Friday, February 19, 2010

Terror or something else? 11 Christian churches torched

Friday, February 12, 2010

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WorldNetDaily
Terror or something else? 11 Christian churches torched
Police now offer $25,000 reward to catch blaze starters

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Posted: February 09, 2010
9:08 pm Eastern

By Drew Zahn

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WorldNetDaily


Dover Baptist Church following fire (Photo: KRIV-TV, Houston, Texas)

Residents of eastern Texas are on edge, worried in the wake of what may be a serial arsonist on the loose with an appetite for burning churches to the ground.

At various intervals since New Year's Day, 11 churches in the state have gone up in flames, and authorities have ruled nearly all of them arson. A $25,000 reward is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the fire starter.

"The disturbing part is it changes everyone's lifestyle," said Neal Franklin, fire chief in Tyler, where two churches have been destroyed. "It changes our attitude."

Franklin told the Dallas Morning News that when the second fire broke out in Tyler, "it suddenly hit everyone, 'Oh, my goodness, this could continue every day potentially.' … That's the tension."

So far, the saga has continued nearly every day, just as Franklin feared.

The nightmare began New Year's Day, when Faith Church in Athens, Texas, was torched. Eleven days later, on Jan. 12, the arsonist struck again, this time lighting up both Lake Athens Baptist Church and Grace Community Church of Athens.

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The culprit or culprits then began spreading the fires around, hitting churches in a variety of towns, including another double blaze yesterday that reduced the rural Clear Springs Missionary Baptist church to ashes on the same night Dover Baptist Church was lit aflame.


The Dallas Morning News reports that during the first double arson, firefighters were forced to leave the scene of the first church to attend to the second.

"Our people were like, 'What's going on here?'" said Brian Brandt, a pastor at Grace Community Church in Athens. "It was because they got another call – another church was burning three to five miles away."

And even as the smoke clears, it has left a cloud lingering over Texas churchgoers.

"It was just devastating. We didn't think it would happen to our church," Albert Valadez, a trustee at the torched Dover Baptist Church told KLTV-TV in Tyler. "Used a lot of methods to try to secure the doors ... we had security cameras on there."

"Disbelief and shock," said Carl Samples, pastor at Dover Baptist. "I can't comprehend how anyone would do the Lord's house this way."

Jeff Palmer, who was married in the church, told KLTV he had been afraid for the church, since the first arson made headlines over a month ago.

"When I've driven home, I've looked in the parking lot before I go to my house, or I look down the little farm road that goes off to the left," Palmer said. "I've been looking to make sure if I see any trucks or vehicles, that I'd maybe spot them and be able to call somebody."

But Dover Baptist was broken into and lit on fire yesterday despite Palmer's efforts, the 11th church to burn since the start of the year. Authorities are also looking into a few church fires that struck Texas late last year to see if there are any connections.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms lists 90 houses of worship set on fire last year nationwide, with an average loss of about $250,000 per fire.

No deaths or injuries have yet been reported in the eastern Texas string of fires.

Churches burned since Jan. 1 in the area about 50 miles southeast of Dallas include:

Little Hope Baptist Church in Canton, which, ironically, burned after a New Year's Eve showing of the film "Fireproof." It is one of the few fires in the string that is not believed to be linked to arson

Faith Church, Athens, Jan. 1

Grace Community Church of Athens, Jan. 12

Lake Athens Baptist Church, Jan. 12

Tyland Baptist Church, Tyler, Jan. 16

First Church of Christ Scientist, Tyler, Jan. 17

Prairie Creek Fellowship, Lindale, Jan. 20

Russell Memorial United Methodist Church, Wills Point, Feb. 4

Dover Baptist Church, Carroll, Feb. 8

Clear Springs Missionary Baptist Church, Lindale, Feb. 8.

In central Texas, closer to Austin, a fire that gutted the historic sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Temple on Jan. 19 has also been determined to be arson, but authorities do not suspect it was the work of the same fire starter.

Anyone with information about the fires is encouraged to call 1-888-ATF-FIRE, or 1-888-283-3473. A Facebook page has also been established with resources and updates on the fires.

"The building is burned but the church lives on in our hearts," said Emily Becker, a member of the Christian Science church that burned in Tyler.

"We want them to be brought to justice," Becker told the Dallas Morning News. "But we're trying to forgive them as taught in the Lord's Prayer."
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Street Preachers Killed In United States

NEWS ALERT: Street Preachers Killed In United States
Saturday, February 6, 2010 (8:55 am)
By BosNewsLife News Center


WASHINGTON, USA (BosNewsLife)-- A religious liberty group warned Saturday, February 6, that "Anti-Christian hostility is getting increasingly deadly" in the United States after two street preachers were shot and killed by a teenager who apparently opposed their message.

"The increasing demonization of Christians in our culture makes some feel its open season on Christians," said Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.

Tite Sufra, 24, (pictured above) and Stephen Ocean (pictured below), 23, were shot to death late Saturday, January 30, in Boynton Beach in the U.S. State of Florida, where they evangelized, after meeting 18-year-old Jeriah Woody, local police said.

"They witnessed to Woody for fifteen minutes, when he got a phone call and told the preachers he 'had to go'," added the Commission, which closely monitored the case.


CHRISTIANS EXECUTED

"As they walked away, Woody suddenly started walking back toward them. Sufra walked up to greet him and was killed with a shot gun blast at point blank range. When Ocean ran, he was shot in the back. After he fell, Woody shot him in the head execution style."

Woody was detained Wednesday, February 3, and is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Bail was reportedly denied to him.

Cass complained about a lack of interest in national media. "As of today, there are no national news organizations reporting this vicious murder of two innocent Christian men. Why?"

Cass said, "I'll ask this: If two Muslims, or two feminists or two homosexuals were murdered, wouldn't the media be all over it? These were two fine young black Christian men shot by another black man for their Christian faith, yet the media does not seem to care."


"OMINOUS SIGN"

He described the case as "an ominous sign" of times "that Christians are being shot on the streets and in our churches."

Last year, Jim Pullion was killed while holding pro-life signs in front of his granddaughter's Owasso Michigan high school. Reverend Fred Winters was murdered while preaching in his pulpit in Maryville, Illinois.

