The Day of Judgment Contrast between Islam and Christianity

One Hand Clapping � Blog Archive � The Day of Judgment:

Here is another Blog worth reading.


"The Day of Judgment
by Donald Sensing @ 5:38 pm. Filed under War on terror, Religion, Analysis

Let us briefly review the concept of Islamic martyrdom, for which the Arabic world is shahid. (Many Muslims, not only the Islamist kind, dislike using “martyr” as a synonym for shahid, saying that “martyr” is a Christian term which does not conceptually translate well to the Muslim concept. They’re right, but such are the limitations of language.)

It’s well known that Muslim suicide bombers in Iraq and elsewhere have committed their gory deeds principally from religious fervor. Time Magazine profiled a sui-bomber to be in Iraq, a native Iraqi who conversion to reactionary Islam began during Saddam’s reign and whose religious determinism intensified after the invasion.

That the young man, whose nom de guerre is Marwan Abu Ubeida al-Jarrah, has motivations that seem neither entirely clear in his own mind nor simple in scope. He opposes American forces in Iraq, that is clear. He is a veteran of several firefights and is now awaiting a suicide-bombing mission.

Unlike many other insurgents, who reject the terrorist label and call themselves freedom fighters or holy warriors, Marwan embraces it. “Yes, I am a terrorist,” he says. “Write that down: I admit I am a terrorist. [The Koran] says it is the duty of Muslims to bring terror to the enemy, so being a terrorist makes me a good Muslim.” He quotes lines from the surah known as Al-Anfal, or the Spoils of War: “Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into the enemy of Allah and your enemy.” …

Marwan says he doesn’t think about his legacy or how others might regard him when he is gone. Unlike their Palestinian counterparts, Iraq’s self-immolating terrorists are not celebrated and memorialized by family and friends. At best, Marwan might be profiled on one of the jihadist websites, but even there, his identity would be concealed to spare his family harassment by Iraqi authorities. “It doesn’t matter whether people know what I did,” he says. “The only person who matters is Allah—and the only question he will ask me is ‘How many infidels did you kill?’”

The only question Allah will ask Marwan is how many non-Muslims he killed. Is there any better illustration of the gulf between Islamism and the (at least nominally) Christian West? The Christian New Testament foretells the interrogation on the day of judgment in Matthew 25:31-40:

31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37 Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.”

Marwan’s god wants to know whether he committed mayhem and murder. Christ wants to know whether we fed the hungry and thirsty, welcomed strangers, clothed the naked, nursed the sick and visited the imprisoned.

The contrast could not be clearer."

Canada lawmakers approve gay marriage bill

World Magazine AP News - Weekly News, Christian Views:

"Canada lawmakers approve gay marriage bill

By BETH DUFF-BROWN
Associated Press Writer


TORONTO (AP) -- Canada would become only the third country in the world to legalize gay marriage under landmark legislation passed in the House of Commons in spite of fierce opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders.

The bill would grant same-sex couples legal rights equal to those in traditional unions between a man and a woman, something already legal in a majority of Canadian provinces. The legislation drafted by Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberal Party government was also expected to easily pass the Senate and become federal law by the end of July.

The Netherlands and Belgium are the only other two nations that allow gay marriage nationwide.

According to most polls, a majority of Canadians support the right for gays and lesbians to marry. In the United States, gay marriage is opposed by a majority of Americans, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll taken in November, shortly after constitutional amendments in 11 states to ban same-sex marriage were approved.

Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay marriages; Vermont and Connecticut have approved same-sex civil unions."



Previously we looked at the Biblical argument against Homosexuality. Now let’s look at the moral arguments against it.

It has been argued that homosexuality is moral because it is between two consenting adults. However, consent does not make an act moral. Two people consenting to fight in a bar does not make it a moral act.

Also, consent does not make an act safe for society. That consent between two adults still has an effect on the rest of society. Two people consenting to play drinking games in the privacy of their home and then driving drunk affects all of our lives. Private acts that place health risks or health costs on society are not singularly moral. It is well known that homosexuals are 300% more likely to have an STD than the general population.

Some would say that you cannot legislate morality especially peoples sex lives.
That is not entirely true. We have seen that you can make people do right by passing laws. We have laws against bestiality and pedophilia.

