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Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #1 Creator and His Prophets

Posted on January 27, 2013. Filed under: Environment and Ecology, History, Jehovah יהוה YHWH JHVH God Elohim Yahweh Jahweh, Life and Death, World | Tags: Adam, Beginning, beginning of the universe, Cherubim, Creation, Descendants, Earth, Elohim, Esteem of God, Eve, Existence, Garden of Eden, genesis 1, God, Heaven, I Am that I Am, Inspiration, Jehovah, Likeness of God, Voice of God, Work of God |

Trust, Faith and Prayer

Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 voice of God

Speaking and bringing unto being

The “I Am who I am” or the “I am that I am”, at the beginning of the universe let His voice come over everything, so that it came into being.

In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. And the earth came to be {1} formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters. {Footnote: 1Or the earth became}. And Elohim said, “Let light come to be,” and light came to be. (Genesis 1:1-3 The Scriptures 1998+)

The Creator of everything said each time that it had to come to be and it became. Over which His breath came He also gave a name. Elohim called the light ‘day’ and the darkness He called ‘night.’ He called the expanse ‘heavens.’ Elohim called the dry land ‘earth,’ and the collection of the waters He called ‘seas.’ He soon came to give with His voice blessing over the all earth.

An artist’s impression of a protoplanetary disk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

11 And Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the plant that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth.” And it came to be so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the plant that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:11-12 The Scriptures 1998+)

20 And Elohim said, “Let the waters teem with shoals of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth on the face of the expanse of the heavens.” 21 And Elohim created great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters teemed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. 22 And Elohim saw that it was good. And Elohim blessed them, saying, “Bear fruit and increase, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23 The Scriptures 1998+)

A voice calling in the Garden

The things which came into existence by the Voice of God pleased Him. He always looked at what came into being and saw that it was good. So God decided to make human beings; which would be like Him and resemble Him, what does not mean they would become like Him. Adam, Eve, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jesus, were all made in the image of that One and Only One God. They received power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small. Male and female were created and blessed. To those first human beings God said to have many children, so that their descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. It was the Creator God who put those human creatures in charge of the earth, the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals. From the beginning the Elohim God also provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for them to eat.

25 And Elohim made the beast of the earth according to its kind, livestock according to its kind, and all that creep on the earth according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. 26 And Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth and over all the creeping creatures that creep on the earth.” 27 And Elohim created the man in His image, in the image of Elohim He created him – male and female He created them. 28 And Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Bear fruit and increase, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over all creatures moving on the earth.” 29 And Elohim said, “See, I have given you every plant that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, to you it is for food. (Genesis 1:25-29 The Scriptures 1998+)

Adam and Eve heard the Voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. In the beginning it looked like the Voice of God was soft and caring, creating all goodness. But after the wrong going by Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God in the middle of the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:8), more than once God had to let His Voice be like thunder.

The story of the Eden Garden. The temptation of Adam & Eve by the devil. Pedestal of the statue of Madonna with Child, western portal (of the Virgin), of Notre-Dame de Paris (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“יהוה {Jehovah} thundered from the heavens, And the Most High sent forth His voice. (2 Samuel 22:14 The Scriptures 1998+)

2 Listen, listen to the trembling of His voice, and the sound that comes from His mouth. 3 He lets it loose under all the heavens, and His lightning to the ends of the earth. 4 After it a voice roars. He thunders with the voice of His excellency, and He does not hold them back when His voice is heard. 5 Ěl thunders wondrously with His voice; doing great deeds, which we do not understand. 6 For He says to the snow, ‘Be on the earth,’ also to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength. 7 He seals up the hand of every man, for all men to know His work. (Job 37:2-7 The Scriptures 1998+)

Prophets hearing the Voice

Many prophets heard the voice of God, some, like Ezekiel as the sound of wings, like the sound of roaring water and wrote down what the voice of the Almighty dictated to them. God’s glory rose above the cherubs and filled God’s House (the temple) with the brilliance of the Creator’s glory. The sound of the wings of the cherubim, reminiscent of the voice of the Sovereign God when he speaks, could be heard as far as the outer court of the temple.

4 And the esteem of יהוה {Jehovah} went up from the keruḇ, over the threshold of the House. And the House was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the esteem of יהוה {Jehovah}. 5 And the sound of the wings of the keruḇim was heard in the outer court, like the voice of Ěl Shaddai when He speaks. (Ezekiel 10:4-5 The Scriptures 1998+)

And see, the esteem of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl came from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone from His esteem. And His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone from His esteem. (Ezekiel 43:2 The Scriptures 1998+)

It was this Voice of God that could lift up the prophets and give them inspiration to write down that what God wanted them His people to know. By way of His Voice God gave His commandments and asked people to do certain things for Him.

And the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner courtyard. And see, the esteem of יהוה filled the House. (Ezekiel 43:5 The Scriptures 1998+)

Preceding article: Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #2 Calling upon the Name of God

Dutch version: Vertrouwen, Geloof, Roepen en Toeschrijving aan Jehovah #3 Stem van God #1 Schepper en Zijn profeten

Continued: Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #2 Instructions and Laws

Science and God’s existence

Posted on November 26, 2012. Filed under: Religion, World | Tags: Alvin Plantinga, Atheism, Atheists, Biology, Book review, DNA, Existence of God, Genetic Code, John C. Lennox, Knowledge, Origin of the Universe, Philosophy of science, Richard Dawkins, Science, Universe |

A taster article from the October 2012 edition of the Christadelphian magazine

Book review: Science and God’s existence

This brilliantly argued, and authoritative book uses powerful new evidence from the cutting edge of science to challenge aggressive atheism head on.

The author is Professor in Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College. He employs his superb reasoning and mathematical skills and his expert and wide ranging understanding of current scientific research to demonstrate that science far from ‘burying God’, points increasingly towards an intelligent designer.

Creative intelligence

The book begins with a consideration of the philosophical basis of science and knowledge. It explores and effectively counters the views of scientists such as Richard Dawkins, that science can explain everything and that what is not science cannot therefore be truth.

Richard Dawkins giving a lecture based on his book, The God Delusion, in Reykjavik (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The book then moves on to analyse the latest discoveries about the origins and nature of the universe. The author examines the findings of astrophysicists and cosmologists who are using increasingly complex equipment to explore the very edges of the universe. He adds his own mathematical reasoning to that of experts working in these fields and leads us to the conclusion that the universe is so remarkably finely-tuned and the mathematical probabilities of this happening by chance are so impossibly small that a creative intelligence must have been involved in their creation.

In the second half of the book, the author tackles evolutionary biology. He considers Dawkins’ view that natural selection accounts not just for the diversity but also the very existence of life on earth. Lennox highlights the lack of evidence that natural selection has ever created new characteristics, let alone life. The author then turns to molecular biology and research into DNA and the genetic code. In these fascinating chapters Lennox explains how scientists working at the forefront of this field have been staggered to discover that genetic codes are both highly specific and phenomenally complex. Lennox does the maths for us and demonstrates that there simply has not been enough time since the Big Bang for these complex codes to have come about by chance. The more that experts working in the field learn, the more they are led to the conclusion that there must have been a super intelligence behind them.

Valuable information

Lennox’s book is necessarily technical to a degree; presenting as it does mathematical and scientific data and employing complex and abstract reasoning in order to weigh the evidence and draw conclusions. He has, however, managed to make much of this accessible and understandable to the lay person and produce a readable and at times very amusing book.

Here is a valuable source of information for countering the views of people who believe that science has disproved the existence of God. Recent scientific discoveries are doing quite the reverse and this book provides facts and figures and very strong arguments which can be used as evidence for this.

This book would be particularly useful for brethren and sisters and young people who are at college or university and who find themselves face to face with knowledgeable and clever atheists. It will also be valuable for parents and brethren and sisters who work with our young people, many of whom may be wondering deep down whether science really has taken away the need for faith. This book shows us that it most certainly has not.

Rachel Green

God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? by John C. Lennox is published by Lion Hudson; 220 pages, £8.99 ISBN 978-07459-5371-7.

The Christadelphian magazine reflects the teachings, beliefs and activities of the Christadelphians – groups of believers living in most countries in the world.

> home of The Christadelphian

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Science and the belief in God – A video short for a Sunday afternoon (rodiagnusdei.wordpress.com)
“Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance.” Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Physician and Mathematician, Father of Calculus
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“I do not share the foolish incoherence of the scientist who would contest the existence of God, who would close his ears to what the heavens declare, and refuse to see what shines before his eyes. To know God, to love Him, to render to him a pure homage, that is true knowledge and the study of the wise.” Andre Marie Ampere (1775-1836) Author: ‘The True Scientist’, Father of Electrodynamics
Atheists’ Reviews Of Dawkins’ The God Delusion (withalliamgod.wordpress.com)
Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, a book that attempted to expose logical faultiness of religion and its’ cause of much suffering in the world, is the most read atheistic literature in our times. In this series of articles, I explored different prominent atheists and agnostics reviews of The God Delusion.
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Spinning towards the evils of religion, Orr correctly appreciated Dawkins for reminding us the “horrors committed in the name of God”. “No decent person can fail to be repulsed by the sins committed in the name of religion” wrote Orr.
Alvin Plantinga on the New Atheists (keithburgess-jackson.typepad.com)
Apparently some of the dreaded “New Atheists” do think serious discussion is out of place in this area. Here is Richard Dawkins’s suggestion for dealing with those religious people he disagrees with: “We need to go further: go beyond humorous ridicule, sharpen our barbs to a point where they really hurt.” . . . Fence sitters, he says, “are likely to be swayed by a display of naked contempt. Nobody likes to be laughed at. Nobody wants to be the butt of contempt.”
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One gets the impression that Dawkins has an irrational hatred of religion (perhaps brought on by events in his childhood). Hatred makes people do pointless and destructive things.
Ravi Zacharias Answers Stephen Hawking – Part 3 – 20 Min. (christcenteredteaching.wordpress.com)
Stephen Hawking declared that God was not needed for the universe to be created.

Theologian Ravi Zacharias and Dr. John Lennox,( a triple doctorate in science and philosophy from Cambridge university where Hawkings also studied, and has studied and is Professor of Mathematics at Oxford), respond to Hawking’s claim.
If materialism is wrong, what can replace it? (geneveith.com)
Nagel, an eminent philosopher, is an atheist, but he recognizes the force of the intelligent design arguments and in this book (published by Oxford University Press), he dismantles the materialists’ assumptions. What is especially interesting, though, is how Plantinga interacts with Nagel and challenges his atheism
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According to Nagel, materialist naturalism has great difficulty with consciousness, but it has even greater difficulty with cognition. He thinks it monumentally unlikely that unguided natural selection should have “generated creatures with the capacity to discover by reason the truth about a reality that extends vastly beyond the initial appearances.” He is thinking in particular of science itself.
Science & Theism in Concord? (ubcgcu.org)
God created both us and our world in such a way that there is a certain fit or match between the world and our cognitive faculties: adequatio intellectus ad rem (the adequation of the intellect to reality). For science to be successful, there must be a match between our cognitive faculties and the world.
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Creation is a free act of God. The contingency of divine creation both underlies and underwrites the empirical character of modern Western science. This is the domain of a posteriori knowledge, which requires experience, knowledge produced by perception, memory, exactly the sort of knowledge produced by empirical science—through observation and experience.
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Theistic religion gives us reason to expect our cognitive capacities (part of the imago dei) to match the world in such a way as to make modern science possible. Naturalism gives us no such reason to expect this sort of match. In his final chapter, he goes further to demonstrate provocatively the incompatibility of science and naturalism.
Big Bang: Is there room for God? (bbc.co.uk)
Now that the Higgs has finally been spotted – a scientific discovery that takes us closer than ever to the first moments after the Big Bang – Cern has opened its doors to scholars that take a very different approach to the question of how the Universe came to exist.
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“There’s a need for us, as naive scientists, to discuss with philosophers and theologians the time before or around the Big Bang.”
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“You can’t disprove the theory of God.”

“The power of science is uncertainty. Everything is uncertain, but science can define that uncertainty.”
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John Lennox, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, is also a self-declared Christian. He thinks the very fact that human beings can do science is evidence for God.

“If the atheists are right the mind that does science… is the end product of a mindless unguided process.

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A day without taking the symbols

Posted on November 15, 2012. Filed under: Being Christian, following Jesus Christ, Breaking of the Bread, Life and Death, World | Tags: Belgium, Breaking of the Bread, Communion Service, Destination, ecclesia, England, Flanders, Gathering, Great War, Greed, Hardship, Holland, Hope in God, Human Flesh, John McCrae, meeting, Ransom, Remembrance Poppy, Remembrance Service, Saviour, Shortage, Symbol, War, War Memorial, World War I |

The previous weekends our thought were with the many people who died in the many wars. In World War I it looked for many as if the world would come to an end. And after the horrible battle was finished many thought it would never happen again.

Poppies between the grass and cornflowers in Flanders, Belgium

Chris Adwards, in the first weekend of November talked about the remembrance poppy, which originally in Flanders was a sign of conquest and possibility of preponderance, because the flower was so strong it came back every year again and if nothing was done at the fields seemed to grow with thousands.

During the First World War the Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was also astonished by the beauty of that wild flower. This red rose inspired him to write a war poem in the form of a rondeau. “In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row, / That mark our place; and in the sky / The larks, still bravely singing, fly / Scarce heard amid the guns below.”

Soldiers could take up their quarrel with the foe but no matter what happened and how the ground was filled with holes form the bombs, this beuatifu flower brought the only fresh colour next to the blood, into the fields. Many blood was shed and mingled with the red of the flowers which still kept growing as if the world could not harm it.

In Flanders for centuries there has been a battlefield for many countries.

At those battles strangely enough many called to God to help them and where sure that God was on their side. At times, on Christmas night they took time off and came together to sing songs and to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, whom they all called their saviour.

After Jesus had died his followers came together at regular times to remember a more important day than his birth. The day before Jesus was going to die should be the more important day for all Christians. On that night Jesus took bread and wine and asked his disciples to remember what he was doing that night. Later, in the breaking of the bread others could see the sign of Christ.

Jesus had declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” His followers had to remember his actions and do the breaking of bread as a remembrance of the last meal the apostles and Christ had together, but in the first place as the sign of the New Covenant.

Normally on several days in the year we come together to remember the death of Christ and this breaking of bread on the night before he died.

Bread and wine are also symbols of life and of the products of the earth and the products of God the Creator. It is also a symbol of unification. In a family the members come together to eat with each other and to share the wine. Most welcome friends are also invited at the table. People are not able to live without food, and Jesus has become our food. God has provided the food for life and we can accept Jesus peace offering by sharing the bread and wine with each other.

In the ecclesia we come together as brothers and sisters and invite others to come and join us. The gathering is about welcome, meeting our desperate need, recognising Jesus, compassion, acceptance, undeserved love, God’s provision and the right response of our hearts. This time of the year we not only think about Jesus’ death, but about many who lost their life in ridiculous battles, which could have been avoided when people would have lived more according to the Will of God and not according to their lusts.

Greed and want are those things which bring problems and let other people want to have property what does not originally belong to them. It makes people wanting more than that what God has already given them.

Perhaps therefore it is not bad to stand still and think about our wishes and about our greed and wrong intentions. Even when people where saved from slavery and on their way to the promised land they where not pleased whit what God gave them. Some of them also preferred to take more manna than needed. Israel was given manna and quails when they had no other food in the wilderness. They got fed up with it and we must be careful that our remembrance services don’t become ordinary and turn the special privilege we have of remembering Jesus in bread and wine into the mundane.

Therefore last Sunday we contemplated and we remembered the difficult moments Christ had to go through and the horrible nightmare which befell so many youngsters when they had to go the war in the Great War. We thought of the storm Paul and the members on the ship had to face (Reading of the day: Acts chapters 26-27)

English: A remembrance poppy from Canada, worn on the lapel of a men’s suit. In many Commonwealth countries, poppies are worn to commemorate soldiers who have died in war, with usage most common in the week leading up to Remembrance Day (and Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand). The use of the poppy was inspired by the World War I poem In Flanders Fields, written by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Accused by the Jews of being a “pestilent fellow … a mover of sedition … and the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes … [who had] gone about to profane the temple” (Acts 24:5, 6), Paul took his stand, as a follower of Jesus Christ, on the basis of the promises to Israel. The focus of the apostle’s faith was on the promises to the fathers of Israel. On those promises we need to meditate more often.

In all those previous time people did not listen to God and did not have their eyes focused on the love of Christ. Today we still see these people who are blockheads and stick their fingers in their ears so they won’t have to listen. They screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. (Acts 28:27)

Sunday the 11th of November those who lost their lives fighting in two world wars were remembered at war memorials throughout the world. Not only at war memorials but in hundreds of thousands of homes across the world the eye may have rest for more than a moment on a fading photo of seventy years ago: so too the fresher photos of those lost in many conflicts since. Not only are the soldiers remembered but the many civilians too who lost their lives because of enemy action. Many people in wars were bullied or even killed because of their believes. Our thoughts were with those who gave their live for not giving in to false teachings and for wanting to serve the only One God.

Only those over about seventy-five years-of-age will perhaps recall the joyful release of 1945. Like people imprisoned and delivered from a tremendous storm, people spilled out onto the streets in joyful celebration as the news spread that hostilities had finally ceased. The restrictions, dangers and distresses of six years of war seemed to be over. But it took years to recover. For years in the schools pupils had to share one book with three pupils and ot be happy to have enough chalk to write on the slates. In Belgium, Holland, France and Britain many items that we now take for granted remained rationed for several years. For a decade or more, buildings gutted by bombing remained as silent witnesses.

It took more forty years after the end of the war to pay the U.S. for the loan provided by their government to help economic recovery.

The winter of 1946-47 was the coldest for half a century in England, Holland and Belgium had to face a terrible storm and flood in 1953. Combined with consequent power shortages, post-war life was hard. Normal life did not return for a long time.

At our time of wealth it is not bad to take a moment to stand still at all those hardships.

Because there is still so much trouble in the world, we had a special talk on the Paris meeting on the 17th of October with a collection for the help funds. On the 11th of November we took distance of partaking the breaking of bread at the service, because it was a moment of silence and part of coming to proper understanding of what Jesus had done and why.

As children of God, we have a destination. There are, and have been many storms on the way. We may have suffered loss of property. We, or those near to us, may have been (or are) ill. The record in Acts 27 does not say that Paul was ill, but few people can resist the violent motion of the heaving sea on their stomachs. The people around Paul were afraid of ‘the sea and waves roaring’ but he remained calm. So should we. So must we. The tyrants and the terrors of this world must necessarily come and go but the Word of the Lord remains sure. Peter writes:

And although it wasn’t revealed to them, [it was] to you. For they were just servants of things that those who preached the good news to you have shown you, through the Holy Breath that was sent from heaven, and which even the messengers [of God] want to learn more about. As the result, prepare your minds to understand! Be perfectly sober about your hope of the loving care that will be conveyed to you at the revelation of Jesus the Anointed One. As obedient children, don’t go back to being what you used to be by desiring ignorant things. But, like the Holy One who called you, become holy in all your ways. For it is written, ‘You must be holy, because I am holy!’ So, if you are calling on this Father (who doesn’t discriminate, but judges each one by what he does), it’s time for you to fearfully turn back from your isolation. For, you must recognize that the ransom, which was paid to release you from the worthless way of life that you learned from your fathers, wasn’t paid for with things that corrode, like silver or gold. It was [paid for] with the precious blood of the Anointed One, who is like a spotless and perfect lamb. Although he was known before the arrangement was established, he is being recognized in you at the end of this period in time, whenever you (through him) are being faithful to God (He who raised him from the dead and glorified him), so that your faith and hope will be in God. Now that obedience to the truth has purified your lives; truly care about your brothers and reach out in sincere love for them with your whole hearts. For, you weren’t regenerated as seeds that rot, but by something that doesn’t decay… the promises of the living and enduring God. Because, ‘All flesh is like grass, and its glory is like flowers in a field. Grass dries up and flowers drop, but the words of Jehovah are age-long.’ These are the words that we preached to you as good news.
(1 Peter 1:12-25 2001)

Because our flesh is as grass, and all the esteem of man as the poppyflower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of Elohim, the Most High God remains forever.

As in the Newburry ecclesia where they also celebrated their communion service in a different way from the usual, we only remembered the symbols symbolically. In Newburry their lunch beforehand included bread and wine but they didn’t eat all of it. We also left over for the needy ones and had our thoughts with all the people in distress and need.

But we were very pleased to have been together in a series of an inspired meetings about life and death. The abstinence of something which seems so obvious was not a bad idea to remember all of what God has given us and that we may be blessed to have the Word, announced as Good News to us all.

No Mans Land, Flanders Field, France, 1919 (LOC) (Photo credit: The Library of Congress)

Condemnation of the World and Illustration of Justification

Posted on September 25, 2012. Filed under: Being Christian, following Jesus Christ, Bible Study and Bible Reading, Jesus Christ Jeshua the Messiah Jahushua, World | Tags: Belief, Circumcision, Elohim, Epistle to the Romans, Evil, Fear, Fear God, God, Good Works, Judeo-Christian, judgement, Justification, Law of God, Righteous, Sin, Sinner, Torah, Works of the Law |

Are we better off?

In the world we may find atheists, believers in all sorts of gods, and believers of all sorts of denominations in the one they call the Only One God.

Are those who think they believe in Jesus to be God, or those who think Jehovah being God the only righteous? They should know better, because according to the Gospel of the Apostles there is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.

Ruin and misery are in the paths of this contemporary world. A world where we can see that there is no fear of God.

Some may think the world is going ‘berserk’ because the Judeo-Christian world is not taken serious, as being the only civilisation able to bring forth inventions ans wealth. But they should be aware that God allowed all people to leave on this earth, and that many of them, also those who do not believe, are able to do good works, and able to think and handle the right way, because all men are created in the likeness of God.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For no one is declared righteous before Him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. And that should make us think more. Being aware what evil really is. Believing in Christ or God does not make us a more important person than somebody who does not believe at all, or does believe something different than us. For there is no distinction, for all have sinnedand fall short of the glory of God.

English: Reading of the Torah, Aish Synagogue, Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But the good thing about accepting Christ and believing in all the works he and his Father did is that we can become justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Those who accepted Christ as their Saviour and are willing to read the Holy Scriptures, learning from them, may be blessed when they make work of it to live according those Words of God. Though we shall not be able to be without sin, our sins can be forgiven, when do have regret of what we did wrong and when we also can forgive those who sinned against us. Many their lawless deeds are forgiven, and many their sins are covered; blessed is the one against whom the Lord will never count sin.

Romans 3:1-4:25 The Scriptures 1998+

(1) What then is the advantage of the Yehudor what is the value of the circumcision?
(2) Much in every way! Because firstly indeed, that they were entrusted with the Words of Elohim.1 Footnote: 1See 2:20.

(3) For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief nullify the trustworthiness of Elohim?
(4) Let it not be! But let Elohim be true, and every man a liar, as it has been written, “That You should be declared right in Your words, and prevail in Your judging.”

(5) But if our unrighteousness establishes the righteousness of Elohim, what shall we say? Is Elohim unrighteous who is inflicting wrath? I speak as a man.
(6) Let it not be! Otherwise how shall Elohim judge the world?

(7) For if the truth of Elohim has increased through my lie, to His esteem, why am I also still judged as a sinner?
(8) And why not say, “Let us do evil so that the good might come”? – as we are wrongly accused and as some claim that we say. Their judgment is in the right.
(9) What then? Are we better than they? Not at all, for we have previously accused both Yehudand Greeks that they are all under sin.

(10) As it has been written, “There is none righteous, no, not one!
(11) “There is no one who is understanding, there is none who is seeking Elohim.
(12) “They all have turned aside, they have together become worthless. There is none who does good, no, not one.”
(13) “Their throat is an open tomb, with their tongues they have deceived,” “The poison of adders is under their lips,”
(14) “Whose mouth is filled with cursing and bitterness.”
(15) “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
(16) ruin and wretchedness are in their ways,
(17) and the way of peace they have not known.”

(18) “There is no fear of Elohim before their eyes.”

(19) And we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those who are in the Torah, so that every mouth might be stopped, and all the world come under judgment before Elohim.
(20) Therefore by works of Torah no flesh shall be declared right before Him, for by the Torah is the knowledge of sin.1 Footnote: 1Ex. 20:20, Rom. 4:15, Rom. 7:7.

(21) But now, apart from the Torah, a righteousness of Elohim has been revealed, being witnessed by the Torah and the Prophets,
(22) and the righteousness of Elohim is through belief in יהושע Messiah to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference,
(23) for all have sinned and fall short of the esteem of Elohim,
(24) being declared right, without paying, by His favour through the redemption which is in Messiah יהושע ,
(25) whom Elohim set forth as an atonement, through belief in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His tolerance Elohim had passed over the sins that had taken place before,
(26) to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He is righteous and declares righteous the one who has belief in יהושע .
(27) Where, then, is the boasting? It is shut out. By what Torah? Of works? No, but by the Torah of belief.
(28) For we reckon that a man is declared right by belief without works of Torah.
(29) Or is He the Elohim of the Yehudonly, and not also of the gentiles? Yea, of the gentiles also,
(30) since it is one Elohim who shall declare right the circumcised by belief and the uncircumcised through belief.

(31) Do we then nullify the Torah through the belief? Let it not be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah.1 Footnote: 1See 7:12.

(1) What, then, shall we say Abour father, to have found, according to the flesh?
(2) For if Abwas declared right by works, he has ground for boasting, but not before Elohim.
(3) For what does the Scripture say? “Abbelieved Elohim, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.”1 Footnote: 1Gen. 15:6, Gen. 17:1 and 26:5.
(4) And to him who is working, the reward is not reckoned as a favour but as a debt.
(5) And to him who is not working but believes on Him who is declaring right the wicked, his belief is reckoned for righteousness,
(6) even as Dawidalso says of the blessedness of the man to whom Elohim reckons righteousness without works:
(7) “Blessed are those whose lawlessnesses are forgiven, and whose sins are covered,
(8) blessed is the man to whom יהוה shall by no means reckon sin.”
(9) Is this blessing then upon the circumcised only, or also upon the uncircumcised? For we affirm: Belief was reckoned unto Abfor righteousness.
(10) How then was it reckoned? Being in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
(11) And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the belief while in uncircumcision, for him to be a father of all those believing through uncircumcision, for righteousness to be reckoned to them also,
(12) and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the belief which our father Abhad in uncircumcision.
(13) For the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abor to his seed through the Torah, but through a righteousness of belief.

(14) For if those who are of the Torah are heirs, belief has been made useless, and the promise has been nullified,
(15) for the Torah works out wrath, for where there is no Torah there is no transgression.

(16) On account of this it is of belief, that it be according to favour, for the promise to be made certain to all the seed, not only to those who are of the Torah, but also to those who are of the belief of Abwho is father of us all –
(17) as it has been written, “I have made you a father of many nations” – in the presence of Him whom he believed, even Elohim, who gives life to the dead and calls that which does not exist as existing,
(18) who against all expectation did believe, in expectation, so that he should become father of many nations, according to what was said, “So shall your seed be.”

(19) And not having grown weak in belief, he did not consider his own body, already dead, being about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb,
(20) he did not hesitate about the promise of Elohim through unbelief, but was strengthened in belief, giving esteem to Elohim,
(21) and being completely persuaded that what He had promised He was also able to do.

(22) Therefore also “it was reckoned to him for righteousness.”
(23) And not because of him alone was it written that it was reckoned to him,
(24) but also because of us, to whom it shall be reckoned, to us who believe in Him who raised up יהושע our Master from the dead,
(25) who was delivered up because of our trespasses, and was raised for us to be declared right.

We Have Been Reconciled – Day 4 (christlikeministriesnwa.wordpress.com)
The book of Romans provides much of the basic principles, and what we know as “foundational truths”. What are “foundational truths”? These are the core beliefs that all Christians ought to have…just like when constructing any kind of building the first thing that needs to be built is the foundation. Once you have a foundation laid then you can begin to construct whatever the building is.
Proper Judgment (conversationinfaith.wordpress.com)
Usually we think of this story as one that helps us think about the relationship between sin and judgment.We are all sinners and that knowledge ought to temper our judgment of others.
Class Notes: The Jewish Experience: During the Biblical Years by Dr Raymond Gannon @ Beth Yachad (paradoxparables.justparadox.com)
Adonai desires that all should come to repentance, everyone everywhere, to worship in spirit and truth. He says I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.
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Circumcision was a nation recognition that the house of Israel belongs to G-d to walk in holiness and purity.

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Christadelphian Samaritan Fund and donation to appeals by UNICEF

Posted on September 11, 2012. Filed under: Announcement, World | Tags: Christadelphian Samaritan Fund, Disasters Emergency Committee, Iraq, Lebanon, Missionary, Syria, Turkey, UNICEF, West Africa |

Flag of UNICEF (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Christadelphians support various charities worldwide and in addition have set up organisations to cover the care of our elderly, families in distress, and missionary work. One of such funds is the Christadelphian Samaritan Fund which makes financial contributions to non-Christadelphians to provide for human need and the relief of suffering which is a consequence of war or natural disasters. It supports about 100 established charities involved in the relief of suffering or research into the causes of illness.