"Increasingly we see Christian ministers threatened and churches terrorized and vandalized for their stand on marriage. Now when Christians gather for worship they must have armed security."

He said, "Anti-Christian defamation and bigotry has helped to create this violent climate and it must stop."
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Christian churches fed 'Islam lite'


CAIR headquarters in Washington


Christian churches fed 'Islam lite'
Experts say Muslim Brotherhood carrying out domination strategy in U.S.

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Posted: February 07, 2010
8:39 pm Eastern


By Michael Carl
© 2010 WorldNetDaily


An expert on the advance of radical Islam in the United States says the Muslim Brotherhood is effectively employing a strategy of presenting "Islam lite" to organizations, including Christian churches.

A spokeswoman for an Islamic awareness program which monitors how Islamic law motivates Muslims to participate in jihad reported she heard of a United Church of Christ congregation where an Islamic speaker was a guest.

She contacted the church to see if she would be allowed to present some of the harsher truths about Islam.

"The pastor pushed the material back at me and said, 'It's people like you who are responsible for an escalation of the violence,'" the spokeswoman said.

She said organizations such as Hartford Seminary are sending imams "to condition members of the area churches to believe the light version of Islam."

Steve Emerson, director of the Investigative Project for Terrorism, concurred.

"Hartford Seminary is a place that has been compromised by the Muslim Brotherhood, and then there's the Center for Christian and Muslim Understanding at Georgetown University. The center is a de facto arm of the Muslim Brotherhood," Emerson said.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the Sunni transnational movement founded in Egypt in 1928 that has spawned most of the major terrorist movements in the world, including al-Qaida and Hamas. It's aim is to make Islamic law supreme over the world.

Hartford Seminary's website displays photos of smiling, hijab-wearing young women standing arm-in-arm with clergy women in clerical collars. But seminary spokesman David Barrett insists the goal is to foster open dialogue.

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"I don't know where to start. Interfaith dialogue and the understanding of other religions is essential to live faithfully in today's multi-faith, pluralistic world," Barrett said. "So we believe strongly and theologically that we need to understand the faith traditions of others and to relate to them and work with them to create a better and more productive, more harmonious world."

That's why, he said, seminary faculty members are familiar with the teachings of Islam.

"Obviously we have experts in Islamic law who are Muslim and we have Christian theologians who have studied other religions… If you're asking if we know what we're doing, the answer is yes," Barrett said.

Asked about Islamic jihad, he said any religion can be misunderstood.

"You can make similar comments about Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism or any other religion. You can take things out of context about any religion and make it look injurious or harmful," Barrett said. "Yes, the faculty here is aware that this is something that it is claimed that Islam promotes violence, just as you can claim that Christianity promotes violence."

But some mainline-denomination churches now are facilitating worship for Muslims, Emerson and the awareness program spokeswoman agreed.

"Just to show how far it's gone, two weeks ago the priest at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Manchester, Conn., invited an area Muslim congregation to use St. Mary's Church for their Friday prayers," the spokeswoman said.

A St. Mary's secretary said officials there could not comment on their actions.

But a report in the local Journal-Inquirer reported the development, noting the congregation had been pleased to find ways to "work together."

Even high-profile leaders such as megachurch pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., have spoken to organizations such as the Islamic Society of North America, a Muslim Brotherhood group.

Saddleback officials did not respond to a request for comment.

But Emerson believes it's more than just wrong; it's dangerous.

"He's been deceived into believing that … is a legitimately moderate group. In fact, it's a radical organization," Emerson said. "I think there's been a major bit of deception that's been perpetrated by these groups who pretend that they're innocent religious groups looking for affiliations with other theological movements."

A former FBI agent whose expertise is in Islamic issues confirmed the success of Islamic lobbying. He asked that his name be withheld.

"If you don't believe the Brotherhood has been effective at neutralizing some church groups and public advocacy groups, look at this. Common Cause and Hartford Seminary support the Islamic Society of North America. The National Council of Churches and the American Baptist Churches do too," he said.

The Muslim disinformation methodology is illustrated by the 2006 controversy over a speech by Pope Benedict XVI in Regensberg, Germany.

The pope quoted from Manuel II Palaiologos, a Byzantine emperor who was one of the last Christian rulers before the fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Empire.

"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," the pope said, citing the emperor.

Objecting vehemently to the pope's remarks, a group of 38 imams wrote an open letter to the pontiff.

"We would like to point out that 'holy war' is a term that does not exist in the Islamic languages," the imams said. "Jihad, it must be emphasized, means struggle, and specifically struggle in way of God. This struggle may take many forms, including the use of force."

One of the imams was the Islamic scholar Nuh Ha Mim Keller, who translated the classic book on Islamic Law, "Reliance of the Traveler." The book states in section 09.0, "Jihad means to war against non-Muslims, and it is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion."

The effort to co-opt Christian churches includes an attempt to water down Christian theology.

Islamization Watch published a photo on its website of a British Muslim banner on a railing in the Wood Green section of London. The banner, which read "Jesus was a Muslim," stalled traffic and created near-riot conditions so that police had to be called.

P. David Gaubatz and Paul Sperry write in their WND book, "Muslim Mafia" that Muslims want to Islamize Jesus.

They report the training manual for the Council on Islamic-American Relations includes information about Jesus.

Among the materials CAIR distributes in its outreach efforts in the U.S. is the book "Jesus: Prophet of Islam" by Mohammad Ata-ur-Rehman and Muslim convert Ahmad Thomson. CAIR also launched a $60,000 advertising campaign on Florida buses with the message Jesus was a Muslim. The signs read: 'ISLAM: The Way of Life of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad."

One Islamic expert who formerly worked with the U.S. government on terror said Muslims even use the writings of disaffected Christian.

"Muslims are making use of Bart Ehrman's commentaries on the New Testament, books that now deny the authority of the New Testament and portray Jesus as simply a man," he said. "You will never hear a Muslim say that Jesus is the Son of God."
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Weep between the porch and the altar



15Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

16Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

17Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?



