Thursday, June 21, 2012

Let's make Sunday a day of rest, for God’s sake


By Josh Graves
Published April 22, 2012
FoxNews.com


Spiritual disciplines are the habits we keep that connect us to God. They come from the Jewish conviction that action shapes and reveals what we ultimately believe. Our faith might come and go, but our actions should never waiver. This can be true for people of all faith claims.

We dance in rhythm with God when we keep the Sabbath. The reason we are called to take a day of rest is simple. Humans tend to forget that we did not make the world and thus, that the world does not depend upon us.

Barbara Brown Taylor tells a story about a friend, David, growing up in Atlanta and what he taught her about fidelity to God:

When I was a junior in high school, my boyfriend Herb played on the varsity basketball team. He was not the star player however. The star player was a boy named David, who scored so many points during his four-year career that the coach retired his jersey when he graduated. This would have been remarkable under any circumstances, but it was doubly so since David did not play on Friday nights.

On Friday nights, David observed the Sabbath with the rest of his family, who generously withdrew when David’s gentile friends arrived, sweaty and defeated, after Friday night home games.

Following each Friday night game, David’s friends came to his house to describe the game in great detail. “Blow by blow” the gentiles were allowed to speak and create worlds in David’s living room. Someone in the room asked if it bothered him to sit at home while his team “was getting slaughtered in the high school gymnasium.”

“No one makes me do this,” he said. “I’m a Jew, and Jews observe the Sabbath.” Six days a week, he said, he loved nothing more than playing basketball and he gladly gave all he had to the game. On the seventh day, he loved being Jewish more than he loved playing basketball, and he just as gladly gave all he had to the Sabbath. Sure, he felt a tug, but that was the whole point. Sabbath was his chance to remember what was really real. Once three stars were visible in the Friday night sky, his identity as a Jew was more real to him than his identity as the star of our basketball team."

It is essential for Christians to create regular, intentional spaces of time in which we do not work, e-mail, fax, clean, or do laundry.

A time when we allow our hearts to settle and the voices to hush. Sabbath is a time when we remember that God made the world and rested; that He calls us to rest with him, to hear his voice, to be aware of his presence.

And it is a time to remember, according to the Hebrew Testament teaching on Sabbath and Jubilee, that there will be a day when all peoples of the world will rest—not just the ones who can financially afford to take a day off.

Sabbath-keeping reminds us that we are pilgrims in a foreign land, awaiting the world to become what the world was meant to be.

We remember vividly that, although God made the world, the world is not the way God made it.
When we keep Sabbath, we proclaim to the rest of the world that God is about the business of making things new. God needs a way of reminding us that we are no longer in Egypt, stacking bricks for the Empire. If busyness and idolatry plague our collective life, Sabbath is a means by which we can become more like the person God created us to be.

For the last few years, I’ve rigorously worked to keep a full Sabbath day in my weekly schedule.
It hasn’t always been easy.

Deaths, births, tragedies, miracles, and mundane duties of life show little regard for my personal desire to rest.

Slowly, over time, when those things occur on Sabbath, I’m tempted to jump in and fix everything. Sometimes, when the circumstances demand, I have to get involved. Most of the time, however, keeping Sabbath convicts me that the world can run just fine without me. I see a clear role for myself in the divine story. I am important in this narrative, but I’m not the main point or the main character. Sabbath teaches me this.

Whole. Rested. Listening. Attentive. Cleansed.

This is what Sabbath is about. It creates the space in our lives for us to remember who we are.

To remember that we are players in a different story.

Americans work hard. Maybe too hard.

This is an invitation to Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics, Buddhists, and Christians.
One day a week. Rest. For God’s sake.



Dr. Josh Graves is a minister and writer. You can read his blog @ www.joshugraves.com or follow him on Twitter @joshgraves. His next book, "Heaven on Earth" (Abingdon) comes out in December.


Source: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/04/22/let-make-sunday-day-rest-for-gods-sake/#ixzz1yUzJMRD3


Moody's downgrades 15 major banks

21 June 2012 Last updated at 18:12 ET

Bank headquarters

Citigroup and HSBC were among the banks downgraded



The credit ratings agency Moody's has downgraded 15 banks and financial institutions.

UK banks downgraded include Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and HSBC.

In the US, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are among those marked down.

BBC business editor Robert Peston reported on Tuesday that the downgrades were coming and said that banks were concerned as it may make it harder for them to borrow money commercially.

"All of the banks affected by today's actions have significant exposure to the volatility and risk of outsized losses inherent to capital markets activities," Moody's global banking managing director Greg Bauer said in the agency's statement.

The other institutions that have been downgraded are Credit Suisse, UBS, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and Morgan Stanley.

Moody's said it recognised, "the clear intent of governments around the world to reduce support for creditors", but added that they had not yet put the frameworks in place that would allow them to let banks fail.

Some of the banks were put on negative outlook, which is a warning that they could be downgraded again later, on the basis that governments may eventually manage to withdraw their support.


The most interesting thing about the Moody's analysis is that it, in effect, creates three new categories of global banks, the banking equivalent of the Premier League, the Championship and League One”

Robert Peston
Business editor


In a statement, RBS responded to its downgrade saying: "The group disagrees with Moody's ratings change which the group feels is backward-looking and does not give adequate credit for the substantial improvements the group has made to its balance sheet, funding and risk profile."

The BBC's Scotland business editor Douglas Fraser tweeted: "Cost of RBS downgrade by Moody's: having to post an estimated extra £9bn in collateral for its debts."

Of the banks downgraded, four were cut by one notch on Moody's ranking scale, 10 by two notches and one, Credit Suisse, by three notches.

"The biggest surprise is the three-notch downgrade of Credit Suisse, which no one was looking for," said Mark Grant, managing director of Southwest Securities.




Church, Congregations Increase Focus on "Spiritual Formation"

ANN Feature: Church, Congregations Increase Focus on "Spiritual Formation"


Feb. 03, 2004 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Wendi Rogers/ANN



Roger Dudley.


