Faith

Faith Reference

[NCPoliticalTea @nc_tea2024]

He didn’t hesitate.

When his 16-year-old daughter was being beaten and pistol-whipped by her boyfriend, Lester Jones rushed in to protect her.

He stepped between his child and danger, giving his own life to save hers.

His daughter survived. Her father didn’t.

Now a family is grieving the loss of a hero dad who made the ultimate sacrifice. Pray for his daughter, pray for his loved ones, and demand justice for Lester Jones.

Because of Iryna’s Law, the 17-year-old suspect remains behind bars and will not be released while awaiting trial.

[Crazy Vibes @CrazyVibes_1]

A Nazi commander loaded his pistol, pressed the cold metal barrel directly against the forehead of an American soldier, and gave a chilling ultimatum: "Order the Jewish soldiers to step forward, or I will shoot you right now."

What happened next in that frozen prisoner-of-war camp changed history forever, yet the man who stared down death kept it a secret for the rest of his life.

It was January 1945, and the bitter winter of World War II was at its peak. Inside Stalag IX-A, a notorious German prison camp near Ziegenhain, thousands of American soldiers were trapped behind barbed wire. Among them was Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, a twenty-five-year-old from Knoxville, Tennessee. As the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in his section, Edmonds was responsible for the lives of 1,275 men.

One day, the camp commander, a fanatical Nazi major named Siegmann, issued a terrifying directive.

He ordered that the following morning, all American prisoners of Jewish faith must step out of the ranks during roll call. Everyone knew what this meant. Separating the Jewish soldiers was the first step toward sending them to extermination camps.

Inside the dark, freezing barracks, the prisoners panicked. Some of the Jewish soldiers considered stepping forward willingly to protect their Christian brothers from Nazi wrath. But Edmonds refused to let that happen. He looked at his men and gave a clear, definitive order: "Tomorrow, everyone steps forward. Everyone."

The next morning, the ground was thick with snow. Major Siegmann walked out onto the parade ground, expecting to see a small, isolated group of Jewish soldiers standing apart from the rest. Instead, he stopped dead in his tracks. All 1,275 American soldiers had stepped forward together in perfect unison.

The commander turned red with anger and stormed over to Edmonds. "They cannot all be Jews!" Siegmann screamed.

Edmonds stood completely still, looked the Nazi straight in the eyes, and replied: "We are all Jews here."

Enraged, Siegmann drew his Luger pistol and pressed it against Edmonds' forehead. The tension was suffocating. Hundreds of men held their breath, waiting for the gunshot. But Edmonds did not blink.

"According to the Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank, and serial number," Edmonds said, his voice steady and calm. "If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us. And when the war ends, you will be tried for war crimes."

Edmonds knew the German army was collapsing and the Allies were advancing. Siegmann knew it too. The Nazi commander looked at the wall of unified men, realized he could not break their spirit, and slowly lowered his gun. He turned around and walked away without saying another word.

Because of that moment of defiance, two hundred Jewish-American soldiers survived the Holocaust. When the war ended, Edmonds returned to Tennessee, married his sweetheart, and raised a family. He never bragged about his actions, never looked for medals, and never even told his own children what he had done. To him, protecting his men was simply his duty.

Decades after his death in 1985, his son uncovered the truth by talking to the survivors. In 2015, Edmonds was officially recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, the highest honor Israel bestows upon non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. He remains the only American soldier to ever receive this recognition.

True heroism does not look for applause, and love will always be louder than hatred.

By standing together in the snow, those soldiers proved that when we refuse to abandon each other, ordinary human beings can become absolutely invincible.

[Brad Wilcox @BradWilcoxIFS]

New study: Did the introduction of the iPhone causally reduce fertility?

Yes, by more than 1/3.

New study: https://t.co/KUTyAJxGlJ

[Ed Stetzer @edstetzer]

Wanting to use the Christian label without believing biblical Christian theology simply will not work. The fundamental beliefs of Mormonism about Jesus and Scripture are not the same as historic, orthodox Christianity. Paul warned about preaching a different Jesus. We affirm the Bible as the Word of God. This means we reject the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, or the Pearl of Great Price. 

Can you believe, for instance, that Muhammad is not the prophet and still call yourself a Muslim? The vast majority of Muslims would say you cannot. For Christians, calling yourself a Christian while not believing that God has always existed as the triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is just as inconceivable. It may be unpopular to state your belief that a certain religious group is not actually Christian, but it is true.