Ezekiel 14:15-17.
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Fresh Air Fund NEEDS host families for the Summer of 2010

In 2009, The Fresh Air Fund's Volunteer Host Family program, called Friendly Town, gave close to 5,000 New York City boys and girls, ages six to 18, free summer experiences in the country and the suburbs. Volunteer host families shared their friendship and homes up to two weeks or more in 13 Northeastern states from Virginia to Maine and Canada.The Fresh Air Fund relies on donations to provide memorable summers to NYC children.The Fresh Air Fund needs hosts for the summer of 2010.More than 65% of all Fresh Air children are reinvited to stay with their host family, year after year.

Thanks to host families who open up their homes for a few weeks each summer, children growing up in New York City’s toughest neighborhoods have experienced the joys of Fresh Air experiences.

"It is rewarding to see the smile on our Fresh Air child's face as she enjoys the simple things we take for granted..."

Friendly Town host families are volunteers who live in the suburbs or small town communities. Host families range in size, ethnicity and background, but share the desire to open their hearts and homes to give city children an experience they will never forget. Hosts say the Fresh Air experience is as enriching for their own families, as it is for the inner-city children. There are no financial requirements for hosting a child. Volunteers may request the age-group and gender of the Fresh Air youngster they would like to host. Stories about real Fresh Air host families and their New York City visitors are just a click away!

Click here to learn more about becoming a host or call (800) 367-0003!

"We made s'mores and hot dogs over the fire. I've never cooked outside before!"

Fresh Air children are boys and girls, six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. Children on first-time visits are six to 12 years old and stay for either one or two weeks. Youngsters who are re-invited by the same family may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many enjoy longer summertime visits, year after year. A visit to the home of a warm and loving volunteer host family can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child. All it takes to create lifelong memories is laughing in the sunshine and making new friends.

The majority of Fresh Air children are from low-income communities. These are often families without the resources to send their children on summer vacations. Most inner-city youngsters grow up in towering apartment buildings without large, open outdoor play spaces. Concrete playgrounds cannot replace the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes. Fresh Air children are registered by more than 90 participating social service and community organizations located in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the five boroughs of New York City. These community-based agencies are in close contact with children in need of summer experiences in rural and suburban areas. Each agency is responsible for registering children for the program. What do Fresh Air children enjoy?

Playing in the backyard
Laughing in the sunshine
Catching fireflies
Riding bicycles
Learning to swim
Running barefoot through the grass
Gazing at the stars on moonlit nights
Building sandcastles
Making new friends
Simple pleasures of life away from the inner-city

You can give a child the experience of alifetime with your gift to The Fresh Air Fund!Every year, The Fresh Air Fund gives thousands of inner-city children the priceless gift of fun – and opens the door to a lifetime of opportunities.Whether it's a two-week trip to visit a volunteer host family, or a fun-filled and educational stay at one of our camps, our programs make for unforgettable memories – and open a world of new friendships and fresh possibilities.We are a not-for-profit agency and depend on tax-deductible donations from people like you to keep our vital programs flourishing.
Donate online now

On March 21st, the Fresh Air Fund-Racers will take to the streets at the NYC Half-Marathon! Thank you to the Fresh Air Fund-Racers and their supporters for participating in this world class event. You are making a huge difference in the lives of thousands of Fresh Air children!

We have limited availability for this amazing race. If you would like to run, please register here right away.

Source:http://freshairfundhosts.com/
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What's in a name? Church vs. Government

Watch video here:

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Traveling Bible nearing completion of world tour


16 Feb 2010,

Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
ANN Staff


A copy of the Bible written in 66 languages -- one for each book, from Genesis to Revelation -- is nearing the completion of its global itinerary.

The Follow the Bible initiative, launched in 2008 at Seventh-day Adventist world church business meetings in Manila, Philippines, toured the Dominican Republic last month in its last stop in the church's Inter-American region.

In each country the Bible has visited, local church leaders report large-scale distributions of Bibles among community members and a renewed interest in regular Bible reading and study among church members.

At the initiative's launch, Follow the Bible project organizers cited a study indicating that less than 50 percent of the Adventist Church's membership regularly studies the Bible, adding that the touring Bible -- serving as a visible reminder of the importance of Scripture -- would ideally reignite a desire among Adventists to prioritize time spent in Bible study.

"It has been encouraging to witness the enthusiasm behind Follow the Bible around the world," said Garrett Caldwell, director of Public Relations for the Adventist world church. "The uniqueness of this Bible and the journey that it has taken has given the church a wonderful opportunity to talk to the public about the importance of scripture."

Follow the Bible will complete its tour of the church's 13 world regions this summer in Atlanta, Georgia, United States where thousands of Adventists will gather for their church's global business session.


ANN World News Bulletin is a review of news and information issued by the Communication department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. It is made available primarily to religious news editors. Our news includes dispatches from the church's international offices and the world headquarters.


Source: Adventist News Network.


© 2010, Adventist News Network. Adventist News Network is a registered trademark of the General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.


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Religious Liberty Rally

Religious Liberty Rally


February 16, 2010
9:00am-3:00pm CST

1162 Old Highway 45 South
Guys, Tennessee 38339

UPDATE: Date has been moved from the 12th to the 16th. Please see the "Sign Up" link to the left for more information.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
- First Amendment to the United States Constitution

On February 16, 2010 Federal Marshals, accompanied by agents of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, a 15 million member worldwide church, are scheduled to descend upon the Creation Seventh Day Adventist church building in Guys, Tennessee. They will be destroying the signs of the church, effectively shutting down it's ability to hold services, and confiscating the group's religious materials, books, tracts, and other advertisements.

Why is this being done? What crime has the church committed, to warrant the presence of Federal officials to close the premesis, confiscate their religious materials, and destroy their signs? Have they engaged in fraud? Are they amassing weapons? Have they proven a danger to society in some other criminal fashion?

No. It is being done because of the name of their church.

The First Amendment has been shredded to pieces in the teeth of "corporate religion" under the guise of Trademark law. Religious identity is a matter of religion, and thus outside the scope of Government regulation. According to the Constitution, no law may be made regarding the establishment of a religion. Yet through obtaining a trademark on the name of a faith, one church has gained a Government-backed monopoly, including the ability to bring civil and Federal penalties on those that dare disagree.

