Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Condemnation (OMEGA)


God has ever called upon His people to condemn sin. Unless this is accomplished, souls will be lost. Today the Omega of Apostasy leads men to rather condemn those who shoulder this God-given responsibility. We, as a people, even dare to do so before unbelievers.


First a word to those Roman Catholics who will read this editorial. Some Seventh- day Adventists, with more zeal than charity, have seized upon the death of the pope to launch a virulent anti-Catholic attacks. They represent a tiny but vocal element of the Adventist Church that sees its mission as taking out newspaper advertisements and erecting signs denouncing Catholics. In so doing they dismay and wound adherents of the faith they oppose.

((Dr. William G. Johnsson, Editor, Adventist Review, South Pacific Record, 7 May 2005)

.....The editor of the Adventist Review appears to find it easier to condemn faithful Seventh day- Adventist seeking to rescue Roman Catholics from the antichrist faith, than to condemn that faith which will lead to the loss of eternal life of Roman Catholics who are not rescued from their false Christianity.


And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world...........Revelation 13:8


(Excerpt)


Half a Century of Apostasy By Russell R. Standish, Colin D. Standish, pp.301-302.


* Read it on line:
@


Source:http://books.google.com/books?id=Ihbn4_-RVQQC&pg=PA301&lpg=PA302&ots=FQPRL8-mMO&dq=great+Controversy+p.+606&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

.

The sins of Babylon will be laid open.


In every generation God has sent His servants to rebuke sin, both in the world and in the church. But the people desire smooth things spoken to them, and the pure, unvarnished truth is not acceptable. Many reformers, in entering upon their work, determined to exercise great prudence in attacking the sins of the church and the nation. They hoped, by the example of a pure Christian life, to lead the people back to the doctrines of the Bible. But the Spirit of God came upon them as it came upon Elijah, moving him to rebuke the sins of a wicked king and an apostate people; they could not refrain from preaching the plain utterances of the Bible-- doctrines which they had been reluctant to present. They were impelled to zealously declare the truth and the danger which threatened souls. The words which the Lord gave them they uttered, fearless of consequences, and the people were compelled to hear the warning.
.
Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time comes for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power--all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these. In amazement they hear the testimony that Babylon is the church, fallen because of her errors and sins, because of her rejection of the truth sent to her from heaven. As the people go to their former teachers with the eager inquiry, Are these things so? the ministers present fables, prophesy smooth things, to soothe their fears and quiet the awakened conscience. But since many refuse to be satisfied with the mere authority of men and demand a plain "Thus saith the Lord," the popular ministry, like the Pharisees of old, filled with anger as their authority is questioned, will denounce the message as of Satan and stir up the sin-loving multitudes to revile and persecute those who proclaim it.
.
As the controversy extends into new fields and the minds of the people are called to God's downtrodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending the message will only madden those who oppose it. The clergy will put forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light lest it should shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they will endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and, in this work, papists and Protestants unite. As the movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided, the law will be invoked against commandment keepers. They will be threatened with fines and imprisonment, and some will be offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages, as inducements to renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is: "Show us from the word of God our error"--the same plea that was made by Luther under similar circumstances. Those who are arraigned before the courts make a strong vindication of the truth, and some who hear them are led to take their stand to keep all the commandments of God. Thus light will be brought before thousands who otherwise would know nothing of these truths.
.

The Great Controversy, E. G White, pp.606-607.

.
*Bolds and Highlights added.
.

Monday, December 28, 2009

True godliness will be clearly distinguished

In the closing work of God in the earth, the standard of His law will be again exalted. False religion may prevail, iniquity may abound, the love of many may wax cold, the cross of Calvary may be lost sight of, and darkness, like the pall of death, may spread over the world; the whole force of the popular current may be turned against the truth; plot after plot may be formed to overthrow the people of God; but in the hour of greatest peril the God of Elijah will raise up human instrumentalities to bear a message that will not be silenced. In the populous cities of the land, and in the places where men have gone to the greatest lengths in speaking against the Most High, the voice of stern rebuke will be heard. Boldly will men of God's appointment denounce the union of the church with the world. Earnestly will they call upon men and women to turn from the observance of a man-made institution to the observance of the true Sabbath. "Fear God, and give glory to Him," they will proclaim to every nation; "for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. . . . If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation." Revelation 14:7-10.

God will not break His covenant, nor alter the thing that has gone out of His lips. His word will stand fast forever as unalterable as His throne. At the judgment this covenant will be brought forth, plainly written with the finger of God, and the world will be arraigned before the bar of Infinite Justice to receive sentence.

Today, as in the days of Elijah, the line of demarcation between God's commandment-keeping people and the worshipers of false gods is clearly drawn. "How long halt ye between two opinions?" Elijah cried; "if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him." 1 Kings 18:21. And the message for today is: "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. . . . Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Revelation 18:2, 4, 5.

The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The observance of the false sabbath will be urged upon us. The contest will be between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. Those who have yielded step by step to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will then yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. At that time the gold will be separated from the dross. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliance will then go out in darkness. Those who have assumed the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ's righteousness, will then appear in the shame of their own nakedness.

.
Prophets and Kings, E. G. White, pp.186-188.
.
Bolds and Highlights added.

.

Confusion fills skies after attempted bombing

Mon Dec 28, 5:27 PM ET


Passengers at O'Hare International Airport prepare to go through security Monday, Dec. 28, 2009, in Chicago. Various levels of elevated security and restrictions at airports and aboard airliners led to confusion Monday about what passengers could or couldn't do during flights in the wake of an attempted Christmas Day terror attack when a Nigerian man attempted to ignite an explosive as the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight prepared to land. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)


By MICHAEL TARM, Associated Press Writer Michael Tarm, Associated Press Writer – Mon Dec 28, 9:25 pm ET


CHICAGO – You are now free to move about the cabin. Or not. After a two-day security clampdown prompted by a thwarted attempt to bomb a jetliner, some airline officials told The Associated Press that the in-flight restrictions had been eased. And it was now up to captains on each flight to decide whether passengers can have blankets and other items on their laps or can move around during the final phase of flight.

Confused? So were scores of passengers who flew Monday on one of the busiest travel days of the year. On some flights, passengers were told to keep their hands visible and not to listen to iPods. Even babies were frisked. But on other planes, security appeared no tighter than usual.

The Transportation Security Administration did little to explain the rules. And that inconsistency might well have been deliberate: What's confusing to passengers is also confusing to potential terrorists.

"It keeps them guessing," transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman said.

By not making public a point-by-point list of new security rules, federal officials also retain more flexibility, the DePaul University professor added, enabling them to target responses to certain airports or flights seen as more vulnerable.

"There was criticism after 9-11 that rules could be way too cookbook — not allowing authorities to adapt them to different settings, to different airports," Schwieterman said.

