Saturday, May 14, 2011

"The Adventists" documentary film



Uploaded by danatjourneyfilms on Nov 5, 2009

A one hour documentary film for public television that looks at the body-mind-spirit connections of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Bill Would Strengthen Role of Religious Freedom Envoy

May 12, 2011

By DANIEL BURKE
c. 2011 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS) New legislation proposed by a leading congressional watchdog would push the State Department to make international religious freedom a greater priority.

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., introduced a bill on Wednesday (May 11) that would boost the profile of the ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, require religious training for foreign service officers, and reauthorize an independent panel that monitors restrictions placed on beliefs and practices abroad.

The bill would also require the State Department report to Congress about concrete measures it has taken toward countries that violate religious rights.

“Religious freedom, often referred to as the first freedom, is of central import to the American experiment,” Wolf said on Wednesday. “As such it should feature prominently in U.S. foreign policy.”

Wolf authored the 1998 bill that established the State Department’s international religious freedom office, created an ambassador-at-large for the issue and founded a bipartisan commission to monitor foreign governments.

President Obama’s new religious freedom envoy, the Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, was confirmed by the Senate last month. Wolf’s bill, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., would give Cook and future envoys a direct line to the secretary of state.

It would also require the secretary of state, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to issue a report to Congress on the best ways to use U.S. aid to promote religious freedom.

In addition, Wolf’s bill would reauthorize the independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, whose nine members are appointed by the White House and Congress.

The commission, due to expire Sept. 30, issues annual reports that flag religious freedom concerns and offers recommendations to the president, State Department and Congress. Critics say the bipartisan commission lacks the teeth to execute its policy recommendations.


Source: http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2011/05/bill-would-strengthen-role-of-religious-freedom-envoy.php#ixzz1MKpXmqmi
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Chinese Christians Rally Around Underground Church

By ANDREW JACOBS

Published: May 12, 2011

BEIJING — More than a dozen Christian leaders in China have thrown their support behind an embattled underground church, calling for the government to end its persecution and for broader religious freedoms as well.


The New York Times
In early April, members of the Shouwang church gathered for prayer in office space in Beijing.


Their petition, a rare public gesture for religious figures, who are often wary of wading into politics, raises the stakes in a standoff that has drawn concern from Christian groups outside China and prompted a separate petition campaign in the United States and Canada.

Nineteen pastors signed the petition, delivered Wednesday to the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, and posted on the Internet. It calls for legal protections for so-called house churches, which operate illicitly outside the government-run religious system.

The petition also calls on the legislature to investigate the crackdown on one such church, Shouwang, an evangelical Protestant congregation whose leaders have been under house arrest for more than a month.

The church and its 1,000 members became homeless in early April after the landlord, under pressure from the authorities, canceled its lease. Since then, the parishioners have tried to pray outdoors each Sunday, prompting a predictable cat-and-mouse game with the police, who prevent some members from leaving their homes and round up those who manage to reach the predetermined place of worship.

Carsten Vala, an expert on Chinese Christianity at Loyola University Maryland, said the petition ratcheted up pressure on the ruling Communist Party at a time when it was increasingly nervous about perceived challenges to its authority. “This shows there is national attention to what’s happening to Shouwang and that there is connection among urban house churches across the country,” he said.

The petition blames an “outdated system of religion management” for a crisis that is stirring up the tens of millions of Chinese believers who have come to place more faith in Christianity than in the atheist Communist Party. It also suggests that such policies will invariably lead to more social strife, the very thing Chinese leaders are so eager to avoid.

“We hope that by setting up a special investigation commission, the government will be able to handle the Shouwang incident in a rational and wise manner on basis of the principles of ‘putting people first and ruling the country by law’ and in the gracious spirit of serving the citizens, so as to avoid the escalation of the conflict between state and church,” the petition says, quoting a common slogan of the current leadership.

The document was written by Xie Moshan and Li Tianen, patriarchs of the house church movement, who have each spent more than a decade in Chinese prisons.

The persecution of Shouwang and a number of other unregistered churches coincides with a wider clampdown in China, fueled by unrest in the Arab world, which has led to the detention of scores of dissidents, rights lawyers and other perceived critics.

Like many unofficial churches, Shouwang started out in a private home, but in recent years it has become one of the capital’s largest and most affluent congregations. In 2009, after a previous eviction forced the church to worship in a park, parishioners donated more than $4 million to purchase a space of their own. But despite having a deed in hand, the church has not been permitted by the government to occupy the space, a conflict that led to the current crisis.

At a regular news conference on Thursday, Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, defended the campaign against Shouwang, saying that congregants had tried repeatedly to “gather illegally in the streets,” according to Reuters.

“To maintain public order and security, the public security departments have taken the appropriate measures,” she said.
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Source
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The Coming Conflict


The greatest and most favored nation upon the earth is the United States. A gracious Providence has shielded this country, and poured upon her the choicest of Heaven's blessings. Here the persecuted and oppressed have found refuge. Here the Christian faith in its purity has been taught. This people have been the recipients of great light and unrivaled mercies. But these gifts have been repaid by ingratitude and forgetfulness of God. The Infinite One keeps a reckoning with the nations, and their guilt is proportioned to the light rejected. A fearful record now stands in the register of Heaven against our land; but the crime which shall fill up the measure of her iniquity is that of making void the law of God.

Between the laws of men and the precepts of Jehovah will come the last great conflict of the controversy between truth and error. Upon this battle we are now entering,--a battle not between rival churches contending for the supremacy, but between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and tradition. The agencies which will unite against truth and righteousness in this contest are now actively at work.

God's holy word, which has been handed down to us at such a cost of suffering and blood, is but little valued. The Bible is within the reach of all, but there are few who really accept it as the guide of life. Infidelity prevails to an alarming extent, not in the world merely, but in the church. Many have come to deny doctrines which are the very pillars of the Christian faith. The great facts of creation as presented by the inspired writers, the fall of man, the atonement, and the perpetuity of the law of God, are practically rejected by a large share of the professedly Christian world. Thousands who pride themselves upon their wisdom and independence regard it an evidence of weakness to place implicit confidence in the Bible, and a proof of superior talent and learning to cavil at the Scriptures, and to spiritualize and explain away their most important truths. Many ministers are teaching their people, and many professors and teachers are instructing their students, that the law of God has been changed or abrogated; and they ridicule those who are so simple-minded as to acknowledge all its claims.

In rejecting the truth, men reject its Author. In trampling upon the law of God, they deny the authority of the Lawgiver. It is as easy to make an idol of false doctrines and theories as to fashion an idol of wood or stone. Satan leads men to conceive of God in a false character, as having attributes which he does not possess. A philosophical idol is enthroned in the place of Jehovah; while the true God, as he is revealed in his word, in Christ, and in the works of creation, is worshiped by but few. Thousands deify nature, while they deny the God of nature. Though in a different form, idolatry exists in the Christian world today as verily as it existed among ancient Israel in the days of Elijah. The god of many professedly wise men, of philosophers, poets, politicians, journalists,--the god of polished fashionable circles, of many colleges and universities, even of some theological institutions,--is little better than Baal, the sun-god of Phenicia.