This is what is happening in the small town of Guys. By obtaining a trademark on the name of a religion, "Seventh-day Adventist," a worldwide denomination has sought to crush out those who claim to be Seventh-day Adventists but hold differing views on what it means to follow that religion. Creation Seventh Day Adventists are one such group. Church conflicts are nothing new - but when the Government steps in to decide one group or another to be the "right church" of the two, we have cause for alarm.

It is not the place of the Government to define a true or a false Christian of any kind, be it Baptist, Church of Christ, Lutheran, Catholic, or Seventh-day Adventist. Even further is it from the place of the Government to send out Federal officials to destroy religious materials and remove signs from the meeting places of those deemed heretics. The Pastor of the group, Walter McGill, has a warrant authorized for his arrest should he return to the United States from his current ministry field of Africa - all because of the name of their religion.

As a result, a protest is arranged for the morning of the arrival of the Marshals on the church property. We must let it be known that we will not stand for such a violation of our First Amendment rights, or the rights of those around us.


What happened to separation of church and state?
What happened to the free exercise of religion?

As rights are being eroded away bit by bit, we intend to protest this by exercising another First Amendment right - that to peaceably assemble.

All who are supportive of the cause of religious liberty for all men, regardless of their differences of belief, are encouraged to attend and bring signs and placards to protest this violation. Please visit the "Frequently Asked Questions" section to the left for more information.

"And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together." - James Madison



Source: http://www.lanhamact.us/

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The Pharisees and the signs of the times

1The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

2He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

4A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.


Matthew 16:1-4.



20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.


Luke 17:20-21.
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Wreck of the Titan


The Wreck of the Titan or, Futility



Author: Morgan Robertson
Published: 1893
Language: English


Wordcount: 70,961 / 211 pg
LoC Category:
Downloads: 812
Added to site: 2008.03.20
mnybks.net#: 20363


Origin: gutenberg.org
Genres: Nautical, Fiction


The story of a collision between a large trans-Atlantic oceanliner and an iceberg on the ship's maiden voyage to New York. Written 19 years before the Titanic disaster.


Source:http://manybooks.net/titles/robertsonmor2488024880-8.html

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Light at the end of the Tunnel


Is it a Bullet Train?



A Bullet Tain to the Internment Camp?
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Visitors trapped in Dubai's Burj Khalifa tower days before building closed

By Michael Sheridan DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, February 10th 2010, 11:02 AM


View from the observation deck of Dubai's Burj Khalifa tower. An elevator became stuck there recently, trapping 15 people, according to the Associated Press.


Trapped 124 floors above the ground, a group of visitors stuck in an elevator of the massive Dubai skyscraper may have sparked the sudden closure of the world’s tallest building just a month after it opened.

Emaar Properties, the 160-story building’s developer, is keeping mum on the incident, which took place two days before the Burj Khalifa tower was shut down. But witnesses to terrifying ordeal aren't staying quiet.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/02/10/2010-02-10_visitors_got_trapped_in_dubais_burj_khalifa_tower_days_before_building_closed.html#ixzz0f9tFjuVO
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Illinois earthquake third to rattle upper Midwest since 1999

Wednesday's Illinois earthquake rated a 3.8 magnitude according to the US Geological Survey, and was the third mild temblor experienced in the region in recent years.

Kaz Mohan, a civil engineer with the Illinois Department of Transportation, inspects a bridge on US Route 20 in Elgin, Ill., following a small earthquake that rattled the area Wednesday. The US Geological Survey says the 3.8-magnitude earthquake hit about 45 miles northwest of Chicago at 4 a.m.
Corey Minkanic/AP

By Mark Guarino Staff writer / February 10, 2010

Chicago
The earthquake that hit northwest Illinois early Wednesday morning was mild compared with those in California, experts say, but it did register as one of three the upper Midwest has experienced in the past 21 years.

The US Geological Survey rated the quake as a 3.8-magnitude about 5.5 miles east of Sycamore and 3.1 miles underground, which Northern Illinois University geologist Phil Carpenter says “is not really significant” compared with the West Coast, where quakes routinely are rated 5.0 and higher. Because the Midwest represents one of the most stable geological regions of North America, tremors are infrequent. And when they do happen, geologists are hard-pressed to come up with a reason why.

“We don’t quite understand why this happens,” says Mr. Carpenter. “They seem to move around from one location to another. Obviously, there is some release of stress due to zones that are fractured in the sub-surface, but we don’t know about stress released by slippage in these zones. It’s a good research problem.”

Carpenter says he and other geologists plan to examine records at seismic stations throughout the area and in Wisconsin and Minnesota to determine the level of aftershocks, which can still be recorded even if they are below the level of human perception. “Aftershocks might be occurring, but we might not be able to feel it,” he says.

Wednesday’s earthquake joins two others in 2004 and 1999, which were both in the 3.5-4.0-magnitude range.

Earthquakes in the lower Midwest are more frequent, especially in the Wabash Valley and New Madrid seismic zones, which are considered more fragile and susceptible to quakes and more dangerous. In 2008, a 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck West Salem, in downstate Illinois, making it the worst to hit Illinois since 1968.

There were no reports of damage caused by the earthquake Wednesday morning, although the US Geological Survey received tremor reports as far east as Chicago and as far north as Madison, Wis.

The most devastating earthquakes are those reaching 7.0-magnitude, such as the quake that hit Haiti Jan. 12, which was approximately 1,600 times the magnitude that hit Illinois Wednesday.


Source:http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0210/Illinois-earthquake-third-to-rattle-upper-Midwest-since-1999
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Moral Independence



Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 2 Cor. 6:17, 18.

Many today have veils upon their faces. These veils are sympathy with the customs and practices of the world, which hide from them the glory of the Lord. God desires us to keep our eyes fixed upon Him, that we may lose sight of the things of this world.

As the truth is brought into practical life, the standard is to be elevated higher and higher to meet the requirements of the Bible. This will necessitate opposition to the fashions, customs, practices, and maxims of the world. Worldly influences, like the waves of the sea, beat against the followers of Christ to sweep them away from the true principles of His meekness and grace; but we are to stand as firm as a rock to principle. It will require moral courage to do this, and those whose souls are not riveted to the eternal Rock will be swept away by the worldly current. We can stand firm only as our life is hid with Christ in God. Moral independence is wholly in place when opposing the world. By conforming entirely to the will of God, we shall be placed upon vantage ground, and shall see the necessity of decided separation from the customs and practices of the world. We are not to elevate our standard just a little above the world's standard, but we are to make the distinction decidedly apparent. . . .

