Print Page - Prophecy and End Time Series.

I bet you all knew it was coming. Fair warning, I will not debate this. If you feel you must debate this thread. Take it to the Theology, Debate section and start a thread. That is two doors down from Propchecy.
Thank you.

Students Free to Thank Anybody, Except God
Monday, November 22, 2004
By Laurel Lundstrom

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland public school students are free to thank anyone they want while learning about the 17th century celebration of Thanksgiving — as long as it's not God.

And that is how it should be, administrators say.

Young students across the state read stories about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, simulate Mayflower voyages, hold mock feasts and learn about the famous meal that temporarily allied two very different groups.

But what teachers don't mention when they describe the feast is that the Pilgrims not only thanked the Native Americans for their peaceful three-day indulgence, but repeatedly thanked God.

"We teach about Thanksgiving from a purely historical perspective, not from a religious perspective," said Charles Ridgell, St. Mary's County Public Schools curriculum and instruction director.

School administrators statewide agree, saying religion never coincides with how they teach Thanksgiving to students.

Too much censorship can compromise a strong curriculum, some educators said.

"Schools don't want to do anything that would influence or act against the religious preferences of their students," said Lissa Brown, Maryland State Teacher's Association assistant executive director. "But the whole subject of religious toleration is a part of our history and needs to be taught."

Brown, a former social studies teacher, said she was surprised to hear schools aren't teaching about the Pilgrims' faith in God.

Teaching about a secular Thanksgiving counters the holiday's original premise as stated by George Washington in his Thanksgiving Day proclamation: "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor."

Such omissions also deny the Pilgrims' religious fervor in the celebration of Thanksgiving, as related by Harry Hornblower, an archaeologist who spent years researching the history of the holiday.

According to the Web site Plimoth.org, dedicated to Hornblower's research, the Pilgrims "fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean."

Thanksgiving, the site said, derived from their belief that "a series of misfortunes meant that God was displeased, and the people should both search for the cause and humble themselves before him. Good fortune, on the other hand, was a sign of God's mercy and compassion, and therefore he should be thanked and praised."

But researchers like Hornblower aren't mentioned in classrooms. "We don't focus on religion, because it is not a part of our curriculum," said Sandra Grulich, Cecil County Schools' elementary school curriculum coordinator.

Opponents of censorship worry that by omitting such religious material from lesson plans, educators are compromising their students' education.

"School administrators need to get a backbone," said Joel Whitehead, president and lawyer at the Rutherford Institute, a constitutional rights defense organization. "We are in real danger of throwing out cultural heritage in our country if we don't know what Thanksgiving is really about."

Mentioning that the Pilgrims were Puritan is about as close as most administrators are willing to step to integrate religion into their curriculums.

"We mention they were Puritan but students usually just understand that they had a belief system and not much more than that," said Carol Williamson, Queen Anne's County Schools' associate superintendent.

Thanksgiving is usually taught as a part of social studies and emphasizes cultural immersion.

"The Pilgrim Story is read in Spanish and English," said Alfreda Adams, principal at Mills-Parole Elementary School in Anne Arundel County where 70 Hispanic students attend. "We make sure that we celebrate all cultures."

The Mayflower, Pilgrims, Native Americans become enduring symbols to students before the two-day hiatus they are granted each year to spend time with their families.

"In elementary school we learned that the Pilgrims came to the Indians and they all had a feast," said Emmanuel Cobington, 13, a seventh-grader at Annapolis Middle School.

Emmanuel said his teachers never mentioned that the holiday was religious, but he added that he learns about different denominations in some of his classes.

"We learn about different religions like Judaism and Christianity in our social studies classes," he said.

Whitehead advocates for more classes like Emmanuel's and says it is harmful to students when administrators censor curriculums for fear of offending someone.

"Education is inevitably going to offend someone," said Whitehead. "We need to get beyond being politically correct, or everything will be glossed over."
http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,139304,00.html

Praise God for he is worthy.
Bob

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS GROWING IN THE UNITED STATES

by Thomas Horn

More Christians died for their faith in the twentieth century than at any other time in history, says Christian Solidarity International. Global reports indicate that over 150,000 Christians were martyred last year, chiefly outside of the United States. However, statistics are changing: persecution of Christians is on the increase in the United States. What's happening to bring about this change?

According to some experts a pattern is emerging reminiscent of Jewish persecution in post war Germany. "Isolation of, and discrimination against Christians is growing almost geometrically" says Don McAlvany in The Midnight Herald. "This is the way it started in Germany against the Jews. As they became more isolated and marginalized by the Nazi propaganda machine, as popular hatred and prejudice against the Jews increased among the German people, wholesale persecution followed. Could this be where the growing anti-Christian consensus in America is taking us?"

Tolerance of anti-Christian attitudes in the United States is escalating. Recently, a woman in Houston, Texas was ordered by local police to stop handing out gospel tracts to children who knocked on her door during Halloween. Officers informed her that such activity is illegal (not true), and that she would be arrested if she continued. In Madison, Wisconsin, the Freedom from Religion Foundation distributes anti-Christian pamphlets to public school children entitled, "We Can Be Good Without God." The entertainment industry and syndicated media increasingly vilify Christians as sewer rats, vultures, and simple-minded social ingrates. The FBI and the Clinton White House brand fundamentalist Christian groups as hate mongers and potential terrorists. The Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago warns that plans by Southern Baptists to hold a convention in the Windy City next year might foment "hate crimes" against minorities, causing some Christians to fear that speaking openly about their religious beliefs will soon be considered a crime. All this, while Christianity itself is often a target of hate-crime violence. We remember the students at Columbine, and the United Methodist minister who was fatally beaten and burned in a remote part of Chattanooga, Tennessee, to name a few of the recent examples of interpersonal violence aimed at believers.

THE REAL ENEMY

Manly P. Hall once wrote, "They are the invisible powers behind the thrones of earth, and men are but marionettes, dancing while the invisible ones pull the strings." Satan's string pullers have patiently manipulated unregenerate architects of American society for over five decades, networking both visible and invisible principalities to discredit Christian causes. Indicators reveal the propaganda blame-game against western believers is working.

Even a casual observance of the facts reveals growing isolation of Christians as a people group, especially school age believers. Faculty and peer efforts to convince public school children that America was not founded on Christian ideals, and that our forefathers actually wanted a secular society, permeates public school interaction. History revisionists labor to eliminate any and all contradictory historical evidence from public school curriculum, and mockingly stereotype Christians as unenlightened fringe.

A few years ago, Dr. Paul Vitz, then professor of psychology at New York University, worked with a committee that examined sixty social studies and history textbooks used in public schools across the United States. The committee was amazed to find that almost every reference to the Christian influence of early America was systematically removed. Their conclusion: the writers of the commonly used textbooks exhibited paranoia of the Christian religion and intentionally censored Christianity's positive role in American history.

Intolerant, Christ-hating censors of religious expression target the media and public school curriculum because this is the best place, outside of the churches and families, to indoctrinate children and thus manipulate the future political and cultural landscape. If one succeeds in separating Godly principles from public education and the media, they deny citizens the knowledge of good and keep them from embracing the laws of God. To that extent, they are pawns of evil and subvert and destroy both the message and the messengers of righteousness.

REAPING THE WHIRLWIND

In an article entitled "Our Violent Kids," Time Magazine reported "an upsurge in the most violent types of crimes by teens." Through television, "by the age of 16, the typical child has witnessed an estimated 200,000 acts of violence, including 33,000 murders," the article went on to say.

A major study by Dr. Brandon Centerwell of the University of Washington's Department of Epidemiology concludes that "exposure to television" is related to approximately one-half of the homicides committed in the United States, or approximately 10,000 homicides annually. Exposure to television and other forms of propaganda is also related to a majority of rapes, assaults, and acts of violence according to the study.

Censoring the Christian model and denigrating biblical values has resulted in a generation where every day in the United States:

· 437 children are arrested for drinking or drunk driving
· 211 children are arrested for drug abuse
· 1,629 children are in adult jails
· 30 children are wounded by guns
· 10 children are killed by guns
· 135,000 children bring a gun to school

Social scientists claim this generation's inability to define absolutes, and a growing pattern of anti-Christian behavior, may ultimately result in the collapse of the American superstructure, as situation ethics, AIDS and other forms of sexually transmitted diseases, the redefining of the family unit, and other abandonments of biblical standards of morality come to their dangerous and natural conclusion.

WILL WE EVER LEARN?

History students compare the French Revolution and the horror of persecution and torture under Robespierre, with the Revolutionary War in America that resulted in unprecedented cultural and monetary success. While citizens in America rejoiced in newfound religious liberty and freedom, more than twenty thousand people died in Paris's guillotines. The years to follow in France brought a reign of terror leading up to totalitarianism and Napoleon.

