Sudbury Christian Messenger - January 11, 2007
16/01/07 14:18
Full edition of the Sudbury Christian Messenger for
January 11, 2007
My Wish for You in 2007...
May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts.
May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills.
May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!
May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires
and may happiness slap you across the face
and may your tears be that of joy.
May the problems you had forget your home address!
In simple words
May 2007 be the best year of your life!!!
Thanks to Erika Mayhew for sharing this New Year's Blessing
As I've matured .......... I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes
suspicion, not proof, to destroy it.
Local News
1. Sudbury First Nations Church Building Urgent Need
2. Josey Frescura to speak at All Nations Church Men's Breakfast Jan. 13/07 Idylwylde Golf & Country Club
3. Cheryl Dunn Award-winning gospel artist Jan. 21/07 Valley Pentecostal
4. Reviews: An Inconvenient Truth
5. Travel to Medjudorje with Fr. Gabriel June 3-18/07
National News
1. The Institute for Canadian Values responds to three parent ruling by Ontario Court of Appeal
2. REAL Women of Canada responds to three parent ruling by Ontario Court of Appeal
3. Canadian Bishops Ask New Action to Protect Marriage
4. A Daycare Plan That Deserves to Die
5. Priest Says Beware of Science Experts Quoting Statistics and Saying Sky is Falling. Says real concern should be about declining state of family
6. 2007: A Good Year for Pensioners. Ability to split pension income began January 1st
International News
1. Pro-Life Prayer Letter: Rights for Disabled
2. No religion and an end to war: how thinkers see the future
3. Pro-Abortion Pelosi Insults Catholic Faith
4. Environment a Determinant in Marriage-Gender Decision, Says Study Danish Study Challenges Popular View of Sexual Orientation
5. Student's Rights Trump Principal's Preferences, Says Lawsuit
6. Dethroning the Monkey God
Words of Wisdom
Local News
1.
Prayer Request for Sudbury First Nations Church
Join us in prayer as we try to raise the money for our own church building. We are putting requests out from the James Bay down to Mississippi and everywhere between. We are looking for individuals, churches, organizations, and businesses who have a heart and vision to see a Native church established and growing here in Sudbury. We have a week to see if we can raise $100,000. If you would like to be a part of this exciting venture, or if you have questions or want to talk, please call me at 670-1884 or e-mail me at stu@tyenet.com Please pray that Gods will be done.
God bless,
Pastor Stuart Swartzentruber
2. All Nations Church Men's Breakfast - Speaker - Josey Frescura Jan. 13/07
Mark January Sat. 13th on your Calendar
Men's Breakfast @ Idylwylde Golf Clubhouse
9:00 to 10:30 am
Guest Speaker: Josey Frescura
$12.00 for a Delicious Breakfast
& Great Fellowship
Call or see Doug Jeffrey 566-9638 or
John Neely 671-0024 for tickets
Could you, please, reply to me by Tuesday? I need a count for the Club!
Thank you,
Doug Jeffrey
3. Cheryl Dunn Award-winning gospel artist Jan. 21 Valley Pentecostal
CHERYL DUNN, an award winning gospel recording artist, will be appearing at
Valley Pentecostal Church, 231 Martha Street, Hanmer, ON on Sunday, January 21, 2007 @ 10 am.
Cheryl is the Winner of the 2003 & 2005 "Country/bluegrass Album of the Year"
and is a multi nominated artist at the Covenant Awards, Vibe awards and 2005 Shai Awards.
No Tickets required. Free will offering will be received.
4. Movie Reviews from Local Viewers "An Inconvenient Truth"
a) Hi everyone,
Dan and I rented and watched this dvd about global warming called "An inconveniant truth" genre documentary with Al Gore. It was very hard hitting and well made and a must for everyone wanting to be well informed. God bless. Francine Courtemanche
"Eloquently weaves the science of global warming with Al Gore’s personal history and lifelong commitment to reversing the effects of global climate change. A longtime advocate for the environment, Gore presents a wide array of facts and information in a thoughtful and compelling way. The film is not a story of despair but rather a rallying cry."
Trailer (2:30)
Documentary
Rating: PG
In Theatres: May 24th, 2006
Davis Guggenheim (dir.)
