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In James 1:27, the apostle James gives us insight into what pleases God: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (NASB). The word for “undefiled” is translated “faultless” in the NIV. When interpreting any verse in the Bible, including James 1:27, we should always look at its context to get an idea of what the verse means within the surrounding verses. In this case, we can look at what comes immediately before James 1:27 and get some...

The outlets include Voice of Europe, which was foiled as a Russian influence operation by Czech secret services in March. The European Union has announced a ban on four media outlets accused of spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda and "destabilising" Ukraine's neighbouring countries. The four blacklisted outlets - Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta - are "under the permanent direct or indirect control" of Russia and have been "instrumental" in fostering support for its illegal invasion of Ukraine, the European Council said in a statement on Friday. "The Russian Federation has engaged in a systematic, international campaign of media...

Seven pro-life activists were sentenced to prison this week for protesting at a late-term abortion clinic in 2020. The activists were convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and “conspiracy against rights” for a sit-in protest at the Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C.Three activists were sentenced on Tuesday, and four more were sentenced on Wednesday.The Daily Wire reports:On Wednesday, Jonathan Darnel, Herb Geraghty, Jean Marshall, and Joan Bell were all sentenced to prison. Darnel got 34 months in prison, Geraghty got 27 months, Marshall got 24 months, and Bell got 27 months. The sentences followed Tuesday’s sentencing...

On Friday’s “CNN News Central,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) stated that President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold certain weapons from Israel took pressure off Hamas and in doing so made it less likely to get a ceasefire deal, which makes it harder to get aid into Gaza and free the hostages. Moskowitz said that while he has issues with the House bill to force Biden to transfer weapons to Israel, the bill won’t become law anyway, so those concerns aren’t hugely relevant, and “my main purpose for voting for the bill is what I said earlier when the President decided...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Poland is investing about $2.5 billion to step up security and deterrence on its border with Russia and its ally Belarus, the prime minister said Saturday. Donald Tusk said work on the Shield-East project which includes building proper military fortifications has already begun. Poland is on the eastern flank of NATO and of the European Union and Tusk stressed it bears additional responsibility for Europe’s security.

A divisive mobilization law in Ukraine came into force Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive that some fear could close in on Ukraine's second-largest city. The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country. It also provides incentives to soldiers, such as cash bonuses or money toward buying a house or car, that some analysts say Ukraine cannot afford.

It's been one whole year since Roe v. Wade was overturned, which means they've been making abortion illegal all over the place. So these are dark times, as NPR and InsiderNews have reported: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/22/113072... Because now that Roe v. Wade is overturned, a woman can get pregnant just by having sex. "I find myself in this really bizarre state where I'm asking guys about things like their values and trustworthiness before sleeping with them." "Before a girl would have sex with me, but now she's asking me all these dumb questions like, "Do you love me?" and "What happens if...

Oakland has removed the traffic lights from one intersection and replaced them with 4-way stop signs due to people stealing copper and then tampering with an electrical box. It's a sight that has made drivers do a double take: a stop sign hanging overhead where a traffic light would normally be, located above the intersection of E. 12th Street and 16th Avenue in Oakland. Neighbors said city workers removed the all the traffic lights in the last week and replaced them with four-way stop signs. The installation came after months of people stealing copper wires and tampering with the city...

Just after midnight this date in 1990, Dalton Prejean was electrocuted in Louisiana for murdering state trooper Donald Cleveland. A 17-year-old (at the time of the crime) black youth who tested just this side of mentally disabled, Prejean shot Cleveland during a traffic stop. (He was, at the time, just seven months out of a reform school stint he had served for murdering a taxi driver at the tender age of 14.) It was a three-day trial with an all-white jury, and not much question as to Prejean’s culpability. But as he neared the execution of that sentence, his youth...

Ukraine and Russia - Game Theory Historical outcomes are approximated with game theory and game simulations. However, games also have predictive values when a model is constructed. This is a conceptual framework of the geopolitical events in Ukraine and Russia.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing related symptoms. Powell tested positive late Thursday. "Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, he is staying away from others and working at home,” a Fed spokesperson said.

