"Oh Really"...Quote Satan.

Naughty or Nice? 2009

2009-11-28T11:14:00.003-05:00

Naughty or Nice? 2009
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- American Family Association:
AFA's 2009 listing of top retailers and how they recognize Christmas
http://action.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147486887
.
- Liberty Counsel
"Friend or Foe" Christmas Campaign
http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=15259

The Compassionate Friends - Worldwide Candle Lighting

2009-11-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

Worldwide Candle Lighting Video

Worldwide Candle Lighting

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, creating a virtual wave of light, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.

The Compassionate Friends - Home

"Cry of Anguish": African Synod Unveils Final Document Blasting Western Anti-Life Ideologies, Resource Exploitation

2009-10-23T18:05:00.003-04:00

"Cry of Anguish": African Synod Unveils Final Document Blasting Western Anti-Life Ideologies, Resource Exploitation
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Nigerian archbishop says that the issue of the Church's efforts for AIDS sufferers "cannot be reduced to discussion over condoms."
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By Hilary White
VATICAN CITY, October 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In their final document, the participants of the second Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Africa have denounced the imposition of foreign anti-life and family ideologies, issued a stern call for holiness and repentance by political leaders, blasted resource exploitation by multinational corporations and called for a rethinking of Africa by the rest of the world.
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At the penultimate press conference today at the Vatican's press office, John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, said that the issue of the Church's efforts for AIDS sufferers "cannot be reduced to discussion over condoms."
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Onaiyekan reiterated the Synod's final document, saying that the Church's work for those with the disease is "second to none" and "deserves greater publicity."
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It is rarely mentioned in western media reports that the vast majority of work caring for people stricken with AIDS in Africa is done by the Catholic Church. "Many of those who go around distributing condoms will not go near anybody with HIV/AIDS," Onaiyekan added.
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One member of the Vatican's press office staff told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) of the frustration that some in Rome feel over the lack of media attention given to the Church's work in treating the sick and spoke of the difficulties involved in getting anti-retroviral drugs to those who need them in Africa. He said that the issue of caring for AIDS patients is being overlooked with the overweening emphasis on prevention with condoms, "and it's prevention that doesn't work."
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The Synod's Summary, issued today, called for sustained assistance for those who already have the disease and noted that Pope Benedict had warned that AIDS "cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics."
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"We appeal to all who are genuinely interested in arresting the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS to recognise the success already obtained by programmes that propose abstinence among those not yet married, and fidelity among the married.
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"Such a course of action not only offers the best protection against the spread of this disease but is also in harmony with Christian morality."
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The bishops added a note directly to young people, saying, "Let no one deceive you into thinking that you cannot control yourselves. Yes you can, with the grace of God."
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In their Summary, the bishops focused on the imposition of anti-life and anti-woman ideologies. "All over Africa there is much talk about women's rights, especially through the plans of action of some UN agencies. Much of what they say is right and in line with what the Church has been saying."
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The bishops called for "caution," however, in accepting financial aid for the projects being proposed by international aid organisations, which often come "with a hidden agenda." The bishops called on the foreign NGOs to be "more consistent and transparent in implementing their programmes."
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"We urge the countries of Africa to carefully scrutinise the services being offered to our people, to ensure they are good for us." Most particularly, they said, the Synod "denounces all surreptitious attempts to destroy and undermine the precious African values of family and human life."
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They referred directly the "obnoxious" (in Italian "detestabile") Maputo Protocol on women's rights. Pro-life organisations have long called for the retraction of the Protocol that they say is a direct attack on the African people because of its emphasis on "reproductive and sexual rights" that include abortion, contraception and sterilisation.
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The bishops issued a strong warning over the corruption of some African politicians. Africa they said, needs "saints" in government "who will clean the continent of corruption, work for the good of the people," and end the evils of war and poverty devastating the continent. They called on governments in Africa to protect families, and to "remember that a nation whose legislation destroys its own families does so to its own detriment."
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In what Onaiyekan called a "cry of anguish," the bishops also blasted multinational corporations exploiting African natural resources, demanding that they "stop their criminal devastation of the environment in their greedy exploitation." They accused these corporations of "short sighted policy to foment wars in order to make fast gains from chaos at the cost of human lives and blood."
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"Is there no one out there able and willing to stop all these crimes against humanity?"
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Nevertheless, the Summary called for an attitude of hope in the face of the colossal problems of Africa, the "abject poverty," war, genocides, exploitation, violent religious conflict, hunger and disease. The bishops said that the bad news, despite the emphasis of the media, does not make up the whole picture. A refrain for the Synod has been the need for African solutions to African problems and a reduction of the reliance on foreign aid, which, they have said, is too often offered with strings attached.
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"We are challenged and encouraged by the African proverb which says that "an army of well organised ants can bring down an elephant." We should not be afraid of, less still be discouraged, by the enormity of the problems of our continent."
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Almost 300 bishops have participated in the conference that began October 4 and wraps up tomorrow.
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Read LSN coverage of the African Bishops' Synod here.

How to Handle the Bible - Charles Stanley

2009-09-26T12:29:00.001-04:00

How to Handle the Bible
Charles Stanley
September 8, 2009
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READ Psalm 1:1-3
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The value we place on something deter-mines how we treat it. For instance, you probably wouldn’t give much thought to caring for an old shoebox. Yet if someone placed $10,000 inside before handing you that same cardboard container, you’d likely rearrange your day to make sure it was properly protected against damage or theft.
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Similarly, once we realize the worth of Scripture, we no longer read merely out of obligation. Instead, we hunger for its revelation and life-changing power.
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Here’s how God instructs us to read His “instruction manual for life.” First, turn to it daily with eager expectation for what the Lord will reveal. Second, meditate upon the Word by thinking about what you’ve read and absorbing its meaning and implications. Third, study God’s truth. There are a variety of ways to do this. For example, follow a specific word through the Old and New Testaments by using a concordance or search engine. Or study an entire book by dissecting one chapter at a time. Fourth, believe what the Lord says. Fifth, obey. In other words, apply what you read to your life situation. This often requires courage and discipline. Sixth, share what you’ve learned. This will encourage others while strengthening you and sinking the lesson deep in your heart.
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The Bible may look like just another book. But it is living truth that can protect and guide, pierce and encourage. Nowhere else do we learn how to be saved so we can eventually dwell with the Lord in heaven. When we grasp Scripture’s value, our interaction with God’s Word will reflect its worth.
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Article Link

2009-08-16T17:46:00.000-04:00

Started March 23, 2005

In Remembrance of:
--Shawn Earhart
--Theresa Marie Schindler (Schiavo)--Pope John Paul II - Karol Wojtyła.
--Walter Sharp--Jonathan Brickhouse--Trinity Nicole Casey--Anibal Cruz
--Daniel Agosto--Jesstin "Manny" Pagan--Dylan Groene--LaToyia Figueroa
--Baby Figueroa--Reese "Barry" Robertson--Brice Edwards--James Zadroga
--Leona McCleary.
Tallmansville, West Virginia-Sago Miners: --Alva Martin Bennett--Jim Bennett --Jerry Groves
--Terry Helms --David Lewis--Martin Toler--Fred Ware Junior --Marshall Winans --Jack Weaver
--Thomas P. Anderson--George Hamner Jr.--Jesse L. Jones--William Lee "Flea" Chisolm
--John Nelson Boni.
Melville, West Virginia- Alma Miners: --Don Israel Bragg--Ellery "Elvis" Hatfield.
--Kelsey Ann Smith--Daniel Benoit--Tammy Faye Messner--Donald Herbert
-- Caylee Marie Anthony -- Eluana Englaro

Poll: More Americans calling themselves pro-life

2009-05-16T00:26:00.006-04:00

AP – Chart shows abortion poll results
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Poll: More Americans calling themselves pro-life
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By DAVID CRARY,
Ap National Writer – Fri May 15, 7:38 pm ET
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NEW YORK – A Gallup Poll released Friday found that 51 percent of Americans now call themselves pro-life rather than pro-choice on the issue of abortion, the first time a majority gave that answer in the 15 years that Gallup has asked the question.
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The findings, obtained in an annual survey on values and beliefs conducted May 7-10, marked a significant shift from a year ago. A year ago, 50 percent said they were pro-choice and 44 percent pro-life — in the new poll, 42 percent said they were pro-choice.
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The new survey showed that Americans remained deeply divided on the legality of abortion — with 23 percent saying it should be illegal in all circumstances, 22 percent saying it should be legal under any circumstances, and 53 percent saying it should be legal only under certain circumstances.
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The findings echoed a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center, which reported a sharp decline since last August in those saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases — from 54 percent to 46 percent.
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Taken together, the two polls have elated anti-abortion activists, who had been stung by the November election results that placed President Barack Obama and other abortion-rights supporters in power in Washington.
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"Ironically, Obama's radical abortion policies and nominees may have helped make America more pro-life," said Wendy Wright, president of the conservative advocacy group Concerned Women for America.
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The Rev. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said the poll findings demonstrate that the anti-abortion cause "is a vibrant, growing, youthful movement."
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"We are winning the battle for hearts and minds in our culture on the life issue," he said.
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The president of a leading abortion-rights group, Nancy Keenan of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said the Gallup findings "do not square with the voting patterns in the last two elections cycles."
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"It would be a mistake for anti-choice groups to interpret this one poll as a signal that Americans want even more interference from politicians in their personal, private decisions, including a woman's right to choose safe, legal abortion," Keenan said.
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Another abortion-rights leader, Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Cecile Richards, questioned the terminology in the Gallup questions.
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"The terms pro-choice and pro-life no longer define the parameters of the debate, witnessed by the fact that in the Gallup Poll, a majority of people say they are both pro-life and that abortion should be legal," Richards said.
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She added that most Americans share Obama's stated goal of reducing the number of unintended pregnancies.
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Planned Parenthood also noted that another recent national survey, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp., poll in April, reported 49 percent of respondents identifying as pro-choice and 45 percent as pro-life.
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The Gallup poll's release came just ahead of Obama's scheduled commencement speech Sunday at the University of Notre Dame, where he also is to receive an honorary degree. Those plans by the Roman Catholic University have sparked a wave of protests by anti-abortion activists, who contend Notre Dame should not honor a such a prominent supporter of abortion rights.
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Gallup said its new poll showed an increase in the pro-life position across Christian religious affiliations, including an eight-point gain among Protestants and a seven-point gain among Catholics. It also reported a 10-point shift toward the pro-life category among Republicans but said there was no significant change among Democrats.
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In the new poll, men identify as pro-life, 54 percent to 39 percent, while women also tilt pro-life 49 percent to 44 percent. A year ago, Gallup found more women calling themselves pro-choice than pro-life, by 50 percent to 43 percent, while men were more closely divided: 49 percent pro-choice, 46 percent pro-life.
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"It is possible that, through his abortion policies, Obama has pushed the public's understanding of what it means to be 'pro-choice' slightly to the left, politically," according to the Gallup analysis. "While Democrats may support that, as they generally support everything Obama is doing as president, it may be driving others in the opposite direction."

The Gallup survey was based on telephone interviews with 1,015 adults nationwide. Its margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

___
.

On the Net:

Gallup Poll:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/118399/More-Americans-Pro-Life-Than-Pro-Choice-First-Time.aspx

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090515/ap_on_re_us/us_abortion_poll

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER, 2009 - For Immediate Release May 7, 2009

2009-05-07T17:42:00.003-04:00

President Barack Obama signs the proclamation marking the National Day of Prayer in the Oval Office of the White House May 7, 2009. Looking on is Joshua DuBois, Director of the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

May 7, 2009

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER, 2009

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Throughout our Nation's history, Americans have come together in moments of great challenge and uncertainty to humble themselves in prayer. In 1775, as the Continental Congress began the task of forging a new Nation, colonists were asked to observe a day of quiet humiliation and prayer. Almost a century later, as the flames of the Civil War burned from north to south, President Lincoln and the Congress once again asked the American people to pray as the fate of their Nation hung in the balance.

It is in that spirit of unity and reflection that we once again designate the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer. Let us remember those who came before us, and let us each give thanks for the courage and compassion shown by so many in this country and around the world.

On this day of unity and prayer, let us also honor the service and sacrifice of the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. We celebrate their commitment to uphold our highest ideals, and we recognize that it is because of them that we continue to live in a Nation where people of all faiths can worship or not worship according to the dictates of their conscience.

Let us also use this day to come together in a moment of peace and goodwill. Our world grows smaller by the day, and our varied beliefs can bring us together to feed the hungry and comfort the afflicted; to make peace where there is strife; and to lift up those who have fallen on hard times. As we observe this day of prayer, we remember the one law that binds all great religions together: the Golden Rule, and its call to love one another; to understand one another; and to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth.

The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, has called on the President to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a "National Day of Prayer.

"NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 7, 2009, as a National Day of Prayer. I call upon Americans to pray in thanksgiving for our freedoms and blessings and to ask for God's continued guidance, grace, and protection for this land that we love.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

# #

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Proclamation-National-Day-of-Prayer/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/3510105557/

Obama Curtails "Day of Prayer," But Defends it Against Lawsuit in Madison

2009-05-07T17:16:00.003-04:00

Obama Curtails "Day of Prayer," But Defends it Against Lawsuit in Madison

By
WTMJ-TV and JSOnline.com
updated 4:20 p.m. ET, Wed., May 6, 2009

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- President Barack Obama is scaling back White House plans for Thursday's National Day of Prayer even as his administration defends the tradition in federal court in Wisconsin.

Obama's position has disappointed Christian conservatives, who want the president to do more to mark the day, and an atheist group that wants him to end the tradition.

The Obama administration has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claims the day violates the separation of church and state. In a rare alliance, 31 mostly Republican members of Congress and a prominent Christian legal group are joining the administration to fight the lawsuit.

Congress established the day in 1952 and in 1988 set the first Thursday in May as the day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama would issue such a proclamation Thursday but not hold any public events with religious leaders as President George W. Bush did.

Gibbs said Obama prays privately and his plan for the day was in line with those of past presidents. Still, Obama drew a rebuke from the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a private group that promotes prayer events around the country.

"We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama Administration," said task force chairwoman Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. "At this time in our country's history, we would hope our President would recognize more fully the importance of prayer."

The task force estimates 2 million Americans attended more than 40,000 events marking the day last year.

Meanwhile, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-Director Annie Laurie Gaylor welcomed Obama's more subdued observance but said she has been shocked by his administration's strong defense of the day in court.

The Madison-based group of 12,000 atheists and agnostics filed the lawsuit near the end of Bush's second term in U.S. District Court in Madison. The suit asks a judge to declare the law unconstitutional and to order presidents and governors to stop issuing prayer proclamations.

The lawsuit also claimed federal and state governments work too closely with Dobson's task force to promote the day and give it a Christian bent. Among other things, the task force asks governors and mayors to issue prayer proclamations and suggests specific Bible verses and themes to quote in them.

The Obama administration asked U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb to dismiss the case in March. The administration argued the group has no legal standing to sue, said the tradition's roots date to 1775 and that most presidents have invoked faith in a higher power.

It also said the day does not promote religion and argued that preventing presidents from issuing a proclamation would unfairly restrict how they communicate with Americans.

"It was very right-wing," Gaylor said of the administration's arguments. "One would expect that under a Reagan or a Bush, but I did not expect that under an Obama."

She said the day disenfranchises the millions of Americans who do not believe in God or pray and suggested Obama implement a "national day of service" instead.

Thirty-one members of Congress, including House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio and Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, have filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the lawsuit. They call the prayer day "deeply embedded in the tradition and history of this country."

The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based group of Christian lawyers that is representing Shirley Dobson and the task force, has made similar arguments in asking for the case to be dismissed. Crabb is expected to rule on the motions in coming weeks.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30602699/

. Obama signs day of prayer proclamation

Unlike predecessor, no public ceremony with clerics, lawmakers or prayers

Associated Press
updated 1:51 p.m. ET, Thurs., May 7, 2009

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is marking today's National Day of Prayer -- but not publicly.

The president has signed a proclamation about the day in private. There'll be no public ceremony involving prominent clerics, lawmakers or prayers, as there was when George W. Bush was in the White House.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says it's not that Obama thinks the observance was getting politicized, as some critics charge. Aides say he's merely returning to the practice that prevailed before Bush took office -- of signing and issuing a proclamation.

Gibbs says Obama is well aware of the role prayer plays in the lives of Americans -- because he begins each day in private worship.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30618332/?GT1=43001

-----------
I like, and am happy, with this by the Obama Administration. I also like he would stand up for many Americans in support of this day - that I uphold crosses all faiths.

FYI: We DO have a National Day Of Service - Patriot Day - September 11th of every year.

http://www.ndptf.org/home/home.html

http://www.mygooddeed.org/

GLENDON SAYS NO TO NOTRE DAME

2009-04-27T15:59:00.003-04:00

GLENDON SAYS NO TO NOTRE DAME
April 27, 2009
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Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon has written an open letter to Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins explaining why she cannot accept the Laetare Medal on Commencement Day, May 17.
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Glendon took note of the University’s decision to award President Barack Obama an honorary degree, something which flies in the face of the express will of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB): in 2004, the USCCB issued a document requesting Catholic institutions to not honor “those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.”
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In her letter, Glendon also took exception to official statements by Notre Dame on this issue. “President Obama won’t be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal,” said one statement. In another, it was noted that it would be “a good thing for the President” to hear Glendon’s address.
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Glendon referred to Obama as “a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice.” She also said her decision to reject the offer was motivated by “recent news reports that other Catholic schools are similarly choosing to disregard the Bishops’ guidelines.”
Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded as follows:
.
“Mary Ann Glendon is a friend and a member of the Catholic League’s board of advisors. As usual, she made the right choice. The decision by Father Jenkins to honor a man who is the hero of Planned Parenthood is delinquent enough, but the ultimate insult was the specious moral reasoning used to justify it. Playing off Glendon against Obama—as if her legitimate presence legitimates his illegitimate presence—is simply outrageous.
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“If Father Jenkins thinks it is important for President Obama to learn from Professor Glendon, then let him audit one of her classes. Alternatively, she can send him a tape.”
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http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1602
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Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
http://www.catholicleague.org/
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Glendon
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Glendon to receive Laetare Medal from Notre Dame
http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2009/03/23_glendon.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetare_Medal
-----------
Professor Glendon is an inspiration!

The Book Of Mormon - Helaman 12

2009-04-04T22:23:00.000-04:00

Men are unstable and foolish and quick to do evil--The Lord chastens his people--The nothingness of men compared with the power of God --In the day of judgment men shall gain everlasting life or everlasting damnation.

1. And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.

2. Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One--yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.

3. And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.

4. O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!

5. Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths!

6. Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.

7. O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.

8. For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God.

9. Yea, behold at his voice do the hills and the mountains tremble and quake.

10. And by the power of his voice they are broken up, and become smooth, yea, even like unto a valley.

11. Yea, by the power of his voice doth the whole earth shake;

12. Yea, by the power of his voice, do the foundations rock, even to the very center.

13. Yea, and if he say unto the earth--Move--it is moved.

14. Yea, if he say unto the earth--Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours--it is done;

15. And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun.

16. And behold, also, if he say unto the waters of the great deep--Be thou dried up--it is done.

17. Behold, if he say unto this mountain--Be thou raised up, and come over and fall upon that city, that it is buried up--behold it is done.

18. And behold, if a man hide up a treasure in the earth, and the Lord shall say--Let it be accursed, because of the iniquity of him who hath hid it up--behold, it shall be accursed.

19. And if the Lord shall say--Be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time henceforth and forever--behold, no man getteth it henceforth and forever.

20. And behold, if the Lord shall say unto a man--Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be accursed forever--it shall be done.

21. And if the Lord shall say--Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off from my presence--he will cause that it shall be so.

22. And wo unto him to whom he shall say this, for it shall be unto him that will do iniquity, and he cannot be saved; therefore, for this cause, that men might be saved, hath repentance been declared.

23. Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved.

24. And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works.

25. And I would that all men might be saved. But we read that in the great and last day there are some who shall be cast out, yea, who shall be cast off from the presence of the Lord;

26. Yea, who shall be consigned to a state of endless misery, fulfilling the words which say; They that have done good shall have everlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation. And thus it is.

Amen.

