Thursday, June 17, 2010

E.U. Agrees to Publish Results of Stress Tests on Biggest Banks


By STEPHEN CASTLE and JACK EWING
Published: June 17, 2010

BRUSSELS — The European Union agreed Thursday to publish the results of stress tests imposed on major, cross-border banks, a move aimed at restoring confidence in the health of the bloc’s financial sector.

The move would be accompanied by a pledge to show flexibility in applying rules limiting government aid to companies, according to an agreement reached at a summit meeting of E.U. leaders in Brussels.

That would allow European governments to move to recapitalize any banks deemed to be in trouble — before the publication of the stress-test results.

Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, confirmed the agreement, and said the stress test results would be published before the end of July.

“I think it’s good news,” said Nicolas Véron, an economist at Breugel, a research organization in Brussels. “Nations have come to the realization they couldn’t go on telling people everything was fine and giving no evidence.”

But the effect could be less reassuring than hoped. Mr. Van Rompuy said the agreement would apply “around 25” systemically important banks.

That means they would not shed light on the financial health of the hundreds of smaller savings or public-sector institutions which dominate the retail banking market in countries like Germany.

Those institutions, which fall under the jurisdiction of national authorities, are often fiercely opposed to attempts to force more disclosure. “Making stress tests public is counterproductive and could in certain cases lead to misperceptions in markets,” Karl-Heinz Boos, director of the Association of German Public Sector Banks, said in a statement.

Yet lingering doubts about their strength could even add to market pressures on some countries.

The draft text prepared by the European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, called for publication of the test results on a “bank-by-bank basis” and pledged “sufficient flexibility” over E.U. state aid rules, to deal with any problems detected in a “timely manner.”

In effect, that would mean the European Commission waiving its strict rules on state aid, which are meant to guarantee a level playing field for companies across the 27-nation single market.

The text also made it clear that any bank recapitalization would be undertaken by national governments and not as part of a broader E.U. safety net for countries already struggling to deal with their massive debt.

The Europeans were hoping to go to a Group of 20 meeting in Toronto next week with a clear position on the transparency of stress test results.

Stress tests are designed to estimate the potential losses financial institutions could be facing under adverse circumstances, and therefore to prompt corrective action if appropriate.

The debate on publication of results resumed this week when Spain, which faces a lack of market confidence, promised to publish the results of its stress tests in a bid to calm investor worries. Germany indicated it, too, was in favor of more transparency.

But Mr. Boos at the Association of German Public Sector Banks said that stress tests could only be made public with permission of the banks, which none have given. The association represents banks accounting for about a quarter of the German market, including the state-owned Landesbanks which in several cases have already required multi-billion euro bailouts because of investments in securities tied to the U.S. subprime market and other toxic assets.

Mr. Véron predicted that evaluations of the large banks, along with plans by Spanish authorities to disclose results of their tests of domestic banks, will force other countries to follow suit and disclose the financial state of smaller institutions. “Once you have a benchmark for the first 25 banks, then this will have trigger effects,” he said.

One big risk is that some banks will prove to be weaker than has been publicly known, or even insolvent once forced to do a frank evaluation of their financial state. “It could be there will be some delicate moments in the process,” Mr. Véron said. “But it’s much better than the stonewalling we have had.”

French and German banks are the most exposed to debt from Spain, Greece, Portugal and Ireland, according to a report released Monday. French banks had lent $493 billion to businesses, households and governments in the four countries by the end of 2009 while German banks had lent $465 billion, according to the report by the Bank for International Settlements, an institution based in Basel, Switzerland, that acts as a clearing house for the world’s central banks.


Jack Ewing reported from Frankfurt.
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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/business/global/18stress.html?src=busln
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Spain to Use $30 Billion "Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring"


Thursday, June 17, 2010


Spain to Use $30 Billion "Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring"; Spain's Borrowing Costs Rise; Is an EU or IMF Bailout of Spain in the Works?


Inquiring minds are wondering if an EU or IMF orchestrated bailout of Spain is in the works. Spain denies it, but rumors of secret talks are running rampant.

Please consider Spanish debt wilts amid €250bn rescue plan confusion


European debt markets remain under high stress on persistent reports that Spain is in secret talks with EU officials and the International Monetary Fund for a support package of up to €250bn (£208bn), the largest rescue in history.

The spreads on 10-year Spanish bonds jumped to a post-EMU high of 224 basis points above German Bunds as traders brace for a crucial auction by Madrid on Thursday. The relentless rise in bond yields replicates the pattern seen in Greece at the onset of crisis. Spain must raise €25bn of debt in a cluster of auctions in July.

"We're in a dangerous and stressful situation," said Gary Jenkins, a credit expert at Evolution Securities. "Spain is a big enough borrower to wipe out the EU's rescue fund."

Elena Salgado, Spain's finance minister, reacted angrily to a report in the Spanish daily El Economista claiming that the support plans are well advanced.

"It has been denied by the Spanish government, by the European Commission, and by the IMF. How much more can we deny it?" she said.

The story refuses to die, however. Three German newspapers have run similar stories over recent days, citing German sources. The markets are convinced that some form of contingency planning is underway.

"In our view there is absolutely no doubt that a backstop facility for Spain will be put in place should stress in the system remain," said Silvio Peruzzo, an economist at RBS,
Concern Over Spanish Bank Stress Tests

Bloomberg reports Yen Gains, Euro Weakens on Concern Europe Crisis to Slow Growth

The euro weakened against most major currencies after Spain’s central bank said yesterday it planned to publish the results of stress tests carried out on lenders to counter speculation it needs international aid. Last month the EU announced a 750 billion-euro ($920 billion) rescue mechanism to stem contagion from Greece as the risk premiums on Spanish and Portuguese bonds surged.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said yesterday there are “challenges” ahead in Europe even if the rescue packages put together by authorities have “bought time.”

EU leaders will meet in Brussels to discuss the region’s economies and the so-called stability and growth pact. The Bank of Spain plans to make the findings of its stress tests public to provide markets with full knowledge of the state of the country’s banking system, Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez, the central bank governor, said yesterday in a speech.

“Investors continue to express concerns over Spain, especially whether the government can commit enough funds to ring-fence the banking sector,” Brian Kim, a currency strategist at UBS AG in Stamford, Connecticut, wrote in a research note yesterday. The euro is likely to weaken to $1.15 in three months, he said.
RBS Sticks With IMF Bailout Idea After Spain's Denial

RBS Analysts Say Spain Rescue Credit Line From IMF Still Likely.
Some form of credit support for Spain from the European Commission and International Monetary Fund is still likely, even after a report of such a plan was denied yesterday, Royal Bank of Scotland analysts said.

Such a plan may become necessary as the government faces around 25 billion euros in bond redemptions in the next month, and those may not be easily refinanced given how bond yields have risen, they wrote. RBS said Spain could receive an IMF Flexible Credit Line similar to those received by Poland, Mexico and Colombia.
Spain Borrowing Costs Rise at Auction of 10-Year Debt

Tick, Tock. Bloomberg reports Spain Borrowing Costs Rise at Auction of 10-Year Debt
Spain paid an average yield of 4.864 percent at an auction of 10-year debt, compared with a rate of 4.045 percent at an auction on May 20, the Bank of Spain said today.
That is a rather hefty increase in rates. Spain will be in trouble if that continues for several months.

Spain to Use $30 Billion "Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring"

Inquiring minds are reading Spain may use 30 billion euros for bank restructuring

Spain may use as much as 30 billion euros of its Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) to cover the financing needs of its banks, the Economy Minister Elena Salgado said on Thursday. The FROB, created to help the banking sector, can issue up to 99 billion euros to aid credit institutions.

"(The fund) will be more than sufficient for all of banks' needs," Salgado said during a television interview.

"It's going to be much less than (90 billion euros). These figures have to come from the Bank of Spain, but I would estimate, with total certainty, that it will be less than one third."
$30 billion may buy some time for a while.

However, odds are very good that Spain will need a bailout from the EU, IMF, or both. Then what?

Eventually Greece and Spain are likely to default and Italy is waiting in the wings.

Good luck with that.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock


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Christian World Communions: five overviews of Global Christianity, AD 1800-2025.(Report)


Christian World Communions: five overviews of Global Christianity, AD 1800-2025.(Report)



International Bulletin of Missionary Research January 01, 2009 Copyright

This 8-page report is the twenty-fifth in an annual series in the IBMR. This year we set out a 5-fold panorama of descriptors of the relatively unknown Conference of Christian World Communions (CCWC)--historical, documentary, photographic, confessional, and statistical.

A Christian World Communion (CWC) is defined here as an ongoing body uniting only churches and denominations with one similar ecclesiastical tradition or characteristic (Adventist, Anglican, Baptist, Disciples, Eastern Orthodox, Evangelical, Lutheran, Methodist, Old Catholics, Oriental Orthodox, Pentecostal, Reformed, Roman Catholic, Salvationist, etc.) though recognizing the existence and legitimacy of all the others.

Persons invited to the annual conference are few enough to allow everyone to get to know the others in the short three days. Those invited are heads of Communions--patriarchs, presidents, popes, archbishops, bishops, chairmen--with each bringing no more than one or two colleagues. No press are invited, nor observers. There is no centralized budget. Subjects discussed can be seen in the notes in Global Table 1's right-hand column. Average attendance in the early days was 15, rising gradually to 35 today (see Global Table 1 column T).

This first page draws attention to noteworthy aspects of the 5 tables that follow.

