[Editor's Note, September 7, 2007: I think we can all recall the last time that Dick Cheney and the Pentagon said there was a "stand down" of jet fighters located close to Washington DC. It was on September 11, 2001. I wonder if all of those "put" options recently taken for a disaster to occur in the next 30 days and this announcement are in any way connected? Hmmm....Ken]
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/airforcestanddownonfriday07sep07 .shtml
September 7, 2007----- Original Message -----
From: Jon
To: Editor
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2007
Subject: re: Does the 'Mistaken' Fly-Over of Nukes Have You Panting?Thought this tied in with your blurb - not sure if something is up - or ?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20628998/
WAVY-TV—Norfolk, VA
Langley jets grounded next week for safety review
WAVY-TVHAMPTON, Va. (AP) -- Langley Air Force Base will ground its jets next week.
The Air Force says the service's Air Combat Command has ordered all jet fighters and bombers to remain grounded so airmen can review safety procedures and protocol.
Langley is home to three fighter squadrons, which fly the F-15 Eagle and F-22A Raptor.
Officials say the stand down next Friday [September 14, 2007?] was prompted by an August incident where a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown across several states.
The advanced nuclear cruise missiles loaded on the B-52 were scheduled to be decommissioned and were flying from North Dakota to Louisiana.
Officials say the warheads are designed so they don't accidentally detonate. To accidentally load them onto the bomber meant that safety protocols were ignored.
Source: http://educate-yourself.org/cn/airforcestanddownonfriday07sep07%20.shtml
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
Monday, September 10, 2007
LANGLEY AFB: STAND-DOWN ON SEPT. 14,2007
SADDAM RESPONSIBLE FOR 911 ATTACKS?
Saddam Did 9/11 -- One-Third of Americans Believe the Big Lie
An important New York Times/CBS News survey finds that six year after the terror attacks of 9/11, "33 percent of all Americans, including 40 percent of Republicans and 27 percent of Democrats, say Saddam Hussein was personally involved." In reality, of course, Saddam and Iraq had absolutely no connection to the terror attacks. 1/3 of Americans believe the Big Lie propaganda tactics employed by the pro-war lobby. Only 5 percent of Americans "most trusted the Bush administration to resolve the war, the poll found. Asked to choose among the administration, Congress and military commanders, 21 percent said they would most trust Congress and 68 percent expressed most trust in military commanders. That is almost certainly why the White House has presented General Petraeus and Mr. Crocker as unbiased professionals, not Bush partisans."
Source: http://www.prwatch.org/node/6427
RUMORS OF IMPENDING CRASH
Anonymous – September 9, 2007
This message was sent me by a friend who is also a friend of Marjorie, so this is not a rumor. I have known Marjorie for 10 or 15 years and she is a very credible, knowledgeable oil trader. You might want to be prepared as we go through these chaotic days before the changes to the new banking system occur. Love, blessings & peace, Suzy...
Marjorie, my long time friend and oil trader on Wall St. with a seat on the Exchange (she knows her stuff), went to a power lunch today with key subprime lenders from Morgan Stanley, Shearson, you name it. What she came away with was bleak.
They said this is the "setup" time for an eventual collapse. The problems of 2 weeks ago was generated by only a tiny % of defaults but THEIR NEW MODELS PROJECT SEVENTY PERCENT of all subprime loans will eventually foreclose in the next 12 or so months. 70%
The hardest hit states are expected to be in the South, and MI and CA.
October is the next month for major adjustments in subprimes, and you should expect trouble. If they go up, teetering foreclosures will skyrocket into failure. The Fed's promise to do what is needed won't work because they won't bail out what is needed.
They said what America has to come to realize is that "Wall St." as we know it is over, a new system must result, and if steps are not taken, a severe crash is UNAVOIDABLE that FORCES a new system. The old system CANNOT be carried much longer.
Here is what else I am hearing as well. The problem is CATASTROPHIC in their words, but things will glide for a few weeks until October and later with the new adjustments.
The public WILL NOT HEAR MUCH IN THE NEWS, JUST LIKE THE 20's WHEN ALL WAS FINE IN THE NEWSPAPERS THE DAY BEFORE THE CRASH AND YET COLLAPSED THE NEXT DAY. PEOPLE MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO STAGE A RUN ON THE BANKS. Don't look to news for verification. Common sense.
Store food, water and cash and get into metals, and see NESARA.
What does it say when Bill Gates, the wealthiest man, now owns 30% of all silver in the world and billions in Euro's and in public said the dollar is going down (MSNBC)? He is not alone, most of the wealthiest have similarly prepared in different ways offshore.
Fortunately the new Treasury Bank system has been ready for years but blocked, but I guess we have to endure the worse before the best before the thousands of thugs in government and multinational companies are ousted. You have time now to protect yourself as best possible in the next few weeks. It will happen, but during the changeover banks and ATM's will not work temporarily!!! Be prepared now!!!
Source: http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=7147
VERIZON CENTER - 'THE PHONE BOOTH'
The Verizon Center
The Verizon Center, the home court of the Georgetown Hoyas, has a special handicapped seating area on the concourse level. The University's Office of Sports Promotions can also arrange for visually-impaired students with season tickets to sit in the front part of the student section at Georgetown basketball games. If you are planning to go to a game at the Verizon Center and would like to take advantage of either the handicapped seating area or front-section seating, call Disability Support Services that will then make arrangements with the Office of Sports Promotions.
Source: http://ldss.georgetown.edu/pointsofinterest.cfm
************
The Verizon Center is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., USA, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications. The name of the arena was previously MCI Center, but when MCI was acquired by Verizon, the name was changed to "Verizon Center" effective March 5, 2006. The arena has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" because of its association with telecommunications companies. The arena is home to the Washington Capitals of the NHL, Washington Wizards of the NBA, Georgetown University men's basketball: Hoyas, and Washington Mystics of the WNBA.
