Friday, March 08, 2013

The Lords Day - documentary





Nobby1844 


Published on Dec 19, 2012


Very interesting documentary about the Lords day, what say the Bible?


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The Sunday Conspiracy







Uploaded on May 12, 2009


The truth behind the Sunday Movement and why the New Age Movement is also involved in it. The sinister makings of a great deception is fast maturing to a dramatic climax.


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Europe Needs a Social Dimension –Church Leaders Tell Irish EU Presidency


Joint Irish Council of Churches-CEC-COMECE Press release



European economic governance needs to be balanced by a social dimension, according to Churches in Europe. At a meeting with the Irish EU Presidency in Dublin this morning (Friday March 8), they questioned the sense in discussing economic austerity without including measures for social cohesion. Efforts aimed at the eradication of structural poverty and inequality should all be considered when measuring economic progress, they maintained.



This was the main focus of a delegation of church representatives from across Ireland and Europe who met with the Taoiseach Enda Kenny (the Irish Prime Minister) in Government Buildings. The meeting carried on the tradition of regular encounters between churches and EU Presidencies.

In a cordial and open meeting, the delegation, representing the broad spectrum of Christian traditions in Ireland, raised a number of issues for consideration by the Irish EU Presidency including the social and economic crisis in Europe and development aid policy. The group was pleased with the sensitivity to their concerns shown by the Taoiseach and the other members of his delegation.

The meeting was organised by the Irish Council of Churches on behalf of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE).



Social Crisis in Europe




The delegation highlighted the social consequences of the severe economic crisis in the European Union and stated that those consequences were evident in the parishes of all of the churches and were a key concern for churches at local, regional and national level. The Irish churches were particularly concerned about the impact of austerity on present and future generations and on the most vulnerable in Society.

While acknowledging that employment and the creation of jobs in Europe was one of the main requirements to overcome the crisis, the churches highlighted the increased numbers of working poor. They urged that a common weekly day of rest, which they described as being a clear and visible sign for the reconciliation of personal, family and professional life, be included in the revision of the working time directive.

They also called for greater participation of civil society, social partners and social actors in shaping the National Reform Programs, the National Social Reports and the Country Specific Recommendations.



Development Aid Policy




The delegation stressed that Development aid continues to transform lives and highlighted the importance of EU member states recommitting to meeting overseas development aid targets by 2015. However, the churches spoke of the need to use aid to work towards a situation where countries no longer need aid. To reach that point revenue authorities in developing countries need to be able to collect the correct amount of tax from multinational companies operating in their jurisdiction. Strengthening the capacity of revenue authorities in these countries is important, but tackling the accounting rules and financial regulations that enable this to happen is crucial, the group said.

Highlighting recent successful negotiations on banking regulation in Europe completed under the Irish Presidency, the church representatives called for strengthened negotiations on:

· Defending the agreement reached on banking reform (CRD) between the Council, Parliament and Commission

· Including a robust review clause in the Accounting and Transparency Directives that allows for the inclusion of additional sectors, and more detailed information similar in scope to that agreed in the banking reform agreement

·
Working towards tackling the insidious impact of tax havens

· Implementing the recommendation to OECD countries contained in the 2011 OECD/IMF/UN/World bank report Supporting the Development of More Effective Tax Systems, to conduct a spill over analysis of domestic tax policy to ensure there are no negative consequences for developing countries.



Delegation Members

Archbishop Michael Jackson, Church of Ireland (Anglican) Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland.
Rev Fr Godfrey O'Donnell, President of the Irish Council of Churches and Chair of Orthodox Network of Churches.
Bishop William Crean, Bishop of Cloyne.
Ms Gillian Kingston, Lay Leader of the Methodist Church in Ireland.
Dr Nicola Rooney, Council for Justice and Peace of the Irish Episcopal Conference.
Dr Kenneth Milne, Coordinator of European Engagement group, Irish Council of Churches/Irish Inter Church Meeting..
Mervyn McCullagh, Executive Officer, Irish Council of Churches/Irish Inter Church Meeting.
Rev Frank-Dieter Fischbach, Executive Secretary of CEC-Church and Society Commission.
Fr Patrick Daly, General Secretary of COMECE.
Michael Kuhn, Vice General Secretary of COMECE.


The meeting took place within the framework of Article 17 of the EU Treaty establishing a regular dialogue between churches and the EU.


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Venezuela's Chavez to be Embalmed, Displayed in Museum


Breaking News



March 07, 2013


Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro has announced that the late President Hugo Chavez will be embalmed and his body displayed forever in a Caracas military museum.

Mr. Maduro compared the late president to other revolutionary leaders whose bodies also have been preserved, including Russia's Lenin and China's Mao. He said President Chavez will lie in state for seven more days to give more Venezuelans the chance to pay their respect.

President Chavez will be honored at a state funeral Friday, attended by 30 heads of state. The United States is sending a diplomatic delegation.
Thousands of grieving Venezuelans waited for as long as 10 hours to look at Mr. Chavez's body in Caracas.

Mr. Maduro will be formally sworn in as acting president late Friday. He will likely face off in elections to be called within 30 days against opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Mr. Chavez in the October presidential polls.

President Chavez died Tuesday after a two-year fight against cancer. He was 58 years old.

Mr. Chavez, a staunch socialist, was elected president in 1998. He earned the enmity of the United States and others for such policies as nationalizing major companies and courting world leaders such as Fidel Castro, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

The country's opposition accused him of being a dictator. But millions of poor Venezuelans revered him for using the country's vast oil wealth to give them access to low-cost food, free medical care and other social programs. However, experts say Mr. Chavez failed to control crime or use oil wealth to enrich the overall economy.