If the objective was to befuddle, then on Monday it was mission accomplished.

On one Air Canada flight from Toronto to New York's LaGuardia Airport, crew members told passengers before departure that they were not allowed to use any electronic devices — even iPods — and would not be able to access their personal belongings during the one-hour flight.

The questions came as President Barack Obama ordered a review of air-safety regulations. TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne declined to offer details other than to say the agency would "continually review and update these measures to ensure the highest level of security."

An hour before a US Air flight from Manchester, England, to Philadelphia landed, flight attendants removed passengers' blankets and told them to keep their "hands visible," said passenger Walt Swanson of Cumbria, England.

Even bathroom visits were affected on some flights.

On Continental Flight 1788 from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, three airport security agents frisked everyone at the gate, including babies, prompting one to scream loudly in protest. On the plane, crew announced that the toilets would be shut down the last hour of the flight and passengers would not be able eat, drink, or use electronic devices.

The warning that the bathrooms would be shut down led to lines 10 people deep at each lavatory. A demand by one attendant that no one could read anything either elicited gasps of disbelief and howls of laughter.

In-cabin screens normally showing the plane's location and flight path were switched off on an Air France flight Saturday from San Francisco to Paris. Flight attendants said they were turned off as a security measure.

One of the Transportation Security Administration restrictions that most annoyed the airlines was an order to shut off in-flight entertainment systems on international flights. Airlines objected, and on Sunday night, the TSA apparently relented and left it to the discretion of airline crews to decide whether to turn off the systems.

"It was a hardship on our customers," said Mateo Lleras, a spokesman for JetBlue Airways, which touts its seatback entertainment systems and operates international flights to the Caribbean, Mexico and Costa Rica. "We're not in a position to challenge the TSA security directives, and we do the best we can to comply."

The TSA also relaxed rules that had prohibited passengers from leaving their seats, opening carry-on bags and keeping blankets or babies on their laps during the last hour of international flights entering the U.S., according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the TSA had not publicly disclosed the change.

Crews were given the authority to impose restrictions for shorter periods or not at all, said the official.

Holiday traveler Sharen Rayburn, of Trion, Ga., said it took two hours to get through security in Denver because guards were checking every bag multiple times.

"You're a little more apprehensive to fly. You kind of pay attention to everybody," she said after landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International.

At Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Monday morning, every U.S.-bound passenger was subjected to a pat-down and luggage was inspected by hand. It took about three hours to get through the checks, with some information boards citing the security measures for several delays and cancelations.

Elsewhere, especially on domestic flights, passengers said they had not detected security upgrades.

"I honestly didn't notice a difference, and we didn't receive any special instructions from the crew," said James Merling, a 68-year-old doctor who flew from Marquette, Mich., to Boston's Logan International Airport on Monday.

Lexi Wirthlin, 22, who arrived at Philadelphia International Airport on Monday from St. Louis, Mo., said she was warned by friends to expect long lines at airport screening points or other hassles onboard.

"I was expecting it to be intense," she said. "But it was totally fine."

But just because authorities imposed and then pulled back on in-flight rules in the last couple of days does not mean they will never be reinstated.

Schwieterman said new safety procedures have a tendency to become permanent, citing how attempted shoe-bomber Richard Reid's attack in 2001 ushered in footwear checks.

"I would say it is hard to imagine going back to a more lax security process given the persistence of these attempts," he said. "This is now a part of everyday life."

___

Associated Press writers Mark Pratt in Boston, David Koenig in Dallas, Dorie Turner in Atlanta, Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia, Adam Goldman in New York City, John Heilprin and Rob Gillies in Toronto, and Sheila Norman-Culp in London also contributed to this report.
.

.

New Year set to bring a chill as snowy weather hits home

Dec 28 2009 by Robin Turner, Western Mail


WALES is bracing itself for further heavy snow as forecasters said it could arrive as soon as tomorrow.

There could be up to a foot of snow on higher ground across Wales as a cold weather system moves in from the Atlantic.

It is feared that fresh snowfall and icy conditions could see a return of the widespread traffic problems seen in the run up to Christmas.

Paul Knightley, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: “Across higher ground in central and South Wales, we can expect to see heavy snow – 20cm to 30cm, or up to a foot, by Tuesday lunchtime, with strong winds pushing it higher in drifts.

“Tuesday is going to be a nasty day across much of Wales.”

He warned drivers to be on their guard against the new falls.

“It’s quite a big snowfall, probably the biggest fall of this cold spell in Wales,” he said.

“It’s particularly badly timed because people will going back to work after the weekend break.

“There could be problems anywhere in Wales and large parts of central and southern England in the next 48 hours to 72 hours – people should check forecasts before going out.”

Forecasters have already warned that there will be freezing weather for the New Year.

Temperatures are expected to plunge to minus 3ºC in most of England and Wales on Thursday night, New Year’s Eve, and minus 8ºC in Scotland, with widespread snow showers also predicted.

New Year’s Day will also be chilly, with the northern half of Britain struggling to get above freezing during the day.

The forecast follows a spell of snow, sleet and ice which has gripped the UK for more than a week but relented in most parts over recent days.

Mr Knightley said: “It looks like it will be remaining cold until at least next weekend.”

The Met Office’s forecast for the next few days predicts snow and sleet for many areas with Rhyl, Porthmadog, Conwy, Holyhead, Anglesey and Welshpool expected to receive some of the heaviest snowfall.

Temperatures are also expected to drop sharply during New Year’s Eve when there is also a possibility of snowfall in parts of Wales.

The return of the cold weather to Wales and the rest of the UK follows the big freeze in the run up to Christmas, which caused traffic chaos as a result of ice and snow.

The snow and ice had thawed across most of Wales on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day as daytime temperatures reached 7ºC.

Jordan Trowsdale, 13, who was found dead in an icy river at the weekend, is thought to have been a victim of the pre-Christmas cold spell.

He is believed to have fallen in as he walked home from a skate park in Bishop’s Stortford, in Hertfordshire, on Christmas Eve.

Francis Wilson, head of weather at Sky News, believes said the UK will still be in the grip of icy Arctic weather next weekend.

He said: “During Monday and Tuesday less colds winds from the south west will bring rain into the south of England and Ireland.

“This will try to spread north but the freezing cold weather over Scotland and Northern England will not give way.

“The battle for territory will be over Wales and the Midlands. It will snow over Wales and the Midlands late Tuesday and all of Wednesday.

“The snow will be pushed back south on Thursday by Arctic winds.”
.
Source:http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/2009/12/28/new-year-set-to-bring-a-chill-as-snowy-weather-hits-home-91466-25478605/
.

Blue moon to light the New Year sky

by Stevie Smith - Dec 28 2009, 02:03

Once in a... Image: different2une/Flickr.

