Friday, November 02, 2007

A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD

A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.


Words & Music:


Mar­tin Lut­her, 1529


(MI­DI, score); trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by


Fred­er­ic H. Hedge, 1853.

This song has been called “the great­est hymn of the great­est man of the great­est per­i­od of Ger­man his­to­ry” and the “Bat­tle Hymn of the Ref­or­ma­tion.”

This hymn was sung at the fun­er­al of Amer­i­can pre­si­dent Dwight Ei­sen­how­er at the Na­tion­al Ca­thed­ral in Wash­ing­ton, DC, March 1969.


Frederic H. Hedge (1805-1890)

In 1720 a re­mark­a­ble re­viv­al be­gan in a town in Mo­rav­ia. Jes­u­its op­posed it, and the meet­ings were pro­hib­it­ed. Those who still as­sem­bled were seized and im­pris­oned in sta­bles and cel­lars. At Da­vid Nitsch­mann’s house, where a hund­red and fif­ty per­sons ga­thered, the po­lice broke in and seized the books. Not dis­mayed, the con­gre­ga­tion struck up the stan­zas of Lu­ther’s hymn,

“And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.”

Twenty heads of families were for this sent to jail, in­clud­ing Nitsch­mann, who was treat­ed with spe­cial se­ver­i­ty. He fin­al­ly es­caped, fled to the Mo­rav­i­ans at Herrnhut, be­came a bi­shop, and af­ter­wards joined the
Wes­leys in 1735 in their ex­pe­di­tion to Sa­van­nah, Georg­ia.

Sankey, p. 106

Source: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/i/mightyfo.htm

NOTE: Highlights and Bolds added for emphasis. Blogmaster.

OUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH


Our Redemption Draweth Nigh


When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:28.


The coming of Christ is nearer than when we first believed. The great controversy is nearing its end. The judgments of God are in the land. They speak in solemn warning, saying: "Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matthew 24:44. . . . {Mar 311.1}

We are living in the closing scenes of this earth's history. Prophecy is fast fulfilling. The hours of probation are fast passing. We have no time--not a moment--to lose. Let us not be found sleeping on guard. Let no one say in his heart or by his works: "My lord delayeth his coming." Let the message of Christ's soon return sound forth in earnest words of warning. Let us persuade men and women everywhere to repent and flee from the wrath to come. . . . {Mar 311.2}

The Lord is soon to come, and we must be prepared to meet Him in peace. Let us be determined to do all in our power to impart light to those around us. We are not to be sad, but cheerful, and we are to keep the Lord Jesus ever before us. He is soon coming, and we must be ready and waiting for His appearing. Oh, how glorious it will be to see Him and be welcomed as His redeemed ones! Long have we waited, but our hope is not to grow dim. If we can but see the King in His beauty we shall be forever blessed. I feel as if I must cry aloud: "Homeward bound!" We are nearing the time when Christ will come in power and great glory to take His ransomed ones to their eternal home. . . . {Mar 311.3}

Long have we waited for our Saviour's return. But nonetheless sure is the promise. Soon we shall be in our promised home. There Jesus will lead us beside the living stream flowing from the throne of God and will explain to us the dark providences through which on this earth He brought us in order to perfect our characters. There we shall behold with undimmed vision the beauties of Eden restored. Casting at the feet of the Redeemer the crowns that He has placed on our heads, and touching our golden harps, we shall fill all heaven with praise to Him that sitteth on the throne. {Mar 311.4}

Source: http://egwdatabase.whiteestate.org/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates$fn=default.htm$vid=default

GOVERNMENT TAKE OVER OF THE CHURCH

Government Takeover of the Church
(1 of 4)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...74439592&hl=en
(2 of 4)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...81566035&hl=en
(3 of 4)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...80698178265582
(4 of 4)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...07726735355686


Also some great audios on 501c3 I uploaded:
http://www.switchpod.com/cats.php?a=10161
I would highly recommend Non-Profit Handcuffs.

Great read:
501c3 Religion: Reemergence Of the Divine Right Of Kings-
http://hushmoney.org/DRK501c3.htm
__________________
Fiat Empire: Why the Federal Reserve Violates the U.S. Constitution

"The greatest shock of this decade is that more people are about to lose more money than any time before in history, but the second greatest shock will be the incredible amount of money just a relatively few people will make at exactly the same time." Dr. Larry Bates
.
.

Source:
http://www.suijuris.net/forum/videos/12101-government-takeover-church.html

END TIME DELUSIONS

END TIME DELUSIONS: The Rapture, the Antichrist, Israel, and the End of the World

Steve Wohlberg, 2004

Will Christians vanish in a rapture? Will seven years of apocalyptic terror overtake those left behind? Will one future Mr. Diabolical-the antichrist-rise to control the world? Will he enter a rebuilt Jewish temple, claiming to be God? Will Earth's nations attack Israel at Armageddon? Bestselling books like Left Behind and popular apocalyptic movies predict such things. Are they correct?

No area of Christianity has been subject to more misguided interpretation than prophecy. Millions of Christians sense we are nearing Jesus Christ's return. Yet when it comes to what the majority thinks will happen during Earth's last days, and what the Bible actually says will occur, the difference is seismic.

With clarity and biblical accuracy, End Time Delusions exposes massive errors now flooding through media and in much of today's sensational prophecy writing. This book closely examines tightly-meshed yet speculative theories about the rapture, seven-year tribulation, antichrist, and the modern Jewish state. This book is no novelty. Buttressed with solid teachings from many of Christianity's most illustrious scholars, it lets the Bible speak for itself about the past, present, and future.

Also available on DVD!


