Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Power of One: More Knights of Columbus equals more good works



More Knights will result in more charitable programs, more support for parishes, more help for the needy, the disabled, the hungry and the homeless, and more financial protection for Catholic families. This was the main theme of the Membership Seminar, the first general meeting of the 130th Supreme Convention in Anaheim, which was attended by some 200 delegates and Knights of Columbus leaders.


The Monday meeting was chaired by Supreme Director Daniel Baker, who is head of the Board of Director’s Membership Committee. Also speaking were Deputy Supreme Knight Dennis Savoie; Thomas Smith, Executive Vice President for Knights of Columbus Insurance; Gary Nolan, Vice President for Membership Growth and Ceremonials, and Father John Grace, O.S.A., Director of Chaplains Programs and Development.
Supreme Knight Carl Anderson delivered a heartfelt address at the end of the meeting which underlined the importance of membership growth.


“It’s more than just about numbers and quotas,” he said. “Membership is about the changed lives of the men we recruit and the financial protection we can provide for their families. Membership is what these men will do for their communities and their parishes. Membership is about renewing the Church through support of our priests and bishops. Membership is about transforming society through Catholic solidarity, through everyone being able to say, I am my brother’s keeper.”


Deputy Supreme Knight Savoie stressed that “we have no greater responsibility, of the things of which we have control, than membership growth. But we have to put the words into action, One Member, Per Council, Per Month.”


A dynamic video, “The Power of One,” was also featured at the meeting. The five-minute film highlighted the membership theme of “One Member, Per Council, Per Month,” by which each of the 15,000 local councils is asked to recruit at least one member each month. If this plan were carried out, with each council bringing in 12 new members, the 1.8 million Knights would grow by 180,000 in the next year.


“The Power of One,” the film concluded, is “a tremendous opportunity to build a better world.






Pope to Knights of Columbus: “You are the defenders of religious freedom”

08/ 2/2012



Carl Anderson




The Pope’s message to Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, ahead of next week’s Convention in California



vatican insider staff

Rome



“In an era when collective action is taken to redefine and perhaps limit the exercise of the right to religious freedom, The Knights of Columbus have worked tirelessly to help the Catholic community recognise and respond to the unprecedented seriousness of these new , dangerous threats to Church freedom and to public moral testimony.”

Benedict XVI stated this in a message to the Knights of Columbus, sent via the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, on the occasion of their annual Convention which will be held between 7 and 9 August in California.

In a message addressed to Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, the Pope stressed that “by defending the rights of all believers, as individual citizens and in the institutions, in order to work responsibly towards building a democratic society based on their beliefs, values and aspirations, your Order has proudly respected the high patriotic and religious principles that inspired its foundation.”






Pope expresses solidarity with those effected by the earthquake and rain storms in Asia



Published on Aug 13, 2012 by romereports

http://www.romereports.com During the Angelus, the Pope expressed his closeness to the thousands of people that have been effected by recent natural disasters in Asia.



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Monday, August 13, 2012

Rick Howard - The Omega Rebellion - Encounters in the New Age



Published on May 23, 2012 by AM5743

Jesus warned that the supernatural deceptions of the last days would threaten to fool even the "very elect." The only hope of identifying the subtle forms of deception Satan will use on God's people is to rely upon divine inspiration. In this riveting lecture, Rick Howard shares the story of how his search for truth was roadblocked by occultism, seances, astral projection, and other snares of the New Age Movement. Learn how only through God's power was Rick freed from the fascination and power of the occult and brought to the truth that Jesus is the only Way, Truth, and Life. Rick Howard has recently completed thirty-three years of rewarding pastoral ministry within the eastern and central United States. His five-year experience in the supernatural arena coupled with the light in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy provides a unique insight into the end-time deceptions God's people will endure.

These free Amazing Discoveries presentations are made possible through the financial support of viewers like you. Please donate to help this ministry continue to make these presentations available.

http://amazingdiscoveries.org/webstore/us/donations



Philadelphia Archdiocese selling top properties to cut deficit


Dave Warner
Reuters
6:44 p.m. CDT, August 13, 2012


PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The financially strapped Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia said on Monday it will proceed with plans to sell major facilities in an effort to close a multimillion-dollar budget deficit.

The sale includes the archbishop's residence in Philadelphia, a rural Pennsylvania retreat center and a 19-room beachfront mansion in Ventnor, New Jersey, used by vacationing elderly priests, the Church said.