Jane Thayer.


Spiritual formation is a topic being raised by many pastors and church leaders in a growing number of Christian denominations. It’s no longer enough to just know doctrine and facts—in today’s hectic society people are searching for something deeper and more meaningful, something that makes sense in their whirlwind lives.

For the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a “wake-up call” was sounded after a 2002 survey showed that though doctrinal understanding was high, there were several “areas of concern,” including low involvement in daily prayer and Bible study, active Christian witness to the community, and participation in community service (see ANN October 9, 2002).

These concerns can be linked to how the church rates in the area of spiritual formation, which has been defined by one Adventist Church pastor as “the process of becoming a mature Christian disciple of God.” Another person describes it as “whatever you do to specifically nourish your relationship with God.”

Today this subject is receiving serious emphasis in Adventist institutions, as well as in local congregations. Though the church doesn’t have an accredited educational program dealing with spiritual formation at any of its theological schools, it’s seeing this subject become more common in today’s modern, seeking world.

Spiritual formation is not a new idea or concept, and “a lot of Protestants are in the same boat—we are rediscovering it,” says Dr. Jon Dybdahl, president of Walla Walla College, an Adventist institution in Washington State. And, he adds, the Adventist Church has some work to do.

“Traditionally the Adventist Church has emphasized intellectual truth and accepting certain facts and ideas about God,” Dybdahl says. “At least in many places it has not talked so much about the importance of directly experiencing God. The difference is between knowing about God and knowing God. Sometimes what we teach people is knowing about God ... That’s part of the nature of things. It’s much easier to communicate a fact than it is to wield people to experience.”

Pastor Martin Feldbush, associate director for Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries whose work brings him in contact with leaders of several other denominations, says that the Adventist Church is not alone in its quest for deeper spiritual formation among members. “A lot of churches out there are struggling with the same issues as we are. We’re not in isolation as though there’s something wrong with us. I think churches particularly that are conservative in their orientation and take their mission very seriously, and I believe we should do all of that, may have a tendency to stress the ‘doing’ as opposed to the ‘being’ and the formation.”

But why is there a need for spiritual formation? If people are part of a religious organization, shouldn’t they already be at a certain level of spiritual formation?

John Jenson, pastor of the 150-member South Bay Adventist Church in Torrance, California, says, “There’s a need for spiritual formation with the [Adventist] Church because we have been so doctrinally oriented that people might be able to quote some or all of the 27 fundamental beliefs [of the church], and may have neglected having daily devotions that day or week or month.” He explains that there’s an overload of knowledge and information, but how to translate that into meaningful instruction and “marching orders” for daily living is key.

Jenson says that without spiritual formation, a person would be “spiritually uncivilized.” It “is the process by which they can go from being a spiritual infant to spiritual maturity ... developing the potential that God’s put within you.”

Dybdahl adds that people need to “Begin to recognize that knowledge without life experience can be dead. [They need to] recognize how crucial it is to people’s lives [and] how much the younger generation values experience.”

Dr. Jane Thayer, assistant professor of Religious Education and coordinator of the Religious Education Program at Andrews University, adds, “We have a big blank when it comes to taking care of people once they have accepted the Lord ... I think what people need to know is ‘how do you live the life.’ Spiritual formation or discipleship needs to show how you live like Christ.”

Nikolaus Satelmajer, from the church’s Ministerial Association responsible for continuing education for Adventist clergy, believes there’s now a shift from emphasis on doctrine to more emphasis on spiritual formation within the Adventist Church. He also says that, “We’re finding a serious lack of knowledge of our people [church founders], our doctrines ... I think we have de-emphasized them.” Satelmajer says this is true particularly with the younger generation, and the cause of any spiritual formation growth stunt is not because of a focus on doctrine.

Though it’s not a concept that’s easy to grasp for an organization as a whole, spiritual formation is something each individual member can work on, Feldbush says. “When you think about it as an individual, we’re so used to gearing our spiritual experience on the ‘wow’ moments—the ones [in which] we can see the great things happening, whether it’s personally or organizationally. It’s easy to see God’s movement in those times. Real spiritual formation is a process of growing more and more in tune to discernment of God’s voice as well as more and more tuned to discernment of God’s moving in my life, in the ordinary of life, as well as even in the difficult times of life. That’s where real spiritual formation, or at least the value of spiritual formation, is seen.”

Spiritual formation is not about what one does, but what the motivations behind one’s actions are. Dr. Roger Dudley, professor emeritus of Christian Ministry and director of the Institute of Church Ministry at Andrews University Theological Seminary, and the 2002 survey coordinator, says there are stages of moral development. “A person who studies the Bible every day because he’ll be lost if he doesn’t has a low level of moral development; or a person who pays tithes and offerings because he expects an extra blessing. Higher levels would be a different level of motivation.”

“That overemphasis on doing to the detriment of being and particularly the detriment of being in the spirit and being in Christ as the very formational and foundational experience of the individual member and the church itself, I think that’s one of the big challenges,” says Feldbush. He adds that the three strategic values of the church—unity, growth and quality of life—adopted in 2002, demonstrate personal spiritual growth.

Spiritual formation takes on several forms: “There are disciplines of devotion, meditation, prayer, listening and so on,” Feldbush explains. “It’s a discipline which can be heeded through the assistance of a person who is trained in helping people grow in these ways.” But, he says, it’s mostly “growing more and more tuned to God’s movement in my life here and now.” And, he says, spiritual formation is not something that happens overnight.

“We [as a church] think that spiritual formation comes through socialization. But we need to be intentional about it,” says Thayer. “The culture we live in is so pervasive that the models there are more persistent and prevalent than the little models we have just in terms of the time we’ve spent.” Thayer refers to a need for showing others how to live like Christ in the real world.

Dudley adds that if more members are encouraged to study and pray more and are able and willing to share their faith, there may be spiritual development for the church as a whole. “Spiritual development is something that happens with individuals.”

