Saturday, December 17, 2011

The World Is Really Upside-Down

Looking at the headlines it is no wonder that we are living in strange times. As it's been said before: They can't make this stuff up?  We're truly living in prophetic times.  This is an age similar to what the Prophet Isaiah foretold in Isaiah 5:20Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

This is a world where up is down, and down is up.  Every wrong is now considered right, and things that were normal are now considered antiquated and abnormal. The whole world has flipped, and is now flopping like a fish out of water gasping its last breath.

Let's just look at these two set of headlines;  One promoting homosexual 'marriage', and the other reporting that 'traditional' (what is that?) marriages are in a decline since most couples chose to cohabitate if they stay together, foregoing matrimony.

......................1.

Legalized same-sex marriage may boost gay men's health

USA Today - 
Gay men who live in states where same-sex marriage is legal are healthier, have less stress, make fewer doctor visits and have lower health-care costs, a new study finds

Gay marriage 'improves health'


BBC News - 1 day ago
Legalising same-sex marriage may create a healthier environment for gay men, say US researchers. The number of visits by gay men to health clinics dropped ...




2.

Traditional marriage declines in US, study shows

San Francisco Chronicle - ‎Dec 14, 2011‎
When it comes to saying "I do," more and more Americans seem to really mean, "Not so much," according to a new analysis of the increasingly troubled institution of marriage. Just over half of all adult Americans, 51 percent, are currently married, ...

Barely Half Of US Adults Are Married, A Record Low: Report

Huffington Post - ‎Dec 15, 2011‎
A record low 51 percent of US adults are married, compared to 72 percent in 1960, and the average age of men and women when they get married is higher than ever, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. That's partly because people are ...





The part that really bewilders me is: How do you explain what is happening to a child that is growing up now?  Thank God, I don't have any children to raise in a world like this.  I feel for those precious little ones that have to grow up in conditions such as this.  What a pity this is?   What a bleak future?
How much longer, Lord?
These are truly the last days since there can be no other logical explanation.


AAL

Jesuit Sabotage of E.G. White books in China - David Kang

Uploaded by garyzw on Jun 23, 2011 no description available

Expose: The Vatican Wants to Lay its Hands on Jerusalem


The Vatican is now reiterating demands for control of religious sites in Jerusalem. Jordan's occupation 1948-1967 didn't bother them.
By Giulio Meotti, Italy
First Publish: 12/15/2011, 4:14 PM