It is not that one cannot legislate morality it is whose morality will be legislated. The homosexual community wants to legislate their morality on others.

Co-op bank bars Christian group

BBC NEWS | UK | Co-op bank bars Christian group:

"Co-op bank bars Christian group

The Co-operative Bank says it respects 'all sectors of society'

The Co-operative Bank has asked an evangelical Christian group to close its account because of its anti-homosexual views.

The bank said the opinions of Christian Voice were incompatible with its support for diversity.

Christian Voice said the bank, based in Manchester, was discriminating against it on religious grounds.

It is now waiting for other religious groups with similar opinions to be asked to close accounts, it added.

Christian Voice has held an account with the Co-operative Bank for about three years.


It has come to the bank's attention that Christian Voice is engaged in discriminatory pronouncements based on the grounds of sexual orientation
Co-operative Bank

But now the bank has decided the group's stance on homosexuality is so extreme, it has asked members to look for a new bank."



This is the type of persecution I expect to see start in the United States. Homosexual relationships will polarize this country.

We see it in the main stream press as they only portray Christians as right wing fanatics and scientifically ignorant. When is the last time you have seen a pastor portrayed in a positive way in the movies or television including the news?

Most U.S. Doctors Believe in God

Survey: Most U.S. Doctors Believe in God - Yahoo! News: "Survey: Most U.S. Doctors Believe in God

By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Wed Jun 22, 9:03 PM ET

CHICAGO - A survey examining religion in medicine found that most U.S. doctors believe in God and an afterlife — a surprising degree of spirituality in a science-based field, researchers say.

In the survey of 1,044 doctors nationwide, 76 percent said they believe in God, 59 percent said they believe in some sort of afterlife, and 55 percent said their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine.

Belief in "a supreme being ... is vitally important to physicians' ability to take care of patients, particularly the end-of-life issues that we deal with so often," said Hill, a family physician from Tupelo, Miss.

Religions among physicians are more varied than among the general population, the survey found. While more than 80 percent of the U.S. population is Protestant or Catholic, 60 percent of doctors said they were from either group.

Compared with the general population, more doctors were Jewish — 14 percent vs. 2 percent; Hindu — 5 percent vs. less than 1 percent; and Muslim — almost 3 percent vs. less than 1 percent."


Hey, not only do I want my doctor to be praying folk but my pilot as well. All those years of college and most still believe in God. That is a good sign.

War of the worlds that people do not see

Scientology’s love affair with Hollywood - U.S. News - MSNBC.com:

Scientology’s love affair with Hollywood




Tom Cruise and fiance Katie Holmes arrive for the British premiere of Cruise's film 'War Of The Worlds,' which has uncanny parallels to his religion.

By his account, Tom Cruise owes his cool head, defeat of dyslexia and, in a way, his unstoppable stardom to Scientology.

But Scientology has much to thank Tom Cruise for as well. His glowing adherence to Scientology and the initiation of his bride-to-be, actress Katie Holmes, into the off-beat and oft-maligned system of beliefs has stirred a surge of interest.

The search engine company Lycos reported that “Scientology” had leaped into the top 50 search terms last week for the first time, hitting 37, marking a 260 percent increase in interest — a spike the company attributed to the Cruise-Holmes effect. In fact, said Lycos in a press release, Scientology was now the most-searched-for “ology,” acing out the likes of geology, technology and astrology.

Cruise is the Scientologist poster boy of the moment for several reasons. He recently dismissed his long-time publicist Pat Kingsley, turning to his Scientologist sister, Lee Anne De Vette, instead. He famously brought Scientologist ministers onto the set of "War of the Worlds." And the bizarre parallel between the science-fiction flick and some of his religion's teachings has stirred the celebrity press.

Clearing out the thetans
At first blush, Scientology resembles other New Age spiritual practices. The initiate starts with a process of "auditing," which is cross between an interview and confession employing a rudimentary lie detector. The idea is to learn about, target, and shed negative forces — the reactive mind — said to blunt potential. For a regular person, the first step might be a free stress test administered at a public booth in a shopping mall or Grand Central Station.