Al Gore
For more info check out this link: http://www.climatecrisis.net/
b) Hello to all,
Today I viewed the above movie and I would urge all my contacts to rent it
... as well as view the "Special Features" which add a segment bringing the
movie's info up to August 06. If you have children, grandchildren etc. you
cannot help but be affected by this movie ... also, if you have any
education, media or political contacts, please encourage them to watch it as
well... the website is listed on the movie ...
Happy New Year,
Stephanie Palmer
5. PILGRIMAGE TO MEDJUGORJE
AND VISIT THE WORLD FAMOUS DUBROVNIK IN CROATIA
(THE PEARL OF THE ADRIATIC SEA)
JUNE 3 TO JUNE 18, 2007
(16 DAY PILGRIMAGE)
WITH FATHER GABRIEL CHADAREVIAN OP
A PILGRIMAGE IS GOING OUT OF YOUR WAY TO SHOW LOVE.
LET LOVE BE YOUR GUIDE AND COME WITH US.
FOR INFORMATION, REGISTRATION,
HELP WITH PASSPORT ETC...
CALL CHRISTINE CHARLTON (705) 674-7692
IF INTERESTED - CONTACT ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
LIMITED NUMBER OF SEATS AVAILABLE FOR THIS PILGRIMAGE.
BE PREPARED FOR MANY BLESSINGS AND HEALINGS.
National News
1. The Institute for Canadian Values responds to Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that a child can have three parents
Author: PRESS RELEASE
Date: Jan 03, 2007
OTTAWA - The Institute for Canadian Values is calling a ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal that a child can have three parents "unnecessary" and an act of "naked judicial activism" not unlike the same Court's 2003 ruling redefining marriage.
Yesterday's decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal that a child can have three parents was an act of naked judicial activism," said Joseph C. Ben-Ami, Executive Director and Director of Policy Development for the ICV.
The case involved an Application by the lesbian partner of a child's mother to be recognized as a legal parent despite the fact that the child's father still actively participates in the child's life. Her argument was that, although she is a de facto parent, she had no legal right to make parenting decisions on behalf of the child and may be prevented from exercising her authority should the child's biological mother die or become unable to make decisions on behalf of the child.
The case was originally dismissed in 2003.
Although he acknowledged the validity of the concerns raised, Ben-Ami dismissed them as justification for the Court's Ruling.
"Disputes regarding who makes legal decisions on behalf of minor children, including disputes between children's actual parents, are adjudicated every day in Canada on a case by case basis in the best interest of the children without the need to change the definition of family," observed Ben-Ami. "The unlikely possibility of such a dispute arising at some time in the future between these adults is no justification for this sweeping Ruling. The only explanation is that the Court saw this case as an opportunity to entrench so-called alternative family structures in law without submitting the idea to the rigours of the legislative process."
2. REAL Women of Canada
“Women’s Rights Not at the Expense of Human Rights”
NGO in SPECIAL consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
M E D I A R E L E A S E
Decision of Ontario Court of Appeal to Allow 3 Parent Families
For Immediate Release
Ottawa, Ontario January 3, 2007
Judicial activism has again created confusion, disruption and division in Canada. This occurred in the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal to allow a child to have three legal parents consisting of two lesbian mothers and the natural father, the sperm donor.
The court claiming that this arrangement was in the child’s “best interests” changed the intent and the wording of the Ontario Children’s Law Reform Act without apparently bothering to take into consideration the wider implications of its decision. If a child can now have three parents, why not four or six? Children born into marriages or common law arrangements which end in divorce or separation, may now be subject to multiple parents, unrelated to them by blood or adoption, having legal claims over them, as the adults in his / her life enter into other relationships.
In short, children are now pawns in an adult game promoting adult interests and satisfactions, but not necessarily the best interests of children.
The truth is, the courts were never established to decide these far ranging controversial social issues since the courts can only decide cases on the narrow facts before them. Unlike Parliament, the courts do not have access to extensive research facilities, nor to all the social facts involved in the issue, nor can the courts make compromises often necessary in such issues.
An appointment to the bench does not necessarily mean the acquiring of wisdom or common sense. The courts, therefore, should defer these complex social issues to Parliament since judicial activism leads to confusion not only to the child involved, but also to the infrastructures in society put in place to protect children and others.
- 30 -
Contact:
C. Gwendolyn Landolt Diane Watts
National Vice President Researcher
(905) 787-0348, (905) 731-5425 (613) 236-4001
(905) 889-1993
MR-0107
3. Canadian bishops ask new action to protect marriage
Dec. 21, 2006 (CWNews.com) - The president of Canada’s episcopal conference has written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, urging more action to protect traditional marriage after the failure of a bid for parliamentary reconsideration of same-sex marriage.
