CHRISTIAN VIEW

Amazing Grace - the best of Aretha Franklin

2012-02-05T05:04:00.003Z

The best I like

.

NOV.07 NEWS FROM YOUCEF NADARKHANI'S LAWYER

2011-11-08T00:29:00.006Z

Wednesday, 02 November 2011

In this article you'll read an interview with Abbas Salmanpour, one of the attorneys of Yousef Nadarkhani, conducted by Mohabat News in which he describes Nadarkhani's current situation.

It's now about two years since Yousef Nadarkhani, one of the non-Trinitarian Christians, was arrested. His case has followed a very uneven way up to the present. First he was charged with apostasy and sentenced to death. The leaders of many different countries expressed their objections to this ruling. As a result of the international pressures, the Islamic regime of Iran stepped back from its initial position, annulled his death sentence and sent his case back to the local court in Gilan province for further investigation.

After sending the case back to the local court, the news media supported by the regime, accused Nadarkhani of some different crimes. Also the governor of Gilan said in a speech that Nadarkhani's crime was not apostasy but he had been jailed for several rapes and establishing brothels.

These things are being said now, although a record of Nadarkhani's apostasy verdict issued by the court in Gilan, was published over the internet some months ago. The complex and lengthy process of this case is a puzzle designed by Iran's judicial authorities, which they now appear unable to solve.

It's also said that the referral of Nadarkhani's case to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, has made the resolution of the case more complex. What seems obvious is that a political decision is being developed in which the judicial authorities and Iranian political leaders may share responsibility.

A reporter from the Iranian Christian News Agency, Mohabat News, interviewed one of the attorneys of Yousef Nadarkhani by telephone and asked him about the latest developments on Nadarkhani's case.

You can hear the interview here (In Farsi) :

-Please inform us about the status of Nadarkhani's case at the moment?

- I should say that the case must be referred to the high court again.

- You mean the case will be sent back to the high court?

-Look, if the local court announces the second verdict and if we appeal, the case would be sent to the high court.

- How is Nadarkhani's situation in the prison right now? Is he allowed to visit and/or call his family?

Yes, as far as I know he has no problem in this regard. I mean, I asked him about this and fortunately he is in a good situation in prison. He is not under pressure or other such problems. The related branch of the court allows his family to visit him as much as possible. Fortunately there is no problem in this matter.

- Five of the Marja-e-Taghlids (literally meaning a source of guidance and reference) rejected the accusation of apostasy against Nadarkhani and now his case has been referred to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei. If he confirms the apostasy verdict for Nadarkhani, what would happen to his case?

The disagreement between lawyers and judges in this case is whether Nadarkhani meets the conditions to be called an apostate or not. The Marja-e-Taghlids do not reject an apostasy accusation in principle. Generally, they support such kind of accusation. But the discussion is whether Nadarkhani's activities would make him an apostate or not. If according to the facts of his case they recognize him as an apostate then according to the Islamic principles the apostasy penalty would be announced for him. And if not, he would not be treated as an apostate. The major problem is about this issue.
As you asked about the referral of his case to the office of the Supreme Leader, according to our leadership system, if the Supreme Leader decides on something, basically that decision should be implemented.

- Would the decision of the leader have more credibility than the other five Marja-e-Taghlid?

Since he is the Supreme Leader, according to the constitution, he is in a higher position than the other five. The Marja-e-Taghlids would make their comments but the Supreme Leader has the right to issue a final verdict. Such verdicts are binding. I think and I'm quite sure that the judges would implement this final verdict.

- It is said that in a trip to the province of Gilan, Mr. Eje'ei has rebuked the judges for sending the Nadarkhani case to the office of the Supreme Leader. Is this true?

I'm not sure about the accuracy of what you say here and so I can't comment on it. I can just add a point to your words and it is that if there were any rebukes, which I don't think there were, surely it would not take place in a way that everyone would know about it. I mean to say that this is most probably just a rumor.

-During recent months or even years, a large number of Christians were arrested and imprisoned by the security authorities. Even now some Christian converts are being held in prison. In your opinion, why has the accusation of apostasy only been mentioned in Nadarkhani's case?

What has made this case more sensitive is that it's believed that Nadarkhani has undertaken some actions to spread his beliefs. I mean the accusations that are mentioned in his indictment are of forming a house church and of spreading Christian beliefs to others. It is also claimed that he had been a Muslim and later converted to Christianity. These issues have made the case a bit more sensitive.

Of course my colleagues and I don't believe this. I believe that he won't be convicted of being an apostate. The very fact of being a Christian has not made the Nadarkhani case sensitive. He is not being convicted because of being a Christian. It's not like that. As far as we know, our Christian friends and neighbors continue living in peace and are free to practice their faith inside their churches. The accusations pointed towards Nadarkhani are of gathering in a house church, preaching Christianity to Muslims and deceiving them to leave their Islamic beliefs.

However, we are trying to prove the opposite and to prove that he has not done that. And even if any preaching was done among his fellow Christians, it cannot be seen as preaching against Islam. There is also a disagreement about this among the lawyers and judges. We hope that all these disagreements will come to an end and be resolved in some way. I also hope that with the tact of the judges in this case, they will conclude it in good order so that he can go back to his family and this case will finally come to an end.

Bible Gospel of John in Farsi

2011-11-06T23:54:00.003Z

.

To your research:

www.farisnet.com

Brother Joao Cruzue/Brazil: cruzue@gmail.com

.

Iranians are thirsty for Jesus Christ

2011-11-06T23:21:00.003Z

.

Mohabat News

An interview is conducted in this regard with Mr. Shahram Nikoo, an Iranian Christian and the spokesman and manager of the Iranian Church in Europe.

Q- Do you have any evidence to show that the acceptance of Christianity is growing in Iran?

Yes, the wave of acceptance of Christianity in Iran is increasing on a daily basis. We know this from Christian television networks which are being broadcast through satellite signals and also the feedback people give from inside Iran regarding these programs. It's also obvious from the view rates on our websites. All these factors show that many people in Iran are interested in committing their lives to Jesus Christ.

Q- How do you evangelize these groups of people? Do you do it freely or in a secret way?

We do nothing in secret and everything is completely open. All evangelical television programs are accessible through satellite channels and/or internet. Praise the Lord that today we are living in a world which gives us the opportunity to communicate with people around us. Of course the people themselves are eager to discover the gospel and study it. Some other people also come to the faith through dreams and visions.

Q- Is the internet the only way to support the people who want to know about Christianity or are there also books and other literature available for this purpose?

No, there are no Christian books or literature available in Iran. The only resources available to the people who want to know about Christianity are the internet and satellite television.

Q- Are the websites active in this field being subjected to filtering?

Of course they are being blocked. but there are also ways to overcome the filtering.

Q-Geographically, are there any areas in Iran in which more people convert to Christianity?

There are more people coming to Christ from the religious cities like Qom and Mashhad in comparison to other cities.

Q- Are the people who believe in Christ only from the Shi'ite Muslim background or are there people from other backgrounds as well?

At this time there are people from various religious backgrounds who have converted to Christianity including Baha'is, Sunni Muslims, Zoroastrians and so on.

Q-It's being said that the security authorities of Iran have undertaken contradictory behaviors towards Christians who have been arrested. In a statement recently published by some Human Rights organizations it's explained that when they arrest someone, one of the first things they do is to make a false financial or moral allegation against the arrested person and then tell the individual that if you repent and return to Islam then all your crimes will be pardoned. Please speak about the treatment of arrested Christians at the time of their arrest.

I'm not living inside and I've never faced this issue closely but the reports that I have heard confirm your words. Unfortunately, inappropriate behaviors are being used against Iranian Christians, especially those who have an Islamic background. It's really surprising that the Islamic Republic is pressuring Christian converts to this extent. These people really have nothing to do with politics and they're not trying to change the regime. These people have just changed into different and better people. It's so puzzling why a regime is trying to persecute its own people rather than encouraging them.

We have people who were addicted to drugs before they believed in Jesus and now that they've accepted him as their Savior, their lives have been totally changed. Now they are sharing their faith with other addicts around them and encouraging them to give up drugs. There were situations in which couples were losing their family life and after believing in Jesus they were both living happily together and had started a new life in their Lord.

What's the problem if people who had a ruined life change their lives and share this better life with others?

Q-Generally, what are the main problems that Christian prisoners face after their release?

During the past seven or eight years I've met with some Christians who had been jailed for their faith. The main problem they had was with their landlords. When the landlords realized that they were arrested for being Christians he/she would force them to vacate their house. Also, in their workplace they faced problems with their employers who fired them from their job because of being jailed for their faith. Actually, the Christian prisoners in Iran lose their right to have a house or a job and as a result they have a really difficult life. The attitude of society toward them would change and they'd be considered as criminals among their community.

Q- Do you mean that people reject them or is this from the authorities?
People reject these Christians as a result of fear of the authorities. It's kind of an indirect pressure from the authorities.

Q-What kind of sentences do the judicial authorities issue for Christian prisoners? What is their crime?

Mostly, Christians who are arrested get released after signing a commitment to not evangelize and paying a prescribed amount of bail. But I've heard that these people are subjected to various other pressures for converting to Christianity.

The journey from Christianity to Islan is a big lie

2011-10-31T00:00:00.008Z

.

A FALSE IRANIAN SITE DO DECEIVE HIS YOUTH

Mohabat News

Reports received from the city of Rasht state that an apparently cultural organization called Haghighat-e-sabz-e-Gilan (The green truth of Gilan) plans to hold a series of conferences in Rasht named "The Journey from Christianity to Islam".

According to the Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, the Haghighat-e-sabz-e-Gilan is a newly formed organization which is headed by Mohammad-Reza Mahboob. He was interviewed by Adian-News, a website backed by the Qom Islamic seminary. There he outlined the purpose of this organization as "following the propaganda of foreign countries and media, this cultural organization was formed to identify religious teachings about both Islam and Christianity and to be responsive to religious questions."

"With respect to attacks from foreigners inside the country, particularly in Gilan province, which has caused many doubts regarding religious issues, a series of conferences by the name "The Journey from Christianity to Islam" will be held with presentations and speeches by converts from Christianity to Islam and people familiar with the Bible" he added. These conferences will be held in collaboration with the Office of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Gilan province and the cultural and propagating deputy of the Office of the Islamic Propagation of the Islamic Seminary of Qom. The manager of these conferences claims that the speakers for this series of conferences will all be literate people from Argentina, Germany, Myanmar and Iraq who have converted from Christianity to Islam.

The establishment of an internet radio station called "Voice of Christ" which is against Christ

One of the most important points that Mohamad-Reza Mahboob mentioned was the establishment of an internet radio station by the name "Voice of Christ". The purpose of this station is to answer questions about Christianity and its targets are all the Farsi speaking countries including Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The interesting thing here is that the programs of this station will also be broadcast in the Gilaki accent (accent of the people of Gilan) and the Taleshi dialect (the local language of the people in northwest Iran).

Some questions that should be asked in this regard

The very selection of Gilan province and the city of Rasht (birthplace of Nadarkhani) as the location for these conferences regarding "The Journey from Christianity to Islam" raises some questions. Furthermore, it's not clear to what extent international pressure on Iran and international support for Nadarkhani have pushed Iranian authorities to hold such conferences.

No doubt these conferences are evidence that Islamic clerics and religious authorities in Iran have become nervous and feel the need to hold such conferences. What comes to mind by hearing this news is that the main goal for these conferences is to support the prestige of Islam in the city of Rasht, to reduce the negative effect of the publication of news about Nadarkhani and to overcome perceived weakness of the Islamic Republic in this regard.

On the other hand, this matter shows that aversion towards Islam among the youth has even reached the city of Rasht in spite of severe pressure and threats from the government. This fact has increased the fear among Islamic authorities of Iran. By holding such conferences, the authorities of the city of Rasht are seeking an opportunity to distribute whatever they want.

The most significant issue in this regard is that the Islamic Republic is spending large amounts of money to counteract the spread of Christianity among Iranian youth. This time they have chosen a deceptive way to use Christ's name to fight against Christianity. You can understand this fact from the name (Voice of Christ) that they have chosen for their internet radio station. Using the name of Christ for an Islamic radio station is nothing other than an attempt to deceive youth who are thirsty to hear and know the truth about Christ, by teaching them false ideas about Christ. The radio station established by the regime to answer religious doubts and questions, is full of duplicity and doubts itself.

The obvious goal for this radio station is to stop the spread of Christianity among Iranian youth.

Here: How do know the true Jesus Christ

.

Letter from Iran prision: Pastor Yusef Nadarkhani

2011-10-30T13:18:00.006Z

.
http://presenttruthmn.com
.

This is a message from brother Youcef Nadarkhani, a pastor of an Iranian church who is remaining in prison.

Our dear brother has been kept in custody since the October of 2009 and has recently been sentenced to death. This message has been translated from Farsi to English.

Dear brothers and sisters, Salam

In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am continuously seeking grace and mercy to you, that you remember me and those who are bearing efforts for his name in your prayers.

Your loyalty to God is the cause of my strength and encouragement.

For I know well that you will be rewarded; as it’s stated: blessed is the one who has faith, for what has been said to him by God, will be carried out.

As we believe, heaven and earth will fade but his word will still remain.

Dear beloved ones, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of a few verses, although you might know them, So that in everything, you give more effort than the past, both to prove your election, and for the sake of Gospel that is to be preached to the entire world as well.

I know that not all of us are granted to keep this word, but to those who are granted this power and this revelation, I announce the same as Jude, earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints.

We are passing by special and sensitive days.They are days that for an alert and awake believer can be days of spiritual growth and progress. Because for him, more than any other time there is the possibility to compare his faith with the word of God, have God’s promises in mind, and survey his faith.

Therefore he (the true believer) does not need to wonder for the fiery trial that has been set on for him as though it were something unusual, but it pleases him to participate in Christ’s suffering.

Because the believer knows he will rejoice in his glory.

Dears, the “ judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

Therefore those who are enduring burdens by the will of God, commit their souls to the faithful Creator. Promises that he has given us, are unique and precious. As we’ve heard he has said: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you”

How can it be possible for a believer to understand these words?

Not only when he is focusing on Jesus Christ with adapting his life according to the life Jesus lived when he was on earth? As it is said ” O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”

Have we not read and heard: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Many attempt to flee from their spiritual tests, and they have to face those same tests in a more difficult manner, because no one will be victorious by escaping from them, but with patience and humility he will be able to overcome all the tests, and gain victory.

Therefore in the place of Christ’s followers, we must not feel desperate, but we have to pray to God in supplication with more passion to help us with any assistance we may need.

According to what Paul has said: In every temptation, God himself will make a way for us to tolerate it.

O beloved ones, difficulties do not weaken mankind, but they reveal the true human nature.

It will be good for us to occasionally face persecutions and abnormalities, since these abnormalities will persuade us to search our hearts, and to survey ourselves.

So as a result, we conclude that troubles are difficult, but usually good and useful to build us.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must be more careful than any other time.

Because in these days, the hearts and thoughts of many are revealed, so that the faith is tested.

May your treasure be where there is no moth and rust.

I would like to remind you of some verses that we nearly discuss everyday, (Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.) but as long as our human will has priority over God’s will, his will will not be done.

As we have learned from him in Gethsemane, he surrendered his will to the father, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

What we are bearing today, is a difficult but not unbearable situation, because neither he has tested us more than our faith and our endurance, nor does he do as such. And as we have known from before, we must beware not to fail, but to advance in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, And consider these bumps and prisons as opportunities to testify to his name. He said: If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

As a small servant, necessarily in prison to carry out what I must do, I say with faith in the word of God that he will come soon.”However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Discipline yourself with faith in the word of God. Retain your souls with patience. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly.

May you are granted grace and blessings increasingly in the name of Lord Jesus Christ.

Yusef Nadarkhani

Lakan Prison in Rasht

2/June/2010

Photos Royal Wedding Prince William and Kate Middleton

2011-04-28T00:44:00.007Z

.

London, 29th of April 2011

João Cruzué

Buckingham Palace - British Royalty House

Fiancés: Miss Kate Middleton and Prince William

Catherine Elizabeth Middletonand William Arthur Philip Louis

(09th of January, 1982) .................... ...............(21th of June, 1982)

Inside of Westminster Abbey - Church fo Religious ceremony

A carriage that will bring just married back to Buckingham Palace

Rolls Royce Phanton VI

A car alike, will drive Miss Kate Middleton till teh Westminister Abbey.

Bentley State Limousin

Prince William will be conduct till the Westminster Abbey in a vehicle alike

Princess Diana (1961-1997) and her wonderful bridal dress

(Mãe do Príncipe William)

DETAILS:

Oficial Briefing of Ceremony

Galeria of photos - Daily Telegraph

.

Balade for Fukushima Children

2011-03-17T01:49:00.005Z

"TEARS OF THE SAINTS"

Lyrics by Lelland

There are many prodigal sons
On our city streets they run
Searching for shelter
There are homes broken down
People's hopes have fallen to the ground
From failures

This is an emergency!

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We're crying for them come back home
We're crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

There are schools full of hatred
Even churches have forsaken
Love and mercy
May we see this generation
In it's state of desperation
For Your glory

This is an emergency!

Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children in Christ you stand!
Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children in Christ you stand!

And all Your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

Listen to this music at Lelland/myspace music: Tears of the Saints

Psalm for Japan

2011-03-17T00:59:00.009Z

Psalm # 60
.

1 O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.

2 Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.

3 Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

4 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.

5 That thy beloved may be delivered; save thy right hand, and hear me.

.

Hindu Boycots threaten christians in Orissa - India

2010-11-15T03:05:00.005Z

The persecution did not stopped.

All India Christian Council

The Collector: of Kandhamal, Orissa, Dr. Krishan Kumar who headed the district during the anti Christian violence of August-October 2008 which left 100 dead, 5,600 houses burnt and about 56,000 persons displaced, seems now to be presiding over a well thought out economic boycott of the minority community.

Confronted with the stark reality, Krishan has taken to blaming the Church and its leadership for being a hindrance in restoring peace - possibly because they have petitioned the High Court and the Supreme court of India on issues of justice in the region.

The economic boyctott of Kondh and Panos Christians in Kandhamal, which first came to light in the People's National Tribunal headed by former Delhi chief justice Shah, held in New Delhi in August this year, continues to be a source of major harassment of the community, a fact finding team of social activist and lawyers has discovered in a field study of the region earlier this month. The preliminary report was released yesterday.

The fact finding team consisted of four well-known activists led by Advocate Nicholas Barla, a tribal activist leader, with Advocate Brother Marcus, a social worker, Jugal Kishore Ranjit, a dalit human right activist and Ajay Kumar Singh, human right activist.

They visited Kandhamal on 5th of November 2010 to verify the allegations of social and economical boycotts of Kandhamal Christians. The team visited four villages of four police stations of three blocks in violent hit district of Kandhamal in Orissa.

The following is the operative part of the Fact Finding Report and
Update:

Despite the state administration claims of normalcy, what has been found by the Fact-finding group report reveals a state of lawlessness and utter fear and sense of insecurity of the persecuted Christians.

The team first visited Gadaguda village under G. Udayagiri police station under Tikabali that witnessed violence as late as 30th of October 2008, almost two months after violence was unleashed against Christian. An elderly couple in their late 70s were axed and then burnt alive here. Scores of people were injured.

One of them, an army man, has bullets in his hands and thighs. Some are still in tents. The team interacted with the people of Dakanaju village and nearby villagers. They included the postman, Sarapanch and a group of affected Christians. The team was told the Christians of Dakanaju village were barred from taking water from the government dug well.

The team then met Gadaguda Sarapanch, Sachindra Pradhan and asked whether he was aware of such instance. Mr. Pradhan told that he was not aware and would look into the matter and sort out at the earliest.

The team then headed for Bodimunda village under Tikabali police station in Tikabali block. They parked the vehicle on the roadside and headed towards the broken buildings and houses, a sure sign of wrath of anti-Christian violence. Upon reaching the village, the team members headed for a pastor's house as there were hardly anybody seen on the street amidst the ruins.

The pastor, Binod Pradhan (name changed), welcomed the group to his house and a definite anxiety reflected on his face. The team found that his house was intact. The pastor told the group that he has been forced to become a Hindu to save his old mother, who could not have escaped the violence as she was not in a position to walk even.

Within minutes of the team's coming, a person later identified as a RSS cadre came to the house to enquire about the group. The pastor informed him that the guests are bank officials as his relative works in a bank. It was a sign that the team should leave the house soon.

Meanwhile, the team was informed of social and economical boycott imposed on the Christians by the right wing group RSS, the parent group of the Bharatiya Janata party, and there would be fines if any vehicle ferry any Christian be he healthy or sick, or their belongings from the village to outside or from outside into village.

The team wanted to verify the allegations and went to a house of certain Bamadev Pradhan, a tribal Christian. Bamadev was lying on the muddy floor and could not get up as he was struck with paralysis. The family members told the group that being paralysis man and was suffering from fever, they looked for a hired auto to take him to a nearby hospital, Tikabali, 8 kilometres away from the village.

