Sunday, October 23, 2011

Government Aims to Build a ‘Data Eye in the Sky’

By


More than 60 years ago, in his “Foundation” series, the science fiction novelist Isaac Asimov invented a new science — psychohistory — that combined mathematics and psychology to predict the future.


Brian Stauffer


The government is showing interest in the idea. This summer a little-known intelligence agency began seeking ideas from academic social scientists and corporations for ways to automatically scan the Internet in 21 Latin American countries for “big data,” according to a research proposal being circulated by the agency. The three-year experiment, to begin in April, is being financed by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, or Iarpa (pronounced eye-AR-puh), part of the office of the director of national intelligence.

The automated data collection system is to focus on patterns of communication, consumption and movement of populations. It will use publicly accessible data, including Web search queries, blog entries, Internet traffic flow, financial market indicators, traffic webcams and changes in Wikipedia entries.

It is intended to be an entirely automated system, a “data eye in the sky” without human intervention, according to the program proposal. The research would not be limited to political and economic events, but would also explore the ability to predict pandemics and other types of widespread contagion, something that has been pursued independently by civilian researchers and by companies like Google.

Some social scientists and advocates of privacy rights are deeply skeptical of the project, saying it evokes queasy memories of Total Information Awareness, a post-9/11 Pentagon program that proposed hunting for potential attackers by identifying patterns in vast collections of public and private data: telephone calling records, e-mail, travel data, visa and passport information, and credit card transactions.

“I have Total Information Awareness flashbacks when things like this happen,” said David Price, an anthropologist at St. Martin’s University in Lacey, Wash., who has written about cooperation between social scientists and intelligence agencies. “On the one hand it’s understandable for a nation-state to want to track things like the outbreak of a pandemic, but I have to wonder about the total automation of this and what productive will come of it.”

Iarpa officials declined to discuss the research program, saying they are prohibited from giving interviews until contract awards are made later this year.

A similar project by their military sister organization, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, aims to automatically identify insurgent social networks in Afghanistan.

In its most recent budget proposal, the defense agency argues that its analysis can expose terrorist cells and other stateless groups by tracking their meetings, rehearsals and sharing of material and money transfers.

So far there have been only scattered examples of the potential of mining social media. Last year HP Labs researchers used Twitter data to accurately predict box office revenues of Hollywood movies. In August, the National Science Foundation approved funds for research in using social media like Twitter and Facebook to assess earthquake damage in real time.

The accessibility and computerization of huge databases has already begun to spur the development of new statistical techniques and new software to manage data sets with trillions of entries or more.

“Big data allows one to move beyond inference and statistical significance and move toward meaningful and accurate analyses,” said Norman Nie, a political scientist who was a pioneering developer of statistical tools for social scientists and who recently formed a new company, Revolution Analytics, to develop software for the analysis of immense data sets.

Some scientists are skeptical. They cite the Pentagon’s ill-fated Project Camelot in the 1960s, which also explored the possibility that social science could predict political and economic events, but was canceled in the face of widespread criticism by scholars.

The project focused on Chile, with the goal of developing methods for anticipating “violent changes” and offering ways of averting possible rebellions. It led to an uproar among social scientists, who argued that the study would compromise their professional ethics.

In recent years, however, academic opposition to military financing of research has faded. Since 2008, a Pentagon project called the Minerva Initiative has paid for an array of studies, including research at Arizona State University into political opponents of radical Muslims and a University of Texas study on the effects of climate change on African political stability.

Social scientists who cooperate with the research agencies contend that, on balance, the new technologies will have a positive effect.

“The result will be much better understanding of what is going on in the world, and how well local governments are handling the situation,” said Sandy Pentland, a computer scientist at the M.I.T. Media Laboratory. “I find this all very hopeful rather than scary, because this is perhaps the first real opportunity for all of humanity to have transparency in government.”

But advocates of privacy rights worry that public data and the related techniques developed in the new Iarpa project will be adapted for clandestine “total information” operations.

“These techniques are double-edged,” said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a privacy rights group based in Washington. “They can be used as easily against political opponents in the United States as they can against threats from foreign countries.”

And some computer scientists expressed skepticism about efforts to predict political instability with indicators like Web searches.

“I’m hard pressed to say that we are witnessing a revolution,” said Prabhakar Raghavan, the director of Yahoo Labs, who is an information retrieval specialist. He noted that much had been written about predicting flu epidemics by looking at Web searches for “flu,” but noted that the predictions did not improve significantly on what could already be found in data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“You can look at search queries and divine that flu is about to break out,” he said, “but what our research has highlighted is that many of these new methods don’t add a huge lift.”

Other researchers are far more optimistic. “There is a huge amount of predictive power in this data,” said Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, a physicist at Northeastern University who specializes in network science. “If I have hourly information about your location, with about 93 percent accuracy I can predict where you are going to be an hour or a day later.”

Still, the ease of acquiring and manipulating huge data sets charting Internet behavior causes many researchers to warn that the data mining technologies may be quickly outrunning the ability of scientists to think through questions of privacy and ethics.

There is also the deeper question of whether it will be possible to discern behavioral laws that match the laws of physical sciences. For Isaac Asimov, the predictive powers of psychohistory worked only when it was possible to measure the human population of an entire galaxy.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: October 12, 2011

An earlier version of this article misstated the academic affiliation of Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. He is with Northeastern University, not Notre Dame.








