Wednesday, April 30, 2008

PLAYSTATION NATION


November 16, 2006


Are You Protecting Your Child from Video Game Addiction?



Written by Janice



“If you have a child who plays video games (or may in the future play video games), shut the cover of this book now, march up to the check-out counter at this moment, and purchase it. Immediately. Period.” – from Playstation Nation by Olivia and Kurt Bruner


Not too many authors start out commanding you to buy their book, but after having read the first few pages of Playstation Nation, I understood why Olivia and Kurt Bruner so adamantly insist that parents read their story.


In fact, I am one of the parents they are writing to — one of the people they believe must read their book. I am the parent they desperately want to reach before it is too late.


My son Jackson is almost five and, of course, he wants to play video games. I have a hazy feeling that I shouldn’t let him but we haven’t made any concrete decisions. Part of me feels like it is useless to fight against it – video games are everywhere. He has already played them at friends’ houses. At home he has played educational computer games… and some not so educational ones. But I haven’t given in and bought him a system.


Before reading Playstation Nation, I knew I didn’t want Jackson to waste any of his precious youth playing video games. However, I needed this book to show me the damage video games are doing to this generation and to give me the determination to fight the upcoming battles to keep video games in check in my son’s life.


Olive and Kurt don’t say that video games are from the devil and that we should throw them all in the garbage. Instead they walk us through a thorough look at the scientific facts of video game addiction and give us an inside look at many young people’s personal stories of addiction so we can make the best decision for our families.


Their book is the definition of eye opening. I had never realized the insidious danger that sits in so many family rooms and bedrooms across North America. Video games are a serious threat to our children’s well being, masked in the form of play. And busy parents everywhere are fooled into thinking that they are as harmless as the TV and just a part of life for children in this new millennium.


I was one of those parents. I am not anymore.


Through story after story and study and study, Playstation Nation will show you how video games are addictive and it will help you decide for yourself how your family should deal with the video game phenomena.


Here is a quick excerpt that discusses the physiological effects of video games…



“In 1998 a report titled ‘Evidence for Straital Dopamine Release during a Video Game’ published in the journal Nature describes a process called positron-emission tomography (PET). A team of British researchers found that video game playing actually changes the chemistry in the brain by increasing the activity of dopamine. Dopamine is the most important neurotransmitters in the brain, controlling movement, attention, and learning.


…Researchers at Hammersmith Hospital, a clinical research hospital in London, described the infusion of dopamine as being ‘similar to that observed following intravenous injection of amphetamine or methylphenidate.’


…To put it in layman’s terms, kids who play video games submit their developing brains to a pleasurable chemical reaction similar to an amphetamine drug injection! And the more often they play, the more likely they are to become hooked on the feeling.”


But if removing game systems from your child’s life sounds a little extreme (and I must stress, that is not what the Bruners are advising all parents to do), listen to what this young man, a successful former homeschooler who is currently in law school and still struggling daily with his video addiction, had to say when asked what he thought a mother should do if she has a child who wants to play video games all the time:



“Get rid of it, completely, entirely. I wish my mom had done that. Even if you limit the actual playing time, you’re not going to eliminate the kids thinking about it as long as it’s in the house. Even though I wasn’t allowed to play for a month, it was still all I thought about.”


Are your boys in college? If you think your children are too old to worry about video game addiction, Olivia and Kurt have some concerning facts for you too!


Through their book, I learned that college dorms are becoming dungeons of addiction, with young men trading in their education – and their parents’ money – for endless hours of mind numbing video gaming. If you have a young man at college I suggest you read this book and then send it to your child when you are done.


You can help protect your children from wasting these precious years. You can help them reclaim their time and turn off the video games.


I am so grateful that I read Playstation Nation. I strongly recommend it. I now feel empowered to make the decisions and to fight the inevitable battles in our future to keep my son from video game addiction.


Source: http://www.5minutesformom.com/640/video-games/

$37M CLERGY-ABUSE SETTLEMENT APPROVED IN IOWA

$37M clergy-abuse settlement approved in Iowa


A federal bankruptcy judge in Iowa has approved a $37 million settlement between the Davenport Diocese and victims of clergy abuse.

Judge Lee Jackwig also ordered the diocese to produce reports for the next three years showing progress pm 18 non-monetary requirements. They include apology letters from Bishop Martin Amos and an online listing of all abusers, the Des Moines Register writes.

Last week all but one of the 143 claimants supported the plan for how the settlement will be disbursed, the Quad-City Times reported.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy in October 2006.



A SURE FOUNDATION


A Sure Foundation

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2 Tim. 2:19.


The Lord will have a people as true as steel, and with faith as firm as the granite rock. They are to be His witnesses in the world, His instrumentalities to do a special, a glorious work in the day of His preparation. . . . {Mar 127.1}

Ministers who have preached the truth with all zeal and earnestness may apostatize and join the ranks of our enemies, but does this turn the truth of God into a lie? "Nevertheless," says the apostle, "the foundation of God standeth sure." The faith and feelings of men may change; but the truth of God, never. . . . {Mar 127.2}

It is as certain that we have the truth as that God lives; and Satan, with all his arts and hellish power, cannot change the truth of God into a lie. While the great adversary will try his utmost to make of none effect the word of God, truth must go forth as a lamp that burneth. {Mar 127.3}

The Lord has singled us out and made us subjects of His marvelous mercy. Shall we be charmed with the pratings of the apostate? Shall we choose to take our stand with Satan and his host? Shall we join with the transgressors of God's law? Rather let it be our prayer: "Lord, put enmity between me and the serpent." If we are not at enmity with his works of darkness, his powerful folds encircle us, and his sting is ready at any moment to be driven to our hearts. We should count him a deadly foe. We should oppose him in the name of Christ. Our work is still onward. . . . Let all who name the name of Christ clothe themselves with the armor of righteousness. . . . {Mar 127.4}

The time has come when we must know for ourselves why we believe as we do. . . . Let us lay up for ourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that we may lay hold on eternal life. We must labor, not in our own strength, but in the strength of our risen Lord. What will we do and dare for Jesus? {Mar 127.5}

Maranatha, E. G. White, p.127.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

RESISTANCE FROM WITHIN



As the controversy extends into new fields, and the minds of the people are called to God's down-trodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending the message will only madden those who oppose it. The clergy will put forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light, lest it should shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they will endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and in this work, papists and Protestants unite. As the movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided, the law will be invoked against commandment-keepers. They will be threatened with fines and imprisonment, and some will be offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages, as inducements to renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is, "Show us from the Word of God our error,"--the same plea that was made by Luther under similar circumstances. Those who are arraigned before the courts make a strong vindication of the truth, and some who hear them are led to take their stand to keep all the commandments of God. Thus light will be brought before thousands who otherwise would know nothing of these truths.

The Great Controversy (1888), E. G. White, p.607.

**************
There will be those among us who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world. God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands. The workers will be surprised by the simple means that He will use to bring about and perfect His work of righteousness.