Global Table 1: Historical Overview

CCWC leadership has always insisted on a 3-day conference every October as top priority. This first global table reveals the success of this policy. The first Communion in this sense was the Lambeth Conference (1873), attended by 76 bishops, followed closely by 5 other Communions. By 1957 the movement was strong enough for the 7 major CWCs to hold their inaugural CCWC (see top photo in Global Table 3). Each year's activities and personages are described using the 26 letters A to Z as codes. This permits us to compress a large amount of data about each conference on its own line.

Landmark personages in this history of development are W. A. Visser 't Hooft, E. Perret, H. Meyer, B. B. Beach, J. Hale, P. Duprey, L. Vischer, John Paul II, D. Lotz, J. Peterson, J. Graz, A. D. Falconer, and S. Nyomi.

Global Table 2: Documentary Overview

Two streams of documents are relevant here. First, the CCWC has commissioned 97 research papers from 1957 as listed here in this table. A minority have been published, but most remain unpublished.

The second stream consists exclusively of published International Bilateral Dialogues (IBDs). These are agreements between any 2 worldwide CWCs who agree to sit down for a period of at least several months to discuss each other's difficult doctrines or central dogmas and to seek mutual answers and explanations. When each party feels satisfied, a joint statement of agreement is compiled and then jointly published. As Global Table 5 Line 48 indicates, by 2009 there exist at present 290 published IBDs, with 8 new ones currently under way.

In our accounting process in Global Table 1, category D enumerates only the first stream above, but category S includes the IBD summaries in Growth in Agreement I (1984), II (2000), and III (2007). Total IBDs = 300 by AD 2010. This means that the total professional documents generated by the CCWC has now passed 850--a formidable amount of scholarship and planning.

Global Table 3: Photographic Overview

Photos taken at each year's CCWC convey the humor, excitement, learning, and fellowship experienced, as well as the determination of all present to strive for the fulfillment of Christ's keyword: "so that they all may be one." The 1957 2nd meeting (top) identifies all 14 of those present by name and Communion. Note the large number of research reports as Visser't Hooft finishes his opening paper. In 1986 Pope John Paul II (right) addresses the other 20 CWCs, drawing attention to the value of personal friendship. And on the last day of the 20th century, CCWC delegates (bottom) met in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, representing 91 percent of global Christianity, conversing in an estimated 3,000 different languages.

Global Table 4: Confessional Overview

The CCWC has 23 committed regular attending Communions. Some 50 additional CWCs are in full sympathy but have not been invited. Another 100 have friendly links to existing CCWC members. Lastly, some 110 may be described as opposed to ecumenism or conciliarism in general.

Global Table 5: Statistical Overview

This final table presents a statistical overview of the entire world's 2.2 billion Christians and their activities, encompassing 2 alternative parallel but different groupings: first, the (a) Global Christian Forum (GCF), which is bringing together all Christians of every variety. So far the Forum has held conferences together at the global level (Nairobi 2007, New Delhi 2008) and increasingly at regional levels. There has been remarkable success in the determination to invite as speakers church leaders who hitherto have avoided each other. Second, the ministry of (b) the Conference of Christian World Communions (CCWC) over its 50 years has developed such cooperation to a fine art.

These two global enterprises are now discovering powerful ways of working together in 80 varieties of ministry under 10 main global ministries or concepts or keywords in widespread or current use (background, presence, mission, common witness, baptism, unity, renewal, communications, evangelism, evangelization), for the period AD 1800-AD 2025.

In the light of history's 20 centuries of Christian disagreements, misunderstandings, rivalries, and even excommunications and outright warfare, the recent global developments sketched in this report are clearly of immense significance.

This report, which is also available as a separate offprint, was prepared by David B. Barrett, a contributing editor, Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing, who publish widely in the field of missiometrics. Most subjects mentioned in this report are expanded in detail in their World Christian Encyclopedia (1982, 2001) and World Christian Trends (2001), and are updated in http://worldchristiandatabase.org. Detailed footnotes for Global Table 5 can be found at www.globalchris tianity.org/ibmrnote.php.

Descriptors for Global Tables 1 and 2.

Single Code Letters in each column in Global Table 1, each followed by = (equals sign), followed by persons or group mainly responsible; repeated in 2nd column in Global Table 2 on following page. For initials of Communions, see listing below left.


Type of Document or other Descriptor Activity

A = Author of commissioned Paper describing whole WCF/CWC.
B = Document produced, and later published (Ecumenical Review et
al.).
C = Total CWCs (or WCFs, before 1980) participating in CCWC
(Conference of CWCs).
D = Total aggregate number of Documents since 1957 (major, minor,
Papers, Profiles, Miniprofiles, Annual Minutes,
but not Correspondence).
E = Executive Secretary for WCFs or CCWC appointed and starts work.
F = First time a CWC attends (or rejoins) Annual Conference.
G = Global total all CWCs worldwide, including 330 outside CCWC
(named and described in Global Table 4).
H = Host Communion handling Conference local arrangements,
hospitality, etc.
I = Influence/Impact of CCWC as % all Christians and Christian
activities.
J = Chair, Chairperson CCWC (or predecessors WCF et alia), usually
for 2 years.
K = CCWC membership withdrawn.
L = Location (Venue) of Annual Conference.
M = Meeting in Annual Sequence 1-53, each year producing Minutes;
Meetings almost always in October or November.
N = New name chosen for whole Conference.
O = Overview of history of WCFs or CCWCs to date.
P = Profile (major description of a single Communion).
Q = Questionnaire to CWCs undertaken, then analyzed.
R = Research requested (and resulting report, if any).
S = International Bilateral Dialogues or Conversations, IBDs
(between any 2 Communions, at official international level,
either under way or now completed with published joint statement).
T = Number of persons attending Annual Conference.
U = Updating Miniprofiles of individual CWCs and their latest
activities.
V = Visitors and invitees to Annual Conference.
W = Worldwide data produced for or relevant to CWC.
X = Group photograph of Annual Conference available (with number of
attenders shown).
Y = Year of Meeting.
Z = Main Subject discussed.

CCWC COMMUNIONS (initials used in Global Table l's end column)

ACC = Anglican Consultative Council (Lambeth Conference
before 1971)

BWA = Baptist World Alliance

CHA = Christian Holiness Association

COB = Church of the Brethren

DECC = Disciples Ecumenical Committee for Consultation

EPC = Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

FWCC = Friends World Committee for Consultation

ICC = International Congregational Council (1970 merges in
WARC)

IMC = International Moravian Church in Unity of Brethren

IOCBC = International Old Catholic Bishops Conference

LWF = Lutheran World Federation

MWC = Mennonite World Conference

OAIC = Organization of African Instituted Churches

OOCC = Oriental Orthodox Churches Conference

OPM = Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow

PWF = Pentecostal World Fellowship/Conference

RCC = Roman Catholic Church

REC = Reformed Ecumenical Council

SA = Salvation Army

SDA = General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

WARC = World Alliance of Reformed Churches (1970 merger of
WPA, ICC)

WCCC = World Convention of Churches of Christ

WCC = World Council of Churches

WEA = World Evangelical Alliance (formerly Fellowship)

WMC = World Methodist Council

WPA = World Presbyterian Alliance (1970 merges in WARC)

OTHER INITIALS

BDs = Bilateral Dialogues

BEM = Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry

CUV = Common Understanding and Vision

CWC = Christian World Communions
(name since 1980)

EB = Encyclopaedia Britannica

GCF = Global Christian Forum

IBD = International Bilateral Dialogues

IBMR = International Bulletin of Missionary Research

JPIC = Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation

KCH = Kenya Churches Handbook

UBS = United Bible Societies

WCB = World Confessional Bodies
(name from 1965 to 1968)

WCCG = World Confessional Church Groups
(name from 1958 to 1961)

WCD = World Christian Database

WCE = World Christian Encyclopedia

WCF = World Confessional Families
(name from 1968 to 1980)

WCG = World Confessional Groups
(name from 1962 to 1965)

WCH = World Christian Handbook

WCO = World Confessional Organizations
(name proposed in 1957)

WCT = World Christian Trends

Global Table 1. Historical Overview of CWCs: 26 Annual Descriptors
and 569 Documents commissioned by or related to 53 Annual Conferences
of Christian World Communions, AD 1957-2008.

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Pope in Cyprus calls for dialogue between faiths

http://

AFP — June 05, 2010 — Pope Benedict XVI called on Saturday for dialogue between Christians and people of other faiths on the second day of his landmark visit to Cyprus, an island divided between Christian and Muslim communities. The pontiff celebrated mass in the small church of the Holy Cross, in the buffer-zone of Nicosia, Cyprus' capital.Duration: 01:35

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Pastors, be warned!

SDA head tells preachers to keep politics out of the pulpit


Tuesday, June 15, 2010


WITH memories of the fiery "stinking truth" sermon still fresh, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has warned its pastors to keep politics out of their pulpits.

Head of the 250,000-strong West Indies Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor Derek Bignall left no doubt about the position of the church as he ordained nine new pastors last Saturday.
Pastor Derek Bignall delivering the main address at the service of ordination for the church's western region at the SDA Conference Centre in Mount Salem, St James, on Saturday. In background is Vassell Kerr of the Northern Caribbean University. 1/1

"You are a priest, a minister, a friend and a servant. You are a teacher of righteousness, so when you come to the pulpit, you must preach Christ and him crucified. This pulpit is made to preach Christ, not politics. This place is for Jesus and Jesus alone," Bignall said.

Bignall, delivering the main address at the service of ordination for the church's western region at the SDA Conference Centre in Mount Salem, St James, did not make any direct reference to pastor Lorenzo King's controversial sermon at the Andrews Memorial Church in Kingston recently.

King, against the backdrop of calls for Prime Minister Bruce Golding to tell the country the full truth about the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips issue involving Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, urged leaders to give "the full, stinking truth" to the nation at all times.

