Kabbalah guru arrested for fraud

Kabbalah guru arrested for fraud

Police arrest Sunday Shaul Youdkevitch, head of Kabbalah Center in Israel, on suspicion he extracted money from cancer patient, convinced her donations will make her recover from illness
Avi Cohen

A woman suffering from cancer was talked into paying tens of thousands of dollars to the Israeli Kabbalah Center, on the pretext that the donation would help improve her condition.

Fraud unit, Tel Aviv police
Holy water at NIS 26 a bottle (Photo: Fraud unit, Tel Aviv police)

After her death at the age of fifty, the woman's husband filed a complaint against the head of the center, Shaul Youdkevitch, who was consequently arrested by the police Sunday.


Youdkevitch, one of the main figures in Kabbalah studies worldwide and the man behind Madonna's visit to Israel last year, was arrested on suspicion of exploiting and deceiving the woman and her husband.


The couple has previously complained several months ago that they were told by the rabbis who run the center in Tel Aviv that the woman should make 'a significant and painful donation' if she wanted to get well and overcome cancer.

Center: Donations, holy water will cure cancer

A devotee of Kabbalah, the ill woman put her faith in the center and contributed USD 36,000 to the organization. When her condition deteriorated, members of the Israeli branch recommended she donate another USD 25,000. Meanwhile, rabbis recommended that she also purchase holy water to improve her condition - at an exorbitant price.

The couple, who soon after extending the donations ran out of financial resources, continued to seek help with the center. The rabbis then suggested that the husband leave his job and devote himself completely to work at the center.

The husband, a father of two young children, turned down the proposal and instead turned to the police to report the incidents.

This is the same group that Madonna and other celebrities follow.

Family Fest

Join us for Fun, Food and Friendship

You are invited to Family Fest. Family Fest is a family oriented event, which is a safe and positive alternative to Halloween that can play a real role in bringing communities together.

There will be a band playing, bounce jumpers and game booths. Win prizes, eat food and get candy. Take your turn at the bowling alley or shooting gallery. Test your strength with Samson’s ring the bell or your skill at the Hula Hoop contest. Try to putt your way through the exodus or even face the dreaded Mocolech. If you win you won’t believe what you will have to do to claim your prize.

Admission is free for all ages and sponsored by Cross Christian Fellowship. Stop by from 4:30 to 8:30 Sunday Oct. 30th. We are located at 7321 San Antonio just west of Wyoming.

Arab States Mum on Iran's Israel Remarks

Iran calls for destruction of Israel

Iran calls for destruction of Israel

We see more prophecy in the news. This is exactly what Ezekiel told us would happen. God showed him the rebirth of Israel and the nations plotting to destroy the nation. One of those nations mentioned was Persia which is modern day Iran.

By ARTHUR MAX
The Associated Press

CAIRO, Egypt -- Arab governments remained silent Thursday as international condemnation grew over a call by Iran's new president for Israel to be destroyed.

Despite the silence, analysts in the region said Tehran's Arab rivals may quietly be pleased to see the radical regime further isolated by its extremism.

However, some Palestinians _ who would have the task of destroying Israel according to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad _ rejected the remarks.

"We have recognized the state of Israel and we are pursuing a peace process with Israel, and ... we do not accept the statements of the president of Iran," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said. "This is unacceptable."

European governments condemned Ahmadinejad's comments, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair saying they increased concerns the clerical regime is a threat to global security and may even trigger pleas for pre-emptive action against Iran.

"I have never come across a situation (with) the president of a country saying they want to wipe out" another nation, Blair told reporters Thursday.

More here

Iran's president has defended his widely criticised call for Israel to be "wiped off the map".

Attending an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his remarks were "just" - and the criticism did not "have any validity".

His initial comment provoked anger from many governments, and prompted Israel to demand Iran's expulsion from the UN.

Egypt said they showed "the weakness of the Iranian government". A Palestinian official also rejected the remarks.

Defiant rally

Protesters in Tehran burned Israeli flags

Tens of thousands of Iranians took part in the rally in Tehran which Iran organises every year on the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan to show solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.

Shouting "Death to Israel, death to the Zionists", the protesters dragged Israeli flags along the ground and then set them on fire.

Story Behind Christian fish

Story Behind
The original Christian bumper sticker
by Collin Hansen

Bold and clichéd, profound and kitschy, the Christian fish symbol has achieved international celebrity one bumper at a time. Its detractors have ridiculed the message by adorning their own bumpers with walking Darwin fish and "No god but Allah" sharks. Yet for many Christians, the rudimentary design remains one of the faith's most enduring and treasured symbols, second only to the cross.

Watery wordplay
Long before the fish swam the streams of metropolitan traffic jams, Greek and Roman pagans used the design to symbolize feminine fertility and deity. They created the fish symbol by interweaving two crescent moons, which is the heavenly body often associated with goddesses.

The fish's spawning as a Christian symbol during the first century is similarly esoteric. Using the Greek word for fish, Ichthys, the compilers of a collection of religious teachings called the Sibylline Oracles created an acrostic: Iesous Christos theou huios soter, or "Jesus Christ Son of God Savior." This acrostic is now commonly embedded in modern fish symbols.