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Global Warming / Climate Change - The New Religion



THURSDAY, 20 DECEMBER 2012







Firstly, let me apologise to my friends who are environmentalists. I'm not trying to offend you, just wanna get this off my chest.
Environmentalists get really upset with me when I say that Climate Change (a.k.a. Global Warming) is a religion, complete with:

  • selling indulgences and tithing (Carbon Credits and taxes);
  • Prophets (scientists, politicians, media executives and just plain old devotees) who lambaste the nay-sayers and critics;
  • sermons (usually lavishly catered gatherings by invitation only so that there are no nay-sayers there, and paid for by the uninvited masses);
  • Bibles ("An Inconvenient Truth", UN Agenda 21, blogs, websites, not to mention Government, UN, and NGO handbooks);
  • the religious fervor that believers exhibit when their worldview comes into question;
  • Miracles are a little different, they aren't 'good things' they're the 'bad signs' that affirm their belief i.e. Hurricane (actually it was a storm) Sandy, Katrina, etc, droughts, floods, storm surges etc only serve to panic these people more.

I agree with the basic premise that we should look after our planet, but being forced to pay taxes (tithes) to a religion that is not my own is unAustralian, unChristian, un(insert your worldview here).
Ottmar Edenhofer is an IPCC official, who in 2010 said "The climate summit in Cancun at the end of the month is not a climate conference, but one of the largest economic conferences since the Second World War … one must say clearly that we redistribute de facto the world’s wealth by climate policy."
That's right, he said (paraphrased) "It's not about Climate Change, it's about the MONEY". And it always has been.
With more and more people becoming aware of the political nature of the scam which is set to raise hundreds of billions of Dollars for the UN annually, a host of information contrary to the UN / IPCC position is becoming public. The latest tactic employed by the 'true believers' is to attack the critic rather than attempt to answer valid questions being asked. A great article about this by Dr Tim Ball is here.
Religion doesn't necessarily need to have a deity. Marx said "religion is the opiate of the people". What better way to continue down the Marxist road than to have a new religion (environmentalism) to achieve the Utopian vision (the plundering of the productive by the unaccountable) - now called Fabian Socialism because "communism" was an abject failure. Have you noticed how many Fabian Socialists are in power?
Another interesting source of new age greenies is former members of groups that have achieved their aims (e.g. anti-communists etc) who need to find a new 'cause'. The former Greenpeace cofounder Dr Patrick Moore's wikipedia entry is instructive: (Italics are mine)

In 2005, Moore criticized what he saw as scare tactics and disinformation employed by some within the environmental movement, saying that the environmental movement "abandoned science and logic in favor of emotion and sensationalism." Moore contends that for the environmental movement "most of the really serious problems have been dealt with", seeking now to "invent doom and gloom scenarios". He suggests they romanticise peasant life as part of an anti-industrial campaign to prevent development in less-developed countries, which he describes as "anti-human" (sound like a religious "opiate of the people" moment?)

 When all is said an done, to many it has become a religion; to others it's something much more sinister, it's the largest fraud on the planet, and we're the 'willing' financiers. Unfortunately too many people don't care enough, or trust authority too much to question what the real story is. Have a look at some of the other posts on this blog if you want to catch up on Climate Change information from some of the dissenters, click the 'labels' below for more information.



Posted by Greg Kroehnert at 10:57 pm



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Will future surveillance include global 'pre-crime' machine spying on everyone?



A future technology expert predicts that "the equivalent of a global PreCognition machine will be in operation with everyone a Person of Interest" by 2030.


By Ms. Smith on Mon, 03/04/13 - 10:42am.



What can we expect to see in the future of surveillance? Remember the "precogs" in 
Minority Report capable of seeing the future to stop crimes before they happened? Now imagine that on a global scale, capable of monitoring all people all the time...that will supposedly be our reality in the next 17 years or less. One expert on the future claims that by 2030 "the equivalent of a global PreCognition machine will be in operation with everyone a Person of Interest."



In an interesting article, David Hunter Tow, Director of the Future Planet Research Center, wrote about the future of surveillance, going through a long list of what is a 'surveillance' reality now—embedded sensors, intelligent devices, satellite and drone 'eyes in the sky' and even cyber espionage—and where that will lead in the future. The Internet now connects billions of people and will eventually connect "trillions of computing devices, machines and sensors." If "careful controls" are not put into place, then the consequences of such "pervasive and intrusive" surveillance will "likely to be catastrophic for humanity. The main technological and social components of the global surveillance trendline are already emerging; woven together into a dense matrix from which there will be no easy escape."

Problem solving today already links all kinds of intelligent embedded sensors and artificial intelligence, but Tow said smart sensor networks must become even "smarter." Examples of these smart sensors being used today include those embedded in infrastructure, healthcare, or even in CCTV to monitor "the security of communities and assets." This reminded me of the NYPD/Microsoft marriage that produced the Big Brother Domain Awareness System. Eyes in the sky also use sensor systems with high-resolution cameras and GPS, such as satellites or drones like DARPA's ARGUS. Tow wrote that satellites used by the military as spy networks "enable surveillance of the remotest areas on the planet." Nextgen drones will be even smaller, such as insect drones, and also be smarter, autonomous and capable of making life and death decisions such as BAE Systems' Taranis drone that is capable of choosing its own targets.

Tow said as the Internet of Things connects trillions of devices to the Web, it will issue in even more intelligent devices such as humanoid robots that "will eventually be capable of more sophisticated decision-making and autonomous operation equal to humans in every activity and finally acting in surveillance/supervisory mode." Hello, Skynet!

Cyber espionage, Tow reminds us, is also a form of "intrusive surveillance. Current cyber malware such as Stuxnet, Flame, Duqu and Miniduke are all primarily surveillance and reconnaissance weapons capable of performing spy missions as well as crippling vital target infrastructure. This routinely involves copying critical screen images, websites, emails, documentation and network traffic in general, performing extensive data mining, copying, transmitting and deleting files for espionage purposes."



There are about 4,000 federal, state and local groups working on domestic counterterrorism projects, and that is "obviously getting out of hand," according to Tow. Indeed, that is easy to see with all the ridiculous you-might-be-a-terrorist -if lists full of innocent behaviors that are allegedly suspicious. Last year, wasn't the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) accused of being a pre-crime squad?

The U.S. is "assembling a vast intelligence surveillance apparatus to collect information about its own citizens as well as those overseas actors perceived as terrorist risks, integrating the resources of the Department of Homeland Security, military, local police departments and FBI," wrote Tow. "In the near future this will be expanded to encompass the whole range of U.S. and overseas allied security agencies. This machine will collate information about thousands of U.S. citizens and residents many of whom have not been accused of any wrongdoing, to assist the FBI initially in its ongoing eternal and surreal war against home grown terrorism."