A Scientologist who is in the beginning stages of auditing — the stage Katie Holmes is reportedly in at this point — would be considered a "pre-clear." If she persists through these lower levels, which address career and other earthly struggles, she will reach the state of “clear.”

Once “clear,” Scientologists work on more otherworldly concerns through a series of levels starting with "Operating Thetan 1." It is only at this point that Scientologists can begin receiving knowledge of confidential teachings of Scientology. Cruise, said to be an OT6, and Travolta — reportedly OT7 — are well into this realm.

Among the secrets revealed to adherents who reach the OT3 level is the incident that led to the current evils of the Earth. In leaked documents now posted on the Internet, this incident started with a galactic shake-up 75 million years ago, when an alien ruler sent billions of subjects to this planet to solve an overpopulation problem. These "thetan" souls dispersed and invaded humans. Scientology is the means through which one's Body Thetans (BTs) are purged.

Hubbard was a science-fiction writer and self-styled philosopher and scientist who died in 1986. Though he spent his later life lecturing and writing about what he called the "applied technology" of Scientology and Dianetics, he never won over the scientific community. Instead, in 1993, Scientology won status as a tax-exempt religious organization.

The cost for body thetan removal
Another issue is the reported cost of enlightenment through Scientology, which has established a set of "suggested donations" for auditing sessions, drills and courses.

Experts say it can cost — in “suggested donations” — more than $100,000 to attain a level of OT3. While this is apparently not troubling for the Hollywood crowd, there are scores of tales of average people spending decades and bankrupting themselves in the pursuit.


There is a War of the Worlds going on. It is a war for the souls of men but not one conjured up by a fantasy writer. The Word of God tells us that this is a spiritual battle for the souls of men not the personal success of our lives. What advantage is there to feel good about yourself and lose your soul.

Eph. 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

For more information on this from a Christian perspective check out SCIENTOLOGY: From Science Fiction to Space-Age Religion

Forty million abortions is way too many

Senate Panel Girds for Abortion Fight:

"Senate Panel Girds for Abortion Fight
Amid the possibility of a Supreme Court vacancy, witnesses, including 'Roe,' are summoned.

By Johanna Neuman, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — 'Jane Roe,' the plaintiff in the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision, has told the story many times: As a single mother struggling with emotional problems and alcohol and drug abuse, she agreed to play a historic role in the case that legalized abortion 32 years ago. Then, following her conversion to Christianity in 1995, she began to speak out against abortion.

But when Roe, whose real name is Norma McCorvey, repeated her story Thursday before members of a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the event was fraught with political symbolism.

In a preview of the arguments likely to be debated when the Senate takes up a Supreme Court nominee, Brownback led McCorvey and other witnesses through questions about when life begins and whether the justices erred in holding that abortion was protected by a woman's right to privacy.

"Roe was a mistake — a very, very costly one," said Brownback. "Forty million abortions is way too many."

In addition to McCorvey, Brownback summoned a panel of legal experts — two abortion opponents, two advocates of abortion rights — to discuss his contention that legal scholars are beginning to coalesce around a consensus that the legal underpinning of the Roe vs. Wade decision, the constitutional right to privacy, was flawed.

In the view of conservatives, the Roe decision not only legalized abortion but also infected much of the federal court system with judicial activism."

Pray that our judicial system can right the wrong of legalizing abortion.

Ken Taylor, Translator of The Living Bible, Dies at 88

Ken Taylor, Translator of The Living Bible, Dies at 88 - Christianity Today Magazine:

"Ken Taylor, Translator of The Living Bible, Dies at 88 Founder of Tyndale House Publishers, Christian Booksellers Association, was driven by passion for Bible.


Kenneth Nathaniel Taylor, who founded Tyndale House Publishers after he had been unable to find a company willing to publish his Bible paraphrases, died at age 88 on Friday. Tyndale House is now a leading publisher of Christian books and resources. Taylor's biblical paraphrase, which became The Living Bible, sold more than 40 million copies in North America alone. In 1950, Taylor also founded the Christian Booksellers Association, a trade association of Christian stores, publishers, and other retail companies now known simply as CBA. He also created the missions organizations Evangelical Literature Overseas and Short Terms Abroad (which merged with Seattle-based Intercristo in 1976)."