Vatican - Jerusalem
Vatican - Jerusalem
Israel Radio Photo
“Peace negotiations in the Middle East must tackle the issue of the status of the holy sites of Jerusalem”, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Vatican’s Council for Interreligious Dialogue, declared several days ago in Rome.
The Vatican’s former foreign minister asked to place some Israeli holy places under Vatican authority, alluding to the Cenacle on Mount Zion and the garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
The first site also houses what is referred to as King David’s tomb.
“There will not be peace if the question of the holy sites is not adequately resolved”, Tauran said. “The part of Jerusalem within the walls – with the holy sites of the three religions – is humanity’s heritage. The sacred and unique character of the area must be safeguarded and it can only be done with a special, internationally-guaranteed statute”.
The Israeli government and the Vatican are deadlocked in discussions over the status of the religious sites. Vatican officials are now reiterating their demand for control over the religious sites in the ancient and holy city founded by King David as the capital of ancient Israel and now the capital of the reestablished Jewish state.
Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, declared that Israel might consider giving the Vatican “a greater role” in operating the sites. In the last weeks, the Roman Catholic Church’s authorities increased their political initiatives for Catholic controlover some sites in Jerusalem.
The Vatican’s former arcibishop in Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, just promoted an appeal to the European Union and United States to “stop the Hebraization of Jerusalem”.
Two weeks ago Msgr. David-Maria Jaeger, who was recently appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the Vatican’s highest court, talked in Washington about a current U.S. Supreme Court case over whether an American boy born in Jerusalem should add Israel after the name of the historic city on his U.S. passport. Jaeger said that the question about Jerusalem is not “whether it is the capital of Israel, it is a question of whether it is a part of a national territory”.
A few days earlier, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, gave a speech to greet the bishops of Europe and North America during their annual pilgrimage in Israel, in which Twal denounced “the Israeli right wing invading more and more of Jerusalem and trying to transform it into an only Hebrew-Jewish city, excluding the other faiths”.
Claudette Habesch, the Caritas general-secretary in Jerusalem, a Vatican NGO that works in social activities, just released an interview to Zenit news agency, in which he “christianized” the Palestinian Intifada against “what we call the Checkpoint of Humiliation”.
In September, Patriarch of Jerusalem Twal was at the White House for a meeting with the American administration as well as to support the PA statehood bid at the UN. Twal repeated Benedict XVI’s speech of May 13, 2009 in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, one of the most political speeches ever pronounced by Ratzinger during his pontificate. It was given in front of the most eloquent symbol of the conflict: the security wall between Israel and the PA areas.
On that day the Pope spoke specifically of an “independent Palestinian state”.
The Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, the Vatican’s powerful agency for worldwide pilgrimages, just organized a “marathon for peace” in Jerusalem to protest against the security fence near Bethlehem and to support "Palestinian political rights". The march began on the Mount of Olives, “where the Last Supper took place”.
On December 1st, several Christian and Muslim dignitaries met in Beit Sahour for a conference on “How to live together in a future Palestinian state?”. Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah and Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, also attended the event organized by Al-Liqa, a Vatican ecumenical center based in Bethlehem.
Sabbah said that “recourse to the UN for a Palestinian state is a step toward peace”. Last summer, Latin Patriarch Twal took part in a meeting in London with Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, in which the Vatican envoy denounced the “more than 550.000 Israelis living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank” and “the demography of Jerusalem changing rapidly with the sacred space being threatened”.
In 2006, then Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, negotiated to give away the “holy basin” to the Vatican.
At the time, President Moshe Katzav, in the face of increasing public pressure, was forced to deny any plans to sign away the King David’s complex in Jerusalem.
It now appears that this option has once again surfaced. A major voice for the Vatican’s plan is Hanna Siniora, the elder statesman of Palestinian 'peace' activists, whose office is in the Vatican’s Tantur Institute for Ecumenical Studies in Jerusalem.
The site known as King David’s Tomb is the major target in the Vatican’s plan. It’s a complex of buildings of some 100,000 square feet where David and Solomon, and kings of Judea, are said to be buried, although this is disputed by historians.
The Upper Room, or Cenacle, as it is known, is on the second floor of the Crusader-era building. During his visit to Israel in 2000, Pope John Paul II held Mass there. The Roman Catholic Church has been fighting for more than 450 years to win back controlover the sanctuary, which was seized from Franciscan monks during the Ottoman Empire's rule around 1551.
The building was granted to the Diaspora Yeshiva over 40 years ago, and yeshiva heads fear that the Vatican wishes to turn it into a pilgrimage site for hundreds of thousands of Catholics and hold religious services there.
The Vatican wants Israel relinquishing sovereignty at the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. The Holy See uses the expression “Holy Basin”, which refers to the area of the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion and a variety of Christian holy sites which the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton began reccomending be administered under a “special regime”.
The Obama plan also calls for resolving the two thorniest issues in the conflict by sharing Jerusalem and settling Arab refugees in Arab countries or a future Palestinian state, but not in Israel. According to Obama, the Old City of Jerusalem would be designated an “international zone”.
Israel’s President Shimon Peres, who has no authority, also agreed to hand over to the Vatican the sovereignty of the holy sites.
Any Vatican claim to a seat at the negotiating table is undermined by the complicity of the Vatican between 1948 and 1967. During the Jordanian occupation, Judaism’s holiest sites were desecrated and Jews were barred from visiting these shrines. The Jordanians built a hotel and a road through the Jewish cemetery on Mount of Olives and they used the broken headstones to build the latrines in the construction of the Intercontintental Hotel, which likely rests on burial grounds.
As was its practice during the Holocaust under Pius XII, the Vatican then turned a deaf ear to these gross violations of Jewish human rights.
If Israel would cede Jewish sovereignty on the holy sites, it would mean returning to a time when Jerusalem was separated by a seven-kilometer wall, barbed wire, minefields and bunkers. A tourist visiting the holy city would have found signs warning “Danger - Frontier ahead!”, “Snipers nearby” and “shetah hahefker”, which in Hebrew means: No-Man’s Land.
It would be Sarajevo, not the Holy City of Jerusalem.
The writer, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, writes a weekly column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author of the book "A New Shoah", that researched the personal stories of Israel's terror victims, published by Encounter. His writing has appeared in publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, YNet, Frontpage and Commentary.



Source


Friday, December 16, 2011

International Christian Union of Business Executives becomes Member


unknownwe are happy to welcome among our members the Employer's association UNIAPAC. The International Christian Union of Business Executives is a federation of associations, an international meeting place for Christian Business Leaders. Its goal is to promote, in the light of the Christian Social Teachings, a vision and a deployment of Corporate Social Responsibility serving people and the common good of the World.

UNIAPAC was born in 1931 as “Conférences Internationales des Associations de Patrons Catholiques", between federations of Dutch, Belgian and French Catholic Employers (and with observers from Italy, Germany and Czechoslovakia). After World War II, UNIAPAC enlarged to other European countries and to Latin-American Countries and changed its first name for, in French, ‘ UNion Internationale des Associations PAtronales Catholiques', with the initials UNIAPAC ( 1949 ). In 1962 , UNIAPAC becomes an ecumenical association under the new denomination "International Christian Union of Business Executives" , conserving its initials. By the same time, UNIAPAC gains members in Asia and in Africa.