Nobody was ready to come to village and finally a Christian who owned an auto-rickshaw was almost forced to pick up the paralytic person. when the hired auto was returning after the drop, it was stopped and taken away by the RSS elements.

The owner took the help of the auto union, which negotiated for the release of the auto paying fine of one thousand fifty one rupees (Rs 1,051) and with the assurance that the auto owner would not ferry any Christian from the village.

The team has started interacting with the paralysed family members for five minutes, when a Christian villager; Jesaya Nayak entered the house and informed the team members that it should leave the place as the situation was volatile.

The team went to another house. A fearful group of Christians had assembled there and interacted with them. The fearful Christians said, "We are in a state of shock. Those who have something have moved out the village and we poor people are left behind.

What haunts us and saddens us is the administration, the BDO and police, who are hand in glove with RSS. Instead of becoming sensitive to our plight, the administration wants to deprive us of our basic amenities. They have banned the local auto-rickshaws, the only means of transportation in the area from taking Christians passengers.

"We are not allowed to bring housing materials nor food provisions or medicines nor allowed to buy anything from the local shops. We do not have any shop of our own. Here, we are struggling to live as human being", the victims said.

The team enquired whether they had complained it before the police, the people replied positively and explained the statement of Inspector in charge, IIC, Tikabali, who said "being a Christian you have to suffer and there is no option'

The team wanted to meet the auto-rickshaw owner and others who have been fined. A villager volunteered to join to meet the auto owner, who has to pay the fine for ferrying the paralytic to the hospital. The auto-rickshaw owner, a pastor, told the team that he had to pay the fine one thousand fifty one rupees despite he had to complain to the police.

The team then met Birendra Nayak (name changed and a Hindu himself), who told the team members that he had to pay Rs 5000 to get his tractor released as it was transporting the housing materials for the construction of the house of a Boarder Security Force soldier, which was destroyed during anti-Christian violence.

Birendra Nayak went on to add, "It is because the local police takes percentage, (a bribe) and protects the anti-social elements who rule the roost. I informed the local police, but nothing happened".

Pushpanjali Nayak, the soldier's mother said who could be contacted over the telephone, told the group, "this incident shocked her army son, who became ill and left the village in disgust. We are presently living under polythene like a cowshed without roof and floor and proper wall with little money that we have had managed to collect, yet we cannot build our houses.

We had brought sand for the house and were taken away by RSS. Our life is hell here". She continued sobbing as she narrated. The former pastor, who says that he would openly practise the faith if situations become normal adds, "The sand that the tractor brought for the house was taken away to build the temple in the village".

Incidentally, there are a group of 15 police persons stationed in the village and they are mute spectators to these incidents. The team then headed for Keredi village under Phulbani block and went to a Christian household. The team found a huge photo of Lord Krishna.

Naresh Digal, an ex-army man (name changed) explained that he had to" live like a Hindu as they are four households in the locality. The environment is quite hostile and there is no support from the administration. He went on to further state that his neighbour, an ex- army man, had to bear the brunt of RSS people and his house was destroyed.

He filed the complaints and after eight days police came to see and left the place even without entering the broken house. The life time earnings of his neighbour are gone. What will he invest on the family's future? What is the use of this way of life if there is no support from anywhere?" The woman, who shared that her cousin has become a nun, said"we are waiting for the day when we could be free to practise the religion of our choice. "Not sure when the day would dawn."

The team then went to Gandapadar village in Minia gram panchayat in Phiringia block. It was deep in the interior. It was not difficult to identify the Christians' houses. The woman of the house welcomed into the repaired house. The team saw a huge framed photo of Lord Shiva on the wall. When asked about the photo, she changed her face and struggled to explain," The RSS has given us the photo and a "Tulsi" plant for worship. We have kept as often they come to check whether we reconverted to Christianity. We know we can never leave our faith." The villagers also stated that almost all the houses in the village have two photos; that of Jesus and Shiva. Tarabati Digal explained that there are 10 families still living outside the village.

.

A christian letter from India

2010-08-14T03:29:00.004Z

A letter from Brother Aby Mammen

Dear Brother,

Happy to know about your concerns about Indian missionaries. First, let me try to answer your questions.

The name of the brother whose transcript I wrote is Philip P Eapen. You may visit his website : http://www.philipeapen.com/

1. Malayalam Bible : The Malayalam translation of the bible popularly used by the protestant Christians is about 170 years old. Some of the words used in this translation are not understood now or has translational errors. So, preachers tend to compare with English bibles to get a clearer interpretation of the verses. In 1997 a newer translation of the bible was published, but it has not become popular. The people have a traditional mindset and they adapt to the new methods very slowly. Also, these are the only versions that are available. It would be good to have a Malayalam children's bible at least.

2. Persecution in Orissa : The news you have followed about the persecution in Orissa is the one propagated by the media. It doesnt give the full picture. The underlying reason behind why Christians are being targeted is because of the rate of Christian conversion is increasing !!! How is this increase brought to notice ? When Christian organizations themselves try to boast through the media about their work of conversions. You'd have know how the Australian missionary Graham Staines along with his two sons were torched to death by Hindu extremists.

Yesterday I got news about two pastors being attacked in Bihar. Many similar persecutions are happening to the native people. But it is not brought to notice at an international level, probably because the people affected are a minority and there is fear in the minds. Also, due to Christian principles, people do not seek to take legal actions against their persecutors.

3. Intimidation and Isolation of a new believer, house church :

To understand you need to read the full sentence and also the cultural context here. Related to this non-involvement is the general climate in today's churches. Instead of being seeker-friendly, the churches intimidate and isolate newcomers. Instead of having attractive, relevant services, the churches often have archaic forms of worship, seating arrangements, architecture, etc.

Please don't think that Christians try to harass those new comers in the church. To understand about the non-attractive worships, I'll explain more. In India, Pentecostal churches do not have benches inside the church to sit comfortably. This was mainly because of two reasons :

One is that : from the time Pentecostal movement became prominent in the land, the people were used to sit down on the ground on mats inside the church, mainly because we considered it as a better posture to worshiping God on our kneels than sitting comfortably on the benches. Also, there were no good musical instruments available as that of today. What was available was Drums and clangs and people clap hands when they sing and there is no choir in small churches. Even today, there are many churches who considers using other musical instruments would not be effective for worship!

Secondly most churches are poor and contains few number of people. In a town there will be many churches - a few big churches and many small churches. So, small churches would not have their own church buildings. Building a church needs money and the building expense cannot be met by the few members. So, they meet at the Pastor's home / rent a house to use for worship. That's how the name "house church" is coined. But interestingly, this is what we see in Acts of Apostles !!! In villages mostly the churches are poor and are house churches.

Even if a church has many members and has raised money to build a church structure, they would not generally seek to beautify the church or make the interior comfortable with benches / decorate the stage... or have good music for worship. This is because of the mindset of the people who are satisfied with the traditional worship style.

I go to a house church too. But we have electric organ to accompany the worship.

So, when a non-Christian comes to the church they will find a bit uncomfortable to sit on the floor, hear songs sung without music, listen to lengthy sermons etc... makes it unattractive.

Another aspect is using jewelery is considered sinful by the pentecostals here. Generally, people in our land give much importance to jewelery, especially the women. You can see a bride will be decked with ornaments for her wedding.

The early Pentecostal church leaders in our land took a stand to lead a simple life-style. They decided not to use expensive clothes/ build big houses etc and will not use jewelery. But as time passed by not wearing jewelery has become the general code-of-conduct in the church. People have taken it as a doctrine. So, when a non-Christian come to church, they will be seeing people without jewelery and will feel odd. Usually only the widows don't use jewelery in the land. Some churches would not allow to take baptism or partake in the Lord's table if the person has worn ornaments, because they are afraid to act out of the tradition. Thus it is a harassment and intimidation to the new comers.

You see these are because people are blindly following the tradition.

4. Summary of my previous mail for you to understand better :

1. Evangelism is done by very few people/organizations. People generally do not consider that they are appointed to do evangelism. But this was not the case earlier.

2. Churches are not friendly / happy place to the new-coming people. (I've explained why in 3 above)

3. Missions are not happening in unreached areas much even with the mission organizations because of - fear of attacks by non-Christians, lack of finance, lack of good relationships with people of other faiths and inability to mingle with the people in their cultural context.

4. Successful evangelism happens with person-to-person method. People bring their close friends or relatives to Christ after continually ministering to them at a personal level. This is called friendship evangelism or household evangelism. Mass evangelism like a convention will help only in creating a mood in the minds of people which should be done with a follow-up of those who have shown interest in knowing more of Christ.

5. Cell based church style : a big church will have small divisions called churches which will have their own prayer meetings and evangelistic efforts. This is becoming very effective.

6. Many churches who are good in evangelism are not good at teaching the Word. So, discipling is not done well. What results is a group of people who are not grounded well in faith.

7. There are churches who have lot of vision to engage in cross-cultural evangelism , but they lack finance. But there are other churches who have surplus finance but lacks the desire to reach out to evangelism.

8. A fast growing church movement in Eastern Uttar Pradesh ( the largely populated , but poor state in India ) - operating as a social welfare movement. The people evangelize their household members. No outsiders is involved. The converts do not throw away their traditional practices which are not contrary to the Word. They do not practise idol worship. But their weddings, festivals etc are still celebrated in their own cultural ways. Hence it is fast growing for the past 15 years.

9. Literature evangelism is very much in need now. Also, having songs, books, training materials, films in native language .

5. How you can help missions :

To see the zeal and the burden you have in the progress of the gospel has encouraged us greatly, dear Brother. May God greatly bless you.

I can help you to get connected to missionaries who really are in need and doing missions in difficult places.

I have contacts with mission organizations which find very difficult to run because of lack of finance. These times a lot of mission hospitals are shutting down or have started functioning as private hospitals (ie by taking more money for treatment to run the hospiltal, instead of the free / less money they used to take for the treatment as they used to), because of the lack of committed Christian doctors who are ready to serve with low salary.

I occasionally support a tribal mission hospital - who minister to the tribal people in a place called Attapadi (http://www.tribalmissionindia.org/). I have great admiration to Dr. Muraleedharan of this organization who was instrumental in setting up a mission hospital, nursing school, an English medium school in a remote place in Tamil Nadu, by investing his life there.

There is another mission organization called Indian Evangelical Mission (http://www.iemoutreach.org/), which are also struggling to pay their missionaries. I have a friend - Luke Titus who is a missionary working in a place called Lahaul & Spiti - places in the Himalayan mountain range. A hardworking missionary from my land doing cross-cultural missions at Himachal Pradesh.

Another mission organization is http://jesusmissionindia.org/default.aspx. Saju Mathew of Jesus mission is another missionary leader I admire. He has mission fields in Orissa where persecutions happened. Also, God is using him in Mozambique in Africa. There are other poor pioneer missionaries I can connect to through trusted missionary leaders.

Missionary organizations will have a Social Welfare Trust through which they can receive money. If you can let me know how you would like to support - like is it a one time support or a continual support I can tell you what is a better method for sending the funds. Also, would you like to transfer the funds to the missions organization or directly to missionaries ? How did you help the mission field at Nepal ?

My mail is quite long... :)

I hope I have explained clearly to your questions. Pls let me know if you need more clarifications.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:6).

John Schlitt - The grafting - Lyrics

2009-09-17T05:50:00.003Z

She’s too young to be a mother
But sometimes life is cruel and makes a life decide another
Scared but sees beyond the moment
She gives her boy away and prays someday he’ll know her
Love goes on and on
When he finds that life comes in the grafting

They built their hope upon the future
Married young, they bought a house, a car, a crib to suit her
But years would pass without a baby
Until a miracle, a desperate girl reached out
And love went on and on
And they found that life came in the grafting

(chorus)
This life is a golden opportunity
To give and to love through all uncertainty
Just like the Father reaches down to us
And through His Son He grafts us to Himself
This is love

The parents did their best to raise him
They trusted God to build the roots the boy so greatly needed
But time had come for him to face her
The things he longed to say and dreamed for years could wait no longer

He slowly walked up to her door and rang the bell
The door came open wide
She stood there and cried

He said “mother, don’t be cryin’
I know you’ve wondered now if you were wrong for never trying
For everything you did, I thank you
I have the life you always dreamed for me because
Your love went on and on
I found my life was in the grafting.”

(repeat chorus)

In the grafting
Love comes in the grafting
Love comes in the grafting

.

Swine Influenza - Influenza A - Virus H1N1

2009-07-19T02:38:00.002Z

WHO.INT

Global Alert and Response (GAR)
	Country activities \| Outbreak news \| Resources \| Media centre


	WHO > Programmes and projects > Global Alert and Response (GAR) > Diseases covered by EPR > Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 > Influenza A(H1N1): frequently asked questions > What can I do?

What can I do?

Updated 11 June 2009

What can I do to protect myself from catching influenza A(H1N1)?

The main route of transmission of the new influenza A(H1N1) virus seems to be similar to seasonal influenza, via droplets that are expelled by speaking, sneezing or coughing. You can prevent getting infected by avoiding close contact with people who show influenza-like symptoms (trying to maintain a distance of about 1 metre if possible) and taking the following measures:

avoid touching your mouth and nose;
clean hands thoroughly with soap and water, or cleanse them with an alcohol-based hand rub on a regular basis (especially if touching the mouth and nose, or surfaces that are potentially contaminated);
avoid close contact with people who might be ill;
reduce the time spent in crowded settings if possible;
improve airflow in your living space by opening windows;
practise good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.

What about using a mask? What does WHO recommend?

If you are not sick you do not have to wear a mask.

If you are caring for a sick person, you can wear a mask when you are in close contact with the ill person and dispose of it immediately after contact, and cleanse your hands thoroughly afterwards.

When and how to use a mask?

If you are sick and must travel or be around others, cover your mouth and nose.

Using a mask correctly in all situations is essential. Incorrect use actually increases the chance of spreading infection.

How do I know if I have influenza A(H1N1)?

You will not be able to tell the difference between seasonal flu and influenza A(H1N1) without medical help. Typical symptoms to watch for are similar to seasonal viruses and include fever, cough, headache, body aches, sore throat and runny nose. Only your medical practitioner and local health authority can confirm a case of influenza A(H1N1).

What should I do if I think I have the illness?

If you feel unwell, have high fever, cough or sore throat:

stay at home and keep away from work, school or crowds;
rest and take plenty of fluids;
cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing and, if using tissues, make sure you dispose of them carefully. Clean your hands immediately after with soap and water or cleanse them with an alcohol-based hand rub;
if you do not have a tissue close by when you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth as much as possible with the crook of your elbow;
use a mask to help you contain the spread of droplets when you are around others, but be sure to do so correctly;
inform family and friends about your illness and try to avoid contact with other people;
If possible, contact a health professional before traveling to a health facility to discuss whether a medical examination is necessary.

Should I take an antiviral now just in case I catch the new virus?

No. You should only take an antiviral, such as oseltamivir or zanamivir, if your health care provider advises you to do so. Individuals should not buy medicines to prevent or fight this new influenza without a prescription, and they should exercise caution in buying antivirals over the Internet.

Warning on purchase of antivirals without a prescription [pdf 35kb]

What about breastfeeding? Should I stop if I am ill?

No, not unless your health care provider advises it. Studies on other influenza infections show that breastfeeding is most likely protective for babies - it passes on helpful maternal immunities and lowers the risk of respiratory disease. Breastfeeding provides the best overall nutrition for babies and increases their defense factors to fight illness.

When should someone seek medical care?

A person should seek medical care if they experience shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, or if a fever continues more than three days. For parents with a young child who is ill, seek medical care if a child has fast or labored breathing, continuing fever or convulsions (seizures).

Supportive care at home - resting, drinking plenty of fluids and using a pain reliever for aches - is adequate for recovery in most cases. (A non-aspirin pain reliever should be used by children and young adults because of the risk of Reye's syndrome.)

Should I go to work if I have the flu but am feeling OK?

No. Whether you have influenza A(H1N1) or a seasonal influenza, you should stay home and away from work through the duration of your symptoms. This is a precaution that can protect your work colleagues and others.

Can I travel?

If you are feeling unwell or have symptoms of influenza, you should not travel. If you have any doubts about your health, you should check with your health care provider.

A Mission voice from Latin America for World Mission

2009-03-19T03:31:00.007Z

A Mission Voice from Latin America: Partnering for World Mission

By Valdir Steuernagel

Lausane World Pulse

This is an historical time in the Evangelical Church in Latin America. Never before have so many churches awakened to the universal nature of the missionary task, with such willingness to make their contribution.

Let us rejoice because of this new trend, but let us rejoice with caution. Never before have there been so many people willing to be sent out, so many missionary training schools available, and so many resources raised to sustain those sent. Still, we must proceed with caution and invest in a missions posture capable of balancing: quality, urgent sending with effective training; a sound financial base with the resources actually necessary; and a biblical and contextual understanding of the meaning of the task and of frontiers in mission.

Indeed, we have already learned from former and current missiological reflection that the concepts of nearby and far away, in biblical terms, are more of a salvation nature than of a geographic nature. In other words, the universality of the mission is verified in the keen perception of the need for saving our household and the next door neighbor, as well as those whose language and culture are radically different than our own. We must seek a balance between missionary action “there and here.”

Clearly, the missionary awakening of the Church in Latin America comes at a time of significant church growth.

Clearly, the missionary awakening of the Church in Latin America comes at a time of significant church growth. The church that grows is very often the same church that is awakening to its missionary responsibility and sending workers to the mission field. But these churches should never forget that their own families and children are also missionary fields. That is, the task of evangelism has to be faced anew by every generation. Indeed, we face the challenges of continuity and consistency in many of our churches.

So we ask our brothers and sisters who have preceded us in the missionary awakening to help us sort out this dimension of evangelism. From the vantage point of the Third World, we face with great dismay the process of secularization, and to a certain extent, the faith and church crises in countries that once experienced deep revivals and were actively engaged in cross-cultural missions. Is it possible to avert or diminish this kind of “historic determinism” that seems always to go from “hot” to “lukewarm” and/or “cold”?

Further, it is important to point out that reflection on frontiers has merited two distinct observations. One has to do with today’s concept of communication and distance. The world has become smaller and what is done and/or produced in one place can be transmitted or makes its way to other places. Opportunities for evangelism (and missionary responsibility!) are multiplied.

The other observation has to do with the fact that mission frontiers are not only geographical, but social and economic as well. The gospel we preach and the church we try to establish should change toward justice and toward a collective lifestyle which embraces human dignity and environmental stewardship.

Healthy Participation with Mutual Enrichment

Today, as never before, we can put into practice the slogan that mission is a task of six continents for six continents. But this practice is not yet obvious. Our mission history in Latin America is one of dependence and we need to recognize that getting rid of such dependency might be easier than repeating the model.

The gospel we preach and the church we try to establish should change toward justice and toward a collective lifestyle which embraces human dignity and environmental stewardship.

Dependency does harm. To some, it gives a dangerous sense of control; however, to many more it generates a false sense of immobilizing invalidity. The challenge before us is to build a reciprocal partnership; this will be best seen when Latino missionaries work not only with Latino immigrants in Europe and North America, but with mainstream mission efforts and churches as well. The practice of partnership could help us to become a Church that will make a difference indeed.

Some Things Need to Be Learned

The missionary movement that has emerged in Latin America calls for a growing humility that is willing to learn from history. Youthful euphoria will only hinder this learning process. Such an attitude will cause us to think that our fathers and mothers “missed the point”—that we know better and are eager to send, go, and do better.

Yesterday’s experiences must be studied more, and the learning of our predecessors must be assimilated by today’s generation. There is no need (and we cannot afford) to repeat the same errors in each generation. Of the many areas in which we have accumulated experience that can enrich and challenge today’s Latin American missionary practice, I point to just four.

1. The cultural issue. We cannot think that just because we belong to a kind of Third World culture, our identification with other cultures in the missionary field will be automatic. The Brazilian culture, for example, is just as imperialistic toward other cultures as the United States is toward the Brazilian culture. Moreover, culture is so much a part of the people that we automatically tend to consider other peoples´ cultures as distant. There are many lessons learned and much accumulated reflection having to do with the relationship between gospel and culture which the young missionary movement of Latin America needs to review.

2. Missionary training. There is a latent risk of considering intense, longer training processes as the concern of mission theorists. After all, isn’t it more important to roll up our sleeves and go to work? Maybe not. We are not advocating training programs that simply copy the respective models designed abroad. What we are advocating is that in order to participate in such a serious, intense, emotionally-involved missionary mandate, a formation process is fundamental. The price paid for haste is too high to justify running the risk of not designing and implementing adequate training programs.

3. Perseverance on the field. Perseverance and persistence cannot be learned in a day; however, they are indispensable in missionary work. There are strong traits in many of our cultures which point to a personal and collective behavior toward rapid response, emotionally-determined decisions and support, and easy promise of engagement. One of the key issues is how one can learn to function in and internalize other patterns, such as persistence and the ability to cope with solitude and failure. These have proven to be fundamental in medium and long-term missionary work.