The archdiocese faces a budget gap estimated at $6 million, a spokeswoman said. It also faces legal costs stemming from a pedophilia scandal estimated at more than $11 million.

"To address the cash flow challenges caused by the deficits, the church is faced with hard decisions," said Archbishop Charles Chaput in a statement. "It's similar to what families have to do when their expenses are greater than income."

Chaput said the archdiocese has been running a deficit for years.

The archdiocese was involved in the high-profile trial of Monsignor William Lynn, who was found guilty in June of covering up child sex abuse, and it faces the possibility of dozens of civil suits in the priest pedophilia scandal.

The spokeswoman for the archdiocese said the legal costs are separate from the budget deficit.

The proposed sales of the archbishop's residence and the New Jersey shore villa had been announced earlier but were confirmed on Monday.

The villa, assessed at more than $6 million and located near Atlantic City, will be sold at auction on September 15, according to auction house Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co.

The archdiocese has owned the 11-bedroom mansion, with 175 feet of beachfront, since 1963 when it was sold to the Church by a family for $1,000.

Along with the archbishop's residence in Philadelphia and the 452-acre (182-hectare) Mary Immaculate Retreat Center in Northampton, north of Philadelphia, the Church said it also will be selling the Holy Family Center, a Philadelphia facility used by charities and social service agencies.

The real estate sales come after 40 staff members at the archdiocese were let go in June.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Xavier Briand)







Sunday, August 12, 2012

Bill Hughes speaks on "Spiritual Formation."



Published on Jun 28, 2012 by leraymond777

Bill Hughes speaking at the Seventh-day Sabbath Chruch Sabbath afternoon, June 9 2012.


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DARPA’s meshworm has ‘body-morphing capability’

The Petri Dish | Staff | Sunday, August 12, 2012

DARPA’s meshworm has ‘body-morphing capability’

The spies of the future may be found in the form of a “meshworm,” according to MIT researchers.

Researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Seoul National University have engineered a soft autonomous robot that moves via peristalsis, crawling across surfaces by contracting segments of its body, much like an earthworm.

The robot, made almost entirely of soft materials, is remarkably resilient, say researchers. When stepped upon or bludgeoned with a hammer, the robot is able to inch away, unscathed.

The research, which was funded by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is seen as key step towards crafting some of the world’s most stealthy bugs.

“[The] soft body, which is essentially compliant, exhibits large strains and enables the robot to traverse small openings and reconstitute shape, and survives from large impact force on falling,” the engineers wrote.

The team of researchers noted that the meshworm has the ability to withstand various hard conditions. The team noted that each component of the robot are made from flexible parts that can give way when compressed.

“You can throw it, and it won’t collapse. Most mechanical parts are rigid and fragile at small scale, but the parts in Meshworms are all fibrous and flexible,” said mechanical engineering researcher Sangbae Kim in a statement from MIT. “The muscles are soft, and the body is soft … we’re starting to show some body-morphing capability.”

The robotic creature is the latest project that DARPA has invested in. Scientists says robots like the meshworm may have many useful applications, such as next-generation endoscopes, implants and prosthetics. DARPA, naturally, has a research program into Hybrid Insect Micro Electromechanical Systems, one goal of which is to uncover new ways “to harness the natural sensors and power generation of insects.”

The Pentagon has already released statements concerning various projects that seem to emulate the natural world. Earlier this year, DARPA officials announced the creation of Cheetah, an attempt to add some speed to robots with legs. The project set a world record for speed and is widely considered one of the most complex robots on earth.

“Even though the robot’s body is much simpler than a real worm — it has only a few segments — it appears to have quite impressive performance,” says Kellar Autumn, a professor of biology at Lewis and Clark College. “I predict that in the next decade we will see shape-changing artificial muscles in many products, such as mobile phones, portable computers and automobiles.”

While the U.S. military is likely to remain interested in the project, the DARPA project is probably most interesting for its civilian applications. The invention represents a leap forward in soft robotic technology, say researchers, since the artificial muscle is so flexible and durable, it’s bound to be useful in the field of implants and prosthetics.

Details are published in the journal IEEE/ASE Transactions on Mechatronics.





Google to include people’s Gmail in search results

SUNDAY AUGUST 12, 2012, 11:05 AM
BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE RECORD


SAN FRANCISCO — Google is creating an information bridge between its influential Internet search engine and its widely used Gmail service in its latest attempt to deliver more personal responses more quickly.