Today , UNIAPAC welcomes member associations and individual members or companies from worldwide (with a larger presence in Europe and Latin-America).




Source

Letter of support from the German Sunday Alliance (deregulation of shop opening hours in Italy)



Filcams CGIL Nazionale
c.a Segretario Generale
Francesco Martini
Via Leopoldo Serra 31
00153 Rome
ITALIE
Email: Cristian.Sesena@filcams.cgil.it

Allianz für den freien Sonntag
c/o Katholische Arbeitnehmer-
Bewegung Deutschlands
Hannes Kreller/ KAB
Leiter des Referats Verbandsentwicklung
Pettenkoferstrasse 8/III
80336 München
Tel.: 089/ 55254914
Fax: 089/ 5503882
E-Mail: hannes.kreller@kab.de
www.allianz-fuer-den-freien-sonntag.de
München, 12.12.2012

Dear friends,
Our organization has learned that the Italian Government has announced the full deregulation of shop opening hours in Italy in conjunction with an unacceptable austerity program. There is a risk that stores and supermarkets open 24 hours a day, Sundays and public holidays such as Christmas and Easter.

We condemn the attack against employment. There may be closures of thousands of small and large businesses that can not withstand competition. There will be even more precarious workers hired for these unsocial hours. Consumers will be affected, because these closures will be concentrated in residential areas, local retailers, and this will be in favour of big retailers in the suburbs. And the elderly? And people with
mobility problems? And those who do not have a car?

This change in legislation promises to be a disaster for the historic centers of cities in the provinces, with an accentuation of desertification. Consumption will not increase with the extension of opening hours, as the purchasing power will be under pressure due to austerity measures. Tomorrow, the increase of night work, Sunday and holidays, will create a gap between workers and their families, will increase the malaise at all levels.

We are shocked to learn that the writer of this legislation comes from the Federdistribuzione, the employers' federation of commerce.  We support the FILCAMS-CGIL in its fight against anti-social hours of work and wish it great success for the strike today in order to obtain a change in the bill draft.

Best regards

Hannes Kreller


Source: http://www.europeansundayalliance.eu/site/article_list.siteswift? so=site_article_list&do=site_article_list&c=download&d=article%3A95%3A1

From Sabbath to Sunday: The Bacchiocchi Agenda


From Sabbath to Sunday: The Bacchiocchi Agenda

Which "Sabbath" Does He Truly Support?
 
From Sabbath to Sunday, Divine Rest for Human Restlessness, The Sabbath in the New Testament, The Sabbath Under Crossfire--these are some of the many books authored by Samuele Bacchiocchi, the purported Seventh Day Adventist scholar, which have received great accolades from many "Church of God" organizations for their apparent defense of the seventh day Sabbath.  A deeper examination of his books though actually reveals his ecumenical concern--not concern for the Scriptural Sabbath, but for a Sabbath--be it the last, or the first day of the week.
     The following quote is from Bacchiocchi, as posted on his website "Biblical Perspectives" [bold face emphasis mine throughout article ~bh]:
 
     "I grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist in Rome, Italy, a stone-throw from the Vatican wall in the days when considerable hostility existed against religious minorities. I vividly remember the ridicule and rejection I experienced, especially for honoring the Savior on the Sabbath. For example, my classmates called me "Il Giudeo–the Jew," or "L'eretico-the heretic" because I would not attend school on Saturday and would not play soccer with them on that day.
 
     These painful experiences instilled within me the desire to know more about which is God's Holy Day and how should it be observed by Christians today. As a teenager I would have never imagined that the Lord would one day make it possible for me to research and publish my dissertation at the most prestigious Jesuit University in the world, the Pontifical Gregorian University, founded by Ignatius Loyola [founder the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)~bh] himself, over 450 years ago.
 
     The idea of attending the Gregoriana was suggested to me by a beloved Catholic priest, Father Ravasio, whom I came to know in Ethiopia where I was serving as a missionary. One day I told him that I had been accepted at Yale for a doctoral program in Church History. He replied: "Sam you are a Roman and should go to study at the Gregoriana." How can I? I replied. Surely they will never accept a heretic like me. "Don't say that!" he said. "After Vatican II you are no longer a heretic. You are a separated brother.  If you apply, you stand a good chance to be accepted."  I followed his advice.
 