Why were the American and French Revolutions followed by such contrasting societal conclusions? The difference was that the American Revolution was fought on Christian principles, while the French Revolution was anti-God. The forces behind the French Revolution were out to eliminate Christianity as the enemy of France. A statue of a nude woman was placed on the altar of the church in Notre Dame, and the God of the Bible was proclaimed dead. Soon afterward, the French government collapsed.

Is the Fabian process of gradualism taking modern America down a similar path? Perhaps. For the past five decades Americans have allowed the liberal Left to defend the use of public funds for pornography, explicit sex education, and anti-Christian curricula. The Hollywood elite have denigrated Christian values and mocked the virtues of purity. The highest courts in the land have ruled with contemptuous decree against God, against prayer, and against the free expression of religion. Is it any wonder we have become the most profane and violent society in the industrialized world?

JUST THINK OF IT

America's Founding Fathers understood that all government is based on either a theistic or anti-theistic foundation. Adepts of history like George Washington understood that countries whose systems of government embrace national anti-theistic views ultimately come to ruin. Strong religious convictions therefore played a role in the development of the United States, which was established on Christian principles and open to all people of good will. In 1892 this was argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. After exhaustive deliberation, the Court said, "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. [It is] impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."

Imagine that. A nation whose laws and institutions are based on the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. Why, such a place would surely become the leader in education, invention, and the arts. Such a place would probably become a haven of religious liberty for more types and religions of people than has ever existed anywhere or at any time on earth. Instead of religious persecution and intolerance, such a place would offer hope and opportunity to the huddled masses of the earth.
http://www.worthynews.com/christian-persecution.html

The Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Article 1

The First Amendment was clearly understood and explained by the man who wrote it and the man who first applied it as law. Fisher Ames wrote the First Amendment. He also wrote that the Bible should always remain the principle text book in America's classrooms. John Jay, original Chief-Justice U.S. Supreme Court, said it is the duty of all wise, free, and virtuous governments to help and encourage virtue and religion.

The Constitution of the United States of America was penned by the man who was head of the committee which created the final wording. That man, Governor Morris of Pennsylvania, was also the most active member of the Constitutional Convention. He spoke 173 times. He also advocated that "education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God."

SUPREME COURT decision of 1897: Constitution is the body and letter of which the Declaration of Independence is the thought and the spirit, and it is always safe to read the letter of the Constitution in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.

H Our government exists to protect the Constitutional rights of the people. Those rights are protected by the Constitution and its Amendments as the law of the land. Only the people have the incontestable, unalienable, unencroachable right to change the laws which they have established. The elected and appointed officials may not change the law of the Constitution, neither can the courts change the law. Not even the Supreme Court can change any law. Courts only judge situations to which the law applies. Courts may not judge the law.

Not the courts, not the officials, not even the Supreme Court, have the incontestable, unalienable, and unremoveable right to change the law of the land. Only the people. They do it through their elected officials of the many states. But for such power to make laws to exist in the hands of a few appointed men, untouchable by the people, that is the exact thing our Founders denied. They set up the Constitution so only Congress should have the power to make laws, and Congress is elected by the people. Therefore Congress reflects the will of the people. Judges should only apply the law of the people, not make law for the people to follow. Judges are to follow the law of the people.

The Declaration and the Constitution were viewed as inseparable and interdependent documents. The Declaration of Independence appeals to God no less than three times. The men who wrote it declared within it their undying faith towards God for all generations to see and follow.

The ax has been laid to the very roots of our Constitution. The Supreme Court now makes laws. Not only does it make laws, it overthrows those which have existed for generations upon generations of Americans and calls them unconstitutional. Why? Because of the new morality that says, the end justifies the means, and if it seems good do it. And no man stood strong enough to stop that encroachment when it happened. The Founders would have denied what the Warren Court did on the grounds of Treason. Why Treason? Because the Founders believed that whosoever attacked the strength and education of Christianity attacked this great nation which was founded on the principles of Christianity. It's OK to exercise free speech on the streets if one wants to attack Christianity, but it is High Treason for a judge to throw down laws that were established to protect Christian education according to individual faith of Americans.

The feeble minded judges took a bold stroke at our roots and they got away with it. No one impeached them for Treason. Under the power of Mass Media, the public was given opium of "it's all for the good of the nation", and they sat back in their false humility and failed to stand up for Right.

Words and sentiments of other founding fathers can be given to fill a library; but these few show the whole idea to anyone to is willing to hear.

"You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention." George Washington

"Let...statesmen and patriots unite their endeavors to renovate the age by...educating their little boys and girls...and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system." Samuel Adams

"History will also afford frequent opportunities of showing the necessity of a public religion...and the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern." Benjamin Franklin

"Only one adequate plan has ever appeared in the world, and that is the Christian dispensation." John Jay, ORIGINAL CHIEF-JUSTICE U.S. SUPREME COURT

"The United States of America were no longer Colonies. They were an independent nation of Christians." John Qunicy Adams

History shows the intent and purpose of our founding fathers. Contemporary logic is wrong whenever it contradicts the clear explanations of those men who wrote the Constitution.

97% of the founding fathers were practicing Christians and exercised their faith in public office, at work, at home, and had it taught to their children in their schools. 187 of the first 200 colleges in America were Christian, Bible teaching institutions. Entrance to Harvard required strong knowledge of the Bible. The money was printed, "One Nation Under God." Noah Webster wrote the dictionary with Bible verses explained so children could understand the words of God and know the truth of Jesus Christ. Webster even wrote a translation of the Bible for the American speaking people.

You could hardly find a school in America that wasn't Christian based with the Bible as its main text book until the 1830's. That was when a humanist named Horace Mann worked for ten years to deceive the state of Massachusetts to produce its own state supported schools and leave the Bible out of those schools. As a result of the attack upon children learning the truths of God and Salvation, the American Sunday School League was formed during that same decade so those children who were deprived could still get Bible knowledge.

During the next hundred years humanism grew bolder in its attack against the founding fathers ideas of education and more and more schools omitted the Bible. Fewer and fewer remembered the exhortations of those men who established this nation to follow Christ and give Christian teaching in the schools, as the backbone and main course of our schools.

Resting in the arms of Jesus.
Bob

TRIBULATIONS
Matthew 24:8-9 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name."

Christians are under attack throughout the world today. In the United States Christians still enjoy freedom to worship God without suffering much more than ridicule, hatred, or discrimination at work and school. However in many other countries such as China, Sudan, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Russia, and many Muslim nations, Christian suffer much greater persecution and often times death for their faith. During the tribulation this suffering will be worldwide and will continue even to the point of martyrdom.

Apostasy

I Timothy 4:1-3 "But the spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. By means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth."

Churches today are becoming more and more ecumenical, embracing the New Age interfaith agenda, and denying Christ as the only way to salvation. Giving in to the politically correct media and a corrupt society, they have embrace homosexuality as an acceptable alternate lifestyle and preach tolerance and compromise in place of God's truth for the salvation of the world.

TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MARK OF THE BEAST
Revelation 13:16-17 "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name."

A family in Florida became the first people to receive the biochip implant. Each device, made of silicon and called a VeriChip, is a small radio transmitter about the size of a piece of rice that is injected under a person's skin. It transmits a unique personal ID number whenever it is within a few feet of a special receiver unit. VeriChip's maker describes it as "a miniaturized, implantable, radio frequency identification device (RFID) that can be used in a variety of security, emergency and healthcare applications."

Revelation 11:3, 7-10 "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophecy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth."

Television and the 24-hour news networks make it possible for people around the world to see the news now.

Rev 3:14-22 And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, who is the beginning of the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest: I am rich and made wealthy and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold, fire tried, that thou mayest be made rich and mayest be clothed in white garments: and that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear. And anoint thy eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous therefore and do penance. Behold, I stand at the gate and knock. If any man shall hear my voice and open to me the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him: and he with me. To him that shall overcome, I will give to sit with me in my throne: as I also have overcome and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.

This is today’s church. Most preachers use little Scripture, but lots of worldly stories. Many sing a great deal, but put little emphasis on repentance, obeying, serving, and fearing God, on the fruits of the Spirit, Bible prophecy, water baptism by immersion, and studying your Bible faithfully every day. Many are only entertainment centers that teach what their members want to hear. Many (so-called Christians) are so lukewarm or dead, they don’t even bring their Bibles with them to the house of God. Some famous ministers and Bible schools think this is the best church age ever, yet the Bible clearly shows it is the worst and most deceived.