The following day Bignall issued a statement saying King was not speaking for the SDA church.

On Saturday he told the new pastors that Jesus walked on earth for 30-plus years and yet did not become involved in the political issues of the day.

"He went about doing good -- healing the sick, feeding the poor, caring for the erring. He never had any contention with Rome. We are here to tell men that Jesus Christ is coming again and soon."

"The greatest work, the highest work, the most noble work pastors are called to do is the saving of souls. No work is greater than this. Angels would be excited to do the work that we do, co-labourers together with Christ for the salvation of souls," he said.

"We must teach the members how to live like Jesus; to be kind to the erring ones, the weak and the strong ones. Pray for them and treat them well," Bignall said.

Those ordained as pastors were Howard Morgan and Mario Parchment from the Petersfield and Whitehouse District of Churches in Westmoreland; Andre Wallace and Trevor Reid from the Vaughnsfield and Harrison District of Churches in St James; Orsick Page, Flecon Moodie, Delbert Brown and Jeremy Earle from the New Market, Goshen, Siloah, Southfield and Bull Savannah District of Churches in St Elizabeth.
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Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Pastors--be-warned-_7707082
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New Reformed church organization to be launched at global assembly in the United States


Grand Rapids, Michigan/USA, 17.06.2010 / APD


The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) are coming together in a new union with 227 member churches representing more than 80 million Reformed Christians in 108 countries - the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). The new organization will be established in Geneva where the WARC offices are currently located.

The Uniting General Council (UGC) that launches this new Reformed organization will be held from 18 to 26 June in Grand Rapids, Michigan - a community in the United States where WARC and REC churches have a tradition of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and reaching out in healing mission together.

“The term ‘communion’ in the new organization’s name points to a new form of working relationship,” says the Rev. Dr Setri Nyomi, WARC general secretary. “As a communion, we recognize our common baptism and our togetherness at the Lord's table - making us better witnesses and more effective in making a difference in the world.”

"This is an opportunity to celebrate unity and understanding among Reformed churches worldwide," says REC president Peter Borgdorff.

WARC president Clifton Kirkpatrick agrees, "We are blessed to be gathering at this time and place to reflect and learn together."

"The coming into being of the World Communion of Reformed Churches will be a historic moment for the churches of the Reformed family and for the church of Christ everywhere", said the World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, who will attend the uniting event.

The UGC theme is "Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace" (Ephesians 4.3). Under this theme delegates will consider God's call to both Communion (church unity) and justice as they gather and study around nine sub-themes: Reformed identity, theology and communion; Christian unity and ecumenical engagement; Justice in the economy and the earth; Worship and spiritual renewal; Leadership development and nurture; Gender justice; Youth empowerment; Mission initiatives and Peace and reconciliation.

More than 1,000 delegates, guests, visitors, volunteers and staff will gather at Calvin College in Grand Rapids. Women and youth will hold separate events just prior to the Council.

The agenda of the Uniting General Council will focus on a wide range of theological, mission and social justice concerns. Among them will be discussion of the faith and social issues affecting the lives of American Indians and Canadian First Nations peoples.

"It is important we hear the voices of the people who first inhabited this land long before Europeans arrived," says event organizer, Lori Ransom, a Canadian First Nations woman. "The arrival of the Christian faith had a big impact on Aboriginal beliefs and culture."

Also attend the uniting event will Rev. Dr John Graz, representing the world-wide Seventh-day Adventist Church. Graz is also acting as general secretary of the Secretariates of the Christian World Communions (CWC). The Seventh-day Adventist Church, a world communion in the tradition of Reformed theology, has over the years been involved in inter-confessional dialogues with WARC and REC, the world’s two largest networks of Protestant churches in the Reformed tradition.

More information about the UGC agenda and plans for the WCRC is available at http://www.reformedchurches.org/

Impressum
Adventist Press Service (APD)
P.O. Box 136
CH-4003 Basel/Switzerland
E-Mail: APD(at)stanet.ch
Web: http://www.stanet.ch/APD/
Christian B. Schäffler (Editor-in-chief APD)
Journalist BR/SFJ
Tel: 0041-61-261 61 15
Fax: 0041-61-261 61 18
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But, can ye not discern 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.




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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Fusion Centers and Intelligence Sharing




As part of the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative's (Global) efforts to develop fusion center guidelines, the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC), in support of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), recommended the creation of the Fusion Center Focus Group. This focus group was tasked with recommending guidelines to aid in the development and operation of fusion centers.
Concurrently, the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) Intelligence and Information Sharing Working Group focused on developing guidelines for local and state agencies in relation to the collection, analysis, and dissemination of terrorism-related intelligence in the context of fusion centers. The recommendations resulting from the HSAC's efforts assisted in the development of the fusion center guidelines.

"In developing our country's response to the threat of terrorism, public safety leaders from all disciplines have recognized the need to improve the sharing of information and intelligence across agency borders. Every law enforcement, public safety, and private sector official involved in information and intelligence sharing has a stake in this initiative. Leaders must move forward with a new paradigm on the exchange of information and intelligence."

Excerpt fromThe Role of Leadership,Fusion Center Guidelines

The development of guidelines for fusion centers was separated into three phases-law enforcement intelligence, public safety, and the private sector. The Fusion Center Guidelines: Law Enforcement Intelligence, Public Safety, and the Private Sector, covering all three phases, is now complete and available. These guidelines may be used for homeland security efforts, as well as all crimes. By integrating these guidelines, agencies can resolve and overcome many common obstacles. In addition, guidelines can help guide administrators in developing policies, managing resources, and evaluating services.

What Is a Fusion Center?A fusion center is an effective and efficient mechanism to exchange information and intelligence, maximize resources, streamline operations, and improve the ability to fight crime and terrorism by merging data from a variety of sources. In addition, fusion centers are a conduit for implementing portions of the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan(NCISP).

Excerpt fromFusion Center Guidelines: Executive Summary Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan

The ultimate goal of a fusion center is to provide a mechanism where law enforcement, public safety, and private partners can come together with a common purpose and improve the ability to safeguard our homeland and prevent criminal activity. A police officer, fireman, or building inspector should not have to search for bits of information. They should know to call one particular place-the jurisdiction's fusion center.

The Fusion Center Focus Group, whose mission was to further many of the tenets outlined in the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCISP), included experts and practitioners from local, state, and federal law enforcement and public safety agencies, as well as representatives from DOJ, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In addition, members from national law enforcement and public safety organizations, the private sector, and currently operating fusion centers participated in the focus group's efforts.The focus group members recommended that the guidelines include all crime types and that centers provide an array of intelligence services. In addition, the group recommended that centers be scalable based on the needs of the city, state, or region and should conduct tactical, operational, and strategic intelligence functions in support of criminal investigations.


As a result of the focus group's work, 18 guidelines were developed:



  1. The NCISP and the Intelligence and Fusion Processes

  2. Mission Statement and Goals

  3. Governance

  4. Collaboration

  5. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)

  6. Database Resources

  7. Interconnectivity

  8. Privacy and Civil Liberties

  9. Security

  10. Facility, Location, and Physical Infrastructure

  11. Human Resources

  12. Training of Center Personnel

  13. Multidisciplinary Awareness and Education

  14. Intelligence Services and Products

  15. Policies and Procedures

  16. Center Performance Measurement and Evaluation

  17. Funding

  18. Communications Plan

Also included in this report are additional resources, model policies, and tools for implementation to assist agencies in integrating the guidelines.

Source: http://www.it.ojp.gov/default.aspx?area=nationalInitiatives&page=1181

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Southern Baptists' budget vote shapes new evangelism approach

(Courtesy)http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100616/so-baptists-adopt-major-changes-to-tackle-lostness/(Photo: SBC / Matt Miller)

Posted 41m ago

By Bob Smietana The Nashville Tennessean


ORLANDO, Fla. — A decade ago, Southern Baptists fought over the belief that Jesus is the only way to heaven and the inerrancy of the Bible.
Today, they're divided over budgets and baptisms.

As the older hard-line conservatives fade into the background, a new group of leaders is jostling over the priorities of the country's largest Protestant denomination. These new leaders are less concerned about conservative politics and more concerned about saving souls.

"Status quo is not the way to go," said the Rev. Matthew Surber, the new pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville. "To pretend like everything is fine and we just need to try harder is not going to work."

At a gathering of 11,000 Southern Baptists on Tuesday at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., Baptists overwhelmingly approved a plan that will channel funds away from established Baptist programs and use them to fund new churches and more missionaries. It's called the Great Commission Resurgence. The national meeting concludes today.

Baptists also underscored their desire for change by electing a new president, the Rev. Bryant Wright, pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., who is somewhat controversial for promoting the idea of letting churches give money directly to the Baptist International Mission Board. That worries some Baptists who say churches should give money to a longstanding Baptist fund called the Cooperative Program, which then divides the funds among shared Baptist causes.

Wright said his church changed its method of giving after many church members traveled overseas on mission trips and developed friendships with missionaries. They returned to the United States questioning where the church was sending its money.

"We really believe that a majority of those funds should end up on the mission field," Wright said.

Rev. Frank Page, a former convention president, said it is possible to save souls and Baptist programs as well.

Page, newly elected president of the Southern Baptists' Nashville-based executive committee, is concerned that the Cooperative Program, and by extension certain Baptist interests, will suffer if churches start giving directly to missions. He said the convention needs the Cooperative Program to survive.

"We need to use time-honored methods to advance the Great Commission," said Page, who was also a member of the task force that drafted the Great Commission Resurgence plan. The plan is named after Jesus' command in Matthew 28 to go into the world and make new disciples.