Two notable fan fixtures at Washington Capitals games at Verizon since the late '90s include Goat and The Horn Guy. "Goat," aka William Stilwell, sits in Section 105 and loudly stomps and starts cheers for the team, with his loud voice that The Washington Post once called "the loudest voice and stompiest stomp on F Street." "The Horn Guy," aka Sam Wolk, blows out three blasts on a horn to which the arena responds "Let's Go Caps!," a chant that can be heard during radio and TV broadcasts, home and away.
VERIZON: OLD NEWS WITH A NEW RING

Pope to ping the faithful
Verizon Wireless is launching a new cell phone service in the United States on Wednesday that will allow subscribers to receive messages from the pope.
Subscribers will pay 30 cents for each daily missive based on the homilies, speeches and messages of Pope John Paul II, under a deal with the Vatican and Italian wireless services provider Acotel, based in Rome. AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless will follow quickly with their own versions, sources said.
To use the service, Verizon Wireless subscribers address a text message to "24444." Within a few seconds, a message returns containing that day's "nondenominational...inspirational message of prayers and guidance," according to a description of the service circulated Tuesday by Acotel.
"People are always trying to find ways to market His Holiness," said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
By offering the pope's daily message, U.S. cell phone service providers hope to find an audience among the growing number of people developing a taste for virtual religion and who want to get theirs on the go. Religion now ranks as among the top three reasons why people use the Internet, and religious options on the wired Web are nearly as vast as the medium itself. However, very little of it is created for a cell phone's small screen and limited processing power.
"Religion has the classic ingredients of any popular content service: a large and passionate community of interest," said David Kerr, an analyst at Strategy Analytics. "For this to extend to the mobile environment is only natural."
The new cell phone service also signals, once again, the pro-technology leanings of present-day Catholic Church administrators. John Paul, who turns 84 in May, already uses the wired Internet to spread his messages about God and global peace. In the past, he has described the World Wide Web as a "wonderful instrument."
"While the Internet can never replace that profound experience of God which only the living, liturgical and sacramental life of the Church can offer, it can certainly provide a unique supplement and support in both preparing for the encounter with Christ in community, and sustaining the new believer in the journey of faith which then begins," the pontiff proclaimed at the 36th annual World Communications Day that took place two years ago.
Sister Walsh said the church has always used technology to spread the word of God, starting with the first printing presses. The Internet has been a particular boon, she added, and religious groups in general are embracing it. However, she was skeptical of the new cell phone service.
She likened the wireless homilies to mostly defunct telephone services that allowed people to dial a number and hear a pre-recorded message from the pope for a fee. "I don't know if this will be hugely successful either," she said.
Spreading the word
The Vatican is participating in the new U.S. cell phone services by supplying the text message content through a partnership with Acotel. The same services are available to cell phone subscribers in Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
"The Catholic Church isn't exactly known for being at the bleeding edge of technology, but this pope is trying to get a modern message out there," Strategy Analytics' Kerr said.
Although the Vatican does not profit from the service, the daily homilies could help with difficulties it has reaching younger generations put off by recent clergy sex-abuse scandals. Cell phones are considered de rigueur for teenagers, especially in Europe, and a growing percentage of American teenagers are carrying them as well. Replacing preaching with "texting" could help reach this scattered part of the flock.
"The church is so disconnected from younger generations that trying to do something with mobile makes sense," because phones are the latest must-have gadget among younger generations, Kerr said.
Representatives from Cingular Wireless, Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless had no immediate comment.
While U.S. carriers already offer subscribers scores of downloadable games and cell phone Web pages, Verizon's new papal proffer may stand out because of the renewed interest in religious-based content such as Mel Gibson's controversial "The Passion of the Christ" and recently aired TV movies based on Bible stories.
Wireless companies also have created services geared to other religious groups, including Muslims. In Malaysia, cell phones are appearing that notify the user five times a day when Islamic prayer times occur and can determine the direction of Mecca, according to Genevieve Bell, an anthropologist working with Intel who has studied technology use in Asia.
But not even the word of God may be able to help the still-flagging interest in other forms of wireless data that carriers are selling.
U.S. carriers say that while popularity of text messaging and other wireless data services continues to grow, the services represent only about 3 percent of their overall annual revenue.
Carriers are relying more heavily on wireless data offers, such as games and ring tones, to make up for lost revenue from lowering calling plan prices to keep pace with competition.
One recent successful wireless data service is picture messaging, which involves the use of camera phones to snap photos and send them to other phones or computers. But even this wireless data success story is marred.
Picture-mail services are being hampered by problems of interoperability in the United States. For technology reasons, picture mails can be shared only among subscribers to the same service provider. Several carriers are working on solving the problem sometime this year.
Source: http://news.com.com/Pope+to+ping+the+faithful/2100-1039_3-5185965.html
THE PETRAEUS PROGRESS REPORT
(Like everything else nowadays it has been moved-up 'unexpectedly'.)
6.8 QUAKE ROCKS COLOMBIA
6.8-Magnitude Quake Hits Colombia
Monday, September 10, 2007
MEXICO CITY — A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Sunday night near the southwestern coast of Colombia, the U.S. Geographic Survey reported.