It is no easy matter to gain the priceless treasure of eternal life. No one can do this and drift with the current of the world. He must come out from the world and be separate and touch not the unclean. No one can act like a worldling without being carried down by the current of the world. No one will make any upward progress without persevering effort. He who would overcome must hold fast to Christ. He must not look back, but keep the eye ever upward, gaining one grace after another. Individual vigilance is the price of safety. . . .

The end of all things is at hand. There is need now of men armed and equipped to battle for God. .
Maranatha, E. G. White, pp.47

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Note: Highlights added.
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The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him


Lamentations 3


1I AM the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

2He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

3Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.

4My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.

5He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

6He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.

7He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

8Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

9He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

10He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

11He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.

12He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

13He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

14I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.

15He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.

16He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.

17And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.

18And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:

19Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

20My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

21This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

27It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.

29He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.

30He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.

31For the LORD will not cast off for ever:

32But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

33For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

34To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth.

35To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,

36To subvert a man in his cause, the LORD approveth not.

37Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

38Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?

39Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

40Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.

41Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

42We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.

43Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.

44Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.

45Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.

46All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

47Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.

48Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission.

50Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.

51Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.

52Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.

53They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.

54Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.

55I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.

56Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.

57Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.

58O LORD, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.

59O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.

60Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.

61Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations against me;

62The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.

63Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.

64Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.

65Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.

66Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Washington D. C. Shuts Down For Another Day




Capitol Hill, Federal Offices, and Schools remained closed today due to Global Warming.
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Ayatollah: Iran's military will 'punch' West


Sanctions loom as anniversary of revolution nears


By Eli Lake

The Iranian government on Monday stepped up military threats in advance of an anniversary celebration as major powers continued talks on a new round of sanctions.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in Tehran that his country would stun the Western world on Thursday, the 31st anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution. Iran's defense minister announced on Monday that its forces had conducted successful tests on new armed unmanned aircraft and advanced air defenses.

"The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance [Western powers] on the 22nd of Bahman [Feb. 11] in a way that will leave them stunned," Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.

The anniversary is expected to produce a new round of anti-government demonstrations as Iranian opposition groups continue to protest the June 12 presidential election that resulted in acts of civil disobedience. Former prime minister and opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has called for anti-government demonstrations timed to coincide with the nationwide commemoration of the revolution on Thursday.

Also on Monday, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, notified the agency in a letter that Tehran will begin the enrichment of uranium to 20 percent levels for use in medical equipment, and that it would add 10 nuclear sites in the coming year, raising new fears about its covert nuclear program.

According to the IAEA report from November, Iran possesses 1.8 tons of low-enriched uranium that has been enriched to 3.5 percent. An atomic bomb requires uranium to be enriched to 90 percent.

Ahmad Vahidi, the Iranian defense minister who is also wanted by Interpol for his role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina, announced that Iran had successfully tested a drone attack craft that cannot be detected by sensors.

On Monday, senior officials from the United States, France and Russia suggested that tougher sanctions against Iran are forthcoming.

"The only thing we can do, alas, is apply sanctions given that negotiations are impossible," Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, said Monday in Paris.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, also in Paris, suggested that Iran would face new sanctions.

Last week, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair told Congress that the United States did not know whether Iran's leader had ordered the construction of a nuclear weapon to proceed.

A U.S. intelligence official urged caution on reports of Iran's new weapons development. The official said Monday, "While the Iranians are up to more than their share of mischief, they're good storytellers, too, especially when it comes to talk of their military and nuclear capabilities."

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: "They've certainly been known to exaggerate for effect, and that appears to apply to their claims of massive production plans in the atomic field and supposedly undetectable attack drones, too."

David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, said Iran's technical achievement does not always match its boasts. However, he said the announcement of Iran's plans to enrich uranium to nearly 20 percent was provocative.

"From a technical point of view, it may not mean much depending on how much they enrich," he said.

But he added that it was a provocative political gesture.

"From a political point of view, you can't know how much they will enrich and it calls for increased sanctions and application of more measures to contain and isolate Iran," he said.

Michael Adler, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, said, "Iran's increasing uranium enrichment to just under 20 percent would be a significant expansion of its nuclear work, since it would bring it much closer to being able to make weapons-grade uranium."

"Iran says it is doing this for the most peaceful of purposes, to make isotopes for medical diagnosis, but it will only feed U.S. concerns that Tehran seeks nuclear weapons," Mr. Adler said.

"The frustration for Washington is that it is hard to see how the current U.S. push for new sanctions will slow Iran down at this point, unless [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad is just blustering or trying to make a deal."
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Davos Dispatch: Keeping the World's Poor on the Agenda

Switzerland
Davos Dispatch: Keeping the World's Poor on the Agenda


Returning to Rome from Davos, Switzerland, and the 2010 World Economic Forum on Feb. 1, the secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, Lesley-Anne Knight, confessed to “mixed feelings” about the forum’s outcomes. The Davos event each year brings together international business, political, academic and social leaders to discuss the pressing economic and social problems of the capitalist world.

This year’s discussions were distracted by events in Haiti, but there was still plenty of time to review the structural challenges within the world’s economic system. “The World Economic Forum is good at responding to crises,” Knight wrote on the Caritas blog, “at identifying innovative solutions, at tackling new challenges—in the words of this year’s theme, at ‘rethinking, redesigning and rebuilding.’ But what concerns me is that the old, chronic problems of the world—like poverty, for instance—should not be neglected.”

Knight observed that at a forum she hosted on bringing values into global economics, “The discussions made clear that international institutions are underperforming on core objectives such as poverty eradication, sustainable economic growth, human security, conflict avoidance and many more.”

Knight described another session reviewing the United Nations Millennium Development Goals—an ambitious project meant to mitigate by half the worst effects of world poverty by 2015—that attracted a disappointingly small audience. Those who were present heard the Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates stress the need to keep up pressure on governments to honor their financial commitments toward achieving the goals and the economist Jeffrey Sachs charge that the lack of follow-through on millennium goals had nothing to do with the global recession but reflected a deep-seated lack of political will.