They also support the Disasters Emergency Committee, using funds specified for national and international disasters.

In August the Samaritan Fund made a substantial donation to appeals by UNICEF to bring humanitarian relief to hundreds of thousands of young children facing life threatening malnutrition in West Africa, and to the large numbers of refugees coming out of Syria now living in camps situated in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.

The Samaritan Fund is also able to forward donations from ecclesias and brethren and sisters wishing to support these appeals.

Donations should be sent to the Treasurer, Brother Ken Smith, Westhaven House, Arleston Way, Shirley, Solihull, West Mids., B90 4LH, with a note earmarking it for the UNICEF appeals for West Africa and/or refugees from Syria.

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Christadelphian Samaritan Fund and Médecins Sans Frontières Appeal for South Sudan (christadelphians.wordpress.com)
The Parable of the Good Mormon – A Rebooted Post (brokenbelievers.com)
I would like to suggest to you, that the Orthodox Jews looked at Samaritans, the same way as we look at Mormons. I think there is a parallel. And I think that we could stand for an adjustment.
Shoes For Crews Donates Shoes to Samaritan’s Feet to Distribute and Share Hope with People Around the World (prweb.com)
Shoes For Crews, producers of premium slip resistant footwear, will be donating several hundred pairs of shoes to support the humanitarian efforts of non-profit relief organization Samaritan’s Feet. The organization has set a goal of providing 10 million pairs of shoes for 10 million impoverished people in 10 years.

These shoes will greatly benefit Samaritan’s Feet’s mission, and will be distributed to people in the United States and internationally in some of the 62 countries that the organization has served.
Did Paul Asked For Money? (davidclemente.typepad.com)
Yes he did. In the Book of Acts, we do not see a categorical reading that Paul asked his supporters for money to sustain his missionary work. We see in chapter eleven that the disciples raised money to help their brothers in Jerusalem during a time of famine (Acts 11:30). In another part, we see Paul receiving support from the Macedonian churches during his missionary work in Corinth (Acts 18:5 and 2 Corinthians 11:9). In chapter 13, we understand that Paul and Barnabbas were sent off to missionary work by the Church of Antioch (Acts 13:3). We can only assume that being sent off also means being financially supported by brothers and sisters from Antioch.
Life and Death through the Eyes of a Missionary Doctor (prweb.com)
When Dr. Warren DeKraay went on his first medical mission with his daughter in 1978, he had no idea it would be the first of many trips to come. Missionary work would become his lifelong passion. Since 1996, DeKraay has worked with 12 different organizations, both secular and religious, to deliver the essential medical care so sorely needed in impoverished areas around the globe.
Become a missionary for your cause or company (waywardjourney.com)
not everyone can pick up and go half way around the world to help the less fortunate. But everyone can apply some of the principles I saw at work in Cambine and nearby Chicuque. We often talk about the need for passion and purpose in our work. I suggest that taking that one step further—becoming a missionary for your cause, startup or company—separates the truly engaged from those who are merely getting by.
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Missionaries know how to connect with others at the most basic, human level. This is not mere communication. This is true connection.
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Don’t become a hollow evangelist; instead, strive to be the person on the ground doing the real work that makes a difference in people’s lives.

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Christadelphian Samaritan Fund and Médecins Sans Frontières Appeal for South Sudan

Posted on August 6, 2012. Filed under: Announcement, World | Tags: Humanitarian aid, Médecins Sans Frontières, Refugee camp, Refugees of Sudan, Samaritan Fund, South Sudan |

Since South Sudan seceded from the north last year, conflicts have erupted in two border states where communities traditionally allied to the south found themselves north of the border after independence.

In July the Samaritan Fund made a substantial donation to an appeal by Medecins Sans Frontieres to bring humanitarian relief to more than 100,000 Sudanese refugees who have fled Sudan since autumn 2011 to find safety in South Sudan Upper Nile State. More than 40,000 have arrived in the last month, some have been travelling on foot for up to six weeks.

Children and women in line for water, Jamam refugee camp, South Sudan (Photo credit: Oxfam International)

Resources in the three refugee camps are dwindling fast: there is little food, no natural shelter and safe drinking water has almost run out. In addition, many people have become stranded by heavy rains in temporary camps.

The Samaritan Fund is also able to forward donations from ecclesias and brethren and sisters wishing to support this appeal.

Donations should be sent to The Samaritan Fund Treasurer, Brother Ken Smith, Westhaven House, Arleston Way, Shirley, Solihull, West Mids., B90 4LH, with a note earmarking it for the MSF South Sudan Appeal.

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Aid challenges mount in South Sudan’s Upper Nile, Unity states (devex.com)
Seasonal rains have started to fall in South Sudan, but not to the relief of thousands of water-deprived Sudanese refugees living in camps and temporary relocation sites there.
In South Sudan, mortality and malnutrition data point to catastrophic situation in refugee camps (bikyamasr.com)
New epidemiological data from two refugee camps in South Sudan show mortality and malnutrition rates soaring above emergency thresholds, announced Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today.

Hundreds are daily pouring into the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan.

More than 170,000 refugees have made the harrowing journey across the border to escape conflict and food insecurity in Sudan’s Blue Nile and South Kordofan States. Many had to walk for weeks and have arrived in four refugee camps in an extremely weak and vulnerable condition. In two of the camps in particular appalling living conditions are resulting in devastating health consequences. Since June, an average of five children are dying each day in Yida camp and one in three children is malnourished in Batil camp.
North Sudanese refugees moved due to flooding (photoblog.msnbc.msn.com)
Over the past year repeated conflict with North Sudan, corruption scandals and economic difficulties have plagued the new country. Further problems caused by the shutdown of its oil production have led to a sharp decline in its currency and a rise in the price of food and fuel.
Sudan refugee crisis ‘worsening’ (bbc.co.uk)
Violence has flared along the border since South Sudan became independent last year.
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It reported that mortality rates in the Jamam camp, one of three in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State, were nearly double the threshold to be considered an emergency.
Health Situation In South Sudan Refugee Camps Alarming (voanews.com)
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR reports aid agencies are racing to reverse the alarming health situation in South Sudan camps.
+”This is a race against time basically,” said Fleming. “People are coming across in absolutely horrendous, fragile conditions. They are extremely vulnerable and when the conditions are not fantastic when they cross the border in a place where there is huge flooding and where the food can only be airlifted in. It is probably one of the most challenging operations for humanitarian aid workers including UNHCR that we have experienced.”
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Aid agencies are setting up therapeutic feeding programs to help children recover from moderate acute to severe acute malnutrition. Health agencies have set up surveillance centers to monitor for possible outbreaks of diarrheal and other diseases.
In South Sudan, water shortage puts refugees’ lives at serious threat (devex.com)
For those with expertise in hydrogeology, MSF urgently needs your services. The medical relief charity is seeking people who could find out where to drill for water. The U.N. refugee agency has found a pair of boreholes in Camp Batil to hold promise of producing water.
WFP to Airdrop Tons of Food to Refugees in S. Sudan (voanews.com)
The World Food Programsays it will soon begin air-dropping food aid to tens of thousands of refugees in South Sudan.The U.N. food assistance agency said Thursday the situation has grown dire for more than 100,000 people in Upper Nile State, including 35,000 recent arrivals.

A refugee family from Sudan, having newly resettled in Gendrassa camp in Maban, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, on the border with Sudan, is seen August 2, 2012.
South Sudan’s Upper Nile Scene of Refugee Influx (voanews.com)
One of the most critical challenges now for the UNHCR and its partners is to move the refugees away from border areas, where there are security risks.
Agreement opens aid pipeline (devex.com)
Over the weekend, Sudan not only agreed to a lower transport fee for South Sudan, it also allowed aid to finally reach the rebel-held border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.Peace between Sudanese forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North remains hazy, but Khartoum agreed Saturday (Aug. 4) to allow aid agencies to deliver humanitarian relief to civilians that have been suffering from fighting in the two states. As a first step, it agreed to a “limited ceasefire” in some areas, head of the Sudanese delegation Kamal Obeid said, according to Reuters.
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South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, has some of the worst human development indicators in the world, Lise Grande, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, told Al-Jazeera in July. Ninety-eight percent of its national budget comes from oil, according to AP. There were fears South Sudan’s economy would collapse following the oil shutdown in January, which forced the government to take austerity measures that exacerbated food insecurity and affected its education sector, among others.
South Sudan – new MSF mortality and malnutrition data point to catastrophic situation in refugee camps (appablog.wordpress.com)
More than 170,000 refugees have made the harrowing journey across the border to escape conflict and food insecurity in Sudan’s Blue Nile and South Kordofan States. Many had to walk for weeks and have arrived in four refugee camps in an extremely weak and vulnerable condition. In two of the camps in particular appalling living conditions are resulting in devastating health consequences. Since June, an average of five children are dying each day in Yida camp and one in three children is malnourished in Batil camp.
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“The rainy season has turned these camps into nightmare places to be a refugee,” says Bart Janssens, MSF Operations Director.

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The All Europe Open Day 3 November 2012

Posted on August 6, 2012. Filed under: Announcement, Studyday, World | Tags: All Europe Open Day, CBM |

The All Europe Open Day will be held on 3 November at Coventry Grosvenor Road ecclesia, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 3FZ.

All are welcome whether you are interested in getting involved in the preaching work of the CBM or already are, it would be lovely to see you.

Did you realise that the work of the West Europe and Middle East Committee covers the countries of Israel, Oman, Quatar and the UAE in addition to countries closer to home including Ireland, Spain, France, Italy etc. Similarly the East Europe and North West Asia Committee covers a vast territory including Russia and the Adriatic States.

There will be a mixture of short presentations reflecting on some of the issues in these countries and workshops plus displays of the work of the CBM in these areas. The aim of the day is to provide an insight into mission work in both West and East Europe and adjacent territories and share fellowship together.

It will start with coffee at 9.30 and close at 4.20. Drinks will be provided but please bring your own food for the day.

Further details, please contact Bro. Simon Phillips, Birmingham South on simonandannaphillips@gmail.com

Simon Phillips and Michael LewisCBM Area Secretaries

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Fear and protection

Posted on August 5, 2012. Filed under: Being Christian, following Jesus Christ, Endtimes, Life and Death, Religion, Satan and Evil, World | Tags: Adam and Eve, Aurora Colorado, Case god, Cautiousness, Choice, Christianity, Commandments, Creator, Death, Evil, Garden of Eden, God, Hades, Hell, Human-Rights, Jerry Newcombe, Lake of Fire, Law of God, Listen to God, Love for God, Love God, Love of God, Massacre, Murder, natural law, Political System, Politics, Purgatory, Reason God, Refuge, Sheol, Sin, Tartarus, Theological Teachings, Trust, Trusting God, United States, Weapon, Word of God |

Massacres allowed to happen

The Aurora, Colorado massacre, brought many debates about believes and about carrying weapons. It is unbelievable that many people do really want to believe it would not be so bad in case more people would have weapons on them. Often with such massacres, we mostly can find in the United States of America, and when they occasional happen in other countries, the shooters found their example in the American shooting. In many other countries such atrocious things can not happen because ordinary people are not able to get arms so easy.

But at such occasions also many people wonder how a God can allow such things to happen. They often are not accustomed to know the history of mankind from the early beginnings in the Garden of Eden, where the first man and woman doubted the right of the position their Creator took. It is because they could not agree with His right to decide what would be best or how people had to handle, though God had given a lot which they could decide themselves. They were already allowed to name things and to take care of everything on earth. But they wanted more. For that reason God gave them more. He allowed them to take care of much more. So from the time Adam and Eve committed their first sin, they had to find out everything for themselves. All their children and their children their children had to find their own way to live. They all had received form God to make their own choices.

Masaccio, Brancacci Chapel, Adam and Eve, detail. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So still today, we all do have the opportunity to make our own choices. But we should be aware we can not blame God for the choices we made ourselves.

Choice to listen

Though, those who are wiling to listen to God, He surely shall want to help them and be with them. God protects his children from harm sometimes, but not at other times. God uses circumstances to refine the characters of his children. In case God would go into all the questions of His followers that would be not always righteous to the others, and at such time other people could say they are only following God because than they get what they want.

People should also understand that not everything is done at once. But when they do love God He shall be willing to set his love also upon them, therefore He the Most High shall be offering refuge and be as a fortress for those who trust Him. Whatever may happen to us in the world, Jehovah Yahuwah God will deliver those who are for God and honour Him. They may trust that there shall come a moment that they shall be taken away, saved from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover them with his pinions, and under his wings shall they be able to take refuge. His truth is a shield and a buckler, and they will feel it. For that reason we do not have to be afraid for the terror by night or day, nor for the bullets that flies by day or night. Even for the diseases, for the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday.

The Words of God may be tried and mocked at, but they shall keep stand. God shall proof to the others that He is a bucler, who has been for ever and shall stay for ever. God can not be killed, but had to face that His son was killed and so many of his followers. He shall take into account why those followers had to die.

Trusting God

Humankind has been warned that it can be that a thousand shall fall at the side of many others, but when it happens near to us we should trust God. We better have the fear of God instead of the fear of humans, who only can bring us, in the worst instance, to a physical death. But they too shall have to die at one moment. No matter what happens everybody dies one day, and then their live shall be finished. For those living in the Lord, their shall be hope for the time when the promised Messiah shall return to the earth, to judge the living and the dead. That day shall be an important day. After we die it will be to late to prepare for it, or to change anything to become accepted. Now, when we are living beings on this planet, we have to prepare ourselves and to make sure we shall be ready and acceptable to come clean for the eyes of the judge Jesus.

We do not have to be afraid anybody would be able to escape the punishment he or she deserves. Everybody shall get their share one moment in time. Not perhaps the moment we would love to see it happen, but somewhere in future they shall get their share as well. At the mean time we shall have to be content, with the blessings we already can have today. We better count those blessings, instead of looking to those of others.

No matter what happens, at a certain time we shall behold with our eyes, and see the reward of the wicked. There shall no evil befall Gods people, nor shall any plague come near them or God shall take notice of it and He will give his [heavenly] agents charge over those who keep His ways.

“Because he cleaves to Me in love, Therefore I deliver him; I set him on high, Because he has known My Name. “When he calls on Me, I answer him; I am with him in distress; I deliver him and esteem him. “With long life I satisfy him, And show him My deliverance.”
(Psalms 91:14-16 The Scriptures 1998+)

Following

In our live we should consider the difficulties Jesus, the most beloved son of God, had to encounter; and the problems this son of men his followers had by willing to follow the Nazarene and by preaching like he had told them to do.

Jesus knew exactly his position on earth and knew who he had to follow and obey. But even when he or others knew the commandments, this would not make them good or certainly not better than somebody else. Though many Americans do want to believe the so called Christians that they are the most particular smartest group of people because they follow Christ. Instead of recognising that also other people, who do not believe or even did not hear about God or about Jesus Christ, could do good things. But doing good things does not make you a good person. The son of God never thought of himself to being a good one because for him it was clear that none is good except One, God.

Instinct

Murder in Rio

Jesus also told the people that it could be that they knew the commandments, like “You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not testify falsely. You shall not defraud. You shall honour y our father and mother.” but that does not mean yet they would go and keep to them better than others who did not hear those commandments as being the Law of God. All people are namely created in the image of God, and therefore do have certain elements of God in them. All have, like animals, an instinct, by which they are able to know what can be good or bad for them.

The big problem with this current world is that many people do not listen to their inner voice. Lots of people do perhaps know what is best for them, but prefer to go other ways and want to take short-cuts. Often they are not so interested in the things or people around them, and want to gain as much as possible for themselves. This has become the main problem of this world, and not so much that the world is going away from Judeo-Christian Values. The Jew and Christians received the same values and Laws like everybody else in the world.

God loved so much His Creation He wanted the best for it, but it were and are still the stubborn human being who often think they can do better without Him. No matter how many think they can clear it without their Creator, God, in His love for humankind, gave His most beloved only begotten son, so that those who accept his position could have more chances to go through the small gate, to enter the Kingdom of God. But they also should know that it shall not be because they are baptised that they shall be saved for ever and be going to heaven or wherever they want to go to.

Jesus, God’s son, loved the whole world and was willing to die for all, but he was also aware that his death would not bring everybody into the Kingdom of his Father. Many would lack the requirements. He also warned the people that it is not because they would accept to follow him (Jeshua/Jesus) that everything would go smooth. No everybody had to face their problems and was still going to encounter difficulties and therefore had to take up their cross.

We may never forget that our baptism or our becoming Christian is not the freeway to be able to do whatever we want or to be higher placed than other people in this world.

We should consider in what we want to place our trust and what we do want to love from this world. We should be conscious how difficult it is for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the hole of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. But today many have gone for the richness of the world, and even think, it is only possible to come to a successful world, when Judeo-Christian values are taken care off, and when people are provided with arms so that they can defend themselves.

Arming and being safe

Jesus was against arms, so that is certainly already something against the teachings of Christ, who preached love and peace, while arms shall cause more division and pain.

Instead of accepting that we can not be saved by weapons, nor by people, the majority of the humans think the solution is in their hands and their political system. Though also Jesus knew we can not be without the political system as long as the Kingdom of God is not yet fully established, but in the mean time we should listen to those who are in power. As long as they do not bring laws against the Law of God, everybody should follow those laws, and give the caesar, governor, president or king that what belongs to that ruler.

Jesus said that with men it shall be impossible to be safe, but not with God. For with God all things are possible. But as long as we are in this worldly system even the saviour Jesus could not escape from agony. Also the son of man was delivered to the chief priests and the scholars. And they condemned him to death, and delivered him to the Gentiles. And they mocked him, and scourged, and spit upon him, and killed him.

“And יהושע {Jeshua} said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One – Elohim. “You know the commands, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not rob,’ ‘Respect your father and your mother.’ ” And he answering, said to Him, “Teacher, all these I have watched over from my youth.” And יהושע {Jeshua}, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One matter you lack: Go, sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. And come, follow Me, taking up the stake.” But he, being sad at this word, went away grieved, for he had many possessions. And יהושע {Jeshua}, looking around, said to His taught ones, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the reign of Elohim!” And the taught ones were astonished at His words. And יהושע {Jeshua} responding, said to them again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into the reign of Elohim! “It is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the reign of Elohim.” And they were immeasurably astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then is able to be saved?” And looking at them, יהושע {Jeshua} said, “With men it is impossible, but not with Elohim, for with Elohim all is possible.” And Kbegan to say to Him, “See, we have left all and we have followed You.” יהושע {Jeshua} said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for the sake of Me and the Good News, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, everlasting life. “But many who are first shall be last, and the last first.” And they were on the way, going up to Yerushalayim, and יהושע {Jeshua} was going before them. And they were astonished, and those who followed were afraid. And again He took the twelve aside and began to say to them what was about to befall Him: “See, we are going up to Yerushalayim, and the Son of Adshall be delivered to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death and shall deliver Him to the gentiles, and they shall mock Him, and flog Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He shall rise again.”
(Mark 10:18-34 The Scriptures 1998+)

End according to works

Plan of Mount Purgatory as described by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy

Jesus who was Wounded for our transgressions and died for all sinners was directed by humans to go into hell. The day Jesus died his soul was delivered in the hands of God, though an innocent man, who did not do any sin, he was placed in hell. What did the Holy man do when he was considered by many the Messiah Jesus three days in hell? Did he not succeed to save the people who were supposed to be there to be tortured for their sins? Was his dying on the stake to pay for all sins of humankind a measure for nothing? Because when Jesus as the Lamb of God sprinkled his blood on this world for forgiveness of all sins, it looks like God not accepting this offer when He ask the sinners first to go to purgatory or to send them to hell even before Jesus can judge them at the end times, when the Messiah would return to judge the living and the death. But when hell is the place of eternal damnation, why was Jesus placed in it and how did he escape from it?

“It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness,{1} whose end shall be according to their works!{2} {Footnotes: 1Mt. 7:15-23, 2 Peter 2:1-22. 2Mt. 13:41-42}. Again I say, let no one think me to be a fool. And if otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, for me to also boast a little. What I speak, I speak not according to the Master, but as in foolishness, in this boldness of boasting. Since many boast according to the flesh, I too shall boast. For you, being wise, put up with fools gladly! For you put up with it if anyone enslaves you, if anyone devours you, if anyone takes from you, if anyone exalts himself, if one hits you in the face. To my shame, I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold – I say it in foolishness – I am bold also. Are they HebSo am I. Are they Yisra’So am I. Are they the seed of AbSo am I. Are they servants of Messiah? – I speak as beside myself – I am more, in labours much more, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths many times. Five times I received from the Yehudforty stripes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have been in the deep, in many travels, in dangers of waters, in dangers of robbers, in dangers from my own race, in dangers from the gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the desert, in dangers in the sea, in dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, besides the matters from outside, what comes upon me daily: the anxiety for all the assemblies. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn inwardly? If I have to boast, I shall boast of matters that show up my weakness. The Elohim and Father of our Master יהושע {Jeshua} Messiah, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. ” (2 Corinthians 11:15-31 The Scriptures 1998+)

The apostle Paul was not the only who had to suffer, though he followed Christ and lived according to the Law of God. But he was not afraid for those humans who mad his life less easy and less pleasant. He at that time knew why he was being troubled. But he knew also the country had to encounter many problems, not because they got lesser Christian beliefs followed. He also knew that it was not because they ordered God out of their schools, because in many regions school and religion were separated. Theological teachings were considered a matter of the religious teachers like the rabbi. They had to take care of the right teaching for their community in the temples. The religions had their own temples were worship was done and were people learned more about that religion. Though there were many gods praised and many more temples we do have today in the communities, there were also the military and public conversations at many places, the hell did not break loose.

Reaping

In a column in One News Now, the conservative evangelical spokesperson Jerry Newcombe wrote that the shooting in Aurora was evidence that “we’re reaping what we’ve been sowing as a society,” explaining, “Lawsuit after lawsuit, often by misguided ‘civil libertarians,’ have chased away any fear of God in the land.”

Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) attributed the shooting to atheism and attacks on Christians. But today we are not more attacked than in previous centuries. And for sure the psychological ill person did not attack Christianity. It is wrong to always say everything is the fault because Christianity is under attack and it is not willing to defend itself.

Going through or in Hell

It is also strange that those American evangelicals often would not find it bad that people who did something against them would go to a place of torture. You can find a lot who love that idea of hell and even say that it is because so many do not believe in heel that we do have so many problems. For them it is not so bad that a Christian dies early, if a Christian dies young, it seems tragic they agree, but really it is not tragic because they are going to a wonderful place they say. But they also say that, on the other hand, if a person doesn’t know Jesus Christ… “if they knowingly rejected Jesus Christ, then, basically, they are going to a terrible place.” They would like to have everybody getting the fear for that place, so that the world can be saved.

Chart of Hell ca. 1480–1495, pen and ink on parchment, after Dante’s Divine Comedy. – Sandro Botticelli (1445-1515)

First of all, the word used for that place of which they are so afraid, is “sheol” or “hades” which means the “grave“, the place were everybody gets into when he dies. By certain people the dead are burned, by others they are cremated, in other cultures they are put in holes or in caves or mausoleums. Being put in the grave, is only been done when a person did pass away. After Jesus died, he also was put in the grave and was for three days in sheol or the hell, the place of which he warned to be aware of because there the fire would not be quenched. That fire which could be considered to be a literal fire, because at that time the people who died were brought out of the town to be burned on that hill ‘sheol’. But in Mark 9:48 the same verse says it is “where their worm does not die”. It is most unlikely that this means everlasting fires and immortal worms, and much more likely that it is a figurative expression describing the destruction that occurs in a rubbish tip.

In the Holy Scriptures is clearly written that Death is the penalty for our sins, we when we die we have paid for our sins, and God is not giving us an extra charge, having us place in a purgatory or in a hell for eternal torture. Having a feeling after death would also be against other writings in the Old Testament were is clearly indicated that the living can feel certain things but that those who died can not take anything with them or can not feel anything.

“For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know naught, nor do they have any more reward, for their remembrance is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy have now perished; and they no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun. ” (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 The Scriptures 1998+)
“Do not put your trust in princes, In a son of man, in whom is no deliverance. His spirit goes out, he returns to his earth; In that day his plans perish. Blessed is he who has the of Yafor his help, Whose expectancy is in יהוה {Jehovah} his Elohim, Maker of the heavens and earth, The sea and all that is in them, Who is guarding truth forever, ” (Psalms 146:3-6 The Scriptures 1998+)

““See, all beings are Mine, the being of the father as well as the being of the son is Mine. The being that is sinning shall die. “But if a man is righteous and shall do right-ruling and righteousness, if he has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Yisra’nor defiled his neighbour’s wife, nor comes near a woman during her uncleanness, if he does not oppress anyone, does return to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, does give his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, if he does not lend on interest or take increase, turns back his hand from unrighteousness, executes right-ruling in truth between man and man, if he walks in My laws, and he has guarded My right-rulings in truth – he is righteous, he shall certainly live!” declares the Master יהוה {Jehovah}. ” (Ezekiel 18:4-9 The Scriptures 1998+)

Which commandments following or ending up in hell

In the modern world it is already for ages that people, like the Americans lend money and ask or pay interest, often oppress others, come close and go in bed with women in their period. Are all those, because they do not follow those saying of God, are going to end up in hell and being tortured for ever?

For sure they all will die, like we shall die and be cremated or put in a grave to be in sheol, which is translated by many Bible-versions as ‘hell’, but is the same place where Abraham, Jacob and other holy many were placed.

“And Yatore his garments, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “Now let me go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” So his father wept for him. ” (Genesis 37:34-35 The Scriptures 1998+)
““And it came to be that the beggar died, and was carried by the messengers to the bosom of AbAnd the rich man also died and was buried. “And while suffering tortures in the grave, having lifted up his eyes, he saw Abfar away, and Elin his bosom. “And crying out he said, ‘Father Abhave compassion on me, and send Elto dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering in this flame.’ ” (Luke 16:22-24 The Scriptures 1998+) (Please do compare this translation with your version. In many versions sheol and hades are translated as hell, as the word for the ‘underwold’ “Tartarus”. Often, not to clash with certain teachings, different words are used, or they place the original Hebrew and Greek words untranslated to give the impression it is a proper name of a place and not a substantive.)

We can find the word γεννα (gehenna) 11 times in the Gospels, and the word αδης (hades) 10 times. By comparison, the word ουρανος (heaven) appears 141 times in the Gospels as “heaven” (the word actually shows up 153 times; 7 times translated “air,” 3 times translated “sky,” 1 time “side,” and 1 time “other”, NRSV). We should be aware that in the days of Jesus they did have an other concept of the ‘burning place’ then the Christian world has taken over form the Dante understandings of the concept of “hell.”

In case there could be a real fire also this could be the fire bringing “the second death”, spoken of in the Bible, where the wicked will be destroyed after facing judgement. That is then consistent teaching of scripture.

Sinners or opponents, fire and the lake

Lake of fire of Kilauea at night (1910) – Popular Science Monthly Volume 77

Sinners are opponents of God. They shall receive their punishment. The lake of fire, spoken of in Revelation 20:10 could be a real fire, but we notice that in verse 14 of the same chapter Death and Hades are also to be thrown into that lake of fire. It is clear in this case that the fire symbolizes destruction.

“And they came up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the set-apart ones and the beloved city. And fire came down from Elohim out of the heaven and consumed them. And the devil, who led them astray, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet are. And they shall be tortured day and night forever and ever. ” (Revelation 20:9-10 The Scriptures 1998+)
“And I saw a great white throne and Him who was sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged from what was written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. And the death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death.{1} {Footnote: 1See 2:11, 20:6, 21:8}. And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. ” (Revelation 20:11-15 The Scriptures 1998+)

Although fire is often used symbolically in this way, it is possible that God will literally use fire to destroy the wicked. For example, 2 Peter 3 contrasts destruction by water in the Flood with destruction by fire when Jesus returns:

“For they choose to have this hidden from them: that the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by the Word of Elohim,{1}{Footnote: 1Heb. 11:3}. through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. And the present heavens and the earth are treasured up by the same Word, being kept for fire, to a day of judgment and destruction of wicked men. ” (2 Peter 3:5-7 The Scriptures 1998+)

God’s judgement will be executed on those who rebel against him. It is not “souls” that are described as being tortured, but “dead bodies” as being burnt. In Old Testament times worshippers of foreign gods such as Baal and Moloch sacrificed their children in the Valley Of Hinnom just outside Jerusalem. The “hell” in Mar 9:47 is translated from the Greek word for the Valley of Hinnom. This refers to the fire which was continuously burning there in the first century, and was used to destroy rubbish and the bodies of executed criminals. The name of the Valley of Hinnom came to be despised.

This fire is not literal. Nor are the worms literal; even those people who believe in the doctrine of the immortal soul do not believe in the doctrine of the immortal worm.

Loving and fearing

We should not have hell being a reason to fear God nor to keep His commandments. We should be loving all the people around us, believers and non believers, and wishing the best for them all. Because we know that God is the best teacher and Guide to give us all the tools to make the best of our lives, we should recognise His Gracious Love and for to this end we should labour and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe.