     Truly I can say that though I was accepted as a "Separated Brother," I was treated as a real Christian brother. I treasure the pleasant memories of the five years I spent at the Gregoriana. The professor who directed my dissertation, Father Vincenzo Monachino, S. J., [Society of Jesus--that is, he is a Jesuit ~bh] is brilliant, godly and open minded. At first he was reluctant to allow me to investigate the origin of Sundaykeeping, because he had worked on the same subject for the previous two years with a Jesuit priest C. S. Mosna, who also wrote his dissertation on the history of Sunday during the first four centuries (STORIA DELLA DOMENICA --HISTORY OF SUNDAY). When he noticed my keen interest he graciously approved my proposal and spent many hours with me reexamining the Biblical and historical data. It takes a great scholar to be willing to reconsider one's conclusions. Prof. Monachino was such a scholar whom I will respect for the rest of my life.
 
     My dissertation FROM SABBATH TO SUNDAY was first published in 1977 by the Pontifical Gregorian University Press with the official Catholic imprimatur (approval). Since then it has been reprinted 13 times in English and has been translated in a dozen of languages. The French translation was done by two Belgian Benedictine monks as a labor of love and published by a Catholic press in Paris." [this info is quite similar to that which he included in the book itself (p.5) ~bh]
 
     "Since Dr. Bacchiocchi seems intent on pushing his books based upon the fact that he has an imprimatur on one of them [From Sabbath to Sunday ~bh], it is important to know what the word imprimatur means. Simply stated, it means that there is nothing in the book that is contrary to the teaching of the [Catholic ~bh] Church." (Ed Faulk, Usenet Catholic Newsgroup message, December 15, 1997) 

     Merriam Webster's dictionary defines imprimatur as follows:
" im*pri*ma*tur (noun)  [New Latin, let it be printed, from imprimere to print, from Latin, to imprint, impress -- more at IMPRESS] First appeared 1640
1 a : a license to print or publish esp. by Roman Catholic episcopal authority
b : approval of a publication under circumstances of official censorship
2 a : SANCTION, APPROVAL
b : IMPRINT
c : a mark of approval or distinction "
 
     One must ask themselves, if this book truly proves and advocates Seventh Day Sabbath, why would it receive this Catholic imprimatur, and yet further, why would Sunday keeping monks translate his work "as a labor of love" if it disproved or went against what they stand for?  Recall the hatred that the Catholic Church has had for the Seventh Day Sabbath throughout history.
     Let us further examine this book:
     "How can the pressing problem of the secularization of the Lord's day be resolved?" (Samuele Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, back cover).
     How can the "secularization" of a secular day (Sunday) be seen as a "pressing problem" that needs be "resolved"--especially by a professing Seventh Day Sabbath observer??
     "Should Sunday be viewed as the hour of worship rather than the holy day of rest to the Lord?" (ibid, p.303).
     Should it be viewed by anyone, especially one who claims to be a 7th day Sabbatarian, as either one of these?? 

     "To find the answer to these questions, Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi spent five years at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, examining the most ancient available documents. The results of this investigation are presented in From Sabbath to Sunday." (ibid, back cover)
     Notice carefully the reason for this book: "To find the answer to these questions..."  Which questions?  One of them is "How can the pressing problem of the secularization of the Lord's day be resolved?"
     This fact of seeking a Sabbath basis for Sunday as being the purpose for his research and writing of From Sabbath to Sunday is bore out further in the following quote: 

     "To accomplish a sound theological reappraisal of Sunday it is necessary to investigate its Biblical basis and its historical genesis. On the other hand, the many studies on this topic, though excellent, have not given a fully satisfactory answer because of the lack of consideration of some of those factors which in the Church of the first centuries contributed to the concrete genesis and development of a day of worship different than the Jewish Sabbath."
 
     "On account of this, the new work of Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi is to be welcomed."
     "We gladly mention that the thesis that Bacchiocchi defends regarding the birth-place of Sunday worship: for him this rose not in the primitive Church of Jerusalem, well-known for its profound attachment to the Jewish religious traditions, but rather in the Church of Rome."
 
     "The event of Christ's resurrection on that day, had naturally signifigance importance."
 
     "The strict scientific orientation of the work does not prevent the author from revealing his profound religious and ecumenic concern. Conscious that the history of salvation knows not fractures but continuity, he [Bacchiocchi] finds in the rediscovery of the religious values of the Biblical Sabbath, a help to restore to the Lord's Day its ancient sacred character. This is in reality the exhortation that already in the fourth century the bishops addressed to the believers, namely to spend Sunday not in outings or watching shows, but rather to sanctify it by assisting at the eucharistic celebration and by doing acts of mercy (St. Ambrose, Exam. III, 1, 1.)."
 