Testimonies to Ministers, E. G. White, p.300.


Bolds added for emphasis. ...............Arsenio.

COUNTRY LIVING SEMINARS--"ORLANDO, FL"--MAY 3&4

May 3 & 4 - Orlando, FL - South Orlando SDA Church



We are very excited to announce that we will be conducting Country Living Seminars on the weekend of May 3 & 4 at the South Orlando SDA Church in Orlando, FL.

The seminars will begin Sabbath afternoon at 6:00 PM and will resume at 11:00 AM on Sunday.


Download a half-fold brochure for these seminars


Please visit the links below for more info on the topics to be presented and the locations. Hope to see you there!
.
Location - Orlando Seminars
Topics for Orlando Seminars

Source: http://mountainmediaministries.org/upcoming-events/may-3-4/index.php

CARACAS, COLOMBIA, AND COCAINE

Caracas, Colombia, and Cocaine

April 28, 2008
Author:

Caracas, Colombia, and Cocaine

Unlike Colombia, which seized these two tons of cocaine in 2007, Venezuela’s drug seizures have dropped in recent years. (AP)

When Colombian drug traffickers need to move cocaine out of the country, their first stop is often Venezuela, say U.S. officials (AP). Short flights connecting remote jungle air strips in northern Colombia with Venezuelan destinations just miles across the border tripled between 2003 and 2006, according to the International Crisis Group. Now U.S. and Colombian officials say that over a third of Colombia’s total cocaine output is thought to exit the country via Venezuela. U.S. counternarcotics efforts in the Andean region have focused on Plan Colombia, a multibillion dollar initiative to eradicate crops and cripple drug cartels. But the rise in trafficking through Venezuela threatens to derail what progress has been achieved in Colombia and calls into question the efficacy of U.S. counternarcotics policy in the region.

Unlike Colombia, Venezuela refuses to cooperate with the United States to combat narcotics trafficking. The country’s attorney general admits the National Guard and the intelligence service both have ties to drug traffickers, along with civilian airport employees (NPR). The border area, which Colombian officials have trouble monitoring due to its difficult terrain, is a “breeding ground for crime and violence,” according to an International Crisis Group report on drug trafficking in Latin America. The U.S. State Department blames Venezuela for not doing its part to fight corruption and trafficking in the region. Caracas suspended cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2005. Since then, drug seizures have dropped from thirty-five to forty metric tons in 2005 to between twenty and twenty-five metric tons in 2006, according to the 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. “We remain open to working with Venezuela on this issue,” said David T. Johnson, assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, in February 2008. “But we have thus far not had a willing partner.”

Venezuela counters that it is making ample effort to control the drugs trade burgeoning within its borders. It destroyed over one hundred air strips near the Colombian border this year, and is installing radar stations that will allow Venezuelan authorities to track unauthorized flights from Colombia (WashPost). Experts say these efforts are designed to counter U.S. accusations, but also address domestic concerns about growing crime rates. According to Venezuela’s El Universal, there were 710 murders in Caracas in the first three months of 2008, compared to 621 during the same period last year. The Venezuelan government stopped releasing official homicide rates in 2003, but security website Stratfor suggests Caracas is among the most dangerous cities in the world, with a homicide rate more than double that of Detroit. Experts say much of this violence is drug related. The Venezuela-Colombia border, meanwhile, is a haven for guerrilla groups such as FARC and the ELN.

Alleged ties between the Venezuelan government and the FARC have further heightened U.S. concerns. The Colombian government claims it has evidence, obtained from the laptop of a FARC rebel killed in Ecuador, that Venezuela offered financial support to guerrilla group. The German magazine Spiegel reports that Caracas apparently promised FARC arms as well as a stake in Venezuela’s oil industry. As a Washington Post editorial notes, if these allegations prove to be true, the U.S. State Department will have more than enough evidence to add Venezuela to a list of state sponsors of terrorism. Such a designation would trigger automatic sanctions and could affect U.S. imports of Venezuelan oil (Bloomberg).

Source: http://www.cfr.org/publication/16099/caracas_colombia_and_cocaine.html

THE POPE'S MIXED SIGNALS

The pope's mixed signals

Benedict XVI giving his first blessing after being named Pope on Tuesday, 19 April 2005. (The Vatican)
Image: The Vatican

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States was a diplomatic success that also revealed something of the unfolding character of his papacy, says Michael Walsh, for openDemocracy.

By Michael Walsh for openDemocracy (29/04/08)

A minor feature of Pope Benedict XVI's trip to the United States on 15-20 April 2008 was to highlight the awkwardness of George W Bush. The embattled president had already defied protocol by meeting the pontiff at the airport on his arrival, and then compounded embarrassment by hosting a party to celebrate Benedict's 81st birthday, only to find that the pope was otherwise engaged (though several Vatican functionaries turned up to represent him, thus to some degree saving Bush's face).

Yet the "warmth of feeling for the pope was tangible, and so was the good chemistry between the pope and President George Bush," remarked Michael Novak, the neo-conservative Catholic commentator in an interview for the rightwing Catholic news service Zenit. Indeed, the pope's reception in the US, on the streets as well as on the White House lawn, was warm and generous. Novak, as is his wont, contrasted the US response to what might be expected of Europeans whom he sees as cooler towards the papacy, and irredeemably more secular.

The real target

Here, however, is where the small details of the pope's six-day trip do start to matter. For rather oddly, Benedict had come to praise the secular. In a largely unremarked passage which must have had the 19th-century pontiffs turning in their sarcophagi, he lauded the secular political order, and its separation of church and state. This may be a reality taken for granted in the US and in much - though regrettably not in all - of Europe as well as elsewhere.

It has also been Catholic doctrine since the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s (though as late as the eve of the council there were cardinals in the Roman curia fighting a rearguard action). But even today, some Catholics in the US regard their constitution as an Enlightenment project, and not something to which the devout should sign up. Benedict's praise of the US constitution was, therefore, a significant moment: yet another problem for those apologists for Catholicism who insist that their church's teaching never changes.

On matters of religion and politics, and in a country where bishops have refused the sacrament to politicians who appeared not to be toeing the (Catholic) party line, the pope was reticent. The pope and the president presumably see eye-to-eye on many moral issues, though the former appears to lay rather less emphasis on bioethics than did his predecessor: much less is heard these days of Pope John Paul II's "culture of death." Benedict, however, shares John Paul's firm opposition to the war in Iraq, and is even more in favor of the United Nations.

Indeed, the real reason for the papal trip across the Atlantic may have been his speech to the UN general assembly, delivered on 18 April, rather than a visit the United States as such - though clearly the first could not be done without the other. Since Pope Paul VI first did so, making an address to the general assembly has become a regular feature of a pontificate; more widely, at least since the pontificate of John XXIII in the early 1960s the Vatican has backed the UN as an expression of the solidarity of peoples.