The Bible gives us over 50 descriptions about the people at the time of the end. These fit the people of today perfectly, but did not fit the people of fifty years ago. Here are some,

A. Some would depart from the faith and go into devil worship 1 Tim 4:1 This is perfect.
B. People would mock about the last days and not believe 2 Pe 3:3; Jude 18
C. People would become lovers of themselves 2 Tim 3:1,2 Remember the TV commercials-"I do it for me"?
D. People would be disobeying their parents 2 Tim 3:1,2/.
E. People would be grateful for nothing 2 Tim 3:1,2.
F. Homosexuality would increase Luke 17:28,30; Gen 19:5; Roman 1:24,26,27
G. People would be without self-control in sex 2 Tim 3:1,2,6; Rev 9:21, Luke 17:28,30; Jude 7 Is this not the great sex generation?
H. People would love pleasures more than God 2 Tim 3:1,2,4 This is true. Shall we go on a picnic, watch football, or sleep. Church?-we can go another time. Our American motto "In God we trust" has become a joke. Remember, these were all predicted centuries ago as part of the signs that we are at the time of the end.
I. People would be taking drugs Rev 9:21 The Greek word for sorceries, in Rev 9:21 means pharmaceuticals or drugs. God’s Word is 100% right on every one.

Fifty years ago, many people seldom locked their doors at night. There was little or no profanity on television, radio, or in the movies. One of the biggest problems in public school was gum chewing. Those days are long gone.

Resting peacfully in the arms of God.
Bob

Since 9/11 the world has continually been subject to global "Wars and Rumors of War." Prophecy is being fulfilled in daily news, if you haven't noticed.

"What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Jesus answered ... Matt 24:6, 8; ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars ... the intolerable anguish"
Let us review the many, many instances of "rumors of wars" officially issued since 9/11, to see how thoroughly End of the Age prophecy is being daily fulfilled! We shall conclude with recent examples to demonstrate the sharp increase in rhetoric that should cause us to worry that the planned time for these threats to materialize may be getting close at hand

Matt 24:3 "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"

Matthew 24:33 "So also when you see these signs, all taken together, coming to pass, you may know of a surety that He is near, at the very doors."

Isaiah 34:16 "Seek out of the book of the Lord and read: not one of these details of prophecy shall fail, none shall want and lack her mate in fulfillment. For the mouth of the Lord has commanded, and His Spirit has gathered them."

One of the most important of these signs in Matthew 24 is found in verses 6-8, where our Lord promises that "wars and rumors of wars" shall constantly abound as the world "gives birth" to Antichrist.

Matthew 24:8 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines and calamities. This is but the beginning of the intolerable anguish and suffering only the first of the birth pangs."

Jesus' prophecy - noted above - has literally been fulfilled since 9/11, to a tremendous degree. You will be able to see the progression toward a domestic dictatorship through the news. You will see warnings of certain types of terror translated many months later to legislation. This reality is the reason you see so many countries "threatened" with Muslim Jihad. Global Terrorism = Global Dictatorship.

Imagine,........

Middle East explodes into war -- primarily between Israel and her Arab neighbors -- but with India and Pakistan going into full conflict. The Iraq war will become to be seen as the catalyst for this regional all-out war.

North Korea initiates a crisis that will threaten mankind. Since the news these past two years has focussed on her nuclear capabilities, we may be safe in assuming that the conflict will be nuclear and will carry a threat to destroy American cities with nuclear weaponry launched from North Korean soil.

China invades Taiwan -- This war would be the third war in the Illuminati World War III

Urban terror attacks in major cities in the United States, Great Britain, Europe, and possibly Australia. These attacks will begin shortly after the Middle East flames up in war and will likely continue all along the time spectrum on which the wars are occurring. At this time, each country suffering the planned urban attack will use newly acquired dictatorial powers (Patriot Acts I and II in America) to bring the elected government and the rights and liberties of its citizens down.

Here are some of the headlines that seemed to pop up very regularly.

"Our Skies Are No Safer Now Than Before 9/11"

"Al Qaeda Planning Spectacular Terrorist Strikes Greater Than 9/11" - Sometimes, the FBI is mentioned, and sometimes a different country is mentioned

"(Name a deadly material) Missing From [Name of location]" -- Names of deadly material supposedly missing are listed below:

1. Radioactive Material
2. Nerve Agent
3. Bubonic Plague
4. Cyanide Missing On Mexican Border

"Imminent Attack" Is About To Occur

"Iraq - Al Qaeda Said To Be Linked" -- Note: This claim has recently been demonstrated to have been absolutely false! Even Powell admits it!

"Dirty Bomb Said To Be A Threat" - Repeated over and over again - at least 15 times since 9/11

North Korean threat is repeated almost daily

Calls for a "Holy War" or "Jihad" are also too numerous to list them all

New York City constantly mentioned as target of a future major terrorist attack, including by nuclear bomb

"(Your city) Is Not Prepared For A Disaster"

"Attack on (Name of country or city) Sill Likely"

Pakistan - India potential nuclear conflict has also been in the news constantly since 9/11. The possibility of the entire Middle East conflict going up in all-out war certainly serves to unsettle people throughout the world. When Israel goes to war with her Arab neighbors, an India - Pakistan conflict would throw the entire region into nuclear war.

The list goes on and on....

Once the United States and Great Britain invaded Iraq, March 20, 2003, the world has been subjected to a daily "Wars and Rumors of Wars" emanating from this small nation! The buildup toward an invasion of Iraq began in early 2002, and continued until March 20, 2003; during this time frame, we heard such a continuous flurry of "Rumors of Wars", it was frankly unbelievable. Then, since we invaded, we have seen actual fighting on a daily basis with threats from within and without Iraq against our forces and our nation.

This does not include either the Israeli, Palestinian conflict or the Iraq war once it got started. Therefore, it is staggering to note that the total effect of "Wars and Rumors of Wars" present in the world since the 9/11 attacks is truly overwhelming! We have studied here only the "Wars and Rumors of Wars" generated by the "War on Terror" campaign.

Words simply fail to explain the total amount of both actual fighting and threats of fighting since 9/11.

You would have to go back to the early years of World War II, September 1, 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland to December 7, 1941 when the Japanese thrust America into war because of their attack at Pearl Harbor, to see a "Wars and Rumors of Wars" scenario similar to that we have just described in the paragraphs above! And, this is the comparison we want you to make! You see, the "Wars and Rumors of Wars" of World War II "gave birth" to the nation of Israel, just as Jesus foretold in Matthew 24. The terrible "birth pangs" of World War II "gave birth" to Israel!

We have literally seen a strong beginning to the fulfillment of the "Wars and Rumors of Wars," "sorrows" that our Lord foretold in Matthew 24 that would produce the "birth" of Antichrist. Truly, the hour is late. Soon, all the threatened terrors and wars about which we have been warned since 9/11 will occur, because they are planned, planned by God.

Go in peace to God today.
Bob

December 2, 2004 12:31 PM PST

Policy aimed at Scouts

By Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND - Under pressure from gay and atheist parents, Portland school officials are considering a policy that would ban the Boy Scouts of America from recruiting students during school hours.

Under the proposal, non-school groups would be allowed to send literature home with children, but the flier or pamphlet would need to be accompanied with a disclaimer, warning the groups' values may be offensive: "From time to time, you may receive materials from a group that holds values that may offend some of our families."

At a hearing Wednesday, gay and atheist parents called the policy a step in the right direction, but said it falls short of protecting their children from discrimination. They complained the pamphlets still would be handed out by teachers, lending credibility to the group's message. Boy Scouts officials applauded the district for agreeing to treat all groups equally.

"It's not our preferred way to recruit. But for the last year, the schools here have limited the Boy Scouts to putting papers on a table where no one picks them up," said Boy Scouts attorney Gene Grant.

The Boy Scout oath requires members to "affirm a duty to God" and calls for scouts to keep themselves "morally straight" - values which gay parents and atheists say are inherently discriminatory.

Boy Scout officials said all children and parents are welcome to participate in their organization, so long as they do not advertise or proclaim their sexual orientation or differing religious views. "If they do, they will be excluded," said Grant, who described the Boy Scouts' position as similar to the Army's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The draft policy comes as educators wait for the Oregon Court of Appeals' decision on a 7-year legal battle fought by Nancy Powell, a Portland atheist who charges that her son suffered discrimination after being recruited by the Boy Scouts in a Portland elementary school in 1996.

In her statement to the board, Powell said anything short of banning the literature in schools altogether is discrimination.

"There are self-esteem issues that result from not being allowed to participate with a group that was endorsed - sometimes just by means of a smile or a handout by school officials," she said. "You can't just say you don't support discrimination, while continuing to be a part of it by physically handing out materials for groups that discriminate," she told the board.

Andrea Meyer, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, quoted the expert testimony of a child psychologist, who argued that children take more seriously messages handed out by teachers and others in authority.

She urged school board members to consider either mailing the flier directly to parents, or else handing them out in sealed envelopes so that they children do not see them.