In the paranoid world of the spy/surveillance agencies, networks will become impossibly entangled - much more so than in the current geopolitical/security maze. If there are 4000 domestic agencies in the U.S. currently involved in covert surveillance, how many more are there internationally and how many will there be involved in the surveillance game when the cyberespionage paranoia really explodes?

Then there is the slippery slope of legislation like SOPA, PIPA and CISPA that will lead to the "inevitable erosion of citizen privacy and equitable access to the Internet in the name of security," Tow warned. "In other words the beneficial potential of the Internet/Web is at risk of being subverted, emerging instead as a vast spying or surveillance machine." All of the surveillance mechanisms that Tow mentioned are slowly eating away at human rights and "will inevitably lead to much greater personal freedoms restriction, which in turn will increase pressure for some form of predictive capacity to choke off dissent. This is likely to escalate no matter what legal safeguards are adopted."

Tow concluded:


Autocratic and fascist states throughout history have applied such techniques to their people, punishing political enemies and dissidents in the process. The current surveillance technologies amplify this potential for misuse a thousand-fold, exploiting the Web as civilization's greatest asset for potential benefit, turning it instead into a quasi Surveillance/Precog machine with the capacity to predict an individual's movements and actions.

...

The Future is at a tipping point and the outcome does not look promising.

You should read Tow's thought-provoking "Future Planet - Future of Surveillance" article in its entirety on The International News Magazine.


Source
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Peace In A Time Of Trouble!

Volume XXXII Issue III March 2013
Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Fax: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org





"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
Psalm 37:7-9

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
John 14:27

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:7

"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." 
Matthew 24:12-13



In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will closely examine the current events of our day and look to the Scriptures to discover how the children of God can be at peace despite the harsh realities of this modern age. For those who dare to read the news, it quickly becomes obvious that this world is in a deep state of turmoil and despair. It is for this reason that many people choose to forgo following the news altogether because it is a burden too hard for them to bear. Yet we know that it was Jesus Himself who warned us of the dangers of being unaware of what is happening around us and failing to watch and pray. In Luke 21:34-36 we read, "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

As I prepared to write this newsletter, numerous stories came across my desk which told of economic distress, moral decay, earthquakes, flooding, droughts, meteors and asteroids, famines, pestilences, the rise of dark forces, wars and rumors of wars, and a plethora of other distressing news. The current state of the world has caused many of the brightest and best scientists to scramble for solutions to save the world. However, even they are sometimes willing to admit that they may be fighting a losing battle. On January 14, 2013, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that their symbolic doomsday clock would remain at five minutes to midnight, which indicates that the complete destruction of the planet and the end of the world could be near. (1)

Thankfully, the Christian people can be at peace and entirely free of fear despite everything we know of this world's present condition. In John 14:27 Jesus tells us, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." In like manner, the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Those who do not know Jesus Christ cannot have this peace, nor can they comprehend it. However, we know from Isaiah 9:6 that our Saviour is also our Prince of Peace. By putting your faith and trust in Him, you can be completely free of all fear. If you have not yet fully given your heart to God, I urge you to do so now.

Signs From Heaven!

As people go about their day-to-day lives, they seldom contemplate the plethora of threats to the planet earth from outer space. Yet, we know that Jesus warned us in Luke 21:11 that "great signs shall there be from heaven" in the last days. In recent days, the people of Russia received a sobering reminder of the ever-present danger we face from meteors and asteroids, which sometimes strike the earth unexpectedly. On February 15, 2013, a meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in a blast which injured over one thousand people. (2) This meteor is estimated to have weighed approximately 10,000 tons and measured 55 feet in diameter before exploding with 500 kilotons of force. (3) Amazingly enough, the blast was about thirty times more powerful than the explosion produced by the nuclear bombing on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. (4) Scientists around the world and the Russian government were completely caught off guard by this unusual event according to reports. "Our ground facilities and, as I understand, those abroad too did not monitor this celestial body," stated a spokesman for the Russian space agency Roscomos. (5)

In an amazing coincidence, an asteroid, known as 2012 DA14, which was only discovered last year, passed within 17,200 miles of the earth on the same day that the meteor struck in Russia. "It's like a shooting gallery here. We have two rare events of near-earth objects approaching the earth on the same day," declared NASA scientist Paul Chodas. (6) Paul Dimotakis, a professor of aeronautics and physics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, expressed grave concern over the threat of near-earth objects. "This is a shot across the bow. It illustrates the challenge of the observation campaign which is now in progress," Dimotakis said. Regarding the close call with asteroid 2012 DA14, Dimotakis declared the following: "It's a good thing it's not hitting us, because truth be told there's nothing we could do about it except possibly evacuate, which is not going to be easy given the uncertainty about where the impact would take place." (7)

Threats from the heavens have also garnered special interest from the United Nations as scientists ramp up their efforts to improve their abilities to detect and predict the course of near-earth objects. "This event in Russia and the pass of the larger asteroid 2012 DA14 are good reminders that many thousands of objects like it pass near earth daily," stated Ray Williamson, an advisor to the Secure World Foundation. Williamson further went on to say, "Work is continuing with the United Nations on developing international responses to future threatening asteroids. Given the uncertainties concerning where such asteroids might strike earth and how much damage they might do, international responses will be critical." (8)

Oddly enough, the United States military announced in 2009 that they would no longer share data from government spacecraft with the scientific community. "It's baffling to us why this would suddenly change. It's unfortunate because there was this great synergy... a very good cooperative arrangement. Systems were put into dual-use mode where a lot of science was getting done that couldn't be done any other way. It's a regrettable change in policy," said an unnamed scientist quoted in a report from 2009. (9) The data derived by government spacecraft was used by scientists to study near-earth objects and approaching fireballs. "These fireball data together with astronomical observations of larger near-earth asteroids define the nature of the impact hazard and allow rational planning to deal with this issue," said David Morrison, a NASA scientist at the Ames Research Center. (10) This strange policy can only make me wonder what the United States military is attempting to hide from the scientific community and the population at large. It is interesting to note that a large asteroid, known as Apophis and named after an Egyptian god of chaos, is expected to closely pass by the earth in 2029 and could strike this planet when it comes near again in 2036. (11)

The recent meteor strike in Russia and the threat of asteroids pummeling the earth are intriguing when we consider them in Scriptural context. In colloquial terms, the visible path of an incoming meteor is often known as a "shooting star." In Revelation 6:13 we read the following, "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind."