Mark of the subversives
As persecution of Christians became more frequent and intense in the Roman Empire, the fish symbol became a password shared among underground believers. They used the fish to mark secret gathering places, especially within the catacombs. In this catacomb art the symbol was frequently coupled with communion imagery—the fish is depicted swimming with bread and a cup of wine on its back. The fish symbol also appeared on Christian gravestones and jewelry, and marked the homes of believers. After the threat of persecution had passed, the fish was inscribed on the Constantinian Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Since the fish symbol was known among pagans, it remained a more discreet and thus effective identifier for the persecuted Christians than a cross. Secrecy often meant the difference between life and death for believers, or even the church's very survival. One story recounts how the fish symbol enabled fellow Christians to work together even when they didn't know each other. When meeting a stranger on the road, Christians would sometimes draw one arc of the fish in the dirt. If the stranger reciprocated by drawing the other arc, the believers could reveal their faith to each other without alerting Roman authorities and spies.

God beats evolution in new CBS survey

Poll indicates majority think Creator made human beings

A new poll by CBS News indicates when it comes to the origin of men and women, most Americans reject the theory of evolution and believe they were created by God.

According to the survey, "51 percent say God created humans in their present form, and another three in 10 say that while humans evolved, God guided the process. Just 15 percent say humans evolved, and that God was not involved."

Participants were given three options from which to choose about origins:

1. Human beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years, and God did not directly guide this process;

2. Human beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years, but God guided this process;

3. God created human beings in their present form.

The results indicate those most likely to believe in only evolution are liberals (36 percent), those who rarely or never attend church services (25 percent), and those with at least a college degree (24 percent).

Most Americans, by a 67-29 percent margin, think it's possible to believe in both God and evolution.

The survey was taken via telephone from a nationwide random sample of 808 adults Oct. 3-5, and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam"

In the wake of the CBS poll, America Online is conducting a similar interactive poll.

When asked "How were humans created?" participants in the unscientific survey responded:

# By evolution alone: 37%;

# By God in our present form: 32%

# By evolution, with God's guidance: 31%.

AOL also asked "Is it possible to believe in both God and evolution?"

With 105,000 respondents, 70 percent said yes, while 30 percent said no.

"How can anyone disagree with evolution with so much evidence out there?" asked one AOL user in an associated messageboard. "I don't see any evidence of how God got here."

"Did God create liberals?" asks another. "No. Liberals clearly evolved, by accident, from apes. Dumb apes. The average American liberal shows no hint of intelligent design. No wonder liberals are pro-Darwin."

It is interesting how many people now believe in theistic evolution. The fossil record does not support evolution. There is still not a single example of a transitional form out of the millions and millions of fossils found. Also, this theory is not supported at all in Scripture.

According to the Bible man did not slowly develop but was completely developed from the beginning.

Matt. 19:4,5 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made [them] at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they Twain shall be one flesh?

Man had a fully developed mind.

Gen. 2:19,20 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

The earliest Man had simplistic herding and agriculture systems.

Gen. 4:2b And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Earliest Man built a city.

Gen. 4:17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

Faith and the Justice Department

DOJ defends church

I have got to be balanced. I usually criticize the government about being against the Christian community but this is a good thing. It is difficult for most large churches to get building permits because the cities lose tax revenue not having a business in that location. I am glad there is a government watch dog that can aid the churches and give an objective view point to both parties.

Faith and the Justice Department

by Paula Saha
Religion News Service

In a nationally watched case about a church's freedom to build where it pleases, the U.S. Justice Department has invoked a five-year-old federal law to investigate the way a New Jersey township has treated a 5,000-member church.

The probe of Rockaway Township's treatment of Christ Church is one of 25 such investigations the Justice Department has mounted in the last four years as religious organizations clash with local governments over zoning.

Of those, according to Justice Department spokesman Eric Holland, there have been five instances when the Civil Rights Division decided there was no basis for taking things further. Twelve investigations, Holland said, have resulted in "favorable settlements."

In three cases, the Justice Department went the additional step of filing civil rights lawsuits.

Justice Department involvement in a land-use case can make a town "wake up," said Derek Gaubatz, director of litigation for the Washington-based Becket Fund, a law firm that represents houses of worship in religious discrimination cases.

"It gives them the view of an objective outsider," Gaubatz said. "Zoning officials are used to running their fiefdoms and having the final say, exercising discretionary criteria in a discretionary way that hurts religious houses of worship."

Rockaway Township was notified by letter in September that the federal government was investigating the township's handling of Christ Church's plans to build there. The 5,000-member Montclair church has been before the township planning board for a year and a half seeking site plan approval. The church wants to build a complex that would include a sanctuary for more than 2,500 people, a K-5 school and other amenities.

The church's plans have come under fire from some in town who cite concerns about the plan's scope and environmental impact. The church, in the meantime, has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the township has put up "discriminatory and improper barriers" to the church's religious mission.

Both the church's lawsuit and the Justice Department's investigation invoke the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law that protects churches from governments' making zoning decisions that restrict religious freedom.

Canada: Alberta pastor to face human rights panel

Canada: Alberta pastor to face human rights panel

EDMONTON (CP) - Church leaders, politicians and an American religious rights group are rallying behind a pastor who is to appear before an Alberta human rights tribunal accused of exposing gays to hatred.

In a letter published in the Red Deer Advocate in June 2002, Stephen Boissoin wrote that homosexual rights activists and those who defend them are as immoral as pedophiles, drug dealers and pimps.

After considering the case for three years, the human rights commission will finally hear a complaint filed against Boissoin by Darren Lund, a University of Calgary professor. Lund contends the letter contravenes Alberta's human rights law.

The major players involved say the public tribunal set for Calgary in December will be a battle over gay rights, freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Boissoin, 38, who now runs a youth outreach program in Calgary, said he stands by his letter, in which he accuses the public school system of subjecting children to psychologically damaging pro-homosexual literature to foster equal rights.

