Christians are called to abhor envy and not be conformed to the worldly influences that stir it up in us. But we are naïve if we think we can wholly escape these influences. We are each given different stations in life as well as places in the church. We may be good at our respective roles, but whether we are content with them is another question.

Source: Eliminating Envy in Christian Ministry – byFaith

But we can envy both our neighbors belongings AND things inside the church– whether it’s the size of a ministry, the authority someone has, or the things that they’ve accumulated.

As believers, we need to squash envy wherever we find it. The best way to do this is with humility and thankfulness. When we focus on the fact that God gives us all things and is doing things for our best good, we can defeat envy and rejoice with those who rejoice. We can also come alongside the brother who is leading or has those things and actually pray for them earnestly.

Which better advances the kingdom: Encouraging and lifting up those in the church to be the best they can be for God, or sitting back and envying those in leadership and proclaiming everything they’ve done wrong?

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Now, I don’t know of anyone who had that experience of being sick or dying because they had sin when they went to Communion, and I think it’s great time to actually think about where you are with your relationship with God, but is that the right interpretation?

But is calling Christians to a private self-audit before the supper, or encouraging them to abstain if their consciences are unsettled, a valid application of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 11:17–34? Is this kind of self-examination what Paul had in mind?

Source: Should Struggling Christians Abstain from Communion?

The author of the above argues that it’s more about your position in the body of believers that is fellowshipping, than it is about you personally.

Which tradition do you hold?

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“Going through a normal appropriations process where the committee marks up bills, has input from all the members on the committee, reports them to the floor, and there’s an open process, transparent process on the floor, we think is the best way to fund the government,” Thune continued. “And so, the challenge now is to get the next package ready to go – starting, we’ve got the defense appropriations bill ready…. we’re also trying to clear four other appropriations bills to put together a minibus that we could act on here in the Senate, so we’re working through those holds.”

Source: Sen. Majority Leader Thune Signals End to Further Democrat Shutdown Shenanigans With ‘Old Fashioned’ Move – RedState

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Conservatives really support this because we believe wealth should be created by the people, not supported by the government. This is also why I don’t support Trump’s tariff stimulus. That’s his populism, not conservatism, coming through. And it’s a bad idea. If Trump’s large plan does bring manufacturing jobs to America and boost wages, it will be for naught if inflation spikes thanks to temporary tariff stimulus and the cost of living increases.

Source: Trump has a strong economy. Tariff checks are a bad idea | Opinion

This is one of those cases where you may see Pres. Trump the winner and the deal maker instead of the principled leader. Trump would have you believe that if we lose the next election, it’ll be two years of nothing. Impeachments, no more progress on his agenda, etc.– that’s what he’ll say is coming if he loses, so he has to win.

This is the opposite of a principled politician who would say that he would rather stick to his principles and keep inflation down at the cost of the rest of his presidency.

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“If he goes down this lane where he is actually calling to un-endorse people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, where he’s threatening every Republican in MAGA, saying that if you support the Khanna bill, you’re not on my side,” Khanna said. “He is sowing the seeds for his own lame duck presidency. He’s out of touch with his own base. Don’t ask me. Just look at Rasmussen, People’s Pundit.”

“All these people who were on his side are now saying: You know, Mr. President, what happened to you? You ran against a corrupt system. You ran for forgotten Americans. You’ve become part of the swamp that you railed against,” Khanna said.

Source: Rep. Ro Khanna: Trump Is Sowing The Seeds For His Own Lame Duck Presidency | Video | RealClearPolitics

I don’t think there’s any “there there” when it comes to the Epstein files– I think it’s just something that the left wants to be there. If Trump really believes his moves will make things cheaper and he’s playing the longer game, he has to communicate this better than he is doing.

In a year, if prices are where they are, it won’t matter how much peace he’s caused throughout the world, or how the tariffs have changed trade; he will have a Democrat Congress and spend the rest of his time fighting off impeachments.

The post Will the Real President Trump Please Stand Up? appeared first on MInTheGap.

INGRAHAM: But we have plenty of talented people here.

TRUMP: No, you don’t. No, you don’t. No, you don’t

INGRAHAM: We don’t have talented people here?

TRUMP: No, you don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles.

Source: Watch: Laura Ingraham Challenges Trump During Interview, Exposes Schisms Within the Movement – RedState

This seems to fly in the face of MAGA, because H1B visas don’t currently serve the purpose of training Americans in things that they cannot do, but they are actively replacing American workers in different jobs and providing a bridge for people to come to this country.

Furthermore, Ford and other companies have said they have high-paying jobs in manual labor available, but no one is taking the jobs.

So what’s going on here?

Sounds to me like we are reaping the results of prioritizing education over the trades and soft skills over manual labor. It seems there are plenty of jobs, but we aren’t training people for them because everything we emphasize is college (and getting into debt), or trying to become a social media influencer.

The post Our Educational Priorities Need Adjustment appeared first on MInTheGap.

At present, most digital interactions fall under the Third-Party Doctrine, which holds that information voluntarily disclosed to other parties — or stored on a company’s servers — carries ‘no legitimate expectation of privacy.’ This doctrine allows government access to much online behavior (such as Google search histories) without a warrant…. To leave these conversations legally unprotected is to invite a regime where citizens must fear that their digital introspection could someday be used against them.

Source: Althouse: “As people increasingly turn to A.I. chat tools as confidants, therapists and advisers, we urgently need a new form of legal protection that would safeguard most private communications…”

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The deal sets a date for a vote in the Senate on ACA subsidies in December, but falls well short of cementing their extension. It funds the government through January 30 and guarantees pay for federal workers furloughed during the shutdown and those who worked without pay. It also reverses Trump’s firing of federal employees throughout the impasse and funds food stamps through 2026.

Source: Democratic unity fractures, paving the way for the government to reopen

The part I find funny is that they are forcing Pres. Trump to rehire people who were let go. They really don’t want him to shrink the size of the government, even though this shutdown showed that much of the government was not missed.

The post They Made a Deal appeared first on MInTheGap.

“Democrats are ready to clear the way to quickly pass a government funding bill that includes health care affordability. Leader Thune just needs to add a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits to the CR so that we can immediately address rising health care costs. That’s not a negotiation, it’s an extension of current law…We also offer this, let’s create a bipartisan committee that will continue negotiations after the government reopens…”

Source: ‘Stupid Should Hurt More’: Sen. Kennedy’s Savage Response to Schumer Over Latest Shutdown Proposal – RedState

The post Just Add a 1 Year Extension to Obamacare! appeared first on MInTheGap.

Trump called out the “fake news” who he said will not report all his administration has done to lower things, including eggs, which under Biden had tripled. It was then that Leavitt stepped out from behind reporters and brought the receipts about how prices are down since Trump took office.

Source: Trump Press Secretary Blasts Reporters Pushing Affordability Spin: ‘You Guys Refuse to Cover It’ – RedState

Saying that the economy is better than you think it is, that you’ve done such a great job when everyone’s paying more every day at the store, is the same thing. Stop saying it and just do something about it.

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