4. Faithfulness in support. As mentioned above, in missionary terms, our history is one of dependence, and hence, reception. The fact that mission also implies giving is a concept which most of our churches are still learning. They must go through a complete learning process that will lead them to understand that missions is serious business, involving financial faithfulness to those we send out in Jesus’ name. Learning to give in a systematic and disciplined manner over a long period of time is a challenge we cannot escape if we want to face up to God’s missionary moment.

There Are Things We Must Overcome

We come back to partnership, stressing that overcoming dependence does not naturally and clearly lead to mature autonomy. The phase subsequent to dependence often appears to be a copy of some other model. That is, the Latin American missionary experience tends to copy the emphases and models of the missionary enterprise they have seen and have been familiar with as recipients.

Learning to give in a systematic and disciplined manner over a long period of time is a challenge we cannot escape if we want to face up to God’s missionary moment.

After all, it is precisely those experiences which have been successful that seem the best and most appropriate to emulate. Here, however, I would point out three areas where a copy should not be the approach.

1. Seeking unity and overcoming division. The Latin American experience with North American missions was sharply marked first by the conflict between fundamentalism and modernism, which characterized Christianity in the US during most of the twentieth century, and later by a Cold War mentality. The theological and ideological conflict of the North caused much unnecessary division in the South, since our churches have very little to do with the European and North American theological conflicts.

Further, exported to our southern hemisphere was an ecclesiastical practice largely determined by a free-market mentality—also a typical North American experience. The seed of this ecclesiastical practice fell on a soil which cultivates a culture that has deep marks of emotional, charismatic, and authoritarian flavor. Merging these two worlds produced an extremely lacerated ecclesiastical picture. The ethical and communal principle of partnership and of community was usually overrun, and the geography of church founding, in many instances, corresponded to the history of personality conflicts and the establishment of personal or family feuds duly placed under the guise of revelation.

This lacerated ecclesiastical experience in Latin America is usually exported as the most natural way to operate. Hence, we must move from divisionism to an ecclesiastical experience that will respect the church that is already in place, seek to work in concert, and sometimes become integrated, with a posture of submission, into works already underway. And we must not forget that, biblically speaking, the testimony constituted by unity is itself a positive factor of evangelism.

2. The expensive missionary model of the North does not serve us, and the philosophy of pragmatism has deep, worldly roots. The introduction of belief and practice of the free market in the ecclesiastical realm brought with it still another issue—the establishment of a strategy aimed at growth and success. This strategy was established on the basis of pragmatism: you choose an area and/or challenge, you establish a goal and an achievement timetable, and you seek to fulfill both.

The problem is that not only does our culture not operate that way, but this philosophy runs counter to the biblical pattern and mandate which says that the person is more important than the goal. In the biblical pattern strategy is constantly interrupted and held in check by the blind man who cries out alongside the road to Jericho. Moreover, these strategies, their design, implementation, follow-up, and evaluation are very costly. The North American missionary enterprise has become very expensive, and for the paradigms and possibilities of the Third World, impossible. Following this reasoning, if we simply copy the typical model of the missionary agency developed in the US, we will fall into a bottomless pit. This approach will not work since that model presupposes and requires heavy financial resources, both to be sent to the field and to pay for the administration of the missionary machinery.

The North American missionary enterprise has become very expensive, and for the paradigms and possibilities of the Third World, impossible.

Latin America must develop other models of missionary obedience that consistently reflect its reality of the poor and, hence, hopefully emulate the missionary model of the hiker from Galilee with the authority of a servant.

3. Caution with respect to bureaucracy and sophistication. We know from recent missions history that time after time the “mission” has been vested with the most advanced Western technology in the whole area, and often, in the whole country. This has caused problems concerning image and resources. Missions arising from the South do not have this technology and traditionally do not depend on it nearly as much. This fact can be of enormous help in many of the areas where the people and their respective communities live in extreme poverty. It could also help us to put into practice incarnation as one of the basic pillars of evangelical missions.

The Evangelical Church in Latin America, and the Third World in general, is experiencing a unique missionary awakening in Protestant history. The poor are engaged in missionary activity and are investing their potential, talents, and resources in fulfilling the universal missionary call of the Church.

With the growing involvement of Third World missionaries of different races and cultures, the geography and color of missions has been changing for quite some time. This trend causes us to rejoice. And yet together we must continue cautiously into the future as we explore the growing needs for effective training, sound financial support, and a biblical and contextual understanding of mission.

(This article was originally published by MARC Publications as "From Latin America: An Open Letter to the North American Mission Community" in the Mission Handbook, 15th edition, 1993. Used with permission.)

Dr. Valdir Steuernagel is international vice-president of Christian Commitments for World Vision. He is an internationally-recognized theologian and serves as a global minister-at-large and author. He is Brazilian.

.

Leeland - Lyrics tears of the saints

2009-03-09T00:57:00.003Z

LEELAND

There are many prodigal sons
On our city streets they run
Searching for shelter
There are homes broken down
People's hopes have fallen to the ground
From failures

This is an emergency!

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We're crying for them come back home
We're crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

There are schools full of hatred
Even churches have forsaken
Love and mercy
May we see this generation
In it's state of desperation
For Your glory

This is an emergency!

Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children in Christ you stand!
Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children in Christ you stand!

And all Your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

Now listen to the tmusic: Leeland-Myspace

.

President Barack Obama first speech

2009-01-22T01:38:00.006Z

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.

We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

President Barack Obama's inaugural remarks
on Jan. 20, 2009,
At the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

India Orissa Christmas 2008

2009-01-21T17:58:00.006Z

Written by AICC - All India Christian Council

State of Orissa

NEW DELHI – December 23, 2008: Despite the cancelation of a state-wide bandh (strike) by ultra-nationalist Hindu groups, Christians in Orissa state are worried about possible anti-Christian violence over Christmas.

Indian media reports on Dec. 20, 2008 said Orissa's Chief Minister met with the rightwing Hindu group, the Swami Laxmananand Saraswati Shraddhanjali Samiti, and the group agreed to call off a state-wide shut-down planned for Dec. 25. However, aicc Orissa state leaders said the group was planning prayers from 5:10-5:40pm on Dec. 25th in temples across the state.

There are fears the people gathered at each temple could be incited to attack Christians. The Samiti, which has been involved with a temples campaign, was set up by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal, the two groups responsible for the December 2007 and August-October 2008 violence in the state.

The 12 hour bandh was announced in mid-November if authorities failed to arrest the killers of VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati by December 15, 2008. The murder of the religio-political leader on Aug. 23, 2008 triggered widespread anti-Christian violence despite claims of responsibility from Maoist militants.

John Dayal, aicc Secretary General, said, "We appreciate Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for doing the right thing and successfully urging Hindutva groups to call off their planned bandh. However, the government in Orissa – for that matter, in all states across India – must now ensure mischief makers do not sabotage the peace of the Christmas holidays."

Aicc is making plans to have teams of observers in Orissa to alert authorities should any violence begin. Plans called for teams to include both Christians and non-Christians – especially non-sectarian minded Hindus.
Dayal said, "We encourage Indian Christians to celebrate the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth in a peaceful and harmonious manner. Christians across our great land must pray for the approximately 50,000 Dalit and Tribal Christians who will spend Christmas away from their damaged and destroyed homes. For many, this will be their second Christmas as refugees inside their own country."

The All India Christian Council birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.

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

Donate:

The Council is financed by the freewill gifts and offerings of its members, Christians throughout India, and concerned citizens everywhere. Contact Aicc

News from India Orissa persecution 2008

2009-01-21T17:43:00.005Z

"Christmas celebration for the persecuted families"

All India Christian Council Correspondent

State Andhra Pradesh

"The Passion for the Persecuted”, along with The All India Christian Council, organized a Christmas celebration for the persecuted families at the Centenary Baptist Church, Secunderabad on 25th November 2008. Nearly 400 people attended these celebrations.

The unique thing about this celebration was that there were families from Kandhamal who were the victims of the 2008 August Anti-Christian violence in Orissa. A similar program was held last year in the Warangal Baptist Church. For this year’s program more than 50 persecuted families have come from all the corners of our state to be part of this celebration. The victims’ families were given a set of new clothes as a Christmas gift to all those victims who had come to partake these celebrations. It was interesting to see “ the wives’ of the martyrs”,who were present to cut the Christmas cake. The program included different speeches and some encouraging words given to the persecuted families by different Christian leaders who were present at the meeting. Mr. Anil Kumar prominent speaker gave a message and encouraged the victims to live for God. “He emphasized that we should ask God to bring in justice to the all the affected Christians”.

Brother Franklin Sudhakar, thanked Mr Anil Kumar and Stanly Babu for accepting the invitation and spending the evening with the “Persecuted families”. Over all it was a nice evening with many testimonies, exhortations from the guests and some video presentations on the Orissa atrocities.

Bishop Daniel Kalyanapu, Brother Chiranjeevi, and Sis. Kamala Cheranjeevi, Mr. Dasanna, and few other prominent leaders were present on this occasion. The program concluded with a special meal.

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

Donate:

The Council is financed by the freewill gifts and offerings of its members, Christians throughout India, and concerned citizens everywhere. Contact Aicc

.

President Barack Obama - The Day Before

2009-01-21T02:02:00.008Z

THE WHITE HOUSE BLOG

Honoring Dr. King’s Legacy and Serving America

Inauguration Day at Capitol

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

Yesterday, with Washington and the country eagerly awaiting the Inauguration, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and their families spent the day honoring the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. by serving others. After spending the morning with wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Medical Center, President Obama traveled to the Sasha Bruce Youthwork shelter for homeless teens in Northeast Washington where he helped renovate "safe space" housing.

After leaving the shelter, the President and Mrs. Obama attended a reception with volunteers at Coolidge Senior High School, where President Obama spoke about the challenges ahead and how every one person can contribute to fighting them.

"Dr. King taught us that we could no longer view our own day-to-day cares and responsibilities as somehow separate from what was happening in the wider world that we read about in the newspaper and saw on TV," the President said at the reception. "Because ultimately, for each of us, our own story and the American story are not separate, they are shared. And they are both strengthened and enriched each time we stand up and answer the call to help meet the challenges of our new century."

Earlier in the day, Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha Obama, and Dr. Jill Biden and Ashley Biden participated in a service project for American soldiers stationed overseas. All told, the volunteers at RFK Memorial Stadium, where the First and Second Families were working, created more than 85,000 care packages. Vice President Biden worked with Habitat for Humanity -- with about 50 AmeriCorps volunteers, firefighters, police officers, and others -- creating homes for families in need in Northeast Washington, D.C.

In all, more than 11,000 service events were held across the nation yesterday. Traditionally, Martin Luther King Jr. Day has often been referred to as a National Day of Service, but the President emphasized that the commitment must extend beyond a single day. "Government will do its part to open up more opportunities for citizens to participate," he said. "And in return, I ask you to play your part – to not just pitch in today, but to make an ongoing commitment that lasts far beyond one day, or even one presidency."

Read President Obama's full remarks below:

Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama
Day of Service Luncheon at Coolidge High School
January 19, 2009 - Washington, DC 20009

I want to start by thanking all of you for coming together from across this community – people who are young and old, of every race and background and faith – and taking part in the great American tradition of giving of yourselves to lift up your community.

We meet at a moment when this work could not be more urgent. Today, we face challenges like never before in our lifetime. A lot of folks here in DC and across America are hurting and filled with uncertainty about what the future holds. And as I prepare to take that oath tomorrow, I know my Administration has our work cut out for us.

But I also know this: that however well government does its job; however hard we work to make good plans and policies and restore a sense of responsibility to Washington, our problems cannot be solved by government alone – or even mostly by government. It’s going to take all of us, putting our shoulder to the wheel, doing our part to remake this nation.

That’s why we’ve called on the American people to come together and devote their time and effort to work in their communities today. And that’s why we chose this particular day, when we honor a man who lived his life as a servant to his fellow citizens – and whose greatness can be measured not just in his own extraordinary contributions, but in how he inspired others to contribute.

Dr. King taught us that we could no longer view our own day-to-day cares and responsibilities as somehow separate from what was happening in the wider world that we read about in the newspaper and saw on TV. Because ultimately, for each of us, our own story and the American story are not separate, they are shared. And they are both strengthened and enriched each time we stand up and answer the call to help meet the challenges of our new century.

So today, I am asking you to roll up your sleeves and join in the work of remaking this nation. I pledge to you that government will do its part to open up more opportunities for citizens to participate. And in return, I ask you to play your part – to not just pitch in today, but to make an ongoing commitment that lasts far beyond one day, or even one presidency.

And to those who are skeptical about whether this will happen – to anyone who thinks that the American people are selfish or apathetic – I invite them to come here to Coolidge High School and to the more than 11,000 other places across this country where people have spent today fixing up schools and renovating homes and organizing food drives and blood drives and so much more. I see what the American people are doing today and every day. So don’t tell me that we can’t usher in a new spirit of service in this country.

I know we can do this. America is a great nation precisely because Americans have been willing to stand up when it was hard; to give when they had little left to give; to rise above moments of great challenge and terrible trial.

And I know that I am here today – as are so many of you – because somebody, at some point, decided that loving their community and their country meant doing something to change it.

That’s what we are called to do once again, in this moment – our moment – in history. So today, in the words of Dr. King, "Let us rise up…with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be."

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

White House Blog

A response to Da Vinci Code

2008-12-31T15:03:00.001Z

The Last Supper - picture of Leonardo Da Vinci

By Roger Cotton

The Da Vinci Code claims to be only a novel and as such I found it to be very engaging. It fabricates a very recent search for the Holy Grail, which it proposes is really secret documents showing that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and produced a royal bloodline. The use of a narrator, who comments philosophically and theologically on life, religion, and the church — using exaggerated language — causes those assertions within the novel to sound like truths we should consider — hidden truths we need to recover to free ourselves from the lies of the church. That interests people and sells books.

However, a leading New Testament scholar, Ben Witherington III, in his book The Gospel Code, (InterVarsity, 2004), responding to The Da Vinci Code, said: “It can be quite entertaining but also misleading. We need to treat this book as what it really is—not historical fiction but almost entirely fiction, at least when it comes to its assumptions and assertions about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and early Christianity” (p. 27).

I would like to clarify both the major mistakes in relation to church history and the Bible, and as well, the key points of our Christian faith from the Scriptures which are opposed by the ideas of this book. I am indebted to Witherington’s excellent research into the facts.

The first major fiction asserted in the book is that there are many other documents equal to or better than our four Gospels, which the church has suppressed, and which would exalt the “sacred feminine” and teach that Jesus was only human and not divine. The truth is that all other such documents (around 20, not 80) are clearly written after the writing of the New Testament. They are by groups outside the mainstream of the Early Church. The Dead Sea Scrolls are Jewish and say nothing about Jesus. The Gnostic Gospels that Brown often refers to actually teach that the material world is evil, including sex, and that men should be in authority over women. These ideas are contrary to what Brown’s book teaches and yet he claims these documents support his ideas that are in opposition to the Bible. Brown says these documents clearly state that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, but Witherington shows that he misquotes these documents. Furthermore, they were never on any one’s list of inspired, authoritative, Scriptures.

A second major area of fiction is that Constantine and the church council of Nicea brought in the new, unbiblical, teaching that Christ is divine and voted out the truth of His humanity and marriage to Mary Magdalene and eliminated the books that taught those things. The truth is the council did not propose the beliefs stated in the creeds or the list of canonical Scriptures but formalized what the majority had believed all along. The New Testament clearly always taught that Jesus is God, John 1:1-3,18; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:6-11; Hebrews 1:2,3; 1 John 5:20.

The third fiction is that the Church was threatened by the idea of Jesus having a wife and children because then He could not be divine and the Church would lose its powerful claim to be the only way to God. On the contrary, the Bible clearly claims that Jesus is the only way to God and the Church does not control the way (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). On the other point, the Bible teaches that Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, is fully God and fully human so that He could have married and had children but He chose not to, in the plan of God.

Regarding the idea of the “sacred feminine” and the sacredness of sex the Bible and Christianity do not put down sex but affirm that it is very special and belongs only in marriage. However, it is not a route to spiritual fulfillment and experience of God as claimed in the book (p. 310). The whole Bible is against bringing sex into worship as the heathen have done since ancient times. The Bible clearly opposes all goddess worship. The One True God is neither male nor female but Jesus uses the term Father and teaches us to do the same. One major reason for not referring to God as mother is that, as Elizabeth Achtemeier has shown, in “Why God is not Mother” Christianity Today, August 16, 1993, it leads to the idea of God giving birth to us and thus lowering God to be one with us and with nature and raising us up to be gods.

The Da Vinci Code expresses many of the current popular ideas of our world and helps us see where the issues are for our faith. The attitudes encouraged by this book which are the most serious opposition to the truth God has revealed in the Scriptures are the following: to depersonalize God, to bring God down to our level and us up to deity—taking away from His holiness, to deny the need for a savior outside of ourselves and the need of repentance that sees ourselves as dead without Christ, to treat Jesus as only a great man, to deny that the Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, to make sex a part of worship, to take away most objective moral law, to deny that there is any absolute truth, to make our experiences the only spiritual/religious authority for our lives, and to disregard history as of any value.

The main Bible truths I think we must be clear on and affirm continually are the following: 1) God is personal, acting for our good in the world, which He created and from which He is totally distinct, and communicating openly with us in real human language, written down in the Bible, and not in hidden codes. 2) God made us, loves us, and wants to restore the personal, intimate, everlasting relationship we broke with Him through our selfish choices. He has provided the only way to Him through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, the Christ, who is fully God and fully human. He gives our lives meaning and purpose. 3) He made us to enjoy the greatest fulfillment through a life in harmony with His will, character, and values, through the Holy Spirit. This includes keeping sexual intimacy and intercourse within a life-long, exclusive, marital (male-female), relationship.

In conclusion, the best antidote is reading and meditating on the truth in the Scriptures and keeping our relationship with the Lord fresh and experiential. Here are some of the clear statements of the Scriptures that give some of the basic beliefs of the Christian faith. Matthew 16:13-20; Luke 24:36-49; John 1:1-5, 10-12, 14, 18; 3:16-18; 14:6, Acts 4:12; 10:34-43; 17:30-31; Romans 1:16-25; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 17-19; 2 Timothy 3:15-16; Hebrews 1:1-3; 1 John 1:2,3, 5-2:2; 4:1-16; 5:1-5, 11-12, 18-21; Revelation 22:12-17.

source:http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/top/DaVinciCode_article.cfm

Reverend Rick Warren and Obama Inauguration Day

2008-12-24T12:17:00.007Z

This Pastor was invited by Barack Obama to conduct the Inauguration Day prayer.

On Faith/Washington Post

The Reverend Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life” (2002), founded Saddleback Church in 1980 with one family. Today, the church has 83,000 members, of whom about 23,000 attend weekly services on its 120-acre campus in Lake Forest, Calif.

The Purpose Driven Life sold more than 30 million copies in English and became an international best-seller, translated into more than 50 languages. The “On Faith” panelist addresses priests and pastors at cross-denominational Christian training events organized through the Purpose Driven Network.

More than 700,000 church leaders in 163 countries have attended such gatherings. Warren also founded www.pastors.com as a resource for clergy, and in 1995 authored The Purpose Driven Church, which is used as a seminary textbook. Warren advises international leaders on poverty, health, education, corruption, leadership development, and faith and ethics in culture.

He has spoken at the United Nations, the Global Health Summit, and the World Economic Forum in Davos. He originated the Global P.E.A.C.E. plan to Partner with local churches, Equip servant leaders, Assist the poor, Care for the sick, and Educate the next generation.

He and his wife Kay donate 90% of their income to three charities: Acts of Mercy, which provides assistance to people living with HIV and AIDS; Equipping Leaders, which trains leaders in developing countries; and the Global Peace Fund, which facilitates congregations, businesses, and governments’ coordinated efforts to fight poverty, disease, and corruption.

Source: Newsweek.Washington Post

.

Greetings from Michelle Obama

2008-12-23T17:02:00.005Z

Message got from Michelle Obama

John,

"This holiday season, the grassroots movement you helped build can make a big difference for those in need.

I hope you will join me in supporting your favorite charity or contributing to causes that are especially meaningful to me and my family.

While many of us will spend the holidays counting our blessings and sharing dinner with loved ones, millions of people around the country won't be so fortunate. Donating to your local food bank will help provide a holiday meal to people in your community who can't afford one.

Talking with the families of deployed troops was one of the most rewarding experiences I had during the campaign. Giving to Operation USO Care Package is a great way to send members of our military stationed around the world a reminder that someone back home is thinking of them.

This is a time to celebrate our blessings, the new year, and a new era for our country. But it's also a time to come together on behalf of those who need our help.