This is a little late but I wanted to pay tribute to Ken Taylor. When I was managing our bookstore in California I had met him briefly on several occasions and found him to be very kind.

I once complained about a picture in one of Tyndale's children’s bibles. It was a picture of Bathsheba that I thought was a little too risqué for a children's Bible. Ken Taylor stopped the selling of the Bibles until the picture could be replaced. Here is a good article on Ken Taylor's work on the Living Bible.

Pastor faces 8 years in jail

WorldNetDaily: Pastor faces 8 years in jail:

"FAITH UNDER FIRE
Pastor faces 8 years in jail
Charged with leading unregistered church

Here I thought our city regulations were tough. All kidding aside, I post this to remind us of the persecution our fellow Christians face in other lands.


An Uzbekistan pastor facing up to eight years in prison for leading an unregistered church is asking for the prayers of fellow Christian believers in the West, says the Voice of the Martyrs, an organization fighting for the persecuted church around the world.

Two members of the Bethany Protestant Church in Tashkent have already been punished for 'illegally' teaching their faith, while six others – including Pastor Nikolai Shevchenko – are due to face trial next month for leading an unregistered religious organization.

Bethany Church is attended by between 120 and 150 – all converts to Christianity.

Our church has existed for eight years, and during that time it organized three affiliate churches," explained Shevchenko. "The church is working and it is visited by Russians, the Tatars and Uzbeks. The church's main activity is evangelism, and planting new groups and new churches. There are regular Bible study classes at the church. Besides gathering for services, the church is also divided into several groups. That means that even if we are arrested, the church is not going to stop, because the structure of the church is made so that we will be able to go on working. In general, the Bible studies are attended by the non-believers who are 20-25. There are no believers who have been in the faith for longer than eight years; most of the Christians have been believers for four or five years. Almost all members are newly converted, not children of believers. It is very pleasant to work with them, because they know that they are going to face and accept persecution with great joy."

If the court hearing goes badly next month, Shevchenko and four others face between three and eight years in prison.

"What for?" he asked rhetorically. "Only for gathering in a church, holding worship, or for believing in Jesus Christ, for our open confession of faith."

Lutherans split on gay pastors

Scranton Times Tribune - News - 06/20/2005 - Lutherans split on gay pastors:

"Lutherans split on gay pastors


Area Lutheran clergy are on opposite sides of a controversial proposal that would allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to become pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

A church council made the recommendation in April based on findings of a task force on sexuality. The church's current policy forbids the ordination of actively gay pastors who are not celibate. "

The revised policy would allow the bishop of a synod, or religious district, to seek an exemption of the ban for a gay clergy candidate "who provides evidence of intent to live in a lifelong, committed and faithful same-sex relationship," the proposal states.

The Rev. Catherine Ziel, executive associate of the Rev. David R. Strobel, bishop of the synod, said about two-thirds of the 750 delegates at the assembly supported the gay clergy proposal.

She said the synod council, which includes the leadership of the district, recently came out in favor of the proposal in an informal session.

Predictably, Lutheran clergy in the area have differing opinions on the proposal."


This is going to sound awful intolerant but the Bible is not open for reinterpretation. It is very clear that homosexuality is a sin that God condemns.


It is condemned by statment.
1 Cor. 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.


It is condemned by description.
Rom. 1:26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.


It is condemned by practice.
Mark 10:6 "But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.'
7 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
8 'and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9 "Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."


There is no justification for allowing this practice in the church and there is certainly no ordaining a homosexual as a pastor or bishop.
1 Tim. 3:1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, . . .

Terri was aware, says brain doc

WorldNetDaily: Terri was aware, says brain doc: "
Terri was aware, says brain doc

Neurosurgeon who examined her finds autopsy confirms Schiavo was cognizant

Refuting the findings of the county medical examiner, a neurosurgeon who examined Terri Schiavo before her death says the autopsy report confirms she was aware of what was going on around her.

Dr. William Hammesfahr, known as a pioneer in approaches to helping the brain injured, said to ignore the facts would 'allow future Terri Schiavos to die needlessly.'"