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SMOM Grand Master in San Marino


Photo (Courtesy) http://www.sanmarinonotizie.com/?p=37849

CHRONICLE:: 20/10/2011

The Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Fra 'Matthew Festing, SAE, on a visit yesterday to the Captains Regent. The Grand Master was welcomed by Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Antonella Mularoni before meeting in Liberty Square the Captains Regent and receive military honors. In the Government Building, the presentation of the Delegation Order to the Guest and Members of the San Marino Government has preceded the interview with the Regency. Main topics of the meeting, the shared commitment to solidarity and humanitarian assistance, the excellent bilateral relations collaborations and joint stamp issue including planned over the next year. At the end, the Regents have awarded the honor of Guest Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of St. Agatha , getting to a turn ' highest honor the Order of Malta. During the next Solemn Hearing were presented to the Grand Master of the civil authorities, religious and military, and the Regency San Marino addressed guests a speech in which he reiterated his long and fruitful relationship that combines the Republic of Malta to the Sovereign Military and stressed the commonality of values ​​of the two companies, both founded on the roots of Christianity and the common will to defend human rights. The Grand Master responded by stressing the intention to develop relations and cooperation in pursuit of common goals and deepening of a well-established friendship.

(Credits to Google Translate)


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THE GRAND MASTER IN LITHUANIA TO CELEBRATE THE TWENTY YEARS OF THE ORDER OF MALTA’S VOLUNTEER CORPS

Dalia Grybauskaite with Fra' Matthew Festing
Rome, 29/09/2011

Received by the President of the Republic in Vilnius

The Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing accepted the invitation of the Order of Malta’s Lithuanian volunteer corps to participate in the celebrations for its anniversary from 9 to 13 September. Visiting various cities, he met the volunteers and leaders of the corps and personally inspected some of the projects.

Twenty years have elapsed since that January of 1991 when the USSR’s tanks entered the capital Vilnius to quell the Baltic country’s assertion of independence. Lithuania was the first of the 15 Soviet republics to choose the road to secession. Over the next years the Order of Malta’s volunteer corps, the Maltos Ordino Pagalbos Tarnyba – constantly supported by the Order’s embassy in Lithuania – contributed to the country’s social growth, providing assistance to the weaker groups of the population.

The President of the Republic Dalia Grybauskaite received the Grand Master in Vilnius, declaring that the Order of Malta’s assistance to the Lithuanian public after the tragic events of January 1991 “had provided a vital support to the nation along its path to reacquiring independence”. The importance of the Order’s social commitment and its voluntary service was highlighted during the meetings. The Grand Master said he was happy to see the dedication and enthusiasm of the many young Lithuanians involved in the Order of Malta’s welfare activities.

For some years President Grybauskaitė has been taking part personally in the Order of Malta’s fundraising activities. In December, field kitchens sell Christmas soups in the main city squares and, together with a concert transmitted live on television, these initiatives raise funds for the projects of the Order of Malta’s Lithuanian relief corps, and in particular for the elderly.

During his visit to the Baltic country, the Grand Master also visited Siluva, the hills of crosses in Siauliai and the regional centre of the Order’s volunteers in Kaisiadorys. The Maltos Ordino Pagalbos Tarnyba is active in 26 Lithuanian districts and can deploy 700 volunteers in a country with little more than three million inhabitants. It offers its services in numerous sectors, including home care for the elderly and the non self-sufficient, home delivery of meals, clothing and medicines; assistance for families with disabled children; social and educational support for poor children and for families in difficulty; the organization of summer camps for young people and the disabled.

Some 100 volunteers came from the Order of Malta’s German association to participate in the celebrations. The Malteser Hilfsdienst has made a significant contribution to the Lithuanian volunteer corps’ welfare works over the last twenty years, as well as offering economic support, goods and equipment and helping in the transfer of skills.



Source

Saturday, October 22, 2011

West Indies College

Mandeville, Jamaica

Looking towards the Ladies' Dormitory
Looking at the Chapel
Dr. Colin D. Standish,
Academic Dean (circa 1969-'70)

Trans-European, Euro-Africa 
Communicators Join in Advisory Session

Four days of meetings highlight integration, fellowship, worship.


BY MARK A. KELLNER, news editor, Adventist Review, reporting from Lako, Slovenia

More than 100 Seventh-day Adventist communicators—working in print, on the Internet, and via radio and television—met to share ideas, get to know each other better, and envision ways to bring Christ’s message to a postmodern, secular society. For what is believed to be the first time, media workers from both the Euro-Africa and Trans-European divisions of the church assembled jointly in Laško, Slovenia, on the banks of the Savinja River.

ADVISORY LEADERS: Miroslav Pujic, TED communication director, and Corrado Cozzi, EUD communication director, were leaders of the joint advisory held in Lako, Slovenia.
The multifaceted program included 38 different sessions covering communications strategies and techniques, ranging from a “communications audit” for local churches to Web content development, news writing, photography, and crisis communications. Gary Krause, director of the Office of Adventist Mission, presented one of the most powerful sessions. Starting with a well-known “urban legend,” Krause showed how stories and examples can be used to drive home a spiritual point.