The quiet message

There are other, revealing differences with Benedict's predecessor. Most media interest centered upon the apology which the pope made for the many instances of sexual abuse by American clergy, something that Pope John Paul II avoided. Benedict repeated it on at least three occasions, including to the press corps accompanying him as he flew to Washington.

The diocese most affected by this scandal was Boston, which it seems had been on the original itinerary, but was later dropped; the cardinal of Boston was, however, present when a select few of those who had been abused were invited to meet the pope in Washington's papal nunciature (the Vatican embassy). The cardinal is a new appointment; his predecessor has been exiled to Rome and was not included in the papal entourage.

When he was first elected in 2005, the former Cardinal Ratzinger declared it the mission of his pontificate to make better known the teaching of John Paul II, whom he had served as a member of the Vatican staff for nearly a quarter of a century. Yet he has not greatly imitated his predecessor. The style is certainly more restrained. Although he seemed genuinely pleased to be in the US, and welcomed the plaudits of the crowds, there was little of the populism which marked John Paul's many peregrinations - no kissing of the tarmac, for instance, even if, at his considerable age, he felt capable of it.

The substance is different, too. There have been only two encyclicals in the last three years, Deus Caritas Est ("God is love"), which won great praise both for its content and the clarity of its style; and Spe Salvi ("Saving hope"), which seems to have sunk leaving very little trace, possibly because it was much more academic in tone. If there is a papal program, then after "charity" and "hope" the next encyclical should be on "faith" - though in fact the promise is one on Catholic social doctrine.

The diplomacy of faith

Faith, and the spreading of the faith, is what Christians are supposed to be about: Benedict called his transatlantic trip a missionary journey.

In the modern world, however, Christian mission is highly complex. Benedict has reached out to Muslim scholars, to Jews, and to non-Roman Catholic Christians; at the same time he has ostentatiously baptized a convert from Islam, reintroduced into the Catholic liturgy a prayer for the conversion of the Jews, and declared - or at least, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over which he used to preside declared in July 2007 - that only the Roman Catholic faith can properly be called a true church (the Orthodox was a church but suffered from the "wound" of not recognizing the primacy of the pope, where the other churches lacked apostolic succession and "cannot be called ‘churches' in the proper sense"). It is hard to see consistency here.

As Cardinal Ratzinger (and possibly as a good German) he expressed opposition to the entry of Turkey into Europe. That is unlikely to happen on his watch in any case, but as pope he has in any case been more circumspect. He wants debate with Islam, but he also wants reciprocity. If there are mosques in Christian lands, why should there not be churches in Muslim territory? This policy appears to be bearing fruit. A church was established in Qatar in March 2008, albeit unobtrusive and with no outward sign of Christianity, leaving only Saudi Arabia without a Christian place of worship - and there are even hopes of there.

Here again, there are mixed signals. One of Benedict's first acts as pope was to remove Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, an Arabist, from his position in the Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and send him in February 2006 as nuncio (ambassador) to Egypt, and emissary to the Arab League. This move took many in the Vatican by surprise, and was widely seen as presaging a tougher attitude to Islam than that fostered by John Paul.

At the time, Fitzgerald's apparent demotion was also thought be an early move in a thoroughgoing reform of the curia (the Vatican administration) by a consummate Vatican insider. It has not happened. Ratzinger may have been dubbed the Vatican "rottweiler" for his pursuit of doctrinal deviance, but as his own replacement he chose an old friend, Archbishop (now Cardinal) William Levada of San Francisco, a moderate man who had upset traditionalists by refusing permission for celebration of mass in the old "tridentine" rite in his diocese.

The "tridentine" rite has become something of a symbol for conservative among Catholics. Pope Benedict has sanctioned it for more common use, perhaps in an effort to win back some of those who left the church in the wake of the liturgical reform - particularly members of the Society of St Pius X (though the society's founder, Archbishop Lefebvre, had complaints in many other areas). In any case, the reintroduction of the "tridentine" rite has not been well received by bishops and clergy at large, though for reasons of loyalty few voice their protests in public.

Smile, you're the pope

That liturgical issue aside, Pope Benedict in his first three years as pope has not made great changes. Even his choice of cardinals who may eventually elect his successor has been unsurprising - the usual curial officials, the usual bishops of important dioceses. Perhaps the 81-year-old Benedict does not believe he will govern the church long enough to cause any major shift of policy. His contribution may in time be seen as more intellectual than practical.

In this respect, his papacy does represent one significant change. The favored theologian of pontiffs at least since Leo XIII at the end of the 19th century has been St Thomas Aquinas; but Benedict's is St Augustine of Hippo. Augustine had a much more pessimistic view of humankind and its potentiality than did Thomas. Yet Benedict himself, from the evidence of his United States trip, nonetheless appears cheerful enough. The pope perhaps has heeded the remark of an early 16th-century predecessor: "God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it."




Michael Walsh is a writer and broadcaster. He was librarian at Heythrop College from 1972 to 2001. Among his books are The Secret World of Opus Dei (HarperCollins, 2004) and The Conclave: A Sometimes Secret and Occasionally Bloody History (Canterbury Press, 2003).

Source: http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=18912

OBAMA'S WRONG RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE

Monday, April 28, 2008

3 TORNADOES RIP THROUGH VIRGINIA,...

3 tornadoes rip through Va., hundreds of people hurt
Monday, April 28, 2008

SUFFOLK, Va. - Three tornadoes carved through Virginia on Monday, with one hop-scotching across the southeastern part of the state and leaving behind a 25-mile trail of gutted homes, tossed cars and more than 200 injured residents.

Residents of some of the hardest hit neighborhoods in this town outside Norfolk were forced to evacuate their homes, with buses taking them to nearby shelters. Police closed roads, steering people away from streets with downed power lines.

Downed trees and power lines covered the streets in a section of the city. A vending machine was tilted on its side, leaning up against a pile of rubble that had been the general store in a small shopping district.

"It's just a bunch of broken power poles, telephone lines and sad faces," said Richard Allbright, who works for a tree removal service in Driver and had been out for hours trying to clear the roads.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine declared a state of emergency for the areas of southeastern Virginia struck by the twisters.

The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes struck Suffolk, Colonial Heights and Brunswick County. Meteorologist Bryan Jackson described Suffolk's as a "major tornado."

Jackson said the Brunswick County tornado was estimated at 86 mph to 110 mph, and cut a 300-yard path of destruction.

The first tornado touched down around 1 p.m. in Brunswick County, said Mike Rusnak, a weather service meteorologist in Wakefield. The second struck Colonial Heights around 3:40 p.m., he said.

The third touched down multiple times, between 4:30 to 5 p.m., and is believed to have caused damage over a 25-mile path from Suffolk to Norfolk, Rusnak said.

At least 200 were injured in Suffolk and 18 others were injured in Colonial Heights, south of Richmond, said Bob Spieldenner from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

In Colonial Heights, the storm overturned cars and damaged buildings in the Southpark Mall area.