Manifestations Of A Rising Police State!

To the average American, the notion that a tyrannical police state is rising in the United States may seem like a far-fetched notion. Yet, recent trends suggest that the Obama Administration has grown bolder in its attempt to inflict its will upon the American people. This is a point highlighted in a recent article published by the Associated Press entitled "How Obama is Wielding Executive Power in 2nd Term." The article describes an onslaught of far-reaching new rules that affect gun control, health care, and energy policy amongst numerous other issues. (12) In fact, Barack Obama has grown so comfortable using "executive actions" that he even threatened to do so during the 2013 State of the Union Address. Speaking on the topic of climate change, Obama told his audience, "Now, the good news is, we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct... I will direct my cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy." (13) Barack Obama's propensity to use executive actions has raised the ire of Marco Rubio, a Republican Senator from Florida. "Making matters worse is that President Obama is again abusing his power by imposing his policies via executive fiat instead of allowing them to be debated in Congress. President Obama's frustration with our republic and the way it works doesn't give him license to ignore the Constitution," Rubio declared. (14)

Barack Obama has the distinction of being the first president to order the execution of American citizens abroad through the use of drone strikes. Despite the fact that the Constitution guarantees every American the right to a fair trial, the Justice Department declared in a recent memo that such killings are acceptable if the target is considered to be a terrorist even if there is no evidence that the individual is planning an attack. "The condition that an operational leader present an 'imminent' threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future," states the memo. (15) The memo was heavily criticized by Mike Lee, a Republican Senator from Utah. "If you're going to regard somebody as presenting an imminent threat of an attack on the U.S. simply because you have concluded that they are an 'operational leader' or they are involved in planning an attack in one way or another, you find yourself giving way too much discretion to the government," Lee stated. (16)

The willingness of the Obama Administration to assassinate American citizens through the use of drones is particularly disturbing when we consider the sizable fleet of drones now being unleashed over the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, has issued 1,428 permits for domestic drones since 2007. The government agency estimates that there could be as many as 10,000 drones, which would primarily be used for surveillance, soaring over American skies by the year 2020. (17)

Meanwhile, much attention has been given to the fact that the Department of Homeland Security has stockpiled massive quantities of ammunition in recent months. Officials from the agency insist that the bullets will primarily be used for training; however, the volume of their stockpile has led many people to wonder if Homeland Security's motivation is something more nefarious. The Department of Homeland Security has purchased more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition, which is scheduled to be delivered over the next five years. (18)

It is also interesting to note that a company known as Law Enforcement Targets Inc. has released an unusual line of targets for use by law enforcement agencies to train their personnel. The official description for these targets is as follows: "No More Hesitation Targets were designed to give officers the experience of dealing with deadly force shooting scenarios with subjects that are not the norm during training. No More Hesitation faded background enhances the isolation and is meant to help the transition for officers who faced with these highly unusual targets for the first time." (19) These targets depict pregnant women, young mothers, small children, and the elderly. (20) The production of these targets has caused such a backlash from the public that the company which produced them announced on January 21, 2013, that they had removed them from their online catalog. "We apologize for the offensive nature of our 'No More Hesitation' products," the company wrote in an online statement. "These products have been taken offline due to the opinions expressed by so many, including members of the law enforcement community." (21)

In another development, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties recently determined that the government has the right to search and seize any electronic devices being carried on the person of anyone within one hundred miles of an American border. This decision reaffirms and expands on a policy which has been in place since 2008. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security searched the electronic devices of 6,500 people between the years 2008 and 2010. In a statement justifying its policy, the government agency stated the following, "We also conclude that imposing a requirement that officers have reasonable suspicion in order to conduct a border search of an electronic device would be operationally harmful without concomitant civil rights/civil liberties benefits." (22)

An Unholy Spirit Of Death!

In these dark and immoral days, there seems to be an ever-decreasing respect for the sanctity of human life. We know that abortion results in the loss of millions of lives in the United States and other countries such as China. Sadly, it has also become apparent that there is now a concerted effort to speed up the passing of people who are sick or elderly. This point is highlighted in a statement issued in January 2013 by Taro Aso, the finance minister of Japan. "Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government. The problem won't be solved unless you let them hurry up and die," Aso stated. (23)

Euthanasia, or medically assisted death, has become increasingly common in Europe. For example, the practice is legal in the nation of Belgium and does not even require those who request the procedure to be terminally ill. According to a report, two deaf twin brothers were put to death in December 2012. Describing the incident, the doctor who performed the procedure stated the following, "They were very happy. It was a relief to see the end of their suffering. They had a cup of coffee in the hall. It went well and [had] a rich conversation. Then the separation from their parents was very serene and beautiful. At the last there was a little wave of their hands and then they were gone." (24) In another incident, a Belgian man was shocked to discover that his estranged mother had been euthanized in April 2012. The rationale for allowing the procedure to take place was that the woman suffered from chronic depression. (25) Shockingly, it has now been proposed by Belgian Senator Philippe Mahoux that youth which have not yet reached the age of adulthood should be allowed to seek euthanasia. (26)

Each and every man, woman, and child is a unique creation of God. It should not be left to doctors to decide when a man should die. In Job 33:4 we read, "The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." It is Satan's business to destroy human lives. How sad it is when people give up on living and allow the medical profession to assist them in ending their lives.

Unclean Religion And Blasphemy In The Last Days!