Do what you can to help today by locating your local food bank and giving your support: http://my.barackobama.com/foodbanks

Or send a care package to an American in uniform:
http://my.barackobama.com/carepackage

Thank you for all that you do and have a very happy holiday season,"

Michelle

.

Sermon: Rediscovering the lost precious values

2008-12-09T14:19:00.005Z

Author: Pastor Martin Luther King

Detroit, February 28, 1954

Reverend Simmons, platform associates, members and friends of Second Baptist Church, I need not pause to say how happy I am to be here this morning, and to be a part of this worship service. It is certainly with a deal of humility that I stand in this pulpit so rich in tradition and history. Second Baptist Church, as you know, has the reputation of being one of the great churches of our nation, and it is certainly a challenge that, for me to stand here this morning, to be in the pulpit of Reverend Banks and of a people who are so great and rich in tradition.

I'm not exactly a stranger in the city of Detroit, for I have been here several times before. And I remember back in about 1944 or 1945, somewhere back in there, that I came to Second Baptist Church for the first time I think that was the year that the National Baptist Convention met here. And of course I have a lot of relatives in this city, so that Detroit is really something of a second home for me, and I don't feel too much a stranger here this morning. So it is indeed a pleasure and a privilege for me to be in this city this morning, and to be here to worship with you in the absence of your very fine and noble pastor, Dr. Banks.

I want you to think with me this morning from the subject: "Rediscovering Lost Values." "Rediscovering Lost Values." There is something wrong with our world, something fundamentally and basically wrong. I don't think we have to look too far to see that. I'm sure that most of you would agree with me in making that assertion. And when we stop to analyze the cause of our world's ills, many things come to mind.

We begin to wonder if it is due to the fact that we don't know enough. But it can't be that. Because in terms of accumulated knowledge we know more today than men have known in any period of human history. We have the facts at our disposal. We know more about mathematics, about science, about social science, and philosophy than we've ever known in any period of the world's history. So it can't be because we don't know enough.

And then we wonder if it is due to the fact that our scientific genius lags behind. That is, if we have not made enough progress scientifically. Well then, it can't be that. For our scientific progress over the past years has been amazing. Man through his scientific genius has been able to dwarf distance and place time in chains, so that today it's possible to eat breakfast in New York City and supper in London, England. Back in about 1753 it took a letter three days to go from New York City to Washington, and today you can go from here to China in less time than that. It can't be because man is stagnant in his scientific progress. Man's scientific genius has been amazing.

I think we have to look much deeper than that if we are to find the real cause of man's problems and the real cause of the world's ills today. If we are to really find it I think we will have to look in the hearts and souls of men.

The trouble isn't so much that we don't know enough, but it's as if we aren't good enough. The trouble isn't so much that our scientific genius lags behind, but our moral genius lags behind. The great problem facing modern man is that, that the means by which we live have outdistanced the spiritual ends for which we live. So we find ourselves caught in a messed-up world. The problem is with man himself and man's soul. We haven't learned how to be just and honest and kind and true and loving. And that is the basis of our problem.

The real problem is that through our scientific genius we've made of the world a neighborhood, but through our moral and spiritual genius we've failed to make of it a brotherhood. And the great danger facing us today is not so much the atomic bomb that was created by physical science. Not so much that atomic bomb that you can put in an aeroplane and drop on the heads of hundreds and thousands of people—as dangerous as that is. But the real danger confronting civilization today is that atomic bomb which lies in the hearts and souls of men, capable of exploding into the vilest of hate and into the most damaging selfishness—that's the atomic bomb that we've got to fear today. Problem is with the men. Within the heart and the souls of men. That is the real basis of our problem.

My friends, all I'm trying to say is that if we are to go forward today, we've got to go back and rediscover some mighty precious values that we've left behind. That's the only way that we would be able to make of our world a better world, and to make of this world what God wants it to be and the real purpose and meaning of it. The only way we can do it is to go back and rediscover some mighty precious values that we've left behind.

Our situation in the world today reminds me of a very popular situation that took place in the life of Jesus. It was read in the Scripture for the morning, found over in the second chapter of Luke's gospel. The story is very familiar, very popular; we all know it. You remember when Jesus was about twelve years old, there was the custom of the feast. Jesus' parents took him up to Jerusalem. That was an annual occasion, the feast of the Passover, and they went up to Jerusalem and they took Jesus along with them.

And they were there a few days, and then after being there they decided to go back home, to Nazareth. And they started out, and I guess as it was in the tradition in those days, the father probably traveled in front, and then the mother and the children behind. You see, they didn't have the modern conveniences that we have today. They didn't have automobiles and subways and buses. They walked, and traveled on donkeys and camels and what have you. So they traveled very slow, but it was usually the tradition for the father to lead the way.

And they left Jerusalem going on back to Nazareth, and I imagine they walked a little while and they didn't look back to see if everybody was there. But then the Scripture says, they went about a day's journey and they stopped, I imagine to check up, to see if everything was all right, and they discovered that something mighty precious was missing. They discovered that Jesus wasn't with them. Jesus wasn't in the midst. And so they paused there and looked and they didn't see him around. And they went on and started looking among the kinsfolk. And they went on back to Jerusalem and found him there, in the temple with the doctors of the law.

Now, the real thing that is to be seen here is this: that the parents of Jesus realized that they had left, and that they had lost a mighty precious value. They had sense enough to know that before they could go forward to Nazareth, they had to go backward to Jerusalem to rediscover this value. They knew that. They knew that they couldn't go home to Nazareth until they went back to Jerusalem.

Sometimes, you know, it's necessary to go backward in order to go forward. That's an analogy of life. I remember the other day I was driving out of New York City into Boston, and I stopped off in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to visit some friends. And I went out of New York on a highway that’s known as the Merritt Parkway, it leads into Boston, a very fine parkway. And I stopped in Bridgeport, and after being there for two or three hours I decided to go on to Boston, and I wanted to get back on the Merritt Parkway. And I went out thinking that I was going toward the Merritt Parkway. I started out, and I rode, and I kept riding, and I looked up and I saw a sign saying two miles to a little town that I knew I was to bypass—I wasn't to pass through that particular town. So I thought I was on the wrong road. I stopped and I asked a gentleman on the road which way would I get to the Merritt Parkway. And he said, "The Merritt Parkway is about twelve or fifteen miles back that way. You've got to turn around and go back to the Merritt Parkway; you are out of the way now." In other words, before I could go forward to Boston, I had to go back about twelve or fifteen miles to get to the Merritt Parkway. May it not be that modern man has gotten on the wrong parkway? And if he is to go forward to the city of salvation, he's got to go back and get on the right parkway.

And so that was the thing that Jesus' parents realized, that they had to go back and find this mighty precious value that they had left behind, in order to go forward. They realized that. And so they went back to Jerusalem and discovered Jesus, rediscovered him so to speak, in order to go forward to Nazareth.

Now that's what we've got to do in our world today. We've left a lot of precious values behind; we've lost a lot of precious values. And if we are to go forward, if we are to make this a better world in which to live, we've got to go back. We've got to rediscover these precious values that we've left behind.

I want to deal with one or two of these mighty precious values that we've left behind, that if we're to go forward and to make this a better world, we must rediscover.

The first is this—the first principle of value that we need to rediscover is this: that all reality hinges on moral foundations. In other words, that this is a moral universe, and that there are moral laws of the universe just as abiding as the physical laws. I'm not so sure we all believe that. We never doubt that there are physical laws of the universe that we must obey. We never doubt that. And so we just don't jump out of airplanes or jump off of high buildings for the fun of it—we don't do that. Because we unconsciously know that there is a final law of gravitation, and if you disobey it you'll suffer the consequences—we know that. Even if we don't know it in its Newtonian formulation, we know it intuitively, and so we just don't jump off the highest building in Detroit for the fun of it—we don't do that. Because we know that there is a law of gravitation which is final in the universe. If we disobey it we'll suffer the consequences.

But I'm not so sure if we know that there are moral laws just as abiding as the physical law. I'm not so sure about that. I'm not so sure if we really believe that there is a law of love in this universe, and that if you disobey it you'll suffer the consequences. I'm not so sure if we really believe that. Now at least two things convince me that we don't believe that, that we have strayed away from the principle that this is a moral universe.

The first thing is that we have adopted in the modern world a sort of a relativistic ethic. Now I'm not trying to use a big word here; I'm trying to say something very concrete. And that is that we have accepted the attitude that right and wrong are merely relative to our convictions.

Most people can't stand up for their convictions, because the majority of people might not be doing it. See, everybody's not doing it, so it must be wrong. And since everybody is doing it, it must be right. So a sort of numerical interpretation of what's right.

But I'm here to say to you this morning that some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally so, absolutely so. It's wrong to hate. It always has been wrong and it always will be wrong. It's wrong in America, it's wrong in Germany, it's wrong in Russia, it's wrong in China. It was wrong in 2000 B.C., and it's wrong in 1954 A.D. It always has been wrong, and it always will be wrong. It's wrong to throw our lives away in riotous living. No matter if everybody in Detroit is doing it, it's wrong. It always will be wrong, and it always has been wrong. It's wrong in every age and it's wrong in every nation. Some things are right and some things are wrong, no matter if everybody is doing the contrary. Some things in this universe are absolute. The God of the universe has made it so. And so long as we adopt this relative attitude toward right and wrong, we're revolting against the very laws of God himself.

Now that isn't the only thing that convinces me that we've strayed away from this attitude, this principle. The other thing is that we have adopted a sort of a pragmatic test for right and wrong—whatever works is right. If it works, it's all right. Nothing is wrong but that which does not work. If you don't get caught, it's right. That's the attitude, isn't it? It's all right to disobey the Ten Commandments, but just don't disobey the eleventh, "Thou shall not get caught." That's the attitude. That's the prevailing attitude in our culture. No matter what you do, just do it with a bit of finesse. You know, a sort of attitude of the survival of the slickest. Not the Darwinian survival of the fittest, but the survival of the slickest—whoever can be the slickest is the one who right. It's all right to lie, but lie with dignity. It's all right to steal and to rob and extort, but do it with a bit of finesse. It's even all right to hate, but just dress your hate up in the garments of love and make it appear that you are loving when you are actually hating. Just get by! That's the thing that's right according to this new ethic.

My friends, that attitude is destroying the soul of our culture. It's destroying our nation. The thing that we need in the world today is a group of men and women who will stand up for right and to be opposed to wrong, wherever it is. A group of people who have come to see that some things are wrong, whether they're never caught up with. And some things are right, whether nobody sees you doing them or not.

All I'm trying to say to you is that our world hinges on moral foundations. God has made it so. God has made the universe to be based on a moral law. So long as man disobeys it he is revolting against God. That's what we need in the world today: people who will stand for right and goodness. It's not enough to know the intricacies of zoology and biology, but we must know the intricacies of law. It is not enough to know that two and two makes four, but we've got to know somehow that it's right to be honest and just with our brothers. It's not enough to know all about our philosophical and mathematical disciplines, but we've got to know the simple disciplines of being honest and loving and just with all humanity. If we don't learn it, we will destroy ourselves by the misuse of our own powers.

This universe hinges on moral foundations. There is something in this universe that justifies Carlyle in saying, "No lie can live forever." There is something in this universe that justifies William Cullen Bryant in saying, "Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again." There is something in this universe that justifies James Russell Lowell in saying,

Truth forever on the scaffold,

Wrong forever on the throne.

Yet that scaffold sways the future.

Behind the dim unknown stands God,

Within the shadow keeping watch above his own.

There is something in this universe that justifies the biblical writer in saying, "You shall reap what you sow." This is a law-abiding universe. This is a moral universe. It hinges on moral foundations. If we are to make of this a better world, we've got to go back and rediscover that precious value that we've left behind.

And then there is a second thing, a second principle that we've got to go back and rediscover. And that is that all reality has spiritual control. In other words, we've got to go back and rediscover the principle that there is a God behind the process. Well this you say, "Why is it that you raise that as a point in your sermon, in a church? The mere fact we are at church, we believe in God, we don't need to go back and rediscover that. The mere fact that we are here, and the mere fact that we sing and pray, and come to church—we believe in God." Well, there's some truth in that. But we must remember that it's possible to affirm the existence of God with your lips and deny his existence with your life. The most dangerous type of atheism is not theoretical atheism, but practical atheism that's the most dangerous type. And the world, even the church, is filled up with people who pay lip service to God and not life service. And there is always a danger that we will make it appear externally that we believe in God when internally we don't. We say with our mouths that we believe in him, but we live with our lives like he never existed. That is the ever-present danger confronting religion. That's a dangerous type of atheism.

And I think, my friends, that that is the thing that has happened in America. That we have unconsciously left God behind. Now, we haven't consciously done it; we have unconsciously done it. You see, the text, you remember the text said that Jesus' parents went a whole day's journey not knowing that he wasn't with them. They didn't consciously leave him behind. It was unconscious; went a whole day and didn't even know it. It wasn't a conscious process. You see, we didn't grow up and say, "Now, goodbye God, we're going to leave you now." The materialism in America has been an unconscious thing. Since the rise of the Industrial Revolution in England, and then the invention of all of our gadgets and contrivances and all of the things and modern conveniences we unconsciously left God behind. We didn't mean to do it.

We just became so involved in getting our big bank accounts that we unconsciously forgot about God we didn't mean to do it.

We became so involved in getting our nice luxurious cars, and they're very nice, but we became so involved in it that it became much more convenient to ride out to the beach on Sunday afternoon than to come to church that morning. It was an unconscious thing—we didn't mean to do it.

We became so involved and fascinated by the intricacies of television that we found it a little more convenient to stay at home than to come to church. It was an unconscious thing we didn't mean to do it. We didn't just go up and say, "Now God, we’re gone." We had gone a whole day's journey and then we came to see that we had unconsciously ushered God out of the universe. A whole day's journey didn't mean to do it. We just became so involved in things that we forgot about God.

And that is the danger confronting us, my friends: that in a nation as ours where we stress mass production, and that's mighty important, where we have so many conveniences and luxuries and all of that, there is the danger that we will unconsciously forget about God. I'm not saying that these things aren't important; we need them, we need cars, we need money; all of that's important to live. But whenever they become substitutes for God, they become injurious.

And may I say to you this morning, that none of these things can ever be real substitutes for God. Automobiles and subways, televisions and radios, dollars and cents can never be substitutes for God. For long before any of these came into existence, we needed God. And long after they will have passed away, we will still need God.

And I say to you this morning in conclusion that I'm not going to put my ultimate faith in things. I'm not going to put my ultimate faith in gadgets and contrivances. As a young man with most of my life ahead of me, I decided early to give my life to something eternal and absolute. Not to these little gods that are here today and gone tomorrow, but to God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Not in the little gods that can be with us in a few moments of prosperity, but in the God who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death, and causes us to fear no evil. That's the God.

Not in the god that can give us a few Cadillac cars and Buick convertibles, as nice as they are, that are in style today and out of style three years from now, but the God who threw up the stars to bedeck the heavens like swinging lanterns of eternity.

Not in the god that can throw up a few skyscraping buildings, but the God who threw up the gigantic mountains, kissing the sky, as if to bathe their peaks in the lofty blues.

Not in the god that can give us a few televisions and radios, but the God who threw up that great cosmic light that gets up early in the morning in the eastern horizon, who paints its technicolor across the blue something that man could never make.

I'm not going to put my ultimate faith in the little gods that can be destroyed in an atomic age,but the God who has been our help in ages past, and our hope for years to come, and our shelter in the time of storm, and our eternal home. That's the God that I'm putting my ultimate faith in. That's the God that I call upon you to worship this morning.

Go out and be assured that that God is going to last forever. Storms might come and go. Our great skyscraping buildings will come and go. Our beautiful automobiles will come and go, but God will be here. Plants may wither, the flowers may fade away, but the word of our God shall stand forever and nothing can ever stop him. All of the P-38s in the world can never reach God. All of our atomic bombs can never reach him. The God that I'm talking about this morning is the God of the universe and the God that will last through the ages. If we are to go forward this morning, we've got to go back and find that God. That is the God that demands and commands our ultimate allegiance.

If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover these precious values: that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.

God bless you.

February 28, 1954.

A look on Word Mission

2008-11-16T18:16:00.003Z

A Mission Voice from Latin America: Partnering for World Mission

By Valdir Raul Steuernagel

Original article: Lausanne World Pulse.com

This is an historical time in the Evangelical Church in Latin America. Never before have so many churches awakened to the universal nature of the missionary task, with such willingness to make their contribution.

Let us rejoice because of this new trend, but let us rejoice with caution. Never before have there been so many people willing to be sent out, so many missionary training schools available, and so many resources raised to sustain those sent. Still, we must proceed with caution and invest in a missions posture capable of balancing: quality, urgent sending with effective training; a sound financial base with the resources actually necessary; and a biblical and contextual understanding of the meaning of the task and of frontiers in mission.

Indeed, we have already learned from former and current missiological reflection that the concepts of nearby and far away, in biblical terms, are more of a salvation nature than of a geographic nature. In other words, the universality of the mission is verified in the keen perception of the need for saving our household and the next door neighbor, as well as those whose language and culture are radically different than our own. We must seek a balance between missionary action “there and here.”

Clearly, the missionary awakening of the Church in Latin America
comes at a time of significant church growth.

Clearly, the missionary awakening of the Church in Latin America comes at a time of significant church growth. The church that grows is very often the same church that is awakening to its missionary responsibility and sending workers to the mission field. But these churches should never forget that their own families and children are also missionary fields. That is, the task of evangelism has to be faced anew by every generation. Indeed, we face the challenges of continuity and consistency in many of our churches.

So we ask our brothers and sisters who have preceded us in the missionary awakening to help us sort out this dimension of evangelism. From the vantage point of the Third World, we face with great dismay the process of secularization, and to a certain extent, the faith and church crises in countries that once experienced deep revivals and were actively engaged in cross-cultural missions. Is it possible to avert or diminish this kind of “historic determinism” that seems always to go from “hot” to “lukewarm” and/or “cold”?

Further, it is important to point out that reflection on frontiers has merited two distinct observations. One has to do with today’s concept of communication and distance. The world has become smaller and what is done and/or produced in one place can be transmitted or makes its way to other places. Opportunities for evangelism (and missionary responsibility!) are multiplied.

The other observation has to do with the fact that mission frontiers are not only geographical, but social and economic as well. The gospel we preach and the church we try to establish should change toward justice and toward a collective lifestyle which embraces human dignity and environmental stewardship.

Healthy Participation with Mutual Enrichment
Today, as never before, we can put into practice the slogan that mission is a task of six continents for six continents. But this practice is not yet obvious. Our mission history in Latin America is one of dependence and we need to recognize that getting rid of such dependency might be easier than repeating the model.

The gospel we preach and the church we try to establish
should change toward justice and toward a collective lifestyle
which embraces human dignity and environmental stewardship.

Dependency does harm. To some, it gives a dangerous sense of control; however, to many more it generates a false sense of immobilizing invalidity. The challenge before us is to build a reciprocal partnership; this will be best seen when Latino missionaries work not only with Latino immigrants in Europe and North America, but with mainstream mission efforts and churches as well. The practice of partnership could help us to become a Church that will make a difference indeed.

Some Things Need to Be Learned

The missionary movement that has emerged in Latin America calls for a growing humility that is willing to learn from history. Youthful euphoria will only hinder this learning process. Such an attitude will cause us to think that our fathers and mothers “missed the point”—that we know better and are eager to send, go, and do better.

Yesterday’s experiences must be studied more, and the learning of our predecessors must be assimilated by today’s generation. There is no need (and we cannot afford) to repeat the same errors in each generation. Of the many areas in which we have accumulated experience that can enrich and challenge today’s Latin American missionary practice, I point to just four.

1. The cultural issue. We cannot think that just because we belong to a kind of Third World culture, our identification with other cultures in the missionary field will be automatic. The Brazilian culture, for example, is just as imperialistic toward other cultures as the United States is toward the Brazilian culture. Moreover, culture is so much a part of the people that we automatically tend to consider other peoples´ cultures as distant. There are many lessons learned and much accumulated reflection having to do with the relationship between gospel and culture which the young missionary movement of Latin America needs to review.

2. Missionary training. There is a latent risk of considering intense, longer training processes as the concern of mission theorists. After all, isn’t it more important to roll up our sleeves and go to work? Maybe not. We are not advocating training programs that simply copy the respective models designed abroad. What we are advocating is that in order to participate in such a serious, intense, emotionally-involved missionary mandate, a formation process is fundamental. The price paid for haste is too high to justify running the risk of not designing and implementing adequate training programs.

3. Perseverance on the field. Perseverance and persistence cannot be learned in a day; however, they are indispensable in missionary work. There are strong traits in many of our cultures which point to a personal and collective behavior toward rapid response, emotionally-determined decisions and support, and easy promise of engagement. One of the key issues is how one can learn to function in and internalize other patterns, such as persistence and the ability to cope with solitude and failure. These have proven to be fundamental in medium and long-term missionary work.