Suffolk city spokeswoman Dana Woodson said the area around Sentara Obici Hospital and in the community of Driver, located within the city, were hardest hit. The hospital was damaged but still able to treat patients.

Insulation, wiring and twisted metal hung from the front of a strip mall in Suffolk that was stripped bare of its facing. Cars and SUVs in the parking lot outside lay strewn about, some lying on top of others.

Several of Gregory A. Parker's businesses and his pre-Civil War-era home in Driver were damaged in the tornado.

The porch was blown off his Arthur's General Store. At another store he owns, the tin roof was rolled up like a sardine can. The facade of his home collapsed and the windows were blown out. Inside, furniture was tossed about.

"I hate to say it sounded like a train, but that's the truth," Parker said.

His wife, Ellise, rode out the storm in the first-floor bathroom of an antique store. The building lost its second story. His brother, Craig S. Parker, owns the general store that sells hunting and fishing supplies.

Parker is spending the night with his sister, who lives nearby.

"I don't even think a leaf blew off at her house. That's how tornadoes are," he said.

Sentara hospital spokesman Dale Gauding said about 60 injured people were being treated there, and he expected most to be released.

"We have lots of cuts and bruises" and arm and leg injuries, he said. The hospital's windows were cracked, apparently by debris from a damaged shopping center across the street.

Southside Regional Medical Center treated one storm victim with minor injuries and was poised to receive more, hospital spokeswoman Terry Tysinger said.

Property damage also was reported in Brunswick County, one of several localities where the weather service had issued a tornado warning. Sgt. Michelle Cotten of the Virginia State Police said a twister destroyed two homes. Trees and power lines were down, and some flooding was reported.

About 9,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers remained without service Monday night, mostly in the Northern Neck.

Laura Southard, a state emergency management spokeswoman, said the damage assessment will be done Tuesday.

---

Associated Press writers Dena Potter and Larry O'Dell contributed to this report from Richmond.

Source: http://home.peoplepc.com/psp/newsstory.asp?cat=TopStories&id=20080428/48154bc0_3ca6_15526200804281872175242

A STATEMENT ON TOLERANCE



A Statement on Tolerance


Seventh-day Adventists support the United Nations proclamation of 1995 as the Year of Tolerance. This proclamation comes at an opportune time when intolerance is abounding on all continents—bigoted religious extremism, racism, tribalism, ethnic cleansing, linguistic enmity, and other forms of terrorism and violence. Christians carry their share of the blame for prejudice and inhumanity toward humans.

Tolerance, the capacity to endure unfavorable circumstances, is only a beginning. Christians and all people of good will, must go well beyond this negative concept and develop sympathy for beliefs or practices that not only differ, but even conflict with their own. Dialogue is certainly much better than diatribe. Human beings must learn to agree or disagree without violence; they must be able to discuss varying viewpoints without hate or rancor. This does not mean docility or abject submission, but partnership and respect for the equal rights of others. Every person has the right and the responsibility to express both ideas and ideals with verve and vigor, but without reaching the boiling point of violent words or actions.

Finally, tolerance at its best means not only acceptance of other views and people, but moving in benevolence, responsiveness, and understanding toward others—every other human being.

This statement was approved and voted by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Administrative Committee (ADCOM) and was released by the Office of the President, Robert S. Folkenberg, at the General Conference session in Utrecht, the Netherlands, June 29-July 8, 1995.



Copyright © 2008, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists ®
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Trademark and Logo Usage Legal Notice


Source: http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/statements/main_stat27.html

Sunday, April 27, 2008

THE ART OF HOPE

The art of hope

In his annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI appealed to all warring nations, particularly their leaders, to put aside particular interests and to be ready to pledge themselves to the path of dialogue and reconciliation.

The Holy Father started by saying: "The international community continues to be deeply concerned about the Middle East and I am glad that the Annapolis conference pointed towards the abandonment of partisan or unilateral solutions, in favour of global approach respectful of the right and legitimate interests of all the people of the region."

He appealed to the Israelis, Palestinians and Lebanese to concentrate their energies to implement commitments made during various previous.

At the same time the Pope stated: "I invite the international community to give strong support to the Israelis and the Palestinians and to understand their respective sufferings and fears."

After assessing the serious situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and in various African countries, the Holy Father said: "Peace cannot be a mere word or a vain aspiration. Peace is a commitment and a manner of life which demands that the legitimate aspirations of all should be satisfied, such as access to food, water and energy, to medicine and technology, or indeed, the monitoring of climate change. Only in this way can we build the future of humanity; only in this way can we facilitate an integral development valid for today and tomorrow."

The Pope concluded thus: "Diplomacy is, in a certain sense, the art of hope. It lives from hope and seeks to discern even its most tenuous signs. Diplomacy must give hope. May God open the hearts of those who govern the family of people to the hope that never disappoints!"

Source: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080427/religion/the-art-of-hope

EX-BISHOP WINS PARAGUAY VOTE...

Ex-bishop wins Paraguay vote as democracy matures

Paraguayan presidential candidate for the Patriotic Alliance for Change Fernando Lugo (right) and his running mate Federico Franco address the crowd after winning the election in Asuncion.

A sandal-wearing former bishop's victory in Paraguay's presidential election shows democracy is maturing in Latin America, but after 61 years of one-party rule his foes may dictate the pace of change.

Fernando Lugo, a mild-mannered leftist who quit the cloth three years ago saying he felt powerless to help Paraguay's poor, ousted the ruling Colorado Party in Sunday's election with promises to tackle inequality and stamp out corruption.

"We ask you never to abandon us. We'll make democracy together!" the bearded, bespectacled 56-year-old former Roman Catholic bishop told cheering supporters as firecrackers resounded around Asuncion on Sunday night.

"Today we wish to renew our commitment to the Paraguayan people... to the poorest," he added. "We will give our best to ensure our people are respected and known from here on for their honesty, not for their corruption." Mr Lugo calls himself an independent and has steered clear of Latin America's more radical left-wing leaders, such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales in Bolivia.

But he is seen as a likely ally of moderate leftist presidents in the region, which has steadily turned away from the right-wing dictatorships, extremely corrupt governments and Marxist rebellions that were so prevalent in the late 20th century.

Mr Lugo will take office on August 15 and has vowed to carry out agrarian reform to ensure poor peasant farmers can till their own land in a country where a small, wealthy elite owns the vast majority of farmland and cattle ranches.

Nearly four in every 10 Paraguayans are poor.

"If you have a left candidate who is clearly identified with the poor... and if he can break the grip of the longest ruling party in the world, a right wing party, I think it shows how much South America has changed and how much democracy has taken hold," said Mark Weisbrot of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, a US-based think tank.

"We don't know how much Mr Lugo is going to change the government, or how much he can," he added, noting the Colorado Party's powerful machine at every level of government.

"It will depend on what their response is. Are they going to play by the rules of democracy?"