Knight brought Caritas Inter-nationalis’s unique perspective on development to the forum. “Finance has been focused on financial mechanisms, profits, and bonuses,” she said. “Human beings were left out, with dire consequences for us all, especially the poor. For humanitarian organizations, such as Caritas, the human person must be at the heart of everything we do. But this should equally be applied to economic systems, which are also ultimately at the service of humanity.”

At the forum Caritas advanced some basic principles: Financial institutions must consider the human impact of their activities, and poor nations should have an effective voice at international institutions. Caritas also called for aid recipients to play a greater role in their own development and for stronger recognition of civil society and faith groups in development planning.

At her “values” forum, Knight juggled the perspectives of delegates from the presumably divergent worlds of business and social justice. “As is often my experience,” she said, “when people from such different professional and cultural backgrounds come together in conversation, we find common values which unite us around shared objectives without difficulty...respect for the dignity of every human person, solidarity and concern for the common good and care for the most vulnerable in our society.”

But even after finding such reassuring common ground, Knight wonders, “Can our financial institutions now put these [ideals] into practice? Can they be motivated not solely by profit, but also genuinely serve the common good? Will development aid be targeted at meeting the needs of the poor rather than the national interests of donors? As Caritas people, as the sign and action of God’s love for all humanity, this must remain our hope.”
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Now therefore why should we die?

Deuteronomy 5

1And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.

2The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

3The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

4The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,

5(I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

6I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

7Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

8Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:

9Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,

10And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

11Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

12Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.

13Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:

14But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

15And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

16Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

17Thou shalt not kill.

18Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

19Neither shalt thou steal.

20Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

21Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.


22These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

23And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;

24And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

25Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.

26For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

27Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

28And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.

29O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

30Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.

31But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.

32Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

33Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
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Saturday, February 06, 2010

Obama Misses Point on Prayer Breakfast

Written by Bruce Walker
Saturday, 06 February 2010 12:00



It is hard to imagine how a National Prayer Breakfast could be controversial, but it has become that. This tradition stretching back through five decades of American political life and including every American president during that period, has become controversial under President Obama. A gathering which has included people as diverse as Tony Blair and Mother Teresa has somehow come to be seen as exclusionary. How?

The National Prayer Breakfast, although very inclusive, does have some framework. The same broad Judeo-Christian values that were recognized early by the Founding Fathers are part of the event. Those values inevitably involve some proscribed actions and beliefs. Atheism, for example, is incompatible with the National Prayer Breakfast. Prayers, after all, are directed at a divine being.

In fact, the National Prayer Breakfast is supported by a Christian organization called the “Fellowship” or the “Family.” Those ideologically on the Left have begun to openly call for political leaders to attend alternative prayer events, with the emphasis on those areas in which traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs are deemed no longer in synch with modern life.

President Obama, when he addressed the National Prayer Breakfast, called for a return to civility in politics. He equated the lack of “civility” with citizens pressing their claim that Obama was not actually born in the United States. Obama also equated the lack of “civility” with those the sincerity of Obama’s faith. He also specifically tied “civility” to common efforts by “Americans of faith, and no faith, united around a common purpose.”

The president’s remarks seemed to minimize the importance of the traditional religious faith of Christians and of Jews in favor of a sort of Confucian protocol of manners, a society of communal rather that personal good works, and a religious vessel so hollowed out as to effectively be agnostic or atheistic. Stripping traditional spiritual values, the foundational principles of our nation, out of the National Prayer Breakfast seems part of a broad attack on those parts of religion that place stop signs on immoral behavior. The emphasis of Obama on “civility,” while not wrong per se, appears to make hurt feelings, acceptance at any cost, and the inclusion of every type of behavior as moral behavior always able to trump the idea that there are objective wrongs or sinful behavior, that preachers and prophets (in the tradition of Jews and Christians) condemn such behavior no matter how popular it might be, and that divine forgiveess requires repentance and remorse.

The National Prayer Breakfast, a private event, was never intended to end religious values in the name of tolerance. It was intended instead to celebrate those values that priests, ministers, and rabbis throughout American history have championed and preserved. Although those values are broad, like America, the values are not infinitely malleable or subject to political or popular modification.

Photo of Obama at National Prayer Breakfast: AP Images
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Mark Hitchcock on Hope in a Cashless Society

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Mark Hitchcock on Hope in a Cashless Society




Knowing a cashless society is a sign the end of this age is near, is there any hope?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based his book Cashless: Bible Prophecy, Economic Chaos, and the Future Financial Order. It concerns the world presently teetering on financial chaos, global interdependency, and modern technology all converging in such a way that a cashless society and one-world economy are not only possible, but inevitable.


Hope in a Cashless Society

Dr. Hitchcock: I ended my book Cashless with a chapter titled "Cashless and You, Dollars and Cents." I always like at the end of my books to convey one of the main purposes for writing these books — that if someone doesn't know Christ I give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For those of us who know the Lord, I also give some practical challenges and admonitions. I end with some hope.

If a person doesn't know the Lord, one of the things I talk about in that last chapter is that we can talk all we want to about the coming cashless society, but right now we have a present Christ-less society. For those people who don't know Jesus Christ, accepting His salvation is the ultimate thing they need to do.

A beautiful thing is the Lord offers us the Gospel and forgiveness of our sins without any cost — it is a free gift. That great news is the greatest news in all the world! We have a Gospel that is free and doesn't cost us anything. Now, let me be clear — it cost God. It cost Christ His life there on the cross, but it is free to you and me to accept.

Just thinking about the whole issue of economics worries people a lot. We end up thinking too much about money. I understand money is important to our lives, and God knows that, but God can take care of us financially if we'll trust in Him. If we will be faithful with what He has given to us, and faithful in giving and sharing and being generous, then we can be assured all our needs will be met by Him.

We should never trust in money. There are a whole lot of warnings about trusting money in the Bible. Remember the church of Laodicea thought they were self-sufficient, saying we don't have need of anything, and yet they were so spiritually poor. Money is a great slave, but it is a terrible master. Let's make sure in our lives that while we work hard we do the things that God has called us to do and be good stewards of the money He has entrusted us with.