4. Faithfulness in support. As mentioned above, in missionary terms, our history is one of dependence, and hence, reception. The fact that mission also implies giving is a concept which most of our churches are still learning. They must go through a complete learning process that will lead them to understand that missions is serious business, involving financial faithfulness to those we send out in Jesus’ name. Learning to give in a systematic and disciplined manner over a long period of time is a challenge we cannot escape if we want to face up to God’s missionary moment.

There Are Things We Must Overcome

We come back to partnership, stressing that overcoming dependence does not naturally and clearly lead to mature autonomy. The phase subsequent to dependence often appears to be a copy of some other model. That is, the Latin American missionary experience tends to copy the emphases and models of the missionary enterprise they have seen and have been familiar with as recipients.

Learning to give in a systematic and disciplined manner
over a long period of time is a challenge we cannot escape
if we want to face up to God’s missionary moment.

After all, it is precisely those experiences which have been successful that seem the best and most appropriate to emulate. Here, however, I would point out three areas where a copy should not be the approach.

1. Seeking unity and overcoming division. The Latin American experience with North American missions was sharply marked first by the conflict between fundamentalism and modernism, which characterized Christianity in the US during most of the twentieth century, and later by a Cold War mentality. The theological and ideological conflict of the North caused much unnecessary division in the South, since our churches have very little to do with the European and North American theological conflicts.

Further, exported to our southern hemisphere was an ecclesiastical practice largely determined by a free-market mentality—also a typical North American experience. The seed of this ecclesiastical practice fell on a soil which cultivates a culture that has deep marks of emotional, charismatic, and authoritarian flavor. Merging these two worlds produced an extremely lacerated ecclesiastical picture. The ethical and communal principle of partnership and of community was usually overrun, and the geography of church founding, in many instances, corresponded to the history of personality conflicts and the establishment of personal or family feuds duly placed under the guise of revelation.

This lacerated ecclesiastical experience in Latin America is usually exported as the most natural way to operate. Hence, we must move from divisionism to an ecclesiastical experience that will respect the church that is already in place, seek to work in concert, and sometimes become integrated, with a posture of submission, into works already underway. And we must not forget that, biblically speaking, the testimony constituted by unity is itself a positive factor of evangelism.

2. The expensive missionary model of the North does not serve us, and the philosophy of pragmatism has deep, worldly roots. The introduction of belief and practice of the free market in the ecclesiastical realm brought with it still another issue—the establishment of a strategy aimed at growth and success. This strategy was established on the basis of pragmatism: you choose an area and/or challenge, you establish a goal and an achievement timetable, and you seek to fulfill both.

The problem is that not only does our culture not operate that way, but this philosophy runs counter to the biblical pattern and mandate which says that the person is more important than the goal. In the biblical pattern strategy is constantly interrupted and held in check by the blind man who cries out alongside the road to Jericho. Moreover, these strategies, their design, implementation, follow-up, and evaluation are very costly. The North American missionary enterprise has become very expensive, and for the paradigms and possibilities of the Third World, impossible. Following this reasoning, if we simply copy the typical model of the missionary agency developed in the US, we will fall into a bottomless pit. This approach will not work since that model presupposes and requires heavy financial resources, both to be sent to the field and to pay for the administration of the missionary machinery.

The North American missionary enterprise has become very expensive,
and for the paradigms and possibilities of the Third World, impossible.

Latin America must develop other models of missionary obedience that consistently reflect its reality of the poor and, hence, hopefully emulate the missionary model of the hiker from Galilee with the authority of a servant.

3. Caution with respect to bureaucracy and sophistication. We know from recent missions history that time after time the “mission” has been vested with the most advanced Western technology in the whole area, and often, in the whole country. This has caused problems concerning image and resources. Missions arising from the South do not have this technology and traditionally do not depend on it nearly as much. This fact can be of enormous help in many of the areas where the people and their respective communities live in extreme poverty. It could also help us to put into practice incarnation as one of the basic pillars of evangelical missions.

The Evangelical Church in Latin America, and the Third World in general, is experiencing a unique missionary awakening in Protestant history. The poor are engaged in missionary activity and are investing their potential, talents, and resources in fulfilling the universal missionary call of the Church.

With the growing involvement of Third World missionaries of different races and cultures, the geography and color of missions has been changing for quite some time. This trend causes us to rejoice. And yet together we must continue cautiously into the future as we explore the growing needs for effective training, sound financial support, and a biblical and contextual understanding of mission.

This article was originally published by MARC Publications as "From Latin America: An Open Letter to the North American Mission Community" in the Mission Handbook, 15th edition, 1993.

Inspire yourself through these wonderful Books World Vision Book Catalog 2008

World vision History

2008-11-13T01:49:00.009Z

HISTORY

Bob Pierce Founder of World Vision

World Vision began with the vision of one man—the Reverend Bob Pierce.
.

In 1947 Rev. Pierce met Tena Hoelkedoer, a teacher, while on a trip to China. She introduced him to a battered and abandoned child named White Jade. Unable to care for the child herself, she asked, "What are you going to do about her?" Rev. Pierce gave the woman his last five dollars and agreed to send the same amount each month to help the woman care for the girl.

This encounter was a turning point for Rev. Pierce. He began building an organisation dedicated to helping the world's children, and in 1950 World Vision was born. The first child sponsorship programme began three years later in response to the needs of hundreds of thousands of orphans at the end of the Korean War.

Over the next several decades, World Vision expanded its work throughout Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Resources from child sponsorship assisted poor children with food, education, health care and vocational training.

In the 1970s, World Vision embraced a broader community development model and established an emergency relief division. It attempted to address the causes of poverty by focusing on community needs such as water, sanitation, education, health, leadership training and income generation.

World Vision began the 21st century by strengthening its advocacy efforts, particularly on issues related to child survival and poverty alleviation. It became more active in working with governments, businesses and other organisations in addressing issues such as child labour, children in armed conflict and the sexual exploitation of women and children.

World Vision has become a leading humanitarian organisation. Some 31,000 staff members implement programmes of community development, emergency relief and promotion of justice in nearly 100 countries.

WHAT WORLD VISION DOES:

World Vision does community development, disaster relief and advocacy.

Transforming Communities
	Because poverty has both local and global causes, World Vision works within communities and across geographical areas to help individuals and groups improve the well-being of children and overcome poverty.

Responding to Disasters
	When disasters strike, World Vision is globally positioned to help with immediate needs like food, water and shelter. World Vision also works with communities to recover from disasters and prevent future catastrophes.

Seeking Global Change
	World Vision engages institutions, donors and the general public to address the global problems that perpetuate poverty. Advocacy staff empower communities to speak up for their rights, both locally and globally.

Lyrics song New Hallelujah - from Michael W Smith new CD

2008-11-08T13:27:00.005Z

A New Hallelujah

Lyrics by Michael W. Smith

Can you hear, there's a new song
Breaking out from the children of freedom
Every race and every nation
Sing it out sing a new Hallelujah

Let us sing love to the nations
Bringing hope of the grace that has freed us
Make Him known and make Him famous
Sing it out sing a new Hallelujah

Chorus
Arise
let the church Arise
Let love reach to the other side
Alive come alive
Let the song Arise

Africa sings a new song
Reaching out with the new Hallelujah
Every son and every daughter
Everyone sing a new Hallelujah

Chorus
Arise
let the church Arise
Let love reach to the other side
Alive come alive
Let the song Arise

Bridge
Whoa whoa ye'.ah
Let the song arise
Let the song arise ye'.ah (2x)

Spoken
Let the world sing a new Hallelujah
From Africa to Australia
From Brazil to China
From New York down to Houston!

Chorus
Everyone sing a new Hallelujah (2x)

Listen to New Hallelujah
Myspace Michael W. Smith Profile

cruzue@gmail.com - Christian View Blog

.

Barack Luther King Biography

2008-11-05T23:58:00.004Z

Biography of Barack Obama

The 44th President of the United States

arts: by Joao Cruzué

www.Barack Obama.com

Barack Hussein Obama Jr. was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, where he grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British.

Barack's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton's army. Her mother went to work on a bomber assembly line, and after the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved west to Hawaii.

It was there, at the University of Hawaii, where Barack's parents met. His mother was a student there, and his father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya and pursue his dreams in America.

Barack's father eventually returned to Kenya, and Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
The College Years

Remembering the values of empathy and service that his mother taught him, Barack put law school and corporate life on hold after college and moved to Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.

The group had some success, but Barack had come to realize that in order to truly improve the lives of people in that community and other communities, it would take not just a change at the local level, but a change in our laws and in our politics.

He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach constitutional law. Finally, his advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate, where he served for eight years. In 2004, he became the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
Political Career

It has been the rich and varied experiences of Barack Obama's life - growing up in different places with people who had differing ideas - that have animated his political journey. Amid the partisanship and bickering of today's public debate, he still believes in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose - a politics that puts solving the challenges of everyday Americans ahead of partisan calculation and political gain.

In the Illinois State Senate, this meant working with both Democrats and Republicans to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which in three years provided over $100 million in tax cuts to families across the state. He also pushed through an expansion of early childhood education, and after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Senator Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.

In the U.S. Senate, he has focused on tackling the challenges of a globalized, 21st century world with fresh thinking and a politics that no longer settles for the lowest common denominator. His first law was passed with Republican Tom Coburn, a measure to rebuild trust in government by allowing every American to go online and see how and where every dime of their tax dollars is spent. He has also been the lead voice in championing ethics reform that would root out Jack Abramoff-style corruption in Congress.

As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Senator Obama has fought to help Illinois veterans get the disability pay they were promised, while working to prepare the VA for the return of the thousands of veterans who will need care after Iraq and Afghanistan. Recognizing the terrorist threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, he traveled to Russia with Republican Dick Lugar to begin a new generation of non-proliferation efforts designed to find and secure deadly weapons around the world. And knowing the threat we face to our economy and our security from America's addiction to oil, he's working to bring auto companies, unions, farmers, businesses and politicians of both parties together to promote the greater use of alternative fuels and higher fuel standards in our cars.

Whether it's the poverty exposed by Katrina, the genocide in Darfur, or the role of faith in our politics, Barack Obama continues to speak out on the issues that will define America in the 21st century. But above all his accomplishments and experiences, he is most proud and grateful for his family. His wife, Michelle, and his two daughters, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6, live on Chicago's South Side.

Source:www.Barack Obama.com

Addition from Joao Cruzue: On November 04, of 2008, 44 years after that Martin Luther King's famous sermon " I have a dream", to 250.000 people at Licoln Memorial Park in Washington, Barack Hussein Obama Jr, came to be elected the 44th Presidente of the United States of America, and the first one black man (or half black and white) to reach this highest position. The numbers of election is still not absolute but count 364 votes on his behalf and 174 to Senator McCain. Every World woke up happier on seeing one more prejudice coming down.

From Barack Obama:

Joao --

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

Barack Obama's Interview

Obama Speech - The more perfect union

How Obama won and Hillary Clinto lost

Martin Luther King anniversary

Martin Luther King

Joao cruzue - cruzue@gmail.com

.

Barack Obama The 44th President of The United States

2008-11-01T22:07:00.033Z

Post at:
Barack Luther King

.

Christian families are displaced in Iraq

2008-10-30T02:50:00.005Z

View of Adad Gate at Nineveh from the North, outside city. Reconstruction by Iraqi excavator was left unfinished, resulting in visible concrete reinforcing structure which was intended to be covered with mudbrick. Most of stone retaining wall is original ancient structure. Reconstructed Nergal Gate is visible in the distance at right.

World News

Photo: IRIN BAGHDAD, 26 October 2008 (IRIN) - Fewer Iraqi Christian families are fleeing their homes in the northern province of Ninevah thanks to the heavy presence of security forces, but families who already fled anti-Christian attacks over the past few weeks are living in difficult conditions and are still reluctant to return to their homes, a local aid official said on 25 October.

"They are experiencing hard living conditions in the places they have ended up despite receiving aid on a daily basis," Falah Hilal, head of the provincial department of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS), said.

"Most of these families have ended up cramped in small rooms in churches and monasteries while others joined relatives or friends in their houses. Their children have left schools and employees can't go to their offices," Hilal added.

Hilal said that the IRCS had not registered any new displacements among Christian families over the past week as security forces had deployed in the areas where Christians lived.

"Yet we didn't register any return of families to their houses either," Hilal told IRIN.

Anti-Christian violence in Mosul, the provincial capital of Ninevah and some 400km north of Baghdad, erupted on 4 October when gunmen started assassinating Christians and threatening others, telling them to leave the city.

13,000 displaced Christians

On 24 October, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) estimated that more than 2,200 families, or some 13,000 people, had fled their homes since 4 October. UNHCR said this represented about half the province's Christian population. It added that about 400 families had crossed the border into Syria while others had gone to safe areas to the north and east of Mosul and others to neighbouring Dahuk, Erbil and Kirkuk provinces.

"Many left with little money and need help," the UNHCR statement said, adding that it had delivered relief supplies to over 1,700 Christian families.

Police estimated that 12 Christians had died in the violence. The latest incident was on 13 October when gunmen broke into a music store in Mosul killing its Christian owner and injuring his nephew.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but Sunni extremists are believed to be behind the campaign, which is taking place despite US-Iraqi operations aimed at routing insurgents from remaining strongholds north of the capital.

The newly displaced 13,000 Christians add to the more than 4.2 million Iraqis who have fled their homes since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to UNHCR.

Of these, about 2 million are living as refugees in neighbouring countries - mostly in Syria and Jordan - while the remainder are displaced within Iraq.

cruzue@gmail.com

.

Indian christians rally before UN headquarter in New York

2008-10-16T19:36:00.005Z

RALLY OF INDIAN CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN USA
before UN headquarters - NY - October 2008
Against hindu caste system and the recent persecution, rapes and deaths in Orissa

photo: by Persis

News from By Brother Satish/Chicago Revival

photos by Persis in slide show
250 photos of Rally made in October 2008 by Indian Christian l Church in NY

cruzue@gmail.com

.

India - Christians denounce atacks by Hindu fundamentalists

2008-10-14T21:02:00.008Z

INDIAN CHRISTIANS - "SACRIFICIAL LAMBS"

Hindu rioters in Kandhamal, Orissa

ASHOK SHARMA

The Associated Press

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008

"NEW DELHI - Indian church leaders said Tuesday that Christians killed in recent clashes were "sacrificial lambs" targeted by hard-line Hindus seeking an advantage in upcoming national elections.

The All India Christian Council said the toll after nearly two months of sporadic violence has reached 59 dead and 50,000 displaced. Officials in the eastern state of Orissa, site of the worst violence, say 34 people have been killed.

The recent violence began after Hindu activists blamed Christians for the slaying of a Hindu leader killed in Orissa on Aug. 23. Retaliatory attacks left scores dead, dozens of churches destroyed and thousands of people homeless, despite the government's claim that Maoists killed the Hindu leader.

"A frenzied and well-armed band of political criminals has threatened our community as perhaps it has never been in its 2,000 year-old history in India," said John Dayal, secretary-general of the All India Christian Council.

There is a long history of tension between the religious groups in Orissa because Hindu leaders accuse Christian missionaries of forcing low-caste Hindus to convert, charges denied by Christian leaders.

Leaders from the council on Tuesday said the violence was led by hard-line Hindu parties preparing for national elections, expected early next year, by whipping up religious fervor.

"The sole motive is to gain political advantage in coming national elections," said Dayal. "We have been made sacrificial lambs."

The Christian leaders blamed the violence on radical Hindu groups, including the Bajrang Dal and the World Hindu Council, organizations loosely affiliated with the hard-line Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP rules Orissa and Karnataka, the two states that have seen anti-Christian violence, and is looking to challenge the ruling Congress Party for power in New Delhi.

Roughly 2.5 percent of India's 1.1 billion people are Christians, while more than 80 percent are Hindu. India is officially a secular nation.

The Christian leaders called Tuesday for a federal probe into the violence"

Source: The Washington Post

India - Report of VHP persecution against christians

2008-10-04T23:36:00.013Z

ALL WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW!
WHAT HINDU FUNDAMENTALISTS FROM VHP* ARE DOING AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN INDIA:
* Vishaw Hindu Parishad

By Joao Cruzue

They are murdering , blazing, rapeing, burning christians and their homes and churches, in the name of the culture and hindu religion defence. VHP leaders in India think that to convert a Dalit or people from "depressed" class, how they mention, is a attempt against India culture, that is, nobody shall preach any freedon word to Indian Dalits unless they have to die in their poverty, misery and "karma".

I think not one religion in this world has the right of preaching murdering, slavery, misery, poverty, burning people in the name of one culture. A shameful culture! And below is a table I built with figures from the shameful persecution of Hindu fundamentalists in some States from India.

Thousands of families banished from their homes by VHP fundamentalist groups
50,000 homeless are living in Orissa State forests.

SHAME ON INDIA GOVERNMENTS, MAINLY FROM ORISSA
To send a letter to Indian authorities, mailto: indiaportal@gov.in

cruzue@gmail.com

.

Letter to Indian government - shame on Orissa

2008-10-02T23:57:00.008Z

To: Authorities over Bharat

Mailto: indiaportal@gov.in

Dear Sirs,

Subject: Religion Persecution in Orissa

With all respect, and considering that I have some good friends in India, I cannot be silent as that facts always reported from Orissa State that have been occuring since Last Christmas, better: since 1999.

I know very well India has quite 1.000.000.000 inhabitants and all of you in charge of this Country have something more important to do than to take care of religons conflicts between VHP and christians. And maoists...

But one thing you can no more letting to do: put a end on that situation, because now, everyday, milions of people are looking at hundred of photos that are showing that bestiality may hapens within any religion, even in Hinduism.

I know you are tired of seeing, anyway I attached a dozen of pics that shame my indigenous friends - and me.

Please, stop that crimes.

Mr. Joao B. Cruzue / Brazil

Photo: AICC

Body of Pastor Dibya Sundars

Photo: AICC

Holy Bibles burnt

Photo: AICC

christian teenager with second grade burnts

cruzue@gmail.com

Indian Christians - photos of persecution and death in Orissa

2008-09-27T13:33:00.007Z

You are being invited to pray on behalf
the christian churches in Orissa, State of India

Screenshot by João Cruzué

hit to enlarge

All India Christian Council

"From December 24, 2007 till January 2, 2008, attacks in Kandhamal district killed at least four Christians and destroyed over 100 churches and 730 Christian homes. Most of the victims were Dalits, formerly known as untouchables.

The latest persecution began when Lakshmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu swami and VHP leader, was killed by unknown assailants on August 23, 2008. Leaders from VPH - "Vishwa Hindu Parishad" a fundamentalist Hindu association, publicly blamed Christians and mobs attacked against them in, at least, 12 of 30 districts in the Eastern state of Orissa. Christian leaders reported, as of Sept. 3, 2008, at least 4,014 Christian homes destroyed in 300 villages, an estimated 50,000 people displaced, two pastors and 24 other Christians killed, one nun gang raped, and over a hundred churches burned.

On Thursday, September 4, 2008, India’s Supreme Court instructed the Orissa government to control the violence, and the Orissa authorities promised to halt a procession by the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad or World Hindu Council) on Sept. 7, 2008. However, VHP leaders told Indian journalist they still planned to hold the “Shraad Yatra” on the 16th day of the swami’s death, a traditional funeral rite performed by Hindu sadhus. Previously, Christian leaders from all major denominations and church networks called for a day of prayer and fasting across India on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008."

All India Christian Council

Photo: AICC

Body of Pastor Dibya Sundars

Photo: AICC

Burnt Holy Bibles

Photo: AICC

Sister Namrata - teenager with second grade burnts

Photo: AICC

Christian church destroyed

Photo: AICC

Brother Sudhir and two Evangelists

Photo: AICC

Burnt Church

Photo: AICC

Another burnt church

Photo: AICC

Sister Lydia and son , Pastor Akbar Digal widow and orphan

foto: AICC

Families are hiding and living in the jungle

foto: AICC

Christian goods and vehicle burnt

foto: AICC

A christian home destroyed by fire

Another vehicle burnt

SLIDES:
Images of christian persecution in Kandhamal - Orissa- India
Hit any photo and select slide presentation

let's keep praying for Orissa christians in India

Link: All India Christian Council

cruzue@gmail.com

Brazil

Sayings of Dwight L. Moody

2008-08-31T02:14:00.002Z

Dwight Lyman Moody

"A man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult to counterfeit humility.

Character is what you are in the dark.

The world does not understand theology or dogma, but it understands love and sympathy.

The tendency of the world is down - God's path is up.

Never think that Jesus commanded a trifle, nor dare to trifle with anything he has commanded.

Obedience means marching right on whether we feel like it or not. Many times we go against our feelings. Faith is one thing, feeling is another.

Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble God is not to come at all.

The Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on tiptoe.

God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.

Small numbers make no difference to God. There is nothing small if God is in it.