“Make stories the ‘Velcro’ of your communication,” Krause urged.

On Sabbath, or Saturday, September 24, the attention of the delegates changed to worship. As delegates from a concurrent session of Trans-European ministerial and Adventist Mission directors joined the communicators, Bill Knott, editor and executive publisher of Adventist Review and Adventist World magazines, spoke on the subject “Setting Captives Free.”

DEVOTIONAL SPEAKER: Benjamin D. Schoun, a general vice president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, spoke several times during the event. [PHOTOS: Dragana Selakovic-Duval
Stressing the need for Adventist churches to become places where healing can take place, Knott said, “Look deep into the well of our own brokenness and converse with the God whom the Scriptures say is touched with our own weaknesses. He has been there too. . . . Make sure they come to the place where the healing can happen.”

Knott was one of several worship speakers for the conference. He was joined by devotional speakers Benjamin D. Schoun, a general vice president of the Adventist world church; Williams Costa, Jr., General Conference Communication Department director; and Julian Hibbert, editor of The Messenger for the British Union Conference.

“This conference is a good reminder that we are on the right way,” said Maja Godina Marin, recently appointed as editor of Adventist publications for Slovenia. “I learned that I can get some help” from colleagues, she added.

Rainer Refsbäch of the Swedish Union Conference said the conference provided the opportunity “for colleagues from around Europe to exchange experiences and get to know each other.”

MEANINGFUL IMAGES: Melita Pazitka, a marketing manager at Premier Foods in the U. K., shared perspectives on the power of photography to communicate a message.
Anne-May Müller, from the Danish Union Conference, echoed the support for the event’s networking and educational potential: “The value [of the event] has been very focused in teaching from gifted professionals. The networking and exchange of ideas—that is what’s inspiring.”

Journeying to the conference from Dorog, Hungary, Web pastor Krisztina Andre said the event offered encouragement for her work: “I didn’t know many things about how to communicate about God’s Word, but I have learned how to communicate in many ways. The speakers gave me encouragement.”

“This conference gave a different perspective from the normal advisory,” said Corrado Cozzi, Euro-Africa communication director. “Instead of talking about strategy and planning, we aimed to train, exchange technical support, and inspire new ways to ‘communicate’ the gospel. The satisfaction of the participants seems to be the most eloquent assessment of the choice we made.”

After days of learning about the importance of skilled communication both to Adventist members and the world beyond the church door, Hibbert’s words of encouragement stayed with delegates: “We’re not going home alone” to our creative tasks, he assured, “God is going with us.”


Source


Should Christians be Cremated?

-by Tony Warren

Today one of the most frequently asked question concerns Christians and Cremation. In modern times this question has come to be a very controversial one, but historically the issue was a non-issue. Given serious thought and study to the question (both of the proper handling of the body of deceased Christians, and the reasons that attitudes about it have changed), my opinion is that it should still be a non-issue to the Church. For there is nothing that has changed in the word of God. It is social attitudes of men that have changed.

Can cremation (rather than historical burial) be an option for the believer? From my understanding of scripture, I must in all good conscience say that unless it is 'absolutely' unavoidable, the answer is an unequivocal no. Normally, christians and cremation should be an oxymoron. Sometimes it can be unavoidable (as I understand burial is not permitted in some major cities of Japan, thus cremation is pretty much a requirement), nevertheless, this is not the proper Biblical Christian way to handle deceased loved ones.

I should state right up front that cremation doesn't affect anyone's salvation. If you are saved when you die, nothing done afterward has any bearing on you. However, we're not talking about salvation here, we are addressing the God glorifying Christian way to handle the bodies of our family and friends. In our day, sound Biblical judgment is clouded by man's vain philosophies, secular humanism, and social practicality. But these are not valid replacements for sound Biblical principles and judgments. The rising acceptance of cremation in the modern Church has (not coincidentally) coincided with a marked departing from the faith, and a falling away from adherence to traditional Christian values and sound doctrines based upon the doctrines of sola scriptura.

Cremation was not an issue for the early Church, which historically taught that burial was the 'Christian' (Biblical) thing to do for loved ones. Unfortunately, in today's world, finances, humanistic reasoning and changing cultures seem to be the determining factors of what is considered biblical or unbiblical in making funeral arrangements. The whole mind set has changed, and this is a substantial shift from the historical Christian teaching on the matter.

In my thinking, it really should be self evident to anyone reading scripture, that burial and not cremation, is in full harmony with (and is a testimony to) the hope of the resurrection. And this is what often get's lost in all the rhetoric of those who tacitly support cremation. It is hard to even imagine God appointing cremation in anticipation of raising His only begotten Son from the dead. Symbolism is important in scripture, and we should not deviate from that Christian practice. In fact, historically cremation has been associated with the efforts of Pagans in their denial of the resurrection of the body. While burial has been seen as the 'signification' God uses in the resurrection figure, and has been the way that Christians show respect for God, and honor His example when their loved ones die. thus I believe that we should not desire cremation, and indeed, that it is our obligation to choose burial whenever possible. When we look at these reasons carefully, we understand that it is more than just a custom or tradition, it is a Biblical figure instituted as a separation or division between Heathen/Pagan and Christian heritages. It was a Biblical 'sign' of the division of the dead in preparation for resurrection, and for destruction. Historically God illustrated this separation of Pagan customs and practices from the practices of the Children of God.

