

Perhaps.

fli said:
Romans 7:19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. NKJV
Since Paul was still practicing sin, he must have been in Satan's kingdom.

This is Paul's narrative of his preconversion life in the flesh. (Rom 7:5)
When he wrote it, he was living life in the Spirit.

fli said:
So why did God grant him repentance?

The quick answer, is that he had faith.

RileyG · 2025-07-18T21:32:22-0500

Fantine said:
The people of Mexican heritage I interact with are almost all Catholics. And as a Catholic, I will state unequivocally that it's the Republican Party that is most at odds with the Catholic Church. Pope Francis and Pope Leo have both had extremely harsh words of criticism for Trump's policies.

Yes, there are conservative Catholic organizations like "Catholic Vote" who say one must vote for the candidate, no matter how evil the other 99% of their policies are, who alleges he is anti-abortion, but that is no longer preached from the pulpit. Perhaps the reality of who they were de-facto endorsing was so appalling they couldn't bring themselves to do so.

The Mexicans I know are bonding together to protect one another, and "allies" are helping. I am planning on getting a notary certification so I can certify custodial and financial power of attorney forms in case they are dragged away in chains while their children are at school.

There is only one Mexican-American I know who came through the proper channels. She came from a wealthy family and married a corporate executive. Oh, I do know a Salvadoran family who got refugee status because he was part of the Army of the overthrown government. The rest of the citizens can trace their backgrounds to ancestors who were undocumented but were part of the Reagan amnesty---and so if they criticize today's immigrants, they are hypocrites.

And now there is no line. The "line" has been replaced by $5 million down payments.

I wouldn’t say either party represents the Church, as a Catholic. Political parties are indeed very divisive, in my humble opinion.

Valletta · 2025-07-18T21:32:16-0500

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, thanked Trump and the Salvadorian president, Nayib Bukele, for securing the agreement.
“Ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela are on their way to freedom,” Rubio tweeted.

Caracas releases 10 Americans as Venezuelans freed from El Salvador jail

Scores of Venezuelans deported by US to El Salvador repatriated as Marco Rubio hails return of Americans

www.theguardian.com

Those ten Americans are fortunate.

RileyG · 2025-07-18T21:28:46-0500

I am going to confession and Mass tomorrow night.

Please pray for the grace of a good confession.

God bless

BobRyan · 2025-07-18T21:21:57-0500

SouthWestConvert said:
I recently had a conversation with someone explaining the Provisionist mode of salvation. They said that 'God chooses those that choose Him'. I was brought up more Calvinistically, but I have thought about it since, and I have two questions;

1) Was the Apostle Paul chosen or did he choose to be saved?

2) Was he forced or was he drawn to believe?

all mankind is drawn.

John 12:32 "if I be lifted up I will DRAW ALL mankind unto Me" -- but not all choose to accept.

Rev 3 "I STAND at the door and knock. If anyone HEARS My voice and OPENS the door - I WILL come in"

Paul was awakened but had to choose to follow. God said He would "show Paul" all that he would have to suffer for Christ's sake. Paul had to choose.

SouthWestConvert said:
I thought of Acts 9:15 'But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:'

Indeed God's OWN.

John 1:11 "HE came to HIS OWN and His OWN received Him not"

SouthWestConvert said:
The way I see it, by this method, God 'chooses' as a result of man's choice. For this to fit Paul's testimony, Paul would need to have accepted by his own choice before he was chosen

Paul is chosen by God - but has to agree to follow or else like Israel in John 1:11 "His OWN received Him not"

SouthWestConvert said:
, but I do not see this Biblically. If you are a Provisionist, how would you answer these two questions? Please explain this to me.

Thank you.

Warnings Like John 15:1-9 and Rom 11:19-24 don't appear to work at all in a Calvinist model

Rom 11:
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. 22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

RileyG · 2025-07-18T21:21:54-0500

durangodawood said:
I would guess its somewhat better?

Still seems like its in that metabolic junk zone of foods American like to eat all the time.

I can get unbearably scoldy on the Americans on this topic.

I love chips too much, I won’t lie.

BobRyan · 2025-07-18T21:12:08-0500

reddogs said:
The thing is that this President if you remember claims to have been 'sent on a mission by God' after the assassination attempt

No doubt.

But that is not a claim to be a prophet or a pastor. Many business men argue that God has blessed them or helped them or given them skill or insight etc. That does not make them a pastor.

reddogs said:
, and has set himself up with a cabinet

A lot of Presidents had a cabinet.

reddogs said:
that is mostly the Popes minions and has much the same at the Supreme Court.

No doubt many Catholics are in Congress, the Senate and even Biden himself was Catholic. That does not change the rules as far as I can see.

reddogs said:
So there is nothing standing in his way of opposition, much like the leaders of Nazism and Communism who led the world into a world war which morphed into a cold war and now we see the makings of a third world war, so the Hegelian Dialectic has been used by what can only be the prince of this world to bring about his purposes, the chaos and terror to do his work of destruction and sweep aside the things of God.

No doubt that in all administrations -- Satan is still alive and active. IN 2 Cor 4:4 Satan is called "the god of this world"

Goldstein points out that Ellen White strongly affirmed the WCTU - Women's Christian Temperance Union's opposition to the sale of alchohol and joined with them in their gatherings - yet also agreed with SDAs who said that the WCTU was also pushing for Sunday Laws and Adventists did not favor such laws. We were told then to stand with them when they are promoting a good cause and then we will be noted "by our absence" when they get behind a bad one.

New Posts

New Posts

Filter

Forum statistics

Share this page