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
Foreword
Introduction
Delusions (Noun)

    Section 1 Rapture Delusions

  1. Now You See Them, Now You Don't
  2. The Parousia and Twinkling Eyes
  3. Will God's Church Escape Tribulation?

    Section 2 Seven-Year Tribulation Delusions

  4. The Seven-Year Tribulation Theory
  5. Dropping the Bomb
  6. David Van Biema's Secret

    Section 3 Antichrist Delusions

  7. Antichrist: Facts vs. Fiction
  8. Paul's Point: Antichrist Comes First
  9. Falling Away From the Truth
  10. Judas: A Type of Antichrist
  11. One Future Mr. Diabolical?
  12. Titanic Truths About the Temple
  13. The Restrainer: Myths and Memories
  14. Putting the Pieces Together
  15. Echoes of Forgotten Voices
  16. 1260 Years: The Time Factor
  17. The Return of the Wounded Beast
  18. The I.D. of Antichrist
  19. Battle of the Isms
  20. The Path of the Virus
  21. Faith of our Fathers

    Section 4 Israel Delusions

  22. All Eyes on Israel
  23. Wrestling With an Angel
  24. A New Look at Jesus Christ
  25. Clarity Through Double Vision
  26. Choice and the Chosen Nation
  27. Calvary and the Divine Divorce
  28. When the Wall Tumbled Down
  29. 1948: An Unsinkable Doctrine?
  30. When the Euphrates Runs Dry
  31. Frogs, Fables, and Armageddon
  32. Thunder From Heaven's Temple
  33. 144,000 Israelites Indeed

AUTHOR PROFILE

Steve Wohlberg is Speaker/Director of Endtime Insights Radio and TV Ministry. TV producer, host of his own nationally syndicated radio show, World News and the Bible, and author of eight books, Mr. Wohlberg is highly respected for his clear thinking, simple style, and Christ-centered teaching. He currently lives in Paso Robles, California, with his lovely wife Kristin, their dog Rerun, and cat Rascal. He can be contacted at EndtimeInsights.com.



BOOK SPECIFICATIONS

220 pages, paper.
ISBN: 0768429609

Also available:

Source: http://www.armageddonbooks.com/303end.html

SECRET AGENDA

Toppling Saddam statue

SECRET AGENDA
PART 1 of 2

By Dr. Stanley Monteith
March 17, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

Most Americans believe the U.S. won the Cold War, yet Russia is deploying a new generation of rockets "designed . . . to bypass western anti-missile defense," China is modernizing its nuclear warheads, Peru has declared a "state of emergency" in the south where Maoist revolutionaries (Shining Path rebels) seized a town and Sri Lanka is fighting Maoist rebels who control a large part of that country. India, Britain, and the U.S. have embargoed arms shipments to the King of Nepal who is fighting Maoist rebels who are trying to overthrow his government. If the U.S.-backed embargo is successful, the democratically elected government of Nepal will fall. [1] Why are these things happening? The situation is confusing unless you are old enough to remember the tragic events that took place during the twentieth century.

Following World War II the U.S. embargoed arms shipments to the Nationalist Chinese, and brought Chairman Mao's regime to power [2] The U.S. embargoed arms shipments to Cuba, ordered President Batista to leave, and brought Fidel Castro to power [3] The U.S. embargoed arms shipments to Nicaragua, told President Somoza to leave, and brought the Sandinista to power.[4] CIA officials met with the Ayatollah Khomeini before the Iranian revolution. The U.S. undermined the Iranian government, told the Shah to leave, and brought the Ayatollah Khomeini to power [5] The U.S. embargoed arms shipments and essential supplies to Rhodesia, and brought Robert Mugabe's Maoist government to power. [6] Why did the U.S. destabilize many pro-western governments, and bring Marxist governments to power? Why is the U.S. undermining the democratically elected government of Nepal today?

General Gamal Abdel Nasser faced that dilemma when he ruled Egypt (1953-1970). He wrote a letter to President Kennedy that asked:

"Why does the United States, a country established on foundations of freedom and by means of a revolution, oppose the call of freedom and revolutionary movements, and line up with reactionary forces and enemies of progress?" [7]

Elsewhere, General Nasser wrote:

"The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something we are missing." [8]

I believe U.S. foreign policy is designed to confuse the American people and national leaders who are unaware of the Spiritual Hierarchy's plan to "establish an enlightened democracy among the nations of the world."[9] The tragic situation in the Middle East is an excellent example of that strategy. If you analyze the events taking place, they defy logic. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the newly elected President of Iran, has announced his country will continue enriching uranium despite the objections of the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC), the UN, the U.S., Israel, and many other nations.[10]

President Ahmadinejad could have agreed to negotiate the issue, and covertly continued Iran's nuclear program, but he didn't. He spurned Russia's offer to provide enriched uranium, he rejected the UN's offer to negotiate the dispute, he "called for Israel to be 'wiped off the map,'" he denied the Holocaust took place, and suggested "the Jewish state should be moved to Europe." [11]President Ahmadinejad seems to be trying to inflame the passion of the Israelis, and their allies in the United States. Why would a rational man risk imposition of UN sanctions on his country? Why would a logical man encourage a pre-emptive attack on his nation? Is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insane? Is he demented? Is he affiliated with the Spiritual Hierarchy that controls most governments?

Last month's Radio Liberty letter discussed Congressman John Murtha's November 17, 2005, address to Congress which revealed:

"The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. . . . Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. . . . The main reason for going to war has been discredited. . . . The intelligence concerning Iraq was wrong. . . . I have been visiting our wounded troops at Bethesda and Walter Reed hospitals. . . . What demoralizes them is going to war with not enough troops and equipment to make the transition to peace. . . . The future of our military is at risk. . . . Many say that the Army is broken. Some of our troops are on their third deployment. . . . Much of our ground equipment is worn out and in need of either serious overhaul or replacement. . . . We must rebuild our Army. . . . Deaths and injuries are growing, with over 2,079 confirmed American deaths. Over 15,500 have been seriously injured and it is estimated that over 50,000 will suffer from battle fatigue. There have been reports of at least 30,000 Iraqi civilian deaths. . . . Oil production and energy production are below pre-war levels. . . . Unemployment remains at about 60 percent. Clean water is scarce. . . . Insurgent incidents have increased from about 150 per week to over 700 in the last year. . . . Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. . . . We have become a catalyst for violence. . . . A poll . . . shows that over 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops, and about 45% of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified."[12]

President Bush responded to Congressman Murtha's remarks on December 18, 2005. Speaking from the Oval Office, President Bush proclaimed:

"Three days ago . . . Iraqis went to the polls to choose their own leaders. . . . This election will not mean the end of violence. But it is the beginning of something new: constitutional democracy at the heart of the Middle East. And this vote . . . means that America has an ally of growing strength in the fight against terror. . . . Yet our work is not done. There is more testing and sacrifice before us."[13]

If you analyze President Bush's opening statement, and understand the Spiritual Hierarchy wants to expand the war in the Middle East, you can anticipate what lies ahead. The U.S. will remain in Iraq because "our work is not done. There is more testing and sacrifice before us." The fighting will continue, many more young Americans (and Iraqis) will die, but their deaths are justified because the Iraqi election "is the beginning of something new: constitutional democracy at the heart of the Middle East." Does the creation of a "constitutional democracy" justify the U.S. attack on Iraq? Will a "constitutional democracy" in the Middle East restore the lives of the young Americans and the Iraqi civilians who have died?