Each year, the Cooperative Program collects about $600 million for Southern Baptist causes. State conventions keep about two thirds of the money. About $200 million is then divided among Baptists entities — with about 50 percent going to international missions and 25 percent going to evangelism in the United States through the North American Mission Board. Some of that money in the U.S. then gets recycled back to the states.

That has caused some Baptists to reduce their giving to the Cooperative Program. This past year, Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville gave money directly to the mission board, rather than to the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

Many of the church members didn't grow up Baptist, and so they don't feel obligated to support the state convention, said the Rev. David Landrith, pastor of Long Hollow.

"For a lot of our lay people it was an issue of stewardship," said Landrith. "Is it the best idea to keep the majority of money in Tennessee when there are so many places that don't have an evangelical witness."

Ed Stetzer, president of Nashville-based LifeWay Research, said to keep Southern Baptists working together, three things have to happen: States have to send half of the money collected to the national denomination, churches have to give more to the Cooperative Program, and the denomination has to work more efficiently.

Says Stetzer, "Increasingly pastors see denominations as a tool rather than a goal. If the goal is the evangelization of the world, the denomination is a tool to achieve that."
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Calderon Asks Mexicans to Back Drug War

http://

AssociatedPress — June 16, 2010 — President Felipe Calderon is asking Mexicans to support his war on drug trafficking. The broadcast appeal Tuesday came after soldiers killed 15 gunmen in a shootout in Taxco, and on a day the government restricted money exchange. (June 16)
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Britain finally says sorry for Bloody Sunday killings

http://

AFP — June 15, 2010 — The British government finally apologised on Tuesday for Bloody Sunday, one of Northern Ireland's darkest days in which 13 people died, calling the killings "unjustified and unjustifiable". Prime Minister David Cameron made the admission as a long-awaited report into why British troops opened fire on a civil rights march in Londonderry in 1972 was published, to joy from victims' families.
Duration: 02:00
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How long halt ye between two opinions?


And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.


1 Kings 18:21 (King James Version)
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UNITY V. TRUTH IN THE APOSTATE CHURCH

Gretta Vosper

Gretta Vosper is pastor of West Hill United Church in Toronto, and founder and chair of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity, an organization that provides resources and support for those exploring the boundaries of Christian thought, both within and outside of the church. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Queen's Theological College in 1990 and was ordained in 1992. In 2008 her book, "With or Without God; Why the Way We Live Is More Important Than What We Believe", was published in 2008 and has drawn interest from a wide range of readers. Vosper is a widely sought-after speaker and is regularly interviewed in the national media. - From "With or without God..."
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"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." -Matthew 10:32-33




The minister at Toronto's West Hill United Church, Rev. Gretta Vosper, does not teach her congregation to recite the Apostle's Creed. She does not believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit or born of a virgin. She does not believe that Jesus rose again from the dead or ascended into heaven... or most of the basic tenets of Biblical Christianity. In fact, when her congregation sings famous hymns, the references to Christ and God are removed. Yet, Ms. Vosper calls herself a "Christian." She posseses a Master of Divinity from Queen's Theological College in Kingston, Ontario and pastors a major church in Canada's largest Protestant denomination.

Ms. Vosper was keynote speaker at the four-day Common Dreams conference for religious progressives held in Melbourne in mid-April. As founder of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity, Vosper works to provide support for folks who believe Christianity is more about living a good life than about serving a living Savior. The title of her 2008 book With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe says it all.

Theology student Jenny Burns attended the Common Dreams conference, and recently expressed the purpose of religious progressives, writing:
We are called to be light in the world. People of differing theological viewpoints are called to stand together, motivated by their faith, to work towards creating the kingdom of God here on earth. What we do is more important than what we believe.
Unfortunately, growing groups of Christians are buying into the idea that unity is more important than truth - because they do not take the Word of God seriously.

Ms. Vosper believes that all that stuff about resurrection and miracles and the forgiveness of sins is something the Christian Church has to get past in order to make it in the 21st Century world. To her, the essence of Christianity is about loving your neighbor. She therefore follows some of the teachings of Christ - according to her preferred interpretation of those teachings. The rest of Jesus' message, about dying for our sins, rising again on the third day, and being one with the Father, those are things she just ignores.

It's The Truth That Sets Us Free:
Yet, the things Vosper denies are the most important teachings in Christianity, teachings for which there is a great more evidence than the Vospers of the world realize. Religious progressives are missing the real point - and dangerously so.

Jesus did not come just to teach us to be nice to one another, like preschoolers sharing graham crackers. The Son of a holy, righteous and love-saturated God came to save us from our sins and from well-deserved judgment. He allowed Roman soldiers to mercilessly beat him and mock him and nail him to a chunk of wood because he came to sacrifice his life for us. Then! Then he conquered death by rising from the grave! Then! Then he sent his Spirit to work through us and fill us with God's love. Without that truth, Christianity is just a be-ye-nice club. The power of Christianity is the reality of a living God working in human beings to change our lives both now and into eternity.

The Canadian Anglicans:
On the other hand, signficant numbers of Canada's Anglicans are holding fast to the Bible, despite a trend in the Anglican community toward "progressive" thinking. The General Synod (the chief legislative body) is meeting this week, and is trying to get the focus of their discussions off of homosexual issues, which have caused major divisions. The Anglican Church of Canada has remained committed to not ordain homosexual ministers or recognized same-sex unions, yet a number of individual dioceses have started to bless same-sex unions.

In 2008, famous evangelical theologian J.I. Packer cut his ties with the Anglican Church of Canada because a significant portion of its liberal leadership had become heretical. He has not been alone in his concern. A number of more conservative Anglican parishes have protested the gradual acceptance of homosexuality within many Anglican dioceses. The divisions are not just caused by sex issues. A chasm has steadily grown between those who hold conservative, Bible-based beliefs and those who affirm more liberal, man-centered views.

Packer still believes the Bible is the absolute authority on divine truth. "I'm simply being an old-fashioned mainstream Anglican," Packer said in 2008. He hasn't changed - and the Bible hasn't changed - just because portions of the Anglican leadership in Canada have.

Division Is Not New:
Since the days of the apostles themselves, Christianity has been full of division. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for being divided among themselves, for some saying, "I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ" (1 Cor 1:12). He encouraged them to be "perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Cor 1:10).


Psalm 133 describes how desirable unity is. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard..."

Yet, Jesus himself warned that he did not come to earth to bring peace, and that he would divide even families (Matt 10:34-36). Christianity exists because Judaism was split into two camps – those who followed Christ in the New Covenant, and those who clung to the Old Covenant.

We are to seek unity, to speak in humility and love, to be peaceable and gentle in wisdom (1 Peter 3:15; James 3:17-18). Our love for one another is something that is supposed to demonstrate to the world that we are Christ's (John 13:35). Yet, when the choice comes down to unity or truth, truth must always win. Unity can never be more important than following Christ himself.
"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me (Matt 10:37-38)."
Church leaders are to know the Word of God, so that they may "be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers" (Titus 1:9).

Rev. Gretta Vosper is wrong about the future of Christianity. Biblical Christianity that is full of the Spirit of God will never become outdated. It might be scorned by the intellectuals who consider themselves wise, and it might be rejected by those who seek the praise of man over the praise of God. But, the Spirit of God is always at work in the hearts of men, giving life to human spirits by the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.




"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." - 2 Timothy 4:2-5


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Toronto Ordination 2007
On Sunday, May 27, 2007 at West Hill United Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, five women and one man were ordained as Roman Catholic priests and deacons by Bishop Patricia Fresen of Germany.

Photo (Courtesy)
http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/articles_ord_07_toronto.htm
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Bizarre Lame Stream Noose


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U.S. Man Held in Pakistan Had Sights on bin Laden
By SABRINA TAVERNISE and SALMAN MASOOD
Published: June 15, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A middle-aged Californian, on a self-proclaimed mission to help American troops, armed himself with a dagger, a pistol, a sword, Christian texts, hashish and night vision goggles and headed to the lawless tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan to hunt down, single-handedly, Osama bin Laden.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/world/asia/16pstan.html

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MacDill AFB Incident: Couple Detained After Attempted Entry
by Amy Judd June 15, 2010 at 09:01 am

A Man and Woman With a Car Full of Guns Attempted to Enter the MacDill Air Force Base in Florida

The man and woman involved have not been identified and they are now in custody, but on Monday evening they tried to enter the base as they did not have proper identification.

According to FLORIDA TODAY the man has been identified as an active member of the base who is listed under 'absent without leave'. The car contained three rifles, ammunition and three handguns. It is not known what their intentions were, but officials have stated they do not believe the two were trying to commit an act of terrorism.
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http://www.nowpublic.com/world/macdill-afb-incident-couple-detained-after-attempted-entry-2629228.html

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Does Eating Brown Rice Lower Diabetes Risk?
Eaters of Brown Rice Have Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Study Finds

By LAUREN COX and COURTNEY HUTCHISON
June 15, 2010

White or brown rice might be a matter of taste. But people who substitute brown rice for white rice for health reasons may be onto something, a new study from Harvard University implies.

Study finds eating brown rice rather than white can lower the risk of diabetes.Yet doctors warn that there's more to this effect than the nutrition in rice alone.

Researchers drew on data from over 200,000 subjects and found that those who ate five or more servings of white rice a week had a 17 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with those who rarely ate white rice.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diabetes/eaters-brown-rice-lower-risk-type-diabetes-study/story?id=10888438

P.S. With so much real news taking place; How do they invent this nonsense?

Arsenio.

