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.
*** REVELATION 14:9
At this time, when we are so near the end, shall we become so like the world in practice that men may look in vain to find God’s denominated people? Shall any man sell our peculiar characteristics as God’s chosen people for any advantage the world has to give? Shall the favor of those who transgress the law of God be looked upon as of great value? Shall those whom the Lord has named His people suppose that there is any power higher than the great I AM? Shall we endeavor to blot out the distinguishing points of faith that have made us Seventh-day Adventists?
Our only safety is in standing constantly in the light of God’s countenance.—Manuscript 84, 1905.
The messages of reproof that God gave through His prophets to backsliding, apostate Israel, did not lead them to repentance. Misrepresented, misunderstood, His messengers were as sheep in the midst of wolves. Many of them were cruelly put to death.
How scornfully the Jewish nation treated the message that the Lord gave to them through His prophet Jeremiah! Of his experience Jeremiah the prophet says: “O Lord, Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.”
So strong was the opposition against Jeremiah’s message, so often was he derided and mocked, that he said, “I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.” Thus it has ever been. Because of the bitterness, hatred, and opposition manifested against the word of God spoken in reproof, many other messengers of God have decided to do as Jeremiah decided. But what did this prophet of the Lord do after his decision? Try as much as he would, he could not hold his peace. As soon as he came into the assemblies of the people, he found that the Spirit of the Lord was stronger than he was. The record is: “His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.”
In this generation, when God’s servants speak the word of the Lord to reprove wrong-doers, to rebuke those who bring in wrong principles, have they not had an experience similar to that which Jeremiah had? When a course of action to pervert justice and judgment is introduced, the word of the Lord must be spoken in reproof. In this our day we find the very same difficulties that the Lord’s servants found in the days of ancient Israel when they were sent to expose existing evils that were corrupting in their influence (Manuscript 56, 1902).
Yankee games have "God bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch but only NASCAR has pre-race prayers.
And on Saturday in Nashville, Pastor Joe Nelms came through with a car-racing invocation that won't soon be forgotten. His prayer before the Nationwide Federated Auto Parts 300 managed to fuse unusual automotive praise with a memorable spousal shout-out.
Nelms began the prayer straightforward enough, thanking God for all his blessings. But then his list of gratitude grew increasingly creative.
First he thanked the Man Upstairs for "all the Dodges and Toyotas and the Fords." He then gave thanks for "GM performance technology," "Sunoco racing fuel" and "Goodyear tires that bring performance and power to the track."
(Nelms was not wearing a Goodyear baseball cap but we can only assume he landed a post-prayer endorsement from the tire company).
Then Nelms got personal: "Lord, I want to thank you for my smokin' hot wife tonight, Lisa, and my two children, Eli and Emma, or as we like to call the 'The Little E's."
Of course, Nelms couldn't close the prayer without a zinger and he came through with this gem: "In Jesus' name, boogity boogity boogity, Amen."
According to the Tennessean, Carl Edwards, who won the race, was impressed by the humor: "I turned to Jack (Roush) after that. I said, 'If anything happens, I want him to be at my funeral.'"
WASHINGTON—The acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told congressional investigators he did
n't approve the tactics of a federal operation that lost track of firearms purchased by suspected smugglers.
The testimony by acting ATF chief Kenneth Melson and other top officials, released Tuesday, rebutted suspicions voiced by Republican lawmakers that the tactics used in the ATF's Operation Fast and Furious received high-level approval.
But testimony by lower-level officials at a House hearing Tuesday pointed to mismanagement and lack of oversight in letting Fast and Furious move forward in 2009 and 2010. In some cases, senior officials appear not to have asked questions once signs of trouble emerged.
The operation was aimed at catching top smugglers who funnel weapons from the U.S. to drug-cartel gangs in Mexico. To do so, ATF agents let some gun purchases by suspected smugglers go forward.
GOP lawmakers argue the ATF should have known it couldn't keep track of those firearms. They released a report Monday saying that more than 1,000 of the weapons haven't been recovered or traced.
Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released their own report Tuesday with excerpts from interviews with Mr. Melson, his deputy, William Hoover, and others.
"I don't believe that I knew or that Billy Hoover knew ... that the strategy in the case was to watch people buy the guns and not interdict them at some point," the Democratic report quotes Mr. Melson as saying in a July 4 interview.
The interview with Mr. Melson was conducted without Justice Department lawyers present. The acting ATF chief has split with his bosses after reports in The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere that Justice officials wanted to oust him from his post.
According to the report, a congressional interviewer asked Mr. Melson: "Did anyone at the Department of Justice ever tell you or tell anyone else at headquarters and it got to you that those tactics were authorized as part of a new strategy in order to follow the guns, let the guns go, see where they might end up?"
Mr. Melson answered: "No."
However, Lorren Leadmon, an ATF intelligence agent, testified at Tuesday's House hearing that Mr. Melson and other senior officials received briefings in late 2009 and 2010 indicating trouble with the Fast and Furious operation.
Mr. Leadmon said he and others provided details at these briefings of weapons seizures in the U.S. and Mexico tied to Fast and Furious. In addition to the ATF leaders, an official from the criminal division at Justice Department headquarters received the briefings, Mr. Leadmon said.
Also at the hearing, Darren Gil, the ATF's attache in Mexico City during the operation, compared the Fast and Furious missteps to the ATF's performance in its 1993 raid of a religious sect in Waco, Texas, where a gunbattle left four ATF agents dead.
He said the operation exposed how "poor management, poor judgment and poor leadership resulted in disaster. Operation Fast and Furious, as I have come to understand it, is indeed a disaster."
Another ATF official, William McMahon, who led regional field operations, apologized at Tuesday's hearing for apparently not reading some of the documents that he approved, including wiretaps connected to the operation.
Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican who is chairman of the House oversight committee, and Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa have led the congressional probe of the operation.
The hearing Tuesday led by Mr. Issa offered an unusual scene, as active ATF agents chastised their bosses, sitting a few seats away, for letting the operation continue.
William Newell, the chief of the ATF Phoenix office during the Fast and Furious operation, defended the way the operation was conceived, saying "it was not the purpose of the investigation to permit the transportation of firearms into Mexico, and to the best of my knowledge none of the suspects in this case was ever witnessed by our agents crossing the border with firearms."
Mr. Hoover told the congressional investigators that he raised concerns and asked in March 2010 that the operation be shut down. It wasn't ended until December 2010, after a border patrol agent was killed in a shootout in Arizona. An assault rifle found at the scene was traced back to a suspect in the Fast and Furious operation.
Mr. Issa scolded Mr. Newell and others who he said were being evasive. He said it remains his goal to have Mr. Newell or his bosses at the ATF and the Justice Department admit that "you knowingly let guns walk."
Tracy Schmaler, a Justice spokeswoman, said the House committee's report didn't include details and testimony that "makes clear that operational details relating to this investigation were unknown to senior Department of Justice officials." She noted that the department's inspector general is investigating the matter.
Recently it was revealed that The Gang of Six (6) [a group ofCongressionalDemocratsand Republicans], had come up with 'a plan' to break the impasse in the Debt Ceiling Negotiations.
When Osama Bin Laden was killed at a 'secret compound' in Pakistan, it was mentioned that the Navy's Seal Team Six (6), was the outfit utilized to carry out the secret operation.
The only Six that vividly sticks out in my mind, is the 6 Roman Catholic Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. A nation that is not2/3Catholiccan not logically have such a representation. Besides the prolific SIX Catholics on the Supreme Court, there are 3 Jews. Now, go figure? Six and Three! No Protestant representation? Excuse me, no Evangelicals!
---
Arsenio.
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U.S. Supreme Court 2011 - John Roberts (RC) , Ruth Bader Ginsburg (J), Clarence Thomas (RC), Anthony Kennedy (RC), Samuel Alito (RC), Antonin Scalia (RC), Stephen Breyer (J), Elena Kagan (J), Sonia Sotomayor (RC). .
The President is scheduled to speak tonight; I wonder what this prime-time grabbing speech will be about? I believe that Mr. Obama will announce his adoption ofSenator (D) Harry Reid of Nevada's Debt Ceiling Extension - plan to settle the current stalemate; Which the President will arbitrarily sign into law despite opposition from the Republican Party's leadership. You may ask how did I arrive on such a conclusion? Well, let's say I have a funny feeling this is what Obama will do after closely following all the maneuverings that the media has revealed so far. For example this recent headline: Obama backs Reid plan, will address nation on debt debate...
Now this isn't really my way or the highway, is it? Certainly not; Not for Rep. Boehner (Majority Leader) and the Republican Congresspeople, that wouldn't be fair...
But, on the other hand it's natural for Obama and Reid to get their way; It's totally logical, and politically correct to boot. Remember Health Care Reform and the Stimulus Package? Remember how forcefully these were imposed? Well, why change the technique now, if bullying has worked so well until this moment?
More, More, More --- How do you like it, How do you like it?
Arsenio.
P.S. I hope I'm wrong; But, I won't loose any sleep over this though if I misread the signs...
Be a fair drug lord: Mexican 'Knights Templar' gang distributes good conduct guide
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:06 PM on 20th July 2011
An organised Mexican crime group calling itself the Knights Templar is distributing booklets – claiming to fight a war against poverty, tyranny and injustice.
The group, blamed for murders, extortion, drug trafficking and attacks on police, are appealing to citizens in a part of the country where the government claims to have largely taken down major drug traffickers.
Analysts say the propaganda is trying to transform a drug cartel into a social movement, like what right-wing paramilitary groups did in Colombia in the 1990s against leftist rebels — a fight in which both sides used the drug trade to finance their causes.
'Life requires chivalry and humility': the Knights Templar are a Mexican crime group accused of murder, extortion and drug trafficking
‘I think the main intent is to create a social base in Michoacán ... and that way they are different from other criminal organisations,’ said Jorge Chabat, a veteran analyst of the drug trade in Mexico.
‘They say they are defending the people against attacks. In the case of Colombia it was the guerrillas; here it is against who knows what.’
A copy of the 22-page ‘The Code of the Knights Templar of Michoacán,’ handbook shows illustrated knights on horseback bearing lances and crosses. It says the group ‘will begin a challenging ideological battle to defend the values of a society based on ethics.’
Looking for followers: The group are issuing pocket-size quasi-religious propaganda booklets
The Knights Templar was founded in March, according to the booklet, whose illustrations were lifted from an artist, a website of a company that sells swords and another promoting the 2007 Swedish film ‘Arn: The Knight Templar’.
Named for a medieval Roman Catholic order of religious warriors who fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem, Knights Templar is a splinter group of La Familia, another cult-like cartel whose leader, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, published a motivational pamphlet called ‘The Sayings of the Craziest One.’
La Familia claimed strict codes of conduct among its members, including prohibiting using or selling drugs within Mexican territory, it didn't distribute its booklets publicly.
The contents of its ‘bible,’ reportedly based on the teachings of U.S. evangelist John Eldredge, have never been revealed by authorities. The cartel became one of Mexico's major sources of methamphetamine.
The Mexican government claims to have all but dismantled La Familia since Moreno was killed in a shootout with federal police last December and another founder, Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, was arrested last month.
But the mayhem and killing has continued in Michoacan as Knights Templar gunmen battle both the Zetas cartel and remnants of La Familia seeking to control President Felipe Calderon's home state more than 4½ years after Calderon launched his crackdown on organised crime here in 2006.