The experimental feature unveiled Wednesday will enable Google’s search engine to mine the correspondence stored within a user’s Gmail account for any data tied to a search request. For example, a query containing the word "Amazon" would pull emails with shipping information sent by the online retailer.

Such Gmail results will typically be shown to the right of the main results, though in some instances, the top of the search page will highlight an answer extracted directly from an email. For example, the request "my flight" will show specific airline information imported from Gmail. Something similar could eventually happen when searching for a restaurant reservation or tickets to a concert.

Although Google has a commanding lead in Internet search, it remains worried about the threat posed by social networking services such as Facebook Inc. As social networks have made it easier to share information online, the Web is starting to revolve more around people than the keywords and links that Google’s search engine uses.

Google has been trying to adapt by building more personal services and plugging them into its search engine.



Privacy concerns



Blending email information into general search results could raise privacy worries. Google is trying to mitigate that by showing Gmail results in a collapsed format that users must open to see the details. For now, users must sign up to participate.

Google Inc. ran into trouble over privacy in 2010 when it tapped the personal contact information within Gmail accounts to build a social networking service called Buzz. Google set up Buzz in a way that caused many users to inadvertently expose personal data from Gmail. An uproar culminated in a Federal Trade Commission settlement requiring the company to improve its privacy controls and undergo audits for 20 years.

Google is treading carefully as it hooks Gmail up to its Internet search engine. The new feature initially will be available to 1 million Gmail users who sign up at http://g.co/searchtrial. That’s a small fraction of the more than 425 million Gmail accounts that have been set up since Google launched its free email service eight years ago to compete against the offerings from Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

After getting feedback from the test participants, Google hopes to give all Gmail users the option of plugging their accounts into the main search engine, according to Amit Singhal, a senior vice president for the company.

Singhal said Google is also willing to display information from other email services in its main search results. The gesture could avoid spurring additional complaints about Google abusing its position as the Internet’s search leader to favor its other services. That issue is the focal point of an antitrust investigation by antitrust regulators in the U.S. and Europe.



Increasing searches



Yahoo and Microsoft, the biggest rivals to Gmail, had no comment about Google’s offer.

When it started in 2004, Gmail provided 1 gigabyte of free storage, an amount that was unheard of at the time. Now, many longtime Gmail users have 10 gigabytes of storage. That has turned Gmail into a valuable storehouse of personal information going back several years.

Gmail users already can pluck information contained in old correspondence by conducting a search within Gmail. Google is betting Gmail users will appreciate being able to eliminate a step by including any relevant email information alongside the results of its main search page.

In the process, Google is hoping Web surfers will have even more reasons to use its dominant search engine, which already processes more than 100 billion requests every month.

Luring more queries is crucial to Google because they give the company more opportunities to show the ads that generate most of its revenue, which is expected to exceed $49 billion this year.

Personal information from Google Plus, a social networking service started last year to compete with Facebook, has been featured in Google’s main search results since January.

Ultimately, Google hopes to know enough about each of its users so it can answer their questions with the precision and insight of the artificial intelligence that so far has been the stuff of science fiction.

"The destiny of search is to become that perfect Star Trek computer," Singhal said.



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N.Y. police identify man fatally wounded by officers near Times Square

By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 6:08 PM EDT, Sun August 12, 2012



(CNN) -- New York police on Sunday identified the man fatally wounded the day earlier by officers a short walk from Manhattan's Times Square as a 51-year-old from nearby Long Island.

Darrius Kennedy, who the New York Police Department named in a press release and said was from Hempstead, New York, died after being shot Saturday afternoon. Police said he threatened officers with a knife and repeatedly resisted their attempts to arrest him.

The incident began shortly after 3 p.m. around 7th Avenue and 44th Street, an area popular with shoppers and tourists. Officers there approached a man because he was smoking what appeared to be a "marijuana cigarette," Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said Saturday.

After becoming agitated, the man "placed the marijuana cigarette in his pocket and pulled out an 11-inch knife, raised it above his head and began to put a blue bandana on his head," police said on Sunday.

Kennedy moved south down 7th Avenue, refusing officers' attempts to arrest him and their pleas that he drop the knife, according to police.

Video shot by CNN iReporter David Fowler shows several officers -- at least three of them with their guns drawn -- following the man through the middle of Times Square. Some people can be overheard yelling "they can't shoot him" as the man backs down the street.