Helaman - Chapter 12
The Book Of Mormon
The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints
http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg

'Mormon' - Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormons

A Definition I was inspired to look up: Infidel

2008-12-31T18:49:00.002-05:00

infidel
.
in·fi·del
[ ínfid'l, ínfi dèl ] (plural in·fi·dels)
.
noun
.
Definition:
.
1. unbeliever: somebody who does not believe in a major religion,
especially Christianity or Islam
.
2. nonbeliever: somebody with no religious belief
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[15th century. Directly or via French< Latin infidelis "unbelieving"
< fidelis "faithful" < fides "trust, belief"]
.
Encarta® World English Dictionary
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/infidel.html
.
---------
The definition for this word is different than what I thought
it would be.
.
- Enemy of God? - Enemy to the ways of God?

400 Dress as Jesus to Put Christ Back in Christmas

2008-12-26T14:18:00.003-05:00

(Photo: AP Images / Reed Hoffmann)
Shawn Johnston of Kansas City, Kan. browses a newspaper while having a cappuccino at Homer's Coffee House in Overland Park, Kan on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008. The member of Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship starting dressing as Jesus about two weeks ago to 'show people what Christmas is all about.' Many members of the congregation have been doing the same now since Thursday, Dec. 18.

400 Dress as Jesus to Put Christ Back in Christmas
.
By Associated Press Writer
Heather Hollingsworth
Thu, Dec. 25 2008 10:23 AM EST
.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dressed in flowing robes and thorny crowns, about 400 churchgoers promised their pastor they'd dress like Jesus as a hard-to-miss reminder of the holiday's religious roots.
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Members of Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship began showing up that way last week at jobs, shopping malls and restaurants. The demonstration wrapped up Wednesday.
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http://www.praisechapel.com/
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"I know it's a crazy idea," said pastor Kelly Lohrke, whose 600 members attend services in Kansas City, Kan., and nearby Lee's Summit, Mo. "I know it's a radical idea. Christians can have fun with their faith and sharing their faith."
.
Lohrke said he came up with the idea out of frustration over the removal of crosses, nativity scenes and other religious symbols from public view.
.
Several groups have pushed the issue this year, with the American Humanist Association plastering ads on Washington, D.C., buses that proclaim "Why believe in god? Just be good for goodness' sake."
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That story motivated Lohrke protest.
.
Lohrke, whose church is part of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based Praise Chapel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers International, isn't convinced the founding fathers intended separation of church and state to mean the end of Jesus displayed publicly for holidays.
.
"It's just absurd," he said, "that Jesus is taken out."
.
Lohrke brought up the idea at services on Dec. 14, telling parishioners: "We aren't going to preach." If asked about their attire, he said, participants are free to share their faith.
.
"We've gotten nothing but positives," said Lohrke, who has dressed like Jesus at a Starbucks, a Target store and a post office.
.
Lohrke posted a video on YouTube declaring "Jesus is Back" and showing a participant in long gown and crown of thorns strolling through a mall, sitting on Santa's lap and averting his eyes as he strolls past a Victoria's Secret store.
.
"Next year, we are going to make this a big deal," he said.
.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
.
http://christianpost.com/article/20081225/400-dress-as-jesus-to-put-christ-back-in-christmas.htm

--------
The Christian Post
http://www.christianpost.com/
.
----------
Awesome, Pastor Lohrke!
.
I looked around a bit on YouTube for the video he mention that he posted, but have yet to find it, but I plan to keep looking.
.
I read this article today in my local newspaper "The Pottstown Mercury" A2/Thursday, December 25, 2008 edition.
.
http://www.pottsmerc.com/
.
-----------
An inspiring video I watched today. I love this song!
.
"IN CHRIST ALONE" PASSION OF THE CHRIST~WORSHIP VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kDShAYMtRU&feature

Naughty or Nice?

2008-12-15T17:55:00.001-05:00

Naughty or Nice?
.
AFA's 2008 listing of top retailers and how they recognize Christmas
.
http://www.afa.net/christmaslist.asp
.
American Family Association
http://www.afa.net/

Christians face persecution in India By Babu Ranganathan, Guest Columnist

2008-12-10T13:16:00.002-05:00

Christians face persecution in India
.
Monday, December 8, 2008 8:25 AM EST
By Babu Ranganathan, Guest Columnist
.
Hindu fundamentalism is sweeping over India. Although according to India's constitution there is supposed to be freedom of religion, millions of low caste Hindus converting to Christianity are being harassed and persecuted like never before. The upper caste Hindus could care less (too busy making money in the great global economy) and police and politicians look the other way.
.
India has a total population of more than one billion people. Hindus in India belong to five major castes, the last one being the "Untouchable" Caste (also known as Dalits). The "Untouchable" Caste in India has perhaps two hundred and fifty million people! These people are treated as the scum of Indian society. They must do the dirtiest work and live in the worst conditions. They live segregated from the rest of the Hindus who believe they'll become spiritually polluted by coming near or even touching an "untouchable." Jim Crow is alive and well in India! "Untouchables" must use separate well waters, especially in the rural areas, or risk being maimed or even killed.
.
Why is all this so? The Hindu religion teaches reincarnation. According to the Hindu religion the "untouchables" were born in their low caste because of big sins committed in their previous lives. Millions of untouchables believe they have no right to resist or change things because they believe they deserve the sub-human conditions in which they were born.
.
When "untouchables" hear the Christian Gospel and realize that Jesus Christ paid for all their sins through the shedding of His blood and death on the Cross and that He rose victoriously from the grave and that they can have immediate and full forgiveness of their sins now by putting their faith in Christ, it becomes a powerful message to them, and many, through the Holy Spirit's power, eventually do convert (not because of some sins in a supposed past life that they don't remember but because of the sins that they know and commit now. )
.
When this happens, many upper caste Hindus persecute the "untouchables." They say the "untouchables" only converted from Hinduism to escape their sub-human conditions. These "untouchables" have no money. They can't afford lawyers. The "untouchables" are given heavy fines for converting and many are being beaten, tortured, and imprisoned. Whole families are beaten and there's no medical care for these poor people. No one will care for them. Many even die.
.
I encourage American Christians to support Gospel for Asia Ministries. One hundred percent of your money goes to the field (no administrative expenditures). GFA is helping scores of "untouchables" and other Hindus in India to come to Christ and GFA helps them with their physical needs as well.
.
Some have argued that these are not true conversions, that the "untouchables" are converting to Christianity in order to escape the Hindu caste system. But, if that were the case, these Hindus could easily have converted to the Muslim religion (Islam) in order to escape the caste system, and the far greater number of Muslims in India (some 150 million) would have provided them far greater protection from Hindu persecution than the much smaller and politically weaker Christian population. The fact is many of these conversions are for real.
.
GFA provides assistance and help without conditions. People are not required to convert before receiving help! But, many who do receive help eventually come to receive Christ into their lives because of the love and Gospel message shared by the GFA pastors and missionaries.
.
Some of the ways in which GFA helps is by providing tools or farm animals to the poor in the countryside so that they'll be able to earn their own living. A family may receive a cow and sell the milk produced to pay for rent and put food on the table. Another family may receive a manually-cranked sewing machine to make clothes to sell.
.
One American dollar in India can do for a person there what 40 American dollars can do for someone here in America. Thirty or 40 American dollars a month can fully support a missionary in India. Just 40 American dollars a month can provide shelter, transportation, three square meals a day, clothes, shoes, medicine for a missionary in India. Imagine what more can do!
.
Please contact GFA now at: www.gfa.org
.
The author, Babu G. Ranganathan, has his B.A. degree with concentrations in theology and biology and has been recognized for his writings on religion and science in the 24th edition of Marquis Who's Who In The East. The author's Web site may be accessed at www.religionscience.com
.
----------
I receive Heartlight emailings - which I highly recommend and like a lot. They sent me a link for Gospel For Asia promoting a free book which I sent for. (I have not had the chance to read it as of yet I'm dismayed to say.)
.
I thought about donating to GSA, but wanted to find out more info on them before doing that. You can't be too careful with charity promotions anymore - some being bogus.
.
I am happy to hear from Babu G. Ranganathan in his article that appeared in my local paper. It answered some of my questions.
.
Here is the link for the free book from GSA that I received from Heartlight:
.
- FREE BOOK by Dr. K.P. YohannanThe most important life-changing book you'll read this year. Request your free copy from Gospel for Asia today. 100% free. No shipping. No obligations. https://www.gfa.org/freebook?motiv=WA50-W0B1
.
----------
The Pottstown Mercury
http://www.pottsmerc.com/
A4/Monday, December 8, 2008 - OPINION
.
Article Link:
http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2008/12/08/opinion/srv0000004216933.txt
.
----------
Jim Crow
http://encarta. msn.com/encnet/ refpages/ RefEdList. aspx?refid= 210152438

Alexy II, 79, led Russian Orthodox Church

2008-12-06T12:14:00.001-05:00

Alexy II, 79, led Russian Orthodox Church
.
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, who presided over a vast post-Soviet revival of faith but was accused of making the church a force for nationalism, has died. He was 79.
.
The Moscow Patriarchate said Alexy died Friday at his residence outside Moscow but did not give a cause of death. He had long suffered from a heart ailment.
.
Alexy became leader of the church in 1990, as the officially atheist Soviet Union was loosening its restrictions on religion. After the Soviet Union collapsed the following year, the church's popularity surged. Church domes that had been stripped of their gold under the Soviets were regilded, churches that had been converted into warehouses or left to rot in neglect were painstakingly restored and hours-long Masses on major religious holidays were broadcast live on national television.
.
By the time of Alexy's death, the church's flock was estimated to include about two-thirds of Russia's 142 million people, making it the world's largest Orthodox church.
.
But Alexy often complained that Russia's new religious freedom put the church under severe pressure, and he resented what he said were attempts by other Christian churches to poach adherents among people who he said should have belonged to the Orthodox church.
.
----------------------
I read this in my local paper today: The Pottstown Mercury.
http://www.pottsmerc.com/
.
Obituaries - Saturday, December 6, 2008/A7
.
I couldn't find it in a search on their main site however.
.
------------------------
. Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexy II dies
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_russia_obit_alexy_ii
.
. Russian Orthodox Church leader Alexy II dies - 2
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081205/118708615.html

TODAY'S VERSE from HEARTLIGHT - May 8, 2003

2008-12-05T11:10:00.001-05:00

TODAY'S VERSE from HEARTLIGHT
.
May 8, 2003
.
VERSE:
.
I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
.
-- Psalm 108:3
.
(NAS) http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Psalm+108:3
.
- KJV
.
THOUGHT:
.
Songs go where evangelism, witnessing, and planned outreach sometimes cannot go. Songs tell a story, offer praise, and deliver truth in a package that opens the heart and stirs the emotions. Songs give life to the soul and stir something primal, buried deep inside by God. When you are around friends you are trying to reach with the Gospel, listen for the kind of music they like. Then when the time is right, point them to songs that share the message of the Gospel with a melody and beat that can stir their hearts. God wants us to praise him, not just in our sanctuaries and churches, but with our friends and across cultures. He wants us to sing in ways that help other people know the "heart song" of our Redeemer's love.
.
PRAYER:
.
Almighty God and righteous Father, thank you so much for the gift of song. Thank you for lyricists that capture the mood of our hearts and the word of your grace and help move others closer to faith. Please bless all those involved in bringing Christian songs to the public and making your Word more understandable to the masses. Empower singing in your Church, and help us to sing of your salvation in ways that reach all peoples on the earth. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
.
http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20030508
.
http://www.heartlight.org/
.

Pastor who helped get 'under God' in Pledge of Allegiance dies at 97

2008-11-30T23:55:00.001-05:00

Pastor who helped get 'under God' in Pledge of Allegiance dies at 97
.
ALEXANDRIA, Pa. (AP) - The Rev. George M. Docherty, whose sermon before President Dwight Eisenhower helped push Congress to insert the words "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, has died. He was 97.
.
Docherty died on Thanksgiving at his home in central Pennsylvania after a lengthy illness, according to his wife. Sue Docherty said her husband of 36 years had been in failing health for about three years.
.
"George said he was going to live to be a hundred and he was determined," she said in a telephone interview Saturday. "It's amazing that he was with us this long."
.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Docherty moved to the United States in 1950 to become pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. He was unfamiliar with the pledge until he heard it recited by his 7-year-old son, Garth.
.
"I didn't know that the Pledge of Allegiance was, and he recited it, 'one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all," he recalled in an interview with The Associated Press in 2004. "I came from Scotland, where we said 'God save our gracious queen,' 'God save our gracious king.' Here was the Pledge of Allegiance, and God wasn't in it at all."
.
Docherty then wrote a sermon saying that the Pledge of Allegiance should acknowledge God. There was little effect after he first delivered the sermon to a group of clergy visiting Washington in 1952; a 1953 bill went nowhere.
.
But two years later, after learning that Eisenhower would be in the congregation, Docherty decided to deliver it again, hoping it would inspire the president.
.
From the pulpit that morning, he said the pledge was missing "the characteristic and definitive factor in the American way of life. Indeed, apart from the mention of the phrase 'the United States of America,' it could be the pledge of any Republic. In fact, I could hear little Muscovites repeat a similar pledge to their hammer and sickle flag in Moscow with equal solemnity."
.
The next day, Rep. Charles G. Oakman, R-Mich., introduced a bill to add the phrase "under God" to the pledge; a companion bill was then introduced in the Senate. Eisenhower signed the new law on Flag Day.
.
----------------
I learned about this in my local paper, but they didn't have it listed on site. I did find different variations of it online however.
.
The Pottstown Mercury - Obituaries -
Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008 - B7.
http://www.pottsmerc.com/
.
------------------
Pastor who helped get "under God" in Pledge dies
http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=115713

Naughty Or Nice List - Friend Or Foe 2008

2008-11-13T21:38:00.002-05:00

'Naughty Or Nice List - Friend Or Foe 2008'
http://www.lc.org/media/9980/attachments/2008naughty-nice.pdf
.

http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=15259

Liberty Counsel

http://lc.org/

Please remember to support those who uphold Christmas.

New Bibles alter form - not word - to draw readers By SARAH SKIDMORE

2008-11-05T15:00:00.003-05:00

In this photo provided by Illuminated World, the cover of "Bible Illuminated The Book: New Testament" is shown. (AP Photo/Illuminated World)

New Bibles alter form - not word - to draw readers

By SARAH SKIDMORE – Oct 7, 2008

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Martin Luther King Jr. graces one page, Angelina Jolie the next. A photo of a man on fire opens the book of Revelation. And laid across a two-page image of gasoline spilling from a pump is the quote that begins, "The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast."

.
It's not the good book some may remember.

.
While the Bible has been recreated and repackaged innumerable times, publishers of the newest editions are using some distinctly unique formats to capture the attention of readers.

.
"In general, Bible publishers have always been creative, but now they are scrambling to meet a culture where people are moving away from print reading," said Paul Gutjahr, an associate professor of English and adjunct associate professor in religious studies at Indiana University.

.
Secular as well as traditional religious Bible publishers are getting in on the act. Dozens of different versions of the Bible come out each year for various niches: the outdoorsman, the married couple, business leaders. There are electronic Bibles available for the Kindle, iPods and handheld devices. There are graphic novel and comic book interpretations. There's even a new chronological version of the Bible coming out this fall.

.
It's difficult to capture how many different versions of the Bible are sold each year. But the Book Industry Study Group estimates that Bibles, testaments, hymnals and prayer books were a $795.2 million market in 2007.

.
Experts say Bible sales tend to rise in times of war and economic crisis. And the Book Industry Study Group says a Bible publishing boom is indeed under way. The market size has grown steadily over the past several years and is expected to jump in the coming years. The group estimates the market will reach $823.5 million this year — growth other publishing categories might covet.

.
The Bible is reinvented quite often. While essentially still the same book, Gutjahr said that for the past two decades, updates were largely focused on new translations. There are also versions that come out each year that are essentially the same book, with different covers and sizes based on people's wants. But he sees the next trend as one toward textual translation and visual translation.

.
"In a visually literate, advertising-skeptical age — how do you grab people's attention?" Gutjahr asked. "Mixing the biblical text with Angelina Jolie doesn't surprise me."

.
First published in Sweden last year, "Bible Illuminated: The Book" is the glossy fashion magazine-style publication that features Jolie. It looks like it might be more at home on a coffee table or the nightstand of the latest hipster hotel than a church.
The creation of former advertising executives, it pairs intense photo essays — including images such as a child with a gun or beatings in the Belgian Congo under King Leopold's II's regime — with the scripture of the New Testament. It is aimed at people who might not otherwise ever read the Bible.

.
"There is a large part of the population that considers themselves smart, educated, conscientious, connected people who are not particularly religious and have not regularly read the Bible," said Larry Norton, a former publishing executive and president of Illuminated World, the company that is putting out "Bible Illuminated."

.
"That group of people probably know it would be smarter, more sensitive to their surroundings if they read the Bible if they were religious or not," Norton said.
Illuminated World is quick to point out that they are not affiliated with any church or religion. The Swedish version was sold first in boutiques and design stores, and mainstream bookstores were hesitant to carry it initially. But as it gained popularity, the book was sold more widely and even found a strong secondary market in secular sales.

.
Norton said sales of "Bible Illuminated" in Sweden, where an estimated 60,000 Bibles are sold each year, reached 30,000 in its first year. They are hoping for similar success in the U.S. and plan to release the New Testament in October and potentially the Old Testament in March. In the U.S., the New Testament is already pre-selling on Amazon and Illuminated World has contracts with most major bookstores.

.
"We are living in the age of increased secularization and distance from traditional religion," said Robert Hodgson, dean emeritus at the Nida Institute For Biblical Scholarship that is responsible for the translation and quality control for the American Bible Society, which licensed the rights to the Good News version of the Bible to Illuminated World.

.
"It's about new points of entry in a modern world that is not ready to open its doors and windows to the traditional word," he said.

.
These "gateway Bibles" — those intended for the secular crowd — seem to be the latest frontier in Bible publishing.

.
"Contrary to popular belief, I think most Bibles are published for people who are already in the club," Gutjahr said. "Publishing for people who are outside the club, I don't know how much luck there has been with that."

.
Thomas Nelson publishing, which is one of the largest Bible publishers, broke some ground with "Revolve," a Bible with a teen-magazine style to it. Girls took well to the format, which publishers said made girls feel more comfortable accessing it and carrying it, and sales were strong.

.
The company is also coming out with a chronological version of the Bible this fall that has built some buzz. While not the first chronological version, this looks more like a social studies text — with informational and historical outakes on the time. The publisher also has an audio version of the Bible with stars such as Marisa Tomei and Richard Dreyfuss, that they hope will do well among the secular crowd.

.
"I think that is personally what drives me," said Wayne Hastings, a senior vice president at Thomas Nelson. "The inner-circle (of traditional Bible readers) is a great customer but that next circle is what we are after."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g4aOK0HuId1Q6oWOGzIM5h9Rtf_QD93LPC201

I read this article today in my local paper - I'm a bit behind in my reading - "The Pottstown Mercury". Monday, November 3,2008 edition - Business Section.

God, grant me the serenity...