Lets us remind Samuel, fearing God, not fearing human people:

““יהוה {Jehovah} rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He repaid me. “For I have guarded the ways of יהוה , And have not acted wrongly against my Elohim. “For all His right-rulings are before me; As for His laws, I do not turn from them. “And I am perfect before Him, And I guard myself from my crookedness. “And יהוה repays me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes. “With the kind You show Yourself kind, With the perfect one You show Yourself perfect, “With the clean You show Yourself clean, And with the crooked You show Yourself twisted. “For You save the humble people, But Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. “For You are my lamp, O יהוה , And יהוה makes my darkness light. “For with You I run against a band, With my Elohim I leap over a wall. “The – His way is perfect; The Word of יהוה is proven; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. “For who is besides יהוה ? And who is a rock, besides our Elohim? “is my mighty stronghold, And He makes my way perfect, “Making my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places, “Teaching my hands for battle, So that my arms bend a bow of bronze. “And You give me the shield of Your deliverance, And Your lowliness makes me great. “You enlarge my step under me, So that my feet shall not slip. “I pursue my enemies and destroy them, And I do not turn back till they are destroyed. “And I destroy them and crush them, So that they do not rise, And fall under my feet. “And You gird me with strength for battle, You cause my adversaries to bow under me. “And You make my enemies turn their backs, Those hating me, and I cut them off. “They look but there is no saviour, Unto יהוה , but He shall not answer them. “And I beat them as dust of the earth, I beat them small as dirt in the streets – I spread them out. “And You deliver me from the strivings of my people, You safeguard me as the head of the nations; A people I have not known serve me. ” (2 Samuel 22:21-44 The Scriptures 1998+)
“For You are not an taking delight in wrong, Nor does evil dwell with You. The boasters do not stand before Your eyes; You hate all workers of wickedness. You destroy those speaking falsehood; יהוה {Jehovah} loathes a man of blood and deceit. But I, I enter Your house In the greatness of Your kindness; I bow myself toward Your set-apart Hin Your fear. O יהוה {Jehovah}, lead me in Your righteousness because of those watching me; Make Your way straight before my face. For there is no stability in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue. Declare them guilty, O Elohim! Let them fall by their own counsels; Thrust them away for their many transgressions, Because they have rebelled against You. But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; Let them ever shout for joy, because You shelter them; And let those who love Your Name exult in You. For You bless the righteous, O יהוה {Jehovah}; You surround him with favour as with a shield. ” (Psalms 5:4-12 The Scriptures 1998+)

Loosing

UN Peace keepers collecting bodies from Ahmići, Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 1993 – ICTY April 1993

The American Family Association’s Fred Jackson said concerning the Aurora shooting: “Whether it’s the Hollywood movies, whether it’s what we see on the Internet, whether it’s liberal bias in the media, whether it’s our politicians changing public policy, I think all of those somehow have fit together—and I have to say also churches who are leaving the authority of Scripture and losing their fear of God” are what “give us these kinds of incidents.” How does it come that in countries who are less evangelical or less Christian as their country there does not come up one incident were people do have to question the values of their population?

Fear and the matter of protection has been in every community. In the U.S.A. some choose to debate about gun control or the state of healthcare for the mentally ill, other stalwart truthseekers have made it their mission to get to the bottom of James Holmes’ massacre at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises, willing to come to the core of the wrong goings in their living community. Conspiracy theories are made up for the cause to get their priorities. “Inconsistencies” easily attributed to psychosis or misreported facts, several authors find it a more reasonable explanation that this was all government coercion.

People should question in which way a person can be brainwashed or can made to act in a certain way. They should know that you have the parents, the teachers, the religious teachers or atheist teachers, the playground caretakers, sports educators, and all the friends and acquaintances a person has contact with which shall form him or her. The background a person gets shall be part of his formation.

Many times in history there have been people who wanted to take the law in their own hands. Several times in history we saw individuals or groups taking justice into their own hands.

There have been sound and well balanced people but also not level-headed persons or lunatics who either wanted to change the world, who more often wanted to make their point clear to the community.

Protecting the community

The community shall only be able to protect itself, when it has a proper eye on what is happening in her community and sees how everything is evolving. They also should know that examples in a community and social pressure are important matters which can influence a lot of persons and have their repercussions on the whole group.

We shall not deny that when more people would live according to the Law of God we shall have lesser problems. But we always shall have to be realistic, knowing that not all people shall think the same way or believe in the same things.

In the fear of God we can and should try to get others believe in the Natural Laws and natural ethics and show them or prove to them that following the Law of God can give better results in live for all. To get credibility by others, we in the first place have to show that we are trustworthy. Acting from religious conviction has to proof that the right values are chosen for and that for a Christian the love for every one is shown.

Living according rules of Freedom

When one demands freedom that shall have to include freedom of religious belief and practice as well. By many Christians we can only see that there is a lot of hatred between the denominations and many of them accuse one or the other of things which they do not want to see by them. When they who say to be followers of Christ do want to arm themselves, and do not trust God in protecting them, how can others believe in their God, when his people do not show this love they should have according to the son of that God.

As real Christians we should go for the Love and should be careful in our choices, whom we want to elect and want to allow to present certain civil laws. When we can avoid that certain civil laws, which would not be in accordance with God Laws, be voted, we can contribute ourselves to this worldly system. As long as Jesus did not return we shall have to make do.

By living according the Law of God and educating our beloved in this Law we shall be able to form a generation and group of people who shall be able to protect themselves by living according to these divine rules and by giving good examples.

To be continued:
Condemnation of the World and Illustration of Justification

Background:

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All trust, no fear (layeredhearts.wordpress.com)
this is how God loves us. He sees the big waves coming, and sometimes they do crash over us and that’s when He holds us tightly so we don’t drown. But then there are times when He lifts us up so we are above the circumstance. I want to learn to trust in God’s love and protection, so I have no fear, like my son trusts me.
Use Godly Power or Die Forever Broke! (muponisi.wordpress.com)
With godly power, for example, we can choose to become rich, and it would happen. The godly power is for us to do any positive thing, while we are still on earth to make our living better. We must claim all things, which God has granted us through His power.
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Fear connotes inability to do something about a situation because one is afraid of repercussions from either the known or unknown. Yet, cautiousness denotes the notion that one is aware of shortcomings, and is avoiding possible dangers surrounding a given situation. There is a very thin line between fear and cautiousness. It is very possible to glide from cautiousness into fear without knowing.
Living the Surrendered Life (Day 20) (christlikeministriesnwa.wordpress.com)
I make mistakes on a daily basis. I have times where I doubt God. I have times where I disobey God. I am always making mistakes. I’m always missing God…and I have a lot of me that still gets in God’s way. So…if that disappoints you…I am sorry…but I’m not perfect…and never will claim to be.
August 5 (newstrength.wordpress.com)
Do you feel like you’re a target sometimes, too? It’s mentally and physically exhausting to be a target. Do you sometimes feel like you’re running out of strength? Does it sometimes seem like the enemy is closing in on you and there’s no where to turn?When it’s clear that someone is out to get you—you need strength, and you need a shield.

When you trust in the Lord with all your heart, He will become your strength and shield in every area of your life. But having complete support and protection comes from truly making God Lord of your life.
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We all need to get better at trusting and praising instead of fussing and fearing. When we trust and praise—God’s power is magnified in our behalf. When you step on the accelerator of a gasoline powered car—it goes faster. When we choose to trust and praise, it’s like ‘stepping on the gas’. When we are all caught up with fussing and fearing—it’s like sitting still, or going in reverse. Fussing and fearing turns off the power of God.
Home Invasion…….divine Protection…….attacked by Fear……peace (unwalled.wordpress.com)
daring stealthy home invasion

failed attempt at burglary
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attacked by tormenting fear

active focus on God and His Word

relaxing and sleeping again in delightful peace
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I thank you for your promise that no weapon formed against us shall prosper and I trust you to continue to keep us safe and in perfect peace. I present the person(s) who invaded our home to you.
Massacres in Aleppo, Syria (EndtheLie.com)
“Responsibility to Protect” crumbles as Western-armed terror front slaughters civilians while foreign sponsors attempt to tie hands of Syrian security forces.

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With the Western press freely admitting that their “freedom fighting” FSA is lining up “suspected government supporters” and machine gunning them en mass, it seems the massacre the West feared would unfold in Aleppohas come to pass – only it wasn’t perpetrated by the Syrian government or its security forces, but rather by NATO and the Gulf State’s very own armed and coddled FSA terrorists.
Hang Ten (hodgepodge4thesoul.wordpress.com)
Sometimes it seems that the waves are crashing all around, and you keep getting pulled under. And just when you raise your head above water, here comes another set knocking you around. It’s at those moments I’ve learnded to be still, relax, grab my board, and just ride it.
Fear (alifegivingmoment.wordpress.com)
I’m afraid of — snakes, spiders, some loud noises — but do I tell her the real things I’m afraid of? Things like …–almost every time I see a funny place on my skin I’m certain I have skin cancer that will surely end in death or …
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I couldn’t look this little girl in the eyes and say, “It’ll be okay, honey! When you grow up you won’t be afraid of things anymore. ” I didn’t have any pat answer to give her to take all of those fears away but I could tell her that I’m afraid sometimes too and at least let her know she wasn’t alone in that battle.
Le’Andria Johnson: Sooner or Later (rhachellenicol.com)
it was easier for me to run from God and hide my face than to ask for forgiveness and continue to move forward with the plans that God had for my life. Just like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden, it is easier to run and hide than it is to stand. I ran from the very protection and covering that I had in my life.
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We have to be careful of the judgement that we put off on people. We do not know the relationship that she has with the Lord. The enemy will use the very aspect of your life that causes you to live in shame and fear to keep you from fulfilling the purpose that God has for your life.
Paradise, the First Sin, the Fiery Sword, and the Path to Rectification (alaskawildgirl.wordpress.com)
Fear of punishment is how the minion mind is controlled.
Anger is punishment itself, and minions live in a world of suffering which arises from their own uncontrolled, violent anger, passions, and poisons of the mind.
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We must walk past the burning sword to reenter the garden they say. That sword is the Word, holy books, dharma, or even the fire of torment and punishment, i.e. those things which remove attachments. We must allow wisdom or karma to cut away all remnants of wanting so that we can experience true happiness. It’s not about acting upon things or living beings and expecting results, rather acting upon the self, removing judgment and fear of punishment and all other forms of fear in order to know ourselves as not just things of clay that are born and die, but beings of love that go beyond time and space.
To Tell the Truth (stefanicarmichael.wordpress.com)
perpetual lack of honesty tells something seriously askew with your child’s relationship to God. It shows your child is not truly trusting God enough to obey His commands. It could be that he fears the consequences of telling the truth more than he fears God.
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Was the child afraid of what you would do rather than fearing the Lord? You might need to point him to God’s goodness and faithfulness to encourage him to trust God more deeply. Was the child lying to make himself look better to someone else? Maybe you need to help him understand that God’s perfect design in creating your child that is marred only by sin (and lying is a sin). He needs to see himself through the eyes of God and not his peers.
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Whatever the situation is, you need to fight your child’s lies with God’s truth. Help them see clearly.
Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge (theharvestprinciple.wordpress.com)
What really happened in the Garden of Eden? Was it simply a sin, or a horrendous mistake? Adam and Eve lived in the Garden in a spiritual relationship with God. In order to live in the spirit a person’s own will had to choose to deactivate and to live through God’s will or spirit.
Julian Assange is right to fear US prosecution (guardian.co.uk)
As the drama unfolds over Julian Assange’s bid for political asylum in Ecuador, a troubling irony has emerged: the besieged founder of WikiLeaks is seeking refuge in this small Andean nation because he fears persecution from the United States, a nation whose laws famously grant asylum to people in precisely Assange’s situation.
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The US claims to lead the world in freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the role these play as the foundations of democratic government. These freedoms do not die when governments feel threatened or are embarrassed by the publication of information. As Justices Stewart and White famously said, “the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defence and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry – in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government”.

Indeed, it is precisely those who challenge the powerful, including government, who most require the protection afforded by fundamental free speech rights. If our current administration chooses to abandon them, it may fall to Ecuador to uphold the best of American principles.

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A world in denial

Posted on July 31, 2012. Filed under: Being Christian, following Jesus Christ, Jehovah יהוה YHWH JHVH God Elohim Yahweh Jahweh, World | Tags: Behaviour, Belonging to the World, Body of Christ, Chicago, Dr. Deb, Evil, Fear God, God, Human Life, Joseph (son of Jacob), Law of Christ, Law of God, Life, Murder, Nehemiah, Psychological trauma, Terror, Violence, Will of God |

Aftermath and Trauma of an incident

The aftermath of the movie theatre shooting, at the opening of the latest blockbuster, The Dark Knight Rises, in Colorado that claimed the lives of 12 people brought out once again the familiar calls for greater gun control and national reflection to determine what could have triggered such a shocking act of violence. These types of harrowing incidents often tend to produce legitimate collective soul searching, which sometimes even manifests in effective legislation to prevent similar crimes from occurring in the future.

“However, as heinous as the Colorado shooting was, viewed on its own it is worth noting that in terms of scale it pales in comparison to the near-industrial-level killing that regularly ravages much of inner-city America; in particular the city of Chicago, which has been grappling with years of protracted violence that has produced numbers of dead and wounded more appropriate to an active war zone than a major American city.” writes Murtaza Hussain in Chicago: Aurora all the time .

Death is always near. In our regions, more people are killed in road accidents than by armed incidents and terrorist actions. But every person who loses his or her life for no special reason is one to much, and brings a traumatic experience to others.

” Trauma is an unexpected, derailing experience. For those who are in its direct line, it crushes the mind, body and soul. For those of us who witness it, we reel in waves of horror – helpless and saddened by it all. One of the ways to restore a sense of security after a mass tragedy is to understand why things like this happen, and then move into action mode to help yourself and loved ones heal. ” says Dr. Deb.

“The unconscious motive of an act of terror is to destroy objects and people because they are sources of unbearable feelings of envy. The violence emerges from historical rage, grief, dread and pain, congealing into the need to annihilate others. It is a dangerous, bitter brine. When murderous rage is acted out – and victims are put through horror, cruelty and unspeakable loss – he transcends his own pain. ” Dr. Deb writes in his 10 Tips for Making Sense of Evil: The Colorado Theatre Shooting.

Problems and Violence

Today many may love to accuse Muslim people for the problems they have in their own country. It is easy to blame others for that. Nobody likes to look in his own bosom.

Many do find that the world is falling apart with violent attacks, suicide bombs, and senseless murders. And yet mankind insists that nothing in the world has changed.
On television we get a lot of bad news, but many think the coverage on the little screen is just a little fraction of what is really happening. Coverage of modern News they give is very terse – and looks much worse – than the world in which we live, they think. And they believe the reason why it is so can be found by the easiness governments allow people to enter their country, or because the government does not give enough penalties to people who do something wrong.

Violence! (Photo credit: Rickydavid)

Some say that nothing has changed and that there have always been some problems, which may not be exaggerated. We have always had distress but those who are much older can recall and will confess that the world-wide situation is far different from past times. They would say when they were young or when their grandparents were young it was much better. Those who remember older days shall be able to see lots of differences. Many shall also say that there’s a great increase in problems with a great increase in crimes.

It’s not just isolated to a place just now and then. We can not ignore the increase in bullying, family troubles, crisis coming after crisis, religions disputing with each other and even getting up against each other, burning churches, bombing mosques, beheading and dismembering others.

The loss of Life it costs has diminished. Today a life does not seem to be worth much. Respect to other people has diminished like never before. People stabbing people over trivial minor stuff, people shoot their children, there seems to be no love in the world of today. Arsonists starting fires that blaze and burn away miles of homes and nature nothing left for them to stay.

The violence has no limits, they rape and sodomize, pour acid on each other, gouging out their crying eyes. The Riots and the Protests as they rampage thru the streets smashing cars and store front windows while attacking the police. Shootings for no reason even in the malls, at schools and in crèches. The schools are plagued with killers, no safety in their halls.

School and sport teachers, and the clergy having sex with any child, the pornography of violent acts, decent values have gone wild.

Children beating strangers, the beggars, homos on the street killing them with hammers, kicking them with their feet.

Mothers offering their children drugs, beating them up, butcher children cutting off their arms, throwing them off bridges, doing them great harm.
Pregnant women torn apart disembowled with a knife by crazy cold and hateful ones discarding human life.

Parking Lots offer muggings where kidnap is a game for paedophile predators the whole world’s gone insane.
The anger of our drivers who will shoot to kill in rage if you dare to pass their car up just a feature of our age.

Violent by Nature (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Being safe or in danger

No one is safe anymore, no matter where you live, people shot while getting mail or opening their trash lid.

Little girls buried alive after they’ve been raped. A mother strangled with her son then thrown into a Lake.

Savage men who thirst for blood, eating human flesh. Looking for another meal a child – small and fresh. To barbeque and cut apart and stored in plastic bin. Like butchered meat from Deli trays the modern latest sin.

The ravages of nature a plague that rules each day. Tsunami torment nightmares. The violent winds at play.

Disaster upon disaster, eruptions and earthquakes, volcanic smoke and ashes, flooding rivers and the lakes. Rivers bursting Levees. Mudslides wash away obstructing even highways tearing trees along the way.
Tornados wreaking havoc, even bricks give way to wind, homes are burst to splinters, destroying everything within. Trucks are blown off highways by the violent breath of storms, hail the size of softballs during weather that is warm. Children killed by lightening as they bowed before a cross, many fried before our eyes, we contemplate the loss. Hurricanes and Cyclones torment the world today, no place is safe from the evil face of Nature‘s Violent way.

The Picture of this being on this earth

We think you get the picture, for we could go on with more, as troubled times begin to mount for we know what is in store.
For Christ said that distress would mark the days of his return, he gave us ample warning in hopes that we would learn.
To stay awake – and be prepared, for that’s what Jesus said, pay attention to the world’s events so you will know ahead.
That its time to Look for him, and that’s what we should do. For Christ warned all to be prepared, yes, everyone of you.
It’s for this very reason that we attempt to consolidate all the clues, we find in the news before it is too late.

NOLAMarchPoydrasThugsAreTerrorists (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

No thief can overtake you if you know that he is near. You’ll keep awake, and will be safe and there will be no fear.

The fact that Christ foretold this, left nothing to dismay we’ll be prepared with all he shared for his final glorious day.

Disaster and Problems of all times

As in the time of Nehemia people are facing economic disaster because internal vexations arose and climate brought in certain place drought while others were flooded. Bumper crops the farmers had looked for did not materialize and many where taken in by firms which manipulated the seeds, so the farmers had become dependant on them. Farmers but also people who thought they were sure of their employment took out mortgages at a rate of interest that was beyond their ability to repay. Other people mortgaged their homes to pay their taxes. There was an abundance of foreclosures by the money lenders. At the time of Nehemiah, after giving it some thought, the prophet became very angry. Some folks think that preachers should never get mad and should never assert judgement on wrongdoers. But in Isaiah 63:10, we see that even the Holy Spirit, when grieved, can turn around and become your enemy. The loving nature of the Holy Spirit does not pre-empt His readiness to correct.

English: Holy Spirit church: Cellingpainting: Assumption of Christ Locality: Heiligengeistplatz Community:Klagenfurt Deutsch: Heiligengeistkirche: Deckengemälde – Christi Himmelfahrt Ort: Heiligengeistplatz Gemeinde:Klagenfurt (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Let me recount the kindnesses of יהוה {Jehovah} and the praises of יהוה , according to all that יהוה has done for us, and the great goodness toward the house of Yisra’ which He has done for them according to His compassion, and according to His many kindnesses. And He said, “They are My people, children who do not act falsely.” And He became their Saviour. In all their distress He was distressed, and the Messenger of His Presence saved them. In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them, and He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved His Set-apart Spirit, so He turned against them as an enemy, and He fought against them. ” (Isaiah 63:7-10 The Scriptures 1998+)

Instead of following the example of Nehemiah, who called the priests, and took an oath of them, and assembled the rulers and leaders and rebuked them for the usury which they had put on the people and overburdening them, the preachers do point their fingers to the people themselves and make them also afraid of other people, especially of those who seem to be a danger for Christianity because in that other group they still speak about the fear for God and the way to get in heaven, though not always a sanctified way.

“And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their brothers, the YehudAnd there were some who were saying, “We, our sons, and our daughters are many. Let us get grain for them, and eat, and live.” And there were some who were saying, “We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses. Let us buy grain because of the scarcity of food.” And there were those who were saying, “We have borrowed silver for the sovereign’s tax on our lands and vineyards. “And now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. And see, we are subjecting our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been subjected, and there is no power in our hands, for other men have our lands and vineyards.””

“And it was very displeasing to me when I heard their outcry and these words. And my heart ruled over me, and I strove with the nobles and with the deputy rulers, and said to them, “You are exacting interest, each one from his brother.” And I called a great assembly against them, and said to them, “According to our ability we have redeemed our brothers, the Yehudwho were sold to the gentiles. And you even sell your brothers! Or should they be sold to us?” And they were silent and found not a word to say. I also said, “What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our Elohim because of the reproach of the gentiles, our enemies? “And also, I, my brothers and my servants, am lending them silver and grain. Please, let us leave off this interest! “Please, give back to them, even today, their lands, their vineyards, their olive-trees, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the silver and of the grain, and of the new wine, and of the oil, that you have taken from them.” And they said, “Let us give it back, and ask no more from them, we do as you say.” Then I called the priests, and made them swear to do according to this word. I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “Let Elohim in this way shake out each man from his house, and from his property, who does not do this word, even to be thus shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amand praised יהוה {Jehovah}. And the people did according to this word. Also, from the day I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Yehud from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of Sovereign Artah twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the governor’s food. But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty sheqels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of Elohim. And I also applied myself to the work on this wall. We did not buy any land. And all my servants were gathered there for the work. And at my table were one hundred and fifty of the Yehudand deputy rulers, besides those who came to us from the nations around us. And that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep, and birds were prepared for me, and once every ten days plenty of all kinds of wine. And in spite of this I did not seek the governor’s food, because the bondage was heavy on this people. O my Elohim, remember me for the good – all that I have done for this people. ” (Nehemiah 5:1-19 The Scriptures 1998+)

Nehemeia had called his people to see that many things they did were not good and that they ought to walk in the fear of their God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies. He knew that the best way to come to a nice solution would be to restore to them, even this day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that they were been charged. Is that not something they could do with Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy, but also with the many poor people taken in by the corrupt bankmanagers?

Children gathering potatoes on a large farm, vicinity of Caribou, Aroostook County, Me. Schools do not open until the potatoes are harvested. (LOC) (Photo credit: The Library of Congress)

Though we may see that former governors were supported by the people, and took ‘bread’ or ways of living from them, Nehamia did not do so, because of the fear of יהוה God. But many preachers in many denominations love the way they can use their power. The Church in centuries has done a lot to get the full power in this world. Their we can find the new Babylon.

Taking Fear

But the people of today should know better and take their own steps backward, away from the defiled systems, and taking fear again, not for those people or organisations, but for God, because that is the beginning of wisdom. All those who try to do the work of God shall get a good understanding. From Scriptures given in the hands of set apart people, God provided solutions for our lives and assured His followers they shal be blessed and get His praise forever!

“The fear of יהוה {Jehovah} is the beginning of wisdom, All those doing them have a good understanding. His praise is standing forever. ” (Psalms 111:10 The Scriptures 1998+)
“The fear of יהוה {Jehovah} is the beginning of knowledge1; Fools despise wisdom and discipline. {Footnote: 1See 9:10, Ps. 111:10}. “(Proverbs 1:7 The Scriptures 1998+)
“The fear of יהוה {Jehovah} is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Set-apart One is understanding{1. Footnote: 1:7}.” (Proverbs 9:10 The Scriptures 1998+)

Knowing better

Looking at what is going on in this world we should know better and we should also let others know to abandon their foolish ways so that they and we may live, and proceed in the way of understanding. Remembering that whoever corrects a mocker is asking for insult; whoever reproves a wicked person receives abuse, we better not, our of angriness, reprove a mocker or he will hate you. It is better to show with our example how a good decent person can live a better way and how we perhaps reprove a wise person so that he will love us. Giving instruction to a wise person, giving him chances to become wiser still; teaching a righteous person and making him add to his learning. This all in the knowledge that to fear the Only One God, Jehovah, the Father of all, is the beginning of wisdom, but also the only way to come to the best life ever possible, our way to enter the Kingdom of God. Only by fearing the right person, Jehovah God and acknowledging the Holy One we shall receive understanding and we shall find our days will be many, and years will be added to our life.

If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage, but if you are a mocker, you alone must bear it. (Proverbs 9:6-12)

In the whole history of mankind we see that the fear of the Most High leads to an upright life (Proverbs 8:13). Joseph (son of Jacob) kept away from the lusts of Potiphar’s wife because he knew what was right and wrong in the eyes of God, and he feared his Upper Master more than the master on earth. (Genesis 39:1-23). Potiphar had put everything under Joseph’s authority because the Almighty Creator had given Joseph favour.

Excuses

We never have an excuse because the world is bad that we can go and join in this badness. We may see all the evil going on in this world. We may find it pardonable that we do also little things to enrich ourselves or to enjoy ourselves like others do. However we should remember all those lessons God has given in the past to guide His people. We can find those histories in the Holy Scriptures, which are given to us for our education. We can ignore them or we can take our lessons out of them.

Though it is impossible to withdraw from the world completely because we are in it, it is no excuse not to live totally according to the Laws of the Lord. We as Christians did also get the Laws of Christ to get us through this life. Jesus has told many parables which showed us the way how to arrange our life. Jesus made it also clear that no matter what happens we must draw a line between our behaviour and the world’s behaviour, and we do have to make the right choices. We cannot want it both ways. That is the difficulty in life we cannot belong to the world and at the same time to God. But being part of the body of Christ, being an accepted son of God, receiving the grace of the only mediator between God and men (Jesus) we can, however, live a life in this world without conforming to it (Romans 12:1-2). Joseph radiated purity in a corrupt environment (as did Nehemiah).

We should come to a consecration of the Believer’s Life, exhort each other, presenting our bodies as a sacrifice — alive, holy, and pleasing to God — which is our reasonable service. Though living in this world we should not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind, so that we may test and approve what is the Will of God — what is good and well- pleasing and perfect. The apostle Paul called his brothers and sisters to do that, and we should follow his example.

“I call upon you, therefore, brothers, through the compassion of Elohim, to present your bodies a living offering – set-apart, well-pleasing to Elohim – your reasonable worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim. ” (Romans 12:1-2 The Scriptures 1998+)

“Had Joseph given into temptation, Potiphar’s wife would have blocked Joseph from fulfilling God’s purpose for his life. Nehemiah would never have finished building the walls of Jerusalem if his focus had been on greed and covetousness. Nehemiah’s strength came from his awesome fear of the Lord. “So did not I, because I feared God.” Many preachers say that, in the last days, God is building up a “Joseph church”… The Bible doesn’t say that… It is Jesus who is building His church to be a church that stands on the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:18). We need the Joseph spirit today, and the spirit of Nehemiah that says, “But out of reverence for God, I did not act that way.” tells us also Pastor George Belobaba of the Scripture Nuggets Ministries in I Didn’t Do It Because I Feared God.

As Nehemiah reminded and rebuked the wicked overlords for doing to their own people what they complained about while being subjected to Egyptian bondage and servitude, the rulers of today should be more aware. As in Nehemiah’s time the rulers today should be and are servants and subject to a higher authority, God the Only One Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, whose name is יהוה, Lord Yahuwah or Jehovah, and if they wish to be treated mercifully by God then they ought to treat their fellow-man just as mercifully.

With thanks to “The Family in Crisis”

To be continued:

Fear and protection
Condemnation of the World and Illustration of Justification

Please do read as well:

Salvation, trust and action in Jesus #3 as a Christian

Not all will inherit the Kingdom

One Mediator between God and man

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יהוה , YHWH and Love: Four-letter words (christadelphians.wordpress.com)
YHWH, Jehovah God is a four-letter word which comprehends the most important four-letterword in our life: Love.

Though יהוה , Jehovah, the Creator of all things may be a jealous God he is showing covenant faithfulness, loving kindness and mercy unto thousands of them that love Him, and keep His commandments and who do “not take the name of Mar-Yah your God in vain” (Torah).