Marriage is “an issue intimately related to human naturee, which has been created male and female,” wrote Archbishop Andre Gaumond of Sherbrooke, Quebec, His letter, dated December 18, was published this week in the Western Catholic Reporter. He added that children prosper in households headed by a mother and father.
"We urge the Government of Canada and all political parties to do more to safeguard the rights of all children, to strengthen family life, and to provide basic protection for the social and economic well being of married couples,” the archbishop wrote.
4. A Day Care Plan that Deserves to Die - Christianity.ca
http://christianity.ca/news/social-issues/2006/12.001.html
5. Priest Says Beware of Science Experts Quoting Statistics and Saying Sky is Falling
Says real concern should be about declining state of family
Following is the text of a Homily given by Father Jim McLenaghen at St. Mary’s Parish in Collingwood, Ontario on the Catholic Feast of the Holy Family, Dec. 31, 2006:
On this feast of the Holy Family we stand on the cusp of another new year. Say goodbye to 2006, and welcome to 2007. In the media there has been much doom and gloom about the state of the planet in recent years. There are those who say we are causing global warming and that we are polluting ourselves to death.
I think we need to maintain a healthy scepticism towards the view that the sky is falling. The fact is scientists are disagreed among themselves as to the causes of global warming. I just read an article about two climate physicists from the Hudson Institute who have published a book with the thesis that global warming occurs naturally every 1,500 years.
They point out that the Romans grew grapes in Britain in the first century, and that it was warm enough in the C11th as well for grapes. Greenland was much warmer when the Vikings named it centuries ago. After all, they named it Greenland because crops grew so readily on it. Today it is much colder there than it was when it was named. The point is climate change is a natural phenomenon.
So don’t believe everything you read – especially when it’s all doom and gloom. Then there are those who fret about disease and sickness and how it must be all related to the pollution of the environment somehow. Again, I was reminded that things are not as bad as a lot of people think. A book out by the economist Indur Goklany points out that by every objective measure of the human condition – be it life expectancy, food availability, access to clean water, infant mortality, literacy rates, child labour, quality of life is actually improving around the world.
And it is the poorest in the world that are enjoying the most dramatic rise in living standards. In other words – we are making good progress in the eliminating the scourges of mankind – pestilence, famine, death and even war. For example, if you were born in Britain in the middle ages you would have been lucky to see your 30th birthday. The average lifespan was 22. By the 1800’s the average lifespan increased to 36; in the 1950’s it was 69; today the average life expectancy is 78. There are those who say that pollution, urbanization and modernity have all decreased the quality of life. Well before industrialization 1 in 5 children born, died before their first birthday.
When one considers the number of children being educated today, and the improvement in medical services for example, we’ve got it better today than any human being of any other era. This year the demand for oil from rich countries will fall in spite of economic growth. We get 12 times more energy out of a ton of coal today than we did a century ago. We’re living longer, healthier lives than any previous generation.
I remember my first semester at university when all of us had to read this book – I think it was called, “Limits to Growth;” it was all dire warnings about how we were going to run out of everything – well, 35 years later, it turns out that the so-called experts who wrote that book greatly exaggerated their claims. A lot of what they predicted turned out to be just plain wrong. Like the “Club of Rome” in the 60’s who also used shoddy science to make dire predictions – they turned out to be wrong too.
For example, the population of the poorest countries has increased by 83% since these dire predictions were made, but the amount of daily food intake per person has increased by 38% since the 1960’s. The only countries in the world that are experiencing famine are those countries with bad government and totalitarian economies.
I’m not being a Pollyanna about the world’s problems – there is lots wrong with this world; there’s lots that needs to be done – but let’s at least acknowledge the progress we’ve made and how lucky we are to live in this day and age.
Now, with regard to the spiritual health of our world and the state of the Church – it’s too broad an issue to discuss in one homily, but we can look at our own society and ask ourselves what is the health of the family in Canada today. Compared to the 50’s, it’s terrible. One of the disturbing trends in our society is to see children as commodities to be used and manipulated as adults see fit.
Wide open abortion, using embryos for stem cell research, same-sex couples insisting they have a right to children. No one has a right to have a child. Children are a gift from God. Before abortion was legalized, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, one of the founders of the National Abortion Rights Action League proclaimed that tens of thousands of women were dying from illegal abortions.