If you have anything ridiculously ambitious or wondrously farfetched you’d like to achieve in life, then we’d strongly suggest aiming to achieve such goals this coming New Year’s Eve – a date on the calendar expected to be marked by a distinct ‘blue moon’.

Beyond the obvious ‘once in a lifetime’ adage, stargazing astronomers have revealed that 2010 will be ushered in alongside a genuine blue moon, which, while not nearly as rare as you may think (usually about once every 30 months), will be the first to illuminate the night sky on New Year’s Eve since 1990.

According to astronomer David Reneke of Australasian Science magazine, the next New Year’s Eve blue moon isn’t likely to happen until 2028.

While those late-night revellers situated away from heavy populated areas are expected to bask in the glow of a blue moon on December 31, Reneke warned that those in cities and other heavily built up areas may actually see something of a red moon – largely due to the filtering effect caused by smoke from New Year fireworks.

The moon’s uncharacteristic ‘blue’ hue is often attributed to viewing the orbiting satellite through dust in the planet’s atmosphere, usually caused by major forest fires or serious volcanic eruptions.
.
.
.

Avalanches in Italian Alps kill seven

Page last updated at 03:45 GMT, Monday, 28 December 2009


Alessando Dantone was one of the four rescuers who died


A series of avalanches in the Italian Alps has killed seven people, emergency services said.

Four of those who died were rescuers searching for two tourists killed by an earlier avalanche in the Trentino region of northern Italy.

Another avalanche killed a 12-year-old German boy skiing in the same area.

The head of Italy's civil protection service, Guido Bertolaso, said rescuers were dying because people were ignoring warnings about conditions.

The two tourists, from Udine, northern Italy, went missing on Saturday afternoon. Relatives said they were both experienced and careful skiers.

The seven-strong rescue team sent to find them was hit by a second avalanche and four members were killed.

Police said the German teenager was hit by an avalanche while skiing off-piste with his brother and a friend.

The brother was unhurt while the third skier was taken to hospital in the nearby city of Bolzano. His condition was not known.

Local officials recently increased the avalanche alert warning to level four on a scale of five following heavy snowfall and a rise in temperatures.
.
.

The Many Names of Opus Dei’s Founder


Testimonies and Other Writings

.
The following is the work of the individual author and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc.
Note: The author of this article has asked that his name remain anonymous.
.
The Many Names of Opus Dei’s Founder

But if they ask me what his name is, how shall I answer?
Exodus 3:13

Honors, distinctions, titles: things of air, puffs of pride, lies, nothingness.
Maxim 677, The Way


To understand Opus Dei, one needs to study the Founder.
Alvaro Del Portillo
.
Baptismal name

Opus Dei’s founder changed his name many times over the course of his life. He was born on January 2, 1902.[1] Four days later, he was baptized in the Cathedral at Barbastro, Spain with the baptismal name recorded among Church records as José María Julian Mariano.[2] “According to the entry in the baptismal register of the Church where he was christened, his surname was spelled Escribá[.]”[3] He was given the same first name as his father, José Escribá; his mother was named María de los Dolores Albás y Blanc.[4]
.
Adding the aristocratic “y Albás”

Some time after his father’s textile business failed in 1915, he studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1925.[5] Before the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), he began joining “y Albás” to his surname; it appears in the published memento of his first Mass.[6]
In Castilian Spanish, use of the conjunction “y” (“and”) joining father’s and mother’s surnames is associated with aristocratic families.[7] Use of a modified conjunctive surname would not have been socially acceptable by someone not belonging to the aristocracy; since Escribá did not come from an aristocratic family, he may have been subjected to ridicule: as late as the 1960s, Father Escribá rarely experimented publicly with the use of “y Albás”.[8]
.
From Escribá to the more distinguished Escrivá

On May 24, 1941, Bishop Leopoldo Eijo Garay of Madrid sent a letter that systematically has been cited in Opus Dei literature as the first document written by a member of Church hierarchy in defense of Opus Dei and its founder. [9] In his letter, Bishop Garay refers to the founder, whom he says he knows very well, as Dr. Escribá—three times.[10]
But as early as his school days, José Escribá had “adopted the rather more distinguished version spelled with a “v” rather than a “b,” which in Spanish sounds exactly the same.”[11] His name is spelled Escrivá in the memento of his first Mass.[12] In 1943, when he was 41, Church records were altered on June 20 to memorialize the change: the registry book of the Barbastro Cathedral and the baptismal certificate of José María were annotated to reflect “that the surname Escribá was changed to Escrivá de Balaguer.”[13] None of the official Opus Dei biographies reference this spelling alteration.[14]

Adding the distinguishing “de Balaguer”

On June 16, 1940 [age 38], the Spanish Boletín Oficial del Estado records that Father Escrivá requested of the government that he be permitted to change his “first surname so it will be written Escrivá de Balaguer.”[15] He justified the petition by claiming that “the name Escrivá is common in the east coast and Catalonia, leading to harmful and annoying confusion.”[16]
One of the earliest members of Opus Dei, architect Miguel Fisac, describes reasons why Father Escrivá may have chosen to modify his name. First, Fisac describes that Escrivá may have suffered a childhood trauma as follows:
When he was still a child, his father and a partner had a cloth business in Barbastro, the founder’s birthplace. The firm went bankrupt and the founder was embarrassingly forced to leave.
His father was reduced to the position of simple shop assistant[.][17]
Fisac describes Escrivá’s embarrassment at his father’s failure, and reflects on the likely motivation for Escrivá’s name changes:
I suppose that his interest in giving importance to his surname was related to his childhood trauma which I have mentioned before. Living in close contact with Monsignor Escrivá, it was easy to appreciate the great affection he felt for the aristocracy: Marquises, Counts[,] etc. As some of these personages were related to some of the nuns in the Royal Foundation of Santa Isabel, and he was its rector, whenever the nuns introduced him to any of these aristocrats and they heard his surname was Escrivá, they would at once ask casually, “Escrivá de Romaní?” (a well known aristocratic family). When he answered that he wasn’t, they made their feeling of rejection obvious and deeply upset him. This is not my imagination; I heard Escrivá himself tell how he decided to add the name of the Catalan town where his family possibly originated from: “Balaguer.” This he did. I was present when the documents were gathered for presentation in the Ministry of Justice for approval. [18]
The leader of an organization known for proclaiming to be composed of common Christians claimed that confusion caused by having a common name is annoying.[19] None of the Opus Dei biographies comment on the official 1940 petition for the name change or its justification.[20] And as to the claim of confusion with the names as alleged in the official petition, it has been pointed out that Escrivá de Romaní is not “exactly ‘common in the east coast and Catalonia.’”[21]
.
From José María to Josemaría

Monsignor Escrivá also modified his first name. From the common José María, he changed it to the original Josemaría. Biographers state, that around 1935 [age 33], “he joined his first two names because his single love for the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph were equally inseparable.”[22] Though there had been many Saint José’s, there had never been a Saint Josemaría.