[Caroline McCaughey @TheCarolineMc]

At a Graham Platner rally in Portland.

“Would an Israeli flag tattoo be a deal breaker?”

“Honestly yeah, because I don’t support genocide.”

[Rob Henderson @robkhenderson]

"Men with two children had an estimated brain age that was 0.6 years younger than their childless peers had, and for men with three children, it was 0.7 years younger. That’s similar to the brain benefit associated with exercising 2.5 hours a week." https://t.co/28mz6llyyp

[Faith @Faithreferences]

@SenJohnCurtis @senjohncurtis What is the Trinity?

[Christopher Wipper @SGTWipper1Each]

General Dwight D. Eisenhower asking 1LT Wallace C. Strobel where he's from on the day before D-Day. June 5, 1944.

Strobel repled, "Michigan, Sir."

Eisenhower: "Oh yes, Michigan, great fishing there. Been there several times and like it."

Sometimes, just a simple, lighthearted conversation is all a person needs to get them through tough times.

Strobel lived to be 77.

[Faith @Faithreferences]

@BasedMikeLee @BasedMikeLee what is the trinity?

[Speaker Mike Johnson @SpeakerJohnson]

Democrats in New York passed a bill this week that changes mother and father to "gestating parent" and "non-gestating parent."

Just another example in a long line of idiotic ideas.

You can’t make this up. It's common sense vs CRAZY!

[John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz]

Six years ago today. This was real. This was policy. This is how we found ourselves living in ANIMAL FARM.

[Speaker Mike Johnson @SpeakerJohnson]

In 29 days, we will celebrate the 250th birthday of our exceptional nation, which became the greatest of all because we were the first to declare the self-evident truth that all people are created equal by God.

Not “born equal.” We are “CREATED equal.”

Because God made us all in His image, it means EVERY SINGLE PERSON has inestimable DIGNITY and VALUE—and our value is not related in any way to the color of our skin, what zip code we live in, what our talents are, our health condition, or any other factor. Our value is inherent, because it is given to us by our loving Heavenly Father.

When a culture devolves to the point of depravity where “influencers” can go online and so casually dismiss the deliberate murder of their own precious child, the survival of that culture itself is at risk.

God have mercy on our nation as we pray and work for an end to this evil, for hearts and minds to change, and for a renewed understanding of the self-evident truths and the sanctity of all human life.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

[Faith @Faithreferences]

@ZaidJilani Drunken tattoo night with Marines & not realizing it is a Totenkopf = believeable.

Being a history buff who studies war, but just never noticed for 18 years that concentration camp guards in every WW2 movie have the exact same symbol on the center of their hats = unbelievable.

[Faith @Faithreferences]

@NateSilver538 Drunken tattoo night with Marines & not realizing it is a Totenkopf = believeable.

Being a history buff who studies war, but just never noticed for 18 years that concentration camp guards in every WW2 movie have the exact same symbol on the center of their hats = unbelievable.

[Atlas Press @realAtlasPress]

Leonardo da Vinci's greatest paragraph

[Ryan Burge 📊 @ryanburge]

Of all religious traditions, Latter-day Saints are the most likely to be parents.

And it's not even that close.
54% are currently parenting a minor child.

The next closest are white evangelicals/Catholics.

The lowest rate?
Atheists + agnostics.
~25% are parents.

[Lifeway Research @LifewayResearch]

Only 28% of Canadians agree every Christian has an obligation to join a local church. Almost 3 in 5 (59%) disagree, with 37% strongly disagreeing. https://t.co/reemCl3Qk0

[Tim Tebow @TimTebow]

A message without a next step is just inspiration.

We've all been in a room where something moved us — a sermon, a speech, a conversation. And then we walked out and nothing changed. Not because it wasn't good. But because nobody told us what to do next.

Inspiration is the spark. Direction is what starts the fire.

What's the most inspiring message you've ever heard that actually moved you to do something?
Share it below.
⬇️⬇️⬇️

[Faith @Faithreferences]

Still the craziest moment of the 2020’s was learning that Covid didn’t infect people if you were protesting!

[NPR @NPR]

Dozens of public health and disease experts have signed an open letter in support of the nationwide anti-racism protests.

"White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19," they wrote.
https://t.co/EewPNgDSu3

[Faith @Faithreferences]

@JonMillsDE23 @stats_feed Yup!