2008-10-26T21:05:00.002-04:00

God, grant me the serenity...
.
A sense of serenity is a gift from God when we need it
.
Friday, October 24, 2008 12:40 PM EDT
.
By Christine Galasso Vigorito, A New You
.
Placed in our front yard garden, we have a lovely stepping stone with an inscription engraved on it that reads, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."
.
These words, from theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, serve as a reminder to me that a sense of serenity is, indeed, a gift from God offered to us whenever we need it. Just knowing this, I feel I can face whatever situation might loom before me. You may be weary and tired, are passing through great suffering or a bitter disappointment.
.
Perhaps, you are immersed in a situation and can make no headway. Maybe you are beset by obstacles, weighed down with frustrations and anxiety, and victory may seem impossible.
.
But you do not stand alone, God is with you.
.
Today, release the heaviness of those problems to Him, and let us take comfort in the Scripture that says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God" Isaiah 43:2-3.
.
Most often, a reawakening of our faith comes after a period of doubt and struggle. "Why?" you may ask...because it causes us to rely on God that much more.
.
So, let us not get burdened down and discouraged. Let's realize that we may not be able to see God's entire plan right now; although soon, as we look back, the reason why these things have happened will be crystal clear.
.
Possibly one door has been closed for a purpose, thus you can walk through another door that will lead you to greater happiness. Therefore, regardless of outward circumstances, trust God and pray for His help, divine will and guidance.
.
A reader suggests, "When you pray, ask Him for a sign to guide you...that you are not sure about this and how you should proceed. He will answer your prayers, as He always does."
.
Long ago, I read a story about a woman who was upset because of the heavy cross that she carried. When she looked at her friends and neighbors, she wished that she could change places with them and carry their cross instead.
.
"Surely their cross would be lighter than mine," she thought to herself. That night the woman had a dream, and in her dream she was in a grand room surrounded by crosses of various shapes and sizes. Both large and small, the room was filled to capacity with crosses. As the woman looked to the left, there was an exquisite cross that was covered with jewels. It was lovely, so she walked over to it.
.
"I want that cross," she uttered, trying to pick it up. But the weight of that cross was too heavy for her to bear.
.
Her eyes gazed onto another cross. This one was superb, intertwined with large, bright flowers around its base. However, when the woman tried to lift it, the rugged edges scratched her skin.
.
She took a deep breath and began to become disheartened. Just then, she turned and saw a simple, plain cross. As she moved closer to it, she lifted it easily. Next, with a sense of familiarity, she declared, "This is my old comfortable cross."
.
Contented that she found it, she soon realized that it was the lightest of all crosses, and with God's help, she was able to carry it.
.
Remember, whatever our struggle today may be, we have a God who will help us to "carry our crosses" and give us peace as we endure the storm.
.
We can find rest in God.
.
The Bible says, "We sought Him and He has given us rest on every side." -- 2 Chronicles 14:7.
.
He can give us hope where there seems to be hopelessness, direction when we're temporarily lost and encouragement when we are oppressed.
.
No matter the condition, let's keep our thoughts faith-filled and optimistic, for if our mind is saturated with fears, it will counterbalance our good efforts and worthwhile endeavors.
.
Let us think upon only the things we want to see reflected in our life. And in times of uncertainty, we can be at peace as we put into practice what the rest of The Serenity Prayer suggests: "Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen."
.
God wants the best for us. And that includes...His peace. So go forward secure in the knowledge that you walk "in His peace."
.
Article Link:
http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2008/10/24/life/doc4901fa5d3b4b4164989426.txt
.
-------------------
I read this in my local paper today "The Pottstown Mercury" Sunday, October 26, 2008/D3
.
http://www.pottsmerc.com/
.
-------------------
The Lord spoke to me when I read this article today. I was reading a Psalm 126 this morning, and this article adds to it.

Not that I am not conflicted about it which is a long story.

Pope and Orthodox Christian pray in Sistine Chapel By Daniela Petroff

2008-10-25T16:53:00.003-04:00

Pope and Orthodox Christian {*leader (*s) } pray in
Sistine Chapel
.
By Daniela Petroff
Associated Press Writer
.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians prayed with Pope Benedict XVI in the Sistine Chapel on Saturday and urged Catholics and Orthodox to work together to combat fundamentalism and to promote religious tolerance.
.
Benedict praised his guest, Patriarch Bartholomew I, on the occasion of an Orthodox leader's first service in the chapel, which is famous for its frescoes painted by Michelangelo.
.
Bartholomew's participation in the Vespers service and speech, in the chapel where popes are elected, is a "joyous experience of unity, perhaps not perfect, but true and deep," Benedict said.
.
The two men are eager to bridge a nearly millennium-long schism between the two churches, and see moral and social issues — including fundamentalism, religious intolerance, abortion, euthanasia and environmental degradation — as fertile ground for common initiatives.
.
Bartholomew was invited to address bishops from around the world attending a meeting at the Vatican this month about the importance of the Bible. Cardinals and bishops listened attentively as the patriarch spoke about the potential for common initiatives between the world's 250 million Orthodox and more than 1 billion Catholics.
.
The Orthodox leader called it more imperative than ever for both sides to provide a "unique perspective — beyond the social, political or economic — on the need to eradicate poverty, to provide balance in a global world, to combat fundamentalism or racism and to develop religious tolerance in a world of conflict."
.
Bartholomew described the invitation to address the pope and bishops in the Sistine Chapel as "at once humbling and inspiring."
.
The split between Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches centers on the primacy of the pope.
.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
.
. Article Link:
Pope and Orthodox Christian pray in Sistine Chapel
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-10-18-vatican_N.htm
.
* Note: My notation. The Pottstown Mercury article has 'leader', and I think it should maybe say 'leaders'.
.

.
The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, patriarch Bartholomew, left, and Pope Benedict XVI seen, after prayers, in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. During the historic first, Bartholomew urged Catholics and Orthodox to work together to combat fundamentalism and promote religious tolerance.
.
-----------------------
I read this article in the World/Obituaries section of my local paper "The Pottstown Mercury". It appeared in the Sunday, October 19, 2008/B7 edition. http://www.pottsmerc.com/
.
I find the differences between these two Catholic denominations interesting. I kind of like the Orthodox Catholic view a bit better than the Roman Catholic view. My grandmother was an Orthodox Catholic.

The Pro-Life Day Of Silent Solidarity - October 21, 2008

2008-10-17T21:54:00.000-04:00

Prayer For The Unborn Child
.
Almighty God, our Father,
you who have given us life
and intended us to have it forever,
grant us your blessings.
.
Enlighten our minds to an awareness
and to a renewed conviction
that all human life is sacred
because it is created
in your image and likeness.
.
Help us to teach by word
and the example of our lives
that life occupies the first place,
that human life is precious
because it is the gift of God
whose love is infinite.
.
Give us the strength to defend human life
against every influence
or action that threatens or weakens it,
as well as the strength
to make every life more human
in all its aspects.
.
Give us the grace...
.
When the sacredness of life
before birth is attacked,
to stand up and proclaim
that no one ever has the authority
to destroy unborn life.
.
When a child is described as a burden
or is looked upon only as a means
to satisfy an emotional need,
to stand up
and insist that every child is a unique
and unrepeatable gift of God,
a gift of God
with a right to a loving
and united family.
.
When the institution of marriage
is abandoned to human selfishness
or reduced to a temporary conditional arrangement
that can easily be terminated,
to stand up and affirm
the indissolubility of the marriage bond.
.
When the value of the family is threatened
because of social and economic pressure,
to stand up and reaffirm
that the family is necessary
not only for the private good of every person,
but also for the common good of every society,
nation and state.
.
When freedom is used to dominate the weak,
to squander natural resources and energy,
to deny basic necessities to people,
to stand up and affirm
the demands of justice and social love.
.
Almighty Father,
give us courage to proclaim the supreme dignity
of all human life and to demand
that society itself give its protection.
We ask this in your name,
through the redemptive act
of your Son and in the Holy Spirit.
.
Amen.
.
(Adapted from Pope John Paul II's homily of October 7, 1979.)
.

October 21, 2008
The Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity
.
Since January 22, 1973 over 50,000,000 babies have had their voices silenced through surgical abortion in this nation alone.
.
Over 4,000 children have their lives taken each day in the name of choice.
.
Over 4,000 women are emotionally damaged every day. On October 21st, people from all over this nation will give up their voices for a day in solidarity for these children.
.
http://www.silentday.org/
.
http://www.silentday.org/fliers.php
.
http://www.standtrue.com/index2.html
.
-------------
.
Some additional suggestions:
1. Make a donation to your local pregnancy center.
2. Have a baby shower to benefit your local pregnancycenter.
3. Pray!
4. Pray the Rosary - start a novena - for the unborn.
5. Raise awareness on this critical issue!
.
YouTube Playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=86D5C96B05E6FB9A
.
Pro-Life YouTube Playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F1D8768BFA8BCC52
.
http://pregnancy.about.com/
.
http://www.pregnancycheck.com/pregnancy-ultrasound.html
.
National Right To Life
http://www.nrlc.org/
.
Birthright International
http://www.birthright.org/
.
Lifecall
http://www.lifecall.org/index.html
.
National Fatherhood Initiative
http://www.fatherhood.org/
.
Promise Keepers
http://www.promisekeepers.org/
.
The Motherhood Project
http://www.motherhoodproject.org/
.
Psalm 139:12-17
http://christiananswers.net/bible/psa139.html

When do winks and nods become illegal? by Terry Mattingly

2008-10-09T10:14:00.002-04:00

When do winks and nods become illegal?
.
10/07/2008
.
The political endorsement was clear, although the words were carefully chosen.
.
New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, clearly wanted to inspire his supporters, even his own priests, to back Barack Obama for president. Still, he stressed that his endorsement was personal, not corporate.
.
"I will not be speaking about the campaign from the pulpit or at any church function," the bishop told reporters in a 2007 conference call that drew low-key, calm news coverage. "That is completely inappropriate. But as a private citizen, I will be at campaign events and help in any way that I can.
.
"The reaction was different after the Rev. Luke Emrich preached to about 100 evangelicals at New Life Church this past weekend, near Milwaukee.
.
Veering from Scripture into politics, he said his beliefs about abortion would control his vote.
.
"I'm telling you straight up, I would choose life," said Emrich in a text that is being sent to the Internal Revenue Service. "I would cast a vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. ... But friends, it's your choice to make, it's not my choice. I won't be in the voting booth with you.
.
"Like the liberal Episcopal bishop, Emrich openly endorsed a candidate.And, like the bishop, he made it clear he was speaking for himself. The difference was that Emrich spoke from a pulpit, not a desk at the top of a church hierarchy.
.
Legal or illegal? That's a matter of location, location, location.Emrich is one of 33 pastors nationwide who signed up for "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," an attempt by the Alliance Defense Fund to challenge IRS code language that says nonprofit, tax-exempt entities — including churches — may not "participate in, or intervene in ... any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.
.
"While all the sermons during this initiative mentioned candidates, some of the ministers used different approaches, said Erik Stanley, the Alliance Defense Fund's senior legal counsel. The organization is voluntarily sending the sermons to the IRS.
.
"We did not mandate for these pastors what they should or shouldn't say. We didn't write the sermons," he said. "I know that we had pastors who said, 'I would not vote for so-and-so.' I know others said, 'I urge you not to vote for so-and-so.' Some said, 'I plan to vote for so-and-so, but I'm only speaking for myself''.
.
"There's the rub. For decades, many clerics — liberal and conservative — have practiced a variety of wink-wink endorsement strategies. For example:
.
Supporters of abortion rights have long challenged the "Respect Life Sunday" events in Catholic parishes in early October. However, some priests use this day to stress Vatican pronouncements on the uniquely evil nature of abortion, which can be seen as a nod to Republicans. Meanwhile, other priests proclaim a broader "Culture of Life" agenda, stressing health care, the environment and issues that may favor Democrats.
.
Some clergy, in various ethnic churches and doctrinal camps, have invited politicians into services, where they are openly embraced and honored with cheers that "this candidate is one of us." The congregation applauds and shouts "amen." Is this an endorsement?
.
Pastors may deliver sermons that stick to a moral or religious issue and then say that it's sinful to support politicians — while avoiding names — who violate what the pastor says is the biblical stand on that issue. In this case, it doesn't matter if the issue being discussed is the war in Iraq, abortion, immigration or gay rights.
.
Some religious leaders merely "recommend" candidates rather than offer explicit "endorsements."
.
What if an endorsement is delivered from an office at the heart of a sacred bureaucracy rather than from the pulpit in a sanctuary?
.
There's the big question, said Stanley. When do winks and nods become illegal? Are the rules applied the same way for liberals and conservatives?
.
"This is what we're trying to find out," he said. "How is a pastor supposed to know what he can and cannot do? Many pastors are afraid of crossing some line out there and they censor themselves, because they don't know exactly where it is. They want to address these great moral issues from a biblical perspective, but they don't know how far the IRS will let them go."
.
Terry Mattingly is director of the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and leads the GetReligion.org project to study religion and the news.
.
©The Mercury 2008
.
http://www.pottsmerc.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20153417&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=635485&rfi=6
.
The Pottstown Mercury
http://www.pottsmerc.com/site/news.asp?brd=1674
.
http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Mattingly
.
http://www.newstin.com/rel/us/en-010-005606994
.
http://pewforum.org/news/rss.php?NewsID=16571
.
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/issues/religiousfreedom/churchandstate.aspx?cid=4491
.
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/index.shtml

The Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity

2008-10-06T19:11:00.000-04:00

How will evangelical Christians vote?

2008-09-30T11:54:00.002-04:00

How will evangelical Christians vote?
.
Guest Columnist
09/26/2008
.
It's an election year, which means the folks in evangelical Protestant pews know exactly what will happen if they choose to talk to a political pollster.
.
The dispassionate telephone voice is going to ask about abortion and then about same-sex marriage. Finally, the pollster will want to know how crucial these wedge issues will be on election day. And is there any chance they might change their presidential options?
.
"There is this internal debate going on. ... Evangelicals are reluctant to say that they're focused on these two issues, even though all of the evidence shows that they still are," said David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group in Ventura, Calif., which is known for its defining niches inside American Christianity.
.
"The key is that a rising number of evangelicals are adamant that they are not going to overlook social justice issues. They want to find a way to combine their concern about abortion and family issues with other moral and social issues that really matter to them. The question is whether that's possible in American politics, right now.
.
"It's easy to see this dilemma in between the lines of recent surveys.
.
In a 2007 poll, the Barna researchers found that nine out of 10 evangelicals said abortion is a major problem, which meant that this issue was "still far and away" their most pressing concern, said Kinnaman. Meanwhile, nearly eight in 10 evangelicals said they were very concerned about issues linked to gay rights.
.
However, evangelicals who participated in a new Barna survey split down the middle when asked if they thought their peers would focus primarily on the big two social issues when voting. On one side, 48 percent said it was true that evangelical votes would be driven by abortion and sexuality, while 45 percent disagreed. Meanwhile, 55 percent of nonevangelical Christians and 58 percent of non-Christians were convinced that these hot social issues would drive the votes of evangelical voters.
.
What about all of those news reports that some evangelicals — symbolized by the Rev. Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church and a host of other label shunning younger leaders — are trying to pursue a broader social agenda?
.
Kinnaman noted that only 28 percent of evangelical participants in the new survey thought that members of their tribe would give other social issues, like poverty and the environment, short shrift. In a sign that this wider-agenda debate has legs, 69 percent of evangelicals polled disagreed with that statement.
.
Outside the evangelical camp, 46 percent of nonevangelical Christians and 54 percent of non-Christians thought that evangelical voters would "minimize social justice issues." These same two groups were convinced — by 57 percent and 59 percent — that evangelical voters will continue to push American life to the political right.
.
Meanwhile, some Americans are getting confused and even angry about all of this, even though they admit that they know little or nothing about evangelicalism.
.
According to surveys by Ellison Research of Phoenix, 36 percent of Americans polled indicate that they have no idea "what an evangelical Christian is" in the first place. Only 35 percent of all Americans believe they know "someone very well who is an evangelical," while a stunning 51 percent are convinced they don't know any evangelicals at all. On the left side of the aisle, some critics have grown hostile.
.
One of the surprises of a new Ellison study is "how much abuse is aimed at evangelicals," noted company president Ron Sellers. "Evangelicals were called illiterate, greedy, psychos, racist, stupid, narrow-minded, bigots, idiots, fanatics, nut cases, screaming loons, delusional, simpletons, pompous, morons, cruel, nitwits, and freaks, and that's just a partial list.
.
(Rev. note: It's not just evangelicals that have to deal with this kind of religious profiling, harrassment or ugliness like this either. The media and/or celebrities reinforce this profiling as well.)
.
"Some people don't have any idea what evangelicals actually are or what they believe — they just know they can't stand evangelicals.
.
"For political activists, the reason all of this matters is easy to see. In the new Barna survey, 59 percent of American adults are convinced that the decisions made by evangelical voters will have a significant impact on the upcoming election.
.
"Many Americans are convinced that evangelicals are some kind of a political bloc," said Kinnaman. "If you look at things that way, then this really is all about politics instead of religious beliefs and doctrines. ... Some people think evangelicals are part of a political movement that is held together with religious rhetoric and that's that."
.
Terry Mattingly is director of the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and leads the GetReligion.org project to study religion and the news.
.
©The Mercury 2008
.
http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=20138698&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=635482&rfi=8
.
The Pottstown Mercury
http://www.pottsmerc.com/site/news.asp?brd=1674
.
http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Mattingly
.
--------------
What is an evangelical?
http://www.eauk.org/about/what_is.cfm
-------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism

See You At The Pole

2008-09-19T23:19:00.002-04:00

An email bulletin I received:
.
From: Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel
Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 4:54 PM
Subject: Protecting your children's rights: See You at the Pole

Dear Marguerite,
.
In recognition of the upcoming nationwide See You at the PoleTM event this year on Wednesday, September 24, I have written a *crucial online bulletin regarding students' rights (*note: pdf file)... and the public schools' responsibility to acknowledge those rights.
.
See You at the PoleTM is an annual, student-led, student-initiated movement of prayer.
.
Students of faith across the nation gather with like-minded peers around the flagpoles of their schools before classes begin and pray for their campuses, teachers, administrators, and country.
.
It is their First Amendment-guaranteed religious right to participate in such an activity ... and it is a bold expression of their faith that should be highly encouraged.
.
In fact, what many do not realize is that prayer is a protected form of speech that cannot be banned by school officials when it is being offered in a manner such as See You At The PoleTM.
.
A school official who refuses to allow students the right to pray on their campus is engaging in censorship.
.
Please feel free to share this online bulletin with local school administrators - including principals, board members, and teachers - to advise them on the current state of the law.
.
It is imperative that local school officials be informed in order to avoid violating the First Amendment rights of students and others. *Click here to learn more about your student's free speech rights on public school campuses, (*note: pdf file) particularly the right to engage in religious expression at See You At The PoleTM events on September 24.
.
And please keep in mind: This bulletin is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. If you are in need of legal counsel regarding a specific situation, please contact an attorney or the ACLJ for assistance.
.
Thank you!
.
See You at the Pole: Largest Global Student Prayer Event
http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?id=671
.
----------------
The ACLJ is an organization dedicated to the defense of constitutional liberties secured by law.
.
The American Center For Law & Justice
http://www.aclj.org/
.
----------------
See You At The Pole
http://www.syatp.com/
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_You_at_the_Pole

Pray Thursday! Pray For Election Day.