The quake registered at 8:49 p.m. local time and was centered along the Pacific coast about 235 miles southwest of the Colombian capital of Bogota.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296223,00.html
Quake Hits Colombia's Western Coast5 hours ago BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific Coast of Colombia on Sunday night, collapsing homes and injuring at least four people in the country's rural southwest, but causing no reported deaths, officials said. The quake hit at 8:49 p.m. local time and was centered about six miles beneath the ocean floor just off the coast, some 295 miles southwest of Bogota, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. No tsunami warning was issued. It was felt across several states in western Colombia, including the cities of Cali and Popayan. In the town of El Charco, near the epicenter, Caracol Radio reported there were four people injured after some 20 homes near the coast collapsed or were damaged by flooding. "We'll know more when the sun rises and can do a full survey of the hardest hit area, but it doesn't appear to have caused any deaths or major damage," said Carlos Sanchez, a seismologist for Ingeominas, Colombia's geological institute. Earthquakes are frequent occurrence across the Andean nation, though they are rarely deadly. |
Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gdb0Q7jb4xyAGbQSFK1gB7w-cpXw
Sunday, September 09, 2007
THE VIALS OF CRACK
Who invented crack?
No one knows for sure. One story credits its discovery to a chemist of the Cali cartel. An early epidemic of crack use occurred in the Bahamas from 1980; Bahamian hospital psychiatry departments recorded a surge of admissions from severely disturbed and psychotic users. In 1983, crack use filtered across the Florida Straits. It took hold in Miami, followed by New York. The first newspaper report of the phenomenon appeared in the Los Angeles Times in 1984, Within a year, crack use had swept across inner city ghettoes throughout America. The first "crack babies" were born.
Crack is actually a less pure variety of free-base cocaine. Unlike old-fashioned free-base, however, its production doesn't involve any flammable solvents. Unlike the hydrochloride salt, free base cocaine vapories at a low temperature. This makes it suitable for smoking.
Crack is usually made by mixing two parts of cocaine hydrochyloride with one part baking soda (sodium bicarbonate: NaHC03) in about 20 ml of water. The solution is then heated gently until white precipitates form. Heating is halted when precipitation stops. The precipitate is filtered and retained. The precipitate may then be washed with water; this procedure is usually omitted in the street product. The product may then be dried for 24 hours under a heat-lamp. Crack is then cut or broken into small 'rocks' weighing a few tenths of a gram.
The traditional method of taking cocaine in the West involves snorting the hydrochloride salt. But absorption through the nasal mucosa is relatively modest. This is because their surface-area is small and cocaine is vasoconstrictive. Classic freebase, on the other hand, is smoked and inhaled directly into the lungs. Therefore much higher doses are possible. Inhalation is followed by an intense euphoric rush. The euphoria doesn't last long. The user becomes irritable and craves more of the drug.
Chronic cocaine-use causes a decrease in the production of enkephalin, one of the brain's natural opioids. This in turn causes a compensatory increase in the number of mu-receptors. The number of unoccupied mu-receptors may be associated with the craving and abstinence syndrome.
After chronic exposure to cocaine, the number of post-synaptic dopamine receptors in the CNS is reduced. The amount of dopamine transporter protein is increased. Tolerance to cocaine's effects does exist over prolonged use; but the extent of this physiological adaptation is relatively modest. The cocaine-user still gets high; but in the absence of cocaine, his pre-synaptic neurons sequester dopamine in the synaptic cleft with greater efficiency. This may induce depression, and sometimes profound despair.
No one ever feels contented after taking cocaine. They just want more.
Source: http://www.cocaine.org/vials.html
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ISRAELI JETS FIRED ON BY SYRIAN FORCES

JERUSALEM - Israeli warplanes may have been testing air routes for a possible attack against Iran when they were fired on by Syrian forces, experts said yesterday.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency Thursday quoted a military official as saying that Israeli jets broke the sound barrier flying over northern Syria earlier in the day, then "dropped munitions" onto deserted areas after being shot at by Syria's air defenses.
Israel's air force may have been testing an air path to Iran, in case it decides to carry out an attack against that country's nuclear facilities, analysts said.
The corridor of northern Syria over which the aircraft allegedly flew is the closest straight line from the Mediterranean Sea, where Israel has easy access, to Iran.
Israel says it prefers to let the international community confront Iran's nuclear ambitions, but a lone Israeli attack is not out of the question.
"Of course Israel wants to let the Americans do that," said Ephraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.
"But if we are left alone, the Israeli army is preparing to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat - if the political level allows it to - and this could have been a part of that."