The decision of Colorado Party candidate Blanca Ovelar, who was bidding to be Paraguay's first female President, to concede defeat as results showed Mr Lugo with about 41 per cent of the vote and a lead of 10 percentage points, was a good start.

Voter turnout was high, at around 65 per cent.

The Colorado Party has dominated Paraguayan politics since it took power in 1947, and it backed General Alfredo Stroessner's brutal 35-year dictatorship until helping to oust him in 1989.

Many ordinary Paraguayans had become sick with what they see as a corrupt establishment that has failed to safeguard the poorest in a country landlocked by wealthier neighbours Argentina and Brazil and economically dependent on its agricultural and hydroelectric power exports.

Mr Lugo campaigned heavily on trying to charge Brazil more money for the power it imports from the jointly owned Itaipu hydroelectric plant - following in the footsteps of Bolivia, which negotiated to charge its neighbours more for natural gas.

"Mr Lugo faces a tough task. There is a great deal to be done," said 35-year-old economist Horacio Santander, standing among tens of thousands of Lugo supporters in a square in central Asuncion after news of his victory broke.

"It is time to start over with an honest, less corrupt government."

Paraguay's ruling party candidate, Blanca Ovelar, conceded defeat in Sunday's presidential election and said former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo had won.

Facts about Paraguay

• Paraguay is a poor, landlocked country of 5.6 million people at the heart of South America. It lost a good chunk of its territory, and many of its men, during the 1864-1870 War of the Triple Alliance against Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The country is known for its corruption and the contraband of goods such as electronics, cigarettes and liquor.

• Paraguay's Colorado Party is the world's longest-ruling party still in power. The Colorados have governed for more than 60 years, backing the 35-year dictatorship of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner until his overthrow in 1989. Every President in office since the return of democracy has been investigated for corruption.

• The world's fourth-largest soybean exporter, Paraguay relies mainly on agriculture and hydroelectric power. The underground economy includes contraband in drugs and weapons. The US government has warned of money-laundering and terrorist financing in the tri-border area, where Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil meet near the majestic Iguazu waterfalls.

• Political violence has marred Paraguay's recent history, with military-led coup attempts in 1996 and 2000. Bloody street protests broke out in March 1999 after the assassination of the country's vice president.

• The indigenous language of Guarani is widely spoken in Paraguay, along with Spanish. The Spanish conquerors of the 16th century assimilated with the Guarani-speaking Indians and learned their language. Although only two per cent of the population is indigenous and most Paraguayans are mestizo, the two languages thrive side by side.

• Paraguay is a predominantly Roman Catholic country that is home to an insular community of Mennonites, who turned part of the arid Chaco region into a prosperous area for farming and dairy production. Japanese immigrants have also preserved their language and customs in some areas.

Source: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080422/world-news/ex-bishop-wins-paraguay-vote-as-democracy-matures

ANTONIN SCALIA'S THIRTY MINUTES OF FAME

Here's another installment from the Jesuit Desensitization (orientation) File:

Justice Scalia On The Record
60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl Interviews The Supreme Court Justice About His Public And Private Life


(CBS) His years at Xavier, where he went to mass at the church of St. Francis Xavier next door, deepened his Catholic faith.

Scalia says he gave the priesthood some thought.

"And decided no?" Stahl asks.

"And decided he was not calling me," Scalia explains.

"What is the connection between your Catholicism, your Jesuit education, and your judicial philosophy?" Stahl asks.

"It has nothing to do with how I decide cases," Scalia replies. "My job is to interpret the Constitution accurately. And indeed, there are anti-abortion people who think that the constitution requires a state to prohibit abortion. They say that the Equal Protection Clause requires that you treat a helpless human being that's still in the womb the way you treat other human beings. I think that's wrong. I think when the Constitution says that persons are entitled to equal protection of the laws, I think it clearly means walking-around persons. You don't count pregnant women twice."

He's not the only Catholic on the court - there are four others. "I've sort of been pleased that has not be a big deal that there are five Catholics on the court. Because I don’t think religion is one of the things that divides us. I do think ethnicity is," Scalia says.

"But you could see that if there is a sixth Catholic on the court, that there would be some kind of protest out there," Stahl asks,

"Maybe. The next appointee to the court is going to be a female, Protestant Hispanic. If you could find that woman, she's in!" Scalia says, laughing.

His confirmation hearings in 1986 were a breeze, and the Senate vote was unanimous. Appointed by Ronald Reagan, he was sworn in at age 50, the first Italian-American to ever serve on the Supreme Court.

"I was astounded at the amount of mail I got from Italian-Americans who were so proud. And I think the reason is they have this Mafioso thing hung around their neck. You can have an Italian governor, but he can still be a crook. But an Italian Supreme Court justice, that meant a lot to them. It was a sign of integrity, of honesty, of intellectual accomplishment," Scalia says.

He met his wife Maureen in Cambridge when she was a senior at Radcliffe and he was in his last year at Harvard Law School. They have been married for 48 years and rarely disagree, they say.

"She says she could have married so-and-so…," Scalia says.

"Oh, not really," his wife replies.

"You do. You say that. And of course the reason she didn't was that 'so-and-so [was] wishy-washy,'" Scalia says.

"This is absolutely true. He will say, 'You would have been bored.' I say, 'Oh, that’s right!' I would have been bored," Maureen Scalia says. "I would have been bored."

But she says she hasn't been bored.

"Whatever my faults are, I am not wishy-washy," Antonin Scalia adds.

The marriage has flourished: they have 9 children and 28 grandchildren.

Why so many children?

"Well, as someone said, they’re both overachievers, I guess," Maureen Scalia jokes, laughing.

"Well, we didn't set out to have nine children. We're just old-fashioned Catholics, you know? Playing what used to be known as 'Vatican roulette,'" Scalia jokes.





TEN COMMANDMENTS "WEEKEND" (MAY 2-4)

S. Res. 483:
A resolution recognizing the first weekend of May 2008 as "Ten Commandments Weekend"

Bill Status

Introduced:Mar 13, 2008
Sponsor:Sen. Samuel Brownback [R-KS]
Status:Introduced
Go to Bill Status Page

You are viewing the following version of this bill:

Introduced in Senate: This is the original text of the bill as it was written by its sponsor and submitted to the House for consideration.

Text of Legislation

SRES 483 IS

110th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. RES. 483

Recognizing the first weekend of May 2008 as `Ten Commandments Weekend'.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 13, 2008

Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary


RESOLUTION

Recognizing the first weekend of May 2008 as `Ten Commandments Weekend'.