2008-09-18T02:42:00.000-04:00

Pray Thursday!
.
As part of the National Day of Prayer's "Pray For Election Day" campaign, we are asking Americans to meet in corporate prayer. Matthew 18:20 says: "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." We ask that every Thursday through November 4th, groups of two or more meet in their homes and businesses from 12:00 noon to 12:30 p.m. to pray for the November 4th presidential and general election. Please join your friends, your family, your co-workers and join me in uplifting our nation's future leaders in prayer.
.
Brian Toon, Vice Chairman
National Day of Prayer Task Force
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6UFq_CSTGA
.
http://www.ndptf.org/election/Index.cfm?Entity=15&Department=24&Dept_Order=1&This_TopicOrder=1&This_SubtopicOrder=4#5
.
http://www.ndptf.org/home/home.html

Church members build teamwork at Fellowship Farm by Michael Hays

2008-09-15T12:24:00.002-04:00

Church members build teamwork at Fellowship Farm
.
By Michael Hays, mhays@pottsmerc.com
09/07/2008
.
NEW HANOVER — The summer of 2008 has been a busy season on the farm for members of a local Methodist church.
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Yet Fellowship Farm on Sanatoga Road isn't a typical pasture. There are no crops to pick or cows to milk, although a llama and a few other animals graze the 120-acre property. This nonprofit centers around summer camps and other activities for youth groups, schools, families and adults. Programs are aimed at team building, peace, trust and conflict resolution.
.
Since June, a handful of adults from New Hanover United Methodist Church have pitched in wherever they can — pulling weeds, painting a barn, and gardening.
.
"Our fellowship as a team has grown," Teresa Mantle said. "This has become our little backyard here.
.
"During a recent Monday evening, Mantle joined several members of her bible study group in pulling weeds and cutting overgrown brush in front of the dining hall.
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Many of the volunteers — despite being residents of New Hanover — knew nothing about Fellowship Farm before they began volunteering here this summer.
.
Roger Hueston has driven past the farm's red, white and blue sign for about 10 years.
.
"I didn't know anything about it," he said. "I never even knew this place was back here."
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According to Mantle, the bible study group was encouraged to apply their classroom lessons. Her group had been praying for the country and for the upcoming elections, she said.
.
"How do we take it one step further?" she asked, rhetorically.
.
Service work, the forging of friendships and helping each other are what Fellowship Farm is all about, Executive Director Rhoda Indictor said.
.
Al Bratton said service is an important part of his church's mission. Members of their United Methodist Church have traveled to Mississippi to help rebuild communities after Hurricane Katrina and have participated in clinics as far away as Guatamala.
.
Tolerance is a virtue that can overcome differences between individuals' personal values, said his wife, Jean Bratton.
.
"Anytime you can get people of one accord together" it's a positive thing, she said. "Ultimately, you have to live together on this Earth."
.
And if bringing people together means breaking a sweat, that's all right with Hueston. He and his wife, Pat, were impressed with how much work can be accomplished over a few hours with just nine sets of hands.
.
"These are the hardest working people I've ever seen," Indictor said. "They're like our angels."
.
Fellowship Farm celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. Its origins trace back to racial and religious inequities of the 1930s. Early leaders started the Young People's Interracial Fellowship in 1931 with a primary mission of peace and justice.
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By 1943, the Fellowship House in Philadelphia opened. It was here that Martin Luther King Jr., learned Gandhi's message of non-violence — a lesson that became a pillar of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
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The New Hanover center opened in 1951 as a training center and has remained open ever since. Out of the farm's 120 acres, 112 will be preserved forever, as announced last November by the Montgomery County Lands Trust.
.
©The Mercury 2008
.
http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=20109933&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=635482&rfi=8
.
http://www.pottsmerc.com/site/news.asp?brd=1674
.
http://www.fellowshipfarm.org/
.
http://www.retreatsonline.com/usa/pennsylvania/fellowshipfarm.htm
.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themastersmilieu/message/894

From My Inbox: Code Amber Displaced by Hurricane Gustav

2008-09-02T23:20:00.000-04:00

Subject: Code Amber Displaced by Hurricane Gustav
- We Need Your Help
From: "Code Amber"
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 9:36 PM
.
Hello Rev. Marguerite Earhart,
.
We will occasionally send you news about changes and additions to http://codeamber.org .
.
Hello,On Sunday, August 31, we were forced to evacuate our Louisiana offices and move operations to a hotel on the panhandle of Florida. Some of you may remember our evacuation from Hurricane Katrina three years ago at which time we were in Florida for over two weeks. We probably will be able to return sooner this time as the damage is not as severe. However, our office in Louisiana has lost power, telephone and high speed Internet access indefinitely which, of course, we need to operate Code Amber.
.
As a result of our displacement, we are experiencing extraordinary Code Amber operating expenses. If you are able, please help Code Amber through this time of crisis by making a small donation. Any amount you are able to contribute will help us continue to operate while we are displaced.
.
Please help us keep Code Amber operating by contributing what ever you are able. Visit http://codeamber.org/index-1.php?nl0902
to make a contribution now, please.
.
Purchases of the Amber Stick Child Id device or the Safety Net Kids Child safety DVD also help with our expenses
http://codeamber.org/idkits.html?nl0902 for the Amber Stick
http://codeamber.org/video.html?nl0902 for the Video
.
Without you, what we have accomplished thus far would not have been possible.
.
Sincerely,
Bryant Harper
Founder
CodeAmber.org
.
http://www.codeamber.org/?tck2

When government prays, religion loses by By Charles C. Haynes

2008-08-30T13:05:00.002-04:00

When government prays, religion loses
Inside the First Amendment
.
By Charles C. Haynes
First Amendment Center
senior scholar 08.03.08
.
Hashmel Turner of Fredericksburg, Va., wears two hats: City Council member and part-time pastor of the First Baptist Church of Love.
.
Not surprisingly, Rev. Turner wants to pray in the name of Jesus Christ — including when it’s his turn to offer the opening prayer at council sessions.
.
But on July 23, Turner lost the latest round in his battle to invoke Jesus when the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Fredericksburg City Council’s policy requiring that prayers at meetings be nondenominational.
.
In an opinion written by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (asked to take part in the case as a visiting judge), the court ruled that the prayers at issue are “government speech” and therefore the prayer policy does not violate Turner’s free speech or free exercise of religion.
.
Welcome to the confusing, contradictory and downright silly world of government prayers.
.
Like many other communities, Fredericksburg is divided about the practice of invocations at council meetings. The current dispute began in 2005 when the council changed its policy of allowing sectarian prayers to avoid a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union.
.
The new policy, in turn, provoked a lawsuit from Councilman Turner. When it comes to state prayers, government officials are often sued if they do and sued if they don’t.
.
The Fredericksburg prayer dilemma traces back to Marsh v. Chambers, a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of legislative prayers — so long as such prayers don’t advance a particular religion. In Marsh, the high court wants to have it both ways: Keep the longstanding tradition of opening legislative sessions with prayer (dating to the nation’s founding) but at the same time prohibit government prayers that proselytize or endorse one faith over another.
.
But here’s the rub: To-whom-it-may- concern prayers strike many people as a very bad idea. For Rev. Turner and some other religious Americans, generic prayers aren’t real prayers. And for other believers and nonbelievers, any state prayer violates religious freedom. As religious-liberty attorney Oliver Thomas puts it, “Nonsectarian prayers are like Grape Nuts — they’re neither.”
.
I’m in the camp that sees state prayers — and state religion in general — as antithetical to authentic faith. Consider the infamous “plastic reindeer test” crafted by the Supreme Court in cases involving holiday displays. Governments, it seems, may include a crèche in the official display, as long as it is surrounded by enough reindeer, Santa, Frosty and other seasonal paraphernalia to render the baby Jesus a secular symbol.
.
Or consider the use of “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and on our currency. Various Supreme Court justices have opined over the years that such references to deity don’t violate the First Amendment because the expressions have been drained of their religious meaning and have become what Justice William Brennan called “ceremonial deism.”
.
State religion, in other words, is constitutional as long as it doesn’t mean anything religious. Why anyone of faith supports this arrangement is beyond me. Perhaps they believe that empty symbolism is better than none at all.
.
A better solution is to liberate religion to be authentic by taking the government out of the picture. A good example is how most public schools have moved from school-sponsored to community-sponsored baccalaureate services during graduation weekend. Not only are such events constitutional, but they also free the community to have real sermons and real prayers rather than the lowest-common- denominator religious services of the past.
.
City council meetings, of course, present a different challenge. The current practice of opening with generic prayers — although constitutional under the Supreme Court’s rulings — continues to offend many believers and nonbelievers alike.
.
If we must have an invocation at government functions, then let’s do it in silence. That way the Rev. Turners in the room can pray freely in the name of Jesus — and everyone else can pray (or not) according to the dictates of conscience.
.
Charles C. Haynes is senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.
.
Web: firstamendmentcenter.org.
E-mail: chaynes@freedomforum.org.
.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=20369
.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/
.
---------------------
I read this this morning in the August 29, 2008 edition of my local paper - The Pottstown Mercury. I find the Mr. Haynes makes a very good point, and tend to agree with him. I do find it to be a bit of a dilemma.
.
---------------------
The Pottstown Mercury
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1674&nr=1&nostat=1

Holier than thou - Gene Lyons, Columnist 08/27/2008

2008-08-27T13:19:00.003-04:00

Holier than thou
.
Gene Lyons, Columnist
08/27/2008
.
"I believe in a President whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the nation or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office."
.
— John F. Kennedy, 1960
.
Any Democrat who imagines that Barack Obama's got the presidential election locked up needs to watch the "Saddleback" forum featuring him and John McCain online at CNN.com. Broadcast live on Aug. 16, it was hosted by Pastor Rick Warren, the author of "The Purpose Driven Life," a spiritual self-help manual for people who think God drives an SUV, and a Christian's highest calling is monitoring others' sexual behavior.
.
The calculatedly casual Warren — he preaches to congregations of upwards of 17,000, wearing blue jeans and an untucked, open-collared shirt — definitely marks an evolutionary step up from the Virginia divines, Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell. During the two hours, there were no melodramatic Armageddon predictions, no accusations that Democrats are in league with Satan, nothing about flinging virgins into volcanoes to appease a wrathful God.
.
OK, maybe even Falwell never said that. Warren's more like a TV game-show host, a description he embraces, than a fire-and-brimstone shouter. He urges his followers not to hate people they disagree with.
.
Even so, it's possible to feel disquiet about presidential candidates submitting themselves to spiritual inquisition by any preacher. Will they next undergo questioning by a Catholic Cardinal? A rabbi? Orthodox or Reformed? A Muslim imam? By Christopher Hitchens, best-selling scourge of God? I know a female Methodist preacher I'd enjoy watching give McCain the third-degree.
.
Never mind the implied recognition of smiley-face evangelism as America's semiofficial religion. What politician wouldn't pander shamelessly when asked to describe his personal relationship with Jesus Christ on national television?
.
For Obama, Job No. 1 was to associate himself with a reasonable suburban deity instead of a ghetto ranter like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. That he accomplished through a combination of unabashed piety ("Jesus Christ died for my sins") and artful dodging. The question of when a "child" acquires human rights, for example, Obama called "above my pay grade." (McCain barked out a quick "at the moment of conception.")
.
Me, I quit taking Obama's religious views seriously when he claimed to have no idea Wright said things like "God d*mn America." However, the candidate's studious, professorial air definitely ameliorated any tension that might have resulted from his stating unequivocally that "I am pro-choice."
.
For any of Pastor Rick's followers who might conceivably vote Democratic, the message was clear: Obama's no radical; he's your moderate Democratic neighbor. But there's a risk to a Democratic nominee who responds like a PhD candidate to a question about the existence of evil. To wit, do we "ignore, contain, negotiate with or defeat it?" Obama treated it as a theological issue, even pointing out that some of history's worst catastrophes have come in the name of fighting evil.
.
It's an answer Illinois' own Adlai Stevenson might have given. And that's the problem. McCain's approach to evil? "Defeat it." He'd follow Osama bin Laden "to the gates of hell," the GOP candidate vowed. Did he sound like Bruce Willis in a two-dimensional action/adventure flick? Exactly. Also, however, like Ronald Reagan, who McCain must have invoked 10 times. President Bush's name hardly came up — father or son.
.
In a characteristically thoughtful Atlantic Monthly article about presidential debates, James Fallows argues that, "McCain is not a good debater, not even by comparison with George W. Bush. ...Worse, he will look and sound old and weak next to Obama.
.
"Well, he didn't at the Saddleback forum. Directly following Obama, McCain came across as brisk, confident, charmingly self-deprecating, a man's man in the old-fashioned sense, and — forgive me — a leader. Like it or not, as the brilliant blogger Digby has pointed out, "McCain is the man George W. Bush was pretending to be, right down to the flight suit. The Real Thing is actually far more dangerous than the cheap imitation."
.
Asked about his own relationship with Christ, McCain delivered an oft-told tale about a Vietnamese prison camp guard drawing a cross in the sand on Christmas Day during his five years as a POW. Did it actually happen? McCain never mentioned it until 1999, after a similar story emerged about the late Russian novelist, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn.
.
But here's the deal: There's no proving it didn't, nor denying McCain's genuine appeal.To win in November, Obama's going to have to take him head on. Democrats are kidding themselves if they think it'll be easy.
.
©The Mercury 2008
.
http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=20092718&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=635482&rfi=8
.
The Pottstown Mercury
.
Saddleback Forum Video and Transcript:
Obama/McCain With Rick Warren
.
http://trevinwax.com/2008/08/17/obama-mccain-with-rick-warren-at-saddleback-forum-video/
.
http://www.theatlantic.com/

Eight Crazy E-Mail Hoaxes Millions Have Fallen For

2008-08-26T12:46:00.002-04:00

Hello, my name is Mr. Paul Agabi, a lawyer in Nigeria -- Can you help me?
.
Let us guess: At one time or another, you've received an e-mail from an earnest resident of Nigeria that starts with a hello and an introduction to the sender. The e-mail then suggests that your help is needed to claim an abandoned sum of money in a foreign account, or something similar. The message typically promises that you will receive a large amount of money if you simply send a smaller amount of money now.
.
You didn't fall for it, did you? These convincing missives, which may or may not be from Nigeria, are known as 419 scams (named after a section of the Nigerian criminal code that deals with fraud). Wikipedia says most of them are advance-fee frauds or confidence tricks. Not only will you not get rich, but you'll also have a very hard time getting back any money you wire the sender up front. We're sorry to report that these types of scams, which are based on versions dating back to the early 1900s, are still popular -- variants purporting to be from Russia, Spain, Nigeria, and many other countries still pour in to e-mail accounts around the world.
.
As a U.S. Postal Inspector once told us when we talked to him about U.S. mail fraud, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
.
Article Link
.
Microsoft, Nigeria Team to End Scams
.
Advance-fee fraud

Email I Received From FreeBibleSoftware.com

2008-08-14T15:30:00.002-04:00

Subject: RE: Hello. Concerning Your FreeBibleSoftware Site.
From: "E4 Customer Service" customerservice@e4.net
Date: Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:54 PM
To: lenicheministries@yahoo.com
.
Dear Rev. Marguerite,
.
We’ve have server trouble for the past two months. We’ve been unable to send order offers out and I’m unable to access our customer database. We have someone working on it and hopefully all will be well by the end this week. Thank you so much for your concern. Your prayers are deeply appreciated. Thank you again!
.
Sincerely,
Julie Mann
Customer Service
.
E4 Group
http://www.freebiblesoftware.com/
.
http://christiananswers.net/bible/eph4.html

Site Difficulties With FreeBibleSoftware.com

2008-08-08T21:36:00.000-04:00

Subject: Hello. Concerning Your FreeBibleSoftware Site.
Date: August 8, 2008
From: "Rev. M. Earhart" lenicheministries@yahoo.com
To: customerservice@e4.net
.
Hello:
I wanted to ask if all was ok with your site. I noticed that over the past month or so your site has been up and down, and wanted to ask if all was ok. When your site was up once again recently I was inspired to go and get your email address.
.
I have your site advertised on my sites, and have ordered your free software to try - which I liked very much and recommend.
.
I wanted to maybe post something on my sites as to what could be occurring, and what possible visitors from my site should know.
.
I like your site very much, and hope - and will pray - that your difficulties will be resolved soon. May the Lord make your ways straight in correcting whatever site difficulties you might be experiencing. I look forward to hearing from you.
.
Many blessings of peace to you,
Assuredly in faith,
Rev. Marguerite Earhart
Spring City, PA

Shaker Child Returns To Celebrate 90th Birthday

2008-07-30T13:35:00.004-04:00

Shaker child returns to celebrate 90th birthday
.
7/29/2008, 4:10 a.m. EDT
By CLARE TRAPASSO
The Associated Press
.
CANTERBURY, N.H. (AP) — Eleven-year-old Alberta Kirkpatrick didn't believe she would ever be loved when she arrived in New Hampshire almost 80 years ago.
.
Her mother was dead. Her father drank. Her three siblings had scattered. She had threatened to kill herself if she wasn't removed from an abusive foster family.
.
Kirkpatrick found a home as the last child officially raised by the Canterbury Shakers — then a dwindling, celibate community. And this month Kirkpatrick returned to the village, now a museum, to celebrate her 90th birthday.
.
"It's like going home to me," said Kirkpatrick, who drove up with a friend from her Warren, Pa. home.
.
The village has changed since Kirkpatrick ran through its fields picking asparagus from the garden and sledding over its hills. After the last Canterbury Shaker, Sister Ethel Hudson, died in 1992, the once religious village was turned into a museum.
Twenty-nine restored and reconstructed building, including the one where Kirkpatrick lived, sit on almost 700 lush acres.
.
Groups of tourists file through the carpenter's shop, where the Shakers printed mail order seed packets. They participate in cooking demonstrations, like how to make lavender ice cream. And they examine the simple craftsmanship of Shaker furniture, built for efficiency, which can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
.
Kirkpatrick, a sharp woman with blazing blue eyes, is one of the last people who remembers it as it really was.
.
Officially known as the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, the Shakers began in England in 1747. Because of their wild dancing during worship, they were called Shaking Quakers and then simply Shakers, according to Tom Johnson, curator of the Canterbury Shaker Museum.
.
They left England and formed societies stretching from New England to Kentucky where they practiced pacifism, equality of the sexes and celibacy. Men and women performed separate jobs and even used separate staircases.
.
They become known for their business acumen, craftsmanship and innovations, including the clothespin and circular saw.
.
In the mid-19th century, they peaked, with more than 6,000 U.S. members, including about 300 in Canterbury. More than 100 buildings, including an infirmary, stood on about 3,000 acres.
.
But after the Civil War, Shakers had trouble attracting new converts, Johnson said. Another source of membership, children in need of homes, slowly dwindled as society developed alternatives.
.
Villages began closing. In 1968, Canterbury decided to stop taking in new converts. Today, the four Shakers left in the world live at Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester, Maine.
.
Kirkpatrick said the Shakers never pressed their religion on her or the eight other girls she was raised with in the village.
.
The girls attended the Shaker school and learned to sew, knit and embroider. In their spare time, they performed small tasks like washing pots and pans or helping with the laundry.
.
In seven years, Kirkpatrick was never hungry or punished.
.
"They made a living through the Depression for all of us," she said. "I'm grateful for the education I got there."
.
When Kirkpatrick was 18, her aunt and cousins persuaded her to leave.
.
"They were telling me about boyfriends and going to the movies," Kirkpatrick said. "They said they could get a job for me at Sears, Roebuck."
.
Sister Marguerite Frost, the woman who became her surrogate mother, told her to go.
"She said there's nothing here but the sisters that are getting older," Kirkpatrick remembered. "She said that's no life for a young person."
.
Kirkpatrick left. She married and had a daughter. Kirkpatrick remarried when she was 50 and is now a great-grandmother. Her second husband died in 1983.
.
Kirkpatrick has played a part in helping to guide the museum staff in recreating the village.
.
"She's a wonderful primary source of information for us," said museum director Funi Burdick. "She puts a family story into the Shaker community."
.
The museum held Kirkpatrick's 90th birthday party on July 13. Kirkpatrick told townspeople about her childhood and was presented with a cake.
.
"It was marvelous, it was marvelous," Kirkpatrick said. "When I was little, I wasn't wanted at all. Now that I'm older I get this adulation. I can't see that I'm that spectacular of a person, but I certainly loved it all."
.
On the Net:
Canterbury Shaker Museum:
http://www.shakers.org/
.
© 2008 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
.
-----------------------
I learned about this story reading in my local paper "The Pottstown Mercury". I looked it up on their online site, but it didn't list in search.
.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1674&nr=1&nostat=1
.
I found it online on this site:
- Syracuse.com
http://www.syracuse.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national-107/121731684297680.xml&storylist=topstories
.
Associated Press Article:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SHAKER_CHILDHOOD?SITE=SCAND&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
.
MultiMedia:
Shaker Village Resident Returns
.
http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_national/shaker_museum/index.html?SITE=SCAND

-------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers

An Update: American Bible Society

2008-07-29T21:40:00.002-04:00

ABS Bible-A-Month Club Update:

. HUNGARY

The Hungarian Bible Society launched its largest and most significant project ever--declaring 2008 the year of the Bible. The aim is for people to be inspired to read, talk and think about the Bible and to live according to its teaching. The Bible Society and its partners will distribute special Year of the Bible materials, stage a Bible symposium, hold a concert of organ and choral music and present a five-month Bible exhibition at the National Library expected to attract 20,000 visitors. In addition, a special media campaign aims to bring the Bible to the attention of an estimated one million people.