     "Rome, June 29th, 1977, VINCENZO MONACHINO, S.J. Chairman of Church History Department, Pontifical Gregorian University." (From Sabbath to Sunday, pp.7,8) [This is from the "brilliant, godly and open minded" Jesuit which directed Bacchiocchi's study and writing of this subject]
 
     Some more on this, from Samuele himself:  "Many well-meaning Christians view Sunday observance as the hour of worship rather than as the holy day of the Lord. Having fulfilled their worship obligations, many will in good conscience spend the rest of their Sunday time either engaged in making money or in seeking pleasure." (ibid, p.10) 

     "Some people, concerned by this widespread profanation of the Lord's day, are urging for a civil legislation that would outlaw all activities not compatible with the spirit of Sunday. To make such legislation agreeable even to non-Christians, sometimes appeal is made to the pressing need of preserving natural resources. One day of total rest for man and machines would help safeguard both our power resources and the precarious environment. Social or ecological needs, however, while they may encourage resting on Sunday, can hardly induce a worshipful attitude." (ibid, p.10). 

     As noted above, Bacchiocchi is one of these very people who are "concerned by this widespread profanation of the Lord's day."  He therefore makes these very appeals himself in his book, Divine Rest For Human Restlessness, chapter VI, part IV The Sabbath as Service to our Habitat, pp. 204-214 (ecological appeal), and chapter VII Good News of Divine Rest for Human Restlessness, pp. 217-226 (social appeal).
 
     "Might not more hopeful results be expected from educating our Christian communities to understand both the Biblical meaning and experience of God's 'holy day'?" (From Sabbath to Sunday, p.11)  [Is this not exactly what the Jesuit Vincenzo Monachino (quoted above) stated was Bacchiocchi's purpose for this investigation?  To provide understanding for how to keep Sunday from being "profaned" by looking into the Scriptural Sabbath.  Recall: "he {Bacchiocchi} finds in the rediscovery of the religious values of the Biblical Sabbath, a help to restore to the Lord's Day its ancient sacred character."

     "In introducing our study we posed several vital questions: What are the Biblical and historical reasons for Sunday-keeping? Can Sunday be regarded as the legitimate replacement of the Sabbath? Can the fourth commandment be rightly invoked to enjoin Sunday observance? Should Sunday be viewed as the hour of worship rather than the holy day of rest to the Lord? We stated at the outset that to answer these questions, and solve the pressing problem of the widespread profanation of Sunday, it is indispensable to ascertain both the Biblical basis and the historical genesis of this festivity." (ibid, p.303) 

     "Our study has shown (we hope persuasively) that the adoption of Sunday observance in place of the Sabbath did not occur in the primitive Church of Jerusalem by virtue of the authority of Christ or of the Apostles, but rather took place several decades later, seemingly in the Church of Rome, solicited by external circumstances." (ibid, p.309)
     "On what ground then can Sunday rest be defended? Mosna finds a 'fundamental reason' in the fact that the Church 'influenced Constantine's decision to make Sunday a day of rest for the whole empire, and this undoubtedly in order to give to the Lord's day a preeminent place above the other days.' Therefore, Mosna argues that the Church 'can claim the honor of having granted man a pause to his work every seven days.' This explanation harmonizes well with the traditional claim that Sunday observance 'is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.' But if Sunday rest is an ecclesiastical-imperial institution, how can it be enjoined upon Christians as a divine precept? What valid ground can this provide to enable theologians to reassess the meaning and function of the Lord's day for Christians today? One can hardly hope to cope with the widespread profanation of the Lord's day, merely by invoking ecclesiastical authority without providing an adequate theological rationale." (ibid, pp.312-313) 

     Samuele continues as such: "Should we then conclude that Sunday is to be regarded as the hour of worship rather then the holy day of rest to the Lord? Apparently it is toward this direction that some Christian churches are moving." (ibid, p.313) 

     "To say the least, this interpretation not only reduces the obligation of the Lord's day to the attendance of a church service, but it even accomodates the social and recreational priorities of modern Christians. Does this view of the Lord's day as the hour of worship reflect correctly the Biblical teaching of the sanctification of the Sabbath, accomplished by renouncing the utilitarian use of its time? Hardly so." (ibid, pp 315-316).
     "Does this proposal contribute to solving or to compounding the problems associated with Sunday observance in our time? Does not this provide Christians with a rational justification for spending most of their Sunday time in either making money or in seeking pleasure? Is this what Sunday observance is all about? To divorce worship from rest, regarding the latter as non-essential to Sunday observance, it means to misunderstand the meaning of the Biblical commandment which ordains the consecration not of a weekly hour of worship but of a whole day of interruption of work out of respect for God. Undoubtedly for some Christians the reduction of Sunday observance to an hour of worship is unacceptable, but our study has shown that both the historical genesis and the thelogical basis of Sunday observance offer little help to encourage the consecration of the total Sunday time to the Lord." (ibid, p.317) 

     "Is there a way out of this predictament? The proposal which we are about to submit may at first appear radical to some, but if it were accepted by Christians at large it could indeed revitalize both the worship and the real content of the Lord's day. Since our study has shown that Sunday observance lacks the Biblical authority and the theological basis necessary to justify the total consecration of its time to the Lord, we believe that such an objective can be more readily acheived by educating our Christian communities to understand the Biblical and apostolic meaning and obligation of the seventh-day Sabbath." (ibid, p.318). [Please note that he is not suggesting that all "Christians" begin to keep the seventh day Sabbath, but rather, that they get educated as to the meaning and obligation of it, and apply it to Sunday.]
 