Don't allow money to dominate your life, because Jesus said you can't serve both God and money. When people allow money to dominate their lives and then the economy goes sour, people feel hopeless and so start jumping out of windows and blowing their brains out and hanging themselves. Their hope in money has failed them. Instead, our hope is in Jesus Christ and His coming.

What I call the "Sign Posts of Armageddon" are lining up. All of this globalism that we see taking place are those sign posts. The move towards a cashless society is another one of these sign posts. When we see these things happening today, we should be lead to believe that the coming of Jesus Christ will be very near. Such a realization should motivate us to live for Him in these last days in which we live.

Difficult economic times create one of the best times to reach people with the Gospel. People are looking for hope because they are desperate. Christians have hope — the Gospel — a word that even means "Good News."

Give those people out there hope!
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Will Rockefeller build 3rd Temple?


FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Will Rockefeller build 3rd Temple?


Internet abuzz with report of biblical proportions ...
Posted: February 03, 201011:55 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Temple Mount in Jerusalem


JERUSALEM – A Rockefeller is raising capital to rebuild the Jewish Temple, said the news release published on CNN Money's Internet site and other news sources.

The plan would include a united Jewish and Palestinian Arab state. A Jewish group promoting the rebuilding of the Temple was reported to be cooperating.

The story spread virally through the evangelical Christian blogosphere.
But it was all part of an elaborate hoax.

The release, filed with MarketWire and republished at CNNMoney.com, claims "Supriem David Rockefeller" is director of a company, Kinti Holdings group, which is working with a Jewish Temple organization to rebuild the Third Temple.

States the release: "Kinti Holdings will be raising funds to go towards building the Third Temple in Jerusalem in strict coordinance with The Temple Institute, Rabbi Hiam Richman and The Palestinian National Interest Committee (PNIC) and supporting Husam Bajis for President of Palestine."

Richman, international director of the Temple Institute, a Jewish Temple activist group, told WND the release is a "scam."

"The Temple Institute strongly protests the use of its name and that of Rabbi Chaim Richman in a series of fraudulent press releases and advertising claims that are now circulating on the Internet," read the Temple Institute's official response to the release.

Continued the Institute's response: "The claims made by these men ... are false and malicious, and their apparent intentions are to take advantage of the Temple Institute's sincere supporters and rob them of funds. The Temple Institute advises its friends and supporters to avoid being taken in by this scam."

The original "Rockefeller" press release about rebuilding the Third Temple, however, has been spreading like wildfire on Christian websites and blogs.

The release was filed with MarketWire, a leading newswire service. A spokesman for Marketwire did not immediately return a WND request for comment. Is it not uncommon for newswire services to post releases without first fact-checking the content. CNNMoney.com routinely reprints business press releases.

The company that filed the release, Kinti Holdings, has a track record of making strange announcements.

On Monday, Kinti filed a release using the Rockefeller name and claiming it is seeking "a debt/equity swap" with "any and all national brand name corporations."
Another release claimed the company is partnering with "Supriem David Rockefeller" and his "$500 million" worth of entertainment business. The release says Rockefeller is a "financial magnate with strong ties to the entertainment industry."
Yesterday, hours after a WND request for comment on the Third Temple announcement was sent to the sole e-mail address listed for Kinti, the company posted a statement claiming, "Kinti is now conducting Due Diligence of a Major National Brand Name Chain concerning debt for equity and will enter into a mandatory quiet period."
The "management" section of Kinti's website states, "All of the previous Officers, Directors and Board of Directors have resigned. Richard Byrd has been appointed the new CEO and the only member of the Board of Directors."
The company claims to own a mine in Guyana, South America, but doesn't specify where the mine is other than pointing to a Google Earth map. The site posts a picture of what it claims is a mining permit from Guyana.

Who is Supriem David Rockefeller?

As for "Supriem David Rockefeller"? A spokesman for the Rockefeller Foundation told WND he doesn't exist.

A routine web search for the name brings up scores of conspiracy websites claiming, among other things, that "Supriem" is a secretive 34-year old heir to the Rockefeller dynasty who is fighting for a New World Order.

One site says it found Supriem really is a con artist and convicted thief who goes by different names and lives in Williamson County, Tennessee.

Some outlandish claims about "Surpiem" include:
Supriem has DNA from different races, including Anunnaki, Draco Triple Helix, Elohim and more. He has triple helix blue blood in a chimera state with red blood and more than one DNA sequence, which is what chimera is. His triple helix is the reptilian blood.
Supriem has a fortune in the trillions and is seeking to finance a high-speed bullet train.
Supriem exerts enormous influence over Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Henry Kissinger, who are working on a "counter-New World Order."

Rebuilding Third Temple
While the Third Temple press release may be a hoax, the Temple Institute is anything but. The group is involved in restoring a Jewish presence to the Temple Mount, where current Israeli laws bar Jews from ascending the Mount during most hours of the day while Muslims are granted nearly 24-hour access.

The Temple Institute also focuses on preparation for the rebuilding of the Third Temple. The group has been preparing ritual objects suitable for Temple use. Many of the more than 90 ritual items to be used in the Temple have been re-made to the highest standards the Temple Institute.

The First Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70. Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries.

The Temple was the center of religious worship for ancient Israelites. It housed the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said to be the area upon which God's presence dwelt. All biblical holidays centered on worship at the Temple. The Temples served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices and were the main gathering place for Israelites.

According to the Talmud, the world was created from the foundation stone of the Temple Mount. It's believed to be the biblical Mount Moriah, the location where Abraham fulfilled God's test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.

The Temple Mount has remained a focal point for Jewish services for thousands of years. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple have been uttered by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish tradition.

The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed in about A.D. 709 to serve as a shrine near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph. Al Aqsa was meant to mark what Muslims came to believe was the place at which Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven to receive revelations from Allah.

Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible 656 times.
Islamic tradition states Muhammad took a journey in a single night on a horse from "a sacred mosque" – believed to be in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia – to "the farthest mosque" and from a rock there ascended to heaven. The farthest mosque became associated with Jerusalem about 120 years ago.

According to research by Israeli Author Shmuel Berkovits, Islam historically disregarded Jerusalem as being holy. Berkovits points out in his new book, "How Dreadful Is this Place!" that Muhammad was said to loathe Jerusalem and what it stood for. He wrote Muhammad made a point of eliminating pagan sites of worship and sanctifying only one place – the Kaaba in Mecca – to signify the unity of God.