Doctor Escrivá

For a while, Escrivá tried on the title of Doctor, but eventually he abandoned this adventure. His doctoral degree from the university appears to be surrounded with mystery.[23] Of the alleged doctorate in theology obtained at age 53, nothing is known, not even the topic of the thesis, which was never published.[24]
According to Antonio Perez, one of Escrivá’s principal collaborators, ordained in 1948 and a former Opus Dei general manager, “Father Escrivá was not a great jurist, as we were later led to believe. I even have serious doubts about whether he studied law at all. I never saw his bachelor’s degree, and the way things were in the Work, if he had it, he would have put it in an impressive gold frame. But he might have lost this document, like so many others during the war.”[25]

Monsignor Escrivá

In 1947, Father Escrivá was nominated to be “Prelato Domestico di Sua Santita.” This title conferred the right to be addressed as Monsignor. Official biographers claim that before accepting Father Escrivá hesitated, “since he wanted nothing for himself. If, in the end, he accepted, it was so as not to anger those who had nominated him.”[26]
However, it turns out that the honor had been proposed by one Alvaro del Portillo, then number two man at Opus Dei, we are asked to believe without the knowledge of Father Escrivá. According to biographers, Monsignor Escrivá “rarely wore the showy prelate’s robes, or wore the buckled shoes. He felt the weight of the purple vestments as a hair shirt; but on notable occasions, knowing how much the color entertained his children, he followed the path of good humor.”[27]
On the other hand, according to many who have left Opus Dei, Escrivá was especially fond of luxury, aristocratic refinements, honors, titles and symbols of prestige.[28] One need only visit Opus Dei properties to observe the conspicuous display of wealth.

The Marquis of Peralta

In January 1968, The Official State Bulletin in Madrid published the following Ministry of Justice announcement:
Don José María Escrivá de Balageur y Albás has requested the rehabilitation of the title of Marquis, granted on 12 February 1718 by the Archduke Charles of Austria to Don Tomas de Peralta, the interested party having chosen in grace the distinction of Marquis of Peralta. The provisions of Article 4 of the Decree 4 June 1948 for granting the request having been satisfied, a delay of three months from the publication of this edict exists for any persons wishing to be made known their opposition. Madrid, 24 January 1968.[29]
The notice was signed by the Ministry’s Under Secretary, Alfredo Lopez, an Opus Dei supernumerary.[30]
Opus Dei supporters have maintained that this was not a “puff of pride,” but rather the just exercise of a fundamental right. Monsignor Escrivá insisted that he had not made the request for his own benefit, but that the title was intended to benefit his nephews. He claimed he merely was compensating his family for the sacrifices they had made to permit him to carry out The Work. Official biographers portray it as “a matter of filial piety and justice.”[31]
According to researchers, the Marquisate of Peralta was bestowed upon one of Escrivá‘s more distant ancestors who had been Minister of Justice in Naples following the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Monsignor Escrivá had in recent years accepted awards of the Spanish Gold Cross of St. Raymond of Penafort, the Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise, the Grand Cross of Isabel the Catholic, and the Cross of Charles III. But to show his modesty, his biographers assure that he never wore them.[32]


[1] http://opusdei.com/.
[2] Hutchison, Robert, Their Kingdom Come: Inside the secret world of Opus Dei, 1999, at p. 20
[3] Walsh, Michael, Opus Dei: An investigation into the secret society struggling for power within the Roman Catholic Church, 1989, at p. 13.
[4] Hutchison, at p. 19.
[5] http://opusdei.com/.
[6] Estruch, Joan, Saints and Schemers: Opus Dei and its paradoxes, 1995, at p. 32.
[7] Id.
[8] [8] Walsh, at p. 14.
[9] Estruch, at p. 32.
[10] Id.
[11] Walsh, at p. 14.
[12] Estruch, at p. 32.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.
[15] Id. at pp. 32-33.
[16] Id. at p. 33.
[17] Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc., An Interview with Miguel Fisac, 2000, at p. 9.
[18] Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc., An Interview with Miguel Fisac, 2000, at p. 12.
[19] Estruch, at p. 33.
[20] Id.
[21] Id.
[22] Estruch, at p. 34, citing references.
[23] Id. at p. 35.
[24] Id. at p. 36.
[25] Id. at p. 37, citing references.
[26] Id. at p. 38, citing references.
[27] Id.
[28] Id.
[29] Hutchison at p. 150.
[30] Id.
[31] Id. at p. 151, citing references.
[32] Id. The author goes on to state that after the announcement in the state bulletin that Monsignor Escrivá would adopt the title of Marquis of Peralta, the obvious irony was noted by those unwilling to make excuses for the duality of his message and practice. One joke going around Madrid at the time suggested that “The Way” would be republished as “The Super Highway” by the Marquis of Peralta.

Posted June 9, 2006
.

.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Percy Sutton Dies at 89


AP – FILE - Percy Sutton, who rescued the Apollo Theater in New York City from extinction eight years ago, …


By CRISTIAN SALAZAR,

Associated Press Writer Cristian Salazar – 1 hr 29 mins ago



NEW YORK – Percy Sutton, the pioneering civil rights attorney who represented Malcolm X before launching successful careers as a political power broker and media mogul, has died. He was 89.

Marissa Shorenstein, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson, confirmed that Sutton died Saturday. She did not know the cause. His daughter, Cheryl Sutton, declined to comment when reached by phone at her New York City home on Saturday before midnight.

The son of a slave, Percy Sutton became a fixture on 125th Street in Harlem after moving to New York City following his service with the famed Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. His Harlem law office, founded in 1953, represented Malcolm X and the slain activist's family for decades.

The consummate politician, Sutton served in the New York State Assembly before taking over as Manhattan borough president in 1966, becoming the highest-ranking black elected official in the state.

Sutton also mounted unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and mayor of New York, and served as political mentor for the Rev. Jesse Jackson's two presidential races.

"The godfather," Jackson once called him.

In a statement released Saturday night, Gov. David Paterson called Sutton a mentor and "one of New York's and this nation's most influential African-American leaders."

"Percy was fiercely loyal, compassionate and a truly kind soul," Paterson continued. "He will be missed but his legacy lives on through the next generations of African-Americans he inspired to pursue and fulfill their own dreams and ambitions."

In 1971, with his brother Oliver, Sutton purchased WLIB-AM, making it the first black-owned radio station in New York City. His Inner City Broadcasting Corp. eventually picked up WBLS-FM, which reigned for years as New York's top-rated radio station, before buying stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit and San Antonio between 1978-85.