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MSNBC Works with Alex Jones to Discredit Tea Party Movement


MSNBC Works with Alex Jones to Discredit Tea Party Movement

By Cliff Kincaid June 13, 2010


The “Rise of the New Right” will be quickly forgotten because of its serious inattention to the facts.


Radio host Alex Jones, who believes that 9/11 was a U.S. government plot and “inside job” conspiracy, is featured in Chris Matthews’ Wednesday documentary (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/#37455267) on MSNBC as a leader of the “New Right” and the Tea Party movement. But Jones has absolutely nothing to do with the conservative or Tea Party movements.

In the advance promotional advertisements for the program, Jones is shown saying that the U.S. has entered the phase of “deep tyranny.” The promos make Jones appear to be the undisputed leader of the “New Right” and the Tea Party movement.

But in fact, a video shows Jones disrupting a Tea Party rally in Texas by shouting at organizers and speakers with a bullhorn. This performance woke up many Tea Party members to the real Jones agenda and he has been anathema to them ever since.

“HARDBALL Looks at Conservative Movement,” the MSNBC website says, referring to the Chris Matthews program which airs at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday.

But Jones is not and never has been a conservative. Jones has much more in common with the left than the right. He is, for example, a member of the 9/11 Truth Movement, as was Van Jones, the Obama official fired after evidence of his communist background began to surface. The 9/11 Truth Movement was originally designed to undercut evidence that Muslims were behind the attacks that killed almost 3,000 Americans. Leftists joined the movement and used it to undermine the Bush Administration drive for a military response to Islamic terrorism and its base of operations in the Middle East.

On MSNBC, it seems clear that the “Rise of the New Right” program planned for June 16 is an outgrowth of fear that the Tea Party movement could threaten liberal control of Washington, D.C.

The key to the MSNBC assault is the use of Jones.

As Accuracy in Media has documented, Jones postures as a “patriot” with inside information about various plots but appears regularly on the Russia Today television propaganda channel, where he has defended Russian foreign policy. One of his themes is that the U.S. is the greatest instigator of terrorism in the world today. He also promotes legalization of marijuana as a solution to our economic woes.

These are hardly “conservative” or Tea Party positions.

Judging by the transcript, reportedly leaked by an MSNBC “insider” to Jones, the radio host says in the program, apparently with a straight face, that a “global guild of psychopaths” is “setting up a planetary police state” to destroy up to 99 percent of the world’s population.

Adopting its own conspiracy theory, MSNBC throws out the names of Sarah Palin, Scott Brown, Dick Armey, Rand Paul, Joe McCarthy, Glenn Beck, Father Coughlin, Pat Buchanan, and the John Birch Society, as if they are all somehow linked or share something in common.

It is classic guilt by association, with no evidence of association being presented.

But for Alex Jones, the attention serves his purposes. Having cooperated with Matthews, a former Democratic Party operative, and his producers, Jones’ associates are now claiming that the script is biased to make the Tea Party movement look bad. This was the obvious intention all along, of course, and Alex Jones played his part.

Matthews and his “sources” in the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Media Matters group should understand that, rather than being any kind of right-wing political figure, Jones works openly and closely with such “progressive” figures as Webster Tarpley, a former high-level associate of political opportunist and extremist Lyndon LaRouche, one of the first fringe political figures to question whether Muslims were behind the 9/11 attacks. Tarpley wrote 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in the USA, blaming the U.S. for the attacks.

LaRouche, who has been on the fringes of the political scene for decades, began his career as a Marxist and his National Caucus of Labor Committees was a faction of the left-wing Students for a Democratic Society at Columbia University. During the late 1970s and 1980s, LaRouche and his operatives suddenly adopted a “conservative” posture. After that, however, LaRouche ran for president as a Franklin Roosevelt Democrat. He served prison time on financial fraud charges before re-emerging and running a movement that today is attempting to co-opt the Tea Party message.

Tarpley, who, like Jones, is a prominent figure in the so-called 9/11 Truth Movement, is a regular guest on the Jones radio show and appears in Jones documentaries that purport to expose the Obama Administration and the forces behind it. One of Tarpley’s books on Obama, published by Progressive Press, whitewashes Obama’s Marxist connections. He advertises himself as “one of the most incisive critics of Anglo-American hegemony,” demonstrating how he views the world.

One of the common themes of both Jones and Tarpley is that Muslims are being unfairly blamed for terrorist attacks such as 9/11 and that the U.S. and/or Israel are really behind them.

The problem of LaRouche operatives in the Tea Party movement is a real one and has been recognized as such. Members of the LaRouche movement have been waving the signs that are sometimes seen at Tea Party gatherings that depict President Obama as Hitler. The words “LaRouche PAC,” referring to the cult leader’s political action committee, are actually visible on some of the signs and banners.

The Matthews documentary mentions the Nazi charge against Obama, in order to discredit the Tea Party movement, without noting its LaRouche origins. It is another example of the program’s basic dishonest approach.

Conservative activist Tom DeWeese of the American Policy Center, who began his conservative career in Young Americans for Freedom decades ago, has written that, “Forces led by Lyndon LaRouche and, in my opinion, Alex Jones, are working deep inside our movement to see it implode into fights, caused by distrust and hatred. I believe they are manipulating the media to show the freedom movement as simply a band of nuts not to be taken seriously.”

It’s hard to tell who is manipulating whom. In any case, the Matthews agenda is clear: to use Jones in an unfair effort to smear the ordinary Americans and conservatives associated with the Tea Party movement as kooks following dangerous and unstable personalities. By extension, this reasoning goes, any candidate receiving their support is questionable.

All of this is supposed to benefit Democrats such as Harry Reid running against Tea Party-backed candidates like Sharron Angle in Nevada.

Another theme of the Matthews program, which we have seen before, is that the Tea Party movement includes racists. Matthews is a member of an all-white line-up of hosted shows on MSNBC-TV that has been determined to ignore black speakers and black leaders of the Tea Party movement.

If Matthews had wanted to present the facts, rather than his own conspiracy theories, he could have mentioned that Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul, a leader of the Tea Party movement, has appeared several times on the Alex Jones radio show and that Jones has even raised money for him. These are facts that any objective journalist on the right or left would agree that Paul has to account for.

In addition, Fox News host Andrew Napolitano, who now has his own television show on the Fox Business Network (FBN), appears regularly on the Jones radio program and has referred to the radio personality as a “great” figure with amazing insights into current events.

Incredibly, Rand Paul recently bypassed NBC’s “Meet the Press,” in order to avoid being questioned about his libertarian views, and instead went on the Russia Today propaganda channel, where he talked about immigration and other matters. For someone who wants to be elected to a national office with influence over national security affairs, it is shocking that Paul would go on a channel financed by the Kremlin that not only promotes Russian foreign policy but also the 9/11 “inside job” conspiracy theory.

In one segment that seems largely untainted by the political motives or conspiracies advanced by Matthews and his producers, the MSNBC program features a legitimate Tea Party member by the name of Ana Puig, a stay-at-home mother of four who got involved in the “Kitchen table patriots” because of the Marxist threat she saw developing from the Obama Administration. “I like to call it 21st Century Marxism, a camouflage statement for Communism since we are not fighting a bloody battle,” she has written. “Instead, we are fighting an ideological one.”

This is the real voice of the Tea Party movement. And this is why liberals like Matthews are so scared of it. The Tea Party movement has emerged because of recognition of what Obama and his backers truly represent.

One motive for the weak and slanted Matthews documentary is clearly disgust over the fact that Fox News, which is killing MSNBC in the ratings, has been a platform for Ana Puig and others like her. The role of Fox News in promoting the movement is mentioned several times.

By attacking the Tea Party movement, Matthews is really attacking his nemesis Fox News.

But if the transcript that is being made available by Jones is the final one, Matthews will have demonstrated that, in addition to being a hatchet man for the Democratic Party, he is also a bad journalist. He could have mentioned a real issue—how Andrew Napolitano of FBN has praised Alex Jones and has appeared repeatedly on his radio show.

The “Rise of the New Right” will be quickly forgotten because of its serious inattention to the facts. But you can bet that Jones will use it to make himself into a media martyr.


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Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at cliff.kincaid@aim.org

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Source: http://www.aim.org/aim-column/msnbc-works-with-alex-jones-to-discredit-tea-party-movement/
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Monday, June 14, 2010

Flash flooding strands dozens in Oklahoma City


This image made from video provided by KWTV shows a person stranded in a tree during flash flooding across the Oklahoma City area Monday, June 14, 2010. Flooding stranded motorists on their morning commutes Monday, prompting at least a half-dozen rescues and at least three interstate closures, authorities said. (AP Photo/KWTV)

By SEAN MURPHY (AP) – 19 minutes ago

OKLAHOMA CITY — Crews have rescued at least 50 motorists and residents after flash flooding washed-out roads and inundated neighborhoods in the Oklahoma City area.

One boat carrying three rescuers to aid a 17-year-old girl clinging to a tree Monday sank in swift-moving floodwaters on the city's north side. Deputy Fire Chief Marc Woodard says all four were rescued by a second boat.

No injuries were immediately reported.

Portions of three interstates and numerous thoroughfares in and out of the metro area were closed.