I Didn’t Do It Because I Feared God (scripturenuggets.wordpress.com)
Nehemiah 5:15… “But so did not I, because of the fear of God” (KJV). “But out of reverence for God, I did not act that way” (NIV). “But I obeyed God and did not act that way” (TLB).
The importance of Reading the Scriptures (christadelphians.wordpress.com)
For those who say they have found Jesus and want to follow him, they should take the words of Jesus at heart.
Jeshua, better known as Jesus, spoke several times out of the Torah and tried to explain the Words of God. People had to know him and his Father. The man of Nazareth was clear that he of himself could do nothing.
Titles of God beginning with the Aleph in Hebrew (christadelphians.wordpress.com)
In the Bible we can find the Name of God. In Hebrew indicated by יהוה which we can read best as ‘Jehovah’. In some of our postings you shall be able to find יהוה printed so that you can clearly notice the difference with the other important person in the Holy Scriptures: יהושע Jehoshua or Jeshua,
The Importance Of Scripture (christadelphians.wordpress.com)
Lots of people do laugh at those who enjoy reading the old Books of Books, the Bible. Of all those books the last series bring the world Glad Tidings. In the New testament we also do find the apostle Luke his writings on the first followers of Christ. He gives us an idea what went on in the first communities of the then called sect The Way.
Christianity and Islam in the Global South (mgriffinrobert.com)
It is clear that the sufferings of this world had always been the result of humankind’s negligence and disobedience. However, the prince of darkness used such human weaknesses as tools to his advantage in his quest to replace God. The aftermath of Satan’s use of humankind as avenue and tool resulted in mayhems and chaos in this world. The only hope that held true in humankind’s mind always was the fact that God never gave up on his children despites their disobedience.
Self Denial and Evangelical Parenting (thechristianpundit.org)
On the weekend I was talking with a mother of teenaged girls about the statistic that 80% of evangelical, college age kids have premarital sex. Obviously, there’s a problem, and this mother was concerned for the future of the church.People have pointed out the theological and ecclesiastical reasons for this stat: evangelical kids often come from churches that do not clearly teach biblical patterns of marriage and sexuality, and many teens leave church when they move out of their parents’ home for university or work.
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While every child is certainly responsible for their own sins of impurity, at times parents may bear a share of guilt as well. Are we practiced in denying ourselves, taking up our crosses (i.e., crucifying the old man), and following Christ (Luke 9:23)?
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Not every child who sleeps around has a self-indulgent parent. Some of the most godly parents I know who have been exemplary in living and teaching the gospel to their children still have a son or daughter who end up in the sin and guilt of fornication. Some children heartbreakingly pursue sexual sin without repentance, turning their back on their faith.
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Why would our kids listen to us telling them to pursue purity and godly restraint when we are giving in to shopping addictions, gluttony, love of money, love of pleasure, and other self-indulgent behaviors? We live with an entitlement attitude, bending Scripture’s commands to holiness when they are too uncomfortable or costly. Why are we surprised when our kids sleep around?

“He who loves violence” and Guns (thechristianpundit.org)
This TED talk, by Netherland’s chief of defense Peter van Uhm, explains why we can’t do without guns. With insight and balance, van Uhm explains from a humanistic and humanitarian perspective why guns are now a necessary part of life.
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But what Christians often forget in our discussion of guns is that God hates violence, and the people who practice it (Psalm 11:5). There is no specific form of violence singled out here – apparently, God hates all of it because it is man, with no authority or with selfish motives, destroying other men whom He has made in His own image.
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Our culture is so full of violence, that we are often blinded to it. As a culture, we practice it, whether by watching violent films or playing violent video games for fun, setting up targets with images of particular people for sadistic target practice, being violent in the way that they hunt to put food on the table, acting violently in the home, or any other selfish way that we hurt other humans who are made in God’s image.

Quiet Walk (momsfirstscreenn.wordpress.com)
Nehemiah comes before the king unable to conceal his agitation over the situation in Jerusalem. When we are faced with situations that need change, preparation is vital. We may not be able to do anything about it at the moment, but we can ask ourselves this question: “If it lay within our power to do anything we wanted to do, what would we do?” If we can answer that, then we will recognize opportunity when it knocks, and we can capitalize on it as Nehemiah does.
BASIC Series | Notes & Review (vialogue.wordpress.com)
Chan describes the paradox between “fearing” God, and “not fearing him” as God’s children and bride. Beginning with the fear of God will lead us to the kind of life in which we are not afraid of anything else, because God is so fearful.
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I would also suggest that the church has not simply bowed to the pressures of contemporary sentiment. The word for “fear” does also mean “respect” and “awe,” and may be coupled with the idea of “terrified,” all depending upon the context. Leviticus 19:30 and 26:2 both use the word “fear” to mean “reverence” in reference to the sanctuary of the LORD. Nehemiah 1:11 mentions a “fearing” of God’s name, which, in that context most reasonably reads “revere.” Psalm 67:7 seems to use that phrase in the same way.
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What I’ve always wondered, though, is how teachers can on the one had say things like “it was happening to them,” giving the impression that it was out of their control (which is in line with the sovereignty of God), and at the same time exhort us modern hearers to begin to act and behave in such a way as to make what happened “then” happen “now.” That is something I’m always perplexed about.
Disease of the mind is an acute mental illness (sicangulakota.net)
A truly healthy human is one who is emotionally intelligent.
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The lack of healthy emotions and thoughts will contribute to a totally preventable illness known to many as the disease of the mind.
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a diseased mind is one that is poisoned by thoughts of denial, paranoia, violence, revenge, etc. The thoughts controlling a diseased mind are rampant with plots of retaliation. There is a true lack of discipline in a mind dominated with constant negative or violent thoughts. You are the only person in control of your thoughts. No one forces you to think these thoughts. No one!
Celebratory Occasions or Obligations? (eagleviews.org)
to think that one person would be subject to another is slavery. Those in positions of authority rule over their SUBJECTS without regard to the needs and well-being of those subjects.This is what Nehemiah found to be happening to his kinsmen and brethren in his homeland.
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Should you not walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts and reproach of the nations, our enemies?
Nehemiah? (seekingthepath.wordpress.com)
It seems like every day we face adversities, hardships, difficulties, dangers, misfortunes, and hard times. Our country is filled with poverty, violent crime, and unsaved people. Divorce and AIDS plague our society. Beggars are in our streets and hypocrites sitting on our pews. What can we do with our churches not making budget; our assistant pastors’ committing adultery? What could a man named Nehemiah who lived over two millenniums ago hope to even inspire us to lead God’s sheep to victory in this war? What would Nehemiah say to us today, what sermon would he preach?
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God is great and awesome. This is the reason we fight. This is reason we preach, this is reason we worship, and this is the reason we live and breathe. This is reason we counsel and pray.
Walking In The Spirit (cupofblessing.wordpress.com)
why do we struggle in our daily lives against life-controlling issues? Well, we start reverting back to our “old carnal nature”; we allow Satan a foothold when we do this. At some point, in some facet of our daily walk we have stopped abiding in the secret place of the Most High.
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You may ask, as we have been asked, why are so many Christians “falling”? They are falling because at some point they stop abiding in Jesus. They stopped walking in the Spirit;
Denied But Destined By B. Michelle (authorbmichelle.wordpress.com)
The denial of Paul and Silas of a place they had planned to go was in the plan of God. Without that denial, the perfect and profound pathway to their (and our) divine destiny would not have come to past. Be encouraged to continue to seek God, wait on His timing and trust the process of your life. Yes, there was a denial but you are, still and will continue to be divinely destined.Whatever you stand in need of, God will provide. Know that I will continue to lift you up in prayer and thank God for the good and perfect gifts from the hand and heart of God. The Best Is Yet To Come!
The little known red flag: normalcy bias (everydayredflags.wordpress.com)
For millions of victims, normalcy bias is an incapacitating response to interpersonal abuse at home, at work, at school. It is inaccurate thinking that makes things worse. It manifests in the most dire moments. It shows up as a freeze or panicresponse–think deer in headlights or roadrunner freak-out–and for good reason.The psychological run-up to normalcy bias is this: the person thinks that since something has never happened before, it never will.
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You can see this now in the behavior of people who are tragically uninformed about the big rackets (medicine, law, education, currency, real estate, etc.) and coming maelstrom of readjustment.
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Denial and naiveté, real or postured, will not save you from the ravages of an abusive individual. In fact, this frame of mind actually makes you more vulnerable because it sets you up to be less able to deal with extreme circumstances.
Chapter Seven, Soul Deceiver, Don’t Be Late for the Wedding! (read Second) (lynleahz.com)
In case you don’t know, on June 26 of 2011, political leaders and all sorts of religious leaders met from 26 nations with Bibles and Qurans. They agreed on a religion where Muslims and Christians worship together in peace, and they even read from the Quran and the Bible side by side! My friends, I believe this is the one world religion emerging! This is the very last fulfillment of Bible prophecy right before the rapture of the church! Go home tonight and Google Unity if you don’t believe me. It’s real, and it’s happening right now beneath all of your noses!
Terrorism Denial from Dhimmi Democrats (frontpagemag.com)
After September 11, it was put forward to us that the problem was not Islam, but the radicalization of some Muslims. And yet the defenders of that formulation also refuse to discuss Muslim radicalization as a tangible reality, rather than a convenient excuse for shelving the topic.Congressman Peter King’s attempts to hold hearings on Muslim radicalization have been met with attacks from the very people who should be welcoming the hearings. If the problem really is a minority of extremists, then why not hold hearings that delve into how this radicalization occurs and what can be done about it?
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No matter how many times Congressman King emphasized that most Muslims are good people, or as he put it, “outstanding Americas”, the accusations of McCarthyism kept coming. By now King has been accused of McCarthyism more often than the actual McCarthy.
+Our reply: Never weave all pieces on the same loom. The United States of America knows it own fundamentalist believers (the extreme and certain conservative evangelist Christians) who use the American Constitution and laws from an imperialist and one side view. They want to see a freedom in the understanding that every one should believe the same as they do, and have the same way of live they choose for. The same fundamentalism we can find in the Muslim population, were some distorted the Islamic teachings to get more power for themselves and to get other people under their thumb. Those fundamentalists on both sides are trying to form an enslaving incorporation of vexing evil and anathema to liberty.
Indonesian children in Australian adult jails (bikyamasr.com)
The findings and recommendations released Friday by the Australian Human Rights Commission inquiry into the detention of Indonesian minors in Australian jails, is a damning indictment of Government inaction and denial according to a leading advocacy group.
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Mr. Taylor said that it was only when the Australian and Indonesian media started to highlight the shocking truth and plight of these poor and vulnerable children, that action was taken to send some of the kids home.“Sadly, for many of these children they have gone home with the scares and mental health issues caused by extended periods locked-up in adult prisons in Australia. That damage has been done and its simply too late for them.”
10 Tips for Making Sense of Evil: The Colorado Theatre Shooting (drdeborahserani.blogspot.com)
The conscious motives of anyone who acts with terrifying violence is to destabilize society and evoke mass reactions. Unable to discharge needs of control and aggression by conventional means, a terrorist chooses a chilling and merciless way to get the recognition he seeks.+
Well-being begins with education. Understanding what psychological trauma is and how it bears down on your biological, chemical and psychological makeup is the first step toward recovery. Psychological trauma is a unique individual experience where you feel emotionally, cognitively, and physically overwhelmed. Some people freeze, needing to rest or detach from the tragedy. If that’s what you works best for you, unplug and do so. Others feel the need to be active and busy to move through the horrifying event. Be it resting or moving, the goal here is to keep you from shifting into hyperarousal (a series of extreme anxiety reactions).
Chicago: Aurora all the time (salon.com)
“I’m tired of hearing children terrorized that can’t go on their front porch, can’t go in their yard, can’t go on the playground to play,” said Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina’s Roman Catholic Church at a recent rally to raise awareness of the spiraling increase in violence. As he spoke, demonstrators wearing white T-shirts with red stains lay prone on the ground in imitation of gunshot victims, while Pfleger decried the “Wild West” environment that had descended upon this Midwestern city.
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Whereas the theater shooting was relatively unique, mass shootings in Chicago are far from aberrations and any given weekend in the city can see reports of casualty figures that seem more appropriate to Kandahar than a Midwestern American city. Recent examples include a June weekend in which 46 people were shot and eight killed (immediately after a previous weekend in which the figures were 39 shot, seven killed), and the 53 people shot and 10 killed over the past Memorial Day weekend. It is difficult to fathom the level of sheer carnage that must exist to claim the lives of so many people in such a relatively short amount of time, especially given that this violence overwhelmingly occurs in specific corridors (six districts, specifically, which make up the “Murder Corridor”) of the south and west sides of the city. For all its shocking statistics on shootings and murders, Chicago is also home to some of the wealthiest and safest urban areas in the country, which exist just a short drive from neighborhoods that have been turned into charnel houses as a result of gang warfare. That such violence is so geographically concentrated has thus made it easy for many to ignore the issue or shunt it down their list of policy priorities, but for those who live in these neighborhoods it has only served to intensify their misery and sense of alienation.
Shooting coverage hard to escape for younger generation (denverpost.com)
Not many 30-year-olds can point to a specific spring day in high school and remember it in vivid detail.But Sam Granillo can. He was 17 when gunmen killed 12 of his peers at Columbine High School in 1999, and he hasn’t forgotten.
Film violence out of control (smh.com.au)
Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has called on Hollywood to address an excess of violence in the movies.The multiple-Oscar winner made the comments to the Huffington Post in the aftermath of the shooting in Colorado that left 12 people dead and 58 injured at the premiere of the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.”I think as filmmakers we should sit down – the Marty Scorseses, the Quentin Tarantinos and hopefully all of us who deal in violence in movies – and discuss our role in that,” Weinstein said.
Colorado Shooting Renews Questions Over Movie Violence(voanews.com)
Long before James Holmes allegedly opened fire in a crowded Colorado movie theater, there was debate over whether violent movies spur violent acts.

Dr. Jay Reeve, the president of a mental health facility in Florida, says it would be wrong to blame movies entirely. Reeve, who has studied the effects of movies on behavior, says people predisposed to violence are attracted to violent movies.
‘The Walking Dead’s’ Robert Kirkman: Don’t Blame Movies and TV for Real-Life Violence (VIDEO) (celebuzz.com)
From the creator of one of TV’s most savage shows, The Walking Dead‘s Robert Kirkman says violence in movies and TV should not be castigated for real-life acts of brutality.“I think there are definitely other things that could be demonized,” Kirkman told Celebuzz this week at the 38th annual Saturn Awards in Burbank, which celebrates sci-fi and horror films. “Honestly, I don’t buy into that stuff.”
Is a “culture of violence” always a bad thing? (bigthink.com)
Like most people, I’ve been thinking a lot about the shootings in Aurora, Colorado. And over the past week, I’ve seen the tragedy dissected in all manner of ways. I’ve seen Mommy Bloggers eviscerate (and defend) some of the victims for bringing young children to see a violent film. I’ve heard seen religious personalities cite James Holmes’ neuroscience education as a reason for his acts, tweeting, “When students are taught they are no different from animals, they act like it.” And, of course, there have been numerous missives discussing the role the American “culture of violence” played in this tragedy.
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For far too many children in American, a “culture of violence” is not something seen in the movies. It’s what they have to deal with each and every day, on street corners, in their homes and in their schools. They will see their mother or their siblings hit. They will understand that wearing the wrong color or shoes could get them shot. They will see their parents and their friends make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.We have to stop talking about this “culture of violence” as if it is simply a construct. Because there’s more to it than that.
Guns, Jesus and Gandhi: Why arming ourselves to the teeth won’t make us safer (bobmannblog.com)
Jesus, as we know, was famously against violence and retribution. In Matthew 5:38-40we have this famous passage: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”He’s not called the “Prince of Peace” for nothing. So, why — given all that Jesus tried to teach his disciples about peace — do so many of his modern-day followers conveniently ignore those teachings when it comes to guns?
Manhood, Mental Illness, and The Colorado Massacre by Kevin Powell (hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com)
“How come all these crazies are White boys?” my White male friend Michael Cohen asked me via email in the aftermath of the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting. It is something I have been hearing nonstop these past few days since 24-year-old James Holmes murdered 12 and wounded nearly 60 people in a horrific mass shooting at a screening of the new Batman film.
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these “mass murders” happen daily weekly monthly yearly in neighborhoods of color but those stolen lives barely make the news, if ever. If not for the oral reporting of hip-hop and brilliant songs like Nas’ “Accident Murderers” from his new cd, we’d have no idea that life is the complete opposite of good in the ‘hood. So while I have complete and total compassion for the lives that were taken, wounded, and altered by what happened in Colorado, it also saddens me extremely to know that when it comes to Black and Latino people being murdered rarely are their lives given much public attention. It is that unfortunate and painful reminder that in the eyes of our America their lives don’t matter as much.
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I feel the problem is that we in America are not only unwilling to engage in real and raw conversations about the root causes of violence, but we also are ducking and dodging any dialogue about how we define manhood and what, exactly, mental illness is, and how dangerous it is for everyone when warped notions of manhood collide with someone who is very emotionally unstable.
Colorado shooting suspect faces formal charges in court(news.yahoo.com)
Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes

James Holmes, 24, was arrested shortly after prosecutors say he opened fire at a packed midnight movie premiere of “A Dark Knight Rises” on July 20. Criminal charges against Holmes, who has remained jailed since his arrest, were expected to be formally presented at Monday’s hearing.

He is also accused of wiring his apartment with enough explosives to have leveled the entire building had they been detonated. It took authorities several days to safely dismantle and dispose of the booby traps.
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Under Colorado law, mental health professionals cannot be held liable in civil suits for failing to predict a patient’s violent behavior unless it involves a “serious threat of imminent physical violence against a specific person or persons.” When such a threat is made, the mental health professional is required to take action, which may include notifying those targeted or a law enforcement agency.
The Overwhelming Maleness of Mass Homicide (ideas.time.com)
We shouldn’t need Steven Pinker, one of the world’s leading psychologists and the author of the book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, to tell us the obvious: “Though the exact ratios vary, in every society, it is the males more than the females who play-fight, bully, fight for real, kill for real, rape, start wars and fight in wars.” The silence around the gendering of violence is as inexplicable as it is indefensible. Sex differences in other medical and social conditions — such as anorexia nervosa, lupus, migraines, depression and learning disabilities — are routinely analyzed along these lines.
“Guns don’t kill people,Americans kill people”-Michael Moore (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Since Cain went nuts and whacked Abel, there have always been those humans who, for one reason or another, go temporarily or permanently insane and commit unspeakable acts of violence.
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At least 24 Americans every day (8-9,000 a year) are killed by people with guns – and that doesn’t count the ones accidentally killed by guns or who commit suicide with a gun. Count them and you can triple that number to over 25,000.That means the United States is responsible for over 80% of all the gun deaths in the 23 richest countries combined.Considering that the people of those countries, as human beings, are no better or worse than any of us, well, then, why us?Both conservatives and liberals in America operate with firmly held beliefs as to “the why” of this problem. And the reason neither can find their way out of the box toward a real solution is because, in fact, they’re both half right.The right believes that the Founding Fathers, through some sort of divine decree, have guaranteed them the absolute right to own as many guns as they desire. And they will ceaselessly remind you that a gun cannot fire itself – that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
Why need you have an ideal of non-violence? (teachingsofmasters.wordpress.com)
You go around preaching all over the world nonviolence. Nonviolence is the ideal. But the fact is that you are violent in your gesture, in the way you talk to your superior or your inferior. Please listen to yourself. I am just pointing it out. You are violent -violent in your gesture, in your thought, in your feeling, in your action. Why can’t you look at that violence? Why need you have an ideal of nonviolence? The fact is you are violent, and the ideal is non-factual; so you create a contradiction in yourself and therefore prevent yourself from looking at the fact of violence.
Birmingham area teens’ violent crimes alarming to law enforcement (al.com)
The number of teens charged with violent crimes is alarming, local law enforcement officials say. Forty-four teenagers — kids between the ages of 13 and 17 — were arrested in the first half of 2012 in Birmingham and unincorporated Jefferson County for the crime of robbery.
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“I believe one of the most critical issues is easy access to firearms,” Roper said. “Too many kids are buying guns on the streets and carrying them home while their parents are oblivious to the danger. Some kids have even posted pictures of themselves brandishing guns on their Facebook page.”Quite often, he said, kids will fight and then post the videos on the Internet, which symbolizes a multitude of negative influences converging on one point.”We have so many kids doing great things all over the city, but there is a group that’s slipping through the cracks,” Roper said. “The bottom line is the family is the first line of defense and should have the greatest impact on these kids.”

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Fear of God reason to return to Holy Scriptures

Posted on July 30, 2012. Filed under: Being Christian, following Jesus Christ, Endtimes, Holy Scriptures, Jehovah יהוה YHWH JHVH God Elohim Yahweh Jahweh, Jesus Christ Jeshua the Messiah Jahushua, Religion, Witnessing, World | Tags: Advice of God, Allah, Apostle Paul, Barnabas, Becoming in Christ, Being Afraid, Believe, Bible, Book of Jasher, Capitalism, Capitalist World, Christian, Civilisation, Commandments, Congregation, Decline of Society, Democracy, Dignity, Divorcing, Downfall, Enjoy, Evil, Exhaltation, Faillure, Family, Fear God, God, Good, Goodness, Heaven, Hell, Human-Rights, Islam, Judeo Christian Culture, Judeo-Christian, Muslim, Muslim World, New World, Non-Believer, Old World, People of God, Priority, Protevangelion, Sex, Sexual Abuse, Son of God, Stealing, Sunday School, Tenants of this World, To Lie, United States, United States Declaration of Independence, Western world, YaHuWah |

Elections or a Voice

In Belgium there shall be the elections for the communities, bringing new mayors, but this year probably also with a vote over the political situation in the whole country. In the United States of America they are not going to look for a new mayor or governor, it is the presidential candidate who shall be on the lips of everybody.

In the Old World as well as in the New World we see similar conditions, people taken for a ride by the banks, taken in by the money-market. Many people being sold not just to pull the wool over their eyes.

In many so called civilised countries, we see not only that capitalism has blinded many people but brought them so far that they are not afraid to fool the others or to bring out a lot of lies enabling them to make more money and to enjoy life themselves at the costs of others.

Muslim Newspaper

Several inhabitants of those industrialised Western countries or States are proud of their birthplace and take pride that they can live in a Judeo Christian culture. But they have really become afraid for their Judeo Christian values. Lots on the inhabitants want to blame the rising Islam and point their finger to the many Muslim who seem to grow like fungi.

Friends and values

In Judeo-Christian values and liberty we mentioned already the problem of people being confronted with the loss of values which were a few years ago of high esteem. Many generations were brought up with values which were nourished as the most important in the family. People cherished their children and loved those who took care that their family could live in a good environment. Many also had high hopes and had the intention of making something good of the family and of the world.

It was found to be a pleasure to bask in some ones love. And friendship was considered as something special.

Today ‘friends’ has become a word that does not seem to mean much. On the social network-sites, like Facebook, people look like they have many ‘friends’, but often it are even less than real acquaintances. Worse is it about the relation in the family itself. Many children can not tell their friends they have one father and one mother. Often they even do not consider it normal that their friends are still living in a happy first married family. Kids, after a few years, go home from school to ask their parents when they are going to behave like normal parents and are going to divorce. Divorcing has become the normal norm is this society. And that has nothing to do with Muslim traditions taking over the world. In such families they do still know the bond of the family.

About telling a lie, we notice that has become come grounds for all sorts of people, of all sorts of religions or secular groups. Lots of people do not mind to lie in his teeth till they are black. To be a fibber has become ‘cool’ and the way to get a place in the community. Many people have come in power by using their words in an other way than the words at first would imply. Many also do like it to hang with their ears at the moth of those storytellers. Rather to be ‘befriended’ than to be considered as a looser or ‘unbeliever’ of those fairytale-masters. Best to be the directors pet or the blue-eyed boy, than the one who is considered as the milksop. No one wants to look as the spoilsport, but several people who want to keep on to certain values are considered as the chickens. though their blanket may stay clean it is being considered the wet blanket, while others who wet their blanket literally do not mind to use the women as usable objects. For this we, yesterday could once more see, like a few weeks ago, that it were North African people living in Belgium who clearly found it not a problem that they went after the girls on the street, because women are just a lust object. Many of the white European men population have been eager to take over this idea, but also many Caucasian women do not mind to take men as their play toy.

We shall not dispute that a lot has also come this way because, while previously generations were brought up by the Word of God, being told about good and bad, heaven and hell, being told to go to mass and worship, while honouring father and mother. Those teaching of the catechism or the teachings of the Sunday school do not exist any more, or when they are still present or available at a denomination, not many are interested in it.

Learning and teaching

A few decennia ago the Christian teachings perhaps could be a huge success, today that’s a different kettle of fish. The horse of a different colour is that everybody finds it balderdash or twaddle to spend time in Old Books or spending time talking about spiritual things and about uncertainties. Nobody wants to stand for fool by outing himself to believe in something which many have long time ago swept it under the carpet.

Many find it pathetic people still want to believe in things which were said so many millennia ago. The death a a man twenty centuries ago is something not to be spoken any more, when there are now so much funnier things to talk off.

Years ago some people could still think they could come off by being a good Christian, but today most of the citizens think they are only able to manage when they can join the successful world by becoming totally part of it, integrated in the world of fashion and stuffed shirts.

English: Map of the Muslim Population by Percentage in the World (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lots of people do want to blame others for their problems of for the things going wrong in the world. The Muslim world has become the group to blame now while a few decennia ago many Christians blamed the Jews, and did not find it bad to get rid of them for ever by burning their bodies literally.

More than two centuries ago many people noticed the Old World already getting no good place to bring up their children. They learned from the Bible, the Word of God, that in case it became so bad and people did not want to listen to them, it was better to put on the shoes and go to other places. Many oppressed people did not want to wait until it became worse. They thought a lot and spoke with many friends before they decided to go and look for their luck in other unknown countries. They risked their lives to escape the country were power of certain Christian denomination forced such laws and believes on them they could not agree with.

Those people where familiar with the writings of the apostle Paul who wrote: “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” And some of them knew the book of Jasher in which was spoken about the fear we do had to have for God. In such Holy books they had learn that in such places were there was no fear for God it could be not nice to stay and not the right place to live. so why would they sojourn in places were nobody was interested in what they had to tell about what they had learned from the Holy Scriptures?

Jasher 4:3 And Methuselah acted uprightly in the sight of God, as his father Enoch had taught him, and he likewise during the whole of his life taught the sons of men wisdom, knowledge and the fear of God, and he did not turn from the good way either to the right or to the left.
Jasher 15:4 And Abram said to his wife Sarai, Since God has created thee with such a beautiful countenance, I am afraid of the Egyptians lest they should slay me and take thee away, for the fear of God is not in these places.

Living with Fear, every day

Jasher 32:57 And God put fear and kindness toward Jacob in the hearts of the men that came with Esau, and they also kissed Jacob and embraced him.
Jasher 34:59 And Judah said unto Simeon and Levi, and unto all his brothers, Strengthen yourselves and be sons of valour, for the Lord our God is with us, do not fear them.
Jasher 43:41 And Jacob took the beast from the hands of his sons, and he cried out with a loud and weeping voice, holding the beast in his hand, and he spoke with a bitter heart unto the beast, Why didst thou devour my son Joseph, and how didst thou have no fear of the God of the earth, or of my trouble for my son Joseph?
Jasher 47:8 Now therefore my son, teach thy children and thy children’s children to fear the Lord, and to go in the good way which will please the Lord thy God, for if you keep the ways of the Lord and his statutes the Lord will also keep unto you his covenant with Abraham, and will do well with you and your seed all the days.
Jasher 55:3 And Jacob said within himself, I will go and see my son whether the fear of his God is yet in his heart amidst all the inhabitants of Egypt.
Jasher 63:8 And in order to know the signs and mighty wonders which the Lord would do in Egypt on account of his people Israel, in order that the children of Israel might fear the Lord God of their ancestors, and walk in all his ways, they and their seed after them all the days.

In early times of this era it was noticed in Protevangelion 8:3 “and when she was twelve years of age, the priests met in a council, and said, behold, Mary is twelve years of age; what shall we do with her, for fear lest the holy place of the lord our God should be defiled?” Protevangelion 8:14 “then the high-priest replied, Joseph, fear the lord thy God, and remember how God dealt with Dathan, Korah, and Abiram, how the earth opened and swallowed them up, because of their contradiction.
Protevangelion 8:15 now therefore, Joseph, fear God, lest the like things should happen in your family.

Fear, hope, liberty and love

It is because many people do not fear God, who can bring hope, liberty and love, any more that many things do come over their family. It is not because God loving people do warn them that they went astray and have to return to God that they and their country are falling to pieces.

Paul and Thecla warned (4:7) on this account, God sent his son Jesus Christ, whom I preach, and in whom I instruct men to place their hopes, as that person who only had such compassion on the deluded world, that it might not, O governor, be condemned, but have faith, the fear of God, the knowledge of religion, and the love of truth.

In case the men in the several countries where capitalism got the ruling position, would remember that the real value of life would be to go for the gold of the Words of God, and giving themselves in the hand of the only mediator between God and men (Jesus/Jeshua), they surely would find it easier to find the real treasures of life.

To continue with Paul who did find his colleagues believers who were kind to one to another without grudging; being ready to every good work, and being adorned with a conversation altogether virtuous and religious, because they did all things in the fear of God; whose commandments were written upon the tables of their heart. (1 Corinthians 1:15)

Today we do not find many who have the Words of God written onto their hearts, or even in their mind to think about them.