More...Hamad, the biggest name in the desert: Arab sheikh carves two-miles-long name in sand until it's visible from SPACE
More than 35,000 people have died in drug violence across Mexico since then, according to government figures, and some groups put the number at more than 40,000.
President Calderon has said he took on the cartels to prevent organised crime from spreading to the roots of Mexican society.
The Knights Templar claims to be highly religious, distributing its teachings to the general public with kitschy but florid posters, banners, emblems and even medieval robes.
The groups mandate: 'A man with ideas is strong, but a man with ideals is invincible'‘
God is the truth and there is no truth without God,’ reads one passage in the booklet.
A source said two men in regular clothing gave him the book earlier this month aboard a bus traveling in rural Michoacan. He said the men then got off at the next stop.
The booklet says cartel members ‘must fight against materialism,’ and respect women and children. It prohibits them from killing for money and says, ‘for all members of the order, the use of any drugs or any hallucinogen is strictly prohibited.’ It mandates drug testing for members.
The Knights Templar have criticised federal police for failing to protect Michoacan against incursions by the ultra-violent Zetas.
The group may have helped organise a demonstration last week in the Michoacan city of Apatzingan, where people chanted ‘Federal police, get out!’ Some young men scrawled slogans like ‘100 percent Knights Templar’ on their T-shirts.
Government security spokesman Alejandro Poire did not respond to a reporter's question about whether the cartel had organised last Wednesday's demonstration, but said it had been known to do so in the past.
‘It would not be the first time that various criminal organisations seek to use propaganda or publicity tools, but I stress that there is no criminal propaganda that can weaken the efforts of federal forces,’
Mr Poire said Tuesday. ‘The stepped-up federal police presence will remain there.’
Along with the booklet, which also preaches loyalty to family and country, police also have confiscated banners with messages from the gang, trucks emblazoned with Templar ‘shields,’ and even white robes with red crosses like the ones worn by the original Knights Templar order.
The original knights were outlawed in Europe and executed and their order dismantled beginning in 1307.Photos from a Mexican army raid the previous day on a Templar training camp in Zacapu, Michoacan, show pages like those in the booklet as well as a medieval-style helmet made of steel grating and the white tunics.
National security expert Javier Oliva at Mexico's National Autonomous University said the propaganda may have some pull in rural areas where the government is weak and lawlessness and violence are rampant.
‘They mirror a bit the sociological, anthropological logic of the Mafia,’ he said. ‘They seek to take justice into their own hands in a Mexico where no functional justice system exists.’
Anders Behring Breivik (aka Andrew Berwick) and his thoughts.
"One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100 000 who have only interests."
"Multiculturalism is an anti-European hate-ideology designed to deconstruct European cultures and traditions. European identities, European Christendom and even European nation states. And as such, it is an evil genocidal ideology created for the sole purpose of annihilation everything European."
The song used in this video is called "The Dreaming Anew- Memories of Cimmeria" and its from /Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures/ written by Morten Sørlie,Simon Pool,Helene Bøksle (female singer),Turbonegro, Tord D. Nikolaisen, Fredrik Martol and Knut Avenstroup Haugen.
AP – A man participates in a protest against gay marriage in front of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's office …
By GEORGE M. WALSH, Associated Press – 1 hr 9 mins ago
ALBANY, N.Y. – Thousands of opponents of gay marriage took to the streets in loud and sometimes tense protests Sunday, the first day that legal same-sex weddings were performed.
The National Organization for Marriage held rallies in New York City, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo, saying Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers redefined marriage without giving voters a chance to weigh-in, as they have in other states. Protesters chanted "Let the People Vote!" at rallies across the state.
A rally in New York City that started with several hundred people crowding the street across from Cuomo's Manhattan office quickly swelled to thousands of people out in loud opposition to the new law.
They waved signs saying "Excommunicate Cuomo" and "God cannot be mocked."
Cuomo campaigned in support of gay marriage, which he called a basic human right, then lobbied the Legislature hard ahead of its historic June 24 vote to legalize it.
The first gay marriages in New York were performed just after midnight and continued through the day at municipal offices that opened for special weekend hours, making New York the sixth and largest state to recognize same-sex weddings and becoming a pivotal moment in the national drive for recognition.
Outside the capitol in Albany, about 400 people gathered in a park in the shadow of the state Capitol for a protest they said was political, but had a strong religious thread and featured signs that included a banner with the familiar "Marriage(equals)Man and Woman" message topped with a fluttering "Don't Tread on Me" flag.
A mix of congregants and clergy from local black churches, a tea party contingent from Norwich and other small groups including families, they lined up and sang "Our God is an Awesome God" as they started a march that circled the massive seat of state government in the largely empty downtown.
Tre' Staton, pastor at the Empire Christian Center in suburban Colonie and an organizer of the protest, said he lobbied lawmakers in the run-up to the New York Senate vote and was frustrated they passed a law he doesn't believe many people support, particularly in the black community.
"We're not against anybody, but we don't want this imposed on us," he said, stressing the National Organization for Marriage's theme for the rally. "We're looking for a referendum, an opportunity to have our fair say."
New York City protesters and others across upstate chanted "Let the people vote!" referring to referendums that have succeeded in stalling or repealing gay marriage in other states. New York does not have an easy way for voters to bring a measure directly to the ballot box, meaning such a maneuver to repeal gay marriage here will be difficult.
"I'm here for God's sake," said Steve Rosner, 65, of the Lower East Side. "To sanctify same-sex marriage is an abomination. It's beyond belief."
Around 3:30, the protesters started marching uptown toward the United Nations. By the time they reached the UN, the crowd numbered in the many thousands, filling up 47th Street. They were joined by a brass band as a stage was set up for speakers.