Officers deployed pepper spray six separate times during the drawn-out ordeal, "to no avail," police said.

Around the intersection of Seventh Avenue and 37th Street, the man "advanced on uniformed officers, refusing officers' repeated commands to drop his weapon," Browne said.
Kennedy was then shot in the torso by two officers, according to police.

The wounded man was transported to Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital and pronounced dead at 3:42 p.m. Saturday.

The two officers who shot him were taken to the same hospital for tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, presumably from the sound of the gunshots. A third officer who'd been exposed to pepper spray was treated for eye irritation, police said Sunday.

Browne said Saturday that the officers involved in the shooting will be on required administrative duty while the incident is reviewed.





Leaders address the future of Catholic peacebuilding in Rome

July 12, 2011 • Gerard Powers

website_catholic_peacebuilders_4_

...

“If Catholic Social Teaching is the Church’s Best Kept Secret, Catholic peacebuilding may be Catholic Social Teaching’s Best Kept Secret,”
according to Gerard Powers, Director of Catholic Peacebuilding Studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and coordinator of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. “From South Sudan and Central America to Congo and Colombia, the Catholic Church is a powerful force for peace, freedom, justice and reconciliation. But that impressive and courageous peacebuilding work of the Catholic community is often unknown, unheralded and under-analyzed.” Full text




Catholic Leaders convene in Rome on Peacebuilding. (12/08/2012)

Cardnial Turkson (foreground) with Jerry Powers (background)

Forty-five Catholic leaders from two dozen countries gathered at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in Rome on May 29-30, 2012 for a seminar, “New Challenges for Catholic Peacebuilding.”

The seminar was sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and co-sponsored by the Catholic Peacebuilding Network and Caritas Internationalis, in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Theological Union’s Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry, The Catholic University of America’s Institute for Policy Research, the Institut für Theologie und Frieden in Germany, Pax Christi International, and the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies.

The texts of talks and the program are available at the CPN website: http://cpn.nd.edu




JRS calls for human rights protection at EU borders

FRONTEX operations at the border in Greece (copyright FRONTEX)


(9 July 2012) -- A group of five NGOs in Brussels sent a letter to the Civil Liberties committee of the European Parliament calling for human rights concerns to be addressed in a new legislative proposal for a European border surveillance system.

On December 12, 2011, the European Commission presented its project to establish a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) that would lead to an integrated management system for external borders, in cooperation with Frontex (see COM [2011] 873 final). This proposal raises serious concerns among non-governmental organizations working in the areas of immigration and asylum.

The EUROSUR proposal is presented by the European Commission as a strictly technical tool, when in fact it is a very political issue and has far reaching implications on fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers. The legislative proposal, which states as its objective the improvement of the situational awareness and reaction capability of Member States and Frontex when preventing irregular migration and cross border crime at the external land and maritime borders, does not provide sufficient protections for migrants and does not demonstrate a pressing need for such costly surveillance systems in the midst of pan-European austerity.


We are concerned that the proposal:


  • Conflates fight against cross border crime and irregular immigration: migrants and asylum seekers are not criminals and should not be seen as a threat to internal security.
  • May be ineffective in preventing irregular migration: According to the findings in the CLANDESTINO project report irregular border crossings are the least frequent pathway into irregularity and while external control measures to address irregular migration such as border surveillance have very little effect in discouraging irregular migration, they do contain severe human costs.
  • Does not provide for effective safeguards for the fundamental rights of asylum seekers who are entitled to a specific protection and a complete examination of their asylum claim: mixed flows trying to reach the borders include asylum seekers who should have access to all the procedures available at national level. The non refoulement principle that is already enshrined in international customary law allows no exception. Hence it is of utmost importance to develop effective mechanisms that allow for intercepted persons to make an asylum claim and get access to a fair asylum procedure.
  • Does not refer to any obligation of search and rescue: it was included in the 2008 Commission Communication but the 2011 proposal, while creating important technical tools for detection, does not give any priority to search and rescue issues. We consider that the Eurosur project should be an opportunity to extend Frontex and Eurosur mandates to search and rescue operations. The proposal does not provide for any clear measures that would foresee employment of the system for mitigating the risk of deaths at sea and for reducing the human cost associated with border control systems.
  • Rejects EU’s responsibility to third countries, leading to an externalisation of borders policy: well established principles such as the right to leave a country, the right to claim asylum and the principle of non refoulement will not be guaranteed any more if refugees and migrants are intercepted and sent back to where they came from.
  • Does not guarantee sufficient protection of personal data: there is an important risk that personal data will be misused and that the principles of necessity and proportionality will not be respected.
  • Relegates the European Parliament to the background: multilateral agreements must not be free of any kind of control and evaluation by the European Parliament.