Whereas the Ten Commandments are precepts foundational to the faith of millions of Americans;

Whereas the Ten Commandments are a declaration of fundamental principles for a fair and just society;

Whereas, from the founding of the United States, the Ten Commandments have been part of America's basic cultural fabric;

Whereas the national hero and first President, George Washington, proclaimed in his first inaugural address in 1789: `[I]t would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and the happiness of the people of the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge.';

Whereas one of the great leaders of the United States, President John Quincy Adams, declared in a letter to his son, `The law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code . . . [many] were of universal application--laws essential to the existence of men in society, and most of which have been enacted by every nation, which ever professed any code of laws.';

Whereas President Harry S. Truman affirmed, `The fundamental basis of this Nation's law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don't have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally wind up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the state.';

Whereas, in addition to being understood as an elemental source for American law, the Ten Commandments have become a recognized symbol of law in our Nation's culture;

Whereas a marble relief portrait of Moses, the Hebrew prophet and bearer of the Ten Commandments, is located prominently in the United States Capitol over the gallery doors of the chamber of the House of Representatives in honor of his work in establishing the principles that underlie American law;

Whereas images of the Ten Commandments are prominently displayed in many Federal buildings, including the United States Supreme Court, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress; and

Whereas the first weekends of May in 2006 and 2007 were celebrated by many Americans as `Ten Commandments Weekend' in recognition of the importance of the Ten Commandments in their faith and the history and culture of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--

      (1) recognizes the first weekend of May 2008 as `Ten Commandments Weekend';

      (2) celebrates the Ten Commandments as a significant aspect of the national life of the United States; and

      (3) encourages citizens of the United States to reflect on the integral role that the Ten Commandments have played in the life of the Nation.

      Source: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=sr110-483

Saturday, April 26, 2008

HE HIDETH MY SOUL

HE HIDETH MY SOUL

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see.

Refrain

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life with the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
He taketh my burden away;
He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved,
He giveth me strength as my day.

Refrain

With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,
And filled with His fullness divine,
I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God
For such a Redeemer as mine!

Refrain

When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise
To meet Him in clouds of the sky,
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love
I’ll shout with the millions on high.

Refrain

Words:
Fanny Cros­by, in The Fin­est of Wheat, No. 1 (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: R. R. Mc­Cabe, 1890).

Music:
Wil­liam J. Kirk­pat­rick (MI­DI, score).

Source: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/e/h/hehideth.htm

ZION'S JOYFUL FUTURE

Isaiah 35

1The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

2It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

3Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

4Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

6Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

7And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

8And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

9No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

10And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

GOD'S CALL TO REFORM

God's Call to Reform

He shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17.


John the Baptist went forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of the Lord and to turn the people to the wisdom of the just. He was a representative of those living in these last days to whom God has entrusted sacred truths to present before the people to prepare the way for the second appearing of Christ. . . .

Those who are to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ are represented by faithful Elijah, as John came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ's first advent. The great subject of reform is to be agitated, and the public mind is to be stirred. Temperance in all things is to be connected with the message, to turn the people of God from their idolatry, their gluttony, and their extravagance in dress and other things.

The self-denial, humility, and temperance required of the righteous, whom God especially leads and blesses, is to be presented to the people in contrast to the extravagant, health-destroying habits of those who live in this degenerate age. God has shown that health reform is as closely connected with the third angel's message as the hand is with the body. There is nowhere to be found so great a cause of physical and moral degeneracy as a neglect of this important subject. Those who indulge appetite and passion, and close their eyes to the light for fear they will see sinful indulgences which they are unwilling to forsake, are guilty before God. . . .

Providence has been leading the people of God out from the extravagant habits of the world, away from the indulgence of appetite and passion, to take their stand upon the platform of self-denial and temperance in all things. The people whom God is leading will be peculiar. They will not be like the world. But if they follow the leadings of God they will accomplish His purposes, and will yield their will to His will. Christ will dwell in the heart. . . . Your body, says the apostle, is the temple of the Holy Ghost.

Maranatha, E. G. White, p.120.

Friday, April 25, 2008

OTHER CHRISTIANS NOT TRUE CHURCHES



Pope: Other Christians Not True Churches


Tuesday, July 10, 2007



LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy — Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation.


The statement brought swift criticism from Protestant leaders. "It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity," said the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, a fellowship of 75 million Protestants in more than 100 countries.


"It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the reformed family and other families of the church," the group said in a letter charging that the document took ecumenical dialogue back to the era before the Second Vatican Council.


It was the second time in a week that Benedict has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-1965 meetings that modernized the church. On Saturday, Benedict revived the old Latin Mass _ a move cheered by Catholic traditionalists but criticized by more liberal ones as a step backward from Vatican II.


Among the council's key developments were its ecumenical outreach and the development of the New Mass in the vernacular, which essentially replaced the old Latin Mass.


Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers its erroneous interpretation by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.


The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Benedict headed before becoming pope, said it was issuing the new document Tuesday because some contemporary theological interpretations of Vatican II's ecumenical intent had been "erroneous or ambiguous" and had prompted confusion and doubt.


The new document _ formulated as five questions and answers _ restates key sections of a 2000 text the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, "Dominus Iesus," which riled Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."


The commentary repeated church teaching that says the Catholic Church "has the fullness of the means of salvation."


"Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," said the document released as the pope vacations at a villa in Lorenzago di Cadore, in Italy's Dolomite mountains.


The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession _ the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles _ and therefore their priestly ordinations are not valid, it said.


The Rev. Sara MacVane, of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said that although the document contains nothing new, "I don't know what motivated it at this time."


"But it's important always to point out that there's the official position and there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglicans and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics," she said.


The document said that Orthodox churches were indeed "churches" because they have apostolic succession and enjoyed "many elements of sanctification and of truth." But it said they do not recognize the primacy of the pope _ a defect, or a "wound" that harmed them, it said.


"This is obviously not compatible with the doctrine of primacy which, according to the Catholic faith, is an 'internal constitutive principle' of the very existence of a particular church," said a commentary from the congregation that accompanied the text.


Despite the harsh tone, the document stressed that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.


"However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants, but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith," the commentary said.


The top Protestant cleric in Benedict's homeland, Germany, complained the Vatican apparently did not consider that "mutual respect for the church status" was required for any ecumenical progress.


In a statement titled "Lost Chance," Lutheran Bishop Wolfgang Huber argued that "it would also be completely sufficient if it were to be said that the reforming churches are 'not churches in the sense required here' or that they are 'churches of another type' _ but none of these bridges is used" in the Vatican document.


The Vatican statement, signed by the congregation prefect, American Cardinal William Levada, was approved by Benedict on June 29, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul _ a major ecumenical feast day.


There was no indication why the pope felt it necessary to release it now, particularly since his 2000 document summed up the same principles.


Some analysts suggested it could be a question of internal church politics or that the congregation was sending a message to certain theologians it did not want to single out. Or, it could be an indication of Benedict using his office as pope to again stress key doctrinal issues from his time at the congregation.


In fact, the only theologian cited by name in the document for having spawned erroneous interpretations of ecumenism was Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian clergyman who left the priesthood and was a target of then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's crackdown on liberation theology in the 1980s.


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.