President Bush claims he ordered the attack on Iraq because he was misled by faulty intelligence:

"It is true that Saddam Hussein had a history of pursuing and using weapons of mass destruction. It is true that he systematically concealed those programs, and blocked the work of U.N. weapons inspectors. It is true that many nations believed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. But much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong."[14]

In actuality, the intelligence reports President Bush received were correct. Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and used them on several occasions. The American people have been deceived by media pundits and politicians who debate the wrong issues. The question is not whether Saddam Hussein had WMDs. The proper questions are:

1. Where did Saddam Hussein get the materials required to build his WMDs?
2. Was Saddam Hussein's regime a threat to the U.S.?
3. What happened to Saddam's WMDs?
4. Why wasn't Saddam Hussein sent to Europe, and tried by a UN court?

You can't understand the events taking place in the Middle East today unless you understand the answers to those questions.

1. Where did Saddam Hussein get the materials required to build his WMDs?

An article in the January 6-12, 2003, National Weekly Edition of The Washington Post answers that question. During the 1980s:

"The United States 'actively supported the Iraqi war effort by supplying the Iraqis with billions of dollars of credits, by providing military intelligence and advice to the Iraqis, and by closely monitoring third-country arms sales to Iraq to make sure Iraq had the military weaponry required'. . . .

A 1994 investigation by the Senate Banking Committee turned up dozens of biological agents shipped to Iraq during the mid-'80s under license from the Commerce Department, including various strains of anthrax, subsequently identified by the Pentagon as a key component of the Iraqi biological warfare program. The Commerce Department also approved the export of insecticides to Iraq, despite widespread suspicions that they were being used for chemical warfare.

The fact that Iraq was using chemical weapons was hardly a secret. In February 1984. . . . The Iraqis continued to use chemical weapons against the Iranians until the end of the Iran - Iraq war. . . .

Although U.S. export controls to Iraq were tightened in the late 1980s . . . Dow Chemical sold $1.5 million of pesticides to Iraq, despite U.S. government concerns that they could be used as chemical warfare agents."[15]

The U.S. funded Saddam Hussein's war with Iran, and provided the materials used to produce Saddam's WMDs. Was anyone in the U.S. Commerce Department fired or censured for supplying the lethal material? If not, we can assume the officials did what they were told to do.

2. Was Saddam Hussein's regime a threat to the U.S.?

Before he retired from the U.S. military, four-star Marine General Anthony Zinni was Commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, and special envoy to the Middle East. When Steve Kroft interviewed General Zinni on CBS's 60 Minutes on May 23, 2004, Kroft quoted General Zinni's statement:

"Iraq was the wrong war at the wrong time with the wrong strategy. And he was saying it before the US invasion. In the months leading up to the war, while still Middle East envoy, Zinni carried the message to Congress."

When General Zinni addressed Congress, he stated:

"This is, in my view, the worst time to take this on, and I don't feel it needs to be done now."

Steve Kroft named several generals who opposed the war:

"You said that this is really a war that the generals didn't want."

General Zinni agreed, and said:

"I believe that. . . . We felt that this situation was contained. Saddam was effectively contained. The no-fly, no-drive zones, the sanctions that were imposed on him. Now, at the same time, we had this war on terrorism. We were fighting al-Qaeda, we were engaged in Afghanistan. . . . And I think most of the generals felt, 'Let's deal with this one at a time, let's . . . deal with this threat from terrorism, from al-Qaeda.'"[16]

If Saddam Hussein was "effectively contained," and his regime wasn't a threat to the United States, why did the Bush administration attack Iraq?

3. What happened to Saddam's WMDs?

Joel Skousen, Avi Lipkin, and Dore Gold, the former Israeli Ambassador to the UN, claim that most of Saddam's WMDs were transferred to Syria, some may have been sent to Iran. Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, the former Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, verified that fact during a recent interview.[17]

You can confirm their information by going to Google and typing in "Iraq WMD Syria." There are 1,640,000 references on the site. How could that be?

Why does the Bush administration claim there were no WMDs in Iraq? I suspect the weapons will be found when the U.S. invades Syria, or topples that government.

4. Why wasn't Saddam Hussein sent to Europe, and tried by a UN court?

U.S. officials had to control the judicial process, and prevent mention of the fact that Saddam worked for the CIA in the late 1950s, was financed by the U.S. in the 1980s, and received most of the materials used to produce Iraq's WMDs from U.S. companies.[18]

Why did the U.S. undermine pro-Western governments and replace them with Marxist dictatorships during the latter half of the twentieth century? Why did the CIA undermine the Shaw of Iran and help bring the Ayatolla Khomeini to power in 1979? Why did the U.S. support Saddam Hussein during the 1980s? Why is the U.S. trying to topple the government of Nepal today? The Secret Agenda: Part II explains what is taking place. For part 2 click below.

Click here for part-----> 2

Footnotes:

1, [Read] [Read] [Read] [Read]
2, Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, Eighty-second Congress, Second Session, S Res. 366: July 25, 1951 - June 20, 1952: Institute of Pacific Relations, pp. 204-205.
3, Earl E. T. Smith, The Fourth Floor, Random House, New York, 1962, p. 82: See Also: Cuba: The Untold Story video: Available from Radio Liberty.
4, Anastasio Somoza, Nicaragua Betrayed, Western Islands, 1980, p. 353. See Also: John Rees, "Anastasio Somoza and Jack Cox," The Review of the News, Oct. 1, 1980, p. 45.
5, Fereydoun Hoveyda, The Fall of The Shah, Wyndham Books, New York, 1979, pp. 198-200.See Also: [Read]
6, Radio Liberty interview with Peter Hammond. Available from Radio Liberty.
7, Robert Dreyfuss, Devil's Game, Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2005, pp. 139-140.
8, Ibid., p. 120.
9, Manly P. Hall, The Secret Destiny of America, The Philosophical Research Society Inc., Los Angeles, p. 80.
10, [Read]
11, Ibid.
12, [Read]
13, [Read]
14, Ibid.
15, Michael Dobbs, "When an Ally Becomes the Enemy," The Washington Post, National Weekly Edition, January 6-12, 2003, p. 9.
16, Transcript, General Anthony Zinni interview, 60 Minutes, May 23, 2004, p.2.
17, Ira Stoll, "Saddam's WMD Moved to Syria, An Israeli Says," The New York Sun, December 15, 2005,
18, [Read]

© 2005 Stanley Monteith - All Rights Reserved

Source: http://www.newswithviews.com/Monteith/stanley2.htm

Thursday, November 01, 2007

TROPICAL STORM NOEL KILLS 81


Tropical Storm Noel Kills 81 in Caribbean, Expected to Skirt Florida

Thursday, November 01, 2007




PIEDRA BLANCA, Dominican Republic — Tropical Storm Noel buffeted south Florida with high surf and winds as it swirled slowly toward the Bahamas Thursday after triggering mudslides and floods in the Caribbean that killed at least 81 people.