I believe Satan to exist for two reasons: first, the Bible says so; and second, I've done business with him.

I have more trouble with D. L. Moody than with any other man I ever met.

God has nothing to say to the self-righteous.

When a man has no strength, if he leans on God, he becomes powerful.

Temptations are like tramps. Treat them kindly, and they will return bringing others with them.

Temptations are never so dangerous as when they come to us in a religious garb.

If I walk with the world, I can't walk with God.

We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.

Those who say they will forgive but can't forget; bury the hatchet, but they leave the handle out for immediate use.

Take courage. We walk in the wilderness today and in the Promised Land tomorrow.

Give me a person who says, "This one thing I do, and not these fifty things I dabble in."

I prayed for faith and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." I had up to this time closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.

Seeking to perpetuate one's name on earth is like writing on the sand by the seashore; to be perpetual it must be written on eternal shores.

I believe the family was established long before the church, and my duty is to my family first. I am not to neglect my family.

You may find hundreds of faultfinders among professed Christians; but all their criticism will not lead one solitary soul to Christ. I never preached a sermon yet that I could not pick to pieces, and find fault with. I feel that Jesus Christ ought to have a far better representative than I am. But I have lived long enough to discover that there is nothing perfect in this world. If you are to wait till you find a perfect preacher, or perfect meetings, I am afraid you will have to wait till the millennium arrives. What we want is to be looking up to Christ. Let us be done with faultfinding.

The law tells me how crooked I am. Grace comes along and straightens me out.

A holy life will produce the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine."

.

Very special frases

2008-06-21T23:26:00.008Z

Quotation

Collected by João Cruzué

"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." Martin Luther King Jr.

"The church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it." Martin Luther King Jr.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King Jr.

"It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Segregation is the adultery of an illicit intercourse between injustice and immorality." Martin Luther King Jr.

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." Martin Luther King Jr.

"When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Martin Luther King Jr.

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law." Martin Luther King Jr.

"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." Helen Keller.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." Helen Keller.

"Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." Helen Keller.

"People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant." Helen Keller.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart." Helen Keller.

"We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world." Helen Keller.

"The highest result of education is tolerance." Helen Keller.

"When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another." Helen Keller.

"Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish." Albert Einstein.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." Albert Einstein.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Albert Einstein.

"Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population." Albert Einstein.

"Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." Albert Einstein.

"A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt

"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people." Eleanor Roosevelt

"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art." Eleanor Roosevelt

"I could not at any age be content to take my place in a corner by the fireside and simply look on." Eleanor Roosevelt

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Eleanor Roosevelt

"One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. When you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else." Eleanor Roosevelt

"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself." Eleanor Roosevelt

"A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"A friend is one before whom I may think aloud." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"Character is higher than intellect..."Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"God enters by a private door into every individual." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend." Abraham Lincoln.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Abraham Lincoln.

"Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves." Abraham Lincoln.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. Abraham Lincoln.

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." Abraham Lincoln.

Sorce: http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes

cruzue@gmail.com

Barack Obama under a muslin view

2008-06-15T02:45:00.004Z

Obama's appeal in the Muslim world
An Arab Muslim foresees a possible new era of positive US leadership.

A photo to peace

Yasser Khalil

The Christian Science Monitor

Cairo - U.S. Senator Barack Obama represents a phenomenon that has drawn global attention and captivated the minds of Muslims around the world as he wages a spirited campaign to become the next president of the United States.

In spite of the campaign's heated debate and some controversial rhetoric regarding Islam, large segments of the Muslim population here remain fascinated with the election and have become big fans of Senator Obama.

This level of support for an American presidential candidate is unprecedented in the Muslim world. That it comes amid an almost unanimous feeling of indignation and rage toward US foreign policy – particularly in Iraq and the Palestinian territories – makes it even more noteworthy.

The simple explanation is that many Muslims see new reason for hope in the political approach of Obama and his advisers. His apparent eagerness to rally more international support for US policy, and even talk to America's "enemies," is cause for optimism. Imagine what global politics might look like in Iraq, or Sudan, or Afghanistan, if Obama-like vision had influenced US leadership earlier.

As an Arab Muslim in Egypt who is affected by US foreign policy, I believe an Obama approach may help solve the accumulated problems between Muslims and the US that have become more aggravated since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. New and more creative techniques for dealing with extremists instead of the controversial methods used by the current US administration could also stop giving Al Qaeda and other such groups the pretext for recruiting new members. Then, perhaps, extremists would lose the arguments that fuel their criminal machine and lead them to destroy innocent people.

There are, of course, those in the Muslim world who oppose Barack Obama. They argue that US policy will not change with a new president. To them I say that Obama has already proved there's room to rock the boat; he opposed the decision to invade Iraq and is making concrete, logical recommendations for withdrawing US troops there.

Muslim cynics argue that all American politicians, including Obama, are biased toward Israel at the expense of Arabs. But we must differentiate between a candidate's support for a Jewish state and an inherent bias toward it. The US friendship with Israel doesn't have to be a threat, especially if he takes a more active stance on creating just and fair policies for the rest of the Arab world.

And then there was the apostate debate. When Obama was described as a potential Muslim apostate, many Muslims reacted with bewilderment and curiosity. Obama has said he was never a Muslim in the first place, yet some people considered him to be one through his father. To me, it's clear that Islam is a free choice, not hereditary.

Other Internet campaigns exploited Obama's alleged Muslim links by portraying America as a "racist country" whose citizens and politicians would never permit Obama to win because he is black and has Muslim roots. The effort was misleading, but nonetheless garnered the candidate even more sympathy in the Muslim world.

Obama's denial of being a Muslim does not mean that he sees it as an accusation, instead, he could be distancing himself from charges of deceit and hypocrisy. It's time to move on from these unnecessary debates and judge this promising presidential candidate on his political visions and ability to balance global Muslim interests with those of his constituencies and friends.

By embracing dialogue with Muslim populated countries such as Syria and Iran, and jump-starting US diplomatic efforts, Obama will open doors that have been shut – and bolted – in recent years. It is in the interest of all Muslim countries that the US president have such a constructive approach, even while maintaining a high degree of friendship with Israel and powers supporting it in the US and abroad.

In pursuing rational, inclusive, and creative politics, Obama can remain effective while still overcoming obstacles that impede the path of global peace and coexistence.

• Yasser Khalil is an Egyptian researcher and journalist.

cruzue@gmail.com

.

How Obama won and Hillary Clinton lost

2008-06-05T00:58:00.002Z

Hillary and Barack Obama

Matthew Dowd

A year ago, Hillary Clinton was 30-points ahead over any rival in the Democratic primary. She had outraised everyone at that point by more than a two to one margin. She had the backing of the majority of the Democratic establishment. She had the backing of a popular former president who happened to be her husband. And she lost.

So what happened?

Like any story, the reasons and causes aren't easily reduced to a one paragraph explanation and there were multiple causes for why Clinton lost. I will reflect on just on a few from my perspective.

This is a race that Clinton could have won and should have won, and came very close. And her gender ultimately didn't have much to do with the loss.

The following is my attempt at explaining what happened:

1. She ran for months and months as the candidate of experience and the electorate overwhelmingly wanted change. She wasted many resources and much time arguing and building a case based on experience, and two-thirds of Democratic voters wanted change. She tried turning this around late in the game and Obama owned it at that point.

2. The political environment of this race was much different than 2004 or 2000. In those elections, strength was the key attribute the country was looking for. The country desired more of a father figure. Today, the country is looking for more a a healing presence, someone more nurturing and demonstrating an ability to bring the American family together -- more of a mothering persona. The country wanted a Mom, and Hillary gave them a Dad. She tried to hard to demonstrate her toughness and strength and voters wanted more caretaking and sensitivity.

3. Presidential campaigns are always about understanding voters fears, but then asking them to vote their hopes. Clinton did an unbelievable job speaking to voters fears but she never crossed the bridge to speak to voters hopes. She got stuck in the fear equation and voters needed her to move to hope at some point. All article at: Huffington Post Blog

cruzue@gmail.com

.

Myanmar - news and prayer request

2008-06-04T01:14:00.004Z

Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar May 1st, 2008

Hi brother Joao Cruzue

Nice to meet you. Sorry for my delayded reply. I've already heard that there are so many christian people at Brazil. As you know, our people at Ayeyarwaddy Divison suffered from cyclone and please pray for them.

Ayeyarwaddy is one of the States of Myanmar and it was attacked by a cyclone. Many churches were destroyed and need to be repaired. Firstly, Myanmar our Baptist Convention gave them shelters and other aids like food, clothes and medicines. Now, people from villages need to come back their old places. When I arrived at one of the camp, I felt very sorry for them because each one lost family members, home and properties. That's why I request you to pray for them. Only Our Lord can relieve their sorrows.

When I have time, I'll tell you about our church worship.

Bye for now. Take care.

With regards,

T. Su

Earthquake - pray for chinese people

2008-05-23T18:16:00.012Z

VICTIMS OF EARTHQUAKE IN SICHUAN - CHINA
shot on video by Joao Cruzue

Chinese families need your prayers. Do it.

Start at 14:26:21

.

New photos of christian China church

2008-05-20T17:01:00.003Z

INVITATION

I made the "print screen" of 40 new pics of the China christian church with two simple purposes: to let you know the labor of the Holy Spirit carrying people from every nation to glorify Lord Jesus Christ; and to show you the importance of China for God. Let's keep praying for this wonderful people and its authorities for more blessings and freedom. Below are three samples of all photos you can see at: Blog China 4 Jesus. Joao Cruzue.

persecutions at Cultural Revolution on 1968
O Cominist government of Mao Tsé-tung throwing down churches

Baptisme of a chinese grandma

A tear dropping down in a prayer

Source: shot on video-documentary "Jesus in Chine" at dailymotion.com

.

Hands of Martha and Mary's heart

2008-05-17T21:39:00.000Z

Mary, Martha and Jesus

Joao Cruzue

Yesterday, when I went down to pray in the living-roon, I asked Lord to speak with me. So, before praying I opened the Bible and I felt God speaking with my heart. As I use to do, I am now here to share what I've heard. By the first time, I could see a beautiful link between the Martha’s house episode and the parable of the good samaritan.

Speaks with me Lord, through your Holy Word – I asked Him for. You well know there are some days we have more needs to pray, and this week has been specially tough for several motives. I needed to knock, to seek and ask for a urgent help.

An old fellow has been doing chemotherapy; a very close friend. He was co-pastor with me for six years in the past. Now he has a cancer. Another case: the wife of a minister, coleague of mine, had two heart stops; in the last one, she remained out for half an hour and her brain had irreversible damages. She lays in a ITU bed, it makes quite three months. And to end that needs, last week I did a visit to one pastor, from the time of my youth, and he is cripple for 12 years in a wheel-chair due to a brain hemorrhage. He never went back to church. He insists to be healed first, to reapear after a great miracle before his church. I asked him what he has been done to use fill his time, and he responded he just close the eyes and pray all the day long.

As I opened the Bible, I was before Luke chapter ten and Jesus was in the Martha and Mary’s house. Aside, in this page, there is the parable of good samaritan. A very known subject, yet he became fresh and new to me, yesterday.

The concerning of Martha was her serving. Cleaning, aranjing, cooking, really worried about the dinner delay. Time was passing by and nor even a little help from her sister. Mary, sat down before the Lord Jesus, she heard and felt his heart warming by that heavenly words, she listened to the Master. I can imagine that, by remembering from some services where the presence of the Lord was strongly felt among us.

Martha was concerned of serving and Mary listened, listened and wished to listen more that words. Then, Martha, apprehensive for do not get his job on time, gave orders to Jesus: “Do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore, that helps me.”

Communication is a good thing, we do need to to do it. But communion is something better and deeper. Anyone of us can speak to each other and say: good-morning, good-evening, talk about time and politics, and even pray togheter. But not one of these subjects means communion. For instance: my wife and I have two daughters. One is already married and the youngster has a boyfriend that comes to see her in my home. Imagine you, that I go down to the living-roon and take a seat before them, and remain this way for all Sunday afternoon. Both can talk to various subject, but I bet, not any of them is going to say to another words like: “ I love you”.

Now, here we are in 2008, the beginning of the XXI Century. Too busy, concerned, without time to anything, maybe giving orders to Jesus, in a "running-running", "preaching-preaching", "singing-singing", "writing-writing" – al the days in the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... We are serving? Yes! We are working hard? Yes! We are fatiguing, Yes! But why we are crop so few?

We have no time at all to be in communion with Lord. We are no more as a impassioned couple. Jesus wants to hear and also to speak with us, but we are just mechanicly serving and we lost the perseption of that. We are mistaken on thinking if we multiply our tasks will be effective and our Church, department or choir will be blessed and greater than never. Thus, we are changing six to a half-dozen or to do much noise without results, because we have no more guidance from the Lord.

And, the consequence of that can be understood so: “Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you”

To whom shall I compare that priest and levite? They are likewise as the hands of Martha. Both saw that wounded man, but they felt nothing. They are dried of compassion. An estrange and unexpected attitude. They had theology, maybe the priest, a divinity graduation. They had all spiritual tools to be effectives... But they failed. Some time along the Way they became insensible.

Who was that samaritan? Maybe Jesus was speaking about a man alike himself. Although he is God, for many times in the Bible we can see him putting time apart, primarily at night, to be praying, in communion with Aba Father. From that samaritan, according to jewish culture, everything could be unexpected but compassion longanimity and generosity. He has a heart alike Mary.

And it was so, that I heard God’s Word, before praying, that it doesn’t matter how engaged we be in great visions or projects, before the eyes of our friends or before own ours . If we are not getting see with compassion any needs around us, how can we preach and present Jesus to this World? We must re-priorize our things. Communion is primary, while serving, secondary. We need a Mary’s heart to turn merciful, ours hands of Martha.

Then Jesus said "Go and do likewise."

Author: Joao Cruzue
Brazil 02/10/2008
mailto me: cruzue@gmail.com
I want to know your testimony of faith

.

Five minutes to dream

2008-05-17T21:36:00.001Z

Nuptse mountain, neighbour of Everest

"The future belongs to those that believe

in the beauty of their dreams"

Eleanor Roosevelt

by Joao Cruzue

The Eternal God, our LORD, has created us to express the beauty of His love. But now and them we need to bring back this truth to our mind.

We are beautifuller than trees, flowers, the sea and all animals. All things, at the first look, may be amazing, awesome, wonderful, but if realized for so many times, may have their beauty lessened till bring us tediousness. Persons are differents, everyone thinks, feels and acts in an odd form. Six and a half billion of individuals were born to be differents in shape, but equals in the capability to love. It was God, the Creator, that make us so.

Another day, on walking in the street, I saw a young girl smiling alone. She didn’t perceive me, and absorbed in her thoughts she kept walking and smiling on her way. What should she be thinking to smile of that way? For sure she was remembering from someone or something good, or commemorate some dream that came true.

In times of lots of nightmares, it is seldon to see someone smiling by the streets. And, by the way, how are your reserves of smiles? Did you know that it is necessary to dream to come back to smiling?

The same form you can relearn how to love yourself by taking better cares of your food, appearence and shape, there is something else still better: you can discover the plans of God to your life by start using five minutes to relearn of dreaming . It seems to be a short period of time, but it will be enough to build new plans and see new visions.

What could you think in five minutes? It doesn' matter if you are 12, 30 or 90 years old; dreams cannot be limited neither by time, space, nor by the gravity law. When we dream we are free.

Certain prisoner was on a chair ready to commit suicide. Around his neck was rolled up a sheet. He had awful nightmares and the evil insisted with him to kill himself. And suddenly, a memory brought in his mind and he saw his father holding his hands walking down in a fair till the tent of pastries. As soon as he realized where he was and felt that sheet around his neck, he went down from that chair and he came back to his mind.

When the Prophet Elisha ask to that widow: What shall I do for you? tell me, woman, what do you have in your house? She stopped, thought and responded that she had nothing. With a little bit more efforts, she remembered herself, that she ha nothing in the house but a jarr of olive oil.

Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few.And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones. So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another vessel." So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest."

To remember herself of that jarr, she just took a few seconds. What can be and to mean a jar of oil? Maybe something that was ever with you, and in your haste, you didn't take notice yet. But God knows how to make the multiplication miracle from one thing you have and maybe you judge worthless.

there is an evil that takes away the smile of the persons. They feel as they live in a dark roon, with not one ray of sun. But you have to be sure that the sun is always shining outside. If you begin to think you can start to dream. Five minutes are just you need to exercise your mind, your prayers and your freedom.

by Joao Cruzue
mailto me: cruzue@gmail.com

How to face depression

2008-05-17T21:35:00.001Z

a friendly hand

By Joao Cruzue

When you are in a hard and continued trouble, if you do not take an extreme care, you can go into a "death corridor". In some messages of mine, I always take references from those 11 years, in which I was unemployed. I know many other persons, faced and have faced serious struggles about health, familiar, sentimental, drugs, alcoholism... and maybe you are, at this moment, in the eye of a hurricane. It would be much selfishness of my part, do not let you know which attitudes I took to face those hard years. I tell you:There is a great purpose behind any crise.

During a depression, what you think determines the quality of our day. How, in fact, I do not know, but the devil can fill our mind with bad thoughts. You can think that such thoughts are of yours, but they cannot be. I remember sometimes, when I left home to walk and to pray a little. Two exercises, for body and soul. A immense sadness upon my shoulder, and then, I stopped and looked into my mind. Jesus, I said, I know, any day of these, you are going to give me response to my troubles, and when that day to arrive, I will can count to everyone how you, Lord, gave me the job I have never had before. That sadness and those bad thoughts desappeared and so I won the battle of that day. And day after days I did so. Two attitudes to benefit mind, body and soul.

If you be a watchman at the door of your mind you control bad thogths, you can attack one of the fountains of the problem that can be malignant. I listened this from the Pastor Eurico Bergstein in 1998 when he was 92. And, Bible says, in Proverbs 4:23 " Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the outflowings of life". An analogy in another words: do you know "trojans" and how to clean them? Well, in our lives we do not use anti-virus or ad-wares. We clean all bad "worms", "virus", "trojans horses" etc., by praying, casting and doing something.

A very important thing you shall know: there are thousands of persons facing the same problem and even much bigger than yours; so, it means you are not alone. It is a good idea to compare them. Maybe you do have a big trouble or maybe you are just looking at a "little mount of sand" in the beach, and thinking that it is bigger than it really is.

" Submit, yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." James, 4: 7. One form of subjection to God is to talk to him every day. When you pray you have the opportunity of changing your heart. The sadness will go out, like darkness when dawn comes. For prayer, I mean a sincere talk to Christ, opening your heart and telling Him everything. Do not pray repeating "The Lord's Prayers" 50 times... When you love someone, you do not repeat the same frases hundred times. It doesn't work.

When you pray you have to open you heart and speak about your feelings, hurts, pains, and better: your needs and about all your plans. Jesus is a wonderful person, and He is not a recorder of repeated frases. When you pray, you bring the presence of the Holy Spirit of God for near.

At certain time, I received a letter from a prisioner, and he gave testimony that he had committed an awful crime, and due to that, he was arrested and sent to the worst penitentiary of the State of Sao Paulo. Everyday he woke with a huge headache and a thought like an insistent voice saying in his mind. "You did that, you put shame on your parents, neighbors, no one likes you anymore. Do a favor for all and to yoursef: kill yourself".

The same pressure everyday. From time to time he was standind on a chair with a sheet in his neck. He lost his senses over that chair. But when he turned hinself on, he remembered of times on his childhood, and he could see himself walking along with his father to purchase pastries in a fair. After that thoughts, he went down that chair.

There is a wise proverb what says " Empty mind is workshop of the devil ". Prayers can be a part for the solution. But you have to look after other things to fill your time. God ( Jesus Christ ) can show you new ways while you are praying, to guide you to plan new things, while your victory is coming on.

"And be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God". Romans 12:2. It is a sequence of steps up: good, acceptable and perfect will. In the last years of my proof, Lord guided me to a awesome plan: to collect used Sunday Bible lessons, christian books, tracts, and bibles, to send, by postage, to groups of prisioners that had known Jesus behind jails. In two years and a half, with help of churches and some friends of mine, we delivered over 500kg of used literature to groups of christian believers in 28 penitentiaries.

And it all began through a letter in a pink envelope, the postman left at my door. That letter had a special addressee: the words of a stamp I had use on tracts and Gospel of John books. Detail: the last time I had used that stamp: six years! Then, that letter was a response of God from six years ago. And it was due that I heard the Holy Spirit voice deep and clear in my heart "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you, after many days, will find it" Ecclesiastes 11:1. I still remember: I closed the door of the kitchen and I sat down at the table with a pen and a diary. So I prayied first, and after, I started to write a plan to find and reach by letters, 50 groups of christian prisioners within 50 penitentiaries of my State in two years.