It is a Pagan Practice

It can be demonstrated that cremation has its origins in Paganism, and for thousands of years has been practiced by the those who do not know God. Used both as a cause of death, and as an after death practice, it is never used by God's people, nor illustrated in scripture as anything good.

2nd Chronicles 33:5-6

•"And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
•And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger."

The pagan nations have always used cremation in their varied false religious practices. Some as a release (supposedly) of the spirit at death, while others used the practice in idolatrous pagan fire worship. Still others used it as the aid or help in reincarnation. As an example, there are religions (such as the Hindus), which practice cremation in support of reincarnation, and then sprinkle the ashes of those who are burned up, upon the Ganges river. These false religions deny any bodily resurrection, and their practices are a "sign" of that.

Christians and cremation do not go together. God declared that His people were to be separate from the traditions and practices of their Pagan neighbors. He forbade the believers of the Old Testament from following the religions and customs of the un-Godly foreigners, and commanded His Children should bury their dead bodies.

Deuteronomy 21:23

•"His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth the thee for an inheritance."

This is God giving specific instructions of what was to be done with dead bodies. God said it was to be buried that the land be not defiled. He could have very easily said burn it to ashes like the heathen do, but God wants his people to be separate and distinct from the customs of those around them.

It is interesting that cremation in Christian culture was extremely rare until the nineteenth century. It was not even legal in England until 1884. The first crematory in America was built in Washington, Pennsylvania in 1876 by non-christians who cared nothing about Godly practices. In this country cremation historically has always been unpopular and deemed unchristian. In point of fact, as late as the 1970's only about eight percent of those who died were cremated. But along with the changing moral values and the increase in false and eastern religious influences in this country, came the rise in the acceptance of burning bodies.

There is no scripture which ever speaks of a Christian ever being cremated. This alone should alert the Biblically minded student that it is something that God has not assigned for the Child of God. Burning is a 'scriptural' symbol or sign of destruction, and thus is not to be the figure for a Christian. The heathen nations burned the bodies of their dead, but God's people buried their dead in the earth or in sepulchres. When we read the accounts of the early martyrs of the Church, we see that the faithful treated the bodies of the dead in the traditional way, with respect, as they were taken away for burial. And we have clear historical precedent that the Roman (pagan) practice of cremation was shunned by these Christians.

Biblical Precedent

As a matter of Biblical precedent, all of the examples of the Saints in scripture show that they were either entombed or buried. We have clear examples of this in passage after passage:

Job 19:25-26

•"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
•And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:"

Clearly Job understood that he would be buried, and that the worms of the earth (not fire) would destroy his body that it return it to the dust from which it came. And yet he intimately ties it to the resurrection, exactly as we see done all throughout scripture. That was/is the normal Godly way to deal with loved ones who die. Again, as attested to by the Biblical records of the purchase of land by Abraham (precisely for this purpose).

Genesis 23:19-20

•"And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
•And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth."

Genesis 25:9-10

•"And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;
•The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife."

Genesis 49:30-32

•"In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
•There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
•The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth."

We don't see Biblical precedent of God's people burning dead bodies (except it be testimony to the heathen, judgment, or a sinful practice), and so why any Biblically minded Christian would even consider cremation defies any reason or sound logic. We should be persuaded by the witness of scripture that the Biblical practice of handling the dead, is in burial.

Moreover, God Himself buried Moses in a valley in the land of Moab over against Bethpeor (Deuteronomy 34:5-6). What more witness of scripture do we need for the Christian method of burial? Unfortunately in our day, no amount of Biblical evidence against this practice seems to be enough. For much of the Church today is caught up in the will of man (lust of the flesh) to do what seems right in their own eyes. This, coupled with the cultural humanistic changes of society, has caused many to depart from the historical Christian teachings. They look upon these Biblical precedents as old fashioned or Old Testament thinking, oblivious to the truth that the Bible is a timeless book. In fact, the same Biblical precedent for burial in the Old Testament continues right into the New Testament era, as we read that Lazarus (whom Jesus loved) was buried in a tomb.

John 11:38-39

•"Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
•Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days."

But when they took away the stone from the tomb, and Jesus said, 'Lazarus, come forth,' He came forth, again, a signification of the resurrection unto life. The burial, and the resurrection of him that was buried, is a theme which goes hand in hand throughout the scriptures and should not be cast aside as insignificant. One of the most compelling arguments for burial in the New Testament is the example that God gives of Himself.

John 19:40

•"Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury."

The Jews were the Covenant Children of the Living God, and the Godly manner they practiced was the burial of their dead. So not only was the body of Christ prepared with spices and then buried, but God clearly and unambiguously 'alerts' us that this was, 'the manner that the Chosen people of God handled their dead' also! If there is any question now about precedent in the scriptures (both Old and New Testament), then it can only be because man is predisposed to reject truth because of a hardness of his heart, or a determination to believe whatever they want. If authority of scripture doesn't matter, then Biblical counsel becomes 'just words.'

Proverbs 12:15

•"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise."