Source: http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jul10/0,4670,PopeOtherChristians,00.html

Thursday, April 24, 2008

FLDS 'POLYGAMIST SECT' GIRLS


First Baptist Church of Eldorado* (el-doree-do), buses used to remove, FLDS 'Sect'--'Polygamist Compound' children and mothers, on suspicions of "child abuse".
During Texas child welfare officials' intrusion.

Girls removed from Texas "polygamist compound".




After Texas Child Welfare authorities' intervention:

Foster Care will have achieved the American Dream in these young women. "Truly liberated female persons".


* Not only has the State of Texas violated these mothers' and children's constitutional rights: of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; They have also violated the Unreasonable Search and Seisure "V Amendment", by using the Texas authorities (Religious Persecution) to intrude on, and take these families captive without any tangible evidence, or reason. Another infringement was when they used "First Baptist Church" buses (Separation of Church and State) to arbitrarily transport the families away from their community.

Nobody's children are safe from the 'know-all' government!
Parents beware, your sons or daughters could be taken away from you, too.

This episode is an ugly reminder that it is not just China that treats its citizens with disdain. But, America also commits atrocities on those that are least able to defend themselves from oppression and persecution.

Is this what they refer to as the New Word Order?
Where what is proper and decent are decided by the government?

Arsenio.

I can see that the Constitution is really just a piece of paper, and it's about to be shredded!

3 ANGELS' MESSAGES



  • And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

  • And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

  • And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Revelation 14:6-12.

JESUS ALONE



For neither did his brethren believe in him.....John 7:5


Wednesday, April 23, 2008

IS A THEOCRACY BIBLICAL?

NOTE 8. PAGE 603.
THE QUESTION HAS BEEN RAISED, AND IS NOW MUCH AGITATED, IF A THEOCRACY WAS GOOD IN THE TIME OF ISRAEL, WHY WOULD NOT A THEOCRATICAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT BE EQUALLY GOOD FOR THIS TIME? THE ANSWER IS EASY: {PP 761.6}

A THEOCRACY IS A GOVERNMENT WHICH DERIVES ITS POWER IMMEDIATELY FROM GOD. THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL WAS A TRUE THEOCRACY. THAT WAS REALLY A GOVERNMENT OF GOD. AT THE BURNING BUSH, GOD COMMISSIONED MOSES TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE OUT OF EGYPT. BY SIGNS AND WONDERS AND MIGHTY MIRACLES MULTIPLIED, GOD DELIVERED ISRAEL FROM EGYPT AND
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LED THEM THROUGH THE WILDERNESS AND FINALLY INTO THE PROMISED LAND. THERE HE RULED THEM BY JUDGES "UNTIL SAMUEL THE PROPHET," TO WHOM, WHEN HE WAS A CHILD, GOD SPOKE, AND BY WHOM HE MADE KNOWN HIS WILL. IN THE DAYS OF SAMUEL THE PEOPLE ASKED THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE A KING. THIS WAS ALLOWED, AND GOD CHOSE SAUL, AND SAMUEL ANOINTED HIM KING OF ISRAEL. SAUL FAILED TO DO THE WILL OF GOD; AND AS HE REJECTED THE WORD OF THE LORD, THE LORD REJECTED HIM FROM BEING KING AND SENT SAMUEL TO ANOINT DAVID KING OF ISRAEL; AND DAVID'S THRONE GOD ESTABLISHED FOREVERMORE. WHEN SOLOMON SUCCEEDED TO THE KINGDOM IN THE PLACE OF DAVID HIS FATHER, THE RECORD IS: "THEN SOLOMON SAT ON THE THRONE OF THE LORD AS KING INSTEAD OF DAVID HIS FATHER." 1 CHRONICLES 29:23. DAVID'S THRONE WAS THE THRONE OF THE LORD, AND SOLOMON SAT ON THE THRONE OF THE LORD AS KING OVER THE EARTHLY KINGDOM OF GOD. THE SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE DESCENDED IN DAVID'S LINE TO ZEDEKIAH, WHO WAS MADE SUBJECT TO THE KING OF BABYLON, AND WHO ENTERED INTO A SOLEMN COVENANT BEFORE GOD THAT HE WOULD LOYALLY RENDER ALLEGIANCE TO THE KING OF BABYLON. BUT ZEDEKIAH BROKE HIS COVENANT, AND THEN GOD SAID TO HIM:
{PP 761.7}

"THOU, PROFANE WICKED PRINCE OF ISRAEL, WHOSE DAY IS COME, WHEN INIQUITY SHALL HAVE AN END, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; REMOVE THE DIADEM, AND TAKE OFF THE CROWN: THIS SHALL NOT BE THE SAME: EXALT HIM THAT IS LOW, AND ABASE HIM THAT IS HIGH. I WILL OVERTURN, OVERTURN, OVERTURN, IT: AND IT SHALL BE NO MORE, UNTIL HE COME WHOSE RIGHT IT IS; AND I WILL GIVE IT HIM." EZEKIEL 21:25-27. SEE ALSO CHAPTER 17:1-21. {PP 762.1}

THE KINGDOM WAS THEN SUBJECT TO BABYLON. WHEN BABYLON FELL, AND MEDO-PERSIA SUCCEEDED, IT WAS OVERTURNED THE FIRST TIME. WHEN MEDO-PERSIA FELL AND WAS SUCCEEDED BY GREECE, IT WAS OVERTURNED THE SECOND TIME. WHEN THE GREEK EMPIRE GAVE WAY TO ROME, IT WAS OVERTURNED THE THIRD TIME. AND THEN SAYS THE WORD, "IT SHALL BE NO MORE, UNTIL HE COME WHOSE RIGHT IT IS; AND I WILL GIVE IT HIM." WHO IS HE WHOSE RIGHT IT IS? "THOU . . . SHALT CALL HIS NAME JESUS. HE SHALL BE GREAT, AND SHALL BE CALLED THE SON OF THE HIGHEST: AND THE LORD GOD SHALL GIVE UNTO HIM THE THRONE OF HIS FATHER DAVID: AND HE SHALL REIGN OVER THE HOUSE OF JACOB FOREVER; AND OF HIS KINGDOM THERE SHALL BE NO END." LUKE 1:31-33. AND WHILE HE WAS HERE AS "THAT PROPHET," A MAN OF SORROWS AND ACQUAINTED WITH GRIEF, THE NIGHT IN WHICH HE WAS BETRAYED HE HIMSELF DECLARED, "MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD." THUS THE THRONE OF THE LORD HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THIS WORLD AND WILL "BE NO MORE, UNTIL HE COME WHOSE RIGHT IT IS," AND THEN IT WILL BE GIVEN HIM. AND THAT TIME IS THE END OF THIS WORLD, AND THE BEGINNING OF "THE WORLD TO COME." {PP 762.2}