State Sen. Ruben Diaz, a minister who was the sole Democrat to vote against gay marriage, told the crowd that he and other opponents would try to get Sunday's marriages annulled, saying judges broke the law by waiving the 24-hour waiting period without a good reason.
"We're going to show them next week that everything they did today was illegal," he said, speaking in Spanish. "Today we start the battle! Today we start the war!" Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative, said his group of churches would fight against Cuomo's re-election.
Jewish protester Heshy Friedman carried a pig mask "because the law's not Kosher." He said he worried that Muslim groups might push to legalize polygamy next.
In Buffalo, a few hundred people gathered on the steps of City Hall. Church leaders did most of the speaking while protesters chanted "Let the people vote." Some held Bibles and others prayed on rosaries with their heads bowed.
"If it had been put to the people it wouldn't have passed," said JoAnn Tomasello, who was also in the crowd. "It's not what the people want."
Police led one counterprotester away in handcuffs after he apparently refused to stop videotaping police, although it wasn't clear that's why he was taken into custody.
Another counterprotester, Dan McKowan of Lancaster, got into a shouting match with demonstrators as he held a sign mocking the National Organization for Marriage, which organized the rally.
"Why are you denying me the same rights you enjoy?" McKowan asked.
"We love you," several protesters replied.
"If you love me, why would you fight against my civil rights?" McKowan said.
___
Associated Press writers Chris Hawley in New York City and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo contributed to this report.
Today, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined Christiane Amanpour on ABC’s “This Week” to discuss New York’s implementation of its same-sex marriage law. New York’s same-sex marriage law allows New Yorkers of the same gender to obtain a marriage license. In implementing this law, New York becomes the largest state to advance gay-rights in the nation. New York’s same-sex marriage law took effect at midnight on Sunday, giving thousands of same-sex couples the opportunity to tie the knot on the first day of same-sex marriage in New York.
Amanpour’s decision to interview Bloomberg on New York’s same-sex marriage law is without question tied to the mayor’s energetic push for same-sex marriage in New York back when the law was being voted on in Albany. In May, Bloomberg let it be known that he would support the reelection campaign of any Republican state senator who helped pass New York’s same-sex marriage law.
“To me, America has always stood for the freedom to practice your religion, say what you want to say, do what you want to do as long as it doesn’t hurt others,” Bloomberg said about the needed to “rectify the injustices” of the past.
Bloomberg also responded to a quote from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), an official candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, read by Amanpour. Bachmann has been a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage in any state. “I just couldn’t disagree more, but [...] she has the right to run for president and if the public wants to side with her, then they will,” Bloomberg professed.
Bloomberg also argued that the passage of New York’s same-sex marriage law should be a day of celebration for Republicans, because same-sex marriage is a confirmation of Republican values. “They [Republicans] want the government out of your personal life” and “they think that marriage is a stabilizing influence on society,” Bloomberg said in defining what he believes are Republican values.
During the interview, Bloomberg was joined by two of his top aides who the mayor will marry later today. One of Bloomberg’s aides said that “to our daughters” New York’s same-sex marriage law “will make a huge difference to them, to feel like everything’s equal.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was scheduled to preside Sunday evening over the marriage between his Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz and mayoral advisor John Feinblatt at Gracie Mansion in the Upper East Side.
Feinblatt and Mintz, who met 14 years ago, are raising two daughters.
In a Sunday interview on ABC's "This Week", the mayor said the state's same-sex marriage law is just one example of the country's steady march toward establishing total equality.
"To me, America has always stood for the freedom to practice your religion, say what you want to say, do what you want to do, as long as it doesn't hurt others and also not impose any one person's religion on others, and in this case it's doing both," Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg added that he expects same-sex marriage to become the norm as opinions continue to evolve.
The mayor has the authority to officiate wedding ceremonies, but he has only done it twice before -- for his own daughter Emma in 2005 and when former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani married Judi Nathan in 2003.
New York is the sixth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Published 03:50 20.07.11 Latest update 03:50 20.07.11
Prime Minister Netanyahu, speaking via satellite, and news commentator Glenn Beck encourage audience to think of themselves and Jews, Israelis, as one and the same.
By Natasha Mozgovaya
Over 5000 Christians, mainly Evangelicals, gathered this week at the Convention Center in Washington for the annual conference of the organization CUFI, Christians United For Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Christian Zionist conference via satellite, telling them, "When you support Israel, you don’t have to choose between your interests and your values; you get
Christians United For Israel conference, July 19, 2011. Photo by: Natasha Mozgovaya
The prime minister encouraged the conference attendees to not only think of Israel as an ally of the Unites States, but as indistinguishable from it. "Our enemies think that we are you, and that you are us," added Netanyahu. "And you know something? They are absolutely right."
Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren compared the participants' support of Israel to British military officer Orde Wingate’s training of Jewish paramilitary units before the establishment of the State of Israel. “We thank you for carrying out this vision,” Oren told the CUFI conference participants.
News commentator Glenn Beck worked the audience into a frenzy, decrying the historical persecution of Jews, insisting that Israel cannot cede control over territories it controls, and calling upon the conference attendees to declare that they, too, are Jewish.
"Jews have been chased out of every corner of this planet," said Beck. "Enough is enough." Beck said that new states can be established, but not at the expense of other states, and that Israel is historically the 'Land of the Jews', implying that Israel should not relinquish control over the West Bank in order to create a State of Palestine.
Beck repeated a refrain that Netanyahu had introduced earlier, appealing to audience members to self-identify as Israelis and Jews themselves. He exhorted, "When we see Israelis not as part of us, but as us, we can move to the next level as human beings," adding, "Let us declare 'I am a Jew,' they cannot kill all of us".