The same as in the early centuries after the death of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, righteousness and peace are departed from many people, because every one of them has forsaken the fear of God; and is grown blind in his faith; nor walked by the rule of God’s commandments nor lived as is fitting in Christ (1 Corinthians 2:4)

We all should remember that we are tenants of this world, which God has given to all his creation. Because of man having doubted the right of His Power, He has given the power in the hands of men. Paul knew as we should know that God has given the cities into the hands of those who think they can manage the world; for the fear of them is fallen upon all that dwell therein. (1 Corinthians 6:8)

For those who know God and do like God, they have had all the time to share their ideas with others, and they also had and still have time to let their charity be with respect of persons, alike towards all such as religiously fear God. They can let them learn how great a power humility has with God; how much a pure and holy charity avails with him; how excellent and great his fear is; and how it will save all such as turn to him with holiness in a pure mind. (1 Corinthians 10:11-13)

Double talk and Being Afraid for the right person

Who are Christians following? Who are the real Christians?

They, who believe in God, do know that He knows everything which goes on in the heart, but they are also aware that the actions of believers as well as of non-believers are seen and heard by God; therefore we better fear Him instead of being afraid of ordinary humans, who live now but who shall face the death at a certain moment in their life. At that moment they shall not be able to do anything any more against us. Therefore let us not fear men: but rather God. Wherefore, if we should do such wicked things as many around do and think are the way modern people should do, we shall have to face the judge after life and though we could have considered ourselves Christian and being part of Christ, joined unto the Lord, but not keeping Gods commandments, He would cast this person off, and say unto him: “depart from me; I know not whence you are, ye workers of iniquity.” (1 Corinthians 10:13; 13:1; 2 Corinthians 2:15)

Barnabas wrote to the community to become spiritual, “a perfect temple to God. As much as in us lies let us meditate upon the fear of God: and strive to the utmost of our power to keep his commandments; that we may rejoice in his righteous judgments.” (3:12) and he warned them ” thou shalt not be double-minded, or double tongued; for a double tongue is the snare of death. Thou shalt be subject unto the lord and to inferior masters as to the representatives of God, in fear and reverence.” (Barnabas 14:14 )

It is this double talk that is killing more our general community. It is the dishonesty in talking and handling which brings so many people in difficulties, and not the Muslims who came into our countries and saw how people had gone far from God, so they could not do anything else than to detest their way of life.

Those foreigners and people from other cultures should not have to be bitter in the commands towards any of their servants and co-habitants that trust in God. Still many Muslim fear God, though also a lot went there in a wrong direction and started more to fear people who misuse the name of God, or falsely say that they speak in the Name of God. those Muslims fearing certain Muslim organisations should know better, like Christians should do. They should chance not to fear Him, Allah, God the Only One Elohim Hashem, who is over both.

In case there are some organisations or people who say they can speak in the name of God, all who would like to follow them should investigate if they really live and act according the Laws of God, and follow the Words of God. They should check if those people could really be prepared by the Holy Spirit (= the Power of God). Whomsoever the Spirit had prepared would and should be a person who does not commit idolatry, does not show confidence in the wrong way to his own benefit, puts away pride of power, hypocrisy, double-mindedness, adultery, murder, rapine, pride, transgression, deceit, malice, arrogance, witchcraft, covetousness, and the want of the fear of God. Not having fear of God, does not agree with knowing the Full Power of the Almighty God.

In Commands Hermas we do find «command VII.» “fear God, says he, and keep his commandments. for if thou keepest his commandments thou shalt be powerful in every work, and all thy works shall be excellent. for by fearing God, thou shalt do every thing well.” (Commands Hermas 8:1)

When people got to know that when they fear God they shall be able to live when they do keep His commandments.
“wherefore, fear God and thou shalt live: and whosoever shall fear him, and keep his commandments, their life is with the lord. but they who keep them not, neither is life in them.” (Commands Hermas 8:6 )
“but they that have the fear of the lord, and search out the truth concerning God, having all their thoughts towards the lord; apprehend whatsoever is said to them, and forthwith understand it, because they have the fear of the lord in them.” (Commands Hermas 11:13 )

Reading the right Books

The only way to get to know Gods Commandments is by reading the Holy Scriptures. In case you notice that there are many wrong goings in this world, you probably have already some idea of what would be right or wrong. Without knowledge of good and bad there can not be any judgement over evil and goodness. It is possible that people do notice and even know from the inside that something is not as it should, but do not mind to continue to handle or live that way or to let it happen, because it suits them or they do find it very convenient.

It is that way of feeling at ease with certain situations that brought us down. It is the allowance of so many wrong things that brought the decline of our society. Not Muslims or other believers entering our domain, which in our greediness we prefer to keep to our self, instead of sharing it in love with others. Often it are the evil desires that are the food of our thoughts to go in a certain way in this world.

Pleasures of Life

Instead of so loving the Lord God with all our passion and prayer and intelligence and energy, many of us became loving the pleasures of life and the pleasures of wealth. Many tell others they are such and such person, or believe this or that, but they takes pleasure in foolish gabble. Several call themselves Christian and say that God is their Father, but hey really do not honour Him. Many of them have forgotten that Gods want their full attention as well as their full devotion. they also forget that Jehovah God wants actions by words. When you tell God you’ll do something, do it — now. So if YHWH, Jehovah or Yahweh is their Father, where’s the honour? If The Almighty Creator of heaven and earth is their Master, where’s the respect? (Mark 12:30; Proverbs 23:26 ; Ecclesiastes 5:4 ; Ecclesiastes 5:5; Malachi 1:6)

Which God?

Jehovah = the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but also of Jesus

Jews, Christians and Muslims have the God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, as their God, often also as the God of their father and mother. They both claim that Allah, Yahuwah, whose name is Jehovah shall be judge between them as He was in the time of Jacob and by by the fear of his father Isaac. They both also know Joseph who said that he feared God. (Genesis 42:18; 50:19)

Three prophets

An other problem in this world, which was foretold by the prophets, is that a lot of people do not fear their parents and teachers any more. Several Jews and Muslims try to get this patriarchal rule going and demand that there is also taken one day a week especially to honour God. But when you look into the world were they say they have the best civilisation because they are Christians and do keep to the commandments of God, where can you find them keeping Gods sabbaths. In those communities we notice that here is also not much respect or honour for the old man. Also do we find governments who want to rule over others with rigor and where it is allowed to oppress one another, and people can be excused to do certain crimes (working and handling on the black market is often justified because the governments are demanding to much they say; petty crimes and small lies are allowed for the good of ‘the’ cause, etc.)

“3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father; and ye shall keep my sabbaths: I am Jehovah your God. 4 Turn ye not unto {1} idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am Jehovah your God. {1) Heb [things of nought]} 5 And when ye offer a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto Jehovah, ye shall offer it that ye may be accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if aught remain until the third day, it shall be burnt with fire. 7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it shall not be accepted: 8 but every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the holy thing of Jehovah: and that soul shall be cut off from his people. 9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest. 10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am Jehovah your God. 11 Ye shall not steal; neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one to another. 12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah. 13 Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him: the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. 14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind; but thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah. 15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor. 16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am Jehovah. 17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah. 19 Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seed: neither shall there come upon thee a garment of two kinds of stuff mingled together. 20 And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to a husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; {1} they shall be punished; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. {1) Heb [there shall be inquisition]} 21 And he shall bring his trespass-offering unto Jehovah, unto the door of the tent of meeting, even a ram for a trespass-offering. 22 And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass-offering before Jehovah for his sin which he hath sinned: and the sin which he hath sinned shall be forgiven him. 23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as their uncircumcision: three years shall they be as uncircumcised unto you; it shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy, for giving praise unto Jehovah. 25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am Jehovah your God. 26 Ye shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantments, nor practise augury. 27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. 28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am Jehovah. 29 Profane not thy daughter, to make her a harlot; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of {1} wickedness. {1) Or [enormity]}” (Leviticus 19:3-29 ASV)

Idols and things to love

How many persons have not turned to idols, either form the music, television, film, entertainment or sports world? How many persons do not find it most important to get as much possible out of a piece of land, and to use all the upbringing to sell wherever they can to most high price, other-while it can be thrown away better than to give it to the poor?
How many do not find it so wrong to take something home from work, or do not find it so bad to steal something when they have the opportunity, defending themselves that the other person should not be so stupid to let it happen or to give the opportunity to become tempted. Has it not come to a sport for many to deal falsely and not to tell the full truth to others, even to lie one to another, or misusing them and others. Though God wants us to stay honest to our partner, how many do not have other lovers at work or at the sports field?

II (The Presidents of the United States of America album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How many do not find it al right that their children experiment with drugs and sex, though they should know that God does not like it that daughters would be used as a prostitute or that there could be something to cause her to be a whore. Dancings have become places to make a sport of conquering a new target, once more an other person to have some good sex with, and leave him or her behind for whatever he or she may be, just as an object to have communal enjoyment.

Instead of looking for the problems in that sort of life, many do want to put the blame on those strangers sojourning with them in their land, though god clearly demanded not to vex such people. But the stranger that dwells with us should be to us as one born among us, and we should love him or her as ourself; for our ancestors were also strangers in the land of Egypt. We do have to be careful to do no unrighteousness in judgement, in length, in weight, or in measure. (Leviticus 19:33-35)

It is so easy to blame other for the wrong going of our civilisation.

One of the Sates which is so proud and in which many think they are the only superstate with the right way of living and the best way of life, brought forth a Catholic president (John F. Kennedy), a Baptist president (Jimmy Carter), a “born-again” president (George W. Bush) and this year, Mormons got all excited that they can go out and elect a Mormon president. For decades, they have been trading Democrats for Republicans, Republicans for Democrats, liberals for conservatives, and conservatives for liberals, and nothing has changed–except the problems kept getting worse, while many did not even notice it until 9/11, when they suddenly got to blame all the Muslim world for their ‘shit’ they were in (to use their own words.)!

Democracy, dignity and achievements

Ian de Silva may think he is living in the only state which was able to come to superhuman achievements, but that is doing violence against historic facts. He is wrongly convinced that there is not a single non-Western culture that indigenously produced a great democracy which continues to attract people from all over the world, because none of those cultures has ever produced a human-rights instrument as powerful as the Declaration or the Constitution.

Marcus Ampe in Christian values and voting not just a game let some rays of light shine on the misconception and the danger of the proud white population their supremacy. Though we as Christians recognise the ability of a lot of courageous people to leave the Old World to try to make a totally New World in the concept of a ‘for God worthy’ country. In that New World many of them got confronted with a sort of people they did not understand, nor their language, nor their habits, and because of the different cultures clashing a lot of blood was shed.

Tamuz, Nimrod and Semiramis or the Holy Trinity

Today lots of Americans do believe the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, because it was written by white men from a Judeo-Christian ethos, the country they founded has become the most egalitarian nation in the world, a refuge for men and women of all races and religions. Though you can wonder how far they would like to go in their acceptance of other thinkers and other religions. Often we notice that it is much easier for them to accept persons who totally have some other believes than those who have similar, but still some important different believes, when they call themselves Christian. For example is it for many Americans impossible to live together with such people who call themselves Christian, because they follow the teachings of Jesus Christ (the Nazarene Jew Jeshua), but only believe in One God and not in the Holy Trinity. For a lot of Americans it is even impossible to accept that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was a Jew, because they consider him to be a Christian being killed by the Jews. Some even would say ‘horrible ‘ Jews, showing still their hate for that race, which according to the Bible is and shall be for ever, the People of God. (They seem to forget.)

Many Western people think it was the Judeo-Christian view of the human being, that gave the West its hospitals, charities and the language of the ”rights” of the weak. For them there does not seem as yet, an alternative narrative that can guarantee the inherent dignity of all, regardless of capacities. They argue that Ancient Greece and Rome, the cultures against which Christianity first competed, had little by way of philosophical reasoning that could guarantee the inherent worth of those lacking rational capacity or social utility. So infanticide was common and social welfare for the aged and dying was virtually non-existent, but that is totally incorrect to the facts of human history. In many non-believing communities there was already the dignity to take care of the elder and the sick, so much more than we can find today in those so called Christian countries, were many put the sick and elderly away in foster homes. In many industrialist states, those who are not found useful, for the society, are put away so that the population does not want to be confronted by them (mentally and physically handicapped.).

Yale’s great philosopher-theologian Nicholas Wolterstorff in his book “Justice: Rights and Wrongs” argues that a rational justification for treating humans as ”inestimably precious”, regardless of capacities, can only be found in a theistic framework. Only if the abandoned infant on the hills of ancient Rome or the estranged resident in a Sydney dementia unit is created in the image of God, can we secure an intellectual basis for treating both individuals with the same dignity we afford society’s most able.

In case that would be the truth, those Christians should better react swiftly accordingly. But also when this is not the truth, the Christians would better think about what Jesus had to tell the world. Jesus was a man who had the right to speak in the name of his Father, God, and who knew what it was not to be liked and to be scourged and spit at. Torture was not strange to him, and before it came so far he was aware of what was going to wait for him. But even in case he would not have known he told others not to oppress one another; but to fear his Father, which should be also our God:, as it was and is his God, the Most High.

Proud and downfall

The son of god knew very well his Scriptures and has probably also knew other theological writings, like Sirach 28:22 were is written: ” It shall not have rule over them that fear God, neither shall they be burned with the flame thereof.” In the many parables or stories Jesus told the people in the Middle East, he let them know how God was a loving Father, but one who demanded honesty and fidelity. As other believers in God had written, like Sirach, Jesus warned the onlookers not to exalt themselves, because this could bring the downfall. When we look at the United States this is perhaps which might be happening like in so many countries of the Capitalist world is happening. In many countries of the so called civilised world, who thought they had the best juridical and most democratic system we notice that many people do bring dishonour upon their soul, and so God discovers their secrets, and shall cast them down in the midst of the congregation, because they came not in truth to the fear of the Lord, but because of their heart is full of deceit. ( Sirach 1:30)

Even Jeshua or Jesus does not know when the Time of the End shall come

Those who know their Scriptures shall remember how God more than once changed the spirit of the king or ruler into mildness or made him more angry because the people had not listened to the advice of God, given by his prophets. One way or the other, until the Time of the End, people shall have to find systems to be able to live together. Until the return of Jesus God allows them to look for a good system to live with each other and to make the best of the world. But at the end all nations shall turn, and fear the Lord God truly, and shall bury their idols. (Tobit 14:6 ) and every one shall get to know that they had to fear the Lord of Lord of lords, the Elohim Hashem, Jehovah, the One and Only One God, who shall deliver all His followers out of the hand of all their enemies. (2 Kings 17:39 )

Wherefore now we should, as Christians, let the fear of the Lord be upon us; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with Jehovah, the Lord of Lord of Lords, our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts or bribes. (2 Chronicles 19:7 ) As many people in ancient times have been in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous, we should find enough reasons in that to be willing to learn to know what exactly this Lord of Lord of the lords wants from His flock. To be able to become in Christ we also should listen to his words and should recognise that he wanted that we got to know his Father. To get to know the father of Jesus we do have His letters or words brought to us by His chosen and appointed special writers and prophets. By getting to know what God told us we shall be able to find better ways of living. We shall be able to transform under the guidance God gives us in His Word, notated in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. By reading more in those words we shall be able to come closer to God and by willing to praise His word, in God we shall be able to put our trust; not having to fear what flesh can do to us.

“In God (I will praise his word), In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid; What can flesh do unto me?” (Psalms 56:4 ASV)

Those reading the Gospel shall get to know Christ Jesus and how he loved his Father. As such they shall learn to become eager to know even more about this special Father, who is willing to be our Father as well. This interest shall make it that not only the New Testament shall be looked at, but that ther shall come a sincere interest in the Old Testament, so that the words of God can enter the soul more.

In the end, when we follow Jesus we shall get to understand that getting to know the Almighty God is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Worldly books have become the bible of the people – 1931 Cover of Bezbozhnik, 1920s-1930s Soviet atheist magazine Bezbozhnik u stanka – 35 million unemployed in the capitalistic world

As in Roman times there is no fear of God before the eyes of many people living in the capitalist world. Lots having forgotten the promises which were brought by many prophets, like Abraham, Isaiah and Jesus. So many are not interested any more to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Most of the humans in the capitalist world their concern is to gather as much money as possible. They are not interested in what happens to nature or other created species after them. For those around them they do often not find so much interest. Surely submitting themselves one to another, in the fear of God, sounds as something ridiculous, something very absurd. And today many find it much more interesting to get more power by making others afraid of other people. The problem there is that so many have forgotten that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, to use to help each other, even when it would be our enemy. (2 Corinthians 7:1 ; Ephesians 5:21; 2 Timothy 1:7)

By faith Noah, being warned by God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Hebrews 11:7 )

Today we notice that not many a son honours his father and a worker his master, and you could blame it because not many listen to their father, teachers and are not interested to read in the Bible to learn the lessons from those old times. It is to the people themselves to decide “Whether it’s right in God’s eyes”, as for us Christians, there’s no question—we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard, and should let others know what we do think. (Acts 4:19; Acts 4:20)

We ourselves should be careful, when we watch the world going its own way and should not even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life we had before we came a real Christian. (Romans 6:13 ) We should take our everyday, ordinary life — our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Not blaming others for what is gone wrong in our own life, but trying to adjust our life in the ways of God. Not preferring to be popular and loving their way of living, but embracing what God wants for us and what He does for us, knowing that that is the only best thing we can do for Him, but also for ourselves and our beloved ones. (Romans 12:1)

When we face the world we should know that we do have our own responsibilities. It are we ourselves who are responsible for how our own children act or behave, as well for how those we brought up, our pupils, behave or act in the world we placed them. Or do we not realize that we had to learn from the Holy Scriptures and had to behave accordingly, giving a good example to those around us. We should have been working at our body and soul to make it such that our body could be as a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit. Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Our world is going the wrong way because many of us have not kept to the human instincts of normal behaviour. Having not allowed Gods Word to come over others by our way of living, acting and teaching, we excluded the Creator of all things in the works we wanted to do. God owns the whole works, but to let God shine in our works we do have to allow Him to enter us. So we do have to take care that people can see God in and through our body. Our firm decision should be to work from this focused centre: “One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat”. Us not loving those who are around us because they do not believe the same things as we do is not having Christ Jesus his love. He loved believers, non-believers and sinners. Christ’s love has to move us to such extremes, that we should be better doing than all those atheists and other believers doing good in this world. Thinking that a non-believer can not do any good work is wrong-thinking. We should know historical facts and also see that ages before Christ was born, also in places were there was not spoken of God, there were people who tried to do good for each other. Therefore we better put our arrogance at the doorstep and look at Christ, who was open for everybody. His love should have the first and last word in everything we do. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own. (1 Corinthians 6:20;2 Corinthians 5:14 ; 2 Corinthians 5:15)

Living according prescribed rules

We should not look with anger to others. We better should be filled with fear when faced with others sharing their faith. While we blame those Muslims who talk about God and the fear we should have, we better show them that we also are aware of the Wrath of God, and that we are also aware of the way we should live. But that we not only let them think that we ‘know’ what God wants. That we also let the other persons in our environment see that we are prepared to live according the teachings of Christ and according the Law of God.

The Seventh Angel of the Apocalypse Proclaiming the Reign of the Lord – Unknown Miniaturist, Spanish (active around 1180)

We should show others that we want to suit the action to the word. We do have to proceed from Gods Words to deeds, having a word and a blow over many generations. Looking at the wrong goings of the world, moaning about it and not doing anything against it is not going to solve the problem. Jesus has given his followers the task of proclaiming the Good News, but how many Christians do we see walking around and going from door to door proclaiming the Word of God? How many Christians profess, promulgate, publish, or let others hear their voice to ventilate their believes in God?

Instead of having the heart race when talking about Jesus, they are more afraid than those followers of Christ who several hundreds of years ago, were tortured for their believes. They were not afraid to die because they believe in the resurrection of Christ. They were not afraid to die because they had a certainty in their believe. Today when asked about their greatest fears you can find death and the fear to fail or ‘Fear of Falling’. In certain countries this fear of falling, is also transposed into a fear in falling into a fire of destruction or in a fire of damnation and torture. Instead of going for God because He loves us, they are going for God because they are afraid of getting into a hell which is for them a place of torture for ever. While the Biblical hell is just the grave, the end of everything, because by death the penalty is paid for our sins, and we do not have to pay once more.

The Self

One of the problems of this world is that the fear of God, which is part of the Natural Law of God written in men’s hearts, has made place for the fear of the own self. The problem is that far too many people’s hearts have grown callused and hard to the “inner voice” of moral consciousness. Most of the people are most concerned that everything would go all right with them, while they live here on earth, and that they would not fail in front of others. Their fear of death is not because of the wrath of God, but because they would not accept that when they die their life would come to an end, and that all those things they did on this earth, then would be worthless. That is their main concern.

While the natural fear of God is a predicate for a person’s respect for their mother and father. (Leviticus 19:3) and the fear of God is a predicate for a person’s respect for others, especially those who are disadvantaged. (Leviticus 19:14), people have put away their interest in others, surely when it are just plants or animals for them. Because the loss of the creation of God, so many things went wrong in nature. All the things our ancestors did return to us. Also their way of educating others, and their way of teaching and preaching about God, the Father, and about Jesus, the son and Saviour.

Getting or hiding loud noise?

Many have become afraid of ‘Loud Noises’ which make them think, but not of ‘Loud Noises’ which seem to entertain them, as the heavy music sounds. Public Speaking about God is the worst they could think of. They would rather die than speak publicly!They do not mind getting deaf because of the loud popular music, but they are afraid as death, for the noise of people talking about God.

Departing pleasures

They do not want to abandon certain pleasures they got to know from the new media. They love all the desires which can be gratified, by all the new tools. Lots of so called Christians prefer to think they shall be able to live for ever, because they had been baptised, and as such would never ever have to fear for not going to heaven. They are so much mistaken. Bible tells totally different things, but those they do not want to know because that would distort their picture of heaven and hell which makes them not to worry. And they do not want to worry about the future, they want to live today. It is this attitude of not wanting to know what would or what can happen in the future, which has brought also a lot of problems onto this world.

Many do not want to know that the evil lusting is going to bring them down, and not people coming from over their borders. In case everybody would do good in society, new ones would quickly been taken into that society and would not dare to do any thing wrong. The Evil (Satan in Hebrew) shall be as a thorn in the eye, and those wishing it to do such a thing would know they shall have to face a righteous penalty. But the example we have given to other the last few years is that we just all could do as we wanted and that many, also Christians, made it a sport to lure others, so that they could have the best of the world and gain as much money as possible.

The threatening of governments have come to nothing, many words of persons do not have any value any more, because so many people do not keep to their word. The ease of playing with words and actions made that our world has derailed.

Priorities

Those who would like it put in order again, should first make work to get to know the Word of God, fearing Him, instead of the people around them.

The Bible warns there will be no peace in our lives until we make peace with God through His Son, Jesus (Yeshua), the promised Messiah.

Jesus warned his pupils they could have to face persecution because he was sending them out like sheep surrounded by wolves. Being tenants in this world having to sojourn with other religions we should be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
For us today we may see those things happening about what Christ talked, when he spoke of followers of Christ being handed over to councils, being brought before governors and kings, because of faith in Jesus, as a witness to them and the Gentiles. We have to accept that we shall come to live in a time when brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And we will be hated by everyone because of Jesus’ name.

Knowing that, we should find confidence in the words of the Gospel, and compare the evangils with what was written many years before and promised by Bod speaking through the prophets. When we take notice of what is written in the Holy Scriptures, we should not be afraid, because the one who endures to the end will be saved.

But we should take up the tasks given by Jesus because it is expected that the Good News Tellers will not finish going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. “A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a slave greater than his master. It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more will they defame the members of his household! Fear God, Not Man.”

Of whom do you want to be afraid?

We should not be afraid of men of this world, for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. We should not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, we have to fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

We should let others get to know Christ Jesus and should never deny him before people, because he will than also deny that person also before his Father in heaven.
Yes religions may have set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. But in this all it is important that the right choice is made and that we dare to take up our own cross to follow Jesus. (Matthew 10:16-38)

Commands Hermas 13:6 whosoever therefore shall depart from all evil desires, shall live unto God; but they that are subject unto them shall die for ever. for this evil lusting is deadly. do thou therefore put on the desire of righteousness, and being armed with the fear of the lord, resist all wicked lusting.
Commands Hermas 13:10 and I said, sir, I would know how to serve that desire which is good? hearken, said he, fear God and put thy trust in him, and love truth, and righteousness, and do that which is good.
Commands Hermas 13:22 and turn yourselves to the lord your God, and forsake the devil and his pleasures, because they are evil, and bitter, and impure. and fear not the devil, because he has no power over you.
Commands Hermas 13:27 for if ye resist him, he will flee away with confusion from you. but they that are not full in the faith, fear the devil, as if he had some great power. for the devil tries the servants of God and if he finds them empty, he destroys them.
Commands Hermas 13:33 be not then afraid in the least of his threatenings, for they are without force, as the nerves of a dead man. but hearken unto me, and fear the lord almighty, who is able to save and to destroy you; and keep his commands, that ye may live unto God.
Similitudes Hermas 1:9 but what ye shall do for the name of the lord, ye shall find in your city, and shall have joy without sadness or fear. wherefore covet not the riches of the heathen; for they are destructive to the servants of God.
Similitudes Hermas 6:28 I said unto him; sir, I intreat you still to show me now one thing. what, said he, dost thou ask? I said unto him; are they who depart from the fear of God, tormented for the same time that they enjoyed their false delight and pleasures? he answered me: they are tormented for the same time.

and let us lay aside our wicked works which proceed from ill desires; that through his mercy we may be delivered from the condemnation to come.
now more resembles the oppressed nations that those people fled.

(Nehemiah 5:15 The Scriptures 1998+): “But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty sheqels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of Elohim. “

Previously:

To be continued:

A world in denial
Fear and protectionl
Condemnation of the World and Illustration of Justification

Fear:

Additional Dutch articles:

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Multicultural apocalypse: Stealth jihad has taken root in Europe and is coming to America (worldnewstribune.com)
Geert Wilders spoke at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver, Colorado on July 1. The following is the complete transcript of his speech.
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However, if you really love freedom, you have to speak the truth. If not, we will fall victim to Islam, like earlier the people in the Middle East, North Africa, Persia, India and Indonesia fell victim to it.
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As the Muslim population is concentrated in urban areas, many European cities have very large Islamic concentrations. We are confronted with headscarves and burkas, polygamy, female genital mutilation, honor-killings.
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The rise of Islam also means the rise of sharia law in our judicial systems. In Europe we have sharia wills, sharia schools, sharia banks. The introduction of elements of sharia law in our societies creates a system of legal apartheid. Sharia law systematically discriminates groups of people. …
It’s out with the old as Christian values fall away (smh.com.au)
Given the Judeo-Christian origins of our long-held tradition of caring for the frail, census data indicating the demise of Christianity and the ageing of Australia’s population could herald a perfect social storm.
Takedown: Divided We Stand (persephonemagazine.com)
“The essential difference between liberals and conservatives” is not that conservatives are independent and liberals are leeches. The essential difference between liberals and conservatives is in their political beliefs.
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liberals and regressives and Marxists are all the same, which is a tired joke.
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Nobody owns history. Nobody. And if you want to “keep” it, you should probably keep what came before, with the Native American culture. As far as symbols go? I mean, they’re just symbols. The flag is important, but not because of the colors or the shape — it is important because of what it stands for. Symbols really aren’t important in and of themselves.
+ Takedown: American-Americans
The 6 Most Offensive Things Said in the Wake of the Aurora Shooting (alternet.org)
After reeling in shock from the horrifying details of the Aurora, Colorado massacre, many of us were soon reeling from the callous, exploitative reactions.
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There is a race to come up with the most farfetched things to blame–anything, essentially, besides the ease of purchasing firearms and a system that doesn’t provide for the mentally ill.
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During a radio interview on the Heritage Foundation’s “Istook Live!” show, Gohmert was asked why he believes such senseless acts of violence take place. Gohmert responded by talking about the weakening of Christian values in the country. “You know what really gets me, as a Christian, is to see the ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs, and then some senseless crazy act of terror like this takes place,” Gohmert said.
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Mike Huckabee blames sin.
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Extremist evangelicals Jerry Newcombe and Fred Jackson blame the liberal media, say victims who aren’t Christian are in hell.
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Internet conspiracy theorists blame government, Obama, Illuminati.
Rep. Louie Gohmert apologizes for earlier comments linking Colorado shootings to attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs (trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com)
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, issued a statement over the weekend apologizing for comments he made on Friday linking the shootings at a Colorado theater to “ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs.”
Humanists denounce Rep. Gohmert’s comments linking Colorado shootings to “attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs” (secularnewsdaily.com)
“Rep. Louis Gohmert truly tortures logic when he concludes that this violence had something to do with perceived attacks on majority faith in America,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. “At a time when families are mourning in the wake of this tragedy, Gohmert used it as an opportunity to push a religious agenda.”Gohmert suggested the shootings could have been avoided if the country placed a higher value on God when he stated, “We’ve threatened high school graduation participations, if they use God’s name, they’re going to be jailed … I mean that kind of stuff. Where was God? What have we done with God? We don’t want him around. I kind of like his protective hand being present.”
‘Judeo-Christianity’ – More Jewish mocking and hatred of Jesus Christ (theuglytruth.wordpress.com)
Amy Aremia: Judeo-Christianity are in direct opposition and do not belong together….Christianity brought man out of the darkness of slavery and gave him human dignity and the freedom to make his own way in life.
The Right Wing’s Psychotic Version of God (planetpov.com)
“Some of us happen to believe that when our founders talked about guarding our virtue and freedom, that that was important. Whether it’s John Adams saying our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people … Ben Franklin, only a virtuous people are capable of freedom, as nations become corrupt and vicious they have more need of masters … We have been at war with the very pillars, the very foundation of this country.
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Welcome to the Dominionist Christianity of the Religious Right. It is a travesty of Christianity and the message of peace, love and compassion that was central to the teachings of Jesus.This cult version of Christianity instead obsesses about dominance, hatred and the triviality of the lives of any who aren’t directly supporting or promoting their goals. It is a form of Christianity that packages up all of the traits of their alleged adversary, The Devil, and coats them with a sweet veneer of victimhood, self-righteousness and superiority that makes it easy for them to swallow all that nastiness and keep it inside of them in the name of “faith”.
The antidote for public-school indoctrination (wnd.com)
If you want to see what’s wrong and right with our country, watch Bradlee Dean’s ‘My War’ DVD series. It’s full of surprises.
Are You Full Of Yourself? (highlyfavored74.wordpress.com)
Am I an empty vessel for God to use or am I full of myself ? This means am I worthy to stand before God, and if so will I be able to say to my Father who art in Heaven – Lord, I did it with your help! When you are full of yourself you are selfish! Always thinking of self and less of others.
Self Denial and Evangelical Parenting (thechristianpundit.org)
On the weekend I was talking with a mother of teenaged girls about the statistic that 80% of evangelical, college age kids have premarital sex. Obviously, there’s a problem, and this mother was concerned for the future of the church.