School Board Member Bobbie Regan, one of the driving forces behind the new policy, said a mailer to parents most likely would cost too much. But she said board members will consider all options, including the possibility of sending the material home in sealed envelopes, when they discuss the issue next year.

Former scout leaders and other community members argued that Boy Scouts and other groups provide enriching activities for their children. A volunteer youth basketball coach said the policy will discourage children from signing up for the sport and may also discourage volunteers. "Don't make it harder - or virtually impossible - for willing members of the community to help kids," he said.

"What one person sees as enrichment, others see as discrimination," countered gay father Steve Wagenhoffer, whose son came home with Boy Scouts literature last year. It was his complaint which triggered the current revised policy.

http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2004/12/02/news/news09.txt

The Boy Scout Oath........
Scout Oath

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Resting in the Lords arms.
Bob

Yes I am an Eagle Scout.

Santa, Yes, Jesus, No
Sunday, December 05, 2004
By Scott Norvell

A December parade in Denver will feature everyone from Chinese lion dancers (search) to gay and lesbian shamans, according to the Rocky Mountain News, but not Christians who want to sing yuletide hymns or carry a Merry Christmas message.

Denver pastor George Morrison said his request to enter a float in the annual Parade of Lights (search), which apparently only coincidentally happens in late December, was rejected because parade officials won't allow any "direct religious themes."

"It's a little confusing to me," said Morrison. "Here we have this holiday, Christmas, approaching, and Parade of Lights is suddenly changed into something where you can't even sing a Christmas song?"

The one-hour parade features elaborate floats with holiday symbols such as Santa Claus and gingerbread houses, plus an "international procession" of cultural groups.

The international portion this year features the Two Spirit Society, which honors gay and lesbian American Indians as holy people; a German folk dance group; and performers of the Lion Dance, a Chinese New Year tradition "meant to chase away evil spirits and welcome good luck and good fortune for the year."

Those groups are considered examples of ethnic diversity, not religious groups, a parade official said.

New Lows

The Sarasota Herald Tribune says some schools in Florida are so worked up over the thought of anything smacking of Christianity appearing in classes that they are banning seasonal celebrations altogether.

In this year’s winter concert at Freedom Elementary School in East Manatee students will be singing about America and patriotism instead of about Christmas and the holidays. Even snowflakes are verboten among the classroom decorations.

"There's a lot of rules and regulations out there," said Freedom Principal Gary Holbrook. "You're trying to be respectful of everyone."

High Irony

A Georgia principal who read a satirical ditty about how kids today can elect pregnant prom queens and dress like freaks but can’t mention God in school was accused of breaching that pesky line between church and state, reports The Associated Press.

Tommy Craft, principal of Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, apologized for reading a poem entitled "The New School Prayer" over the school's intercom. He said he just wanted to provoke a little thought.

But because the poem sounded sorta like a prayer and mentioned God, some parents complained. "Basically, I found the poem offensive, but even if I didn't, I still would believe it crossed the line between church and state,'' said Ginger Smith, whose daughter is a junior at Cedar Shoals.

The poem has circulated on the Internet since at least 1992 and is written in the rhyming style of the children's prayer that begins "Now I lay me down to sleep."

Sign of the Times

A sign outside a California church promoting a Sunday sermon titled "Why I Am Not a Muslim" has drawn complaints from some locals who say it is offensive to people of that faith, reports The Associated Press.

The sign outside the Church of the Nazarene in the San Francisco suburb of Sunnyvale is intended to promote a lecture by the Rev. Donald Fareed about his conversion to Christianity and attempts to close the rifts between Christians and Muslims since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"My goal is not to offend Muslims, but to communicate why I changed my religion," said Fareed, who was born an Iranian Muslim and fled after the Islamist revolution.

But local resident Jay Keller was among a handful who called the sign offensive. "I work with a lot of Muslims and don’t know why someone would put up a sign like that," he said. "They can’t possibly be oblivious to the fact that it might be offensive to some people."

'Most Festive of Seasons'

The mayor of Somerville, Mass., has to issue a written apology for daring to refer to the city’s upcoming celebration as a "Christmas party," reports the Somerville Journal.

Mayor Joe Curtatone's apology statement said: "A press release issued from my office last week mistakenly identified this month's City Holiday Party as a 'Christmas Party.' I apologize for the mistake and to anyone who was offended by it. On Dec. 21, City Hall will welcome the entire community to a party honoring all holiday traditions and celebrating this most festive of seasons."

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,140545,00.html

I think President Bush, knows whats coming...........

U.S. to Test Its Missile Defense System
Wed Dec 8, 1:06 PM ET
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The military planned to conduct the first full flight test of its national missile defense system in nearly two years, with the test coming possibly as early as Wednesday evening.

Weather conditions at an Alaska launch site would determine when the test will go forward, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency.

The $85 million test comes as the military is in final preparations to activate missile defenses designed to protect against an intercontinental ballistic missile attack from North Korea or elsewhere in eastern Asia.

During the test, a target missile will be launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, and an interceptor missile will fire from Kwajalein Island in the central Pacific Ocean.

Because the launches will test several new aspects of the missile defense system, Lehner said the interceptor actually shooting down the target is not a primary goal of the mission.

The test is the first in which the interceptor uses the same booster rocket that the operational system uses, Lehner said. It is also the first in which a target missile is launched from Kodiak.

In earlier testing, which critics deride as highly scripted, the interceptors went five-for-eight when launched with the goal of hitting target missiles.

Two previous tests scheduled for this year were delayed due to technical problems. The next test, which will attempt to hit a target missile, is scheduled for early 2005.

In April, the then-chief of missile defense programs, Air Force Lt. Gen. Ron Kadish, said failures in upcoming tests could mean "big problems" for the controversial program.

The Bush administration has made the deployment of missile defenses a key aspect of its national security policy, saying it is vital to defend the nation against missiles launched by hostile nations.

Critics charge the technology is neither ready nor affordable, and say it fails to address the greater threat of weapons of mass destruction brought into the country by terrorists or other means.

Sometime this month, the military expects to announce the missile defense system is operational. It is initially built around six interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska, as well as radars in the Aleutians, in California, and on warships at sea. In addition, two more interceptors will be placed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Kwajalein interceptor site is for testing only.

The first Vandenberg missile was scheduled to go in its silo Tuesday, but Lehner said that was delayed, and that it is now expected to be in place on Thursday.

Lehner said the missile defense system it technically functional except for mechanical blocks that prevent interceptors from being fired. Senior military officials are still working out chain-of-command authorities over who could order an interceptor launch during an attack, he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&u=/ap/20041208/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/missile_defense_1&printer=1

Praise God, for he is worthy.
Bob

White House Backs Ten Commandments Display

Thursday, December 09, 2004

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to allow Ten Commandments (search) displays on government property, adding a federal view on a major church-state case that justices will deal with early next year.

The government has weighed in before in religion cases at the high court, including one earlier this year that challenged the words "under God" in the classroom recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance (search).

The government supported a California school district in that case. Now, it is backing two Kentucky counties that had framed copies of the Ten Commandments in their courthouses.

The American Civil Liberties Union (search) sued McCreary and Pulaski counties, claiming the displays were an unconstitutional promotion of religion. The group won.

Justices will hear arguments, probably in February, in the counties' appeal and in a second case involving a Texas homeless man who wants a 6-foot granite monument removed from the state Capitol grounds.

The administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, Paul Clement, told justices in Wednesday's filing that Ten Commandments displays are common around the nation - and in the court's own building, the Capitol and national monuments.

"Reproductions and representations of the Ten Commandments have been commonly employed across the country to symbolize both the rule of law itself, as well as the role of religion in the development of American law," Clement wrote.

Clement said the displays are important in educating people "about the nation's history and celebrating its heritage."

The Supreme Court banned the posting of Ten Commandments in public schools in 1980.

Clement argued that courthouses are different from schools and often have "historic symbols of law."

Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University law professor and former legal counsel to President Reagan and the first President Bush, said that the government had been expected to file arguments in the case. "It would have been politically untenable and legally timid if the government's chief court litigator had not done so," he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,141017,00.html

Majority of Americans Think UN Is Anti-American, Survey Says
By Melanie Hunter
CNSNews.com Deputy Managing Editor
December 09, 2004

(CNSNews.com) - A national survey has found that U.S. voters consider the United Nations anti-American by a 2-to-1 margin.

The survey by the Center for Individual Freedom Foundation also found that conservatives believe the world body to be anti-American by a margin of 61 percent to 23 percent, while moderates agree with the belief by a margin of 52 percent to 27 percent, and liberals believe it by a margin of 41 percent to 36 percent.

"One of the things that's most striking about the results of the survey is the relative consistency of viewpoints among very diverse demographic groups," said CFIF executive director Jeffrey Mazzella.

"The U.N. has long attempted to impose a system of global taxation to redistribute wealth from citizens of the world's developed nations like the United States to developing countries around the globe," Mazzella said.