No error accepted by the Christian world strikes more boldly against the authority of Heaven, none is more directly opposed to the dictates of reason, none is more pernicious in its results, than the modern doctrine, so rapidly gaining ground, that God's law is no longer obligatory upon men. Every nation has its laws, which command respect and obedience; and has the Creator of the heavens and the earth no law to govern the beings he has made? Suppose that prominent ministers were publicly to teach that the statutes which govern our nation and protect the rights of its citizens were not obligatory,--that they restricted the liberties of the people, and therefore ought not to be obeyed; how long would such men be tolerated in the pulpit? But is it a graver offense to disregard the laws of States and nations than to trample upon those divine precepts which are the foundation of all government? When the standard or righteousness is set aside, the way is open for the prince of evil to establish his rule in the earth.

It would be far more consistent for nations to abolish their statutes, and permit the people to do as they please, than for the Ruler of the universe to annul his law, and leave the world without a standard to condemn the guilty or justify the obedient. Would we know the result of making void the law of God? The experiment has been tried. Terrible were the scenes enacted in France when atheism became the controlling power. It was then demonstrated to the world that to throw off the restraints which God has imposed is to accept the rule of the cruelest of tyrants.

Wherever the divine precepts are set aside, sin ceases to appear sinful, or righteousness desirable. Those who refuse to submit to the government of God are wholly unfitted to govern themselves. Through their pernicious teachings, the spirit of insubordination is implanted in the hearts of children and youth, who are naturally impatient of control; and a lawless, licentious state of society results. While scoffing at the credulity of those who obey the requirements of God, the multitudes eagerly accept the delusions of Satan. They give the rein to lust, and practice the sins which called down judgments upon the heathen.

Let the restraint imposed by the divine law be wholly removed, and human laws would soon be disregarded. Because God forbids dishonest practices, coveting, lying, and defrauding, men are ready to trample upon his statutes as a hindrance to their worldly prosperity; but the results of banishing these precepts would be such as they do not anticipate. If the law were not binding, why should any fear to transgress? Property would no longer be safe. Men would obtain their neighbor's possessions by violence; and the strongest would become richest. Life itself would not be respected. Those who disregard the commandments of God sow disobedience to reap disobedience. The marriage vow would no longer stand as a sacred bulwark to protect the family. He who had the power, would, if he desired, take his neighbor's wife by violence. The fifth commandment would be set aside with the fourth. Children would not shrink from taking the life of their parents, if by so doing they could obtain the desire of their corrupt hearts. The civilized world would become a horde of robbers and assassins; and peace, rest, and happiness would be banished from the earth.

Already the doctrine that men are released from obedience to God's requirements has weakened the force of moral obligation, and opened the flood-gates of iniquity upon the world. Lawlessness, dissipation, and corruption are sweeping in upon us like an overwhelming tide. In the family, Satan is at work. His banner waves, even in professedly Christian households. There is envy, evil surmising, hypocrisy, estrangement, emulation, strife, betrayal of sacred trusts, indulgence of lust. The whole system of religious principles and doctrines, which should form the foundation and frame-work of social life, seems to be a tottering mass, ready to fall to ruin. The vilest of criminals, when thrown into prison for their offenses, are often made the recipients of gifts and attentions, as if they had attained an enviable distinction. The greatest publicity is given to their character and crimes. The press publish the revolting details of vice, thus initiating others into the practice of fraud, robbery, and murder; and Satan exults in the success of his hellish schemes. The infatuation of vice, the wanton taking of life, the terrible increase of intemperance and iniquity of every order and degree, should arouse all who fear God, to inquire what can be done to stay the tide of evil.

Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated by desire for gain, and love of sensual pleasure. Intemperance has beclouded the faculties of many, so that Satan has almost complete control of them. Jurists are perverted, bribed, deluded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy, dishonesty of every sort, are represented among those who administer the laws. "Justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter."

The iniquity and spiritual darkness that prevailed under the supremacy of Rome were the inevitable result of her suppression of the Scriptures; but where is to be found the cause of the wide-spread infidelity, the rejection of the law of God, and the consequent corruption, under the full blaze of gospel light in an age of religious freedom? Now that Satan can no longer keep the world under his control by withholding the Scriptures, he resorts to other means to accomplish the same object. To destroy faith in the Bible serves his purpose as well as to destroy the Bible itself. By introducing the belief that God's law is not binding, he as effectually leads men to transgress as if they were wholly ignorant of its precepts. And now, as in former ages, he has worked through the church to further his designs. As the religious organizations of the day have refused to listen to unpopular truths plainly brought to view in the Scriptures, they have sown broadcast the seeds of skepticism. Clinging to the papal error of natural immortality and man's consciousness in death, they reject the only defense against the delusions of Spiritualism. Nor is this all. As the claims of the fourth commandment are urged upon the people, popular teachers find that the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is there enjoined; and as the only way to free themselves from a duty which they are unwilling to perform, they declare that the law of God is no longer binding. Thus they cast away the law and the Sabbath together. As the work of Sabbath reform extends, this rejection of the divine law to avoid the claims of the fourth commandment will become well-nigh universal. Upon those religious leaders whose teachings have opened the door to infidelity, to Spiritualism, and to contempt for God's holy law, rests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that exists in the Christian world.

Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called "Christian Sabbath," and that the enforcement of Sunday observance would greatly improve the morals of society. Combining the temperance reform with the Sunday movement, they represent themselves as laboring to promote the highest interests of society; and those who refuse to unite with them are denounced as the enemies of temperance and reform. But the fact that a movement to establish error is connected with a work which is in itself good, is not an argument in favor of the error. We may disguise poison by mingling it with wholesome food, but we do not thereby change its nature. On the contrary, it is rendered more dangerous, as it is more likely to be taken unawares. It is one of Satan's devices to combine with falsehood just enough truth to give it plausibility. The leaders of the Sunday movement may advocate reforms which the people need, principles which are in harmony with the Bible, yet while there is with these a requirement which is contrary to God's law, his servants cannot unite with them. Nothing can justify them in setting aside the commandments of God for the precepts of men.

Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of Spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. Protestantism will yet stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism; she will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, our country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.

Spiritualism is now changing its form, veiling some of its more objectionable and immoral features, and assuming a Christian guise. Formerly it denounced Christ and the Bible; now it professes to accept both. The Bible is interpreted in a manner that is attractive to the unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect. A God of love is presented; but his justice, his denunciations of sin, the requirements of his holy law, are all kept out of sight. Pleasing, bewitching fables captivate the senses of those who do not make God's word the foundation of their faith. Christ is as verily rejected as before; but Satan has so blinded the eyes of the people that the deception is not discerned.

As Spiritualism assimilates more closely to the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of Spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and express regard for Sunday, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.

The line of distinction between professing Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church-members love what the world loves, and are ready to join with them; and Satan determines to unite them in one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of Spiritualism. Papists who boast of miracles as a certain mark of the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world, and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.

Through Spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing the diseases of the people, and professing to present a new and more exalted system of religious faith; but at the same time he works as a destroyer. His temptations are leading multitudes to ruin. Intemperance dethrones reason; sensual indulgence, strife, and bloodshed follow. Satan delights in war; for it excites the worst passions of the soul, and then sweeps into eternity its victims steeped in vice and blood. It is his object to incite the nations to war against one another; for he can thus divert the minds of the people from the work of preparation to stand in the day of God.

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

While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, is Satan exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon the inhabitants of the world. The beasts of the field will groan, and the earth will languish.