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Barbados 120 years ago a seed was planted

Posted on July 9, 2012. Filed under: History, Religion, World | Tags: Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge, Barbados, Bridgetown, Bro. Blenman, Caribbean, Commonwealth of Nations, James Hepburn, Leonard P. Howell, Rastafari Religion, Spiritual Baptist, William Courten |

Covering an area of 431 square kilometres (166 sq mi) you can find an independent state in the West Indies, full of life, about 100 miles (160 kilometres) east of the Windward Islands. The most easterly of the Caribbean Islands, it is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic it is a country with no official religion, having Bridgetown, the only seaport as its capital.

Map of the Caribbean Sea and its islands. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Spanish and Portuguese briefly claimed Barbados from the late-16th to the 17th centuries.

South coast of Barbados, West Indies. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The prevailing winds made the island difficult of access; if outward-bound ships from Europe did not gain the island while heading west, they found it difficult indeed to turn and reach its shores by sailing eastward. As a result of this circumstance, conquest of the island was impracticable. The first English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados in 1624. They took possession of it in the name of the British king James I. Two years later in 1627 the first permanent settlers arrived from England and it became an English and later British colony. The Rev. N. Greenidge become the father of one of the island’s most famous scholars, Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge and suggested the listing of Bimshire as a county of England. Among the initial important figures of the House of Assembly which began meeting in 1639 was Anglo-Dutchman Sir William Courten. Babados remained a British possession without interruption from the 17th century to November 30, 1966, when it attained independence and membership in the Commonwealth of Nations.

Close to 90 percent of all Barbadians (also known colloquially as Bajan) are of African descent (Afro-Bajans), mostly descendants of the slave labourers on the sugar plantations. The remainder of the population includes groups of Europeans (Euro-Bajans), Asians, Bajan Hindus and Muslims, and an influential Middle Eastern (Arab-Bajans) group mainly of Syrian and Lebanese descent.

Most Barbadians of African and European descent are Christians (95%), chiefly Anglicans (40%). Other Christian denominations with significant followings in Barbados are the Catholic Church, ”Pentecostal” ((although this designation is often inaccurate for these Trinidadian Evangelicals) Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventist and Spiritual Baptists, the syncretic Afro-American religion which combines elements of traditional African religion with Christianity. The Spiritual Baptist (or Shouter Baptist) faith expanded to Barbados in 1957 as the Sons of God Apostolic Spiritual Baptists movement. It now ranks as one of two indigenous religions in the country (with the Jerusalem Apostolic Spiritual Baptist Church in Earling Grove and Zion at Richmond Gap, Beulah Temple – Bishops, St. Lucy). “Shouter” is seen as a derogatory term by many modern day Baptists on the island, seeing as it was first originally imposed upon them by the mainstream, the British colonial government. The other ranking originating in the country being the Rastafari religion (founded by Leonard Percival “Gong” Howell in 1932 ) of which the most worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia (ruled 1930–1974), as God incarnate, the Second Advent, or the reincarnation of Jesus. And the small group Orisha (0.1 percent).

The Church of England was the official state religion until its legal disenfranchisement by the Parliament of Barbados following independence. Religious minorities include Hindus, Muslims (Indians from Gujarat in India make up majority of the Muslim population), the Baha’i Faith, Jews and Wiccans.

According the Rastafari Zion , or the paradise, shall be created in Ethiopia. But the country got also to know about the real Zion and the hope for all people, black white and others.

English: Disciple of the Rastafari movement encountered on a bridge in Barbados. The Wharf St. & HWY 7, Bridgetown, Barbados. Former musician, Artist, Rastafarian. Believes in Ganja and accepts “Haile Selassie I” as God Incarnate (Jah). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

120 years ago on the Island of Barbados Bro. Blenman was pleased to announce that an ecclesia had been formed on the Island of Barbados, his native land. It all had started with Bro. James Hepburn, a Scot by birth, who had arrived in Barbados. From that time the Truth has been preached to many and maintained by faithful brethren and sisters up to the present.

Though the standard of living of the enslaved African people who were being released from plantation slavery was very bad in the 1930s. They were poor, penniless and desolate after hundreds of years of British and Spanish slavery, hungry, suffering yaws, cholera and yellow fever. The crown of England did not care and doctors charged exorbitant fees which none could afford. Coupled with this was the genocidal part slavery and colonialism left with the people who saw themselves as unworthy and scum of the earth in 1932 Colonial Jamaica.

The brothers who preached the Love of God, did not find it easy to bring those people who held on to their African traditions and mixture of trinitarian beliefs to the Faith. While Leonard P. Howell called for International Salvation for all peoples globally and white Christian populace spurred on by the colonial planters and their acolytes, both clashed with the rebllious Rastafari Movement, the Brothers in Christ preached brotherly love between all folks. For the brethren there shall not be a Theocratical Order of the Nyahbinghi Reign, because the promise is laid in front of us of a theocratic reign under the son of men and son of God, Jesus Christ. the Christadelphians help the people to see the need to be separate from the world as did Joseph during his life of suffering and trial in Egypt.

Bro. and Sis. Prewer from Tobago could be the guests in 1973 for the inauguration of a new hall. Over 70 people attended this meeting of which about 45 were visitors. Plans are in place for a special 40th anniversary celebration of the hall opening next April, God willing. Today the meeting place is home to many ecclesial activities.

Sis. Murl travelled near and far throughout the island to collect children for Sunday School and teach them saving principles of the Truth in her forthright and bubbling way. As for all countries the abundance of slavery, getting freedom for ever, shall only succeed under the government of Jesus from Nazareth, Jeshua the son of God.

‘Bajans’ love their Bibles. Typically, every verse a Christadelphian begins quoting to a friend is finished by the friend. Churches of many denominations around the island are filled on Wednesday and Sundays. Often a grocery store clerk is sitting reading her Bible while awaiting the next customer.

Because of this interest in the Bible, leafleting and preaching in various centers including the Nelson Square in Bridgetown is a great pleasure. Many friends there were introduced to the www.thisisyourbible.com correspondence course. There are over 600 contacts in Barbados. Most are happy with their Church but want to learn more about the Word. Our continual prayer is that some will be moved by hearing the Word and seek out the Truth of scripture to the Glory of God in heaven.

Please read the story about The Truth in Barbados

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Caribbean vacation: experience Barbados’ posh flair
In which Caribbean vacation destination can you spot Prince Harry playing polo, Robin Thicke and Smoky Robinson headlining a jazz festival, and Serena Williams strolling with her beau, all within the same few weeks? Only one island has this much cross-cultural, all-ages, Town & Country-flavored celeb cache: Barbados, the sophisticated, sunny haven of the East Indies.
Dance in the streets at this Barbados festival (orbitz.com)
Grand Koodement Day is actually the grand finale of Barbados‘ biggest and most popular annual festival, Crop Over. A traditional event based around the historic sugar cane harvest, Crop Over comprises five weeks of live music, dance, parties and carnival-esque fun.
Barbados – It Won’t Rain On Our Parade (picturesandplanetickets.wordpress.com)
I have to say that ever since I read Meet Me in Paradise’s post about the beautiful pink sand beaches on Barbados, I couldn’t wait to go and see the beauty for myself. I knew that while we were in Barbados we wanted to lounge on the beach and just relax.
A Role For NCC To Control Jet Ski Operators: Is This A PSV Like Culture In The Making?(bajan.wordpress.com)
Payola and corruption in Barbados as usual as the honest man trying to follow rules gets crushed.and the ones breaking all the rules succeed because their family or friends are employed by the NCC or they have paid money to the rangers…I suppose a tourist will have to die before this is looked at. In Hawaii jet skis are confined to one location and can only be used there.

Driving over the head of a tourist with a jet ski will surely happen as night is as day. These jet ski men are ruthless criminals for the most part but they are out there breaking coast guard laws every day of the week.24/7.
and it goes on and on.
Wait Mia, Wait Mia Wait (bajan.wordpress.com)
Listening to today’s (6/07/2012) edition of Fireworks on VOB, my thoughts ran wild once Mia Mottley again spoke of her dream to see the building of nationhood in Barbados.
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while Bajans substitute character for charisma, the notion of building this nationhood remains just that, so from the great Stalin I borrow this line.
Suggestions To Infuse Our Tourism Model (bajan.wordpress.com)
The success of Crop Over is that it was created for Bajans. Tourism caught on to its tail and the rest is history. This in itself should say to all that the most successful festivals should be made for Bajans not to influence visitors. If Bajans accept and participate in an event, naturally they will tell their friends and family and this will create sustainability.
New BIBA President outlines international business priorities (caribbean360.com)
New President of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) Melanie Jones refers to the international business sector as “highly effective machinery by which Barbados can pump vital “hard” currency into the economy, with very little leakage.”
Tales From The Courts – Part V (bajan.wordpress.com)
In the last month, the financial world has been rocked by evidence of LIBOR fixing by Barclays Bank. LIBOR is the London Inter Bank Offered Rate. The scandal in the making has led to the resignation of both the UK chairman and the UK chief executive of Barclays Bank and the setting up of a parliamentary enquiry in the UK involving, not just of Barclays, but of all banks. Last week Barclays was fined £290 million for LIBOR rigging.
Solar powered government buildings coming for Barbados (caribbean360.com)
Barbados will shortly be replacing almost all its public street lights with energy efficient lamps, retrofitting at least 12 government buildings with solar power systems, and deploying energy efficiency and conservation technologies throughout the public sector.
Barbados begins new drive to bolster local agriculture (caribbean360.com)
The agriculture minister said officials in his ministry would shortly begin “a complete restructuring and repositioning” of local agriculture, including a national consultation next Wednesday and a related comprehensive White Paper on Agriculture to be available by early July.
Rihanna Attends Grandmother’s Wake in Barbados, No Sign of Chris Brown (celebs.gather.com)
According to a report from Just Jared, the We Found Love singer immediately cleared her schedule upon learning of her grandmother’s passing. She flew from London to Barbados to spend time with her family and mourn the loss of a lady who was very special to her.
Rihanna: Back to Barbados After Grandmother’s Death (justjared.com)
Rihanna flies back to Barbados after grandmother’s death (caribbean360.com)
Rihanna’s decision to fly home was reported after the news that she had pulled out of the Rock In Rio festival in Madrid, Spain, where she had been booked to make a headline appearance on Thursday.Organisers of the festival have confirmed they are trying to book a replacement for the grieving star, but are also offering fans refunds.

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The Race for Life

Posted on June 29, 2012. Filed under: News and Politics, World | Tags: Ancient Olympic Games, Hera, London, Olympic, Olympic Flame, Olympic Games, Olympics, Torch Relay |

Though some may already look forward to The Summer Olympics of 2020, in Tokyo (Japan), or to Spanish Madrid or Istanbul in Turkey.

This year it will take place soon in London, where the Opening Ceremony shall take place on Friday, 27 July 2012.

Sailor Ben Ainslie was the first torchbearer as the Olympic flame began its 70-day journey around Britain and Ireland on Saturday ahead of the 2012 London Games.

The Olympic Flame has been lighted already in Athens at the Temple of Hera in Olympia. After a short relay around Greece, the Flame was handed over to the new Host City London, at another ceremony in the Panathenaiko stadium in Athens. The Flame was then delivered to the Host Country on 18 May 2012 , where it is transferred from one Torchbearer to another, to travel over 1019 communities in the UK, the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey during the 70-day Torch Relay, spreading the message of peace, unity and friendship.

The tradition of lighting the torch comes from the ancient Greeks. During the Ancient Olympic Games, a sacred flame was lit from the sun’s rays at Olympia, and stayed lit until the Games were completed. This flame represented the “endeavor for protection and struggle for victory.” It was first introduced into our Modern Olympics at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. Since then, the flame has come to symbolize “the light of spirit, knowledge, and life.”

The Torch Relay also began in the Ancient Olympics and was revived at the 1936 Berlin Games. Originally, the torch was lit at Olympia in Greece and then carried by relay to the host-city of the games. The last runner carries the torch into the Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony. The flame is then lit from the torch and will remain lit until it is extinguished during the Closing Ceremony. The Torch Relay symbolizes the passing of Olympic traditions from one generation to the next!

It ends its journey as the last Torchbearer lights the Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony in the Olympic Stadium, marking the official start of the Games. The Flame then stays lit until it is put out at the Closing Ceremony, signifying the end of the Games.

At 9:15 am on Friday 1st June 2012 the Olympic flame passed the Christadelphian hall in Ormskirk as it made its 8,000 mile journey around the UK. Thousands of people lined the streets as Olympic fever swept the town. When it arrives in London it will open the XXX Olympiad where we will witness a global spectacle with viewers all over the world rooting for their national athletes, willing them on and longing to see them on the winners’ podium feeling proud and excited.

The identity of the final torchbearer is kept secret until the last moment. But for your Olympics, your game of life, you should know your torch-bearer and look forward to the highlight of the opening ceremony of your Olympics. While at the Olympic Games the final torchbearer often does a lap of the stadium before lighting the monumental cauldron with the Olympic flame, you should be running more than one lap in your life.

At the games there may be the symbolic release of doves evoking the climate of peace in which the Olympic Games should take place, but as a Christian you yourself should be the light. You should be one of the many flames in the Christian world which attracts many people, who want to see how you are able to win the race. As at the Roman times you have to win the race for life or be in the stadion with the lions. The flame remains lit for the duration of the Games and is only extinguished at the closing ceremony. But your flame should stay lighted and may not go out when the world-games come to an end.

You should not be part of the heathen games, but be part of the more life insurance games. Making sure that you shall be able to enter the small gate, to see in front of you a world of peace and tranquillity, were you and other believers shall be able to live for ever, in the Kingdom of God.

The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the believers in Corinth (in Greece) a city which was steeped in Olympic culture and had gymnasiums, arenas and stadiums.

As at the games many receive a prize, but they have to do something for it. We at our games also have to do some work.

Read more about it in: The Race for Life? Ormskirk Christadelphians

Ecclesiastic scene undergoing rapid upheaval

Posted on April 26, 2012. Filed under: Ecclesia, News and Politics, World | Tags: Israel, Kirill I of Moscow, Moral Values, Moscow, Orthodox, Patriarch Kirill, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Second Coming of Christ, Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin |

All over the world there are political problems, whether the civil war looming in Sudan with its ramifications involving Germany, the UN and China or the Egyptian elections which will again effect Israel.

We have really neglected the ecological global catastrophe, but the internet is full of examples where in many parts of our world the lifestyle is drastically changing for many whose habitat is now temperate where it once was Arctic. Animals as well as humans are affected by this drastic and dramatic climate change. Each country is affected in some way.

The ecclesiastic scene is also undergoing rapid upheaval, especially the relationship of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Roman Catholic Vatican. Note the following:
“Patriarch Kirill is a theological conservative in the mould of Pope Benedict. Both see religion as the wellspring of culture. Both understand that Europe cannot escape a final capitulation to tyranny if it does not rediscover its Christian roots.”

Russian Orthodox church (Photo credit: bdearth)

Since his enthronement, Patriarch Kirill has offered his voice of clarity and authority to the growing Catholic and Orthodox critique of the decline of moral values and the hostility of the contemporary culture toward the Church. He openly decries the growing rejection of Christian influence throughout the world. He warns of the dangers that such a rejection present to civilization and authentic freedom.

Patriarch Kirill has repeatedly called upon Orthodox Christians to be actively involved in reclaiming the culture with the values informed by the ancient faith. Shortly after his selection, the Patriarch noted that, “in the Vatican and not only in the Vatican but all over the world, Catholics understand that Orthodox (people) are their allies. And Orthodox (people) are more and more coming to understand that Catholics are their allies in the face of hostile and non-religious secularism.”

There is a growing recognition that there is more that joins theologically faithful Catholics and theologically faithful Orthodox than that which separates us. The urgency of the cultural decline compels our collaboration in Christ. It is also leading us to a growing mutual respect which may pave the way toward some form of restored communion. Catholic Online 24-Apr-12]

While the European and Russian churches are forming an allegiance, Russia has a long-time plan to re-establish affiliations with Kazakhstan and the Ukraine.

For Russia, the recreation of a union is a strategic necessity. As Putin put it, the fall of the Soviet Union was a geopolitical catastrophe. Russia needs the economic integration, particularly given the new economic strategy of post-Soviet Russia, which is the export of raw materials, particularly energy.
Aligning with states such as Kazakhstan in energy and Ukraine in grain provides Moscow with leverage in the rest of the world, particularly in Europe. As important, it provides strategic depth.
The rest of the world knows that an invasion of Russia is inconceivable. The Russians can conceive of it. They remember that Germany in 1932 was crippled. By 1938 it was overwhelmingly powerful. Six years is not very long, and while such an evolution is unlikely now, from the Russian point of view, it must be taken seriously in the long run — planning for the worst and hoping for the best.

Therefore, the heart of Russian strategy, after resurrecting state power in Russia, is to create a system of relationships within the former Soviet Union that will provide economic alignment and strategic depth but not give Russia an unsustainable obligation to underwrite the other nations’ domestic policies. Unlike the Russian Empire or Soviet Union, Putin’s strategy is to take advantage of relationships on a roughly mutual basis without undertaking responsibility for the other nations. [Stratfor 24-Apr-12]

We can see that, with the discovery of large quantities of oil by Israel in the Mediterranean and shale oil in Israel itself, allowing Israel to plan for the supply of vast amounts of energy to Europe, Russia will do all it can to suppress such a plan.

The immediate future will be ‘interesting.’ The long-term could be catastrophic for those unaware of the Plan of God for this world – with Israel in particular.

“You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” [James 5:8]

In our Master’s service,

Art Wright

“Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7

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Forbes Publishes Anti-Russian Screed by Snotty Greek-American Harvard Prince… Here It Is… Read It for Yourself… What a Buncha Maroons! (02varvara.wordpress.com)
After an outcry from conservative Orthodox believers and clergy, particularly after the politically-influential Patriarch Kirill weighed in with an angry and rather un-Christian denunciation of their conduct, three members of Pussy Riot were arrested and charged with “hooliganism”, which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
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President-elect Vladimir Putin saw fit to apologise to churchgoers and priests for what Pussy Riot perpetrated. His apology appeared neutrally worded, but the two detained women remain in jail pending trial despite the fact that they both have small children. A poll of 1,633 Russians in 130 cities, taken by the Levada Centre in mid-March, showed that 46 percent of those who had heard of the “punk service” believed two to seven years in prison to be a proper punishment for the women. Only 35 percent considered it too harsh.
Orthodox Church under attack-Russian Patriarch (dailystar.com.lb)
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church warned tens of thousands of believers on Sunday they were “under attack by persecutors” on a nationwide day of prayer intended to heal divisions over a protest at the altar by a women’s punk band.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, top right, addresses to believers outside the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, April 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

At least 40,000 people came to hear Patriarch Kirill lead them in prayer at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, where Pussy Riot performed a “punk prayer” on Feb. 21 deriding the Church’s close relationship with President-elect Vladimir Putin.
First Among Estates (latitude.blogs.nytimes.com)
As many as 65,000 people gathered in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on Sunday. Judging by the large number of buses parked nearby, they’d been brought in from various parts of Russia. This was not another anti-Putin protest; it was not even a protest: it was a huge communal prayer. Some of the participants were members of the clergy, dressed in gaudy gold-on-red church garb. But most appeared to be ordinary churchgoers who’d heeded the clergy’s call to come pray in defense of the church. Its leaders say it is under attack.
Russians rally support for Orthodox church over Pussy Riot controversy (guardian.co.uk)
The church maintains that desecration of icons and other acts of vandalism have become more frequent since the punk protest. As the patriarch led a procession around the cathedral, priests carried a crucifix and an icon that had been damaged in attacks elsewhere in Russia this spring.
Naval Cathedral, St. Nicholas of Kronstadt, reopened! (russianreport.wordpress.com)
The Naval Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Kronstadt is the main temple of the Russian Navy, founded in 1902 by decree of Emperor Nicholas II in honour of the 200th anniversary of the Russian Navy by Peter the Great. In 1929 the Cathedral was closed and desecrated by the Communists.

In 2009 a board of trustees was established to restore the cathedral which is expected to be fully restored in time for the 100th anniversary of its first consecration, which will be celebrated in 2013.
Thousands show support for under-fire Orthodox Church (scotsman.com)
“This series of acts of vandalism … it’s because the Church now backs the state very strongly and this wave is mostly against the current authorities,” said Anastasia Pavlukhova, 20, a theology student, who made an 800-mile journey to the event from the southern city of Pyatigorsk by bus with her parish.”
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Alexei Makarkin, of the Moscow Centre for Political Technologies, said: “Within the Church itself, opinion has been divided over what was worse: The ‘punk prayer’ or the Church’s reaction to it.”
22 April 2012. You Can’t Make Shit Like This Up Department: “Aiding and Abetting the Moscow Patriarchate” by “Bishop” Paul Peter Jesep (02varvara.wordpress.com)
Ukrainians don’t need someone else’s permission to have their own Church. I’ve said it. I’ve written it. And now I’m repeating it for the umpteenth time. Metropolitan Yurij of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada is aiding and abetting the Moscow Patriarchate. His inhospitable attitude toward the visit of Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate is misguided. Independent of the lack of Christian hospitality, it gives the Moscow Patriarchate legitimacy and greater leverage to interject itself in the social, political, and religious life of Ukraine.
You Stink at Photoshop (ronscoffeeandchocolates.wordpress.com)
Russian bloggers are incensed with how extremely wealthy the Russian Orthodox Church with its ties to the Russian government has become. With all the corruption in the Russian government you don’t often hear of the official church making any comment about it.
Russian Patriarch Calls Putin Era a ‘Miracle From God’ (disclose.tv)
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has made no secret of his support for Putin, whom he regards as the guarantor of the country’s stability. “You have played an enormous personal role to set the course of history in our country,” Kirill told Putin last month during a meeting with other religious leaders. “I would like to thank you.”

Read more: http://www.disclose.tv/forum/russian-patriarch-calls-putin-era-a-miracle-from-god-t68882.html#ixzz1tAZsSLBL
Russian Patriarch Calls Priests Who Opposed Prayer Service ‘Traitors’ (eurasiareview.com)
The cathedral, built by former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov after being destroyed by Stalin, has become a symbol of that relationship.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church warned tens of thousands of believers on Sunday they were “under attack by persecutors” on a nationwide day of prayer intended to heal divisions over a protest at the altar by a women’s punk band.

At least 40,000 people came to hear Patriarch Kirill lead them in prayer at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, where Pussy Riot performed a “punk prayer” on Feb. 21 deriding the Church’s close relationship with President-elect Vladimir Putin.

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Tragic coach crash in the Swiss Alps

Posted on March 19, 2012. Filed under: Suffering, World | Tags: Belgium, Coach Crash, Death, Disaster, Heverlee, Leuven, Lommel, Sierre, Swiss Alps, Youngster |

Last week was a black one for Belgium, but in which we saw a lot of solidarity and a certain unity of feeling in the Dutch, French and German speaking parts of the country.

Though every three seconds a child dies and annually in the USA only 8,000 children are injured in school bus crashes annually, this road accident called for much attention because so many died in one go.

Coach crashed Tuesday night, in a tunnel on the A9 road between Sierre and Sion

Shortly after 9PM on Tuesday night a Belgian coach carrying school children from schools in Heverlee (Leuven) and Lommel (Limburg) had crashed in Sierre in the Swiss Alps. The entire front of the coach was destroyed as a result of the impact. Several victims were stuck in the wreckage. The front seats of the bus were all smashed against each other and there was blood everywhere.

22 youngsters aged 11 and 12 and hailed from the Sint-Lamberts School in Heverlee near Leuven (Flemish Brabant) and from the primary school ‘t Stekske in Lommel (Limburg) their live was ended suddenly after a week of a lot of fun at a skiing holiday in the resort of Saint Luc in Val d’Anniviers in the Swiss alps. 28 people were also seriously injured. The two drivers from Aarschot, teacher Raymond Theunis, 54, and youth leader Veerle Vanheukelom, 38, both of whom were from Lommel lost their lives with another two adults.

Under the victims was also the 11-year-old British boy Sebastian Bowles, a pupil at St Lambertus school in Heverlee, Belgium, had moved with his parents to the country from Crouch End, north London, two years ago. Sebastian’s father, Edward, a banker, and his mother, Ann, returned to Belgium from Switzerland on Thursday night.

The front wall of Saint Lambertus school in Heverlee, Belgium, has been adorned with flowers and sympathy messages. Photograph: Getty Images

The headteacher of Our Lady of Muswell, in north London, Teresa McBride, said: “Our school community is still reeling from the shock of this terrible accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sebastian’s family at this tragic time.
“He was a wonderfully vibrant boy who is so fondly remembered by pupils, staff and parents at Our Lady of Muswell. He was known by staff as ‘the little cherub’. He will be greatly missed.

Alain Rittemer, chief of emergency services in the Canton of Valais, said it took a full two hours to work their way through the ‘apocalypse’ of mangled wreckage on Tuesday night. Mr Rittemer said ‘We reached the last casualty two hours after our arrival on the scene 20 minutes after the accident. The last dead body, that of the second driver, was finally removed at 4.15am’.

A 12-year-old girl aboard the bus who escaped with serious injuries was the first survivor to describe what happened. She said: ‘I felt a hard jolt. Then everything went dark. ‘The seats worked loose and were flung around the bus. I was hurled forward and ended up pinned between two of the seats.’ The girl broke both of her legs and an arm.

On the school gate in Heverlee Wednesday, staff put up drawings made by students to honour the teacher. ‘I’ll never forget you, Teacher Frank,’ one read. ‘You are the greatest ever!’

Signing: Citizens sign the condolences book at Lommel Town Hall in front of photographs of children who died in the Swiss bus crash

More than 20,000 people have signed the online book of condolence that was opened by the Sint-Lambertus School in Heverlee (Flemish Brabant). The book of condolence was closed on Saturday evening. Within just three days 20,089 people left messages of support.

The Federal Health Department confirmed the news that Swiss doctors had given the green light for the injured child’s return early on Saturday. The girl has been treated for her injuries in a hospital in the Swiss capital Bern.

She will be transferred to the Gasthuisberg Hospital in Leuven where another 14 children are currently being treated for injuries they sustained in the crash.

While the injured children from Heverlee are close to home, the Leuven hospital is still a long way from the Limburg town of Lommel where a number of the injured children come from.

The authorities will look into the possibility of transferring the Lommel children to hospital closer to home.

Six children were already able to return to their homes in Belgium with their parents on Thursday evening.

The bodies of the 6 adults and 22 children that died in Tuesday evening’s accident were repatriated to Belgium on Friday. They are now awaiting their final resting place in their respective home towns of Lommel (Limburg), Aarschot and Heverlee (both Flemish Brabant).

For the parents of the children aged 11 and 12it must have been terrible moments, and the waiting for news of their children must have been horrible. for those who had only one child their family is totally broken and left with an empty space never to be replaced again.

The previous days and this weekend we took the time to pray for the sorely tried, but also looked at the many other children who die every three seconds and who never get such attention as those who died in this tragic car accident.

Friday was a national day of mourning.

At 11am local time in Belgium, children, politicians and workers marked the minute’s silence. Travellers at bus, underground and railway stations were asked to pause until church bells sounded the end of the moment of remembrance. In Brussels, government officials and politicians gathered outside buildings.

At the European commission headquarters, flags were flying at half-mast and a number of commercial television stations halted transmissions for much longer than a minute, cancelling some programmes altogether.

At St Lambertus school, children who gathered in the playground for the minute’s silence were handed white balloons to release.