Forecasters warned of worsening storm conditions in the Bahamas later in the day, and the government issued a hurricane watch for the northwestern parts of the archipelago. On Andros Island, the chain's largest, boat owners tied their vessels down ahead of the storm.

Click here for the latest Noel forecast track

Click here for local reports via WSVN FOX Miami

Click here for current Bahamas weather radar

Noel was forecast to skirt southeastern Florida. The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for a 140-mile stretch of the state's coast from just north of the Keys to Jupiter. Wind and waves were washing out beaches from Miami to the Georgia border.

Meanwhile, the deadly storm was still dumping rains on the Dominican Republic and Haiti Wednesday night, more than two days after it struck the island of Hispaniola, where rescuers were struggling to reach communities cut off by flooding.

RelatedStories
Tropical Storm Noel Kills 81 in Caribbean, Heads Toward Bahamas Tropical Storm Noel Soaks Caribbean, Flooding, Mudslides Claim At Least 22 As they did, they found a rising toll of death and damage — at least 56 dead in the Dominican Republic, 24 in neighboring Haiti and one in Jamaica.

Two days after a swollen river swept away the hamlet of Piedra Blanca in central Dominican Republic, Charo Vidal described climbing into a tree and watching her neighbor struggle to do the same, clutching infant twins while the waters swept an older daughter away.

"She couldn't take care of all three," Vidal said. "That is something very profound, to have a child snatched from your hands and you cannot do anything for them."

"The river tore her from my hands as I held her," said the mother, Mary De Leon.

At least seven people died in Piedra Blanca, emergency officials said.

Dominican President Leonel Fernandez declared a 30-day state of emergency and asked for international help, especially rescue teams and helicopters. He also ordered residents to evacuate from dozens of potential flood zones.

At least 58,300 Dominicans fled their homes, some 14,500 of which were damaged, said Luis Antonio Luna, head of the Emergencies Commission. He said at least 56 people had died in the Dominican Republic so far.

Luna said officials were trying to reach dozens of isolated communities, but bad weather, a lack of helicopters and damage to bridges and highways slowed rescue efforts. He said at least 27 people were reported missing.

In neighboring Haiti, floods rushed through the capital's Cite Soleil slum, carrying away a 3-year-old boy. Two people were killed when their house collapsed in a mudslide in the hillside suburb of Petionville, and at least three others died in Jacmel.

Noel is the deadliest storm to hit this part of the Caribbean since Tropical Storm Jeanne hit Haiti in 2004, killing an estimated 3,000 people with massive flooding and mudslides.

For the Atlantic region as a whole, Noel is so far the second deadliest of the 2007 season. Hurricane Felix, a monster Category 5 storm, killed at least 101 people in early September, mostly along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and Honduras.

At 2 a.m. EDT, Noel's center was about 125 miles south-southwest of Nassau, Bahamas, and about 195 miles southeast of Miami. The storm was moving toward the north at 5 mph, but was expected to eventually turn northeast away from Florida. It had top sustained winds near 60 mph, with stronger gusts, forecasters said.

Rough surf warnings were in effect for much of South Florida. Waves were pounding beaches in the Miami area, and residents of a waterfront condominium in South Palm Beach were urged to evacuate after pounding surf destroyed a retaining wall damaged this month in another storm.

Michael Stubbs, a government meteorologist, said Noel was expected to be close to hurricane strength when spinning west of Andros Island at about dawn Thursday. It was forecast to veer east, away from the United States, after churning past the northeast Bahamian island of Abaco.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,307157,00.html

FORECLOSURES JUMP 30 PERCENT

Foreclosures jump 30 percent in 3rd quarter

Congress, White House debate solutions to help people keep their homes

Image: house foreclosure
A home in foreclosure on Wednesday in Pomona, Calif.
Damian Dovarganes / AP
By John W. Schoen
Senior Producer
MSNBC
updated 4:14 a.m. ET, Thurs., Nov. 1, 2007




John W. Schoen
Senior Producer


Profile
E-mail



As Congress and the White House continue to work toward solutions to help embattled homeowners, home foreclosure filings took a big jump in the third quarter, according to the latest data from real estate Web site RealtyTrac.

Foreclosure actions were reported on more than 446,000 properties the three months ended Sept. 30, up 30 percent from the second quarter and double last year’s third quarter. That brings the overall foreclosure rate to one in every 196 U.S. households.

The rise in foreclosures was widespread, with 45 out of the 50 states reporting higher levels than last year. But the highest concentrations were a handful of housing markets; California Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Texas and Michigan made up more than half of the total.

The rise in foreclosures comes as millions of homeowners face sharp increases in their mortgage payments from low “teaser” rates as the housing market remains mired in a slump.

Home prices in 10 markets tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller housing index slid 5 percent in August, the eighth straight monthly drop, according to figures released Tuesday. Some economists expect home prices to fall by 10 percent before the market finds a bottom sometime late next year, barring a further economic downturn. The pullback follows one of the strongest housing booms on record that sent median prices up more than 50 percent earlier in the decade.

Because the low initial rates on many mortgages typically last for two or three years, the housing market faces further pressure next year from loans that were written in when the housing market was still rising and lenders were offering easy terms to borrowers with less-than-stellar credit.

“Given the number of loans due to reset through the middle of 2008, and the continuing weakness in home sales, we would expect foreclosure activity to remain high and even increase over the next year in many markets,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac

In Nevada, there was one foreclosure filing for every 61 households, the highest rate in the nation. That’s 23 percent from the previous quarter and more than triple the number reported in the third quarter of 2006.

California saw one filing for every 88 households, the second highest; the rate was up 36 percent from the previous quarter and nearly quadruple the third quarter of 2006.

Florida’s foreclosure rate, the nation’s third highest, from as year ago to one filing for every 95 households, a rise of more than 50 percent from the previous quarter.

Other states with foreclosure rates among the top 10 included Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Texas.