The days in which we live are truly remarkable as we see an ever-increasing amount of strange and shocking headlines. These stories range from bizarre to blasphemous and indicate we are living in a time unlike any other in history. One such story tells of a new church in the United Kingdom comprised entirely of atheists. The church, which is known as "The Sunday Assembly," claims to be a "godless congregation that will meet on the first Sunday of every month to hear great talks, sing songs and generally celebrate the wonders of life." One of the church's founders, Sanderson Jones, explains his rationale for forming the congregation as follows: "It is intended to tap into a feeling of wonder that atheists have like believers, to challenge beliefs and give you something to think about for the week ahead. People also love to feel part of something and in a sense you lose that when you lose God. Our view is you don't need to believe to get that back." (27) According to reports, two hundred people attended the first service, and by the second service that number had swelled to three hundred participants. (28)

Yet another indicator that many professing Christians have a severe deficiency of God-given discernment is the growing popularity of a new band of musicians amongst the mainstream Christian community. The band, which calls itself "Micah's Rule," consists of an openly gay man, a transgender woman, and a lesbian. The band members have sought to downplay their background saying that they just like to make gospel music. "It's just our back story, plain and simple, but we're not using that as a marketing tool for our music, positively or negatively. We want to be a musical group like any other, but we realize our back story will get out," said band member Greg McCaw. (29) In addition to the songs which the band claim are Christian in nature, they have also recorded a medley of John Lennon's "Imagine," The O'Jays "Love Train," and Bob Marley's "One Love." Although the song "Imagine" is heavily favored by music fans around the world, the lyrics paint a clearly anti-god picture. The song starts out with the words, "Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky." Despite these disturbing facts, the fan base of the band is growing. Referring to the band's CD, one churchgoer was quoted as saying, "I listen to it day and night. It's a message I think everyone needs to hear." (30)

In an act of complete blasphemy, a woman by the name of Browyn Lundberg, who refers to herself as an artist, has created a new image entitled "Lesbian Last Supper." In the so-called art piece, Jesus Christ is replaced with lesbian actress Ellen Degeneres, who is then surrounded by fellow lesbians Jane Lynch, Sandra Bernhard, Rachel Maddow, Linda Perry, Portia De Rossi, Heather Matarazzo, Wanda Sykes, KD Lang, Lily Tomlin, Melissa Etheridge, and Rosie O'Donnell. The fictional lesbian character of "Shane McCutcheon" from the Showtime television network's program known as "The L Word" takes the spot of Judas Iscariot. Speaking of her artwork, Lundberg was quoted as saying, "I drew it because it made me smile and because I wanted to pay tribute to the woman who made it easier to be myself. Religious art will inevitably strike strong responses in some people but those are issues I can't worry about because I really can't identify with them." (31)

In a move that stunned the world, 85 year-old Pope Benedict XVI announced on February 11, 2013, that he would resign from the papacy, becoming the first pope to do so in 600 years. Citing poor health in his announcement, Pope Benedict declared, "Both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, successor of Saint Peter." (32) After the pope's announcement, much speculation was made over his real motivation for stepping down. According to a report published by USA Today, Pope Benedict reached his decision to abdicate after receiving the results of an internal investigation which found that the Vatican had become a hotbed of homosexual activity. "What's coming out is a very detailed x-ray of the Roman Curia that does not spare even the closest collaborators of the pope. The pope was no stranger to the intrigues, but he probably did not know that under his pontificate there was such a complex network and such intricate chains of personal interests and unmentionable relationships," declared Ignazio Ingrao, a well-respected expert on the Vatican. (33) The internal investigation, performed by three Cardinals at the Vatican, reportedly uncovered an underground network of homosexual priests who would meet in several locations, including a villa outside of Rome and a beauty parlor in the Vatican for shameful homosexual activity. (34)

In closing, I know these are troubling times in which we live, and we will continue to face numerous challenges in the days ahead. Even as the second presidential term of Barack Obama is now fully underway, we are already beginning to see new economic hardships coming upon the United States. In fact, economists were recently shocked to discover that the economy in the United States shrunk by 0.1 percent in the final quarter of the year 2012. (35) Meanwhile, the European Commission has warned that they expect a recession to continue in the European Union at least through the year 2013. The European nations of Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Netherlands, and Portugal are all expected to have shrinking economies. (36) Despite all of this trouble and the myriad potential problems facing the United States and the entire world, we can put our faith and trust in God, and in doing so we can have peace in our lives. In Psalm 29:11 we read, "The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace." It is my hope and prayer that all who read this newsletter will embrace this peace and fully give your lives to God.

Thank you to all who so generously support this ministry. We at Last Trumpet Ministries realize the importance of proclaiming the Gospel in these tumultuous times, and we could not do what we do without your help. If you have any prayer requests, small or great, please feel welcome to send them our way. Our dedicated teams of intercessors will carry your petition through prayer to the throne of the Almighty. We take prayer seriously, and we always give each request individual attention. Grace and peace be unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Samuel David Meyer