"The record must be set straight," he said. "As we noted in the press, there was no heart attack, or evident reason for this to have happened (and certainly not of Terri's making). Unlike the constant drumbeat from the husband, his attorneys, and his doctors, the brain tissue was not dissolved, with a head of just spinal fluid. In fact, large areas were 'relatively preserved.'"

He said the autopsy results confirmed his opinion that the frontal areas of the brain, the areas that deal with awareness and cognition, were relatively intact.

"In fact, the relay areas from the frontal and front temporal regions of the brain, to the spinal cord and the brain stem, by way of the basal ganglia, were preserved, thus the evident responses which she was able to express to her family and to the clinicians seeing her or viewing her videotape," he said. "The Spect scan confirmed these areas were functional and not scar tissue, and that was apparently also confirmed on Dr. (Stephen) Nelson's review of the slides."

Dr. Hammesfahr describes Terri as "a woman trapped in her body, similar to a child with cerebral palsy, and that was born out by the autopsy, showing greater injury in the motor and visual centers of the brain. Obviously, the pathologists comments that she could not see were not borne out by reality, and thus his assessment must represent sampling error. The videotapes clearly showed her seeing."

Mr Graham goes to New York one last time

Bill Graham is heading to New York for what might be his last crusade. What an inspiration to us all on how to live an serve Christ. In a world where many have fallen Billy Graham has set the standard for faith and practice.

He is tired and sick yet still seeking the lost. The 86-year-old evangelist is determined not to let even hearing loss, prostate cancer, and Parkinson's disease stop him from delivering the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. In a recent radio interview he admitted that this will probably be his last crusade.

Millions will be in heaven because he was willing to submit his life to Christ. Let us push forward to keep the standard high.

Denomination debates declaration of Jesus' divinity

North Jersey Media Group providing local news, sports & classifieds for Northern New Jersey!:

"Denomination debates declaration of Jesus' divinity


It's a bedrock belief of Christianity - not a topic for debate.

Until now.

A venerable Protestant denomination - at the behest of some of its conservative members - is preparing to vote next month on a measure declaring that Jesus Christ is the Lord, and making it mandatory for clergy to accept his divinity.

It may seem like a slam dunk, but delegates for the 1.3 million-member United Church of Christ may reject the resolution. Several Bergen County pastors, who aren't delegates to the convention, said they expect the measure to fail."


This should not even be a resolution. They don't want to appear judgmental to people but are calling judgment down on themselves.


"Religiously speaking, it sounds like apple pie," said the Rev. Raymond Kostulias of the First Congregational Church of Park Ridge. "But there is a judgmental quality to it that implies very strongly that those who do not agree with us are condemned or damned or hopeless - and that's exactly the thing that UCC is against."


2 Peter 2:2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

Wow, talk about the Laodicean church.

Rev. 3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Hey if you don't want to call Jesus Lord and God then just change your name to Moose or Elk. You are nothing but a social club with religious talk.

Terri Schiavo's case still a mystery after autopsy

What caused her collapse 15 years ago is still a mystery. Read the report here.

There's no evidence of an eating disorder like bulimia or of a heart attack. There was no evidence of trauma, abuse, or harmful substances discovered at her time of death.

Schiavo died from dehydration, not starvation. Because her therapy was stopped she would not have been able to ingest food or water after the tube was removed. Terry Schiavo's brain weight "was approximately half of the expected weight." Because of this it was presumed that Schiavo had severe vision loss or was blind at the time of her death.

Here is what the press is not talking about. What caused her to have multiple bone fractures discovered just one year after her collapse? She had fractures in her tibia, femur and her back. She was a young womanat that time so surely osteoporosis had not set in yet.

This picture was taken about one year before her collapse?


Should not we have investigated the bone fractures? Should not we have performed complete tests that determined she was in a permanent vegetative state before stopping her rehab?

It comes down to this. No amount of injury or limitation causes a person to cease being a person. We should always treat them with dignity and fall on the side of caution and life when their wishes are unclear.

Abortionist loses license in gruesome tale

Abortionist loses license in gruesome tale:

STOP do not read this if you are sensitive to this issue or have a weak system. I have edited out the worst part of the story and it is still very graphic. This is unbelievable.