He said his beef isn't with individual gays, but with what he calls the "homosexual machine."

"My banner has now been raised and war has been declared so as to defend the precious sanctity of our innocent children and youth, that you so eagerly toil, day and night, to consume."

It is his democratic right in a free society to make such comments, Boissoin said in an interview. It is also his duty as a Christian to speak out.

Ron Ghitter, a former Senator and member of the Alberta legislature, has helped raise money for Lund's legal bills. So have members of Calgary's legal community.

Ghitter once led an Alberta government tolerance commission that toured the province following Jim Keegstra's 1983 conviction for promoting hatred against Jews. Keegstra, a teacher, was fired for telling his students about a world-wide Jewish conspiracy.

Ghitter feels Boissoin's letter clearly crossed the line of free speech.

"When you take an identifiable group and say that about them, that is not only inappropriate and wrongheaded, it is also a criminal offence, if someone wanted to deal with it," he said.

"It is never freedom of religion and freedom of speech when you use your religion as a guise to demean other people."

I think we all saw this coming when Canada made homosexual unions legal. Anyone speaking out against it would be considered as committing a hate crime. If we legalize gay marriage in the U. S. we will see the same thing happen eventually.

Don’t think it will happen here. Just think of how people used to be able to say Merry Christmas at work or school but now it is not tolerated in many places.

Temple Mount tour

Temple Mount tour

Rare video of Temple Mount visit: A unique video filmed by an Israeli who was able to sneak a camcorder into Temple Mount in recent weeks provides rare images of the holy shrine, where Jews are banned from entering.

The images feature a series of well-known sites including Solomon’s Stables, al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock.

Ron Peled, 34, a computer professional who shot the video, says “to walk here, to roam under the Temple Mount, the site of the Temple my forefathers longed for, is the realization of a dream.”

Peled, a former tour guide, is well aware of the immense significance of the rare images of sites that are normally only open to Muslim worshippers.

“As a Jew who likes archaeology and history, I think the value of those images is enormous,” he said. “Even though the sentence ‘Temple Mount is in our hands’ (made famous during the Six-Days War) is inaccurate these days, this video puts it in our hands for a few minutes. Yet whoever wasn’t there cannot quite grasp it.”

The video also shows the immense renovation project undertaken by Muslims in the mosques below the Mount, an effort that is still ongoing. At this time, the huge area can accommodate tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers.

Go to this website to see the video

Moving print adverts coming soon

Moving Graphics paper thin

This is cool. It is basically an interactive screen as thin as a credit card.

Concert tickets, magazine adverts and cereal packets could feature interactive moving graphics by 2007, according to German electronics giant Siemens.Researchers at the firm have developed a printable interactive display with a similar thickness to paper.

"A pillbox could display instructions for how [the pills] should be taken and provide this information in several languages with the push of a button," says Siemens spokesman Norbert Aschenbrenner. "Admission tickets for trade shows could indicate the booths where various exhibitors are located."

The prototype screen is monochrome and can switch between its two colours in less than half a second. A working model, revealed at the Plastic Electronics 2005 conference in Frankfurt, Germany, in October, also has a controller. By scrolling through a list of companies, the user can bring up maps for each one’s location on the screen.

The screen works faster and has a higher resolution than previous prototypes. It is also simpler and cheaper to produce than "electronic paper" devices, which act more like scroll-down displays, and must be connected to a computer. The new display can be used independently with just a battery.

Developer Axel Gerlt says it is possible to print several different monochrome patches onto the same display to create a more vivid moving picture. Eventually, he says, it should be feasible to create a multicoloured display.

In the begining was the text?

Bible cre8td for a nu wrl: testaments by SMS

It's the Bible, but not like anything the devout have ever read before.

The world's most famous book, which has been translated into more languages than any other publication, is now available in the world's most modern form of communication, SMS or text.

So instead of reading in Genesis how: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth", it will now be a case of: "In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth".

The idea, believed to be a world first, has come from the Bible Society in Australia which translated all 31,173 verses of the Bible into text.

They can then be accessed over the internet for free and people can send individual verses to family or friends as SMS or text messages via mobile phone.

"The old days when the Bible was only available within a sombre black cover with a cross on it are long gone," said Bible Society spokesman Michael Chant.

"We want to open it up for people of all ages, backgrounds and interests, and the SMS version is a logical extension of that."

Inspiration for the exercise came from the son of a Bible Society employee in Sydney.

It took just one person about four weeks to convert the entire new and old testaments to text.

The society used the Contemporary English Version and remained faithful to the grammar, changing just the spelling of the words.

Mr Chant said there was little doubt the new text version would appeal to young people, who were the biggest users of mobile phones.

But he said it could also be used to encourage, motivate and reassure people in all sorts of situations.

"People might want to send a verse to a friend in need, instructors might want to add verses to SMS bulletins to youth club members, or other people might just want to send a daily Bible recording to themselves to meditate on while they're on the bus or having lunch," he said.

"The idea is that the Bible can be used and be relevant and up-to-date, just like getting a verse of the day or reading a horoscope."

And for the record, sending the entire Bible by SMS would take more than 30,000 messages and cost almost $8000 at 25 cents for each message.

Some examples

Some examples of Bible verses from the Contemporary English Version (CEV) translated to SMS or text by the Bible Society in Australia.

In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth. Da earth waz barren, wit no 4m of life; it waz unda a roaring ocean cuvred wit dRkness. (Genesis, chapter 1, verses 1-2).