It is a more aesthetic, sanitary, and economical practice

The 'aesthetic argument' is without a doubt the most ridiculous and self-serving defense for cremation that I have ever heard a professed Christian attempt to make. What Christian is going to have to look at a decaying corpse after it is buried? For the most part, once a corpse is buried, it stays buried. And even if moved, the loved ones never see an exhumed body. So this is a spurious defense, and really beneath the Christian to attempt to use it to justify himself.

Another weak argument for cremation is the Hygiene question. This has nothing to do with biblical principles or sound Christian behaviour, it leans upon social philosophy and science, rather than theology. The current graveyards pose absolutely no problem in terms of hygiene and health. The argument that burial is unsanitary (particularly in this country), is to dabble in absurdity and is just another excuse which some people choose to use in order to ease their mind and allow this un-christian action.

As for the 'economics defense,' it is somewhat true that there is a price difference, but it is not that great a price difference 'providing' one chooses a reputable funeral director, and an economical coffin and service. Of course if one is encouraged by funeral directors to select the best of everything, funerals can run well over the $10,000 figure. The point is to have a simple funeral service with a simple coffin, and the price will not be much more than cremation, and will be totally in line with the scriptures and the Christian faith. What is the price put on doing the right (Biblical) thing? And the bottom line really is, Christians should try to do the 'Biblical' thing. To surrender 'all' for the cause of Christ.

Burning People is a figure of God's Judgment

For faithful Christian, the question should be, "What does the Bible have to say about cremation?" In the history of the world, not only has burning been traditionally reserved for the ungodly, such as heretics and witches, but the scriptures consistently indicate that having one's body burned is a curse of God, thus certainly not anything that a Christian would desire. Why indeed would any Christian want to give his body over to such an obvious 'sign' of judgment?

Leviticus 20:14

•"And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you."

Leviticus 21:9

•"And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire."

It is quite obvious that God is signifying the burning of people as a 'signification' of their judgment in Hell fire. It is not something which signifies a return to the earth (as burial is) but which signifies destruction and desolation of that which is abominable to God.

Deuteronomy 7:25

•"The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God."

Joshua 7:15

•"And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel."

This is the only case recorded by God of a body being burned in Israel, and it is used of God as an illustration of his fierce anger and judgment. Aachan, of the tribe of Judah, and his family, were taken by Joshua and stoned to death, and their bodies were ordered to be burnt with fire 'because' of their abominable sins against God. Another stark example that burning a body was a "signification" that the judgment of God lay upon them, not something the Christian would want done to them. If we are going to let the Bible be it's own interpreter, then all these facts speak for themselves.

2nd Kings 23:19-20

•"And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
•And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem."

This burning of men's bones was a 'sign' of God's wrath and judgment upon these wicked priests, an abomination unto God. Moreover, in the book of Amos God lists the burning of a body as, 'a transgression' which brought His judgment.

Amos 2:1-2

•"Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
•But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:"

Here God is clearly saying that the transgression of Moab was that He cremated the body of the King of Edom until it was lime. Burning bodies was seen as an act of desecration, or an act of God's judgment upon them. Why would any Christian think to have such things done to his, or his loved one's body? God declares in Amos that this act of sin in doing this, was one which He would not draw back the punishment thereof. Clearly evidence that cremation is not a Godly practice.

Our Body is a Temple

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit of God, and therefore, even after we have died, they should be treated with respect for the creator who made them. We should endeavor to remember that we are not our own, and that our bodies belong to God, therefore they should not be burned into lime even after our spirit has departed.

1st Corinthians 6:19-20

• "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
•For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

There is a true sanctity of the Christian body, and it should not be disrespected by our burning it up after death. The body was sanctified and set apart by the blood of Christ, and thus we are not our own, and should 'accordingly' take God glorifying action concerning it. We must remain separate from the ways of the world.

I believe that the scriptures commend burial by equating the burial of the believer with the planting of a seed (1st Corinthians 15:35-44), giving witness to the hope of the final resurrection. It is quite conclusive that the scriptures describe burial as the 'normal' action taken for the body of the Christian who dies. It is part of the cycle of life ordained by God. The scriptures teach that man was formed out of dust.

Genesis 2:7

• "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." And after the fall, death was introduced into the world, and the "natural" destination of man after death, is to return to the earth. God Himself declares:

Genesis 3:19

•"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Man should return to the ground upon death of the physical body. Christ is our example, so following Him, 'burial' is a correct biblical method. That is to say, if we keep our eyes focused on Him and the scriptural record and not the humanism of the world.

But again I reiterate, 'burning a body in cremation in no way affects God's ability to resurrect either the believer, or the unbeliever.' Unfortunately, because of this Biblical fact there are some who rationalize that, 'because we know that cremation doesn't affect anyone's Salvation or judgment, therefore it doesn't matter how we dispose of a loved one's body.' That is an untrue, and misleading conclusion. It matters because the desire of the Christian is to do the will of God, not to sin that Grace may abound. It matters because it's a matter of Christian principle and because the Word of God itself matters.