The Texas purchase marked a homecoming for the suave and sophisticated Sutton, born in San Antonio on Nov. 24, 1920, the youngest of 15 children.

Among Sutton's other endeavors was his purchase and renovation of the famed Apollo Theater when the Harlem landmark's demise appeared imminent.

Sutton's father, Samuel, was born into slavery just before the Civil War. The elder Sutton became principal at a segregated San Antonio high school, and he made education a family priority: All 12 of his surviving children attended college.

When he was 13, Percy Sutton endured a traumatic experience that drove him inexorably into the fight for racial equality. A police officer approached Sutton as the teen handed out NAACP pamphlets. "N-----, what are you doing out of your neighborhood?" he asked before beating the youth.

When World War II arrived, Sutton's enlistment attempts were rebuffed by Southern white recruiters. The young man went to New York, where he was accepted and joined the Tuskegee Airmen.

After the war, Sutton earned a law degree in New York while working as a post office clerk and a subway conductor. He served again as an Air Force intelligence officer during the Korean War before returning to Harlem in 1953 and establishing his law office with brother Oliver and a third partner, George Covington.

In addition to representing Malcolm X for a decade until his 1965 assassination, the Sutton firm handled the cases of more than 200 defendants arrested in the South during the 1963-64 civil rights marches. Sutton was also elected to two terms as president of the New York office of the NAACP.

After Malcolm's assassination, Sutton worked as lawyer for Malcolm's widow, Betty Shabazz. He represented her grandson, 12-year-old Malcolm Shabazz, when the youth was accused of setting a 1997 fire that caused her death.

Sutton was elected to the state Legislature in 1965, and quickly emerged as spokesman for its 13 black members. His charisma and eloquence led to his selection as Manhattan borough president in 1966, completing the term of Constance Baker Motley, who was appointed federal judge.

Two years later, Sutton announced a run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Jacob Javits, although he pulled out of the Democratic primary to back Paul O'Dwyer.

Sutton remained in his Manhattan job through 1977, the same year he launched a doomed campaign for mayor that ended with Edward I. Koch defeating six competitors for the Democratic nomination.

Sutton was among the first voices raised against the Vietnam War, surrendering his delegate's seat at the 1968 Democratic convention in protest and supporting anti-war candidate George McGovern four years later against incumbent President Richard Nixon.

In addition to his radio holdings, Sutton also headed a group that owned The Amsterdam News, the second largest black weekly newspaper in the country. The paper was later sold.

Sutton's devotion to Harlem and its people was rarely more evident than when he spent $250,000 to purchase the shuttered Apollo Theater in 1981. The Apollo turned 70 in 2004, a milestone that was unthinkable until Sutton stepped in to save the landmark.

Sutton "retired" in 1991, but his work as an adviser, mentor and confidante to politicians and businessmen never abated. He was among a group of American businessmen selected during the Clinton administration to attend meetings with the Group of Seven (G-7) Nations in 1995-96.

"He was a great man," said Charles Warfield Jr., the president and chief operating officer of ICBC Broadcast Holdings Inc., reached early Sunday morning. He declined to comment further out of respect, he indicated, for the wishes of Sutton's family. The Rev. Al Sharpton planned a news conference Sunday to talk about Sutton's life and legacy.

.
.

From Overseas Contingency Operations back to War On Terror



Airline Passengers See Tighter Security



Joan Lowy and Joshua Freed AP



(Dec. 26) -- Extra pat-downs before boarding. No getting up for the last hour of the flight. More bomb-sniffing dogs. Airports worldwide tightened security a day after a passenger tried to light some kind of explosive on a flight into Detroit.

The Transportation Security Administration wouldn't say exactly what it was doing differently on Saturday. It didn't need to.

Passengers getting off both U.S. domestic flights and those arriving from overseas reported being told that they couldn't get out of their seat for the last hour of their flight. Air Canada also said that during the last hour passengers won't be allowed access to carry-on baggage or to have any items on their laps.

The extra vigilance came after a man flying from Nigeria to Amsterdam to the U.S. tried to ignite a device just before the plane landed in Detroit on Friday.

"The extra measures apply worldwide on all flights to the U.S. as of now and for an indefinite period," said Judith Sluiter, spokeswoman for the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

Jennifer Allen encountered the tougher security on her way from Amsterdam to Detroit on Saturday. Her Northwest Airlines flight on Saturday was on the same route disrupted by the attempted attack a day earlier.

"They patted you down really well," said Allen, 41, an automotive engineer from Shelby Township, Mich. "It wasn't just a quick rub, it was a slow pat. They went through everything in your bags, went through the pockets in your pants, the pockets of your coat."

Other passengers said security officers went through their luggage more thoroughly. For the last hour of the flight on Saturday, they had to keep their seat belts on and couldn't use electronic devices or get up to go to the bathroom.

Sarabjit Dhillon, 35, of Sterling Heights, Mich., was returning from a visit to India with family. Even her three young children got a pat-down.

"They had to open each and every item. They didn't tell us why they were doing it, they just said the United States wanted them to do it, to check everything," she said.

The incident on the flight from Amsterdam is a reminder that securing U.S. airports is only part of the solution, said Elaine Dezenski, who until recently was managing director of the Global Security Initiative at Interpol and also used to work for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"More and more it's not about what happens in the U.S. airports, it's what's happening outside the U.S. and how the system can or cannot be infiltrated," she said.

At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the airport police dogs, which are trained to detect explosives, were out on Saturday. Airport spokesman Perry Cooper said the extra effort was at the request of the TSA.

Passengers flying to the United States from London's Heathrow said they received text messages informing them the could carry only one piece of hand baggage onto the plane.

Italy's civil aviation authority, ENAC, said its extra measures for passengers leaving for the U.S. included increased passenger and baggage searches. It said the extra measures were requested by the TSA and will initially remain in place for 72 hours.

The general alert level at Schipol airport in Amsterdam was not immediately raised after the incident, and security procedures for other flights remained unchanged, Sluiter said.

Schiphol is one of Europe's busiest airports and tranports passengers from Africa and Asia to North America. It has been testing full body scanners for about a year that allow security staff to see the outline of a passenger and potential weapons beneath their clothes, and intend to roll out a more complete program next year, said airport spokeswoman Mirjam Snoerwang.

Passengers in Brussels, where the EU is based, were advised to reach the airport three hours before departure to allow time for a second security check at the boarding gate.

In Sweden, Denmark and Norway, airport operators said they would apply tougher security checks on flights destined for the U.S., but that they did not plan tighter security rules for other flights.

Officials in the Mideast and in India said they were maintaining their current procedures, which they said were already high.