Satelmajer adds, “And within congregations as well. Spiritual formation is the implementation of spiritual principles in my life and in my actions,” he says. “I think we’re missing something. It’s not just learning how to ‘meditate’—spiritual formation is learning how to implement spiritual things that I know or am learning or experiencing into my life and then into my everyday life…”

The Adventist world church created the International Board of Ministerial and Theological Education (IBMTE) in September 2001, designed to provide overall guidance and standards to the professional training of pastors, evangelists, theologians, teachers, chaplains and other denominational employees involved in ministerial and religious formation, or spiritual formation, in each of the church’s 13 regions around the world.


[Source: © 2012, Adventist News Network.]



Why the Green Economy Coalition does not believe Rio +20 is an abject failure

Jo Confino in Rio de Janeiro
Guardian Professional, Thursday 21 June 2012 07.10 EDT

Rio+20 : Dilma Rousseff Inaugurates Pavillon Brazil
Rio+20: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during the Opening Ceremony of the Brazilian Pavilion. Photograph: Buda Mendes/Getty Images



Thursday June 20 11.45

Oliver Greenfield, the convenor of the Green Economy Coalition, offers a contrary position to the view of the majority of NGOs that Rio +20 has been an abject failure. Here's what he has to say:

"Rio +20 is it a failure or a success? One thousand NGOs, institutions and individuals have signed a petition calling it "The Future We Don't Want" – citing failures on removing fossil fuel subsidies, failure to protect oceans, failures to address women's reproduction health.

Against this groundswell it is difficult for any civil society to say anything different. There are many failings, the ones above, the lack of dates, urgency. But the green economy idea has not died, and to quote the Venezuelan delegation during the final text release: "Green economy has changed from something that is being imposed, to something we own."

"We have a mandate, albeit weak, for many of the things we wanted. We have commitment to the sustainable development goals, to strengthening UNEP, to encourage corporate sustainability reporting, develop beyond GDP, adopt the 10 year programme on sustainable consumption and production, some signals on energy, and the bolstering of science in policy making. At first reading this is probably graded a C-, but it is definitely not a F.

"There three other important points to make. To deliver multilateralism we need a strong UN, and events that world leaders feel compelled to attend. Always seeing the glass half empty (or completely empty) does damage to future chances of success. Secondly, we have seen a geopolitical shift, not in economic power, but in leadership. The stars of the show have been Brazil and Colombia. The absence of leadership with power is perhaps why we got less than we need but more than we expected.

"So Rio + 20 has been a stepping stone, not a turning point. We are closer to coherence but the bigger battles lay ahead. The vision of a new economy has been born here. We will work to ensure that it grows up fast."

Puma chairman Jochen Zeitz says Arctic exploitation the Mount Everest of unsustainable development

Thursday June 21 10.40

I have just managed to track down Jochen Zeitz, the chairman of Puma and chief sustainability officer at luxury products group PPR, to ask him why he signed up to the campaign Greenpeace launched today to prevent exploitation of the Arctic.

It needs no commentary so here it is: "As a private individual and businessman, this campaign is fundamental. I abhor that businesses want to use and destroy the environment and use the effects of such as an opportunity for more business and thus more destruction.

"To me it looks like the Mount Everest of unsustainable development. Instead of coming up with good, clean and green new technologies to help protect and restore our planet. And hence our basis for long-term survival for future generations. There has got to be a limit."

If other business leaders are looking to have a lesson in leadership, you've just had it!

Even progressive businesses are living in La-La land

Thursday June 20 09.00

I wanted to highlight comments from Manish Bapna, interim president of the highly respected World Resources Institute, a US based environmental think tank, who had some harsh words to say about how business is living in La-La land.

Remember when you read what he has to say, that he is referring to the 1,000 plus most progressive companies in the world; in other words the ones who actually came to Rio +20.

"At several events this week, businesses at Rio were unable to grasp the fundamental recognition that the planet is on an unsustainable course and the window for action is closing. We were disappointed to find that most of the talk seemed to restate the basics, but failed to produce transformational ideas about how we can shift course in time. One notable exception was the Natural Capital Leadership Compact signed by 15 global companies, which urged action to properly value and maintain the Earth's natural capital."

He also launches a thinly disguised attack on the oil companies for putting their own selfish interests ahead of the survival of civilisation.

"Strong interests are holding back progress on many key issues," he says. "These include some governments, businesses, and others with vested interests that prefer to hang on to the status quo rather than advance change in the world. This was most clear earlier this week when world leaders failed to respond to the groundswell of voices that pushed to cut global fossil fuel subsidies."

It's not just business that gets it in the neck. On the final negotiated text, he says: "Almost across the board, the document is much too soft and vague to solve today's sustainability challenges. Much of the text is merely a reaffirmation of previous agreements or worse, a regression from those agreements.

"That said, we've believed all along that the more groundbreaking action at Rio+20 would be outside of the formal process. Certainly, after attending many side events and informal meetings this week, I've come across numerous examples of civil society organizations, entrepreneurs, companies, and others who are moving forward with innovative approaches to address sustainability. Perhaps more importantly, outside of Rio, many national and local governments are genuinely pushing ahead on sustainability in exciting ways."

Why Puma chairman Jochen Zeitz is unlikely to be invited to the Shell Christmas party

Thursday June 21 08.00

Question: What do Sir Paul McCartney, Penelope Cruz, One Direction, Jarvis Cocker and Puma chairman Jochen Zeitz all have in common?

Answer: They have all signed up to Greenpeace's campaign to save the Arctic.

We are used to seeing film stars and musicians put their names to public NGO campaigns before but is is very unusual for a traditional business leader to do so.

The only other businessman out of the dozens of famous people to call for a global sanctuary in the Arctic is Richard Branson, but he he is more superstar than corporate executive so for that reason he does not count.

Zeitz and others have joined forces with Greenpeace to demand that oil drilling and unsustainable fishing are banned in Arctic waters.