Pastors, Elders, and other Church leaders should be teaching the congregation of the truth of burial, instead, in many cases they are in league with the world and giving tacit approval of cremation, not willing to offend. It is painfully clear from the witness of scripture that the standard for Christians has always been (and remains), burial. The burning of a body is spoken of as either a transgression of the laws of God, or as a judgment of God upon wickedness. These are things which cannot be gainsaid or denied. Certainly to be accidentally burned up in a plane crash, or house fire, or to have loved ones bodies burned in circumstances beyond one's control in no way affects our standing with God. But to willfully burn a body is contrary to scripture, and should not be done by the faithful Christian. The Church has always (and should always) continue to get their instruction for dealing with the dead from the examples and precedence set in the Word of God. Let us in the burial of our loved, see it as a sign of their rising to be with God. Let us joy in this and not worldly traditions.

And may the Lord who is gracious above all, give us the understanding to discern these truths, and the wisdom needed to separate His thoughts from our own.

Amen!



Peace,

Copyright ©2001 Tony Warren
For other studies free for the Receiving, Visit our web Site
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Karel Nowak: A Last Farewell

September 2011 »


At memorial service, Karel was remembered as a beloved husband and father, an esteemed colleague, and a man of deep conviction



Relatives and friends of Karel Nowak came from across the Czech Republic and Europe on Monday, September 5, to remember a man of “great wisdom, kindness, and commitment.” The memorial service, held at a crematorium in Prague, Czech Republic, was marked by many tributes to Karel from both work associates and family members. Karel died in Cairns, Australia, on August 19, while en route to an International Religious Liberty Association event in Sydney. Dr. John Graz, IRLA Secretary General, travelled from Australia to Prague with Karel’s ashes and stayed to represent the IRLA and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists at the memorial service.

In his tribute, Dr. Graz described Karel as someone who was always easy and pleasant to work with. “He was wise, kind, and competent, and we relied on his as an invaluable source of knowledge about the state of religious freedom in Europe,” he said. “Karel has made a difference for the good for many people and now God has welcomed him in His rest until the Resurrection day.“

Pastor Bruno Vertaillier, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Euro-Africa region, spoke about Karel’s deep faith and his commitment to God’s service.

At his death, Karel was Secretary General of the Euro-Africa Chapter of the International Religious Liberty Association, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the Adventist Church in Euro-Africa, and editor of the publication, Conscience et Liberté. He advocated for religious liberty at local and Europe-wide meetings, including the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the European Union in Brussels and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations in Geneva.

Karel was born December 10, 1950, in Velopoli, Moravia, Czech Republic. He originally trained as a tinsmith but later studied theology and graduated from Andrews University in Michigan, United States, with a Master of Divinity degree.

He pastored a church in the southern Moravia town of Znojmo from 1973 to 1978, and later directed the Czechoslovakia Publishing Department of the Adventist Church before serving as the first post-Communist president of the Czechoslovakia Union from 1989 to 2004. In 2005 he became Public Affairs and Religious Liberty and Communications Department Director of the Adventist Church in Euro-Asia, headquartered in Bern, Switzerland. Since 2010, he concentrated exclusively on the areas of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty. 


Karel and his wife Dana were married on July 5, 1979. in Prague, had three daughters: Alena, Eva and Jana. He was a loved husband and father. “He taught me to fight opinions, not people,” said Alena Nowak, the eldest. “I remember how as a teenager I felt so irritated when he constantly asked for my reasons and motives. But it was a great lesson that you should think carefully about what you are doing and once you decide it is worth it, you should fight for it.”

Jana Nowak, the youngest daughter, remarked that, “My dad found deep joy in Christ and was able to experience it every day, even in this imperfect world.” And describing her relationship with her father, she said “My dad was an authority to me, he has my deep respect and still we had fun together. I smile when I think of him!”

“It is still so unreal knowing my beloved daddy is not coming back from his trip,” said Jana, “however, I know I have a heavenly Father who is very much alive. Being in His hands, I find shelter even during these hard days.” [By IRLA/APD-Ch/ ANN/ CD-EUD]

Source
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Note: Highlights and Bolds added.
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Related:


Euro-Africa religious liberty director dies in swimming accident
Nowak was to attend IRLA meeting of experts in Sydney
19 Aug 2011, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
ANN staff

Karel Nowak, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Euro-Africa Division, died while swimming in the ocean off the coast of Australia this morning.

Nowak, 60, was snorkeling with colleagues off the coast of Cairn, Queensland. A rescue helicopter brought him to Cairns Base Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, said Corrado Cozzi, Communication director for the Euro-Africa Division, based in Berne, Switzerland.

Nowak was to attend next week's International Religious Liberty Association's 13th Meeting of Experts, held this year at the University of Sydney School of Law. It begins August 21.

Source: Adventist News Network©

http://news.adventist.org/2011/08/euro-africa-religiou.html
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ANN Video - October 21, 2011



ANN Video - October 21, 2011

Jump to a specific story in this video: (Feature disabled here)


  • Bibles for Papua New Guinea


  • Commissioned Ministers Not Allowed to Serve as Conference Presidents


  • Indianapolis to host 2020 General Conference Session


  • Supplies for low income Students in Florida


  • Cayman Islands Mentorship Program


  • Adventist Review Preview


  • Meet a Missionary who served in Moscow


  • #HowToReachBigCities


  • Unconventional Tithe Methods


  • Tech Tip about Google Docs T


  • Threats of Third-hand Smoke


  • Practical Prayer Advice


  • Equipping Women to Support their Neighbors


  • iShare


  • This Week in Adventist History

Source: http://news.adventist.org/#


Note: #HowToReachBigCities as in #OccupyWallStreet.
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Friday, October 21, 2011

Christians and Hindus: Together in Promoting Religious Freedom

Message for the Feast Deepavali

Christians and Hindus:

Together in Promoting Religious Freedom

This year for the Hindu Feast Deepavali, celebrated on 26 October, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sent the following message to the Hindu community, expressing their best wishes.