Little was different at the airport in Lagos, Nigeria, where the man's trip originated. Soldiers impassively stared at those passing into the departure terminal Saturday. Others sat and talked among themselves, loaded rifles tossed over their shoulders.

Passengers moved quickly through security, waiting only for immigration officers to examine passports and visas. A battered X-ray machine quickly passed over suitcases and shoes. Federal airport authority spokesman spokesman Akin Olukunle said the airport had no bomb-sniffing dogs but were considering getting some.

Associated Press Writers Arthur Max in Amsterdam, Corey Williams in Detroit, Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria; Paisley Dodds in London; Ariel David in Rome; Melissa Eddy in Berlin; and Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.

.

Source:http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/airlines-say-transportation-security-administration-has-new-rules-for-passengers-in-seats/19294497?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl1link1http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sphere.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fairlines-say-transportation-security-administration-has-new-rules-for-passengers-in-seats%2F19294497.
.

Rome's call: 'Come on over'



Thursday, December 24, 2009


Late in life, the mother of the Rev. Thomas Reese, S.J., began attending mass at a Southern California church, the congregation of which soon became Spanish-speaking. Services were conducted entirely in that language, which she could not understand, yet she happily continued attending. When her son asked why, she replied: "It is just like the Latin Mass, I don't understand a word of it. It is even better, I don't understand the homily." We have all listened to a speaker and wished: If only he were incomprehensible. As G.K. Chesterton said of Times Square, it would be beautiful if you could not read.

Mrs. Reese's son, now 64 and a senior fellow at a religious-issues think tank at Georgetown University, was raised experiencing the liturgy in Latin. He entered seminary in 1962, the year the Second Vatican Council convened. By the time Reese was ordained, the council had essentially proscribed the Latin Mass.

Having seen much change -- and much resistance to it -- Reese is relaxed about 2009's most intriguing development in Christianity, the Vatican's enticement of disaffected Anglicans. Rome is saying to individuals, and perhaps to entire parishes and even dioceses: "Come on over." It is trolling with rules, recently written, that will enable Anglicans-become-Catholics to retain some of their liturgy. The church will accept some already married priests, and perhaps married seminarians, but not bishops.

The Vatican says it is not raiding but merely answers to Anglican knocks on its door. Combined, however, with Pope Benedict XVI's having appealed to dissident conservative Catholics by removing most restrictions on celebrating the traditional Latin Mass, the courtship of Anglicans looks like an aggressive -- although not improperly so -- attempt to consolidate an expanded Catholicism.

There are 1.1 billion Catholics. Anglicanism is the third-largest Christian communion (Eastern Orthodox is second) but has just 80 million adherents, of whom only 2.3 million are Americans, and a mere 16,000 of them -- those in New Hampshire -- have helped to precipitate the Vatican's move. The election of a gay Episcopalian as New Hampshire's bishop was one brick over a load for conservatives, who think the Episcopal Church has become a Moveon.org at prayer -- liberal politics in vestments.

Half of all Anglicans are in sub-Saharan Africa. There and in Latin America, Anglicanism is culturally conservative, reducing conservatives' reasons for embracing Catholicism.

Reese disputes the assumption that the Vatican is accelerating a sorting out that will produce a more conservative Catholic Church. Some Catholics, he notes, will experience the fact, and many more will contemplate the idea, of married priests administering the sacraments. This, Reese thinks, may remind Catholics that for its first thousand or so years, the church had married priests and bishops. A celibate priesthood, he says, is a product of church law, which can be changed.

Reese thinks that would strengthen the church in the competition for souls. In parts of Latin America, he says, Catholic priests are so scarce that many villages see one only a few times a year. Evangelical Protestants, however, come to a village, identify a respected man, married or not, train him, build a church and the village becomes Protestant.

Reese, slight and bespectacled, laughs easily and infectiously but once caused a future pope to mutter, as Henry II did about Thomas a Beckett, "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" Reese was editor of the Jesuit magazine America until 2005, when he was reprimanded by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, whose defense of orthodoxy earned him the sobriquet "God's Rottweiler." Then he became Benedict XVI. Reese's offense, conservative Catholics said, was latitudinarianism -- lack of stringency regarding disputes about faith and morals.

But with the Latin Mass restored and Anglicans being courted with liturgical concessions, will the Catholic Church have three liturgies? Who are the latitudinarians now?

Today, the most contentious issues between liberal and conservative Anglicans concern gay and female priests. But many of the conservative Anglicans to whom Rome is beckoning are apt to be especially serious about the theological differences with Rome that have defined Anglicanism for almost five centuries, including the nature of the sacraments, veneration of Mary, and papal infallibility.

Benedict XVI's 2010 visit to Britain, where the Archbishop of Canterbury cannot be amused by Vatican poaching, may be awkward, but the most disconcerting consequences of what the Vatican began in 2009 might eventually be felt by conservative keepers of Catholic tradition. Popes have mighty powers, but the law of unintended consequences contains no exemptions for the merely infallible.
.
.

Jesus Foretlells Events To Come


1These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

2They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

3And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

4But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.


John 16:1-4.

.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God


But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. ,,,,,,,,Matthew 4:4.


ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 4:4 Greek NT: Textus Receptus (1550)
ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν γεγραπται ουκ επ αρτω μονω ζησεται ανθρωπος αλλ επι παντι ρηματι εκπορευομενω δια στοματος θεου

Matthew 4:4 Hebrew Bible
ויען ויאמר הן כתוב לא על הלחם לבדו יחיה האדם כי על כל מוצא פי יי׃

Mateo 4:4 Spanish: Reina Valera (1909)
Mas él respondiendo, dijo: Escrito está: No con solo el pan vivirá el hombre, mas con toda palabra que sale de la boca de Dios.

Matthieu 4:4 French: Louis Segond (1910)
Jésus répondit: Il est écrit: L'homme ne vivra pas de pain seulement, mais de toute parole qui sort de la bouche de Dieu.

Matthaeus 4:4 German: Luther (1545)
Und er antwortete und sprach: Es stehet geschrieben: Der Mensch lebet nicht vom Brot alleine, sondern von einem jeglichen Wort, das durch den Mund Gottes gehet.

馬 太 福 音 4:4 Chinese Bible: Union (Traditional)
耶 穌 卻 回 答 說 : 經 上 記 著 說 : 人 活 著 , 不 是 單 靠 食 物 , 乃 是 靠 神 口 裡 所 出 的 一 切 話 。

馬 太 福 音 4:4 Chinese Bible: Union (Simplified)
耶 稣 却 回 答 说 : 经 上 记 着 说 : 人 活 着 , 不 是 单 靠 食 物 , 乃 是 靠 神 口 里 所 出 的 一 切 话 。

馬 太 福 音 4:4 Chinese Bible: NCV (Simplified)
耶稣回答:“经上记着:‘人活着,不是单靠食物,更要靠 神口里所出的一切话。’”

馬 太 福 音 4:4 Chinese Bible: NCV (Traditional)
耶穌回答:“經上記著:‘人活著,不是單靠食物,更要靠 神口裡所出的一切話。’”

.