The Year Of The Bible 2008

http://www.biblesociety.org/bs-hun.htm

. MAURITIUS

In an effort to help young people engage in God's Word and develop their spiritual lives, this spring the Bible Society of Mauritius visited schools to put on a very special puppet show. Some 250 boys and girls interacted and delighted in the antics of furry animal puppets while learning more about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Each child also received a Scripture Portion telling the story of Zacchaeus. To further young people's connection to God's Word, the Bible Society is making available Selections and Bible Comics to more schools and churches in the area.

http://www.biblesociety.org/bs-mau.htm

http://christiananswers.net/bible/luke19.html

Through Closed Doors By The Rev. Milton E. Detterline

2008-07-26T12:30:00.002-04:00

Through Closed Doors
.
By The Rev. Milton E. Detterline
07/26/2008
.
A movement has again gained ground that I very much appreciate as a blessing to religion. It's a small avalanche of books putting down belief in God — doesn't seem to matter which belief system is yours.
.
There's always been some background of ferment against faith, but this one has blossomed in the manner some would call a Garden of Evil. I see it as a welcome challenge for those of us who find faith incredibly mismanaged but true at its roots. The authors — all intellectuals in their own minds — call themselves "atheists." Meaning: "I fully believe there is no God, never has been, never will be.
.
"This is, of course, a belief system all its own, and pretty foolish if you think about it. I can understand people being "agnostics," meaning, "I find questionable evidence for God, but at least I'm still searching." But an "atheist" shows someone who's not allowing his/her mind to function fully. How can you be so absolutely certain?
.
I've been reading the most noted books by such self-proclaimed anti-theologians. I need to know what they're suggesting. One widely published "atheist" wisely claims his ilk "have forced societies to examine empty religious platitudes and hollow religious concepts." I like that. It leads me to consider a gospel text that's the story of, not an atheist, but an agnostic, who was one of Jesus' very intelligent disciples!
.
It's Thomas, whom we call the "doubter," not because he was unfaithful to Jesus, but because he wanted to search more deeply the meaning of his faith, rather than just accept what someone else would tell him he should believe.
.
John's Gospel tells us that the very night of the Resurrection, the disciples met together fearfully behind closed doors, where Jesus appeared to them. Two were missing: the shamed Judas and Thomas, who likely was brokenhearted, and wanted to be alone. It's a guy thing. For Thomas, it also was a faith-despair.
.
The attendant disciples rushed to Thomas to tell him Jesus was alive. The skeptic Thomas needed more proof than his friends' excitement. A week later, Thomas was present. Jesus knew what evidence he wanted, so held out his nail-pierced hands, said, "Come ... Touch." That wasn't necessary, Thomas gave the highest testimony of all the disciples when he breathed, "My Lord! My God!
.
"Thomas had at least two necessary virtues. He absolutely refused to rattle off a creedal belief without understanding and accepting what it was about. Second, Thomas went on to the ultimate ideal of faith and obedience: He took the gospel message into his life and spread it everywhere he went!
.
Thomas makes a good personal saint. It's spiritually healthy and intellectually important to question, perhaps to doubt, to seek more evidence. *Altar yourself. Worship with your mind as well as your heart.
.
The Rev. Milton E. Detterline is pastor of historic St. Peter United Church of Christ, Route 23, Knauertown. More information on the church and its ministry is available by calling 610-469-8670.
.
http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=19873030&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=635482&rfi=8
.
©The Mercury 2008
.
The Pottstown Mercury
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.asp?brd=1674
.
http://www.twinvalleyonline.com/churches.asp
.
----------------------
.
* Note: "Altar (sic) yourself". I removed (sic) from my posted article. I don't know who added the comment, but see it as maybe a bit disrespectful. I understand what Rev. Detterline meant in what he is saying even though someone else might not have.

Christian/Religion Statistics

2008-07-25T15:59:00.001-04:00

Key Findings and Statistics on Religion in America
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
.
Top 10 Largest National Christian Populations
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_christian.html

Oldest Bible published on the Internet

2008-07-25T02:45:00.002-04:00

Oldest Bible published on the Internet
LONDON, July 24 (UPI) --

British Library officials said they have started making sections of the oldest existing copy of the New Testament available on the Internet.

The British Library is publishing the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th century manuscript written by hand in Greek, on its Internet site, CNN reported.

Library officials said the Gospel of Mark and the Book of Psalms were scheduled to be available online starting Thursday and the rest of the text will be on the Internet within a year.

The Web site will eventually offer images of each page with translations in German and English, CNN said.

"The user will come to the Web site and will be able to look at images of each page of Codex Sinaiticus, will be able to zoom in and out and look around the page and see the page lit in standard light," the project's curator Juan Garces said.

CNN said compiling the manuscript was a demanding task because portions of the book remain in Britain, Russia, Germany and Egypt.

http://pub32.bravenet.com/news/2739005314/210611/

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/24/online.bible/index.html?iref=newssearch

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/07/21/online.bible.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

http://www.bl.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Sinaiticus

http://www.earlham.edu/~seidti/iam/tc_codexs.html

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04085a.htm

http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/en/

http://www.sinaiticus.com/

Heartlight: "Forgiveness?"

2008-07-09T20:11:00.002-04:00

Forgiveness?

by Ron Rose

She came in complaining about my sermons always being about forgiveness and grace ... I needed to come down harder on the sinners and in her words, "nail them."

After her rant, I asked, "So, you've got forgiveness and grace all worked out in your own life?"

"Well, Ron, there are some things you can't turn loose of, things that don't deserve grace, or forgiveness. That's just the way it is. I know it's that way in my family."

She leaned over my desk and revealed a heart hardened by resentment and bitterness, "No, forgiveness is not an option. I've been hurt too much."

The grudge was too embedded. And her spiritual life was powerless and trapped in the wilderness. Lack of forgiveness had turned in a critical, spirit of judgment.

She wanted me to make everyone else as miserable as she was ... as long as she was in charge, of course.

A year later she left the church ... looking for harder preaching.

On the other side of her story is Reginald Denny. Remember him?

Forgiveness doesn't make sense!

Years ago, Reginald Denny drove his truck into the riots of South Central Los Angeles and the video cameras captured every detail of two men smashing his truck window with a brick, hauling him from the cab and beating him with a broken bottle and kicking him until the side of his face was caved in.

Then at the trial, in spite of protests from his own lawyers, Denny walked over to the mothers of the two defendants, hugged them and told them he forgave them. The mothers responded with hugs and tears.

How could he do that? One commentator stated, "Well you know, Denny did suffer some brain damage."

Forgiveness doesn't make sense: sometimes it just seems like nothing is more important than hanging on to the grudge ... sometimes "turning loose" is nothing but a slogan. But, then God steps in and a miracle happens ... Turning loose becomes an experience.

Don't forget three basics:

1. Forgiveness doesn't mean that you condone what was done.

2. Forgiveness doesn't depend on the other person's apology ... it's the experience of finding inner peace.

3. Forgiveness is a gift for you ...by offering it, your life is no longer controlled by what someone else has done. The weight of hurt and resentment and bitterness are released and you are finally free.

God has forgiven ... so what are you going to do?

Title: "Forgiveness? "

Author: Ron Rose Publication

Date: July 08, 2008

http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200807/20080708_forgiveness.html

Heartlight
http://www.heartlight.org/

Believers in the Pews--and the Polling Booth

2008-06-28T19:42:00.002-04:00

Believers in the Pews--and the Polling Booth
A new study on the intersection of politics, religion and race.

By Grace Wyler Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jun 23, 2008 Updated: 11:45 a.m. ET Jun 23, 2008

The more religiously active an American is, the more likely he is to vote Republican-- unless he's black. That fact emerged in the second part of a Pew Forum study on the landscape of religious life in the United States, released this June.

The first part of the survey, released in February, showed that in the United States is both diverse and remarkably fluid--44 percent of Americans have switched their religious affiliation or denomination (or abandoned organized religion altogether). The new part, which looks at how religion informs American social and political values, further highlights religious diversity in the United States, underscoring the variety in patterns of belief and worship. "We have the tendency to believe that all members of one affiliation are the same, or that all people that frequently attend religious services are the same," says , a senior fellow at the Pew Forum and a professor of political science at the University of Akron. "But that's not the case. There is greater diversity."

Despite the country's religious multiformity, however, black Americans are the most consistently religious--and religiously active--ethnic group in the country. More than 90 percent of black Americans surveyed reported having a religious affiliation, and more than six in 10 said they were members of historically black Protestant churches. Moreover, black Protestants are among the most religiously involved Americans--85 percent say religion is very important in their lives, and more than half say they attend worship services at least once a week.

Rev. Cecil (Chip) Murray, the influential former pastor of the First A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles, credits high levels of African-American religious involvement with the "heritage of the black church" and its importance in building the African-American community in the aftermath of the Civil War. Black churches show people that "you may not have money, you may not have houses or land, but you have value," says Murray.

Other religious groups that report similar levels of religious involvement- -specifically Mormons and white evangelical Christians-- tend to vote for Republicans. And the more a Mormon or white evangelical prays or goes to Sunday services, the more likely he or she is to come out for the GOP. The same holds true for members of less ideologically conservative religious groups, including those that tend to be more liberal than the general American population, such as Jews--47 percent of Jews who attend weekly services vote Democrat, in contrast to 69 percent of those who do not attend services every week. Religious attendance matters, Green says, because when people attend services they encounter other people, and these interactions inform political values "whether it is something the pastor said or because you had coffee with a friend after worship."

Still, black Protestants remain loyal Democrats, regardless of how important religion is to an individual's life--77 percent of black Protestants said they vote Democratic, whether they attended weekly services or not. Prominent intellectual and activist points out that this is largely due to the black community's historic ties to the Democratic Party, specifically during the civil-rights movement. "It's a matter of principle," West says. "Not just a matter of partisanship. " This staunch support exists despite some black churches' conservative views on like abortion and same-sex marriage. While the survey finds that those with high levels of religious commitment tend to oppose abortion and public acceptance of homosexuality, black Protestants remain steadfast Democratic voters. West and others believe that this is because for members of black churches and of the black community in general, "issues of economic and social justice tend to supercede issues of abortion and same sex-marriage. " In other words, issues of equality and civil-rights continue to override any moral qualms black Christian voters may have with Democratic politics. That can only be good news for Barack Obama, a churchgoing black Protestant himself.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/142538&GT1=43001

© 2008

Why Don't Jehovah's Witnesses Vote?

2008-06-28T19:33:00.003-04:00

explainer: Answers to your questions about the news.

Why Don't Jehovah's Witnesses Vote?

Because they're representatives of God's heavenly kingdom.
By Jacob Leibenluft
Posted Thursday, June 26, 2008, at 6:39 PM ET

Serena Williams told reporters at Wimbledon on Wednesday that she's excited about Barack Obama's candidacy but won't vote for him because Jehovah's Witnesses "don't get involved in politics." Her sister Venus—who is also a Jehovah's Witness wouldn' t even comment on the presidential election. Why don't Jehovah's Witnesses vote?

Because of John 17:14 and other passages in the Bible. In that verse, Jesus says of his followers: "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." Jehovah's Witnesses have interpreted that statement as a call to remain neutral in all political matters. (In some of the sect's literature, members are described as "representatives of God's heavenly kingdom"; they are thus obligated to stay out of local political affairs in keeping with the behavior of ambassadors. ) Witnesses also refrain from serving in the military, running for public office, and pledging allegiance to the flag.

Voting is not expressly prohibited, but it is discouraged. The Watchtower, the official publication of the Jehovah's Witnesses, ran an article in 1999 suggesting that the decision whether to vote was one of personal conscience, although it carefully laid out reasons for staying out of the voting booth. In reference to countries that require all citizens to show up at the ballot box, the Watchtower has explained that "[w]here Caesar makes it compulsory for citizens to vote … [Jehovah's Witnesses] can go to the polls and enter the voting booths," but the Watchtower did not specify what Witnesses should do with the ballot itself. According to some, the requirement for political neutrality led to the violent persecution of Witnesses in Malawi during the late 1960s and early 1970s, when adherents refused to register with the ruling Congress Party.

Most Jehovah's Witnesses in America do, in fact, abstain from voting. According to a survey released this week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the religious group is far more likely than any other to believe that there is only one true way to interpret religious teachings. In keeping with that adherence, just 13 percent reported they were registered to vote.

While Witnesses have shied away from electoral politics, they have left a strong mark on the judicial branch: The group has brought several dozen civil-liberties cases before the Supreme Court, including a famous 1943 case over whether Jehovah's Witnesses could be forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in schools.

Jehovah's Witnesses are by far the largest religious group that refuses to vote, but they are not the only ones: Old Order Amish, Christadelphians, and Rastafarians have all traditionally shunned politics. (In the case of both the Amish and the Rastafarians, though, attitudes have changed a bit in the last few years.) Nationally, about 2 percent of people who don't register to vote cite religious reasons. If Jehovah's Witnesses did vote, they probably wouldn't form a large bloc anyway: the group makes up less than 1 percent of the U.S. population and is widely distributed across the country.

Got a question about today's news? Ask the Explainer .

Explainer thanks Jim Beckford of the University of Warwick, John Green of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Bryce Hemmelgarn of the Watchtower Office of Public Information, Donald Kraybill of Elizabethtown College, and Rodney Stark of Baylor University.

http://www.slate.com/id/2194321/&GT1=39001

http://www.slate.com/

Bishops Restate Preeminence Of Life Issues

2008-06-13T20:33:00.002-04:00

BISHOPS RESTATE PREEMINENCE OF LIFE ISSUES

June 13, 2008

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops today reaffirmed its rejection of embryonic stem cell research and human cloning.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue called on Catholics to support the vote that was taken today in Florida:“

It is important for all Catholics to acknowledge that the first and most important issues affecting public policy are the life issues. To maintain that other issues are the moral equivalent of matters like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and direct euthanasia, is to denigrate the privileged position that the life issues have in Catholic teachings.“

The bishops referred to the harvesting of embryonic stem cells as ‘the deliberate killing of innocent human beings, a gravely immoral act.’ They also said that ‘Human cloning is intrinsically evil,’ something which ‘shows disrespect for human life in the very act of generating it.’ These words were chosen carefully, and they reflect the sentiments of Pope Benedict XVI who recently said abortion was a ‘non-negotiable’ issue for Catholics.“

The life issues, then, are of preeminent importance to Catholics. To discuss social justice, for example, while being dismissive of the life issues is profoundly un-Catholic.”

http://www.catholic league.org/ release.php? id=1446

Catholic League: For Religious And Civil Rights
http://www.catholicleague.org/

Movie Review: Unborn In The USA

2008-06-13T20:22:00.001-04:00

Last night I watched the movie "Unborn In The USA". I rented it from NetFlix.

This is a powerful movie. The film shows many aspects of the 'pro-life' movement from the radical to the unusual. From the Christian standpoint, the frustration of those on the front lines shines through - and it hurts.

Warning: The film contains graphic/violent images, and questionable for children.

A few perspectives from different Christian denominations are shown. I would have liked to see viewpoints from other faiths on this issue as well, but wasn't included in the creation of the film to my dismay. I realized from watching the film that I don't think I am doing nearly enough on this front. I have to meditate on how I should work on that.

I also learned that more can be done on strengthening adoption, crisis pregnancy centers and women's wellness/support centers, and informing concerning abortion.

I felt sick in watching this, and seeing some of the depraved indifference surrounding this issue. In special feature there were four interviews from those who had appeared in the film, and it left me disheartened.

This film had a profound effect on me, and highly recommend it being seen. I'm considering handing out several copies of it. I haven't heard hardly anything concerning this little known film. Some of the review in comments about the film are disturbing as well.

The film included some good information on several pro-life organizations. I'll be posting that later when I check them out.

http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/unborn_synopsis.html

http://astore.amazon.com/alivingspirit-20/detail/B000U95N9O/105-8550496-4900464

http://astore.amazon.com/lenicheminist-20/detail/B000U95N9O/105-8550496-4900464

Priest Who Mocked Clinton Told To Take A Leave

2008-06-03T20:23:00.004-04:00

AP Photo: In this June 1, 2007 file photo, Rev. Michael Pfleger,
left, of Saint Sabina Catholic...

34 minutes ago

CHICAGO - Cardinal Francis George asked a Chicago priest on Tuesday to temporarily step down from his post to "reflect on his recent statements" regarding Sen. Hillary Clinton and her bid for the White House.

Last week, the Rev. Michael Pfleger mocked Clinton at Sen. Barack Obama's former church, saying the New York senator felt "entitled" to the Democratic nomination for president.

.
In a guest sermon at Trinity United Church of Christ, Pfleger pretended he was Clinton crying over "a black man stealing my show."

.
Pfleger's sermon, along with past controversial statements by Trinity's former longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, led Obama to resign his membership at Trinity. Pfleger apologized for his comments Sunday.

George asked Pfleger to take leave from pastoral duties at St. Sabina Church in order to "reflect on his recent statements and actions in the light of the church's regulations for all Catholic priests," according to a statement Tuesday from the Archdiocese of Chicago.

.
The leave was effective Tuesday and was scheduled to last "a couple of weeks," the statement said.

.
Pfleger, who has promised George he would no longer mention any presidential candidates by name, did not believe "this to be the right step at this time," according to the statement.

.
"While respecting his disagreement, I have nevertheless asked him to use this opportunity to reflect," George said in the statement. "I hope that this period will also be a time away from the public spotlight and for rest and attention to family concerns."

.
Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for Pfleger and the Archdiocese of Chicago.

.
Pfleger, a 59-year-old white priest at a largely black parish, has gained a reputation for impassioned sermons and activism. The Archdiocese said his temporary replacement is the Rev. William Vanecko, pastor of Chicago's St. Kilian Catholic Church.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080603/ap_on_re_us/obama_pfleger

------------------

Cardinal Francis George made a good decision, and agree that Rev. Michael Pfleger should very much take a leave. It seems to me that he has lost his Christ oriented focus, and reflection would be an absolutely good thing for him to do.

I think it should be longer than a couple of weeks though.

I'm outraged by the spectacle over at Trinity United Church Of Christ, and believe it to be an unfair and untruthful rant directed at Senator Clinton.

I believe Christ's Church should be involved and active in the community - which would include the political arena. To present how each of the candidates would stand up to a concrete moral standard - or not, and to help people make or reach informed Christ-like decisions.

Not at all of what was exhibited over at Trinity however. There was a distinct crossing of the line of what would be appropriate, and of what would be considered ethical by Christian standards.

Disgraceful.

---------------

Father Pfleger's comments about Sen. Hillary Clinton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQcRGnxwWUQ

Reverend Jeremiah Wright National Press Club pt's.1-6

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themastersmilieu/message/786

Pope Benedict XVI- Visit to USA

2008-04-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI- Visit to USA~ FULL Message and promo

---------------

http://www.nbc10. com/family/ 15937031/ detail.html

Pope Celebrates Mass At St. Patrick's Cathedral
Papal Mass
Pope Benedict XVI leads Mass for priests and deacons at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

http://video. nbc10.com/ player/?id= 242153

--------------

Pope Benedict Holds Final U.S. Mass

Pope Praises American Flock

NEW YORK -- Pope Benedict has celebrated the final Mass of his U.S. visit before a full house in New York's Yankee Stadium.

Papal Mass At Yankee Stadium, Part 1
Special Coverage
Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass in the Bronx.

. http://video. nbc10.com/ player/?id= 242479

. http://video. nbc10.com/ player/?fid= 23055#videoid= 242479

. http://www.nbc10. com/index. html

On NBC10 Philadelphia they have a really good listing of videos. I taped the Mass that was on TV today - 3 hours long, and I'm looking forward to seeing it!

Bible is America's favorite book: poll

2008-04-09T01:53:00.003-04:00

Photo: A man holds a bible during church services in the Brooklyn borough of New York, February 18, 2007.(Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) Reuters - Tue Apr 8, 3:08 PM ET

Bible is America's favorite book: poll
.
Tue Apr 8, 3:07 PM ET
.
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - When it comes to literary pursuits in the United States most people agree on at least one thing -- the most popular book is the Bible, according to a new survey.
.
It came in first in a Harris Poll of nearly 2,513 adults but the second choice in the survey was not as clear cut.
.
"While the Bible is number one among each of the different demographic groups, there is a large difference in the number two favorite book," Harris said in a statement announcing the results.
.
Men chose J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and women selected Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book, according to the online poll.
.
But the second choice for 18- to 31-year-olds was J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, while 32- to 43-year-olds named Stephen King's "The Stand" and Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons."
.
Picks for second-favorite book also varied according to region. "Gone With the Wind" was number two in the southern and midwestern United States while easterners chose "The Lord of the Rings" and westerners opted for "The Stand."
.
Whites and Hispanics picked "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book after the Bible, while African-Americans preferred "Angels and Demons."
.
"Finally, they may not agree on candidates, but one thing that brings together partisans is their favorite book. For Republicans, Democrats and Independents, the top two books are the same -- the Bible followed by "Gone With the Wind."
.
Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger rounded out the top 10 favorites.
.
(Reporting by Julie Mollins; editing by Patricia Reaney)
.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080408/lf_nm_life/reading_survey_dc
.

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN0835916320080408?feedType=RSS&feedName=lifestyleMolt

My Email To The Bible Society In Nigeria

2008-03-28T18:52:00.002-04:00

Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:48:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Rev. M. Earhart" lenicheministries@yahoo.com
Subject: Hello: Concerning Several Emails That I Received Requesting Bibles
To: info@biblesociety-nigeria.org

Hello:

I was referred to you by John Greco at American Bible Society.

I wanted to ask someone about several emails that have been sent to people requesting a large amount of expensive large print Bibles to be sent to Nigeria.

The emails have been confusing many in whether or not they would be legitimate or not, and whether or not they should send the Bibles.

Have you heard of this possible scam circulating the Internet through email supposedly from Nigeria?

There are those who are confused concerning these emails.

I received mail from The American Bible Society concerning donating for Kenya this month. The Lord answered my prayer about how to go about donating for Bibles for Africa.

I was also inspired to write concerning these emails that have been appearing in iceboxes.

(I have listed the links below that show what the emails - and additional correspondence - have said. I have them posted on my blog site in order to encourage discussion or feedback.)

Do you have any feedback concerning what someone should do, or any information concerning this, if they receive emails from someone saying they are connected to a Christian ministry in Nigeria requesting large amounts of expensive large print Bibles?