Dear Hindu Friends,

1. The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue is pleased to send you its cordial greetings as you celebrate Deepavali on 26 October of this year. May God, the source of all light, illumine your hearts, homes and communities for a life of peace and prosperity,

Blind women of Ahmedabad make lamps for the upcoming Feast Deepavali2. Maintaining our tradition of sharing a reflection on this occasion, we propose this year the theme of Religious Freedom. This subject is currently taking centre stage in many places, calling our attention to those members of our human family exposed to bias, prejudice, hate propaganda, discrimination and persecution on the basis of religious affiliation. Religious freedom is the answer to religiously motivated conflicts in many parts of the world. Amid the violence triggered by these conflicts, many desperately yearn for peaceful coexistence and integral human development.

3. Religious freedom is numbered among the fundamental human rights rooted in the dignity of the human person. When it is jeopardized or denied, all other human rights are endangered. Religious freedom necessarily includes immunity from coercion by any individual, group, community or institution. Though the exercise of this right entails the freedom of every person to profess, practise and propagate his or her religion or belief, in public or in private, alone or in a community, it also involves a serious obligation on the part of civil authorities, individuals and groups to respect the freedom of others. Moreover, it includes the freedom to change one's own religion.

4. When respected and promoted, religious freedom allows believers to be more enthusiastic about cooperating with their fellow citizens in the building of a just and humane social order. But wherever and whenever it is denied, suppressed or violated, "the growth of the authentic and lasting peace of the whole human family" is stifled and frustrated (cf. Pope Benedict XVI, M e ssag e f or th e Worl d Day of Pe ac e, 2 011) . There are many fields in which a specific contribution can be made to the common good, such as the defence of life and the dignity of the family, the sound education of children, honesty in daily conduct, and the preservation of natural resources, to name a few. Let us strive, then, to join hands in promoting religious freedom as our shared responsibility, by asking the leaders of nations never to disregard the religious dimension of the human person.

5. The very day after you celebrate Deepavali this year, many religious leaders from across the globe will join Pope Benedict XVI in a Pilgrimage to Assisi to renew the pledge made twenty-five years ago, under the leadership of Blessed John Paul II, to make religions channels of peace and harmony. We will be spiritually united with them, confident that believers will always be a blessing for the whole world.

We cordially wish you a joyful celebration of Deepavali.


Jean-Louis Cardinale Tauran

presidente

Arcivescovo Pier Luigi Celata

segretario

October 21, 2011





‘Catholicism’ series airing on PBS is ‘visually splendid’


A visually splendid and intellectually satisfying introduction to Catholic Christianity is provided by the 10-part video series “Catholicism.” Written and hosted by Father Robert E. Barron, the complete documentary is available for purchase on DVD at Word on Fire, while four, hourlong episodes are airing on PBS affiliates throughout the month of October. (Check local listings or consult this online schedule for the program.)

"Catholicism" host Father Robert Barron. (CNS photo/Word on Fire)

A priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Father Barron is certainly not lacking in academic credentials. He holds a doctorate in sacred theology from France’s Institut Catholique de Paris and serves as the Francis Cardinal George professor of faith and culture at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He’s also been a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and Rome’s Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, colloquially known as the Angelicum.

Like his august – and equally well educated — forerunner Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, however, Father Barron displays a knack for conveying complex ideas in easily grasped, television-friendly terms. His enthusiasm as a narrator also serves to keep the pace pleasingly rapid.

As he explores the identity of Jesus, the main topic of “Amazed and Afraid: The Revelation of God Become Man,” the first episode screened, the globetrotting Father Barron visits lushly photographed holy sites in Bethlehem, Galilee and Jerusalem before traveling on to various sacred locales around Rome. Classical religious artwork – smoothly panned and zoomed in the style justly known among broadcasters as the Ken Burns effect — provides further engaging imagery.

The substantive discussion carried on behind these visuals introduces viewers to the messianic expectations laid down in the prophecies of the Old Testament and to the surprising, sometimes paradoxical, manner in which Jesus — by his life, death and resurrection — fulfilled them.

A first-rate DVD resource for teen and adult religious education, whether in a parish setting or at home – and must-watch public television programming for all old enough to profit from it – “Catholicism” enlists sophisticated production values and an elegantly crafted script in the service of explaining — and celebrating — the faith.


Source

Vatican to issue document on global financial reform


Activists kick off "Occupy Detroit" with a rally and march through downtown Detroit Oct. 10. The group was protesting the actions of U.S. banks and other financial institutions during the country's economic crisis. (CNS/Jim West)






FINANCE-DOCUMENT Oct-19-2011




By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican has prepared a document on reform of the global financial system and the potential role of a public regulatory authority.

The document, prepared by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, was to be released Oct. 24 in four languages, and presented the same day at a Vatican news conference by Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the council.