Source: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,148578,00.html
'AMERO' MAKES COINAGE DEBUT
PREMEDITATED MERGER
¡Está aquí! 'Amero' makes coinage debut
Parody designer imagines North American Union currency
Posted: August 16, 2007
9:45 p.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Parody coin designer Daniel Carr has launched production of an "amero" coin which he is marketing to coin dealers and collectors. Blogger Daniel Taylor called attention to Carr's "amero" parody, commenting, "Pictures of the supposedly designed and coined 'amero' have been making the rounds on the Internet lately, causing a stir among those aware of real proposals for a common currency between the United States, Canada, and Mexico." Carr notes on his website that, "These 'private-issue fantasy pattern' ameros will be struck as an annual series (until such time as it is no longer legal to do so), starting in the later part of 2007." "I think of myself as a sculptor," Carr told WND. "I am a professional coin designer and I specialize in the design and the engraving of the coin. The goal is to make a coin that is interesting and attractive." "Like any artist I have to survive by selling my work," Carr said. "I have been reading about the amero and I started asking myself what I would come up with if I was in charge of minting the amero coin for the North American Union." In 1999, Carr was the designer of the 2001 New York and Rhode Island commemorative statehood quarters for the U.S. Mint. His designs were selected as the winners in a competition with 14 state designers from outside the mint and 10 from within the mint that were asked to create the five statehood quarters minted in 1999. "Truthfully, I prefer the Union of North America," he explained, "because then you end up with U.N.A. and you can say 'UNA,' whereas you can't really say 'NAU' in a word." Carr's 2007 issue amero coins are available for order until Dec. 31, 2007, after which no more of the 2007 series will be minted or available for sale. Carr's 2007 design features various Seated Liberty obverses and a similar Eagle and Globe reverse. His "100 ameros" silver coin features a Pocahontas obverse with a Jamestown background and a standing Eagle on a North American globe on the reverse. Carr plans to market a selection of amero coins, ranging from the least expensive "one amero" copper coin with a satin finish for $4.00, to a "1,000 ameros" 2007 coin in 24K gold with a proof-like finish for $925.00. Carr told WND that he just finished minting the first coins earlier this week and he has already begun to receive orders. The Coin Collecting Insider gives Carr credit for designing the Rhode Island and New York statehood quarters, but it also notes that his skill at forging edge lettering on coins threatens to create confusion among collectors who buy and sell non-certified error coins on sites such as eBay. Earlier this year, the U.S. mint failed to mark a large quantity of Washington dollars with smooth edges that failed to say "In God We Trust." These coins were being named the "Godless Dollar." As a joke, Carr took some Sacagawea dollars and engraved on the edge "Darwin Rules," to draw contrast with the "In God We Trust" that is printed on the face of that dollar and to harass the U.S. Mint for their omission. Carr sold about five of the "Darwin Rules" dollars on eBay for about $5.00 each. He is also known among collectors of privately minted coins for his parody state quarters. His two most collected parody state quarters are the New York "Defiant Finger Tower" quarter which show a rebuilt World Trade Center in a five finger design, with the middle finger extended. Second in popularity is his "Nuke Mexico" design for New Mexico which shows a mushroom cloud detonating south of a superimposed map of New Mexico. Carr's calling card is a one dollar brass coin celebrating his anticipated election as the 45th president of the United States, designated as serving a term from 2017 to 2021. The obverse of the Carr president dollar shows a bust of Carr wearing sunglasses. Interestingly, a professional society has formed to support the interests of parody coin collectors. The Unrecognized States Numismatic Society is a professional group that bills itself as "the first and only group catering to numismatists whose collecting interests largely focus on coins minted by groups purporting, pretending, or appearing to be sovereign states, but which are not recognized as such by established governments." The USNS was created initially by Oded Paz, a California-based coin collector and dealer, who brought the group together as a Yahoo mailing list on June 22, 2003. In 2005, the USNS registered as a not-for-profit numismatic organization in the State of California, affiliated with the American Numismatic Association. WND previously has reported that Steve Previs, a vice president at Jefferies International Ltd., discussed in a televised interview with CNBC a move away from the dollar to the "amero" as a coming North American currency. WND also has reported that Council on Foreign Relations economist Benn Steill wrote in the May/June issue of the CFR's influential Foreign Affairs magazine that "countries should abandon monetary nationalism" in favor of regional and ultimately global currencies. The AmeroCurrency.com is a website recently created to post information and readers' comments about the "amero." Source: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57194>
A commemorative amero coin
A 100-amero coin
A 20-amero coin
NBC NEWS: CAN U.S. CITIES EVACUATE?
Sept. 9: Six years after 9/11, are American cities more prepared for emergency evacuations due to terror or disaster?
javascript:msnvDwd('00','c55f96c7-bfa9-4131-968e-0066cedfd22e','us','Source_Nightly News','','msnbc','','20678805','In an emergency, can U.S. cities evacuate?')
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/
PREPARING FOR THE NEXT DISASTER
Preparing for the next disaster
It was only two years ago when Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans, in particular. What began as an innocent tropical depression east of the Bahamas ultimately swelled into the deadliest U.S. hurricane in 77 years and the costliest natural disaster in our nation’s history. Katrina claimed more than 1,800 lives (nearly 1,600 in Louisiana alone) and left behind $81.2 billion in damage throughout the Gulf Region. In the end, federal disaster declarations covered more than 90,000 square miles, an area roughly equal to the size of the United Kingdom.
Perhaps even more horrifying than the cyclone itself was the widespread failure of the federal, state and local response to the catastrophe. Study after study conducted by emergency management officials and the National Weather Service had predicted the potential for widespread devastation and loss of life from a storm scenario eerily similar to what played out with Katrina. However, gross mismanagement and lack of leadership at all levels of government both prevented some necessary precautions from being put in place prior to the storm and hindered emergency response efforts in its aftermath.
Needless to say, the destruction brought by Katrina thrust the issue of emergency management into the forefront of national debate. State and local governments across the nation soon pondered whether or not their emergency response plans could handle a Katrina-like disaster in their own backyards. Government officials coast-to-coast went back to the drawing board to ponder hypothetical doomsday scenarios and craft new plans for preparedness and relief.
Of course, the commonwealth wasted no time in amending its statewide emergency management plans put in place after 9/11. The state quickly moved to establish a “Fusion Center” that works to facilitate 24-hour statewide information sharing among local, state and federal public safety agencies — a common problem during Katrina. Then, Massachusetts officials strengthened the leadership role of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to coordinate federal, state, local, voluntary and private resources during emergencies and disasters in the commonwealth of Massachusetts — another inadequacy of the Katrina response. As of last year, we were one of only eight states to have earned a national emergency response accreditation from the federal government.
Still, our work is not done. Last week, Gov. Deval Patrick made public his intentions to work hand-in-hand with the Legislature to further improve the commonwealth’s disaster response plans. Among the needs cited in the new proposal are a coordinated traffic/evacuation plan and the establishment of several large-scale evacuation centers. Accordingly, the State Police would be charged with overseeing the large-scale movement of traffic with local cities and towns, and the state government will make plans for three large evacuation centers to be scattered across the state. Most importantly, a task force will oversee 10 conferences at which agencies can develop and coordinate plans to deal with vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and disabled, during evacuations.