The conference attendees learned that Pastor John Hagee, the founder of CUFI, would be joining Beck for his planned rally in Jerusalem in August.
Hagee told the audience, many of whom were waving both Israeli and American flags, “We gathered here with one message: Israel today, Israel tomorrow, and Israel forever.” He added, “President Obama is no friend of Israel”.
“The truth is not what you think that it is – it’s what the Bible says”, Hagee proclaimed. “There are two ways to live your life – the Torah way and the wrong way."
"If the US Administration forces Israel to divide Jerusalem – God will turn his back to the United States of America. The G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is watching America," Hagee continued. "Mister President, go tell Russia and the Chinese what to do."
“Iran will soon become nuclear. Our President is waiting for Iran to extend a friendly hand, and it’s not going to happen," Hagee added. "Mister Ahmadinejad, don’t threaten Israel. What you do to the Jewish people, history proves, will be done to you.”
A group of Omaha pastors has issued a proclamation that states homosexuality is not a sin.
More than 100 ordained Christian ministers have signed the proclamation, including leaders from Lutheran, Episcopalian, United Church of Christ, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches.
David Bydalek is executive director of Family First, the family policy council for the state of Nebraska. He deems this effort troubling for many Nebraskans and contends the ministers involved are from liberal denominations that do not respect the orthodox biblical teaching on homosexuality.
"When they come out with this sort of statement, I think they really do not reflect the mainstream feeling in the state of Nebraska," Bydalek suggests. "When we passed our marriage amendment years ago, we had about 70 percent of those in Nebraska who opposed 'gay marriage.'"
But when Christians take a stand to support traditional biblical teaching on the issue, the Family First executive director laments that they are often perceived as "bigots" or "homophobes." He suggests, however, that the loving response to those trapped in homosexuality teaches that the lifestyle is indeed sinful, but that freedom can be found through Christ.
"It's going to be more difficult, the more these…activists [gain] inroads into our culture and the more common it becomes," Bydalek warns. "So we have a very difficult task ahead of us as those who stand for truth."
Meanwhile, creators of the proclamation argue the document displays full acceptance of lesbian, "gay," bisexual and transgender people.
A Papal Bull is a formal document issued by a Roman Cult Pontiff upon a major act of law, curse or claim to extend the power of the Cult over its claimed domination of the world, all nations, all people, all law and all religions. All legitimate Papal Bulls were issued on human skin, usually the skin of a sacrificed child, or some famous heretic. Forgeries are on calf skin or some other lesser medium.
The first legitimate Papal Bull is probably around 1136 called Ex commisso nobis by Pope Innocent II in the claimed excommunication of the Saxon (German) Pope at Magdeburg.
Unfortunately, many of the key Papal Bulls are missing (such as 1249) and most have been deliberately forged over the centuries onto calf or sheep skin, to re-write history and hide their original form on human skin. However, it is unlikely the originals on the skin of those murdered by the Cult - especially children - have been destroyed as they remain the foundation of the Roman Cult and a core source of their supernatural power.
Any claimed Papal Bulls prior 1136 must be viewed as suspect and any alleged Papal Bulls prior to 1079 are complete frauds as the Roman Cult did not claim Rome as quasi-christians until Gregory VII against the founders of the Catholic Church, the Franks.
Original source and concept of Papal Bulls
The claim that Papal Bulls are named after the bulla of ancient Roman documents is a complete absurdity - they are dedications to the Dark Lord or Ba'al Satan to whom the Roman Cult dedicate their works in secret.
The use of human skin is a fundamental prerequisite for a Papal Bull to have power as this is a concept of necromancy inherited through the Rabbi of Venice, the successors of the Sarmatians, themselves the successors of the Scythians and Tarsus, the successors of Mari and the amurru, the city founded itself from exiles of Ur.
The Latin word vellum from vellus means not only a fleece or hide but also “human” skin, indicating that at the Roman times the meaning of this form of writing material was still known.
In fact it was the Roman Cult itself through the formation of the College of Abbreviators that create the word "Parchment" to describe the fundamental form for legitimate Papal Bulls- “parchment” meaning parca = one of the three fates - the fate of death, h = letter of binding and ment/mentis = mind, thought, intention, intellect or in other words “mind/soul bound to the fate of death”.
Official Papal Method for creating Vellum/Parchment for Bulls
The awful ritual of murdering children for using their skin for Papal Bulls and other Spells was first outlined in the Grimoire of Pope Honorius III at the beginning of the 13th Century. But instead of explicitly using the word "human child", the word "kid" is used. Today, the word kids is accepted as a word for children.
The same ritual appears as standard procedure in subsequent Grimoires of black magic published by the Popes and the introduction to the specifics of the ritual may be viewed in Arthur Edward Waite's Book of Ceremonial Magic Pg 171:
Concerning the Victim of the Art
Take your kid (child); place it on a block with the throat turned upward, so that it may be easier for you to cut it; be ready with your knife, and cut the throat with a single stroke, pronouncing the name o the Spirit whom you wish to invoke. For example, say: "I slay thee, N. (name of child) in the name and to the honor of N. (name of spirit)". Have a care that two blows not be needed, but let it die at the first; then skin with the knife and while skinning it make the following Invocation...
The highest form- succession of form
Under all western law, the highest form of law and literally the highest form upon which any writing exists is a Papal Bull- based on parchment, being the skin of sacrificed children. In the system devised by the Roman Cult, no other document can claim higher standing.
This is a key reason why all legitimate Bulls were written on the skin of sacrificed innocent children, cursed, sodomised and then brutally butchered- because the Roman Cult did not publicly permit any documents to be written on parchment from human skin, no other documents could claim "human personality" and therefore real spiritual life.