Though widely followed since the housing market began slumping a year ago, RealtyTrac has only been collecting the foreclosure data for two years. Some critics of the reporting have said that it may overstate the problem because it counts filings at various stages of the default and foreclosure process. The company says that beginning this year, it has begun publishing data that counts a property once, even if there were multiple foreclosure actions are filed on a the property.

With foreclosures rising, federal state and local officials are looking for ways to try to head off the process that will keep people in their homes, avoid adding more unsold inventory to the housing market and saving lenders the legal expenses and losses they typically incur foreclosing on home in a falling market.

Homeowners at risk of default are being urged to contact their lenders and try to work out alternatives. But many of those who do so confront a dense thicket of lending regulations and other red tape. During the first nine months of the year, only 1 percent of subprime home loans at risk were rewritten, according to Moody's Investors Service.

CONTINUED: Congress, White House debate solutions
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21551909/

AIDS STUDY SPURS HAITIAN OUTRAGE

AIDS study spurs Haitian outrage

BY FRED TASKER and JACQUELINE CHARLES, ftasker@miamiherald.com

A new scientific finding that AIDS came to the United States from Africa via Haiti, probably arriving in Miami as early as 1969, stoked controversy among researchers and Haitians on Tuesday -- reopening deep wounds over the medical community's role in perpetuating a stigma against people from the island.

Published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study aims to better explain the origin of AIDS, whose history involves a virus with a sketchy story line that began in Africa in the 1930s and emerged in Los Angeles in 1981.

The findings were based, in part, on blood samples taken from about 20 Haitian patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital as early as 1979. The samples were frozen, stored at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and reanalyzed by the study's authors, including a researcher at the University of Miami.

''We were seeing patients at Jackson Memorial with what we now call AIDS, and at the time we didn't even know it,'' said Dr. Arthur Pitchenik, co-author of the study and a professor of medicine at the University of Miami Medical School. ``I started seeing Haitian immigrant patients with TB. They would get better from the TB only to die three to six months later from what we now call AIDS.''

Dr. Michael Gottlieb, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and one of the original discoverers of AIDS, said the analysis placed the HIV virus that causes it in the United States nearly a decade earlier than previously believed.

''It's pretty clear evidence for Haiti as a stepping-stone,'' he said. ``The suggestion that the infection was further below our radar than I'd previously suspected is kind of unnerving.''

''This is very credible work,'' added Dr. Margaret Fischl, a pioneering UM AIDS researcher. ``Their approach is the way it should be done. Some of my colleagues think this is really remarkable work.''

The findings drew immediate anger from Miami's Haitian community and raised concerns among some AIDS scientists, as well.

''People are going crazy,'' said Dr. Laurinus Pierre, executive director of the Center for Haitian Studies in Little Haiti. Pierre said he has fought stigmas against Haitians from the first days of AIDS, in which researchers blamed the epidemic on the ''Four Hs'' -- homosexuals, Haitians, hemophiliacs and heroin addicts.

In February 1990, the Food and Drug Administration barred Haitians from donating blood in the United States, a policy that ignited scores of protests and highly publicized boycotts of blood drives. By December 1990, the FDA had scrapped its policy and developed a more rigorous screening of all blood donors.

To many, the policy pushed an already taboo subject in the Haitian community deeper in the shadows and discouraged many from seeking treatment, a phenomenon some say the latest findings could cause to happen again.

''This does a disservice to the Haitian community, who feel like they already went through this 20 years ago,'' said Dr. Paul Farmer, professor of medical anthropology at Harvard University and a founder of Partners in Health, an international research and aid organization active in fighting AIDS in Haiti. ``This is very slender evidence on which to base such a grand claim.''

''I don't think this is very helpful,'' said Dr. Jeffrey Laurence, a professor of medicine at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York. ``People love to play history, and it would be great to figure out who Patient Zero was. But there are doubts.''

The study's lead author, Michael Worobey, a University of Arizona evolutionary biologist, defended his methodology Tuesday and denied any disservice to the Haitian community.

Worobey and his co-authors analyzed the frozen blood samples from about 20 of Pitchenik's Haitian patients at Jackson from the late '70s and early '80s. They set up a medical timeline that they say indicates the HIV virus arrived in Haiti in 1966 and in Miami by 1969.

Worobey said he estimated the timing of the virus' arrival by taking samples of the virus from the late 1970s to 2000. By knowing the rate at which the viruses mutate, he said he was able to create a picture of what the virus looked like in 1969. And by comparing viruses from the United States and Haiti during this time, he could deduce when the virus arrived in the States.

''It's a common technique used in genetic analysis and human evolution,'' Worobey said Tuesday.

The study concludes that AIDS arrived in Haiti after Haitians went to the Democratic Republic of Congo as workers after that country won independence in 1960.

It debunks the original ''Patient Zero'' theory that said the HIV virus came to Los Angeles via a gay Canadian flight attendant named Gaetan Dugas. That theory was created by Dr. William Darrow and others at the CDC and turned into the 1987 book And the Band Played On, by journalist Randy Shilts. Darrow later repudiated his own study.

Pitchenik said he realized this week's study would be controversial in the Haitian community.

''I want to stress that this has nothing to do with race or sex or color of skin, and we should not stigmatize any particular group,'' he said.

``It's not whether you're Haitian or homosexual. It's the high-risk behavior you engage in. Whether you have unprotected sex, whether you're a drug user sharing needles.''

In Haiti, where 6 percent of the population was HIV-infected in 2003, the situation has improved, with HIV rates dropping to 2 percent by 2006, the CDC says.

This report was supplemented with material from Miami Herald wire services

Source: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2007/10/aids-study-spur.html

THE BLESSED HOPE (EARLY DAYS)

James & Ellen G. White Home

The Blessed Hope

In 1852 James White bought a new Washington hand press, the first to be owned by Sabbath-keeping Adventists. Things were looking up for the small group of young people who moved into the large house on Mt. Hope Avenue in Rochester, New York. They were an enthusiastic bunch, dedicated to sharing the Bible truths they believed in and determined that one way to do it would be through the printed page.

However, it was not long before it seemed as if Satan was determined to completely wipe them all out. On May 6 th, 1853, James White?s brother, Nathaniel White [1831-1853], died of tuberculosis at the age of 22. His fellow believer, Annie Smith [1828-1855], composed a five stanza poem that was published with his obituary. The last verse read:

Not long will earth?s bosom,

His precious form bide,

And death?s gloomy portals,

From kindred divide;

For swiftly approaching,

We see the bright day

That brings the glad summons

Arise! Come away!