He later admitted that he was lying. When asked where he got the numbers he admitted he made them up. In fact, in all of the U.S. in 1970, the number of women who died from illegal abortion was 128 deaths. Yet the public sympathies were aroused by his lies and abortion was made legal. The number of unborn babies that have been slaughtered in North America is in the tens of millions.
Beware of so-called experts quoting statistics and telling you that the sky is falling. They often have a hidden agenda. In our first reading Hannah, the mother of Samuel, saw him as a special child, a gift from God, a sign of God’s favour to her. Every child is a gift from God. To kill an unborn child is a grave moral evil, and millions have died. The West is aborting its future as a civilization.
Today is the feast of the Holy Family, and the family, as an institution, with a married man and woman at the centre, is under attack like never before in the West. Contraception, abortion easy divorce, lack of religious commitment, relativism and an open hostility to all things Christian – if left to continue – will bring about the decline and fall of our civilization as we know it.
But we mustn’t be discouraged. It’s still God’s world. I was reading an article by a Frenchman named Rene Girard who says that a Christian Renaissance lies ahead for the West. I hope he’s right. Also, in the locutions given by Our Lady to Fr. Gobe, the Blessed Virgin says that a wonderful springtime for the faith is coming. I hope they are both right.
In the meantime, let’s also thank God for our own families. They may not be perfect but they’re all we’ve got. There is grace and love in families that stay together. They can help one another like no one else can. I was reminded of this by a movie I rented over the holidays. It was called “Little Miss Sunshine.” Talk about a dysfunctional family! They really had problems, and when they all go on a road trip you see how they pull together and help one another.
6. 2007: A Good Year for Pensioners
Ability to split pension income began January 1st
January 1st 2007 marked the start of income splitting for pensioners, which lets pensioners allocate up to one-half of their pension income to a resident spouse or common-law partner. This significant change will allow, for example, a typical senior couple with a single pension income of $30,000 to save some $1,100 per year in federal taxes, or 27 per cent.
Pension income splitting is part of the government’s Tax Fairness Plan, which increased the Age Credit amount from $4,066 to $5,066 and doubled the pension income credit to $2,000. The Tax Fairness Plan was one of the largest tax cuts targeted at seniors and pensioners in Canadian history.
These measures build on the series of tax reductions contained in Budget 2006, including:
• Cutting the GST from 7% to 6%;
• Giving $1,200 per year for every child under six to help with the cost of child care;
• The $1,000 Canada Employment Credit for working Canadians;
• A new Transit Tax Credit; and
• Tax measures to help tradespeople with the cost of tools.
-----------------------------------
2007 : Une bonne année pour les prestataires de pensions
La possibilité de partager les revenus tirés des pensions entre en vigueur le 1er janvier
Le 1er janvier 2007 marque le début du partage de revenus tirés des pensions, qui permet aux prestataires d’allouer jusqu’à la moitié de leurs revenus de pension à leur époux ou leur conjoint de fait. Ce changement important va permettre, entre autre, à un couple typique de prestataires qui perçoit une seule pension de 30 000 $ d’économiser environ 1 100 $ par année en impôt fédéral, soit 27 %.
Le partage des revenus tirés des pensions fait partie du Plan d’équité fiscale qui accroît le montant du crédit en vertu de l’âge de 4 066 $ à 5 066 $ et double le crédit d’impôt pour les pensions, crédit qui s’élève maintenant à 2 000 $. Le Plan d’équité fiscale inclut les plus importants allègements fiscaux jamais accordés aux aînés dans l’histoire du Canada.
Ces mesures s’ajoutent aux autres allègements fiscaux compris dans le Budget 2006, soit :
• Une réduction de la TPS de 7 % à 6 %;
• Une allocation de 1 200 $ par année pour chaque enfant de moins de six ans qui vise à aider à subvenir aux frais de garde;
• Un crédit canadien pour l’emploi de 1 000 $ pour les travailleurs Canadiens;
• Un nouveau crédit d’impôt pour les utilisateurs du transport en commun; et
• Un crédit d’impôt pour le coût des outils nécessaires à la pratique d’un métier spécialisé.
International News
1. Pro-Life Prayer Letter - Rights of Disabled
Dear Prayer Partners;
I'm standing in for Nancy today and would like to begin by wishing everybody a very Happy New Year and to thank all of you for your faithful support and pro-life efforts through out the past year.