God luvd da ppl of dis wrld so much dat he gave his only Son, so dat evry1 who has faith in him will have eternal life & neva really die. (John, chapter 3, verse 16).

U, Lord, r my shepherd. I will neva be in need. U let me rest in fields of green grass. U lead me 2 streams of peaceful water. (Psalm 23, verses 1-2).

Wrk hard at wateva u do. U will soon go 2 da wrld of da dead, where no 1 wrks or thinks or reasons or knws NEting. (Ecclesiastes, chapter nine, verse 10).

Respect ur father & ur mother, & u will live a long time in da l& I am givin u. (Exodus, chapter 20, verse 12).

IMHO, I don't like this. :(
I have 2 disagree that this is benificial. I will watch 2 C if this will catch on.

The Outdoor Bible NASB New Testament- Waterproof, Rugged, Tear-resistant

The Outdoor Bible

Here is a bible for you sportsmen out there. I thought this was cool. The link even has a video demonstration.

Two friends - Their adventures - The result

From Michael:

The winter of 1996-97 was one of the last “big” snow years for America’s number one ski resort in Vail Colorado. It was, however, my first year to lead mountaintop worship services with Alpine Resort Ministry. I remember trying to read Scripture on those snowy Sundays while huge snowflakes melted onto the pages. “If only this was waterproof,” I thought to myself.

During autumn of 1999 while backpacking in Smoky Mountain National Park I set off for a day hike early one morning. After the most beautiful day spent watching a blanket of mist rise from the mountains and listening to the comforting sounds of leaves falling from the trees onto the ground, I headed back to my camp. Upon arriving, I found my Bible more wrinkled with moisture than my skin after 2 hours in a hot tub. “Why can’t it just be waterproof” I thought.

The summer of 2001 was the first time I have ever lived in a house with a swimming pool. I was so excited to spend time in the pool soaking up some rays and planning out the schedule for the summer camp I was directing. It was such a good idea at the time… I could float in the middle of the pool, shades on, and Bible in hand. As long as I could stay calm and move slowly, I should have had no worries. In the middle of adjusting my position on the float, my Bible started to slide off of my belly. As I started to grab my Bible, I remembered that my hands were dripping wet! “The Outdoor Bible, Anyone!”

From Bobby:

As a believer in Christ and one that has always loved to be in God’s creation exposed to the elements, I have often desired to have my Bible by my side for reading here and there. My exploring has led me to mountain tops, river banks, sandy beaches, misty valleys, and hot springs, and has caused me to become soaked to the core while backpacking or paddling. I hate to admit that my Bible has not made it with me on many of these occasions for the sake of protecting it and because I don't trust a plastic bag not to puncture. Michael and I have been talking about how awesome it would be to have a waterproof Bible for many years now, and we have finally decided to produce it ourselves. Now we can put an end to all the worrying that we have done in the past about our Bibles and take The Outdoor Bible wherever our adventures lead.

To make this happen, Michael, Anna (my wife), and I have formed Bardin & Marsee Publishing, LLC and have begun this business by producing the world’s only waterproof, rugged, and tear resistant Bible. We hope that you find heaps of enjoyment reading God’s Word in all weather environments.

.

THE MOST LITERAL IS NOW MORE READABLE.
The New American Standard Bible has been widely acclaimed as “the most literally accurate translation” from the original languages. Millions of people have trusted the NASB, learning from it and applying it to the challenges of their daily lives. The updated NASB continues this commitment to accuracy, while increasing clarity and readability.

THE OUTDOOR BIBLE is printed on 100% plastic material, which makes it a fully waterproof Bible. It can be rained on, snowed on, or fully submerged in a body of water – with no damage.

THE OUTDOOR BIBLE is made to withstand the rigors of the outdoors – whether used on a backcountry trail, a boating trip, or at a park with your family – THE OUTDOOR BIBLE will endure your chosen adventure.

THE OUTDOOR BIBLE will maintain its form during everyday handling and is resistant to typical outdoor wear and tear.

100,000 back bill to curb ACLU

100,000 back bill to curb ACLU

Petition urges Congress to act on legislation

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

A grass-roots group is mobilizing more than 100,000 Americans to urge Congress to pass a bill that would curb the ACLU by denying plaintiff attorneys the right to collect attorneys fees in lawsuits targeting religion in the public square.

The petition by the Center for Reclaiming America calls for "a stand against the ACLU's radical agenda, which undermines our nation's moral and religious heritage."

The group says it already has 100,000 signatures and hopes to garner another 30,000.

The petition reads:

As a concerned citizen, I am taking a stand against the ACLU's radical agenda, which undermines our nation's moral and religious heritage. I join with citizens across the nation in protest of ACLU policies and actions to strip faith in God from the public square while promoting anti-family and pro-homosexual initiatives. I am calling on leaders in government and media to tell the truth about the ACLU's radical agenda. Furthermore, I demand lawmakers take the necessary steps to eliminate the monetary motives behind the ACLU's campaign to remove all mention of God from the public square. The ACLU does not represent me nor the vast majority of American citizens.

The legislation by Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., would amend the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Act of 1976 to prohibit prevailing parties from being awarded attorneys fee in religious establishment cases but not in other civil rights filings.

Hostettler introduced a bill with identical language in 2003 to permit only injunctive relief in cases filed under the religious-establishment clause of the Constitution and to deny attorneys fees.

Although that bill failed in subcommittee, supporters are optimistic that the current offering will pass this session because of the more conservative makeup of the current Congress and escalating calls to curb an activist judiciary, particularly on religious matters.