Based on the above, JRS and its partners hope to use this opportunity to establish a legal basis within the EUROSUR surveillance system proposal to guarantee fundamental rights for all migrants and asylum seekers.

JRS and the other co-signatories aim to hold discussions with MEPs regarding recent proposals in the field of European Union’s border management such as EUROSUR, Eurodac and Smart borders, that aim to turn sea and land borders into zones of heavy surveillance, to the detriment of fundamental rights and have been drafted without proper impact assessment, cost benefit analysis or democratic public debate.

The full letter is available HERE




Finding a place of rest for pastors

Sunday, August 12, 2012
Southeast Missourian


(Photo)
The Rev. Fred Burgard, left, and Dr. Paul Cordes are co-founders of Shadow Rest Ministries north of Cape Girardeau. View more photos of Shadow Rest online at semissourian.com.
(Fred Lynch)


The Rev. Fred Burgard has been in ministry for 30 years, including serving as a pastor for two churches in Cape Girardeau. Burgard, along with Dr. Paul Cordes, co-founded Shadow Rest Ministries in 2004, and the first buildings were up in 2007. The facility is primarily used as a place for pastors and their spouses to get away for a period of rest. However, it also serves as a location for church staff meetings, retreats and other events.





Saturday, August 11, 2012

NC elections board debates Sunday voting

Copyright 2008 Capitol Broadcasting Company


Posted: 7:27 p.m. Tuesday
Updated: 11:04 a.m. Wednesday

RALEIGH, N.C. — Some Republicans appealed to the State Board of Elections on Tuesday to give poll workers a rest on the seventh day by prohibiting early voting on Sundays.

The move is at the heart of a political tug of war nationwide. Republicans generally view less early voting as an effort to reduce fraud and ease the workload on poll workers, while Democrats view early voting as increased access for people to cast ballots.

In the end, however, it comes down to winning elections for both sides.

In 2008, when President Barack Obama carried fellow Democrats on his coattails, 42 percent of North Carolina voters cast ballots before Election Day, according to state figures. Early voting made up 48 percent of all Democratic votes and 40 percent of Republican votes in the election. Forty percent of white voters went early, as did 52 percent of black voters.

"It's clearly a plan for the Democratic Party to try to maintain their power in North Carolina," Ralph Reagan, a member of the Cumberland County Board of Elections, told his state counterparts Tuesday.

The board also heard religious arguments against Sunday voting.

"It was so evident in our Constitution that Sunday was to be a day set aside from government pursuits," Pitt County voter Coral Joan Whichard said.

Bob Hall, executive director of election watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, pointed to the 2010 election to show that Sunday voting can also help Republicans.

In the mid-term election, when the GOP took control of the General Assembly, 16 percent of Democrats and 18 percent of Republicans voted early. The percentages for white and black early turnout were almost even, and 15.5 percent of all votes cast came before Election Day.

"It doesn't need to be partisan because it's really about making voting more available to people," Hall said.

"I'm for helping Americans vote, and if Sunday is available for the majority of the people who work, then Sunday it is," Cumberland County Board of Elections member Sylvia Williams said.

County elections boards set their individual voting schedules, but whenever there is disagreement, as was the case in Cumberland and a few other counties, the State Board of Elections decides the issue. On Tuesday, the Democratic-leaning state board voted for more early voting in all disputed cases.

"I shouldn't impose my religious feeling on others, and we're not making anyone vote. We're just giving people the opportunity to vote," said Ronald Penny, a Democratic member of the state board.

"There's ample opportunity to vote, and they can certainly do it at a time that doesn't require the staff to work non-stop for 2½ weeks," said Chuck Winfree, a Republican member of the state board.

Reporter: Cullen Browder
Photographer: Keith Baker
Web Editor: Matthew Burns





Powerful Iran earthquake kills at least 87, injures more than 400

Published 1 hours, 18 minutes ago


The Associated Press
TEHRAN, IRAN — A 6.2-magnitude earthquake killed at least 87 people and injured over 400 others in northwestern Iran on Saturday, state TV said.