I look forward to your response.

Many blessings of peace to you,
Assuredly in faith,
Rev. Marguerite Earhart
Spring City, PA

. Scams - This Walk: November 2007. 11.9.07-9:48PM
http://lenicheminis try2.blogspot. com/2007/ 11/scams- this-walk- november- 2007-11907. html

. Scams - Igho Izekor via Hong Kong
http://lenicheminis try2.blogspot. com/2008/ 02/scams- igho-izekor- via-hong- kong.html

. Izehinkor Osamado Via Germany
http://lenicheminis try2.blogspot. com/2008/ 02/izehinkor- osamado-via- germany.html

My Email Response Back To Mr. Greco Of American Bible Society

2008-03-28T18:26:00.002-04:00

Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:23:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Rev. M. Earhart" lenicheministries@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: Hello. I have a question concerning an email that I received.
To: John Greco JGreco@americanbible.org

Hello Mr. Greco:

Thank you for your quick response in getting back to me. The information that you sent is quite helpful to me, and I know it will be to others as well. I plan to email the Bible Society in Nigeria later on this evening with my question concerning this issue, and hopefully they can shed some additional light on it for me.

Again, Thank you for your help.

Many blessings of peace to you,
Assuredly in faith,
Rev. Marguerite Earhart
Spring City, Pa

An Email Response From American Bible Society

2008-03-28T17:54:00.002-04:00

Subject: RE: Hello. I have a question concerning an email that I received.
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:49:15 -0400
From: "John Greco" JGreco@americanbibl e.org
To: "Rev. M. Earhart" lenicheministries@yahoo.com

Greetings -

Thank you for your e-mail.

Please pass this along to any contact regarding this topic - - -

As the American Bible Society is a part of the global Bible fellowship known as the United Bible Societies (UBS), we would request that you please contact the following Bible Society that is in your local region, to assist you with your request:

Bible Society of Nigeria
PO Box 68
Apapa
Lagos State
Nigeria
Tel: +(234)-1 5876471/(234) -1-5457524
Fax: +(44)-207-900- 3360

E-mail: info@biblesociety- nigeria.org

Sincerely,

Customer Service

American Bible Society

My Email Letter To American Bible Society

2008-03-27T22:14:00.002-04:00

Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:09:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Rev. M. Earhart" lenicheministries@yahoo.com
Subject: Hello. I have a question concerning an email that I received.
To: info@americanbible.org
.
Hello:

I was inspired to write to you to ask about several emails that have been sent to people requesting a large amount of large print Bibles to Nigeria.

The emails have been confusing many in whether or not they would be legitimate or not, and whether or not they should send the Bibles.

Have you heard of this scam circulating the Internet through email supposedly from Nigeria?

There are those who are confused concerning these emails.

I received mail from you today concerning donating for Kenya this month. The Lord answered my prayer about how to go about donating for Bibles for Africa.

Do you have any feedback concerning what someone should do, or any information concerning this, if they receive emails from someone saying they are connected to a Christian ministry in Nigeria requesting large amounts of large print Bibles?

I look forward to your response.

Many blessings of peace to you,
Assuredly in faith,
Rev. Marguerite Earhart
Spring City, PA

A Good Way To Donate Bibles To Africa

2008-03-27T20:43:00.000-04:00

It was revealed to me this evening a good way to donate Bibles to Africa. I belong to American Bible Society's Bible-A-Month Club. They send to me different things to the mail for me to additionally donate to.

This month is to Africa - Kenya.

Believe me when I tell you that the email stuff supposedly from Nigeria for instance are spam. Some people were hurt from them in trying to respond to the email when they actually tried to send the Bibles.

A better way to help different areas around the world to have Bibles is donating to American Bible Society or to the International Bible Society.

ABS's Bible-A-Month Club you can donate $4.00 per Bible each month to go somewhere in the world. They also translate Bibles into different languages as well.

The Lord showed me that this would be a good way to help.

http://www.877thebible.com/877thebible/wggc/

http://www.ibs.org/ministry/project_list.php

I plan to make a donation for Africa towards Bibles.

This would be the best way to respond to the emails sent supposedly from Nigeria requesting Bibles.

Why Atheists? By Roderick C. Meredith

2008-03-24T23:26:00.004-04:00

Why Atheists?
By Roderick C. Meredith
.
Why do untold thousands of young people enroll in colleges as believing church members, yet emerge a few years later as secular unbelievers, unsure of God’s existence or the Bible’s authority? Understanding the genuine answers to these problems will greatly affect your future—and the life of our nations. We must not be afraid to confront the "ultimate questions" such as these!
.
---------------
.
A massive attack against Christianity has been waged during the last few decades. Millions of people have dropped out of "mainstream" churches, and many others are on the way out. Increasingly, educated people are turning away from religion and, seemingly, from God.
.
Why?

.
Why do untold thousands of young people enroll in colleges as believing church members, yet emerge a few years later as secular unbelievers, unsure of God’s existence or the Bible’s authority?

.
Understanding the genuine answers to these problems will greatly affect your future—and the life of our nations. We must not be afraid to confront the "ultimate questions" such as these!

.
First of all, our modern Western educational institutions increasingly promote the theory of evolution. Yet, more than most people realize, the premises flowing from evolutionary theory affect fields of study apart from the physical sciences. Unproven concepts are usually taken for granted when they are taught under the supposed aegis of "science."

.
Yet most honest scientists freely admit that they have no way to disprove a "First Cause." They have no true way to fill in the many "gaps" in evolutionary theory. And, from a religious perspective, they have no way to disprove the literally dozens of specific Bible prophecies that have already come to pass!

.
Perhaps without realizing it, today’s atheists basically "hide their heads in the sand" and simply ignore the awesome prophecies of the great God, as recorded in His inspired word! Yet they are not being fully honest intellectually, unless they admit into their minds the knowledge of the great God of creation, and how He has intervened in the past and even now is intervening in human affairs! The real God of the Bible spoke through the prophet Isaiah more than 2,500 years ago: "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure’" (Isaiah 46:9–10).

.
Many otherwise intelligent people are atheists or agnostics because they have "given up" on mainstream religion, which has fabricated so very many untruths that it is no wonder educated people are turned off by such nonsense! Thousands of old-fashioned Bible-thumping preachers have thundered, "The Bible says that God created the earth 6,000 years ago. So we didn’t descend from monkeys and the scientists are all wrong!" But does the Bible, in fact, actually say that God created the earth 6,000 years ago? No way!

.
What the Bible does say is: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). The words "in the beginning" do not give a specific time-frame! We in this Work of Christ have always proclaimed that the world may have been created billions of years ago. Yet scientists have often changed their theories about how many billions—tossing around billions of years like they would toss around tennis balls. For, in truth, they do not know! They are simply giving us "educated guesses." However, from what we know about this planet and its development, it does appear that our planet came into existence billions of years ago.

.
But how? Again, the scientists have no real way to prove or disprove a "First Cause." But, being human, they are often turned off by preachers’ silly ideas—which they do not recognize as unbiblical because most scientists do not "search the scriptures" with an open mind to see what God actually does say. The typical scientist, like the average American citizen, is a biblical illiterate.

.
Dr. Stephen Prothero, Chair of the Department of Religion at Boston University, commented: "More than 90 percent of federal legislators call themselves Christians, making Congress more Christian than the United States itself…. Yet U.S. citizens know almost nothing about the Bible. Although most regard it as the word of God, few read it anymore. Even evangelicals from the Bible Belt seem more focused on loving Jesus than on learning what he had to say…. Surveys that are more scientific have found that only one of three U.S. citizens is able to name the four Gospels, and one of 10 think that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. No wonder pollster George Gallup has concluded that the United States is ‘a nation of biblical illiterates’" (Charlotte Observer, March 18, 2007).

.
Many atheists and agnostics claim that they cannot believe in a God who "allows so much suffering" in the world. "Where was God during the Holocaust?" they will ask.

.
Okay, where was God? Bible students understand that He was on His throne in heaven, basically keeping His "hands off" the human race—keeping to His plan to allow human beings to go their own way for 6,000 years, after which He will send Jesus Christ back to this earth for a Millennial Sabbath of 1,000 years of peace and understanding (Revelation 20:6).

.
To the multitudes of His day, Jesus Christ spoke in parables. Only to the "inner circle" of His disciples did He reveal the full meaning of those parables. Christ allowed the multitudes to go on in their blindness (2 Corinthians 4:3–4). He told His disciples, "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them" (Mark 4:11–12, KJV). So Jesus was not even trying to "save" everyone then, as so many have supposed. The great God is merely "allowing" mankind to go its own way for 6,000 years, to learn the lesson that man’s ways—apart from God—lead to confusion, misery, suffering and death! God is not trying to "call" everyone at this time. That is why Jesus Christ also said, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44, KJV).

.
God allows all of us "free moral agency." He does not "make" us do His will. If He did, atheists would complain that "God is not fair" because He would not allow them to experiment with their desires and lusts to misuse science, sex, drugs and to engage in so many activities that lead to hate, confusion, broken homes and war!

.
But the atheists and agnostics cannot have it both ways!

.
Remember, God has allotted mankind six thousand years to write the lessons of life through human suffering and despair. Then, He will send the living Jesus Christ back to earth as King of kings (Revelation 11:15). At that time, God will open the eyes of all human beings, and they will be taught the way of God—the way of peace, prosperity and joy based on His great spiritual law, the Ten Commandments (Micah 4:1-4).

.
But what about the dead whom God never "called"—and who never had a genuine opportunity to learn of God’s plan and the real meaning of life? Most of these people suffered and died, through the ages, without even hearing the name "Jesus Christ." Is all of their suffering in vain? If there is a real and merciful God, will He not give these billions of human beings a genuine opportunity to know God and learn the way of their Creator?

.
As Jesus indicated, the truth is that God is not attempting to call most people to understanding during this age. That is why God inspired the Apostle John to describe Satan as "that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). Satan truly is "in charge" of this confused world, at this time. Describing Satan, Jesus said, "the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me" (John 14:30).

.
How wonderful it is to realize that the billions of individuals who never understood about God or their purpose for life will be resurrected in a "day of judgment" described in your Bible. It is not "a day of condemnation, " but rather a period of testing for people who will have their eyes opened for the very first time. That is why Jesus said to the people of His generation, "Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment" than for those who understood and rejected His message (Matthew 10:15).

.
Meanwhile, although they are terribly deceived, the atheists and agnostics do—in one sense—have a point. They have been confronted with a world of confusion, anguish and seemingly pointless suffering. And they have also been confronted with a false Christianity, which does not have genuine answers to the questions of life. But you who read this magazine can find the Truth, if you are willing to put forth the effort to study with an open mind. As Jesus said: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). To fully understand God’s awesome purpose in all of this, be sure to call us or write us to request your copy of one of the deepest, most thought-provoking and enlightening booklets you will ever read. Just request your absolutely free copy of our booklet, Is This the Only Day of Salvation? It will truly open your eyes!

.
http://www.tomorrow sworld.org/ cgi-bin/tw/ tw-mag.cgi? category= Magazine53&item=1204358485

.
http://www.tomorrow sworld.org/ index.shtml

March-April

Edition

Stop Cussing Videos!

2008-03-14T19:06:00.002-04:00

Waves

. NCC Video

http://www.nocussing.com/musicvideos.html

http://www.nocussing.com/home.html

No Cussing Club

2008-03-14T18:05:00.002-04:00

"If You Want to Hang with Us, Don't Cuss!"
.
McKay is a 15-year-old on a mission to end cussing. He founded a No Cussing Club at his high school and wants to inspire others worldwide to stop swearing and examine the power of words. McKay’s campaign has even motivated his city's mayor to pass a proclamation for a No Cussing Week in his hometown. Not everyone supports his passion. Joining him onstage is his father, Brent, who has to filter out all the threats and hate mail McKay gets on his web site, and Alexei, a fellow student who’s vehemently against McKay’s campaign and says swearing is a non-violent way to relieve stress.
.
http://drphil.com/shows/show/1053/#
.
http://www.nocussing.com/home.html
.
-----------------
I saw this today on Dr. Phil, and I really admire the committment of this young man. I signed up! I have a not so good fondness for 'colorful' language - even if it is with my mental voice.

Passover vs. Easter Dates

2008-03-10T23:14:00.002-04:00

When is Easter 2008?
From Mary Fairchild,
Your Guide to Christianity.
.
Easter Calendar 2008
.
• February 6 - Ash Wednesday
• March 16 - Palm Sunday
• March 21 - Good Friday
• March 23 - Easter Sunday (Western)
• April 27 - Easter Sunday (Orthodox)
.
In Western Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon. I had previously, and somewhat erroneously stated, "Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox." This statement was true in 325 AD, when it was established by the Council of Nicea.
.
However, the course of history has modified the meaning of this instruction, and therefore, a clearer, more accurate explanation is necessary today.
.
There are, in fact, as many misunderstanding about the calculation of Easter dates, as there are reasons for confusion about Easter dates. To clear up at least some of the confusion visit:
.
• Why Do the Dates for Easter Change Every Year?
• Why do Eastern and Western Churches Celebrate Easter on Different Days?
.
http://christianity .about.com/ od/holidaytips/ qt/wheniseaster. htm
.
------------ --------- -
.
When is Passover in 2008?
.
Passover in 2008 will start on Sunday, the 20th of April and will continue for 7 days until Saturday, the 26th of April.
.
Note that in the Jewish calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Jews will celebrate Passover on the sunset of Saturday, the 19th of April.
.
http://www.when- is.com/passover- 2008.asp

THE CATHOLIC RESPONSE TO NAZISM

2008-02-28T18:24:00.002-05:00

THE CATHOLIC RESPONSE TO NAZISM
.
As part of their atheist philosophy, Communists and Marxist Socialists were dedicated to destroying religious belief, and accused the Church of supporting unjust social systems. By the 1930s the violent suppression of religion in Communist Russia was well known in Germany. So when Nazism arrived it assured voters that it would defend Christian civilisation against atheist Communism.
.
The Nazis exaggerated any apparent similarities between their policies and Christian social teachings, while the Communists were keen to identify the Church as supporting Nazism. In this way both were united in spreading the falsehood that the Church favoured Nazism. This lie was echoed by Western Socialist 'intellectuals' and by the Jehovah Witness sect, preaching it as part of their misunderstanding of the Bible. Many of these lies and half-truths are to be found in modern history books - at least by implication- and may be summarised as follows:
.
Hitler was a Catholic and Nazism was founded in strongly Catholic Bavaria where Hitler gained his first victories in Munich. Franz von Papen, leader of the Catholic Party, formed a coalition with Hitler and persuaded the President to appoint Hitler as Chancellor (Prime Minister). Pope Pius XI signed a Concordat with Hitler to show his approval of him, and to encourage international recognition of the Nazi state.
.
Even when Hitler carried out anti-Church measures, the bishops remained sympathetic because they saw him as a barrier to Communism. Later the Church, and Catholic politicians throughout Europe, supported Hitler's crusade against Communism when he invaded Russia. The Church ignored the plight of Jews and others by refusing to condemn Hitler and, at the war's end, assisted Nazis to escape to South America.
.
BUT WHAT ARE THE REAL FACTS?
.
Hitler was born in Austria in 1889 and, although his farther was irreligious, his mother had him baptised in the village Catholic Church. In the schools priests taught religion but teachers of all views gave the other lessons. Hitler's teacher of history at the Secondary school, Dr. Leopold Poetsch, was a supporter of the anti-Catholic Pan-German Movement, and later joined the Nazi SS. He introduced the young Hitler to Pre-Christian 'New Age' ideas. In his 1924 book: Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote of him:
.
" …his dazzling eloquence not only held us spell-bound but actually carried us away. Even today, I think back with gentle emotion on this grey-haired man who, by the fire of his narratives, sometimes made us forget the present: who, as if by enchantment, carried us into past times and, out of the millennial veils of mist, moulded dry historical memories into living reality. On such occasions we sat there, often aflame with enthusiasm. And sometimes even moved to tears."
.
By his teens Hitler had rejected Catholic beliefs and continued to form his views by reading anti-Christian, racist new age literature. This claimed that in the far past a superior intelligent Aryan race had evolved in Europe, but the Christian teachings of racial equality, love of enemies and peace, together with allowing racial inter-marriage, had led to Aryan blood becoming less pure and so to weakness and decadence.
.
This teaching asserted that the Germans retained much Aryan blood and by modern Eugenic methods of selection, such as sterilisation, abortion, infanticide and euthanasia, hereditary defects, (i.e. bad traits) could be bread out of the German and similar Aryan European races. Hitler saw the Jewish race as the enemy of the Aryan race and attacked Christians for, amongst other things, accepting the Jewish Bible.
.
By joining the German army, Hitler avoided service in the multi-racial Austrian forces, He was despondent when Germany lost the war and blamed the Jews and the action of the Socialists, Catholics and Liberals in parliament. The Nationalists held a special hatred for Matthias Erzberger, the Catholic political leader, because he had proposed a 'Peace Resolution' to Parliament in July 1917. This was passed with Socialist and Liberal help. In August, Pope Benedict XV presented a similar peace proposal to the nations at war. But the Kaiser (Emperor) overruled his parliament and the war continued for fifteen more months. A Nationalist murdered Erzberger in 1921.
.
After the war Germany found herself in a pitiful condition with mass unemployment, inflation and the burden of paying reparations to France. An elected President replaced the Kaiser but most power was now vested in Parliament. Bitter party rivalry in this new democracy, lead to ineffective governments at a time of chronic problems.
.
Hitler formed his Nazi Party and with great oratory called for policies against foreign domination and for firm leadership to end the rule of bickering politicians. The Catholic party, in power in the local Bavarian parliament, saw Hitler's oratory inspiring a dangerous political movement. It wished to deport Hitler back to his native Austria, but feared the civil unrest such action would provoke amongst the armed nationalists. It asked for the support of the Socialists, but they refused because they said deportation would be a denial of free speech.
.
Hitler aimed to achieve power by the ballot box so refrained from publicly attacking Christian teaching. But the Catholic bishops realised Hitler's long-term aims, and the Nazis a well as the Communists were firmly attacked from pulpits. The Nazis did gain support in a suburb of Munich and some smaller towns in Bavaria. But in every case these were Protestant districts. In 1931 the Nazi won the elections to the National Student's Council. It was noticeable that they gained large majorities in Universities situated in Protestant areas but were heavily defeated in the Catholic.
.
The Reichstag (Parliament) needed to make difficult decisions, but the Communists, Socialists, Liberals and Conservatives refused to take part in governments for fear of becoming unpopular. So in March 1930 the Catholic party, with 16% of the seats, took sole responsibility for forming a government. President Hindenburg,a Protestant, had to use his emergency powers to put legislation into effect.
.
In this way Parliament, and party political democracy, became discredited. Many came to see Hitler as the only leader able to secure a stable government which could cure raging inflation, massive unemployment and social injustice.
.
In February 1931, the German bishops excommunicated all active Nazi party members. This included Hitler. This penalty was not imposed on those who merely voted Nazi. It was hoped to persuade them by argument. The same policy was in operation against the Communists.
.
Rule by the small Catholic party could not go on indefinitely and in 1932 the president dismissed Heinrich Bruning, the Catholic leader, as Chancellor (Prime Minister) and appointed Franz Von Papen. Papen was a Catholic and some years previously had held a local government seat for the Catholic Party. But he was so out of tune with its policies that he was not on any party committee. When appointed Chancellor, he was not a member of Parliament, but the President hoped his independence might enable him to find a solution to the deadlock.
.
The Nationalists were willing to govern with the Nazis, but such a coalition would still lack a majority. So Papen and the President urged the Catholic party to abstain on key votes so as to enable the coalition to rule. But the Catholics refused and, when Papen joined the coalition, he was expelled from the Catholic party.
.
In March 1933 new elections were held. Orthodox Jews had normally voted for the Catholic party while the liberal and less religious preferred the Socialists, Liberals or Conservatives. But by now being pro-Jewish was a vote loser and the Liberals and Conservatives had embraced anti-Semitism. As an act of solidarity, the Catholic Party nominated a Jewish candidate and very many more Jews voted for the Catholic Party.
.
The Nationalist-Nazi coalition led by Hitler gained 52% (Nazis 44%, Nationalists 8%) of the votes and seats. On a turn out of 88.5% Hitler was now the legal democratically elected ruler of Germany. In the 21 Protestant constituencies his coalition won 19. In seven of them Hitler obtained over 60%. He failed to gain a majority in any of the eight Catholic constituencies. Of the eight highest votes for democracy (i.e. Not Nazi or Communist) seven were Catholic and one of mixed. Religion.
.
Soon after this victory, Hitler asked for a Concordat with the Holy See to regulate the rights of Church and State in Germany. The Holy See signed Concordats with 40 states between 1919 and 1939, so this was not an unusual request. Germany promised freedom of religion, including in publishing and the running of schools, whilst not making any unreasonable demands in return. There was no reason to refuse.
.
Before it was signed on 20th July 1933, all political parties and Trade Unions, including the Catholic ones, had been suppressed. The world, including the League of Nations, Britain, France, America and Russia had recognized Hitler's government as legitimate. On the day the Concordat was being signed, Clement Attlee and other Labour and Liberal MPs at Westminster, voted for a trade agreement with Hitler's Germany. On August 25th.The German Zionist organization signed the Haavara agreement for economic co-operation with the new Nazi government including the promotion of German exports. (World Zionism endorsed this agreement in 1935).
.
By 1937 all Catholic newspapers, organizations and schools had been suppressed. So Pope Pius XI issued an Encyclical: Mit Brennender Sorge (With Burning Sorrow), condemning the Nazi regime's treatment of the Church. It was smuggled to every church in Germany and read out simultaneously on Sunday 14th March 1937.
.
On May 18th 1937 the American Cardinal Mundelein viciously attacked Hitler and other Nazi leaders. When the German government protested, the Pope refused to reprimand the Cardinal. The Cardinal's attack swung the views of many Americans in favour of help for Britain when the Second World War started.
.
In the late `30s the Holy See tried by diplomatic means to prevent a war breaking out between Germany and Poland. When the war did come, in September 1939, the Holy See remained neutral but tried in 1940 to stop Italy joining Germany. At this time Communist Russia was an ally of Hitler.
.
When Hitler invaded Russia some Americans considered that, as Catholics, they should oppose aid to Russia because it would help Communist tyranny. The Pope asked an American bishop to explain that a distinction could be made between Communism and Russia. It was not wrong to help the Russians defend their country.
.
During the war, the Vatican concentrated on providing humanitarian aid to all in need. Both sides called for the Pope to condemn atrocities allegedly committed by their opponents. The Holy See was not able to carry out detailed local investigations even if it had wanted to, and the Pope was determined not to allow his words to be misused as propaganda by either side. There were clear condemnations of evil policies and attitudes but a careful avoidance of appearing to pass judgement on specific acts.
.
By 1942/3 several German generals, realising they were not winning the war, hoped to depose Hitler and negotiated a cease-fire with the Allies. The Vatican, having preserved its strict neutrality, was able to facilitated contact. But, contrary to the wishes of the Vatican, the Allies demanded 'unconditional surrender'. In doing so they prevented the generals gaining wider support within the army, and the bloodshed, including the Concentration Camp killings, continued for two more years.
.
As Hitler accepted he was loosing, his hatred of Jews intensified. At any criticism, regarding his Jewish policy, he would fly into a rage and likely order the speeding up of the killings. Throughout Europe Catholics had networks of escape routes and safe houses. Jews and others were hidden in convents, other Church buildings and private homes. In 1967 Pinchas Lapide, a Jewish author who had been Israeli Consul in Milan, estimated the Church had saved 700000 - 860000 Jewish lives.
.
During this period, the allies wanted the Church to publicly condemn the killings, so as to help their propaganda war. But the Pope remained silent; fearing that Hitler in a rage would order increased raids on the convents and monasteries where so many were hiding. Also, to maintain his impartiality, he would have had to condemn the Soviet Union for killing millions in its Concentration Camps. If a cease-fire had been achieved in 1942, millions of Jews and others would have survived.
.
Millions suffering under Communist terror welcomed the German army when it freed their lands. But they found the Nazis as brutal as the Communists. As the war ended, huge numbers of people, not wishing to exchange one dictator for another, swarmed into Italy to escape the advancing Soviet army. Catholic charities assisted them.
.
Mixed with the refugees were individuals under assumed names, allegedly guilty of war crimes. British and American Agencies were responsible for detecting them, but some slipped through to escaped to South America. This was not the fault of the Church's aid workers. Church officials had no reason to hide those who had spent years torturing and killing Catholic priests and laity.
.
For more detailed information see booklets on: www.churchinhistory.org
.
Copyright ©; CHURCHinHISTORY 2006
This version: 16th April 2007
.
http://www.churchinhistory.org/pages/leaf-sum/catholicsvnazis.htm
.
---------------------
I started to look this up in response to a Catholic League article I received today in my email. I have more searching to do yet.
.
McCAIN EMBRACES BIGOT
February 28, 2008
http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1393