Scientists Recover T. Rex Tissue

Scientists Recover T. Rex Tissue

WASHINGTON — For more than a century, the study of dinosaurs has been limited to fossilized bones. Now, researchers have recovered 70-million-year-old soft tissue, including what may be blood vessels and cells, from a Tyrannosaurus rex (search).

If scientists can isolate proteins from the material, they may be able to learn new details of how dinosaurs lived, said lead researcher Mary Higby Schweitzer (search) of North Carolina State University.

"We're doing a lot of stuff in the lab right now that looks promising," she said in a telephone interview. But, she said, she does not know yet if scientists will be able to isolate dinosaur DNA (search) from the materials.

It was recovered dinosaur DNA — the blueprint for life — that was featured in the fictional recreation of the ancient animals in the book and film "Jurassic Park."

The soft tissues were recovered from the thighbone of a T. rex, known as MOR 1125, that was found in a sandstone formation in Montana. The dinosaur was about 18 years old when it died.

The bone was broken when it was removed from the site. Schweitzer and her colleagues then analyzed the material inside the bone.

Schweitzer said that after removing the minerals from the specimen, the remaining tissues were soft and transparent and could be manipulated with instruments.

The bone matrix was stretchy and flexible, she said. Also, there were long structures like blood vessels. What appeared to be individual cells were visible.

Photos show demineralized fragments of tissues lining the marrow cavity of a Tyrannosaurus Rex femur.

Lately we have been hearing about archeological finds of small hobbit like human beings that they say prove evolution. Since we have pygmy tribes today this find does not prove anything except that we come in different sizes and shapes.

Most did not hear about this T-rex bone that had soft tissue inside the bone. Now how did soft tissue survive for 65 million years? That is impossible without being preserved in an airtight environment. Soft tissue might survive for a few thousand years in perfect circumstances but not 65 million years. This is proof that the world is not millions of years old and evolution could not have happened.

Educators Eye 'Intelligent Design' Trial

Educators Eye 'Intelligent Design' Trial

By MARTHA RAFFAELE, AP Education Writer

HARRISBURG, Pa. - As a federal judge hears arguments over whether a Pennsylvania school district can include "intelligent design" in its biology curriculum, Dan Barbour fears the New Mexico high school where he works could face a similar showdown.

The school board in Rio Rancho, N.M., voted in August to allow the discussion of alternative theories to evolution in high school science class. Critics say that could mean intelligent design, and some faculty are averse to teaching a concept whose scientific validity has been questioned, said Barbour, the school's science and math director.

"The thing that makes me nervous is that in the classroom a teacher is to be unbiased, but students are allowed to express their opinions. Can a teacher remain unbiased? Can we keep it from becoming a preaching session?" he said.

Science educators around the nation are closely monitoring the trial, which involves eight Pennsylvania families who have sued to have intelligent design removed from the Dover Area School District's biology curriculum. They allege that it is essentially a religious concept akin to creationism, and teaching it violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

"If the door is open for non-scientific viewpoints to be addressed ... I would imagine it would make some (teachers) rethink their profession," said Cindy Workoski, spokeswoman for the National Science Teachers Association in Arlington, Va.

Intelligent design supporters argue that life on Earth was the product of an unidentified intelligent force, and that natural selection cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.

The school board policy in Dover requires students to hear a statement about intelligent design before classes on evolution. The statement says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact" and has inexplicable "gaps." The board's lawyers contend that the reading of the statement does not constitute teaching.

"Everything I do in my classroom is teaching," Dover biology teacher Jennifer Miller said when she recently testified in the ongoing federal lawsuit. She has refused to read it.

Rick Cole, a science teacher at Los Lunas High School in Los Lunas, N.M., taught the concept alongside evolution in biology class for 11 years, but was ordered last year to stop after a parent complained to the principal.

The teachings avoided religious discussions, Cole said. According to student surveys he collected throughout the time he taught intelligent design, 98 percent of the nearly 1,000 students he taught preferred a side-by-side presentation, he said.

Plaintiff 's attorney Witold Walczak with the American Civil Liberties Union enters federal court in Harrisburg, Pa.

Look at the loose arguments people use to keep intelligent design from being taught. They say you cannot teach it because its scientific validity has been questioned. It has but so has the validity of the theory of evolution. Questioning a theory does not disqualify it. If this is a disqualifier then we should stop teaching evolution. Also the questions do not disprove ID theory.

They call it a non scientific view point but without offering proof of this. This is just an emotional attack rather than a good argument against ID. Since it has scientific merit what are they so afraid of? Isn’t it scientific to examine all theories that have value? Who’s really rejecting science here?

AudioSermon.com

AudioSermon.com

Here is another great web resource. At the present time they have close to 70,000 sermons to listen to. You can stream them or download them onto your computer. Last week 80,000 sermons were downloaded from the website. Site visitors can search for sermons by pastor, topic, church, keyword, Bible reference or date preached.

Python swallows cat in Florida backyard

Python swallows cat in Florida backyard

This just in another python story. Film at 11.

Miami Gardens, Florida - Elidia Rodriguez of Miami Gardens had been looking for her year-old Siamese cat for two days when her son pointed out the bulging Burmese python slithering in her backyard.

Experts say that bulge in the 12-foot snake is probably the missing 15-pound cat.

Rodriguez got the cat last year as a post-hurricane gift. She named the cat Frances, after the storm.

The snake was spotted in Rodriguez's backyard yesterday.

Experts with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue antivenin unit says Frances wouldn't have stood a chance against the larger predator.