The rollout of the new plan just happens to coincide with the observance of National Preparedness Month this September, during which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and communities. For the first time, the national effort will focus on different areas of Emergency Preparedness including, Back to School, Business Preparedness, Multicultural Preparedness, and Home and Family Preparedness.
More information on the governor’s plan is expected in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, individuals and families are asked to take the following three steps posted online at www.ready.gov:
1) Assemble a Kit: An ‘All-Hazards’ Family Disaster Kit to sustain your family for 3-5 days, if homebound without power.)
2) Develop a Plan: A Family Communication Plan, with a contact located outside the area; also designate two ‘family reunion’ locations — one within your community, one outside your community.)
3) Be Informed: Learn about your community’s Emergency Alert Systems, potential vulnerabilities, evacuation routes and shelters; also, learn about the emergency plans for your child’s school and your workplace.
Beyond the headlines touting disappointment, disorganization and death in the Katrina aftermath lurk many lesser-known tales of compassion, conquest and courage. Residents in upstate Louisiana speak of a hillbilly sheriff who took the reigns of leadership when government officials systematically failed guide an effective emergency response. The president honored members of the Coast Guard, who rescued more than 35,000 of the estimated 60,000 people stranded in New Orleans. And, many storm victims maintain that they would have never lived through the disaster were it not for a “volunteer army” dispatched by Mormon Church.
Indeed, Katrina taught everyone lessons on both what and what not to do during an emergency or natural disaster. While we cannot predict when the next hurricane, flood or blizzard might devastate New England, we can at least take the necessary precautions to better prepare ourselves on how to handle its arrival. Gov. Patrick’s new recommendations are part of a fluid strategy to continuously assess and improve our emergency management plans right here at home. With National Preparedness Month upon us, there is perhaps no better time than the relative tranquility of today to make sure that you too are prepared for the disaster of tomorrow.
Source: http://www.townonline.com/stoneham/opinion/x1185661429
COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE,..
2And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
7How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
9And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
11And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
13And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
14And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
15The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
19And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
20Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
21And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
22And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
23And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
24And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Revelation 18 (King James Version)
THE PEACE AND SAFETY CRY
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Jer. 6:14.
Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will . . . see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.
"The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Peter 3:10. When the reasoning of philosophy has banished the fear of God's judgments; when religious teachers are pointing forward to long ages of peace and prosperity, and the world are absorbed in their rounds of business and pleasure, planting and building, feasting and merrymaking, rejecting God's warnings and mocking His messengers--then it is that sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:3.
Like the dwellers in the vale of Siddim, the people are dreaming of prosperity and peace. "Escape for thy life," is the warning from the angels of God; but other voices are heard saying, "Be not excited; there is no cause for alarm." The multitudes cry, "Peace and safety," while Heaven declares that swift destruction is about to come upon the transgressor. On the night prior to their destruction, the cities of the plain rioted in pleasure and derided the fears and warnings of the messenger of God; but those scoffers perished in the flames; that very night the door of mercy was forever closed to the wicked, careless inhabitants of Sodom. God will not always be mocked; He will not long be trifled with. "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." Isaiah 13:9. The great mass of the world will reject God's mercy, and will be overwhelmed in swift and irretrievable ruin. But those who heed the warning shall dwell "in the secret place of the most High," and "abide under the shadow of the Almighty." His truth shall be their shield and buckler.
Maranatha, Ellen G. White, page 260.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SERVED IDOLS...
2 Kings 17
1In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
2And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
3Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
4And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
5Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
6In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
8And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
9And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
10And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
11And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:
12For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
13Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
14Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.
15And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.
16And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
18Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
19Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
20And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
21For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.
22For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;
23Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
24And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
25And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them.
26Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
27Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
28Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
29Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.
30And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
32So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
33They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
34Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
35With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
36But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.
37And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.
38And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.
39But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
40Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.
41So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
by Roger Wiliams 1
[Roger Williams (ca. 1603-83), religious leader and one of the founders of Rhode Island, was the son of a well-to-do London businessman. Educated at Cambridge (A.B., 1627) he became a clergyman and in 1630 sailed for Massachusetts. He refused a call to the church of Boston because it had not formally broken with the Church of England, but after two invitations he became the assistant pastor, later pastor, of the church at Salem. He questioned the right of the colonists to take the Indians' land from them merely on the legal basis of the royal charter and in other ways ran afoul of the oligarchy then ruling Massachusetts. In 1635 he was found guilty of spreading "new authority of magistrates" and was ordered to be banished from the colony. He lived briefly with friendly Indians and then, in 1636, founded Providence in what was to be the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. His religious views led him to become briefly a Baptist, later a Seeker. In 1644, while he was in England getting a charter for his colony from Parliament, he wrote the work from which this dialogue is taken. During much of his later life he was engaged in polemics on political and religious questions. He was an important figure in the intellectual life of his time, though the direct influence of his writings is considered by Professor Brockunier to have been slight: "Earliest of the fathers of American democracy, he owes his enduring fame to his humanity and breadth of view, his untiring devotion to the cause of democracy and free opportunity, and his long record of opposition to the privileged and self-seeking"]
First, that the blood of so many hundred thousand souls of Protestants and Papists, spilt in the wars of present and former ages, for their respective consciences, is not required nor accepted by Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace.
Secondly, pregnant scriptures and arguments are throughout the work proposed against the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience.
Thirdly, satisfactory answers are given to scriptures, and objections produced by Mr. Calvin, Beza, Mr. Cotton, and the ministers of the New English churches and others former and later, tending to prove the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience.