And then the great deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God are causing these evils. The class that have provoked the displeasure of Heaven will charge all their troubles upon the faithful few whom the Lord has sent to them with messages of warning and reproof. It will be declared that the nation is offending God by the violation of the Sunday-Sabbath, that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced, and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the nation, preventing its restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity. Thus the accusation urged of old against the servant of God will be repeated, and upon grounds equally well established. "And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim." [1 KINGS 18:17,18.] As the wrath of the people shall be excited by false charges, they will pursue a course toward God's ambassadors very similar to that which apostate Israel pursued toward Elijah.

The miracle-working power manifested through Spiritualism will exert its influence against those who choose to obey God rather than men. Messages will come from the spirits declaring that God has sent them to inform the rejecters of Sunday that they are in error, and that the laws of the land should be obeyed as the law of God. They will lament the great wickedness in the world, and second the testimony of religious teachers, that the degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will be the indignation excited against all who refuse to accept their testimony.

Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained of God. In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment-keepers will be censured and misrepresented. A false coloring will be given to their words; the worst possible construction will be put upon their motives.

The Protestant churches have rejected the clear, scriptural arguments in defense of God's law, and they long to stop the mouths of those whose faith they cannot overthrow by the Bible. Though they blind their own eyes to the fact, they are now adopting a course which will lead to the persecution of those who conscientiously refuse to do what the rest of the Christian world are doing, and acknowledge the claims of the papal Sabbath.

The dignitaries of Church and State will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth, and in order to secure public favor, legislators will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost this nation so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected. In the soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophet's words: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." [REV. 12:17.]

Our land is in jeopardy. The time is drawing on when its legislators shall so abjure the principles of Protestantism as to give countenance to Romish apostasy. The people for whom God has so marvelously wrought, strengthening them to throw off the galling yoke of popery, will by a national act give vigor to the corrupt faith of Rome, and thus arouse the tyranny which only waits for a touch to start again into cruelty and despotism. With rapid steps are we already approaching this period. When Protestant churches shall seek the support of the secular power, thus following the example of that apostate church, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will there be a national apostasy which will end only in national ruin.

Spirit of Prophecy - Vol. 4, pp.398-410.

Haiti prepares for Saturday’s historic inauguration

Posted on Friday, 05.13.11


The presidential palace, parliament and Cathedral are all broken. But the celebration must go on as Haiti improvises for Saturday’s presidential inauguration.



Stands are under construction as workers prep the grounds of the heavily damaged National Palace for the inauguration of President-Elect Michel Martelly. Workers moved lumber, painted, and constructed stands for the inauguration ceremony on May 14th at the National Palace on Tuesday, May 10, 2011 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
CARL JUSTE / MIAMI HERALD STAFF


By Jacqueline Charles

jcharles@MiamiHerald.com


PORT-AU-PRINCE -- On the neatly manicured lawn of the National Palace, Haiti’s collapsing symbol of presidential power, workers are busy building wooden bleachers and draping them in red and blue in time for Saturday’s inauguration of former musician Michel Martelly.

Activity abounds, as well, outside the damaged National Assembly building a few miles away.

The palace, parliament and National Cathedral are all wrecked, destroyed by last year’s massive 7.0 earthquake, which claimed more than 300,000 lives.

“Everything is broken,’’ said Daniel Supplice, head of Martelly’s presidential transition team. “But we don’t have a choice. The president has to be inaugurated either way. It has to be done. We have to see how it is done.’’

The inauguration ceremony begins early Saturday with the arrival of Martelly, parliamentarians and President René Préval at a plaza near the parliament building. It will end with festivities throughout all 10 of Haiti’s geographical political departments, said Fritz Jean-Louis, Martelly’s chief celebration planner.

The ceremony will be the high point of events to mark the rise to the presidency of the konpa star better known as “Sweet Micky’’ after an election fraught with controversy, protests and foreign diplomatic intervention.

A group of Haitian-Americans held a $500-per-person VIP reception and dinner fundraising benefit Thursday night at the upscale Karibe Hotel in Petionville. On Saturday, there is a $500-a-plate “selection admission only’’ inaugural ball by the Florida Martelly Group at the Ritz Kinam in Petionville. It will feature a five-course dinner by former Bravo Top Chef contestant Ron Duprat.

At 9 a.m. Friday, all of the nation’s Catholic Churches are scheduled to hold a Mass in honor of Martelly. In the afternoon, there will be Protestant services followed by a prayer revival and concert on the Champ de Mars, the downtown public square-turned homeless encampments for tens of thousands of quake victims.

Three sets of invitations have gone out — some are still going out (French President Nicolas Sarkozy received his Tuesday) — for three distinct events. Total cost: $4.5 million, according to government officials.

The swearing-in outside parliament’s new building will immediately be followed by a ceremony on the grounds of the National Palace, which has been transformed into a showcase with tents as the backdrop. About 2,500 people are expected. A reception that would have taken place inside the palatial white structure was moved to the Karibe.

Even the Roman Catholic Mass, which would have taken place in the Cathedral, has been moved to the palace grounds.

“We will not have a long cultural program,’’ Jean-Louis said.

Not part of the program is the former self-appointed president of konpa’s famous carnival pledge to dance naked on top of the National Palace once he becomes president.

“Maybe once the country is back on track and the people have found some relief, he may sing a song,’’ Jean-Louis said, laughing.

About 150 foreign dignitaries have confirmed for the inauguration, and they begin arriving on Friday. The list includes just three sitting presidents, representing Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Suriname. The tiny South American nation has the largest delegation with 17.

The White House announced this week that the U.S. delegation will be led by former President Bill Clinton, co-chair of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission; and include Kenneth Merten, U.S. ambassador to Haiti, and Thomas Adams, Haiti special coordinator in the State Department.

France will be represented by Foreign Minister Alain Juppé, Haiti’s French Ambassador, Didier Le Bret, said. His entourage of 10 will include a member of parliament and two ambassadors, including Le Bret.

The English-speaking Caribbean community will be represented by Prime Ministers Hubert Ingraham of the Bahamas, Tillman Thomas of Grenada and Bruce Golding of Jamaica.

No celebration in Haiti is without a bit of controversy, and Martelly, 50, isn’t spared. His invitation to all of Haiti’s eight living presidents, including former President-for-Life Jean-Claude “Baby Doc’’ Duvalier, has stirred emotions.

Calling the invitation “scandalous,’’ Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network has reminded Martelly that Duvalier is currently charged with numerous crimes committed during his 15-year reign and is under house arrest. He has refused to “answer the summons of the magistrate on the grounds that his health is precarious,’’ the group said. Duvalier has refuted that he’s under house arrest.

The invitation, it said, “is a total disregard to the tens of thousands of victims’’ and raises the question on whether Martelly “will start his five-year term under the sign of forgetfulness and impunity.’’ It added that the image of Duvalier sitting with the other former presidents is “disturbing.’’

But Jean-Louis said Martelly is striving for an image of “reconciliation’’ in a country with a turbulent history.

“The image will be pretty for the country if they are all there,’’ he said. “There is a time that arrives for us to say — ‘Here is how we are going to advance.’ ’’

But it’s unlikely that Martelly will get all of Haiti’s presidents sitting along the same row. Former President Leslie Manigat, whose wife lost to Martelly in the March runoff, is on a cruise. Henri Namphy is in the Dominican Republic, and unlike Duvalier, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who also recently returned from exile, has been keeping a low profile. Also uncertain is whether Préval will stick around after passing the presidential sash, the symbol of power.


Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/13/v-fullstory/2214707_haiti-prepares-for-saturdays-historic.html#ixzz1MJrBJc7Q
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Related:

Haiti's National Palace, before and after the earthquake:

Friday, May 13, 2011

Difficult Times Ahead


2 Timothy 3

1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

7Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

9But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was.

10But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,

11Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

12Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

13But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

14But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

15And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The Power of a Happy Disposition


Continual association with inferiors in age and mental training tends to make the teacher tenacious of his rights and opinions, and leads him to guard jealously his position and dignity. Such a spirit is opposed to the meekness and humility of Christ. A neglect to cherish these graces hinders advancement in the divine life. Many thus build barriers between themselves and Jesus, so that His love cannot flow into their hearts, and then they complain that they do not see the Sun of Righteousness. Let them forget self and live for Jesus, and the light of heaven will bring gladness to their souls. {CT 232.3}

No man or woman is fitted for the work of teaching who is fretful, impatient, arbitrary, or dictatorial. These traits of character work great harm in the schoolroom. Let not the teacher excuse his wrong course by the plea that he has naturally a hasty temper or that he has erred ignorantly. In his position he stands where ignorance or lack of self-control is sin. He is writing upon souls lessons that will be carried all through life, and he should train himself never to speak a hasty word, never to lose his self-control.

Above all others, he who has the training of the youth should beware of indulging a morose or gloomy disposition; for this will cut him off from sympathy with his students, and without sympathy he cannot hope to benefit them. We should not darken our own path or the path of others with the shadow of our trials. We have a Saviour to whom to go, into whose pitying ear we may pour every complaint. We may leave all our cares and burdens with Him, and then our labor will not seem hard or our trials severe.

"Rejoice in the Lord alway," the apostle Paul exhorts, "and again I say, Rejoice." Philippians 4:4. Whatever your disposition may be, God is able so to mold it that it will be sweet and Christlike. By the exercise of living faith you can separate from everything that is not in accordance with the mind of God, and thus bring heaven into your life here below. Doing this, you will have sunshine at every step. When the enemy seeks to enshroud the soul with darkness, sing faith and talk faith, and you will find that you have sung and talked yourself into the light.

We open to ourselves the floodgates of woe or joy. If we permit our thoughts to be engrossed with the troubles and trifles of earth, our hearts will be filled with unbelief, gloom, and foreboding. If we set our affections on things above, the voice of Jesus will speak to our hearts, murmuring will cease, and vexing thoughts will be lost in praise to our Redeemer. Those who dwell upon God's great mercies and are not unmindful of His lesser gifts, will put on the girdle of gladness and make melody in their hearts to the Lord. Then they will enjoy their work. They will stand firm at their post of duty. They will have a placid temper, a trustful spirit.

Counsel To Parents, Teachers & Students, pp.232-234.
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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Royal Wedding Endorsement by Jamaica's Governor General

05 May 2011, London United Kingdom [Derek Morrison, BUC NEWS] Pomp, pageantry and praise – not just at last Friday's Royal Wedding at Westminster Abbey, but continued the next day at a special Day of Fellowship at Hampstead Adventist church with Sir Patrick Allen, Governor General of Jamaica.


Themed 'The Royal Wedding', the day's proceedings featured stirring and appealing musical input from the London Male Voice Choir, the Millennium Brass Ensemble, and 14-year-old Tennae Drysdale. A well-ordered procession and guard of honour mounted by Pathfinders contributed to a sense of splendour and occasion. With well over 500 people packing the sanctuary for the extended morning service, local minister Humphrey Walters delivered the morning's address based on the parable of the wedding garment, taking his cue from the royal wedding service.

Sir Patrick Allen, former President of the West Indies Union Conference, and now Governor General of Jamaica, was special guest for the day. He had attended the Royal Wedding on Friday but, he informed us, like any dedicated Adventist, looked forward to worshipping on Sabbath in church with his brothers and sisters in the Lord. Addressing a packed out congregation, Sir Patrick remarked that he appreciated the sacredness of Friday's wedding service and hoped it would help in encouraging young people to continue to uphold the institution of marriage.

Even though he has been Governor General for two years, he is still defined by many people he meets as a minister of the gospel, Sir Patrick disclosed to us. This, he says, gives him the opportunity to witness regarding his faith. He shared an example that while at the wedding he was asked about the significance of being an Adventist, and was quizzed on whether his duties as Governor General ever clashed with his Sabbath-keeping. He was able to explain that there was no inevitable conflict; that he is happy being an effective Governor General and, at the same time, a faithful Sabbath-keeping Christian. Requesting the prayers of the church, he conceded that if he were ever to turn away from the faith, everyone in Jamaica, Adventist or not, would be disappointed in him.

Key issues being championed by him and his wife, Sir Patrick informed us, revolve around the family, education and youth affairs. These, they are seeking to address from a holistic standpoint that embraces mental, spiritual, social, emotional and physical considerations. He has used his high position to implement a programme that is tagged the "I believe" initiative, where young people are empowered to find good values and use their God-given talents to build a good nation and serve God and country. Sir Patrick concluded his address by challenging us to do good, stating: "We will only pass this way but once; any good deed we can do, let us do it now, because we will not pass this way again."

Accompanying him on the day were BUC President, Pastor Don McFarlane, as well as former BUC President Pastor Cecil Perry. Also in attendance were SEC representatives, along with a number of pastors. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
119 St Peter's Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3EY, England
E-mail: tednews@ted-adventist.org
Website: www.ted-adventist.org
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Near-Zero Chance of May 11 Earthquake in Rome, USGS Says

Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer,
LiveScience.com
– Mon May 9, 7:01 pm ET


According to a rumor that has circulated on the Internet for months, Raffaele Bendandi, an Italian pseudoscientist who died in 1979, predicted before his death that a massive earthquake will strike Rome on Wednesday (May 11). No one is sure that he actually made such a prediction — his chief biographer is unaware of such a prediction — but regardless, in response, Romans are taking heed and fleeing their city by the thousands.

Working in this rumor's favor is the fact that Bendandi, who also dabbled in astronomy, correctly guessed the approximate date of an earthquake in the Adriatic region in 1923, a feat for which he was later knighted. Will his alleged posthumous prediction come to pass too?

Geophysicists say no — almost certainly not. Not only are earthquakes far too chaotic to be predicted decades ahead of time, they aren't even predictable on the scales of days.

"To predict an earthquake, you need a precursory signal of some kind, and we've yet to find anything reliable," said Tom Parsons, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). "A lot of things have been tried in terms of looking for electrical signals or gas release, and paying attention to animal behavior, but none of these have turned out to be reliable."

Even if seismologists were able to identify a precursory signal indicating that an earthquake was on its way, "that would happen a few days before," Parsons told Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience — not more than three decades in advance. "Earthquakes and tectonic plates interact with each other in a very chaotic system, so in order to do a long-term prediction you'd have to be able to foresee all the activity over the coming 30 years. It's extremely unlikely that anyone would be able to do that."

