Thanks, this is helpful and makes sense. It's different from my worldview, but I understand the idea, kind of. It's difficult to reconcile that with the other thing I've heard about how God so loved the world He sent his only son with the idea that a person cannot serve the world and God at the same time. I'll have to think on that one. We recently bought a Bible after I saw a list similar to this one and I realized I need to learn more about the Bible's place in literature, history and everyday life. I will read the sections you told me about. Thanks for the direct pointers; it probably would have taken me forever to find what I'm looking for otherwise. 2 questions, if you have the time, I understand if you don't: 1) When you say "friendship with the world" do you mean actual people, or are you referencing the material world in general? 2) Wrt the examination of basic components to see if one is truly saved, is that a personal, introspective process? Or something through the church group or through some sort of leadership?

I read the article and am genuinely confused. Since Jinnah has bowed out, can someone else clarify? The below quote seems to be saying, unpleasant as it may be to be persecuted, if a Christian is not experiencing persecution they're not doing it right. Keep pushing the envelope until you experience the inevitable persecution, however you perceive that. It makes persecution sound..."desirable" is not the right word...maybe "proof" that you're doing something right?

Yes, yes....lure them in with food. Mwahahaha....

I think both things can be true. A higher proportion of mosques can be targeted than churches and the churches can still have a higher number of incidents. If 25% of mosques have been a target, that's 500 reports. If 10% of churches have been a target, that's 45,000 reports. (I'm just plucking percentages to show the math, I have no idea of the actual percentages.) Personally, I've heard of churches, mosques, temples of various religions, and synagogues all being targeted by these horrible cowards. :cursing:

This is a good idea. I think it's funny that they are worried it wouldn't count. My response to that is, "So what if it doesn't count? What if people just want to get together for the Maghrib or Isha prayers and have a speaker as well? Why is that a negative thing? Should people only do what counts?" :blink:

That's not surprising. There a bit more that 2000 mosques in the U.S. and more that 450,000 churches. Many mosques I know have security guards when the mosque is unoccupied; is that the case with churches? I don't recall ever seeing security guarding a closed church.

I would worry but I would let her go. I've spent a fair amount of time in the some of the more dangerous areas of SE Asia and I learned a lot from it. The State Department's job is to come up with the most conservative warnings. If you'd read the warnings of the places I went it sounded terrifying. On the ground, though, were warm friendly people with big hearts. Good food and conversation, adventure and fun. Could something happen? Sure, but the chances are extremely small. Frankly I worry more about the driving conditions and the drivers than the usual scenarios with which the State Department concerns itself. If she goes, make sure she registers with the embassy if she can, hides her cash in various places on her person, never leaves her drinks alone, and sticks with her friend. This is true for all travel, btw.

Oh no! I hope they get better quickly. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

:ack2:

I don't mind volume or even some general politics at volume. It's more specific things against people that drive me nuts. As an example, I stopped seeing my friend after she loudly complained in a restaurant about how immigrants were taking jobs when all the cooks, servers, and busboys around us were clearly immigrants working their tails off. I didn't agree with her point of view, but would have discussed it in the privacy of a home or car. I don't mind hearing opposing points of view and I don't like to surround myself with like-minded individuals and hang out in an echo chamber. But in the restaurant I just wanted the floor to swallow me up. The more I told her to keep it down the louder she got. I spent the time waiting for the check nodding apologetically at the staff.

Pro tip: dipping the phone in a bowl of bean dip doesn't work. That took a long time to clean up.

East Bay checking in! Nothing to add re: homeschool info, but wanted to say welcome!

Some of the above, but one not yet mentioned: People who discuss politics loudly in public. I like a good political discussion as much as the next argumentative gal, but if it's in public it has to be quiet. Or loudly in private. No turning heads in cafes and refusing to pipe down while spouting controversial opinions, with which I may even agree! I've only deliberately distanced myself from two friends and one of them was for this reason. The other was cocaine and meth use in a mom and it affected her kids and she was beyond reason.

:party:

Try looking at this: http://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/151jct/recommended_reading_for_tolkien_fans/ and this: http://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/1zp9sh/good_books_about_tolkien/ and this: http://lotrproject.com/map/ I'm no expert as I'm just getting started, but my goal is to be more than just the reader I currently am.

"Sorry the present is a bit squashed. I had to sit on it to save my behind from those hot unshaded chairs. You understand."

"Thanks for offering! We were tiring of sandwiches and soup." :sneaky2:

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Aww. I could totally see this happening. This years was my BIL's first wedding anniversary. On the date of their anniversary they sent us a link to an article about their wedding location, completely submerged on the same date a year later. As for the OP, I completely agree. I wonder if she'll realize as the years pass that she behaved like an *ss.

I have a good friend who says Kiva is wonderful and who sends quite a bit of money. He was very into women's empowerment through the 1960s-1980s through NOW and other organizations, but once things went global via the internet he did a lot of research and thought Kiva was the best.

I've replaced progesterone/estrogen but not because of menopause. I found replacing it made me calmer and for me, most importantly, I slept much better. Before the replacement it used to take me 45-60 minutes to fall asleep once I was in bed and I was a light sleeper, waking 2-3 times/night for no reason. A few days after replacement began I found I was falling asleep within a few minutes of lying down and not waking during the night. This was a huge improvement because it gave me more energy and a better mood. I asked my doctor if it was a result of estrogen or progesterone and she said it was a common effect of estrogen.

I just saw this. Praying it went well.

Wow. I'm watching the longer video now. Amazing!

:ohmy: Where's the Rent-A-Hijab when you need one? Just joking because I have nothing to add except I agree with those who say you should report.

I added this book to my Amazon cart, so thanks for the link. It looks great. Did you decide on it?