Iran’s main news channel said the quake hit the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan province at 4:53 p.m. local time (GMT 12:23), also damaging hundreds of homes.

The TV quoted Khalil Saei, local Crisis Committee chief, as saying that 30 people were killed in Ahar, 40 in Varzaqan and 17 others in Haris.

The broadcast said at least 60 villages sustained damage ranging from 50 to 80 percent, while 4 other villages had been totally leveled to the ground.

The TV said at least three aftershocks — measuring 6.0, 4.7 and 4.1 — jolted the same area and were felt in a wide region near the Caspian Sea.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one earthquake every day on average, although the vast majority are so small they go unnoticed.





Romney Adds Ryan to Republican Ticket

Mitt Romney and Paul D. Ryan in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday.
Eric Thayer for The New York Times
Mitt Romney and Paul D. Ryan in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday.


“Mitt’s choice for VP is Paul Ryan,” an announcement on the campaign’s mobile phone application said Saturday morning.


=================

A portrait photograph of Paul Ryan.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 1999
Preceded by Mark Neumann
Chairperson of the House Budget Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Preceded by John Spratt
Personal details
Born Paul Davis Ryan
January 29, 1970 (age 42)
Janesville, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Janna Little
Children Elizabeth
Charles
Samuel
Alma mater Miami University
Religion Roman Catholic



Columbia Union Constituency Overwhelmingly Approves Ordination Without Regard to Gender


July 29, 2012

In a specially called session of the Columbia Union Conference Constituency, delegates from its eight conferences voted overwhelmingly to approve a recommendation from the union executive committee authorizing ordination without regard to gender. The historic vote was 209 in favor and 51 opposed, with nine abstentions—a ratio of 4 to 1.


The approved motion states:
“That the Columbia Union Conference authorize ordination to the gospel ministry without regard to gender.”

This means that the union will no longer deny requests from conferences to ordain proven female ministers to the gospel ministry.

“There was a good spirit and healthy discussion, all bathed in prayer,” says Dave Weigley, union president. “We remain part of, united with, and fully committed to the mission of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church.”

The four-hour meeting was streamed live and will be available shortly at www.columbiaunion.org/2012specialconstituency. A news story and photos will be published at www.columbiaunion.org and in the August Visitor.


About the Columbia Union Conference

The Columbia Union Conference is comprised of 135,000 members who worship in more than 700 churches in the eight local conferences located in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Its members minister through 90 elementary and secondary schools, a university, a medical college, two healthcare networks and numerous community-focused ministries.

Pictured above: "I'm with you, Constituents. We are part of the mission to preach the good news. I'm here today to say that I want to be part of the revival that is taking place in our church. It will not be an easy road. We'll work together, but we are part of the worldwide church," said Dave Weigley, president of the Columbia Union Conference.


Source


Buon Sabato

Weekly Rest

Friday, August 10, 2012

God does not force the will of His creatures




The government of God is not, as Satan would make it appear, founded upon a blind submission, an unreasoning control. It appeals to the intellect and the conscience. "Come now, and let us reason together" is the Creator's invitation to the beings He has made. Isaiah 1:18. God does not force the will of His creatures. He cannot accept an homage that is not willingly and intelligently given. A mere forced submission would prevent all real development of mind or character; it would make man a mere automaton. Such is not the purpose of the Creator. He desires that man, the crowning work of His creative power, shall reach the highest possible development. He sets before us the height of blessing to which He desires to bring us through His grace. He invites us to give ourselves to Him, that He may work His will in us. It remains for us to choose whether we will be set free from the bondage of sin, to share the glorious liberty of the sons of God.


Steps to Christ
, pp.43-44.
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Be Not Afraid

"Be Not Afraid"




Published on Aug 9, 2012 by mittromney

President Obama has declared war on religion by forcing religious institutions to go against their faith. Mitt Romney will stand up and protect religious freedom whenever it is threatened

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Romney ad hits Obama for 'war on religion'

August 9th, 2012
07:53 AM ET

Posted by
CNN's Kevin Liptak

(CNN) - After weeks of attacking President Barack Obama's economic record, Mitt Romney took a sharply different tack Thursday in his latest television ad, going after the president for policies the Republican challenger amounts to a "war on religion."

In the spot, which also features footage from Romney's trip in July to Poland, an announcer says Obama's heath care law forces religious institutions to "go against their faith."