Under the perverse and corrupt system of law that dominates the world today, the Roman Cult has convinced all jurisdictions to consider documents as devoid of life, except for those granted limited powers to resurrect the "dead paper" of a document to limited life, through the form of certain seals. Yet under this wholly evil and wicked system, no document has higher "life" that a Papal Bull being a satanic curse and binding usng the flesh of innocents to "trap their soul" to the form.
Regardless of this perversity, under Western law, legally Papal Bulls technically stand as the highest form of original law - therefore what they say (always written in Latin) is technically the law.
Forgeries and fraudulent Bulls on display
Unfortunately, the published and "official" version of most Papal Bulls prior to the 19th Century are deliberate fakes, with the words hardly representing anything like the original content.
This is especially significant for Papal Bulls representing historic Deeds and Wills in that such frauds when clearly noted constitutes fundamental and fatal breach in the very trust laws first created by the Papacy.
Therefore, such deliberate and conscious fraud of alterting key Papal Bulls has resulted in the collapse of all the major Trusts and Testamentary Trusts of the Papacy. The continuation of obeyance to such claimed authority itself is a fraud against the rules of Trusts and Property by which the whole world allegedly adheres and such organizations as the United Nations, the Bank for International Settlements are guilty of fundamental and gross fraud in recognizing the Vatican has any effective authority.
Summary:What is the Papacy really saying in its encyclicals?
Author:Wendy Goubej
Summary:What is the Papacy really saying in its encyclicals?
There are several words that crop up often in the speeches and writings of the Roman Church on economics. However, these words don't necessarily mean what we think they mean.
“Reason,” “natural law,” and “human rights” are three of these key terms. The Pope said that human rights, “are based on the natural law inscribed on human hearts.”i So what is natural law?
Benedict XVI and Obama have a chat in July 2009 at the Vatican. Source: Vatican...
In The Chronicle Review: a Chronicle of Higher Education, Alan Wolfe, Jewish Professor at Boston College writes this:
Among Catholic intellectuals, as well as some who are not Catholic, the most important Catholic inheritance is the natural law tradition, which is premised on the idea that there are certain truths in the world that remain true irrespective of whether the laws and conventions of any particular society adhere to them. At its worst, belief in natural law can lead to ideological rigidity and inflexible inhumanity.ii
According to Wolfe, natural law is deeply linked to humanity's ability to reason:
Catholics are likely to hold that the truth of God’s existence must mean the truth of man’s reason, art’s beauty, and morality’s universality.iii
In other words, humanity’s reason is unfallen. God’s existence and humanity’s reason, as well as art’s beauty and morality’s universality, are equally unfallen. By reason we can change things.
In Facts for the Times, Pope Nicholas is quoted to have said: “The Pope’s will stands for reason. He can dispense above the law; and of wrong make right, by correcting and changing laws” (emphasis added).iv
So the Pope’s will is equal to reason.
Is this Biblical? Roman Catholic natural law is derived from the premise that reason is unfallen. Protestant law of nature embodies reason subdued by the Bible.
The Bible tells us that the whole head is sick (Isaiah 1:5), that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), that in our flesh there dwelleth “no good thing” (Romans 7:18), and that by our own selves, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
But the Roman Catholic Church says that the Pope is the superior—that he can correct the apostles and free himself from the Word.
If the Pope’s will stands for reason, who will be the one deciding what is reasonable? It will be the Pope, of course, who rules by divine right and considers himself equal to God Himself.
Let's read some of these buzzwords in their context.
Catholic Morality
Richard M. Gula, Professor of Moral Theology at the St. Patrick’s Seminary in California, wrote this in his book Reason Informed by Faith—Foundations of Catholic Morality:
Natural law is central to Roman Catholic theology...The advantage of using natural law is that the church shows great respect for human goodness and trusts the human capacity to know and choose what is right. Also by means of appealing to natural law, the church can address its discussion and claims for the rightness or wrongness of particular actions to all persons of good will, not just to those who share its religious convictions...The magisterium has appealed to natural law as the basis for its teachings pertaining to a just society, sexual behaviour, medical practice, human life, religious freedom, and the relationship between morality and civil law...In any case, the development of natural law tradition among Christian thinkers is due not so much to the scriptures as to the influence of Greek philosophy and Roman law.v
This quotation has several points that deserve further discussion:
Natural law is central to Roman Catholic theology...
This point tells us that the words “natural law” are used when Rome is discussing a central theological issue. We need to pay attention when natural law is discussed.
...the church shows great respect for human goodness and trusts the human capacity to know and choose what is right...
The Bible doesn’t tell us that the human capacity can be trusted. Rather, doesn’t goodness come from God alone?
...the church can address its discussion and claims for the rightness or wrongness of particular actions to all persons of good will...
Note that Gula does not say that the Church can work with all persons, but only all persons of good will. Who decides who is of good will and who is not? What are the criteria?
...the development of natural law tradition among Christian thinkers is due not so much to the scriptures as to the influence of Greek philosophy and Roman law.
This statement suggests that natural law, which is central to Catholic theology and the basis of its doctrines and teachings, comes not from the Scriptures but from Greek philosophy (the leopard beast of Daniel 7) and pagan Roman law (the fourth beast of Daniel 7).
...natural law as the basis for its teachings pertaining to a just society, sexual behaviour, medical practice, human life, religious freedom, and the relationship between morality and civil law.
According to the Roman Catholic Church, all of our lives, from the justice system, to medicine, to our religious freedom, to our civil laws, and even to our right to exist, are to be based on the principles of natural law—an unBiblical doctrine.
...the church can address its discussion and claims for the rightness or wrongness of particular actions to all persons of good will, not just to those who share its religious convictions...