"In fact, Secretary General Kofi Annan amplified his call for 'alternative sources of financing' at a recent meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York," he said.

"If Annan had his way, American taxpayers would be sending even more of our hard-earned dollars to the U.N. in the form of global taxes on everything from the gas we use in our automobiles to our e-mail communications," Mazzella added.

"The American people clearly recognize that global taxation threatens our nation's sovereignty, especially when you consider that the U.N. would use that money against American interests," he said.

The survey of 1,200 voters was conducted between Nov. 14 and Nov. 16 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval.

http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200412\NAT20041209b.html

December 9, 2004

“Your Papers Please”

US adopts National ID: Homeland Security Now In charge of Regulations for all US States Drivers Licenses and Birth Certificates

By: Jonathan Wheeler

In a chilling act more reminiscent of the now defunct Soviet Union or the Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler, the United States Congress passed legislation yesterday that requires the States to surrender their regulatory rights over driver’s licenses and birth certificates to The Department of Homeland Security.

The massive US Intelligence Reform Bill weighed in at over 3,000 pages and though unread by individual Members of either the House or Senate nevertheless passed all of the legislative hurdles needed in order to become law.

President Bush lobbied hard for these provisions, only objecting when Senator Sensenbrenner attempted to require these same provisions for illegal aliens but which the President opposed. This provision was dropped from the final bill.

Beginning in 2005, the Department of Homeland Security will issue new uniformity regulations to the States requiring that all Drivers Licenses and Birth Certificates meet minimal Federal Standards with regard to US citizen information, including biometric security provisions.

Added to currently existing Federal Laws and Supreme Court rulings American citizens when born will be issued a Social Security Number that will be included on their Birth Certificates, along with DNA biometric markers. All birth certificates will also be registered in a Federal Government database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. No child will be allowed enrollment to schools or be entitled to either State of Federal Government benefits programs without first presenting a certified Homeland Security registered Birth Certificate.

Drivers Licenses will also contain DNA biometric markers and include the holders Social Security Number and be required for receiving and applying for all State and Federal benefits programs. Previous Supreme Court rulings have also upheld State and Federal Law Enforcement authorities right to request Identification from any American citizen, for any reason and at any time as not being violations of their, the citizens, constitutionally protected rights.

Major Banks and credit card companies have applauded the adoption of a National ID system as being important to counter fraud and increasing instances of identity theft. National ID cards with biometric markers will eliminate them from having to issue Credit and Debit cards, which for the first time in US history have surpassed the usage of checks and cash. Utilizing The Department of Homeland Securities centralized federal database, Banks and credit card companies will only require the presentation of a citizens Driver’s License to make purchases as all of the persons financial information, including credit and cash balances, will already be known in ‘real time’. (The combining of Homeland Security and Banking databases on citizen’s balances and purchases, along with their past and present purchasing information, has been allowed under previous Federal Laws including the Patriot Act.)

Also included in this bill is a law to require The Department of Homeland Security to establish a separate ID system for citizens to use prior to boarding airplanes, and which is eerily reminiscent of the Soviet and Nazi regimes dreaded Internal Passport.

Never before in our history have the words of Benjamin Franklin been so correct when he stated: "people willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both".

Today, December 9, 2004 will be one of those moments in time that future historians will look back on and pin point as being the day that the United States of American, and as it was founded by its forefathers, ceased to exist.

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index575.htm

Its starting here now. :'(

Court: Parents can't monitor kids' phone calls
Reverses robbery conviction based on mother's testimony of conversation
Posted: December 10, 2004
5:00 p.m. Eastern

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

In a decision hailed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled concerned parents cannot eavesdrop on their childrens' telephone conversations.

The high court determined a mother in the town of Friday Harbor, Wash., violated the state's Privacy Act when she listened by speakerphone to a conversation between her then-14-year-old daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, prompting the court to reverse the boyfriend's 2000 robbery conviction, the Seattle Times reported.

Oliver Christensen, 22, of Friday Harbor, was convicted partly based on what the mother, Carmen Dixon, heard him tell her daughter Lacey.

"The court said it is against the law to intercept or snoop on anybody's private conversation and that even a child has privacy rights," said Christensen's attorney, Michael Tario. "And further, the law says it is a crime for someone to do that, and that whatever is heard cannot be mentioned in court."

Carmen Dixon, 47, was incredulous, the Times reported.

"I just believe you have the right to know what your kids are doing and who they're doing it with," she said. "We were having a hard time with her as a teenager. She was sort of out of control."

Dixon said monitoring her daughter's phone calls was "the way I could keep track of what she was up to."

The ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing the primary issue was whether the use of an extension or speaker phone was considered eavesdropping.

Whether there was an exception in the case of parents and their children was a secondary issue, the ACLU insisted.

Justice Tom Chambers wrote in the court's opinion, "The Washington act, with its all-party consent requirement, contains no such parental exception and no Washington court has ever implied such an exception. We decline to do so now."

Attorneys for Washington state contended parents have an absolute right to monitor phone calls coming into the family home, the Times said, pointing to provisions in federal wiretap law allowing parents to tape and listen to their children's conversations.

San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney Randall Gaylord told the Seattle paper he has not decided whether to seek a new trial, because Christensen already has served a nine-month jail term for the robbery -- a purse snatching.

In the October 2000 phone conversation, Christensen told Dixon's daughter "they'll never find it" because he hid it "across a ditch in some stick bushes," according to Dixon's testimony.

Dixon said she took notes after activating the speakerphone.

Gaylord told the Times the court's position weakens the ability of parents to monitor their children's actions.

"I tell parents that they need to be involved in their children's lives, and I'm concerned that this will mean parents can't always do the right thing," Gaylord said. "I'm concerned that a 14-year-old's right to privacy now trumps the parent's right to be a parent."

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41880

Schools barred from telling parents of abortion
California AG says leaving campus for certain services confidential
Posted: December 3, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

California schools cannot inform parents if their children leave campus to receive certain confidential medical services that include abortion, AIDS treatment and psychological analysis, according to an opinion issued by the office of state Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

The opinion was prompted by resistance from teachers unions and groups such as Planned Parenthood to a Sacramento-based lobby group's efforts to help schools enact a "parent-friendly" policy requiring parental notification and consent in the wake of "medical emancipation" statutes that allow students to confidentially seek medical help off campus.

Previously it was understood that schools were allowed to enact confidentiality policies, but now the state's top lawyer is saying they are required.

In school districts across the state, contends Karen England of the Capitol Resource Institute, confidentiality rules, in practice, force staff even to brush off direct inquiries from parents who call to find out the whereabouts of a child.

"I couldn't even find out if my child left or that would be breaking confidentiality," England told WorldNetDaily. "The answer I might get is, 'I don't know where Susie is.' Because if you have agreed there is confidentiality, you must honor that."

Lockyer's opinion says schools must tell "both students and their parents that students are allowed to be excused from school for confidential medical appointments without parental consent."

Any school district that does not comply, he said, would "undermine the purposes and intent of the medical emancipation statutes."

California law allows minors to receive abortions, drug treatment, psychological analysis, AIDS testing and medical therapy without informing parents or guardians.

England, who notes Planned Parenthood has been present at school board meetings around the state to contest adoption of "parent-friendly" policies, contends Lockyer has no basis in law for his opinion.

Capitol Resource Institute attorney Amy Koons said, "It is amazing that the attorney general can put out such an opinion despite the fact that there is not a single statute or any case law that prohibits school districts from letting a parent know when their child is going to leave campus."

But Nathan Barankin, spokesman for the attorney general's office, argued that, on the other hand, there is no statute which says parental consent is required.

He acknowledged it makes sense that parents would want to intervene in any decision about health-related care during school hours.

"I don't know of any parent who does not want to know of any problem their child is enduring, so they can be there for their child and help them," Barankin told WND. "But the statute is designed in part to protect children who don't have parents they can rely on or trust. Perhaps the parent is the source of abuse."

He said parents should build the kind of relationship in which the child comes to them first on such a matter.

"Why does the child feel he needs to go to the school for such things?" Barankin asked.

'Construing' intent

Mike Spence, president of West Covina Unified School District, said his schools have required parental notice and consent for more than 10 years.

Lockyer's opinion, he asserted, is "simply a regurgitation of the arguments that we have shot down time and time again. The attorney general's staff appears to have started with a desired policy and then desperately, and not very successfully, searched for a legal rationale."

The opinion comes to its conclusion by combining two provisions of law and "construing" the intent of the legislature.

California law allows minors to obtain certain medical services without consent or notificiation of a parent or guardian, and the California Education Code states attendance is "excused" for certain purposes that include, but are not limited to, those medical services for which no parental consent is required.