.cast your bread

And it was so, that at the end of two years, I had found, by letters, "brothers" from 48 prisions and delivered 29 boxes to 28 of them. Besides that, my mission with used christian literature became known all over the country through one gospel newspaper article that said: "After the Bible, those used Sunday Bible Lessons kept in your drawers or library, is the second best literature to be used in a church behind a jail.

My pastor, at the principle, desagreed, my family not agreed, but it was a plan from my Lord. I was really convicted that the Spirit of God had chosen me to do that work. I had no money. But even without money that business grew up. A Social letter cost only one cent, and I always had friends to support the mainly postage cost: the remitance of boxes of 15 - 20 kilos of literature. During three years, I used my own address as sender. Not one prisioner came to bother my family, although there be crime organization among that prisions.
Now, besides to pray I was involved in a plan. One mission. I had no time at all to think how unhappy I was. That job gave importance to my life. I was abandoned by friends, relatives, coleagues of ministry, but not by my Lord Jesus Christ. I got over 500 letters from ex-criminals. All of them asking or thanking for bibles, hymns books, tracts to evangelization.

At the right side of the postage agency, where during two years, I went to mail "social letters" of counseling to prisioners, there is a big Hospital. After 11 years posting hundreds of profiles, God sent a person to my home to tell me there was an opportunity to an accountant at that hospital and I should run to type another profile to leave there. And therefore, It makes three years that I am in charge of its accountancy. After eleven years.

I began on sending used literature and writting letters to prisioners; then as hired in a Hospital with many people very interested in computers. So, I find myself creating and writting messages ( like this one) in blogs. Now I am translating that messages from portuguese to english. You and people from 160 countries, around this world, will read then in the next two years. Who, in his perfect judge, would go to suppose that I would start gathering used literature to send to believers behind jails till to spread the word of God by a project to 160 countries?

So, I could see that behind every crise, depression and struggle of a christian there was one purpose. God has something to tell you and before your blessings, He wants that you have changes to be made and missions to be done.

" But thanks to God, that gives us victory, for Our Lord Jesus Christ "

This message needs to be spreaded.

by Joao Cruzue
mailto me: cruzue@gmail.com

...........

Does God answer prayers?

2008-05-17T21:33:00.000Z

Sermon preached by

Dwight Lyman Moody
(1837-1899)

Does God Answer Prayer?

I suppose there has been no word on Christians' lips so frequently at this time as the word "prayer," and there is not one in this hall who has not thought often, during the last forty-eight hours, of the importance of prayer.

During this week of prayer, they are a great many not only thinking about it, but talking about it. When there is a special interest and awakening in the community on the subject of religion, then it is that a great many skeptics and infidels, and a great many mere nominal professors of Christianity - we will not judge them - begin talking against "prayer."

They say, "The author of the world doesn't change His plans because of these prayers. The world goes right on. You cannot move God to change His mind or His doings." You hear this on every side. These young converts hear it. I have no doubt that many are staggered by it, and when you kneel down you say, `Is it a fact that God answers prayer? Is there anything in it?'

I think it would do us good in the week of prayer to take the word "prayer," and run through the Bible tracing it out. Read about nothing else. I think you would be perfectly amazed if you took up the word "prayer," and counted the cases in the Bible where people are recorded as praying, and God answering their prayers.

A great many think it is only the perfectly righteous and pure that pray. But you remember who it was who prayed in this fashion, "Lord remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom." You remember that Christ answered the dying thief's prayer.

We cannot but notice that every man of God spoken of in the Bible was a man of prayer. You have therefore very good authority and encouragement for asking God to hear your prayers, and for praying on behalf of others, as we are daily requested to do. Many are surprised at these requests. But many mothers and fathers are rejoicing that they sent them in. The prayers offered up here have been answered, and their children have been saved.

Last night I was more confirmed in my views regarding the power of prayer than ever. "This is all excitement," some say; "it is got up by earnest appeals that work on the feelings of people, and move their impulses, making them uneasy and anxious." Now, for example, there was nothing said last night to speak of, and I never was more disgusted with myself than I was on Sunday -night. It seemed as if I could not preach the Gospel, as if my tongue would not speak. But still the number of inquirers was extraordinary.

Last night, when there was no speaking at all, and when I just came in and asked that any inquirers might follow me into the moderator's room, taking a few with me, and expecting to come in and ask out a few more when I had seen these, the number was so great that came out without solicitation that I did not need to return. I saw over a hundred inquirers last night, and there were from fifty to seventy that I had to close the door on, being unable to see them.

A great many who have not been at the meetings at all, have been converted in their own homes. God is working, not we. Oh! that we would keep ourselves down in the dust, and every one of us get out of the way, and let God work. It would be so easy for Him to go into every dwelling in Edinburgh, and convict and convert ten thousand souls.

Look at the 6th verse of the 4th chapter of Philippians. "Be careful for nothing, but in everything" - mark that - "by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." He doesn't say He will answer all, but He says, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ."

He tells us to make our wants known; to make our requests known to Him by prayer and supplication. It is right to come and make our requests known. He has told us to come and pray for the conversion of souls.

It is said by many people that God does not do anything supernatural in answer to prayer; that the God of nature moves right on and never changes His decrees. Read the first six verses of the 20th chapter of 2nd Kings, and see - "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death: and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech Thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah, the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, behold I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord, and I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the King of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake."

Was not that a direct answer to prayer? Hezekiah was only praying for his own life; we are come together to pray for the life of others, and not their temporal but their eternal welfare. He was not praying for Christ's sake as we now do, but we can come to-day and ask God to save the souls of men for Christ's sake, not only for our sake, but for the sake of the beloved Son. He loves to honor that Son, and to see Christ honored. We can come now and ask Him to save souls, that it might bring glory and honor to the Son of His bosom, and glory and honor to the Son He delights to honor. "I will," He says to Hezekiah, "defend the city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake." That is only one instance.

Look also at Daniel praying. It was his prayers that took the Jews back to Jerusalem. It was his prayers that turned Nebuchadnezzar to the God of Israel, and brought Gabriel down from heaven to tell him he was greatly beloved. He had power with God.

See also how God answered Jacob's prayers and Isaac's prayers. All through the Bible we have records of the answers to prayers. It would be terrible to think that God did not delight to answer prayer.

Turn to the 20th chapter of 2nd Chronicles. There we read that the Moabites, the Ammonites, and others coming against Jehoshaphat, he was afraid, "and set himself to seek the Lord," and that afterwards Judah "gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord." That is what we want - to seek the Lord not only here in the public assembly, but alone. If you have got an unconverted friend, and are anxious that he should be saved, go and tell it privately to Jesus, and if a blessing does not come, like Jehoshaphat, spend a few days in fasting, and prayer, and humiliation.

"If when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in Thy presence (for Thy name is in this house), and cry unto Thee in our affliction, then Thou wilt hear and help."

When I go into the streets, and see the terrible wickedness, and blasphemy, and drunkenness that is in them, it seems dark, but I look up and think that God can repel those dark waves of sin and iniquity. Let us pray that God will bless this land of Scotland, bless and save all the people in it. It would be a great thing for us, but very little for God. May God give us faith!

Message delivered by Dwight L. Moody at the noon prayer-meeting,
Edinburgh, Scotland, Jan. 6, 1874.

.

How to reconcile with God

2008-05-17T21:32:00.001Z

by Joao Cruzue

Ten steps

The first step to be close to God is Faith. We live in a World that rationalizes things. “Everything you see or feel is real” Faith is not so. Faith is exception. Faith comes by hearing. To hear God’s word. For example: a person with an advanced cancer. Reason says: she is going to die. Then, someome comes, prays and he become healled. There is no explanation. That is: we could not explain, see, touch, feel, but faith exists and works.

The Christ gospel is accepted by faith. Impossible things can be possibles. Closed doors can be opened. Pain can be changed in days of joy, by mean of faith. The bible, also says: faith is not for all.’ Faith is like a seed in your heart, while you expect what you need for , it may grow up. But If you have all things under control, maybe you guess faith an idiot thing. In the other side, if you are at the, empty, sad, worthless, please continue to read and go ahead.

If you are thirsty, this message was written to you. Remember: by faith in Christ you can win many battles and the war, at the end. Faith, is the first step.

The second step is to reconcile with God. It seems to be quite simple but it is not so. There are some details you need to understand. To reconcile with God means: to accept Christ in your heart. How could it be? Find a place to be alone, and speak to Christ as if He be aside you. Speak to Him. Say, something like that: "Jesus Christ, if you do exist, please come and dwell in my heart, from today on". Talk to him, invite Him. He is very polite, He will only come if you ask Him for. Jesus Christ is a spirit but be sure, he is a real person like you. The way he will speak to you is a little bit differente that you are accostumed to comprehend. He speak to our own spirit. It seems one voice that talk to your mind or to your heart.

The third step is repentance. Look for a quiet place and talk to Him again. This time, you have to confess to Jesus Christ your sims, all bad things you have done during all you life. See this case. Certain woman go down to the river to wash dirty clothes wrapped in a sheet. For her clothes were very dirty, she became ashamed and did not unwrap that sheet. She, simply, went to the middle of the river, sank the sheet of clothes and went away home. She only wet her clothes. Therefore they were still dirty.

To wash your sims and clean your heart you have to wash every piece of clothe. One by one. To do it correctly, make a list of all and confess them to Jesus. All of them at once. Confess and stop to do them. When you get out of that place be sure: all things you spoke to Jesus, He , in fact, already forgave you. The Forgiving brings peace in your soul and joy to your heart.

The fourth step: abandon your "old" friends, because they should make all things for you give up. I mean: change your friends for new friends. Cut old and bad friendship.

The fifth step. - Ask Jesus( The Lord ) what you need for, and by faith, believe and await. All basic things you will receive. Healing, emploiement, peace, safeness. “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him” Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

The sixth step - forgive bad things people did against you. You must forgive to be forgiven. Forgive yourself, pray to Lord Jesus to help you to forget the past. In Bible there are these words: "...But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus". Let all your failures for behind. Dream about the future.

The seventh step is : read the bible everyday and join to a good protestant church, where people live what they preach, without hypocrisy. Learn as much as you can about the God's Word.

The eight step is: be saint. Leave sin away from your life. God has a compromisse with holiness. If you do so, the Lord will be your close friend.

The nineth step - whenever you go to a service at your Church, dond't forget to offer part of your income.

The tenth step - Find the will of God for your life and work to please Him. Don't be a useless and a lazy person. Work to Lord Jesus.

Conclusion: there will be many other steps, but these words are able to make your reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. Now you can know to speak your needs to God for yourself.

Greetings in the name of Jesus,

Author: Brother John Cruzue
mailto me: cruzue@gmail.com
.

Mission is

2008-05-17T14:17:00.004Z

A Short Answer

Rick Meigs

"Jesus told us to go into all the world and be his ambassadors, but many churches today have inadvertently changed the "go and be" command to a "come and see" appeal. We have grown attached to buildings, programs, staff and a wide variety of goods and services designed to attract and entertain people.

"Missional is a helpful term used to describe what happens when you and I replace the "come to us" invitations with a "go to them" life. A life where "the way of Jesus" informs and radically transforms our existence to one wholly focused on sacrificially living for him and others and where we adopt a missionary stance in relation to our culture. It speaks of the very nature of the Jesus follower."

Rick Meigs

Source: Friends of Missions

What God has done for me

2008-05-14T03:36:00.004Z

by Bruce

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

In moments of exasperation, people will often make the comment, "What has God done for me?" There is the insinuation that God has done nothing for them. That God merely resides in Heaven, unwilling to come to those who call upon Him.

Without God, I am a rushing river without water. Without God, I am a bright ray of sunshine without the sun. Without God, I am a book without words. Without God, I am a son without a father. Without God, I am a student without a teacher. Without God, I am a cloud without a sky. Without God, I am a path without direction. Without God, I am nothing.

What has God done for me? My grandmother was the wife of a farmer, who would have most likely been considered poor by the standards of the world. My grandmother endured a life of physical pain and illness. If enduring countless episodes of illness was not enough for one person to bear, towards the end of her life, my grandmother was stricken with a disease that caused her to become confined to bed, with the disease also causing her to lose the ability to speak. While I remember many things about my grandmother, like the way she would make chicken and noodles for lunch, the single thing I remember the most is that she was a Christian.

Towards the end of my grandmother's life, when I would enter my grandmother's bedroom and see her lying in bed, unable to speak and obviously in a great deal of pain, I would never see a frown on her face; I would see a glow upon her face, the glow of her love for God. In order to communicate, my grandmother would be required to write on a piece of paper. She never wrote the words, "What has God done for me?" She never wrote, "Why has God done this to me?"

Even in the throes of pain and pending death, my grandmother bore the
countenance of a true Christian; her love and faith in God were undaunted. My grandmother knew that without God, without Him, she was nothing. With God, she was something; she was a child of the King, who had received the promise of eternal life. By enduring the pain with an unerring faith in God, my grandmother's life served as testimony to her love of God, a love that was witnessed by those who saw the glow of my grandmother's countenance. By never leaving my grandmother's side, God showed the glory of His love for a faithful child; my grandmother. Even in unrelenting pain, there was the testimony of God's love and goodness.

Sometimes, it is through the sufferings of a Christian, not the miraculous healing, that brings glory to God. When my grandmother died, she did not leave me with earthly riches; she set for me the example of Christian living and dying. For my grandmother in both life and death, God's love was enough.

While the journey to Heaven for my grandmother was long and painful, there is no doubt that the glory of Heaven was worth the trip. Remembering the love that my grandmother showed for God, there is also no doubt that He was with her during the entirety of her trip, as He is with her now. My grandmother's undying faith in God saw her to the end of her journey and the beginning of an eternity without pain, without tears, and an eternity with a loving God.

What has God done for me? People will often testify to the goodness of God by proclaiming that God has healed their illness, God has provided their material needs, God has healed their broken relationships, God has eased their financial burdens, and in essence, God has done something good for them. God is indeed good to His children. Yet, there are also those occasions when pain and sorrow comes into the lives of God's children.

While God did not heal my grandmother's illness, His goodness, His greatness, His faithfulness, His love, and His comfort were enough for my grandmother. Without Him, my grandmother would not have been able to smile in the face of physical pain, and ultimately, the death of her physical body.

Without Him, how could anyone face the uncertainty of this life? Without Him, how could anyone face the certainty of physical death?

What has God done for me? When I begin to ponder what God has done for me, I consider the example of my grandmother. God did not heal her illness. God did not make her rich. God did not ease her pain. God did not her give fame. Why should my grandmother have given such glory to God? Love. As great as my grandmother's love for God, God's love for her was greater.

While faith may be the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1), love is most certainly the spark that causes faith to burn brightly. My grandmother's love for God gave her the unfaltering faith that God would be faithful to her and that His love would be sufficient for all things.

Faith. Faith that God's perfect will is always fulfilled, whatever the struggle. Faith that God's love will never falter, whatever the struggle. Faith that God will never leave our side, whatever the size of the opponent. Faith that God is omnipotent, whatever the strength of the opponent. Faith in the love of God for us, whatever befalls us. With God in our lives, faith is undying. Without Him, faith dies.

What has God done for me? God has loved me and, like my grandmother, it is enough.

By Bruce - http://blessingsforlife.com/blessings/doneforme.htm

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16)

.

University of Kerala - India

2008-05-02T16:45:00.006Z

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY

The University of Travancore which eventually became the University of Kerala was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharaja of Travancore, Sri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma who was also the first Chancellor of the University. Sir C. P Ramaswamy Ayyar, the then Diwan of the State, was the first Vice-Chancellor. It was the sixteenth University to be set up in India and ten Colleges within the State of Travancore which were affiliated to the Madras University became the affiliated colleges of the University of Travancore.

In 1957, the Kerala University Act, Act 14 of 1957, was brought into force and the University of Travancore was renamed University of Kerala. The University had three campuses located in three different parts of the State viz. Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode. In 1968, the University Centre at Kozhikode became a full -fledged University covering the Colleges and Departments located in Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kannur Districts of Kerala. The Cochin University of Science and Technology and the Kerala Agricultural University were set up in 1971 and in 1983, the Mahatma Gandhi University was established. With the establishment of these Universities, the area of the jurisdiction of the University of Kerala has been limited to Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha Districts and some parts of Pathanamthitta District.

At present, the University has sixteen faculties and 41 departments of teaching and research. There are 157 affiliated colleges. Of these, 46 are aided Arts and Science colleges and 14 are unaided . There are two Law colleges, 17 Engineering colleges (of which 14 are unaided), four Medical Colleges (two are self financing) seven aided Teachers’ Training colleges, 30 unaided Teacher Training Colleges, four Ayurveda colleges, two Homeopathy colleges, one Sidha Medical College, two Fine Arts Colleges, one Music College, three Dental colleges (of which two are unaided), four unaided Pharmacy colleges and one college of Physical Education. Besides these, there are four affiliated institutions conducting two year full time MBA course, five colleges offering MCA and ten Nursing colleges, all in the unaided sector. The University’s Engineering College in Kariavattom campus offers courses like Information Technology, Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics and Communication etc...

The University Departments offer a wide range of teaching and research at post-graduate, M.Phil. and Ph.D. levels. The courses in the Departments are conducted in the Credit and Semester System . The University has also extended the Semester System to all the Post Graduate courses from 2001. At present, about 32 colleges offer post graduate teaching programmes. Some of the affiliated colleges offer

M. Phil. courses and some colleges have been recognised as research centres. The University has also recognised a number of other institutions as research centres. All these institutions conform to the aims and objectives of the University and its programme of teaching and research.

The University’s colleges of Teacher Education (launched in 1990-91), offer B.Ed. with an intake of 180 students in each of the ten centres. The eight University Institutes of Technology offer courses like Computer Science, Electronics, Business Administration etc., Two centres conduct M. Sc. Computer Science and one UIT offers MBA.

The Institute of Distance Education caters to the needs of thousands who wish to enroll for different courses. In addition to the traditional degree and post - graduate courses, the Institute now runs degree courses like Computer Science and Computer Application. With the abolition of Private Registration in the post-graduate level, the Institute of Distance Education now offers all the PG courses which were once offered privately. As a result, the enrolment in the institute has grown threefold.

In addition to the Departments of teaching, the University also has several centres for studies and research in special areas. The International Centre for Kerala Studies, the Centre for Canadian Studies, the Centre for Australian Studies, the Centre for Comparative Literature, Sree Narayana Study Centre, Centre for English Language Teaching, Centre for Vedanta Studies, V.K. Krishna Menon Study Centre, Christian Study Centre for Cultural and Social Change and Centre for Gandhian Studies are functioning under the University. It has also been decided to start an Ambedkar Study Centre.

The Academic Staff College set up with UGC aid, offers orientation and refresher courses to the teachers in affiliated colleges. It has been rated as the best in the country.

The Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library, which has an invaluable collection of rare and precious manuscripts, has been made the State Nodal Agency for the preservation and documentation of manuscripts. A Digital Heritage Archiving Centre also functions in the Library.

The Department of Publications, one of the oldest Departments of the University, has brought out a series of glossaries in science subjects, popular science books and translations of classics. The five volume Kerala Sahitya Charithram written by Mahakavi Ulloor S. Parameswara Ayyar and the series Sahithya Nayakanmar (Men of Letters) are some of the most prestigious publications of the Department. The Chitra Ramayana, based on palm - leaf manuscripts, is another notable publication. The University has also published the first ever complete English translation of Hortus Malabaricus, the classical treatise on the plant wealth of Asia and the tropics, in 2003.

The seven volumes of the proposed eleven-volume Malayalam Lexicon have been released so far. The University has been publishing since 1946 the Journal of Indian History, a significant publication on historical studies and research. A quarterly newsletter entitled The University Herald is also published.

The Observatory, founded by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal in 1837, opens a world of celestial wonders to the students, through the computer-aided lectures and the facilities for star-gazing.

The University of Kerala has the honour of being the first University in India to ensure participation of students in the University Syndicate. The Academic Council and the Senate also have student members.

University Study Centres have been set up with UGC assistance, at Kollam, Alappuzha and Pandalam. These Centres cater to the needs of the students outside Thiruvananthapuram. Besides these, there are 13 Taluk Information Centres. The University also supplies information to students through the Helpdesks in affiliated colleges.

The Co-ordinator of the N.S.S programme and the Director of the Student Services organize youth welfare activities at the University level with the active co-operation of the University Students’ Union. The University Students’ Union has been very active since 1939 and has taken the initiative to offer to the students many community based and popular co-curricular activities. The University bagged the Indira Gandhi National Award for the best NSS activities in 2005

Department of Physical Education has gifted to the country outstanding sportsmen and women. The University is now planning to renovate the synthetic track of the University Stadium with Governmental assistance. The establishment of the Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education at Kariavattom, managed by the Government of India, is another land mark in the history of the University. Another significant development is the starting of several short term courses like TV News reading, Functional English, etc... in the Centre for Adult Continuing Education and Extension. This has enabled the University to realise the dream of ‘further education of the educated’. The CACEE received the UNESCO- NLM award for literacy in 2005.