     "Sabbath observance in this cosmic age can well be for modern man the fitting expression of a cosmic faith...a faith that would treat the Lord's Day as God's holy day rather than as a holiday." (ibid, p.321) [Again, the Sabbath observance he is speaking of is NOT to occur on the seventh day, but rather on the "Lord's Day" (i.e., sunday)].
 
     The following are some "scholars' " comments on Samuele's books. Please, when you read their words, take notice that they are Catholics:
     "The warning has gone out, Sunday is in trouble....In order to gain a much needed perspective on this issue, a practical and worthwhile reading of FROM SABBATH TO SUNDAY is needed."
Thomas G. Simmons, Director
CATHOLIC DIVINE WORSHIP APOSTOLATE
 
Review, MODERN LITURGY MAGAZINE
     "DIVINE REST FOR HUMAN RESTLESSNESS invites every reader to a penetrating and suggestive analysis of the tradition and significance of Sabbath keeping."
Most Reverend Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin ARCHBISHOP OF CHICAGO
 
     Richard Nickels, of Giving and Sharing, & the Bible Sabbath Association,  gave the following review of Bacchiocchi's God’s Festivals in Scripture and History :
     "More than one intelligent, well-educated Sabbath-keeper has mentioned to me that they think Samuele Bacchiocchi is a Jesuit. They have presented no proof for this assertion, and as a result, I place such accusations in the category of malicious gossip....Nevertheless, there are a number of disturbing tendencies that have come to light with the publication of Bacchiocchi's books on the Holy Days.
(1) He is more of a salesman than a scholar. The shoddy work on his first book on the Holy Days is ample proof that he rushed to make a commercial deadline, rather than carefully doing his research.
(2) Time and again, he says that the Bible alone doesn't tell us much of how to keep the Holy Days, and thus he turns to church tradition. Although he stops short of saying that church tradition is above the Bible, by citing and supporting extra-Biblical customs, he elevates these traditions above the Bible.
(3) He lauds and honors Catholic "fathers," even well-known enemies of the true faith, such Origen, Jerome, and Augustine. He acts as if Patrick of Ireland, Columba, Vigilantius Leo, and heroes of the Sabbath-keeping Church of the East did not exist. I care little what Catholic fathers said, but I would be interested in learning more of what Sabbath-keeping church leaders said about the Holy Days.
(4) He liberally quotes from apocryphal sources, as authoritative guides, that prescribe our Christian practices of today, such as his support for a Passover vigil, so-called Lord's Supper, and agape feast.
(5) At times he seems to be purposely ambiguous, even contradictory. He sometimes takes stands on several sides of the same issue, and rarely speaks plainly. [Nickels notes many of such instances, such as the following: "On page 169, Bacchiocchi agrees with Alfred Edersheim, Josephus, and Philo, on the Sivan 6 date for Pentecost. Yet later on, on page 233, he agrees with a Sunday Pentecost. He was either in a hurry to publish his book, or he purposely straddled the fence."]
 
(6) He ignores plain Bible commands, or minimizes them, and instead concentrates on what men say about the Bible.
 
     What is the common denominator of these tendencies of Bacchiocchi? They are traits of the Jesuits! Jesuits believe and practice that the end justifies the means. The Jesuit-led Council of Trent, the touchstone for Catholic success over Protestantism, upheld the Catholic dogma that tradition is above Scripture. Jesuit techniques include the eradication of all history about 'heretics,' the ascendancy of the Apocrypha and translations such as the Vulgate Bible, based on the corrupt Vaticanus and Sinaiticus texts, supported by Origen and Jerome. The Catholic Church in general, and Jesuits in particular, ignore plain Bible commands so as to uphold their anti-Biblical traditions.
 