The snake was captured and taken to the Sense of Wonder Nature Center at AD Barnes National Park.

Earlier this month, authorities say a 13-foot python burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole.

Atlanta Courthouse Shooting Hostage Ashley Smith interview

Interview With Atlanta Courthouse Shooting Hostage Ashley Smith and Pastor Rick Warren.

Here is the riveting interview of Atlanta hostage hero Ashley Smith and "Purpose-Driven Life" author Pastor Rick Warren.

ASHLEY SMITH, CO-AUTHOR, "UNLIKELY ANGEL": Yes, I had heard but I wasn't really paying too much attention to it. I was moving into a new apartment, had just started the new job at Barnacles (ph), was only there for two days prior. So, I was really getting all my stuff unpacked and not really paying attention to it. I mean I'm from Augusta and so I just didn't -- this is not going to happen to me.

KING: So, what happened?

SMITH: Went home after work and was -- stayed up a little bit later than I had expected putting stuff away and I ran out of cigarettes and went out for cigarettes at two o'clock in the morning.

KING: Know that feeling, two in the morning.

SMITH: Two in the morning and I saw a truck pull up when I left but I didn't think anything big about it. I mean it's two o'clock in the morning in Atlanta. People party in Atlanta. They come home at two o'clock in the morning, especially on Friday night.

So, I just left, went and got the cigarettes and came back and when I came back the truck had moved in a parking space that was closer to the one that I was pulling back into. So, my heart started beating a little bit and I was like, OK, this is -- this might not be good.

KING: Where was your daughter? You have a daughter.

SMITH: She was with my aunt, staying at my aunt's house.

KING: So, you were alone.

SMITH: I was alone in the apartment.

Read more here.

US scientists resurrect deadly 1918 flu

US scientists resurrect deadly 1918 flu

NewScientist.com news service
Debora MacKenzie

In a surprise announcement, scientists in the US say they have recreated the influenza virus that killed at least 50 million people in 1918, and they have infected mice with it.

They say the need to understand how flu viruses cause lethal pandemics outweighs any safety risks. But the risks may not be negligible.

By painstakingly piecing together viral fragments from hospital specimens and a victim buried in Alaskan permafrost, Jeff Taubenberger and colleagues at the US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Rockville, Maryland, have now sequenced all eight coding regions of the 1918 flu virus’s genome. They published the last three - coding for the polymerase complex that allows the virus to replicate - on Wednesday (Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature04230).

Meanwhile, Terrence Tumpey at the US Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and colleagues used the sequences to rebuild the virus itself, and infect mice with it. They report this week that unlike other flu viruses, 1918 does not need a protein-splitting enzyme from its surroundings to replicate, instead using some hitherto-unknown mechanism. And as in 1918, it rapidly destroys lungs (Science, vol 310, p 77).

I realize that someone needs to reconstitute this virus in order to make a vaccine. If we don’t then someone else will and it might be used as a weapon of mass destruction. All I can say is this is scary stuff.

They say it is safe but you never know. Here is an article about a plane carrying viruses that crashed. Plane Carrying Viruses Crashes in Canada.

Bible Doctrines Part Three - 15 CD's In All

Bible Doctrines Part Three - 15 CD's In All

Equipped and Wise: With these CD's you can use your time wisely listening to the studies as you drive or work at your computer. It will give you answers to life and your walk with God. You will be able answer serious Bible questions when you are asked.

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Col 1:9-10 NKJV)

Serious Bible Study: This class was taught for credit at a CC Bible college. Now you can take that same class at home or in your car. We took almost 27 hours of Systematic Theology Three lectures and edited them down to just less than 21 hours on fifteen audio CDs. This third in a four part series covers the doctrines of Man, Sin and Salvation.

Calvinism and Arminianism: You will receive a side by side systematic study on each doctrine as they are examined by the Bible. This is a very unique study. You will examine the doctrines in the bible at places where God directly offers salvation to people. If you are really interested in the doctrine of Salvation this is a must have CD set. Sincerely, every serious bible student or teacher should own this set. These systematic theology sets are all bestsellers but this set by far outsells all the other sets.

Just Some of the Topics Covered:

· What are the five main problems for Evolutionists?

· Why a Christian cannot believe in Theistic Evolution?

· What is the Gap theory? Is it feasible?

· Why did God create us? What responsibility does that give us?

· What are the four principles to a great relationship?

· What is the origin of man’s soul?

· How would cloning affect man’s nature and soul?

· Is the earth overpopulated in God’s perspective?

· How does God describe sin?

· If God created everything did He create sin?

· Why does God allow evil in the world?

· How do I overcome a sinful habit?

· Which is correct Calvinism and Arminianism?

· How do we define God’s love?

· Can man have free will and be predestined at the same time?

Get the Biblical answer for all these questions. Become equipped!

Now available at online here

Python Explodes After Eating Alligator

Things that make you go Eewww! The result of the sin of gluttony.

Python Explodes After Eating Alligator

By DENISE KALETTE
Associated Press Writer

MIAMI



Alligators have clashed with nonnative pythons before in Everglades National Park. But when a 6-foot gator tangled with a 13-foot python recently, the result wasn't pretty.

The snake apparently tried to swallow the gator whole _ and then exploded. Scientists stumbled upon the gory remains last week.

The species have battled with increasing frequency _ scientists have documented four encounters in the last three years. The encroachment of Burmese pythons into the Everglades could threaten an $8 billion restoration project and endanger smaller species, said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor.