Acknowledgements

01. Live Science, January 15, 2013, By Live Science Staff, http://livescience.com.
02. Huffington Post, February 16, 2013, By Tariq Malik, http://huffingtonpost.com.
03. Ibid.
04. RT News, February 15, 2013, By RT News, http://rt.com.
05. Ibid.
06. Reuters News Service, February 15, 2013, By Irene Klotz, Boston, MA.
07. Ibid.
08. NBC News, February 17, 2013, By Leonard David, http://nbcnews.com.
09. Space.com, June 10, 2009, By Leonard David, http://space.com.
10. Ibid.
11. The Register, January 9, 2013, By Iain Thomson, San Francisco, CA, http://theregister.co.uk.
12. Associated Press, February 10, 2013, By Matthew Daly, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Mary Clare Jalonick, and Sam Hananel, Washington, D.C.
13. The Washington Post, February 12, 2013, State of the Union Address transcript, By Barack Obama, http://washingtonpost.com.
14. The New York Times, January 16, 2013, By Charlie Savage, http://nytimes.com.
15. NBC News, February 19, 2013, By Michael Isikoff, http://nbcnews.com.
16. Washington Examiner, February 18, 2013, By Joel Gehrke, http://washingtonexaminer.com.
17. Los Angeles Times, February 15, 2013, By Brian Bennett and Joel Rubin, Washington, D.C.
18. Associated Press, February 14, 2013, By Associated Press, http://ap.org.
19. Law Enforcement Targets, Official Website, February 21, 2013, http://letargets.com.
20. Reason Magazine, February 19, 2013, By Mike Riggs, http://reason.com.
21. Law Enforcement Targets, February 21, 2013, http://facebook.com/LawEnforcementTargets.
22. Wired Magazine, February 8, 2013, By David Kravets, http://wired.com.
23. The Guardian, January 22, 2013, By Justin McCurry, http://guardian.co.uk.
24. ABC News, January 14, 2013, By Russel Goldman, http://news.yahoo.com.
25. Mercator Net, February 4, 2013, By Tom Mortier, http://mercatornet.com.
26. Life News, January 31, 2013, By Dr. Peter Saunders, http://lifenews.com.
27. The Blaze, February 12, 2013, By Billy Hallowell, http://theblaze.com.
28. Ibid.
29. Religion News Service, February 15, 2013, By Amanda Greene, Wilmington, NC.
30. Ibid.
31. The Guardian, January 9, 2013, By Kelly J. Newson, http://guardianlv.com.
32. Reuters News Service, February 11, 2013, By Philip Pullella, Vatican City.
33. USA Today, February 22, 2013, By Doug Stanglin, http://usatoday.com.
34. Ibid.
35. Associated Press, January 30, 2013, By Christopher S. Rugaber, Washington, D.C.
36. The Telegraph, February 22, 2013, By Rachel Cooper, http://telegraph.co.uk.

Special Note: A new tribute website for Pastor David J. Meyer can now be accessed at http://pastormeyer.org.

Comments regarding this newsletter or topic suggestions may be submitted to editor@lasttrumpetnewsletter.org.
If you would like to submit a prayer request, you may send email to prayer@ltmmail.org or mail it to our postal address.




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Thursday, March 07, 2013

Senate approves and confirms John O. Brennan as CIA director

Just who is John Brennan?  






Let's go way back to see where he is coming from:


Early life and education

Brennan, the son of Irish immigrants from Roscommon, Ireland, was raised in North Bergen, New Jersey.[10] He attended the Immaculate Heart of Mary Elementary School, and graduated from Saint Joseph of the Palisades High School in West New York, New Jersey.[6]

While riding a bus to class at Fordham University, he saw an ad in The New York Times that said the CIA was recruiting, and felt a CIA career would be a good match for his "wanderlust" and his desire to do public service.[6] He received a B.A. in political science from Fordham in 1977.[3] His studies included a junior year abroad learning Arabic and taking Middle Eastern studies courses at the American University in Cairo.[3][6] He also received a Master of Arts in government with a concentration in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980.[6] He speaks Arabic fluently.[10]

John Owen Brennan (born September 22, 1955) is chief counterterrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama; officially his title is Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and Assistant to the President.[2][3][5] His responsibilities include overseeing plans to protect the country from terrorism and respond to natural disasters, and he meets with the President daily.[6][7] Previously, he advised Obama on foreign policy and intelligence issues during the 2008 presidential campaign and transition.[8] Brennan withdrew his name from consideration for Director of the CIA in the first Obama administration over concerns about his support for the use of torture by the CIA underPresident George W. Bush.[3][6] Instead, Brennan was appointed Deputy National Security Advisor, a position which did not require Senate confirmation.[3][6][9]
Brennan's 25 years with the CIA included work as a Near East and South Asia analyst, as station chief in Saudi Arabia, and as director of theNational Counterterrorism Center.[3][6][10] After leaving government service in 2005, Brennan became CEO of The Analysis Corporation, a security consulting business, and served as chairman of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, an association of intelligence professionals.[11]
President Obama nominated Brennan as his next director of the Central Intelligence Agency January 7, 2013.[12][13][14] The ACLU called for the Senate not to proceed with the appointment until it confirms that "all of his conduct was within the law" at the CIA and White House.[15] John Brennan was approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 5, 2013 to succeed David Petraeus as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agencyby a vote of 12 to 3.[16]


Source: Wiki

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SPLC warns Homeland Security of 'conspiracy-minded groups'


HOMELAND SECURITY

MARCH 5, 2013

BY: DAVID GARRETT JR.


Southern Poverty Law Center logo.
Credits:
Southern Poverty Law Center




The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Janet Napolitano today that warned of "patriot groups" and domestic terrorism.

"The number of conspiracy-minded antigovernment 'Patriot' groups on the American radical right reached an all-time high in 2012, the fourth consecutive year of powerful growth by a movement that is becoming increasingly militant as President Obama enters his second term and Congress debates gun control measures," the SPLC said in a press release today.

In the letter, the SPLC asked the department to "establish an interagency task force to assess the adequacy of the resources devoted to responding to the growing threat of non-Islamic domestic terrorism."

The SPLC said that there were 149 militias and "radical antigovernment groups" in 2008, but that the number increased to 1,360 in 2012. The SPLC said that the increased numbers are tied to the gun control debate. It also cited the case of a Tennessee man who threatened to "start killing people" if President Obama signed any executive orders to take weapons away from law abiding citizens. The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security suspended James Yeager's handgun carry permit after the department watched his video on YouTube.

"In the last four years, we have seen a tremendous increase in the number of conspiracy-minded, antigovernment groups as well as in the number of domestic terrorist plots," SPLC President and CEO J. Richard Cohen wrote."As in the period before the Oklahoma City bombing, we now also are seeing ominous threats from those who believe the government is poised to take their guns."

The letter goes on to say that there is also a "high level" of "neo-Nazi and racist skinhead groups" that may be a result of "comprehensive immigration reform."

In an article on the SPLC website, the center attempted to tie groups wanting to preserve the second amendment with racism. Mark Potok wrote, "Anger over the idea of four more years under a black, Democratic president — and, even more explosively, the same kinds of gun control efforts that fueled the militia movement of the 1990s — seems already to be fomenting another Patriot spurt."