The aim of historical Rome, which has always been one of total global domination, is still valid today. The Catholic Church would like to be the spokesman for and to all religions, not just Catholics. Its principles of natural law are to be the controlling principles over all religions. The Pope would like to be the universal ruler and to unite all religious systems under one law, a law based on “reason,” the natural law of the Roman Catholic Church.
We see these papal plans coming to fruition in the United Nations and among religious groups around the world.
On June 29, 2009, the Pope made another speech, calling for a “God-centered” global economy.vi Was he speaking of our true God? Or was he speaking of himself? In his most recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate,the Pope calls for a reform of the UN that will establish a “true world political authority” with “real teeth” to manage the global economy with God-centered ethics.vii
We should ask ourselves who this true world political authority is going to be. From ethics and human rights to the financial crisis to political authority, the head of the Roman Church has a solution for the world. Mack Quigley further explains some of the issues of Caritas in Veritate in the following video:
Read about papal political views in our next article
i. Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations (April 18, 2008).
ii. Alan Wolfe, “The Intellectual Advantages of a Roman Catholic Education,” The Chronicle Review: a Chronicle of Higher Education (May 31, 2000).
iii. Ibid.
iv. Facts for the Times (1893): 55-56
v. Richard M. Gula Reason Informed by Faith—Foundations of Catholic Morality (Paulist Press, 2002):120-121.
vi. Cathy Lynn Grossman, "Pope calls for 'God-Centered' Global Economy," USA TODAY (July 7, 2009).
vii. Pope Benedict XVi, Caritas in Veritate (June 29, 2009).
Disclaimer: The contents of this article and website are not intended to accuse individuals. There are many priests and faithful believers in Roman Catholicism who serve God to the best of their ability and are seen by God as His children. The information contained herein is directed only towards the Roman Catholic religio-political system that has reigned in varying degrees of power for nearly two millennia. Under the influence of its successive popes, bishops, and cardinals, this system has established an increasing number of doctrines and statements that clearly go against Scripture.
It is our sincere desire to lay the clear Word of God before you, the truth-seeking reader, so you may decide for yourself what is truth and what is error. If you find herein anything contrary to the Word of God, you need not accept it. But if you desire to seek for Truth as for hidden treasure, and find herein something of that quality, we encourage you to make all haste to accept that Truth which is revealed to you by the Holy Spirit.
1. Up Calvary's mountain, one dreadful morn, Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn; Facing for sinners death on the cross, That He might save them from endless loss.
Chorus: Blessed Redeemer! Precious Redeemer! Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree; Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading, Blind and unheeding dying for me!
2. "Father forgive them!" thus did He pray, E'en while His lifeblood flowed fast away; Praying for sinners while in such woe No one but Jesus ever loved so.
3. O how I love Him, Savior and Friend, How can my praises ever find end! Through years unnumbered on Heaven's shore, My tongue shall praise Him forevermore.
Lyrics: Avis Marguerite Burgeson Christiansen Music: Harry Dixon Loes
Hastings and Ossining are repeating the county's warning about the river but north of Croton Point it's a different story.
By Lanning Taliaferro 5:56pm
Along the Hudson in Westchester, residents and officials are reacting variously about the warnings about raw sewage in the river.
Kayakers won't be able to float out of Hastings this weekend, but they can in Cortlandt. Ossining officials reminded residents that there's no swimming (ever) off its shores, but Croton Point beach in Croton is open.
The environmental group Riverkeeper says Westchester County is sending conflicting information regarding the Hudson River's condition. The Parks Department says residents can swim in the Hudson at Croton Point, but the Health Department says residents should avoid the Hudson River altogether.
"This is very confusing for the general public, because you have two different county agencies saying two different things, which is very counterproductive. And that really puts the public at risk," said Hudson River Program Director Phillip Musegaas, the river program director for Ossining-based Riverkeeper.
Riverkeeper says they have a boat in the Hudson that is currently taking water samples off New York City's shore. The group plans on sending the boat to take samples off Westchester's shore later tonight or tomorrow.
Annsville Creek Paddlesport Center and the Atlantic Kayak Tours are open this weekend for their tours. They are not renting kayaks, not because of the sewage, but because the tide is too low anyway. They check with the New York state Parks Department because they are a state park—and the state department said that the E.coli count is fine, said owner Janice Lozano.
"Since we are north of Croton Point beach and they are open we feel confident to continue our tours but we will continue to monitor," Lozano said. "If they close Croton Point we would be concerned even though we are ten miles north.
We'll continue to monitor and we can all be comfortable knowing it's being monitored by the state."
Lozano also said the sewage seems to be taken east by the current.
With kayak trips cancelled, Hastings recreation officials offered the pool as an alternative: "just a reminder that to beat the heat, you can go to the Chemka Pool! Hours on Friday are 12:30 to 10 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m."
The Village and Town of Ossining sent out email messages to residents, last night and today, warning them of the condition in the Hudson.
Town of Ossining residents also noticed new "no swimming" signs that were placed on Louis Engel Park's beach yesterday. However, Town of Ossining Supervisor Catherine Borgia said the new signs were not in response to the plant incident. She said the signs were replaced because they had become rusty.
The Town and Village of Ossining waterfront looked like a ghost town this afternoon as the sun beat down. Unlike most summer days, no one could be seen taking a stroll down the waterfront path.