A cholera epidemic swept through Rochester. Coffins were piled high on street corners waiting to be taken to the cemetery. Young Edson White [1849-1929], son of James and Ellen White, came down the disease, but was healed in answer to prayer. Luman Masten [1829-1854], the young foreman who was not even a Sabbath-keeper at the time, also became ill. Through answered prayer, he too was healed and afterward accepted the Sabbath. But, unfortunately, before long he became sick again, and on March 1, 1854, he died at the age of 25.

Again, Annie Smith wrote a poem in his memory. It contained three stanzas, the second of which read,

O blessed the hope for the Christian to cheer him,

When dim grew his eye, and fast faded his bloom;

In the hour of affliction the Saviour was near him,

The rock of his strength, and his light to the tomb.

No more will he wake from his calm, peaceful slumber,

To the anguish of pain, or the blighting of care;

No more will he join the songs of our number,

Or mingle his voice at the alter of prayer.

Later that same year James White?s sister, Anna White [1828-1854], died of tuberculosis. She served briefly as editor of The Youth?s Instructor as well as edited a hymnal for children during her last illness. She was in her 26 th year when she died on November 30, 1854. Annie Smith wrote a ten stanza poem of tribute to Anna. Two of the stanzas read,

Sleep, dear Sister, kind and tender,

To friendship true,

While with feeling hearts we render

This tribute due.

When the morn of glory, breaking,

Shall light the tomb,

Beautiful will be thy waking,

In fadeless bloom.

It was at about the time of Anna?s death that Annie Smith herself contracted tuberculosis. With no then-known cure for the disease, she too was ?marked for the grave.? Hopeful that she could regain her health, Annie left the stress of assisting James White in editing The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald and returned to her mother?s home in West Wilton, New Hampshire. But it was not to be. Annie herself died on July 26, 1855, at the age of 27.

Two days before her death she wrote her last poem. It contained two verses.

Oh! shed not a tear o?er the spot where I sleep;

For the living and not for the dead ye may weep;

Why mourn for the weary to who sweetly repose,

Free in the grave from life?s burden of woes?

I long now to rest in the lone, quiet tomb;

For the footsteps of Jesus have lightened its gloom.

I die in the hope of soon meeting again

The friends that I love, with Him ever to reign.

Years later, Annie?s younger brother, Elder Uriah Smith [1832-1903], longtime editor of The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, wrote in a letter of condolence the following from his own personal experience,

When the halo of hope lingers over the graves of our loved ones, it tends to disperse the gloom and give us comfort as nothing else could do. . . . We are in the land of the dying, but if faithful in God?s service will soon be in the land of the living.?

He signed it, ?Yours in the blessed hope, Uriah Smith.? (Durand, p. 35)

Source: http://www.adventistheritage.org/article.php?id=93

THE BLESSED HOPE


The Blessed Hope

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13.


Jesus said He would go away and prepare mansions for us, that where He is there we may be also. We shall ever dwell with and enjoy the light of His precious countenance. My heart leaps with joy at the cheering prospect. We are almost home. Heaven, sweet heaven! It is our eternal home. I am glad every moment that Jesus lives, and because He lives we shall live also. My soul says, Praise the Lord. There is a fullness in Jesus, a supply for each, for all, and why should we die for bread or starve in foreign lands?

I hunger, I thirst for salvation, for entire conformity to the will of God. We have a good hope through Jesus. It is sure and steadfast and entereth into that within the veil. It yields us consolation in affliction, it gives us joy amid anguish, disperses the gloom around us, and causes us to look through it all to immortality and eternal life. . . . Earthly treasures are no inducement to us, for while we have this hope it reaches clear above the treasures of earth that are passing away and takes hold of the immortal inheritance, the treasures that are durable, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fade not away. . . .

Our mortal bodies may die and be laid away in the grave. Yet the blessed hope lives on until the resurrection, when the voice of Jesus calls forth the sleeping dust. We shall then enjoy the fullness of the blessed, glorious hope. We know in whom we have believed. We have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. A rich, a glorious reward is before us; it is the prize for which we run, and if we persevere with courage we shall surely obtain it. . . .

There is salvation for us, and why do we stay away from the fountain? Why not come and drink that our souls may be refreshed, invigorated, and may flourish in God? Why do we cling so closely to earth? There is something better than earth for us to talk about and think of. We can be in a heavenly frame of mind. Oh, let us dwell upon Jesus' lovely, spotless character, and by beholding we shall become changed to the same image. Be of good courage. Have faith in God.

Maranatha, Ellen G. White, Page 304.

PSALM 51

1Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

BLESSED ASSURANCE

BLESSÈD ASSURANCE

Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Refrain

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Refrain

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Refrain

Words:
Fan­ny Cros­by, 1873:

My friend, Mrs. Jo­seph F. Knapp, com­posed a mel­o­dy and played it over to me two or three times on the pi­a­no. She then asked what it said. I re­plied, “Bles­sed as­sur­ance, Je­sus is mine!”

Music: As­sur­ance,
Phoe­be P. Knapp
(MI­DI, score).

QUE SEGURANÇA (Nind)

Que segurança! Sou de Jesus!
Eu já desfruto as bençãos da luz.
Sou por Jesus herdeiro de Deus;
Ele me leva à glória dos céus.

Refrão

Canta, minha alma! Canta ao Senhor!
Rende-lhe sempre ardente louvor!
Canta, minha alma! Canta ao Senhor!
Rende-lhe sempre ardente louvor!

Ao seu amor eu me submeti
Extasiado então me senti.
Anjos cantando nos altos céus
Louvam a excelsa graça de Deus.

Refrão

Sempre vivendo em seu grande amor,
Me regozijo em meu Salvador.
Esperançoso vivo na luz,
Pela bondade do meu Jesus.

Refrão

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

JACK O'LANTERN

The Tale of Jack Send a Happy All Hallows Eve e-Greeting!O'Lantern

A Read-aloud Story from Catholic Update

Jack, the Irish say, grew up in a simple village where he earned a reputation for cleverness as well as laziness. He applied his fine intelligence to wiggling out of any work that was asked of him, preferring to lie under a solitary oak endlessly whittling. In order to earn money to spend at the local pub, he looked for an "easy shilling" from gambling, a pastime at which he excelled. In his whole life he never made a single enemy, never made a single friend and never performed a selfless act for anyone.

One Halloween, as it happened, the time came for him to die. When the devil arrived to take his soul, Jack was lazily drinking at the pub and asked permission to finish his ale. The devil agreed, and Jack thought fast. "If you really have any power," he said slyly, "you could transform yourself into a shilling."