New York City is losing drugstores as retail theft continues to surge. Gotham has logged 21,578 shoplifting complaints this year through May 12, up 5% from the 20,552 thefts during the same period last year. Manhattan has seen 8,896 incidents of retail theft alone. Crime is so rampant, national chains like Target, CVS and Walgreens are closing locations and tempering expansion plans. Target announced at the end of last year the closure of nine stores across four states, including one in Harlem, due to theft.

In an exclusive interview, Matt Fradd, Byzantine Catholic author and host of the Pints with Aquinas podcast, sat down with Live Action founder and president Lila Rose to discuss pornography, sex, and how the perversion of sex has affected the world. Fradd says he was first exposed to pornography at age eight. By age 13, his friend’s mother was buying he and his friend pornography and supplying them with alcohol. Looking back on the behavior, he called it sexual abuse — and said it led him down a dark path. When he later became a Christian and worked to remove...

Iranian authorities have sentenced a Jewish man to die — and they plan to carry out the execution as soon as Monday, sources told The Post. The case has sent a shockwave through the tiny Jewish community in the Islamic Republic, and Iranian Jewish expats and others in the Jewish community in New York and Israel are sounding the alarm that it is a clear miscarriage of justice. Arvin Ghahremani, 20, was working out at the gym in the Iranian city of Kermanshah, about 500 miles outside of Tehran, in November 2022 when he was ambushed by seven men, one...

UK actress and disability advocate Liz Carr is making headlines this week for her new documentary “Better Off Dead,” which reveals some of the dangers of assisted suicide and euthanasia (often referred to as ‘MAiD’, or medical assistance in dying). A clip from the film shows Carr’s highly unsettling interaction with Dr. Ellen Wiebe, an abortionist and euthanasia doctor in Canada. Wiebe, who has previously said that euthanasia is her “most rewarding work,” doubles down on that statement as she appears gleeful in discussing her role in killing human beings. “I love my job,” she says of helping people to...

"NONE OF THE QUESTIONS OR ANSWERS WERE EDITED. This was part of a social experiment, where I dressed up as a radical woke feminist and asked college students different provocative questions. This video was filmed at Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University Campuses during my last visit to Atlanta."

Teachers’ grading practices have changed and students’ grades have drifted up in recent years, a pandemic-era legacy that is being met with mixed reaction from educators across the country. Dating back to 2020, when the pandemic upended American education overnight, many schools have adopted a more lenient approach to grading. Some eliminated zeros or removed penalties for late work. Many teachers report “giving grace” to struggling students. Others say they have felt pressure from administrators to limit failure rates. Higher grades have come even as students’ test scores and attendance rates have dropped. A study in Washington state found that...

A Navy supply ship was run aground by a junior officer off the coast of Bahrain shortly after the ship's master -- or captain -- left the bridge to eat dinner, an investigation revealed. The USNS Alan Shepard had finished up a maintenance period on July 15 and was on the way to a port in Bahrain when she was directed to an area just off shore to wait on a pilot. The master took the ship there and then went to eat dinner, leaving the ship in the hands of a much more junior third officer. Less than 30...

Coming home from school to watch SpongeBob was a major part of my childhood. Over the past 25 years, we've seen some truly hilarious and heartwarming episodes, complete with iconic quotes and memes that have traversed generations. So, in honor of the show's 25th anniversary, I decided to rank the top 25 episodes of all time. Let's start with some honorable mentions. Honestly, the first few seasons of SpongeBob were so strong it would be easy to argue for any episode to make the top. Here are some that came thiiiis close to making the list: • Ripped Pants (Season...

More than I can express. I praise our Awesome Gracious God and thank all of you for the prayers of our FR committed prayer warriors. I deeply value your prayers during this prayer journey that began back in March. Calvin Chase Sutton born 5/18/24 @ 1:54am. He is 6lbs 10 ounces 19inches is finally here at 36w 6 days. ALL PRAISE TO GOD! He is perfectly healthy! ANNA AND BABY PROUD DAD