TO THE TWELVE APOSTLES THE SAVIOUR SAID, "I APPOINT UNTO YOU A KINGDOM, AS MY FATHER HATH APPOINTED UNTO ME; THAT YE MAY EAT AND DRINK AT MY TABLE IN MY KINGDOM, AND SIT ON THRONES, JUDGING THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL." LUKE 22:29, 30. FROM MATTHEW'S ACCOUNT OF
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CHRIST'S PROMISE TO THE TWELVE WE LEARN WHEN IT WILL BE FULFILLED; "IN THE REGENERATION WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL SIT IN THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY, YE ALSO SHALL SIT UPON TWELVE THRONES, JUDGING THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL." MATTHEW 19:28. IN THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS, CHRIST REPRESENTS HIMSELF UNDER THE FIGURE OF A NOBLEMAN WHO "WENT INTO A FAR COUNTRY TO RECEIVE FOR HIMSELF A KINGDOM, AND TO RETURN." LUKE 19:12. AND HE HIMSELF HAS TOLD US WHEN HE WILL SIT UPON THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY: "WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL COME IN HIS GLORY, AND ALL THE HOLY ANGELS WITH HIM, THEN SHALL HE SIT UPON THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY: AND BEFORE HIM SHALL BE GATHERED ALL NATIONS." MATTHEW 25:31, 32.
{PP 762.3}

TO THIS TIME THE REVELATOR LOOKS FORWARD WHEN HE SAYS, "THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD ARE BECOME THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD, AND OF HIS CHRIST; AND HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER." REVELATION 11:15. THE CONTEXT CLEARLY SHOWS WHEN THIS WILL TAKE PLACE: "THE NATIONS WERE ANGRY, AND THY WRATH IS COME, AND THE TIME OF THE DEAD, THAT THEY SHOULD BE JUDGED, AND THAT THOU SHOULDEST GIVE REWARD UNTO THY SERVANTS THE PROPHETS, AND TO THE SAINTS, AND THEM THAT FEAR THY NAME, SMALL AND GREAT; AND SHOULDEST DESTROY THEM WHICH DESTROY THE EARTH." VERSE 18. IT IS AT THE TIME OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT, THE REWARD OF THE RIGHTEOUS, AND THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED THAT THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST WILL BE SET UP. WHEN ALL WHO OPPOSE THE SOVEREIGNTY OF CHRIST HAVE BEEN DESTROYED, THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD BECOME THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD AND OF HIS CHRIST. {PP 763.1}

THEN CHRIST WILL REIGN, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." REVELATION 19:16. "AND THE KINGDOM AND DOMINION, AND THE GREATNESS OF THE KINGDOM UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN, SHALL BE GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE OF THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH." AND "THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH SHALL TAKE THE KINGDOM, AND POSSESS THE KINGDOM FOREVER, EVEN FOREVER AND EVER." DANIEL 7:27, 18. {PP 763.2}

UNTIL THAT TIME THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST CANNOT BE ESTABLISHED ON THE EARTH. HIS KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD. HIS FOLLOWERS ARE TO ACCOUNT THEMSELVES "STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS ON THE EARTH." PAUL SAYS, "OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN; FROM WHENCE ALSO WE WAIT FOR A SAVIOUR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST." HEBREWS 11:13; PHILIPPIANS 3:20, R.V. {PP 763.3}

SINCE THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL PASSED AWAY, GOD HAS NEVER DELEGATED AUTHORITY TO ANY MAN OR BODY OF MEN TO EXECUTE HIS LAWS AS SUCH. "VENGEANCE IS MINE; I WILL REPAY, SAITH THE LORD." ROMANS 12:19. CIVIL GOVERNMENTS HAVE TO DO WITH THE RELATIONS OF MAN WITH MAN; BUT THEY HAVE NOTHING WHATEVER TO DO WITH THE DUTIES THAT GROW OUT OF MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. {PP 763.4}

EXCEPT THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL, NO GOVERNMENT HAS EVER EXISTED ON THE EARTH IN WHICH GOD BY INSPIRED MEN DIRECTED THE AFFAIRS OF STATE. WHENEVER MEN HAVE ENDEAVORED TO FORM SUCH A GOVERNMENT AS THAT OF ISRAEL, THEY HAVE, OF NECESSITY, TAKEN IT UPON THEMSELVES TO INTERPRET AND ENFORCE THE LAW OF GOD. THEY HAVE ASSUMED THE RIGHT TO
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CONTROL THE CONSCIENCE, AND THUS HAVE USURPED THE PREROGATIVE OF GOD.
{PP 763.5}

IN THE FORMER DISPENSATION, WHILE SINS AGAINST GOD WERE VISITED WITH TEMPORAL PENALTIES, THE JUDGMENTS EXECUTED WERE NOT ONLY BY DIVINE SANCTION, BUT UNDER HIS DIRECT CONTROL, AND BY HIS COMMAND. SORCERERS WERE TO BE PUT TO DEATH. IDOLATERS WERE TO BE SLAIN. PROFANITY AND SACRILEGE WERE PUNISHED WITH DEATH. WHOLE NATIONS OF IDOLATERS WERE TO BE EXTERMINATED. BUT THE INFLICTION OF THESE PENALTIES WAS DIRECTED BY HIM WHO READS THE HEARTS OF MEN, WHO KNOWS THE MEASURE OF THEIR GUILT, AND WHO DEALS WITH HIS CREATURES IN WISDOM AND MERCY. WHEN MEN, WITH HUMAN FRAILTIES AND PASSIONS, UNDERTAKE TO DO THIS WORK, IT NEEDS NO ARGUMENT TO SHOW THAT THE DOOR IS OPENED TO UNRESTRAINED INJUSTICE AND CRUELTY. THE MOST INHUMAN CRIMES WILL BE PERPETRATED, AND ALL IN THE SACRED NAME OF CHRIST. {PP 764.1}

FROM THE LAWS OF ISRAEL, WHICH PUNISHED OFFENSES AGAINST GOD, ARGUMENTS HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO PROVE THE DUTY OF PUNISHING SIMILAR SINS IN THIS AGE. ALL PERSECUTORS HAVE EMPLOYED THEM TO JUSTIFY THEIR DEEDS. THE PRINCIPLE THAT GOD HAS DELEGATED TO HUMAN AUTHORITY THE RIGHT TO CONTROL THE CONSCIENCE IS THE VERY FOUNDATION OF RELIGIOUS TYRANNY AND PERSECUTION. BUT ALL WHO REASON THUS LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT WE ARE NOW LIVING IN A DIFFERENT DISPENSATION, UNDER CONDITIONS WHOLLY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF ISRAEL; THAT THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL WAS A TYPE OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST, WHICH WILL NOT BE SET UP UNTIL HIS SECOND COMING; AND THAT THE DUTIES WHICH PERTAIN TO MAN'S RELATION TO GOD ARE NOT TO BE REGULATED OR ENFORCED BY HUMAN AUTHORITY. {PP 764.2}

Patriarchs and Prophets, Appendix, E. G. White, pg.761-764.