The devil snorted at such child’s play and instantly changed himself into a shilling. Jack grabbed the coin. He held it tight in his hand, which bore a cross-shaped scar. The power of the cross kept the devil imprisoned there, for everyone knows the devil is powerless when faced with the cross. Jack would not let the devil free until he granted him another year of life. Jack figured that would be plenty of time to repent. The devil left Jack at the pub.

The year rolled around to the next Halloween, but Jack never got around to repenting. Again the devil appeared to claim his soul, and again Jack bargained, this time challenging him to a game of dice, an offer Satan could never resist, but a game that Jack excelled at. The devil threw snake eyes—two ones—and was about to haul him off, but Jack used a pair of dice he himself had whittled. When they landed as two threes, forming the T-shape of a cross, once again the devil was powerless. Jack bargained for more time to repent.

He kept thinking he’d get around to repentance later, at the last possible minute. But the agreed-upon day arrived and death took him by surprise. The devil hadn’t showed up and Jack soon found out why not. Before he knew it Jack was in front of the pearly gates. St. Peter shook his head sadly and could not admit him, because in his whole life Jack had never performed a single selfless act. Then Jack presented himself before the gates of hell, but the devil was still seething. Satan refused to have anything to do with him.

"Where can I go?" cried Jack. "How can I see in the darkness?"

The devil tossed a burning coal into a hollow pumpkin and ordered him to wander forever with only the pumpkin to light his path. From that day to this he has been called "Jack o’ the Lantern." Sometimes he appears on Halloween!

Source: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Halloween/jack-o-lantern.asp

WITCHES, GHOSTS AND MAGIC

Witches, Ghosts
And Magic

What Catholics Believe

by Page Zyromski

Matt called one of those psychic hotline numbers advertised on television. His parents didn't find out until they saw the whopping charge on their phone bill.

I asked Matt why he did it and he says he was just curious. He's still delivering pizzas to pay off his debt.

Jessica had some friends who were experimenting with witchcraft. She was curious too. It was just something to do, she says.

Tony went to a meeting of a satanic group. He got out of there as quickly as possible. He tells me he knew he wasn't supposed to do it, but "wanted to see what it was all about."

What's happening here? What does the Church believe about these things?

Honest Questions

It's natural to explore the supernatural, especially during your teen years. After all, you have a spiritual soul as well as a body. Now is the normal time to ask honest questions about God and the spiritual world, and about life after death. The Church wants you to ask these questions so you can grow in your knowledge of God and set priorities in your life.

But like everything else, there's a right way and a wrong way to explore. When you were two years old, you were curious about electrical outlets and probably wanted to poke your finger into one. When you were 10, you were curious about firecrackers and cherry bombs. When you're 16, you might be curious to see just how fast your car will go if you "open it up."

At each of these stages someone guides you and teaches you about these unseen forces so you don't harm yourself. If they do a good job, you grow up without exaggerated fear of electricity or fireworks or cars. But you also learn not to mess around!

In a similar way, the Church wants you to grow up with neither an exaggerated fear of the supernatural nor an unhealthy curiosity about it. The temptation to mess with the occult (o-CULT) has been around for centuries, which is why clear teachings have been set up to help you. In general, the occult is anything that claims to have secret knowledge from supernatural sources.

Is the Devil Real?

Yes, the Church says, the devil exists. But the first thing to remember is that the devil is not the equal and opposite of God. There is no equal and opposite of God. If the devil is the equal and opposite of anyone, it would be Michael the Archangel. But even so, Michael has the power of Almighty God behind him and the devil does not. No contest.

The Church teaches that the devil is a fallen angel called Satan and "the father of lies." There should be no exaggerated belief in the power of the devil. With Jesus' death and resurrection "the ruler of this world" was cast out.

No baptized Christian needs to fear the devil and the lesser demons sometimes called goblins, because by our Baptism we share in Jesus' death and resurrection. Your Baptism is more important than you think!

The Church doesn't want you to fool around with the occult, but neither does it want you to be afraid that the devil lurks behind every bush. It's true that satanic cults exist. You may have heard of groups in your area by word of mouth, the way Tony did. Maybe you've seen classmates drawing upside-down stars (pentagrams) on their notebooks. Don't worry that they're satanists. Maybe they're just doodling!

But if these same friends become withdrawn, if their grades drop, if they say things that are truly bizarre, then you should probably mention it to your guidance counselor or to your pastor. Most likely, the local police and your pastor already know about any active cults in your area.

What about exorcisms? Do they exist? Videos and song lyrics sometimes provoke a fear of demonic possession. Yes, the Church provides for exorcisms. Exorcism is the formal expelling of the devil, performed only by a priest with permission of the bishop. It is not taken lightly. Evil is not trivial.

In September 2000, the pope performed an exorcism on a teenage girl right in St. Peter's Square. It was definitely not as sensational as the movie The Exorcist. He simply prayed with authority over her, commanding the demon to leave. Most people at the weekly audience didn't even know it happened.

Besides exorcism, the Church provides other ways that are so ordinary you may not have noticed. Some of these are noted in a box on the last page of this Youth Update. Others include the "deliver us from evil" phrase in the Our Father and the Sign of the Cross with holy water when you enter and leave the church, another reminder of your Baptism.

No New Temptation

Whether you think the devil is a real person or just a symbol, his temptation is the oldest one in the world: power and control. "You will be like God" were the serpent's words to Eve (Genesis 3:5). The ultimate power is "to be like God."

God alone has power over the future. God alone knows what's in store for us. How tempting it is to want to know the future and try to control it! Who wouldn't want this, at least to some degree? Especially in this millennium when technology is moving so fast nobody can keep up with it. Especially since traditional values have been thrown out the window. Especially for young people who feel powerless in the face of it all.

It's hard to put ourselves completely in God's hands. No wonder fortune-telling has become a multimillion-dollar business! The psychic hotline charged $4.99 a minute to Matt's phone bill. His so-called psychic was trained to keep him on the phone as long as possible, to draw him out. She was paid according to how long she could keep him talking. Matt talked for an hour, even though he knew she was fake. You do the math!

You've seen advertisements for palm readers, crystal-ball readers and astrologers, who tell your future from your sign of the zodiac. You've heard about "white" witches who practice "wicca" to influence the future as Jessica's friends were trying to do. You may have seen a ouija (wee-jee) board which has a marker moving across letters. You know that "channeling" doesn't mean surfing with a remote.