Century 21 Alliance Helps Local Family

2008-02-18T15:06:00.004-05:00

Century 21 Alliance Helps Local Family

A number of Century 21 Alliance offices banded together and responded when made aware of a local Easter Seals family who may have had to spend the holiday season without a tree, or gifts.

"I was contacted by the director of corporate relations for Easter Seals, just a week before Christmas, and told of a Montgomery County family in need of urgent assistance for the holiday," said Kathy Opperman, co-owner and managing partner of the Audubon and Blue Bell offices. Immediately, she said, "the Blue Bell, Audubon, Collegeville, Drexel Hill, Havertown, Royersford, Exton, Media and Aston offices gathered their resources and raised over $1,200 for the family of a 2-year old student of the Kulpsville Easter Seals center whose father had taken ill."

Century 21 Alliance is a long-time corporate partner of Easter Seals and as a company in 2006, raised more than $150,000 for Easter Seals, as well as $8,000 last October.

Article from "Montgomery Newspapers" Spring Ford Reporter
Listed in Real Estate Section - February 14, 2008

Easter Seals of Southeastern Pennsylvania

http://www.homesofpennsylvania.com/

Also mentioned in article:

. Kelly Corda - Agent
http://www.kellycordahomes.com/

. Terri Flannery - Agent
http://www.trustinterri.com/

----------------
I had to post this when I read this today.

These guys are awesome!

My Shawn was an Easter Seals student, and I have to express my appreciation for Century 21 Alliance for their generous time and fundraising!

We were helped by anonymous people who helped like this, and I cannot tell you how much it is appreciated.

On another note:

WHO SAYS THE REAL SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS GONE OR DEAD?

Century 21 Alliance proves that it is not.

This story renews my faith, and it is wonderful to see those who are contributing to the solution - and in being good stewards in the
community. . .

instead of being another addition to the problem.

I don't mind helping throw business their way!

Yea, Century 21 Alliance!

2008 Voter Guides From Liberty Counsel

2008-01-18T08:03:00.002-05:00

2008 Voter Guides From Liberty Counsel

Liberty Counsel

Snow Falls In Baghdad

2008-01-11T11:02:00.000-05:00

A First! Snow Falls In Baghdad

By CHRISTOPHER CHESTER,
Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 12 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - After weathering nearly five years of war, Baghdad residents thought they'd pretty much seen it all. But Friday morning, as muezzins were calling the faithful to prayer, the people here awoke to something certifiably new.

For the first time in memory, snow fell across Baghdad.

Although the white flakes quickly dissolved into gray puddles, they brought an emotion rarely expressed in this desert capital snarled by army checkpoints, divided by concrete walls and ravaged by sectarian killings — delight.

"For the first time in my life I saw a snow-rain like this falling in Baghdad," said Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, a 63-year-old retiree from the New Baghdad area.

"When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early '40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad," Abdul-Hussein said, referring to snow as a type of rain. "But snow falling in Baghdad in such a magnificent scene was beyond my imagination."

Morning temperatures uncharacteristically hovered around freezing, and the Baghdad airport was closed because of poor visibility. Snow is common in the mountainous Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, but residents of the capital and surrounding areas could remember just hail.

"I asked my mother, who is 80, whether she'd ever seen snow in Iraq before, and her answer was no," said Fawzi Karim, a 40-year-old father of five who runs a small restaurant in Hawr Rajab, a village six miles southeast of Baghdad.

"This is so unusual, and I don't know whether or not it's a lesson from God," Karim said.

Some said they'd seen snow only in movies.

Talib Haider, a 19-year-old college student, said "a friend of mine called me at 8 a.m. to wake me up and tell me that the sky is raining snow."

"I rushed quickly to the balcony to see a very beautiful scene," he said. "I tried to film it with my cell phone camera. This scene has really brought me joy. I called my other friends and the morning turned to be a very happy one in my life."

An Iraqi who works for The Associated Press said he woke his wife and children shortly after 7 a.m. to "have a look at this strange thing." He then called his brother and sister and found them awake, also watching the "cotton-like snow drops covering the trees."

For a couple of hours anyway, a city where mortar shells routinely zoom across to the Green Zone became united as one big White Zone. As of late afternoon, there were no reports of violence. The snow showed no favoritism as it fell faintly on neighborhoods Shiite and Sunni alike, and (with apologies to James Joyce) upon all the living and the dead.

Article Link

Final Vote Results For Roll Call 1143

2007-12-11T22:18:00.000-05:00

H RES 847 2/3 YEA-AND-NAY 11-Dec-2007 7:02 PM
QUESTION: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree, as Amended
BILL TITLE: Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.

...........................Yeas ...Nays ...PRES ...NV
Democratic ...195 .......9 .........9 ........19
Republican ...177 ...................1 .........21
Independent
____________________________
.......Totals..... 372..... 9......... 10......... 40

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll1143.xml

Passed!!!

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.RES.847:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/index.asp

H.Res. 847

2007-12-11T15:05:00.001-05:00

U.S. House to Consider Christmas Resolution

Our Washington, D.C. office informed us this morning that the House will consider a Resolusion recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith. H.Res. 847, introduced by Rep. King of Iowa, is on the House calendar for today and will need a 2/3 (290 votes) majority to pass.

Contact your representative to express your support for the Christmas Resolution (HR 847). You can get their contact information at:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

The Resolution states in part:

Whereas Christmas, a holiday of great significance to Americans and many other cultures and nationalities, is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and the world... Whereas on December 25 of each calendar year, American Christians observe Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ...Whereas many Christians and non-Christians throughout the United States and the rest of the world, celebrate Christmas as a time to serve others: Now, therefore be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives-- (1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world; (2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide; (3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith; (4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization; (5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide; and (6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.

You can read the entire text of the Resolution on our web site in PDF format or on the House web site, where you can also see the list of sponsors and later you can find out how you representative votes.

-------------------
My letter:

December 11, 2007

To The Honorable Jim Gerlach

I am writing to you today concerning H.Res. 847, introduced by Rep. King of Iowa. I learned about this from the Liberty Counsel, and it is said that it is on the House calendar for today and will need a 2/3 (290 votes) majority to pass.

I am asking for your positive vote on this bill in order to uphold our American holiday of Christmas. I am finding that Christmas has been under fire for the past several years, and that there are influences - that constitute censorship - that wish to negate this fundamental American holiday from the fabric of our society.

I have been quite upset over this.

Please vote positively on this bill H.Res. 847 to uphold our American tradition.

Many blessings to you,
Assuredly in faith,
Mrs. Rev. M. Marguerite Earhart

------------------
Liberty Counsel
http://lc.org/

http://lc.org/index.cfm?PID=14102&AlertID=778

Mormons And Fasting

2007-12-10T23:29:00.000-05:00

Fasting

by Dawn M. Hills

The practice of periodic abstinence from food and drink for devotional purposes has been documented since early times. The Bible and the Book of Mormon attest to fasting in its several forms, public or private, institutionalized or spontaneous. In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord commanded the Latter-day Saints to "continue in prayer and fasting from this time forth" (D&C 88:76).

Church members fast together generally on the first Sunday of each month, in preparation for fast and testimony meeting. They usually abstain from food and drink for two consecutive meals, attend Church services, and donate a fast offering for the care of the needy. Additionally, an individual, family, or congregation may fast for a specific cause such as one who is sick or otherwise afflicted. An individual may desire the intimate communication with deity engendered by a prayerful fast when preparing for a difficult task or significant change in the circumstances of life. A person may fast when seeking spiritual enlightenment or guidance in decision making, strength to overcome weakness or endure trial, comfort in sorrow, or help at other times of special need.

General principles of the fast include prayerful preparation concerning the subject of the fast and frequent contemplation and meditation throughout to achieve oneness in purpose and spirit with the Lord; a quiet, humble, and cheerful conduct befitting one seeking blessing or spiritual enlightenment (Matt. 6:16-18; cf. 3 Ne. 13:16-18); and a prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving when ending the fast.

Rich blessings are promised to those who fast and help the needy (Isa. 58:8-9). Self-control, communion with the Lord, and spiritual strength and power accompany compliance with the law. The spirit of the fast is aptly represented in latter-day scripture: "Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer" (D&C 59:14).

(See Daily Living home page; Prayer and Fasting home page)

Bibliography

Ricks, Stephen D. "Fasting in the Bible and Book of Mormon." In Book of Mormon: The Keystone Scripture, ed. Paul R. Cheesman. Provo, Utah, 1988, pp. 127-36.

Smith, Joseph F. Gospel Doctrine, 10th ed. Salt Lake City, 1956.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 2, Fasting

Copyright © 1992 by Macmillan Publishing Company

http://us.macmillan.com/splash/

http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/daily/prayer/fasting_eom.htm

http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/

Hungry Mormons Offer Clues To Heart Disease

2007-12-10T23:22:00.000-05:00

Hungry Mormons offer clues to heart disease

Religious practice of fasting one day a month may protect arteries

AP Associated Press
updated 3:15 p.m. ET, Mon., Dec. 10, 2007

Mormons have less heart disease — something doctors have long chalked up to their religion's ban on smoking. New research suggests that another of their "clean living" habits also may be helping their hearts: fasting for one day each month.

A study in Utah, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is based, found that people who skipped meals once a month were about 40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with clogged arteries than those who did not regularly fast.

People did not have to "get religion" to benefit: non-Mormons who regularly took breaks from food also were less likely to have clogged arteries, scientists found.

They concede that their study is far from proof that periodic fasting is good for anyone, but said the benefit they observed poses a theory that deserves further testing.

"It might suggest these are people who just control eating habits better," and that this discipline extends to other areas of their lives that improves their health, said Benjamin Horne, a heart disease researcher from Intermountain Medical Center and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

He led the study and reported results at a recent American Heart Association conference. The research was partly funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Roughly 70 percent of Utah residents are Mormons, whose religion advises abstaining from food on the first Sunday of each month, Horne said.

Finding religion

Researchers got the idea to study fasting after analyzing medical records of patients who had X-ray exams to check for blocked heart arteries between 1994 and 2002 in the Intermountain Health Collaborative Study, a health registry. Of these patients, 4,629 could be diagnosed as clearly having or lacking heart disease — an artery at least 70 percent clogged.

Researchers saw a typical pattern: only 61 percent of Mormons had heart disease compared to 66 percent of non-Mormons. They thought tobacco use probably accounted for the difference. But after taking smoking into account, they still saw a lower rate of heart disease among Mormons and designed a survey to explore why.

It asked about Mormons' religious practices: monthly fasting; avoiding tea, coffee and alcohol; taking a weekly day of rest; going to church, and donating time or money to charity.

Among the 515 people surveyed, only fasting made a significant difference in heart risks: 59 percent of periodic meal skippers were diagnosed with heart disease versus 67 percent of the others.

The difference persisted even when researchers took weight, age and conditions like diabetes or high cholesterol or blood pressure into account. About 8 percent of those surveyed were not Mormons, and those who regularly fasted had lower rates of heart disease, too.

Brief respite for your cells

Horne speculated that when people take a break from food, it forces the body to dip into fat reserves to burn calories. It also keeps the body from being constantly exposed to sugar and having to make insulin to metabolize it. When people develop diabetes, insulin-producing cells become less sensitive to cues from eating, so fasting may provide brief rests that resensitize these cells and make them work better, he said.

But he and other doctors cautioned that skipping meals is not advised for diabetics — it could cause dangerous swings in blood sugar.

Also for dieters, "the news is not as good as you might think" on fasting, said Dr. Raymond Gibbons of the Mayo Clinic, a former heart association president.

"Fasting resets the metabolic rate," slowing it down to adjust to less food and forcing the body to store calories as soon as people resume eating, Gibbons said.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22186390/

A Righteous, Concrete And Strong Move!

2007-12-08T23:52:00.000-05:00

Photo: Saints Joachim & Anne

Diocese votes to leave Episcopal Church

FRESNO, Calif., Dec. 8 (UPI) --

An Episcopal diocese in California voted overwhelmingly Saturday to leave the church, becoming the first in the United States to make the drastic move.

The diocese of San Joaquin plans to align with the Anglican province of the Southern Cone, which includes Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, Episcopal Life reported. The diocese would remain "a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and in full communion with the See of Canterbury," the resolution approved Saturday said.

San Joaquin is one of three dioceses in the Episcopal Church that refuses to ordain women. But the breaking issue was homosexuality, especially the decision in 2003 to consecrate Gene Robinson, an openly gay man in a committed relationship, as bishop of New Hampshire.

"This is a historic moment, a vote for freedom," Bishop John-David Schofield said.

The vote was 103-10 among lay delegates to the convention and 70-12 among the clergy.

The diocese has 47 congregations with about 8,500 members. Schofield said he expects five congregations to choose to remain with the Episcopal Church.

http://pub32.bravenet.com/news/2739005314/166812/3

Press Releases:

http://sanjoaquin.anglican.org/about_us.htm

The Beginning Of Hanukkah

2007-12-04T23:34:00.000-05:00

Photo: Several Hanukiyot on the eighth night of the festival.

On the 25th of Kislev are the days of Chanukkah, which are eight... these were appointed a Festival with Hallel [prayers of praise] and thanksgiving. -Shabbat 21b, Babylonian Talmud

Hanukkah (Hebrew: חנוכה‎, also spelled Chanukah or Hanukah), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday beginning on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may fall anytime from late November to late December. It celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple at the time of the Maccabee rebellion.

The festival is observed by the kindling of lights on each night of the holiday: one on the first night, two on the second, and so on.

Hanukkah - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah

Judiasm 101: Chanukkah
http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm

LC Naughty Or Nice List 2007

2007-11-23T15:34:00.001-05:00

Liberty Counsel Naughty Or Nice List 2007

PDF format:
http://www.lc.org/media/9980/attachments/2007_Naughty-Nice.pdf

http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=15259

Liberty Counsel:
http://lc.org/

2007-11-16T21:52:00.000-05:00

Pro-Life Anglican Minister a “Man on a Mission” to Secularized Britain
.
Rev. Lameck says, “Let them persecute the Church. The word of God cannot be killed."
.
By Hilary White
.
TATTENHALL, Cheshire, UK, November 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – While the news is full of indicators of the impending end of religious practice in Britain and the “post-Christian” west, one Anglican minister offers a word of encouragement. In a tiny rural village eight miles south of the ancient town of Chester, Rev. Lameck Mutete says the faith of the people is growing and that persecution will do nothing to stop the word of God.
.
The much-reported secularization of Britain does nothing to dampen Rev. Lameck’s conviction that what people want most is God. “I feel people are searching in terms of spirituality,” he told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview at his home. “That is what is missing in people’s lives. If you are worried about the levels of spirituality of the people of Britain, I can agree with you. But I think God allows us to have a bit of free will, and to search around, to find Him.”
.
Rev. Lameck came three years ago from Zimbabwe’s capital to serve in the small rural village of Tattenhall, eight miles south of the ancient town of Chester, as the Anglican rector of St. Alban’s church. He describes himself as “a man on a mission,” and talks enthusiastically of his plans to hold “family services” of prayer and singing in the local pub.
.
Rev. Lameck, a tall, physically imposing man with a strong handshake and a musical accent, said from his home office, “Whatever is happening now, people will come to a point of searching for God.” The current situation is a phase, and in it, people of faith are being asked by God to find a place to fit and address the spiritual vacuum. “Ask God, ‘how best shall we work and operate in this particular phase’”. “
.
As much as we would like to fill the church, as much as we need money and numbers, the Church is about the word of God,” he said.
.
He told LifeSiteNews.com that the dismal official statistics are not as important as the faith of the people. After 20 years in the police, he left the force when it became clear that police were being used for political ends in Robert Mugabe’s regime. He is familiar also with the threat of clergy and bishops collaborating with governments. His bishop was the disgraced Bishop Norbert Kunonga of Harare who received land and financial rewards for his support of the Mugabe regime and was accused by parishioners of inciting to murder.
.
Clearly identifying abortion as murder, Rev. Lameck said it is the job of the Church to oppose evil in every situation. Opponents of abortion and other threats to human life and dignity are right to expect the support of the clergy, he said. “It’s not just the utterance of the commandment, to say ‘do not commit murder’ but we want action as well.”
.
“I don’t think we have sufficient emphasis from the men of the cloth or from the pulpit. I feel that we do lack this strong emphasis to make not just the utterance of the commandment, but we need to see (preaching) being used in society.”
.
When the state refuses to uphold the moral law, however, Rev. Lameck believes individuals should not be deterred from speaking out. “It comes down to the personal conscience of the individual. Our teachings have not been watered down by what laws the government can pass because there’s no way I’m going to stand up and teach that abortion is all right. There’s no way I can say that.”
.
“Those who have the responsibility of leading God’s people, they are mandated to speak the truth. Nothing else but the truth.”
.
While Christians and other traditional believers in Britain warn of growing state restrictions on religious expression, Rev. Lameck says, “Let them persecute the Church. The word of God cannot be killed. Paul said, ‘even when I was in chains, then, the word of God. The more they make me suffer, the more the word of God was spread’.”
.
“Let them do what they can do, let them persecute the Church,” he said. “When I talk in terms of persecution, I don’t mean the sword. People of faith are persecuted every day. By the things you see. That’s what I call persecution. It is not necessarily being killed. We die every day. But we rise again with Christ. ”
.
In conflicts and disagreements over issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, Rev. Mutete firmly sides with the message of scripture over popular opinion. “My message is always to do with what is written in the bible, and I speak the word of God.”
.
This, he adds, means he is not really a “nice” minister. “No, I don’t think I’m nice.
.
“I don’t think you can be a minister who lives life without conflicts. If a leader, a normal leader in any kind of organisation, if you are too nice, there must be something wrong with you.”
.
Article Link

2007-10-30T19:15:00.000-04:00

Glory Revealed - By His Wounds Music Video
http://www.worship. net/gloryrevealed/video
-----------
This video offered at The Worship Network is beautiful.
-----------
http://www.worship.net/home/

2007-10-22T23:05:00.000-04:00

. Stand True Ministries
. Silent Day

STILES CAUGHT!