Fourthly, the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience is proved guilty of all the blood of the souls crying for vengeance under the altar.
Fifthly, all civil states with their officers of justice in their respective constitutions and administrations are proved essentially civil, and therefore not judges, governors, or defenders of the spiritual or Christian state and worship.
Sixthly, it is the will and command of God that (since the coming of his Son the Lord Jesus) a permission of the most paganish, Jewish, Turkish, or antichristian consciences and worships, be granted to all men in all nations and countries; and they are only to be fought against with that sword which is only (in soul matters) able to conquer, to wit, the sword of God's Spirit, the Word of God.
Seventhly, the state of the Land of Israel, the kings and people thereof in peace and war, is proved figurative and ceremonial, and no pattern nor president for any kingdom or civil state in the world to follow.
Eighthly, God requireth not a uniformity of religion to be enacted and enforced in any civil state; which enforced uniformity (sooner or later) is the greatest occasion of civil war, ravishing of conscience, persecution of Christ Jesus in his servants, and of the hypocrisy and destruction of millions of souls.
Ninthly, in holding an enforced uniformity of religion in a civil state, we must necessarily disclaim our desires and hopes of the Jew's conversion to Christ.
Tenthly, an enforced uniformity of religion throughout a nation or civil state, confounds the civil and religious, denies the principles of Christianity and civility, and that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
Eleventhly, the permission of other consciences and worships than a state professeth only can (according to God) procure a firm and lasting peace (good assurance being taken according to the wisdom of the civil state for uniformity of civil obedience from all forts).
Twelfthly, lastly, true civility and Christianity may both flourish in a state or kingdom, notwithstanding the permission of divers and contrary consciences, either of Jew or Gentile....
TRUTH. I acknowledge that to molest any person, Jew or Gentile, for either professing doctrine, or practicing worship merely religious or spiritual, it is to persecute him, and such a person (whatever his doctrine or practice be, true or false) suffereth persecution for conscience.
But withal I desire it may be well observed that this distinction is not full and complete: for beside this that a man may be persecuted because he holds or practices what he believes in conscience to be a truth (as Daniel did, for which he was cast into the lions' den, Dan. 6), and many thousands of Christians, because they durst not cease to preach and practice what they believed was by God commanded, as the Apostles answered (Acts 4 & 5), I say besides this a man may also be persecuted, because he dares not be constrained to yield obedience to such doctrines and worships as are by men invented and appointed....
Dear TRUTH, I have two sad complaints:
First, the most sober of the witnesses, that dare to plead thy cause, how are they charged to be mine enemies, contentious, turbulent, seditious?
Secondly, shine enemies, though they speak and rail against thee, though they outrageously pursue, imprison, banish, kill thy faithful witnesses, yet how is all vermilion'd o'er for justice against the heretics? Yea, if they kindle coals, and blow the flames of devouring wars, that leave neither spiritual nor civil state, but burn up branch and root, yet how do all pretend an holy war? He that kills, and he that's killed, they both cry out: "It is for God, and for their conscience."
'Tis true, nor one nor other seldom dare to plead the mighty Prince Christ Jesus for their author, yet (both Protestant and Papist) pretend they have spoke with Moses and the Prophets who all, say they (before Christ came), allowed such holy persecutions, holy wars against the enemies of holy church.
TRUTH. Dear PEACE (to ease thy first complaint), 'tis true, thy dearest sons, most like their mother, peacekeeping, peacemaking sons of God, have borne and still must bear the blurs of troublers of Israel, and turners of the world upside down. And 'tis true again, what Solomon once spake: "The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water, therefore (saith he) leave off contention before it be meddled with. This caveat should keep the banks and sluices firm and strong, that strife, like a breach of waters, break not in upon the sons of men."
Yet strife must be distinguished: It is necessary or unnecessary, godly or Ungodly, Christian or unchristian, etc.
It is unnecessary, unlawful, dishonorable, ungodly, unchristian, in most cases in the world, for there is a possibility of keeping sweet peace in most cases, and, if it be possible, it is the express command of God that peace be kept (Rom. 13).
Again, it is necessary, honorable, godly, etc., with civil and earthly weapons to defend the innocent and to rescue the oppressed from the violent paws and jaws of oppressing persecuting Nimrods 2 (Psal. 73; Job 29).
It is as necessary, yea more honorable, godly, and Christian, to fight the fight of faith, with religious and spiritual artillery, and to contend earnestly for the faith of Jesus, once delivered to the saints against all opposers, and the gates of earth and hell, men or devils, yea against Paul himself, or an angel from heaven, if he bring any other faith or doctrine....
PEACE. I add that a civil sword (as woeful experience in all ages has proved) is so far from bringing or helping forward an opposite in religion to repentance that magistrates sin grievously against the work of God and blood of souls by such proceedings. Because as (commonly) the sufferings of false and antichristian teachers harden their followers, who being blind, by this means are occasioned to tumble into the ditch of hell after their blind leaders, with more inflamed zeal of lying confidence. So, secondly, violence and a sword of steel begets such an impression in the sufferers that certainly they conclude (as indeed that religion cannot be true which needs such instruments of violence to uphold it so) that persecutors are far from soft and gentle commiseration of the blindness of others....
For (to keep to the similitude which the Spirit useth, for instance) to batter down a stronghold, high wall, fort, tower, or castle, men bring not a first and second admonition, and after obstinacy, excommunication, which are spiritual weapons concerning them that be in the church: nor exhortation to repent and be baptized, to believe in the Lord Jesus, etc., which are proper weapons to them that be without, etc. But to take a stronghold, men bring cannons, culverins, saker, bullets, powder, muskets, swords, pikes, etc., and these to this end are weapons effectual and proportionable.