All this stuff flirts with wanting to control the future. The Church tells us flatly to reject it as a sin against the First Commandment. These things "conceal a desire for power over time, history and other human beings" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2116). They feed into the temptation to be like God.

What About ESP?

Does the Church think there are ever people who can see the future for real? Yes, says the Church. Our tradition is full of prophets and saints who have seen the future. This didn't stop when the last ink dried on the Bible.

In the 500s, St. Benedict had an ESP experience when his twin sister died. He "saw" her soul rising to heaven in the form of a dove. He was so sure of his vision that he sent some monks to bring her body back to be buried at his monastery.

In the 1800s, St. John Bosco had so many ESP dreams that the pope ordered him to write them down. He dreamt not only about people's deaths and the future of his Salesian Order, but also about geography, of all things. He described valleys and mountains in the Andes that weren't even guessed at in his day. (He had missionaries in South America.) Experiences like Benedict's and John Bosco's were special graces and not something they could turn on and off like a spigot.

It's not uncommon to hear an ESP story about the death of a loved one. Love is stronger than death, the Bible tells us. My son, for example, knew exactly when his grandfather died even though he was 500 miles away. It's important not to stretch the truth if this happens to you. Pray for your loved one and don't be afraid.

What about ghosts? Does the Church believe in ghosts? If you're thinking about creatures with sheets over their heads, of course not. If you're asking whether spiritual souls live on after the body dies, though, the answer is a definite yes.

These are not the same as angels but the souls of human beings like you and me which will live forever. At the end of the ages we'll get our glorified bodies back again in the resurrection of the body, but nobody claims to know how that's going to work. We all just hope that our glorified bodies will be better looking than the ones we have now!

The communion of saints is one of the most fascinating teachings of the Church. All of us—living and dead, official saints and ordinary sinners—are united in the Body of Christ. Jesus' love unites us in a love so strong that death has no power over it. We don't communicate with the dead like in a séance.

We don't worship them. But we do pray for each other. We offer prayers for those who have died. We ask those who have died to intercede for us while we're still here on earth. The love that flows back and forth goes beyond space and time.

Heads-up on Halloween Symbols

Around Halloween it's important to get your head straight about these things. Halloween (the "e'en" or evening before "All Hallow's," or all the "Holy Ones," the saints) is the vigil of two feast days. All Saints Day is November 1, and All Souls Day is November 2.

On All Saints we celebrate the lives of the saints, especially those in heaven. On All Souls Day we remember those who have died, especially in our immediate family.

Stories of ghosts first became associated with Halloween in Ireland. It was said that if someone had died the previous year and you were still holding a grudge against that person, he or she would appear to you on the evening before All Saints. You'd be so startled you'd run to do whatever would make your forgiveness complete. Not a bad reminder any time of the year!

Skeletons and skulls are naturally symbols at Halloween because of All Souls Day, "the Day of the Dead," as some countries call it. It doesn't hurt us to think about death once a year. We're all going to die someday. Skeletons and skulls remind us of this. Figures of devils and witches can also remind us of the ever-present temptation to be like God.

Halloween is not "of the devil," as some fundamentalists say. Many denominations don't teach about the communion of saints, so naturally they don't celebrate All Saints Day or All Souls Day. All they have left of Halloween is pre-Christian superstition about the dead.

All the same, if I had to pick decorations for a Halloween party, I'd go with skeletons and skulls rather than devils, just to separate the symbols. Since the holiday sometimes brings out warped people who commit copycat crimes, I'd stick with friends and places I know. It's always good to choose carefully how you have your fun.

Magic in Media

Four Harry Potter books are on the best-seller list. J.K. Rowling has given the world a character who received an invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on his 11th birthday. Each book tells of one more year in Harry's education.

Are these books evil because they use wizardry as a background? Let me answer a question with a question. After you finish a Harry Potter book are you tempted to dig into the occult so you can be like God, or do you admire Harry's truth, courage and loyalty to his friends? Do you want to change a teacup into a mouse or do you want to change your habits so you won't be like Harry's rich and bratty enemy, Draco Malfoy?

You could ask the same question about other fictional creations such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy protects her friends and "saves the world—a lot" in a universe threatened by evil and ghoulish creatures. Do you admire Buffy's commitment and self-sacrifice, or do you wish you could turn yourself into a ghoul?

A lot of people get nervous about fiction that involves the forces of evil. You've already learned in English class that there are different categories of fiction, like mysteries, fantasy, westerns, science fiction, Stephen King-type horror. Fantasy almost always includes magic and wizards the same way that westerns include cowboys. Whatever the category, the best works of fiction will lift the human spirit.

But if anything gives you nightmares, stay away from it. If a TV program or a book or a song lyric gives you weird ideas, switch the channel, close the book and turn off the song. You're the only one who knows what's getting stirred up inside. Trust your gut. If it's good for you it'll inspire you to be a better person and to love God more.

Up or Down?

When you are weighing your choices and the value of your activities, I'd like to suggest the "upward and outward" or "downward and inward" rule. In other words, do songs, books and games lift your heart up (to appreciate God's love and care for you) and out (to widen your compassion and understanding of other people)? Or do they pull you downward (diminish your trust in God's care, make you depressed) and inward (make you more self-focused and even morbid)?

See the difference? You're old enough to notice such things about yourself and to quit taking in the garbage.

Page McKean Zyromski is the mother of three children and a contributing editor of Catechist magazine. She has taught at the college, high school and junior high levels. She's the author of Pray the Bible (St. Anthony Messenger Press).

Holly Brown (18), Beth Burke (16), Shawn Heilers (18) and Stacy Lunz (17) met at the Heilerses' home in Glynnwood, Ohio, to discuss this issue. Shawn's mother, Irene Heilers, is director of religious education for St. Patrick Parish in Glynnwood, where these teenagers are quite active.

Ghostbusters

Some television stations are such calamity channels that just watching the news makes you doubt whether God's still in charge. You're bombarded with advertising from fortune tellers. Temptations against the First Commandment surround you. What can you do about it?

1. Ask yourself:

Am I doing the everyday things that equip me for the future, even though they might be boring? Do I really believe that God cares for me? Do I trust that God knows what's best for my future life?

2. Renew your baptismal promises:

  • Do you reject sin so as to live in the freedom of God's children? I do.
  • Do you reject the glamour of evil and refuse to be mastered by sin? I do.
  • Do you reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness? I do.

3. Pray the "Deliver us" prayer from the Mass:

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil,
and grant us peace in our day.
In your mercy keep us free from sin
and protect us from all anxiety
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Source : http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/YU/ay1001.asp