The Pro-Life Movement faces many challenges but together with faith and trust in our Lord we will overcome them.
I'd like to start off the new year with some "good news" coming out of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Hopefully this will mean there will never be another Terri Schiavo case.
By John-Henry Westen
UNITED NATIONS, December 15, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The newly approved United Nations "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" which was adopted by the General Assembly Wednesday forbids nations which sign on to it from denying "food and fluids" to disabled persons.
Article 25 of the Convention, which deals with health, directs (in sub-section f) nations to "Prevent discriminatory denial of health care or health services or food and fluids on the basis of disability."
Commenting on the development, Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition told LifeSiteNews.com that "To cause death by dehydration by denying food and fluids to a person based on their disability or cognitive ability, such as Terri Schiavo, is to kill them by euthanasia."
In March 2005 Schivo died of dehydration and starvation after being intentionally denied food and fluids for 13 days. Autopsy results revealed she could have lived at least another ten years if she had continued to receive food and fluids.
Schadenberg said the section was "the most important" of the Convention "because if it is recognized it will act by protecting people with disabilities, who are not otherwise dying, from being killed by dehydration." Schadenberg noted that such deaths are a form of euthanasia.
"To kill a person by dehydration is the ultimate affront to the equality and dignity of the human person who is so devalued that they are even denied the most basic necessity, food and fluid," he said.
"Quality of life concerns can never justify euthanasia of persons with disabilities, whether by action or omission," he explained. "These deaths are often motivated by eugenic and economic considerations and they are sold to the general public based on a philosophy of end-of-life choice."
Concluding, Schadenberg said, "Article 25 (f) must be heeded by all governments as a way of ensuring true equality and freedom for all people with disabilities, especially the cognitively disabled."
We thank God for this development and pray for new opportunities to promote respect for all human life in 2007.
Please continue to pray for strong leadership at all levels of government to once again make a mother's womb a safe haven for her preborn child.
Please pray for all those with disabilities of all kinds that they never need to fear for their safety and will know they are loved and respected.
Let us also pray for all families raising children in today's society, that they have the courage to be strong in their convictions and faith. (I once had a priest tell me,"Never stop telling your kids when they are committing a sin because no one else will tell them...not their friends, not the media , not society. I thought that was very sound advice)
Yours for "life"
Bette Turnbull
2. No religion and an end to war: how thinkers see the future
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1980978,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1
3. Pro-Abortion Pelosi Insults Catholic Faith
by Judie Brown
The new speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, is showing what I consider extreme arrogance, even for a pro-abortion figure in public life who claims to be a faithful Catholic. Her handlers are making it abundantly clear that anything goes in their effort to showcase Pelosi and her life story, including the use of a Catholic Mass to cement her public image as a Catholic mother and grandmother.
That, my friend, is a disgrace that I cannot ignore.
As a practicing Catholic mother and grandmother, I am highly offended that this woman would use the influence of her new office to flaunt her Catholic label while advocating the brutal murder of preborn children without apology. This “mother and grandmother” from California’s 8th District in San Francisco has been one of the most outspoken advocates for unrestricted abortion in Congress.
Perhaps the only thing more egregious than her support for aborting preborn c hildren is her inability to comprehend the sacrilegious nature of her intended use of the Mass scheduled for tomorrow at Trinity University, a Catholic institution in Washington, D.C. To prevent such a scandal from occurring we have respectfully asked Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. to intervene and cancel any festivities at the Catholic college, particularly any attempt to honor Pelosi during Mass.
The reasons for this request are best characterized by quoting Archbishop Wuerl’s recent commentary, “The Human Quest for God.” He faithfully wrote, “a reflection on the moral order in the universe can lead us to a natural knowledge of God. We are aware that our actions should be just, truthful and temperate.”
The act of abortion is a grave injustice perpetrated against an innocent human being created by God in His own image. Those who advocate this act are deceiving mothers by suggesting to them that their children are nothi ng more than disposable problems and instilling in these mothers the idea that “freedom of choice” empowers them to make a decision that results in the death of their child. There is nothing temperate about the act of abortion. In fact, aborting a child falls into the category of one of the most intemperate acts currently engrained in the culture.
A thinking person with any sort of moral sensibilities would conclude that the bald-faced contradiction between advocating for abortion and heralding one’s attendance at a Catholic Mass is simply outrageous and should not be permitted. While it is usually the case that we should not prevent another person from attending Mass, which is a source of grace and blessing, this is no ordinary grandmother attempting to reconcile her abortion advocacy with her God; this is the soon-to-be speaker of the House making a public spectacle of the Mass for political purposes as she attempts to improve her public image.