What this actually means is that a senior business leader has decided to speak out against his counterparts in the oil and gas sector. So that's him struck off Shell's Christmas party invite. We need more people like Zeitz to take a public stand.

They are among the first one hundred names to be written on an Arctic Scroll, which is launched by Greenpeace today at the Rio Earth Summit. When a million others add their own names Greenpeace will embark on an expedition to plant it on the seabed at the North Pole, four kilometres beneath the ice. The spot will be marked by a Flag for the Future designed by the youth of the world.

Anybody in the world can add their name to the Arctic Scroll and have their name planted beneath the pole by visiting www.SaveTheArctic.org.

When I met up the other day with Kumi Naidoo, who heads up Greenpeace International, he talked about the utter wrecklessness of the oil comapnies' Artic plans.

"This gives a sense of the madness of what is happening because it is so typical of the problem we are in," he told me. "Rather than seeing the melting of the Arctic sea ice in the summer months as a warning sign that this is real and we need to address it, we allow a handful of corporations to go in now and see what they can extract."





Crisis theatens Spaniards' day of retail rest



Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:26pm IST


* All shops allowed to open 24/7 in Madrid from mid-July

* Shake-up could boost jobs but squeeze smaller stores

* Big cultural upheaval for Spain as govt seeks to broaden move

* Religious holidays could also be shifted to Mondays in reforms

By Sarah White and Clare Kane

MADRID, June 19 (Reuters) - Religious festivals and leisurely Sundays could be the next casualties of the economic crisis in Spain, with a shake-up of shop opening rules and new dates for holidays rocking deep-seated traditions.

Under current law, the bulk of businesses have to close on most Sundays, but from mid-July the central region of Madrid, which includes the country's capital, will allow all shops to open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The change is part of centre-right Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's drive to make Spain's economy more competitive as he tries to steer the country out of the euro zone debt crisis.

Politicians say the move could create thousands of jobs, is supported by some stores and consumer groups, and would be welcomed by tourists. Almost one in four in Spain is now unemployed, and economic turmoil has forced the country to seek a European rescue for its banks.

But the more flexible rules would mean a big cultural shift in a traditionally Catholic society. Even many non-church goers see Sunday as a time for family and friends, not for shopping or work.

Madrid's new opening hours will be further reaching than even some of the most liberal European regimes, such as in Britain, where Sunday trading was relaxed in 1994, but where most bigger stores can still only trade for six hours.

Countries of similar Catholic tradition, such as Italy, have looser opening hours than most of Spain as things stand, but restrictions still apply.

Germany is at the stricter end of the scale, with Sunday openings still heavily resisted.

Independent shops worry they will suffer as department stores have the resources to make the most of the reforms, squeezing out the specialist sandal and hat shops, tailors and crockery stores that still have a place on Madrid's high streets.

Many small outlets are reluctant to shift working patterns and take on the cost of paying extra staff on Sunday. Very small shops such as convenience stores already had permission to open on Sunday but typically chose not to.

"Small businesses have always been the lifeblood of this country and continue to be. (But) big businesses will open (on Sundays) and we will be hurt," said Eugenia Sanchez, who runs a hardware store in the central business district of Madrid.

Sanchez said she was still not sure she would open on Sundays - most likely not.

"We work 10 to 12 hours a day already ... Sunday is family time," she said.

The small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector in Spain is bigger and contributes more to the economy than the European average, but it shed 1.5 million jobs, or 14 percent of its workforce, between 2008 and 2010, according to a European Commission study.

BURNING BRIDGES

Relaxing shopping hours in Madrid is likely to be just the beginning of a greater shift.

The ruling People's Party is pushing to export similar reforms across the rest of the country's 17 autonomous regions.

Plans have not been finalised, but the central government is also studying moving three holidays, including two religious ones, to the closest Monday or Friday. The government argues this would increase productivity in Spain by keeping huge numbers of workers from taking extra-long weekends.

Portugal has already decided to suspend four out of 14 public holidays from 2013, for five years, to boost growth.

Some of the backlash against the new shopping regime in Madrid has come from religious groups that say Sunday is important for society, whether people use it for worship or not.

"It's important to have a day when we can assemble with others, which in the European tradition has been Sunday," said Maria del Pino Jimenez, president of the Catholic Action Workers group. "It's important for people to develop facets that go beyond mere consumerism."

ECONOMIC IMPERATIVES?

Spain's economic turmoil has put the shop hours debate at the heart of recovery plans. One recent IE Business School study said relaxing business opening hours across Spain would boost business volumes 2.8 percent in the following year and create at least 20,000 jobs in the next three years.

Spain's economy ministry, meanwhile, has argued that changing habits, such as the rise of online shopping available around the clock, made such reforms an imperative.

The rise of small convenience stores and other types of shops run by a growing Chinese population in Madrid - which tend to open for longer hours and on Sunday - has also shown there is some demand for more flexible opening times.

"It's all the same to me because I don't work, but for people with jobs it's much more convenient to be able to go shopping on Sunday," said Navidad Hernandez, a retired Madrid resident, out with a friend on Sunday.

But the bulk of jobs created would be in large stores and shopping centres, and some doubt the reforms would mean more employment on a net basis.

"It might take away more jobs from small retailers than it's going to create in big chains," said Carlos Hernandez, an analyst at Planet Retail analysis firm in Madrid.

Sceptics over the benefits of a shake-up say the Madrid move would at least provide data on its impact on job creation, but doubted it would encourage more spending.

"The level of consumption (in Spain) is what it is," said Manuel Garcia-Izquierdo, president of the Spanish Confederation of Commerce. He warned of the danger of the new rules for small companies and for family structures, in a society based on what he called a "Mediterranean model".

Occasional Sunday shopping promotions have so far had a mixed reception from businesses. Starting in May, in Madrid's plush Salamanca neighbourhood, shops have been allowed to open on Sunday. Big international designers have opened their doors, but other shops stayed shuttered.