Weather service meteorologist Forrest Mitchell says the area received showers and thunderstorms almost continually for the better part of six hours Monday morning. More rain was expected later in the day.
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The Catholic Infiltration of Adventists


The Catholic Infiltration of Adventists

by

The Elijah Messenger


If you are an Adventist, it's likely that this information might frustrate you. If it does then the reader should pause for a moment and consider Paul's inspired counsel, he said to "prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (I Th. 5:21). Ellen White explains that we should be candid with our investigations, ". .Our brethren should be willing to investigate in a candid way every point of controversy. . .We are all under obligation to God to know what He send us. He has given directions by which we may test every doctrine . .to the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. If the light presented meets this test, we are not to refuse to accept it just because it does not agree with our ideas." Councils to Writers and Editors, p. 43,44. The signs of the times are here, pointing us to the second coming of Christ. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1844 was called out to prepare a people of this time. But instead of progressing to the high calling of Jesus Christ, something strange happened, they started to digress back to Babylon. In Hebrews 10:38, Paul writing to the Jews said, "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." The saints then and the saints today have every right to feel displeased with any church that has been called by God, to be washed and purified, but instead desire to wallow in the mire of Babylon. Peter put it this way: "For if after they have escaped the pollution's of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.(I Pe. 2:20-22)."

Adventists Giving Tithes & Offerings to Catholics

Some months ago a friend of mine who writes a monthly newsletter called Escape for Thy Life, sent me a copy. On the front page of this newsletter was a clipping from the Trinidad Guardian May 3rd 1996, page. The title of the first page was, Adventist helping Catholics. If you have ever read the Great Controversy by Ellen G. White, as an Adventist this may spark some interest and might even prompt you to speak out against this unholy alliance. This is exactly what Nyron Madina did as he explained the events that preceded the publishing of the article. "What a shocking picture which appeared on the front of the Trinidad Guardian on May 3rd 1996. There is a picture of the Roman Catholic Archbishop Anthony Pantin hugging a Seventh-day Adventist woman, Suduyn Elder, of a local Community Services Director for the South Caribbean conference of the Seventh-day Adventist, while on the left a Roman Catholic nun, Sr. Marina Serette looks on with a smile, and on the right Pastor Clie Dottin looks on smiling approvingly. What was the occasion? The South Caribbean of Seventh-Day Adventists donated TT$20.000.00 as a contribution to the rebuilding of the burnt out dormitories of the St. Dominic's Home."Escape For Thy Life, vol.1, no.1, pp.6-7. Tithes and offering are sacred to God and to His service. So why was it given to the most diabolical institution which will soon give birth to the antichrist. In Revelation 18:3 God revealed to us how rich the Catholic Church really is . . ."nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of For all the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." In spite of God's revelation, we see the Adventist adding to Rome's billions. Nyron Madina also stated, "in the same newspaper the Roman Catholic Church still justifies Sunday Holiness which Adventism by its very nature is against. Ibid. 6. In this present time the General Conference deserves to hear the same rebuke from Hanani the prophet, to Asa "Herein thou hast done foolishly" (II Ch. 16:9).

Adventists and Catholics Unite in Health Care

Adventist are so marinated with the spirit of Catholicism that they decided to unite in health care. This took place in Colorado, where the Porter care Adventist Health system, and the Roman Catholic Sister of Charity Health service sought too, aligned themselves together. The nominal Adventist poses no threat to the Papal system. This is why the Pope feels compelled to add the Adventist to his list of "Martyrology." Adventists will be allied with its supposed opposition in the most ecumenical "Martyrology" unprecedented in history. The Extra Newsweek, issue Winter, 1997 p.16 quotes, "In his most dramatic millennial gesture he has asked all the worlds bishops to compile a list of Christians who in this century were persecuted for their faith. These names which could amount to a million from almost every continent, will be published in a "Martyrology." What makes this list different from those of the early church is this; it will include Christians of every stripe-Protestants and Orthodox, Anglicans and Adventists, not just Catholics." I wonder if the Pope is trying to warn the minority of faithful Protestants, as to say if you don't join the rest in my bandwagon of ecumenism, as the faithful "martyrs" of the past, I will unite you at death in my "Matyrology."

Flirting with Rome

The Adventists flirting with Rome, can be traced back to the inception in 1965, and still continues up to this present day. In 1977, Dr. B.B. Beach, the secretary of the Northern Europe West African Division of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, had a chief part in cross-breeding Adventism with Catholicism. This is equal to spiritual fornication! This is the same path that ancient Israel played: "Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith." Ezekiel 16:29.

B B. Beach calls the Pope Holy Father

Roman Catholics have many titles for the Pope. Here are just some of them, "Vicar of Christ," "Holy Father," "Your Holiness," etc. All these names titles are condemned by the Bible! The Pope himself confirms this, in his recent book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p.6 "Have no fear when people call me the "Vicar of Christ," when they say to me, "Holy Father," or "Your Holiness," or use titles similar to these, which seem even inimical to the Gospel. Christ himself declared: call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called 'Master', you have but one master, the Messiah" (Mt 23:9-10). These expressions, nevertheless, have evolved out of a long tradition, becoming part of common usage. One must not be afraid of these words either." You may think this is horrendous but it keeps getting worse. Consider what C. Mervyn Maxwell, professor of church history at Andrews University in Berrien Springs Michigan has to say about Rome, "the Roman Catholic church was virtually the Christian church in Western Europe for about a thousand years. Because of this early universality, both Protestants and Catholics may regard it as the embodiment of 'our' Christian heritage, for better or for worse." God Cares, vol. 1, p. 127. I do not know what's your opinion is on this, but my Christian heritage did not derive from Rome, this is blasphemy! His apostate father, S. Maxwell, also thinks very highly of Rome according to the monthly newsletter, Watchman's What of the Night,"In a sermon given at the University Church in Loma Linda, Maxwell, father of C. Mervyn. . .suggested "We must rethink our approach to our Roman Catholic friends." Having cited the Popes opening speech of the Council as a picture of the church loving humanity, the separated brethren and people who don't belong and all people of all faiths and religions, "he asked, "How can we reject an outstretched hand and be Christians?" He suggested that the sermons preached in the past revealing the atrocities of Rome and its blasphemous doctrines must now be scrapped (Present Truth, 1968, No.2.) Ibid. 2-3. I ask, why would B B. Beach, S. Maxwell and his son say such things? Mrs. White said, "it is the rejection of the Bible truth which makes men approach to infidelity. It is a backsliding church that lessons the distance between itself and the Papacy." Signs of the Times, Feb. 19th 1894. The god of this world is Satan! The Papacy claims to be the ruler of the world. Therefore, trying to unite with the Papacy is like uniting with the devil, that is why the bible says, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (Ja. 4:4).

Adventist Ministers Guided by Jesuits

Derek Morris is an Adventist College religion teacher, with a Bachelor of arts degree from Columbia Union College, and Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees, from Andrews University (1987). This minister with all the wealth of knowledge of the bible and the Spirit of Prophecy turns to the Jesuits for spiritual directions. He wrote a twelve page study called, Spiritual Formation in Ministry, which he was fearful at the beginning to place his spiritual life at the hands of another, but after some encouragement he continued on. In his tract he explained what happened. "I was experiencing a high level of resistance [from within]. I was to learn later that such resistance is common, not only in the context of developing one's relationship with a spiritual friend, but also in the context of developing a relationship with God. In their book, The Practical of Spiritual Direction, Barry and Connoly spend an entire chapter exploring this common response of resistance." Derek Moris Spiritual Formation, pp. 8. The Spirit of God was convicting him of his apostasy, but it was to no avail. Barry and Conoly belongs to the Jesuit order called the Society of Jesus, and his crafty spirituality comes from none other than Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus:

" We [the authors] are both members of the society of Jesus and have, therefore, been strongly influenced by the spirituality of Loyola and his Spiritual Exercises." Practice of Spiritual Direction, pp. 11.

Ignatius of Loyola mind control methods was proven to be most fatal on its subjects because it had a lasting effect. Edmond Paris, a specialist on the Jesuits, in his book, The Secret History of the Jesuits, quotes Mr. Boehmer as saying, "Ignatius understood more clearly than any other leader of men who preceded him that the best way to raise a man to a certain ideal is to become master of his imagination." He goes on further and explains, "we imbue into him spiritual forces more lasting than all the best principles and doctrines; these forces can come up again to the surface, sometimes after years of not even mentioning them, and become so imperative that the will finds itself unable to oppose any obstacle, and has to follow their irresistible impulse (21)." Could you believe this? Derek Morris trains young ministers to enter into the ministry and he seek his spiritual advice from Jesuits and Ignatius of Loyola was the founder. What caused a man of this caliber to seek advice from one of the most ruthless organizations? Weakness, backsliding and knowing not what they believe: " Many are living in spiritual weakness and backsliding. They know not what they believe. Let us read and study the twelfth chapter of Daniel. It is a warning that we shall all need to understand before the time of the end. There are ministers claiming to believe the truth which are not sanctified through the truth." E.G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 15. p.228.

One Wicked Step at a Time

The first wicked step led to the Adventist, Evangelical connection in 1956-57 and that lead to the Adventist, Catholic compromise. Their involvement in the world Council of Churches lessons their idea of the prophetic role of the Papacy. This caused them to reject certain former teaching about the Papacy. This led to this astonishing statement by the Adventist Church, "although it is true that here was a period in the life of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church when the denomination took a distinctly anti-Roman Catholic viewpoint, and the term "hierarchy" was used in a pejorative sense to refer to the papal form of church governance, that attitude on the churches' part was nothing more than a manifestation of widespread anti-popery among conservative Protestant denominations in the early part of the last, and which has now been cosigned to the historical trash heap so far as the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is concerned." Excerpts legal Documents, p. 41. Who with a honest heart could pass by such a statement without speaking against it? This is a God given command, "Son of man, prophest against the shepherds of Israel." Ezekiel 34:2.

