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At least 1,301 people died during Hajj, Saudi Arabia says, mostly unauthorised pilgrims who walked long distances in intense heat. This year's pilgrimage took place during a heatwave, with temperatures at times exceeding 50C (122F). More than three-quarters of those who died did not have official permits to be there and walked under direct sunlight without adequate shelter, the official Saudi news agency SPA said. Some of those who died were elderly or chronically ill, the agency added. Health Minister Fahd Al-Jalajel said efforts had been made to raise awareness about the dangers of heat stress and how pilgrims could...

New York authorities are still searching for the 9-year-old girl who may have been abducted from Moreau Lake State Park on Saturday evening. Charlotte Sena was last seen on Loop A at approximately 6:15 p.m. Saturday wearing an orange tie-dye Pokémon shirt, dark blue pants, black Crocs and a gray bike helmet, New York State Police say. Sena was on a camping trip with her family and disappeared after going for a bike ride in the park, the Times Union reports. She is described as being White with blonde hair, standing 5-foot-1 and weighing 90 pounds. Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY)...

Beloved, do your part today as Christ's solider for America in these last days without compromising our TRUE ETERNAL calling to outlive and proclaim the ETERNAL Gospel of Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 6:10-20). Pray for Almighty God's saving grace for Americans, pray for revival and a coming back to Almighty God in RIGHTEOUSNESS, pray for healing, pray for Israel and Almighty God's providential hand on our nation for good, but ALWAYS be looking for the Blessed Hope and Rapture of our RIGHTEOUS Savior (1 Cor. 2:2, Gal. 2:20, 2 Tim. 2:1-4)! Maranatha! For that indeed my beloved is our...

The first time I heard the name, “Joe Biden,” I wanted to weep. On December 18, 1972, struggling through Washington traffic to my office at the White House, my car radio reported the deaths of a newly elected senator’s young wife and baby daughter in Delaware in a horrific collision. For a moment I forgot that Biden was a political opponent. Instead, as a husband and father myself, I thought of a terribly bereaved human being and choked back tears as I reflected on his grief. Now, all these years later, the last time I heard the name, “Joe Biden,”...

“‘“Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”’” (Matthew 6:10). Two polar opposite views of God’s will can cause Christians to have faulty understandings of prayer and the accomplishing of God’s purposes. On the one hand, some see His will as absolutely deterministic—whatever will be, will be. They either pray little at all, figuring the divine will is inevitable, or they are resignedly obedient, praying for God’s will simply because He tells them to. Neither approach to prayer demonstrates faith. Viewing God’s sovereignty in a fatalistic, prayerless way robs us of the joy of aligning our wills...

"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim.2:3)! "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Col 3:1)! "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings (godly laud and praises) in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph 1:3)! "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4)! "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and...

"God wants Ron Paul to be President. Paul is the only Christian still running who beat Obama in polls, but will Christians and pastors obey God?" says Pastor Steven Andrew, president of USA Christian Ministries. "We must obey God and vote for Christians. Noah Webster used Exodus 18:21 for American voting. John Jay said "select and prefer Christians for [our] leaders" (Mark 12:30, Psalm 1, Psalm 33:12). "Comparing Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, we see Paul will cut the deficit $1 trillion in year one, but Obama and Romney would increase the deficit. Americans will have more jobs...

I thank you, Lord, not for the pain But that Your love redeems. I know that I must walk though this As heavy as it seems. But when I think I can't go on, The pain is so intense, It's then You whisper in my soul, "Of this I will make sense." This too You'll use to help someone, In this I'll give You praise. I'll gladly bear the price of pain If this Your hand displays. For in my weakness You are strong, This pain is not in vain, For You waste nothing in my life, Myself and others...

Over the weekend, former John McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt told "60 Minutes" something shocking about McCain's former running mate, Sarah Palin. It seems that when Schmidt met Palin after McCain selected her, he was surprised that she was so calm. Schmidt apparently asked her how she could remain so tranquil in the face of such a monumental life change. She responded, "It's God's plan." Naturally, the media went bonkers over this revelation. The New York Times approvingly reported comic Jimmy Fallon's one-liner: "God responded: 'What? Really? Don't bring me into this.'" The Week asked whether Palin was "simply devout...