"In principle this is to create jobs," said shop worker Juana Maria Barra, on a Sunday in Salamanca's upmarket Serrano street.

"But in this neighbourhood people go away at the weekend, and it's only tourists," she said pointing to the empty street. "And in July and August, Madrid is completely deserted. There won't be anyone." (Editing by Fiona Ortiz and Will Waterman)




After seizure, crashes, Commerce Secretary John Bryson resigns

June 21, 2012 | 8:36 am


John Bryson
Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who said he suffered a seizure resulting in two hit-and-run crashes in the San Gabriel Valley earlier this month, has resigned from his Cabinet position.



In a letter to President Obama dated Wednesday, the 68-year-old Bryson said he was stepping down as a result of his seizure and medical leave of absence.

“I have concluded that the seizure I suffered on June 9th could be a distraction from my performance as Secretary and that our country would be better served by a change in leadership of the Department,” he wrote.

Bryson shared the news with his staff Thursday morning and said Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank, who has led the department since Bryson began the leave of absence June 11, would continue to serve as acting secretary.

Police found Bryson unconscious at the wheel of his Lexus after it struck two vehicles shortly after 5 p.m. on June 9. He was cited for felony hit-and-run but was not booked because he was taken to an area hospital, where he spent the night under observation before returning to Washington the next day.

Commerce Department officials later attributed the crash to a seizure, which they said was Bryson's first.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Bryson was chairman of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, for 18 years until 2008. He was sworn in as the head of the Commerce Department in October.

Bryson, who has a home in San Marino, was in Southern California to give the commencement address on June 7 at Pasadena Polytechnic School, which his four daughters once attended, school officials said. They have since graduated.

Some students and parents at the school noticed that Bryson, a polished public speaker, made mistakes and had lapses during his remarks. Several people told The Times that Bryson repeated himself and rambled at times. One parent said he mangled words and did not appear to notice.


— Kate Mather

Photo: U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson has resigned after suffering a seizure that apparently led to two crashes in the San Gabiel Valley earlier this month. Credit: Brendan Smialowski /Getty Images




Spiritual Formation- Bill Hughes




Uploaded by Genesisone29 on Sep 11, 2011

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The Second Beast of Revelation 13 Points Unmistakably to the United States



Uploaded by on Aug 4, 2010

HQ - Re-done in better quality and higher definition.

The second beast of Revelation 13 is none other than the United States of America.

Posted with permission from Proof Directory Channel:

Fast and Furious scandal: House panel votes to hold Eric Holder in contempt


Video: The House Government and Oversight Reform Committee voted 23 to 17 to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for failing to share documents related to Operation “Fast and Furious.”


A House panel voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt for failing to cooperate with a congressional inquiry into Operation “Fast and Furious,” hours after President Obama asserted executive privilege over related documents.

By Ed O’Keefe, Peter Wallsten and Sari Horwitz, Updated: Wednesday, June 20, 4:55 PM

On a party-line decision, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 23 to 17 to hold Holder in contempt for failing to share documents related to the operation run out of the Phoenix division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives between 2009 and 2011, with the backing of the U.S. attorney in Phoenix. The move makes Holder the first member of Obama’s Cabinet held in contempt by a congressional committee
.


The panel’s actions will be reported to the full House, where Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and GOP leaders have scheduled a floor vote for next week unless Holder hands over the documents before then. If passed by the House, the matter would then move to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ronald C. Machen Jr., who is an employee of the Justice Department.

After the vote, Holder called the vote a “divisive action” that “does nothing to make any of our law enforcement agents safer.”

“It’s an election-year tactic intended to distract attention -- and, as a result -- has deflected critical resources from fulfilling what remains my top priority at the Department of Justice: Protecting the American people,” Holder said.

Obama’s decision to withhold the documents — his first use of executive privilege in response to a congressional investigation — and the House panel’s vote quickly intensified a long-simmering feud between the White House and Republican lawmakers and set up a clash over the extent of presidential power that may take months to resolve.

Ahead of the vote, Holder said in a letter to Obama that sharing the Fast and Furious documents “would raise substantial separation of powers concerns and potentially create an imbalance in the relationship” between Congress and the White House.

Releasing the documents “would inhibit candor of such Executive Branch deliberations in the future and significantly impair the Executive Branch’s ability to respond independently and effectively to congressional oversight,” Holder wrote.

Adding to the administration's defiance, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer accused Republicans Wednesday of orchestrating a “taxpayer-funded election-year fishing expedition.”

“Given the economic challenges facing the country,” Pfeiffer said in a statement, “we believe that House Republicans should work with the rest of Congress and the president to create more jobs, not more political theater.”

Executive privilege has been invoked throughout U.S. history by presidential administrations to preserve the confidentiality of information in the face of legislative inquiries. The privilege is qualified, not absolute, and can be overturned in courts. But disputes over access to information rarely reach the courts and are most often resolved through political negotiations, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Before the vote, oversight chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Obama’s move “falls short of any reason to delay today’s proceedings.”

“If the Justice Department had delivered the documents they freely admitted they could have delivered, we wouldn't be here today,” Issa said.

Aides said Issa learned of the president’s decision just minutes before the hearing began in an e-mail from Justice Department officials.

Congressional committees have held Executive Branch officials in criminal contempt of congress roughly a dozen times in the last 40 years. Usually, administration officials have cited executive privilege in refusing to share information, but eventually turn over requested documents before congressional committees reach the final stages of contempt proceedings, according to the CRS.

The attorney general attempted to stave off Wednesday's vote by meeting late Tuesday with leaders of the House oversight and Senate Judiciary committees to strike a deal that would have Justice hand over requested documents in exchange for the House panel dropping its plans to vote on contempt charges. But Issa declined the offer.

Committee Democrats criticized Issa's decision to move forward and blasted him for allowing the dispute to become a personal attack on Holder instead of a serious inquiry into Justice Department policy.

“We’ve been holding the attorney general to an impossible standard,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the panel's ranking Democrat.