As late as the 14th century, Islamic scholar Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, whose writings influenced the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, ruled that sacred Islamic sites are to be found only in the Arabian Peninsula and that "in Jerusalem, there is not a place one calls sacred, and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron."

A guide to the Temple Mount by the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem published in 1925 listed the Mount as Jewish and as the site of Solomon's Temple. The Temple Institute acquired a copy of the official 1925 "Guide Book to Al-Haram Al-Sharif," which states on page 4, "Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the Lord.'"
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Is Cremation Appropriate for Christians?


Is Cremation Appropriate for Christians?
Rev. Richard D. Phillips • Question Box
Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia • July 9, 2000
Copyright reserved • Internet access via http://www.tenth.org/


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Tonight’s question is about the propriety of cremation for the bodies of Christians after death. The question reads as follows: “I recognize we should respect and care for the body God has given us. Does this rule out cremation for Christians? Is there any biblical teaching or guideline?”
Sometimes Christians worry that if their body is cremated they will be ineligible for the resurrection, mainly on physical grounds. If the body is consumed by fire, how can it be resurrected? The counter-argument is that bodies that are buried also disintegrate. When it comes to the resurrection I freely admit that a vast miracle is needed, and I trust God, who made everything out of nothing, to sort out the molecules. Therefore, I want to begin by stating that there is no reason to worry about the possibility of resurrection after cremation.

We always want to ask what the Bible has to say, and the Bible has an awful lot to say about death. First, I must confess that I find no command in Scripture against cremation. Nonetheless I think a summary of the biblical data will show if not a commandment against cremation, at least a clear hostility to this mode of dealing with human remains.

From the earliest times in the Bible, burial constituted the proper means of dealing with dead bodies. When Abraham’s wife Sarah died – and this is the first formal burial I find in Scripture – burial tombs were used (Gen. 23:4-6). Abraham’s family were all buried in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre (25:9). Many years later, when the first high priest, Aaron, died, we are told that he was buried (Dt. 10:9). The death of Moses is perhaps particularly instructive:

And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Dt. 34:5-6

It was God who dealt with Moses’ bodily remains and he buried him in the ground. In Dt. 21, a stipulation is made that even a capital criminal who is put to death is accorded the right to be buried (v. 22). Of course, the great example in the Bible is the record of the burial of Jesus Christ. Mt. 27:57-59 tells of Joseph of Arimathea gaining permission from Pilate to bury our Lord’s body in a new tomb cut out of the rock.

From very early in the Bible we also find the use of perfumes and spices to prepare the body for the grave. 2 Chronicles 16:14 observes that this happened for the body of King Asa. The intent was not really preservation, as in Egyptian mummification, but purification of the body. John 19:39 tells of the great amount of myrrh and aloes and spices used by Joseph and Nicodemus for the preparation of Jesus’ body. The body, though dead, still warranted love and care.

What about cremation? The Bible does mention it. In Joshua 7, Joshua proclaimed that whoever was found with the dedicated items stolen from Jericho “shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him” (7:15). When it was discerned that a man named Achan was the guilty party, the Israelites stoned and cremated his entire household, including his animal livestock (v. 25). Leviticus 20:14 calls for the burning of a man who marries a woman and her mother. The same was true for any priest’s daughter who became a prostitute (Lev. 21:9). There are other examples, but you get the picture. Burning of human remains spoke of judgment on sin, which also will be, the Bible says, by fire.

It is always the case that our views of the afterlife will influence how we handle the bodies of those who have died. That is true not just of Christians but of everybody else. Our theology will shape the way we approach all of life’s great events, be they childbirth, marriage, the coming of the annual harvest, etc.

Let’s first deal with the theologies aligned with cremation. In the ancient world there were a variety of reasons. Some peoples seem to have feared the dead and so they wanted to get rid of them. More sophisticated people, like the later Greeks and Romans, who greatly favored cremation, seem to have been guided by philosophical views that downgraded the body in comparison to the spirit. Just about all the ancient philosophies had little use for the body. In general, cremation does reflect a low view of the body after death, however one may view the fate of the liberated soul.

What about today? I took the liberty of checking out various websites advocating cremation on the internet and, to my surprise, the only incentive I saw listed was economic. Cremation is cheaper than burial. But I think there is also a new age mysticism that motivates, however vaguely, renewed interest in cremation today.

The other day I ran across a touching story regarding the spreading of a loved ones’ ashes. The man who had died was a mountain climber and his friends carried his ashes to the top of Mt. McKinley, the highest spot in North America. That is no small feat and it surely expressed real devotion. With great reverence, the friends observed a moment of sileence, after which they let his ashes go so that “his spirit could float above the mountains.” Then they turned around and left.

On one level, I am touched by the gesture, but mainly I think it speaks of the despair that attends death apart from faith in the resurrection. The best we can do is 15 minutes of afterlife fame followed by nothing but warm memories and annihilation by dispersion.

Christian burial is motivated by a far different view of life after death. The New Testament describes those who have died as being “asleep” (1 Cor. 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20, 51). This is not a description of the soul or spirit, for those are not asleep but with the Lord in heaven. It is the body that sleeps, and sleep is a temporary condition. The bodies that sleep – yes, I suppose even those that are decomposed – are awaiting their wake-up call on the resurrection morning.

Without doubt, it is the doctrine of the resurrection of the body that has motivated the Christian practice of burial and the Israelite practice before it. Everywhere Christianity has spread, cremation has given way to proper and respectful burial. Christians have a robust view of the body, both in life and in death. One of the great comforts as we face disease and sickness and death in this life is the knowledge that they will not have the last word. No, it is these bodies that are so integrally a part of ourselves that will be resurrected in glory, imperishable and immortal. And though we acknowledge the physics of the grave we are not in alliance with them, nor with death at any level. The apostle Paul writes, in 1 Thessalonians 4:

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him… For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (vv. 13-16).

Everything about that description tells us to honor, to preserve, yes, even to dedicate real estate to the bodies of those our beloved who having died are with Christ in the spirit, and awaiting the resurrection of their bodies in the morning of the new creation.

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