.
P.S.

Jesus was (quoting) confirming the Old Testament:

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live...............Deuteronomy 8:3.
.
.
.

Strong earthquake in Indonesia waters - USGS

SINGAPORE
Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:25am EST


SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck 270 km (168 miles) north northwest of Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Natural Disasters

The quake was at a depth of 56 km (35 miles) and hit at 08:57 GMT. USGS had initially put the magnitude at 6.2.

Indonesian authorities said there was no tsunami warning.

.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE5BP01920091226
.

Calamities and God’s Love; Sin, Judgment, and the Shortness of Time




By Ellen G. White



1. Our only safety
2. “In all their affliction He was afflicted.” Isaiah 63:9
3. “An enemy has done this” Matthew 13:28
4. “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever.” Genesis 6:3
5. “True and righteous are Your judgments.” Revelation 16:7
6. “Redeeming the time.” Ephesians 5:16
7. “No more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.” Revelation 21:4

Our Only Safety
The daily record of disasters shows that there is no safety anywhere. Even in our homes we are in danger; for storms, floods, and fire are sweeping off thousands, while earthquakes are destroying additional thousands. If there ever was a time when we should be sober and watch unto prayer, it is now. Our lives are safe only when hid with Christ in God. We need every day to purify ourselves even as He is pure. There is always hope for us in God. Faith is our defense, for it connects our human weakness with divine power.—Review and Herald, January 29, 1884.

“In all their affliction He was afflicted.” Isaiah 63:9
Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ’s agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His ideal, brings grief to Him. When there came upon Israel the calamities that were the sure result of separation from God-subjugation by their enemies, cruelty, and death-it is said that “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” “In all their affliction He was afflicted: . . . and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” Judges 10:16; Isaiah 63:9.

His Spirit “maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” As the “whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together” (Romans 8:26, 22), the heart of the infinite Father is pained in sympathy. Our world is a vast lazar house, a scene of misery that we dare not allow even our thoughts to dwell upon. Did we realize it as it is, the burden would be too terrible. Yet God feels it all. In order to destroy sin and its results He gave His best Beloved, and He has put it in our power, through cooperation with Him, to bring this scene of misery to an end. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.—Education, pp. 263, 264.

“An enemy has done this.” Matthew 13:28
Satan delights in war, for it excites the worst passions of the soul and then sweeps into eternity its victims steeped in vice and blood. It is his object to incite the nations to war against one another, for he can thus divert the minds of the people from the work of preparation to stand in the day of God.

Satan works through the elements also to garner his harvest of unprepared souls. He has studied the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power to control the elements as far as God allows. When he was suffered to afflict Job, how quickly flocks and herds, servants, houses, children, were swept away, one trouble succeeding another as in a moment. It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer. But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah; and the Lord will do just what He has declared that He would-He will withdraw His blessings from the earth and remove His protecting care from those who are rebelling against His law and teaching and forcing others to do the same. Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will favor and prosper some in order to further his own designs, and he will bring trouble upon others and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them.

While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and beast. “The earth mourneth and fadeth away,” “the haughty people . . . do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” Isaiah 24:4, 5.—The Great Controversy, pp. 589, 590.

“My Spirit shall not strive with man forever.” Genesis 6:3
We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.

The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 11.

The time is at hand when there will be sorrow in the world that no human balm can heal. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn. Disasters by sea and by land follow one another in quick succession. How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of disorganized, unregulated forces of nature, wholly beyond the control of man; but in them all, God’s purpose may be read. They are among the agencies by which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger.—Prophets and Kings, p. 277.

“True and righteous are Your judgments.” Revelation 16:7
But few have any conception of the wickedness existing in our world today, and especially the wickedness in the large cities. . . .The Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in

wrath for persistent disregard of His law. . . .God’s supreme rulership and the sacredness of His law must be revealed to those who persistently refused to render obedience to the King of kings. Those who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in mercy with judgments, in order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of their course.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 93.

It is the glory of God to be merciful, full of forbearance, kindness, goodness, and truth. But the justice shown in punishing the sinner is as verily the glory of the Lord as is the manifestation of His mercy.—Review and Herald, March 10, 1904. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits. There are forces now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere.—The Great Controversy, p. 614.

When God gave Christ to our world, He gave in this one gift all the treasures of heaven. He held back nothing. He can do no more than He has done to bring men to repentance. He has no means held in reserve for their salvation.

God bears long with the rebellion and apostasy of His subjects. Even when His mercy is despised and His love scorned and derided, He bears with men until the last resource for leading them to repentance is exhausted. But there are limits to His forbearance. From those who to the end continue in obstinate rebellion, He removes His protecting care. Providence will no longer shield them from Satan’s power. They will have sinned away their day of grace.

God keeps a reckoning with the nations. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without His notice. Those who work evil toward their fellow men, saying, How doth God know? will one day be called upon to meet long-deferred vengeance. In this age a more than common contempt is shown to God. Men have reached a point in insolence and disobedience which shows that their cup of iniquity is almost full. Many have well-nigh passed the boundary of mercy. Soon God will show that He is indeed the living God. He will say to the angels, “No longer combat Satan in his efforts to destroy. Let him work out his malignity upon the children of disobedience; for the cup of their iniquity is full. They have advanced from one degree of wickedness to another, adding daily to their lawlessness. I will no longer interfere to prevent the destroyer from doing his work.”

This time is right upon us. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the earth. When the angel of mercy folds her wings and departs, Satan will do the evil deeds he has long wished to do. Storm and tempest, war and bloodshed-in these things he delights, and thus he gathers in his harvest.—Review and Herald, September 17, 1901.

“Redeeming the time.” Ephesians 5:16
The work that should long ago have been in active operation to win souls to Christ has not been done. The inhabitants of the ungodly cities so soon to be visited by calamities have been cruelly neglected. The time is near when large cities will be swept away, and all should be warned of these coming judgments. But who is giving to the accomplishment of this work the wholehearted service that God requires?—Review and Herald, September 10, 1903.

Four mighty angels are still holding the four winds of the earth. Terrible destruction is forbidden to come in full. The accidents by land and by sea; the loss of life, steadily increasing, by storm, by tempest, by railroad disaster, by conflagration; the terrible floods, the earthquakes, and the winds will be the stirring up of the nations to one deadly combat, while the angels hold the four winds, forbidding the terrible power of Satan to be exercised in its fury until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. Get ready, get ready, I beseech you, get ready before it shall be forever too late!—Review and Herald, June 7, 1887.