Furthermore, if you're trying to predict an earthquake ahead of time, it would be wise to choose a location above a major fault line, not Rome. "Earthquakes are certainly not common in Rome. Most activity in Italy occurs in the Apennines," Parsons said, referring to the mountain range that runs down the center of Italy's "boot" and into its toe. "You feel earthquakes in Rome sometimes, but they happen elsewhere; there aren't major fault lines underneath the city. So in terms of predicting a massive earthquake there, it's already a kind of unlikely place."

Sometimes heightened seismic activity can hint than an earthquake is imminent, but there haven't been any rumblings in Rome raising concerns among seismologists. "To my knowledge, no, there hasn't been any abnormal activity. If there was a credible forecast I would have heard about it," Parsons said. "Even if there were abnormal seismic activity, that happens all the time without leading to a forecast. There is occasionally foreshocking events that happen in clusters but those only lead to a large event 8 percent of the time." [Infographic: How the Japan Quake Triggered Aftershocks]

The wisest move, Parsons said, is to prepare for the largest quake possible in a given area rather than focusing on predictions for a given day.

"There's a lot of interest in chasing down predictions, but you should simply be prepared for the largest earthquake possible in a given area and build and retrofit buildings to be able to withstand a quake of that magnitude," he said.

"When you're trying to predict an earthquake on a given day, you'll have chaos with people panicking and trying to leave the city — I see that that's already happening in Rome. It's much better to understand the likely largest event in the coming years and build accordingly."

This article was provided by Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyover.

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Geopolitics & Terrorism

Date: 05-08-11

Host: John B. Wells

Guests:
Craig Hulet,
David B. Sereda

Guest host John B. Wells (email) was joined by geopolitical analyst Craig B. Hulet, who discussed the recent developments in the Middle East, the War on Terror, bin Laden's role in 9-11, and what he sees for the future of the United States. "We do not have to look beyond our shores to see the face of the enemy," he declared, "and it is in corporate America." Hulet contended that the continual consolidation of corporations is "creating fewer and fewer of the most powerful." These power brokers, he said, have no national, religious, or ethnic loyalties and are, instead, driven purely by accumulation of wealth and influence.

Regarding the recent death of Osama bin Laden, Hulet observed that "there's never just one simple explanation" for why certain major events happen when they do. That said, he opined that the timing of bin Laden's demise seems to be connected to the ongoing uprising in Libya. To that end, Hulet noted that Moammar Gadhafi had been "one of our best sources" against Al Qaeda and that the Libyan dictator even claimed that bin Laden was behind the unrest in his country. However, the resources in Libya, notably oil, are of paramount interest to the corporate power brokers, so "that meant it was time for bin Laden to go," in order to clear the way for toppling Gadhafi. Similarly, Hulet asserted that the war in Afghanistan is predicated on building a massive oil pipeline and that the United States will "never leave" the country unless the installation is secure.

Looking ahead to the future, Hulet speculated that gas prices could rise to 5 or 6 dollars a gallon during the Summer. Beyond that, he warned that, within the next four or five years, "we're going to see suicide bombing on our soil, here in America." He lamented this prediction, but observed that he "can't help but follow my analysis." On an international level, Hulet declared that "in twenty years, China is going to dominate the globe." He explained that the "monopoly corporate structure" prefers the Chinese business model as opposed to the American free enterprise system. This, he said, is why so many jobs are shipped to China and will continue to be outsourced from America. Chillingly, Hulet said, that, on an individual level, he has no advice for resisting this trend and, "collectively, I just don't have much hope."
...

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Pope Blesses U.N. Flag


by Daniel Taylor
Old-Thinker News
April 29, 2008
from OldThinkerNews Website



Pope Benedict XVI spoke to the U.N. General Assembly on Friday, warning nations against undermining the authority of the United Nations by acting unilaterally.

The Pope also found time to bless the U.N. flag.

Reuters reports, "Countries that act unilaterally on the world stage undermine the authority of the United Nations and weaken the broad consensus needed to confront global problems, Pope Benedict said on Friday.

The international community must be, "capable of responding to the demands of the human family through binding international rules," said the 81-year-old pope, who spoke after meeting privately with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Pope Benedict XVI reaches to touch and bless a United Nations flag at the U.N. headquarters in New York April 18, 2008.


He said the notion of multilateral consensus was, "in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few, whereas the world’s problems call for interventions in the form of collective action by the international community."

The Pope’s comments are of little surprise, given the fact that he has previously called for a "New World Order" to combat terrorism, environmental problems, as well as economic imbalances during his Christmas 2005 speech. Pope John Paul II also called for a new world order in a 2004 new years speech.

An interesting perspective on these comments comes from a 1970’s report called the "World Order Models Project." The report was funded by the Carnegie Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation, and was directed by Council on Foreign Relations member Saul H. Mendlovitz.

Richard A. Falk, also a CFR member, contributed work to the project.

The project called for the formation of a world government complete with global taxes, a general disarmament program and the elimination of the nation state.

The WOMP project also planned on selling these globalist ideals to the world by using prominent world leaders to promote the plans and begin molding the international dialectic around globalist perceptions. The Pope was named as a possible outlet.

The project states, "Symbolic world leaders such as the Secretary General of the United Nations or the Pope might espouse [the WOMP agenda]… as a program for the future…

These kinds of external developments… would initiate a world order dialectic within American politics that would begin to break down decades of adherence to [the Westphalian system] and its infrastructure of values, perceptions and institutions."

In a 1997 paper presented to the Research Department of the Air Command and Staff College, Maj. Bart R. Kessler outlined the plans of the World Order Models Project and many other globalist initiatives. His paper can be read here.

Reference to the use of the Pope in promoting globalist ideology, as well as citation, can be found here on this report.
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The Religious Face of the New World Order:

From the Vatican to the White House to the United Religions Initiative
By Lee Penn

When the Pope agrees with Mikhail Gorbachev, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Henry Kissinger, the new President of the European Union, and other pecular leaders on the need for global governance and a new world order, we can know that the world has indeed experienced a “harmonic convergence” and entered a new age.

(pdf file)

Read more

Sunday, May 08, 2011

A Gutsy Treasure Trove


Ever since last Sunday (May Day) two peculiar terms have been used repeatedly by the mainstream media when referring to the surprising attack and killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan; And they are Gutsy and Treasure Trove.

President Obama is being called Gutsy for (his heroic role in) ordering the successful military operation that ended the life of the arch villain and suspected mastermind behind the fatal terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Supposedly a Treasure Trove of incriminating evidence (intelligence) was seized at the compound where OBL had lived since 2005.

Here's the dilemma: Gutsy how? You are given information that a long sought after enemy has been located; After this all you have to do is decide when you want to take him/her down, now or later. It's that simple. Now what's Gutsy about that?
Now, if you had to go yourself to confront and interact with the assailant, then that would be Gutsy! That is what the Armed Forces do, they are quite Gutsy.
It's been mentioned that a Treasure Trove of items were removed from the "luxurious mansion" where OBL was hiding. They have identified several video recordings in which OBL practiced his recorded messages. They now say that he was a narcissist who was obsessed with how he looked in the videos he produced; and going so far as dying his gray beard black for the taping of his recorded messages (threats).
What I personally know about debriefings after a mission is that "all" the information gathered is annotated and discussed at that time.
How can there be all this piecemeal, drop at a time sequence of frivolous data?
This whole operation smells. Now they are asking - if Pakistan knew that OBL was where he was? Come on? Pakistan's ISI is now more knowledgeable (accountable) than the OSI? Or, maybe the NSA?
Narcissistic, heh? I can pin that tail on another donkey...