“You accused him of a ‘cover-up' for protecting documents he was prohibited by law from producing. You claimed that he ‘obstructed’ the committee’s work by complying with federal statutes passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president," Cummings said. “And earlier this month, you went on national television and called the attorney general — our nation’s chief law enforcement officer — a liar.”

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) later called Wednesday’s hearing “a kangaroo court” with a predetermined outcome. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) said he had never seen such personal attacks directed at an administration official during his three decades in Congress: “I think this is a major mistake and I really want you to know that this should be discontinued.”

But Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.) and other GOP lawmakers said the ongoing inquiry is a legitmiate, serious concern: “The people in my district ask over and over again, who’s responsible for this flawed operation? … We owe this answser to the American people. That is what this committee is charged to do.”

The White House, in asserting a privilege that many Democrats had attacked the George W. Bush administration for using, risked opening itself up to further criticism for secrecy.

Apparently seeking to preempt such attacks, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said via e-mail Wednesday that Obama has shown greater reluctance to use executive privilege than his predecessors. Dating back to Reagan, Schultz said, presidents have asserted the privilege 24 times.

“President Obama has gone longer without asserting the privilege in a Congressional dispute than any President in the last three decades,” Schultz wrote. He said Bush asserted executive privilege six times and President Clinton 14 times – “both of whom protected the same category of documents we’re protecting today.”

The failed talks with Issa were cited Wednesday morning in a letter to the congressman by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole, in which Cole cited the administration’s “extraordinary effort” to comply with the House committee’s requests for information and documents and said the congressman had “rejected” offers by the attorney general to accommodate his requests.

In his statement, Pfeiffer said the concerns with the ATF’s gunwalking program began during the Bush administration and that Holder had moved to end the policy. “In fact, the Justice Department has spent the past 14 months accommodating Congressional investigators, producing 7,600 pages of documents, and testifying at 11 Congressional hearings. Yet, Republicans insist on moving forward with an effort that Republicans and objective legal experts have noted is purely political.”

Though Issa's inquiry has the support of House Republican leaders, the face-off with Holder has grabbed attention from the carefully-orchestrated summer plans of GOP leaders to hold votes in the months before the November elections on bills designed to bolster job creation and reduce federal regulatory burdens.

On Wednesday, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the president's decision to use executive privilege “implies that White House officials were either involved in the ‘Fast and Furious’ operation or the cover-up that followed. The administration has always insisted that wasn’t the case. Were they lying, or are they now bending the law to hide the truth?”

Issa scheduled the committee vote after concluding with Boehner and other GOP leaders in recent weeks that the Justice Department was withholding information sought as part of the committee’s investigation into the scandal. Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Issa co-signed a letter last month to Obama asking that Holder comply with the congressional requests for information.

In Operation Fast and Furious, federal agents targeting the Mexico-based Sinaloa drug cartel did not interdict more than 2,000 guns they suspected of being bought illegally, in the hope of later tracking them to the cartel. The ATF lost track of most of the firearms, some of which have been found at crime scenes in Mexico and the United States.

Two of the guns connected to the botched operation were found at the Arizona site where U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent Brian Terry was killed in December 2010.

In recent weeks, Issa narrowed his request to the internal Justice deliberations since early February 2011, when Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) first began asking Justice about Fast and Furious. On Feb. 4, 2011, the Justice Department sent the committee a letter denying use of the “gunwalking” tactics used in Fast and Furious. Officials were later forced to retract the letter after whistleblowers came forward and said they had used those very tactics.

Issa also has asked Justice for all documents related to the treatment of the whistleblowers.

Obama’s assertion of privilege is likely to become fodder for his political opponents, who have latched onto the Fast and Furious scandal as a way to accuse the president of trying to avoid congressional scrutiny.

Within minutes of the White House announcement, conservative Web sites lit up with quotes from then-candidate Obama in 2007, who joined fellow Democrats in criticizing Bush administration officials for refusing to testify before congressional committees investigating the firing of U.S. attorneys.

“You know, there’s been a tendency on the part of this [Bush] administration to -- to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there’s something a little shaky that’s taking place,” Obama told CNN’s Larry King Live then. “And I think, you know, the administration would be best served by coming clean on this.”



Staff researcher Alice Crites contributed to this report.




Obama invokes executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents

President Obama
President Obama (Paul J. Richards / AFP Getty Images)

By Richard A. Serrano
June 20, 2012, 8:18 a.m. (Pacific)

WASHINGTON — Just as the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was about to vote Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena for documents in the flawed Fast and Furious gun-tracking case, President Obama asserted executive privilege and backed up the attorney general’s position in refusing to turn over the material.

The fast-moving events Wednesday morning at the White House and on Capitol Hill significantly ratcheted up a growing constitutional clash between the two branches of the federal government, one that ultimately may not be resolved until it reaches the courts.

The Republican-led committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), will ask the full House for a floor vote holding Holder in contempt and requesting the U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., or a special prosecutor to force the attorney general to produce the documents.

“The committee has uncovered serious wrongdoing by the Justice Department,” Issa said of his investigation into Fast and Furious, in which several thousand firearms were deliberately circulated along the Southwest border and ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. “That wrongdoing has cost lives on both sides of the border.”

Moments before the committee hearing, the White House announced that Obama had formally exerted executive privilege in the matter, giving Holder cover from releasing the material to the committee.

“We regret that we have arrived at this point,” Deputy Atty. Gen. James M. Cole told Issa in a letter that arrived on the Hill just before the committee went into session.

He said making the documents public “would have significant, damaging consequences,” but he did not disclose whether Obama has been briefed or had another supervisory role in Fast and Furious.

In a separate letter that Holder wrote to Obama shortly before the committee session, asking for executive privilege, the attorney general said he had “concluded that you may properly assert executive privilege over the documents at issue, and I respectfully request you do so.” Holder also did not mention any involvement by Obama in Fast and Furious.