The Evangelical Connection

There is a group which sprang out of the Philadelphians, which is a new movement, calling themselves Adventist but are not, but belong to the synagogue of Satan. Revelation 3:9 says, "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie." This omega of apostasy hatched in 1956-57, when the elders of the Adventist Church met with a two respected personage of the Evangelical world Walter Martin and Donald Grey Barnhouse. What was the purpose of the meeting? To discuss doctrine! The Evangelicals pose a number of questions, and in response to those questions they published a book called Questions on Doctrine. At a close examination of this book on the key pillars on Adventism, the reader might wonder who wrote this book an Adventist or an Evangelical. On pages 381-83 we find the enigma of the perplexing Evangelical teachings. A comparison with the new theology and the real gospel will show why such a dilemma is present.

The False Teaching of the Sanctuary and The Nature of Christ

The Sanctuary from Questions on Doctrine, p. 381 "Jesus our surety entered the holy places, and appeared in the presence of God for us. But it was not with the hope of obtaining something for us at that time, or at some future time. No! He had already obtained it for us on the cross." Also in the same book, this is how far they drifted in their teachings on the human nature of Christ, "although born in the flesh, He was nevertheless God, and was exempt from the inherited passions and pollution's that corrupts the natural descendents of Adam." Ibid. 383.

It their recent book, Seventh-Day Adventists Believe, p. 315. col. 2. You would find a similar repetition, "the atonement, or reconciliation, was completed on the cross as foreshadowed by the sacrifices, and the penitent believer can trust in this finished work of our Lord." In the same book, they continue, "thus Christ's' humanity was not the Adamic humanity, that is, the humanity of Adam before the fall; nor fallen humanity, that is, in every respect the humanity of Adam after the fall. It was not the Adamic, because it had the innocent infirmities of the fallen. It was not the fallen, because it had never descended into moral impurity. It was, therefore, most literally our humanity, but without sin." Ibid. 47,49 cols.1,2.

The Correct Teaching of the Sanctuary and the Nature of Christ

The book which I am about to quote, was written four years before Question and Doctrine, by a prominent Adventist. Nichols correctly speaking on the "atonement" states as follow, "we believe that Christ's work of atonement was begun rather than completed on Calvary."

Rejecting the atonement is like rejecting Christ death on the cross, "The intercession of Christ in man's behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven." Ellen G. White, Great Controversy p.489. Romans 8:3 describes the nature of Christ this way: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Another biblical example is in Philippians 2:7 "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." In the proceeding quotes, Mrs. White goes on to explain her revelation from God on the Nature of Christ. Her understanding which according to "the law and the testimony" is set fort as follow:

"Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity." Desire of Ages, p.49.

"Christ did in reality unite the offending nature of man with his own sinless nature." Review & Herald. July 17, 1900.

The correct teaching of the Sanctuary and the Nature of Christ has been concisely and clearly stated. This should raise some questions in ones mind as too why the false teachings have crept its' way into the Church. When Israel was corrupted in the days of Isaiah, by false doctrines and paganism, he blamed the watchman as did Jeremiah blamed the people:

His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Isaiah 56:10.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? Jeremiah 5:31.

One of the Anti-Christ Doctrines Defined

The biblical definition of one of the anti-Christ doctrines of the last days, is to deny that Jesus came in the flesh: "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." II John 1:7. These leaders strike at the heart of our theology, the blow was directed at the "Nature of Christ" and the impact was fatal to the Sanctuary; for if Christ did not take our fallen human nature, Jesus could not be the faithful and merciful high priest that the bible claim him to be.

Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:17.

Therefore, preaching a false doctrine about the human nature of Christ, automatically dampens the sanctuary message. Ellen White was shown that our faith would have nothing to stand on: "In a representation which passed before me, I saw a certain work being done by medical missionary workers. Our ministering brethren were looking on, watching what was being done, but they did not seem to understand. The foundation of our faith, which was established by so much prayer, such earnest searching of the Scriptures, was being taken down, pillar by pillar. Our faith was to have nothing to rest upon--the sanctuary was gone, the atonement was gone. . . ." The Upward Look, p.152.

Adventists Sponsor Billy Graham

There has been a great amount of coziness between the Adventist and Protestants. Billy Graham, the pope of Protestantism who points excatholics who came to the altar after the altar call, he advised them to go back to the Catholic Church. This fact is ducumented by David W. Cloud in his book Flirting with Rome. He quotes the "Calvary Contender as stating:

"According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the archdiocese sent forty trained counselors for the Crusade. After each crusade session, Catholics coming forward were linked up with Catholic counselors and referred to the Catholic Church (Calvary Contender, Jul. 1, 1992). Ibid. 43.

This documentation what I am about to show you is mind boggling, that the Adventist help sponsor a spiritual gangster as Billy Graham on his ecumenical tour to Hungary. Ponder on the information as it reads:

"Graham's visit was sponsored jointly by the Baptist Union and an alliance that included Seventh-Day Adventist, Pentecostal, and Methodist. The meeting were said to be the most ecumenical ones ever held in Hungary (National Christian Council Review, National Christian Council of India, May 1986)." Flirting with Rome, vol.1, p. 37.

To put a cloak of righteousness over their apostasy, they seek to find refuge in quoting Ellen White as saying: "Our ministers should seek to come near to the ministers of other denominations. Pray for and with these men, for whom Christ is interceding. A solemn responsibility is theirs. As Christ's messengers we should manifest a deep, earnest interest in these shepherds of the flock." Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6 p.78. I could understand when Ellen White said, "come near to the ministers of other denominations," but she never said to join or sponsor them in their apostasy. Ellen White gives an inch but the leaders have stretched it to a yard!

Satan's Plan is to Change the Leadership

In the Old Testament, one of Satan's plans for Israel was to change the leadership and it was successful. What was the result? The result was corruption, rejection and finally destruction! Ellen White said that the Adventist Church will change their leaders and the majority would not know.

"Men in positions of responsibility are in danger of changing leaders. This I know, for it has been plainly revealed to me." Series B. no. 2, p. 48.

"But I am now speaking of actual mistakes and errors that those who really love God and the truth sometimes commit. There is manifested on the part of men in responsible positions an unwillingness to confess where they have been in the wrong; and their neglect is working disaster, not only to themselves, but to the churches. . . you will be left to make mistakes of a similar character, you will continue to lack wisdom, and will call sin righteousness and righteousness sin. The multitude of deceptions that will prevail in these last days will encircle you, and you will change leaders, and not know that you have done so." Review & Herald, vol. 2 p. 448-49. Dec.16, 1890.

Where Do We Draw the Line

I can show apostasy after apostasy, but the question remains, where do we draw the line when separation becomes a reality? Consider the abundance of light that the Seventh-Day Adventist Church received from God. The "Third Angels message," the testing message for these last days to the world was theirs to preach. Despite this great honor if the Adventist Church does not live up to this light [which they are presently not doing as you have read in the proceeding pages] they are in danger of never coming out of the depths of their apostasy. A perfect example of this is when Ellen White compared Capernaum to the Adventist Church. She said:

"Of those who boast of their light, and yet fail to walk in it, Christ says, "But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum [Seventh-day Adventists, who have had great light], which art exalted unto heaven [in point of privilege], shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." Review & Herald, vol. 3, 08-01-93.

Let us consider Luke 3:8, when John perceived the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders he said, "begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." We can learn from instance that God is not dependent of any denomination to finish His work. But if He starts revealing His will to a select group of people, and they fail just like the Jews, He would gather out the faithful ministers and choose others. The evidence for this claim is in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy: "If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much." Testimonies to Ministers, p. 410. This is contrary to what most leaders teach, they teach that the bad are shaken out, Ellen White taught the complete opposite. Consider what is about to be presented before you and weigh the evidence for yourselves

"The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of life, He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it unto the Gentiles. God will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work. When a church proves unfaithful to the work of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important responsibilities. But, if these in turn do not purify their lives from every wrong action, if they do not establish pure and holy principles in all their borders, then the Lord will grievously afflict and humble them and, unless they repent, will remove them from their place and make them a reproach." E.G White, The Upward Look, p. 131.

The Wheat and the Tares

Most Adventists in whom I had discussed some of these issues with, shuffle around Ellen White writing like a deck of cards, and present this statement as the ace of their argument to stay in the church. They quote Ellen White as saying, "we are not to say what constitutes the wheat, and what is the tares. The time of the harvest will fully determine the character of the two classes specified under the figure of the tares and the wheat. The work of separation is given to the Angels of God; and not committed to the hands of any man." Testimonies to Ministers, p.47.

Prsently, Adventist believe that the wheat and the tares would be separated at the time National Sunday Law. Read and see how Ellen White explains herself and correlate this with what you have been taught:

"I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, "Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner." Early Writings, p.118.

"I was shown that the third angel, proclaiming the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, represents the people who receive this message and raise the voice of warning to the world." Testimonies for the Church, vol.1, p.77.

"The [third] angel represented in prophecy as delivering this message, symbolizes a class of faithful men, who, obedient to the promptings of God's Spirit and the teachings of his word, proclaim this warning to the inhabitants of earth. This message was not to be committed to the religious leaders of the people." The Spirit of Prophecy, vol.4, 199.

"The work of redemption involves consequences of which it is difficult for man to have any conception. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 1 Cor. 2:9. As the sinner, drawn by the power of Christ, approaches the uplifted cross, and prostrates himself before it, there is a new creation. A new heart is given him. He becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus. Holiness finds that it has nothing more to require. God Himself is "the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3:26. And "whom He justified, them He also glorified." Rom. 8:30. Great as is the shame and degradation through sin, even greater will be the honor and exaltation through redeeming love. To human beings striving for conformity to the divine image there is imparted an outlay of heaven's treasure, an excellency of power, that will place them higher than even the angels who have never fallen." Christ's Object Lessons, p.162-3.