“No more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.” Revelation 21:4
Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven. In the home of the redeemed there will be no tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning. “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” Isaiah 33:24. One rich tide of happiness will flow and deepen as eternity rolls on.

We are still amidst the shadows and turmoil of earthly activities. Let us consider most earnestly the blessed hereafter. Let our faith pierce through every cloud of darkness and behold Him who died for the sins of the world. He has opened the gates of paradise to all who receive and believe on Him. To them He gives power to become the sons and daughters of God. Let the afflictions which pain us so grievously become instructive lessons, teaching us to press forward toward the mark of the prize of our high calling in Christ. Let us be encouraged by the thought that the Lord is soon to come. Let this hope gladden our hearts. “Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Hebrews 10:37. Blessed are those servants who, when their Lord comes, shall be found watching.

We are homeward bound. He who loved us so much as to die for us hath builded for us a city. The New Jerusalem is our place of rest. There will be no sadness in the city of God. No wail of sorrow, no dirge of crushed hopes and buried affections, will evermore be heard. Soon the garments of heaviness will be changed for the wedding garment. Soon we shall witness the coronation of our King. Those whose lives have been hidden with Christ, those who on this earth have fought the good fight of faith, will shine forth with the Redeemer’s glory in the kingdom of God.

It will not be long till we shall see Him in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. And in His presence, all the trials and sufferings of this life will be as nothingness. . . . “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Verse 37. Look up, look up, and let your faith continually increase. Let this faith guide you along the narrow path that leads through the gates of the city of God into the great beyond, the wide, unbounded future of glory that is for the redeemed. “Be patient therefore, brethren, . . . for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5:7, 8.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, pp. 285-287.

Scripture quotations in the subtitles are from the New King James Version.


.

Separated twins 'bring hope to world'


Posted Thu Dec 24, 2009 7:21pm AEDT

The twins' surgery has touched people across the world. (Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne: Lloyd Ellis)

A top Catholic cleric says the world should take inspiration from the "miraculous" separation of conjoined Bangladeshi twins Krishna and Trishna.


Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson said the twins' remarkable journey from an orphanage in Bangladesh to the moment of separation in Melbourne had brought joy and hope to all corners of the globe.

"The twins' recovery from marathon surgery to separate their fused heads had touched people across the world," Archbishop Wilson said in his annual Christmas message.

"It is an experience which touches our hearts and reveals to us the presence of God in our daily living ... a wonderful symbol of the regeneration of life that is given to us through the birth of Jesus Christ.

"This Christmas, let the faces of Krishna and Trishna be a constant reminder to us of God's love for us and inspire us to spread peace and goodwill to all."

Krishna and Trishna were released from Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital on Monday, five weeks after being separated in a marathon 30-hour surgery.

The pair - who celebrated their third birthday on Tuesday - have been discharged into the care of legal guardian Moira Kelly, who heads the Children First Foundation.

The girls amazed doctors with their fast recovery from surgery, with Trishna recently crawling for the first time.

They were given only a 25 per cent chance of surviving the surgery without neurological damage, but doctors believe they have come through the operation without serious brain damage.

"We are absolutely delighted with their progress. I look forward to seeing them live a long and happy life," neurosurgeon Wirginia Maixner said earlier this week.

.

Catholics divided in the House

JACQUELINE MALEY
December 26, 2009

THE Catholic Church, traditionally a Labor heartland, is fast colonising the Liberal Party. A Herald analysis shows as many Catholics on the front bench of the Federal Opposition as that of the Government.

A poll of the federal cabinet and the shadow cabinet showed six Catholics in each, or about 30 per cent. Catholics are 26 per cent of the general population.

The Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, is a staunch Catholic who studied for the priesthood as a young man. His shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, is also a Catholic and recently gave a talk at the Sydney Institute on his religious beliefs, ''In Defence of God''.

Both men were educated at Jesuit-run schools, as was the Opposition education spokesman, Christopher Pyne.

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was raised a Catholic but now attends Anglican services every Sunday. When he was recently photographed leaving the Catholic Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel in North Sydney, where he reportedly took Communion, Mr Abbott accused him of ''exploiting'' his religious beliefs to score political points.

The debate over religion in politics comes as a Herald/Nielsen poll found 84 per cent of people agreed with the statement ''religion and politics should be separate'' - though three-quarters did not care whether politicians identified themselves as Christian or not.

Opposition MPs were more forthcoming about their faith than Labor MPs. Of the 20 members of shadow cabinet, 18 identified as Christian and two did not comment. None identified as atheist or non-believers.

The Labor cabinet was more diverse. Two members - the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, and the Industry Minister, Kim Carr - said they were ''not religious''. Six identified as Catholic, including the Small Business Minister, Craig Emerson, the Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, and the Minister for Employment Participation, Mark Arbib.

Several Labor politicians said they were ''non-practising'', including the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, who said through a spokeswoman that she was a ''non-practising Baptist'' and ''not religious''.

The Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese, said he was a non-practising Catholic, and Chris Bowen identified himself as a non-practising Methodist.

No one from the shadow cabinet nominated themselves as ''non-practising''. And no one from either side said they held a non-Christian faith.

The Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner, said he was an ''agnostic Anglican'', and the Opposition industry spokeswoman, Sophie Mirabella, said she was married in the Anglican church but had a Greek Orthodox ceremony to please her aged mother.
.
.
Source:http://www.smh.com.au/national/catholics-divided-in-the-house-20091225-lezv.html
.

Highlights added.
.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Traffic accident sends truck crashing into Ohio church's live nativity scene, killing man



By Associated Press

December 25, 2009 9:11 p.m.


ASHTABULA, Ohio (AP) — A retired fire chief performing in a live nativity scene outside a northeast Ohio church assisted injured spectators after a pickup truck crashed into the small audience, killing one person.

Former Ashtabula Fire Chief Norman Jepson, dressed as one of the Three Wise Men, said he checked the injured and called for help. Several ambulances responded.

As many as six people may have been injured in the Wednesday night accident outside Trinity Presbyterian Church, said Ronald Kaydo, a police sergeant in Ashtabula, a city of about 21,000 residents on Lake Erie's coastline.

Jepson said a car struck a pickup truck and the truck crashed into people watching the performance, pinning a 57-year-old man against a utility pole. That man died later at a hospital in Cleveland, about an hour southwest of Ashtabula.

Jepson said his back was to the audience when he heard a bang, which he thought was a fender-bender. But within moments, a truck was on the sidewalk, he said.

"I started seeing people flying through the air," Jepson said. "Four were in the air, but one was a woman who received a glancing blow and refused treatment."

Jepson said Friday the accident has been very unsettling for members of his church.

Police are investigating the accident.

_____

Information from: The Star-Beacon, http://www.starbeacon.com
.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-nativity-scene-crash-death,0,5419120.story