The gators have had to share their territory with a python population that has swelled over the past 20 years after owners dropped off pythons they no longer wanted in the Everglades. The Asian snakes have thrived in the wet, hot climate.

"Encounters like that are almost never seen in the wild. ... And we here are, it's happened for the fourth time," Mazzotti said. In the other cases, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.

"They were probably evenly matched in size," Mazzotti said of the latest battle. "If the python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good grip on him, he could win."

While the gator may have been injured before the battle began _ wounds were found on it that apparently were not caused by python bites _ Mazzotti believes it was alive when the battle began. And it may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it, leading to the blow up.

The python was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection. Its stomach still surrounded the alligator's head, shoulders, and forelimbs. The remains were discovered and photographed Sept. 26 by helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher Michael Barron.

The incident has alerted biologists to new potential dangers from Burmese pythons in the Everglades.

"Clearly, if they can kill an alligator they can kill other species," Mazzotti said. "There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons. ... This indicates to me it's going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win.

"It means nothing in the Everglades is safe from pythons, a top down predator," Mazzotti said.

Not only can the python kill other reptiles, the snakes will also eat otters, squirrels, endangered woodstorks and sparrows.

While there are thousands of alligators in the Everglades, Joe Wasilewski, a wildlife biologist and crocodile tracker, said its unknown how many pythons there are.

"We need to set traps and do a proper survey," of the snakes, he said. At least 150 have been captured in the last two years.

The problem arises when people buy pets they are not prepared to care for.

"People will buy these tiny little snakes and if you do everything right, they're six-feet tall in one year. They lose their appeal, or the owner becomes afraid of it. There's no zoo or attraction that will take it," so they release the snakes into the Everglades.

A reproducing snake can have as many as 100 hatchlings, which explains why the snake population has soared, Wasilewski said.

The Burmese snake problem is just part of a larger issue of nonnative animal populations in South Florida, he said. So many iguanas have been discarded in the region that they are gobbling tropical flowers and causing problems for botanists, Wasilewski said.

A 10- or 20-foot python is also large enough to pose a risk to an unwary human, especially a small child, he added.

"I don't think this is an imminent threat. This is not a 'Be afraid, be very afraid situation.'"

Alpha courses register explosive growth in churches

Alpha courses register explosive growth in churches

Mario Sequeira, Staff Writer

A short course that teaches the basics of Christianity is experiencing explosive growth in Johnson County and the rest of the United States in the short time since it was introduced in 1995.

Americans of varied backgrounds and religious persuasions are flocking to what are called Alpha courses, run in two-hour sessions once a week over 10 weeks, for a total of 20 hours.


Churches in Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, Shawnee, Mission, Leawood and Prairie Village have all started Alpha courses in the past five years. And they have spread to universities and one prison, Leavenworth Penitentiary, as well, said Jeff Kirby of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood.


Kirby is one of the fathers of the Alpha course movement in the U.S. He started one of the first courses in the country in September 1995, when Alpha was little known.


At the Church of the Resurrection, about 5,000 people have taken the course in the past four years, Kirby said. It is one of the biggest programs among Johnson County churches.


The Alpha course originated in Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London, England, in the 1980s. Nicky Gumbel, a lawyer who became an Anglican Church clergyman, took over the course in the late 1980s, Kirby said.


Gumbel attracted a dozen people at his first course. But his reputation as an effective communicator grew, and by the early 1990s so did the course's popularity, with thousands of people attending, Kirby said.

The movement has spawned a national organization, Alpha USA. According to its statistics, in 1996, 3,610 people attended 202 courses nationally. In 2004, nearly 7,500 courses were taught to 1.5 million people.


The courses begin with dinner, followed by a talk and then small group discussions. The environment is free of hostility and no question asked is considered silly or simple, Kirby and other course leaders said.


"We believe friendships are formed around having a meal," Kirby said. "As a sense of trust grows, people can ask the tough questions. All of us have questions and we wrestle together to find answers," he said.


Though the friendly atmosphere may be a positive feature of the courses, the real attraction lies in its filling a spiritual hole, the "hole in the soul," Kirby said.


"No matter how big your house is or how fast your car, there is a spiritual emptiness inside us," he said. "I think that's one of the reasons why materially rich cultures are spiritually poor.


"I think people are looking for the meaning and purpose of their lives."

Amazing how the simplistic teaching of the Word, breaking of bread and fellowship can catch on. ;-)

(Acts 2:46 NKJV) So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
(Acts 2:47 NKJV) praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Seal from the temple of Solomon discovered

Seal from the first temple discovered

First Temple-era seal discovered
Etgar Lefkovits, THE JERUSALEM POST

A First-Temple period seal has been discovered amidst piles of rubble from Jerusalem's Temple Mount, an Israeli archaeologist said Tuesday, in what could prove to be an historic find.

The small - less than 1 cm - seal impression, or bulla, discovered Tuesday by Bar-Ilan University archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkay amidst piles of rubble from the Temple Mount would mark the first time that an written artifact was found from the Temple Mount dating back to the First Temple period.

The 2,600 year old artifact, with three lines in ancient Hebrew, was discovered amidst piles of rubble discarded by the Islamic Wakf that Barkay and a team of young archaeologists and volunteers are sifting
through on the grounds of a Jerusalem national park.

The seal, which predates the destruction of the First Jewish temple in 586 BCE, was presented Tuesday night to the press at an archaeological conference at the City of David sponsored by the right-wing Elad organization.

Barkay said that the find was the first of its kind from the time of King David.

He has not yet determined what the writing is on the seal, although three Hebrew letters -- thought to be the name of its owner -- are visible on one of its line.