On the other side, to batter down idolatry, false worship, heresy, schism, blindness, hardness, out of the soul and spirit, it is vain, improper, and unsuitable to bring those weapons which are used by persecutors, stocks, whips, prisons, swords, gibbets, stakes, etc. (where these seem to prevail with some cities or kingdoms, a stronger force sets up again, what a weaker pull'd down), but against these spiritual strongholds in the souls of men, spiritual artillery and weapons are proper, which are mighty through God to subdue and bring under the very thought to obedience, or else to bind fast the soul with chains of darkness, and lock it up in the prison of unbelief and hardness to eternity....
PEACE. I pray descend now to the second evil which you observe in the answerer's position, viz., that it would be evil to tolerate notorious evildoers, seducing teachers, etc.
TRUTH. I say the evil is that he most improperly and confusedly joins and couples seducing teachers with scandalous livers.
PEACE. But is it not true that the world is full of seducing teachers, and is it not true that seducing teachers are notorious evildoers?
TRUTH. I answer, far be it from me to deny either, and yet in two things I shall discover the great evil of this joining and coupling seducing teachers, and scandalous livers as one adequate or proper object of the magistrate's care and work to suppress and punish.
First, it is not an homogeneal (as we speak) but an hetergeneal 3 commixture or joining together of things most different in kinds and natures, as if they were both of one consideration....
TRUTH. I answer, in granting with Brentius 4 that man hath not power to make laws to bind conscience, he overthrows such his tenent and practice as restrain men from their worship, according to their conscience and belief, and constrain them to such worships (though it be out of a pretense that they are convinced) which their own souls tell them they have no satisfaction nor faith in.
Secondly, whereas he affirms that men may make laws to see the laws of God observed.
I answer, God needeth not the help of a material sword of steel to assist the sword of the Spirit in the affairs of conscience, to those men, those magistrates, yea that commonwealth which makes such magistrates, must needs have power and authority from Christ Jesus to fit judge and to determine in all the great controversies concerning doctrine, discipline, government, etc.
And then I ask whether upon this ground it must not evidently follow that:
Either there is no lawful commonw earth nor civil state of men in the world, which is not qualified with this spiritual discerning (and then also that the very commonweal hath more light concerning the church of Christ than the church itself).
Or, that the commonweal and magistrates thereof must judge and punish as they are persuaded in their own belief and conscience (be their conscience paganish, Turkish, or antichristian) what is this but to confound heaven and earth together, and not only to take away the being of Christianity out of the world, but to take away all civility, and the world out of the world, and to lay all upon heaps of confusion? . ..
PEACE. The fourth head is the proper means of both these powers to attain their ends.
First, the proper means whereby the civil power may and should attain its end are only political, and principally these five.
First, the erecting and establishing what form of civil government may seem in wisdom most meet, according to general rules of the world, and state of the people.
Secondly, the making, publishing, and establishing of wholesome civil laws, not only such as concern civil justice, but also the free passage of true religion; for outward civil peace ariseth and is maintained from them both, from the latter as well as from the former.
Civil peace cannot stand entire, where religion is corrupted (2 Chron. 15. 3. 5. 6; and Judges 8). And yet such laws, though conversant about religion, may still be counted civil laws, as, on the contrary, an oath cloth still remain religious though conversant about civil matters.
Thirdly, election and appointment of civil officers to see execution to those laws.
Fourthly, civil punishments and rewards of transgressors and observers of these laws.
Fifthly, taking up arms against the enemies of civil peace.
Secondly, the means whereby the church may and should attain her ends are only ecclesiastical, which are chiefly five.
First, setting up that form of church government only of which Christ hath given them a pattern in his Word.
Secondly, acknowledging and admitting of no lawgiver in the church but Christ and the publishing of His laws.
Thirdly, electing and ordaining of such officers only, as Christ hath appointed in his Word.
Fourthly, to receive into their fellowship them that are approved and inflicting spiritual censures against them that o end.
Fifthly, prayer and patience in suffering any evil from them that be without, who disturb their peace.
So that magistrates, as magistrates, have no power of setting up the form of church government, electing church officers, punishing with church censures, but to see that the church does her duty herein. And on the other side, the churches as churches, have no power (though as members of the commonweal they may have power) of erecting or altering forms of civil government, electing of civil officers, inflicting civil punishments (no not on persons excommunicate) as by deposing magistrates from their civil authority, or withdrawing the hearts of the people against them, to their laws, no more than to discharge wives, or children, or servants, from due obedience to their husbands, parents, or masters; or by taking up arms against their magistrates, though he persecute them for conscience: for though members of churches who are public officers also of the civil state may suppress by force the violence of usurpers, as Iehoiada did Athaliah, yet this they do not as members of the church but as officers of the civil state.
TRUTH. Here are divers considerable passages which I shall briefly examine, so far as concerns our controversy.
First, whereas they say that the civil power may erect and establish what form of civil government may seem in wisdom most meet, I acknowledge the proposition to be most true, both in itself and also considered with the end of it, that a civil government is an ordinance of God, to conserve the civil peace of people, so far as concerns their bodies and goods, as formerly hath been said.
But from this grant I infer (as before hath been touched) that the sovereign, original, and foundation of civil power lies in the people (whom they must needs mean by the civil power distinct from the government set up). And, if so, that a people may erect and establish what form of government seems to them most meet for their civil condition; it is evident that such governments as are by them erected and established have no more power, nor for no longer time, than the civil power or people consenting and agreeing shall betrust them with. This is clear not only in reason but in the experience of all commonweals, where the people are not deprived of their natural freedom by the power of tyrants.