"In light of these questions and the disturbing trends we have described in this letter, we believe it is time to take a fresh look at the issue," Cohen wrote.



l

Drones Large and Small Coming to US




By Jeremy Hsu, TechNewsDaily Senior Writer | LiveScience.com – Wed, Feb 20, 2013




The X4-P, a configurable drone …


Most of the drones that have begun to appear in the skies above theU.S. homeland don't resemble the Predators or Reapers flown by the U.S. military and CIA above Afghanistan and Pakistan. Instead, these smaller versions of flying, unmanned vehicles almost rival the animal kingdom in their diversity.



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Lawyers question former Pope’s legal status



Pope Benedict XVI (shown) resigned on February 28, 2013.

Wed Mar 6, 2013 7:48AM GMT


Benedict XVI resigned on February 28, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to do so.

The former pope stated that the reason for his decision was his deteriorating health due to old age.
International lawyers are looking into former Pope Benedict XVI’s legal status to see whether the former pontiff is liable to a legal action over failing to stop child sex abuse by church priests.

Advocates for the victims of abuse said they want to question Benedict XVI’s immunity status, especially if he travels outside of the Vatican.

Referring to the fact that courts have never tried an emeritus pope before, Attorney Pamela Spees said, "So much of this is unprecedented," adding, "There's nothing set in stone about it."
However, a US lawyer for the Vatican argues that Benedict XVI retains legal immunity regardless of whether he is in or out of office.

Benedict XVI resigned on February 28, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to do so.

The former pope stated that the reason for his decision was his deteriorating health due to old age.

CAH/PKH/HJL


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Closed for preparations

@ The Vatican:

SISTINE CHAPEL CLOSES DOORS IN PREPARATION FOR PAPAL VOTING




by KATE O'HARE 5 Mar 2013 

The Vatican has not yet announced a date for the start of voting to elect a new pope for the Roman Catholic Church, but it is preparing the world’s most beautiful voting booth for the process.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@ Washington, DC:

White House Tours Halted Over Cuts; Congress Says, ‘We’re Open’

By ASHLEY PARKER
Published: March 5, 2013


WASHINGTON — The Obama administration told members of Congress on Tuesday that it was canceling all White House tours beginning on Saturday because of the $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts that went into effect last week.





P.S. Is this what they call Synchronicity? 
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Attorney General Eric Holder: Drone strike on U.S. soil ‘hypothetically’ possible


By: Eric W. Dolan



The Obama Administration could use lethal force on Americans within the United States and without trial during “an extraordinary circumstance,” Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday.

In a letter to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Holder said the Administration favored the use of law enforcement over the military when it came to fighting terrorist threats within the country. However, Holder refused to rule out the possibility that the President of the United States could use a drone strike on U.S. soil in an extreme situation.

“As members of this administration have previously indicated, the US government has not carried out drone strikes in the United States and has no intention of doing so,” he wrote. “As a policy matter moreover, we reject the use of military force where well-established law enforcement authorities in this country provide the best means for incapacitating a terrorist threat.”

“The question you have posed is therefore entirely hypothetical, unlikely to occur, and one we hope no president will ever have to confront,” Holder added.

“It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States. For example, the president could conceivably have no choice but to authorize the military to use such force if necessary to protect the homeland in the circumstances like a catastrophic attack like the ones suffered on December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001,” Holder continued, referring to the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center, respectively.

Paul had threatened to hold up the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director over questions about whether the Administration believed it could use drone strikes within the United States. In a separate letter, Brennan told Paul that the CIA had no authority to conduct lethal operations within the country.

“The U.S. Attorney General’s refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening – it is an affront the Constitutional due process rights of all Americans,” Paul said in a statement.

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Preached in all the world


And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. .=- Matthew 24:14

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Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Why I Keep the Sabbath

Jana Riess | Mar 6, 2013




The Sabbath is, first and foremost, about rest.

I’m speaking tonight on Sabbath observance for the Lenten series at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. (I have to follow Walter Brueggemann in the lineup—can you imagine? Gulp.)

During this series, which kicked off with 24/6 author Matthew Sleeth preaching in a Sunday service and has included Sunday morning classes as well as Wednesday evening lectures, the people at Redeemer have focused totally on this single spiritual practice: Sabbath. What does it mean? Why should we keep it? And what should we do—or not do—to keep the Sabbath holy?

In my early years as a Mormon, I wasn’t much of a Sabbath keeper. I felt vaguely guilty about this, because the virtue of the Sabbath was preached often from the pulpit, Mormonism never having succumbed to American culture’s general decline in Sabbath observance.

So my Sabbath deficiency became just one more way that I felt I was falling short as a Christian.

I didn’t get serious about Sabbath until I became a parent. But it wasn’t like I had somehow grown more wise or spiritual as a new mom, or even because I wanted to set a good example for my daughter.

No, I did it because I wasn’t getting enough sleep. Ever.

Suddenly, Sabbath seemed like a rather fine idea.

Nowadays people ask me which of the spiritual practices I tried for Flunking Sainthood that I still do. Fixed-hour prayer? Fasting? I tell them that while I attempt some of those practices from time to time, there are two to which I hold firm: Sabbath-keeping and the Jesus Prayer.

I stick to these disciplines like glue not because I am a virtuous person or a particularly good Christian, because I’m neither. With Sabbath in particular, I observe the practice because I am basically a selfish person.

I have come to love the Sabbath because I have permission—finally, weekly—to lay down my anxieties and cease, which is what the word shabbat means. Sabbath is about stoppage. It is about rest, and family, and love.


It’s also about God, but not in the parsimonious, self-engineered way that so many Christians seem to think it is. They imagine that God only allows us to rest from our regular work on Sunday so that we can do our Other Great Work, which is to spend extra time reading our scriptures, or at prayer.

Those are of course important things to attend to in a spiritual journey, but they are not the purpose of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a cease-and-desist order, the longest and most specific of the Ten Commandments. When God orders us to stop work in Exodus 20:8 and elsewhere, it is explicitly repeated that stopping work is in itself a holy thing. In fact, such cessation is the only “holy” attribute mentioned in conjunction with the Sabbath.

How often we misunderstand this in our work-obsessed culture. I once heard someone at my church say from the pulpit that he would never feel comfortable napping on the Sabbath and thereby “wasting the Lord’s day.” What hubris.