The seal was found amidst thousands of tons of rubble discarded by Wakf officials at city garbage dumps six years ago, following the Islamic Trust's unilateral construction of an mosque at an underground compound of the Temple Mount known as the Solomon's
Stables.

After the Antiquities Authority voiced disinterest in thoroughly sifting through the rubble discarded by the Wakf, Barkay applied -- and eventually received –a license from the Antiquities Authority to sort through the piles of earth thrown into the garbage dump in search of antiquities, and has since found scores of history-rich artifacts, from the First Temple Period until today amidst the rubble, including a large amount of pottery dating from the Bronze Ages through modern times, a large segment of a marble pillar's shaft, and over 100 ancient coins, among them several from the Hasmonean Dynasty.

While inexact, the ongoing sifting project, which is now being sponsored by Elad, has being called virtually unprecedented since archaeological excavation has never been permitted on the Temple Mount itself.

Meanwhile, in a separate major archaeological development in Jerusalem, a Jewish ritual bath, or mikva, dating back to the Second Temple period, and a First Temple Wall have been found in an underground chamber adjacent to the Western Wall tunnels, the Antiquities Authority's Jerusalem regional archaeologist Jon Seligman said during a tour.

The site is part of a new state-of-the-art tourist center at the Western Wall tunnels, which will be open to the public in two months' time.

The impressive site, which incorporates ancient and modern Jewish history in an attempt to reach out to Israeli youth, includes an elaborate audiovisual show, and nine magnificent glass sculptures, which serve to highlight both recent discoveries of artifacts and infrastructure dating back thousands of years, including one of the world's oldest aqueducts, as well as modern day Jewish history, such as the Holocaust and Israel's fallen soldiers.

Dutch Set to Expand Euthanasia Guidelines

Dutch Set to Expand Euthanasia Guidelines

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - The Dutch government intends to expand its current euthanasia policy, setting guidelines for when doctors may end the lives of terminally ill newborns with the parents' consent, The Associated Press has learned.

A letter outlining the new directives was expected to be submitted to parliament for discussion by mid-October, but the new policy will not require a change of law, Dutch Health Ministry spokeswoman Annette Dijkstra said Thursday.

The new guidelines are likely to spark an outcry from the Vatican, right-to-life proponents and some advocacy groups for the handicapped who abhor the current policy that allows adult euthanasia if the patients request it and if certain conditions are met.

Proponents and opponents agree the change is doubly important because it will provide the model for how the Dutch will treat other cases in which patients are unable to say whether they want to live or die, such as the mentally retarded or elderly people who have become demented.

The governing conservative Christian Democrat party - a majority of which fought legalization of euthanasia in 2001 when it was in the opposition - will embrace the guidelines drawn up last year by doctors at the Groningen University Medical Center.

The guidelines, known as the Groningen Protocol, prompted reactions of shock and outrage from the Vatican and from social conservatives and religious groups worldwide - but have received minimal coverage in the Dutch media.

Under the protocol, euthanasia would be permissible when a child is terminally ill with no prospect of recovery, when it is suffering great pain, when two sets of doctors agree the situation is hopeless, and when parents give their consent.

The Dutch Health Ministry has postponed this decision several times, and wishes to control the release of information around the policy change, which is still being finalized.

But Dijkstra confirmed the broad lines of the guidelines after details began leaking to the Dutch press and to some members of the medical industry who have been involved in the long-running debate over the issue in the Netherlands.

Johannes Verheijden, a spokesman for the group BOSK, which represents parents of children with motor handicaps, said the changes were morally wrong and unnecessary.

"There is no need for a doctor to play an active role in death, the focus should be on easing pain," he said. "There always has to be some doubt in these cases, and the benefit of doubt should be on the side of life."

This expansion takes the next step in qualifying "people with no free will" - such as infants and severely demented or mentally retarded people as having no hope and therefore can be killed. This is exactly how the Nazis’ justified killing people in the beginning.

God says to comfort those who are dying but we are not told to take their lives.
(Prov 31:6 NKJV) Give strong drink to him who is perishing. Strong drink would be the pain killer of the time.

Schwarzenegger Vetoes Gay Marriage Bill

Schwarzenegger Vetoes Gay Marriage Bill

By STEVE LAWRENCE
The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif, -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger followed through Thursday on his promise to veto a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, leaving the issue up to voters or judges who will likely face the volatile issue in the next year.

"This bill simply adds confusion to a constitutional issue," the Republican governor said in a veto message.

Schwarzenegger had announced his intention on Sept. 7, a day after the Legislature became the first in the country to approve a bill allowing gays and lesbians to wed.

Schwarzenegger said the bill by Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno contradicted Proposition 22, which was approved by voters in 2000 and said only a marriage between a man and woman is valid.

The governor said the state constitution bars the Legislature from enacting a law allowing gay marriage without another vote by the public and that Leno's bill wouldn't provide for that vote.

Schwarzenegger noted that a state appeals court was considering whether the state's ban on gay marriage is constitutional and that the issue would likely be decided by the California Supreme Court.

"If the ban of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional this bill is not necessary," he said. "If the ban is constitutional this bill is ineffective."

Leno, who is openly gay, said Schwarzenegger had missed a historic opportunity to stand up for civil rights.

This gay agenda being pushed by less than 3% of our population will ultimately be decided by the supreme court of the United States. It has huge ramifications in every area of our lives. Gay marriage would affect everything from hospitalization to Real Estate, adoptions to free speech. Pray for more conservative judges on the supreme court.