And, if so, that the magistrates receive their power of governing the church from the people, undeniably it follows that a people, as a people, naturally consider (of what nature or nation soever in Europe, Asia, Africa, or America), have fundamentally and originally, as men, a power to govern the church, to see her do her duty, to correct her, to redress, reform, establish, etc. And if this be not to pull God and Christ and Spirit out of heaven, and subject them unto natural, sinful, inconstant men, and so consequently to Satan himself, by whom all peoples naturally are guided, let heaven and earth judge....
PEACE. Some will here ask: What may the magistrate then lawfully do with his civil horn or power in matters of religion?
TRUTH. His horn not being the horn of that unicorn or rhinoceros, the power of the Lord Jesus in spiritual cases, his sword not the two-edged sword of the spirit, the word of God (hanging not about the loins or side, but at the lips. and proceeding out of the mouth of his ministers) but of an humane and civil nature and constitution, it must consequently be of a humane and civil operation, for who knows not that operation follows constitution; And therefore I shall end this passage with this consideration:
The civil magistrate either respecteth that religion and worship which his conscience is persuaded is true, and upon which he ventures his soul; or else that and those which he is persuaded are false.
Concerning the first, if that which the magistrate believeth to be true, be true, I say he owes a threefold duty unto it:
First, approbation and countenance, a reverent esteem and honorable testimony, according to Isa. 49, and Revel. 21, with a tender respect of truth, and the professors of it.
Secondly, personal submission of his own soul to the power of the Lord Jesus in that spiritual government and kingdom, according to Matt. 18 and 1 Cor. 5.
Thirdly, protection of such true professors of Christ, whether apart, or met together, as also of their estates from violence and injury, according to Rom. 13.
Now, secondly, if it be a false religion (unto which the civil magistrate dare not adjoin, yet) he owes:
First, permission (for approbation he owes not what is evil) and this according to Matthew 13. 30 for public peace and quiet's sake.
Secondly, he owes protection to the persons of his subjects (though of a false worship), that no injury be offered either to the persons or goods of any....
...The God of Peace, the God of Truth will shortly seal this truth, and confirm this witness, and make it evident to the whole world, that the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience, is most evidently and lamentably contrary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus the Prince of Peace. Amen.
1. Roger Williams, The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution ... ("Publications of the Narragansett Club" [Providence, R.I.], Vol. III [1867]), pp. 3-4, 63, 58-59, 138-39, 148, 170-71, 201, 247-50, 372-73, 424-25.
2. See Gen. 10:8-9
3. Old forms for "homogeneous" and "heterogeneous."
4. Johann Brenz (1499-1570), German Lutheran theologian.
A PERFECT ATONEMENT
And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Rom. 5:11.
Our great High Priest completed the sacrificial offering of Himself when He suffered without the gate. Then a perfect atonement was made for the sins of the people. Jesus is our Advocate, our High Priest, our Intercessor. Our present position therefore is like that of the Israelites, standing in the outer court, waiting and looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. . . .
When the high priest entered the holy place, representing the place where our High Priest is now pleading, and offered sacrifice on the altar, no propitiatory sacrifices were offered without. While the high priest was interceding within, every heart was to be bowed in contrition before God, pleading for the pardon of transgression. Type met antitype in the death of Christ, the Lamb slain for the sins of the world. The great High Priest has made the only sacrifice that will be of any value. . . .
In His intercession as our Advocate, Christ needs no man's virtue, no man's intercession. Christ is the only sin bearer, the only sin offering. Prayer and confession are to be offered only to Him who has entered once for all into the holy place. . . . Christ represented His Father to the world, and He represents before God the chosen ones in whom He has restored the moral image of God. They are His heritage. . . . No priest, no religionist, can reveal the Father to any son or daughter of Adam. Men have only one Advocate, one Intercessor, who is able to pardon transgression. Shall not our hearts swell with gratitude to Him who gave Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins? Think deeply upon the love the Father has manifested in our behalf, the love that He has expressed for us. We cannot measure this love. Measurement there is none. We can only point to Calvary, to the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It is an infinite sacrifice. Can we comprehend and measure infinity?
Friday, September 07, 2007
THE BIBLE ON FALSE PROPHETS
The Bible on False Prophets
The New Testament
Wonderful Works Are Done By False Prophets In The Name Of The Lord:
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
False Prophets Will Be Numerous, And Very Successful:
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
2 Pet 2:1 [NIV] But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Pet 2:2 [NIV] Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
2 Pet 2:3 [NIV] In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
False Prophets Work Miracles That Deceive:
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Many Prefer The False Prophet:
2 Tim 4:2 [NIV] Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.
2 Tim 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
2 Tim 4:4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
True Prophets Are Always In Harmony With Other Prophets Of God And Scripture:
1 Cor 14:32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
1 Cor 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
The Old Testament
The True Prophet Hears From God Through Dreams:
Num 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
Defining The False Prophet And Their Fate:
Deu 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
Deu 18:21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
Deu 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
The Motivation of the False Prophet Is Money:
Micah 3:9 [NIV] Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right;
Micah 3:10 [NIV] who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness.
Micah 3:11 [NIV] Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us."
Micah 3:12 [NIV] Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
Many People Actually Prefer False Prophets:
Isa 30:9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Isa 30:12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Isa 30:13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
Isa 30:14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.Jer 5:31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?
The Fate Of False Prophets And Those Who Follow Them:
Jer 14:14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
Jer 14:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
Jer 14:16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
The Prophecies Of False Prophets Do Not Always Fail:
Deu 13:1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder,
Deu 13:2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them,"
Deu 13:3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4 It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
Deu 13:5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