A Kansas City abortionist is out of business after investigators discovered a grisly house of horrors at his clinic – with fetuses kept in Styrofoam cups in his refrigerator and one employee accusing him of .... .

The unsanitary conditions in Krishna Rajanna's clinic prompted legislative approval of new abortion regulations in Kansas, a bill that was vetoed by the governor. Rajanna's activities have reportedly been the subject of law-enforcement investigations for nearly two years.

Rajanna first came to the attention of police in September 2003 when he called police to investigate alleged employee theft.

Detective William Howard of the Kansas City Police Department responded.

"Howard testified the clinic was dark, dingy, had poor lighting and smelled musty. There were dirty dishes in the break-room sink and on the table, trash everywhere, and roaches crawling on the countertops. Howard was afraid to sit down.

Howard noted there were no hazardous waste containers anywhere. (An employee later testified Rajanna took home all contaminated, medical and biohazard waste for residential trash pick-up.)

As for the 'procedure room,' Howard's partner spotted dried blood on the floor and said the room looked 'nasty.'

Two dishwashers located next to the staff toilet served as sterilizers, according to employee testimony. Photographs show the toilet was bloody and functioned as a human waste disposal in the literal sense."

US National Academies fights evolution controversy

US National Academies fights evolution controversy - Yahoo! News: "

US National Academies fights evolution controversy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Academies, the flagship of U.S. science, said on Friday it had set up a Web site to battle attempts to portray evolution as mere speculation about how life developed on Earth."

"The theory of evolution is one of science's most robust theories, and the National Academies have long supported the position that evolution be taught as a central element in any science education program," the Academies said in a statement.

"Over the past several years, however, there has been a growing movement around the country to include non-scientifically based 'alternatives' in science courses," it added.

"Currently there are challenges to the teaching of evolution in some 40 states or local school districts."


Did I hear a crack? Did someone just blink? This sounds like someone is panicking to me.

Kenya: Anglicans Spurn Gay Church Cash

allAfrica.com: Kenya: Anglicans Spurn Gay Church Cash: "

Anglicans Spurn Gay Church Cash

The Nation (Nairobi)

June 9, 2005
Posted to the web June 9, 2005

Derek Otieno
London

The Anglican Church of Kenya has rejected funding from the American Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion reported in London yesterday.

Kenya, like other leading Anglican communions in Africa, had in the past five months rejected millions of dollars in funding from the American communion to protest at the church's decision to elect gay bishops and allow same-sex relationships in the church."


And we wonder why the American church is losing members each year. God bless the Anglican Church of Kenya.

An Unsettling Trend

There is a trend of mainline denominations losing people over the last two decades while evangelical churches are growing. It has now been documented in a new book. Exodus: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity takes a look at this event through the eyes of the parishioners.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Dave Shiflett gives us a book that is essentially a marketing research project on modern Christianity. The focus? Why are the conservative, orthodox brands of faith increasing market-share while mainline Protestant denominations are losing it? Shiflett uses personal interviews as his research tool. And there is undoubtedly a vicarious thrill as Shiflett presents hard questions to figures from both camps. For example on homosexuality, he asks the liberals whether they "…entertain the slightest worry that converting a former sin into a celebrated and even consecrated virtue might possibly have eternal consequences?" And to the conservatives, "If God is indeed omniscient and omnipresent, why [does] He allow disaster to occur, especially to those who have so closely cast their lot with him?" The answers Shiflett receives from his subjects measure out in words the true distance between the liberal and conservative positions.

According to David T. Olson the percentage of people attending a Christian Church each weekend decreased significantly from 1990 to 2000. This was a drop of about six million in church attendance. The greater number fell from main stream denominational churches while the evangelical churches held their own or lost a small percentage.

This means we are not doing our job or fulfilling our calling. We are called to build up people in Christ. When we do that people will come to know Him and find ministry and missions.

Christian Ethics to be Taught in the Ukraine

RISU / English / News / MP Sends Enquiry to Vice-Premier on New Ethics Course by Education Ministry::

"MP Sends Enquiry to Vice-Premier on New Ethics Course by Education Ministry

Kyiv -- Oleh Tiahnybok, a national deputy of Ukraine’s Parliament, on 2 June 2005 sent an official parliamentary enquiry to Mykola Tomenko, deputy prime minister for humanities, expressing the serious concern of Ukrainian society over the decision of the Ministry of Education of Ukraine to introduce a course in ethics instead of Christian ethics in schools of general education. RISU’s Ukrainian-language site posted the news on 7 June 2005."