Related:

Interview with Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani
RealClearPolitics - 2 days ago
... right now and that gutsy for (decision he made to go ahead and send those ... It is a treasure trove of information. It might even lead to the capture of) ...

Saturday, May 07, 2011

Tony Blair and Rick Warren - Saddleback Civil Forum (March 6, 2010)


Pastor Rick Warren and Rt Hon Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Britain, engage in a candid discussion during the Saddleback Civil Forum on Peace in a Globalized Society at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., Sunday evening, March 6.



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Temple City SDA Church Youth Praise & Worship Band - One Way (Hillsong United)



Uploaded by coolair2545 on Jan 13, 2010


This is the Temple City SDA Church Youth Praise & Worship Band playing at a Youth Night Program in the Youth Chapel at the Temple City Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Temple City, California. (Southern California).

Is It Time for Spanish Adventist Music to Rock?



29 December 2009 Ruben Sanchez

“Rock music is evil, it comes from the African spiritualist rhythms and a Christian should not listen to it.” The first time I heard such a declaration was the summer of 1998, in the Adventist Seminary Schloss Bogenhofen, Austria. In my church of Barcelona, Spain, music was hardly an issue. Of course, there were some who said that certain types of music were harmful, even with subliminal messages if played backwards, but music never made its way to our public sphere.

Eleven years later, specifically in Valencia, Spain, starting December the 4th and continuing for four days, the Spanish association of Adventist university students and graduates, (AGUAE) celebrated its 35th convention, this time addressing the issue of music. And fortunately, it was discussed with such rigor and honesty that declarations like the one that opens this post would not have stayed in tune.

Instead of a list of dos and don'ts, the theme was broad reflection on the youth congress theme: “Music in the Life of the Christian."

Given that attendance included 160 registered attendants with more than 250 persons on Saturday, half of them younger than 35 signaled that the topic of music was not chosen by chance. The question of "music" has become a hot issue in Spanish Adventism.

Álvaro Calvo, director of the Spanish Adventist music school J.S. Bach, based in Sagunto, published last July a post about adoration in the Spanish Adventist church with the headline “Lord, teach us how to adore”. Among others, he pointed out the need to worship with “different songs sung in a new way” and emphasized saying that “we need to renew urgently our chants”.

Calvo, as well as the former J.S. Bach school’s director, Adriana Perera, are fully convinced that the music we play in church requires an update. Thus, six years ago, they started an ambitious project with the Adventist Spanish Union (UAE) in order to provide every Spanish church with new hymnals filled with contemporary Christian music. Due to several problems, which are unclear, it is not finished yet. The Union says it is going to be ready by 2010, this time for real.

Last November, we Spaniards received the Nuevo himnario adventista para jóvenes, a coproduction by the Adventist publishing houses ACES, APIA and Pacific Press. Over time, this new hymnal will replace the current hymnal which was last revised in 1962.

In addition to these publications, there are several other factors that made a conversation about music and worship timely, if not essential.

The first one is a new generation is seeking guidance. Youth born between late 80’s and early 90’s do not enjoy the music played in the Spanish church. They speak English; their parents do not. They carry their mp3 players full of Gospel and contemporary worship music, among others, and they want to sing these styles of music when adoring the Lord. There are already some churches that have included these style in some of their services.

The second one is that the current generation in control has seen the native Adventist membership decline in the last fifteen years. Without immigration, the Union would have been closing churches. On the other hand, these very same parents perceive that singing 17th century chants is not the best way to give an incentive to their children to remain in the church.

The third and final aspect is immigration itself. During the last 10 years, Spain has received five million of people from Latin America, Europe and North Africa. If in 1998, foreign population in Spain was just a 1.6% of the total, nowadays it represents 12% of 46 million inhabitants. Of course, our churches have been impacted by this, but in even more significant ways. Among the around 15,000 Adventists now present in Spain, more than a 60% are immigrants coming from South America and Romania. South Americans say that we, Spaniards, sing with a lack of joy. Romanians accuse us of a lack of reverence.

This explains why, where possible, congregations have been split up into cultural groups and, where not possible because of a lack of money and/or membership, coexistence is a challenge, and music the bone of contention. The fact is that when, for instance, drums are used in the service, most conservatives stand up and leave the church because they do not want to be part of the "blasphemy." At the same time, the musicians who see them leave call them "fanatics."

What lies behind these attitudes and behaviors is known very well by anyone familiar with Adventism.

In this context, AEGUAE invited five musicians to discuss the topic of music in our church: the already mentioned Calvo and Perera, along with Wayne Bucknor, María José Jimeno and Arturo Balué. All together delivered six talks and four workshops that made us reflect and debate about adoration through music.

Bucknor, a teacher at Oakwood University, musician, composer and music minister, gave some advice on how to manage a music ministry in our churches. Jimeno, an Adventist Spanish singer-songwriter joined with Perera did a workshop music composition. Balué, a student of modern music and a guitar player in several christian music groups, offered a workshop to help incorporate and improve the guitar‘s role in our church service.

Perera, a current professor at Oakwood University, Huntsville, Alabama, is both a musician and a composer. She stated that the Bible has more than 500 references to music and that if we study them, we can conclude that music, in the context of worshiping God, is a means to reflect Jesus.

“Jesus has always been the center of adoration”, Perera pointed out. She explained that Jesus as God is both transcendent and immanent. His double condition can help us comprehend the different musical manifestations given throughout history.

Catholics and Anglicans, for example, have produced music towards God’s transcendence while Evangelicals and Pentecostals have preferred to focus their worship on His immanence.

From the beginning, according to Perera, religious music has tried to dissociate itself from secular music. As early as the 6th century, Pope Gregory I set the rules for Christian music. Gregorian chant, for example, aims for a feeling of restraint. It promotes contemplation and tries to move us away from the worldly. It has no instruments because back at the pre-scientific time when it was defined, existing instruments were associated with hypnotism.

Later, Luther, inspired by already existing folkloric melodies, created what is known as the Lutheran Choir. Even though his songs were not used in mass, they were sung during weekly meetings. Luther’s intention, said Perera, was to change doctrine by changing the liturgy. It is said that priests feared his songs more than his preaching. Luther changed the music because he want to change his culture's aesthetic, theological, philosophical and social ideals.

Nowadays, if we observe our current prospects, we see two factors we may take into account. On one side, we have to admit that contemporary religious music still carries medieval guidelines. On the other side, it is being said that technology has demolished the barriers between popular and educated music.

In light of this evidence, Perera rejected the need for a list that demarcates music. Instead, she said, “when we love God and we are willing to adore Him in spirit and truth, we may not need any list that contains what we can and we cannot do”.

However, Perera reminded us that sometimes theory is easier than practice: “in the United States, 85% of the churches have been torn apart during the last ten years due to worship issues." As noted earlier, this is also a cause for division in the Iberian Peninsula.

Touching more on music's cultural aspects, Calvo, also a musician and composer, said, “In Spain, Latin-Americans emphasize rhythm, Romanians pay much attention to harmony and Spaniards are crazy about melodies.” That said, he emphasized, that "we cannot forget that rhythm, harmony and melody constitute songs.”