Staffan Nilsson, President and Martin Westlake, Secretary General on behalf of the European Economic and Social Committee offered their heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the persons so tragically killed. Tey said: “We are bereaved and mourning together with the 11 million citizens of Belgium in particular and 500 million Europeans in general.”

Pope Benedict XVIassociated himself also in prayer with the suffering of the mourning families, entrusting the victims to the mercy of God and asking Him to welcome them into His light.

The bus carrying 46 children, four teachers and two drivers slammed into an Alpine tunnel wall as they returned from a week-long ski trip. The crash is believed to be one of the deadliest in Switzerland for 30 years

We do know that people when they die become at their end of their life. According to the Bible then it is finished and the body becomes dust again, while the victim cannot feel, see or do anything, because it knows nothing any more, because life has left the body and there is nothing more to go out of it or to continue a certain afterlife. It may seem hard but we should see this gives more comfort and makes it less hard to continue living for the others. Because they know there is no more suffering for the child any more, not having to be conscious of the anger and sorrow of those who are still alive.

Though our profound sympathy goes to the injured and their families we do hope they shall be able to find some light in the dark and that this moment of grieve can strengthen them to continue this life, keeping in their mind the pictures of the beautiful moments they had with their children.They should nourish those warm nice moments they had together and get together their strength to tackle the daily life in remembrance of their daughter or boy.

We do pray that they can find reasons for all the things that happened in the short life of the child, and that they may find the hope in the promise God has given us, that one day it shall be possible again to meet each other again. We all should look out for that time, which can come soon, that Jesus shall resurrect all the dead to give them allowance to enter the Kingdom of God.

Let us take every sad moment to learn from and to grow, preparing ourselves to be ready to enter the promise of a future life, without pain or any suffering.

In Lommel on the Dutch border, where several of the children went to a local primary school, a memorial service is to be held next Wednesday.

The Belgian royal family and the Queen of the Netherlands are due to attend: six of the dead children were Dutch.

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Jongeren gedragen in de harten van vele Belgen

First pictures of the young victims of school ski bus crash that killed 28 as it emerges driver ‘was helping teacher change DVD’

Accident in pictures: Busongeval in beeld

Sint Lambertusschool Heverlee

duizenden ontroerende steunbetuigingen

Busongeluk in Sierre – Stad Leuven Rouwpagina

‘t Stekske Schoolkolonie Lommel

Condoleances: Lommel Steunbetuiging

Facebook funeral parlour: Facebook Rouwpagina

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Swiss coach crash kills dozens, most of them schoolchildren – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
Two small Belgian towns are in mourning after a bus crash in the Swiss Alps left at least 22 schoolchildren dead.
Swiss coach crash: London school pays tribute to British victim (guardian.co.uk)
‘No alcohol’ in Switzerland coach crash driver – autopsy – BBC News (bbc.co.uk)
At least 28 killed in Swiss Alps bus crash: WSJ (marketwatch.com)
School bus horror: 22 kids and six adults killed in Swiss Alps ski trip coach crash (mirror.co.uk)
Twenty-eight killed in Swiss bus crash (oyiabrown.wordpress.com)
The head of the Cantonal police Christian Varone described the crash as “unprecedented”.
Belgium coach crash in Switzerland tunnel kills 28 (mygreekbooking.wordpress.com)
More than 200 people and eight helicopters were involved in the rescue operation.Swiss journalist Ruth Seeholzer told the BBC that the two-lane tunnel was not busy with traffic when the accident happened and driving conditions were normal.
(Switzerland)Belgian coach crash in Swiss tunnel (leggotunglei808.wordpress.com)
22 schoolchildren among dead in Swiss bus crash (ctv.ca)
28 people, including 22 children, die in Swiss bus accident (theprovince.com)
28 people, including 22 children, die in Swiss bus accident (calgaryherald.com)
Swiss bus crash leaves 28 dead (cbc.ca)
Schoolchildren among 28 dead in Swiss bus crash – CTV.ca (ctv.ca)
Switzerland coach crash: ‘we should all pause for thought’ – euronews (euronews.com)
It was Belgium’s first National Day of Mourning for eight years.At EU institutions in Brussels, in workplaces, train stations and elsewhere around the country, people came together to remember the victims of the school bus crash in Switzerland.
Over 20 Belgian children die in Swiss bus crash (foxnews.com)
Bus crash kills 28 on Swiss ski holiday – CBS News (cbsnews.com)
Mystery deepens over Swiss bus crash (smh.com.au)
+ ‘This was worse than anything you can imagine’: 28 dead in school bus crash
Blog chronicles joy of Belgian kids before crash (sacbee.com)
A torch-light march. Ravioli and meatball dinners. Rides in a funicular railway. A sing-a-long and a dress-up casino evening.Those were some of the things that made last week “mega-cool” for 24 sixth graders at the St. Lambertus school in a hotel in Saint-Luc, high in the Swiss Alps.

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Self inflicted misery #2 Weakness of human race

Posted on July 22, 2011. Filed under: Environment and Ecology, Suffering, World | Tags: Arnold Gundersen, contamination, customer, disease, Evil, Fukushima Prefecture, generation, Government of Japan, Human Life, Human Race, Japan, Life, natural law, nuclearpower, United States, weakness |

Self inflicted misery to bear

2. Weakness of human race

Man’s neglect and misuse of his own life has corrupted the stream of human life itself, and left evils which fall on succeeding generations. These, again as part of natural law, may manifest themselves as hereditary weaknesses and tendencies to disease. The very stuff of life may be affected as it is passed on from generation to generation.

The weakness of the human race is that it has become A risk taking society and that it loves to walk on the edge of the impossibility. As effective risk management is central to economic efficiency so taking the right decisions for all the people would get a most efficient environment to live in. But major players in this world would not find that it is right that they should be held accountable for risks they underestimated. As usual man would prefer to blame someone else. It seems to be an ingrained habit.

Ikata Nuclear Power Plant - Image via Wikipedia

You would think Japan’s nuclear disaster reason to think twice but humans are so much more interested by their own gain that they often overlook the problems it can cause to others. Most of the Japanese scientists at the mid-1950s, considered that the technology of nuclear energy was under development or not established enough, and that it was too early to be put to practical use. The Japan Scientists Council recommended the Japanese government not to use this technology yet, but the government accepted to use enriched uranium to fuel nuclear power stations, and was thus subjected to US government policy. According to the builders everything was save and could stand the worst earthquake, but history showed differently. After Chernobyl not much changed and you can wonder which lessons people are going to take from this eastern “thriller”. “So ten to 15 years from now maybe we can say the reactors have been dismantled, and in the meantime you wind up contaminating the water,” Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, says. “We are already seeing Strontium [at] 250 times the allowable limits in the water table at Fukushima. Contaminated water tables are incredibly difficult to clean. So I think we will have a contaminated aquifer in the area of the Fukushima site for a long, long time to come.”
Unfortunately, the history of nuclear disasters appears to back Gundersen’s assessment.[1]

All those things can continually happen because men can always find someone interested in his projects. Customers are always lurking around the corner.

Klant zijn met propere handen (Being a Customer with clean hands) warns us also how people can use other people just as trading objects. Humans are often used just to produce things for others, at the lowest possible cost. Slavery has existed for centuries and has still not come to an end. One even would be able to say that it is coming on again. Once more this way of using men brings a lot of misery into this world.

We may not become the slaves of this world. And we should take care that others do not become slaves of those around us or them.

God had liberated His People Israel from Egypt. He also gave all those who want to know the possibility to escape any slavery of this world. It is namely by being a slave of this world that we bring a lot of suffering onto ourselves.

[1] Fukushima: It’s much worse than you think. Scientific experts believe Japan’s nuclear disaster to be far worse than governments are revealing to the public. Dahr Jamail for Aljazeera. > http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/201161664828302638.html

Continues: Self inflicted misery #3 A man given to suffer for us

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Is it possible to connect human race (wiki.answers.com)
There are more similarities and synchronization to behave each other like brothers than there are differences.
You: Drawing lessons from Japan’s nuclear disaster (search.japantimes.co.jp)
In 1945 the catastrophe was inflicted by the enemy. In what remains to date the most horrendous attack on human beings, more than 300,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and many more went on to suffer because of radioactivity-related ailments. But today Japan’s catastrophe is self-inflicted.
One compelling reason for phasing out nuclear-power programs is that scientists have not been able to figure out how to safely dispose of the radioactive waste created by the plants. The spent fuel is cooled in pools and continues to pile up.The most common hazards faces by human beings due to exposure to radiation are cancer or leukemia and genetic mutations that can affect future generations. The high doses of radiation at the Fukushima nuclear plant may not prove to be immediately fatal to workers involved in the cleanup, but it is likely to manifest itself in the form of cancers later in life and could even impact the workers’ future offspring. In short, such people will suffer through no fault of their own.
Nuclear Contamination 101 (tipggita32.wordpress.com)
Already we have a huge problem our grandchildren are going to have to deal with—the radioactivity from Fukushima!
Japan bans beef from Fukushima (edition.cnn.com)
Four months after Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11, operators at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are still grappling with the crisis the disaster unleashed but say they are making slow progress.
Fukushima: It’s much worse than you think (english.aljazeera.net)
“Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind,” Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, told Al Jazeera.

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Self inflicted misery #1 The root by man

Posted on July 19, 2011. Filed under: Endtimes, Environment and Ecology, Suffering, World | Tags: anti-social behaviour, Belgium, Book of Job, Chernobyl, Education, Environment, European Union, everyday live, Flanders, Fukushima, God, Human, Job, Labour economics, litter, misery, Natural disaster, natural law, Poverty, Suffering, welfare, Welfare state |

Self inflicted misery to bear

1. The root by man

For some the Book of Job offers no simple answer to the problem of suffering. But it should shed a light on how nobody can escape the problems of this world and shall be able to find himself confronted with misery at one or another time.

Suffering and loss are common to man, and often he is at the root of it himself.

As we have seen from the Study about Job is that man lives in a universe of cause and effect and the consequences of certain causes are inescapable and have nothing to do with what God brings unto earth but more with what God allows happening on this earth.

God has given men a freedom to act. He has given them the responsibility over Gods Creation. But there is a burden of ‘natural law’ which straightens out the wrongdoings of certain people. Humankind is not inescapable to what men do. In this universe we do have to bear the consequences of what we or others do.

As you can come to the conclusion from the series on the Poverty in Flanders lots of handling by people and situations interfere with each other and can bring people in serious problems. They do not have to be the cause of it. It can be brought over them by the stupidity of others or by uncontrollable health situations.

In Eigendomsrecht, welvaarttaks en waardigheidsrecht is written that each cultured society must have a certain form of solidarity its members or inhabitants. No community can stand on its own. Everybody living in the close environment has to take his or her responsibility. Each worthy society must work there at it to form a social acceptable and fully social life and to offer a safety net for all those who fall from the boat. The law of the strongest is the strongest injustice. It is the duty of the strongest to see for the weakest to.
Every worthy community should take care of a good education for everybody, which can directly provide the skills, knowledge and qualifications that are important in social and labour market participation, so that nobody should have to become a burden on another. As Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #7 Education shows it is everybody’s responsibility when a community gets impoverished because the people cannot cope to do the proper work to keep that community going. Also by not knowing what to do right, people are going to make faults, interfering the wrong way with nature or with nature elements and so causing problems in God’s creation and bringing natural disasters over them.

Image via Wikipedia

We can also determine that often it are the lower educated people who are not really taking care of their environment. Rotzooi van de mens & zwerfprobleem shows what a mess man creates with its litter. Lots of people suffer because they live in dirty neighbourhoods but they forget how often many people around them are the cause of it. They should be more aware of the impact that litter has on our communities and local areas and what it costs to the community or every taxpayer. Litter and clean and green spaces are important to people and their everyday lives. Areas blighted by litter, dog fouling, fly-tipping, graffiti and fly-posting can make residents ashamed of where they live and stop people from going to visit a place. Therefore those who would like to have everything clean should let hear their voice more and react more to others who show an anti-social behaviour.

Educated people can also look for new materials, handy tools and for renewable ways to produce our energy and many of these resources we need; wind, water, sunshine, agricultural waste. But they have to find also ways to get rid of all the waste they create and have to keep living in respect for the countryside. As Royals, mini busses and environment shows that there are high placed persons on this earth, who are aware of our role in the whole universe. We all should be aware of the rural areas which should be set to contribute considerably to renewable energy targets and the fight against climate change. Industries should be willing to invest and to produce possible assets to reach the right goals. Industry may not have the idea it can do everything to achieve her goals to make gains as much as possible. The inconsideration about how to handle the products nature gives us brings often so many people in danger. We should be aware that there is a big difference between inability to know and unwillingness to know as well as unwillingness to change or to do something. We also should shame ourselves when we do not want to learn from history and cases as Chernobyl, Fukushima and so many others.

People just cannot muddle with mother nature. They have to conserve the delicate natural ecology. When they do master it wrongly and go about it brashly they shall have to bear the consequences of their deeds. Every action a person does shall bring something forth. A heedless action shall have its outcome probably not to the good. Than it shall not God to blame for giving a persecution. No it is the fault of the perhaps thoughtless step, but in any case of the wrong step that brings forth a counter reaction.

Continues: Self inflicted misery #2 Weakness of human race

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Perhaps interesting to read to have more insight in suffering brought to people in this modern civilised world:

Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #10 Health (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #2 First two decennia of 21st century (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #3 Right to Human dignity (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #4 The Family pact (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #5 Housing (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #6 Transport factor of immobilising financial growth (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #7 Education (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #8 Work (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #9 Consumption (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Facing disaster fatigue shows how now we are becoming closer to the Endtimes the problems are going to expand. One natural disaster after another coming over the people of this world who seem to have lost control of a lot of things, living more and more without any ethics.

Please do find also the following articles on our main website:

Fragments from the Book of Job #7 Epilogue

Posted on June 24, 2011. Filed under: Being Christian, following Jesus Christ, Bible Study and Bible Reading, Christendom and Christianity, Endtimes, Jehovah יהוה YHWH JHVH God Elohim Yahweh Jahweh, Suffering, World | Tags: Abrahamic covenant, Almighty, Anointed, Answer from God, argument, Bible, Bildad, Book of Job, Children of God, Christendom and Christianity, control, Creation, Creator deity, crime, disappointment, Elihu, Eliphaz, Evil, God, God speaking, Gods, Gods desire, Gods Law, Gods Plan, Gods Power, Gods Wil, Gods Word, Hearing, Hearing God, Holy Spirit, iniquity, Jehovah, Jesus, Job, Law of Christ, Life, Messiah, omnipotent, oppressed, pitfall, poor, Poverty theology, Pray, Prayer, pride, Prosperity theology, Reflect, Religion and Spirituality, Resurrection, Righteous person, rightheous, Salvation, Satan, Silence of God, Suffering, Theology, thinking straight, Thought, transgression, trap, trial, Worshipping, Yeshua |

As Kevin Miller writes in his blog article about Job “Job is a book of tragedy, foolish counsel, mourning, but also great strength.” For us it can be counted as such a real romantic film: Job begins and ends happy and cheery, but in-between we get drama of high calibre. By the end of the very first chapter, all of Job’s kids were dead, his animals had been killed and/or stolen, almost of of his servants were dead, and he had completely crushed. Than his health was taken away and by the end of Job 2, we found this (once) wealthy, healthy, man of integrity sitting on a pile of ashes scraping his gaping wounds with broken pieces of pottery. As so often happens by humans is that his friends also started to accuse him of all sorts of bad things. People love it to find the evil by an other, but do not want to see “the beam” in their own eyes. “In Job 8:4, Job’s good old buddy, Bildad, even has the audacity to accuse Job of hidden sin! As if Job were to blame for his suffering! That’s a sad misconception that is sometimes even taught from pulpits today: hidden sin is causing your suffering. ” writes Miller rightly. We have to be careful not to fall in that trap or pitfall.
We also may not accept the latest theologies: Poverty theology and prosperity theology. The first considering those who are poor to be more righteous than those who are rich. It considers a matter of greed to become more wealthy than others and it honours those who choose to live in poverty as particularly devoted to God. Conversely, prosperity theology considers those who are rich to be more righteous than those who are poor; it honours those who are affluent as being rewarded by God because of their faith. In fact, both poverty and prosperity theology can be half-truths but are not depicting the full picture of Gods handling people.

Job and his family restored - Blake

Instead of clinging our hears to false teachers we do better to take Gods Words to our heart. As Arlin Sorensen says: “God has spoken to us clearly through His Word – the Bible is His first communication to us. But more than that – God continues to speak to us as well. The Holy Spirit lives in us to communicate God’s Truth to our hearts. God may speak to us through a dream or a vision. There is no shortage of God speaking to us and giving us direction for life. ” (About Job 33) Even without any book we could and should hear the words from God, because God is talking to us continually through creation, His Word, and the Spirit that lives in us. In the Book of Job as in many other Books of the Bible God lifts up a veil and is shown up as the Most Almighty, Omnipotent, Most Wise and Creator of all things and of all beings. The problem is that most of us do not want to read the Bible and as such hear the Words of God. They prefer to listen to the most popular speakers. But they are not always the wise speakers. On the other hand we also often fail as listeners because we have certain ideas to which we want to keep fast. Most listeners are already preparing their response before the ones to whom they listen ever finish what they have to say. We saw a glimpse of how we want to win the argument, like Elihu who thought he had all the answers. A lot of persons also think the Bible is just an old book and they forget that this Book of Books, the Best-seller of all times can change their life.

Because we want things our way, we prefer the answers who go in our direction of thinking and we dare to feel unjustified when something does happen not like we want it. Often it is our pride which hinders us to think straight and worse, makes it impossible to hear the answers from God. I do hope that in Arlin Sorensen’s Thoughts on Scripture the writer means not with ” It does keep us from hearing God’s response – because there isn’t one. ” that there is no answer for us, because even if we have haughtiness or arrogance God has everybody given the chance to put his or her pride aside and to take up His Word of Wisdom in their hands to learn from it. He is right to say that God opposes the proud. Scripture tells us that over and over. But that God doesn’t hear well – if at all – when pride is our defining character we cannot find right, because God listens to everything what happens and to what people say. He knows and sees everything. Nothing can escape His eye or ear. He doesn’t despise any. Jehovah is not going to look down upon with contempt just because a person can have some bad characteristics as pride. Yes He detest excessive self-esteem but He does see through our eyes and heart and knows were our attitude comes from. If we are honestly willing to hear God He shall come close to us. God shows no partiality to mankind (Job 34:19) and He has always His answer ready for everybody, who wants to hear it. Though it may not always come at the time we would think appropriate. It is up to God to decide to whom He gives answer when. God is always in control of everything. God is powerful and mighty because His righteous judgement and wisdom. Elihu showed us in chapter 36 how God gives some answers to the world, though they may not be like they would like to hear them. (Fragments from the Book of Job #5: chapters 32-37) Nothing can be “thwarted” from God (NIV) no purpose of Him can be restrained. (Job 42:2) Nothing is to difficult for God (Genesis 18:14; Isaiah 43:13; Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 19:26) When we are in agony, like Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, we can pray to Him and ask Him for things which seem impossible, because He can do everything (Mark 14:36) which shall always be more than any human being (Luke 18:27). God wants to be heard (Job 33:16) and use also people to let His voice been heard (2 Kings 17:13). By showing the people the results of their doings, the crimes caused by their pride, God gives answers to them (Job 36:9). To hear God we sometimes have to be willing to stand still and to be prepared to listen (Job 37:14). To stop or “stand still”: “Stand still and see the salvation of God” (Exodus 14:13; 2 Chronicles 20:17). “Stand still and hear God’s commandments” (Numbers 9:8). “Stand still that I may show you the word of God” (1 Samuel 9:27). “Stand still that I may reason with you” (1 Samuel 12:7).

One of the beauties of Gods creation where Jesus prayed to His Father, his and our God

“Behold, God is mighty, and despises not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom. He preserves not the life of the wicked: but gives right to the poor. He withdraws not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yes, he does establish them forever, and they are exalted. And if they are bound in fetters, and are held in cords of affliction; Then he shows them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded. He opens also their ear to discipline, and commands that they return from iniquity.” You can read here how God answers them and which advice He give those people who got a higher position but could not keep it right. ” If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge. But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when he binds them. They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean.” (Job 36:5-14 KJBPNV)

“He delivers the poor in his affliction, and opens their ears in oppression. Even so would he have removed you out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no narrow place; and that which should be set on your table should be full of fatness.” (Job 36:15-16 KJBPNV)

“Behold, God exalts by his power: who teaches like him?” (Job 36:22 KJBPNV)

“He seals up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.” (Job 37:7 KJBPNV)

“Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict. Men do therefore fear him: he respects not any that are wise of heart.” (Job 37:23-24 KJBPNV)

“Gird up your loins now like a man: I will demand of you, and declare you unto me.” (Job 40:7 KJBPNV)

“Then will I also confess to you that your own right hand can save you.” (Job 40:14 KJBPNV)

“I know that you can do every thing, and that no thought can be withheld from you. Who is he that hides counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” (Job 42:2-3 KJBPNV)

Also people who do not believe in God shall at certain times, decided by God, be able to hear God saying things to them. Because God’s desire is that we move away from sin and move to righteousness. He opens our ears to know His commands Job 36:10).

In Job 37:19 Elihu seems to have taunted Job asking him to teach them (Elihu and the three friends) how they should understand how to speak with God. Our brother Robert Prins wrote: “Elihu began by looking up. Maybe we should do the same as we gaze at the vastness of the heavens, the ethereal blue of the sky, the beauty of the sunrise and the sunset – new pictures painted by God for us to marvel at every day. We can see the expanse of his power as we look up into space and see the millions of stars he has created in glorious beauty, shining in the blackness on the night sky. And when we see clouds we can be impressed by the sheer volume and weight of water that God suspends above the earth. Who has not failed to be impressed by the thunder and lightening of a storm – thunder that can be heard all over the land, and lightening that lights up the whole earth with one almighty flash. And what about the rain, the snow or the hot sun and the way that God can disrupt the whole of man’s affairs by floods, snowstorm, earthquake or heatwave…
May our hearts also pound and leap from their places as we stop to consider God’s wonders.”

We have to reflect on what happens in the world and how God works on it. we have to try to understand God’s involvement in the way that things work in the natural world. Looking around us we can “see” and “hear” a lot of answers to our questions. Other people can sensitise others, like us, to get to know more about the Creator deity. They also can let us see that trials we often go through are not only for us, but for those around us as well and for people far away, who often have nothing to do with what caused their problem either.
As God broke His silence to Job (Job 38:1-) (Fragments from the Book of Job #6: chapters 38-42) He employed a series of more than 70 questions to show Job and humankind, his ignorance and God’s greatness. As long as everything goes all right nobody seems to worry about God, but as soon as something terrible happens ‘everybody’ wants to blame God for it. Suddenly everybody has than criticism on the Creator. Speaking with great irony and personifying His other creations God want putting men right in front of it, and having them to face the facts. did not God confront Job with mysteries of the animal kingdom in order to make him more aware of his ignorance and thus of his inability to be a competent judge of the works of God?
We get to see the other point about what the Book of Job is about. When people criticizes the way things happen in the world and blame God for it, they are trying to usurp God’s position as Master or Governor of this world (Job 40:6-14).
Normally God has not to justify Himself before us, but God addressed the issue of His own justice and Job his futile attempt at self-justification (Job 40:8-14). God questions man if he would condemn the Creator or discredit His justice to justify man himself (Job 40:8 )

gods of the babyboom generation

In this world many want to have modern gods, people to whom they can look up. Some of those men and women would not mind taking on the appearance of deity. God challenges those people (Job 40:10) King David knew his place and wanted to honour God, but hoped that the adversaries and accusers would be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak (Psalm 109:29).

As we came to chapter 42 of the Book of Job the contest with the satan, i.e. the accuser is now over and Job became restored. Job repented for the presumptuous words he spoke to the Most High, his Creator(Job 42:6). We got to see that Jehovah does not want people to suffer for no reason. God could not be impressed with the words of Jobs friends. He found it time that the friends of Job were put on their place and that Job could enjoy again happiness. This last one put away his pride and rebellion and finds contentment in the knowledge that he has God’s fellowship. We also should already be pleased that God wants to be with us, though we do not understand all His ways with us and with the world around us.

Knowing that God is in control of everything but that He has given men the right to clear all things themselves, it is up to take our own responsibility. After the fall Adam and Eve and all their next generations could prove they could manage the creation. So lets tackle it according to our best means, knowing that we all received everything around us in loan from the Creator Jehovah our God, the Most High and omnipotent.

As a Christian, we should lovingly and sincerely have concern for many people and their many circumstances. We should see what happens in the world and should look for the underlying causes. First of all should we always remember that God has given men a free will. The Creator has given men the possibility to choose and to have many choices. So we should be aware which way several people wanted to go, what they did and what consequences they and not God, brought to other human beings and to the rest of the creation of God. As children of God our hearts should ache for the pain and trouble that other creatures experience in life. This concern should compel us to react wisely and to come unto their help. To people we should speak truth into their life, which can include everything from pointing out sin to giving wise counsel, and intercede for them before God in prayer. We also have to stay aware of our limitations. We never can “play for God”. As finite beings, there is only so much we can do and we must discern whom God has called us to help and how God has called us to help them. We have to make choices how and how much we can help and have to put priorities first. Whatever happens we should carry first whatever load God has allowed to come over us, but not blaming Him for it. Than we should see how God still stays with us and helps us to carry that load or burden. As brothers and sisters in Christ we can help each other to make the burden lighter. Out of love we should try to do everything to make the problems less.

“Bear you one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of the Messiah. For if a man thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.” (Galatians 6:2-5 KJBPNV)

Let us be humble enough to accept that the Creator of all things has a good Plan which He is going to bring to a good end in due time. Although we cannot fully understand or appreciate Him, we can love, trust, respect Him and acknowledge that God alone can save us. Jehovah is our strength and He is the only underived and self-sustaining existence in the universe. All other forms of life are but incorporations of the life which is in Him — so many subdivisions of the stream which issues from the great fountainhead. God, as the antecedent, eternal power of the universe, has elaborated all things out of Himself. The testimony before us is, that the God of gods did not hide from the wilderness Israelites, for in the startling familiarity they had every proof that He was with them in the shining face of Moses and the tables of stone. There were rules in abundance on how to worship, but even that did not make obedient children. God’s life instruction and every provision of over reaching care, made little difference to the Israelites. Having the opportunity to read all the stories what happened to the people of God we should know better and take care not “to follow the world”. We should choose to follow the man God had sent to the earth to save the world. And we should follow the teachings of that son of God, called Yeshua or Jesus, the Nazarene, also called the Messiah.

In case we are not so happy with our life, let us look how we can make it better and easier to bear. Our disappointment is in itself a sign that we hunger for something better, and whatever our suffering situation and disappointment with the outcome, that we will regain a better outlook. All sufferers can have Hope. God especially cares and provides for all men — He is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16,17). The disappointment, with God’s answer, can be overwhelming, but God’s disappointment with us and God’s rejection of us are worse. We may never know the purpose of our suffering, but we need to rest assured that God has one. None of His should ever risk rejection.
If God leaves room for doubts and doubters, and we know He does, He also leaves room for the faithless, and in our disappointment, even for us. So God wants to give everybody His answer and His Help. The God who is positive has not only measures and rules for us but also promises.That we always have our ears and eyes open to see God ways and hear His answers and follow His instructions. That we have our eyes fixed on Gods Hope and that we hope in Him and in His son.

***

“The final chapters of this remarkable book, one of the first on record, brings the drama to a wonderful conclusion. The questions with which it opened by the quest of the Satan, are now answered, and Job finds his experiences have developed his character and understanding. As a wonderful type of the Lord Jesus, Job is vindicated by Yahweh, and becomes a mediator for his friends. He is again commended as Yahweh’s ‘righteous servant’ and is restored and honoured sevenfold. The last speech of the Deity is in Job 41, in which is revealed the power of the flesh in the great leviathan, and the way in which the Almighty Creator permits His creation to display greater spiritual principles. So the record continues as the mighty leviathan is presented as the final picture of Yahweh’s omnipotence. [1] Its untamable ferocity: Job 41: 1-9. [2] Its terrifying appearance: Job 41: 10-24. [3] Its power in attack: Job 41: 25-32. [4] Its incontestable supremacy: Job 41: 33,34″ (GEM).
Job 42: “The picture moves to the exaltation of Job: [1] Job humbles himself before Yahweh: Job 42 1-6. [6] Divine rebuke of Job’s accusers: Job 42 7-9. [7] Job restored and honoured: Job 42 10-17. The type is before us in the record of Job; the antitype will shortly be revealed in the return of Yahshua the Anointed, and the elevation of his true family. Then great blessing will come to the whole world, in fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant” (GEM).