If God himself rests on the seventh day—note that the fourth commandment is the only one of the ten that God himself keeps—can we be so prideful as to imagine that the world will stop spinning on its axis the moment we cease our labors?



The Sabbath image and the photo of chairs on the beach are used with permission of Shutterstock.com.


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Montana House re-enacts session from century ago




13 hours ago • By Charles S. Johnson


HELENA – The Montana House of Representatives turned back the clock 100 years Tuesday as members debated the raging issues of the era.

During the re-enactment, many men wore old suits and ties from the past, while some also sported derby hats and glued-on moustaches. Many chewed on cigars.

Not to be outdone, some women in the Legislature wore turn-of-the-century, high-collared dresses. Some also wore wide-brimmed hats.

At least one man and one woman in the Legislature wore wigs.

In mock discussions and debates, they argued such issues before the 1913 Legislature as the “Workingmen’s Compensation Act” and “The Civil Sunday Rest Bill,” which sought to give business owners and employees a mandatory day off each week.

Another measure sought to regulate “the sale of intoxicating liquor and to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquor on Election Day.” Lawmakers also attempted to define – and set the penalty for – the crime of seduction.

Other bills included setting a minimum wage for women, regulations of dance halls at summer resorts and whether to petition Congress to permit the use of automobiles in Yellowstone National Park.

They debated whether to put on the ballot a proposal to appropriate $50,000 for an executive mansion for the governor “and for the equipment and furnishing of the same.”

There was a prepared script for the legislators to read from, but that was just the starting point. Some lawmakers ad-libbed and hammed it up. Some adopted Southern accents for the occasion.

The lawmakers in 1913 approved a general fund budget of $1.9 million for fiscal 1913 and $1.6 million for the following year. Today, Gov. Steve Bullock is asking the Legislature to appropriate general fund budgets of $2.2 billion in fiscal 2014 and $2.1 billion in 2015.

The House re-enacted the dedication of the Charles M. Russell painting, “Lewis and Clark Meeting the Indians at Ross’ Hole,” which takes up most of the wall behind the speaker’s podium in the House. A man portraying Russell thanked the people of Montana and his Native friends for letting him paint the mural.

House Speaker Mark Blasdel, R-Somers, said Lindsey Grovom, the chief clerk of the House, approached him with the idea before the session. She and her staff did all the work to put the event together.

Blasdel said it was a good time to do the re-enactment because the House, which returned from a brief mid-session recess, didn’t have many bills to debate yet in the second half of the session.

“Quite frankly, I think it brings us back all home to what we’re doing here sitting in these chairs today and the honor,” Blasdel said.

The House does a lot of hard work and is still focused on it, the speaker said, but every so often, it’s good to remember the history of the Legislature and honor of serving in the body.

Senators didn’t do their own reenactment, but many came to watch.


Missoulian State Bureau reporter Charles S. Johnson can be reached at (406) 447-4066 or by email at chuck.johnson@lee.net.

Comandante Hugo Chavez 1954 –2013





















Pilgrims plan walk to Rome in steps of 16th century Jesuit


Posted: Monday, February 25, 2013 9:33 pm




pilgrim way


Pilgrims from across Europe will be retracing the steps of a 16th century Jesuit through Europe this April, as they prepare to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Christian Life Community (CLC).

In 1556 Jean Leunis made a pilgrimage from Liege in Belgium to Rome to meet Saint Ignatius and to join the Society of Jesus. Six years later in Rome, Leunis founded 'Prima Primaria', which was the origin of the Sodality of Our Lady and the CLC. The 2013 pilgrimage - 450 years later - will be to emulate Leunis' journey to the foundation of what is known as the Ignatian lay companions.

The Pilgrimage is a great Catholic time-honoured tradition that came from the very roots of the Church. In a general way it reminds us that we are essentially pilgrims in life. Those who are influenced by Ignatian spirituality in particular follow Jesus in a particular road under the flag of the Eternal King, with the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius representing an internal pilgrimage divided in four stages or 'weeks' to find God's Love and answer His call.

As part of the celebration of the Jubilee year of the 450th anniversary of the Ignatian Lay Communities, there will be one pilgrimage in four short stages, beginning in Belgium on 6 April. Further stages will take place in Switzerland and France, before the pilgrimage concludes in Rome with a Solemn Mass at which the Superior General of the Jesuits, Fr Adolfo Nicolás SJ, who is also the World Ecclesiastical Assistant of CLC, will officiate.

It was in 1563 that Jean Leunis, a Jesuit teacher, gathered a group of students of the Roman College for spiritual advancement, leading to the foundation of the Marian Congregation - or Sodality of Our Lady: a sodality is a group within the Universal Church which engages in a specialized task or common mission. The boys of the original Sodality agreed to daily mass, weekly confession, monthly Communion, a half-hour of meditation each day and to some other pious exercises. They would also commit themselves to some form of service to the poor. Today, the Christian Life Community is an international association of Christians, men and women, adults and young people, of all social conditions, who want to follow Jesus Christ more closely and work with Him for the building of the Kingdom. Membership is made up of small groups, which are part of larger communities organized regionally and nationally, and which together form one World Community. The CLC is present in all five continents, in almost 60 countries - including the UK.

The CLC Roman Experience will begin on Friday 26 April, when pilgrims will meet at the Collegio Romano for a conference entitled The laity and Ignatian Spirituality, past and future. There they will be addressed by (among others) the Director of the Jesuit publication Civiltà Cattolica, Antonio Spadaro SJ, Daniela Frank, World CLC President and Miguel Coll SJ from the Gregorian University. The following day (Saturday, 27 April) will be spent visiting various sites in Rome associated with St Ignatius and the Society of Jesus which, along with six Companions, he founded in 1540. The pilgrimage will culminate with Mass celebrated by Fr Adolfo Nicolás SJ at St Ignatius' Church in Rome on Sunday, 28 April.

For more about the CLC in the UK, visit www.clcew.org.uk . And to find out more about the 2013 Roman Experience, e-mail cvxit@gesuiti.it


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