Lockyer, therefore, concludes that because the Education Code requires parental request and school approval for other absences, "We construe this difference in language as signifying a legislative intent not to require parental consent in order to excuse a student for the purpose of obtaining medical services."

Koons contends, however, the "use of the word 'construe' means that the statute doesn't say what they want it to say, so they made it up."

"There is not a word in [the education code] that even hints that you can not pick up the phone and call the student's parent when they are away from school," she said.

Attorney general spokesman Barankin argues "the 'construe' language is a legal term of art that has been applied by courts for decades for the purposes of legislative interpretation."

"The interpretation we gave to the legal statute is the same interpretation that courts have been giving to legislative enactment for decades," he emphasized.

Spence, the West Covina district president, agrees with Koons, asserting Lockyer "fails to realize" the code has little to do with the authority of a student to leave campus.

"It has to with whether or not a school could receive compensation," he maintained. "Formerly, a school received funding based on average daily attendance. The distinction between 'excused' and 'not excused' was purely to decide whether the school would get compensation or not."

Lockyer's opinion relies on past decisions affirming a confidential relationship between a medical professional and a minor, but Koons argues that is not the issue.

"Nobody is disputing the confidential relationship between a doctor and a minor," she said. "But there is no parallel confidential relationship between a minor and a 7th grade math teacher. A confidential relationship between the doctor and student does not give the student the right to disclose confidential matters to others and expect them to keep the secret."

England said it has been universally accepted that a school has the discretion to create policy in which the parents would not be told.

"CRI felt that this was bad policy but legal. Now, the attorney general has joined in with those who believe that this is not discretionary, but required," she said.

Spence believes, however, he can get the 'opinion' of many other elected officials to contradict Lockyer.

"The attorney general doesn't get to dictate law," he said. "It is simply an opinion. This is not the determination of the legislature or a court."

Barankin says that while the opinion is not binding, it carries persuasive weight in court.

Practically, he says, it means "those school districts that have a policy on parental consent will need to take a fresh look at their rules as to how they can get in compliance with the law."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41747

I like this one. ;D

Anti-U.N. campaign picks up steam
50,000 sign petition to chase it from U.S.
Posted: December 13, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

The non-profit group, Move America Forward has collected over 50,000 signatures on petitions calling for the "U.N. to Get Out of the U.S."

The 50,000 signatures have been collected in just two weeks time and the rate of new signatures is growing exponentially.

"This explosive response is even better than we saw for the Recall Gray Davis effort," said Howard Kaloogian, one of the activists behind both campaigns. "The Oil-for-Arms money-laundering scandal has made the United Nations program the largest source financing terror in the world. Americans overwhelmingly agree, the U.S. must not knowingly harbor a terrorist-financing organization, neither should we contribute financially."

Move America Forward is about to launch a national television ad campaign to bolster its effort, in addition to television and radio advertising in the New York metropolitan area. The ad campaign will coincide with the resumption of congressional hearings into the U.N. oil-for-food scandal.

"It was bad enough to see the U.N. deteriorate into a body that embraced an anti-American agenda," said Kaloogian. "To add financial injury to insult, now the U.N. wants us to give it an interest-free loan of $1.3 billion, or support U.N. bonds, to construct a new palace. And even then the U.S. has to pay back 22 percent of that loan in the form of our annual financial contribution to the U.N. Let them build their new facility in a country that wants their presence, like France or Kosovo."

The first 60-second television ad can be seen online at the group's website. Additional television and radio ads are in the process of production.

Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reports the United Nations staff union is calling into doubt the much heralded e-mail petition that was started by Kofi Annan in response to mounting criticism of the U.N.'s leadership.

Annan supporters had e-mailed out a petition to U.N. employees, urging them to show support for Annan's corrupt leadership.

The United Nations staff union has called for a full accounting of who was behind the pro-Annan petition. Union officials believe the wording of the petition was designed to intimidate U.N. employees to back Annan or face serious retribution.

Move America Forward's co-founder, San Francisco's KSFO 560 AM talk-show host Melanie Morgan, said board members were hoping Annan would stay in power long enough to face the full brunt of revelations related to the oil-for-food scandal.

"It's clear that Kofi Annan is going to try to sweep all of the corruption and scandal at the U.N. under the rug," said Morgan. "But the central problem isn't Kofi Annan. You could remove Annan altogether and it wouldn't change the fact that there is an entire culture of corruption throughout the administration of the U.N."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41896

The impending death of Christmas?
Posted: December 11, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series. Look for Part 2 on Monday.

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

The spiritual Grinches in our nation are accelerating their war against Christmas as never before. And they are tragically convincing growing numbers of our fellow citizens – primarily those in our nation's public schools and public administration – that Christmas should be publicly shunned, replaced by nebulous substitutes designed to avoid offending those who are all-so-easily outraged.

But adherents of this colossal effort to create a secular utopia have forgotten two significant realities:

1. Our founders were men who explicitly embraced Judeo-Christian principles in the founding of this nation. Even those who were Deists openly recognized the need for the citizenry to fall to their collective knees and beseech God's favor. They understood the need to recognize God in our Constitution, in our courts and in our schools.

2. Our fellow citizens do not want a spiritual sanitization effort to sweep out all vestiges of Christianity from the public square. One need look no further than an AOL poll this week. An astounding 89 percent of respondents (as of Wednesday afternoon) answered in the affirmative to the question, "Should religion be included in public holiday celebrations?"

The so-called mainstream media often portray radical secularists as reasonable individuals, but the people at the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and other such groups are practitioners of an extremist movement that would completely outlaw God, Christianity and any remnant of such from the public arena.

And they are, in many cases, winning this war.

That's why this week the student members of the Columbia High School brass ensemble in Maplewood, N.J., were told they could not play any Christmas-related songs – not even instrumental versions. (We wouldn't want some student or parent to get offended by a wordless tune, would we?)

This is the milieu of outright censorship that many students face today. Their teachers and administrators have become convinced (primarily through fear campaigns by leftist groups) that even the most blurred mention of Christmas would be an outright constitutional offense.

They are wrong. Disastrously wrong!

Other anti-Christmas strategies have gained headlines recently:

* TARGET will not allow the Salvation Army to collect funds at their stores, meaning that the Army will lost about $9 million this year;

* Macy's and Bloomingdale's have prohibited the phrase "Merry Christmas";

* Denver's "Parade of Lights," which has outlawed religious expression, is now considering allowing a Christian group to participate in the event;

* New York Mayor David Bloomberg now refers to the giant Christmas tree in the city as a holiday tree.

Other examples abound as a few Americans attempt to oust Christmas from the public vernacular. Leaders of religious freedom-based legal groups around the country tell me that during this time of year they see a hefty incursion of anti-religious expression cases.

One of those organizations is the Orlando, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel (which now has a divisional office on the Liberty University campus), which is involved in hundreds of cases each year wherein attorneys protect the rights of Americans to express their faith.

Christmas remains legal

Mathew Staver, founder and general counsel at Liberty Counsel, says that that publicly sponsored Nativity scenes on public property are, in fact, constitutional as long the display includes a secular symbol. The government may publicly exhibit depictions of Mary, Joseph and Jesus or a Menorah if such scenes incorporates the image of Santa Claus or Frosty the Snowman.

In addition, public-school students may sing Christian Christmas carols such as "Silent Night" as long as they also sing secular songs, such as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Furthermore, schools may not prohibit access to religious books, because to do so discriminates against the religious viewpoint of the message contained in the book. Public employers may not discriminate against staff by prohibiting Christmas celebration.

Mr. Staver also says that privately sponsored nativity scenes erected and displayed by citizens or groups in a public area are constitutional and require no secular symbols to be included.

"This nation was founded by people who sought to freely exercise their religious liberties," Mr. Staver said. "We have no intention of letting these liberties fall by the wayside or be chilled every holiday season by uninformed or hostile government officials."

Mr. Staver tells me that all 600 of his attorneys are available to provide free legal aid to students or employees around the nation who face religious discrimination. Visit the organization's website for more information on Liberty Counsel.

Other similar religious-freedom legal groups are actively working to protect Americans' rights to express their faith. The task is daunting because leftist organizations are aggressively attempting to redefine America in their own Godless image. They seek a national mandate.

While I celebrate the fact that men like Mat Staver and others are standing up for American values, it is imperative that parents and grandparents ensure that their children understand the Judeo-Christian ancestry that is undeniable. We must also make certain that our children's schools are not gagging their rights to live out their faith in the classroom.