“Trouble (so far from being evidence of desertion) is a means employed in His hands to lay the foundation of future joy and blessedness. Let His children then be comforted and strengthened to endure even the deepest and most inexplicable affliction. Let them learn to see God in the darkness and to feel His hand in the tempest. Let them beware of the folly of Job’s three friends rebuked of God. Let them know that this time of our pilgrimage is the night, and that though weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning and that joy a joy prepared by the weeping. Let them apply the consolation Christ has given them: ‘Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall be comforted’ [Matthew 5:4]” (WP 83).
***

Epilogue of the Book of Job

The Deliverance of Job

Job 42 (New Century Version)

7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven male sheep, and go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will listen to his prayer. Then I will not punish you for being foolish. You have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job did.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the Lord said, and the Lord listened to Job’s prayer. 10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord gave him success again. The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had owned before. 11 Job’s brothers and sisters came to his house, along with everyone who had known him before, and they all ate with him there. They comforted him and made him feel better about the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave Job a piece of silver and a gold ring. 12 The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than the first part. Job had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand teams of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. 13 Job also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first daughter Jemimah, the second daughter Keziah, and the third daughter Keren-Happuch. 15 There were no other women in all the land as beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father Job gave them land to own along with their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived one hundred forty years. He lived to see his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. 17 Then Job died; he was old and had lived many years.

Job 42:17

The LXX adds, as footnote: “And it is written that he shall rise up again, with those whom the LORD shall raise up.”

Next: Let us recognise how great God is

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Please do find more about Suffering on our main website:

Facing disaster fatigue

Posted on June 16, 2011. Filed under: Endtimes, Holy Scriptures, News and Politics, Satan and Evil, Suffering, World | Tags: Accident, Allah, Atlantic Ocean, Belfast, Bible teaching, biodiversity, California, California Powder Works, caution, Chernobyl, Christendom and Christianity, Civilisation, Creator, damage, destruction, Disaster, Disaster Relief and Recovery, Ecological chaos, Economy, Environment, fauna, Fear, flora, Fukushima, God, Gujarat, history, Holy Scriptures, ignorance, India, Indonesia, Islam, Japan, Jews, Judaism, lifeboat, mankind, Maritime, Massacre, memory, Mont Blanc, Mother Nature, Natural disaster, Natural Disasters and Hazards, nature, Near-Death Experience, Nuclear disaster, Oakdale Pennsylvania, Ocean Liners, Philanthropy, Planet Earth, plant, political unrest, Qur'an, RMS Titanic, selfishness, Ship, Thorah, Titanic, Torah, tourism, tsunami, United States |

“The Might Niush!” says that recessions, bombardment in the news about people actually being bombarded in other parts of the world, he is feeling totally exhausted and having existential angst, with no reprieve in sight. Add to this troubled cauldron, one natural disaster after another and we have yet another a new term for our millennial malaise: disaster fatigue. He agrees that these destructive events are often followed by equally destructive man-made disasters, as has been in Japan with the high-level radiation leaks from its nuclear reactors and teetering on the precipice of a possible meltdown.

We remember our Christadelphian brothers and sisters who had to face the problems of the 2001: Gujarat earthquake, India-19,700 deaths. The number of deaths, injuries and displaced people, not to mention economic and structural damage seems vastly disproportionate in developing countries.

Diagram demonstrating the nuclear fuel cycle

Humans are a special breed. They want to have an oar in everyman’s boat, but they cut a lot dead and do nt look beyond their own nose. Fukushima, Mon Amour is about the love to be the superior race. Hominum mankind having the idea that he is the strongest, the smartest and untouchable. they often do not want to see that the casualty and damages sustained could have been minimized had appropriate infrastructures (i.e. roads, digs, damns, river banks, bridges) been maintained and upgraded regularly, and had emergency supplies and relief management been effectively delegated.

Lots of disasters are also quickly muffled away in the non-remember storeroom of the brains. Yes they have a amnesia prone collective memory and are not liking to be reminded to previous disasters of their own fault, like in 1287, December 14, The Zuider Zee seawall collapsing with the loss of 50,000 lives. In 1190 we could find already a disaster in the history of human attitude. On March 17, crusaders completed the massacre of Jews of York, England. What was the hand of the people themselve not listening to hygienic rules in 1630 causing 16,000 inhabitants of Venice died of plague. sometimes even one person stood at the cause of the disaster, an in 1648 when on July 22, some 10,000 Jews of Polannoe were murdered in a massacre led by Cossack Bogdan Chmielnicki (55). At other times it was just because people want to play with fire. 1769 Aug 18, Gunpowder in Brescia, Italy, church exploded and some 3,000 were killed. and they did not want to learn from previous disasters, 1881-1919 Some 59 laborers, mostly Chinese immigrants, were killed in explosions at the California Powder Works in Hercules. 1917, February 20, Ammunitions ship exploded in Archangel harbor, Russia, and about 1,500 died. The Imo, a Norwegian freighter ship, had collided on December the 6th, 1917, in Nova Scotia with the French munitions ship Mont Blanc and a fire soon caused a massive explosion. Some 2000 people were killed and thousands wounded following an explosion in Halifax harbor. 1918, May 18, a TNT explosion in chemical factory in Oakdale, PA, killed 200. 1956, July 7, seven Army trucks loaded with dynamite exploded in middle of Cali, Columbia, killing 1,100-1,200. 2000 buildings were destroyed.
Other disasters came over other human because men wanted to conquer and rule over others, like in 1804 in Haiti when on March 29, thousands of whites were massacred. In 1972 the Tutsi-led government in Burundi killed some 100,000 Hutus.

Even when people thought they could make something un-destroyable they had to face the consequences of their pretensions. The “New Era”, an emigrant ship of 1328 tons, built in Bath, Maine, on her first voyage. She sailed on September 28 1854 and was nearly two months on the way. There were 425 on board, nearly all German. 40 were lost on the trip from cholera. There were 385 passengers and crew when the ship struck. 163 were saved. In the 19° Century masses of ship sank. The luxury liner RMS Titanic, the largest passenger ship at that time being its Dimensions: Length (L) 839 Feet Beam (width) 85 feet, Draught (b / water) 46 Ft, which never could sink, sank 1912, April 15, in the North Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland with the loss of about 1,522 lives. Some claim there was wealth discrimination as the lifeboats were loaded, which shows again the human nature of selfishness and causing extra suffering. (In Denver, the anarchist Emma Goldman wrote “Suffrage Dealt a Blow by Women of the Titanic”. If women wanted to be treated as equals they must, she argued, take their chances like men.)
1915 May 7, In the 2nd year of WWI, the British Cunard ocean liner Lusitania, on a voyage from New York to Liverpool, sank off the coast of Ireland in only 18-21 minutes after being struck by a torpedo fired by the German U-boat U-20. Of 1,959 [1,978] passengers and crew, 1,195 died.

Often people also forget the casual accidents which bring suffering to many. The 20,000 children who died in the 1920s in auto accidents are nothing to the amount which find their death today, or are injured for life.

People could also not bare to have respect for the animals, which they considered inferior. 1872-1874 More than 4 million buffalo were killed by white hunters. And for the profit gaining industry they are not concerned about neither people having to do the dirty work, nor about the the outcome os their productioproces. 1984 December 3, more than 4,000 people died and 200,000 were injured after a gas escaped from a pesticide plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India. 40 tons of vaporous methyl isocyanate, hydrogen cyanide, monomethyl amine, carbon monoxide and possibly 20 other chemicals were released after an explosion. Over the years, according to the Indian government, some 15,000 people have died from effects of the gas.

Thorah scroll and Bible

It is not only the Islam that says as Earth Day and Islam(socyberty.com) that the the safe keeping of nature has long been the duty of human. Several holy books of many religions admonish their people to take proper care of their environment. That we read in the Holy Quran ” Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness]” (30:41) lets us remind of several situations of the Old Testament where disasters like the one which came over Moab. The people of Moab had enjoyed prosperity and security. Their land was fertile and they received more rain. They were at ease. Nebo got ruined, Kiriathaim, the stronghold, disgraced and captured. (Jeremiah 48)
The Scriptures portray suffering as a consequence of sin: not necessarily the sin of the individual who suffers, but sin in the history of man and in human society. It are we who have been destroying every natural resources that God created. Problem with man is that he is so cocksure that he can do whatever he wants and that he is stronger then nature. They assume that they are allowed to use all the resources but they forget that the Creator allowed it to be used with good management and never to enrich our greed. In Islam, as in Judaism and in Christianity, the destruction of natural resources is a sin. The problem has always been that man thought he could pleases and was never afraid of sins. Therefore for the destruction we have caused, we are now receiving the consequence which we call natural disaster or in the worst case several believers call an act of God. But it is not God who interferes with the ‘besognes’ or affairs of men. The Bible teaching is that men are left to their own ways and the working of natural law, though there may be times when natural disaster is divinely directed as a judgement upon man and for the cleansing of the earth. The outstanding example is the flood in the days of Noah.

In many verse of Holy Scriptures (Torah, Bible, Quran) we can find that humans are allowed to use the resources that Allah has created. But human never can save himself from greed and because of this human destroyed every creation that God created on earth. “And He gave you from all you asked of Him. And if you should count the favour of Allah , you could not enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is [generally] most unjust and ungrateful.” (14:34) In this verse it shows Allah as the All Knowing proclaim that human are most unjust and ungrateful of what he has been given.

As people who honour God we have to make sure that also the other inhabitants of the world shal get to see the importance of protecting the Earth. As humans and creations of God we should be thankful and should proceed with caution, proving that we love not for a day but for as long as there’s sun and moon and that we can keep our duty as caretaker of God’s creation. Though we know that often warnings are to no avail we have to keep continuing to give signs and reminders. “Climate change advocates have long warned us of the acceleration of natural disasters on our planet. Sadly this has, by and large, been ignored. They have been dismissed by a slew of political, religious and special interest groups with “megaphonic” media ties to convince the general public otherwise. As per usual, profit, facilitated by the ignorance of the masses, is the root of it. Oil, nuclear, arms and unscrupulous development investors have too much at stake to loose out to floods, hurricanes, earthquakes or tsunamis. But it’s kind of hard to ignore Mother Nature; even harder in an era of instant communication.” says “The Might Niush!”

As bad as it may sound, all those disasters can also bring something good. The working of God with man must in its nature be individual: only the man who suffers can gain this as a personal experience. By facing the many problems he can become stronger by conquering them and defeat his fear.

Disasters are devastating to the natural and man-made environment

Sometimes the world has to be shaken awake so that it can think about the way it is going. The Japan nuclear disaster, with Chernobyl in the remembrance brought hope for those who warned the world already for years to look for a safe provision of energy. The ‘environmental’ issue can be tackled now. Ergo, nuclear power is bad for ‘the environment’ and should be replaced with ‘clean, renewable power’ like windmills and solar panels. but strangely enough, nature being stronger than men, the sum effect for the flora and fauna in the highly radioactive, restricted zone of Chernobyl has been overwhelmingly positive in favor of biodiversity and abundance of individuals.

Of course, this is not to say that radiation in and of itself somehow benefits wildlife. What brings the big boon to biodiversity is the removal of humans from the equation. Baker and Chesser reported frequent sightings of moose, deer, foxes, wild boar and river otters inside the 30-kilometre Chernobyl exclusion zone – whereas in the still-cultivated area outside the zone, the only wildlife they saw was a single rabbit. The researchers concluded: “the benefit of excluding humans from this highly contaminated ecosystem appears to outweigh significantly any negative cost associated with Chornobyl radiation” and that “… typical human activity (industrialization, farming, cattle raising, collection of firewood, hunting, etc.) is more devastating to biodiversity and abundance of local flora and fauna than is the worst nuclear power plant disaster.” (How a nuclear disaster can be good for ecology) The zones humans consider dead are often not as dead as they think. Gods creation is wonderful and goes above our imagination. We even do not yet know all the animals, plants and stars that exist today. But we may not make the mistake that those animals going in those regions would not have any problems. The radiation continues and destroys. The new habitants cannot escape the problem, several animals would die earlier than their normal lifespan.

After a disaster people can find themselves united. Often they grow closer and they feel the bond much more. Several people can also do a lot of good work and give others a revived spirit to continue living. After a near-death experience a lot of those people start living their ‘new’ life in a total different way.
Even economist look bright when the see how when a stricken country as Japan begins the long, arduous process of rebuilding homes, factories and shops, demand for construction goods such as lumber could soar. This shall give some countries the possibility to export more goods to Japan and bring the import of it into balance. Also Tourism operators could take a big hit in the short term, because you’ll find always the disaster-tourists, and people who sincerely found more interest in this for them otherwise not known country.
Certain disasters make it that new products are created, like for example the HTI HydroPack. (It is like an empty Capri Sun pouch with powdered nutrients inside. But it’s really a filter you can drop in any water source—a swimming pool, a mud puddle, a contaminated aquifer—and eight to twelve hours later the pack has filled itself with potable, fortified water.) It can give reason to people to think harder and to find other solutions. In case of Japan e.g. looking for other alternatives then nuclear power.

Having looked at the recent natural disasters around the world we can say that those who ponder whether these occurrences could be judgements from God that we may reassure that it is no punishment from God coming down upon them. God shall judge humanity in a later phase because of its increasing immorality. we may calm them down and ensure them that God is not sending these calamities as punishment for our rebellion against Him.

Because men choose to go his own way and God allowed him to, because He the Creator, to whom full authority belongs, did not want to be a dictator. The standard, for living a complete life, God has given us is also not liked by many men. Lots of people refuse to keep to those simple standard rules which would make life much more easier.
The Satan prowling the earth is the evil around us, which we can encounter every day.
We should be stronger then all the temptations around us. As Job who shunned evil and even was blameless we should fear God not for what happens today, but for what is going to come at the End Times and at Judgement Day. We should try to find out what our knows our weaknesses and our strengths are and should work on it so that we can become like Christ Jesus.
We also should point out to the world that Planet Earth has to face attacks from Civilisations who do not want to recognise Jehovah God as their creator. In case we can convince others also to live according to the Law of God a lot of problems who have been dismissed.
There does not exist some creatures who would be Fallen Angels and can be called responsible for the problems of this earth. We ourselves are the ones to blame.

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Thanks to Timeline of Disasters and Tragedies for the ease of presenting the historical events on handy timetables.
The Bible answer on terrorist attacks, wars, political unrest and instability, famine, social discontent and ecological chaos

Can Belfast’s Titanic Celebrations Ease the City’s Shame? (time.com) Though the ship made be build by the highest standards of safety it was the human pride who lost the battle. Often with disasters is that at first they attract a lot of attention and later the subject becomes avoided. The fact that the Titanic was a feat of engineering is often overshadowed by the ship’s terrible end. For many years after the sinking, the fate of the Titanicwas a taboo subject in the city where she was built. (See new images of the Titanic‘s wreckage.) The centenary of the launch of this incredible ship is an opportunity to place it in the history but also to recognise the tremendous realizations. To say it was that one simple oversight, having 2,201 people on board, the Titanic had only enough lifeboat capacity for 1,178, that ultimately turned the Titanicfrom the greatest ship in the world to a byword for disaster is over simplifying it.
Japan/Disasters : Over 90,000 people remain displaced as a result of the twin disasters in March. (theboldcorsicanflame.wordpress.com) as in Haiti and with the Indonesian tsunami of 2004 we can see that after some time not much was solved and a lot of people let in the cold. Though many countries in the Indian Ocean like India, Thailand and Sri Lanka were affected the consequence of tsunami on Indonesia was incredibly high. Certain groups were happy then that the only silver lining of this event was that the oil and gas sector was not damaged severely which is the main base of Indonesian economy. This shows were the heart of many people is.
All the debris that needs to be cleared in the disaster-hit areas can stay there for many years, as we see in the hit areas.
Not only the Fukushima disaster should be forcing a lot more people in Japan and the rest of the world to think a lot more deeply about the way their society operates.
Facing disaster fatigue (christadelphians.wordpress.com)
Answers in Times of Great Disaster (pttyann2.wordpress.com)

Facing disaster fatigue (christadelphians.wordpress.com)
Answers in Times of Great Disaster (pttyann2.wordpress.com)
A look at the the biblical truths we do know with absolute certainty which allow us to trust the Lord even in times of great suffering.
Self inflicted misery #1 The root by man starts a series in which we look how man causes a lot of pain to himself and others, but how God has offered a solution to the problem.

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Profitable disasters

Posted on June 15, 2011. Filed under: Environment and Ecology, Family, Satan and Evil, Suffering, World | Tags: Aid, Attitude, Babylon, Belgium, civilization, Creation, Creator, Disaster, Earthquake, Evil, God, Human, Humankind, IPod, Japan, Jeremiah, Life, media, nature, Nuclear power, Problems, Protectionism, Relief supplies, Suffering, sympton, Technology, tsunami |

We cannot ignore what happens today and have to be conscious of what happened yesterday.

We cannot remain isolated and detached from the world. Though, some people try to hide behind their cell phone or computer or television screen indulging in imaginative pictures. Today we have a lot of extraction and ways to exercise our imagination.

Knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used, and that is often forgotten by people.

We have to face the dualism of society and nature. We cannot ignore the central themes and perspectives that have to do with fabricated uncertainty within our civilization: risk, danger, side-effects, insurability, individualization and globalization.

Today it looks like that everything that matters can be bought and sold. Lots of people do not find it harmful that commitments can be broken because they are no longer to their advantage. The media push everybody to earn as much as possible but also to spend their money just as if it is nothing. On Sundays you can find families to whom shopping has become salvation. At work you can find colleagues to whom advertising slogans have become their litany. You can wonder when our worth is measured by how much we earn and spend if then the market is not destroying the very virtues on which in the long run it depends. The people with money who are literally invested in preventing change may have the majority of power, but they are still a minority of the actual populace. Some of them are also infected with the contemporary decease of greed. The source of greed and very fabric of their society makes it that our society gets being eaten away by crime, immorality, violence and corruption in every sphere of life.

Every disaster is taken by somebody else to make profit out of it.

The earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan’s north-eastern coast on March 11 of 2011 shattered infrastructure, caused power outages and forced temporary factory shutdowns — meaning shipments of key parts to different countries stopped. Japan being a key supplier of components and equipment used in the assembly of cars, laptops, iPods, refrigerators and flat-screen televisions saw its position weakened and taken over by other countries from the East. Others came to help but found that aid has often come with a price of its own for the developing nations. What we always can see and what we as church also felt when we tried to get our relief supplies to the needy that the aid did not always reach the right persons and often does not actually go to the poorest who would need it the most. Aid amounts are dwarfed by rich country protectionism that denies market access for poor country products while rich nations use aid as a lever to open poor country markets to their products. We cannot give donor tax refunds because we are not sending our materials to the recognized aid funds or to the countries of which Belgium have an agreement with. Large projects or massive grand strategies often fail to help the vulnerable; money can often be embezzled away.

Several groups misuse the situation of others to enrich themselves. They find opportunities to sell products as consumer goods but also weapons. The attitude to the others brings in corruption. At first it starts whit no bad feeling to those living far away but soon it concerns also an attitude of neglect for those close by. Neglect and misuse of his own life has corrupted the stream of human life itself, and left evils which fall on succeeding generations.

The apostle Paul and the people of his time knew it already that all the creatures groan together and travail in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22) Being conscious that all living things are weeping and sorrowing in pain together we have a responsibility in our community. As Jeremiah you can question how long the land shall mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? Lots of lands have grief today, and many plants and animals have already become distinct. Destruction has overtaken the beasts and the birds. Humankind made waste of its environment.

We only can agree with the old writer that it is because a lot of people do not know or do not want to know the Creator of all things. Most of the people say: “God does not see our ways.” Because they don’t want to believe in Him. (Jeremiah 12:4) When He looks down to earth He shall be able to say that men are weeping to Him, being wasted; all the land is made waste, because no man takes it to heart. (Jeremiah 12:11)

Atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945

Also for themselves humans are not so kind either when we look at the ciphers of the Great War and the Second World War. The time before and after that, measurements were taken and each continent experienced social tensions as a consequence of its choice.

The intellectual history of the last three centuries is full of mostly unfulfilled prophesies of doom. Men has looked for all sorts of answers to come to a solution and tried to find the best help in technology.

Technology can help to solve the problem of food shortages by increasing the rate of production of food. It increases the rate by manufacturing machines to aid the farmers in their daily farming processes (e.g. a tractor for harvesting crops) or by inventing a new farming technology to revolutionize the traditional farming methods.

Technology can help to solve the problem of floods by having the possibility to build mega structures to keep the water out. (E.g. building that magnificent wall in front of Louisiana).

For health scientists are inventing a new farming technology to revolutionize the traditional farming methods and are looking into matters of getting away with diseases. Often people do not notice that they have become too dependent on technology and as a result have become isolated rather than more sociable; an example would be our newest generation of children that spend countless hours playing by themselves video games, computer games or sitting in front of a TV for hours. These children rarely interact with others, except through technology.

Science and technology has helped man created a higher standard of living and jobs among its other benefits and it can contribute to get a better world for everybody.

When earthquakes, tempests, famines and floods are called ‘acts of God‘ because usually there is no other explanation for their occurrence people should go and look into their own hearts. Though we are aware that not all the people involved are guilty to what had caused the problems, but we find that it falls upon all, innocent and guilty alike.
As soon as we begin to question the suffering of innocent victims of these disasters another dilemma is raised. Are we saying that the calamities should be selective in their working, searching out only those who deserve to suffer’?

An Evil or a Symptom?

Please do find out how disobedience of men brought dislocation in the relationship between the Creator and the created.

Men live in a universe in which the consequences of what they do are inescapable, and therefore their responsibility for what they do is equally inescapable. Without this burden of ‘natural law’ man could do as he liked with impunity, and there would be no responsibility.

Such is the extent of world problems today that every individual is in some way affected – in his work, his home and family, and in what he regards a “essential services.” Peace of mind escapes him as the media bombard him with news of the latest world “situation.”

Those who solve more of a given type of problem tend to get better at it—which suggests that problems of any given type should be brought to specialists for a solution. For students of the Bible there is a guide to their daily life. The Word of God gives so many solutions that they can dig in a treasure house full of answers. Those studying the word can develop informed, balanced views.

An article exploring who has benefited most from aid, the recipients or the donors can be read to learn more: “Foreign Aid for Development Assistance”.

For those who seek to serve God, suffering takes on new meaning; they are in a new relationship to the Creator, and will learn to see tragedy in a new light. What is it?

Bad things no punishment from God

Posted on June 14, 2011. Filed under: Environment and Ecology, Jehovah יהוה YHWH JHVH God Elohim Yahweh Jahweh, Jesus Christ Jeshua the Messiah Jahushua, News and Politics, Satan and Evil, Suffering, World | Tags: Adversary of God, Attitude, Creation myth, Creator deity, Devil, Disaster, Earth, End time, End Times, Experience, fallen angel, Freedom, Future, God, Gods Plan, history, Humanity, Japan, Lucifer, mistake, Natural disaster, nature, Offering, punishment, Religion and Spirituality, responsibility, resposibility, Satan, Saviour |

All those bad things which come over this world is it
whether or not punishment from God?

This world is hit regularly by disasters. Today we can see enough signs that we have come in the End Times as described in the Holy Scriptures.

In such a way coming difficulties over us are already notified in the Sacred Writings this not yet means that the one who has let this write down is also the responsible of what comes over us.

Chernobyl disaster - Image via Wikipedia

God has created men, but this creation has turned itself against its maker. For this wrong the designer has not hangerd himself in that extent that He destroyed His Creation. On the contrary He has out of His goodness given that men the chance to take care of this world and of himself. He received the allowance to do it as he wanted it, he got a free wil. With the consequence that that man has made of it not many soups. One attempt after the other layman failed. With traps, falling down and standing up again, man stayed laymen and did not seem to learn from his experiences. Man wanted to repeat the many things his predecessor did even when it was done wrong. He did always the same mistakes. At the sideline God looked and followed closely and came in to help where it really was necessarily . For the rest, He wanted to let go the man his own course.

That freedom that the man has gotten he took not always in thanks. Regularly he went even so far to reproach God and to make Him guilty for particular things for which the man actually was responsible himself. Only how eager does not want the man to find a scapegoat. To give some one else the debt for the wrong things done or overcome to oneself is the easiest thing. Man preferred to give the guilt to somebody else and therefore created someone else like the figures of a Devil, Fallen Angel, Satan and a Lucifer. Each adversary of God became now the responsible person himself but got portrayed on a kind of super specimen, a sort ghost, the devil, a fallen angel. That ‘person’ seemed to be the ‘bogeyman’ they remained to accuse the Creator for punishing them.

Every time as man got something awful over him he became angry and pointed still with the finger to God. Even through not religiously. For in disaster men suddenly get to know God and hurry to accuse this God once more.

Only is that true that God is the one who is responsible for all those bad things which come over humanity? Is He really the responsible for the lot of sorrow that comes over us?

We don’t think so. We believe not in a pitiless relentless God that enjoys the pains of others or delights in suffering men. As each parent wants to be good for his children so does God. As every parent who sees that his beloved children have done something wrong he perhaps reprimands them but does not want to harm them. A good parent does not find joy in the pain of his children. God loves to take care of His children and fully loves them and therefore wants to give them as many as possible good things, not wanting bad things coming over them. God is a soothing Father and is not on eager to see His children to furnish with suffering. But He has given them well freedom to go their own course. And in that they must carry the consequences of their own choices.

If there is a vehicle which runs over some one, this would not be a punishment from God for that victim. It also would not be the fault of the car, but is one consequence of either carelessness of the driver or through a mistake of one of the two or more concerned.
Also by a mud stream or landslide, when several men or taken with the flood on its devastating path, it would not be something that is part of God’s actions, but mostly it lies at the neighbours self that the region has been deforested and that men took away the possibility for the roots to hold the ground together.
This are only two examples, but one can find many more like this to show that the cause of lots of problems does not lie by God but comes from men himself. Many things that come over man are the boomerang that comes back at him. lt are the results from misdeeds man has done. lt then comes from his or other men’s step in the wrong place and for which they now get the bill.

We our self are responsible for the acts that we bring into effect. We have to bear the responsibility our self. Our attitude towards nature and fellow man shall be a deciding factor for what happens next to this nature or to the inhabitants. Our actions in this nature are going to be decisive for what is going to happen next. For this many persons close their eyes and are not interested in what shall happen in the far future. It does not seem to concern them, why should they bother? When we go about uncareful with the natural sources it can well be that we use them up and that they shall all be gone for for our descendants. They no longer shall be able to make use of those basic products because our fault, not theirs and not as penalty from God. Many animals we so massacred , many plants have disappeared because of men’s actions. We have so many thoughtless deeds and go so rash with mother earth. So we all have to face this earth and the foolishness of its inhabitants. We go around so impetuous with mother nature and this shall have its repercussions on the next generations. We cannot remain to do this just with impunity.

Each for himself will have to constitute which way he or she on wants to go. Everybody shall have to carry then the responsibility also for him or herself. It goes not up to give the debt on someone else.

We are guest, vassal or liege on this earth. We got it in loan from the Creator. It is not Him who taps us on the fingers when we do something wrong. It is usual the repercussion of our actions. The consequences of our acts. Therefore is it so important that we should be very conscious of what we all do and of the consequences that that can have not only for ourselves but also for others. For what we do ourself not always has consequences just for ourself. It can have also consequences for others.

Therefore must we make work of it so that everybody shall come to live more according to rules that are in line with the Will of God. In such a way that those who are not willing to choose for God will get by the striving from others to be able to live as well in a better world, more in accordance with the Will of God.

In case more men treat nature respectful and go around carefully with basis materials there will on that straight also happen less misfortunes or less disasters, so less harm and pain shall come over men, and they also will not accuse God undeservedly of a punishments act. In this fast evolving society we cannot go along further unthoughtful as men did so often. We may not miss the fast train. It becomes high time that we consider good what we want but also what we can do and really work out who is responsible when somewhat goes wrong.

20 feet debris spreads over small Japanese valley from the sea to the hillsides above, 2011 earthquake

We will therefore however may not look next to what happened in history. We shall have to face it that several times the man himself is the cause is of his misfortune. Other things also do come over him. And it surely is not always originating by men. Nature disasters just can happen. But one must not go to live in flood areas, or lay swamps dry to establish oneself there. The man must ask the question what he can and shall do with nature. How he can go around with it but also how he can foresee to it that he and those after him shall be able to make further use of it. The environment matters to every inhabitant of this planet. And one may not think only for his own spot. One must also work out how we can go around with our life and what the consequences may be for them that also live further away.

For everything the man wants to do he will have to think deeply and must consider good what the consequences or risks can be of his acts. As he will be able to save himself and many others a lot of sorrow. As well there will then later be less reason for God to come forwards with punishments. For yes, there will certainly punishment distributed, also by God. Only it is not yet the time for it here in this age in Gods Plan.

Now God let the man court. Man can still go his own way but since the coming of Jesus (Yeshua) this Nazarene man comes up as the Saviour, the Christ, the Messiah. God has accepted his kiss offering and must have no other offerings anymore. As He demands then no offerings any more each dead person is there one too much for Him.

How we can go around with our responsibility and why that is so important you can read further in the articles below :

Japan’s nuclear disaster reason to think twice

A risk taking society

Securing risks

In Dutch you can find:

Wij zijn zelf verantwoordelijk

Nucleaire ramp in Japan doet mensen twee maal nadenken

Energie met vergiftigd geschenk

Nemen van Risico door de maatschappij

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All those bad things which come over this world is it
whether or not punishment from God?