It is worthy at this point to allow a friend of mine, who writes a monthly newsletter Omega Countdown, to express his understanding on the wheat and the tares: "It is the work of sepatating the wheat from the tares that is not committed to the hands of any man, not the separating of the saints from open sinners and apostates, and there is a very distinct difference! Tares are insincere Christians who hide their insincerity quite well. Judas was a tare. Open sinning apostates like Nimri is quite a different story. Was Phinesa judging Nimri a tare when he ran him through with a swork? No! He was separating an open sinner from the camp by death! Can you gainsay this truth?" Ron Beaulieu, Omega Countdown Ministries, February 1993, p.25.

The separation of the tares and the binding of the wheat, has been taking place since the time of Ellen White: "I see perplexities on every side. As character develops man and woman will take their position, for varied circumstances brought to bear upon them will cause them to reveal the spirit which prompts them to action. Every one will reveal the character of the bundle with which he is binding himself. The wheat is being bound up for the heavenly garner. The true people of God are now bound up for the heavenly garner. The true people of God are now pulling apart, and the tares are being bound in bundles ready to burn. Decided positions will be taken. Satan will move upon minds that have been indulged, upon men who have always had their own way, and anything presented to them in counsel or reproof to change their objectionable traits of character is considered faultfinding, binding them, restraining them, that they cannot have liberty to act themselves. The Lord in great mercy has sent messages of warning to them, but they would not listen to reproof. Like the enemy who rebelled in heaven, they do not like to hear, do not correct the wrong they have done but become accusers, declaring themselves misused and unappreciated. E.G. White, 1888 Materials, p.995.

The messengers, which God sends to deliver the messages of warning, is none other than the church triumphant. Which God uses to aid the church in every generation, in its necessity, but most of the time they don't take heed: "The members of the church triumphant,--the church in heaven--will be permitted to draw near to the members of the church militant, to aid them in their necessity." E.G. White, The Southern Watchmen, Sep. 8, 1903. There goes the heresy of Keavin Hayden, who believes that God will have a remnat within the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and by their faithful lives shake and purge the church from their evil. So automatically one belives the church will shift from the church militant to the church triumphant. What a false hope!

The Unpardonable Sin

A perfect example of the unpardonable sin is in Hebrew 6:4-6, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Another biblical explanation can be found in James 4:17, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

What makes it unpardonable? As stated above, it is because the person or persons know what is right but persist in their wrong doings. Another classic example is what took place in 1844: "I was shown in a vision, and I still believe, there was a shut door in 1844. All who saw the light of the first and second Angel's messages and rejected that light were left in the proclamation of the message form heaven, and who afterward renounced their faith and pronounced their experience a delusion, there by rejected the spirit of God and it no longer pleaded with them." E.G. White, The Early Years, vol.1 p.260. Ron Beaulieu said it right when he expressed this statement: "refusing to receive and obey any of the three angel's messages, one rejects the light from heaven and falls from the favor of God: SHUT DOOR "As the churches refused to receive the first angel's message, they rejected the light from heaven and fell from the favor of God. They trusted to their own strength, and by opposing the first message placed themselves where they could not see the light of the second angel's message. But the beloved of God, who were oppressed, accepted the message, "Babylon is fallen," and left the churches." Early Writings, p.237. Omega Coundown Ministries, February 1996, p.18.

Unlike man, Jesus never changes: "Jesus is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." Hebrews 13:8. My question to you is, if the Adventist church violates any one of the three angel's messages, what would God do to them? Matthew 22:7 has the answer: "But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."

This frightening ordeal would have its counterpart in Ezekiel 9, with the general destruction of the wicked. The destroying angel, would begin at the santuary, [the professing SDA church] when there is a separation of sin and sinners. This is what the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy teach! What I am about to show should forever settle the separation issue. The Directory Christian Councils, states that the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is full members in the following countries: Hong Kong p.63, Bahamas p.99, Belize p.100, Hungary p.142, Sweden p.158. On page 224, the last page of the Directory Christian Councils has this astonishing to say: "In addition to the relationships and national councils of churches mentioned above, the WCC is in working relationships with many Christian World Communions, including the Anglican Consultative Council, Baptist World alliance, Disciples Ecumenical Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist . . ." "Since 1967 there has been a joint Working Group between the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church." Ibid 244.

Who Created the World Coucil of Churches?

It is important to know who created and founded the World Council of Churches, and where it is leading those who unite in their confederacy. A very well known author, Texe Marrs, who dedicated his life to exposing the evils that exist in world politics and religion, has a lot to say about the World Council of Churches:

"They [the Rockefellers] founded the blasphemous Parliament of the World's Religions, held in Chicago in 1993. Before that epic devilfest, the Rockefellers founded the Marxist-oriented World Council of Churches and National Council of Churches." Circle of Intrigue, p.145.

The Rockefellers are a group of international Bankers, who finance every evil you could ever concieve. Throughout the centuries they worked to further their goal, which is to create a New World Order. Gary H. Kah added another important piece of the puzzlel the Masonic connection: "The false ecumenical-interfaith unity being promoted today by the World Council of Churches. An organization that is strongly influenced by Freemasonry, is nothing new. It has been used for centuries to further the cause of world government." En Route To Global Occupation, p.109.

How much would it take before you will be convinced? For all those who like to be overwhelmed with evidence before they decide that the church has apostasized, I will proceed even further, but remember if you're convicted, Christ said that the knowledge which you have received will be your judge, in the last day: "He that rejected me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. John 12:47.

We must come to the realization that the elders of the church have made the church and many of its members become corrupt. The church in its present state is not a place to improve your spiritual life because it has become spiritually bankrupt!

"We must as a people arouse and cleanse the camp of Israel. Licentiousness, unlawful intimacy,and unholy practices are coming in among us in a large degree . . . We are in daner of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted. And filled with every unclean and hateful bird, and will we not be clear unless we make decided movements to cure the existing evil?" E.G. White, Manuscript Release, No. 449, p. 17,18.

The Regular Lines have Proven to be Unfaithful!

The Regular lines (organization) have become full of irregular practices: "So often the same old difficulties arise and are presented in regard to disturbing the 'regular lines.' But God will work in some way to make His people understand that the regular lines have become full of irregular practices. . . God alone can make men understand that working on regular lines has led to irregular practices. God alone makes men's minds as they should be. The time has come when we should hear less in favor of the regular lines. If we can get away from the regular lines into something which, though irregular working which has led away from bible principle." E.G. White, Manuscript Release, #1450. p. 3,4 (1904). John the Baptist, Jesus, the apostle Paul and many others have been using these irregular lines, which have proven to be more successful than the regular lines. Nobody likes to be hated! That's why it is such a hard saying when duty requires it! "This is a hard saying who can here it? John 6:60.

Corporate Repentance

The leaders also deny the existence of corporate repentance. After reading this tract and seeing the evils that exist in the Church, it is easy for one to say, I am not commiting such sins, so therefore I should be excused from the condemnation that hangs over the heads of the culprits. For those of you that agree with the above, consider for a moment with sincerity and honesty, what Mr. White said:

"The plain, straight testimony must live in the church, or the curse of God will rest upon His people as surely as it did upon ancient Israel because of their sins. God holds His people, as a body, responsible for the sins existing in individuals among them." Testimony's vol. 3 p. 269

The Jesuit thinker in Adventism says, "sin with resultant guilt, stems from the exercise of free moral choice and rests upon personal accountability before God" . . . "In a matter of sin, God does not deal with groups of people of with committees. He does not hold a committee as such responsible for the actions that the committee takes. Even though a committee, or a church through its delegated representatives, may have made a wrong decision, in taking notice of their corporate decision God still hods the representative individuals who constituted the committee resposible for the votes they cast." Roy Adams, The Nature of Christ, p.103. Ouoting Arnold Wallendampf, Statement, as published in his book: What Every Adventist Should Know About 1888, p. 53.

The book, The Nature of Christ, was endorsed by leaders in high places. Here are the names, George R. Knight, Professor of Church History of Andrews University, William H. Shea, Associate Director of Biblical Researe Institute, Raoul Dederen, SDA Theological Seminary of Andrews University, and Robert Folkenberg, President of General Conference. Malachi Martin, the author of the book titled, The Key of This Blook is a former Jesuit and professor at the Vatican's Pontifical Biblical Institute. All these men mentioned above stand by the Jesuit theory of the denial of Corporate Repentance. This is just another repetition of Corporate Repentance but Jesuit style.

"Let's face it: Even atheists know the Church teaches that sin is, first and only, personnal. It involves the choice of individual will in a man of women who freely and knowingly violates God's revealed Law. In strict theological language, as anybody will tell you, there is no such thing as collective sin; the sin of a group. Much less, than, can a structure whether formed of stones and wook, or a bureaucratic arrangements be said to commit sin, to be sinful, to be in a state of sin."

In conclusion I'd like to say, the information you have just read is writen in Love. At no time do I revel in these above facts, but on the contrary I am saddened to see the state of the church. I will take this opportunity to quote from Ellen White and the Bible concerning these things.

"The Lord commanded one of his ancient servants, "Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee." The prophet thus describes the sins which had called forth this fearful denunciation: "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end thereof?" "From the least of them even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace." The apostles declare that this state of things will find its counterpart in the last days. Many have a form of godliness, but in their daily life deny the power thereof. They have ceased to be convicted of their sins or alarmed at their state. They say in their hearts, "The church is flourishing. Peace and spiritual prosperity are within her borders." The words of the prophet may well apply to these self-deceivers, "They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them." Review & Herald, vol. 1, 11-07-82.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments: For this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.
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