The Vatican said the document would address "reform of the international financial system with a view toward a general public authority."

The wording refers to a section of the 1963 encyclical "Peace on Earth" ("Pacem in Terris"), which stated:

"Today the universal common good presents us with problems which are worldwide in their dimensions; problems, therefore, which cannot be solved except by a public authority with power, organization and means co-extensive with these problems, and with a worldwide sphere of activity."

In recent months, the Vatican's justice and peace council has convened experts for discussions of the ethical dimension of the global financial crisis. At one conference sponsored by the council last May, participants said Catholics were looking for guidance from the Vatican on ethical principles for the world of finance and the environment.

In his 2009 encyclical "Charity in Truth" ("Caritas in Veritate"), Pope Benedict XVI addressed the worsening effects of the global crisis and said there was "an urgent need of a true world political authority" that could give poorer nations a bigger voice in financial decision-making, help manage the global economy, guarantee food security, better protect the environment and regulate migration.

"Such an authority would need to be regulated by law, to observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, to seek to establish the common good, and to make a commitment to securing authentic integral human development inspired by the values of charity in truth," the pope said.

END


Source


What is the Sabbath Day truth?



One very controversial subject among Christians today is God’s Seventh Day Sabbath. Some Christians are not even aware that the Sabbath is Saturday.

The Bible tells us clearly in Daniel that a persecuting power would change God’s laws which it did – the Seventh Day Sabbath became the first day sabbath without God’s approval. The book of Daniel also refers to this change of God’s law by the antichrist power as reaching to the host of heaven and trampling the heavenly sanctuary under foot. We find the same expression used in Hebrews chapter ten in reference to wilful sin.

Hebrews 10:26-29 “For if we sin WILFULLY after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth NO more sacrifice for sins, … He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”

This passage warns us that there remains no sacrifice to cover wilful sin and to continue in wilful sin is to trample the Son of God under foot and to treat Christ's work on the cross as an unholy thing despite being under grace. This is a warning we should take very seriously.

The change to the Sabbath day came about over hundreds of years and by the death of millions of Christians. This is another fact that most Christians are unaware of. Select the following to watch a typical true story of the death of a Sabbath keeper by burning.


Source

Faith and Politics at King Dedication

By October 17, 2011


The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial dedication ceremony was described as a mix of worship service and partisan political rally, but there's scant mention of race, racism or God at the site. What's going on?

I haven’t yet read complaints that The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial dedication ceremony was a dangerous church/state hybrid, but surely those will come as the event felt, to some, like a mix between a church service and a political rally, with thousands in attendance and multitudes more (myself included) watching on TV. &

Worship in Action

“With all the smiling and handshaking going on, you would swear you were at church, welcoming the visitors after the morning’s announcements. But if you closed your eyes and listened, you would think you’d landed at a campaign event,” wrote Kenrya Rankin atLoop21. “We might have been there to honor the legacy of a black leader of days gone by, but the legacy of the black leader of today loomed large.”

Likewise, Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks said the event blended worship and a call to action. “Held during the traditional Sunday morning worship time, the ceremony featured choirs, gospel artists Mary Mary, and Aretha Franklin singing one of King’s favorite hymns, ‘Precious Lord,’” said Banks. “More than 200 churches contributed $1.8 million to the $120 million memorial, for which $117 million has been raised.”

Political and Partisan?

Dignitaries’ response to the ceremony “was enthusiastic but slightly reserved,” according toThe Root’s Cynthia Gordy. But the reaction of those gathered on the National Mall was “more emotional,” she said. “During the president’s speech, which visitors could see on two jumbo screens flanking the stage, chants of ‘four more years’ erupted from the crowd.”

This was a problem for Christian Post reporter Napp Nazworth, who described the dedication speeches as “highly partisan” and noted that many connections were made between King’s legacy and the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement.

March to the Library Instead

In a slightly sardonic nod to the event and the OWS movement, Washington Post local columnist Courtland Milloy advised D.C. school children to overcome by marching to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library to devote themselves to academic excellence.

“Long after Occupy DC has decamped from the city and the protests over economic inequality have faded from memory, you’ll still have to occupy those classrooms and continue to struggle against educational inequity,” said Milloy.

More Complaints About Missing Words

Perhaps taking a cue from poet Maya Angelou, two men complained about missing words on the monument.

Your Black World coalition founder Dr. Boyce Watkins, who declared in advance of the ceremony that that he wouldn’t attend, yesterday criticized the memorial for failing to include the words racism and black.

“I am not surprised that in a nation where discussing racial inequality is politically costly, that this issue would be left off the table,” said Watkins. “If Dr. King had not been a Black man in America, he would never have become Dr. King.”

And, noting the faith that motivated both King and that the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, D.C, issued a press release complaining that God is absent from the monument.

“Not to include any mention of ‘God’ in the quotes at the memorial is a betrayal of the life, legacy and teachings embraced and lived by Dr. King. I think he would have been stunned and disappointed to see this oversight.”

What do you think?

Did the dedication ceremony strike an appropriate “walk the talk” tone or was it an uncomfortable mix of church and state? Does the monument itself accurately reflect King’s legacy or is it hindered by its location on public land?


Source