Christian education in the public schools has already been approved. The course would be an hour long. Thirty minutes of Bible listening and thirty minutes of discussion. This is coming under attack. Albuquerque's own Hosanna ministry has been contacted to supply the Bible on CD's for the public schools. I am not sure how this is going to play out but we need to pray that this opportunity stays open to get the gospel to thousands of school kids in the Ukraine.

What's Right in Our Own Eyes

BreakPoint | What's Right in Our Own Eyes:

This is a really great retort to the wrong thinking of Pro-abortionists by Chuck Colson.

"What’s Right in Our Own Eyes Between a Woman and Her God"

Is it possible to reconcile one’s faith with a belief in the right to abortion?

A group called the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice thinks it’s more than possible; it’s needed. Not long ago, the coalition held an event at the Capitol to promote its new book, Between a Woman and her God: Clergy and Women Tell Their Stories—A Sourcebook for Legislators, Clergy, and Activists.

In the book’s foreword, Reverend Howard Moody, founder of the group’s Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion, writes, “If ‘right to life’ is simply a crusader slogan and what is really meant is the ‘right to be born,’ then our religious traditions speak to this issue. In my own religious understanding, being born was never seen as anything but a gift—a miraculous, marvelous surprise present—a gift of God. To speak of being born as a ‘right’ jars the sensibilities. We are born (hopefully) of a woman’s free will and human intention, at the cost of real physical pain and nourishing care, and that birth ought never be forced, compelled or mandated by another person or the state itself. Rights begin with birth—they are a birthday present—hence ‘birthright.’”

To speak of life as a gift sounds perfectly reasonable on its face, because, of course, life is a gift from God. The problem with Moody’s argument that I have just given you is that life begins not with birth, but at conception. Thus, the person in the womb is entitled to the same civil rights you and I enjoy."

Read more here.

Jesus died of blood clot, Israeli researcher says

Jesus died of blood clot, Israeli researcher says - Science - MSNBC.com:

"Jesus died of blood clot, Israeli researcher says
Expert: Crucifixion caused pulmonary embolism, not fatal blood loss

JERUSALEM - An Israeli researcher has challenged the popular belief that Jesus died of blood loss on the cross, saying he probably succumbed to a sometimes fatal disorder now associated with long-haul air travel.

Professor Benjamin Brenner wrote in The Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis that Jesus’ death, traditionally believed to have occurred 3 to 6 hours after crucifixion began, was probably caused by a blood clot that reached his lungs."

Such pulmonary embolisms, leading to sudden death, can stem from immobilization, multiple trauma and dehydration, said Brenner, a researcher at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

“This fits well with Jesus’ condition and actually was in all likelihood the major cause of death by crucifixion,” he wrote in the article, based on religious and medical texts.



First of all Jesus died because He dismissed His spirit.

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. Jn 19:30.

Second it is arrogant to discharge blood loss as the cause and emphatically say it was a blood clot. They don’t have any evidence for this except that Jews from northern Israel are more likely to suffer such a blood clot. Wow that settles it for me.

What is interesting to me is that a man who died 2,000 years ago is still under intense critical investigation. He changed the world and He still changes lives because of His death on the cross!

"R" or "G" which is king of the hill?

News: "Study shows G-rated fare more profitable



LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A new study set to be released Tuesday shows that family-friendly movies are more profitable than R-rated films, throwing more fuel onto the fire of the long-running debate over sex and violence in entertainment -- and whether it sells.

The survey was commissioned by the Dove Foundation, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based group that advocates wholesome family entertainment. According to its Web site, its advisory board includes radio talk show host Laura Schlessinger and 'Touched By an Angel' executive producer Martha Williamson.

In a follow-up to a 10-year study commissioned by the foundation in 1999 -- which found that between 1988-97 the average G-rated film made eight times the profit of an R-rated picture -- an extension of that study found that trend continuing and expanding. "


If you make it they might not watch it. If you make it decent they will watch it. You don't need to do a ten year study. Just look at the top grossing films of all time and you will see the vast majority are "G" or "PG" rated.