During 1997, the University celebrated its Diamond Jubilee. The celebration involved the starting of new teaching Departments and setting up of new buildings like the International Youth Hostel at Thiruvananthapuram.

On 28th December 2000, the University conferred the Honorary Degree of D. Litt. on Nobel Laureate Prof. Amartya Sen. The other scholars honoured recently through the conferment of D. Litt. are Dr. K. J. Yesudas and Dr. Laurie Baker (2003).

The University’s Web site www.keralauniveristy.edu launched in January 2000, offers several services like downloadable application forms, question papers of past examinations, free resource links, subject gateway, etc,... The daily press releases and results of examinations are published on the site. The University also issues Degree Certificates with Hologram and over 112 security features. The Interactive Voice Response System helps students to get information over telephone.

The University of Kerala has widened its horizons by entering into academic cooperation with some foreign Universities like Valladolid of Spain and Claremont of the United States of America. The UGC has identified the University as one of the 26 institutions selected for promotion of India Studies by foreign students. The National Assessment and Accreditation Committee has placed the University at the B++ grade

Note: this post is a tribute to Aby Mammen, a friend and great brother in Christ from the State of Kerala, India.

A message from Psalm 43

2008-04-30T03:15:00.016Z

PSALM 43 IN THREE ACTS

Galilee heights

João Cruzué

Have you ever noticed the great message from Psalm 43? Even contenting some few lines, believe Lord spoke to my soul through it, and for sure He will also speak with you of a very special way.

Last year, I rich man invited me to train a new public accountant to his foundation. He would pay me $2,000 Dollars, as fees. But I ended all the trainning, but I received not a cent, neither the transportation expenses. A surprised and unexpectable loss, and I had done some plans about that money. Who knows, are you also facing things alike? Now let's listen to the Psalm 43.

PSALM 43

"Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For Thou art the God of my strength; why dost Thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

O send out Thy light and Thy truth! Let them lead me. Let them bring me unto Thy holy hill and to Thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy; yea, upon the harp will I praise Thee, O God, my God.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God.

*.*

FIRST ACT

In the first versicles, the author are realy upset complaining with God, once He was Almight, why did HE not solve his cause? But he imediately changes his mind, and pointed that it would not worth the pity to keep lamenting for the loss. Well, this is a very commom thing for you and me.

SECOND ACT

In the verses of the second paragraph, the psalmist prayed for a direction to be closer God instead to be murmuring. Believing that more blessings had God to give him than the enemy could steal, he renewed his soul because he could already glimpse victory days, and therefore he could imagine himself worshiping joyful to the Lord with the sounds of Harp. A sharply change!

THIRD ACT

After renewing his soul and to be joyfull by the presence of the Lord, the psalmist David told to himself: Why are you cast down of my soul? Why are you concerned, saddened, looking at that loss there behind? Wait just a little, a little bit more, because sooner you think , my soul, you shall see me worshiping and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord, with the sounds of harp, due to a blessing ten times bigger, just ahead.

THEN,

The will of our enemy is that you and I be eternaly focusing and lamenting sad happenings on the past. However, if we search the presence of the Lord - praying - as the psalmist did, we will be able to see the real big blessings are hiden in the future, waiting for us. That is what Lord always has told to my heart, and at this time, He is also speaking to yours.

“But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ!"
1 Corinthians 15:57

Brother Joao Cruzue
Blog Olhar Cristao
cruzue@gmail.com

Vatican - new rules for abuse cases

2008-04-18T23:25:00.006Z

New Rules Considered for Abuse Cases, Vatican Says

Cardinal Bernard Law - Victim of rape - Pope Benedict XVI

New York Times
by Laurie Goodstein and Katie Zezima
April 19, 2008

"A top Vatican official said on Friday that the Roman Catholic Church is considering changes to the canon laws that govern how the church handles cases of sexual abuse by priests.

The official, Cardinal William Levada, suggested that this was not something that the Vatican planned to make public just yet, but the revelation came one day after Pope Benedict XVI held a private meeting with survivors of clergy abuse during his first trip to the United States.

Far from avoiding the abuse scandal, Benedict has brought it up each day of the first three days of his trip.

Many survivors say they are now waiting for the pope to match his words with actions. They want to see the church do more to prevent priests from abusing children, and hold bishops accountable for keeping abusive priests in ministry.

Cardinal Levada, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the position held by Benedict before he became pope, heads the office that decides cases of priests accused of sexual abuse. He spoke today at a luncheon sponsored by Time magazine.

He would not specify which canons were under re-consideration. But he suggested they relate to the church’s statute of limitations, saying that his office has frequently had to judge allegations from years ago because the victims “don’t feel personally able to come forward until” until they are more mature.

Cardinal Levada discussed the possible changes to canon laws shortly after the pope arrived in New York on the second leg of his trip, a visit that included a speech to the United Nations, a Saturday Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and a Mass on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

The Vatican arranged the meeting Thursday between the pope and five victims of clergy sexual abuse at the request of Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, an official of the Archdiocese of Boston said Friday.

Disappointed that the pope would not be coming to Boston on his first official visit to the United States, Cardinal O’Malley had been lobbying the Vatican to have the pope meet with victims, said Barbara Thorp, director of the Archdiocese’s Office of Healing and Assistance Ministry, which assists victims.

“Cardinal Sean really had a very strong sense of how important it would be for the Holy Father, when he came to the U.S., to meet survivors,” Ms. Thorp said. “Finally, in response to the invitation from Cardinal Sean, the Holy See and the Vatican extended invitations to people to meet with him.”

It was the Vatican that selected the victims who were invited, said one of those who attended, Bernie McDaid.

“The pope directly wanted an unrehearsed meeting with free dialogue,” said Mr. McDaid, a former altar boy from Salem, Mass., who said that, as a child, he was molested by his parish priest, the Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham.

Mr. McDaid said he received a call about two weeks ago from Ms. Thorp and the Rev. John Connolly, who has overseen the Archdiocese’s efforts to respond to reports of clergy sexual abuse. The three met for dinner at a Cheesecake Factory restaurant at a mall in Burlington, Mass.

“They said the Vatican wanted me to be one of the people invited,” Mr. McDaid said. “I’ve been waiting seven years. I was ecstatic. I said, ‘Let’s go.’ It was very surreal.”

“They said, ‘keep it quiet,’ and that was it,” Mr. McDaid said.

Mr. McDaid spoke to Ms. Thorp and Father Connolly sporadically over the last two weeks, and reconnected with them in Washington.

Mr. McDaid said he and his mother attended the papal Mass on Thursday in Washington.

“I was so emotional when the pope apologized to us” during the Mass, Mr. McDaid said. “I cried, I didn’t believe it. That was the turning moment.”

Mr. McDaid then went to the home of the papal nuncio, the Vatican’s top diplomat in the United States, where he and four other victims met with Pope Benedict; Cardinal O’Malley; Ms. Thorp; Father Connolly; Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the papal nuncio; and other Vatican officials.

Pope Benedict XVI told the United Nations that human rights should be the basis for ending war and poverty".

Article Nytimes

Timeline: USA Church sex scandal

BBC News

"The main events in the ongoing sex abuse scandal involving the US Roman Catholic Church and in particular the Boston Archdiocese, which has been at the centre of many of the highest-profile accusations.

Cardinal Bernard Law (archive image)
Cardinal Law resigned, accused of covering up sex abuse by priests
1984: Bernard Law is appointed archbishop of Boston, and elevated to cardinal a year later.

1985: Sex abuse by priests becomes a national issue in the US for the first time, as Louisiana priest Gilbert Gauthe pleads guilty to 11 counts of molestation of boys.

1992-3: The Reverend James Porter of Fall River diocese, Massachusetts, is accused of abusing children in five US states in the 1960s and 1970s. He later pleads guilty to 41 counts of abuse.

1992: US bishops meeting in South Bend, Indiana, admit attempts by some of their number to hide abuse.

1993: First legal proceedings brought against Dallas diocese over sex abuse by the priest Rudolph Kos.

13 July, 1998: Dallas diocese forced to pay more than $31m to victims of Kos.

1999: Former Massachusetts priest John Geoghan indicted on child rape charges.

8 January, 2002: Vatican publishes guidelines on how to deal with paedophile priests, saying all cases should be reported to Rome.

Former Massachusetts priest John Geoghan
Geoghan was jailed for 10 years in 2002 - and later killed in prison

9 January: Cardinal Law apologises to victims of John Geoghan and promises a tougher line on abusive priests in future.

18 January: Geoghan convicted of indecent assault and battery of a 10-year-old boy, for which he later receives a 10-year prison sentence.

4 April: Two US men, in Florida and Oregon, begin legal action which symbolically names the Vatican for its alleged role in covering up sex abuse cases.

8 April: File released on the Rev Paul Shanley, alleging he publicly advocated sex between men and boys and still received the backing of the archdiocese for his ministry.

23 April: Pope John Paul II calls emergency meeting with US cardinals in Rome.

2 May: Paul Shanley arrested in California and later charged on three counts of child rape. He denies the charges.

13 June: US bishops approve "zero tolerance" national policy on abuse, but the Vatican demands changes to protect rights of priests.

17 September: Boston Jesuit priest James Talbot charged with raping and assaulting three teenaged students.

19 September: The Boston Archdiocese reaches $10m settlement with victims of John Geoghan, retracting a previous settlement of $30m which the Church said would have bankrupted the archdiocese.

Paul Shanley
Shanley was convicted of raping at least one boy

3 November: Cardinal Law apologises for "decisions which led to suffering".

13 November: US bishops meet in Washington and approve revised policy on abusive priests which takes account of Vatican concerns.

On the same day, Roman Catholic activists from the Survivors First group launch an online database listing 573 US priests accused of involvement in paedophilia since 1996, later dropping 100 of the names.

3 December: New revelations about eight priests in Boston archdiocese accused of abusing women and girls, taking drugs and supplying drugs in return for sexual favours.

6 December: Cardinal Law leaves for the Vatican, on the same day that he reportedly is ordered to appear before a grand jury investigating sex abuse allegations.

13 December: Cardinal Law resigns as archbishop.

The Vatican has demanded some protection for accused priests

April 2003: The Boston Archdiocese avoids bankruptcy by agreeing to sell land and buildings for over $100m to fund legal settlements to more than 500 abuse victims.

24 August: John Geoghan is killed in a Massachusetts prison.

27 February 2004: A report commissioned by the Church says more than 4,000 US Roman Catholic priests had faced sexual abuse allegations in the last 50 years, in cases involving more than 10,000 children - mostly boys.

1 July: The key accuser of defrocked priest Paul Shanley is dropped from the case by prosecutors.

7 July: In an unprecedented move, the Portland Archdiocese files for bankruptcy because of the huge costs from clergy sex abuse lawsuits.

The action halts a trial of a lawsuit seeking some $155m against the late Rev Maurice Grammond, who was accused of molesting more than 50 boys in the 1980s.

28 September: Prosecutors drop a case against former Massachusetts bishop Thomas Dupre, hours after he is charged with raping two children in the 1970s.

15 November: US Roman Catholic bishops elect Bishop William Skylstad as their new president. His Washington diocese faces bankruptcy due to the volume of compensation claims made by alleged victims of child abuse.

3 December: After two years of talks, the diocese of Orange County, California, settles a sex abuse lawsuit brought by 87 plaintiffs for an unspecified sum. The diocese later says the package is worth $100m (£53m).

7 February 2005: A US court convicts Paul Shanley of four charges relating to offences committed in the 1980s including rape and indecent assault.

June: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, California, agrees to pay $35m (£17m) to 33 victims.

August: The Diocese of Oakland, California, agrees to pay $56m (£27.5m) to 56 people.

December 2006: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $60m (£30m) to settle to 45 cases of alleged sexual abuse by priests.

January 2007: The Spokane diocese in Washington agrees to pay at least $48m (£24.7m) as compensation to people abused by priests.

July: The Los Angeles Archdiocese settles 508 cases of alleged sexual abuse by priests for a record-breaking pay-out of $660m (£324m). The deal is reached just before the scheduled start of a series of trials into abuse claims dating back to the 1940s.

September: The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, California, agrees to pay $198m to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by clergy".

BBC News
.

A Response to Benedict 16

2008-04-16T22:56:00.003Z

"My Response to Benedict"

By Christopher Hitchens
Washington Post - 16.04.2008

Tuesday, Pope Benedict said he is "deeply ashamed" of the scandal and assured Catholics that seminaries will not tolerate pedophiles. "It is a great suffering for the Church in the United States, for the Church in general and for me personally that this could happen," Benedict told reporters. "If I read the stories of these victims, it is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing, to give love of God to these children."

In his response, the Pontiff has utterly mis-stated the nature of the clerical pedophilia scandal. The scandal is not the presence of pedophiles in the church, but the institutionalization of child-rape by the knowing protection and even promotion (by non-pedophiles) of those who are guilty of it. The most grievous offender in this respect is Cardinal Bernard Law, currently an honored figure at the Vatican. This expression of contempt for the victims makes the Pope himself a direct accomplice in the very atrocity that he affects to denounce.

Source: Washington Post Article

NOW SOME COMMENTS:

John Matro:
All of you Catholic Church defenders need to watch the Oscar-nominated documentary "Deliver Us From Evil" and then get back with the rest of us. Until then, you don't realize the evil that you're defending.

Christie:
Benedict should feel ashamed about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. He has other things to be ashamed of. In the official biography of Benedict it states:
“His youthful years were not easy. His faith and the education received at home prepared him for the harsh experience of those years during which the Nazi regime pursued a hostile attitude towards the Catholic Church. The young Joseph saw how some Nazis beat the Parish Priest before the celebration of Mass.
It was precisely during that complex situation that he discovered the beauty and truth of faith in Christ; fundamental for this was his family’s attitude, who always gave a clear witness of goodness and hope, rooted in a convinced attachment to the Church.
During the last months of the war he was enrolled in an auxiliary anti-aircraft corps.”
If he had true faith in Christ, why didn’t he follow Christ’s example? Thousands of Germans, including women, went into Nazi concentration camps rather than support Hitler and the war effort. They put their faith in Christ. Some died. Some survived. But, they were faithful. Individual Catholics stood up to Hitler; but the Catholic Church and the then pope supported Hitler. Shame on them all.

Chris Everett:
The pope says "it is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing, to give love of God to these children."
In other words, the only betrayal the pope is aware of is the betrayal of the CHURCH and its mission to instill its particular brand of superstition into the populace. Upon hearing about the rape of thousands of innocent little boys and girls, the pope's first response is to turn to the priests and say "you idiots, you let them get away!"

Warren:
If there was any other organization that committed the acts of the RC church that organization would have been destroyed through the use of RICO and other statutes.

The church instead of protecting its children put them in harms way by re assigning criminal child rapists to new parishes with no notice to the new communities, even making them youth pastors. As someone who was brought up in the RC church I can not ever see myself ever going back to this religion which is nothing more than a criminal enterprise, with the morals of NAMBLA and the mafia combined.

Cardinal Law and his predecessor Mederios are the filth of the earth, they should be reviled throughout history.

jim flynn
Hitchens may be wrong about many things in this world, but the Pope's complicity in this matter is not one of them. During the time that someone (the Pope would have been good) should up and shouted about the immorality basic to this scandal all we heard were the voices of those Bishops who wanted to deny Sen. John Kerry at the communion rail. And oh how the Bishop in Lincoln, Nebraska (Brusky) fulminated about Sen. Kerry but said nothing about the pedofile priests--certainly neither Bruskowitz or the Pope said anything about Boston's Cardinal Law. These are sad events. . .a visit from the Pope doesn't change this unredressed transgressions.

John Boy:
Yes Hitchens is completely correct. After all, George Bush himself said, "you're either with us, or you're with the terrorists." And then he said, "anyone who harbors terrorists is equally guilty of terrorism and we won't distinguish betwee the two" (ok paraphrasing here but that's the gist of what he said). So if we are to believe Bush, and I'm not saying I do, but if we are to go along with his logic, rare as it may be, then that logic applies here too.
Hitchens is correct in saying that harboring the guilty makes one an accomplice. To allow Cardinal Law a high place in the Vatican after he spent years covering up abuse in his parish is a shame and smacks of hypocrisy. But we all know that the Catholic Church power structure is concerned with power, not with honesty. Power corrupts all, even (or perhaps especially) those who are in power in a religious organization.

Paul Leddy:
We all agree that the clerical pedophilia scandal has left a horrendus mark on its victims, their families and their faith communities. The Church has responded to what was in deed true: their knowing protection of the clerics and their re-victimizing the victims.
One might say that Cardinal Law has been “promoted;” it is more the case that he has been exiled and brought low.
This has been a shameful period for the Church, His Holiness admits this shame. There will never be “closure” for the victims; there is no “moving on” from the experience. It leaves a sad legacy to future generations.
The Good News still must be proclaimed by the laity, the religious and clergy. The whole Church must continue its mission: He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.”

Jon:
"I'm afraid this is true. It's not the seminaries' fault that the Pope's direct reports, the bishops, protected the abusers and tolerated the abuse by shuffling problem priests around.

Now, had the Pope made the same comments when the scandal first broke, I would give him the benefit of the doubt, figure maybe he's just still confused, and hope he would get up to speed soon on the problem.

But the scandal is now years in the open. The Pope has had plenty of time to get clear on the nature and scope of the problem.

So the Pope's comments cannot be excused. This is merely passing the buck. Since the Pope is clear head of his organization, the buck stops right at his desk. Pointing his finger at anyone else is ugly and wrong. With great power comes great responsibility.

It's time for him to stop passing the buck. A good first step would be to set an example with Bernard Law.

Either Law has no place in the Vatican, no position of responsibility and trust in the church, and no further right to represent the church in any way, or else the Pope is passing the buck. The Pope can't have it both ways.

And that is merely a first step. If the Pope cannot take the first step, nothing will change. As Jesus said, if I can't trust you in small things, I can't trust you in large things.

A good second step would be a message to all bishops that priests who abuse cannot be shuffled around and the matter hushed up. Bishops unclear on this should ask Law if the Pope is serious. Priests unclear on this should ask their Bishop. See how this second step would follow nicely from the first?

This is not rocket science. This is management 101.

And it turns out the Roman Catholic church is ideally set up for exactly this sort of management. There are clear lines of responsibility that go in a hierarchy directly to the top. There is exactly one man at the top, he's the Pope, and this gives him all the tools he needs to fix this problem.

So it also follows that the Pope cannot dodge responsibility here. It's his job and he has everything he needs to do it. If he doesn't do it, it's his failure and no one else's".

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

.

CHRISTIAN VIEW

Amazing Grace - the best of Aretha Franklin

NOV.07 NEWS FROM YOUCEF NADARKHANI'S LAWYER

Bible Gospel of John in Farsi

Iranians are thirsty for Jesus Christ

The journey from Christianity to Islan is a big lie

Letter from Iran prision: Pastor Yusef Nadarkhani

Photos Royal Wedding Prince William and Kate Middleton

Balade for Fukushima Children

Psalm for Japan

Hindu Boycots threaten christians in Orissa - India

A christian letter from India

John Schlitt - The grafting - Lyrics

Swine Influenza - Influenza A - Virus H1N1

Global Alert and Response (GAR)

Main content

What can I do?

What can I do to protect myself from catching influenza A(H1N1)?

What about using a mask? What does WHO recommend?

How do I know if I have influenza A(H1N1)?

What should I do if I think I have the illness?

Should I take an antiviral now just in case I catch the new virus?

What about breastfeeding? Should I stop if I am ill?

When should someone seek medical care?

Should I go to work if I have the flu but am feeling OK?

Can I travel?

A Mission voice from Latin America for World Mission

Leeland - Lyrics tears of the saints

President Barack Obama first speech

India Orissa Christmas 2008

News from India Orissa persecution 2008

President Barack Obama - The Day Before

Honoring Dr. King’s Legacy and Serving America

A response to Da Vinci Code

Reverend Rick Warren and Obama Inauguration Day

Greetings from Michelle Obama

Sermon: Rediscovering the lost precious values

A look on Word Mission

World vision History

Lyrics song New Hallelujah - from Michael W Smith new CD

Barack Luther King Biography

Barack Obama The 44th President of The United States

Christian families are displaced in Iraq

Indian christians rally before UN headquarter in New York

India - Christians denounce atacks by Hindu fundamentalists

India - Report of VHP persecution against christians

Letter to Indian government - shame on Orissa

Indian Christians - photos of persecution and death in Orissa

Sayings of Dwight L. Moody

Very special frases

Barack Obama under a muslin view

How Obama won and Hillary Clinton lost

Myanmar - news and prayer request

Earthquake - pray for chinese people

New photos of christian China church

Hands of Martha and Mary's heart

Five minutes to dream

How to face depression

Does God answer prayers?

How to reconcile with God

Mission is

What God has done for me

University of Kerala - India

A message from Psalm 43

Vatican - new rules for abuse cases

A Response to Benedict 16