"Who shares your values?" the announcer asks. "President Obama used his healthcare plan to declare war on religion, forcing religious institutions to go against their faith. Mitt Romney believes that's wrong."

In a press release that accompanied the ad, the campaign justifies the "war on religion" claim using an editorial published in the San Antonio Express News in February, as a political firestorm waged over a controversial federal rule requiring employers cover contraception in their health insurance plans.

The rule in question mandated all employers, including religiously affiliated organizations like hospitals and colleges, provide free contraception to employees through health insurance plans. Churches were exempted from the law.

After uproar from conservatives and religious groups, Obama announced an accommodation to the rule on February 10. Under the new plan, religiously affiliated universities and hospitals will not be forced to offer contraception coverage to their employees. Insurers will be required, however, to offer complete coverage free of charge to any women who work at such institutions.

A poll taken in March by the Public Religion Research Institute showed a majority of Americans - 54% - said religiously affiliated colleges and universities should be required to provide employees with health care plans that cover contraception.

Romney's thirty-second ad, titled "Be Not Afraid," does not directly reference the contraception rule, or the subsequent accommodation from the Obama adminstration.

After the "war on religion" segment, the ad uses a clip of Romney speaking in Poland.

"In 1979, a son of Poland, Pope John Paul II, spoke words that would bring down an empire: 'Be not afraid,'" Romney is showed saying.

"When religious freedom is threatened, who do you want to stand with?" the announcer asks.

Romney's speech in Warsaw marked his last public remarks on a week long, three-country foreign swing in July that was meant to bolster his foreign policy credentials. The trip also brought the candidate to London and Israel - two stops marred by stumbles, including a suggestion that the organizers of the London Olympics were ill prepared to host the 2012 Games. In Israel, his remarks in support of the Jewish state provoked an angry response from Palestinian leaders. But his stop in Poland was largely free of any major gaffe from the candidate.

In Thursday's ad, Romney is shown meeting with Lech Walesa, the shipyard worker who went on to inspire the Solidarity trade union and the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain. When Romney was in Poland, Walesa effectively endorsed him for president.

Romney's ad Thursday could be seen as a direct appeal to Catholic voters, who according to national exit polls went for Obama over Sen. John McCain in 2008 54%-45%. Organizations of Catholic bishops have led the charge against the contraception provision in Obama's heath care law.

Obama, who was campaigning in Colorado Wednesday, also subtly harkened back to February's debate over contraception. He was introduced by Georgetown University Law Center graduate Sandra Fluke, who was at the center of the controversy earlier this year after testifying to Congress about the importance of providing birth control to employees of religiously affiliated institutions.

Responding to the Romney ad, an Obama spokeswoman defended the president's contraception stance.

“President Obama believes that, in 2012, women should have access to free contraception as part of their health insurance, and he has done so in a way that respects religious liberty," Lis Smith wrote. "Churches are completely exempt and religiously affiliated organizations that object to providing the service will never have to pay for contraception. Mitt Romney apparently disagrees with this approach and it’s no surprise why. He has pledged to ‘get rid of’ of federal funding for Planned Parenthood and would take women’s health back to the 1950’s. Women can’t afford his extreme policies."




During Ramadan dinner at White House, Obama honors victims of Sikh temple shooting

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, August 10, 10:47 PM

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says an attack at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin is an assault on religious faith and has no place in the United States.

He says such an attack “is an attack on the freedom of all Americans.” He says no American should ever have to fear worshipping in public.
Obama spoke at a White House dinner he hosted Friday night to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Obama singled out Huma Abedin (HOO’-muh AB’-uh-deen), an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who is Muslim. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has alleged that Abedin has family ties to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Obama called Abedin “an American patriot” and “an example of what we need in this country.”




Obama Hosting Ramadan Dinner at White House

ABC OTUS News – 17 hrs ago

President Barack Obama will celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan by hosting an iftar (ifta) dinner Friday night at the White House.

The iftar is the meal that breaks the day of fasting, when Muslim families and communities eat together after sunset.

The meal to be served in the State Dining Room will be the fourth iftar that Obama has hosted. It continues the tradition of hosting iftars that began annually under President Bill Clinton and was continued by President George W. Bush.

Invited guests include elected officials, religious and grass-roots leaders in the Muslim American community and leaders of diverse faiths and members of the diplomatic corps.



Happy Sabbath



8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Exodus 20

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