     Rene Fulop-Miller says of the Jesuits, 'In actual fact, the Jesuit casuists [reasoners about what is right or wrong] deal with two forms of permissible deception: that of 'amphibology' and that of reservatio mentalis. 'Amphibology' is nothing else than the employment of ambiguous terms calculated to mislead the questioner; 'mental reservation' consists in answering a question, not with a direct lie, but in such a way that the truth is partly suppressed, certain words being formulated mentally but not expressed orally,' (cited in Facts of Faith, page 281[by Christian Edwardson]). Dr. Bacchiocchi is so steeped in the study of the Catholic Church early fathers that he cannot help himself from thinking like them. Truly, you become what you read!...I am not accusing him of being a Jesuit. But, I am warning others to reject Bacchiocchi’s Jesuit tendencies. After thoughtful consideration, we will not continue to recommend his books on the Holy Days. We do, indeed, recommend books even if we do not agree with the author on every point. But the tone of Bacchiocchi’s books on the Holy Days, is, in my opinion, Catholic rather than Biblical, and that is something that I will not support." (Richard Nickels, Giving and Sharing newsletter review of Samuele Bacchiocchi's God’s Festivals in Scripture and History

From Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary : "Jesuit ...1 : a member of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius Loyala in 1534 and devoted to missionary and educational work 2 : one given to intrigue or equivocation"
"intrigue ... 1 : a secret scheme"
"equivocate ... 1 : to use equivocal language especially with intent to deceive 2 : to avoid committing oneself in what one says- synonym see LIE"
"equivocal ... 1 a : subject to two or more interpretations and usually used to mislead or confuse"
J.I. Rodale, The Synomym Finder :
"equivocate ... doubletalk ... talk out of both sides of one's mouth"
William Lutz, Double-Speak :
"Doublespeak is not a slip of the tongue, or language used out of ignorance, but is instead a very conscious use of language as a weapon or tool by those in power to achieve their ends at our expense." (p. xii)
"Doublespeak enables speaker and listener, writer and reader, to hold two opposing ideas in their minds at the same time and believe in both of them." (p. 9)

  
  "Andrews University, the Seventh-Day Adventist world headquarters where Samuele Bacchiocchi is a professor, has been so heavily infiltrated with ecumenical theologians that its yearbook has used illustrations of nuns, priests, and people giving the papal sign." [John Osborne and Bob Trefz (independent Seventh Day Adventists), Jesuit Agenda for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, video tape, 1992]. 

     The above cited SDA minister, Bob Trefz, reportedly wrote a letter to a Church of God member which stated:  "I know Bacchiocchi. He is doing the very work that one would expect from a Jesuit. Of course he was trained at the highest Jesuit University in the world...Bacchiocchi is best friends with the leaders of the Lord's Day Alliance--the premier organization pushing for a National Sunday Law.  Bacchiocchi arranged for the Lord's Day Alliance to come to Andrews University where the SDA theological seminary is located.  We believe he is pushing the Jesuit Agenda." [Bacchiocchi actually had the head of the Lord's Day Alliance, Dr. James P. Wesberry, write the forward to his book Rest For Human Restlessness--bh].
 
     This man, Samuele Bacchiocchi, is supported by many "Church of God" organizations, and defended by (including against allegations that he is a Jesuit) Ron Dart of Christian Educational Ministries. You have just read of the "fruits" of Bacchiocchi, whom Ron refers to as "one of the strongest advocates of sincere Sabbath observance in the world." (Understanding Deception, point 6, Ron Dart).  Do you agree with him?  Just which "sabbath" is being advocated? 

Author: Brian Hoeck
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Russia seizes Iran-bound radioactive material


A car approaches terminal II of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in a 2006 file photo. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin
A car approaches terminal II of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in a 2006 file photo.
Credit: Reuters/Alexander Natruskin

MOSCOW | Fri Dec 16, 2011 11:41am EST
(Reuters) - Russia's customs service said Friday it had seized radioactive sodium-22, an isotope that is used in medical equipment but has no weapons use, from the luggage of a passenger planning to fly from Moscow to Tehran.
The service said in a statement that the material could be obtained only "as a result of a nuclear reactor's operations" but did not say when it had been discovered at Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport.
The material triggered an alarm in the airport's radiation control system and a luggage search led to the discovery of 18 pieces of the radioactive metal packed in individual steel casings, it said.
The passenger boarded the plane for Tehran and left Russia, the customs service said. It added that the passenger was Iranian national. Russian law enforcement agencies opened criminal investigation into the incident.
Sodium-22 can be used for calibrating nuclear detectors and in medical equipment, nuclear experts said.
"There is no weapons aspect to this (material)," said Research director Lars-Erik De Geer of the Swedish Defense Research Institute.
Tension is rising between Western powers and Iran after a United Nations nuclear watchdog report last month that said Tehran appeared to have worked on designing a nuclear weapon, and that secret research to that end may be continuing.
Russia, which built Iran's first nuclear power station, has said it might help Tehran construct more atomic plants.
There was no immediate comment from the International Atomic Energy Agency on the incident and whether Russian authorities had reported it to the Vienna-based U.N. body.
(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Reporting by Gleb Bryanski, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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'The Protester' named TIME's person of the year