2007-10-18T18:39:00.000-04:00

Chester "Chet" Arthur Stiles

BUSTED: Stiles Makes His Courtroom Debut

NEW DEVELOPMENTS: Chester Arthur Stiles made his first court appearance on October 17, 2007 and authorities say he now faces up to 24 charges related to the alleged videotaped sexual assault of an underage girl and an incident involving the molestation of a 6-year-old girl in 2003.

.
Two days prior, cops in Nevada announced that the nationwide manhunt for Stiles ended when Henderson, Nev. cops arrested the 37-year-old fugitive during a routine traffic stop. Police tell AMW that two officers stopped a white Buick Century without plates at around 7 p.m. when Stiles reportedly gave the officers a California driver's license that looked nothing like him. One of the arresting officers, Mike Dye, stated in a press conference that Stiles admitted at the time of his arrest that "he was Mr. Stiles, the person wanted on America's Most Wanted."

»The Hunt For A Child Rapist

»Fugitive Case File: Darrin Tuck

»AMW Exclusive Interview: Darrin Tuck

»Inside The Investigation

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=49286

http://www.lvmpd.com/crime/wanted_fugitives_stiles.html

2007-10-17T12:16:00.000-04:00

Health: Breast Cancer Virtual Walk
.
http://cbs3.com/video/?id=47157@kyw.dayport.com
.
http://cbs3.com/health
.
The Virtual Walk For The Gal To Gal Foundation
.
https://www. galtogalwalk. org/

Live Search Club

2007-10-13T18:52:00.001-04:00

I learned about this today, and like it a lot. On Live Search-IE7-I noticed that if you sign up and play selected games, and do Live Search on your account home page, you can have tickets which have value to a charity or school that you pick. I signed up for my local Church school.
.
It seems to be a good way to give to a favorite - listed - charity or school. (They have Christian schools listed.)
.
Live Search Club
http://club.live.com/home.aspx?lc=1033
.
---------------
An Update:
.
I had trouble with Club.live.com
.
I had trouble with Adobe Flash Player - which you would need to play games on this site. Adobe doesn't have a fix for the problem at the moment.
.
I also had to in Internet Options allow the site under 'Privacy' as an ok site, and to allow cookies. When I made this change I haven't had any more trouble with the site - at least at the moment.
.
I'm reposting this since I have been able to overcome the bugs.I like 'Seekadoo' and 'Chicktionary' a lot.
.
http://club.live.com/

2007-10-11T16:52:00.000-04:00

Fasting And Feasting In Three Traditions:
Judaism - Christianity - Islam

Interfaith Conversations - Booklet #1
University Of Indianapolis

(Note: In order to read document you will need an Adobe Acrobat reader/pdf reader. Adobe offers a free download.)

http://eip.uindy. edu/crossings/ publications/ Interfaith% 20Conversations- 1.pdf

-------------
I really liked this document, and found it informative. I noticed a difference that I wanted to bring attention to though. On page 13 - "In Islam, Fasting Is Feasting" by Yamina Mermer, It reads:

"The Qur’an says that God accepted his intention, but he taught him that the renunciation was metaphorical. The solution was not to kill his son Ishmael but to love him in the name of his Maker. Abraham surrendered to God’s will because he knew that it was God Who had made him love his son, and he trusted in God’s infinite mercy and wisdom."

There is a difference in doctrine from Christian scripture in what is taught here.

What the Bible reads:

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

http://christianans wers.net/ bible/gen22. html

The story of Ishmael:
http://christianans wers.net/ bible/gen16. html

------------
Fasting - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting

2007-10-07T23:10:00.000-04:00

A VeriChip microchip held in pair of tweezers is displayed in Boca Raton, Fla., in this May 10, 2002, file photo. Proponents say the chips, when implanted in people, offer security and medical identification benefits. Detractors worry that abuse of the chips will eliminate personal privacy in the digital age. (AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)

Chip Implants Linked to Animal Tumors

.
By TODD LEWAN – Sep 9, 2007

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients' medical records almost instantly. The FDA found "reasonable assurance" the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005's top "innovative technologies."

.
But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had "induced" malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats.

.
"The transponders were the cause of the tumors," said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich.

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Leading cancer specialists reviewed the research for The Associated Press and, while cautioning that animal test results do not necessarily apply to humans, said the findings troubled them. Some said they would not allow family members to receive implants, and all urged further research before the glass-encased transponders are widely implanted in people.

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To date, about 2,000 of the so-called radio frequency identification, or RFID, devices have been implanted in humans worldwide, according to VeriChip Corp. The company, which sees a target market of 45 million Americans for its medical monitoring chips, insists the devices are safe, as does its parent company, Applied Digital Solutions, of Delray Beach, Fla.

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"We stand by our implantable products which have been approved by the FDA and/or other U.S. regulatory authorities," Scott Silverman, VeriChip Corp. chairman and chief executive officer, said in a written response to AP questions.

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The company was "not aware of any studies that have resulted in malignant tumors in laboratory rats, mice and certainly not dogs or cats," but he added that millions of domestic pets have been implanted with microchips, without reports of significant problems.

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"In fact, for more than 15 years we have used our encapsulated glass transponders with FDA approved anti-migration caps and received no complaints regarding malignant tumors caused by our product."

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The FDA also stands by its approval of the technology.

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Did the agency know of the tumor findings before approving the chip implants? The FDA declined repeated AP requests to specify what studies it reviewed.

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The FDA is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, which, at the time of VeriChip's approval, was headed by Tommy Thompson. Two weeks after the device's approval took effect on Jan. 10, 2005, Thompson left his Cabinet post, and within five months was a board member of VeriChip Corp. and Applied Digital Solutions. He was compensated in cash and stock options.

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Thompson, until recently a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, says he had no personal relationship with the company as the VeriChip was being evaluated, nor did he play any role in FDA's approval process of the RFID tag.

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"I didn't even know VeriChip before I stepped down from the Department of Health and Human Services," he said in a telephone interview.

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Also making no mention of the findings on animal tumors was a June report by the ethics committee of the American Medical Association, which touted the benefits of implantable RFID devices.

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Had committee members reviewed the literature on cancer in chipped animals?
No, said Dr. Steven Stack, an AMA board member with knowledge of the committee's review.

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Was the AMA aware of the studies?

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No, he said.

___

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Published in veterinary and toxicology journals between 1996 and 2006, the studies found that lab mice and rats injected with microchips sometimes developed subcutaneous "sarcomas" — malignant tumors, most of them encasing the implants.

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_ A 1998 study in Ridgefield, Conn., of 177 mice reported cancer incidence to be slightly higher than 10 percent — a result the researchers described as "surprising."

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_ A 2006 study in France detected tumors in 4.1 percent of 1,260 microchipped mice. This was one of six studies in which the scientists did not set out to find microchip-induced cancer but noticed the growths incidentally. They were testing compounds on behalf of chemical and pharmaceutical companies; but they ruled out the compounds as the tumors' cause. Because researchers only noted the most obvious tumors, the French study said, "These incidences may therefore slightly underestimate the true occurrence" of cancer.

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_ In 1997, a study in Germany found cancers in 1 percent of 4,279 chipped mice. The tumors "are clearly due to the implanted microchips," the authors wrote.

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Caveats accompanied the findings. "Blind leaps from the detection of tumors to the prediction of human health risk should be avoided," one study cautioned. Also, because none of the studies had a control group of animals that did not get chips, the normal rate of tumors cannot be determined and compared to the rate with chips implanted.

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Still, after reviewing the research, specialists at some pre-eminent cancer institutions said the findings raised red flags.

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"There's no way in the world, having read this information, that I would have one of those chips implanted in my skin, or in one of my family members," said Dr. Robert Benezra, head of the Cancer Biology Genetics Program at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

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Before microchips are implanted on a large scale in humans, he said, testing should be done on larger animals, such as dogs or monkeys. "I mean, these are bad diseases. They are life-threatening. And given the preliminary animal data, it looks to me that there's definitely cause for concern."

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Dr. George Demetri, director of the Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, agreed. Even though the tumor incidences were "reasonably small," in his view, the research underscored "certainly real risks" in RFID implants.

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In humans, sarcomas, which strike connective tissues, can range from the highly curable to "tumors that are incredibly aggressive and can kill people in three to six months," he said.

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At the Jackson Laboratory in Maine, a leader in mouse genetics research and the initiation of cancer, Dr. Oded Foreman, a forensic pathologist, also reviewed the studies at the AP's request.

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At first he was skeptical, suggesting that chemicals administered in some of the studies could have caused the cancers and skewed the results. But he took a different view after seeing that control mice, which received no chemicals, also developed the cancers. "That might be a little hint that something real is happening here," he said. He, too, recommended further study, using mice, dogs or non-human primates.

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Dr. Cheryl London, a veterinarian oncologist at Ohio State University, noted: "It's much easier to cause cancer in mice than it is in people. So it may be that what you're seeing in mice represents an exaggerated phenomenon of what may occur in people."

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Tens of thousands of dogs have been chipped, she said, and veterinary pathologists haven't reported outbreaks of related sarcomas in the area of the neck, where canine implants are often done. (Published reports detailing malignant tumors in two chipped dogs turned up in AP's four-month examination of research on chips and health. In one dog, the researchers said cancer appeared linked to the presence of the embedded chip; in the other, the cancer's cause was uncertain.)

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Nonetheless, London saw a need for a 20-year study of chipped canines "to see if you have a biological effect." Dr. Chand Khanna, a veterinary oncologist at the National Cancer Institute, also backed such a study, saying current evidence "does suggest some reason to be concerned about tumor formations."

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Meanwhile, the animal study findings should be disclosed to anyone considering a chip implant, the cancer specialists agreed.

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To date, however, that hasn't happened.

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___

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The product that VeriChip Corp. won approval for use in humans is an electronic capsule the size of two grains of rice. Generally, it is implanted with a syringe into an anesthetized portion of the upper arm.

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When prompted by an electromagnetic scanner, the chip transmits a unique code. With the code, hospital staff can go on the Internet and access a patient's medical profile that is maintained in a database by VeriChip Corp. for an annual fee.

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VeriChip Corp., whose parent company has been marketing radio tags for animals for more than a decade, sees an initial market of diabetics and people with heart conditions or Alzheimer's disease, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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The company is spending millions to assemble a national network of hospitals equipped to scan chipped patients.

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But in its SEC filings, product labels and press releases, VeriChip Corp. has not mentioned the existence of research linking embedded transponders to tumors in test animals.

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When the FDA approved the device, it noted some Verichip risks: The capsules could migrate around the body, making them difficult to extract; they might interfere with defibrillators, or be incompatible with MRI scans, causing burns. While also warning that the chips could cause "adverse tissue reaction," FDA made no reference to malignant growths in animal studies.

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Did the agency review literature on microchip implants and animal cancer?

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Dr. Katherine Albrecht, a privacy advocate and RFID expert, asked shortly after VeriChip's approval what evidence the agency had reviewed. When FDA declined to provide information, she filed a Freedom of Information Act request. More than a year later, she received a letter stating there were no documents matching her request.

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"The public relies on the FDA to evaluate all the data and make sure the devices it approves are safe," she says, "but if they're not doing that, who's covering our backs?"

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Late last year, Albrecht unearthed at the Harvard medical library three studies noting cancerous tumors in some chipped mice and rats, plus a reference in another study to a chipped dog with a tumor. She forwarded them to the AP, which subsequently found three additional mice studies with similar findings, plus another report of a chipped dog with a tumor.

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Asked if it had taken these studies into account, the FDA said VeriChip documents were being kept confidential to protect trade secrets. After AP filed a FOIA request, the FDA made available for a phone interview Anthony Watson, who was in charge of the VeriChip approval process.

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"At the time we reviewed this, I don't remember seeing anything like that," he said of animal studies linking microchips to cancer. A literature search "didn't turn up anything that would be of concern."

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In general, Watson said, companies are expected to provide safety-and-effectiveness data during the approval process, "even if it's adverse information."

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Watson added: "The few articles from the literature that did discuss adverse tissue reactions similar to those in the articles you provided, describe the responses as foreign body reactions that are typical of other implantable devices. The balance of the data provided in the submission supported approval of the device."

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Another implantable device could be a pacemaker, and indeed, tumors have in some cases attached to foreign bodies inside humans. But Dr. Neil Lipman, director of the Research Animal Resource Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, said it's not the same. The microchip isn't like a pacemaker that's vital to keeping someone alive, he added, "so at this stage, the payoff doesn't justify the risks."

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Silverman, VeriChip Corp.'s chief executive, disagreed. "Each month pet microchips reunite over 8,000 dogs and cats with their owners," he said. "We believe the VeriMed Patient Identification System will provide similar positive benefits for at-risk patients who are unable to communicate for themselves in an emergency."

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___

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And what of former HHS secretary Thompson?

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When asked what role, if any, he played in VeriChip's approval, Thompson replied: "I had nothing to do with it. And if you look back at my record, you will find that there has never been any improprieties whatsoever."

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FDA's Watson said: "I have no recollection of him being involved in it at all." VeriChip Corp. declined comment.

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Thompson vigorously campaigned for electronic medical records and healthcare technology both as governor of Wisconsin and at HHS. While in President Bush's Cabinet, he formed a "medical innovation" task force that worked to partner FDA with companies developing medical information technologies.

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At a "Medical Innovation Summit" on Oct. 20, 2004, Lester Crawford, the FDA's acting commissioner, thanked the secretary for getting the agency "deeply involved in the use of new information technology to help prevent medication error." One notable example he cited: "the implantable chips and scanners of the VeriChip system our agency approved last week."

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After leaving the Cabinet and joining the company board, Thompson received options on 166,667 shares of VeriChip Corp. stock, and options on an additional 100,000 shares of stock from its parent company, Applied Digital Solutions, according to SEC records. He also received $40,000 in cash in 2005 and again in 2006, the filings show.

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The Project on Government Oversight called Thompson's actions "unacceptable" even though they did not violate what the independent watchdog group calls weak conflict-of-interest laws.

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"A decade ago, people would be embarrassed to cash in on their government connections. But now it's like the Wild West," said the group's executive director, Danielle Brian.

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Thompson is a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a Washington law firm that was paid $1.2 million for legal services it provided the chip maker in 2005 and 2006, according to SEC filings.

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He stepped down as a VeriChip Corp. director in March to seek the GOP presidential nomination, and records show that the company gave his campaign $7,400 before he bowed out of the race in August.

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In a TV interview while still on the board, Thompson was explaining the benefits — and the ease — of being chipped when an interviewer interrupted:

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"I'm sorry, sir. Did you just say you would get one implanted in your arm?"

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"Absolutely," Thompson replied. "Without a doubt."

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"No concerns at all?"

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"No."

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But to date, Thompson has yet to be chipped himself.

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On the Net:
. http://www.verichipcorp.com
. http://www.antichips.com
. http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/

The Associated Press

Article: AP Report On RFID Chips And Cancer Raises Concerns

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification

http://www.spychips.com/media/katherine-albrecht.html

http://hms.harvard.edu/hms/home.asp

2007-10-07T18:37:00.000-04:00

I don't think I heard someone say this as of yet, because everybody has been so shocked and angry.
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Thank you Darrin Tuck for turning the video into the police which brought to light what Chester "Chet" Arthur Stiles has been doing - which hopefully - God Willing - will bring him to justice soon.
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If I had found a video such as this, I honestly would have turned it into the police sooner. Whether it was out of fear of being arrested - which happened - not knowing what to do, or for whatever reason the tape was not turned in sooner - the point is Darrin did try to do the right thing, and turned over the video.
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Darrin did take the risk and did the right thing.
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I'm thankful that 'Madison' is still with us, and for the most part ok.
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I noticed with the news reports that Darrin isn't getting any credit at all for doing the right and good thing - even if it is belated.
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Darrin does look guilty about something - But on this video tape he did the right thing. I'm glad that Darrin didn't decide to burn the tape instead rather than turn it in.
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My point is maybe he can be given a bit of a break.
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»Fugitive Case File: Darrin Tuck

Child Found Safe!

2007-09-29T00:46:00.001-04:00

Chester Arthur Stiles

Stiles Now A Suspect In 'Madison' Case

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In a press conference on September 28, 2007, Nye County authorities officially named Chester Arthur Stiles as a suspect in the videotaped sexual assault of an underage girl. The girl, only identified as a 7-year-old named Madison, is safe and home with her family, cops added. Police stated that the tape was made four years ago when Madison was only three years old. Cops also informed the press that Darren Tuck will soon be behind bars due to a parole violation and his involvement in this case. Now that Madison is safe and sound, detectives in Nevada declared a new mission...putting Chester Stiles behind bars.

»The Full Story »Inside The Investigation

Article Link

2007-09-28T01:25:00.000-04:00

Police Get Tips To Girl's Identity
Detective: Hundreds Of Tips Received On Sex Tape Investigation

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POSTED: 3:26 pm PDT September 24, 2007
UPDATED: 3:57 pm PDT September 24, 2007

PAHRUMP, Nev. -- Officers said they have received more than 100 tips concerning the identity of a girl being abused in a pornographic tape. Nye County police are trying to identify her and her adult male attacker.

"It the most disgusting thing you could possibly imagine," Detective David Boruchowitz said. "The worst thing you could imagine happening to this girl happened."

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Boruchowitz said the girl appears to only be 4 to 5 years old when the tape was filmed and, it appears, she has been victimized a lot. Detectives said the crime is gaining national attention, which has led to hundreds of calls about the identity of the girl and the male assaulting her.

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"We really know very little," Boruchowitz said. "What we know is Darren Tuck, a local resident, turned in this tape to our detectives division."

Tuck told detectives he found the tape in the middle of the desert. Police said that, after an investigation, they found Tuck had possession of the tape for about five months, showing it to others.

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"He's absolutely not telling the whole truth," Boruchowitz said. "I think Darren Tuck could provide more information that could help us in this investigation, although he's chosen not to."
Detectives said Tuck has no prior convictions or arrests of this nature, but has been charged with possession of child pornography and promotion of sexual acts of a minor. If convicted, he could get sentenced to life in prison.

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Police are still requesting tips to the identity of this man. If you have any information, call CrimeStoppers at 702-385-5555.

Article Link

http://www.amw.com/features/feature_story_detail.cfm?id=2169

http://boards.crimelibrary.com/showthread.php?p=8998772

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/nancy.grace/

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0709/27/ng.01.html

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I learned about this case from Nancy Grace.

Note: I removed 'Madison's photo due to a post request on one of my Blog's who gave me a new update. Thank you to poster 'Anonymous'.