The effort to preserve our religious heritage and future requires the diligence of us all. May we, through God's grace, faithfully safeguard the wonderful Christian birthright of America.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41877

IIFWP Convenes World Leaders in Washington

The Analyst (Monrovia)

December 8, 2004
Posted to the web December 8, 2004

- Wesley Johnson Invited

"We are deeply honored to invite you to give a statement during the High Level Segment of our upcoming Summit in Washington D.C. entitled "Universal Values and Lasting Peace: Toward a New Model of Global Governance," December 11-14, 2004. The High Level Segment will be held during the plenary sessions on the morning of the first full day of the program, December 12th, 2004." By this invitation, NTGL Co-chairman Wesley Johnson is expected to be among other world leaders , opinion leaders and policy makers to attend a high level summit expected to be hosted. The Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) slated to take place in Washington, D.C., USA.
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According to documents availed to The Analyst by the President of Family for World Peace and Unification in Liberia, Rev. Augustine S. Arkoi, a letter to Mr.

Johnson, dated November 26, 2004, said, "IFWP considers this time in December between key elections in the US and in the Middle East (Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq) and the US President's inauguration January 20th as pivotal. It is a time of renewal, of new beginning and potentially, one of reflection and re-adjustment of global thinking." The letter, signed by the President of the Federation, Chun Hwan Kwak, on behalf of his leader Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, informed the NTGL Co-chairman that the federation believes that his participation in the summit could invigorate new and positive levels in its current global conversations about urgently needed "solutions".

The High Level Segment of the Summit provides an opportunity for world leaders to address the theme, "The United Nations, the USA, and the Family of Nations: Toward a Common Legacy of Peace," with a special focus on identifying the core, universal values which should underlie good governance and international relations, turning us in the direction of peace.

A summit document declares: "We stand at a critical juncture in history; it is both a time of crisis and a time of opportunity. How can we best move forward, beyond the current era of crisis and beyond the presumption that strife and discord are inevitable in international relations, and embark on a path to lasting peace for all humanity." The document further states that the IIFWP affirms the premise that humanity can become one mutually caring family of people and nations.

The Summit is itself an expression of this vision and this hope, the document noted, as we gather to consider the universal values, principles and practices that are required in order to turn a noble vision of peace into a global reality.

"As the United Nations reaches its 60th year," the document said, "as the United States of America enters its second tour with its current administration, and as we see a wide range of dramatic changes occurring around the world, in the Middle East, Africa, Oceania, Asia, Europe and Latin America, it is appropriate that we reflect on the current realities of global governance. At such a moment as this, leaders must speak clearly and constructively to world powers, such as the US and the UN, as well as to the family of nations." The goal of the High Level Segment is to further clarify for the global community and the UN and the USA in particular: That peace is possible when people organize themselves as, and relate as, one mutually caring family of people and nations; The need for integrated and comprehensive governance structures such as the IIPC and the viability of the developing Interreligious and International Peace Council initiative launched October 3rd, 2003, and Recommended specific steps that can and must be taken at this time.

The High Level Segment speakers are expected to address the issue of identifying essential universal values and core principles, and commitments, highlighting currently omitted universal considerations, considering the Summit themes of "Family, Faith, Freedom, and Peace," and Making recommendations for actions that must be taken immediately by the global community to ensure progress toward peace and prosperity for all.

Deal With Corrupt Officials - Amb. Blaney Urges NTGL If Liberia must stay on course to attract investors, it must discourage corruption by punishing corrupt officials, says the ambassador of the United States of America accredited to Liberia, John William Blaney.

Ambassador Blaney, speaking at a recent press conference, said he still sees the general lack of accountability in the Liberian society, especially in the public sector.

He implored the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) to strengthen itself against corruption and mismanagement, saying that all stake holders should support any effort directed against corruption.

He said the pledges made at the donor conference last February was an affirmation of a vote of confidence in the National Transitional Government of Liberia in its ability and will to stamp out corruption from the system.

"Liberia must insist that this trust is not betrayed by a greedy few," he said.

Recently the American Ambassador disclosed that the NTGL has been working harder with international partners to restore Liberia's voting rights and standing with the international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund amongst others.
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He however warned that Liberia will go off this track unless it strong moves against corruption.

He, notwithstanding, recognized the efforts of the NTGL in fighting corruption, which he said is evident by the deployment of international experts within the public sector, especially in key ministries and agencies.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200412080400.html

Quote from: FayeC on December 13, 2004, 01:37:03 PM

Quote from: 2nd Timothy on December 13, 2004, 11:12:43 AM

FayeC said...

Quote

Again, that is what Paul was talking about when he wrote in 11Thes.2 about the "falling away", and about the "son(s) of perdition" which would come to be exalted above God's people in that nation, and above God himself.

Where does it say son(s) of perdition or nation in that verse? Son is singular, and nation is absent.

He is talking about a falling away=defection from truth! While I would agree this appears to be happening in America, it would be missing the meaning to say it will only take place in America, or a particular nation. It will be world-wide!

Grace and Peace!

"It will be world-wide!"

I don't believe so..........If you notice, "Babylon" is the first thing John sees coming out of the sea in Rev.13. Thus, it is within Babylon that the worship of the beast takes place.

No the 7 headed Beast is what he saw rising out of the sea. Mystery Babylon is the woman riding the beast, not the beast itself.

Quote

"Son is singular"

The prophet Daniel referred to the "son of perdition" as "the people of the prince" in chapter 9:26.

I don't wish to debate symantics, but why would you ignore the Prince Himself Daniel speaks of, and not the people of the Prince?

Quote

And though Rev.13 says, the beast is a "man", that doesn't necessarily mean that he is an "individual" man....it most likely means that he's a "type" or "race" of man.

To make this view fit, you will also need to allegorize many other parts that speak about HIM singularly. Who is the little horn in Daniel?

Quote

"and nation is absent."

But "Babylon" isn't!.....And we know from reading the description of Babylon in Rev.18, that it is a distinct place, and that place is a dead ringer for America.

Babylon is not mentioned in 2nd Thessalonians. A defection from truth is, along with the son of perdition....I really don't see how you are tieing the two together. Revelation says that Mystery Babylon is the woman riding the Beast, she is not THE beast. SHE is a city, not a nation. Again, I know this view is widely held by many, but to interpret it as such requires changing the meaning of numerous passages to make it fit.

America might eventually become all of these things, but as it stands at the moment, it does not make plain sense in scripture at all to me. I have no problem agreeing to disagree however :)

Grace and Peace!

Quote from: FayeC on December 13, 2004, 01:47:10 PM

Quote from: blackeyedpeas on December 13, 2004, 12:29:14 PM

Quote

2nd Timothy Said:

He is talking about a falling away=defection from truth! While I would agree this appears to be happening in America, it would be missing the meaning to say it will only take place in America, or a particular nation. It will be world-wide!

2nd Timothy,

Brother, one doesn't need a very high IQ to determine that most or all of the nations of the earth are far more advanced in falling away than America. AND, it is definitely world-wide, obviously including America.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

CORRECTION.....It's talking about a falling away "from the God of the Bible". And it's talking about a spacific "place" where that occurs; namely "Babylon".

I don't think there is any argument over the defection from truth. The question is, where is a nation mentioned in 2nd Thessalonians, or that only a general region of men will fall away?

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

How will a nation sit in the temple of God shewing Himself that HE is God? This doesn't make any sense. This is speaking about an individual.

2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

Again, I see nothing said about a particular nation. Paul seems to make plain sense here about a specific person, the man of sin, son of perdition who will sit in the temple and declare himself God.

Grace and Peace!

Mormon Church Disciplines Author for Book

Mon Dec 13,10:15 AM ET
U.S. National - AP
By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer

SANDY, Utah - A former Mormon seminary teacher escaped excommunication after being put on trial for writing a book suggesting that early church history, considered sacred, was actually revised and embellished.

After a six-hour hearing before church leaders on Sunday, Grant Palmer was "disfellowshipped," or temporarily suspended, meaning he will retain his membership but lose certain privileges, such as being able to go into temples or serve in an official church capacity.

Palmer, 64, published "An Insider's View of Mormon Origins," in 2002, drawing a litany of criticism from Mormon academics.

Among other things, the book suggests church founder Joseph Smith did not actually translate the Book of Mormon "by the gift and power of God" from an ancient set of golden plates, as the church's followers believe. Palmer suggested Smith wrote it himself, leaning heavily on the King James Bible and personal experiences.

Palmer feared excommunication and continued to attend church prior to the trial. He said he still believed in its fundamental message even though he questioned its early history, and he wanted to remain a member.

Palmer, who served as a church director and educator for 34 years and has a master's degree in history from Brigham Young University, said his research stemmed from a growing inability to reconcile discrepancies between history and his church service.

Mormon scholars said Palmer's work was more damaging than similar books because of his long history as a church member and educator. Others questioned how Palmer could still be a true believer, as he professed, if he had so many doubts.

Church spokesman Dale Bills declined to comment on the case.