At what cost does a prelate of the Catholic Church permit such an atrocity?
Archbishop Wuerl wrote in the same column that we “hear in the voice of our conscience,” which is a “manifestation of the presence of God,” the insistent call to goodness. “Conscience is described as the still, quiet voice of God within each of us,” he said. It seems to me that the archbishop would be doing Congresswoman Pelosi a tremendous favor if he were to quietly but firmly inform her that her staff’s public and repeated focus on the Mass as part of her “agenda” is an insult to her faith because she has not listened to the voice of God, but rather has succumbed to the voices of the culture of death. Otherwise, she would not champion abortion on demand as a “right” in America, nor would she be continually casting her votes against even the slightest pro-life legislation.
Our request of the archbishop is based on the most basic of Catholic teachings: That the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is both a reminder of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for us by His death on the Cross, and also an opportunity for Catholics, with contrite hearts, to come to Him and receive Him in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The Mass is not a political rally; the Mass is not a public relations event; the Mass is not an “extreme makeover” for an intransigent, pro-abortion politician.
Perhaps, as our public statements on this tragic state of affairs settles in on the minds and hearts of those closest to Pelosi, she herself will realize that her choice of venue is more scandalous than it is anything else. Perhaps that still, quiet voice within will invite her to cancel her public forays into a Mass that she might otherwise have attended without the public hoopla and without the disingenuous statements of those who work for her.
Perhaps, as Archbishop Wuerl wrote, Pelosi will come on h er knees before the Lord, publicly repudiate her support for abortion, human embryonic stem cell research and other crimes against life, and “respond to God’s loving call with a ‘yes’ of faith.”
If not, we hope and pray that Wuerl intervenes for the sake of every believing Catholic, young and old, who knows that every single abortion is an act of murder. For the sake of all those who believe, we beseech the archbishop to act in defense of Christ, regardless of headlines or public image. We need his leadership and, as a Catholic grandmother myself, I realize that Pelosi desperately needs his moral guidance as well.
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Read more articles like this at HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE!
http://www.humanevents
4. Environment a Determinant in Marriage-Gender Decision, Says Study
Danish Study Challenges Popular View of Sexual Orientation
American Family Association - AgapePress news
http://headlines.agapepress.org:80/archive/1/afa/22007b.asp
5.
Student's Rights Trump Principal's Preferences, Says Lawsuit
News from Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/32007a.asp
Pro-life student fights for rights in US high school
Jewish Rabbi: If Catholic Leaders Rally, Jews and Evangelicals Would Follow
"We need bishops and cardinals to be out there, leading the flock" in "moral counterattack"
By Cassidy Bugos
NEW YORK, January 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Wednesday, January 3, LifeSiteNews.com published a press release from Rabbi Yehuda Levin preceding his emergency meeting with Vatican officials. The meeting was to discuss how the Orthodox Jewish community could unite with the Catholic Church to combat the widespread 'homosexualization' of the Holy Land and of Western Civilization...
The full text of the story is available at:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jan/07010409.html
6. DETHRONING THE MONKEY GOD
Catholics, Intelligent Design & Darwin's Theory
January 2007By Mark Cole
DETHRONING THE MONKEY GOD
Catholics, Intelligent Design & Darwin's Theory
By Mark Cole
January 2007
In October 2004 a media firestorm engulfed the Dover School Board in Pennsylvania when it required that teachers read a statement about Intelligent Design in the classroom.
This was no isolated incident. Darwinian evolution enjoyed the status of an unquestioned orthodoxy for decades, but now it has suffered an ever-swelling number of challenges. Thanks to the work of a small number of scientists, the concept of Intelligent Design (ID) has become part of our public discourse -- and scientists who once disdained any effort to answer creationist challenges are now entering public debates with some of the most prominent members of the ID movement.
Many Catholics have no idea what to make of all this. After all, isn't ID merely the latest disguise for a creationism based on an overly literal Fundamentalist interpretation of Scripture? Didn't Pope John Paul II endorse evolution? Aren't there serious philosophical problems with any scientific attempt to identify design in nature?
Read full article: http://www.newoxfordreview.com/article.jsp?did=0107-cole
To learn more about New Oxford Review, or to become a subscriber please visit us at http://www.newoxfordreview.org. No bozos or sissies, please!