According to the Obama White House, President George W. Bush asserted executive privilege six times during his two terms, and President Bill Clinton 14 times during his eight years in Washington.

“In fact,” said Eric Schultz, an Obama White House spokesman, “dating back to President Reagan, presidents have asserted executive privilege 24 times. President Obama has gone longer without asserting the privilege in a congressional dispute than any president in the last three decades.”

Republicans said Obama's move raises serious questions.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked how Obama could assert executive privilege "if there is no White House involvement?"

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said Obama's move "implies that White House officials were either involved in the 'Fast and Furious' operation or the cover-up that followed."

"The administration has always insisted that wasn't the case. Were they lying, or are they now bending the law to hide the truth?" Brendan Buck said.

Staff writer Michael A. Memoli contributed to this report




P.S.
I Wonder: How many fundraiser stops (and teleprompter photo-ops) the president will have today?
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Black clouds hang over Obama-Putin G20 talks

June 19, 2012 - 6:50AM


OBAMA AND PUTIN ADDRESS TENSIONS OVER SYRIA
President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin say any tensions between the US and Russia can be eased.

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed on the need to end violence in Syria but they showed no concrete signs of narrowing their differences on tougher sanctions against Damascus.

After a week of Cold War-style recriminations between US and Russian diplomats, the talks at a Group of 20 summit in Mexico tested whether the two leaders could forge a working relationship and find common ground on Syria and other festering disputes.

Putin frowned and Obama wore a sober expression during their remarks to reporters after the meeting.


Grumpy old men ... Russian President Vladimir Putin meets his US counterpart, Barack Obama, at the G20 in Mexico.

Grumpy old men ... Russian President Vladimir Putin meets his US counterpart, Barack Obama, at the G20 in Mexico. Photo: AFP

"We agreed that we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war," Obama told reporters, who entered the room after the talks went on for some two hours - longer than originally planned.

"From my point of view, we have found many common points on this issue (of Syria)," Putin said, adding the two sides would continue discussions.

With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continuing his bloody, 15-month crackdown on the opposition, Obama and Western allies want veto-wielding Moscow to stop shielding him from further UN Security Council sanctions aimed at forcing him from power.

Putin, a former KGB spymaster, is suspicious of US motives especially after the NATO-assisted ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last year, and he has offered little sign of softening his stance on Syria.

Though Washington has shown no appetite for a new Libya-style intervention, Russia is reluctant to abandon its Syrian ally, a longtime arms customer, and risk losing its last firm foothold in the Middle East, including access to a warm-water navy base.

Suspension of the UN monitoring mission in Syria over the weekend put added pressure on Obama and Putin, meeting for the first time since the Russian president's re-election, to act decisively to keep the conflict from spiraling into civil war.

The two men, at least in their public remarks, brushed past broad differences over issues such as arming Syria, UN sanctions and Assad's future.

As journalists entered the cramped hotel ballroom, the two leaders were leaning toward each other in discussion, neither smiling. Obama initiated a handshake for the cameras while the two remained seated.

Obama sometimes gestured toward Putin as he spoke but Putin sat more stiffly through the joint appearance. At the end of their statements, as reporters were being ushered out, both sat glumly watching but made no move to re-engage with each other.

The hardened tone appears to mark the endpoint of Obama's "reset" of ties with Moscow, pursued with Putin predecessor Dmitry Medvedev and touted by the White House as a signature foreign policy accomplishment.



Reuters



Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/black-clouds-hang-over-obamaputin-g20-talks-20120619-20kqw.html#ixzz1yGGS1PAK

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POPE DECREED SUNDAY REST ON JUNE 3RD 2012



Published on Jun 3, 2012 by Joe Muz

Please note: This is not the sunday law that is prophesied to come as the final struggle between the beast and commandment keepers. That is yet to come. This video is to awake the scoffers that the leader of Sunday movement is not God who rested on the Seventh day but Rome.

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Sundays must be a day of rest dedicated to God, family, pope says

POPE-AUDIENCE Jun-6-2012 (490 words) With photos. xxxi

Sundays must be a day of rest dedicated to God, family, pope says


A pilgrim from Angola waves his national flag during Pope Benedict XVI's general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican June 6. (CNS/Paul Haring)

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The demands of work can't bully people out of needed time off, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Sunday must be a day of rest for everyone, so people can be free to be with their families and with God, the pope said.



Read more

HOW WILL NATIONAL SUNDAY LAWS WORK?

Someone asked me to elaborate on how Sunday Laws relate to Bible Prophecy; I wrote an article 4 years ago, and I will republish it again since it categorically explains this matter:

SATURDAY, APRIL 05, 2008

HOW WILL NATIONAL SUNDAY LAWS WORK?




In response to the "National Law by Stealth" article:

Here's a solemn comment from one of the many brethren around the world, who do not have the benefits of having received the many blessings which have been afforded us by our blessed Creator; Where He allowed us to receive not only the 'true' light of the 'Everlasting Gospel', but also, the freedom of conscience to worship God as we understood Him. Apparently, he/she lives in a country where Christians are a minority, and perhaps they worship the Lord in secret, and are probably at this very moment persecuted for their belief in the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob (Israel), and for having the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed be His name. Blessed be these faithful Saints. Lord protect them, and bless them always.

4/4/2008
(Anonymous)

I live in a country where 9 per cent of the population are Christians. How will the Christian minority in my country be able to convince the other religious groups to keep the Sunday Law? Also, it is estimated that 33 per cent of the world's population are Christians. How will the Christian minority be able to convince the other 67 per cent to keep the Sunday Law? Can it be achieved through conquests (via warfare) or dishing out substantial economic benefits? A very detailed explanation of the steps that the Christian minority will take to enforce Sunday law on the rest of the world will be appreciated.

Thank you!

Beloved Brethren,

First, let's pray so that the Lord will allow his Holy Spirit to reveal to us the truth that will prepare us for His coming.