LATEST UPDATE: 14/12/2011

Time magazine announced on Wednesday that an unnamed, collective "protester" was its person of the year for 2011 after a year that saw successful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt as well as protests in Syria, Yemen, Spain, Russia and beyond.

http://www.france24.com/en/20111214-protester-named-time-magazine-person-year-2011-media
By Catherine Nicholson (video)
News Wires (text)

AFP - Time magazine named the collective "protester" around the world as its person of the year Wednesday, citing the change brought by street demonstrations from Arab countries to New York.
The shared honor for protesters beat the traditional individual contenders, who included Admiral William McCraven, commander of the US mission to kill Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.
"There's this contagion of protest," managing editor Richard Stengel said on NBC television. "These are folks who are changing history already and they will change history in the future."
The magazine, featuring a cover photo of a female Arab protester, goes on the newsstands Friday.
Last year, the magazine picked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose competitors included another 21st century communications guru, WikiLeaks maestro Julian Assange.
This time, the list centered on heavyweight political figures such as McRaven, Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei, and influential Republican Congressman Paul Ryan.
There were also an emotional nod for Kate Middleton, who was credited for putting a spring back in the British monarchy's step with her wedding to Prince William.
"Admiral McCraven captured bin Laden and (Middleton) captured our hearts. They represent people who affected us in one way or another who swayed the conversation -- captured our imagination," Stengel said.
However, in the end, the selection committee was unanimous on backing street protesters: "the men and women around the world, particularly in the Middle East, who toppled governments, who brought democracy and dignity to people who hadn't had it before," Stengel said.
Referring to the North African popular revolts, he said: "We thought 'these dictators are not going to be toppled.' And then these people who risked their lives, risked their livelihoods to go out there and brought about change that nobody had expected.
"It really is a transformational thing and I think it is changing the world for the better," he said.

Video: http://www.france24.com/en/20111214-protester-named-time-magazine-person-year-2011-media


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Related:

My Word: Marco Rubio: Here's the right story


November 03, 2011|By Bruce Stephenson
Marco Rubio embedded his politics in his family's history. The problem, of course, is Rubio misrepresented the facts. His parents did not flee a brutal communist dictatorship; they fled a brutal right wing dictatorship, one so corrupt with crony capitalism that it made communism palatable. Rubio is an American citizen because his parents embraced a nation with a thriving middle-class democracy, which begs the question: Does Rubio understand the riddle of his own history?
Fulgencio Batista held power for two decades before Castro's revolution. He was the stereotypical Latin American dictator: part gangster and megalomaniac, he embraced Florida mobster Meyer Lansky and American corporations with equal relish.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Another Government Shut-Down Deadline?



Just when you thought is was safe to go on a shop 'til you drop Black Friday rampage and throw your cares to the air, Congress has reached another fiscal impasse; Another squabble over where and how 'your' money is spent. What a travesty of law? What chicanery?

Humh?

This sure smells of Ordo ab Chao, or further proof of a conspiracy to beat everyone into compromise or as PC call it: Consensus.

We have the world's most transparent government, and the freest news media (compared to what); Yet, what we are able to see is clear and present deception...


Arsenio

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Vatican Pope: A New World Order, One World Religion & Central Bank NWO 2012



Uploaded by bibleortraditions on Oct 27, 2011
News update: October 27, 2011

We are wtnessing Bible prophecy unfolding yet again. Not only has the pope Benedict XVI called for a regathering of world's religions, it has called for a world central bank to control all aspects of banking.

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'Keep Christ in Christmas' banner displayed on city street opposed on Constitutional grounds

December 15, 2011 By God Discussion

In Pitman, N.J., Christmas music is heard on the streets, holiday decorations abound. But one display by the Knights of Columbus has stirred controversy.

The controversial display is a banner that reads "Keep Christ in Christmas."

A person offended by the banner displayed over a public roadway contacted the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), which says the banner is unconstitutional. "The government does not have the power to endorse a religious viewpoint," said FFRF spokesperson Andrew Seidel. FFRF sent a letter to the town asking that it remove the banner or in the alternative, allow FFRF to display an anti-religious sign.

The town says that it is not violating the Constitution. "That sign is attached to a privatebuilding, attached to Atlantic City Electric's phone pole, and it's over a county road," the mayor said, adding that the sign had been displayed there for 40 Christmases. "It's a sad state of affairs that our country — we cowtail to the minority and not the majority of people that would like to see things like that stay."

A woman declared to MSNBC's News Station 10 reporter, "It's about time people like myself start standing up in this country and say we've had enough."

Town officials plan on telling FFRF that they will not take the sign down because it is not attached to town property. FFRF says that this is not acceptable because the banner is over a public roadway.

(The news video will load in 1-2 seconds.)




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