Palmer's case is similar to those of six other Mormons in 1993 who faced disciplinary hearings for writing about Mormon history, feminism and new interpretations of theology. Five of the members were excommunicated, and one was disfellowshipped.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041213/ap_on_re_us/heresy_trial

Clash Of The Economic Titans

PORTO CARRAS, Greece, June 20, 2003

(CBS) Addressing contentious issues likes AIDS and genetically modified foods, a summit aimed at European unity on Friday showed signs of discord with the United States

European Union leaders meeting at a summit in Greece failed to agree to match the United States in pledging $1 billion next year to a global fund to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, as the U.S. had requested.

Also Friday, the European Union's top trade official dismissed as pointless a U.S. plan to take a dispute over a European moratorium on biotech food to the World Trade Organization.

The United States has set $1 billion aside this year for the disease fund — but only if other countries come up with money as well. Otherwise, the U.S. contribution could be only $200 million.

Fund officials appealed to donors last month to boost spending after warning it would have to cut projects aimed at treating HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the world's hardest-hit countries, mostly in Africa and the Caribbean.

Officials said the fund was short $1.6 billion for this year.

The EU leaders issued a statement saying they were committed to fighting the diseases "on a long-term basis." However, with tight budgets due to sluggish economies, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende blocked the EU matching donation.

Of the 15 EU member nations, only Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Belgium have made separate commitments totaling $338 million this year.

The issue of GM food looms as the latest trade dispute between the United States and Europe.

The European Union imposed a moratorium on the farming and import of biotech foods and grains in 1998 because of safety concerns.

But recently, EU officials have been working on a system that would allow them to label genetically engineered food so that European customers can choose whether to buy it.

Biotech crops have been widely grown in the United States for years.

U.S. officials have said they are turning to the WTO because they worry that European anti-biotech sentiment is influencing developing countries, leading to bad decisions by their governments.

Some African countries rejected U.S. biotech food aid last fall, citing biotech fears.

Talks between the two sides broke off Thursday in Geneva, and U.S. officials said they would soon ask the WTO to order the 15-nation European Union to end the moratorium on grounds that it is an unfair trade barrier.

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said any U.S. move to start formal — and lengthy — legal proceedings at the WTO would be overtaken by events.

"I think that by the time we get to real litigation there will have been new authorizations (for genetically modified organisms sales) so that this question will be behind us instead of being ahead of us," Lamy said.

A fight over biotech products would join a lengthening list of high-profile WTO disputes between Brussels and Washington.

Earlier this year, the WTO ruled U.S. tax benefits for corporations operating abroad are illegal and gave approval for the EU to impose as much as $4 billion in sanctions on U.S. imports in retaliation. The EU is also fighting to overturn the Bush administration's wide-ranging tariffs on imported steel.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/20/world/main559677.shtml

Is Europe the New ‘Dark Continent’?
By Dale Hurd
CBN News Sr. Reporter

CBN.com – (CBN News) - When the Gospel went forth from Jerusalem, one of the places it took root was Europe. And Europe became a center of Christian civilization for more than 1,000 years. But there are signs that Europe's Christian era has come to an end.

A big deal was made of the fact that the first draft of the new European Union Constitution did not include a single mention of God. But most Europeans act as if the Christian God of history no longer exists. Although Europeans say they believe in some type of ‘God,’ church attendance in most European countries is less than five percent.

Less than half of the British public can name any of the four New Testament Gospels. Almost a third of all Dutch no longer know why we have Christmas day.

There is a new ‘dark continent’—the land that used to be known as Christian Europe. Today, many of its cathedrals are simply large museum pieces. They are ‘artifacts of an ancient religion, and a dead faith.’

Jessica Elgood is an analyst at the British research firm, MORI. She said, "Our polling shows that large proportions of the British public still believe in God — concepts of a Christian God. But very few actually practice that faith through ‘an organized religion.’"

She continued, "Only three percent of the public regularly attend church. And of those three percent, half of those are black—black Britons—who only make up about five percent of the population."

Richard Miniter lives in Brussels and is a correspondent for The London Sunday Times. He said, "When, as an American in Europe, you tell Europeans that you go to church on Sunday, they look at you like a museum piece—something strange."

Miniter also said, "There are more practicing Muslims in France than there are baptized Catholics. Out of a nation of more than 60 million Frenchmen, less than four million are baptized Catholics. A generation ago, that just wouldn't have been so."

Near Brussels, at Christian Center, an Assemblies of God church, Belgian Pastor Paul Devos preaches to a culture that no longer believes Christian faith is the answer to anything.

Devos said, "In the United States, people would more quickly turn toward, at least Christ, in general, and Christianity, because it's still somewhat part of the culture, in general. Here in Europe, we have gone beyond that point, and people do not expect anything from religion, apart from some very abstract hope that there is something after this life. [They think] for this life, there is no hope to be found in the church."

Reverend Alan Baker is an American pastor at Christian Center. He said, "Something I hear a lot is an ‘ancient spirit of hopelessness.'"

Baker added, "I've had people tell me, when they come off the plane getting into Belgium, it's as if there are spiritual hands around their throat. They just can't seem to breathe. It's a very heavy, heavy thing, a hopelessness."

It's not just a feeling. While most Americans say they are hopeful about the future, most Europeans in this poll admitted they are literally hopeless.

A poll conducted in 2002 found that while 61 percent of Americans had hope for the future, only 42 percent of U.K. residents had that hope. On the European continent it was even worse, with only 29 percent of the French saying they have hope for the future, and only 15 percent of Germans.

Miniter said, "The loss of faith, in Europe, is like an ‘unseen black star’ that still has a tremendous gravitational pull. They don't understand why their culture is failing. They don't understand why divorce rates and suicide rates are so high. They don't understand why so few European women have more than one child, and why on most European streets, you see more dogs than children. This is the impact of the death of real Christian belief in Europe."

Yet the European media never tires of mocking America's high church attendance as "something weird," or portraying President Bush's faith as a "weapon of mass destruction."

In a typical comment, written in the Sunday Herald, the writer says President Bush is "under the influence of the crackpot TV evangelism that is so peculiar to America."

European elites are especially worried that Bush prays a lot.

A writer for Britain's The Economist magazine wrote, "To Europeans, religion is the strangest and most disturbing feature about [America]."

European elites worry that "fundamentalists" are "hijacking" the country. They find it extraordinary that three times as many Americans believe in the virgin birth as in evolution.

Elgood said, "I actually think we don't understand it [American Christianity] at all, and it's one of these gaps between our cultures, that actually leaves us scratching our heads at each other. We don't understand it. It hasn't been a part of our life here for 40 years."

When Elgood's firm asked the British to name an 'inspirational' figure, Jesus finished at the bottom.

The Mori poll found that 65 percent of Britons named Nelson Mandela, 14 percent picked Prime Minister Tony Blair, 10 percent said 'none of the above', and six percent said Britney Spears. Astonishingly, only one percent named Jesus Christ as an inspirational figure.

Religion is an especially dirty word in European politics; many European leaders are atheists.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is not one of them, but during the Iraq war, when Blair wanted to end a televised address to the nation with the words "God Bless You," his aides talked him out of it.

Some analysts say religious differences between America and Europe are reaching the point of driving the two continents apart.

But could Europe be poised for revival?

A licensed Christian broadcaster in the U.K. at Premier Radio, Managing Director Peter Kerridge believes the demise of the church in Europe has been greatly exaggerated.

Kerridge said, "It doesn't matter how many Times headlines there are, saying the church is dead. The truth is, the church will never die."

Kerridge added, "We are seeing some decline, in some branches of the established church and huge growth in other areas of the church.

In London, the black Pentecostal church is exploding. Huge growth. And one of the hopes for the church in the UK is the re-evangelization of England by ethnic minorities. "

But in Europe, evangelization can be tough going.

Devos said, "What I always tell the congregation, our congregation, is that if we want to reach out, it has to go through personal contacts. We cannot go ringing doorbells and going from home to home trying to reach them, because they do not trust us."

Pastor Baker says the hopelessness of many Europeans can be seen in a conversation he had with a successful Belgian businessman.

Baker said, "[The businessman] was trembling, with tears in his eyes, and he said to me—literally face to face—‘Now pastor, if you believe the Bible is God's word, if you believe it's the message of life and hope, give me one reason, today -- give me one reason to go on living. If you can't do it, I'm taking my life right now. I can't take it anymore!’ Then he says, 'Don't look at me that way. There's nothing wrong with me. It's not just me, it's my wife, it's my children, it's all our friends—we have nothing to live for'—it's all across my nation!"

Though the church buildings still remain, European secularists assumed that Modernism would do away with religion. But secularism has created a spiritual void, a vacuum in Europe that beckons faith to return.

There is a real worry that if Europe tires of this spiritual chaos, then the religion

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/040301a.asp

ChristiansUnite Forums

Theology => Prophecy - Current Events => Topic started by: Shammu on November 24, 2004, 08:57:50 PM