No joke: Sarcasm is all in your head

Newsday.com: No joke: Sarcasm is all in your head

In sarcasm, "the literal meaning is different from the true meaning, and some people just don't understand that difference," said Simone Shamay-Tsoory, a psychologist at the Rambam Medical Center and University of Haifa in Israel. Her study appears in the May issue of the journal Neuropsychology.

The study tested 25 people with frontal-lobe damage, 16 with damage to the back of the brain and 17 normal volunteers. Rigged to scanning devices, the subjects were presented with a series of sarcastic comments.

For instance: Joe came to work and fell asleep. His boss walks by and says, "Don't work too hard." Normal volunteers and people with back-brain damage understood the sarcasm. But Shamay-Tsoory said that people with right frontal-lobe damage didn't get the irony and, in fact, failed to understand that the boss was unhappy with Joe.


Some comedians are just not funny and I know I don't have dain bramage.

Student sues after Bible study banned

WorldNetDaily: Student sues after Bible study banned:

"Student sues after Bible study banned
Claims principal abruptly interrupted discussion during recess


A 10-year-old elementary school student filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against district officials for barring students from reading and discussing the Bible during recess.

Luke Whitson and his parents, represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, claim Principal Cathy Summa at Karns Elementary School in the Knox County district in Tennessee violated constitutional rights by stopping a playground Bible study.

The lawsuit alleges: 'Principal Summa abruptly interrupted certain fourth-grade students while they were in the midst of a Bible discussion during recess, demanded that they stop their activity at once, put their Bibles away and from that point forward, cease from bringing their Bibles to school.'"


What a crazy society we have. People are up in arms that suspected terrorists had their rights violated when an American provided Koran might have been dishonored but not that Bibles are taken away from innocent fourth graders. That sound you hear is me banging my head against the wall.

Unholy Translation - Batman !

WorldNetDaily: Was Jesus Christ really a woman?:


"A publisher is touting a new edition of the Gospels that identifies Christ as a woman named Judith Christ of Nazareth.

LBI Institute says its version, Judith Christ of Nazareth, The Gospels of the Bible, Corrected to Reflect that Christ Was a Woman, Extracted from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, takes Thomas Jefferson's edited Gospel one step futher by 'correcting' the gender of Christ and God.

'This long-awaited revised text of the Gospels makes the moral message of Christ more accessible to many, and more illuminating to all,' says Billie Shakespeare, vice president for the publisher, in a statement. 'It is empowering. We published this new Bible to acknowledge the rise of women in society.'"


This cannot be called a translation but a distortion. The authors are adding into the text not translating it. In today's society truth is relative and here is the product of that philosophy.


Here is the link to Amazon.com

I Have Gone to the Dark Side - of Chocolate that is

Nutrition findings are giving a boost to dark chocolate | The San Diego Union-Tribune:

The Good News . . .

"A report in the March issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition linked high-flavonoid dark chocolate with improved blood pressure.

One study showed that dark chocolate consumption reduced the 'stickiness' of blood, reducing clots and clumps, an aspirin like effect. Another showed that dark chocolate improved blood vessel function.

Another study found that a diet that included dark chocolate increased good cholesterol and helped prevent bad cholesterol from oxidizing."


The Bad News . .

For dark chocolate lovers, the research, much of it sponsored by candymaker Mars Inc., is promising.


It is also unsettling that in the middle of the article there is an advertisement for Cosmetic Surgery.

U.K. Couple Marks 80th Wedding Anniversary

U.K. Couple Marks 80th Wedding Anniversary - Yahoo! News:




"LONDON - A British husband and wife revealed the secrets of the longest marriage of any living couple on Wednesday as they celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary — don't sleep on an argument, always share a kiss and hold hands before going to bed.

Percy Arrowsmith, 105, and his 100-year-old wife Florence, were married on June 1, 1925, after meeting at their local church in Hereford, western England, where he sang in the choir and she was a Sunday school teacher."


This is good news in a time when our society changes spouses as fast as we change clothes. We could all learn from this.