Words of Wisdom
I am Third
There was a boy who was very popular among others his age. He was an excellent leader in his school groups. One of his friends visited him and saw a homemade plaque in his room with the words "I Am Third" on it. His friend asked him what it meant and he replied, "It is the motto I try to use in my life. It means "God is first, Others are second, and I am Third.'"
The driving force in our lives should be trying to please God. Secondly, we should take into consideration the needs and pleasures of others. With our own pleasures subordinated, we will truly be the humble servants of God.
Born to Victory
"I have told you these things so that in Me you may have perfect peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer...I have overcome the world."
(John 16:33, Amp)
Jesus said as long as you live in the world, you're going to have trouble. (I can vouch for that!) But you're not just in the world. You're in JESUS in the world, and that makes all the difference. You're in Him and He's overcome every kind of trouble there is.
As God's child, you're not the defeated trying to get victory. You're the overcomer, and Satan's trying to rob you of the victory that already belongs to you.
When you made Jesus the Lord of your life, you were born into victory... because the Victor came to live in you. Think about it. The victorious Jesus. The Anointed One. The glorified and resurrected Lord. The Ruler of the Universe.
Cheer up, my friend. Have "perfect peace and confidence." That's Jesus who lives in you!
Scripture Study: John 16:15-33
Look Up!
"Consider [Jesus] that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."
(Hebrews 12:3)
Look up...because in times like these, your very life may depend on it.
Some time ago, the Lord showed me that a spirit of weariness is trying to work its way into our lives these days through all the pressure and bad news that surrounds us. It's working to get our eyes off the Word of God by bombarding us with negative forces. It's trying to get us to look down at defeat instead of up at Jesus.
If you let that happen, your spirit man will begin to lose his dominion. And the Word tells us what the results of that is. It says you will "be wearied and faint in your minds."
Jesus put it this way in Mark 4. He said that when the cares of this world enter into your heart and mind, they'll choke the Word and cause it to become unfruitful. And since your faith is the product of the Word, that means your faith will wither. Once that happens, you're headed for disaster.
What can you do to stop this chain reaction of weariness?
Look up! Get your eyes back on Jesus. I remember on the field of athletic competition that when an opponent allowed himself to drop his head, he was no longer dangerous. He could be very easily defeated. So keep your head up. Keep considering Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. Consider Him instead of the cares of this world. Consider what God says in His Word. Be moved by the thoughts of God. Let His thoughts become your thoughts.
Look up! Get your eyes off the circumstances around you and onto your heavenly source. Don't be afraid you're going to lose everything. God is your Source, not the world. He can take care of you regardless of what happens around you.
If you've gotten weary lately, begin to lift your eyes. Raise your head up instead of looking down. God is up. Jesus is up. The devil is down--under your feet. Look up!
Scripture Study: Isaiah 40:21-31
Let the World Know
"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. ...that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me."
(John 17:20,22-23)
Over the years the Church has come up with all kinds of elaborate ways to evangelize the world. We get together and map out plans and strategies and raise money for it. But through it all, we rarely mention the plan that Jesus gave us.
Most believers don't even realize that He gave us the key to winning the world, but He did. He prayed about it right before He went to the Cross. He asked the Father to bring us into a place of such oneness with each other and with Him that the world would know that He had been sent from God.
If you and I and all the rest of the Body of Christ would get together and start loving each other, we'd evangelize the world so fast it would make your head swim. It's true. But until recently, we've been too busy scrapping with one another and getting our feelings hurt to give it much thought.
But, praise God, it's beginning to dawn on some folks now that we need to stop that stuff. We need to start treating Jesus' command that we love one another as a command instead of an alternative. We need to drop our silly arguments and be unified by the Spirit of God.
Do you want to take a step toward evangelizing the world today? Then start praying for oneness. Make up your mind that you're going to start loving your fellow believers instead of criticizing, complaining, and talking ugly about them.
Start confessing that the Church of God is going to rise up together in faith and love as one glorious Body driven by the power of Jesus Himself. We are, you know. Jesus prayed that it would happen, and the Holy Spirit is already bringing it to pass.
Satan would like to stop it, but he can't. It's far more powerful than he is--and it's going to blast a hole in his operation that's big enough to drive a train through. It's going to let the whole world know that Jesus truly is Lord!
Scripture Study: John 17:9-26
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