Something similar seems to have happened back in the New Testament times when we read that we should adore God with psalm, hymn, and spiritual song. Psalms come from the Jewish tradition; hymns come from the Greek tradition, and spiritual songs, which might have come Barbarian or Arabic traditions. These all came from different cultural sources, but they shared a common goal: to praise the Lord.

Calvo advocated for a clear separation between secular and religious music but rebuked any intention to declare some instruments moral and some immoral.

Doubts and questions were discussed by a panel chaired by Bucknor, Calvo and Perera. In this meeting it was said that we should not label any music as evil just because of its origin, as we sometimes do with African music. It was noted, as well, that Art History shows us how art generally evolves, moving between reason and feeling and vice versa, like a pendulum. Today, we find ourselves with an inherited Anglo-Saxon music, which put a lot of weight on reason, living as postmoderns, we are more interested in emotions.

But AEGUAE’s last convention not only reserved time for theory and practice. It dedicated some time to enjoying music. On Saturday night, the J.S. Bach Choir and Orchestra delighted us and the next night, Bucknor took us to heaven with a tremendous piano recital.

Worship music was played by the NTM group. With drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, piano, violins and voices, NTM performed the music that may well be the rule in Spain in ten years from now: North American worship translated into Spanish. Of course, there were some who stood up and left the room outraged. Nonetheless, those who stayed with an open mind left Valencia with the joy and peace of the One, know through truth and through spirit.
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Source: http://spectrummagazine.org/blog/2009/12/29/it-time-spanish-adventist-music-rock
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A Masterpiece of Satan's Deceptions


The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. Deut. 29:29.


Human knowledge of both material and spiritual things is partial and imperfect; therefore many are unable to harmonize their views of science with Scripture statements. Many accept mere theories and speculations as scientific facts, and they think that God's word is to be tested by the teachings of "science falsely so called." 1 Timothy 6:20. The Creator and His works are beyond their comprehension; and because they cannot explain these by natural laws, Bible history is regarded as unreliable. Those who doubt the reliability of the records of the Old and New Testaments too often go a step further and doubt the existence of God and attribute infinite power to nature. Having let go their anchor, they are left to beat about upon the rocks of infidelity.

Thus many err from the faith and are seduced by the devil. . . . Human philosophy has attempted to search out and explain mysteries which will never be revealed through the eternal ages. If men would but search and understand what God has made known of Himself and His purposes, they would obtain such a view of the glory, majesty, and power of Jehovah that they would realize their own littleness and would be content with that which has been revealed. . . .

It is a masterpiece of Satan's deceptions to keep the minds of men searching and conjecturing in regard to that which God has not made known and which He does not intend that we shall understand. It was thus that Lucifer lost his place in heaven. He became dissatisfied because all the secrets of God's purposes were not confided to him, and he entirely disregarded that which was revealed concerning his own work in the lofty position assigned him. By arousing the same discontent in the angels under his command, he caused their fall. Now he seeks to imbue the minds of men with the same spirit and to lead them also to disregard the direct commands of God.
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Maranatha, p.135.
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Friday, May 06, 2011

Lucha libre wrestling tags into Bremerton


By MIKE BALDWIN
Central Kitsap Reporter Sports Writer
May 05 2011, 2:16 PM


Ron Sutherland, known as El Gringo Loco, is held by professional wrestler Raven at a match in Poulsbo last August. Sutherland won the match, describing it as the biggest win of his career, and he returns to the ring Thursday in Bremerton to help celebrate Cinco de Mayo. La Poblanita will host lucha libre at 5:30 p.m. Admission is free for the event
courtesy photo


Saul Vargas couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than to host lucha libre wrestling in the parking lot of his Bremerton grocery store.

Vargas has hosted dances and other festivities at La Poblanita, which also doubles as a Mexican restaurant, but Thursday marks the first time the latin wrestling circuit takes place at the corner market.

“We love having a big party,” said Vargas, who opened La Poblanita four years ago.

The matches start at 5:30 p.m., but Vargas encourages people to arrive at 3:30 p.m. for food, drinks and a raffle. All ages are welcome.

There will be ice cream, barbecued meals and Mexican dishes on hand. Alcohol will also be available. Admission is free.

All donations at the nonprofit event benefit
the Kitsap Seventh Day Adventist School in Bremerton. Any attendee who donates will qualify for raffles that include a variety of prizes.

Vargas got the idea to host lucha libre from his friend and promoter, Ron Sutherland, the talent booker at the Suquamish Tribal Center. Sutherland runs a pro wrestling league, which features monthly matches at the center.

When the crowd is made up of mostly adults, the fighters may use chairs and other items, but Sutherland said Thursday’s fights will be “clean,” meaning wrestlers won’t shed blood or use profane language.

“The point is to have a fun show on a great holiday for everyone to see,” Sutherland said. “It’s an important part of the culture so we want to put on a great show.”

The main event is a Lumberjack-Mexican match between El Vagabundo and Juvi 775. In addition, Sutherland, filling in for Mr. Pink, will wrestle as his alter-ego El Gringo Loco versus Angel Azul. Mr. Pink suffered an injury and will miss the Cinco de Mayo fight, Sutherland said.

The field of wrestlers will include four from Mexico and others from Western Washington, he added.

For more information, contact Vargas at (360) 373-7522.

Central Kitsap Reporter Sports Writer Mike Baldwin can be reached at mbaldwin@centralkitsapreporter.com or (360) 308-9161 ext. 5058.

Documentary film The Adventists wins award for televised film

Public Broadcasting release highlights denomination's health work

3 May 2011, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
ANN staff


The documentary film The Adventists won a Gabriel Award as this year's outstanding nationally released televised film on religion.

The Gabriel Award, established in 1965, is considered one of North America's top media awards for a "values-centered view of society and humanity."

"We released the film to [Public Broadcasting Stations] stations last spring at a time when our country was deeply embroiled in the health care debate as an alternative to the media's focus on health and economics," said Martin Doblmeier, producer of The Adventists.

"The story offered a way to speak about health care in terms of faith -- that health care could be 'sacred work,' that caring for the body was caring for the 'temple of God' and many people resonated with those ideas," Doblmeier said.

The Gabriel Awards are sponsored by the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals.

Source: Adventist News Network

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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Holds News Conference on the Flooding in His State


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Janet Napolitano Hails US Border Security in Post-9/11 World

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 4, 2011, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Southwest border security progress. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

By DEVIN DWYER (@devindwyer)
May 4, 2011

Nearly a decade after five of Osama bin Laden's followers infiltrated the U.S. and carried out the terrorist attacks of 9/11, top lawmakers and Homeland Security officials today hailed improvements in border security but warned of the threat still posed by those who enter the country legally and overstay their visas.

"One of the great achievements since 9/11 is the extent to which we have secured our borders against those who would come in to do us harm," said Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., at a committee meeting in Washington.

"Despite a lot of congressional effort and DHS effort, we still lack an exit system that will effectively identify people who've overstayed their visas in real time," he said. "This both undercuts the legitimacy of the law we have ... but it also threatens our security."

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that between 4 million and 5.5 million -- nearly half -- of all undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. entered the country legally and then remained beyond the expiration of their visas.

A new Government Accountability Office report released today concluded that 36 percent of the roughly 400 individuals convicted of terrorism-related crimes in the U.S. since 2001 were "overstays."