George Grant: In the history of the world, societies that adhere to biblical principles are always the most free -- economically, socially, culturally, racially -- if we want freedom, opt for the freedom giving, liberty giving standards of Almighty God. If on the other hand, you like the standard of Stalinism, Leninism, Nazism, or Maoism, then go ahead and walk down the path of the wisdom of the 51 percent, the wisdom that flows out of the barrel of a gun.

My love overwhelms My will in that as my love goes out it cements the foundations of My kingdom come , for where I establish My will my love has already arrived on the scene through the prayers of intercession that is My Son in you " Christ Alive " \o/ The crystal clear persuasion of My holy desire and manifold witness and it is as I come " alive in you " that these 12 foundations unfold into My will on earth as it is in heaven !" Yeah My kingdom come alive through you " . So let...

fair use quote from AP article at Yahoo site: quote: "This is particularly heart-wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace."

Walking in the will of God produces a distinctive life-style. There will be certain characteristics which will be true of all Christians in all places and in every age. There are abiding qualities about true Christians which would make them recognizable by their fellow believers in very different epochs of church history. But for every Christian the question arises, not, What is true of all Christians always? but, What is the will of God in this particular, unique situation in which I find myself? We have to face the issue of the nature of the principles which govern Christian conduct....

Predestination & Evangelism The mistake of God's people has always been to view election as a privilege rather than a responsibility. God warned Israel about this in Deuteronomy 9:6; “Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.” Rather, while some were destined to disobedience, we have been chosen so as to “declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Pe 2:8-9). We were predestined in order that we tell others about...

One major debate within Christian circles is the question of whether or not a Christian can lose his or her salvation. Arminians argue that true believers can sin so much that they lose their faith and perish. Some Christians respond by arguing that once a person professes faith in Jesus, he is eternally secure in his salvation and—even if he commits complete apostasy (“falls away”) and vocally rejects Jesus Christ—will still go to heaven, for “once saved, always saved.” In light of the biblical doctrine of predestination, how should we understand the security we have under God’s care? There have...

With the most powerful storm in recorded history weakening but every bit as devastating as its predecessors, saint, sinner and blogger alike are again wondering if God really does use nature in retribution for sin. Bill Moyers, late of PBS and CBS television and the day's keynote speaker, cited the incredible devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and linked it with the Genesis flood. He noted that millions of conservatives believe the biblical teaching that God brought the deluge to punish human sin and also accept "God-ordered genocide" elsewhere in the Old Testament. Others also used the Katrina moment to level...

DUMPING GROUND: Pedophile clergy were sent to Alaska, some say. The fourth lawsuit in less than two weeks accusing an Alaska-based Catholic priest of sexual abuse was filed Thursday, fueling a conviction among critics that Alaska was a dumping ground for problem clergy. The complaint alleges the Rev. James Laudwein molested a 14-year-old Western Alaska girl in 1980 when she visited the nearby Yup'ik Eskimo village of St. Marys. According to court documents, Laudwein agreed to hear the girl's confession, then took her to a dark room and said "her sins would be forgiven" if she touched his genitals. Laudwein...

"Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it?" -- Lamentations 3:37 I would like to join my FRiends at Free Republic in congratulating the newest married couple to have been brought together as a result of their conversations on Free Republic. CaRepubGal and Wrigley became Mr. and Mrs. Wrigley on August 19, 2005, in the Presbyterian Church of CaGal's hometown near San Diego, California. The wedding was attended by many family and friends, including the former FReeper, Jean Chauvin, and his wife and children, who traveled across the country to participate...

Has anyone ever thought that its Gods will that this is all happening? In the bible many people have suffered for Gods will, only to be with him in the end. Perhaps God feels its time for her to come home? 15 years of fighting, an act of congress and the president of the united states cant put a feeding tube back into a women... perhaps God wants her to come home?