A massive fire at the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant at 725 W. 135th St. forced the evacuation of Riverbank State Park and closed a portion of the West Side Highway. (phlpp7r/Twitter)
By Jeff Mays, Kareem Johnson and Tom Liddy DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — Thousands of people were evacuated from a packed Harlem park Wednesday afternoon after an explosion triggered a roaring fire at a sewage treatment plant that spewed a 30-foot plume of fire into the air, officials said. The ferocious four-alarm blaze, which also snarled traffic on the West Side Highway, broke out in the engine room of the city's North River Wastewater Treatment plant, at 725 W. 135th St., at 11:46 a.m., an FDNY spokesman said. "There was heavy fire, heavy smoke," said FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Joseph Woznica. The cause of the fire, which raged for hours, was not immediately clear, but Woznica said that pressurized fuel helped spark a "30-foot plume of fire." Riverbank State Park, which sits on top of the plant, was evacuated as a precaution, according to the New York State Parks Department. And the West Side Highway was also temporarily shut between 125th Street and 153rd Street, NY1 said. Rachel Gordon, the regional director for the Parks Department, said that several thousand people were inside Riverbank Park at the time, including the elderly and kids going to camp. "There was overwhelming black smoke," she said. "It was quite intense." But workers sprang into action, combing through the park to usher everyone to safety. Plant employees said that they heard what sounded like an explosion, followed by an alarm telling them to evacuate. "There was a lot of smoke," said one, who did not want to give his name. "We smelled it. It was really thick smoke. We couldn't see through it." Several workers told DNAinfo that they had been having problems with one of the engines on Tuesday. Parkgoer Jonathan Williams, 36, a contractor, was swimming in the park's pool at the time when he smelled smoke. "I was in the pool and then this black smoke started coming out," said the contractor, who had to leave his clothes behind in the rush to evacuate. "I stepped out because I take [asthma] medicine and didn’t want to get sick. "[The smoke] was high up in the air and it smelled terrible." And Patricia Vitucci, who works in PR, said that she had just stepped out of the park's cultural center, near West 145th Street, when she saw smoke. “We heard the fire alarm in the park and then we heard it on the radio," she said. "When I came out, I saw black smoke billowing." "It was in the air and spreading. It smelled like something chemical." VItucci said that there's been concern in the community about Riverbank Park's proximity to the plant. "It’s a concern with the plant here because sometimes the smoke stacks smell and you don’t know what’s going on," she said. Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion, the FDNY said. DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway said that the plant was taken offline until repairs could be made. In the meantime, sewage would collect there until it could be processed. "The plant has [5 to 7] hours storage capacity," he said. "We're not bypassing the intake to the plant." But in the event that the capacity is reached, raw sewage could flow directly into the Hudson. "At this time we don't expect any impact ot businesses or homes," he said. The North River plant was first proposed in 1914, but the Harlem location was not chosen until 1962, according to the city Department of Environmental Protection's website. The 26-acre facility started preliminary treatment of waste water in 1986, stopping the daily flow of raw sewage into the Hudson for the first time, according to DEP. The $100 million Riverbank Park, which has an Olympic-size pool, a skating rink, cultural center, 2,500-seat athletic complex and a restaurant, was a key part Harlem's agreement with the city in accepting the controversial plant. Several other neighborhoods fought against locating it in their areas. In the wake of the 2003 blackout, investigators reportedly found that a lack of working generators at the plant posed the risk for a "catastrophic explosion." The generators powered a flame that burned methane gas produced there. At the time, the DEP denied that there was a danger. Peggy Shepard, the executive director of the Upper Manhattan advocacy group WE ACT for Environmental Justice, sued the city in 1992 to try to stop the plant. "We've been concerned all along about maintenance at the North River property because its operation depends on strong maintenance and a well educated staff," she said.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has accused the Vatican of not taking adequate steps to deal with child abuse by priests.
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 20, 2011 10:56 p.m. EDT
CNN) -- Ireland's prime minister has launched a stinging attack on the Vatican, a week after a report said the Catholic Church in Ireland did not take serious steps to stamp out child abuse by priests, even after the scandal blew up worldwide.
Prime Minister Enda Kenny said the Cloyne report, focused on the area around the southern city of Cork, had exposed the Vatican as seeking to frustrate an inquiry into child sex abuse for its own benefit.
"The rape and torture of children were downplayed or 'managed' to uphold, instead, the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and reputation," he told Ireland's lower house of parliament, or Dail, as it debated a motion on the report.
On listening to the evidence of humiliation and betrayal, Kenny said, "The Vatican's reaction was to parse and analyze it with the gimlet eye of a canon lawyer ... this calculated, withering position being the polar opposite of the radicalism, humility and compassion upon which the Roman Church was founded."
The report exposed "a tale of a frankly brazen disregard for protecting children," Kenny added, as he praised the courage of the victims of abuse who had spoken out to investigators.
Released July 13, the report into abuses in the diocese of Cloyne demolished claims by the Catholic Church in Ireland that policies it put in place in 1996 had enabled it to get a handle on the problem.
It also accused Bishop John Magee, who was responsible for policing abuse in his diocese, of not backing the policy himself and failing to take action against abusers.
While criticizing the Vatican, Kenny also said the state shared some of the blame for failing to "get its house in order" on child protection.
"For too long Ireland has neglected its children," he said, as he announced moves to introduce new legislation that would put "children first."
The government "awaits the considered response of the Holy See," he said.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See press office, said in a statement Tuesday that some criticisms of the Vatican went too far and "demonstrate little awareness of what the Holy See has actually done over the years to help effectively address the problem."
Referring to a 1997 letter from the Vatican's ambassador to Ireland to Irish bishops, which was highlighted in the report, he said, "There is no reason to interpret that letter as being intended to cover up cases of abuse."
His statement was not the formal Vatican response, he said, which "will be forthcoming in the most appropriate time and manner."
Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter called Lombardi's statement "unfortunate and disingenuous" and said he had expected a more formal response from the Vatican.
The 421-page Cloyne report details how complaints against 19 clerics in the diocese were dealt with between 1996 and 2009.
CNN's Richard Allen Greene and journalist Peter Taggart contributed to this report.
Photo (Source) http://www.lasierra.edu/index.php?id=1607