"Despite the killing of Osama bin Laden, we must never forget that the battle against Islamic extremism is still very much on," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

The GAO found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- the agency responsible for enforcing visa overstays -- has allotted only 3 percent of its work force to investigating individuals who have not left the U.S. when their visas expired.

The agency has arrested approximately 8,100 people who have overstayed, according to the report. But a GAO examination of a computerized U.S. immigration system that tracks U.S. visitors found a backlog of 1.6 million potential overstays that had not yet been reviewed.

The Department of Homeland Security is considering ways to beef up its tracking of the arrival and departure of immigrants and share the information with other agencies, officials said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, though, said that stepping up investigations of those who overstayed visas or entered the country illegally was costly and labor intensive, especially if they had not committed a crime to make themselves more easily identifiable.

Napolitano said she has asked Congress for additional funds to sustain enforcement programs and hire more officers, but because of federal budget constraints, some of the requests have been turned down.

"We have to have some way to parse the population that is already in the country illegally given that we are only given the resources to remove about 400,000 people per year," she said. "We want to focus on those who are security threats, who are criminals and who are fugitives."

Still, Napolitano has said that by many measures the borders are as secure, and scrutiny of arriving foreign visitors is higher than ever before.

Apprehensions of illegal migrants crossing the nation's borders, a key indicator of illegal immigration, have plummeted, down 47 percent in the past four years, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The number of illegal immigrants arrested and deported from the U.S. has reached record highs, with a growing emphasis on capturing those engaged in criminal activities, the agency says. The U.S. removed more than 392,000 immigrants last year and is on pace to eclipse that number in 2011.

The number of Border Patrol agents has more than doubled since 2004, unmanned aerial drones patrol the U.S.-Mexico border from California to Texas and construction has been completed on all but three miles of the southern border fence approved by Congress.

"The steps that have been taken constitute the most comprehensive and dedicated effort to border security that our country has ever deployed," Napolitano told the Senate panel today.

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Thursday, May 05, 2011

Owners of Nine Mile Point Unit 1 probing Monday night's automatic shut down


Published: Tuesday, May 03, 2011, 10:31 AM Updated: Tuesday, May 03, 2011, 10:58 AM

By Charley Hannagan / The Post-Standard


Scriba, NY – The owners of the Nine Mile Point Unit 1 this morning are trying to figure out why the recently refueled nuclear reactor automatically shut down at 8:51 p.m. Monday.

The plant responded according to design and automatically shut down with all rods that control the nuclear reaction fully inserting into the reactor, Constellation Energy Nuclear Group said this morning.

"The plant is in a safe and stable condition," the company said in a news release.

The reactor restarted April 19 after being out of service for maintenance and refueling.

“We’re working to identify the cause of the shutdown and to complete any repairs that are necessary to return the unit to service safely and reliably,” said Jill Lyon, speaking for Constellation.

Lyon, citing business reasons, would not comment on when the reactor is expected to return to service.

Nuclear power plants are designed to automatically shut down in response to certain indications and conditions, the company said.

Nine Mile Unit 1 had been operating at 47 percent power when the shutdown occurred on Monday night.

Unit 1 Operators had lowered reactor power on April 26 based on indications within the feedwater system. The plant had been operating at reduced levels while equipment repairs were in progress, the company said.

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Heritage: White House in 'Amateur Hour'



Thursday, 05 May 2011 02:56 PM

By David A. Patten

The Obama administration’s handling of the aftermath of the operation to kill Osama bin Laden has devolved into “amateur hour,” Heritage Foundation expert Dr. James Jay Carafano tells Newsmax.

Although Carafano praised the Seal Team Six operation that initially took out bin Laden, the administration’s conflicting accounts of the operation have been counterproductive, he said.

Carafano told Newsmax Wednesday that it’s been “total amateur hour” since President Barack Obama’s announced bin Laden’s death.

Initially, said Carafano, White House Homeland Security adviser John Brennan appeared to be clever by portraying bin Laden as hiding behind one of his wives and using her as a human shield.

“It was a great line, but if it’s not true, the damage to your credibility makes you look amateurish,” he said. “Not to have your facts straight is just inexcusable.”

The administration has modified its account of the kill mission several times. It now appears that no firefight occurred, and that the al-Qaida mastermind was not armed when the Seals took him down.

A woman who rushed toward the Seals was shot in the leg, but not killed. And there is no indication that bin Laden used her for cover.

“I just thought it was stunning and unbelievable, that they would give out details and then say they may or may not have been accurate -- unbelievable amateur hour,” Carafano told Newsmax.

“Legitimacy is everything in a war of ideas,” he added.

Carafano, a 25-year U.S. Army veteran who is considered one of the nation’s leading experts in defense and homeland security, agrees with the administration’s decision not to release the grisly images of bin Laden’s corpse. Extremists could use the images to try to make bin Laden appear to be a martyr, he said.

“We should be doing everything possible to delegitimize, and denigrate, and humiliate the ‘legend’ of bin Laden,” Carafano said. “And nothing should be done that could glorify or enhance his stature.”

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Nemesis List: Snoopy the PC

Allan MacDonell 2 hours ago

Subject: Atlanta-based Aaron's Inc.

Occupation: Aaron’s bills itself as the nation's leader in the sales and lease of residential furniture, consumer electronics and home appliances.

Alleged Crime: Renting computers that track customers’ keystrokes and take screenshots and snap webcam pictures of renters as they use the devices at home—and transmitting the images and data to computers back at the Aaron’s store.

The Bad Part: Customers were unaware the spyware came standard with the rental.
Police state, or just the customer scan room at Best Buy? (Photo: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)

The Accusers: A Wyoming couple, Brian Byrd, 26, and his wife, Crystal, 24, have filed a federal lawsuit against Aaron’s.

Nemesis Unveiled: A store manager in Casper, Wyoming, came to the Byrd home on December 22, intending to repossess the computer. Brian Byrd showed the manager a signed receipt. The manager showed Byrd a picture of Byrd using the computer—taken by the computer's webcam.

Victim Reaction: "It feels like we were pretty much invaded, like somebody else was in our house," Byrd told the AP. "It's a weird feeling. I had to sit down for a minute after he showed me that picture."

Victim Concern: "Crystal gets online before she gets a shower and checks her grades," Brian Byrd said. "Who knows? They could print that stuff off there and take it home with them."

Nemesis Excuse #1: Computer privacy experts said Aaron's has the right to equip its computers with software it can use to shut off the devices remotely if customers stop paying their bills.

Nemesis Excuse #2: Aaron's, with more than 1,800 company-operated and franchised stores, said the Byrds leased their computer from an independent franchisee.

Why Believe the Victim?: The Byrds’ attorney said police had determined the image was shot with spyware made by Pennsylvania-based Designerware LLC, and that the spyware is installed on all Aaron's rental computers.

Nemesis Excuse #3: Aaron's said it believes that none of its more than 1,140 company-operated stores had used Designerware's product.

The Nemesis Will Not Shut Off: According to the lawsuit, components are soldered into the rental PC’s motherboard and cannot be uninstalled.

Victim Final Words: "I've got a 5-year-old boy, and sometimes he gets out of the tub running around for 20, 30 seconds while we're on the computer. What if they took a picture of that? I wouldn't want that kind of garbage floating around out there."

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