Heavenly Father who art in Heaven, Blessed be your name. We come to you this day to give you all the honor and glory, for your mercy and love. We ask you to reveal to us this day the things that will show us the enemy's devices, not that we may be made wise by him, but, by Thee. Your word is truth, and we hunger, and thirst for every word that proceeds out of thy mouth. Blessed be the Saints that at this moment don't have the freedom that we enjoy in this great nation that you have created as a city of refuge for your children, to reveal to them the fulness of your character. Bless and protect your children around the world, Father. You have faithful servants around the world and they too depend on You. We humbly ask that you impart to us this day the wisdom that will prepare 'all' your children for Jesus' soon return to Earth; And the knowledge that will prepare us for the tribulations that the enemy of souls has in store for us. We recognize that you are faithful and will deliver every soul that relies and believes in you. We thank you Father. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.


Dear friend, dear Brother:

First let me point out that the forces of evil have as a primary goal to take away the attention from our Creator, and place them on trivial things. The Lord has always wanted a faithful people to worship Him and obey his commandments; But, since Lucifer's rebellion, He (The FATHER) has tried to warn His elect to be wary of the crafty and devious workings of Lucifer. In these latter times, Lucifer has confused the whole world so profoundly that it's virtually impossible to discern what is truth, and to distinguish it from error. The same beliefs that were once commonly practiced in Babylon (the cradle of civilization), after the great flood, have now been spread around the whole planet.

The Roman Catholic Church's Holy See, and the Vatican have spread this Babylonian religion more fully than any other political system (they're not only a church, but also a government) on Earth. Sunday worship is their distinctive "mark".
Some overlook the fact that the whole world has been conquered by this Roman Empire, under the guise of the Holy Roman Apostolic Church. The Calendaer that most nations use save for a couple, is a Julian Calendar. This the product of a Julius Caesar1 the Roman Emperor. This is what is referred to in Daniel 7:25 as follows:

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

The Sunday institution is another creation of the Catholic Church. The whole word is also influenced by its Holy day, Sunday. Look around the world, and you'll see a common fact that Sunday is the end of the week. So they have spread their concept of Sunday as the "7th" day of the week; When in fact since creation the Sabbath has always been the 7th day of rest, instituted by God as His Holy Day. It's the day that would be remembered as a memorial to the Creator's magnificent work = Creation of the Universe. The Sabbath is the Lord's sign:

Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. ................Exodus 31:13.

Constantine, the Roman Emperor decided that he would "nomally" accept the Christian faith. To attract the pagans of his day he legislated that Sunday would be the Holy Day throughout the entire Roman Empire.
In an Edict in March 321 A.D., Constatine declared the venerable Day of the Sun ("Venerable die Solis").2

How do these historical facts affect the world we live in toda, you might wonder? They do because the same Roman Empire that ruled the world when Jesus Christ was crucified, is still ruling the world indirectly, today. The Roman Empire took on a different character when it transformed from a political government into a religio-political entity, called the Holy Roman Apostolic Catholic Church. Behind the scenes it works as a world government, unbeknownst to most except the few that interact with it at the upper echelons of world affairs. At this very moment the forces within this behemoth of an organization are secretly devising plans to change the Constitution of the United States of America. They, in conjunction with the Evangelicals (no longer Protestant- they do not protest if they are in accord with the Roman Catholic Church) are planning to legislate Sunday restriction to address (so they think) global warming, world hunger, drug abuse, teen-age pregnancy, AIDS, etc. But, the Lord has never willed that any government enforce any laws. Not even His holy laws. These were to be accepted by His people 'willingly', to show their obedience to Him. The Lord never forces the conscience! These tactics and means are used by tyrants, dictators, and Popes...His will is that all should come to Him in good faith. Blessed be His name!

When these Laws are passed in the United States of America. They will then be enforced world wide. Because who can resist the world's only SuperPower and The Holy Roman Catholic Church, a.k.a The Vatican??? Here are the "two" beasts of Revelation 13; The Beast that is Rome; And the Beast that is Apostate Christianity.




Revelation 13

1And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

3And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

4And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

5And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

6And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

9If any man have an ear, let him hear.

10He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.



Here's the conclusion of this whole matter, brother; That the Beasts will impose their beliefs around the world by treaties and by force. "Who can resist the Dragon?" The Beast from the West will abdicate all his power to the Beast of the East, The Vatican, and together they will first enforce Sunday restrictive laws to appease the "evil" spirits. For they will claim that the reason why there are so many natural calamities, and disasters are because the Sunday is not kept. Yet, the faithful around the world will resist all persecution. Many will be chased, deported, imprisoned, and some executed for defying these Sunday Laws. But, The Lord is faithful, as sure as His Word is. He will not tolerate much longer than it is required, to boldly sustain, and defend His chosen. And will promptly intervene and put an end to all this false worship, for only He is worthy of being worshiped... He will make sure that "all" know what the mark of the Beast, The name of the Beast, and what his Number is, so that "all" are clearly warned of the consequences for worshiping "IT", are. So, the Lord is conveying this very moment to you dear brother, dear sister. This is not me speaking. He wants you not to listen to the error, and the false 'profits', preaching prosperity, peace and security, and conformity with the world. He wants you to be separate. A royal priesthood, not to conform to the Dragon and his agents. He is faithful and will make "all" see and hear; The whole truth visible to those that want to see His Son's triumphant return. Blessed be the Father, blessed be His Son the Messiah.

"This is a warning against the coming national Sunday law which will affect your paycheck and put innocent people in jail."3

As America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience and compelling men to honor the false sabbath, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow her example.--6T 18 (1900). {LDE 135.1}

Thank you. God Bless the brethren around God's creation.


Happy Sabbath! Maranatha!

Arsenio.


Footnotes:

1
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar
2www.aloha.net/~mikesch/sunday.htm
" www.seventh-day.org/historians.htm
" www.pathlights.com/theselastdays/tracts/tract_22a.htm
3 www.reg6.com/reg6/index.html